Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Second rate reporter says what?

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

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

People are complicated. Love is not.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

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

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Hail to the Hairpiece / Friday Morning Open Thread: Repubs Just Want the Dirty Details

Friday Morning Open Thread: Repubs Just Want the Dirty Details

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This post is in: , , , ,


.

Okay, fair warning…

Apparently Ed Meese’s ridiculously comprehensive Pornography Report back during the Reagan years gave some professional Republicans a taste for voyeurism that hasn’t been adequately slacked since Ken Starr spent all those millions of taxpayer dollars in pursuit of The Clenis. Cuz they seem to be desperate for a fresh fix…

[Warning: NSFW. Seriously. You have been warned.]

Reader Interactions

167Comments

  2. 2.

    gene108

    The Republicans got Clinton under oath, in the Lewinsky affair. Whether he actually perjured himself or not is debatable.

    Republicans will do everything in their power to keep Trump from saying anything under oath, so Trump is free to lie to the media at will.

    And Republicans will harp on the distinction of under oath and not under oath, because it is all they have.

  5. 5.

    MattF

    @gene108: ‘Oath’? What’s an ‘oath’? Some sort of pagan ritual? The only things that matter to Trump are the three ‘B’s– Bluster, Bullshit, and Bullying.

  8. 8.

    Cermet

    Well, again, the tariff stuff is just empty bullshit; these are bluff’s that the orange floating fart cloud will never imperilment but rather, will continue to “authorize” the negotiator’s to use (which they won’t, of course because their not stupid) and after we create a “new” trade pact (read same old one with new wiggle words) the orange pile of shit will declare victory and never raise any tariff’s. His base, being morons, will believe again they were saved by the fart cloud and we continue on the the stock market will return to its over-priced normal. No need to sell one’s 401K’s etc. because in two months, this will all be a forgotten (the facts, that is) memory (still the economic basics are terrible but those chickens haven’t come home to roast, yet.)

  10. 10.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Mueller seized Manafort’s bank accounts and issued new taps on 5 phones

    Special Counsel Robert Mueller moved to seized bank accounts one day prior to the indictment of Paul Manafort and sought phone taps on five new phones, Politico reported late Thursday.

    raises the question, who’s paying for his defense and what is the dollar to rubles conversion rate..

  11. 11.

    Jeffro

    Schooley, as usual, SO on point…

    Bobby Three Sticks, speaking for the sane half of the country, Balloon Juice feels your pain and appreciates your sacrifice. Just know that History Has Its Eyes On You, so don’t throw away Your Shot! (Let’s have some more indictments later today please – progressives deserve a little pick-me-up after a long week! Also, justice.)

    Btw there seem to be multiple news articles out about how Marsha Blackburn is down 10 points in the polls (Tennessee Gov, I believe) due to her special brand of crazy. What “special brand?” – it’s called the modern GOP, reporters. She ain’t but 1 degree different from every other Republican out there, she just happens to like bringing pictures of fetuses around with her. The rest of the GOP believes the exact same nutty, false things (like how PP runs a mail-order baby parts business), they just forgot to bring pics.

  13. 13.

    MomSense

    God dammit, we’re all going to end up seeing it either because of l’affaire stormy or the pee pee tape.

    I hate reality tv shows.

  14. 14.

    Alain the site fixer

    @gene108: he didn’t. DC law is that sexual relations involves vaginal or anal penile penetration, and they didn’t do that. He was a sneaky lawyer type, but he didn’t perjure himself.

  15. 15.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman bragged of receiving classified US intelligence from Jared Kushner

    I’m old enough to remember when the media obsessed about the potential mishandling of classified material.

  18. 18.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Jeffro:

    Btw there seem to be multiple news articles out about how Marsha Blackburn is down 10 points in the polls (Tennessee GovSen, I believe)

    She’s running for Bob Corker’s seat.

  37. 37.

    Immanentize

    @MomSense:
    I hope Adam is not too busy today to give us his hot take on this later.
    AND the weekend cannot get here fast enough for me.

  38. 38.

    Feathers

    @Alain the site fixer: And, IIRC, the Paula Jones team had defined sexual relations as something a man does to a woman (revealing, no?), so his answer in the deposition was overlawyerly, but not perjury. Which at the time, so many people claiming to be Clinton fans just flat out said they didn’t care about, because being morally superior is such a high. These folks also claimed that they didn’t care about the affair, just the lying. People, it’s the lying that makes it an affair!

    Also, a reminder that the Jones lawsuit was a novel, never used before claim. The statute of limitations had run out on his being liable under the applicable laws. I don’t have a problem with the President being called to testify, the case law involved should be reasonably settled, otherwise you are just inviting mischief. IANAL, if I’m wrong on this, let me know.

