Giant man-baby holds breath, turns blue:
President Trump will not commit to signing legislation that would avoid a partial government shutdown on Saturday, his press secretary said, further roiling a chaotic debate that is splintering the Republican Party.
“At this moment, the President does not want to go further without border security, which includes steel slats or a wall. The President is continuing to weigh his options,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Thursday in a statement.
The tumultuous turn of events has seen Trump reverse himself numerous times in recent days on the issue, first demanding $5 billion from Congress for a wall along the Mexico border, then declaring the military would pay for it, only to insist that the money come from Democrats next year.
Now House Republicans have been summoned to the White House to placate the overgrown toddler. I hope he throws his sippy-cup at Paul Ryan’s head and smears poop on his high chair. That’s the memory Ryan deserves to carry into retirement.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I just had the mental image of trump in his bad-mood golf cap screaming at Ryan while Jansenville’s own Eddie Haskell fixes a zombie-eyed grin to his mug and plans the subtweets he’ll drop like a boss at some AEI forum in February. They say The Beast can get really operatic in his tantrums. In this instance, I’d cheer him on.
proposed Dem talking point: Are we really going to shut down the government because Donald is afraid of Ann Coulter?
Kraux Pas
This sudden obsession with steel slats is weird. It’s almost like he just heard the word “slats” for the first time in his life.
The Democrats said they would support measures that actually helped provide bo(a)rder security. He should take them up on that.
Barbara
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: He is 100% external and lacks any internal strength at all. As soon as he thinks he has been made to look bad he goes looking for the thing that he thinks will make him look good. It’s totally pathetic.
tobie
I’m reposting from below only because this is of a piece with the fact that our govt is FUBAR:
The phone number for the departmental ethics office is: 202-514-8196.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
So basically, Trump in his snit fit, is going force the the House Repugs to hold and a vote and prove Pelosi is right there isn’t the Republican votes for this.
Betty Cracker
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Limbaugh also said Trump was getting played on the wall — on Fox & Friends. I bet that was the final straw.
Corner Stone
“At this moment, the President does not want to go further without border security, which includes steel slats or a wall. The President is continuing to weigh his options,”
He’s got two of them. Sign the clean CR to Feb, or shutdown the govt. That’s it. I guess he could be trying to decide like he does for Big Mac or Fish Filet, but that’s really a “which one first”.
chris
@Kraux Pas:
Maybe the Chinese and Russians have offered a nice commission on the steel? I wonder if he’s priced aluminum from Rusal.
Immanentize
@Barbara: Agreed. That is why Graham’s cut that Trump was acting “Obamaish” about Syria was the cruelest cut possible. Score one for the Butter Boy from S.C.
danielx
Makes me really miss this guy.
Corner Stone
@Betty Cracker:
I wonder how that “thinking” plays out? There’s no money for it and there’s nothing Trump can trade for it.
Platonailedit
.
I hope he does exact opposite of that.
Adam L Silverman
Adam L Silverman
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Ret’d General John Allen looks like he’s about to burst out in rage talking about trump’s pointing to the sky video claiming he’s doing what the service members killed in action want by pulling out of Syria
LAO
@Adam L Silverman: I love that the headline Politico chooses characterizes the ultra-RWNJ in the Freedom Caucus as “conservatives” as if there is a substantial “moderate wing” of the Republican party.
randy khan
Merry Christmas, Speaker Ryan! The thought that he might go out with this kind of failure is almost heartwarming enough to overcome my annoyance at the closing of federal offices because of a stupid tantrum.
Elizabelle
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
I got my popcorn ready. We should discuss non-butter flavorings for it. Popcorn is gonna get tedious in the months ahead.
JPL
Paul Ryan should mention that if he shuts down the government, he (trump) should be prepared to stay in DC for the holidays.
Trump will sign the bill faster that the blink of an eye.
Elizabelle
@randy khan:
It’s hard out there for a
wonkfake.John Boehner is penning his memoirs. I hope we get the NFLTG Boehner.
catclub
@Corner Stone:
Actually there is LOTS that Trump could trade for it. It is called DACA. But we tried that last year, got a deal, and then Trump reneged on it.
Adam L Silverman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I worked for him when he was the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace. He then went on to be the Special Envoy for the coalition against ISIS. My SWAG was had Secretary Clinton been elected president, then he would have been nominated to be Secretary of State.
Adam L Silverman
@LAO: Bless their hearts!
MattF
I think at this point, a lame-duck House Republican would just go home and stay home. Why not? Why bother? What is Trump/Ryan going to do?
Immanentize
@danielx:
Sould Santa by Brook Benton
One of my favorite Holiday songs….
Hawes
It’s not Trump that turned blue.
It was the House
gvg
who is going to be the house minority leader in January. Ryan is gone, but I haven’t heard who the GOP picked to be minority?
schrodingers_cat
@Elizabelle: I spice up the butter with cayenne and oregano before I put it on the popcorn. I use olive oil instead of butter if I am feeling virtuous.
Martin
It’s a bit terrifying how quickly and completely we’ve accepted the president as ‘old man yells at cloud’.
Corner Stone
@catclub: IMO, 1) Trump can’t trade that any longer. He could’ve, maybe, at one time but that’s gone. And 2) Schumer may roll over like a puppy but I don’t think Pelosi wants to give Trump anything for the stupid wall, ever.
catclub
@JPL:
This is the same empty threat that if he fires Sessions, he cannot get a new AG confirmed. So what, he has an acting AG who is just fine.
Likewise, this is not a real threat. He could tell them: “If it is important, send it to me and I will consider signing it at my convenience, in Mar-a-lago.”
Might as well be imperious.
Immanentize
@Adam L Silverman: I like how they don’t say “rage” they say “tailspin.” Everyone knows.
MattF
@Martin: ‘Yells at cloud, then makes poopies on desk’.
Corner Stone
@Martin: Trump is a terrified prisoner-in-waiting.
