This is what I wrote a little while about the House probes and it is coming true.
Pretty obvious what happens with House probes into Trump: Trump refuses to give them docs, witnesses refuse to testify, and the media blames it all on Democratic overreach.
You can take this to the bank. It's more likely than the sun rising tomorrow.
— Totebaggers4Schultz (@DougJBalloon) March 5, 2019
The way to win in 2020 is through sheer, unbridled anger. I’m going to start fundraising in earnest soon. For now, I think nominee funds for the Senate, money for the Virginia races, and money to vulnerable House incumbents are the way to go. I’ll have a list for the last soon.
For now, here’s the Senate nominee fund (I chose the most vulnerable Republican incumbents, but you can pick and choose which exact states among those to give to)
Give here to Virginia Democrats. Their state legislature elections this fall are the most important state elections on my radar.
And don’t forget to vote your ass off in local elections this year if you have them.
Update.
Baby pictures.
Jerzy Russian
A few questions:
1. I am already mad. Should I still get mad?
2. What about the ladies among us? Should they also get mad? Perhaps the title should be “Get mad, you sons and daughters of bitches”, or maybe “Get mad, you children of bitches.”
3. Is the media really blaming the current situation on democratic overreach? The (redacted) Mueller Report has not been out that long.
Jerzy Russian
We don’t need another old and white billy goat. They need to step aside for the nanny goats or goats of color.
OzarkHillbilly
I am not worried about that.
@Jerzy Russian: Just don’t get MAD. (Mutually Assured Destruction)
Kraux Pas
@Jerzy Russian:
It wouldn’t surprise me, though hard to make that case when any amount or kind of reach is rebuffed.
Kay
The President’s son in law not only runs foreign policy, he’s also running immigration!
What an embarrassing sham of a “meritocracy” we are. We need a total overhaul, top to bottom. The whole underpinning is rotted.
James E Powell
@Jerzy Russian:
In the Trump era press/media, a long time is 72 hours. I get the sense that the press/media, especially the Beltway Courtiers, view Mueller, Russia, Trump corruption, etc., as old stories that they no longer wish to talk about. Since Mueller didn’t come up with a video showing Trump himself shooting someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue in broad daylight, the Beltway is willing, eager almost, to declare him innocent.
germy
rikyrah
I’ve been mad since November 2016. I’ll stay mad, thankyouverymuch until November 2020.
dmsilev
@germy: He’s working hard to cement this year’s “stupidest member of Congress” award, isn’t he?
germy
@dmsilev:
But he has so much competition.
zhena gogolia
@germy:
Wow, the Russian bots are going full-strength against Mueller in that feed.
Roger Moore
@Kay:
Then it will be DOA in the Senate. Immigration is going nowhere in Congress because the two parties simply disagree too much to come to a compromise. It’s not going to get anywhere until one party or the other gets both houses and the Presidency and either has a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate or does away with the filibuster completely.
germy
I really can’t get any madder. I’ve got my blood pressure to think of. I don’t want to stroke out before I get a chance to vote.
noncarborundum
@Jerzy Russian:
I think the proper gender-inclusive term is “whelps of bitches”.
Baud
You ask for money without any baby pictures?
That’s what makes me mad!
germy
@zhena gogolia:
A bunch of bots were recently kicked off twitter, which prompted this tweet:
dmsilev
@germy: I feel confident he will rise to the challenge.
germy
Only the best people.
Old Dan and Little Ann
@germy: The lone drumph true believer I still know on FB has this new argument. All the dirt uncovered in the Mueller report was started by the Cilntons. Therefore it is all an illegitimate and illegal coup against him. The amazing mental gymnastics on that one.
germy
She will try again to unseat Elise Stefanik
germy
@Old Dan and Little Ann: that lone true believer is simply repeating what his/her favorite media tells him.
Jerzy Russian
@noncarborundum:
Thanks for this. I will try to use this more in my every day speech.
Villago Delenda Est
The Village must be destroyed. No prisoners, no quarter.
Wipe them out. All of them.
Frankensteinbeck
@Jerzy Russian:
No. Underreach. It is the considered opinion of the internet and all talking heads that if the Democrats actually cared, they would have defeated all of these stonewalling tactics by now. The current refrain is that Democrats should have already thrown these uncooperative administration officials in jail.
Villago Delenda Est
@dmsilev: Matt Gaetz is a serious threat. Louie has risen to the occasion.
Fleeting Expletive
What I remember from law school, generally, is that if a person claims the right to sue as an individual person in a court of law (e.g., the Pres. in his personal capacity suing Elijah Cummings) he has submitted himself to the jurisdiction of the court in that capacity. His “veil” of immunity b/c of the office he holds is pierced and perhaps he can be sued in his individual capacity as a citizen. It’s early and I haven’t had enough coffee, and I surely don’t wanna try to remember all that about jurisdiction but that thought woke me up today.
Bill Arnold
@Kay:
He’s positioning himself as not-Stephen Miller. Won’t work ‘cause he’s still loathing-worthy and without a scrap of much-needed humility.
