The New York Times has the latest scoop:
WASHINGTON — Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, has asked the White House for documents about some of President Trump’s most scrutinized actions since taking office, including the firing of his national security adviser and F.B.I. director, according to White House officials.
Mr. Mueller is also interested in an Oval Office meeting Mr. Trump had with Russian officials in which he said the dismissal of the F.B.I. director had relieved “great pressure” on him.
The document requests provide the most details to date about the breadth of Mr. Mueller’s investigation, and show that several aspects of his inquiry are focused squarely on Mr. Trump’s behavior in the White House.
I know, I know, Fitzmas, blah blah blah. Still, I hope the ochre ogre is sweating it out.
Also, MAGAts in Florida and elsewhere served as Putin’s pawns, lured to Trump rallies via Facebook pages created by Russian troll farms. Courtesy of valued commenter Rikyrah, here’s a link to a Washington Monthly piece that summarizes the reporting on that.
So, to sum up, Mueller is examining Trump’s obstructive behavior in the White House, and reporters are uncovering incidents where Russian trolls led idiot Americans around by the nose with the intent to install Putin’s preferred candidate. My guess is this Facebook thing is just the beginning and that other shoes will drop in the social media realm.
Do we have the national will to do something about it? That’s really the only question that remains.
Major Major Major Major
Hey, y’know, progress is progress. So many things aren’t progress these days.
dmsilev
There’s also the interesting side question of who leaked this and why. It’s sourced to “White House Officials”, not “sources close to the investigation” or “entrails of a goat” or whatever, so someone who nominally works for Trump wanted the world to know about this.
NotMax
Twisting slowly, slowly in the wind.
<Watergate era oldsters will instantly get the reference.)
dmsilev
@Major Major Major Major:
As the saying goes, just as the opposite of pro is con, the opposite of progress is Congress.
Johnny Gentle (famous crooner)
Forget Fitzmas…my concern isn’t so much that Mueller won’t turn up anything big, but that he will and nothing will come of it. Republicans could be staring indisputably criminal–if not treasonous–activity right in the face and they’d just vomit up “liberal media” and “Hillary’s e-mails.” It’s almost funny to think of how quickly Watergate would’ve been snuffed out if it happened today.
NotMax
@Johnny Gentle (famous crooner)
Congress does not vote to indict, grand juries do.
fuckwit
@Johnny Gentle (famous crooner): i share your pessimism. who will watch the watchers? what if a president does totally criminal stuff, and the rest of the goverment just goes “i know! isn’t it great?”
germy
updated timeline
No Drought No More
It’s a SNL sketch in the making: Alec Baldwin communing with the spirit Roy Cohn (say, John Malcovich) as he lays awake in bed, and Cohn telling him, “You’re just another schmuck who fucked up and is headed for a fall. I told McCarthy the exact same thing after his debacle with Welch”.
mak
@dmsilev:
Like that “Mueller is mean” piece in the NYT the other day, this one seems designed to rile up the MAGAts and buttress claims that Mueller is going beyond the scope of the TrumPutin “campaign.”
Major Major Major Major
@fuckwit: We have a recourse to that.
I mean, at some point, if the voters don’t punish people for public, treasonous activity… well, eventually you just have to say the voters want this. I am aware that the Repubs can cheat up to maybe 7% of the vote away, but a bad part of me just thinks that a populace that deserves nice things should be able to throw them out on their asses by more than that.
cervantes
Alas, there is no such thing as “national will.” The only people who can do something about it are the Republicans in congress. And they won’t.
rikyrah
New website about the Russia investigation, created by Rob Reiner, complete with a Morgan Freeman-narrated video.
https://investigaterussia.org
And, don’t forget about the great Interactive Timeline set up by a retired attorney.
http://www.billmoyers.com
EriktheRed
Hey, we need to investigate.
‘Twas good enough for Hillary and Pres. Obama, it’s definitely good enough for Cheetolini.
germy
The next Democratic president better be squeaky squeaky clean, because the GOP is going to want payback.
I still think the abuse they heaped on Bill Clinton was partially about “settling the score” over Watergate.
JPL
@cervantes: They want there tax cuts and they want them now.
germy
@rikyrah: I’ve been checking the bill moyers timeline regularly. It’s an excellent resource, but it’s also horrifying as hell.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Johnny Gentle (famous crooner):
The media is useless. The reporters report this stuff, the pundits “both sides” it, and move on to cover whether Joe MAGA in Racine cares about it (PRO TIP: HE DOESN’T), wash rinse repeat. I was listening to Tom Ashcroft on On Point last night discussing the impact of Mueller’s probe on Facebook’s reputation, while I’m screaming in my car who gives a shit what platform was used to commit treason, WHAT ABOUT THE RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE IN OUR ELECTION. Like it’s all just a PR problem for those involved.
TenguPhule
I thought we all agreed that the less leaks about the investigation, the better?
Kryptik
@germy:
It won’t matter if they are squeaky clean, they’ll invent something anyway, via guilt by association, guilt by insinuation, or just fucking making something up a la Pizzagate.
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major:
Treason does not prosper and here’s the reason. If it does prosper, none dare call it treason.
efgoldman
@NotMax:
But there’s never been an answer to whether a sitting president can be indicted by the court system, or only by impeachment.
Elizabelle
@cervantes: Yes there is national will.
All those pink hats who showed up in January. Do you think they are just going to sit there?
People that I know are just seething about what is going on, and I am not talking of the Juicetariat. I am speaking of mild-mannered people I know from daily life, who were not previously political.
One of the problems is that everything is going badly, so fast, all at once, by Republican actions and by climate change come calling. It can be hard to focus, and, speaking for myself, I am getting worn down and depressed. Graham Cassidy is just an IED too far. It’s not security if they’re trying to steal it back from you, every fucking time, to try to appease billionaire political donors. I hate their fucking asses.
TenguPhule
@efgoldman:
Now we get to find out. One way or the other.
ruemara
@Johnny Gentle (famous crooner): This is the most likely outcome. And yes, those pink hatted marchers will sit there. Waiting for someone to “do something”. I have zero faith in the electorate or average people to do the hard work of tossing out a corrupt bunch of fascists. Not until they really suffer under them. But, I am always open to being proven wrong.
TenguPhule
@Johnny Gentle (famous crooner):
Nixon was obviously ahead of his time.
Mike in DC
@TenguPhule:
You may have a future in depression-rap.
NotMax
@efgoldman
Nevertheless, a string of indictments of others dramatically alters the landscape, politically. Convictions shred the map entirely and it’s a whole ‘nother ball game in that case.
And “unindicted co-conspirator” carries ponderous weight even if not a charge.
Major Major Major Major
@Mike in DC: Nothing says the future like 500 years in the past!
cervantes
@Elizabelle: I hope people don’t just sit there, but there is, as a matter of practical fact, nothing anybody can do about the occupant of the office of president other than a majority of the house and 2/3 of the Senate. They control the “national will.” You can demonstrate all you want but it isn’t going to matter to them.
Elizabelle
I would like us to make David Koch and Charles Koch and their money as welcome as a contribution by David Duke. They are actually much more dangerous to civil society.
Believe I heard “David Koch” listed as one of the funders of Ken Burns’ Vietnam documentary series last night.