MattF
@Immanentize: ‘Psychotic breakdown’ has too many syllables.
dmsilev
@gvg: Kevin McCarthy, one of the few surviving California Republicans.
Miss Bianca
@Kraux Pas:
That’s exactly what I was thinking: “WTF is it with steel slats? Did Baby just learn a new phrase?”
schrodingers_cat
@Corner Stone: Pelosi called his bluff and now he is sputtering in rage. The people who are still arguing that T will give DACA people a reprieve have not been paying attention, to the actual immigration policy of this administration the last two years and counting.
Luthe
@Elizabelle: Paprika is a good option. Adds a hint of heat without overdoing it. Cocoa powder is also good. If you want to get really fancy, there are people who drizzle on chocolate sauce and add marshmallows for a s’more like taste.
*invests in popcorn futures, the only part of the market destined to rise in the near future*
dmsilev
@Adam L Silverman: Where “source close to the White House” == “reads Trump’s Twitter feed”.
LAO
dmsilev
@Miss Bianca: My theory is that the check from the Steel Slat Association of America (SSAA) just cleared.
chopper
he’s pissed cause pelosi took his balls with her after their WH meeting. so how’s he gonna show everyone he’s a big boy who totes runs things? not like his bullshit decision to pull out of syria is giving him any juice.
Elizabelle
@schrodingers_cat: and Luthe:
Thanks! Keep the popcorn topping recipes coming. (Perfect weather for it here. Chilly and gonna rain heavily later.)
zhena gogolia
@tobie:
Weird experience. I got the same thing — FOIA, etc. I went into an unhinged rant about Russia controlling our government. Finally she said, “I don’t know why you think people are not going to do the right thing and uphold the Constitution. There are people here who are going to do the right thing.” Then she gave me the hotline number for the OIG office. I am very confused.
PPCLI
@LAO: Lucky for Trump’s sake he’s built up a lot of credit with Mia Love. She’ll be happy to fly back to keep his ass out of the fire.
President Sooperdealmaker sure knows how to play the long game.
Miss Bianca
@dmsilev: *snortle*
NotMax
With hat doffed to Peter Arno, “Hell of a way to run a railroad.”
MattF
@Elizabelle: Also good for reading. ‘The Murderbot Diaries’ by Martha Wells is my recent discovery– four novellas in a sequence. Murderbot is the non-human narrator.
Kraux Pas
I’d just like to take a moment to discuss how especially awful Bret Stephens is at the FTFNYT. While I generally find plenty to disagree with Brooks and Douthat as far as their ideals, reasoning, and conclusions; I tend to think of them arguing in generally good faith and not needlessly demonizing people they disagree with. Edsall can be OK, but seems stuck in a time where his namesake car was still in production.
Stephens’s article today, comparing Trump to Elizabeth Warren and the broader “left,” put on a clinic in creating false equivalencies. It should be studied in logic classes as “what not to do.” He’s now joining Dowd on my “never read under any circumstances list.”
Most of the rest of their columnists I like.
JoyceH
@catclub: Then someone needs to explain to him that he simply CANNOT shut down the government and throw people out of work the week before Christmas and then fly off to Florida to golf for two weeks. Not if he wants to remain president for longer than another month or so, because that level of callousness would lose him what little support he has left. He can either shut down the government and stay in Washington and pretend to care, or he can sign the CR and take his nice vacation. There are no other survivable options.
chopper
if the clean CR makes it to the oval office and trump signs it, i’d pay honest money if pelosi tweets out “thanks donald. now go get your fuckin’ shine box”
catclub
@chopper: On the last CR Trump signed, he raged that he was angry he was agreeing to things he did not like
(which is the nature of normal politics), and that he would never do it again. It is assumed that he is a coward and WILL sign the next one, but he does have the power to refuse. The only people that get hurt if he refuses, are not him, so he definitely could do it.
Betty Cracker
Haha, Pelosi twists the knife:
tobie
@zhena gogolia: wow sounds like the receptionist you spoke to got defensive. They’re a frigging ethics office. They’re supposed to be transparent about everything they do! It goes with the territory.
Adam L Silverman
@catclub: This is what they were floating this morning. Schumer’s spokesperson has already indicated this is a no go.
Immanentize
@zhena gogolia: If there is only one person who is an “ethics officer” at DOJ, then one signature is a unanimous decision.
Kraux Pas
Back to slats, though, why is Trump treating it like a “gotcha!” on the Ds that they supposedly think it’s gonna be made out of concrete? Not only was this Trump’s original proposal, but I haven’t heard anyone making the particular building material for the wall a major point of contention. No one who’s against the wall is going to change their mind because it’s going to be steel slats rather than concrete.
MattF
@Betty Cracker: We note that two weeks ago the narrative was that Democrats were melting down over the Speakership.
Adam L Silverman
@gvg: McCarthy, unless Gym Jordan can pull off a miracle.
catclub
@JoyceH: I was just posting below, (53)that what you are claiming is not actually true. If he goes to MAL for two weeks and refuses to sign a CR, there is no legal mechanism to kick him out. Even if he does ‘lose all support’. Which he will not do, he will still keep at least the 27% and more like 35%, who are fans. The only people this hurts are still – not him – so there is no leverage there.
In normal politics there are norms, but unless there is a legal mechanism – that can be rapidly applied – there is no actual leverage to force him to sign a CR if he does not want to.
chopper
@catclub:
right. crazy situations haven’t kept him from his golf game before, this isn’t going to be the time to start.
and the PR is terrible, sure, but trump doesn’t give a shit.
Gelfling 545
@Elizabelle: I thing this link will take you to my fruitcake recipe as promised.
