Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Thanks for reminding me that Van Jones needs to be slapped.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

The willow is too close to the house.

No Justins, No Peace

This really is a full service blog.

Ah, the different things are different argument.

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

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

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

Consistently wrong since 2002

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

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

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / This Will End Well

This Will End Well

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It will be fun watching law and order Republicans look the other way.

Reader Interactions

179Comments

  1. 1.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Good. Lord.

    “I nearby demand…” ? What the ever-lovin’ fuck.

  3. 3.

    dmsilev

    How long until he starts appearing in some made-up military uniform with all sorts of Order of The Trump medals and the like?

  4. 4.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Stable genius is bigly stable.

    And twitter, of course, is on it already

    Charles P. Pierce @ CharlesPPierce
    I hereby demand pudding.
    #whatdoyouherebydemand

  7. 7.

    Brachiator

    “I nearby demand…”

    Doesn’t this dope have a summit to prepare for?

    Or a golf game?

    Or something?

  8. 8.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I hereby demand pictures of Lily and Steve. Rosie and Thurston would also be welcome.

  9. 9.

    germy

    I remember when drumpf first jumped into the race. Some humorist somewhere put up a mock newspaper front page full of headlines about “president trump”

    It was a joke.

  11. 11.

    FlipYrWhig

    I HEREBY DEMAND EXPLANATION FOR WHY THE FBI KEPT INVESTIGATING MY MANY SHADY ASSOCIATES

  13. 13.

    Lapassionara

    Remember the rule. It is always projection with Trump. If he is accusing someone of doing something wrong, then he has already done it or at the very least, plans on doing it.

  14. 14.

    Luthe

    I hereby demand my power come back on immediately. Also I want a medal, a cookie, and $1,000,000 for pain and suffering. *pouts*

  15. 15.

    Calouste

    And what if the answer (as we already know) that the FBI investigated the Trump campaign, but for criminal and national security purposes, not for political purposes?

  16. 16.

    xjmuellerlurks

    I hereby demand that you get me a beer while you’re in the kitchen. It used to be, “Hey hon, while you’re in the kitchen get me a beer.” Note how presidential the first sounds. BTW, this isn’t something I’d say…

  17. 17.

    Bailey

    “Law and order Republicans” sounds as quaint as the Penny Farthing or the Spinning Jenny.

  18. 18.

    germy

    and if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration!

    “Obama!!!!” yells drumpf, like Kirk yelling “Khannnn!”

  20. 20.

    germy

    President Trump tweeted out another call for an investigation. This one called out Nancy Pelosi and her “close ties to Russia.” (The tweets were sent via Trump’s personal account — @RealDonaldTrump — and not the official @POTUS account.) Content aside, there was one glaring thing wrong with Trump’s tweet: It’s hard to make a proclamation if you can’t properly spell “hereby.”

    In attempt one, President Trump tweeted “I hear by demand …” Several minutes later that tweet would be deleted and replaced with one reading, “I hearby demand …” Closer, but still not quite right.

    Trump spelled "hereby" wrong. Took two minutes to correct it. Got it wrong again. Let's see if third time's the charm… pic.twitter.com/UajEXbxc1C
    — Marlow Stern (@MarlowNYC) March 3, 2017

  22. 22.

    Chyron HR

    I hereby demand, and will do so officially tomorrow

    So, what, the POTUS account is going to retweet this on Monday?

  23. 23.

    Wapiti

    I’m just shaking my head. The orange wanker has the entire government of the USA at his beck and call. If he wants to demand something, the lazy git should just do it today instead of talking about “officially” doing it tomorrow.

  25. 25.

    Ruckus

    @Lapassionara:
    He doesn’t really plan things, he only way over reacts. And not the same over reaction a normal person might do. Everything is a personal attack, for two reasons. One, he is always doing exactly what you think he is and it is always the opposite of what a normal person does, because he is anything/everything but normal. Two, besides being mental, he’s got the maturity of a 4 yr old. At best. The only difference is that he’s figured out that he can’t hold his breath till he turns blue. So he screams and rants. He’s a 71 yrs old, fat, arrogant, dumbass, massively narcissistic toddler. He has no real restraints because he never learned any.

  26. 26.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @germy:
    “We investigated, those don’t exist either, Mister President.”

    EDIT – @Ruckus:

    he is anything/everything but normal.

    Voting evidence strongly suggests that while he may not be normal, people who think like him make up about a third of the country.

