Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

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

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

A dilettante blog from the great progressive state of West Virginia.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

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

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Americans barely caring about Afghanistan is so last month.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Come on, man.

I was promised a recession.

The words do not have to be perfect.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / Open Thread: Trumpcare ‘Not Dead Yet’ (But It Smells Kinda Funny)

Open Thread: Trumpcare ‘Not Dead Yet’ (But It Smells Kinda Funny)

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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?

Reader Interactions

133Comments

  1. 1.

    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.

  2. 2.

    hellslittlestangel

    Has The Orange Better One tweeted yet that he likes senators who don’t get brain cancer?

  5. 5.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    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…

    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

  6. 6.

    hellslittlestangel

    The president hosted a group of senators at White House ostensibly to discuss health care over an elegant steak dinner …

    The steaks were well-done to perfection, and served with the finest of ketchup.

  7. 7.

    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.

  8. 8.

    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.

  9. 9.

    gammyjill

    How did 52 Republican Senators show up? Did John McCain fly in from Phoenix for this?

  11. 11.

    ??‍? 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.

  14. 14.

    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.

  15. 15.

    ? ?? 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

  16. 16.

    Jeffro

    @Miss Bianca: Apparently not yet: “Trump’s Embrace of Russia Making Top Advisers Wary”

    (you know this has to be Priebus)

    The uneasy dynamic between the president and top aides has been exacerbated by the revelation this week of an extended dinner conversation between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the recent summit in Germany. The previously undisclosed conversation, which occurred a few hours after their official bilateral meeting, raised red flags with advisers already concerned by the president’s tendency to shun protocol and press ahead with outreach toward Russia, according to two U.S. officials and three top foreign officials.

    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).

  18. 18.

    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.

  19. 19.

    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.

  21. 21.

    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.

  25. 25.

    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.

  27. 27.

    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.

  30. 30.

    Cheryl Rofer

    Huh. The Times seems to have added stuff to its “excerpts” from the Trump interview. Incoherent.

    Samples:

    TRUMP: Ah, 49. It was actually 48, but John McCain was there. But I guess we had 51 today, so that counts. That shows the spirit.

    BAKER: Who is the key guy?

    TRUMP: Well, they are all key. The problem is we have 52 votes. Don’t forget, you look at Obama, he had 60. That’s a big difference. So, we have 52 votes. Now, I guess we lose Susan Collins. I guess we lose Rand Paul. Then we can’t lose any votes. That is a very tough standard. Statistically, you want to bet on that all day long. With that being said, I think we had a great meeting. I think we had a great meeting.

    HABERMAN: [In Paris], I don’t think I’ve seen you look like you were enjoying yourself that much since the convention, really.

    TRUMP: I have had the best reviews on foreign land. So I go to Poland and make a speech. Enemies of mine in the media, enemies of mine are saying it was the greatest speech ever made on foreign soil by a president. I’m saying, man, they cover [garbled]. You saw the reviews I got on that speech. Poland was beautiful and wonderful, and the reception was incredible.

  31. 31.

    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?

  40. 40.

    NotMax

    Shocked, shocked.

    The White House said Wednesday that President Donald Trump has declined an invitation to speak at the NAACP’s annual convention next week in Baltimore…. Source

  42. 42.

    Cheryl Rofer

    TRUMP: We had dinner at the Eiffel Tower, and the bottom of the Eiffel Tower looked like they could have never had a bigger celebration ever in the history of the Eiffel Tower. I mean, there were thousands and thousands of people, ’cause they heard we were having dinner.

    [crosstalk/garbled]

    HABERMAN: You must have been so tired at, by that point.

    TRUMP: Yeah. It was beautiful. We toured the museum, we went to Napoleon’s tomb …

    [crosstalk]

    TRUMP: Well, Napoleon finished a little bit bad. But I asked that. So I asked the president, so what about Napoleon? He said: “No, no, no. What he did was incredible. He designed Paris.” [garbled] The street grid, the way they work, you know, the spokes. He did so many things even beyond. And his one problem is he didn’t go to Russia that night because he had extracurricular activities, and they froze to death. How many times has Russia been saved by the weather? [garbled]

    [crosstalk/unintelligible]

    TRUMP: Same thing happened to Hitler. Not for that reason, though. Hitler wanted to consolidate. He was all set to walk in. But he wanted to consolidate, and it went and dropped to 35 degrees below zero, and that was the end of that army.