    @raven: Man, that is what fairy did you not invite to you christening level of shit.

  39. 39.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @raven: Something about those par 5s gave him fits.

    After 20 years of playing here, Woods knows the course as well as anyone. You would not have guessed it watching him on the 15th, where he sliced his first shot so far right that he ended up playing off the 17th, and pulled his second so far left that he was almost back on the 13th again. Call it the scenic route. He got down in five, which meant he played all four of the par‑fives in level par. He said himself that they were the difference to his round. “If I’d just played the par‑fives better, I’d be right up there.”

    Made me laugh. Needed more than a little luck to pull par on that one. He’s a pro tho, he’ll be OK.

  42. 42.

    MomSense

    @Immanentize:

    I’m hoping I can get through today. I woke up to go to the gym but I think the cold I’ve been evading finally caught me. It’s also wicked cold in that particular pre-snow way that you feel in your bones.

    What bothers me about the blatant corruption and traitorous behavior of the trump administration is that they are not behaving as though they expect to be held accountable. Do they have private jets fueled and ready to take them to non extradition locales? Are they very confident that the Russian hacking will prevent us from using our vote to get rid of them?

  43. 43.

    debbie

    @WereBear:

    Because they think even more stupidity will save them and return them to their always-deserved position of preeminence.

  44. 44.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @MomSense:

    behavior of the trump administration is that they are not behaving as though they expect to be held accountable.

    SSDD. They’ve never been held to account before so they believe that whatever they do it’s OK.

  48. 48.

    MomSense

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Yeah but Jared had to visit his dad in federal prison. Something is afoot. As the old abolitionists in Boston used to say, “keep top eye”. I really think we have to prepare ourselves for 2016 election meddling on steroids and it is going to hit in a month or six weeks.

  49. 49.

    WereBear

    @MomSense: What bothers me about the blatant corruption and traitorous behavior of the trump administration is that they are not behaving as though they expect to be held accountable. Do they have private jets fueled and ready to take them to non extradition locales? Are they very confident that the Russian hacking will prevent us from using our vote to get rid of them?

    I read a lot of true crime, forensic psychology, and the like. And it’s not at all like the movies, where there’s this super-genius heading a band of specialists, or someone so tricky they evade the police with all their tactics. There’s a few bank robber teams, and determined psychopaths, who manage something kind of like that, but 90% of all crime is stick-stone-quantum stupid.

    These asses developed their “game” in an atmosphere of Republican dominance, where opposition was bribed or undercut or simply swayed by the oceans of cash the billionaire fanatics at the root of this criminal enterprise could throw around. Never called on the carpet by their followers, and easily silencing their critics, most of whom were not allowed at the table, anyway. With enough entrenched power that only the stupidest fall-guys went down, and everyone else agreed they would never be that stupid.

    It’s exactly like the Mafia at its zenith, where they murdered and stole and intimidated with impunity, because J. Edgar Hoover was in denial about their existence for decades, and he had the blackmail files to make everyone else go along with him.

    I understand Mueller has considerable RICO experience, and I couldn’t be happier about it. That is what this is, and who they are, and it only worked for so long because they had rigged the system.

    Not because they are so smart. They aren’t. They think this time will be like all the other times.

  50. 50.

    MomSense

    @WereBear:

    I hope you’re right but I don’t think we can count on just stupidity. They’ve got some powerful and capable international actors on their side. I just think it’s better to be prepared because recognizing actions as they happen is far preferable.

  51. 51.

    WereBear

    @MomSense: I don’t count on just stupidity. But it is a help in our cause… we never have that cushion. We try to weed out our stupid, not embrace it as our peak :)

    But…

    This carelessness has bred such a crime empire it became visible. From space. And made them vulnerable.

    We all have to do our part in its downfall.

  52. 52.

    Schlemazel

    @Central Planning:
    There is a percentage of men who get off on prostate stimulation via the urethra. So there is another piece of useless trivia you could have happily gone your whole life without knowing

    I know this because of a cathing blog I used to follow & they were thrilled (unlike everyone else) at the thought of self cathing and bragged about it.

  54. 54.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @MomSense:

    Yeah but Jared had to visit his dad in federal prison.

    Jared has never shown the capability of learning from his own mistakes much less the mistakes of others. Election meddling may or may not play as prominent a role in the future as it did in 2016 (it will happen) but I have a hard time seeing Jared as playing any roll in some great plot to overthrow American democracy other than “useful idiot”.

  58. 58.

    Schlemazel

    Did I miss it or has Cole never told us of the resolution to the great sofa.raised bed debacle?

