I read the Mueller report a while back and watched the press conference he gave connected with the release, so nothing from yesterday’s testimony surprised me, including Mueller’s affect or lack of drama. Mueller said he didn’t want to testify and would not go beyond the report, and he sounded like a guy who didn’t want to testify and was fanatically devoted to adhering to the text.
There was only one thing that surprised me, and it was in the report; I just didn’t realize the significance of it at the time: the explanation for why Mueller didn’t pursue an in-person interview with Trump. Here’s the explanation he gave in response to questioning by Rep. Maloney yesterday:
At the outset, after we took over the investigation and began it and pursued it, quite honestly, one of the things we anticipated wanting to accomplish was getting the interview of the president. We negotiated with him for a little over a year.
Finally, we were almost toward the end of our investigation and we’d had little success in pushing to get the interview of the president. We decided that we did not want to exercise the subpoena powers because of the necessity of expediting the end of the investigation.
As far as I know, no one mandated that the probe had to be wrapped up within a specific period of time. Wingnuts ranging from screechy back-benchers to the current AG complained about the length of the probe, but as far as I know, they had no power to enforce a deadline.
Ken Starr launched a fishing expedition framed as an investigation into a failed real estate investment and rode that pony for years until he finally goaded then-President Bill Clinton into committing perjury about a consensual blowjob, thus manufacturing a basis for impeachment.
I get that Democrats and Republicans operate under different rules, e.g., only registered Republicans can investigate Republican presidents, Democratic presidents must also be investigated by registered Republicans, etc. But where was the mandate to wrap the investigation up, even if it meant an incomplete investigation?
Was it just Mueller’s personal desire to put that shitty gig in the review mirror? Could Mueller have not announced that the report was substantially complete but Trump’s refusal to submit to an interview was the hold up, thus calling Trump’s bluff?
I’m not sure it would have made any difference, though Mueller said the written questions weren’t “as useful” as an interview would have been during yesterday’s testimony. Still, it’s galling.
Trump was able to screw contractors, investors and customers in his scammy businesses and avoid the consequences by lawyering up and stonewalling weaker opponents. That strategy seems to be working like a charm for him politically too, at least so far.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Ohio Poll — Quinnipiac — July 17 thur 22
Democratic contender vs Dump
Biden……..50-42
Warren……45-46
Wilmer…….45-46
Kamala……44-44
Pete……….44-44
Booker……44-43
Losing Ohio by 8 points is a big fucking deal.
tobie
I’m completely guessing here regarding the self-imposed deadline but I thought it might have something to do with having the investigation done well before the 2020 election. No one wanted to repeat what Comey did.
I think what I learned yesterday is how narrowly the Mueller team conceived its brief. It looks like there was no serious investigation of Trump’s financial ties to Russia, as that would be a counter-intelligence investigation and not a prosecutorial inquiry. The team also did not conduct a broader investigation of Russia’s infiltration of social media, voter rolls, and possibly voting machines, as this too would exceed the scope of a criminal investigation. There are plenty of other things they ignored but those two stood out to me.
The Moar You Know
Mueller IS a Republican. The call of tribe with these people; it overwhelms everything. My father hates Trump like I’ve never seen him hate anyone before. My FIL hates him more. Neither will drop their party registration as members of the GOP, not even to “Decline to State”.
Alternate explanation after seeing yesterday’s sham: he looks pretty fuckin’ sick, to be honest. I don’t think Mueller makes it through the elections.
FlipYrWhig
Haven’t there been rumors that Barr leaned on Mueller to do just that?
The Moar You Know
To follow: 80+ comments on why the candidate MUST be anyone else save Biden.
waspuppet
Trump’ other political “superpower” is to be so stupid that even though he doesn’t have a sixth-grader’s knowledge of American government, no one wants to be the one to embarrass themselves by asking him very basic questions because they might hit on one he actually knows.
EG his constant screaming about “Article 2.” If someone asked him “Article 2 of what?” I 99 percent guarantee he wouldn’t know. I have to admit I don’t know that I would bet my job on it though.
Another example is the process by which a bill becomes law, which I absolutely guarantee he didn’t know before the GOP convention at least and might still not know.
Baud
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
It saddens me that Biden might be our best hope, but if that’s where we are when the primary voting starts, so be it.
