Here’s another excerpt from Michael Wolff’s upcoming “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House:”
"Losing would work out for everybody. Losing was winning.”
Amazing paragraph from “Fire and Fury.” pic.twitter.com/QcbHTBMz8V
— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) January 3, 2018
I know I’m not alone in having suspected this all along. Trump’s talk about a “rigged” election, etc., toward the end of the campaign sounded like preemptive sore loser blather. May the unexpected win turn out to be the worst fucking thing that ever happened to the whole corrupt bunch.
germy
“Nixon might have survived if there’d been a Fox News”
– John Dean
Jim, Foolish Literalist
It’s been pretty well established, I think. There was a Republican pollster who was interviewed in 2015, and she was told that the goal was to come in 2nd in the early primaries, get to 15%, withdraw and act as a kingmaker. Remember how sad Rudi G was on election day before the polls closed? There are reports that trump had a brief flash of self-awareness and was shell shocked (as I was) when the FL results started coming in.
My pet theory is that once he won the primary the goal for trump, and the Russians, was a media company cash cow that would allow trump to continue to destabilize the HRC presidency.
mai naem mobile
I want to build a bunker, get a bunch of books,exercise equipment, food,come up for election day 2018 and go back down till 2020 if the Dems don’t take Congress back. This is too fucking stressful.
cope
I felt from the beginning that Trump just saw the election as a lengthy infomercial for his brand and anticipated losing. The real issue is that when the dog actually caught the car, it was the whole freaking world that has suffered the consequences.
Quinerly
Mrs. Greenspan is breathlessly reporting excerpts of the book.
She’s reading passages. Susan Page essentially says Mueller has known everything in Wolfe’s book for months.
MisterForkbeard
I think the Right just didn’t realize how big the impact of Fox, Breitbart, and Conservative Radio actually was. They literally can construct their own reality-impervious propaganda bubble, and the ‘real’ media will mostly let them pretend they’re still arguing in good faith and responsible, well-meaning honest people.
And they’ve captured their own people to the point where you can literally show them that Republicans are lying to them but don’t care.
Betty Cracker
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Unsurprisingly, Trump has told two different versions of his election night expectations — one in which he expected to lose, the other in which he knew he’d win. Both to big crowds with cameras rolling. ?
Quinerly
@mai naem mobile: Bunker needs good booze.?
Yarrow
I’ve seen rumors that divorce papers for Melania and Donald were signed and ready to file after the election. Then he won. Oops.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Speaking of things we all pretty much knew: Bannon reports that trump and Melania go “days” without speaking. If I weren’t so congested I guffaw like Tweety.
AliceBlue
A few months ago I saw a photograph of Trump on election night, taken at the moment he was declared the winner. He’s just sitting there with a “what the fucking fuck” look on his face.
Adam L Silverman
@Quinerly: In that conversation Susan Page is very wise. Andrea Mitchell is Andrea Mitchell.
NotMax
He can’t even lose right.
germy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I’m congested also, so I did the Mutley laugh.
tobie
All this is so painful to read. HRC was an honest, committed public servant and just about everyone stuck a knife in her thinking she would win and they wanted to make sure she was bloodied. Now we’re stuck with Twitler.
Kay
Well, it’ll only be losing if we un-rig the tax code as soon as they’re out. This country will be unrecognizable if all the gains continue to go to the top 1%. It’s less than “the top 1%”. It’s approaching “160 families” controlling all the wealth.
It’s scary to contemplate. If it happens I’ll join whatever revolution any one is leading. I see myself as a better underling, frankly. I’ll just be in the ranks.
dr. luba
“May the unexpected win turn out to be the worst fucking thing that ever happened to the whole corrupt bunch.”
Well, it’s definitely the worst fucking thing that’s happened to most of the rest of us……..
Betty Cracker
@tobie: Yeah, pretty much. That’s an injustice that will always sting. But now the task is to rid ourselves of Twitler and to hang his corrupt, inept, treasonous ass around his party’s neck.
Kay
Also, not to be a spoilsport but unless they’re all convicted and imprisoned we are stuck with this fucking family forever:
You knew, I knew it, because of course this is what they’re planning. The loser sons too. Everyone but Tiffany.
Quinerly
@tobie: I’m on overload today. Your comment brought tears. I go through spells that I forget how HRC was treated. Then it all comes rushing back.
jl
@tobie: I put a link at the end of last night’s “Russiagate Open Thread” on small IT and pharma company concerns with TPP. I went to sleep before I saw your comment.
Citizen_X
So, they went in with the scheme from The Producers in mind, and now everybody’s surprised to see people goose-stepping around in a swastika formation.
SFAW
@dr. luba:
Co-sign. Interestingly, it will also be the worst fucking thing for a large portion of the morons (who voted for Shitgibbon and) who think it was the best fucking thing, but they’ll still blame Obama and Hillary. Of course, as efgoldman says:
Fuckem.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@tobie: Yes, this whole “movement” that has no purpose other than scream at everyone else how much they suck and prevent them from doing anything.
Quinerly
Wolfe was in the WH 200 days. I’m shocked he was given access like this. Wolfe is a Brit and was a big fan of Obama’s if I am remembering correctly. Was a pundit on MSNBC for awhile. I guess I should Google to make sure I have this correct.
Scratch that….different Wolff….American
zhena gogolia
@Citizen_X:
Yeah, The Producers was on TCM the other night and we just couldn’t watch it. Too close to reality.
ETA: Same with Manchurian Candidate a few nights later, of course.
