Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

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

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Let me file that under fuck it.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

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

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

The revolution will be supervised.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

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

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

When we show up, we win.

I really should read my own blog.

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

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

People are weird.

Come on, man.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

You are here: Home / Politics / America / Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Live Feed: Attorney General Sessions Testimony

Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Live Feed: Attorney General Sessions Testimony

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Here’s the live feed for AG Sessions testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence:

We now know that the source of the allegations of a third meeting between then Senator Sessions and Russian Ambassador Kislyak is from signals intelligence (SIGINT) captured last year.

The origin of the Mayflower story can be traced, according to several American officials, to raw intelligence picked up by American spy agencies last year that is now held at C.I.A. headquarters in Virginia. The intelligence appears to be based on intercepts of Mr. Kislyak discussing a private meeting he had with Mr. Sessions at a Trump campaign event last April at the luxury hotel.

Lawmakers have reviewed the intelligence — which remains classified — as part of the congressional investigations into Russia’s attempts to disrupt last year’s presidential election. Several news outlets have reported that Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and now a senior White House adviser, may have also attended the meeting.

Here is a link to Ryan Goodman’s, Just Security‘s co-editor in chief’s five not so obvious questions for Attorney General Sessions.

Update at 2:35 PM EDT

Don’t forget to call your Senators!

Reader Interactions

375Comments

  4. 4.

    Ladyraxterinok

    A video ad appeared between post and comments – a preparation to ‘make fungus disappear overnight’!!

  7. 7.

    Mike in DC

    Two options on the Mayflower Hotel meeting with Kislyak:
    1. Deny it- and face perjury charges if it’s proven otherwise
    2. Say it’s part of the ongoing investigation and he can’t comment–which is basically an admission

    But 2 avoids a perjury trap, so I expect he takes that option.

  8. 8.

    Quinerly

    We all sure seem to be spending more and more time together in the middle of the week, in the middle of the day.? Would be so much better if we were all glued to impeachment hearings, though. A chick can hope…..

  9. 9.

    Adam L Silverman

    Just put a quick update up top:
    Don’t forget to call your senators!

  11. 11.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @Adam L Silverman: That’s what I thought! Seems to be rotating series. Now it’s a ‘video ‘that will ruin Obama’. This is first time I’ve gotten video ads at this site placed like this.

  14. 14.

    Adam L Silverman

    Senator Reed (D) and Senator McCain (R) are once again sitting in. Let’s see if Senator McCain got a good night’s sleep.

  15. 15.

    hovercraft

    @Ladyraxterinok:
    I’m seeing an ad about something that if I watch it, will ruin Obama!
    Who knew that he could still be ruined, I thought his political career was over.

  18. 18.

    hovercraft

    @Adam L Silverman:
    Don’t you mean took his medication?

    ETA: This should be easier, he’s playing defense today, not offense so there’s no need to turn himself into a pretzel to cement Cindy’s new job.

  22. 22.

    Gravenstone

    @Ladyraxterinok: Wingnuts throwing ad money at a site which mocks them. As long as it doesn’t cause the technical headaches the one in the sideframe has been, we can just keep scrolling past it.

  24. 24.

    Adam L Silverman

    @hovercraft: No. The official explanation issued after last week’s hearing was that he’d been up far too late the night before watching the Diamondbacks.

  25. 25.

    Gravenstone

    @LAO: I’m still partial to the sobriquet Bilbo Bigot. I know Betty has used it here, not sure if she originated it.

  28. 28.

    ? Martin

    Just a reminder of what a plum assignment this was for Harris. CA already had a member of this committee, so appointing her required some additional consideration.

    If anyone was doubting that she’s seen as a future presidential candidate…

  31. 31.

    Adam L Silverman

    @hovercraft: I’m not disagreeing with you. I was just presenting what his office presented as to why he was not on his game.

  32. 32.

    hovercraft

    @bemused:
    Perhaps they think there’s a way to “ruin” him so that he can’t make all those millions and is forced back to Chicago, never to seen again so that they can pretend that he was never president. They can invoke his name every time something goes wrong.

    edited for spelling

  33. 33.

    Spanky

    Earlier speculation on whether the Penguins would follow Golden State’s lead:

    Nope!

    The Penguins’ Stanley Cup victory hasn’t earned them an invitation to the White House. Not yet, anyway.

    But if one comes, they will accept it.

    “The Pittsburgh Penguins would never turn down a visit to the White House and, if invited, we would go as a team,” team CEO/president David Morehouse said Tuesday in a prepared statement.

  34. 34.

    Fleeting Expletive

    The hearing–Did Burr just start out with “this committee is reviled/or some such derogatory statement? I hope there is a transcript.

  35. 35.

    Kay

    @hovercraft:

    He also lied. After the hearing he said Comey didn’t answer the question he supposedly asked. Comey DID manage to figure out what he wanted from that incoherent mess and answered the question. McCain’s question was why Comey came out and said they had nothing on Clinton but didn’t do the same for Trump. Comey said the Clinton investigation was closed and the Russia/Trump investigation is still open. That’s the answer. It was a dumb question.

  37. 37.

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

    @bemused: @hovercraft:
    Barack Goldstein is the enemy of Big Brother! Anything that goes wrong is his fault! Anything positive is Big Brother’s doing!

    Big Brother doubleplusgood!

  41. 41.

    Steeplejack

    Okay, I have dulled my senses with a junk-food lunch and have plopped in the cushy chair to watch the hearing on MSNBC. The housecat is sideboard at her workstation with the heating pad set to 2 (“keep warm/​low”). I’m only a minute or two away from a rum and tonic or a bloody mary if things get rough. Let’s do this!

    Jefferson Beauregard Original Recipe Sessions just took the oath and is starting to blow.

  52. 52.

    Steeplejack

    Christ, he’s already rewriting his exchange with Al Franken in his confirmation hearing.

  53. 53.

    Keith P.

    Bonus points if Sessions answers any document request with “You’ll never get me Lucky Charms!”

  54. 54.

    mouse tolliver

    Jefferson Beauregard Sackville-Baggins has at a time or two been accused of trying to steal his cousin Bilbo’s dragon gold. But on this day he vehemently denies ever ransacking cousin Bilbo’s hobbit hole.

  56. 56.

    LAO

    We having a saying in the defense bar — when you find yourself explaining and explaining, you are losing.

  59. 59.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Keith P.: I’m waiting for him to explain new innovations in the production of fudge stripes and pecan sandies.

  61. 61.

    eric

    @Steeplejack: I wish Jim Ross was on the committee and screamed (while looking to the back of the room): “My God, it’s Al Franken; what’s he gonna do with that chair?”

