Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let there be snark.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Second rate reporter says what?

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

All your base are belong to Tunch.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

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

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

We still have time to mess this up!

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Reader Interactions

115Comments

  5. 5.

    Betty Cracker

    I’m reading on the Twitters that Trump gave an unhinged, shouty interview on Fox & Friends this morning.

  7. 7.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Betty Cracker:

    I read that he said he knew all along, he predicted days ago, that Jackson would withdraw his name. Evidently the news broke just minutes before he phoned in to F&F. I suppose he knew well before the public announcement, so shouldn’t have been a surprise anyway.

  9. 9.

    Jeffro

    @Betty Cracker: Yeah, he’s hacked at Comey big time. Says he never lied to Comey about not staying overnight in Moscow back in 2013. He knows he done got caught lyin’ ! Also I AM NOT ‘NEEDY’ COMEY YOU LIARLIARLIAR! (says the world’s neediest pseudo-adult)

    Btw that video…yeesh…the Vlad reveal is nice but the bug-eyed Trumpov is a little much this early in the a.m.

  10. 10.

    dmsilev

    @Betty Cracker:

    I’m reading on the Twitters that Trump gave an unhinged, shouty interview on Fox & Friends this morning.

    So, a normal Thursday then?

  12. 12.

    But her emails!!!

    @dmsilev:

    So, a normal Thursday then?

    So glad that this infrastructure week is almost over. Can’t wait until next infrastructure week.

  13. 13.

    MomSense

    Just want to put in a final plug for the documentary Icarus. I think it provides quite a bit of insight into Putin.

  14. 14.

    TS (the original)

    @Betty Cracker: @Jeffro:

    trump says he stayed overnight in Moscow during 2013 trip

    President Trump on Thursday said that he did spend the night in Moscow the night before the Miss Universe contest in 2013 and accused former FBI Director James Comey of lying in memos detailing their conversations. “I went to Russia for a day or so,” Trump said in an interview on “Fox & Friends.” “Of course I stayed there.”

    Such statements are why Comey wrote his memos. A tape recorder would have been better, but I’ll believe the memos.

  15. 15.

    dmsilev

    @SiubhanDuinne: TPM has some excerpts:

    “I do, actually,” Trump said when asked whether he had a replacement VA nominee in mind. “Better not give it — maybe I do it on the next call. I think we’ll have somebody great. Somebody that is more — look, the admiral is not a politician, which is what I liked. … Somebody with political capability, yes.”

    Trump went on to praise Jackson, claiming all the allegations that have surfaced against him in recent days were “made up.” He then blamed Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) — the ranking Democrat on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee who, along with Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA), was reviewing the allegations against Jackson — for the physician’s decision to drop out.

    “For Jon Tester (D-MT) to start bringing up stuff like ‘candy man’ and the kind of things he was saying, well you know, that are statements that are made up,” he said. “There is no proof of this. And he has a perfect record. He has this beautiful record, unblemished. … I think Jon Tester has a big price to pay in Montana. I don’t think people in Montana — the admiral is the kind of person that they respect and admire. And they don’t like seeing what’s happened to him.”

    To translate from Trumpese, no he doesn’t yet have a replacement in mind, and he’s the only one who gets to make up names for people. And Senator Tester will be fine, as this in no way impugns Montana’s long and honorable nautical tradition.

  16. 16.

    Jeffro

    @OzarkHillbilly: ‘Cause it’s been his rationale for why the pee tape is a myth…”I didn’t stay overnight, and I’m a known germaphobe so I wouldn’t be getting near that sort of activity” Well, he DID stay overnight – two nights, in fact. And (as Comey has been gamely pointing out in every other interview) one doesn’t have to get near hookers urinating on a bed to watch hookers urinating on a bed.

  23. 23.

    TS (the original)

    @rikyrah: Begosh – Now we have the President of the United States calling into a fake news show and ranting “I am not involved, I am not involved”

    Sure sounds like “I am not a crook”

  26. 26.

    Wag

    @Betty Cracker:

    Fascinating to watch the stone faces on the FnF hosts as Trump spins. It looks like it is finally dawning on them that they have been played for fools for years.

  27. 27.

    tobie

    @Betty Cracker: I hope the prosecutors today tell Judge Wood that Trump himself admitted that Cohen didn’t do much work for him as a lawyer, so Trump’s claim of attorney-client privilege is moot. Time to move to the Taint Team and to skip the Special Master.

