Here’s the live stream of Special Counsel Mueller testifying before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Just a quick note about all the hot takes on how Special Counsel Mueller performed this morning to keep in mind as he testifies this afternoon:
Mueller was, and will be again this afternoon, the quintessential example of a career DOJ official. He says no more than he feels he should and that’s it. He also now has serious old man voice. Together this presents as visually reticent to befuddled, but it isn’t. You’ll notice when he’s had his team’s integrity impugned, he’s been more animated. No disrespect to Jeremy Bash, but he’s a political appointee, not someone whose made a career in National Security positions of different types. His understanding and approach and expectation of how you respond to these things is different than the one Mueller learned and has abided by during his long career first as a civil servant and then as an appointed senior leader. And Frank Figliuzzi’s explanation of this reality was spot on. The news media screaming that he didn’t give them the juicy media clips they want is just garbage. Finally, this format that the committee’s use for these hearings wasn’t and isn’t designed to actually produce detailed, delineated, thoughtful responses. If the Democrats on the committee, or Democrats in Congress, or anyone else wanted that, then committee counsel should have been given the first two hours, 1/2 hours each rotation for the Democratic and Republican counsels, to ask appropriate questions and elicit detailed answers in follow ups. The final hour to 90 minutes could be reserved for individual member questions. Optimally, the whole hearing would have been done by the committee counsel and the members would have sat there and taken notes.
Open thread!
Adam L Silverman
Adam L Silverman
zhena gogolia
Nash geroi Nunes govorit. Kakaia khuinia.
Elizabelle
And we’re back.
Nunes is up. You have to watch for yourself. I cannot keep up with his lying and hyperbolizing. He certainly led off with a bang.
Called it the last gasp for Democrats, or something along those lines.
What a fucker.
zhena gogolia
“Salacious”! Pee-pee tape!
Elizabelle
I am turning this on mute. I would rather read Nunes’ performance drama later. Will not give him my ears.
zhena gogolia
Steele was “desperate that Trump lose the election”
BECAUSE TRUMP’S A RUSSIAN AGENT!!!!
zhena gogolia
“his lover” DRINK!
zhena gogolia
Again I say, Mifsud is in Gym Jordan’s basement.
Soprano2
Boy, Nunes is getting in all the Republican’s greatest hits, isn’t he?
Elizabelle
His lips are moving, but I cannot hear him. And I don’t read lips.
Nunes gets the Trump treatment. I hope that means long prison terms for both of them. (Although I meant: hit the mute when they open their mouths.)
zhena gogolia
The Democrats colluded with Russia to lose the election!!!!
marion
Schiff’s opening statement was eloquent. Should be required reading.
patrick II
How was the questioning parsed out during the WaterGate hearings?
Tinare
@zhena gogolia: Seriously. This is the craziest talking point of this whole thing.
Soprano2
“Benghazi” Nunes has no room at all to talk about fantasies!
TenguPhule
@Elizabelle:
I’m fairly sure none of us have done you wrong enough to deserve that.
TenguPhule
@patrick II:
I understand they used genuine real lawyers back then to ask the questions.
rikyrah
Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) Tweeted:
Here we go. Mainstream news pundits are talking about Mueller being old and boring. Bad TV. Media critics completely ignoring the fact that a president was caught dead-to-rights obstructing justice and a party is undermining national security. https://twitter.com/JYSexton/status/1154065683849842689?s=17
Elizabelle
Schiff to Zebley: “There is an angry man down the street who is not happy about you being here today.”
LOL. This after Nunes huffs that Zebley will be getting no questions from the GOP members.
Elizabelle
@TenguPhule: LOL. True. Have to be selective about which of these weasels get our ears.
Hearing upthread that Brian Williams is on the permaweasel list.
lamh36
I’m know fan of Mueller, but I think he did fine.
Some Folks, especially Dems need to stop playing the GOP game of making Mueller seems like some doddering ole dude.
I know we are disappointed in his report but some folks are projecting their own anger and disappointment and letting it color the substance that coming from this hearing.
Folk gotta focus on that and not playing the media and punditry game to minimize what Mueller said pretty strongly
Besides GOP got no sound bites to take home, but the Dems did…I mean thx to GOP Rep Buck, we got Mueller on the record confirming they yes the Pres vomited obstruction and the only reason he didn’t charge cuss did the sitting Prez memo, but once out Chump CAN be charged
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
This is so frustrating. The investigation didn’t find no evidence of conspiracy with Russia, it found insufficient evidence to charge. That means, it found evidence, just not enough.
And while the investigation was unable to find sufficient evidence of conspiracy, it did find plenty of evidence of obstruction of justice. Logically, the reason why the conspiracy evidence was insufficient is because of the successful obstruction of the investigation by Trump, which he would have been charged with if he was anything other than the POTUS.
Seriously, not fucking rocket science.
grubert
With the kind of vitriol the Republicans are pouring out, I can completely understand that Robert Mueller would not want his face speaking certain words going viral across mainstream and social media.
