Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Come on, man.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Republicans in disarray!

Everybody saw this coming.

The words do not have to be perfect.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Not all heroes wear capes.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Apparently Secretary Pompeo’s Swagger Has Waddled Off Without Him

Apparently Secretary Pompeo’s Swagger Has Waddled Off Without Him

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Secretary Pompeo appears to be scheduled to have a very, very bad Wednesday, Earlier today he released a letter he sent to Congressman Engel, the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where he made it very clear that the State Department was not going to comply with his and Congressman Schiff’s requests for information regarding the mess that President, his senior staff and appointees, and his private attorneys have made around Ukraine and the mishandling of US government information by misclassification.

Unfortunately for Secretary Pompeo the Department of State’s Inspector General has other ideas:

What the State Department IG wants to brief Congress on isn’t exactly clear yet, but, apparently, the leaks have begun.

Ruh Roh!

And, apparently, what little support Secretary Pompeo had left in the State Department is gone. He has lost the building!

From Nahal Toosi at Politico:

When Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday accused House Democrats of trying to “intimidate, bully, and treat improperly” State Department employees in their impeachment inquiry, his words rang hollow to more than a few staffers in Foggy Bottom.

If anything, critics inside and outside the department say, Pompeo has done little to protect U.S. diplomats from a virtual war waged on them by President Donald Trump’s administration. His abrupt withdrawal earlier this year of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine – whom Trump disparaged in a call at the heart of Democrats’ impeachment inquiry – also has raised questions about Pompeo’s willingness to stand up for staffers facing political attacks.

That ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch , is due to to be deposed later this month by House staffers, according to a committee aide. Her case, meanwhile, has already rattled career government staffers. Many of them believe Yovanovitch, a veteran diplomat, is one of the most prominent victims of what they say is the contempt and paranoia with which Trump and his aides view the Foreign and Civil Service.

“What the administration appears to want are political operatives who are loyal not to the United States but to the president in furthering his personal, political and financial goals,” said Philip Gordon, a former senior official in the Obama administration who co-authored a recent op-ed defending Yovanovitch. “That’s where it’s demoralizing for the career diplomats.”

A current State Department staffer, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect his job, described the Pompeo letter as “the height of irony.”

Pompeo’s letter also drew derisive comments from people who remember his time as a congressman, when he loudly pressured the Clinton-led State Department to release information about the 2012 attack that killed four Americans, including an ambassador, in Benghazi, Libya.

“It is a bit rich,” said Gordon, who reported to Clinton during her time in Foggy Bottom.

Some veteran government employees fear the revelations from the impeachment inquiry will further demoralize the Foreign Service and others who work for the State Department.

One sign of that? Since the memo detailing Trump’s call with his Ukrainian counterpart was released, dozens of Foreign Service officers have joined a private Facebook group for those considering quitting their jobs, a member of the group told POLITICO.

Much more at the link!

So much for the Department of Swagger.

I hope everyone is enjoying this special Jewish New Year and Days of Awe edition of Infrastructure Week!

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

154Comments

  1. 1.

    Cheryl Rofer

    You left out that Ambassadors Kurt Volker and Masha Yovanovich have arranged to testify to Congress, despite Pompeo’s edict that they SHALL NOT

  2. 2.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Cheryl Rofer: It wasn’t breaking news! I also left you the moat with snakes and alligators and “honey” and “Sweetheart” post to you.

  3. 3.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @Adam L Silverman: I thought someone did that already.

    Actually the sadism involved in Trump’s fantasies about the border is pretty sickening. I missed the “honey” and “Sweetheart” stuff and somehow think I’ll get by without.

    And now the kitties are calling me to the living room to read dead-tree magazines.

  4. 4.

    Jerzy Russian

    It looks like the secretary picked the wrong week to quit drinking, smoking, sniffing glue, etc.

  5. 5.

    Cheryl Rofer

    I’ll drop one other thing. North Korea fired off two missiles into the Sea of Japan.

    Always negotiate from a position of strength. Talks are planned with the US for Saturday.

  6. 6.

    Elizabelle

    dozens of Foreign Service officers have joined a private Facebook group for those considering quitting their jobs,

    That is tragic, and it’s on purpose. Brain drain among the well-qualified.

