president elected with a yawning popular vote deficit nominates a justice for whom rules were changed to a seat that was held by obstruction
— Simon Maloy (@SimonMaloy) April 6, 2017
McConnell's real feat was to refuse to give any hearing to Garland and to go nuclear without putting the slightest dent in both-sides-ism.
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) April 6, 2017
Addison Mitchell “Mitch” McConnell Jr. is generally regarded as a political opportunist whose only real loyalty is to the career of Mitch McConnell. But his latest maneuvers to steal a Supreme Court seat for the most retrograde elements of the Republican Party put him in cahoots with fellow flower-of-Southern-manhood, Attorney-General-by-grace-of-the-President-Asterisk, Jeff Sessions. Future historians — assuming there are any — will speak of these two and their GOP cronies as modern historians do of the antebellum Congressional cabal that was willing to tear the country apart rather than give up their “inherent privileges”…
McConnell is one of the leading figures destroying the American experiment and ending the American century. #PowerUberAlles #Traitor. https://t.co/14GkZ25JRM
— Thomas Levenson (@TomLevenson) April 6, 2017
1. A narrative of 21st century decline in national governance will center on McConnell:
– Starting in 2006, when Dems took back the Senate.. https://t.co/4EqV5E2K5V— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) April 7, 2017
3. – After 2008 election he of course declared that measure of success would be limiting Obama to one term, and thwarting legislation.
— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) April 7, 2017
5. – In summer of 2016, put the kibosh on FBI going public w warning of Russian interference in election https://t.co/evgN4SwZXi
— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) April 7, 2017
7/7 As I say, historians of our era can do worse than telling story of collapse of national governance via Addison Mitchell McConnell. /end
— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) April 7, 2017
@JamesFallows And here he is looking pensive and perhaps rueful having perpetrated all this: pic.twitter.com/pbzyvlBteC
— JimInMissoula (@JimAtSunburst) April 7, 2017
BBA
In a highly unusual 8-0 vote, the Supreme Court has ruled that Mitch McConnell is, and I quote, “one ugly bastard.”
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
Having started last thread with a Politico writer’s (Breitbart-approved!) descent into overt misogyny, time for a genuine change of pace…
In actually lighter news: lololololol seems like trump rly can’t read
Virginia
All I gotta say every time I see his stupid face and glasses, is “fuck you, fuck you, fuck you”. I know it is way past childish, but I just can’t anything else.
CB in Natick
As horrible as Mitch Mcconnell is he didn’t do this alone. He had the help of the entire Republican party who were complicit in his actions. It’s actions like these that destroy democracy and lead to revolutions in other countries.
burnspbesq
McConnell is the Derek Jeter of politics. He’s a hateful piece of shit because of the team he plays for, but he is awfully good at what he does.
debbie
He is as evil as a politician can be.
Mike in NC
A face that needs to be stomped on very hard, for a very long time.
BlueDWarrior
@debbie: and the pitiful thing about it is, because he is engaged in hippie-punching, too many people can’t care or cheer him on.
Yarrow
I’d like to know what those secrets are that changed his mind from “no investigations on Russia” to “okay, we’ll investigate.” Those secrets must be something else.
ArchTeryx
In the end, McConnell was better then Harry Reid at one thing: Raw power plays. In the end, though, it’s the voters who didn’t take that seriously enough – or WANTED those raw power plays. A shit-ton of rightist “Christians” voted for the most anti-Christian candidate in recent memory, Trump, specifically to give McConnell the Supreme Court seat. Way too few of our side voted D for the same reason.
He used the Senate powers given to him to maximum effectiveness. And until our voters take that seriously, he’ll keep right on doing it. It’s why I was scared shitless when O-care repeal looked like it would clear the House – if it did, I knew McConnell would do WHATEVER it took to get it through the Senate, and I was dead meat. Thank heavens that didn’t happen. But that’s just one bullet dodged, and there’s a machine gun aimed our way.
Major Major Major Major
@CB in Natick: surely you couldn’t mean people like the honorable John Sidney McCain!
Kryptik
@Virginia:
The fact that McConnell probably sleeps like a fucking baby, comfortable and self-satisfied with himself and his unprecedented “successes” is just one of the many things that keeps me up at night.
