One of the few Trump critics in the House GOP is skipping town JUUUUUUST before Mueller's likely report on obstruction of justice. What leadership. Such service. https://t.co/DtZGvE4Ixd
— Zeddy (@Zeddary) April 17, 2018
After discussions with my family & careful reflection, I have decided to leave Congress in the coming weeks. Serving the people of #PA15 has been a tremendous responsibility & the privilege of a lifetime. pic.twitter.com/p8mik6s8ix
— Rep. Charlie Dent (@RepCharlieDent) April 17, 2018
Why? Is Cohen your lawyer too?
— Melinda Ebelhar (@LindyLawyer) April 17, 2018
From the hometown Philadelphia Inquirer:
Dent, regularly sought out by national media outlets as one of Congress’ leading centrist voices and a frequent critic of President Trump, had already said he was not seeking reelection this year. A busy primary was already underway to replace him in his Allentown-based district. But his departure next month will open up a congressional seat and remove his voice from the daily fray even sooner.
The vacancy could also trigger another special election — though it’s unclear whether it would occur before November’s general election.
By law, Gov. Wolf must decide within 10 days of Dent’s departure when to hold a special election. It would have to be at least 60 days after Dent’s departure. That would mean any vote to fill the seat would happen well after Pennsylvania’s May primary, and in July at the earliest. At that point, there would be less than six months left in the term, with Congress planning to be in recess for much of that time. One option that would spare the state added expense – but leave the district without a representative – would be to hold the special election concurrently with November’s general election…
The Washington Post adds:
… A special election called before the Nov. 6 general election could force Republicans to spend millions to defend the seat. Democrat Conor Lamb won a March special election in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District, which Trump had won by 20 points in 2016. Dent’s district is much more competitive for Democrats — it went for Trump by eight points — and it is set to become even more competitive after a court-ordered redistricting. But a special election would fill the seat based on the existing lines.
Whatever happens next, Charlie Dent is determined not to be paying for it.
And speaking of Sensible Centrists, here’s another Media Village Idiot favorite in action:
CHATTANOOGA — It took Bob Corker 21 seconds to begin answering the question.
If the election were held today, would you vote for Donald Trump? …
“If the election were held today between the same two candidates,” he offered, “I would.”
He reconsidered.
“Why don’t you say, ‘probably,’ ” he said, running his hand through a tuft of white hair and bouncing a shiny black shoe under the table. “Between the same two candidates, ‘probably.’ ”…
Would the senator have voted for Trump, knowing that it would turn out like this? That his fate — his party’s, his country’s — would be bound up in the balled fists of a 71-year-old chaos agent?
Corker excused himself to the restroom. He returned a few minutes later in doubt.
“I want to think about that answer,” he said. “It’s a pretty defining thing.”…
After leaving the coffee shop, Corker continued to mull his hypothetical vote.
“I really want to think about that last answer,” Corker said climbing into an SUV on his way to an event with the local chamber of commerce. “I think it’s an unfair question for a reporter to ask. . . That might be my answer.”…
Portraits in custard, every one.
dmsilev
Wow, real profile in courage there Senator.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
Robert Mueller warns that ‘many stories about our investigation have been inaccurate’
Can anyone tell what the deal with this is?
Mary G
Corker really stands out as the biggest asshole in a huge group of assholes. What a schmuck.
Baud
One of the worst things we could do is pretend that there is some other, less hated Dem candidate who would be able to win them over.
debbie
They’ve always been cowards with power. Strip them of that power and this is what you get. I should think their supporters will be unamused by this unseemly retreat.
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
(*dies laughing*)
trollhattan
@Mary G:
*a.k.a. Typical 21st century Republican.
debbie
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
I think it’s a signal to Trump to calm the fuck down.
Baud
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: The focus of the investigation has moved toHillary’s servers.
TenguPhule
Custard can be stiffened after spending some time in a freezer.
GOP, not so much.
Baud
@debbie: To their credit, their supporters only care that their politicians win elections.
Barbara
I don’t know too much about Corker, but a lot of these guys on the way out — including Ryan — are keeping mum so they don’t lose their value as lobbyists. They hope to be lobbying their current colleagues in the near future and they don’t want to burn any bridges on the way out. It’s not even spinelessness, it is pure venality in service to something they know is wrong.
