nope too on the nose sorry pic.twitter.com/QhmGetuDIt
— Alexandra Petri (@petridishes) July 21, 2017
.
Archetypical celebrity clown figure for a clownshow “administration”. Buzzfeed:
… Trump “wanted to give Scaramucci something to do because he likes him on TV,” a source close to the White House’s press operation told BuzzFeed News.
“Ivanka has been pushing this for some time. Since the communications job was open, Trump thought it would be a nice fit. But the president doesn’t understand what kind of responsibilities come with that job, and Sean did. Sean would have been expected to serve as press secretary, and do the comms job while Scaramucci held the ceremonial title, and he would have reported to him. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” the source said.
“And Trump did it over the objection of several senior staff who know Scaramucci in that job is a joke,” the source added…
At his first White House daily press briefing on Friday, Scaramucci named Sarah Huckabee Sanders the new press secretary. She read a statement from Trump about Spicer’s resignation, complete with an odd line about television ratings at the end: “I am grateful for Sean’s work on behalf of my administration and the American people. I wish him continued success as he moves on to pursue new opportunities. Just look at his great television ratings. Sean will continue to serve the administration through August.”
Scaramucci then took over, calling Spicer — a Navy reservist — a “true American patriot” and said he hoped he would go on “to make a tremendous amount of money.”…
Scaramucci was calm, chatty, and easily engaged reporters — something Spicer was never quite able to master at the White House — and repeatedly said how much he loves people in the White House and how much he loves the president.
Though his presentation was sleek, the substance from previous news conferences wasn’t that different: When asked about Trump’s baseless claim that about 3 million people illegally in the election, he said, “There’s probably some level of truth to that.”…
Those close to the administration who have remained skeptical of Priebus and Spicer because they don’t consider them Trump loyalists see the shakeup positively. This is “all good! Trump needs more people around him he can trust,” one of them wrote to BuzzFeed News…
Scaramucci, who recently sold his stake in his hedge fund, was originally under consideration for the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, a post held by Valerie Jarrett under President Barack Obama. But White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus tried to get Scaramucci to pull out, claiming that his ethics review was taking too long. Priebus, according to reports at that time, did not want someone as close to the president in that position as Scaramucci is and sees him as a possible threat to his own power…
Just asked Nancy Pelosi about Spicer resignation. "I don't even care," she says.
— Casey Tolan (@caseytolan) July 21, 2017
Freudian slip by AP. pic.twitter.com/s51lAKX3zz
— Eli Clifton (@EliClifton) July 21, 2017
“Commutations” Director.
Scaramucci is "the guy the president thinks he sees in the mirror" — @DanaBashCNN taking no prisoners
— J.M. Berger (@intelwire) July 21, 2017
The main thing I know about Scaramucci: He compared the fiduciary rule to the Dred Scott decision https://t.co/QCvE1Vhfcx via @newsfromIN
— Zoe Galland (@zoegalland) July 21, 2017
My spouse, after listening to Scaramucci speak: "when someone like this guy gets hired by your organization, prepare your resume to leave."
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) July 21, 2017
If Scaramucci was given his own TV show would he be doing this? Appears he opposes GOP on all non-plutocratic issues, just wants to be on TV
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) July 21, 2017
Major Major Major Major
So the source is Reince Priebus, gotcha.
Jerzy Russian
I love the Congresswoman’s response. I am prepared to move to San Francisco and live on a park bench in her district so that I can say she is my Congress Critter.
Amaranthine RBG
Trump picked this slow because Trump thinks he looks good.
Period.
I am amazed that Huckabee and Conway are still employed since they are not attractive in the shallow, conventional way that appeals to Trump.
Major Major Major Major
I received a rather pointed anonymous critique of my comic this evening, which, great, people are reading it! But it still seems odd to compose a few paragraphs of unsolicited critique without mentioning whether you enjoyed reading it or if you’re just being a critic. I know that you’re only taught to coddle a writer’s gentle fee-fees with an iota of praise before tearing into them if you’re active within the writing community, so…
I accidentally did this the other day on Twitter with a Slate writer, and I feel bad (I got around to clarifying), so maybe it’s just that people forget to do that, even if they’re me and should know better.
Anyway, that was the most exciting thing that happened to me today. Kind of a little shook up about it still, I have no idea why.
We’ve been hosting a long conference (really 1.5 conferences) this week for work. I’m exhausted, and it’s eating my weekend, but them’s the breaks. According to my pedometer I walked three miles today within, essentially, a single hallway of a very cold hotel.
@Jerzy Russian: The park benches here are all taken, have you seen the rent prices?
