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You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Hail to the Hairpiece / Saturday Morning Open Thread: Ignore the Random Noise, Pay Attention to the Through-Line

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Ignore the Random Noise, Pay Attention to the Through-Line

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157Comments

  8. 8.

    satby

    Supposed to rain off and on all day, not very auspicious for the farmer’s market sales. But on the bright side, there just may still be ramps for sale again. I really do see why people love them. Like J R in WV I planted a few in a sheltered area in my yard and hope they establish and grow for next year. Ramp pesto, mmmmm!

  9. 9.

    WereBear

    @satby: Good luck, I hear they are difficult to domesticate. Likely, like peonies, they take a while to get established?

    A salad of ramps and dandelion greens is the traditional “spring tonic.”

  10. 10.

    satby

    @WereBear: well, wild onions and garlic grow all over both here and in Chicago, so I hope that putting them in the closest to a woodlands part of my yard works, but if not I now know I can buy them.
    The name “Chicago” comes from the Native American word for the wild garlic, as a matter of fact. Constantly sprang up in the yard in Beverly along with wild onions.

  11. 11.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    Saw “Infinity War” last night.

    I’ll just say I wish I had read up on spoilers – I wouldn’t have gone. I’m definitely not a fan of this method of a story arc, and that I found the lengthy end credits and accompanying ominous music abusive, especially given how the story went down.

    I don’t go to a Marvel movie to get throttled.

  12. 12.

    satby

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I’m holding out for the new chick flick coming out next week, Book Club. I normally don’t like going to new movies in theaters, but I may make an exception for that one.

    I like theaters, I don’t like that taller people always block me or the noisy people always sit near me. Never fails.

  14. 14.

    HeleninEire

    Morning, morning crew. Another beautiful day here in Dublin. Not much planned for the day. Manicure, shopping for gifts for my NY friends. The trip is two weeks away!!

    Then dinner later at The Arlington Hotel.
    They are located on one of the Quays and have an open veranda looking out to the River Liffey. I am a regular there.

    Everyone enjoy your day!

  17. 17.

    Amir Khalid

    Ein Moment Schadenfreude: In the wake of Wednesday’s election, UMNO’s 72nd anniversary celebration last night was not so celebratory after all.
    ETA: I wish for my American friends to feel this November the sense of relief that many Malaysians are feeling right now.

  18. 18.

    raven

    It’s going to break 90 today and Lil Bit is struggling with the heat and her breathing condition. We’re going to have to really be careful with her and this shit will last until October.

  21. 21.

    WereBear

    @Planetpundit: Their ineptitude may actually save the Republic.

    I am reminded of the Will Roger’s quote: “Stupid got us into this, why can’t stupid get us out?”

    No one saw this coming.

  22. 22.

    Amir Khalid

    @Viva BrisVegas:
    I’m sure he is. He shut down the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission investigation into 1MDB, and Dr M is restarting it. That is why they’re taking Najib’s passport: he’s an obvious flight risk.

  26. 26.

    Amir Khalid

    Ex-Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak

    The BBC should really be more careful about little things like this. Najib is an ex-PM, not an ex-Malaysian.

  28. 28.

    danielx

    Good morning….it’s too early, but niece graduates from law school at 9 this morning.

  32. 32.

    Chet

    Gme1. My parents are visiting for Mother’s Day. My wife gave that holiday “weekend” status a few years ago, so we started celebrating last night. Other than kids’ soccer games, we’re going to talk and eat and drink all weekend.

  33. 33.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    Today should be quiet, it should give me a chance to put up an additional gallery at my photo site(I put up two yesterday/this morning). Sunday we’re off to the Getty Villa, madame wants to go there for Mother’s Day, and then dinner.

    ETA: I you want to see the photos available for purchase, just click on my nym.

