You don’t say:
The Russian lawyer who met with Trump campaign officials in Trump Tower in June 2016 on the premise that she would deliver damaging information about Hillary Clinton has long insisted she is a private attorney, not a Kremlin operative trying to meddle in the presidential election.
But newly released emails show that in at least one instance two years earlier, the lawyer, Natalia V. Veselnitskaya, worked hand in glove with Russia’s chief legal office to thwart a Justice Department civil fraud case against a well-connected Russian firm.
Ms. Veselnitskaya also appears to have recanted her earlier denials of Russian government ties. During an interview to be broadcast Friday by NBC News, she acknowledged that she was not merely a private lawyer but a source of information for a top Kremlin official, Yuri Y. Chaika, the prosecutor general.
“I am a lawyer, and I am an informant,” she said. “Since 2013, I have been actively communicating with the office of the Russian prosecutor general.”
This is Putin’s Russia. You’re either working with them, or you’re being poisoned in England. This is not rocket surgery.
Republicans used to understand that before deciding that the pro-gun, anti-abortion, white supremacist kleptocracy of Putin was more desirable than, you know, democracy. Or America.
Jeffro
But John, they were only discussing the adoptions of Russian orphans and maybe a little light treason…what’s the big deal here?
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
I think Putin is going to wait until it’s certain Trump has nothing left he can deliver for him to release the pee pee tape to crush and disillusion the Trump supporters.
JPL
Trump has been exhibiting behaviors even more unhinged than in the past. I assume this is why. The article is stunning because it ties anyone who met with her to collusion, and now obstruction of justice. They wanted to win at any cost, and committing treason was not beyond them.
JPL
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford: If Trump pulls out of the Iran deal, then you might get your wish.
Nicole
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford:
His supporters won’t care.
different-church-lady
Apparently this White House has a pill problem.
At this point is anyone going to be surprised when they reveal someone’s been running a meth lab in the basement there?
Uncle Ebeneezer
Well now it’s official!
https://apnews.com/8b95a7cf7bcb4585b00c038be2257ba4?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP
JPL
@Nicole: They might if the girls were under 16.
Yarrow
It’s treason. Tick tock, motherfuckers.
Yarrow
@different-church-lady: What what the Candy Man was prescribing Trump that makes him slur his words.
JPL
@Uncle Ebeneezer: Gen Flynn didn’t testify, because he took the fifth. The NYTimes article should shame the republicans, but it won’t.
Villago Delenda Est
@Uncle Ebeneezer: Every last one of these motherfuckers is a traitor.
LAO
@Uncle Ebeneezer: I, for one, I’m very relieved.
Villago Delenda Est
@JPL: The Vichy Times is an active, enthusiastic accomplice in this treason.
Yarrow
@Uncle Ebeneezer: This is going look even worse when the treason committed by House members becomes better known. Here’s looking at you Dana Rohrabacher and Paul Ryan.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@different-church-lady: Well there is a shocker, The Trump admin is full of prescription drug addicts. I mean no one could have seen that coming the way they talk and think like stoners while screaming about the death penalty for drug dealers.
That really does raise an alarming question; exactly how big is the opiod addicting crises?
Major Major Major Major
I sort of feel like I don’t even care about the little revelations any more. The broad outlines and many of the details have been clear for years now. I just want it to be over.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Villago Delenda Est: E
Or so stoned they don’t what’s going on anymore.
JCJ
@JPL:
Doubt it. Roy Moore got 48% of the vote and some of the allegations included 14 year olds.
Fair Economist
@different-church-lady:
Your point being that Trump’s personal physician runs a pill mill, correct? And that that has implication for Trump’s wishes?
But her emails!!!
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford:
Nobody really cares about the pee pee tape, but Trump. Trump finds it personally embarrassing regardless of whether the event occurred and if it was actually taped. He’s fixated on it. That fact makes it solid blackmail material for Putin, but if even if it’s actually released I doubt it will have much impact. The only reason it might have impact is because Trump himself has made it a key detail with his attention to it.
kindness
Nice to see political John again. Republicans (those that run the party) are getting everything they wanted. The rubes that voted them in? They have to be the people that leave those desperately stupid posts we see elsewhere. I get the tribal chest thumping Trumpies are loving but we’re all getting clobbered every day and they see that too.
Who knew hippie punching was such an addictive drug?
Fair Economist
@Major Major Major Major:
I feel the same. We know Trump colluded with the Russians and we know most of the Republican leadership did too. I don’t care at this point whether there was direct communication or whether they only communicated via underlings with deniability (e.g. Nunes talked to the Russians and then dropped hints to Ryan.)
