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if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

He imagines himself as The Big Bad, Who Is Universally Feared… instead of The Big Jagoff, Who Is Universally Mocked.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

This fight is for everything.

Let me file that under fuck it.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

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

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

We still have time to mess this up!

This blog will pay for itself.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

“woke” is the new caravan.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Hail to the Hairpiece / Another set of amazingly expected indictments

Another set of amazingly expected indictments

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This is about as surprising as finding out that North Carolina is a bit humid in the summer.

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101Comments

  3. 3.

    piratedan

    at the point right now where I wonder why isn’t this guy in a lockup somewhere? Confiscate all of his stuff, get it ready for auction post conviction.

  4. 4.

    Yutsano

    @dmsilev: Shocked, gambling, etc.

    @rikyrah: It’s really hard to see how the judge doesn’t revoke it. He deliberately did this while on his own recognizance. Judges do not like that AT ALL.

  6. 6.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Manafort had better hope the FSB can’t get to him in a supermax.

  7. 7.

    dmsilev

    Also, The Onion a few days ago:

    Rain-Soaked Robert Mueller Lets Manafort Surf One Final Monster Wave Before Bringing Him In

    VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA—Standing on the beach and stoically observing the tiny diagonal line that Trump’s desperately paddling campaign manager made across the sheer magnificence of the thrashing ocean, rain-soaked Special Counsel Robert Mueller silently endured a torrential downpour Tuesday while allowing Paul Manafort to surf one final monster wave before taking him into custody. “After careful consideration, I’ve determined there’s no way Paul can handle a cage,” said Mueller, ignoring the lashing storm and the open handcuff dangling from his left wrist as he watched the former Trump campaign chairman cut back across the face of an 80-foot, once-in-a-lifetime wave. “Manafort has a death wish. He just wants to ride to glory. Don’t bother looking for him. He’s not coming back.” Sources confirmed that the drenched special counsel watched for a long moment after Manafort’s board disappeared below the churning water and then left the beach by himself, pausing only to toss his badge into the foaming shallows.

  10. 10.

    Mai naem mobile

    You Damm well know if Manafort was blackity black or muslin he would have been locked up already . There’s your white privilege right there .

  12. 12.

    Leto

    @dmsilev: Unless there’s a monster sea dinosaur waiting to eat his ass, like in the new Jurassic Park trailer, then this is still getting off too easy. Also reminds me to see if PB will be on this weekend. If not, Road House and Dirty Dancing will do.

    We need a Yutsano quote here, but until then: burn, motherfuckers, burn.

  14. 14.

    Yutsano

    @Leto: I would go for execution via vegetable peeler and lemon juice, but I’d consider that a waste of good lemons. Nah, I want him to live. A good long life. In jail. With his family penniless from all their ill-gotten gains. And zero chance for parole.

  16. 16.

    Immanentize

    @Leto: He may, he may not. I think, in Trump’s mind, Manafort is on his own because Trump fired him, so Trump is insulated somehow. I just try to figure outr what Trump’s attorneys are telling him to keep him from going crazy.

    And I love that Mueller did this (whether planned or not) when Trump is out of the country.

  17. 17.

    Gin & Tonic

    Not just Manafort, but his GRU handler, Kilimnik. He’ll never be extradited, I know, but now he has to worry about traveling to lots of places that I bet he likes. And he’s two decades younger than Paulie, so this will cramp his style for a while.

  18. 18.

    TenguPhule

    This is about as surprising as finding out that North Carolina is a bit humid in the summer.

    It’s only a bit humid? That is a surprise.

  20. 20.

    Elizabelle

    @Immanentize: I know. Remind the summit leaders how tied the American tool president is to Russia. Give them something else to talk about.

  21. 21.

    Mary G

    I’m already seeing RWNJs in the Twitter saying this is railroading. Manafort to get to roll on Twitler.

  22. 22.

    Leto

    @Yutsano: Agreed. Why waste perfectly good limoncello on him?

    @Immanentize: Agree with this too. It’s his standard m.o.: “Paul Manafort? Never met the guy. Wouldn’t know him if I saw him. He only worked for the campaign briefly. NO COLLUSION!” Idk what his attorneys are saying but I’m sure Ghouliani will let us know this Sunday.

    Mr. Mueller does have impeccable timing.

  23. 23.

    Mike in DC

    The nice part is that Trump probably won’t know Paulie has flipped until two months later, when Mueller files the appropriate papers. Ditto for Michael Cohen.

  24. 24.

    JPL

    @Gin & Tonic: Okay the names were recognizable.

    Trump is going to be really pissy at the meetings today and tomorrow. I should say his level of pissyness will rise.

