I asked two ppl close to Trump why he is tormenting Sessions instead of firing him. The answer from both, paraphrased: Because he can.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) July 25, 2017
President wants to remove his handpicked AG for not handling criminal investigation of him in more politicized manner. Unthinkable pre-Trump https://t.co/0Q9d9gzYEY
— Brendan Nyhan (@BrendanNyhan) July 25, 2017
More IMAX-level projection, of course…
WSJ INTERVIEW: Trump says Sessions—only senator to endorse him in primary—did so bc of big crowds, not loyalty https://t.co/BP4RpTNn79
— Michael C. Bender (@MichaelCBender) July 25, 2017
… “It’s not like a great loyal thing about the endorsement,” Mr. Trump said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “I’m very disappointed in Jeff Sessions.”
Asked whether he would remove Mr. Sessions from office, Mr. Trump said he was unhappy with the attorney general’s decision to recuse himself from the probe into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
“I’m just looking at it,” the president said when asked how long he could continue to criticize Mr. Sessions without firing him. “I’ll just see. It’s a very important thing.”…
In the interview, he was joined by his daughter and White House adviser Ivanka Trump, National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci and Hope Hicks, the White House director of strategic communications…
Mr. Sessions was the first U.S. senator to back Mr. Trump, a decision that was seen as a major blow to rival Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas). The endorsement came ahead of a handful of primary contests in Southern states with large numbers of evangelical voters—including Alabama, Mr. Sessions’s home—that Mr. Cruz’s campaign had banked on winning.
Mr. Sessions’s endorsement came at a rally in Alabama, one of the biggest of the campaign.
“When they say he endorsed me, I went to Alabama,” Mr. Trump said on Tuesday, recalling the endorsement. “I had 40,000 people. He was a senator from Alabama. I won the state by a lot, massive numbers. A lot of the states I won by massive numbers. But he was a senator, he looks at 40,000 people and he probably says, ’What do I have to lose?’ And he endorsed me. So it’s not like a great loyal thing about the endorsement. But I’m very disappointed in Jeff Sessions.”…
During a Rose Garden press conference Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Trump repeated the comments made in his interview that he is “disappointed” in Mr. Sessions and said “time will tell” whether his attorney general is ultimately fired.
Mr. Trump said that he wants Mr. Sessions “to be much tougher on the leaks from the intelligence agencies.”
They’re beginning to scare the children!
Pushing out Sessions poisons well with R Senators, Cabinet members, and a key bloc of ideological conservatives. Other than that it's fine.
— Ross Douthat (@DouthatNYT) July 25, 2017
Cabinet level revolt in the making over Trump’s treatment of Sessions. “If he can get treated that way, what about the rest of us,” asks one
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 25, 2017
Where were they during campaign that this is a surprise? https://t.co/UsZJeAGFXD
— stuart stevens (@stuartpstevens) July 25, 2017
Sessions is "pissed" at Trump and is vowing not to resign, sources tell @thedailybeast https://t.co/UH7Cy6YETT
— McKay Coppins (@mckaycoppins) July 25, 2017
Classic story. You find a man. You think he shares your lifelong passion for disenfranchising black people. But he's just in it for himself. https://t.co/2mAYweC6uE
— Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) July 25, 2017
Trump has managed to make liberals side with Jeff Sessions
— Jonathan Tamari (@JonathanTamari) July 25, 2017
No. But watching the big bad abandon his most devoted henchman at first sign of trouble is just a fun movie cliche. https://t.co/FOslSt2XrP
— On Trial for ?????? (@ZeddRebel) July 25, 2017
I hope Sessions gets fired in most humiliating manner possible and if it's for reasons that only make Trump look guilty that is gravy. GRAVY
— On Trial for ?????? (@ZeddRebel) July 25, 2017
patrick II
It’s a sad day when I find myself rooting for Jeff sessions to keep his job as Attorney General.
different-church-lady
WaPo “BREAKING” banner says “Senate votes against GOP bill to make sweeping changes to Affordable Care Act”
Villago Delenda Est
McCain just voted for the BCRA, which six hours ago, in his best Jimmy Stewart, he said he could not vote for.
