Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The choice is between normal and crazy.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Donald Trump, welcome to your everything, everywhere, all at once.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Israel is using food as a weapon of war. Unforgivable.

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

Let there be snark.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

The current Supreme Court is a rogue court. Very dangerous.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Wednesday Morning Russiagate Open Thread: “Follow the Money”

Wednesday Morning Russiagate Open Thread: “Follow the Money”

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Paul Waldman, in the Washington Post:

… This may turn out to be no big deal — perhaps Mueller will find that all Trump’s transactions with Deutsche Bank were aboveboard and free of any funny business, and also that nothing he discovers there will lead to evidence of any other misconduct on Trump’s part… But the fact that Mueller is looking at Deutsche Bank means his probe is reaching the very heart of Trump’s financial life.

Why is Deutsche Bank so important? After a string of bankruptcies and broken promises, pretty much every other major bank stopped lending Trump money some years ago. The one exception was Deutsche Bank, to which Trump owed $364 million as of the end of last year. By sheer coincidence, Deutsche Bank recently had to pay $670 million in fines for its role in a Russian money laundering plot (though as Bloomberg reports, the bank’s internal investigation found no link between Trump and that scheme).

At this point, we don’t know exactly what Mueller is looking for in the Deutsche Bank records. Law professor Ryan Goodman suggests that Mueller could be trying to determine if Trump’s loans from the bank were guaranteed by Russian interests, which could mean he was indebted to them in ways that could compromise him.

What we do know is that the Russia investigation has led Mueller to Trump’s personal finances, which provide a target-rich environment if you suspect financial malfeasance…

… In that tweet about Flynn, Trump closes by saying, “There was nothing to hide!” That has indeed been a consistent line from Trump himself, the White House and the president’s defenders: nobody did anything wrong, all the contacts with Russians were just routine, and there’s nothing to hide.

But if that’s the case, why do so many Trump associates keep getting caught lying about Russia?…

Reader Interactions

203Comments

  4. 4.

    Immanentize

    All of the many shoes scattered everywhere. As Oscar Wilde wrote — “The suspense is terrible! I hope it will last.”

  5. 5.

    Mike in DC

    Good morning.
    Looking at finances makes a lot of sense. I’d expect Mueller to scrutinize the financial holdings of all the major players, including Kushner and the Trump kids.
    The key question of the moment: Who hasn’t had a full-bore interview with the Special Counsel’s office yet?
    45
    VP
    Kushner
    Don Jr
    Eric
    Ivanka
    Bannon?
    Miller?
    Hicks?
    Sessions
    Rosenstein
    Page?
    Cohen?

    The sequence of remaining interviews may be telling. Trump being interviewed last would certainly be noteworthy.

  7. 7.

    NobodySpecial

    Good morning!

    Gonna be hard to follow the money when Trump hasn’t got any. Sucker’s in hock to his eyeballs.

  9. 9.

    Immanentize

    @Mike in DC: Mueller has been looking at finances since day one. He has a number of really good money laundering and economic crimes lawyers on his team. I think the news is that he subpoenaed (or more accurately, the Grand Jury subpoenaed) Trump’s financials. My guess is most of this was previously turned over voluntarily. But a subpoena makes the documents produced usable in later Court proceedings. Also, if even the third copy of a deposit record is missing, the GJ can squeeze the bank to comply with even more requests.

  11. 11.

    Immanentize

    @Mike in DC: if I am following correctly, Trump and Pence have not been interviewed yet. Hicks was scheduled to be interviewed Thanksgiving week.

  14. 14.

    Mike in DC

    @Immanentize:
    That’s what I thought. Kushner has been questioned, but I am unsure whether he has been grilled about his own actions. I don’t think the trio of Trump siblings has been questioned fully either. Sessions is a question mark too.

  16. 16.

    Ben Cisco

    Good morning everybody!

    I’m giddy at this turn of events. The thought of Dolt45 just sitting there, knowing he’s about to be exposed – puts a smile on my face.

  17. 17.

    debbie

    Trump hasn’t rage tweeted since Monday. His lawyers must have finally gotten through to him.

  19. 19.

    Kay

    At this point, we don’t know exactly what Mueller is looking for in the Deutsche Bank records. Law professor Ryan Goodman suggests that Mueller could be trying to determine if Trump’s loans from the bank were guaranteed by Russian interests, which could mean he was indebted to them in ways that could compromise him.

    Perfectly reasonable question for any political leader. For some reason ignored in the case of Donald Trump.

    It’s about damn time that we finally find out who and how much Donald Trump owes. ANY other candidate would have had to reveal this- except this one.

    Here’s the level of scrutiny that was applied to Obama’s finances:

    Shortly after joining the U.S. Senate and while enjoying a surge in income, Barack Obama bought a $1.65 million restored Georgian mansion in an upscale Chicago neighborhood. To finance the purchase, he secured a $1.32 million loan from Northern Trust in Illinois.
    The freshman Democratic senator received a discount. He locked in an interest rate of 5.625 percent on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, below the average for such loans at the time in Chicago. The loan was unusually large, known in banker lingo as a “super super jumbo.” Obama paid no origination fee or discount points, as some consumers do to reduce their interest rates.
    Compared with the average terms offered at the time in Chicago, Obama’s rate could have saved him more than $300 per month.

    My own interest rate was lower than the Obama’s.

    Explain this double standard to me. The question to the Obama’s was did they receive a favorable rate for reasons other than good credit. Donald Trump? No one even knows what or who he owes.

  21. 21.

    Betty Cracker

    @Mike in DC: I believe I read Kushner was interviewed about Flynn — before Flynn flipped (or at least before it was made public). Does anyone doubt Kushner eagerly threw Flynn under the bus to save his own hide? And then the investigators went back to Flynn and told him what Kushner said. And then Flynn said, “Why that pencil-necked little rat!” and spilled the beans on Kushner. At least this is how I hope it went!

  26. 26.

    Kay

    Raise your hand if you would the slightest bit surprised if the Trump’s were the intended or unintended beneficiaries of money laundering.

    We know NOTHING about this family. Except for one thing- we know they lie constantly. That they’ve proven themselves and continue to prove every day. Trump is a liar, Kushner is a liar and Don Jr. is a liar. Ivanka is too, given the emails we’ve seen between her and her brother when they were misrepresenting real estate sales to dupe investors.