He has a healthy sense of self-preservation.
TenguPhule
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford:
I blame television and movies for convincing the general public that this means the perp is not guilty, not just really good at not getting caught.
Martin
@TenguPhule: Which is what they should have done here.
zhena gogolia
He just walked back what he said to Lieu.
zhena gogolia
This is the part Mueller’s really into.
Cheryl Rofer
Mueller sounds much better in this hearing, is answering more quickly. Looks like a smaller room, probably better for his hearing.
Martin
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford:
That’s not correct either. It said it was immaterial to find that evidence because the president cannot be charged, per OLC memo.
That’s the ballgame. Mueller went into this knowing he couldn’t charge, so why waste time building a case there? So he didn’t.
jl
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford: ” it found insufficient evidence to charge”
That is a key point, but just that standard, alone, doesn’t mean much on its own. Insufficient evidence for what? Maybe it means something to lawyers, but of IANAL me, I think I need some context. IANAL me has been going on the assumption that the phrase refers to charge for conviction for violating a criminal statute in a court of law. Point needs to be made that is a high standard and reduces Trumpsters’ defense to “Well, hey, he didn’t violate any laws, so Trump’s behavior is fine’. Most people would not tolerate that standard of conduct with people they deal with in their personal lives. So what does that say about Trump’s conduct as president? Would you accept that standard for your significant other, neighbor, friend, or person who mows your lawn? Person who does your taxes?
Elizabelle
Mueller: “It is not a witch hunt.”
Maybe that’s a clear enough statement for some highly paid MSNBC hacks. And Mags Haberman.
misterpuff
@rikyrah: Pundits: “Old News. Worse, Boring News” “We want a caning, is that too much to ask for?”
TenguPhule
@Martin:
I won’t disagree with you.
A Ghost To Most
And that is how it’s done.
Elizabelle
Nunes is up. Bathroom break. Make yourselves that tea or coffee you desire.
TenguPhule
@Elizabelle:
My, you’re feeling overly optimistic today. //
zhena gogolia
@TenguPhule:
I lived through Watergate. There was lots of questioning by House members. I remember Weicker distinctly.
TenguPhule
@jl:
Lots of people actually do look for that in a tax preparer. Which is why they usually wind up going to prison eventually.
H.E.Wolf
@TenguPhule:
Well, to be fair, many of the elected US Reps and US Senators in those hearings were genuine real lawyers, as is true in our current Congress.
You’re right, though! There were lawyers on staff who conducted a lot of the questioning. Samuel Dash, the chief counsel on the Democratic staff of the Senate Watergate Committee, wrote a book about his experience, which I read recently and found very interesting.
“Chief Counsel: Inside the Ervin Committee – the Untold Story of Watergate” by Samuel Dash, Random House, 1976.
I’ve also been reading biographies of Barbara Jordan recently. Now there’s a genuine real lawyer! If her health had permitted, she might have made it onto the Supreme Court.
grubert
Nunes: “with an unlimited budget.”
Mueller: “I would not say we had an unlimited budget.”
Nunes is working way too hard..
zhena gogolia
Why is Boris Johnson on the screen?
Soprano2
What the fuck is Nunes talking about?
Elizabelle
Nice. Photo of Mifsud with Boris Johnson. Timely. Two untrustworthy wankers. What’s yer point, Nunes?
TenguPhule
@zhena gogolia: Half of the House Members asking questions were not bugfuck insane Nazi zombies during Watergate.
trollhattan
@TenguPhule:
“Despite its not being a ‘witch hunt’ we found a significant number of witches.”
Doug R
@zhena gogolia:
Could you get any more Russian troll than the name Boris Johnson?
TenguPhule
@zhena gogolia:
To prove God is dead.
Steeplejack
@zhena gogolia:
Google Translate chokes on “Kakaia khuinia.” Translation?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Elizabelle: Why is Nunes trying to emphasize the way the Russians promoted Brexit and Brexiteers?
Cheryl Rofer
@Soprano2: Mueller said in his opening statement that he wouldn’t address the counterintel investigation before he joined it. That’s all Nunes is asking about.
plato
zhena gogolia
@Steeplejack:
What a load of horseshit.
Literally dick-ery.
misterpuff
@zhena gogolia: Lowell Weicker was a Senator during Watergate. I was a junior in high school.
TenguPhule
@Doug R:
Edward Snowden.
Donald Trump.
Soprano2
@Cheryl Rofer: I guess that’s why I had no idea what he was talking about. It sounded like a bunch of conspiracy theory gobbledygook to me.
trollhattan
@plato:
You know who, who’s definitely not watching, Twatted this anyway:
Elizabelle
@Soprano2: It’s terrifying that a compleat hack like Nunes had so much oversight of intelligence activities. He is horrible.
trollhattan
@H.E.Wolf:
Wouldn’t that have been something. Justice Jordan in lieu of Justice Thomas. Discuss.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@trollhattan: I’m not watching, cause I got stuff to do, but before I go do it
I’d say Marshall and trump (his lizard brain survival instinct) are watching the same thing from different angles
Elizabelle
@trollhattan: Shifty Schiff.
