There were probably people who pushed others out of the way to be the last person on board the Titanic. https://t.co/I6bCvSJ0f0
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) August 3, 2017
Yeah, there’s a front-pager better qualified to write about this, but he’s on vacation. Prior turncoat Jim Justice switches sides again, per the Washington Post:
At a rally with President Trump in West Virginia on Thursday night, the state’s Gov. Jim Justice declared that he is leaving the Democratic Party that he said abandoned him and is joining the Republican Party.
“The Democrats walked away from me,” Justice told the crowd of thousands gathered at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington. “I can’t help you any more being a Democrat governor.”…
Justice, who until 2015 was registered as a Republican, is one of the last remaining Democrats elected to statewide positions in the state. Trump won West Virginia by 42 points over Democrat Hillary Clinton. The switch was first reported by the New York Times.
After being brought to the stage in the middle of Trump’s rally, Justice praised Trump as a “great president.” He also touted his relationships with Trump’s children, including Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., both of whom he said he has gotten to know personally.
“This man is a good man,” Justice said of Trump. “He’s got a backbone, he’s got real ideas, he cares about America, he cares about us in West Virginia.”
Justice’s announcement was made under virtual secrecy, according to Democratic Party officials, who said that the governor did not inform the party nor did he inform his own staff before the news became public.
“Jim Justice deceived the voters of West Virginia when he ran as a Democrat 8 months ago,” said Democratic Governors Association executive director Elisabeth Pearson. “West Virginians have learned that they simply can’t trust Jim Justice. He will always put his financial interests above the needs of West Virginians.
“As Republicans have repeatedly said, Jim Justice owes millions of dollars in unpaid company taxes, after a deal with a Russian coal company,” she added. ” The debts have only worsened during Justice’s term as governor. If President Trump cut a deal, we hope it does not put U.S. taxpayers on the hook to bail out Jim Justice’s personal finances.”…
What, more Russian fiscal entanglements?
Fun fact: Jim Justice sold his coal mines to Russians for $600 million in 2012-recently bought them back for $5 mil. https://t.co/LxU7J8loqr
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) August 4, 2017
He owns a golf course and casino too, btw pic.twitter.com/o4HQhwLsbB
— Schooley (@Rschooley) August 3, 2017
ETA: Class tells when there is no class…
Gov. Justice makes a dig at Reince Priebus: Trump "now has a chief of staff that all of us can pronounce his first name" pic.twitter.com/N6bAWtlYa6
— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 4, 2017
westyny
This guy . . .
Villago Delenda Est
Another vile creature.
TriassicSands
Somehow, I think West Virginia’s Democratic Party just improved significantly.
jl
I hope Cole can enlighten us about this strange episode when he gets back from the beach.
As I said in previous thread, I think clear that Justice studied those Trump Great Deelz books, and studied them hard. Maybe Trump is gong to let him run some of the business, Might be some vacancies soon.
Cookie monster
The party left him… because the Democratic Party has changed so much since 2015…. /s
piratedan
well, finally the Governor is with both the party he deserves and is “ethically” aligned with…
jl
And while thinking on the Trump Great Deelz books, one good thing that came out of the news today was the Trump transcripts with Australia and Mexico. I won’t have to plunk down cash and spend time reading them Trump books now. I figured out the secret techniques from what Trump does.
1. Make insane promises brag about impossible deals and how you will take your counterparties to the cleaners
2. Magic happnens and everything turns out great.
3. IF magic doesn’t happen, insult and trash talk your couterparties and make empty threats in public
4. Magic happens and everything turns out alright.
5 IF magic doesn’t happen, privately beg your counterparites to give you a fucking break, please, Jeez, c’mon…
6. Third time’s the charm.
That Mexico money’s gonna come pouring in for that wall any day now. Believe me.
Aleta
wtf WTF wtf WTF
eclare
@jl: Sounds about right, also step four, do not pay vendors, dare them to sue you for rightfully wages earned, and when they do, bury them in lawsuits. Now you’re #WINNING.
RandomMonster
He’s become a Republican and now his crimes belong to them. Sounds like a win.
raven
Like the way he stacks the crowd behind him with Vets? That fucker in the red hat is a real moron.
maryQ
Pretty whiny response from the DGA. I would have gone with “Buh-bye. Don’t let the door hit you on the ass on your way out”. Doesn’t seem like we are losing much.
Quinerly
@raven:
Saw that guy you are talking about this AM. He’s crazed. The interviews on MSNBC with supporters were disgusting…one with a guy in Hillary for prison shirt talking about 10,000 miners
getting their jobs back.
raven
@Quinerly: He said 15,000 and I looked it up. It’s 800.
satby
Hoping that the investigators roll up people like Justice in the net too. The sale to the Russians sure looks like money laundering. Stripping his assets in civil forfeiture and putting that money toward the public good in West Virginia would be icing on the cake.