    Do not forget, you have State Department personnel who have been drawn into trying to make Benghazi 2 out of Hillary’s emails from years ago.

    I bet the DOS personnel have a betting pool on when Pompeo goes down.

  9. 9.

    Mary G

    Lots of respondents to Pompeo’s tweets are dragging him as being a coward who couldn’t testify for eleven hours like Hillary did.

    Trump’s administration has been crippling the State Department since Rex Tillerson’s bullshit “reorganization,” but I’m sure there are plenty of offended professionals with receipts. Not everybody can just retire or take a chance that they’ll get another job that covers the mortgage, so people gritted their teeth, said “yessir” and waited for this day. It’ll take decades to recover all the knowledge and expertise the Trumpanzees have pissed away, though.

  11. 11.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Cheryl Rofer: from a position of near total ignorance, not even knowing what EEZ is, I am inferring that these reports are “not good”

    Steve Herman @ W7VOA
    Japan’s chief cabinet secretary says a #DPRK rocket (or missile) has landed in its EEZ off Shimane Prefecture.

    #Japan government describing it as a “ballistic missile,” reports @ nhk_news.

    but he sends trump letters addressing him as “Your Excellency”

  13. 13.

    Gin & Tonic

    While Pompeo may have a very bad Wednesday, I plan to have a very good one, marking 43 years of wedded bliss with the estimable Mrs. G&T. It hasn’t always been peaches and cream, but the good far outweighs the difficulties, and on balance, we have been extremely fortunate. Three healthy, intelligent, accomplished and humane children and two delightful grandchildren (doing our part to despoil the planet, I guess,) no major health crises, reasonable financial security, and a multitude of shared experiences on five of the seven continents (so far.) Couldn’t ask for much more out of life.

    Your sappy moment in between the schadenfreude.

  14. 14.

    Mary G

    @JPL: He constantly called Kirsten Nielsen those, usually before she could finish her first sentence. Hard to feel bad for her, but it is disgusting.

    ETA: @Gin & Tonic: Congratulations and thanks, I needed that.

  15. 15.

    zhena gogolia

    @JPL:

    This was a conversation about drone policy:

    “Kirstjen, you didn’t hear me the first time, honey,” Mr. Trump said, according to two people familiar with the conversation. “Shoot ’em down. Sweetheart, just shoot ’em out of the sky, O.K.?”

  17. 17.

    Mike in NC

    Pompeo was a Tea Party congressman. Totally in over his head at both CIA and State, but he’s one of the most loyal Trump Whisperers. He’ll never leave.

  18. 18.

    delk

    What did they think would happen when they threatened former colleagues over bullshit Hillary emails?

  21. 21.

    Another Scott

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: EEZ == Exclusive Economic Zone, I think. IOW, Japan’s territorial (for some values of territorial) waters.

    “Little rocket man” is working on getting Donnie’s attention, or, failing that, showing the world that the USA is a paper tiger when headed by Donnie. Probably more of the latter.

    Grrr….

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  24. 24.

    Gin & Tonic

    @schrodingers_cat: There has for some time been a tentative outline for a peace process in the Donbas, called the Steinmeier Formula. this would allow some form of elections and some form of limited autonomy or self-rule in the “DPR” and “LPR” areas. Zelenskyy has reportedly approved moving forward. This is extremely unpopular among many, and viewed as capitulation to Russia.

  27. 27.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Another Scott: “Little rocket man” is working on getting Donnie’s attention, or, failing that, showing the world that the USA is a paper tiger when headed by Donnie. Probably more of the latter.

    The North Koreans, and everyone else around the world, know that trump is weak, easily manipulated and assuming their intel services conduct highly specialized operations like reading the US political press, they know that he is absolutely desperate for some ‘victory’, a win he can bellow about for the howler monkeys at his rallies. They know trump with throw South Korea and Japan under the bus in exchange for “more cameras than the Oscars”, as the halfwit described the great success of the Singapore summit

    ETA: and I don’t doubt that KJU and the people around him take special pleasure in pulling shit like this knowing trump will just start babbling about the beautiful letters. I’d bet one is on its way for his breakfast table.

