Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

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

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Let there be snark.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Come on, man.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

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

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Russiagate Open Thread: Always Watch Out for the Sons-in-Law…

Russiagate Open Thread: Always Watch Out for the Sons-in-Law…

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And here we were all assuming it would be Jared who proved the weakest link…

… Jeffrey Yohai, a former business partner of Manafort, was divorced from Manafort’s daughter last August.

Yohai has not been specifically told how he will be called on to cooperate as part of his plea agreement, but the two people familiar with the matter say they consider it a possibility that he will be asked to assist with Mueller’s prosecution of Manafort…

Hilary Potashner, a public defender who is representing Yohai, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Manafort’s spokesman, Jason Maloni, declined to comment.

Andrew Brown, a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, had been overseeing an investigation into Yohai’s real estate and bank dealings in California and New York several months before Mueller was appointed to his post in May 2017.

Yohai’s agreement, which was concluded early this year, included him pleading guilty to misusing construction loan funds and to a count related to a bank account overdraft.

While the deal was cut with Brown’s office, the federal government “can ask for help at any time,” said one of the people familiar with the matter…

As a close business partner, Yohai was privy to many of Manafort’s financial dealings, according to the two people familiar with the matter and court filings in the bankruptcies of four Los Angeles properties in 2016. In addition to co-investing in California real estate, the two cooperated in getting loans for property deals in New York, Manafort’s indictments show.

Mueller sent a team of prosecutors to interview Yohai last June, asking him about Manafort’s relationship with Trump, his ties to Russian oligarchs, and his borrowing of tens of millions of dollars against properties in New York, Reuters reported in February, citing people with knowledge of the matter…

Considering Yohai’s no longer married to Manafort’s daughter, and that he’s using a public defender, somehow I suspect he may not be guy’s biggest fan.

Probably not related, but surely timers will be set:

Reader Interactions

171Comments

  2. 2.

    Jerrt

    I’m old enough to remember that “having one’s son-in-law working for you” was prima facie evidence that 1) he was a blithering idiot who couldn’t be reasonably employed on his own merits elsewhere, and 2) in so hiring him, you were an idiot more concerned with your daughter’s material welfare than your own business’ integrity, and 3) you were oblivious or willfully ignorant at how the employment looked to others (i.e., the assumptions in 1&2).

    Today we have an Axis of Sons-in-Law who are corrupt and corrupting in plain sight. Kushner & Yohai, of course – but also MIchael Cohen (FiL is a corrupt oligarch) and a number of Cohen’s colleagues from the Sopranos sidewalk scene on Raid Day. I remember Josh Marshall was collecting info on that crew – which included another Olgarchic SiL – but haven’t ever seen his follow-up.

  3. 3.

    Amir Khalid

    I don’t know how much more thickening this plot can take. We must be getting close to the limit.

  4. 4.

    lamh36

    ‘Sup BJ!

    Today was my last day at work…It’s officially the start of my vacation! Tomorrow Dallas, then Saturday onward to AUSTRALIA!!!

    I walked out of work like…

    See ya in June!!??

    I was having troube getting everything I wanted packed into the new luggage I bought, so I packed it in my old carryon, which fit perfectly. But I REALLY wanted to used the new luggage!!! I don’t know how I did it, but I made one last attempt to pack all my stuff in my new luggage carryon…and I did it!!

    Wooh…took a combination of the vacuum bags and just good old fashioned “tight” packing and I easily closed it with everything but toiletries and my jackets which I used a vacuum bag for and put n my backpack!!!

    Woohoo!!

    For the rest of the evening/night, I’m gonna be doing a final checklist, setting DVR recordings, and making sure I have all my ducks in a row, so that when I leave for Dallas in the morning and on to Australia Saturday, I won’t have left anything behind that I needed…

  8. 8.

    Aleta

    The so-called “deportation bus” that a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Georgia is taking across the state broke down on Thursday, after water got into the fuel tank.

    Georgia state Sen. Michael Williams’ bus broke down on the side of Interstate 75 in Calhoun, Ga., but has since been repaired and is continuing its tour across the state’s “dangerous sanctuary cities.”

    Seth Weathers, a spokesman for Williams’ campaign, said that “a closer watch will be kept on the bus while making stops.”

