Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

We are learning that “working class” means “white” for way too many people.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

We will not go back.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

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Reader Interactions

289Comments

  3. 3.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    This is why multiple Russian Intel chiefs recently came to DC to “meet” Pompeo. They were interviewing him for the State job. Putin had to give the okay before Pompeo could be named. The same way Putin picked Tillerson.

  5. 5.

    gvg

    Don’t both a CIA director and Sec. of State need Congressional approval? this seems like a way to sabotage further both State and CIA. Plus threaten a bit every appointment that wants to keep their job. Congress should just say no.
    Has he said why he fired Tillerson? Also who carried the letter this time and did he manage to strand Tillerson overseas?

  8. 8.

    laura

    Has anyone started the countdown clock on Pompeo to track the time it takes until he recommends lifting sanctions?

  10. 10.

    dmsilev

    @Elmo: Simple pattern analysis suggests that soon ‘Ex-it’ will be trending. Maybe we’re in for a Ivana Trump gory revelation.

  11. 11.

    Boatboy_srq

    Makes you wonder how the Kochs feel to learn that they were outbid for the United States by a Russian oligarch.

  12. 12.

    bystander

    Andrea Mitchell is saying that Tillerson is out over twitler’s unwillingness to denounce Putin.

    I love that twitler is saying it’s because they want the new team in place for the talks with NK. No word on why twitler couldn’t put together the necessary team in the first 18 months of his admin or why anyone thinks he will now.

    The only upside to this is that Mike Pompeo is going to look like used toilet paper within months.

  16. 16.

    Jinchi

    Monday:

    Asked if the poisoning will trigger a mutual defense response with the close NATO ally, Tillerson said that “it certainly will trigger a response. I’ll leave it at that.”

    Tuesday:

    Trump replaces Secretary of State Tillerson with CIA director

  21. 21.

    TS

    @bystander:

    Andrea Mitchell is saying that Tillerson is out over twitler’s unwillingness to denounce Putin.

    Seems to be the thought process of most of the pundits – comparing what Sanders said to what Tillerson said. Trump does not want to support the UK against Russia.

    Providing more thought processes for Mueller?

    Of course, republicans (Kasich on MSNBC) are saying – nothing to do with Russia.

  22. 22.

    Butch

    Sorry about this in advance, but I keep thinking it’s another of the Trump Administration’s Train Rex.

  26. 26.

    LAO

    And this:

    Another long-time Trump aide is out: John McEntee, an original Trumper among w Hope Hicks and Dan Scavino, was escorted out of the White House on Monday t.co/haIhsITOxp— Michael C. Bender (@MichaelCBender) March 13, 2018

    WTF is going on.

    (PS anyone have access to the WSJ, article is behind a paywall?)

  27. 27.

    Cheryl Rofer

    Trump announced his desire to meet with Kim Jong Un on Thursday and fired his Secretary of State on Friday.

    This administration is going so smoothly.

    And, sorry to miss the fun, but I’m going to be away from my computer most of today.

  28. 28.

    Skepticat

    Rexit!

    You are so spot on,

    Sorry about this in advance, but I keep thinking it’s another of the Trump Administration’s Train Rex.

    and you are so forgiven.

  30. 30.

    TS

    @GregB: From your link

    He was escorted from the White House because of an “unspecified security issue,” the Journal reported, citing a third White House official.
    The Trump campaign announced on Tuesday that McEntee is rejoining the campaign as a senior adviser.
    White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told the Journal that “we don’t comment on personnel issues.”

    Imagine if the Obama administration had refused to explain why someone was escorted out – and then got employed within the campaign organisation. The media would still be screaming about it years after the event. What does trump have to do to be censured by this so called fourth estate

  31. 31.

    different-church-lady

    @LAO:

    WTF is going on.

    It’s a safe assumption that one component is Trump’s paranoia is increasing.

  32. 32.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @LAO:
    Trump is angry he’s not brave enough to fire Kelly, Sessions, or Mueller, so he’s tossing out people who will shrug and go ‘sure.’ Throw in that he was expecting the press to fellate him for taking charge on Korea, and instead he’s seeing pundits suggest Kim Jong Un might outsmart him. It’s a coward’s tantrum.

  33. 33.

    WaterGirl

    How long before Trump threatens someone with the same thing happening to them that happened to the man and his daughter in London? He really is that stupid, I think.

  34. 34.

    Elizabelle

    @GregB: From your “The Hill” link on McEntee’s work:

    In his role in the White House, McEntee did tasks such as giving the president messages and making sure the clocks were correctly set for daylight-saving time.

    According to the Journal, he was not allowed to gather his belongings before being escorted out of the White House.

    Well, we did just hit DST.

    But what a job description. LOL.

  35. 35.

    SiubhanDuinne

    NPR says (a) Trump and Tillerson did not talk directly, and (b) Tillerson was not told the reason for his ouster.

    I suppose neither is required, but both strike me as cowardly in the extreme. So, not surprising.

  38. 38.

    Butch

    @Boatboy_srq: And Skepticat. There really isn’t much left to do now other than point and laugh, is there? Thanks for letting me know my joke wasn’t too awful!

  40. 40.

    Zinsky

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.): Pompeo is a Kochhead, plain and simple. They have bought this very obese turd, heart and soul. My brother is a liberal professor at Wichita State University (and desperately trying to get out of that God-forsaken conservative shithole) and has met Pompeo at Board of Regents events, etc. He says Pompeo is rude, extremely simple-minded and is not nice to people. Much like his Master…. This is not a good sign for the march of Western civilization.

  41. 41.

    WaterGirl

    @LAO:

    WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump’s personal assistant, John McEntee, was escorted out of the White House on Monday, two senior administration officials said. The cause of the firing was an unspecified security issue, said a third White House official with knowledge of the situation.

    White House press secretary Sarah Sanders declined to comment saying, “We don’t comment on personnel issues.” Mr. McEntee didn’t return a call seeking comment.

    …

    Mr. McEntee was removed from the White House grounds on Monday afternoon without being allowed to collect his belongings, a White House official said. He left without his jacket, a second White House official said.

    It wasn’t clear exactly why Mr. McEntee was fired Monday. He indicated to colleagues that it was an issue in his background.

  42. 42.

    low-tech cyclist

    Going from bad to worse at both State and CIA. What a fucking dumpster fire.

    If the Republicans in Congress gave a damn about this country, they’d remove Trump tomorrow. But they only give a damn about their donor class. I’ll say it: they may not hate America as such, but their actions are indistinguishable from what a ruling party would do if it hated America.

  43. 43.

    bystander

    @TS:

    Of course, republicans (Kasich on MSNBC) are saying – nothing to do with Russia.

    Kasich is such a spineless twerp. I would love watching twitler make disparaging remarks about him.