  62. 62.

    hovercraft

    @Kay:
    Exactly, he was conflating two separate issues and when Comey tried to correct him, he couldn’t understand the difference.

  65. 65.

    Davebo

    Found on the inner tubes so I can’t take credit.

    Q. What’s the difference between a chickpea and a garbanzo bean?

    A. Trump has never had a garbanzo bean on his face.

  67. 67.

    Kay

    @zhena gogolia:

    I can’t watch Trump. I can still watch the Trumpsters. It helps if you’re looking for lies, which I am. Needless to say you find a lot.

  68. 68.

    hovercraft

    @LAO:
    Seek immediate medical attention, you’re becoming a neo-liberal corporatist democrat.

  69. 69.

    TenguPhule

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Executive privilege invoked. Drink!

    I’m going to have to open a Gofundme for my drinks at this rate.

    Good rum and brandy don’t come cheap.

  70. 70.

    zhena gogolia

    @Kay:

    I can only watch Trump when his “sassy” voice is dubbed in by Peter Serafinowicz.

  71. 71.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Believe it or not, there are some Southern accents that are actually both fully understandable and pleasant to listen to.

    Li’l Beau’s is not one of them.

  73. 73.

    Quinerly

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    Funny how things and associations have changed with me over the years. Grew up in the South, been in St. Louis 35 years but have kept my strong Southern accent (or at least so I have been told). Loved my father’s accent…and my mother’s. But in the last few years when I hear a Southern accent (mostly men), I cringe. Except for my father’s sweet voice (last heard in 2008), I associate the accent with hate and ignorance.

  77. 77.

    zhena gogolia

    Slightly OT (not really though), but Colbert’s audience almost ran Oliver Stone out on a rail, tarred and feathered.

  78. 78.

    Corner Stone

    We need a huge cartoon noise graphic for “SPPRRROOOIIINNGG!!!” because the perjury trap has already snapped this little elf motherfucker.

  81. 81.

    hovercraft

    Indignant Confederate Attorney General is deeply hurt about all the aspersions being cast on is asparagus!
    Lying liar lies smoothly, I wonder how the rethugs will handle him.

    ETA: LBJ is laughing his ass off, (fuck LBJ), forcing him deny he’s a liar and did not purger himself.

  83. 83.

    Corner Stone

    Sessions calling out Franken is really about the worst choice I can imagine anyone making. is he going for the Jew Baiting Defense?

  87. 87.

    Served

    “I’m not mad at all! In fact, these accusations have only fueled my crime-fighting prowess.”

  90. 90.

    Patricia Kayden

    @zhena gogolia: The Oliver Stone who defended Putin by saying that he never saw Putin beating up anyone right in front of him when he was in Russia? That idiot?

  91. 91.

    ? Martin

    Not only is the auto-subtitling on PBS slow, but it’s fucking terrible. You could hold up literally any phone made in the last 5 years and get faster and infinitely more accurate speech recognition. C’mon guys, this is a solved problem.

  95. 95.

    Corner Stone

    I WILL NOW QUESTION THE WITNESS!
    *cue music from Cable Guy at Knights Castle dinner*

  97. 97.

    TenguPhule

    @Corner Stone:

    We need a huge cartoon noise graphic for “SPPRRROOOIIINNGG!!!” because the perjury trap has already snapped this little elf motherfucker.

    Now if only the GOP had not replaced the metal parts with bubblegum.

  98. 98.

    Quinerly

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    Alabama accents are pretty distinctive. Here’s where I get to say again while smiling…”4 of the 5 women my grandfather married were from Alabama. He died in 1977, well in his 80’s.”

  99. 99.

    Patricia Kayden

    @hovercraft: The Rethugs will treat him with the same kid gloves they used during his confirmation hearing. He’s still their boy (as is Trump).

  104. 104.

    Patricia Kayden

    @zhena gogolia: Yes. Someone who doesn’t respect human rights, including suborning assaults on gay citizens, is just a social conservative versus an autocrat. Good to know.

  105. 105.

    LAO

    Maybe I'm just a Yankee snob, but when a Southern politician starts talking about "mah honah," I grab my Constitution.— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) June 13, 2017

  108. 108.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Patricia Kayden:

    The Oliver Stone who defended Putin by saying that he never saw Putin beating up anyone right in front of him when he was in Russia? That idiot?

    The Oliver Stone whose son is employed by RT? That Oliver Stone?

  109. 109.

    Quinerly

    @Aleta:
    He was doing that breathing, snort thing that his boss does when reading prepared statements. I didn’t watch his confirmation hearing. Did Sessions come off as poorly as he is coming off today?

  110. 110.

    Kay

    @zhena gogolia:

    I can only watch Trump when his “sassy” voice

    I hate how he talks. There’s an open throat bellowing, bragging quality to it. The consistency almost scares me. His voice doesn’t change enough. He speaks exactly the same no matter what he’s saying which is REALLY WEIRD in a human being.

    Obama, like a normal person, had a whole range of emotions in his speech. Serious Obama, jokey Obama, sad Obama. Trump’s is like a car horn. Baaht Baaht Baaht. Always the same. It’s really fucking odd and also cold. I think he;s so disconnected from what he says that he doesn’t impart emotion. I have never heard anything quite like it.

  111. 111.

    Aleta

    So anything that he claims is an affront to his character excuses him from his recusal.

  113. 113.

    Fair Economist

    @Patricia Kayden:

    The Oliver Stone who defended Putin by saying that he never saw Putin beating up anyone right in front of him when he was in Russia? That idiot?

    Yes, that Oliver Stone, but he’s not an idiot, he’s bought. He’s getting Russian support for his film (above all extended access to Putin, which is quite valuable in itself) and his son works for their propaganda network.

  114. 114.

    TenguPhule

    @Kay:

    I have never heard anything quite like it.

    Dr. Who, the Cybermen. That’s what Trump reminds me of when he speaks.

  121. 121.

    rikyrah

    @hovercraft:

    Indignant Confederate Attorney General is deeply hurt about all the aspersions being cast on is asparagus!

    We expected anything less from Attorney General White Citizens Council?

  122. 122.

    LAO

    I CALL BULLSHIT on his Trump-Comey meetings explanation. It’s all Comey fault. SAD LOSER!

  123. 123.

    HeleninEire

    So one of the many reasons I moved here was that I was exhausted, as an American, by being responsible for everything, good and bad, that happens in the world.

    Both the Comey and Sessions hearings were/are being broadcast live on Irish TV. It’s stunning, even here and now, how important American politics are across the globe.

    The Irish Taoiseach (the Irish Prime Minister) resigned officially today. Did y’all read about that all over the American press?

  130. 130.

    LAO

    Sessions asked if he will commit to future appearances before the Intel Committee & to handing over docs. Doesn't really commit to either.— Alice Ollstein (@AliceOllstein) June 13, 2017

  132. 132.

