Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Days Since JD Vance Insulted Women Across America: Zero

“Loving your country does not mean lying about it’s history.”

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

In my day, never was longer.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

There is one struggling party in US right now, and it’s not the Democrats.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

Democrats are back in array!

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

“But what about the lurkers?”

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

Elections aren’t won by handwringing, cowering, and/or bashing your own candidates.

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Better Get That Insurance Policy Updated

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  4. 4.

    Ella in New Mexico

    Just when we’re all reading the latest news that there’s no hope for justice thanks to the great big giant conspiracy to fuck up America and the World that is TrumpCo and the Republicans cuz they’re all gonna get away with cheating, criming and treason..

     

    This month has been a frigging roller coaster of highs and lows and I really want to get off

  5. 5.

    Another Scott

    @mrmoshpotato: :-)

     

    It’s kinda funny, I think so anyway, that most everyone on Twitter is taking Rudy’s remark about insurance to be stuff-in-a-locked-safe type of stuff, when it’s clear – to me anyway – that he was talking about health insurance to cover his injuries when he’s been underbussed by Donnie.

     

    Unfortunately for Rudy, being underbussed is not something that health insurance helps much with…

     

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  7. 7.

    Duane

    @mrmoshpotato: Love the jailbird picture of Rudy Colludy, but the suit should be orange. And what is his “insurance policy” exactly? Inquiring investigator minds want to know!

  9. 9.

    Kay

    Oh, I’m glad. You go, law enforcement.

    I wondered if he knew something was up this weekend and that’s why he was lashing out like an insane person.

  11. 11.

    Sebastian

    @Kay:

     

    I suspected something like that yesterday when the Lev Paranas Tapes story broke. Looks like it’s Rudy Colludy’s Warrant and not the tapes.
    On the other hand, why not both?

  13. 13.

    Raoul

    So is this SDNY Feds? I don’t have a WSJ acct, and WaPo doesn’t appear to have their own version of this story up yet.

     

    But, if this is SDNY, wasn’t this the office that was in the tank for Rudy before the 2016 election? Did those old, disgruntled and ‘hard to manage’ (per Comey) guys retire soon after the election?

    I do find it interesting that Barr is widely seen (with evidence, I think) to be making political decisions rather than legal and prosecutorial ones, but is OK with this bus gaining speed against Rudy.

  15. 15.

    Miss Bianca

    @Kay:

    I wondered if he knew something was up this weekend and that’s why he was lashing out like an insane person.

    Honestly, how could you tell the difference? //

  22. 22.

    Kay

    @Miss Bianca:

     

    I know you’re joking but the focus from Trump and him changed this weekend. They started saying he’s a great crime/corruption fighter. Trump said it again today. They tell their base these lies but sometimes real events threaten to overtake the lies, so they start scrambling. That’s why Rudy said the shit about “if I disappear” too. They are talking to their base. They will say the prosecution is part of the Biden conspiracy.

    The most exhausting thing about lying as much as these people do is they have to pile the lies one on top of another. Trump does anticipatory, defensive lying all the time.  Criminals do  the same thing. “IF that then THIS”.

  26. 26.

    Sebastian

    @Another Scott:

     

    Am I the only one getting a kick out of us being having to invent the verb underbusing due to the Repub’s newfound love of public transport? Lol

  29. 29.

    Sebastian

    @Gin & Tonic:

     

    Lev is Ukrainian and managed to stay alive and without losing limbs after decades of dealing with the mob and mob adjacent characters. He might not be smart but isn’t dumb.

    Rudy is.

  32. 32.

    moops

    @Another Scott:   yes, I had the same impression when I heard Rudy’s remark.   He was asked about being thrown under the bus, and he replied that he had good insurance.   I took that a meaning he was joking about having good health insurance.

     

    Everyone else assumed it was some kind of political weapon against Trump double crossing him.

  38. 38.

    Kay

    Kara Voght
    @karavoght
    ·12m
    A sad thing I’m hearing anecdotally from some
    @MomsDemand
    email recipients: They’ve asked to unsubscribe from the list because Bloomberg’s campaign plans to make use of it.

    This campaign is already incredibly obnoxious and arrogant and will probably be amusing. They don’t understand Democrats at all, which shouldn’t surprise anyone since they were all Republicans up until a week ago or whatever. You can’t just join a tribe without learning our norms and folkways! :)

  40. 40.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I’ve long thought that Giuliani and associates was filthy dirty with (among other things, probably) Russian (mob) money quite apart from trump. Man would I love to see those two turn on each other after Kellyanne and Mitch tell The Beast that pardoning Rudi is a bridge too far.

