Late Night Open Thread: Mike Pence, GOP Mafia Underling & Natural Toady
In the mafia there’s a concept known as “kicking up” or “paying tribute” to the Boss – lining the Boss’s pockets to keep him happy. The Boss doesn’t have to explicitly ask; it’s understood.
Now we’ve got both @VP Pence and AG Barr spending thousands patronizing Trump hotels. https://t.co/8XKgnco8lt
— Elie Honig (@eliehonig) September 3, 2019
There is no bottom to the GOP barrel; they’re excavating down towards the Earth’s molten magma core…
The AG is holding a private party at the President’s hotel.
The VP is staying 180 miles away from his meetings to stay at the President’s resort.
The President is pushing his own resort to host the G7 next year.
The corruption can’t be more obvious. https://t.co/Wv2bAZXNQv
— Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (@repcleaver) September 3, 2019
NEW: Trump, Pence, & aides have repeatedly invoked the Secret Service when explaining why they stay in Trump resorts, arguing that it's easier for law enforcement to secure them. But Secret Service vets say that's not true, and can actually make it harder. https://t.co/BXVpUyycZj
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) September 3, 2019
Not that I doubt the word of our present VP, but the folks in Dublin have had considerable experience in working with security teams.
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) September 3, 2019
Pence kicking up to the boss personally is a nice idea but I assume that when the VP travels he travels with security, staff, etc. and a range of non-family expenses that funnel taxpayer money to Trump.
Just like how the Secret Service pays to rent golf carts at Trump’s clubs. https://t.co/iVXKR9sAkH
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) September 3, 2019
The VP is staying a 3 hour drive from Irish capital, necessitating costly helicopters, all so that his visit to Ireland can put cash in the boss’s pocket. Normal federal employees go to prison for such schemes
— David Frum (@davidfrum) September 2, 2019
This is such bullshit. https://t.co/ov2R4wenvM pic.twitter.com/EqmsQxNkSs
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) September 3, 2019
Pence is used to going out of his way to help his boss profit from the presidency.
For starters, @VP's Great America Committee has spent more than $225,000 at the Trump Hotel DC.
Via @1100Penn https://t.co/bFOXWQj9Hm pic.twitter.com/l7WU73rgRu
— Zach Everson (@Z_Everson) September 3, 2019
Penned in Mikey’s diary: “Why did the stupid Irish put their capital so far away from where the action is?” //
The contrast between the ‘rebel’ UK Conservatives, and our absolutely supine and useless US GOPers is just so stark. Frankly, I’m pleasantly surprised by them. I am totally unsurprised by how terrible our Rump party is here.
I hope this Ireland trip bites Pence in the ass down the road. I may be dreaming, but he opened himself to liability, if Democraps (yeah, that’s my party!) find a nutsack or two (looking mostly at women like AOC to have ’em).
@Raoul: I hope it bites him in the ass in the form of an indictment after he’s defenestrated from office.
@Raoul: To repeat a hoary joke about “strong” women, AOC’s balls are so big they had to put them on her chest to avoid chafing. //
In other news, today is the biweekly trip for us patients to my surgeon’s beach
housemansion. Spending a lazy afternoon napping, chatting and waiting my turn for a Thai massage. Life does not suck.It’s not fair to pick on President Trump for making a buck this way, because that Obama person doesn’t even own any resort properties.
I feel sad for the Irish leader and his partner, having to eat lunch with Pence and Mother.
@Mary G
One could hope they served the Pences reheated fast food hamberders. “We understand it’s a staple of official White House functions and wanted to make you feel right at home.”
The morning and mid day hosts on the most popular talk radio station in the Los Angeles area didn’t mention this story at all. But they will reach back and bring out old irrelevant crap about Obama’s travel if they need to provide cover for Trump or Pence.
McConnell and the Republican Party have given Trump carte blanche to steal as much as he can while in office and Trump’s going to squeeze every dime he can out of the presidency. It’s impossible to decide which is more appalling — the incompetence, the depravity, or the blatant criminality.
