The news about the DOJ bombarding Trump henchman with subpoenas earlier this week was heartening, but I’m especially interested in where the investigation might lead on the Trump grift machine operating under the name “Save America PAC.” An AP article published today echoes a revelation from the January 6th committee:
Much of the money Trump has amassed was raised in the days and weeks after the 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. That’s when Trump supporters were bombarded with a nonstop stream of emails and texts, many containing all-caps lettering and blatant lies about a stolen 2020 election, soliciting cash for an “election defense fund.”
But no such fund ever existed. Instead, Trump has dedicated the money to other uses. He’s financed dozens of rallies, paid staff and used the money to travel as he’s teased an expected 2024 presidential run.
Other expenses have been more unusual. There was the $1 million donated last year to the Conservative Partnership Institute, a nonprofit that employs Cleta Mitchell and former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, both of whom encouraged Trump’s failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
Our campaign finance regulations are toothless and terrible by GOP design, so it might be legal to swindle people into contributing to a nonexistent “election defense fund” — I really don’t know. The million donated to a “nonprofit” controlled by Cleta Mitchell and Mark Meadows sounds like a legal bribe to keep them in Trump’s corner. The bulk of the fund is probably what Trump uses to live a billionaire lifestyle on a disgraced crook’s reduced and highly leveraged income.
The AP notes that Trump has little to fear from the FEC because Republican commissioners block any attempt to take action on blatant financial malfeasance. But the DOJ is interested in the fund. Maybe their interest is secondary to the ongoing investigation of Trump’s efforts to overthrow the government, but it would be a nice bonus to emphasize again that Trump is lying to supporters so he can rip them off.
On the other hand, as long as the most gullible deplorables are contributing to Trump’s personal slush fund, that’s money they won’t be donating to Republican House and Senate campaigns, the latter of which are already underfunded because Rick Scott looted the NRSC. So, take your time, DOJ!
Open thread.
Alison Rose 💙🌻💛
I am Jack’s complete lack of surprise.
RedDirtGirl
Burn the futhermuckers down!
Roger Moore
The takeover of the GOP by a bunch of grifters who only run for office to line their own pockets is nearly complete. Let’s hope it severely undermines their election chances.
Another Scott
Popehat has taught us all that it’s never RICO, but …
I hope they sic the postal inspectors on them. Mail Fraud is a real thing and how could this not be mail fraud independent of what the FEC cannot do?
Grr…,
Scott.
MattF
Yes, Trump is a classic con artist. The only difference I’ve seen is that the final act of a typical con is ‘leave town, rapidly’, and Trump hasn’t done that. Not yet, anyhow.
Jim Appleton
@Roger Moore: And that, even if proven that $100m was spent on gold toilets, the marks will still reliably fund their loser.
Roger Moore
@MattF:
The beauty of the Republican con is the marks never realize they’ve been fleeced, so the grifters can come back to them repeatedly.
Anonymous At Work
J6 Committee Hearing on the matter was a pretty damning outline of evidence. None of it was contested by an opposing counsel or subject to a hostile judge like The Youthful Federalist in Florida (Cannon). But it definitely presented Probable Cause to subpoena any and all documents from the fund, its employees, its founders, and its recipients (if any).
Probable issues for teh PAC is whether it was operating on the same principles the (disbanded) Trump Charity did: tax-exempt and outside-financed expense account for TFG. Secondary, but less legal, is whether it was handled as a punitive measure to insure GOP compliance with TFG’s dictates.
feebog
I’m sure most Jackels have seen the picture yesterday of TFG and a group of men out on his Virginia golf course. Just wondering out loud how many of those guys received DoJ subpoenas in the last week.
Nina
The Moscow ring road (beltway) is closed down, supposedly by the National Guard.
Booger
@Nina: A trucker’s protest?
Nina
@Booger:
Don’t know, here’s my source – https://twitter.com/ChuckPfarrer/status/1569684401134632963
Baud
@Nina: How close to Moscow is the Ukrainian army?
Martin
So, my understanding is that campaign finance laws are almost pointless, because if you give money to a campaign, they can kind of use it how they want. However, they are not immune to fraud laws. So if you have a campaign, it better actually be that campaign.
That was the problem with the Build the Wall bullshit that Bannon is going down for – the whole operation was fine *provided* they used the money to build the wall, which they didn’t do. I think Trump would have been okay spending that money for the thing he said the money would be used for, but he didn’t. And that’s where the legal problems show up.
I mean, this is sort of a feature of our legal system. Congress can make the laws as weak as they want, but you can’t lie to people giving you money. DOJ and state attys general can always use that tripwire to make up for shortcomings elsewhere in the law.
