In Rose Garden, the president of the USA accused the former FBI director of perjury and wouldn't answer if he has a secret taping system.
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) June 9, 2017
hello police I would like to report a murder pic.twitter.com/ocd2itW7F1
— KRANG T. NELSON (@KrangTNelson) June 8, 2017
(Benny Johnson, 2015, and again in 2017)
What people mean by "white male privilege" is a billionaire who claims he is a genius and should run country, then cries "I'm new at this."
— Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) June 9, 2017
Trump says he would "100 percent" be willing to dispute Comey's testimony under oath.
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) June 9, 2017
Somehow I'm guessing the chances it happens without a subpoena are a lot less than "100 percent." https://t.co/JQoz5Phy4e
— Al Giordano (@AlGiordano) June 9, 2017
Trump in 2014: "If I decide to run for office, I’ll produce my tax returns, absolutely."
Trump today: 100% willing to testify under oath.— Stuart Rothenberg (@StuPolitics) June 9, 2017
FBI director joins President Obama, Secretary Clinton, NS Adviser Rice, and Rafael Cruz among those accused of grave crimes by the president
— David Frum (@davidfrum) June 9, 2017
I'd note, Trump also accused Rosie of lying about him. And like he said he'd go under oath, he said he would sue her for it, but didn't.
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) June 9, 2017
Bill E Pilgrim
Republicans: No one issues a threat using the word “hope”!
amk
BBA
This is, of course, a distraction from the real issue –
BENGHAZI!!!the health care bill, which is on track to pass while we’re all waiting for the smoking gun.(There won’t be a smoking gun. Trump’s vagueness and incoherence will save him, since no prosecutor will ever be able to prove what he meant by anything. It’s not so much a deliberate choice as a selection effect – if he weren’t that way he’d have been toast long ago.)
Omnes Omnibus
@Bill E Pilgrim: Golly.
hovercraft
Twitler sued Bill Maher for 5 million when he produced his birth certificate proving that he wasn’t the result of his mother having sex with an Orangutan.
When he mentions a high percentage, always substitute zero. And always remember almost everything out of his mouth is projection.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
should I know who Benny Johnson is?
hovercraft
@amk:
Well she was just a mouthy broad, Twitler is the president he must be respected and his dignity preserved. He is a very dignified man who would never denigrate anyone’s character.
efgoldman
OK Last time. I’ll see y’all tomorrow at Faneiul Hall in Boston, for the annual Boston Festival of Bands.
My 27th (I think, or maybe only 26) year hosting.
Come say hello. It’s free.
Adam L Silverman
@amk: And former Congressman Kingston:
Omnes Omnibus
@BBA: No. It is not a distraction. It is real stuff that should have consequences. And some of us have been able to pay attention to this stuff and make phone calls, etc., about the healthcare bill. Please continue you to tell us how we are liberaling wrong.
efgoldman
@BBA:
There are spreadsheets, account statements, transaction records…..
In the end it won’t be obstruction that gets him, it will be financial crimes.
TaMara (HFG)
@efgoldman: Looks like fun. Wish I could be there. I love Faneiul Hall. And music. And yummy snacks.
Miss Bianca
Does it ever get to the point where I just feel like laughing, without feeling like I also want to punch a hole in the nearest wall?
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
@BBA: No, this isn’t a distraction. This is the thing we should be homing in on. This is a shitbag of a president eating away with the very democratic institutions that have made this country what it is. Yes, he has a lot of Republicans covering his ass, or at least trying to. Yes, they’re doing a lot of harm while Czar Manbaby shits all over the country. But undermining our institutions is, to my mind, at least, the most pressing thing here. Shitty laws? We can repeal shitty laws. We can clean up messes of policy. We did that after Bush left office. What we can’t clean up, or rather, I fear that maybe we can’t clean up, is a wholesale smashing of our institutions of democracy.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Miss Bianca: well, the NY AG is looking into Eric’s charity.
I know it’s a hard contest to judge, but I really do think Eric is the dumber of the two Fredos. Maybe even by a lot.
Frankensteinbeck
Trump only hits people weaker than him. Much weaker. He is an abject coward, so much that even though he had all the power in that relationship, he couldn’t even look Comey in the face when firing him. If you have the money to not get crushed by the financial burden of a lawsuit, he’s too scared to actually pick a fight.
efgoldman
@TaMara (HFG):
If you get the red eye from Denver….
