These hostage videos are so heartbreaking pic.twitter.com/3uoU8E90r0
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) July 19, 2017
Who’s got a sturdy cudgel? Yes, the ongoing fight to protect Obamacare is serious, but watching the REPUBS IN DISARRAY! is delicious. Alice Ollstein, at TPM, “Trump’s Ham-Handed, Incoherent Health Care Message Leaves Senate Flailing“:
… On Wednesday, [Trump] summoned all 52 Republican senators to the White House to try to browbeat them into passing some form of a health care bill. The president previewed his message for the lawmakers in an interview with televangelist Pat Robertson—saying he’ll be “very angry” if they can’t pass a bill—and in tweets Wednesday morning that made no case for the merits of the legislation or the difficult politics of curtailing the benefits of millions of people.
At the meeting, he threatened bill critic Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV), asking as TV cameras rolled if he wants to “remain a senator,” and demanded the Senate stay in session through the summer recess until they “get it done” on health care…
Trump’s tin ear for Washington politics was on full display Monday night—the night Republican defectors drove the final nail into the coffin of the latest Obamacare repeal bill. The president hosted a group of senators at White House ostensibly to discuss health care over an elegant steak dinner, but did not invite any of the on-the-fence lawmakers he needed to convince to support the repeal effort. Instead, he dined with a group that already supported the bill, and according to the Washington Post, spent most of the evening recounting his recent trip to France…
“For seven years, Republicans have told the voters: ‘If you elect us, we’ll repeal Obamacare,’” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), carefully choosing his words as he walked through the Capitol’s underground tunnels surrounded by half a dozen reporters. “I think we will look like fools if we can’t deliver on that promise.”
But that message is unlikely to resonate with the moderate senators opposing the legislation who have repeatedly promised to protect their constituents’ Medicaid benefits and advocate for people with pre-existing conditions.
“Any time you’re over at the White House and the president is talking to you about his opinions, it can provide a pretty strong case,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) acknowledged. “But,” she added with a laugh, “we have our strong opinions too.”
Hmmm… piss off their voters, or Ted Cruz? How tough a choice is that?
Trump's evolution on health care: from “so easy” to “nobody knew” pic.twitter.com/o7BCk2qpoR
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) July 18, 2017
Literally Obamacare every three weeks since 2016 pic.twitter.com/XbcahxprC6
— Steve Morris (@stevemorris__) July 18, 2017
Frankensteinbeck
Jesus fucking Christ. On the one hand, this will make Heller nervous about pissing off his base. On the other, it is going to absolutely infuriate him, and probably at least half of the Republican senators. They don’t think of themselves as Trump’s inferiors, and having him try to bully them is not going to win him much cooperation.
hellslittlestangel
Has The Orange Better One tweeted yet that he likes senators who don’t get brain cancer?
The Dangerman
Trump = Black Knight
Miss Bianca
When will it fucking end? When will this shit show ever fucking end?
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
He should speak for himself, the rate he’s going he’s not going to remain the president for much longer. Soon, he’s going to be sticking his head in the White House Bowling Alley ball returns
hellslittlestangel
The steaks were well-done to perfection, and served with the finest of ketchup.
hitchhiker
Trump voters thought that Obamacare only helped black people, and that it did so at the expense of white people.
That’s why they hated it, and why they were eager to see it repealed. Since the election it’s begun to sink in that that’s not how it works … so far they don’t seem too upset with the people on Fox and in rightwing radio who’ve been lying to them for years, but they know enough now to be a little scared.
This should be a wedge for us — a way to penetrate the wall of bullshit that surrounds them 24/7.
Turgidson
That chryon: “Ryan worried Obamacare will remain and people will get hurt.”
I mean…did it omit “not enough”? Fuck these people. Shamelessly mendacious and cruel.
gammyjill
How did 52 Republican Senators show up? Did John McCain fly in from Phoenix for this?
Major Major Major Major
I hate him so much.
??? Martin
@Miss Bianca: 2020 if we’re lucky. White Christian America isn’t going to go down without a fight. Unfortunately white Christian Russia is far preferable to many Americans than civil rights America.
