This guy cracks me up:
Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski acted as conduit between Carter Page and campaign policy director Sam Clovis, the Daily Caller reports. Lewandowski’s introduction eventually led to Page joining the campaign as a foreign policy adviser.
Despite once insisting he has “never met or spoken to Carter Page in [his] life,” Lewandowski actually introduced Page to Clovis in New York City “in late 2015 or early 2016,” the Daily Caller reports.
In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday, Page declined to say who brought him into the Trump campaign. Pressed by Tapper over whether it was Clovis, Page replied, “He was not the first person that brought me in. I can assure you of that.”
On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported the FBI last summer secured a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant against Page as part of its ongoing investigation into possible collusion between the campaign and Russian operatives. That warrant means a FISA Court judge found probable cause that Page “was acting as an agent of a foreign power,” in this case Russia.
If this guy is the weak link, I would be sweating bullets right now. You really need to see him talk to get the full effect:
I’d say that the biggest argument that there is nothing there with Page is that the Russians still allow him to live.
debbie
They’re all weak links, which is why the whole operation should be about to collapse. And by the way, where has Seb Gorka been keeping his snotty, nasty self?
TenguPhule
Mind you, the Russians do have a rather large backlog of Russians to take care of first.
Of course, that could change at any time.
And the steady stream of denials of contact is rather a big tell.
lollipopguild
If this was a Hollywood script it would never get made because it is too crazy.
Elie
Disagree. The Russians wouldn’t dare do that now. It would just put the whole thing on afterburners. In Russia that might fly but not here with an American target
mainmata
I think the only reasons that it was so easy to manipulate the Trump campaign were that Trump is really stupid about anything other than the lazy con, he’s cheap and, I think he and a bunch of his cohorts were laundering Russian money in order to deal with his debts or provide easy financing for his development projects. Basically, Putin’s made man.
zhena gogolia
@mainmata:
I thought a made man had to actually do something.
efgoldman
Fortunately for Crooked Corey, lying to the press is not an indictable offense.
TenguPhule
@lollipopguild: Nobody would believe it and the actors are terrible at their lines.
TenguPhule
@efgoldman: Fortunately for us, lying on your security clearance is.
lollipopguild
@zhena gogolia: Trump was laundering money from Russia so he was/is very useful to them. He gets money to keep his business running and they get “clean’ money they can spend or invest.
efgoldman
@zhena gogolia:
In Godfather lore, a “made man” got that way by actually killing somebody on the boss’ orders.
BruceFromOhio
Watch out for the stairs in the sauna.
Elie
The other problem is the number of bodies that would start turning up. This was kinda broad based and dispersed operation rather than a narrow scope w only one or two key connections. It’s the Americans who will
Squeal like pigs is my guess. Both Americans and Russians will also have operatives that they need to protect for other reasons. At some point Vlad may wonder if this was truly a good idea after all
dm
Josh Marshall had a note this morning reminding us that, even setting aside the counter-intelligence stuff, there’s a huge story in all the links between Trump and organized crime — mostly Russian oligarch money, but the guy did run casinos.
Mnemosyne
Jeff Sessions also has strong ties to Page. Keeping my fingers crossed that he also gets swept up in the coming Russia wave.
danielx
@lollipopguild:
Show biz for ugly people, and it’s never been more true than now.
They really are having trouble keeping track of their lies.
Mnemosyne
@GrandJury:
It’s okay — Hillary would have started two wars even sooner than Trump has.
/Stein voter
SiubhanDuinne
“Donnie, we hardly knew ye.”
efgoldman
@dm:
Very, very, VERY badly.
geg6
@Mnemosyne:
Yup. I think that’s why he’s trying to install all his ratfuckers in the voting rights division. And the latest bullshit about immigration, Planned Parenthood and drug laws. He wants to institutionalize his agenda before he goes down. Mother fucker needs to pay the price for the evil he perpetuates. He is the one who wants to subvert the Constitution more than any of them. He has a plan. I want him to suffer a William Wallace death.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne: Probably with an email.
Villago Delenda Est
Lewandowski needs to be flayed alive. As a warning to others.
Wapiti
If the Russians’ (well, Putin’s) intent was to weaken western democracy, he’s better off letting Trump and Trump’s lackeys twist in the wind. If the Russians do nothing, then the Repubs will continue to go along with Trump’s actions, regardless how that might diminish our standing in the world. Every day and week of Trump’s continuing shit show hurts us. Why would Putin change that (ie, have Page “re-accomodated”)?
p.a.
