The Ukraine scandal is the Sharknado of Watergates.
Lurid, loud, and dumb, with screenwriting as awful as the CGI.
Everyone in it is so terrible, and the handful of people who were big 15 years ago are obviously just there for a paycheck.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) October 10, 2019
There was a bumper crop of good post-Watergate books — I still have copies of a few, including The Friends of Richard Nixon and Trout Fishing in the Reflecting Pool — but the prospects for post-Ukranium-1 ‘excellent reads’ is almost stunning:
Starting the impeachment inquiry may have seemed risky, but when it leads to headlines like "Associates of president's personal lawyer arrested as they try to flee the country" you gotta say that prospects look pretty good.
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) October 10, 2019
One big difference now vs. Watergate: Many Nixon people really were Nixon people; they had worked for him for years, believed in him, and were intensely personally loyal. Even so many turned on him to save their skins, but not all did, and many didn't easily. Trump? Not so much.
— Jonathan Bernstein (@jbview) October 13, 2019
lol Giuliani getting sucked into illegal Ukraine dealings while trying to defend Manafort’s illegal Ukraine dealings like some sort of moron quicksand
— Jess Dweck (@TheDweck) October 12, 2019
If you're feeling down, ask yourself what's going to be more enjoyable:
Trump and Giuliani publicly turning on each other, or
Trump and Lindsey Graham publicly turning on each other.Because both will happen.
— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) October 11, 2019
Propagandist Sarah Sanders Huckabee’s father Mike isn’t getting enough attention when it comes to his relationship with Trump/Giuliani’s indicted pals Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, pictured here in Jerusalem with Rabbi Moshe Azman. pic.twitter.com/SmcNPrVKLa
— Alexandra Chalupa (@AlexandraChalup) October 12, 2019
[Cheers-style chorus: KARL!]This is entering Butina territory. https://t.co/CnSGZLn4j4
— Zeddy (@Zeddary) October 12, 2019
yeah, international mobsters funneling oligarch cash into a US campaign to get a US ambassador fired. IF I HAD A DIME for every time … https://t.co/QwieIsCBB0
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) October 10, 2019
It's barely an old Soviet "who will tell comrade Stalin" joke at this point. Everyone Trump knows well, who worked for him, for his admin, turns out to be as rotten as a jack-o-lantern on Nov 1. The exceptions get the hell out hoping to salvage a shred of reputation.
— Mig Greengard (@chessninja) October 12, 2019
When you think of all the people Trump has betrayed in his presidency and his life including all of his wives, it’s all the more impressive that he has never betrayed Putin.
— Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) October 11, 2019
We definitely are! Also a George Orwell novel. pic.twitter.com/WGYu1TMMpT
— BLEEDING ?? LIBERAL (@JBENEDI32714453) October 13, 2019
Mary G
Even the ones who seemed like they might be OK, like Mattis and Rod Rosenstein, just cause they were quiet, turn out to be just as bad.
laura
Rick Wilson hardee har harring is just so much lifeboat building -look at that trump and rudy and all those Russians, but look away from years and years and years of the Republican party taking their laundered cash. Speak not of anything that preceded this trump fellow, because when he’s gone, I want my life as I knew it back, and I will absolutely take no responsibility for my part in everything that led to a trump presidency.
Fuck that guy and his ilk.
Cacti
I’ve gotten the feeling over the past week that Barr is setting Rudy up to take the fall for all of this.
SFAW
@Mary G:
Sorta like Heydrich “seemed like he might have been OK”? Because he wasn’t as obvious as Goebbels? [At least (re: Heydrich), not to those of us born some years after.]
Wag
I think we are living in an exceptionally paranoid Thomas Pynchon novel. We are all Slothrop, hiding from the V2 attacks and being force fed disgusting English candy by the pound
jl
” as rotten as a jack-o-lantern on Nov 1. ”
That is faint praise, with too much praise, and not enough faint.
I’d give it a couple of days at least, with a little heat wave Indian Summer action.
SFAW
@Cacti:
Philosophically agree, but Rudy’s been so fucking stupid, it may not be necessary for Traitor Barr to do anything. But if he does, lets hope he incriminates himself along the way.
NotMax
@Mary G
It’s slime mold all the way down.