TenguPhule
@Baud:
You have therefore condemned us to see a ritual shaming of Hillary Clinton by the party in the 2020 primary.
efgoldman
@debbie:
The only signal Weasel Face might receive is a 2×4 applied cranially
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Prague, maybe.
Baud
@TenguPhule: That would make my choice easier.
trollhattan
Bug=feature, Wisconsin edition. Telling us what we already knew.
TenguPhule
@Baud:
Not sure “Fuck this, burn it all down” is a valid option.
Baud
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
It means Trump is not a reliable source.
dopey-o
@debbie:
“many” is not “most”. i think Bobby 3-sticks is just messing with the *resident. why else would he speak out?
Baud
@TenguPhule: It always is.
efgoldman
@trollhattan:
Didn’t WI lose (and then ignore) a federal court ruling? Time to find some officials in contempt
TenguPhule
@efgoldman:
And which DOJ would be in charge of that?
efgoldman
@TenguPhule:
Local USA could file
TenguPhule
@efgoldman:
Scott C. Blader is a Trump appointee.
So is Matthew D. Krueger .
trollhattan
Heh. Mother Jones did a video rollup of Hannity serially defending Cohen.
“But I hardly know the guy.”
trollhattan
@efgoldman:
Yes, they essentially did. Their DMV for instance was supposed to issue ID cards and people going there to request one would get blank stares.
SFAW
@trollhattan:
Ari Berman’s work there did not get enough airplay, unfortunately.
Brachiator
More proof that the “tax cuts” are a massive con job:
Meanwhile, Trump announces that he is going to file an extension.
But you still ain’t seeing his tax returns.
TenguPhule
Trump now claiming high level direct talks with North Korea have occurred. Via Wapo.
That must be a surprise to whoever is left in the State Department.
NonyNony
@dmsilev:
That reads like dialogue that was rejected by the Veep writer’s room for being too “on the nose” for satire.
Chyron HR
@Brachiator:
DID Trump file his taxes last year? Inquiring minds want to know.
Roger Moore
@TenguPhule:
I’m not so sure. I propose freezing the entire Republican party out of power for a couple of decades to test this hypothesis.
rikyrah
The Turtle on the efforts to protect Bobby Three Sticks.
He?Is?A? Traitor ?
https://twitter.com/frankthorp/status/986351014822514698?s=19
les
@TenguPhule:
I don’t know–I think we need to try this, to be sure.
Roger Moore
@efgoldman:
Rectal application might work, too.
WaterGirl
@Roger Moore: Ouch.
TenguPhule
The Koreans are fucked.
Brachiator
@Chyron HR:
Trump filed an extension for his 2016 taxes. Later, he refused to release them, again claiming that he was under audit.
He ain’t never releasing his returns, and his supporters don’t care.
sukabi
@TenguPhule: no, Putin called Donnie Dollhands and told him the talks went swell.
Roger Moore
@WaterGirl:
The goal is to get his attention; “ouch” is one way of doing so.
bemused
@dmsilev:
If he can’t take the heat answering that question, yeah, he’s a republican asshole. So unfair to have to answer a question honestly.
karen marie
@debbie: They find some way to blame Democrats for making them look bad.
Mike in NC
Have driven through Allentown several times. Old white people. Prime Trump territory, no doubt.
ChrisH
I was going to say this GOP rep was being a bit two-faced…bit that Hoke doesn’t quite work cuse it’s Charlie Dent, bot Harvey
karen marie
@karen marie: Why don’t I have permission to edit my own comment that I made ten seconds ago?
Anyway, I was just going to add that, as we all know, the Party of Personal Responsibility is never responsible for anything.
Boussinesque
@rikyrah: I think, more than anyone other than Trump, I most want to see McConnell get his public comeuppance. Between halting progress during the Obama administration, blocking action against the Russians during the election, and aiding and abetting the looting by the current administration, he’s done more than practically anyone else to enable the mess we find ourselves in. Dog grant me that we’ll actually get to see him held accountable for it.
MisterForkbeard
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: That was my guess, too: I haven’t seen much corroboration of the “Mueller can place Cohen in Prague” bit, but it’s pretty important. You’d think we’d have more sources telling us about this, so it’s a good candidate for being inaccurate.
Though it’s ALSO possible that this is basic protective doctrine from Mueller. Saying “these news reports are wrong” is a good way of persuading Trump to not attack Mueller.
