Via CNN:
The FBI expects to publicly release as soon as Wednesday the report the bureau sent to the Justice Department in July recommending no charges in the Hillary Clinton email server investigation, according to multiple law enforcement officials.
Perhaps then Director Comey (R-FBI) can go on a book tour to promote the novella-sized email report — he did a smashing job of turning a statement about the decision not to recommend charges into a closing argument for the prosecution last month.
Venues like network TV morning shows and old timey radio screech-a-thons might be a good way to generate buzz for the book tour. To keep the momentum going and appeal to the youngs, maybe the FBI could release a graphic novel edition in mid-September.
With any luck, the movie rights will get picked up in October, and casting decisions (Meryl for Hillz, obvs), etc., will keep this publicity train on track clean through the election.
germy
Emma Thompson could play Hillary. She did it twenty years ago in “Primary Colors”.
JPL
Comey won’t let it go. He’d rather see a Trump presidency, then let a Clinton in the White House. His guy would lose him Senate seat, if Perry ran against him.
aimai
But this seems (to me) like bad timing. I mean–ok, its technically after August but still there’s plenty of time for it to shake out and reveal itself as a nothingburger.
Overstatedpathos
Given the prevalence of Clinton derangement, I see either undead Ann Ramsay or Harvey Firestein as likely contenders for the Hillary role.
cmorenc
The GOP will *never* quit acting as if Hillary’s email wasn’t the biggest scandal to hit US government since Julius and Ethel Rosenberg sold out America’s nuclear secrets to the Soviets. Unfortunately, they correctly recognize that the email smear is the one piece of shit they’ve thrown against the wall that actually works with many in the electorate beyond the GOP base to throw doubts upon Clinton’s honesty, regardless of the thinness of the actual case. Clinton sometimes hasn’t helped herself by giving technical, lawyerly answers that may be the truth, but not quite the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
The MSM will never quit returning to the email matter, because it’s the one thing they can dwell upon that purportedly demonstrates they fairly cover the problems with either side + support their “both sides do it” meme to the same end.
Fortunately, Trump has made himself into too toxic a perpetually shiny object for the MSM and the rest of the electorate outside the GOP base, for all this to matter in the end, except insofar as it might aid the GOP in obstructing an upcoming Clinton presidency.
OzarkHillbilly
There was a time when the Justice Dept did not insert itself into politics. Another fine tradition Bush/Cheney killed.
Shell
What I find so creepy about surrogates, is the phony grin plastered on their face while they’re lying thru their teeth. Kingston, of course, went on to drag out the Rev. Wright story frm 2008 and claiming it got a total pass, instead of the multi-week blab-fest it became.
Hal
What could possibly be in those report that hasn’t already been hashed out a million times over? At this point media pundits could just repeat any past clips of them talking about these damn emails because they won’t have anything new to say.
JMG
The FBI has inserted itself into politics since it was created in the ’20s. How else did Hoover last so long? Comey is trying to do whatever he can to make up for the fact there’s no case against Clinton and never was, and he had to say so.
Hal, how many days were they able to cover the missing airliner with nothing but pictures of empty ocean? They can and will treat this as the blockbuster blowing the race wide open.
Earl
This seems to be in response to FOIA requests, so better to release it all than just into the hands of cnn/fox news to selectively quote…
piratedan
@aimai: that’s the point, it always has been a nothingburger… there’s no there there
and the fact that there’s an announcement to release the report that shows that there’s nothing there is even more telling because there’s nothing there. Granted there’s a report that says that there’s nothing there and the media will speculate why there isn’t anything there. Because goddammit, we’ve been reporting for the last 9 months that there should be something there and since there’s nothing there, that’s newsworthy in and of itself, because its ominous that somehow, something that we knew to be true, is still true, but its concerning nonetheless and we’ll have to speculate further on how this may impact the campaign, now that we know that there’s nothing there.
It’s a fucking wonder that no one has taken these people out with a fucking baseball bat. First on the list would be Andrea Mitchell, followed closely by Chris Matthews. I’d prefer Faux News to be taken out by a drone strike with the explanation that it was done as a public service. Our MSM is quickly approaching used car salesman levels of disdain.
Bobby Thomson
@OzarkHillbilly: Ed Meese?
Bobby Thomson
@piratedan: this. Repetition is its own reward.
one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer
And after a series of years where all the government and party servers have been hacked to pieces and data bits strewn hither, thither and yon, the one thing that has remained secure has been….
….the Clinton email server.
OzarkHillbilly
So the FEC has told Newt Gingrich that he has to actually pay his bills from the 2012 “campaign” in a letter to his Treasurer, TAYLOR O. SWINDLE, I am not making this up
via Juanita Jeans.
JPL
When is Melania releasing her visa information? TPM has a story about Trump’s models having tourist visas.
link
MSM will investigate ………………
germy
@piratedan:
Roger Moore
@cmorenc:
Sure they will, but only when they come up with a smear they think will be more effective.
nominus
Yesterday it was Greenwald’s idiotic attempt to declare that Trump has been investigated more than Hillary. Today it’s Kapur whining about not getting the chance to ask stupid questions taht have already been answered.
https://twitter.com/stanveuger/status/770659320983871492
Really you guys, this is serious. The press is so suuuuuper butthurt that they can’t get in on the Hillary bashing. Somebody needs to do something.