  44. 44.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @WaterGirl:
    IE, they had to evict him fast, so there was no chance Trump would have to look the guy in the face. Even though the rehiring suggests it’s a mock firing. And heaven knows there was long speculation Tillerson was in the edge of resigning. Trump is truly the most chickenshit coward in the world.

  48. 48.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    By the time you return to us early this evening, this will be old boring news and we’ll have four or five new toys to bat around.

  49. 49.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Wasn’t Tillerson supposed to be part of some survivors’ pact with Mattis and Mnuchin? A week ago– maybe it was thirty years ago, hard to tell anymore– the gossip was Mattis and Tillerson had joined forces to push McMaster out, then McMaster was supposed to have ankle Tillerson and Mattis out of the loop on NORK.

    (On MSNBC, Lindsey Graham looks like he’s been crying, or maybe he’s hungover.)

  51. 51.

    But her emails!!!

    @bystander:

    Andrea Mitchell is saying that Tillerson is out over twitler’s unwillingness to denounce Putin.

    The irony here being that Rex has billions of barrels worth of reasons to play nice with Russia, but apparently even he has his limits, unlike the squatter in the White House.

  52. 52.

    Amir Khalid

    I reckon Trump sacked Tillerson for calling him a moron, but waited for the moment when the sacking would cause Tillerson the most embarrassment and humiliation before he pulled the trigger. Because that is what Powerful People like Trump do to demonstrate their Power.

    My wild guess is that without some compelling reason to reject Pompeo, the Republican-majority Senate will confirm him as Secretary of State. Ditto with Hapsel; she might not be DCI material for whatever reason, but Trump has been able to appoint utterly unsuitable people to Cabinet-level posts with nary a peep of opposition from anyone but Democrats.

  55. 55.

    Mart

    Wow, those reports last week that the creep has just realized his POTUS super powers and he is going to be even more rouge going forward… It is not been healthy for me to pay attention to this stuff.

  56. 56.

    LAO

    Anyone feel like today is moving too fast? So much news and it’s not even 10 am. AND IT’S ONLY TUESDAY!

  57. 57.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Vaughn Sterling @ vplus
    Trump on UK poisoning: “We will condemn Russia…or whoever it may be.”

    could’ve been China, could’ve been some four hundred pound guy in his basement

  58. 58.

    condorcet runner-up

    He was escorted from the White House because of an “unspecified security issue,” the Journal reported, citing a third White House official. The Trump campaign announced on Tuesday that McEntee is rejoining the campaign as a senior adviser.

    @TS: So the guy who they wouldn’t even let go get his jacket before escorting him out of the WH is now advising the campaign?

  64. 64.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @condorcet runner-up: his name is trending on twitter, and there’s something going around about a discovery in his “background”, so maybe there’s some there there.

    Kyle Griffin @ kylegriffin1
    Trump’s personal assistant, John McEntee, was escorted out of the White House on Monday, two senior administration officials tell WSJ.
    The cause of the firing was an unspecified security issue, said a third W.H. official with knowledge of the situation.

    tick tock….?

  65. 65.

    low-tech cyclist

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Wasn’t Tillerson supposed to be part of some survivors’ pact with Mattis and Mnuchin?

    I thought it was Mattis, Kelly, and McMaster, but my Google-fu stinks this morning, and my memory is definitely fallible these days. (Who can keep up, anyway?)

  66. 66.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @condorcet runner-up:
    I repeat: World. Class. Chickenshit. Trump is such a pathetic coward he can’t look in the face the guy he’s fake-firing or the guy he’s firing who wanted to leave. Trump is a coward of legendary, ‘This is a joke, right? Nobody is THAT gutless.’ proportions.

  70. 70.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Stephanie Ruehel has Andrew Puzder, who withdrew his name from consideration for Labor Sec because of spousal abuse, on to talk about management and being a CEO. Rumors are trump wants him back.

  71. 71.

    schrodingers_cat

    OT: A decidedly non-T thought for the day

    Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
    Where knowledge is free
    Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
    By narrow domestic walls
    Where words come out from the depth of truth
    Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
    Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
    Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
    Where the mind is led forward by thee
    Into ever-widening thought and action
    Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

    -Rabindranath Tagore

  72. 72.

    Leto

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    (b) Tillerson was not told the reason for his ouster.

    The Guardian article also said Rexxon was unaware he’d been fired:

    Tillerson’s departure had long been predicted after a series of clashes with Trump over policy. But the announcement, made just four hours after the secretary of state landed in Washington after a tour of Africa, took Tillerson unawares.

    Just like Comey, Rexxon was away when he was fired. This is such banana republic shit.

  75. 75.

    Redshift

    @LAO:

    Another wife beater? What a shitshow this administration is.

    I would think that’s the most likely, but it doesn’t seem like being escorted out fits with that. On the other hand, being identified as as leaker (am obvious possibility for a “security issue”) doesn’t fit with being hired by the campaign. Unless maybe it’s a do-nothing job to keep him from being free to blab to the media, where he won’t hear anything he can leak. But that seems too clever for Team Trump.

  77. 77.

    Just One More Canuck

    @TS: Say what now? He was escorted out of the White House because of some ‘unspecified security issue’ but is going back to work for the grift/campaign?

    He only hires the best

  79. 79.

    PST

    @condorcet runner-up:

    So the guy who they wouldn’t even let go get his jacket before escorting him out of the WH is now advising the campaign?

    Or is that job just an excuse for hush money? Probably comes with a non-disclosure agreement.

  81. 81.

    schrodingers_cat

    Thank You, T voters and never Hillary BS supporters and Jill Stein and Johnson voters, for giving us this waking nightmare. And the Rs in Congress for letting it continue for over a year.

  82. 82.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @low-tech cyclist: some tweeters dug this one up from the WaPo

    Tillerson, Mattis, Mnuchin forge ‘suicide pact’ in the event Trump wants one of them gone: Report
    by Melissa Quinn
    | October 04, 2017 04:34 PM

    ETA: Small comfort, but I’m glad somebody put this in his ear

    Michael M. Grynbaum @ grynbaum
    Question to Trump on the South Lawn just now: “Did you fire him because he called you a moron?”

  85. 85.

    Leto

    @low-tech cyclist: It was the three generals who had the “survivors pact”. They were also supposed to be around him at all times just in case he tried to use the football and start WW3. Something about tackling him and beating him senseless. No way is someone like low-grade John Oliver cosplayer Steven Mnuchin going to be included on anything like that. Just the military folk.

  87. 87.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Some Russian media are saying it has Ukraine’s footprints. Of course, a country without the technical means to make the stuff and with no axe to grind with Skripal will risk world opprobrium to publicly poison the guy in a NATO country.

