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You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Hail to the Hairpiece / Sunday Evening Open Thread: When Incompetence Is What We’re Hoping For…

Sunday Evening Open Thread: When Incompetence Is What We’re Hoping For…

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Apart from praying these clowns don’t take us all with them, what’s on the agenda as we wrap up the weekend?

***********
The NYTimes would very much like to remain upbeat, but…

President Trump enters a new phase of his presidency on Monday with a new chief of staff but an old set of challenges as he seeks to get back on course after enduring one of the worst weeks that any modern occupant of the Oval Office has experienced in his inaugural year in power.

With his poll numbers at historic lows, his legislative agenda stalled and his advisers busy plotting against one another, Mr. Trump hoped to regain momentum by pushing out his top aide, Reince Priebus, and installing a retired four-star Marine general, John F. Kelly, to take command. But it is far from certain that the move will be enough to tame a dysfunctional White House…

The setbacks came against the backdrop of a West Wing at war with itself, egged on by a president who thrives on conflict and chaos. Mr. Kelly, who had been serving as secretary of homeland security, brings a career of decisive leadership to his new assignment as White House chief of staff. But he confronts multiple power centers among presidential aides, all with independent lines to the man in the Oval Office who resists the discipline and structure favored by generals.

“Everybody knows what needs to be done to fix it, and I think everybody is coming to accept that they’re not going to happen,” said Sara Fagen, a White House political director under President George W. Bush. “And the reason they’re not going to happen is the person at the top of the food chain is not going to change. This is the new normal. This goes down as one of the worst weeks he’s had politically and P.R.-wise, but I don’t think anything will change.”…

Presidential historians found it hard to recall precedents for the combination of internal warfare and external legislative troubles. Jeffrey A. Engel, the director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, said the best examples were John Tyler and Andrew Johnson in the 19th century. Both men were serving as vice president when their bosses died in office, each during a time of great turmoil in his political party.

“In either case, we are forced to go well back over a century in the past to find an administration in such an open state of infighting coupled with legislative disarray,” he said…

I guess the analogy would be that Trump took over the Oval Office when his “boss”, d/b/a the remnants of the GOP as a functional political party, dropped dead during the 2016 primaries.

Reader Interactions

364Comments

  2. 2.

    Another Scott

    Cory looks ridiculous. Who walks with both their hands pointing like that?

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  4. 4.

    Princess

    Look at how long Mooch’s tie is. Have you seen the video of him imitating Trump’s gestures? He is trying to become a complete mirror of Trump. I guess he knows how to please a narcissist.

  5. 5.

    Felonius Monk

    his legislative agenda stalled

    What fucking legislative agenda? He has none. All he has is some hair up the ass ideas to mistreat people or enrich the rich, but has he turned any of it into any concrete proposals delivered to congress for implementation? All I hear is a bunch of jingoist sloganeering. This is the laziest, most ignorant, and feckless person to ever occupy the WH bar none.

    I am hopeful that the day will come when we will hear those joyous words: “The president’s plane is missing.”

  6. 6.

    Jay C

    And of course, the Trump (mal-)Administration is going be starting the week with a serious international incident – the Russian diplomat-expulsion – which, if not quite rising to the level of “crisis”, is going to stress the Imbecile-in-Chief’s executive capabilities (which, except for blustering, name-calling and blame-shifting, have already been exposed as minimal and inadequate) to a YUGE degree. Especially since his main creditor pal Putin is on the other side…

  8. 8.

    debbie

    That top photo shows Moosch isn’t a tall man. I knew there was a Napoleonic Complex in there somewhere!

  9. 9.

    JGabriel

    Yashar Ali via Anne Laurie @ Top:

    There is so much going on in this photo….Corey, Scaramucci, Gorka, and Omarosa…..

    It’s like the Abbey Road of Assholery.

  10. 10.

    MattF

    Not the least bit surprised that Lewandowski is back. Not a good sign for Trump– going back to the old crowd really isn’t the positive path here. I imagine everyone in the White House is thinking up ways to stymie Kelley.

  11. 11.

    NotMax

    Refresh my memory*. What type of government is it that engages in political or ideological purges?

    *rhetorical request

  12. 12.

    Felonius Monk

    @debbie:

    That top photo shows Moosch isn’t a tall man

    It’s called “Walking Short”. Even if he was over 6 ft tall, he’d still be Walking Short.

  15. 15.

    GregB

    As Pence pondersTrump’s response to North Korea, can we assume his conversation with his wife is as follows: Mother do you think he’ll drop the bomb?

  16. 16.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Jay C: But, all I’m reading on the interwebs is that this PROVES Trump isn’t in league with Putin! It’s good for Trump!

  18. 18.

    prostratedragon

    For years I’ve felt that Taj Mahal (of whom I am a fan) needed to apologize for this, but such is the present state of the world that now I must apologize to him:

    “Cakewalk Into Town”*

    _____
    * See also thread below on NKorea and Trum’s alleged foreign policy.

  19. 19.

    JGabriel

    @Another Scott:

    Cory looks ridiculous. Who walks with both their hands pointing like that?