  60. 60.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Special Counsel Robert Mueller has obtained evidence that calls into question Congressional testimony given by Trump supporter and Blackwater founder Erik Prince last year, when he described a meeting in Seychelles with a Russian financier close to Vladimir Putin as a casual chance encounter “over a beer,” sources tell ABC News. (link)

    If they did nothing wrong, why do they keep covering-up

  61. 61.

    Schlemazel

    @WereBear:
    I did not know that. I learned a couple of other things from that place I didn’t need to know but not that tidbit.

  63. 63.

    Kay

    @WereBear:

    It’s exactly like the Mafia at its zenith

    I prefer blue collar criminals. At least they don’t pretend to just “intuitively” know everything about everything.

    Imagine the arrogance of Kushner- he wanted to reinvent government and he has never worked in government.

    They’re too special to start at the bottom, either. They get promoted right to the top jobs.

  64. 64.

    rikyrah

    @MomSense:
    I understand your concern. I don’t underestimate it at all. But, we know what to look for now. And, I believe that we know that we have to vote.

  66. 66.

    MomSense

    @rikyrah:

    Let’s just hope the vote is fair. As it stands now we have been warned by all of our intelligence officials that Russia is engaged in ongoing and increased active measures and that we are doing almost nothing to stop it. And if Russia can hack all of our vulnerable systems, you know China can.
    I am not saying this because I think all is lost- not at all. I’m saying this because we have to act now. We need to ask our state officials what they are doing to protect our vote. We need to make sure we have paper ballots. If the vote is fair we will win big. We have to make sure now that our vote will be fair.

  68. 68.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    They want everything. They want to run this criminal cartel and ALSO be running everything else. It’s greed and arrogance. Manafort could have kept his sleazy scam going forever, but it wasn’t enough. He needed more.

    It’s not enough for Ivanka Trump that she inherited a business. She also has to weigh in on STEM education for 50 million children and represent the US overseas. I can’t imagine the sense of entitlement these people operate in. It’s instilled at birth, by their equally sleazy and awful parents.

  70. 70.

    Brachiator

    @Feathers:

    so his answer in the deposition was overlawyerly, but not perjury. Which at the time, so many people claiming to be Clinton fans just flat out said they didn’t care about, because being morally superior is such a high. These folks also claimed that they didn’t care about the affair, just the lying. People, it’s the lying that makes it an affair!

    Wow! This rationalization is Onion level satire. Then again, maybe DC law defines sexual relations so narrowly so that politicians can suck lobbyists’ dicks and claim that they did nothing wrong.

    Clinton lied. The impeachment was total, absolute bullshit. And all this shit is in the past. Trump is the clear and present danger.

  72. 72.

    JR

    @MomSense: Charles X was a restored “absolute” monarch in France. There was some semblance of representative government there but only like 0.1% of the population was eligible to vote and even fewer eligible for office. Old opponents had been purged and the press was largely controlled by the government. In spite of this overwhelming power, he ruled ignorantly and was a shitty representative of even the wealthiest people. When opposition arose in earnest he dissolved parliaments, cancelled elections, suppressed speech, etc. It still wasn’t enough. Popular will is hard to oppose. It took a while. In the historical context the opposition to Trump came up pretty quickly and has been fairly robust, if not unanimous.

  73. 73.

    Schlemazel

    @Brachiator:
    Yes, he lied but he did not perjure himself. He was asked a question regarding sex & asked for a definition of ‘sex’ because the question was oddly worded. The lawyer defined it as vaginal penetration using your penis. Clinton honestly answered no. Worse was that the lawyer knew what had happened & knew there had been no copulation so he was attempting to suborn perjury.

    If lying to the electorate is an impeachable offense we will never have another POTUS. Clinton was has a poor personal moral compass but that (like the stormy thing) is really none of my business. It might have affected my support for him in the primaries but he did not do anything that was criminal

  75. 75.

    Barbara

    @MomSense: Now you know the real reason Kelly took the opportunity to downgrade Kushner’s clearance and with stories like this, he isn’t getting it back.

  76. 76.

    Central Planning

    @Schlemazel: Is it really useless to fill your brain with trivia? If I use that factoid once in my life, it will no longer be useless information.

    I am almost curious enough to look that up, but I’m afraid that would squick me out like the time someone told me to check out the popping subreddit (WARNING: DON’T!)

  77. 77.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: Several months back, I read a story about Kushner’s purchase of the NY Observer. This one woman — I think she ran the paper’s digital ops — got along well with Kushner, but she said he was utterly clueless about how distribution and advertising worked, not interested in learning anything about it and determined to change it anyway. The woman quit soon after.