  88. 88.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Redshift:
    I take it as assumed that the vast majority of Trump appointees are guilty of at least groping level sexual assault and/or spousal abuse. If you don’t view women as inferior objects for sex who need to be kept in that role, you’re never going to be able to interface with the boss. That’s one of the cornerstones of Trump’s personality.

    EDIT – But some people are cautious enough to not want it to be dragged out as a national scandal.

  90. 90.

    Steve in the ATL

    @WaterGirl:

    White House press secretary Sarah Sanders declined to comment saying, “We don’t comment on personnel issues.”

    As if the White House has that luxury. The presidency isn’t some privately owned real estate/licensing/game show grift.

  91. 91.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Dan Pfeiffer @ danpfeiffer
    Trump signing himself up for two confirmation battles in an election year in agencies directly related to Russian meddling seems like an idea that wasn’t fully thought through.

    a 51-49 Senate with John McCain mostly absent. Which given the CIA acting head’s history with waterboarding is probably a plus for trump

  92. 92.

    TS

    @condorcet runner-up:

    So the guy who they wouldn’t even let go get his jacket before escorting him out of the WH is now advising the campaign?

    Only the best people work for the trump campaign

  93. 93.

    Brachiator

    @Elmo:

    Rexit!

    Beautiful!!

    Damnit. Can’t I just wake up and start the day without some Trump chaos?

    And conservative goobers who would whine about an Obama presidential visit snarling traffic are wetting their pants with joy over the impending Trump California visit.

    And it’s only Tuesday. Sigh.

  96. 96.

    TriassicSands

    Once again Trump shows us what the reality-show model of the presidency looks like — unprofessional, chaotic, rude, and thoughtless. And again, Trump reveals his apparent belief that any loyal body with a pulse can fill any important government position. The only important qualification is loyalty to the “boss.”

    Tillerson just becomes the latest Trump Chump. Probably the worst decision Tillerson ever made was accepting a position in the Trump Apprentice Presidency. Apart from the humiliation of being fired summarily without even being informed of his departure, this has to be a relief to Tillerson.

  97. 97.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    MSNBC says Haspel oversaw “rough interrogation” techniques at black site in Thailand

  98. 98.

    schrodingers_cat

    @MomSense: A character in Madras Cafe* that I saw this weekend recites it at the end of the movie. That’s why its been on my mind. BTW How is your friend, who was sick?

    *Madras Cafe is a 2013 movie about the the Indian involvement in the Sri Lankan Civil war, leading up to the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.

  101. 101.

    Jager

    I was on a consulting trip, spent a couple of days with a new client. The evening of the second day, he said “let’s stop by the hospital and see X”. The guy was recovering from a heart attack. We’re standing by the bed and my new client fires the guy. It was a horrible thing to do, but at least the prick did it in person. And yeah, I dropped the client.

  102. 102.

    Brachiator

    @Steve in the ATL:

    The presidency isn’t some privately owned real estate/licensing/game show grift.

    That’s exactly what it has been reduced to.

    And press briefings are little more than infomercials for the Trump brand.

  103. 103.

    Jeffro

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Small comfort, but I’m glad somebody put this in his ear

    Michael M. Grynbaum @ grynbaum
    Question to Trump on the South Lawn just now: “Did you fire him because he called you a moron?”

    Oh, I am having a good morning now – thanks JFL!

  104. 104.

    JPL

    @LAO: I don’t know if he was fired over beating his wife, because even Porter was allowed to pack up his stuff. hmmm

  105. 105.

    rikyrah

    @WaterGirl:

    Mr. McEntee was removed from the White House grounds on Monday afternoon without being allowed to collect his belongings, a White House official said. He left without his jacket, a second White House official said.

    Oh really?

    Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

  109. 109.

    WaterGirl

    @rikyrah: I was hoping that’s not where his wire was, until I saw that the has been hired by the Trump campaign. And by “hired”, I mean being paid hush money under the guise of being a campaign employee. Just like the bodyguard who who is making a ridiculous amount of money doing nothing for the campaign.

  111. 111.

    Central Planning

    @GregB: FTFA:

    In his role in the White House, McEntee did tasks such as giving the president messages and making sure the clocks were correctly set for daylight-saving time.

    Hilarious!

  112. 112.

    TriassicSands

    OT — In other news, an ICE spokesperson decides to quit rather than help Sessions and ICE Acting Director Homan lie about a recent raid in California.

    Imagine that. Trump officials lying? Shocking! Who could have believed such a thing was possible in an administration that places the truth above all else?

    James Schwab deserves our thanks for refusing to help Sessions and Homan lie. And leave it to Trump to take the lies Sessions and Homan told and inflate the numbers even more. No lie is big enough for Trump, the master of the BIG LIE.

  113. 113.

    Brachiator

    @TriassicSands:

    Tillerson just becomes the latest Trump Chump. Probably the worst decision Tillerson ever made was accepting a position in the Trump Apprentice Presidency.

    Tillerson thought it would be a good business move. And he and Trump were in sync when it came to downgrading the ability of the foreign service to do its job.

    Tillerson will return to the private sector with a few bruises, but will otherwise be okay.

    But you are right on the money when you note that there’s not much of an upside in being part of team Trump. And yet Trump seems to have little problem in finding new candidates for his crazy reality show.

  114. 114.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Pompeo is a dominionist dipshit, and probably another compromised by Russia asswipe. Tillerson got the axe for daring to say that Russia was behind that assassination attempt in the UK.

    Donald is a traitor, an FSB stooge. Any Rethug who stand with him is a traitor.

    Wipe them out. All of them.

  115. 115.

    japa21

    I am really hoping someone asks SHS why her boss is such a coward that he can’t even fire someone in person.

  116. 116.

    PPCLI

    @schrodingers_cat: an interrogation that involves over 80 water boardings and involves multiple head-to-wall contact that causes the detainee to lose an eye is more than “rough”. MSM enablers strike again.

  117. 117.

    Betty Cracker

    Looks like there was no love lost betwixt Haley and Tillerson:

  118. 118.

    Brachiator

    @TriassicSands:

    In other news, an ICE spokesperson decides to quit rather than help Sessions and ICE Acting Director Homan lie about a recent raid in California.

    Sad, but nice to see that someone had a shred of honor.

  120. 120.

    MomSense

    @Betty Cracker:

    Tom Cotton knew before trump’s tweet. Ugh. I feel very unsettled about all of this.

    As generational commentary, my mom is watching the tv and on the phone talking about this with her octogenarian friends. I’m blogging about it and my 14 year old is snap chatting about it.

  122. 122.

    dmsilev

    @schrodingers_cat: From their homepage just now:

    Tillerson Is Out, Replaced by Pompeo
    Secretary of State Was Often at Odds With Trump
    By PETER BAKER and GARDINER HARRIS 39 minutes ago
    Rex W. Tillerson, a former chief executive of Exxon Mobil, had been among President Trump’s most well-regarded cabinet choices.

