If I’m a Republican Member of Congress, after yesterday’s show, I’d be searching for ways to keep quiet. Let’s revisit the case of Elise Stefanik. After she decided to throw away her dubious credentials as a moderate by participating in a stunt and following it up with some transparent lies, her opponent raised $150K on ActBlue:
As of the last report, Cobb had $500K cash on hand, compared to Stefanik’s $1.3M. At this point in the race, an unexpected $150K or $200K for Cobb is huge, as is the massive amount of free (negative) media that’s raining down on Stefanik. This is Cobb’s second run, which is also important – when you’re underfunded and unknown, it takes at least a cycle for you to be introduced to the district.
After Stefanik flushed her reputation down the Ways and Means Committee Room toilet, Trump pardoned war criminals, and this came out:
Donald Trump personally kept up pressure on Ukraine to carry out investigations he had requested in a phone call with a senior US diplomat, who then observed the president did not “give a shit” about Ukraine and only cared about what would benefit him politically, according to dramatic new testimony in congressional impeachment hearings.
In a deposition to the House committees investigating the Ukraine scandal, David Holmes, a diplomat at the US embassy in Kiev, described an extraordinary phone call between Trump and the US ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, on 26 July. […]
Sondland, a wealthy hotelier who donated $1m to Trump’s inauguration celebration, assured Trump that Zelenskiy “loves your ass”.
I have to imagine that Trump’s pardon didn’t go down especially well with the active duty soldiers at Ft. Drum or the retired military in the surrounding Watertown area, both in Stefanik’s district. I suppose some of them are in pretty deep with Trump, but I’ll bet a lot of them have the same reaction as Cole did last night, especially since the pardons were mainly about signaling Roger Stone that help was on the way.
And what stunt could possibly work when Sondland testifies next week? Feigning shock at the language? More bullshit about the whistle blower? I’m sure the brain trust surrounding Nunes will come up with something else, but it will probably be even weaker than Stefanik’s stunt yesterday, if that’s even conceivable.
Gym Jordan can spend a lot of time loving the President’s ass from his R+14 safe seat, but Stefanik does not have that luxury in R+4 NY-21. Yet she chose to go all in on her weak hand yesterday. I hope she busts.
Update: I forgot to add that this news dropped yesterday, too. Apparently Parnas, one of the Chucklefuck twins, is cooperating and will talk about a meeting with Trump where he sent Parnas and Fruman on a “secret mission” to Ukraine.
Keithly
Delurking to test out commenting.
jeffreyw
So far I’m happy with the proceedings. I imagine next week’s hearings will really be something. I wonder if the dark dark side will replace their floundering counsel. Not gonna offer them advice, but if they’re reading this – Just kidding! He’s dong a fantastic job!
zhena gogolia
I have found the hearings riveting, as much as I’ve been able to sample them. But also unutterably depressing to see the moral bankruptcy of all Republican members of Congress. Their counsel doesn’t really bother me, he’s so obviously floundering. I kind of feel sorry for him. I love, “It wasn’t as outlandish as it could be.” That’s my new motto.
WereBear
We supported Tedra Cobb last time, and are even more eager this time!
germy
@WereBear:
We got a handwritten thank you note from her last time.
She’s great and I hope she wins this time.
japa21
The only people whose opinion of Stefanik’s performance art yesterday matters are the people in NY-21. However, I have seen some reports nationally which are praising her (and not normally RW outlets).
PPCLI
A reminder: Trump’s inauguration committee raised $107 million dollars. The cheesy inauguration itself probably used up less than a quarter of that. A bit of it was given to charity, and they announced that the rest would go to charities too. The recipients would be announced at a given date. And that date passed, with no announcement. And the huge pot of leftover money remains entirely unaccounted for.
So we can assume, unless evidence is provided to the contrary, that much of Sondland’s $1 million went straight into Trump’s pocket.
Keith P
@zhena gogolia: That was my highlight of the GOP defense strategy…until yesterday when they tried to just rapidfire a bunch of procedural objections to derail the proceedings ala Gaetz’ Bum Rush. Their lack of anything substantive is kind of funny in a way.
debbie
With redistricting on the horizon, Jordan may have more of a fight than his lizard brain has signaled to him. Careful about the cockiness, boy.