Decorum prevents me from expressing my feelings towards him right now. It would be shrill and cruel.
Kraux Pas
I don’t blame Trump. How can he (or America) trust an attorney general who is unwilling to breach ethics and the law to protect Trump?
@Villago Delenda Est: You’re at Balloon Juice, not the Senate floor. Have at it!!!
lamh36
Say it with me again everybody…
John McCain…you ain’t shit
rolls right off the tongue don’t it
Gin & Tonic
I’m old and can’t remember well. How many Cabinet members and top-level staff did the previous President fire or have resign in his first six months in office?
Jerzy Russian
Christ, what an asshole.
Felonious Monk
Sessions definitely should not resign. If he does, he is a true coward. If he is fired, he must insist that Trump do it personally and face to face; no intermediaries to carry the “you’re fired” message. Make Trump really show some balls.
If Sessions does not do this, then he really is the little racist shitheel coward that we always thought he was.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
Mueller: This is Mueller speaking, who is this?
Sessions: Bobby, I do declare, I think I need to speak to you
lamh36
I could care less about the KKKeebler Elf, resign or fired…it’s a shitstorm for Black and Brown folks.
Shorter Sessions to Cheeto: And I Am Telling You…
He’s still got alot of shit to propose to fuq over Black and Brown people
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@different-church-lady:
All those donors and conservative “activists” must be livid
Omnes Omnibus
@Villago Delenda Est: From below, I think you will get it: He voted out of spite. His grand-father and his father were Admirals. He couldn’t make the grade. So he moved to the greasy world of politics. If he could become president, he would show his dad and his grand-father who the failure was. Just because they pulled strings to get him into aviation despite his grades. Just because they helped hush up the whole Forrestal thing. He would be president and that would be the equivalent of making Admiral. Obama took that away. Anything he did must be destroyed. Who cares who gets hurt.
p.a.
@Gin & Tonic: none… because he was WEAK. Or a terrifying
ChicagoKenyonesian thug-emperor.patrick II
I notice that the Cabinet members have been alright with any terrible thing Trump does until it effects them personally. “If he (Sessions) is treated that way what about the rest of us.”
opiejeanne
@different-church-lady: I just saw that on Twitter but I guess I need an explanation of exactly what this means.
Ohio Mom
@different-church-lady: They voted against the BCRA. One down, I don’t know how many left to go. Obviously they have something they will all vote for, they are going to build toward it.
}#<€££!!!#}@&(!!!!
Yarrow
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: That’s it exactly. The “Sessions is ‘pissed'” story is a cover. He’s scared because right now he’s still useful to Putin. If he’s fired he’s no longer useful. He can’t funnel voter info to the Russians and plot with them how to disenfranchise non-white people and Democratic voters (often they’re the same!). If he’s no longer useful he’s not safe.
Starfish
@Felonious Monk: He is not going to be told he is fired. He is going to see it on the television.
lamh36
Ohio Mom
@Ohio Mom: They must be giddy with anticipation.
p.a.
@patrick II:
fixt
different-church-lady
@lamh36: Lemme guess:
jl
@Villago Delenda Est: But news said 9 GOPers voted no. They are on the run.
Need to keep up the pressure, and enjoy the sight of them fleeing before us, the lamentations of their political operatives.
Amaranthine RBG
If Sessions resigns or gets canned and Trump appoints another AG who is not recused from the Russia investigation, can the new AG can Mueller? (I know there are regulations about Mueller’s removal but I doubt they will be followed or enforced.)
Ohio Mom
@opiejeanne: TPM has just put up a good summary, with a list of Republicans who voted with the Democrats.
I’ll note that my senator, Portman, was not among them. Finally dropped his act.
