To retaliate against Speaker Pelosi for taking away his TV time, Trump revealed a previously secret plan for a congressional delegation to a war zone, possibly endangering lives, and has denied Pelosi and other members of congress who were to be part of that delegation permission to use military planes to visit Afghanistan. No, really:
From The Post:
Pelosi was planning to leave for Afghanistan on Thursday afternoon, according to a Democratic aide, but it was unclear whether Pelosi’s trip included the other destinations mentioned by Trump. The aide requested anonymity to discuss plans that had not been made public…
Trump didn’t explain what authority he has to cancel Pelosi’s trip, but it would likely require the use of military aircraft controlled by his administration. He said Pelosi could fly commercial if she wanted to go forward with the visit.
Southwest has a DC-Kabul flight, right? That people use for routine “excursions” to Afghanistan?
Good God, what a petty dickhead.
UPDATE: Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, responds via Twitter:
The CODEL to Afghanistan included a required stop in Brussels for pilot rest. In Brussels, the delegation was scheduled to meet with top NATO commanders, U.S. military leaders and key allies–to affirm the United States’ ironclad commitment to the NATO alliance.
This weekend visit to Afghanistan did not include a stop in Egypt.
The purpose of the trip was to express appreciation & thanks to our men & women in uniform for their service & dedication, & to obtain critical national security & intelligence briefings from those on the front lines.
The President traveled to Iraq during the Trump Shutdown as did a Republican CODEL led by Rep. Zeldin.
Pitch perfect.
MattF
The one-word description of Trump is ‘asshole’.
schrodingers_cat
@MattF: He is the revenge of those people who hated Obama and the Obama voting citizenry so much, that they went ahead and voted for the biggest dick among the R nominees. He was the spite candidate of the spite voters. He has delivered spite in spades that’s why those spite voters still love him.
Elizabelle
Look at the size of that signature.
How juvenile. “Your excursion.” Yeah. She was shopping for chocolates and rugs.
Pelosi has to be careful not to be drawn into a tit for tat here. Trump’s ghastly base will eat this stuff up. Deny him the pleasure.
WaPost reader commenters suggest she use her time at home to obtain Trump’s tax returns.
She was traveling with Adam Schiff and Elliot Engel. I wonder about the face to face meetings they were set to have.
Cheryl Rofer
We need to keep a spotlight on how many from the administration are boondoggling their way to Davos.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
Dude is nothing if not petty. He can’t live without trying to dominate others. Too bad for him that Pelosi is so far above his league.
MP
I read that this was a bipartisan delegation. If true, it would be interesting to see who the R’s are and get their thoughts on record about the cancellation.
schrodingers_cat
@Elizabelle: His penmanship is as ugly as the rest of him. I had better handwriting in kindergarten for fucks sake.
jl
Just commented about this kind of crap on previous thread. The executive branch’s behavior wrt to shutdown is becoming increasingly lawless and arbitrary.
I think this is another item on Trump’s bill of impeachment.
People can find tweets on Josh Marshall’s twitter feed making case that these shutdowns are really a constitutional crisis that is not generally recognized See his twitter feed from yesterday and today.
IANAL, but I view this letter as a lawless and arbitrary interference with ability of Congress to do its constitutional oversight.
Nothing will happen as long as McConnell and GOP run Senate of course.
Mike in NC
Some handwriting experts ought to analyze Fat Bastard’s Sharpie scrawl. Might be indicative of brain damage.
PaulWartenberg
That is the most illegible signature I have ever seen in my life.
Go ahead and cancel congressional oversight trips, trump. they can go when the next President can be dealth with like a rational person.
gratuitous
Even better? This trip was classified due to security concerns. But McDonald revealed the Speaker’s itinerary so he could satisfy his childish pique at having his teevee time taken away.
Cheryl Rofer
They were supposed to leave this afternoon.
ETA: Apparently on the plane when the letter came out.
