Flanked by WH lawyers, Spicer asked to see staffers' phones for leak crackdown.
…which WH staff are now leakinghttps://t.co/FVh99enQyx
— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) February 26, 2017
Uh, wow. Per @anniekarni, Spicer is surprise summoning WH staffers and checking their phones to see who's leaking. https://t.co/3gpIamQdoF pic.twitter.com/aCRvBETOJk
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 26, 2017
Does this include Priebus, Kushner, & Bannon, the three with the most to gain from leaks? https://t.co/SyQyIPJdOW
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) February 26, 2017
No matter how much you hate your job, at least you’re not working in Sean Spicer’s office…
One good way to cut down on leaks is to not subject your subordinates to humiliation.
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) February 26, 2017
Sean Spicer brings back the White House Plumbers Unit pic.twitter.com/PZrKo9QYbq
— Majestik møøse lamb (@ZeddRebel) February 26, 2017
Hunting for leakers is the government's attempt to save a sinking rowboat by draining the ocean.
— stuart stevens (@stuartpstevens) February 26, 2017
This paragraph is really funny. (Via @Dylanbyers) https://t.co/TMOLDFDjmn pic.twitter.com/78Px8YwOUp
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) February 26, 2017
The irony being that the comms shop is, you know, supposed to talk to reporters … https://t.co/jUhbC4FnJx
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 26, 2017
This also cuts against the "all the leaks are fake" narrative https://t.co/jUhbC4FnJx
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 26, 2017
As if working in the Trump White House wasn't demoralizing enough, imagine being the target of sinking ship Sean Spicer's paranoia.
— Schooley (@Rschooley) February 26, 2017
"Don't worry, I took care of the leaks." pic.twitter.com/2rFaZFcRrN
— Schooley (@Rschooley) February 26, 2017
Roger Moore
It’s gonna have to start from the top, and we all know that is not happening. The leader sets the tone for the whole organization, and this is the tone Trump is setting.
Karmus
I don’t know why anyone in the White House is worried. Since the leaks are all fake, there is nothing to worry about. What ship can be sunk by a fake leak? Someone should explain to them how it is like just because Wile E. Coyote paints a tunnel entrance on a rock, it doesn’t really make it a tunnel. They would get that and totally chill.
ETA ship thing.
gex
Karmus beat me to it. Why investigate them as leaks if they are all made up?
humboldtblue
Talkin’ ’bout leaders?
What would Cole’s rhythm section sound and look like?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Comrade Jake
Seems pretty clear to me that Ivanka and Jared are routine leakers.
jl
At this point, who knows what are real leaks by real leakers on real stories, as opposed to fake leaks by WH brass pretending to be real leakers leaking fake leaks on fake stories to distract from real stories? Does that make sense?
Villago Delenda Est
Ron Ziegler is laughing his ass off in a sulfur pool somewhere.
raven
Well Rachel is doing her usual slow walk but the Ron Reagan Freedom from Religion ad was great!
amk
where the hell is jtp when you need him, dammit?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Comrade Jake: My money’s on Eric. “Ivanka, Ivanka, Ivanka!”
Oatler.
Reminds me of Big Lee, camp counselor: “Someone took a crap in the urinal!”
Major Major Major Major
So I guess Ryan’s strategy is to just lie to Trump and say he has to do healthcare before he can do anything else because laws or something. http://m.dailykos.com/stories/1638324
jl
@gex:
” Karmus beat me to it. Why investigate them as leaks if they are all made up? ”
Because Trump and his crew of bums are such a mess. Frump seems to be blurting out that most of the leaks are accurate but the leaks are illegal and it’s the leaks that should be investigated. Which of course a standard defense. Except it’s not wise to seem to admit or imply that the leaks are accurate up front. And also, I don’t know that any of the leaks reveal classified information, or involve any thing or method that is illegal Trump is just pissed that people are saying things he doesn’t like.
And, too close to the totally BS and hyper hyped persecution of HRC. So, there is an obvious grim hilarity to it..
Mike in NC
How long before Spicy is hospitalized for a bleeding ulcer?
Ruckus
@jl:
Far more than anything released by the current Republican president or his staff.
Villago Delenda Est
@Mike in NC: Not soon enough.
Baud
Is it illegal to leak false information?
Corner Stone
@Comrade Jake:
That’s impossible. It is quite clear from what I have read that Ivanka and Jared are moderating influences in this administration.