Link
jonas
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: If Obama or another Democrat had done something like that exploiting the memory of fallen soldiers, there would be a Category 5 media meltdown; it would reported on every cable news show around the globe with chyrons accompanied by multiple sirens and claxon alarms. Fox and Friends would be interviewing weeping war widows whom the President “retraumatized” with his insensitive remarks. Reporters would be scouring military posts interviewing offended soldiers and Marines who “expect more from our commander-in-chief,” etc. Trump does it? Wev.
gvg
@catclub: That’s one of his problems. Reputation as someone who doesn’t keep their word and enjoys screwing up deals. Both parties know, so they don’t really have any incentive to be creative. He ruined his own options.
Wild Cat
“I hope he throws his sippy-cup at Paul Ryan’s head and smears poop on his high chair. That’s the memory Ryan deserves to carry into retirement.”
Why would that upset Ryan? He’s been swabbing the nation with Ayn Rand’s feces for decades.
Immanentize
@Kraux Pas: I can think of a hundred reasons why Trump is fixated now on steel slats — and each is dumber than the last. Therefore, a high probability that the dumbest, #100, is probably the real reason.
jc
Trump doesn’t govern on the substance of issues. He governs on how it *looks* to his reelection prospects. Or whether it fills his personal coffers.
dmsilev
@Adam L Silverman: Trump is on (video) record saying that he owns any shutdown. Pelosi is taking over the gavel in about two weeks and might even already functionally be a majority leader since a lot of the retiring/ousted GOP Reps have already left DC. The Senate has already passed an 8 week CR. So yeah, there’s no reason for the House Democrats to do anything but say “pass the Senate bill”.
NotMax
@Betty Cracker
While they’re floundering, Ms P. throws them a steel-slatted life preserver.
;)
raven
@jonas: <MSNBC just had a congressman/combat vet who lost a close buddy on saying just that.
J R in WV
@Luthe:
Garlic butter, for the win!
Immanentize
@dmsilev: Just a detail, I know — but I am pretty sure any spending bill must originate in the House not the Senate. What’s up with this C.R. starting in the Senate?
dmsilev
@Adam L Silverman: Didn’t they already have the vote a few weeks ago (checks: Yep, about a week after the midterm election) I mean sure, there’s always the opportunity for a coup or whatever later on, but at least for now it’s McCarthy.
dmsilev
@Immanentize: Good point, and I have no idea. I know that sometimes the Senate will take some random bill that originated in the House, “amend” it by replacing all of its contents with new stuff, and pass that. Maybe that’s what happened.
NotMax
@J R in WV
Grated parmesan and a soupçon of basil.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
@JoyceH:
Uhh, the guy is taking children from desperate immigrants and throwing them in cages. A young girl died in custody just last week. The 35-40% of the country that support this asshole are some of the worst people on the face of the earth. They are not going to be upset if someone is furloughed for a few weeks.
It’s December 2018, for chrissakes. Time to catch up.
Mandalay
@Kraux Pas:
Perhaps not change minds, but it’s certainly easier to make the case for a steel wall. From a security perspective you can’t see what’s happening on the other side of concrete wall, and a steel wall would be much cheaper.
SiubhanDuinne
@Adam L Silverman:
Heh.
Kay
Or a nice boxwood hedge. Nothing is off the table.
K488
@NotMax: Good to see someone remembers Peter Arno. I’ve been thinking “Well, back to the drawing board” for some time now.
Elizabelle
@Gelfling 545: Wow, that’s a fabulous recipe. Looks excellent. Thank you very much.
Is it 3.5 cups flour total? When you add the half cup of flour to the steeped fruit, is it out of the initial amount or an addition?
Rough estimate on baking time. 2 hours? Almost 3 hours? Noted the low oven temp.
I will be purchasing all the fruits and ingredients for this while the getting is good. Easier to find at this time of year.
rikyrah
BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
J R in WV
@NotMax:
Parmesan AND garlic butter, basil optional…?
Actually, hard to beat just butter n salt, really…
Kay
I missed “the military will pay for it”. How’d that go over? Not well, I assume.
The low quality hires realize it’s all the same money, right?
“The Food and Drug Administration will pay for it, making it…free”.
Adam L Silverman
@dmsilev: Exactly.
BC in Illinois
@Kay:
Or a shrubbery.
Immanentize
@dmsilev: Kentucky Supreme Court just struck down the State’s legislative pension fix for trying some lame amendment trick instead of following their 3 days of reading the bill constitutional rule.. I wish there were rules in the federal government.
catclub
This the kind of thing that might affect Trump’s decision:
JaySinWA
@dmsilev: I’m guessing the family just got sold a venetian blind factory
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford:
Unless it lasts long enough to begin to materially affect their lives.
Immanentize
@catclub: Fox News Chyron:
Kraux Pas
@Kay:
Well, if there’s excess money in the budget anywhere…
Ooh, also, too, a corps of engineers.
BretH
@Kay:
Obligatory youtube link…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69iB-xy0u4A
Curses! Too late!
A Ghost To Most
@dmsilev:
He thought they said sluts.
Barbara
@Immanentize: Graham has a negative credit balance so large that a single insult barely recaptures a day’s worth of interest. I mean, he must know, and must have known for quite some time, that Trump is outsourcing most foreign policy to Russia, with a few subcontracts to KSA.
JaySinWA
@Kraux Pas: He’s gonna put all those steel mill workers back to work, for sure. Slats are where it is at!//
--bd
@Luthe: I was surprised to find out that the hot sauce for Wendy’s chili is all paprika, no peppers.
RAVEN
@–bd: Paprkia is peppers
sherparick
@LAO: Tiger Beat on the Potomac has always been about shifting the Overton Window to the Right.
Elizabelle
@MattF: Had not heard of Martha Wells. Cool. Reading is good.
cynthia ackerman
@Elizabelle:
Brewers yeast is worth a try.
Ornamental corn is often popcorn. Kernels are small, but good flavor.
Yutsano
@Elizabelle: Finely chopped rosemary and garlic gently toasted in olive oil then poured over fresh popped kernels with a bunch of grated reggiano to finish.
Mandalay
@JoyceH:
A reality check on Trump’s supposed unpopularity:
– Trump is by far the most popular Republican politician. Nobody else comes close.