    [crosstalk]

    But the Russians have great fighters in the cold. They use the cold to their advantage. I mean, they’ve won five wars where the armies that went against them froze to death. [crosstalk] It’s pretty amazing.

    So, we’re having a good time. The economy is doing great.

    SCHMIDT: The markets are doing great.

    Twitter comment: At least he knows not to invade Russia in the winter.

  44. 44.

    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.

  47. 47.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    He designed Paris.

    Wrong Napolean…

    This is the right Napolean, but I have no idea, in terms of historical accuracy, what the hell he’s talking about:

    And his one problem is he didn’t go to Russia that night because he had extracurricular activities, and they froze to death.

  48. 48.

    LurkerNoLonger

    Trumpcare ‘Not Dead Yet’ (But It Smells Kinda Funny)

    That’s not Trumpcare, that’s Trump’s Aqua Velva

  49. 49.

    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

    The following are excerpts from that conversation, transcribed by The Times. They have been lightly edited for content and clarity, and omit several off-the-record comments and asides.

    Personally I’d like to read the asides…

  53. 53.

    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.”

  55. 55.

    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.

  58. 58.

    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.”.

  59. 59.

    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.

  67. 67.

    NotMax

    @Cheryl Rofer

    and the bottom of the Eiffel Tower looked like they could have never had a bigger celebration ever in the history of the Eiffel Tower. I mean, there were thousands and thousands of people, ’cause they heard we were having dinner.

    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!

  69. 69.

    Roger Moore

    @catclub:

    “I can call spirits from the vasty deep!”
    “Yes, but when you call them, do they come?”

    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?

  74. 74.

    Roger Moore

    @NotMax:

    Heller ought to now check the bed for equine heads before retiring each night.

    Knowing Trump, though, he’d cut off his own horse’s head to leave in the Senator’s bed.

  77. 77.

    Roger Moore

    @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.

    Ted Cruz is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice.

  79. 79.

    patrick II

    Washington Post:

    President Trump has decided to end the CIA’s covert program to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels battling the government of Bashar al-Assad, a move long sought by Russia, according to U.S. officials.

    Now we know what Trump and Vlad talked about at lunch

  83. 83.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    TRUMP: I have had the best reviews on foreign land. So I go to Poland and make a speech. Enemies of mine in the media, enemies of mine are saying it was the greatest speech ever made on foreign soil by a president.

    I. Really. Just. CANNOT.

  85. 85.

    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?

  87. 87.

    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.

  88. 88.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    TRUMP: We had dinner at the Eiffel Tower, and the bottom of the Eiffel Tower looked like they could have never had a bigger celebration ever in the history of the Eiffel Tower. I mean, there were thousands and thousands of people, ’cause they heard we were having dinner.

    [crosstalk/garbled]

    HABERMAN: You must have been so tired at, by that point.

    TRUMP: Yeah. It was beautiful. We toured the museum, we went to Napoleon’s tomb …

    I’m almost beginning to like Maggie Haberman. That’s some very nice shade there.

  91. 91.

    ? ?? 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

  97. 97.

    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.

  109. 109.

    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.

  110. 110.

    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.??

  111. 111.

    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.

  114. 114.

    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.

  120. 120.

    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.

  122. 122.

    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 ?

  126. 126.

    TenguPhule

    @Miss Bianca:

    When will it fucking end? When will this shit show ever fucking end?

    When the enemy is destroyed and not an hour earlier.

  129. 129.

    Anne Laurie

    @Roger Moore:

    Knowing Trump, though, he’d cut off his own horse’s head to leave in the Senator’s bed.

    If you’re talking about Don Jr, that’s not a horse’s head.

  131. 131.

    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.

  133. 133.

    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.

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