  31. 31.

    germy

    His comment followed a six-part morning tweetstorm in which he lashed out at “the World’s most expensive Witch Hunt,” trashing a new report in the New York Times that said an emissary representing the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates offered help to Trump’s 2016 campaign.

    Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz announced in March he would explore a series of controversial applications to surveil former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page — meaning at least part of the president’s request already is covered.

    This is a developing story. It will be updated.

  32. 32.

    Betty Cracker

    Priebus and Spicer recently admitted they steered the shit-goblin into the Fox News bubble because hate-watching Morning Joe and CNN drove him bug-shit crazy and complicated their jobs. Well, their successors are reaping what those motherfuckers sowed.

    Trump now believes all the garbage Hannity and Judge Jeanine dump down his fat gullet. He thinks all those crazy-ass conspiracy theories are the official news that everyone else takes in. Boy, is he in for a rude awakening.

    “Alexa, order ALL the motherfucking popcorn!”

  34. 34.

    Ruckus

    @Frankensteinbeck:
    No one has ever stated, with any level of truth that everyone in any country is normal. And this country has a real humanity issue and that is that a way too large percentage of the population is highly bigoted. And until that gets addressed in a positive way we will always have the back and forth type of political situation that we’ve seen for the last 50-60 yrs. It’s always been bad but it was never the sole basis for one of our two political parties the way it is now. The entire platform of the republican party can be expressed in two words, bigotry and greed.

  35. 35.

    Elizabelle

    He is just trying to tear the country apart, as usual.

    Proceed with your Sunday, and best to not dwell on the shitwad roosting in the Oval Office.

    Besides, we remember how well daring the press to follow him worked out for Gary Hart. Actual criminal behavior and corruption lives in Trump’s world. Investigate away.

  37. 37.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    Since demanding things that will never happen seems to be a theme

    I hereby demand that Trump resign as president and exile himself and his entire family to Russia.

  38. 38.

    Shell

    I hereby demand, and will do so officially tomorrow

    Or in two-to-three business days.

  39. 39.

    debbie

    @germy:

    I wonder if this is due to predictive typing, but then I remember he misspelled his wife’s name.

  40. 40.

    germy

    Former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone said he would run a challenger against Vice President Mike Pence should Pence run for the Oval Office in 2020. Stone said Trump could decide to retire from politics if he accomplishes his agenda in the first 4 yrs.
    https://t.co/wrrb7WVjBY
    — Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) May 20, 2018

  41. 41.

    Ian G.

    Speaking of this clown, my house has literally been shaken by low-flying military helicopters heading east using the same route that the private helicopters use when taking hedge funders to the Hamptons for the weekend. So I assume Shitgibbon was in one of them and he’s spending the next 10 days golfing in Southampton.

  44. 44.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Ruckus:
    While ‘bigotry and greed’ is pretty close, and certainly makes a great rhetorical point, I think there’s a third. Conservatism has a major element of spiteful cruelty that is independent of bigotry, although the two feed each other. They’re mean shits who want to see others suffer.

  47. 47.

    Cheryl Rofer

    Ben Wittes is concerned.

  48. 48.

    Mary G

    I don’t feel like joking about this, although I did tweet back to him that Shakespeare had his number centuries ago:

    “A most notable coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise breaker, the owner of no one good quality.”

    (h/t efg).

    This is his setup for firing Sessions/Rosenstein/Mueller and the Republican Congress will go right along, so I’m trying to decide what my sign will say. I’m more frightened than I’ve been since the election.

  49. 49.

    Brachiator

    @Betty Cracker:

    He thinks all those crazy-ass conspiracy theories are the official news that everyone else takes in.

    Trump has always loved conspiracy theories and helped perpetuate birtherism. This is how his mind works.

    And Trump is a closed loop d loop of crazy. He calls Sean Hannity at night and then watches him in the daytime to get the same message.

    I cannot believe this is the American president. Don’t want to believe it.

  50. 50.

    Cermet

    If you want to be scared – do realize that most people in the world are even worse than the average amerikan in bigotry, racism and general stupidity. However, when it comes to entitled pricks, we have the market cornered and apparently, the two worse in the fart cloud and his VP ass sniffer..

  51. 51.