    TenguPhule

    @Quinerly: Being naturally Knurd, it takes me at least one big drink or two small ones to reach that state of mind which most people find comfortingly normal.

  135. 135.

    Steeplejack

    @Quinerly:

    My memory is that Sessions came off better in his confirmation hearing. It was all collegial kisses and roses on the Republican side, just a formality. The Democrats were just being mean girls. Sessions thought he was rolling—which is why, I think, he stepped on his dick by answering the question that Al Franken didn’t ask about meeting with Russians.

  136. 136.

    trollhattan

    Oops, Mueller is really hosed now.

    Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voiced confidence Tuesday in Robert Mueller, the special counsel handling an investigation of alleged collusion between members of President Trump’s campaign and Russia.

    “I have a lot of confidence in Bob Mueller. I think it was a good choice,” McConnell told reporters, one day after reports emerged that Trump might be considering firing Mueller.

  139. 139.

    TenguPhule

    @trollhattan:

    Melania is a weeping angel.

    So they solved that “don’t blink” weakness by dressing up so that we don’t want to look at them?

  140. 140.

    TenguPhule

    @trollhattan:

    “I have a lot of confidence in Bob Mueller. I think it was a good choice,” McConnell told reporters, one day after reports emerged that Trump might be considering firing Mueller.

    So Muller is gonna be fired on Friday then.

  142. 142.

    glory b

    @Kay: I think that is also related to the fact that, for all his time in front of cameras, Trump has never been shown laughing.

    He puts on that mouth stretch that passes for a grin, but never a laugh. I think that’s chilling.

  145. 145.

    hovercraft

    @LAO:
    Well he does have a point, the senate and congress have so many committees and he’s a busy man so he really can’t commit to appearing before those little people. I’m sure if you just looked at his record, you’d be able to find his long documented record of saying that executive branch members being haled up to congress was a waste of their valuable time. He’s got things to do, arrest medial marijuana growers and take away the rights on black and brown people.

  146. 146.

    HeleninEire

    @rikyrah: Parliamentary system. It was time. The new Taoiseach is a gay man whose parents are Indian immigrants. Ireland is moving forward.

  147. 147.

    Steeplejack

    I am already hoping that Kamala Harris tears Sessions a new one. It would be his worst nightmare—being thrashed by a strong black woman. Also, he could snap and call her a “meddlesome Negress” or some such—in a faux-polite antebellum way, of course.

  148. 148.

    hovercraft

    @LAO:
    Yeah that was bullshit, I’m not claiming it because only the president can invoke it, but I refuse to speak about my conversations with him. This DOJ really is making it up as they go along. I thought one had to be pregnant or not, who knew that there was an in between.

  151. 151.

    Steeplejack

    Is it just me, or is Warner not a very good interrogator? Maybe I’m sliding toward a food coma.

  157. 157.

    hovercraft

    Here we go, with Senator it Depends on the meaning of Hope.
    Looks like the I don’t recall section is beginning.

  158. 158.

    TenguPhule

    @hovercraft:

    I thought one had to be pregnant or not, who knew that there was an in between.

    Schrodinger’s immaculate conception?

  159. 159.

    Kay

    @glory b:

    I do too. The complete lack of a sense of humor is concerning.

    They all say Trump “believes what he says”. I don’t agree. I don’t think he’s remotely connected to what he says. There’s just…nothing back there. Maybe there was never much there or maybe he buried it for this persona but he doesn’t seem like a whole person. That doesn’t really have anything to do with intelligence, that…blank space there.

    NOT to diagnose but I interviewed a psychopath (it’s a real diagnosis, as you know) once and she had the same affect. The blankness. Talking is just noise to them- words are tools.

  162. 162.

    The Moar You Know

    Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voiced confidence Tuesday in Robert Mueller, the special counsel handling an investigation of alleged collusion between members of President Trump’s campaign and Russia.

    “I have a lot of confidence in Bob Mueller. I think it was a good choice,” McConnell told reporters, one day after reports emerged that Trump might be considering firing Mueller.

    @trollhattan: Gone by the end of the week. And then, if the comments by the idiot caucus are any indication, they’re thinking of just declaring “case closed, nothing to see here” and that will be the end of it.

  163. 163.

    pamelabrown53

    @Keith P.:

    No!!! Although Sessions resembles a mischievous elf, he’s more like “Chuckie”: small, deadly without an ounce of cuteness or humor.

  164. 164.

    HeleninEire

    @Adam L Silverman: Yes. When it was decided a week or two ago I was at dinner with my dinner cub for people over 50. One of the participants stood up, held up her phone, and yelled “leo’s ahead”. The whole room applauded. A room full of 50 – 80 year old people.

  165. 165.

    Corner Stone

    I had to take a call. Now we’re getting Risch cloverfielding this fucking hearing?

  167. 167.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Kay:

    To my ears, there are three Trump voices/ways of speaking. One (by far the most common), is that “car horn” shouty blatty voice you describe. This is the one that gets his base all riled up.

    Then there’s the halting monotone we hear when he’s reading words someone else prepared for him to deliver. No sense of flow or emphasis or even understanding, just reading off a string of words.

    Finally, there’s a kind of husky whispery gangster voice, like a bad “You dirty rat” imitation of James Cagney. “Oh, believe me, those NATO countries will pay their share. They’ll pay up, I will tell you this. They’ll pay.”

    I think, to him, the first voice is what he uses when he later has his spokesbots say things like “C’mon, he was just joking, you always take him so literally, you shouldn’t take him literally.” The second is the one the Village believes is his “Presidential” “serious” voice, but I don’t think he thinks that. I’m pretty sure his threatening mob voice is most authentically Trump, and the one he himself uses when he means to sound all serious and Presidential. But it succeeds only in sounding somewhere between threatening and ludicrous.

  169. 169.

    hovercraft

    @Steeplejack:
    The confederate leprechaun had decades in the senate to perfect the art of filibustering, so he’s as slippery as an eel. I should know!

  170. 170.

    Yutsano

    @TenguPhule: I would say it’s more like the Dalek cadence, but that’s an insult to both Daleks and Nicholas Briggs. Who actually is brilliant at being their voice.

    Dolt45 talks like a blowhard. Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

  171. 171.

    Gelfling 545

    @Ladyraxterinok: And the cunning malice of all this is that if you are scrolling on a tablet it’s easy to trigger these abominations. Wouldn’t it be more profitable to run adds someone might want to click on?

  172. 172.

