Reporter: “What crime are you accusing Obama of?”
Trump: “Obamagate.”
Reporter: “But what is the crime?”
Trump: “You know what it is”
— chris evans (@notcapnamerica) May 11, 2020
So Trump basically came up with “Obamagate” and he’s crowdsourcing a scandal to go with it?
— Schooley (@Rschooley) May 11, 2020
But SRSLY:
Why are Trump and Obama in a new spat over Flynn? https://t.co/9vLBd2bpiT
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 11, 2020
… Obama has largely held his tongue about the actions of his successor but on Friday in a call to 3,000 former aides and officials that was leaked to the media, he let loose.
“There is no precedent that anybody can find for someone who has been charged with perjury just getting off scot-free,” he said. “That’s the kind of stuff where you begin to get worried that basic – not just institutional norms – but our basic understanding of rule of law is at risk.”
Trump, who has never been shy about criticising – or blaming – his predecessor, responded with a flurry of social media posts and retweets on Sunday, accusing Obama and his aides of engaging in a criminal effort to undermine his presidency.
He amplified the assertions of right-wing commentators and lashed out at Obama, former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel and numerous reporters and media outlets…
Why did it take off?
The president frequently used the term “Obamagate” – a reference to the Nixon-era Watergate scandal – in connection with his allegations, and prominent conservative activists and Trump-affiliated support groups quickly picked up the hashtag.Although the term predates Trump’s usage, on Sunday it received more than two million tweets – further evidence of the power of the president’s social media platform.
The hashtag had been in use in obscure and fringe right-wing circles for a while, particularly amongst a minority of MAGA and QAnon users, but it never went beyond those small circles.
The new spike in its traffic began early Sunday in the US, and about 86% of that was in the form of retweets, suggesting there was some degree of coordination. But there was no evidence of botnets being involved…
Why pay for professional amplification, when millions of MAGAts and conspiracy theorists will do the job for free?
Trump is right: everyone knows what Obamagate is.
It’s the fact that the FBI & intelligence agencies learned that Putin was attempting to inteferere in the US election to Trump’s benefit, correctly thought Russian interests would try to infiltrate his campaign, investigated…
— Jacob T. Levy (@jtlevy) May 11, 2020
And in the course of investigating found a bunch of people committing various crimes and/or welcoming the interference.
Trump has spent all the years since trying to obscure this through any means possible; this was at the root of the Ukraine scandal that got him impeached,
— Jacob T. Levy (@jtlevy) May 11, 2020
The idea that he has sophisticated views on the proper conditions for a FISA warrant, or on when it's appropriate for the FBI to ask someone questions suspecting that the answers will be lies, is absurd.
He thinks it's a "disgrace" that he and people in his camp *got caught.*
— Jacob T. Levy (@jtlevy) May 12, 2020
That's more evidence that the probe is heavily politicized and that reporters need to treat it with extreme caution. https://t.co/mjpD9nbBIyhttps://t.co/JICqWrGUDn
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) May 11, 2020
Very few, if any, farmers would lie to the FBI as part of an effort to hide Russian collusion relating to a presidential election, @ChuckGrassley https://t.co/8T52l67cFe
— Ted Boutrous (@BoutrousTed) May 12, 2020
This… All of this pic.twitter.com/y4V0rQJuN4
— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) May 12, 2020
Vulnerable Repubs see no reason to tie themselves to Trump’s campaign anchor…
President Trump’s aggressive campaign to encourage sweeping investigations of his predecessor Barack Obama met a unanimous response from Senate Republicans: No thankshttps://t.co/sc2rt1IvBy
— POLITICO (@politico) May 12, 2020
… Trump’s Senate allies on Monday stopped short of echoing Trump’s claim that Obama acted illegally when the Justice Department began probing incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn in late 2016. And they indicated that the Senate would pass on investigating the former president as they conduct their own investigations that could soon ensnare other senior Obama administration officials.