Omnes Omnibus
@Frankensteinbeck: At some point, Congress is going to remember what the Courts have never forgotten – the phrase, “co-equal branch.”
Gin & Tonic
@gammyjill: I’m not going to RTFA, but it says he “summoned” 52. Doesn’t say how many showed.
Miss Bianca
@??? Martin: that’s the thing, you see. I’m waiting for the new movie “White Dawn” to appear, where the battle cry of “WOLVERIIIINES” comes at the moment that the high school kids join up with the Russian invaders to slaughter all the internal (black, brown, feminist, LBGT) enemies.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Miss Bianca:
Red Dawn was the dumbest fucking movie ever. The only thing it got right was that scene where a Soviet solider evidently killed a 2nd amendment patriot off-screen and pocketing his handgun as a trophy
Jeffro
@Miss Bianca: Apparently not yet: “Trump’s Embrace of Russia Making Top Advisers Wary”
(you know this has to be Priebus)
FIVE sources on this one?! Good luck tracking that shit down, Steve Bannon!
ETA: (related to the earlier McMaster “babysitting” comment of mine…looks like it’s more of a “frustrated babysitter” dynamic).
Ivan X
@Miss Bianca: Yes, yes. Thank you.
Jeffro
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: If you were a teenager at the time it came out, it was a pretty cool movie – who could resist those hardy American teens taking to the wilderness to resist, then reclaim their American homeland?
It was the 80s…Tom Clancy, SDI, all that shit. It was just weird.
Miss Bianca
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: I’ve never actually seen it. I’ve only heard about it. But it only takes a generation for “The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!” to turn from a “fuck no!” to a “fuck yeah!” for this fucking country’s fucking 2nd Amendment patriots, as you put it.
Omnes Omnibus
@Gin & Tonic: Spirits from a vasty deep?
Frankensteinbeck
@Omnes Omnibus:
I guarantee you they already know. The best example is the last budget continuation, where basically everyone ignored Trump and worked out their own deal. #2 is probably when he met with the Representatives to whip them for Trumpcare, and some of them said they turned against it because they found the way he talks down to them offensive.
They don’t want him removed from the presidency. That’s veeeeeery different from considering him their boss.
Steve in the ATL
@hellslittlestangel:
I’ll bet that fucker uses Hunt’s. Bastard.
Adam L Silverman
@gammyjill: It wasn’t even 51!
catclub
@Gin & Tonic: “I can call spirits from the vasty deep!”
“Yes, but when you call them, do they come?”
GregB
It is repulsive that people have consistently rolled over or fawned over this insecure two bit thug.
What a fucking amoral cretin. He has not one Goddamned redeeming quality.
Meanwhile his filthy hands are busy putting his thumbprints all over the government.
Gin & Tonic
@catclub: @Omnes Omnibus: As Adam says, tracking.
Steeplejack
Most, if not all, of these Republican senators probably calculate their odds of outlasting Trump in office as pretty good, so his threats are empty. Even the ones up in ’18, like Heller, stand a pretty good chance, if they don’t make a huge mistake and manage to avoid being slimed when Trump blows up. And if they do go down it’s not going to be because of Trump’s machinations, it’s going to be because of the hordes of Democratic villagers wielding pitchforks and torches at the voting booth.
NotMax
Heller ought to now check the bed for equine heads before retiring each night.
Adam L Silverman
If any one is interested, here’s the transcript from Times interview:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/us/politics/trump-interview-transcript.html
Cheryl Rofer
Huh. The Times seems to have added stuff to its “excerpts” from the Trump interview. Incoherent.
Samples:
jl
Ted Cruz had a big hand in the Trump/GOPCare disaster too. Ted came through again! Nobody forget to thank Ted for all the great work he’s done.
Edit: is he a deep cover mole, by any chance? Who’s really paying him?
different-church-lady
@Miss Bianca: A: Heat death of the universe.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Steve in the ATL: Probably, you know who John Kerry’s wife is.
jl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: We live in a ‘ketchup memories and cheeseburger dreams’ world now. It’s the new chic.
Major Major Major Major
@Cheryl Rofer: Those are actually some of the more coherent things I’ve seen him say lately.
