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You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / Here’s Your Next Future NY Corruption Prosecution

Here’s Your Next Future NY Corruption Prosecution

by John Cole|  June 16, 201710:40 am| 173 Comments

This post is in: Dolt 45

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Oh ffs:

She’s arranged tournaments at Trump golf courses, served as the liaison to the Trump family during his presidential campaign, and even arranged Eric Trump’s wedding.

Now President Trump has appointed longtime loyalist Lynne Patton — who has zero housing experience and claims a law degree the school says she never earned — to run the office that oversees federal housing programs in New York.

Patton was appointed Wednesday to head up the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Region II, which includes New York and New Jersey, where she’ll oversee distribution of billions of taxpayer dollars.

Given Trump’s extensive mob ties, I bet we can all guess where some of that money is going. I wish Wayne Barrett were still alive.

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Reader Interactions

173Comments

  1. 1.

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

    June 16, 2017 at 10:43 am

    Just watch. What happened over in the UK is going to happen in NYC.

    Also too, Trump just can’t help but dig himself deeper.

  2. 2.

    LAO

    June 16, 2017 at 10:45 am

    This is going to end well.

  3. 3.

    SFAW

    June 16, 2017 at 10:46 am

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

    Just watch. What happened over in the UK is going to happen in NYC.

    You talking Grenfell? Or something else?

  4. 4.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 16, 2017 at 10:46 am

    T regime appointments, its not what you know but who you know.

  5. 5.

    dr. bloor

    June 16, 2017 at 10:47 am

    Eric Schneiderman will be dead of sheer exhaustion by the time this regime is deposed.

  6. 6.

    Bruce K

    June 16, 2017 at 10:47 am

    Oh, goody. Someone else for Eric Schneiderman to give the once-over. I wonder if Sing Sing accepts female convicts?

  7. 7.

    The Dangerman

    June 16, 2017 at 10:47 am

    If ever Team Peach Pustule is fully investigated, we will have to build new prisons.

  8. 8.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 16, 2017 at 10:49 am

    The swamp is opening up a franchise in New York, it seems.

    This is what crony capitalism mixed with kleptocracy looks like.

  9. 9.

    SFAW

    June 16, 2017 at 10:49 am

    @LAO:

    This is going to end well.

    I was going to say “You could always move to LI,” but I guess she’d cover that area, too.

    But Hitlary’s e-mails!

  10. 10.

    Betty Cracker

    June 16, 2017 at 10:51 am

    Doesn’t one of the worthless Trumps have a dressage event ringmaster to appoint to head up FEMA? Kinda need someone in that spot. Hurricane season and all…

  11. 11.

    SFAW

    June 16, 2017 at 10:52 am

    @The Dangerman:

    If ever Team Peach Pustule is fully investigated, we will have to build new prisons.

    Good luck finding enough land for all that would be required.

    If it were the 18th or 19th Century, we could ship them all to Oz. (Sorry, Trowel!)

  12. 12.

    hovercraft

    June 16, 2017 at 10:54 am

    @? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?:
    They have to get by the city and state regulations. Wait what am I saying, NY and NJ are two of the most corrupt places in the country, hence the endless parade of officials being frog marched in front of the cameras. The only possible saving grace is that we hate Twitler so much, they may throw up road blocks just to fuck with her and him.

  13. 13.

    bemused

    June 16, 2017 at 10:55 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    Yes! Michael Brown. Bush praised him for his Katrina relief, “You’re doing a heck of a job, Brownie”.

  14. 14.

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

    June 16, 2017 at 10:56 am

    @SFAW: Grenfell Tower. It would fit Donnie’s incompetence. If the regs hadn’t been in place, I firmly believe he would have insisted that his buildings be built with the cheapest materials available

  15. 15.

    hovercraft

    June 16, 2017 at 10:58 am

    @Betty Cracker:
    Omarosa has been keeping a pretty low profile recently, perhaps she’s ready for more high profile position? Surely her Apprentice experience would fully qualify her? She’s proved herself to be a loyal serf.

  16. 16.

    Nicole

    June 16, 2017 at 10:59 am

    @Betty Cracker: No, but the owner of this year’s winner of the Kentucky Derby was his first choice for secretary of the Army. Truth.

    The guy turned it down because he wasn’t willing to divest himself of his business holdings. That was back in February, when he didn’t realize he wouldn’t have to; nobody else did.

  17. 17.

    amk

    June 16, 2017 at 10:59 am

    Obstruction of justice was the third article of impeachment against Bill Clinton in the House. And Newt Gingrich was Speaker of the House. https://t.co/ldDjphH05P— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 16, 2017

  18. 18.

    Seanly

    June 16, 2017 at 11:00 am

    My favorite part is how Trump seems to think that HUD is some kinda African American federal agency. Almost as sacrosanct to him as his insistence that people owe the USA money directly for not paying enough into NATO.

  19. 19.

    Aleta

    June 16, 2017 at 11:00 am

    So now can they stall her participation in the investigation of the Eric foundation? By trying to claim executive privilege because she’s now in the federal branch? (I seem to recall Nixon tried this for someone and took it to the Supreme Court before he lost.)

  20. 20.

    amk

    June 16, 2017 at 11:01 am

    "Justice official" insists on anonymity, hours after Justice Department says Americans should be skeptical of anonymous sources ??? https://t.co/yaE7kuZpUW— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 16, 2017

  21. 21.

    Nicole

    June 16, 2017 at 11:01 am

    @bemused: Though, technically, he wasn’t involved in Dressage; he was a judge of Arabian horses. So basically, an equine beauty pageant guy. If it’d been a Democratic administration, I’m sure FOX would have been all over his potential ties to terrorism, what with the Arab(ian) connection and all.

  22. 22.

    Amir Khalid

    June 16, 2017 at 11:02 am

    As hire As, Bs hire Cs, the saying goes; Trump is an F.

  23. 23.

    SatanicPanic

    June 16, 2017 at 11:03 am

    @Seanly: yeah, he’s got two black people in his entire admin, and they’re both in HUD and neither has any relevant experience. But they’re black so they must know stuff about urban areas appears to be Trump’s thinking.

  24. 24.

    gene108

    June 16, 2017 at 11:03 am

    @Nicole:

    The guy turned it down because he wasn’t willing to divest himself of his business holdings. That was back in February, when he didn’t realize he wouldn’t have to; nobody else did.

    I believe the rank-and-file Cabinet Secretaries still have to fill out financial disclosure forms. Some potential Trump picks do not want to do that.

  25. 25.

    Dr. Ronnie James, D.O.

    June 16, 2017 at 11:04 am

    Wayne Barrett is gone, but David Cay Johnston covered Trump for decades and wrote a book on him, and is still with us.

    This 2015 piece of his is like the Rosetta Stone of Trump scandals, and many of these questions are still unanswered:

    http://www.nationalmemo.com/21-questions-for-donald-trump/

  26. 26.

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

    June 16, 2017 at 11:05 am

    @Seanly: The tokenism was embarrassingly lost on me until you mentioned it. Same person during the campaign who tried to act as a shield for Trump and his supporters against accusations of rascism

  27. 27.

    germy

    June 16, 2017 at 11:08 am

    @Seanly:

    My favorite part is how Trump seems to think that HUD is some kinda African American federal agency.