Agree. What a twat. Twatwaffle, right?
Yutsano
@TenguPhule: @zhena gogolia: My brain recognized it as Hawai’ian for some reason. Even with the KH in there.
jl
If I were a Congresscritter some questions I want Mueller to answer:
1) What standard did you you use to determine sufficiency of evidence, was it conviction of violation of a criminal statute?
2) If the answer to the above is yes, and you determined at the outset that you would not charge the president with a crime, why was that high standard of evidence relevant? Was this your decision or did you feel this was the standard mandated by your description of work?
3) Why did you use the word ‘unconstitutional’ to describe the OLC opinion? SCOTUS hasn’t ruled on it, right?
and probably a question that should be asked, but too snarky:
4) To what extent are you being so circumspect in your public statements and testimony because you feel bound by your position, and to what extend is it the feeling that you can’t do the whole goddamned job yourself?
OK, final question:
5) is it true that you contacted the corrupt malfeasant toad Barr, who should be impeached, to ask him to publish a document instructing you to limit your testimony? That seems odd given that you would not be legally bound by such an instruction?
I think question 2 is important. It seems to IANAL me that issue is striking inconsistency in the logic of what Mueller did. Or maybe there is a non-sequitur in the logic of the standards of evidence used in reporting the conclusions. That question has bugged me for a while.
But IANAL, so maybe someone can enlighten me on these points.
TenguPhule
@Elizabelle:
One of the biggest disappointments that Mueller gave us was that he never brought charges against Nunes for leaking information to Trump at the Whitehouse when the dirty fucker was caught red handed.
Ohio Mom
Okay, I just got here — spent the morning at a conference about local housing by options for people with disability.
In 25 words or less, what have I missed?
Elizabelle
It’s Ratcliffe again. (And the Democrat immediately prior, whose name I did not get, just asked if Mueller was asked to leave anything out of his report, and then ceded his time.)
Ohio Mom
@Ohio Mom: On second thought, after a quick look at the thread before this one, I think I catch up.
zhena gogolia
@Ohio Mom:
Mueller won’t say anything unless it’s already in the report. This is what we’ve expected. Democrats use their time to read passages from the report, Repub’s are pretty much Strzok-Page all the time.
The media thinks Mueller is boring. They’re not interested in the substance of what’s being discussed.
TenguPhule
@Ohio Mom:
Republicans behaving badly. Democrats trying to get a straight answer. Mueller speaks softly.
plato
Elizabelle
@TenguPhule: That is almost haiku.
Gin & Tonic
@Yutsano: The trouble with transliterated Cyrillic, because we can’t use the real thing here.
Soprano2
Boy, they sure are obsessed with that FISA warrant, aren’t they? Do they remember that Page had left the campaign by the time of the warrant?
zhena gogolia
It cracks me up when they refer to the Russian “Crown Prosecutor.” What Crown?
reid
@Adam L Silverman: Chuck Rosenberg defines unexciting but important.
zhena gogolia
Just tried again — Cyrillic comments don’t get posted.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
@TenguPhule: It isn’t like there was no evidence to convict OJ Simpson of murdering his wife – there was just insufficient evidence for that particular jury to convict Simpson,
TenguPhule
@Soprano2:
Republicans: “Don’t try to confuse us with facts!”
TenguPhule
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford: Trying to frame a guilty man didn’t help either.
MrSnrub
@TenguPhule:
Worst haiku ever.
zhena gogolia
Christ, what an asshole
Soprano2
@TenguPhule: This drives me absolutely crazy! Every time they say the FBI was spying on Trump through Page I wish someone would say “But hadn’t Page left the campaign by then?”
donnah
My representative, Mike “Asshole” Turner, is mincing legal terms. Jeezus.
Exonerate.
Vidya Pradhan
@Elizabelle: I’m embarrassed for California.
H.E.Wolf
@trollhattan:
I’d rather not. Counterfactuals, as President Truman said (apologies, I’m paraphrasing), are a waste of time.
Former Congresswoman Jordan did, however, teach ethics at the University of Texas in Austin, training up a new generation of genuine real lawyers; and she inspired many, in Texas and out of it, to run for office and serve their country as she did.
She was a great American patriot. May her memory live on.
A Ghost To Most
Turner sounds like an Animal House speech.
grubert
Can there be a weaker attack then to go on about Mueller not having the “power to exonerate?” Michael Turner (R-Ohio)
zhena gogolia
God, Dostoevsky wrote about this kind of assholery in The Brothers Karamazov. “There was no money. There was no robbery. There was no murder either!”
Elizabelle
@donnah: Case-Western wants its law degree back.
And that stunt of going to Mueller’s (!) law school and copying the law book he presumably studied … these people are nuts.
