the all-female robotics teams from Afghanistan got their visas to compete in Washington, D.C. Amazing.
— deborah amos (@deborahamos) July 13, 2017
Per the Washington Post:
A group of Afghan teenage girls will be allowed to travel to the United States to partake in an international robotics competition after their visa applications were denied twice, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
A Homeland Security Department spokesman said in an email that the agency had approved a request from the State Department for the six girls on the robotics team and their chaperone to enter the country and attend the competition, which is set to bring teams from more than 160 countries to Washington next week…
Members of a robotics team from Gambia were also granted visas Wednesday after being previously being barred from entering, as the Associated Press reported. Teams from Syria, Iran and Sudan, all countries included in Trump’s travel ban, have not faced similar setbacks…
The girls wrote on their competition page: “We want to make a difference, and most breakthroughs in science, technology and other industries normally start with the dream of a child to do something great. We want to be that child and pursue our dreams to make a difference in people’s lives.”
Another piece of good news?:
This day is so crazy I forgot that the House Rules Chairman said the Russia sanctions bill will not get to the floor without amendment.
— Niels Lesniewski (@nielslesniewski) July 11, 2017
Reuters (process-intensive) story here.
Apart from Trump’s latest rage-tweet, what’s on the agenda for the new day?
************
Below the fold, for those of us who prefer to start our mornings with Bruce Jay Friedman’s “big slug of Clamato and a slice of liverwurst”, some of the choicer recent Trump-related sniping…
Mr. Charles P. Pierce, at Esquire, “How Much More Absurdity Can You Handle?”:
… Almost all of the recent Times exclusives were sourced to what appeared to be people within the White House or, at least, to people close enough to it to know the details of a very closely held meeting. Is Team Jared out for blood? Is there some sort of weird Oedipal thing playing out with Junior? Is Tiffany behind it all, bred from birth for vengeance like Mordred to Marla Maples’ Morgan Le Fay? The boggled mind further boggles.
The government of the United States is a shambles. An incompetent administration headed by an unqualified buffoon is now descending into criminal comedy and maladroit backstabbing. It is an administration that not only self-destructs, but glories in the process. There seems to be no end to it, and no desire to end it by the people who actually have the power to do so. That, in itself, seems curious, and it probably should remind us all that Paul Ryan’s Super PAC was hip-deep in the borscht itself. Ryan, who really is the person best situated to close the circus down, seems to be afflicted with one of his periodic bouts of invisibility, poor lad.
There’s a great unfolding treason now—not just the precise constitutionally defined treason, but a general betrayal of reason, of self-government, of honesty and of high office. They are now committing treason against themselves, grim betrayal winding around itself in coils ever tightening until there is nothing but the foul exhaling of the final breath of things that once belonged to better people than them.
Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman, at the NYTimes, “Rancor at White House as Russia Story Refuses to Let the Page Turn”
… The Russia story has become the brier patch from which the president seemingly cannot escape. It dominated his trip to Europe last week and, after he leaves on Wednesday night for a couple of days in France, it may dominate that trip as well. Every time Mr. Trump tries to put the furor behind him, more disclosures thrust it back onto the Washington agenda…
Advisers said the president was annoyed not so much by his son as by the headlines. But three people close to the legal team said he had also trained his ire on Marc E. Kasowitz, his longtime lawyer, who is leading the team of private lawyers representing him. Mr. Trump, who often vents about advisers in times of trouble, has grown disillusioned by Mr. Kasowitz’s strategy, the people said.
The strain, though, exists on both sides. Mr. Kasowitz and his colleagues have been deeply frustrated by the president. And they have complained that Mr. Kushner has been whispering in the president’s ear about the Russia investigations and stories while keeping the lawyers out of the loop, according to another person familiar with the legal team. But one person familiar with Mr. Kasowitz’s thinking said his concerns did not relate to Mr. Kushner.
The president’s lawyers view Mr. Kushner as an obstacle and a freelancer more concerned about protecting himself than his father-in-law, the person said. While no ultimatum has been delivered, the lawyers have told colleagues that they cannot keep operating that way, raising the prospect that Mr. Kasowitz may resign…
The Washington Post, “‘Category 5 hurricane’: White House under siege”:
… President Trump — who has been hidden from public view since returning last weekend from a divisive international summit — is enraged that the Russia cloud still hangs over his presidency and is exasperated that his eldest son and namesake has become engulfed by it, said people who have spoken with him this week…
One friend of Trump Jr.’s said the presidential son saw the Hannity appearance as an opportunity to give his version of Richard Nixon’s “Checkers” speech, a 1952 address in which the then-vice-
presidential candidate defended himself against accusations of financial improprieties…A handful of Republican operatives close to the White House are scrambling to Trump Jr.’s defense and have begun what could be an extensive campaign to try to discredit some of the journalists who have been reporting on the matter.
But one outside adviser said a campaign against the press when it comes to Trump Jr.’s meeting could be futile: “The meeting happened. It’s tough to go to war with the facts.”…
Politico, “White House aides feeling ‘helpless’ as Trump Jr. scandal explodes”:
… Unlike prior Russia-related controversies, the White House is not minimizing the political ramifications of Trump’s eldest son’s decision to meet with the Kremlin-linked lawyer after being offered information that he was told would “incriminate” Hillary Clinton as “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”
But top West Wing aides are exasperated by their limited ability to steer the damage control and the risk that more damaging news has yet to emerge.
One Trump adviser said the White House is “essentially helpless” because the conduct happened during an “anything goes” campaign that had few rules. This person said he had spoken to several people in the White House on Tuesday and that “none of them knew anything about Donald Trump Jr.’s meetings,” despite the fact that top adviser Jared Kushner was also present for the controversial Trump Tower sit-down…
There’s also tension inside the White House as Vice President Mike Pence’s communications team issued its own statement, appearing to distance Pence from the president. Some West Wing aides felt particularly bruised by the line that he’s “not focused on stories about the campaign, particularly stories about the time before he joined the ticket,” seeing it as casting guilt on the part of the campaign, according to a White House official….
“Infamy! Infamy! Everybody’s got it in fa’ me!”
Paul Waldman, in the Washington Post, on “A Confederacy of Dingbats”:
… When a scandal breaks in Washington, what we often discover is not a finely constructed conspiracy with multiple moving parts and a sinister genius pulling the strings, but stunning overconfidence and outright buffoonery. The question that often comes up is “How the hell were they dumb enough to think they could get away with that?” That happens even when you’re talking about very smart people (Richard Nixon, after all, was extremely smart).
But in this case, we aren’t talking about smart people, particularly the guy in charge. He’s the one, after all, who thought he could put the squeeze on the FBI director to make the scandal disappear, then fire the director when he wouldn’t pledge his loyalty, then go on national television and brag that he fired the director because he wanted the Russia scandal to go away. It doesn’t get much dumber than that.
And at the moment of its greatest peril (so far anyway), Trump’s White House descends into disarray, backstabbing and outright terror as staffers start to lawyer up and wonder how they’re going to escape their current employment without being publicly disgraced (at a minimum)…
Baud
The Afghani thing is good news and show that they aren’t completely immune to public perception.
SiubhanDuinne
Thrilled for the Afghan and Gambian girls!
Viva BrisVegas
Carry On Cleo! One of the classics.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
I keep hearing about this rage and it always makes me wonder. Does he understand that his own meetings with Russians, his years of money-laundering, his loans from Russian banks, etc, actually happened? What is going on in his head when he screams “lies” about factual events that he was personally involved in?