    I don’t know where Kushner and Ivanka get their ideas about business, but they sound like PowerPoint is their native tongue, and they barf up shallow generalities like they’re running some low-rent business seminar at a Holiday Inn with stale doughnuts and weak coffee. No wonder their toddlers are learning Mandarin — it’s an escape! ;-)

  78. 78.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    So in 15 yrs (assuming we survive), who gets cast as what in the docudrama?

    Aside from Clooney as Mueller and the Jabba the Hutt CGI as Trump, I’m drawing blanks.

  79. 79.

    Brachiator

    @Betty Cracker:

    This one woman — I think she ran the paper’s digital ops — got along well with Kushner, but she said he was utterly clueless about how distribution and advertising worked, not interested in learning anything about it and determined to change it anyway.

    Damn. Sounds just like Trump.

    Did you see the politico piece about Trump’s management style? All these grifters think alike.

    https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/04/05/trump-tower-white-house-217778

  80. 80.

    manyakitty

    @Immanentize: As much as this is almost certainly true, it’s only been published by the Intercept and the Daily Mail. I can’t view either as a valid source.

    ETA: And OMG, YES, bring on the weekend already! This week lasted at least a year.

  82. 82.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Cermet:
    I think you are basically correct, but it is the going back to normal no one will notice. The only ongoing effect will be another ‘Trump is a shitty president’ meme lurking in people’s heads. This one will be mostly in farmers’ heads. I doubt it will change much, but hey, another straw on the camel’s back.

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady):
    In Ancient Greece, that was their attitude. Artemis and Athena were that kind of ‘virgin.’

  83. 83.

    Brachiator

    @Schlemazel: From an old WaPo story.

    President Bill Clinton stood at a White House podium and told the world, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky …

    This was a lie. Period.

    And how many times do I have to say here that the impeachment was total, absolute bullshit? I have been consistent about this from the very beginning. This is a non-issue, apart from Clinton’s orgasms.

    Also, impeachment is ultimately a political act, so Congress has a lot of room to move. Trump supporters should take this to heart.

  85. 85.

    Procopius

    Gentle reminder that the @GOP impeached Bill Clinton for telling a lie about the circumstances surrounding his infidelity.

    There is not a chance that the GOP will impeach Donald Trump. If he shot a guy in the middle of Fifth Avenue they wouldn’t even investigate it. It doesn’t matter if the Democrats take the House in November or not (they might if we could cut off funding to the DCCC).

  86. 86.

    Raven Onthill

    @MomSense: “What bothers me about the blatant corruption and traitorous behavior of the trump administration is that they are not behaving as though they expect to be held accountable.”

    Because some of them have already gotten away with it.

    Nixon’s staff did (and Nixon himself got off easy.) Reagan and his staff did. W. Bush did. Some of them are back in this administration.

    This mercy shown to such people has got to stop.

  88. 88.

    Betty Cracker

    @Procopius: If the Democrats take the House and Mueller finds sufficient evidence of corruption and collusion, I think there’s a decent chance Trump could be impeached — it just takes a majority, IIRC. A conviction in the US Senate, which takes a 23rds majority, would be a near-impossibility, IMO. The only way that happens is if the Republicans are absolutely certain that Trump’s remaining in office hurts them more than throwing him out would.

  89. 89.

    Duane

    @raven: Why the love for Tiger? He’s a Trump humpin, tax cut lovin ass. Like most of his PGA cohorts. I hope he never makes a cut again.

  90. 90.

    JPL

    @Betty Cracker: It would help if his trade antics tanked the market. The republicans would then take notice. At this point, I think traders assume he is bluffing.

  91. 91.

    danielx

    Oh, I SO did not need this particular line of thought during first cup of coffee. Things getting dark, vision blurring at the edges….

  94. 94.

    Amir Khalid

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    Although Gwyneth doesn’t even have to act to do Ivanka’s entiled-princess thing, I think she’s slightly too old for the part.

  95. 95.

    JPL

    I find it interesting that Ivanka, not Melania is traveling with Trump next week to the Summit.

  96. 96.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Betty Cracker:

    A conviction in the US Senate, which takes a 23rds majority, would be a near-impossibility,

    Which is why I doubt the DEMs will do it. They will just investigate every malfeasance and corruption the trump admin has done. Well, not every one of them, they’ll have to shower breaks from time to time.

  98. 98.

    satby

    @OzarkHillbilly: I think they will. An impeachment trial and the blatantly obvious Republican CYA will damage the Republicans even without a conviction. Plus it adds another bit of taint to an already hopelessly tainted *president*. And, if it pisses him off enough, he might decide to resign.
    All worth the risk.

  99. 99.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Pee-Wee Herman as Jared.

    Yes!