    Those aren’t hands. That’s the tip of shit poking out of a constipated rectum that refuses to evacuate.

  21. 21.

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

    Why don’t these pieces ever talk about what an evil fuck Kelly is over at DHS?

  22. 22.

    MattF

    @schrodingers_cat: I guess the question is whether Kelly sees his role as Fulfllling the Will of the Leader, or actually accomplishing something. We shall see. And probably pretty soon. Lewandowski looks impatient.

  23. 23.

    Miss Bianca

    @Quinerly: And *Lieberman*? Jesus, am I going to have to start thinking well of *him* now, too? I was just wrapping my head around McCain…

  26. 26.

    Applejinx

    Bear in mind Gorka is huge, tall with a huge head.

    Chapo Trap House has done hilarious bits on Gorka: having a host pretend to be Gorka and harangue the show as a call-in, like a cross between Boris Badenov and a Bond villain. “Ha ha, Mister Chapo! Gorka of course remains eleven moves ahead of you, in Stratego!”

    Anybody looks small next to Gorka. He is twelve moves ahead of your puny brain, by now. In Stratego. ;)

  27. 27.

    Mike in NC

    So what job did they give to shitheel Lewandowski? Polishing the silverware? Better count the forks after each service.

  29. 29.

    encephalopath

    And what is Rexxon going to do at the State Department now that the sanctions are signed/all but signed/implemented by overridden veto?

    Now none of his people from State are in Russia anymore. He’s never getting that oil deal. The pouting is going to be hard to tolerate.

  34. 34.

    sukabi

    @MattF: if he isn’t in the path between trump and the others it isn’t going to make a difference what he does. He’s got no power, other than being trumps fly catcher

  40. 40.

    efgoldman

    @Felonius Monk:

    All I hear is a bunch of jingoist sloganeering. This is the laziest, most ignorant, and feckless person to ever occupy the WH bar none.

    Now, now. The young man has done everything of which he’s capable. He’s tried really, really hard. Not everyone will grow up to be a major league pitcher, or a rock star, or an actor, or president. I’m sure he’ll feel better tomorrow when he sees this nice “thank you for playing” gold paper medal hanging over his bed

  41. 41.

    Baud

    @schrodingers_cat: Thanks. I was catching up on some threads, and people seemed remarkably happy in my absence. So I was thinking of staying away.

    But then I remembered that we are living in a Fuck Your Feelings world.

  42. 42.

    efgoldman

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    There ya go, bashing short guys. We get this all the time…

    Yes, yes we do.
    Our daughter was taller than both of us by age 13 (not hard!) – and then stopped.

  48. 48.

    lollipopguild

    @NotMax: Dictatorships-read about communist Russia and nazi Germany. Also any third rate third world dictatorship. We are a Banana Republic with Nukes.

  49. 49.

    sm*t cl*de

    The deep state is real. All Obama hold overs in the Gov’t need to go to allow

    We must eliminate the last of the counter-revolutionaries and kulaks who are preventing the Revolution from bearing fruit.
    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    If he doesn’t kill it AND eat it*, he’s fired.

    Must recite “The blood is the life!” in the process.

  53. 53.

    Ruckus

    I drove to the store today and passed the Pasadena Convention Center.
    The not so hilarious bit was that there is a drumpf rally going on there this afternoon. A very few people on the sidewalk with signs “Drumpf is my president! Honk if you agree.” As the traffic stopped with me right by the person holding the sign, I flipped her off. Then the car behind me honked. You could hear the necks snapping as people looked around to see who the idiot was. She was the car behind me so I flipped her off as well.
    Felt good, but not nearly good enough. Was ready to roll down the window and tell the people standing there that they were fucking morons, but I think the world has already made that clear.

  61. 61.

    Ruckus

    @Felonius Monk:
    Would be much better if it was announced that the presidential plane turned around when less than half way across the Atlantic and landed at Andrews AFB after having taken off as AF1. A banner was found upon cleaning the plane. “Have a Nice Swim, Asshole.”

  62. 62.

    schrodingers_cat

    DHS Under Kelly:
    Deporting minors
    Deporting veterans who were promised a fast track to GC and citizenship
    Deporting mothers and fathers w/o criminal records who have deep roots within the community and sometimes citizen spouses and children

    Kelly and Mattis stood behind T as he signed the Muslim travel ban.
    Kelly deserves zero praise.

  63. 63.

    RepubAnon

    I’m curious – how is Trump firing his Chief of Staff supposed to “get his momentum back”? Sounds to me more like Trump admitting that he made a bad hire – not a policy success.

  64. 64.

    ThresherK

    With his poll numbers at historic lows…

    Back in the old days the Inquirer was said to have kept a headline permanently mounted (i.e. not broken down into its letters) as it was needed so often:

    Phillies Lose as Chuck Klein Hits Another Homer

  66. 66.

    Ruckus

    @schrodingers_cat:
    There were far more cops hanging around than supporters. But then I don’t know if it hadn’t started yet. I can not imagine a very large turn out. This is an area of poverty and wealth, a lot of, at least in the american sense old money. But I doubt many of them would be seen with the riff raff.
    @MattF:
    They may have learned to operate bumper cars, they hadn’t learned how to print.