– His approval rating has remained almost constant over the past two months. The election results did not budge it at all.
– His approval rating is five points higher than this time last year.
Now Trump’s actual approval level (low 40s) is pretty poor given the decent economy over the past 2 years, and Republican control of the House and the Senate. But is is not disastrous, and further callousness on his part is not going to dent his ratings.
If you want to see Trump’s popularity crash thorough the floor, the Dow going under 20,000 will do that far more effectively than all his scandals, dumb tweets and idiotic policy decisions put together.
Roger Moore
@Mandalay:
[[Citation Needed]]
Ruckus
@Mandalay:
A 6ft chain link fence would be cheaper than a 20ft concrete wall, absolutely, but numbnuts is talking about a large wall made out of large parts of steel. If, and that’s possibly debatable, it’s cheaper, it won’t be significantly so.
Its not really worth discussing the cost though, it’s too much in any case, any material, any size. It’s just individual 1 bullshit, which is always too much, too stupid, too costly, too unrealistic…..
Corner Stone
Looks like Trump wants a shutdown. Temper tantrum: Complete.
eclare
@Elizabelle: Spray with Pam (or equivalent) and then sprinkle on Extra Spicy Mrs. Dash.
LAO
@Corner Stone:
Elizabelle
You guys have got some great popcorn ideas! Yum.
Adam L Silverman
@dmsilev: Hence Gym Jordan needing a miracle.
Mary G
These popped up close together in my feed just now:
Jeffro
@Mandalay: And yet, he just got them (the GOP) shellacked in the election a little over a month ago and is showing signs of dragging the party as a whole down further across the next two years. Everything he is or has ever been involved with is under criminal investigation. He’s killing the stock market, he’s banging on the Fed. His budget deficits are mounting like crazy.
He doesn’t have “support” from the folks who hold his fate in their hands – he has them running cover for him, for just a little longer, against their wishes and instincts. He has “approval” from the mouth-breathing half of the GOP base, while the rest of the GOP pays the consequences. Some of those officials are going to start publicly cutting bait. I’d look to see what GOP Senators and upstart GOP governors up for election in 2020 start doing and saying in order to try and rally support before it all goes to hell.
Quinerly
If you want a smile, take a gander at Michelle rocking those skintight, glittery, thigh high boots.
https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5c1baac0e4b08aaf7a85e56b
catclub
@Barbara: I would find it far worse than ironic if the thing that brought down Trump was
“The DC consensus that all any foreign policy problem needs is more application of the military in the Middle East”
Obama tried to push back on this a little, at the end.
In the present case, how is it possible that 2000 trainers are all that is needed (but are absolutely crucial)
to keep Syria from coming apart? (H/T Kevin Drum)
Tim C.
@Barbara: I think a lot of GOPers elected and otherwise are in the trap of no longer being able to sort out their rationalizations from their lies from their management strategies. I’m betting Huckleberry hound really was certain for a bit there that they had Trumperdink under control on enough issues that the only worry was Mueller. Now Trump has gone off on a tangent again.
Soprano2
This explains the chaos in the stock market today. I’m getting afraid to ask my husband how our account is doing every day, as it goes lower and lower. Are we tired of winning yet?
Jeffro
@Ruckus: The blessed Wall is absurd on its face: I don’t know why we’re wasting time talking about how much this version or that version would cost. 1) No wall is going to work (see also, ladders, tunnels, drones, and the fact that the majority of drugs/contraband come into this country via legal points of entry) 2) Mexico was going to pay for it; Americans refuse to…end of story.
“The Wall is just a metaphorical middle finger to brown people” should be the first thing out of every Democratic officeholder’s mouth from now until the 2020 election. The second, and last thing, should be that it’s absurd on its face and therefore not worth discussing.
dmsilev
TPM just now:
Jeffro
@dmsilev: Sounds good, Paul – with majorities in the House and Senate, plus the presidency, the GOP couldn’t keep the government running for 8 weeks. We’ll just run with that for 2 years and see how it goes…
ET
Is tRump reading all of the “he’s caving” “he’s backtracking” etc articles and has to make sure that everyone knows he isn’t?
Gravenstone
@Betty Cracker: Don’t know how we manage it, but I really want to see the opinion side of Faux Noise held liable for their obviously coordinated actions in trying to steer Trump whenever he wavers. They’re clearly the part if that organization that he listens to. He rarely if ever refers to the news side when he’s in a tantrum.
Another Scott
As usual, McConnell is throwing plenty of monkey wrenches in the process as well.
GovExec:
So, instead of letting a bill pass that would implement budget provisions that have already been approved by the Senate, McConnell is making everyone jump through hoops and introducing additional possible complications for next year. As well as punching down on federal employees who still are behind on their pay from previous furloughs.
Grrr…
tl;dr – As always, it’s not just Donnie. It’s the whole GOP.
Cheers,
Scott.
joel hanes
@J R in WV:
hard to beat just butter n salt
Two twists of the black pepper grinder into the oil before you start to heat it.
Plus butter and salt, of course.
Subtle but good.
PS: fine non-iodized popcorn salt instead of iodized table salt makes a _big_ difference
chopper
@LAO:
presiding over a shutdown for no goddamn good reason whatsoever really would be the fitting end, and also a perfect encapsulation, of ryan’s entire political career.
Gravenstone
@Platonailedit: Yeah, the image of his fingerpainting in shit all over Ryan’s vacuous grin did brighten my morning.
Miss Bianca
@dmsilev: Typical of Paul Ryan’s whole career that he apparently, unironically, describes a meeting where he signally fails to get Trump to do the necessary thing as “productive”.