Wilmer under water in Ohio is disqualifying. That’s supposed to be his base, and he’s got name recognition.
Citizen Alan
@waspuppet:
I’m still reeling over the fact that we have a President who has no idea what tariffs are but does not consider that a reason not to impose them at the drop of a hat.
rikyrah
Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) Tweeted:
Since my annoyance with white media is already at 11, let’s just imagine what reports would look like this morning if Robert Mueller had just testified about a black president. https://t.co/Ffu4hZvgWc https://twitter.com/ElieNYC/status/1154468539799130113?s=17
Cheryl Rofer
I have thought all along that Mueller wanted to finish the investigation well before election season. I think the judgment to wrap it up without interviewing Trump included many things – as Mueller said yesterday, that Trump would fight it in the courts, taking a long time. And he also seemed to say that he felt they had enough from other sources. It was a judgment call, as so many must be in prosecutions.
JPL
@The Moar You Know: As of today, I think a Biden/Harris ticket is unbeatable, but as I stated that’s my opinion today. It’s way to earyl to understand what will happen in early in 2020
Elizabelle
Good question, Betty. I wonder if it was pressure from Barr, and Mueller decided to go with what he had. Also wondered if Mueller did not pursue a subpoena out of fear of setting an adverse precedent when the case hit the Supreme Court? (I don’t know; I am not a lawyer.)
I wish we would hear more from Aaron Zebley, who has been Mueller’s right hand since the FBI.
NY Times:
It’s an interesting article.
ETA: Per article, they have been joined at the hip for decades. With Mueller retired, maybe Zebley would feel less reticent about speaking out.
Zebley has worked a lot on high profile terror investigations. Suspect he takes a dim view of Trump’s being installed by Russia, and susceptible to blackmail.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
It’s all pack of bunch of worn out, drugged up old men who’s hate for the 60s is the only thing that gets them out of bed in the morning.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Coaching at the World Cup
COACH WARREN: We have an extensive game plan with layered practices and film study. We are also calibrating our diet, sleep, meditation and flexibility regiments to reach physical peak on game day.
COACH WILMER: we are going to tell the other team let us score.
J R in WV
@Cheryl Rofer:
Mueller had all those criminals nailed to the floor/wall — all of them — without an interview with the chief criminal Trump. He listed, with the aid of a Democratic member of the committee, all of the liars and conspirators who have been convicted and imprisoned already, with others yet to be tried.
None of the members of Mueller’s team are the kind of folks who want to hang around waiting, they’re doers and makers with personal goals to fulfill, criminals to jail, terrorists to catch. Mueller asked them to join his team, and they all knew that it was going to be a cluster-fuck in the liberal media, yet they came to Mueller to work. I’m not a bit surprised Mueller decided to wrap things up once there was no more need to keep digging, despite Trump’s abject fear of being interviewed by criminal prosecutors under oath.
On the other hand, Mueller told the nation that there was a conspiracy, that laws were broken, that a long list of folks are in prison for work they did for Trump. And we all know now that accepting anything from any foreign power is immoral, unethical, and illegal. Straight from the prosecutor’s mouth.
ET
@Cheryl Rofer: I would also add that for awhile I worried that Muller wouldn’t be allowed to finish. He and his team were watching the news just, as much as I was and that had to have been a thought that was hanging around even if it was left unsaid.
TenguPhule
It would be uncivil to release investigation results during an election year. //s
But really, the DOJ is completely compromised. That’s the problem.
Elizabelle
@TenguPhule:
Bingo. I agree. (Maybe not completely, down to each career civil servant, but the leadership certainly is.)
TenguPhule
What I want to know is how the fuck Don Jr. escaped any criminal consequences for the Russia Tower meeting.
They had him caught RED HANDED with incriminating shit and he somehow just got…forgotten.
It boggles the mind. Our national security agencies didn’t just drop the ball, the ball has reached escape velocity and exited the solar system.
Ohio Mom
@JPL: One thing about a Biden-Harris ticket is that they would radiate easy warmth and good cheer, which could be an antidote to the current administration’s anger and cruelty. The whole appeal to better angels thing.
I’m with Baud, if it has to be Biden, okay, I’ll deal. A lot of us keep saying we’ll go with any Democrat and it may be that we are tested with having to go full on Uncle Joe.