Quinerly
Good morning Baud! You might smile to learn that when I picked up Poco from school yesterday, he was doing tricks in the lobby…completely oblivious to the other doggies coming and going around him. He’s getting into shape for the campaign trail…shaking hands, licking babies. Baud/Poco 2020!
rikyrah
Good Morning,Everyone ???
rikyrah
@Quinerly:
Yeah Poco???
p.a.
Good morn!
What? They’ve been at war with inconvenient facts for generations now. Successfully (electorally).
OzarkHillbilly
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: The “lies” he is screaming about is that there was anything wrong with all those secret meetings, under the table money deals, and whatever else has yet to come to light. He has been operating this way his whole life and bullying thru countless law suits with a billion dollar war chest and his big brother lawyer to beat up his opponents with. He really doesn’t understand that he is in a new game now played by entirely different rules.
Baud
@Quinerly: Excellent. I’ve been thinking of going to human training school in order to prepare for 2020. I could use some tips.
@rikyrah: Good morning.
NorthLeft12
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: My take on Deadbeat Donald’s rage over the mess is that he actually believes it should not be a source of criticism of him for one or more of the following reasons;
1. It’s over and done with/he got away with it so lets move on people!
2. Minor administrative rules like that don’t apply to people like him.
3. Why aren’t all the great things he is doing getting more attention so that people just forget about this Russia nonsense.
NorthLeft12
@OzarkHillbilly: Well said OH. I guess I could have added that as a fourth reason….stupidity, ignorance, arrogance, and incompetence. But I believe they have been established as Deadbeat Donald’s personal baseline by now.
debbie
Even better than that Colbert clip above was the lead-in bit about the search for a new voice for Kermit the Frog. Take a look.
debbie
Funny that there have been no Tweets trying to blame this intraleakage on outside sources, like the crooked media or fake news.
?BillinGlendaleCA
Fly, little birdie, fly.
OzarkHillbilly
@NorthLeft12:
I thought those went without saying. :-)
Iowa Old Lady
@Quinerly: Poco is a natural! What a good doggie.
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: Or tellingly, Mueller’s team.
TriassicSands
Whoever said that knows nothing about Donald J. Trump.
Trump never met a fact he wouldn’t nuke if it got in his way.
MomSense
@Baud:
Probably best if you leave the baby licking to Poco.
Baud
@MomSense: But they’re so tasty!
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Baud:
Actually, I tend to think of it as bad news, a huge deterioration in the rule of law. That should have been granted at a much lower decisionmaking level – it should not have taken a massive outcry to move senior leadership to act.
Iowa Old Lady
Forgive the Shameless Self Promotion, but here’s a site that posted the first chapter of one of my books yesterday. If you’re inclined, you can see what I spend my time on.
Just One More Canuck
@Baud: Maybe it’s because I’m Canadian and we’re more polite, but I’m not sure that licking babies is a good campaign strategy
Baud
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: In the current situation, this isn’t a drop in the rule of law ocean.
TriassicSands
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the greatest of them all?”
Quinerly
@rikyrah:
Good morning! Poco sends out wide wags with his fluffy tail.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
Trump’s saving that one in case nothing else works.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Yup, that ship sailed 11/9/2016.
MomSense
@Iowa Old Lady:
Oh cool. I do enjoy YA novels.
Quinerly
@Iowa Old Lady:
He has tried to put the peeing incident behind him. We don’t discuss it anymore.
debbie
@Baud:
Yes, I think this is more of an immigration fight than a rule of law fight. Every little bit helps.
Baud
@Quinerly: I thought you were talking about me at first.
TriassicSands
@debbie:
More, I want more.
Baud
Today show just now — we don’t yet know why the climate is changing.
MomSense
@Baud:
Really? Which genius said that?
Baud
@MomSense: It wasn’t one the the regulars. It was a report on that ice shelf that broke off in Antarctica.
satby
@Baud: @SiubhanDuinne: This is the best news I’ve woken up to in a while. Glad someone saw reason!
frosty
@Baud: Don’t go to the school where Romney and Cruz graduated.
Patricia Kayden
“The government of the United States is a shambles.”
Not really. A new FBI Director is getting his hearing and may be easily confirmed. Trump Care may pass. Trump is in France for a state visit. If it wasn’t for the fact that Trump is incompetent beyond belief, he would be getting his agenda (tax cuts for the rich, repeal of the ACA, deregulation) through easily. Thank goodness that he’s such an ignoramus. That’s the only thing that’s saving us.
satby
@rikyrah: Good morning ☕
@Baud: OMFG
Shalimar
@NorthLeft12: Narcissists don’t need logical reasons to fly into a rage when you challenge them on something. Their entire self-worth hinges on everything they do being by definition the right thing.
Quinerly
@Baud:
I don’t know about you, but my Poco was fully vetted. Are your shots up to date?
bystander
@Just One More Canuck: No offense but maple-flavored babies are very unappetizing.
Quinerly
“Fresh Air” (Terry Gross NPR) show today is on Roger Stone. (please, spare me the NPR hate comments. My old habits die hard.?)
Patricia Kayden
@Baud: @SiubhanDuinne: So maybe we will get more reasonable decisions about who can visit this country in the future. Banning teenaged girls just didn’t make any sense whatsoever from a security point of view.
Quinerly
@bystander:
I do make these fabulous BOURBON maple BACON pops. Think cut bacon, threaded on a skewer…lightly broiled. Eat like a popsicle. Yum.
Kay
@Patricia Kayden:
Trump is terrible but the people who can’t pass legislation are the GOP Congress. Trump doesn’t give a shit what’s in that health care bill. They could pass a one page bill that repeated “sell insurance across state lines” 200 times and he’d say it was terrific and awesome and better than Obamacare.
He’ll sign anything. They can’t pass anything. It should be EASIER to get it done with Trump as President- he demands absolutely nothing. The bar is really fucking low and they can’t even crawl over it.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
About Kasowitz resigning: he wouldn’t have stayed this long if Trump weren’t keeping up with the bills (against his standard business practices). But good luck trying to collect a penny more if he resigns.
Time for Mr. No-ties-to-Russia-lies-all-lies to add a team of Russian lawyers. Maybe Vlad already made the offer.
bystander
@Patricia Kayden: I read that Trump didn’t want to go to France until he heard they’d have a big display of their military. That appealed.
We were in Paris a few years ago on July 14th in the time of Sarkozy. We watched the festivities on tv because it was stinking hot. Sarkozy must be 5’4″. He had to stand on a box at the back of truck so that he appeared to be something close to the size of the general next to him. Everytime the truck stopped or turned Sarkozy would lose balance. It looked like a Carol Burnett skit with Tim Conway.
NotMax
@Baud
Pet peeve button pushed.
Afghani refers to the unit of currency, Afghan refers to the people.
bystander
@Quinerly: Bourbon and maple is another matter, but even Canadians have laws against saturating their babies in Canadian Club.
Kay
@Baud:
That’s actually progress, though. They denied it was changing for 20 years.
Baud
@Quinerly: I just had a couple of shots this morning.
OzarkHillbilly
@Patricia Kayden:
I think it has a lot more to do with the utter incompetence and total hubris of the House and Senate leadership to thank for their inability to push their agenda forward. All tRump has to do is sign what’s put in front of him.
Patricia Kayden
@Kay: Actually you’re correct because while Republicans have perfected the art of obstructing, they cannot govern at the federal level.
@bystander:
My height. I suppose that is short for a man. Interesting that Trump is so fascinated with the military since neither he nor his sons have ever served.
OldDave
The link in the Confederacy of Dingbats paragraph is broken (missing ‘:’). This one should work.
