So basically, after promising a release tomorrow AM, the morning will instead look like this:
9:30 Barr and Rosenstein brief an ignorant press corps
10:30 Trump releases his rebuttal
11:30 DOJ provides HARD COPIES (!!!!!!) of a 400 page document, not PDF
2:00 Public gets it— emptywheel (@emptywheel) April 17, 2019
Democratic Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler: “The attorney general appears to be waging a media campaign on behalf of Pres. Trump…
Rather than letting the facts… speak for themselves, the AG has taken unprecedented steps to spin Mueller’s nearly two-year investigation.” pic.twitter.com/qjCgYdVakZ
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) April 18, 2019
AG Barr has thrown out his credibility & the DOJ’s independence with his single-minded effort to protect @realDonaldTrump above all else. The American people deserve the truth, not a sanitized version of the Mueller Report approved by the Trump Admin. https://t.co/fgXwiLuQfr
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) April 17, 2019
NADLER says he'll likely subpoena for the full Mueller report on Friday or Monday. https://t.co/JeCaUgDP3s
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) April 17, 2019
Would pay good money for an audiobook of the Mueller Report read by Barack Obama
— Evan Siegfried (@evansiegfried) April 17, 2019
Purpose of this presser seems to be not to let reporters ask informed questions but rather to get TV footage of Barr saying things Trump will like that can play all day https://t.co/hUpRz41Ppm
— Andrew Prokop (@awprokop) April 17, 2019
I’m preparing my own counter report. It will be comprised of many sections, each less than 280 characters.
— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) April 17, 2019
Remember how much everyone flipped out about the Bill Clinton-Loretta Lynch meeting on the tarmac? https://t.co/v0LIZ8IrRs
— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) April 17, 2019
Even the Trump Whisperer is gagging!
Sorry but this is not a press conference – it’s an opportunity for Barr to put a spin on the ball or defend himself. No one can ask real questions here. https://t.co/dNTLk95iPX
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) April 17, 2019
The Dilanian Window tomorrow is 9:30-11:00.
That’s the time period between when the media gobbles up Barr’s lies like a sleeve of thin mints and when they realize they’ve been played. pic.twitter.com/qlRbnrpumi
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) April 18, 2019
Big rush of self-parody as we get up to the starting line here https://t.co/PTYrd2d4So via @TPM
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 17, 2019
Gotta say this for Bill Barr;
He's having to work a LOT HARDER for this cover-up than he did for Iran-Contra. Which is saying something bc Iran-Contra was a pretty epic scandal.
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) April 18, 2019
The only saving grace to Barr being so corrupt is that he’s reasonably public about it. People can make an informed decision about the importance of a corrupt attorney general.
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 17, 2019
Key members of Congress will get more complete version of the Mueller report than the public, prosecutors tell judge https://t.co/cHRO9FnKQ9
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) April 17, 2019
Because transparency and no collusion or some crap like that https://t.co/rITlO0ZSfL
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) April 18, 2019
Imagine what Barr would have done if Republicans still controlled the House.
— Windsor Mann (@WindsorMann) April 18, 2019
Cheryl Rofer
The Tweeter-in-Chief seems upset.
Spanky
@Cheryl Rofer: Fuck him.
Betty Cracker
Good lord, the timeline and release details Wheeler provides make it so clear that this is a PR stunt with Barr as chief flack. I’m sure media outlets have software to convert the hard copies into searchable text, but Barr & Co. want to maximize the time they spend analyzing his own words, the Trump rebuttal, etc., instead of digging into the details of the redacted report.
It’s heartening in a way that the framing of the four-page non-summary from Barr as COMPLETE AND TOTAL EXONERATION fell apart as quickly as it did. If Trump wasn’t such a habitual liar and loud-mouthed fool, that ruse would have been more effective. He’s the worst client a PR team could possibly have.
Spanky
@Betty Cracker:
Good and hard.
lamh36
Never been so happy to sit in a doctors waiting room for an appointment so no news on lobby tv??
Anyhoo something to share..
FYI: Kamala Harris is the first and so far only 2020 candidate with a policy proposal aimed at helping teachers and increasing teacher pay as a NATIONAL issue she will work on as President!
JPL
@Cheryl Rofer: He’s advertising Barr’s press conference, because he knows the fix is in.
They need to start impeachment hearings in order to attain the entire report.
guachi
Pelosi looks one step short of calling for Barr’s impeachment with that tweet of hers.
Cheryl Rofer
@Betty Cracker: The paper copies now seem to be cds, which are not much better…
JPL
My schedule is to start mowing at 9:15 leave for the farmers shortly afterwards. Then run a few more errands. Unfortunately, I’ll have to miss today’s tv production, of IOKIYR.
Cheryl Rofer
@guachi: Also this:
JPL
@Cheryl Rofer: Good. Imagine the TV ratings for that would be quite high.
chopper
@Cheryl Rofer:
i’m surprised they’re not sending it on 5.25″ floppies just out of spite.
Baud
@chopper:
Digital tape.
Cheryl Rofer
Jerzy Russian
Sign me up for that audio book. If President Obama is not available then perhaps Samuel L. Jackson can do the honors.
Wag
@Jerzy Russian:
I would appreciate a few extraneous M*****f*****s thrown in for proper emphasis
Cacti
@Jerzy Russian:
Beat me to it.
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL:
You misspelled “Thank all the Gods that have ever been…”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
One wonders if Chuck Todd knows who writes the chyrons for the networks he appears on? If he doesn’t know their names, does he know which office they work in? who their boss is? Could he have a word?
Dorothy A. Winsor
I’m going to the gym in a few minutes, so I’ll miss the hot-off-the-presses take. Thank goodness.
germy
I’d like to hear Hillary read it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
AP: The House that Ron Fournier ruined
Betty Cracker
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: If only there were some group of people whose job it is to inform the public about actions their government takes, including misleading PR campaigns. Perhaps this group of people could use platforms like television, social media, and even print to expose the truth when government actors seek to “neuter the impact” of public-financed reports on possible malfeasance by officials. Maybe we could call them “journalists.”
Dorothy A. Winsor
If you like, you can read Wonkette’s live blog of Barr’s “press conference.”
Leto
Let the lies begin!
bemused
Now This has a fantastic video of Fox news clips from Hannity, O’Reilly, etc. What if Fox News covered Trump like they covered Obama. Hard to pick a favorite but “This is a president that panders to the worst regimes, thugs and dictators”, Hannity.
