.
.
Namely C.R.E.A.M.! You thought things were tense between the GOP and Trump before? The Washington Post drops a little zinger in a long story about Trump’s beleagured legal team…
The challenge for President Trump’s attorneys has become, at its core, managing the unmanageable — their client.
He won’t follow instructions. After one meeting in which they urged Trump to steer clear of a certain topic, he sent a tweet about that very theme before they arrived back at their office.
He won’t compartmentalize. With aides, advisers and friends breezing in and out of the Oval Office, it is not uncommon for the president to suddenly turn the conversation to Russia — a subject that perpetually gnaws at him — in a meeting about something else entirely.
And he won’t discipline himself. Trump’s legal team, led by Marc E. Kasowitz of New York, is laboring to underscore the potential risk to the president if he engages without a lawyer in discussions with other people under scrutiny in widening Russia inquiries, including Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and senior adviser…
Another question is who will pay the legal fees for the president and administration officials involved in the Russia inquiries. Some in Trump’s orbit are pushing the Republican National Committee to bear the costs, said three people with knowledge of the situation, including one who euphemistically described the debate as a “robust discussion.”
Although the RNC does have a legal defense fund, it well predates the Russia investigations and is intended to be used for legal challenges facing the Republican Party, such as a potential election recount.
The RNC has not made a decision, in part because the committee is still researching whether the money could legally be used to help pay legal costs related to Russia. But many within the organization are resisting the effort, thinking it would be more appropriate to create a separate legal defense fund for the case.
RNC officials declined requests for comment. The White House has not said whether Trump, Kushner and other officials are paying their legal bills themselves or whether they are being covered by an outside entity…
Of course, Donald Trump has never voluntarily paid for anything in his life. But now he’s a loose cannon, and it’s becoming ever more obvious that when Putin decided to ratfvck the 2016 elections, he spread a net wide enough to entrap quite a few of the highest profile Repubs now in office. Do Ryan, McConnell, and Priebus bite the bullet and raid the Party’s bank account to keep Lord Smallglove’s flapping mouth a little further along from Mueller’s ears? And even if they do throw good money after bad, will it be enough to at least give them time to coordinate some more believable alibis?
***********
Apart from waiting for the usual Friday doc dump, what’s on the agenda for the day?
satby
Hoping for another bombshell. Doing the market. Mowing the lawn when the market is over. Busy day.
Baud
If those lawyers weren’t paid in advance, then they are the lawyers Donald Trump deserves.
OzarkHillbilly
Karma… Sure is a beach. Hey you stupid fucks, he’s yours, all yours. You broke it? You bought it.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: And tRump is the client they deserve.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
1) June 09, 2016: Natalia Veselnitskaya meets with Trump campaign team
2) June 14, 2016: Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) secures front row seat for Veselnitskaya at House Foreign Relations hearing on Russia (photo)
3) June 15, 2016: In closed door meeting Republican Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) states, “there’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump – swear to god!”.
4) March 09, 2017: Nigel Farage visits Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in west London.
5) March 19, 2017: Farage flies 5,400 miles to California to meet Dana Rohrabacher (photo)
The coincidences keep piling up.
Baud
They should ask Putin to pay the legal fees.
Mustang Bobby
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: “There are no coincidences.” — Sherlock Holmes.
satby
@Baud: he probably already is.
NobodySpecial
Checking over typos in a book. Not mine, of course. Got about a quarter of the way through yesterday in several hours. Reading for typos is stressful.
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: I doubt it. Putin could care less whether tRump sinks or swims, as long as he drags the US down with him. My money says at least some of these leaks are orchestrated by him.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: If Obama hadn’t let her into the country, none of this would have happened. Impeach Obummer!
/RWNJ
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Я обвиняю Обаму
rikyrah
Good Morning,Everyone ???
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
so much for being “really rich”
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@rikyrah: Hello
OzarkHillbilly
Candid Camera** comes to life: Texas man trapped inside ATM rescued after passing notes through receipt slot
**CC did a skit with a speaker in a USPS mailbox. Then videoed the conversations with passersby. I googled it and a bunch of color videos came up, the original is from the days of black and white (or maybe I just remember it in B&W because my old man was too cheap to buy a color tv when the old B&W was working just fine?) Anyway, I remember it as one of the more hilarious CC skits ever.
Kay
I love the fact that Donald Trump is using the fact that Don Jr. is his son to excuse Don Jr.’s behavior. “My son is a good person” – thanks for that, dad. You’re a real objective observer.
This is ludicrous. The whole country is embroiled in their fucked up family dynamics now.
Kushner is really the worst of the bunch. Between using the Presidency to benefit his family business and getting special treatment for lying on that disclosure form to attending the Russian collusion meeting his level of corruption is just off the charts. It’s apparently impossible for Jared Kushner to lose his job. He can do anything and he stays.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Kay
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I listen to local Right wing radio in the car because I love how crazy it is. The “talk show host” is an ancient local radio personality who used to do play by play of high school football games- he was always horrible and bitter, even then- yelling about how the players had no work ethic and needed to smash into each other harder and get more concussions- I’m not sure when he got this new career as a low rent Sean Hannitty.
Yesterday I turned it on just as a caller was describing a crime that had to be prosecuted. I realized 30 seconds into it the caller was talking about Comey. They want Comey prosecuted.
Baud
@Kay: I’d be ok with that. Comey has a lot of friends.
bystander
@NobodySpecial:
Having spent large chunks of my life doing just that, I can tell you it’s not just stressful. It makes casual reading virtually impossible. I tried to read some Alain de Botton book on Proust, fercrissakes. No typos, but the most atrocious grammatical errors.
I’m watching “Sitting Pretty”, the movie that introduced Mister Belvedere, nanny extraordinaire. It dawns on me watching Webb and O’Hara, that it may be the first gay man/fag hag paradigm in film.