  35. 35.

    kd bart

    “Young man, I hear you and your friends are stealing goods. But you don’t even send a dress to my house. No respect! You know I’ve got three daughters. This is my neighborhood. You and your friends should show me some respect. You should let me wet my beak a little. I hear you and your friends cleared $600 each. Give me $200 each, for your own protection. And I’ll forget the insult. You young punks have to learn to respect a man like me! Otherwise the cops will come to your house. And your family will be ruined. Of course, if I’m wrong about how much you stole, I’ll take a little less. And by less, I only mean – a hundred bucks less. Now don’t refuse me. Understand, paisan? Understand, paisan?… Tell your friends I don’t want a lot. Just enough to wet my beak. Don’t be afraid to tell them!”

  38. 38.

    Amir Khalid

    Aside from the travel ban, Najib has (of course) also had to resign as UMNO party president and Barisan Nasional coalition leader after this huge letter L suddenly appeared on his forehead..

  40. 40.

    oldgold

    If Mueller has found collusion, he needs to find a way to communicate it unambiguously to the public in the very near term.

  41. 41.

    MattF

    And, y’know, it’s all the fault of the lefties– they just keep on provoking the RWNJs. Rude! DFH!

  45. 45.

    Amir Khalid

    @oldgold:
    What Mueller needs to do is take whatever time his team needs to build an airtight case against the people involved, regardless of the election calendar.

  46. 46.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @oldgold: There has been ample evidence of collusion in the news already. Why do you think Mueller needs to surrender the integrity of his investigation? Just exactly who’s feelings do you feel are in need of assuaging?

  53. 53.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @MomSense: Hmmmm…. That would put it in the 70’s here. Still a little too warm for my liking. My inner purity pony says, “NO! I want lower 60s or it’s no deal!!!”

  55. 55.

    rachel

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I’m thinking of it as the Marvel version of The Empire Strikes Back. My reaction the first time I saw that was, “Noooooo!” too, but it was kind of necessary to for that part of the story to end on a down note. Nevertheless, I probably won’t watch Infinity War again until it’s time for Avengers 4 to come out.

  56. 56.

    TS (the original)

    @Amir Khalid: Given that NK and Russia are probably the only countries that want him – I would give him his passport & wish him bon voyage

  57. 57.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud: My wife would tell you I’m a foul weather DEM. Or is it a “foul mouthed DEM”? It’s probably both.

  60. 60.

    lowtechcyclist

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    @oldgold: There has been ample evidence of collusion in the news already. Why do you think Mueller needs to surrender the integrity of his investigation?

    This. It’s blatantly obvious that there was Trump-Russia collusion, just from what’s been made public. But Mueller’s tasked with taking it from “blatantly obvious” to “airtight legal case.”

    And since it IS so fucking obvious, anyone who protests that he shouldn’t be allowed the time and resources to do his job properly is, AFAIAC, a traitor to this country and to the very notion of Rule of Law that the Republicans are usually obsessed with.

  61. 61.

    oldgold

    It is unclear to me why pointing out that suggesting time is of the essence in terms of this investigations success is considered to be such a heretical notion.

  64. 64.

    Chyron HR

    @oldgold:

    If you want to come back here and not be treated like a crank, at least change your name. Take some pride in your work, for god’s sakes.

  66. 66.

    geg6

    @oldgold:

    Because taking a shot and missing because his case isn’t air tight rather than taking the time to get it right would be a disaster of even bigger proportions.

  68. 68.

    debbie

    @geg6:

    Guess I missed a big fight, but I remember thinking Watergate was moving too slow, too. I can’t imagine what I’ll feel like if Trump escapes.

  69. 69.

    But her emails!!

    @debbie:

    Guess I missed a big fight, but I remember thinking Watergate was moving too slow, too. I can’t imagine what I’ll feel like if Trump escapes.

    Trump living in Russia for the rest of his life is probably the best outcome. even some of the souring Republicans might be convinced of his guilt by that.

  70. 70.

    oldgold

    Although it is unfair, many things are, Mueller is running out of time.

    Mueller can extend the time available to the investigation, by in some manner communicating in a clear and authoritative manner to the general public that he has credible evidence of “collusion.”

  75. 75.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @oldgold: For the plain and simple reason that it is really really really stupid to propose such in a case like this.