    Tiffany doesn’t seem to be a liar, but the rest? Proven liars.

  27. 27.

    Mike in DC

    @Betty Cracker: Kushner’s time in the barrel is coming. I think most likely that the President will be the last person interviewed, and this may not happen until after the Manafort trial. Assuming interviews and follow up interviews are wrapped up next summer, we could see the last indictments being voted just before the 18 month grand jury adjourns, in October or early November. Then Mueller will likely issue a report, and if Trump is implicated, he will convey his findings to the House Judiciary committee, the relevant body. That could happen as late as the first half of 2019.

  28. 28.

    Kay

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Their house is lovely and I’m glad they got a good rate. I don’t mind the WaPo searching property records and looking at it. Good question! Have at it.

    Why no scrutiny of Trump? He’s a fucking real estate developer. Does NY not keep property records? There’s no public paper on 50 years of Trump transactions? WTF?

  29. 29.

    SFAW

    Today’s Boston Glob has a guest Op-Ed written by Alan Dershowitz, about how DiFi just doesn’t understand that the Preznit isn’t obstructing justice when he exercises his Article II powers.

    Since I refuse to give the Herald Lite clicks, I only read the 15-word teaser. But it sounds like that’s the plan going forward. At least, until Shitgibbon gets indicted.

    I’m sure Gorsuck will rule against that Shitgibbon claim. Or if he doesn’t, then the House will finally say “Enough! You’ve gone too far!” …

  30. 30.

    TS

    So – someone upset with MJ attacks on trump – now we have tweety and Peggy Noonan exchanging ignorances on the show – and explaining why it is valid for all those good christians to vote for Moore – apparently abortion is a much much bigger crime than sexual assault on a minor.

  31. 31.

    p.a.

    @debbie: How will Suckabee explain the pResident’s thumb amputations?

    Also too, good morning! Life continues here in the Federated Republic of America…

  32. 32.

    SFAW

    @Kay:

    Why no scrutiny of Trump? He’s a fucking real estate developer. Does NY not keep property records? There’s no public paper on 50 years of Trump transactions? WTF?

    Cy Vance Jr. disappeared them to Sibirsk or Buffalo

  34. 34.

    Shalimar

    Regarding Steve Bannon’s attacks on Romney for avoiding Vietnam. People assume Bannon didn’t avoid Vietnam because he is a Navy veteran. Not true. Bannon turned 18 in 1971. He graduated college and joined the Navy in 1976.

  35. 35.

    Kay

    @SFAW:

    Ugh. He’s so embarrassing. Another hugely over-rated creep.

    Why do we do this over and over in this country? Why do we promote such low quality work? How do people like him get so far? Our merit system is broken. It doesn’t work right. The absolute worst are at the top and they stay there for decades. They’re impossible to dislodge.

  36. 36.

    SFAW

    @TS:

    and explaining why it is valid for all those good christians to vote for Moore – apparently abortion is a much much bigger crime than sexual assault on a minor.

    Well, duh! Post-womb, the operative phrase is the same as the Preacher’s in Blazing Saddles: “You’re on your own.” The talibangelicals “think” that if those children allowed themselves to be molested, then they must have done something to deserve it.

    You may think I’m joking with that last part, but it’s probably a lot closer to truth for some of them, than would be allowed in a civilized society/country.

  37. 37.

    The Simp in the Suit

    @SFAW: Dershowitz, that greaseball. Didn’t he get in trouble for making unwanted sexual advances to a younger woman? Wonder if that’s going to come around again.

  38. 38.

    Kay

    @SFAW:

    They’re putting a child molester in the US Senate. He should be assigned a security detail not to protect him, but to protect random girls he may encounter. He didn’t just grope those girls- he stalked and groomed them. There’s not a dime’s worth of difference between Moore and tens and thousands of registered sex offenders except he’s protected by the Republican Party.

    To put the cherry on top, he’s also a liar.

  40. 40.

    Kay

    @satby:

    Agreed, but I think there has to be some effort to hold up that idea, or people will stop trying.

    I listened to part of a Jeb Bush speech on education last week. He says young people need experience “in the real world”

    OMFG. Like him? Aren’t they embarrassed to give these scolding speeches? When is the last time Jeb Bush had a JOB? Almost 20 years ago. Before they were born.

  41. 41.

    germy

    This may turn out to be no big deal — perhaps Mueller will find that all Trump’s transactions with Deutsche Bank were aboveboard and free of any funny business, and also that nothing he discovers there will lead to evidence of any other misconduct on Trump’s part…


    Ah ha ha ha ha! [wipes eyes, blows nose]

  43. 43.

    SFAW

    @Mike in DC:

    It would kill them to solicit Laurence Tribe to rebut Dersh, I guess.

    They used to be a reliably liberal paper. Those days are long gone. When the closest thing they have to a liberal columnist is Scot Lehigh (whom I generally like, but he’s not really a liberal), and Joan “Always Clueless” Vennochi (who never saw a strong woman that she wasn’t willing to attack), then reading them for a non-Rethug perspective is a fool’s errand. The only unanswered question in my mind is whether that “ethos” comes from John Henry, Michael Sheehan (now-former CEO), the two combined, or …? [My money’s on Henry.]

  44. 44.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay: I don’t think JEB’s sinecures come close to meeting the definition of an actual honest to Dawg have to show up everyday job.

  45. 45.

    SFAW

    @Kay:

    From your keyboard to the ears of whatever God Moore claims to believe in. Let’s hope He/She is as just and vengeful a Deity as Moore and his fellow insane-motherfucker talibangelicals pray for.

  47. 47.

    satby

    @Kay: people have stopped trying, that’s part of the root of the opiod and heroin addiction problems we have. The prevalence of the belief that the system is rigged against the average person helps drive that white resentment we always get to hear so much about. That they vote for the people who inflict more unfairness on them is the crowning achievement of 40 years of propaganda by the RWNM.
    Edited to add: the people who played by the rules, worked hard and saved their money saw their jobs disappear to other countries, their pensions stolen, their job protections evaporate, and their 401ks and their housing values decrease. Playing by the rules is for suckers in their eyes.

  52. 52.

    satby

    @NotMax: As soon as I catch up ?
    Actually, yes, I will post that tomorrow or Friday in the morning thread. Today is officially catch-up day, and I should be in good shape by tonight.