Betty Cracker
@JPL: Didn’t Trump say at one point he was going to address the allegation that Mrs. Trump violated visa work rules prior to gaining citizenship in a press conference after that allegation came out several weeks back? Haven’t heard a peep about that since…
Bailey
@OzarkHillbilly:
Sure, tell that to Bobby Kennedy.
randy khan
The most interesting thing about how the report will be played will be whether the section that says, in essence, no sane prosecutor would indict her, let alone try her, gets reported with any prominence. That is, after all, the basic conclusion of the investigation.
max
Perhaps then Director Comey (R-FBI) can go on a book tour to promote the novella-sized email report
Not one of Obama’s better appointments.
max
[‘By which I mean, basically the worst. I’m sure we could have found a Democrat for the job.’]
Major Major Major Major
@max: the other person in line had some very severe Benghazi cooties so no, he was the best option. Filibuster, remember?
CONGRATULATIONS!
@OzarkHillbilly: Gotta call utter bullshit on that, much as I’d like it to be true.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
@piratedan:
Um that happened a looooooong time ago.
Gindy51
@max: And the first in line to go once Hillary is in office. Time to clean the freakin’ house.
shomi
@cmorenc: So this must be a DougJ sock puppet account. Either that or you two think exactly alike. Obsessing over it more than the GOP does.
Peale
@Shell: Well, to be fair, Obama did get a pass on the whole reverered Wright affair. Of course, given that Wright’s statements damning America had happened years before and Burns’ happened yesterday and Wright’s weren’t meant to support the Obama candidacy while Burns’ most definitely was…well…they are basically the same.
Shell
@germy:
I thought that was Ann Coulters usual schtick.
nonynony
@OzarkHillbilly:
I’m really afraid that the programmers that run the Matrix have been told it’s time to wind the project down and are now doing all of the obnoxious things they’ve always been told that they’re not allowed to do.
shomi
Look at it this way. Talking about emails over and over is about as harmless sounding of a nothingburger as any other nothingburger. They need a nothingburger regardless. If not this then it would be something else.
They must have something to talk about to try make Hillary look bad. It probably makes a difference with low info voters and people who don’t really like her anyways and just need some paper thin excuse to justify it. That’s just politics I guess.
jl
Tony has a future as a reality show star? Trump could produce it, he’s always wanted to be a player in shosbiz.
Trollhattan
@Peale:
Bull fucking shit. Did you sleep through all of 2008, or just the parts where stuff was happening?
Peale
@JPL: Jeebus. You’d think an excuse to expose models would have the horndogs in the press corps crawling over each other. I blame Obama.
Peale
@Trollhattan: My tongue was somewhere near me jowl.
jl
@piratedan: You know that old saying: if there is an army of GOP hacks blowing smoke, there’s just gotta be fire.
Trollhattan
@Shell:
This is a job for Austin Powers.
“That’s no lady, that’s a MAN, baby!”
Powers reaches for Coulter’s face and pulls it off, revealing Steve Bannon.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@germy:
Apparently, that soulless, dessicated husk of a human being got shredded at a Rob Lowe roast a couple nights ago. Would have loved to see it!
Trollhattan
@Peale:
Arrgh, got me! [removes trout lure from lower lip whilst cursing Peale]
Iowa Old Lady
@Gindy51: FBI directors get 10 year appointments. It’s possible to force one out, of course, but it would be tricky.
SFAW
@shomi:
But not nearly as much as you obsess over the front pagers. Javert was an amateur, compared to you.
Mike in NC
Barbara Walters is probably salivating at the prospect of coming out of retirement just to host a two hour prime time special on the coverup surrounding emailgate. Testimony will be provided by Chris Christie, Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich and other “impartial experts”.
grrljock
Nah, Hope Davis as Hillary is better.
Peale
@grrljock: Now that Reese Witherspoon is 40, she old enough by Hollywood standards to take on the empty nester new grandmother role.
EDIT: by Hollywood standards.
Mike in NC
@West of the Rockies (been a while): Hopefully at least some of it will appear in the roast airing on Labor Day on Comedy Central.
SFAW
@Roger Moore:
You’re kidding, right? They may mothball it for a few days when the next big OMG Hitlary! thing pops up, but they’ll never drop it completely. They’re still bringing up Monica Lewinsky, Vince Foster, Whitewater, Judge Crater, and so forth. And they’ll keep doing it until someone makes them pay a penalty commensurate with the level of their vileness/evil/anti-Americanism.
glory b
@piratedan: True, except it’s been 18 months, not 9.
germy
@West of the Rockies (been a while):
It will air in September. I don’t have cable so eventually I’ll see it on youtube.
Steve in the ATL
@Trollhattan:
Whom do I contact about optioning your screenplay?
germy
@Peale:
Last Fuckable Day
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@germy:
Ditto, no TV, just Netflix and the Tube Of Yous.
germy
I said it in the previous thread and I’ll say it again.
We went to a Tuesday (discount) matinee and saw “Southside With You” and loved it. Great film. great script, excellent performances. A very moving experience.
Yutsano
@Trollhattan: Your snarkometer needs an adjustment good sir.
As far as the e-mails are concerned, the press needs a new shiny so they can justify their hounding Clinton over not doing press conferences. Except she IS doing them. Just not with the MSM.
(edited for clarity)
germy
Rick Perry on Dancing With The Stars!
Betty Cracker
@Peale: Haha, good point!