Kraux Pas
@Frankensteinbeck:
Didn’t they just vote to hold someone in contempt for not responding to a subpoena? They’re starting to show their teeth now.
If Congress is going to be taking legal action against administration officials for shirking legal requests for documents and orders to testify, they need to first allow them enough time to shirk such requests. Investigations need to be done and cases need to be made.
We aren’t God thrice-damned Republicans here.
OGLiberal
@germy: Crikey – Larry Johnson again? Go PUMAs!
White & Gold Purgatorian
@Jerzy Russian: Yeah, I’m already so mad, so often, that I think it is adversely affecting my health. Can’t get much madder without risking a stroke. What we need are good ways to channel all this madness into positive results. Donating to a take back the Senate fund feels right on that score.
clay
@germy: It’s the weirdest thing… he has access to current, up-to-date intelligence, the best data and analysis in the world … and he relies on some random Fox News talking head.
If he really wants to know what the Obama administration “did”, he just needs to ask. But he’d rather indulge in conspiracy theories and nonsense.
White & Gold Purgatorian
@Kraux Pas: Seems like I read House Democrats are proposing monetary fines for Trump officials who refuse subpoenas to testify. Smart. Trump might be able to pardon them if they’re jailed for contempt, but no way in hell will he pay their fines. And anyone who has ever worked for Trump knows this.
oldgold
The Democratic Congressional Caucus needs to go out and hire the best damn branding experts money can buy and then follow their advice.
In the branding game, since at least 2009, the Democrats have been badly out-played.
Ninedragonspot
@Old Dan and Little Ann: Funny, I hear the same story from the lone Bernie bro still in my FB circle. What are the odds?
rikyrah
@Kay:
Phuck outta here.
Steve in the ATL
@Fleeting Expletive:
I could almost fill a tweet with what I remember from law school….
Steve in the Motor City
Kraux Pas
@White & Gold Purgatorian:
Genius! There’s enough perfidy and defiance of the law in the Trump administration to fund the government for a decade on the fines.
Skepticat
I don’t know about the ladies, but this old woman is getting even more furious, if that’s possible. The rule of law has turned into nothing more than the rue of law.
lurker dean
enough with the BS, mnuchin needs to be found in contempt and jailed. a vote on contempt for carl kline is scheduled, he needs to be found in contempt and jailed. enough delay, enough playing nice. i’m seeing a lot of twitter posts saying that contempt of congress cannot be pardoned, but i haven’t seen a clear citation on that.
found this old post on contempt and congress and pardons:
https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2007/7/21/360634/-
“So, far from being defenseless against the president’s refusal to prosecute or the threat of presidential pardon, Congress could take into its own custody defiant administration officials who refuse to cooperate with legitimate inquiries into executive malfeasance. Those targets would have the right to seek writs of habeas corpus from the federal courts, but as long as Congress could show a legitimate need for the information it was seeking pursuant to its legislative oversight functions, it would be standing on solid legal ground.”
Roger Moore
@clay:
Fox News tells him what he wants to hear.
patrick II
@germy:
But he has so much competition:
Steve King, censured by his colleagues for racist remarks, compares himself to Jesus
His suffering from being criticized for being a racist is exactly the same (he asserts to believe) as being the king of heaven and earth hung until dead to save us all from our sins.
It’s not just dumb, but dumb combined with towering narcissism.
joel hanes
I’ve been mad since November 1968, and became furious in November 2000.
Since November 2016 I’ve been so angry it’s damaging my health.
lee
I got some great news in the state of Texas today.
MJ Heger is running against Cornyn. She lost a House race in a R+20 district. She is the helicopter pilot veteran with the great ad.
Frankensteinbeck
@Roger Moore:
As usual, he is the apotheosis of the Republican voter. Actual facts have been telling them that shitting on minorities will not solve their problems for decades, so facts can fuck right off.
Fleeting Expletive
No shit. But I remember jurisdictional traps being something to be aware of and avoid. Alas, been a long time.
joel hanes
@Frankensteinbeck:
Read some on a much smaller political blog than this yesterday, one I pretty much quit reading during the election because the proprietor had a bad case of Wilmerism.
In that forum, the commenters are convinced that the only reason that Trump has not yet been impeached and convicted is cowardice and complicity on the part of Democratic Party leadership — they really seem to think that the Republican Senate will convict, or that The Donald will step down in shame if impeached — apparently because of the intense fervor of the commenters and people like them.
I’ll bet they clap for Tinkerbelle, and feel a sense of agency when she recovers.
P
Frankensteinbeck
@patrick II:
Racists believe their bullshit. In his world, he is being socially castigated for daring to tell the truth that would save us all.
EDIT – @joel hanes:
And like in the book, Tinkerbell then dies anyway and Peter Pan doesn’t give a fuck.
Immanentize
@germy: I didn’t hate Stefanik until she signed the letter after the first Barr Bull Report to have Schiff step down. Now, I hate her.