Lapassionara
@debbie: Everything in this maladministration comes down to a fight over the rule of law. One symptom of a country without an established rule of law principle is that exchanging favors and bribery become the dominant mode of getting things done. The ruler and his minions make decisions based on their self interest, not on established legal principles. This is a feel good moment, but in truth, even with the purported “extreme vetting” in place, these girls should never have been denied entry in the first place.
I am hearing that the Trumpsters want to roll back legal immigration by 50%. They do not know the first thing about contemporary economic development activities. If implemented, this will affect many of the foreign manufacturers that have located plants in the US. What dolts they are, not to mention corrupt and malevolent.
Quinerly
@Baud:
Well, let’s get this party started! Party of Baud/Poco 2020. Poco is off on an “exploratory” sniff to NC. He’s going to mingle with your potential voters. report back to you at the beginning of August.
Iowa Old Lady
@MomSense: YA tends to be quickly paced which is nice for my internet shortened attention span.
Patricia Kayden
@OzarkHillbilly: True. Remember how Trump boasted that he had master negotiator skills? I guess that was just another one of his many lies because he can’t even negotiate legislation with his own party members and they fully control Congress. Sad!
Baud
@NotMax:
I thought that was a throw rug.
OzarkHillbilly
@Patricia Kayden:
Sure it did, just think of all those dusky hued, nubile young bodies tempting us poor white males beyond our limits. IT’S NOT OUR FAULT!!
germy
A few days ago someone posted a link to the exact moment Cole decided he was no longer a republican.
Two questions: 1) He said someone named Tim would be angry. Who was Tim?
2) There were a ton of comments from juicers with creative and amusing nyms I didn’t recognize. Where did all those people go? Do people one day wake up and say “I’m not a balloon-juicer anymore.”? I thought being a BJ’er was like being a Jet:
“When you’re a jet you’re a Jet all the way. From your first cigarette. To your last dyin’ day.” etc.
Baud
@Kay:
True. But he also has no influence in congress. Remember all the work Obama had to do to get the ACA passed.
Kay
@Patricia Kayden:
I actually feel better since I decided the people in this county are going to have to start taking responsibility for how they vote.
I see hundreds of people on Medicaid over the course of a year. MOST of them, the vast majority, are working. This county voted for Donald Trump 70/30. They’re going to lose their health coverage. I won’t lose mine but they will lose theirs. The 30% can’t protect Medicaid for the 70%. The math just doesn’t work.
If they want affordable health care (and they do) they will have to stop voting for these people. Had they done 20 minutes of legit research on Trump v Clinton on health care they could have kept their coverage. If they’re too lazy to do that then I can’t help them. It’s not an exaggeration to say some of them will actually die as a direct result of the poor decision they made in November. They threw themselves in front of a train. No one could stop them.
Baud
@germy: People slip in and out all the time.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: Beat me to it only because I had to go make my breakfast. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
pamelabrown53
@Quinerly: @45.
Thanks for the heads up; love Terry Gross. She asks penetrating questions in the most disarming way.
germy
@Baud:
Of consciousness?
OzarkHillbilly
@NotMax:
And knitted blankets.
zhena gogolia
@germy:
No, unfortunately BJers do leave sometimes. Or they change nyms and then I can’t get through my head who they are. Like Botsplainer’s new nym I just can’t seem to remember. I had to get a new nym because of an apostrophe. But definitely people disappear for no particular reason.
OzarkHillbilly
@Patricia Kayden:
They can’t govern at the state level either, just look at Kansas.
germy
@pamelabrown53:
I remember the day Bill o’reilly stormed out of her interview.
Kay
My middle son is looking for a house to buy. It’s kind of scary how many mortgage offers he’s getting. He’s an apprentice electrician – he makes a pretty good wage and he’s working a lot but if the economy drops he’ll be laid off first. He has no debt but he also has no credit history and they are lining up to lend to him. I don’t think he’ll get in over his head but they are offering amounts that could easily put him there- he’ll have to decline – borrow much less than they’re offering.
So they probably learned nothing from the financial crash.
OzarkHillbilly
@Lapassionara:
They’ll have to mow their own lawns.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@zhena gogolia: My nym (which means “this is not my nym”) was changed because all of a sudden FYWP was throwing all my posts into the trash under my old nym, which was my name. I’m not real creative with this “nym” stuff.
But now I’m kind of fond of it, because it is at least marginally interesting. It’s a play on the famous Magritte painting of a pipe, “this is not a pipe” = Ceci n’est pas un pipe.
My only recent change was to remove the apostrophe because I started being thrown on the trash heap again. But at least this time there was an identifiable cause. I don’t think anybody on the tech team ever figured out why my original nym was trashed.
Just One More Canuck
@Quinerly: those sound amazing
MomSense
@Iowa Old Lady:
I got into them when my kids were younger and decided I enjoy them, too.
MomSense
@Quinerly:
I hope no one got video of the “peeing incident”.
Fester Addams
@Kay:
I think what they learned is that if you’re “too big to fail” then gambling with other peoples’ money is very profitable.
Kay
@Baud:
But they’re the ones who made the entire platform “repeal Obamacare” for years and years. Trump was still pretending to fire people on his reality show when that happened.
Trump lies so much does it even matter for him if he DOESN’T repeal Obamacare? He’ll just say he did and his voters will believe it. He’ll issue some bullshit executive order and they’ll add it to their list of accomplishments. I just don’t think ordinary political risk operates the same in this fantasy world he’s created.
Have you heard a word about The Wall? Apparently his voters don’t actually give a shit about that wall.
Just One More Canuck
@NotMax: and the dog
Gin & Tonic
@OzarkHillbilly: And pay $8 for a quart of strawberries.
Quinerly
@Just One More Canuck:
So easy. I kinda made them up. Great for parties. Actually I think I have done them with honey too. Cook bourbon and maple syrup (or honey). Thick & sticky. I add NM chile powder? Soak bacon in bourbon mixture, lightly broil bacon (on the skewers that have been soaked in water) keep glazing bacon. Don’t know about timing and amts. I cook by taste and instinct. You don’t broil them long though. I paint them with more of the glaze after on the platter
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay:
Ahhh yes, I well remember the day of ‘no-money down’ loans, ‘interest payments only’ loans, ‘liars’ loans, etc etc
Sure they did, they learned IGMFY.
SFAW
@germy:
I’m guessing it’s either Tim the Enchanter, or Tim F., who I believe was a FP-er here. Either them, or someone else.
Either you need to get out more, or perhaps it’s a case of “BJers come in, BJers go out; no one knows why.”
Kay
@Fester Addams:
I’m a big fan of his and I don’t know that I’d lend him that much money. He pays his car insurance over the phone the day it is due and forget about contacting him- good luck. He just sort of shows up periodically. I have mail for him that is weeks old- gosh, I hope there was nothing important in there :)
Quinerly
@MomSense:
Me too. Poco regrets it. He doesn’t know what came over him. That big Lab was taking a time out and was actually napping.
NotMax
Jumping the gun, yet not at all outside the realm of possibility.
“I especially want to say to the people of France how much I love your toast.”
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay:
At the G20, when asked by a reporter he said, “Yep, for certain sure Mexico is going to pay for that wall.” (or words to that effect) while Nieto was sitting right next to him. Nieto said nothing.
Just One More Canuck
@Quinerly: I will give them a try – I cook much the same way – I may use a recipe as a rough guide, but will improvise from there
I hope Poco’s trip to NC is scandal-free
Quinerly
@pamelabrown53:
Only caught the snippet of the promo. Think she’s interviewing someone connected with this new Roger Stone Netflix movie. Great to “see” you this AM. How are things? Any St. Louis trips planned? We are scorching here.
Baud
@Kay: They are required to assess his ability to pay now. But I don’t think any lender assumes a general economic collapse in their underwriting.
