• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Come on, man.

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

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

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

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

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

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

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

If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.

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

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Politics / Activist Judges! / Repub Venality Open Thread: Go Away, Smarmy Dubya Minion

Repub Venality Open Thread: Go Away, Smarmy Dubya Minion

by Anne Laurie|  May 20, 20185:27 pm| 184 Comments

This post is in: Activist Judges!, Dolt 45, Open Threads, Republican Venality, Russiagate, All Too Normal

FacebookTweetEmail

I trust Mueller to pursue the truth, but his hirings create the appearance of bias:

82% of his lawyers are Ds. 71% of them have contributed money to D candidates/causes.

Mueller’s lawyers donated $80,257. Ds got 77,507 (97%) while Rs got $2,750 (3%). https://t.co/w8OF570wGv

— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) May 19, 2018


KellyAnne Conway’s husband (a lawyer) rebuts…

Nope. His hirings show that he hired lawyers. And lawyers overwhelmingly tend, especially in the elite ranks, to be liberal Democrats. https://t.co/Oh8Ys1ynQO

— George Conway (@gtconway3d) May 19, 2018

The more highly educated people are, the more they — on average — trend towards a little left of American center – square in the middle of the “liberalism” box on the political map (right of center on that).

— Bad Horse (@BadHorseOC) May 19, 2018

If you knew anything about DOJ, you’d know prosecutors check our politics at the door. A foreign concept for you I realize, Ari, but it’s a principle that is imprinted in our DNA.

— Dwight Holton (@RogueDew) May 19, 2018

Little toad refuses to quit, comes back for another round…

Per the Constitution, Congress will decide if impeachment is in order. Mueller’s report will be their basis.

To have more credibility, Mueller’s staff should have consisted entirely of non-donors so no one could question their partisanship. Party balance should have been equal.

— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) May 19, 2018

That would have been a violation of DOJ rules, which forbid considering political affiliation in hiring for career positions. https://t.co/vRn4Nzr74a

— Julian Sanchez (@normative) May 19, 2018

“Let me engage in a grubby and dishonest attack against Mueller to discredit his investigation so I can remain loyal to my political tribe, but I’ll start off by saying that I trust Mueller so I can maintain the appearance of not being a partisan” https://t.co/rbcvP2VTll

— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) May 19, 2018

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « In Through the Out Door
Next Post: The Mystery Man Revealed – And Open Thread »

Reader Interactions

184Comments

  1. 1.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 20, 2018 at 5:32 pm

    For Mueller to have done what Ari suggests here would have been brazenly illegal. Under federal law, Mueller was forbidden from considering political affiliation when selecting individuals for his team. https://t.co/Cks6xAEzIe

    — Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) May 20, 2018

  2. 2.

    jayjaybear

    May 20, 2018 at 5:33 pm

    Why is Ari Fleischer still allowed to speak/tweet in public? You’d think with all of his credibility drained away by his association with the Bush Crime Family, his opinions on things concerning the Trump Crime Family would be worth zilch to anybody…oh, wait! I forgot when we’re living…

  3. 3.

    Corner Stone

    May 20, 2018 at 5:36 pm

    I wish we could start fresh with all the previous (and current) administration minions being banished from TV. I simply do not want to hear anything from a GHWB, WJC, GWB, Obama or certainly a Trump admin minion. Ever again. Thanks FSM for hearing my prayer.

  4. 4.

    Mike in NC

    May 20, 2018 at 5:37 pm

    Ari Fleischer was the prototype liar that led to Sean Spicer and Possum Queen. They were “advanced” models capable of 100% dishonesty.

  5. 5.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    May 20, 2018 at 5:37 pm

    Because the Congress surely won’t be partisan, will it?

  6. 6.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 20, 2018 at 5:37 pm

    This explains a lot. They basically just wind each other up.

    President Trump has been talking with Giuliani all weekend about next steps on DOJ/secret FBI source, Giuliani tells WashPost just now. Long chat by phone Sat night, another convo 6:30 a.m. Sunday…

    — Robert Costa (@costareports) May 20, 2018

    I can’t believe Giuliani would advise him to take it to this level. I have to believe Trump went off the ledge on his own.

    If Giuliani’s advice during these calls was to order an investigation, it would qualify as some of the worst legal advice I’ve ever seen a POTUS receive. https://t.co/Kg5Vq5NPF6

    — Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) May 20, 2018

  7. 7.

    Corner Stone

    May 20, 2018 at 5:37 pm

    @jayjaybear:

    oh, wait! I forgot when we’re living…

    In the dumbest possible timeline?

  8. 8.

    MattF

    May 20, 2018 at 5:38 pm

    Ari seems ignorant about that ‘partisan’ thing. Can’t trust Democrats, I guess. Also, those ‘professionalism’ and ‘bias’ things. So complicated.

  9. 9.

    Corner Stone

    May 20, 2018 at 5:39 pm

    @Mike in NC: Ari Fleischer runs rings around Spicey and TPQ. That dude was not the prototype he was the pinnacle of soulless liars and lying, with a heavy application of malice thrown in.

  10. 10.

    Corner Stone

    May 20, 2018 at 5:40 pm

    @MattF:

    Can’t trust Democrats, I guess.

    It’s why we always must have a Republican head up the FBI and also the DoD. They are the only ones capable of keeping America safe.

  11. 11.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 20, 2018 at 5:42 pm

    Shot:

    Rudy Giuliani says that Mueller plans to finish by September 1st the investigation into whether Trump obstructed justice. https://t.co/uefDH7O5R7

    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 20, 2018

    Chaser:

    Who the hell cares what Giuliani says? He hasn’t said one credible thing since he started his bug-eyed, arm waving tour of cable and network TV. What the president just said is the important story today!

    — Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) May 20, 2018

  12. 12.

    arrieve

    May 20, 2018 at 5:46 pm

    Ah, Ari Fleischer. The first soulless human-shaped vermin that I wanted to reach through the television screen and throttle, back when that was a rare occurrence in my life. Now I can only avoid that urge by not watching television.

  13. 13.

    Ruckus

    May 20, 2018 at 5:46 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:
    Walter Shaub.
    Your time line is off. Giulianus hasn’t said one credible thing in a lot longer than he’s been saying insane crap about drumpf.

  14. 14.

    Corner Stone

    May 20, 2018 at 5:47 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Indeed. Rudy has the perfect foil in Mueller because he knows RM will never comment publicly either way. So Rudy can spout anything he likes, knowing the media will broadcast it far and wide. And then when it comes out as not true Rudy will scream at the mics that Mueller lied to him! Outrage!

  15. 15.

    Roger Moore

    May 20, 2018 at 5:50 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    If Giuliani’s advice during these calls was to order an investigation, it would qualify as some of the worst legal advice I’ve ever seen a POTUS receive.

    Has he been watching Giuliani on TV? Giving the worst legal advice any POTUS has ever received would be perfectly in line with what Giuliani has been saying in public since Trump brought him on.

  16. 16.

    NotMax

    May 20, 2018 at 5:52 pm

    Cut back on the Kool-Aid, Ari.

  17. 17.

    eemom

    May 20, 2018 at 5:54 pm

    The Conway home must be a fun place. To say nothing of the master bedroom….

  18. 18.

    Corner Stone

    May 20, 2018 at 5:55 pm

    To quote a man who’s not sure what he’s having for dinner tonight:
    “Rudy says ‘Moon made of green cheese’, reports all media outlets uncritically.”