BBA
@burnspbesq: Hell, he’s managed to convince most of the commenters here that the filibuster was the last safeguard of democracy when historically its primary purpose was to prevent the Northern majority from banning lynching in the South, and not 10 years ago he himself used it to stymie the biggest Democratic majority since the War. That’s a truly astounding level of manipulation, I’m too impressed to be mad.
efgoldman
@Yarrow:
Either he thinjks “I can skate, they don’t have enough on me”, or he’s planning on retiring soon.
Or both.
satby
We need to change the national motto from “In God We Trust” to “There’s a Sucker Born Every Minute”
BlueDWarrior
@ArchTeryx: it speaks to the asymmetry in the two party bases. Until Democrats reward politicians who do things that upset people but furthers the liberal cause, there is no reason for D politicians to stick their necks out. On the same kind, they’re need to be more liberal surrogates willing to call this political war out beyond our general haunts.
Kryptik
@ArchTeryx:
The great flaw in our system is how much hinges on the unspoken, uncodified expectation of respect for process. When one is able to simply say ‘fuck the process’, but do it in the most genteel, “respectful” way possible that pays paeans to the other unspoken agreement of supposed Congressional brotherhood, then you can subvert anything and soak in the high praise and repeated pats on the back for your ‘statemanship’
WaterGirl
I could only see part of the title in Leaf. I was going with Mitch McConnel Partnering with the Devil. So I see that I was not far from wrong!
What a kick in the butt today was.
Jeffro
@Virginia:
It’s not childish and plenty of others are wishing him worse (both verbally and physically). Between him, Injustice Gorsuch, and Orangemandias himself, one has to root for injuries. And bathtub issues. Maybe even some Russian tea…
rikyrah
Traitor against this country
Kryptik
@BlueDWarrior:
One of the problem there is just how much of the R base views upsetting people without purpose to be one of the highest virtues ever. It’s only when you upset people for some unspoken liberal cause that they make things out to be the most uncouth, vicious thing ever.
And while it’s a chicken/egg thing, a vast amount of the D base values at least empty gestures toward bipartisanship and compromise as much as D pols do. It’s just that the GOP has managed to weaponize that against Dems to such an adverse degree.
BlueDWarrior
@Kryptik: that is the great underpinning of society in general though. If too many people say “fuck it”, it generally can’t work.
Alain the site fixer
@Major Major Major Major: travel safely; send pics.
Kryptik
@BlueDWarrior:
Well, that’s why the GOP seems deadset on purging the country of us “Fake Americans”, so they can bring back that genteel society that made (Confederate) America such a success….until then, the ends justify the means, it seems, and the US does love itself some winners, no matter the cost of those wins.
ceece
Since I don’t have a lot of cash, I decided to phone bank for James Thompson, who is running in Kansas (Wichita) to replace Pompeo. Special election is next Tuesday. Seems like one of the good guys, he is a civil rights lawyer who runs legal affairs clinics for veterans.
You can help too, here is the phonebanking link
I’m not the greatest on the phone, and I got a bunch of hangups, but I got 3 people to promise me to vote. Feels better than shouting at the TV….
WaterGirl
I am saddened at the realization of the number of times today that I have had the fleeting
thoughthope that one or another of these abhorrent people who are destroying our democracy will die at the perfect time in relation to the Traitor’s administration coming tumbling down under the weight of the russian scandal and that the world will right itself once again.I like to think that I am a good person, but this is what it’s come to. Our democracy is being destroyed and I am having appalling hopes of people dying. Ugh.
chopper
that smile on his face is him saying to himself “i can’t believe i keep getting away with this shit”.
debbie
@WaterGirl:
It’s hard not to think that.
Jeffro
@WaterGirl: Many of us are right there with you. Take heart the at least we’re having some remorse over the bad thoughts that would solve our political problems. Our enemies are having no such qualms.
efgoldman
@Kryptik:
It’s not without purpose. It’s just without a purpose that you or I or 99% of BJ readers/commenters can grok. They want to hurt people because they can, because it makes them feel superior, because it puts “those people” (both defined and undefined) in their place. Most of them could easily be turned into physical sadists just like the “good Germans” were.
ETA: Yes, I have a very low and cynical opinion of too fucking many of my fellow Americans. It was pretty low before November; I didn’t think it could get so much lower, but it has.
I’m with Villago, all the way.