Immanentize
@Baud:
Very fine with mustard….
Laura
@Quinerly:
This will surely give you a chuckle:
https://youtu.be/YTVFNZKuN-g
Good morning Rikyrah!
HRA
@germy
1) I thought Tim was the real name of a daily participant with a different name.
2) The atmosphere changed where it became to trend to new participants who began forming a clique and did not take kindly to anyone with different views. I left for a short time when the PUMAs were here. I came back knowing only a few familiar names. I have tried commenting on rare occasions and have been stomped on by members and a few FPs as well. I find it is best to come read and keep my thoughts to myself. IOW who really needs aggravation from strangers.
Now I am going to go finish up the last minute chores for our youngest daughter’s wedding this Saturday. Have a good day.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: Grey Poupon, but I’m an elitist.
Bruce K
I don’t know whether to laugh, cry, or scream.
There was a time not long ago when you got an idea of the relative health of American and European news by what was on the cover of TIME magazine – for a while, you’d get something utterly insipid for the US edition, while there’d be something more substantial for the European edition.
This week, apparently?
EMEA cover: Game of Thrones.
US cover: Junior (with The Email superimposed).
Still, making the cover of TIME is one of those rite-of-passage things for the cheeto and his clan, isn’t it? So I suppose congratulations to Junior are in order.
Heh. Heh. Heh heh heh hehehehehehahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…
(guess that answers the laugh/cry/scream issue?)
OzarkHillbilly
Cool shit:
Shalimar
@SFAW: Tim F. still has keys, though he doesn’t post much anymore. He was already a front-pager when Cole converted, and I am pretty sure he was referenced in the conversion post, though I don’t remember anymore why he would be angry since he was already a liberal Democrat at the time.
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
Yellow or red?
Patricia Kayden
@OzarkHillbilly: When you’re living firmly in a world of alternative facts, there are thousands of “Mexicos” which pay for all of your fantasies. Trump is living in a la la land where he won the popular vote and had the biggest inauguration crowds ever. And one where you can pretty much do anything and get away with it while screeching about fake news.
Quinerly
@Laura:
I have laughed so hard that I startled Poco. Thank you!?❤?
Jeffro
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: @OzarkHillbilly: @NorthLeft12:
He’s just in a rage because he got caught, full stop. The rules apply to other people.
Viva BrisVegas
@OzarkHillbilly:
I’m not sure that you can count a photon as an object.
On a lighter note, a Trump is on the cover of Time magazine. This time a genuine Time.
Only downside is that it’s Donald Trump Jnr and he is looking sad.
OzarkHillbilly
@NotMax: We only get the yellow type here, tho my little bro makes a killer chili mustard.
rikyrah
Maddow had a segment last night with about Dense Pence.
With his spokesman just being asked a direct question about if Pence had met with the Russians.
Gave a non-answer answer.
Keep a lookout for the drip drip drop on Pence.
He’s already up to his eyeballs in the Flynn mess.
……………………………
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 7/12/17
Pence spokesman squirms on Russia question
Rachel Maddow shows how Mike Pence has had a hard time making truthful denials about the Trump campaign’s interactions with Russia, and notes that Pence’s spokesman couldn’t give a straight answer on whether Pence himself had met with Russians during the campaign.
d58826
@OzarkHillbilly: next up teleport Der Fuhrer to Pluto
Peale
@Lapassionara: fighting illegal immigration is expensive. Adding those 100,000 border control agents he wants is billions of dollars a year in pertpetual expense. Much cheaper to deny entry and reduce the number of legal immigrants. You know, the ones who follow the rules.
rikyrah
UH HUH
UH HUH
Justice Department Defies Court Deadline To Release Sessions’ Contacts With Russians
July 13, 20176:28 AM ET
JAMES DOUBEK
In defiance of a court order, the Justice Department is refusing to release part of a security form dealing with Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ contacts with the Russian government.
On June 12, a judge had ordered the agency to provide the information within 30 days, a deadline which passed on Wednesday.
A recently-launched ethics watchdog group called American Oversight filed a Freedom of Information Act request in March for sections of the Standard Form 86 relating to Sessions’ contacts “with any official of the Russian government.”
The group then filed a lawsuit in April after it said the government didn’t provide the documents.
“Jeff Sessions is our nation’s top law enforcement officer, and it is shocking one of his first acts after being named Attorney General was to mislead his own agency about a matter of national security,” the group’s executive director, Austin Evers, said in a statement.
He continued: “The court gave DOJ thirty days to produce Attorney General Sessions’s security clearance form, DOJ has already confirmed its contents to the press and Sessions has testified about it to Congress, so there is no good reason to withhold this document from the public.”
Patricia Kayden
@rikyrah: Because Pence is as guilty as everyone else associated with the Trump regime. Playing dumb won’t work.
rikyrah
We need to have a #HowManyGOPAreGuiltyPool… Many dots are right in front of us, screaming to be connected…1/ https://t.co/JfJ6UD2RiM
— bardgal (@bardgal) July 13, 2017
rikyrah
First Lady Michelle Obama is a stunning bombshell.
SLAY QUEEN. #ESPYS pic.twitter.com/CWtGjtWax9
— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) July 13, 2017
schrodingers_cat
@Lapassionara: They want to make naturalization difficult too. Because who wants to be surrounded by people who don’t look like them and speak another language, paraphrasing a tweet by KKKlint Eastwood.
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
Just for a quick snicker.
OzarkHillbilly
@Viva BrisVegas:
Go read the article.
schrodingers_cat
Rs have declared a war against reality and truth. Truth always wins in the end.
SiubhanDuinne
@Viva BrisVegas:
From the TIME cover story:
No doubt we’ve all received forwarded four-page emails and, busy folks that we are, just skipped most of the multi-angle-bracketed stuff. I know I have. So I would almost find Kushner plausible here, were it not for
rikyrah
@Iowa Old Lady:
Yeah :)
Congrats!
rikyrah
Breaking:
Reported on @maddow :
Jared Kushner-run digital operation being investigated for aiding Russians in damaging Hillary Clinton pic.twitter.com/2Au9YcuAup
— Unite Alberta (@UniteAlbertans) July 13, 2017
O. Felix Culpa
@Kay:
One of my sons was like that. Eventually his frontal lobe fused and he became (somewhat) more constant.
SiubhanDuinne
@Patricia Kayden:
Not convinced he’s playing, but I take your point.
Yarrow
@rikyrah: Good morning, rikyrah!
Pence is so guilty. Manafort brought him into the campaign. And what’s in those redacted emails anyway. What about those meetings with Russian connected people while he was Governor. And that’s not even mentioning the Flynn stuff. Pence thinks he can do the radio talk show host non-answer version of lying. It’s not going to work. And he’s not smart enough to know that.
frosty
@MomSense: I recommend “Ashfall”. YA trilogy about surviving the Yellowstone supervolcano. I think it worked better as YA than adult fiction.
rikyrah
@Kay:
I’ve said this before and will repeat it:
Now that they have control of everything, their sociopathy is on full display.
And, everything that we told the stupid muthaphuckas that vote for them would happen is happening.
” Nobody would be crazy enough to take away healthcare from 23 million people.”
” Nobody would be crazy enough to mess with Medicare.”
” Nobody would be crazy enough to mess with Social Security.”
Well, Yes, they are.
Your phucking delusion that you can keep on voting GOP, while expecting the Democrats to save the programs that you like..
those days are done. You voted for these muthaphuckas, and don’t think that they’ll do what they said.
Of course, what they REALLY want is absolutely odious. That’s why they’re desperate to do Trumpcare – because they want to hide part of their sociopathy.