I will also note that Republican pundits keep talking about no actions within 90 days of an election, Garland promised. But I’m positive that only applies to the people running for office. It’s not like the DOJ just goes on siesta 90 days from an election and prosecutes no crimes. Pretty sure none of these people are running for office.
I’ll add this – we know from reporting that DOJ is also asking in these subpoenas for information related to any legislators that were involved in trying to deny, alter, or delay the outcome of the 2020 election. I don’t think DOJ is looking at this as an investigation into that fundraising effort in a silo, but as a component of Jan 6.
zhena gogolia
@Nina: I’m not finding any independent confirmation. I’ve sent out a feeler, but haven’t heard back. Can’t ask directly.
Booger
@zhena gogolia: Did you check Waze?
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
Hard to believe that can be kept secret for long.
The Moar You Know
Rick Scott steals, in the same way my dog will steal food. He will steal from anyone if he can. I cannot understand why the GOP thought he wouldn’t steal from them
ETA: my dog is far nicer than Rick Scott, don’t get me wrong here.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@MattF:
There’s pretty much nowhere left for him to go. He’s too well known to disappear, and he’s got enemies who would be willing to hunt him to the ends of the Earth.
If I were asked to advise him, I’d suggest LV-426 around Zeta II Reticuli as a safe haven.
Baud
@Booger:
I checked Google maps traffic and it’s showing a lot of traffic on both the inside loop and the outside loop.
MattF
@Martin: That’s important, since pathological dishonesty is a fundamental and unavoidable characteristic of MAGA political fundraising. DOJ is on to something there.
Another Scott
@Baud: A few weeks ago there was a Twitter story with pictures about a taxi company being hacked and sending all the cabs to one Moscow neighborhood at once. There could be lots of cat-and-mouse things going on at once.
Cheers,
Scott.
The Moar You Know
@Baud: 800-900 miles. I don’t think that’s the issue.
Barbara
@Martin: Indeed. Trump figured this out as well and that is one reason why he has been running for president more or less continuously since 2015.
For speculation of what he was doing yesterday, my hunch is that he was negotiating the terms upon which he will delay the announcement he is running in 2024. As in, how much is it worth to you?
sab
@Another Scott: Aren’t TFGs people still running the PO?
Roger Moore
@Martin:
The Republicans are trying to stretch it to cover anyone who’s vaguely associated with electoral politics. Next, they’ll try to stretch which elections it’s related to. The goal is to reach something like the situation with talk of gun control after a mass shooting. If it covers enough people and the time around an election is flexible enough, it will be impossible to indict them at any time because it will always be too close to an election.
Baud
@Bruce K in ATH-GR:
Heh. We can honor Trump by making him the first human on Mars!
Baud
@sab:
Dejoy is still there.
Roger Moore
@The Moar You Know:
Their problem isn’t with having put a thief in charge of their money; their problem is lack of anyone but thieves to put in charge of their money. Seriously, who in today’s Republican party can be trusted with a big pot of money?
Steeplejack
@zhena gogolia:
I have seen only that one tweet as a source so far. I’m on my phone and somewhat busy, so not inclined to look until I get on the real computer later, but there are numerous traffic cams in the Moscow area that could be checked to see if the ring road is indeed closed.
Interested parties could try Googling “Moscow ring road traffic cams.” It’s not rocket science.
Mike in NC
Master con artist Donald Trump perfected the “art of the steal” in his 20s and he hasn’t slowed down one bit. After hawking cheap shit made in China for decades he’s finally settled on faux “Prez 45” MAGA memorabilia for the rubes to buy with their meager Social Security income. You, too, can own a stolen Top Secret document complete with The Donald’s signature in Sharpie! Do they come with Certificates of Authenticity like junk produced by the Franklin Mint?
Someone recently reminded us that an obscure 1950s B&W Western TV show had an episode about a grifter named Trump who came to town and convinced a bunch of idiots to pay him to build a wall which never came to pass.
germy shoemangler
I’ve never met a deplorable who wasn’t gullible.
Brachiator
Yeah, this is crap, but Trump has been doing stuff like this all hid life. If he didn’t use some dodgy campaign fund setup, he would have a Patreon page set up or some other nonsense.
Trump is a natural born grifter.
BTW, with respect to various claims that Trump has sold secrets to Russia and others, has anyone identified how goods and payments flow back and forth or who Trump employs to facilitate these deals? Any plausible speculation? I don’t see him as a meticulous mastermind, but he operates like a successful low level habitual criminal with friends and protectors.
J R in WV
I’m all over the mail fraud issue. Many years ago we had a box of checks stolen from our RFD mailbox along a deserted country road, she then got a fake drivers license with Wife’s data and her photo, kited bad checks all over the place. Everyone asked “IS there a police report?” and the State cops asked Wife “How much did you really lose? $6 for the box of checks?” and nearly refised to complete a form. Wife was purple with rage by the end of that.