“I’m not anticipating calling President Obama,” said Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), whose panel is investigating the origins of the 2016 Russia investigation, even as he vowed to bring in former senior Obama administration officials as witnesses. Those ex-officials include former FBI Director James Comey and former acting Attorney General Sally Yates…
How to #ObamaGate pic.twitter.com/0HLsPQtN2I
— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) May 12, 2020
danielx
First? Really?
Betty Cracker
I think it’s probably a bad political move for Trump to go after a president who is far more popular and beloved than Trump will ever be — a president whose terms in office look in retrospect like a paradise compared to the chaos, pestilence and desperation abroad in the land today.
But Trump gotta Trump, and as dumb as it is for Trump to hand the Biden campaign a big red button they can push anytime they want to send Trump into a vindictive, incoherent, idiotic tailspin about his predecessor, that appears to be where we are.
Bruuuuce
Repeating from downstairs, but more relevant here:
Yertle sounds a loud and thinly veiled dogwhistle in support of the Crook-in-Chief’s witch hunt. What’s the over/under in days until he actually says “uppity”?
Kay
It seems like they’re really flailing. They’ve already churned thru Hunter Biden, Reade, and now they’re giving up on Biden completely and trying to make it Trump v Obama?
I’m good with the last one. Trump v Obama I’ll take. Good job, Jared.
Betty Cracker
PS: Does anyone believe Obama held a call with 3K people and was surprised that his comments about Trump got leaked? Hahaha!
SW
Presidentin’ while black?
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
Right. He’s always just blurting stuff out. That’s what he’s known for- his lack of discipline and self control :)
dmsilev
@Betty Cracker:
I’m thinking a “Miss me yet?” billboard with Obama’s smiling face, just outside the entrance to Mar-a-Lago.
Bruuuuce
@SW: A capital crime in MAGA Bizarroworld.
Xenos
He seems to have really slipped here, not calling it BIDENGATE. Or BIDENGATEGATE or somesuch.
Immanentize
@Kay: It seems like there are a few things going on:
— Durham has been digging for dirt and has made some up
— Obama criticized the Barr move to free Flynn which somehow drives Trump crazy (very short road trip)
— Everyone keeps saying Obama would have been better at the virus than Trump.
That is a recipe for psychotic reactions.
I really hope the Judge does not let Barr get his way and instead just sentences Flynn, takes him into custody, and explains to him that if he has an issue now, that is what appeals are for
Like a judge would do with any other defendant.
debbie
@Betty Cracker:
Exponentially so when his only explanation is “You know what it is.”
HumboldtBlue
@Betty Cracker: No
Kay
Well, under the new norms Republicans put in place none of them have to appear, so that’s easy.
Lindsey can sue them. Good luck!
Destroying the rule of law is all fun and games until you need to launch political prosecutions and then you’re in a real pickle. Shield AND sword, Lindsey.
Immanentize
@Kay: Yes, but Barr would be happy to prosecute those people for contempt of Congress.
Patricia Kayden
Sarah Cooper is a national Treasure. She perfectly captures his weirdness and outsized ego.
PenAndKey
Obama isn’t just popular, he’s also a former constitutional law scholar that ran an extremely tight ship and who has high approval ratings among women, millennials, middle class+ groups, and minorities.
It might play for their red meat base, but if the GOP wants to lose the suburbs I can’t think of many ways more guaranteed to get that result than attacking Obama. So… go ahead?
MattF
Note that Hugh Sockpuppet Hewitt is against Trump participating in a debate. So, Orange Disgrace is going to back out. And no, no linkee.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: And I would be happy to…. Nope, can’t say that.
different-church-lady
I was going to comment on that BBC article, but then I realized I just need someone to talk to more.
Betty Cracker
@Xenos: Right? I’m sure they’ll circle back to projecting all of Trump’s pathologies onto Biden eventually. The Trump campaign people must understand what a losing proposition it is for Trump to run against Obama, even if Trump is incapable of grasping that.
But my hope is Trump’s complete lack of discipline and focus will undermine his own campaign at every turn. We know Obama plans to campaign hard for Biden after the convention. That will necessarily entail criticism of Trump, even if only implied, which will drive the shitgibbon absolutely bonkers every time.