Think of the typos and bad grammar you could pack into “Sitting Pretty: Edenic Construction of Fag/Hag Construction and the Origins of Will and Grace”.
rikyrah
@Baud:
Yep.
Money in advance
rikyrah
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Not.enough.coincidences.in.the.Western.World.
Kay
@Baud:
“Laws don’t mean anything if they aren’t enforced”. They’re taking the high road on this Comey thing- the Rule of Law.
debbie
Any indication yet that France will keep him? Forever?
Baud
@Kay: They are high-minded, principled people, Kay.
Facebones
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: How do you think you get really rich? Certainly not by wasting money on stupid things like lawyers!
debbie
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Despicable.
OzarkHillbilly
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: trump offered to pay all the legal fees of anyone arrested for assaulting a protester at one of his events. I guess he doesn’t extend the same to family.
Kay
JAFD
Greetings from New Jersey!
For those interested, reports on the 50th anniversary of the Newark Rebellion:
http://wbgo.org/topic/summer-67-week-changed-newark
https://njmonthly.com/articles/historic-jersey/the-rebellion-in-newark/
Happy Bastille Day, everyone!
Izabela
@Kay: I listen in on the rigthwing radio around here too sometimes. It’s like hearing about an alternate universe. Sometimes it’s funny and other times I get so sickened by what they’ll say (especially comments about healthcare) that I quickly go back to the FM band and listen to music instead.
If we survive this, this will go down as one of the worst and most corrupt presidencies ever seen.
I’m not betting on us surviving with a functioning democracy anymore.
rikyrah
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Didn’t every other President in legal trouble have to pay THEIR OWN legal fees?
debbie
@Kay:
I do too on days I work from home. My favorite show so far is when Glenn Beck’s listeners were berating him for not supporting Trump. Stupid and Stupider will never leave us.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Kay,
Did you watch LARRYO the past two nights, as he explained why it’s easy for Kushner to throw Jr. Under the bus? He gave a detailed summary of Kushner’s father and how he wound up in jail. Apple does not fall far…not.at.all.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Did you see that he amended the form to include ONE HUNDRED previously not divulged contacts???
rikyrah
@Kay:
Sheeetttt….
I wish a muthaphucka would
JPL
@rikyrah: Kushner is depending on his father-in-law to pardon him though.
Keith P.
@satby:
MSNBC is reporting that in addition to that lawyer, there was a former Soviet counter-espionage officer/lobbyist in the meeting.
One of the pundits audibly groaned when Willie Geist said “MSNBC is reporting an additional person in the meeting.”
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: I was referring snarkily more to the fact that any money Drumpf has is from his Russian money laundering anyway.
satby
@rikyrah: Morning ?!
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@rikyrah: exactly. can you imagine the media hysteria if Bill Clinton forced the DNC to cover his legal expenses.
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly:
This times a hundred. The Republicans are missing the story line. They will be the next target of Russia. As the party in power, how better to sow discontent and disorder?
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@Keith P.:
That just goes to show you the russians really, really care about adoptions.
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: Got it.
Kay
Trump’s voter suppression effort has a government site now.
There are two Democrats on the commission who insist they are some kind of principled watchdogs. Kobach/Pence invited “experts” – if there are no legit voting rights or process experts we’ll know the Democrats are there for show and only to lend credibility to this shit-show. I think both Democrats should be challenged in the next election for getting duped (or more likely flattered) into joining Kobach to suppress votes. Democrats can’t be opposed to voting rights. It’s unacceptable. It’s disqualifying.
JPL
@Keith P.: Whoops!
I blame Obama.
Kay
@debbie:
I started with this show because I was changing stations and I recognized the voice- I thought “I know that guy!” – but I don’t know him- I just heard him in the background for years when high school football was on the radio.
I love the guy who does the Detroit Tigers on the radio – there are two, I love one- I don’t follow sports but I hear him so much in my house I have developed a crush on him :)
If I ever saw him I might be disappointed.
Baud
@Kay: I would see if the Dems raise hell at the open meeting. If not, then they are too foolish to serve.
Baud
@JPL: Is there anyone he won’t let into the country to ensnare Trump?
rikyrah
@Kay:
Absolutely agree with you Kay
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Pinstripe guy on Morning Joe is going the full on Don King?
And is it just me, or is the girl to Don King’s left a dead ringer for a brunette Lisa Kudrow?
Patricia Kayden
@Baud: Because Trump stiffing vendors/creditors, etc., is very much on record. Perhaps this is their good deed of the year and they’re volunteering their services. LOL.
Keith P.
@JPL: OBAMMMAAAAAAA!!!!! -shakes fist in the air
debbie
I can’t wait to see pictures of Trump in Paris. I wonder how much of that Mussolini-like jaw jutting thing he does.
Kay
@rikyrah:
Republicans would never, ever do that to their base. It’s disrespectful of both the history of voter suppression in this country and the very real effort on the Right currently.
This is no longer up for debate. Courts have found in both Texas and North Carolina that the intent of these laws was to limit minority voting. They’re looking at the legislative record to find that. This is based on actions of Republican state lawmakers.
Political power isn’t just about Presidential elections. If minority votes are suppressed they won’t sit on school boards or water districts or county commissions or municipal court benches. That’s the real damage- LOCAL government. That’s WHY they did it in Texas. They weren’t worried about US President or the Senate. They wanted to limit the political power of minorities on things like zoning and land use and who gets water and permits and good schools. It’s about holding onto wealth and not letting people “move up”- strangling minority political power before they amass any.
Just One More Canuck
@debbie: maybe re-open Devil’s Island?
Another Scott
‘morning everyone.
ICYMI – More good news from Hawaii. TheHill:
Good, good.
Cheers,
Scott.
OzarkHillbilly
Moving the goal posts.