No one did anything for a while, but Wife is nothing if not persistent… finally came upon a Postal Inspector who had dealt with this particular miscreant before. Mxxx was the criminal’s name, and this wasn’t her first trip down kiting checks road. postal Inspector arrested her for federal crimes. She was on probation at the time.
Trump should have the same treatment — was already shut down for Trump University, AND his “charity” which only supported Trump. Not allowed to do charity any more. What was this if not a charity??
germy shoemangler
JMG
@feebog: It appears that this was a meeting to discuss setting up the golf course for the Saudi-LIV tournament to be held there. So disgusting, but not necessarily related to criminal behavior.
MattF
@Brachiator: I’d take a close look at how Putin does it, TFG probably does (or tries to do) something similar. Or maybe just makes use of Putin subsidiaries here in the US.
germy shoemangler
He decided to stop talking about 9/11 immediately after the first Saudi check cleared.
J R in WV
@JMG:
And you are taking who’s word for this, when none of those people were golf course design architects? Lawyers and sidekicks to set up a golf course?
Nah.
Just nope!
Danielx
Fools and their money are easily parted, I think the saying goes.
Like Trump ever gave a shit about whether money sent to him for a specific purpose is spent as the sender intended. As far as he’s concerned, money sent to any organization with which he is remotely connected is HIS money to be spent as he wishes, and fuck laws or regulations regarding how that money is supposed to be spent. Did anybody seriously expect him to behave otherwise?
Baud
@germy shoemangler:
Never forget … to endorse the check before depositing.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: That’s why I’m suspicious. I don’t see anything other than that one tweet.
zhena gogolia
@Steeplejack: I’m not finding any cams there, but it’s kind of chaotic when you google that. They offer a lot of streets in central Moscow, but not the ring road, which is outside Moscow.
XeckyGilchrist
@germy shoemangler: Looks like Ari’s taking his own post-9/11 advice of “watch what [you] say, watch what [you] do.”
zhena gogolia
@germy shoemangler: YOU WEAR A HAT LIKE THAT, YOU GET A FREE BOWL OF SOUP!
Amir Khalid
@MattF:
How do you commit a nationwide fraud, as TFG seems to have done, and then “leave town”? Where would you go?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@zhena gogolia: Hey Smails! My dingy’s bigger than your whole boat!
(Co-starring Willard M Romney, as Judge Elihu Smails)
MattF
@Amir Khalid: A week ago I’d have said ‘Moscow’, but now that seems unlikely.
Citizen Alan
@Roger Moore: Indeed. Every bit of evidence against the grifters is only further proof of the depth and mendacity of the Deep State conspiracy against which those brave patriotic grifters continually fight the good fight.
Amir Khalid
@MattF:
Maybe TFG could try going on the lam like my fellow Malaysians Jho Low and Fat Leonard, but I don’t think he’s cut out for that.
Jeffro
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: the tech exists to put Romney’s face on Smails’ for that whole movie.
I can’t decide if that would make it twice as funny, or unwatchable
Paul in KY
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: Maybe with his BFF in N. Korea? Great skiing there!
Paul in KY
@Barbara: That’s as good a hunch as any.
Sister Golden Bear
@Baud:
“Mr. President we have liberated the Kremlin.”
”Crimea! I said Crimea!”
zhena gogolia
@Jeffro: Oh, no, don’t sully Ted Knight’s memory.
Betty Cracker
@Amir Khalid: Y’all’s corrupt pols seem much more interesting than ours.
Martin
@Amir Khalid: Dubai. That’s why it’s there.
Layer8Problem
@zhena gogolia:
That one gets golf applause! :-D
JMG
@J R in WV: Two of the men have been identified as the club course superintendents. Of course, they could have been there as cover, but seems unlikely. Also, there was much pointing at stakes laid out on course. I mean, I guess it could be discussing a new gravesite for Ivana, but that also seems unlikely.
Kropacetic
@The Moar You Know: Expecting honor among thieves. This is why it’s been a blowup between Scott and McConnell.
McConnell would have been fine with Scott stealing from the American people, just not Republicans.
Same way Liz Cheney is fine with stealing elections if it’s done under cover of law.
trollhattan
My Trump University campus is constructed from Trump Steaks and in the plumbing flows Trump Vodka. I am not a crank.
Another Scott
@Baud: I don’t think DeJoy wants to risk federal indictment for interfering with legitimate investigations while he’s nearly out the door.
ICE.gov (from a week ago):
They say history doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes. Here’s hoping…
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
Amir Khalid
@Betty Cracker:
Jho Low and Fat Leonard
arewere technically businessmen. But yeah, they’re corrupt as fuck.cain
@MattF: When he does skip town and takes off – MAGA will support him. “I am being discriminated against, the system is unfair, I had to leave!”