It’s a plausible theory that Obama’s ridicule of Trump at the WHCD 5 years ago drove Trump to run for president, which altered our history in a catastrophic way. It would be fitting if Obama’s ridicule prompted Trump to act out in such a ridiculous fashion that he loses in a landslide.
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: humble AND discreet!
Kay
@MattF:
Biden was good in the Palin debate. He does well against “unhinged and nasty”
I watched it with a group of Democrats and they were all really nervous because they get their news from cable and political media had so over-sold Palin and then it was just…easy. It was Biden chatting and smiling a lot.
different-church-lady
@Xenos: In his head he has so many moment-to-moment enemies that he just can’t focus on one.
HumboldtBlue
No, even a GOP win in California does not put the House in play
Other MJS
Obamagate == Rorschach scandal
MattF
@Kay: Honesty and empathy can’t be faked, particularly on teevee. Funny, that.
MomSense
@Immanentize:
Didn’t this judge at some point make a statement in this case something like ‘how is this not treason’?
I’m not sure if I dreamed that or if it happened last year or last month. I used to pride myself on my memory, but it seems to be another casualty of this administration.
NotMax
There is no reason whatsoever we should give the term the slightest credence by way of also employing it. Don’t prop up the warped narrative.
PenAndKey
@Kay: I wasn’t particularly worried about that debate, but I was certainly glad to see that Biden basically wiped the floor with Queen “I can see Russia from my house” Palin. If Trump actually tries to go toe-to-toe with Biden in a debate and doesn’t back out like a coward, something all too likely, there’s no way he comes out on top. The only way he even seems halfway sane now is that the news media spends most of their time explaining away what he’s doing and/or showing only brief soundbite length segments of him in front of a camera.
If he tries his usual act with Biden, without his usual media protectors being able to “well actually”-away his conduct, I predict we’ll get to see what happens when someone bumps into a house of nitroglycerin soaked cards.
Roger Moore
No. “Obamagate” started as a Twitter hashtag sometime around 2AM Sunday morning, and Trump eventually latched onto it. You can make your own guess about who was manipulating Twitter at that time of day.
MomSense
@Kay:
One of my all time favorite live debate posts was when The Awl watched Biden debate Ryan with the sound muted. It was hilarious.
Dog, I miss that blog. The daily weather report was one of the best things ever.
geg6
@MomSense:
Yes. Yes, he did say that.
clay
@Betty Cracker:
I think this is true, but I also want it noted that he was too cowardly to run against Obama himself in 2012. Trump knew he would’ve gotten his ass whupped six way to Sunday in a head-to-head.
MattF
@Roger Moore: Maybe Twitter should follow Petersburg time. It would clarify some things.
OzarkHillbilly
Asha Rangappa
@AshaRangappa_
Can someone ask Trump why, if as he has claimed “Article II gives him the right to do whatever he wants,” the same wouldn’t apply to Obama? I’d *really* like to hear his answer
Amir Khalid
@Immanentize:
I admit I’m still mystified: how does a prosecution get to drop the charge after a guilty plea? This does not match my understanding of how trials work. Is there some obscure procedural rule that allows this kind of takey-backsy?
PenAndKey
Also known as 9am in Moscow. You know, if you’re curious.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
Obama’s greatest failing was having faith in us.
MattF
@Amir Khalid: IANAL. My understanding is that the prosecution may move to back out, but it is the judge who decides whether to proceed to sentencing.
Elizabelle
Good morning. Will we have a thread from the Fauci hearing?
C-Span link. Hasn’t started yet.
Watching Tim Kaine and Richard Burr chat through masks. Socially distanced. I think Tim’s is from a tee shirt. Looks vaguely bank robberesque. Not a wuss mask, as Trump would fear.
Elizabelle
@Baud: Obama’s faith in many of us was not misplaced. At all.
SiubhanDuinne
JFC, Sarah Cooper is wonderful! I do hope she’s already working on The Final Confrontation from yesterday.