PaulW
Sixth member of the Spice Girls uncovered:
Leaky Spice
or is that Yelly Spice
Either way, I think we have a new SNL episode this Saturday
jl
@Ruckus: Are we going to stick with ‘Kremlinology’ for figuring out this stuff? And stuff like who lied to Trump about necessary sequence of healthcare versus tax reform?
How about ‘DCyphering’? Get it? Har har.
I guess as long as there is a big mystery about Trump Russian connection, a good reason to use ‘Kremlinology’ Reminds people about it. But we need ‘Kremlinology’ for figuring out what Putin is up to. Maybe we will have an ‘East Kremlinology; and a ‘West Kremlinology’?
Ruckus
@Mike in NC:
What difference does it make? They will find another numbnuts to stand there and lie. It isn’t like there aren’t 304 people who voted in the electoral college for him, at the rate of a week each they are covered for a while.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Think after his fourth glass of merlot tonight, Boehner’s gonna start troll-calling Ryan? “Hey, Paulie! how’s it goin’, Sweetheart?”
PaulW
@Oatler.:
Swim team captain: “All right, boys, we’re gonna do our warm-up out here today. Pool’s been compromised. (pause) Poop. It was poop. Somebody pooped in the pool.” – Star vs. the Forces of Evil episode “Mewberty”
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Happiest man in the world right now.
Ruckus
@jl:
You’re worried about what we are going to call it?
I’m going with the legally incorrect but very understood word, treason.
Major Major Major Major
Why does everybody in this administration have to be so damn ugly? Spicer needs an everything transplant. Just ugly, vile, revolting people, human garbage.
Corner Stone
I think they would be better off giving Rachel a 20 minute recap spot as she clearly has no idea what to do with a full hour slot.
Ruckus
@Major Major Major Major:
They look that way because that’s who they are. They could wear masks but they are so stupid they would just wear masks of each other.
jl
@Major Major Major Major: snarling and yelling all the time leaves marks on a person.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Spring time
#EconomicAnxiety
amk
at least wall street is happy with all that munny being thrown around.
Villago Delenda Est
@Major Major Major Major:
It’s their nature.
Major Major Major Major
@jl: and yet I guarantee we here are all better looking.
Baud
@Major Major Major Major: I know I am.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Major Major Major Major: on the internet, I’m 25 and frequently mistaken for Brad Pitt’s younger brother
Mike J
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Of course their problem is that the pile of shit plan they leaked isn’t horrible enough. They want it to be even worse.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Mike J: Steve King said a few weeks ago that he thinks government should have no role in health care. That’s what Paul Ryan, Radian, thinks. I wish he had the guts and the integrity to say it.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: No, but it sounds like this White House.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: …Singing Zipiti Do Da Zipiti Day…
momus
Fortunately, the WH lawyers had graduated from either Liberty U or ORU.
Tripod
They have no idea how to do this…
?BillinGlendaleCA
@momus: Dolt45 said he’d hire the “best people”, so there ya go.
sigaba
@Baud: To be fair I think Donald’s actual contention was “the leaks are real but the news is fake,” by which we think he meant that it’s all true but the papers are Bad Dudes for reporting it.
FlyingToaster
@Mike J: They want to pass the last thing that they passed, that never got a vote in the Senate.
Which wouldn’t make it through reconciliation, either.
Ryan’s trying his damnedest to push that camel through that needle, with utterly expected results.
How many days a week is the Senate in session? 3? I don’t see the Turtle having any sway over the 3 Rs (Heller, Murkowski, Collins) who said no already. None of them depend upon the RNC for re-election (and if they did, they’d lose).
dm
Finding myself rooting for the CIA has been a bit odd, since I broad-brushed a lot of the CIA with black sites and torture.
Now, George W. Bush comes along and says: Religious freedom is a fundamental part of American values; press freedom is, too; and, yeah, it’s a good idea to investigate all the Trump/Russia links.
Next: the ghost of Richard Nixon emerges from the grave to intone about what a serious threat to our Constitutional system Trumpism represents.
danielx
@Villago Delenda Est:
That statement is nonoperational.
InternetDragons
All of these are good topics, but I really dislike the way that AL’s posts have become nothing but lengthy lists of Twitter comments. It’s rough to deal with on a mobile device, but more than that…it’s just not interesting compared to other front-pagers’ commentary. A few representative Twitter comments are great, but this has become overkill.