Baud
@Kay: Republicans would participate if Obama had creates a bipartisan panel to Win the War on Christmas. But the GOP would find the most obnoxious, belligerent people to participate. That’s where Dems fall short.
BlueDWarrior
@Keith P.: Like Adam has said before, total penetration. I’m now convinced that Russia was basically running Trump campaign from afar.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Even the liberal Jon Karl is openly mocking Drumpf:
Lapassionara
@Kay: Preach it, Kay. And I want to see a robust effort, starting immediately if not already in process, of getting people organized to obtain the needed ID’s, etc. We need to get sane people on county voting commissions, and we need to make sure urban precincts have sufficient voting machines. We need to pound our elected officials on the need to protect our registration information from hackers, and make them take concrete steps to do so. There are various organizations that could make this type of activity a priority. I want actions, not just words.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
They’ll end up putting up a couple of “Keep Out!” signs and call it a win.
ETA:. American taxpayer funded signs.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@BlueDWarrior: There’s a whole roster of ex generals Trump could have hired to work on his campaign. Someone how he hired the one general in the pay of the russians.
it can’t just be coincidence.
gene108
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Trump, Sr does wear suits to baseball games.(picture is in middle of page)
Edit: Makes me think he wouldn’t want his son to dress like a normal person to a game.
Patricia Kayden
@David Canadian Anchor Baby Koch: Shortly after the meeting between Donny Jr., and the Russians, Trump specifically refers to Secretary Clinton’s 33,000 emails during a televised event.
Patricia Kayden
@OzarkHillbilly: Doesn’t Putin need Trump in power to get the sanctions lifted and to get other perks from the U.S.?
SiubhanDuinne
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Trump spoke to reporters on the flight to Paris. I read the transcript (excerpts) of the Q&A. Here’s the first:
And then he rambled and went off-topic and repeated himself and said some crazy stuff and trash-talked Hillary several times.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne:
I assume he thinks Pelosi would make a better president.
chris
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
That we know about.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: YUUUUUGE signs! The bestest signs ever! (in gold gilt, of course)
Patricia Kayden
@OzarkHillbilly: So why are Republicans budgeting for over 1 billion dollars for the wall? And to be clear, this amount is just to start building the wall.
Another Scott
@SiubhanDuinne: Maybe Donnie thought he was a free man in Paris? (3:03)
(Kinda weird how appropriate that seems to be.)
Cheers,
Scott.
Patricia Kayden
@SiubhanDuinne:
Secretary Clinton and President Obama should pay rent for the prime space they take up in Trump’s mind. He’s obsessed with them. Sad!
Patricia Kayden
@Kay: Kobach was smart enough to make sure that a few Democrats were on his voter suppression commission so that he can claim that its results are bipartisan. Strange that those Democrats on his panel can’t figure that out. What do they really think that someone with Kobach’s past is going to do with information he gains through this commission?
zhena gogolia
I love it when I see the phrase “liberal hysteria over Russia.” VLADIMIR VLADIMIROVICH PUTIN HAS TAKEN OVER MY COUNTRY WITHOUT A SHOT BEING FIRED. Hysteria is the only intelligent response.
rikyrah
@OzarkHillbilly:
See thru wall??
Da hail ?
rikyrah
@Patricia Kayden:
Connect the dots.
Fester Addams
@debbie:
Nice view of La Tour Eiffel from the terrace at the Palais Chaillot. Just a suggestion.
rikyrah
@Patricia Kayden:
Who are these people ?
MomSense
@Kay:
I know Dunlap and I’m willing to see what he does. He is hated by the right wingers here in Maine, in part because he is so good about advocacy for same day voter registration, defending all the attempts to prevent students from voting, etc. From what I have heard about his experience with the commission so far he said that they didn’t share information with committee members and didn’t run the request for info past committee members before sending it out. He is the sort of person who will gather information on the commission but not hesitate to call them out or expose them. I do not know the SOS from New Hampshire but, as a good Mainer, I am always suspicious of people from New Hampshire.
gvg
I assume Trump will find a way to try to get his legal fees paid more than once. He’ll lie and set up more than one way to “help” him and double dip. He is a crook, and can’t help himself. One of those that thinks everyone does it so it’s OK. A lot of his problems since the election come from not really understanding how much attention everyone on the planet pays to the POTUS’s every move, forever. I am sure it’s kept a lot of better people from even running.
OzarkHillbilly
@Patricia Kayden: He gets the sanctions lifted when the US implodes and becomes the DS (disunited states) on the slightly more serious side, Putin is playing the long game. If he can get the sanctions lifted in the short term, that would be great but his end goal is more important: Driving wedges thru the EU, between the US and our European allies, etc etc.
Divide and conquer.
Also at this point is their anyone in the upper echelons of the GOP who is not compromised? Can we say that a President Pence/Ryan/Hatch would never lift the sanctions?
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Immanentize: I don’t know…the Republicans are nominally in power but the only thing they seem capable of doing is fucking things up royally. So why would Putin go after them? They’re doing what he wants.
Fester Addams
@Keith P.:
A paralegal in Kush’s lawyer’s office: “Damn it, now I’ve got to type up another copy of his SF-86.”
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: I assume as much.
ETA: correction, I KNOW as much.
Kay
@Fester Addams:
They’re incredible. They lie and omit when it would make more sense to come clean. Lying is a treasured family value.
Bruce K
@Mustang Bobby: “Oh, I believe in coincidences. Coincidences happen every day. I just don’t trust coincidences.” – Elim Garak, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
OzarkHillbilly
@Patricia Kayden: Campaign donations from the builders would be my guess.
Keith P.
@Fester Addams: Now (as in an hour later), MSNBC is reporting that there’s a *sixth* person who was at the meeting. *May* have been an interpreter.
OzarkHillbilly
@rikyrah: They are talking about 30′ posts set about 6″ apart. My bet is we’ll end up with 666 miles of chain link fencing, but it will be classy chain link fencing.