  53. 53.

    Tenar Arha

    Good morning all you jackals! (Of course you’re all nice jackals, performing a valuable ecosystem function!)

    Deep question for the day: What ever happened to the honest jackals of the press? Was it college and J-school for all, or was it tv money or what else that put the final nail in their muckraking profession? Or do we just remember the highs of their field, the Tarbells and Guthries, and Murrows and forget their versions of the B-movies?

  61. 61.

    Sab

    Kay: In my misspent youth I went to law school, passed the bar in another state, and practiced badly for four years until I finally decided that me practicing law was ruining my life and the lives of my clients.

    So I moved back to Ohio to refocus my career, but I hoped to keep my law license to have on my CV for endeavors more suited to my personality.

    Ohio wouldn’t let me motion in (i.e. let my out of state law license transfer) because I had not successfully practiced law in another jurisdiction for five years.

    Our Republican senator portman is voting to approve an Alabama judge for a lifetime appointmentioned to the federal bench after three years of practice, when the same soon-to-be-judge couldn’t motion in to practice in Ohio. !!!

  62. 62.

    Brachiator

    Time’s Person of the Year is ‘The Silence Breakers’ of #MeToo Movement

    Trump must be going crazy. “Where is my tweeting machine?!”

  63. 63.

    NotMax

    Sigh. Just when it seemed would be able to say bon voyage to this fershlugginer cough-y illness thing it turned around to say “Not so fast there, buddy, there’s an encore yet before decamping.”

  69. 69.

    NotMax

    @satby

    Can rarely go astray with Fritz Lang at the helm.

    While fairly certain (but not completely sure) it isn’t the film you mention, there is a newspaper-themed film from around the same time in which the delivery trucks from a competing publisher are sometimes shown, prominently advertising that paper’s name – The Dark Sphere. Someone had a marvelously macabre sense of humor.

  72. 72.

    NorthLeft12

    @satby:

    We never had a merit system in this country.

    I would modify that to “on this planet.” Lets face it, there is no merit system. There are opportunities for people to demonstrate their abilities and to be recognized and rewarded for their excellence, but there are just as many situations where connections [ie. class and family] determine those who get rewarded in spite of their incompetence.
    What is disturbing to me is the proportion of these clowns in government as elected officials and in upper management positions. Even worse is the belief in media and a large segment of the public that these same incompetent and ignorant buffoons are somehow irreplaceable.

  73. 73.

    NotMax

    @satby

    Thought of you recently as well insofar as discovered that Amazon Prime offers Lark Rise to Candleford. 4 seasons from BBC. 1880’s Great Britain. More chick flick-y than my usual bill of fare choice, the costumes and sets are to die for.

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    Honestly thought it was over and done with after 3½ weeks, then the weather turned brisk and that illusion was shattered. Still and all, not anywhere close to as sleep interrupting as it was.

  74. 74.

    oldgold

    I wonder if there isn’t an unsavory guarantor (Russian Oligarch) at the heart of Deutsche Bank’s seemingly reckless financial relationship with HIMSELF.

  76. 76.

    d58826

    @oldgold: I think that is where the dots lead and why Der Fuhrer is so accommodating of Putin. The Russians have him by the financial short hairs, pee-pee tape or no pee-pee tape.

  77. 77.

    d58826

    and on a different question. Exactly what does the US have to gain by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving the embassy there? I can understand a Nixon goes to China moment but a lot of diplomacy went into making that happen. This just seems like paying off his money man Addelson.

    And who does Chuck Schumer work for since he was pushing this as well. If Schumer wants to put the interests of Israel above those of the US then resign from the US Senate and hop the daily ELAL flight from JFK to Ben Gurien airport.

  78. 78.

    Kay

    @Sab:

    That’s interesting. A lot of lawyers are miserable and stay in so good for you for getting out.

    I have an older lawyer friend and he’s a pain in the ass because he’s always opining on me (judging, really) but I stay friends with him because he’s often right. He told me “really happy lawyers” like their clients and judges and other lawyers. That’s him and it’s true- he is happy and he does like all three. “Happy lawyers” like two of three- that’s me, because he says I don’t like other lawyers but I do like clients and judges. True, mostly. I love my clients and I generally get along with judges. He says you need 2 out of 3.

  80. 80.

    gvg

    Follow the money records is required because Trump lies even about nothings. Nobody can figure out the truth without some facts to check the stories against. Receipts, video footage of known provenience, flight records etc are the only way to know. A lot of his associates lie randomly too. Randomly makes figuring out what they are covering up harder.

    I didn’t know we American’s could subpoena a foreign banks records and it would have to comply. Could anyone give me a quick summary of the rules on that? I guess I never learned about multinational financial crimes before.

  84. 84.

    satby

    @NotMax: I had discovered Larkrise through another period drama, only because Amazon suggested it, and I did enjoy it. And I have your suggestion, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel queued up to watch over the weekend!

  87. 87.

    Sab

    @Kay: Thanks. That’s interesting feedback. I still have nightmares about practicing law. It’s hard,not just the work but the raw emotions in everything.

    I am pretty good at tax accounting, which bores most lawyers cross-eyed, but I find fascinating. Until this year. How do you plan when our legislators are passing bills that haven’t even been written yet, much less analyzed by their staff people.

  88. 88.

    bemused

    We’ve known forever that the GOP and Republican voters are huge IOKIYAR hypocrites but the trump regime has blown their flimsy conservative principles/family values facade to bits. It only takes two seconds of imagining a Democratic president with three family members and assorted corrupt thugs and miscreants in the WH to know how Republicans would react to a president who won’t release his tax records, has decades long ties with Russians, money laundering, sexual assaults and all the rest. Lock them up and hearings, hearings, hearings.

    Yet far too many, probably most Republican voters will easily vote for any Republican again and again. Contemptible people.

  89. 89.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    Of course, they money laundered. No doubt about that.

    If it’s true (this Guardian piece is a little sketchy) then one would have to believe Mueller is just fishing and I don’t think there’s been indications that he’s doing that in this investigation.

    The Trump bankruptcies have to be public records, don’t they? You would think there would be a ton of “leads” in there.

