“The President actually said to Nancy Pelosi, ‘Hey, can we do something about this whistleblower complaint, can we work something out.’ And she said ‘Yes, you can tell your people to obey the law.’ So she quickly swatted that down." – @HeidiNBC https://t.co/vtWnAww1ch
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 24, 2019
Democrats in array. Goodnight.
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) September 25, 2019
Despite his public defiance, Trump is not welcoming the impeachment fight, people say. He phoned Pelosi yesterday to discuss the whistleblower's complaint and was hoping he could de-escalate things. He later said he couldn't believe it when she made her announcement.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) September 25, 2019
There’s no world in which sending your personal attorney to demand a foreign investigation into a political rival is a legitimate exercise in presidential power. https://t.co/BvJ67MMWCY
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) September 25, 2019
Dunked on by Jon Chait — oh, the humiliation! From NYMag, “Trump: I’d Like to Withdraw My Guilty Plea and Change It to ‘Not Guilty’”
… Trump today told reporters that his real motive in holding up aid to Ukraine was to force other countries to give money to Ukraine also. Trump, you see, really loves Ukraine and wants it to have all the money. Sure, he withheld the aid, he admitted this morning, after newspapers had revealed that he’d personally orchestrated the plan, “but, very importantly, Germany, France, other countries should put up money, and that’s been my complaint from the beginning,” he said.
That was not his complaint from the beginning. It was not even his complaint as of yesterday, when he said he held up the aid because “it’s very important to talk about corruption [i.e., investigating Biden]. If you don’t talk about corruption, why would you give money to a country that you think is corrupt?”…
Even ‘A Blond & Two Boobs On A Couch’ realizes this will not work!
This is an alert to their favorite viewer that he needs to change his story. https://t.co/E3g47aL7bq
— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) September 24, 2019
So as I understand it, the emerging GOP position is that we shouldn't investigate Trump's efforts to rig next year's election because hey, there's an election next year.
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) September 24, 2019
I guess someone had to be the first person to live-tweet his own impeachment. https://t.co/obxr9ismBZ
— Seth Masket (@smotus) September 24, 2019
At least the Ambulatory Cream Cheese Sculture (h/t Betty Cracker) remains loyal… for the moment:
When Trump does at last shoot that man on Fifth Avenue, Hugh will lead the investigation of all the reasons the deceased had it coming https://t.co/G4MaeikWLX
— David Frum (@davidfrum) September 24, 2019
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ? ??
OzarkHillbilly
To repeat from downstairs:
At 2:06 pm yesterday this happened:
Adelyne Rose
6 lbs 2 oz
10 fingers
10 toes
1 healthy appetite
debbie
This fits in better here.
Really? You want to bemoan the lack of bipartisan legislation? Take it up with your man, Moscow Mitch, you jackass.
Orange is the New Red
@OzarkHillbilly: delurking to send hearty Congratulations.
WereBear
I must admit, that Fox clip made me laugh so hard I scared the new kittens. It was the longest con by the most people, just take your award and go!
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Two grandchildren in one day! Congrats!
Baud
@debbie:
“Impeachment interferes with my naptime. ”
It’s not like you need to spend any time on this because all the activity is taking place in the House, Rob.
John S.
@debbie: I didn’t know that someone could exude flop sweat via Twitter, but there it is.
Still, a slightly better response set than I could ever expect from my two Senators: Lil’ Marco Rubio and Tricky Rick Scott.
gene108
Twitter thread, read the whole thing
CarolDuhart2
@Orange is the New Red: Congratulations! Welcome to the world, Adelyne Rose!
gene108
@OzarkHillbilly:
Congrats!!!
rikyrah
@OzarkHillbilly:
Awe ?
Congratulations ?????
WereBear
I want RICO.
That’s the next step, and it will take a long time, but that is what I want. Like a less classy, poorly acted, and ridiculously scripted version of Goodfellas.
Aleta
@OzarkHillbilly:
Congratulations!!!