Jerzy Russian
@Cacti: Unfortunately for me, you have got to get pretty early in the morning to win against me!
Tokyokie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
You’re not giving sufficient credit to Gary Pruitt, who, after convincing the McClatchy heirs to take on an unsustainable debt load to acquire Knight-Ridder properties, thus accelerating the chain’s demise, took his “talents” to AP for a 7-figure annual salary.
Leto
Barr is essentially just reading his four page summary-not summary, but now on the talking picture box. Trumpov picked a good lackey.
“No collusion, no collusion, no collusion. Any questions?”
Shantanu Saha
@Baud: paper tape.
narya
@Baud: IBM punch cards.
Tokyokie
@Leto: The response to “Any questions?” should be the one Paul Newman gave to Richard Boone in Hombre.
Leto
So the White House has had the report since March 29th? Well, ok…
cmorenc
Barr’s press conference is proving to be an aggressive PR effort to WHITEWASH Trump & campaign’s involvement. I’ve lost count of the phrase “no collusion”and variants thereof, and explicitly excuses Trump’s initial reactions to investigatons as understandable frustration over attacks on his incoming administration by political opponents. Instead, the were fully cooperative re: documents & access etc. blah blah blah.
Gravenstone
@Spanky:
H. L. Mencken was a prophet.
Tazj
Poor, poor, little Trump, he was being investigated when he was just trying to do his job as the president, and therefore had non corrupt reasons to obstruct justice.
Gravenstone
@germy: Maybe they can break up the narration by sections.
germy
Just One More Canuck
@germy: Auntie Maxine
Leto
@cmorenc: Yeah, listening to this is basically just listening to a known liar lie. I’m mainly watching this just to see it, see how the narrative will be continued. It’s all bullshit. At minimum, Congress needs the full unredacted report outside of a SCIF.
germy
CarolDuhart2
#ETTD again. I think if they had just dropped copies off at the relevant Congressional committees, unredacted, letting Congress themselves do the redacting, it would have been far less of a public spectacle as the relevant committees issued it in bits and pieces. We would be on Chapter 9, page 107 or something and Trump would be just letting the process play out and the attention would be elsewhere. Instead there’s a press conference and a very public issuing, Even the usually politically apathetic are wondering if this is really true or not.
White man in suit syndrome thinks that if he just stands in front of a bank of microphones and says no collusion, people will take his word for it and not ask questions. Sorry Barr, this isn’t 1988, when the Republicans could cow everyone into not asking questions because Barr was a somebody. After this buildup, not in hell likely. Also the four weeks of resistance to even issuing the report means that Congress is even more likely to take a hard approach in both questioning and data collection.
Also, about the report. The conclusions and the collection of data is the real gem in the report. But the info is out there to be subpoenaed and can be still obtained by Congress
rikyrah
Phuck LIKELY
Mike in DC
Christ what a shitshow.
rikyrah
@CarolDuhart2:
I love this piece of writing.
Amen, and thank you.
Kay
@lamh36:
It was smart. The teachers strikes were the biggest labor action in the US in decades. They didn’t get nearly the coverage that deserves. It’s fascinating, because a lot of those striking teachers are Republicans. The red state strikes were unprecedented and are essentially “wildcat”- they aren’t technically allowed to strike.
When Republicans talk about liberal bias in schools they ignore the fact that there are a LOT of conservative school districts (mine is one) and many of those teachers are conservatives. My children have actually been lobbied on conservative dogma by public school teachers, which shouldn’t surprise anyone, given that my county is 65% R. My eldest son was one of TWO liberals in a government class of 30. The teacher is a wingnut. I could have fucking whined incessantly but I knew he’d hold his own, and he did. I think it was good for him, being in the minority. He can and did deal with it.
To me it’s a kind of elitism by conservative pundits- that they ignore the vast stretches of the country where K-12 public education is staffed with conservatives. They ignore that because they live in liberal cities. They’re out of touch with their own areas of the country.
rikyrah
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Todd is a piece of shyt.
bemused
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Chuck Todd. Blech.
Cheryl Rofer
I usually prefer to screenshot his tweets, so they don’t get the statistics, but this one is irresistable.
oldgold
Damn, surprised Barr did not wear his MAGA hat to this presser.
Leto
@CarolDuhart2: Agreed. Of course Barr was hired to be Trumpov’s spokesperson. Not the AG, but Trumpov’s spokesperson. And he’s doing a great job. He’s had almost a month to establish the narrative, this is his 5th speech on the matter, and he’s going to keep this up.
You’re correct, this isn’t 1988, and we’re not cowed by dumbshits infront of microphones. Dems are just going to keep up the slow grind of investigating this. Repubs wanted to keep HRC in the headlines via investigations? Shoe’s on the other foot, mf’ers (of course were investigating an actual crime/criminal). Fuck’em.
MazeDancer
Barr said “No Collusion” EIGHT times.
Using different language each time.
I counted.
Cheryl Rofer
Chyron HR
@Cheryl Rofer:
Thanks for sharing? I’m not entirely sure on what level we’re meant to be edified and/or entertained by unchallenged Republican propaganda.
danielx
@Baud:
Runes carved in stone – it will take a while.
Cheryl Rofer
And let’s remember that this is at least half a counterintelligence investigation. The desire to see the Trump Crime Cartel in orange jumpsuits has kind of taken over, but we need to know about how Russia messed with the 2016 election. Not clear that Barr was looking for anything but what might exonerate Trump.
MomSense
@lamh36:
I just listened to her interview on Pod Save America. She is impressive. Her grasp of the ways public policies interrelate and affect our lives is unmatched in this field of candidates especially on education, criminal justice, immigration. To hear her talk about consumer protection, too. Damn she will be a great president if we can get it together to elect her.
montanareddog
shorter Barr: Trump did not criminally obstruct Justice – but, he did in effect obstruct Justice because because he could not cope with the pressure
Cheryl Rofer
@Chyron HR: Unchallenged? Here?
I find Trump’s need to meme via Game of Thrones pathetic.
Leto
@Cheryl Rofer: Game of Combover: A Song of MAGATs and Russians
danielx
@rikyrah:
Todd should be careful about throwing around phrases like “successfully neutered”, lest people start thinking he is referring to his own reportage.