Yarrow
@Felonious Monk:
Wouldn’t hold my breath.
dmsilev
@Ohio Mom: If I understand correctly (probably not), there are three “Senate bills” that we might see. One, BCRA, was the closest thing to a worked-out plan that McConnell came up with. That’s gone. The next one is OCRA, the Obamacare repeal act, which screws over ~20 million people over the next year and north of 30 million people in the long run, and is expected to be even less popular. Then there’s the ‘skinny repeal’, developed a grand total of 12 hours ago, which repeals the individual mandate and basically does nothing else; this is seen as an attempt to punt things to a House/Senate conference committee and is probably the only option which stands a chance with even the Senate GOP.
Edit: Vox summarizes this week’s clusterfuck flowchart
opiejeanne
@Ohio Mom: Thanks. I’m being distracted by a baseball game, and dealing with estimates for tree removal, and making supper, and eating supper, and the cat wants to go out, and did we remember to water all of the apple trees?
chris
In other Sessions news I read somewhere that “Judge” Roy Moore is leading the pack going into the August primary for Keebler elf’s seat. So, we got that going for us.
Ohio Mom
@dmsilev: Thanks. I had lost count of the proposals. Hard to keep thinking straight when there are such high personal stakes.
Villago Delenda Est
@Omnes Omnibus: Well, then fuck him. He obviously doesn’t have the courage of his stated convictions, and he’s going to lose his last battle.
rikyrah
You know my stance..
Attorney General White Citizens Council is NEVER going to resign.
He’s getting to fulfill his White Supremacist fantasies. …and nobody is going to take that away from him.
dmsilev
@Ohio Mom: If the actual Senate can’t keep track of the proposals, how can we? At this point, anybody who refers to the Senate as “The World’s Greatest Deliberative Body” without a heavy dose of irony deserves to be slapped in the face with a large wet fish.
p.a.
@dmsilev: World’s Greatest Debilitated Body…
Villago Delenda Est
@jl: Yes, the bill is going down. But McCain said he wouldn’t vote for it, yet he did.
Fuck him.
Another Scott
@Omnes Omnibus: Not just admirals. (Full) Admiral in the Navy is a 4 star.
J.S. McCain was a 4 star. J.S. McCain, Jr. was a 4 star.
J.S. McCain, III retired as a Captain.
Yeah, he had a chip on his shoulder about that.
Cheers,
Scott.
Another Scott
@Ohio Mom: Weirdness. TheHill:
Is this all kabuki? Is McConnell just wasting everyone’s time??
Cheers,
Scott.
Citizen Alan
@Another Scott:
It makes me profoundly sad and angry to contemplate how many genuine Heroes and Patriots probably died at the Hanoi Hilton, and that venal fuckstick not only survived but parlayed his POW status into a decades-long political career. One of the few things I actually admire about Ronald Reagan is the contempt he reportedly had for John McCain.
Omnes Omnibus
@Another Scott: I know the ranks; I used the rank Admiral on purpose. He couldn’t even get one star. We agree Don’t pedant me on this.
Another Scott
@Omnes Omnibus: Just amplifying. Not pulling rank. ;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
moonbat
@Felonious Monk: To be fair, even if he makes Trump fire him, he’s still a little racist shitheel. Just sayin…
Omnes Omnibus
@Another Scott: K.
Mnemosyne
@dmsilev:
So, just to be clear, McCain checked himself out of the hospital and flew against doctor’s orders so he could watch the measure he voted for fail in real time in front of his eyes?
I kind of love that.
clay
@Another Scott: Interesting that Graham voted against it while McCain voted yes. They’re usually together on things like this.
(To be honest, I would not be surprised at all if McCain got confused as to what he was voting for, but no one corrected him because it didn’t matter.)
Brachiator
Wait a minute. Didn’t Trump, or an advisor, or Spicer, or Fox News, or some random Trump voter on the street declare that Trump didn’t care about “loyalty?”
Another day. Another outburst from the clinically insane president.