  67. 67.

    Ruckus

    @Miss Bianca:
    McCain earned a few brownie points this week but he has a long way to go for that redemption merit badge.
    Joe Lies has even farther to go.

  71. 71.

    zhena gogolia

    We just went for a walk and turned down a side street. We saw a guy who might at first blush be taken for a Trumpanzee mowing his lawn. But he was wearing a T-shirt that said, “I SUPPORT SAME-SEX MARRIAGE.” We exchanged waves and smiles. I said to my husband, it’s like being in the French resistance, we have our little signals to each other. (I know, I know, I’m not in the French resistance. But it cheered me up a tad.)

  74. 74.

    SiubhanDuinne

    So I’m looking at the photo of the Scaramucci watch, and I’m noticing the placement of the numeral “6,” and I’m humming Colonel Bogey to myself and singing “Moochie…has only got one ball….”

  76. 76.

    hueyplong

    1. If even Joe Fucking Lieberman was against the skinny repeal, that means 49 Senators are inhuman monsters.

    2. Soon I will be saying, “Yes, I thought of that line myself” about “the Abbey Road of assholery.”

  78. 78.

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

    @schrodingers_cat:
    Well, it can come across as hypocritical. I know at WeHuntedtheMammoth.com, a feminist, anti-MRA blog, you can get your head taken off for making fun of someone’s looks or calling them crazy.

  79. 79.

    Ruckus

    @efgoldman:
    My sister was taller than me till I was 12. She never made 5 ft tall. She found out that I had gotten bigger by stabbing me in the arm with a fork for not getting my elbows off the table. After pulling out the fork, during which she looked at me and realized her mistake, I chased her up to her room and lucky for her she got the door closed just in time. So I had to put my fist through it. She never fucked with me again. And we became pretty damn good friends after that. Very, very good in the last decade or two of her life.

  80. 80.

    craigie

    This goes down as one of the worst weeks he’s had politically and P.R.-wise, but I don’t think anything will change.”…

    Is it me, or do we read this pretty much every week? Are they trying for the gold medal in incompetence?

  84. 84.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    @Felonius Monk:
    What legislative agenda?

    He wants to REFORM HEALTH CARE! It will be EASY! We’ll have the best health care ever at lower costs!
    He wants to BUILD INFRASTRUCTURE! It will be easy! We’ll have the best infrastructure ever at lower costs! Including a BIG BEAUTIFUL (see-through!!!) WALL and MEXICO WILL PAY FOR IT!
    He wants TAX REFORM! It will be easy! We’ll have the best taxation ever at lower costs!
    And he wants to bring back STEEL jobs and COAL jobs and JOBS, and JOBS and did you hear me, JOBS!!!!!!!!!11!!

    What do you mean that’s not a legislative agenda? The whole campaign, that’s what he called for. Isn’t it a tad late *now* to go all “oh, that’s not a legislative agenda”?

    And what do you mean, no one but a chump believes someone who says “I can do this better than anyone, and it will cost less, no one else is up to these challenges” when that person has demonstrated, repeatedly, that his only competency is letting his mouth write checks he knows he can’t cash? WHY ARE YOU INSULTING TRUMP VOTERS?

    (Because of whatever-law, it’s impossible to tell satire from a True Believe, this is all sarcasm/irony. And yes, Trump voters, you were chumps, because you voted for a blowhard whose biggest lie was that he *cared* about you. If you think Trump isn’t a serial BS-artist and that he does, too, care for you, feel free to think I’m factually incorrect – but I think even you’d agree that only a chump votes for a BS artist who doesn’t give a damn about them.)

  85. 85.

    hueyplong

    @craigie: Well, there are those moments after he has read a speech in another country and hasn’t yet sent out that subsequent tweet that contradicts what he said. During those precious moments, he’s “beginning to look a little more presidential.” “Worst week yet” ensues.

  89. 89.

    debbie

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    No, certainly not all, but you can’t deny a good many dip too deeply into the well of overcompensation. I’m short, I know a few short women, and none of us are bullies.

  93. 93.

    Ithink

    Corey Lewandowski is a proto-white nationalist, know-nothing genital wort; he was just on “Meet the (Watchtower) Press” spewing some psycho babble propaganda about Trump’s most profoundly disastrous week yet strictly for his base rubes and nobody else. I don’t have nothing nice or frankly relevant to say about all the other useless psychophants above, so whatever…

    God we have got to get this everlasting chain of fools out of our f***-ing White House come 2020 or we really are screwed for another generation or more!

  95. 95.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    I admit to trying to map the Trump WH onto West Wing characters. So Kelly is now Leo and The Mooch is Toby. Somehow it looked better on TV.

    Yeah. And Sarah Huckabee-Sanders is C.J. Cregg.

  100. 100.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Really? I conclude I don’t know what most of these people are supposed to spend their time doing. I mean I know in general terms: “craft a communication strategy.” But in practical terms, I don’t know what that means hour by hour.