JMG
For his poor dumb sake, I hope Gordon Sondland has an excellent criminal attorney representing him. His public testimony now has three options, none appetizing. 1. Lie about the phone call after having already done so under oath. 2. Tell the truth about the phone call, which is confessing to his lie. 3. Spend much time taking the Fifth, which I’m sure would delight committee Democrats just as much as would a confession.
PPCLI
@zhena gogolia: Taylor was no doubt smart to play it relatively straight, just raising an eyebrow at the suggestion, and saying it could have been more outlandish in a bemused tone.
I could not have resisted the urge to say “In my experience, nothing is ever so outlandish that it couldn’t have been even more so. In this case, for instance, Mr. Guliani could have worn bunny ears and a red clown nose at all times. That would have been even more outlandish. So, yes, it is possible.”
That is why he’s a respected diplomat and I am fortunately not one.
ssdd
She’s up to $250k now. Sweet.
https://twitter.com/tedracobb/status/1195706124504305664?s=21
zhena gogolia
@PPCLI:
His reaction was priceless.
BobS
It’s likely Schiff was caught off-guard (he shouldn’t have been), but what he should say the next time he gavels down a similar stunt is something to the effect of ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Rep. Nunes and Rep ____ were aware of the rules of this committee before they entered the room. Their clowning around is for the benefit of people watching who are not aware, as well as for the benefit of Donald Trump, watching and tweeting from some undisclosed location’.
zhena gogolia
@BobS:
He’s never caught off guard. He has made a reasoned decision to pay as little attention to them as he can and focus on the witnesses. I’m with him.
BobS
@zhena gogolia: Most people watching are not aware of the process- he should explain it in real time so as not to come off looking like an inflexible hard-ass.
SFAW
@BobS:
I thought the additional words would have been a bit more fun. Not that Schiff would demean the Chair in that way.
MattF
@zhena gogolia: Right. One should not forget, in any case, that Pelosi is right behind him. Fooling Schiff is possible, fooling both of them, not so much.
Baud
@JMG:
This will play nicely.
ETA: Meant to add a Trump tweet on the subject. There’s one out there.
dr. bloor
@BobS: In response to a question about Gaetz’s stunt, he said that they knew something was up, but weren’t going to engage the R’s. I assume yesterday was an extension of that. Don’t give the R’s the mud wrestling contest they’re looking for.
Frankensteinbeck
Why would anyone believe this? How many times has this been said about Trump and his lackeys? Trump pardoned the war criminals for the same reason he pardoned Arpaio – Trump thinks it’s disgusting for anyone to be punished for brutally murdering brown people. Remember when he offered to pardon border agents if they shot immigrants?
BobS
@dr. bloor: Putting the gavel to their interruption with a better explanation would have played better to people watching- most people have never attended (or viewed) any sort of public meeting governed by procedural rules. I think he needs to explain more clearly when Republicans object to things (they know are not unfair) so it doesn’t appear he’s acting arbitrarily.
zhena gogolia
@BobS:
The problem is that they keep doing it. So if he stops to explain the rules every time, the focus is shifted away from the witnesses.
Jinchi
Gaetz’s stunt was supposed to end with the Republicans being forcibly removed from the SCIF, while dozens of reporters photographed the whole thing. I’m sure he and Hannity had a script ready to go if the Democrats had taken the bait.
J R in WV
We also hit up Ms. Cobb last night, for $50 and $10/month repeating donation. Not a lot, but we like to spread our donations out to multiple candidates. Have hit up Senator Prosecutor Harris as well… I see that she got a major Union endorsement yesterday evening, which is good news.
I understand that Harris is working hard in S Carolina to organize, and has tapped her well-known African-American college student sorority AKA to help. That organization has a lot of respect nation-wide and will be a big plus for her work among the A-A community, I hope. I even see AKA active here in red WVa, for example.
I can’t believe people are still contemplating entering the Democratic primary race… that seems so counter-intuitive to me right now! Bloomberg should be investing his money to fight Trump, the fact he isn’t means he supports Trump’s positions more than he supports Democratic opposition to Trump.