…a convoluted but well-constructed plot, character motivation is believable, the bad guys are clearly bad, the investigators who would normally be considered the good guys are conflicted and morally suspect. So far so good. But the main actors down to the supporting cast are dreadful: stupid, insipid, unable to promote any sympathy from the audience, and actually undeserving of any. Two thumbs down…
andy
I think this guy and all the Trump people are safe as houses, at least as far as the Russians go. It was worth it, cultivating them, even for the chaos that would result from exposure. Let’s say there is a clear link to the Russians- leaked financial records, tax returns, pee videos, the whole works. How likely would it be that the Republicans in Congress would move against their own guy now that they finally have at least two years to grab everything in sight? It would be the true believers vs the squishes in purple districts. The machinery of government would seize right up!
mike in dc
@p.a.: Also, the script can’t seem to decide whether it wants to be a thriller or a satirical farce.
Joyce H
Saw on the news today that Trump went down to Mar A Lago without any of his aides. None of them. First thing I thought was ‘this is it – he’s preparing to defect.’ Get the Trump helo there, somehow ditch the Secret Service, chopper to the Trump jet and away we go.
A girl can dream, can’t she?
Baud
@Mnemosyne: That would be sweet.
Yarrow
@Mnemosyne:
He will. I hope McConnell gets taken down too, along with Ryan, for refusing to investigate treason when told about it.
The entire Trump clan is tied up in this and needs to be tried. Except Barron. And possibly Tiffany.
TenguPhule
@Villago Delenda Est: Don’t look at me, not into football.
hovercraft
Speaking of “clown shoes”, those poor people in the White House are being trolled by every damn body.
ADL Offers To Hold Holocaust Education Session For Spicer, White House Staff
The Anti-Defamation League on Thursday offered to hold a Holocaust education training for White House press secretary Sean Spicer and any other staffers who might want to avoid gaffes like the one that led to Spicer’s multi-day apology for saying that not even Adolf Hitler used chemical weapons.
“Your comparisons between Assad and Hitler were not only historically inaccurate but they also were inappropriate and offensive,” ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt wrote in a letter to Spicer.
Greenblatt noted Spicer’s apology — which began on Tuesday and continued through Wednesday morning — but said Spicer’s original remarks “exposed a serious gap” in his knowledge “of the Holocaust, its impact, and the lessons we can learn from it.”
He wrote that the ADL “would be happy” to conduct a Holocaust education session for Spicer, his staff “and anyone at the White House who may need to learn more about the Holocaust.”
“We know you are very busy,” Greenblatt wrote. “But we believe a few hours learning this history will help you understand where you went wrong and prevent you from making these mistakes in the future.”
Dayaam, that some serious shade there.
TenguPhule
@Yarrow: No exceptions. Barron can only get out of it if he takes a vow of poverty and chastity and spends the rest of his life in a monastery.
Yarrow
@mike in dc:
It’s a big story. Could be many movies–some drama, some farce.
p.a.
@mike in dc: yes. It’s almost, dare we say, French ;-0
SiubhanDuinne
Suppose for the moment that Trump manages to last for the first couple of years in office. Isn’t it likely that sometime in 2019 or very early 2020 there will be a Republican (or multiple Republicans) prepared to primary him for the GOP nomination?
What names would be most likely to emerge as credible challengers? And how lilkely is it that one of them could actually prevail and primary out a sitting incumbent president?
TenguPhule
@Yarrow: The black comedy isn’t black enough because the lead actor demanded a whitewash.
Adam L Silverman
@debbie: He’s Bannon’s guy. So as long as Bannon has to lay low, Gorka does to.
Adam L Silverman
@debbie: He’s Bannon’s guy. So as long as Bannon has to lay low, Gorka does too.
TenguPhule
@SiubhanDuinne:
Let’s not, enough of us have nightmares as it is. No need to make things worse.
Yarrow
@TenguPhule: No. He’s a minor. Minor children aren’t to blame for their parents.
Chet Murthy
removed b/c duplicative.
p.a.
@TenguPhule: How long does tRump last if the Korean peninsula becomes Hiroshima x 100?