It tells us, though, what bothers Trump and his GOP lizard brain weasels. No exoneration.
TenguPhule
@Soprano2: They’ve learned that bald faced lies mean nothing because nobody in the fucking media is gonna hold the Republicans responsible for anything they say.
Only long term negative reinforcement can put a stop to this.
zhena gogolia
@Elizabelle:
It was snark, since I assume UVA is a higher-rated law school than Case Western.
“See, I just went to Case Western, but I know law better than you!”
Elizabelle
@zhena gogolia: We are speaking of Mr. Turner, of Ohio?
Why yes. Yes, he is.
All these GOP Buckeye State assholes are Example A of why Ohio should not necessarily be considered a swing state candidate anymore. Especially with voter suppression in the cities.
Poor Kay.
Fleeting Expletive
What was that whole existential debate about “exonerate”? He sorta hinted at a shadow of a real point, like guilty doesn’t mean innocent? I’m not sure his blow landed.
zhena gogolia
I loved that — “I’m not saying it’s not true, but I can’t agree with it.”
No non-lawyer can understand that.
Elizabelle
Another white guy Republican from Ohio on the Intel Committee! What, did they colonize it?
plato
Mike in DC
Could they ask a question about kompromat, whether any information was uncovered regarding this, if it had been what would have been done with that info? I know Mueller will largely shine it on, but the follow up question would have been under whose purview that would fall.
TenguPhule
@plato: Republicans and Media: “This is fine.”
Betty Cracker
Not watching the testimony live, but these two clips — Schiff’s statement in the first and his questions and Mueller’s responses in the second — seem like the whole ball of wax:
Elizabelle
Brad Wenstrup. This guy is an absolute snake.
TenguPhule
If Democrats don’t run this clip for the next 15 months, they should fire all their consultants for political malpractice.
Haroldo
@Elizabelle:
I think ‘Poor Kay’, ‘Poor Ohio-Mom’, and ‘Poor Ohio-anybody’ these days. Actually I started thinking that a long time ago.
Elizabelle
Jackie Speier, up to deodorize the room.
TenguPhule
@Elizabelle:
Serpentes legal counsel on line two complaining about defamation.
H.E.Wolf
@trollhattan:
@Elizabelle:
I ask, with the greatest respect for folks who like to employ the term(s), that we cease to use terms for women’s body parts to describe things we think are bad. Thank you.
(I know I’m tediously repetitive about this. Language has power.)
Adam L Silverman
@H.E.Wolf: And it was Minority Counsel, J. Fred Thompson, who asked the key question of Alexander Butterfield that elicited the answer that there were White House tapes of Nixon’s conversations.
TenguPhule
This fucking timeline.
SFAW
@Elizabelle:
Assuming we are rid of the Traitor-in-Chief before I die, one of the (minor) things I will be extremely happy to see gone is his stupid fucking name-calling. I think if people started doing that to him — “Hey, Dickless Donnie the Dumbass Deadbeat, how many more moronic lies did you tell today?” — he’d have a stroke.
Barbara
@H.E.Wolf: Thanks for taking up my lonely and seemingly futile quest on this point. I hope your efforts get more traction than mine have. At least it’s not routine here.
Yutsano
@TenguPhule: Think more professional courtesy. Since some consider the legal profession rather serpentine because of the less than upstanding members.
And I say this as someone who has been told on multiple occasions I’d make a really good attorney.
Steeplejack
@Doug R:
“Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson” sounds more Russian, albeit in a pre-Communist way.
TenguPhule
His integrity is unquestioned, his common sense though….
plato
eric
@Barbara: you have succeeded in me using certain words MUCH less than I used to (i cannot guarantee complete compliance)
Adam L Silverman
@Elizabelle: Ratcliffe, like Nunes, is auditioning for Director of National Intelligence if Coats gets forced out.
VeniceRiley
Verizon is having some major internet outages for cell service. Perhaps it’s purposeful.
jl
@TenguPhule: Exception that proves the rule!
Adam L Silverman
@reid: I remember the one time on air during Wallace’s show when he cracked a joke. His facial expression and the tone, timber, and pitch of his phone never changed.
Elizabelle
It’s terrifying hearing these Republican congressmen. Many of them have legal training. They are lawless. They obfuscate. They thunder on the wrong points.
This recent one, going after Mueller’s office for the leak of the letter to AG Barr (I think, was listening with half an ear). It’s insane, since the Mueller investigation was conducted leaklessly UNTIL the Attorney General got out there, misrepresenting and lying about its work and conclusions.
They frighten me. They are that depraved and dishonest.
grubert
Nunes volunteered or was assigned to the GPS/Steele/Clinton conspiracy .. his questions are just excuses to catapult that propaganda.
SenyorDave
@Elizabelle: They frighten me. They are that depraved and dishonest.
And 40%+ of Americans buy into their rhetoric. Trump’s attacks on the media as the “enemy of the people” worked to perfection, from his point of view.
