This clip of Senator Hirono’s opening statement before beginning her questioning in the Barr hearing is one of those rare videos that lives up to the hype:
"Being attorney general of the United States is a sacred trust. You have betrayed that trust. America deserves better. You should resign.”
During Attorney General Barr’s testimony on the Mueller report, Sen. Mazie Hirono calls on him to resign. https://t.co/nXgFssdO66 pic.twitter.com/dRXUo83yjT
— CNN (@CNN) May 1, 2019
I think my favorite part was when she said Barr was no better than Rudy Giuliani and Kellyanne Conway, lying for the “grifting liar who sits in the Oval Office.” That’s telling it like it is, Senator!
Oh, and when she said he’d violated the “sacred trust” of his position as AG, pointed out his decades-long history of lying on behalf of Republican miscreants and called on him to resign. Yowza!
Well, someone had to say it. Thank you for saying that, Senator Hirono!
Open thread.
Mr. Mack
The look in his eyes when Harris asked about whether the President or anyone else suggested he investigate anyone was worth the price of admission.
lamh36
Hirono, Klobaucher, Hariis…all A+ questioners!
The full videdo of Kamala Harris’ A+++++ questioning of Barr!
https://twitter.com/MaddowBlog/status/1123669794211995649
This was a big moment: Sen. Kamala Harris got Barr to admit that he decided not to charge Trump with obstruction—perhaps the most consequential DOJ decision since Watergate—without examining any of the underlying evidence
https://twitter.com/markfollman/status/1123662911786774528?s=21
James E Powell
I read on TPM that Lindsey Graham scolded her for it. Why does anyone still take that a hole seriously?
PhoenixRising
@Mr. Mack: the look on Booker’s face…the staffer behind Harris shaking her head because she obviously got something in that ear where sounds are entering, indicating that the AG of the US can no longer understand English words…quality daytime teevee y’all.
lamh36
Leahy, Klobaucher, Harris and HIrono came with their A games!
Joey Maloney
Go Mazie! That’s my Senator.
trollhattan
@James E Powell:
Never bought the theory that McCain kept Graham in check but wow, has he ever been bonkers since McCain’s death. Coincidence or another crazy old man gone round the bend?
lamh36
Def think this is true…
trollhattan
@Joey Maloney:
Nice job, hope you keep sending her back! :-)
trollhattan
@lamh36:
“When did you stop beating your wife?”
schrodingers_cat
@trollhattan: Russians must have some primo black mail material. When Orange says jump, Lindsay says how high.
japa21
@lamh36: MAybe they can have Harris do the questioning.
ruemara
I wish the headline was actually accurate.
chopper
@Mr. Mack:
and his answer was notably weasely. even for him.
MoxieM
I need a cigarette! And I quit about 40 years ago… I love Sen. Hirono
I’m packing for a house move on Monday (yegads), and this was just the right energy boost. Thank you
The Moar You Know
@trollhattan: Pretty sure McCain was protecting him. Then the Blackmail King took office and McCain died, and Lindsey is out on his own. Wouldn’t want to be him.
I suspect they’ve got something on him that has nothing to do with him being gay, and a couple of phone calls ends up with him in jail. He’s obviously in a 24/7 state of fear.
Msb
Maxie, Kamala and Amy were wonderful. Let’s hope the House Committee turns up the heat even further.
Someone needs to tell Lindsey to untwist his knickers.
lamh36
Sister Golden Bear
@ruemara: A girl can dream, right?
Aleta
—— Earlier —————–
(I don’t think anyone tried to confront Barr about this, but I might have missed it.)
Baud
Hirono should run for president.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: If we keep this up, we won’t have any Democrats left in the Senate.
tobie
Go, Senator Hirono!!! I posted this below on the afternoon hearings but it’s more in line with this thread:
Harris did a fantastic job. Barr tried to claim that there was no danger of him having a conflict of interest because he didn’t make his decision alone but with DAG Rosenstein. That’s where he fell into Harris’ trap. She then got Barr tripped up by highlighting that Rosenstein had a clear conflict of interest in being a witness to obstruction as well as a participant in the charging decision. She hammered Barr on whether he bothered to check with the DOJ ethics office to make sure Rosenstein was cleared of conflict of interest and could take part in the charging decision. Well played, Senator Harris, well played.
I’ll be curious if Blumenthal ends up having lured Barr into a perjury trap. Barr said he couldn’t recall having discussion the 12 referrals from Mueller to other AGs with the White House. Then said he didn’t discuss anything substantive about those referrals. Sounds fishy.
sukabi
@Aleta: Barr for all practical purposes exonerated drumpf with his audition letter submitted months prior to his nomination to AG.