A sweetheart name.
debbie
@Baud:
“What, you think hand wringing won’t eat up my schedule?”
BC in Illinois
@OzarkHillbilly:
Congratulations!
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly:
Repeat congrats!
Lapassionara
@OzarkHillbilly: congratulations!
And good morning everyone.
Central Planning
@OzarkHillbilly: congratulations!!
I feel like you’re leaving something out though… how many noses??!?
Karen S.
@OzarkHillbilly: Congratulations!
Mousebumples
Saw this yesterday, and I don’t think I’ve seen this reposted yet –
(https://twitter.com/tedlieu/status/1176560825466798080?s=03)
Karen S.
I’m glad an impeachment inquiry is moving forward. Now I need to decide how much I want to subject myself to news about it. I find so much TV news programming, both network and cable, objectionable for a number of reasons that I rarely watch anymore. I think once the hearings start, I’ll watch them on CSPAN.
Waratah
@OzarkHillbilly: Congratulations. I love her name and she is not very big she needs to have a healthy appetite.
narya
Okay, the current “above the fold” (if it were paper rather than online) banner headline in FYNYT is “Impeachment Inquiry is High-Stakes Showdown for Both Sides.” It’s impressive when you can get “both sides” in a banner headline.
OzarkHillbilly
New Zealand university student lay dead in room for nearly two months
What can one say, “Ooopps?”
Ken
@debbie: Has the Senate even taken up the budget legislation yet? IIRC back in August they’d done nothing, even though they’d had the House bills for months and we’re coming up on the deadlines fast.
Clarification: Have McConnell and the other Republican Senate committee heads even taken up the Constitutionally-mandated budget legislation yet?
Jeffro
@OzarkHillbilly: congrats! ?
OzarkHillbilly
My day calls. Thanx all and have a good one.
Shalimar
In response to Hugh Hewitt, 1) Hunter Biden is a nobody, and 3) Joe Biden does not seem to have done anything on his behalf. That was easy.
There is a story here about how easy it is for the family of important politicians to get do-nothing jobs that are clearly meant to influence their family members. There does not seem to be a story here about Joe Biden.
Spanky
Congrats, OH!
Point of order, Anne. It’s “Blonde with two boobs on a couch.” You’re welcome.
Jeffro
@WereBear: they were definitely on fire last night, alternately bemoaning the death of the Republic and giggling with glee over how this was gonna help trumpov win in a blowout next November
Uh-huh
BlueDWarrior
@Shalimar: The problem is that fault with human society where we assume someone who is related to someone else who is prominent has some means of access or extra ability that isn’t evident otherwise.
We see all the time with stuff like the Admissions Scandal that people are willing to toss protocol out the window as soon as someone famous and/or with a big check comes walking through. And this has been true in various permutations through the whole of human society. One could say it’s endemic to human society, even.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@OzarkHillbilly: Congrats! Lovely name.
Ken
@Jeffro: Nice that Fox could get all their top people together to deliver such well-scripted talking points. Almost as if they knew it was coming.
BlueDWarrior
@Ken: They were probably writing them out as soon as first word was coming out around 2 PM EDT.
Shalimar
@WereBear: I want a tv movie version with Louis Black as Trump. “Black is the new orange”
Butter emails!!!
@Shalimar:
Yeah. Those questions don’t help Trump’s case if you fill in the actual answers instead of dishonest Republican talking points.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@OzarkHillbilly: Dear god. Did none of the neighbors have a sense of smell?
Ken
@OzarkHillbilly: Congratulations, especially on the abundance of fingers and toes.
Tony Jay
@OzarkHillbilly:
Well Congratulations!
Baby, right?
Baud
@Butter emails!!!:
If Joe Biden were innocent, why would the president be trying to pressure Ukraine into investigating him?
Checkmate , liberal.
Dorothy A. Winsor
TPM says the administration is preparing a redacted version of the whistleblower complaint. Can they do that? I thought the law was clear.
ETA: Nancy will kick that idea down the drain.
Ken
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Yeah, but – college dorm. It would have been one of the less-horrible smells.