Immanentize
@Steve in the ATL: I’m so bad at this profession, I’m still in law school!
germy
@Immanentize: During her campaigns, she always made sure to visit senior citizen centers and tell them she wanted to “save” social security. {chop chop)
She boasted in campaign ads that she wanted to “rein in” the EPA (because apparently they’re too powerful?) and this in a place where people are terrified of PFOA in their tap water.
She was helped and guided early in her career by Karl Rove.
jeffreyw
@Kraux Pas:
They have no teeth to show. Perhaps they can gum someone to death.
delk
NYT
Chris Johnson
@Jerzy Russian:
Shub-Niggurath, Black Goat Of The Woods WIth A Thousand Young 2020
“Admit it, even Cthulhu would be an upgrade!”
gene108
@Roger Moore:
I don’t think there’s enough disagreement to actually get a bill passed, if it is brought up for a vote. The Senate passed immigration reform, in 2011, with over 60 votes approving the final bill, i.e. some Republicans voted for it.
Boehner refused to bring it up for a vote in the House.
I think, if a bill is brought up, it can pass Congress with a majority of Democrats in support and enough Republicans, though a minority of the party, to push it over the top.
But that’ll have to wait until 2021, because Trump isn’t signing an immigration bill.
@Kay:
The fact the media isn’t pointing and laughing at the idea that Jared is going to do anything other than figuring out ways to line his own pockets is sad and disturbing. It means the media has learned nothing in three years.
This is just to distract from more baby jails, separated families and the government creating hundreds, if not thousands, of orphaned babies by their immigration policies.
JGabriel
DougJ @ Top:
I’ve been angry for 896 days straight and counting.
Does that, uh, count?
gwangung
This T-shirt seems appropriate.
http://blog.angryasianman.com/p/stay-angry.html
It’s OK if you’re not Asian….just buy the shirt.
JGabriel
@OzarkHillbilly:
Nor I. Accusing Democrats of overreach probably helps more than hurts at this point. Not to mention that accusing Democrats of overreach after umtpy-hundred uncriticized GOP investigations into Benghazi is risible.
Ksmiami
@Villago Delenda Est: more than the village I’m afraid- there are a lot of rotten people in America and they ain’t recent immigrants…
Chyron HR
@delk:
I’m not sure which of them nauseates me more.
mad citizen
@germy: I don’t know how it will happen, but I’d be willing to bet that like everything he touches, trump will be the ruination of twitter.
H.E.Wolf
@jeffreyw:
“[The Democrats] have no teeth to show.”
If one were momentarily to forget the Democratic-voting women of color at the local, state, and national levels, that might seem true.
I’m impressed with my Democratic State Rep, a woman of color. I’m very impressed with my Democratic US Rep, a woman of color. I’m super impressed with the women of color in their 20s who served, and are serving, as Democratic field organizers in my state.
I’d also note that brains, feet, hands, eyes, ears, and hearts are as important as teeth in the many tasks we have for ourselves.
ETA: I don’t know what I did to the blockquote function, but it’s an interesting look.
dnfree
You cost me a fair amount of money last year. When I ran my Quicken summary (yes, I’m that old) my husband said, “What’s all this ActBlue”?
Keep it up!
mad citizen
I am friggin’ mad! I came here post election 2016. Asked myself Who am I? I’ve always liked and remembered the rant from Network, so became Mad Citizen.
Doug!
@dnfree:
Thanks for all you gave. It made a difference. I honestly think that the hardcore grassroots fundraising might have gotten us an extra 5 or 10 seats. Nate et al. seem to think so too.
dnfree
This columnist (Gene Lyons) appears in our local paper as the token liberal. His comments on what Bernie would face in a general election are interesting.
Writing in The Nation, Eric Alterman reminds readers of Bernie’s history as a classic hippie left-winger, losing several statewide elections in Vermont during the ‘70s on a platform calling “for the nationalization of pretty much every industry in America, together with a 100 percent income tax on America’s top earners.”
Alterman adds that “Sanders was still a socialist in 1980, when he served as an elector for the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party, which favored the abolition of the U.S. military budget and proclaimed itself in solidarity with both Cuba and Iran at a time when the latter held over 52 Americans hostage.”
There’s more. Much more. Bernie in Managua, Nicaragua, with Sandinista President Daniel Ortega as a crowd chants “the Yankee will die.” Bernie on what he later jokingly called his Soviet “honeymoon” in 1988, shirtless and singing “This Land Is Your Land” with a bunch of Russians. According to journalist Kurt Eichenwald, who has seen it, Republicans have a book of oppo research documenting such incidents that’s 2 feet thick. There are videotapes.
https://www.journaltribune.com/articles/opinion/gene-lyons-sanders-past-isnt-right-for-americas-future/
dnfree
@Doug!: Thank YOU for doing the research and keeping it up! I felt like my contributions made more difference as part of a group, somehow.
chopper
@Kraux Pas:
finally, a balanced budget!
karen marie
@Skepticat: I’ve donated to Warren twice in the last week. That’s helping reduce my blood pressure.
