Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Motown is Joe-Town!

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

Biden: Oh no. We’ve upset Big Pharma again.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Israel is using food as a weapon of war. Unforgivable.

FFS people, this was a good thing. take the win.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

Every day Vance writes another chapter in the book called “Worst VP Pick Ever”.

“Why isn’t this Snickers bar only a nickel?”

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Scammers & ‘Slingers (Open Thread)

Scammers & ‘Slingers (Open Thread)

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TPM reports that the mystery of where Repub Rep. George Santos got all that money to donate to his own campaign has been solved. Santos never had the money. He lied about a $0.5M personal donation to scam the National Republican Congressional Committee into funding his campaign:

According to his campaign’s filings with the Federal Election Commission, Santos helped power his House bid with personal loans of more than $500,000. Santos’ financial disclosures suggested the sum came as he enjoyed a massive surge in income with a seven-figure salary and more than one million in the bank. It was never quite clear how Santos went from making $55,000 to having a vast personal fortune in the span of a matter of months.

But on Thursday, as Nancy Marks, Santos’ campaign treasurer pleaded guilty to a fraud conspiracy charge related to her work on his team, we got an answer. Federal prosecutors said Santos’ fortune never existed at all.

The criminal information filed by prosecutors on Thursday accused Marks of working with Santos on a “scheme” to qualify for “financial and logistical support” from a program run by an unnamed party committee (the NRCC) by inflating the amount of money his campaign had taken in. The court filing alleged that Santos’ supposed loans were crucial to furthering the plan. And not only did he not make a $500,000 loan which he claimed to, but he “did not have the funds necessary to make such loans at the time,” the filing said…

Santos and Marks allegedly conducted much of the scheme over text and email, messaging each other the names and amounts that relatives would be marked as contributing, with Santos complaining at one point to Marks that he was “lost and desperate.” His anxiety apparently turned to relief once he was accepted for the program.

“I GOT [THE PROGRAM]!” he purportedly texted Marks on Feb. 23, 2022.

Good lord, that’s comedy gold! The only reason the possibility that Santos was lying about the money never occurred to me was that I assumed campaign contribution deposits would be verified by…someone. Apparently the whole thing is as regulated as a fictional Nigerian prince’s email fundraising campaign.

Anyhoo, the kicker is that even though they now know Santos blatantly ripped them off, House Repubs almost certainly won’t expel him. They can’t even govern with the narrow majority they have.

***

Here’s a screenshot for the “wonders never cease” file — the current online cover of Politico Magazine:

The Santos Scam

Why yes, Yes, it is. (Also, welcome to 1995.) Some of the featured takes are worth a look, but I think my favorite is from Norm Ornstein, who traces the roots of the party’s modern-day dysfunction back to Newt Gingrich and then provides a fitting epilogue for his gunslinging successors:

But the current chaos was triggered, ironically, by the self-proclaimed “Young Guns” — Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor and Kevin McCarthy — when they went around the country in 2009 recruiting tea party radicals, exploiting their anger after the financial collapse and the backlash against Barack Obama, promising to blow up the establishment in Washington with the hopes that they could use that anger to catapult themselves into the majority. Their expectation was that once these tea party radicals were in the House, they could co-opt them. Instead, of course, they were co-opted. John Boehner was the first victim of the Young Guns, but now all three of the Guns have been shot down by their own gang.

Bang-bang!

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

129Comments

  4. 4.

    RaflW

    The NRCC getting totally bamboozled by Santos is richly hilarious. And, yeah, they can’t really boot him out since they’re on a knife’s edge already.

  7. 7.

    trollhattan

    Any jackal insights about Duke as an education destination? (Setting aside the Universally Beloved basketball program.) They reached out to the Kiddo, who has entered the NCAA waiver wire for running during her 5th year of eligibility, while prepping for the MCATs. Seems like a solid school but we’re three hours west, so….

  10. 10.

    RaflW

    @Ken: Oh, now that he’s an incumbent, even a brazenly crooked one, he’ll raise enough to get matched. The fix is in.

  11. 11.