Kay
@tobie:
They always hated her, though. Even as First Lady they hated her. The vitriol was incredible. It was always inexplicably vicious, could never be explained by her actual record. I regret not taking that into account, that WE KNEW how they would treat her.
MJS
OT, I guess, and maybe it’s referenced in another thread, but does anyone else get the sense that transcript of the Fusion GPS testimony is going to be leaked, and soon?
zhena gogolia
@Quinerly:
I think you’re thinking of Richard Wolfe. Michael Wolff is kind of a BS-er.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@cope:
The entire world has suffered the consequences, including one Vladimir Putin. The man has to be shitting bricks right now that Trump is going to start a nuclear war.
NotMax
FYI.
Adam L Silverman
@Kay: Hmmm…
Yarrow
@Kay: Hard to run for president from prison.
ChrisS
The Breitbart comments are mixed. Some are outraged at Bannon and some think its a democratic conspiracy (like everything else).
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Kay:
Perhaps what’s happening in Iran right now is a preview of our future.
gene108
@germy:
The rise of right-wing media in the 1970’s and 1980’s, as well as think tanks, were a direct response to the injustice conservatives felt over Watergate and Nixon’s resignation. They wanted to control the media and public narrative, so a Republican President would no longer be forced to resign, no matter what he did.
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: Based on yesterday’s tweets, I guess the President is responsible for this too.
Ella in New Mexico
@Kay: And yet, had Daddy not won and destroyed the entire brand forever, they could have had a path do doing just this.
So in the end, ironically, Twitler becoming POTUS helped save the country?
They couldn’t make a movie better than this.
Also, too, the quote above regarding how no one in the campaign WANTED to win, much less expected to is exactly why I believe we’ll soon find out Russia did them an even bigger favor– at the voting machine level– than anyone asked for…
Quinerly
@zhena gogolia:
I corrected myself with a quick Google. Apologies for any confusion. Here’s a just up long excerpt. It is Michael Wolff…American journalist. Apparently he was given 200 days of WH access based on a favorable piece he had written prior: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/01/michael-wolff-fire-and-fury-book-donald-trump.html
ChrisS
His presidency really is the confluence of a number of mistakes made by people who supposedly knew things: Hillary was going to win, the American electorate isn’t really that racist, Russian interference can’t make a difference, Trump really is a democrat out for attention, this Clinton email thing is going to keep us busy in the house for four years, etc.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@gene108:
Sounds a lot like a dictatorship.
@Adam L Silverman:
Of course not! Don’t you know Adam that God-Emporer Trump only takes credit for the good things? I thought you went to college.
mardam422
Losing was winning for him. Winning was losing for us.
Barbara
@tobie: This is such a true statement. From James Comey to the execrable Amy Goodman and Maggie Haberman, they thought they would put Clinton just where they wanted to gain maximum advantage. They should all burn in shame and renounce public life immediately. Instead, they just continue to blame Clinton for their own fucking failures.
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
@ChrisS: DougJ on Breitbart vs. the Federalist. Discuss.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
For some reason, made me recall this spontaneous demonstration of Dolt 45’s pettiness, insecurity, envy, size fixation and delusions of grandeur.
HinTN
OT, but needing a soother I really want to buy the Pets of BJ Calendar. Has anyone been able to do that?
zhena gogolia
@HinTN:
Answer appears to be no.
Dave
@AliceBlue: Yep it was probably the closest thing to self-awareness I’ve seen from him. He didn’t think he would win. The electoral college and Comey’s letter played everyone (and a hell of a lot of other factors from media’s HRC hate on, she didn’t deserve to be POTUS, to Russian interference etc) If we survive this it may even be for the best. Which is a hell of an if but here we are.
Frankensteinbeck
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Hmmm. I think we need to factor in that Trump, as an extreme narcissist, has more than one plan. Not in the sense we would, of contingencies and priorities. Rather, he is so disconnected from anything but what he wants at the moment that he will have a different goal talking to different people, and always believe what he’s saying. It became clear to me that he got seriously invested in winning, but because of the narcissism that can exist side by side with intending to not win.
@MisterForkbeard:
Oh, they care. They demand the lies, and throw screaming fits if you try to tell them the truth. Witness the public apologies by McConnell and Rove to Rush Limbaugh in 2009. FOX and hate radio took off because the Republican base went looking for them.
@Kay:
Ha ha ha! Those dimwits. None of the rest of the Trump clan can deliver what the old man has – incoherent and blatant hate speech. Plus, Ivanka is a woman. But I bet Jared now thinks he’s guaranteed the presidency. By all reports his head is stuck so far up his own ass he’s found Oz.
Quinerly
This is interesting: https://thinkprogress.org/anonymous-leak-racist-attacks-mueller-trump-da557b23e613/
mai naem mobile
@Kay: well, now they can make a deal on who will do prison time first if they can get the judge to agree to have one out to provide a parent to the kids. Maybe Vankie can convince Tiffany to look after her kiddos while she’s doing some hard time.
NotMax
@Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe)
Awaiting (this codger doesn’t go to Twitter) someone reporting a Dolt 45 tweet boasting sole credit.
News Flash: Lightning Deaths Hit a Record Low in 2017
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD):
Glib, I know, but the Federalist Society is worse because they’re sullying the name of the Federalist Papers.
Yarrow
@HinTN: I don’t think so. Someone needs to tweet Cole about the 2018 pet calendar. Anyone on Twitter who can do that? Maybe that will get his attention.
catclub
@Adam L Silverman:
Now there is someone who needs the ‘You ignorant slut’ treatment.