    Why do we still know so little about this family? My God, one would think just competitiveness among journalists would inspire them to examine all those records. He can’t have a 50 year career in real estate and no records! I bet they would fill rooms.

  90. 90.

    Mike in DC

    @bemused:
    According to some recent polling research, 40% of Republicans will be loyal to Trump “no matter what”. That’s a pretty good measure of several things: deplorableness, partisan tribalism, and informational insularity.

  91. 91.

    Peale

    @Sab: ah. But when legislators do that, you’re in much greater demand than before. So count that as a blessing. For a few years at least, everyone you meet will be eager to hear what you have to say if you’ve even got two bits more knowledge about tax accounting than the average schmo. The tax accountant will be the life of the party for a change.

  92. 92.

    Gelfling545

    @germy: A lawyer of my acquaintance says that beyond a certain imcome level there’s ALWAYS something. Given that he’s a person to whom his salary is pocket change, I figure he’d know.

  93. 93.

    Roger Moore

    @d58826:

    Exactly what does the US have to gain by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving the embassy there?

    I think there are two things to gain:

    1) It pisses off the liberals and Muslims, so it must be a good idea
    2) It’s a critical step in bringing about Judgment Day

    And yes, I genuinely believe those are key reasons the Republicans support it.

  96. 96.

    Roger Moore

    @Kay:

    The Trump bankruptcies have to be public records, don’t they? You would think there would be a ton of “leads” in there.

    There are probably public records, but remember those “Trump” bankruptcies were of public corporations with Trump’s name on them, not of him personally. The whole point was that he bailed out his personal finances by pushing his personal debts onto public companies and used his at that time good reputation to convince people to buy them.

  97. 97.

    B.B.A.

    @Immanentize: Pick one up and bang it on the lectern. Maybe toss in a “WE WILL BURY YOU” or two. I abhor communism, but Khrushchev had some fun rhetoric.

  99. 99.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Kay:

    The Trump bankruptcies have to be public records, don’t they? You would think there would be a ton of “leads” in there.

    They’re all pre-Pacer and undoubtedly in that federal court archive facility, thus a sonofabitch to order up, find, ship. I kept wondering which news org would root through them to do details for the entirety of 2016 (wouldn’t be cheap or quick) but nobody wanted to commit those resources.

  100. 100.

    MomSense

    @SFAW:

    No, the notion that bad things happen to people who deserve it is absolutely what they think. It’s at the heart of the ideology. Interestingly, when something bad happens to a “good” read Christian of the right tribe person, then it’s all god is mysterious, never gives you more than you can handle, has a plan, yadda yadda yadda.

  101. 101.

    gene108

    @Kay:

    Why do we still know so little about this family? My God, one would think just competitiveness among journalists would inspire them to examine all those records. He can’t have a 50 year career in real estate and no records! I bet they would fill rooms.

    More than the bankruptcies are all the times contractors have sued him for non-payment. Those records have to available.

    I can half understand avoiding bankruptcies by journalists. Those bankruptcies would involve large numbers, and journalists are bad at math (one reason reporting on economics is so bad).

    But all the lawsuits for stiffing a contractor for 3,000 to 25,000? They are around and the numbers aren’t that big.

    It’s often less than what Matt Lauer made per hour.

    Plus there must be hundreds, if not thousands, of white working class small business owners, who lost everything because Trump stiffed them. That would also make some human interest stories with no math needed.

  102. 102.

    Kay

    @Sab:

    I love accountants. We just hired a two-person office to redo our system because everything sincs now, which is wonderful. We were still in 1993. New fangled gadgets out there!

    One of them went to school with my daughter and I have to stop myself from patronizing him. I can’t help it. He looks exactly the same as he did in fourth grade.

  103. 103.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @satby: (and anyone else in the crafts business): Today is Scalzi’s Crafts Gift Guide day on his blog. Creators only, so I can’t recommend you. Head once there and advertise!

  104. 104.

    Gin & Tonic

    @SFAW:

    I’m so old, I remember when Dershowitz was actually rational. I bet efgoldman remembers that era, too.

    I’m not nearly as old as goldman or you, but I recall when he was not just rational but quite the local celebrity when he took on the von Bulow case. That was on the news every single day, and Alan didn’t miss any opportunity to get himself on camera.

  106. 106.

    chopper

    @d58826:

    the us gains nothing, unless trump squeezed something out of bibi for the deal which of course he didn’t because MASTER NEGOTIATOR! the rest of us get a further-destabilized ME and an increase in al qaeda style attacks around the globe. maybe trump can try to leverage that into more distractions from his incompetence, but i doubt that will go far.

  108. 108.

    Kay

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    I heard a historian talking about Lincoln’s law career once. Lincoln did bankruptcies. They were state law then- probate. Anyway, the gist was he had helped someone hide (cash) assets from creditors (hah!) and it sounded like the researcher had seen the file. I love that stuff, those giant title books of yore with hand entries.

  109. 109.

    gene108

    @Gin & Tonic:

    There’s reporting on something, which the news junkie like you or me might read and then there’s flogging a story to death, like Hillary’s e-mail server or Benghazi, where everybody has at least a working knowledge of what the headlines say.

    The media should have flogged Trump’s shady business dealings to death and made it as much a focus of their reporting as Hillary’s e-mail server.

  110. 110.

    chopper

    @gvg:

    Trump lies even about nothings.

    Sanders: the president had a healthy breakfast of eggs and toast

    Press: then why at 6:00 am did we see a secret service guy bring in the Oval Office a bucket of colonel with a pint of ‘dippin gravy’?

    Sanders: oh that was for…some other guy.

  111. 111.

    Immanentize

    @B.B.A.: Or just throw one like the guy in Iraq did at Bush II!

    PS Every time I see your nym, I am reminded of a great mentor/friend of mine with the same initials. It is a very good association….

  112. 112.

    Applejinx

    perhaps Mueller will find that all Trump’s transactions with Deutsche Bank were aboveboard and free of any funny business, and also that nothing he discovers there will lead to evidence of any other misconduct on Trump’s part

    BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    ‘k, back to lurking

  113. 113.

    Immanentize

    @SFAW: I have many many Dersh stories. But the bottom line is that although he was tending critical in the late 90’s, he went utterly cuckoo after 9/11. He really has only one lens — Israel. I suspect his sudden multiple pro-Trump op-eds (FTFNYT and the Boston Globe) are related to the heavy lobbying that has been pushed Trumps way regarding Jerusalem. One must pay tribute to Trump if one wants his favor….