Frankensteinbeck
Prediction: The report will contain a lot of legal language, technical computer language, and technical intelligence/security language. No one who gets on television to talk about it or writes any nationally distributed article will understand more than one fourth of it. There will be at least one, probably several, outright falsehoods gleefully announced by the press because they completely misunderstand what they’re reading. They will quickly shut up about those falsehoods when they’re pointed out, but never retract them and it will go on the pile of ‘where there’s smoke there’s fire.’
It would be very, very funny if Trump leaps on these falsehoods and it bites him in the ass just like Romney’s debate failure.
hovercraft
@Trollhattan:
If you listen to any RWNJ this is a strongly held belief, the only reason that Obama was elected twice (apart from ACORN stealing it), is because McCain and RMoney refused to attack him. There was no focus on Wright, the Whitey tape, birtherism, the Madrasa, and his secret Pakistani gay husband. If you are not familiar with the gay husband then you have never seen Obama’s wedding ring which he was spotted on his finger several years before he met Michelle. None of these things were ever raised during the campaigns, Obama was never vetted, if he had been, he would never have won. This is one of the main reasons that Trump won, by being the birther in chief he showed a willingness to attack a democrat with the truth, so they knew he would not shy away from attacking Hillary with the true, Every time Hugh Hewitt is on msnbc he reels off a bunch of names ‘connected’ to the ‘Clintons’ that are scandals that will soon be exposed to the American people.
germy
Ernie Barnes plays an interesting role in “Southside With You”. His work is featured in the closing credits, and appears in the museum the young Obama takes Michelle to on their first date.
I’m not a big fan of modern conceptual art (to the dismay and disappointment of my friends) where artists take objects and call them masterpieces (for example, the artist who coated a basketball with graphite and then dribbled it on some paper, and sold the paper for a million bucks). Barnes didn’t bother with that approach. He painted real people.
hovercraft
@Mike in NC:
Trump is a very dear and old friend of hers. Remember how she behaved during the Rosie vs Donald contretemps on the View.
Brachiator
I don’t know. Comey can’t get a break. If he didn’t release anything, the GOP would thunder about information being suppressed.
The Republicans have hit the mother lode with emails, Benghzi, pay for play, the Clinton Foundation. It’s like a miniature railroad that has stations at Bad Optics, Appearance of Impropriety, Ethical Violation and Conflict of Interest. The Evil Train Conductor is Mistress Clinton. But despite the fact that this train circles the track in perpetuity, it never, ever stops in Something Really Criminal.
And there is nothing that Clinton could ever do that would convince the Republicans that there is nothing here. And no report is sufficient to exonerate her.
And although I do not believe in Santa Claus or a monolithic media that hates Clinton, it is clear that many of the Beltway political establishment are boobs who have fallen for the Okeydoke. It was insane to hear these slobs on the Sunday show say stuff like, “Yes, the Clinton Foundation … APPARENTLY …has done nothing wrong, but shouldn’t they shut it down or turn it over to the Gates Foundation because the optics are so bad?”
Lewis Carroll ain’t got shit on these clowns.
germy
@hovercraft: Rosie let the cat out of the bag when she revealed that young Elizabeth Hasselback got daily briefings from the producer to give her talking-points ammo to use against Rosie.
SiubhanDuinne
@Brachiator:
Very fine. Very fine indeed.
hovercraft
@Yutsano:
They got Hillary’s calendars from State today. “they are a fascinating look into her daily life at State, who what where and when she met with, surprised there are not more celebrities. There are some mysterious meetings she went to regularly that have been redacted, she would leave State drive somewhere 5 minutes away and then return an hour later.” Eamon Javers cnbc. Oh lookie here a whole new tangent to go off on, we can look forward to Congressional hearings to find out wher she went and whom she met with.
Trollhattan
@Yutsano:
Culpa-d my mea up at #40, dad-gummit.
germy
schrodinger's cat
@JPL: Trumpbots don’t care but I hope the MSM follows this story.
Trollhattan
This might be the most amusing thing I’ve encountered the entire campaign.
PPP trolls Trump campaign, including an actual Trump, after Trumpsters fall for fake PPP documents.
jl
@germy: Trump actually lifting a finger to prepare for a task is out of character. Gotta give him points for honesty there.
Jeffro
@Roger Moore:
Which is why the media’s talking about emails and not Benghazi anymore…that line of stupidity went nowhere (despite 8 congressional investigations) so now we’re on to the supposed email scandal.
Actually come to think about it, pointing out that EVEN THE GOP has moved on from Benghazi is not a bad way to explain to RW friends and relatives how this whole cycle works.
germy
@jl: Attention Deficit Disorder.
Exacerbated by chronic amphetamine use.
Peale
@hovercraft: OMG. Sometimes the SoS has clandestine meetings!
Brachiator
@germy:
I think I’d rather see “Sausage Party” again. Rude and unapologetically crude. And yet, some surprisingly astute observations on religion and politics. Just eat lunch or dinner before you see the movie.
But actually, thanks for the positive notes on “Southside With You.” If it is still playing somewhere convenient over Labor Day, I will check it out.
Mila Kunis plays the mother of pre-teens in the delightful “Bad Moms.” I will bet that there are some male studio execs who think that she is no longer “hot enough” to play a love interest anymore. But I also heard a female critic reviewing “Bad Moms” say that Kunis was “too pretty” to relate to in the movie. Women actors sometimes can’t get a break from anyone.