Adam L Silverman
@BBA: @Omnes Omnibus: @efgoldman: Beyond all of that the real reason you want Mueller and the CI and the criminal investigations to proceed, and ideally a non partisan independent commission that has as part of its charter complete transparency and full disclosure, is so that we can have a full, complete accounting of what happened. We were attacked. A very unique form of unconventional war was declared and is still being waged against us, our allies, and our partners. If we ever expect to understand it so that we can combat it and develop not just safeguards, but also countermeasures, then all of these investigations must take place. As important as it is to hold Americans accountable, especially as there is suspicion that a number may have given aid and/or comfort to the enemy, and demonstrate that no one, not even the President, is above the law, the reality we face is that we are at war. That we do not understand the terrain upon which we are fighting. We do not have a properly delineated battlespace. And we have insufficient forces with insufficient guidance and absolutely no national strategy, theater strategy, or operational understanding of what we’re doing to combat the enemy.
Omnes Omnibus
@Miss Bianca: It depends on how far I rode that day. (bike not horse)
Adam L Silverman
@Miss Bianca: Why not both?
Anne Laurie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Well, that’s why I included the links right below his tweet!
Omnes Omnibus
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): Well said. Far better than I did.
Bill E Pilgrim
@Miss Bianca: Not if you have a good punch line.
Sab
@amk: I read Reza Aslan’s book “Zealot” a few years back. Very interesting.
TaMara (HFG)
@efgoldman: I actually looked at flying out for the tall ships, but couldn’t put all the pieces together. I will be out in October though, for colors, apple picking and hanging out in town.
Peale
@amk: a reporter with a pen?
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: Yes. Exactly. What happened? And how do we stop it in the future (presuming that a patriot does not want foreign influence in our governance)?
Mike in NC
This fat bastard must be impeached.
efgoldman
@Adam L Silverman:
Everything you say is true, of course, but back when we had a competent president, I can’t believe there isn’t some kind of skunk works in the intelligence/security apparatus that didn’t have the malicious expertise to send little packets of “cut the shit” back to Russia to discourage them.
efgoldman
@TaMara (HFG):
You will, of course, let us (meaning Anne Laurie) know.
magurakurin
@Omnes Omnibus: the people harping on this are suspect. Russian trolls, I would imagine. As you pointed out, most folks are following everything rather closely. We are all keenly aware of the bullshit McConnell is trying to pull in the Senate. Anyone saying that “we” Democrats/liberals/progressive need to put Russia behind and focus on “xxx” is suspect to me. I simply have to ask, cui bono?
and to anyone who wants to say I shouldn’t make a federal case out of the existence of Russian trolls on blogs and twitter…it actually is a federal case right now. It is an established fact that people pretending to be liberals on blogs are, in fact, Russian trolls and bots. It is not urban legend or conjecture.
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: I don’t work in those areas – the closest I get to The Cyber is posting here, checking email, and shopping on Amazon Prime, but my understanding is we have those tools. The problem, as I understand it, is that if you do use them then you wind up destroying your ability to watch and see what is being done. I honestly don’t know enough about how any of this works and what we do to speak to any of it in a technical sense. So…
Adam L Silverman
@magurakurin: And it is part of the CI investigation, which is now under the supervision of Bob Mueller.
amk
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): Liked. Creating constant chaos is how twitler had floated all through his shitty life. Time to put a stop to it.
Corner Stone
@efgoldman:
That’s a larf. Obama let Putin and Russia walk all over this nation and our democracy. If they have a plan in place to punish Russia….may want to try it out sometime this fucking decade.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I remember when Richard Clarke, after his big splash with the 9/11 commission, was moved to cybersecurity. He said he had requested the transfer, I thought he was putting a brave face on a demotion. That was almost fifteen years ago.
hovercraft
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Well they are Dumb – Lucretia – thinks her PR shit is working on anyone other than her dads fans anf villagers.
Dumber – Uday – thinks because he’s smarter than Qusay that he’s smart.
Dumbest – Qusay – because having a son that dumb would reflect badly on him, Twitler has insisted for years that they tell him how smart he is, while someone follows around behind him to undo everything he does.
The fact that all of them think they are assets to be deployed in the media tells you just how dumb they all are.
Mike J
To Live and Die in LA is on TV. The Conductor Wore Black was incidental music in one scene. So cool.
Did anyone bring this up the other day during our chase scene conversation?
Adam L Silverman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Clarke was very prescient on several topics. And largely ignored as a result.