Phuck that….make them do it all out in the open.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Keep on telling the truth, Kay.
rikyrah
@Kay:
How’s the househunt going?
MomSense
@frosty:
Oh, thanks for the tip.
ETA: Just saw that Richard Peck offered an endorsement. He’s one of my favorites.
Yarrow
@rikyrah: Saw some stupid CNN “Trump voter panel” this morning. One woman said exactly that, when the moderator turned the discussion to health care. “I heard him say ‘repeal and replace’ but I didn’t think Congress would let it happen. I thought he was just saying that during the campaign. I didn’t think it would happen. I was wrong.”
Dumbass.
pamelabrown53
@Quinerly:
Things are good but “Scorchy” here too. Stopped my walk just north of 2 miles due to the heat/humidity. No immediate plans for St. Louis but I’ll let you know. Going to Santa Fe and then El Paso in August. Too bad your SW travels are in the winter. I’m visiting some old friends in Santa Fe but the problem is they have a house here in FL. where they winter.
Take care of yourself and Poco!
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Kay:
Maybe, right now Trump voters seem to be claiming both sides are just as a bad because e-mails are the same as treason.
different-church-lady
If you’re using Richard Nixon as a model, what ought that be telling you?
Patricia Kayden
@rikyrah: But Democrats can’t do much as the minority party in Congress so they may not be able to save Trump supporters from the GOP this time around.
I find it interesting how the same MSM which hounded Secretary Clinton for supposed local of press conferences seems perfectly fine with the lack of pres conference by Trump. They also seem perfectly okay with sitting in on press conferences where a lying spokesperson gets to run his/her mouth with no audio or video.
Quinerly
@pamelabrown53:
?
different-church-lady
How, exactly, is this thought leading to optimism?
rikyrah
Trump ordered federal task forces charged w/ finding regulations to weaken/ eliminate, help us ID task-force members https://t.co/hp5WiP73DA
— ProPublica (@ProPublica) July 13, 2017
Waratah
Washington Post has a story that hospitals doctors AARP have been trying to save Medicaid this week. First time I have heard of them speaking out. Sorry I am not smart enough to figure out how to link on this iPad.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Patricia Kayden:
It’s the only thing saving us until his first great crisis, when his incompetence and hubris takes over.
Remember – of his myriad cognitive, emotional and personality flaws, the most likely to impair his leadership ability is his utterly firm lifetime belief that everything in life is, at its core, a binary zero sum equation. To him, this applies to everything from personal relationships to politics and economics, and that if you aren’t getting everything you want, solely on your terms, that you’re losing.
It’s why he is feverishly catering to the policy preferences of his revanchist base, the dumbfucks who inhabit the whitest of white counties in all of Appalachia, and “sticking it to” the “urban elites”. Now, you know and I know that his actions will have the opposite effect of the one intended, but he’s giving them all the winning, hence the omnipresent EC map showing the county by county breakdown. God help any blue area in a blue state (outside NYC, which operates under different rules) that suffers a catastrophe.
Look at his business practices, his disdain for multilateralism – this binary is literally all he knows.
rikyrah
Agree. How is a president under federal investigation, along with admin and campaign team, appointing head of the FBI? https://t.co/CEajFrtwfq
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) July 12, 2017
i simply have no faith in this appointment, there is no world in which trump should be appointing anyone to head the fbi period
— lastnightinamerica (@americalastnite) July 12, 2017
Trump’s pick to run the FBI is literally a specialist in defending rich clients from federal investigations. https://t.co/mQR5DgI3WK pic.twitter.com/uHRruNq4fm
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) June 7, 2017
rikyrah
The long-dormant account of CyberBerkut, alleged to be linked 2 Kremlin, comes alive & begins tweeting about links between Clinton & Ukraine https://t.co/rlHi11mcTw
— Raphael Satter (@razhael) July 12, 2017
rikyrah
@Patricia Kayden:
Keep on bringing the receipts to these mofos.
And, call them out at every turn.
Tenar Arha
@Quinerly: Hello to Poco! (Looking forward to his next batch of travel photos).
No judgement here Quinerly. I still listen to selected NPR podcasts, though I admit I may have stopped listening in the car because if I heard any more of their version of news with its both sides reporting I was going to go after my radio with a screwdriver. ;-)
satby
@SFAW: I had occasion to look something up yesterday that put me in the middle of a thread from 2015. Lots of nyms that realized I hadn’t seen in quite a while. Some we know changed, some like redshirt stated they were unplugging, and some I wonder about what happened?
glory b
@Quinerly: I heard this morning that they will be doing ANOTHER story, this time form western PA coal country, about the residents’ economic anxiety and whether or not Trump can get them good jobs.
It seems to be a continually fascinating subject.
Brachiator
@Baud:
I heard the news this morning. I hate that the resolution is thanks to the kind intervention of King Donald rather than intelligent policy.
Yarrow
@rikyrah: Saw Sen. Blumenthal on CNN say he “hoped” Wray was the next head of the FBI. WTF? He’s a Dem. Why is he doing that?
glory b
@Tenar Arha: Yep, I pretty much do the same.
My favorites (kind of to my surprise), “How I Built This” and “From Scratch,” interviews with people who founded some well known businesses, like the founders of Spanx, Honest Tea, Kate Spade, etc.
rikyrah
We Shouldn’t Follow the Texas Model on Women’s Reproductive Health
by Nancy LeTourneau
July 13, 2017 8:00 AM
In response to their anti-abortion base voters, Republicans are determined to defund Planned Parenthood as a part of their health care bill. Given their fondness for the idea of states as the laboratories for experimentation, they might want to check in to what happened in states that passed similar laws.
As reported by Laura Bassett, Texas Republicans slashed the state’s family planning budget in 2011, shutting down more than 80 women’s health clinics. A study conducted by economics professor Analisa Packham showed that “the abortion rate among teenagers in the state rose 3 percent over what it would have been had the clinics remained open.”
……………………………
At a time when the abortion rate in the United States is lower than it’s been since the Roe v Wade ruling in 1973, that is a horrific indictment on the state of Texas.
Of course there are other issues at play. Not mentioned in this report is the fact that Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the country and rejected the federally funded expansion of Medicaid in Obamacare. All of these factors intertwine in another horrific issue facing the women of Texas.
satby
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
the local Indivisible group is trying to find out why S. Bend didn’t get a state grant for lead abatement, which is a documented problem here. They assume it’s because S.Bend is a blue island in a very red sea.
rikyrah
@Yarrow:
I don’t know. Makes no damn sense. NOBODY should be able to get through. Period.
different-church-lady
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
FYWP don’t give a shit. FYWP just takes what it wants.
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Long-standing habit. If he yells loudly enough people will get scared and stop doing things that upset him. He’s not on the ball enough to realize it’s not going to work with people who are not family members or working for him directly.
Quinerly
Macron’s wife looks fab in all white, short dress. They are an adorable couple. Trump is lumbering about. Melania looks somewhat villainous in blood red towering above the Macrons.
Yarrow
@rikyrah: I don’t get it. If the tables were turned you know the Republicans would have shut down everything by this point. They’d be one voice on every media outlet about “treason, treason, treason.” Everything that Dem administration had done, was doing, and wanted to do would be called into question. No bills, no appointments, nothing.
I’m not saying the Dems should do all of that, but they sure need to be further in that direction than they are right now.
Quinerly
@glory b:
Yes, I heard the entire story. The coal loving woman interviewed hates the sound wind mills/turbines make. She can’t imagine living in that kind of environment. The buzz would make her sick. I agree…..fascinating stuff.