    @Amir Khalid: The fact that she’d be a natural fit was why I suggested her, and makeup can do wonders to make the years melt away, just look at Ivanka.

  100. 100.

    J R in WV

    @raven:

    @OzarkHillbilly: You need to see how the ball rolls into the water.

    Over and over again… it got to be pretty funny to me, I’m sure it wasn’t a bit funny to the guy golfing at that point of the game. Maybe there’s something wrong with the slope of the green right there? Or maybe he should have hit the ball anywhere else on that green? HAHAHAH…

    That’s why I don’t play golf seriously. Last round I shot was on a par 3 nine hole mountain top course, in the cloud tops. You could tell when you shot went off the hilltop by hitting a stone outcrop, just from the sound off in the fog: Bink -> rustle in the leaves below the rock outcrop.

    WE used the map they gave us to know what direction to hit from the tee, since the pin was lost in the mists of the mountaintop in the clouds.

  101. 101.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    Ivanka and Jared met with Cecile Richards and told her Planned Parenthood was “too political” and she just needed to drop abortion and then Ivanka and Jared could get a win as dealmakers! Win/win!

    They tell her how to do her life’s work without a second thought. Absolutely insufferably arrogant people.

  102. 102.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @satby: I think they can get the same mileage out of the 2, no 3, no 4 dozen investigations into separate blatant criminal acts. Hell, they will probably have to form new committees just to investigate everything. Whatever they do, they will face charges of politicizing the process from GOPers to which they should reply, “So?”

  103. 103.

    Washburn

    @Alain the site fixer:
    Bullshit

    Here is Wikipedia:

    Clinton gave a sworn deposition on January 17, 1998 where he denied having a “sexual relationship”, “sexual affair” or “sexual relations” with Lewinsky. He also denied that he was ever alone with her. His lawyer, Robert Bennet, stated with Clinton present that Lewinsky’s affidavit showed that there was no sex in any manner, shape or form between Clinton and Lewinsky. The Starr Report states that the following day, Clinton “coached” his secretary Betty Curie into repeating his denials should she be called to testify

    ———————-

    If you will read the transcript, it’s clear there was perjury. No question

    Also clear that he obstructed justice.

    Democrats don’t need to stoop to lies and alternative facts to win so please just stop.

  105. 105.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    Ivanka and Jared met with Cecile Richards and told her Planned Parenthood was “too political” and she just needed to drop abortion and then Ivanka and Jared could get a win as dealmakers! Win/win!

    They tell her how to do her life’s work without a second thought. Absolutely insufferably arrogant people.

    I’m not surprised, Kay..
    But, that doesn’t ease the disgust.

  107. 107.

    rikyrah

    “Impose” is different than “enforce”. The sanctions that have been imposed have not been truly enforced.

    For example, Pompeo hosted Russian spies who are banned from US soil under sanctions, and now is going to be Secretary of State. https://t.co/4JW6MB4kLd

    — Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) April 6, 2018

  108. 108.

    rikyrah

    “That’s the President of the United States of America … he sounds like a drunk guy in Queens at the end of the bar” – @SteveSchmidtSES on Trump’s off-script remarks at tax roundtable in West Virginia
    w/ @NicolleDWallace
    Full segment here: https://t.co/seKFqdnkQ3 pic.twitter.com/1i1quYEHEG

    — Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) April 5, 2018

  109. 109.

    rikyrah

    Know any veteran who is homeless or even a military family being threatened with homelessness ? @BarackObama worked tirelessly with @JoeBiden on this issue and there is help . Call 877-424-3838. You are not alone . No vet is alone . There IS help. pic.twitter.com/IeJeTa7t7D

    — HOMEFRONT HUGS FOUNDATION (@HomefrontHugs) April 6, 2018

  110. 110.

    Brachiator

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Lie=/=perjury.

    Yep. So what?

    Had Clinton committed perjury, his impeachment would still have been absolute, total bullshit.

    And citizens could justifiably consider the political implications of his lie. And they did. From the Guardian.

    In the wake of his impeachment, President Clinton’s approval level with the voters leaps 10 points to a personal all-time high of 73 per cent in a Gallup poll. Sixty-eight per cent believe the Senate should not convict Mr Clinton in the pending impeachment trial, while support for resignation falls to 30 per cent. Other polls confirm the trend.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/1998/nov/18/clinton.usa

  111. 111.

    rikyrah

    Why I want @staceyabrams to be Georgia’s next governor: “… I hope what people see when they meet me is that I like this work… I don’t come at this job driven by grievance or anger. I am driven by hope and joy and an expectation that we can do more.” https://t.co/ICPcpphy5w

    — Dudette (@Dudette9t9) April 6, 2018

  113. 113.