Don’t know why everyone is shocked he’d brazenly lie and cover up, that’s what he does. It’s well documented.
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
Born in Japan :-(
Major Major Major Major
Nice.
oatler.
I watched the hearings and I’m thinking what is the point of calling out a Barr lie?
Grant us the luxury when all the heroes are bastards
Grant us the luxury when all the heroes are thieves
Camper Van B “Jack Ruby”
germy
I loved Sen. Hirono’s statement and questions. But I was disappointed that when Graham started his rant against her (“you’re slandering this fine man!”) she just quickly said “Okay I’m done.”
I sort of wish she’d continued questioning, but maybe she was out of time?
I love how she brought up Iran Contra. Excellent.
germy
Watch Graham after the hearing:
He looks mighty pissed.
TaMara (HFG)
I’m watching Harris grill Barr and it’s a thing of beauty.
I know why some people are afraid of women in charge – Hirono and Harris illustrated it beautifully today. They will slice and dice the BS and get to the truth. And you’ll be sitting there in your underwear stammering, uh, uh, uh.
Martin
People wonder why I’ve backed Harris for president. Who does everyone want to see in a one on one debate with Trump? She knows her shit, she knows who is in charge, and she makes it unwaveringly clear that it’s her.
Look at the faces around her during her questioning. A lot of people glad that she’s on their side.
Obama offered her the US Atty General job after Holder – Barrs current job. She turned it down. Barr begged for it. Everyone in that exchange knows what’s what.
germy
Someone on twitter said (and I agree) that if Harris doesn’t become president or vice president, she should have Barr’s job.
Martin
@germy: Trump should be pissed by that decision. Graham is ceding all control to House Democrats. They’ll set the tone and scope of that hearing with no real opportunity for Republicans to shape a counter-narrative. Graham doesn’t want to own the shitshow that will result. Barr is at real risk of impeachment hearings.
Cacti
I only wish that Hirono had answered Graham with something on the lines of “To slander Mr. Barr would have required me making a false statement.”
Martin
@germy: It was offered. She turned it down.
Eunicecycle
I think it is amazing that the Attorney General of the United States thinks the president can stop an investigation into himself if he “knows he didn’t do anything.” So if Hillary were president, she could stop an email investigation? Or Benghazi?
ETA since we know those investigations were BS.
Ohio Mom
@Baud: Senator Hirono has stage four kidney cancer. I don’t know any details but with some cancers you could last quite a while in stage four, if you are responding well to treatment. Apparently she is.
I imagine that knowing your time on earth is limited really amps up the No Fs Left to Give quotient.
Gravenstone
@germy: I wonder if he’ll be encouraged to reconsider, since then his committee won’t be able to provide a counterpoint to the Democratically controlled House committee, where Mueller will certainly appear. Granted, given the performance of several of the Democrats on his own committee today, he might consider it not worth the risk of letting them have a go at Mueller.
lamh36
So Barr…really thinks it’s a good idea to shit on Mueller after leaving the hearing and the letter released…smh
chopper
@SiubhanDuinne:
she’s also still fighting off some pretty nasty cancer IIRC. :(
germy
@Martin: In a new Democratic administration, I hope there’s a place for her (if not the top job)
Martin
@Gravenstone: Not just that, but I was surprised at how non-protective of Trump or Barr many of the Republicans were. Barr didn’t get as much cover as he probably expected.
danielx
Obligatory:
But her EMAILZZZZZZZ…!!!
Also obligatory: if Donald Trump farts he will blow Lindsey Graham’s brains all over whatever room they are occupying.
sukabi
@germy: look for spittle flecked hysterics when Graham realizes that it’s really not over, it’s just beginning and he’s lost the plot and whatever cover drumpf has granted him.
Martin
@germy: I would argue that if people see that much value in her, then make her President rather than find a lesser position to make it easier to not promote her to the top job.
Aleta
germy
@Martin:
Yes, that’s actually my preference.
Kay
I do love Kamala Harris’ way in the world. She’s so at ease and confident. It’s…Presidential :)
LeftCoastYankee
De-lurking with a recurring thought on Graham:
I keep wondering if the source of his (and other R’s) change of heart on Trump is due to National Enquirer “catch and kill” stories, rather than Russian Kompromat.
lamh36
tobie
@LeftCoastYankee: That’s an interesting thesis! Thanks for de-lurking.