He’ll be out in Brazil or somewhere making noises. Maybe he can have drinks with Greenwald.
His maga people are going to defend him relentlessly otherwise they will have to admit to themselves that they were all marks. That might be hard.
Warblewarble
A crook is a crook is a crook. Former Pope, former President no matter. It’s the crimes. Deal with the crimes, deal with the criminal.
ian
@JMG: Were the people in that circle probably talking about shady shit? Sure. Is it proof of anything? No, unless someone was wearing a wire. Will it convince anyone to change their minds? Unlikely. The sane half of the US knows he is GAF, the insane half needs something far more substantial than Trump and goons standing in a circle to fall off that bandwagon (if anything even can shake their conviction).
Kropacetic
Being the perpetrator of myriad bold public crimes is good cause for discrimination.
Yes, our justice system is unfair. I offer as proof the fact that Trump is free in a nation with an outlandish percentage of people in jail.
MattF
FWIW, TFG goes all in for QAnon.
Dangerman
@ian: GAF? Guilty as fuck? Gaudy as fuck? Gross as fuck? Ginormous as fuck? Too many choices.
If Justice starts to find Putin and Trump the same week …
dm
@germy shoemangler: I liked the caption: “Leonardo da Vinci’s *The Last Subpoena*”
Brachiator
@Amir Khalid:
Trump seems most comfortable only at his own properties and mainly in the US. He also needs to be near adoring supporters who can cheer him and make him feel good.
KevInFrance
@Mike in NC: It was an episode of the show “Trackdown” called The End of the World.
It’s on Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1D2ynASqe4
ian
@Dangerman: I was thinking guilty as fuck, but there are probably some fun acronym games we could play here.
cain
@The Moar You Know:
I wonder though how does an idealistic young person who identifies as conservative (classically) not feel depressed upon entering this grifting apparatus – filled people just looking for a buck. I mean I don’t think this is the Alex Keaton GOP if it ever was.
Sure Lurkalot
OT: Slow and steady wins the race. Florida overtakes NY in Covid deaths (officially, likely did a while ago).
cain
@Roger Moore: why the fuck do we need to even do that kind of thing – the GOP doesn’t are dishonorable. Given that the DOJ has already broken this on behalf the Democratic party. Plus, in this case it’s not even a person running for any kind of office. Making a blanket of anyone who has influence means that they can’t even go after Roger Stone or what not. What a bunch of snowflakes.
Meanwhile attacks against Democrats continue.
NotMax
@Roger Moore
Hell, there’s still mucho smackeroos unaccounted for from the 2017 inauguration fund.
RaflW
@Roger Moore: “Their problem isn’t with having put a thief in charge of their money; their problem is lack of anyone but thieves to put in charge of their money.”
I put this well into the category of why the GOP has become such a fan of Russia. They were envious of how Putin’s harem of oligarch businessmen all got rich off the massive skim (& outright theft of assets).
different-church-lady
I’m so old I can remember when Al Gore made some fundraising phonecalls from the wrong building and that meant he should be locked away on Elba.
different-church-lady
@NotMax: Hell, there’s millions of attendees still missing.
different-church-lady
@Roger Moore:
“You don’t want a criminal treasurer. You want a criminal treasurer.”
HumboldtBlue
Why the hell is MSNBC showing a live feed from London?
Alison Rose 💙🌻💛
@HumboldtBlue: The Queen’s coffin is supposed to be arriving at Buckingham Palace today, I believe.
different-church-lady
@HumboldtBlue:
Why the heck did we even fight that war?
HumboldtBlue
@Alison Rose 💙🌻💛:
Yeah, it’s arrived, I had up a live video feed of the transport, my question is why MSBNC is focusing all this energy on something that has no bearing on the US? There is a lot more important stuff happening than the protocols of a dead woman from a monarchy we fought to be free from.
Steeplejack
People have had a chance to look at the text of Lindsey Graham’s abortion bill.
So the more restrictive state laws would not be affected.
Apparently Graham thinks his bill provides “compromise” cover for the rabid anti-choice crowd, but I think he’s just providing more ammunition for the pro-choice side. A cunning plan indeed.
WhatsMyNym
@Steeplejack: Most are down, this intersection has barriers.
ETA: Moscow
Baud
@different-church-lady:
To be free from measuring temperature in Celsius.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@HumboldtBlue: I’m finding the dawn to dark coverage to be wearing thin.
Baud
@Steeplejack:
I’m still flabbergasted. The GOP was getting hammered on abortion, and Graham’s bill makes it worse for them.
He truly is a student of Donald Trump.
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
https://i.redd.it/95vigxeowkn91.jpg
HumboldtBlue
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
I have a deep interest in the monarchy from a historical standpoint and will follow the funeral and all that, but this 24-hour news coverage when there is so much more important news to report right here at home is boggling.