  25. 25.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Immanentize:
    I think in Trump’s mind, pardoning white supremacists is Sticking It To The Browns, pardoning celebrities is Look At How Cool I Am, and pardoning co-conspirators is Fuck You Losers Trump Looks Out For Trump.

  26. 26.

    TriassicSands

    Will it ever be possible to put together a jury that would be willing to convict Manafort? After all, it just takes one devout Trumpaholic to vote to acquit.

  31. 31.

    TriassicSands

    Trump is truly a class act. While Putin is in Europe badmouthing the US to the Europeans, Trump is calling for Russia to be reinstated to the G-n (n = 7 now, 8 with Russia). There has never been a US president who cared less about appearances. Or his country.

    How long before Trump calls for the return of Alaska to Russia?

  32. 32.

    Yutsano

    @dmsilev: Honestly if he hasn’t flipped by now I doubt he will. If he’s got a tax charge against him that’s the one that will most likely stick. Criminal Investigation for the IRS is VERY good at making their cases airtight. And for what he’s facing that will be a hefty prison sentence and punitive fine on its own.

  33. 33.

    James Powell

    @TriassicSands:

    After all, it just takes one devout Trumpaholic to vote to acquit.

    It won’t even take that. All they need is one NPR-addicted totebagger who’s committed to the doctrine of “both sides!”

  36. 36.

    TenguPhule

    @TriassicSands:

    Will it ever be possible to put together a jury that would be willing to convict Manafort? After all, it just takes one devout Trumpaholic to vote to acquit.

    Prison is probably the safest place for Manafort and he should know this by now.

  37. 37.

    TenguPhule

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Trump assured us that he is Russia’s worst nightmare in the same comment where he said he wants Russia reinstated to the G-7.

    Please tell me you’re joking. Pretty please?

  38. 38.

    Leto

    @Yutsano: I still think the theory that he’s more afraid of Putin/total familial assassination is the one that holds the most water. He’ll go to jail forever, without saying a word against Trumpov, as long as it ensures his family is safe. And with this administration, I wouldn’t trust my family to any gov agency promising that they’ll remain safe. As long as the crime cartel has it’s fingers in the machine, he and his family will never be safe.

  42. 42.

    trollhattan

    Manafort and Cohen could team for the shittiest buddy flick ever, wading through the D.C. and NY swamps threatening basically everybody.

  44. 44.

    TenguPhule

    “Right now, we are not going to live with the deals the way they are.”

    “European Union treats us very unfairly. Canada, very unfairly. Mexico, very unfairly,” he said. “With that being said, I think we’ll probably very easily make a deal.”

    Trump has faced outward pushback from foreign leaders, including the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, and French president, Emmanuel Macron, over his decision to impose steel and aluminum tariffs on a number of America’s closest western allies.

    Trump lies about EVERY FUCKING THING.

  45. 45.

    TenguPhule

    Trump also addressed the mounting controversy over a series of ethics violations by Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

    “Scott Pruitt is doing a great job within the walls of the EPA. I mean, we’re setting records,” Trump said.

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

  46. 46.

    Amir Khalid

    @L85NJGT:
    I wonder if anyone has explained to Trump that Ali doesn’t need a pardon, because SCOTUS overturned his conviction.

  47. 47.

    VOR

    The Pardon power seems like a new toy that Trump just discovered. The press are guaranteed to print Trump’s name if he pardons someone famous. And he can do it on a whim, nobody can moderate it or stop him.

  49. 49.

    trollhattan

    Zinke et al, continuously trying to kill us all off faster run into a rare roadblock.

    In one of the latest bids to save the Navajo Generating Station, the West’s largest coal-burning power plant, the Department of Interior has stepped in to try and stave off its closure. Last week, Timothy Petty, the Interior Department’s assistant secretary for water and science, sent a letter to the Central Arizona Project, a regional water utility, pressuring it to continue purchasing electricity from the power plant, which is slated to close in 2019.

    In the past, the water project, which is operated by the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, has purchased most of its power from the generating station. However, with the impending closure of the plant, the utility began looking to new and cheaper energy sources, including renewables like solar. On Thursday, despite the Interior Department’s recommendation, CAP’s board voted to sign a 20-year power purchase agreement with a solar company.

    The battle to keep the coal-fired power plant running is emblematic of a larger national effort to keep coal in operation, despite market forces that favor natural gas. As part of his “energy dominance” mandate, President Donald Trump’s administration has tried to bolster the country’s coal production, moving to lift regulatory burdens to increase the profitability of the energy source. Time and again those efforts have proven inadequate to save the struggling industry.