Lyrebird
@hovercraft: Thank you for that, and for the spider/roach comparison earlier (Kabunco thread).
If DKos/Netroots Nation does have a panel (mentioned then) re: Black Women Keep Dragging This Nation Back Towards Its Stated Principles Even Under Duress or something, I hope you and Rikyrah speak there.
Baud
I think Trump: The Musical with an all African American cast might be neat to watch a decade from now.
hueyplong
@Mnemosyne: Been feeling kind of entitled to a Sessions perp walk ever since a guy as brazen as Beauregard felt the need to recuse himself.
Baud
@p.a.: People are gonna be pissed if they can’t get their Galaxy S8.
hovercraft
More winning, always winning!!
After Stiffing Paint Co., Trump Doral Ordered To Pay Hundreds Of Thousands
A state appeals court in Florida on Thursday affirmed a circuit court’s decision to order Trump National Doral Miami golf resort to pay a small paint company and its attorney hundreds of thousands of dollars after failing to pay a tenth of that for paint and other materials during a renovation project.
Lawyer fees — in addition to the initial missing payment of $32,535.87 — were originally awarded to The Paint Spot, a local store nearby Trump National, in July 2016, as reported by the Miami Herald. Circuit Court Judge Jorge Cueto applied a 75 percent additional fee on top of the attorney Daniel Vega’s billed time as well, because his firm, Taylor Espino Vega & Touron, had taken the case on a contingency fee basis. The total at the time was $282,949.91.
But the Trump Organization appealed the decision, alleging that the paint company had filed a construction lien incorrectly, naming a contractor who had worked on a separate project. On Wednesday, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeals ruled that “Trump failed to establish that it was adversely affected by the error.”
The court also pointed to an unfortunate bit of testimony from contractor Straticon’s construction manager, Jamie Gram.
“[T]he decision not to pay [Paint Spot] had nothing to do with a defective Notice to Owner,” Gram said, according to the decision. “They weren’t paid because Mr. Trump had already paid [subcontractor] M&P a decent amount of money of the contract … and there was still a lot of work that needed to be completed, so we used the money, M&P’s remaining balance, plus additional funds to pay to get the work done.”
Vega told Daily Business Review on Thursday that he expected the appeals court legal fees to be similarly multiplied by 1.75.
The result is a massive bill for a relatively small disagreement over paint.
Bill O was right*, when you are as rich and famous as Twitler now is, dragging people into court and drawing out the legal process will no longer deter people from suing this fucker. Congrats to all the little guys who will get some blood out of this stone.
* hey there’s a first time for everything.
Yarrow
@Baud: Probably would need a few Mexican immigrants to really pull it off.
TenguPhule
@Yarrow: Has there been any indication whatsoever that he’s not an entitled shit like his father? I’m only being merciful because he’s a minor. If he turns out like his sire…..
Roger Moore
@Yarrow:
McConnell is in for more than that. He’s in thick with trump, which is why his wife got a cabinet position. I think that can be sold as a corrupt payment.
Baud
@Yarrow: Absolutely. I smell a Tony!
Corner Stone
@Yarrow:
As Robert Gibbs said about the child of Al-Awlaki. He should have chosen a better parent.
Roger Moore
@TenguPhule:
Deuteronomy 24:16, dude.
SFAW
@mike in dc:
It’s like a thriller with Grady Sutton cast in the Lead.
JosieJ (not Josie)
Whether the Trumpistas stay in office or are booted tomorrow, Putin has accomplished his aim: destabilize the U.S. Discovery means nothing to him: the Repubs don’t have the will to punish him in any meaningful way, the Democrats don’t have the means, and any players still in this country are either Americans or pawns–in both cases, expendable.
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
@hueyplong: CeeLo Green plays Jeff Sessions in that.
TenguPhule
@p.a.:
That would depend on whether Kim or Trump is the one who nukes it.
His life won’t be worth a plugged nickel if he initiates a first strike because not only our enemies, our allies are going to make it their number one priority to pry his dead hand away from the nuclear button.
TS
@SiubhanDuinne: I doubt it – look at how the opposition faded in 2016. trump still has the base. Unless he doesn’t run (for whatever reason), he can’t lose the primary.
p.a.
@Baud: Nokia and Motorola: the power behind Kim uhhh… Jong Un? Most recent Kim. (Racist? Probably. But that branch of the Kim tree… fuckem)
Villago Delenda Est
@Yarrow: Tell that to Don Ciccio.