  19. 19.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 20, 2018 at 5:57 pm

    DOJ’s already moving to get the President back in line:

    JUST IN: DOJ asks Inspector General to investigate possible political motivation during the origin of Russia probe. pic.twitter.com/5dmfcolEh5

    — Paula Reid (@PaulaReidCBS) May 20, 2018

    A political compromise by Rosenstein that seeks to head off further escalation, but it is still a dangerous step in the wrong direction. The IG shouldn’t be pursuing political charges made by the president based on zero evidence. https://t.co/JNESM0Oivb

    — Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) May 20, 2018

  20. 20.

    kdaug

    May 20, 2018 at 5:57 pm

    From 1984

    Replace Bangkok with Baghdad

    “Arrogance and stupidity, all in one package. How efficient of you.”

    ETA: fixed link

  21. 21.

    Corner Stone

    May 20, 2018 at 5:57 pm

    Looks like Rosenstein is either caving or throwing squid ink by the double handful.

  22. 22.

    Timurid

    May 20, 2018 at 5:58 pm

    It appears Rosenstein wants to keep his job.

  23. 23.

    Corner Stone

    May 20, 2018 at 6:01 pm

    Once again, the DoJ is playing Trump’s game. Pathetic.

  24. 24.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 20, 2018 at 6:04 pm

    @Corner Stone: @Timurid: By shuffling this off to the IG, given that Rosenstein knows that the informant was used properly and the FISA warrants were appropriately requested and approved by the FISC, it will buy him at least 6 months of being able to say: the IG is looking into it, we can’t comment. Remember, at the level that Rosenstein is playing he has to be as good a politician as he is a prosecutor.

    He’s purchasing time to head off an overt constitutional crisis that can’t be ignored like the dozens of smaller ones that the GOP majority Congress has let slide since the minute the President finished the oath and took his hand off the bible at his inauguration.

  25. 25.

    Doug R

    May 20, 2018 at 6:04 pm

    Those lovers of the second and fifth amendments really do hate the first don’t they?

  26. 26.

    Another Scott

    May 20, 2018 at 6:07 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: +1

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  27. 27.

    jayjaybear

    May 20, 2018 at 6:10 pm

    Part of me wants the Constitutional crisis to finally come. Pop the damn pimple and get that over with. The sooner we get to that confrontation the sooner we can start piecing things back together and maybe a little more robustly than before. If nothing else, this whole Trump folferol is showing us which parts of our governing philosophy are actual law and which parts are only custom and need to be MADE law.

  28. 28.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 20, 2018 at 6:10 pm

    @Another Scott: It is important to remember that Rosenstein gets regular updates from Mueller on what the Special Counsel has found and what he and his team are working on. Rosenstein knows exactly what the classified information from the counterintelligence investigation that Mueller inherited says. He is buying time and room to maneuver for Mueller. It may not be enough, but that is what he is doing.

  29. 29.

    clay

    May 20, 2018 at 6:12 pm

    I trust Mueller to pursue the truth, but his hirings create the appearance of bias

    “Appearance of bias” =/= “bias”. Dumbass.

  30. 30.

    RSA

    May 20, 2018 at 6:12 pm

    I trust Mueller to pursue the truth, but his hirings create the appearance of bias…

    Fleischer would never in a million years say, “I trust Trump, but his actions create the appearance of corruption….”

    And yet the parallel is undeniable.

  31. 31.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 20, 2018 at 6:12 pm

    @jayjaybear: You don’t want it until the Democrats have retaken one or more chambers of Congress.

    There is chatter that the next batch of indictments are being prepared. The sources for this are hit and miss. I have no way to know if they are on target this time or way off. But if that chatter is circling in DC, then it helps explain why the President is bouncing off the walls.

  32. 32.

    Corner Stone

    May 20, 2018 at 6:12 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: That’s what normal people think is going on. But it’s not. Trump wants the delay. What do you think he will be doing in the interim? Or if he takes the referral as cause to fire Rosenstein? This is a dangerous step down.

  33. 33.

    Baud

    May 20, 2018 at 6:14 pm

    As president, I will not treat as legimate any Supreme Court decision that is not joined by a Democratic appointee. #ShoeMeetOtherFoot

  34. 34.

    Amir Khalid

    May 20, 2018 at 6:16 pm

    @Corner Stone:
    Mind you, common sense will lead a lot of people — and in fact has led them — to the conclusion that Rudy G is just making shit up. There is clearly a great deal still to be investigated, and the investigation is done only when that is done. Why would Bobby Three Sticks promise anyone a wrap-up date?

  35. 35.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 20, 2018 at 6:17 pm

    And Costa confirms it. A Giuliani production!

    Giuliani to WashPost, Sunday: “I don’t see why [DOJ] would oppose this. They may want to put some strictures on it, like it has to be confidential or they don’t give the name but they give the information. If they don’t want to do anything, it’s a serious problem."

    — Robert Costa (@costareports) May 20, 2018

    Why Giuliani matters here: he says he's telling the president to avoid doing a Mueller interview until the DOJ reveals more about its activities. So the president is being advised on this source/FBI front not just by Kelly/McGahn + lawmakers but his own personal legal team.

    — Robert Costa (@costareports) May 20, 2018

  36. 36.

    Another Scott

    May 20, 2018 at 6:17 pm

    @clay: Ari isn’t stupid. He knows exactly what he’s doing.

    He’s an enabler, and more, of Trump and his minions. He’s an enemy and should be shunned, not given more visibility.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  37. 37.

    kdaug

    May 20, 2018 at 6:17 pm

    @jayjaybear: Either in the next few months, or inmediately following the election. There’s a window of opportunity before the midterms, but I think we’re still in the safe zone

  38. 38.

    zhena gogolia

    May 20, 2018 at 6:19 pm

    @jayjaybear:

    Wait for November.

  39. 39.

    kdaug

    May 20, 2018 at 6:21 pm

    @Another Scott: Ari “The American people need to watch what they say” Fleischer?

    Say it ain’t so.

  40. 40.

    Kraux Pas

    May 20, 2018 at 6:26 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    shouldn’t be pursuing political charges made by the president based on zero evidence.

    It’s like the lessons of Benghazi! and E-mailgate rolled into half a sentence.

  41. 41.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 20, 2018 at 6:27 pm

    @Kraux Pas: Yep.

  42. 42.

    Anne Laurie

    May 20, 2018 at 6:28 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Rudy Giuliani confirms to me Robert Mueller told him about a month ago that the investigation could be wrapped up by September. However he says it was in the context of a discussion about whether President Trump would do an interview- aka a negotiating tactic

    — Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) May 20, 2018

  43. 43.

    TS (the original)

    May 20, 2018 at 6:29 pm

    @MattF:

    Can’t trust Democrats, I guess

    And yet, President Obama had no trouble trusting republicans. There aren’t any “Both sides” with this discussion.

  44. 44.

    Another Scott

    May 20, 2018 at 6:30 pm

    @kdaug: Yup. He has an infamous history.

    Similarly with Frum. I won’t read him, either.

    IMHO, life is too short to keep with what Republicans are saying every single day. They’re not going to help us win in November, and that has to be our number one priority.

    I’ve just sent another donation to VoteRiders.org and LWV.org Those are the people and groups we should be spending time, energy, and money on right now, IMHO.

