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
Who among us doesn't have "extraneous crime" just lying around to be indicted.
— Kitty Krupnik (@KrupnikKitty) May 20, 2018
As any libertarian would tell you, taxes are theft, so Al Capone should never have gone to jail!
***********
Much closer to the center axis on the “Evil vs Stupid” chart… Ed Kilgore has a nice (in both senses of the word) dissection of St. Bernie’s latest shenanigans:
There were two big developments on May 21 in the political universe of Bernie Sanders, one upbeat, one not-so-much.
On the positive side, Sanders formally announced he is a candidate for reelection to a third term in the Senate, as was universally expected. The only slight mystery about his bid was resolved when he indicated that he would follow his past procedure by running in the Democratic primary, and then declining the nomination and running as an independent while accepting the “endorsement” of Vermont Democrats. The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake had a sardonic comment about that:
Sanders is going to run in the Democratic primary for no reason except to preclude anybody else from winning it — despite having no intention of running as a Democrat in the general election. Sanders basically wants to ensure he will face no Democratic opponent in November. A cynic might say the guy who complained about the rigging of the 2016 Democratic presidential primary is kinda, sorta rigging the 2018 Vermont Senate race for himself…
… The announcement is also another indication that Sanders thinks he’s good to go in national office until 2024 at least, when he’ll turn 83. Whether that means he’ll run for president in 2020 is another matter, of course.
If he does, he may want to lend some attention (at least indirectly, since he cannot legally direct it) to the legacy organization he set up as a vehicle for Sandernistas, Our Revolution. A big piece in Politico on Monday from Edward Isaac-Dovere suggests that Our Revolution is not doing well…
Main hope I take is that it brings us closer to the day when one of Sanders’ many enemies, from actual Democrats to Repubs looking to clear the 2020 field, stop holding fire and release the plentiful oppo research. Or at start calling for St. Bernie to release his fekking taxes, because if he’s pushed hard enough on finances, either Jane will further incriminate them both or the old phart will… decide we no longer deserve his “brilliance”.
The Politico report on “Bernie’s army in disarray” is also tasty, if one takes delight in the suffering of one’s enemies:
… [A]n extensive review of the Sanders-inspired group depicts an organization in disarray — operating primarily as a promotional vehicle for its leader and sometimes even snubbing candidates aligned with Sanders. Our Revolution has shown no ability to tip a major Democratic election in its favor — despite possessing Sanders’ email list, the envy of the Democratic Party — and can claim no major wins in 2018 as its own.
The result has left many Sanders supporters disillusioned, feeling that the group that was supposed to harness the senator’s grass-roots movement is failing in its mission. The problems have also fueled doubts about Sanders’ organizational ability heading into 2020, even after his out-of-nowhere near-march to the nomination two years ago. Critics of the Vermont independent had been worried he’d have a juggernaut-in-waiting to fuel a second presidential campaign, but that anxiety has faded after watching Our Revolution the past year and a half…
As the old proverb says, Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes sweat & skill to build one.
Hunter Gathers
He’s to fucking old.
Shalimar
I didn’t know about Sanders’ method of clearing the field in this way. The more I find out about him, the more he looks like a brightly-packaged fraud.
Platonailedit
So, VT dem party establishment is buncha suckers for bs?
Joey Maloney
@Platonailedit: More likely they don’t have anyone who can take him down clean without a divisive primary fight and they’ll take their reliable Democratic vote in the hand over whatever piece of Republican sewage might be lurking in the bush.
dollared
So Bernie Sanders is the enemy? That kind of nuclear stupidity can leave one without enough friends to win elections.
Mary G
He’s better than a Republican, but not by much.
AxelFoley
@dollared: Well, look who showed up after all this time away…
Platonailedit
@Joey Maloney: @dollared:
Yeah, that worked out great for dems in 2016.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@AxelFoley: Guess the Google Alert must have gone off.