Another Scott
@germy: I heard the first ~ 20 minutes. It was infuriating.
I noticed that he didn’t address Mu[e]ller’s statement that “… does not exonerate the President…” Funny that he was working overtime to make everyone think that it does.
I wonder how much heavy lifting Barr’s qualification “the Trump campaign” is doing. In Barr’s view, was Manafort part of the Trump Campaign (he wasn’t being paid after all)? Was Stone? Was Junior? Was Kushner?
There’s far too much “too clever by half” in his presentation of Mu[e]ller’s product. It stinks to high heaven.
The question about why Mueller and his team weren’t there with Barr was a very good one. His answer was very, very defensive.
Cheers,
Scott.
FlipYrWhig
@Cheryl Rofer: I know I’m not the first or only person to say this, but Barr seems to be VERY committed to the idea that the only way to “collude” with “Russia” is for the Russian GOVERNMENT to have done things at Trump’s PERSONAL behest. Isn’t that just sort of yadda-yadda-ing the whole question of how people ASSOCIATED with Putin and/or the Russian government might have been involved, and indeed seemingly directly were?
rikyrah
@guachi:
She should.
matt
Well, this is a bracingly corrupt display. I was thinking about how American democracy has now a pair of bookends, George Washingon on one end and Donald Trump on the other.
Matt McIrvin
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Who cares about the actual *content*, right? It’s all about the meta-story for these people.
Kay
@MazeDancer:
He’s doing an excellent job as Donald Trump’s lawyer. Too bad he’s the attorney general. Maybe the public can hire their own lawyer. They’ll need one, to defend against the attorney general.
Not that it matters anymore, but lawyers are supposed to be bound by ethical guidelines that are independent of our collapsed government. He’s violating those, so we’re killing two institutions with one stone here. Barr being the stone.
matt
@FlipYrWhig: Yeah, they’re defining away conspiracy, which as there have already been like 8 arrests is kind of clear was the mechanism for breaking the law in this case.
Chetan Murthy
@Leto: Zing!
Cheryl Rofer
@FlipYrWhig: IANAL, nor are many of the people in my Twitter feed, but that point is being made over and over again.
I didn’t watch Barr’s performance. Now I need to clean the kitty box. brb
japa21
My wife gets an email each morning which has, among other things, a biblical verse in it. Today is from Luke. Seems approrpiate:
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Gotta say, MSNBC is playing this fairly well, so far. Chyron just says “Atty General to release Mueller report soon”. Even Brian Williams….. and then BriWi starts talking about how Bill Barr only wanted a quiet end to his career and had no intention of getting back in the game. Brian: 18 page audition memo
patroclus
I’m “angry and frustrated” about this Barr news conference. It’s good to know that that emotional state now completely exonerates me from any corrupt intent to commit any crime of any nature henceforth.
rikyrah
Barr books preemptive press conference amid report release uproar
Rachel Maddow reports on the bizarre series of events in the lead up to Thursday’s release of William Barr’s redacted version of Robert Mueller’s report, with Barr announcing a press conference for before the report’s release.
Kay
@matt:
Right, and keep in mind Barr is “well respected”. That’s how low the standard is. Rock fucking bottom. If you thought Sessions was the low point, well, that barrel has a bottom.
Cheryl Rofer
These are clearly Barr’s words, not Mueller’s.
rikyrah
Ongoing court cases put crimp in Barr’s Mueller redaction plans
Rachel Maddow reports on how the Roger Stone trial and a FOIA case about Robert Mueller’s report are considering exceptions to William Barr’s redactions.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
IANAL, but: Barr says trump couldn’t obstruct because he didn’t commit a (provable) crime. Would Barr dispute that Russia committed a crime, and by firing Comey because of Russia, trump was obstructing that investigation? Bueller? Mueller? anyone?
ETA: Chuck Rosenburg is all decaf, non-fat, sugar-free contempt for Bill Barr
rikyrah
DOJ had ‘numerous conversations’ with W.H. on Mueller report: NYT
Neal Katyal, former acting U.S. solicitor general, talks with Rachel Maddow about the impropriety of the Department of Justice having conversations with the White House about the Mueller report before anyone else has been allowed to see it or even Barr’s redacted version of it.
FlipYrWhig
@Kay: I suppose I’m middle-aged now but I feel like I remember vividly various hues and cries from Big Media over whether Bill Clinton was respecting the vaunted independence of the Department of Justice when Janet Reno was AG. And that concern doesn’t seem to be an ingredient to very much news coverage under Trump. Big Media appears to really enjoy covering Republicans through the lens of “you have to respect the audacity of these guys and how they keep getting away with corruption for some reason.” I don’t know why that is. But it’s basically killing America.
rikyrah
Democrats slam Barr over heavy-handed managing of Mueller report
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, member of the House Judiciary Committee, talks with Rachel Maddow about his objections to Attorney General William Barr’s preemptive press conference and his overall imposition upon the special counsel process and the release of the Mueller report.
Kay
I’m somewhat comforted by the fact that they no longer even make a pretense of hiding the corruption. They’re really brazen. Maybe they’ll pick up the candlestick in the library in a way that makes it impossible to ignore and whitewash.
Cheryl Rofer
jk
Barr’s comments were a super sized putrid steaming pile of excrement. If Trump was fully cooperative with Mueller, he would have agreed to be interviewed by Mueller’s team. Uncle Billy’s performance confirmed that he’s Trump’s Roy Cohn. He’s brought shame and disgrace upon himself and the Justice Dept.
rikyrah
Once upon a time, investigator and A.G. emphasized credibility
Rachel Maddow reminds viewers of how Watergate Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski and Attorney General William Saxbe made a point of emphasizing their independence from Richard Nixon while he was being investigated, when Nixon had given Americans reason not to trust his appointees.
FlipYrWhig
@Cheryl Rofer: “He couldn’t help obstructing justice, people were being so mean”? I wonder if anyone had ever been critical of a president before. Jesus H. Christ.
CarolDuhart2
Can I rant a little? Am I the only person who’s getting annoyed at this “the republic dies, and why aren’t the Democrats hollering and screaming about it, take?” Asking people whose natural disposition is to be deliberative to act like rabble rousers is a formula for failure. And then when they don’t act the way these people want them too, then saying they are weak and that the Republic is doomed. If 600,000 dead and a secessionist movement didn’t kill the republic, Trump won’t either. I fully believe that in January 2021, we will drag his lumpy ass out of the White House, that is if the cholesterol doesn’t get him first. America is resilient and tougher than Putin and Trump think it is.