Lyrebird
@Major Major Major Major: Sad but useful, I guess… I feel a little bit bad for the comm staffers who were treated like that, but not enormously so. And the more incompetently the Republicans administer the White House, the bigger the chance we have of getting them OUTTA THERE (or for starters neutralized down to Pence there w/Dems retaking at least one legislative body) BEFORE THEY #($*&NG START A WAR.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
tick, tick, tick, tick….
Jazzman
What a surly, obnoxious little pissant Sean Spicer is–Trump’s mini-me. He reminds me of nothing so much as Jean Shepherd’s childhood bully Grover Dill. And if you remember the story, long-suffering Ralphie (of “A Christmas Story”) finally had enough one day and kicked Dill’s ass good and proper. We can but hope.
amk
via beebs
what fucking norms? and mcmaster will somehow rein in the corrupt thug’s agenda is laughable.
danielx
@Major Major Major Major:
It’s been said that politics is showbiz for ugly people, and that statement has never been truer than now.
In other news:
House Intelligence chairman denies evidence of Trump team’s ties to Russia
Because of course he does.
SiubhanDuinne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
The FUH???
The Everloving Blue-Eyed FUH???????
Lyrebird
@dm:
Yes! After finding myself on the same side of issues as J Rubin (WaPo) is so bizarre that surely Nixon’s coming along. I am so glad W spoke up at least a bit… I don’t totally believe that it happened, yet, I’m that surprised.
amk
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: all that kenyan did was get a coffee.
danielx
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Waiting for the announcement that Trump has ordered James Comey to have the FBI “interview” Obama about these activities. Which of course Comey would do in a heartbeat, because reasons.
Reports of all the applause for Obama in NYC the other day must have really gotten under his tissue-paper-like skin.
Tripod
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Who??
Never heard of him.
Major Major Major Major
@danielx: Obama’s people weren’t ugly.
EDIT: Good people almost never are, really.
SiubhanDuinne
@InternetDragons:
Personally, I find them mostly useful (and if I don’t, I simply scroll through them, fast). I don’t do Twitter myself, but IMO Anne Laurie has a gift for teasing out the tweets that provide helpful commentary on a current topic, or sometimes bring it to light in the first place.
One of the things I like most about BJ is that all the front-pagers have their own topics of interest, and their own styles. Some I admit I skim past pretty quickly; others engage me from the get-go. But just because a specific FP topic isn’t to my particular taste, I’m not going to slag on it.
YMMV, and obviously does.
danielx
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Obama being that Machiavellian? I’ve not really seen that tendency in him….
If only.
Omnes Omnibus
So my daily dilemma over who is the bigger embarrassment to Wisconsin, Walker or Ryan, has been complicated – Priebus is now in the mix.
A Ghost to Most
@SiubhanDuinne:
Agreed. I look forward to Anne’s recap of the twitterverse. They are like daily dispatches from the front.
A Ghost to Most
@Omnes Omnibus: Do the contestants have to be living?
amk
@InternetDragons: many things happen on twitterdom. example twitler.
Omnes Omnibus
@A Ghost to Most: I haven’t been able to drag myself over to twitter more than twice since the election.
Lyrebird
@Omnes Omnibus: A veritable embarrassment of embarrassment-riches.
Too bad we can’t send them off to Syria, or Somalia. I really like that sign that’s popped up at a couple protests: “Will trade racists for refugees!”
Favorite name joke for your new entry is the no-vowels version:
RNC PR BS
Omnes Omnibus
@A Ghost to Most: Yes, McCarthy is out.
amk
@Omnes Omnibus: joe must be kicking hisself in his pissed upon grave now.
Omnes Omnibus
@Lyrebird: And then there is Sheriff Clarke.
Omnes Omnibus
@amk: I went college in his hometown. My college is quite near the cemetery in which he buried. The results were quite predictable.
different-church-lady
@A Ghost to Most: Twitter is not the front.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Omnes Omnibus: I’ve heard talk of exhuming him
for Clarke: Is there any chance he could get the GOP Senate nomination? the new Christine O’Donnell? “I’m not a cowboy….”
Omnes Omnibus
@different-church-lady: No, but a lot of people on the front post on twitter.
Omnes Omnibus
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I got an email a couple of weeks ago from Tammy Baldwin’s campaign saying that he was being courted by the GOP (he is nominally D).
Millard Filmore
@SiubhanDuinne: Also even if the FP article is not interesting the comments can be counted on to be tasty.