Timurid
Pop quiz, hotshot:
Trump finally decides to take out Mueller. Before the announcement he calls Ryan and McConnell, demanding their presence at the press conference and telling them that they will be expected to express their support for the President.
What do they do?
Aleta
Give him something to do yeah right. A finance guy, a friend who may want to protect himself almost as much as you do, because of abnormal dealings with Russian investments, iirc, — putting him in charge of communications w the media ….
Frankensteinbeck
Note: The Kushners thought this was a good plan. Keep that in mind as the level of J-Kush’s competence.
MisterForkbeard
@Timurid: Impossible. Trump would never give them a heads up, he’d just have a fit of pique and arrange for his bodyguard to fire Mueller.
craigie
@Timurid:
Ask us a hard one. They do it, of course. They are just hand puppets at this point.
Frankensteinbeck
@MisterForkbeard:
They would blow him off anyway. Just because they refuse to impeach him doesn’t mean they like, respect, or consider him their boss in any way.
sukabi
@Timurid: if they had a shred of honor they’d perform seppuku, but we all know that’s out of the question. No honor.
So my guess is they’d get “stuck” in an elevator or on the capital subway, or the parking garage…
Aleta
This comes from pay * walled WSJ so I hope it’s OK to quote a big piece of it. Seems significant b/c there’s no way could Ja red forgot to mention all these things esp related to the company he was so ‘successful’ at founding in SV.
-WSJ tonight
Aleta
@sukabi: Maybe they could just put out photos and text about their family night at home wearing casual kimono and gutting fish as the children yell “sakana !”
jl
I guess we know who the Harlequin will be in this show.
cckids
My Trumpette SIL proudly posted on FB tonight that DT will be speaking at the Boy Scouts’ National Jamboree. Really, the mind shudders.
I asked her how parents should explain to their kids in what way Trump fulfills ANY of the Scouting Law. A Scout is . . . Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent.
None of the above for DT. Well, maybe clean, at least physically. Not mentally, Jebus.
I’ve received no answer yet.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
I can’t recall presidency were the press secretary was such a big deal. And Trump going on about the Spicer’s ratings is just plane weird.
Major Major Major Major
@Aleta: Still wondering why J-Kush listed 5+ figures of credit card debt as a liability on his disclosure form.
jl
@Aleta: Billion here, billion there, multi-million dollar option contract over there. Hard to keep track of it all. And he’s new at this… um… money… stuff. heh heh….
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Aleta:
How can conservatives trust J-Kush if he’s in bed with Soros?
jl
@cckids: Germaphobe, has ‘Clean’ on lock down. It’s a start.
Will Trump give his unrechargeable battery theory of physical fitness to the Scouts? Tell them to go camping in the biggest RV they can find, with TV, Hi-Fi, gourmet ketchup locker and cheeseburger kitchen and top house staff (in a separate smaller RV, of course)?
“You damn kids are going to run down your batteries with this low energy hiking. Soon as you get your merit badges and your ticket stamped, I’d start golfing if I were you,. So, how old do these kids have to be to drive a golf cart? Need a license for that?”
Mnemosyne
@cckids:
Because I am a jerk, I would ask your SIL which of Trump’s qualities she wants her kids to emulate.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
My god, reading that Buzz Feed article all of Trump’s supporters think this is a huge victory for Trump… I mean, WTF?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: That was what it was like when I went to the National Jamboree.
jl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: What? You all-terrain vehicle your way through the hiking trips? Winter camping at eh ski resort? Figures.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: The National Jamboree is in the summer, silly jl. My journey up the Mt. Pinos was constrained by my transportation at the time. My step-daughter didn’t want to drive in that crap. Now that I have the Prius, I might just go up there myself.
NotMax
Psyched. Discovered that The Alienist is coming later this year as a TV production. Fingers and toes crossed it adheres at least close to the standards set by the book.
trailer
Major Major Major Major
@jl: oh, god, I forgot about his stupid theory.
jl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I was referring to your camping in general, not just the the bigshot summer jamboree you fancy hotshot boy scouts went to. I didn’t belong to that kind of Boy Scout troop. Probably unthinkable for those fancy Simi Valley Boy Scouts and their RV camping.
Man, you probably wore those weirdo uniforms and stuff, huh?
Edit: I’ll look for your next batch of pix.
Edit2: I edited out our secret illegal fishing methods, in case any rangers or my old Scout leaders, read this blog and the statute of limitations hasn’t kicked in yet. We always had lots of fish to eat on camping trips.
seaboogie
@Aleta: might this be another iteration “a la Flynn” of Kushner finally declaring all before he testifies? I know Flynn didn’t testify/is probably ratting, but it feels similar before next weeks’ testimony by Kushner. Would be nice to know that these miscreants are under pressure and feeling the heat of a still functional system.
jl
This Scaramucci guy looks like a young Joker, right before he went totally batshit insane and started smearing on make-up.
