Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

In my day, never was longer.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

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

Let there be snark.

Let’s finish the job.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

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

No Justins, No Peace

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

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

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

This fight is for everything.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

T R E 4 5 O N

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / Repubs in Disarray Open Thread: The Chief-of-Staff Searchlight

Repubs in Disarray Open Thread: The Chief-of-Staff Searchlight

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… casts a harsh and unflattering glow:

The new attention hasn’t been particularly flattering to refusnik Nick Ayers, either…

From Vanity Fair, “A Top Trump Insider Appears to Conclude That the White House Is Doomed”:

… In his home state of Georgia, it is no secret that Ayers has been considered a potential candidate for governor. Certainly, he has the resources—in the range of $12 million to $55 million, according to public filings—and the self-regard to step out of the shadows. Back in 2011, at the Republican Governors Association, Ayers famously abandoned his boss, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, to join Tim Pawlenty’s presidential campaign. Ben Smith, who obtained a copy of Ayers’s long-winded e-mail announcing the move, noted that it read like “he’s the one who will be running for president” instead of Pawlenty. (A classic Ayers line: “Over the past six months, I have prayed deeply about my purpose in life and how best to utilize the talents God has given me . . . As He often does in walks of faith, He has called me to a higher purpose.”) Stepping into the chief of staff role also would have forced Ayers to disclose how, exactly, he made his fortune as a political consultant—sometime West Wing insiders say Ayers wanted to avoid.

Even so, Ayers’s exit is remarkable, considering his laborious ascent up the greasy White House totem pole. For years, he worked as Pence’s chief political strategist in Indiana, where Pence served as governor before joining the presidential ticket. During the transition, Ayers endeared himself to Trump officials, including members of the president-elect’s family, forging close relationships with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. Once in the White House, he was quickly promoted to Pence’s chief of staff, putting him in frequent contact with President Trump himself. As my colleague Gabriel Sherman has reported, Trump’s kids saw Ayers as one of them—unctuous, politically savvy, nakedly ambitious—and thus pegged him as the president’s best hope at re-election. “They think he’s savvy,” a person close to the couple told Sherman. The thinking inside Trumpworld was that Ayers would be the perfect inside man to coordinate the White House side of the 2020 campaign. “We’re going to be at loggerheads in Congress, and we have to get Trump re-elected. Nick understands politics,” another former West Wing official explained.

That he decided to walk away suggests Ayers had a particularly dim view of Trump’s political prospects. Ayers, after all, has a high risk tolerance: despite pressure to divest his interest in his consulting firm, he declined to relinquish his ties to his company, creating a web of potential multi-million-dollar conflicts of interest. (As Pence’s chief of staff, Ayers had a major say in which midterm candidates the White House supported.) Yet Ayers assessed the downsides of becoming White House chief of staff—once among the most respected, powerful, and coveted jobs in Washington—and his instincts for self-preservation kicked in…

The list doesn’t improve as new names are proposed. Per the Washington Post:

… Two names being floated late Wednesday by top Trump aides include acting attorney general Matthew G. Whitaker, who was with the president at last weekend’s Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia, and former Trump deputy campaign manager David N. Bossie, who is scheduled to have lunch with Trump on Friday, according to White House officials. Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie continues to have boosters pushing for him inside the White House….

Trump advisers cautioned that the president is unpredictable and to not call anyone a front-runner. Trump told advisers on Tuesday that he liked the guessing game surrounding the position, and the number of names out there showed that people were interested in the position and in joining his administration.

“We have a lot of people that want the job, chief of staff,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday, noting that he could take the remainder of the month to decide…

David Bossie, of Citizens United infamy. Corey Lewandowski thinks he’s the right (made) man for the job! On the other hand, Javanka hates him!

Good news for the Democrats, from the reality-show “president”. How many more Repub reputations can he (further) soil before the clock runs down?

I assume even Chris Christie isn’t desperate enough to jump at this bait any more… but I’d be curious to see whether he chooses to publicly insult the GOP’s Dear Figurehead, at this point in time. Just as another leading indicator.