  79. 79.

    trnc

    @Amir Khalid:

    He shut down the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission investigation into 1MDB, and Dr M is restarting it.

    Well, now where I am going to get my movie trivia?

    Oh, wait. 1. Never mind.

  82. 82.

    trnc

    @oldgold:

    Mueller can extend the time available to the investigation, by in some manner communicating in a clear and authoritative manner to the general public that he has credible evidence of “collusion.”

    There are obviously plenty of crimes. Collusion is one of them, but I don’t think it’s the only announcement worthy one, even though that’s the one wingnuts focus on.

  84. 84.

    Amir Khalid

    @oldgold:
    It’s been pointed out, again and again, that the priority for the Special Counsel’s team is the same as for any prosecutor: to build airtight cases against those they indict. They are not there to be players in the November elections, and they should not be timing what they do or say.for political effect.

  90. 90.

    Matt McIrvin

    @lowtechcyclist: I just kind of have this overwhelming feeling that it’s not going to matter. Mueller is building an airtight legal case in a country where there are no longer laws. He ran out of time the moment he began.

  96. 96.

    Just One More Canuck

    @oldgold: it’s not that it’s necessarily a heretical argument, but you don’t say why it’s necessary for Mueller to talk now, rather than waiting until he feels he’s ready

  101. 101.

    Baud

    @OzarkHillbilly: We keep telling people about all the grand things we want to do and the powerful people we want to take on, and then we wallow in despair and hopelessness at the possibility of things that haven’t happened yet. I think we have a credibility problem.

  102. 102.

    JR

    I’m starting to understand how Robespierre made the turn from “ardent opponent of capital punishment”

  104. 104.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud: The fact of the matter is, no matter how this whole thing works out, we are going to be disappointed because of all the things that didn’t come out just as we wished. For instance, I’m going to be terribly disappointed when everyone who involved themselves with this corrupt administration doesn’t end up in prison for life. But I’ll deal with it. I’m 60 yrs old, I have a lot of experience with such disappointment.

  106. 106.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud:

    …we wallow in despair and hopelessness at the possibility of things that haven’t happened yet. I think we have a credibility problem.

    You’re a sharp one, Baud.

  110. 110.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Baud: I don’t know. Been reading a lot of people talking about how happy they are that they have no children and they’re old and will die soon, so the doom that’s coming won’t affect them. And I do have a child, so I’m just feeling down about that.

  111. 111.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Matt McIrvin: I have 2 children, 1 stepchild, 1 grandchild (with more on the way if the FSM wills it) I am happy to be in what is most likely the last 2 decades of my life but that doesn’t mean I’m surrendering. It means I fight even harder.

  112. 112.

    B.B.A.

    @JR: Personally, I grow more and more sympathetic with the CPSU every day. If only the DNC’s politburo could appoint all political officials and imprison or kill enemies of the party, this country might actually get back on the right track…

    This is snark. For now.

  113. 113.

    Baud

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I think it’s a white thing. White progressives have lost the majority of their race for a long time now and with little hope of reconciliation in the foreseeable future. It’s a sorrow progressives of other races don’t have to contend with.

  114. 114.

    MomSense

    @Matt McIrvin:

    I think we are all struggling with that fear and it’s not unfounded. We are watching the systematic dismantling of laws, norms, ethics, fairness, truth, and on and painfully on.

    What gives me hope is that there are so many people who are paying attention, so many young people who are deciding to grab the power they have with both hands. I will do anything I can to support them because I think this is our best hope. Sometimes, my feelings are so bleak it can wake me up in the middle of the night. We have to find ways to cope and people who will talk us down from the ledge. So I’m definitely with you fearing that nothing will matter, that the rule of law is only for some, and that these mofos may succeed in destroying our country and causing irreparable harm with wars, inaction on climate change, etc. I’m just trying to breath through those feelings. I’m taking walks, lifting weights, swearing up a storm on balloon-juice and silently throughout the day. No matter how bad I feel, I’m not going to give up.

