With the new allegations brought forth by Michael Avenatti, as well as the reporting that the President is taking over the public relations regarding his nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, including an announced 5 PM press conference/statement/availability, the real action will be within the Republican majority caucus in the Senate. Specifically all the attention needs to be on Senator McConnell.
The Senate majority leader is not particularly popular within his own caucus. He’s a top down, micromanager who tries to control everything. This includes the committees. The GOP committee chairs in the Senate are, in many ways, just figureheads. Right now every reporter is scrambling to get answers from Senator Grassley, who is the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, about what is going to happen. And while he or his office will eventually provide some, they aren’t really Grassley’s answers. They’re McConnell’s. Senator Grassley is just the face of the GOP majority on the committee, McConnell is really calling the shots.
Senator McConnell is almost the truest example of a natural fascist in American politics and public life today. His guiding principle that might makes right is the distilled essence of totalitarianism and was a hallmark of Mussollini’s fascism (national-syndicalism), as well as part of the bastardization of Nietzche’s philosophies adopted and used by the NAZIs. As I wrote back in June:
Senate Majority Leader McConnell isn’t a politician or like any politician who has ever served as Senate Majority or Minority Leader. Rather than view him as a politician, it is more appropriate to understand Senator McConnell as an insurgent, albeit a non-violent one. He recognizes no legitimacy but his own. When out of power he’ll do whatever is necessary using asymmetric, irregular, and/or unconventional means to achieve power. And once he achieves power he will do whatever he can to achieve his objectives to consolidate his gains as quickly as possible using any means necessary as he believes his actions are self justifying – that his achievement of power justifies his by any means necessary strategy. This is, by the way, the basic argument of the premier Italian fascist (national-syndicalist) theorist Sergio Panunzio, who delineated the fascist theories for the use of political violence and low intensity warfare in the 1920s. As a result, there is no law, rule, tradition, norm, ethic, promise, and/or deal he won’t violate or renege on. This also makes him an unreliable interlocutor and makes it impossible to negotiate with him in good faith as he doesn’t believe in good faith negotiations.
Senator McConnell doesn’t do anything in good faith. The last thing that Senator McConnell wants is to lose control of the Senate. Whether now because of the defections of a pair of his retiring members using it as leverage to achieve their own objectives or in the mid terms because enough voters want a check on the President to override the partisan Republican advantage in this senatorial election cycle. It is why he’s ground everything in the chamber other than handling nominations, specifically judicial nominations, to a halt. It is why he doesn’t want to do the legally required annual budgetary resolution so he can avoid having his members take tough votes before the midterms. And it is why he’s cancelled most of the August recess under the pretense that it is the only way he can move judicial nominees because of what he alleges is Democratic obstruction. Nominations that only exist because he prevented President Obama from seating almost any judicial nominees during his final two years in office. The Democratic minority has no tools to stop these nominations, regardless of what Senator McConnell says because Senator McConnell in conjunction with Senator Grassley has gotten rid of the blue slip rule and refuses to recognize Democratic senators holds on nominees. Senator McConnell’s cancellation of the August recess is really just a thinly veiled attempt to keep incumbent Democratic senators up for reelection off the campaign trail. Every Senate rule, tradition, norm, ethic, and even law (Congressional Budget Act) has been bent or stretched to breaking or just outright ignored by Senator McConnell in his quest to consolidate his power and achieve his revanchist and reactionary objectives. As an insurgent, albeit a non-violent one, Senator McConnell only understands and recognizes the application of leverage and force.
If you want to know how the Senate is going to respond to these recent allegations, or specifically how the Senate’s GOP majority is going to respond, watch Senator McConnell. He is the only Republican senator that matters.
Open thread.
Adam L Silverman
Senator Hatch needs his nap!
eemom
What could possibly go wrong? ???
dmsilev
Yeah, McConnell is one where the answer to the “stupid or evil” question is indisputably “evil”.
Murkowski is sounding more and more like a ‘no’ vote, so I imagine the pressure on Collins is pretty intense.
janesays
Stating the obvious… Orrin Hatch is a huge pile of shit. That is all.
Adam L Silverman
Flake just gave a sorrowful speech on the Senate floor. It is unclear why other than political posturing.
Mart
The Turtle is by far the most effective politician of this era.
NotMax
The portrait of Kavanaugh in his attic must by now be enough to make a maggot barf.
eemom
The Myth of Mitch McConnell
scav
Is it finally beginning to dawn on some of them exactly how they are likely going to be written up in the history books and anatomy of failure texts?
LAO
I can’t help but think that it’s going to be very awkward when Kavanaugh and Garland run into each other in the cafeteria at the DC circuit courthouse.
Corner Stone
@Mart: Ms. Pelosi holding on Line 1 for you.
Redshift
@Adam L Silverman:
Does he ever do anything else?
eric
@Mart: as evidenced by the repeal of Obamacare. He is ruthless, but not a legislator.
Redshift
Apparently there are duelling anti-Kavanaugh and pro-Jim Jordan rallies going on opposite each other at the Capitol.
catclub
. @Mart:
This is true, but if he is sufficiently disliked by his caucus they will boot him out.
The fact that they have not means they approve of his actions.
The Caucus leaders ( either majority or minority) are fully creatures of the caucus, and they have to satisfy all of it, enough. Harry Reid
oldgold
Old Mitch is used to dealing with butter knife Democrats. Over the years he has sliced and diced them. In Avenatti, Mitch is dealing with a much sharper opponent. He is as ruthless and cunning as Mitch and always shows up appropriately weaponized.
Avenatti calling into the “View” this morning was classic Avenatti..
Mandalay
Finally, Lindsey Graham goes there: “The lawyer to porn stars has just taken this debacle to an even lower level. I hope people will be highly suspicious of this allegation presented by Michael Avenatti”.
I’m amazed it took this long for Republicans to go down this path in attacking Avenatti.
Betty Cracker
Kavanaugh’s lawyer is flailing badly on CNN. She opened by saying Avenatti should have filed charges, that “any lawyer worth his salt” would. Even Wolf pounced: So, shouldn’t there be an investigation now? Hmmmm? Herp-derp!
Adam L Silverman
@LAO: There was reporting that a complaint has been made to the DC Circuit regarding the Kavanaugh allegations. Garland, as chief of the circuit, is required to open a formal investigation. No matter what happens in the Senate, this isn’t going away.
psycholinguist
somebody please remind lindsey that the pornstar was paid 130K by the goddamn president of the united states
L85NJGT
@eemom:
Left holding the bag is his primary function.
Mike in DC
If there’s a shocking loss of seats(like, say, losing TX, AZ, NV, TN and one more), I could see Mitch being fired as caucus leader. In which case he will be vulnerable in KY.
Elizabelle
We need an FBI investigation. Who thinks that is a likely outcome?
And do we know for sure that McConnell is NOT Satan? Discuss.
LAO
Oy Vey:
Adam L Silverman
@Redshift: Not that I’m aware of.
The Dangerman
@dmsilev:
Flake feels like a no vote, too.
BK brought this on himself; no one really cares about underage drinking (although hanging with Mark Judge, who seems like a real POS is a curiosity) but when he played the virginal, choir boy card, it was basically over for him … unless the Right wants to ram it through the vote and suffer the consequences for weeks, months, and years.
Elizabelle
@oldgold: The View? LOL. The few rightwingers on my FB feed dislike The View about as much as Hillary.
Bring it, Avanetti.
Adam L Silverman
@Mike in DC: If he’s removed as caucus leader after a loss, he’ll retire.
LAO
The partisan decision not to call witnesses tomorrow becomes even clearer:
Elizabelle
@Adam L Silverman:
The better to spend time with his legal troubles and expensive attorneys. I want that fucker to go down for corruption. He can live in federal housing for a few years before retiring to the Bluegrass State. (Who are we kidding? He’s a swamp creature. Nothing but DC area for him.)
M31
@Mandalay:
“the lawyer to porn stars”
Not just any old porn stars! Only porn stars raw dogged by the president.
TenguPhule
What’s the next level after goat rodeo?
Adam L Silverman
@The Dangerman: It goes beyond that. Had Kavanaugh’s initial response been:
then he might be able to move forward. They have consistently misplayed the strategic and crisis communication response to this from the start.
TenguPhule
I recall that Emperor Palpatine started as first senator among equals.
TenguPhule
@Adam L Silverman:
You damn them with faint praise.