I wish Burns or PBS could have just handed the check back. “We don’t need your money that badly.”
trollhattan
@TenguPhule:
[thumbs to p47 of the Quick Start Guide] Says here we only want leaks if the investigation has been stymied through congressional or administration action.
JPL
The president has wide discretion on who to hire and fire. Unless I am missing something, the request probably won’t amount to much.
TenguPhule
@trollhattan:
I thought that amendment to the guide was still in committee?
Millard Filmore
A big difference here is that some of the crimes can be prosecuted by states. As long as New York has a Democratic governor, I have hope. There is also the possibility of civil action being taken by injured parties all over the USA. Any pardons that get accepted will open the doors on that.
SatanicPanic
@germy: I don’t think it’s a matter of payback anymore. They hate us and it doesn’t matter what we do or don’t do.
LurkerNoLonger
@Elizabelle: Republicans are domestic terrorists. People have said it before but it’s the perfect description of their current incarnation. I’m making myself sick over this shit.
Elizabelle
@cervantes: We have to make them responsive. It’s hard, but it can be done.
This is so out of whack. Never forget: Hillary won 2 million more votes, and the Republicans could not have stolen the election without massive Russian influence and all the fake news, by Russians and by the homegrown rightwing asshats.
We have to change this. There are more of us. Make them afraid of us.
If physically afraid of us (and they are), use that too.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Elizabelle:
Koch is old and will die soon as a result.
His survivors should probably shell out some of his ill-begottened money for an armed guard at his tomb, and even then, should be certain to install a high pressure hose within easy reach so as to scrub off the shit and piss.
Elizabelle
@LurkerNoLonger: Maybe today we make ourselves sick, with despair, but it will turn to anger. And then turn it back on them, like nobody’s business.
Millard Filmore
@fuckwit:
“Yeah, we are the Treason Party! Suck it libtards.”
SatanicPanic
@Elizabelle: I’ve been up and down, but right now other than making a few calls I’m saving energy for next year. That’s when it will really matter- we all need to get out and volunteer for Democrats running for the House and Senate. And every office below that.
Elizabelle
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Yeah. I hope their evil does not spread to the next generation; I really don’t know. All I ever hear about are Charles and David …
And I do hope they both die. Soon, and painfully.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
got bad enough that they had to start running ads about all the wonderful things done by Koch Industries, IIRC the name of the company they inherited. And they HATE publicity
The Moar You Know
@cervantes: Until you admit that you have a problem you cannot begin to deal with that problem. And I have and will argue that it’s not Republicans that have the problem. It’s Democrats, and the problem is supposedly Democratic voters who don’t actually vote.
Did Trump cheat his way into the presidency? Probably. Did the Republican party cheat their way into majorities in the House and Senate? No. They are there because half this country are regressive idiots, but those idiots showed up and voted, so they get their way.
Percysowner
The real question is do the Republicans have the will to protect our democracy. I hope yes, I think no. Best example
Grassley: Repealing O’Care Is More Important Than Whatever Replaces It
Basically they only care about staying in power and giving the rich much more money. If they hurt the poor and most especially dark people, so much the better.
trollhattan
@TenguPhule:
Only the Unitarian edition.
Elizabelle
Incidentally, Politico website item: Chris Christie says Graham Cassidy is a bad deal for New Jersey. Didn’t read the article, but I’m good with that.
@SatanicPanic: Seguing into: Governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey this fall. We MUST win Virginia, and I hope New Jersey too.
Census coming up, folks.
NotMax
@trollhattan
That would be the King Tunch version, yes?
John O
No. This has been another edition of SATSQ.
Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
Really the point is that Trump should have been indicted for shit YEARS ago, so again, failed institutions.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
A couple of wobbly R Housecritters from NJ last time around, as I recall. Freylinghausen, Lance? I wonder if this time it will be the Senate hoping the House saves Republicans from themselves
Major Major Major Major
@The Moar You Know: I mostly agree with you except for:
The Senate, by its nature, cheats rural conservative reactionaries into power. The idiot voters who gave us, in the days of more fair elections, the 2011-12 state congresses also gave us at least ten years of congressional districts which allow Republicans to hold the House even if they lose the popular vote by 5, 6 points. Is that cheating?
So other than that…
Corner Stone
@dmsilev:
When asked if they’d like to comment on whether they were the source of the leaks, the goats responded “NAAAAHHHHHAA”.
TenguPhule
@fuckwit:
Marga Largo. Trump’s Washington Hotel.
His fucking golfing weekends.
They’ve already turned a blind eye to corruption, incompetence and bribery.
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major:
How was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?
germy
@Elizabelle:
The Kochs are all over PBS.
I remember when Seth McFarland did his Cosmos reboot. He went to all the networks and said Fox (not fox news) was the only one that gave him (and Neil DeGrasse) total editorial control. It really made me wonder about PBS.
The Cosmos reboot had a long segment about leaded gasoline & paiant and a scientist’s battle against it.
SatanicPanic
@The Moar You Know: Gerrymandering is cheating. That’s how they maintain control of the house.
Corner Stone
@fuckwit: Where are his tax returns? It’s apparently not illegal to not produce them but why has that issue disappeared so completely from public sphere?
TenguPhule
Our missing blog host is shrill.
TenguPhule
@Corner Stone:
I blame our lazy media.
Emails got months of attention.
Tax Returns? What’s that?
Another Scott
@Millard Filmore: I assume Donnie won’t be giving out any more pardons until the judge in Arpaio’s case decides whether his conviction is vacated by the pardon. Apparently the next hearing on that is Wednesday October 4.
Cheers,
Scott.
feebog
@The Moar You Know:
Calling bullshit on this comment my friend. Gerrymandering is most definitely cheating. Texas, No. and So. Carolina, Florida, Ohio. How many seats do you think Republicans have stolen in just those five states? Voter suppression isn’t cheating? Voter ID, scrubbing voter rolls, not restoring voting rights for ex-felons, all voter suppression tactics that are most definitely cheating. Republicans care only about obtaining and keeping power. Cheating is what they do.
Another Scott
@Elizabelle: This.
We can’t wait until November 2018. We have to keep fighting them – everywhere – right now.
Cheers,
Scott.
The Moar You Know
@SatanicPanic: Great point. Why aren’t we doing it as well? 2008, 2009, 2010. All lost opportunities to level the playing field, or even give it a nudge our way. Do we not want to win?
Oh wait, let me guess. We’re competing against an utterly morally bankrupt entity but we want to win the right way, right?
Millard Filmore
@Another Scott: “This pardon I got right here for doing the crime says I didn’t do the crime.”
trollhattan
@NotMax:
Verily, I am liking this concept.
geg6
@The Moar You Know:
And gerrymandering and voter suppression have no effect, I guess. No reason to try to change any of that, right?
Another Scott
@feebog: This, too.
We all know that they can’t win fair elections. That’s why they gerrymander. That’s why they try to scrub the voter rolls. That’s why they have excess of voting machines in their areas of strength and few in Democratic strongholds. That’s why they love dark money and PACs that can hide their fingerprints while they’re throwing mountains of mud. That’s why they fight every effort to make it less of a burden for people to register and to vote.