Villago Delenda Est
@Another Scott: I suspect his post Hanoi training command gig did not go well, and that pretty much sank the battleship, right there.
Felonius Monk
@moonbat:
Agreed. That is an indelible stain that he will wear forever on his lily white skivvy sheets.
Lizzy L
@Another Scott: This is how the NYT describes it:
I think this was Yertle sussing out how much bribery and arm-twisting he’s going to have to do. If you look at the list, Lindsey Graham was a No vote on this. That’s unexpected, because he didn’t need to vote against it, it was going down without his vote. I wonder why he did… ETA: I think I know. It was a big FU to Ted Cruz, because this bill contained his amendment. That also tells Yertle that the Cruz amendment is not going to help me get the bill passed.
ThresherK
We have just signed up for an ACA plan. We had no other option besides Cobra, which is really crap anyways.
I want to.see McCain stroke out, and also want to ask the useless Wilmerites what they’re gonna fucking do for my 63 y.o. wife with a replacement knee, and me, right this very minute, besides chant SinglePayerNow.
Felonius Monk
@Mnemosyne:
There is always the possibility that given McCain’s malady that his brain is not functioning properly. Yes is No; Right is Left, etc. OTOH, maybe he is just the piece of shit we have always thought he was.
Omnes Omnibus
@Villago Delenda Est: He got some courtesy commands that got his to retirement. My OCS battalion commander was obviously nuts. The army gave him a billet where his SF experiences that fucked him up still allowed him to do what he needed to retire with max benes.
Adam L Silverman
@different-church-lady: @Ohio Mom: Yep, everything has failed but a skinny repeal bill. It is unclear if even that will pass. But if it does it isn’t over. It will eventually have to go to a conference committee. The conference committee would then attempt to draft a compromise bill. The problem is that what can pass the Senate with only GOP votes probably can’t pass the House with only GOP votes and vice versa. And depending on what is in it it will be up to the Senate Parliamentarian whether all or parts can be dealt with through reconciliation when it returns to the Senate. This is not over by a longshot. And, remember, they are running out of time. They can’t do tax reform until/unless they do this. They have to do either individual appropriations bills or, more likely, another year on year omnibus continuing resolution to fund the government. And they have to do a debt ceiling increase. McConnell has led the Senate GOP caucus and, perhaps, the House GOP caucus as well into a box canyon and it is uncertain if he has the ammunition, the troops, and the wherewithal to fight his way to freedom.
Jinchi
@patrick II:
Take a look at what Sessions is doing and then tell me that you’re still rooting for him to keep his job.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/04/the_attorney_general_is_undermining_the_doj_s_core_mission_from_within.html
Mnemosyne
@Lizzy L:
I keep getting myself confused — the BCRAp failed by 17 votes, yes? I keep looking at that 57 and thinking it failed by only 3 votes, but those are the “nays,” I think.
Adam L Silverman
@dmsilev: The skinny repeal is the only thing that even has a remote chance. Both the BCRA and OCRA can’t be done under reconciliation. They have to have 60 votes for cloture before they proceed to a simple majority actual vote. Senator McConnell doesn’t have 60 votes. He’s not even sure he’s got 50 or 51.
Adam L Silverman
@dmsilev: It is the world’s greatest deliberative country club.
Adam L Silverman
@Another Scott: Either McCain I or McCain II was actually, at one point, a Fleet Admiral – I think it was II, but don’t quote me on that.
Uncle Cosmo
At about 4 PM today I was mugged in a supermarket parking lot on E. 33rd St in Baltimore, about a mile from the Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus. After 4 hrs in an ER & 6 stitches in my elbow to seal a deep knife wound that amazingly hit nothing vital or crippling, I am here (typing 1-handed, on tylenol+codeine) to tell the tale because the goddamn arm stll hurts too much for sleep..