  114. 114.

    Immanentize

    @Kay: I was doing some research on the origins of lawyer professional ethics and I came across a great Lincoln story regarding his tutelage of an aspiring attorney. Basically, his view (when he was young) was that if you wanted to be an attorney, regardless of his knowledge of your skills or character, he was willing to introduce you to the bar. He was, it ends up, a complete Jacksonian Democrat in his youth.

  115. 115.

    Gin & Tonic

    In a shocking development, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin announces he’ll be running for another term as President next year.

    I wonder what his chances are?

  116. 116.

    rikyrah

    I was watching LarryO last night, and guess what….

    Guess who’s had a change of heart since they voted FOR the GOP Tax Scam?

    Those 11 or 12 GOPers from California.
    They were all big and bad when they voted FOR it..

    But. they went home and heard from their constituents.

    I’ve said from the beginning..
    These are not the folks that give two shyts about the Little Baby Jesus, or Abortion, or Guns..

    They are the IGMFY Republicans.
    They are Republicans because of TAXES.

    And, rarely, if ever, can you attach something happening in your life DIRECTLY to a single vote.
    Their constituents are like – Muthaphuckas, you best not even think about raising my taxes….

    So now, they want to resinstate the state and local tax deductions..

    Uh huh
    Uh huh

  117. 117.

    Sab

    @Kay: Unlike lawyering, which is stressful, accounting doesn’t age you. I am working seasonally for an 81 year old accountant and his 70 year old youthful sidekick, plus the bosses 50ish son.

  118. 118.

    Dave

    @Immanentize: That may have been W’s finest moment. Give the bastard credit he has really excellent reflexes. Should be on our national dodgeball team. If his father had similar reflexes I can see why he was pilot in WWII.

  120. 120.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Kay:

    A zillion years ago, there was a woman in her 90s around who had been one of the pioneering women lawyers in Kentucky. She was mean as shit, would shove people aside in the conference rooms – weight about 90 lbs. I admired her grit. Anyway as she was heading into her late 90s and had finally hung up her broom and pointy hat, the city cited her for code violations due to hoarding. For whatever reason, she called me – her house was apparently a rat maze of stacked files. She explained that she couldn’t get rid of them because they were client property, and wouldn’t believe me when I recited the rule on retention.

    It was then that she dropped the bomb on the conversation – she was also the custodian of her father’s, grandfather’s and great grandfather’s legal files, and couldn’t get rid of those, either. I counted, and estimated that they likely dated back into the 1840s.

    I kind of missed an opportunity to go and physically help her and convince her to discard things – those oldest files would have been a hoot.

  122. 122.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Kay: Why do we still know so little about this family? My God, one would think just competitiveness among journalists would inspire them to examine all those records. He can’t have a 50 year career in real estate and no records! I bet they would fill rooms.

    stuck in my craw the last week or so is the story , that sure as hell looks like the trumps bribed Manhattan DA Vance to make some unpleasantness go away for Slab-head Donnie and the Princess. And the property involved is now the subject of some tension with their partners– I know they dropped the name, can’t remember if they were sued. It was early a month ago, and it’s been completely memory-holed. Compare to Whitewater, or even Tony Rezko. You’d think an ambitious Dem pol in NYC would be all over that story, unless they figure all the higher offices (Gov, Sen, AG) are filled with entrenched incumbents

  123. 123.

    Sab

    @Immanentize: Good people live, learn and grow.

    I grew up in Florida in an elementary school named Osceola, for the Seminole chief, and Andrew Jackson was a perpetrator of war crimes in my southern history classes. He captured Osceola under a flag of truce to negotiate a treaty, imprisoned him in the castle in St. Augustine for life, where the poor guy eventually died of TB. Andrew Jackson was a monster that makes Trump look like an unhousebroken puppy.

    Except this puppy has the nuclear codes.

  124. 124.

    aimai

    @d58826: Then you’d probably be wrong. Most voters are indifferent, some voters are very focused on it. Its a stupid, awful, moronic decision but my guess is that pushing for it, or advocating for it, publicly was not necessarily the same as seriously advocating for it privately to a functioning president. Trump’s decision is all his own.

  125. 125.

    SatanicPanic

    Looks like allegation number, what, seven came out against Franken yesterday. I kind of lost count.

  127. 127.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @chopper:

    Sanders: the president had a healthy breakfast of eggs and toast

    Press: then why at 6:00 am did we see a secret service guy bring in the Oval Office a bucket of colonel with a pint of ‘dippin gravy’?

    Sanders: oh that was for…some other guy.

    I honestly can’t tell whether this is a real exchange or totally made up.

  130. 130.

    Fester Addams

    @oldgold:

    I wonder if there isn’t an unsavory guarantor (Russian Oligarch) at the heart of Deutsche Bank’s seemingly reckless financial relationship with HIMSELF.

    Seems pretty likely to me. Russian oligarch, Russian organized crimer, Russian spymaster–lot of overlap there, I hear. I would also expect Mueller already knows who these co-signers are and the subpoenas would be to establish those facts in a way that can be used in unclassified proceedings.

  132. 132.

    rikyrah

    What the #GOPTaxScam is really about: a vast cycle of corruption rigged for the richest and most powerful Americans. pic.twitter.com/GG1WjyKOm4

    — Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) December 5, 2017

  135. 135.

    rikyrah

    Democrat Jen Jordan won a special election runoff in Georgia’s 6th Senate district last night, flipping the seat.

    Jordan’s win breaks the Republican supermajority in Georgia’s state senate. pic.twitter.com/rfY7Qf0PB4

    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 6, 2017

  136. 136.

    Sab

    @Immanentize: Re: judges professional ethics. I know the Supreme Court sets it’s own (meaning they have none, see Antonin Scalia) but doesn’t the lower bar have higher ( i.e. actual) standards? Can’t we eventually impeach these craven bastards for violating obvious legal standards vis a vis corruption and bribery?