Kay
@lamh36:
No, Mueller thinks he’s a gross compromised hack and he’s ashamed of him. It’s hard, but there it is.
But extra, bonus “gross” points for blaming it on the underlings. Perfect.
germy
Barr’s reaction to Senator Hirono (after Graham launches his outraged “This is slander!” sputter) is to whine something about “How did we ever get to this point, when someone like HER can say all that stuff to someone like ME?”
justawriter
I’m sure somewhere out there an erstwhile democrat is horrified and is pining for a return to civility, you know, when that nice Ken Starr boy was around.
germy
Off topic, but
sukabi
@LeftCoastYankee: more likely closer to home than the National Enquirer, more likely a drumpf branded “leverage” scheme.
Patricia Kayden
Thank you Senator Hirono! You said what each and every Democrat should be saying whenever they talk to a Trump lackey. Stop being polite. You’re dealing with White Supremacists.
Martin
@Kay: There is no imposter syndrome there. I’m envious.
trollhattan
@Ohio Mom:
Oh, that’s a gut punch. Here’s wishing the best for the senator, her family and her doctors. Beat this thing!
Amir Khalid
@Eunicecycle:
We had a situation like that re 1MDB. Najib, as Prime Minister, was the official to whom the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission reported in investigating the RM2.7 billion that mysteriously showed up in his bank account one day. No one was terribly surprised when the MACC cleared him of wrongdoing at first. Of course, it was a different story after Najib’s coalition lost the general election.
In football news, Liverpool have given at least as good as they got in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal. But they trail to two goals from old boy Luis Suarez and a glorious free kick from Leo Messi. I haz a sad.
Martin
@LeftCoastYankee: Maybe with him personally, but there are dozens if not hundreds of Republicans that have made a similar change.
I can only conclude that these people are so morally bankrupt as a cohort that they are underserving of any form of public service or that the GOP writ large is compromised by the Russians. Well, I guess the later implies the former…
LeftCoastYankee
@tobie:
Tobie, it’s less “sexy” in scandalous-ness (no foreign intelligence elements), but it makes it more directly attributable to Trump and would fit his nature.
Of course the NE parent company is cooperating with SDNY… So if it’s criminal rather than just embarrassing….
Or maybe it’s as simple as Graham being an a$$.
trollhattan
@LeftCoastYankee:
Heck, maybe, or maybe both?
LeeM
@germy: The problem is that once declawed, aggressive cats tend to become biters. I’ve been shredded by some of our mini tigers, but being bitten to the bone is much worse.
Martin
@Ohio Mom: The 5 year survival rate for stage 4 kidney cancer is only 8%. She gets a buff for being on the exemplary side of quality of health care, but she’s got a fight ahead of her.
LeftCoastYankee
@sukabi:
IIRC they have some history filling that role for Trump. But yeah I do wonder if it’s just Trump and his crowd.
oldgold
My take away from today’s hearing is that Barr has not read the entire Mueller Report.
Kay (not the front-pager)
Sen. Hirono laid out articles of impeachment for Attorney General Barr today. I hope Jerry Nadler is listening.
NotMax
Senate Republican bill to decertify Hawaiian statehood in 3…2…1…. //
Both Hirono and Schatz have blossomed in the Senate, exceeding initial expectations they’d be naught but glorified seat warmers.
Litlebritdifrnt
Good news from over the pond the British Government has declared a Climate and Environment Emergency. It is a start.
https://twitter.com/ChrisGPackham/status/1123688242518401026
NotMax
@Litlebritdifrnt
Is the declaration printed on recycled paper?
:)
LeftCoastYankee
@trollhattan:
@Martin:
E: All of the above (or whatever seems most stupid to rational folks)?
It’s a chaotic corrupt cluster. Total opposite of “organized” crime…..
Betty Cracker
Regarding Graham’s shameless toadying — why can’t it be as simple as Graham wanting to keep his job? Trump is popular in South Carolina. If Graham pisses Trump or his fans off, he’ll draw a primary challenge. Graham had a lot of ground to recover since he was tough on Trump during the GOP primary, so he’s extra-obsequious, which seems to have paid off in his own approval rating. Conspiracy theories are fun, but nothing he’s done can’t be explained by the above, IMO.
Omnes Omnibus
@japa21: Yeah, I am pretty sure that the House Dem Caucus doesn’t have any lawyers capable of doing the job.
tobie
@LeftCoastYankee: I think Trump blackmails people all the time and the National Enquirer’s record of holding onto damaging stories for later use would be a perfect vehicle for this. At this point, though, it seems that what keeps the Republicans in line is not so much a fear of shaming as a naked lust for power. They’re happy to sell out the country if it keeps them in power. For me that was the most painful lesson of today’s hearings.