BretH
@clay:
Objection your Honor! Assumes facts not in evidence!
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Yes but this forgets step five, six and seven
5. Public anger at the obvious BS
6. Trump is forced to give in.
7. Trump is reduced by a step Cycle starts anew on next revelation.
It’s battle of attrition as Marshall said at TPM
brantl
@dmsilev: He does that EVERY year. He puts the gomer in gohmert.
ThresherK
@dnfree: Gene Lyons? Is that the same fellow who was on of the few good journos to become a widespread name during the Hunting of Bill Clinton?
germy
@patrick II:
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Jerzy Russian:
good to see being bigoted racist and sexists a-hole aren’t just a white dude problem anymore. Progress, American style.
Sanders sucks because of what he’s done, not because of his plumbing or skin color.
Shana
Thanks Doug! for including Virginia. The elections this year are always the hardest ones to deal with. Unlike the year after the Presidential we don’t have any state-wide races. It’s only House of Delegates and State Senate, as well as local stuff like School Board and Board of Supervisors (county government). We don’t have a coordinated state-wide campaign support system this cycle.
Despite the fact that people are generally more effected by local government it’s much harder to convince people to get out and vote so any help you can send our way is much appreciated.
Signed: Shana, a Fairfax County precinct captain
StringOnAStick
@dnfree: I hope this information gets around, and quickly. This stuff and everything else in that opposition research pile is electoral poison for all D candidates if he’s at the top of the ticket.
Anecdotally, every hard core BS supporter in 2016 that I still know is done with him and has moved on to other candidates. The older couple who bought all the “DNC robbed BS!” crap are now all in for Inslee because as one of them says, if we don’t deal with climate change then nothing else matters. The people who have commented that BS’s current polling level is actually very low considering his name recognition are on to something. The only one I figure hasn’t changed her mind is the self centered new age hippie chick who moved to India, and i doubt she’ll be back in time to vote, or will even bother as an expat.
artem1s
@James E Powell:
Mostly, they have declared hearings and thoughtful analysis of facts to be boring and bad for advertising dollars. If the Speaker were advocating setting up a DeFarge knitting group on DuPont Circle, they would be all over it.
ruemara
@Frankensteinbeck: Exactly. As I’ve said on the Twitters, the fact that the punditry and the reporting has been framed as what are Democrats going to do about Republicans means people are berating the Democrats for not immediately starting impeachment processes. Within literal hours after the Barr conference! The House Democrats are in their districts, Nancy was in Ireland, you really expected them to start a phone conference impeachment? They’re not even in DC until next week. And no one said impeachment was off the table. Everyone who has not felt impeachment NOW was correct has been fairly equivocating about needing time to review it. We’re already blaming Democrats for not impeaching, for it failing, for not protecting the moral image of the nation (Newsflash, you shoulda thought of that in 2016. Your asses shoulda thought of that in 2018 when you could’ve won the Senate as well). I’ve had it with the way everyone left, right & center is caught up in dumb and doesn’t understand that you’re going for the flash and not the substance. If you want impeachments, how about taking out the legs of support to this odious tyrant? The Republican Senators & Housemembers that won’t do their jobs and are willingly lying, spreading propaganda and outright working to strip democracy. You think this motherfucker in the high chair with the presidential seal is the problem? You dumb motherfuckers. He’s barely the problem. The pus is further down than the little whitehead of infection at the top.
Brachiator
@dnfree:
Didn’t Trump do the same thing when he visited Putin?
I don’t know if the media has really pushed Wilmer on what socialism means to him, which could be an issue. But I don’t see how these details about his lefty past mean very much. Unless you maybe ask who is the bigger sell-out to the Russians, Trump or Wilmer.
jeffreyw
@H.E.Wolf:
That is a description of possibilities but for right now, with this president*, (and this senate), the Democrats have neither the power to compel production of documents, nor testimony before a committee.
Gravenstone
@dmsilev: Pretty sure he’s in the running for the Lifetime (Lack of) Achievement Award in that regard.
eemom
You wanna get mad? Read this piece of shit about a worse piece of shit and its army of under-shits. I almost popped an eyeball.
Brachiator
@StringOnAStick:
And yet, according to FEC filings, Sanders leads all Democrats in fundraising. Warren, who I think should be one of the leading contenders, has been relatively disappointing in her ability to get contributions.
CaseyL
I continue to believe that humanity in general is currently afflicted with some kind of species-wide prion disease, because Trumpism isn’t just a US phenom. Brutish stupidity is taking over just about everywhere.
However, I also believe it’s our civic and human duty to fight the spread of the plague as much as we can. I’m financially a bit strapped these days, but have continued to make a few contributions here and there. BJ’s Act Blue posts are excellent for that, and I really appreciate them!
patrick II
To be sure everyone understands getting mad is not just about the presidency:
Think of me as the Grim Reaper”: McConnell vows to thwart Democratic proposals
Work for your Senator and congressman and, if they are solid, contribute and work for someone else’s closer race.
glory b
@StringOnAStick: I heard Markos Moulitsas on the radio saying the same thing. His polling showed that Sanders has about 90% name recognition among Dems, and that polling in the low to mid 20’s is pretty bad, considering.