    Eyes on the prize…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  45. 45.

    Cheryl Rofer

    May 20, 2018 at 6:31 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Concur. And it was better to do it today, to anticipate, rather than wait for whatever Guiliani and his master would come up with.

  46. 46.

    Wild Cat

    May 20, 2018 at 6:32 pm

    Fleischer and Giuliani—-two more reasons to loathe the NY Yankees.

  47. 47.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 20, 2018 at 6:34 pm

    FTFNYT headline:

    Mueller Plans to Wrap Up Obstruction Inquiry Into Trump by Sept. 1, Giuliani Says

    Okay, I’ll admit I was pretty scared by

    Mueller Plans to Wrap Up Obstruction Inquiry Into Trump by Sept. 1
    because that’s only three months from now, and that seems kind of arbitrary and pressuring, but then I noticed

    Giuliani Says

    and I felt better because absofuckinglutely everyfuckingthing Giuliani ever says is wrong.

    ET unfurl some fucked formatting.

  48. 48.

    Patricia Kayden

    May 20, 2018 at 6:34 pm

    If 100% of Mueller’s team was composed of Republicans who donated to Republicans, Ari and his ilk would still find something to discredit them. This is about protecting their President and their political brand.

    And Ari is trying to create an excuse for Trump’s eventual firing of Rosenstein and Mueller.

  49. 49.

    Roger Moore

    May 20, 2018 at 6:35 pm

    @TS (the original):

    And yet, President Obama had no trouble trusting republicans. There aren’t any “Both sides” with this discussion.

    Sure there’s a “both sides” take: both sides trust Republicans in law enforcement and national security, but only one side trusts Democrats. Therefore, we must have exclusively Republicans, since they’re the only ones everyone can trust.

  50. 50.

    patrick II

    May 20, 2018 at 6:36 pm

    @MattF:

    Projection. A dishonest partisan sees dishonest partisans wherever he looks. The only question for him is are they partisan for his tribe or against his tribe. There are no other questions he would think to ask, such as those regarding loyalty to the constitution, law, and integrity.

  51. 51.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 20, 2018 at 6:37 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Yep.

  52. 52.

    Kraux Pas

    May 20, 2018 at 6:38 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Okay, I’ll admit I was pretty scared by

    Mueller Plans to Wrap Up Obstruction Inquiry Into Trump by Sept. 1

    because that’s only three months from now, and that seems kind of arbitrary and pressuring

    Even if this is true, this is only one facet of a much larger investigation that only arose because Trump plainly, publicly has made every effort to obstruct the broader investigation. So if Giuliani happens to be telling the truth (for once), this is still only the beginning.

  53. 53.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 20, 2018 at 6:39 pm

    R-party wants this country to be a one party state. Like their patrons.

  54. 54.

    oldgold

    May 20, 2018 at 6:39 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Remember, at the level that Rosenstein is playing he has to be as good a politician as he is a prosecutor.

    In your view, does this apply to Mueller?

  55. 55.

    Josie

    May 20, 2018 at 6:41 pm

    @Another Scott:
    This is exactly right. We should not be worrying about what Giuliani or the FTFNYT says or anyone else for that matter. We should be donating and canvassing for Democratic candidates in all locales. I suggest VoteRiders, Battleground Texas and Beto O’Rourke, for instance.
    Say to yourself every day just as Scott says, “Eyes on the Prize.”

  56. 56.

    Spc123

    May 20, 2018 at 6:41 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: Fleischer understands the flagrantly stupid “logic” in his tweets will work with the base and as a veteran flack, has no shame saying it.

  57. 57.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 20, 2018 at 6:42 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I made it worse. Much worse. And now the edit window is closed forever, not unlike the school doors in Dan Patrick’s wet dreams.

  58. 58.

    Mary G

    May 20, 2018 at 6:47 pm

    Most of the people I read are saying Rosenstein is just stalling for time, but it’s still a very dangerous precedent for him to appear to appease Twitler, and I worry that he will demand more now that he knows he can “hereby demand” anything he pleases.

  59. 59.

    zhena gogolia

    May 20, 2018 at 6:47 pm

    @oldgold:

    I don’t know about Adam, but I would say Mueller is probably a POLITICIAN EXTRAORDINAIRE

    ETA: Have you ever known anyone who’s even a GS-15? Political skills come with the territory. And Mueller is stratospherically beyond that.

  60. 60.

    debbie

    May 20, 2018 at 6:48 pm

    Wasn’t Ari part of the administration that required DOJ prosecutors belong to the Federalist Society?

  61. 61.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 20, 2018 at 6:48 pm

    @oldgold: Yes. No one rises to these positions without being master politicians. I would argue that AG Sessions is the former, has mastered being a politician, while not being very good at the latter, a Federal prosecutor. Sessions knew when to place the bet, support the President’s candidacy, that would get him the payout he wanted, being named attorney general. He may well have lost that bet had the President not been successful, but he was risking little as he’d have remained a senator.

    But the senior folks who are also career folks – Rosenstein, Mueller, etc – are masters of both domains.

  62. 62.

    Cheryl Rofer

    May 20, 2018 at 6:49 pm

    so basically the president made an announcement that could potentially precipitate a constitutional crisis and no one, including his own congressional allies and staffers, knows what he means pic.twitter.com/HcCWiplZEW

    — Quinta Jurecic (@qjurecic) May 20, 2018

    ETA: This is why the DOJ had to get out ahead of whatever Trump is going to say.

  63. 63.

    debbie

    May 20, 2018 at 6:50 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    I think both Mueller and Rosenstein are not politicians, but they sure know how to play them like fiddles!

  64. 64.

    Denali

    May 20, 2018 at 6:51 pm

    Why does anyone still listen to Rudy? He jst makes things up.

  65. 65.

    debbie

    May 20, 2018 at 6:52 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Late night gab fest with Rudi? Trump’s thrown Hannity over so quickly? What a tease.

  66. 66.

    Roger Moore

    May 20, 2018 at 6:56 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    R-party wants this country to be a one party state. Like their patrons.

    They’ve wanted it for a while. That was the essence of the whole K Street Project and the permanent Republican majority stuff Karl Rove put together back in the 2000s. They have refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of any election that puts Democrats in charge, at least back to the Clinton era.

  67. 67.

    JPL

    May 20, 2018 at 6:56 pm

    I miss Nixon, and I truly dislike the man.

  68. 68.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 20, 2018 at 6:56 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: articles about Rumsfeld would always say that he was a “master bureaucratic in-fighter” or some such. It drove me crazy because they would never explain what that meant, or how he fought. Finally one article detailed how he outsmarted, or outplayed Condi Rice. He was a passive-aggressive, kiss-up-kick-down asshole. She would ask for information or cooperation, he stonewalled or ignored her, expressed surprise that his orders to get her what she wanted hadn’t been carried out, etc. And of course, it ultimately worked only as long as he (and Cheney) could drown out Rice with the little man then occupying the Big Chair. As I type, I wonder how much Rice’s resentment helped Bush finally decide to shitcan Rummy

    Not to say that’s what Meuller or Rosenstein are like, but it’s a different kind of politics from what people say when they talk about the retail political or rhetorical skills of an Obama or Bubba. Kind of like Nancy Pelosi is so damn good at her actual job, but gets judged by so many (amateur) political junkies based on how she performs on TV. And somehow, that chinless blackhole of charisma from Kentucky is also very effective at keeping people who are better on TV (McCain, Graham, even Collins) in line.

