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You are here: Home / Open Threads / None of us need this shit, actually…

None of us need this shit, actually…

by Betty Cracker|  November 13, 20181:43 pm| 176 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity, Assholes, General Stupidity

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There are several reports alleging that Trump is about to shit-can chief baby-cager Kirstjen Nielsen and possibly her mentor John Kelly too. Nielsen’s ass is in the hot seat because it turns out that even monstrous treatment of desperate people won’t stop them from trying to escape the intolerable conditions in their home countries.

Someone has to take the fall for the failure of Hair Furor’s genius scheme to torture poor and brown people away from our borders, and Nielsen it is. Here’s hoping she spends the next 40 years regretting the decision to hitch her star to the orange shit-wagon.

ABC News says the latest dispute with Kelly arose over a dust-up with the Third Lady:

“There have been instances where the East Wing staff were not treated as equals to the male-dominated decision makers in Chief Kelly’s office,” one White House official said. “Promotions were denied then finally granted after months of requests,” the official said.

Melania Trump raised concerns with her husband earlier this year, amid the height of the controversy over his alleged affair with porn actress Stormy Daniels, that Kelly had repeatedly denied her requests to promote some of her aides, two White House officials told NBC News.

The requests languished for months as Kelly insisted there weren’t enough available positions for the first lady’s aides to have senior titles, these people said. During this same period however, West Wing officials working for Kelly received promotions, the White House officials said.

Having learned of the dispute, the president was furious and told Kelly to give the first lady, who has a smaller East Wing staff than her recent predecessors, what she wanted, these people said. “I don’t need this shit,” Trump told Kelly, according to one person familiar with the conversation.

Sounds like the Third Lady has a well-honed instinct for when to shake the orange fart cloud down. She can’t possibly be surprised that inhabitants of the Ladies Wing aren’t treated as equals by Trump’s henchmen; she struck a bargain with, if not THE devil, one of the lesser imps and demons, so excuse me if I don’t feel compelled to join her in sisterly outrage at the rank sexism she and her employees endure on the daily.

It’s galling that anyone willing to work for these thoroughly awful people would get a dime in taxpayer money, let alone sit around a luxurious public office and squabble incessantly about “senior titles” while doing nothing, but that’s show biz.

Anyhoo, that’s all I have to say about that. Open thread!

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Reader Interactions

176Comments

  1. 1.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 13, 2018 at 1:48 pm

    Looks like Mnem was right, Honorable General and side piece are leaving together.

  2. 2.

    MisterForkbeard

    November 13, 2018 at 1:49 pm

    The requests languished for months as Kelly insisted there weren’t enough available positions for the first lady’s aides to have senior titles, these people said. During this same period however, West Wing officials working for Kelly received promotions, the White House officials said

    It might be sexist of me, but I assume that Melania was basically trying to get her people promoted over the White House staff and administrators that do actual work. Melania and her duties seem criminally unprepared, even more so than the rest of the White House. We’re pretty sure Kelly has problems with women (and minorities) but my first reaction is that he’s probably in the right here.

    But then, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was just being dismissive of the First Lady and her staff, either. He seems like that kind of asshole.

  3. 3.

    Doug R

    November 13, 2018 at 1:50 pm

    Definitely a lesser imp. No way trump could design and build a “good place”.

  4. 4.

    Platonailedit

    November 13, 2018 at 1:52 pm

    What a lovely buncha public servants them wwc folks voted for themselves.

  5. 5.

    Waldo

    November 13, 2018 at 1:53 pm

    Can’t imagine anyone will miss Kelly, but I also can’t imagine Trump trading him in for a less odious human being.

  6. 6.

    Platonailedit

    November 13, 2018 at 1:53 pm

    Meanwhile, in real world

    Hate crimes in the US rose by 17% in 2017, the third straight year that incidents of bias-motivated attacks have grown, according to the FBI.

    The data is collected from local police departments that contribute to the survey voluntarily. But not all do.

    The rise in hate crimes is attributed to an increase of about 1,000 police departments that are now choosing to report these incidents, the FBI says.

    The report found the surge especially affected black and Jewish Americans.

    Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker – who who was named by President Donald Trump last week after the sacking of Jeff Sessions – called the report a “call to action” and condemned the offences as “despicable violations of our core values as Americans”.

  7. 7.

    Roger Moore

    November 13, 2018 at 1:55 pm

    When it comes to Melania vs. Kelley, I’m rooting for injuries.

  8. 8.

    Humdog

    November 13, 2018 at 1:55 pm

    Who would take the DHS or CoS jobs? Shitstain will not abide legal constraints on his racist cruelty nor will he take direction. So, your new boss will hate you and ask you to do unethical things so that every decent person in the country will hate you. Only someone who lives solely to hurt brown people would sign up for either job. Miller has enough hate, but he does such shabby jobs apart from trolling.

  9. 9.

    different-church-lady

    November 13, 2018 at 1:56 pm

    @Platonailedit:

    “But don’t tell my boss I said that,” Whitaker added.

  10. 10.

    Corner Stone

    November 13, 2018 at 1:57 pm

    Why in the world would Melania go to bat for any aide working for her? She can’t possibly give a shit about their post WH careers or grifting opportunities.

  11. 11.

    geg6

    November 13, 2018 at 1:58 pm

    Everyone in this story is low rent scum who I don’t give a shit about. They can all DIAF for all I care. No one would miss any of them.

  12. 12.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 13, 2018 at 1:58 pm

    @Humdog: Kris Kobach is waiting in the wings.

  13. 13.

    Roger Moore

    November 13, 2018 at 1:58 pm

    @Humdog:

    Only someone who lives solely to hurt brown people would sign up for either job.

    That still leaves a distressingly large field of candidates.

  14. 14.

    Immannetize

    November 13, 2018 at 1:58 pm

    If Trump really wants to fire Kirstjen Nielsen, who is going to actually do it? Kelly won’t — for reasons….

  15. 15.

    Immannetize

    November 13, 2018 at 1:59 pm

    @geg6:
    As Kay says — These people really are low quality hires.

  16. 16.

    Corner Stone

    November 13, 2018 at 1:59 pm

    @Humdog:

    Who would take the DHS or CoS jobs?

    Whatever low character, low quality hire Trump finds to replace Kelly is going to make Reek look like a saint.
    But, IMO, doesn’t it have to be some kind of Fox News type person?

  17. 17.

    Mike E

    November 13, 2018 at 2:01 pm

    After his treatment in France, I’m surprised that he’s doing the can-can

  18. 18.

    Spanky

    November 13, 2018 at 2:02 pm

    @Corner Stone: I really don’t care, Do u?

  19. 19.

    Corner Stone

    November 13, 2018 at 2:03 pm

    Nielsen’s ass is in the hot seat because it turns out that even monstrous treatment of desperate people won’t stop them from trying to escape the intolerable conditions in their home countries.