    Cermet

    @MomSense: If you think China is a threat, you are mistaken. China has no issue with our internal politics nor does it have the social tradition to want to interfere. Russia under putin is our most fierce enemy bar none. While China will steal our military and industrial secrets, they have no military hatred of this country; just the opposite, if you look at both what they say and do.

  117. 117.

    Procopius

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Election meddling may or may not play as prominent a role in the future as it did in 2016 (it will happen)

    I agree absolutely, and I believe still that Russia, if they played any role at all, were a minuscule part of it. Actors like Robert and Rebekah Mercer and Roger Stone are behind the vast majority of it. Who paid for Cambridge Analytica, after all? And, for that matter, why do we think they were not the ones paying for the Macedonian/Bulgarian troll farms?

  118. 118.

    Cermet

    @Procopius: Don’t underestimate that ass-wipe, cold stone killer putin. Besides being a dead eye snake, he hates this country with all his being. His GRU activity interfered with our election through social media and other means. They tested state systems for what reason do you think? Don’t bother: to see that they could, if it could go undetected , and to use that ability where needed There is no doubt what-so-ever, they will do their utmost to swing the election the orange fart cloud’s way. Saying otherwise is stupidity since it was shown their fake news had a huge effect via endless amplification by all social platforms. Yes, other money backed groups will do major work but that is both normal and legal but none of those groups, to my knowledge, hacked our systems like the GRU has, does, and will continue until stopped.

  119. 119.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @rikyrah:

    force EVERY GOPer to have a vote on their record

    Their votes already are on record. We know who they are, every voting American knows and they are either outraged, don’t care, or think it’s great. That isn’t going to change with an impeachment trial that ends in the very predictable political exoneration.

  121. 121.

    Brachiator

    @satby:

    Ok, so I liked this essay making the rounds on the book of face today.

    Cool essay. Too kind to Trump supporters. Thanks for the link.

  122. 122.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Brachiator: Agreed. One doesn’t write hypothetical letters to bigots, one just cuts them out of one’s life. And if they are close family, tell them to their face what you think of their bigotry.
    I am also tired of our media, they don’t call a spade a spade and there is too much coddling of the R viewpoints no matter how without intellectual or any kind of merit they are.

  123. 123.

    No Drought No More

    Trent Gowdy is wrong. He showed plenty during his time in congress. Indeed, he showed all of America precisely who he is, and what he values (“adios, pissant”).

  126. 126.

    rikyrah

    Trump says ‘pain’ from China tariffs will make US ‘much stronger’

    Source: The Hill

    BY JOHN BOWDEN – 04/06/18 08:40 AM EDT

    President Trump says in a new interview that tariffs targeting China over intellectual property theft could cause some “pain” in the U.S. economy, but promised that America would emerge stronger as a result.

    “I’m not saying there’s not gonna be any pain,” Trump said Friday in an interview with “Bernie & Sid in the Morning” on 77 WABC. He also acknowledged the initial reaction from markets is likely to be negative. They “could lose a little bit,” he said.

    -snip-

    A relatively poor jobs report released Friday that found the nation added 103,000 jobs in March is also likely to push markets lower, but Trump said he was not worried about a negative reaction from his move on trade.

    “We’re gonna be much stronger for it,” he added later in the interview.

  127. 127.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Cermet: China or India for that matter will be fiercely protective of their own interests but I don’t think there is any desire at this point to meddle in the internal affairs of the United States.

  128. 128.

    Brachiator

    @rikyrah:

    “That’s the President of the United States of America … he sounds like a drunk guy in Queens at the end of the bar”

    Yep. And that’s exactly why his supporters love him. He is exactly as dumb as they are.

  130. 130.

    Brachiator

    @rikyrah:

    “I’m not saying there’s not gonna be any pain,” Trump said Friday in an interview with “Bernie & Sid in the Morning”

    What the fuck is a “Bernie & Sid,” and why is a US president talking to it?

  131. 131.

    danielx

    My man Boris decided I need some attitudinal adjustment this morning, and I have to admit it’s hard to maintain any level of indignation with a purring cat pressed against your chest.

    However….be it noted there is a certain amount of irony involved in our indignation about Russian interference in our electoral processes. I mean, given the number of times our intelligence organs have interfered with other countries’ elections, one way or another. Doesn’t make said interference with the 2016 election right in any way, but….

  133. 133.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @danielx: Isn’t the indignation more with Russia’s US collaborators? i.e. Trump, the NRA, and now Republicans in general… and ratfuckers on the left.

    We expect Putin to engage in hostile action against the US. We don’t expect US leaders and citizens to cheer him on or cover up for him!

  134. 134.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Washburn: Define perjury.