  28. 28.

    clay

    @Betty Cracker: Did he just admit that Cohen DID handle the Stormy Daniels case? Huh, he previously had denied any knowledge of it. Surely… surely the president wasn’t LYING?!?? WHAT WILL WE TELL THE CHILDREN????

  29. 29.

    Jeffro

    @Betty Cracker: @rikyrah: no. way. Just no frockin’ way.

    OMG after all the treason and corruption, Orange Crash is going to go down because of a payoff to a porn star and a moron of a (now jilted) ‘fixer’. In every other alternate reality, this script just got run through a shredder for being way, way too stupid and unbelievable.

  32. 32.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @White & Gold Purgatorian:
    While he is not an innocent man, you can’t use standards like that for an extreme narcissist. There is no reality for Trump. He will respond to an accusation with the same desperate, contradictory babbling whether the accusation is true or not. He never tells the truth and has no idea what the truth is, anyway. The best you can say here is that something has him a lot more energized about the same behavior.

  33. 33.

    tobie

    @Alain the site fixer:

    Yeah, he kinda (again!) fucked himself.

    Thanks. Need to remind myself of that every time Drumpf seems to score a short-term tactical victory. The fuck-up will follow in no time at all.

  34. 34.

    danielx

    @clay:

    WHAT WILL WE TELL THE CHILDREN????

    The truth, which is that the president is a lying simpleton who is in office because a lot of people had a collective nervous breakdown in November 2016.

    ETA: I’ve been wondering when the next Trump ragegasm was going to happen; he’s been relatively quiet the last few days.

  35. 35.

    Bruce K

    @Jeffro: Me, I’m past the point of being picky about how the cheeto goes down, so long as he does go down (and preferably drags down the entire corrupt GOP establishment with him when he finally goes under).

  39. 39.

    Elizabelle

    Donald Trump gonna make Peelievers of all of us.

    I thought that was a bridge bed too far, originally. Thought it was some Daily Kos or HuffPost wet dream. Still won’t be convinced without more evidence. But, open mind here.

    Mostly, I hope that Christopher Steele lives a long and productive life. Wherever he chooses to live. That he is instrumental in getting the bad guys.

  41. 41.

    Elizabelle

    @JPL: Who gives a fig what the “evangelicals” think? They’re fools. They’ve already cast themselves out with the goats something that is not even an animal, cuz animals have redeeming features.

    Except maybe Burmese pythons. If we include them with “animals.” What did Burma do to deserve them?

  42. 42.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @JPL:
    The evangelicals won’t care because Trump truly represents all of their most important beliefs. He is themselves without the mask, and they love him for it. I’m not exactly sure what ‘Trump is going down’ means, but however he ‘goes down’, it won’t be because evangelicals desert him.

  44. 44.

    Jeffro

    @JPL:

    The evangelicals won’t care because he’s born again. Trump is like a cat with 900 lives.

    I’m not talking about him losing evangelicals’ support…I’m talking about him throwing Cohen under the bus here. That will get an already-jilted Cohen to return the favor, and then we are off to the races.

    Bob Mueller’s going to be like, “But…but…I’ve been working so hard to prove conspiracy against the United States and money laundering here, people! All that hard work, and what got him was his own mouth, throwing his own guy under the bus over a payoff to a porn star?”

  45. 45.

    Jeffro

    @Bruce K: I’m excited at the prospect of him actually turning witness against Ryan, McConnell, the NRA, Vlad, etc. Threaten him with a big enough RICO hammer and he’ll fold like the cheap suits he wears.

    I’m telling you, he’s going to be at that classic police interrogation room table before too long at all. “I first began laundering money for Russian businessmen back in 2003…”

  49. 49.

    clay

    @JPL: The irony is that I’m pretty sure that Trump has never claimed to be born again (nor would he even know what that meant). Being born again requires that one admit to being a sinner who can’t be saved without Jesus. And Trump, of course, can’t ever admit to any faults. Nor imagine that he needs forgiveness for anything.

    So Trump isn’t a born-again Christian, but all of the evangelical leaders are proclaiming him to be one, which is exactly how it’s not supposed to work. It’s a personal, internal process, and can’t be conferred third-party. There was a whole Reformation about that.

    So now we have the sight of Pat Robertson and the like trading salvation for political favors. I wonder how long until they start selling indulgences?

  50. 50.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Jeffro:
    So, we’re talking about making it absolutely certain Trump is convicted of crimes? Yeah, stabbing your fixer in the back could do it. Personally, I think Cohen was raided specifically to make sure no one needs Cohen to flip.