  102. 102.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Princess:

    Look at how long Mooch’s tie is.

    Mooch’s and Corey’s, both. Whenever I see those Trumpish overlong ties, the only thing I can think is that they’re directing the viewer’s eye to their junk. I mean, there’s the pointy arrow-end of the tie and everything. How insecure does a person have to be, anyhow?

  103. 103.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Iowa Old Lady: @SiubhanDuinne: I would do that with Veep, but even those characters aren’t mean enough to deserve being compared to this crew.

    Even Selena has sorta-kinda been concerned about family leave and the environment

  105. 105.

    Keith P.

    @Ithink: I’m gonna try on “Il Muce” for a bit on Da Mooch. I’m still partial to “Da Mooch”, but I’ll give Il Muce some time.

  106. 106.

    chris

    Ah, the place did seem to be missing a beat here and there. Or a Baud. Welcome back, Dear Leader To Be.

  108. 108.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @GregB:

    As Pence pondersTrump’s response to North Korea, can we assume his conversation with his wife is as follows: Mother do you think he’ll drop the bomb?

    That sounds amazingly scatological.

  109. 109.

    Quinerly

    @Miss Bianca:
    I know. The world has gone mad. In other news, I read where Omarosa hates her some Mooch. He got the office with the view of the Washington Monument that she’s been pining for. I’m thinking she could beat the shit out of the little shit.

  114. 114.

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

    @NMgal:
    Why less? Whatever I think of Kelly, I think he’s tougher than Rinse Pubics

  116. 116.

    Ruckus

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    How insecure does a person have to be, anyhow?

    Judging by the number of jacked up 4x4s that never see dirt, the number of overly loud motorcycles and more specifically in my neighborhood, the number of high end sports/supercars driven around in 2nd gear, it’s not all that uncommon for some to recognize their short comings and need attention to compensate.

  118. 118.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    What do you suppose Moochie is saying? “Yeah, whooda I gotta boff to get a fookin’ pizza here?”

    Tin-plated Lewandowski needs to go down in flames.

    Omorosa… sell-out.

    Buncha losers.

  124. 124.

    Quinerly

    @Baud:
    Poco has been giving good beach goose to the bikini clad crowd, he’s licked two babies, killed a ghost crab in mid air and ate part of it on the spot, tried to roll on a dead horseshoe crab, sniffed a Pekingese, pissed on three beach umbrellas, pooped in the sand dunes, and listened to Mark Knopfler for hours….he’s ready for Baud/Poco 2020!

  128. 128.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: precisely why he’s more likely to crash hard if he takes on trump directly. Who the fuck knows? Joan Walsh floated the unsettling rumor that the Martinet and the Beast have “bonded”. OTOH, the other flying rumor is that Kelly was very hesitant to take the job, and consulted friends who told him not to do it.

  130. 130.

    JPL

    @NMgal: I think that he lasts longer than Mooch. Scaramooch is receiving a lot of attention, and Trump doesn’t like that. Now Trump doesn’t care if it’s negative attention, he just doesn’t want someone to receive more airtime than he does.

  131. 131.

    Kathleen

    @Barney: The photo reminded me of “The Walk” in the last scene of the opening credits – when Brisco, Green, McCoy and Asst DA de jour walk down the hallway.

  133. 133.

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

    @Ithink: I tend to not make fun of others based on their looks. There’s plenty to mock that they can help, such as the content of their character

  134. 134.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Quinerly:

    I read where Omarosa hates her some Mooch. He got the office with the view of the Washington Monument that she’s been pining for. I’m thinking she could beat the shit out of the little shit.

    That makes me smile and smile and smile.

  138. 138.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Quinerly:

    How could Corner Stone just abandon us like this??

    I’m beginning to be reminded of that old joke about the masochist who said “Beat me! Beat me!” and the sadist replied: “No.”

  142. 142.

    Major Major Major Major

    @chris: @SiubhanDuinne: Once upon a time, when I was in college, we had a TA who talked one time about the evolution of such things as going from ancient Greek satyr plays where the actors had giant dongs, through the (relatively) more conservative enormous codpieces of the dark ages, and to today, where we merely wear giant arrows.

  146. 146.

    efgoldman

    @Quinerly:

    He got the office with the view of the Washington Monument that she’s been pining for.

    My daughter works in Farragut Square. Her building is being renovated/updated. The temporary offices have a lovely view of the Washington Monument. So?

  150. 150.

    Quinerly

    @Kathleen:
    Well, it was an outlaw poop. Seems it was a two bag walk and his body girl only brought one bag. We dug and ran. Don’t let this get out. It will be our secret, ok? Remember, we share a name……

  154. 154.

    dogwood

    I’ve never been an avid reader of Kos, but have always started my day reading the Abbreviated Pundit Roundup. Today that post used a term I had yet to see, but it is a perfect description of this government. “Proctocracy”. Government of, by and for assholes.

  155. 155.

    MomSense

    @Quinerly:

    Ah the double dump! My pup is famous for double dumps and the dreaded hat tricks. I confess to burying them under leaves on a few unfortunate occasions when I went through all the bags.