TenguPhule
@Elizabelle:
The moment any of them followed Barr’s orders that violated previous rules and procedures, they sold their souls to the devil.
Brachiator
That’s how Trump rolls. Being president lets him do it on a grander scale and claim that it is legal because the Constitution let’s him do it.
debbie
Has this latest joke on Trump been discussed yet?
terraformer
The media continue to fail on this. And at this point, it’s hard not to come to the conclusion that this is deliberate.
Much like the “think tanks” that started bubbling up in the late 70s and have exponentially grown since then, it seems the same individuals and groups who thought to create think tanks as avenues to influence policy with a veneer of authenticity and objectivity, looks like they seeded the newsrooms and editors with people who either shut down entirely or severely curtail news articles and associated messaging.
He would be indicted if not in office. Clear traitorous acts with nary a shrug. Focus on “optics” rather than on the obvious bombshells that, and say it all together now, would have run any Democrat out of town by day’s end. It’s just go egregious, and obvious. And dangerous.
MomSense
Has Imm checked in?
Yutsano
@TenguPhule: There is little to no recourse a civil servant attorney has if they’re ordered to drop a case. They’re not the bosses. They don’t have time nor resources to go all maverick to pursue a case they might think will be good for the country. They pretty much have two options at that point: obey or resign. And if you’re low level enough resigning isn’t really an option because almost no one will notice.
Kay
@The Moar You Know:
Just be careful with Ohio polling. It was just wrong in 2018. Democrats lost and they were up in the polls. Not a lot, but some of the races were w/in the (supposed) margin of error and Democrats underperformed all over the place. They genuinely believed they would win the governor’s race and they didn’t. Still that shouldn’t affect the differences between the candidates, which stll makes Biden more popular.
Baud
@MomSense:
Not that I’ve seen. Surgery should be over by now.
JPL
@Ohio Mom: We need to get out the vote.
Yutsano
@MomSense: @Baud: They might not let electronic devices in recovery? I know I didn’t have mine when I woke up from my various surgeries.
JPL
@Baud: Thinking good thoughts for him and little immp.
Brachiator
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
Swing states and the white women vote are key in swing states.
That said, I am resigned to old tired ass Uncle Joe Biden continuing to do well. I wish that Sanders was not doing as well.
Baud
@Yutsano:
Too early to panic, but not too early to worry.
JPL
@Yutsano: Thanks for the info. It might be a connectivity issue
joel hanes
@terraformer:
looks like they seeded the newsrooms and editors with people who either shut down entirely or severely curtail news articles and associated messaging
I believe media consolidation into for-profit arms of vast for-profit companies (most of which are, of course, run by Republicans) explains most of this, and that pack-media groupthink, mediated by twitter and facebook, explains much of the rest.
Editors choose stories, reporters, treatments, narratives, layouts.
Publishers choose editors, and listen to the advertisers, who are the customers.
Boards of directors of large corporations choose publishers.
Other large corporations pay for most of it by purchasing advertising, which is the actual product that produces money.
Our news is nothing more than the packaging that advertising comes in, just marketing; and thus our news displays all the regard for truth, or any other ethical precept, for which marketing is so justly famous.
This is not news.
Brachiator
@Ohio Mom:
Very interesting point. I think I agree. Yep.
Could Harris and Pence appear on the same debate stage or would Mother and the baby Jesus object?
Aleta
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: Rs gotta maintain the white numbers.
*
(Refers to his TV show which listed “alleged crimes” and “overwhelming evidence” )
Propaganda intentionally presents theory/opinion as fact, but I also hate the carelessness all over the place in blurring the two. My sense is that it makes focused thinking and common train of thought harder for a group. IMO focus is needed for action.
MattF
So, Mueller questions Trump– and Trump, as usual, lies. And bullshits, and blusters. And Trump’s minions lie. Et cetera. What happens then? Given that Mueller’s policy is that Trump can’t be indicted, it’s just marching into a swamp. And yeah, the rules for Mueller vs. Trump are different from the rules for Starr vs. Clinton, but we all know that.
MomSense
@Baud: @Baud:
Of course he’s got more important things to do than to check in with us. Still, I’m worrying.
joel hanes
I worried that Muller wouldn’t be allowed to finish.