    I like “most well-regarded cabinet choices”. Most observers have rated him as one of the worst, possibly THE worst, Secretary of State we’ve ever had.

  123. 123.

    Brachiator

    @PPCLI:

    an interrogation that involves over 80 water boardings and involves multiple head-to-wall contact that causes the detainee to lose an eye is more than “rough”. MSM enablers strike again.

    And Trump clearly loves to talk tough about dealing with “bad guys.” It must give him quite a tingle to elevate someone who is fine with the use of torture.

  124. 124.

    randy khan

    @GregB:

    How could you post the link without telling us what the guy actually did?

    In his role in the White House, McEntee did tasks such as giving the president messages and making sure the clocks were correctly set for daylight saving time.

    Thank goodness that he wasn’t fired until yesterday. Imagine the chaos if they’d let him go on Friday.

  129. 129.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Did Bob Corker just say (on MSNBC) that he’s not sure he’s ever met Mike Pompeo? The head of the CIA never met with the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee?

    Also says, to excuse conflicts between trump and Rex, that Kerry and Obama were in “different places” on “almost every issue”. What fucking horseshit. Kerry was a Syria hawk (I believe) but was all in on Iran, and a climate hawk.

  131. 131.

    Peale

    @Matt McIrvin: Yep. White folks looked around, saw a bunch of minorities working in their offices, and worried so much that the nation was becoming a third world country that they decided to send a bunch of people to Washington to turn us into a tin-pot dictatorship. If we are unable to slap them, I think in a few years, we’ll be writing winsome peons to how we wish someone as honest as Manuel Noriega would step up and lead the country.

  132. 132.

    Brachiator

    @MomSense:

    As generational commentary, my mom is watching the tv and on the phone talking about this with her octogenarian friends. I’m blogging about it and my 14 year old is snap chatting about it.

    Your kid is politically engaged? That’s kinda cool.

    And I enjoyed your observation about the family technology choices.

  133. 133.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Brachiator: IIRC, the guy who lost the eye ended up being released by the CIA because they concluded he had nothing useful. So not only not a bad guy, just some poor rando.

  135. 135.

    TriassicSands

    @Brachiator:

    Tillerson will be OK, but he will also go down as perhaps the worst Secretary of State in American history. On balance, he may wish he’d never said “yes” to Trump.

    For his part, Trump is providing considerable evidence that the business model of government is unworkable. On the other hand, defenders of that model can argue that Trump is an incompetent businessperson who is bumbling his way through the presidency the same way he bumbled his way through his career as a real estate con man. What is clear is that running the government like a cheesy reality TV show is a very bad idea.

    Tillerson’s tenure and exit are also inflicting a hit on the “central casting” theory or government personnel. It turns out that being tall and having silver hair are not adequate attributes to guarantee success as Secretary of State. Who could have predicted that?

  136. 136.

    Betty Cracker

    @MomSense: My teen texted me about it earlier. One positive thing about the Trump nightmare may be that it focuses more people on politics, especially the younglings. Apathy is a terrible enemy of democracy.

  137. 137.

    randy khan

    @dmsilev:

    I like “most well-regarded cabinet choices”. Most observers have rated him as one of the worst, possibly THE worst, Secretary of State we’ve ever had.

    Both of those things can be true.

  139. 139.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @dmsilev: in the last five minutes, I read OBamabro Tommy Vietor and Bush alum and arch-neocon Elliott Cohen calling him ‘probably the worst” SoS in history.

    I”m also thinking of the story about Tillerson getting trump’s initial call, and being, he wanted people to think, reluctant to accept, and his wife told him “I told you God’s not done with you!”. That these are people who not only think and talk like that, but want people to know they think and talk like that. I wonder how Mrs T has decided this is a sign that Jeebus loves her. I doubt it was hard.

  140. 140.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Betty Cracker: what I love about the Parkland yoots is that they all talk about registering to vote, counting down the days. I hope they’re spreading this idea around among their networks. Unlike other recent left-leaning movements (Occupy Wall St) who declared they wouldn’t sully themselves by participating in the rigged system.

  141. 141.

    Mart

    Isn’t Pompeo the one who spends hours most every day traveling to take a knee on Trump’s throne, showing him glossy charts to help hizzoners’ misunderstanding of the world?

  142. 142.

    TriassicSands

    @Brachiator:

    And yet Trump seems to have little problem in finding new candidates for his crazy reality show.

    Hey, Trump just told us “everyone wants a piece of the Oval Office.” Yep, everyone wants in on the scam. Well, everyone who is a right-wing idiot who is willing to bow and scrape before the Apprentice President.

    The “talent” pool is extensive partly because being competent is not a requirement. Being a groveling Trump sycophant is.

    How long until Pompeo is overheard calling Trump a moron? The odds are that he’ll keep that opinion to himself.

  143. 143.

    Frankensteinbeck

    Seriously, guys, I’ve been hearing for ages here on Balloon Juice that Tillerson wanted to get out once he’d served a year. Was there any substance to that? Because it wildly changes how I view the story.

  145. 145.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @dmsilev:

    I like “most well-regarded cabinet choices”. Most observers have rated him as one of the worst, possibly THE worst, Secretary of State we’ve ever had.

    All these things can be true simultaneously.

  146. 146.

    Lyrebird

    Whoa, the day has come when I get inspired by… reading a Jennifer Rubin piece????? Link goes to RawStory, could look up the original piece if you want.

    “Trump has installed a disproportionate number of military and ex-military officials in key roles, putting those who deploy soft power at a severe disadvantage. If Pompeo, who does enjoy Trump’s trust, can elevate the profile of the department, improve morale, steer Trump away from international disasters and reestablish the essential role of human rights in our foreign policy, he’ll earn our deep gratitude. He surely will not have an easy time of it.”

  149. 149.

    Leto

    @TriassicSands:

    For his part, Trump is providing considerable evidence that the business model of government is unworkable. On the other hand, defenders of that model can argue that Trump is an incompetent businessperson who is bumbling his way through the presidency the same way he bumbled his way through his career as a real estate con man.

    The defenders of that model can go suck eggs. They elected a business man, then he surrounded himself with other “successful” business people. It’s been an unmitigated disaster, both foreign and domestic, ever since. Our standing within the world has only diminished, while domestically we’re coasting along on the Obama era initiatives (that still survive). They got their tax cuts, helped dismantle Obamacare further,,, past that they can’t get past all of the corruption/grift/incompetence that encompasses everything they do.

    Of course trying to explain these points on most Republicans is lost. The above list is all reflective that “we didn’t give him a chance”. They can fuck right off.

  150. 150.

    Victor Matheson

    @Mart: Trump will go “even more rogue”… I think a shift from orange to a more delicate pinkish or red would be a definite improvement.