Then again, it is all about ratings, so maybe they’re liking the numbers they see.
And now they’re back to normal programming.
StringOnAStick
@Dorothy A. Winsor: The US media sure loves the whole British royalty scene. I remember when Charles married Diane; I was living on a drill rig in the middle of freaking nowhere with no running water, just 5 gallon jugs warmed in the sun each day and even there, pre-internet, I couldn’t escape the media going nuts over the “fairytale wedding”. I also had fun with the contrast between the princess worship and being a female in a half functioning travel trailer doing a dirty, physical job in the hot sun every day.
Brachiator
@KevInFrance:
Well. That was both fun and sad.
Thanks for the link.
Tony Jay
@HumboldtBlue:
It’s probably because the Festival of Absolute Compulsory Grief coverage being enforced on Britain is SO absolutely absolute that it’s simply overwhelmed every other television signal on the planet. Right at this moment Putin is jumping up and down on his remote control because the episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch he’s been looking forward to has been swamped by images of chinless people looking doleful in over large uniforms.
Omnes Omnibus
@HumboldtBlue: It’s better than showing a empty Trump podium while HRC is actually giving a speech. Here at least no active harm in being done. Baby steps.
MattF
@Baud: McConnell has squashed Graham’s proposal. There is (obviously) no winning Republican position on abortion, and it’s astonishing that Graham doesn’t see that.
Baud
@MattF:
Thanks. I guess McConnell thinks he can limit the damage to one news cycle (and maybe hide behind the dead queen).
HumboldtBlue
@Tony Jay:
Pretty much describes the entirety of The Crown.
@Omnes Omnibus:
That’s true.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
I’m a little concerned about the harm done to Tony Jay.
Another Scott
ICYMI, GovExec.com (from yesterday):
The Senate usually tries to jam the House on things like this, and unfortunately as long as it is 50:50 they will most likely get their way. More Ukraine funding is good, of course. It’ll be interesting to see if any of the calculus changes after the November elections (in the lame duck).
CRs are yet another way that the GQP damages the country because it prevents the federal agencies and every other part of the federal government from planning their annual budgets, necessary purchases, and sensible spending of their funds. (“Well, our FY funding will start arriving 3 months late again, so we’ll have to operate on the bare minimum until we know the final budget numbers and what new items were funded…”) It’s yet another reason to throw the monsters out so that the government can do its job efficiently and effectively.
Cheers,
Scott.
Brachiator
@HumboldtBlue:
I think the funeral will be on the 19th. You have a lot of time to work up a mighty outrage.
ETA. Fortunately, there is also plenty of other news coverage. Lots of stuff today about the inflation report.
Chris Johnson
@Brachiator: Tucker.
Not sure if I’m even kidding
Also what do you mean ‘sold’? Trump is owned.
Tony Jay
@HumboldtBlue:
I really do not understand the fascination so many people have with the Julian Fellowes version of British society, where everyone speaks with clipped RP accents and everything is so much more meaningful and tragic because tiaras, tweed and tons of champagne.
I’m been aware that Claire Foy is lovely to look at since the remake of Upstairs Downstairs, but that doesn’t make the whole shitshow of privilege any more palatable.
HumboldtBlue
@Brachiator:
It’s not outrage, it’s puzzlement.
MattF
@Tony Jay: There’s also the continuing revelation of how the Creator manages to reconcile ‘chinless’ with ‘horse-faced’.
Steeplejack
@Baud:
Inorite. And some of the nutters are spinning this as putting Democrats on the defensive.
Matt McIrvin
@Tony Jay: The British royalty can’t hurt us any more. We don’t have to pay for them either. So it’s low-stakes drama, a celebrity show with refined aesthetics.
different-church-lady
@Steeplejack:
JoyceH
@MattF:
Ha ha ha! Too late, sucker! He said it out loud in front of cameras! Enjoy the Democratic campaign commercials…
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I clicked on MSNBC yesterday in the car and Katie Tur was gushing about a corgi anecdote. My first thought was I’m embarrassed for all concerned, then I thought, if people weren’t watching, they’d pull the plug on it pretty quick. The prime time coverage seems to have backed off a bit
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@The Moar You Know:
I wouldn’t call it “stealing”, your dog doesnt have the requisite dogs rea
JoyceH
@StringOnAStick:
I actually set an alarm and got up in the middle of the night to watch The Royal Wedding. Entirely fell for the Fairy Tale Romance stuff. I was much younger then…
Tony Jay
@Baud:
I have streaming, It will sustain me.