     

    I wonder how many assets Judi Nathan has been able to get under her own name before it all comes crashing down, and if she’ll bargain with the Feds to be able to keep them.

  42. 42.

    gene108

    There are a lot of people, who have insurance, if Trump tried to screw them, because Trump is dirty and people, who work closely with him in criming know in what general direction the bodies are buried, at the very least.

  44. 44.

    RedDirtGirl

    HumboldtBlue – I can’t open the link, (might just be me) and I really want to see the elephants

    ETA: Never mind.

  45. 45.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Raoul:

    But, if this is SDNY, wasn’t this the office that was in the tank for Rudy before the 2016 election?

    My memory (which could be faulty) was that it was the FBI NYC field office, not SDNY, that was in bed with Rudy and the rats, immediately prior to 2016.  Kallstrom et al.  I don’t remember anything specifically about SDNY being ratfuckers.

  46. 46.

    Mainmata

    My guess is that Our Deranged President will shortly whip out a shiny pardon (written in sharpie, natch) for Ghouliani and Barr, will, of course approve it.

  48. 48.

    Dr. Ronnie James, D.O.

    So maybe Rudy saying he’s got a cache of  dirt on the Bidens was  fishing for a pardon. Gotta out that Ukrainian corruption before they get away with meddling in our elections!

  49. 49.

    JR

    If this ends well — I’m not holding my breath — Joe Biden will have been responsible for ruining Giuliani twice.

  51. 51.

    jeffreyw

    @Dr. Ronnie James, D.O.: I think he must be fishing for a mob hit.  Trump learns that a tranche of dirt on Biden will be released upon the demise of Rudy and he’ll be all “Will no one rid me of this troublesome guy?”

    Maybe he has a suicide wish.

  52. 52.

    MomSense

    Besides the horrible corruption and threats to national security, I just cannot get over Rudy and Trumpy’s  facial expressions.

     

    Its like Ledger’s Joker level of disturbing.

  54. 54.

    burnspbesq

    The Sovereign District of New York will indict any ham sandwich, regardless of who has taken a bite out of it.

  55. 55.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Not to be harping on the Great LGTBQ-Rights Rollback yet again, but ProPublica tallies up 31 ways our rights are being attacked under Trump.

     

    All of them affect trans people; more than a third of them explicitly target us. From banning trans people from the military, to enabling hospitals to discriminate against trans people, to allowing homes shelters to turn away trans women and/or allowing them to house trans woman with men, to house inmate based on their “biological sex”* — which again means housing trans women with male inmates, to giving tacit approval for North Carolina’s “bathroom bills” — which made it illegal for me to use a public restroom.

    *”Biological sex” as defined by the fundamentalists means the sex assigned at birth, which can never be changed — and if they had their way, they’d force people like me to have our gender marker on our legal IDs to revert to the gender we were assigned at birth. Which forcibly outs us, and exposes to all the other types of discrimination they want legalized. (If Trump wins re-election, this is a scenario that truly terrifies me, and would cause me to seek citizenship elsewhere.)

  56. 56.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Jay:  Fight Club, too.  Business travel, expense accounts, enough $$ to be buying stuff from IKEA, a paradise.

  57. 57.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Sister Golden Bear: It’s worth remembering that the fundies have a literal five-point plan to eradicate trans people from public life.

    1. States and the federal government should not allow legal gender marker changes.
    2. Transgender people should not have any legal protections against discrimination, nor should anyone be forced to respect their identity.
    3. Transgender people should not be legally allowed to use facilities in accordance with their gender identity.
    4. Medical coverage related to transition should not be provided by the government, or any other entity.

    5. Transgender people should not be allowed to serve in the military.

    So far, thanks to Pence, they’ve achieved/made significant progress on all of them.

  58. 58.

    Jay

    All Prince Andrew had to do his whole life was nothing, and he still managed to completely fuck it up. Inspirational— pixelatedboat aka “mr tweets” (@pixelatedboat) November 22, 2019

  59. 59.

    Ella in New Mexico

    @Yutsano:

    Heh. Bye Noun, Verb, 9/11.

    I’m really starting to be convinced that the genesis of both Trump and Rudy’s obsessive fixation on destroying the life works of Obama and Biden are based solely on getting revenge for on the completely accurate zingers flung their way by the latter two incredibly superior men.

  60. 60.