    Other than the sheer brutal wreckage of the human lives involved, the saddest part is that Nielsen is actually awful at her job! All she has to do is sit down and consider what’s the worst possible thing I can do and in the worst possible manner/implementation? Then she takes classes from Sarah H Sanders in “Aggressive Lying and Not Giving A Shit: 301” and she’s gold.

  20. 20.

    Humdog

    November 13, 2018 at 2:04 pm

    I don’t really care if Shitstain has an incompetent CoS, that will just tie his office up in knots. But we need a decent DHS head for safety sake. I shudder to think what would happen to the country if we had a foreign terrorist attack.

  21. 21.

    Corner Stone

    November 13, 2018 at 2:05 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Looks like Mnem was right, Honorable General and side piece are leaving together.

    Not to cast aspersions on Nielsen’s asparagus, but it does make one wonder why someone would so strongly champion a person who is mind blowingly, transparently incompetent. Especially when that champion clearly despises women in general.

  22. 22.

    cckids

    November 13, 2018 at 2:05 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Why in the world would Melania go to bat for any aide working for her? She can’t possibly give a shit about their post WH careers or grifting opportunities.

    I just assumed that, in true grifting tradition, these “aides” are all her best friends or their kids; not actually qualified for or interested in the jobs they are supposed to do, just in it for the $$ and the titles.

    I mean, it boggles the mind that anyone who was making any honest attempt to do these jobs could be so entirely bad at them.

  23. 23.

    Roger Moore

    November 13, 2018 at 2:05 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Why in the world would Melania go to bat for any aide working for her?

    I can think of a few reasons. One is that they’re complaining and threatening to leave unless they get their promotions, and she doesn’t want to lose them. Another is that it’s a matter of prestige; she wants fancy titles for the people working for her because it makes her look better. It could also be a matter of her trying to build up a power base and/or looking for an excuse to fight Kelley because she dislikes him for some personal reason.

  24. 24.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:06 pm

    Melania Trump raised concerns with her husband earlier this year

    I am sick and tired of this whore and his wife and that fucking sentence.

  25. 25.

    germy

    November 13, 2018 at 2:07 pm

    New: Joseph Mifsud's lawyer Stephan Roh told me a few days ago that he is negotiating with the Senate Intelligence Committee to have Mifsud testify. Senate Intel has declined to comment, but since BuzzFeed just reported on Roh's claims, here's the full email he sent me on Friday. pic.twitter.com/sszUS1bNI0
    — Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) November 13, 2018

  26. 26.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:08 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Looks like Mnem was right, Honorable General and side piece are leaving together.

    Implies fidelity that Kelly has repeatedly shown us does not exist. She is but one blonde onna-hole in his collection.

  27. 27.

    VeniceRiley

    November 13, 2018 at 2:08 pm

    Think PEETUS thinks Sessions and Kelly & Neilsen wrote that NYT OP Ed?

  28. 28.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 13, 2018 at 2:08 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:
    Yes, spoiled for choice on his motivations. He’s a racist misogynist, and… I will be frank. Melania was a nude model (even once counts for this). In the kind of circles we’ve learned staff the White House, that basically you a work animal, like a horse or cow. I doubt seriously that knowing her has helped that bias, however intelligent she may or may not be. If she’s smart or aggressive, that will irritate him, and if she’s stupid or passive, it will confirm him. Either way will just increase the bias. But given her history and lack of non-symbolic position, I am beggared to imagine who she could be pushing to have jobs that deserve them. Kelly is at least mediocre competent, probably strongly competent dragged by his hate into a job that is completely impossible. He would try to ignore such candidates as much as possible. I suppose there’s a possibility that these people aren’t from the outside, but Melania is trying to be an advocate for worthy women overlooked in the misogynist administration. Doesn’t seem like what we know of her, but who knows?

  29. 29.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:09 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Kris Kobach is waiting in the wings.

    For that matter, Rudy Guliani was mentioned as a possible choice.

  30. 30.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:10 pm

    @Immannetize:

    If Trump really wants to fire Kirstjen Nielsen, who is going to actually do it?

    I think Trump would enjoy humiliating a young blonde woman personally.

  31. 31.

    Mart

    November 13, 2018 at 2:10 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:

    We’re pretty sure Kelly has problems with women (and minorities) but

    Representative Maxine Waters would like to clarify that it is not “pretty sure”; but that it is certain that Kelly is hostile towards woman and minorities…

  32. 32.

    Corner Stone

    November 13, 2018 at 2:10 pm

    @germy:

    New: Joseph Mifsud’s lawyer Stephan Roh told me a few days ago that he is negotiating with the Senate Intelligence Committee to have Mifsud testify.

    I had not realized Mueller had added a medium to his professional staff.

  33. 33.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 13, 2018 at 2:10 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: Even for political appointments, there are qualification requirements for appointment at certain ranks. Some of those are education, some are experience. Some can be waived with a memorandum of exemption. But my understanding from the reporting is that there are a large number of vacancies in the Executive Office of the President/appointed White House staff.

  34. 34.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 13, 2018 at 2:11 pm

    @Corner Stone: Because the honorable general is honorable. He was a Marine, doncha know.

  35. 35.

    germy

    November 13, 2018 at 2:11 pm

    Update: The CNN lawsuit against Trump has been assigned to Judge Timothy J. Kelly, a Trump appointee who was a former counsel to Chuck Grassley.— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) November 13, 2018

    Good luck!

  36. 36.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 13, 2018 at 2:11 pm

    @Waldo: Nick Ayers, VP Pence’s current Chief of Staff.

  37. 37.

    trollhattan

    November 13, 2018 at 2:11 pm

    “Will no one rid me of these lesser imps and demons?”

    Guessing Donny got tired of serially misspelling Kirstjen and found this the simplest resolution. “Thank you for your service, blonde person.”

  38. 38.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:12 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    I suppose there’s a possibility that these people aren’t from the outside, but Melania is trying to be an advocate for worthy women overlooked in the misogynist administration. Doesn’t seem like what we know of her, but who knows?

    There aren’t enough monkeys on an infinite number of typewriters to make this possible in any universe.

  39. 39.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:13 pm

    @Humdog:

    I shudder to think what would happen to the country if we had a foreign terrorist attack.

    It was called the 2016 election.

  40. 40.

    Corner Stone

    November 13, 2018 at 2:13 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: It may be just me but I am having a hard time chewing through this comment.

  41. 41.

    trollhattan

    November 13, 2018 at 2:13 pm

    @germy:

    Trump appointee who was a former counsel to Chuck Grassley.

    If that doesn’t aptly describe a double-decker turd sandwich, nothing can.

  42. 42.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:13 pm

    @Mike E:

    After his treatment in France, I’m surprised that he’s doing the can-can

    Well played.