  115. 115.

    mai naem mobile

    I work around two groups of people ; a lot of young people who don’t give a shit . They don’t see how government affects their lives. I sometimes wish I was like them. Just be oblivious to stuff going on. The other bunch is stupid racist old white farts who don’t understand how Dolt45 is fucking them. This is what is really depressing. I knew this country was racist but I didn’t realize how deeply racist it was. Obama getting elected really revealed all the racism.

  116. 116.

    WereBear

    @MomSense: No matter how bad I feel, I’m not going to give up.

    Agreed. You know the thing about giving up? You then have to ride the long slow decline of hope into suicidal despair.

    That’s misery I’m just not going to sign up for. Let’s fight on.

  117. 117.

    Central Planning

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: My 12 year old, who has enjoyed every Marvel movie so far, was not that impressed with IW. He told us that he didn’t think it would do that well in theatres. I haven’t disillusioned him with the fact that it grossed $1b in a week (or whatever it was).

  118. 118.

    MomSense

    @WereBear:

    What helps with the not giving up part is having some support when the bleak feelings are winning. I really dont think it is healthy or constructive for people to deny their feelings of fear and dread. Fear, dread, anxiety, depression are all appropriate responses to our current situation. I’m increasingly bothered by the shaming that goes on when people share their worries. The more helpful response is to acknowledge the feelings,to try and share how we are coping with them, and then to offer support and help people find whatever sustains or motivates enough to take action in spite of the fear.

  119. 119.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Baud: You should move up here then, majority white and solidly liberal/progressive. You are wrong about one thing though, I do know what it is to not be in ideological tune with people who share my heritage.

  123. 123.

    oldgold

    @rikyrah:

    Yes, generally speaking, Omar Little does tell it like it is. That is a great scene.

    That is not what I am advocating for at this point. What I think we need is a definitive showing that there is some there there. That is considerably short of what Omar was talking about.

    Without this push back, I think the investigation is snuffed out or crippled soon.

  124. 124.

    MomSense

    @oldgold:

    Here’s the thing, Mueller is the absolute best prosecutor for this job. He knows the law, knows how to put together these kinds of complicated cases, has the experience, and knows how to play the game of politics. You and and I have no ability to influence the pace of this. At some point you are either going to go mad or you will have to trust the expertise and judgment of Mueller. Again he is the best possible person for this job.

  125. 125.

    WereBear

    @MomSense: Absolutely, venting is helpful :) Even, vital.

    I know. Mr WereBear vents most vigorously every day! I hang in there… I think that after watching these assholes cavort for nearly four decades while I wailed just like Cassandra, I can now sense the payback coming.

    The pendulum swings. Tick tock mfers and all that.

    I came in at the beginning of this movie, and I’m hoping to stay to the very end.

  126. 126.

    Elizabelle

    @oldgold:

    Without this push back, I think the investigation is snuffed out or crippled soon.

    Go away, Ivan. Fuck off.

  127. 127.

    oldgold

    @MomSense:

    All things considered, Mueller probably is the best person for the job.

    That expressed, there is nothing wrong with those of us watching closely and with some experience offering our opinion. Mine is that at this time we need some authoritative public pushback against the forces of darkness.

  128. 128.

    KithKanan

    @schrodingers_cat: Not sure if you’ve pied me for being gloomy and angry and irrational. I wouldn’t blame you if you have.

    I think it has to do with white male middle class+ liberal privilege and its collapse. I was taught a lot of nice, pretty bullshit about the ideals and history of the country and how our system of government is supposed to work, and I actually believed most of it because (as far as I could tell in my bubble) things actually worked that way, at least most of the time. I knew there were some problems, that things didn’t actually work that way for at least some other groups of people some of the time, but “how things work for white males is how they should work for everyone” was a general political goal.

    The last few years (cell phone evidence and self-told stories, communicating with people outside that bubble on the internet, the obvious backlash to Obama) were already starting to show the flaws in that perspective, but Trump’s election basically smashed my entire world-view and my sense of relative safety, faith that enough people were basically rational and would do what they were supposed to that things would get better.