LanceThruster
Pied Piper. Team Hillary’s opponent of choice.
Be careful what you wish for, eh?
efgoldman
@SFAW:
While the goobers stand around with their thumbs up their asses waiting for the coal mines and steel mills to open (and the equipment continues to rot to dust) there’s plenty of meth and opiods to console them.
Fuckem
? Martin
Oh, hey, looks like the director of ICE has called for the arrest of Gov. Jerry Brown. Good luck with that.
Belafon
EVERYBODY thought Clinton would win. Republicans prepared for her win. Democrats either stayed home or protested voted. Idiots voted for Stein.
BC in Illinois
@Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD):
This is where they were during the GWBush / Iraq / torture years.
Were they “federalists”? [See”Hamilton/Madison/Jay, 1787] Looking for structures and balances to see that no branch of government went unchecked? Not a chance. They were “unified executive,” unquestioned presidential power all the way.
When a Republican is in power, they are the Monarchist Society.
HinTN
@Yarrow: Cafepress says the store manager (BJ person) has pulled all content? I have asked Alain TSF to investigate. Maybe other FPers could help. (Looking at you, BC and ALS.)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@? Martin: I believe his boss, the newish DHS secretary, is touring CA fire zones today. I’m sure that won’t be awkward.
Peale
@Kay: Meh. You keep your head too well, Kay. As the revolution continues, that will get you brevet colonel and a a regiment.
different-church-lady
@Frankensteinbeck:
As I said yesterday, the thing they love the most is that Trump lies incredibly badly yet still gets away with it. The worse he lies, the less sense he makes, the more they like it. Because that’s how bullies operate.
HinTN
@? Martin:
Words fail me.
Adam L Silverman
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: Collage. I was at the rec center for arts and crafts.
HinTN
@Adam L Silverman: You are too modest, sir.
Yarrow
@HinTN: That’s weird. Someone needs to alert Cole as well.
NotMax
@HinTN
All the important holidays were somehow omitted.
Dolt 45’s birthday, those of his offspring, date of the ribbon cutting for the tower, dates of all his marriages, etc., etc.
:)
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: He has a serious keeping up with the Joneses problem.
Peale
@? Martin: I’m fine with that, actually. I think Democrat rank and file voters need to get more skin in the game on immigration issues. The state will run just fine while he is in detention.
oatler.
@Barbara: “the execrable Amy Goodman”????
Chris
@Barbara:
The Democratic Party remains the national maid, whose job everyone else in the country feels free to make harder and harder, safe in the knowledge that it’ll still pick up after them.
NotMax
@NotMax
And worst of all, the word Christmas was not printed in 144-point type.
:)
Cheryl Rofer
Mnemosyne
@Yarrow:
I actually feel a little bit sorry for Melania. She’s obviously stuck in a situation she never planned for. She’s doing her best to model herself on Michelle Obama (who she seems to genuinely admire) but she’s just not the same person.
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
@oatler.: Glenn Greenwald’s apparently a frequent guest on Democracy Now.
Betty Cracker
Wow, it took 56 comments for a Trump-gloater to show up. That’s progress. I figured one would rear his head within 20.
different-church-lady
@Chris: We’re more like the friend who holds the hair back while the nation pukes in the shower, then calls a cab to get it home safely, and then takes all the remorseful phonecalls the next day, and then gets treated like shit until the next binge night.
Another Scott
@AliceBlue: Yup.
Giving up control of his “empire” was the exact opposite of what he hoped to achieve, so winning (and following the norms) would have been a disaster. That’s why he has refused to give up control of his actual empire (though he’s gone through the motion of giving up control of hundreds of shell companies – warning autoplay video).
It’s not the dog catching the car, it’s the dog catching the hippopotamus.
Cheers,
Scott.
Quinerly
Bromance over: https://mobile.twitter.com/NBCNews/status/948620629678460928/photo/1
Barbara
@oatler.: Yes, execrable, because I hate pretend feminists, that is, women who hold other women to a much higher or just a different standard than they hold men. It’s not just unfair, it’s an internalized form of misogyny, exhibited by more than a few women, e.g., the BYT at Vanity Fair.
@Chris: This is why my mother told me to forget about old people. They now have my official permission to clean up after themselves.
Betty Cracker
@Mnemosyne: Melania Trump is garbage. She pushed the racist birther lie, dumped bile on other immigrants and gave cover to her sexist piece of crap husband. Please don’t waste your pity.
cmorenc
@Ella in New Mexico:
I seem to recall from some recent source that the Russians successfully implanted malware in the election software of eight states…which contradicts earlier firm assertions from very serious people that there was no actual Russian voting tampering, bu rather only targeted propaganda assistance e.g. on Facebook (and suspicions of laundered Russian money being fed to GOP candidates).
Jim, Foolish Literalist
My god, virtually every paragraph is worth quoting, and I think every fucking word is true!
Adam L Silverman
@Yarrow: I’ve already spoken to him. He’s checking on it.
Quinerly
@Betty Cracker: I wholeheartedly agree.
Betty Cracker
@HinTN: Sorry, I don’t know anything about it.
Adam L Silverman
@? Martin: That guy is none too bright. Like most of his officers.
different-church-lady
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I wonder if she enjoyed being grabbed by the pussy.
efgoldman
@Barbara:
I always do
Barbara
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: When Ann Coulter is what passes for the voice of reason . . . OMG. I have no words.