It started as an attempted forcible pickpocketing – he shoved me from behind as I returned to my car. Reflexively I grabbed the hand pawing at my pocket & we tusseled for 15-20 seconds as I screamed THIEF! I’M BEING ROBBED! SOMEONE CALL 911!
Then I saw the knife, one of those hunter-style foldup models with a non-solid blade ~3″ long. I had that wrist in my grip & held on for dear life (literally) while continuing to scream. He was bigger than me & at least 15 years younger but couldn’t break that hold until he managed to trip me & put me on the asphalt. Gimme the wallet, he snarled. Take the wallet, I said, & he did, then stood up & walked away. I shouted after him, Take the money but leave my goddamn wallet! & followed him at a block’s remove to see which way he was headed.
After the second turn I shifted the dry-cleaning still in my arms – & discovered my one arm was covered with blood. At which point I realized I still had my phone, so I called 911 & retraced my steps to wait for the ambo to make the 3-block trip to the crime scene.
I’d’ve given him the wallet if he’d shown the knife. (A lawyer friend said he was smart not to since that would’ve made it armed robbery instead of petty pocket-picking,) I had no illusions about being able to overcome him but once I had him by the knife wrist &v he seemed unable to break my grip it didn’t seem like a good idea to let go & take my chances. (It probably was, since he didn’t just haul off & slash me when I was on the ground – he just wanted the wallet.) As it happened I don’t think he even meant to cut me, seems like an accident of the last part of the tussle.
But it could just as easily have been an accidental slicing of the femoral or carotid artery. In which case I would probably be dead.
That corner of the lot is shared by the supermarket & a local hardware store across the side street. Neither had surveillance cameras covering it. After the x-rays & irrigation & suturing & discharge I went to both of them & suggested they start figuring out how to remove that blind spot ASAP, or I would make sure everyone in the area knew what had happened.
Anyhow. I reacted stupidly & probably endangered my life. The wallet was eventually found by a passerby, intact but for the cash (he even missed a dollar). I count myself as very, very lucky – probably undeservedly so – having gotten a relatively cheap lesson in the wonders of situational awareness. (And no, a gun would not have saved me – it would probably have ended up in his pocket, whether or not he used it on me.)
/FTR
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: I agree with you but I still deal with the this vote was it people. I am usually good at talking people off of ledges. I am not being successful here.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Another Scott:I suspect it’s giving each faction a bill they can vote for and against so they can gas on about it at those town halls with upset voters.
Adam L Silverman
@Brachiator: Here’s the actual reality of the endorsement and how risky it was. An excerpt from Joshua Green’s new book on Bannon, the President, and the 2016 campaign:
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Mnemosyne:
Was confused myself at first. They couldn’t even get a simple majority to vote for it let alone the 60 votes required. Shitshow indeed.
Mnemosyne
@Uncle Cosmo:
Yikes! I’m glad you’re relatively okay and it wasn’t worse. Nobody knows how they’re going to react to something like that once the adrenalin kicks in, so don’t beat yourself up too much.
Adam L Silverman
@Villago Delenda Est: The radio intercepts of his disobeying orders from his CAP leader to break off, followed by going all in to take out the anti-aircraft battery, which led to him being shot down and captured also pretty much derailed it. At that point there was no way his dad could protect him. It was his fifth loss of either his own or a fellow US pilot’s aircraft. He was a reverse Ace. No one was going to give him a star after that. He largely made captain because of time in grade counted during his captivity as a POW. The final assignment was done to get him a billet on the beach where he could continue his treatment and therapy while still on active duty.
Mnemosyne
@Omnes Omnibus:
I bought a crapload of school supplies for needy kids after work today. It took some of the edge off.
Cheryl Rofer
@Adam L Silverman:
Everything they want to do hinges on extracting all that money from our insurance and Medicaid. So they have to pass something. It looks like they haven’t even thought about the rest of this. If they could extract all that money, they probably think the wouldn’t need a debt ceiling increase. And tax “reform” (read “giving back to the 0.1%”) depends on all that money. So does the budget.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Adam L Silverman:
It’s a club alright. I love that story about Sanders dancing with McCain. Was it before or after the vote for motion? Two old useless fucks
Shalimar
@lamh36: in his defense, McCain’s brain is significantly more cancerous than it was 6 hours ago. Some deterioration in logic is expected.