ETA “Bad Moms” is sweet and nowhere near as outrageous as “Sausage Party.” But both are pretty good films. And you should definitely stay for the end credits of “Bad Moms.”
ruckus
@jl:
Going to correct that for you.
If there’s a group of GOP hacks blowing someone there must be a fire.
Jeffro
@hovercraft:
She was clearly going to her Kremlin-arranged dead drop with every secret that the US government has every produced, don’t you watch The Americans?
I’d like to see every GOP rep and senator produce their schedules and account for their time in a similar fashion. I’m sure nothing out of the ordinary will pop up…
? Martin
@germy: Well, that is actually a valid point. But you have to balance sounding phony against sounding like a racist egomaniacal know-nothing lunatic.
Tough call.
Peale
@Jeffro: And just to note, it isn’t out of the ordinary for a SoS to have classified meetings.
germy
@Brachiator:
My wife and I are the toughest of audiences. Fussy and peevish oldsters. But I was moved by Southside With You, and my wife was impressed as well.
No explosions, no gunfire. Just smart dialogue and some beautiful images. The actors are convincing, the cinematography is beautiful. We give it two thumbs up.
? Martin
@Jeffro: No, that doesn’t work. State did the redaction, so they wouldn’t be cool with that. I’m betting she went to those secret ACORN meetings where Democrats and African Americans plot how to kill and process NASCAR fans into gay cat food.
Iowa Old Lady
@germy: I hope “Southside” eventually gets here. I heard an interesting review of it on Fresh Air.
germy
@Iowa Old Lady: An interesting part of the movie is Obama’s speech to a small gathering of community activists in a church. They’re pissed because a community center didn’t get built. He stands up and tells them they should consider all sides of the argument; that the founders didn’t want ONE PERSON to have all the power; that we’re a collection of states all going in different directions. The speech captured what is best (and also what is most infuriating sometimes) about Obama. That he wants to see the other side’s viewpoint, and reach a compromise.
Sorry if I’m babbling here, but I was incredibly moved by this film.
randy khan
@hovercraft:
You know what’s 5 minutes away from State (if you have the limo with the police escort)? The Pentagon and the White House.
Just saying.
satby
My buddy the journalist was whining about Clinton not doing a press conference for whatever many days. Other people had ably shut that down as stupid and only of importance to the village. So I contributed that it’s been 165 days since Merrick Garland was nominated and the Senate refused to do their jobs, so where are the stories on this unprecedented disrespect to the Constitution?
Fixed typo.
Really, whatever your personal feelings about how liberal enough Judge Garland will be, we should be beating very loud drums about the Senate refusing to perform their Constitutional duty.
germy
@? Martin:
My wallet is open. Where can I buy some of this cat food? My cat is waiting expectantly by her food dish. Anything I can do to help, just let me know.
Jeffro
@? Martin:
Oh…so you know about Jade Helm II too, do you?
gogol's wife
@germy:
I’d love to see it, and it’s now playing here, but I’m too busy to go see it! School starts next week!
hovercraft
@Peale: @Jeffro:
Now we have to draw a circle around Foggy Bottom and see where she could have been meeting her contact.
? Martin
@Jeffro: Shh. First rule of Jade Helm II, dude…
Peale
@Jeffro: Or trying to beat the lunch rush at the Well Dressed Burrito.
Patricia Kayden
@cmorenc:
Unfortunately, even without the email “scandal”, Republicans would have done everything to obstruct a Democratic President. Look at how they treated President Clinton and President Obama. They will not respect a President who is not from their Party and that’s that.
Keith G
It’s all good and it certainly doesn’t matter what the FBI thinks after it determined that there were no charges that were appropriate. The email thing has been less of a drag on Hillary then I suspected. It does seem that the personal email account on a private server did act as a bit of an (unplanned?) obsticle for FOIA requests and the server was not an appropriate way to preserve official records. But, fortunately that bit of mess is not going to move any voters.
Patricia Kayden
@OzarkHillbilly: Why did President Obama allow Comey (a Republican) to hold such a pivotal position during his administration? I hope a future President Clinton learns from this and places Democrats in all key positions. There is no reason to be bipartisan. Republicans are more and more proving themselves to be enemies of democracy who place their party before country every chance they get.
schrodinger's cat
From Ashutosh Gowarikar’s, Jodha Akbar, a lavishly mounted number, even by Bollywood standards. Plus, Hrithik Roshan is eye candy as Akbar.
BTW, Akbar was a RL anti-Trump if there ever was. The greatest of the Mughal emperors, tried to bridge the divide between Hindus and Muslims. Militarily formed allegiances with the Hindu Rajputs in northern India. Had many Hindus serving in prominent positions in his court. He was born when his father Humayun was on the run and started from almost nothing.
Patricia Kayden
@Shell: Rev Wright was never a surrogate for Obama’s campaign so the situations are not at all comparable. Just like Weiner has never been a surrogate for Clinton’s campaign despite Trump and his surrogates’ claims that somehow his connections to Huma represent a threat to our nation’s security.
Brachiator
@SiubhanDuinne:
Why (blushing), thank you very much!
hovercraft
@randy khan:
That’s not juicy and scandalous enough. Javers did say that it could be interagency meetings that State didn’t want to disclose, or maybe she was meeting with her lawyers. He’s just speculating so who knows.
schrodinger's cat
@schrodinger’s cat: Oops forgot the link to Azeem O Shah Shahenshah
Jeffro
@hovercraft:
Please just let it not be that James Corden picked her up and taped an episode of “Carpool Karaoke”. Anything but that.