To me, this is the crowd of the “Dramatic Futile Gesture”. Mass Strikes that can’t be organized any sooner than mid-2020. An impeachment destined to go nowhere unless truly devastating info comes out, and that sort of thing takes time and gets you well into the 2020 Congressional cycle. And they conveniently don’t get the fact that Trump only has to sit on a log to keep his position. He’s entitled to the spot until 1/21.
Mass Strikes-who organizes them, gets people informed, and helps out with people who are but one paycheck/job from homeless? The countries she talks about are small nations where the capitol is but an hour away, there are already small groups-churches, et all to get the word out and ongoing training. America is big and rambling and not very well connected and divided along lines unlikely in Eastern Europe which is smaller and less diverse.
japa21
Did he accept any questions?
ETA: Apparently he did up until getting a question he didn’t like.
Chetan Murthy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Ooh, he’s good, isn’t he? Though for my $$, I like Joyce Alene, the former USA for Alabama, I think. She’s got that *twang* as she skewers ’em. But you’re right, Chuck doesn’t hold back, in his dry, clipped, and oh-so-careful way.
rikyrah
Barr breaks from American standard of independence from president
Michael Beschloss, NBC News presidential historian, talks with Rachel Maddow about the unprecedented nature of William Barr’s press conference before anyone has seen the report the press conference is ostensibly about, and Barr’s history of helping presidents with difficult investigations.
Another Scott
@jk: Indeed. Trump was not “fully cooperative” with Mueller – not at all. He continuously tried to turn the public against the investigation and undercut it.
Cheers,
Scott.
zhena gogolia
@Cheryl Rofer:
Do we know who that brave reporter is? (Although it shouldn’t be an act of bravery, since that should have been the first question out of all of their mouths.)
Kay
@FlipYrWhig:
I think they’re conventional mostly upper class people who play by the rules to get those jobs and the maverickness and authoritarian nature of Trump is “strength” to them. They admire that he breaks all the rules, and they accept his authority.
JMG
When even Chris Wallace on Fox is calling Barr’s performance a shill for Trump, we must conclude it isn’t going to change many minds (I think it was probably aimed at an audience of one anyway). This is an abiding trait of the Trump administration. The boss can’t allow even the pretense of fair process because he’s so scared of it. So his coverups are terrible from his own point of view. Dude just can’t stand on 17. No wonder his casinos went broke.
zhena gogolia
@CarolDuhart2:
No, you’re not.
Leto
@MomSense: It’s why I’m on the Harris/Warren train. I really like them. Publishing detailed policy, having the knowledge to be able to discuss issues on a granular level, having realizable plans to get things done… they know what I like ?
Kraux Pas
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Didn’t the Todler recently make a statement about how reporters need to be more skeptical and not take statements from politicians at face value?
Kay
We can go after the AG. We got rid of Gonzales because of the corrupt US attorney scandal. These guys are much more brazen but the AG can be removed for cause.
NotMax
“Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”
– Joseph Welch
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Chetan Murthy: Rosenberg and Vance, Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee in the Matter of the Impeachment of William Barr, Attorney General
rk
I’m an immigrant to this country. Have been a citizen for a long long time. This country for me used to represent a lot of good things, most important was lack of corruption. For the last year I’ve been thinking that I came here to get away from this type of BS, the open corruption, the worthless institutions, the in your face Fuck you that politicians in my home country are known for. Reminds me of what Trevor Noah said when he did that bit on African politicians.He said he knew Trump would win. I know exactly what he meant. It was a relief to get away from that garbage. Turns out that in two years Trump and republicans have turned the US into a complete shithole. UGH!
raven
Wait till the Michael Horowitz report drops.
rikyrah
@Cheryl Rofer:
clap clap clap
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@CarolDuhart2: Yup. I share the frustration of those who can’t grok why the broad left and the Lumpenmittel don’t respond to self-evident corruption the way thirty percent of the country responds to every bullshit Q-Anon chyron on the Hannity show, but they don’t, and yelling at Democrats for not somehow forcing those horses to drink the water we’ve been pouring in front of them for three years doesn’t do a lot of good.
Andrea Mitchell Greenspand, ur-Villager, calls this press conference a black mark on Barr’s reputation.
Leto
@Chetan Murthy: @Chetan Murthy: I really like them because they shine the light into the darkness. They cut through the bullshit this admin is trying to spew, in a “de-caf”, no nonsense way.
@zhena gogolia: Same.
germy
Betty Cracker
@Kay: Yeah, me too. I think Barr and Co. overplayed their hand in a way that’s now that much more likely to blow up in their faces. They have a mostly lazy Beltway press to work with, so a more skilled bunch would have used that to their advantage and been a bit more subtle.
Cheryl Rofer
@zhena gogolia: I’ve seen the name, but it’s not one I’m familiar with.
khead
Fox folks taking a victory lap.
I watch so you don’t have to.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Kraux Pas
@CarolDuhart2:
Also, if you raise concerns in a measured way with attention to the facts, you’re deemed “alarmist.”
japa21
So basically, Barr said Trump obstructed but he was forced to by all his political enemies. The fact he provided documents that he was required to shows that he didn’t really obstruct despite all the evidence to the contrary.
This is typical RW claiming victimhood to wash away your sins. Trump is the real victim here, not the country.
NotMax
@rk
The legacy: A shining garbage dump on a hill.
Cheryl Rofer
Let me remind y’all that this is a microscopic part of the wrongdoing that we’ve seen Trump engage in. Not divesting of his businesses, rampant nepotism combined with granting security clearances to those who shouldn’t have them, sharing classified information with Russians in the Oval Office, …
germy
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
Well, Wikileaks seems to have closed up shop – “our work here is done!” – so maybe the Democratic candidate and Democratic Party won’t suffer another Watergate break in.
NotMax
@CherylRofer
No person associated with the campaign reported the overtures to the appropriate authorities, abetting the wrongdoing. Accessories before, during and after the fact.
Leto
@khead: Watching Fox News is a front pager activity; save yourself! ;)
Mike in Pasadena
@rikyrah: And why wait? The House should have supoened the unredacted report a month ago.