  152. 152.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Lyrebird:
    I’m pretty sure it’s the military men who are pushing for the use of soft power, since they actually have some idea of what war means. The rest of his staff think you drop a bomb, wipe out the natives, declare victory over your new conquered territory, and divide up the loot.

  153. 153.

    TriassicSands

    @japa21:

    I am really hoping someone asks SHS why her boss is such a coward that he can’t even fire someone in person.

    That would be rude. Nowhere in the modern “How to Be a Journalist” manual does it say journalists should ask tough questions. Besides, while you want to hear the question, I doubt you’d like the answer. SHS is such a slimy weasel (apologies to all real weasels) that question wouldn’t even cause a momentary hesitation in her torrent of lies.

  158. 158.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: The law has to do with treatment of capital gains on the assets you have to divest when you enter public service; you have to hold the job a year to get favorable treatment.

    Just writing that makes me nostalgic for the days when the presidential administration had ethical standards and worried about conflicts of interest.

  159. 159.

    clay

    @Mike in DC:

    Firing a Cabinet level official without talking to them first seems…indecorous in the extreme.

    Yeah… aren’t they usually allowed to resign? Seems Trump didn’t even have the guts to have a sit-down with his own Sec State to even ask for a resignation.

  160. 160.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @GregB:

    Trump’s personal assistant was shit canned yesterday and escorted out of the White House.

    That’s the classic useless a-hole manager move when they’ve screwed up; blame their secretary.

  161. 161.

    ? Martin

    @rikyrah: Yep. Same with Cohn. If you’re a billionaire and want to take your winnings tax free, the cost is doing a year with Trump. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if a lot of them were approaching Trump for precisely this reason. Get a cool title on your resume, a nice federal pension, and skip out on your cap gains.

    The grifting will continue.

  162. 162.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @schrodingers_cat:
    And the people who pushed that strategy were draft-dodging cowards or dogma-crazed young pups, not military men. With the possible exception of Powell, who is generally considered vile not for wanting the war, but being willing to lie and promote it because his boss wanted him to.

  163. 163.

    Peale

    @balconesfault: But we’re getting Pompeo, some torture queen, Larry Kudlow (Jesus, fucking Christ), and Josh Bolton in return. This isn’t going to end well for anyone inside or outside our borders. I’m thinking of selling everything and buying gold.

  164. 164.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @? Martin: Not that I disagree with your general point, but I rather doubt that a year in the cabinet qualifies one for a pension.

  165. 165.

    janeform

    Tweet from Schumer. jfc

    Chuck Schumer
    ‏Verified account
    @SenSchumer
    The instability of this administration in just about every area weakens America.
    If he’s confirmed, we hope that Mr. Pompeo will turn over a new leaf and will start toughening up our policies towards Russia and Putin.
    6:31 AM – 13 Mar 2018

  166. 166.

    schrodingers_cat

    I have been watching The Great War YouTube channel and the country that reminds me most of our current waking nightmare is Germany. Inept titular leader, over reliance on generals, and the best for the last, the same zero-sum thinking about international affairs. Worked out so well for the Germans that these morons want to emulate it.

  169. 169.

    PPCLI

    @TriassicSands:

    he will also go down as perhaps the worst Secretary of State in American history

    Trump will likely go through 10 Secretaries of State in the next 2.5 years, and I bet most if not all of them will be even worse.

  171. 171.

    TriassicSands

    Whoa, the day has come when I get inspired by… reading a Jennifer Rubin piece?????

    I don’t know how familiar you were with Rubin in the pre-Trump era. She was, is, and in all likelihood will again be a disaster. It’s true she despises Trump, but if ever there was a case of “the enemy of my enemy is NOT my friend (or ally)” Rubin is it. As soon as Trump is gone, I expect here to revert to being just another RWNJ supporting one noxious GOP initiative after another. She has simply transferred her right-wing extremism to extreme opposition to Trump. It would be refreshing if exposure to Trumpism has actually caused Rubin to re-examine her beliefs and policy preferences, but that seems unlikely. What are now reasons for Rubin to criticize Trump may miraculously morph into reasons to enthusiastically support Pence or some other Republican president.

    Beware! Jennifer Rubin ahead. Use extreme caution.

  176. 176.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Jacob T. Levy @ jtlevy
    Flake, McCain, Sasse, Corker now have a moment of genuine leverage, if they care to use it.

    NARRATOR: They won’t care to do so.

  180. 180.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Immanentize: huh, good point. I imagine Meuller just told someone to start a new file, or make an addition to an existing one.

  181. 181.

    Aleta

    NYT says he was fired before dawn today upon his return from Africa. Where he’d cancelled or postponed a day of meetings a few days ago because of ‘not feeling well.’

    It seems possible he quit though since WH sources play the press.

    Imo unless he talks honestly about his experience with T he’s still on team Trump’s Traitors.

  186. 186.

    Amir Khalid

    @Lyrebird:

    “If Pompeo, who does enjoy Trump’s trust, can elevate the profile of the department, improve morale, steer Trump away from international disasters and reestablish the essential role of human rights in our foreign policy, he’ll earn our deep gratitude.”

    … And pigs will fly.

  187. 187.

    Mike in NC

    @Peale: Otto Von Bismarck said that Wilhelm was like a petulant child who wanted every day to be like his birthday. Pretty much the Trump mold.

  190. 190.

    LAO

    @sukabi: I see that now, but am still confused because I’m unaware of the jurisdictional basis that allows Homeland Security to run a financial crime investigation.

  193. 193.

    randy khan

    @TriassicSands:

    Beware! Jennifer Rubin ahead. Use extreme caution.

    I am grateful for her support, but will wait to see if there’s a road to Damascus conversion or not. I will say that Trump has caused at least one of my conservative friends to re-examine his politics, much to my great surprise.

  195. 195.

    ET

    And he apparently found out on Twitter….. I have read several places that tRump hates to be the one firing someone but any normal person would be embarrassed about how that happened. It doesn’t speak well of him and I am not even talking about it being bad management and disrespectful (and both are the truth in this case). The President of the US – any president – having so little care for the position of president that this is how things go down? It sends all sorts of signals that things aren’t going well – which they aren’t.

  196. 196.

    randy khan

    @Immanentize:

    That is one odd tweet. Department of Homeland Security does not generally investigate financial crimes. That would be DOJ…

    The Secret Service is now part of DHS, and they investigate counterfeiting and crimes involving the U.S. financial system. I’m going to assume it’s not counterfeiting, although with these guys you never know.

  198. 198.

    ? Martin

    @LAO: My understanding is that they took over counterfeiting from the Treasury, and they also have authority to handle cross border financial crimes such as foreign money laundering.

  200. 200.