Brachiator
@schrodinger’s cat:
I think a link is missing.
I have stood in Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar’s city. It was cool to see artists and architecture students sketching the grounds, still finding inspiration. The story is it that after praying to a Muslim holy man, Akbar finally had children with his Hindu wife. The Tomb of Sheikh Salim Chishti, built to honor the Sufi holy man, is an exquisitely beautiful building. I knew nothing about it before I saw it, and was totally knocked out by it. And I appreciate how the government of India tries to maintain various important buildings, not just the ones belonging to one religion or culture.
Patricia Kayden
@germy: Saw it Saturday night. It’s a really great romantic movie (and very funny at times). I kind of wished that it would have ended with a glimpse at the real Obamas though.
schrodinger's cat
@Brachiator: The main divide in India until the British era was north-south rather than Hindu-Muslim. Mughals never ruled to the south of Godavari. Mughals since Akbar (even Aurangzeb) had many prominent Rajputs serving in their courts. And Deccan Sultans had Marathas in their employ in prominent positions. Maratha rulers allocated funds to Muslim places of worship etc.
Mughals were never able to rule to the south of the Godavari river. Marathas could not hold Delhi for long either.
JMG
@Patricia Kayden: I could be wrong, but my understanding is that FBI directors have 10 year terms and cannot be fired by Presidents. If Obama re-appointed him (I think he did) it’s doubtless because no Democrat will ever be allowed to be FBI director. The Republicans would say either that the nominee was a civil liberties squish who’d get us all murdered in our beds or that he/she would run a secret police state to persecute them. Actually no, they’d say both.
Patricia Kayden
@hovercraft: So what will those same people say when Trump loses to Secretary Clinton? They cannot claim that he hasn’t attacked her vigorously and thrown every piece of dirt in her direction. Trump is one of the nastiest Presidential candidates to ever run and his attempts to slime Secretary Clinton, including calling her the Devil, have been well over the top in terms of mean spiritedness.
But all that nastiness isn’t enough to secure a win for Trump. Or so the polls predict.
schrodinger's cat
@Brachiator: See #97. I am jealous. I have never been to north India except for Rajasthan.
JPL
@schrodinger’s cat: If it doesn’t involve Hillary’s emails, they won’t.
slag
@Peale: I’m old enough to remember when the Reverend Jeremiah Wright was Obama’s “Iraq”. Now that’s f’ed up.
Patricia Kayden
@JMG: Didn’t know about the 10-year terms. I suppose Secretary Clinton will be stuck with Comey then, at least for her first term. If Republicans refuse to confirm a Democrat, I would leave the position vacant after Comey leaves it.
? Martin
@Patricia Kayden:
Same as the last two elections – that ACORN stole the election.
Keith G
@Patricia Kayden: I think Comey has done a decent job as Director and I really do not find significant fault with his presentation at the end of the investigation. Comey does not have a good opinion of the Clintons, but that is not in his job description. Comey has a rep of not playing politics (hence Obama’s trust). There are Clinton supporters who think he does. I do not think that the evidence is conclusive.
hovercraft
Kellyanne Conway was on msnbc ostensibly to talk about Trump’s speech tomorrow, but instead all she wanted to do was discuss why Hillary is disrespecting the media and not holding press conferences. She said that by tomorrow America will know Trump’s immigration plan, but not Hillary’s because she has not held a press conference. And why won’t the media talk about the polls anymore, Trump has closed the gap and now no one will talk about them. No one knows Hillary’s policies because she won’t talk to the press, Steve Kornacki let her spout this nonsense without once pointing out that Hillary has been holding some of the most detailed policy speeches for the last year. On the other front you have Rudy penning an op-ed in USA Today saying he has performed a public service by raising her health because it is focusing the media on how long it’s been since her last press conference. Do they think anyone other than them and the media care about this?
Peale
@Patricia Kayden: They will claim that their own candidate wasn’t fairly portrayed in the lamestream media. And like Obama, she wasn’t properly vetted because no one reported on the more outrageous claims.
Brachiator
@schrodinger’s cat:
This makes sense. Were there geographical barriers, or just limits on how far empire could be extended?
hovercraft
@Patricia Kayden:
Just like conservatism can never fail, only be failed, they’ll just say that he wasn’t nasty enough and the media covered for her by not blaring his crazy 24/7 for the nation to see. If only America knew what they know she’d lose in a landslide.
schrodinger's cat
@Brachiator: Yes there were geographical barriers like mountain ranges. The Indo-Gangetic plain is pretty flat, but the south is fairly mountainous. Culturally even today the north and south have distinctive cultures. Hindi movies are kind of a bridge between the two.
germy
@Patricia Kayden: The stars of the movie on Colbert.
hovercraft
Good news
Worse than Bush !!
Ben Cisco
@? Martin:
I’m confused. Are the cats gay or is the food gay?
And if it’s the food, how would you know?
Brachiator
@schrodinger’s cat:
In Jaipur, I stayed at The Rambagh Palace. I think my room was larger than my apartment back in the US.
Shell
Are the cats gay or the food?