Damien
I’m going to be EXTRAORDINARILY generous here and say that if the purpose of the trip was indeed solely for public relations purposes, then yes I agree it should be canceled. I do think that Democrats should stay in DC, passing as many bills in a day as possible, and every day pass one called “The Democratic Bill to End the Shutdown #1” and just keep numbering them up as they die in the Senate.
But that doesn’t really make a lot of sense, if the trip was a goddamn secret.
EDIT: Welp, that’s what I get for not reading comments. A classified, bipartisan trip is right in that realm of DON’T FUCKING TALK ABOUT IT.
Elizabelle
I think it’s very, very interesting Nancy Pelosi was traveling with the Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (Engel) and Adam Schiff, Chairman of the Permanent Committee on Intelligence.
I think they might have had some very high level meetings lined up, and intelligence-gathering, and Trump may have been delighted to throw a wrench in that. Maybe they were going to meet with some intelligence assets.
rikyrah
@Elizabelle:
WaPost reader commenters suggest she use her time at home to obtain Trump’s tax returns.
Good suggestion.
Cacti
Meh.
You had to figure he’d do something petty. But this is fairly minor league compared to what she’s taken away from him (his wall, his SOTU stage, and his proverbial manhood).
Adam L Silverman
@Elizabelle: Fact finding with NATO allies in Brussels, as well as hearing directly from the theater commanding general, his senior staff, and our NATO allies commanding generals in Afghanistan about what is actually happening and what effect they think the President’s announced draw down will have.
Mary G
It’s going to backfire, like most of his dick moves, because an older woman has shown she’s not afraid to go to an active war zone, unlike his cowardly ass.
trollhattan
Quite the compelling advancement from openly encouraging Russia to cyber-attack his opponent’s data. “If any Taliban happen to be in the neighborhood, be sure to say ‘Hi.'”
Fucker
Adam L Silverman
@Cheryl Rofer: All of them Katie. Fortunately, the President doesn’t think that far ahead, so the optics next week when Mnuchin et al start crowding into US government planes is going to just be excellent.
Elizabelle
@Adam L Silverman: Maybe reassuring NATO allies that the Congress under Pelosi takes that relationship far more seriously than our piece of trash “POTUS.”
Cheryl Rofer
Pelosi spokesman:
Ksmiami
And we need to deport and / or jail his followers too… they are unworthy of being Americans. Let them move to Brazil or Somalia.
Adam L Silverman
@jl: This is the thread:
Betty Cracker
See update — Pelosi’s deputy CoS explained the purpose of the trip.
Adam L Silverman
@Elizabelle: Engel isn’t the ranking member, he’s the chair.
Mai Naem mobile
Thanks to the assholes who couldn’t show up to vote for the Dem Senate candidates in Indiana,N Dakota, Missouri and Texas. I talk to millenials daily and think they are the most poorly educated as far as civics and history. What benefits they have they think came by by magic. The benefits they want and can’t get gets blamed on blaming both sides. Also fuck Republicans even the never trumpers. Trumpov wouldn’t have come if the Republicans had done something earlier. This party really thinks a tax cut is the be all and end all of everything.
Elizabelle
@Adam L Silverman: I figured he should be! Took that off of his congressional website bio. They have not updated it.
Gravenstone
@PaulWartenberg:
It just encourages them to (further) turn their focus to their domestic oversight duties. A sure winner for Donnie.
Adam L Silverman
@Elizabelle: That too.
jl
@Adam L Silverman: @Cheryl Rofer:
Thanks. Impeachable offenses are piling up, IM IANAL HO.’
This attempt to interfere with Congressional duties, if he carries it out, in response to the mere suggestion that the mode of presentation of the State of Union Address be changed in view of the shutdown, merits impeachment, trial, conviction and removal from office.
Nincompated pedagogues and CW savvy contingents of the BJ commentariate to emit erudite piffle in disagreement. But how can people not see where this is going, and going fast?
Becoming a very serious situation. Need public discussion of the implications. Need something to get media to start questioning, rather than covering, for McConnell’s malfeasant treacherous ass.
jl
@Adam L Silverman: Yes, thanks. that is the one I link to below.