Betty Cracker
@Baud: This is true. He also believed in our institutions, and it’s not hard to understand why: his own lived experience gave him that faith. But I suspect the last 4 years have been as instructive for him as it has been for us.
eemom
@NotMax:
Peek in; roll eyes at idiocy; see sensible comment from you and maybe one or two others.
That is the story of my life, just so you know.
Bruuuuce
@OzarkHillbilly: It’s cause Obama wasn’t a legitimate Preznit, like Cheetolini, of course, So everything he did has to be undone. It’s tough, but Stupor Chicken knew the job was dangerous when he took it.
Tim C.
@Amir Khalid:
Short version is that Flynn made a plea deal. His plea and a reduced sentence were based on his future cooperation. If he backed out, he was supposed to get a harsher sentence.
Somewhere along the way, probably around the time it was clear Sessions was a goner, Flynn changed strategies. He realized the president might not pardon him, but that he would likely do better making a fight of it. Seems to have paid off.
Citizen Alan
@MomSense: The single best moment of the 2012 campaign was “Please proceed, Governor.” The SECOND best moment was Joe literally laughing in Paul Biden’s face over some utter bullshit he tried to spout.
different-church-lady
@Elizabelle: I’m beginning to think the virus was a conspiracy cooked up by cell phone carriers, teleconferencing companies, GrubHub, and Jeff Bezos.
Citizen Alan
@Baud: I still almost want to cry when I remember Obama saying “Americans don’t look to be ruled.” And then, it turned out that, yeah, roughly 48% of us do.
different-church-lady
@eemom: Not much else to do nowadays for any of us, eh?
Immanentize
@MomSense: You did not dream it. He was pissed!!! I assume if he doesn’t go along with Barr’s hackery, that will be the basis of a motion to recuse.
different-church-lady
@Citizen Alan: Correction: 48% want other people to be ruled.
MattF
@different-church-lady: And Bill Gates, who has a plan to vaccinate us all with microchips, for reasons.
Immanentize
@Amir Khalid: They can’t. The prosecution is, in most ways, over. But a judge could allow a defendant to withdraw his guilty plea at which time the prosecution could announce a dismissal.
PenAndKey
@Betty Cracker: While I do feel that he showed a bit too much faith in our institutions, I place the majority of the blame for the institutional failures he apparently didn’t anticipate directly at the feel of Mitch McConnell. I may despise the man with a passion, but I won’t deny that he’s a well place and extremely talented Confederate revanchist and insurrectionist that our system of government simply wasn’t set up to be able to counter. He exposed failings in our checks and balances and we’re all paying the price, and he spent the majority of Obama’s terms successfully kneecapping his policies and, more importantly, judicial appointments. McConnell, essentially, put our Constitution framework into check, and so far we still haven’t avoided the follow up checkmate.
dnfree
I have said for a long time that Trump will not be debating Biden, any more than he ever produced his taxes. Mutually agreeable terms will never be found. I’m not a betting person, but I’d almost bet a quarter on that.
Redshift
As someone (maybe the Hoarse Whisperer) said a week or two ago, Trump’s worst nightmare is that this election is a referendum on Trump vs. Obama, and he loses.
Somehow, that happening because he does it deliberately and thinks the standard GOP strategy of “smear your opponent with made-up crap” will work retroactively makes it even worse.
artem1s
@Citizen Alan:
@MomSense:
MALARKY!
zhena gogolia
@Roger Moore:
9:00 AM Moscow time. The start of the work day.
TS (the original)
@Amir Khalid:
Quite the opposite is my understanding. When someone pleads guilty, the judge goes through all the ramifications including “you cannot appeal if you have pled guilty” and if the defendant goes ahead – that is it. Over and done with. Next is sentencing.
jeffreyw
@Immanentize:
I think any sentence would be appealed. Think about how that would go, when the court asks for briefs and both the defense and the prosecution are on the same side. Who would argue for Justice? Can they take amicus briefs?
