Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

This fight is for everything.

No one could have predicted…

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

In my day, never was longer.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

“But what about the lurkers?”

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Come on, man.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

You are here: Home / Archives for Let A Thousand Watergates Bloom

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Every Day A Week, Every Week A Month

by | 153 Comments

This post is in: , , , , ,

I don’t know whether to howl or to snipe…

More transcripts!

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Every Day A Week, Every Week A MonthPost + Comments (153)

Cold Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: Roger Stone Goes on Trial

by | 23 Comments

This post is in: , , , , , , , , ,

Both Sommer and Tillman are good leads for this trial, if you’re curious. Yes, I am allowed to ‘obsess about minor characters’ like Stone, because I’ve actively loathed that dude since he was one of Nixon’s sleaziest defenders back in the 1970s…

… Stone’s lawyer, in turn, argued that his client never meant to lie to lawmakers about his efforts to gain insights about Democrats’ hacked emails ahead of the presidential election. In an unusual gambit, Stone’s lawyer Bruce S. Rogow argued that Stone’s public claims about connections to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks were false, and therefore he did not make false statements later to Congress.

Stone’s trial is the last case filed by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III in his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 campaign, and prosecutors wasted little time drawing a straight line from Stone’s alleged crimes to Trump’s political interests…

The prosecutor urged jurors to focus on Stone’s conduct, not the broader controversies still swirling around the 2016 campaign.

“This case is not about who hacked the Democratic National Committee servers. This case is not about whether Roger Stone had any communications with Russians. And this case is not about politics,” said Zelinsky. “This case is about Roger Stone’s false testimony to the House Intelligence Committee in an attempt to obstruct the investigation and to tamper with evidence.”

Stone, 67, a longtime Trump adviser and political consultant, has pleaded not guilty to a seven-count indictment that charges him with false statements and witness tampering…

Timeline of all the incriminating communications here:

show full post on front page

Cold Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: Roger Stone Goes on TrialPost + Comments (23)

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: In for the Long Haul

by | 124 Comments

This post is in: , , , ,

On today’s fireworks schedule:

A federal appeals panel said on Monday that President Trump’s accounting firm must turn over eight years of his personal and corporate tax returns to Manhattan prosecutors, a setback for the president’s attempt to keep his financial records private…

In its ruling on Monday, the three-judge appeals panel did not take a position on the president’s biggest argument — that he was immune from all criminal investigations. A lower court had called that argument “repugnant to the nation’s governmental structure and constitutional values.”

Instead, the appeals court said the president’s accounting firm, not Mr. Trump himself, was subpoenaed for the documents, so it did not matter whether presidents had immunity…

“There is no obvious reason why a state could not begin to investigate a president during his term and, with the information secured during that search, ultimately determine to prosecute him after he leaves office,” Judge Katzmann wrote for the panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

By keeping the ruling narrowly focused on the subpoena directed at Mr. Trump’s accounting firm, the effect may be to allow the Supreme Court to uphold the decision without having to issue a far broader ruling against the president…

Under a deal reached by Mr. Trump’s lawyers with Mr. Vance’s office, the subpoena will not be enforced while Mr. Trump seeks review of the appellate ruling in the Supreme Court, provided that he asks that the court hear the case in its current term, which ends in June.

IMO, dragging it out until five months before the election really gives it that deep philosophical ‘I might die, or the king might die — or maybe the horse will learn to sing!’ flavor (of desperation).

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: In for the Long HaulPost + Comments (124)

Impeachment Inquiry Open Thread: Actions That Don’t Stand Up to Daylight

by | 38 Comments

This post is in: , , , , , , ,

There’s plenty of stuff a person with no moral code can get away with, as long as the ‘nice people’ around them are willing to look away. But when those actions are exposed in a larger forum, well… let a thousand Watergates bloom...

Meanwhile, there’s been developments in the ongoing public feud between a couple of the more prominent ‘alt-right activists’; Milo Yiannopoulous ‘leaked’ a tape of ‘dapper Nazi’ Richard Spencer reacting to the murder in Charlottesville. [Shock warning: Spencer uses racist, anti-semitic language.]

show full post on front page

Impeachment Inquiry Open Thread: Actions That Don’t Stand Up to DaylightPost + Comments (38)

Monday Morning Open Thread: Everybody’s Talkin’ Bout It

by | 121 Comments

This post is in: , , , , ,

ICYMI:

show full post on front page

Monday Morning Open Thread: Everybody’s Talkin’ Bout ItPost + Comments (121)

Impeachment Open Thread: Subtle As A Rock Through A Window

by | 69 Comments

This post is in: , , , , , ,

… thrown by a guy who signs & thumbprints the rock. Any Repub dumb enough to think they’ll actually see any of those donor funds (assuming the donors in question pony up in the first place) deserves… to be a Trump minion:

… Trump is tapping his vast fundraising network for a handful of loyal senators facing tough reelection bids in 2020. Each of them has signed onto a Republican-backed resolution condemning the inquiry as “unprecedented and undemocratic.”

Conspicuously absent from the group is Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a politically vulnerable Republican who’s refused to support the resolution and avoided taking a stance on impeachment. With his new push, Trump is exerting leverage over a group he badly needs in his corner with an impeachment trial likely coming soon to the Senate — but that also needs him.

Republican senators on the ballot next year are lagging in fundraising, stoking uncertainty about the GOP’s hold on the chamber, and could use the fundraising might of the president. Trump’s political operation has raked in over $300 million this year.

On Wednesday, the Trump reelection campaign sent a fundraising appeal to its massive email list urging donors to provide a contribution that would be divided between the president and Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis. Each of the senators are supporting the anti-impeachment resolution despite being endangered in 2020…

show full post on front page

Impeachment Open Thread: Subtle As A Rock Through A WindowPost + Comments (69)

Open Thread: Can We Recycle All Those Stupid Red Gimme Caps?

by | 188 Comments

This post is in: , , , , ,

Open Thread: Can We Recycle All Those Stupid Red Gimme Caps?Post + Comments (188)