Feebog
@hovercraft:
It would be priceless if State redacted perfectly innocent meetings just to troll the media.
Emma
@Keith G: Have you ever seen a case of a major political figure where the FBI director held a press conference where he passed judgment on their credibility/judgment? I haven’t. His job was to say “The FBI finds no crime has been committed.” Instead he set out to do personal damage.
Iowa Old Lady
@Patricia Kayden: Comey had a reputation for uprightness based partly on his actions during the Bush administration in regard to the NSA wiretrap program. Here’s Wikipedia’s account:
Someone I know who’s worked with Comey says he also values his reputation for integrity and gets bent out of shape if it’s questioned. How that fits into this, I can only guess.
SFAW
@Keith G:
Well, except for his press conference, where he said, in effect, “There’s nothing we can or would charge Hillary with, but I REALLY REALLY think there’s illegal something there, and we just can’t make an ironclad case for it.” It was the kind of shit that defense lawyers and DAs-who-want-to-AG-or-Governor pull when there’s a high-profile person in the crosshairs, i.e., trying the case in the press, not in court.
ETA: Or, what Emma said.
raven
@Brachiator: Everest led the mapping of India and he never saw Everest!
philadelphialawyer
@Keith G: Guffaw! His entire press conference about Clinton was “playing politics.” I agree it is not in his job description to have an opinion one way or the other about the Clintons. That being the case, why didn’t he just STFU after saying that there were no ground for indictment rather than trumpet his not part of his job description negative opinion? Fuck Comey.
slag
@? Martin:
Must you give away all our secrets? Why do you think we destroyed Hillary’s 300,000,000,000,000 (and counting) emails in the first place?
jl
@Shell:
‘Are the cats gay or the food?’
Both, just as the Obama conspiracy to take over heartland America wants inject LGBT farmers from SoHo and the Castro who also grow arugula.
Edit: and amaranth and purslane, both notoriously gay crops. But that is top secret and I can’t talk about it. Been redacted from HRC emails.
Edit2: cardoon will be the deathblow. That is the thermonuke of the gay takeover.
SFAW
@Ben Cisco: @Shell:
What makes you think it’s not both?
Brachiator
@hovercraft:
Wait a minute. Where are the white collar criminals? The politicians who need a helping hand and a friendly pardon?
I will try to take a look at the USA Today story when I have time. I would really like to know how Obama’s pardon compares to those of other presidents, including Bill Clinton, who I think had a couple of controversial pardons (not to say that the pardons were undeserved).
Anoniminous
@jl:
Another item on the Vagenda of Manocide
philadelphialawyer
@SFAW: It was actually worse than that, as Comey opined out of school on Hillary’s performance as SOS. He has no business saying that she was “negligent” or “reckless” or whatever he said. Did she commit an act giving rise to a Federal criminal prosecution? Um, no. Well then, thank you Mr. Federal Policeman In Chief, that’s all we need to know from you. Take your more general opinions and shove them up your Republican ass, Integrity-Boy.
ETA: Yeah, what Emma said.
SFAW
@slag:
That you KNOW OF.
SFAW
@jl:
I say this with affection (or whatever), but: you’re pretty weird.
Capri
@Patricia Kayden: The timing of all this stuff is a problem to them. All they have done is cry wolf for 8 straight years. Everyone is tired of it now. It might be that Fox viewers only believe Fox, but the opposite is true as well. People who don’t watch Fox don’t believe anything they say, so none of the “scandals” they break on a daily basis have any legs.
There is nothing Trump can say that isn’t going to be met with yawns since all he does is name call. Moving a story from the tabloids into the main stream media isn’t going to carry any weight after the Cruz father helped murder JFK story brought out the fact that the editor is a friend of Trumps.. Damning emails? We already know that Wikileaks and Putin are behind them and have changed the text of some – any horrible thing that emerges can credibly be blamed on them. Perhaps if the right had kept its power dry and waiting until October to drop an October surprise they might have swayed a large number of voters. Now anything they come up with is going to get a “meh”
Iowa Old Lady
Clinton is going to have Comey to deal with for pretty much her whole administration(s), god willing. I assume she’s trying to figure out how to work with him, starting now.
? Martin
@Ben Cisco: It’s the cats, obviously. Liberals would never have heterosexual cats. And I’m not sure how you turn NASCAR fans into gay food anyway given that they clearly only go one way.
grrljock
@Brachiator: re: Bad Moms, I was about to comment that my main reason to watch that movie would be because Jessica Hahn is in it. Good thing I decided to check first, as the correct actor’s name is Kathryn Hahn. I have no idea what caused the random synapse firing that resurrected “Jessica Hahn” from the 80s. Anyway, love Kathryn Hahn as brassy Jen Barkley in Parks & Rec and as narrowly-averted-the-disaster-that-is-Josh Rabbi Raquel in Transparent.
slag
@SFAW: Exactly. So many zeroes—all of which originate from Islamic terrorist radicals from Islamic nations and associated with Islamic associates! Just more proof of the Clinton-Islamic radical conspiracy conveniently ignored by the Clinton News Network cabal.
rikyrah
@nominus:
She should not have a press conference until 6 months in
schrodinger's cat
@raven: You don’t need to climb a mountain to find its height. You need trig.
jl
@? Martin: ” It’s the cats, obviously. ”
Cats is just where it starts. Do you think the Cats and Dogs Living Together posts on this blog were just a coincidence? I think not.