Kathleen
In what universe was Nina Turner respected?
I’m so sick and tired of the “Isn’t it great that Bernie moved Dems to The Left trope. If these misogynist white privileged “analysts” bothered to pull their head out of their arses and examine Obama’s record and Hillary’s platform they would know Dems were already moving to “The Left”, whatever the fuck they think that means. But I guess labels like “Moving To The Left” to meet Bernie’s progressive purity standards are more important than speaking truth about racism like Hillary did or passing the ACA, which resulted in dramatic redistribution of wealth (and which St. Slanders demeaned). God how I loathe Bernie, his stans, and lazy media hacks.
dollared
@Platonailedit: That’s exactly it. How did that “suburban Republican white woman solidarity” strategy pay off? Oh, they voted for Trump. Shock! Treating the people to your left as enemies is how you lost. And all of us are paying the price.
Platonailedit
@dollared: If your dear leader is so popular, why does he need the dem crutch? Why doesn’t he run as indie straight away? And any answers to why the dear leader and his ‘movement’ were able to do jacksquat since 2016? Dumbshit.
kobekid
@Platonailedit: If your dear leader is so popular, why does he need the dem crutch? Why doesn’t he run as indie straight away? And any answers to why the dear leader and his ‘movement’ were able to do jacksquat since 2016? Dumbshit.
this needs to be posted again
barb 2
Bernie the idiot and his cult followers can go to hell.
NotMax
Hey, Earl Warren was nominated for governor of California, in the same election, by both the Rs and the Ds. And ran on both tickets.
But then, he actually accomplished things, unlike Wilmer.
geg6
I read both Kilgore’s article and then went over to Politico in order to savor. And I laughed and laughed and laughed. Never enjoyed Politico so much!
magurakurin
@dollared: piss off. Nobody is buying Bernie’s bullshit here. He is a fraud. Either he is an independent or not. Truth is he is no more an independent than Chuck Schumer. He is a 40 year career establishment politician who found a niche cosplaying as an anti-establishment, independent maverick. He is the Democratic John McCain.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: That was the third and final time he ran for Governor before being appointed Chief Justice.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
BWAHWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHHAWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHHAHHAWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHHAHHAWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAA
Wilmer’s organization isN’T good at the race relations thing.
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCOOONODE!
rikyrah
The KKKEEBLER Elf and his bothering of the immigration courts
https://www.vox.com/2018/5/21/17376398/jeff-sessions-immigration-ruling-courts
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
First they had to issue a statement distancing Wilmer from his own Trump loving son.
Now they had to issue a statement distancing Wilmer from his own Trump loving organization.
It might be early, but a pattern is emerging.
Amir Khalid
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
A statement distancing Wilmer from his own Trump-loving self? That will be a sight to behold.
Jack the Second
@Amir Khalid: You know, I’d take back 40% of everything I said about Bernie if his next Presidential campaign was as a Republican.
trnc
“I may have committed some light treason.”
Jamey
Absent the Dems’ nom in 2020, Sanders will run as an Independent. Bank on it.
Buskertype
I love y’all… but these anti-Bernie hatefests get really old. He didn’t hurt Clinton in the election, he doesn’t “love trump” and his supporters are no more a cult of personality than Clinton’s. As of now Clinton supporters are doing just as much to divide the party as Sanders supporters, and this entire comment thread is evidence if you need some.
B_Rogers
It’s always been clear that Bernie is the “Right to Work” candidate. He’d vote against that as a law, but for himself he wants all the advantages of the union (ie the Democratic Party) orgnization – infrastructures, media, fundraising and apparently job protection- But he doesn’t want to pay any dues or or have to cooperate with leadership.
And that was… not fine, but acceptable when he was a reliable enough vote on most issues. It stopped being fine when he ran to run the organization on how the platform of “this organization sucks”. It became worse when he got indignant that the party preferred someone else over the free-riding gadfly.