Kryptik
@WaterGirl:
The thing that keeps hardening my heart in that respect is knowing just how many of said folk probably actively want me and those like me to suffer and/or die, not because of who we are or what we do, but just because of what we are. If we’re not adversaries, we’re invaders, if we’re not invaders, we’re obstacles, if we’re not obstacles, then we’re cattle. Either way, something to be ‘dealt with’
Villago Delenda Est
Yertle’s head would look so much better on a pike than on his shoulders.
Just sayin’.
Yarrow
@WaterGirl: Why do you want them to die while the administration is falling apart under the weight of the Russian scandal? I want them tried and convicted of treason and then they can die in prison. It’s a much more satisfying thought.
Mnemosyne
@CB in Natick:
That’s why I kinda hate the people who say that the Constitution failed us. The Founders never imagined that an entire political party would conspire with a foreign power to get a death grip on power.
Mike J
Watching Jim Jarmusch’s Stooges movie. That very sentence presses all the buttons.
Jeffro
@Villago Delenda Est: Priorities! Ryan or McConnell…Priebus or Bannon..decisions, decisions!
Kryptik
@Yarrow:
Because them even getting charged with anything, much less treason, requires powers that the country is simply beyond giving to anyone but the assholes that already have all the fucking power currently?
RandomMonster
McConnell would make for a great Aardman animated clay character (turtle, of course), and also the only Aardman animated clay character I’d love to see flattened with a rolling pin.
Kryptik
@RandomMonster:
McConnell would be one of the few toons I could watch get Dipped and not feel a goddamn thing.
laura
@Mike in NC: Sadly, he is the boot that stomps the face of mankind every damn day in every damn way.
Yarrow
@Kryptik: We’ll see. The investigations continue. The FBI has set up a special unit just to investigate Russian interference in our elections and Trump’s involvement is a part of that. I have confidence that the truth will come out and Trump will be removed from office. The senior GOP leadership is also implicated and it won’t go well for them.
geg6
@Jeffro:
Personally, I’ve lost all qualms about, which has given me one more reason to hate these mother fuckers. I would personally kill each and every one of them, slowly and with extreme prejudice, and walk away away feeling good about it. I just don’t give a damn any more. I have vast amounts of sympathy and empathy for innocents and anyone not a GOPer or a supporter of any kind who is going to suffer under these cretins. But I am completely indifferent to any suffering or pain of anyone who supports these people and for these people themselves. I will never forgive them and I will never forget. Never.
efgoldman
@Yarrow:
There’s also a financial improprieties track. I don’t know who’s working on that side, but Flynn can’t have been the only one taking money improperly, from forbidden sources. And multiple lawsuits wending (oh, so slowly) through the courts under the emoluments clause.
Mary G
@WaterGirl: Count me in the death pool, too. All day I have been thinking wistfully about the stupid Tom Clancy book and the Kiefer Sutherland TV show where someone bombs Capitol Hill during the State of the Union speech and takes out the whole government except the one poor schmuck who has to stay away for continuity and imagining the Democratic members all boycotting so the crazed assassin only gets Twitler, Yertle, ZEGS, and their ilk. I don’t like feeling like that, even if only in fantasy, but I can’t help it.
laura
@ceece: three cheers for you Ceece!!! Phone banking is hard. But then, you make a call and make a connection and make a difference, and that connection makes all the difference in the world. Person to person, one step at a time doing the difficult, uncomfortable work of direct democracy. You done good!
But the tough calls, they are hard to shake off. And then you plunge ahead and dial that next voter.
Thank you for extending yourself to do the necessary work.
ceece
don’t know if I made any real connections, but I had to do something other than just raging around. My current favorite is the last Key and Peele Luther anger translator video – “spasibo, Russki motherf*ckers!!”
burnspbesq
@Mary G:
The only problem is that we wouldn’t get Jack Ryan as president, we’d get Stene Mnuchin if we’re lucky and Wilbur Ross if we’re not.
Yarrow
@efgoldman: They are going down. Sessions will be taken down as part of it. I have confidence. He’s involved with the Russians. He will pay.
LurkerNoLonger
The Devil: Mitch, I’ll let you steal a Supreme Court seat under one condition.
McConnell: Yes, master. What’s the condition?
The Devil: Your immortal soul! Mwah ahaha ha!
McConnell: Uh…about that…
The Devil: Oh, right. Fuck it, I’ll take a check.