...now I try to be amused
@Betty Cracker:
It’s not only bad politics; Trump is pushing all of his ego into the pot with this. If he runs against Obama and loses in a landslide it will be the ultimate humiliation.
Looking forward to it!
Mandalay
@eemom:
In these difficult and trying times I salute your noble efforts to rise above everything, and make this thread all about you.
artem1s
@Redshift:
to be fair, they used that strategy with Gore in 2000 and it worked like a charm. I can’t remember how many insane people I know who declared they couldn’t vote for Al because blow job in the WH. O_o
Realist
We cannot continue to be governed by the Red States.
At some point the Blue States are going to have to give up the US as a going concern and seek an amicable divorce.
PenAndKey
His continuing ability to “step on the rake” when it comes to Obama, even when even a competent malignant narcissist would know better, is a prime example of the fact that he’s never been a particularly smart individual and that there’s absolutely no way he hasn’t suffered cognitive decline through lifestyle and/or simple age. At this point he makes Joffrey look like a calm, rational individual.
Immanentize
@jeffreyw: In situations like that, where one side like the government here decides to throw in with the defendant, the court can appoint an amicus to brief and argue the issue that is not being represented. That happened in one of my recent SCOTUS cases in which our client and the State of Louisiana agreed on one issue the Court wanted to address. They appointed a lawyer to brief and argue the issue instead of LA.
jeffreyw
@Immanentize: Maybe he could ask Obama to fill that job. Epic!
Jeffro
@Kay: Yeah…flailing on steroids.
Would love for a reporter, any reporter, to ask the president*
So. Much. Chaff. Being Thrown Around.
All for the most innocent, most beloved president* in American history…
Immanentize
@jeffreyw: I should add, once a voluntary plea is entered, there is really very little to appeal. Guilt/innocence is off the table because of the plea. The defendant can argue some very narrow things about the validity of the plea, but those have already been resolved in Flynn’s case. Remember — he was given the chance to back out and he decided to again plea guilty. He pleaded guilty twice in this case — with full warnings both times.
OzarkHillbilly
Immanentize
@jeffreyw: I think Holder would be enough to cause the desired damage.
Jeffro
Reposting from down below: I like Catherine Rampell and the WaPo, but WHY is this piece titled “Washington shows just why the country can’t count on stimulus”?
It should be “The GOP – trumpov and Mitch – shows why the country can’t count on stimulus
Headline writers gotta both-sides, I guess?? Grrr….
jeffreyw
@Immanentize:
When is the judge expected to make the next move?
Mandalay
Even by Trump’s standards, his tweet from this morning attacking Joe Scarborough is off the wall:
mrmoshpotato
IT’S! ALL! SO! STUPID!
(No elaboration needed.)
Delk
ObaMaGAtE Is RAEL!!! Imperial aerosol kid.
OzarkHillbilly
@Bruuuuce: Well, I know I would like to here a reporter ask the question just so I can see trump’s head explode.
NotMax
@OzarkHillibilly
Not like there’s anything gong on to otherwise occupy his time.
//
MattF
@OzarkHillbilly: It’s called decompensation. See also narcissistic rage.
Immanentize
@jeffreyw: not clear. I thought Flynn’s sentencing was scheduled later this month. It is a ponder why Barr moved when he did. Emptywheel has some theory that it was about blocking some transcript, but I couldn’t find the answer in those weeds.
PS. We think the first batch of saurkraut is just about ready. Excited!!
Jeffro
@Realist: I used to think that was an extreme take. I’m not so sure anymore.
Gin & Tonic
@dnfree: Hey, big spender.
Subsole
Dem’s fourth act of a Biden presidency (after court packing, voter rights, and a series of nuremburg comissions) better be droneing Rupert, or I shall be very cross…
This is fucking government by subreddit.
Gin & Tonic
@zhena gogolia: Not on a Sunday, the day after День Побе́ды.
Omnes Omnibus
@Immanentize: That’s the thing I can’t get past. It is the kind of stuff that doesn’t even get put on a bar exam because it so fucking basic.