Elizabelle
“The Clinton campaign’s dirty ops arm.” Really, Mr. Nunes?
After speaking a few minutes earlier of the Democrat National Committee.
Leto
At physical therapy so following the Intel portion here.
Immanentize
@H.E.Wolf:
Are terms for male body parts as negatives still available for use?
sukabi
@SFAW: yes, but he wouldn’t stroke out until AFTER he’d displayed his tiny shroom for all to see.
Immanentize
@SFAW:
The Mayor: “Is that true?”
Dr. Venkman: “Yes, this man has no dick.”
Yutsano
@Leto: Oh you gotta love long term professional torture eh? The general rule of thumb is it takes about a month to recover from one week in a hospital bed. Plus you probably have other deficits to overcome as well. Good luck!
mrmoshpotato
@Elizabelle: Nunes has gotta bring up Hillary, or his cow will kick him out of bed tonight.
I thought this was universal knowledge.
Immanentize
@Steeplejack:
Just call him “Sasha” and find out.
Plato
Yet another russian stooge gets revealed.
reid
@Adam L Silverman: Any drier and he would turn to a pile of ash! I respect him tremendously but I’m not sure I could work with someone that humorless (despite him allegedly telling a joke at one point).
mrmoshpotato
@Immanentize: Walter Peck: “Jeez!”
Raven
@Steeplejack: Hey, did you know this??
Irving Townsend (1920–1981) was an American record producer and author. He is most famous for having produced the Miles Davis album Kind of Blue, which is the best-selling jazz album of all time according to the RIAA. He later served as president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States.[3][4]
Immanentize
@eric:
I’ve been crazy busy … in fact in a waiting room right now. Are you at B&W Friday? Try jpokorak at that Google mail thingy….
sukabi
@Plato: thought that bit of info (Assange / Manafort /Wikileaks / Russians) came out a week or so ago, without much comment.
Renie
It makes me aggravated the media talking about how ‘boring’ the hearing is and how Mueller appears blah. The guy is 74 years old and he is being asked questions about a 22 month investigation that resulted in a report over 400 pages. No one would be able to remember everything. He’s a lawyer who answers the question. He’s not a politician that spins everything. Yes I wish he would contradict the conspiracy theories the GOP members talk about but that’s not part of his role. If we didn’t have a media that treats news like a ‘twitter’ show Americans would be more inclined to pay better attention.
Elizabelle
@Adam L Silverman: I am now rooting more for Coats.
I would not think Nunes is confirmable. (Is it a position that requires confirmation?) Ratcliffe is less obviously batshit.
Steeplejack
OT: Scotian has updated his GoFundMe page (currently at C$12,405) with a much more detailed account of his situation.
HRA
Nunes did not get what he was digging for moments ago from Mueller. Good job, Mueller!
I did not get into the previous discussion on time and I want to address my own personal opinion.
I did not read the Mueller report. I went to my usual places to get my information about it. I believe Nadler’s hearing was very educational in that it even gave a close Trump voter to personally the opportunity to express a liking to it. In addition, I believe we are closer to impeachment now.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@reid: A friend worked for him. She says he’s not a people person.
Elizabelle
They’re back. Eric Swalwell up.
HRA
Yuk Sorry for that messed up sentence and fear trying to go back to fix it on my new desk top.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
sounds like a name Mel Brooks came up with for a cameo role by Zero Mostel in that scene in Blazing Saddles
Barbara
@eric: Thanks! Did you see my response to your comments on Medicare Advantage cost sharing the other day?
Steeplejack
@Raven:
I did not know that. I know he wrote some other books, most of them apparently out of print. I’d like to find that one Separate Lifetimes, but not for 80 bucks!
Barbara
@Immanentize: I personally avoid using them in that manner. I am an equal opportunity prig in that regard.
reid
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I am not surprised. Can’t imagine him going out for beers with the gang.
Adam L Silverman
@reid: I worked for a retired ambassador that has the same dry wit and permanent poker face. He has an excellent sense of humor and was a great boss and remains a great friend and colleague. You’d be amazed what becomes apparent in day today events.
Elizabelle
@Steeplejack: Scotian does not owe us one word of explanation.
I think we should make financial support of Siobhan an ongoing campaign, for as long as she needs it.
eric
@Immanentize: i sent something into the ether!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Adam L Silverman: from his podcast, I get the impression that Rosenberg is an old-fashioned gentleman with a lot of friends, at least enough to do a dozen podcasts with (former) high-ranking officials of the DoJ and the national security establishment
H.E.Wolf
@Immanentize:
Availability for use is always 100% yes for every word in every language. Recommended for use is another matter, as we all know, which is why (for example) the N word is considered inappropriate for use in most situations.
As for using terms for male body parts in a derogatory context, I try to refrain from using them that way. There are occasions when I need almost superhuman self-control so to refrain. But not at the present moment. :-)
Off-topic: sending good thoughts to you and your son. May all be well.
eric
@Barbara: i did not oof
and I preach to the unwashed that they too should change their fucking vocabulary
Steeplejack
@Elizabelle:
I think of it as his testament.