A Ghost To Most
@The Dangerman:
Charlie Brown, football …
Mnemosyne
@Mandalay:
Trump said something similar this morning. I don’t know the timing, but I would be unsurprised to find out that Lindsey was imitating his master’s voice.
Duane
@Adam L Silverman: The committee will dump this disaster on McConnell and his sycophants. Total fail the most likely outcome. More popcorn please.
TenguPhule
@Elizabelle:
Fuck that. McConnell and his wife both need to go up against the wall.
Examples need to be made.
Cacti
Somewhere, Bill and Hill must be watching this unfold with big, satisfied smirks on their faces.
JPL
@Adam L Silverman: Rather than take a strong stance and call for a FBI investigation, he played to let’s all try to get along. Rumor has it he wants to run for president, and if that’s true he’ll say pretty words, then vote
the party line.
Adam L Silverman
@TenguPhule: Take a deep breath and dial it back from 12 to about 7.
WaterGirl
Adam, i read this and had my first laugh out loud in awhile. Trump thinks he can help. Hysterical!
TenguPhule
@Elizabelle:
is McConnell actually a former German Nazi who illegally immigrated to the USA?
It would be irresponsible not to speculate.
Adam L Silverman
@JPL: He’s got no chance trying to primary the President.
Adam L Silverman
@WaterGirl: Art of the Deal!!!
Percysowner
And now I have a good guess as to why they are sticking with Kavanaugh GOP judiciary senator asks Supreme Court to give Trump pardon power that could blow up Mueller probe They want him to be the fifth vote that will say that if Trump pardons anyone, the states can’t try him on charges under their laws. Get Special K on the court. Announce they want to rehear the arguments so he can be part of the decision and presto Trump can blanket pardon everyone and they will have no consequences whatsoever. Neat trick, or at least that’s my theory.
catclub
@The Dangerman:
if any more came out.
because that motivated the search for others, as much as anything.
@Adam L Silverman:
and this might have de-motivated the search for others.
Betty Cracker
@Adam L Silverman: Since Kavanaugh is accused of attempted rape, I don’t think he could admit that the allegations could be true without his nomination going down in flames. That said, his choir boy act was ridiculous.
TenguPhule
@Adam L Silverman: I disagree with the whole “we have to let them get away with their crimes and let them die of natural causes” concept.
It has not served the Republic well at all these last 30+ years. If we’d hanged the Nixon and Reagan crews when they were caught, we could have avoided a lot of the present problems.
Mnemosyne
@LAO:
Funny, the wingnut meme is that there are exactly 4 people who do not corroborate Dr. Blasey Ford’s story. Almost like they got it 180 degrees ass-backwards of reality AGAIN.
LuciaMia
Makes me think me think of that scene from ‘Absolutely Fabulous’, when Saffie says to her mother, who wants to make a statement to the judge.,”Dont, Mom, your mouth is working for the Prosecution.”
L85NJGT
@Betty Cracker:
His lawyer out doing damage control + Trump promising to take over = good luck, we’re all counting on you.
Flake is a flake, and Collins has the political instincts of a block of wood. Sasse & Murkowski are the real threats to jump if the election results go to shit.
Schumer has called for withdrawing the nomination.
catclub
@WaterGirl: Trump still does not understand that he is the president of all the people, not just his base, and needs some of the people who did not vote for him. If it were a matter of motivating his base to support Kavanaugh, he is the right choice.
TenguPhule
@Betty Cracker:
Apparently Trump recommended her services.
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
This is because they actually don’t give a shit about sexual assault and think that all victims are liars. They’ve learned to mouth the right platitudes in public so they don’t sound like monsters, but that doesn’t change the underlying belief.
boatboy_srq
@Elizabelle: Satan has a chin.
TenguPhule
@Adam L Silverman:
He’s in love with his own voice.
Adam L Silverman
@Betty Cracker: Now it wouldn’t work. If he’d issued something like this statement on Sunday once Dr. Blasey was on record, then he might have created the space needed to proceed. It might have prevented Ms. Ramirez and Ms. Swetnick from coming forward. Might have, not would have. How he actually did respond, however, was guaranteed to make things worse.
NotMax
@TenguPhule
Polecat jamboree?
@TenguPhule
Rein it in there, sonny. Please.
The Dangerman
@Adam L Silverman:
IANAL (yeah, like it’s not obvious), but that seems as if it would be running a risk with a State without a Statute of Limitations on attempted rape.
That said, yes, his Comms Team needs to be fired, one and all. I mean, fuck, a calendar to prove you are innocent? Really?
The Right must know a 5th vote overturning Roe unleashes Hell for them; the 5th vote being BK unleashes a special kind of Hell. How crazy are they?
Mandalay
@The Dangerman:
Right. Even if you discount/ignore/disbelieve all of the allegations against Kavanaugh of a sexual nature, it takes some heavy duty cognitive dissonance to sincerely believe that he wasn’t a hard drinker in his younger years from what has emerged.
As you say, the drinking itself is no biggie, but blatantly lying about it should cause anyone to have very serious doubts about whether he belongs on SCOTUS. I wish this aspect of the story was getting more attention.
TenguPhule
@Mnemosyne:
Some of them apparently skipped that course or failed the final exam.
Raven
@TenguPhule: Lettin your mouth over run your ass again.
JPL
@Betty Cracker: By placing his hand over her mouth, it was a violent sexual assault, and at this point he should say on the advice of my attorney… imo
burnspbesq
@eemom:
It will be handled just as well as the selection and vetting process.
boatboy_srq
@Mnemosyne: It’s not that all victims are liars. It’s that nearly all victims are women, and therefore not quite human. The 19th Amendment is as much a target of Tenthers as the 13th-15th.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Percysowner:
Orrin Hatch right? These fuckers are all for federalism when it suits their prejudices and ends but want to increase the power of the federal government to further entrench themselves. I fucking despise the GOP and can’t wait to see all of this eventually blow up in their faces because nothing lasts forever.
schrodingers_cat
@WaterGirl: Rapists defend Rapists! Winning! Please proceed Orange Human.
TenguPhule
@NotMax: After a trial and sentencing.
I stand by my belief that we’re not gonna get Rule of law back until Prominent Republicans are really punished for their crimes.
Ladyraxterinok
@Mandalay: A porn star T had sex with. Ie T is a porn star GOP leader. What hypocracy! But of course it’s LGraham
Adam L Silverman
@TenguPhule: There is a difference between calling for and holding people accountable and snuff fantasies of lining people that piss you off for mass executions. I’m not saying that there should be no repercussions, but death by firing squad is not one of the potential penalties for any criminality that McConnell has likely committed in his quest for and consolidation of power.
Adam L Silverman
@L85NJGT: Also Corker.
TenguPhule
@Adam L Silverman:
Last I checked, treason was still a death penalty crime.
NotMax
Scene: After the so-called press conference.
Dolt 45: Why were they all looking at my butt?
Courageous flunky: They were lip reading.
Kay
Yes they did.
Betty Cracker
@Adam L Silverman: I agree his actual response made things worse. Still clinging to the hope that someone who admitted “yeah, it’s possible I tried to rape a girl in high school” wouldn’t be confirmed to the SCOTUS, but we do have a self-described sexual predator in the White House, so I guess it’s an open question.
TenguPhule
@TenguPhule: eligible, even.
Chet
Mitch McConnell broke the federal government when he said his job was to make Obama a one-term president. Two years ago he promised Obama to his face that Obama would get no SCOTUS justice confirmed. At the same he time refused to make a bipartisan declaration warning of the Russian cyberattack on our electoral system. Last week he said his job was to plow through and get Kavanaugh confirmed. He’s the most vile partisan I’ve ever witnessed in politics.
trollhattan
@Elizabelle:
I want to place Turtle in a cage and have Alison Lundergan Grimes insult him to his face for two hours/day.
Is that okay with everybody?
Elizabelle
@Chet: I don’t mean to sound like Tengu Phule, but I would be good with McConnell being executed for treason. He is poison.
Bruce K
I’ve said it before: McConnell is smart, evil, unprincipled, and desperate, and that combination makes him supremely dangerous. He frightens me more than anybody else in power in Washington today, including the man currently occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.
trollhattan
@NotMax:
Excellent! [/Monte Burns voice] And a Possum Queen shall lead them.