    “Somehow, water managed to enter the fuel tank which caused the issue,” he said. “We certainly would not blame this on ANTIFA or others who are openly plotting to damage or destroy the bus. We know the left would never stoop to such a pathetic low.”

    Williams’ campaign announced the bus tour on Monday, saying in a statement that the initiative is intended to “expose how dangerous illegal aliens ruin local economies, cost American jobs, increase healthcare costs and lower education standards.”

    In an ad promoting the tour, Williams, a former state co-chair for President Trump’s campaign, said that he wants to “fill this bus with illegals to send them back to where they came from.”

    Williams has positioned himself as a staunch opponent of illegal immigration and so-called sanctuary cities – jurisdictions that do not fully cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts.

    Williams is among seven GOP candidates running to replace current Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican who is nearing the end of his second and final term in office.

    Hill

  9. 9.

    Patricia Kayden

    @lamh36: Have a great trip. Take some photos/videos so you can show us your adventures when you get back.

  11. 11.

    Brachiator

    Very OT before I leave for the day. A terrible and terribly funny story and NSFW video.

    A woman in Canada was so incensed about something Tim Hortons employees did or didn’t do that she dropped her pants, took a dump on the floor, threw it, grabbed some napkins to wipe her ass, threw those too, and left.

    There is no pixelation in this sped-up LiveLeak video. You are going to see everything that this woman, full of rage and previously turds, does to forever sully the floor of this Tim Hortons located in Langley, British Columbia

    I loved this Internet comment

    “Horton, Here’s a Poo!”

  13. 13.

    TaMara (HFG)

    So about this can you indict a sitting president – how about this, we take back the house, impeach the MOFO and then indict his ass. Question resolved.

    ETA: IMNAL, so you know, I have no idea what I’m talking about. I’m just in a foul mood and the GOP is top of my list of grievances today. Indict them all.

  14. 14.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Aleta: So why doesn’t Williams go after businesses which hire illegal immigrants? Aren’t they the ones luring and keeping them in this country?

  16. 16.

    lamh36

    Oh and I’m gonna be travelling ALL day on the day of the Royal Wedding, but I’m still hyped with all the activites…soooo ‪In honor of the royal wedding!!!

    What’s ur “royal” name?

    Mine is:
    Lady Beulah Polo of Mirabeau Ave or Lady Thelma Nala of Piety St‬

    ???

  19. 19.

    Central Planning

    @lamh36: Not to be a downer on your mad packing skillz, but you might want to pack things much looser so you can fit in memorabilia from your travels.

  23. 23.

    Millard Filmore

    @lamh36:

    I easily closed it with everything but toiletries and my jackets which I used a vacuum bag for and put n my backpack!!!

    I hope airport gate security does not make you trash the toiletries in your (carryon ???) backpack.

  24. 24.

    MattF

    I’m not at all surprised that someone in the Manafort sub-plot is a weak link. Manafort is ruthless and amoral, lots of people have held his beer and watched what happened next. Ya think ex-Manafort partner Roger Stone is next?

  25. 25.

    Central Planning

    @Barbara: When I was in China for 4 weeks working at the Olympics, I ended up buying a GIGANTIC rolling suitcase to pack up all the cheap crap I bought. The haggling at the megamarts there was fun. I’m sure the suitcase was cheap, and I’m also sure I haven’t used it since then.

  29. 29.

    Anne Laurie

    @Jerrt:

    I’m old enough to remember that “having one’s son-in-law working for you” was prima facie evidence that 1) he was a blithering idiot who couldn’t be reasonably employed on his own merits elsewhere, and 2) in so hiring him, you were an idiot more concerned with your daughter’s material welfare than your own business’ integrity, and 3) you were oblivious or willfully ignorant at how the employment looked to others (i.e., the assumptions in 1&2).

    All that, plus the alternative “brown-nosing Striver who married the boss’ otherwise-unspousable daughter in hopes of inheriting the business he’s not qualified to run.”

    Which, obs, didn’t work out so well for Yohai…

  30. 30.

    lamh36

    @Central Planning: my friend is with her husband and is bringing a duffle bag. I don’t mind having check baggage on the way back but going I wanted to make sure I don’t have a chance to lose a bag

  33. 33.

    YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)

    @Central Planning: A relative’s friend used a packing technique using old nearly worn out clothes that were disposed of after use. The suitcases we self emptying, leaving space for purchases on return.