    Well yeah. It’s got the word “urban” in it, so he thinks it’s America’s Dept of Black People.

    It sounds like a joke, but I’m serious.

  28. 28.

    rikyrah

    June 16, 2017 at 11:08 am

    Cole,

    I hope you and Steve have come to some sort of agreement :)

  29. 29.

    rikyrah

    June 16, 2017 at 11:09 am

    I read this on twitter yesterday.

    Burns me up.

    Putting completely unqualified people over there, to be the fall guys for when they loot HUD.

  30. 30.

    GregB

    June 16, 2017 at 11:10 am

    The coarse cynicism of this man and his lackeys, stooges and dupes is just so grotesque.

  31. 31.

    gene108

    June 16, 2017 at 11:15 am

    @rikyrah:

    I wonder how many HUD contracts get routed to the Trump Org and Kushner’s companies…

    HUD is some low hanging fruit for those crooks.

  32. 32.

    Kay

    June 16, 2017 at 11:15 am

    The senior Justice Department official with ultimate authority over the special counsel’s probe of Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 election has privately acknowledged to colleagues that he may have to recuse himself from the matter, which he took charge of only after Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ own recusal, sources tell ABC News.

    They should tell the public who is in charge of the investigation and what kind of resources they have devoted- whether it’s a priority or not. They should do that simply because voters have a vital interest in elections. If this were a state investigation- if there were proof that someone had interfered in “a” (single) state election process, the state official in charge would have to show voters that the state had it in hand- were working on it with some urgency because obviously there are always elections around the corner. That would be routinely expected. They don’t seem to have any sense of the PUBLIC interest in this investigation. The Senators said it at the hearing(s) but they have to SHOW it to people.

  33. 33.

    rikyrah

    June 16, 2017 at 11:15 am

    UW professor got it right on Trump. So why is he being ignored?
    Originally published June 14, 2017 at 6:00 am

    Professor Christopher Parker was one of the few to foresee Donald Trump’s win — and the likely reasons why. Not that people want to hear about it.

    By Danny Westneat
    Seattle Times staff columnist

    Ask Google the question “who predicted Trump winning the election?” and you get 19.3 million results.

    Most are about professors with oddball prediction systems, or the rare pollster who got it right, or the liberal filmmaker Michael Moore, who famously sent out a mass gut-level warning about Donald Trump’s appeal last summer.

    One name that doesn’t come up: Christopher Parker.

    “Nobody in the media has called me up and said ‘you were right,’ ” says Parker, a political-science professor at the University of Washington for the past 11 years.

    Parker has his suspicions about why he’s been overlooked, which we’ll get to in a minute. But first: He correctly foresaw in September 2015 that Trump would win the GOP nomination — eight months before Trump clinched it.

    Then, last September, Parker told anyone who would listen, which was not many, that Trump could well win the presidency. And now, most important, new research shows Parker was more than just prescient about the outcome. He was nearly alone in nailing why it would happen.

    “It’s what the data showed and what history would suggest, so I didn’t see it as some out-there guess,” Parker shrugs now. “It seemed like a no-brainer to me.”

    On Monday researchers released the most comprehensive survey data yet aimed at understanding what actually went down in Election 2016. The group includes academics but also right-leaning outlets such The Heritage Foundation and left-leaners like the Center for American Progress.

    What’s different about the Voter Study Group is that it tracks the attitudes and votes of the same 8,000 adults since before the 2012 election, and then throughout the 2016 election. So it’s like the nation’s largest, longest political focus group.

    The story we’ve told ourselves — that working-class whites flocked to Trump due to job worries or free trade or economic populism — is basically wrong, the research papers released this week suggest.

    They did flock to Trump. But the reason they did so in enough numbers for Trump to win wasn’t anxiety about the economy. It was anxiety about Mexicans, Muslims and blacks.

    Here’s how they put it in academese: “What stands out most, however, is the attitudes that became more strongly related to the vote in 2016: attitudes about immigration, feelings toward black people, and feelings toward Muslims,” writes George Washington University professor John Sides. He notes that the media focused on less-educated whites, but negative racial attitudes fueled by Trump were a big motivator for college-educated whites, too.

    A substantial share of Trump voters “appeared to embrace a conception of American identity predicated on birthplace and especially Christian faith,” Sides found.

    This is the drum Parker has been banging for years. His 2013 book on the tea party, “Change They Can’t Believe In,” with professor Matt Barreto (now at UCLA), used survey data to show it was not a small government movement as advertised. It was more about America being stolen from “real Americans” — a reaction triggered by the election of President Obama.

    “I’ve got three words for you: scared white people,” Parker says. “Every period of racial progress in this country is followed by a period of retrenchment. That’s what the 2016 election was about, and it was plain as it was happening.”

  34. 34.

    bemused

    June 16, 2017 at 11:22 am

    @Nicole:

    Ha, it’s kind of disturbing how easily it is to read wingnut minds and what nutty bs they will dream up.

  35. 35.

    Big Ole Hound

    June 16, 2017 at 11:22 am

    @Betty Cracker: “Good job Brownie”…memories!

  36. 36.

    Starfish

    June 16, 2017 at 11:22 am

    Are these terrible appointees going to get through, or do people vote against them because they are unqualified?

  37. 37.

    amk

    June 16, 2017 at 11:26 am

    now even the ‘establishment’ rethugs have started spouting twitler’s vile attack on media. chances of impeachment by these corrupt cowards moving towards nil.

  38. 38.

    Jeffro

    June 16, 2017 at 11:26 am

    @LAO: All of a sudden, HeckuvaJob Brownie looks over-qualified. Nice work, GOP!

    ETA: jesus, read the thread first, Jeffro

  39. 39.

    Geeno

    June 16, 2017 at 11:26 am

    @Bruce K: Bedford Hills is the women’s equivalent.

  40. 40.

    Chris

    June 16, 2017 at 11:27 am

    @rikyrah:

    Here’s how they put it in academese: “What stands out most, however, is the attitudes that became more strongly related to the vote in 2016: attitudes about immigration, feelings toward black people, and feelings toward Muslims,” writes George Washington University professor John Sides. He notes that the media focused on less-educated whites, but negative racial attitudes fueled by Trump were a big motivator for college-educated whites, too.

    Yep.

    Another thing that gets kinda lost in the whole “economic anxiety” narrative; wealthier and better-educated whites, by and large, went for the same things. Which makes perfect sense. Almost all of the right wingers I know have college degrees. It doesn’t make them any less racist. It just teaches them to be racist with bigger words and longer sentences.

  41. 41.

    TS

    June 16, 2017 at 11:27 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    T regime appointments, its not what you know but who you know.

    It’s not who you know, but who you are willing to praise as a great and powerful leader.

  42. 42.

    hovercraft

    June 16, 2017 at 11:29 am

    But the reason they did so in enough numbers for Trump to win wasn’t anxiety about the economy. It was anxiety about Mexicans, Muslims and blacks.