WaterGirl
I really appreciate all the replies to my comment. I am tearing up reading them. We are in uncharted territory, in more ways than one. They are destroying our democracy from the inside.
edited to add: And I hate them for it.
Adam L Silverman
@ArchTeryx: It’s not that he was better, it’s that he ultimately didn’t care about anything but gaining power. Reid cared about the institution of the Senate. McConnell doesn’t.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Alt Right iz having a sad.
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: Unless the FBI tells him that the Russians found his DD 214 he’ll just keep doing his thing.
fuckwit
The antebellum south is exactly the right analogy. The Missouri Compromise, Dredd Scott, etc, all the rear-guard actions by the slaveowner class, for several decades that led up to the First American Civil War, were there attempts to maintain an artificial “balance” by force and chicanery.
I think we are well on our way to the Second American Civil War. It may take years, it may take another decade or so. But it is coming.
The only hope I think for a peaceful resolution is to take back the House and Senate next year and start the impeachment hearings. If we make it that far.
remima
@ceece: Thanks for the tip. I’m from Wichita and have a phone with a 316 area code, although I currently live elsewhere. Does that make a difference when calling?
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: So you are saying that Reid had a weakness that the Turtle didn’t? /s
Adam L Silverman
@Kryptik: @BlueDWarrior: It goes beyond that. This is where the we’re tired of being PC crap comes from. No one is telling anyone to be PC, what they’re being told is that when in public it is preferred that they act politely and treat people with a modicum of civility. That’s it. Of course the people that rant and rave about being forced to be PC perceive this as equivalent to tyranny and slavery.
Millard Filmore
@Yarrow:
Are enough Republicans free of the treason scandal to impeach and convict him? If the evidence is conclusive enough, maybe.
I hope the Democratic party leadership is gaming out the sequence of revelations and prosecutions to minimize the risk that Trump will declare “Pardons all around!”
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
And now the Alt Left has turned on Wilmer
ArchTeryx
@Adam L Silverman: You’re right. And Reid *did* pull a power play or two of his own, such as nuking the filibuster for lesser appointments. But he did it only after nearly 6 years of unremitting obstruction by McConnell. McConnell was from the school of the antibellum South. He knows all about antidemocratic, naked power plays. We’re finally starting to learn just how skilled he is at them.
He doesn’t give a shit about norms or institutions. Power is all he craves and all he operates from.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Now the Alt Right is flocking to
Charlie’sAssad’s Angel.Timurid
The really scary thing is how quickly Trump is cutting loose his ‘deplorable’/alt-right fans.
He doesn’t need them anymore. He has the donor class, the white petit bourgeoisie, the media, law enforcement, Congress and almost all of the Judicial branch. Of course there will eventually be elections… I assume the plan is for damage control in 2018 with traditional ratfucking and suppression and then, after 3+ years building their power base and eroding away remaining institutions, they’ll just straight up flip over the chessboard in 2020.
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: That’ll be under the financial crimes/organized crime folks on the criminal investigations side of the Bureau.
My guess is that Schneiderman is now running his own NY version of this as most of these alleged crimes had at least one foot in Manhattan. And the reporting has made it clear that both the NY Field Office and the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District have significant liability reasons for how they’ve handled (at least) one of the principal players in this entire mess. And that player is now linked to the CI side.
Omnes Omnibus
@ArchTeryx: Democrats are different from Republicans. Leading one is different than leading the other. Cats v. Cattle. Reid did as good a job of leading Dems as anyone could have done.
Adam L Silverman
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: Alt-right is having a tantrum.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Integrity? Giving a damn? Respect? Etc, etc, etc.
But it wasn’t just McConnell. What got almost no mention by anyone, anywhere, other than Josh Marshall, was that when one Alito was nominated the Senate Dems were pondering a filibuster. The GOP Majority leader, in consultation with his leadership team that included McConnell as whip and soon to be within month’s the next leader, gave the Democrats an ultimatum: we will do away with the filibuster if you try it on Roberts and/or Alito. As long as you don’t use it, we’ll leave it in place. That effectively killed it right there. It existed on paper, but for all intents and purposes it didn’t exist as an actual procedural weapon for the Democrats to use. McConnell just took it from the implicit to the explicit yesterday.
efgoldman
@Adam L Silverman:
Harry, as Democrats do, also cared about, you know, accomplishing shit.