TenguPhule
@Roger Moore: I’m perfectly willing to show mercy, provided he ensures he never becomes a threat to the world like his sire.
Yarrow
@TenguPhule: I don’t really care how he is. He’s a minor child. He’s exempted.
@Roger Moore: I’m not sure he’s in that thick with Trump, but McConnell knows how to work things to his advantage.
I’ve said here many times that McConnell has something to hide and something big made him change his mind from “no investigations” to “Okay, I’ll allow investigations.” And whatever it was, it left him shaken to his core. I want to know what that is. Whatever it is, it’s big. Big enough to land him in deep trouble, I’d guess.
RedDirtGirl
Trying to link, badly. Does anyone else think this is an odd article to find in young Kushner’s on-line iteration of The New York Observer?
TenguPhule
@hovercraft: Actually getting the money is going to be hard. Expect delays and another court order just to force them to comply.
p.a.
@TS: primary rules are very pliable.
TenguPhule
@Yarrow: And I don’t want to have go through Trump II: The Revenge, Damien Improved Edition.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: No problem, they’re made in China or Vietnam; the Note 8 or S9 might be a problem.
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
WE ARE TOO STUPID TO LIVE
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: The S8 might be my next phone.
Corner Stone
Let’s give Barron a really useful/flexible college fund and otherwise strip him of every asset he may eventually have inherited.
p.a.
@Yarrow: by allowing some investigation, he’s trying to control the investigation. Reminds me of Saruman after he was reveald as Sauron’s erstwhile ally. In a real tight spot. Who is Wormtongue, and will he knife Mitch?
amk
What is better than a two front war? A four front war. Double or nothing.
efgoldman
@TS:
He won pluralities, never a majority of primary voters. If the Republiklowns are smart enough (never a given) to run only one or two primary candidates against him, instead of every breathing RWNJ egomaniac, and under the reasonable expectation that his popularity continues to crater, that they suffer considerable losses next year, and that it looks like down ballot candidates are also in trouble just from his negative coattails, they’ll dump him in a heartbeat – if he’s even still around.
SiubhanDuinne
@TS:
Not sure that’s sustainable though.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Yarrow: The turtle likes chicken.
TenguPhule
@Corner Stone: The vow of chastity is mandatory though. Donald’s genes need to end with the current generation.
/I also support mandatory ends to the Cheney and Bush lines from the gene pool.
Corner Stone
@Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD): My browser is choking on that link. What are you referring to?
pk
@efgoldman:
It will however get you a well paying job on CNN.
rikyrah
The last sentence of your post is hilarious.
rikyrah
The Russian Mob owns Dolt45 and numerous flunkies around him.
TenguPhule
@amk:
A four front land war in Asia no less.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: It gazes into your eyes, the S8*.
*It has an iris scanner for security.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Corner Stone: I suspect as soon as the Rough Beast wheezes his last, Melania and Barron will be on the first plane back to Slovenia with Barron, her jewelry, the silver from whatever residence she happens to be in, and whatever settlement the prenup established, all the while hoping that Cersei I mean Ivanka is busy getting rid of Uday, Qusay and finally getting her revenge on the Marples whore and her spawn
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: It’s really amazing. Not sure if I would use that feature.
Yarrow
@p.a.: Yes. Absolutely McConnell wants to control the investigation. But that was in December. Things have changed and gotten out of control for him. I am not sure he can escape scrutiny now.
hovercraft
@TenguPhule:
I think the bad PR is what made him pay up so fast with the T University plaintiffs. So yes they’ll still try to drag their heels, but whereas before no one was paying attention to all the lawsuits he was involved in, now they will all be front and center with poor Lying Spice forced to bat questions about them every day. I think they’ll get their money a lot sooner. I’m also sure many more lawyers looking to make a name for themselves are willing to take these cases now.
Adam L Silverman
@?BillinGlendaleCA: What if I don’t know anyone named Iris?
EriktheRed
Hey, isn’t The Daily Caller Fucker Carlson’s rag?
Baud
@Adam L Silverman: You could get a dog and name it Iris.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Speaking of features not used(or not known about): I gave my wife my old Zenwatch(I got a Zenwatch 2) and she didn’t realize that you could touch the screen to wake it, in addition to using gestures(twisting your wrist downwards). So she would be at work frantically twisting her wrist to get it to wake up. She was quite happy when I showed her that just touching the watch face would wake it up.