Frankensteinbeck
@different-church-lady:
I think you’ve made a solid point, there.
@Mnemosyne:
I’m neither for, nor against Melania. I don’t know what kind of person she is. I don’t look down on her for marrying Trump for money. She had a talent and she used it to get rich and didn’t hurt anyone else in the process I’m aware of. But she did make a conscious decision to marry a mean-spirited, narcissistic jerk to get that money, and these problems are baked into that deal. If she can get out of it now, fine, I don’t judge her for renegotiating.
She could be a godawful person herself. She could be a decent person whose only attachment to Trump is mercantile. She does seem to want to protect her children from him, so that’s a good sign. All in all, don’t know, don’t think it’s my business.
The Dangerman
Truer words have never been spoken about Trump. As for Bannon, I thought he’d be to busy working on his yoga with reckless bannon.
Chris
@Cheryl Rofer:
Steve Bannon wants to be the Ernst Rohm to Trump’s Adolf Hitler.
NotMax
@efgoldman
Pictures or it didn’t happen.
(Kidding, to da max.)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Betty Cracker: hear, fucking hear, you beat me to it. It’s like the large adult children, sure they were raised in a maelstrom of abusive narcissism, but now they choose to be complicit
also, too
Quinerly
@Mnemosyne: She’s garbage. I was tempted to use a banned word that all women loathe. I’m a woman and reserve it for a certain kind of woman. She’s that kind of woman. Would love to say it to her face.
jl
Maybe Wolff will get Trump’s newly announced Fake News award, unless he forgets about the whole thing by noon today.
different-church-lady
@Quinerly:
If the Truth and Reconcilliation Commission sets things up right, you’ll get the chance.
Quinerly
Fear of poisoning is the reason Trump eats McDonald’s.
different-church-lady
@jl:
different-church-lady
@Quinerly: There’s a difference?
NotMax
@jl
The Foxscar awards. Gold colored plastic statuette of Dolt 45, naked except for an extra-long necktie.
Jeffro
@Cheryl Rofer: @Quinerly: Yes…because if there’s anyone we trust to keep America’s institutions from being burnt down…it’s Trumpov.
(!!!)
Defender of American values! Guardian of Law and Order! And oh btw, RICO charges dropping in 3, 2, 1…
Mnemosyne
@different-church-lady:
Yep. When you’re a bully, half the fun is being totally incompetent and forcing everyone else to fix what you broke while you berate them for not fixing it faster.
They like knowing that a majority of the country hates them but is powerless to do anything. It’s what they get off on.
jl
@NotMax: Careful. You could put your eye out with that thing.
Jeffro
Seen on Twitter: “Neo-Nazis everywhere are crying and torn up inside because Mom and Dad are fighting…”
LOL
Adam L Silverman
@HinTN: I also made a lanyard.
Mnemosyne
@Betty Cracker:
I dole out pity to terrible people who get more punishment than (IMO) they deserve. Even Melania doesn’t deserve to be stuck with Dolt 45 on a daily basis.
Nice people get empathy and assistance, not pity.
frosty
@Quinerly: Wow. Just wow. I may have to read this book … after I stock up on whiskey. What a gang of losers.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
This rings absolutely true, Princess Striver having an irresistible comedy bit for the sort of upscale Manhattanites who use summer as a verb and whose parents would never invite That Man for dinner and looked askance at Prince and Princess Bridge-And-Tunnel being on a guest list
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@LanceThruster: Lance my man,
Isn’t this your moment of glory? With the REAL Americans(tm) in charge the rich are getting richer, aircraft and lighting deaths are down, Trump meeting with the President of Puerto Rico I you must be in hog heaven here.
So my question to you is Lance, will Trump be going down as the Greatest American Ever. Or is the Trump presidency simply the closer of American history because Trump is the apex American? There is no way Trump record will be equaled.
I am in a breathless tizzy to hear your answer Lance.
The Dangerman
@cmorenc:
Can you imagine the clusterfuck if it comes out that there WAS actual voting tampering? Knowledge about this possibility has been buried deep, never to see the light of day.
Jeffro
Tony Posnanski
Verified account
@tonyposnanski
2m2 minutes ago
More
Donald Trump is führerious with Steve Bannon!
Personally I did nazi this coming in 2018.
Mr Stagger Lee
@Chris: More like Trotsky(Bannon) to Stalin(Trump).
NotMax
To those so inclined, new season of Black Mirror now on Netflix.
Yutsano
@Quinerly: The only person I feel sorry for in that situation is Barron. Because he’s still a child with a distant father and a loving but nanny reliant mother. I wonder if he’s even capable of forming any kind of relationship. There has been no talk of him having close friends or if he gets any visitors for himself to the White House. It definitely can’t be good for him to be dragged out for photo shoots when Daddy needs him then put away like a prop. But he’s the only person in that family I feel any sympathy for.
Yarrow
@Mnemosyne: @Betty Cracker: The person I feel sorry for is Bannon. He’s still a minor child and he’s growing up in what has to be a terrible home life.
Adam L Silverman
@Cheryl Rofer: Ouch!
oldster
Open Thread Request:
Can we have a place to talk about plans for the Anniversary of the Women’s March? It’s coming up soon.
I am really puzzled about what to do and where to go.
I cannot tell whether there will be a repeat march in DC. The organizers of the Women’s March seem to be focused on some different event that they are going go hold in Las Vegas on Sunday the 21st.
But then other people are holding events on Saturday the 20th, all over.