Gin & Tonic
@Fester Addams: Had to have been someone else there. I don’t get the impression Veselnitskaya’s English is good enough to have been there solo. Plus, I doubt Vladimir Vladimirovich would have trusted her there without a handler. The “former” in the descriptions is laughable – like saying “retired Mafia don.” You’re never “former” in that game.
Kay
@MomSense:
That’s a huge red flag though. That’s almost the definition of “join my committee so I can borrow your name and reputation without giving you any control”.
I was really bothered by the fact he said he “likes” Kobach. It isn’t the 6th grade lunch table. I don’t care who he likes and that makes me think he was flattered into doing it. There’s a real propensity among Democrats to believe a Republican respecting them is some kind of compliment.
different-church-lady
NBCnews.com makes a funny:
Ya think?
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: They are the surest example yet of a genetic link for lying.
different-church-lady
@Keith P.: At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if the ninth person at the meeting was Boris Badenov.
Kay
@Patricia Kayden:
They can issue a report on the massive felony voter fraud being committed by black and brown people and the Democrats can issue their minority dissent opinion, because everyone listens to those.
It’s infuriating. One thing Democrats are solid on is voting rights. It’s actually a point of agreement among the different factions of the Democratic Party. These two have to break off? It’s ego. We’re really bad at being a team because everyone wants to be the boss and no one wants to be a worker. For once in our fucking lives can we stand united on one thing? This isn’t hard- we’re FOR voting rights. We’re on the right side.
Another Scott
@Keith P.: TheHill:
“current” is doing a lot of heavy lifting there…
A whole DSW of shoes seems to be waiting in the wings, dropping one by one every day or so.
I have to assume, given the way these people have behaved, that there are similar meetings with people tied to the Forbidden City. Remember that Donnie and Javanka have all kinds of ties to China (trademarks suddenly granted, DPRK, etc., etc.). I hope Mueller and decent reporters are following up all of those leads as well.
Trump wouldn’t sell the USA exclusively to Vlad if there are other bidders, would he? He wants to grab every doubloon he can, so it only makes sense to spread the “opportunity” around… :-/
Grr…
Cheers,
Scott.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
Reference ICYMI.
Baud
@Kay:
QFT
NotMax
Worst remake of An American in Paris ever.
MomSense
@Kay:
I don’t think anything I can tell you about how he has handled this crap here in our state will reassure you. Remember, the GOP passed legislation in our state to disenfranchise voters and restrict voter registration and we defeated it with a referendum on the next ballot. Dunlap has been dealing with LePage BS for a long time now. He will always sound so reasonable and civil but that doesn’t mean he will cave.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: I missed it, and I’m probably happier for it.
Jeffro
It seems like I’m seeing more and more articles – not just opinion pieces, but even some straight reporting – noting that only other Rs can rein Trumpov in, and asking when will they do that. I think a post-Labor Day “March for Shame” is in order.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly: Definitely.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@different-church-lady: Dar-link, vere iz Mooose and Squirrel?
Jeffro
Hey here’s something to brighten everyone’s Friday, courtesy of…Charles Krauthammer?!?
Bungled Collusion Is Still Collusion
OzarkHillbilly
@Jeffro:
What on Dog’s green earth ever gave them that idea? Have they been living under a rock for the last 2 years?
Kay
@MomSense:
It took 17 years for GOP voter suppression to be taken seriously. It only became “mainstream” in the Democratic Party in 2012 and that took 100’s of lawsuits and real over-reach on their part, to the point where judges HAD to concede it was happening.
When I started writing posts about voter ID here I would get “what’s the big deal?” comments, from liberals. That was 2009.
It was hard for all these advocates. They lost and lost and lost before they started winning but they stuck with it because they knew what was happening. To have two Democrats say “we’ll join this bullshit commission to investigate voters” is just hugely disrespectful of all that work. We don’t need Donald Trump and his appointed hacks to “investigate” voting. There are hundreds of real voting process experts- people devote their whole careers to this.
Betty
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: I guess we all knew this kind of abuse is what explains his current behavior. The trauma lasts forever.
rikyrah
@gvg:
The thing is…they already have ways for him to raise money from the rubes for his defense fund. Hell, tell him to ask Pence – that’s what he did.
It’s just phucking unreal that he believes the RNC should pay his phucking legal bills.
bystander
@Gin & Tonic:
I’m betting her English is more than serviceable. Playing dumb* can be helpful. But the other russkis in the room were definitely a check on her. (Futerfas is now saying there was a sixth person in the room. Because Jr. lied about that, too.)
*ETA, as opposed to actually being dumb. See Don Jr. above.
NotMax
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
OT (however pleasant news generally welcome) –
June Foray (voice of Rocket J. Squirrel and a gazillion other characters) turns 100 in two months, on Sept. 18.
Kay
@MomSense:
I went to a voting rights forum in Cleveland that Sherrod Brown and Durbin set up. I’ve been involved in this for years and I had no idea how profound this is for black people until I went to that forum. This is such a part of their history it can’t be trifled with – they’re right too. It’s a direct threat to their standing as citizens.
You know him better than I do but “reasonable” just doesn’t cut it for me on this. He has to respect the experience and history of an essential part of the Democratic base. They know because they lived it.
Just One More Canuck
@Another Scott: no one’s future to decide?
Jeffro
@OzarkHillbilly: I know, right? But it’s a start…
OzarkHillbilly
@Jeffro: Secures my opinion that Krauthammer is still an ignorant idiot. First off, what evidence does he have that the meeting was unsuccessful and that there was no collusion? The words of trump Jr, Kushner, and Manafort? 3 proven liars?
Also, WTF is he talking about when he says, “What about the Obama administration’s blatant interference to try to defeat Benjamin Netanyahu in the latest Israeli election?” AFAIR Obama did nothing more than call Bibi an unreconstructed asshole, which he is. Is that what he is talking about?