–Selah
Redshift
@Percysowner:
I worry about that, too, but I think Mueller may be too smart for them. The Manafort agreement doesn’t just say that if he reneges they’ll try him ok the other charges, it says they’ll try him for the things he had to admit to but wasn’t charged with. So if pardons couriered the federal judicial process and they sent stuff to state court, they’d be charging him with crimes he hasn’t been charged with in federal court.
I know most of the Republican justices are complete partisans, but some of them care enough about their image as respected jurists that “I’m pardoning you for a federal crime you haven’t been charged with and now you can’t be charged with it in state court” seems like a bridge too far.
But IANAL, so I could well be wrong.
chris
@trollhattan: Just have to catch the turtle.
trollhattan
@Bruce K:
Wish I could argue. I cannot.
His theft of the Gorsuch seat was utterly wicked and of course, completely successful.
germy
?BillinGlendaleCA
@TenguPhule: With the exception of Nixon himself, most of his crew did time.
NotMax
@Elizabelle
Gerald Ford pardoned Tokyo Rose.
Just sayin’.
Gelfling 545
@Adam L Silverman: Hoping to deflect blame when he votes to confirm.
Redshift
@Mnemosyne: Exactly. Their responses make much more sense if you remember they’re sure all the accusers are lying. Which is yet another instance of “that’s what we’d do, so we’re sure the other side is doing it, when though there’s no evidence.”
burnspbesq
@TenguPhule:
Explaining what treason is (and is not) to numbskulls has become really tiresome.
Adam L Silverman
@Gelfling 545: Hoping no one remembers who actually voted which way, but can watch the video and see how upset he was.
TenguPhule
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
But enough of them survived political exile long enough to teach the next generation of Republicans how to commit crimes and get away with it.
Today I’m just so fucking fucking raging hate up to 10 1/2 and I have no safe way to decompress.
Captain C
@psycholinguist: Someone should ask Huckleberry: “What do they have on you, Senator? You went from opposing Trump to being his bootlicker? Why?”
Doug Gardner
@Betty Cracker: Getting owned by Wolf F’ing Blitzer should be career-ending for anyone.
Mandalay
Kavanaugh’s lawyer Beth Wilkinson just now, speaking to Katy Tur:
Say what?
TenguPhule
@burnspbesq:
ruemara
@Kay: And now we know there was a reason.
@Captain C: It’s not just being gay. It’s either addiction, pedophilia or deep financial corruption, but since he’s a GOP, I’m gonna go with all 3.
TenguPhule
@Mandalay:
Beth Wilkinson apparently didn’t get out much during her high school years.
TenguPhule
@Kay:
Was the judge smart enough not to rape where he coached?
All available evidence suggests he was not that smart.
Mnemosyne
@boatboy_srq:
True — all of these same people seem to believe the men who say they were molested by priests with none of the same demands for proof or outside evidence. But when a woman says she was abused or assaulted, suddenly the standard of proof required goes way up. Funny, that. ?
(And by “funny” I mean NOT AT ALL FUCKING FUNNY!)
Captain C
@The Dangerman:
I suspect that they figure that with BK on the court, they can get away with a law banning Democrats from voting or holding office, perhaps mixed with a little Après nous, le déluge mentality. As long as they’re not caught in the deluge, or can enjoy it from afar without their luxuries being disturbed, I’m sure they’re fine with things going to hell for everyone else.
James E Powell
@Mandalay:
Someone in the press/media should correct him. It was Trump, the boyfriend to the porn stars who took us to this low level. Someone should, but no one will.
Mary G
@Adam L Silverman: They do not remember the lesson of Watergate: “It’s not the crime, it’s the cover up.” He could have gone on Fox to confess his sins, apologize to his wife and daughters, and America, and beg for forgiveness and he’d probably squeaked through. But, no, he lied and lied and people who knew him when started coming out of the woodwork.
Gelfling 545
@Elizabelle: No indication that he gave aid and comfort to an enemy. All his actions were for the personal benefit and aggrandizement of himself and, by extension, his party. Disgusting but not treason. Any benefit to any other person or entity is purely accidental.
schrodingers_cat
From the dead thread below:
In all this hoopla, a completely important story is not getting enough coverage is how the current regime is trying to rewrite the rules for legal immigration by broadly expanding what it means to be a public charge.
From Vox
https://www.vox.com/2018/9/24/17892350/public-charge-immigration-food-stamps-medicaid-trump
sukabi
@psycholinguist: Graham’s skeletons have got to be rattling the he’ll out of his closet doors, only a matter of time before they come busting out. Coming at Avenatti doesn’t seem like a very smart move.?
TenguPhule
@Gelfling 545:
Federal Prosecutors have managed to convict with much less.
Gelfling 545
@Mandalay: Umm, no..
schrodingers_cat
@Kay: They knew these charges were coming. They knew he is dirty.
ChrisS
It seems to me that the GOP knew Kavanaugh was always going to be a dicey nomination to SCOTUS because of his GOP partisan street soldier history. Maybe they figured that the DC Circuit was the best that they could do for him. McConnell was supposedly against his nomination to SCOTUS (likely knowing that it would be an unnecessary fight), but Trump picked him anyway. After none of these accusations popped up during the confirmation process to the DC Circuit court, Bart O’Kavanaugh probably thought he was on easy street and none of this would ever see the light of day.
TenguPhule
@schrodingers_cat:
And cutting refugee numbers, and the concentration camps for kids and the fucking ICE raids that are turning into SS LARPs with real consequences and all the other horrors going on that we can’t keep up with.
Sometimes I feel like we’re drowning in this.
dww44
@Mart: Yep, effective but not in good ways. Not at all. He’s the antithesis of a Democratic leader.
Mnemosyne
@Gelfling 545:
I would say that we don’t have the evidence yet, but that the fact that he refused to help Obama block Russian interference in the 2016 election is one hell of an indication that at a minimum he knew the Republicans were doing it to benefit Republicans, and at most was an active participant.
Gravenstone
@WaterGirl: He’s a master in crisis communication.
Wait, what? Oh, creation, not communication.
eemom
Aha! I told y’all someone would try this.
Jeffro
Trumpov, at 5pm:
“And I’m here to say that Judge Kavanaugh is GOING to be confirmed, because I’m SICK of these Democrat dirty tricks, where woman after woman COMES OUT of the WOODWORK to talk about being sexually assaulted umpteen years ago…I mean, they tried it with ME and god knows how many women came fo…what? What’s that Sarah? No, I will not ‘cut’ or stop talking or whatever, I’m just getting started
As I was saying, just like when all these women came out talking about me…”
You watch.
catclub
@ChrisS:
my impression was that Anthony Kennedy made his resignation dependent on picking Kavanaugh, too.
If so, Kennedy will end up getting some blame for all this.
kindness
Where as it would be more modern to suggest that McConnell’s actions deserve him being put up against a wall, I think the more classical guillotine would be more appropriate.
sukabi
@catclub: Kennedy’s role needs to be investigated, whether he voluntarily resigned or resigned to protect his son & family. That Kavanaugh was his choice, that’s coming from the WH, how many times have they been truthful about anything?
Cheryl Rofer
Call the Judiciary Committee (202-224-5225) and ask that they stop the hearing and order an investigation. They won’t answer but leave a message. It will take you 30 seconds.
Adam L Silverman
Interesting…
rikyrah
Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) Tweeted:
BREAKING NEWS: Memo reveals George Nader—emissary from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, two nations Trump Jr. agreed to collude with on August 3, 2016 at Trump Tower—was present at the Prince-Dmitriev meeting. And we now know *what they discussed* in January ’17. https://t.co/Efk5D7eoGR https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1044982970686173184?s=17
Elizabelle
@catclub: I want Anthony Kennedy, and his Deutsche Banking-son, to get an FBI investigation, on top of “some blame” too.
They are very likely dirty.
If Kennedy basically sold his Supreme Court seat, well, there is room in Federal Housing for him, too. Recall: he is so out of it, he voted for Citizens United believing that donor reporting requirements were in place. They are not. He was a POS as a justice, even if he did not discriminate against gay people as much as another Republican-chosen justice might have.
Duane
@boatboy_srq: That’s just what McConnell wants you to think.
TenguPhule
@rikyrah:
There is no fucking bottom.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@eemom:
How does Elena Schor know it will fail?
schrodingers_cat
T and the entire R leadership is guilty of treason. Special K is their insurance. They know he is dirty and will do whatever they want. Hence he needs to be pushed to the Supreme Court to take care of things.