  28. 28.

    Adam L Silverman

    @JPL:

  30. 30.

    Mnemosyne

    @Gin & Tonic:

    I assume that Zelinskyy’s hand is being forced because he publicly embarrassed Trump. Somebody’s gotta demonstrate for the rest of the world that it doesn’t pay to oppose Putin’s puppet, and everyone else had better fall in line.

  33. 33.

    Adam L Silverman

    @zhena gogolia: The saddest part of this is I think the policy is over how DHS would use drones for surveillance at the border. And if that’s the case, then the President wanted her to shoot down our own drones.

  42. 42.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Ms. Nielsen, a former aide to George W. Bush brought into the department by John F. Kelly, the president’s former chief of staff, was in a perilous position. She had always been viewed with suspicion by the president, who told aides she was “a Bushie,” and part of the “deep state” who once contributed to a group that supported Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign.
    Mr. Trump had routinely berated Ms. Nielsen as ineffective and, worse — at least in his mind — not tough-looking enough. “Lou Dobbs hates you, Ann Coulter hates you, you’re making me look bad,” Mr. Trump would tell her, referring to the Fox Business Network host and the conservative commentator.

    and she was fired, she didn’t quit, she would have stuck around for more.

  43. 43.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Booger: A good chunk of that assessment had to with squaring his meals properly in the dining hall, having his shoes shined properly, and having his pants creased properly. So…

  46. 46.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: That’s the real insanity in all of this. That all of these people, these senior appointees who carried equivalent rank to 4 and 3 star generals and admirals in their Senate confirmed positions or in their White House appointments witnessed all of this and didn’t think: “this man is insane, I have to warn everyone!” Instead they just thought they needed to manipulate him a bit better. Except for Stephen Miller, who, as reported in the article, took all of this in and “saw an opportunity”.

    And there is another issue here too. Which is that these two NY Times reporters sat on this until it was time do publicity for their forthcoming book on the topic. So they had all of this news to break and report months and months ago and they decided to sit on it until it could make them the most money. This is also an issue for The New York Times leadership.

  47. 47.

    chris

    OT: Apologies if it’s been previously noted.

    I just phoned the cemetery to inquire about turnout for Mr Pearson's service. Front desk tells me more than 1,000 cars have arrived plus another 200 motorcycles. "I don't know where they're all going to park. This restores your faith in human beings, I can tell you that." https://t.co/8NvgIZyEQy— Andrew deGrandpre (@adegrandpre) October 1, 2019

  48. 48.

    Jeffro

    The ‘West Wing’ version of this script has a Republican Senator (probably ailing, on his way out) denouncing Pompeo on the Senate floor, asking “whut exactly in tarnation the Yoo-Nited-States Secruhtary of STATE is doin’ runnin’ around the world with clowns and malcontents, trying to unprove what has already been proven – that this is an illegit-ta-mate president of these Yoo-Nited States”

    (fade to black)

    (hopefully just the tv show and not the Republic itself)

  51. 51.

    RAVEN

    ATLANTA | A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked Georgia’s restrictive new abortion law from taking effect, following the lead of other judges who have blocked similar measures in other states.

    The law signed in May by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp bans abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women realize they’re expecting. It allows for limited exceptions.

    It had been scheduled to become enforceable on Jan. 1.

    Lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights in June filed a constitutional challenge to the law on behalf of Georgia abortion providers and an advocacy group.

    U.S. District Judge Steve Jones wrote in an order Tuesday that the current laws governing abortion in the state shall remain in effect for the time being. Based on current U.S. Supreme Court precedent, he wrote, the challenge to the new law is likely to succeed.

  52. 52.

    Jeffro

    @Gin & Tonic: Major, major (but not Mx4) congratulations! Mrs Fro and I are only about halfway to your marker, so I might hit you up for some tips on how to go the distance (or a reasonable facsimile thereof LOL)

  54. 54.

    geg6

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    She didn’t quit because she was getting her jollies kidnapping children and putting them in cages. She deserves to be treated like that and much, much more. Her silence since being fired is as damning as her actions in office. Fuck her. Just fuck her.

  55. 55.

