I’m good with that. https://t.co/lrXaiWDFfo
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) August 30, 2018
Someone nervous about the Woodward book? https://t.co/c23xzhmEK9
— Blake Hounshell (powered by blockchain) (@blakehounshell) August 30, 2018
If you are an elderly political cynic like me, you’ll remember the post-Watergate rumor that Bob Woodward was (still) an agent of the national intelligence community, assigned to remove an increasingly unhinged Nixon from the media spotlight before further investigation could expose just how badly compromised the “permanent, sane” Republican Party was. A rumor by which Carl Bernstein was labelled as a journalistic newbie who got played as a catspaw by more sophisticated outside agencies. Let’s just say that none of the news this week has debunked that old rumor…
Sounds like the florid pomposity you’d expect from Bannon or Gorka https://t.co/YfzaupaGkk
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) August 30, 2018
From the Washington Post, “Allies fear Trump isn’t prepared for gathering legal storm”:
… Within Trump’s orbit, there is consensus that his current legal team is not equipped to effectively navigate an onslaught of congressional demands, and there has been broad discussion about bringing on new lawyers experienced in white-collar defense and political scandals.
The president and some of his advisers have discussed possibly adding veteran defense attorney Abbe Lowell, who currently represents Trump son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, to Trump’s personal legal team if an impeachment battle or other fights with Congress emerge after the midterm elections, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Trump advisers also are discussing recruiting experienced legal firepower to the Office of White House Counsel, which is facing departures and has dwindled in size at a critical juncture. The office has about 25 lawyers now, down from roughly 35 earlier in the presidency, according to a White House official with direct knowledge.
Trump announced Wednesday that Donald McGahn will depart as White House counsel this fall, once the Senate confirms Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh. Three of McGahn’s deputies — Greg Katsas, Uttam Dhillon and Makan Delrahim — have departed, and a fourth, Stefan Passantino, will have his last day Friday. That leaves John Eisenberg, who handles national security, as the lone deputy counsel…
Still, Trump has not directed his lawyers or his political aides to prepare an action plan, leaving allies to fret that the president does not appreciate the magnitude of what could be in store next year…
If Democrats control the House, the oversight committees likely would use their subpoena power as a weapon to assail the administration, investigating with a vengeance. The committees could hold hearings about policies such as the travel ban affecting majority-Muslim countries and “zero tolerance” family separation, as well as on possible ethical misconduct throughout the administration or the Trump family’s private businesses.
White House officials defended Trump’s lack of preparation by saying he is focused squarely on helping Republicans preserve their majorities in the Nov. 6 midterm elections rather than, in the words of one senior official, “panicking about something that could happen.”
Any Democratic salvos would not happen until new members take office in January, which Trump advisers said seems like eons away in an administration juggling so many immediate problems. As a result, preparing for possible impeachment proceedings is not at the top of Trump’s to-do list…
Another concern is that the White House, which already has struggled in attracting top-caliber talent to staff positions, could face an exodus if Democrats take over the House, because aides fear their mere proximity to the president could place them in legal limbo and possibly result in hefty lawyers’ fees.“It stops good people from potentially serving because nobody wants to inherit a $400,000 legal bill,” said another Trump adviser.
Trump allies privately worry that the West Wing staff is barely equipped to handle basic crisis communications functions, such as distributing robust talking points to key surrogates, and question how the operation could handle an impeachment trial or other potential battles.
Trump sees the administration as having a singular focus — him — and therefore is less concerned with the institution of the presidency and not aware of the vast infrastructure often required to protect it, according to some of his allies…
All the man has left is his grievances, and even the other Repubs are getting tired of hearing those well-worn beads mumbled over.
FBI rebuts Trump tweet about China hacking Hillary Clinton's email https://t.co/6NjxQXZ97z via @nbcnews
— Bobby Ghosh (@ghoshworld) August 29, 2018
At some point this ‘Hillary & Obama are being arrested next week’ story line has to become boring, it has been two years now & according to those folks Hillary & Obama have been arrested about 100 times each.
Come up with some new BS! Even Cruz killed JFK was better than this. https://t.co/ZzFmAOOQOu
— The Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) August 29, 2018
It’s gotten so bad, we’re not even seeing Downfall parodies of the latest Trump rallies. NOVEMBER can’t come too soon!
“The Extreme Bias of Me” sounds like a jailhouse essay written by a man convicted of burning a truckload of grammar books. pic.twitter.com/wmcQvFqhyk
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) August 30, 2018
Villago Delenda Est
Winter is Coming, and Arya Stark is with Mueller.
ruemara
Investigated to death? Well sign me right up!