Kay (not the front-pager)
@SiubhanDuinne: But, according to MSNBC today, her mom was a US citizen so she is a natural born citizen and eligible to be president. There is still the problem of stage 4 kidney cancer though.
Roger Moore
@LeftCoastYankee:
I don’t think it’s necessary to invoke that kind of thing to explain Graham, and I would guess not for plenty of other Republicans. There are two reasons he isn’t going to oppose Trump:
1) He still thinks he has more influence over Trump by publicly backing him than he would if he publicly opposed him. This is the whole “wiser heads will guide him” argument many people made about Trump. It’s easy for people to continue deluding themselves that way.
2) He doesn’t want to blow the party up with infighting. He made this point during the campaign, and it holds even more strongly after the election. Parties don’t fail from losing elections; they fail from infighting. He isn’t going to abandon Trump no matter what he does, because he sees the alternative as destroying the party.
Yes, you and I see these things as lame excuses for refusing to stand on principle, but that kind of rationalization is very common among people who go along with things they shouldn’t.
Amir Khalid
@oldgold:
For what Barr was always going to do, he didn’t need to read Mueller’s report at all. Indeed, he couldn’t have read the report and then done what he was hired to do.
Liverpool have lost the first leg 3-0. Barcelona certainly did not outplay Liverpool, but did take their chances better. Here’s hoping we win 4-0 at Anfield.
TomatoQueen
@Amir Khalid: I’ve just been thinking of you. All was well until Messi decided today was a day to do party tricks. Which are better than anyone else’s party tricks, ever. Even Klopp just smiles.
sukabi
@LeftCoastYankee: I know they’ve acted as a “filter” for drumpf…but it’s also pretty well known that drumpf likes to “listen in” on his guests / employees via a special switchboard (that’s so last century) installed in his suite.
Also, Mr. Projection is pretty convinced that folks are tapping him, it stands to reason that a large part of his “leveraging” his way out of trouble in the past is by collecting embarrassing information on his adversaries.
Dan B
Harris is great. She doesn’t let Barr gas on with time wasting BS. She immediately points out his games and yet doesn’t raise her voice or hurry her put downs. She acts like she has plenty of time. Amazing verbal and nonverbal skills.
germy
Amir Khalid
@Betty Cracker:
It certainly could be, but then again cowardice is not an honourable motive.
Sab
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Sort of OT
My execrable Democrat (probably not an “ic” ) white rustbelt male congresscritter is also running for President. Why can’t we give him enough love that somebody in the district thinks it’s safe to run against him?
He is actually very bright and has a handle on a lot of policy issues but he doesn’t actually care about them (policies) or anything but his own political future.
Phucking lied about his A+ NRA rating for years. I ‘d challenge neighbors, and they would say “but his website says…” Of course it did. He lied.
Pro-life until he wanted to run for statewide office. Suddenly more concerned about us girls and our feti.
Tim Ryan, proud member of the Democrat party .
Frankensteinbeck
@Martin:
Honestly, the only explanation you need is that elected Republicans aren’t all that different from the people who vote for them – which would make sense. They’re racist assholes who get their thrills out of hurting people and see sticking it to the libs as the definition of morality. It ties well into @Roger Moore and @tobie‘s points, since protecting the party and themselves protects white power and fanatically opposes any Democratic victory.
Mike in NC
@germy:
We all know that declawing cats is inhumane and traumatic to them. If somebody can’t accept a cat’s claws, they should get a goldfish.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Betty Cracker: I tend to think that if Lindsey had ever had any kind of sex, somebody would have leaked something by now. I think he’s a vol-cel, to use what seems to be current terminology. He has also, always, been a nasty partisan piece of shit. IIRC he started Benghazi, running ads in the fall of 2012 to stave off a Tea Bagger challenge in 2014. He’s a hollow man, an empty man whose empty life is filled by the personalities of people he perceives as Alphas, first McCain, then trump. And if he’s not a Senator, what is he? Who would want to have him on TV, especially now.
ETA: Do people think there’s “kompromat” on Willard Romney? What? That he had a cup of coffee once? Said “Dang it!” My own theory is that Willard, like the Bushes, is kept quiet by dreams of dynasty, spawn who will need that mouth-breather vote, but who the hell knows
LeftCoastYankee
@Betty Cracker:
@tobie:
That makes the most sense for the office holders. And the appointees are just fellow grifters looking to feed.