People died so that we can vote for our representatives in government. We have to vote the monsters out and protect the franchise.
Cheers,
Scott.
Marcopolo
@Elizabelle: Yes and all the folks who seem to have prior expertise in carrying out a successful census say there are literally no signs the Trump administration is preparing to do that. The positions that need to be filled haven’t been and so on and so forth. A lot of folks say this is your typical Trump admin doesn’t know shit about governing while the cynical people are saying if the 2020 census is deemed screwed up & unreliable then the 2010 numbers provide the fallback. Which leads to two points: 1) the undercounting of minority populations which are growing faster demographically; and 2) the Rs have already shown they know how to successfully exploit the 2010 numbers to their best advantage. Anyways, as it is still a few years down the road worries over its conduct aren’t too high on most folks lists.
NotMax
@Millard Filmore
A pardon does not wipe the slate clean. Acceptance of a pardon is an admission of guilt.
Turgidson
Fitz was dealing with a bunch of criminals who were far more savvy about covering or at least obfuscating their misbehavior. Trump and his crew are a bunch of oblivious dipshits by comparison. Fuckin’ a, Hair Furor has essentially admitted/bragged about obstructing justice publicly on multiple occasions.
I found Fitzmas to be a letdown of course, but Mueller has a lot more to work with and a stupider group of witnesses and potential targets, it would seem.
Elie
@fuckwit:
We will have to do what we have seen other countries do when they want their democracies back — hit the streets.
Of course that raises the specter of conflict with the White Supremacist support — Open question whether we have the will to do that or not. We will see. So far, the “system” seems to be working at least to do the investigation. Not seeing much movement towards Republican preparation to stand for anything but continued support for the corruption we see throughout this administration. Sure, some conservatives blab in their newspaper blogs/columns — but that is pretty low risk. Not one elected Republican has stood for anything except occasional back talk. None is trying to lead any kind of movement towards recapturing righteous governance. At risk is not only the wellbeing of our country, but ultimately our status in the world and as a consequence, our economic and ability to lead or be a trusted signee to any agreements in trade or war and peace.
If the “system” fails, we will have to become the system and hit the streets… We will see. Not sure most Americans are anywhere near doing anything but shopping on-line.
Gravenstone
@germy: Ain’t no “partially” about it. It was 100% driven by revenge for Tricky Dick. First Democratic president elected since then so he had to burn.
eta: okay, so in a fit of pique I elided Jimmy Carter from my memory. Oops..
TenguPhule
@NotMax:
Not according to the exciting new Trump theory of pardons.
Pardons are now an admission of innocence because liberal media is bad.
Whether this insane troll logic is ever accepted by an actual federal court remains to be seen.
Major Major Major Major
@The Moar You Know: Don’t we only get a chance to gerrymander every ten years?
And hey, California did the citizens’ redistricting commission thing, that blew the state GOP out of the water.
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major:
But we could have been sabotaging their districts just like they do ours by limiting their voting machines, kicking their voters off of registration, eliminating the places they could vote at. //
Marcopolo
@The Moar You Know: Really need to do your research before making comments like this. While the Senate cannot be gerrymandered per se, research indicates that anywhere from 15-20 R house seats are the result of gerrymandering with Ohio being one of the worst places (think also NC, IN, TX, WI, PN). MO, my home state loses at least one D seat due to it. The only state where Ds have a gerrymander advantage is IL.
SatanicPanic
@The Moar You Know: How were we supposed to have accomplished this? Gerrymander two years before the census? In most states I don’t even think that’s allowed.
TenguPhule
@Elie:
What do you mean if?
The question now is, can the system be cobbled back together before something really bad happens?
rikyrah
Koch network ‘piggy banks’ closed until Republicans pass health and tax reform
Koch officials said that the network’s midterm budget for policy and politics is between $300m and $400m, but donors are demanding legislative progress
At a weekend donor retreat attended by at least 18 elected officials, the Koch brothers warned that time is running out to push their agenda, most notably healthcare and tax reform, through Congress.
One Texas-based donor warned Republican lawmakers that his “Dallas piggy bank” was now closed, until he saw legislative progress.
“Get Obamacare repealed and replaced, get tax reform passed,” said Doug Deason. “Get it done and we’ll open it back up.”
Nonetheless, Koch officials said that the network’s midterm budget for policy and politics is between $300m and $400m.
The Senate will this week seek to pass its version of healthcare reform – at present it does not have enough Republican support to overcome blanket Democratic opposition.
“There is urgency,” said Tim Phillips, who leads Koch network’s political arm, Americans for Prosperity, at the industrialist brothers’ retreat in Colorado Springs. “We believe we have a window of about 12 months to get as much of it accomplished as possible before the 2018 elections grind policy to a halt.”
The window for action may be even smaller, some Koch allies warned at the weekend retreat that drew roughly 400 participants to the heart of the Rocky Mountains. The price for admission for most was a pledge to give at least $100,000 this year to the Kochs’ broad policy and political network.
SatanicPanic
@Major Major Major Major: yeah, we both managed to do it fairly AND win control at the state level. By most accounts we don’t have to cheat. I’m not saying we shouldn’t, but we don’t have to. We only need a level playing field.
gvg
@Elizabelle: Actually the Mercer’s seem to be responsible for this mess. The Kochs seemed to pull back after Romney flopped and a lot of their other candidates did too. that doesn’t mean the Kochs aren’t bad news, but I guess we need to focus on the ones who actually did treason first. I am not a happy camper about theses too wealthy manipulators running around loose. Honestly, they need less money. It’s bad for us when some have way too much.
Betty Cracker
The Church of the Savvy — not just for journalists!
Major Major Major Major
@Marcopolo: And we certainly wouldn’t want any more politicians from Illinois :P
TenguPhule
@rikyrah:
At least the donors aren’t as confident as the elected officials.
Its something.
Elizabelle
@gvg:
That’s a huge issue for refusing the tax “reform” that’s coming. The rich are already skewing the system. The founders would not approve of a protected class that has most of the speech, and has figured out it’s cheaper to buy the political class, but that’s what is happening. They saw the dangers of an aristocratic class. It’s here.
Tax those fuckers. For democracy’s sake.
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major:
Only if they were born and raised in Hawaii first.
Corner Stone
Nicolle Wallace is roasting Chris Christie.
NotMax
@Betty Cracker
Saint Jackal, patron saint of snark and morale.
Miss Bianca
@Elie:
I work in online sales and all I gotta say is, if they are, they’re not buying *nearly* enough hardware!
jonas
@Elizabelle:
Not surprising. Koch’s name is plastered all over a bunch of major institutions in NYC as well — Lincoln Center, the Natural History Museum, etc. Koch Industries is underwriting NPR now, too.
Millard Filmore
@NotMax:
Right. Which is why I do not fear another Fitzmas. Accepting a pardon will open the way for state prosecutions, and open the floodgates for injured parties to pursue relief in civil courts for damages. Both money and injunctions can be obtained. If Republicans admit they broke the law by using Twitter and Facebook, the Democratic party might try for an injunction that forbids Republicans and their agents from using those platforms. And they can go for monetary relief and simply bankrupt the Rs. We will be left with the Mercer party and the Koch party.