Kattails
@Elizabelle: nutritional yeast and curry powder. Also, you can get cheddar cheese powder. A local dairy coop makes it, but there are several listings online, and just saw a recipe for homemade powdered cheddar. I cook mine in a large dutch oven in a lot of oil, peanut or grapeseed, and then don’t need butter, not that I have anything–anything at all–against butter. Then load on the cheese powder & yeast and some herbal salt. PS start it in the hot oil, and just when the first kernel pops, take it off the heat for a minute or so to let everything catch up. Then put it back on and you’ll get a pretty complete and nice puffy pop.
trollhattan
As if further evidence was needed Devin Nunes cannot be in a position of power.
Things escalated between the Bee and Nunes from there. By the time Appleton returned from leave, Nunes made it clear to the paper’s reporters that he would no longer speak to the Bee under any circumstances, and over the summer he and his campaign further heightened the rift between the two institutions when Nunes began airing attack ads against the Bee. (Nunes, through a representative, declined to comment for this story.) Appleton’s mother also works in radio, at Fresno’s local iHeartMedia channels; the Nunes campaign bought ads on several of her stations, as well as on Appleton’s father’s show, some of which excoriated the Bee. Soon Nunes also began airing television ads alleging that the Bee worked with “radical left-wing groups to promote numerous fake news stories about me” and accused Bee reporters of “creeping around my neighbors’ and relatives’ homes.” In June, the Bee responded with an editorial headlined: “The real ‘fake news’ is Devin Nunes’ ad about The Bee.”
Then, one day in September, a glossy mailer arrived in many of Nunes’s constituents’ mailboxes: 38 pages in the style of a tabloid magazine that purported to expose “the dirty little secrets of the Valley’s propaganda machine.” The Fresno Bee was pictured on the mailer’s back cover as a rusty, sinking ship surrounded by drowning cartoon bees holding up placards that read SOCIALISM and RESIST. Inside was a candid photo of Mackenzie Mays, the reporter who had written the story about the winery, and testimonials from local figures in favor of Nunes and against the Bee. In the newsroom, Bee reporters adopted one of the Nunes epithets—”CREEPING BEE REPORTERS”—and began affectionately referring to Griswold as the paper’s “creeping correspondent.”
Doubtless emboldened by Trump’s continual attack on newsmedia, Nunes has a personal war going against his hometown’s only paper.
https://www.gq.com/story/fresno-bee-and-war-on-local-news?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits
Where the heck did the formatting buttons go?
Adam L Silverman
@catclub: Because, as I wrote yesterday, we are pursuing a by, with, and through strategy. The trainers are Special Forces embedded with vetted, local irregular forces. Mostly Syrian Kurds, but some are Syrian Arabs. They are militarily supported by a limited amount of Marine artillery, close air support from the multinational coalition that makes up Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, as well as the combined joint task force’s logistical capabilities. And they are both augmented by, and provide security support for, State Department personnel, both USAID and State proper, who are coordinating humanitarian assistance, assisting internally displaced Syrians and refugees, etc. All of which combines to increase stability in the areas in which our uniformed and civilian personnel are embedded.
This mission is the bread and butter of Special Forces. It is why the Green Berets were created. What we actually need is to plus those bubbas up with Civil Affairs Teams-Alpha that are organized to conduct military support to government as a bridge to and force multiplier for the State Department folks.
The reason Drum asks this question is he didn’t bother to look up the reporting on the strategy and has no experience with Special Operations.
ETA: They’re not that to keep Syria from coming undone. They’re there to train, advise, and assist and enhance/provide stability in the area of responsibility they are operating in.
dmsilev
@Miss Bianca: Yeah, Ryan is going out on-brand: Mealy-mouthed words to cover up his failure to do anything except shovel more money to rich people.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@trollhattan:
Creeping Bee Reporters? More like creeping fascists.
captnkurt
@RAVEN: Paprkia is peppers
I’m getting an idea for a Soylent Green reboot!
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@dmsilev: So the upshot of the meeting is that Congress under Ryan’s “leadership” is going to do nothing and the shutdown is happening without even a pretense at preventing it. “Productive” must mean something different to Paulie than to me. For me, that word means “getting something done”.
CliosFanBoy
@NotMax: nice callout. I love Arno’s cartoons..
Mandalay
@Jeffro:
I think you may be right. Rubio is already whining about the corporate tax cuts and withdrawal from Syria, and pointedly said the other day that “We are a nation of laws…no one is above it“. He’s clearly putting out feelers for fighting Trump in 2020. (I think Trump would squash him like a bug, but that’s another story.)
Trump is OK right now, but if others such as Cruz, Paul and Graham start taking serious potshots at Trump, and/or the markets continue to fall, I think the dam might burst pretty quickly.
Kraux Pas
GUuuUYyyYYs….We aren’t talking enough about the slats!!!
/TrumpianWhine
ETA: Why, yes, every capitalization in that WAS very deliberate.
rikyrah
The 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary Will Not Be a Repeat of 2016
by Nancy LeTourneau
December 20, 2018
I’ve been arguing that those who want 2020 to be a replay of the 2016 Democratic presidential primary are not only being divisive, they are looking in the rear-view mirror. That is because some important things have changed since the last presidential election.
Beyond the political landscape and the candidates, there will be a major change in how Democrats chose their presidential nominee for 2020. California has decided to join at least eight other states in holding their primary on March 3—otherwise known as Super Tuesday. While some states haven’t yet confirmed when their primaries will take place, here is the list of those that have already signed on to that first Tuesday in March:
………………………..
Even more important than California voting on Super Tuesday is the fact that it’s essentially a vote-by-mail state. Voters will get their ballots the first week of February, about the same time as the Iowa caucuses. That means candidates won’t be able to spend the months leading up to the caucuses traveling around Iowa doing “retail politics.” Moulitsas describes what candidates will be required to build in 2019 to compete in 2020.
It’s this simple—the candidates who will be competitive are those who can build mass movements behind them. I’m talking strong social media presence, email list in the millions, and the ability to rally tens of thousands of people instantaneously. There are just a handful of candidates, out of the 25 or so Democrats who we think are running, who fit the bill at the moment: Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders, maybe Beto O’Rourke, and … I’m having a hard time coming up with more (though undoubtedly, additional candidates will get there during the next year). If you can’t build that movement in 2019, then you have no business running for president.
catclub
@Adam L Silverman: Thanks, Adam.