Barbara
@Uncle Cosmo: I lived two blocks from the spot I think you are describing, and I remember it having a lot of mugging type crimes. I am glad you’re okay. I am sure you acted instinctively and there was no way for you to know what would have been safest.
Lizzy L
@Mnemosyne: The BCRA needed 60 votes to pass; it got 43, so yes, it failed by 17 votes. In order to pass it needed some Democrats to vote for it, and that Is Not Going To Happen. It lost 9 Republican votes. I think he brought it up so that he could say Go Away to Ted Cruz, because this bill contained the Cruz amendment, and some people (Lee, I think, and possibly Lindsey Graham) voted against it BECAUSE it contained the Cruz amendment.
Adam L Silverman
@Mnemosyne: Yep. The Parliamentarian ruled it couldn’t go through reconciliation. That meant it required a cloture vote to proceed to the actual up or down/simple majority vote. It failed to get to the 60 vote threshold. The OCRA, which is the 2015 repeal that President Obama vetoed, has also been ruled by the Parliamentarian as being unable to go through reconciliation. Meaning that it to requires a cloture vote to proceed to the actual up or down/simple majority vote. It too is projected to fail to get to the 60 vote threshold. This will leave the skinny repeal as the only possible bill that McConnell could get passed. It is unclear if even that will garner enough GOP votes to pass – and it only needs 51.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Uncle Cosmo: Damn, I am glad you are ok.
Jinchi
@Uncle Cosmo: Glad you’re safe now. Take care.
Felonius Monk
@Uncle Cosmo: Whoa. Sorry to hear about that. Glad that your injuries were not more severe.
Cheryl Rofer
@Uncle Cosmo: Sounds awful. I think you reacted pretty well. Take care of yourself. There’s usually a delayed reaction from something like that.
Barbara
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: This reminds me that I meant to ask if anybody knows why Sanders voted against the Russian sanctions bill. Does anyone have facts or theory on that? Rand Paul was the only other nay.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: Yep. I agree. They gave him harmless assignments to get him to an 0-6 retirement. The Navy felt that it owed him him that.
frosty
@Uncle Cosmo: Don’t take this wrong, but lucky you. I walked there to and from O’s games when I lived on St Paul and on Cresmont in Remington. Waverly can be a bit sketchy, but then so can pretty much anywhere in a city. Worrying about that kind of encounter scared the hell out of me.
The one that got me most was probably the late 80s when a pre-teen kid shot an engineer leaving work down who begged for his life around 25th and Calvert. I started carrying a knife after that.
Adam L Silverman
@Uncle Cosmo: Actually, and I say this as a martial arts instructor, you responded quite well. You instinctively responded with something called the GUN system. Grab, Undo, Neutralize. You got two out of three before you lost your footing. And as I tell my students when I teach both the GUN system and more traditional aikido knife defenses, if someone pulls a knife on you expect to get cut. Why? Well let me ask you: what on the body is the target of a knife? Skin. And what are you covered in? Skin. You kept the knife away from your vitals, you got up as close to his hand/the blade as you could. You had the blade effectively grabbed and neutralized. Deity forbid there’s a next time try either kicking him in the knee or groin as hard as you can. Or kneeing him in the ribs repeatedly. Or stomping on his foot. That’ll take the fight out of him.
Now get some rest, take care of yourself, and if you need to talk shoot me an email. But you done good!
hedgehog mobile
Can we haz “Fuck John McCain” as a rotating tag. Kthanxbai.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Tracking. I understand and empathize. Senatorial rules aren’t intuitive to begin with. What McConnell is doing takes that lack of intuitiveness and puts it all in a blender. He’s going to be lucky if he doesn’t face a challenge for Majority Leader before this is all over.