    ETA: I’ll help you out. It is lying under oath about a fact that is material to the case.

  135. 135.

    Jeffro

    @rikyrah: are we sure Trumpov isn’t just going to wreck the US economy and then head off to a nice retirement in a dacha by the Black Sea? Because at this point it’s sure what it looks like

  137. 137.

    Chyron HR

    I mean, given the number of times our intelligence organs have interfered with other countries’ elections

    So because a criminal Republican administration backed the Contras, it’s America’s just deserts to have another criminal Republican administration installed here by Russia? How does that work?

  140. 140.

    The Moar You Know

    So because a criminal Republican administration backed the Contras, it’s America’s just deserts to have another criminal Republican administration installed here by Russia? How does that work?

    It’s the same argument I used for punching my brother when I was six: “he hit me first”.

    My parents dealt with it the same way the nation needs to deal with this now: an acknowledgement that my argument had no value or credibility whatsoever, followed by a spanking.

  142. 142.

    rikyrah

    National Security
    For Trump and his generals, ‘victory’ has different meanings

    Trump urged the CIA to start arming its drones in Syria. “If you can do it in 10 days, get it done,” he said, according to two former officials familiar with the meeting.

    Later, when the agency’s head of drone operations explained that the CIA had developed special munitions to limit civilian casualties, the president seemed unimpressed. Watching a previously recorded strike in which the agency held off on firing until the target had wandered away from a house with his family inside, Trump asked, “Why did you wait?” one participant in the meeting recalled.

    On the campaign trail, Trump often said he would “take out” the families of terrorists.

  144. 144.

    The Moar You Know

    Go on …

    @Washburn: Mind if I step in with the clue by four?

    Highlighted part is important:

    It is lying under oath about a fact that is material to the case.

    Whitewater was, you may recall about allegations of real estate fraud. Had the investigation been carried out under the auspices of a judge, Starr would have been sanctioned for asking about Clinton’s sex life. NOT RELEVANT.

  146. 146.

    Mnemosyne

    @rikyrah:

    President Trump says in a new interview that tariffs targeting China over intellectual property theft could cause some “pain” in the U.S. economy, but promised that America would emerge stronger as a result.

    Isn’t this what every abusive parent says? I’m beating you for your own good! Why don’t you appreciate it?

  147. 147.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)

    @Jeffro: BillinGlendaleCA is correct; the unlovely Representative Mashburn is running for Corker’s seat; Corker might win against Bredesen, who is a well-thought-of former governor and mayor of Nashville, noted for his work cleaning out corrupt departments of government, both as mayor and as governor. Marsha is as vain as a dozen cats, dumber than a field full of stumps, and robotically reliable as a party-line vote for the GOP. Her district includes Williamson County (well-to-do white suburban county with GOP leanings, Montgomery County (part of the area covered by Ft, Campbell, a large US Army base, and the counties west and south, down to the Alabama and Mississippi borders. While these people are not the common clay of the New West (Tennessee is, after all, east of the Mississippi River), they share many qualities with that group. Most are Fundygelicals, the whites are tired of “people playing the race card”, and they live in fear their children might leave home and come on contact with new ideas. If one of their contacts on Facebook told them the world was flat, many would believe it, because they wouldn’t follow anyone on Facebook who wasn’t nice, and nice people wouldn’t lie to them. She’s their girl, a cornbread version of Michele Bachman. Early in her first or second term, she was unwise enough to tell a reporter she was too busy to attend a funeral for an Iraq War casualty who was from her district. They have managed her slightly better since. Her family’s business dealings would probably bear inspection no better than most upper-level members of the GOP. Did I mention she was stupid? Let me mention it again.
    This is what Wikipedia has on Bredesen. Note that he was re-elected with 68% of the vote after winning the first with a little over 50%, and that he does not tend to say stupid things or imagine that everyone sees things his way.

  148. 148.

    SFAW

    gave some professional Republicans a taste for voyeurism that hasn’t been adequately slacked

    “Slaked”

    Pedantry’R’Us

  149. 149.

    Washburn

    @The Moar You Know:

    I don’t know if you were alive and reading newspapers when this all happened, but following his appointment to investigate Whitewater, Ken Star was granted authority to investigate a variety of other matters such as the travel office firings as well as the sexual harassment allegations against the President by Paula Jones and others.

    So, before you offer up a clue by four, you might want to learn the basic facts. That will help you avoid looking like an idiot. Which you do.

  151. 151.

    JEC

    Just to straighten out some confusion: A conviction for the crime of perjury requires showing more than just “lying under oath.” In particular, materiality is an element of perjury. Jones v. Clinton was dismissed on summary judgement, meaning that no contested fact was, or could be, material to the outcome of the case. On the other hand, Clinton was found in contempt of court and sanctioned by both the Arkansas Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court for his conduct.