  36. 36.

    lamh36

    So this is the video Hayes was teasing?

    Anyone else NOT surprised that Chump would not know the difference?

    And to be quite elitist about it…his supporters just a likely don’t either…so…they’ll be fine with him being ignorant about this.

    @yashar
    Follow Follow @yashar
    More Yashar Ali ? Retweeted All In w/Chris Hayes
    According to Bill Gates, Trump wanted to know “if there was a difference between HIV and HPV.”
    https://twitter.com/yashar/status/997251313338499072

  39. 39.

    Humdog

    @YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S): That is what my father in law did. He used to get a good laugh at how many cities he has left his underwear in. I had to wonder how big his undies were that not packing them back home left any sort of room in a suitcase…….

  40. 40.

    Corner Stone

    @lamh36: Looks like it is Bill Gates related. What a fucking let down. These guys at MSNBC need to take a fucking PR course.

  41. 41.

    lamh36

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: cool!!! More Spring weather in September…

    Current forecast for Melbourne for the 5 days I will be there, high: 57-62, low: 49-51. For Sydney for the 5 days I will be there, Avg high: 65-70, Avg low: 55-58, no rain.

  43. 43.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @lamh36: Have fun and remember that when you are in Australia, make sure you take your pictures upside-down so they are right-side up when you get home!

  46. 46.

    Major Major Major Major

    Just finished a meeting that probably killed the project I’m leading. So that was fun. Third major system I’ve been asked to design that will have gone nowhere since I’ve been here, coming up on two years now. I just went home an hour early.

    In a shocking coincidence, I’m looking for work elsewhere (as you know). I have one of those two-hour programming interviews scheduled for a week from now. Hopefully they’ll get me the coding challenge before the weekend.

    @lamh36: have a great trip!

  48. 48.

    Old Dan and Little Anne

    @lamh36: My sister flew out of Dallas a few weeks ago to Australia. She had the time of her life.

  49. 49.

    John Revolta

    Frankly it doesn’t sound like they’ve got a whole lot on this guy. I guess we’ll just have to hope that he, I dunno, might have a grudge against the old ex-father-in-law. It could happen.

  50. 50.

    Citizen Alan

    @lamh36:

    That would actually explain a lot about the bizarre conservative hysteria about the HPV virus if the dumb fucks thought it was a cure for HIV and they would have preferred to see everyone with HIV rot away and die.

  51. 51.

    Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)

    Open thread? Does anyone want to sign a petition? My school is eliminating the Photography program I’m enrolled in, despite increasing enrollment and job placement numbers, a whole new curriculum years in the planning that was just implemented this past Fall, and tons of money invested in upgraded equipment just in the past few months. The students, department head and advisors are stunned.

    There’s no other program like this anywhere near here, so we’re trying everything we can to get this decision reversed.

    https://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/478/241/511/

  54. 54.

    tobie

    If you google Yohai, you come across several pictures of him with Dustin Hoffman. Apparently Hoffman paid Yohai’s company $3 million to build him a house but the company went bust. Hoffman took him to court in June 2017 to recoup some of his investment:

    On Wednesday, the entity the Hoffmans used to invest with Yohai — a limited liability company called DJ Blue Jay Way — successfully petitioned a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Santa Ana to convert the Chapter 11 case to a Chapter 7 liquidation. That move paves the way for appointment of a trustee who will sell the residential property, possibly allowing the Hoffmans to recover their investment.

    I guess this is one of the reasons why Yohai is using a public defender. He’s broke. I’m getting the distinct impression that most real estate developers are pretty lousy businessmen.

  55. 55.

    joel hanes

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I once had a stretch of twelve straight years during which none of the system designs I’d worked on were ever announced as products, much less shipped to customers.
    Two successive aborted mainframe projects at Amdahl,
    the 3DO second-generation “m2” gaming console never productized,
    a startup game-box design which Nintendo did not buy,
    and three generations of settop-box R&D at WebTV,
    for which we produced and brought up hardware, but for which
    Microsoft never got around to producing any software.

    Then, with the next gig, it changed. Dramatically.
    Hang in there.

  58. 58.

    germy

    Open thread:

    Do you all remember the actor Lakeith Stanfield in Get Out, the young man with the hat who warns the protagonist to “Get Out!” after being startled by the flash from the camera? His nose bleeds, and then he reappears later to offer his apologies to the assembled guests.