Adam L Silverman
@Major Major Major Major: They edited the transcript for clarity.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: “Lifestyles of the Trailer Park Trash”?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Adam L Silverman: Didn’t help, he still sounds incoherent.
Omnes Omnibus
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Money can’t buy style.
NotMax
Shocked, shocked.
Adam L Silverman
@?BillinGlendaleCA: There’s only so much editing for clarity can do.
Cheryl Rofer
Twitter comment: At least he knows not to invade Russia in the winter.
LurkerNoLonger
@Cheryl Rofer:
So eloquent. Shakespeare couldn’t write words so beautiful.
MisterForkbeard
@Adam L Silverman: This bugs me. It’s one thing to remove “uh” and “uhm”, it’s another to butcher his speech and reinterpret it to make it understandable.
If Trump is a raging imbecile who can’t speak coherently, that’s what should be reported and recorded in his interviews.
Cheryl Rofer
@LurkerNoLonger: I’m wondering how they figured out where to insert [garbled].
dmsilev
@Cheryl Rofer:
I feel that this adequately sums up the entire interview.
Adam L Silverman
@Cheryl Rofer:
Wrong Napolean…
This is the right Napolean, but I have no idea, in terms of historical accuracy, what the hell he’s talking about:
LurkerNoLonger
That’s not Trumpcare, that’s Trump’s Aqua Velva
Adam L Silverman
@MisterForkbeard: I’m pretty sure there’s no amount of editing for clarity that is going to fix it. The actual disclaimer at the link (below) is:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/us/politics/trump-interview-transcript.html
Personally I’d like to read the asides…
M. Bouffant
Fingers crossed, the audio may be released. Already heard some of it.
Cheryl Rofer
@Adam L Silverman: I love the “extracurricular activities” part.
Cheryl Rofer
@dmsilev: yes
MisterForkbeard
@Adam L Silverman: The asides are probably all variations of “You know I won a historic election, beautiful, and no one thought a Republican could do it? Fabulous.” followed by a non-sequitur like “The economy is good.” or “Napoleon had extracurricular activities and didn’t go to Russia.”
Omnes Omnibus
@Cheryl Rofer: This is real?
MisterForkbeard
@Cheryl Rofer: Wait, did Napoleon also have a Pee Tape, and that’s why he didn’t go after Russia?
Maybe he’s trying to tell us something.
dmsilev
@Cheryl Rofer: Is “invading Russia” the sort of extracurricular activity that will help out in college admissions?
Cheryl Rofer
@Omnes Omnibus: yes
I’ll leave you with this. The kittehs are saying it’s time for their late-night treat.
dmsilev
@Adam L Silverman: The footnote went on to add “three transcribers succumbed to gibbering madness before we made it all the way through the end of the tape. And these are people who listened to the full audiobook version of the Necronomicon.”.
Adam L Silverman
@Cheryl Rofer: Yep. I’m trying to figure out if he’s saying that Napolean’s strategy failed because he was having sex or because the staff croquet game was scheduled for zero hour.
Adam L Silverman
@MisterForkbeard: Most likely.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: It was Baron Haussmann who did it under N III’s authorization
.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Here’s the link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/us/politics/trump-interview-transcript.html
Omnes Omnibus
@Cheryl Rofer: I need to drink more.
@Adam L Silverman: I can’t it right now.
Adam L Silverman
@dmsilev: Backwards!
M. Bouffant
@Adam L Silverman: Eckshully, ’twas Baron Haussmann, under Nappy III.
Adam L Silverman
@M. Bouffant: @Omnes Omnibus: Yep and Yep. But still the wrong Napoleon being referenced.
NotMax
@Cheryl Rofer
From Death of a Salesman:
They laugh at me, heh? Go to Filene’s, go to the Hub, go to Slattery’s. Boston. Call out the name Willy Loman and see what happens! Big shot!
BIFF: All right, Pop.
WILLY: Big!
M. Bouffant
@Adam L Silverman: If one follows Trump’s syntax, one would assume the “extracurricular activities” froze to death.
Roger Moore
@catclub:
That’s:
GLENDOWER. I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
HOTSPUR. Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them?
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: I didn’t pick the nephew.
Adam L Silverman
@M. Bouffant: That does, unfortunately, seem to be a logical conclusion.