  158. 158.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    I once interviewed with a guy who had a really nice view of the White House.

    One of the nicest things about the Canadian Embassy is its incredible view of the Capitol. (It is also next door to the Newseum, and across the street from the Museum of the American Indian. Sweet Pennsylvania Avenue location, for sure.)

  161. 161.

    NMgal

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: @Jim, Foolish Literalist: @JPL: @schrodingers_cat: Because he’s not as floppy a fish as I think Priebus is, he’s likely to: resign because he won’t be allowed the authority to do the job as it would need to be done to even minimal competence, and I think he does understand what that is, unlike a lot of these mooks; resign because the president* gives him what in his mind will be an egregious and clearly illegal order; or get fired for standing up to Il Douche, or being mean to Javanka, or whatever the hell gets under the toddler’s skin one day (perhaps at 3 a.m.).

    I’m not wedded to the notion, but it has occurred to me that Kelly (I keep typing Flynn and having to correct it, these five-letter Irish wingnut generals are easy to mix up) accepted the job because it’s an “honorable” path out of the administration altogether. He doesn’t think Cheeto Ceaucescu will fire him at DHS and doesn’t want to try to find out, but also has some personal problem with resigning. He figures the CoS job will be short time given the past six months of history. Again, maybe not, but it wouldn’t be a big surprise.

  167. 167.

    MomSense

    The incompetence has been a yuuge help to the resistance in many cases but I’m not looking forward to the consequences of incompetence when we have a natural disaster or other major crisis.

  168. 168.

    Quinerly

    @?BillinGlendaleCA
    : Poco is a fine tuned machine of an ex street dog. Very predictable, if you get my drift. We had a rain day yesterday. He hates the rain. Needless to say it was a big morning.

  171. 171.

    Wapiti

    I think Trump is getting worse over time, and there’s less honeymoon period for his staff as well as for him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he lasts less time than Priebus. I also wouldn’t be surprised if some other lackey takes an under-the-bus tour first; Trump is the kind of boss who will use someone else to shield himself from blame.

  177. 177.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    C.J. Chivers‏Verified account @ cjchivers 10h10 hours ago
    i was a student under john kelly when he led the @usmc course for young infantry officers, in the late 1980s. /1
    it’s hard to see him holding the CoS role, and thriving in the viper’s nest, or getting along w someone like Mooch. /2
    It’s not Mooch’s language. (Compared Marine grunt, Mooch has child”s command of foul language.) It’s the back-stabbing & neediness /3
    when i knew kelly (or had a chance to observe him closely rather) he was about hard work, solid performance & had no place for suck-ups. /4

    Compared to trump, The Mooch also has a child’s command of back-stabbing and neediness. And as far as back-stabbing, he’ll have to contend with Bannon, JaVanka and whoever those last two turn to for their dirty work. I imagine Kelly could scare Mooch all the way back to Manhattan if he wanted to, without much effort. The family isn’t going anywhere. Not because of Kelly.

    hard work, solid performance & had no place for suck-ups.

    trump is allergic to hard work, thinks being trump is the most bigly solid performance ever given, and needs suck-ups more than he needs water

  184. 184.

    zhena gogolia

    @efgoldman:

    My husband and I always laugh at the way every single office in DC (according to TV and movies) has a view of the Capitol dome.

  185. 185.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    I’m sure that Hillary’s done that too.

    ETA: Another reason we need a special prosecutor to look into her affairs.

    I heard something about an email server or something? Can’t quite remember, it was in passing and the media never picked up on the story.

  188. 188.

    sm*t cl*de

    @Wapiti:

    I think Trump is getting worse over time, and there’s less honeymoon period for his staff as well as for him

    Look at it from the perspective of Trump’s inner circle advisors, the family courtiers. They are the ones most uncertain of the loyalty of Trump appointees, where “loyalty” = “willingness to overlook dementia”.

    There are two ways they could be thrown off the gravy train: Trump is impeached, or deposed by way of the 25th Amendment. The former requires the herding of Senators and congresscreatures, so not such a big worry. The latter only requires a majority of his cabinet to agree with Pence “that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office”.

    So the family courtiers cannot afford an outbreak of competence among Trump appointees.

  189. 189.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: This is why I don’t think Kelly will be able to tolerate being in such a place for long. He can’t address the actual problem: Donald. Rearranging the deck chairs might keep him busy for a few weeks, but the real problem is the iceberg that is Donald.

  192. 192.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Felonius Monk:

    Ah, but the entropy. Think of the entropy.

    Yes indeed, and you are very wise to remind us of the

    Wise to remind us of the entro

    Remind us of

    Of the entrop

    En

    Tro

    Py

    …………………..

  210. 210.

    Quinerly

    Breitbart reporting Meghan Kelly’s show pulled after two months. Didn’t want to give the site the clicks. So no details.

  214. 214.

    sukabi

    @Omnes Omnibus: Drumpf is going to insist he wears his uniform and his main duties will include catching flies, getting sandwiches and diet cokes, and telling Drumpf what a great president is.