NotMax
@jl
Yeah, “as rotten as a jack-o-lantern by Thanksgiving” would painted a much better picture.
divf
@Wag: “Here: wine jellies. They’re prewar…”
Jay
jonas
The way this will inevitably end is with the discovery of a secret email server in the Ukraine being used by the Trumps to hide emails related to their shady dealings with Russian/Ukrainian oligarchs. Trump simply projects too much for this not to be the case.
jl
The Trump-Erdogan call and decision should be added to the impeachment investigation. Along with the decision to send 3,000 troops to Saudi Arabia, which is ‘paying’ for it. Heard on news that reporters are getting the run around on exactly how that payment works, little details like ‘who is paying whom’ and ‘how’ are getting stonewalled.
Heard a typcally idiotic Trump quote that maybe he, or the US, could mediate between the Kurds and Turkey. Yeebus in a clown car. That is what we were doing, maybe moving too slowly to the satisfaction of Turkey, but that is what we were effing doing. Trump blew that up.
Also not enough press calling out the lying gaslighting of the Trumpsters. Trump lies, or idiotically babbles that, without understanding what he’s saying, to get our troops home. Trumpters are allowed to say that in interviews and no pushback. The initial BS from Trump withdrew around 50 soldiers, but 3000 were sent to Saudi Arabia. That is a net +2950 according to arithmetic. Now Trump has followed through on his idiot senseless threat to pull out all the troops in Syria if Turkey wasn’t ‘moderate’. So, we still +2000 troops overseas.
Trump should be impeached over his Turkish-Kurd idiot self-made disaster alone. Start with hearings about his vile suggestion that the ISIL who break jail go to Europe.
Cacti
@SFAW:
I’ve also suspected for a while that Rudy’s brain is no longer in mint condition.
Jay
Jay
Stuck in moderation
Cacti
@jl:
The Kurds have reached a deal with the Syrian Army to join forces against Turkey’s incursion. Trump forced them into Assad’s orbit.
Putin is all smiles.
jl
@Cacti: Trump is either incompetent, or treacherous, or incompetently treacherous. Or just a damned oblivious idiot.
Jay
hervevillechaizelounge
@laura:
You know how we know Rick Wilson is full of shit? He’s been around these creeps, thugs and bleeding anal warts forever but he never, ever tells where the bodies are buried. Just like George Conway, he could probably take down the whole party if he wanted to, but that ain’t it kid, that ain’t it kid.
Off topic for oldsters: would I be correct in suspecting Ukranium One is political bitch slap situation? And Uncle Joe has failed to demand pistols at dawn and thus has failed, yes?
tokyokie
@Cacti:
Hey, it could still even have that new-brain smell, considering that it’s hardly been used.
Jay
@jl:
Or a Russian Asset, maybe even a Russian Agent.
And he is surrounded by others.
Wapiti
@Mary G: Yeah, Mattis needs to be questioned about the boards he’s on.
“So you turned a blind eye to the Theranos fraud. What other boards are you on? Do they all expect you to turn a blind eye to whatever the CEO does? How much are you getting paid for this and what value do you add?”
Cacti
@Jay:
I’ve said it here previously, if you view Trump from the premise that he was put in place to damage or end America’s standing as the world’s only superpower, most of what he does makes perfect sense.
SFAW
@tokyokie:
More likely that the mint is used to mask the smell of rotting “brain” matter.
jl
@Wapiti: I think Mattis is doing standard SOP systemic corruption that’s been going on for decades. Mattis has been disappointing on his book tour, acting like this is a normal situation. Let’s compare to another Marine, two time Medial of Honor winner. As I noted a couple of days ago, clear which book will be read longer and is more important, and which will be consigned to very obscure archives.
War is a Racket by Major General Smedley Butler
Don’t like some stuff on this site, too conspiratorial, I’ll look for another link, and only repost if can’t find one.
Wapiti
@Cacti: I think “Ambassador” Sondland’s testimony next week might screw with Barr’s plans for Rudy. Sondland is wealthy in his own right and probably not willing to go to jail (or tank his chain of hotels in Blue enclaves) for Trump.
SFAW
@Jay:
Ten or 20 years ago, that would have been considered a “bad thing” by the Rethug faithful. Today? Not so much. [As evidenced by the “I’d rather be Russian than Democrat” (or whatever) T-shirts. Fucking traitors.]