I could go to a small local one, I could drive further to a bigger regional one, I could even drive to DC or NYC. I want to maximize the impact of all of our protests, and of my own time and efforts.
Personally, I’d just like to go back to DC again with a bigger crowd. But that does not seem to be happening.
So: Could we talk about this?
Leto
From your mouth to the FSM audio receptors.
NotMax
@Yutsano
The pretty long limo ride to and from private school (in Maryland, IIRC) keeps them even the more from the possibility of bumping into him.
MJS
@Yutsano: When I start to have those feelings about Barton’s situation, I think about all the kids who have it so much worse, and how Barton’s father wants to make it even worse for them. Then I don’t give a shit about Barron anymore.
NotMax
Bannona Republic. Coming to the sleaziest run-down strip mall nearest you.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Damn….
”
The Dangerman
For Raven and BillinGlendale:
Helluva shot
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Yutsano: there were pictures of them from the “red carpet” at the Mar-A-Lago NYE party. I really doubt a twelve year old wants to go with his parents to a black tie NYE party. I don’t have kids, and don’t own a tuxedo, but wouldn’t you set him and few buddies up with a sleepover with pizza and video games?
and I just can’t stop
also, Kellyanne is monitoring SNL for him
PPCLI
@Frankensteinbeck: she argued on television that Obama wasn’t born in the US. That cost her all the sympathy I would ever afford her
Yarrow
@Mnemosyne: Melania can leave any time she likes.
WaterGirl
@Mnemosyne: she married a narcissistic sociopathic man for money. no sympathy.
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
I agree. I also think it’s odd how she stares defiantly in those photos with Trump. WTF is she so mad about? I didn’t tell her to take the job. Hey, I wish she had her privacy back. Good fucking riddance.
Bill Clinton would have been in heaven. He would have thoroughly enjoyed all that socializing and posing and bullshitting. He would be a great first lady :)
Spanky
@different-church-lady: One more for the rotating tags. Good work!
(or maybe one too many bad memories?)
Betty Cracker
@oldster: TBH, I think it’s a bad idea to hold another march on that date. It won’t match the energy and numbers of the first, so it will look like the movement behind it is fading. It’s not, IMO, but the passion that was poured into the inauguration protest has been transferred to other things.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Betty Cracker: I agree. Better a two week or month-long campaign of registering first time voters or something like that. In, say, Texas….
ETA: and in places like Alabama where DMV offices in African American counties were mysteriously closed, funding vans to places where this offices are open.
JWR
@Barbara:
Ouch! Now I’m really feeling bad that I mentioned in the last thread that I’m still an (almost) daily Democracy Now! listener. (Old habits die hard?) But to those who feel this way about Goodman, I completely understand. There are times, like yesterdays hour with GG, when I feel that way about her, too.
NotMax
@Jim, Foolish Literalist
Bestest, reddest carpet ever. Crafted from the finest fur of unborn alpaca.
Ignore the tag attached warning about red dye #2.
;)
laura
@Mnemosyne: Melanin was all in on birtherism. She can pound salt.
Cacti
@Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD):
What a circle jerk of smug that must be.
Barbara
@Yutsano: Although word has it that there is a person who serves in the capacity of a nanny, this appears to be quite a recent phenomenon. Melania reportedly spends a lot of time with Barron, and appears to have been less dependent on help than most other women in her socio-economic station. Apparently they speak to each other in Slovenian. There are also grandparents who lived in the same building.
different-church-lady
@Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD):
That must be what tote-bagging for the True Left looks like.
Quinerly
Apparently Spicer is quoted in Chapter 3 as saying, “Trump doesn’t give a fuck about facts.” I might not have that quoted word for word. Katy Tur was reading a quote. Think I caught it.
Barbara
@JWR: Re Amy Goodman: I might be mixing her up with another Amy at the NYT. I have stopped looking at a lot of things over the last 12 months.
different-church-lady
@Barbara:
Makes their defection operation easier to execute on short notice.
cain
If you looked at the entire Republican party as one big grift operation you would realize that Trump being president was the worst thing to happen to them. With Hillary, they would have increased their personal fortunes by fearmongering and fighting her at every opportunity. Everyone was all set to make a ton of money off of Hillary, but they did too good of a job. Worse, their base has gone so right wing that they have to go extreme themselves to keep their jobs.
They can end all that if they actually saw themselves as patriotic and cared about their country and do the right thing.. admit in public how everything was a scam and then offer to quit.
different-church-lady
@cain:
Instead they had to do it through tax reform.
Kay
@laura:
Agreed. Birtherism is a deal breaker. It’s nice to have it- a good, reliable marker of a racist moron.
Yutsano
@Barbara: I do know she brought her parents over after Barron was born (O HAI DER CHAIN MIGRATION!!!) and that Barron is almost fluent in Slovenian. It also doesn’t surprise me that Melania would be more in the mothering mode than most rich women considering her background. She gets no truck of sympathy from me but Barron really needs some kind of an intervention. Or Melania needs to pull a Marla, sign the papers, get Barron out of Dolt45’s reach, and not look back.
@Barbara:
Chozik? She’s a real piece of work also.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Idiots all the way down
It was purely hippie punching. Idiots…
Quinerly
@frosty: I just pre ordered it on Amazon. Release date 1/9.
Kay
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Bannon is absolutely as loathsome as the rest of them. 100%.