November can’t come soon enough.
In other news, I ponied up for the very expensive chiropractor for my super inflamed achilles tendon and… this is the most pain-free I’ve been in months. I even did some conventional deadlifts to practice form and I feel pretty good. I have to go roll a very spiky road over my legs before bed, but I have good hopes that I can get up tomorrow and walk rather normal right out the bed.
NotMax
“And so it goes.”
Redshift
“Hatred and extreme bias has clouded their thinking and made them unable to function…”
So, applying the “everything he says is projection” rule…
Mnemosyne
All right, which one of you jackals was standing outside the White House last week? ?
https://mobile.twitter.com/donwinslow/status/1032162615806517253
Mnemosyne
I’m drinking pre-mixed tequila and grapefruit soda (aka a Paloma cocktail) out of a can right now. 7 percent ABV. It’s helping me steel myself for tomorrow’s surgery. ?
Major Major Major Major
Oh for fuck’s sake.
jl
Why is Graham spouting Democratic talking points? I thought he was slobbering over Trump these days.
And that is not a joke, I’ve seen polls indicating majority wants midterms to provide a check on Trump.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: break a, erm, hm. Good luck! You got this
Calouste
The reason they are talking about hiring a “veteran” attorney is that no mid-career attorney in their right mind would be willing to take the massive career hit that would come from joining the administration at this point. If your legal career is already dead and buried, like Rudy Guilliani’s, of course it doesn’t matter.
The Dangerman
I assume this refers to the claim that Trump had prior knowledge of the famous meeting. Of course he did. Can it be proven right now? Maybe not, but it’ll come out.
You can tell when a claim hits close to or on the Truth because FOX, among others, go apeshit … like in this matter.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne: What are you doing up, don’t you have a date with the cut ya guy in the morning?
Jay
@jl:
A) those arn’t Democratic Party talking points, them’s belong to the Jackals,…….. Dem’s are running on constituant issues,
B) the ReThug’s Midterms Campaign can be summed up as:
1) Immigrants = MS13
2) Brown people
3) Pelosi
4) if you don’t vote R, Putin’s Butt Boy is going to jail
5) Socialism!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jay
@Calouste:
And they ain’t gonna get one.
Anne Laurie
@The Dangerman: Quite possibly! But if you read the actual linked article, the Trump-protective circle fed a less-than-documentable story to a professional journalist who should be experienced enough by now to know better than not to check his sources.
They’re not innovators, the FoxMen. Bernstein’s got a rep as… someone gullible about stories which will make ‘leftists’ happy. They fed Bernstein the Lanny Davis story, and sure enough, he went ahead & published without checking first. Result: Fox Stories about UNHINGED LEFTISTS LIE CONCERNING DEAR LEADER… and ol’ Carl, well, his reputation — such as it is — remains the same. Good for Fox, good for Bernstein (when was the last time his name surfaced nationally?), not so good for our embattled “democracy”.
arrieve
Greetings from Rwanda. I landed in Kigali late last night and am still not quite all here despite large amounts of coffee. Everyone here is so friendly and welcoming, and yet this beautiful little country was the site of a horrific genocide less than 25 years ago. (And reading about it makes me very nervous about how far incitement to hate the other can lead.) I might need a break from US politics, and I think we’ll mostly be off the grid after Sunday, so that’s a good thing.
jl
If G.O.P. Loses Hold on Congress, Trump Warns, Democrats Will Enact Change ‘Quickly and Violently’
Mr. Trump also recalled on Monday night looking out the window during the Trump Tower meeting, though it was unclear why he chose to discuss it.
“We were in the 68th floor of Trump Tower and we looked down on the sidewalks and there were thousands and thousands of people,” he said. “They looked like ants, little people going all over — boom, boom, boom — so little, ’cause when you’re 68 floors, they look really small. But there were a lot of them.”
In fact, Trump Tower has only 58 stories, but Mr. Trump frequently adds 10 stories to its height, claiming its soaring ground-floor atrium justifies the higher number of floors.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/28/us/politics/trump-evangelical-pastors-election.html
Note: NYT link.
L85NJGT
‘King Coal roundup:
First Energy is shitcanning 4MW of coal capacity. in OH and PA.
The TVA is looking to close the last of the Paradise (of John Prine fame) coal units:
Colorado regulators OK early shutdown of coal-fired plants
Wha?