JGabriel
Hugh Hewitt via Anne Laurie @ Top:
1. Biden’s son.
2. Nothing.
3. Nothing.
4. “Yeah, I’ve got your $400 million right here. It’ll be in the mail any minute, okay. Now, listen, I want you to investigate corruption over there. I’m not saying make up shit about Joe Biden being corrupt to help me get re-elected – I’m just saying … you know what to do. Be a shame if anything happened to that $400 million in the interagency process before we got it out to you.”
Betty Cracker
To continue a line of speculation from downstairs, Giuliani is on Fox News pretty much 24/7 now, and that’s a good thing…for Democrats. He’s spouting these pinwheel-eyed conspiracy theories like a walking Qanon blog, and even the Fox & Friends Trump-fluffers are having trouble keeping up. Moments ago, he said perhaps it was Zelensky who suggested to Trump that the Bidens should be investigated. I mean, WTF?
Anyway, I hope the House Dems subpoena Giuliani with all possible speed. He’s so deep in the bubble that he’ll sound like a raving lunatic if he ventures outside of it.
Jeffro
If Kevin McCarthy keeps going on TV and lying about Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats during this impeachment inquiry, I suggest Pelosi throw his “there’s two people Putin pays: Rohrbacher and Trumpov”quote in his face and insist that the media get to the bottom of what McCarthy meant.
Butter emails!!!
@BlueDWarrior:
I suspect Hunter Biden doesn’t end up with a cushy gig on the board of a Ukrainian energy company if his dad had chosen to pursue classic car restoration instead of politics as a career.
That doesn’t change the fact that the investigation preceded Hunter joining the board and that the prosecutor was clearly not sacked for his zeal in pursuing that investigation.
Baud
@Butter emails!!!:
So I actually don’t know what Hunter’s field is. Do we know for a fact that he wasn’t an appropriate person for this position? I’m not going to just assume that even if it doesn’t ultimately reflect badly on Joe Biden.
SFAW
@Ken:
No, because mumble mumble Speaker Pelosi mumble mumble mumble George Soros mumble mumble Harper Biden mumble mumble tan suit.
O. Felix Culpa
@OzarkHillbilly: Pop the champagne corks for the arrival of Adelyne Rose! No blechs today!
SFAW
@OzarkHillbilly:
Congratulations! [Again]
Best wishes to Adelyne Rose, Mom, and all the Ozark [Hillbillys?] clan.
When are you going to give her her first 20-oz Estwing framer? [She can move up to a 24 oz when she gets a little older.]
SFAW
@Betty Cracker:
Sounds a little like the old SNL sketch where Aykroyd is the manufacturer of various child-unfriendly toys, and he keeps trying to blame it on the kids.
Shalimar
@Baud: Hunter is a young lawyer who started a consulting business with 2 other well-familyed youth. So basically he sits on foreign boards for cash despite not even speaking the local languages. He has no expertise.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: Congratulations grandpa! All the best to your son, his wife, and the big brother! I bet your wife is excited to have a new grandbaby to spoil.
satby
@rikyrah: Good morning ?
Baud
@Shalimar:
Alright, thanks.
TS (the original)
@OzarkHillbilly: Blessings to the family, grandbabes are the best of the best
satby
@Orange is the New Red: I see what you did with that nym, and I love it.
zhena gogolia
NYT Peter Baker: “A Fighter Ready for Defense of His Title.” THIS IS NOT A BOXING MATCH
And on the op-ed page, John “Waterboarding” Yoo: Beware of impeachment; the President must not be hampered in his conduct of foreign policy.
Elizabelle
The FTF NY Times, along with its “both sides” banner headline:
It’s Peter Baker, another GOP fluffer. You can be forgiven for thinking it might be Maggie Haberman.
Didn’t read the article, but scandal and court proceedings are always good for reality TV. So yes, it will be good for publicity whore Trump.
I would like to see Giuliani with some serious federal charges out of this one.