    And never do that again.

  43. 43.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 13, 2018 at 2:15 pm

    @Corner Stone:
    “Yes, Kelly hates women and Melania is the kind he would hate most. He also tries to be competent and why would a First Lady have people working for her qualified for bigger jobs?”

  44. 44.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 13, 2018 at 2:15 pm

    @geg6: Word.

  45. 45.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 13, 2018 at 2:16 pm

    @Humdog: Nick Ayers, Pence’s COS, is expected to replace Kelly if Kelly leaves. As for DHS, it is unclear. The logical candidates from outside of the administration are unlikely to make it through the confirmation process even in a GOP majority Senate controlled by Mitch McConnell. There is no Deputy DHS Secretary and the only other Senate confirmed appointees there are, if I’m recalling correctly, the senior DHS counsel, the Director of CB&P, and the Director of ICE. He could move one of those three in under the Vacancies Act, or he could try to do what he did with Whitaker at DOJ and use that 3rd portion of the Vacancies Act to move one of the other political appointees into an Acting DHS head. The problem there, from what I understand of those people, is they have absolutely no experience running anything. Not that that stopped Nielsen’s appointment.

  46. 46.

    Brachiator

    November 13, 2018 at 2:16 pm

    Hate crimes in the US rose by 17% in 2017, the third straight year that incidents of bias-motivated attacks have grown, according to the FBI.

    And yet some pundits keep insisting that this is totally unconnected to the tone and lack of civility coming out of the White House.

    @MisterForkbeard:

    It might be sexist of me, but I assume that Melania was basically trying to get her people promoted over the White House staff and administrators that do actual work.

    Some of those jobs relate to the ceremonial aspects of the president’s role as head of state (as opposed to head of government), but they are still important.

  47. 47.

    germy

    November 13, 2018 at 2:17 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    I had not realized Mueller had added a medium to his professional staff.

    “I’m not dead yet! I feel happy!!”

  48. 48.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:17 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    But my understanding from the reporting is that there are a large number of vacancies in the Executive Office of the President/appointed White House staff.

    And across the whole federal government for appointed positions. Its a hollowing out that has been festering for two years now. Institutional shit is being forgotten. The career federal employees are having to spitball and duct tape new and exciting procedures to keep things going. These work arounds are becoming the new normal.

    This is not a good thing for the long term health of the government.

  49. 49.

    Corner Stone

    November 13, 2018 at 2:17 pm

    @Roger Moore: I am doubtful on 1. because she doesn’t actually do anything and when she does it is unbelievably poorly scripted. I don’t have any insight into personal relationships she may have with them so, maybe. For 2., I may be an outlier but I can’t name a single person that works for Melania. No real thoughts on 3. except to add that ISTM Melania probably hates every single person in the West Wing, including Jar Jar and Ivanka.

  50. 50.

    Platonailedit

    November 13, 2018 at 2:17 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Kelly is at least mediocre competent, probably strongly competent dragged by his hate into a job that is completely impossible.

    whut?

  51. 51.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 13, 2018 at 2:18 pm

    @germy: Mifsud is alive?

  52. 52.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:18 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    The problem there, from what I understand of those people, is they have absolutely no experience running anything.

    You see a problem, Trump sees an opportunity.

    And this is a problem.

  53. 53.

    Jay

    November 13, 2018 at 2:19 pm

    @Humdog:

    Why would foreign terrorists attack?

    The domestic terrorists are doing a fine job so far.

  54. 54.

    eemom

    November 13, 2018 at 2:20 pm

    The NYT, bless its rancid heart, had a piece the other day about the First Lady and the First Daughter. Like, somebody seriously wrote that expecting that somebody would want to read it.

  55. 55.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 13, 2018 at 2:20 pm

    @Platonailedit:
    Kelly has a long history of competence before joining the White House. Hate can be easily hidden, to emerge when it gets a chance. Competence rarely suddenly disappears. If he’s doing this job badly, bear in mind the job is impossible. You can’t organize a screaming toddler who is also your boss.

  56. 56.

    germy

    November 13, 2018 at 2:20 pm

    Okay, here’s the full list:

    These twitter sites have all gone suspiciously dormant for 3 days running now. Speculation is that it is related to the #Mueller investigation. pic.twitter.com/IglIRiF4su— PostSecret (@postsecret) November 13, 2018

  57. 57.

    oatler.

    November 13, 2018 at 2:20 pm

    TONIGHT: CHAOS IN THE WHITEHOUSE!
    (or, Taco Tuesday)

  58. 58.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:21 pm

    @oatler.:

    TONIGHT: CHAOS IN THE WHITEHOUSE!

    How could we tell the difference from a day ending in Y?

  59. 59.

    germy

    November 13, 2018 at 2:22 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Apparently “working towards” testifying for the senate.

  60. 60.

    (((CassandraLeo)))

    November 13, 2018 at 2:23 pm

    Where’s Yarrow? This story merits a “Tick tock, motherfuckers” if one ever did:

    Well now. Russians claiming a hack of the DNC was a legitimate "military attack"That's going to have repercussions for the Americans who were conspiring with them. https://t.co/ixw1jkl0Uj— Emma Kennedy (@EmmaKennedy) November 13, 2018

    Another term for “military attack” is “act of war”, which would open everyone who aided and abetted it, up to and including the president* of the United States, to treason charges. So: tick tock, motherfuckers.

  61. 61.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 13, 2018 at 2:23 pm

    @Corner Stone: Oija board was listed as a line item on the last Special Counsel’s budgetary request in September.

  62. 62.

    Platonailedit

    November 13, 2018 at 2:23 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: If he had any competence, he sure made sure not to to reveal it.

  63. 63.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 13, 2018 at 2:24 pm

    @germy: Who’re they going to call to testify next? Jimmy Hoffa?

  64. 64.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:26 pm

    @(((CassandraLeo))):

    Another term for “military attack” is “act of war”, which would open everyone who aided and abetted it, up to and including the president* of the United States, to treason charges.

    And thereby stiffening the spines of any wavering Republicans who might be queasy about going full Nazi. “Fight or die” was one of Stalin’s favorite motivators in WW II, IIRC.

  65. 65.

    Platonailedit

    November 13, 2018 at 2:26 pm

    Kelly as the "adult in the room" was always a myth. He's a bigot who hurt citizens — including veterans and military widows — acted as a supplicant to an aspiring autocrat, and disgraced our country.

    https://t.co/UIPNUOkBIF— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) November 13, 2018

    I am with her.

  66. 66.

    germy

    November 13, 2018 at 2:26 pm

    The lawyer claiming to represent Mifsud has offered a proof of life dated to May 2018, but will not agree to its publication. pic.twitter.com/NfeFqxCmU9— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) November 13, 2018

  67. 67.

    trollhattan

    November 13, 2018 at 2:29 pm

    @oatler.:
    I love Taco Tuesday. If Hillary had only won* it would be a 30-foot walk to my corner taco truck but noooooo, we can’t have nice things.