Elizabelle
If you were a high level person, who would you rather meet with? Donald Trump, whose word cannot be trusted and who is in thrall to Vladimir Putin?
Or Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the US Congress? Who is extremely knowledgeable and determined and, please dog, might end up POTUS before this year is out.
Adam L Silverman
@Elizabelle: Slackers!
Steeplejack
@Cheryl Rofer:
Sitting on a bus at Capitol Hill, according to Chad Pergram of Fox News:
cain
@Mary G:
I think not. The man is a russian asset, and cannot be trusted. God knows how he will throw her under the bus.
raven
Who gives a fuck about those stupid-ass grip and grin sorties?
Adam L Silverman
@Steeplejack: Even if they want to, they can’t go to Afghanistan now. Operational Security has been broken.
germy
speaking of dicks:
NotMax
For a quickie photo op at an American base, and zero interaction with any part or person of the Iraqi government.
chopper
the hamberdeler strikes again!
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@jl:
I don’t see how this ends otherwise without Trump forced out of office. It’s clear Trump is so inept he can’t even get his own party to follow him and Trump’s compulsion to be a dick is so strong and he can’t stop himself from undermining his own minions. Even if the Democrats gave in and sent him an apology note, Trump clearly wouldn’t reopen the government just to be an ass and he’s lazy. The US Federal Government just can’t go away for two years cause Fat Donny can’t be bothered to act like an adult.
Aleta
from Rolling Stone
Mai Naem mobile
@Steeplejack: well,hanging around bankers and other rich people is way more important than going to see your soldiers( many who signed up so that they could get their college educations paid for because god forbid Mnuchin should pay any extra taxes to make state school education affordable.)
rikyrah
@Aleta:
They need to be charged at The Hague.
Faithful Lurker
@germy: Which GOP lawmaker yelled the insult. We know the name of the lawmaker insulted, why not the name of the insulter?
sherparick
@Elizabelle: You are giving him far to much credit. He thinks of it as simply getting easy and throwing red meat to his idiotic Base & Fox News. He will lap up the coverage on Fox News tonight about “owning the libs and Nancy.” Then tomorrow get real raving when all the blow back comes and people on non-Fox news compare him (correctly) to a toddler.
germy
@Faithful Lurker:
Well, we’ll be fine once all the old racists die out /
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
Absolutely. Nancy Smash knows how to get things done and she hires people who are competent.
jl
@sherparick: Why not compare Trump to a criminal? A treacherous malfeasant? An incompetent unfit for his office? He is all of those.
Why insult toddlers?
James E Powell
Not a dick maneuver, it’s an asshole move. Significant difference.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@Cheryl Rofer:
This. x1000.
different-church-lady
Trump’s signature looks like that thing that would appear over Charlie Brown’s head when he was exasperated.
Rommie
It wasn’t just a dick move; it was a dick move served at the last minute to yank the rug away. And now we know why he was silent this morning, as he waited to spring this GOTCHA, =word stronger than witch=
To follow the theme of Mr. Cole’s pinned tweet, just imagine POTUS Obama yanking away the military aircraft of Paul Ryan’s delegation at the last minute, as they were on the way to a secret trip to Israel and Iraq. How fast would the calls for action for Reckless Endangerment of the US #3 pour in? Light speed? Ridiculous speed? Ludicrous speed?
Jeffro
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
His own party hasn’t quite reached the breaking point, so perhaps Dem leaders could get together and publicly:
– call for all unpaid-but-forced-to-work federal workers to strike until the government reopens
– call on America’s ‘Titans of Business’ to state publicly just how badly the tariffs and shutdown have hurt/will continue to hurt their businesses, the economy, and American workers
– call on massive numbers of retired general officers to come out and state publicly just how much damage the shutdown is doing to military morale and readiness
Barring those, it’s time to start having every-day news conferences begging the cabinet to impose a 25th amendment solution
Barring THAT, start impeachment hearings. The man’s not even coming close to beginning to maybe kinda sorta fulfilling even 1% of his Oath.