Adam L Silverman
@Elizabelle: Coats has done a good job. It is a largely thankless position.
Nunes’ problem will be because of serious counterintelligence concerns regarding his disclosure of classified and/or proprietary US government information to Portuguese and Azorean officials that he is likely disqualified from being granted a clearance. The only reason he has access now is because he’s the ranking member of HPSCI.
Soprano2
Joseph Misfud is not at the center of the special counsel investigation. LOL
H.E.Wolf
@Adam L Silverman:
Thank you for the reminder! I’d forgotten that.
Adam L Silverman
@Steeplejack: No one deserves to have this many bad things happen to them in short order.
bluefish
Delurking to say yes to all you wrote. Straight up! Thank you.
Adam L Silverman
@Elizabelle: He did a good job.
Scotian
Well this has not been dull. The dems did well I’d say. It will be interesting to track the media ripples and “expert analysis” for the rest of the day. I’m glad I held on long enough to see this day. We have much to chew over for the rest of the day and I look forward to being a part of that here as much as my meds let me. This sort of thing is one of the reasons I stayed here over the last 2 years in regards to getting my intellect fed in these days of intellectual dishonesty and wastelands.
Yet another reason to sing/howl like a jackel all right.
David Macdonald
West of the Rockies
Rutger Hauer has died. “I’ve seen things…”
Elizabelle
@Scotian: Lovely to have you here. I wish your time would be long enough to see Trump and crew get their just desserts.
Elizabelle
@Adam L Silverman: He did. Am happy to see him dedicating his full efforts to being a House member. It is plenty important. Go Mr. Swalwell.
Elizabelle
The WaPost right now, huge headline:
Elizabelle
Will Hurd, come join the Democratic party. You can name what kind of [blue] dog you would like to be.
Not following the GOP Kool Aid line of questioning. Good on him.
Steeplejack
@Adam L Silverman:
Agreed.
Adam L Silverman
@West of the Rockies:
Steeplejack
@Elizabelle:
Just deserts.
Aw, hell, screw it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
reid
@Adam L Silverman: Yes, I’ve never met Rosenberg, so I’m just reading him from his TV appearances. It’s hard to distinguish between no sense of humor and a very, very dry sense of humor. I would have no trouble working with the latter.
H.E.Wolf
@eric
I join Barbara (and perhaps others) in thanking you!
@eric: :
Hee hee! In the years when I was teaching theatre students, I grew very tired of the “party pieces” full of Bad Words. Bless their hearts, they thought it was so transgressive… but I always thought of the 1960s-era comment by Jean Kerr, from her essay on theatre in her book “Penny Candy”:
“I do not like to hear the most explicit four-letter words spoken from the stage because I number among my acquaintances persons of such candor and quick temper that, for me, the thrill is gone.”
And now, I love you all, and I have GOT to quit chatting and get some work done.
ETA: fixed my error in the placement of eric’s comments.
mrmoshpotato
@Steeplejack: Mmmmm dry sand pie with a scoop of sandy sand
SFAW
@sukabi:
Not a price I’m yet willing to pay.
Adam L Silverman
@reid: My former boss is actually hilarious. And when he needs to, he can employ that humor to cut someone to shreds while appearing to simply be polite. I watched him do that to Susan McManus, now professor emiritus of political science at USF and full time Bush family retainer and catspaw in Florida, at the Florida Political Science Association banquet in 2003. If she could have left the room, I think she would have. But she couldn’t so she had to sit there and take it as he slowly, publicly, and with a twinkle in his eye and a wry smile, he rhetorically eviscerated and then flayed her for all in attendance.
Elizabelle
@mrmoshpotato: I was thinking “wait! I did not pie him!”
mrmoshpotato
@sukabi: Leave Toad out of this. What’s he ever do to you? ?
Steeplejack
@mrmoshpotato:
Just feeling triggered today because I keep seeing “Woah!” and realize that 50,000 teenage illiterates on the Web can make anything a thing.
(Woah up to 37.7 million hits and gaining on whoa at 54.9 million hits.)
mrmoshpotato
@Elizabelle: Hahaha.
@Toocananj
@H.E.Wolf:
Delurking to agree with you. Hard to believe it needs to be said. And said again.
mrmoshpotato
@Steeplejack: I gather there’s an online argument about the spelling of “woah.” If not, I’m massively confused.
satby
@Steeplejack: ???
It’s a dirty job….
And autocorrect is part of the increase in misuse I bet. I type the correct word and seldom catch that autocorrect has exchanged it for a homonym.
zhena gogolia
The usual catch-22 they keep playing. Trump refused to talk to them, so it’s somehow damaging to their report that they didn’t talk to him.
zhena gogolia
@zhena gogolia:
Wait, is this guy a Democrat?
zhena gogolia
@zhena gogolia:
Oh, okay, he’s a Rethug.