    *Add standard “she probably did.”

  68. 68.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 13, 2018 at 2:30 pm

    @Platonailedit:
    I completely agree. You can be all of those things, a total monster, and also good at it. Look at Sessions.

  69. 69.

    rikyrah

    November 13, 2018 at 2:30 pm

    @Immannetize:

    As Kay says — These people really are low quality hires.

    Kay had the entire situation pegged from jump street

  70. 70.

    (((CassandraLeo)))

    November 13, 2018 at 2:30 pm

    @trollhattan: “probably”

  71. 71.

    trollhattan

    November 13, 2018 at 2:30 pm

    @(((CassandraLeo))):
    Wha???

  72. 72.

    West of the Rockies

    November 13, 2018 at 2:30 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:

    I quite agree. Melania does nothing. She does not need a staff to help her do all that nothing.

  73. 73.

    Corner Stone

    November 13, 2018 at 2:30 pm

    @oatler.:

    (or, Taco Tuesday)

    Damn. Taco Tuesday sounds goooood. But I’ll probably just have a sammich later.

  74. 74.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 13, 2018 at 2:31 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: A properly functioning East Wing, where the First Lady was actually doing something or somethings of import in terms of initiatives she was working on, would need to be properly staffed at appropriate levels. Given the current First Lady and what she appears to actually be doing, I think Kelly’s probably correct in the assessment that she’s currently overstaffed and that staff doesn’t need any promotions.

  75. 75.

    germy

    November 13, 2018 at 2:33 pm

    Howard University Women's Rifle Team (1937) pic.twitter.com/6Bor4HJJxO— Socialist Rifle Association (@SocialistRA) November 12, 2018

  76. 76.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 13, 2018 at 2:34 pm

    @Brachiator: The issue is that this President has basically cancelled almost all the Head of State functions. There has been, if I’m recalling correctly, one state dinner. They’ve botched the planning for the Easter Egg roll two years in a row. They don’t do Eid al Fitr dinners or Passover seders – though the Jewish staffers apparently have organized their own, they barely do the Christmas tree lighting and the first night of Hanukah menorah lighting.

  77. 77.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:35 pm

    Donald J. Trump
    ✔
    @realDonaldTrump
    On Trade, France makes excellent wine, but so does the U.S. The problem is that France makes it very hard for the U.S. to sell its wines into France, and charges big Tariffs, whereas the U.S. makes it easy for French wines, and charges very small Tariffs. Not fair, must change!

    68.9K
    3:07 AM – Nov 13, 2018

    Trump is so stupid its physically painful.

  78. 78.

    Platonailedit

    November 13, 2018 at 2:35 pm

    Love this Tom Hanks’ t shirt.

  79. 79.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 13, 2018 at 2:36 pm

    @TenguPhule: I am aware and you are correct.

  80. 80.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:37 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    There has been, if I’m recalling correctly, one state dinner.

    Yep. One formal state dinner. Earlier this year. With France.

  81. 81.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 13, 2018 at 2:37 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: He lit a Diwali lamp today. Diwali was over on Friday. Why do they even bother.

  82. 82.

    Mnemosyne

    November 13, 2018 at 2:37 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I’m convinced that’s how it’s going to happen. I realize that it’s painful for people who thought they knew Kelly to realize that he has a mistress, but I never thought my older brother would cheat on his wife and leave her for a woman younger than I am, either, and yet that’s what happened. ?‍♀️

    People do strange things when sex is involved, and someone who is suddenly acting uncharacteristically in one area (like Kelly’s sudden racist qualities) is quite likely acting in uncharacteristic ways in other areas of their life as well.

  83. 83.

    The Dangerman

    November 13, 2018 at 2:37 pm

    @Humdog:

    I shudder to think what would happen to the country if we had a foreign terrorist attack.

    From a bunch of Saudi’s again? Somehow Trump would blame Obama or Hillary and then invade Iran.

  84. 84.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:38 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Why do they even bother.

    It takes real talent to fuck up everything they touch.

  85. 85.

    Ryan

    November 13, 2018 at 2:38 pm

    “over a dust-up with the Third Lady”

    I salute your optimism.

  86. 86.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:39 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    I realize that it’s painful for people who thought they knew Kelly to realize that he has a mistress,

    What makes you think he stopped at just one?

  87. 87.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 13, 2018 at 2:40 pm

    @Brachiator: I rest my case…

    Trump, instructed to light the multiple parts of the Diya, says he didn't want to be selfish. Pointing at the journalists in the room, he says, "They'll accuse me of being selfish."

    — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 13, 2018

    This concludes this year's episode of Donald Trump Does Diwali.

    — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 13, 2018

  88. 88.

    Kay

    November 13, 2018 at 2:40 pm

    Kombiz Lavasany Retweeted

    Justin Sink
    ‏Verified account
    @justinsink
    8m8 minutes ago
    More
    Wow: First Lady’s spokeswoman @StephGrisham45 on NSC deputy Mira Ricardel, rumored to be exiting the WH: “It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House.”

    OMFG, the Queen has spoken. It’s all so petty. No one gets fired for massive fuckups where people die, but they’re all embroiled in some bullshit inter-office pissing match over “titles”.

  89. 89.

    Betty Cracker

    November 13, 2018 at 2:40 pm

    @VeniceRiley: It’s amazing to me that the anonymous op-ed went down the memory hole so quickly. I really thought the Beltway press would be on that like a pack of baying hounds until the author was revealed or Trump stroked out from the repeated questioning about it. Yet another sign of how thoroughly Trump’s bullshit blitzkrieg has stymied the Beltway press.

  90. 90.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:41 pm

    Donald J. Trump
    ✔
    @realDonaldTrump
    By the way, when the helicopter couldn’t fly to the first cemetery in France because of almost zero visibility, I suggested driving. Secret Service said NO, too far from airport & big Paris shutdown. Speech next day at American Cemetery in pouring rain! Little reported-Fake News!

    50.1K
    5:49 AM – Nov 13, 2018

    And now the excuses have started for his no-show at the cemetery.

    SMH.

  91. 91.

    Roger Moore

    November 13, 2018 at 2:41 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Some of those jobs relate to the ceremonial aspects of the president’s role as head of state (as opposed to head of government), but they are still important.

    Absolutely. One of the quirks of combining the heads of state and government in a single person is that the two roles interact. Doing well at the ceremonial side of the job can enhance the president’s prestige, which can help him govern. Screwing it up- say, by refusing to make the tiniest effort to honor veterans on Veterans Day- can damage the president’s prestige and make the governing side harder.