Tazj
Jennifer Palmieri @ jmpalmieri – 37 min
rikyrah
Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) Tweeted:
Thank god for @AriMelber I was screaming at the airport tv when Barr tried to claim the president was just super stressed so he couldn’t have had corrupt intent. It was hogwash! https://twitter.com/ZerlinaMaxwell/status/1118880526415421442?s=17
Kay
The attorney general just forced the public to listen to his defense of his client, the president, as a condition of releasing a report that was prepared for the public and paid for the public.
And we’re all paying him for this. I resent every penny he’s paid. He should go to his client for payment.
That he’s “respected” in elite legal circles is a real fucking indictment of “elite legal circles”. This work he’s producing is trash. It’s garbage.
lamh36
Asking Mueller to come in front the committe some time before May 23…if Mueller is the “patriot” they claim he is…then I sincerely hope he doesn’t wait a whole month worth of time for the MSM and Chump and Barr to continually muddy the waters even more so.
IDK but it feels like Dems on the Hill were caught short footed about this entire thing…like…who didn’t know that Chump co would do this…what in the past 2 years has shown that Chump and company would ever be sensible or fair in the way they do things.
Even after the mid terms, it seems like Dems are playing a whole different game than Chump and GOP…Dems trying to play a fair game and GOP playing dirty.
Am I wrong for wanting someone getting a bit rowdy and just a bit dirty on our sides.
It’s beyond time for us to stop playing fair with Chump and the GOP…
UGH.
Matt McIrvin
@CarolDuhart2:
I get similar feelings but I feel ashamed of them. I was, myself, brought up to be deliberative and told that was the smart approach to politics, but it just hasn’t worked–over my whole lifetime, the political situation in this country has just been rotting because dumb, loud and decisive beats deliberative every single time. Even when we seem to win we lose: Obama wins the Presidency, say, but the Republicans successfully leverage it into taking over Congress and dozens of state governments and neutralize his power for about six of eight years.
So maybe we need to get dumber, louder and more decisive.
Leto
@Kay: We also still have the Roger Stone case, with the presumption that he was helping to coordinate the doc dumps with Trumpov’s campaign. Like Matt Miller says (I’m the above tweet), “dissemination, but not hacking”. Unlike Assange, who did both wrt Chelsea Manning.
I can’t wait for Trumpov to say, “Roger Stone? I barely know him. I don’t think he was involved at all. I met him, once, but I don’t really know him.”
bemused
@NotMax:
A steaming, fetid garbage dump on a hill.
germy
@Cheryl Rofer:
Baud
@CarolDuhart2: I would like to marry this comment.
randy khan
@JMG:
Precisely.
It’s so ham-fisted (and his unwillingness to take difficult questions is so transparent) that there isn’t any other obvious explanation.
Aleta
lamh36
@Kay: @MomSense:
Too bad she doesn’t give folks the “feels” like other candidates with no policy proposals to speak of.
I find folks who are open and not already closed off, when they listen to her interviews and her one on one interactions…they see the same things many do that she gets it and she’d be a great President.
Also too, watching old debates of hers, I also happen to think she’ll ring his clock in the debates.
Gino
@Cheryl Rofer:
Won’t have time to read all the comments.
How far down will I have to scroll to find out it’s Bernie’s fault?
sukabi
@germy: I want to hear Hillary reading the audio book of Barr’s impeachment, followed by drumpfs.
randy khan
@lamh36:
I don’t share your feeling that the Dems are playing this wrong. In my view, they’ve been taking advantage of Barr’s clumsiness from the start. They’ve kept up the drumbeat about the report, you can be sure they’re going to highlight all of the bad stuff in it, and they’re going to drag out the story with hearings next month. That’s all good. (Remember, the longer the story is in the public eye, the worse it is for Trump and the GOP.)
zhena gogolia
@lamh36:
I think what you’re dealing with is not people who don’t think she’d be a great president. In my mind there’s no doubt about that, and she is my top candidate. But people are incredibly shell-shocked and worried mainly about BEATING TRUMP. Any one of them (except Bernie or Gabbard) would be a vast improvement over Trump. The question is who can win. I wish she could be president tomorrow morning. Or right now. That’s not the issue.
CarolDuhart2
@Matt McIrvin: I’ve seen the Democratic Party and the liberal movement overall have to take a long time to recover from the devastation of losing the solid south and the battles over Vietnam. Those two things devastated both the party and the overall liberal movement. It’s taken 20 years since Clinton to actually get to a point where we can even try to govern. Two decades to actually fight back against the right-wing rage machine, take back Congress without having to protect blue dogs in the South.
So Democratic officials are often cautious, worried about getting something done, and frankly since we aren’t in office very often, have to re-learn how to wield the levers of power.
Rabble rousing is an outside job meant for people who don’t have to campaign for elections and bridge legislative gaps. That means us, pal. If you aren’t going to run for office anytime soon, feel free to train, rabble rouse and educate the public.
Leto
@lamh36: She doesn’t give the “feels” to the old white shriveled dicks. Fuck’em.
NotMax
@randy khan
Agreed. Glad that the Dems are playing it* strictly by the book, not taking short cuts or detours.
*it meaning procedure
lamh36
Report is here:
https://twitter.com/Yamiche/status/1118893457391652869
germy
rikyrah
Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) Tweeted:
NOTABLE: Barr confirms that the White House was given a redacted version of the Mueller report before its public release. https://t.co/n32k4MPD6Z https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1118874918383386625?s=17
germy
https://www.justice.gov/storage/report.pdf
germy
I wonder if PEETUS will be giving a press conference today?
rikyrah
Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) Tweeted:
Whether or not that action rises to the level of criminality, it means that Trump campaign associates aided and abetted an attack on our election that helped their candidate win.
They cheated. https://t.co/HE4x6WIk4h https://twitter.com/jonfavs/status/1118879693560668160?s=17
rikyrah
Wakandan War Dog (@Kennymack1971) Tweeted:
I’m not getting my pressure up. We all knew that this would be some work the refs bullshit. Once again…Dolt 45 doesn’t possess the credibility or popularity for this to just go away based on Barr’s redacted report, word and conclusions.
This is already a fail. https://t.co/6yoHgv3Zhs https://twitter.com/Kennymack1971/status/1118881211869532164?s=17
germy
rikyrah
Don’t miss this: Mueller found “ten episodes” of possible obstruction of justice by the president. That’s news. Barr then decided on his own that none or all amount to crimnal wrongdoing.