A Good Woman
@Adam L Silverman: I am so going to miss Hauer.
zhena gogolia
@zhena gogolia:
Oops, no he’s a Democrat. Not coming through clearly what he’s trying to establish.
geg6
@West of the Rockies:
Really a great actor. Most memorable for me are Blade Runner (of course), The Hitcher and Escape from Sobibor (a tv movie). But he was in lots of stuff and almost unfailingly excellent. RIP.
TaMara (HFG)
@Leto: Good to see you here! I haven’t been around much, so I’ve probably missed your return by many, many weeks. <3
TaMara (HFG)
@Scotian: And always so glad to see your nym pop up!
Elizabelle
Rep. Val Demings: Could you say the President was credible?
Mueller: I cannot answer that.
West of the Rockies
@geg6:
I just read that he improvised that speech Adam posted above… My goodness.
trollhattan
@mrmoshpotato:
Woah, what is it good foah?
mrmoshpotato
@trollhattan: Absolutely muffins!
Elizabelle
I wonder if this is the last time Robert Mueller will testify before Congress.
What say you jackals?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Adam L Silverman: Did he drive a beat up old red pickup? That J. Fred Thompson?
Steeplejack (phone)
@mrmoshpotato:
Whoa is the word. Woah is the “alternative” that sprang up on line.
Inventor
@geg6: I once sat across the aisle from him on a flight from L.A. to Amsterdam. Although I’ve forgotten why, I got upgraded to 1st Class on the KLM flight. He was a very large man. RIP.
Ben Cisco
@trollhattan: You’re wrong for that.
Cheryl Rofer
Schiff is good.
Mike in NC
Today it was 75 degrees outside. Maybe the first day all month when it wasn’t in the 90s with massive humidity, so I did a few hours of long overdue yard work. Will crack a beer and catch up on the hearing before dinner.
Rutger Hauer was only 75 years old. No details about COD yet. Perfect in ‘Blade Runner’.
Elizabelle
I thought Adam Schiff’s last questions about Trump’s Trump Tower building plans were weak. How would Mueller know that?
But a good hearing. Mueller was more expansive in the afternoon.
Elizabelle
Mr. Zebley never got to open his mouth.
Leto
@Yutsano: Long term is the proper term. 1 week = 1 month? So I have… (checks the math, carries the 1, pulls out his toes…) more time to go. Check! :)
@TaMara (HFG): It’s ok! I’ve actually been limiting my online time, like yourself, for sanity reasons. Pacing and all. Catching up on a ton of books, rewatching Downton Abbey for September’s movie premier, spending time with friends… we’ve a long way to go and we all need to be rested. :) <3
Hoodie
@Elizabelle: The point of those questions was Schiff was exploring the logical extension of what Mueller had already agreed with, a bigger picture of Trump as a lying, greedy shitbag who would sell out his country for money and power. He got Mueller going on the whole duty, honor, country thing and made a pretty good run with it. There is a lot of good video of those strings of questions in which Mueller is eagerly agreeing with what Schiff is saying.
Generally, I’m glad that they did Part II of the report this morning, because that deals more with technical legal issues and all the Democrats were trying to do there was laying out the elements of the crime, somewhat like an arraignment. There can be more testimony on those issues in an impeachment inquiry. Part I really raises the more central issues, and because it was not strictly about legal findings, Mueller was a little freer to editorialize.
lurker dean
mueller begging not to let the problem linger. hmmm, wonder what he means.
Eolirin
@lurker dean: Given the context of the surrounding questions, he’s talking about the cyberwarfare and psyops attacks on the election system, specifically.
PaulWartenberg
@West of the Rockies:
I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like… tears in rain. (smile) Time to die. (let go of dove)
Gravenstone
@Elizabelle: If/when impeachment gets rolling, he’ll be back. But those will likely be closed sessions, since he and others will be speaking to the redacted portions of the report.
eemom
@lurker dean:
Apropos, I am sharing this outstanding piece about Pelosi and impeachment that came out today for the few non plant-brains who continue to comment here.
#screaminghordes #sooooootired
Jim, Foolish Literalist
odd phrasing, frankly, from a guy who dragged out the negotiations for his appearance and when in doubt showed deference to a corrupt, dishonest executive who has invited increase foreign intervention in upcoming elections
Yutsano
@trollhattan: You go to your room right now and you think about what you just did mister!*
*what you just did is give me giggle fits at work. Bastage. :P
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@eemom: Your ongoing insults are not helping your argument.
lurker dean
@Eolirin: i’m not sure about that. he is asked to make a statement about what he wants the american people to get out of the report. no reference to cyberwarfare or psyops. there’s a video clip in the link. i’ll admit i haven’t seen the questions before the clip, but the request to make a statement seems to stand on its own.
https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1154090320306552832
Searcher
@H.E.Wolf: As an aside, when attempting to name a generic (non-public) software tool, I spent a lot of time trying to find a word in any language that meant “tool” that was not also a slang for a man’s “tool”.