Adam L Silverman
@RedDirtGirl: There’s no actual link. What are you referring to?
SFAW
@TenguPhule:
And no Sicilians to advise him
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Too many features these days. Too complicated.
Corner Stone
Holy shit. This lady’s real name is actually “McCracken” ??!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Adam L Silverman: I guess you’re SOL then, blind too.
Adam L Silverman
@Baud: I have two dogs, neither named Iris.
efgoldman
@hovercraft:
Can either the trial judge or the appeals court, in Florida, impose additional fines for contempt?
amk
Corner Stone
Cole, you are looking for real fucking trouble making fun of how your friend is unable to wink in a normal fashion.
efgoldman
@Adam L Silverman:
Why would you name a dog after a flower? Poor thing would hang its head in shame at the dog park.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Adam L Silverman: You could rename one of them, when we got the YorkiPom we renamed her Conni; her previous name was Blanco, she’s a black dog.
hovercraft
@TenguPhule:
Too late, Liz Vader Jr, already spawned 5, and Mary who seems like a better person also has kids. As for the Bush’s the bad blood started with Nazi sympathizer Preston, so between Poppy’s and Babs brood and their grandkids, the genes have already been spread far and wide. I’ve no idea how many more are out there who have Preston’s genes not from Poppy. Isn’t Billy Bush of puzzy grabbing fame related?
Relax America, no one’s ever going to elect another Bush president. Ha, just kidding, I hope you’re all ready for George P. in 2024 or ’30 at the latest.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
From Cole’s twitter feed, a ray of sunshine in all this darkness
let it be so
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@hovercraft: Barbara Pierce Bush hosted a fundraiser for PP in Houston a few weeks ago, and was reported to have attended a Clinton fundraiser in Paris France (I kid you not) last year. Maybe she’ll save us from having her cousin, George Pierce Bush, serve in the Senate
Pluky
@TenguPhule: chastity should be pretty easy at this stage of his life,
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: @?BillinGlendaleCA: The older one is name Rosa, we call her Rosie. The younger is named Ruby. They came with these names and that’s fine with me.
amk
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
@Corner Stone: Here’s an alternate link; Abu Ivanka issued a survey on which government entities they’d like to eliminate — including the Office of the President.
amk
@Adam L Silverman:
dog-tags?
efgoldman
@amk:
Only fifteen? It seems like more than twice that.
Adam L Silverman
@amk: They have tags with their names on them too.
billcoop4
@Corner Stone: And a bill of attainder (after amending the Constitution) to prevent any member of that family from every owning any property ever. Little Barron will be exempt, but would be left with a $400,000 current value college fund.
Melanoma can be deported.
WMC
efgoldman
@Adam L Silverman:
Your dogs can read??
Villago Delenda Est
@EriktheRed: It is, which is reason alone to dismiss it out of hand.
jl
Chance the gardener didn’t babble endlessly so damn much.
hovercraft
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I remember seeing the picture of her at the fundraiser, so it did happen. She seems like she could be better than the rest of them. The problem is that the next designated president is George P. Republicans like “central casting” and he’s perfect, family, Latino, male, plus there is the all important fact that she’s not shown any inclination to run for public office, whereas George is already on his way.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@efgoldman: Mine can’t read, but they understand English and Korean.
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: They are smarter than most people’s honor students.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Adam L Silverman: Do you have a bumper sticker on your car saying that?
hueyplong
“Rudy Giuliani is in legal jeopardy and is desperate to make a deal but James Comey is having none of it.”
I think I just had an “accident.”
Omnes Omnibus
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I’ve seen such things.
SiubhanDuinne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I once had a cat who was fluent in French. Every morning I would say “Who wants breakfast?” and she would always answer “Moi.”
Villago Delenda Est
@amk: So, Donald has declared war on himself?
I remember a time years ago when Billdo “declared war” on the ACLU, for daring to actually defend the Constitution. Another reason why Billdo should be on permanent vacation.
Omnes Omnibus
@SiubhanDuinne: Groan….