Fake Irishman
@Adam L Silverman: This. Like the 9-11 commission report, but on steroids. We all need to know, understand and prepare better for next time.
Ruckus
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
I agree with Omnes. Very well said.
efgoldman
@Anne Laurie: “Joe Isuzu”, AL? Really? They haven’t sold those cars here since 2009.
The same actor plays essentially the same character, though, as an insurance adjuster looking to screw the injured party in commercials for one of the larger ambulance-chasers in this part of the country.
But her emails!!!
@BBA:
I have a news flash for you. There’s literally nothing we can do to stop the Republicans from passing that bill if they are determined to do so over the massive objections of their constituents. If it passes, it’s not going to be because liberals failed to pay attention, or failed to make phone calls because Russia. It’s going to be because their donor’s wanted those tax cuts.
Lets game this out from the perspective of an individual Republican Senator.
1. They vote for the ACHA. Maybe they get reelected anyway thanks to millions of additional dollars from generous donors. If they don’t get reelected, they get a nice cushy mid 6-figure to low 7-figure job at as consultant, media talking head, company VP or investment fund manager.
2. They vote against the ACHA. They face a primary challenger flush with cash from their jilted donors. If they lose, they have to get a real job. If they win, they get to face off against a Democrat, voters will still be pissed at them for the other 99 crappy things they voted for and they’ll almost certainly see less donor cash. If they lose, they still have to get a real job.
Sab
@Adam L Silverman: I agree. But why was this attack so easy for them? Why are our political norms so weak that a handful of foreign oligarchs could just drop money in and buy one of our political parties?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@hovercraft: Lucretia… is “Jail Widow” a thing? Think she’ll come out with a line of Jail Widow’s Weeds? smart frock’s (ETA: god dammit!) for visiting day, somber yet chic suits for appeals or sentencing hearings?
Is this all just a long game by trump to get rid of the competition?
Lyrebird
@efgoldman: Awesome, will spam a couple relatives… I would be there were I not in the middle of selling and emptying a house, not my fave, and several states away.
eemom
@BBA:
Of all the many horrible hilarities that no one gives a second thought to these days, the meme that “there IS no smoking gun” is one of the hilariousest. That is, I hasten to add, to anyone capable of applying two functioning brain cells to the matters of trump demanding “loyalty” from the nation’s chief law enforcement officer; clearing the room to tell that officer that he hopes he can “let it go” and “lift the cloud;” and giggling with Russians at having gotten rid of the “nut case” — in the presence of Russian (but not U.S.) media — while also relaying classified information to such Russians. If those guns ain’t smoking enough for you, you must know some gun that asks you for a light.
Steve in the ATL
@efgoldman:
You’re a week late, dude–I was there last Saturday. And the big act was called “Black Guys Dancing.” Which was totally dishonest, because they had one white guy. You just can’t trust New Englanders.
SiubhanDuinne
@efgoldman:
We’ll up and we’ll march to Faneuil Hall
Wi’ its yetts and castle and a’ and a’.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@eemom: I was gonna say: There’s no smoking gun, but there is a confession on video tape. He made it to Lester Holt.
trollhattan
@Mike J:
Oh yes, one of the all-time greats and the director’s one shot at topping French Connection.
Peale
@Fake Irishman: idk if it is possible. Until we get rid of humans, it seems like there’s always another Snowden contractor or employee who wants to be a hero and releases our tools. Great. Should we be disturbed that the it work that used to go to India is now heading to china? If our largest MNCs don’t give a crapola about it, we can hardly expect anyone else to.
Adam L Silverman
@Sab: There has been a deliberate attempt from hyper wealthy interests, what Charles Pierce calls the money power, to hollow out our institutions and structures for decades. And I don’t mean back to Reagan – I mean decades verging on over a century. The precedent that the Supreme Court majority claimed as justification for Buckley V Valeo isn’t even in the late 19th Century Supreme Court ruling they cite. It is in the clerk’s notations that were added after the decision was written. That clerk’s day job was working for the railroads as an executive, specifically the ones involved in the case.
Jeffro
@Adam L Silverman:
Amen. This is why, in my pipe-iest of pipe dreams, a majority of Americans somehow comes to understand that the DNC/the D candidate was sabotaged by the actions (acts of war?) of a hostile foreign power, abetted by domestic traitors. Investigate it all, air it all out, prosecute it all to the fullest, and let the chips fall where they may. I don’t care if it takes down a complicit Dem member of Congress or two as well – I sure wouldn’t put it past the Russians to cover their bases by suborning Democrats as well as Republicans. If we have to have a re-vote or take it to SCOTUS down the line, so be it.