  92. 92.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:42 pm

    @Kay:

    No one gets fired for massive fuckups where people die, but they’re all embroiled in some bullshit inter-office pissing match over “titles”.

    Game of Thrones meet Idiocracy.

  93. 93.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:43 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    and make the governing side harder.

    Since Trump isn’t bothering to govern of course this has no obvious effect.

  94. 94.

    Gravenstone

    November 13, 2018 at 2:43 pm

    @Platonailedit: Three years, eh? No relationship at all to the announcement of the Beast and his appeals to white populism during his campaign and since taking office? None at all? Just a statistical uptick with a new cohort of agencies reporting? Riiiggghhhttttt….

  95. 95.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 13, 2018 at 2:43 pm

    @Mnemosyne: FWIW, I think having an affair is less morally repugnant than snatching children from their parents and incarcerating them. Don’t forget that was Kelly’s idea when he headed the DHS.

  96. 96.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 13, 2018 at 2:43 pm

    @eemom:

    Like, somebodyMaggie Haberman seriously wrote that expecting that somebody would want to read it.

    Fixed it for you.

  97. 97.

    (((CassandraLeo)))

    November 13, 2018 at 2:46 pm

    @TenguPhule: This strikes me as massively unfair to President Camacho, who at least comes across as being good-hearted, if not particularly competent.

  98. 98.

    SRW1

    November 13, 2018 at 2:46 pm

    What’s the over/under that Kelly gets fired by tweet cause Trump can’t tell to people’s face that they’re fired?

    But it would not surprise me at all if Kelly’s last task in the job will be to tell Nielsen darling that she’s a goner. Trump’s that kind of ghoul.

  99. 99.

    Roger Moore

    November 13, 2018 at 2:47 pm

    @oatler.:

    or, Taco Tuesday

    ITYM Infrastructure Week.

  100. 100.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 13, 2018 at 2:47 pm

    @(((CassandraLeo))): In their court filings.

  101. 101.

    Kay

    November 13, 2018 at 2:47 pm

    Did someone say caravan?
    One week after Election Day, President Donald Trump’s daily drumbeat of warnings about a caravan of “bad thugs” and potential terrorists intent on invading the U.S. from Mexico has largely fallen silent.
    The migrant caravans are still trudging along, the largest still about 1,000 miles from the southern border, but Trump — and many in the conservative media — have dramatically reduced the frequency and intensity of their dire warnings now that they no longer feel the same urgency to stir up GOP voters.

    You know, this isn’t true and they should all stop saying it. It wasn’;t just “conservative media” who flogged the caravan story. They ALL flogged it for a solid two weeks. This just happened. We all saw it. For them to deny this happened is truly Trumpian.

    Not only that, it will happen AGAIN. I would bet 500 dollars that 2 weeks prior to the 2020 election they will do this again. Maybe not the caravan! But some group of black or brown people invading.

  102. 102.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 13, 2018 at 2:47 pm

    @SRW1: I am not shedding any tears for that pair of baby snatchers.

  103. 103.

    Gravenstone

    November 13, 2018 at 2:49 pm

    @germy: Hrrm, first the thought that Mifsud is actually on the right side of this mortal coil is …. surprising. Second, if he wants to talk to the Senate rather than say, Mueller and Co., then he’s just looking to sow more chaff and misinformation. As soon as he steps foot in the states, hand him a subpoena to one of Mueller’s grand juries, and tell the Senate that he’ll be “delayed” for their dog and pony show.

  104. 104.

    Mnemosyne

    November 13, 2018 at 2:49 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Sure, but it’s the “steal big, steal little” principle. Someone who’s willing to go against his previously stated principles of being anti-racist to directly persecute refugees isn’t going to balk at a more minor moral transgression like cheating on his wife.

  105. 105.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:49 pm

    @(((CassandraLeo))):

    This strikes me as massively unfair to President Camacho, who at least comes across as being good-hearted, if not particularly competent.

    That’s where the Game of Thrones fusion comes in. All the surviving characters are awful and you’re left to root for their horrible demise at the first opportunity.

  106. 106.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 13, 2018 at 2:49 pm

    @germy: While the pic is legit, if I’m recalling correctly the organization that tweeted it is a Russian Intel sock puppet.

  107. 107.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 13, 2018 at 2:50 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    It’s amazing to me that the anonymous op-ed went down the memory hole so quickly.

    There’s just so much newsworthy dumbfuckery coming out of the White House. They’re that evil and incompetent.

  108. 108.

    germy

    November 13, 2018 at 2:50 pm

    @Kay:

    OMFG, the Queen has spoken. It’s all so petty. No one gets fired for massive fuckups where people die, but they’re all embroiled in some bullshit inter-office pissing match over “titles”

    They’re all so warlike they even go to war with each other.

  109. 109.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 13, 2018 at 2:50 pm

    @TenguPhule: The French tariff on American wine adds between 11 and 29 cents per bottle.

  110. 110.

    Roger Moore

    November 13, 2018 at 2:50 pm

    @germy:

    proof of life dated to May 2018

    I think I’d want something a bit more recent if I were trying to bring the guy in to testify. Six months is a long time for somebody potentially in the Russians’ crosshairs.

  111. 111.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:51 pm

    @Kay:

    They ALL flogged it for a solid two weeks. This just happened. We all saw it. For them to deny this happened is truly Trumpian.

    They are all increasingly complicit. Because Trump makes things exciting for them. He’s become essential to their business model.

  112. 112.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 13, 2018 at 2:51 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Today was the first day since the start of Diwali that he had free time in his schedule…

  113. 113.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:53 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I know. I used to work for a wine dealership many many moons ago. And French wine is overrated. Germany and California both produce on average a higher quality product.

  114. 114.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 13, 2018 at 2:53 pm

    @The Dangerman:

    From a bunch of Saudi’s again? Somehow Trump would blame Obama or Hillary and then invade Iran Chappaqua, NY, the Kalorama neighborhood of DC, and Chicago.

    Fixed it for you.

  115. 115.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 13, 2018 at 2:53 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I don’t care, do you.

  116. 116.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 13, 2018 at 2:53 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    They are all increasingly complicit.

    I don’t think it’s increasing. If anything, it’s decreasing, although it’s still so bad the difference is unimportant. Remember ebola terrorists? The media hawked the caravan much less, and with a less supportive tone.

  117. 117.

    Mnemosyne

    November 13, 2018 at 2:54 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Also, depending on how brittle someone’s self-image is, a relatively small transgression like an affair can lead to more and worse transgressions because the person decides that if they’re already damned, they may as well keep going.

    On a smaller scale, this is why people who have been on a diet will sit down and eat a whole package of cookies or an entire cake if they eat one cookie or one slice — since they feel like they’ve already “wrecked their diet,” they figure that they may as well go whole hog and completely ruin it.