Jim, Foolish Literalist
a person responded to Rick Wilson’s concern’s about nuclear war with NK thusly
Mr Holfelder’s twitter bio informs me that Jesus is his best friend, and mine, and that he hates “political correctness”
Patricia Kayden
@Mnemosyne: I bet Sarandon would say that and believe it too.
efgoldman
@hueyplong:
Every fucking one of the cowards will try to trade somebody for leniency.
Every.
Fucking.
One.
ETA: There are no G Gordon Liddys or Howard Hunts among ’em
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: Scooter Libby had more loyalty in his little fingertip than any of these fuckers.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@hueyplong: I’ve said before, i’m not making any predictions, but I will not be surprised if Rudi and his retired FBI playmates turn out to have been following a script written by a Russian
SiubhanDuinne
@Omnes Omnibus:
>^..^<
hovercraft
@Lyrebird:
Thanks for that, and you’re welcome.
Mike in NC
Just finished watching the three part, six hour documentary “American Experience: The Great War” on PBS. Kind of depressing, because Woodrow Wilson was a very flawed racist asshole of a president. Women were second class citizens and non-whites were treated even worse. Now we have a country run by white supremacist scum like Trump, Bannon, and Sessions. 100 years of zero fucking progress, America. Well done.
Adam L Silverman
@?BillinGlendaleCA: No.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Which is interesting because guy’s named Scooter don’t do well in prison.
amk
@Adam L Silverman: yer ph.d’s showing again.
Mnemosyne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Huh. You don’t get too many adults admitting that they only have imaginary friends.
debbie
@hueyplong:
Rudy will never get all that he deserves.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: Better than guys named Bunny.
@amk: What’s your issue with the fact that he has a PhD? A good number of people around here have doctoral degrees.
Adam L Silverman
@amk: Because I bought name tags for my dogs’ collars? Is there a handbook for this stuff or something?
efgoldman
@Adam L Silverman:
He got pardoned anyway by W, but wouldn’t ha have gone to Club Fed?
amk
oh man, all that stress of bombing the shit outta this cruel world.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: He wasn’t pardoned. His sentence was commuted.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: From the 43 second mark:
replicnt6
@Adam L Silverman:
Maybe you shoulda thought of that before you went making a silly iris/Iris joke.
EriktheRed
@Villago Delenda Est:
“Billdo”??
efgoldman
@Omnes Omnibus:
Still would have been Club Fed, no?
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: Prison is not a good place. Even minimum security.
SWMBO
@Omnes Omnibus: My brother is a corrections officer. There are no good prisons. If there is any justice coming out of all this, I hope they all get sentenced to any for profit prison. Especially ones in Texas.
Jeffro
I’m seeing an article about how Stephen Miller is ‘in’ even though Steve Bannon is ‘out’ with Trump. It’s not hard to figure out: Miller kisses Trump’s ass, while Bannon’s been prancing around like some sort of Sith Karl Rove, pulling Donnie Vader’s strings
Good – Miller’s even dumber than Bannon, and the media seem too detest him too
Raoul
Carter Page seems like an idiot. Which is par for the Trump course.
efgoldman
@Raoul:
He’d never, EVER hire someone obviously smarter than he is.
Which eliminates most of the human race.
Lawyers and tax accountants always excepted, of course.
JoeSo
I wonder if this guy is being paid to be the fall guy. I can’t believe some one would be this unintentionally moronic.
Yarrow
@Jeffro: Miller seems like he’s really unpleasant to be around.
Tokyokie
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Hey, my pal Teddy Ray used to have a tabby cat named Spot.
p.a.
@JoeSo: Lucky you: no wingnuts in your family. I had one cousin argue with me that a lime is an unripe lemon. I am not making this up.
dww44
@SiubhanDuinne: Nikki Haley? Kasich?
SiubhanDuinne
@dww44:
Kasich wouldn’t surprise me at all. I would be surprised if a member of his cabinet or senior staff were to challenge him, but then of course I’m going by traditional political norms. The entire rule book has been tossed, so I have no good guess.
Villago Delenda Est
@EriktheRed: Bill O’Reilly.
Sean
@debbie: I just can’t fathom this idiot being trusted with anything inside the campaign. Probably a long shot bet with the Kremlin, why not? I am still curious about the exact circumstances of his placement. I keep having visions of a Page arrest where he is found stuck on a Motel 6 bathroom window wearing nothing but tighty whities (apologies to Fargo).
debbie
@SiubhanDuinne:
Well, Kasich is delusional enough to think people would react differently the second time around. His sanctimonious piety wont’ save the GOP.
hovercraft
@Yarrow:
True, but tell which member of his cabinet or senior staff do you think would be pleasant to be around? I’ll even let you choose from his family not named Tiffany or Barron.
trollhattan
@Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD):
Love it, but must counter with Wanda Sykes as Sessions.