Omnes Omnibus
@eemom: BBA is here as a cooler. That is my guess.
Jeffro
@Mike in NC: I hope they end up getting him for all the money laundering, in addition to obstruction, witness tampering/intimidation, etc etc. Get him out of office, THEN prosecute him for all the other offenses. I don’t just want him impeached, I want him penniless and in prison.
Major Major Major Major
@BBA:
Can’t tell if sarcasm or actually thinks Trump is capable of planning anything longer-term than a tweet. And even then, we must never forget covfefe.
But her emails!!!
@Sab:
Because one party has spent the last 40 years making themselves and us vulnerable to these sorts of attacks? For example, they built this wonderful puke funnel for misinformation so they could use it themselves to brainwash and direct their base and then Putin came along and vomited into it. They’ve deliberately weakened these political norms and our institutions for their own ends, Trump and Putin just came along and took advantage of it.
OGLiberal
My Senators are Menendez and Booker so have no worries there. My GOP congressman is a god bothering anti-abortion fanatic but while I was ready to call his office to notify him about my concerns regarding my two kids (9 and almost 11) pre-existing conditions, I found he voted against the AHCA because of its Medicaid cuts. (He’s still not my cup of tea but good for him) My governor is a dead man walking and his Lt. won’t win. (Plus, he accepted the Medicaid expansion and she appears to be slightly to the left of him in a state whose legislature ain’t gonna turn red any time soon) Who do I call who would give an eff what I have to say? Seriously, I’ve heard that unless you can vote for or against them, they don’t care. Is Susan Collins or Jeff Flake going to give two shits what my NJ ass cares about?
I’ll put what little I have to give into outside races but on the healthcare fight front the folks who would care even an inkling about my vote have voted the right way.
Mnemosyne
Repeating for the evening crowd: this Sunday and Wednesday, TCM and Fathom Events will be (probably) showing Billy Wilder’s classic farce Some Like It Hot at a movie theater near you.
I’ll be doing my usual spoiler-filled blog post about it next Saturday so folks have a chance to see it.
TenguPhule
Rock on, Autobots!
Dare to believe you can survive!
/TenguPhule +1 (three to go)
Adam L Silverman
@TenguPhule: Pace yourself!
Jeffro
@Sab:
Adam has a good comment at #53, but I’d argue that it’s both simpler and more recent: once the social effects/economic boom of the post WW II era wore off, the 1% decided it was time to reclaim some ground before they were lost for good (a la the Powell Memo). They have also been losing the various battles of the culture wars and channeled the backlash into gradually opposing anything and anyone not white, not male, and not authoritarian.
People who’ve been raised on a steady diet of Cleek’s Law are not hard to manipulate. Boy did we ever find that out (re: Facebook ‘fake news).
PsiFighter37
Up in Toronto for a wedding. The weather at this time of night is nice…now just waiting for my cocktail…
hovercraft
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I think she’s poison, she claims to be a role model for women and girls. She’s the beneficiary of nepotism, as are her brothers, she and all the women in her family all sport the same “look”, I have no problem with any woman who wants to augment their looks any way they want, but the fact that they seem to have gotten a group rate on the boobs and all have the same hair, makes them look like Stepford wives all groomed to satisfy Twitler’s taste. Joan Rivers, Dolly Parton, they own their procedures, tell women that it’s okay to do it if it makes you happy, that it’s nothing to be ashamed of, don’t pretend you haven’t had anything done. Distance yourself from your father, the things he’s said about you are creepy, think of the young girls in situations where they are being abused, don;t let them think that it’s okay. You’ve chosen to be a role model, and claim to be a champion for women and girls, so act like one, stop doing fluff interviews, and claiming to be influential behind the scenes, stand up for what you believe in, show girls that it’s okay to be vocal and that you don’t always win.
I’m not sure why I started talking to her instead of you.
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman: there’s only so much punishment my hands can take (to say nothing of the walls).
hovercraft
@Steve in the ATL:
Hey, be happy he didn’t try to do blackface, that would have been worse than the false advertising.
Jeffro
@Sab: And by the way it’s not that our political norms are so weak – they’ve accumulated weight, and been more or less adhered to, for over two centuries. We’re now facing a ‘perfect storm’ of declining white privilege fueling the irrational, emotional base of one party; increasing billionaire power (via dark money donations) organizing and channelling that base; and hostile outside powers who’ve long since recognized that because of the irrationality, because of that one party’s willingness to look the other way instead of follow the rule of law…those folks are ripe for manipulation.