  118. 118.

    jl

    November 13, 2018 at 2:55 pm

    @SRW1: Why not just lock them out of their offices and then have security escort them out, with another security following up with all their stuff thrown in moving boxes? They could march them out of the WH and humiliate them with media photos. That would a 10000 percent crazy jerk boss way of firing them and very strongly and bigly fire them.. And Trump could give out a halfway plausible lie that he was strong enough to face them and fire them himself. Actually, he would show up a few seconds after some security person fired them, and do some shit eating dance about how too bad it all was.

    But Trump has this weird compulsion to communicate his guilt/weakness/dishonesty etc. when he makes a public display of his feats of strength. The guy is pathological So he tweets it out, providing public evidence that his is cowardly chickenshit.

    Trump and his followers have a lot of strange dysfunctional psychological BS going on, besides other problems.

  119. 119.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 13, 2018 at 2:55 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: Agreed. Though they still fall short, they have been calling him on his bullshit more.

  120. 120.

    Corner Stone

    November 13, 2018 at 2:55 pm

    @Kay:

    No one gets fired for massive fuckups where people die, but they’re all embroiled in some bullshit inter-office pissing match over “titles”.

    What bugs the shit outta me is that people are still saying, “Look at how Trump deals with the all the small self-made crises! I am horrified to think how bad it will be when a real crisis happens, domestic or international.”
    And I’m always like, “Hey! You dumb SOB. Trump’s complete incompetence and general just not-giving-a-shittism killed over four thousand US citizens in Puerto Rico! We already know how bad he’s going to fuck everything up when it all goes down.”

  121. 121.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 2:56 pm

    @Kay:

    Not only that, it will happen AGAIN. I would bet 500 dollars that 2 weeks prior to the 2020 election they will do this again.

    Probably a lot sooner then that. After all, We have a whole bunch of armed federal agents waiting for the Christmas arrival of the current bunch of refugees making their way here.

  122. 122.

    Jay C

    November 13, 2018 at 2:56 pm

    So the latest kerfuffle from the WH is that the President’s CoS might be getting the boot – because of internal disputes with Melania – over raises and/or titles for her staff? SRSLY? This is truly Byzantine/Third-World/Banana Republic/palace-intrigue BS to the max. What’s next?

  123. 123.

    Kay

    November 13, 2018 at 2:57 pm

    Karen Kasler
    ‏@karenkasler
    Follow Follow @karenkasler
    More
    Overflow crowd of Ohio union members for first hearing on Rep. John Becker’s bill that he says will codify the Janus US Supreme Ct decision on union dues. He says he’s been asked if it’s the first step toward “right to work” – he hopes so.

    We told them DeWine was lying about RTW. He’s going to screw every single one of his voters, and they deserve it. They think he’s a “moderate” but he never was- he’s just wholly and completely without principles or beliefs. He’s a liar. He’s always been a liar and they should have godammned figured it out because he’s had a government job for the last 50 years.

    Screeching about brown invaders in a state that has a really low immigrant population because immigrants don’t fucking want to come here was more important to them that their wages. Now they have to pay for that. And they will pay. That was an expensive indulgence.

  124. 124.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 13, 2018 at 2:57 pm

    @Gravenstone: I guarantee that there is a standing warrant with accompanying BOLO for his arrest at every point of entry into the US issued by the Special Counsel. The minute he sets foot in the US he will be detained, taken into custody by the FBI, and interrogated.

  125. 125.

    Manyakitty

    November 13, 2018 at 2:57 pm

    @(((CassandraLeo))): He’s got electrolytes!

  126. 126.

    Puddinhead

    November 13, 2018 at 2:58 pm

    @Kay: Wasn’t there like a seven year independent counsel investigation of a certain first lady’s role in the firing of employees of the WH travel office? Wonder why this is treated at NBD.

  127. 127.

    Mart

    November 13, 2018 at 2:58 pm

    @West of the Rockies:

    Melania does nothing.

    You are not being your best.

  128. 128.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    November 13, 2018 at 2:58 pm

    @Corner Stone: To be fair to Kelly, Nielsen’s backside was the only way they could get Trump to listen to his briefings.

  129. 129.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 13, 2018 at 2:58 pm

    @Kay: @germy: Ricardel is terrible. She’s terrible on policy. She’s terrible on strategy. She’s terrible regarding professionalism. Having her gone is a good thing. That it took a spat with the First Lady is just the silliest way of getting rid of her.

  130. 130.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 13, 2018 at 2:59 pm

    @Mnemosyne:
    He may also feel freed rather than guilty by getting to exercise racism and sexism that he had to keep locked down in the military. A similar cascade effect tends to happen. Still, who knows? I have no stake in whether he’s having an affair. I’m not sure it matters.

  131. 131.

    Corner Stone

    November 13, 2018 at 2:59 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: You might have mentioned this in another thread and I missed it but I saw a link on someone’s twit feed and now can’t find it. This is a link to a new Guinness World Record for most lights lit for Diwali. The best one I could find is a YouTube link with some overlayed music.

  132. 132.

    Roger Moore

    November 13, 2018 at 2:59 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    The issue is that this President has basically cancelled almost all the Head of State functions.

    This seems really odd to me. It seems like the side of the job a narcissist would like the most. I guess Trump has mostly replaced them with campaign rallies, where he can be surrounded by screaming fans.

  133. 133.

    rikyrah

    November 13, 2018 at 2:59 pm

    @Platonailedit:

    Kelly as the “adult in the room” was always a myth. He’s a bigot who hurt citizens — including veterans and military widows — acted as a supplicant to an aspiring autocrat, and disgraced our country.

    https://t.co/UIPNUOkBIF— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) November 13, 2018

    No lie told

  134. 134.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 13, 2018 at 3:00 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Can a Canadian be a national treasure in the US? Because Dale is, IMO.

  135. 135.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    November 13, 2018 at 3:01 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    I can think of a few reasons. One is that they’re complaining and threatening to leave unless they get their promotions, and she doesn’t want to lose them. Another is that it’s a matter of prestige; she wants fancy titles for the people working for her because it makes her look better. It could also be a matter of her trying to build up a power base and/or looking for an excuse to fight Kelley because she dislikes him for some personal reason.

    and number 3, her complaining about it pisses Trump off.

  136. 136.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 13, 2018 at 3:01 pm

    @Roger Moore: He thinks the money is coming out of his own pocket and everyone we’d reasonably invite to state dinners and other functions don’t like him. So he’s preemptively rejecting them before they can reject him. Hence his twitter fight with Macron this morning.

  137. 137.

    Corner Stone

    November 13, 2018 at 3:01 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    It’s amazing to me that the anonymous op-ed went down the memory hole so quickly.

    What’s interesting to me is – where did this person(s) go? Are they still saving the universe from Trump from the inside? Because if they are out shouldn’t we know who it was?