    Scout211

    Yet another frivolous lawsuit dropped:

    Trump Drops Lawsuit Against Judge Who Doomed His Company

    A week into his bank fraud trial, Donald Trump late Thursday night dropped his oddly aggressive lawsuit against the judge overseeing the case—a move that had been seen as a last-minute scramble to avert a potential unraveling of the tycoon’s real estate empire.

    But that happened anyway when Justice Arthur F. Engoron concluded the former president was a serial liar who faked the size of his buildings and value of his properties for years, ordering the family business’ licenses to be revoked.

    Running out of money? Running out of lawyers? Or maybe finally listening to his lawyers?

  13. 13.

    RepubAnon

    Ah, but Marjorie Taylor Green, Boebert. and  Gym Jordan will lead the way to a compassionate conservative future.

    And if you buy that, George Santos has a deal for you. And Trump will sell you a Trump University diploma at a special rate.

  15. 15.

    Nukular Biskits

    Just doing a flyby here (teleworking and taking a break from my annual compliance training), but does lying to the NRCC constitute a crime?

    I’m sure filing fraudulent campaign finance reports with the FEC is.

  17. 17.

    Scout211

    I must admit I am disappointed that the $500k was imaginary for Santos.  I thought it was a secret gift from his secret foreign benefactors.  This is really just sad.

    But, but, but maybe it really was from his benefactors and once the ethics probe and feds started their investigation, they “convinced” him to claim it was all a lie.  Yeah, I can see that. That’s just the ticket!   It would be irresponsible not to create conspiracy theories speculate.  😉

  21. 21.

    cain

    haha! I guess it’s going to be another long day of trivia on fox news but not any real news since it is all bad for Republicans. :D

    You should see /r/politics – it’s just baad news for Republicans and Trump. Just sooo fun!

  25. 25.

    cain

    @Marmot: lol – I was just singing that song yesterday which is weird since it’s been years since I’ve heard “The Warrior”. :D

  26. 26.

    MattF

    John Kenneth Galbraith came up with the concept of ‘the bezzle’— money that flows through the economy but isn’t really there because it arises from the machinations of con artists. Is it real? Young George won’t say.

    ETA: One must note the invention of crypto provides us with a source of funds that is 100% bezzle. Or maybe 200%.

  27. 27.

    dmsilev

    @trollhattan: Does she know what areas she might want to focus her studies in? Duke is by and large a good school, but every place has its strengths and weaknesses.

  28. 28.

    gwangung

    @trollhattan: Duke, as in Durham, North Carolina Duke?

    It’s a quasi-Ivy, on the level of Stanford, Northwestern, Rice, that kind of solid academic level

    ETA: But the value of Ivy’s is the networking you do with fellow students…generally, alums are well connected and the name gets you in through the door. So keep that in mind.

  29. 29.

    cedichou

    Why would the RNC feel ripped off by Santos’s cheating them? He did not! He flipped a blue seat! He gives them an extra vote in a very very close House. And they hold him by the balls: they can drop him (like the NY GOP did) if he doesn’t vote their way. 8 people can topple the speaker, but Santos is the safe vote. Any speaker can count on him to not ruffle any feathers and be a good foot soldier.

  30. 30.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    He lied about a $0.5M personal donation to scam the National Republican Congressional Committee into funding his campaign:

    The GOP is just a big circle of grifters picking each other pockets now.ROFL

  31. 31.

    Ken

    @Nukular Biskits: does lying to the NRCC constitute a crime?

    I’d think it’s a job requirement.  Or, as the always-perennial Blackadder “Dish and Dishonesty” episode had it,

    Blackadder: Now then; criminal record…

    Baldrick: Absolutely not.

    Blackadder: Oh, come on, Baldrick, you’re going to be an MP, for God’s sake! I’ll just put fraud and sexual deviancy.

  33. 33.

    RaflW

    @Scout211: I’m loving this thread in the unravelling of DJT.

    For decades, he managed a lot of the dangers to his plate-spinning empire by rushing to file lawsuits that often succeeded not by trial, but by scaring off the threats because they couldn’t afford a lengthy legal battle.

    Well, those days are over. Goes hand-in-hand with his press conference attacks having less and less impact or traction (the inflaming stochastic risk is still real, and not treated with enough seriousness, but in terms of getting prosecutors and judges to back off? Haha, nope.)

