For folks who primarily consume right-wing media funded by billionaires, let me help on the Hunter issue and what's not been proven:
1. The committee has not found any direct evidence that President Biden personally benefited from any of his son’s biz dealings.
— Heidi Przybyla 🌺 (@HeidiReports) September 5, 2023
“National investigations, Politico” reporter:
a report released by Senate Republicans that found Hunter Biden's role on the board of Burisma "awkward" and at times "problematic" .. but provides no new evidence and found no instance of policy being altered as a result of his role."https://t.co/b1QoA2FXg0
— Heidi Przybyla 🌺 (@HeidiReports) September 5, 2023
Also no explanation on why there's no investigation here:https://t.co/XoEaEjy66m
Ethics experts say such a deal creates the appearance of potential payback for Kushner’s actions in the White House — or of a bid for future favor if … Trump runs for reelection.
Now he is:
— Heidi Przybyla 🌺 (@HeidiReports) September 5, 2023
Mr. Kushner played a leading role inside the Trump administration defending Crown Prince Mohammed after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that he had approved the 2018 killing and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi columnist for The Washington Post and resident of Virginia who had criticized the kingdom’s rulers.
Mr. Kushner had also helped broker $110 billion in weapons sales to Saudi Arabia over 10 years. He helped protect those and other weapons deals from congressional outrage over the murder of Mr. Khashoggi and the humanitarian catastrophe created by the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen.
— Heidi Przybyla 🌺 (@HeidiReports) September 6, 2023
RaflW
And that cartoon at top doesn’t even touch on Emoluments things like his D.C. hotel, or Kuschner’s $2Bn Saudi payoff right after leaving the Admin. Trump’s financial corruption is literally relegated to at least 7th place. It’s wild.
eta: Not dissing Ohman the cartoonist, just noting the sheer volume of crap.
japa21
Why, whomever the media tells me to, and they usually tell me it’s Biden.
Baud
@japa21:
For one it’s not me.
Alison Rose
The majority of replies to her thread are people requesting an unroll from the thread reader bot and people babbling about “deflecting” and whatever. Sadly it seems like there is no amount of proof or facts showing that Biden did nothing bad that will convince people who believe Biden is incapable of doing anything good. So they can all fuck off. I’m going to focus on the people with brains.
waspuppet
Just your occasional reminder that Kevin McCarthy said out loud that Putin pays two people—Rohrabacher and Trump. And he’s never denied it. And no one told him he was wrong.
Alison Rose
@Baud: That’ll change once you’re in office.
RaflW
@japa21: Life was so much easier when Democrats just stayed in their defensive crouch like they were trained to do!
//
waspuppet
@japa21: I mean if we would all just shut up and let Republicans run things we’d have some peace and quiet around here finally.
Dan B
OT but timely: Four pastors / worship leaders in the US have been charged with pedophilia today. Not a single drag queen or trans.
Baud
@Dan B:
Maybe religious leaders should start wearing dresses. If they’re going to get arrested, might as well help promote the agenda.
RSA
Those tweets are nine days old. That must be ancient history in Twitter-years.
Dan B
@Baud: Only one case was positively identified as a boy. The other three may be as well. The one was filming himself in a bathtub with a four year old boy. Horrible.
Alison Rose
If you’re on Instagram, definitely take a look at Kamala Harris’ stories today (on the account that’s just “VP”, not the one under her name). She’s at Hampton University and the videos of students cheering for her are just wonderful.
West of the Rockies
@Dan B:
Why am I guessing this won’t make Fox News tonight?
oatler
I, for one look forward to hearing rookie Kristen Welker’s fair and balanced stewardship on Meet The Press
ETA: These marionberry edibles are boss!
Baud
@Alison Rose:
Between you and satby this morning, I’m tempted to stop being a new media Luddite.
Dan B
@RaflW: Infrastructure week was putting greenbacks in Trump & Company’s pockets. He did a lot of “infrastructure”.
Dan B
@West of the Rockies: It could happen!
/s
Alison Rose
@Baud: Go for it. Walk on the wild side.
Dan B
OT: Jenna Ellis no longer supports “malignant narcissist” Trump.
Hypothesis is that a RICO charge plus not having Tifg pay for a lawyer for you may be the cause of this hissy.
Jeffro
In my fantasy dreamworld utopia land, reporters ask about that at the start of every single McCarthy news conference until the end of time.
Jeffro
@oatler: ETA: These marionberry edibles are boss!
“Marionberry” immediately made me think that the edibles set you up.
(until I Googled it – looks delicious!) =)
Johnnybuck
But Joe Biden is old
lowtechcyclist
@Jeffro:
Ah, memories of DC’s ‘Mayor-for-Life’!
Elizabelle
@lowtechcyclist: Yep. I don’t think any of us who lived in the DC area at that time will ever give a marionberry a fair shake.
Jeffro
@Elizabelle: I hear, though, that they’re highly ad…nope, not gonna go there…
gawd I am OLD, though
frosty
@Baud: If you majored in Math you could derive a proof that it’s not you.
frosty
@Alison Rose: Focus on people with brains? I think there’s two or three of us here!
Steeplejack
Posting here instead of the possibly expiring thread downstairs.
Possibly touchy subject, but . . . I suggest that people who consider themselves part of the BJ “community”—certainly those who are “regular commenters”—might consider creating some mechanism by which we will be informed should the unthinkable happen. It is disconcerting when people disappear without a trace. People are concerned about Amir Khalid, and recently there was regular commenter Debbie who disappeared, and there were others before that. I still wonder occasionally about a semi-regular commenter (PurpleGirl?) who seemed to be going through some things and abruptly disappeared some years back. We were informed about efgoldman, Mary G and General Stuck (and others), so there was closure there.