The Moar You Know
Well, this is what makes him such a shitty president and such a danger – there is no slight he won’t pay back tenfold. No matter the collateral damage.
This is not a person you want in charge of anything. But you all already knew that.
Cheryl Rofer
The preparations for a trip like this are extensive and expensive. Trump just flushed them down the tube.
WaterGirl
@Faithful Lurker: Most excellent question!
Renie
@Mai Naem mobile: It’s not the students’ fault they are not being taught properly in history and civics. Take a look at the curriculum of school districts. Few even teach civics and many are trying to cut back on teaching history. GOP has been working for years on trying to dumb down education in this country. In addition, they constantly attack the merits of a higher education.
Frankensteinbeck
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
I think this is key to our current situation. His actions have been consistent with attempts to dominate Nancy Pelosi. Remember how he pulled that stalker shit on Hilary during the debates? This is how he thinks. Reports are it’s confusing the Hell out of him that it’s not working. He has literally never dealt with a woman who he didn’t have power over.
@germy:
It’s more like the new voters are mostly brown. Whites aren’t changing, we’re just less of the population all the time.
different-church-lady
@Elizabelle:
It depends: do I view the US as an ally or an enemy?
donnah
Whether he wrote it or Stevie Miller did, the mocking language used in the letter is absolutely phrased to rebuke Nancy Pelosi. It’s incredibly petty and ridiculously childish, and if he thought this would make him look better or stronger somehow, it failed spectacularly.
What an ass head!
catclub
@The Moar You Know:
whether Godzilla or megalon wins, Tokyo takes beating. Fed and contract workers are this years Tokyo.
Cheryl Rofer
lollipopguild
@germy: Just like rust, racism never sleeps or dies out.
different-church-lady
@jl:
They see where it’s going and they love it. They are fully aware that they voted for chaos.
Brachiator
@germy:
Was he inviting him to a holiday?
Unfortunately, old racists are replaced by new ones. It is a festering renewable crop.
different-church-lady
@germy:
Oh. Well that makes it better then.
different-church-lady
@Brachiator: What germy’s getting at here is that Smith isn’t even 40 yet.
The Moar You Know
@different-church-lady: Sadly, this is true. The few Trump voters I still have any contact with at all think this is the best thing ever. The shutdown. Imprisoning kids. Killing kids (I can think of two people specifically who thought that was great, “maybe they’ll stop coming up here finally”). Feds having to go to food banks. They’re going to collectively orgasm over the news about the Pelosi delegation. This is literally why they voted for him.
And they want it to go much, much further.
lollipopguild
@different-church-lady: “But he’s not hurting the people he is supposed to be hurting!”
different-church-lady
@James E Powell: This is all getting rather porn-y, don’t you think?
Mike in NC
Trump’s concern for OPSEC was demonstrated when he revealed classified data to two prominent members of the Russian government while alone with them in the Oval Office, with no Americans present.
That move alone showed he was in Putin’s vest pocket.
JoeyJoeJoe
@germy: I know this is not what the article is about, but there’s at least one other republican in the house or representatives younger than Smith aside from the two mentioned. Dan Crenshaw, the eyepatch guy, is also younger I believe. As someone who studies Congress, it irritates me a little when reporters make statements of fact and are wrong.
germy
@JoeyJoeJoe: I just read that Crenshaw has challenged AOC to a debate.
Mike in NC
In addition to getting hold of Fat Bastard’s state and federal tax returns for the past 10 or so years, House Democrats need to investigate the number of undocumented workers hired for all of his properties. There have to be dozens of them illegally employed.
SFAW
I was thinking it would be good fun for Ted Lieu (or whoever — I just like Ted’s style) to tweet out that divulging confidential information (i.e., some details of this trip) to our adversaries is nothing new for Shitgibbon; he’s already revealed stuff to the Russkies — when they were in the Oval Office — that likely compromised national security, and put at risk the lives of various (non-Russian) “assets.”