ETA: Marketing!

Reader Interactions

123Comments

  3. 3.

    Mary G

    I wonder if some or most of that $12 to $55 million came from Russians. Maybe Mueller knows and Nick knows he knows and has decided to try to get out of town without paying most of it to lawyers.

    I thought this was funny:

    Russia, they told meT-rump-a-pum-pumHelped hack the DNCT-rump-a-pum-pumBreitbart and HannityT-rump-a-pum-pumWill just blame HillaryT-rump-a-pum-pumTrump-a-pum-pumTrump-a-pum-pum?#TrumpCarols— Dreamweasel (@Dreamweasel) December 2, 2017

  5. 5.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Donald J. Trump
    ✔
    @realDonaldTrump

    I am pleased to inform you that I have just named Beetlejuice as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American.

    8:45 PM – Dec 12, 2018

  6. 6.

    Jerzy Russian

    Instead of Lassie, how about Morris the Cat from those cat food commercials from my youth? After all, cats are smarter than dogs.

  8. 8.

    Roger Moore

    And of this group, Lassie is by far the best choice.

    Trump would ignore her just like he ignores everyone else. He doesn’t care that little Barron has fallen down a well.

  9. 9.

    Jerzy Russian

    Upon further review, I think Lassie would be an excellent choice. She comes running to the room and starts barking. Trump or whoever is there says something like “What is it girl? Did Timmy fall into the Lake? Is there a big scary caravan at the border? What is it girl?” These conversations can be filmed and broadcast for our amusement.

  10. 10.

    Zinsky

    Maybe we will get the chance to impeach this piece of shit (Ayres) in about 30 years, since he is basically a young Trump.

  12. 12.

    Amir Khalid

    @germy:
    I am disappointed that the WaPo would see fit to print the words of celebrity discredited-journalist Piers Morgan.

  14. 14.

    Mnemosyne

    @Mary G:

    I wonder if some or most of that $12 to $55 million came from Russians.

    Yeah, no shit. At this point, I’m assuming that all of these instant millionaires with no visible means of support are being financed by the Russians. A few may be playing both sides and getting money from China, too.

  16. 16.

    Gravenstone

    Did no one explain to Trump that Meadows will be in the minority in three weeks? And thus will be getting somewhere between jack and shit done, especially for Trump.

  17. 17.

    dmsilev

    @Jerzy Russian: Lassie has far too much intelligence, self-respect, and decency to take the job. And that’s even after noting that Lassie has been dead for several decades now.

  22. 22.

    hells littlest angel

    Yeah, Chris Christie. “The White House Chief of Staff was not available for comment because he was on his way to McDonald’s to pick up the president’s lunch order.”

  24. 24.

    germy

    @Amir Khalid:

    I am disappointed that the WaPo would see fit to print the words of celebrity discredited-journalist Piers Morgan.

    Ed Rogers has a column there. That’s bottom of the barrel stuff right there.

  26. 26.

    Roger Moore

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Have we talked about Paul Ryan’s stunt where he tucked the language to kill an anti-Saudi measure into the Farm Bill’s motion to proceed (or something)?

    IIRC, it was the “rule” for the farm bill. Each bill has an associated rule that describes how much time will be spent on debate, how many amendments will be allowed, etc. Ryan slipped language into the rule for the farm bill that forbids any bill talking about Yemen from reaching the floor. Of course that will expire at the end of the month; he can’t prevent the next Congress from taking it up.

  28. 28.

    Steve in the ATL

    Casting question: is the dude who played GOB in “Arrested Development” going to play Stephen Miller in the movie “The Trump Administration Goes to Prison”?

  29. 29.

    Mary G

    @germy: And McArgleBargle, too. Hiatt has really bad taste in conservatives, except for Jen Rubin, who’d drop Democrats like a hot potato if someone like Evan McMuggins got back into the game.

  32. 32.

    Ladyraxterinok

    What is David Bossie’s connection to the SCOTUS case Citizens United?

    Also I read somewhere that the case was originally directed at HRC. Is that accurate?