Yarrow
@hovercraft: Not a one of them. None of them are pleasant.
But Miller looks horrible all the way around. Takes himself completely seriously, would knife anyone in the back, smugly plant the knife in Spicey’s backpack and call the police. Just a skin crawling kind of awful.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@debbie: 3rd time. Kasich ran in 2000, as well as 2016.
The dogs just don’t want to eat his dog food.
Yarrow
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: He sure ate his way through the last campaign, though.
And, hey. Since wars with Syria, Afghanistan and North Korea are going so well, why not add Somalia?
Adam L Silverman
If anyone’s interested, here’s Page’s Trident Fellowship thesis that he wrote his senior year at the US Naval Academy:
http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a271110.pdf
Here’s the context for the thesis:
https://brightestyoungthings.com/articles/a-conversation-with-carter-page
different-church-lady
@p.a.: Never mind Trump, how long do we last?
different-church-lady
@Baud: all female African American cast
hovercraft
@Yarrow:
Again, I find several of them skin crawling. I can totally see the little leprechaun sitting at a lynching sipping his bourbon as he cheerfully chatted with his friends while watching the mob murder someone.
@Yarrow:
Don’t forget Yemen, we’re dabbling there too. Yay!
BBA
@efgoldman: He did well personally, by charging inflated fees to license his name. Only the outside investors lost money.
efgoldman
@different-church-lady:
At least until someone puts up a new thread.
GregB
When will Trump start marketing brand name gas masks, duct tape, seed banks, dried food and flak jackets?
Can’t be far away.
debbie
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Good memory, thanks.
Aleta
This Don Jr seems like a mean guy who likes to say tough stuff. Doesn’t pretend to be nice.
Aleta
@GregB: The LL Bean Weekend at the Bunker Package?
hovercraft
@efgoldman:
Adam had said he was going to put up a post about a fight between a horse and an alligator.
Paging Adam or AL, save us please.
NotMax
Q: why don’t the Russians use bookmarks?
A: They prefer their pages bent over.
GregB
@amk:
O’Reilly is toast. Even the Enquirer is talking about his sex victims.
Mnemosyne
@hovercraft:
I may have to start talking about my Hamilton tickets again. I just got them a couple of days ago to see the show in early September here in Los Angeles. Woot!
David Spikes
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: Kasich is another one of those “seems like a great candidate until he’s a candidate-file under Biden, J.”.
hovercraft
@NotMax:
I thought that was just GOP family values lawmakers and anti gay preachers.
Adam L Silverman
@hovercraft: AL is working on a post. I checked, which is why I haven’t put a new one up. I do not have an ETA on what she’s drafting’s arrival on the front page, but she is working on it.
NotMax
(Still the 13th here.)
Happy 274th birthday to Thomas Jefferson.
Aleta
@NotMax: He had a good run.
Mike J
Anybody see the new Cook PVI report that came out today? LIke when people say, that’s an R+6 district? This is where it comes from.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
Oh goody. Because what this blog is lacking is an overlong string of tweets about Dolt 45.
hovercraft
@Mnemosyne:
Talk away, I know how excited you are to see it.
@Adam L Silverman:
That’s okay, I’ll be shoving off in a few minutes, but I’m sure the night owls are looking forward to it.
Yarrow
@GregB: I wonder what Colbert will do if/when O’Reilly’s show is really canceled.
TS
@efgoldman: I think it most likely he won’t be around (at least at a Presidential candidate), but if he is – I still think he is unlikely to lose the GOP primary.
jl
@Adam L Silverman: You have a video of a fight between a horse and an alligator? What the hell is that about?
If Sessions can’t bring back cock fighting, maybe that will be new savage blood sport for genteel Southern aristocrats?
Whatever it is, that should have the highest, utmost priority.
joel hanes
@Mike in NC:
100 years of zero fucking progress
You need to get out of NC.