  69. 69.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 6:59 pm

    @arrieve: Just starting to read comments, so perhaps others got there first, but srsly … Ron Ziegler? Or is he no longer operative?

  70. 70.

    zhena gogolia

    May 20, 2018 at 6:59 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Yes, what you say about Rumsfeld is what I mean at #59.

  71. 71.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 20, 2018 at 7:04 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Yep.

  72. 72.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 7:04 pm

    @eemom: Yeah, what reality-inducing drug has George Conway #3 been taking?

    He doesn’t have a reputation as a non-partisan, and that’s understating matters.

  73. 73.

    Gex

    May 20, 2018 at 7:04 pm

    From the guy associated with the administration that fired federal prosecutors for political reasons comes concern trolling about the politics of federal prosecutors. Sure why not? If this isn’t the worst possible timeline, the GOP is dedicated to making it become the worst possible timeline.

  74. 74.

    debbie

    May 20, 2018 at 7:05 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Nothing new. It was Karl Rove who dreamed out loud about a “permanent majority.”

  75. 75.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 20, 2018 at 7:06 pm

    @debbie: They had him scheduled to go to Camp David this weekend. Get him out of DC and where he could be managed. Instead, for whatever reason, that was cancelled on Friday and he remained at the White House. And given that Friday through sundown last night was shabbat and Shavuot has started, it means that Jared and Ivanka are offline and can’t be relied on to help moderating him either.

  76. 76.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 20, 2018 at 7:07 pm

    @Dev Null: I’d say he’s sleeping on the couch, but since I imagine Kellyanne sleeps, or takes her rest, in a coffin lined with dirt from the graves of Joe McCarthy and Phyllis Schlaffly in the basement, I guess ol’ George has the tempurpedic all to himself anyway

  77. 77.

    debbie

    May 20, 2018 at 7:08 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I don’t think Jarvanka can moderate him any more. Trump certainly hasn’t come across as reasonable on week days or week nights.

  78. 78.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 20, 2018 at 7:09 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: It also didn’t help that Rice was a terrible national security advisor. She prioritized her personal relationship with President Bush (43), which was often described, at least for her, as a work marriage, over her professional responsibilities. This provided the opportunity for Rumsfeld and Cheney and their deputies to warp the Interagency process to achieve their objectives.

  79. 79.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 7:10 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Concur, but still it’s unnerving.

    We’re in a constitutional crisis. Ya do what ya gotta do to come out of the crisis with a functional Republic.

    I get the point; I get that the alternatives are likely sub-optimal …

    … but I don’t like it.

  80. 80.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 20, 2018 at 7:11 pm

    @debbie: You have to hope your relievers and closers will get their mojo back as the season progresses.

  81. 81.

    mainmata

    May 20, 2018 at 7:14 pm

    @Mike in NC: Ron Ziegler was the actual prototype.

  82. 82.

    John Revolta

    May 20, 2018 at 7:15 pm

    There’s more than a few reasons to believe that Rudy, like anybody else who ever lived in NYC for more than a month, knows Trump for the asshole he is and hates his guts. Viewed from this angle Rudy’s motives might be rather more interesting.

  83. 83.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 7:16 pm

    @jayjaybear: Well, unless the fascists win. You pick your battles and choose your timing, to the extent that circumstances allow.

    I’m a bit surprised that Трамп hasn’t fired Mueller already … and the closer we get to the midterms, the more downside Трамп incurs by firing Mueller.

    If we get to September without Трамп firing Mueller, then guessing that Трамп can’t fire Mueller without risking the Senate as well as the House.

  84. 84.

    debbie

    May 20, 2018 at 7:16 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Sadly, I see no Mariano Rivera among them.

  85. 85.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 20, 2018 at 7:17 pm

    @Roger Moore: Orange despot and his loyalty fetish reminds me of the man with the bigger mustache. The one who was instrumental in the defeat of the man with tiny mustache.

  86. 86.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 20, 2018 at 7:18 pm

    @Dev Null: No arguments here. Rosenstein can only use the tools he has at hand right now. If the Democrats had a majority in even one chamber, he’d have more tools he could play because he’d know he would have top cover. By kicking this to the IG it is going to put any official response from DOJ off well into next year. Six months, as I indicated above, would be a fast response. The real worry, as Cheryl referenced above, is that no one knows what he’s actually going to put on paper tomorrow. This may have given Kelly and McGahn the ammo they need to prevent an order from even being issued. It may just piss him off more, especially if he spends tonight talking to Hannity and Giuliani on the phone, and then Giuliani is on a Blonde with Two Boobs on Fox in the morning. That could wind him up but good and then who knows what happens.

    And that’s the real crux of the issue. That the President appears to be completely out of control at all times. He left mercurial and erratic in the rear view mirror months ago. By tomorrow AM, despite what Mnuchin said on Fox this AM, if the right person is on a Blonde with Two Boobs or Lou Dobbs calls and talks to him late tonight, he could put the tariffs on the PRC back in play.

  87. 87.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    May 20, 2018 at 7:18 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Especially if your offense relies solely on swinging wildly at everything that goes by you

  88. 88.

    Corner Stone

    May 20, 2018 at 7:19 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: So many mustaches. Are we back in 1970’s porn?
    ***SHUTTERS***

  89. 89.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 20, 2018 at 7:21 pm

    @John Revolta: Without the President, Rudy wouldn’t have had the money to become Mayor. Without Rudy covering for him as US Attorney in exchange for that funding and fundraising, the President would have been charged with money laundering on behalf of the mob.
    http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/wayne-barrett-donald-trump-rudy-giuliani-peas-pod-article-1.2776357

    Rudy and Donald first got together in the late 1980s shortly before Donald became a co-chair of Giuliani’s first fundraiser for his 1989 mayoral campaign, sitting on the Waldorf dais and steering $41,000 to the campaign. A year earlier, Tony Lombardi, the federal agent closest to then-U.S. Attorney Giuliani, opened a probe of Trump’s role in the suspect sale of two Trump Tower apartments to Robert Hopkins, the mob-connected head of the city’s largest gambling ring.

    Trump attended the closing himself and Hopkins arrived with a briefcase loaded with up to $200,000 in cash, a deposit the soon-to-felon counted at the table. Despite Hopkins’ wholesale lack of verifiable income or assets, he got a loan from a Jersey bank that did business with Trump’s casino. A Trump limo delivered the cash to the bank.

    The government subsequently nailed Hopkins’ mortgage broker, Frank LaMagra, on an unrelated charge and he offered to give up Donald, claiming Trump “participated” in the money-laundering — and volunteering to wear a wire on him.

    Instead, Lombardi, who discussed the case with Giuliani personally (and with me for a 1993 Village Voice piece called “The Case of the Missing Case”), went straight to Donald for two hour-long interviews with him. Within weeks of the interviews, Donald announced he’d raise $2 million in a half hour if Rudy ran for mayor. Lamagra got no deal and was convicted, as was his mob associate, Louis (Louie HaHa) Attanasio, who was later also nailed for seven underworld murders. Hopkins was convicted of running his gambling operation partly out of the Trump Tower apartment, where he was arrested.