Omnes Omnibus
@Millard Filmore: You meant testy, right?
ingressus sum
My former employer’s policy was, that before you participate in something clandestine at work, ask yourself, “Would I want to see this next to my photograph in the morning news?” If not, then DON’T!
humboldtblue
Spicey revoked a few weekend passes.
efgoldman
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
It’s time to bring back the JDL.
FWIW, CBS says most of the calls appear to originate outside the US. Don’t know it that means they are fake (all have been so far) or spoofing numbers.
SiubhanDuinne
@Millard Filmore:
Yes, indeed.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: Adam has a thread up about it.
catbirdman
@Ruckus: They live. Also, Get out!
Central Planning
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’ve got you beat – when I was in Japan, a drunk local told me I looked like Brad Pitt.
Mike in NC
OT: We liked the late actor Bill Paxton quite a bit, so tomorrow we’re going to watch “A Bright Shining Lie”, 1998 movie about John Paul Vann and the pointless debacle in Vietnam. Soon to be repeated someplace in the Middle East by Trump and his puppetmasters.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mike in NC: I didn’t know there was a movie. I have the book; I’ll look for the flick.
Lyrebird
@Omnes Omnibus: Great, an African-American Jeff Sessions could like.
Okay I’ve run out of ability to even pretend it’s great. People who want to bring back chain gangs and who don’t care about human rights should not be put in power over other people, sez me.
I don’t really have a home state, so I can’t make a fair comparison.
Turgidson
@Corner Stone:
What do you mean? Her repetitive theatrical introductions to non-bombshell stories are totally productive and make the time fly by.
Ruckus
@SiubhanDuinne:
I think this one may be one of the trolls who has nothing better to do than complain about every AL post. It shows up every so often and has a longish screed about how she should write a blog post. It’s a waste of time to discuss the issue as he’ll just come back again and do it all over, or argue about how you are wrong to appreciate her approach as his is clearly the better way. Has never learned to scroll by, just likes to hear himself complain.
Mike in NC
@Omnes Omnibus: Made by HBO. Not quite as good as the book, but that’s par for the course.
Yoodow
@InternetDragons: I agree. I expect more than just a string of tweets from a front pager.
SiubhanDuinne
@Ruckus:
Ah, thanks. I vaguely recognize the nym but hadn’t pegged it as trollish. Appreciate your insight.
Debbie1
@danielx: That’s because the only thing you recognize as “strength” is a pursed lip, an empty slogan, and a Tr*mp primal scream. Sit down.
Omnes Omnibus
@Debbie1: The dude didn’t mention strength.
Debbie1
I think that peaking through employees’ phones is this administration’s round about way of implementing a Nondisclosure Agreement that Dear Leader used to like so much w/ private employees.
SFAW
@danielx:
Shitgibbon will probably ask Nunes to stand in for him at the WHCD:
“Where are those Russia connections? Can’t find them over here (looking under one table). Can’t find them here, either (looking under a different table). I don’t see them here (looking inside the lectern). Where could they be?”
Where the fuck are those person-sized meteorites? They’re overdue.
SFAW
@Debbie1:
WTF does that even mean? Is that supposed to be a slam on danielx? If so, for what exactly — or rather, why — are you slamming him?
SFAW
@Central Planning:
Big deal — there’s this guy I know, name of Tenzin Gyatso, that keeps getting mistaken for Phil Silvers.
amk
@danielx: winning twice in a basically racist pos country is machiavellian enough for me.
danielx
@Debbie1:
You mistake me – I wish to hell Obama had been more Machiavellian; he’d have gotten more done. As it was, it took a good chunk of his eight years in office for him to recognize that his opponents were never going to negotiate anything, because they were determined to oppose every single thing he did.
As it is our role now, to oppose the trumpenfuhrer and all his works. And with a lot more on the line.
randy khan
@danielx:
I think Comey is smarter than to have agents call Obama in. Besides, what would Obama do besides laugh at the questions?
amk
@danielx: yeah, trump is all obama’s fault, we get it.
workworkwork
@ingressus sum: When I was a consultant, they sent me to Consultant Boot Camp (not the real name). Anyway, the one lesson I still remember from all those years ago was :
“Email is discoverable.”
KS in MA
@InternetDragons: Eh, go start yer own blog then.
Gretchen
@Internet Dragons: Sorry to annoy you. Feel free to go away and spend your time on what you consider better blogs.
1srgengirl
Does anyone know what’s happening in all those abandoned embassies around the world?