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@NotMax:
Can’t see his fat ass dancing like Gene Kelly…
Patricia Kayden
@Another Scott: More good news! YAY.
I don’t understand why SCOTUS took this case in the first place since every single court which has ruled on the Travel Ban has found it unconstitutional. There is no disagreement among the circuits which needs to be addressed by the Supremes.
different-church-lady
@NotMax:
OzarkHillbilly
@Jeffro: It’s a start, a day late and a dollar short. I guess at this point we have to take what we can get.
efgoldman
Posted without comment
Patricia Kayden
@OzarkHillbilly:
The answer would be a resounding no. And hopefully Mueller’s thorough investigation will show that to be true and sweep the entire bunch into the trash heap.
MomSense
@Kay:
I understand but just so you know Dunlap and the Dems here have been preventing attempts to institute voter ID laws. Maybe he will get duped but he has said his intention is to debunk voter fraud claims and to push back on voter ID laws. I’m just saying that I wouldn’t assume he will roll over. He’s been a really good advocate for voting rights and making sure there are laws in place to help with voter registration. We have some of the highest voting rates in the country.
Patricia Kayden
Is it normal for an attorney of the President of the United States to threaten a critic via multiple emails? Every day brings more bizarre behavior from the White House and we’re just six months in.
Immanentize
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: Putin might just decide to mess with the Republicans maybe just to demonstrate he can?
NotMax
@efgoldman
A favorite election/collusion scene involving the French and the CIA (may have to enable subtitles).
Immanentize
@Kay: Every time I read another revelation like this, I become more convinced that Manafort is a cooperating witness.
Betsy
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: Wow. First — How do you find all this? Second — Why don’t I hear this on the news?? (Is anyone else seeing it reported? And if not — any guesses when will this come out into the open?)
Jeffro
@OzarkHillbilly: Totally agree. I’m just glad to see this teeny, tiny little crack in the dam…
Amir Khalid
If Bobby Three Sticks (catchy nickname) and his team were to come up with evidence that had the President dead to rights on obstruction of justice, what then? Would he take it to Congress to make a case for impeachment? Would he make a public statement to force the issue? Would Rosenstein?
Jeffro
@Immanentize:
I think that’s entirely possible. Flynn, and maybe Page, too.
We need a name for the day we all wake up to find that Bobby Three Sticks has dropped something like 300 criminal indictments on Trumpov, Jr, Stone, Giuliani, and so on. “Super Awesome Justice Rocks Day” doesn’t even begin to cut it.
schrodingers_cat
The C in CREAM should stand for capital not cash. Cash is but one asset.
Immanentize
@NotMax: More like “The American,” by Henry James.
Amir Khalid
@Jeffro:
As I understand, POTUS must be removed from office ere he can face criminal charges.
bystander
@OzarkHillbilly:
Why doesn’t he just call Christo and everyone will be happy?
bystander
@schrodingers_cat:
Don’t forget those who have cats for “pets”.
Jeffro
And rounding out the morning’s reading, the always on-point Catherine Rampell: Everything’s a Distraction From Something Much, Much Worse
(meaning: don’t get distracted by saying some of what Trumpov & Co do is a distraction from something else they’re doing…it’s ALL horrible. Not a bad reminder!)
Immanentize
@bystander: That is a great idea! Will it be pink like Surrounded Islands?
Jeffro
@Amir Khalid: Probably so…but perhaps not. In any case, I’m dying to get to the point where we can find that out, eh? =)
Major Major Major Major
@bystander: I believe Christo is dead and his wife retired from building giant art fabrics.
Yarrow
Has anyone seen raven? Is he still doing his Morning Joe recaps? I always liked those to get a flavor of what they were saying without having to watch it myself.
Amir Khalid
@bystander:
Why a see-through wall? I could understand wanting it to look nicer on the America-facing side, but this makes no sense for either aesthetics or security.
schrodingers_cat
@bystander: That is true, my cats do rule everything around me. They sit around giving me their I am not impressed look and I run around catering to their every whim for frugal displays of affection.
OzarkHillbilly
@bystander: Heeeeeyyyyyyyy…. I like that idea.
different-church-lady
@Major Major Major Major: Other way around.
schrodingers_cat
@Yarrow: He is around in the travel threads, apparently he is tired of our bitching about the fucking Vichy Times.
Patricia Kayden
Why did Trump feel the urge to tell Mrs. Macron that she was in “good shape” and “beautiful”? So embarrassing. It’s as if he cannot address women without determining if they are attractive to him.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@Betsy: Well, all of this has appeared in various news reports, albeit in piece meal, and in low saturation.
major outlets don’t like to link the pieces of the puzzle together until they can offer a complete solution.
NCSteve
Can’t Trump just have Eric steal lawyer money from kids with cancer?
Gin & Tonic
@Immanentize: Bingo! Paul Fucking Manafort is an amoral, blood-soaked mercenary, but he is not an idiot and you can bet your last dollar he won’t take the fall for *anyone.*
OzarkHillbilly
@Major Major Major Major:
I vote for Zombie Christo wall.
Immanentize
@Major Major Major Major: I think it s the other way around? Jeanne Claude died but Christo did not?
bystander
@Immanentize: Transparent. Just like Trump. But with solar panels.
That Trump can say anything so stupid, so meaningless, and still has supporters speaks volumes. Scared, shallow, unintelligent and not interested in right or wrong, truth or lies. Hannah Arendt’s typewriter would be on fire.
(I have no idea how Arendt wrote, so please don’t anyone buy Arendt’s Typewriter on eBay on the strength of my post. Thank you.)
Immanentize
@Gin & Tonic: all.signs point in that direction. Why I hope this is true is that he knows every angle of the story. Both the Trump side and the Russian side (who are the players, what were their roles, etc.).