What matters now is getting the traitor Republicans out of power. Not just Trump; all of them.
Amir Khalid
@Uncle Ebeneezer:
I wonder how the committee expects to get away with such a transparent whitewashing.
Fair Economist
@But her emails!!!: The pee tape, released, will indeed have little impact because it’s not what most people think it is. Trump didn’t have them pee on *him*, he had them pee on a bed the Obamas’ had used.
Gin & Tonic
According to the Twitters, the report also recommends abolishing the Logan Act. Nice touch.
Gin & Tonic
@Amir Khalid: You’re a comedian this evening.
LAO
@Amir Khalid: Apparently, the committee is relying upon the American public’s short memory span and it’s related inability to grasp facts it does not like. It has certainly worked in the past, hopefully, this course of conduct will not continue to be so successful.
germy
quote unquote “russiagate”
Ohio Mom
@Major Major Major Major: Me too.
I think I’ve absorbed all the details my old brain can hold.
germy
@Fair Economist:
They’ll say it’s fake. Rush limbaugh has already gotten his fans on board with that theory:
Major Major Major Major
@Fair Economist: it’s trump in a room with peeing hookers, probably saying weird shit (assuming it exists), I imagine the impact would be similar.
@Fair Economist: plus each one is the same cycle. Small confirming detail; WITCH HUNT tweet; Stein/Greenwald/whatever says something dumb; repeat.
JPL
Mnuchin recently stated that the Russian aluminum company a temporary pass on tariffs. The MSM barely covered it.
James Powell
@Amir Khalid:
Only political junkies even know about it. The press/media will never give it the attention that they would give to groundless accusations against the Clintons.
Elizabelle
@Fair Economist:
Agreed, but I want to see them brought to justice. I want to see them punished, hard. For punishment’s sake, sure, but mostly to protect our democracy. And strengthen and improve it.
Good morning, all. TGIF (news dump).
Lee
I’ve got a significant number of active & prior service officers in my friends list on FB. Almost all of them are Republicans. I’ve been hammering the shit out of them about how they are supporting a political party that is still actively betraying the country.
There have been a couple that have declared that they will never vote Republican again.
Washburn
@JPL:
48% of Alabamians disagree. And they are a pretty decent proxy for Trump supporters in general.
germy
Can someone explain why Natalia has decided to make her admissions? This is not good news for Don Jr. or senior.
I don’t understand her motivation. I assume she’s following orders. Why the orders?
SFAW
@Yarrow:
You forgot
PolandNunes!germy
@Lee:
So they’ll vote the Libertarian Party?
Washburn
@Villago Delenda Est:
They are ALL IN for Trump!
Kelly
@Major Major Major Major:
Oh yes, yes,yes. Alas these fights will last the rest of our lives, even those of us still young. They must be fought. I’m not a historian but I think fights like these have always been with us. I don’t know why so many people are heartless assholes.
Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)
@JPL: You say “under 16” like they think it would be a bad thing. They won’t care, as long as the hookers in question are girls.
SFAW
@germy:
Fuck you, Jill.
germy
@SFAW: In one of the replies to her tweet, a fan asked her if she’d be willing to run with Bernie for 2020.
Kathleen
@different-church-lady: Malibu Meth Barbie (Conway) keeps her crypt down thete and cooks meth at night.
burnspbesq
@Amir Khalid:
A majority of the House can do anything it damn well pleases. Its only accountability is to the voters.
Getting our people to the polls in November is the ONLY thing that matters.
Major Major Major Major
@germy: discouraged republicans going libertarian helped get us Doug Jones and Lamb, no?
germy
@Major Major Major Major: True.
Stein and Nader shouldn’t be the only ones doing the vote splitting.
Major Major Major Major
@germy:
At least it would give us a handy donor list of people to ignore forever.
JPL
The House Committee that found no collusion is also recommending that they get rid of the Logan Act. hmmm
Chyron HR
@germy:
For president or for asylum?
Mike in Pasadena
Putin’s Russia and Republicans alao agree on their joint hatred of browns, blacks, and gays. So there’s that.
SFAW
@JPL:
They’d only care if it were a tape of Trump talking about how hot he thinks Michelle is, and why won’t she dump that Kenyan for “a real man.”
And even then, he might lose only about 2 or 3 percentage points. (Or he might gain some, from the people who would say “Yeah, ANOTHER way to stick it to that blackity-black black Kenyan Mooslim guy who stole the 2008 and 2012 elections.”)
You probably think I’m joking.