    Aleta

    @Kay: I’m not an expert, but people on the spectrum may lack the ability to modulate aspects of their voice and also to adjust their voice and language to social expectations. My sister had some of this, and in some situations her speech pattern would seem like a fixed imitation of an influence (for example like pilot talk to a control tower). It was creepy and uncomfortable and she seemed emotionless, though I understand it better now.

    Sometimes Trump’s campaign delivery sounded like he was parroting the patterns of Mussolini to me.

  178. 178.

    Immanentize

    @Kay:

    psychopath (it’s a real diagnosis, as you know)

    Just checking the facts here, Psycopath is NOT a real clinical diagnosis. The diagnosis is anti-social personality disorder, although “psycopathy” can now be used as a signifier for ASPD. And that is a brand new thing for DSM5

  180. 180.

    hovercraft

    Wait did he just say the letter “we wrote” ? I thought the letter was from the DAG?

  182. 182.

    LAO

    Good question Senator Feinstein. Sessions is a real piece of shit. (I know that I am repeating myself).

  184. 184.

    hovercraft

    DiFi just got him to show how stupid his argument that he can’t discuss his conversations with the president. He can discuss the letter and what’s in it, the reasons for the firing, but he can’t discuss whether Twitler had told him before he wrote the letter that he was going to fire him anyway because of the Russia thing. Now he’s just rambling and he’s back onto we fired him for Hillary.

  185. 185.

    Steeplejack

    @LAO:

    His long and circuitous questions were giving Sessions too much room to be a difficult witness. Gotta keep it crisp if you’ve only got ten minutes.

  187. 187.

    Kay

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I mostly listened to the speeches. I like C-Span and he was on constantly. It saddens me that people think he’s “authentic”- it’s such a cheap imitation. Think of Obama after Sandy Hook. He was both enraged and really grieving. That’s how real people are- they have layers and contradictory emotions.

  189. 189.

    D58826

    Just turned it on and Sessions is lying like a rug about why Comey was fired and the lack of moral in the FBI. And Sessions is just so sad about how Hillary was treated.

    And he won’t talk about whither Sessions said in the Feb 14th meeting

  194. 194.

    eric

    If Russia was the reason for Comey’s termination, per Trump, then how can there be any privilege if Session recused himself. He was no longer providing counsel or advice on anything related to Russia investigation.

  195. 195.

    NR

    Apparently Sessions doesn’t think enough Americans are being locked up. Someone should probably tell him we already have the highest incarceration rate in the world.

  197. 197.

    TenguPhule

    @(((CassandraLeo))):

    The Republican Party isn’t that far removed from Daleks at this point.

    You take that back!

    The Daleks are universally feared for their power and the ruthless effectiveness of their genocidal campaign.

  199. 199.

    TenguPhule

    @NR:

    Apparently Sessions doesn’t think enough colored Americans are being locked up.

    FTFY.

  201. 201.

    Immanentize

    @LAO: This. It is the same shit that the Intelligence folks gave the committee. I can’t wait for Angry Angus to get his turn

    ETA — can’t watch so relying on y’all to keep it coming for us in comment land.

  203. 203.

    LAO

    Need to leave for a meeting — “talk” to you all later.

    PS — Sessions’ hissy fit is amusing.

  206. 206.

    different-church-lady

    @NR:

    Apparently Sessions doesn’t think enough Americans are being locked up.

    He could always volunteer himself to the count.

  207. 207.

    hovercraft

    A secret innuendo being leaked out there about me, he resents it.
    Wyden and the kkklansman yell at each letter.

  208. 208.

    catclub

    @Immanentize:

    Bad questions are the reason Clarence Thomas is on the Supreme Court

    This suggests that better questions would have changed votes in the Senate. I doubt it.

  209. 209.

    Adam L Silverman

    @LAO: @Steeplejack: If an angry AG Sessions was standing in front of me with a rifle pointed at me and I was in my underwear, he still wouldn’t be frightening.

  211. 211.

    hovercraft

    @Immanentize:
    I’m leaving in a few minutes but you have enough people keeping tabs, enjoy, I’m disappointed that I’m going to miss the Indian- African American uppity woman from California and Angus King.

  215. 215.

    Felonius Monk

    @Adam L Silverman:

    and I was in my underwear, he still wouldn’t be frightening.

    With that mental image, I would suppose that you would scare the shit out of him.

  216. 216.

    D58826

    Wyden is getting under his skin. According to Sessions he ‘recused’ himself from day one on anything related to Russia. Heaven protect us from someone who is supposed to be our top law enforcement official with this amazing lack of curiosity about Russia hacking into the election.
    If Comey’s actions involving Hillary were so inappropriate then why not fire Comey on day 1, Or better yet ask Obama to fire him so that Trump could start with a clean slate. And if the handling of Hillary’s e-mails was so outrageous, why did they not say anything last year? They hauled Comey before 2 Congressional committees and the only thing that the GOP complained about was Comey didn’t recommend an indictment. They never raised a peep about Comey’s press conference.

  217. 217.

    Steeplejack

    @Steeplejack:

    Oops, sorry. Just used a Corner Stone comment to get to the bottom of the page and forgot to erase the link. My bad.

    ETA: Hope you find a bra that fits.

  223. 223.

    D58826

    He lied and/or didn’t remember meeting with the Russians on multiple occasions so why should we believe anything else he says. He is filibustering which white bigoted senators have done for years. He won’ t talk because of various and sundry unnamed privileges. He won’t talk unless he has POTUS permission to talk.

  224. 224.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Felonius Monk: Especially after being out of the gym for two weeks and scarfing down anything not bolted into the fridge because of the antibiotics. I’m feeling flabby. Thursday, which will be my first day back in the gym, cannot get here fast enough.

  225. 225.

    Mike in DC

    If the Dems still ran the Senate, Sessions would have been threatened with Contempt of Congress by now.

  231. 231.

    Aleta

    @NR: But he must break that record in order for Trump’s misadministration to be the greatest.

  233. 233.

    Corner Stone

    At this point there is no amount of money I would not give to have the SNL guy come into the hearing, do his shirtless Putin routine and give AG Sessions a kiss on the cheek and walk out.

  235. 235.

    D58826

    So Adm Rodgers answered all of the questions in secret session. BIG F*******g whoop. For all we know he could have talked about what kind of boats Washington used to cross the Deleware.

    And as far as the 3rd possible meeting with the Russians he is suffering from Russianesia. But it’s ok they didn’t have a ROOM to talk to the Russians. I guess that makes it ok. If I remember correctly Agar Hiss gave Russians secrets in a pumpkin patch so I guess that it makes his actions ok, it is Only treason if in a ROOM

  238. 238.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)

    @Spanky: Maybe Phil Kessell has opinions about coverage for pre-existing conditions, what with being a cancer survivor and all.