Betty Cracker
@eemom: Yep, saw that earlier, and it pushed me over the outrage overload threshold quite early this morning, so I’ve been reduced to responding to every subsequent outrage with an incoherent BLAARRGH! Fuck those fucking fuckfaces!
Miss Bianca
@StringOnAStick: Whereas the old Bernie Bros I know are clinging to their delusions, and I have to say it’s making me a real bitch in dealing with them. I have taken a vow to myself as well as them to STF up about him, tho’, except for here, because it *is* a small town, Democrats or Democrat-leaning folks are thin on the ground, and those who are tend to be well-heeled types that like the theater I work for, so it behooves me to shut up about my violent distaste for BS. In fact, it behooves me to stay off social media for a while – maybe until Bernie’s ass gets thoroughly kicked to the curb in the primaries, and we can finally be done with him. Ugh. I wish so much of our work and social lives around here didn’t positively *revolve* around FB – what looked like a blessing has really become a curse. Now that I know all the cool women in town that I met thru’ this particular FB group, it’s time to say good-bye to it online and only engage IRL.
sukabi
@Kay: also needs to be explicit legislation in place to prevent the type of “norm busting” drumpf and his crew of misfits, crooks and grifters has accomplished.
Also need to take McConnell out of the picture, as he’s hell bent on destroying the last shreds of democracy that remain.
Impeachment against Barr should start ASAP.
Betty Cracker
@StringOnAStick & @glory b: I don’t know if it’s whistling past the graveyard, wishful thinking or what, but those sets of anecdata match what I’ve seen on the ground too. Money totals don’t mean shit this early in the race (see 2008, Democratic primary).
Miss Bianca
@ruemara:
A-to-the-fuckin’-men with this one, sister. It’s what’s making me crazy about my supposedly super-woke, super-liberal group of women around me going all nuts for Buttigieg and Beto and (ugh, some of them) for Bernie and saying that Warren “rambled” during her townhalls and so they are all over All the White Dudes, because their rhetoric is so *inspiring*, – and oh, this one pundit said that Democratic POTUS candidates shouldn’t be talking up impeachment because they had to be focusing on issues that *really* affected Average Americans, because unlike us political junkies they were too overwhelmed with Stuff in Their Lives to care about holding high crimes and misdemeanors to account, so OMG, God forbid that Democrats show the world that we can talk and chew gum at the same time when it comes to the significant issues of our time, because the Average American won’t be able to handle it.
I don’t think I’ve won any friends with my stand on that one, either.
rikyrah
The updated baby pictures are ADORABLE :)
Gravenstone
@germy: Citing OANN? That can only end in tears.
OANN, for those times when Fox News isn’t rabid enough…
Raoul
@Old Dan and Little Ann: One of the Internet Troll Agency themes being hit in the last 36 hours is to call it “the Mueller Dossier” so that addle-brained MAGAs (all of them, Katie!) think the Mueller report is just an extension of the (cue scary Fox noises) Steele Dossier.
It’s disinformation, pre-digested into tiny bites for extreme morons (all of them, Katie).
TenguPhule
And its official, folks. The Justice department is now a failed institution.
This will end badly.
TenguPhule
Trump says he would ask Supreme Court to intervene if Democrats move to impeach him
Not the Onion. I repeat, this is not the Onion.
Brachiator
@TenguPhule:
They needed “legal experts” to weigh in on this? Hell, there are third graders with a better grasp of the Constitution than Trump.
dww44
Doug!, you have an adorable little boy. Does he favor you?
Roger Moore
@gene108:
People keep falling for this shit. Republicans are always much more willing to vote for stuff they know has no chance of making it into law than they are when their votes have real consequences. Remember the continuing resolution that passed the Senate by unanimous consent when Ryan was speaker and wouldn’t give it a vote, but that McConnell refused to bring to the floor when the Democrats passed the exact same thing after the election? The same logic held in the case of immigration reform. A few Senate Republicans were willing to vote for it as long as it would be safely voted down in the House, but they will never let it come to a vote when Democrats control the House.
schrodingers_cat
@Miss Bianca: Midwestern Mayor PB’s fan girls are getting every bit as annoying as St Sanders of Vt’s bros.
He “knows” 8 languages means he knows enough to order a sandwich.
It takes little to dazzle the media if you look like them. If you are a woman or a minority then nothing is ever enough.
prostratedragon
@sukabi: “Impeachment against Barr should start ASAP.”
It’s time.
“Who’s Gonna Take the Weight”
TenguPhule
FTFNYT.
So the federal response to election security appears to be “Somebody else’s problem.”
Roger Moore
@glory b:
Nate Silver has been saying about the same thing. He thinks Bernie is doing OK, but that when corrected for name recognition he would not count as the front runner.
joel hanes
@jeffreyw:
the Democrats have neither the power to compel production of documents
I don’t think that Deutsch Bank will refuse to comply with a subpoena.