Chyron HR
@Major Major Major Major:
You can’t have Bernie’s donor list! NO LIST FOR YOU! [finger waggling intensifies]
The Ancient Randonneur
@different-church-lady: According to the linked article the problem extends back to the Obama WH so this isn’t a problem solely focused on the Current Occupant. If the report is correct then the WH medical staff has been out of control for quite some time.
KithKanan
@JPL: I doubt they’re recommending it for the right reasons, but… honestly? It’s a 219 year old law that’s only resulted in two charges, the last of which was 166 years ago, and zero convictions. I think there’s a fair argument that it should be either clarified or repealed.
SFAW
@germy:
Outstanding.
I could really get behind that, as long as the phrase “into an onrushing locomotive” were added.
As some kid around here is wont to say: Fuckem
Major Major Major Major
@SFAW:
I think any pee tape would result in a 1-2 point loss at the ballot box, with a higher (though diminishing) ding in popularity ratings.
Which is enough.
@Chyron HR: I meant the FEC filings! Get your finger out of my face!
SFAW
@KithKanan:
Just because there haven’t been any convictions in NNN years does not mean it’s ineffective. It may, in fact, be a great deterrent, just by being there.
The Dangerman
@different-church-lady:
Not sure I’d go for a meth lab.
Now, high end call girl operation, that I’d buy.
ETA: Though I could give odds on the call girl operation running a meth lab.
JPL
@KithKanan: I agree, but it does seem strange to put it in the same report.
SFAW
@KithKanan:
@SFAW:
And considering the Partei of Traitors would be more openly traitorous, were the Logan Act gone, I’m OK with it remaining on the books.
[New reply, instead of an ETA, because FYWP wouldn’t let me edit.]
Major Major Major Major
@The Ancient Randonneur: i found it to be completely unsurprising, frankly.
KithKanan
@SFAW: I agree that’s certainly possible, but in this case I think it strains credibility that nobody has broken it in over a century and a half.
rikyrah
UH HUH
UH HUH
There are NO SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION between anyone of importance in Russia AND PUTIN.
Just not.
You can ALWAYS get a DIRECT TRACE TO PUTIN.
PERIOD.
STRAIGHT.UP.TREASON.
Orange jumpsuits for all
Cheryl Rofer
@germy: She’s trying to insert disinformation into the Mueller probe. That’s her job, but it looks like Mueller recognizes that 1) Even if she weren’t an admitted Russian operative, her information has little to add and 2) She is trying to insert disinformation.
rikyrah
WATCH: Wealthy white Manhattan parents angrily rant against plan to bring more black kids to their schools https://t.co/FRjqEsu53v
— Chancellor Richard A. Carranza (@DOEChancellor) April 27, 2018
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Trump claims he can’t open the JFK files for “national security reasons” Since Transactional Spanky doesn’t give a shit about national anything does this mean the rumor hat Ted Cruze’s father was the assassin is true? (Ted did write kiss ass article about Trump in Time)
rikyrah
KAPOW from Forever FLOTUS:
“You don’t have to say anything to the haters. You don’t have to acknowledge them at all. You just wake up every morning and be the best you you can be. And that tends to shut them up” ~ Michelle Obama pic.twitter.com/dxn199dcSz
— Melanie (@PoliteMelanie) April 26, 2018
KithKanan
@SFAW: I think it’s a lot like firing James Comey. Arguably he well deserved to be fired, but the actual circumstances of/reasons for his firing were worse for the country than his remaining in office.
rikyrah
BROWN is the foundation for all progress made in this country over the past 50 years.
THAT.IS.WHY.THE.GOP.DESPISES.IT.
Two Trump judicial nominees hedge on landmark desegregation ruling
04/27/18 09:20 AM
By Steve Benen
In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous, landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, striking down school segregation, and making clear that “separate but equal” is inherently unequal. It was one of the most important judicial rulings in American history.
With this in mind, it recently came as a surprise when one of Donald Trump’s judicial nominees wouldn’t say whether she believes the case was decided the right way.
This week, it happened again. Andrew Oldham, a Trump nominee for the Fifth Circuit of Appeals, was asked the same question and answered the same way.
Major Major Major Major
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: I thought they did open the files except for a few IC-requested redactions that seem like they’re gonna be permanent at this point.
rikyrah
I have absolutely NO sympathy for them. They chose to associate with GARBAGE..don’t be shocked when you wind up STINKING.