    Several attempts have already been made in the case of the Navajo Generating Station. In April, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed a bill that would provide a multi-million dollar tax break for coal in Arizona, as a way to attract a potential buyer for the generating station. A few weeks ago, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., revealed a draft bill that would require the operator of CAP to purchase as “much of its total power requirements as possible” from the station until the utility has paid off its $1.1 billion debt. In addition to that mandate, the bill would temporarily exempt any potential new owner of the plant from having to conduct a National Environmental Policy Act review, and would waive Clean Air Act requirements, according to AZ Central.

    Hard to imagine a business venture choosing solar power in Arizona, of all places. What a nutty idea.

  50. 50.

    trollhattan

    @TenguPhule:
    Dollars to donuts Pruitt is Trump’s very favorite cabinet member. He totally understands and lives the Trumpian ideal.

  52. 52.

    Jeffro

    @dmsilev: the pardons – whether Ali or NFL players – are all just more chaff, more BS, more weirdness. He’d get recommendations from NFL players on who to pardon and then tell them, “no kneeling or no pardon”. Or just not do it and laugh in their faces. Or just pardon the white folks on that list.

    Jeb Bush isn’t good for much, but in calling Trumpov “the chaos candidate” he was spot-on. Chaotic evil, through and through.

  54. 54.

    Jeffro

    @VOR: it’s one of the few absolute powers of the presidency, right? Makes him all god-like and such? And the way he (ab)uses it, he can reward friends, punish enemies, cause chaos, keep himself in the news cycle, etc etc. No wonder he loves it even more than ‘national emergency tariffs’ (but just barely)

  55. 55.

    rikyrah

    @dmsilev:

    @TenguPhule: I’m afraid the joke is on us. Also in “not a joke, at least not deliberately” is this headline on CNN:
    “Trump will ask athletes who kneel during anthem to recommend people for pardoning”.

    The bullshyt that was supposed to show up the Eagles, showed him to be a clown that didn’t know the words to God Bless America.
    Then, there’s the little thing of Kaep’s attorneys saying that they want to subpoena him. ….yesssssss!!!!

  57. 57.

    rikyrah

    @Amir Khalid:

    @L85NJGT:
    I wonder if anyone has explained to Trump that Ali doesn’t need a pardon, because SCOTUS overturned his conviction.

    The Ali Estate already did.

  58. 58.

    dmsilev

    @rikyrah: He’s preemptively disinviting whoever wins the NBA finals (down at the bottom of the same linked story) because apparently both LeBron James and Steph Curry have said mean things about him.

  59. 59.

    L85NJGT

    Watching this, it’s uh… something else. He never wanted the job, or expected to win. Trying to work with someone who doesn’t want to be there makes for a really shitty work environment. He’ll keep stuffing his pockets and acting out till they have to boot his ass out of town.

  60. 60.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Jeffro: and TeeVee footage of grateful families thanking him, using his name. He’ll use it as political propaganda, of course, but I suspect his personal neediness, the incense offered to his ego, is more important to him.

    I gather he was babbling about wanting to help people who have been treated “unfairly” by our justice system, and why don’t those football players want to praise him for that. Seriously, WH pool reporters, how hard would it be to come up with “Was Tamir Rice treated fairly? What recourse does his family have?”

  63. 63.

    Anne Laurie

  65. 65.

    SFAW

    @Amir Khalid:

    Point Break is an underrated classic.

    I think it’s overrated as an underrated classic.

    Then again, maybe not. I guess an argument could be made that it’s right up there with Eraserhead, and maybe Glen or Glenda.

  68. 68.

    TriassicSands

    @dmsilev:

    Well, “worst EPA chief ever” is a record. Not a good record, but a record.

    While I do believe Pruitt will ultimately win the title of worst EPA head ever, I don’t think he’ll win in a rout. If you’re old enough to remember Anne Gorsuch (Burford) — Neil’s mommie — then you know who his competition is.

  69. 69.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    If I am not mistaken, MSNBC has two correspondents in Idaho so that we can all keep our fingers on the pulse of seven potato farmers (spoiler alert!) They’re confident that trump will hang tough and get them a good deal. By god trump is capable of tanking the auto industry just so he can watch tape of these guys saying he’s the greatest.

  70. 70.

    SFAW

    @L85NJGT:

    He never wanted the job,

    I keep reading this, and I still think it’s wrong (to put it nicely). He may not want to do the ACTUAL WORK that (theoretically) goes along with the job, but he’s plenty happy that he’s king.

  72. 72.

    TriassicSands

    @SFAW:
    I think you may be underestimating the overrating of Point Break as an underrated classic. Or is it overestimating?
    Gosh, kids, Zippy is so confused. Hey, let’s bomb N. Korea! That should settle the debate.

  74. 74.