So Bloomberg is a fascist stooge by the evidence he is presenting to us.
Jinchi
@Frankensteinbeck: Trump’s in a bit of a bind with Roger Stone. If he pardons him, it emphasizes the corruption that Trump is being impeached for. But the promise of a pardon is the very thing that keeps people like Parnas and Fruman in line.
JMG
@J R in WV: In fairness, Bloomberg has put up $100 million for digital advertising that will attack Trump but not boost his own candidacy.
rikyrah
I’m still back with the pardoning of the war criminals ??
Disgusting ? ?
Kelly
@WereBear: Please answer a cat question? We adopted Martin a 7 week old male kitten Sunday. When we picked him up he was supposed to be a 8 week old female but that’s a whole ‘nother story. We need to integrate him into our home with 15 month old female Phoebe. She’s been an only cat since December when old dear elder cat Annie passed away. We’ve been keeping them separate except for reaching thru the barricade and supervised play which which goes really well until Phoebe pins Martin and bites down on his throat. No hiss or yowling from Phoebe and just a dismayed whimper from Martin. From what I’ve read on the web this is a to be expected dominance display but golly it’s alarming. We’ve separated them immediately each time. He’s only a pound and 3/4 she’s almost 11 pounds. Should we let it run it’s course?
germy
It’s time to grab the bull by the tail and face the situation.
Bill Arnold
TL;DR – William P. Barr yesterday, waxes extensively on why the Executive Branch should have more power, if and only if it is not controlled by Democrats.
Attorney General William P. Barr Delivers the 19th Annual Barbara K. Olson Memorial Lecture at the Federalist Society’s 2019 National Lawyers Convention, Washington, DC (Friday, November 15, 2019)
It’s actually worth slogging through. Just up-armor your mind first against Barr-style arguments.
Frankensteinbeck
@Jinchi:
The same thing was said about Papadopalous and Manafort, and on and on and on as Mueller’s investigation swept up middle-men. Trump throws people under the bus. He does not save them to save himself. He’d have done it by now. For that matter, if they’re banking on a pardon then they’re so blind to Trump’s record that letting Stone rot won’t make a difference. If Stone has any chance whatsoever it’s because Trump thinks of him as a personal friend.
germy
But Papadopalous only got… what? two weeks in jail? Not worth a pardon.
But if Mr. Stone is looking at decades…
Frankensteinbeck
@germy:
Yes, by spilling the beans. Trump abandoned everyone, whether they kept their mouth shut or turned tattler. He made it abundantly clear time and again that his strategy is to abandon everyone who gets in trouble doing his dirty work.
The Dangerman
I wonder who plays the Bumblefuck Brothers in the movie; in an earlier era, this would scream for Belushi and Ackroyd, though perhaps that would make it look too much like a Blues Brothers sequel. We already have Trump covered (Baldwin).
Kelly
@Bill Arnold:
The Republicans really believe all this stuff. I live in very red rural Oregon and hear it from folks around here all the time.
Frankensteinbeck
@Kelly:
It makes sense if you start from the assumption that you’re the good guy and your group is always right and your opponents are always evil. Cheating becomes clever tactics, and any victory by the Other must be unfair. It is by definition impossible for the Other to win fairly, because the Other is inferior.
JPL
Mark Sandy is testifying now and hopefully his opening statement is leaked soon.
Butter Emails
@Frankensteinbeck:
The thing is the conservative side’s cheating is so damn obvious. It’s like claiming you’re the honest Monopoly player while stuffing your pockets full of money from the bank, and manually changing die rolls because the other player managed to put hotels on the less expensive properties you turned up your nose at.
MomSense
With everything that came out in the Stone trial, and with what we know of the timing of the Mueller team court filings, like asking for extensions of time, I’m more convinced that Barr ended the Mueller investigation before their work was complete. The leniency of the sentencing for Flynn doesn’t make sense without the evidence he provided being converted to more and the breadth and depth of what Flynn offered really didn’t enter into the Stone trial.