  33. 33.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @debbie:

    Please, please, please let it be Gohmert.

    I don’t think either the Baby Spaghetti Monster or the Flying Jesus loves me enough for that.

  34. 34.

    Amir Khalid

    @Gravenstone:
    I’m all but certain that Meadows refused the Chief of Staff job, as bluntly as one can refuse a POTUS. And that Trump, in need of a face-saving spin to put on the refusal, said the first thing that came to mind. And we all know what kind of thing comes to Trump’s mind.

  36. 36.

    Roger Moore

    @Mary G:
    I’m not sure about Rubin. Some of her columns make me think she believes the Republican party has to be burned down so they can rebuild from the ashes. It’s possible you’re right and she’d turn on a dime the moment someone with neocon foreign policy got the nomination, but I’m not 100% sure.

  37. 37.

    chris

    Nick Ayers is dirty. He worked for exMO Gov. Greitens and is under investigation for campaign finance violations. He’s leaving DC before they throw him to the wolves IMHO.

  38. 38.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Mary G: @Mnemosyne: It all came from skimming from the campaigns he was working for as a consultant. Ayers company handles advertising purchases for campaigns. So basically he works for a campaign as the strategist/one of the principal strategists and then he steers the advertising buys through his company as the broker, which charges a nice percentage for every ad buy on the radio and tv. He makes a flat rate as a strategist and then he gets a significant cut, as a percentage, of every ad purchased for the campaign. This is what he’s going to do for the SuperPAC he’s going back to. So he’ll make a salary from it, continue to do the same thing for a bunch of congressional and state level campaigns in 2020, then steer the ad buys through his company and take a percentage off of that.

  39. 39.

    TS (the original)

    @Roger Moore:

    he can’t prevent the next Congress from taking it up.

    18 GOPers voted against, 5 democrats voted for it – the dems never seem to learn what is in their best interest.

  41. 41.

    germy

    @Adam L Silverman: What’s disappointing is that I only learn stuff like this reading balloon-juice. CBS News felt it was important that I only learn he is the father of triplets.

  42. 42.

    NotMax

    Lassie is definitely out. Repubs would rise up en masse once vetting revealed he’s a female impersonator.

  43. 43.

    Kent

    I hear Omarosa is free now. And she knows the inside of the White House.

    I actually think there is a chance he may give up and appoint Javanka to the position as no one else seems to want it.

  44. 44.

    emmyelle

    I wonder how may Republicans are absolutely shitting their pants right now, wondering if they are going to go to jail for what they did in 2016.
    The stench in the Capitol building must be unbearable.

  45. 45.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    I get the feeling we’re watching the last innings of the last game of the World Series, with one teams up 17 runs, and everybody knows it’s foregone, but we all have to play it out. Anybody else feel that way? Things just seem to have shifted. It’s like the other team has all but given up playing at all, and is only going through the motions.

  48. 48.

    Roger Moore

    @Ladyraxterinok:

    Also I read somewhere that the case was originally directed at HRC. Is that accurate?

    The issue directly explored in Citizens United was that the group wanted to show (and advertise) a movie critical of Hillary in the run-up to the 2008 primary. In practice, though, it was a deliberate move to create a case that would let them challenge McCain-Feingold. And yes, Citizens United (the group) is Bossie’s outfit.

  49. 49.

    Amir Khalid

    @NotMax:
    A bit of trivia: the show’s producers used male dogs as Lassie for most scenes, but had a female dog perform the stunts because she was smarter.

  50. 50.

    germy

    @NotMax:

    Lassie is definitely out. Repubs would rise up en masse once vetting revealed he’s a female impersonator.

    Which bathroom would Lassie use?

  51. 51.

    Kent

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    It’s more like WWII by the time we got to Okinawa. The final result by then was a forgone conclusion. But a whole lot of kamikazes were going to die in flames and a whole lot of blood and banzai charges were yet to come. And it was still going to be a long bloody grind until it was finally all over.

    Anyone who thinks any of this is going to be short or easy is kidding themselves. They will only be dragged out in chains.