Ruckus
@Betty Cracker:
shitforbrains gotta shitforbrains.
It really isn’t any more complicated than one idiot in charge doing exactly what you’d expect an idiot in charge to do, especially given his history, is the law of stupidity, squared. Which is:
Whatever is the worst possible course of action to take in any situation, that is what shitforbrains will do.
Jinchi
I’m always amazed that this isn’t the counterpoint every time Trump claims about Obama.
Omnes Omnibus
@Realist: I find it interesting when someone just pops and randomly starts suggesting that we give up on the fundamental concept of the country.
Ruckus
@OzarkHillbilly:
Or once every 3 min 45 sec for 8 hrs.
I always thought that the presidency was a very tough job. Must not be all that bad if a moron can spend an entire work day – tweeting. He is of retirement age though so maybe his idea of the job is sitting on the can, with his phone. Wish I could type that fast on the phone…….
mrmoshpotato
Speaking of stupid, the “testing” signs from yesterday. Putting aside the blatant LIE and focusing on message design.
Picture link
“America leads the world in testing”
Soooooo the most important words are “America” “in” and “testing?”
AMERICA IN TESTING!
Not “AMERICA LEADS” and “TESTING.”
or
“AMERICA LEADS THE WORLD”
Of course not, because even the sign designer is an IDIOT!
schrodingers_cat
@Jeffro: This new handle was in last night’s thread too, spreading the gospel of neo-secessionism.
He/she is up to no good.
Besides even if we were to take their argument at face value belligerent and hostile neighbors will guarantee nothing but pain.
Immanentize
@Omnes Omnibus: That is why what Obama said is so true — this really is the unravelling of the rule of law.
Subsole
@Realist:
Cool. When does Cali start forcibly deporting everyone from the central valley?
Jinchi
I’m going to guess you meant Paul Ryan?
mrmoshpotato
@Ruckus: No no. Presidenting is a very easy job where everyone tells you how wonderful, and smart and tremendous bigly good brained you are.
Did you forget the Obama years so quickly?
Gin & Tonic
@Ruckus: Well, as has been said, kids grow up in the US being told *anybody* can become President.
MomSense
@Omnes Omnibus:
As if it would actually solve any problems. Can you imagine what the borders would look like and the challenges with arranging some kind of citizen swapping?
Omnes Omnibus
@MomSense: It worked really well in the former Yugoslavia and during the India-Pakistan partition. I am sure we would be fine.
Jinchi
It’s a good punch line, but it isn’t true. Trump had been toying with running for president for decades. His “Birther campaign” was him testing the waters for a run in 2012.
Obama’s mockery of him was well deserved. Let’s not learn the wrong lesson from history.
Baud
If Biden doesn’t break up the United States, it’ll prove he’s just another corporate neoliberal Democrat sellout.
mrmoshpotato
@OzarkHillbilly: “It’s called (weird Dumpian non-dramatic, lost thought pause) blackness.”
mrmoshpotato
@Amir Khalid: Ahhhh yes, the famous takey-backsy case. We all learned about it in history class. It riveted the nation.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Yes that’s what the comrade in the comments is heading towards, I am sure.
Miss Bianca
@Realist:
@Omnes Omnibus:
Damn, is this really the best Moscow has to offer these days?
Gin & Tonic
@Omnes Omnibus: The breakup of the USSR has been going swimmingly also.
schrodingers_cat
@Miss Bianca: The best are distributing ricin candies in Europe, we get the dregs.
Betty Cracker
@Jinchi: I’m aware of Trump toying with politics in prior years, and I’m not saying the mockery wasn’t well deserved, just that it’s possible the public humiliation galvanized Trump at that moment in time. There’s no lesson to draw from it, such as: “never publicly humiliate a narcissist.” What happened next was a flock of black swans. Pretty sure even Trump didn’t he would win.
different-church-lady
@Gin & Tonic:
Yeah. Maybe we need to reconsider that.
jeffreyw
@Immanentize:
Loves me some sauerkraut! And Bacon!