    Lombardi — who expected a top appointment in a Giuliani mayoralty, conducted several other probes directly tied to Giuliani political opponents, and testified later that “every day I came to work I went to Mr. Giuliani to seek out what duties I needed to perform” — closed the Trump investigation without even giving it a case number. That meant that New Jersey gaming authorities would never know it existed.

    It’s hard to watch Giuliani invoke his 14-year history as a federal prosecutor when he calls for Clinton’s prosecution and square it with the seedy launch of his own relationship with Trump.

  90. 90.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 7:22 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Could be, but he was one of Paula Jones’ lawyers …

    According to wiki, he’s magna cum laude from Harvard in … of all things … biochem.

    I don’t know, but I could be persuaded that he’s not a cookie-cutter movement conservative, given sufficiently persuasive arguments.

    (I know, I know … I’m an idiot … what else is new?!?)

  91. 91.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 7:24 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    You don’t want it until the Democrats have retaken one or more chambers of Congress.

    Exactly.

  92. 92.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et Al.)

    May 20, 2018 at 7:25 pm

    Ari Fleischer? Why won’t these shitstain just go away? I guess they think that they’re almost respectable now compared to Tяump and his asskissers, but they still need to shut up and go far, far away, preferably forever.

  93. 93.

    JPL

    May 20, 2018 at 7:28 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: If we are depending on Jared and Ivanka, who happen to have their own legal problems, we are in a deep state of the Trump making.

  94. 94.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 7:29 pm

    @Mary G: This.

  95. 95.

    maya

    May 20, 2018 at 7:30 pm

    And who thought djtrotski couldn’t possibly outdo that interracial hoopla thingy that happened yesterday, somewhere? He should be encouraged to play more golf instead of less. On Friday he played golf by himself. You’d think his SS detail could furnish a constant 4 some.

  96. 96.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 7:31 pm

    @Roger Moore: As KellyAnne sez, “Democrats are cockroaches.”

    Some slight mitigating context, but that’s genocidal speech.

  97. 97.

    John Revolta

    May 20, 2018 at 7:38 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Just because you owe a guy doesn’t mean you like him. Maybe just the opposite.
    And Trump dumped Rudy out of a Cabinet gig after the election. There had been talk of him getting SoS.

  98. 98.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 7:43 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I worry that Трамп might fire Mueller. We’re half a year away from the midterms; I don’t know that the Dems have a sufficiently big megaphone that they can keep a Mueller firing in the news for six months.

    My take (which I infer is yours, so please correct me if I’m wrong) is that Rosenstein is trying to delay Mueller’s firing until closer to the midterms, to make Mueller’s firing that much more risky.

    But in doing so Rosenstein is setting bad precedents.

    Perhaps that’s the best of a set of bad choices.

    “It’s difficult to remember that your job was to drain the swamp when you’re up to your ass in alligators.”

    Understood that Rosenstein is, however improbably, on the side of angels …

    … but that might not be sufficient for the survival of the Republic.

    But perhaps we’re damned whatever we do.

  99. 99.

    Waratah

    May 20, 2018 at 7:43 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I thought that the agreement with China on the tariffs was Whitehouse and Trump backing down after they realized China did not need the U.S.

  100. 100.

    kdaug

    May 20, 2018 at 7:45 pm

    @Another Scott: And Friedman units.

  101. 101.

    Mary G

    May 20, 2018 at 7:50 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Giuliani is on a Blonde with Two Boobs on Fox in the morning

    The image this evoked on first reading is horrifying.

  102. 102.

    kdaug

    May 20, 2018 at 7:50 pm

    @oldgold: Meuller is going to keep his head down, his mouth shut, and do the work.

  103. 103.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 20, 2018 at 7:50 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    ***SHUTTERS***

    This cracks me up every time.

  104. 104.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 7:52 pm

    @Mary G: I was hoping not to acknowledge that image. ugh.

  105. 105.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    May 20, 2018 at 7:54 pm

    I am sensing serious desperation with these Conservative Serious Concerns(r) about Mueller. They must get like the rest of us Trump has gone over the line in ways Nixon never dreamed of.

  106. 106.

    mainmata

    May 20, 2018 at 7:55 pm

    @zhena gogolia: My wife is a GS-15 and she coordinates inter-agency and international teams that require serious bureaucratic negotiating skills all the time. That’s a serious skill set in the federal bureaucracy that is utterly absent in this clown car administration.

  107. 107.

    gene108

    May 20, 2018 at 7:57 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Why Giuliani matters here: he says he’s telling the president to avoid doing a Mueller interview until the DOJ reveals more about its activities. So the president is being advised on this source/FBI front not just by Kelly/McGahn + lawmakers but his own personal legal team.
    3:03 PM – May 20, 2018

    530

    375 people are talking about this

    Shorter Costa: Trump wants the dirt Mueller has before sitting down to an interview, so he can get his lies straight and not get in trouble.

    Anyone, who votes Republican after Trump is a traitor. Fuck ’em.

  108. 108.

    zhena gogolia

    May 20, 2018 at 7:58 pm

    @mainmata:

    This is what keeps me awake at night. I worked my way through college and grad school as a clerk-typist at the SBA and FAA (in KCMO), and I have the greatest respect for our federal civil servants. I feel for them so deeply.

  109. 109.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 8:00 pm

    @mainmata: The saving grace of the Трамп Admin … they are all incredibly incompetent at Real-World skillz™.

  110. 110.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 20, 2018 at 8:02 pm

    @Corner Stone: More like 1940s real life horror.

  111. 111.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 8:03 pm

    @gene108:

    Shorter Costa: Trump wants the dirt Mueller has before sitting down to an interview, so he can get his lies straight and not get in trouble.

    Good luck with that.

    Anyone, who votes Republican after Trump is a traitor. Fuck ’em.

    Thinking you haven’t been paying attention, but perhaps that’s just me.

  112. 112.

    Peale

    May 20, 2018 at 8:09 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Of course, one of the big things they COULD do is remove Nunes from his chairmanship for egregiously breaking the law. They COULD do that. But they won’t. They just all want to stay in charge but let everyone do illegal things and never be asked why they stood around and looked worried and never said anything in public. What a bunch of whimps.

  113. 113.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 20, 2018 at 8:16 pm

    @Dev Null: I don’t know, but I could be persuaded that he’s not a cookie-cutter movement conservative, given sufficiently persuasive arguments.

    lots of movement conservatives (far right assholes) in the NeverTrump camp. Rick Wilson made the ad that morphed Max Cleland into Saddam and pretends to not understand why people find it offensive. Tom Nichols speaks (tweets) fondly of Nixon and Pat Buchanan. And Bill Kristol is Bill Kristol. They’re co-belligerents, not allies.

  114. 114.

    Jay

    May 20, 2018 at 8:19 pm

    @jayjaybear:

    You assume you will “win” a Constitutional crisis, which given the current state of the Rethug Party, and the Supremes, is not an even bet.

    Worse case is it all get’s “enshrined”.

  115. 115.

    JPL

    May 20, 2018 at 8:21 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: The democratic party didn’t learn anything from those ads. They have to be ready to fight back. Wilson did his job and did it pretty good. I live in GA.

  116. 116.

    Corner Stone

    May 20, 2018 at 8:22 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Tom Nichols needs to be shot out of a cannon. Into a brick wall a few feet away.

  117. 117.

    Corner Stone

    May 20, 2018 at 8:27 pm

    I am sorry but I just don’t care for Lester Holt. Those promos of him they keep showing just make me continue to believe he’s an asshole.