    He stars in a new movie called Sorry To Bother You about a telemarketer who discovers the path to success is to talk “white” during his calls.

    Lakeith Stanfield as Cassius “Cash” Green, Sergio’s nephew, Detroit’s boyfriend and Steve’s employee
    David Cross as Cash’s “white voice”

    Tessa Thompson as Detroit, Cash’s girlfriend

    Jermaine Fowler as Salvador

    Omari Hardwick as Mr. Blank
    Patton Oswalt as Mr. Blank’s “white voice”

    Terry Crews as Sergio Green, Cash’s uncle

    Danny Glover as Langston
    Steve Buscemi as Langston’s “white voice”

    The trailer is hilarious. The movie was written and directed by Boots Riley.

  60. 60.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @lamh36: Let me know what you found that’s fun there, she’s looking for stuff to do. She’s also headed to New Zealand as well. The trip to Korea with her mom didn’t work out, so this is her consolation.

  64. 64.

    CliosFanBoy ne woodrowfan

    @Anne Laurie: OTOH, there was Adolphus Busch who married Lilly Anheuser and started working for her daddy’s brewery….

  69. 69.

    Mnemosyne

    @lamh36:

    Have a great trip! I started using packing cubes a few years ago and I LOVE THEM. They’re the best.

  70. 70.

    kindness

    @lamh36: Oh you HAVE to feed the kangaroos. They love bananas but the places only give you dry alfalfa to feed them. Those kangaroos were awesome. Make friends with them.

  71. 71.

    tobie

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I know…the name of that LLC is just awful. Dustin Hoffman has fallen several notches in my book tonight for doing real estate deals with shady characters and for giving his LLC such an absurd name.

  72. 72.

    MomSense

    @lamh36:

    Have so much fun, mate! If you get to Sydney, look for a glass sculptor set up on the beach. I have two of his dolphins and they are beautiful. He is a character!

  73. 73.

    Mnemosyne

    @tobie:

    I’m getting the distinct impression that most real estate developers are pretty lousy businessmen.

    Nine times out of 10, they are. An Eli Broad is a rare bird (he’s a local LA real estate developer who made a huge fortune).

  74. 74.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @tobie: There is actually a street in the Hollywood Hills called Blue Jay Way(it’s in an area called “The Bird Streets”, since all the streets are named after birds), George Harrison stayed at a house there and hence the song.

  75. 75.

    Fair Economist

    @Amir Khalid:

    I don’t know how much more thickening this plot can take. We must be getting close to the limit.

    If we reach it, does it collapse into a wingularity?

  80. 80.

    Fair Economist

    @lamh36:

    According to Bill Gates, Trump wanted to know “if there was a difference between HIV and HPV.”

    Doubly hilarious, because not only is it ridiculous Trump doesn’t know, it’s ridiculous he’d pick Gates as the virology expert to ask (although of course Gates would know).

  81. 81.

    Mnemosyne

    Following up on yesterday’s mistake I made at work, it may only be a $200 mistake and not a $7,000 mistake. Phew!

  83. 83.

    Viva BrisVegas

    @lamh36:

    Ah, drop bears. People always seem to think we are joking when we warn them, but do you know how many thousands of tourists just disappear each year? They keep arriving and a then few weeks later they are gone.

    When walking in the bush always look up, but also look down in case you tread on a taipan, the world’s second most deadly snake. Also look sideways in the bushes in case there are any funnelwebs, the most venomous spider in the world.

    So when in Australia, look up, down and sideways and you’ll be safe. Unless you fall into a wombat hole.

  84. 84.

    Elizabelle

    @Quinerly: In other good news reported by the NY Post, from their Page Six column:

    These stars forgot their pants
    May 17, 2018 | 2:43pm
    Pantlessness is trending on the red carpet right now.

    And who might have started that trend??

  85. 85.

    Mnemosyne

    @kindness:

    I knew someone who both held a baby kangaroo and ate kangaroo meat, which was delicious. She was very torn — So cute! But so delicious! But so cute!

  86. 86.

    germy

    When Saturday Night Live’s Pete Davidson stopped by Complex’s Open Late, the comedian recalled a strange experience the SNL cast had with its November 7, 2015, guest, Donald Trump. “He was weird all week,” Davidson told Open Late host Peter Rosenberg. “He faked a phone call during a table read.” Davidson mimed the president picking up a cell phone, and then immediately saying, “Fantastic, okay great,” Davidson continued, “Then he hung up and he goes, ‘Hey everybody, my book just went No. 1.’”