Those who associate with Trump often live to regret it
04/27/18 08:40 AM
By Steve Benen
…………………………
In the Washington Post yesterday, Paul Waldman added, “Think about it: Is there a single Trump aide or official who will leave the service of this president with their reputation enhanced, or at least not diminished? … Your reputation is broken the moment you decide to work for Trump.”
rikyrah
Based on the flood of maga in my mentions, they think Trump saved America’s economy. And that black folks, in particular, should be grateful to our racist president for our low unemployment rate
— John Legend (@johnlegend) April 27, 2018
I know fact free thought is a major pillar of maga but here’s a little chart showing how black unemployment went down dramatically under Obama (after Dubya’s financial meltdown) and has continued going down a little under Trump. So we do thank our President Obama for this! pic.twitter.com/Nl0ySJkUt4
— John Legend (@johnlegend) April 27, 2018
japa21
Regarding the GOP declaring the investigation over and nothing found in terms of collusion: If any Trumpistas try to use this to show Trump’s innocence, just tell them they just agreed that Clinton did nothing wrong in regard to Benghazi or her emails.
rikyrah
Trump stomps on own legal strategy with blurting rant on Fox News
Rachel Maddow outlines how Donald Trump’s lawyers have been crafting a legal defense based on attorney-client privilege with Michael Cohen, only to have Donald Trump minimize his relationship with Cohen during an untethered phone-in with Fox News.
MCA1
@Major Major Major Major: Yeah, it’s a good start, but there’s a fundamental issue here that needs to somehow be solved if we want to see the GOP appropriately punished electorally, as long as we’re stuck in what’s mostly a two party system. We’d be a helluva lot better off right now if the disenchantment of more of these people translated to a two point individual swing in an election, rather than one. Unfortunately, fully 35% of the country has become so radicalized by the GOP, and its bubble of misinformation and Radio Rwanda media arm, that they will not, ever, just suck it up and vote for a Democrat. They’ve been indoctrinated to believe no Democrat could possibly be a worthwhile choice, a patriot, someone who looks out for their interests, etc. Or they’ve learned to elevate their own personal income tax rate above the aggregate of all other policy considerations, and swallowed the lies about tax rates and economic policy that Republicans have sold them, as a convenient fig leaf to pretend they don’t see the overwhelming moral bankruptcy of their selfishness driving their political decisions.
I mean, that’s in part how we got Dotard. He could not possibly have been more manifestly unsuited or have more transparently loathed his own voters, but still millions of people couldn’t see their way to skipping over Gary Johnson and just voting for a Democrat. There’s also the factor of a good portion of the country seeing elections in about as shallow a manner as Coke vs. Pepsi brand loyalty, and all the Republicans did here was offer up New Coke so I’ll be buying RC Colas for a little while ’cause I sure as shit am not going to buy Pepsi and be seen drinking it in public.
In any event, this is where I think some of the “Democrats need to have a positive message to sell instead of just being anti-Trump” stuff has some merit. But I think the focus is wrong. Democrats need to be attacking the entire Republican Party fort, not just running against the general over there. Paint them as the party of traitors, the party of incompetence, the party of corruption, the party that doesn’t know how foreign policy works, the party that blows up the deficit. And take back some of the terminology like patriot and strong and rule of law that they’ve stolen and made their own. They can keep the Gadsden flag, I guess.
rikyrah
McQuade: Trump a living law school cautionary example
Barbara McQuade, former U.S. attorney, talks with Rachel Maddow about Donald Trump’s propensity to speak without thinking through how what he is saying hurts his own case, serving as a textbook example of why lawyers ask clients not to discuss a case.
rikyrah
Trump extends abysmal track record of nominee failures
Rachel Maddow reports on Ronny Jackson’s withdrawal from nomination to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and notes that Jackson is Donald Trump’s 24th failed Senate-confirmable nominee.
rikyrah
‘Our veterans deserve better’: Former VA Secretary McDonald
Robert McDonald, former secretary of Veterans Affairs, talks with Rachel Maddow about the political pressures of privatization on the challenges of leading an organization as large as the V.A.
rikyrah
Major Major Major Major
@MCA1: pretty much agree with this whole thing. We really are the “true Americans,” or at least, the Democratic party more or less wholly contains the only defenders of what it’s idealistically meant to be Americans.
And hammering that, reclaiming patriotism, should be part of our strategy, obviously in less crazy-sounding terms.
rikyrah
THE LAST WORD WITH LAWRENCE O’DONNELL 4/26/18
Lawrence: Trump’s TV call shows he’s out of control
President Donald Trump spent 31 minutes on T.V. building a wall of madness that shows he is dangerous. The rant has to be seen and heard to be believed.
MomSense
@germy:
I think I read a month ago, probably only a couple of days ago, that she did not turn over all of the documents requested by the Senate intel committee.
JPL
@MomSense: Because of Trump, I can’t even keep track of the day. It’s been one long nightmare.