Ksmiami
@geg6: I want them to go to hell each and everyone. No compromise with evil.
Mai.naem.mobile
I was listening to Terry Gross’ interview with Alec Baldwin. He said that he was a regular volunteer at his Catholic church who read to the church. He said there were two or three older church volunteers(strong FOX news watcher Republicans)who were also readers turned their backs when he was speaking. WTF? Who does that in church?
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: @efgoldman: Exactly.
efgoldman
@Adam L Silverman:
Wouldn’t hurt my feelings if a bunch of them got caught on both sides, especially because it’s unlikely that they could then bargain away one against the other as they could if it was all federal.
ms_canadada
I still have a spare room! And we’ve just rescued a beagle hound we’ve decided to name Fela Kuti! Americans are welcomed here…City by the Bay…Hamilton, Ontario!
Adam L Silverman
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: Wait until someone explains to him that she’s not “white”.
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: That too!
efgoldman
@Mai.naem.mobile:
Assholes, that’s who. It’s the same mindset as the bishop or cardinal (St Louis?) who said he’d refuse communion to John Kerry.
Lizzy L
@Mai.naem.mobile: I am imagining what my pastor would say — in private, of course, but he would say it — to someone or someones who behaved like that to a fellow parishioner in my parish. He would not tolerate such rudeness. That’s pretty sad.
ceece
@remima: The Thompson campaign uses a service that connects you to an autodialer, so I’m pretty sure that nobody sees your phone number. There are local ways to help out also, if you check on Thompson’s website.
Peale
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: if I recall, the alt left this morning was too busy blaming democrats for their anti-Russia hysteria which set the table for Trump to be forced to behave recklessly to distance himself from Russia.
Adam L Silverman
@Mai.naem.mobile: I know who does even worse in synagogue!
http://forward.com/news/357722/5-times-beltway-politics-sparked-nastiness-at-synagogue/
Peale
My guess is that future historians, when they get around to writing about the decline and fall of the American Empire, will erase the republicans entirely, and blame Hillary and Bill for the collapse. They’ll rely on the paper of record for their original research.
Another Scott
Speaking of Russia, commentary at the BBC:
Interesting take. Dunno if Vlad and his minions are looking at it that way, but Vlad certainly doesn’t like being challenged. Presumably he’s making a list of things to do in retaliation, and Donnie and Mattis and everyone else better be thinking clearly about this and making contingency plans that are in the US’s interests – and not get caught up in tit-for-tat breast beating…
Cheers,
Scott.
(Who still thinks it’s unlikely that there’s a strategy guide what Donnie will do next in Syria, and that’s very dangerous. “A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.”)
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: And as I added shortly after I hit comment:
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: He’s nuts.
Omnes Omnibus
@Peale: Pessimism becomes tiresome.
Adam L Silverman
@Another Scott: To quote a former head of Shin-Bet describing Netanyahu decision making:
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: That’s one way of putting it. I realize the guy’s a paraplegic, but at that point I’d have just wheeled his tuchas out of there whether he liked it or not.
efgoldman
@Adam L Silverman:
I would have grabbed his fucking wheelchair and pushed him right out the door and down the fucking steps. Then I would have refunded his membership fees and told him if he ever showed up again he’d be arrested for trespassing.
ETA for our non-Jewish friends: Rather than passing the collection plate every week, and/or depending on funding from a central authority, like a diocese, most congregations have a yearly fee. I’ve never heard of anyone being turned away because they wouldn’t or couldn’t pay.
kd bart
The man does not cast a shadow or a reflection in a mirror.
Villago Delenda Est
@Omnes Omnibus: The guy would be a Kapo in a Jewish Ghetto.
remima
@ceece: Thanks for the info. I haven’t phone-banked before so I don’t know how it works.
GregB
Meanwhile in NH, the wingnut caucus just prevented approval of a budget. They have the Guv’s seat, House and Senate but they are so obstinate they are pissing in their own punchbowl.
They don’t want to govern, they want to destroy.
Yarrow
@Adam L Silverman: I’m skeptical that Bannon has been demoted in any way and think it’s most likely a shuffle to keep his advisers loyal to him and not each other, or just to distract the media. However, if Bannon really has been demoted and if he’s possibly on the way out, as has been hinted at in some article, I’m sure he won’t go quietly. He’s got dirt on everyone in that administration and I’d be happy to see him decide to release some of it. His unhappy alt-righters would be happy about that too, I’d guess.