There are other private actors who know things about Trump and are not subject to his “orders”.
rikyrah
@TenguPhule:
Contempt and fines. Daily fines.
Raoul
Which brings up anther fundraising idea, Doug. Democratic S.O.S. campaigns. I don’t know if there are state S.O.S. races in 2020, but I bet there are. Georgia shows us how much the role has power and can screw up elections.
TenguPhule
@rikyrah: And Steve Mnuchin is now in contempt of Congress and the law. He refused to turn over Trump’s tax returns to Richard Neal.
dww44
@TenguPhule:
How so? Serious question. How do you think it will end or get resolved?
rikyrah
@TenguPhule:
He’s rich, and can pay daily fines…but, the rest of those minions are not rich, and can’t afford it. Would still fine Mnuchin.
tobie
@eemom: If ever I needed more proof that irony is dead…I read the link and found out that a bonafide member of the 1%, Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay, is the main, if not sole, financial backer of The Intercept. It’s as bad as if Occupy had been funded by Wall Street.
ruemara
@rikyrah: Arrests and a standoff between the Sargeant at Arms & Capitol police.
Gravenstone
@sukabi: Forget Barr. he intends for himself to be disposable so that the time wasted on him shields Trump. Investigate all things Trump, build your cases, then if time allows – impeach. Otherwise, all that info can be handed off to the proper authorities the second Trump is out of office and can be duly indicted for every last one of his crimes.
Gravenstone
@TenguPhule: Well, technically it is the state’s problem, since they are the ones responsible for holding the actual elections. Of course, Federal oversight and assistance in safeguarding those efforts would greatly help the effort.
Betty Cracker
@tobie: I think The Young Turks are funded by some Republican knob. It’s almost as if…
TenguPhule
@dww44:
I think we’re all about to see the complete failure of the legal process.
Its obvious that Barr has decided that the House Democrats have no means to compel him to do anything he doesn’t want to do.
After that? I’ve given up on trying to predict what line has to be crossed for Democrats to get out of the Queensberry rules mindset.
ruemara
@Betty Cracker: They are. Not entirely, but it’s an investment from Buddy Roehmer.
dww44
@Gravenstone
This. Barr has indeed done this and I must admit to wondering why. Why does he want to trash what was reported to be a good reputation, albeit based on what I now know I think it was undeserved even before 2018?
Ksmiami
@TenguPhule: they are mostly old and out of shape, soft rich guys who’ve never known fear.. I’m actually ok with our chances…
Roger Moore
@Gravenstone:
The problem is that you can’t just forget Barr if you’re interested in investigating all things Trump. The whole point is that he controls a big trove of data that’s resulted from an existing investigation, so that prying that data out of him is likely to be the fastest way of getting some parts of the investigation going.
TenguPhule
@Ksmiami: I’m thinking about what all the impressionable kids and teens are seeing here. Corruption on a scale unimaginable before now, and the GOP are openly flaunting it. When those people become adults, whose example will they follow?
Death Panel Truck
@ruemara: According to the 1994 BBC Watergate documentary, when Alexander Butterfield tried to avoid testifying before the Senate Watergate Committee, Sam Irvin threatened to send the sergeant-at-arms to arrest him. That straightened Butterfield out right quick.
dww44
@Roger Moore: Point taken, but we should keep our eyes on the prize and Barr ain’t it.
Jerzy Russian
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: I was being facetious.
TenguPhule
@Gravenstone: As long as Barr is AG, DOJ is Trump’s toy.
misterpuff
@White & Gold Purgatorian: If he pardons them for contempt, don’t they then have to testify?
lurker dean
@TenguPhule: this. the gop is running roughshod over the law, but the dems think writing some strongly-worded letters will stop them. it’s infuriating to watch.
J R in WV
@lee:
I supported her House run, and will support her Senate run as well. She is a great caididate, esp compared to any TX Republicans.
ETA: Also will confess that I am so angry and filled with grief that it is affecting my health, tho my blood pressure appears to remain under control. Teeth grinding in your sleep, tho, is a bad thing when you’re tearing up your crowns!
Roger Moore
@dww44:
It is worthwhile to go after anyone who stonewalls Congress on this, or investigation will be impossible.
chopper
@schrodingers_cat:
there’s plenty to hit the guy over, but this is just dumb and childish.
Skepticat
@karen marie: And I’ve donated three times to any candidate who runs against Susan Collins. I only wish funds weren’t so tight, as I really want to weigh in with more than outrage.
eemom
@tobie:
Yep. Greenwald’s sugar daddy.
*I* would pay money to see the expressions on that sickening array of smug ass faces in the cover photo if he suddenly decided to pull the plug on the thing. Can’t remember the last time a group pic has made me want this desperately to kick everyone in it in the teeth.
Panurge
As long as the candidates aren’t mad. Very few candidates ever won on anger alone, or even anger primarily.