Uncle Ebeneezer
@Major Major Major Major: And given the reported anti-Obama factor of the whole affair, I’d bet the house that we will hear Trump using the N-word on the audio of the pee tape.
JPL
No surprise, since we all recognize that Sean is a slime ball or is it “slimeball”?
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/27/sean-hannity-eviction-orders-georgia-apartment-complex
danielx
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford:
Even if they accepted it as real, which is in no way certain, I am not convinced it would make any difference to them. Their man needs to let off steam, don’t you know.
ETA: they’ve shrugged off Trumpian behavior and policies/impulses a lot worse than being featured in a golden showers video.
No Drought No More
“Republicans used to understand that before..”.
And former republicans understand it still, and always will. It serves to explain why Californians have deserted that benighted organization in droves. It boils down to their own sense of what it means to be an American. “You can’t fool all the republicans, all the time” has proved true in this state, at least, and California is far better off for it. Even better, and electorally speaking, it’s fair to say the sea change in perception occurred within a short period of election cycles. It bodes well for the country, I think.
rikyrah
@Yarrow:
Yep.
Uh huh
Timurid
@Fair Economist:
Trump has just saved Korea and the world, and the long awaited pivot has finally arrived. In the estimation of the Village at least. We could get video this afternoon of Trump in a threesome with Stormy Daniels and a horse and the MSM will be all “Even the greatest leaders were flawed humans and MLK CHEATED ON HIS WIFE RRREEEEEEEEEEEE…”
efgoldman
@Amir Khalid:
Like all RWNJ mouth breathing flying monkeys, they are delusional and unmoored from reality. If they say a thing often enough and loudly enough that thing is by definition, true.
MomSense
@JPL:
I know. I feel so unsettled. That rant on fox and friends may incriminate him legally which is a good thing. But – having an unstable president increasingly off balance because of mounting legal troubles is really frightening. He scared me yesterday.
Frankensteinbeck
@burnspbesq:
This.
@rikyrah:
So thank God, liberals are still pissed as all living Hell.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford: m
…At which time the Sons of Jacob rise up to install their new order of Gilead by gutting the government…
rikyrah
Trump threatens to exert political influence over the Justice Department
04/26/18 11:22 AM
By Steve Benen
At the end of Donald Trump’s odd interview on Fox News this morning, the president threw something of a tantrum on the air, in response to a question about answering questions from Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Trump’s response was a lengthy tirade, leading to this:
As Trump tried to ramble some more, the Fox hosts rushed him off the phone, with one of them reminding the president he has “a million things to do.” That, in itself, was a remarkable moment: ordinarily, journalists talking to an interview-shy president would want to keep the conversation going as long as possible. This morning, the hosts of “Fox & Friends” themselves ended the interview, stopping a highly agitated Trump before he could embarrass himself further.
Curious media strategies notwithstanding, it was no small development to hear the president – the subject of an ongoing investigation – talk openly about intervening with the Justice Department. In fact, Trump was rather explicit during the interview, arguing that he wants federal law enforcement officials to stop investigating his alleged crimes and start investigating his perceived foes.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Nicole:
“The answer is King David, look at how The Loard Gawd almighty done loved he-yim. Iffn yew take Jaysus Chrahst as yor personal loard n savyeur, yew can be fergived too!!! MAGA!!!!!”
rikyrah
@MomSense:
He doesn’t scare me.
Only want war with Iran averted. Hopefully Merkel can get work done on that too.
Patricia Kayden
@JPL: And yet today, House Republicans just wrapped up their “investigation” into Russian collusion.
JPL
@rikyrah: It’s impossible to predict how the meeting will go. He could easily state that she needs to be locked up.
JPL
@Patricia Kayden: One wonders if that will be the excuse Trump uses to shut down the Special Counsel.
Bobby Thomson
@germy: weirdly, progressive and anti-war types who don’t ally with a racist, anti-gay, fascist regime aren’t being targeted. Go figure.
She might just be stupid. Slanders is corrupt.
germy
rikyrah
@danielx:
I don’t think they’d care.
I care, because it’s been used to prove that the Steele Dossier ISN’T TRUE.
WHEN it comes out – then that takes that arguing point away.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@danielx:
If it’s women urinating on Trump it will make a difference for the same reason Stormy Daniels drew blood; Trump’s myth is he is a TRUE Alpha Male able to handle any woman, not some pervert to desperate for attention he will to pay women money to abuse him.
Contrast that with Obama who got the queen of the Amazons to fall madly in love with him and survived the perils of death by snu snu. There are a lot middle aged white guys with a lot of self doubt who are living vicariously threw Trump’s myth.
ruemara
@JPL: Honey, they’d praise him.