Major Major Major Major
@Alain the site fixer: we’re in the car now on our way to the airport. I think I’m getting pretty lazy about international travel because I only spent like an hour packing. But I have a big backpack that I take everywhere with me already that has everything I can’t live without, already, so the rest is mostly underwear and batteries.
I think I mostly plan to sleep and write. I’m pretty beat down lately.
ETA: and my poor cat!! ☹️ He’s gonna miss me.
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: Not on the High Holidays. The original link on this has long since died, but if I’m recalling correctly this actually occurred on Kol Nidre (for non-Jews: The Service of All Vows and the Holiest night and ritual observance on the Jewish religious calendar) when the rabbi was making his remarks in between the three repetitions of the service.
And for the High Holidays even if you’re not a member, you can always buy a guest ticket. And if you can’t afford one, most congregations will let you come regardless. My Mom’s synagogue has a developmentally disabled man who comes to services fairly often. I don’t know the details, he doesn’t have the facial features for down’s syndrome, but his affect, demeanor, and behavior is pretty close. He lives within walking distance of the synagogue. I’m pretty sure they’re not charging him annual membership dues, for High Holiday tickets, or hassling him regarding the Kol Nidre appeal. My biggest worry if I’m home and helping out with security/ushering on the high holidays is him getting home safely at night. Not that it’s a bad area or anything, but…
Lizzy L
@efgoldman: FYI: Catholic parishes do not receive funding from the diocese. It’s the other way around. Parishes fund themselves from the collection plate and larger parishioner donations, AND parishes are assessed a certain amount every year as a contribution to the diocese they are in. In our diocese it’s called the Bishop’s Appeal. Money does flow the other way in certain circumstances. If your parish runs a school, the diocese will help. You can ask the diocese for a loan if you’re going to renovate your church, or build a new Parish Hall, or whatever. But day-to-day expenses, like the heat in the rectory or the lights in church, or paying the salary of the office staff, comes right from the collections.
Adam L Silverman
@Yarrow: Honestly I have no idea what is going on beyond competing leaks. Regardless of what happens with Bannon V Kushner: The Consigliereing! (just $29.95 on Pay Per View!), the alt-right is still having a tantrum over the strikes last night. Alex Jones had a freakout about it while having Roger Stone on his show. Cernovich, Watson, the Daily Stormer folks are all in full meltdown. And they’re all buying into the “this is that Jewish Kushner’s fault – it’s all part of the conspiracy!” In any other country most of these folks would, at least, be put on 72 hour evaluatory holds to determine if they were actually dangerous to themselves or others based on their public statements and behavior.
Omnes Omnibus
@Villago Delenda Est: No, he wouldn’t have survived the train ride.
Yarrow
@Major Major Major Major: Wow, have a great trip!
Major Major Major Major
@Adam L Silverman: only $29.95? Wonder if they’ll have that on the airplane.
@Yarrow: Danke.
Mary G
And can I just say that the next Republican I see doing that stupid thumbs up gesture is going to get a curse placed on him. (Women don’t do it as much, but then again they are busy eliminating women from public life.) Trump does it all the time in groups of his sycophants and his little stub is half as long as everyone else’s, so I don’t know why he does it. Maybe it’s the germophobic instinct. If you’re going to do thumbs up you’re avoiding touching other people’s hands.
efgoldman
@Lizzy L:
Oops. I generalized from the specific. mrs efg, a recovering Catholic, has gone to the Episcopal church for 30+ years. The DO receive some (not a lot) of funding from the diocese. They also pay their priests a salary, and prefer that they be married, so they have some experience in the real world.
Yarrow
@Adam L Silverman: Watching the alt-right meltdown is at least something amusing during these dark days. I don’t know what to believe. Saw a hint that Bannon had lost his security clearance but then again maybe not. Maybe it’s a real demotion, maybe it’s for show.
I still have full confidence that these people will be removed from office. It is the biggest scandal this country has ever seen. When the magnitude of it is made public it’s going to get ugly.
Timurid
@Adam L Silverman: Those people are assholes, and I don’t care about them or their feelings. But they’re part of Trump’s voter base. Trump pissing all over them is scary because it’s yet another sign that he’s not worried about having to win an election ever again.
Omnes Omnibus
@ArchTeryx: Wrong.