J R in WV
@lurker dean:
You are mistaken on this. The strongly-worded letters are required
whenBEFORE you go to court, or even issue an arrest warrant for contempt of Congress and send their officials to arrest them.You have to have evidence that these miscreants have been duly notified of their subpoenas and warned of the consequences for not obeying the subpoenas. It’s called legal process and it matters.
ETA fix when to read before.
janesays
Is there some specific example of the media blaming it all on Democratic overreach that you had in mind? I’m not seeing it, at least not yet.
I assume by “the media” you aren’t referring to outlets like Fox News, Breitbart, etc. We expect those propaganda machines to do this. Who on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, NYT, WaPo, AP, or other mainstream news source is accusing the Democrats of overreach right now? I know there are stupid pundits like Bret Stephens who keep saying that if the Democrats try to impeach Trump it will backfire on them, but on the other side of that coin there are people like Tweety Matthews saying the Democrats must impeach Cheetolini now. Are there really a lot of people in the MSM accusing the Democrats of overreach for trying to suss out the underlying facts of the Mueller Report? And if so, who are they?
James E Powell
@Brachiator:
They bury everything in “both sides” and “some say” bullshit.
Omnes Omnibus
@J R in WV: Yep, it’s not like Pelosi can just walk over, grab someone by the ear, and drag them to a hearing room. The Dems must respect process even as they see that the GOP does not.
Gravenstone
@TenguPhule: Name me someone who can be confirmed to replace Barr who not also be a puppet.
Go ahead, I’ll wait …
TenguPhule
@Gravenstone: Making an example out of Barr would discourage the rest of the roaches from applying for the job.
Which would be a victory in and of itself.
TenguPhule
@Omnes Omnibus:
You have to admit, it would probably raise her popularity to an all time high.
janesays
@TenguPhule: How do you propose we get rid of Barr?
Impeach him? And when he gets inevitably exonerated in the Senate, then what? Impeachment works the same for all federal officials – the reason we won’t be able to use it to get rid of Barr is the same reason we won’t be able to use it to get rid of Trump. We don’t have 20 GOP senators on our side.
Bex
@chopper: They just can’t stop themselves.
lurker dean
@J R in WV: Not saying to not follow process. But, for example, with Mnuchin, they’ve already made the request and written the letter. And Mnuchin sent a BS letter back delaying even more. Contempt proceedings should have been scheduled immediately after they received Mnuchin’s letter.
I’m a lawyer, albeit not one in this area. But I know about process. I also know weak shit when I see it. And the republicans see it too.
germy
A new cartoon from Tom The Dancing Bug
Pelosi and Schumer follow the yellow brick road to the Great and Powerful Special Counsel Mueller, and he tells them they had the power all along:
https://boingboing.net/2019/04/24/the-great-and-powerful-special.html
schrodingers_cat
@chopper: What is dumb and childish is the infatuation with PB. If you are not white and male like the mayor then speaking in another language makes you suspect in T’s America and an object of ridicule or worse. Its the double standards that are galling.
Oh what you called dumb and childish was paraphrasing the mayor himself about his linguistic skills.
germy
@janesays: We watched the PBS News Hour (as much as we could take) and Judy Woodruf had a Democratic member of the house who was advocating impeachment, and Judy kept telling him the American public was tired of hearing about Mueller’s investigation and just wanted to “move on.”
“What about public opinion??” she demanded when he repeated that impeachment was necessary.
chopper
@schrodingers_cat:
both are dumb and childish, actually.
obviously this is all mayor pete’s fault. being a white man he definitely should have just stuck to speaking english.
i mean, only in america do people talk shit about a politician for knowing more than one language. if you think the media is being obsessive, then why not attack the media? attacking the guy because gasp! he speaks a number of languages, like that’s a bad thing, is just fucking stupid, and especially so accusing the guy of faking it.
schrodingers_cat
@chopper: I never said that speaking many languages is a bad thing. You are putting words in my mouth. Giving him credit for knowing a language that he has only a rudimentary knowledge of is ridiculous. By that low standard I can claim to know 10 languages if not more.
I was criticizing the media in my comment that you referenced, the ones who are gushing about PB.
chopper
@schrodingers_cat:
so when you said his polylinguism is limited to knowing “how to order a sandwich”, that was attacking the media. right.
look, he’s conversational in a number of languages outside of english. his spanish is pretty good, actually. his italian, arabic and norwegian aren’t bad from what i’ve heard. dunno about the rest (maltese?), but he’s not fucking faking it, people.
he’s not my choice by a long shot, hell, he’s not even my fourth pick, but “he doesn’t really know other languages, he’s faking it” is a goddamn stupid line of attack.
schrodingers_cat
@chopper: I didn’t say he was faking it. The line about knowing enough to order a sandwich is from his own fucking book.
MSM standards are pretty low for PB but impossibly high for women like HRC, Warren etc. Feel free to disagree.
For me when I say I know a language, it means, I can read, write, understand it. Just being able to speak a few sentences is not “knowing a language”. One BJer who can speak Italian said that PB’s Italian was nothing great. I don’t know Italian so I have no way to judge. YMMV.