I hope we find out the extent of the Barr Rosenstein fuckery.
The Dangerman
@Kelly:
I’m presently driving in the Central Valley of CA and have been scanning the AM stations at times, which have either been Spanish, Rush (I can identify his voice in a millisecond and I continue on), and some new guy I listened to yesterday; I think his name was Ray. He was a real piece of shit; he made Rush sound like a reasonable commentator. I’d never heard him previously and will endeavor to never hear him again (i.e., the Rush treatment).
CatFacts
For any Louisiana Balloon Juicers or friends, go vote today!
dr. bloor
@The Dangerman: Matt Lucas could play both of them.
ruemara
To quote Ron “Tater Salad” White, “I have the right to remain silent but I do not have the ability.”
That’s your Republican today.
WereBear
When Martin protests, does Phoebe lay off? If not, you need to Wyatt Earp the situation.
Dear Pammy, How do I be the Boss of Cat Town?
This is littermate play, but Phoebe might not have had enough tutoring in manners and the size issue is a real one.
BTW, there is no “dominance” in cats. Dogs have packs. Cats have colonies. One is a hierarchy. The other is communism.
That actually works :)
Another Scott
@BobS:
Schiff’s opening statement at the Yovanovich hearing:
The hearing rules are clear and were clearly stated by Schiff.
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
Frankensteinbeck
@Butter Emails:
From their perspective it’s watching the hero pull the trick that defeats the evil overlord who is inferior in every way but has the system stacked on his side. The non-political practices are just Their Due. We saw that one crystal clear in the Kavenaugh hearings. Conservatives, including conservative women, were steaming furious that liberals would deny a white man of good family His Due, which includes the privilege of raping women. Is their perspective fucked up? Sure, because it starts from the conclusion (they’re the good guys) and works backwards.
Kelly
@WereBear: Haven’t waited it out we’ve intervened immediately. When we adopted Phoebe she was 1 weeks old and elder cat Annie just batted her if she grew annoying. Phoebe loves a tussle with my hand and as the game goes on she gets rough when she’s wound up.
rikyrah
I have no pets, but I always read the pet tips on here ?
Omnes Omnibus
Test.
yellowdog
@JMG: Or just not show up.
Kelly
@Kelly: Phoebe was 12 weeks old when we adopted her. My 2 key is getting flaky. We’ve installed a grated door to the guest bedroom so we have a good arrangement for keeping them apart. They playfully bat at one another thru the door and Phoebe looks content when watching Martin thru the grate
WereBear
Like Roy Cohn? Milked dry of dirty tricks and discarded like a condom wrapper in his time of need? That kind of personal friend?
WereBear
@Kelly: Then she gets to “play” but if she’s too rough we are “worried” (I do what I do because I care about their safety!) and will put the baby away until she learns how not to break him.
Same as toddlers :)
yellowdog
@JMG: Or just not show up.
Jay
https://qz.com/1748054/a-2020-us-election-simulation-ended-with-32-dead-and-200-injured/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
debbie
@WereBear:
Ah, time out.
yellowdog
@The Dangerman: Carrie Fisher, if she were alive, would be a good pick for Nancy. Or of course, Streep, because she could probably all the parts.
Kathleen
@PPCLI: But pizazzzzzz!
mrmoshpotato
@germy: It’s “by the horns”, not tail. Unless you think getting pooped on by the bull gives you an advantage.
germy
@mrmoshpotato:
That’s the joke.
(An old W.C. Fields line)
Frankensteinbeck
@WereBear:
Exactly that kind of personal friend, and I expect exactly that treatment. I’ll grant that Stone’s chance is miniscule, which is slightly better than zero, because of the personal connection. The pardons of the war criminals sure as Hell ain’t a reminder to Stone to expect loyalty and protection from the top.
Jay
Thread,…..
Kelly
@WereBear: Will do. The fence can stay up until Martin is bigger. We were thinking of Phoebe as a rough a tumble big kid around a toddler.
Thanks!
mrmoshpotato
@MomSense:
Isn’t Moscow Misha still awaiting sentencing?