    I started to see other white men as the potential threat that every other group has probably seen us as for, y’know, ever. My experience of the world went from usually feeling safe to feeling uneasy, on edge, and threatened in the blink of an eye. I’m still trying to piece together what that I believed about… basically everything… was true and what was total bullshit, while simultaneously feeling like I don’t deserve to feel any of this because everyone else has had to deal with much worse for much longer.

  129. 129.

    MomSense

    @oldgold:

    Nothing wrong with offering your opinion, but maybe ease up on the pronouncements because I am confident in saying that you and the rest of us on the outside have no idea what is happening in the special counsel’s investigation. The big scoops the media are getting are 6,7,8 and more months behind.

    If you want to do something, help bombard the phone lines of the Republican members of the house intel committee to stop obstructing Justice. Write your local papers about how they are interfering with an investigation and putting the lives of sources in danger.

  130. 130.

    schrodingers_cat

    @KithKanan: No I haven’t pied you. Or anyone else for that matter. I think it is important to remember that we outnumber the people who voted for T. I am also gratified by the push back to the usual R nonsense that his election has generated. Look at the special elections and the various marches. The other side is clinging on to their power but they can’t stop the future. No one can. Giving up without a fight is exactly what they want from us and I don’t want to give them that satisfaction. We will prevail.

  131. 131.

    Wumpus

    @oldgold

    There are already mountains of evidence that there’s a there there. Mueller has already issued 18 indictments and won four convictions. The president’s campaign manager is currently being prosecuted for laundering money for the Russians. What’s publicly know about this case (not to mention Trump’s other crimes, e.g. the emoluments clause) would have been enough to impeach a president a dozen times over with any other Congress.

    This Republican Congress, however, is pursuing a strategy of simply pretending the mountains of evidence isn’t there. The hope that by simply supressing any mention of the fact that they’ve totally neglected to do their job the public will think it somehow means that Mueller has failed in doing his.

    Don’t give Congress a pass on their Constitutional obligations, and don’t blame Mueller for not doing your job (i.e. voting the bums out.)

  132. 132.

    No Drought No More

    A journalist on Joy Reid’s MSNBC airtime just explained that all traditional avenues of grease-and-influence ceased to operate (as it had for decades) with the election of Trump to the presidency. Everyone- including corporations- had assumed Hillary would win. When she didn’t, corporations sought and found access via Michael Cohen.

    Avenatti also pointed a laser beam at Patton Boggs, a big shot law firm that hired Cohen in the aftermath of Trump’s election, yet neglected to register him as a lobbyist as the firm damn well should have. He belabored, I thought, a point about how reputable and super intelligent the lawyers at the firm are known to be. Which makes me wonder what (guaranteed) percentage of them are Wiley Coyote types. It ain’t 0%, I’ll tell you that much.

  133. 133.

    oldgold

    @MomSense:

    My purpose is to offer opinions. If they come off as pronouncements, I regret that and will work on it.

    Beyond expressing my heretical opinions here, I am active politically. For instance, over the past 60 days I have been very active in terms of giving money and networking in support of progressive democratic candidates in my state’s upcoming primary.

  134. 134.

    J R in WV

    @oldgold:

    If Mueller has found collusion, that doesn’t mean anything, and he should never utter the word. Collusion isn’t a crime, which is why that ‘s the word Trump uses continuously.

    The crime is Conspiracy to commit some crime with others.

    And Mueller shouldn’t ever say anything, he should allow the Grand Jury’s indictments they hand up to the Judge do all the talking until way into the process. That’s why Comey lost his mojo, he started talking when that isn’t what LEO management does.

    They investigate and prosecute people who commit crimes, one of which is conspiracy to commit crimes.

  135. 135.

    ruemara

    @Baud: That’s highly possible. It’s also what makes some bad allies. You’re bemoaning losing these guys? They’re shit. Clean house of them; help those who are losing way, WAY more than you. It’s not all about you. Stop using, stop giving up after minimal effort. It’s why we don’t feel we can trust you.

  136. 136.

    oldgold

    @Wumpus:

    Yes, there have been indictments and guilty pleas, but to this point they have not gone to the heart of the matter.