I love how he imagines himself as some kind of revolutionary. There’s no risk in any of this for Bannon. It’s a “revolution” for soft, spoiled, coddled people who sacrifice nothing. With this tax deal each and every one of them is richer than the day he took office. All this bullshit they spout about “fighting the establishment”- none of this ever reaches any of them personally. I mean, really, how dare they compare themselves to people who actually fought and sacrificed something. They have arguments at cocktail parties. That’s the “war”.
different-church-lady
@Kay:
…about who gets to have the most cocktails.
Mnemosyne
@WaterGirl:
See, that’s the distinction I’m drawing. Pity is different than sympathy. I can pity her while thinking that she made her own bed and now has to lie in it. Pity has a certain connotation of condescension in it. ?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
The enemy of my enemies, et cetera…
ETA: First rule of Club Trump, you don’t admit anything
and few of his serving GOP brethren would disagree, especially out loud
Another Scott
@oldster: WeAreMarchon.org seems to have the list of “March on the Polls” events planned for the 20th. (Scroll down).
I don’t have any sense of how big the events might be. I agree that the crowds are likely to be smaller than last year. But I think it’s a good idea to have them, no matter the size, to remind the general public (and the press) that lots and lots of people haven’t given up and lots and lots of people are working to get voters to the polls.
I expect to be at the one in DC.
Cheers,
Scott.
kdaug
And so it begins
Mnemosyne
@oldster:
This is an assumption on my part and not backed up by any known facts, but I think the organizers of the original march managed to beclown themselves over the Women’s Conference and there’s been a major split among the organizers.
The Los Angeles march is planned for 1/20. I’m still on crutches, so I’ll probably miss it again. ?
Kay
The thing about these people is you can’t even revel in the sleaze because it’s utterly disgusting to imagine what they boast about. Imagine THAT evening at the tacky country club? Gross.
SiubhanDuinne
@Quinerly:
Now there’s a sentence that doesn’t compute!
Adam L Silverman
@Barbara:
More Trump family chain migration! In addition to his paternal grandfather and his mother.
different-church-lady
@Kay:
Dude, those aren’t your friends.
Dave
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: That’s because he’s an idiot. He didn’t realistically look at the the and then. There are more liberal and liberal friendly moderates in this country than Bannonites. They haven’t been as activated. Crap like the travel ban activate us. It doesn’t lead to Bannon winning.
Quinerly
@SiubhanDuinne: I took special care in my phrasing.?
JWR
@Barbara:
Whether or not you are, Amy can be quite bad, no, really bad at times, despite her sometimes wonderful reportage. I once saw her go after GG for one of his falsehoods, reducing him to his natural state, that of a frothing, sputtering idiot. I was shocked, and I wish I could find it.
different-church-lady
@JWR:
It’s not like one needs special skills for that.
Adam L Silverman
@JWR:
You had one job!
Adam L Silverman
T-minus 10 minutes to today’s White House press briefing. Anyone know if Huckabee-Sander’s church is one that allows or forbids drinking alcohol?
Mnemosyne
@Dave:
Like I said above, it’s one of the things that bullies like Bannon love to do — exercise their power and then watch angry people protest.
But Bannon and the rest of the bullies forgot that people can still vote and are showing up in droves to toss Republicans out of office.
Quinerly
@Adam L Silverman: Yesterday, I picked today to stay away from all things Trump. I failed miserably.
Adam L Silverman
@Quinerly: Mistakes were made…
Dave
@Mnemosyne: The only thing they are probably right about is that they are unlikely to suffer anything like the consequences of their actions that they should. And even then it’s possible they finally pushed things far enough that this time that won’t be true. Not super likely but an actual realistic possibility.
Quinerly
Question…was there any advance notice that the excerpts from Wolff’s book was going to drop today? Honestly, I hadn’t heard any buzz about the book and had heard nothing about Wolff’s 200 day access to Trump et al. Mentioned above that apparently he was embraced by Trump et al because of a favorable piece he had written during the campaign. Does anyone have anymore background? 200 days is a lot of access. How could anyone have thought that was a good thing?
Leto
@SiubhanDuinne: We’re only three days in to 2018 and we have a great nomination for understatement of the year. The race to see who will get Shitgibbon first is on: Mueller, or the fast food induced heart attack.
Quinerly
Manafort suing Mueller, DOJ, et al….
Yutsano
@Quinerly: Wait what?
Quinerly
Hope Hicks thought of as Trump’s real daughter. Ivanka thought of as his real wife….MSNBC reporting excerpts of Wolff’s book.
Quinerly
@Yutsano:
MSNBC reporting.
Leto
@Quinerly:
That’s the problem right there. It probably goes back to the old quote, “Any press is good press”. I’m sure Shitgibbon believes in that 100%. He’ll claim that person is a liberal plant, or the quotes have been taken out-of-context, deep state, lying media… Dodge, dip, duck, dive, dodge..
d58826
and a few more of the rats turning on each other
tobie
@jl: Sorry…have been off the intertubes for a few hours but will check out last night’s thread for the link. Intellectual property can range from super expensive drugs and construction materials whose patents large corporations have bought up to a cleaning solution for AC vents. I think I have a different attitude toward trade than many on the left because I’ve seen how effectively Germany has carved out niche markets for itself. I wish the US would do the same. Maybe we will when we start electing Dems.
oldster
@Another Scott:
Thanks for the WeAreMarchon.org link. The “Action Network” is also organizing something (or the same thing?) for DC:
https://actionnetwork.org/events/womens-march-on-washington-2018/
Then there are many rallies being planned around the country that you can read about here:
https://qz.com/1139150/womens-march-2018-when-and-where-it-starts-in-new-york-los-angeles-chicago-philadelphia-san-francisco-and-more/
Betty, I agree that it may not be wise to try for an exact repeat of last year’s event. Neither of us want a fizzle or a let-down.