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) April 18, 2019
lamh36
@zhena gogolia: then the next question is…what is the thing about her, that makes them think she couldn’t beat Chump…1)she’s a woman, 2)she’s Black.
And if that is the reason folks are wary and instead of saying so…they glob on to the newest, youngest, inexperienced white guy they see, instead of the other more experienced white women in the race…that says alot about them, and to my mind not good things.
Another Scott
@germy: Looks like the DOJ server is being hammered (as expected) – 30-45 minutes to go…
Cheers,
Scott.
Jacel
@germy: Hillary spoke aloud much that is in report during one of the 2016 debates. Not that the press noticed.
zhena gogolia
@lamh36:
It’s not her, it’s how the media treats her. Remember H. Clinton?
Nevertheless, I think she can beat Trump and she is my number one candidate. She is a far better orator than H. Clinton.
Steve in the ATL
@Baud:
So the bible thumpers were right–same sex marriage has led to human/comment marriages. Jesus weeps.
germy
@Jacel: Hillary Warned Us.
Bill Arnold
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Spin conference. Or something. Certainly not a press conference; I assume the press (excepting the RW propaganda outlets) is appropriately pissed off and has highly motivated teams read to read the actual report.
zhena gogolia
Gospodi, pomilui. Gospodi, spasi nashu bednuiu rodinu.
“Lightly redacted.”
https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/1118895110568255489
germy
LOL
Cheryl Rofer
@NotMax: LOL, I just tweeted something like that.
rikyrah
Bakari Sellers (@Bakari_Sellers) Tweeted:
The Trump campaign encouraged and participated in the dissemination of stolen DNC and Clinton Campaign emails. HOWEVER, Bc they did not participate in the actual act of hacking, there is no crime.
Their actions were foul and unpatriotic, apparently not criminal. https://twitter.com/Bakari_Sellers/status/1118874828444925953?s=17
NotMax
Plan on having a very large container of grains of salt to take with reports about the report for the first 48 hours, until enough time has elapsed for informed analysis to include a studious and thorough reading and parsing, including comparison with past precedents and current on the record testimony.
laura
@germy: and now hes taking a victory lap and threatening revenge and grabbing even more power.
I feel sick.
Leto
@Jacel: “You’re the puppet! You’re the puppet! You’re the puppet!” – only thing the media noticed.
@lamh36: The only guy I would like to see more of is Julián Castro. I like much of what he’s spoken about, enjoyed his CNN town hall, and hope he receives more exposure. Past that, I think our women are just stronger in every way.
rikyrah
YEP
Sam Stein (@samstein) Tweeted:
The basic rationalization Barr gives for why Trump didn’t legally obstruct justice is that he was emotionally upset about being accused of potential crimes and bad media coverage and acted out. That’s the actual argument the Attorney General of the United States made.
https://twitter.com/samstein/status/1118881363812339713?s=17
Ceci n est pas mon nym
We got a baldly transparent cover-up. We said we wanted transparency in government didn’t we? Don’t know what people are complaining about. Dang libs, never satisfied.
lamh36
lamh36
Cheryl Rofer
@NotMax: ??????????
Leto
@rikyrah: See, and that’s why that line of reasoning is such bullshit. Gore’s campaign received W’s playbook detailing how he was going to handle one of their debates. The Gore campaign immediately turned it over to the FBI. They didn’t say, “Well we didn’t steal it, so we were free to use it!” Liars/cheaters all the way down.
Chief Oshkosh
@guachi:
Ahahahaha! Ha! You must be new around here. Would love it if she surprised me, but…
germy
Daniel Dale is reading it.
FlipYrWhig
@rikyrah: Imagine if Bill Clinton’s AG had said “what with all the scandals distracting him and stressing him out, OF COURSE he got his rocks off and lied about it. I mean, he’s only a man, after all.”
karen marie
@Cheryl Rofer: I am delighted to hear that. It is the first good news this morning.
germy
@laura: Behind closed doors he’s miserable this stuff is coming out.
Chief Oshkosh
@germy:
Then why did so many of them fucking LIE about the meetings? Their emails? ALL of it?! Why lie AND GO TO JAIL if there was no cooperation?
Nelle
@Leto: On Monday, I saw Julian Castro in the Machinists Union Hall here is Des Moines. I was impressed. There was one camera on the tripod covering him. I liked his clarity, his directness, and his passion.
On Wednesday (yesterday), I saw Mayor Pete in the same union hall, at 11:30 in the morning. I went early and the hall was already packed out. He came out followed by a big media entourage. There were at least seven tripods covering him and it was live on CSpan. I talked to a freelancer covering him (video and still) for WaPost. I found his delivery much less inspiring, though he said all the right generalities. That might just be because I was at the back, and my view was blocked by the cameras but the voice was a bit too calm and steady. He’s got a cute mother and his husband is nice (he I met and shook hands with at the back). I liked that I didn’t know his name then….he was just “the husband.”
What troubles me is the way the press coverage elevates one and obscures the other. If Castro were being followed by the media as much, would he rise in the polls. I like Castro’s immigration policy and want him on the debate stage, if only to give voice to that policy. I want it in the Democratic Platform. I urge all of you to toss even $5 to Castro so that he will get enough different donors to qualify.
rikyrah
@CarolDuhart2:
YOU have been on a roll this morning.
Keep writing :)
Kraux Pas
@FlipYrWhig:
Now imagine if it were the actual fucking attorney general.
ETA: Looks like you edited it. Oh whale.
karen marie
@cmorenc: Yeah, if you don’t count all the lying.
NotMax
@Cheryl Rofer
The vast majority of reporters are not trained in law, so while able to initially report on what it says, not yet up to speed on what it means.
germy
@FlipYrWhig:
Steeplejack
@Cheryl Rofer:
Okay, that’s funny.
Sedated myself with Leverage reruns this morning and have avoided Barr coverage so far. Will check in when the dust has settled a bit.
FlipYrWhig
@Kraux Pas: Yeah I corrected it from “team” to “AG” a minute after posting — you were quick!
dexwood
@rikyrah:
Thus confirming what many know, yes, president Asshole is a four year old.
Gravenstone
@germy: So Trump obstructed because he had blue balls?