Montana Senator: Closing Coal Plant Could Hurt Bitcoin Mining Industry
The thermal coal industry is fucked.
jl
Dots – The Third man (Reed, 1949)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSc-91F5Wiw
jl
@Jay:I hope what you are saying is true, if by ‘constituent issues’ you mean policy issues.
But, if a majority of the voters are considering voting for a Democrat because they want a check on Trump, the Graham is spouting a Democratic talking point, whether it is high on the Democratic list or not.
Sister Golden Bear
@Mnemosyne: You’ll do fine. Although I agree with Bill that tonight is not a good night for booze, since it’s a vasodilator.
Jay
@jl:
Most of the voters so far want things like a living minimum wage, healthcare, other socialist stuff.
“Checking” Putin’s Butt Toy ain’t on the menu at all, except for how he and his Minion’s are against those things.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl:
Some guys always claim their thing is bigger than it really is.
Mnemosyne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I still have shit to do tonight, and it’s not like I need a full night’s sleep since I’m the one being put under.
I’m going to be, like, four blocks from you since I’ll be in the surgery center on San Fernando.
Mnemosyne
@Sister Golden Bear:
I’m a super lightweight, so I only got through a little more than half the can. It’s 5 minutes until witching hour, so I’m done anyway.
Calouste
BTW, even if Mueller is going to keep himself to the guideline of no indictments within 60 days of an election, this year, in contrast to most years, the 60 day period starts the Friday after Labor day, not the Friday before. Labor day falls early and election day falls late this year.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne: A bit more than 4 blocks from me, but I know where it is.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Calouste: It’s no indictments of principles(folk running for office), not anybody in politics.
Sister Golden Bear
@jl: Brilliant movie, brilliant scene, down the small details, such as the use of Orson Welles’ black overcoat and gray suit — although they make more sense in the full scene, where they reflect Holly’s changing views of Harry during the scene: from evil to morally ambiguous, back to evil. As well as the shifting backgrounds outside the ferris wheel car reflecting Holly’s disorientation.
NotMax
@Sister Golden Bear
“Honest, sensible, sober, harmless Holly Martins. Holly – what a silly name.”
– Anna Schmidt
Jay
@jl:
Check out the campaign platforms, policies and speeches.
No mention of the Insane Clown POSus or his problems, other than obliquely.
Trust you eyes, rather than ReThug memes, reycled by the Chattering Classes.
otmar
@?BillinGlendaleCA: this reminds me of https://youtu.be/d8tPpS7MI6s
otmar
@Sister Golden Bear: btw the third man: Close to my office in Vienna there is the entrance to the “The third man” tour to the Viennese sewers.
Turgidson
“Investigated with a vengeance”?
What the fuck is that? Washington DC is 4feet deep in a biblical flood of corruption, scandal, and criminality. It’s all there in plain sight, and the GOP has basically spent the last two years snickering and taunting us all while they light our democracy on fire. And a Democratic majority would be investigating some small fraction of out of a lust for vengeance?
Fuck you, “liberal” media. This isn’t a god damn game of Risk or Monopoly. Democrats gaining subpoena power and trying to impose at least a bit of accountability on these traitorous criminals might be our only chance to prevent this demented narcissist Russian asset from totally undoing the rule of law. It’s the only patriotic thing the Democrats can do, if given the chance. Not an opportunity for “vengeance.”
sgrAstar
@arrieve: I hope you will share photos with us! I’ve heard that Rwanda is so beautiful- love to see that through your eyes.
piratedan
I guess the part for me that is still so incredibly surreal is that we know shoes are going to drop soon and I think that a large portion of America believes that if nothing else:
a) Trump is guilty of Obstruction of Justice (I mean how many times does he have to admit as much in various and sundry interviews)
b) Trump is probably guilty of treason due to his working with Russia in obtaining confidential information and coordinating with his campaign (as well as many others in the GOP)
c) obviously guilty of campaign finance law violations
There are multiple items of interest to me….
a) does Mueller take down the entire administration brick by brick, i.e. the Trump Family and all of those currently under investigation?
b) does he cut to the chase and indict Trump and Pence?