  239. 239.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Felonius Monk: Other than the side effects from the antibiotics, I’m feeling much, much, much better. I fortunately caught the sinus infection before it got really bad. So was on the antibiotics before the worst could set in. Unfortunately when on this antibiotic you can’t work out and it makes me light headed/fuzzy headed.

    It will be good to get back into the gym, but Thursday – and Friday and Saturday – is going to be very, very painful!

  240. 240.

    Steeplejack

    God, Blunt starts with that corn-pone “Glad to see you and Mary here” bullshit. Fuck him. Fuck him up his stupid ass.

  242. 242.

    Adam L Silverman

    @D58826: This is why we’re here.
    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/12/us/politics/sessions-is-likely-to-be-grilled-on-reports-of-meeting-with-russian-envoy.html

    The origin of the Mayflower story can be traced, according to several American officials, to raw intelligence picked up by American spy agencies last year that is now held at C.I.A. headquarters in Virginia. The intelligence appears to be based on intercepts of Mr. Kislyak discussing a private meeting he had with Mr. Sessions at a Trump campaign event last April at the luxury hotel.

    Lawmakers have reviewed the intelligence — which remains classified — as part of the congressional investigations into Russia’s attempts to disrupt last year’s presidential election. Several news outlets have reported that Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and now a senior White House adviser, may have also attended the meeting.

  246. 246.

    AnnaN

    Sessions is a guilty grinner under stress. If I were questioning him I’d ask why he smirks every time he’s asked about the collusion activities.

  250. 250.

    Mike J

    Erin ?Gloria ? Ryan‏Verified account @morninggloria 14 minutes ago
    Attorney General Sessions, did you or did you not deliberately lead Sarah deep into the Labyrinth to curry favor with the Goblin King?

  251. 251.

    Steeplejack

    Sessions sounds racist even when he says “Feinstein” and “Rosenstein” in a casual sentence. Tiny extra ding on the “stein.”

  253. 253.

    D58826

    Four months into this and he and Trump have never discussed executive privilege. But he won’t talk about anything because Trump might invoke it in the future. Sen King is asking him about whither he asked ANY questions about the Russian hack and he said no never once. He is the head of the DOJ and he isn’t interested in the Russian hack.

    Comey was fired because of Hillary and other things. Were ‘other’ things included in the Rosenstein memo?

    Gooper is talking about the unknown source of the rumor that Der Fuhrer is thinking about firing Mueller. This Senator is giving a bag of rocks a bad name for being stupid. The story got it start when a friend of Der Fuhrer’s made the comments on the record an d on TV.

  255. 255.

    Immanentize

    If executive privilege actually is invoked by the President, it is done before any testimony and the outlines of the privilege are clearly established. You cannot talk about some conversations that support you and not testify about others. It is either turned on or turned off, if you start talking about stuff, you turn it off. And I think Angus should say, “WHITE DUDE PROTECTION IS TURNED OFF!”

  256. 256.

    psycholinguist

    @D58826: If that wasn’t classified information, which I don’t think it was, are senators obligated to keep what was said in closed session confidential?

  257. 257.

    Corner Stone

    @VeniceRiley:

    Sessions: I don’t recall making cookies in a tree on three occasions. If I did make cookies I recall they were delicious.

    “Would the Chair like one of these fudge striped cookies I just happen to have with me today?”

  261. 261.

    D58826

    Legal/procedural question. Given that Sessions claims he recused him self anything Russian related. Would that stop him from reading intel summaries and sitting in on intel meetings even if he did not issue any orders? It seems totally out of the world that the top law enforcement official is totally out of the loop on the Russian hacking.

    Maybe we should have him checked for Alzheimer since he doesn’t seem to remember a whole lot.

  263. 263.

    Spanky

    @trollhattan:

    @Corner Stone:
    “Did you or did you not have relations with the Pillsbury Dough Boy, yes or no mister Sessions?”

    “I SWEAR TO GOD THAT’S JUST ICING ON MY PANTS!”

  264. 264.

    Corner Stone

    I’ve been juggling some of these newfangled comm-yoo-nacayshun devices. But I could swear I heard the Attorney General of the US state for the record he has never given one shit about Russia hacking the US Democracy and never had one conversation with anyone about it?

  265. 265.

    Fleeting Expletive

    Sessions has frequently directly invoked hacking–volunteered that specifically. Kinda like russian interference would have only been hacking, never mind actual election shenanigans. That’s something to note.

  266. 266.

    Immanentize

    @D58826: That is the deep problem with his recusal, which Kay has talked about previously. Sessions either doesn’t abide by his recusal, or he is a significantly diminished AG. I am starting to think I really do not want him to be fired or quit. And I take a backseat to no one in my Sessions hate.

  272. 272.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Steeplejack: That is how every attorney general is referred to. Just as the surgeon general, despite getting a naval flag officer’s uniform, is referred to as general. It’s a linguistic relic of the 18th Century.

  274. 274.

    Corner Stone

    Oh, Plantation owner Sessions don’t much care for Senator Kamala Harris, no sir no sir.

  276. 276.

    Steeplejack

    And Cotton finishes his masterly performance by saying that the Republican platform was not weakened, it was actually strengthened with regard to Ukraine. Boom! Case closed.

  282. 282.

    Patricia Kayden

    @D58826: So Sessions’ “testimony” is a bust and all he did was obfuscate? Shocking!! Trump’s admin has been so forthright and honest so far.
    /s

  283. 283.

    ? Martin

    Aw, Sen. Harris makes Sessions nervous. Maybe you should consider seceding from this government, sir.

    Harris isn’t out to get Trump here. She’s out for Sessions and has since day one.

  287. 287.

    scav

    OT just as a reminder to breathe and look up. I now have at least five tall ships sailing past unexpectedly.

  290. 290.

    Corner Stone

    Overall, this testimony certainly is not beneficial to the Trump campaign in any way.

  291. 291.

    D58826

    Tom Cotton is a bigger piece of s***** than Sessions. Now we are being treated to a listing of spy novels. Session just said that he never meet with any Russians which seems to contradict his corrected statements that he really did at least twice.

    This is not going to end well. If Putin moved into the WH the GOP would not notice it.

    If Obama had fired Comey on July 6th the GOP would have started impeachment hearings

  292. 292.

    Steeplejack

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    After—as before—John McCain woke up and mumbled “Let the witness answer.”

    He’s not even a member of this committee, I don’t think. Isn’t he here as a guest?

  293. 293.

    SiubhanDuinne

    So about 10-15 minutes ago I had to run an errand and couldn’t listen for several minutes. When I got back in the car, someone (don’t know which Senator) was asking him “Joey, do you like to watch spy movies? Who is your favourite spy novelist? Have you ever heard of … covert operations?”

    Weirdest damn thing I’ve ever heard. What was that all about, anyhow?