  34. 34.

    cain

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: remember how much the RNC has been paying Trump’s legal bills? lol – the RNC is now one big vacuum cleaner of money – the rich may not pay taxes, but they are definitely paying something to keep the forces of taxation at bay – but what a price!

  35. 35.

    cedichou

    @Ken: he resigns, he’s just a petty criminal and pathological liar. He will lose in 2024 anyway. I would be surprised if they give a dime to his re-election campaign. (but the GOP’s moral compass is pointing towards hell, so I would not bet money on them not doing it!)

    But he has enough notoriety now to fund raise in the MAGA swamp effectively. If Boebert or Gaetz can, he can too. But he has to stay in the House…

  36. 36.

    Marmot

    @cain: Man I’ve had that song stochastically spilling into my consciousness since we visited the ’80s museum in Ft. Collins, Colo. this summer.

    Such bad lyrics. So emblematic!

  38. 38.

    Leto

    who traces the roots of the party’s modern-day dysfunction back to Newt Gingrich

    That is definitely one part. Also have to figure in the rise of conservative media (AM talk radio, Faux News, the internet), as well as, going back even further, the John Birch Society with all the conspiracy/anti-government/anti-Civil Rights bullshit, Lee Atwater Southern Strategy, and the Nixon ratfucking on everything. Maybe it’s with Gingrich that the mask started to really slip and now it’s just fully off.

  42. 42.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    (A Hollywood pitch of the near future)

    “OK, hear me out. Trump and Santos. The grizzled old grifter and the hot up and coming grifter. They each have their own skill set. It’s kind of Batman and Robin meets… um… The Mechanic. Or Catch Me If You Can.”

    It’s a guaranteed smash (and grab) I tell ya!

  43. 43.

    Roger Moore

    John Boehner was the first victim of the Young Guns, but now all three of the Guns have been shot down by their own gang.

    I have no sympathy for any of them, since they had examples right in front of them to show them what was going to happen.  McCarthy deserves the least sympathy of all.  The Republican caucus eats its own.  After having served so many of his colleagues, McCarthy has no reason to be surprised he’s on the menu today.

  45. 45.

    Matt McIrvin

    @jonas: daring to oppose Donald Trump, of course.
    (from Trump’s perspective anything contrary to his will is unfair opposition)

  46. 46.

    bbleh

    @jonas: iirc failing to dismiss the current suit based on an Appeals Court ruling concerning the Statute of Limitations.  The appeal is pending, Engoron mentioned his PoV very briefly a few days ago, and the case goes on for now.

  47. 47.

    trollhattan

    @dmsilev: @gwangung:

    Thanks! The Duke in Durham. She’s a psych-neuro biology senior aiming at med school, focusing next year on filling any holes in her transcript and prepping for the MCATs with an eye to med school beginning fall 2025. The Duke folks told her today she does not need to declare a major to attend as a 5th year.

    The waiver wire thing is utterly foreign to me–apparently seniors can enter without affecting their current scholarship situations but juniors and below instantly cancel their current deal. She’s been contacted by a dozen or so schools, and Duke is her first “whale.” They must be interested, because they called her a day after reaching out.

  49. 49.

    Ken

    @jonas: What was he suing the judge *for*?

    Lèse-majesté. Oh, he had his lawyers dress it up in something else, but that was the real offense.

  55. 55.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @jonas: Haven’t frivolous lawsuits been a core part of his business strategy for his entire life? For some reason they used to work for him, I guess because he was suing people who would run out of money.

    But now it isn’t working for him. He’s losing. He sued Michael Cohen for $500M for no particular reason, Cohen asked for a deposition, and ever since then TFG has been dodging giving that deposition. In a suit he brought for injury supposedly done to him!

    I’m reminded a little of the William Macy character in “Pleasantville” who is hanging up his hat and calling out “Honey, I’m home” and puzzled that the usual things don’t happen.

    Except the Macy character was more human. Despite not actually being a human.

  56. 56.

    Roger Moore

    @RaflW:

    And, yeah, they can’t really boot him out since they’re on a knife’s edge already.