  52. 52.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Ladyraxterinok: Bossie runs the organization Citizen’s United. Essentially he was the lead plaintiff in the case. He got his start as Dan Burton’s lead investigator on the Clinton stuff back in the 90s. Bossie got himself fired for basically being Bossie – a walking asshat. He hounded one family in Arkansas about something to do with the Clinton’s so badly that one of the family members committed suicide.

  54. 54.

    Jay

    @Mary G: @Zinsky: @Villago Delenda Est:
    @Mnemosyne:

    Ayre’s front ends and back ends and middles all his “consulting”.

    Basically, every dollar that “moves” through a campaign, from PAC to Media buys, he takes a cut of. He provides “one stop shopping” for Campaigns by “bundling” all the services a campaign needs through either his Companies, or Companies that “employ” him.

    And yes, it is sadly legal.

  58. 58.

    kindness

    I think Trump should just go full Ted Nugent with the COS job. Kid Rock isn’t a big enough asshole for Trump.

  62. 62.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @chris: Also worked for MO senator elect, who’s under investigation for improprieties while he was MO SoS. Investigator is son of Ashcroft who was W’s AG.

  63. 63.

    dmsilev

    @lamh36: And I hope to wake up from this recurring nightmare and discover that it’s the morning of Election Day 2016. That’s about as likely.

  65. 65.

    JanieM

    “Over the past six months, I have prayed deeply about my purpose in life and how best to utilize the talents God has given me

    If I were hiring and an applicant used the word “utilize” when “use” would do just fine, that applicant would drop off the bottom of the list without further ado.

    All the faster if “utilize” was followed by “the talents God has given me.”

    That is all.

  68. 68.

    Steve in the ATL

    @JanieM: and pretty quickly if the candidate went to Kennesaw State for undergrad without being a racial minority who’s the first generation to go to college.

  73. 73.

    E.

    I can’t understand why he doesn’t call Orly Taint. She’d take the job, and she speaks Russian! She can also help with real estate transactions and any needed dental work.

  78. 78.

    Adam L Silverman

    I give you the next Chief of Staff:

    (Full Disclosure: His long time body guard is a friend of mine)

  80. 80.

    Platonailedit

    Can the mainstream media please start referring to Michael Cohen as the former deputy finance chairman for the Republican National Committee?

    If he was working for the DNC Fox News would probably have already called for the entire Committee to be charged with a crime.— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) December 13, 2018

  82. 82.

    NotMax

    OT senior moment.

    Putting together a large pot of curried eggplant and just realized I forgot to add the curry powder.

  83. 83.

    Adam L Silverman

    @chris: He didn’t. That AJC report is incorrect. He refused to sell them and refused to step down from his position with them, which actually caused a conflict of interest as Pence had a lot of say in which congressional candidates the President would support in the midterms. So Ayers was advising Pence who was advising the President on which candidates to support while at the same time owning the company that a lot of these candidates were using.

  89. 89.

    NotMax

    Hmm. Chief of staff Assange…

    “It’s a diversity hire! He understands some Spanish.”

    :)

    Some small part of me would like to see David Brooks accept the position, just so we can witness the ensuing fustercluck of the century.

  91. 91.

    JanieM

    @Adam L Silverman: Wikipedia says yes:

    He then went on to study at Kennesaw State University, where he eventually earned his B.A. in political science in 2009.[9] Ayers also studied international and government affairs at the University of Surrey in Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom.

    Maybe he wrote it himself.

  92. 92.

    psycholinguist

    @JanieM: Were you a student of Herb Clark’s at Stanford, or perhaps a student of one of his former students? That guy would skin you alive if you utilized the word utilize.

  93. 93.

    NotMax

    @dmsilev

    Uh-oh.

    :)

    Found a very large carrot lurking in the nether regions of the fridge (for who knows how many months). As it was still as firm as a carrot ought to be and not discolored, decided to toss that in as well.

  94. 94.

    JanieM

    @psycholinguist: No, I invented that pet peeve all by myself, while doing endless editing of people who write business-ese instead of English.