    Where are the new fangled font buttons Alain promised us?
    NO SHIT !!!!!!!!!!!!! I know we’re only dirty hippies but we’ve been telling you this for the past year to stop with the “ECONOMIC ANXIETY” Bullshit.
    Now can someone please shove this up BS ass so he can shut the fuck up? Thank you.

  43. 43.

    Boatboy_srq

    June 16, 2017 at 11:30 am

    What is it with Conservatistss that they all seem to value university degrees but can’t be arsed to work to obtain them?

  44. 44.

    Jack the Second

    June 16, 2017 at 11:32 am

    @gene108: Are the Trumps OK with minorities living in their buildings now?

  45. 45.

    Baud

    June 16, 2017 at 11:33 am

    Were there no surgeons available to fill this position at HUD?

  46. 46.

    bystander

    June 16, 2017 at 11:34 am

    @Big Ole Hound: Heckuva job, Brownie.

    Now we get treated to even lower forms of idiocy on a daily basis. Bush Jr is the New Churchill.

  47. 47.

    Boatboy_srq

    June 16, 2017 at 11:35 am

    @The Dangerman: I’m sure CCA and Wackenhut have spares. Which will hopefully be made federal properties through eminent domain.

  48. 48.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    June 16, 2017 at 11:35 am

    @rikyrah:

    This is my shocked face.

    @hovercraft:

    What’s a bro supposed to do with this info though? Look in a mirror?

  49. 49.

    amk

    June 16, 2017 at 11:36 am

    Trump Era Moment: EPA's Scott Pruitt, with 45 CEOs of largest oil and gas companies in the USA for private briefing. Profits, to Trump Hotel pic.twitter.com/aZICDHGjkk— Eric Lipton (@EricLiptonNYT) June 16, 2017

    It’s free for all 1%ers looting.

  50. 50.

    Peale

    June 16, 2017 at 11:39 am

    @amk: We already knew that their focus for 2018 is going to be running against the media, so its not surprising. They can’t really run against, say, Mexicans this time around since they need to claim that they’ve rounded all the dangerous ones up. Gays are still kind of off limits. They’ve supposedly put Blacks back in their place, so the threat from that quarter is over. So media, especially Jewish Media, is the way to go.

  51. 51.

    rikyrah

    June 16, 2017 at 11:42 am

    @gene108:

    HUD is some low hanging fruit for those crooks.

    True…but a pot of BILLIONS.. is still a pot of BILLIONS.

  52. 52.

    germy

    June 16, 2017 at 11:43 am

    good news from the NYT

    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has officially reversed his campaign pledge to deport the so-called Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as small children.

    The Department of Homeland Security announced late Thursday night that it would continue the Obama-era program intended to protect those immigrants from deportation and provide them work permits so they can find legal employment.

    A fact sheet posted on the department’s website says immigrants enrolled in the 2012 program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, “will continue to be eligible” to renew every two years and notes that “no work permits will be terminated prior to their current expiration dates.”

    Immigration rights activists, who have fiercely battled Trump’s travel ban and increased enforcement of other immigration laws, hailed the decision.

    “This is a big victory for Dreamers amid months of draconian and meanspirited immigration enforcement policy,” said David Leopold, an immigration lawyer. “The preservation of DACA is a tribute to the strength of the Dreamer movement and an acknowledgment — at least in part — by the Department of Homeland Security that it should not be targeting undocumented immigrants who have strong ties to their communities and have abided by the law.”

    The decision is a reversal from Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric during the campaign and is likely to disappoint some of the president’s most ardent supporters, who view program started by former President Barack Obama as an illegal grant of amnesty.

  53. 53.

    hovercraft

    June 16, 2017 at 11:44 am

    @Starfish:

    Are these terrible appointees going to get through, or do people vote against them because they are unqualified?

    They all get through. It’s all part of the project to shrink the government down to drown it in the bathtub. Making it more dysfunctional makes people hate it more, so this is all very helpful. The more unqualified the better. Think about it, Brownie and Ken Starr still get invited on TV to opine about shit, they’re not hiding away in shame.

  54. 54.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 16, 2017 at 11:46 am

    @TS: You forgot handsome.

  55. 55.

    Chris

    June 16, 2017 at 11:47 am

    @germy:

    Yeah, that’s today. Let’s see what he says tomorrow.

  56. 56.

    Starfish

    June 16, 2017 at 11:47 am

    @hovercraft: This is so depressing.

    Here is a Bernie voter who is sorry though.

  57. 57.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 16, 2017 at 11:48 am

    @SFAW: Until 1783 made it impossible, WE were the dumping ground for transportees. We got the religious nuts, the Aussies got the thieves and prostitutes. The Aussies got the better bargain.

  58. 58.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 16, 2017 at 11:54 am

    @germy: His ICE director has said though that any undocumented person can be deported, he doesn’t want to wait till they become criminals. Can we trust Vichy Times ?

  59. 59.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    June 16, 2017 at 11:54 am

    OT and possibly mentioned in an earlier thread:

    Nevertheless, she persisted:

    So it is a point of especially delicious irony that Scalise, who survived the attack (and is reportedly in critical condition), may owe his life to a queer black woman.

    Crystal Griner, a Capitol Police officer, was one of two special agents on Scalise’s security detail yesterday who helped take down shooter John Hodgkinson. People at the scene said that the two officers prevented an all-out “massacre” on the field that day, engaging in a firefight with Hodgkinson before killing him.

  60. 60.

    Chris

    June 16, 2017 at 11:54 am

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    We got the religious nuts, the Aussies got the thieves and prostitutes. The Aussies got the better bargain.

    If I had a wall of favorite quotes, this would be on it.

  61. 61.

    sukabi

    June 16, 2017 at 11:57 am

    @germy: why go after the kids when you get a “2fer” by going after the parents instead?

  62. 62.

    Peale

    June 16, 2017 at 11:58 am

    @germy: We’ll see what happens tomorrow, when the decision is reversed. But that’s the third immigration reversal. A few weeks ago, we started accepting refugees as well. No announcement that the changes that extreme vetting measures were put in place because Obama was just letting in every ISIS drug dealing thief and his uncle as long as they pledged allegiance to anyone but Jesus. H1-B lottery took place as well. The nativistst cannot be happy.

  63. 63.

    Mike in NC

    June 16, 2017 at 11:59 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: Last week’s episode of “American Gods” was all about the policy of Transportation to the New World. Very well made.

  64. 64.

    Chris

    June 16, 2017 at 12:01 pm

    @Peale:

    The nativistst cannot be happy.

    The nativists don’t know shit about shit. Never have, never will. As long as their god-king is telling them what they want to hear on Twitter, they’ll be fine.

    (And yes, I’m sure some of them will be made aware of this through their issue of Stormfront or whatever announcing that, gasp, shock, horror, Trump lied. But that megaphone isn’t going to out-shout Trump’s).

  65. 65.

    Davey C

    June 16, 2017 at 12:02 pm

    @SFAW:
    As a resident of LI, I find your suggestion that anybody might want to move here to be unnecessarily cruel and hurtful.

  66. 66.

    catclub

    June 16, 2017 at 12:03 pm

    @dr. bloor: I was wondering what Preet Bharara was working on when he was fired, and who is following up on those investigations.