Mike in NC
@Chyron HR: Trump signed an Executive Order today that stated that he and his family are exempt from paying federal income taxes. Because he gets two scoops and anything else he wants!
Brachiator
@TenguPhule:
Next, Trump will give the sun permission to rise, and allow the moon to set.
B.B.A.
Since it’s an open thread, I’d like to apologize to everyone for everything. I’m sure I’ve offended even the gods. What else could explain the NY gov primary choice between the execrable DINO Andy Cuomo and the absurd BernieSis Cynthia Nixon? I know I’ve been bad, but I didn’t think I was bad enough to force my entire home state into this nightmare. It’s sackcloth and ashes for me.
Ninedragonspot
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: I remember reading somewhere that not only is Business Insider unreliable, it is intentionally unreliable. Caveat lector.
SiubhanDuinne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I was also thinking Prague. Cohen is such a prevaricator and such a little sewer rat (no offense to actual sewer rats) that I guess he is capable of flat-out lying about never having been in Prague, but with stakes this high I’m at a loss as to why he would if there’s any possibility of Mueller’s having evidence to the contrary. I mean, even Cohen couldn’t be quite that reckless. Could he?
Mike in NC
“Invertebrate” is the perfect term for the likes of Paul Ryan and Bob Corker. Always put party before country even as you step off the Titanic.
tobie
I gather that Kimba Woods is likely to appoint a special master to review Cohen’s materials before released to the FBI. Curious what the lawyers on this site think of the decision. I know Cohen and Trump wanted to appoint a special master of their choosing, and Woods didn’t grant them that, but she did open the door for them to contest the review of material by the FBI. This on the heels of Woods’ vacillation yesterday on whether the name of Cohen’s third client should be revealed makes me think she suffers from a liberal-discomfort-with-power-syndrome.
SiubhanDuinne
@Mike in NC:
Do you know, I read that and for a couple of seconds I actually thought it was true — not that he’s exempt, but that he would sign an E.O. to that effect. Because you know he totally would.
Well played, sir.
Fleeting Expletive
This ear worm has followed me all day (second verse):
I give you the state of statesmen
And the key to what motivates them
On the left,on the right, on the nail
Still I don’t see a man in a mansion
That an accurate pen won’t puncture
Go to town, go to hell, go to jail …
Emerson, Lake and Palmer “Hallowed be thy name”
tobie
@B.B.A.: I hear you. I have BernieBro Ben Jealous running for Governor in my state in a crowded Democratic field, and it looks like self-labeled progressives will consolidate around him and all other Democratic voters will be split among 6 other candidates.
Geeno
@B.B.A.: You know you have to vote Nixon, right? Cuomo needs to be broken. Not just for his own sake, but you know there are other Dem machine pols taking notes.
Baud
@B.B.A.:
I thought she was a Hillary person. Did she cross over?
Elizabelle
@Brachiator: Did they have to kiss his ring, too?
Trump has a limited vocabulary and an exalted idea of his role as monarch-king of America. A little surprised to hear Comey describe Trump as of “above average” intelligence, but I guess he is. In his role as an American citizen.
As a POTUS: shudder.
It shouts volumes that Trump did not find himself having to resign from any corporate boards. Because the business community accurately assessed his value there. (As POTUS to sign the tax cuts grab, different standards.)
Tokyokie
If, as is the case with me, you read “freezer” in regard to GOP lawmakers with the prison slang meaning of “solitary,” then yeah, a couple of weeks there might strengthen their resolve.
geg6
I do not understand why Dent is doing this. He’s one of the last partially sane Republicans left. He’s already not running and will be out of there in January. There has to be something else going on, a job offer that won’t wait, a sex scandal, an illness. It doesn’t seem like something Dent would do for no discernible reason.
Baud
@tobie:
Google says you are wrong (for now, at least).
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-poll-tracker-2018-primary-20180110-htmlstory.html
Ksmiami
@Roger Moore: ooh first can we cryovac them?
SiubhanDuinne
The gods in their wisdom know I am the furthest thing from a Nikki Haley fan, but I have to admit I’m taking some pleasure in seeing her push back at Trump and Kudlow’s attempts to toss her under that oncoming bus.
geg6
@Baud:
She did support Hillary. I don’t know where this idea came from that she is some kind of Bernista. She was not.