    Kelly will last 6 weeks tops.

  218. 218.

    JMG

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Why didn’t the fan get right back into his face, possibly with a knee to the groin as punctuation? Let the fat slob press charges and have a jury decide. Put him under oath.

  220. 220.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @zhena gogolia:

    My husband and I always laugh at the way every single office in DC (according to TV and movies) has a view of the Capitol dome.

    Not unlike Paris and the Eiffel Tower.

  223. 223.

    efgoldman

    @Quinerly:

    Meghan Kelly’s show pulled after two months

    I believe she got unmeasurably low ratings, but I thought they’d leave the show in place until the start of football season, when the pre-game takes the time slot.

    Some executive VP at NBC needs to get his/her resume spiffed up.

  225. 225.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @schrodingers_cat: that’s what worries me about Joan Walsh’s assertion that people have told her he and trump have “bonded”, what they “bonded” over, that this guy is a smarter, more polished version of Flynn or Jerry Boykin. Or worse.

  230. 230.

    germy

    Megyn Kelly‏Verified account @megynkelly 7m7 minutes ago

    That’s it for the summer run of #SundayNight. We’ll be back in the spring. And I’ll see you on @TODAYshow Sept. 25 at 9 a.m.!

  232. 232.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @efgoldman: all those ex-Fox hires were Andrew Lack’s brilliant moves, weren’t they? Same guy who drove out Tamron Hall because she was upstaging Matt Lauer, and wanted to (per rumor) fire Joy Reid and Lawrence O’Donnell.

  234. 234.

    Felonius Monk

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    My fucking heart is fucking broken.

    Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean that NBC is letting her go. She will have a daytime morning show beginning in the fall.

  239. 239.

    chris

    @MomSense: The first time I saw a picture of Pence I thought he looked like a serial killer straight from Central Casting. Those eyes!

  247. 247.

    efgoldman

    @Felonius Monk:

    it doesn’t mean that NBC is letting her go

    I expect they don’t want to be paying off a huge contract while she sits on the beach. Think the Red Sox and Pablo Sandoval.

  251. 251.

    sukabi

    @Quinerly: she may very well be on her way out. Just wouldn’t take breitbarts word for anything….plus she shouldn’t have been hired by NBC anyway…

  263. 263.

    efgoldman

    @germy:

    Joe Biden still wants to be president. Can his family endure one last campaign?

    No no no no no no no.
    Nobody close to my age should ever run for anything, ever.
    No no No no No no No no No no No no No no No no No no No no No no

  265. 265.

    Shalimar

    @Villago Delenda Est: Scaramucci doesn’t report to Kelly. Kushner damn well doesn’t. I doubt Bannon does. He can’t even rearrange the deck chairs. It’s not clear at this point what Kelly will actually do. Does he even have access to Trump when he wants it? This position is not like any other White House CoS ever.

  267. 267.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @ThresherK:

    Back in the old days the Inquirer was said to have kept a headline permanently mounted (i.e. not broken down into its letters) as it was needed so often:

    And a hearty ETAOIN SHRDLU to you, my good sir!

  268. 268.

    Suzanne

    @Shalimar:

    This position is not like any other White House CoS ever.

    I have no idea why anyone who ever wants to leave the house again would take the CoS job.

    ……when the GOP talked about “running government like a business”, perhaps they should have been more specific about which business.

  269. 269.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Another Scott: LOL!! It’s all good. Just wait until a mockumentary is made about this farce of an administration. We’ll be rolling on the ground holding our bellies. Just dying for Mueller to end it all.

  270. 270.

    Suzanne

    The business that this government seems to be emulating is “seedy strip club doubling as front for drug trafficking”.

  272. 272.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Felonius Monk:

    What fucking legislative agenda? He has none.

    Building a wall which “Mexico”* will pay for. Repealing and replacing the ACA on day one. Destroying ISIS on day one. And other what nots and promises.

    *Mexico being you and me and other American tax payers.

  273. 273.

    Shalimar

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: I think Kelly lasts less time than Preibus because everything is speeding up. Preibus got a few months grace period during the heady early days of the administration when they were delusional enough to think they could get things done just by wishing aloud. Now it is all infighting and backstabbing to blame someone else for today’s screwup. Everyone other than Kushner and maybe Huckabee Sanders will be gone by October.

  277. 277.

    Gravenstone

    @germy: in other words, ‘we’re off the air for 6 months while we order more lipstick for this pig’.

  278. 278.

    Patricia Kayden

    @efgoldman: Democrats need some fresh blood when it comes to a presidential candidate. Biden needs to enjoy his retirement and perhaps help rally support for Democratic candidates from time to time. Neither he nor Sanders should run for President ever again.

  279. 279.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @efgoldman:

    Nobody close to my age should ever run for anything, ever.

    I wonder how many people cast their presidential votes based on age/generation. Nixon was about four years older than my mother, and as far as she was concerned he was already something of an elder statesman. JFK, like my mom, was born in 1917 — he was only three months older than she — but she viewed him as an immature pup. The first presidential candidate who brought me up short by his extreme youth was Bill Clinton, four or five years my junior. Gore, Kerry, Obama, and Hillary Clinton (and for that matter, Bush 43, Romney, and Trump) are all younger than I am. It is disconcerting. I do agree with you, I don’t want anyone close to my age running for POTUS.