TenguPhule
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
It relies on Republicans following established norms.
JPL
@Adam L Silverman: BFF’s
Elizabelle
@schrodingers_cat: They’re not going to make it. I really don’t think Kavanaugh will get to the Supreme Court.
Chyron HR
@Adam L Silverman:
THE B*TCH SOLD US OUT! PONCE LEON OR BUST!!
Elizabelle
I mean, I am an optimist. But we have beat back the worst of some Republican schemes. I think more sunlight is perfect for this one.
schrodingers_cat
ETA: His wrongdoings guarantee that he won’t develop a conscience once he is on the Supreme Court and rule against Russo-Rapebulicans.
This is just my theory based on what is happening right now.
TenguPhule
@schrodingers_cat:
Hope you got your flak shield ready, because there’s incoming scoldings approaching about the definition of treason. //
Jager
My college girlfriend had a sorority sister who was forced to “pull a train” at drunken party on a Saturday night, She was packed up and left school by Monday morning. The incident was a buzz on campus for weeks. Nobody did anything about it. The girl’s brother was a pro football player, after the last game of the season he drove non-stop to burst into the frat house and beat the living shit out of the train conductor, putting him the hospital. He’s a pretty old bastard now, but he could still do a number on McConnel and Kavanaugh.
schrodingers_cat
@Elizabelle: I hope so too. This is my theory on why they are pushing so hard for Special K with all his problmes instead of any garden variety “strict constructionist”
TenguPhule
@Elizabelle:
And its appreciated here.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@schrodingers_cat:
That only works if a majority of the population are willing to follow what the Supreme Court says.
MoxieM
Is there even a single Republican who has used the words “disgusting” or “appalling” or “horrifying” in describing the experiences (even if alleged) of the women, at the hands of the boys of Georgetown Prep? I don’t think so.
There it is.
schrodingers_cat
@TenguPhule: Well, IANAL.
oldgold
Dr. Ford’s attorneys have released her polygraph report. Here it is.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211185235
Uncle Cosmo
@TenguPhule: @TenguPhule:
Goat cavalcade?
Tournament of Goats New Year’s Day Parade?
uGoat durbar? (Look it up or ask schroedinger’s cat.)
BlueGirlFromWyo
@catclub: Trump understands people other than his base have needs and wants. He just doesn’t care. He’s used to target marketing. He knows there are other “markets” of American people out there but they aren’t “his”. Which fits his sense of self as a business man and his narcissism.
Elie
@Elizabelle:
I agree …. Dead man walking……….
What a fuck-up! Four stars and the black hole its making from this collapse is gonna pull in a lot of folks. If I’m Kavanaugh, I am terrified that not only won’t I make the Supreme Court, but that I might lose my Court of Appeals seat. Its like watching a slow mo train wreck. A lot of damage — most of it caused by hubris.
Kay
I have a difficult time believing Ohio State wrestlers would continue to meet with the molesting team doctor for years and not report it. Oh, right. Republicans probably don’t want to talk about that.
This is such a dumb thing to say. I’m not even trying and I can come up with 3 recent examples of exactly that scenario happening.
Chetan Murthy
@TenguPhule: Do you understand -why- so many people are asking you to rein your snuff fantasies back in? Do you really understand? It’s not b/c every other commenter on this blog is a coward and a wuss. It’s not b/c we’re all civilized to the point where we won’t take our own side in a fight. Hell, I also would love to see divine justice visited on these fuckers, these traitors (yeah: the common citizen’s definition, not the one on the Constitution).
But there’s a reason nobody talks about lining them all up, except in jest. E.g. “I hope my tumbril number is higher than theirs, so I can see ’em go before I do”. The reason is simple: you want a democracy, you MUST allow your opponents the possibility of retiring without being chased down and killed. If you don’t allow that, then your opponents will stop at nothing to end you when they have the chance. The GrOPers hold the trifecta. If they thought we were going to round them all up, first time we had the chance, don’t you think they’d have already concocted a pretext for declaring martial law?
“When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.”
― sun tzu, The Art of War
Adam L Silverman
@eemom: Most likely to get kicked, but it could slow things down for a few more days.
Jeffro
@Elizabelle: Sunlight, coming through the world’s largest magnifying glass! =)
Gravenstone
@Mandalay: Heavy drinking does not automatically lead to attempted sexual assault. Argument fail.
Mandalay
@Adam L Silverman:
Feinstein and Murkowski just happened to run into each other in front of a reporter who dutifully reported that staged managed nonsense? Please.
We all look down our noses at all of them, but we are the ones getting played. That, or the report is bullshit.
Adam L Silverman
@rikyrah: This is reporting in the Daily Beat by Betsy Woodruff. It is an interesting article and doesn’t surprise me. If the Russian memo that Woodruff got her hands on is correct, then Prince lied in his testimony to Congress. Whether he lied to Mueller, we don’t know. Mueller does. And Mueller most likely had this Russian memo through SIGINT a while ago.
schrodingers_cat
@Adam L Silverman: If wannabe Robert Clive goes to jail, that would be sweet.
Elizabelle
@Chetan Murthy: Thank you.
One of the lessons of the French Revolution is how many people were guillotined on really specious reasons. It is more horrifying than glorious.
As the GOP is learning now, once Frankenstein’s monster is out of the lab, you are not in control. Germans learned that, the most terrible way possible, in the 1930s. And yet the ignoramouses in the GOP think they are special enough to avoid that fate.
Although a lot of them are disaster capitalists, or servants thereto, and are fine with making a killing after everyone else has been savaged.
Brachiator
I’ve been peeking at this stuff between meetings and work, and I just don’t know whether the Republicans will do the right thing.
Trump wants Kavanaugh and the Republicans may give Trump what he wants. Again.
Kavanaugh is not special, but Trump wants to brand any and all opposition to his nominees as political grandstanding by the Democrats. If he succeeds, it will make it easier for future judicial nominees.
Trump also sees this as the best way to discredit the accusers without listening to their stories. They have not been assaulted; they are political operatives. The GOP leadership and Trump’s base is happy to grab onto this because it lets them avoid the fact that Trump wants an accused rapist on the Supreme Court. Shamefully, Republican women are especially eager to reach out and hang onto this lifeline. It lets them pretend that they give a damn about other women.
Immanentize
@TenguPhule:
Goat Car Races
Elie
@Chetan Murthy:
I’ve seen this dude in action for a while — this is his “thang”. Don’t waste your time. He is a Jacobin..
Mary G
Adam L Silverman
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: The Federal courts are unlikely to tell the Senate how it can proceed under the separation of powers. Moreover, it is likely that Senator Merkley lacks standing.
SFBayAreaGal
@LuciaMia: That had me laughing out loud. I can picture this so perfectly.
Mike in DC
@Chetan Murthy: The succession of outcomes to be hoped for is 1)out of power; 2) out of office; 3)where appropriate, in jail. Summary execution is not favored in this representative democracy with due process, equal protection and proportional punishment.
TenguPhule
@Chetan Murthy:
For the record, I would like to introduce Hillary Clinton, 21 months after the election, where Trump and certain Congressional Republicans are still trying to have imprisoned and worse based on bullshit. I understand your argument, but I’m saying that we’re pretty much there already save for the fact that the Republicans are really fucking incompetent this time.
Martin
@Kay: Speaking of which.
trollhattan
Man, Infrastructure Week is exhausting.
oatler.
@Uncle Cosmo: Or “Feast of the Goat” by Lhosa.
Elizabelle
The other thing that makes the GOP Judiciary Committee dinosaurs dangerous: a lot of them are not likely to run again.
Grassley is 85. He is likely to retire. Orrin Hatch is retiring; hoping that Mitt Romney will take his Senate seat. Lindsey Graham is throwing himself onto the Trump train so hard. He wants a Cabinet position or judgeship, very likely. I doubt he wants to face the South Carolina mouthbreathers again. He thought their time would pass.
Jeff Flake and Bob Corker are out of there.
Susan Collins: maybe she’s set her sights on governor of Maine. Who knows?
Makes them dangerous, and it’s probably what Treason McConnell was counting on, but he was likely not counting on Kavanaugh’s past blowing up as badly as it has. Or the courage of opponents and accusers.
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
Murkowski’s a no, then. Now we only need to flip one more R.
Leto
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Even cold November rain… guitar solo
I wonder how many boys/men pencil in their attempted rapes, when they’re going to drug some person, and/or when they plan to drink underage?