Quinerly
@raven:
Thanks for looking it up. All so disgusting.
Quinerly
@satby:
I’m with you. Seems so obvious. Was Trump (and all) so stupid that he thought he wouldn’t be investigated? I still go back to that question. Yes, I know…he has gotten away with shit for years but did he have a clue that presidents are scrutinized. Did he think he could control everything? I still have difficulty wrapping my mind around all of it.
Frankensteinbeck
@jl:
Trump’s business and personal strategy his entire life has been to abuse people who can’t fight back, like vendors who can’t afford to sue him and beauty pageant contestants when he owns the pageant and can end their dreams. He is totally st sea in a world where he doesn’t have an overwhelming advantage. I’m sure a big reason for the rallies is to give him that feeling again.
NotMax
@Quinerly
But – but – he’s got only the bestest people and has accomplished more so far than all other presidents, combined. What’s to investigate?
;)
Quinerly
@NotMax:
I love your snark. On a serious note, this hits me in waves. Still can’t comprehend that he was elected. I catch myself jerking my head back to the tv when someone says, “President Trump.” Hard to explain. I would say watching that rally on local tv in West Virginia was unbelievable (I’m traveling)…but I just keep using that word “unbelievable” so much that I’m afraid I’m getting numb…like it has no meaning. Again, hard to explain….especially while a Poco is nuzzling me to get loaded, on the road…while I’m hunting and pecking on the smarty pants phone. Have a great day. Thanks for the snark.
NotMax
Palm, meet forehead.
Ghost Barber sounds like a grade Z-minus drive-in feature.
FlipYrWhig
@Quinerly: @raven: I still say the point of these job claims is almost never that the person repeating them is talking about a job HE had or would like to have; he’s always talking about a job SOMEONE ELSE now has or could have soon, instead of being a bum on the couch. That’s why it’s always constructed like an urban legend.
NotMax
@Quinerly
If we abandon the ability to laugh, we have already lost.
I, too, do a sick-feeling double take whenever I hear or see the title President followed by that name. Adjectives such as unbelievable, repugnant, etc., etc. are getting an Olympic-level workout these days.
Waspuppet
Well, he got the lingo down quick.
Keith P.
And like Trump and David Byrne, he wears suits that are plainly too large for his body.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
I take it Justice is having polling troubles of his own.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
He was a Dem longer than Birdie Sanders was.
Dupe70
Better headline would be: WV Gov Returns to Republican Party.
This guy was never a Democrat.
Uncle Cosmo
@NotMax: Well I guess I know to stay away from the Upper Peninsula now…
hang on…Uttar Pradesh????
germy
Justice looks like William Randolph Hearst with gigantism.
OGLiberal
Trump got his largest margin of victory in West Virginia. Latest WV voter registration numbers:
http://www.sos.wv.gov/elections/voterregistration/pages/voter_registration.aspx
Dems – 44%; GOP – 32%. Why don’t they just switch parties already?
West Virginia is one of the top 5 states that are most dependent on federal government aid. I guess that’s only because brown people and tree huggers are prevent 80 bazillion coal jobs from returning to the state.
khead
@eclare:
This is basically how Jim Justice operates too. Doesn’t pay taxes or vendors until absolutely forced to do so by a judge.
And, yes, I’m also seeing folks from home praising Trump for getting coal going again…. while ignoring that a few coal companies just came out of bankruptcy and China is buying coal again which caused an upswing that started – wait for it – in 2016. The 10K miner meme ? I’m not even sure there are 10K miners in all of southern WV.
Narnicle
Why was he allowed to run as a Dem in the first place?
DissidentFish
Because he’s the richest West Virginian, and that’s the only reason.
I voted for jowly ancient turncoat.
This morning I had my gall bladder taken out. I am thinking of calling my excellent surgeon and asking if he could do a governorectomy next.
If Manchin switches, I will goddamn move.
J R in WV
@Narnicle:
Who do you think “allowed [Justice] to run as a Dem in the first place?”
No one can stop someone, anyone, from going down to the courthouse and changing their voter’s registration from one party to another, or to undeclared/independent. No one can stop Senator Sanders from signing up at your Secretary of State’s office as a Democratic candidate for president. Or Jim Justice from signing up to run for governor as Democratic.
This is what you call a free country, remember? Political freedom to vote for anyone, and to run for office. Any office. Anyone. Maybe people who constantly owe back taxes and payment to their contractors shouldn’t be “allowed” to run for office? But that doesn’t sound like freedom to me.