In effect, he wasn’t.
The counter-intelligence investigation remains unfinished.
Trump and family never subpoenaed.
I’m amazed and gratified at what he was able to accomplish and document.
I wonder if/when we’ll ever see the report without redactions.
Kay
@KFILE
and me:
Trump’s pic for Treasury spokesperson, Monica Crowley, spread conspiracies that Obama was secretly a Muslim who was sympathetic to terrorists: ‘Can he be both loyal to Islam and loyal to the United States?’
Another high quality hire for the Trump Administration. She’s a liar, too. She’ll fit right in. You wonder what their conversations are like- they lie to one another too- they have to. I read the book about Theranos and one of the engineers who quit wrote an exit email to Elizabeth Holmes. He said- in so many words- everyone here lies and the place is built on lies and I have to quit because I am losing my mind :)
So. None of the Trump people do that. They fit in.
Mainmata
@TenguPhule: Ostensibly, the reason given in Mueller’s Report, distilled for pithiness was: Don, Jr. was too stupid to realize he was engaging in a crime. Yeah, that’s BS but I guess they decided that it would be too difficult to prove an actual conspiracy. OTOH, Jared knew enough to keep himself at arm’s length and also deleting all his potentially dangerous phone messages/calls.
Baud
@MomSense:
Agree. I’ll refrain from chastising him when he shows up to tell us everything went well.
germy
Tulsi is suing Google
Aleta
@MomSense: Probably still very busy helping Immp get oriented and get comfortable and communicating his needs to doctors/nurses. I’m thinking of how post op nausea and pain combined with organs being moved around can make the effort to eat and drink intense, all-consuming.
MomSense
@Yutsano:
He should have been out about noon or 1:00. Hopefully they are just resting. If this is weighing so heavy on all of us, imagine how our Imm must feel.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
Schiff now says the time “isn’t right” for impeachment.
I swear, these guys are still waiting for some masked hero to swoop in, do their fucking work for them, and save their asses. These people are our fucking leaders. It’s their job to get out ahead and then spur us to get behind it.
I mean, shit. When the fuck do they think the “right time” would be? This is the “right time”, right now, while we still have time.
I’ve been a big fan of both Pelosi and Schiff for a long time, but they’re just all kinds of fucked up on this. I can’t even understand what the hell they’re thinking.
Do they think that the only way to go about this is to just impeach the shitstain right now? No. We hold hearings. Ideally, we set up a special committee, and hold hearings, day after day after week after week after month after month, and carefully, painstakingly drag all this shit out into the light, as painfully to the thing squatting in the White House as they can.
They don’t need Robert Mueller’s blessing. They don’t need anybody’s fucking blessing. And whether or not they give a shit, they already have the blessing of the base of their party, the people they most count on to win their elections for them.
I don’t know if they’re worried about “swing voters” or “moderate voters” or “undecided voters” or “marginal, lukewarm Tяump voters” some other magical group of sainted, dumbass voters, but if they are then they don’t know what they’re doing.
Voters like that are brain dead. They’re never going to make their minds up about anything, not until it’s too late, and even then, they always go the wrong way.
This president is a fascist. He leads a fascist political party and a fascist political movement. He, and they, are a threat to this country. And we’re running out of time to do anything about it.
I’m sorry to go off the subject like this, but I had to get this out.
Kay
@germy:
Someone on twitter said by the end of this Tulsi will endorse Trump. I would put money on that. Doesn’t it sound right in just so many ways?
Elizabelle
@joel hanes: Good comment. Also consider that they fish for reporters from elite universities and journalism schools. They might be better served by reporters who worked their way up more.
I think they are way more groupthink than they realize, and they are not the nerds they suppose themselves to be (the nerd prom; give me a break!) but more those enthralled by who’s on homecoming court — and how can they get there?
It’s been interesting to see some writers who used to cover sports turn their talents to political reporting. Drew Magary, some other folks I can’t think of right now. (Did Keith Olbermann start out that way?) Anyway, people who followed actual records and did not fall for the pregame talk all the time. They’ve been quite good.
germy
@Kay: His new running mate!
debbie
All this complaining about yesterday’s hearings. Just because he didn’t shout it from the mountaintops surrounded by fireworks and dancing girls doesn’t mean Mueller’s testimony was not damning. Words matter more than drama.