Mary G
@Adam L Silverman: I have to say, because I was so traumatized by the terrible effects that I saw the Vietnam war inflict on people I loved, I have always been a fan of “declare victory and get out” theory on Afghanistan, etc., but reading you has changed my mind to some extent and I hate what Twitler is doing now on Syria. We owe the Kurds for their help. Leaving will doom them to the tender mercies of Assad and Ertogan, and that is not OK.
Also, too, Buzzfeed has an article out you have to read to believe:
Traitors all, like rikyah says.
Patricia Kayden
@Kraux Pas: Trump probably has a wealthy friend who manufactures steel slats. This is just more grifting.
catclub
Donald Trump versus Barack Obama stock market winning is going about as sane people expect:
S&P 500
Trump growth, start date at election or inauguration
Nov 1, 2016 2100 121%
Jan 21, 2017 2267 112%
Dec 18,2018 2548
Barack Obama first term growth, start date at election or inauguration
Nov 1, 2008 968 129%
Jan 21, 2009 841 149%
Dec 20, 2010 1256
Barack Obama second term growth, start date at election or inauguration
Nov 5, 2012 1400 147%
Jan 20, 2013 1481 139%
Dec 20, 2014 2069
Now, when was the last time trump tweeted about the winning stock market?
Frankensteinbeck
@catclub:
There is. You’re not thinking like a narcissist, whose self-esteem is entirely external. In both the Syria thing and the CR, he is vulnerable to the public saying he’s stupid/weak/a failure. Especially on television, as he has the deranged belief CNN represents what the American people think as a whole, while FOX is factually accurate. If he is universally reviled as being a dumb shit by the pundits for causing this shutdown, that is as powerful a leverage on him as exists. Next after that is his utter cowardice. People are giving him stern looks in the Oval Office, and he can’t handle it.
Jeffro
@Mandalay: Cruz, Paul, and Graham will never turn on him…they’re in too deep with the same dark money sources to cut bait now, they’d go down with him. (Frankly, I think that’s what Trumpov and/or his people says to these clowns on a regular basis: “you’d better stick with me, ’cause I know where you guys get your money from”) And even if he isn’t reminding them of that every other week, I think they sense that. Heck, Paul looks like he’s trying to get in on that sweet Russian cash pipeline himself.
I’m thinking of this group:
Steve Daines R Montana R+17.7
Bill Cassidy R Louisiana R+17.3
Lindsey Graham R South Carolina R+17.2
John Cornyn R Texas R+16.9
Cindy Hyde-Smith R Mississippi R+15.4
Dan Sullivan R Alaska R+14.9
David Perdue R Georgia R+11.8
OPEN (Jon Kyl)† R Arizona R+9.3 (now McSally, I believe)
Joni Ernst R Iowa R+5.8
Thom Tillis R North Carolina R+5.1
(copied from 538) who are all up for re-election in 2020 and are below a +20-point-GOP-margin, ie, they might be susceptible to a “Blue Wave”, even in a red state, especially in a presidential election year. They’re not going to be openly supporting much of the dumb shit that Orangmandias wants during the next two years.
Governors like Hogan are going to be outspoken as well (even though he’s not up for re-election in 2020)
JR
@Elizabelle: pop them in ghee
butter is a bad choice because the milk solids can burn
Spanky
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
Well, when your real job is to destroy the Federal govt and its reputation ….
These people are threats to our nation.
Gravenstone
@trollhattan: Wonder how much that mailer cost? And who commissioned it on Nunes’ behalf? Bet they speak with a Russian accent …
schrodingers_cat
@Frankensteinbeck: Thank You. This mythology of the invincible Orange Colossus is laughable.
SiubhanDuinne
@dmsilev:
Long and productive, like a five-minute coughing fit that culminates in dislodging some phlegm.
catclub
@Mary G:
That is true. But until it changes, the one immutable rule in the Middle east is that the Kurds will get screwed. And the US already has a terrible track record in participating in that screwing.
Michael Cain
@Jeffro:
Does Ryan actually have a majority today, what with so many of the House GOP members already gone home? I’ve seen estimates that he’s short as many as 40 people.
bemused
@Quinerly:
Ah, the Obamas always looking to lift other people up. This on top of Michelle and Jimmy Fallon elevator surprise and Barack visiting sick folks in the hospital just made my week.
I so want to see the trump crowd and GOP enabling them who only want to enrich themselves while getting their cruelty kicks on the rest of us get their cocky and entitled asses kicked until they are sniveling piles of hurt.
JPL
@catclub: Not today. The market is in a pi.ssy mood. What’s a little threat about a shutdown among friends.
scav
@Miss Bianca: Or, maybe his balls have been in such a vise between Putie, Mueller and Pelosi’s heelstamps that he figured he might as well make some cash out of his only remaining asset.
A Ghost To Most
Dow down 600 on Mr. Creosote’s hissy fit.
TS (the original)
@Another Scott:
The GOP is only happy if someone is hurt. Rule continuously taught/followed by trump.
cain
@JPL:
That won’t work, his attitude is that Paul Ryan works for him. So he’s going to tell Paul to get it done and then he’s going to go golfing.
Frankensteinbeck
@Another Scott:
As I’ve said before, McConnell knows if he hands a budget to Trump, Trump will cower and sign it and then complain later, just like he has every time they’ve handed him a bill. He hasn’t vetoed anything so far. McConnell and Ryan are using Trump as a scapegoat just like they’ve used the Tea Party as a scapegoat. Ryan is an extremist incompetent who has signed on to Boehner’s “Democrats must be locked out of the legislative process” insanity, so that’s understood. McConnell… I’m not sure what he wants. He’s a world-class asshole and much less competent than his reputation, so it could just be that.
noncarborundum
How long until Trump claims to have invented the phrase “steel slats”?