Oh well, maybe next year he’ll remember what a Category 5 hurricane is. If there were any justice in the world*, Trump would be looking up hurricanes in a prison library. Assuming he could read and count to five.
*In the US with William Barr as AG? Raucous, deafening laughter intermixed with weeping.
remember how the Village freaked out when the Clinton Foundation accepted donations from Arab countries. Never mind that every penny was used for proven charitable projects – they still freaked out.
yet they have no problem with Dump lining his pockets from the very same entities.
Democrats need to subpoena all records associated with this blatant grifting. No Democratic President could get away with this nonsense.
Confused by Pence’s Chief of Staff’s comments. Is this a personal trip for Pence to find his roots with a meeting with the Irish PM tacked on or an official meeting with Irish Head of Government with a personal side trip?
Actually that’s a rhetorical question. It’s obviously a jolly with the meeting tacked on to justify the government paying with some beak wetting for the Boss.
@Patricia Kayden:
Come to think of it, I’m not sure any Democratic POTUS ever even tried it.
The BBC site’s football page reports this astounding claim by an Inter Milan supporters’ group after a black Inter player was racially abused in a league match at Cagliari by home supporters.
@Amir Khalid: Have you thought of moving to Washington DC? With that line of thinkin’, you’d be a perfect fit for Press Secretary.
(Now can you say it public with a straight face?)
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA:
Hmm. There’s no citizenship requirement for White House Press Secretary, is there?
@Amir Khalid: There might be, but with the Great Negotiator, all things are negotiable.
@Amir Khalid: There might be, but I doubt there is one for Acting White House Press Secretary! Going to go scream into a pillow now.
I have no expertise in security matters, but a quick look at Google Maps shows what a poor choice the Trump Doral would be to hold the G7. One of the top requirements has to be the security of so many major world leaders. You want a place where you have limited access, like an island or a peninsula. Or isolated, like Camp David located in a forest with limited access roads. Trump Doral is in a populated area with two major roads right next door. As a golf resort, there is a lot of perimeter although the buildings appear clustered. Secret Service would have to erect considerable fencing and place barriers capable of stopping a large vehicle holding a truck bomb. Second, you need to shut down air traffic over the site. The Trump Doral is very close, easily less than 10 miles, from Miami International Airport. Imagine the disruption caused by shutting down an international airport for 3-5 days. Someplace out of regular air traffic routes would be better. The last two G7/G8 summits held by the US were at Sea Island, Georgia and Camp David, illustrating my point. But it’s all about putting money in Trump’s pocket.
@VOR: World leaders should boycott G7 here if trump
Insists on having it at his shitty resort. Seriously.
@TriassicSands:
The incompetence at least has a normal reason, they really are morons.
The depravity, the blatant criminality, those are done with malice, with thought, they take action to happen, those are far more appalling. Now the moronic part may make them unable to see the difference but that’s doubtful, it’s not like people aren’t complaining about it, it’s not like people don’t get the message. drumpy has been told, sued, had court decisions against him, he just doesn’t give a fuck about anyone else, not another person on the planet.
The G7 Dorian discussion is missing the main point — it almost doesn’t matter whether it is held at Dorian or not. Trump managed to squeeze in a global infomercial for his property in the middle of a world leadership summit.
It is like when Billy Crystal hosted the Oscars, and at the end of the broadcast, called out “and go see MR. SATURDAY NIGHT! What, come on, there’s a billion people watching, right?” Or WTTE. Took the opportunity to pimp his own movie when he was supposed to be honoring everyone else’s.
If only there was an equivalent branch of gubmint that could provide some sort of investigative oversight to these sorts of blatant shenanigans. They’re not even trying to hide it, and why should they? No one’s going to do anything about any of it, and it’s gotta be more fun for them to rub everyone else’s nose in it.
A Truth and Reconciliation Commission after the evil Trump empire is brought down, is what is needed. Have an army of lawyers and accountants descend on Trump Tower and investigate everything this pig and his inbred family have done for the last 40 years and send every single one, including Melania to a federal penitentiary!