I remember listening (not watching) to Alexander Butterfield testifying at the Watergate hearings. I remember the exact moment he confirmed that yes, the questioner had heard him correctly: President Nixon taped every conversation in the Oval Office. My head snapped up so fast, I almost injured my neck.
He said it quietly and matter-of-factly. There were no bells, and yet it was the most momentous moment of the whole Watergate affair. Nothing changed the tide of that more than Alexander Butterfield.
Please stop with the drama. It will happen and it will be because grown-up adults did all the hard work.
Mandalay
@The Moar You Know:
Nothing wrong with that.
Biden leading Trump by 8 points in Ohio over fifteen months before the election is pretty meaningless, and doubly so when it looks like Trump’s biggest lead over any of the six leading Democratic contenders is a single point.
Anyone who thinks that poll has any significance at all is delusional.
MattF
@joel hanes: I knew a fairly well-known reporter for a while, and he was my go-to for conventional wisdom on any given subject. He was a good writer, but I don’t think he ever had an original thought. Reporters aren’t hired for originality.
Brachiator
@joel hanes:
Newspapers have always been for-profit operations, except for a few efforts owned by eccentrics who enjoyed throwing money down a rat hole.
And most publishers saw themselves as part of the establishment, even if they also saw their papers as instruments of public service.
Today you have right wing media plutocrats like Murdoch who have national power.
Advertising was King for newspapers from the mid 19th century to the age of the internet. That model isn’t working well for anyone anymore, not even internet based entities.
debbie
@MomSense:
From past experiences with family and friends, the actual surgery often takes longer than predicted, never mind late starts or delays.
Elizabelle
@debbie: Thank you Debbie. You are right about all of this.
Alexander Butterfield. A name I have not thought about in years.
rikyrah
Wakandan War Dog (@Kennymack1971) Tweeted:
Regular reminder that Michael Moore is a man whose entire business model relies on Republicans being in power and Dems and liberals fighting each other instead of the GOP.
He’s a fraud and a clown folks. It’s all about movies and book sales. https://twitter.com/Kennymack1971/status/1154394507229761537?s=17
rikyrah
@Kay:
She is a complete fraud, Kay.??
Kay
@germy:
No- they’ll hate her and have contempt for her. Remember- they’re not evangelical about Trump. They don’t try to convert anyone. They actively repel potential or real converts. Their key character trait is “ungenerous”.
It will be one of those “I didn’t leave my Party, my Party left me” big stupid dramas. They’ll give her a speaking slot at their convention. Still, even then, no one will care. Democrats will just look at her district and determine it would be easy to replace her with a D and that will be that.
rikyrah
@MomSense:
I was wondering that myself ??
MomSense
@Yutsano:
On the one hand I think there is ample cause for impeachment, indictment, and prosecution as currently outlined in the Mueller Report. BUT I am not at all satisfied with some of the findings. I am furious that Trump wasn’t subpoenaed. I’m furious that there was no indictment for Don Jr. Why did Flynn get such a lenient sentence if it didn’t turn into convictions of higher ups? He handed over information – and then what? That traitorous bastard was willing to kidnap someone under American protection and hand him over to torture and/or execution. I could go on. Was Mueller forced to end the investigation early? Did he sort of give us what he considered to be enough and bury the rest?
I have a very unsettled feeling about all of this and Mueller doesn’t have a perfect record.
Aleta
@Aleta: just realized that by IV is more likely, but I picture him focusing on Immp and close family. I think not checking in til tomorrow or later would still be normal.
John Revolta
One of the first things Barr did was to tell Mueller to wrap it up. That’s why Trump put him in there- because Sessions wouldn’t do it. This is what Mueller meant by “the necessity of expediting the end of the investigation.” What other necessity was there? There wasn’t. This was widely discussed at the time for Chrissake.
JPL
@Baud: Please don’t refrain. lol
Elizabelle
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
Hey, Mumphrey. Do you know that that is not happening? They mentioned in yesterday’s presser that they are waiting on some court decisions coming up rather soon.
You may have seen it, but here’s the link to yesterday’s press conference with Pelosi, Nadler, Schill, and Elijah Cummings (in the “food for the soul” category). C-Span. 27 minutes.