James E Powell
@yellowdog:
Debra Winger
Frankensteinbeck
@Jay:
Wow. The OP is truly an asshole who is both ignoring the context of Obama’s statements and lives in a fantasy land of how Obama’s presidency went down.
Jay
Kathleen
@yellowdog: Sarah Clark
WereBear
@Kelly: It is indeed my pleasure :) Congrats on the new arrival!
mrmoshpotato
@germy: *looks at post title* My brain’s not awake yet.
(Yeah, that’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.)
Jinchi
@Frankensteinbeck: Papadopoulos was virtually unknown and received a 14 day sentence for his crimes. Manafort is a different case, however prosecutors in New York filed charges against him on the same day he was sentenced for federal crimes, so he might not be freed even if the president pardoned him.
But Stone is a big fish in Republican circles and his crimes directly implicate Trump. He gambled that he could commit perjury and refuse to cooperate with Mueller on the thinly veiled signals from Trump that he would be pardoned if convicted. Flynn is still in the same predicament. If Stone doesn’t get pardoned, no one will and Trump loses a lot of leverage over his lackeys.
Jay
@Frankensteinbeck:
no, the OP is noting how many pols and pundits are bought and paid for, and is why America can’t have nice things,
also why so many people take the wrong lesson home from their encounters with the bought and paid for.
JPL
Not sure if this was mentioned, but George Conway of Kellyanne fame just donated 2800.00 to Tedra Cobb.
Frankensteinbeck
@Jinchi:
No one will. Trump has left EVERYONE hanging out to dry, no matter how much dirt they have on him. Trump has only sent signals that he will continue to do so. Every pardon he has given has been for white supremacy or publicity. Sometimes they have happened at a time when people jumped on them to say he was going to pardon his coconspirators, and he never has.
Gin & Tonic
@Jinchi: It seems to have been passed over here, but Jeffrey Yohai, Paul Manafort’s son-in-law (I think ex- as of now) was sentenced to 9 years last week for a variety of frauds.
The best people attract the best people, truly.
Vhh
@Jinchi: Parnas is cooperating and no longer in line. Talking about secret James Bond mission assigned Trump himself.
cleek
Yeah, get that fool out of there. She’s ruining the reputation of my lovely home district.
Jay
Jinchi
@Frankensteinbeck: I agree that Trump will happily toss anyone under the bus once their usefulness is past, but I also think he’ll happily pardon friends whenever he thinks he can get away with it. And then there’s the threat of revenge:
Stone, like Giuliani, probably has a lot of insurance against Donald Trump.
Jay
Frankensteinbeck
@Jinchi:
Having dirt on Trump didn’t do Cohen any good. Plenty of these people have had dirt on Trump’s relationship with Russia. He threw every single one to the wolves. If I’m wrong, I will eat my crow like a good boy, but the evidence is overwhelming – Trump doesn’t pardon people to protect himself.
Kelly
when play time is going well
https://imgur.com/a/So7VtZh
Brachiator
@Frankensteinbeck:
Trump also reinforces the myth that white Americans and American agents of authority, the police and the military, are inherently free of sin and can never do wrong, can never make a mistake, and must never be second-guessed for their actions.
Brachiator
@Jinchi:
There are also people who are strangely loyal to Trump, and others who are still eager to join up with the Trump circus. It is really an odd show to watch.
And Rudy G previously had some positive reputation among some folk as a prosecutor and as mayor of New York. Now he is little more than a bumbling, fawning Trump lapdog.
Marcopolo
Proud to say I gave a little dough to Tedra yesterday. It felt great. That is all. Except, apparently Kamala just received the endorsement of the United Farm Workers. Go Kamala!
Marcopolo
@Marcopolo:Lol, that twitter embed worked–kind of. One of these days I hope to have it all figured out.
WereBear
@Kelly: Awwwww! They look like they will settle in fine. I love those itty bitty white paws!
Warblewarble
Please will those with spare rakes donate them to Stefanik
debbie
@Kelly:
Phoebe may one day regret her current attitude when the time comes that Martin towers over her.
debbie
This guy may be a bigger threat than Trump himself:
And lest you think he could be any less self-aware:
I don’t recall the Rethuglicans giving a shit about anything other than the ends when they were impeaching Bill Clinton.