NotMax
@M. Bouffant
That way lies madness.
Steeplejack
@MisterForkbeard:
Pee-pee lithographs. Very incriminating.
Roger Moore
@NotMax:
Knowing Trump, though, he’d cut off his own horse’s head to leave in the Senator’s bed.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: I expect his attorneys can’t either because they’re blackout drunk!
M. Bouffant
@Adam L Silverman: You can’t really expect Trump to know there was a Napoleon III who was not the same person as Napoleon.
Roger Moore
@jl:
Ted Cruz is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: I, I mean, I , uh. Glomar? Fuck it.
patrick II
Washington Post:
Now we know what Trump and Vlad talked about at lunch
Roger Moore
@Cheryl Rofer:
I’m sure his buddy Vladimir has filled him in on all the important details.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@NotMax:
BIFF: You fake! You phony little fake! You fake!
Adam L Silverman
@M. Bouffant: I don’t. Just noting it for the record.
SiubhanDuinne
@Cheryl Rofer:
I. Really. Just. CANNOT.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@M. Bouffant: Trump like soldiers that don’t freeze to death(or get captured).
Bumper
Does anyone know anything about the Netflix show, “What the Health”? Son’s friend says it’s true but son has doubts. I’ve never heard anything about it so we’re turning to the collective knowledge of BJ for answers. Is it accurate?
Another Scott
@NotMax: Perfect.
Cheers,
Scott.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Moss and Zaid and their “of counsels” are the best in the business on security clearances, whistle blower protections, and other nat sec matters. My clearances and renewals have all gone smoothly, but I have their office’s contact info just in case. Not that I’d expect to need their services, but better to have it and never need it than to need it and not have it.
SiubhanDuinne
@Cheryl Rofer:
I’m almost beginning to like Maggie Haberman. That’s some very nice shade there.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@SiubhanDuinne: ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ and ‘Tear down this wall’ are surely eclipsed by Trump’s speech.
Another Scott
@Omnes Omnibus: This Glomar??
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Jeffro: @Miss Bianca:
I happen to like a lot of the cultural stuff from the 80s. Film, music, tv shows, etc. There’s crap in any decade and Red Dawn was definitely crap just for the suggestion that the Soviet Union would ever be able to or willing to launch a land war in North America under the circumstances in the movie
?BillinGlendaleCA
@SiubhanDuinne: You know, Trump thought the celebration was for him.
Adam L Silverman
@Another Scott: That’s the one.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Another Scott: That was an oil exploration vessel.
SiubhanDuinne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I want Carly Simon to write a song for him.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@SiubhanDuinne: I don’t think the song was about him. But she did cut an anti-Trump commercial using the song.
Adam L Silverman
@?BillinGlendaleCA: The legal phrase is based on the exploration vessel. For the longest time the Federal government routinely denied information requests regarding what happened to the Glomar Explorer by refusing to indicate if they had any information that could answer the question. Part of the name stuck as the term for what happens when the government isn’t going to be forthcoming in answering a FOIA request by basically refusing to admit it has any information to answer the FOIA request. When the US government issues a neither confirm nor deny answer it is called a Glomar response.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Adam L Silverman: Oil exploration was the Glomar Explorer’s cover.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
That Howard Hughes, what a card.
Adam L Silverman
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I am not authorized to confirm or deny that.
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: I have no applicable information to reply to this comment.
M. Bouffant
@Bumper: Save the cows!!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: Dude built a plywood flying boat.
Another Scott
@?BillinGlendaleCA: That was my recollection. “Nodules!!11”
Apparently it’s a whole ‘nother meme now.
Cheers,
Scott.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Adam L Silverman: Of course.
Another Scott
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Nope. Nodules!!11 :-)
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
NotMax
@?BillinGlendaleCA
Give me big enough engines and I can get the Great Pyramid airborne.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: Back in my lost youth, the Spruce Goose was housed in a very large dome in Long Beach and madame and I toured it. It’s really big! We got to see the inside as well.
GregB
Just how ego centric does a person have to be in order to put themselves at the center of greatness day in and out?