SiubhanDuinne
@Geeno:
NIXON’S THE ONE!
Elizabelle
Does anyone know what happens WRT constituent services when a congresscritter resigns (or dies)? Does the office remain open to assist them?
Chaka Fattah resigned (after corruption conviction) in late June 2016; he was replaced in special election on Election Day (the 11/9 tragedy).
geg6
@SiubhanDuinne:
She’s getting what she deserves for serving the devil. Fuck her.
SiubhanDuinne
@geg6:
I know. It’s been puzzling me all day.
Baud
@geg6: I fear people are assuming that strong progressive = Bernie supporter.
Elizabelle
@geg6: Keep us posted, because it seems out of character for Dent to abandon his constituents like that. Particularly for a job (unless it’s in the nonprofit sphere … big maybe there …)
What made him decide to jump now?
trollhattan
@SiubhanDuinne:
The name is gold, Jerry, pure GOLD!
trollhattan
BTW, the SW Air 737 engine explosion was some crazy shit. Sadly, one fatality sadly but wow, kudos to the flight crew!
Mike in NC
@tobie: Ben Jealous is a great name. A favorite of mine from a novel I enjoyed was “Benny Profane”.
SiubhanDuinne
@Brachiator:
Now you mention it, his particular brand of toxic narcissism does have a strong whiff of Chanticleer about it.
Roger Moore
@Ksmiami:
I was trying to make it clear that the freezing was figurative, not literal. The literal version should only be tried after the figurative.
trollhattan
@Baud:
We need a sign, something to watch for. Brand of chai? What color is my hybrid? Sarandon bucks? How can we tell?!?
Fair Economist
@B.B.A.:
Fortunately, that’s not the real situation. Cynthia Nixon supported Hillary during the primary.
@Baud: Even more the assumption strong progressive = problematic Bernie supporter. Most Bernie supporters are just fine.
Baud
@trollhattan: I don’t think they hide it.
Chyron HR
@Baud:
That’s okay, LOSING the primary is even better for “progressive” candidates because burning shit down is a lot easier than having to win the general election.
debbie
@SiubhanDuinne:
My local NPR station began running this show, based on a podcast. Yes, it’s that hated place, but the episodes have really been quite good. Today was all about Michael Cohn. Turns out he’s really a personal injury lawyer. That explains that horrid suit jacket of his.
Brachiator
O/T and wow. Because of efile processing issues, the IRS has just extended tax season by one day.
Don’t think I’ve ever seen this.
And Trump and the GOP still want to screw with the IRS instead of strengthening it.
raven
Barbara died.
Chet Murthy
@Geeno: It’s not just b/c Cuomo is a “machine pol”. He masterminded the “Independent Democratic Conference” that handed the NYS Senate to the Rethugs. He’s got a shit-ton to answer for, that fucker.
ETA: And tons more to answer for. But this one thing alone, should see him drummed out of public life for fucking good. Goddamn traitor.
Elizabelle
@raven: For sure this time? RIP.
Baud
@raven: Trump’s not going to like the loss of attention.
Elizabelle
Appears to be so. CBS tweet.
TenguPhule
@Brachiator:
Expecting more of this once they cut the IRS budget again.
Chet Murthy
@geg6: Root for injuries. It’s delicious. And in a time of bitter seeds every goddamn day, Every. Goddamn. Day. I’ll take it. But yeah, afterwards, to hell with her and the party she rode in on. As an Indian-American, it *especially* rankles. *Especially*.
TenguPhule
@raven:
We should speak only good of the dead.
She’s dead. Good.
Elizabelle
CBS has this item up.
TenguPhule
@Elizabelle:
Choke harder please. Fatally, preferable.
Elizabelle
CNN has Mrs. Bush death as breaking news banner.
tobie
@Baud: That February poll has been around for a while. Unfortunately there aren’t any more recent polls. I was supporting the only woman running for Governor this cycle but she doesn’t seemed to have gained much traction. What a pity.
@Mike in NC: It wasn’t until I read Moby Dick that I learned that people with “virtue names” like Charity, Faith, Prudence, Chastity, etc. were generally Quakers. I don’t know what the history of “vice names” are.
Calouste
@SiubhanDuinne: My guess is that Cohen thought he covered all his tracks (using a second passport, entering the EU via a different country, using a burner phone, etc.), and then did something stupid like sending an email from a public computer in Prague.