    Elizabelle

    @Adam L Silverman:

    And there is another issue here too. Which is that these two NY Times reporters sat on this until it was time do publicity for their forthcoming book on the topic. So they had all of this news to break and report months and months ago and they decided to sit on it until it could make them the most money. This is also an issue for The New York Times leadership.

    Yes indeed. The NYT needs to stop this shit.

    Someone (here?) had the interesting idea that a lot of their digital subs were Russian $$$. Who knows. I don’t know people subscribing the FTF NYTimes right and left, but I do know a lot of people who have dropped their subs, in disgust.

  59. 59.

    TS (the original)

    Seems trump has ensured that Russia takes over Ukraine. Putin is laughing all day every day – at his success in separating the US & Europe, the UK & Europe and the decimation of democracy in both countries.

    The fallout from trump will take at least a generation – or maybe more – to get wiped from the planet.

  60. 60.

    jl

    @Kelly: ” A moat thru the Sonoran Desert. I’d expect that in Mel Brooks movie! ”
    Is Mel Brooks writing this thing? He’s a frickin’ genius of black comedy.

  61. 61.

    Mnemosyne

    @Elizabelle:

    It was me. I’m suspicious like that, especially when the NYT crowed to their stockholders that their bacon was saved by a sudden upsurge in digital subscriptions.

    Mailing the Sunday NYT to Moscow is prohibitively expensive, don’t’cha know?

  67. 67.

    Another Scott

    Twitter:

    MoatSnakeHat @Popehat

    FAILING NEW YORK TIMES OUT WITH FAKE NEWS AGAIN. I NEVER SAID USE JUST ANY SNAKE IN THE BORDER WALL MOAT. REGULAR SNAKES CAN’T SWIM. I WOULD USE WATER SNAKES. ELITIST MSM NOT FAMILIAR WITH SNAKES OR MOATS LIKE DECENT AMERICANS I’M FIGHTING FOR.

    3:17 PM – 1 Oct 2019

    (Insert “This Is Fine” graphic here)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  71. 71.

    Chetan Murthy

    I’m guessing that Don Bedsore got these ideas of shooting migrants in the legs, from Butcher Bibi.

  72. 72.

    Elizabelle

    @Mnemosyne: I think you are right about that, and I think you are right about the “deep state” choking off Russian money flowing into our politics, and that’s why the NRA and many Republicans are on the ropes financially.

    I truly think the FTF NYTimes is compromised, although it also does some (but not all) good reporting.

  74. 74.

    Mike in DC

    @Gin & Tonic: Indeed, there were protests this evening in the Maidan over it. I suspect he will be compelled to walk it back. I’d rather Russia not get an unequivocal win that Trump can spin to lift sanctions.

  75. 75.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Kelly: @Adam L Silverman: A moat thru the Sonoran Desert. I’d expect that in Mel Brooks movie!

    Zero Mostel would have made one hell of a trump

  76. 76.

    Miss Bianca

    @Elizabelle: @Adam L Silverman: Starting to think that newspapers need to start inserting “conflict of interest” clauses in their reporters’ contracts or terms of employment agreements or whatever they are using when they hire reporters – the opposite of a nondisclosure agreement, if you will: a FULL DISCLOSURE agreement, meaning that you could be sued for sitting on information you obtain during the course of your work that you decide you’re saving for your book deal, rather than reporting. Kay is right – this shit is getting out of hand, and it’s part of what’s wrong with modern journalism.

  77. 77.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Gin & Tonic: Congratulations! I’ve been away from the home the past few days and have been fiercely missing MissusForkbeard.

    Your story has really made me smile. Gonna bring my lady a big bunch of flowers tomorrow night when I get home.

  80. 80.

    Chetan Murthy

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:

    Why do seemingly all right-wingers use the term “leftist” now?

    Young pup, when we were young and had hair, and Newtie the Petootie roamed the corridors of Congress molesting innocent staffers, the GrOPers had an entire *list* of epithets they’d use against progressives and liberals. Those were better times, with a better, more intelligent breed of GrOPer. No more moral, but more intelligent. Times have changed, and the breed has degraded so that today, they can’t hold more than a few epithets in their little brains without passing out. So it’s “leftist” and “socialist” and that’s about it.