  138. 138.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 13, 2018 at 3:02 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: I’m okay with it.

  139. 139.

    Kay

    November 13, 2018 at 3:02 pm

    I’m detaching from them. I’m not helping them when they oppose DeWine’s union busting. My time and energy is worth something- maybe not a lot! But something. I’m not giving it to people who consistently, over and over, put hating on minority groups over their own families.

    There has to be moral hazard. They have to LOSE, and lose big, or they’ll continue to think they can indulge in these hate-fests and still keep their rights and bennies. Pick one. Pick a side.

  140. 140.

    Uncle Cosmo

    November 13, 2018 at 3:04 pm

    @germy:

    Ve vil zending u peenky feenger of Mifsud zo to verify identity.

    Which has been grafted onto a (probably unwilling) host to stay in circulation (so to speak) for lo these many months on the off chance of just such an opportunity. Then they produce a body double…

  141. 141.

    rikyrah

    November 13, 2018 at 3:05 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:
    you ALWAYS had his number and knew the following..

    John Kelly ain’t shyt.

  142. 142.

    trollhattan

    November 13, 2018 at 3:05 pm

    @TenguPhule:
    “The weather turned bad on June the sixth and I consulted with the generals about taking cars into France instead, but they insisted on amphibious invasion anyway. So I stayed home.”

    –Dwight D. Eisenhower

  143. 143.

    laura

    November 13, 2018 at 3:06 pm

    @trollhattan: I was ready to spray paint the curb. Odd days -Jimboys. Even days -Chandos.
    I pray John Kelly and his side piece rot till death in prison after their trials in the Hague. And any mention of eithers name requires a major lunger hocking.

  144. 144.

    Mnemosyne

    November 13, 2018 at 3:07 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Sometimes I get a sudden insight into a public figure based on a series of stories crystallizing in a certain way. I’m not always right, but I usually am. My whole Kelly/Nielsen thing is based on that spidey sense, not actual evidence, so it’s entirely possible that I’m wrong and he’s just a disinterested mentor to an incompetent Fox-ready blonde who happens to travel with him on government business trips where she is not needed, and vice versa.

    But I don’t think I am.

  145. 145.

    jl

    November 13, 2018 at 3:07 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Could be any of that. But I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Trump’s own staff are sexist jerks and sitting on reasonable personnel policies for FLOTUS’ staff. Maybe we’ll find out some day.

    One thing that would have been distracting pointless fun about an HRC presidency: the wrangles over having a man as FLOTUS, FGOTUS, FMOTUS. Just finding the right catchy acronym would occupy the corporate news actors for weeks, and produce many important scandals.

  146. 146.

    trollhattan

    November 13, 2018 at 3:07 pm

    @Kay:
    I love, love, love that Charlie Pierce has David Brooks owning an Irish setter named Moral Hazard.

    Thought I’d mention that.

  147. 147.

    Mike in NC

    November 13, 2018 at 3:08 pm

    Yeah, let’s give raises all around to Melania’s entourage. Must be a backbreaking job to run that ‘Be Best’ thing.

  148. 148.

    trollhattan

    November 13, 2018 at 3:09 pm

    @laura:
    Good system. Maybe Gov. Gav can intervene on our behalf and make Taco Tuesdays a real thing. Mmmm, Chandos. Damn, i’m hungry now.

  149. 149.

    germy

    November 13, 2018 at 3:10 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    Must be a backbreaking job to run that ‘Be Best’ thing.

    Copy/pasting from Obama’s administration so often can result in carpal tunnel syndrome.

  150. 150.

    Roger Moore

    November 13, 2018 at 3:10 pm

    @Gravenstone:

    As soon as he steps foot in the states, hand him a subpoena to one of Mueller’s grand juries, and tell the Senate that he’ll be “delayed” for their dog and pony show.

    I would think the correct procedure would be to arrest him and unseal his indictment.

  151. 151.

    FlipYrWhig

    November 13, 2018 at 3:15 pm

    @Kay: I’m at the point where I feel like if the “white working class” wants to keep voting for Republicans, then when they decide they’re in a fix, they can go ahead and appeal to the Republican Party for help.

  152. 152.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 13, 2018 at 3:15 pm

    @rikyrah: Thanks. All I did was pay attention what he was actually doing and saying as the DHS head.

  153. 153.

    Brachiator

    November 13, 2018 at 3:16 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    The issue is that this President has basically cancelled almost all the Head of State functions. There has been, if I’m recalling correctly, one state dinner. They’ve botched the planning for the Easter Egg roll two years in a row.

    True enough. But Trump still has to throw a bone to Melania, to make her feel wanted as First Lady. Maybe Trump could have an “Apprentice Night” at the White House.

    He could even tell a guest, “You’re fired!”

    @Roger Moore:

    The issue is that this President has basically cancelled almost all the Head of State functions.

    This seems really odd to me. It seems like the side of the job a narcissist would like the most. I guess Trump has mostly replaced them with campaign rallies, where he can be surrounded by screaming fans.

    Exactamundo! Trump loves his rallies. It’s where he can cut loose and be himself. And the rallies are all about him. He doesn’t have to share the spotlight.

    Trump also turns regular visits to Mar-a-Lago into semi-state affairs for friends, cronies, and paying suckers.

  154. 154.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 13, 2018 at 3:20 pm

    @Kay: They don’t care. Hate is more important than having access to medical care too. Guess what, many foreign born doctors are leaving if they can and fewer want to come here.

  155. 155.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 3:24 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Remember ebola terrorists? The media hawked the caravan much less, and with a less supportive tone.

    As I recall, the ebola scare actually got less cameras literally on the ground, so to speak.

  156. 156.

    JPL

    November 13, 2018 at 3:27 pm

    @Kay: It’s the right to fire bill. We had a major storm a few years ago that closed the highways around here, and a person couldn’t get to work. He was fired.

  157. 157.

    Brachiator

    November 13, 2018 at 3:28 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    This concludes this year’s episode of Donald Trump Does Diwali.

    Wow. I can’t even.

    I’ve been away tending to family matters for the past few days, and was off the Internets. But I had been following the magnificent events leading up to the centenary of Armistice Day, and all the memorials in the UK and France. And sure enough, Trump screwed up a big part of this also. There does not appear to be a protocol officer serving either the president or the First Lady who can impress upon Trump the importance of some ceremonial events.

    And yet, Fox News and other conservative outlets keep pushing the lie that Trump is much, much, much more respected in the international arena than was Obama, and has brought prestige and respect back to the Whites Only House.

    And I also see even “moderate conservative” pundits downplaying Trump’s gaffes and insults to foreign leaders.

  158. 158.

    Chris Johnson

    November 13, 2018 at 3:40 pm

    @(((CassandraLeo))): Well THAT’S interesting.