Lizzy L
@efgoldman: In my home diocese, at least, salaries for pastoral priests get paid by the parishes the priests are assigned to. But there are priests who are not assigned to parishes, who don’t have pastoral duties, and I suppose the diocese pays their salaries.
Married priests….we’ll get there. (Francis is talking about it.) Women priests? I doubt it will happen in my lifetime, but it will happen.
efgoldman
@Omnes Omnibus:
Cold. Really cold.
But true.
Adam L Silverman
@Major Major Major Major: Have a safe trip.
piratedan
in a just world, these guys would all end up in unmarked shallow graves
efgoldman
@Major Major Major Major:
I’ll wait until it’s in the remainder bin for $4.99, thanks.
Lizzy L
And this, from Josh Marshall at TPM:
Steeplejack
@Major Major Major Major:
Do you check your backpack?
Major Major Major Major
@Steeplejack: my cat is not in my backpack, silly.
Adam L Silverman
@Yarrow: He didn’t lose his clearance, he was removed from the Principal’s Committee of the National Security Council. At this stage all of these folks that didn’t have clearances before have interim clearances. Even with a concerted push for the senior White House staffers, it takes longer than 90 days to complete the review and adjudication.
What you may have seen are the reports that Kushner apparently did not account for his meeting with Russian officials (Kislyak and Gorkov) on his SF 86. What is even worse with this is that those meetings occurred only days before he submitted his SF 86. And before you ask: what should happen is his interim clearances should be pulled and his access suspended. This should also prevent him from ever receiving a permanent clearance. Right now the White House Special Security Officer (SSO) is most likely trying to figure out what the CIA SSO is going to do. And yes, before you ask, ultimately, the President could still order them to give him the clearance. According to Mark Zayd, who with his law partner Brad Moss are the experts on this stuff, there are no records of any previous President doing so. And yes, before you ask, there is a monetary fine and a Federal prison term that are supposed to arise from falsifying your SF 86. You sign it under penalty of law.
Major Major Major Major
@Adam L Silverman: I hate these people so much.
Adam L Silverman
@Timurid: You’re making the assumption that there was forethought here. There is no substantive policy or strategy shift. That’s why the strategic communication is all over the map: McMaster says one thing, Tillerson another, Haley something else. This was an impulsive response, which is part of the reason that the DOD pitched him the least deadly and least likely to create signifiant blowback option as the preferred course of action.
Another Scott
@Adam L Silverman: Silly boy. Rules only apply to the little people.
:-/
Cheers,
Scott.
Adam L Silverman
@Major Major Major Major: I understand the visceral response, but if I may: that’s giving them far too much of yourself.
Steeplejack
@Major Major Major Major:
Not even funny. Sad.
Timurid
@Lizzy L:
How? If Bannon is fired and humiliated, he’s going to leak more radioactive sludge than Fukushima.
An irreparable breach between Bannon and Trump might be our first case of an American citizen mysteriously falling down the same flight of stairs five times in a row…
efgoldman
@Lizzy L:
One of mrs efg’s closest and oldest friends (now unfortunately gone) was a same sex married woman Episcopal priest. The remarkable thing was, at least in New England, that it wasn’t remarkable at all.
Adam L Silverman
@Another Scott: The rules in this world are a wee bit different. As bad as what Helmsley did, or thought she could get away with, screwing this stuff up can get lots of people dead real quick. SSO’s are inherently conservative, suspicious, paranoid people with absolutely no sense of humor. They will NEVER make a ruling that even remotely assumes any risk even if that ruling is within and compliant with the regulations as written. I know this from first hand experience. Because this is the President’s son in law they may ultimately, and unprecedentedly, be overruled. But they won’t be happy about it and they won’t forget it either.
Adam L Silverman
@Timurid: I’m pretty sure the President doesn’t do stairs.//
Steeplejack
@Adam L Silverman:
Can you hurt yourself falling down a ramp? Worth a try.
Ruckus
Bullshit. He is gleeful and delighted to have helped destroy the government of the people. He is a fucking asshole deluxe, unfortunately only one among many.
Adam L Silverman
@Steeplejack: Most likely.
Calouste
@Adam L Silverman:
Once again showing that the United States isn’t a democracy or even a republic, but some twisted absolute monarchy.
Major Major Major Major
@efgoldman: nobody means episcopal when they say such things. Not a lot of people know this, but the two churches actually split up, and a while back too!