NotMax
re: Scaramucci
Heh.
(Link to Google cache as it appears the page has already been excised.)
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: I have no idea what the scouts in Simi were doing being that I was in Thousand Oaks. I do have pics of our trek from Thousand Oaks to northern Idaho for our National Jamboree.
The next photos that I post will be taken in about 24 hours from now @ Joshua Tree, another Milky Way shoot. I’m getting all my equipment prepared now.
jl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: When are you going to post your jamboree pix? I want to see fancy Boy Scouts, with their fancy dude uniforms, fiddling with the AC in all terrain vehicles grinding through the forest! Real camping!
Good luck on you trip to Joshua Tree.
Thanks for guaran-God-damn tee-ing some fantastic Milky Way pix. I will look for them.
NotMax
@BillinGlendaleCA
Slightly shudder every time see the name of that place as a fairly well-known musician/singer who kind’a, sort’a stalked me (no, not in that way; long story) lived there.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: Thousand Oaks? I grew up there, I’ve not been back since I sold my mom’s house after she passed away almost 30 years ago. Actually that’s not true, I was there a few months ago to visit the Stagecoach Inn and then up to jl’s favorite place Simi Valley to visit the Reagan Library.
Amir Khalid
@cckids:
I wouldn’t be so sure about the “physically” part myself.
NotMax
@BillinGlendaleCA
He lived in Joshua Tree.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: Today’s your lucky day…Jamboree pics!
My ragtag troop, my dad is in the back behind the kid in the red jacket in the center. I took the picture, so I’m not in it.
But, have no fear jl, I found a pic that I’m in. I’m the midget in the center(I could tell it was me, since he’s got a Life badge).
?BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: Oh, I’m not stopping there. The group’s meeting at a church in 29 Palms and then going into the park.
rikyrah
@cckids:
Keep on bringing truth. Make them squirm
opiejeanne
@Major Major Major Major: I’m sorry that happened to you. I hope I didn’t upset you when I critiqued your book. I really enjoyed it, if I didn’t mention it before.
opiejeanne
@Frankensteinbeck: Don’t forget, Kushner thought firing Comey would be a big win for Trump, so we already had a pretty good idea of his competence.
jl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Thanks. I’m impressed. Fancy looking scouts.
opiejeanne
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Your troop wore berets? I don’t remember any hats of any sort in my son’s troop when he was in HS.
Anne Laurie
@NotMax: ‘zokay, the nut graf is still on Wikipedia, as quoted in the very first tweet at the top of my post!
?BillinGlendaleCA
The beret was part of the standard uniform that was introduced in 1972 or 1973. They made a whole lot of changes: the uniform, merit badges, and other stuff. A lot of it was to make scouting more friendly to kid in urban areas. I’m not sure how long that uniform design lasted since I was pretty much out of scouting soon after I started high school.
NotMax
@Anne Laurie
See no particular quote there, only these words: nope too on the nose sorry. (And a link to something on Twitter, a realm in which I choose not to tread).
?BillinGlendaleCA
@?BillinGlendaleCA: It looks like the red beret in scouting died with disco.
Ruckus
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Trying to rid the family of the Gremlin with the rag in place of the gas cap?
cynthia ackerman
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
In the early ’90’s I was hired to find a location to photograph a night sky for a Jeep ad.
Back in those pre-digital days Joshue Tree still had too much light pollution — L.A. and Vegas cast a hazy glow.
Wound up in Utah.
prostratedragon
“El Titere (The Marionette)”
?BillinGlendaleCA
@cynthia ackerman: It’s not Vegas or LA that’s the problem, it’s Palm Springs.
ETA: I could see where the glow was in some of my pics, it was from the south. Northeast, were Vegas is was fine; west towards LA was fine; south was the problem.
Amir Khalid
I have just read that Netflix is going to make a TV show with The Punisher as lead character. Just what the world needed: a TV show about a homicidal maniac. And why him? Every single Punisher movie, going back to the one with Dolph Lundgren, bombed at the box office.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Ruckus: Heh, it’s a Grimlin. I think that’s a family that let us camp out by their place. I was in a Mormon scout troop(though not a member myself), and I think they made arrangements with families along the way. We went from LA, to Vegas, to Zion, to Salt Lake(gota see the Temple Square, natch), Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, the Jamboree, Columbia Gorge, and back down the 5 to LA.
NotMax
@Amir Khalid
Because the rights from Disney were available?