Elizabelle
@OzarkHillbilly: Congrats on the new granddaughter! Happy news.
Soprano2
@OzarkHillbilly: Wanna add my congratulations on the new addition to your family.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
@Elizabelle:
The NYT is garbage but it is true that this will activate the GOP base. The credibility of Dem voters and liberal activists is now on the line.
Betty Cracker
@Baud: There’s a long New Yorker piece on Hunter Biden here. He’s a Yale law graduate whose first job was with MBNA. After that, he had a low-level job in the Clinton admin and was also a lobbyist at one point, IIRC. It’s pretty obvious the Ukrainian gas company hired him (and John Kerry’s stepson) for the same reason other corporations hire well-connected people to serve on their boards: it makes them look credible.
batguano
I was able to get all five ceiling kittens down out of the ceiling for the first time yesterday. We all played for a bit, then they had a nap and went back up into the ceiling with mom. Mom cat is slowly getting braver and is now out of the ceiling in the unfinished part when we are in the finished half of the basement.
Leto
@OzarkHillbilly: Congratulations, gramps!
General question for everyone else: does the House need to pass a formal resolution to start the inquiry? Reason I ask is because 1) it happened with both Nixon/Clinton (not looking up Johnson), 2) Trumpov’s lawyers have been arguing in court, for some time now, that that’s what needs to happen wrt to subpoenas to people (based on question 1), and 3) Nadler, whose committee an inquiry would typically start in, has been saying for months that they were already conducting an Impeachment Inquiry.
So, thoughts? Also the House is supposed to go on recess, again, starting Friday. While I hope that that recess is canceled, maybe House members can go back to their constituents and make the case for impeachment.
satby
@Shalimar: @Baud: the international language of business is English, and most companies that want to expand beyond their own borders will seek out English speaking people with contacts and networks.
Not to mention that in the rest of the world, educated people almost invariably speak more than their native language. Just because Americans remain stubbornly ignorant when it comes to foreign language proficiency doesn’t mean the rest of the world is so short-sighted.
ETA: also what Betty Cracker said.
Leto
@Betty Cracker: You mean like Theranos did with Mattis, or every other start up company tries to do? Where’s my fainting couch? Someone fetch me my smelling salts!
Speaking of Mattis, did anything happen to him when he tried to push that fucking snake oil on the DoD and military personnel? No? Down the memory hole? Adults in the room? Time for coffee I see.
Immanentize
@SFAW:
Bag o Glass.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
Thanks. It is long and I could only skim it. To be honest, I didn’t see anything in there that indicates that Hunter was acting outside of his field. That isn’t to say he didn’t enjoy advantages being Biden’s son, but I don’t really see evidence that he made a career actively trading in that.
Obviously, I can’t speak the mental state of the Ukrainians who hired him.
On another note, I thought this was interesting and something Biden should play up more.
PJ
@Baud: If you read the New Yorker profile on him, you might have the impression, as I did, that you would not Hunter in a position to be making decisions that affect people’s wallets in any way (he has had real problems with impulse control)*. He was asked to be on the board because he was Biden’s son. This is not illegal, or unethical for either Hunter or Joe – having connections to someone or something with more money or power is one of the main reasons people are asked to be on boards. But it doesn’t look good, which is why people in the Obama administration were concerned about it. That said, this was investigated by Ukraine and they found nothing illegal, and there has been no evidence that Joe or Hunter did anything unethical.
*I have some sympathy for Hunter – his brother, Beau, like his father, was not the sharpest knife in the box, but was smart enough and a decent person who connected with people and had prospects of a significant political career. Hunter was not cut out for any of that (and almost certainly feels the weight of that, particularly now that his brother is dead), but because his father is who he is, he has been given jobs, and responsibilities, that no one would otherwise give him.
JGabriel
@Butter emails!!!:
… and ended eight months before Joe Biden asked, on behalf of NATO and most of Ukraine’s trading partners, that the prosecutor be sacked.
rikyrah
@batguano:
5????
oh my :)
Baud
@PJ:
That’s a reasonable assumption, but as I noted above, I didn’t see evidence on the Ukrainians state of mind. And I didn’t see evidence that Hunter actively used his connection to Joe to get clients.