    Davidson pointed out that the phone did not ring, nor did Trump even pretend to pause and listen to the person on the other end of the line.

  90. 90.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Saturday Night Live’s Pete Davidson… recalled a strange experience the SNL cast had with its November 7, 2015, guest, Donald Trump… “He faked a phone call during a table read.” Davidson mimed the president picking up a cell phone, and then immediately saying, “Fantastic, okay great,” Davidson continued, “Then he hung up and he goes, ‘Hey everybody, my book just went No. 1.’” Davidson pointed out that the phone did not ring, nor did Trump even pretend to pause and listen to the person on the other end of the line. (link)

  91. 91.

    Shana

    @Quinerly: I see also that he’s not a member of the New York State Bar, which seems, hmm, like something he could be prosecuted for.

  93. 93.

    Peale

    @Fair Economist: infectious diseases are a major area for the Gates Foundation. Not only would he know the answer, he’s probably very up to date with developing reasearch and prevention strategies.

  95. 95.

    Roger Moore

    @tobie:

    I’m getting the distinct impression that most real estate developers are pretty lousy businessmen.

    The real estate development business is notoriously undercapitalized. As far as I can tell, it’s a business strategy related to the inherent risk of real estate development. Any development is one economic downturn or denied permit away from failure, so developers create their companies with the idea that they’ll just declare bankruptcy and let somebody else deal with the fallout if that happens. They do as much as possible with borrowed money, so they don’t lose their shirts personally. There are some well capitalized companies out there- I think the big time developers like KB Home and Lennar are diversified enough that they don’t need to adopt that strategy- but they’re the exception rather than the rule. It’s one reason why Trump’s apparent switch to financing everything with cash instead of credit is so hard to believe; he was a classic example of the developer who does everything with other people’s money and bails if things go south.

  97. 97.

    Steeplejack

    @kindness:

    Yeah, is it really a “witch hunt,” in the colloquial, satirical sense, if you actually find a witch every time you turn over a rock?

  101. 101.

    No Drought No More

    If Mueller Inc. doesn’t need Manafort to flip to make their case, the courts should make him suffer mightily. At this point, if convicted- and I mean, even for a parking ticket- I hope Manafort lives a long life in prison and dies behind bars. What these ugly people are putting this country through should be dealt with pitilessly. They owe all Americans an apology, and all Americans owe posterity their heads on a fucking platter, to serve both as this generations apology, but more importantly as an historical marker that traitors to the United States of America are condemned to suffer an unmerciful fate. If nothing else, we owe it to ourselves to hang ALL the pissants high, barring those Mueller Inc. sees fit to cut a plea deal.

  103. 103.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @lamh36:

    Don’t forget to unplug the iron and turn off the oven ?

    Have a fantastic time and take lots of pictures to send to Alain! We’ll all do our jackal best to hold the country together until you return. Bon voyage and safe adventures!

  107. 107.

    Yarrow

    @lamh36: Have a wonderful trip! So excited for you! I hope you’ll check in from time to time while you’re gone.

  108. 108.

    tobie

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Oops! I completely missed the allusion to LA streets.
    @Roger Moore: This is the most succinct explanation of how the real estate industry works I’ve read. What a crapshoot. No wonder that it’s Trump’s and Kushner’s line of work.

  109. 109.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Corner Stone: I opened myself up for that, but I don’t think anybody has accused Kaus of eating them.

    Goat curry is one of my favorite things at the Indian buffet. Had goat saag for lunch today in fact.

    But when at the petting zoo with the grand kids, I find goats to be cute, friendly little guys too.

  113. 113.

    Corner Stone

    This is off Cole’s twit feed. Ioffe can go concern troll fuck herself right to somewhere else, IMO.

    Julia Ioffe
    ‏Verified account @juliaioffe

    Aaron Schlossberg doesn’t seem like a very nice person, but does that merit harassing him in the street, kicking him out of his work space, having people trying to revoke his legal license? Imagine this happening to someone you agree with and see how you feel.