    That would be consistent with the Republicans large-scale colluding with Russia or just going ‘la la la can’t hear anything’. They basically sealed their fate when they went along with it to get the Presidency. Now, Russia can say ‘oh, but if we did anything it’s just a little act of war and all’s fair eh?’.

    And if the Republicans and our ruling class do anything about it, Russia can say ‘Oh now I’m hurt. After all we did to put you in power! Everybody knows it. Look at what Mueller has’. And at that point anything Mueller has just goes to show how pwned the USA has obviously been. We know this, but for years now it’s been very inappropriate to say so. The alt-right would go absolutely bonkers and Fox News Nation wouldn’t take the message well. And now they’ve had some years to build up their terrorist cells etc and indoctrinate people.

    And if nobody does anything about it, Russia can just continue casually undermining everything we’ve got, not so much in an ‘evil spymaster’ sense so much as ‘it’s easy to divide people against each other and get them despairing and full of futility, when you can coax lots of people in lots of places to do the worst possible thing’. It’s all over the place and especially in Congress this is all about many powerful people wanting to get away with their money and their lives now that things are turning ugly for them.

    I wonder what Dana Rohrabacher thinks of all this. I have no idea what the odds are of him mysteriously dying of polonium poisoning, or whatever it is Putin currently does to people who make a better example than they do an asset. I do think there are a lot of extremely scared people in DC, who figure they have no plan B at this point. That would include the President.

  159. 159.

    TenguPhule

    November 13, 2018 at 3:43 pm

    @Kay:

    Rep. John Becker’s bill that he says will codify the Janus US Supreme Ct decision on union dues.

    That man is asking to be found dead of natural causes. In a two rubber suits and a dildo sort of way.

  160. 160.

    Roger Moore

    November 13, 2018 at 3:44 pm

    @Brachiator:

    And I also see even “moderate conservative” pundits downplaying Trump’s gaffes and insults to foreign leaders.

    Nothing Trump has done can compare to what Obama was. Blackness is far more offensive than simple insults and such.

  161. 161.

    nasruddin

    November 13, 2018 at 3:45 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Think of it like a rodeo event.

  162. 162.

    MaryRC

    November 13, 2018 at 3:51 pm

    @cckids: The East Wing office is mostly staffed with Trump & Bush workers, for example communications director Stephanie Grisham — the one who tweets those snippy clapbacks when anyone criticizes FLOTUS — was a Trump campaign worker. FLOTUS apparently did have friends in New York and one of them was an “unpaid adviser” for a while but it seems that none of them wanted to give up their Manhattan trophy-wife lifestyles to move to DC and actually work at a job.

    For all we know her staff has come up with all kinds of proposals for causes and activities only to find that she won’t bestir herself more than once every six months. Maybe the titles are her way of appeasing them and keeping them from suggesting that she get off her ass.

  163. 163.

    zhena gogolia

    November 13, 2018 at 3:52 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    Vomit.

  164. 164.

    catclub

    November 13, 2018 at 3:59 pm

    @Waldo:

    but I also can’t imagine Trump trading him in for a less odious human being.

    Matt Whitaker was Sessions chief of staff, and I hear he will be available real soon now.
    Fits the bill in the more odious category.

  165. 165.

    lgerard

    November 13, 2018 at 4:01 pm

    LOL

    Facing Lawsuit, Trump White House Shifts Story On CNN’s Jim Acosta

  166. 166.

    catclub

    November 13, 2018 at 4:03 pm

    @Kay: I was having Whatsamatter with Ohio thoughts, after the recent governors election.
    Slate seems to think it has gone red. [Isn’t the state legislature deep in GOP hands?]

  167. 167.

    Ruckus

    November 13, 2018 at 4:12 pm

    @Mnemosyne:
    Kelly’s racist crap can be easily hidden in the military because it could quite possibly get him sacked. As long as he didn’t do anything obvious, he’d have a career. So now, when he can let his freak flag fly……..

  168. 168.

    Mnemosyne

    November 13, 2018 at 4:18 pm

    @Ruckus:

    As I understand it, an adulterous affair can get you court-martialed. There seems to be a lot of stuff that Kelly was unwilling to do under Marine discipline that he’s okay with in civilian life. He may be one of those guys who needs a strong outside discipline system to keep him in line, and if that system is removed, watch out …

  169. 169.

    FlipYrWhig

    November 13, 2018 at 4:18 pm

    @Brachiator:

    And yet, Fox News and other conservative outlets keep pushing the lie that Trump is much, much, much more respected in the international arena than was Obama

    “Respect” there means “fear of an ass-whupping.” Mind you, I don’t think that’s any truer. But that’s how they mean it. Deference.

  170. 170.

    catclub

    November 13, 2018 at 4:19 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: He was a Marine, doncha know.

    next thing you’ll be telling me that John McCain was a POW.

  171. 171.

    Mnemosyne

    November 13, 2018 at 4:25 pm

    @Brachiator:

    And yet, Fox News and other conservative outlets keep pushing the lie that Trump is much, much, much more respected in the international arena than was Obama, and has brought prestige and respect back to the Whites Only House.

    True story: racists felt humiliated that the United States was represented by a Black man, so they feel that it’s true that the world respects us more now that a white man is back in the White House, because they are projecting their personal feelings of humiliation out onto the world. They don’t need no stinkin’ evidence for something that they know in their hearts must be true.

    And, yes, this is something my (step)mother expressed to me early in Obama’s first term. She was shocked and appalled that I did not share her feelings of humiliation about Obama being the face of the USA.

  172. 172.

    FlipYrWhig

    November 13, 2018 at 4:27 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Hmm. I thought the supposed international stigma on Obama was more like “wussy” than “Negro.” But I’d bet there are many unfortunate overlaps.

  173. 173.

    Mnemosyne

    November 13, 2018 at 4:33 pm

    @FlipYrWhig:

    Nah, they mean “white.” They think that only white people are given and deserve respect and that the world was laughing at us behind our backs because we had a Black president. I’ve heard it from the horse’s mouth.

  174. 174.

    low-tech cyclist

    November 13, 2018 at 4:58 pm

    Kelly getting canned would be terrific. Not many competent people want to work for Trump, for obvious reasons, and he’s one of the few who hasn’t already been sacked or scared away. Not to mention he’s a genuine scumbag and all-around horrible person.

    His replacement might be more horrible, but almost surely less competent, and the less competence this gang has, the better.

  175. 175.

    Amir Khalid

    November 13, 2018 at 6:58 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:
    “Free time on his schedule”? Come on. We all know Trump’s schedule on any given day is mostly free time.

  176. 176.

    WaterGirl

    November 13, 2018 at 7:09 pm

    @lgerard: Your link had a stray http at the end. This works:

    https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cnn-sues-trump-white-house-jim-acosta_us_5beaf76be4b044bbb1a969ec

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