Barbara
@frosty: The federal judge I worked for was robbed at gunpoint at an ATM at virtually the same spot. It was very scary. The good thing about game nights was the number of people out plus the very large police presence.
Adam L Silverman
@Cheryl Rofer: No strategy, only tactics.
Adam L Silverman
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: After, I watched it at the gym.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Uncle Cosmo:
Glad you’re alive! You did what you thought was right in the moment.
randy khan
Trump’s enjoyment of torturing Sessions (a) is unsurprising; and (b) may result in no recess appointment for AG because Trump won’t fire him. Also, this story just reduced the potential pool of replacements by about 20 percent.
Another Scott
@Adam L Silverman: Speaking of which… Dunno if you’ve seen this yet. Your friend the Sequester seems to be waking from his slumber…
:-/
Cheers,
Scott.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@hedgehog mobile: Is “Did you know John McCain was a POW?” a tag?
Cheryl Rofer
@Adam L Silverman: Sorta. The goal is to give their donors a big tax break. Strategy is to take it from the rest of us.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Yep. Sticking him at a schoolhouse is a tried and true way of doing that. In some cases it’s done to get someone to retirement. In another case I saw it used for a friend/former student who had a cardiac issue as he was graduating from USAWC. They got his O6 level command deferred for two years so he could properly rehab and put him on the staff so he could do so. Great guy. And it worked out for him. I’ve also seen guys with serious injuries from OIF and OEF sent to be on the faculty and be to injured to actually be of much use. But ti got them farther through to retirement.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Another Scott:
I stopped reading after I saw this. Talk about riding Trump’s dick
Anne Laurie
@Uncle Cosmo: Good goddess, I’m glad you’re okay enough to type this!
Sending positive thoughts that the healing is swift, and also the karma catching up with the shitbird who mugged you…
Mnemosyne
Back on the thread topic: I’m highly amused by all of the Republicans who are shocked and appalled that a narcissist thinks they’re expendable. Here’s a cluebat for the morons: for a narcissist, everyone but themselves is expendable. Ivanka may get thrown under the bus last, but if it comes down to saving himself or saving her, Donnie will turn on her without a moment’s hesitation.
He has no loyalty. He has no morality. Every person he encounters is just a pawn for him to get his way. You people knew this about him, and you championed him anyway.
The only pleasure I’m going to have going forward is watching the shock and horror of all of Trump’s supporters as they slowly realize that he will never, ever do anything that benefits anyone other than himself.
Another Scott
@Uncle Cosmo: That’s horrible. :-( I’m glad you’re reasonably Ok, but wish you hadn’t been cut at all. Even without a nearly life-threatening injury a mugging is extremely traumatic.
Try to rest, and peace to you.
Best wishes,
Scott.
frosty
@Adam L Silverman:
I’ve always liked Sandra Bullock’s scene in Miss Congenial: SING: Solar Plexus – Instep – Nose – Groin.
“Wittle Ewick is looking afwaid” is just gravy.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: It’s on the Navy.
Adam L Silverman
@Another Scott: This is what happens when you have people trying to legislate and appropriate that don’t know how to legislate or appropriate. Almost 75% of the House GOP caucus was elected in the 2010 class or later. That means that 3 out of every 4 of them have never experienced regular order for anything, including/especially appropriations. Speaker Ryan, despite being in the House since the early 00s has only ever moved three minor pieces of legislation. Two of them are post office renamings. This is the problem.
Adam L Silverman
@frosty: That works too.
frosty
@Barbara: One of our neighbors in Remington, a City Circuit Court judge, gave us an adoption reference. Not the same one, I suppose?
Barbara
@frosty: No, I worked in the federal system.
Shalimar
@Omnes Omnibus: See also former Alabama senator and Vietnam POW Jerry Denton, who wasn’t a fuckup and was promoted to rear-admiral upon retirement.