SFAW
@Wapiti:
That’s assuming he doesn’t go out for a polonium/Novichok cocktail before testifying, of course.
rikyrah
@Cacti:
We shall see ????
Jay
@Wapiti:
“Ambassador” Sondland’s swank hotels have already pulled all references to his ownership, off their websites by Friday.
Aleta
@Wag:
Don’t forget the real business of the War is buying and selling. –G.R.
(When I took metal shop I would put quotes from gravity’s rainbow on the assignments (little brass paperweights, candlesticks, …)
jl
I’ll just give the wikipedia article. People can pick links to text of audio book at the bottom
War is a Racket, by Major General Smedley Butler
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Is_a_Racket
Duane
@Jay: Whatever Trumpov is or isn’t, he’s unleashed fucking war on these people. He could have stopped this. It’s a crime what he’s done and he needs to pay.
Aleta
@divf: ?
Mary G
@jl: D. All of the above, plus senile and drug-addled.
Jay
Mary G
@SFAW: Putin’s choice to position Russians as white male supremacists who love guns has paid off spectacularly.
Jay
@Duane:
Dolt45 is not alone, the guy I who’s tweet I posted has a bunch of threads up on the Pundits, Politicians, Lobbiests and NGO’s that made all these war crimes possible.
Some of the FSA guys who joined with the YPG to destroy ISIS, are SAA deserters and rebels, same with some of the Kurds in the YPG. So working alongside the SAA is going to be “awkward”.
On the other hand, the former FSA, “reformed” ISIL and renamed al-Quida that Turkey is using as foot soldiers, and calling the FSA, are just ISIL 2.0, still murdering, rapeing, looting, torturing, beheading and seeking the establishment of a Caliphinate.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Cacti:
Why should he be all smiles? More like cutting off his nose to spite his own face. Some of those ISIL fighters won’t just go to Western Europe. They’ll go to Russia too. He’s an arrogant mad man, just Erdogan
Cacti
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Because he’s a Cold War revanchist looking to even the score.
Aleta
I watched that video of t killing journalists, rosie o’donnell (I think), obama …
It’s very ugly.
Is it true it was shown at a campaign rally, or was it limited to posting on yt or a pro-t website, but not used ‘officially’?
Money launderers, black market gun sales, trafficking women who thought they would work as models …I guess you have to expect that people involved in those things have no problem putting out black market campaign ads, lies, and stimulation to cheer violence.
jl
Skipping through and reading transcripts of the Sunday Talkies. My blood pressure prevents me from listening or watching them in real time.
Face the Nation had Kinzinger (R, Illinois), apparently the kind of semi-lunatic who passes for a ‘moderate’ GOPer in Congress.
” MARGARET BRENNAN: ….Does this make you question whether you’re going to support President Trump in 2020?
REP. KINZINGER: Well, I’m- I’m not going to go there and question whether I’m going to support, but it does, you know- I think the president needs to be aware that in- and I know Republican base voters. I represent both Republicans and Democrats. I have a Republican district. One of the things they loved about Donald Trump is- they’re like he says what he means. He’s tough. He’s taken the fight to ISIS and I’m having a hard time seeing how basically pulling out of Syria- and it’s not just about protecting the Kurds. It’s about getting intel and fighting ISIS. And I don’t see how that’s gonna be a position of strength. So we’ll have to see how 2020 plays out on that. ”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/transcript-representative-adam-kinzinger-on-face-the-nation-october-13-2019/
So, looks like less insane GOP congresscritters backing off from Trump, sort of kinda.
Skipping through Tapper, who had some lying gaslighting idiot Cramer (R, ND) on. Cramer is a disgusting loon, but gives a stolid presentation.
Skipping past Cramer, just too dishonest and disgusting. Tapper pushing back against the worst Cramer lies.
FlipYrWhig
I know we’re not supposed to kink-shame but I pray that I never see what it looks like when Trump and Lindsey Graham publicly turn on each other.
mrmoshpotato
@Mary G: What would you like Mattis to do?
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Cacti:
So an arrogant mad man who doesn’t care who gets hurt or killed to “even the score”, IOW?
mrmoshpotato
@FlipYrWhig: If it’s as bad as it’s shaping up to be, there will be warnings before.