? Martin
California is getting tired of your federal inaction.
The state would require employers with 5 or more employees to automatically enroll employees into a retirement plan (or the state plan) at 3% of their income. This is an opt-out plan, rather than opt-in. (Nice explainer on why that matters so much) And employees can change their contribution or where the plan is invested. It’s designed to give employees an easy retirement solution and one that is intended to be turned on automatically for workers.
Baud
@schrodinger’s cat:
What can Palin’s son do?
FlipYrWhig
@hovercraft: I think PressConferencesNotDoingThemGate is another “optics” “scandal,” in that there is no wrongdoing or even a story but the thinnest of reeds for a journo: how Hillary Clinton has to know that by not doing [thing] she opens herself up to questions about why she’s avoiding it and how it looks and how it relates to other things she doesn’t do and how they have looked, which The People Want To Know. Cue shaking of heads, wagging of tongues, and stroking of chins. In other words, reporters are morons.
Baud
@rikyrah: I’m getting to the point where I’ll be disappointed in her if she holds a press conference.
Brachiator
@grrljock:
Agree that Kathryn Hahn is a hoot in “Bad Moms.” But I liked all the women in the film, particularly Kristen Bell, and also the young actor who played Mila Kunis’ daughter, Oona Laurence. A talented little sparkler.
Patricia Kayden
@Capri: True. As usual Rightwingers have way overplayed their hand. Assange is planning an October Surprise. I’m already yawning in anticipation.
les
@max:
True, one of Bush’s better appointments.
les
@les: oops. Damn, wrong office. My bad. Bush just put him on the track.
Eric U.
Didn’t Obama have to re-appoint Comey or something? I was annoyed at something he did a year ago and looked it up, but now I’ve forgotten.
My local paper has the stupidest story up about how a donor asked Hillary Clinton for something. She wanted women’s issues to be emphasized more at a Clinton conference. Talk about the depths of corruption, Clinton should step aside immediately! Horrors!
jl
@FlipYrWhig: Reporter “Did you break up your lesbian lover’s relationship with poor Tony, or did you provide a corrupt sweetheart work deal for Abedin to encourage her to stay with that pervert?”
Pundit:”My sense is… unfortunately, that Clinion wasn’t straightforward in her answer. She has a ‘trust problem’, and it’s getting worse”.
Gin & Tonic
@hovercraft: I’m trying and failing to recall the last press conference held by Il Donaldo.
bmoak
IIRC, Comey had his heart set on running for Governor of NJ to replace Christie.
Baud
@Eric U.: Haha. That’s the dumbest scandal yet (this season).
? Martin
@nominus: Clinton held a presser this month. You don’t know about it because it was at a meeting of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the National Association of Black Journalists. So it didn’t exist because only things that white people can see are real.
Trollhattan
@Gin & Tonic:
Much less a press conference where “press” didn’t comprise people in Fox News hats.
Iowa Old Lady
@Eric U.: Obama appointed Comey in the first place. He replaced Robert Muller.
Keith G
@Emma: @philadelphialawyer: Sure…That’s an opinion. I think that Hillary probably got what she deserved and she is a bit lucky that it didn’t get a lot worse. Nonetheless, she has passed through that and on to other challenges.
schrodinger's cat
@Baud: Figure out the difference between degrees and radians.
FlipYrWhig
@jl: Pundit 2: “Her answers were too clinical, which goes back to the discussion we had in our first hour about her unlikeability.”
Patricia Kayden
@germy: That was lovely and funny. Never knew that Tika was married or pregnant. She’s gorgeous.
germy
Emma Thompson could play Hillary. She did it twenty years ago in “Primary Colors”.
Kathleen O'Neill
@germy: Followed by Andrea braiding Ann’s hair and Ann wondering if Hologram Hitler will invite her to prom.
hovercraft
@Brachiator:
Here is the link to the DOJ with a list of all presidential pardons. For Obama there is a separate list for 2016, here. It only lists activity through 8/11.
EDIT: I found a better source the White House, see # 166
Patricia Kayden
@bmoak: He should step down to do that since Christie probably won’t win when he runs again.
Baud
@Patricia Kayden: Are there no term limits in NJ?
hovercraft
@Brachiator:
Here is a link to the White house with a chart showing all the presidents.
germy
@? Martin:
One of the journalists asked about the emails, and that extremely brief clip was shown in rotation ad nauseam for about a week on every news channel.
hovercraft
@jl:
Drudge today had the sirens blaring for a picture of Hillary hugging Huma without her wedding ring story. Slight problem though, it was Aung San Suu Kyi.
D58826
@JMG: Since the FBI director serves at the pleasure of the President, I hope Obama with no more F**s to give, tells him on Nov 9th that he can take his pleasure else where. And while it’s true that Hoover was up to his eyeballs in politics, after his death they did try and professionalize the position.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: If she does, her answer to every question should be, “You’re an asshole.” or “You really are an asshole.”
hovercraft
@Patricia Kayden: @Baud:
Yes we do, 2 terms. Which is why Fat Boy is looking for a new gig, it was supposed to be President, but then there was a little episode with a bridge. We hate him here so he doesn’t even have the option of running for senate, even if he ran against the useless Menendez he would lose. Drumph is his only hope.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly: I would also accept, “You, sir, are an asshole.”