Yarrow
@Quinerly: I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed that! Macron’s wife looks amazing. Melania looks kind of dowdy compared to the easy, breezy look that Macron’s wife has.
I don’t get Melania and her fashion choices. She always seems to pick things that are just a tad unflattering for her. Not terrible and awful choices–just a little bit wrong here or there. But consistently that way. it just seems odd since her job has always been to be eye candy.
frosty
@O. Felix Culpa: One of my sons too. ADD, dyslexic. Dropped out of college, joined the National Guard, went back and graduated, and just last week graduated from Police Academy and was sworn in, his dream job.
Quinerly
Wonder if Trump would have gone to Paris had Sarkozy still been president? It would have been awkward considering Trump famously lied about sleeping with Carla Bruni years ago.?
Jeffro
@rikyrah: (re: any Dem support for Wray)
Darned straight. If SCOTUS can limp along with only 8 justices and the government can limp along with only half a State Department (to say nothing of all the other unfilled vacancies) then the FBI will just have to get along without a director until the Russia investigations are complete, to include any/all indictments and any/all notifications about how to protect their vote from Republican-enabled Russian hacking. End of story.
They’re ramming this through to try and derail the Russia investigations any way they can. Dems should #Resist.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Yarrow:
Zero taste. She married Trump.
O. Felix Culpa
@satby:
This sort of pettiness with horrific consequences makes me weep. “Right to life” is apparently very selective.
rikyrah
@Yarrow:
I sort of respect the French for their ability to not make Macron’s wife part of their judgement on his capability to be head of their country. Then again, this is the country that didn’t blink an eye years ago, when a French President died, his wife AND MISTRESS were at the funeral.
There’s no way that anyone in America with the same story as the Macrons would get elected anything on the national stage.
Quinerly
@Yarrow:
Didn’t look it up again. Remembering #s is a problem for me. Mrs. Macron is in her early 60’s, I believe. I think she is old enough to be his mother. I really like that. Melania looks like shit today. I can be bitchy. I’m in my own house.?
Quinerly
@rikyrah:
We were just posting at the same time.?
GregB
@rikyrah:
Does it occur to these folks that contacts between allies is not quite as concerning as contacts between a traditional adversary.
Not that the Trump’s Zombie Militia knows from what.
different-church-lady
@glory b: They would be doing the country a greater service if they just sent a reporter there, she looked at them and shouted, “HE’S NOT GOING TO GET YOU ANY JOBS!” and left without doing a report.
Yarrow
@Jeffro: Maybe we should add “no votes for Wray or any other Republican nominee or policy” to our calls to our Senators. Won’t do any good if you have Republican Senators, but for Dems it might be something they need to hear.
O. Felix Culpa
@frosty:
Congratulations! It’s such a relief when they pull it together. My son is undiagnosed (schools were not helpful back in the day) but clearly somewhere on the spectrum. He graduated from law school after several years in the wilderness and has a steady job, for which I’m deeply thankful. He’ll probably never be able to pay off his mountain of law school debt, but he sends in his pittance monthly and feeds and houses himself and his cats, so all is much better than it could have been.
Yarrow
@Quinerly: I wonder if Trump will be uncouth enough to bring up Macron’s wife’s age. “You’re a good looking guy. Why do you have such an old wife?” That kind of thing. Wouldn’t surprise me.
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I sort of agree, but wonder if she hand no choice in some ways.
Quinerly
@Tenar Arha:
I have cut down on my car listening. When the bad outweighs the good, then I will rethink my AM listening habits. I sleep with BBC on…that’s our local St. Louis NPR’s programming. Poco sends out a big wag of his fluffy tail to you.? He took a day off of school.
O. Felix Culpa
@Quinerly:
Slacker. Seriously, though, have a great (and safe) trip to NC and back!
Quinerly
@Yarrow:
I had thought the same thing. Maybe not to Macron but an off the cuff remark to a Fox reporter or to someone else that gets picked up.
Patricia Kayden
@Kay:
Ditto. Most of my friends and family will also be okay vis-a-vis healthcare coverage. It’s the rubes who voted for this wanker who will be hit upside the head if the GOP either repeals the ACA without a replacement or replaces it with Trump Care. But I guess it will be worth it for them if a few Blacks, Browns and Gays also get damaged by Trump’s bigotry.
pamelabrown53
@Yarrow: @157.
Where can I find the picture(s) of the macrons and trumps? I have to say there’s something to the stereotype of the French and fashion sense. It’s always amazed me to see what many French women can do with a scarf!
Patricia Kayden
@OzarkHillbilly: And Oklahoma. I was in Kansas a few months ago and have to admit that Topeka is a very pretty city. I temporarily worked in a building right across from the Courthouse where Brown v. Board of Education was decided. It was kind of sad to know that it has such an awful Governor.
Quinerly
@O. Felix Culpa:
We take off next week. Right now, I’m milking this 15 day school stuff to get the most bang for my buck….we aren’t doing all the days back to back. I’m a known tightwad.? Now get to Madrid and check out my friend Lori and her store and track down Annie at The Holler…although, she seems to be hanging at that new place in Cerrillos quite a bit. Looking forward to seeing you January/February!
glory b
@Yarrow: Maybe she’s not the one doing the picking (remembering the story of Donald Jr. getting smacked in the face for not wearing a suit).
Quinerly
@pamelabrown53:
Her dress was to die for. Short and white. Great lines. Looked a bit 1960’s Goldie Hawn. Mrs. Macron has got some great gams! Melania looked matronly.
Yarrow
@pamelabrown53: I saw it on TV so I’m not sure. Probably any of the news sites. Here’s CNN’s live coverage of it.
@glory b: Could be. But there’s no way Donald wants someone else’s wife to look better than his.
Yarrow
@Quinerly: Yeah, that was it exactly. She looked so summery and she has great legs. Melania looked dressed for something else entirely.
O. Felix Culpa
@Quinerly: I’m looking forward to your visit too! Glad Poco has taken to school, despite the now-forgotten pee incident.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
Melania’s clothing has always struck me as half-assed knock-offs. Something integral to the fit or drape is never quite right when compared to top-notch designer work.
Librarian
I saw Klobuchar on one of the morning shows, and she couldn’t say enough good things about Wray. She said he was “impressive”. I almost threw something at the TV. It’s as if Dems have the attention span of gnats or something.
Sab
@Just One More Canuck: If you’re a dog, as Poco is, it’s terribly rude not to. Isn’t that true even in reserved Canada?
rikyrah
I keep asking how @SenMajLdr knew to keep that SCOTUS seat open and waiting for a Trump appointee. I think we’ve got the answer. https://t.co/dTSUkaS0Id
— Ellen Hopkins (@EllenHopkinsLit) July 13, 2017
rikyrah
NEW: Accused Russian spy was with Veselnitskaya at House hearing days after Trump meeting https://t.co/vuJm3nZbZW pic.twitter.com/FQ55UpZXWg
— Justin Miller (@justinjm1) July 13, 2017
rikyrah
BREAKING: DOJ releases single, redacted page of Sessions’s SF86 security clearance form to American Oversight. https://t.co/9e7tkMHPAn pic.twitter.com/x7YGPfaCoY
— American Oversight (@weareoversight) July 13, 2017
Yarrow
@Librarian What the hell? Has anyone gamed this out? What are the Dems thinking? Is there any strategy to this at all?
Sab
Yeah! Robotics team Afghanistan! They went overland 500 miles through who knows what risks for the visa interviews and the phuckwads automatically denied them until saner heads prevailed.