TenguPhule
@Calouste:
Credit card receipts. You betcha!
Elizabelle
@TenguPhule: You are a fast reader. ;-)
JaneSays
Barbara Bush has just died. Condolences to her family.
Wapiti
@tobie:
IANAL, but I think I read that the government didn’t have a big problem with a special master being used. (Both the government taint team and the special master would likely rule the same way on 99% of the evidence).
I think the problematic point is – ok, who’s fit to be the special master? As far as I’m concerned, I’d trust a government team more than anyone with (R) behind their name. And the shitbag in chief likely won’t trust any (D).
TenguPhule
@JaneSays:
Ahem.
Fuck em.
TenguPhule
@Wapiti:
Long past time this shit was addressed. Appoint a D and let the chips fall where they may.
Elizabelle
WaPost had a Retropolis post today on the death of young daughter Robin. Photo of Mr. and Mrs. with 7 year old George W …
CNN just saying BB though Jeb was the smarter of the two sons … (in politics) …
TenguPhule
@Elizabelle: One tries.
Chet Murthy
@Calouste: I remember reading recently that Prague is as-heavily CCTV-infested as London. Perhaps they simply have him on video.
Steeplejack
@Ninedragonspot:
Do you have a citation for that?
Roger Moore
@Brachiator:
Of course they do. Lowering tax rates isn’t enough; they want to prevent effective enforcement so they can safely skip out on paying even the little they still owe.
Mike in NC
@TenguPhule: Amen!
Aimai
@tobie: no you moron.
Just the Facts
@JaneSays: Well, she was over-privileged anyway, so I think this will work out very well for her.
Rot in hell, you overprivileged snake. Your husband was spineless, your progeny are garbage, and your family is not the fucking Kennedys.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Elizabelle:
“Please Clap.”
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
@Mary G: Hey, he beat Harold Ford JR. Granted, there was race-baiting involved, as you would expect from a Republican, but those were out choices.
JaneSays
Sweet. This thread has turned into the Breitbart comment section.
Mike in NC
Ha! Did Babs issue a deathbed apology for the actions of her husband and vile children?
TenguPhule
@Roger Moore:
Worse, they don’t want any pesky audits questioning their huge refunds from their new tax credits.
Elizabelle
Anyway, Robin complained of tiredness; on the diagnosis of leukemia, parents whisked her up to NYC/Sloan Kettering (a Bush uncle was on medical staff there). Sounds like W only saw his sister again once … and the photo of the Bushes 2 years after their first daughter’s death: they look so young. So young.
‘One last time’: Barbara Bush had already faced a death more painful than her own
Can you imagine, for all of them? Photo of Robin; she looks a lot like W. It’s startling.
TenguPhule
@Mike in NC:
We’re still waiting for her apologies about New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina.
FlyingToaster
@JaneSays: Concern Troll is Concerned.
Shalimar
@Elizabelle: Barbara Bush had 3 sons. If Jeb was the smart one and George W. was the dumb one, Neil must have been the embarrassment.
Chet Murthy
@Mike in NC: Other than being married into the Bush Crime Family and being a bit of a harridan, what else did she do to merit such opprobrium? I fully agree, that GHWB and the boys should get *no* condolences, only “hope you suffer every night, you fuckers”. But what did Babs do?
ETA: those guys: traitors, war criminals, haters of democracy. Just to be clear.
TenguPhule
@Elizabelle: I prefer to reserve my remaining reserves of empathy for all the fucking victims of the Bush clan.
No offense to you meant.
cmorenc
@Mary G:
No, the galling thing is that as huge an asshole as Corker is, he is, on a relative scale, at the mild end of the spectrum of GOP assholes. Consider e.g. Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, and Mitch McConnell, and even *they* are not the biggest flaming assholes in the group. The competition for GOP’s biggest asshole is a fierce one, with many formidable competitors for that title.
Elizabelle
@Shalimar: Even worse. There’s a Marvin too! Four sons.
One surviving daughter, Doro.
Elizabelle
@TenguPhule: None taken.
TenguPhule
@Chet Murthy:
Ahem, I have fucking receipts.
Mike in NC
Based on a few minutes of viewing MSNBC, expect to see at least a week of Bush family nostalgia from our useless corporate media. Demi-gods they were!