But I don’t think that the answer is to *discourage* people from marking the anniversary in some way.
There will be marches. I want to make sure that they are as powerful as possible. I think that talking and organizing now is the best way to make sure of that.
And I really want to pool resources and information with other people to figure out what is going to be happening!
Quinerly
@Adam L Silverman: I picked a fine time to take early retirement.?
d58826
@Quinerly: Oh the discovery process should be worth the price of admission
mai naem mobile
@Barbara: Melanoma doesn’t give a shit about anybody except herself, her son and her own biological relatives. She could have divorced the idiot at least five years ago and taken a smaller settlement. She stuck around longer to get a bigger settlement. Now she’s stuck. She could be doing way more as FLOTUS but she doesn’t give a shit. She probably spends more time with Barron because of whatever issues he has. The only way I would have sympathy for her is if she’s the inside source for taken he FBI. Also who taken hehe fuck wears heels getting off the helicopter in freezing weather onto the WH lawn with no hat and no long coat. I don’t even think she had gloves on. How fucking vain can you be?
Kay
We got an email from our accountant urging us to pre-pay property taxes for 2018. There must be millions of people getting this advice.
It’s pretty clear this tax bill is a rip-off for all but the richest, because Ohio isn’t considered a high tax state and our state taxes (including property taxes) exceed 10k.
We’re not prepaying it. We budget money and that money is already allocated to other things in ’18 but I hope there are plenty of people who are pissed off that Donald Trump and his Wall Street buddies screwed them on taxes. Nice Christmas present there, boys. Hope you enjoy your tax cut.
Mnemosyne
@Quinerly:
IANAL, but is a criminal suspect allowed to sue the investigators? Given the restrictions on who can sue government officials and for what, that seems … weird.
FlipYrWhig
@Cacti:
You got that right! And then add _Democracy Now!_ to it! :P
Robin Gittelman
@Betty Cracker: Afuckingmen! Not to mention making excuses for the Nazis threatening Julia Ioffe after she wrote a non-worshiping profile in GQ (“well, she shouldn’t have provoked them”). She made her bed.
danielx
Actually got through most of a McKay Coppins tweet thread earlier, which was a considerable task. Fortunately the medications…well, never mind about that. Twas the thread starting with “His poll numbers are abysmal…”. The amazing thing, to me, was the amount of wingnut screeching about ‘nobody cares what you think’, ‘fake media’, ‘polls are wrong’, ‘his tweets are factual truth’. and so forth and so on. I wanted to respond with ‘clearly YOU care what Coppins thinks – you’re here commenting and getting all bent out of shape. If YOU don’t care, why are spending your time in responding to him?’
Then I realized that way lies madness.
FlipYrWhig
@Quinerly: See, I thought Hicks was the sacrificial sex surrogate.
Kay
I am so fucking sick of the secrecy around these hearings. We have Mueller conducting a real criminal investigation. The only reason we have congressional hearings is so the PUBLIC can hear testimony.
It’s bad enough that they suck at investigating ANYTHING, but this bogus ultra-secret approach to their political bullshit is just ridiculous. These hearings are FOR the public. They should release every bit of information they gather or just shut it down and stop wasting time.
Quinerly
@FlipYrWhig: It’s hard to keep it all straight. In related news, MSNBC is reporting that Trump changes his own sheets in the WH.
Quinerly
@Mnemosyne: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/03/trump-ex-campaign-chair-manafort-sues-mueller-rosenstein-and-department-of-justice.html
Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
Trump called Yates a “c**t” according to Rawstory.
Betty Cracker
@Kay: We don’t even have state tax down here, but the property tax cap was all over the local news — tales of besieged accountants and anxious homeowners. I think this tax bill is going to blow up in their stupid faces. Good!
Miss Bianca
@oatler.: yes, the execrable Amy Goodman. So in love with herself as the Speaking Truth to Power Chick that she consistently villainized HRC. Thankfully, I stopped listening to her before she started giving Glenn Greenwald hour-long on-air fluffings. She’s only marginally smarter and more self-aware than Jill Stein or Susan Sarandon.
Gin & Tonic
@Barbara:
There is abundant evidence that raising children to be bi- or multi-lingual is beneficial to their intellectual development.
Quinerly
@FlipYrWhig: Seems that Trump did say to Hope Hicks face that she “was the best piece of tail” Corey L. ever had….MSNBC reporting on an excerpt of the book. Hicks ran from the room.
Miss Bianca
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: My God, when *Ann Coulter* is the voice of sanity in the room…
ETA: I see Barbara got there first!
Adam L Silverman
@d58826:
mai naem mobile
How do you sue a prosecutor before you’ve even been to trial? Or you ask the judge to dismiss the charges or whatevery but suing the prosecutor doesn’t even make sense. I thought maybe Manafort was suing the prosecutor because he missed a New Years Eve party.
Another Scott
@mai naem mobile: But she worked really, really hard to save a tree on the White House grounds. Doesn’t she get any credit for that??!?!?
(sigh)
It’s a good thing Melania was there to make sure the experts did their job properly, huh.
(Grrr….)
Seriously, I’m glad that fluff piece has (apparently) received very little attention. But it’s another indication that too much of the popular press is still doing too much to try to normalize Donnie and his minions.