*Note to self: 31 Oct (HALLOWEEN T&C BASH!!!!!) make sure to bring qualoods for Mary Beth as well as drink 12 pack of Budweiser at M. Keaton’s party
HeleninEire
So it looks like the President of those there United States is doing a news conference at 5pm (my 10pm); his first in 19 months? Now usually I am in bed reading by then and looking forward to my beauty sleep. But now I’m thinking I will put down my book at 10 and watch the hell outta that. He is now saying that everyone who is defending Kavanaugh sucks and he has to do it himself. OH PLEASE OH PLEASE OH PLEASE.
trollhattan
@Martin:
Were my kid enrolled at MSU (“as if, dad”) I’d hustle her out of there as fast as I could show up at her dorm in a rental. Rotten to its very core.
Elizabelle
@HeleninEire: With an adult beverage in hand. At least a hot toddy!
Jay
@burnspbesq:
Dolt 45 made cyber attacks against the US by a State Actor, and act of war,
Guccifer 2.0 was a Russian Military Intelligence Hacker Team,
Guccifer 2.0 coordinated leaks of DNC and DCCC hacked data with Wikileaks , Roger Stone and several Republican Campaigns.
There is a reasonablr case to be made that a bunch of ReThugs could be investigated and prosecuted for the act of treason as set out in law.
Mnemosyne
@trollhattan:
Whoopsie! I wonder if Kavanaugh will be allowed to “update” or “revise” his statements under oath. ?
Chetan Murthy
@TenguPhule: If you’d adduced Don Siegelman, you might have had a bit of a point. It seems an arguable case [I don’t know all the details, but it seems reasonable to argue that he was railroaded] that his prosecution and imprisonment were politically motivated. But nobody else is in prison.
Look: yes it’s scary that these fuckers keep yelling out that they want to jail us all. But they haven’t started, have they? So far, it’s just a talking point. Like almost everybody here, I also think the Dems need to break norms, slap back at these fuckers. But that’s breaking -norms-, not -laws-.
If you really believe “we’re already there”, you need to stockpiling weapons & ammo, and gathering your paramilitary forces.
ruemara
@Mandalay: repulsive. Not them. You.
@Chetan Murthy: No offense, but all of you are suffering from head in the sand syndrome. You need to be aware of your enemy and trust me, there’s enough of them in power that would give you no quarter for your beliefs that you had better start proving a survival level of ruthlessness in kind. Sun Tzu had lots of good advice, but he wasn’t dealing with absolutists.
trollhattan
@HeleninEire:
“Okay, I’ll take the first question from Breitbart….”
Elie
@Brachiator:
Trump and the GOP are falling into a huge trap from their own hubris and overreach. Its looking more and more that this is not going to just be a he said/she said but surface some real legal jeopardy. Trump is being baited by Avennati along with the GOP…. Avenatti warned them to “be careful” a couple of days ago about what they were saying. Not that Avennati is perfect, but I would be real real careful as this thing mushrooms. Avennati looks and sounds like he is gonna “Kill the Wabbit” a la Elmer Fud.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Lindsey Graham just went after Avenatti. I hope Avenatti strikes back. That would be fun TeeVee
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Brachiator:
What would “success” even look like? Given a lot of people are evidently pissed off and disgusted if Cruz getting chased out of a restaurant is anything to go by, GOP minority rule is probably unsustainable
rikyrah
Jeff Merkley will announce that he’s seeking an injunction in federal court designed to stop a final vote on Brett Kavanaugh, asserting an obstruction of his constitutional duty to advise and consent on nominees.
different-church-lady
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’m really tired of “fun” TeeVee.
jonas
@Adam L Silverman:
Because doing what you advised would have been admitting that a liberal California woman was telling the truth about the conservative alpha male, and they simply can’t abide that. Ever, ever, ever. So they will die on this hill. Because it means owning the libs.
The Lodger
@Uncle Cosmo: Goats on Ice.
eemom
@Adam L Silverman: @Adam L Silverman:
Not so sure about that. The advice and consent provision is a decent standing argument. Separation of powers is one of those things that matters except when it doesn’t. As I said the other day, all he needs to persuade is ONE federal judge to create a total shitstorm.
The Politico reporter obviously regards this as just self promotion by Merkley. She doesn’t know squat about law.
Chetan Murthy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Damn, that would be fun. People in glass closets shouldn’t throw stones.
Kay
@Martin:
Penn State…
let’s ask Judge Kavanuagh if he finds it difficult to believe there was sexual assault going on in Catholic schools for 100 years yet no one reported it and people still showed up every day. Does he believe the report from the PA AG or not?
You could “wonder” about it 30 years ago, maybe, but since we;ve seen example after example of exactly that happening maybe the senators should stop wondering. It happens. In all kinds of places. Even fancy prep schools.
Mnemosyne
@Elie:
All indications are that Avenatti is a ginormous asshole, but also a very smart and meticulous lawyer who loves to trip up his opponents. Republicans probably should have paid more attention during the whole Stormy Daniels thing rather than dismissing it because she’s a porn star.
(Also — hi! Hope all is well with you and that voter registration is going well in your neck of the northwest.)
HeleninEire
@Mary G: Oh. A sternly worded letter.
Very impressive.
Mary G
Jennifer Rubin keeps touting Republicans who she dreams will go against their party and be decent citizens. Just the other day, it was Nikki Haley, who “tells Trump when he’s wrong” and is one of the few in the administration who’ll come out with their reputation intact:
The asskissing just gets ridiculouser and ridiculouser. Jen needs to give that shit up. They are all rotten to the core.
Gravenstone
@Immanentize: Which leads to a Goat Demolition Derby
TenguPhule
@Chetan Murthy:
I’m sorry, but that’s a terrible argument to make. The tools are already available to the Federal Government under the Patriot Act and previous accepted norms about National Security and what the Executive Branch is allowed to do to “keep the nation safe.”
Should things progress to the point where Hillary Clinton or President Obama were attacked or arrested, its way too late to start having a conversation about what kind of penalty the party of treason needs to pay.
Just the fact that “lock her up” got mainstreamed as a meme instead of immediately branding the chanters as the most vile untouchables outcast from the political world forever and a day is a sign of how far the degradation of our institutions has come. Talking about it is normally the step before actually doing it. Margin for error here is not comforting at all.
Another Scott
@rikyrah: Haven’t clicked on the Tweet, but IIRC, Adam has said on more than one occasion that Seth gets way, way out over his skis on lots of this stuff.
Caveat emptor.
(Corrections welcome.)
Cheers,
Scott.
Gravenstone
@Mary G: Which will only serve to get Trump into his ‘you’re not the boss of ME’ mode. But always nice to be on record of counselling doing the right thing.
HeleninEire
@Elizabelle: LOL. Its a bizarre 79 degrees here today. Everyone is all happy. Happy and confused. So while there will be an adult beverage it will not be a hot toddy!
trollhattan
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Being attacked by Lindsey Graham is assault with a dead weapon, but I’m eager to see Avanetti’s response anyway.
Ben Cisco
@The Lodger: Goat triathlon.
Gravenstone
@Martin: Perles always was a piece of shit, but by God, MSU football was fucking king of campus. Color me unsurprised.
Kay
People who are prestigious and powerful can’t be bad, because what does that mean for the people who admire prestige and power?
It’s like they’re screaming in agony as their whole world view and pecking order collapses. “What about ME?! Am I bad TOO?!”
Yes, probably.
Immanentize
@Jay: That is an interesting take. Is that your idea or is there more to be read about it somewhere?
Adam L Silverman
@Mnemosyne: All we know is, at least with regard to Senator Feinstein, that Senator Murkowski is a hugger.
raven
@Gravenstone: Um, I’d say it was more hoop.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Uncle Cosmo:
@The Lodger: Attorneys for the Tournament of Roses AND the GEC are on lines 1 and 2 for you two.
trollhattan
@Kay:
Gee, do you mean accomplished people like accomplished Justice David Souter, Ewick?
Immanentize
@Kay:
Maybe not, but Mole People do.
Adam L Silverman
@Another Scott: I’m not reading the 400 tweets he’s posting on this, but he’s referring to this article from Betsy Woodruff in the Daily Beast. I’ve read the article, its solid.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/revealed-what-erik-prince-and-moscows-money-man-discussed-in-that-infamous-seychelles-meeting?source=twitter&via=desktop
TenguPhule
@Elie:
You do realize that things rarely ended well for Elmer in those cartoons, right?