“Now what we’re about to show might disturb some people.”
JGabriel
@NotMax:
As rotten as last year’s jack-o-lantern on Oct. 30th.
Mary G
@Aleta:
Twitter says it was shown at a state GOP function in the Trump Miami Hotel attended by both Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Donald Trump. Jr., both claim not to have seen it.
Jay
It was made in Russia,
It was screened at Maragofuckyourself,
At a fundraiser for a pro-Dolt45 PAC,
attended by Bigger Dolt Jr. and Cryptkeeper Conway.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
FTFNYT: Macabre Video of Fake Trump Shooting Media and Critics Is Shown at His Resort
Here’s a Boing Boing article with the original video embedded in case anyone’s interested
It’s an edited clip from the 2014 film Kingsman: The Secret Service
Mary G
@Aleta: @Mary G: Deets from Market Watch:
And:
Jay
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
It’s a new grift model.
Most of the ISIL in the camps are from the Middle East, North and West Africa.
So Wagner, Russian Arms and Trainers will be invited in to defeat the ISIL clones, as it’s pretty clear that the West can’t be trusted.
They rither back Radical Islamic Jihadists like NATO’s Turkey, fecklees and untrustworthy like the USA, or too small and undermanned like the rest of NATO.
It’s already working in Niger and Mozambique.
jl
@Mary G: ‘ “Content was submitted by third parties and was not associated with or endorsed by the conference in any official capacity,” organizer Alex Phillips said. ‘
I guess the conference was just a ‘platform’ and not responsible for any garbage shown or spoken there. Well, I guess if it’s good enough for Facebook.
What a bunch of assholes. They just showed submissions blind? Either they are lying or grotesquely irresponsible. Or maybe grotesquely irresponsible on purpose.
What shite.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Mary G:
Why is this even a thing?
Yeah, sure it is. Maybe you should vet content that is going to be shown at your conference ahead of time? Might be a good idea
Mary G
jl
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:” Maybe you should vet content that is going to be shown at your conference ahead of time? Might be a good idea ”
If you parse it literally, it is non-denial denial. They could have reviewed and figured some BS excuse like their statement would get them off.
We don’t know what happened. They could have reviewed and figured their vile con of a statement would fly, or they are lying (was it really arms-length third party?) Or they didn’t review the submissions.
Any way you look it, inexcusable and disgusting.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Jay:
It’s called playing god with all of our lives. Who the fuck does Putin think he is? How did he know Trump wouldn’t start WW3 (he still could) when he helped him get elected? I mean JFC, we could be looking at 8C° or more warming within this century or more. Around 12C°, and humans can’t survive; our bodies would no longer be able to use sweat to evaporate heat away and we would die of heat stroke. Fuck these assholes like Putin and Xi. They don’t care about the future of humanity only themselves
Could you rephrase this? I’m not sure what you’re trying to say
Mary G
Trigger warning for violence.
This is the full murder video – 2:19 minutes. A lot of media are putting a shorter one that is 46-49 seconds. Near the end he gets around to Hillary, which no one has mentioned as far as I can tell.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@jl:
It does read that way. To me it doesn’t matter. They’re ultimately responsible for the content they show
Duane
@jl: They are lying. Always pick lying it’s what they do. Even whe the truth would work they lie.
opiejeanne
@jl: If I believed in such things I’d say Trump is the Anti-Christ.
Aleta
@Mary G: Thanks.
@Mary G:
trigger warning for violence and for attacks on our reps
In a church, reminding us of real life massacres
Aleta
@opiejeanne: he sure is the opposite of everything christians say jesus taught for them to follow
opiejeanne
@Aleta: True, and what strikes me most about his behavior is the utter misery and chaos he’s sowing, here and abroad. That strikes me as pretty much like what the Anti-Christ would do.
Aleta
@opiejeanne: same
Aleta
This really happened (I had to check):
Headline from October 10: Congressman Brian Mast to return donations from Ukrainian businessmen with Giuliani ties
Ruckus
@jl:
¿por que no los tres?
TS (the original)
@Cacti: Will the US ever answer for the crimes of trump in reneging on all previous treaties and agreements?