  137. 137.

    rikyrah

    News anchor Sharon Reed responds on air to a viewer who calls her the N-word. This Atlanta Mayoral race has people fiesty tonight. pic.twitter.com/Vgri3oXnGN

    — Billy Michael Honor (@BillyMHonor) December 6, 2017

  138. 138.

    tobie

    New accuser has come forth against Franken. The timing in all this is weird. Everytime we gain some momentum regarding the GOP tax scam or putting the spotlight on Moore, someone new comes forward. Kellyanne Conway herself deflected charges against Moore this morning by pointing to Franken. Maybe I’m paranoid but her comment points to a concerted strategy.

  139. 139.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Kay: Great comment, Kay. Why Trump has escaped the same scrutiny to which other presidential candidates and politicians have endured is impossible to answer except that our MSM is lazy and Democrats are weak. Glad that Mueller is finally making a move on this important question.

  142. 142.

    Kay

    @Fester Addams:

    At some point we have to look at “classified”. It’s really untenable that Americans know so little about an effort to throw an election.

    There has to be a better balance between “safety” and “transparency”. We need some information and we need it in a timely manner. That’s supposed to be one of the roles of Congress. PUBLIC hearings. Tell us something we can use. These elections don’t belong to congress. they’re ours and they are the ONLY tool we have to control things.

    I want to know what happened and I want to know PRIOR to 2020

  145. 145.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Patricia Kayden: our MSM is lazy and Democrats are weak.

    I’d only argue that I don’t think this is a case of Dems being weak. Clinton and her surrogates talked a lot about his tax returns, his bankruptcies, the trust-fund truth behind his ‘self-made man’ auto-mythology, his sexual assaults… the broader public just didn’t bite, in no small part because of “emails” and “unanswered questions” and “likability” — if you start with the idea that Clinton had to prove negatives, that she didn’t do anything wrong in Benghazi or the “emails”, the questions are forever unanswered. Trump got a pass because he was never taken seriously as a candidate, much in the way he’s still not taken seriously as a president. From his tweets to his broken promises to the corruption on a petty and grand scale to foreign policy blunders and lies*, he’s still treated as if he’s some kind of reality show sorta president, whose words and actions are in bad taste, but don’t really matter, because a third of the country still supports him, and that third controls the Republican party (ETA).

    *the asterisk meant to refer to the Yemen raid he lied about even as he made the manipulative move with the soldier’s widow that moved one-time scary leftist radical Van Jones to declare him President

  146. 146.

    Leto

    because it’s a semi-OT, I’m kind of venting here: just got the notice that we’re probably going to be furloughed because Republicans are going to hold the nation hostage again. On top of that, current guidance is that we won’t get back paid for this shit. To say that I can’t afford this is an understatement.

    I did 20 years active duty and recently swapped over to GS. I want to keep serving my country, but I also want to eat. The stress this is causing is… not healthy.

    #LifeBeyondThunderDome

  148. 148.

    germy

    TIL that John Mitchell's wife was forcibly kidnapped and drugged after the Watergate break-in to keep her quiet. And the guy who had a tranquilizer needle shoved into her butt is now… Ambassador to the Czech Republic (!)— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) December 4, 2017

  149. 149.

    germy

    @Leto: Yes, this isn’t abstract. His decisions are hurting real people from coast to coast.

    Which is why I get impatient when the villagers giggle like it’s a game or something. It’s not.

  152. 152.

    Immanentize

    @Sab: Yes, there is a code of judicial ethics for federal judges. And a pretty good internal discipline process, whether public or not (one Judge, Hughes, out of Dallas had all cases of a certain type taken away from him at one point.) That said, the only real remedy, if a judge fights, is impeachment. Alcee Hastings was impeached for taking bribes. But then he ran for and won a seat in Congress in Florida!

    I have said before that what I think will happen with Trump appointees is much the same as what happened to many Reagan and Bush (both) appointees — they get their seat, then they find it is a really hard hard job that doesn’t pay much and most of the work is dreary (like COGSA — “Carriage of Goods at Sea Act” cases — dull to all but the parties) and not constitution-changing issues. Even the criminal cases are really the US Attorney and the Probation Officers handling everything on the court side. So, these hoohaws end up retiring pretty pronto to make some of that sweet wingnut welfare cash. Case in point: Steve Larson (and also Paul Cassell)

  153. 153.

    BellyCat

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): Same. This cough is terrible!

    I was lucky (?) enough to be the last one in our family to get it. It’s been about two months now of horrific coughing in the house. We get to blame daycare for the origin. Do you have a similar target to blame?

    At one point of despair, I said to a friend, “Not only do I get to bury the dead, I have to dig my own damn grave, too“!

    Hint: Mucinex makes a cough suppressant that really helps.

  154. 154.

    cintibud

    @Gin & Tonic:

    A bunch of those stories ran in 2016. Nobody gave a shit.

    I suspect most people didn’t give a shit about emails – at first. Repetition, repetition, repetition…

  155. 155.

    Dave

    @Kay: Right Intelligence types will almost always believe it’s best to keep information hidden. Not without justification but ultimately I think they are wrong because they lack perspective. It’s entirely too easy to forget that the point of those services is to protect the interests of the American government and American people and that there is no reason to keep information close to the vest if they aren’t doing so. Secrecy becomes it’s own justification.

    Look at Comey and his drive to protect the reputation of the FBI because he believed that the FBI was that important. And it is important but only to the degree that it serves the American people and rule of law and justice in general. It has no value without those things. Same with Intel services. The methods and operations and secrecy are ultimately only justified in relation to how they serve. And this is one of those times when the default response of keep it hidden does not serve the American public and the interests of the nation.

  156. 156.

    Leto

    @germy: Nope, not a game at all. And the other people in the room were looking just as semi-shell shocked as I was. It’s a compounded problem on my end because we just moved back from being stationed OCONUS and it put us in debt having to get so much stuff re-established here. Took a pay cut from previous job, wife hasn’t found full time employment yet (working 2 part-time jobs)… it’s just a spectacular $hit sandwich at a most unfortunate time. And I know I still have it better than a lot of people.

  158. 158.

    Jeffro

    @Mike in DC:

    According to some recent polling research, 40% of Republicans will be loyal to Trump “no matter what”. That’s a pretty good measure of several things: deplorableness, partisan tribalism, and informational insularity.