Perhaps not the best metaphor.
Jay
@Uncle Cosmo:
Pig wallow.
JR
@Adam L Silverman: How about exile, is that allowed?
Immanentize
@trollhattan: Souter was an odd duck, but ended up OK — at least on my issues.
Jeffro
Um, just curious...did anyone ever figure out who wrote that “resistance inside the White House” op-ed yet? Doesn’t that seem like a year ago already? And yet, we have already moved on. I think we’re also two months past that deadline for reuniting immigrant families that were split up at the border. And I guess we no longer are too concerned with NC and SC, eh national media? How’s them thar hog waste lagoons doing after all that flooding?
Ok, back to the subject at hand: Trumpov is going to the mat for Kavanaugh b/c Kavanaugh clearly pledged his loyalty to Trumpov, up to and including having no problem with Trumpov obstructing justice, pardoning everyone for everything, etc etc. This is HIS. GUY. His life preserver. His ‘stay out of jail’ card. The crazy thing is, no Senate Republican has the brass to say, “Mr. president*, pull this rapist’s nomination and send us an even wing-nuttier wingnut without the slimy past…we’ll confirm him by noon on Friday” But no, he has to have HIS. GUY. And it’s all because he’s hanging by a thread, and in return, he’s got the GOP by the short hairs.
I really do think that at some point…probably multiple points…Trumpov & Co have told GOP Senators and Reps: “turn on me, and it all comes out. Where you’ve been getting your money from. Who you’ve been canoodling with-which I know about courtesy of my…comrades.”
Martin
@trollhattan: I said the same thing about Penn State when Sandusky happened. There was no fucking way Paterno and PSU leadership didn’t know about it. In general, academics are not equipped to deal with this shit, and they are reticent for a host of bullshit reasons to turn this stuff over to professionals. This is why sexual assault is so poorly dealt with in academia, and why Kavanaugh was allowed to operate without any risk of repercussions. Entire swaths of the country have accepted this as normal, and it’s not.
Chris Johnson
@Chetan Murthy:
Problem there is, they will already stop at nothing so you’re talking about gaining nothing here. This was already war. It’s just a question of how much shooting there is.
They are fucking literal traitors trying to get away with it. There’s no retirement plan for them: if they leave power, Russia will whack ’em. They are not concerned with being allowed to politely step down. It isn’t all about the USA here.
trollhattan
Avanetti responds.
He didn’t call them pimps, am a little disappointed.
Mandalay
@Jay:
Perhaps, but Burns was responding to a claim that McConnell and his wife were guilty of treason, and “both need to go up against the wall”.
If you can make a serious case for their treason and execution I’m all for it, but I have my doubts.
Jeffro
@JR: I think there’s a 5% chance that’s how Trumpov ends…simply fleeing the country. I’ve tried picturing it and it’s not impossible. A life of luxury in a Moscow penthouse, jeering at America on Putin’s dime. Not impossible.
dmsilev
@TenguPhule: There were some exceptions.
trollhattan
@Immanentize:
Just in case you’ve not seen the infamous EWErickson quote re. Souter.
He’s on my teevee a lot and I simply don’t understand why.
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: Have NONE of these people EVER watched Law & Order? Or even read the news this past year? As soon as you say “I NEVER…. to ANYONE”, women who have been victimized are so furious that they come out to tell their stories.
Thank god these men are stupid as well as evil.
Gravenstone
@Mary G: Laughed as opposed to what, tossing rotted fruits and vegetables? Would that clearly signal their disrespect?
Mandalay
@ruemara:
Really? A grand total of one person is reporting that “this is just between us” quote. A tweet does automatically become true just because it supports your point of view.
JR
@Elizabelle: The guillotine was horrible, as were the Noyades. But most of the worst atrocities were your “standard” war crimes. Which is a good reminder that starting wars is Bad, folks.
Elie
@Mnemosyne:
Hi back!
Working hard up here. We had good primaries w good candidates and strong turnout so crossed fingers!
Avenatti IS an asshole but he plays in the bigs. He makes Trump and the GOP look foolish and unprepared. Which they are. This is going to end up a gigantic clusterfuck IMHO for the GOP. The orange sack of shit is gonna get more not less involved and watch, he is gonna make everything worse. McConnel doesn’t have an answer. His solution is always about raw power. The more power he tries to add will just make things much worse and unfortunately for them they don’t have many other options. We’ll see but I’m feeling that I need to stop at the store for some popcorn.
Adam L Silverman
@JR:
https://www.visitelba.com/
Adam L Silverman
Oy vey!
Elie
@TenguPhule:
True. I withdraw my example
Immanentize
@trollhattan: I remember it. So messed up.
Another Scott
ICYMI – Froomkin’s White House Watch:
Yup, yup, yup…
Cheers,
Scott.
JR
@Adam L Silverman: Too close.
Maybe St. Helena or French Guiyana.
Although in Trump’s case, an exile to Haiti would be glorious.
Chyron HR
@Jeffro:
“Sipping cocktails on a terrace, eating BIg Macs in bed. Sleeping easy, doing coloring books, it’s attractive.”
The Lodger
@HeleninEire: It’s Ireland. Where are you going to find cold beer?
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
I’m just saying, anyone who thinks Senator Feinstein would be willing to throw these three women under the bus and approve Kavanaugh at this point needs to check themselves into a mental health facility immediately, because their Democrat Derangement Syndrome is spiraling out of control.
(Not that you’re saying that, but there are a bunch of bros getting themselves spun out about Feinstein’s “betrayal!” right about now.)
Leto
@Kay: Yeah, garbage men aren’t born with a golden spoon shoved up their ass, nor do they have access to that elite world (by design) that poor old Kavanope had to grope, drink, and rape his way through. Garbage men actually have to work for a living. What is that, like 2-3 insults in just one sentence? That tweet is really pissing me off.
@Jeffro:
Was there any further reporting on how that nuclear reactor faired in NC? I know they were having issues with it.
Immanentize
I was just thinking that the Senate judiciary white guys have gone out of their way to hire this unknown Arpaio County prosecutor to save them from looking like the complete shit heels that they are. Only to have Trump decide to have a presser in which (I will be good money that) he will look like an insensitive shit heel for all of them, ruining their cutesy little plan to hide behind a woman’s skirts.
psycholinguist
@Kay: Somebody ask him and LGraham when they knew about Denny Haskert
burnspbesq
@TenguPhule:
And why shouldn’t there be, asshole?
The rule of law depends on having laws whose meaning is clear to those who are subject to them
Are you against the rule of law when it’s inconvenient?
WaterGirl
@eemom: Knowing that he did that makes me happy.
Gravenstone
@raven: MSU basketball was certainly high profile, but football was the money maker for the school. And pursuant to Martin’s comment above, no school administration is going to get crosswise with their big revenue generator if they can possibly avoid it.
Elie
@Immanentize:
You can count on it. He is gonna screw it all up
Gravenstone
@Immanentize: Yeah, I’m hoping Trump manages to resolve a lot of problems this evening by making McConnell stroke out in impotent rage at having all his careful works undone by one unrestrained ego and mouth.
EveryDayIHaveTheBlues
@schrodingers_cat: Good one, I get that reference!
Immanentize
@Elie: At least he is consistent that way.
he already said about victim 2: “She got nothing… She was drunk.”
LAO
@Immanentize: I’m honestly dreading the press conference. I have a bad feeling about president nutso,
Chris Johnson
@burnspbesq: We haven’t really had rule of law for a very long time now. What’s different is, not everybody exempt from rule of law are on the same side. And that’s because our election got doctored, which is not unique to us but is a step too far for many.
Steve in the ATL
@Jeffro:
Enough of them have breached that you don’t want to drink well water in those states for a while….
Shalimar
@Mandalay: “Lawyer to porn stars” is a terrible line of attack against Avenatti. Even I can write his rebuttal, “There is just the one porn star, singular, and she only needed a lawyer because your cult leader fucked her.”
Immanentize
@LAO: I know what you mean. But I can’t imagine that whatever he says will help Kav. I’m not going to watch. I will read about it here.
Steve in the ATL
@burnspbesq:
Such as 55 MPH speed limit? Fuck that shit!
realbtl
@Ben Cisco: GOAT SUNDAY Sunday sunday. This Sunday at the County Fairgrounds.