I think things are going to start rolling in the next few weeks, even more than the preparatory work we are not hearing about.
They’re going to be in their home districts for summer recess all August, and beginning about July 29 or so. I would imagine Pelosi could call some committees into session if anything big breaks their way in the meantime. (Anybody know?)
JPL
@Kay: If she did she’d finally lose her seat in Congress. imo
germy
https://www.thecut.com/2019/07/three-fraternity-members-suspended-for-racist-instagram.html#_ga=2.261727949.1545204640.1564093246-850414798.1564093246
joel hanes
@Brachiator:
The Des Moines Register was a superb paper until Gannett bought it. The internet didn’t happen until later.
Mrs. Graham’s independent ownership of the WaPo made all the difference in getting The Pentagon Papers published. I think that the paper declined horribly between Graham and Bezos, and has made a startling recovery under Bezos. I wish they’d fire Hiatt, the worst holdover from the W neocon era.
The FTFNYT is beyond hope.
Kay
@JPL:
I find her unsettling in a very profound way. I get a bad feeling. Luckily it doesn’t matter because she isn’t going to win the primary and she’s just one House member.
Ruckus
@Ohio Mom:
I really don’t want uncle Joe.
My ideal is Harris/Abrams. The men have had their turn, it’s women’s turn. Hell it was a woman’s turn last time. More of us wanted her than shit for brains. I guess what I’m saying is where were all these plans of Biden the last times he ran? Where were the plans during the last time he was actually in office?
Felanius Kootea
@debbie: I just realized that in addition to clutching golf clubs, the eagle is clutching a wad of (green) cash on the other side. T, the puppet, bought and paid for. It’s perfect that no one on his team noticed.
Ohio Mom
@debbie: Oh yes, Ohio Dad’s heart surgery went almost two hours late and those were the longest minutes of my life. Then I wasn’t allowed to see him for another hour. Horrible memory.
I hope a front pager thinks to announce when Immp is finally resting in his room.
(Goes back to sending good thoughts roughly north by northeast).
Kay
@JPL:
I get a meglomania sense from her. That she believes she is on a mission, like a religious mission except she’s divine. I don’t know – I would stay away from her. Something’s not right there.
MattF
@Felanius Kootea: WaPo story on fake seal.
JPL
@Kay: Agree!
debbie
@MattF:
It would be great if Putin were behind that stunt.
Ohio Mom
@Ruckus: I don’t disagree with you a whit. I could very easily say all the things you said.
The only reason Biden isn’t my last choice is Bernie and Tulsi. I even like some of the generic white men whose names I can’t remember more then Biden (I don’t bother trying to keep them straight because they’ll be gone soon enough).
But if Biden wins the nomination, broken glass here I come crawling. You will too.
Chief Oshkosh
I know it’s not popular, possibly especially on this thread, but I remind you that Mueller is a lifelong Republican. I don’t bring that up to say that there was some conspiracy, or even conscious intent on his part, but I suggest that fundamentally Mueller found this whole sordid affair…sordid. And at some level, shattering. If, OTOH, he’d been investigating a Democrat, he would’ve found it sordid but acceptable to pursue this truly as a prosecutor would. No way would he have let a Democrat stall, etc. Subpoena’s would’ve been drafted day one. And no way would he have allowed Donny Jr to walk if Junior were a Democrat. No way.
That said, it is what it is. No Democrat would’ve sold out their country like this to begin with, so that aspect is moot. Mueller’s investigation is done. He’s clearly done. It’s up to the Democrats in the House, secondarily. The primary responsibility is now in our laps. Call your reps, let them know what you want them to do.
Yarrow
@Kay: Tulsi Gabbard has a primary challenger.
tobie
I gather from the Times that the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report confirms that the election systems in all 50 states were targeted. We have the usual (weak) reassurances that no votes in 2016 were changed and that although the Russians had the capacity to purge voter rolls in select states they didn’t do so. Count me as skeptical. Some states refused election assistance from the Feds. No doubt Georgia was among those. Probably Wisconsin and Michigan too.
Felanius Kootea
@MattF: Thanks!