    Also, hey, you know what the intelligence service does when they uncover evidence of a crime? They send a tip to regular law enforcement to investigate something so they’ll get real, usable court of law evidence. I think Mueller knew what the FBI would find, and gave them a legal excuse to go find it.

  51. 51.

    germy

    Michael Avenatti responds to Trump saying Michael Cohen represented him in the Stormy Daniels deal on @Morning_Joe: "Another gift from the heavens in this case… It's a hugely damaging admission by the president."— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 26, 2018

  53. 53.

    germy

    We don’t agree on everything but we are both street fighters @seanhannity, which means something. Let’s set a booking so I can come on the show to talk about the case and the issues in the case. No BS. Just a straight up discussion by two men. Thanks for considering it.— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) April 24, 2018

    Ain’t gonna happen, I’d bet.

  54. 54.

    p.a.

    Can’t Wait
    1) To see religious right fall over themselves excusing trump when pee evidence surfaces
    2) To see who leads and how they do it when Rethugs go 25th Amendment to try to save their electoral skins (assuming/praying vote suppression is ineffectual) after Cohen, anyone else the toddler-in-chief backstabs rat him out, Mueller completes his work.

  57. 57.

    Steeplejack

    @Yarrow:

    I think no news is good news. They’re probably taking a timeout after being at DEFCON 1 last weekend.

  61. 61.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @dmsilev:

    His assumption is that Montana folks get squishy in the drawers over a guy who looks a regular on “Mad Men” in an American military uniform.

    Wondering when he appoints his brother-in-law Fegelein to an important government post?

  62. 62.

    charluckles

    Get ready for a surprise!

    Of all Schwarzenegger badness that one might be most augered into my brain.

  63. 63.

    Spanky

    @danielx:

    WHAT WILL WE TELL THE CHILDREN????

    The truth, which is that the president is a lying simpleton who is in office because a lot of people had a collective nervous breakdown in November 2016.

    I think the children also need to know that he was put in office in part because of Russian manipulation of social media and possiblly of the voting process in several states. Because not only can they handle the truth, it’s probable that they’re the ones best equipped to counter those threats to future elections.

  64. 64.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @p.a.:

    1) To see religious right fall over themselves excusing trump when pee evidence surfaces

    “King David, King David, KING DAVID, GODDAMMIT!!! Did you hear about King David!?!? Why do you hate Christians?”

  67. 67.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @dmsilev:

    That is a brilliant translation! I especially liked the bit about Montana’s “long and honorable nautical tradition.”

    And literally as I was typing that, NPR played a brief audio clip from F&F, and yes, Trump was shouty and unhinged.

  69. 69.

    Elizabelle

    @Spanky: Agreed.

    Whatever happens with Trump running his mouth, and Cohen, we need a full and fair investigation into election meddling. We need to safeguard our elections. We need standards for candidates — must disclose years of tax returns. That would take Trump, and Bernie, out of the mix. No exceptions.

    If this was an illegitimate election — which I kinda think it was — we need to know it.

    And I want everyone who participated in Trump’s corruption punished for it. Majorly. All of them.

  70. 70.

    Wapiti

    @Jeffro:

    In every other alternate reality, this script just got run through a shredder for being way, way too stupid and unbelievable.

    and in some alternate realities, they ran the writer through the shredder as well, to prevent future scripts of this nature.

  71. 71.

    Jeffro

    @danielx: I thought certain people’s collective breakdowns happened in November 2008 and November 2012?

    (to say nothing of the ‘beer summit’)

  72. 72.

    germy

    The president of the United States tweeted to thank Kanye West for wearing a stupid red hat but not James Shaw Jr. for stopping a murderer.
    — OhNoSheTwitnt (@OhNoSheTwitnt) April 26, 2018

  73. 73.

    SFAW

    @Jeffro:

    I’m not talking about him losing evangelicals’ support…I’m talking about him throwing Cohen under the bus here. That will get an already-jilted Cohen to return the favor, and then we are off to the races.

    I expect that one of Putin’s minions has already explained to Cohen that doing so would not be “a career/life-enhancing decision.”

  74. 74.

    MattF

    I’ve seen a few reports that some of the expelled Russians had been following and threatening exiles. I just wonder– how bsd it’s going to get and what Trump will do about it. Actually, I know the answer to the second question.

  75. 75.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    I’m in a real state of pessimism right now.

