Schumer on Trump's border wall: "A Game of Thrones idea for a world that is a lot closer to Star Wars."
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) September 14, 2017
Politico is every bit as surprised as the #MAGA-heads! “GOP Feels Betrayed… “
Donald Trump’s latest fling with Democrats has plunged the Republican Party into a state of confusion and outrage that far surpasses the frustration with his debt ceiling deal with the minority last week.
While GOP leaders were able to brush off the debt pact as no big deal, after Thursday they were reminding the president that they — not the Democrats — run Congress. Though they differed on whether to bill it as a deal, Trump and Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi agreed in some fashion that they want to shield so-called Dreamers from deportation and beef up border security, leaving the fight over the border wall for later.
That left Republicans grappling with a frightening new potential reality: that Trump will cut controversial deals with Democrats and leave them to pick up the pieces…
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) suggested Trump was duped by Democrats’ rush to declare a deal, and that the president didn’t actually agree to set aside funding for his prized border wall.
“One side runs out and tries to frame what was said in there and then he has to go out and clarify. That’s not healthy,” McCarthy said.
Still, Trump’s exasperation with GOP leadership is boiling over. After watching the Obamacare repeal effort crash and burn after seven months of work, two weeks of talks with Democrats have yielded far more action. Trump has signaled that he wants the talks to continue, and a person familiar with Wednesday night’s meeting described it as “jovial” and far more pleasant than meetings with GOP leaders…
Yeah, it won’t last — as soon as the Repubs start talking tax cuts, they’ll be “President” Manbaby’s best buds once again. But the more bitter memories come between them when that happens, the better it will be for the rest of us.
Trump supporters have already started burning #MAGA hats and shirts in protest to Trump's amnesty. Everyone post videos of it. #AmnestyDon
— The Right Defense (@TheRightDefense) September 14, 2017
Posting photos of burning MAGA hats a v-good idea–might be highly effective. Tag to #amnestydon or #burnmyMAGAhat ? https://t.co/1u3cxvCqT8
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) September 14, 2017
Should they be wearing the MAGA hats when they torch them?
— Jack Shafer (@jackshafer) September 14, 2017
Fox & Friends: Maybe Trump Wall Was 'Symbolic' https://t.co/16BXfsgHGo via @mediaite
— Farhad Manjoo ???? (@fmanjoo) September 14, 2017
With more Mideast deployments, no wall, no O-care repeal, and now a likely DREAM act, can we now agree that "Trumpism" was never a thing?
— David French (@DavidAFrench) September 14, 2017
Trump to GOP: "You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in." https://t.co/Hg6n3RFeWR
— Brendan Nyhan (@BrendanNyhan) September 14, 2017
Gin & Tonic
Damned East Coast bias. I just got back from dinner, it’s a quarter to 11:00, and I see a “late night” open thread.
Grumble.
Gin & Tonic
[tap, tap] Is this thing on?
Mnemosyne
Here’s the thing that the Republicans forgot about Trump at their peril — he has a genuine disdain for “losers,” especially the ones that make him look bad. He was never going to tow their line for them.
(Yeah, I said “tow,” as in “carry.” Deal with it.)
frosty
@Mnemosyne: OK. Dealing. Let’s agree to disagree … but you’re wrong. :-)
seaboogie
@Gin & Tonic: It’s on, but we can only sustain so much outrage, afore we need to restore and recharge.
That said, what a bunch of clueless numpties the GOP are. Like anybody didn’t see this coming from miles away, picking that shameless narcissist. Heh. Of course he’ll backtrack on the Chuck and Nancy thing. Only hews – repeatedly – to the white supremacist thing.
Mike G
Emperor Palpatine voice: “Good, good. Feel the butthurt flow through you.”
Mnemosyne
@frosty:
IMO, it’s two different phrases with two different meanings. Either you “toe the line” and obey or you “tow the line” and do your part of a job.
The problem is when people use the phrases as though they’re interchangeable when they mean different things.
Cpl. Cam
Honestly the republicans could have done this with Obama. He was ready to cave on chained cpi, they were just too dumb to take yes for an answer…
Gin & Tonic
@Mnemosyne: The problem is that when somebody writes “tow the line”, 93.7% of the time they actually meant “toe the line” and got it wrong.
patrick II
Steve King
@RealDonaldTrump If AP is correct, Trump base is blown up, destroyed, irreparable, and disillusioned beyond repair. No promise is credible. (bold added).
Each group of Trump voters knew he was lying to the other ones, but are amazed when it becomes clear out he was lying to them too. They thought they were special.
Steeplejack
@Mnemosyne:
“Tow the line” has a literal meaning, but it’s not an idiomatic expression. Feel free to provide citations that aren’t just people misspelling “toe the line” or misunderstanding the idiom, i.e., they hear the phrase and think it means something like pulling on a line or “doing your part of the job.”