Chet Murthy
@Chet Murthy: @TenguPhule: Oh, right. Katrina. Ugh. Yeah, that was pretty evil. But still, not sure I see that it’s enough to dance on her grave.
Now GHWB & W? Yeah, we should dance on their graves if we can. Jeb? He did his part to destroy democracy and our country, by getting his bro elected. So ditto. And Neil? Fucking criminal that guy.
Calouste
@Chet Murthy: That awful jacket should be easy to spot.
Baud
@Mike in NC:
She just died a few minutes ago. Not sure you can predict the how the rest of the week will go based on that.
smintheus
@Elizabelle: It’s completely in character for Dent. He has almost never stood up in a meaningful way against the Republican House caucus. He can’t be unaware now that there’s a high likelihood that things are going to come completely unstuck between now and January, and Dent doesn’t want to embarrass himself either by taking votes on or answering questions about Trump’s crimes or the Republicans’ abject failure to hold Trump accountable. Dent wants a future within the Republican Party, and possibly has his eyes on a Senate run once voters start to forget how horrible the GOP is.
TenguPhule
@Chet Murthy: I haven’t even brought up her support for W Bush. Just going into detail on that alone would crash WP in a comment posting.
It earns her her own tentacle demon reservation in the Abyss.
TenguPhule
@Baud:
Remember when Nancy Reagan died?
Like that, only even more repulsive.
jl
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Who knows? The statement was made to the Washington Times. So… Mueller is not planning to put Hillary, Barack, Nancy, and Joe in jail? Or… whatever…
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: I upped my popcorn supply, just in case.
Elizabelle
@smintheus: That makes sense. Might be. You wonder what the GOP have been hearing behind closed doors.
[I wish we’d get one of them drunk-typing in here one night or day!]
I am still curious about constituents whose congresscritter ditched them, though. Assume the constituent staff stays on to assist?
r€nato
@SiubhanDuinne: Haley seems like one of the few in this criminal administration who is neither deeply corrupt nor hopelessly in over her head.
Roger Moore
@Wapiti:
I think Jim Comey is still looking for work…
Baud
@TenguPhule: I don’t remember actually.
jl
I didn’t know Dent was supposed by anyone to be a moderate GOPer. I guess I am out of it.
Elizabelle
@Chet Murthy: I truly don’t think GHWBush was that dreadful. Although he did appoint Clarence Thomas. (And for all we know, privately regrets that.)
W was a horrible president, but he gets brownie points for keeping his yap shut out of office. He’s actually improving as a painter, too. But not a good POTUS.
Cheney: now there was a fucker. Not gonna miss him one bit.
Elizabelle
@jl: He is moderate sounding, and apparently does try to work across the aisle. That said, I think he’s got a 92% record of voting with the GOP?
But not a mouthbreather.
There is your GOP hero, 2018 version.
smintheus
@Mike in NC: Allentown is heavily Democratic. Some of them have driven through your town and had an equally low opinion of it.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@Baud: worse: he might have to cancel tomorrow’s round of golf
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl:
I’ll…alert…the…media.
Roger Moore
@Chet Murthy:
She raised those boys. I’m sure a huge reason Jenna and Barbara II have turned out so much better than their father is because Laura is a much better mother than Barbara I was.
ETA: and I really think bad parenting is involved. One evil child could happen to anyone. Two is pushing it. Three is a sure sign of bad parenting.
No Drought No More
I call on Las Vegas bookmakers to post odds on whether or not Trump will be invited to the funeral of Barbara Bush. I’d bet: no invite, on the late first ladies insistence. I mean, like the first instruction in her will..
tobie
@Wapiti: Thanks. My understanding is that the court would choose the Special Master, not Cohen or Trump, which is what they asked for. If this is the case, I wonder why the court couldn’t just decide to go with the Taint Team, as originally planned. (There’s something about these terms–special master, taint team–that makes you feel like you’re living a Monty Python skit.)
@Aimai: Classy.
Chet Murthy
@Elizabelle: GHWB masterminded Iran-Contra. That’s enough to blot his copybook. And then there’s the massive evidence he was part of conspiring with the Iranians before the 1980 election. But I’m leaving that out, b/c unproven. Iran-Contra is enough. And then, yeah, Clarence Thomas, and who-knows-what-else. He’s no elder fucking statesman in my book.
smintheus
@Elizabelle: We’ll find out. I’ve never found Dent’s office to be useful in any way, but others no doubt think differently.