Hunter obviously has his share of personal issues, but I also didn’t see evidence that his clients were aware of that and looked past it.
Like I said, I only skimmed the article and may have missed something.
Immanentize
@Baud:
Evidence?!! We don’t need no stinking evidence!
arrieve
@OzarkHillbilly: Congratulations! What a beautiful name. I’d rather think about babies than overgrown toddlers who are facing a well-deserved permanent timeout.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Baud: In my federal financial disclosure form, which I totally believe Trump has filled out completely and truthfully, I was asked to list any investments that were sector specific (I have a mutual funds that specializes in Health). It doesn’t matter whether the sector is related at all to your job. You need to disclose it.
You even need to disclose whether your spouse or a close family member holds such funds.
Baud
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
True. Not sure how that relates to my comment though.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
So about the call to Pelosi. I haven’t watched enough mob movies or Sopranos (confession: never saw a single episode) to know the script here. When the mob boss invites the DA to have a beer and says “what will it take to make this go away?” does he offer to send the DAs kid to college? Pay off his mortgage? Give him Superbowl tickets? Buy one, get one half-price coupons for the Mar-a-Lago salad bar?
Tenar Arha
@OzarkHillbilly: ? congratulations!??
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Baud: Just what crossed my mind when you quoted Biden saying he pledged not to have stocks or bonds. That in a normal world, those are considered potential conflicts of interest even if there’s no overlap at all between your holdings and the policies you affect.
Just a random neuron firing. You can ignore it, treat it as if I said “your point reminds me that I want asparagus for dinner”.
Betty Cracker
@Baud: In the mid-90s, the younger Biden went straight from law school to work for his father’s largest donor, earning a 6-figure salary at age 26. After that, he called a former official from his father’s campaign to get a job in the Clinton admin. Later, he called the same dude, who had moved on to lobbying, about a gig in lobbying. None of this is illegal, of course, but yeah, he actively traded on his family name and connections to advance his career, as lots of the children of rich and/or powerful people do.
PJ
@Baud: I think you got the gist of it. There’s no there there. It doesn’t even rise to the level of EMAILZ (re which the Trump Administration has flouted the law with impunity). But that doesn’t matter, I don’t doubt that the GOP and Fox and the Russians have tons of this stuff to be jammed in front of eyeballs for the next year.
Baud
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
No worries. I was just confused.
@Betty Cracker:
The first thing isn’t unusual. The corporate and big law market in the 90s was really hot.
The other stuff is definitely a benefit from the connections he got because of Joe. But I didn’t see evidence that he activitely sold himself to clients as Joe Biden’s son. It would be different if his business was unrelated to the work he was doing, but it didn’t appear to be.
Baud
@PJ:
I’m not concerned about the right. I just don’t want me or us to assume wrongdoing even on Hunter’s part without some basis.
FlipYrWhig
It’s astounding that Team Trump thinks they can score points on the money-making activities of politicians’ children. It’d be like sniggering about Biden’s unusual hair.
Gin & Tonic
@Butter emails!!!:
Shokin was sacked for his lack of zeal in pursuing any investigation.
Gin & Tonic
@Betty Cracker:
Like people named Ivanka or Jared?
I have no issue with the attention being paid to Hunter Biden, as it means it’s open season on the Trump spawn. I just hope some of our candidates realize that it’s open season and go for it.
Kattails
@OzarkHillbilly: Showering congratulations on you and your family. Lovely name.
Kathleen
@OzarkHillbilly: Congratulations!
Jinchi
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Using Bob Barr to write the summary no doubt. It briefly worked when they released the Mueller report, but I think even the media has caught on to that trick.
TomatoQueen
Welcome in, Adelyne Rose. There’s a lovely old tune with your first name in it:
Sweet Adeline
In the evening when I sit alone a-dreaming
Of days gone by, love, to me so dear,
There’s a picture that in fancy oft’ appearing,
Brings back the time, love, when you were near.