Jeffro
@schrodingers_cat: ok – thanks for the tip!
H.E.Wolf
Indeed.
I’m glad now that I spent some years of my childhood in a southerly part of the US, so that I can achieve just the right intonation when I say: Bless his li’l ol’ heart. :)
Kay
@Jeffro:
I will never forgive the emails. All they had to say was “we’ve looked at the amount of time we spent covering that and it was excessive and we’re sorry and will try to do better”
They refused. They don’t even have to cop to loathing Clinton- although I believe they do loathe her. Just a narrow correction. We didn’t even get that.
Kay
@Jeffro:
Even I forget what a bad job they did so I have to go back and look:
April of 2015. That’s the NYTimes reporter who covered Hillary Clinton breathlessly promoting a Right wing smear book against her.
She didn’t stand a chance of getting fair treatment. Using “Clinton Cash” as the guidebook for all their reporting was an error they should apologize for- instead they made big bucks off of book and movie deals.
Kay
@Jeffro:
All the decisions on coverage had been made by 2015:
I mean, it’s corruption. It’s not government corruption but it was a sleazy money making deal between the author and the editors of these newspapers. They joined with the Right wing to smear Clinton by using this book. They didn’t even do their own damn smear work- they outsourced it.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
I heard the call, Obama keep on pausing and you could almost hear him think about every word he was saying.
sdhays
@Betty Cracker: I think Dump hoped (subconsciously since he doesn’t actually strike me as the type of person to game things out, even in his head) to end up like Bernie Sanders – grab a big chunk of Republican fanatics who would worship him, but ultimately not enough to win the nomination. Those devotees could then be leveraged to put money in his pocket and supercharge his ego with his new TrumpTV network where he could whine about how bad the country is doing because he wasn’t elected.
Instead, the Republican Party turned out to be so rotten and thick with other grifters that super-parasite that he is, Donny Dump took it over. And the rot in the Republican Party turned out to be part of enough rot in the greater American society that he was able to become President.
(I’m not saying this is what Sanders wanted, just that Dump’s dream would be where Sanders ended up in 2016).
Brachiator
@Kay:
These dopes thought that because they were hard-bitten, cynical, worldly journalists, they could not be manipulated. From a Politico article on this.
The purported “research” would always be slanted to cause the maximum amount of political damage. There is no way that reporters could sanitize this information and remain “objective.”
Duane
@Kay: Plenty of money to be made off of Obamagate. Truth, facts, reality be damned there are rubes to fleece. Griftermen, start your engines!
Kay
@Brachiator:
Read that piece and tell me Chozick was approaching Clinton objectively.
It continues! I just saw her in the Clinton documentary. The working assumption of her comments on Clinton “triangulating” is that Clinton is dishonest. The part that amazes me is is how it’s passed down – Chozick isn’t old enough to have been part of the first NYTimes smear wave. It is so much a part of that organization that new hires pick it up. Passed down like a cherished tradition. Maureen Dowd hands it lovingly to the next generation.
J R in WV
@Amir Khalid:
No, this is just AG Barr being the Theocratic Monarch of the DoJ, as allowed by the Opus Dei — the semi-secret Catholic organization built on Theocratic Crazy. Look them up, and ignore the parts about love and peace and education. Concentrate on the crazy underneath.
Never been done before, because we have never had a theocratic AG who was openly flouting the rule of law in order to help Trump in his reign as Monarch of America.
Brachiator
@Kay:
Oh, there is no objectivity here at all. This is one of the lies that reporters sometimes tell themselves. Another is that they must go after someone they have decided to target without regard to the consequences to that person or to society.
This is not a NY Times thing. This is a journalism thing.
Newspapers and other media are part of the Establishment, even though they often pretend not to be. And there are journalists who just want to be on the winning team, even if they pretend otherwise.
They are also defeated by their own rancid cynicism. They assume that all politicians are bad, and also that they as reporters will always be around, no matter who is in power.For example, some of them are so close to Trump, and eager to get closer, that they can’t tell that his stink is all over them now.