    Jay

    @Sister Golden Bear:

     

    one of the best comments on gender reveal parties I have ever heard, came from my 11 year old nephew, who pointed out that being born with a certain type of genetalia, doesn’t define gender.

  62. 62.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Jay:

    one of the best comments on gender reveal parties I have ever heard, came from my 11 year old nephew

    The Kids are so much better than we were at their age.  Or at least, than I was.

  63. 63.

    Miss Bianca

    @Sister Golden Bear: This is so chilling. Thanks for keeping us aware.

     

    I think we are all in grave danger if Trump “wins” re-election, because this roadmap, borrowed from the Nazis, on how to make trans persons non-persons doesn’t need any tweaking at all to apply to other groups. Indeed, it already applies to immigrants as well.

  64. 64.

    lgerard

    It is interesting that The Wall Street Journal now seems to be the leakers vehicle of choice and they have taken the lead in breaking stories the last few months.

    I wonder what trump’s late night calls with Rupert are like now

  68. 68.

    Ruckus

    @Ella in New Mexico:

    Both trump and rudy are very small minded men with far greater regard for themselves than anyone else has. Having someone like Joe or especially President Obama disparage them in any way is the worst thing that they could endure. Because it’s all the truth and both of them know it is. And it’s easy to see how petty they are by how they have tried to belittle both Joe and President Obama. Both of them are literally only about 5-6 yrs old mentally and everything in the world revolves around them trying to show everyone how great they really think they are. It isn’t working because of course they really aren’t.

  70. 70.

    Yutsano

    @Miss Bianca: I have to be honest: if he wins again, I can’t see those of us out west tolerating that. I could see Pacifica or Cascadia coming into being. It wouldn’t be easy but we’re definitely going in different directions than the Republicans want to take us. I can’t honestly see another path that would guarantee we would be able to protect the rights and freedoms of all our people.

     

    This really just means we have to dominate the fuck out of this election. We need to make every vulnerable Republican lose.

  72. 72.

    Kay

    @KamalaHarris
    in SC on health care plans of her competitors: “You’ve got a couple of candidates who don’t have a Medicare for All plan but by their own definition, 10 million people will be left out. You know, that’s 10x the size of Delaware, that’s 100x the size of South Bend“

    Guffaw. I love her sharpness. Slice! Off with his head.

  73. 73.

    Aleta

    Long  long time coming.

     

    Way past time for the media to cancel forever their  use of “Amer.’s Mayor”  — a political slogan that he inserted in the mainstream   (in 2001? at least by 20018)  to keep his reputation shiny.   (Just like Susan Collin’s team inserted sayings about her that and writers still stick into every article. )

     

    I don’t want to see any more of those  “what happened to Giuliani” pieces either.   And fck any reporter who continues to use him as an anonymous source.

  74. 74.

    Kay

    @Jay:

    “Nor has The Times been particularly harsh on Trump, who is, after all, a colorful hometown character for the paper’s owners and managers, one of the New York media’s most enduring sparring partners and playmates, and now the first U.S. president from New York since Franklin Delano Roosevelt.”

     

    That’s been my theory on why they suck so bad re:Trump. It’s parochial. He’s one of theirs and they know him. It’d be the same in Muncie, Indiana or something if he was a “colorful hometown character” from there, it’s just that no one would notice or care and the whole country wouldn’t be saddled with their barely concealed delight at how interesting he is.

  75. 75.

    dmsilev

    Speaking of people needing to update their insurance policies, TPM:

    A federal judge ruled Monday that President Trump does not have the power to block former White House Counsel Don McGahn from showing up for compelled testimony in front of Congress.

    In a 120-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of Washington ruled: “Executive branch officials are not absolutely immune from compulsory congressional process—no matter how many times the Executive branch has asserted as much over the years—even if the President expressly directs such officials’ non-compliance.”

    The judge said that “no one is above the law.”

    Remember also that this is the ruling that John Bolton ostensibly was waiting on re: testifying.

  76. 76.

    Jay

    “and per the Constitution, no one is above the law." Judge Jackson, ordering Trump lawyer McGahn to testify and rejecting Trump’s absurd legal argument— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) November 25, 2019

  77. 77.

    Anya

    I am beginning to despair about this awful man and his odious boss receiving any justice so this is a welcome news. Though I won’t get my hopes up.

    I was just talking to my dad about how Trump and the right wing media treated captured US soldier Bowe Bergdahl compared to the war criminal who will retire with full honors and his pension. How can anyone accept this? What kind of a country are we when justice and rule of law are so arbitrary?