    Pity them. Uh, after you bury them and put a wooden stake thru the coffin lid, of course.

  81. 81.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Chetan Murthy: Yep. That’s what he really wants. A separation wall like the one the Israelis built. That’s why he keeps demanding concrete, which is what the Israeli wall is made of.

  85. 85.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Miss Bianca: I’m going to be working this into my talks at the end of the month. If I’m ever actually told how long I have to speak.

  93. 93.

    Kattails

    @Gin & Tonic: Oh that is absolutely wonderful, hearty congrats and felicitations and all that. It takes some doing. Many more happy anniversaries to you both.

  95. 95.

    Villago Delenda Est

    This fucking knob needs to be impeached, and then tossed in prison for the rest of his life.

  96. 96.

    Jay

    Lincoln: “Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.” FDR: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Trump: “Look, at least get the snake guy on the phone and get me an estimate.” https://t.co/inbtEbV43q— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) October 1, 2019

  98. 98.

    dimmsdale

    One thing I’m still hoping for, Adam, is a grand congressional hearing that exposes ALL the threads tying together the Koches, Mercers, Murdochs, that young Facebook whelp, various grubby Russian oligarchs, and hopefully fines or sends to prison a healthy number of them. See that on the horizon at all, or is it just a pipe dream?

    Since it’s an open thread, I’ll just add that the next Democratic president had damn well better cleanse the Civil Service of every single Republican appointed by either GWB or Donald Trump, right down to the guy who issues parking stubs in the Commerce Dept. garage. One of the biggest failures of the Obama administration was to let some of these politically appointed Republican maggots remain in place when the administration changed, rather than boot them out as per long-standing custom; they passive-resisted Obama policies, and don’t deserve their taxpayer-generated salaries.

  100. 100.

    prufrock

    @Adam L Silverman: I think I mentioned this before, but I’ll repeat it here. My grandfather was a Hudson High grad (class of 39). The leader of the Corps of Cadets when he was a plebe was William Westmoreland.

    Success at West Point is no predictor of future success anywhere else.

  107. 107.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Raven: Since that ended up nearly as good as new, I don’t consider it a major health crisis. It was inconvenient, and at times depressing, but it’s over and I can do everything I did before.

  108. 108.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @chris:

    There is video of Pompeo talking approvingly of the Rapture.

    What that motherfucker deserves is the Crapture – lifted bodily high into the air & dropped face down into a full uncovered septic tank.

  109. 109.

    Jay

    One year ago, Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to get marriage papers.Within seven minutes he was killed & dismembered.Listen to Jamal’s last words about MBS who ordered this act of medieval butchery.https://t.co/uHuBYQubIn— Rula Jebreal (@rulajebreal) October 1, 2019

  111. 111.

    Mai naem mobile

    OT why does Trumpov call Adam Schiff liddle’. Schiff is. 5’11” which is not liddle. Also Trumpov lies about his height like everything else. He is supposedly 6’4″ but shorter than his son who is 6’1. He looks about the same height or a hair shorter than Trudeau who is.supposed to be 6’2″ Obama is 6’1″ and looks taller in pictures next to him. I know there are slightly more important things going on in the world than his height but jeezus why would a tall guy lie about his height?

  113. 113.

    Mai naem mobile

    @Kelly: I think John Goodman should play Pompeo and Nathan Lane should play Bill Barr. Lisa Kudrow should play Ivanka. Robert DeNiro could pull off Barr as well.

  115. 115.

    Kattails

    @geg6: Glad you have the priorities straight here.
    @Adam L Silverman: (You couldn’t give me 2 minutes to enjoy G & T’s nice news, could you? Sorry file under Messenger: do not shoot.) OK so it can’t be that they live in some kind of perfect bubble where contrary information can’t penetrate or be accepted. Aside from that being entirely contrary to the job description– one should stay alert and open, yes?–it’s that these people should only have listen to Trumplestilskin et al. He can’t form sentences. He can’t form coherent thoughts. He rants. He babbles. His history of abusing others is thoroughly documented going back long before it became politicized by the *presidency. I mean, the quantity of tinfoil for the hats just staggers the imagination. Yet these people are tasked with maintaining the structure of one of the largest and most advanced civilizations the planet has ever seen. It’s horrifying.