  114. 114.

    schrodingers_cat

    I found a perfect description in Hindi of T finding religion
    सौ चूहे खाके बिल्ली चली हज को |
    Sau chuhe kha kar, billi chali Hajj ko.
    Translation: After eating hundred mice, cat’s going to Hajj

  118. 118.

    JPL

    @Corner Stone: I found the NYPost following him cringe worthy. Deserved but still cringe worthy. I don’t have a problem with terminating the guys lease though.

  120. 120.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Mnemosyne:

    Neither one amounts to even a rounding error for the GEC. (Not saying you should make a habit of whatever you did or didn’t do, but in the great scheme of things it is not a big deal. Probably not any kind of a deal.)

  122. 122.

    Felony Govt (formerly Old Broad in California)

    @lamh36: Have a wonderful trip! My daughter loved Melbourne (and Australia in general) so much that she wound up living there for 2 years! She says make sure to see Federation Square and Flinders Street Station while you’re in Melbourne.

  123. 123.

    Roger Moore

    @Baud:

    Why do they care? So many people are treated much worse every day.

    Because this person who’s being treated badly is a well-off white dude.

  128. 128.

    germy

    @Corner Stone:

    Aaron Schlossberg doesn’t seem like a very nice person, but does that merit harassing him in the street

    He harassed people at their workplace.

    He’s simply receiving the treatment he dished out to others.

  129. 129.

    Baud

    @TS (the original):

    “The national media is ignoring an avalanche of real, hard evidence of corruption during the years of the Clinton administration. The New York Times just a few minutes ago posted a story about — in exchange for five minutes with Bill Clinton, the government of Qatar was going to give $1 million to the Clinton Foundation,” Pence said Oct. 16, 2016.

    http://www.politifact.com/global-news/statements/2016/oct/16/mike-pence/did-qatar-promise-clinton-foundation-1-million-fiv/

  131. 131.

    Kay

    Garance Franke-Ruta
    ‏More Garance Franke-Ruta Retweeted Steven Rattner
    Winners in Trump’s trade war w China: Russian farmers

    China’s buying soybeans from Russia instead of the US. The world’s greatest deal-maker strikes again.

    Farmers all watch markets almost obsessively, so they know already.

    I know experts disputes this, and I’m willing to be talked out of it, but by the end of this I feel like it’s going to be very, very clear why Russia backed Trump and the GOP Congress in 2016 and it’s gonna be money. Specifically. Like in a way that can be counted :)

  136. 136.

    Thoughtful David

    @Corner Stone:
    @JPL:
    I tried to imagine myself seeing someone I agree with in that situation as Ioffe suggests, but it doesn’t work. I just can’t say I’d ever agree with a disgusting human being like that, so I have no trouble with him losing his lease and his law license and hopefully his friends and neighbors and family, and having his face associated with his vileness everywhere for a month. Too many of these assholes have gotten away with stuff for too long. Time to make them pay.

  138. 138.

    Tilda Swintons Bald Cap

    Bill Gates: “When I first talked to Trump, it was a little scary how much he knew about my daughter’s appearance. Melinda didn’t like that too much.”

  139. 139.

    J R in WV

    @lamh36:

    Hey, woman, congratulations on the long vacation!!! Have a good time, keep mobile on those long plane flights to keep your flexibility, keep in touch with us jackals as you go, so we’ll know you’re OK.

    Send Alain some photos, they don’t need to be BillinGlendale good, just pix of your trip.

    Best of times!! Enjoy…

  141. 141.

    trollhattan

    Latest food abomination, spotted tonight in the fridge: “Vegan kale, cashew and basil pesto.”

    Who’s grand idea was this? How soon can J.B. Sessions throw their ass in prison?

  148. 148.

    Corner Stone

    @germy: Schlossberg is a multiple time harasser and hate filled bigot. He’s on video for at least two encounters where he went way over the line. His previous classmates were all like, “Yeah, he’s an asshole. Unsurprising.”
    I personally am against ruining someone’s life over a random incident, but I mean, what kind of privilege did he think he had in his back pocket? That he was a Trump supporter gave him license to threaten anyone around him who did something he did not like? He is no victim and I refuse to continue giving these god damn Trump surrogates the benefit.
    Dude is an attorney in NYC. Give me a…

  152. 152.

    J R in WV

    @Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA):

    As a former professional photographer I have signed the petition and made an appropriate comment supporting the photo program: If money and time have been invested, terminating the program in a time of high demand is poorly thought out.