    Hey that didn’t happen by accident: on Fox News dot com right now, side-by-side pics of Hillz and Bobby Three Sticks, with the HUGE SCREAMING HEADLINE ” ‘They Hate the President’, GOP Charges”

    They’re really going to defend him – America’s most utterly contemptible, idiotic, unprincipled person – to the end.

  159. 159.

    Jeffro

    @gene108: @Gin & Tonic: Nobody on their side gave a shit – they just wanted the loudest, most obnoxious champion of white privilege they could get. We Dems cared quite a bit, for all that was worth…

  162. 162.

    rikyrah

    The government shutdown deadline is just two days away
    12/06/17 10:09 AM
    By Steve Benen

    There’s never been a federal government shutdown when one party controls both the White House and Congress. That may change this week.

    As Rachel noted on the show the other day, when there’s a possible shutdown looming, the political world is ordinarily fascinated by the drama. It’s a testament to just how frenetic the current environment is that the federal government will run out of money in two days, and much of the country probably isn’t aware of the pending deadline.

    The first step in preventing the government from shutting down will be a spending bill in the House. Politico reports that Republican leaders appear to have settled on a plan.

    House Republican leaders have promised conservatives that they won’t grant concessions to Democrats to get enough votes for a stopgap spending bill – gaining GOP support but also raising the specter of a government shutdown later this month.

  163. 163.

    Immanentize

    @Sab: True, but lightning does not need to strike him personally. For all the talk of age, Thomas is in not-great health (Scalia was in much better shape), Roberts has epilepsy, and Alito is one temper tantrum away from a major stroke. The Supreme Court is a long game.

  164. 164.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Glad to see some VSPs and semi-VSPs who get on the TeeVee are dragging this out of the memory-hole (I’m tempted to cut the blather about a “once-honorable” etc)

    @ jonathanalter
    .TuckerCarlson loved the FBI when its NY-based agents went after Hillary last year. Now he calls it “secret police”. The sad corruption of a once-honorable conservative journalist, now just another cynical, ratings-besotted anchor monster.

    Chris Hayes‏Verified account
    This has all been memory-holed, but the anti-Clinton leaks out of the FBI were a *huge* part of the last week of the campaign ,
    @ BradMossEsq
    There were leaks from FBI personnel to Giuliani and Flynn throughout the campaign about the Clinton investigation.
    They bragged about it on the air!

  165. 165.

    rikyrah

    Beyoncé presents Colin Kaepernick with the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award at the Sports Illustrated Awards tonight! pic.twitter.com/U9J4gwmGdA

    — Philip Lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) December 6, 2017

  169. 169.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Franken “categorically” denies latest accusation. I gotta say, that “my right as an entertainer” stuff sounds a little too on the nose, a little too much an echo of “when you’re a star…”

  170. 170.

    trollhattan

    @tobie:

    Maybe I’m paranoid but her comment points to a concerted strategy.

    Have said beginning with the first accusation that Republicans would pour resources into finding more Franken accusers for two reasons: he’s effective going after Republicans and he provides them a distraction from Republican misdeeds. Child rape=booty touch.

  171. 171.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    so… who’s gonna put coal miners out of business?

    The Hill‏Verified account
    Coal CEO: GOP tax bill “wipes us out,” destroys thousands of mining jobs

  173. 173.

    Mike in DC

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: with non-falsifiable allegations, ultimately it will be a matter of assessing the relative credibility of the parties. There may be enough here to justify Franken’s resignation. That said, there are some questions about the timing, about the political leanings of some of the accusers, and some questionable details of some of the accounts.

  175. 175.

    bemused

    @Mike in DC:

    Yes and they are stubborn as hell. No elitist, backpacker, liberal, environmental whacko, city folk are going to tell them what to do.

  176. 176.

    Fester Addams

    @Immanentize:

    I worry the plan is on-going….

    It has to be. A de facto Racist Party in America can’t survive demographic trends without plenty of voter suppression (and gerrymandering and right-wing judges to bless it all).

  177. 177.

    rikyrah

    #BREAKING: FBI confirms there is currently court authorized law enforcement activity in the DC region involving state and federal agencies.
    No further information is being released at this time. The #FBI plans to release more information later this afternoon.

    — WUSA9 (@wusa9) December 6, 2017

  178. 178.

    gene108

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    You’d think an ambitious Dem pol in NYC would be all over that story, unless they figure all the higher offices (Gov, Sen, AG) are filled with entrenched incumbents

    AG Vance is more than likely a Democrat. The mayor of NYC is a Democrat. The state AG is a Democrat. The governor is a Democrat.

    Democrats are politicians too and sometimes do corrupt things. These are individual failings and not systemic of the party as whole, which I think is a big differentiation between them and Republicans.

    For Republicans being corrupt and in the pocket of billionaires and maybe Putin is par for the course.

  179. 179.

    Cheryl Rofer

    This is a thread on the Jerusalem decision, and why the evangelical base loves Trump and moving the embassy to Jerusalem. They are looking forward to Armageddon and The Rapture.

  181. 181.

    Immanentize

    @Matt McIrvin: I thought the same thing, but then I thought it might be an effort to calm people down who are, in DC, liable to think terrorist attack when they see the SWAT vans….

  182. 182.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @gene108: AG Vance is more than likely a Democrat. The mayor of NYC is a Democrat. The state AG is a Democrat. The governor is a Democrat.

    yeah, that’s what I meant, you’d think (I think) taking on a trump (and Weinstein) -connected Dem would be a good move for an ambitious NYC council member or state legislator who wanted to make a reputation, but the up-ladder rungs are full of popular (not on the internet, but among their constituents) incumbents.

  183. 183.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)

    @Kay: That may be part of the problem. All those records = “real work” for the journalist who takes it on. Much easier to go after Benghazi or Hillary Clinton’s Secretary of State emails, where the available facts are limited and the ground is completely familiar.

    They might even have to know something about basic arithmetic and real estate and financial law. What kind of fun is that?

  186. 186.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    @ dianabutlerbass
    They believe that Donald Trump is God’s instrument to move us closer to the Rapture, the Judgment, and the End. Because to them, that’s actually the beginning — the beginning of their reward and heavenly bliss.

    I have vaguely understood this, but it’s good to see it spelled out by someone who grew up in it

  187. 187.

    Immanentize

    Totally OT> I know that cashew farmers are killing the aquifers in California, but I am munching on just the best organic cashews I have had in a long time!