It is then I wonder where you are, my darling,
And if your heart to me is still the same.
For the sighing wind and nightingale a-singing
Are breathing only your own sweet name.
cho: Sweet Adeline, (My Adeline,)
My Adeline, (My Adeline,)
At night, dear heart, (At night, dear heart,)
For you I pine. (For you I pine.)
In all my dreams, (In all my dreams,)
Your fair face beams. (Your fair face beams.)
You’re the flower of my heart,
Sweet Adeline. (My Adeline.)
I can see your smiling face as when we wandered
Down by the brook-side, just you and I,
And it seems so real at times ’til I awaken,
To find all vanished, a dream gone by.
If we must meet sometime in after years, my darling,
I trust that I will find your love still mine,
Though my heart is sad and clouds above are hov’ring
The sun again, love, for me would shine.
The Moar You Know
@OzarkHillbilly: I hate to say it, but given what my brand-new dorm back in college smelled like after the first quarter (I was a slightly older student and these kids came in with zero laundry, housekeeping and hygiene skills) I can easily see how this could happen.
ET
No president would welcome an impeachment fight.
As for him being surprised by the speaker’s announcement, he likely thinks that what his bullying and blustering don’t get his superior deal making skills will. He is too old to understand that he doesn’t always get what he wants.
Kristine
@OzarkHillbilly: congratulations ???!
Uncle Jeffy
So Joe Biden says he will never invest in a stock or bond, huh? I know a failed real estate guru who could help him lose money. Should be available in January 2020 or possibly earlier.
BroD
Seems like a good time to contribute to Democratic House and Senate candidates.
zhena gogolia
@OzarkHillbilly:
Congratulations! Great name!
Omnes Omnibus
@Betty Cracker: A graduate of Yale Law got a six figure salary in 1996? Not shocked. I also would bet that MBNA was one the largest employers of professionals in Delaware. I am not denying that the Biden name helped him in his career, but it doesn’t sound like he got a really well-paid sinecure because of his name.
M31
@Ken: oh yeah, I remember a time when someone left a roast beef sandwich and a bag of broccoli on top of a radiator over xmas break, a corpse would have been an improvement
Quiltingfool
@The Moar You Know: Re the New Zealand student…long ago I was a resident assistant at the college I attended (room and board as pay). Anyhow, one day I and another RA were going from our women’s dorm through the men’s dorm to attend a meeting. We passed by one room that smelled like an open sewer – we both crinkled our noses and agreed that guys don’t do a good job of keeping things clean. We found out a few hours later that was not a dirty room smell, but the smell of a decomposing body. A student had committed suicide a few days earlier. No one, including this young man’s suite mates, noticed that he wasn’t around. It was so terribly sad, that this young man was surrounded by people, but no one had enough connection with him to mark his absence. He was found by the staff assistant (student supervisor to the resident assistants) and that young man (he was maybe 19 or 20) had to tell the parents – and not one college employee stepped up to accompany him or give him guidance. The whole episode both saddened and infuriated me. I often wondered if this young man’s life could have been saved if someone had connected with him, or sat with him in the dining hall, or just casually visited with him frequently. I don’t know, it may not have made a difference, but it damned well would have been a simple, kind gesture that isn’t difficult to do.
glory b
@SFAW: Who can forget “Bag ‘O Glass”?
glory b
@Immanentize: Johnny Switchblade!
Yutsano
@OzarkHillbilly: MAZEL TOV YA CRAZY KID!!!
Miss Bianca
@Immanentize: Bag o’ Vipers.
Alain
@OzarkHillbilly: Excellent news! At least one pure ray of good today. Congrats to all!
Shana
@OzarkHillbilly: Mazel tov!
Shana
@Immanentize: Irwin Mainway? Not sure about the first name but fairly certain of the Mainway.
mapghimagsik
Silly question:
If Drumpf resigns, what stops Pence from pardoning him, ala Gerald Ford?