    He’s also just the most glaring cheat.  The NRCC doesn’t want to start looking seriously for rules violations, because they’d turn up a lot more.  If they started enforcing the rules by kicking people out of the caucus, they wouldn’t have much of a caucus left.

  58. 58.

    Leto

    Biden is speaking now, and a reporter just asked him how they (the WH) tried to re-appropriate the border wall funds considering how Dems control the presidency and both houses of congress; *record scratch* wut?

  61. 61.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    @Leto: In  1951 Joseph McCarthy attacked General George Marshall (who was in Truman’s cabinet) for being soft on Communism and Stalin because Marshall didn’t stop the Eastern Front.  The GOP crazy has deep roots.

  62. 62.

    Baud

    @Leto:

    how Dems control the presidency and both houses of congress

     
    Did Biden correct him? If not, that just proves how old he is!

  63. 63.

    gwangung

    @trollhattan: Oh, by the way, congrats, both for her being a valued athlete, and for her getting into Duke.

    That’s a high powered major, so she’s got to tend to business. But the connections she makes are valuable in and of themselves (cool people!), so make sure she pays attention to that.

  67. 67.

    skerry

    Hakeem Jefferies op-ed in WashPost today (gift link) asking for a bipartisan coalition in the House.

    https://wapo.st/45qulMJ

    Over the past several weeks, when it appeared likely that a motion to vacate the office of speaker was forthcoming, House Democrats repeatedly raised the issue of entering into a bipartisan governing coalition with our Republican counterparts, publicly as well as privately.

  70. 70.

    Eolirin

    Santos is headed for an indictment and prison term. Can’t see him surviving very much longer.

  76. 76.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    This is an old fraud … that’s how Adelphia briefly wound up a major cable company, by borrowing against infusions of cash from private companies that didn’t exist.  Santos should’ve been in crypto or somewhere on Wall Street, he’s just a classic scammer.

  78. 78.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @cain: and McCarthy was supposed to be a big fund raiser for that money.  Likely because McCarthy was fooled into thinking Santos was a good fund raise was why McCarthy was protecting Santos.

  80. 80.

    smith

    Speaking of GQP fundraising, if Qevin goes off in a snit, how are they going to replace his fundraising skills? As I understand it, he may be incompetent at Speakering but he’s super at parting the gullible and malign from their money. Even if he keeps at it, his loss of the Speakership probably makes giving him a bribe donation much less attractive as an investment in future legislation. I really don’t think Gym’s schmoozing skills, such as they are, will be an adequate replacement.  That, combined, with TFG sucking up all the small donations to spend on lawyers, may make the upcoming elections an even harder hill for Rs to climb.

  81. 81.

    Ohio Mom

    @trollhattan: Our very own Richard Mayhew/David Anderson is at Duke this very moment, teaching and working on his PhD.

    If you can find the “Contact us” info on front pagers (I always have to search for it), you can write him, I am sure he will be glad to answer any questions.

    Here is where I mention for the gazillionth time how he really helped Ohio Family over a health coverage bump a few years ago with his excellent advice.

  84. 84.

    cain

    @trollhattan: They’ve already brought back the high hip jeans.. TWICE!

    I didn’t even like it the first time it came out in the 80s. I remember all of us mocking the 70s/60s styles – eg bell bottoms and the like. We were not one to talk.

  86. 86.

    Carol

    The gop undoubtedly admires Santos for his ingenuity.  Why would they dump him when he came up with a winning scheme?

  89. 89.

    Leto

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: it’s a pipe dream, but it’s also important messaging for normies to show them that one party (as usual) is trying to bring the country together for bipartisan solutions. That one party (as usual) isn’t full of fucking loons. Again, good messaging/pr on his part.

  91. 91.

    jonas

    @cain: I think the RNC had to stop paying Trump’s legal bills when he declared he was running for president again. His PAC is currently fleecing rubes to pay the lawyers, though, so it’s all good.

  92. 92.

    Paul in KY

    @trollhattan: As a UK graduate: Fuck fuckin Duke.

    More objective take: 160 miles from the beach, in the ACC, going by Animal House, has a nice looking campus.

  94. 94.