  67. 67.

    tobie

    June 16, 2017 at 12:07 pm

    @Kay: I believe the next in the chain of command is Assoc AG Rachel Brand. Nominated by Trump, approved with a party-line vote, 52-47. Here’s a link to her wiki bio. Lawfare blog and the like should have more information on her. Neal Katyal describes her as brilliant but so does Sessions. She’s conservative but hopefully honest.

  68. 68.

    NickM

    June 16, 2017 at 12:07 pm

    Just had to put our beautiful Bernese Mountain dog girl to sleep. Ruby – 4 years old, full of life and she got cancer. Most loving pet I’ve ever had. So gentle with my little girls. I’m mostly a lurker but had to share bc you all know what it’s like and while most here are assholes you have a heart for pets. (JK)

  69. 69.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 16, 2017 at 12:08 pm

    @NickM: {{{ }}} May she RIP. Do you have any pictures to share, she sounds lovely.

  70. 70.

    Jim Parene

    June 16, 2017 at 12:10 pm

    @Chris: Excellent obsevation! I’m stealing this.

  71. 71.

    Immanentize

    June 16, 2017 at 12:11 pm

    I just saw that Rod Rosenstein might recuse himself from supervising the Mueller probe. Kinda makes sense because if the probe now includes obstruction (firing of Comey) he certainly would be a fact witness.

    Oh! what a tangled web we weave
    When first we practise to deceive!

  72. 72.

    Brachiator

    June 16, 2017 at 12:12 pm

    Now President Trump has appointed longtime loyalist Lynne Patton

    But, but, but … Trump claims that demands of “loyalty” are not important to him.

    Oh well, this will appeal to those Trump supporters who believe that expertise, training, intelligence and competence are nothing more than elitist frills.

    Meanwhile pundits will weakly debate whether Patton’s appointment is an example of running the country like a business or mere cronyism.

  73. 73.

    D58826

    June 16, 2017 at 12:15 pm

    from ABC a heart warming story of a man meeting the daughter he never knew he had. She was raise by a family member and thought her Mom was a step-sister. Need a bit ofgood news today

    https://www.yahoo.com/gma/dad-meets-daughter-never-knew-existed-40-years-122202368–abc-news-topstories.html?cid=social_twitter_abcn

  74. 74.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 16, 2017 at 12:18 pm

    @Jim Parene: Send all royalties to my favorite political action group, VoteVets.

  75. 75.

    Peale

    June 16, 2017 at 12:24 pm

    @rikyrah: O.K. but that still doesn’t quite explain why there aren’t enough democratic voters to overcome that issue and if there ever will be. I do agree that the Wilmerite half of the party would like a working class that concerned itself with economic issues. Heck they’d like to lead that discussion. They have always wanted to be the vaguard leading the proletariat to class consciousness after all. But the basic assumption was that other voters would respond to the naked white supremacy by rallying around an alternative set of values. That didn’t happen, either.

  76. 76.

    hovercraft

    June 16, 2017 at 12:27 pm

    @Starfish:
    That was interesting, I appreciate his apology and that the scales have fallen from his eyes and that the BS koolaid worn off, but it’s too late. Sometimes I’m sorry, I screwed up just isn’t enough, your screw up is just too great, there is no way to put what you broke back together. I’m not saying to tell people like him to go to hell. but they need to understand that actions have consequences, and apologizing is the first step, the next is to actually do something to make up for your mistake, work to make amends, we have another election coming up really fast so what’s he going to do to help take back the house and senate, what’s he going to do to encourage young people, especially those who like him drank the BR koolaid, how’s he going to make sure that they are woke, and ready to put their backs into creating the conditions for the changes we all so desperately want to see? Don’t just tell me you’re sorry, show me.

  77. 77.

    Karen

    June 16, 2017 at 12:32 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: There are days when I firmly believe that there is a “list” of worst possible people for job; but they are willing to brown nose, this is the list that orange one is using.

  78. 78.

    James Powell

    June 16, 2017 at 12:33 pm

    @GregB:

    The coarse cynicism of this man and his lackeys, stooges and dupes is just so grotesque.

    True, but we should never forget that nearly one-half of voters were certain then – and according to all reports remain certain now – that putting Trump and his lackeys, stooges, and dupes in the White House was a good idea.

    And we should never forget that every single Republican senator and congressperson fully and forcefully supports this man and his lackeys, stooges, and dupes and that this includes every supposedly moderate, reasonable, not a wing-nut Republican who is regularly quotes in the NYT and invited on the cable & Sunday shows to represent the ideas of competence & good faith.

    And we can never forget that none of this would have been possible without the NYT’s 24 year campaign of vilification against Hillary Clinton.

    NB – I exhale something like this once a week and I always feel a tiny bit better afterwards. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to vent in a safe place & manner.

  79. 79.

    Karen

    June 16, 2017 at 12:35 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?: thanks to known mob connects he did, many of which were built with corruption is normal

  80. 80.

    ruemara

    June 16, 2017 at 12:35 pm

    @NickM: Oh, I”m so sorry. There’s nothing half as fluffy and filled with joy like a Bernese Mountain Dog. I once had to film a promo with one and it was all I could do to not keep him. Deepest condolences to your lovely little girl. 4 years is too young.

  81. 81.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 16, 2017 at 12:36 pm

    @hovercraft: He did say that he voted for HRC in the general election. I don’t have a problem with people who supported someone other than HRC in the primaries but had sense enough to know that voting for her was the only viable choice in November – not Stein, not a write-in, not staying home. If he was unenthusiastic, I don’t really care; he voted for the only non-Trump option.

  82. 82.

    Laura

    June 16, 2017 at 12:38 pm

    @NickM: we assholes proudly wear our hearts on our sleeves.
    I’m so sorry that you made the difficult decision to spare your Ruby from suffering. Sending you a tender (((((hug))))).

  83. 83.

    Humdog

    June 16, 2017 at 12:38 pm

    @NickM: Very sorry for your loss. Four years is much too short.

  84. 84.

    D58826

    June 16, 2017 at 12:39 pm

    Man oh man a lot of tweeter activity about whither Mueller will be fired. Who would do it, how many DOJ people would refuse and resign or be fired, ABC reporting Rosenstein thinks he may have to recuse him self. That last item is raising speculation that Der Fuhrer has already asked the DAG to fire Mueller.

  85. 85.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    June 16, 2017 at 12:40 pm

    @NickM:

    So sorry for your loss.

  86. 86.

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

    June 16, 2017 at 12:41 pm

    @germy: Man, what a cuck Trump is! Think more will abandon him because of this?

  87. 87.

    D58826

    June 16, 2017 at 12:43 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I’ve voted for an unenthusiastic/lesser of two evils candidate in the past. BUT I voted.

    It would be nice if there was a hook in social media and letters to the editor that checked if you voted in the most recent election. If you didn’t vote then your comment would go where it belongs – the great circular file in the sky. NO play the game then NO right to complain.

  88. 88.

    James Powell

    June 16, 2017 at 12:45 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Professor Christopher Parker was one of the few to foresee Donald Trump’s win — and the likely reasons why. Not that people want to hear about it.