  121. 121.

    Geoboy

    @Chetan Murthy: I don’t think Bibi gave Trump the idea to shoot migrants in the legs. Bib’s much more of a “shoot clearly identified nurses in the head” kind of guy.

  124. 124.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Geoboy:

    I don’t think Bibi gave Trump the idea to shoot migrants in the legs.

    IIRC, the IDF was given explicit orders to shoot Gaza protesters at their protests, in the knees: “shoot to cripple”. Explicit orders. B/c it makes more wounded, and while dead people incite condemnation and not much more, live wounded people are a living reminder to any protester of what lies in store. It’s about terrorizing them, not just stopping them.

  125. 125.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @dimmsdale: Luciane Goldberg hated dems but was kept on in fed govt when Bill became president. She watched and waited , then mentored and coached Monica. Not good to keep people on who were set in place by previous admin of different party.

    We do have civil service rules in place. That was a major step forward for our govt at end of 19th, beginning of 20th century. IIRC Trump gang was looking for a way to get around those rules.

  126. 126.

    Jay

    Hong Kong police shot a schoolboy in the chest with a live round at point blank range today. The boy is currently in critical condition.Our photographer @stardust_rain witnessed police pointing guns at retreating protesters in Wong Tai Sin: pic.twitter.com/dLj5kjJ5a5— Lausan 流傘 (@lausanhk) October 1, 2019

    Congratulations to President Xi and the Chinese people on the 70th Anniversary of the People’s Republic of China!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2019

  128. 128.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @Kelly: One brother was in HS classes with Busey. Weird he was in some Hagee end time movies, I think.

    Had bad opinion of him, but liked him in Buddy Holley movie

  130. 130.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @Jay: Clark was attacked a lot when he was in the dem presidential primary in o4. I liked him when I heard him In person. Never really understood why he was so attacked. Maybe because he didn’t exactly fit stereotype of general held by either the left or the right?

  134. 134.

    Jay

    NEW: No, Fiona Hill is not the whistleblower. But she and her team were among those wary of the shadow foreign policy being done on Ukraine by Giuliani, Sondland, and Volker. She resigned just a week before Trump's fateful Zelensky call. My profile: https://t.co/jeEkGLOEcQ— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) September 30, 2019

  135. 135.

    thalarctosMaritimus

    @Gin & Tonic:

    While Pompeo may have a very bad Wednesday, I plan to have a very good one, marking 43 years of wedded bliss with the estimable Mrs. G&T.

    Congratulations! Wishing you many more years of happiness.

    Three healthy, intelligent, accomplished and humane children and two delightful grandchildren (doing our part to despoil the planet, I guess,)

    mr. thalarctos and I never used our replacement-value allotment, so you can have one of those 2. See–books are all balanced again!

  136. 136.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @Jay: Police accept no opposition.

    Maybe they remember Obama worked several yrs as a community organizer? And think the work gives people unacceptable ideas?

  138. 138.

    Uncle Jeffy

    Congrats to M/M G & T. Mrs UJ an I wii celebrate 50 in November and we’ve never seen an administration as corrupt as this one.

  140. 140.

    NotMax

    @Jay

    Does he know about the whole Communist thing? (rhetorical question)

    “Red China? Not my thing, but Ivanka says it looks nice on an orange tablecloth.”

  141. 141.

    NotMax

    @Jay

    Was gonna post about the point blank shooting in the chest of the protestor yesterday when first read about it but fell asleep before I could find a second credible source to corroborate it.

  142. 142.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @Jay: Thanks. I didn’t know this existed. Some of what’s discussed there I remember very well.

    When he spoke in Tulsa, he said being in the military had helped teach him how important and necessary affirmative action is. The military, in his experience, gave everyone the opportunity to achieve the highest they were capable of. He was quite impressive.