They were traitors before November 2016 and they’ll be traitors until they go to jail or (sorry for the more delicate) get killed. That’s the saddest part of this.
@germy: Probably. I don’t trust these ex-Republicans either. They can either publicly say they’re voting Democratic or they’re going to do the sneaky republican thing and sign on to Libertarianism.
Ian G.
Part of me wonders if we eventually find out that money funneled through Cohen to the Trump Org was being laundered for, say, Hezbollah, would it be enough to make the cult turn on Trump. And then I remember that the cult is now in love with a Russian government that’s dedicated to restoring the glory of the Soviet Union. Reagan’s Evil Empire is now a Republican ally.
So no, if we find Hezbollah is making money through Trump, I’m sure they too will become a friend. They hate gays! They are anti-feminist! Etc.
Dinesh D’Souza dipped his toe in the “bin Laden is right to hate the godless hedonistic West” pool some years ago. I bet he leads the “Hezbollah is better than libruls!” charge.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@germy: Way to go conservatives. it hss gone from “It’s Okay if your Republican” to “It’s Okay if you are stupid and useless white guy”
germy
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: I’m a Peeliever but I don’t think anyone pissed on Trump. He had hookers defile a bed the Obamas slept in.
I’ve seen comments from the RW saying “The story doesn’t add up! If they messed up his bed, then where did he sleep that night?” They forget that the world the rich and powerful lives in is different than the world the rest of us occupy. Certainly, drumpf’s Moscow suite had more than one bed. It wasn’t a Motel 6.
Eural Joiner
Honestly, I don’t know a single Trump supporter that a “pee” tape would phase in the slightest. At this point all of them in my circle – family members and a very few friends – absolutely refuse to accept any evidence of Trump’s wrong-doing or mis-behavior. Their willful ignorance and denial of reality is impenetrable at this point. Sad.
JPL
Compare and contrast this article about Obama with the current resident of the white house.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/04/27/as-my-father-battled-alzheimers-i-rushed-to-create-one-last-memory-meeting-president-obama/?__twitter_impression=true&utm_term=.fbc19f240231
It’s such a sweet story.
Barbara
@germy: Why, he might have even had more than one room!
scav
If they didn’t collude with Russia, then it’s probably just because they haven’t decided who is going to give them the best price for the country: they’re still open to negotiation and details of additional kickbacks.
germy
@Barbara: And complimentary donuts and coffee for breakfast! Continental…
Captain C
@Fair Economist: Assuming the pee pee tape exists, it’s really not anything more than laughable. What Trump has to really worry about are tapes of him with underage girls, or other things which are not only illegal but awful enough to make even his staunchest allies pause before continuing to support him.
Given his proclivities, and general carelessness (not to mention rumors going around that other intelligence agencies have such tapes), I suspect that at least one such tape exists.
rikyrah
@Captain C:
What makes you think that the females in the pee pee tape are of legal age?
Barbara
@rikyrah: I don’t think it’s his staunchest allies he needs to worry about. It’s the people who hold their noses to support him.
Karen Potter
A GOP lawmaker is working to have #45 nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize; giving him credit for getting North and South Korea talking.
debbie
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford:
I don’t think so. He’ll just move on to Nunes or one of many others. Putin has a long list he can pull from.
D58826
@Timurid: but her e-mails and then there is Bill
lethargytartare
@JPL:
this has been true of the GOP for 50 years
trollhattan
@JPL:
Wow, what an uplifting tale. Thanks for the link!
I promise I’m not going to compare-and-contrast. Really
AnotherBruce
@JPL: There you have it, the treason is complete. Get rid of the Logan act and you’re well on your way to a permanent international oligarchy. Elections? who needs elections
trollhattan
@Karen Potter:
Goopers everywhere, in unison: “Obama got the Peace Prize and he didn’t do anything!!!“
Karen Potter
@trollhattan: My first thought was that “I didn’t know they gave out Peace Prizes for causing fear”
TenguPhule
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford:
Implies residual residue of decency and common sense not in evidence for Trump supporters.
TenguPhule
@different-church-lady:
Yes. Unless its being operated by child sex slaves.
Mike in NC
@Karen Potter: Maybe he meant the “Noble Pee Prize”.