smintheus
@rikyrah: People say that Idiocracy was ahead of its time, but large parts of it was a straight up description of our swamp people.
sukabi
@SFAW: me neither, but you KNOW he’d go there, that was almost his response to Rubio on the debate stage at the mention of his tiny toddler hands.
apocalipstick
@zhena gogolia: @jl: It seems that Mueller is using the letter to refrain from following Republicans down the conspiracy-theory rabbit hole.
dww44
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yep, I’m having a hard time squaring Mueller’s comments wrt foreign interference in our elections and his stonewalling of the only entity willing to combat that, along with his solicitation from justice to place the limitations on his testimony today. I hope we are able to find out sooner, rather than later. How does he truly feel about Barr?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: Maybe she’s auditioning for Trump’s legal team.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@dww44: I do think, within the bounds of whatever psychological resistance he has to stepping toward the extreme limits of his mandate, or purview, or remit, or whatever, I do think he was trying his best to call for impeachment.
I will admit to the possibility of projection.
For the lawyers: Is it the rules on grand jury secrecy that keep Mueller from saying whether or not trump or Fredo took the fifth? Is that necessarily part of the grand jury process.
apocalipstick
@Mike in DC: No. That was not in the purview of the investigation.
prostratedragon
@zhena gogolia: At last, someone thinks of Fyodor, who reminds me also of the occupant.
Citizen Alan
@smintheus:
The fundamental flaw of Idiocracy was Mike Judge’s facile premise that it would come about through anti-eugenics. That dumb people would outbreed smart people until they ruined the world through superior numbers. The real Idiocracy (at the dawn of which we now find ourselves) is the product of decades of sociopathic rich people systematically destroying our system of public education while feeding the masses a diet of propaganda through our Media, our Entertainment industry, and ultimately through the majority of our churches (most of whose leaders Jesus would chase around with a whip if he were here today).
zhena gogolia
@prostratedragon:
Fyodor (if you mean Karamazov, but Dostoevsky too) had a sense of humor! He was far more attractive than Trump.
Miss Bianca
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: Yeah, plant-brains are always so swayed by meatheads screaming at them.
apocalipstick
@geg6: Hobo With a Shotgun, the most honestly titled movie ever.
Mnemosyne
@H.E.Wolf:
I usually go with “asshole” since we all have one and we all know at least one.
Though I will still refer to some people as “being dicks” about something. There isn’t really another good idiom for that use.
reid
@Adam L Silverman: If I was there for that, I’m sure I would be squirming in my seat but enjoying it all the same!
eemom
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon:
As my comment makes clear, I’m done arguing with pod people.
lurker dean
@eemom: thanks, hadn’t seen that.
Mnemosyne
@geg6:
He was a classic B movie actor who knew he had to be great in every take, because there wouldn’t be a lot of time to get it right. IMO he was the modern-day version of an actor like Peter Cushing who was unfailingly great no matter how bad the rest of the movie around him was.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@eemom:
Trumpian logic at it’s best, when you can’t make a persuasive argument, call folk names.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Mnemosyne:
This is a fair take. Hauer was in some dreadful movies, but I don’t remember him ever being bad.
Has anyone mentioned Soldier of Orange? That was his first big (Dutch) movie. I wonder if it’s available anywhere.
J R in WV
@Doug R:
Yes, his actual real name, which is Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson — far more trollish than his shortened version, to be somewhat more British sounding
Sab
@Elizabelle: I hope so. I admire him a lot, and he seems to hate doing it.
I always admired him plugging away at difficult jobs because duty, and not because ATTENTION which he seemed to hate.
I liked him in these hearings. He followed his set perameters, and dug up what he could within them.
I firmly believe that he firmly believes in the rule of law. Parameters are part of that (hint to Comey). We can’t restore the rule of law if our guys are also jumping the barriers.
I liked these hearings. Our guys sounded sensible, knowledgable, restrined, and concerned.
Their guys sounded uninformed, ignorant and just nuts.
Elizabelle
@Sab: Mueller was very passionate about election security. And he has got to be privately aghast at the Republicans from today’s hearing. They are not going to do squat about it.
J R in WV
@zhena gogolia:
Surely the Tsar’s Crown, isn’t it? Once the Soviet Reds fell from power, the Russian Federation resumed worship of the Holy Tsar, may he rest in peace, right?
J R in WV
@Barbara:
There are non-gendered physical slurs available for use with regard to Trump. For example “You dangling hemorrhoid of a sub-human!”
Or “You despicable anal fissure!”
Isn’t that equal opportunity enough for all?
SWMBO
@J R in WV: Check the Scottish descriptions for him. They have a way with words in regards to Shitgibbon.
Mary Ellen Sandahl
@mrmoshpotato: Devin Nunes Cow @DevinCow does NOT share sleeping quarters with him. Ever!
Amir Khalid
@Immanentize:
One really shouldn’t use those terms, either.