OTOH, the permanently petrified hand puppet masquerading as Labour Party leader just issued a secret memo ordering all of the Party’s MPs to refrain from any political messaging during the whole Orgy of Enforced Weeping on the grounds that the Daily Mail might pretend to be offended by it, even though we’re in a spiralling economic and social crisis and the Tories are spewing Far-Right diktats that need opposition right the fuck now.
I swear, Lindsey Graham has more of a backbone than Sir Melted Plastic and ten times the political nous.
zhena gogolia
@Tony Jay:
Haha, le mot juste
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@HumboldtBlue:
like what? My timeline has been dead all day
zhena gogolia
@Tony Jay: Speaking for myself, escapism.
I am fully aware that I would have been Daisy and not Lady Mary, but I like looking at pretty clothes and plots that have nothing at stake. My day job has enough grief.
Baud
@Steeplejack:
Cool. Maybe they’ll decide to make the middterms a referendum on abortion rights. Which woman in their right mind wouldn’t want Lindsey Graham to control their body parts?
Tony Jay
@MattF:
It’s like Noah put the cage with the gerbils too close to the zebras and nine months later The British Aristocracy were born.
@Matt McIrvin:
Yup. It’s free tabloid glitz. Ruritanian pomp as voiced by Hugh Grant.
Unfortunately over here it’s being used as a cudgel to shit all over freedom of speech and enforce North Korean levels of Downthink.
StringOnAStick
@JMG: I’m not so sure it was a golf tournament meeting, though that’s an excellent cover story about sucking up to the Saudi’s just 2 days after the 9/11 anniversary; it has just the right amount of “fuck you” in it so of course that’s what the TFG retainers would say. Here’s a tweet about one of the people identified in the group, the guy who runs True the Vote:
https://twitter.com/MikeSington/status/1569707827111022597
His comment seem a bit suggestive to me. While we’re all reveling in thoughts the TFG is well and truly finally about to get nailed, that particular rat is also feeling a whole lot more cornered so it isn’t outside the realm of possibility that he’s about to try something even crazier than the last coup attempt. It would be messy and go absolutely nowhere, but I wouldn’t put it past TFG, especially given his malignant narcissim. HIs type will keep trying to ram home his chosen reality on everyone else and there is no point where he’ll say “well hell, I tried and now I need to stop with this crap” because he isn’t capable of doing so.
Another Scott
Meanwhile, … From the KyivIndependent News Feed:
They might want to take that big bridge back home while they still can…
Cheers,
Scott.
Baud
@StringOnAStick:
Maybe he’ll invade Ukraine.
Tony Jay
@zhena gogolia:
I do get that part of it, to be honest. It’s just a bit different at this end where the beneficiaries of Posh Supremacy have been real-life stomping on the national face for quite the while.
As the witch said, it’s no fairytale when you’re the one with your head in the oven.
Old School
@JoyceH:
So you’ll be putting a pot of coffee on for The Royal Funeral?
StringOnAStick
@Baud: That would be perfect. That’s probably the last card Vova has to play.
Mike in NC
@JoyceH: Moscow Mitch was positively giddy just a couple weeks ago while talking about a nationwide abortion ban. Giddy in the same way he gets when posing next to a Confederate flag. Weird.
HumboldtBlue
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:
Maybe you need to check your timeline, then.
Ajax is playing at Liverpool in the Champions League!
StringOnAStick
@Mike in NC: Giddy because that would mean he’s back in charge of the Senate. As for actual policy, meh.
Baud
@HumboldtBlue:
Wait, they didn’t cancel the football matches for the mourning?
zhena gogolia
@Tony Jay: Yeah. I wouldn’t be able to enjoy an Ivanka soap opera.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Nice of Lindsey to film a commercial for Democrats. Muchly bipartisan of him
Brachiator
@HumboldtBlue:
Fair point. Distinction noted.
But why the puzzlement? Some people might be interested and 90 percent of news and media is devoted to trivia. There’s dancing frogs somewhere on Tik Tok.
I share your interest. I dip into the BBC World Service now and again, but generally avoid US based coverage.
I noted elsewhere that all this ceremony and pageantry was probably necessary in the 15th century, when travel and communication took much more time. The monarch had to travel around the realm to make sure that everyone knew who was now in charge and to reinforce loyalties and allegiances.
And of course you needed symbols and pronouncements to make sure that those who were illiterate also got the message.
But obviously, even with the excessive US coverage, there is no problem finding coverage of other news stories. None. Hell, the problem with a 24/7 news cycle is that there is still plenty of time for repetition and useless time filling fluff.
And dancing frogs.
ETA. I found the clips of the Vigil of the Princes to be quite touching. And it was interesting to learn that Princess Anne is the first woman to participate in the ceremony.
rikyrah
@germy shoemangler:
Nothing, if not consistent.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: We fought a war so we didn’t have to worry about people like him.