NotMax
@Corner Stone
Do they even make a hippo baster?
(I know, too easy.)
Elizabelle
@Major Major Major Major: Yeah. I’d rather see citizens commissions for redistricting, like California has, than having Democrats game the system if and when they’re back in the statehouses.
California’s reform was effective. And I like their idea of the two most popular vote getters face off in the general, not just the Republican vs. the (sacrificial) Democrat. Put 2 Democrats, or 2 Republicans, up against each other in lopsided districts. Would seem to aid the more moderate, and reduce the influence of the extremists who are sailing to victory now, since the election was decided in the party primary.
Corner Stone
Christie looks up to the ceiling every time before he equivocates/lies on his answers.
schrodingers_cat
@Betty Cracker: If you call them out, then you are a troll or worse.
TenguPhule
@Corner Stone:
Gonna need more coal for that.
Marcopolo
@SatanicPanic: Of the top of my head I think there have been two mid decade redistrictings done since the 2010 census (both by Rs, of course). Will see if I can find something on it. I may be wrong about congressional redistrictings–only seeing the Texas 2003 redistrictings coming up on google.
Millard Filmore
@rikyrah:
This is why the trick of having Trump sign a fake Repeal And Replace bill would not work. Trump is not in charge here.
joel hanes
And I like their idea of the two most popular vote getters face off in the general
Sounds good in theory.
In practice, some of the effects are perverse.
I (California resident) wish we hadn’t done it.
Betty Cracker
@NotMax: The snark associated with the Church of the Savvy is of the trite, self-defeating variety, and assumed helplessness sucks for morale.
TenguPhule
Interesting.
NotMax
@Betty Cracker
Mistakenly assumed you were referring to this here place.
SatanicPanic
@Marcopolo: That’s fine, and if we’re in a position to do that we should, but I don’t think we’ve been in much of a position to make that happen since 2010.
jimmiraybob
“Do we have the national will to do something about it?”
If you mean a majority of Americans then I’d say yes. It’s translating “will” to political outcome that’s the tricky part.
japa21
@TenguPhule: I am curious if he may be setting a trap. I suppose there can be some claims of executive privilege, but anything relating to prior to the inauguration would not fall under that. IANAL, but wouldn’t withholding documents, if they are subpoenaed fall under the “obstruction of justice” category?
TenguPhule
@japa21:
Yes.
Of course in order to do that you have to prove the existence of the documents first.
Marcopolo
@SatanicPanic: I’m actually not in favor of redoing maps more than once per census. However, filing successful court cases against gerrymandering would be the way to go except now w/ Gorsuch on the SC any case appealed there would probably lose (i.e. What just happened with the Texas gerrymandering case a few weeks ago–SC said they did not have to do new districts ahead of 2018 even though the current ones have been found biased).
Elizabelle
@joel hanes: Examples, please, of the perverse results.
Not snarking; I honestly have not heard of any. One tires of elections decided during the low turnout primary. No wonder people think their vote does not make a difference.
germy
les
@Elizabelle:
Koch money is all over PBS. They’re one of the big funders of Nova, among many others. They’re not true beliver fundies, just unmitigated racist elitist corporatist greed heads. And it’s pocket change for them.
Laura
@joel hanes: Me too. I’d prefer we go back to closed primaries, but keep the redistircting, and move our primaries up -especially for presidential primaries. Take that Iowa!
Elie
@TenguPhule:
That was my maybe nonsensical way to shortcut describing the “system” that would ideally investigate and then bring him to justice. If for example, Mueller found criminality but we couldn’t do anything about it or the system wouldn’t take action on the findings for some reason. (I am more confident that criminality would be punished than some vague “collusion” finding… Hope this makes sense…
trollhattan
@joel hanes:
It was one of the odder Republican inventions and not seeming to help them much, similar to the redistricting commission they conjured up. Regardless, I don’t see much benefit from two Dems slugging it out for every statewide office.
Spanky
@Corner Stone: There is no pan anywhere large enough to catch all the grease.
trollhattan
@Laura:
Stay tuned.
NotMax
@Spanky
Maybe, maybe not.
TenguPhule
On a more cheerful note. Stephen King and his son wrote a new horror novel together.
I think they came up with this when everyone thought Hillary Clinton would win.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@germy:
This bugs me – a lot. Yes, it is high value, high dollar work. The money seems to be excessive given circumstances.
trollhattan
@TenguPhule:
Is “Dooling” a stand-in for Bethany? Asking for a
friendpassel of critters and their hooman.Elizabelle
@TenguPhule: Oh, that sounds good.
ETA: Don’t want to hear any more. No spoilers.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@joel hanes:
Agreed.
Amaranthine RBG
@efgoldman:
It’s not even a question. VP Agnew was indicted
Absolutely no bar in constitution to President being criminally charged
Simply put if Trump were to actually shoot someone on 5th Avenue, it would be silly to argue that he can only be impeached. No reason why other felonies are different. Heck Clinton couldn’t even halt the BS Paula Jones civil suit while in office.
NotMax
@TenguPhule
At least they refrained from titling it Clit!
Elie
@les:
I definitely believe that they and the Mercers are firmly behind the broad changes in the safety net, etc. They are just hiding in sheep’s clothing. Trump is their hood ornament, distracting everyone with his crazzee kabuki — but the lasting damage is being done in the agencies where they are dismantling everything from our national monuments to EPA regs…. and every piece of health care for the poor and disabled that they can get their hands on. I feel desperate to get this stopped in the 2018 Congressionals…
Spanky
Two words in response (if I were JK): “Fuck” and “Off”
ETA: I do like that Kimmel calling Cassidy out as a liar is getting a lot of play, and not in a “tsk tsk” sort of way.
TenguPhule
@Elizabelle:
It got panned as quite bad writing.
Major Major Major Major
@TenguPhule:
Why’s that?
les
@Elie:
Definitely. But the Koch’s aren’t in it because they doubt science or hate the arts or care about undoing women’s rights or, as far as I can tell, bothering god–they are racists, but mostly they just think they should have all the money and be able to do whatever they want to get more. Pure no tax, no regulation platform.
NotMax
@Spanky
Talk about getting their panties in a wad.
Because senators never, ever spout off in front of a microphone.
Elizabelle
@TenguPhule: Meh. I’d read it for the plot.
Stephen King did write the Shawshank Redemption. Who knows if this was mostly Junior’s work, but it’s not your usual plot, it sounds like …
I’m reading Underground Airlines now.
Elizabelle
@Spanky: Why would you pick up the telephone when you have one of the biggest microphones out there, and you know these critters are lying? To your face?
Kasie Hunt is a tool, isn’t she? (I have no idea; I don’t watch NBC or MSNBC.)
Jeffro
@rikyrah:
Which in itself is amazing: they’re essentially admitting they’re hurrying to rob the country (by shortchanging their fellow citizens)…until the policy-making, legislating processes of this country, the formerly greatest democracy in the history of the world, ‘grind to a halt’. Because a Dem wave is coming, but their gerrymandered, bought-off, soulless and corrupt side will be able to keep things stalemated until…when? Forever? And this is desirable? It’s ok? Billionaires’ interests take priority over the normal functioning of our country?