    People who are fearful bigots don’t want to hear that they are fearful bigots. They want to hear flattering euphemisms that makes them feel wise, good, honored. The people who publish & broadcast what passes for news are not in the business of making their readers & audiences feel bad about themselves.

  89. 89.

    rikyrah

    June 16, 2017 at 12:47 pm

    The Plum Line
    Trump is now under investigation, and he has no one to blame but himself
    By Greg Sargent June 15

    THE MORNING PLUM:

    The Post is reporting that President Trump is now personally under investigation by the special counsel for possible obstruction of justice, and this morning, Trump is in full meltdown-martyr mode over it. In a couple of tweets, he lashed out wildly at an unnamed “they,” who (raged Trump) failed to get him on collusion charges and are now trying to get him on “obstruction,” which he railed at as the “single greatest witch hunt in American history,” one that is “led by very bad and conflicted people.”

    But Trump’s own words and actions are what led directly to both the appointment of special counsel Robert S. Muller III and to the fact that Trump’s own conduct is now being scrutinized. What’s more, Trump’s claims of persecution should be taken as more than mere deflection or an effort to stoke his supporters’ grievances. They hint that Trump could still try to remove Mueller, a possibility that must be taken more seriously now that Trump is a target.

    ………………………..

    In other words, Trump’s own words, in multiple settings, are potentially key pieces of evidence against him. Trump publicly admitted he fired Comey because of unhappiness with the Russia investigation. Comey testified that Trump’s demand for “loyalty” came in the context of a conversation about whether Comey would continue to serve as FBI director at his pleasure. Comey also said he took Trump’s request that he drop the Flynn probe as “direction” and an “order.”

    Benjamin Wittes, editor of the Lawfare Blog, notes that it’s important to remember that, in obstruction investigations, the sum total or pattern of facts is often critical. “When you’re doing an obstruction investigation, all the facts are important,” Wittes told me today. A reasonable prosecutor, Wittes noted, won’t look at this “as a discrete series of interactions,” and instead is likely to ask, “Is there some pattern of behavior that constitutes obstruction? If you’re looking for a pattern of behavior that constitutes obstruction, you want to know the entire pattern.”

    To be sure, some of these facts are in dispute. Trump has denied demanding Comey’s loyalty, and his advisers have said (ludicrously) that Trump merely asked Comey to drop the Flynn probe.

  90. 90.

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

    June 16, 2017 at 12:47 pm

    @Peale: I think I have an explanation. Too many stupid and apathetic people live in this country. Sometimes I think if oligarchic dicatorship was established here, none of them would ever notice or care, unless they were affected. Maybe not even then, as they might rationalize any violations of their civil rights as the state protecting national security or whatever excuse the regime gave

  91. 91.

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

    June 16, 2017 at 12:49 pm

    @Peale: I think I have an explanation. Too many stupid and apathetic people live in this country. Sometimes I think if an oligarchic regime was established here, none of them would ever notice or care, unless they were affected. Maybe not even then, as they might rationalize any violations of their civil rights as the state protecting national security or whatever excuse the regime gave

  92. 92.

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

    June 16, 2017 at 12:50 pm

    @Karen: That’s unfortunate

  93. 93.

    Karen

    June 16, 2017 at 12:51 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: it is nearly impossible to find anything that hasn’t been whitewashed about the Puritans, children are taught these people came seeking religious freedom; not they were thrown out of country after country for their treatment of women. This was a group that practiced muzzling women by locking metal cages on their heads, some wore “slave” collars that leashes could be attached to when they left the house. The rule of thumb said that woman couldn’t be beaten with anything bigger around that husbands thumb.
    I had a college class whose sole focus was women and what treatment they received in “New World” there was a reason so many wives and daughters escaped to live with Native tribes.

  94. 94.

    Roger Moore

    June 16, 2017 at 12:54 pm

    @Boatboy_srq:

    What is it with Conservatistss that they all seem to value university degrees but can’t be arsed to work to obtain them?

    I think it reflects their general worldview. They value status symbols but only as symbols; they don’t care about how people get them. That’s why they respect inherited wealth as much, if not more, than earned wealth.

  95. 95.

    rikyrah

    June 16, 2017 at 12:56 pm

    @NickM:
    Sorry for your loss :(

  96. 96.

    D58826

    June 16, 2017 at 12:57 pm

    OKay down the rabbit hole and through the looking glass. Kat Tur is reporting on NBC –

    Exclusive: Trump personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, has hired his own counsel: Stephen Ryan, of McDermott, Will & Emery.- source w knowledge

    So now the lawyer has to lawyer up,. But isn’t he the same guy who told WH staffers they didn’t need a lawyer.
    https://twitter.com/KatyTurNBC/status/875751904105639936

  97. 97.

    Roger Moore

    June 16, 2017 at 12:57 pm

    @germy:

    good news from the NYT

    Let’s see how it plays out in practice before celebrating. I’m willing to bet that ICE still tries to deport people eligible for DACA, just without the fanfare of going after them as a group.

  98. 98.

    O. Felix Culpa

    June 16, 2017 at 12:59 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Putting completely unqualified people over there, to be the fall guys for when they loot HUD.

    Insightful observation. I was just hung up on the tokenism (blah people doing urban things), but this plausibly takes the plot even further.

  99. 99.

    Jim Parene

    June 16, 2017 at 1:01 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: I absolutely will! As soon as I can clear up my long standing financial difficulties. LOL!

  100. 100.

    Mike J

    June 16, 2017 at 1:05 pm

    @D58826: Also, Michael Caputo hired Dennis Vacco of Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman

  101. 101.

    O. Felix Culpa

    June 16, 2017 at 1:07 pm

    @NickM: Only four years old? It’s sad at any age, but so young is particularly hard. Heartfelt condolences.

  102. 102.

    LurkerNoLonger

    June 16, 2017 at 1:08 pm

    @D58826: Isn’t there some statistic that says there are 5 lawyers for every 1 American? If you work for Trump you just might need all 5.

  103. 103.

    sharl

    June 16, 2017 at 1:09 pm

    @NickM: I’m so sorry for your loss. My brother LOVES Bernese Mountain dogs; he’s on his third one. I don’t know what common characteristics are exhibited by the breed (other than being big dogs), but my brother’s have always been sweet and adorable goofs, and are one of the highlights of my visits to his home over the holidays.

  104. 104.

    TenguPhule

    June 16, 2017 at 1:09 pm

    @The Dangerman:

    If ever Team Peach Pustule is fully investigated, we will have to build new prisons.

    Jobs Program! Silver Lining!

  105. 105.

    TenguPhule

    June 16, 2017 at 1:10 pm

    @SFAW:

    Good luck finding enough land for all that would be required.

    Giant hollow plastic ball prisons anchored undersea.

  106. 106.

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

    June 16, 2017 at 1:12 pm

    @O. Felix Culpa: Interesting. But that doesn’t change the fact that Trump appointed this woman. He would still responsible because he would have had to have known she wasn’t qualified. Ball is back in his court

  107. 107.