  81. 81.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Baud:

    holh [hope] people start coming forward.

    I’m with you, but I fear we’ll be disappointed.  They won’t until SCOTUS orders ’em to, b/c they want Reichwing careers after Shitler exits.  So no way they can’t exhaust every legal (or quasi-legal) option: b/c otherwise, other Reichwingers will see them as traitors to the cause.

  84. 84.

    karen marie

    @Kay:  Rudy’s “insurance” to protect him from Trump throwing him under the bus, according to him, “relates to the files in my safe about the Biden Family’s 4 decade monetizing of his office.”

     

    That’s strange insurance against Trump throwing him under the bus if the point of the exercise we’re being subjected to by Trump and the Republican party is to expose the Bidens.

     

    Indeed, if Giuliani has evidence against the Bidens, why hasn’t he published it?

     

    PS I absolutely LOVE not having to type my name/email every time I comment!  Thank you, John Cole!  Thank you, Water Girl!

  85. 85.

    Roger Moore

    @Kay:

    It’s parochial.

    They will never accept this could possibly be true.  They’re from New York, for goodness sake, the most cosmopolitan city in the country, if not the world.  How could they possibly be parochial if they’re from New York?

  86. 86.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Jay: Smart 11-year-old.

     

    Personally I like the remark that gender reveal parties are like astrology: “You were born under the sign of the pen!s, therefore you’ll like power tools, dinosaurs and monster trucks.”

     

    @Yutsano: I’m thankful I live in California and I’d like to think the West Coast wouldn’t stand for it. But I’m still wary.

  89. 89.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Kay:

    That’s been my theory on why they suck so bad re:Trump. It’s parochial.

    Yet, they sucked so badly at Dubya, too.  They were in the tank for all of his bullshit, weren’t they?  In short, the “parochial” theory doesn’t explain enough.   What does explain enough?  “FTFNYT is in the tank for GrOPers and their wealthy backers”.  After all, the Sulzbergers are rich.  It’s rare that a rich person doesn’t cleave to their class.

  91. 91.

    Miss Bianca

    @Yutsano: I had lunch with a former colleague and good friend the other day who sort of casually made some mention of the fact that she and her (much younger, Republican) bf just “might not vote” in the 2020 election. I hope that my shock and indignation at the prospect of *her* not voting will be enough to sway her to rethink that position. (fuck the Republican bf: he’s a nice guy, but if no “Never-Trumper” Republican ever votes again, I won’t be unhappy).

  93. 93.

    Jay

    I remain curious as to why so many journalists can hear that the Russian government intentionally manipulated them in order to disrupt our democracy and not pause for one moment to ponder, "Is there anything I should have done differently?"— Mangy Jay (@magi_jay) November 25, 2019

  95. 95.

    sgrAstar

    @Yutsano: trump did show up at that dinner. PBO wasted him for his toxic , impervious racism. That very public humiliation left a deep, deep mark on trump’s psyche. Long may it fester.

  96. 96.

    Jay

    #BREAKING: Subpoenas issued to Rudy Giuliani’s associates indicate a broad federal investigation into money laundering, obstruction of justice & campaign-finance violations — and prosecutors appear to be looking closely at the work of Giuliani himself.https://t.co/YSFicrqB0I— Caroline Orr (@RVAwonk) November 25, 2019

    Charges under consideration include:

    -obstruction of justice
    -money laundering
    -conspiracy to defraud the US
    -making false statements to fed officials
    -failing to register as a foreign agent
    -hiding foreign campaign donations
    -straw man campaign donations
    -mail fraud
    -wire fraud
    https://t.co/rdPxJwQpOZ— Caroline Orr (@RVAwonk) November 25, 2019

  98. 98.

    mrmoshpotato

    Just today:… federal subpoenas were issued in inquiry into Giuliani's consulting firm… one judge ruled that the White House Counsel has to testify before Congress… another judge ordered the release of administration documents on the stalled Ukraine aidThat's just today.— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) November 25, 2019

    Well that’s fun. Get fucked traitorous Trump trash.

  99. 99.

    Princess

    I assume Rudy’s insurance was coded. “Biden and his  family” means Trump and his family and “Obama corruption” means Republican corruption.

  100. 100.

    trnc

    @karen marie:

    @Kay:  Rudy’s “insurance” to protect him from Trump throwing him under the bus, according to him, “relates to the files in my safe about the Biden Family’s 4 decade monetizing of his office.”