I also remember Teresa Heinz Kerry ridiculed by the same fucking media for knowing several languages besides English. But she was not born in this country and is a woman, so no gushing is warranted.
janesays
@schrodingers_cat: I don’t know his degree of his language fluency, but he’s far from an intellectual lightweight. The dude is a Rhodes Scholar.
schrodingers_cat
@janesays: Isn’t there another Rhodes scholar among the folks running for President? Have you heard of him? And not one but two mayors of cities bigger than South Bend.
ETA: Never said he was a light weight intellectually. But there are others in the race who have more impressive resumes and achievements under their belt.
chopper
@schrodingers_cat:
you realize that that’s a joke, right? that he’s trying to be humble, or at least fake humility, with that statement? that he’s not seriously saying that that’s the limit of his polylinguism? that he isn’t actually limited to “speaking a few sentences”? you have to know this.
this is a stupid fucking goddamn made-up thing to attack a candidate over.
chopper
@schrodingers_cat:
that explains why the media ridiculed melania trump for being multilingual. wait, they actually wrote positive stories over that. think IOKIYAR has more than a bit to do with that one.
janesays
@ThresherK: Yes, it’s that Gene Lyons.
Jerri
Manafort needs a roommate
janesays
schrodingers_cat: @schrodingers_cat: You don’t have to sell me on Buttigieg being vastly underqualified for the job. I love his enthusiasm and energy and passion, and I hope he ultimately goes far in his political career. But he ain’t ready to be president, and there are tons of far more qualified candidates available. When it comes to policy chops, it’s an insult to Elizabeth Warren to even mention Mayor Pete in the same sentence.
I just don’t get the point of hating on the guy or comparing him to Bernie Sanders, who I think is actively harmful to this whole nomination process.
chopper
@janesays:
likewise, if a lack of sufficient elected experience is such negative that pete needs to fuck off right now, we should have boo’d al sharpton off the stage cause that guy’s never held any elected office at all.
ruemara
@Death Panel Truck: Which would be why I said that.
schrodingers_cat
@chopper: I am frankly not all that impressed with PB’s being conversational in 8 languages. I am fluent in 3 languages, conversational in 2 more. I know people, like my mother and FIL who are fluent in 5 or 6 languages. Its not that big a deal and not that uncommon.
Your frame of reference is not the only one.
I have nothing against PB I just don’t see anything worthy of the hype he is getting, that’s all. YMMV.
janesays
@chopper: I have no issue with Mayor Pete being on the stage. I like the guy, and I think he might be a good VP pick. I just have no plans to vote for him in the primary when there are so many other more qualified candidates available. Of course if he pulls off the upset of the century and snags the nomination, I’ll support him 110% in the general election.
I like Al Sharpton, too, and had no beef with him being on the debate stage in 2004. Doesn’t mean I ever had any intention to vote for him in the primaries.
There are only two current major candidates I actively dislike (Sanders and Gabbard), and I wish neither of them were there. You couldn’t pay me to vote for either one of them in the primaries, but if, FSM forbid, either one of them becomes the nominee (Gabbard has no realistic shot, but Sanders odds are much higher than I would prefer), they will have my vote in November 2020. There is literally no Democratic candidate who would be as bad or a worse alternative to a second term of Cheetolini.
chopper
@schrodingers_cat:
is it “not that uncommon” among presidential candidates? i mean shit, the last two GOP presidents can barely speak fucking english, so anything is an improvement, but i for one like the idea of a multilingual person in the WH. i wish everybody on the primary stage spoke at least spanish. chinese would be really beneficial.
riiiiiiight.
chopper
@janesays:
that’s exactly where i am. if pete’s as shitty as some of these guys say, he’ll lose easily to someone like harris.
eemom
@schrodingers_cat:
I sort of like PB. However, I also like your comments about him.
And pay no mind to chop-chop. He seems to have nothing better to do than scour the threads for “stupid fucking goddamn made-up things to attack [other commenters] over.”
As my stepson used to say, Pot? Kettle. How ya doin.
Kathleen
@eemom: The first few paragraphs were all I could take. You’re right – the article is as toxic as its subjects. I really loathe these noxious ghouls.
janesays
@schrodingers_cat: Being fluent in multiple languages is pretty rare. While more than half of the world is bilingual, only 13% of the world is trilingual, and less than 3% of the world is multilingual. If you’re in a room with 100 people and only 3 of you can do something the other 97 cannot, that talent is pretty uncommon.
schrodingers_cat
@janesays: I specifically said I was talking about my own experience. Please read my comment before trying to give me an education about what a percentage means. I am pretty sure unless you are a math professor like DougJ, my math skills are as good if not better than yours.
soga98
@dww44:
These folk are far beyond caring for reputation. It’s all about power and money.
As for legal consequences, perhaps he sees himself as Horatius at the bridge.
chopper
apparently, the last US president who spoke more than one language was FDR. FDR.
schrodingers_cat
@eemom: Thanks eemom! I appreciate that coming from you. You are one of my favorite commenters because you give as good as you get!