    I am not blaming Mueller. I am offering an opinion as to what I think he needs to do to keep the investigation viable going forward.

    And, yes, as I mentioned immediately above, I am very active in Democratic politics and will most certainly be voting every opportunity I have to vote the bums out.

  137. 137.

    J R in WV

    @oldgold:

    …I am not blaming Mueller. I am offering an opinion as to what I think he needs to do…

    Problem with this is that your opinion is ignorant of required procedures of the Dept of Justice. Not following established procedure is, again, what got Comey screwed, as well as threw the election to Trump.

    No, Mr Mueller needs to follow long-established procedures of the Department of Justice in this important matter, anything else is nearly criminal malpractice.

    You can probably read the procedure document for political prosecutions if you care to. Large parts of it were published right after Comey broke all those rules.

  139. 139.

    Bill Arnold

    @oldgold:
    The way I’m looking at it [2], the Republicans and more importantly their propaganda outlets are trying desperately to make the Mueller(conservative (R), Justice Department)’s non-political investigation look like a purely partisan investigation. “Politicize it” is a phrase I’ve heard. They are not succeeding except among their audience, partisan Republicans. CNN Poll: Republicans shifting negative on Mueller’s investigation. If Mueller takes the bait and does more than the bare minimum[1] required to keep his investigation moving full forward, he plays into their hands.

    [1] Unfortunately that will need to be non-zero because of the shift among Republicans, maybe a few more indictments. It includes making it clear that there are both public (e.g. NYS investigations) and hidden backup plans, up to and including a full document leak that would eviscerate the (alarmingly corrupt and dirty aspects of) Republican party.
    [2] I could be wrong. :-)

  140. 140.

    Jeffro

    @Baud:

    We’ll also probably have to keep Trump from fleeing like Snowden to Russia.

    I think that probability needs its own meter/needle on Slate, NYT, etc. I’d peg it at about 10% at this point.

  141. 141.

    Jeffro

    @CaseyL:

    Collusion” isn’t a legal term; “conspiracy” is.

    Call the Trump-GOP scheme what it is: a conspiracy.

    Amen. “Conspiracy against the United States” is what some of the indictments have already noted, right? So conspiracy it is.

  142. 142.

    hitchhiker

    @KithKanan:

    White woman here, and I’m feeling all those same feels. Who the hell did we think we were? How the hell did we allow this to happen?

    I read/listen to history books all the time now, and try to refrain from too much speculating about what happens next week in the USA & the world. This really could be an inflection point, as much as the fall of Rome or the rise of the Nazis … I can only hope that 500 years from now, some version of me is taking in a bland version of the story of our time and not even realizing that it could easily have gone very wrong.

    A lot is riding on the elections six months from now.

  143. 143.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    Before this is over, we’re gonna find out that Trump was actually born in Kenya

    Trump, years ago, showed his birth certificate, that said that he was born in a hospital in Jamaica

  148. 148.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @satby: That looks good, but can I recommend another chick flick out currently that seems to be struggling a little? Amy Schumer’s film (stars in, didn’t write) I Feel Pretty. We’re putting off our Avengers moment till we have time and energy for a blockbuster.

    It (Pretty) is absolutely hilarious but aside from the difficulties of being up against The Avengers, it doesn’t seem to be getting good reviews from critics or fans and I just don’t get it. The premise is absurd and Schumer carries it off beautifully, and it has some really good things to say about women and body image, something I know is very dear to her heart. We have Schumer’s autobiography as an audio book with her reading it, and there are some powerful moments there, some really deeply felt and meaningful rants. This movie hits a lot of the same themes, to the point that I have a very hard time believing that she didn’t contribute to the script.

    One of the complaints I’ve seen is “I had a hard time accepting that someone as good-looking as her would think she isn’t pretty” but if you read her book, you find out in fact that critiques of her looks and weight have been a big part of her lifelong story and wrestling with self-esteem.

  149. 149.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Baud:

    We’ll also probably have to keep Trump from fleeing like Snowden to Russia.