    Ruckus

    Everyone complains about drumpf golfing. Why? Sure he’s billing us for everything but this has to be cheaper than him actually doing anything else. Think of him golfing as being in a minimum security jail. No it’s not the ideal location for him, there’s a building in CO that would be better suited to protect all of us but really what damage has he ever done on the golf course? A massive slice, a missed putt, stuck in the sand trap? That’s the most normal thing he does, play golf badly. I say lets park his fat ass at a golf course 24 hrs a day for the next 2 1/2 yrs and turn off all the cell towers within range.

  52. 52.

    Cheryl Rofer

  53. 53.

    Bruuuuce

    Am I the only one who hears a Toddler-in-Chief stomping his foot and screaming “I wanna!” while in his diaper?

  54. 54.

    cain

    @Ian G.:
    That’s why he’s only going to officially do it tomorrow. Today is all day golf. Followed by steak with ketchup.

    ALso, does he really want more investigators looking at his campaign? Who knows what else will turn up while searching for nothing illegal. Moron.

  55. 55.

    Amir Khalid

    This is one for Rod Rosenstein to handle, since it involves Russia and Jefferson Beauregard Eye Eye Eye has recused himself. What do you guys suppose Rosenstein will say?

  56. 56.

    TriassicSands

    I hereby demand that the FBI remove the Ceti eels they put in the ears of Trump associates during the campaign! @reallyinsaneDonaldTrump

  57. 57.

    Brachiator

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    I normally ignore presidential tweets. This one requires attention, because it could genuinely produce a crisis with the Justice Department and the FBI. Here’s an explanatory thread that may (or may not) be useful.

    Really hoping he is wrong.

  59. 59.

    James Powell

    @Ruckus:

    The entire platform of the republican party can be expressed in two words, bigotry and greed.

    I think we need to add paranoia.

  61. 61.

    germy

    @Cheryl Rofer: He reminds me of a bad boss who is too cowardly to fire employees, so instead chooses to make them so miserable they decide to resign.

  63. 63.

    Amir Khalid

    @Cermet:

    most people in the world are even worse than the average amerikan in bigotry, racism and general stupidity.

    Assumes facts not in evidence.

  65. 65.

    germy

    Trump associate Roger Stone tells NBC he may have criminal exposure on some "extraneous crime, pertaining to my business" and that he is prepared to be indicted by Mueller. Says they won't find any collusion. https://t.co/ShPAvn0wmA— Byron Tau (@ByronTau) May 20, 2018

  68. 68.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    @germy:

    Says they won’t find any collusion.

    Of course they won’t. “Collusion” isn’t a crime but conspiracy against the United States government is.

  69. 69.

    Brachiator

    @Cermet:

    If you want to be scared – do realize that most people in the world are even worse than the average amerikan in bigotry, racism and general stupidity.

    I disagree.

    Also, I don’t live in the rest of the world. I live in America. It’s the bigotry and racism and stupidity here that we have to fight.

  70. 70.

    Ruckus

    @Frankensteinbeck:
    That’s bigotry my friend.
    Bigotry is not just the thinking part of the issue, it is also the acting part of the issue. And drumpf made no bones about his bigotry and what that would mean to the country. And people voted for that.

  71. 71.

    dmsilev

    @germy:

    Trump associate Roger Stone tells NBC he may have criminal exposure on some “extraneous crime, pertaining to my business” and that he is prepared to be indicted by Mueller.

    Given what his “business” has consisted of over the last few decades, “extraneous crime(s)” could cover quite the range.

  73. 73.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @James Powell:

    The entire platform of the republican party can be expressed in two words, bigotry and greed.

    I think we need to add paranoia.

    Bigotry, greed, paranoia … and a fanatical devotion to the Shitgibbon.

  74. 74.

    germy

    At this point this doesn't even have much to do with Trump anymore. When a criminal gets caught of course he fights, obstructs justice, tries to stop getting arrested. The issue here is a party willing to back up his actions. They only surrender quietly when no one backs them up.
    — Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) May 20, 2018

  76. 76.

    Death Panel Truck

    @dmsilev: You mean when is he going to full Needy Amin with the military parade he demanded a while back? What’s the status of that, anyway? Is the military actually going to go along with it, or tell him to fuck off?

  77. 77.

    debbie

    @Ian G.:

    Is this true, Trump going on vacation? I could use some quiet, and 10 days sounds about the right length of time.

  78. 78.

    germy

    It's important to be clear on 2 points right now:

    1) The informant wasn't "planted" in the Trump campaign as part of a criminal probe to investigate Trump/associates.