There must be dozens of foreign psycholigists who are saying that this loon will take the whole world down with him because he can’t imagine amyone wanting to live in a place where he is no longer there.
rikyrah
White man graded on a curve. They would have let any transcripts of 44 or Hillary speak for themselves. They would Never have cleaned them up for them.??
mai naem mobile
Talk abut Dolt 45’s white privilege. Idiot is so prideful he can’t understand that Heller should be given a pass because he’s super vulenrable. Meanwhile, Scary Black Muslin Guy Barack OBama was told constantly to keep his black cooties far from Alison Lunderson Grimes and several other candidates and he didn’t start some personal.vendetta against any of them.
Major Major Major Major
Apparently tonight I’ve decided to be upset that I can’t stream Psych on Netflix or Hulu anymore.
gene108
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
I take it you have never seen A Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell.
NotMax
@?BillinGlendaleCA
Can’t recall the model name or number (someone here will instantly know it), but the USSR at one point built a gargantuan aircraft which relied on ground effect in order to be able to take off. (Intended as transport and delivery for many, many tanks, IIRC). If memory serves, also flew but once.
Major Major Major Major
@gene108: At least Red Dawn had Swayze.
Ruckus
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
The shipping company or it’s owner up in Oregon has the SG now. I’ve also seen it and been inside. Small world.
Mnemosyne
@gene108:
Red Dawn was released in actual movie theaters, not just drive-ins.
ETA: Plus it was written and directed by an Oscar nominee.
M. Bouffant
@NotMax: You may mean this sucker, which stayed in ground effect mode.
M. Bouffant
@Major Major Major Major: If you’re a cord-cutter you’re screwed, but if you have a “tee vee provider acc’t.” you can use the USA app.
Major Major Major Major
@M. Bouffant: That’s funny, I probably could use my parents’ account to log into the app, but I don’t have the hardware that would let me watch it on an actual TV!
I see the box set is like $50, might not be a bad investment.
ETA: I would also like to be able to watch Fringe, while I’m complaining.
Steeplejack
@Major Major Major Major:
Slight comfort: episode starting on Ion in just a minute.
Every weeknight at 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. EDT.
joel hanes
@Cheryl Rofer:
there were thousands and thousands of people, ’cause they heard we were having dinner.
Yeah, normally the area around the base if the Eiffel Tower is deserted on a fine summer evening.
I mean, why would anyone go there except to catch a glimpse of He, Trump putting catsup on his well-done steak ?
Steeplejack
@Major Major Major Major:
You’re saying that like it’s a good thing?
Major Major Major Major
@Steeplejack: Ha, that’s exactly an hour after I want it!
Oh woe is me. I’m watching Leverage on Hulu instead.
ETA: I liked Swayze.
Steeplejack
@Mnemosyne:
Interesting topic sometime might be the worst movie ever made by an Oscar nominee.
TenguPhule
@Miss Bianca:
When the enemy is destroyed and not an hour earlier.
M. Bouffant
@joel hanes: Peasants hoping for scraps from the table?
M. Bouffant
@Major Major Major Major: I have one of those Chromecast (maybe they call it Googlecast now) thingies, cost me $30.00 ($5.00 less than Google wanted) at Best Buy. It’ll let you throw most stuff to the telebision.
Anne Laurie
@Roger Moore:
If you’re talking about Don Jr, that’s not a horse’s head.
Anne Laurie
@Major Major Major Major:
I’ll always have a fondness for Swayze, just for his Golden-Globe-nominated performance in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar. (Speaking of 80s classics… )
joel hanes
@M. Bouffant:
One of the trolls over at Drum’s blog is apparently quite proud of having golfed several rounds on a Trump course, and having gotten VIP treatment at a Trump property.
Iowa Old Lady
@dmsilev: The Daily Show interviewed some of the translators who’ve had to deal with Trump’s gibberish. They have a hard time and at least one of them admits to cleaning up sentences because otherwise Trump “would look like an idiot.”
Amir Khalid
@rikyrah:
Obama and Hillary have this in common: They can speak at length about complicated subjects at a presidential level, in clear, correct, and comprehensible English. A raw transcript of anything either of them said in public wouldn’t need much if any copy-editing, either for clarity or grammar. And they’d have more sense than to bust out any careless asides.