We have same-sex marriage, out LGBT people everywhere, black people no longer need The Green Book when they travel, and a black man was President before this one, pot is legal in several states with more on the way, religiosity is declining, Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms are dead. The air and water are cleaner than they were in the 1960s, bald eagles are back from the brink, you can buy organic food if you care to, polio and smallpox are eradicated. Cars use less gas and emit far less pollutants, and kill less people because of seatbelts and airbags.
NotMax
So Ossoff (D) is poling something like 30 points ahead of the highest polling R in the upcoming GA special election.
Still likely to have to go to a runoff in June. Much, much mud will be flung during those two months.
Yarrow
@Mnemosyne: Are you only going to go to one show? I saw in the other thread your brother went to a couple of shows in Chicago.
Yarrow
@NotMax: Has that gap narrowed? I thought Ossoff was 40 points ahead a few weeks ago.
efgoldman
@Mnemosyne:
It’s OK, you don’t have to do it on our account.
NotMax
@Mnemosyne
Five months of sleepless nights fretting about what bad things might happen that week?
Hamilmaniacs gotta … maniac. ;)
SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax:
Oh, it’s already being flung. Believe me.
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: I do not have editorial control…
Mnemosyne
@Yarrow:
Brother-in-law and, yes, we’re only going to the one show here in LA because it’s a limited run here. It’s an unlimited run in Chicago (can’t remember what the theater term is) so he was able to buy tickets six months ago to go last weekend.
NotMax
@Yarrow
Last I saw the leading R was polling at 12%. In Georgia. In what was Newt Gingrich’s district.
LurkerNoLonger
@NotMax: That’s awesome. Ossoff is just the kind of young blood we need. I heard an interview with him on Pod Save the World, seemed like a good guy.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Yarrow: I haven’t ever seen him above fifty percent, and the R vote is split five ways or so, with a run-off “jungle primary”, which can make his lead sound better than it is. Somebody suggested on MSNBC tonight that Karan Handel, given her history with PP, could be the weaker candidate in that second round, given that it’s a heavily affluent suburban district. I’d hope so
Adam L Silverman
@jl: Happened at Paynes Prarie, just south of Gainesville, FL, yesterday.
Wild horse decided it wanted a decent sized gator away from the herd that was grazing in the scrub.
Part I:
Part II:
I do not know why people don’t turn their phones horizontal when shooting video or taking pictures.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
Apostrophitis strikes again.
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: Actually it is not written with an apostrophe. I do not know why.
https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Paynes-Prairie
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: And after looking it up, it appears that what I was taught as a kid about how it became a prarie is BS. Apparently the water was diverted.
NotMax
@Adam L.Silverman
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: I took care of that part…
fuckwit
I was talking with a guy who is from Pakistan. I asked him if he was worried about the decades-long nuclear standoff between India and Pakistan, and he said, all of that politics is just showboating and bullshit. The politicians are all corrupt, everything they do just lie, and the whole standoff is just bluster and idiocy. The people there just ignore politics, it’s like a reality show. As Frank Zappa said “Politics is the entertainment branch of industry”.
I think the USA is well on its way to that level of corrupt brain-deadedness in our leadership. The difference here is that people don’t expect that. And, nowadays, so many people are woken up and agitated and organized and mobilized. So who knows. Maybe we’ll pull this out of the fire, the people will rise up, and Democracy will actually survive. Or maybe there will be some spectacular showdown the people will lose, and we’ll end up with a violent suppression and then settle into a third-world-style oligarchy.
For many years I’d have bet on hell in a handbasket, but whenever I see voters mobilized and screaming at congresscritters at town halls in red states, my heart fills with hope.
If we turn the fuckers out in 2018 with a massive wave election– House, Senate, Statehouses, Governors– then by the 2020 census and redistricting we can right the ship, much as say California did after the disastrous Governator debacle. If that happens, something like heaven might dawn.
Ramalama
@TenguPhule: Queen Homophobe Anita Bryant had a queer child. Same thing with Alan Watts. And Dick Cheney. Ronald Reagan had children who are Democrats. You just never know. And while Trump’s little kid is still just a kid, and not doing any affluenza-style harm, I say leave him be.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
I don’t think Putin has much of an incentive to whack any of these guys. If they spill the beans…So what? If I were Putin I’d just say your damn right I was cultivating assets in the US, just like the US cultivates assets in Russia. He’s beyond US law. It’s a problem for the assets if they get charged with treason, but not really a problem for him.