    2) The informant was there to protect Trump b/c the FBI believed Russia was trying to infiltrate his campaign.

    — Caroline O. (@RVAwonk) May 20, 2018

  79. 79.

    Ruckus

    @James Powell:
    My answer is that bigotry covers paranoia as well. That’s the basis of bigotry in the first place, an abnormal belief that a group is harmful just by it’s existence. A group that actually is trying to kill you or cause your death or starvation does not fall into the abnormal. One that means you no harm does.

  81. 81.

    germy

    Stone pronounces “Mueller” two different ways. He looks worried in this video:

    Roger Stone confirmed to Chuck Todd on @MeetThePress that *EIGHT* of his associates have been questioned by Mueller's team (we knew about 2 of them), but he still hasn't had any contact with Mueller himself. (That's.. not good).Oh, and he says he's prepared to be indicted. ? pic.twitter.com/AC6lKdp8sQ— Caroline O. (@RVAwonk) May 20, 2018

  86. 86.

    sukabi

    @germy: we can only hope that the press will start treating drumpf’s many egregious scandals as seriously as they treated Hillary’s email / bengahzi / uranium 1 / Vince foster nothingburgers…

  88. 88.

    My Truth Hurts

    22 school shootings in 15 weeks and this is what this asshole demands answers on. We are fucked. As a country, as a culture.

  89. 89.

    oaguabonita

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

    What’s with the random capitalization?

    I’ve read that’s a “tell” that this is one Trump wrote hizownself (i.e., not by a flunky flack with the keys to his twitter account). Which seems to mesh pretty believably with what’s visible there in his feed.

  90. 90.

    Ruckus

    @sukabi:
    Nothingburgers take no effort to write about, type, rinse, repeat. No effort at all. Anyone with a reasonable high school education can do that. A journalist degree? Easy peasy.
    Actual scandals take effort, legwork, following leads, finding leads to follow, dead ends, dead bodies, it’s actual work. You have to have skill, knowledge, ability, desire……….
    So let’s say you can get a decent salary for nothingburgers or spend lots of time following up leads that go nowhere and give you nothing, and you have no scruples, what are you gonna do?

  91. 91.

    Amir Khalid

    In my country we know what it’s like to be led by a grifter. Najib’s back in his constituency for the weekend — Pekan, the royal seat of Pahang state and a stronghold since forever for his party UMNO — his dad was MP there to the end of his life.

  93. 93.

    trollhattan

    @oaguabonita:
    In quizzing WH staffers about the leakiest leakers who ever leaked one allowed as to how he/she learned their fellow staffers’ writing quirks and imitates them when leaking intel. I don’t doubt they can all mimic The Boss but none of that should be construed as claiming he’s not doing this himself. I do think it’s clear when Steven Miller has the boss’ phone. Guessing Bolton only uses a dial phone.

  94. 94.

    tobie

    Will one Republican Senator or Representative speak up? I’ve been critical of McCain in the past, but on this issue I’m sure he would speak up if he could. Will any other GOPer show the slightest bit of principle and courage?

  95. 95.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    I’m so sad that this old Bloom County strip is probably too dated. “Peel back foil to expose tater tots” is a running joke in our house as a comeback for “I hereby demand” type statements.

    Unfortunately it’s a joke that only makes sense to those who remember “TV Dinners” that you heated in a pre-microwave heating device called an “oven”. I haven’t had a frozen dinner in decades, so I don’t know if this joke is updateable or not.

  96. 96.

    Baud

    whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes 

    Nope. Only for Criminal Justice and National Security purposes.

  97. 97.

    Ruckus

    @My Truth Hurts:
    Why are people surprised?
    Look who he is as a person. At who he has been his entire life. At what he has done his entire life.
    Look at the power he thinks he has and the power he really has.
    Did you really think this was going to be any different than how it’s playing out? Sure we hoped it wouldn’t be this bad, but how could it not? It’s drumpf. We all knew it would be bad before the election. We all knew that it would be horrible when we woke up Nov 9, 2016. We even out voted the assholes who wanted this. But we knew that morning that it would be bad. And we were right, it’s bad. Because a country elected a demented moronic fat fuck to lead it. And he has, right into the crapper. Astounded? Why? We’ve been talking about this for what 2 yrs now, that it would be bad.
    Did we just not think it could possibly be this bad? It’s drumpf, he fucks up every thing he touches. And he hasn’t just touched this country, he’s shit all over it.