    I see the signs of extreme economic weakness that springs from every past Republican administration I’ve lived through – blown appointments, people who can’t afford to begin or maintain needed legal services. Colleagues dropping retainer and fee levels. Increasing fuel prices and the upsizing of new vehicles “because you need a bigger, less efficient vehicle in case some other behemoth hits you” and excessively short term thinking by the impresarios in the C-suites (Ford dropping sedans and Chrysler’s CEO setting beating GM as a target without thinking long term). Dick measuring and slavering devotion to share price and stock buybacks among analysts and upper level management in corporate America. Demands for religious fealty and worship of armed forces personnel and law enforcement.

    I think I’d love to emigrate while I can – I don’t see this improving, and every time I look at the things that make day to day life worse in this country, I can point at white conservatives as the cause.

  77. 77.

    LAO

    Glancing through this thread, I see that reports Trump suffered a meltdown on Fox and Friends this am, are accurate. Boy am I going to enjoy twitter today as I suffer through more CLE.

  80. 80.

    Barbara

    @Jeffro: He’s born again and again and again . . . It’s unfathomable to me that they don’t understand how other people see them, that they must, literally, talk only to and among themselves.

    Also, I am increasingly dissatisfied with the schadenfreude aspects of the Trump presidency, but Emmanuel Macron is more articulate in English than Trump is. He did a Q&A with students at GW yesterday and his answers would be complex even for native speakers. Of course, Obama would have done just as well (though obviously, would not have done nearly as well in French!) Ugh.

  82. 82.

    SFAW

    @MattF:

    I’ve seen a few reports that some of the expelled Russians had been following and threatening exiles.

    I think Adam had a post (or extended comment) last night, where he talked about intended Russian wetwork.

  83. 83.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @clay:

    So now we have the sight of Pat Robertson and the like trading salvation for political favors. I wonder how long until they start selling indulgences?

    Or holy relics. The small finger of Oral Roberts. The Shroud of Falwell.

  84. 84.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Betty Cracker: it was glorious. Can no one tell Trump that it’s harmful to his self interest (which is the only thing he actually cares about) to engage in unhinged, foaming at the mouth interactions on live tv? No one?

  85. 85.

    germy

    A non-existent cloud over his head. And he’s yelling at it.

    1.) Trump said he decided to call into Fox News as a gift to first lady Melania Trump for her birthday. When asked by Fox hosts if he gave Melania anything else besides doing a Fox interview to celebrate her birthday, Trump replied that he “didn’t get her so much… I got her a beautiful card.”

    2.) Trump ranted about Senate Democrats obstructing his nominees after Ronny Jackson, his pick to be secretary of Veterans Affairs, withdrew his name. Trump said that Jackson, who has been accused by multiple people of drinking on the job and fostering a toxic work environment, had an “unblemished record.” He also said that “top of the line people” were “leaving their jobs” to come work for his administration, but fumed that Democrats were throwing up roadblocks to their confirmations.

    3.) Trump admits he stayed overnight in Moscow during the 2013 Miss Universe pageant. Former FBI Director James Comey alleged in his contemporaneous memos that Trump told him allegations involving him and Russian prostitutes couldn’t possibly be true because he didn’t stay overnight in Moscow during his trip there in 2013. Trump fumed that “of course I stayed in Russia overnight” — although he again denied that there was any collusion between his campaign and the Russian government.

    4.) Trump throws his own lawyer, Michael Cohen, under the bus. In the most stunning part of the interview, Trump said that most of Cohen’s work isn’t as an attorney, but as a private businessman. Trump also said he had “nothing” to do with Cohen’s private business interests and claimed that Cohen only performs a “tiny little fraction” of the legal work done on his behalf. These statements could potentially undermine Cohen’s claims that all documents seized in an FBI raid on his office should not be admissible evidence because they fall under attorney-client privilege.

    5.) Even Fox News host Brian Kilmeade tells Trump to not watch so much cable news. During a long rant about the “unfair” treatment he receives in the mainstream press, Kilmeade interjected and said, “I’m not your doctor, Mr. President, by I would recommend you watch less of them.” “I don’t watch them at all!” Trump replied, before going into detail about a CNN show that he watched on Wednesday night.

    6.) Trump went on a nonsensical rant about the Department of Justice being against him. Trump fumed that the DOJ was not investigating the alleged crimes of his political enemies, which prompted host Steve Doocy to tell him that “It’s your Justice Department!” Trump said that he does not want to get involved with the DOJ because of the Mueller “witch hunt” that’s being conducted against him. He then complained about the Mueller probe.

    “I have a phony cloud over my head that doesn’t exist!” the president complained.