    Tilda Swintons Bald Cap

    June 16, 2017 at 1:13 pm

    Seeing some tweets that there are intercepts of Newtie setting up meetings between the Russians and the Trump campaign.

  108. 108.

    TenguPhule

    June 16, 2017 at 1:15 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    We got the religious nuts, the Aussies got the thieves and prostitutes. The Aussies got the better bargain.

    Is it too late to trade?

  109. 109.

    O. Felix Culpa

    June 16, 2017 at 1:19 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?: Oh, perhaps I wasn’t clear in my remarks: Trump is definitely responsible for appointing a person he KNOWS is unqualified. It sets up a situation where he and his cronies can more easily loot HUD. So he gets a twofer: token POC plus unlimited government cash!

  110. 110.

    TenguPhule

    June 16, 2017 at 1:20 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?: Never forget or minimize Republican and Russian vote suppression and tampering. At the rate things are going and given how literally every other accusation flung out by Trump and the Republicans has turned out to be true about themselves, I fully expect to find at some point that Clinton actually would have gotten more votes in the three states that strangely swung towards Trump but for the vote counts and registrations that were altered.

  111. 111.

    SatanicPanic

    June 16, 2017 at 1:22 pm

    @Starfish: huh, that tweetstorm is kind of great

  112. 112.

    Chris

    June 16, 2017 at 1:28 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Totally this. (See also, flag lapel pins).

  113. 113.

    rikyrah

    June 16, 2017 at 1:34 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    His ICE director has said though that any undocumented person can be deported, he doesn’t want to wait till they become criminals.

    THEY SAID….they were only going to round up the CRIMINALS…

    THAT’S.WHAT.THEY.SAID.

    Not that I believed them, but, that’s how they sold this swill.

  114. 114.

    D58826

    June 16, 2017 at 1:37 pm

    @LurkerNoLonger: We will be lucky if the people who work for Der Fuhrer leave 5 for the rest of us.

  115. 115.

    Timurid

    June 16, 2017 at 1:38 pm

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

    I still can’t get my brain around that story.
    It looked more like a rocket blowing up on the launch pad than any kind of building fire…

  116. 116.

    D58826

    June 16, 2017 at 1:39 pm

    @TenguPhule: Aren’t there enough private prisons where they can be starved and beaten in?

  117. 117.

    Jeffro

    June 16, 2017 at 1:44 pm

    TOO LOL TOO BE TRUE: Trump’s Lawyer Has Hired His Own Lawyer (per The Hill)

  118. 118.

    Miss Bianca

    June 16, 2017 at 1:48 pm

    @rikyrah: Sounds like the same point I’ve heard Adam making. Yup. Scared white people could literally be the death of us all. : (

  119. 119.

    TenguPhule

    June 16, 2017 at 1:49 pm

    @D58826: Can’t trust the present owners not to coddle them as fellow scumsuckers. New underwater prisons with military guards is the only way to be sure they get what they deserve and get it good and hard.

  120. 120.

    TenguPhule

    June 16, 2017 at 1:50 pm

    @rikyrah:

    THEY SAID….they were only going to round up the CRIMINALS…

    Preemptive Crime Prevention.

  121. 121.

    TenguPhule

    June 16, 2017 at 1:53 pm

    White House without a plan to address debt ceiling

    The White House lacks a unified plan to increase the government’s borrowing cap as a likely September deadline is drawing near, said Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget.

    A failure by Congress to raise the debt ceiling could send dangerous shockwaves through the global economy. The federal government could be at risk of defaulting on obligations such as interest payments on bonds as well as temporarily halting benefit programs.

    The White House budget director suggested in an interview Thursday with reporters that neither the Trump administration nor Capitol Hill lawmakers have set their terms for an agreement.

    And remember folks, the actual deadline is the end of July.

    So I guess today is going to be at least a +3 for me.

  122. 122.

    opiejeanne

    June 16, 2017 at 1:59 pm

    McMegan on the Grenfell fire in London, and it’s her usual awful crap:

    People could have been saved but at what cost to other people

  123. 123.

    Miss Bianca

    June 16, 2017 at 1:59 pm

    @Starfish: Wow, that was cool to read.

  124. 124.

    The Moar You Know

    June 16, 2017 at 2:00 pm

    TOO LOL TOO BE TRUE: Trump’s Lawyer Has Hired His Own Lawyer (per The Hill)

    @Jeffro: Dude was in way over his head, his statement the other day showed that. At least, unlike our unlawfully elected president, he’s smart enough to know what he does not know and to get help.

    My advice would be “fire your client”, but I’m risk adverse. He’s probably (correctly) thinking that if he can keep Trump out of jail, he’ll have made his career. He’d be right, but that’s a rather high-stakes low-probability outcome from what I see at the moment.

  125. 125.

    Jeffro

    June 16, 2017 at 2:05 pm

    @TenguPhule: You know what would be a good plan to raise the debt ceiling? Just go. Ahead. AND RAISE THE EFFING DEBT CEILING!! Seriously GOP, you suck at this ‘governing’ thing. Not every issue is an opportunity to defund Planned Parenthood, or get rid of the minimum wage, or take away POCs’ right to vote. Jesus. Y’all already rang up the credit card and now you don’t want to pay the bill?!? Just. Raise. The. Damn. Thing.

  126. 126.

    Jeffro

    June 16, 2017 at 2:06 pm

    @The Moar You Know: I’m guessing we are 72 hours or less away from one of these clowns showing up on Bob Mueller’s doorstep drunk as a skunk and crying, wanting to ‘make it right’…

  127. 127.

    Miss Bianca

    June 16, 2017 at 2:06 pm

    @NickM: Berners never live long enough, but four years old is way too young. My condolences.

  128. 128.

    Roger Moore

    June 16, 2017 at 2:08 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    New underwater prisons with military guards is the only way to be sure they get what they deserve and get it good and hard.

    I’m surprised; I’d expect you to advocate mass executions as the most practical way to avoid prison overcrowding from everyone associated with Trump being convicted.

  129. 129.

    TenguPhule

    June 16, 2017 at 2:09 pm

    @Jeffro:

    Just go. Ahead. AND RAISE THE EFFING DEBT CEILING!!

    That would require them to schedule a vote. Which they have not yet done.

    They don’t just not have a plan, they don’t even have the initiative to start.

  130. 130.

    bystander

    June 16, 2017 at 2:10 pm

    @Jeffro: Per The Hill? Or The Onion?

  131. 131.

    TenguPhule

    June 16, 2017 at 2:10 pm

    @Roger Moore: We can extract value from them with their hard labor at the seaweed farms and salt mines. Those unable to fulfill their quotas get thrown out the airlock without a tank.

    ETA: Also jobs program to build the things.

  132. 132.

    catclub

    June 16, 2017 at 2:14 pm

    @D58826:

    But isn’t he the same guy who told WH staffers they didn’t need a lawyer.

    Nope, I think it was Marc Kasowitz who was telling staffers that.

    Cohen is probably lawyering up because he was involved in the Ukraine peace/ceasefire scam – so mixed up with Russian kleptocrats.

  133. 133.

    Jeffro

    June 16, 2017 at 2:15 pm

    @bystander: Is there even a difference anymore?