TenguPhule
@Baud:
I do. It was a farce.
Catholic Canonizations aren’t that over the top.
Mike in NC
@r€nato: We live next to SC, and there are many good reasons to be creeped out by their last governor, Nikki Haley. Hopefully she has no future in national politics.
Sab
@Mike in NC: Bush family nostalgia on tv should drive Trump absolutely bonkers.
TenguPhule
@Roger Moore: What about all four?
TenguPhule
@No Drought No More:
What are the odds he crashes the funeral for attention anyway?
As I recall, he has a history of going where he’s not wanted.
efgoldman
@FlyingToaster:
Concern troll or ordinary russbot troll?
TenguPhule
@Chet Murthy:
Because the lawless fucker pardoned everyone involved in it and Congress fucked up on Ollie North.
Elizabelle
@Sab:
Why yes. That’s kind of perfect.
TenguPhule
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
That was the day his candidacy truly died.
Chet Murthy
@Roger Moore:
Nobody will dance on the graves of Ted Bundy’s parents. Again, I think she was a mean, mean woman, and what she said about Katrina was evil. But it just doesn’t leap into the same league as the others in our public life, to whom we all (rightly) wish gallons of urine on their graves.
Lemme put it this way: Barbara Bush is no Kellyanne Conway. She’s not even a Jethrene Huckabee-Sanders.
Again, maybe I’m wrong. Just ….. what’s she -personally- done (other than that Katrina statement) that merits the -public- opprobrium?
ETA: And I hasten again to note that it’s the Bush Crime Family. They’re criminals.
TenguPhule
@Elizabelle:
But why do the rest of us have to suffer?
Roger Moore
@TenguPhule:
I haven’t paid much attention to the fourth, so I don’t know how terrible he is.
Chet Murthy
@Mike in NC: A consummation devoutly to be wished.
Chet Murthy
@TenguPhule: Sorry, I meant that I was leaving out the 1980 election meddling. On Iran-Contra, his pardoning of his co-conspirators was enough to damn him. Sorry for the confusion.
hitchhiker
@Elizabelle:
Not really. I can’t imagine being born to wealth and power. I can’t imagine having the resources to move away from my other kids for 7 months, or to be certain that my child would get spectacularly focused attention and the best care possible.
But, like lots and lots of other Americans, I can relate to how it is when you have to watch a young person die and to think the world has been flattened for good. And I don’t think any member of that family can understand how it would be to live through that situation without the resources to even try to change the outcome.
I don’t mind that people speak kindly of her and her family; for sure there were good qualities. But it’s way too much to pity them. Not doing that.
TenguPhule
@Chet Murthy:
She said this about Iraq II. And again, she backed her family all the way through incompetence and bloodshed.
She was complicit.
NotMax
@Wapiti
Preet Bharara.
(Now wouldn’t that be a karmic kick in the pants?)
sukabi
Don’t know if this has been brought up but the thug that threatened Stormy Daniels may have been identified…
Gotta admit, it made me laugh.
Roger Moore
@Chet Murthy:
If he had brothers who were also serial killers, they probably would.
TenguPhule
@Chet Murthy: My understanding is that the 1980 election meddling was directly related to Iran-Contra in that the deal was payoff for Iran’s actions.
Elizabelle
@NotMax: Oooh, I like your thinking there.
sukabi
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: with Hannity caught up in this it could be Mueller is warning FOX they’d better quit lying and making shit up.
MJS
@No Drought No More: If Trump isn’t invited, it won’t be made public. Pence will simply go in his place, and he’ll be welcomed with open arms. Not one of the Bushes would dare say anything bad about the sitting Republican president. As always, party before country. Party before everything, including family, really.
Catherine D.
Wasn’t it Richard Nixon who said of Barbara Bush “that woman knows how to hate”? He would know.
Mayim
@tobie:
Puritans were big into virtue names.
Not only the ones you listed but also Deliverance, Fear, Silence, Submit, Remember, and Thankful, among others.
Best one I’ve found: Preserved, as in God preserved my soul. Not so unusual given the others, but the family name was Fish. Yup ~ Preserved Fish.