  118. 118.

    zhena gogolia

    May 20, 2018 at 8:36 pm

    @Dev Null:

    I’m glad you’re using the correct Cyrillic letter as the second letter in his name, rather than the “backwards R,” which is pronounced “ya.” I get cognitive dissonance at the name Tyaamp.

  119. 119.

    JPL

    May 20, 2018 at 8:37 pm

    OT Any thoughts on the time line of the latest school shooting in TX? It appears that the murderer was in a shootout with the police for 25 minutes, and at this time they don’t know if victims were shot by the murderer or the police.

  120. 120.

    debit

    May 20, 2018 at 8:43 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    I am sorry but I just don’t care for Lester Holt. Those promos of him they keep showing just make me continue to believe he’s an asshole.

    To me they scream, “Hey, look how great I am at faking empathy! Did you see me touch that guy’s shoulder like I actually care?”

  121. 121.

    Jeffro

    May 20, 2018 at 8:44 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: co-signed here. Rosenstein is playing for time, until Mueller can drop hundreds of charges on dozens of people

  122. 122.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 20, 2018 at 8:45 pm

    That would have been a violation of DOJ rules, which forbid considering political affiliation in hiring for career positions.

    LOL owned!

    B-b-but BALANCE!

  123. 123.

    Jeffro

    May 20, 2018 at 8:49 pm

    @JPL: if you aren’t already, be sure to follow him on Twitter

  124. 124.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 8:50 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yeah, they’re all just arguing over when to send LIE-berals to the gas chambers, not whether it’s appropriate to do so.

    Wilson and Frum are the worst.

  125. 125.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 20, 2018 at 8:50 pm

    @Dev Null:

    Thinking you haven’t been paying attention, but perhaps that’s just me.

    What haven’t they been paying attention to? By now, it’s clear that the GOP is a party that stands for murdering brown people, here and abroad, along with a lot of other fucked up shit, treason among them. That makes Republican voters murderers by proxy.

  126. 126.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 20, 2018 at 8:52 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Do you watch, The Americans?.

  127. 127.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 8:56 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: This is the line I was responding to:

    Anyone, who votes Republican after Trump is a traitor. Fuck ’em.

    My intended point: if you’re only now thinking that the GOP is a radical faction then you haven’t been paying attention.

    What exactly are you objecting to?

    Other than that … yeah, thinking we’re on the same page.

  128. 128.

    thalarctosMaritimus

    May 20, 2018 at 8:57 pm

    @eemom: I was speculating on whether Kellyanne might be deliberately overlooking or secretly approving of those tweets as part of maintaining some plausibility for her exit strategy from the dumpster fire, when mr. thalarctos offered another possibility: maybe it’s George’s exit strategy from Kellyanne.

  129. 129.

    Corner Stone

    May 20, 2018 at 8:57 pm

    @debit: “I’M A FATHER TOO, SO I UNDERSTAND YOU. MAKE SURE YOU GOT THAT ON RECORD.”

  130. 130.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 9:02 pm

    @zhena gogolia: I take no credit for correctness (or otherwise) here. I took this from a forward by a colleague who AFAIK doesn’t speak Russian. I use the glyphs because referring to (ahem) Trump in the original Russian seems appropriate.

    Happy to be corrected if the sequence of glyphs is incorrect.

  131. 131.

    Patricia Kayden

    May 20, 2018 at 9:02 pm

    @Spc123: But his (and Trump’s) base is not the majority.

  132. 132.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 20, 2018 at 9:03 pm

    @Dev Null:
    I suppose I can’t disagree with that however prior to 2016 I thought they might be able to come back down to Earth. Since then and afterwards they have shocked me with how craven they are by protecting Trump and how anti-democratic they truly are. Repukes hate being held accountable for their actions by ordinary people. They could jettison Trump and still have Pence but that’s not enough for them because they can’t face Trump’s shrinking personality cult (in the sense that its becoming more concentrated; less people are identifying as Republican).

  133. 133.

    JPL

    May 20, 2018 at 9:03 pm

    @Jeffro: I loathed the man and never imagined that someone worse would appear. Trump and Pruitt want to undo Nixon’s greatest accomplishments which was the EPA. We live in strange times.

  134. 134.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 20, 2018 at 9:03 pm

    @Mary G: Sorry.

  135. 135.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 20, 2018 at 9:08 pm

    @JPL:
    Nixon really didn’t have much choice, IIRC. Congress had an overwhelming Democratic majority that wanted it passed, and he knew he would only look worse if he tried to veto it.

  136. 136.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 9:09 pm

    @Peale: You seem to be assuming that the GOP isn’t tainted by Russia money.

    Remains to be shown, but it’s possible that the reason that the upper echelons of the GOP are defending Трамп is …

    … that the the upper echelons of the GOP have liability.

  137. 137.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 20, 2018 at 9:11 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    if the right person is on a Blonde with Two Boobs or Lou Dobbs calls and talks to him late tonight, he could put the tariffs on the PRC back in play.

    Are those tariffs the same ones for the soybeans?

  138. 138.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 9:12 pm

    @Dev Null: urk. Too much wine at dinner.

    I should have said, “I seem to be thinking along similar lines, given your comment.”

  139. 139.

    zhena gogolia

    May 20, 2018 at 9:15 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    No, I’ve never seen it. I only watch TCM and PBS.

  140. 140.

    zhena gogolia

    May 20, 2018 at 9:16 pm

    @Dev Null:

    No, what you have in the comment I replied to is correct as a transliteration of Trump into Cyrillic. (I can’t use Cyrillic or I go into moderation.)

  141. 141.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 20, 2018 at 9:20 pm

    @zhena gogolia: The Russian characters speak Russian. This is the last season, only 2 episodes left. Earlier seasons are available on Amazon Prime.

  142. 142.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 20, 2018 at 9:32 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Who knows at this point.

  143. 143.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 20, 2018 at 9:33 pm

    @zhena gogolia: TV snob. :P

  144. 144.

    tobie

    May 20, 2018 at 9:34 pm

    @gene108: I wish Costa could have given as succinct an explanation as you did about what Giuliani’s request really means:

    Shorter Costa: Trump wants the dirt Mueller has before sitting down to an interview, so he can get his lies straight and not get in trouble.

    I find Costa insufferable. He bends over backwards not to say anything that might alienate his Republican sources. I guess that’s fine if he gets scoops. But it would be nice if someone a little less obsequious would package the info.

  145. 145.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 9:34 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:

    I suppose I can’t disagree with that

    Win! ~snark~

    however prior to 2016 I thought they might be able to come back down to Earth.

    Obama famously expected “the fever to break”, so you’re in good company.

    Since then and afterwards they have shocked me with how craven they are by protecting Trump and how anti-democratic they truly are.

    Wait, wut?!?

    You are shocked. SHOCKED!! (obligatory reference to Casablanca), yet you object to my saying that “you haven’t been paying attention”?!? ~snark~

    I’ve been describing the GOP as a “criminal conspiracy” for more than a decade.

    Sorry, too much wine, but … you’re getting this only now?!?

    Srsly, what am I missing?!? This has been true for 20-odd years. Let’s talk about the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment:

    https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/10/the-much-needed-and-sane-congressional-office-that-gingrich-killed-off-and-we-need-back/264160

    Newt the Gingrinch killed it, circa 1995.