Aleta
@Adam L Silverman: Fetal alcohol syndrome shares some phenotypes with Downs. FAS has some similar facial and cranial characteristics to Downs, but (I think) partial FAS doesn’t necessarily have those. Some similar developmental and neurological problems and areas of the brain. FAS adults are vulnerable to emotional problems and to being victimized. Have difficulty managing money and holding onto stable living situations. It’s good of you to be concerned for him.
Timurid
@Adam L Silverman: It would be Bannon doing the falling in this case. Seriously, they have no safe way of getting rid of Bannon short of killing him. He’s a snake with no sense of loyalty, and he knows where lots of bodies are buried. The Trump camp could threaten him with whatever kompromat they have on him (I’m sure it’s hella juicy), but if they tried to use it he’d be on his knees in front of Comey within the hour, begging for immunity.
efgoldman
@Major Major Major Major:
If he’s anything like my daughter’s cat, he tries to be when the back pack comes out of the closet onto the bed for packing.
We don’t know if he’s trying to stop her from packing/leaving, or if he wants to come along.
efgoldman
@Adam L Silverman:
Isn’t that what Flynn is afraid of?
Major Major Major Major
@efgoldman: Samwise does that with the suitcase, but the backpack leaves every day so it’s not really noteworthy for him. I always figured it’s because all boxes belong to the cat and isn’t a suitcase just a big box, really?
Anne Laurie
@Peale:
Not if they’re like the historians of my acquaintance — those bastids love them some contrarianism!
Mary G
@Major Major Major Major: Have a great vacation!
Adam L Silverman
@Aleta: I’m concerned for everyone. Or is that about everyone? Damn paranoia…//
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: Among other things.
Major Major Major Major
@Adam L Silverman: jail, polonium, gravity, velociraptors.
Anne Laurie
@Adam L Silverman: See new post, up top — you’ll like the closer!
Ruckus
@Adam L Silverman:
Just because he doesn’t have use of his legs doesn’t make him less of an asshole. And it is possible that he uses the chair as his get out of jail free card and he gets to act like a flaming asshole because people feel sorry for him.
Fuck him either way.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
Have a great time! Don’t forget that jet lag can really mess with one’s brain chemistry, so take any meds on a timed schedule.
Adam L Silverman
@Anne Laurie: And then I’m going to sleep. Been a long week!
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: yup, thanks.
efgoldman
@Timurid:
You’re giving him unwarranted credit for planning and strategery.
Repeat after me: HE DOES NOT PLAN. HE DOES NOT STRATEGIZE. HE IS 100% ID. HIS PLANS, SUCH AS THEY ARE, EXTEND NO FARTHER THAN HIS NEXT WEEKEND OR THE NEXT PU**Y HE CAN GRAB. PERIOD, END OF STORY!
Calouste
@Timurid: I’m not even sure that killing Bannon will do the trick. What are his neo-nazi followers going to do when they perceive that the shitgibbon is selling them out to his “globalist” son-in-law?
Anne Laurie
@Timurid:
I’m pretty sure part of the latest spate of Bannon-bashing articles is the Kushner camp hoping Steverino will do a Breitbart — i.e., die of a massive heart attack while screaming at his ‘enemies’. Bannon’s almost as old as Donald and in even worse physical shape, to judge from his appearance; and if he drops over dead on the sidewalk, like the late Andrew, it makes the inevitable the Deep State kilt ‘im!!! stories a little less credible.
(And it’s not like Jared or his camp followers have the actual stones for a genuine assassination plot.)
efgoldman
@Major Major Major Major:
Hasn’t everybody seen the Henry VIII series?
No, of course not.
And everybody forgotten even the most basic stuff from 9th grade Western Civ, too.
Adam L Silverman
@Anne Laurie: Bannon’s 63.
Semi break
Saw your post. I’ve seen all of that, including the Reagan Battalion video, which is excellent.
I’m to bed!
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
“Yes, mom” is also an acceptable response. ?
Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]
@Timurid: That assumes that Trump has long term forward planning. Assumes facts not in evidence.
sukabi
@Timurid: naw, ‘suicide’ in a bath tub full of acidified gin.
PIGL
@sukabi: …with toaster.
SFAW
@efgoldman:
Dead thread, but you (and Villago) speak for me.