Mandalay
@r€nato:
I beg to differ on both counts. She is as morally corrupt as the rest of them, and (like Condi Rice) gets treated with kid gloves and unearned respect by the media. She is hopelessly unqualified to be an Ambassador to the UN, and she can shove her “locked and loaded” political rhetoric up her phony ass. I hope Trump fires her, and then humiliates her on Twitter.
The treatment she is getting from the Administration right now may be totally unfair, but it is richly deserved if you believe in karma.
sukabi
@Sab: he may have one of his kids offed to get some TV sympathy and a bounce in the polls.
rikyrah
ICE needs to be dismantled
https://twitter.com/Lollardfish/status/986397144293703681?s=20
MJS
@sukabi: He would get no sympathy because most of his kids are odious and he is incapable of showing any emotion.
Mnemosyne
@TenguPhule:
Nah. Nancy Reagan was loved in her own right by some people, however wrongheadedly. Barbara Bush, not so much.
If HW had predeceased her, there might have been some extra juice for the grieving widow like there was for Nancy, but I really don’t think Barbara Bush was as beloved by the MSM as you seem to think.
Roger Moore
@sukabi:
I sincerely doubt it. I think this is just another case of the underlying problem with the whole damn Republican machine: they’re all a bunch of crooks. Each one of them is doing something awful, and they all know each other or know someone who knows someone, so they all wind up at least peripherally associated with one another’s wrongdoing. Investigating any one of them with the kind of detail Mueller is giving Trump is bound to turn up all kinds of illegal activity in everyone they know.
sukabi
@MJS: we all know that, but do you think Donnie Dollhands does?
sukabi
@Roger Moore: it’s as good a guess as the others. Interesting timing with his statement.
TenguPhule
@Mnemosyne: I hope you are right, but my expectations of our media have been going downhill since 2014.
tobie
@Mayim: The stench of such a name…
Divf
@r€nato: brings to mind Molly Ivins’ on the Reagan administration: “half of them are under average the other half under indictment “
Yutsano
@SiubhanDuinne: JESU CHRISTE look at how he holds her hand! He lets it go without a thought then practically demands it from her when he remembers he’s being watched!
Uncle Cosmo
@tobie: And he will get smashed by Hogan in the general regardless – in this all-but-rebel-kept-in-the-Union-by-force-of-arms state, any Democratic candidate for statewide office with an abundance of melanin in his epidermis loses at least 10% of so-called Democratic voters.
Gvg
@Chet Murthy: it,was way more than the Katrina comments. In fact that was fairly typical of her. From time to time she would come out and say something like that again. Really a kind of rich/poor racist. Elitist has been over used for much milder cases. She was born way too privileged and remained clueless her whole long life.
phoebesmother
@Mike in NC: Actually Allentown is much more complicated than that. The inner city has a large Puerto Rican and other hispanic population, the outskirts are a mix of what we Pennsylvanians call Dutchies, older blue collar displaced folks, and their children, and newer suburbs because Allentown is actually growing, It abuts (literally runs into) Bethlehem, which is gentrifying, has several universities, and a large section mixing lost blue collar job holders and again hispanic residents. These are interesting places. But conservative culturally because of so many German populations that were however Anabaptists in general (Mennonites, Moravians, and Lutherans)..
tobie
@Uncle Cosmo: I actually think that Hogan for all his popularity is vulnerable in a wave year but you’re probably right that there’s a deep-seated racism in Maryland that puts not only Jealous but also Rushern Baker (the current frontrunner) at a tremendous disadvantage.
Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]
I grieve with the bush family, seeing the best light of the clan, in the previous, and next generation go out.
It is a sad day that her husband, the best elected republican president of the united state since Eisenhower (65 years ago, over 80% of the average american lifespan) has lost his better half. It is the sad day with the passing of the only member of the bush clan that has neither found power through their own incompetence or their hands drenched in blood of war, has passed this mortal coil.
with her lifelong attachment to her political party, she found the bravery to choose palliative care, rejecting the the last ten years, in silence, about “death panels”. No doubt drawing on her families deep moral history of helping to fund the third Reich during the early years of world war two.
We have lost someone who has spent her life behind the scenes to help steer the Republican party into the political party showing the honesty, morality, and patriotism that we see in the modern republican party we see today.
EthylEster
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
I’m thinking someone is trying to warn folks about disappointment and the ghosts of Fitzmas past.