  280. 280.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Quinerly:

    Friend says where her dad is concerned, “she’s in there doing what she can:”

    Which pretty much is absolutely nothing.

  287. 287.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Obama was the first that was my junior.

    You are substantially younger than I am. I’ll celebrate (if that’s the word) my 75th this week.

  292. 292.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Felonius Monk:

    She will have a daytime morning show beginning in the fall.

    She will have to pull in those blockbuster ratings without me. I don’t have a television, and if I did, I wouldn’t watch daytime tv, and if I did, it wouldn’t be Megan Kelly.

    /snob
    /elitist

  297. 297.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    You were 17 when I was born.

    I celebrated my 17th birthday in Paris. Pâté de foie gras, and my first-ever champagne. I loved the second, have never been interested in revisiting the first.

  300. 300.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: One more thing I hate Trump for, as if I needed any more things. I used to really like Van Jones.

  301. 301.

    Felonius Monk

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I’ll celebrate (if that’s the word) my 75th this week.

    And yes, celebrate it is. Welcome to the 3/4 Century Club. May I indulge in cake and ice cream in your honor, and then wash it down with a nice cold beer? Happy Birthday in advance.

    And Omnes is still just a pup. After all, he is the same age as my youngest daughter and I still refer to her as Kid. :)

  303. 303.

    WaterGirl

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I’m 5’3″. If you’re shorter than me, you’re short. If you’re taller than 6’5″, you’re tall. Everybody in between is regular. That’s how it seems to play out for me, anyway.

    I have only known two short guys who fall into the short-guy complex, so I have to agree with you that it is kind of a bum rap to be seen that way.

  306. 306.

    Ruckus

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    That struck me that your mom was born in the same yr as my dad. Then I thought about my older my sister and it made me feel good, older sister. You and efg, there are a few others, we are the retirement gang. Maybe we are still going strong, maybe not quite so much but still kicking. But someone else has to do the work. We get to sit around and look and talk important, maybe an upturned middle finger or two once in a while as well.

  313. 313.

    dww44

    @SiubhanDuinne: Megyn is taking the 9 o’clock Today hour over. Lauer doesn’t do the third hour. Currently hosted by Al Roker, Jenna Bush Hager, and an attractive personable young African American woman whose name I don’t recollet..

    I actually tried watching her Sunday night show, and I thought the production values were not very good. Subjects/topics weren’t compelling, particularly when you’re on opposite 60 minutes.

  315. 315.

    Ruckus

    @WaterGirl:
    Actually it was not that big a deal. Going in or coming out. She couldn’t have managed to do less damage if she’d tried. But she was a fresh sorority sister and so now we all had to get our manners in line. You might have guessed from a sampling of my comments that between telling me and stabbing me I told her to fuck off. She appreciated that about as much as I appreciated being stabbed.

  316. 316.

    Felonius Monk

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I say that as a 5’10” (5′ 9 3/4″) person.

    I used to be 5’11”, but after fighting the earth’s gravitational field for 75 yrs. I’m about as tall as you are. So I guess we see eye to eye now.

  326. 326.

    Ruckus

    @Major Major Major Major:
    6’4″ is tallish. I’m 5″ 11″, exactly average for my age. But I had a 6′ 10″ guy work for me and worked with another at the same place, out of 16 people, who was also 6′ 10″. That’s pretty damn tall. Walking along with either one of them I felt like I was kid walking with my dad.

  332. 332.

    Suzanne

    @SiubhanDuinne: Congrats on the birthday! I shall enjoy a cocktail in your honor. I’m sweet like that.

    I am on the tail end of Gen-X (born in 1980). I somehow think that there won’t be any X-er presidents. The Baby Boomers will hang on well past their time, and then the Millennials will be old enough.

  335. 335.

    WaterGirl

    @Ruckus: I still have a scar on my thumb from where my older sister dug her nail into me. Must be a rite of passage.

  340. 340.

    Another Scott

    @sm*t cl*de: Some here have said (or pointed to others who have said) that the 25th Amendment would never apply to Donnie because he’d never agree that he’s incompetent to perform the job.

    I decided to take a look at the text, especially Section 4:

    Section 4.

    Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

    Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

    (Emphasis added.)

    1) It looks like Congress would need to pass some sort of law to change the conditions if the Cabinet decided that he shouldn’t be removed. Of course, Donnie would have to sign such a law (or refuse to veto it).

    2) If Donnie decided to fight the declaration, then both houses of Congress would have to vote by 2/3 to decide the issue.

    The 25th (rightly) isn’t an easy way to force a crazy or comatose President out. But it is a way if things get bad enough, and if we have Cabinet officers who are willing to actually follow their oaths to protect the Constitution…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  341. 341.

    Chet Murthy

    I can’ be the only one who, upon seeing that pic of Reservoir Dregs, thought “Joe Pesci on SNL”, yes? Though it’d sure be nice if they could get a woman to do it, b/c then we’d get added piss-em-off value.