Given this history his fans should not be surprised that the people doing the day to day work don’t care for him.
kindness
It’s a sad commentary that Democrats could consider Bernie an enemy. But in all fairness, he acts like one. I like Bernie more than I respect him. His heart may be in a good place but the numbers on his plans never work out. He goads his supporters to trash other actual Democrats and supports outlying candidates that only end up splitting the progressive vote and letting Republicans win. Almost like what happens in Maine.
What is in the water in New England?
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@Buskertype: oh c’mon. He spent a year tearing her down. He said she was “unqualified”; said she was crooked for giving paid speeches. His surrogates called her a “corporate whore”; his chief surrogate susan sarandon said Trump was a better choice. Then he refused to concede and his delegates shouted down all the speakers at the convention.
He was a sore loser, throwing a childish fit.
kindness
@Buskertype: Bernie & BernieBros did hurt Clinton in 2016 by repeating Republican lies about Hillary and letting the news media run with bad news for Hillary than otherwise would have. Bernie’s people far too often spend more of their time burning it down than they do building anything up.
Tarragon
@dollared:
rikyrah
@B_Rogers:
That is a fabulous description.
Ruckus
@magurakurin:
Nicely stated. Cosplayiing. That one word describes him perfectly.
Mr. Prosser
@magurakurin: @B_Rogers: Nailed it.
Ruckus
@Buskertype:
More proof how hard is to see the world with your head stuck up there.
germy
I like the quotes around “electability”
Ruckus
@kindness:
The reason his plans never plan out is that they aren’t plans. They are wishes and dreams on fairy dust wings. Both the Russian and German guys a century ago had actual plans. They were crap plans but they were plans. There is no there to BS.
I’d imagine that the National Democratic Party takes the state word that a candidate is a dem and that if one runs in that state as one then he gets accepted. Except this one is saying explicitly that he isn’t. He should never be accepted as a dem. He’s proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he isn’t. He’s the guy who stands on the edge of the crowd and yells at both the cops and the crowd. He wants to see, even start the riot. But he has no idea what to do next, after the riot actually happens.
Paula
@Kathleen:
Yep.
Paula
@magurakurin:
Yep.
Paula
@kindness:
He piggybacked on GOP slanders.
Paula
I wish a Vermont Dem would challenge him.
B_Rogers
@Paula: I don’t, because we need every damn seat caucusing with us to claim the senate and my ire is not enough to gamble that we hold the seat in a 3 way race.
What I want is for our control of the Senate to be strong enough to not need that seat. But that means, in reality, more than 60 Dem seats or the absence of a filibuster. This places Bernie in the same place as my former senator representing the “Connecticut for Lieberman” Party.
Dennis
@Platonailedit: His approach ensures that he and Democrat won’t split the vote, letting a GOPer win with a plurality. But only if he refuses to run as an independent if he LOSES the Dem primary. If a majority of the Dems vote for him in the primary, what the hell difference does it make if he runs as an Independent and caucuses with the Dems?
Scotian
There is IMHO a very simple explanation for why Sanders has been without the “success” he had in the 2016 primary ever since then. Back then it was his internet presence that was so remarkable in the primaries yet when it came to turnout in person not so much. Why? Well, might have something to do with Russian aid to Sanders being online that could not be so easily replicated in person.
IOW, Sanders was the first tool Putin used to defeat Clinton, which was his first goal, and then once he saw that there really was a chance to put the crooked property owner he clearly already owned into the WH he really ramped up for Trump, but his first tool to defeat Clinton who he hated with a naked passion was Bernie Sanders and his band of Hillary hating destroyers who thought it was better to scorch the earth than to let HRC win. Well, this is the world you all built Sandersnistas, and your refusal to accept it, and your working with Vlad to create it, well that is YOUR issue and problem.