On a more pleasant note: listened to Adam Schiff on NPR this AM. He was asked why he’s re-opening the Russian interference investigations that Nunes “oversaw,” because didn’t those guys issue their report? Schiff pointed out that (A) the investigation was never closed and (B) the Rethugs prevented any real intelligence-gathering work to be done — stuff which the Dems tried to do, but which were blocked, etc.
ETA: I see Mike already got there re: OPSEC. M u s t l e a r n t o t y p e f a s t e r. Or maybe just think faster?
SFAW
@Mike in NC:
If the Oval Office Occupant does it, it’s not illegal.
Cheryl Rofer
The Moar You Know
@germy: A lot of congresscritters are jealous of all the attention she is getting. This would be nothing but upside for him and downside for her. She should ignore it. Not even respond.
schrodingers_cat
@germy: Cray Cray Shaw is as big a liar as any R. She should just tell him to fuck off.
schrodingers_cat
Test
germy
@The Moar You Know:
I agree.
SFAW
@Cheryl Rofer:
“But we thank him for giving us YET ANOTHER reason why we need to investigate
whetherhow much he has compromised the National Security of the United States.”Enhanced Voting Techniques
@lollipopguild: Exactly, his inbreed hick base is most dependent part of the population on the largess of the US Federal Government. Eventually they will feel to much pain from Trump’s incompetence and turn on him.
SFAW
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Do you also still believe in Santa Claus?
catclub
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
I thought that was K street.
schrodingers_cat
@The Moar You Know: Agreed. She doesn’t have to respond every R stalker.
Juju
Trump’s signature looks like the part of the lie detector test where lying is indicated.
Burnspbesq
@germy:
Bring buckets and mops. There will be blood.
Waynski
@germy: Did he offer him some paper towels. It’s the least one can do.
Faithful Lurker
@germy: Thanks. I’m not surprised. I lived in that part of Misery for several years. Never want to see it again.
SFAW
Am I the only one to think that Traitor-in-Chief’s signature looks like a bunch of KKK hoods, walking through the tall grass?
Misterforkbeard
@The Moar You Know: Nah. She should just saw “Who?” if she’s asked about it. Otherwise ignore it.
West of the Rockies
Despite it being only four centimeters in length, Donald does manage to step on his own junk on a regular basis. Putz.
Radiumgirl
@raven: That’s not what it is. It was a classified trip — meaning not public knowledge. So there’s no grip and grin to be had.
Bill Arnold
Re SFAW # 83 and Adam Schiff’s comment, there is no freaking way this will not be escalated by empowered plane-spotters. So fucking irresponsible. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/12/plane-enthusiasts-air-force-one-trump-iraq/579151/ (using non-graphical browser so reply button doesn’t work)
Radiumgirl
@The Moar You Know: So they are neo-confederates then, lying in wait for the destruction of the U.S. government.
RSA
@Adam L Silverman:
I’m thinking that some federal government employees who owe taxes would like to send a tax return to the IRS with an IOU. I wonder if that will happen? (I mean, send an IOU but ideally plan to pay by April 15.)
Mnemosyne
@germy:
They sure are jealous they didn’t get those tickets to see LMM as Hamilton this week.
Bill Arnold
This wasn’t just an asshole move. It was a death threat, deliberately made early enough that the trip could be cancelled. It puts at increased risk any future such trips. If this was S Miller, he needs to be locked up. IMHO. (Same goes for DJT. IMHO.)
Frankensteinbeck
@SFAW:
Bear in mind, they have no loyalty to him personally. They’re loyal to racism. Racism cannot fail, it can only be failed. They’re proudly stupid and get off on others suffering, so they have to be hurt pretty hard, but at some point they decide he is screwing up racism. See, if he was doing it right, a white utopia would flower all around them.
Trump is such a blatantly dimwitted, sadistic, white supremacist asshole that he’ll have to screw his base over pretty bad before they go looking for someone else, but in his stupidity he’s working on doing just that.