  134. 134.

    Jeffro

    June 16, 2017 at 2:16 pm

    @D58826: My bad, you got there first (about Cohen). I am in a bad habit of not looking upthread today for some reason.

  135. 135.

    D58826

    June 16, 2017 at 2:16 pm

    @catclub: so many lawyers so few brain cells to keep them straight. At least when you go to a ballgame you can buy a scorecard to keep everything straight

  136. 136.

    The Moar You Know

    June 16, 2017 at 2:17 pm

    Just had to put our beautiful Bernese Mountain dog girl to sleep. Ruby – 4 years old, full of life and she got cancer. Most loving pet I’ve ever had. So gentle with my little girls. I’m mostly a lurker but had to share bc you all know what it’s like and while most here are assholes you have a heart for pets. (JK)

    @NickM: I am truly sorry. Bernese are the sweetest dogs ever. Every one I meet at the dog park ends up sitting on my feet within five seconds of the first pet on the head.

  137. 137.

    sukabi

    June 16, 2017 at 2:18 pm

    @D58826: no, think it was the other one Kasowick or something…the one that looks like he’s Drumpf doctors long lost twin.

  138. 138.

    The Moar You Know

    June 16, 2017 at 2:19 pm

    I’m guessing we are 72 hours or less away from one of these clowns showing up on Bob Mueller’s doorstep drunk as a skunk and crying, wanting to ‘make it right’…

    @Jeffro: First guy to jump gets immunity. I’d bet cash money someone’s already done this.

  139. 139.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 16, 2017 at 2:19 pm

    @Roger Moore: Exactly! For immigration related news Greg Siskind and Alt_Immigration Twitter feeds have been more reliable than Vichy Times.

  140. 140.

    catclub

    June 16, 2017 at 2:19 pm

    @rikyrah:

    UW professor got it right on Trump. So why is he being ignored?

    possibly because without Comey’s Oct 26 announcement, Clinton wins. Did he predict THAT, also?

    Yes, he is right on the trends that led to it being closer than Obama’s wins, but without Comey’s announcement, she wins.

  141. 141.

    Heidi Dog

    June 16, 2017 at 2:20 pm

    @NickM: So very sorry for your loss.

  142. 142.

    sukabi

    June 16, 2017 at 2:22 pm

    @rikyrah: and in their view anyone crossing the border without the proper papers is criminal, so they are doing EXACTLY what they said.

  143. 143.

    debit

    June 16, 2017 at 2:22 pm

    @NickM: I am so sorry. It’s hard enough when it’s an elderly pet, but only four years is just heart wrenching.

  144. 144.

    D58826

    June 16, 2017 at 2:24 pm

    @TenguPhule: On a serious note we do have an expensive under utilized prison that the GOP demanded that we keep open fore the worst of the worst. It’s GITMO. On the bright side it is located on a nice tropical island. Of course on the down side the current occupants do want that pesky call to prayer 5 times a day. They would have do a bit of fixing up to remove the arrow facing east to Mecca. But for Jared they could shift it a bit to point to Jerusalem. For Ivanka they could install one on a pivot so it could always point to the city with most current fashion shows. For Der Fuhrer it would just point straight DOWN.

    Just goes to show that it was one more thing that Obama failed to think thru when he wanted to close the prison but YRTLE and ZEGS in their far sighted wisdom stopped them.

  145. 145.

    D58826

    June 16, 2017 at 2:28 pm

    @The Moar You Know: MY sister had 4 burners over the past decade and had to put them all down. Two were getting up there in years but the other two were relatively young. Now they just have an all american rescue. I never really notice any difference when it came to mooching off the table at dinner. Of course when she had the 3 it was a bit of an assembly line.

  146. 146.

    D58826

    June 16, 2017 at 2:39 pm

    @opiejeanne: Since the victims where ‘those’ people I guess you wouldn’t want to burden the right kind of people.

    Seriously she is sick.

    It hasn’t been mentioned but as I watched the video the T word lurked in the background. After all if you can use a care, truck, hammer or knife why not a molotov cocktail. After all you had a building with a lot of code violations and a flammable curtain wall. Get a job as a maintenance guy so you know where to shut off an alarms/sprinklers. Jam open the elevator doors on a number of floors and then go down the fire tower(s) opening door and spreading gasoline. When you reach the bottom soak the curtain wall and then toss a match.

    So whither it was arson/terrorism or just an accident, in all my years of watching news reports of building fires I’ve never seen a building burn like a roman candle as that one did

  147. 147.

    Chris

    June 16, 2017 at 2:47 pm

    @D58826:

    On this note – the Navy hates Gitmo. I know a person who used to work on Cuban affairs in the State Department, and every Navy person he spoke to about the base confirmed that it’s useless, does nothing but cost money, and if we finally give it back to the Cubans some day, they won’t miss it. Gitmo had literally no purpose other than being a thorn in Castro’s ass until Donald Rumsfeld found one.

    (Which is a good thing to keep in mind when you get to Colonel Jessup’s “you need me on that wall” speech the next time you see “A Few Good Men” – actually, no, we don’t. We really, really don’t).

  148. 148.

    D58826

    June 16, 2017 at 2:47 pm

    reading this thread and by the time your done it is the legal equivalent of ‘Who’s on First’ when trying to keep track if the players/lawyers, what part of each investigation they have to recuse themselves from, and what is the reason for the recusal.
    https://twitter.com/SethAbramson

  149. 149.

    Timurid

    June 16, 2017 at 2:48 pm

    @Jeffro: Will he bring a dozen roses or a machete?

  150. 150.

    D58826

    June 16, 2017 at 2:49 pm

    @Chris:

    Gitmo had literally no purpose other than being a thorn in Castro’s ass until Donald Rumsfeld found

    Yep I knew in the pre-911 days it was there to raise Castro’s blood pressure 20-30 points.

  151. 151.

    Mnemosyne

    June 16, 2017 at 2:50 pm

    @D58826:

    Honestly, speculation like that is letting the people in charge off the hook for their actions. You sound like the 9/11 troofers who were convinced that the Twin Towers couldn’t possibly have collapsed because of the fire because everybody knows metal doesn’t burn, duh!

    As other people have mentioned, this kind of outside cladding has caused similar fires in places like Las Vegas with similarly awful results. No need to invent some “bad guys” when human greed, neglect, and stupidity are sufficient explanation.

  152. 152.

    Roger Moore

    June 16, 2017 at 2:52 pm

    @TenguPhule:
    If we raise the estate tax to 90+%, then mass executions could provide funding for all kinds of government programs.

  153. 153.

    TriassicSands

    June 16, 2017 at 2:52 pm

    This is only peripherally about the Bully-in-Chief.

    The other day a commenter expressed amusement that reporters were now enumerating exactly how many anonymous sources they had in putting together a story.

    Here is the latest edition from the WaPo:

    But Pence’s political balance-beam routine is showing signs of strain, according to a portrait of the vice president culled from interviews with 17 aides, advisers, friends, allies and Republican operatives.

    Seventeen! Well, I guess if 17 anonymous sources say it’s true, then, by golly, it’s true. Who will be the first to 100?

