I have questions for him.
Sondland is in a heap of trouble. Other testimony puts him at the center of the President’s demands for Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelinsky to announce an investigation into the Bidens. Sondland has changed his deposition to the House Intelligence Committee.
GregB
Sondland deploys spike strips, sends Trump bus into ravine.
Unknown number of casualties.
Marcopolo
Everything I’m reading/hearing is Sondland will be coming clean on everything. If true, that’s a big deal.
emptywheel has a poll up on her tweet thread asking folks to vote on who will lead his character assassination.
TS (the original)
@Marcopolo:
Seems to be – he has a 23 page opening statement – possibly blaming Giuliani
Cheryl Rofer
@Marcopolo: That would be a big deal. And, IMO, the only route for him to have a chance at avoiding jail.
JWR
Just now on CBS, Nancy Cordes says Sondland is gonna say there really was a quid pro quo and will likely blame it all on Rudy911.
TS (the original)
Pundits (CBS – those same folks who think what trump did is not impeachable) all talking about the opening statement & who knew what when.
Betty Cracker
WaPo has excerpts of the opening statement:
Whoa.
Jeffro
I think it’s great. I’m sure Rudy will gladly take the fall for trumpov and go quietly.
BWAH-HA-HA-HA! yeah RIGHT!
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
Aw, man. And I can’t watch most of it.
schrodingers_cat
Sondland doesn’t want to go to jail for Tangerine T. He saw what happened to Cohen.
Betty Cracker
@Baud: I shouldn’t be! This impeachment has dented my productivity most grievously!
Baud
Paging Dr. Reed. Dr. Walter Reed. Clear your schedule. You have incoming.
Lee
Sondland is not going to go to prison for Trump. He also knows that Trump has zero loyalty to anyone but himself and Ivanka. Today he will do eveything he can to avoid prison.
Baud
Obviously, Sondland is lying to take out his chief hotel competitor.
germy
You can’t argue with that, libs.
low-tech cyclist
Reminds me of Ron Zeigler and inoperative statements.
TS (the original)
I hope Volker is listening and reading and wondering about this testimony. It appears Sondland has taken the advice of his lawyer.
Betty Cracker
More from WaPo:
Schiff’s opening statement is devastating so far, and Sondland looks like he’s going to puke.
low-tech cyclist
@germy: Ah, the Fox News brain trust.
“What a terrible thing to have lost one’s mind. Or not to have a mind at all. How true that is.” – Dan Quayle
germy
These photos:
Nomad
Sondland has directly named Trumpf and Giuliani and wonder of wonders, Representative Ron Johnson in his opening statement alone….
schrodingers_cat
@germy: Has he not heard of speaker phone. Is he that stupid or is it just an act.
Marcopolo
And in another location in Washington D.C.:
Thought we could all use a little humor.
Adam L Silverman
I’m about ten minutes behind, so still listening to Schiff’s opening statement, but Sondland looks decidedly uncomfortable.
TS (the original)
@Betty Cracker:
No-one can say it better and 100% describe the scene
Cheryl Rofer
Good opening statement from Schiff, summarizing relevant testimony so far. Will be a nice match with Sondland’s testimony for the media.
Marcopolo
@schrodingers_cat: SATSQ: Yes, Yes, he is that dumb.
TS (the original)
Nunes – Amb Sondland – Welcome – well actually no, you are not welcome
dmsilev
@Baud:
He’s going to incriminate Illinois governor Jay Pritzker?
Alien Radio
@schrodingers_cat: in all cases. Yes.
Sandia Blanca
OMG look at Nunes in his gangsta suit!
henrythefifth
I still find it hilarious that Sondland, Amb. to the EU, OF WHICH UKRAINE IS NOT A MEMBER, is at the core of this. Just another example of Keystone Kops.
germy
I don’t know. Sondland looks amused by the whole thing so far. He has that smirk that i’ve only seen on the extremely wealthy.
Steve in the ATL
@Betty Cracker: is it just me or is the sun shining a little brighter today?
Of course, that could still just be the afterglow of seeing Auburn lose…again. The nation’s best three loss team!