Ruckus
@Aleta:
They really, really aren’t too bright. And desperate. Their not so carefully laid plans are total shit. And they aren’t smart enough to fix it after they screwed up the plan to get all the money for making a mockery of the US and destroying all the so called power we thought we had. Someone has the republican party by the balls. Which are in a very strong vise. I’d say that the guy turning the handle is vlad. I wonder how little these low rent goons asked for? Undoubtably a lot less than he was willing to pay. But he is for sure getting his monies worth, to see the world find out that nearly half our country can not be trusted with a bucket of warm spit, let alone an entire country.
TS (the original)
@jl:
I vote for both
low-tech cyclist
@Duane:
This. He should be impeached for this alone, even if none of this other shit was going on.
Well, actually, this in conjunction with his willingness to betray other allies (e.g. Ukraine), and the all too real possibility that this won’t be the only time he does so in a way that can’t be undone.
Ascap_scab
@Cacti:
I truly believe Rudy suffers from an undiagnosed case of syphilis. Three wives and god knows how many bimbos at Gracie Mansion plus all those Epstein parties, you know he must have picked up something. Now it’s stage four and the worms have eaten his brain.
That doesn’t explain Trump, but could explain most of the Washington GOP.
low-tech cyclist
@Aleta:
Holy shit! I hope we have someone good running against him next year – that’s a major campaign ad all by itself!
oatler.
@Wag: The Disgusting English Candy Drill is the funniest chapter in that novel.
Matt McIrvin
It’s going to be so upsetting when they all get away with it and everyone pretends like none of it happened.
FlipYrWhig
Re: the revenge splatter video, I’m not the only one who remembers the media firestorm over a MoveOn video contest that included a submission likening George W. Bush to Hitler, am I? Or over “General Betray-us”? What does it take to get the media interested in shaming the makers and the side they affiliate with when it’s *that* side?
SFAW
@Mary G:
I’m so old, I can remember the shrieking and shrieking of RWMFs when a proposed ad, implying that W was like Hitler, was submitted to MoveOn by a “third party.” Said ad was rejected by MoveOn, but the RWMFs brought it up for awhile after.
I hope I live long enough to see those motherfuckers to suffer as much as they’ve made the country suffer.
ETA: Shakes fist ineffectually at FlipYrWhig
Just Chuck
@SFAW: I’m so old I can remember last week. Unlike most of the press.
donnah
The worst thing about the Trump slaughter video isn’t that it was made, but that Trump loyalists probably cheered as it was shown. And that if challenged, they would say that they wished it was real.
Kristine
@SFAW:
It falls in line with the pro-Confederacy stance of so many of them, though. Deep down, whatever this country is ideally supposed to be about, they’re not for it.
Anya
@Cacti: I became so cynical after Mueller’s investigation turned into a nothing burger so I am not expecting much. If Rod Rosenstein turned into a Trump protector, imagine the length Barr will go to protect Trump. Rudy G. is a vindictive loudmouth, I highly doubt they’ll risk alienating him. I am convinced this investigation will end even with less action than the Mueller report. The three already indicted will face some form of justice but nothing else. No matter how many times Joyce Vance assures us of the indolence and integrity of the line prosecutors, I have zero faith in Barr’s DOJ. When the AJ is openly this corrupt and this committed to making the DOJ Trump’s legal firm, nothing more than token indictments will come out of these investigation
Ruckus
@Mary G:
Our whole lives, that’s been their point, “Never say the bad parts out loud, because then people won’t recognize what we are doing.”
WF Buckley seemed like a very smart guy, used big words. Listen to what he used to say when he was on, for example, Charlie Rose. Very good use of big words to say the worst crap. He sounded rational if you didn’t know what the words meant and how he put them together. If you knew the words, scum of the earth. It’s always been like this, “Don’t give away the game till it’s too late for most people to recognize the con.”
trump would be the perfect con, he’s been practicing his entire life, there’s just one problem, his narcissism doesn’t let him close the deal. He screams the bad parts because he doesn’t understand the con. He wants desperately to make the con work because he’s a true believer in the con, but he’s incapable of doing the long con, because he can’t understand the key to making it work, and that’s not saying the bad parts out loud.
anya
@Anya: weird autocorrect there. It’s supposed to be independence not ‘indolence’.
karen marie
@laura: I finally blocked him and George “Kellyanne” Conway.