I think local blackmail would be more likely than Russian if it was present, but it’s not even needed.
Oy. Thanks!
Amir Khalid
@germy:
Far be it from me to accuse anyone of mercenary calculation, but veterinarians who will declaw a cat do charge money for it, don’t they?
Litlebritdifrnt
@Kay (not the front-pager): Hmmmm not necessarily, there are a whole bunch of rules and regulations that state who is or who is not a US Citizen based on how many years the mother lived in the US after the age of 14. I know this because I spent an inordinate amount of years countering the birther arguments about Obama on the website The Fogbow. There were a whole bunch of lawyers and legal eagles on there who were always there with the facts. It was an invaluable resource at the time.
trollhattan
@Betty Cracker: @Amir Khalid:
This Graham trip to the ungluery convinced me Lindsay has lost the plot and rages because he likes to.
LeftCoastYankee
@sukabi:
I know have an image of Trump wandering around the White House looking for the switchboard.
Sab
@germy: Think of the furniture!
None of my five cats are declawed. They all shred all kinds of furniture.
The only one who ever put me in the hospital was the still clawed but brain-damaged cat who bit me hard and a lot when she fell out the dog door at night and was too stressed and frightened (and stupid) to recognize me when I tried to rescue her the next morning.She bit me like her life depended on it, and I spent 3 days in the hospital at the absolute peak of my firm’s busy season.
We both survived. I discovered I was allergic to the most basic antibiotic (amoxicillin.) Weird times. Don’t let the vet braindamage your cat. They are very sensitive to anesthetics.
joel hanes
I have had seven cats in the last thirty years.
None of them have been “declawed”.
Only one of them ever clawed a piece of furniture.
germy
@Sab: I suspect my cat hasn’t been quite the same since her last experience with general anesthesia. Not aggressive, just forgetful. Like she used to let me know she was hungry by going to the door where her dish was and yelling.
Now she’ll yell for food, but run under a table in a different room, far from the dish.
Maybe it’s just old age, I don’t know. She’s only 11, for god’s sake.
lamh36
its offical
Barr is skipping the House tomorrow
https://twitter.com/Yamiche/status/1123701826421968896
japa21
@Omnes Omnibus: Okay, maybe I should have used the sarcasm tag.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@trollhattan: also, just like trump desperately wants the respect of the Establishment he pretends to loathe, I suspect Lindsey reads every “What happened to Lindsey Graham?” article and seethes, and every time he says “Great point, Steve!” on the Fox Morning Zoo, a part of his mind drifts back to when Tim Russert treated him like the American Metternich. Or at least the guy that got called when the American Metternich was in Sedona and couldn’t make it for a live shot
and he just gets angrier at everyone and everything, including himself
trollhattan
Drip, drip, drip for Assange.
joel hanes
@lamh36:
Barr is skipping the House tomorrow
Contempt.
germy
@Amir Khalid:
Yes, and the law would cost them a valuable income stream.
I think most decent vets would oppose declawing. I would not continue with a vet who was in favor of it.
Sab
@Amir Khalid: My vet (not the guy who accidentally lobotomized my husband’s cat with an anasthesia overdose) loves cats but likes declawing because he hates him and his staff being clawed. Tough for him and them, but I am not chopping my cats’ fingertips off.
Amir Khalid
@joel hanes:
I wonder about people who value inanimate furniture above the physical and mental wellbeing of a living creature in their care.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Sab: I’m not sure we want to encourage him.
bemused
@lamh36:
Chickenshit.
LeftCoastYankee
@Roger Moore:
Good points. And if someone was going to be the instigator to “Save the Party” from Trump it likely wouldn’t be an elected R, and definitely wouldn’t be Graham.
Gelfling 545
And to honor International Workers’ Day – Billy Bragg
lamh36
Ya’ll I can’t get enough of watching Kamala grill Barr…and esp her first question.
She had him stuttering!
“suggest, hinted, inferred”
germy
@Sab: They should put little mittens on them or something.
So it was an anesthesia overdose?
Should I not worry about my cat undergoing another procedure with anesthesia?
lamh36
Baud
@lamh36:
Yeah, no contempt until they issue a subpoena.
Amir Khalid
@Sab:
There is such a thing as protective clothing. I’d think an ethical vet would rather wear that than mutilate his patients for his own convenience.
Betty Cracker
@Amir Khalid: I have a friend with a declawed cat she inherited from an elderly relative who ordered the declawing. I feel sorry for the poor critter, but I gotta admit I enjoy that cat’s “kneading” activities more than her clawed sisters’!