Roger Moore
@JMG:
I smell bullshit. There was no reason for Trump to call in people who have never before been involved in anything related to his golf courses for that. This looks like an excuse to hold a meeting where they thought they couldn’t be overheard.
HumboldtBlue
@Baud:
Yes, they cancelled all Premier League matches this past weekend (not rugby or cricket, the posh sports, mind, just the low-class working-class football) due to not having enough police to police the grounds, particularly in London.
That will also happen in London this weekend, all games scheduled there have been postponed, including Liverpool at Chelsea. The other locales are good to go.
MattF
Alexandra Petri explaining that the death of the Queen is, ultimately, good for the hive.
geg6
@different-church-lady:
For real. I will never understand why anyone in this country gives a shit about that old bat or her creepy family.
Baud
@HumboldtBlue:
I didn’t realize rugby was considered more posh than football.
Jay
@Baud:
Can Lindsey even find lady parts?
Omnes Omnibus
@geg6: Well, de gustibus non disputandum est.
Dan B
@StringOnAStick: Gregg Phillips tweet reads like a hint of a coup. “DC is not ready for us.”
Can’t be the new version of, “It will be wild.”
/s
geg6
@HumboldtBlue:
You know, I watched exactly as many episodes of that as I did Game of Thrones (about halfway through the first season). I found them both equally stupid and boring. Again, why do Americans care about any of this?
Brachiator
@Tony Jay:
I think I first noticed her in a Dickens adaptation. She was glorious. I have not seen any of the iterations of The Crown. And likely never will.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: Rugby is a ruffian’s game played by gentlemen. Soccer is a gentleman’s game played by ruffians. And Rugby League is a ruffian’s game played by ruffians.
zhena gogolia
@Brachiator: She is an excellent actress, as she demonstrates in Wolf Hall and The Crown. So if you’re interested in what lies beneath her exterior, I would recommend them.
HumboldtBlue
@Baud:
Very much so, it’s the sport of the boarding schools in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
@Omnes Omnibus:
Netflix created a limited series about how the working class took the game from the gentlemen. The English Game.
@geg6:
I watched and enjoyed the first two seasons of The Crown because it provided some insight into Liz’s early life and ascension to the throne. As I mentioned, I have a keen interest in the monarchy because it’s central to the history of the UK as well as world history, and I read and consume a lot of political and military history.
@Betty Cracker:
Foy was fantastic in The Crown, that’s for sure.
J R in WV
@JMG:
OK, maybe it really was regarding the Saudi Bone Saw’s Golf Tour. I guess that’s just as bad, actually.
Betty Cracker
@zhena gogolia: Foy was fantastic in both of those series.
Betty Cracker
@geg6: I’m often flummoxed by the fact that 330M fellow Americans don’t share my taste in entertainment, but there it is…
geg6
@HumboldtBlue:
Ever tried the The British History Podcast? I much prefer it to The Crown.
geg6
@Betty Cracker:
We fought a war to get away from these idiots. My grandparents couldn’t get out of the place to go to America fast enough. It has almost no relevance to anyone here. Not even me, and my grandparents were actually from there. I just don’t understand it and I really don’t understand wall-to-wall coverage of a funeral for a powerless rich old white woman with a trash family.
Wait, maybe that’s it. Americans do love them some trash. Witness the popularity of the Housewives franchise and the Kardashians.
Omnes Omnibus
@geg6: Okay, you are somehow superior to other people. Happy, now?
Betty Cracker
@geg6: It’s probably fair to call “The Crown” a soap opera with great acting, quality writing and high production values. Nothing wrong with that in my book!
Dan B
@StringOnAStick: Right below the “DC is not prepared for us.” is #patriot games #tigerproject #thepit These all seem to be references to military or vigilante actions.
Anyone know any details about these hashtags?
Tony Jay
@zhena gogolia:
Precisely. Multiplied by 10 when the thrust of the saga is that these are actually pretty good people forced into terribly uncomfortable lives by their sense of duty and service.
Urgh. I just caught a future-peek of Fox’s 2026 blockbuster miniseries. Dynasty of Gold, a saga of wealth, politics and revenge. Staring Kevin Sorbo as President Ronald Horn, Gary Sinise as Senator Lancelot Greenham, and featuring Gina Carano as Yougetta Horn, the President’s classy young daughter.
HumboldtBlue
Berman is on with Wallace just flaying Barr and Trump.
Steeplejack
@HumboldtBlue:
Berman was on with Rachel Maddow last night and did a good job of explaining for the “Why did he save it for the book and not speak up at the time?” crowd that the DOJ has strict rules controlling what employees and ex-employees can say about active investigations, etc. His new book had to be vetted by the DOJ before it could be published.