    The GOP hasn’t been about reality, not even remotely, for circa 20 years.

    Repukes hate being held accountable for their actions by ordinary people. They could jettison Trump and still have Pence but that’s not enough for them because they can’t face Trump’s shrinking personality cult (in the sense that its becoming more concentrated; less people are identifying as Republican).

    I don’t think this is an adequate description of the GOP. The GOP is about power. Trump is a vehicle. Should Trump falter, they’ll discard Trump and move on to the next Great White Father (and I do mean “white”). “Conservatism cannot fail, conservatism can only be failed.”

  146. 146.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 9:35 pm

    @zhena gogolia: My source will be pleased. :-)

  147. 147.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 20, 2018 at 9:40 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I really want Trump and his voters to face consequences for their actions at this point.

  148. 148.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 20, 2018 at 9:44 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: We are all snobs here.

  149. 149.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 20, 2018 at 9:46 pm

    @Dev Null:
    I know all of that about Gingrich. It’s just gotten so much worse since then. I guess they had the pretense for so many years to not be so blatant and to not brazen authoritarian shit out to this bizzare/pathetic degree.

  150. 150.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 9:47 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: The problem is this: should the cats come home to roost, we might well all suffer.

    (I prefer “cats” to “chickens”, which are at best stupid dinosaurs.)

  151. 151.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 20, 2018 at 9:51 pm

    @Dev Null: I fixed your comment so that your link is no longer capturing the reply button.

  152. 152.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 9:51 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: I could be wrong, but I don’t think that’s correct.

    I prefer “incremental prion disease” (per Pierce) as a description. There’s no upside of prions eating one’s mind. You just get more stoooopid.

    Which in my opinion describes the trajectory of the GOP over the past two decades.

  153. 153.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 9:52 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Thank you. I saw the error and tried to fix it, but I ran out of time.

    Much obliged.

  154. 154.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 20, 2018 at 9:53 pm

    @Dev Null:
    So be it. They have to stop being coddled and learn that the world doesn’t revolve around them; that they aren’t special just because they’re Americans and are no different deep down from any other nationality.

    Our superpower status is partially to blame for our situation, I believe. Too many don’t understand that the status we currently enjoy isn’t forever and have been spoiled rotten by it.

  155. 155.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 10:02 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:

    They have to stop being coddled and learn that the world doesn’t revolve around them; that they aren’t special just because they’re Americans and are no different deep down from any other nationality.

    Willing to be corrected, but I think this is the concept of “American exceptionalism”.

    Both parties subscribe to the concept, albeit in different ways.

    Our superpower status is partially to blame for our situation, I believe. Too many don’t understand that the status we currently enjoy isn’t forever and have been spoiled rotten by it.

    Couldn’t agree more. I’ve made this point on private listservs. (Trust me! I have! ~snark~)

  156. 156.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 20, 2018 at 10:07 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: I prefer to say that I have taste.

  157. 157.

    J R in WV

    May 20, 2018 at 10:08 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    …
    Sure there’s a “both sides” take: both sides trust Republicans in law enforcement and national security, but only one side trusts Democrats. Therefore, we must have exclusively Republicans, since they’re the only ones everyone can trust.

    We agree most of the time, Roger, but not on this.

    No Democrat — No one! Should trust Republicans in law enforcement or in national security!!! They’re eaten up with international corruption, not to mention their goal of ending representative democracy in this nation!

  158. 158.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 20, 2018 at 10:09 pm

    @Dev Null:

    Both parties subscribe to the concept, albeit in different ways.

    The Democrats at least go about it in a sane and usually constructive way. I believe the US has the potential to make this world a better place and truly be a shining beacon on a hill. I’m not sure if that’s American exceptionalism if I also think we’re not special.

    I hope this doesn’t sound argumentative because I think we’re pretty much in agreement

  159. 159.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 10:12 pm

    @J R in WV: Thinking that perhaps you missed the implicit ~sarcasm~ tag.

  160. 160.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 20, 2018 at 10:15 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Our vision of it is inspirational. Their version in set in stone.

  161. 161.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 10:29 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:

    The Democrats at least go about it in a sane and usually constructive way.

    I am a DemonCrap. I have voted almost exclusively for DemonCraps since Anderson ran against Carter and Reagan. (I voted for Anderson.)

    But I don’t agree that DemonCraps are “sane and usually constructive”. Examples available on request.

    More sane than Goopers, sure … but that’s a low bar.

    That said, there are effectively only two choices, so if you think Трамп was the wrong choice, then HRC was the right choice.

    (And I think she was!)

    I believe the US has the potential to make this world a better place and truly be a shining beacon on a hill. I’m not sure if that’s American exceptionalism if I also think we’re not special.

    I’ll defer to others on this point.

    Yeah, I do think that’s “American exceptionalism”, and I think Трамп is playing off “American exceptionalism”, at least in the minds of Trumpkins (bless their teensy souls!), but “American exceptionalism” is an excuse for interfering everywhere, so’s to enlighten benighted natives about Modern Ways, Democracy, and Everything. ~sarcasm~

  162. 162.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 20, 2018 at 10:33 pm

    @Dev Null:
    So you think it’s wrong to encourage stability in other places and to help people? Notice, I don’t mean CIA shenanigans.

    Are the Democrats perfect? No, but they’re miles above the Repukes and like you acknowledged are the only choice for a small “d” democracy to survive in America.

  163. 163.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 20, 2018 at 10:37 pm

    @Dev Null: That is a lot of typing to refute Wonder Kid’s point. Please do offer the examples.

  164. 164.

    J R in WV

    May 20, 2018 at 10:40 pm

    @Dev Null:

    That does happen… Sorry. I do use and see sarcasm, sometimes, but obviously not always …

  165. 165.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 10:47 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: How can you disentangle “CIA shenanigans” from, er, “American exceptionalism”?

    I doubt that anyone here is interested in my opinions (“free, and worth every penny you pay for them”), but still …

    … I think that we Americans are just as susceptible to self-righteousness and confirmation bias as any other country or tribe.

    … encourage stability in other places and to help people

    As Bill Clinton said, “It depends upon what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.”

    One person’s “stability” is another person’s “repression”.

    One person’s “help people” is another person’s “prop up autocrats and oligarchs”. Or create them.

    I am not an economist, but (going out on a limb here) what I’ve read suggests to me that by prioritizing privatization over responsible gummint, American economists facilitated the creation of the Russian oligarchy.

    I don’t think Americans have a lock on “the right way to do things”. To think otherwise is, well, American exceptionalism, duh.

    Sure, help peeps … the DRC is undergoing another Ebola outbreak. Provide resources to help the DRC bring that outbreak under control.

    Oh, wait … we’re not doing that … uh, never mind.

  166. 166.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 10:48 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Can I provide examples tomorrow? Running out of steam here.

  167. 167.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 10:51 pm

    @J R in WV: Happens to all of us. Me more often than most, I suspect. (And that’s assuming that I’m correct about “sarcasm”.)

  168. 168.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 20, 2018 at 10:52 pm

    @Dev Null: @Dev Null: Do what you want. People won’t read you.

  169. 169.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 10:57 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: OK, so the first example that occurs to me, every time: Obama and HRC were in a debate circa Feb 2008. The moderator (or some other questioner) asked the incredibly stoopid question, “would you use nukes in Afghan”.

    Obama said “nope”.

    HRC said “hey, why not?”