  98. 98.

    oaguabonita

    @germy: Can see his announcement tweet already:

    Well, I did it, Made America Great Again. So Great. Greater than anything has ever been Great. Did it in just Four Years, too. So won’t be running in 2020.

    RE:

    Former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone said he would run a challenger against Vice President Mike Pence should Pence run for the Oval Office in 2020. Stone said Trump could decide to retire from politics if he accomplishes his agenda in the first 4 yrs.
    https://t.co/wrrb7WVjBY
    — Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) May 20, 2018

  99. 99.

    B.B.A.

    @oaguabonita: Campaigning is the only part of politics Trump enjoys. Not only is he going to run a reelection campaign in 2020, he’s going to continue holding campaign rallies until he shuffles off this mortal coil.

  100. 100.

    Ruckus

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:
    They still sell TV dinners. They are still bad. And you still have to open certain sections before cooking.
    There is always a Bloom County strip that is on topic. No matter when he wrote it.

  102. 102.

    Another Scott

    @James Powell: And жажда власти or maxime quia in potestate, also too.

    A huge part of it is the insatiable hunger for grabbing and holding on to power.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  103. 103.

    Joyce H

    @Mary G:

    I did tweet back to him that Shakespeare had his number centuries ago

    When Trump tweets or makes one of his deranged statements, I keep flashing back to the first line of Shelley’s “England in 1819”:

    “An old, mad, blind, despised, and dying King”

    Yep.

    (Shelley also refers to princes as ‘the dregs of their dull race’, which is also on point for the Trump dynasty…)

  106. 106.

    Jeffro

    @germy:

    Stone said Trump could decide to retire from politics if he accomplishes his agenda in the first 4 yrs.

    DID TWICE AS MUCH IN HALF THE TIME – SUCK IT, LIBTARDS!!1!

    Right now that has to be his strategy: pardon everyone, including himself, grab the loot, and head for the hills. (Yes, I’m fully aware there are problems with that strategy…but HE isn’t…)

  107. 107.

    Another Scott

    @James Powell: [excluding the problematic Cyrillic]

    A huge part of it is the insatiable hunger for grabbing and holding on to power.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  109. 109.

    Bruuuuce

    @Ruckus: No, he’s fat AND wearing his Pull-Ups. Too bad he doesn’t have one for his mouth and his phone, to catch the crap they spew

  111. 111.

    Brachiator

    @Ruckus:

    Did you really think this was going to be any different than how it’s playing out?

    Nope.

    What has surprised me is the degree to which the GOP leadership has become complicit in Trump’s madness.

    I recall an interview that Paul Ryan gave where he explicitly talked about how constitutional checks and balances would prevent Trump from becoming a tyrant. So obviously he was aware of concerns.

    But this was all bullshit, and the GOP are enablers and accessories to Trump’s grift.

    And I am somewhat amazed at the degree to which Trump’s supporters are true believers who would shut down the Mueller probe in a heartbeat, and just want Trump to get to work building that wall, dealing with Muslims and making America “great” again.

  113. 113.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @oaguabonita: one of Joy Reid’s guests said today that the Random Capitalization is done by Scavino to make words pop for MAGAts, so they know what they’re supposed to yell about, according to an idea written up by (he thought) Robert Draper in the New Yorker. With trump you get the R.C. but also misspellings, wild ass syntax, and general incoherence. Which is this guy’s theory, which is his.

  114. 114.

    Jeffro

    @Brachiator:

    I recall an interview that Paul Ryan gave where he explicitly talked about how constitutional checks and balances would prevent Trump from becoming a tyrant. So obviously he was aware of concerns.

    But this was all bullshit

    Yeeeeeup. “Establishment Repubs, come on in, I’ll keep an eye on Mr. Apprentice here…nothing to worry about, and thanks for your vote!”

  115. 115.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Jeffro: @Jeffro: I think trump and the Rs were testing each other and the country. He wanted to see what he could get away with, they wanted to find out if he meant any of that shit (that got him elected) about not cutting taxes for the rich and protecting the safety net. I think Ryan, McConnell et al are also relieved at the broad public’s general shrug at all the Russia stuff

  116. 116.

    Bill Arnold

    @oldgold:

    Does Trump anticipate a major card being played in the near term by Mueller?