I keep finding myself wanting to reach for a baseball bat…and that’s on a good day…
Hey GOP legislators: if you’d like to be able to sleep at night and not have to twist yourselves into pretzels justifying this kind of crazy crap while dragging the whole country down, how about we find a way to revisit Citizens United? Let’s get some campaign finance reform going so that you don’t spend 51% of your work day trying to fundraise on the phone and on your knees. You just might come out the other side a hero and find yourself living in a functioning democracy to boot.
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major:
Maybe its just me.
Elizabelle
@TenguPhule: PS: I rarely read much of any review, if I might read or watch the work. Too much given away in reviews; it’s more fun to go in not knowing. If the writing is that bad, that will be apparent on a test read in the bookstore. Or at the library. In which case, a skim could do it.
Miss Bianca
@TenguPhule:
Nah!
TenguPhule
@Jeffro:
Implies souls not in evidence.
Major Major Major Major
@Elizabelle: I think Stephen King is an excellent wordsmith.
@TenguPhule: I don’t see what body horror that happens to be about women has to do with Hillary Clinton, and even less what it has to do with whether he thought she would win.
trollhattan
@les:
They’re rabid hard-core small-gummint for small-gummint’s sake Libertarians. For “fun” read the 1980 Libertarian Party platform when David Koch was their VP candidate. It’s extreme even by today’s standards.
TenguPhule
@trollhattan:
No clue. Sorry.
NotMax
@TenguPhule
Mildly (extremely mildly – couldn’t pay me enough to read a complete King book) curious if those who have transitioned from woman to man are immune.
Major Major Major Major
@trollhattan: didn’t their dad co-found the John Birch Society? The asshole doesn’t fall too far from the other asshole.
Elizabelle
@Major Major Major Major: And a very decent guy, with a good sense of humor. 3 cheers for Stephen King. Generous man.
I haven’t read 80% of his stuff, but just to have written Different Seasons is a lot. 3 of those 4 novellas were made into successful movies.
Elie
@les:
But they won’t fight a supremacists agenda if it works toward goals they support. I don’t see the Kochs as allies but enablers of the Mercers and others — who are definitely white supremacists
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@feebog:
Southern states love stand your ground and expanded castle doctrine.
The day a white conservative election official is Second Amendment Solutioned for his acts of stealing the votes of American citizens, the better off everyone will be.
Seems like America is full of Bernards and that there aren’t enough Billy Jacks.
TenguPhule
Colorado Springs police seek runner who won’t stop pooping in front of a family’s house
Major Major Major Major
@Elizabelle: I think he should run for Senator so we can have two Dem-caucusing senators from Maine named King.
ETA if you haven’t seen it, the Celebrity Jeopardy with him and David Duchovny is fantastic.
gene108
@germy:
Per David Brock in “Blinded by the Right”, it was absolutely payback for Iran-Contra and Watergate.
les
@trollhattan:
Well, more small gummint for rich guys’ sake; but yeah. I’ve been living with their creatures in the KS gummint for a long time; they’re not secretive about it.
germy
@gene108: Well then the next Democratic president is in for a world of hurt, unfortunately.
And the NYTimes will be right there to play along.
Elizabelle
@Major Major Major Major: That would be great. They are smart and well-rounded, in real life.
Unlike Wolf Blitzer. He was a clueless magoo on Jeopardy. His producers earn their salary, and even then, he’s a hack …
JerryRich
@TenguPhule: My personal belief is that Generals Kelly, McMaster, and Mattis are racking their brains to find a way to end this nightmare without a military coup.
Major Major Major Major
@gene108: Don’t forget Robert Bork!
Elizabelle
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Wait a while. Stephen King might have been ahead of the curve with his women turning into bloodthirsty killers.
NotMax
@TenguPhule
“What a dump!”
– Martha in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” channeling Bette Davis
les
@Elie:
Oh hell no; daddy was a major John Bircher. I just think they don’t care intensely about anything but money; which is why it’s not surprising they fund science, arts and documentaries on PBS, which was the only point I intended to make way back when. They’re not like a Santorum with money.
germy
@Elizabelle:
I remember “Mr. Wonderful” Kevin O’Leary on celebrity Jeopardy. I was astounded at how little he knew about anything. I think he finished with a negative score. He was stumped by things I learned in grade school.
He knows everything about getting rich and absolutely nothing about anything else.
Jeffro
@Elizabelle: King’s other son, Joe Hill, has written a couple of humdingers.
I’m not sure if I’d love reading as much as I do if I hadn’t read King’s 80’s work like Different Seasons, The Stand, The Shining, and of course the short stories.
Major Major Major Major
@Jeffro: “Autopsy Room Four” is one of my favorite short stories of all time.
glory b
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: I know, right? I was listening to the same broadcast. There was one participant who said that it ILLEGAL or a foreign entity to be involved in our elections, and THAT was the problem.
And the email from the person who said “Well, Chelsea Clinton is on the board of the “Daily Beast?” Yeah, that was effective “pushback.” /s
germy
@Major Major Major Major: Ah… the old Peruvian Boomslang.
trollhattan
@Major Major Major Major:
I think that’s right. Now that we’re rich, let’s put all of our energies into making sure Big Government doesn’t prevent us from becoming richer. One of the brothers founded Cato Institute. I like this bit.
Remember always: George Soros is the real enemy (and we’re not the least antisemitic).
debbie
@germy:
Oh, it will never end. Payback will be committed forever.
Elizabelle
OK, I watched a little of the 1995 matchup between Stephen King, David Duchovny, and Lynn Redgrave, and — my dog could answer those questions.
Fictional Characters: Along the lines of
“This Bronte heroine calls herself Jane Elliott after she flees from Mr. Rochester.”
FWIW, I don’t watch Jeopardy that much any more, but I always thought they made the questions harder for college students and easier for teachers. Dumbed down a bit for teachers, I am sad to say.
Jeopardy knows better than to invite business executives on, I guess.
linky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AkicENv4wk
TenguPhule
Breaking from Wapo.
MomSense
I just retweeted Joe Fucking Scarborough. Pretty sure this is a sign of the end times.
Elizabelle
@MomSense: What did Morning Joke say?
Major Major Major Major
Noted idiot Reihan Salam, who Slate still employs for some reason, writes,
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Major Major Major Major: Heh, not just any idiot, NOTED IDIOT.
NotMax
@Major Major Major Major
Hardly his best work, yet a guilty pleasure favorite SF short story by Brian Aldiss which you might enjoy. Interesting to see how he handles the improbable concept (which would become both cumbersome and tiresome in a more extended format).
Aleta
I met an old friend this summer. The last I’d seen her she’d graduated law school (after years working other stuff). Surprised to find she’s been in DC working for a branch of the Justice Dept. She’s committed to opposition but I didn’t think she was tough enough to put up with the new admin. So I asked, What do your office mates say about Mueller. And that I worried this investigation might be like previous ones involving a president — information buried, people responsible never charged, others pardoned, sentence suspended. Lies to Congress that ended there, findings softened, muddied or ignored.
About opinions of Mueller, she said nothing new. About my fear that the investigation might amount to little in effect, she said, ‘From what I’m hearing, you don’t need to worry about that’ etc. She’s never been the hot air kind who exaggerates for effect; so I’m trying to believe her.