Cheers,
Scott.
mai naem mobile
Sarah Huckster Sanders actually has a well fitting dress on which flatters her . Ofcourse,the shit coming out of her mouth ruins whatever good the decent outfit is doong.
Quinerly
Trump didn’t know who John Boehner was: https://www.rawstory.com/2018/01/bannon-bombshells-and-more-the-8-most-shocking-revelations-from-michael-wolffs-trump-book/
FlipYrWhig
@Another Scott:
Aw.
Also, that’s the premise for a current Toyota commercial.
mike in dc
@Mnemosyne:
It’s a completely frivolous lawsuit–they’re arguing his prosecution is out of scope, and therefore the remedy is…end the special counsel investigation. LOL. Good luck with that! Judges defer to agencies on this kind of stuff. Mueller will reward Manafort for this by filing a superseding indictment doubling or tripling his potential prison time and making it completely clear he’s fucked.
mai naem mobile
@Another Scott: if the librul MSM was any good we would all know that Melanoma hates trees, especially American trees. She personally got hold of some empirus trumpus worms and strategically placed them on several tree branches to destabilize the tree.
trollhattan
@Mnemosyne:
I see what you did there….
mai naem mobile
@Quinerly: I bet he doesn’t know who Dennis Hastert is. I wouldn’t be shocked if he didn’t know who John Cornyn was or Scalise or Kevin McCarthy. I am betting somebody had to tell him during the campaign who Mitch McConnell was. Also, I bet Jared,Ivanka,Donnie Jr or Eric didn’t know either.
rikyrah
@Kay:
We’re putting all these muthaphuckas in jail.
EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM.
Another Scott
@Miss Bianca: J was a religious Democracy Now! listener and a huge admirer of Amy’s (to the point of getting an invitation to go to NYC to see a taping of the show). That never happened.
But somewhere along the line, Amy did something that really annoyed J and she hasn’t listened since. I didn’t keep track (I can’t stand to listen to the show) – probably something about Bernie (she still really likes Bernie. sigh)
Cheers,
Scott.
Quinerly
Found this Salon piece from November. A bit of background on Wolff’s book and his access to the WH:https://www.salon.com/2017/11/14/soon-everyone-can-read-the-dirt-on-trumps-white-house/
NotMax
Gin & Tonic
Trivia:
Adam L Silverman
cue the conspiracy theory folks:
MCA1
@Kay: That she’s an immigrant herself and still goes along with this is the utmost in chutzpah. F her and the horse she rode in on. I’ve run into a surprising number of Eastern European immigrants who turn out to be open Trumpistas, and every time I’ve scratched the surface they’ve revealed themselves as being racist AF, so it’s not surprising that Melania would be the same, I guess.
Quinerly
Business Insider is covering the really serious side of Wolff’s book: http://www.businessinsider.com/ivanka-trump-mocks-dad-comb-over-fire-and-fury-book-claims-2018-1
Another Scott
@FlipYrWhig: Indeed! Coincidence?
“Coincidence? … Enemy Action!”
Cheers,
Scott.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Kay:
Makes me think of Milo horror in that riot in Berkely when someone wanted to kill him. Real war sucks…
Gin & Tonic
@NotMax: Send somebody from Bensonhurst down to East Armpit, Alabama,
Betty Cracker
Attention Raven: Sell. Those. Tickets!
Quinerly
Wolff book…200 interviews. Not 200 days of access.
Mnemosyne
@Gin & Tonic:
Also helpful when Daddy is a toxic narcissist and you need to warn each other what his current mood is without him knowing.
Chyron HR
@Adam L Silverman:
INSURANCE FRAUD!!!!!
Gin & Tonic
@Mnemosyne: When my parents spoke to each other in German I knew I was in deep shit.
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
It’s just not believable to people that it’s a tax cut when the accountant is like “quick, pay your taxes now before this giant rip off comes online!”
I pay in halves because I get no discount for paying the whole thing. I’m pissed if I have to pay early to avoid Trump’s crap tax law. I hope there are millions of low interest voters who just got very interested.
Chet Murthy
@Kay: Somebody should ask Sally Quinn how she feels NOW. Whether she still thinks the Clintons were as louche as she claimed back then. Or maybe, just maybe, she’s got a gynormous shit canape to eat.
Hoodie
@Betty Cracker: Another chance for him to apply his shit Midas touch. I’m sure all those people who are paying 3 grand for tickets will love sitting in the monumental traffic jam this asshole will create in downtown Atlanta. BTW, a lot of Tide and Dawg fans are Trumpers, but a lot aren’t, the reception may not be what he expects.
Yarrow
@Kay: Before the end of the year the news shows were showing people around the country standing in long lines to pre-pay 2018 property taxes. It made national news. That is not good publicity for how amazing the new tax law is.
People know enough to know they may get screwed and they’re doing what they can to avoid it. And it means standing in long, long lines. Out the door kind of lines. Even if they get a $20 increase in their paycheck it won’t offset the loss of the ability to deduct their property and state taxes.
trollhattan
@Kay: @Yarrow:
Luckily no lines because we pay ours on line but on the 31st we made our April ’18 payment on the outside chance it helps with this year’s tax liability. No idea whether it does while the pain of writing that check is very real. I feel a strong need to punch a Republican at the moment.
Yarrow
@trollhattan: I was kind of surprised at the videos on the news of the lines. I thought most places allowed people to pay online. Maybe since they were pre-paying for 2018 they had to go in person or something.
japa21
@Hoodie: Won’t happen, but it would be great to see the players all kneel for the Anthem.