Anyway, just throwing this out there. I have a close friend in real life who is also a commenter here, so I guess I’m covered if I get hit by a meteor. I just need to make sure they get notified in the first place, which, hmm, is a related issue.
frosty
@Steeplejack: Good idea. I’ve been thinking about putting a page in the folder with our wills about who (online) to notify. I already have one about which guitars not to give to the estate auctioneers and where to take them.
WaterGirl
@Steeplejack: @frosty:
Or it could go the other way. Anyone who wants to participate could give me an email address for someone close to you that we could contact if you go MIA.
VOR
I think this was one of the things which saved TFG: the scandals came too fast for DC press to keep up. Look how long they flogged things like Hilary’s emails or her speaking fees. Scandals were few so they could focus and make a molehill into a mountain. With Trump, there was a new atrocity every day. By the time they reported the first scandal TFG would be 2 or 3 scandals down the road. It left them no time to dig into anything. Eventually it just all blurs together: foreign entities paying for hotel rooms they never used, giving top secret intel to the Russian ambassador in the Oval Office, paying off a porn star, etc…
Dan B
@VOR: Always “infrastructure” (scandal) week!
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Doesn’t Catholic clergy wear dresses already. I mean I know it is not called a dress but it is very much like a dress.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Baud:
That sounds like a pretty weak denial. I’m thinking we need to have an inquiry.
schrodingers_cat
@Steeplejack: Yes I remember purple girl, she just disappeared. I had her email and I reached out but never got a reply back.
Roger Moore
@VOR:
This lets the media off the hook too easily. Skipping from one scandal to the next was a nice excuse for never following through on any of them, but they could have kept focusing on one thing if they had really wanted to. They just preferred to jump from scandal to scandal rather than spend the energy digging into any one of them.
Steeplejack
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
Yes, we need to see Baud’s bank records, just to answer the questions that everyone has. 🤔
Miss Bianca
@Steeplejack: I’ve been wondering and fretting about Amir myself (I hope he would appreciate the pun).
Yarrow
@Steeplejack: I don’t know who counts as a regular. I’ve disappeared for long stretches due to life events and pretty much no one notices or cares. How does one know if they’re in the “in group?”
Yarrow
@schrodingers_cat: I emailed once with Purple Girl but it was an old email and I don’t think I have her email address anymore. I hope she’s okay.
zhena gogolia
@Yarrow: I believe I recall you being asked about.
ETA: Are you the tick-tock person?
Scout211
NBC is teasing Kristen Welkers’s interview with TFG. I hate to tell them, but these are not scoops, NBC. Zzzzzzzzzzz
Yarrow
@zhena gogolia: You may believe that but you are incorrect.
frosty
@Yarrow:
We noticed.
Yarrow
@zhena gogolia: The tick-tock person? Like, tick tock, motherfuckers? Yes, that’s me. If you mean TikTok the app, no.
lowtechcyclist
@Jeffro:
I’m not old, I’ve just been around a long time!
schrodingers_cat
@Yarrow: If anyone can answer that, it is Steeplejack. He is the BJ historian.
Steeplejack
@Yarrow:
I answered you in the previous thread. It’s up to the individual—how you consider yourself. There isn’t a BJ membership committee.
zhena gogolia
@Yarrow: Yes, tick-tock, mf-ers. You were definitely missed and inquired about.
Jay
@Steeplejack:
So that was a spam Email I got?
Steeplejack
@Jay:
I think it was a cease-and-desist order.
Sure Lurkalot
Regarding commenters who disappear… I find there are some absences I notice. Amir is one because I was often reading the blog when he was around (which would be early morning for me, afternoon for him) and I’m not sure there’s another commenter from Malaysia. And yes, Amir is a mensch. Other commenters I might not notice being gone but when they come back (e.g. yes, you Yarrow, Mnemosyne (gone again) and Martin come to mind) I’m like oh yeah, missed reading your posts.
Villago Delenda Est
You know, having the second stupidest senator (Tuberhaid has surpassed him) give you pretty much an all clear kinda puts the kibosh on the Hunter Biden gambit.
Ken
If she really wants to get revenge, she could turn state’s evidence.
eclare
@Steeplejack:
I think that’s a good idea. I hate not hearing about Amir and his new kitty.
Jackie
@Ken: Exactly! That’s what I’m hoping! Along with other codefendants who realize their bank accounts are in the hole because they were scammed by a user who doesn’t give a damn about them.
Nelle
@WaterGirl: i like this.
mrmoshpotato
@RaflW:
Or sucking the Kremlin’s asshole since at least 1987.
RaflW
@Roger Moore: It also lets them off the hook too easily because the scandals knitted together into quite a through-line or, dare I say it, narrative arc. They usually love that stuff, but not with him. Huh.
RaflW
@Scout211: I think what I find so totally frustrating is how boring he is. He says nothing new. It’s the same tiny circus, day after day.
Jackie
I just saw a clip of his interview with Meghan Kelly. TIFG really hasn’t a clue that what he says during these interviews will come back to bite him in his ass, and is yet another nail on his coffin.
wjca
He truly believes, and all his life experience up until now supports that belief, that he is immune. So why bother watching his words?
The thing is, the reality is beginning to slip thru occasionally that this time he might not skate. When it does, he freaks out (even for him) and launches exceptionally hysterical rants. What happens the first time he gets a guilty verdict, on something that involves jail time?** I’d say there a good chance that his entire mental house of cards collapses. If not immediately, then as soon as he sees the inside of a cell pending appeal.
** Mere fines can be ignored. Just a delayed payoff/bribe after all.