    LAO

    @? Martin: Thanks, I hadn’t realized that the Secret Service had been moved from Treasury. (I should have, because I think that when ATF was moved to Justice). Live and Learn.

  201. 201.

    Steeplejack

    Jesus. MSNBC security analysts Malcolm Nance and Ned Price are trotting out the “good German” defense for Gina Haspel. Hey, policy was set at the top, we were given orders and we had to carry them out, etc. It’s irrelevant now, the laws have been changed, we’re never going back to those dreadful times, blah, blah, blah. Price even finished it off with: “She lived through this period, and she knows the horror that period inflicted, not only upon the agency but also upon our moral standing.” All righty, then.

    This about a woman who ran a black site in Thailand where (per Velshi) one suspect was waterboarded 83 times in one month—tortured so badly that at one point he was thought to be dead. And she later participated in the destruction of the CIA records of “enhanced interrogation.”

    At least Ari Velshi—and Nance, to his credit—is calling it torture.

    One of the biggest problems in our political system is that responsibility always lies elsewhere. “Our orders came from up above,” but at the same time “I didn’t know what my minions were doing.” Oh, well, nothing can be done now. We have to look forward, not back, and move on.

    ETA: Haven’t read the thread. Sorry if someone has already ranted about this.

  202. 202.

    ? Martin

    I’m not sure why, but this news has moved my internal oh-shit-o-meter from about a 4 to about a 9 in much the same way that watching Bush directly contradict what Hans Blix was saying. I have a feeling something genuinely life and death bad is about to happen.

  206. 206.

    cmorenc

    My guess is that the “security issue” in McIntee’s background that was the actual reason for his firing and being so abruptly ejected from the White House grounds was that Trump suspected him of being the source of damaging leaks to the mainstream media.

  207. 207.

    Brachiator

    @TriassicSands:

    And yet Trump seems to have little problem in finding new candidates for his crazy reality show.

    Hey, Trump just told us “everyone wants a piece of the Oval Office.” Yep, everyone wants in on the scam.

    This is very true. A relative once worked for a local government agency that had developed a reputation for corruption. After a certain point, the agency became a magnet for grifters. Ironically, the corrupt managers began to consider anyone not willing to steal, or at least look the other way, as “untrustworthy.” My relative got the hell out as soon as possible.

    From the beginning of his administration, Trump turned the Executive branch into a den of thieves. It is odd that some observers insisted in looking at people like Kelly or Tillerson as “adults in the room,” or respectable. They might not be bumblers, but they knew what was expected of them, or figured it out pretty quickly.

    The sad thing, the tragic thing is that the GOP leadership continues to be complicit, and rank and file conservatives continue to delude themselves into believing that Trump is some astute leader who is going to drain the swamp, make the country great again, and do something other than peddle bullshit and call it sunshine.

  209. 209.

    rp

    Greenwald is arguing that Pompeo used to be a big Russia hawk when Obama was President, so his elevation proves that the Russia/Trump stuff is all fake news. Because we all know that intellectual consistency and rock solid principles are what the GOP is all about.

  210. 210.

    sukabi

    @randy khan: counterfeiting? How about forging drumpfs signature? Apparently the guy has a penchant for forging drumpfs signature “just for fun”…

    Anything interesting comes up regarding something trump signed and they’ve got a convenient scapegoat.

  211. 211.

    Steeplejack

    @? Martin:

    Possibly because, hard as it is to believe, Pompeo will probably be worse than Tillerson at State. He strikes me as a complete tool and an enabler for Trump. And, as I ranted above, Gina Haspel moving to the top at the CIA is chilling. It’s a critical agency that requires civilian leadership and oversight at the top.

  212. 212.

    TriassicSands

    @randy khan:

    You make a good point. Trump is different. I’ve been watching Rubin because her current columns in the WaPo seem so out of character with her pre-Trump positions. And she has been extremely critical of the failure of the GOP to hold Trump accountable. It remains to be seen if that will translate into a new and better Rubin once Trump is gone. I’m skeptical.

  216. 216.

    catclub

    @? Martin:

    I have a feeling something genuinely life and death bad is about to happen.

    Trump is STILL far better than Bush in terms of dead people , Although Bush didn’t really get going on the needless deaths until his third year.
    He had just fucked up catching BinLaden at this point.

  218. 218.

    Aleta

    @Lyrebird: ‘If Pompeo can elevate the profile of the department, improve morale, steer Trump away from international disasters and reestablish the essential role of human rights’

    I think even I can predict the answer to that.

  219. 219.

    catclub

    @eclare:

    I don’t understand how she still has a job at the CIA.

    oh, oh, pick me! If they throw her out it is an admission that what she did for the CIA was not good. So she has firing insurance.

  220. 220.

    Yarrow

    @? Martin: Yep. It’s also why the Britain won’t invoke Article 5 because if the US refuses to respond then it would break up NATO and they can’t risk that.

    Pompeo is a traitor.

    @Steeplejack: I’ve been skeptical of Malcolm Nance. His response in this manner does nothing to change my opinion.

  221. 221.

    gvg

    @Steeplejack: there was a time when I thought the little people who followed bad orders should not be prosecuted because I thought it was unfair that the big shots would not be. As time passed and nothing has happened to the Bush torture regime, I have changed my views. I now think the little people, privates, sargents etc. should have the book thrown at them because in the long run that will make them insist on copies of orders and videos and more evidence in order to protect themselves because then they can plea bargain and roll the bosses to prosecution. Further result should be bad orders just not happening.
    I promised myself I wouldn’t forget that the tortures should go to jail, but I am currently over welmed with the newer dangerous Trump fruitcakes actually in power.

  222. 222.

    MomSense

    @WaterGirl:

    She’s staying with me. She had follow up appointments with her surgeon and it looks like a new round of eye operations coming up.

    I am going to Florida last minute for the other parents’ health needs. I think my siblings were onto something when they decided to have a second round of kids later in life.

  223. 223.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    [Re: Tillerson’s departure]

    I rather doubt that a year in the cabinet qualifies one for a pension

    I thought it was that a full calendar year in govt meant that Tillerson wouldn’t have to pay cap.-gains taxes on divesting from his stock portfolio to take the govt job?

    Either way: (a) good riddance to bad rubbish; and (b) we’d be going from bad to worse.

    (c) I called my Senators this AM, thanks to early-breaking news on BJ, and asked them to oppose Pompeo and Haspel. Thank you, jackals, for keeping me politically aware and active!

  224. 224.

    Aleta

    @Steeplejack: ‘the “good German” defense’ — exactly.

    She may have been in the tapes that were erased. And may have been the one who erased them.

  226. 226.

    Brachiator

    @germy:

    Russian exile Nikolai Glushkov found dead at his London home

    WTF. This is Michael Corleone level shit. The Russians seem to be taking care of business and eliminating all loose ends.