    ETA: And I need an editor myself tonight. Well, it’s a blog comment…..

  99. 99.

    dmsilev

    @chris: Two corrupt incompetent raving egomaniacs who are both convinced that they are Special Geniuses under one roof. Yes please please please please.

  103. 103.

    sukabi

    @dmsilev: yeah but as a mole he can provide drumpf with info he wouldn’t get as CoS… Plus drumpf may have decided Meadows is too much of a dumbass for even him.

  104. 104.

    Adam L Silverman

    Since the Mom seems okay, the parenting lapses must have been on his father’s side:

  105. 105.

    Steeplejack

    @Roger Moore:

    The thing about Rubin’s “conversion” is that her anti-Trump and anti-Republican screeds are remarkably free of any pro-Democratic content. I think that if Trump is purged and the party is superficially cleansed she’ll be right back in the tent.

  106. 106.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Mary G:

    That’s funny, I was just playing around with a similar conceit, but more to do with the vacancy in the West Wing:

    Come, they told me,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum.
    Our felon Prez to see,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum.
    I am no billionaire,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum.
    I wish I had his hair,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum.
    Sort the wheat from chaff,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum,
    As Chief of Staff.

    Vanka nodded,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum,
    And so did KellyAnne,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum.
    Sean Hannity approved,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum,
    And even Rush was moved,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum.
    “Trump’s new Chief of Staff,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum,
    Try not to laugh.”

    Then he glared his best,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum.
    Arms folded on his chest,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum.
    I sat there like a lump,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum,
    To dodge the wrath of Trump,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum.
    “Can you take the heat?”
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum,
    “Watch for my tweet.”

    Baby-sitter,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum.
    Craig’s List on Twitter,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum.
    I sprained my thumb for him,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum,
    I played real dumb for him,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum.
    I’m too cute by half,
    T’-rump-a-pum-pum,
    His Chief of Staff.

    Not totally happy with it yet.

  107. 107.

    sukabi

    @Adam L Silverman: yeah, but wouldn’t that be a perfect setup to hide a bit of money laundering as well? A guy that’s skimming that much from his clients probably wouldn’t so much as blink if offered the chance for “free money”.

  111. 111.

    Jay

    @sukabi:

    The way the “grift” works is that the Campaigns accept the “grift” in exchange for the “connections”.

    It’s legal, ( aside from the Campaign finance violations), so no need to get involved with “money laundering”, other than Dark Money flowing from PAC’s.

  113. 113.

    feebog

    Newt as CoS would be awesome. The dumb mans idea of what smart man looks like together with the dumb mans idea of what a dumpster fire looks like.

  114. 114.

    Steeplejack

    Chris Christie as chief of staff?! Does no one remember that Jarvanka hates him because he prosecuted Jared’s father? I know it was like 1,413 scandals ago, but still . . .

  119. 119.

    M31

    @NotMax:

    Found a very large carrot lurking in the nether regions of the fridge

    soon to be announced as the new White House chief of staff

  120. 120.

    JaneE

    @Jerzy Russian: Dogs are famous for their loyalty. That counts more than intelligence. In fact, intelligence is a demerit if it is higher than Trump’s, and that lets out all cats and Lassie too.

  123. 123.

    Barney

    Ayers, after all, has a high risk tolerance: despite pressure to divest his interest in his consulting firm, he declined to relinquish his ties to his company, creating a web of potential multi-million-dollar conflicts of interest. (As Pence’s chief of staff, Ayers had a major say in which midterm candidates the White House supported.)

    That’s not ‘high risk tolerance’; having conflicts of interest is practically compulsory in the Trump regime. It’s a courtesy to your fellow grifters that you don’t make them stand out so much.

    What it is is a love of money, and a low moral standard. He’s a self-righteous, pious greed-driven swamp dweller, and I hope he gets exposed before he makes any major political move. He’s a young Trump, except with a family life that is outwardly acceptable to fundamentalists. He’s the kind of figurehead they’ll want to use as Trump 2.0 – “this time, he looks clean”.

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