Sab
@Amir Khalid: Oven mitts are wonderful at home. Had I only known when the cat girl fell out the dog door.
Aleta
Clip of Harris right after the hearing
Lyrebird
@Ohio Mom: Yeah, Sen. Hirono’s amazing. I wish her own vote to protect health care access had gotten even half the recognition that Sen. McCain’s did, even though I understand some of why his was politically more important. But she took at least as many medical risks to be there for the vote.
Sab
@Amir Khalid: He does have cat charisma. Every cat we have ever taken to him loves and trusts him. (How do you tell a cat the vet wants to chop her fingers off?)
tobie
@lamh36: That was a great moment, as was her line of questioning about Rosenstein’s conflicts of interest. I also liked that Blumenthal had Barr hemming and hawing about whether he had discussion Mueller’s 12 referrals with the White House. Now the House needs to subpoena Barr so they can hold him in contempt.
Ohio Mom
@trollhattan: Sadly, you don’t beat most stage four cancers. Stage four means it has spread throughout the body. You treat for quality of life and extra time, not cure.
For some cancers, there are more effective treatments than others, and many extra and good years can result.
IAN a doctor but I don’t think kidney cancers generally have good prognoses. Still, there are always the outliers who are exceptional responders (to treatment) and sometimes there are new treatments that are fabulously effective (see Jimmy Carter).
You gotta give Senator Hirono props for making every moment count.
Sab
@germy: That vet wasn’t competent to do cats. Lots of vets are. Just do your homework.
Amir Khalid
@germy:
Eleven sounds worryingly young for senile dementia in a cat. My Bianca will very soon be 15 and still has all her marbles.
Amir Khalid
@Sab:
If cats aren’t inclined to claw him, why on earth does he feel a need to declaw them? It is a puzzlement.
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh36:
It’s “implied,” dammit, not “inferred.” Kamala Harris is dead to me now! \\
HeleninEire
As per CNN Barr isn’t gonna show tomorrow.
germy
@HeleninEire:
Is there a penalty for that? A fine, or imprisonment?
Sab
@joel hanes: I have five cats in the same house right now, and only four of them grew up together. Plus two dogs. Csts are territorial and these five cats housebound have all kinds of territory issues. We decided a few less choice pieces of furniture will just have to make the sacrifice ( the ugly hutch in the living room, the little three step ladder in the kitchen, the chair that can be re-upolstered, the carpeted stairs. I do throw things at them when they go after the 100 year old sofa or our new kitchen island)
And I put a vinyl tablecloth on the kitchen table so meankitty can pee on that without ruining the table..
BobS
Hirono was beautiful. Fucking Barr sat there looking like the emperor who just realized he was naked.
@Martin: I can see why you like Harris. Warren’s my candidate (I like her platform), but I’d love to watch Trump bring his knife to a gunfight with Harris.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne:
Fixed.
@germy:
No. He was invited. He wasn’t subpoenaed.
Martin
@trollhattan:
Hmm. How exactly did helping the Russians attack our election mitigate that fear?
HeleninEire
@SiubhanDuinne: I once had someone describe that to me as “It’s the difference between pitching and catching.” Perfect.
J R in WV
@Martin:
“Barr is at real risk of impeachment hearings.”
Oh, yeh, in my fond and better than most dreams. Not the very best ever dreams, you know what’s in those dreams. But very good, better than most, oh yeh!
Cacti
@trollhattan:
Considering he also voluntarily imprisoned himself in an embassy for 7-years prior to that, whatever his problems were with the Swedish authorities, they’d likely have lasted less than 8-years.
But I’m sure he still thinks himself a man of superior intellect.
Immanentize
@HeleninEire:
Or itching and scratching.
The Dangerman
Hirono 2020? Know nothing about her, couldn’t pick her out a two person lineup, but I need a cigarette (smoked only 1 in my 58 years and found it lacking; made up for it with my coffee addiction).
I don’t get people like Barr. If your Boss wants you to say the sky is pink and he has a network (FOX, of course) at his back that will say the sky is pink, if you say the sky is pink, history will not judge you well. So, it’s not history he is getting; has anyone checked if he has a son or daughter that got a sweet gig at DeutscheBank?
Cacti
@The Dangerman:
She has stage 4 cancer. :-(
Sab
I love the way the MSM said the Republicans had a deep bench in 2016. And then they got Drumf.
Our bench is phucking awesome. And that ‘s just nationally. We are having contested city council races where everyone is impressive.
People just suddenly decided to get off the sidelines and run.