SWMBO
The problem that Trump has with pardoning anyone is that they can be compelled to testify. They have no Fifth Amendment to hide behind. If he pardons them and they sing about what they know about him, I believe that the Constitution negates pardoning any offense named in impeachment. Nixon ducked this by resigning before they had formally adopted the Articles of Impeachment against him. That left Ford free to pardon him. Trump is probably looking at Pence and wondering if Holy Roller would pardon him if he resigned or would “let God sort it out”. Given that he’s not one for pardoning someone who could spill the dirt on him and that Pence might look at him the same way, Trump has enough low animal cunning to try to roll the dice and see what he gets.
J R in WV
@Kelly:
Yes, for decades Republicans have claimed on the one hand to be the only true patriot red-blooded Americans, while on the other hand slandering Silver Star winning veterans, and making deals with enemies of America, like Russia, current-day Turkey, Iran (Reagan campaign), Iraq (also the Reagan campaign) etc.
Republicans are into it for the power and money, and don’t give a shit for true American values, like protecting one another, actually defending our nation as opposed to taking money from anyone willing to pay them for favors. So despicable, so evil.
In reality the Republican party is so debauched and evil that Democrats have difficulty talking about it without offending plain old Republicans with the truth about their party leadership!
Sab
@Kelly: Look at those feet! Martin looks like he is wearing snow shoes. He is going to be huge. I love my huge tuxedo guy.
WereBear
@debbie: As we told Tristan, Tasmanian Devil Kitten: “you have a lot of tabby striped karma coming.”
J R in WV
@Frankensteinbeck:
This is how Cheney, Yoo and Bush justified torture. “We’re the good guys, just like back in WW II, saving the world!!”
With never a second thought about what made the Allies the good guys in WW II — clue, it wasn’t just that the Nazis were genocidal monsters, it was also that we WERE NOT monsters, didn’t torture and murder captured soldiers.
At least for the most part, since the war ended we have discovered that after the German SS killed unarmed Allied soldiers, the rest of that battle didn’t go so well for that unit of SS soldiers as far as being captured.
But not having an institutionalized organized method of systematic torture of random prisoners goes a long way towards making one side the “good guys” and on the converse, having institutionalized torture policies defines the bad guys, which was the US under Bush’s military leadership!
J R in WV
@Sab:
Yeah, the kitten’s white feet are already bigger than the adult cat’s feet. Gonna be a big ‘un when he grows into those feet!
Mary G
@ssdd: Tedra has also now passed Elise in Twitter followers, going from 6,200 yesterday morning to 155,000+ now. Elise has 154,000+ Oopsy!
The Lodger
@yellowdog:
@James E Powell: If they include Marie Yovanovich, cast Kate Mulgrew.
Raoul
BTW, Cobb has raised well over $400,000 since Stefanik stepped on that rake. A little hard to tell from the way her team is tweeting, maybe as much as $600K? This should scare the shit out of Republicans. Any of them that make a big noisy play next week during hearings will see the Dem opponent for that seat get a money bomb. Or they should, at least!!
PJ
@Raoul: Donations to Tedra Cobb this weekend are now over $500,000, and rising. Fingers crossed that it hits $1M by Monday.
Mo MacArbie
@Kelly: My dearly departed mama cat did this with various kittens in her litter. I took it as carnivore training. “OK, you take down the mouse like so and bite here.”
Warblewarble
Dildoes for Bundys, Rakes for Stefnik has a nice ring to it.
troxel
@Bill Arnold: Barr’s comparison of left/right is just another demonstration of the shameless hypocrisy of the current brand of Republicans. The Presidency of Trump is a flaming example of the ends justify the means. Trump shits on all the values that conservatives claim to hold dear… Trump is a means to an end. Further where Barr tries to claim that Conservatives test actions or principles on the impact if implemented universally is another hoot. Who would want to see the supreme elected leader abuse his power for personal self-gain universally? Sheessh these guys are sunk so far in hypocrisy that can’t see daylight anymore.
Chris
@WereBear: GO TEDRA GO!!