TenguPhule
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Assume most Republicans are violent drug addicts by default until proven otherwise.
debbie
@Karen Potter:
Getting opponents talking by scaring the shit out of them isn’t peacemaking.
rikyrah
If the comments by the congressional aide quoted by @thehill are accurate–”[T]he speaker was dismayed by a prayer Father Conroy gave”–then a Catholic Speaker of the House fired a Catholic chaplain for praying for the poor. https://t.co/eDdzeaKexI
— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) April 26, 2018
TenguPhule
@germy:
Maximum Chaos before the midterms.
different-church-lady
@TenguPhule: If there was a pizza parlor in the White House, it would all suddenly make sense.
rikyrah
Why is it that an unarmed black man is able to take an AR-15 away from a white gunman in the middle of a massacre while trained cops routinely kill black men who don’t even have weapons? #JamesShawJr #WaffleHouseHero https://t.co/xtCuxf9ApD pic.twitter.com/mBUc92OhZY
— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) April 22, 2018
rikyrah
A federal judge has thrown out ex-Trump aide Paul Manafort’s civil lawsuit challenging Mueller’s appointment as special counsel. https://t.co/KJkt3qiL6r
— Brad Heath (@bradheath) April 27, 2018
different-church-lady
@germy: She probably means, “repression of the republican congress”.
rikyrah
On May 2, I can’t wait to celebrate my 5th #CollegeSigningDay in Philly! It’s been amazing seeing this event grow into a nationwide movement where schools and communities celebrate students for committing to a higher education. #FlashbackFriday @BetterMakeRoom pic.twitter.com/MoiRDfhY6Y
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) April 27, 2018
ruemara
@rikyrah: I’m just gonna sing the White People song. Because what else is left to do in this world?
TenguPhule
@rikyrah: Enough of these nominees get through and I guarantee we’re going to see a movement to reintroduce chattel slavery into this country.
Jeffro
@Karen Potter: Good luck with that shit, GOP lawmaker. I mean, seriously…outside the US (save for Russia)…I think Orange Crash’s reputation is, well, about where it should be.
debbie
@rikyrah:
And here I thought the Upper West Side was the last bastion of intellectual tolerance and permissiveness.
TenguPhule
@different-church-lady:
The white house kitchen is big enough to count as one. I understand they can do a killer pizza.
rikyrah
Mass firing’ at conservative site RedState
April 27, 2018 at 12:57 pm EDT
Salem Media, owner of the influential conservative outlet RedState, froze the site on Friday and dismissed many of its writers… Multiple sources told CNNMoney that they believed conservative critics of President Trump were the writers targeted for removal.
Said one: “They fired everybody who was insufficiently supportive of Trump.”
http://money.cnn.com/2018/04/27/media/redstate-blog-salem-media/index.html
Alain the site fixer
I’m a bit late to this post, but that woman is evil, very smart, and scares me. I’ve seen her pop up also in relation to the banning-for-cheating of Russian athletes, and, I think, stuff involving Ukraine. I mean like she’s an English-speaking Russian lawyer that spreads propaganda and otherwise supports Russian efforts. I bet if someone researched her travels, she pops up in a number of circumstances where not working on behalf of the Kremlin would be contra-indicative.
rikyrah
Federal Agents Seized 16 Old Cellphones in the Michael Cohen Raids. Everybody’s Going to Jail
Monique Judge
Yesterday 8:00pm
TenguPhule
@rikyrah: The loyalty purges have begun.
Vhh
I learned science, math and Russian in the 70s when those things were considered, you know, useful. When Veselnitskaya’s name first hit the news last year, I googled her nam in Cyrillic, and immediately got an article in the Russian press which described her as a “lawyeress and well-known Kremlin fixer.” A few more clicks and I found her (modest) official salary and luxurious house outside Moscow. The NYT and WaPo employ people who read Russian and search the Internet, but it took them over a year to publish a story with similar information.
Chyron HR
@rikyrah:
“I signed up for white supremacy, not orange supremacy,” one nazi sobbed.
Jay S
@debbie: Surely we have to give props to Trump’s “Crazy Ivan” routine. Peace through insanity or vanity? Up until people realize the crazy isn’t an act.
glory b
@debbie: I’ll have to look for it later (at work), but I remember an episode of On Point on npr (don’t hate me) featuring a writer and researcher who said that it isn’t the top 1% but the top 20% who really are what’s holding us back. He was British, and was able to look at us in the US more dispassionately.
He said this goes for the liberals in the 20% also. Then, of course, many of them called in and proved his point.
They talked about volunteering at the food bank and on literacy councils, but when he asked about accepting low income housing in their communities or inner city minority kids into their schools, they almost all said something to the effect of how HARD they worked to get where they were (although he said that usually wasn’t true, they floated along on privilege), and it wouldn’t be FAIR to their kids.
trollhattan
@rikyrah:
I’m imagining the feds raiding my house and seizing the sixteen pens that don’t work residing in the kitchen junk drawer. Instead of old pens Cohen had phones. Lots and lots of phones. Yo Mike, you got the charger for this Blackberry? How about the 2008 Nokia?