ETA. Mueller really needs an insider to go fully deep on the corruption. Has anyone seen him lately?
OzarkHillbilly
@schrodingers_cat: No, he and I talked about this yesterday. Ever since the travel threads started up, Anne has been posting the AM thread much later. The travel threads are much more restrained and he misses the back and forth of the AM thread but by the time it comes up he is already out the door with Bohdi and heading for the coffee shop.
Anne asked if we’d like her to post it earlier and I said yes. Don’t know if anyone else chimed in.
danielx
Note: kittens want to eat about eight times a day.
germy
@Gin & Tonic: Manafort always looks to me like a character out of a 1960s Jerry Lewis movie. Maybe a character who operates a casino. Cufflinks, sharkskin suit, pomade hair. Playing straight man or menacing thug to Jerry’s “goofy” act.
Gin & Tonic
@Immanentize: If only there were some way to find out for sure.
germy
@bystander:
Wait! A “green” wall? What is the donald, a hippie?
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: I am an uncertain participant in any thread, but I’d like to see the morning thread switched back to earlier and the travel thread later? Or they could be put up at the same time?
Elizabelle
@Jeffro: Catherine Rampall rocks.
bystander
@Patricia Kayden: It’s the words of a compulsive, entitled boor. In addition to the breach of etiquette, the implicit “Wow, I heard how old you were and I can’t believe you look better than that uggo Merkel” embarrasses every American.
Plus, you do not tell a French woman that she looks good. You may compliment her hair or her dress, but blanket statements that imply “so much better than the mess you looked like the last time” are to be avoided. Just a protip.
Major Major Major Major
@Immanentize: @different-church-lady: Thanks. How odd that I’d remember it backwards…
Amir Khalid
@Patricia Kayden:
Has he ever judged women any other way? Has anyone ever been able to tell him not to talk about/to women like that?
rikyrah
@Another Scott:
SIGH…
OF COURSE…
Because the lawyer working CURRENTLY for the Kremlin..
would invite someone who DOES NOT work for the Kremlin..
ARE.YOU.PHUCKING.KIDDING.ME.
Elizabelle
@Immanentize: I vote for both threads early.
Moar Raven. Moar travel photos, up early too, because some days that’s all I want to look at in the morning. Current events being so aggravating, if interesting.
bystander
@Immanentize: Now you’re just messing with the space/time continuum.
It was Jeanne Christo who passed away. I thought he was going to carry on.
rikyrah
@Another Scott:
does.not.exist.
Immanentize
@Gin & Tonic: I was being non-directive.
Bruce K
@Major Major Major Major: Actually, Christo’s still around; his wife died. According to Wikipedia, Christ has at least one more work, in the pipeline for the vicinity of Abu Dhabi (there was another for the Arkansas River, in Colorado, but Christo canceled that one to protest the ascendancy of the cheeto).
Major Major Major Major
@bystander:
Only if you’re not going for some bullshit power play, what the kids would call ‘negging’.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Immanentize:
Jeanne-Claude died in 2009.
@Gin & Tonic:
I should have refreshed the comments before posting.
OzarkHillbilly
@bystander:
What trump is speaking of, mind you it is still plenty stupid but we don’t have to misinterpret what he is saying to unmask the stupidity.
The reason for it to be “see through” is so that border patrol can observe what is happening on the other side. I assume the solar panels are to power monitors along it’s length, tho I have not yet seen that exact quote, just references too it.
sdhays
@Jeffro:
It still astonishes me that after these guys get caught in one lie after another regarding the same meeting (yet ANOTHER lie/omission coming to light JUST TODAY), the media still takes their account of what happened in the meeting at face value. “Oh, the lawyer didn’t have the goods. Too bad, so sad!” Bullshit.
It very well may be “incompetent collusion” or “amateur collusion” (after all, setting this up over email is nothing if not amateur hour), but saying it was “comically failed” assumes facts not in evidence and depends on the word of people with negative credibility on this and most matters.
Amir Khalid
@Patricia Kayden:
Another thought:
The next time he says something boorish, someone should ask — in public, at least, if there is no opportunity to ask him to his face — in what barn was the President raised?
sdhays
@Amir Khalid: That’s insulting to people actually raised in a barn.
Amir Khalid
@OzarkHillbilly:
A question about the cost of hiring window washers just occurred to me.
rikyrah
New GOP plan same as old one. Medicaid cuts, tax cuts. Except they did add something basically eliminating minimum standards for plans.
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) July 13, 2017
rikyrah
By creating minimal plans, they concentrate those who need health care into higher premium pools. Not just older, sicker, it’s maternity!
— Patty Kimura (@pattykimura) July 14, 2017
$30,000 for uncomplicated vaginal delivery. $50,000 for C section…Will we bankrupt young families who believed ins was for the sick & old?
— Patty Kimura (@pattykimura) July 14, 2017
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: I suggested both at the same time. I enjoy both and I can open 2 windows (and do quite often) so I can keep up with any conversations in both threads.
rikyrah
Ted Cruz Tried To Mansplain Healthcare To Me, But I Had The Last Laugh https://t.co/j37M2qpjs9
— Amy M (@aem0503) July 13, 2017
OzarkHillbilly
@Amir Khalid: Jobs! He’s a real Job Creator ™.
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: me too. Chew and walk ( or at least type and drink coffee). I agree with your solution.
Timurid
Sixth person at the “adoption” meeting identified as Rinat Akhmetshin, former Soviet Spy, current lobbyist, alleged cyber criminal…
But her emails!!!
@sdhays:
They lied about the meeting even taking place. That the media gives any credence to what they now says transpired in the meeting is bullox.
But her emails!!!
@Timurid:
He doesn’t sound like a translator.
Frankensteinbeck
@NotMax:
Good for her! Rocket Jasmine Squirrel was the best male impersonator in Hollywood.