  190. 190.

    rikyrah

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Trump got a pass because he was never taken seriously as a candidate, much in the way he’s still not taken seriously as a president. From his tweets to his broken promises to the corruption on a petty and grand scale to foreign policy blunders and lies*, he’s still treated as if he’s some kind of reality show sorta president, whose words and actions are in bad taste, but don’t really matter, because a third of the country still supports him, and that third controls the Republican party (ETA).

    Between the dismissal and grading the unqualified White Man on a CURVE……

    this is the problem.

    Because, if you ask yourself..

    WHAT IF 44 HAD DONE THIS?

    And, I don’t mean everything. I mean JUST ONE OF THESE THINGS…

    and, you will see White Privilege is a helluva drug.

  191. 191.

    bemused

    @tobie:

    I haz skepticism too. I’ve been a fan of Franken as my senator and think he’s been doing a good job, probably too good as in questioning Sessions for example. Definitely incentive to take Franken down. I’ve been trying to look at the Franken accusations with as little bias as possible. I think Conyers had to go. I was disgusted when Anthony Weiner tried to run for office again and happy he got no traction with Dem legislators or voters. MN scumbag Dem Schoen definitely needs to get pushed out of MN legislature.

    Randi Rhodes worked with Franken on Air America for 4-5 years and she has a youtube channel with a 16 minute clip from her radio broadcast, Nov 16, “Franken ?”, talking about working with him. She’s not a huge fan of Franken that has nothing to do with improper behavior with women. Randi said she’s had plenty of experience in her radio career encountering guys who have been sleezy and inappropriate toward her. She said Franken is a kisser but she never felt he was trying to be sexual or intimidating and never heard or saw anything like that working with all the women at Air America.

    I dunno. I just have a niggly feeling that something just aint right with Franken situation.

  192. 192.

    Dave

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Franken is still the only one of these I really have doubts on I see four possibilities
    1) All true he’s just guilty GOP using that to their advantage which sucks but isn’t unreasonable
    2) Mix of truth and ratfucking but enough accusations are true that he should go
    3) Mix of truth and ratfucking but most of the more serious accusations are completely false or been massaged to look bad. If so this is tough but he should stay
    4) All or nearly all except most minor (he grabbed a butt which not cool but not resignation worthy) are pure ratfucking.

    I think it’s between the last three and the timing and nature are super suspect. Franken is only one I get this vibe from. Farenthold, Conyers, Moore, Trump and most likely bulk of other that will be accused are almost certainly guilty as sin but something smells here. I just don’t know if it’s actual guilt plus bad faith on part of GOP or if it’s pure bad faith.

    Oh I’m leaning towards number two or three at this point.

  193. 193.

    tobie

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: What’s a “little too on the nose” for me is the accuser’s comparison of Franken to Trump. The following statement is an overt effort to shame liberals that could only be dreamed up in a right-wing PR firm:

    “Hearing Donald Trump say essentially the same thing that Al Franken said to me, which was ‘It’s my right as an entertainer,’ that was a real trigger.”

    You’ve got the implicit smear–hey, Dems, speak up about Al as you did about Donald, and she even managed to include an allusion to ‘trigger warnings.’ Last but not least: why does Politico identify her as a Democratic aide when she worked for Franken before he was ever in the Senate?

    @rikyrah: Can I pay you $150/week to assure me that I’m not crazy? You could put a lot of shrinks out of business!

  194. 194.

    Xenos

    Trump definitely money laundered… If he did not he would not have had any profits for decades.

    Keep on mind that EU law prohibits telling a client that they are suspected of money laundering. And nothing leaks out of Mueller’s investigation. I think the subpoena is a strategic leak – Schneiderman already has enough dirt on the Trumps too convict them all, and now Mueller leaks this to flush the rat out.

    I wonder off we might see a lot happening over the next free days.

  195. 195.

    Sab

    Just had fun calling my Republican senator about Brett Talley the federal judicial prospect from Alabama. He has three years legal experience with no trial work and they want to put him into a lifetime position on a federal court. In my state he doesn’t even have enough legal experience to motion in his alabama non-experience to qualify for the Ohio bar without taking the Ohio bar to prove he’s even competent at lawyering, much less judging. Yet our senator will probably vote for this totally unqualified puppy because the party told him to. I asked the intern about this. She said he had no position yet. I said of course not, since he never has a position until he votes.But how can he vote a guy onto the federal bench who would not even be qualified to practice law in Ohio. Used to be judicial appointments had ten to fifteen years experience. Now they are barely qualified to practice law, and all those Republican lawyers in Congress are OK with that!

  196. 196.

    J R in WV

    @SFAW:

    From your keyboard to the ears of whatever God Moore claims to believe in. Let’s hope He/She is as just and vengeful a Deity as Moore and his fellow insane-motherfucker talibangelicals pray for.

    While I agree with your sentiment, I have to ask did you see the picture of Trump visiting the Wall in Jerusalem ? I find the fact that lightning didn’t strike at that moment casts great doubt (or unlikelihood) on the existence of a Just Lord who is actually watching everything going on in the world.

    Perhaps G-D just waits until a person dies, and then assesses that person’s life as a totality, as opposed to striking evil with lightning when appropriate. We can never be sure!

  198. 198.

    J R in WV

    @Gelfling545:

    Mostly we have money we saved using 401K and similar investment plans. We told our tax accountant in the very beginning that we wanted our tax records to be unassailable in every way. Wife was a reporter and I was a government employee in charge of sensitive information, so we couldn’t afford to be accused of anything that would stick.

    Our investment advisor has been with 3 different firms, and we have followed that trail for at least 30 years. Sometimes I see news in the tech sector or anywhere, and ask them to look into potential investments, but mostly they will call or email and we will agree with the suggestions.

    I did ask how to make investments that would be less tied to the US economy back in the mid 2000s – but of course the real estate crash was a world wide event. I like to think we were a little less affected than many.

    Proctor&Gamble versus Unilever equities, for example. I don’t know what to do now, Trump is like a rabid elephant on the trading floor.

  202. 202.

    SgrAstar

    @Roger Moore: republicans support it because they’ve sold their souls to that vile toad Sheldon Adelson. That’s it. Quid pro quo. They don’t give a rat’s ass about their constituents’ fantasies of judgement day.

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