“You can have either Punisher or Night Nurse. Take your pick.”
raven
@?BillinGlendaleCA: My uncle was a Silver Beaver and very involved with the creation of Philmont.
NotMax
@raven
Golly gee whillikers, if ever there was a line tailored to be delivered by Gracie Allen…
:)
bystander
Can he dance the fandango? Scaramucci could make a return to the Carol Burnett style musical variety show.
raven
@NotMax: Yea, it sounds funny but it’s the highest leadership award the scouts have.
kilo50
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Carry a hazmat suit with you and don’t stand around the squirrel holes. The residents of those holes periodically register positive for bubonic plague.
NotMax
@raven
No denigration intended. Almost automatically heard it in Ms Allen’s voice.
Manyakitty
@Timurid: They knuckle under immediately, and fight to see which of them get to sit on Daddy’s lap.
Manyakitty
@?BillinGlendaleCA: They don’t.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@kilo50: Didn’t see any squirrel holes on my last visit, but we’re going to a different location this time.
All devices are charged and ready to go.
ETA: I’m taking my old Galaxy Camera even though it’s got a crappy phone sized sensor and doesn’t shoot RAW since it’s got a pretty good lens and the 360 camera for pics before the sun sets.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: My old man too.
?BillinGlendaleCA
Here’s a pic from the 360 camera from last time.
Raven
@OzarkHillbilly: cool, hey I had the run capacitor go on my HVAC about a week ago and the new one stopped working last night. I’m hoping I can find one today!
Woodrow/asim
@NotMax:
Given that they already have a popular character and actor playing Night Nurse without the name in all the Marvel/NetFlix stories, spinning her off into a series is pretty much a no-brainer.
Oh, wait — she’s a Woman. And a Person of Color.
Nevermind.
cynthia ackerman
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
My job looked only at the hprozon to the north. On slide film Vegas and LA were the culprits. I’m guessing dogotal’s more forgivong reciprocity hmakes that less noticeable.
TriassicSands
Does anyone in politics ever turn down a job because they’ve done an honest assessment and they came to the conclusion they aren’t qualified for that position? (Laughing uncontrollably to myself.)
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Twilter sure has a nack for self inflicted injury ‘Scaramouch’: No Relation To Scaramucci sounds like he is prebuilt for SNL skits with quotes like “Trump has great karma”
bigolpuma
@Timurid: They do it, they are in it up to their eyeballs. Treasonous traitorous anti-American republican party.
Marianne19
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Trump caring about ratings is completely in character. He talks about how the ratings go up on Fox whenever he appears. He plays a President on Reality TV and ratings are important!
Uncle Cosmo
@kilo50: Jeebus cripes, talk about flying into blind know-nothing panic.OMGOMGOMG BOOOBONIC PLAAAAAGUE!
Rodents in the West often “test positive” for Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague. but the only way a human could be infected is via a bite from a flea off an infected squirrel, & odds are squirrel fleas don’t particularly like the taste of longpig so long as they have squirrel to chomp on. Long trousers & a spray that repels fleas & ticks are probably more than sufficient for safety. You’d almost certainly be at greater risk of rabies from the bite of a rabid rodent.
Also, the wild form of Y. pestis is one of the few diseases left that’s eminently susceptible to a course of first-generation antibiotics. We’re talking streptomycin, ferdogsake. One of several reasons plague epidemics are no longer first-world problems.
Aleta
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I truly love these pictures.
J R in WV
Many years ago, around 1991, wife and I took a fairly long vacation into NE Utah, Dinosaur National Monument (which straddles the UT/CO border up north) – saw the famous quarry wall with literally thousands of dino fossils embedded in fine grained ancient sandstone. Saw real cowboys herding cattle on verdant green ridgetop above the badlands of the monument.
Then north to Fossil Butte National Monument in SW Wyoming, and north to Jackson Hole, hiking in the Grand Tetons, driving in Yellowstone, walking the boardwalks of the main geyser field. Then a drive back to Salt Lake City to drop off the rental car and fly home. That night in our hotel I read in the local paper about people coming down with some unknown illness in the desert, and drowning in their owl fluids, failing rapidly.
Next morning flew home. The next day came down with illness causing generation of mucho fluids, both of us – Dr. says It’s just the flu, take this and this and this prescriptions. He was right, but the folks in Utah were dying of Hanta Virus, which was figured out long after we had recovered from our dual simulcast of illness together.
But still, after reading the article about the mystery illness killing people in the Utah deserts right after we had visited a number of deserts… just wow.
WaterGirl
@J R in WV: Yikes! I’m not sure I would have trusted that your doctor was right! So glad you are still with us.