Or shorter: our norms are fine, but only one side is living up to them…
Mary G
I apologize if this has already been discussed as I haven’t had time to read all the comments to all the threads, and it’s terrible material for Friday night, but you have to read “Twelve Seconds of Gunfire,” by John Woodrow Cox.” in the WaPo, with photos by Ricky Carioti.
It begins:
Have a case of Kleenex to hand. He has gotten pretty much everyone involved to open up to him to a remarkable degree, without a trace of tragedy porn or political agenda. I smell another Pulitzer and I wish the NYT would read and learn from it.
Gin & Tonic
@PsiFighter37: I went to a wedding in Toronto once. There were 600 guests. It was absurd.
Mary G
@hovercraft: The thing I hate most about Ivanka and Jared is their use of their daughter, Arabella, who is 8 or nine years old. She evidently speaks Chinese and can recite a classic poem that has won her millions of fans over there. Today Ivanka posted a list of cute things she said in school on Twitter. She is a remarkable child, I am sure, but I tweeted to Ivanka that there is a reason why the Obamas, Bushes, and other presidents have enforced a publicity blackout on their minor kids. She deserves a chance to grow up without being a marketing prop. Not linking.
Adam L Silverman
@Gin & Tonic: Dearly beloved, and the other 590 of you. We are gathered here today…
TenguPhule
@Adam L Silverman:
“To celebrate this pre-divorce nuptial.”
/TenguPhule +2
TenguPhule
@Mary G:
Hope springs eternal.
Shalimar
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Eric does seem to be an idiot but his charity may be the only decent thing anyone in that family has ever done. Donald was the one who fucked it up and apparently ordered illegal payments, not Eric.
jimmiraybob
Some people are saying that Comey was the second shooter. I’d say more but I have to move to a new safe house.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
good lord
they have limitless confidence in the cowardice of the Republicans in Congress.
ETA: should the Justice Department be addressing this at all? Shouldn’t it be trump’s personal/corporate lawyers arguing about standing?
Shalimar
@Sab: That political party was already owned by any domestic oligarch willing to put up a few million. Why would they draw the line at foreign oligarchs? Republicans serve money, regardless of where it comes from.
Adam L Silverman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Well there goes Article 1 of the Constitution. We weren’t really using it anyway…
Jim, Foolish Literalist
trollin’ trump so hard, in the name of the climate
hellslittlestangel
@BBA: Trump’s vagueness and incoherence will save him …
The Orange Better One thinks he’s a slim Tony Soprano, while he’s really a fat Uncle Junior.
eemom
@Gin & Tonic:
omg, I did too. It was an Orthodox Jewish wedding of a distant cousin of a then-boyfriend who was one of the biggest assholes God ever made. 31 years ago. Quite surreal to remember.
PIGL
@Sab: i think your domestic oligarchs had already bought the GOP. Thus establishing the price.
Mike J
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DB7pPosXkAEO4XW.jpg
PIGL
@SiubhanDuinne:
Oh. My. God. I learned that song at a. primary school in England. In 1968.
The Hundred Pipers.
Redshift
@hellslittlestangel: Yeah, if only those organized crime figures didn’t give clear direct orders about obstruction, extortion and all that, the FBI would have had nothing on them, right?
MomSense
@Miss Bianca:
Lordy I hope so.
Aimai
@Shalimar: yeah–no.
Ladyraxterinok
@efgoldman: See Al Capone!!
tybee
@Adam L Silverman: Fuck jack kingston (and LBJ)
Just one more canuck
@PsiFighter37: welcome – beautiful day for it – sunny, won’t be too hot. Where’s the wedding?
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter. Donald’s schtick is so limited and predictable. Says he has something on someone (tapes, slander case, etc.). When asked to produce it he says “you’ll hear from me very soon”…very soon always means never. Comey knows 100% he ain’t got shit at this point, and of course even if he did have tapes they’d just confirm what Comey said so they wouldn’t do Trump any good.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
If Trump were so sure Trump would be a 110% willing. LIMP! SAD!
Sam
@Corner Stone: We are, of course, punishing Russia. The sanctions really hurt, and denying Russia access to SWIFT would hurt a lot more. We can do a lot more if we get allies on board. Oh. I forgot.