  342. 342.

    Ruckus

    @WaterGirl:

    Must be a rite of passage.

    I hope not, I’d like to think that being attacked by a sibling that draws blood/leaves a mark is a rather rare occurrence or at least accidental. But then maybe it is more normal than we think.

  343. 343.

    WaterGirl

    @Ruckus: In our sample, it’s 100%!

    Playing spoons is another way to be injured by a family member, though likely not intentionally.

  347. 347.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Ruckus: My brother is enough younger than me that, when I went to college, I could easily kick his ass, and by the time I came home from the the army we were both old enough that fighting it out didn’t matter more than blood did. We never had the climactic fights that some brothers do. I ceded superior athleticism to him and he ceded academic superiority to me. And then, we encouraged the other one to see himself as better on the other thing.

    Excuse my sentimentality, I just came off of a really good family weekend.

  349. 349.

    Procopius

    @Felonius Monk: I think that’s not going to happen, because as unpredictable as he is, the quite predictable Mike Pence would be even worse (trust me, it’s possible). Also, if something dramatic like that happens to the President*, it will support conspiracy theories about the Deep State, which is not in their interest right now. They work best when there are lots of pundits (like now) out there insisting there’s no such thing as the Deep State.

  352. 352.

    Procopius

    @debbie: Yeah, saw a picture of him and his wife standing next to the President* and Ivanka. He looked to be at least three inches shorter than Ivanka. After reading transcripts of his rant I find myself wondering, as I often do, how do people like that get to be so rich? I know they network and help each other while sabotaging everyone else, but it’s still a puzzlement to me. Like Robert Mercer.

  353. 353.

    WaterGirl

    @Omnes Omnibus: Seriously? That’s how you think of me? Wow.

    synonyms: absurd, preposterous, ridiculous, ludicrous, farcical, laughable; idiotic, stupid, foolish, silly, inane, fatuous, harebrained, cockamamie, half-baked, crazy, cockeyed
    “a daft idea”
    simpleminded, stupid, idiotic, slow, witless, feebleminded, empty-headed, vacuous, vapid;
    unhinged, insane, mad;
    informalthick, dim, dopey, dumb, dimwitted, halfwitted, birdbrained, pea-brained, slow on the uptake, soft in the head, brain-dead, not all there, touched, crazy, mental, nuts, batty, bonkers, crackers, dumb-ass;
    vulgar slangbatshit
    “are you daft?”

    P.S. Offense taken.

  355. 355.

    J R in WV

    @sm*t cl*de:

    No, you’re incorrect. The cabinet can remove him – declare him unable to perform the duties of the office. But that’s only a short time, unless the congress also declares him unable, and it takes 60% of the voting members of each house, Representatives and Senate.

  356. 356.

    WaterGirl

    @Omnes Omnibus: Except for silly, I find all of those synonyms pretty insulting. I guess we never really know how other people see us. Maybe it’s better that way.

  357. 357.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @WaterGirl: It was not my intention to insult you. My view of what I meant to say does not conform with what you read. That is my fault. I am sorry.

  359. 359.

    GHayduke

    Shit, I don’t know. Spent two nights in a nice BNB with the wife, spent time with the prog. Replaced his bathroom faucet, and took a 7 mile hike on the superior hiking trail w him. Trump sucks.

  364. 364.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @sm*t cl*de:

    The latter only requires a majority of his cabinet to agree with Pence “that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office”.

    Sorry, but you have fundamentally misunderstood the purpose & intent of the 25th Amendment. It was designed to be invoked to clearly designate who is in charge of the Federal government in circumstances where it is understood & agreed to by all parties, including POTUS, that s/he will be “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office”. E.g., when undergoing a medical procedure requiring general anesthetic. Or (as in The West Wing) when POTUS would be subject to blackmail when a family member is held by hostile forces. Etc.

    POTUS has 4 days to dispute in writing the assertion that “s/he is unable to discharge” etc. At which point, if VPOTUS & a majority of the Cabinet reaffirm within 4 days that s/he is “unable to discharge” (etc.) Congress has 21 days to act (23 days if not already in session). If 2/3 of both houses of Congress do not vote within that interval to transfer the duties & powers of the office to VPOTUS as “Acting President,” then POTUS retains those duties & powers. And even if that transfer was so voted, it looks to me as if the “unacting” POTUS could continue to bombard Congress with petitions to recover those duties & powers (IANA constitutional scholar & someone who is ought to weigh in here).

    IOW, as a mechanism for sidelining a recalcitrant POTUS who does not agree s/he is unable etc., the 25th Amendment (specifically Section 4) is a clusterfuck. It would actually take fewer votes in Congress to impeach & remove him/her (simple majority vs 2/3 in the House), & it would be permanent – no appeal possible.

    Anyone who blathers about “a 25th Amendment solution” to the current mishegoss clearly has not read (or at least, has not understood) the text of the amendment, & should be encouraged to do so before they shoot off their mouths & embarrass themselves further.

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