    Geminid

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Jeffries is speaking as a politician, not a pundit. He trying to hold the high ground in the debate, and this general political statement will not bind him to any Republican terms.

  97. 97.

    jonas

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:Likely because McCarthy was fooled into thinking Santos was a good fund raise was why McCarthy was protecting Santos.

    I don’t think Santos ever claimed to have raised the money from donors — he always said it was a loan to his campaign. But it was enough to convince the RNCC that he was serious and to send another $200k his way, apparently. The only reason McCarthy didn’t boot his ass was 1. because what Republican gives a shit about gross fraud and corruption these days? It’s practically their brand. And 2. his majority was so slim and he needed a loyal footsoldier, which Santos has apparently been.

  99. 99.

    Geminid

    @Paul in KY: That part of North Carolina has a good climate too. Temperate winters, and nice a nice Spring and Fall.

    It gets hot now in summertime, but like you say, the Atlantic Ocean and the Blue Ridge are not far away.

  100. 100.

    cain

    @jonas:

    @cain: I think the RNC had to stop paying Trump’s legal bills when he declared he was running for president again. His PAC is currently fleecing rubes to pay the lawyers, though, so it’s all good.

    I must admit he’s pretty good at getting others to pay for his stuff even though he’s a so called billionaire. Why MAGA will throw money at him – I will not understand.

  101. 101.

    Geminid

    My understanding is that Nancy Marks is a veteran operator in Long Island Republican politics. I’m hoping she will implicate former Congressman Lee Zeldin. Santos is like a mackerel, but Zeldin is a big tuna.

  102. 102.

    jonas

    @cain: Why MAGA will throw money at him – I will not understand.

    For the same reason they send money to the TV preacher who has a fleet of Rolls Royces and flies on Gulfstream jets.

  103. 103.

    jonas

    @Geminid: That’s my understanding, too. She certainly knows where a lot of bodies are buried. It appears for right now, though, she’s claiming that Santos psychologically manipulated her into lying for him, or some such crap.

  105. 105.

    Geminid

    @jonas: I suspect Santos was a conduit for a lot of illegal campaign money. Now that the feds have a solid grip on the Marks thread, the whole scheme could unravel.

  106. 106.

    Paul in KY

    @Geminid: I have vacationed on Emerald Isle at least 20 times & have thus driven thru the NC a bunch. Think it is a pretty state. Somewhat like KY, but with a beach. You could do worse.

  108. 108.

    Geminid

    @Paul in KY: The way the coast line runs southwest from Cape Hatteras, the South Carolina coast is not so far from Durham.

    Myrtle Beach is very built up but Huntington Beach State Park, another 20 miles south, is really nice.

  111. 111.

    Paul in KY

    @Geminid: Vacationed once at Myrtle Beach State Park, on South end of Myrtle Beach. Nice park. Camped there. Myrtle Beach AFB was across the street and the planes taking off went right over us. Thank God it was just about all A10s (a relatively quiet plane).

    Another thing that was not the best, was that just about all the park’s squirrels had 1 or 2 or 3 botfly larva in them, so you had the squirrels walking around with these big lumpy sores.  Didn’t seem to bother them, though.

    Myrtle Beach itself was just one long strip of hotel, t-shirt shop, bar, miniature golf, gift shop, RV park. Just scramble the order every now and then. Emerald Isle so much better, IMO.

  112. 112.

    cain

    @jonas: Right – because those folks have some kind of bat phone to God and can intercede.

    Maybe they should just focus on being good people and be emphatic.

  113. 113.

    frosty

    @trollhattan: Speaking from experience, I wouldn’t do it, unless it’s a temporary one-year thing. Experience: I left the east coast for SoCal undergrad, made lots of friends, had a good time, but got homesick for seasons and moved back after awhile. I go back for reunions every five years but other than Zoom, I don’t see anyone at all. In 50 years only five of my friends have come to visit.

    So my advice is to stay closer to home, at least, if you like home and your family. Being a long plane-ride away sucks.

    ETA Plus, Duke. Yuck. They may think they’re all that but they were my safety school when I was applying.

  114. 114.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    anybody following the NY trial?