    And snubbing their noses at Western intelligence agencies.

  229. 229.

    Immanentize

    @MomSense:
    Yes, very. I used to run with the cicle-A punk kids back in college. Never imagined it would come from inside our gov’t.

  230. 230.

    gvg

    @catclub: Some of this is luck. Some of it is people know daddy’s crazy, keep trouble away.
    We are still in Iraq and Afghanistan. some deaths are still happening.
    Bin Laden is dead and not making further trouble thanks to Obama.

  231. 231.

    Steeplejack

    @catclub:

    I believe this has been debunked. Barron’s, October 2017:

    The time value of deferring taxes on these considerable sales has fed rumors that Tillerson, for one, must remain in office for at least a year in order to lock in the tax benefit on the divestments. [. . .]

    I asked a number of tax and legal experts about this idea. Unfortunately, they all said that nothing in the ethics and tax rules sets a minimum term of service. David Herzig is a law professor at Valparaiso University who has written about the tax treatment of ethics divestments. “If you’re following the form of the statute,” he says, “I don’t know why it wouldn’t apply, even if you worked for just one day.”

  232. 232.

    Aleta

    I’m remembering a B movie, fictional, about a woman in US intelligence who was a redblooded savior of the USA, so committed that she tortured terrorists for the information that would save the world. Something like that.

  233. 233.

    Yarrow

    @Brachiator: That’s exactly what they’re doing. The UK hasn’t stood up to them and it will be dangerous for them to do so because who will have their back? It also has the potential to damage the British economy because of all the Russian money swimming around there.

  234. 234.

    Kay

    Well, look at the bright side. He was terrible at the job. The next one will be worse of course but you’re really choosing between a bunch of horrible people.

  235. 235.

    Kay

    President Donald Trump’s personal assistant, John McEntee, was escorted out of the White House on Monday, two senior administration officials said. The cause of the firing was an unspecified security issue, said a third White House official with knowledge of the situation.

    This seems bad. What kind of financial crimes does Homeland Security investigate? Money laundering? Human trafficking?

  236. 236.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Brachiator: How long before the FSB starts going after major figures in the US opposition? So far they seem to be confining themselves to direct annoyances to Putin, but I wonder how willing they’ll be to branch out if the US administration is cooperative. Maybe they could whittle down un-mutual elements in the FBI and CIA.

  237. 237.

    Aleta

    Even though McEntee is reportedly being under investigation for financial crimes, the Trump presidential campaign announced on Tuesday morning that it would hire him to help with the president’s reelection efforts in 2020. (Raw Story)

    Seems like many who were close enough to T to have incriminating stories are getting 2020 campaign jobs when forced out of the WH. Is that a way to give payoffs so they won’t use the stories?

    I think I read that donations to the ‘convention fund’ (was it?) are a murky area and can be quite large, and it is used as a sort of slush fund (w/o as much oversight as campaign funds).

  239. 239.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Brian Stelter @ brianstelter
    Steve Goldstein, undersecretary for public diplomacy, tells MichLKosinski that Tillerson “did not speak to the president and is unaware of the reason.” So something isn’t adding up here…

    Steve Goldstein has been fired. The sense I’m getting is that Kelly called Tillerson and told him a twitter tantrum was imminent, Kelly was free-lancing, and Tillerson figured it was no more than another tantrum

    @WaterGirl:for going on twenty years, I’ve been hoping I’m too pessimistic about Republicans and Voters, so I hope I’m wrong, too t I’m no McCain worshipper, but if he’s feeling healthy, pompous and mad enough, I could imagine him raising a stink. He hates Putin and (again, not joining in the Beltway Daddy-issues chorus) I think things might– MIGHT– look different if he weren’t sick

  240. 240.

    TriassicSands

    @Brachiator:

    The sad thing, the tragic thing is that the GOP leadership continues to be complicit,

    I agree that it is both sad and tragic. But it’s not surprising. One danger of Trump’s outrageousness is that it will serve to make the pre-Trump GOP seem more responsible or acceptable. The transition to the Modern* Republican Party was in full force in 1994. By the time Obama became president, McConnell and later Ryan were leading a party that had given up entirely on democracy and legitimately elected government. Stealing a SCOTUS seat was seen as not only acceptable but necessary. Opposing everything had become the guiding principle behind the GOP. What they hated — Obama, Nancy Pelosi, poor people — defined the party. Causing millions of Americans to lose their health insurance had become a reasonable side effect of repealing Obamacare. To Modern Republicans, America’s two biggest problems seem to be 1) the wealthy aren’t wealthy enough and 2) the poor have too much.

    *Some have suggested the use of the word “Modern” is inappropriate because there is nothing modern about a bunch of regressive throwbacks who long to return us variously to before the Civil Rights era and in some cases to before the Civil War. Some of the religious zealots pine for life not decades ago, but centuries.

  241. 241.

    WaterGirl

    @sukabi: Think about it. This guy was in the same position as Charlie on West Wing. I wouldn’t have guessed that the corruption went that far down. At this rate, even the cooks in the kitchen are probably swindling someone out of something..

  245. 245.

    WaterGirl

    @LAO: I’m sure somebody got their government agencies mixed up.

    edit: or maybe not, based on what Martin and others are saying.

  246. 246.

    LAO

    BREAKING: Officials: White House fires top Tillerson aide who contradicted account of secretary of state's dismissal.— The Associated Press (@AP) March 13, 2018

    The Administration just fired the Undersecretary.

  248. 248.

    Kay

    @cynthia ackerman:

    My husband thinks he was stealing from White House petty cash. They’re this gross group of low rent grifters. Trump is cheap – his hush money was even chump change and God knows what that woman has. I think she has video. If he hadn’t have been such a cheapskate she’d probably be down the road.

  253. 253.

    Lyrebird

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    FWIW, I believe you, and I believe that the caring of military leaders for their troops and for basic feasibility checking is what has kept us out of war with Iran several times.

    @Amir Khalid:
    @Aleta:

    Yeah what little I know of Pompeo’s record gives me nothing to work with to counter your doubts. In other words, I wish I weren’t so sure you’re both right.

    I’m a confirmed grasper at straws, not because they make the nightmare we’re in go away, but every now and then even a little tiny straw is useful.

  254. 254.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Kay: it’s looking like he laundered (in my opinion if not in strict legal use of the term) campaign money through his company to pay her off. I wonder how the Bible-thumping (I think) Mercers feel about getting stuck with that tab

  255. 255.

    WaterGirl

    @MomSense: Yikes. With all that stress with family-related health issues, it’s good that the rest of the world is moving along swimmingly with nothing to worry about there.

    I hope you have some seriously awesome stress management tricks up your sleeve. Hugs.