Major Major Major Major
@NotMax: Bookmarked it, thanks.
Elizabelle
Here’s an excerpt of Sleeping Beauties, by Stephen King and Owen King, from SK’s website. He’s out on a book tour; appearances seem to be sold out. Good for him.
MomSense
@Elizabelle:
He said that if you vote to reorder 1/6 of the economy without a CBO score you are not a conservative. You are a dangerous radical.
jl
I bet the money trail goes through Nambia. Mueller needs to beef up his operation with some Nambia experts. It’s really hard to trace money laundering through Nambia, that’s why the Trumpsters picked it to do business.
Elizabelle
@MomSense: True that. I’ve heard it said elsewhere. Not an original sentiment of Mr. Scar, but if he’s saying it, good on him.
debbie
@MomSense:
Are they trying to skip the score? I haven’t heard that. Yikes.
Elie
@Aleta:
My hopes are that there will be key criminal charges…. Criminal charges would be much harder to wiggle out of and would also have a large number of related associates running for the hills. I am less confident if things like “collusion” are found — too squishy, not truly a legal term. I want these fuckers on trial and then ultimately in orange jump suits…. And I want maybe more than one Congressional Republican involved… that would be so so sweet!
NotMax
@Elie
Collusion might – a BIG might, with grains of salt included – engender charges under RICO.
Major Major Major Major
Google Memo guy has been tweeting some, uh, weird stuff about the KKK and Dungeons & Dragons.
Another Scott
@Aleta: Thanks for that.
Here’s hoping.
But we have to do our parts…
Cheers,
Scott.
dmsilev
@Major Major Major Major: I’m thinking there are probably a few Google HR folks looking at that and telling themselves “thank goodness we got rid of him before he went totally nuts”. Or stopping caring about hiding the underlying nuttiness.
MomSense
@debbie:
Yes the CBO cannot complete scoring before the 9/30 deadline. They won’t provide projections on how many people will lose insurance and some other key things.
NotMax
Depraved new world. So happy to live in a state that forbids roadside billboards.
jonas
@NotMax:
Quite right. But per the Constitution, only via impeachment and conviction by 2/3 of the Senate for “high crimes and misdemeanors” can a President be removed from office. What if Congress looks at any indictment and just shrugs its shoulders? They decide what constitutes high crimes when it comes to impeachment and will be perfectly happy to just smile and blame the media or the Deep State or whatever as long as they’re more afraid of Trump’s base of deplorables than they are of the Verdict of History. Unless Democrats score major majorities in both the House and Senate in 2018, Trump — indicted or not — ain’t going anywhere.
Major Major Major Major
@dmsilev: The worst part is, I know this type well, they’re all over the Bay Area. And, like, it’s not like some of us haven’t thought, “gosh, terrible-person-x had a really cool title!” But… I mean, this isn’t even at the level of freshman philosophy class comments, this is… things you think better of before bringing them up in freshman philosophy class.
Doug R
@Johnny Gentle (famous crooner): This is where the genius of having elections every two years may save us.
Trentrunner
Fuck the fucking goddamn autoplay audio ads.
Been coming here less and less…and they ain’t helpin
japa21
@jonas: Indicted, tried found guilty. Even they might feel it is pretty bad having a President sitting in a cell. Looks bad for the country (as if they could care).
Elizabelle
I read the Stephen King excerpt, and there seems to be a continuity error. Narrator leaves on a call in the morning; maybe 15 minutes later she’s looking at late afternoon sunshine.
But I’d like to see how this story turns out.
geg6
@TenguPhule:
Seems like a bit of an allegory for how women have broken out of their country coons and risen up to march and run for office fueled by a righteous anger.
But that’s just me.
NotMax
@jonas
Impeachment and conviction is the ultimate remedy, true. But otherwise being made extraordinarily and emphatically politically tainted, impotent and/or irrelevant ain’t exactly chopped liver.
MomSense
@Doug R:
We have to start now to verify our voter registration status. Given the Russian hacking of elections systems, we can’t sssume our voter data hasn’t been changed or deleted.
Constant vigilance!
Patricia Kayden
GO MUELLER!! Live long and prosper.
Elizabelle
@dmsilev: There’s something really off about Google dude. I wonder how many people like him are at Google.
Last sentences of Molly Roberts’ piece at the WaPost:
Why is there such a market for this, on the right?
ETA: linky: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2017/09/20/james-damore-just-proved-that-google-was-right-to-fire-him/?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-d%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.83a1d521299c#comments
Doug R
@ruemara: Well, in a democracy 2,800,000 more votes would have done it.
NotMax
@Elizabelle
Rampant cargo cultism.
Jeffro
@Major Major Major Major: that one was pretty hysterical…what a nut!
Elie
@jonas:
Sorry — if there are criminal indictments, this is not in the Congress’s ability to derail. Depending on the nature of it, it could be undertaken by state AG or the Justice Department if a Federal Offense. I prefer state AGs — particularly if New York is the state in which it occurred or relates to NY state jurisdiction in some way. Not sure what would happen if the Justice Dept under Sessions refused to indict for a clearly federal indictment. I don’t think that he could easily ignore it and there would be chaos in our legal system if he tried to….
Patricia Kayden
@Trentrunner: Get Autoblock. It blocks all ads including those on Youtube. You can get it on your iphone as well.
geg6
@geg6:
Fucking autocorrect. That’s supposed to be “cocoons”.
Elie
@Elizabelle:
My personal opinion is that he may be on the “spectrum” — like Asperger — which might account in part for the relationship and personality glitches.
Humdog
@rikyrah: I cannot understand why this isn’t plain bribery. The Kochs will give Republicans $400 million if they give them this specific bill to kill the ACA. Seems like the quid and the quo are right there staring us in the face, laughing as they prepare to throw some 30 million of us off health insurance. Any representative who votes for this bill that less than 17% of the public want is showing their vote has been sold. I don’t even think we need the hamstrung FEC. Any R rep with a D district attorney back home could be brought up on bribery, yes please?
Elizabelle
@Elie: Yes. I am seeing that too. Have been wondering.
Patricia Kayden
@germy:
President Obama was squeaky clean so that’s easy to do — just don’t elect a sleazeball like Trump. Not hard at all.
Major Major Major Major
@Elizabelle:
Ooh, nailed it.
@Elie: Nope, he’s an asshole. That is not Aspie-style robotic/clueless, it’s trolling (and lousy trolling at that). Source: was Aspie before they removed it from the DSM, now just weird
ETA: Maybe he’s on the spectrum and trolling, it would explain the stilted and odd take on trolling.
SiubhanDuinne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I cringe every time I hear the “Underwritten by Koch Industries” announcement on NPR.
O/T, I am on the road and having dinner and a well-deserved glass of wine* at a funky little Mexican steakhouse in some town in Kentucky. The chatty owner is Mexican (duh), and my delightful server is Puerto Rican. I spent much time condoling with them on the devastation in their respective countries. Both have family back home, who are safe and well.
*More than one, I have no doubt, before the evening is much older.