  86. 86.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Yarrow: Trump is in videos decrying folks who take the Fifth. He knows it’s a bad thing and has said so repeatedly.

  91. 91.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @lamh36:

    Happy Birthday Melania

    During a momentary respite from throwing Cohen under the 18-wheeler, he told F&F that he’s been much too busy to buy Melania a birthday present.

  92. 92.

    psycholinguist

    Watch the Fox and Friends phone-a-thon. Those three bobble-heads actually did something that looked like pushback, Trump was so unhinged. And Trump was full on driving the bus that Cohen found himself under this mornnig, and then he put it in reverse and made sure he finished the job. Stormy’s lawyer Avenatti had an earlier career as a Democratic opposition researcher, and he so obviously has Trump figured out and knows exactly where to throw the harpoon. He is all up in fartclouds head at this point.

  93. 93.

    Yarrow

    @Steeplejack: I know. It was so stressful and the roller coaster of Lily’s prognosis was wonderful but also exhausting. She’s such a tonic with those big brown eyes, I think another photo would be welcome.

  94. 94.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @germy:

    “didn’t get her so much… I got her a beautiful card.”

    Means that the secretary either keeps some in a drawer or ran out to the CVS at the end of the day to buy one (along with a box of Ferrero-Rocher because Deadbeat Donnie said “I dunno, find her something from Europe…”).

  99. 99.

    Tenar Arha

    @Wag: @Betty Cracker: You guys are gonna tempt me into clicking on a FOX link….

    @Yarrow: Okay, okay, clicking now….

    Oh good lord. That was megatons of bull & you’re right, their faces ?‍♂️?‍♀️

  100. 100.

    Yarrow

    @Barbara:

    It’s unfathomable to me that they don’t understand how other people see them, that they must, literally, talk only to and among themselves.

    A few months ago Megan McCain was on Colbert. She talked about moving from Fox to The View and how startling it was to her to interact with people like Joy Behar who is a liberal. She said she’d been in this Fox world and interacted mostly with conservatives and she didn’t realize there were people out there who didn’t think or believe what she did.

    I kind of couldn’t believe it when she said it. I mean, I know they’re in a bubble, but no idea other people think differently? That must be one strong-sided bubble.

  101. 101.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Yarrow:
    Evangelicals are even worse than that. They are specifically furious that any world exists outside their bubble. No, they don’t want anything to do with it. What they do know of us, they hate because we do not bow to them in every way. Cleek’s Law comes immediately into play. They have no idea whatsoever how anyone else sees them, aside from a general impression that we’re bad people who don’t respect how loving Jesus makes them superior.

  103. 103.

    Alain the site fixer

    @Yarrow: And after that glimpse of sanity, she seems to have doubled-down on right-wing nuttiness. I’m sure that’s in no small part the influence of her new hubby, Ben Domenech trying to inoculate her from such liberal influences.

  105. 105.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Yarrow: Meghan is an idiot. I hope she gets kicked off The View in the near future. All she does is defend the indefensible nonsense Republicans do and take umbrage when Republican nonsense is rightfully attacked. She should go home to Fox News.

  106. 106.

    Yarrow

    @Frankensteinbeck: Yes, I’m aware. I know some evangelicals like that.

    @Alain the site fixer: I didn’t take that as sanity. I took it as the equivalent of her being dunked in ice water or something. She kind of had to pay attention and seeing not everyone agrees with her was shocking. The shock has worn off now.

  107. 107.

    Barbara

    @germy: I think from that interview you should now understand why his personal attorneys do not want him to testify — under oath or otherwise. He is singularly amenable to being led around by the nose by someone with an intuitive understanding of his grievance based narcissism.

  110. 110.

    Yarrow

    @Patricia Kayden: I don’t watch The View but haven’t they always had a token “conservative?” Elizabeth Hasselbeck was in that role for several years until she moved for F&F. Not sure why she left that show but I’ve wondered if it had anything to do with Ailes and sexual harassment.

  111. 111.

    patrick II

    @Wag:

    Fox and Friends haven’t been played for fools, they have knowingly played fools or actually are fools. I vote for the latter, especially Kilmeade.

  112. 112.

    Barbara

    @Yarrow: And this was AFTER her father had lost an election by a substantial margin. Duh. Meghan. Of course there are people who don’t agree with you. Gah!!!

  113. 113.

    Alain the site fixer

    @Yarrow: I think I used the wrong word. I thought she had promise as a 21st century Republican and going on The View might have encouraged some growth. But it seems like she’s doubled down on right wing nuttiness and dogma.

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