I love my country and what it stands for but I do wish we hadn’t elected phuchkwads to represent us in the world. Are tax cuts really that beneficial to you personally to counteract the damage these people are doing to our international standing?
rikyrah
#Breaking: Imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo dies at 61 https://t.co/7lO48tShZu
— NPR (@NPR) July 13, 2017
Quinerly
@rikyrah:
? Be careful with these NPR links. There maybe backlash. Kidding aside, this is so sad. Heard a longish segment (on NPR) yesterday. Sounded like the end was near.??
Quinerly
@rikyrah:
Love Digby’s writing. Try to check in on her Hullabaloo site almost everyday.
Mike in DC
@rikyrah:
China’s Mandela.
Quinerly
@O. Felix Culpa:
Those sleeping dogs he peed on that day were only there in daycare a couple of times they said. It was calculated on Poco’s part. They said the Lab was taking a break in the morning, snoozing. Poco walked from all the way across a large room and raised his leg on the napping dog. It happened again in the afternoon..another dog. Didn’t get those details. Both dogs younger and bigger. Baud will need to learn how to be in control of a Baud/Poco ticket. Poco is very alpha.?
Yarrow
@Quinerly: I listen to NPR in the car regularly. I do a lot of short trips, stop/start kind of driving so I dip in and out of programs. It works for me just fine. If I don’t like a program, I’ll change to music or turn the radio off. I tend to be in the car a lot when BBC is on so I hear that frequently. Just lending my support. I am as frustrating as anyone with the turn NPR has taken in the last decade (two decades?) but it’s still got some good stuff.
Quinerly
@Yarrow:
See my post above about the chick interviewed in coal country. I didn’t take it for anything but what it was. She came off sounding like a fool. I was glad NPR interviewed her.
O. Felix Culpa
@Quinerly:
Yes. It would be SAD! if the Baud/Poco 2020! ticket got into an internal pissing contest.
schrodingers_cat
@Sab: Damaged international standing will lead to more isolation and less immigration or even visits by people from other countries. MAGA!!
Mike in DC
“There is no force that can put an end to the human quest for freedom,” he wrote, “and China will in the end become a nation ruled by law, where human rights reign supreme.”
RIP.
schrodingers_cat
@Quinerly: Yes only people who voted for T exist, rest of us are invisible. Fuck NPR and PBS.
Jeffro
WOW: Charles Blow is out-shrilling the shrill-meister, K-thug here…”Scions and Scoundrels”
Dang we’d better get a Trump Steak on that shiner, STAT!
rikyrah
@Jeffro:
GO Mr.Blow
J R in WV
@Kay:
You have a good point here. We are on Medicare and our former employers’ supplemental insurance. So unless literally everyone is going to lose their health care we’re OK.
We can only do so much to protect people who won’t believe us when we tell them a candidate will not have their best interests in mind at all. Like you, I have had a hard time the past 9 months, since Nov 9th. The bad news keeps coming, too.
But it isn’t my fault, nor your fault. We did not vote for the treasonous bastards now controlling our government, Republicans and nitwits did. [ Isn’t Nitwit a great word for current political events?!! I need to use it more! ]
Further, I’m helping the ACLU and the SPLC keep the head nitwits in court, and trying to help the Democrats in office (thought not in power) keep them honest in Congress. So I’m doing all I can and more than most to fight back. Funny thing, though, is that it doesn’t help as much as I expected it to.
Yarrow
@J R in WV:
What is this mystery of former employers’ supplemental insurance? What happens to people who don’t “retire” but get kicked out via layoffs? What about people who run their own businesses. Our system really screws people who don’t work for Giant Evil Corporation.
Just One More Canuck
@Sab: if Poco does it, it’s good. Baud? Not so much
LongHairedWeirdo
I have to disagree with Waldman.
Look: the GOP has threatened the solvency of the US, caused numerous shutdowns, and used the process of government and governing for partisan advantage. They’ve threatened innocent political opponents with jail (there was never any credible evidence that Hillary Clinton deliberately shared information with anyone who wasn’t supposed to have it, and that meant there was no criminality); they’ve investigated government agencies and threatened them for trying to do their jobs in ways that harmed GOP-friendly interests; they’ve threatened other government agencies for *not* arresting possibly lawful purchasers of firearms; they’ve blown off GOP scandals and blown up not-even-pecadillos into years-long events.
Why would he think that a little tiny matter like secret meetings with Russians and secret, back-channel methods of providing the Russians with valuable intel would be a *BIG DEAL*? Especially with Ryan and McConnell covering for him?
As the rightwing likes to point out, we’re not AT WAR with Russia, so it’s not Constitutionally treason, so what’s the big deal? Besides, he can just pardon everyone involved, right?
(NB: no, he can’t – not yet. If he pardoned Junior, Junior could be subpoenaed and forced to spill his guts. The Fifth Amendment disallows refusal to answer when no jeopardy exists).
The GOP has been running machine-style politics for a long time and haven’t even been spraying a whiff of perfume over their steaming piles of corruption-crap. Why would the Trumps think there’s any peril?
Aleta
@Yarrow: Could there be someone who’s afraid her photos might upstage his? Or maybe somewhere in the bowels of the WH there lurks a person with very bad taste who claims the right to dictate her appearance?
MCA1
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: He does not think in a structured enough way to put all these things together, so he’s raging out of confusion and the feeling that he’s losing. He mostly floats from one thing to another, constantly churning, guided only by his all-consuming narcissism and a need to “win” every interaction, with an attention span of about 30 seconds.
Les fils operate in total entitlement mode, and have no moral grounding, so perceive cutting corners and acting like sharps and meeting with Russian lawyers as no big deal. They have no idea how wrong what they’ve been doing is, and how illegitimate and dishonorable Sr.’s business practices are, because it’s all they’ve ever known, and they’ve inherited that sense of the world and complete lack of ethics. But, they’re at least mentally capable of getting a rude awakening and probably having light bulbs go off about some of the platitudes their mom used to mention. Don, on the other hand, is raging because he truly does not understand WTF is going on. I mean, he thinks foreign relations is making “friends” with the leaders of other countries and then relying on their loyalty because of it. He cannot actually even connect the dots. So all he perceives here is bad press and bad ratings and people not trusting him and talk about impeachment, the surface level, moment to moment, personal reactions to his and his team’s betrayal of the citizens of the United States. He doesn’t see that they actually are traitors.
schrodingers_cat
@Aleta: I am not a great fan of her fashion choices either but she can wear a sack and she will still look better than her husband.
Quinerly
@O. Felix Culpa:
Or external, for that matter. Height, distance, steadiness and duration of stream. This blog just went down the toilet. Corner Stone picked a fine time to leave us. SAD!
Patricia Kayden
@rikyrah: Sorry to hear that — especially since he wanted so much to leave China. I was hoping that he would get better and be able to travel with his wife. Sigh.
Aleta
@Just One More Canuck: I just hope Poco teaches him the rule about sniffing first.
Kay
@J R in WV:
I find I’m less angry when I just let their voting decisions go. I don’t control all these people and if they want healthcare they’re going to have to put minimum effort into this.
I always felt like no one ever “persuades” anyone to vote a certain way anyway- the person is ready to hear something different when they’re ready and not before. It’s like 20 to 1 when you’re canvassing – 20 who aren’t really listening and have already made up their mind and one you reach and the one was “reachable” before you even got there.
There’s this idea that we can “figure this out” or “solve” it but that seems both arrogant and delusional. People aren’t a problem to be “solved” and there’s no magic message or ad or candidate. It’s a collection of factors.
The Trump people were complaining yesterday that they can’t “fix” the Russia thing- well, of course you can’t “fix” it. You are not godammned puppet masters pulling strings. You’re not that powerful as “influencers” (horrible word).