D58826
@Iowa Old Lady: Well maybe the fact that he was one of the Starr inquisitors in the late 90’s and then investigated Bill for something or another (the pardons I think) in 2001. Came up empty both times. So this is payback.
I suspect Obama picked him because the GOP was not about to allow a democrat/independent be confirmed, so Comy was the least objectionable republican they could find.
debbie
@Brachiator:
Wonderful image!
And it’s the GOP’s karma as payback for their four-decades-long Southern Strategy that the train never will stop there.
I wish I could remember the Twilight Zone episode this reminds me of.
philadelphialawyer
@Keith G: Hillary didn’t “deserve” any of it. The whole thing was a complete crock of shit.
Baud
@philadelphialawyer: Agree.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: Especially if it’s a woman who asks the moronic question.
FlipYrWhig
@philadelphialawyer:
philadelphialawyer
@FlipYrWhig: I’m sorry, I don’t get it.
FlipYrWhig
@philadelphialawyer: It’s from Office Space. The bureaucracy-obsessed boss is passive-aggressively haranguing his employee about his failure to observe all the specifics of a policy memo, and the employee admits it was a minor mistake, and the boss just belabors the point anyway. It’s kind of a Gen-X touchstone. It feels apropos to the whole dumb email story.
philadelphialawyer
@FlipYrWhig: OK, gotcha now. I’m a “late boomer,” so I missed that one!
Mike in NC
@philadelphialawyer: The movie “Office Space” with the smarmy weasel boss.
MDC
Comey let HRC off with a scolding. Some folks apparently can’t abide that — either he’s a spineless lackey of Tyrant Obama, or a vicious, hateful bully. *Eyeroll*
Look: she screwed up, by her own admission. I understand the psychological need to view everything and everyone thru a “if you’re not with us, you’re against us” paradigm — that sweet Manichaean rage is part of the essential fuel of the blogosphere, especially during campaign season. But maybe we could *try* acknowledging that she mishandled the whole email situation — like she herself has. She messed up, but was cleared of criminal wrongdoing. Take the win and move on.
Or, I don’t know, keep blogging about what a horrible, evil, no-good, unprincipled hack Comey is… because he’s THE ENEMY. Whatever floats your boat.
philadelphialawyer
@MDC:
But why the “scolding?” Who put the FBI in charge of non criminal evaluation of SOS performance? No criminal wrongdoing? I agree. So then, what is the above politics, man of integrity, non partisan FBI Director going on about? HIS job is to investigate possible crimes, not to scold people. He isn’t Hillary’s mom, is he?
Digging deeper, Hillary basically had no choice but to “admit” that she screwed up. But what did she actually do wrong? Was national security threatened, at all, by her actions? Were they really any different than what Powell did? Nothing. No. And no.
The whole thing, again, is a complete crock of shit, from start to finish, an egregious example of the Clinton Rules, and of the horrible Republican practice of Government by Bullshit Investigation.
And Comey played right into that. So, fuck him.
And fuck seeing this as a “win.”
But, whatevs, go right ahead and play into their hands. Make excuses for their inexcusable, hypocritical, destructive, fraudulent character assassination. Act as if Comey engaged in Goldilocks behavior. Stick up for that partisan, unprincipled, hack, POS, Republican Ass Wipe.
Because, after all, both sides are to blame. Right?
Ironically, this thread is titled “More ‘Both Sides’ Juice.” And, right on cue, here are you and Keith G, selling it by the gallon.
Eyeroll indeed!
The Lodger
@Iowa Old Lady: I don’t know. All Hillary needs is one FBI agent caught screwing the pooch and she can ask Comey to resign. And they’re overdue for a low-level scandal.
James E Powell
@satby:
The problem is that “the Senate” isn’t on the ballot anywhere.
The Lodger
@hovercraft: Doesn’t some of this calendar stuff deserve to be kept classified?
James E Powell
@The Lodger:
Those rules don’t apply if it’s anything that makes Clinton look bad.
The Lodger
@James E Powell: Right. Forgot about that.
JR in WV
@Bailey:
“…tell that to Bobby Kennedy…” is a remark that requires some factual back up. The “word” of a pseudonymous blog poster doesn’t mean crap to me, especially one I don’t recall seeing much before this smarmy piece of shit.
You’re talking about a man who lost his life in service to his country here, along with his older brothers. What have you given up for your country? My guess is nada.
JR in WV
@Emma:
This!
The longest possible statement from Comey should have been “The FBI, after exhaustive investigation, finds that no indictable crime was committed by anyone associated with Ms Clinton while Sec State.”
Any more than that was political dirt slinging from a guy who had the lack of morals to work for Ken Starr. Who was too corrupt to run a Big-12 football school in Texas!
JR in WV
@Brachiator:
President Obama is commuting sentences, not granting pardons. They aren’t the same thing at all. Also note that he denied over 2,000 of the applications he is considering.
Letting some out of jail who is serving life for possession of pot isn’t the same as letting that financial fraudster hiding out in Switzerland off the hook. I forget his name after 16 years, but I don’t forget the gift.
JR in WV
@Iowa Old Lady:
I would relocate his daily office report to Bengazi, where he could look into that scandal, and keep him there until he coughed up a report exonerating Clinton and Obama OR retires as a heroic law enforcement eagle.
Or something equally tasty for his reward. Fuqu him if he thinks he can fuq with da president. Day I learned he worked for Starr was the day I wanted him out of DC forever. Pig.