WaterGirl
@MoxieM
Well, now we know what they were being prepped for. Abhorrent treatment of women and abuse of power and privilege.
Millard Filmore
@JR:
Gitmo. Nothing else.
Another Scott
@LAO: Why? I’m expecting it to go like his infamous cabinet meeting (FTFNYT video (4:19)).
Something like: “Mr. President, Sir, thank you. It’s an honor to be in your presence. Please tell me how you can be so very awesome and how you picked the greatest judge in the history of mankind to be on the Supreme Court. I love it when you do that, Sir!!”
(groucho-roll-eyes.gif)
Cheers,
Scott.
Steve in the ATL
@Mnemosyne:
Apologies if this point has already been made, but there are times when you want a ginormous asshole for your lawyer. Ms. Daniels made the right call with him.
Millard Filmore
@Mnemosyne:
My assumption about that hug was that the winds were blowing the other way. It meant another NO vote.
Adam L Silverman
@JR:
Dude, you’re going to put me out of business!
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@WaterGirl: Well, he can fire up the flying monkeys (you know, the simple farmers. The common clay of the new West) like nobody else. I’m not quite sure how that will help.
I love the idea of Republicans having to face two mobs everywhere they go, one of sane anti-Kavanaugh protestors and one of feces-throwing Trumpists. Couldn’t wish for a happier fate.
Kay
@psycholinguist:
They knew about Kozinski.
Let’s just all agree to drop the “how could this happen?” It happens. Regularly, apparently.
Adam L Silverman
@JR: I saw a trailer for a remake of Papillon
Adam L Silverman
@Mnemosyne: I’m not concerned about what Feinstein is going to do.
Leto
@The Lodger: At the pub? Yes, at the pub. I honestly miss my local pub because they had some of the best drinking beer you could find. Hook Norton brewery was the local brewery and pub owner for a good number of our pubs (Chipping Norton UK area). Full of flavor, easy to drink, and only 3% alcohol so you could have a few (2-3) and not be sloshed.
Mnemosyne
@Steve in the ATL:
Yep. If I’m going up against the Republicans, I want the most competent asshole lawyer I can find. Avenatti may be grating and pompous, but he seems to know his stuff. This allegation is genuinely worse than the previous ones.
Jay
@Immanentize:
Others have linked the possible legal train,
That was the “bigly, youge, bigly” deal about the Meuller Indictment of the Named GRU Officers as being Guccifer 2.0.
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/351239/
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Jay:
I was looking up Marie Antoinette recently because I wanted to know the original French version of the “let them eat cake” quote (it’s “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche” if anyone wants to know). And I learned that Louis XVI was not executed just for being a royal, as I’d always sort of assumed, but was actually charged with treason for secretly negotiating foreign policy with an adversary.
Just saying.
notoriousJRT
@The Dangerman:
I know I have crossed over to the insanely cynical side, but I am not sure what price will be paid of for how long. I’m still gobsmacked that attacking McCain’s status as a military hero and attacking a Gold Star family received passes. Not to mention the “grab ’em by the you-know-what” tape. How far can they go in the search for the bottom of the Mariana Trench that is the current POTUS?
HeleninEire
@LAO: Nah. It’s gonna be LIT. There is no way he can help himself or Kavanaugh. He’s only gonna give more evidence. Against his fat ass.
Immanentize
@Mnemosyne:
true
Mike in DC
@Mnemosyne: It’s pattern and practice evidence, also shows intent and predilection.
Immanentize
@Jay: Thank you.
TenguPhule
@Jeffro:
Putin prefers a cheaper method of retirement for assets that have lost their value.
PAM Dirac
@Leto: Yaay for Hook Norton. I was in Chipping Norton about 15 years ago and had some excellent examples. I still have my Hook Norton flag up in my brew room.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Leto: I loved our miserable cold wet week in Galway because it gave us a great excuse to duck into the pubs every afternoon, get a strong hot Irish tea for her and an Irish coffee for me, and sit back and listen to some wonderful music. And perhaps a hot stew if it was suppertime. The cold rain was a feature, not a bug.
TenguPhule
@The Lodger:
They have these things called fridges….
LuciaMia
If he was just making a statement, he would stay out of trouble. But taking questions? Disaster ahoy!
The Moar You Know
?
@burnspbesq: Rule of law has not been operative in this nation since Bush was president, not for the rich, not for politicians, not for financial institutions. Laws are only for the little people these days. Problem is, the little people have started to figure that out. And they are not happy. So yeah, it’s going to offend your sensibilities and those of a lot of other folks, but violence is coming. How much and how widespread is going to be contingent on the actions of those in power. Nobody wants this. But much more lawlessness on the part of those currently in power is going to inevitably lead there.
Steve in the ATL
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
Lucky for Nixon and Reagan that they are already dead.
TenguPhule
@burnspbesq: I’m confident that a strong case can be made that McConnell and his wife fall under the second definition of the Constitutional definition. Actively working to further the goals of a known Russian Asset in the Executive Branch is sort of the textbook example.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
“Savaged by a dead sheep”, I believe was a phrase the left blogosphere borrowed from a British MP a few years ago
Steve in the ATL
@TenguPhule: old Irish salutation: “may your Guinness never be cold!”
Brachiator
@Elie:
You make a great point. However, Trump does not care about women, nor does his base (including many GOP women). He thinks he can still get the GOP senators to confirm his choice.
Then the question becomes whether, and to what degree, voters punish Trump in the mid terms. But clearly, Trump is betting that he can continue to bamboozle people, or at least ride out any negative push-back.
TenguPhule
@Steve in the ATL:
Or even be in those states. Or be in the states next to them.
TenguPhule
@Steve in the ATL:
And one is not available, Steve is your next best option. //
TenguPhule
@TenguPhule: And if
Jay
@Mandalay:
While I think there is probably evidence that Yurtle the Turtle committed treason, if you accept the untried laws that cyberwar by a state actor is an act of war, and the evidence that Guccifer 2.0 was the named GRU Officers,
It’s not up to me to investigate, gather evidence, press charges and try the case.
He could be convicted, but I doubt the penalty would be death.
The US saves the Death Penalty for certain Classes.
But things change. I don’t remember any Obama Era Democrats getting chased out of public venues by Astroturf TeaBaggers.
TenguPhule
@notoriousJRT:
There is no bottom.
Adam L Silverman
She seems nice:
Leto
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: My wife and I were in Galway 3 years ago (summer of ’15) and we absolutely loved it. She was doing a week long Urban Sketching class, so I got a chance to just explore every nook and cranny of the place. Galway ranks very high on the places we wish we could retire.
@PAM Dirac: I still get emails from them reminding me about upcoming brewery tours. I’d love to have a Golden Lion right about now. Mmmmm.
WaterGirl
Fake Kavanaugh Diary:
TenguPhule
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
More dangerous then you might think.
TenguPhule
@Adam L Silverman:
The Handmaid’s Tale is not supposed to be an instructions manual.
The Lodger
@Leto: I have no doubt that it’s great beer. I was just wondering whether it’s cold enough to stand up to 79 degree F weather in Ireland. (Personally, if I’m looking to cool down, I’d get some ice water myself. Is there ice there?)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Kay: Jamelle Bouie doesn’t get quoted enough, IMHO
the modern Republican Party from the Koch Brothers and Willard Romney to Brett Kavanaugh: The virtuous rich and powerful have it too hard, the lazy, mooching poor have it too easy.
ruemara
@Adam L Silverman: I’m gonna say that, in female, it means “This is your Me Too moment too”. This doesn’t mean fully that Murkowski won’t kowtow to the patriarchy, because GOP women have shown they will prevaricate and coverup for power just like their men. BUT – I’d say that some smidgen of conscience might render that urge she has, dead. Because this entire thing is a triggering nightmare for abuse victims, especially women.
catclub
@Adam L Silverman: what if he horns in on your ‘Don’t do stupid things’ advice?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
and more for Son of Erick, Fucker of Goats
FTR, I’m fuzzy on the details of the Hiss case, but I greatly enjoy this playwright’s running show on twitter– “graduated from”
TenguPhule
File Under: What was the editor thinking?
New Florence flooding forecasts good news for South Carolina
Dorothy A. Winsor
Adam L Silverman
@catclub: I have franchise opportunities available.
schrodingers_cat
@EveryDayIHaveTheBlues: Well, he wants to revive the The East India Company model. Prince has said so himself.