  144. 144.

    joel hanes

    @Kattails:

    it can’t be that they live in some kind of perfect bubble where contrary information can’t penetrate or be accepted

    Lance Mannion explains how and why Republican fealty to Trump works:
    https://lancemannion.typepad.com/lance_mannion/2019/09/victims-of-historic-proportion-1.html

    Back in the bronze age of blogs, when Cole was a young punk Republican warblogger, Mannion was much cited and linked. He never stopped, and in recent months he’s been doing some great work.

  145. 145.

    Jay

    @Ladyraxterinok:

    @Ladyraxterinok:

    I have been an anti facist my whole life. 99% of what we do is build resiliant, self supporting communities.

    Cops don’t like that. We don’t need them.

    In my youth, I was a SHARP “thug”, in my old age, a Community Guard and Medic.

    I stand watch outside of Synagogs and Mosques on a regular shedule, walk though the Unhomed Communities dealing with medical issues, show up at the protests with a backpack full of water and first aid for the protestors, ally with the food banks and other social services, to try to aid the community.

    My first real “home” was the Woodward Squat, where I found a Community. Like minded people.

    Yeah, digging in is dark and soul sucking, but you work the system and get somebody dentures, and they can chew food for the first time in years, find somebody a home, get somebody a job,

    Priceless.

  146. 146.

    Ruckus

    @Mai naem mobile:
    Because he’s incapable of telling the truth about himself or pretty much anything else on the planet, but especially about himself. He is way, way up there on the narcissism scale, like over 100% up there. Every single thing in the world is always about him. And since he’s a worthless piece of shit, he has to lie about everything, but especially about himself. And he’s been doing this for a long time, I’m betting at least 72 of his 73 yrs.

  147. 147.

    Mai naem mobile

    @Ladyraxterinok: I think you’re confusing Luciane Goldberg with Linda Tripp but I might be wrong. I thought Luciane was a publisher or had some kind of position in books or magazines.

    Also more suggestions for a Trumptitanic cast –
    David Morse as Brad Parscale, Ed Harris as John Kelley and Val Kilmer for Bannon.

  148. 148.

    mrmoshpotato

    And, apparently, what little support Secretary Pompeo had left in the State Department is gone. He has lost the building!

    Awwww…..it almost makes you feel…..nah, fuck ’em.

    Betting pool on how long until Pompeo is out? Will they bring back the oily dinosaur to try lifting Russian sanctions again?

    How many more crimes will we be greeted with in the morning?

  149. 149.

    Mai naem mobile

    @chopper: duh I forgot about the BMI thing. That actually makes more sense even though height is easily figured out comparing to other people of known heights.

  150. 150.

    dimmsdale

    @Ladyraxterinok: Right, there are civil service rules in place, but as you probably know most of the top cabinet positions (and the underlings they bring in with them) are political appointees exempt from civil service rules (which are supposed to isolate and protect the bulk of federal agency staff from political considerations). The political appointees bring their MAGA with them into their jobs, and unless they’re booted out when administrations change, their MAGA stays with them as they continue. That was a huge failure on the Obama administration’s part; it can’t continue under a New Democratic president if democracy is going to be preserved (IMO).

  151. 151.

    Mai naem mobile

    @Ruckus: I read/heard sonehwere that he got very little attention from his mom when he was around 2 till three because his mom had issue with a birth and spent a lot of time in the hospital that year. Anyhow, the theory is that that is where he gets.his lack of empathy and other psych issues.

  152. 152.

    Ruckus

    @Mai naem mobile:
    Possibly but he’s such a mess that I’d bet there is more to it than just this. His dad was about as far from sainthood as his spawn is and the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. And lot’s of people have shitty childhoods and actually grow up in spite of it. Shit for brains hasn’t yet and isn’t capable of it before he finishes his dive into total senility.
    Remember, he’s wealthy and successful, why should he change now?
    Man do I crack my self up.

  154. 154.

    greenergood

    @Mai naem mobile: RE: Liddle: Somewhere (maybe Kos?) I read the other day that ‘Liddle’ is a reference for Pizzagate-type CT followers because Schiff is somehow connected (board member? volunteer?) to the Liddle Kidz foundation, which sponsors physiotherapy sessions for children and thus is obviously a haven for peadophiles … not posting links because I’m not internet-sophisticated enough to know which ones are slimy and I don’t want my ‘puter to be slimed.

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