Geeno
@Litlebritdifrnt: If you review the decisions of the SCOTUS over the years, they seems to recognize two kinds of citizenship. “Natural born” – jus soli – you were born under US jurisdiction and “Naturlized” – the law says you’re a citizen – say because your mother was or what ever. The case of someone who is a citizen by birth – due to parents being citizens or some other law – who is born outside US jurisdiction hasn’t been adjudicated.
We had a definite edge case with McCain, born a non-citizen in the Panama Canal Zone, made a citizen a year later when Congress passed a law declaring all persons born in the canal zone after 1904 citizens.
MCA1
I would be all in favor of a subpoena for Barr followed by a contempt count if he doesn’t show, but it needs to be backed up by non-stop unified trash talking from Dems about what a chickenshit little snowflake the AG is, and stating it’s obvious he’s fully aware how much he pissed down his own leg today in the Senate hearing. Then turn the Dotard’s NPD and Barr’s colossal ego against one another: start by claiming it’s obvious these orders came from the White House, since Barr’s not his own man anymore, having surrendered his personal agency and acted solely as Trump’s fixer since taking office. Then asking why Mango Mussolini is so scared by the AG testifying when he keeps talking about how exonerated he is. Bait these fuckers and make it lose-lose for them.
On the other hand, I’d also be completely in favor of the Dems saying “Yeah, that’s fine, only lawmakers will ask you questions.” Then when he shows up, it’s a roomful of media, a dozen Republicans, and Nadler and Schiff sitting in the middle of the dais. Only lawmakers present! Or, they throw it back in his face by having their chosen outside attorney move from committee member to committee member, whispering his/her questions in their ear, and then the reps repeat those questions to Barr. You want to play cute with words, Tom Bosley? We can do that, too.
germy
Graham is lost.
Drumpf has eaten his soul.
germy
@MCA1:
Tom Bosley?
Some have said Barr resembles Fred Flintstone. Others are of the opinion he looks like the kid from “A Christmas Story” but aged and fattened.
TenguPhule
@germy:
Sadly no, otherwise Karl Rove would be a felon.
Immanentize
@germy:
Objection! Assuming facts not in evidence.
J R in WV
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
“Willard” and then Wilmer… who? Wha’? Now I’m confuzed!?!
O… yeah, Mitt, better than Willard… said no one, ever
;-)
Immanentize
@germy: There is one picture with his hands up that makes him look like the Abominable Snow Man from Rudolf
And Bumbles bounce.
Monala
@germy: I’m a dog owner, so I have to ask: can cats have their nails trimmed and filed like dogs do?
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Martin:
hehe, wonder if the Dems were trolling Graham knowing he would go dipshit on them hand the Dems the pize. If feels the Congressional Dems, much like the Russians, have a good read on these guy’s thinking.
mrmoshpotato
@Baud:
Well now it’s time. Subpoena, standardpoena, superpoena, superduperpoena.
House Judiciary should put it in their fist, and fucking pummel Barr. Then drag his ass before the committee.
Dump will whine about all this anyway like the Soviet shitpile mobster that he is.
Roger Moore
@Amir Khalid:
This is my basic take on it. Clawing stuff is normal behavior for a cat, and anyone who wants to get a cat needs to accept that. If you care more about your furniture than about your cat, you shouldn’t get a cat.
Cacti
@Geeno:
That’s not quite accurate. Sanguinis citizenship and naturalized citizenship are not the same thing.
germy
@Monala: I clip my cat’s nails. I can tell she needs it when she starts getting stuck in things, like our blanket.
I hold her on my lap. I let her sniff the clipper. She’s familiar with the routine. She lies on her back on my lap and lets me clip each claw (she’s polydactyl so she has extras). I need to do this to prevent ingrown claws that curl around and go back into her paw. At first she would try to jump away, but I whisper to her that it’s okay. It’s now something she accepts and seems to even enjoy the attention.
She will sometimes remain in that position on my lap after I’m done.
But not for long. And then she’s off to her next adventure…
mrmoshpotato
@Sab: Quality not quantity.
Rick “D in Meats” Perry!
debbie
@HeleninEire:
Subpoena Time!
germy
@Immanentize:
Just a light snack.
J R in WV
@Sab:
Our vets and all their techs know how to handle a cat under all circumstances. Our cats are pretty well behaved, but get wrapped in a warm towel and squeezed firmly so as to be mostly unable to do more than wriggle a little bit. And I scritch their foreheads after they’re wrapped up, and they purr.