C. Isaac
CNN has the most appropriate picture of the Orange Shitgibbon for their shutdown headline story on the front page.
catclub
@A Ghost To Most: I think I did my calculation based on two days ago. so even worse, now.
If Trump were a smart person, he would know it pays to get your recession in as soon as possible, and as far from 2020 as possible.
People who vote based on the economy look at whether their situation is improving or getting worse, somewhere around April of election year, not absolute levels. If it takes another year for a recession to hit, that will be very bad for Trump. [Yes, it is already amazing that he is as unpopular as he is when unemployment is at 50 year lows, and the economy is growing. A normal President would be at 60% approval with those conditions.]
TS (the original)
trump seems to have stopped people talking about Mueller
1. Withdraw troops from Syria
2. Shutdown
What is he going to use for 3?
schrodingers_cat
Deliberate cruelty will continue as Orange keeps sinking.
rikyrah
@Mary G:
They are all TRAITORS!!
Adam L Silverman
@Mary G: The issues in what we’re doing in Afghanistan, which is similar to the issues that we had in Vietnam, especially as operations were expanded there, is that there is a major disconnect between the tactical reality and what can and is being tactically achieved and the strategic realities and what can and is not being achieved strategically. We had this problem in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Including during and after the Surge. There was a lot of tactical successes. Across all lines of operation – counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism, political development, economic development, stabilization, reestablishment of the rule of law, humanitarian assistance, etc. However, they were disconnected from the strategic – both the national and strategic – objectives. The failure was the inability to tether what was going on at the tactical level to the theater strategic level. So we had a lot of tactical success and strategic failure.
Operation Inherent Resolve, including the Syrian portion, has been a very different type of operation. The strategy makes sense, the tactical successes have been connected to strategic objectives and produced strategic successes. A lot of this is because the strategy, even as the operation has been overseen by conventional headquarters (largely III Corps and XVIII Airborne Corps rotating in and out every 12 months), is a Special Operations, and specifically Special Forces strategy of by, with, and through. This allows the Soldiers whose core mission set, the Green Berets, take the tactical lead and do what they do best in conjunction with both their local partners and USAID and State Department civilians with conventional artillery, air, and logistics support from over the border in Iraq. Had Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom been done this way it is possible that we might have had some strategic successes. And in the case of Iraq, Operation Inherent Resolve would have been unnecessary.
Jay
“We will let Jed Shugerman, Fordham University law professor and TV expert on this kinda shit, explain Mnuchin’s letter to you, in plain English:
Conversation
Jed Shugerman
Jed Shugerman
@jedshug
From Mnuchin’s Treasury Dept letter to lift sanctions on Deripaska’s firms.
Note here who is taking over his En+:
1) VTB Bank. The sanctioned Russian bank for Ukraine conspiracy, linked to Trump Tower Moscow financing.
2) Glencore. The co-buyer, along with Qatar, of Rosneft.
Quote Tweet
Natasha Bertrand
@NatashaBertrand
Interesting: “VTB Bank or another non-SDN assignee approved by OFAC will take ownership of a block of Deripaska’s shares in En+ pledged as collateral…the Swiss company Glencore will swap shares in Rusal for a direct ownership interest in En+.” (link: https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Documents/20181219_notification_removal.pdf) treasury.gov/resource-cente…
WOW. They’re not even hiding it. They are, rather, just assuming average people aren’t digging into letters from OFAC and reading the fine print and then cross-referencing it with Wonkette’s coverage of the Russia scandal since its inception.
zhena gogolia
@Quinerly:
Not one of her best looks, IMO. And I usually think she looks fabulous.
Frankensteinbeck
@TS (the original):
I’m always hesitant to say that Trump thinks strategically enough to use distractions. Distractions won’t do a damn bit of good protecting him from Mueller. However, it occurs to me that Trump doesn’t know that. For a narcissist, if he gets people to forget about Mueller, Mueller ceases to exist. They’re not good at object permanence, and Trump in particular has demonstrated he has no concept of the world except when his name is mentioned. So if distractions are a thing in his toolbox, it would make sense from his demented viewpoint.
I do not concede that he ever uses distractions. This administration proceeds from one train wreck to another at a rapidfire pace. Everything they do is something horrible that the next horrible thing supposedly distracts from.
kd bart
Was officially notified about an hour ago that I’m not exempt and I will be furloughed if there’s a shutdown.
Adam L Silverman
@Mary G: As for that Buzzfeed article, I’ve just scanned it, but that definitely counts as penetration at all levels and an insider threat and counterintelligence issue.
Adam L Silverman
@Jeffro:
It has been publicly known for a long time that significant funding for Ron Paul’s Institute and his various endeavors has come from Russian sources.
JPL
@kd bart: Shut downs have real life consequences. I’m sorry.
Ksmiami
@bemused: I want them strung up or in handcuffs- every thing else is noise
Wapiti
@catclub: I don’t think Turnip will be able to quickly get us out of a recession, whether it happens early or late. He’s incompetent and will actively interfere with anyone who has the expertise to make matters better.
Doug R
Anybody here tried Canabutter on popcorn? I guess I should.
PaulWartenberg
the real reason we’re having this shutdown? Because the talking head zombies on Fox Not-News were taunting trump for “folding” on the budget without getting his signature WALL deal.
that’s right, boys and girls. It’s not Putin who’s really running this country. It’s fucking Fox Not-News and the Far Right Noise Machine, a bunch of overpaid brain-dead teleprompter readers hepped up on oxy pills warning us about Killery’s emails (still) and MC Hammer or MS-13 or whatever the hell dark-skinned people they’re demonizing at the moment.