Omnes Omnibus
@Chief Oshkosh:
I have no interest in impeachments at this time. Everyone’s efforts would be better spent working to choose and elect the best possible people to every office. Here in Wisconsin, the efforts to recall Walker burned through a lot of money and burned out a lot of people. The money and efforts would have been better spent on the 2012 elections.
Full disclosure: I signed the recall petition and voted to remove Walker from office. Once we started down that path, we didn’t have much choice but to keep going forward and hope it worked.
bemused
@germy:
Delicious!
SiubhanDuinne
@Cheryl Rofer:
Now, most people would take this as a non sequitur. But we at Balloon-Juice know better.
germy
rikyrah
Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) Tweeted:
Barr is acting more like Trump’s defense attorney than the nation’s Attorney General. His press conference was a stunt, filled with political spin and propaganda.
Americans deserve the unvarnished truth. We need Special Counsel Mueller to testify publicly in Congress. https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/1118889774717317123?s=17
schrodingers_cat
@Nelle: (Male) Journalists prefer mayo males over every one else.
Steve in the ATL
@Omnes Omnibus: OMFG I’m agreeing with Omnes. What fresh hell is this? //
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
I took it to mean that her cat watched it.
;)
bemused
@dexwood:
And anyone in his vicinity desperately wants his raging tantrums to stop.
schrodingers_cat
@Cheryl Rofer: Whatever is in the kitteh litter box is more substantive than whatever the clean-cut Bannon blurted out
Barbara
@Cheryl Rofer: Trump Jr.
hueyplong
I didn’t obstruct justice. I was just frustrated.
Sincerely,
R Nixon
P.S. If I had had Mitch McConnell and Fox News, I’d have served out my second term.
Rommie
My IANAL take so far is: The SC felt they couldn’t say out loud whether the administration obstructed justice, but here’s Volume 2 of the report with all the evidence of just that. Your ball, Congress (and specifically the House).
It seems hyperbolic to say it, but a Democratic-controlled House of Representatives may save the Republic from itself now. And that’s only because of what we ALL know would be happening if the GOP still had control of Congress at this moment.
James E Powell
@FlipYrWhig:
More recently, an AG had to recuse herself from any involvement in an investigation because of one conversation with the investigated person’s spouse.
It’s probably a good idea to drop the pretense that the press/media are anything but Republican propagandists, in varying degrees, tailored to fit the expectations of their respective audiences
Kraux Pas
@lamh36:
I disagree. I think she’s a very engaging public speaker. And while everything I’ve heard from her on policy so far has been good and show she has ideas how to improve on problems the American people are facing, I’m still not terribly well-versed on her overall policy platform.
She’s still one of my top two candidates, though, mainly (not entirely) due to emotional impulse.
rikyrah
@SiubhanDuinne:
BWA HA HA HA HAH A HA AH AH
rikyrah
@Nelle:
Please donate to him so that he can get on that stage. We need his voice.
James E Powell
@Kay:
I teach in the South Central heart of one of the bluest cities in America and I work with teachers who are outspoken Republicans, including a science teacher who told me that the whole climate change thing is BS designed to advance a political agenda.
rikyrah
BIG: Mueller and his team concluded that Congress has authority to police obstruction of justice.
MUELLER: “[W]e concluded that Congress has the authority to prohibit a president’s corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice.”
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) April 18, 2019
On Trump’s obstruction from redacted Mueller report, it “concluded that Congress has the authority to prohibit a President’s corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice.” So, Barr was lying. Mueller wanted Congress to decide.
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) April 18, 2019
Kay
One good thing- Trump’s approval rating stayed low even after media and Trump announced he was “exonerated” last time, so this latest performance probably won’t matter to the vast majority who weren’t persuaded last time.
He has +/- 40% with a booming economy, which means he’s beatable. Very much so. Shave off 5 for the interference that will happen again, even interference by Trump-loyalist law enforcement, and he’s still beatable.
lamh36
So how is Fox news covering the redacted report
Kraux Pas
@James E Powell:
Even the portion that demonstrates arguably left tendencies mostly focus on scandals du jour of questionable relevance to most people and wild speculation where presentation of the facts would give a clearer picture to most people.
There’s the right wing media and the portion of the media that plays as a the strawman of the left that the right wing media creates. Politicians talking policy? Bah, can’t have that.
Steve in the ATL
@James E Powell: untreated mental illness is an epidemic
Nelle
@germy: I burst out laughing. The narcissist is the measure of all things. “My lawyers didn’t take notes,” therefore lawyers don’t take notes? No, dumb ass, because they were recording you. And those long pads of yellow paper? They are called legal pads. Well, a few laughs among the renting of garments, at least.
dexwood
@bemused:
This is true for some, I think, but I also think there are a few orbiting him who welcome his distractions while they attempt to carry out whatever alternative goals they might have.
Brachiator
@rikyrah:
I continue to be amazed at the skill and ease with which Trump’s enablers find ways to protect him and to rationalize his crimes.
Leto
@Nelle:
It’s the media’s desire to see another white man in the drivers seat. They’re going to do their damnedest to make that happen. Mayor B doesn’t exactly have control over that, so I don’t fault him for that. But agree that Castro needs more help to get him up onstage. Smart/sensible policy on immigration that needs to be heard. If he doesn’t make it further I hope that a Sec of DHS appointment heads his way.
germy
“Is you taking notes on a criminal fucking conspiracy??”
Tazj
@Barbara: Yes, he was in contact with Wikileaks throughout the 2016 campaign. Maybe there was nothing illegal about it because he wasn’t in contact with the Russian government or he didn’t know for sure where their information came from, but it was shady and corrupt as hell.
Bill Arnold
@Tazj:
Oh yeah. The timing of the Podesta emails leak(s) in particular felt like Roger Stone’s work (or an acolyte) at the time. And that’s come out a bit more, since.
Steve in the ATL
@Nelle: fun fact: federal courts do not accept filings, including exhibits, on legal-sized paper. Ergo, the rule of law is a myth.
rikyrah
UH HUH
rikyrah
@germy:
BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA
Nelle
@rikyrah: Never doubt your influence. It was your posting that got me to look more closely at Castro. If only one person could decide the next Pres/VP and that person was me, I’d just skip the whole mess of campaigning and have Harris as Pres, Castro as VP.