  152. 152.

    karen marie

    @OzarkHillbilly: My favorite Tiger Woods moment was a bunch of years ago when he bounced a shot off the top of a tent/small building and off the course. He quit that tournament after that shot. My admiration for him dissolved at that moment. I am not at all surprised he’s still blowing shots in dramatic fashion.

  153. 153.

    Brachiator

    @JEC:

    Jones v. Clinton was dismissed on summary judgement

    According to the Wiki,

    Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681 (1997), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case establishing that a sitting President of the United States has no immunity from civil law litigation, in federal court, against him or her, for acts done before taking office and unrelated to the office. In particular, there is no temporary immunity, so it is not required to delay all federal cases until the President leaves office.

    Hmmm. Should any of this be of concern to Trump? He seems to think that being president means that he is above the law?

  155. 155.

    Washburn

    @Mnemosyne:

    I notice that you don’t have have anything to say about the facts I present in my post.

    Instead, you just launch some petty insults in hopes that I will pay attention to you and argue with you about … something … anything.

    You must lead a very sad and empty life.

  156. 156.

    Washburn

    @JEC:
    That’s not how these things work.

    That is like saying that unless Trump is convicted or successfully impeached on grounds of collusion/conspiracy against the US, then he cannot be convicted/impeached for perjury or obstruction of justice during the Mueller investigation. I don’t think you want to be pushing that line of argument.

  158. 158.

    jl

    I didn’t know that Ed Meese wrote a ridiculously comprehensive Pornography Report back during the Reagan years. Due to my intense interest in US history, I will check out this ridiculously comprehensive Pornography Report as soon as I can. There better be a load of pix, if it is really a ridiculously comprehensive Pornography Report.

  159. 159.

    Jack the Second

    @Omnes Omnibus: You know, I do like the idea of office-holders taking a second oath with the oath of office to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, for the duration of their term.

  161. 161.

    Ruckus

    @Kay:

    They’re too special to start at the bottom, either. They get promoted right to the top jobs.

    The analogy may not be exact because the mob did make people earn their positions and you are correct that this mob does not. Worse they think that they know everything, when they really know so little. But if they put out a mission statement, it would be, it could be word for word what the mob would have written. Of course the mob was generally more specific about territory, but that was in the operations, not in the mission statement. Of course I’m giving these asswipes too much credit in giving them the ability to actually write a mission statement longer than steal everything.

  162. 162.

    Ruckus

    @Betty Cracker:

    like they’re running some low-rent business seminar at a Holiday Inn with stale doughnuts and weak coffee.

    You are partially right but there are no doughnuts, stale or otherwise, and the coffee is totally undrinkable.

  165. 165.

    MomSense

    @Ghost of Joe Lieblings Dog:

    I spent my childhood coloring while my dad researched church archives – mostly in dank basements full of spiderwebs. Parker’s flyers were interesting even to little kid me. I highly recommend reading about his life. He was a guiding light for MLK jr. and the source of the arc of justice quote.

  166. 166.

    JEC

    @Brachiator: More clarifiction: Jones v. Clinton is not Clinton v. Jones. Clinton v. Jones was litigation to determine whether Jones v. Clinton (the suit brought against Bill Clinton by Paula Jones) could proceed during Clinton’s term of office. Jones v. Clinton was dismissed on summary judgment by the federal district court in April, 1998.

  167. 167.

    JEC

    @Washburn: No, it’s nothing like that. Dismissal on summary judgment is a finding by the court that even if all of the facts alleged by the plaintiff were assumed to be true, the plaintiff would not be entitled to relief from the court. There is no need for a trial because no finding of fact could affect the outcome of the case. A “material fact” is one which affects the outcome of the case. You see the problem?

    You allude to the question of whether Donald Trump could be “convicted/impeached for perjury or obstruction of justice.” That’s not a thing. It’s four things. (Conviction for perjury; conviction for obstruction; impeachment for perjury; impeachment for obstruction.) If you’re genuinely interested in understanding a legal issue, it’s important to break the habit of treating separate questions as one ball of wax. It’s also a good idea not to let the outcome you desire in a particular case influence your understanding of what the law is. (Until you get appointed to the federal bench, that is.)

    In general, it’s a good thing that, if a prosecutor wants to lock you up for perjury, they need to show that you lied about something actually important to an actual case. On the other hand, it’s also a good thing that criminal perjury charges aren’t the only sanctions available to enforce the norm of honesty before the court. (As I pointed out above, Clinton was found in contempt of (federal) court, and sanctioned by both the Arkansas and the US Supreme Courts.)

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