  294. 294.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Immanentize: Didn’t mean to be cryptic. The timelines for the disclosures and leaks, both legal and illegal, is not always clear. From the reporting we know that some of the big stories are based on disclosures and leaks that happened months ago and took months for the reporters to verify. In other cases, as in Farenthold’s reporting on the Access Hollywood tape, we know from Farenthold’s own reporting that it was dropped on him the morning of his news reporting. He then worked the day to verify it, run down what NBC was going to do, and then with his editors pulled the trigger.

    No aspersion on Farenthold – I think he’s done a great job over the past year and half or so, but this was always suspicious to me. That tape dropped on the same day that the news that Russia was behind the hacking and the hacking was part of a concerted active measures campaign against the US in general and Secretary Clinton in specific. As a result that news and the Clinton Campaign’s organized response got dropped and forgotten as the news’ cycle was overtaken by the Access Hollywood tape and its fallout. So here are the two questions that has never been answered, and I’m not even sure Farenthold knows it: who leaked that tape to him that day and why did they do so? Was it done to specifically change the narrative going into the final month or so of the campaign away from Russian active measures against the US and Secretary Clinton to effect the campaign?

  295. 295.

    Spanky

    Per WaPo:

    Effort to bar television reporters from filming in Senate hallways scuttled

    It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the decision, which marked a dramatic break with tradition and was soon reversed amid a loud outcry from journalists, Democratic lawmakers and advocacy organizations.

  297. 297.

    Mike J

    @scav: Wold love to see the Angelique.

    I once saw the 12 meter Courageous tied up at the dockside in Boston. That’s my only cool Boston ship[1] sighting, other than the Constitution.

  299. 299.

    Steeplejack

    I hope the intelligence community drops some dirt on Tom Cotton. I’d like to see his “This whole thing is a Democrat farce!” bullshit blow up in his face.

  300. 300.

    The Moar You Know

    Harris isn’t out to get Trump here. She’s out for Sessions and has since day one.

    @? Martin: If you get rid of the elf, the entire GOP voter suppression machine goes down in flames. And then you can survive, not thrive, not enjoy, but survive four years of Trump. Harris is very, very smart.

  303. 303.

    Shalimar

    What is unclear to me. We know about Sessions’ conversation with Kislyak because Kislyak communicated it to Moscow. But Flynn and Kushner sought access to Russian equipment that wasn’t hacked to communicate with Moscow about whatever devious plan they had. So, was Kislyak using that equipment and it really is monitored, or was he not using it, and if not, why not?

  304. 304.

    D58826

    @Patricia Kayden: Oh yes I’m just shocked shocked shocked that these are a lying pieces of s****************** and Sessions is filibuster every answer except the ones where he is kissing the GOOPERS butt.

    OH FSM Sessions just said now and in retrospect Comey’s behavior was even more egress that he thought in July. Sen Whitehouse is now reading back Session’s comments praising Comey’s actions. But now in retrospect……

  305. 305.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Spanky: Apparently went down something like this:

    And this:

  306. 306.

    MoxieM

    @Mike J: I went on a corporate outing (courtesy of a friend) on the Monkey Business, to view the America’s Cup ships in Newport, I think? This was before Gary Hart disgraced himself aboard the MB. God, I’m old.

  308. 308.

    mouse tolliver

    :D The look on Jefferson’s face just now as Reed read’s back quotes where he spoke favorably of Comey’s handling of the Hillary situation after he just testified that he didn’t approve.

  311. 311.

    catclub

    @Yoda Dog:

    Cotton’s voice is nails on a chalkboard, jesus.

    Those nails were through the hand ( wrist), not a chalkboard.

  313. 313.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Damn, Grampy Walnuts is on and my stream* chooses this moment to keep freezing up. Someone let me know if it’s as incoherent as last week.

    *(Not that stream. Jeez, you guys.)

  314. 314.

    Corner Stone

    @D58826: For God’s sake, man! Do you think this place is made out of fucking asterisks or something? Go easy there, mate.

  318. 318.

    D58826

    Sessions seems to miss the point here. In and of itself a meeting with the Russian amb. is not a crime. Just like he meet with other Amb. The initial problem is that he lied about the meetings under oath and on his security forms. Obviously, given the Russian hacking, the meeting takes on a much more sinister aspect.

    Whoa wait a minute just a minute or so ago he wondered why we can’t get along with the Russians since the cold war ended 20 years ago. Now he is concerned about the fact that Russia has the ability to hack our electrical grid. That sounds like a good reason for not getting along with the Russians

  319. 319.

    Alain the site fixer

    In case some folks missed it, we’re having a celebratory post about greennotGreen this Friday at noon Eastern. Please join us and bring a good memory or two. See the obituary post from earlier today for more info.

  321. 321.

    rikyrah

    @Steeplejack:

    Sessions sounds racist even when he says “Feinstein” and “Rosenstein” in a casual sentence. Tiny extra ding on the “stein.

    Attorney General White Citizens Council…..

  323. 323.

    Corner Stone

    I have come to really enjoy Paul Butler. I would not want to see him on the other side of the table.

  324. 324.

    Steeplejack

    @Corner Stone:

    Did go with a bloody mary—vodka to follow the Russian theme of the hearing. About to make a second one, now that the hearing is over. And the housecat is calling for dinner. She’s a senior citizen, so she likes the early bird special.

    I’ll be interested to see how the MSNBC crew breaks this down tonight. I hope Joy Reid subs in for somebody.

  325. 325.

    Aleta

    @Mike J: She and her captain (+ owner) are the favorite windjammer for lots of Maine sailors. If you come to Maine you can see her sailing in and out of certain harbors mid-week. The windjammers are under economic stress now because fewer people want to book a week cruise (that market is aging out) so they have to switch to shorter ones. I got to go aboard the Angelique to sing in a group a couple of times; such a beauty.

  328. 328.

    The Moar You Know

    Sessions sounds racist even when he says “Feinstein” and “Rosenstein” in a casual sentence. Tiny extra ding on the “stein.”

    @Steeplejack: My family, both sides, is from Alabama. I was the first born outside the state in over a hundred years.

    My brother’s middle name is “Allen”. It’s spelled that way as all the grandparents decided “Alan” was far too Jewish. I’m fucking serious. Anti-semitism is VERY much alive and well there, and Sessions, you can bet money, is as anti-Jew as he is anti-black, but he knows which one he can cop to in public and which one he can’t.

  329. 329.

    D58826

    Ouch Republican Nicole Wallace just ran Sessions thru a grinder and reduced him to mush.

    And the Bush ethics lawyer just noted that Sessions confirmed that laws were broken during the 2016 election.