Elie
@Major Major Major Major:
Folks on the “Spectrum” vary in severity AND may have other personality or mental disorders also. Oh, I don’t think of it as giving an excuse — any more than Trump’s obvious narcissism and who knows what else, gives him a pass. He can still have his behavior rejected….
rikyrah
@Elizabelle:
Seething is a correct word. Yes…people have not forgotten and are in no mood to forgive.
Patricia Kayden
@Aleta:
I’m wildly optimistic that Mueller hates Trump much more than I do so he’ll do a thorough investigation and scrape up every bit of dirt he can get on Trump and company. He’s going to mess Trump up so badly that Trump is going to regret ever thinking that he should have put his orange behind in the White House. Plus, Mueller is probably going to take down many more people than just Trump. He might take down the entire Republican leadership.
NotMax
@Elie
re: state charges
He may have only been v.p., but Aaron Burr provided a powerful precedent. (Full disclosure: the charges were later thrown out because Hamilton died in NY, not NJ.)
And he may have inadvertently also provided a prescient bit within his final address to the Senate.
Major Major Major Major
@Elie: I do think it’s both, and he was obviously (to me) trying in his memo to hide prejudice behind a bumbling Aspie personality. It sounded like you were saying that these things were a result of his being on the spectrum, which was my objection.
SiubhanDuinne
@Elizabelle:
He was a guest on Nicole Wallace’s MSNBC show. I listened to some of it on the car radio during my drive from Atlanta. Yeah, I’m glad he’s opposed to Graham Cassidy, for whatever reasons. He’s still a noisy, arrogant, know-it-all, interrupting bully.
And then at the end of the hour, when Nicole handed over to Chuckles Toddling/MTP Daily, Chuck actually addressed
Christie as “my friend.”
Journalistic ethics, what the hell are they?
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
Like lavender sachets, artifacts of a more genteel era.
Elie
@Major Major Major Major:
So if I understand correctly, are you are more cynically saying he is feigning the Aspie persona intentionally by purposely looking clueless?
Elizabelle
@Patricia Kayden:
You and I are on the same page. Justice must include ruining McConnell and Ryan.
And then — hello, President Pelosi.
Major Major Major Major
@Elie: I think he’s trying to take advantage of it, not feigning it, but yes.
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne: Are you having a steak?
And don’t let them slip any peas into the guac. No matter what Fuck the Fucking NY Times suggests.
I love Kentucky. Sad that it’s so backward politically, and home to the turtle. Beautiful, beautiful state.
FlipYrWhig
@Corner Stone:
They would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for those meddling kids.
NotMax
@Elizabelle
Huh?
FlipYrWhig
@TenguPhule:
Home of the Dooling Banjos?
Elie
@Major Major Major Major:
After all this, his major driving force was that he probably mostly just didn’t and doesn’t know how to get laid and is having major glandular malfunction, resulting in an itch that he can’t scratch! People’s deepest needs frequently boil down to something elemental like that.
Elizabelle
@NotMax: Thinking Nancy Pelosi will be the only candidate for Speaker who can assemble a majority, since the GOP moderates will be protecting their own tails — and are already sick of the Freedumb Caucus nihilists that box everything up.
Cuz Pence got taken out too. It can be Russian collusion. It can be a homosexual encounter with with a Christian baker who refuses to make cakes for The Gays. I don’t care. But he’s out too. We don’t deserve orange buffoon and white-haired moron in such quick succession.
And then Nancy Smash.
Felonius Monk
@Corner Stone:
There ain’t a spit strong enough to hold that pig.
rikyrah
Bae TaleseVerified account @elongreen
would like to see an analysis of lost productivity because every few weeks we have to call our lawmakers and beg them not to kill us.
5:04 AM – 19 Sep 2017
FlipYrWhig
@Corner Stone: Fine marbling.
SiubhanDuinne
@Major Major Major Major:
Apparently you never read The Stand. One of the worst pieces of turgid overwriting I’ve ever exposed to my eyeballs.
Major Major Major Major
@Elie: After all what?
I know people who write things like this, they’re assholes hiding behind a veneer of cluelessness or “just asking questions!” one and all.
@SiubhanDuinne: I read part of it, allow me to update that to ‘can be an excellent wordsmith’, especially sober.
Elizabelle
@Felonius Monk: Or a sauce that would enhance it.
rikyrah
BREAKING: Manafort offered to give Russian billionaire ‘private briefings’ on 2016 campaign
September 20 at 5:04 PM
Less than two weeks before Donald Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination, his campaign chairman offered to provide briefings on the race to a Russian billionaire closely aligned with the Kremlin, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Paul Manafort made the offer in an email to an overseas intermediary, asking that a message be sent to Oleg Deripaska, an aluminum magnate with whom Manafort had done business in the past, these people said.
“If he needs private briefings we can accommodate,” Manafort wrote in the July 7, 2016, email, portions of which were read to The Washington Post along with other Manafort correspondence from that time.
Felonius Monk
@SiubhanDuinne:
Enjoy your dinner and the glass of wine. Safe travelling, dear lady.
NotMax
@Elizabelle
Double impeachment lickety split not gonna play out in this universe, absolutely not without an intervening taking of office as veep of someone under the 25th amendment. Plus, Pelosi is currently 77, would be pushing 80 by the time such a scenario would take place.
Beyond pie in the sky; more akin to Rumplemeyer’s in the sky.
YMMV.
Aussie Sheila
@The Moar You Know:
Word. The heart of the mess is that nearly half the electorate don’t vote in Presidential elections, and over half don’t vote in local races where offices really matter for people’s day to day experience of government.
I know compulsory voting wouldn’t fly in the US, but until the US left can find a way to deal with an exclusionary and unfair election system ( and here I’m not even thinking of outright efforts to suppress the right to vote aimed at normally democratic electorates), the Right in the US has no incentive to tone down the class warfare and deal at least respectfully, with their opponents.
If more precious and scarce time was spent in ensuring that the right to vote and have your ballot honestly counted was seen as a civil right, and less time ‘falling in love’ with putative Presidential candidates, the fight against a revanchist right might be a tad less exhausting.
It’s absolutely shocking to an outsider that voting occurs on working days. How are working people expected to rock up and wait in line, missing perhaps a couple of much needed work shifts, just to vote for people that probably won’t do much for them?
Trump is a symptom, not the cause of the rot, but unfortunately he presents a real and present danger to the rest of us. Grrrrrr
rikyrah
Uh huh
Uh huh
Hold my earrings.
These muthaphuckas HERE!!
GrahamCassidy @GrahamCassidyOR
We only have one last chance to repeal Obamacare! The deadline is 9/30! Call your Senator before we run out of time!
https://twitter.com/GrahamCassidyOR/status/910496198791921664
rikyrah
yep
Julia Davis @JuliaDavisNews
The Kremlin is telling everyone not to take Morgan Freeman’s video seriously.
What it means in the real world: take it very seriously.
https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/910516178338037760
Jim, Foolish Literalist
efgoldman
@Elie:
Adam has mentioned a couple of times that Evil Leprechaun will have no say. The prosecutions, if any, will be handled by the intelligence division pf DOJ. They don’t report up thru the AG.
Mnemosyne
@The Moar You Know:
You may want to re-read the stories about Republican House members being supplied with opposition research courtesy of Russian hackers before you make that pronouncement.