J R in WV
@rikyrah:
A typically delayed or absent good morning to you, rikyrah! Good morning to all~!!
That’s what happens when you’re retired and used to work late nights. I cook because all our working life I got home first, and Mrs. J would get home earliest at 8:30 or 9. If there was actual news late in the day, then more like 1:30 am. The coffee is nearly done.
Or should I say the cofyahyah? Does Don even drink cofvahvah?
Yarrow
@OzarkHillbilly: Thanks for this comment. I’d like an earlier morning thread. I’d also be okay if the On the Road posts were at different times. I think morning people see them but by afternoon/evening they can get lost. Or maybe the OTR posts every other day just to mix it up.
pluky
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: front row seat, alone, taking notes. don’t speak English my ass.
rikyrah
@But her emails!!!:
I just LOL at work reading this.
The snark and sarcasm just came through the screen.
rikyrah
@OzarkHillbilly:
I’d appreciate an earlier morning thread.
Yarrow
@Immanentize:
Me too. I don’t post in the morning thread often, but enjoy skimming the comments and miss having it earlier in the day.
JCJ
@Frankensteinbeck:
The “J” in Rocket J. Squirrel stood for Jasmine?!?
germy
Interesting article over at Vox
PPCLI
@Another Scott: A bit late to the party, but I thought I should add that if we’re going to play a Joni song for Don, we should play one for the kids too:
Raised On Robbery
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
@Kay: There are areas in elections I think are worth serious study on a nationwide level–have there been significant problems with voting by mail? How secure, really, are electronic voting systems? Would local election commissions benefit from funds to maintain and update voter rolls? What are the differences in state requirements for dropping people from the rolls? Would it be practical to introduce a system that allows a new registration in one jurisdiction to alert other jurisdictions to drop a registration (if law enforcement can have a nationwide system to alert them of outstanding warrants it’s not impossible–but is it practical)? I’m sure people who work with elections and voter registration can find other topics they’d like to see studied.
If this commission was working along those lines I’d be feeling a lot happier–but you don’t put Kris Kobach in charge of an honest effort to study ways to do voter registration and elections better.
PPCLI
@pluky: Trying not to be obvious while peeking at the computer screen on the table just over the ambassador’s shoulder.
Yarrow
@sdhays:
Yep. The media could easily say, “Trump, Jr. claims there was no one else in the meeting but we have no independent confirmation of that.”
scav
The webs of connections are so dense that it’s probably easy to get confused and distracted. Guard: Trump conflict of interest concerns over links with law firm run by Philippine government official. I’m thinking of those forlorn tweets of the reporter working on the Russian one. There are by now how many reporters working on similar hairballs?
Also, hell, the lawyers are probably lobbying to be paid by the RNC. A cash cow only works if she actually lets down the cream.
PPCLI
@But her emails!!!: Not only did Don Jr lie about that meeting (and all the others) when asked, he went on a tear calling anyone who suggests such a thing “disgusting” etc.
So Don, if it it is such a typical, ordinary, 100% respectable thing to do — coordinating the release of stolen information from an enemy spy organization — then why did you think the suggestion was “disgusting”?
satby
@rikyrah: me too!
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@OzarkHillbilly: But but but, isn’t that basically what we already have now?!
GregB
We are how many weeks away from Hannity saying: Of course there was a direct agreement between Trump and Putin to steal the American election using millions of dollars, propaganda, Russian spys, Australian rapists, British fascists, stolen emails, bot armies, threats, intimidation and murder but Hillary’s emails.
Another Scott
@PPCLI: rofl. :-) Excellent.
Cheers,
Scott.
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
@OzarkHillbilly: Gold-plated chain-link fencing?
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@GregB:
FTFY
Steeplejack
@But her emails!!!:
I was venting/commiserating with a friend a little while ago, and she reminded me that Natalia Veselnitskaya had dinner with Dana Rohrabacher, no interpreter present, and she has been on TV answering questions from reporters, no interpreter needed. Her English is good enough. The “interpreter” was there for other reasons. Would be interesting to get a name/identity.
OzarkHillbilly
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: Nononooooo this will be all NEW border wall, CLASSY, to replace all that old rusty wall that Obama wasted our tax dollars on.
@a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio): Absolutely!
Steeplejack
@JCJ:
No. Commenter was joking. Both Rocky and Bullwinkle had middle initial J., supposedly a reference to creator Jay Ward.
Yarrow
@Timurid:
There are no former Soviet/Russian spies.
@Steeplejack: Yes, exactly. She speaks perfectly good English. The “translator” was there for another reason.
OzarkHillbilly
@Steeplejack:
Actually, being conversant in a language is not the same as being fluent. I have spent many a dinner with Spanish speakers and no interpreter and we still managed to communicate (with much hilarity) but even if I was conversant, I would never take the stand in a Mexican court room with out an interpreter. Mind you, I would prefer an interpreter that wasn’t from the DEA or ATF or FBI or CIA or…..
Jus’ sayin’
Brachiator
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Oh, my Lord. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Trump don’t pay. Da chump pays. Always.
rikyrah
@Yarrow:
THANK YOU
Mike in DC
@Timurid:
Actually, i think that hes the 5th person, while the 6th was a translator (hired by whom, i dont know). I assume if the translator was hired by the Trump campaign, that they will be subpoenaed. If hired by the Russians, i assume that they are overdue for an accident.
MCA1
So, now that we know that in addition to Veselnitskaya there was a bona fide Russian spy in the room, what happens? The revelation can’t do any further damage to the credibility of the White House, which is already at zero.