Professional~!~
Geeno
@Cacti: Soil is/was/always has been the US default. Citizenship by blood has always been subject to ever-changing laws defining what it means. It didn’t apply to McCain, for example, because the children of military personnel were exempted, and his father was a naval officer and his mother a navy nurse.
The SCOTUS has seemed to regard any citizenship due to law and not soil as “naturalized”.
rikyrah
Senator Hirono
READ?HIM?FOR?FILTH?
Yes Yes Yes
I could watch it on an endless loop
J R in WV
@Amir Khalid:
Yes, my friend. One of our cats – a 14 pound black tortie – works on the wickerwork couch most every day. We take turns shouting at her to knock it off!! which she ignores. Then at bed time she curls up between us and purrs…who cares about the wickerwork.
After 15 years, she has left her mark on those pieces of furniture, but they sit just as well, and the cat purrs.
Gex
@LeftCoastYankee: Maybe. But Occam’s Razor should be considered here. His approval numbers in SC have skyrocketed since he made the switch from mild critic to total lackey.
ETA: Which is not to say I don’t think he’s corrupt. i think a lot of them got dirty money so covering for Trump helps cover themselves.
different-church-lady
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Jesus ever-lovin’ Christ, PHRASING!!!
SiubhanDuinne
@HeleninEire:
Absolutely. I love that, and plan to use it henceforth.
SiubhanDuinne
@HeleninEire:
What. A. Fucking. Craven. COWARDY CUSTARD.
different-church-lady
@trollhattan:
The poor dear!
lamh36
I think it’s a stupid idea to still hold the hearing if Barr doesn’t show up.
The whole “empty chair” bit is stupid.
He won’t show up…fine…cancel the hearing.
Subpeona him…course he wont’ show up…so then they’ll hold him in contempt.
that’s it.
Time to subpeona Mueller and get him in front of the comittee
Roger Moore
@Monala:
It’s possible to trim cats’ claws. Not all cats tolerate having their claws trimmed, and cats can still damage stuff by clawing with trimmed claws.
Sab
@J R in WV: Actually, my vet does that. I think he and his staff are pretty tough. They just hate putting down cats who clawed rich peoples furniture. This is actually an unfortunate part of their practice.
Cacti
@Geeno:
Right, but naturalized citizenship in this country means that you’ve gone through the naturalization process set forth in the Immigration and Nationality Act. You’re correct in that SCOTUS hasn’t decided whether sanguinis citizenship outside the US or its territories satisfies the “natural born” requirements of the Constitution.
mrmoshpotato
@Sab: Would it be more accurate to call these rich people morons?
mrmoshpotato
@different-church-lady: What? Jim’s phrasing is fine. ?
J R in WV
@different-church-lady:
OK, now… I’m pretty sure we’ve had this conversation once before. Deja vu, anyone?
I think the phrasing is perfect, still, I do ~!!~
opiejeanne
@lamh36: i heard him admit that and my jaw dropped. I think he said that Rosenstein hadn’t either but the narrative shifted to Rosenstein being both a witness and doing his job. And Barr trying to pretend the two things happened in two separate universes.
Amir Khalid
@different-church-lady:
I think that depends on just how much sex he had, if you know what I mean.
Omnes Omnibus
@Amir Khalid: I refuse to know what you mean.
Sab
@mrmoshpotato: No. They are still very rich. At that level nobody cares about your IQ or even if your synapses connect.
Also, most of the veterinarians I know used med school as a fallback. They were that intelligent. They could have gone to med school but vet school was their first choice.But they still have to listen to very rich idiots who own pets.
mrmoshpotato
@Sab: Rich morons then?
jc
The horrible thing about attorneys like AG Barr is that Congress members like Hirono and Harris can pin him to the wall, but he’ll come right back and lie some more to your face. It’s that Paul Manafort level of assholish-ness that we see so often in those associated with this administration. Impeachment is the only appropriate response to such arrogant abuse of office. But it’s Trump himself that is the root cause of this fiasco of an executive branch.
mrmoshpotato
Watching Dr. Maddow right now.
Rachel on Barr testimony: “…follows the hollowed American legal tradition – If you really don’t think you’re bad, then no one can arrest you.”
“Fuck ’em” as efg would say.
Bill Arnold
@SiubhanDuinne:
That bothered you too?
But otherwise, she was rather good for a Senator. Good timing, good mental speed, good repertoire and speed of facial (including eyes) expressions. Properly prepared and practiced, she would vivisect D.J. Trump in debates.
Steeplejack
@SiubhanDuinne:
The sarc tags are “//,” not “\\,” damn it. You are dead to me now!