    MeidasTouch @MeidasTouch
    MAJOR BREAKING: Former Trump exec Jeff McConney admits on the stand that ex-Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg asked for help to commit tax fraud

    I’m guessing this is different from what Weisselberg was already convicted for, though it’s not entirely clear from what looks like a hastily written article (lots of typos and it looks like this happened about a half hour ago), but he also fingered Gummo

    The testimony began with McConney discussing the valuation of Trump’s Briarcliff Manor golf course. According to McConney, the valuation of the property went from $25.1 million in 2021 (2012?) to more than $100 million in 2013. [guessing that should be ’23]

    McConney testified that this valuation jump was attributed to a phone call he had with Eric Trump, Donald Trump’s son. According to Eric, the property was approved to have a development of about 71 mid rise unit. The project, however, at the time was allegedly put on hold.

    An appraisal done by an independent firm appraised the value of the units at approximately $43.3 million. Despite this, the property was still valued at $100 million between 2015 and 2018. “Leave value as is,” Eric Trump told McConney during a call.

  115. 115.

    jonas

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: In other Trump legal news, in addition to dropping his suit against judge Engeron, Trump has also dropped his suit against Michael Cohen, which he had studiously been avoiding providing a sworn deposition for.

    Maybe his lawyers have finally convinced him that he should really focus on the cases that, you know, threaten to shutter his NY-based businesses or send him to prison for the rest of his life.

  116. 116.

    frosty

    @frosty: ​Okay, that PS may have been a little harsh. Fortunately this thread is mostly dead. I’ll second some of the nice things about NC. My parents retired to Chapel Hill and I made a lot of trips there.​

  118. 118.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @trollhattan: I’m assuming you were joking about their basketball program being “universally loved” – if not, I feel it necessary to inform you that love for that program is far short of universal. But it’s an excellent school. Roughly on par with the Ivies I think, for undergrad at least. I have no idea what their grad program strengths are.

  120. 120.

    lowtechcyclist

    Their expectation was that once these tea party radicals were in the House, they could co-opt them. Instead, of course, they were co-opted. John Boehner was the first victim of the Young Guns, but now all three of the Guns have been shot down by their own gang.

    This was IMHO the point at which the GQP became unredeemable. The (very large) GQP Congressional class of 2010 had been listening to Rush Limbaugh for 20 years and watching Fox News for 15. They believed all this shit was real. From this point on, the inmates were running the asylum.

    Even if the GQP eventually gets too small to win national elections or even win control of either house of Congress, they’re still a bunch of crazies, and will not alter course in order to become more politically viable.

  121. 121.

    Geminid

    @Paul in KY: Huntington Beach State Park is more secluded, a mile or so off of U.S. 17. There is a lagoon you cross on the way to the beach and campground. A lot of birders hang out on the causeway looking at birds large and small. The park is on an 8,000 acre estate that was owned by a son of railroad baron Collis Huntington

  122. 122.

    Bill Arnold

    @skerry:

    Hakeem Jefferies op-ed in WashPost today (gift link) asking for a bipartisan coalition in the House.

    That op-ed was very well executed; thanks for the gift link.
    The “The Hill” focused on the “petty, partisan and petulant” and didn’t even mention the main theme. or headline of the op-ed. Rather gross of them, but to be expected from GOP fluffers.

  123. 123.

    Ruckus

    @Scout211:

    SFB’s ego is too big to allow him to listen to anyone else, after all he’s the president – or something like that…..

  124. 124.

    karen marie

    John Boehner was the first victim of the Young Guns, but now all three of the Guns have been shot down by their own gang.

    Delightful.

  125. 125.

    karen marie

    FYI, Marks was sentenced to 3-1/2 to four years on her plea.  Santos, once convicted, will be sentenced to that at a minimum.  Fingers crossed, he gets a decade.

  126. 126.

    brantl

     John Boehner was the first victim of the Young Guns, but now all three of the Guns have been shot down by their own gang.

    This couldn’t have happened to more deserving people!

  127. 127.

    Hoppie

    Since it’s open:

    Who recognizes the phrase “let a hundred flowers bloom. let a hundred schools of thought contend”?

    Googling is cheating.

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