     

    That’s strange insurance against Trump throwing him under the bus if the point of the exercise we’re being subjected to by Trump and the Republican party is to expose the Bidens.

     

    Indeed, if Giuliani has evidence against the Bidens, why hasn’t he published it?

    My guess: it’s the clumsiest walkback in history. He was saying he has insurance against DT. Obviously, that would not have gone over well with DT, so at that point Drooliani has no choice but to pretend he was insuring himself against someone else. “Hmmmm, who can I blame? Oh, I know what would make the boss happy…” and we are thus treated to another idea salad from Half Ass Nosferatu.

     

    They just aren’t that bright. Attempting to apply logic to their statements and actions will just use precious minutes that we will never recover.

  101. 101.

    karen marie

    @trnc:  I guess that was sort of the vague idea I had formulated about it.  Certainly makes more sense than taking the word salad that dribbled out of Rudy’s mouth as having any kind of coherence to be parsed.

  102. 102.

    Aleta

    The subpoenas also sought materials related to America First Action and America First Policies, two pro-Trump groups. Kelly Sadler, a spokeswoman for the groups, said the organizations contacted the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office last month and offered to cooperate. She said neither group received a subpoena.

    ..

    Messrs. Parnas and Fruman assisted Mr. Giuliani in his push for investigations in Ukraine, efforts that at times aligned with business opportunities sought by the two men, the Journal has previously reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

     

    Those overlapping concerns could be of import to investigators, as they consider how Messrs. Fruman and Parnas gained access to Mr. Trump’s inner circles. 

     

    At least two of the people who received subpoenas had been asked by Mr. Parnas to invest in Fraud Guarantee… or to help fund a promised $500,000 payment to Mr. Giuliani, who said he provided business and legal advice to the company, people familiar with Mr. Parnas’s requests said.

    …

    (One of those people) a Florida businessman, did invest in Fraud Guarantee after Mr. Parnas told him his plan was to secure a $20 million federal grant, according to one of the businessman’s associates. The Journal couldn’t determine what the grant would fund.

     

    Mr. Giuliani said Sunday: “I had no knowledge of a grant, and it seemed to me they were at a premature position to be looking for a grant.”

     

    Mr. Parnas often touted the firm’s connection with Mr. Giuliani to potential investors, the Journal has previously reported citing people familiar with the matter.

    (from WSJ artcle that is blocked w/o a sub)

  103. 103.

    trnc

    @karen marie: I’ve made a game out of what the stupidest interpretation could be of any public statement by DT, Rudy Colludy and Mulvaney (note to self – find nickname for Mick). I always win. :-)

  106. 106.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Duane: Rudy should admit his crimes and go to jail. For his own safety of course.

    Let’s arrange a happygolucky reunion for America’s Goombah – in the same wing of a Federal prison where they house all the Mafiosi that Ghouliani helped send up. I’d pay for copies of the surveillance videos…

  110. 110.

    Steeplejack

    @Aleta:

    I don’t want to see any more of those “what happened to Giuliani” pieces either.

    Amen. He was always an asshole.

  111. 111.

    Miss Bianca

    @sgrAstar: Yeah, and “who could have predicted” how much all of us would be made to suffer because of that blow to Trump’s psyche.

     

    My dream would be to have Trump in a cage where all day long, people could pay to enter his cell block and point and laugh at him, just like the madmen of Bedlam in days of yore.

     

    I wonder if he’d last a week.

  115. 115.

    Suzy

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Yep. It was Mr. Biden. I’m convinced that because of that moment, Giuliani’s vendetta against Joe Biden is,  more than anything, personal.

     

    Biden’s famous zinger put a stop to the media’s infatuation with “America’s Mayor”. It was pretty early in the primaries and Giuliani was seen as a strong contender. He planned to exploit the 9/11 tragedy all the way up to the presidency. Joe Biden called him out, and things were never the same after that.

  117. 117.

    Suzy

     

     

    @sgrAstar: I’m not sure PBO would have made the same speech, if he had known more about the personality disorder of Trump.

    But Trump deserved it. Oh boy did he deserve it.

    Michelle said in her book that she will never forgive Trump for using his megaphone to promote the birther conspiracy; he knew it was false but did it anyway, and the consequence was that it put the Obama family even more at risk.

  121. 121.

    Sab

    @Suzy: I think he would have made the same speech. You cannot tiptoe around these damaged people. The whole birther movement did real damage to real people, and offended hundreds of thousands of other people. How could Obama have ignored it?

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