A Ghost To Most
@Chris Johnson: My working assumption is that we are already in a soft civil war. Whether it progresses or recedes will be decided in the next few months.
My preparations continue.
Brachiator
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
You really make a lot of these displays of public disgust. They are impressive. However, the machinery of government grinds on.
The government is changed by voting, not by protests at restaurants. Disgust has to be turned into political action.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Lord god in heaven, they found a Muffy McCountryclub-von Privilege to go full metal NOKD
This woman is in her fifties and she’s going with “Ew, Publics at our parties?”
notoriousJRT
@LAO: I hope he has the goods because it will be George Bush Texas National Guard bad and worse if he does not.
The Moar You Know
@Dorothy A. Winsor: you mean the men are going to have to do their own dirty work? This might be done right here, because they won’t.
Immanentize
@A Ghost To Most: Cold Civil War thankfully
MoxieM
@WaterGirl: yep. announced their intentions in the title.
Kind of glad I’m sick–there’s a mild flu-ey thing going around these parts. It’s making my brain fuzzy; all in all, not a bad solution to the anxiety.
JR
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Marie Antoinette also never said that (attributable to a potentially fictional princess that Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote about when Antoinette was ~5 years old).
Louis XVI was executed for collaborating with the Austrians although his particular treason was somewhat more understandable.
notoriousJRT
@Adam L Silverman:
They have consistently misplayed the strategic and crisis communication response to this from the start.
As the blog host noted yesterday, they misplayed it because the frat boy behavior was previously without consequences.
MoxieM
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: In other words, “that’s exactly what public HS girls are for. And they’re all sluts anyway.” pearls-and-cashmere
Adam L Silverman
@Dorothy A. Winsor: You need to see Jacobus’s next tweet:
Technically she can’t be hired if she is elsewhere employed, so unless she is resigning as a Maricopa County, AZ prosecutor today, they’re in violation of that rule too. Nor can she do this pro bono.
Mandalay
@burnspbesq:
Fine words, and I’m with you all the way. Well said!
But it makes your past support for the abduction of Abu Omar puzzling. In case you have forgotten what the CIA did when you supported them:
Or did “the rule of law” not apply in that case?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
OK, this guy is working at being an asshole, right? he’s been doubling down on a daily basis
TenguPhule
@Adam L Silverman:
how many divisions does the Senate Parlimentarian command?
EveryDayIHaveTheBlues
@schrodingers_cat: Yes, I know. He wants a “viceroy” for Afghanistan. But he is an idiot, not least because the viceroy was an agent of the official British government, not of the East India Company (EIC). As you know, after the 1857 war, India became part of the British Empire.
Prince wants his company (“Blackwater”, or “Academi” or “Amoral Shitheads” or whatever they’re calling themselves these days) to take over the entire country a-la the EIC. So technically, he wouldn’t be the viceroy, but rather, someone like Robert Clive, who was a privateer of the EIC. God, he’s a moron.
Jay
https://www.wonkette.com/guess-brett-kavanaugh-didnt-want-us-to-read-his-alibi-calendar
Wonkette has a copy of Violent Serial Gang Rapist Special K’s Alibi Calender and rips it apart. It’s the opposite of an alibi,
The Rectification of Names has a link to a leaked copy of Violent Serial Gang Rapist Special K’s new corrected and updated sworn testimony, in which he now admits High School drinking.
Adam L Silverman
@TenguPhule: This one isn’t a parliamentary issue, so that doesn’t matter. But McConnell is going to do whatever he wants to do.
Hoodie
@Mnemosyne: I don’t find Avenatti particularly pompous or grating, he’s just a bit theatrical, which is appropriate for this setting. He’s a good advocate, the style he’s adopting appears to be selected for the assholes he’s dealing with. He called into The View and was perfectly pleasant and respectful to the panel. When he’s dealing with dumbshits he’s more abrupt. He is zealously protective of his clients and takes shit from no one regarding them. He takes the flak for them. Look how he made Stormy into a sympathetic figure by not apologizing for anything she’s done in her career.
Jay
@EveryDayIHaveTheBlues:
“Prince wants his company (“Blackwater”, or “Academi” or “Amoral Shitheads” or whatever they’re calling themselves these days) ”
Peoples Republic of China Inc, LLC.
Mnemosyne
@Hoodie:
He’s been saying that he thinks he should run for president and visiting Iowa to further those ambitions. That’s where the “egotistical and grating” part comes in. I have no problem with any of his actions as an advocate for his clients.
randy khan
@oldgold:
Her lawyers are making sure everything is out in the open before the hearing tomorrow, but too late for the Republicans to do much with the information. Smart.
Hoodie
@Mnemosyne: My sense is that’s part of how he gets his adversaries to attack him instead of his clients. Not that he wouldn’t be a vast improvement over Trump as president. Big ego isn’t necessarily bad as long as you’re not corrupt and/or an utter moron.
catclub
Actual action opposing Trump nomination!
Tim Scott, not quite convinced on Kavanaugh?
Jay
@Mnemosyne:
He’s got no PAC, no Exploratory Commitee, no sponsor Democrats on board, he’s not building a Machine or collecting funds and sponsors.
Ergo, he’s just Trolling the Insane Clown POSus.
Captain C
@Kay: I’m really starting to think Erick bin Erick has some serious nonconsensual skeletons in his closet.
Chetan Murthy
@Mnemosyne: Mnem, I share your (what I infer) feelings regarding Avenatti and a possible presidential run. Lord no, please please. I -do- feel that he’s the antihero we need and deserve. Whereas Dr. Blasey Ford, Ms. Ramirez, Ms. Swetnick, are the heroes we need, and surely do not deserve at all. His grandstanding …. well, it’s what makes him both EFFECTIVE and UNFIT for President, yes? If there’s one thing we’ve learned from these last N years, (back to 2000) it is that we need serious leaders in high offices, not “guy you’d feel comfortable having a beer with” or “reality show star”.
I guess, I haven’t seen any sign yet that he’s failing to deliver. Someone brought up the pic of that DVD in a safe. To my mind, he didn’t make promises about what was or what wasn’t on it, and didn’t make promises about when it was going to be released. The antihero we need, is going to understand bluster and bluffing. But he’s also going to understand when he can’t fake it — like, when it comes to a court of law, or when it comes to something that would fatally wound his credibility.
That doesn’t change that he’s an antihero.
an·ti·he·ro
noun
a central character in a story, movie, or drama who lacks conventional heroic attributes.
Steve in the ATL
@catclub:
Thereby thwarting the will of 99% of his constitutents
Captain C
@trollhattan: Pimps have more honor.
schrodingers_cat
When they are sending nominees to the Supreme Court they are not sending their best, they are sending rapists and drunks.
Procopius
@TenguPhule: I want to see some women Senators demand the FBI track down and refer for prosecution the people (probably guys) who sent death threats to Prof. Ford. Charge with tampering with a witness, because she IS a witness in a Congressional hearing. They’ll never do it, of course. The FBI is terrified of getting bad publicity, which is the usual reason they get bad publicity. The Old Queen knew how to do it, none of his successors has had the talent.
Procopius
@TenguPhule: OK, that’s a misunderstanding of the word “enemies.” Legally, Russia is not an enemy. Hell, in a college debate I could even argue that they are our friend. After all, they took out ISIS for us, didn’t they? And what thanks do they get? Any way, they may be an adversary, a competitor, a threat (potentially), but they are not an enemy. Legally.
Procopius
@TenguPhule: Not from me. I’ve given up. The ignorance is invincible. They’ve decided Russia is an enemy combatant and there’s no way to persuade them otherwise. Jefferson Davis was an enemy and guilty of treason because he waged war against the United States. Robert E. Lee was an enemy and guilty of treason because he waged war against the United States. Arguably, Jane Fonda committed treason for her speech from Hanoi, because the Supreme Court ruled we were at war with North Vietnam even though Congress had not declared war (I was stationed at Pleiku when she gave her speech and I agreed with her then and agree with her now). In the absence of war there can be no treason, but it’s the current fad, so there’s no use in continuing to try to fight it.
Barry
@Redshift: “I know most of the Republican justices are complete partisans, but some of them care enough about their image as respected jurists that “I’m pardoning you for a federal crime you haven’t been charged with and now you can’t be charged with it in state court” seems like a bridge too far.“
IIRC, that covers both the Nixon and Bush I pardons.