If I had a child on Medicaid and I made 10 bucks an hour I would be good and goddamned sure which candidate supports it and which doesn’t and I would get off my ass and vote accordingly. That’s not a lot to ask them to do.
J R in WV
@Patricia Kayden:
Well, yeah, playing dumb won’t work. But it’s all Pence has to work with!!!
Patricia Kayden
@Librarian: Democrats are in a weak position but not so weak that they have to support the FBI Director nominee who is replacing the guy that Trump improperly fired for investigating his Russian ties. It’s just business as usual for them and they continue to normalize this fraudulent President. Huge sigh.
rikyrah
@MCA1:
Les fils operate in total entitlement mode, and have no moral grounding, so perceive cutting corners and acting like sharps and meeting with Russian lawyers as no big deal. They have no idea how wrong what they’ve been doing is, and how illegitimate and dishonorable Sr.’s business practices are, because it’s all they’ve ever known, and they’ve inherited that sense of the world and complete lack of ethics.
So much TRUTH
Quinerly
@schrodingers_cat:
I’m assuming you don’t listen to NPR. If you did, you would have heard several segments this week on anti Trump folks and pro HRC supporters. The irrational hatred of NPR borders on what the RWNJs rant about.
Steeplejack
@MomSense:
I like Richard Peck. He also wrote an “adult” novel called something like Weekend in London that was really good. A rom-com with lots of funny bits and some touching moments. Would make a great movie.
Just checked: it’s London Holiday (1998).
rikyrah
@Kay:
Not a lot…at all.
Quinerly
@Aleta:
Poco gives good goose. It always amazes me how a street dog survived that long if that’s what he did regularly on the mean streets of St. Louis. Baud probably needs to leave that talent to Poco. Poco gets John Lennon (kitty) sometimes and practically flips him.
J R in WV
@Waratah:
That’s OK. The Washington Pose won’t let me read their stories any more since I don’t pay for it. So I guess their idea of saving the nation from Trumpism is “Only if it pays!”
Since Bezos took over, for sure!
schrodingers_cat
@Quinerly: Thanks for calling me a RWNJ. I used to listen to NPR and watch the NewsHour regularly, their coverage of the election has left me disappointed. Their “balanced” both-sides-do it coverage is one of the reasons we are here.
Quinerly
@schrodingers_cat:
Didn’t call you a RWNJ. I apologize if it came out that way. I certainly didn’t mean it that way. I just said the irrational hatred of NPR borders on what the other side does with news sources that they don’t like. Don’t listen, don’t click if offends you so. I just feel the hatred is unfounded. I try to listen to and read a lot of stuff from a lot of sources.
Kay
The Trump Voter Suppression Effort gets underway on July 19th with a public meeting. I’ll try to listen but I really, really wish these Democrats hadn’t have joined and lent credibility to it:
No one knows anything about what they’re collecting and what they plan on doing with it. Really, it was idiotic for these Democrats to join and insist they are some kind of “principled resistance”. They’ll issue some bullshit report and the Democrats names will be on it.
No one trusts this commission and now they have bipartisan cover for this cluster fuck. Knowing what we know about Donald Trump actual election officials think it’s a good idea to collect a national master list of voters and run it out of the White House? Are they insane? God knows what the Trump people will do with that list. Even if it’s not malicious they’ll screw it up.
rikyrah
@Kay:
There’s a reason all those states said no.
And, that was the clue for the Dems to get the phuck off of the panel.
Let alone, being on a panel with phucking Kris Kobach and Van Spakovsky.
GET.THE.PHUCK.OUTTA.HERE.
Kay
If there is further evidence of Trump collusion with the government of Russia is someone going to shut down the Trump Administration effort to create a national list of voters, managed out of the White House?
I mean, come on. There’s still time to close this yawning barn door they’re creating.
rikyrah
@Kay:
KAY,
please check Mayhew’s latest post. There is a post requesting Ohio info from you.
Kay
@rikyrah:
Dunlap wants me to believe that Donald Trump’s commission can be trusted with voter data.
Why? What possible reason would I trust ANYONE Trump hired with a national list of voters? It’s an astonishingly stupid idea, this “commission”. As far as I’m concerned the two Democrats volunteered to help Donald Trump collect information for his campaign and God knows what else.
Kay
@rikyrah:
Thanks- I will.
Jeffro
New Republic just dropped a big one: “Trump’s Russian Laundromat”
Some days, I really do start to believe that, just like that IC guy supposedly said, “[Trump]’s going to die in jail”…
Patricia Kayden
@rikyrah: Makes you wonder why Democrats would serve on a panel headed by a man who is known to have purged voter rolls of minorities.
rikyrah
@Patricia Kayden:
UH HUH
UH HUH
One is from NH, which has only enough Black people to fill a couple of Walmarts. I don’t know where the other one is from.
rikyrah
Oh Kay,
BREAKING:
Fulton County BOE has voted in FAVOR of closing 9 precincts. This is an injustice to Fulton’s African American neighborhoods. pic.twitter.com/8xOl0c1e8z
— New Georgia Project (@NewGAProject) July 13, 2017
Voters shouldn’t have to be connected to government insiders to find out about what’s happening in their communities.
— New Georgia Project (@NewGAProject) July 13, 2017
Closing precincts in predominantly African American neighborhoods is not just or fair.
— New Georgia Project (@NewGAProject) July 13, 2017
We know that moving precincts has a depressing effect on voter turnout.
— New Georgia Project (@NewGAProject) July 13, 2017
SgrAstar
@Kay: They’ve put in Wall into the new budget proposal, allocating ~$1.6b. Real commitment there….but trump has tweeted his enthusiam. Morans all the way down.
Quinerly
@Jeffro:
Thanks for posting this. Should be shared widely.
MomSense
@Kay:
Dunlap is a good guy so I am willing to hear him out. He is the kind of person who would participate so he can see what the hell is happening. From his interview the other day it sounded like the members were not informed or asked for guidance before that request went out.
Patricia Kayden
@SgrAstar: And we are the Mexicans who will be paying that $1.6 billion plus price tag. Good to know.
Miss Bianca
@germy: I find myself wondering the same thing when I see old posts. Of course, I was lurking for a long long time before I ever posted anything myself, so maybe some of these folks have gone the opposite way – back into lurk mode? Dunno, just speculatin’.
rikyrah
drip drip drip
2 Photos of VP Mike Pence meeting privately with Russian cleric—& 2 photos of same Cleric w/Putin.#PenceMetWithRussians #TrumpRussia pic.twitter.com/yY8DJudgHi
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) July 13, 2017
Aleta
@Quinerly:
Must be smart and charming! Gets away with impropriety…sounds like a natural born winner in politics. (Seriously, sometime tell us more about his survival story if you feel like.).
(eta Those stories can be useful and inspiring…)
SgrAstar
Quinerly, would you post a pic or two of Poco? I’m developing quite a crush on our latest overlord. He just sounds so cute!
Aleta
@rikyrah: Trumppence, indivisible to the end I hope.
Quinerly
@SgrAstar:
I posted a few when we were driving around looking at stuff for 6 weeks in NM, Northern AZ and Utah…at the very beginning of the “On the Road” posts. We’ll get some beach shots in a few days and I’ll send them in. Thanks for your interest. He’s a sweet dog. He had a hard life before he rescued me in March, 2014. ?
The Midnight Lurker
@germy: I’ve been a lurker here for years. Speaking only for myself, I rarely feel like I have something constructive, insightful, or funny to add to the discussion. In the immortal words of Chauncey Gardner, “I like to watch.” Besides, Sergeant Cole’s notorious temper keeps most of us from speaking out, I imagine.
SWMBO
@The Midnight Lurker: HA! No.