The day that elected officials knelt before Rush Limbaugh to beg forgiveness if they ever crossed him was the true day democracy died in the United States.
hedgehog mobile
@Kay: A shrubbery! (apologies if another jackal already went there)
Miss Bianca
@kd bart: : (
Frankensteinbeck
@Ksmiami:
I want to see liberal voters stay activated like they were in the midterms, so we can break Republican power forever, including getting enough offices to prevent a gerrymandering in 2020 as bad as the one in 2010. Everything else, including punishments to individual Republicans, is noise.
Roger Moore
@Frankensteinbeck:
Part of that is that Ryan and McConnell have shielded him from the need to veto anything. How many times has Ryan refused to hold a vote on something that has majority support in the House because Trump has promised to veto it? It’s a fair number.
schrodingers_cat
@rikyrah: Indeed. Are the separated children being housed on army bases? The President is politicizing the military for his noxious agenda, while secretary of defense is mum.
PaulWartenberg
@JPL:
OMFG the Stock Market just dropped below 23000, it’s like at 22991 right now, it dropped just as I clicked on the website to track it.
Can’t wait to see Fox Not News and WSJ blame this on Obama.
Wapiti
@Frankensteinbeck:
To me it was slow-car-wreck horrifying when Pelosi said “… Trump shutdown…” and Turnip’s face lit up. “Did you say Trump shutdown?” he asked, apparently oblivious to the damage in the wording.
Frankensteinbeck
@Roger Moore:
It’s certainly true that Ryan and McConnell have refused to let almost everything bipartisan be voted on. Their philosophy is and has been to lock Democrats out of the governing process entirely. However, previous budgets have metaphorically gone “Yeah, yeah, we don’t care. Shut up and sign, bitch.” And he has signed.
FlipYrWhig
@Wapiti: I think he genuinely, honest-to-God, doesn’t understand that sometimes there are only hard choices between bad options. He just thinks he’s a genius who can come up with a way to win that no one has ever come up with before, because he thinks he’s done that in business, because everyone avoids telling him bad news because he’s big and loud and fat and red. So what happened here is that people said mean things about his dumb decisions and he lost it. He’s incredibly vain and incredibly stupid.
hedgehog mobile
@kd bart: Damn. I’m sorry.
PaulWartenberg
@Betty Cracker:
I never voted for Rush Limbaugh, but I swear to fucking God ever since 1994 the entire Republican Party bowed to him like he was a fucking king. Him and Fox Not-News, that’s what’s been running the GOP for 30 years. A bunch of overpaid asswipes who answer to NO ONE not even their advertisers.
Gelfling 545
@Elizabelle: 4 cups flour in al.
About 2, 2.5 hours for smaller pans. Can be 3 or more for larger pans.
PaulWartenberg
@kd bart:
fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuccccccccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk.
and doing this on the cusp of a long holiday weekend.
If anyone should be cut without pay or benefits it should be the effing Republicans in Congress and their goddamned Fox Not-News overlords.
Gravenstone
@schrodingers_cat: Actually it would be better if they were being housed on military bases where the infrastructure to support multiple thousands of people already exists. Instead they’re using these newly created sites that are intended to be exclusively punitive. That just reinforces the mindset of cruelty that seems to have been inculcated (as likely just reinforcing an existing predilection for far too many).
schrodingers_cat
@Gravenstone: Isn’t it on land that belongs to the Federal government, administered by the military so that they can escape the state regulations against child endangerment.
ETA: The tent cities that were being put up in the summer.
cain
@BC in Illinois:
And some knights that say “Nee!”
Jay C
@Roger Moore:
Yeah, but that number is down to zero, now, because (IIRC) the budget bill can’t be put off much longer (if at all) – Congress’s only choices (assuming the “clean” Senate version CR passes the House) are:
A) Let Trump veto it
B) Try to override his veto
C) Try to convince him to sign it anyway.
leading to:
D) A wonderful pre-Christmas government shutdown. Branded with a large gold(plated) “T”
Avalune
If he gets his shut down won’t he be able to add it to his weird list of brags? They were the best, most beautiful, shit downs, more shut downs than any other president!
Jeffro
@Adam L Silverman: Right…I vaguely remember that…I was referring to Rand‘s recent pro-Russia overtures and Trumpov defenses. (I doubt Ron shares much of the family rubles with sonny boy, so he’s gotta go ‘earn’ – and I use the term loosely – his own)
tony prost
@Kraux Pas: The steel industry, dude! That;s what all the sanctions are about!
mapaghimagsik
@catclub: Clearly, I haven’t been paying attention. It seems like yesterday I was wondering if 24K would be a support point.
Whelp…
In other news, A big meeting to be held for everyone in my corporate murderhole. Not sure how its going to play out, other than I expect a lot of angst and stress. My resume is up to date, but it would be nice, in some way, to fix this problem so that fewer people die each year.
Punchy
Unfortunately, nopes. There’s literally nothing he could do that would lose support from his most loyal base. Nothing.
LuciaMia
@Miss Bianca: Two images (take your pick). Prison bars or a playpen.
Jay
@schrodingers_cat:
One of the ones in Texas is set up on a SuperFund Site.
AnotherBruce
“Are we really going to shut down the government because Donald is afraid of Ann Coulter?”
Well, in Donald’s defense, Ann Coulter is scary.
Elizabelle
@Avalune: Hello to you and Leto. Great to see Leto back commenting.
May the rest of your year be less exciting.
Elizabelle
@Gelfling 545: Thank you!
Looks like a lovely recipe. Thank you very much for sharing it. Not sure when I will make it, but will definitely let you know how it turns out. Might be after the first of the year, for something cool to look forward to in January.
I also liked your many suggestions for slightly varying the recipe: coffee or brandy or tea or Gran Marnier. Will be fun to try out a few mild variations. Sounds like a forgiving recipe.
And, if we were from the islands, it’s already months too late to start marinating the fruit! I like this idea of a ready supply of soused fruit, just in case … (probably a pre-refrigeration way to deal with a tropical climate).
Avalune
@Elizabelle: We are currently in the ER for reasons but thank you! We hope so too. After this one I mean. ?
Also thanks for the awkward autocorrect phone!