I’d like to start hearing questions to Drumpf along the Lt. Col. Jessup lines, now. What do you mean nobody told you about this meeting? Why wouldn’t they tell you about it? It seems pretty disloyal and not in keeping with your importance, being the candidate and boss and all, doesn’t it? Your son, son-in-law and campaign manager had a meeting set up with someone supposedly part of a Russian gov’t attempt to assist your campaign by passing along dirt on Clinton, and they didn’t think you’d want to know about that? “You’re damned right I was in that meeting!!!”*
He’s trying to cocoon himself off from any knowledge of any of this stuff, but it’s at odds with his all-consuming narcissism and ego. Too bad he hasn’t given a press conference since February.
* Such an outburst would, of course, have the same political effect of video footage of shooting someone on 5th Avenue. I know. But it would feel good.
Annie
@David Canadian Anchor Baby Koch:
Who on earth wears a suit to go to a baseball game?
Amaranthine RBG
@Kay:
Heh. I frequent a number of hunting/ shooting boards and consensus is that Clinton should be prosecuted for colluding with Ukraine as well as the old favorite Benghazi.
SiubhanDuinne
@Annie:
Umpires.
And this guy.
different-church-lady
@SiubhanDuinne:
Not for years and years now. I wish they’d go back.
Amir Khalid
@Annie:
Maybe if you’re going to be in a VIP box with the team owner. Otherwise you’d look really out of place.
Jeffro
While we await a new Open Thread, here’s J-Rubs with the smackdown: They Ain’t Coming Back From This One
(ok, it’s officially titled, “Neither Trump nor the GOP will recover anytime soon” ;)
Amaranthine RBG
@Jeffro:
I hate Trump as much as anyone, but none of this has damaged Trump with his voters. If the election were today, he’d win over Clinton again.
Jeffro
@Amaranthine RBG: Say what now? He didn’t win the first time. And his support has, believe or not, dropped since the election.
Miss Bianca
@bystander: Yeah, and now that Over THe River isn’t going to be a thing here in CO (thanks, reactionary cranks!), he’s probably got some time free…
@Bruce K: Actually, no. He may have stopped pushing for it because of Trump, but the project was stopped by local NIMBY activists who tied it up in court for years and years.
Seth Owen
@But her emails!!!: To be fair to Krauthammer (?!) I think he was making the point that even IF you take Trump junior’s account at face value, it’s inexecusable. Kraithammer addresses the credibility issue later.
Miss Bianca
@GregB: Yup. So stealing this, btw.
TenguPhule
@Kay:
The irony is so rich that Donald Trump is asking it for a handout.
TenguPhule
@Izabela:
Come sit by me.
TenguPhule
@Patricia Kayden:
Shit, that won’t even cover the lawsuits needed to acquire the land the wall needs to be built on.
divF
@NotMax: A wonderful interview with June Foray . Note the Rocky pendant she is wearing.
ETA: This is from about 30 years ago.
TenguPhule
@OzarkHillbilly:
No. The entire line of Republicans in the succession are traitors.
Every single one.
TenguPhule
@Keith P.:
Its a clowncar meeting. Every time you think its finally empty, another person pops out.
Patricia Kayden
@TenguPhule: But the “Mexicans” in Trump’s imagination are going to pay for it, so it’s all good.
@TenguPhule: This is such a mess and Trump’s sycophants are such liars that we probably will never know exactly how many people were at this meeting. Thankfully because of Donny Jr.’s email, we know what was discussed and it wasn’t adoptions. **eyes roll out of head**
Gin & Tonic
@Patricia Kayden: I’m pretty sure Paul Fucking Manafort has given Bobby Three Sticks a full list of attendees and comprehensive minutes of that meeting.
ruemara
@Patricia Kayden: They’re mob lawyers. This is a thug administration of crooks and incompetents. They won’t follow the norms because they’re all Fredo.
SFAW
@bystander:
He was speaking metaphorically about Preznit* Lying Littledick’s master, i.e., Putin. Because, as with Elvis, “Vladi is everywhere.”
[Pedant alert: I think it should be “metaphorically,” not “figuratively,” but am willing to listen to reason.]
SFAW
@TenguPhule:
Clown cars all the way down?
TenguPhule
@SFAW:
No, just clowns. Nightmare clowns.
J R in WV
@Jeffro:
Krauthammer:
Say whut? Can Krauthammer just drop an allegation like this and toddle on without a single punctuation mark of supporting proof that any such thing happened? Well, sure he can allege and even lie out loud if he wants to. But that doesn’t make it true, nor his allegations grounded in any facts.
I’m not going to dignify Krauthammer’s ravings with even a Google. I imagine he’s talking about Obama endorsing some other candidate in Israel, one not consumed with bigotry and greed for other people’s land and lives. I’m not sure Krauthammer doesn’t believe that Obama had dozens of CIA agents working against Bibi Netanyahu, as deranged as that would be, we already know Krauthammer is completely deranged.
I’m sure there were worse candidates in the Israeli elections, but there have to have been much better candidates! Ones not obsessed with apartheid for the Arabs, who have been on the ground as long as the Jews, because they are the same people with different opinions about religion.
J R in WV
@Patricia Kayden:
Because four justices fully intend to overturn those unanimous circuit court rulings so that Trump can violate the First Amendment to his black shriveled heart’s content. It only takes four to agree to hear a case.
We can only hope the other 5 justices will undo their wishes and reaffirm religious freedom in the USA. FSM preserve RBG!!! and all the other honest and true justices!
J R in WV
@Amir Khalid:
“As I understand, POTUS must be removed from office ere he can face criminal charges.”
Pretty sure he can be indicted by a Grand Jury, although the Supreme court hasn’t ever said so. But Nixon was formally an un-indicted co-conspirator, so named by a Grand Jury. And this is obviously worse than Watergate, hard as that is to believe!
Fred
Let the invisible hand of the free market work it’s magic. These people need to learn to take personal responsibility. They have a pre-existing condition caused by their careless life style. It will be doing them a favor to let them face up to their problems.
It is really for their own good.