Not sure which makes the most sense, or which tack he has chosen but betting bippies that he has discussed and has a game plan and a fall back and most likely even plans C and D and E depending upon the political fallout and the upholding of the rule of law by various interests that actually have no interest in upholding the law…
The part that find fascinating (revolting, but in a car wreck drive by kind of fascination) is what is going to happen to the GOP… because if Mueller does indeed have the goods on Trump, then he likely also has the goods on Pence, Preibus, McConnell, Ryan, Nunes, Rohrbacher, Scalise etc How in the fuck are we going to be able to prosecute the party in power (for now, pending elections) and those that control it for working with an outside foreign power, accepting their money to follow an agenda that they want to follow anyway, knowing full well that what they were doing was illegal and essentially being completely enveloped by hubris thinking that it would come off flawlessly…
In a way, I hope that they all end up in a private prison eating nothing but government surplus, being observed and monitored by the very people they screwed over at every turn. Maybe I can get the broadcast rights if that ever comes to pass and I can call it The Schadenfrude Channel…
Amir Khalid
@L85NJGT:
“These jobs are going, boys, and they ain’t coming back.”
Kathleen
@Mnemosyne: Sending you mojo for successful surgery and painless as possible recovery.
opiejeanne
@Mnemosyne: You’ll be fine, you’ll feel better in a couple of weeks or so.
I had to be VERY good about not even drinking water before my two eye surgeries. I didn’t consider fortifying myself before my cut-off at midnight.
opiejeanne
@opiejeanne: Maybe I should have… can’t remember if they said I couldn’t have alcohol now.
Aleta
@Mnemosyne: You don’t have to believe any feeling that might come up of (for want of a better word) foreboding or certainty that it won’t be OK. Since that is just a form of anxiety. And … you don’t have to get used to the initial post-op period, cause it will pass. The healing will just keep on going, while your body by its nature adjusts little by little. The most helpful day-of–surgery advice I got was to look at every nurse and dr. and hospital person you meet as someone who’s a healer by profession and there to help you. This trick helped me be calmer.
Good vibes going out to you from the Atlantic Ocean.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@opiejeanne: I’m pretty sure if they said, no water, they meant no liquids.
satby
@Mnemosyne: Good luck!
Aleta
@jl: It’s almost as though he has an automatic nervous system (besides the autonomic one) whose functions are to lie, seek money, and injure.
J R in WV
She will be OK, not the first person to have a drink to get to sleep the night before a surgery. I’ve been twice for my shoulder replacements, which were somewhat harsh, but entirely according to schedule and plan.
Biggest mishap was one IV infiltrated when the needle slipped out of the vein, so my hand was all swollen. The floor nurse came to give me a middle of the night pain killer IV and couldn’t. She finally rounded up a champ sticker out of ICU to drift by and poke a new one for me, which was a blessing. Some nurses can do a stick on anyone, and some can’t, don’t have the talent.
Mnemosyne will be fine, we’ll have her all day for weeks while her knee heals.
opiejeanne
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I know that. I meant that I don’t remember is if they told me not to consume any alcohol that day, during the period when I could eat and drink.
I have had a really bad reaction to codeine as recently as last winter, like throwing up for nearly 24 hours straight. I told the anesthesiologist both times, just to give him a heads up, and he gave me something to prevent the nausea that I’ve had after every surgery since 1984. It was great, I woke up feeling fine.
opiejeanne
@J R in WV: The two different nurses who stuck me before the two cataract surgeries were pros. They didn’t hurt me too much and they got it on the first try. The skin is very thin on the back of my hands and I think that made it easier.
Ken
I’d laugh because all the problems are self-inflicted, but then I remember that these clowns are the administration. Heaven help us all if something serious requiring a steady hand and carefully-thought-out response occurs. Especially if it happens during executive time and everyone’s afraid to wake him up.
randy khan
A really competent White House could wait until after the midterms to think about how to respond to a hostile new Congresss. But an epically incompetent White House could wait until January, since it would just be spinning its wheels anyway. And one where the President will decide what to do the moment he does it, well, what’s the point in preparing?
Tenar Arha
@Turgidson: Yuuup.
(Thanks for growling about this. I got to that paragraph & almost lost it. These stories based on GOP’er interviews don’t make it clear who they’re quoting, or whose voice they’re taking on. It’s infuriating).
gratuitous
@Turgidson: Thank you for noticing that; it certainly jumped off the screen at me. Apparently, reckless Democrats would investigate real things with a vengeance, unlike those responsible Republicans, who were just being thorough about that Benghazi thing, which was obviously Something Very Important, otherwise, why would all those nice men spend so much time on it?
Miss Bianca
@jl: Oh, great, Trump’s quoting “The Third Man” now? Except that mofo’s probably never seen it. He just naturally gravitates toward a view that sees the little ant-people as insignificant….
Till they swarm his ass.
boatboy_srq
They are afraid Lord Dampnut in 2019 will be less durable than Bill Clinton was in 1995.
And they are right to be afraid.