My new neighbor was explaining the caucus protocol to me and said, that as neighbors, we’ll be in the same one so we might as well go together. So you stand by your candidate and if they don’t have enough to qualify, those supporting other candidates try to woo you to their side. I haven’t been wooed for so many years, it sounds sorta nice.
Kay
@James E Powell:
My son had a wingnut 7th grade math teacher who delivered diatribes on “political correctness”. If I were a Republican I would lobby to have him removed, and half of media and punditry would portray that as a commitment to free speech.
My daughter and one other girl were once the only two students in a science class who “believed” in evolution. That’s how the teacher portrayed them, as “believers”. I think there were probably more but they were too cowed to say anything.
NotMax
@Leto
I like Castro. A lot. A real lot. Hate to say it but he smiles too much, it dilutes his message.
Leto
@lamh36: I swapped it over for a few mins of coverage and Rudy Juliani is just spewing nonsense and verbal diarrhea. SSDD.
Tazj
@Tazj: Oh, I was wrong about that. Now just reading that Mueller thought both Trump Jr. and Jared committed crimes but had doubts about whether he could get a conviction.
lamh36
President’s Atty, Sekulow on MSNBC confirmed they had this since report Tuesday.
#MuellerReport
lamh36
Leto
@NotMax: Bah, he has a nice smile. It’s not diluting anything. :p
NotMax
@lamh36
Of course no one asked if what they received on Tuesday was the unredacted version, as the ‘redaction team’ was supposedly still wielding their Sharpies.
Leto
@lamh36: Both Sekulow and Juliani contend that just because Trumpov asked McGahn to fire Mueller, and McGahn didn’t do it, means that Trumpov didn’t try to obstruct justice. Like… /headdesk
rikyrah
@Nelle:
I read somewhere that with the upcoming 2020 Caucus, they will count absentee votes? Is this true?
Manyakitty
@Nelle: Harris/Castro was my first dream matchup this year. I like them, Warren, Pete, pretty much anyone other than Bernie or Gabbard. Regardless, I’m voting for the D in the general election, period.
Kraux Pas
@Leto: Attempting a crime is not a crime, duh…
That’s why everyone caught up in FBI stings trying to get bomb materials is now loose on the streets.
Nelle
@rikyrah: I’ve just lived here a week and half. I have a lot to learn.
Kelly
@James E Powell: My grandson’s kindergarten teacher last year regularly told the class Trump is one of our greatest Presidents.
Barry
@Baud: *Paper* digital tape (with holes punched in it).
Dev Null
@danielx:
Wait, what about console toggle switches?!?
Will no one think of console toggle switches?!?
I mean, there’s vellum and scrolls queuing for their turn. Billboards. 7-segment displays!
Why can’t stones wait their turn?
(Pointless factoid: at least one OS refers to Unicode glyphs as “runes”.)
Dev Null
@Steve in the ATL:
Will no one think of the children?!?
Another Scott
@Another Scott: And of course it’s a PDF image, not actual text.
Grr…
Cheers,
Scott.
karen marie
@germy: Trump also, at least at some point, had lawyers who refused to talk to him without a witness to the conversation, so …
I’m guessing that’s still the case.
Dev Null
@Nelle:
That’s unfair. They came by their clown shoes
honestlyI mean, they owned their clown shoes, they didn’t rent them.As the Good Book says, “Renter unto Caesar” “for there was no room in the end.”
Or sumpthin’…
JoeyJoeJoe
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AQQPNQ0PFSc
I’m reminded of this scene by Sekulow and Giuliani’ argument here
The Lodger
@rikyrah: Prediction: This won’t be the last time you see “Chuck Todd” and “successfully neutered” in the same sentence.
Topclimber
@Kay: Ma’am you are so on target so darn often. Since you will appreciate the irony, I say “Stay the course.”
TenguPhule
@Kay:
Actually no, it doesn’t.
Which is much worse.
NotMax
@TenguPhule
Wow, look who’s back! Aloha.
TenguPhule
@CarolDuhart2:
The Republic is dead. Rule of law? Means nothing now. IOKIYAR is the new standard.
They are openly shitting on the Constitution and every federal law, rule and regulation just to show that they can because all of the institutions that were supposed to hold them to account failed.
Including the IC. At this point, those in charge have decided either to bend the knee or that the whole shitshow is “someone else’s job description.”.
TenguPhule
@NotMax: Heya. I’ve been ill. And tired. So fucking tired.
TenguPhule
@Steve in the ATL:
Welcome to Earth 666.
TenguPhule
@Omnes Omnibus:
And that’s how you know we have no rule of law anymore.
We’re a nation of men now. Just white men.
TenguPhule
@randy khan:
Trump deliberately shut down the federal government to shit on Federal Workers RIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS and the media forgot about it within 2 months because there were so many other fucking shiny new scandals to report about.
Uncle Cosmo
@lamh36: Just FTR, this old white dude is not “glomming onto the newest, youngest, inexperienced white guy [he] sees” – I have no favorite at this point, I want to hear & watch them all.
But above all, I want to turn as many of those shitbirds out of power as possible, most especially the Shitbird-In-Chief. That’s an absolute must, and IMO it outweighs everything else.
I devoutly hope that the DNC & the rest of the Democratic Party brains trust is polling the living crap out of the question Who do we stand to gain & to lose (& where) if we nominate a POC/woman/Latinx/gay? And I really don’t care who has a hissy fit over even asking those kinds of questions. We have to know, because one more moral victory coupled with electoral defeat and we can kiss this republic goodbye – & with it any real hope of stopping a neofeudal/fascist oligarchy from seizing the globe.
Uncle Cosmo
@Chief Oshkosh: He must be new here? . Haven’t seen your nym before. What fucking hole did you just crawl out of?
Steve in the ATL
@TenguPhule:
Uh, did you not see my post where I expressly stated that we ceased to have rule of law when federal courts stopped accepting legal-sized documents with court filings?
Jeez, I didn’t realize you had pied me!
Also, welcome back!
TenguPhule
@Steve in the ATL: Heya and thanks.
Omnes Omnibus
@TenguPhule: You didn’t read the rest of the comment, did you? Also, impeachment is a political, not a legal, process.
TenguPhule
@Omnes Omnibus:
And the DOJ has decided there is no legal process applicable against Trump other then impeachment.
So either we use the Constitutional remedy available or we don’t. And if we don’t, then rule of law is utterly fucked and elections are not gonna change that.