Barbara
@Adam L Silverman: It would be less of a problem if they were genuinely interested in doing things on a bipartisan basis.
Adam L Silverman
@Barbara: Now that’s just crazy talk!
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Barbara: Sanctions against Iran, the House Republicans added to throw a wrench imto the works?
Lizzy L
@Uncle Cosmo: You escaped serious injury and got your wallet back, I call that a win. Don’t beat yourself up. What’s done is done. I’m really glad that you’re not badly hurt.
Adam L Silverman
Looks like Ivanka has lawyered up with her husband’s attorney. Any thoughts from our legal eagles?
Felonius Monk
@Adam L Silverman:
Two words that don’t belong in the same sentence. Boehner was an ineffectual Speaker; Ryan is an incompetent one.
clay
@Adam L Silverman:
Huh. Never thought about it, but Aces can be high or low.
Uncle Cosmo
@Adam L Silverman: Dumb luck. In fact my reaction was pretty much the same as the only other time I felt someone yanking on that back left pocket:
I think this fuckhead was so shocked that I actually resisted that it took him some seconds to readjust. Pulling the knife is going to get him a long stretch in the slammer if he’s caught, particularly if he’s a repeat offender. I didn’t hear them at the time but I was told later there were a couple of police helicopters on the scene very quickly, & with the description I gave 911 they might actually have been able to track the clown. So who knows?
(FWIW mobility is improving gradually & the pain is going down. But I may still be up awhile.)
Felonius Monk
@Adam L Silverman:
(Source)
Shalimar
@Adam L Silverman: Same attorney means they aren’t planning on turning on each other. I doubt it means anything more than she is getting advice from counsel to make sure she doesn’t say anything that could hurt her husband’s defense.
Adam L Silverman
@Uncle Cosmo: You acquitted yourself quite well. I know experienced martial arts that have had worse outcomes in similar situations.
Adam L Silverman
@Felonius Monk: Fine, be that way.//
Thanks for the correction. I had a busy day and am just now getting caught up.
The Lodger
@Uncle Cosmo: Good to hear you got out of that situation and it didn’t turn out any worse. Stay home and heal.
Yarrow
@Uncle Cosmo: Wow, that’s awful. Glad you are more or less okay. Take care of yourself.
Yarrow
@Shalimar: There’s no way Ivanka is innocent in all this. She’s got too many ties to Russia.
Gretchen
@Uncle Cosmo: I’m glad it wasn’t worse and nothing vital was cut. Get well soon, Uncle Cosmo!
Vhh
@patrick II: Typical GOPer behavior. All those Trumpkins who were against the ACA until they found out that under the GOP replacement, they would lose it themselves. Will be fun to watch if the Turtle gets his way. Panuc in red state rural. ERs acroos the country.
TenguPhule
@Villago Delenda Est:
Don’t let that stop you. Sure as fuck didn’t stop McCain.
TenguPhule
@Adam L Silverman:
Unless they change the rules again.
Which is not as unlikely as it would have been last year.
Zach
It’s bad politics to fire him so he’s trying to humiliate Sessions into quitting. Little does he know that the median Senator is maybe less shameless and more keen for the spotlight than Trump… and Sessions is way above the median.
Trump isn’t smart enough to realize that the few already-successful folks who latched into him during the campaign don’t need him. Similarly, he doesn’t realize what he perceives as loyalty is really fear of falling out of Trump’s favor.
Now Trump’s very dependent on people who don’t need him… Conaway will be fine, Tillerson is going rogue, Pence is gaming possible impeachment, the Musch is openly opposing Trump’s stupidities… and the folks who owe and/or his family are paralyzed by legal vulnerabilities. If this goes bad for Trump, it’ll turn very quickly.
lowtechcyclist
Where’s Sally Quinn saying about Trump, “he trashed this place, and it’s not his place”?
She must’ve said it by now, right? I guess I just missed it in all the confusion.