Reminds me of the entire “The Wire” season when they traveled all around the region buying burner phones.
JR
@MCA1:
No they cant. They were Royalists.
trollhattan
@Jay S:
Nixon tried “Crazy Dick” on the North Vietnamese. I’m not sure that worked, either.
Karen Potter
@debbie: I didn’t think so either, but the GOP? they appear to believe it is peacemaking. Isn’t that why so many of them are owned by weapon makers?
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
P
MomSense
@trollhattan:
I don’t have room for a junk drawer in my kitchen but half my son’s bedroom is now a junk room. I swear I’m not even trying to discourage him from moving back home.
TenguPhule
@debbie:
And this was already tried back in 2002.
In response, North Korea developed nuclear weapons.
germy
Interesting thread about the accusations against Joy Reid:
https://twitter.com/i/moments/989904605013147648
TenguPhule
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Edit your post please. Ixnay on exact methoday.
Joe Falco
@rikyrah:
Oh this is just delicious. Looks like their loyalty oath to sign up for the site got changed from pledging allegiance to whack-a-doodle conservatism to a blood oath to Trump and the Fatherland. I guess they’ll still have Clownhall!
germy
Belafon
@Uncle Ebeneezer: I will not accept any finding from a Republican House committee until they’ve done at least 11 investigations.
rikyrah
JUST IN: PA Rep. Meehan announces resignation:
“I will pay $39,000.00 to the U.S. Treasury to reimburse for the severance payment that was made from my office account… I did not want to leave with any question of violating the trust of taxpayers.”
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) April 27, 2018
Gin & Tonic
@rikyrah: Nothing seems to be going Paulie’s way lately. Such a shame.
germy
TenguPhule
@rikyrah: Gotta be something worse about to break on him. $39K is no reason for a Republican to resign.
TenguPhule
@germy:
The studio called, they claimed this script is too unrealistic.
Mnemosyne
@MCA1:
That 35 percent thinks that the Democrats are all baby killers because we’re pro-choice. Nothing short of a constitutional amendment to ban all abortion sponsored by top Democrats would ever appease them.
The best we can hope for is that they become discouraged and stay home.
bemused
President Fubar is talking now. Very low energy today.
TenguPhule
@Mnemosyne:
What, no FEMA Reeducation Happy Fun camps for them?
Barbara
@rikyrah: I am sure it was nothing more than his way of keeping client files.
Mnemosyne
@trollhattan:
IIRC, the Nobel Committee has admitted that they gave Obama the prize early because they assumed we would assassinate him. Europeans were astounded that he actually lasted his whole term.
Barbara
@germy: Aside from Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin must have something really incriminating on Glenn Greenwald, like extraditable in every country in the world incriminating. I won’t speculate what it would be but it must be really, really bad. Nothing else explains his transformation from reasonably skeptical liberal to foaming at the mouth pro-Russian stooge.
germy
@Barbara: He was never a liberal.
Chyron HR
@Mnemosyne:
You seem like an OK person and I don’t recall having any beef with you but [citation needed].
Origuy
@germy: Steven Colbert visited the suite that Trump “allegedly” stayed in at the Moscow Ritz-Carlton. There’s a king-sized bed and a rollaway. It also has a window overlooking the Kremlin. The FSB has line-of-sight.
TenguPhule
@Mnemosyne:
When not drinking and whoring, the Secret Service is very effective.
TenguPhule
@Barbara:
Money, dear Barbara.
He was never a liberal. He was a libertarian who made common cause during the Bush Regime, but when his principles were found wanting, he found new ones.
Manxome Bromide
@TenguPhule: “Re”-education? DeVos isn’t where she is for show.
J R in WV
@Bobby Thomson:
She’s corrupt too, paid by Russia Today / RT as well as who knows how many other Russian supporters!
burnspbesq
@rikyrah:
That Ryan would do that isn’t even a tiny bit surprising. He’s a shitty Catholic.
Gravenstone
@burnspbesq: He’s a shitty human. The Catholic bit is only window covering for him.
The Pale Scot
@JPL:
MAYBE if it’s dead, male and under 12. Maybe..
Anything else and well, pedos talk about how intentionally seductive an eight year girl can be
ref: L&O SVU
grandpa John
@rikyrah: But I thought that was only supposed to happen in the South. Surely there are not any racists in yankeeland.
Walker
@grandpa John:
As NC native now living in Upstate NY, I have seen more explicit racism here than there. There are just less POC to inflict the pain on.