Refusing to resign and forcing Bill Barr to fire him was a principled stand at the time.
kalakal
@Omnes Omnibus: The whole soccer/ football thing comes from that. Rugby football was/is the public school game. Football (aka soccer) was the plebs game and the poshos objected to it being called football because as far as they were concerned Rugby football was the only football. The whole soccer thing came from the poshos trying to make everbody use the term Soccer which is a contraction from of the Association part of the Football Asssociation which runs football aka soccer for the game where you use your feet and football for the game where you use your hands Hope that’s all nice and clear
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@Tony Jay: @zhena gogolia:
I mean I wholly admit to being a Dowton Abbey fan for pure escapist reasons. Plus, that world is just alien to me, so its fascinating. The frenzy over Queen Elizabeth’s death has been interesting. It is a big deal when a national symbol for the last 70+ years of an allied country passes on, so I get it to a point. However, the media circus in the US has gone WAY beyond any reasonable point. It made me realize that most journalists must pursue journalism so they can meet and gossip about celebrities, rather than for real reporting.
I also THINK I understand why the UK is still a constitutional monarchy (ie. tradition, continuity with the past, having someone raised from birth do all the ceremonial crap that our elected leaders waste time on when they should be governing, etc). However, I can’t imagine if I had been born in the UK that I could be a monarchist. The level of classism in your society is ridiculous.
zhena gogolia
@Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: I’m also a big fan of the British school of acting, and both Downton and The Crown were amazing showcases for people like Maggie Smith and Alex Jennings, etc., etc.
ETA: Josh O’Connor’s Prince Charles was so indelible that when I watched the speech KCIII gave the day after her death, all I could do was think of O’Connor.
Omnes Omnibus
@kalakal: I played rugby.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@zhena gogolia: The acting in both of those shows was amazing. When that video broke of Charles insisting the servants clear his desk for him, it totally tracked with O’Connor’s portrayal of Charles as a fussy little man.
Princess
@Steeplejack: Okay, I checked out the four traffic cams in Moscow for the central administrative district and they are all offline.
Fwiw.
zhena gogolia
@Princess: You’re not going to see the ring road there.
Roger Moore
@Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony:
I think the Royal Family fills some emotional need to follow the doings of powerful, important people. Apparently the celebrities we have in the US just don’t do it for some people, and the British royals are the only thing that will do. To some extent, I think it’s healthier to follow them than to follow people like the Kardashians, who might actually have some impact on our day-to-day lives, e.g. Caitlin Jenner running for governor of California. I still think obsessing over politics is healthier, but I understand the impulse.
different-church-lady
@Jay:
I would not be surprised if they found some buried in his back yard.
kalakal
@Omnes Omnibus: Me too. I went to a posh school were we played Union and later on played a bit of League. A really good friend of mine just retired as the operations director of the Rugby Football League . She made history, being the first woman to be in charge of this very macho sport
Princess
@zhena gogolia: All the cams are down.
zhena gogolia
@Princess: Is this something sinister or just good old Russian rastiapost’?
Omnes Omnibus
@kalakal: I was a wing and hooked in sevens. At heart, I am a flanker manque (too small). You?
kalakal
@Omnes Omnibus: changed as I went through school, probably played every position at sometime. As i got into my mid teens & ever since it’s been a wing, I didn’t weigh that much but was pretty fast. Haven’t played in years but I did enjoy it.
Brachiator
@zhena gogolia:
Loved me some Wolf Hall.
Love selected parts of British history. For example, the relatively recent film The Favourite.
For some reason, even though I know a fair amount about the current Royal Family, I respect Queen Elizabeth, but wonder whether any contemporary series would really be allowed to broadcast anything that was close to being true. So I have steered clear of the Crown.
I have a moderately strong dislike for Charles because of his unfortunate relationship with Diana. I don’t want to see the fictionalized version of this if it is part of The Crown.
I enjoyed The Gilded Age about US plutocrat celebrities. I look forward to future episodes dealing with rich American women being auctioned off to British Lords.
ETA. I loved loved loved the early PBS series The First Churchills.
J R in WV
@J R in WV:
On further information, no way it was about golf, unless golf is a code word for revolutionary taking over a government, or otherwise plotting something both treasonous and illegal.
zhena gogolia
@Brachiator: your moderately strong dislike for Charles would not be greatly altered by seeing The Crown
karen marie
@Baud: Personally, I think being the first person shot into the sun would be more prestigious.
GibberJack
When l’etat c’est moi and moi has been denied his state by losing an election he tried to rig then any expenditure however unlikely to reverse or thwart that result he will consider as a legit use of his election defense fund, including ensuring the continued loyalty of his erstwhile co-conspirators.
May the DOJ find otherwise.
Paul in KY
@Baud: ‘Football is a gentleman’s game played by louts and Rugby is a lout’s game played by gentleman’. Told to me once by a young British dude (who played rugby).