  154. 154.

    opiejeanne

    June 16, 2017 at 2:53 pm

    Dammit. This is McMegan’s article about how it’s too expensive to make other people safe: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-06-16/beware-of-blaming-government-for-london-tower-fire

  155. 155.

    Mnemosyne

    June 16, 2017 at 2:55 pm

    @opiejeanne:

    As I said above, someone with a Twitter account needs to ask McMegan why the Republican reps didn’t charge the gunman like she advised 6-year-olds to do in case of a mass shooting.

  156. 156.

    The Moar You Know

    June 16, 2017 at 2:56 pm

    As other people have mentioned, this kind of outside cladding has caused similar fires in places like Las Vegas with similarly awful results.

    @Mnemosyne: Seven different multistory building burns that I know of with this exterior cladding, all with identical results (building goes up like a rocket) although less loss of life due to sprinklers or luck. Very unlikely this was due to a bad guy. All it takes is a bad wire in the wall and that’s the ballgame.

    Think most countries don’t allow the stuff.

  157. 157.

    Chris

    June 16, 2017 at 2:57 pm

    @D58826:

    I seriously doubt if we raised his blood pressure as much as he raised that of our leadership (and our right wing). Dude outlasted ten freaking presidents. Don’t like him one bit, but that’s fucking impressive.

  158. 158.

    TenguPhule

    June 16, 2017 at 2:59 pm

    @Roger Moore: This is true and a very compelling point that may need to be considered.

  159. 159.

    hovercraft

    June 16, 2017 at 2:59 pm

    London fire: May offers £5m to victims amid criticism of response

    Prime minister offers cash and help with housing to victims and visits scene of deadly blaze after initial response criticised

    Theresa May has announced a package of measures to help the families affected by the Grenfell Tower fire, including £5m of cash handouts to be distributed to residents, after the government received more criticism over its botched response to the disaster.

    After being widely denounced for failing to meet victims face to face, the prime minister paid two visits to the scene of the deadly blaze on Friday. She met victims at a nearby hospital before returning to Downing Street to chair a two-hour crisis meeting of cabinet ministers – including the home secretary, Amber Rudd, and the communities secretary, Sajid Javid – to agree what action should be taken.

    ……………The £5m fund will be distributed by the local council to help affected families pay for anything they need, including funeral costs. May said it would give victims the “immediate support they need to care for themselves and for loved ones” and said support measures would be constantly reviewed to see what more was needed.

    “Everyone affected by this tragedy needs reassurance that the government is there for them at this terrible time – and that is what I am determined to provide,” she said……………

    Several senior ministers, including Javid and the leader of the House of Commons, Andrea Leadsom, were dispatched to the scene on Friday to underline the government’s determination to meet the needs of affected residents. But Leadsom was heckled by local people asking why the prime minister hadn’t come to hear about the impact of the blaze for herself.

    As Leadsom was interviewed on Sky News, one man asked: “Sadiq Khan, Corbyn, have come down here, not with all these bodyguards and police, they’ve come down here and spoke to people, and actually, down to the level. Why is Theresa May coming down here, with a load of police, not meeting anyone?”

    I guess to her, throwing some money from the sofa cushions counts as a show of compassion. Just wow.

  160. 160.

    Mnemosyne

    June 16, 2017 at 3:01 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    Like I keep saying, the thing that really makes me angry is that the residents were complaining about the fire hazards and warning the management and local government that something like this could happen, and nobody listened to them.

  161. 161.

    opiejeanne

    June 16, 2017 at 3:05 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Sorry I missed that. She’s such an idiot.

  162. 162.

    The Moar You Know

    June 16, 2017 at 3:06 pm

    I guess to her, throwing some money from the sofa cushions counts as a show of compassion. Just wow.

    @hovercraft: Like I said earlier, she is giving Trump a run for his money as worst national leader ever. She has all of Thatcher’s humanitarianism combined with the social skills of an angry pit viper.

    Like I keep saying, the thing that really makes me angry is that the residents were complaining about the fire hazards and warning the management and local government that something like this could happen, and nobody listened to them.

    @Mnemosyne: I was just there a few months ago. It’s a poor spot in the middle of some of the world’s most expensive housing. I am not in any way surprised they were ignored.

  163. 163.

    hovercraft

    June 16, 2017 at 3:06 pm

    @TriassicSands:
    I thik the record is the story a couple of months back that had 30 annonymous sources. Inside Trumps Anger and Impatience from the Wa Post. which relied on “the private accounts of more than 30 officials at the White House”

  164. 164.

    opiejeanne

    June 16, 2017 at 3:11 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I just tweeted at her, why she didn’t ask them why they didn’t charge the gunman.

  165. 165.

    KithKanan

    June 16, 2017 at 3:13 pm

    I guess to her, throwing some money from the sofa cushions counts as a show of compassion. Just wow.

    @hovercraft: Seriously. Given that…

    Like I keep saying, the thing that really makes me angry is that the residents were complaining about the fire hazards and warning the management and local government that something like this could happen, and nobody listened to them.

    @Mnemosyne:
    …the number should be more like £5m each and that would still be grossly inadequate compensation for the callous indifference to human life at multiple levels that caused this.

  166. 166.

    trollhattan

    June 16, 2017 at 3:14 pm

    @NickM:
    :-( That’s so sad, I hope you and your little girls especially can get over the pain of losing such a wonderful friend. I’ve known a few and can’t name a more engaging breed.

  167. 167.

    Uncle Cosmo

    June 16, 2017 at 3:25 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: They got the Irish too (post-1798)*. You might want to recalibrate your conclusion.

    * ETA: I meant the Irish rebels & cutpurses. We got the ones who were mostly hungry.

  168. 168.

    David Anderson

    June 16, 2017 at 3:25 pm

    @Betty Cracker: Look on the bright side — there are two tropical systems forming in the Atlantic basin right now:

    https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/two-named-storms-may-be-forming-atlantic

  169. 169.

    TriassicSands

    June 16, 2017 at 3:26 pm

    @hovercraft:

    Thanks! I’ll make a note of that as I watch for the count to reach triple figures.

    I am curious. Do 30 sources make a story 1.764705882352941 times as reliable as a mere 17?

  170. 170.

    henqiguai

    June 16, 2017 at 3:40 pm

    @TriassicSands(#168): No, it’s 1.764705882352942 times as reliable as a mere 17.

  171. 171.

    TriassicSands

    June 16, 2017 at 3:59 pm

    @henqiguai:

    Check your math. I divided it out by hand and it comes to —
    1.76470588235294117 or rounding off it is 1.7647058823529412
    but the one still stands.

    And I have 127 sources — mathematicians, physicists, cpas, and elementary school students who agree.

  172. 172.

    henqiguai

    June 16, 2017 at 7:02 pm

    @TriassicSands (#171):

    Check your math. I divided it out by hand and it comes to…

    And you’re assuming, I presume, that I was being serious. Au contraire, I was being a flyby smartass.

  173. 173.

    TriassicSands

    June 16, 2017 at 7:14 pm

    @henqiguai:

    Well done. That just goes to show you (and me) that snark is not always apparent, especially on a site where people correct others (and I’ve done that).

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