Bernie Sanders was Vlad’s first tool in 2016, and the fact that to this day neither Sanders nor his people have EVER accepted this fact, well that in itself truly shows their character, trustworthiness, and suitability to hold power, or rather their utter lack of such things and the reason they should be kept as far away from governing power as Trump and Freedom Caucus types should be.
This is not about partisanship nor about the leadership of the Dems as a party, especially as Sanders is no DEMOCRAT. He lies, and lies and lies when it comes to this when it suits his needs, and the fact that this is seen as fine by his supporters shows exactly where their TRUE nature and loyalties lie.
Actions, not words, show the true nature of people, and Sanders and company and their actions, including those of their boosters here illustrate just how far up Vlad’s Ass they are and have been all along.
jl
We all have extraneous crimes. I forgot to pay my 25 bucks for a fixit ticket once, after I got a cop to sign off on the new tail light. Surely, Stone is talking about something like that.
I have a modest suggestion for a more constructive channelling of the Bernie hatred. Why not focus on other promising candidates who have adopted many of Bernie’s positive policy proposals, and who will keep Bernie from being and evil spoiler next time? BS may do well in some of the primaries, but I don’t think much chance he’ll be an important factor. Besides being too old (like Biden), he won’t have that much unique any more. Will be too much overlap with better politicians, such as Kamala Harris and Gillibrand, Sherrod Brown, Patrick.
J R in WV
I really used to think the stuff and nonsense about Sanders and using Wilmer instead because the trolls would come out if you mentioned Sanders was just BS. But this thread proves it is so. Trolls who haven’t commented more than a hundred times popped up for this thread, “people” who haven’t commented since early 2017.
And several of them.
So there is an alert being generated when Sanders is the topic of a thread.
Sanders is a despicable piece of crap. He isn’t positive in any way shape or form, he isn’t a Democrat at all. Hell Joe Manchin is more of a Democrat than Sanders is.
And allowing his “fan delegates” to act the childish way they did at the Democratic National Convention should have resulted in all of them, including Sanders himself, being thrown out the first day!
Hurling Dervish
@Buskertype: His wife, Jane, who his followers admire as the “purest” form of Bernie, let people know they should “vote their conscience” when deciding to vote for Hillary or Jill Stein.
karen marie
@magurakurin: “Democratic John McCain” – perfect.
I am still furious that I was foolish enough to donate to Sanders primary campaign early on. It wasn’t long before I realized what a fraud he is. Now, however, he’s really pissing me off.
Padraig
@Shalimar: So, just to clarify. Sanders should not run in the Democratic primary, because if he does, a majority of democrats will vote for him and he will win, and that is undemocratic. Instead, he should run against a Republican and a Democratic opponent in the general, splitting the left-center vote and handing a Senate seat to a Republican who does not get a majority.
I’m not sure you understand how elections work. I am sure you hate Sanders. I’m reasonably certain the latter is why the former.
B_Rogers
@Padraig: does Sanders intend to run as a Democrat? See, the ostensible purpose of the primary is to figure out which Democrat runs for Senate. Since he’s not, he oughtnt
Now, the VT D party apparatus knows from experience that Sanders is vain enough to run as an I to split the Liberal vote and let a R get into the Senate seat (which would hurt every cause Sanders cares about), so no matter what the D party will be the adult in the room and not run anyone. Bernie’s running in the D primary just to turn down the nomination is either over-insuring or being a blowhard.
Sanders could solve this dilemma immediately by running in the party in which he ideologically agrees, caucuses with, relies on for seniority in appointments and uses for their infrastructure. That he doesn’t says something about him.
TallPete
I see the Sanders hate is still strong here at BJ. Is anyone posting here from VT?
Anne conveniently left out the fact that the Dems in VT support this tactic: The Vermont Democratic Party passed a resolution over the weekend supporting Sanders’ move, proclaiming that he could still be considered a member of the party “for all purposes and entitled to all the rights and privileges that come with such membership at the state and federal level.”
But what does it matter what the Dems in VT want, amirite?