I don’t think it will get that far, however. Either he’ll collapse under his inability to dominate Nancy Pelosi (I know that makes no sense, but it’s a Thing for guys like him), he’ll get so much public blame and criticism that he’ll find some way to surrender to end it, or McConnell’s senators will freak out so much from the blame they’re getting that they’ll push him into passing one of the House bills. At that point, Trump will sign it because actual surrender is much easier than admitting surrender for him. Honestly, I think he was expecting and hoping for McConnell to bail him out that way over New Years.
EDIT – Oh my god, I just read the letter in detail. Trump is smirking thinking it’s going to crush Pelosi. When she shrugs it off without any sign it hurt her it will be a punch in the face to him emotionally.
Mnemosyne
@donnah:
Sadly, Trump’s supporters revel in being petty and childish, so they’re going to love that he “put the Democrats in their place” and be angry that anyone could possibly disagree with them.
Ella in New Mexico
@Adam L Silverman: @Cheryl Rofer: @jl:
There apparently is no requirement the POTUS actually come speak to the Congress in an official SOU address, only that he provide a report. It can be written. So Pelosi was within her rights by suggesting this.
On the other hand, to what extent would the courts see this action as an actual violation of the “Separation of Powers” protections in the Constitution in that no only did he seek to impair them from conducting their business but also caused them damage by putting them in danger in revealing this trip in the process?
I read Dark Evil Genius Mulvaney is the one that got pissed about Nancy’s letter re: SOU, came up with this brilliant idea and got President Putz-Blurp all lathered up to seek revenge.
In all seriousness, I’d love to see some sort of lawsuit filed first thing tomorrow morning. Should end up just like the last time some ruthless mean-spirited dipwad political hack in Trump’s administration (looking at you, Stephan “Complete and Total Ban on Muslims” Miller) decided he could just poop out a policy issue without having any freaking idea about its legality…
philpm
I accidentally clicked on this link on my phone, and got a couple of paragraphs in before I went back to confirm who I thought wrote it. The author of this turd will surprise no one.
randy khan
@JoeyJoeJoe:
That bit about his age is taken from WIkipedia, not the original article.
debbie
Can someone at least tell him to use a Sharpie with a fine point? This fat writing looks like a toddler’s.
debbie
Do we know whether this was an impulse act by Trump or whether he decided this morning and waited until the last possible moment to issue his edict?
Mnemosyne
@Frankensteinbeck:
Yep. They genuinely believe, against all available evidence, that white people are naturally superior and any problems in the world are the fault of non-white people.
SFAW
@Frankensteinbeck:
Don’t we all wish. But I know there’s some large subgroup of them who think he’s their god/emperor/whatever.
Ella in New Mexico
@debbie:
Impulse, this morning and pushed by Mulvaney, et.al.
debbie
@Ella in New Mexico:
He must be raging and raging. I wonder if any of the White House furnishings have been smashed yet?
kindness
One thing Trump has shown us is we can’t let norms guide us as crazy people who get elected can ignore them. The office of the President should be constrained some. I can’t see how one individual executive can shit-can treaties that had been in effect for years and decades. It takes the Senate to approve a treaty. The Senate should be involved in pulling out of one.
chopper
@West of the Rockies:
the guy could fuck a comb, he does it so much.
Procopius
@Elizabelle:
That would be an extraordinarily dumb thing to do. They have no business messing around with intelligence gathering. However, maybe they were going to meet with people who could provide proof that the sole purpose of the war is to enrich the MIC, that there is no strategy to end it, that there is no national interest being served by it, and that State Department and Defense Department officials are actively obstructing peace talks between the Taliban and the Kabul government. Of course I’m not sure that the things I mentioned are things they could consider bad.
Procopius
@kindness: Well, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is not a treaty. I’m sure Obama wanted it to be, but two thirds of the Senate must approve a treaty before the President can ratify it, and there was never any chance the Republicans (or the Democrats, for that matter) would give that approval. Israel is opposed to it. So he implemented it as an executive order and it was easy for Trump to cancel it.