  256. 256.

    chris

    the beatings will continue…

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials: White House fires top Tillerson aide who contradicted account of secretary of state's dismissal.— Matt Lee (@APDiploWriter) 13 March 2018

    ETA: Damn, too slow

  257. 257.

    Kay

    @WaterGirl:

    He’ll tell Maggie Haberman to tell Melania.

    I notice Trump hasn’t fired his daughter or son in law. They must be doing an excellent job! Super de duper.

  258. 258.

    SiubhanDuinne

    WTF just happened to Betty Cracker’s new thread?

    I mean obviously she pulled it, but why? Why, Betty, why??

  259. 259.

    Kay

    @chris:

    I wonder if Kelly is lying. Maybe he imagined another whole specific day and set of events like he did with the AA congresswoman. THAT was fucking bizarre.

  261. 261.

    Mnemosyne

    @catclub:

    Trump may be willing to publicly humiliate and demean his pet billionaires, but he would never cost them money. That would be rude.

  264. 264.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady):

    Trump’s personal aide Johnny McEntee was fired because he is currently under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security for serious financial crimes, a source familiar with his firing tells CNN

    Can’t be the real reason or the West Wing would be empty

  266. 266.

    WaterGirl

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Holy shit, they fired the guy within hours of his statement about Tillerson’s firing! That’s pushing my needle even further, ala Martin’s statement earlier about his needle moving from 4 to 9.

  268. 268.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @WaterGirl: OTOH, you might be right about McCain

    Jennifer Benderyv@ jbendery 21m21 minutes ago
    John McCain on Haspel: Torture of detainees “was one of the darkest chapters in American history” and Haspel her involvement in this process. (She led a “black site” where people were waterboarded.)

    ] He says she’ll have to account for her record, and that’s a more critical statement than either Schumer or Feinstein, who once blocked Hassles’ promotion because of torture

  271. 271.

    MomSense

    @WaterGirl:

    Thank you! Fortunately my parents are really nice so it makes it a bit easier. My dad is doing ok but my stepmom needs some orthopedic surgery. Her daughter is going to help her out while I take care of my dad. I’m predicting my stepsister and I will be drinking a lot of wine on the balcony in the evenings.

  273. 273.

    WaterGirl

    @different-church-lady:

    Martin
    March 13, 2018 at 12:00 pm
    I’m not sure why, but this news has moved my internal oh-shit-o-meter from about a 4 to about a 9 in much the same way that watching Bush directly contradict what Hans Blix was saying. I have a feeling something genuinely life and death bad is about to happen.

  274. 274.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @WaterGirl: it looks like trump laundered campaign money to pay off Stormy Daniels, some conveniently timed bills from the trump hotels to the campaign (which is already laughably corrupt but LOL nothing matters)

    Susan Simpson@ TheViewFromLL2
    Something I’d love to see a reporter ask Trump Org about:
    1) Cohen formed EC LLC on Oct 17 2016
    2) The contract provided for EC LLC to pay Stormy $130K by Oct 27 2016
    3) Between Oct 17 & Oct 25, the Trump campaign made payments to Trump Org properties that add up to $129,999.72.

  275. 275.

    Steve in the ATL

    @catclub:

    If they throw her out it is an admission that what she did for the CIA was not good. So she has firing insurance.

    The CIA has ways of getting rid of no longer useful employees without firing them

    @Immanentize:

    I used to run with the cicle-A punk kids back in college.

    So you were a punk rocker AND a moon stomper?

    @LAO:

    The Administration just fired the Undersecretary.

    Oh shit–undersecretaries are the people who make things work while political appointees come and go. Not good.

  276. 276.

    WaterGirl

    @MomSense: I was home to run the family business for 3 weeks (decades ago) when my mom had cancer and my dad had a heart attack and was in the hospital. Truly, what got me through it was walking the 2-4 blocks to a nice restaurant (there were two) and eating a solitary, leisurely dinner and having a couple of adult beverages. Every single night for dinner.

    I’m glad you will have company. If Amazon will drop ship wine, I will gladly have a couple of bottles sent to you.

  280. 280.

    schrodingers_cat

    T whisperer from Vichy Times

    The narrative of Trump unglued is not totally wrong but misses the reason why – he was terrified of the job the first six months, and now feels like he has a command of it.

  281. 281.

    Procopius

    @Gin & Tonic: They decided he was like the number three guy in Al Qaeda, and in fact he was the equivalent of a clerk in the travel office. Haspel is a real sadist, though.

  284. 284.

    TriassicSands

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    it looks like trump laundered campaign money to pay off Stormy Daniels…

    If there is anything illegal that Mueller ought to be able to get Trump for doing, it is using questionable and even illegal means to pay off a debt. Trump has shown an aversion his entire adult life to using his own money to pay for things that are his responsibility. Paying Daniels out of his own pocket — the bill would be chump change for a person of Trump’s self-proclaimed vast wealth — would be very uncharacteristic for Trump. Now, if they said he’d raided a charity to make the payment or stolen the money out of collection plates in church (if he went to church), I’d have no trouble believing it. But out of his own pocket? Unlikely.

  285. 285.

    Procopius

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: “She destroyed torture videos.” No, that was a guy. He already retired under the Obama administration. I think they gave him a gold watch and the Medal of Freedom. No, Haspel was the one who made them continue to torture Zubaydah after everyone else at the site was certain he knew nothing. I’m hoping there is at least one Democrat who will filibuster the nomination (they can still do that for non-judicial appointments).

  287. 287.

    James E. Powell

    @janeform:

    Schumer tweets:

    If he’s confirmed, we hope that Mr. Pompeo will turn over a new leaf and will start toughening up our policies towards Russia and Putin.

    Lame remarks like that are one of the main reasons that even insanely loyal Democrats, like me, are constantly bitching about the leadership. How about, “Like nearly all of Trump’s cabinet choices, Pompeo is not a suitable choice. He has neither the experience nor the character to represent America.”

    They need to condemn him, reject him, and make a loud noise about it. It’s not like kissing his ass or giving him the benefit of the doubt is going to do anyone any good.

  288. 288.

    Stan

    @Steeplejack: One of the biggest problems in our political system is that responsibility always lies elsewhere. “Our orders came from up above,” but at the same time “I didn’t know what my minions were doing.” Oh, well, nothing can be done now. We have to look forward, not back, and move on.

    You’re right, and yet….those at the top, the ones who really made the decisions and gave the orders, are NEVER held accountable. So there is some unfairness in holding the middle and lower levels responsible.

    It’s a bit like Vietnam where everyone from the President on down was cool with leveling villages indiscriminantly, but they hung one Lieutenant out to dry for it. I am not arguing Calley was a good officer, because he sucked. But its wasn’t HIM making the policy.

  289. 289.

    Steeplejack

    @Stan:

    Perhaps you misunderstood me: I absolutely was saying that those at the top should be held accountable as well.

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