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Gin & Tonic: Welcome to my life.
joel hanes
@Mnemosyne:
Skillful troll. You know your audience well: four bites in the first seven comments
Redshift
Meanwhile, it’s looking like Lindsay Graham’s hideous Obamacare repeal bill actually had a chance of making it through the Senate process by the end of the month. Get ready to start calling and visiting your representatives again. We need to drive a stake through this undead horror.
Mnemosyne
@Steeplejack:
I am creating my own idiom, because it’s a useful concept that conveys something different than “toe.” So there.
Mnemosyne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I saw a bobcat in the woods today, but I was too freaked out to get a photo. It was following me across a bridge to get away from the same group of noisy kids that I was trying to distance myself from.
MisterForkbeard
@patrick II: Leopards, faces, etc. :)
Duane
The rubes are in such a state of denial. They can’t acknowledge they’ve been taken by a conman.
piratedan
whocouldanode that riding the tiger with a guy who wouldn’t release his tax returns, is likely a traitor to the country, outspokenly damned the party who’s nomination he sought and is possibly the most well known narcissist to ever win public office would be so volatile?
these GOP mofos can go and eat a bag of dicks, salted or unsalted, makes no difference to me…
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne: At least it wasn’t a Bruin. They’re godless killing machines, at least that’s what the kid tells me.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@piratedan: Is that Trump or Wilmer?
magurakurin
@Mnemosyne: no law against it, but easier said than done. And isn’t there already an idiom for that meaning?
Steeplejack (phone)
Just GTFO, Politico. Out!
magurakurin
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
“outstanding Red Team. Get you a case of beer for that.”
opiejeanne
@Mnemosyne: We saw one last week, a couple of doors down. It was the size of an Airedale; surprisingly large. The only other one I’ve seen was a bit smaller, probably a juvenile, in the Ozarks.
piratedan
@?BillinGlendaleCA: would you accept Salted for Wilmer’s crew and Unsalted for the GOP?
opiejeanne
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Ha! I was thinking the same thing!
akryan
good lord, you guys made me actually look up “toe the line”. no one knows for sure where the idiom comes from but there are several theories. one is that it was a sports term. it meant to keep your toe to a line before a race or in boxing matches (there used to be a line you had to stand behind before the fight). another theory is that it comes from the British House of Commons. there is a red line that opposing members have to stand behind (to this day) when debating, from the days in which they all carried swords. another one is that it was nautical. when sailors had to assemble on deck, they had to be lined up between the between the planks on the deck. all of them are in agreement that it is “toe” not “tow” however.
NR
@?BillinGlendaleCA: You guys just can’t let the primary go, can you?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@NR: You guys just don’t get some good snark.
ETA: I see someone put ‘Wilmer’ on his Google Alert.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@piratedan: Salt’s valuable, unsalted for both.
magurakurin
@NR: my hate for Sanders transcends time. But he’ll be gone soon (the big clock is ticking loudly for Bernie now) and you can wank to his memory and call Kamala Harris a corporate whore to console your loss.
Lurking Canadian
I remain baffled at how “President makes deal with minority leaders in Congress” is even a thing. Obama could have announced any number of deals with Pelosi and Schumer and the only lasting effect would have been howls of derision and a set of articles in the Times about how Obama clearly can’t count.
In the debt ceiling issue, I can see how Ryan and McConnell were in a box. They had to do something and Trump gave them a way out.
On this issue though? Won’t they just tell Trump to go fuck himself? Trump’s base of howler monkeys is ready to tell Trump to go fuck himself. It’s not like Republicans have to worry about primary challengers saying, “He voted against amnesty!” Among the sort of creatures who vote in Republican primaries, that sounds like praise.
Kristine
@Lurking Canadian: from what I’ve read, Pelosi and Schumer would greatly prefer a deal, but will accept increasing pressure on various GOP stress points as second prize.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@patrick II:
I’ve said it before, Trump is a very obvious lair. These people are the same people who get taken in by things like the Nigerian e-mail scam.
father pussbucket
@magurakurin:
“Carry water (for)” is what we’re looking for, I think.
low-tech cyclist
@patrick II:
They never thought the leopard would eat their faces.
ETA: Beaten to it by MisterForkBeard!
Betty
@Mnemosyne: I enjoy seeing people use “tow the line” because i was under the impression for many years that it was correct. I could envision people towing a barge line down on the Mississippi. I was so surprised to learn that it is supposed to be “toe the line.” My Caribbean husband explained that in the British school system, the children were required to toe the line (stand in formation) every morning before school for inspection so the phrase was very familiar to him.
Mnemosyne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Time to pick a new alias for Wilmer.
joel hanes
@Mnemosyne:
Time to pick a new alias for Wilmer.
Edward Bear.
Dice
Trump: “Why do you believe me when I tell you I’m a liar? You know I’ve been a liar all my life.”