    And the 3rd member of the MSNBC panel, a former DOJ lawyer, just said the ‘privilege’ that Session is talking about does not exist.

  330. 330.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Alain the site fixer:

    That is such a nice thing to be doing. Thank you so much, Alain, for staying in touch with the family and organising a special thread for BJ to remember greennotGreen. I’m actually toying with the idea of driving to Nashville for the memorial service on the (I think) 24th. We can discuss further in an open thread or in the gnG celebration thread on Friday — this one is getting waterlogged.

  331. 331.

    Adam L Silverman

    @zhena gogolia: It is the protocol. And attorney or surgeon is actually the modifier. You have to understand that the current ranks of general officers in the US military are actually the same type of thing. They’ve also been modified a bit from their origins. In the US Army, US Air Force, and US Marines you have four ranks for general officers: brigadier general, major general, lieutenant general, and general. The title brigadier general originated because it was the general officer who commanded (fought) brigades. In today’s US military brigades are commanded by colonels who have graduated from one of the war colleges/senior leader colleges. In Britain, Canada, and New Zealand brigadier generals are called brigadiers. In the us they are referred to as generals in common usage unless formally invoking rank (similar thing with calling lieutenant colonels “colonels” in routine conversation).

    Major general was, depending on who you reference, originally sergeant major general and was a cavalry rank for general officers. It was shortened to major general, which is why it is confusing in modern usage in the US because the next highest rank is lieutenant general and major is a higher rank than lieutenant. Here too, in routine usage, a major general is referred to as a general. If I am recalling correctly generals of the army were originally referred to as captains-general, which was then shortened to just general. Which is why I had a colleague who taught a course title The great captains focusing exclusively on general officers.

    Attorney general and surgeon general function the same way. General is the noun, attorney or surgeon is the adjective.

  332. 332.

    Steeplejack

    @Steeplejack:

    Chuck Todd just now: “Folks, this hearing was dominated by denials and dodges.” Meowch! That’s a pretty hot take from Mr. Both Sides Are to Blame.

    ETA: “Meowch,” not “Mensch.” Stupid autocorrect.

  333. 333.

    Peale

    @The Moar You Know: Yep. That’s why the GOP spin that “well it won’t get Trump, so we don’t need a special prosecutor” is so inane. Trump may indeed have violated nothing. But crippling a half dozen crony’s would be o.k., too. Trump is not Mr. Teflon here. He’s not Reagan. The more stink surrounding him, the more stinky he’ll be perceived.

  335. 335.

    Anne Laurie

    @Adam L Silverman:

    If an angry AG Sessions was standing in front of me with a rifle pointed at me and I was in my underwear, he still wouldn’t be frightening.

    Pro tip: It’s not when he’s in front of you that you need to watch out for the Malevolent Leprechaun.

    You know the old stories as well as I do. Never turn your back on the little bastid. Don’t even look away, if you can help it.

  336. 336.

    Cheryl Rofer

    General in the titles Attorney General or Surgeon General is an adjective. It is, even in the case of General Officer. In the last, military use, it has become the title itself, although modified by other adjectives.

    In all-too-common use, it is becoming the title itself for Attorneys General and Surgeons General. Note the placement of the plural, on the nouns. I find it offensive because it gives a military sound to positions that are not military. The military long ago made the adjective into a noun, let them have it.

    It’s a Latinate formulation (or French, as one of my Twitter friends joked) to place the adjective after the noun. We Americans don’t often do it any more, although it’s not unknown, particularly in literary and poetic uses.

    I hate, hate, hate it for attorneys and surgeons general. But, along with pronoun case misuses and the disappearance of the subjunctive were, I guess it’s the way the language is going.

  337. 337.

    Corner Stone

    @D58826: I can tell you are in PTSD denial from the Great Comma Wars of the aught-O-teens here at Balloon Juice. You’d better pray Omnes doesn’t catch you.

  338. 338.

    George Spiggott

    @Steeplejack:

    I don’t like how everybody is calling him “General Sessions.”

    That’s General Stonewall Sessions to you sir!

  339. 339.

    D58826

    @Adam L Silverman: Thanks. en curious about some of those references from other hearings.

    Another ‘military’ protocol thing. The habit of POTUS saluting men/women in uniform. I thought the salute was just a military thing. I think it was started by Reagan. I know in old movies the peasant will tug at his hair when addressing the lord of the manner but it isn’t the military style salute.

  340. 340.

    Steeplejack

    Okay, everybody, good time to point out that it’s Nicolle Wallace—two L’s. Don’t make me relive the one-L Michele Bachmann two-N years.

  342. 342.

    Mike J

    @Adam L Silverman: A Way With Words disagrees.

    A Way with Words‏ @wayword 52 minutes ago
    The same reason you address a “deputy sheriff” as “deputy”: it has become a nominalized adjective.

    Which isn’t to say it’s correct, but puts a label on what people are doing. In other words, don’t expect logic out of English.

  345. 345.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Cheryl Rofer: I am very, very familiar with the protocols for referring to titled US officials. I used to be a low level one on an Intergovernmental Personnel Appointment. In the case of attorney general and surgeon general it is not a settled thing as it is with military officers. But it is not uncustomary for an attorney general or surgeon general to be referred to as general. I’ve even seen this done with a surgeon general who was an actual serving US Navy officer.

  346. 346.

    D58826

    @Steeplejack: sigh have to fix spellcheck.

    Listening to the GOOPERS explain why things that happen in the Oval Office stay in the Oval Office, except when its a blow job by a democrat,

  348. 348.

    Adam L Silverman

    @D58826: If I recall correctly President Eisenhower refused to do it stating that he was no longer a serving military officer. I think you are correct that President Reagan started the current tradition.

  350. 350.

    Fair Economist

    @The Moar You Know:

    Anti-semitism is VERY much alive and well [in Alabama]

    Oh absolutely. One of my parents’ friends, who is Jewish and has a stereotypically Jewish name, is one of the nicest *and* most sensible people you’ll ever meet. Once she was in a fender-bender and the other driver broke down crying (she’d just started driving) and couldn’t do anything. My parent’s friend calmed her down, called the police, collected all the basic information both people needed, figured out how to deal with some logistical issues the other driver now had, and then presented all this to the police when they showed up in a typically Southern flurry or gratitude and politeness. The police’s response – after seeing her stereotypically Jewish name –

    “You’re the most Christian lady I’ve ever met.”

    Even she couldn’t think of anything to say to that.

  351. 351.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @Adam L Silverman: Adam, I have no doubt that some people refer to attorneys general as “General.” We heard that today. What I am saying is that, to a prescriptivist, it is an incorrect usage. It particularly grates on my ears because it militarizes the language and our government. The important part of the job is attorney, and general is a descriptor. Noun, adjective.