    This is Trump we are talking about – likely he will attempt to evade US authorities by fleeing to Puerto Rico unit one of his few remaining loyalists points the obvious out and Trump then selects Mexico.

  150. 150.

    lowtechcyclist

    “Conspiracy” is a crime only when it’s a conspiracy to commit some specific underlying crime.

    The lay term for the underlying crime, in this case, is collusion.

    If I understand this correctly:

    a) Furriners aren’t allowed to contribute to campaigns for Federal office. That’s specifically illegal.
    b) It’s illegal for persons campaigning for Federal office to solicit such contributions from furriners. That, too, is specifically illegal.
    c) It’s also illegal to promise favors in return for campaign contributions, even when the contributions come from good old Amurricans, but also if they come from furriners.

    The combination of (a) and (b) is a kind of collusion, in lay terminology. Ditto for (c).

    I have no doubt that Mueller & Co. will call each crime in each indictment by its proper name, identified by its proper section of the U.S. Code. He isn’t going to use words like ‘collusion.’ But there’s no reason why the rest of us can’t.

  152. 152.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    @oldgold:

    heretical notion.

    Oh my God! People disagreed with me! I’ll just passive aggressively compare them to the Catholic inquisitors of the middle ages who are persecuting me!

    Get a grip, dude.

  153. 153.

    Luthe

    @Baud: I don’t think the issues is white progressives as a whole; it’s a subset of white progressives who thought they would be leading a vanguard made up of other white people and have suddenly realized that is not the case. Think of the BernieBros et al. and their disregard for issues like Black Lives Matter, women’s reproductive rights, and giving Dreamers a path to citizenship. Instead of a progressive utopia established by white people where their race would put them atop the privileged leadership heap, they are facing a coalition of women and people of color who don’t have time for trickle-down human rights and socialist economic policies that will eventually benefit them (at some point, for realsies). And so they have turned into Debbie Downers who attack “identity politics” as driving away the white lurkers who support them in email working class and blame Mueller for not trying people in the court of public opinion fast enough. They won’t get off their purity ponies unless they get to keep their status as most important.

    The more pragmatic progressives understand they need women’s and people of colors votes and winning those votes means being decent human beings who support a path to citizenship for hard-working people whose only crime was being brought to this country as children, the right of women to control their own bodies, economic justice that accounts for historic and institutionalized racism, and an end to police brutality against people of color (because BernieBros bitch to high heaven if one of theirs is attacked by police). And women and people color are used to fighting for their rights, having done it since the dawn of the Republic, so instead of sitting around whining they keep working for what they want.

    Of course, being white and male and privileged, the BernieBros et al. get all the news coverage, so their surprise at the lack of white support and doom-saying about the future of the Democratic Party are what gets broadcast to all, thereby depressing those who are more peripherally connected to politics than most of us jackals.

    It sucks that the 2016 election demonstrated how many white voters are stupid, racist assholes. I know that shook a lot of people to their core, but it also underlines the need to partner with people of color to drag the stupid, racist assholes kicking and screaming into the future. Including the BernieBros on their purity ponies.

  155. 155.

    J R in WV

    @Amir Khalid:

    “can a sitting POTUS be ordered to turn in his passport?”

    Maybe they would just take the keys to Air Force 1? ;-)

    I wonder if he still has his old 757 that he bragged was so much better the AF1? What an ass! But anyway, the old 757 would do for a getaway over the pole to the Russ. Maybe, I don’t know it’s range, he might have to skip to Iceland, Norway, etc, to refuel a couple of times.

    Oops, fully loaded only 3100 nautical miles, so a refueling stop! Crummy little jet! AF1 range is 6800 nautical miles, more than double. BKA in Moscow is 4900 miles, I dunno that in nautical miles, unless the route calculator uses them.

  156. 156.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @oldmold: You sound like a troll in dire need of having its corpse found in a backalley dumpster mutilated beyond recognition.

    @oldmold: You, a fighter? Bwahahaha! With your head stuck so far up your arse the only thing you have to fight for is air.

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