  153. 153.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Citizen Alan:
    The moron oversimplification of HPV is ‘a virus only women get from sex.’ Punishing women for having sex is one of THE top conservative goals.

    If you’re preparing facts and arguments, don’t bother. That description is all they know and all they care about.

  154. 154.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Omnes Omnibus: In general no, in this instance yes.

    @Origuy: You are taking things too literally.

    ETA: In this instance JI is acting like a member of her media tribe, many of who have been concern trolling Ds as being mean and pushing poor conservatives in the arms of Rs like T.

  155. 155.

    Peale

    @Thoughtful David: in the end, they better get used to us getting pissed at these yahoos. I don’t mind if they’re starting to get afraid of “tribal” responses on our side for a change.

  158. 158.

    J R in WV

    @Baud:

    But of course the Clinton Foundation is a real and charitable foundation with low overhead and high pass-through of funds to needed programs.

    With no political connections that provide play for pay! Most people who contributed to the Clinton Foundation got nothing what-so-ever in return!

    Unlike Republicans with fraudulent foundations, and no play without big payoffs. Fucker – Pence, I mean!!

  159. 159.

    Steve in the SFO

    @lamh36:

    According to Bill Gates, Trump wanted to know “if there was a difference between HIV and HPV.”

    “How people have the be in the car to use those lanes?”

  160. 160.

    Peale

    @Kay: Russia isn’t really a major exporter of soybeans. And there’s no way it could make up for the US supply. China imports a lot of soybeans, though. More than 1/2 the worlds imports head there. The US supply would be missed, sure. But not as much as we’d miss access to that market. We had already fallen behind Brazil as the primary exporter of beans to China. There aren’t enough large markets around for us to dump the glut on.

  161. 161.

    Corner Stone

    @Peale: I didn’t think Russia could export their way out of a paper bag unless it involved extraction materials or assassinations.

  162. 162.

    Anne Laurie

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    The moron oversimplification of HPV is ‘a virus only women get from sex.’ Punishing women for having sex is one of THE top conservative goals.

    To them, HPV means slutty women get cervical cancer (as Gawd intends), and The Gays get oral/throat cancer. In fact, when the vaccine was first offered to teenagers, IIRC there was a RWNJ social-media kerfuffle about OMG THE BIG-GUBMINT SKOOL SYSTEM WANTS TO GIVE UR SONS A SHOT TO TURN THEM KWEER!!!!

    I swear, it seems like the hardcore RWNJ men don’t even enjoy sex themselves — they may be “forced by their hormones” to use other people as cum-dumpsters, but they don’t enjoy it. So anyone who does enjoy sex, in their tiny minds, must be some kinda weirdo pervert. That’s why it’s so easy for them to forgive ‘their own kind’ for stuff like pedophilia, domestic abuse & bestiality… if enjoying any kind of sex is perverted, then the overwhelming majority of the human race are perverts, willing or unwilling.

  163. 163.

    PatrickG

    @Major Major Major Major: Heya M^4. Very long-time lurker popping in to say I sent an email to Anne Laurie asking her to possibly connect us re: employment opportunities.

    I’m a binge lurker*, so I’m unlikely, but if she’s an evil front-pager and doesn’t relay my message, just put up a bat signal in a future thread. :)

    * Defined as person who devours multiple threads hours after the fact but infrequently comments.

  165. 165.

    Gelfling 545

    @Frankensteinbeck: They’re also under the impression that if they protect their daughters from the disease they will somehow wantonly run out and have unbridled sex with all and sundry. Apparently fear of cancer is the only thing that will restrain these hussies.

  168. 168.

    Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)

    @J R in WV: Thank you both so much. Evidently an investigative reporter from a local station thinks there might be a story there, so we’re not quite done yet. I hope there really is something there and that they reinstate the program just to shut us up.

  170. 170.

    Amir Khalid

    @Baud:
    So Pense the Dence can’t tell between the Clinton Administration and the Clinton Foundation. If it helps him out any, neither of them was actually corrupt, and aside from Bill’s presidential salary neither was a source of profit for the Clintons.

  171. 171.

    SectionH

    @lamh36: at post 1. You probably won’t see this (but maybe from Dallas) – whether you see it or not, sending my wishes for a Wonderful, Amazing, Great Trip.

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