    At which point I decided that I was voting for Obama, because almost nothing could be stoopider than using nukes in Afghan.

    Other examples, should you wish, tomorrow. That was by far the most persuasive to me.

  170. 170.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 20, 2018 at 10:59 pm

    @Dev Null:
    Sure, but I’m talking about encouraging democracy. Not forcing, mind you.

    One person’s “help people” is another person’s “prop up autocrats and oligarchs”. Or create them

    I don’t believe in that. It doesn’t have to be that way. That’s my point.

    I am not an economist, but (going out on a limb here) what I’ve read suggests to me that by prioritizing privatization over responsible gummint, American economists facilitated the creation of the Russian oligarchy.

    Probably true. I think we need to change this thinking.

    Sure, help peeps … the DRC is undergoing another Ebola outbreak. Provide resources to help the DRC bring that outbreak under control.

    Oh, wait … we’re not doing that … uh, never mind.

    That’s because Trump and the Republicans are in power. The rightward political trend in this country has to be reversed, beginning this Novemeber. It already is. That’s partly why the RW is fighting so hard.

  171. 171.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 10:59 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Do what you want. People won’t read you.

    Worse things have happened. :-)

  172. 172.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 20, 2018 at 11:00 pm

    @Dev Null: ????

  173. 173.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 11:05 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Sorry, losing the thread here.

    Could you make your point in a few sentences? I read your post and – honest to Pete – I’m not sure what I would be responding to.

    Apologies for not getting it.

  174. 174.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 11:07 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: eh?

    How is my example of Dem attitudes not responsive to your question?

  175. 175.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 20, 2018 at 11:12 pm

    @Dev Null:
    Sure. My point is that I would prefer official US foreign policy to be nation building; to build much needed infrastructure, educate women and empower them, and build economies from the ground up. That’s what I meant about promoting stability.

    Privatization is wrong-headed and always has been. Americans can be pretty stupid and it’s not like we have a monopoly on good ideas, but I think we can be better than we have been in the past.

    Also, about the Ebola thing, Republicans and Trump are in power which is why we’re not helping the DRC like we should be.

  176. 176.

    Dev Null

    May 20, 2018 at 11:21 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: But who will bell this cat?

    Who will provide the objective / empirical / disinterested advice and assistance?

  177. 177.

    Steve in the ATL

    May 20, 2018 at 11:21 pm

    @Dev Null:

    Too much wine at dinner

    You shut your mouth. There is no such thing.

  178. 178.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 20, 2018 at 11:23 pm

    @Dev Null:
    I don’t follow. Could restate that?

  179. 179.

    Dev Null

    May 21, 2018 at 12:00 am

    @Steve in the ATL: ~snorts~

    Not according to The Spousal Unit…

  180. 180.

    Dev Null

    May 21, 2018 at 12:19 am

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:

    Sure. My point is that I would prefer official US foreign policy to be nation building; to build much needed infrastructure, educate women and empower them, and build economies from the ground up. That’s what I meant about promoting stability.

    Call me cynical, but it’s my impression that America as a nation is really good at stability and leading … in ways that preserve and extend American interests. Unsurprisingly, because America is a status quo power.

    Yeah, sure; should nation-building and empowering women etc be clearly beneficial to American goals, then American Administrations would be likely to support policies that further those goals.

    But unless&until “clearly”, to the extent that “benevolence” (however defined) happens, benevolence will be secondary.

    Look at American indifference to Nazi death camps. Go back further and look at American suppression of the Philippine independence movement circa 1900… some remarkably gruesome stories from that time. Or American intervention in Central America. Or … there are dozens of instances.

    I’m not saying that American intervention in the Philippines was especially awful … it might have been better than the alternatives. But it wasn’t beneficial to the Philippines or nation-building or women-empowering. It was about national power.

    History does not support what I (perhaps wrongly) take to be your assertion of American benevolence… which I (rightly or wrongly) associate with the concept of “American exceptionalism”.

    “American exceptionalism” is a claim that we as a nation are different from all other nations” … at least that’s how I’ve always understood the phrase. It is not true, as a matter of fact. I don’t think it’s even true as a matter of aspiration.

    We’re the same, more or less, as every other nation. We’re just a lot more powerful, and before Trump, we respected perhaps more norms than most other nations.

    Or maybe not.

  181. 181.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 21, 2018 at 12:52 am

    @Dev Null:

    I don’t disagree with a lot of that. I just think we should aspire to be better than we have been in the past. Benevolence in my view is in America’s best interests. A safe, stable world that elevates everyone is one in which many threats to national security would be eliminated. Eliminating global poverty and hunger should be (if they already aren’t) national priorities, working alongside our partners and allies. It would be a good idea to fix ourselves first however.

    My point Is, life doesn’t have to be so hard. We can make easier for many if we want and only those who care can change the situation we’re currently in. I’m not saying it will be easy, but few things in life worth achieving are.

  182. 182.

    Corner Stone

    May 21, 2018 at 1:03 am

    I smell socks.

  183. 183.

    Matt

    May 21, 2018 at 7:20 am

    Shorter Ari Fleischer: “In the interest of fairness, half of the investigating team should be our co-conspirators”

  184. 184.

    Chris Johnson

    May 21, 2018 at 8:06 am

    It’s really simple.

    Trump’s guilty. Mueller knows he’s guilty. The best that can be said for Trump is that he’s so stupid and insane that he doesn’t understand hooking up with a hostile foreign country to doctor the election (which was not a foregone conclusion, but WAS totally brazenly doctored) is treason.

    So, in the context of ‘this could be wrapped up by September with the right interviews’, Mueller means “if Trump confesses everything, on the record” in these interviews. It’s a hypothetical. We don’t expect Trump to surrender like that, but he’s guilty and it’s just a matter of how to wrap it up.

    What is taking such a long time is this: Trump is guilty, and a bunch of the Republicans are just as guilty. And they know it’s treason, but didn’t care because they figured why not, it was a hail mary pass as they figured he’d lose. But he didn’t. He won, thanks to the treason and the Russian aid, and now THEY OWN IT.

    They didn’t bargain on that, so that’s why Mueller’s job is difficult.

    And that’s why having Trump confess and give legal testimony against other top Republicans would make it possible to wrap up the investigation by September. If everybody pleads guilty and goes to prison, it’s wrapped up. Because innocence isn’t remotely an option, Mueller is stuck grinding away at the problem until enough criminals flip that it’s impossible to stall any longer.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - beckya57 - Copper Canyon, Mexico, April 2025
Image by beckya57 (7/31/25)

World Central Kitchen

Donate

Recent Comments

  • lowtechcyclist on GOP Venality Open Thread: May Van Orden Be the First of Many Defections… (Jul 10, 2025 @ 7:14am)
  • Baud on GOP Venality Open Thread: May Van Orden Be the First of Many Defections… (Jul 10, 2025 @ 7:02am)
  • MagdaInBlack on GOP Venality Open Thread: May Van Orden Be the First of Many Defections… (Jul 10, 2025 @ 6:56am)
  • Baud on GOP Venality Open Thread: May Van Orden Be the First of Many Defections… (Jul 10, 2025 @ 6:55am)
  • mappy! on GOP Venality Open Thread: May Van Orden Be the First of Many Defections… (Jul 10, 2025 @ 6:55am)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Feeling Defeated?  If We Give Up, It's Game Over

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!