    Let general officers be generals. Let the others be what they are.

    As I said above, this is probably a losing battle. But I like to believe that words mean something, and those somethings are worth preserving. And I have a little bit of experience in these fields too.

    ETA: Links at #341

  352. 352.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Cheryl Rofer: @Steeplejack: This isn’t about how you write it, how you pluralize it, how you spell it, how you pronounce it, or how you make it a possessive. I am solely referring to the appropriate use of the terms in regard to rank and appellation in verbal address – formal and everyday/casual. When I was assigned at US Army Europe my boss was LTG (lieutenant general) Campbell. Unless being formally addressed – as in introduced, referred to in regard to his peers who are both senior and junior to him, he was referred to as General Campbell. Same thing for my day to day boss at USAWC who was a major general. Same thing with my colleagues who were lieutenant colonels. We didn’t walk around, when using rank, calling them Lieutenant Colonel So and So. We called the Colonel So and So. There are actually guide books for referring to US officials in terms of rank, appellation, title, and name. There is some fudge in it because the terms we use for the position are linguistic artifacts.

  353. 353.

    Corner Stone

    @Haroldo: It may have started over Oxford Commas. Or that may just have been an excuse to prolong the conflict. I can’t rightly say, any longer. All I know is it was bare knuckle skullduggery, brother against brother, pedant against pedant and ABL take the hindmost! Grammar War is Hell, I’m here to tell you.
    Don’t ever, EVER, let someone try to tell you you’re punctuation isn’t important. I’ve seen too many mediocre commenters bleed for the right to mangle their prose.

  354. 354.

    Steeplejack

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I’ve even seen this done with a surgeon general who was an actual serving US Navy officer.

    The military surgeons general are generals, in the military sense. They have come up through the officer ranks; they are not appointed from outside, as is the Surgeon General of the United States, who is the head of the Public Health Service and holds the rank of vice admiral (but not in the Navy). The Air Force and Army ones are three-stars, and I believe the Navy one is whatever the equivalent admiral rank is.

  355. 355.

    Mike J

    @Adam L Silverman: General is not the military rank in “Attorney General”. OED says “opposed to attorney special or attorney particular.” Military ranks have nothing to do with the AG.

  356. 356.

    Corner Stone

    @Mike J:

    OED says “opposed to attorney special or attorney particular.”

    Is that a thing? I wonder if I can become the state’s Attorney Special in charge of regulating gentlemen’s clubs?

  357. 357.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Mike J: General in regard to military rank meant/means the same thing. A lieutenant general isn’t a lieutenant specific, as in an actual lieutenant. Rather he is a lieutenant who is general to the force.

  358. 358.

    Steeplejack

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    I agree completely. I would go farther and say that I don’t even like the tradition of calling people “Governor” or “Senator” or “Congressman” long after they have held office (except perhaps on first reference). We’re supposed to be an egalitarian republic. “Mister” or “Ms.” should be fine. But I have accepted that as a lost cause.

  359. 359.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Steeplejack: The US Public Health Service is one of the 7 uniformed services of the United States. US Army, US Navy, US Air Force, US Marine Corps, US Coast Guard, US Public Health Service, and NOAA.

  361. 361.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @Adam L Silverman: The grammatical aspects do matter, to some of us anyway. I have no objections to the military usages. They changed long ago and are well-established. People understand what they mean.

    I DO object to the militarization of society, of which calling an attorney general “general” is one aspect. The office is that of an attorney, not a military officer. The grammatical formulation is of noun and postpositive adjective. The plural is attorneys general. And the person should be addressed, if you choose to use a title, as Mr./Ms. Attorney General.

  362. 362.

    Mike J

    @Adam L Silverman:

    lieutenant general isn’t a lieutenant specific, as in an actual lieutenant. Rather he is a lieutenant who is general to the force.

    I thought he was a lieutenant to a full general, and OED once again agrees with me.

    Etymology: After French lieutenant-général, in which the second word is historically an adjective qualifying the preceding noun. In English, however, and apparently also in French, general has been commonly apprehended as a noun.
    …
    2. One who acts as deputy to a general. In the British army, an officer in rank next below a general, and next above a major-general. †Also lieutenant-general of the ordnance.

  363. 363.

    Steeplejack

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I agree with everything you say in this comment, but it has nothing to do with the formal terms “surgeon general” and “attorney general.” You appear to be conflating the military usage of “general” with those terms, possibly affected by the fact that the military surgeons general are also “real” generals (or admirals, in case of the Navy and the PHS).

  368. 368.

    Haroldo

    @(((CassandraLeo))): Alas, the trap has been sprung. Gallons of ink will now be spilled, cases will be pied – and to what end? To be the boss dog / top cat of the placement of punctuation and/or diacritical marks? I fear this the is result my asking questions that should have been unasked. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Oh yeah, before I forget…..the Feebler Elf’s back door should be the repository/suppository of ebola-slathered chain saws.

  369. 369.

    Neddie Jingo

    Old Onion headline: “William Safire Enters Burger King, Orders Two Whoppers Junior.”

  371. 371.

    Sab

    @Adam L Silverman: My spouse will love you. He was Coast Guard during Vietnam. He served in the Great Lakes, but some of his buddies from boot camp were swift boaters. He is so tired of Coast Guard being ignored.

    Didn’t know about Public Health. Same issue.

    Thanks.

  372. 372.

    WVm

    @zhena gogolia:

    I don’t envy anyone who can watch this straight through to the end.

    It turns my stomach… I quit watching and started surfing the web really right after it started. Jefferson Beauregard is such an ambulatory anal cyst it grosses me out to see him trying to speak english.

  373. 373.

    WVm

    @zhena gogolia:

    That’s actually probably a true statement – Putin is a social cnservative – he wants to kill off teh gays, the dark people, all that’s socially conservative.

    He also wants to steal everything from the “people” which is typical conservative. Really, everything about Putin is as conservative as you would expect. He’s a little to the right of Trump as of today, isn’t he? Not as far right as Mitch “turtle” McConnell, perhaps, but right there with Newt “Boil-sucker” Giblets-eater Gingrich of Georgia.

  375. 375.

    J R in WV

    @Haroldo:

    When you said “cases will be pied’ it was the first time I have seen that usage in Years and years. Were you a printer at some time in your life long ago?

    I have never pied a case, but I have heard people laugh about other having pied a case long before. I worked in a hot type composing room long enough to learn how to run a Linotype, back in the early 1970s. A great chance to learn a swiftly disappearing skill before it vanished completely.

    The foreman could whistle with two fingers to get everyone’s attention in a shop filled with noisy iron machinery… I never did get the hang of that whistle. What a shame, I believe it’s gone now.

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