    From today’s realDonaldTrump tweets, guessing 50% plus that something is about to drop. But might be more damaging-to-trump news, since news orgs typically ask the administration for comment in advance, one presumes, and Mueller does not.

  117. 117.

    JDM

    @dmsilev:

    3
    dmsilev says:
    May 20, 2018 at 1:55 pm
    How long until he starts appearing in some made-up military uniform with all sorts of Order of The Trump medals and the like?

    and he could dig out all those old palace guard uniforms Nixon had run up.

  118. 118.

    Yarrow

    @Brachiator:

    I recall an interview that Paul Ryan gave where he explicitly talked about how constitutional checks and balances would prevent Trump from becoming a tyrant. So obviously he was aware of concerns.

    LOL. Paul Ryan, traitor, says he’s going to protect us. Hilarious.

    Going to be an interesting week. Roger Stone being nervous is a good sign. Tick tock, motherfuckers.

  120. 120.

    GxB

    @Jeffro: I’m reminded of the old saw about how long it takes to build a barn versus how long it takes for some jackass to kick it down.

  123. 123.

    Another Scott

    TBogg at RawStory:

    Writing on Twitter, a confidante of former FBI Director James Comey predicted high level non-compliance and resignations at the FBI and the Justice Department if President Donald Trump makes good on a Twitter threat to demand an investigation of both agencies on Monday.

    It’s good they’re already pushing back.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  127. 127.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Ruckus:
    It is not bigotry. I am referring to cruelty that is not defined by group. They like to cause suffering, period, even to others ostensibly like themselves. Sadism is implicit in every conservative policy and the logic of an abuser is explicit in their arguments.

    @Frank Wilhoit:
    This is a good argument, I admit.

  128. 128.

    Jeffro

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: All true, plus who knows what % of them are also compromised by Russia (or just compromised, period, and don’t want to risk speaking out for fear of being outed on some issue or another)

  129. 129.

    Mnemosyne

    @germy:

    2) The informant was there to protect Trump b/c the FBI believed Russia was trying to infiltrate his campaign.

    Hard to protect someone from committing a crime they’re determined to commit. This is like putting an informant with John Gotti to protect him from committing crimes.

  131. 131.

    Corner Stone

    @Another Scott: How is that good? The only appropriate response is, “We’ll look into this and deliver a full report when finished.” And then stall the F out of it.
    If they don’t comply they get fired. If they resign Trump also gets what he wants.

  135. 135.

    Mnemosyne

    @Joyce H:

    (Shelley also refers to princes as ‘the dregs of their dull race’, which is also on point for the Trump dynasty…)

    I sometimes wonder what the alternate history would have been if either Princess Charlotte or her son had survived childbirth. If they had, Queen Victoria would never have even been conceived. ?

    ETA: As you know, Charlotte was already dead when Shelley wrote that.

  136. 136.

    Frankensteinbeck

    I can’t be sure because this is out of my area of expertise, but I don’t think this will cause any crisis. It will cause Rosenstein to put a pile of papers on Trump’s desk and offer to explain the authorization process to him step by step, to show how it was properly ordered and Obama had nothing to do with it.

  137. 137.

    Corner Stone

    @Frankensteinbeck: Trump doesn’t care. He doesn’t care about any of it. He’s hoping he can put “Maximum Pressure” on Rosenstein in an effort to get him to resign.
    Trump has his talking points scripted no matter how this plays out.

  138. 138.

    Kay

    It’s hard because what is really coming clear since the election is :

    1. how little voters knew about Donald Trump and his family
    2. how the FBI essentially threw the election by announcing every Clinton twist and turn while keeping the various Trump investigations top secret.

    I’m not sure I trust the FBI to investigate anyone at this point. I wish there was another choice, some kind of back up. I suppose I have to defend them from the completely lawless Trump crew, but, shit, it’s like pick your poison.

  139. 139.

    Corner Stone

    “Rudy says ‘Moon made of green cheese’, reports all media outlets uncritically.”

  140. 140.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    The backup was supposed to be Congress. At this point, the only real backup is Dem GOTV.

  141. 141.

    B.B.A.

    @Frankensteinbeck: and Trump will continue screaming at Rosenstein, Sessions, the kid with the lawnmower, and whoever else has managed to stay with the administration this long without slitting their wrists, that it’s all Obama’s fault and there was no collusion, witch hunt, etc., etc.

    So far there’s only been no crisis because Trump isn’t with it enough to actually do anything besides scream.