    Jeffro

    @Anne Laurie:

    This is the first time a senior member of the Trump campaign has been charged in a conspiracy with someone allegedly tied to Russian intelligence, albeit for obstructive activities after the election.

    Hmm…just trying to picture if Hillary’s former campaign manager had been hit with all the earlier indictments, THEN got him/herself indicted for witness tampering. Oh wait, that’s right: Hillary would have already had to resign for not holding a press conference every five days. Meanwhile we are on day 477 since Trumpov’s last one. Oh Mr. Trump? There’s a few questions we’d like to ask you about Stormy Daniels, money laundering, etc etc

    It’s not a bad strategy: just tweet evil shit out all day, never hold a press conference.

  76. 76.

    Corner Stone

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    we can all keep our fingers on the pulse of seven potato farmers (spoiler alert!) They’re confident that trump will hang tough and get them a good deal.

    Every single time I see one of these interviews I want to jump through the tubes and just start choking these ignorant fucks to death. They all say the same contradictory thing, right there in their interview!
    “Yeah, it’s going to be hard. A little unpredictable and may hurt us pretty bad. *BUT* Trump means business and now they know that so it’s all going to turn out ok.”
    Yeah, after you let go 40% of your 300 workers and go into debt to stay afloat until 2020.

  77. 77.

    PaulWartenberg

    The really important news in this is Mueller indicting a Russian business partner by name, making the conspiracy-with-Russia links easier to prove.

  78. 78.

    SFAW

    @germy:

    One of the rotating headlines at that site talked about Muhammad Ali rolling over in his grave so that Shitgibbon could kiss his ass.

  79. 79.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    Today would be a good day for Trump to release his tax returns.

  81. 81.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @dmsilev: Um, that’s not what they’re looking for. They’re looking for racist white cops to go to prison for murders.

  82. 82.

    SFAW

    @Corner Stone:

    Every single time I see one of these interviews I want to jump through the tubes and just start choking these ignorant fucks to death

    Who, the Shitgibbonistas? Or the Shitgibbon apologists in the MSM?

    I know, I know … Por que no los dos?

  85. 85.

    Corner Stone

    @SFAW: The idiot farmers primarily. But just once I would like to see the media person ask them in the middle of the interview, “And on average, over the last 3 to 5 years how much has your farm received in government subsidies or in kind payments?”

  86. 86.

    ruemara

    @L85NJGT: Why do you think he never wanted the job? Look, he’s talked of running for years. He’s been groomed by Russia for years. At some point, we have to stop thinking it’s just a lucky coincidence and understand that there’s a plan based on exploiting weaknesses.

  89. 89.

    germy

    I’m curious. All the water carrying the NYT does for this administration, will these recent developments change the publisher’s and executive editor’s minds?

    This is outrageous, and makes all of us less free. “Justice Dept. Seizes Times Reporter’s Email and Phone Records in Leak Investigation” https://t.co/qPBUU7aI1E— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) June 8, 2018

  91. 91.

    TenguPhule

    @germy:

    will these recent developments change the publisher’s and executive editor’s minds?

    No. SATSQ.

  93. 93.

    Tilda Swintons Bald Cap

    @germy: Here’s your answer:

    @alexburnsNYT

    Alex Burns Retweeted Matt Ford

    “The seizure — disclosed in a letter to the reporter, Ali Watkins — suggested that prosecutors under the Trump administration will continue the aggressive tactics employed under President Barack Obama.”

    Link

  94. 94.

    germy

    @TenguPhule:

    No. SATSQ.

    That’s funny. Right after I selected “post comment” I thought of that reply.

    You guys are getting predictable in your old age.

  95. 95.

    germy

    @Tilda Swintons Bald Cap:

    “The seizure — disclosed in a letter to the reporter, Ali Watkins — suggested that prosecutors under the Trump administration will continue the aggressive tactics employed under President Barack Obama.”

    “Both sides!!!” they screamed as they were tossed from the helicopter.

  96. 96.

    Corner Stone

    @germy: The Obama admin led a serious charge against leakers/whistleblowers and reporters. That is not both sides, that’s fact.

  99. 99.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: I’ve been thinking the same thing. There are times when the Feds do legitimately need to infringe on the press, and this might be one of them.

    The problem is that THIS is why you need the government to respect the press – so that when and if this situation happens, everyone trusts that the Feds were being largely above board. Instead, our president is attacking the press as “enemies of America” and even a legitimate op looks incredibly sketchy.

  100. 100.

    Aleta

    @MisterForkbeard: I wish Sessions was an honorable person. I read the Wa Mo. article and appreciated the information. Yet Session’s involvement is frightening. And when put together with this JD and at this time, when this admin+fox etc. are hell bent on changing the subject… more danger for all reporters and news outlets.

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