Elizabelle
@tobie: Yeah. I don’t think Trump was legitimately elected. Period.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
@Elizabelle:
I hope you’re right. Today I called my own congressman, Don Beyer, more out of frustration than anything else, just to make my feelings known, which is kind of preaching to the converted, since he’s already on board with impeachment.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@germy: Who?
tobie
@Elizabelle: I don’t think he won either. I don’t know if it would have been possible to do an election audit between Nov 2016 and Jan 2017 but we sure could have used one.
SiubhanDuinne
@Felanius Kootea:
Look at the eagle’s tail feathers. Looks a bit like stylised Arabic script to me, but I’m not sure what it means.
UncleEbeneezer
@germy: At University of Delaware we called them “KKKA” since they had flown a Confederate flag not long before I got there in ’93.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne:
Hmm. Trump accused Omar of supporting Al Queda. Since every lie he says is a projection….
Kay
@Yarrow:
Good. Everyone was talking about how odd or weird Williamson is, but I know plenty of woo-woo people and many of them are lovely, if a little eccentric. Her thing is really commonplace! If you sat next to her on a plane you would probably like her.
There was one fanatic on that stage and it wasn’t the new age healer/seminar instructor :)
joel hanes
Completely off-topic:
Lance Mannion’s blog was once pretty well-known, and for good reason.
He delay-moderates all comments, though, and gradually much of the audience drifted away. That’s a shame, because he’s really good, and deserves to be more widely read.
Here’s an example:
https://lancemannion.typepad.com/lance_mannion/2019/07/truth-doesnt-figure-in-anything-he-says.html
Steeplejack
@Mainmata:
Okay, I’m going to stick this in here, but it’s something that has puzzled me for a while: What is the point of having a vast NSA spying apparatus (supposedly) capturing all of our emails, texts and cell-phone calls if it never gets used when it could count?
I know that the intel is used in double-secret ways that we peons don’t get to know about, and I know that the intel probably can’t be deployed in low-end cases, but this whole Trump/Russia morass seems like a poster-child case for when it could be used. The president’s son-in-law and senior adviser texting with the Russkies? “Oh, Mr. Kushner, here are all these texts that you deleted. Could you explain those to us, please?”
Wishful thinking, I know.
jl
@Felanius Kootea: A lot of jokes in that fake Trump presidential seal. Seems like Soviet hammers and sickles across the top of the shield. Google translate say the motto is ’45 is a huge’, which might be joke where you fill in the blank, or riffing off of the way Trump says ‘yuuuug’. I don’t what is up with the curly tail feathers and don’t get the joke. I don’t think they are some riff on Arabic script. Looks more like some riff on fleur-de-lis (?).
I read someplace the person who designed it was fired.
FelonyGovt
@jl: It means 45 is a puppet.
debbie
@tobie:
The GOP would have just returned to the Supreme Court.
Felanius Kootea
@jl: The Washington Post story that MattF linked to in comment 74 has more info on the seal. It was created by a former Republican graphic designer, Charles Leazott, who’s disgusted by Trump. 45 es un titere means 45 is a puppet, according to him. He runs a store on shopify called “One Term Donnie” and sells t-shirts with that fake presidential seal.
Feckless
@The Moar You Know: bing bing bing we have a winner!!
Just like you can tell a Republican is lying because his mouth is moving, you can tell this is a cover up by the fact that Meuller is Still a Republican.
Treason is baked into the GOP pie.
Brachiator
@joel hanes:
I didn’t say that the internet made newspapers crappy. But it took away their business model. Magazines and newspapers are dying. Who knows. Soon they may all be gone.
Facebook ad revenue rose 28 percent to $16.6 Billion in the recent quarter. Google and Amazon are doing well. This does not leave a lot of money for online media.
A little more complicated than that. It was always controlled by individuals or families.
Graham and editor Ben Bradlee were certainly giants. The movie The Post gives a good idea of how the Post was the ineffectual toilet paper of the Beltway elite before these two turned it into something great. Graham’s children, who served as publishers afterwards, not so hot.
Sadly, I agree. I’m not sure that the editors and publisher really understand how shitty the paper has become.
Steve in the ATL
@Steeplejack:
The truth is much, much worse than your paranoid nightmares about it
Steeplejack
@Steve in the ATL:
So much of life is like that, I find.
Jay
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
I am Batman.