  144. 144.

    Corner Stone

    People keep saying that talking to Trump would be the last step in a Mueller investigation. I dispute that. In some kind of normal investigation that would be SOP. But when dealing with Trump why not go at him first, or at least somewhere in the middle? He’s going to spill all the beans, anyway. He’s going to lie about everything and implicate everyone else.

  145. 145.

    James Powell

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Bigotry, greed, paranoia … and a fanatical devotion to the Shitgibbon.

    An indication that devotion to Trump is increasingly the center of Republican ideology is that Ryan & McCarthy are both using “The Democrats will impeach Trump!” as a rallying cry for the midterms.

  148. 148.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @James Powell:

    Ryan & McCarthy are both using “The Democrats will impeach Trump!” as a rallying cry for the midterms.

    I know. And what’s more, they’re saying it as if that would be a bad thing. ?

  150. 150.

    patrick II

    To a degree we create our own social constructs. It is hard for me to believe our current conservative construct is the ideal society that effective communicators among republicans strive for — full of hate, jealousy, racism, child murder and headed for a global climate disaster. Congratulations to Rove, LaPierre, Bannon, Gingrich, Luntz, etc.

  151. 151.

    James Powell

    @Kay:

    A third thing becoming very clear is how little the press/media understood about Trump and the Republicans. They worked so hard to normalize anything and everything the RW has produced over the last 40 years, they bent over backwards to excuse or simply ignore the RW’s hostility to democracy, fairness, and common decency.

    But even now, so many of them are still treating all of this as just another day at the horse races. Who’s up, who’s down, who’s invited to the Kool Kids event?

  152. 152.

    Joyce H

    @Mnemosyne:

    As you know, Charlotte was already dead when Shelley wrote that.

    At which point a whole pack of fat, dissipated middle-aged princes with dozens of mistresses and scores of bastards among them stampeded to church to get married and maybe sire the new heir to the throne, to the utter derision of the population. I guess it’s nice to know that we’re not the first to have a completely corrupt and justifiably despised government, but at least the Brits of the day could tell themselves that they didn’t choose their government.

    (I do like to think that we didn’t choose what we’ve got now, but are suffering under the results of a malicious attack by a hostile foreign power, but we can’t escape the fact that tens of millions of Americans did vote for this.)

  153. 153.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Lapassionara:

    If he is accusing someone of doing something wrong, then he has already done it or at the very least, plans on doing it.

    Done it, remember he wants the Post Office to jack Amazon.coms postal rates.

  154. 154.

    Jager

    @JDM: I don’t think he can find a 50 long with 44 inch pants in the uniform storage closet. If he did find one that size,he’d still have to have the ass let out!

  155. 155.

    Jay

    @Kay:

    “1. how little voters knew about Donald Trump and his family”

    The Deplorables knew, but don’t care. Crooks, Racists, Conmen and punching down are their wheel house.

    The Rest of the Republicans knew, but meh, who cares as long as there are tax breaks for billionaires and Corporations,

    And that, pretty much accounts for all of Treason Twitler’s Voters.

    It doesn’t take much google-fu to find Трамп’s issues.

    What didn’t help at all was the concerted campaign to make Hillary Clinton appear to be just the same.

  156. 156.

    Another Scott

    @Corner Stone: It’s good that they’re saying, “Look, this is dangerous and we won’t be part of it. Think very carefully before you officially ask us to do this before you do something that you regret.” If Donnie goes ahead and does it, then of course they can stall it (like the way the Pentagon has with the transgender policy). But the implicit warning is that they can also, say, leave lots more bread crumbs for the press and state AGs, etc.

    It’s much, much better for the FBI/DOJ to be pushing back on this now rather than waiting until it’s an official policy because now they have a chance of keeping it from becoming an official policy.

    My $0.02.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  157. 157.

    Another Scott

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): Maybe so.

    But Trump is a coward. He was surprised at all of the outrage when he fired Comey and that’s made him even more of a coward than he was during the campaign.

    He backed down to Nancy and Chuck on the budget and his stupid Wall. He backed down today on the tariffs on China. He has backed down on everything he’s been challenged on thus far.

    The only way to get him to stop, or at least slow down, his outrageous behavior is to confront him every step of the way. Sometimes that means in-your-face NO, sometimes that means the bureaucracy slow-walking everything. But we can’t over-think this stuff. He’s not some evil genius – He’s an idiot. Confronting him shows everyone how weak he is and how resilient our system is if if people in authority and the rest of us are willing to do our part.