NotMax
@efgoldman
And he’s wearing the Necklace of Multiple Recusals.
SiubhanDuinne
@Elizabelle:
Nope, not my month for red meat. I had pollo grande, could only finish about half of it. Having dessert now, a lovely creamy custardy flan. And a second glass of wine, before I wander back across the street to my hotel room.
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne: Enjoy.
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
Be on the lookout for lawyers sitting outside the steak house loudly discussing their clients’ business.
Hear that’s a thing now.
;)
SiubhanDuinne
@Elizabelle:
So many states that are just beautiful but that, for some perverse reason, keep hacking up terrible pols like so many hairballs. I feel that way about nearly all of the South, and most of those spectacular but weirdly Libertarian states out West.
SiubhanDuinne
@FlipYrWhig:
Nanny nanny boo boo.
Timurid
@NotMax:
That plot gives an entirely new meaning to “28 Days Later.”
Corner Stone
@FlipYrWhig:
I’ve heard it was personal and that they were nursing a grudge.
NotMax
@Timurid
It’s a period piece?
Mnemosyne
@rikyrah:
That’s why WE need to keep calling and writing. Drown them out like we did those pathetic Nazis in Boston and make it clear that the vast majority of the country hates this bill.
SiubhanDuinne
@Felonius Monk:
Thanks. Had hoped to do another hour or more on the road before finding a hotel, but was suddenly overcome with fatigue (also lethargy and inertia). Glad I quit when I did.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: No pacemaker for the squirt, I was too much of a worrywart.
japa21
@rikyrah: They must think they don’t have the votes.
sm*t cl*de
@NotMax:
Jack Kerouac and Bill Burroughs are the people to ask.
efgoldman
@Mnemosyne:
Either they’re delusional, or they don’t give a flying fuck and/or they’re blinded by their ideology.
japa21
@efgoldman: All 3
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@Elizabelle: If a primary has low turnout, then people’s vote count for more! But these people don’t want to vote in a primary? I don’t get it.
NotMax
@raven
Hesitant to bring it up before, but there has to be an aftermarket in (how to put this delicately?) previously owned pacemakers.
raven
@NotMax: That used to be all there was for doggies but now they make them specifically for them. I was worried that her “Sick Sinus Syndrome” was causing her breathing issues but her heart is doing well for her breed and age so we just muddle through.
MomSense
@raven:
How is the pup feeling? I can imagine the heat and humidity of summer are tough.
Spanky
@TenguPhule:
Because I have nowhere near the restraint the Post writers/editors do. Plus, I’m congenitally and terminally sophomoric.
raven
@MomSense: She’s actually fine. She’s made lots of noise while breathing for a long time. She crazy for food and scratching so, for a deaf and blind pup, she’s doing ok.
Spanky
@TenguPhule:
Fake news! Everybody knows magnates only work on iron, never aluminum.
Gravenstone
@SiubhanDuinne: I liked The Stand. Especially since it name checks a wee little town not 3 miles from the family farm, in which I also attended grades 3-8. Always wondered how he happened to pick the place.
jonas
@Elie: Of course Congress can’t interfere in an indictment. The question is if being indicted by a federal grand jury — or even convicted — automatically leads to removal from office if Congress won’t impeach over it.
Spanky
@Spanky: Aaaaaand I’ve killed another thread. It’s OK, though. This one lived too long.
Upstairs, everybody!
jonas
@Mnemosyne:
Since when do Republican congresspeople give a shit about what “most of the country” wants? They care about what the batshit base voters in their districts think. Them, and the Kochs and Mercers. That’s it.
jonas
@japa21: Trump could still sign tax cuts sitting in a cell.
frosty
@The Moar You Know:
We are. Look at Maryland. We’re just not doing it as much.
(I’m not endorsing it BTW. I think California went the right way.)
jonas
@rikyrah:
First thought: [in the voice of Jay Chandrasekhar’s patrolman character from Supertroopers watching the crazy speeding asshole guy blow past him]: “Mother of God.”
Second thought: What’s the intention of leaking this stuff? To scare other Trumpistas? Or to screw up Mueller’s case? If all this stuff — some of which might be accurate, some not — is all floating around before he’s even indicted, what effect does that have on the case going forward? Any lawyers care to weigh in?
WaterGirl
@Trentrunner: Please install an ad blocker. I would hate to see you go.
Shana
@jonas: Which explains why NPR is now Nice Polite Republicans. That and Congress threatening them a couple of years ago.
J R in WV
@Elie:
@NotMax:
Guys, Collusion is a synonym for Conspiracy, which is the word used in the Legal World. And conspiracy to commit a crime is definitely a crime itself. The Rs have been using the word collusion instead of conspiracy exactly because it is a synonym not used in Law.
They want everyone to understand that while they may have colluded with Russians, there’s nothing illegal about that. Which is only correct in a vastly unimportant technical way. Mr Mueller won’t be using the word colluded in his work, and neither will his large and highly experienced staff.
rikyrah
@Elizabelle:
Pence is wrapped up in
The Flynn Mess
The Firing of James Comey
Omnes Omnibus
@J R in WV: This is basically spot on.
germy
sm*t cl*de
@germy:
Sounds like a rat’s-eye perspective on the seaworthiness of the vessel.
JanieM
@Trentrunner: I use Adblock Plus. Works great. You can always send a bit of $ to the kitty if you feel guilty. That works great too, even for the PayPal-impaired, like me.
ETA: ABP has a whitelist feature in case you want to read a site that blocks you if you use an ad blocker. I assume all the ad blockers do. It’s easy as pie to install; I have it on Firefox and Chrome.
NotMax
@J R in WV
One the other hand, collusion is a wider umbrella. One can envision the feasibility of someone (lesser players) colluding with conspirator(s) while being kept out of the loop of an active conspiracy or direct participation therein. With some of the monies involved, one reason I mentioned RICO.
Omnes Omnibus
@NotMax: Sorry, JR nailed it.
Citizen Alan
@TenguPhule: Interestingly it sounds kind of like a gender flipped version of the Screwfly Solution. Instead of a plague that drives men to kill women, it’s a plague that does the opposite. The no-sleep angle adds a little bit of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
J R in WV
@Omnes Omnibus:
Thanks. Not a lawyer, (thank Dog) but watch them working closely, and a bit of a grammar nazi. Plus others have said much what I said, that I read somewhere.
At work I had to transfer legal realities into software, a nearly impossible task when no Lawyer with the Agency will give you a straight Yes or No answer to a seemingly simple question about a rule, regulation, or law.
Eta small correction.
NotMax
@Omnes Omnibus
Respectfully disagree. It’s not that pat.
Daddio7
So non citizens who want a better life can walk in, bringing their children and we should welcome them. Some cities give these non citizens the right to vote. Why get upset if non citizens try to rally voters for a certain candidate? Certainly not because these happen to be white non citizens, that would be racist. The news media made it abundantly clear what a terrible person Trump was, it is not that he flew in under the radar, trying to fool people. He would say outrageous tings just because. I was sure he was trying to lose but won anyway. We all know the election was legitimate because we have been told over and over how rare voter fraud is.