    170 days to go…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  159. 159.

    Bess

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    I can’t be sure because this is out of my area of expertise, but I don’t think this will cause any crisis. It will cause Rosenstein to put a pile of papers on Trump’s desk and offer to explain the authorization process to him step by step, to show how it was properly ordered and Obama had nothing to do with it.

    This.

  161. 161.

    J R in WV

    @JDM:

    Nixon’s Palace Guard uniforms were eventually given to a High School band, IIRC…. So Trumpette will have to get new ones.

  162. 162.

    Canadian Shield

    I know a lot of people don’t like the band Rush (i do) but the lyrics to one of their songs really seems to fit with these times in the US. ‘A Fairwell to Kings’

    “When they turn the pages of history
    When these days have passed long ago
    Will they read of us with sadness
    For the seeds that we let grow?
    We turned our gaze
    From the castles in the distance
    Eyes cast down
    On the path of least resistance

    Cities full of hatred 
    Fear and lies 
    Withered hearts 
    And cruel, tormented eyes 
    Scheming demons 
    Dressed in kingly guise 
    Beating down the multitude 
    And scoffing at the wise”

    I will leave to the reader who the Scheming demons are…

  163. 163.

    Brachiator

    @Another Scott:

    But Trump is a coward. He was surprised at all of the outrage when he fired Comey and that’s made him even more of a coward than he was during the campaign.

    He backed down to Nancy and Chuck on the budget and his stupid Wall. He backed down today on the tariffs on China. He has backed down on everything he’s been challenged on thus far.

    Trump may be a coward, but there’s more to it. He keeps coming back to his pet positions. And he is able to force some concessions.

    Comey still got fired. China is promising to buy more goods. Trump got a crappy tax law passed. ICE is fucking with people’s lives.

    Don’t get me wrong. Trump’s approach is incredibly destructive. He has caused unnecessary problems with Obamacare. His Israel embassy decision directly led to people being murdered.

    Trump is perhaps a cunning coward. He doesn’t back away without getting something, and he will keep trying to find a way to get what he wants.

    Also, Trump never reconsiders his position. DACA, gun control. Even if he retreats, he rarely leaves room for reasonable alternatives.

  164. 164.

    Vhh

    I do wish Director Mueller’s team would issue a new set of indictments to puncture some balloons. Donald Jr, Stone,Jared would do nicely. As Rudy said,all disposable.

  168. 168.

    J R in WV

    @James Powell:

    Ryan & McCarthy are both using “The Democrats will impeach Trump!” as a rallying cry for the midterms.

    Interesting how the Rs are trying that out. The only problem is that only Republicans are calling for Democrats to impeach Trumpette. I haven’t heard much at all from any Democratic politician about impeachment yet. Time isn’t ripe — yet!

  169. 169.

    Kay

    @James Powell:

    Comey protected the FBI. He said as much. His first priority was protecting the FBI. I am a Clinton supporter and citizen. He didn’t protect my interests. I don’t really feel like rushing to the defense of the FBI after they treated Clinton voters like such garbage.

    Better Trump goes after a powerful police agency like the FBI than his usual powerless targets- the children of refugees or something. I’m sure the FBI will survive an attack by their candidate. The question is- will less powerful people survive?

  170. 170.

    Kay

    Maggie Haberman
    Giuliani indicates that Mueller conveyed he wants to wrap this up quickly re Trump. There’s an “if he gets an interview” contingency but Giuliani/others say Mueller is aware of midterms looming.

    Once again the entire focus is protecting the interests of the powerful. Clear the decks! It’s time for the GOP incumbents to protect their seats!

    This from the people who went out of their way to flog the Clinton investigation right up until election day.

    Once again voters are the absolute last priority.

  172. 172.

    James Powell

    @Kay:

    And once again Old Reliable Maggie is spreading whatever message the Republicans want spread as if it’s some Super Savvy Insiders-Only Secret Knowledge in order to enhance the effect.

  174. 174.

    Platonailedit

    @Kay:

    Once again voters are the absolute last priority.

    Why would gop give any shit about the voters when they know the same fucking moronic idiots will keep electing them time and again?

  179. 179.

    ohthatguy

    Does that thing about slamming people’s heads into the roof when putting them in a police car still apply, or are we getting soft on crime?

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