Gin & Tonic
Can’t watch or listen, so relying on the juicitariat for the juice. Have to say I’m looking forward to an underbussing for Rudy.
Roger Moore
@Marcopolo:
All of them, Katie.
Betty Cracker
Nunes is just regurgitating TRUE Trump/RNC crimes as if they were preposterous conspiracy theories
ETA: Example, Russia laundered campaign contributions through the NRA. Um, they did?
Steve in the ATL
@dmsilev: that might have been funny if there were a long history of Illinois governors going to prison.
Cheryl Rofer
Nice enumeration from Nunes that can later be used as a checklist to show how wrong he is.
germy
@Sandia Blanca:
It looks like one of Roger Stone’s pinstripe suits, but I guess Nunes isn’t brave enough to rock the purple top hat that came with it.
mistermix loves your ass
I don’t know if there is an effective way to defend Trump, but Nunes’ “laughing at the absurdity” approach sure isn’t it.
JWR
Something, can’t quite put my finger on it, tells me that Liddle’ Devin hasn’t read Sondland’s prepared statement. (Also, how many hours do you suppose Nunes’ staffers spend rewriting his own opening statement(s)?)
MattF
And, the path that Sondland is apparently taking— from major Trump supporter, to co-conspirator, to perjurer, to reluctant testifier, to actually telling the truth… is about as damning as it can possibly be. He really does not want to wear prison stripes, ‘self-sacrificial loyalty to Trump’ is not on his todo list.
dmsilev
@Steve in the ATL: I lived in Chicago during the Blago era. I remember.
germy
Is trump live-tweeting this? I’m afraid to look
dmsilev
@MattF: So, you’re saying that he’s the John Dean of Stupid Watergate?
germy
I wish I could sit quietly and stare straight ahead like Schiff when confronted with a flood of bullshit.
schrodingers_cat
Has Nunez stopped speaking he is so gross, I can’t bear to hear him speak.
JWR
Ooo! Devin’s now demanding that the committee subpoena Hunter Biden, as well as a list of the usual suspects, but I didn’t hear the name “Andrea Chalupa” in there.
Leto
So I was 20 mins late to the hearing, turned it on and Dumb Dumb Nunes is incoherently rambling. His voice is not helping the headache that I have. Maybe if he stops speaking, forever, that might help.
Gin & Tonic
@MattF: IIRC, Sondland is a Trumper-come-lately. Figured he’d drop a mill, get a sweet gig, nice flat in Brussels, do some grip-and-grins, throw some lavish parties, not break a sweat, return to Portland after a few years as a big shot. He’s by no means a true believer, and probably wants to get out from under this shit as quickly and painlessly (to him) as possible. He’s clearly got enough money to hire good lawyers, and just enough common sense to listen to them.
Baud
@germy: Number 1 skill of any successful politician.
Adam L Silverman
@Marcopolo: She’s not all that bright.
Sandia Blanca
@germy: Takes decades of villainy to achieve Stone-level sartorial hideousness.
Elizabelle
@TS (the original): Who are the CBS pundits? No TV, so I don’t know.
TS (the original)
It seems everyone in the state department works to a different set of rules/procedures/policies than the president*
And I wonder if trump knows how many immigrants he has employed?
Gin & Tonic
@JWR: The Chalupa he’s got a Jones for is Alexandra.
germy
One of the best Tom The Dancing Bugs I’ve seen.
TS (the original)
@Elizabelle: Sorry, I have no idea who they are – the ones giving all the help to the GOP were talking before the hearing started. Other folks here may know who they are.
Betty Cracker
I think this is right:
Sondland is setting the stage for why he’s changing the story by saying he didn’t have access to all records, isn’t a note-taker, etc.
Elizabelle
So he’s trying to blame his original lying responses to not having access to his State Dept materials, even though he’s “not a note taker”??
JWR
@Gin & Tonic: Oh yeah. I really shoulda looked that one up before posting.
zhena gogolia
DRINK!
Elizabelle
@Betty Cracker: Would love to see this blow up in Nunes and his howler monkeys’ faces.
Baud
Rudy!
JMG
@Gin & Tonic: Your analysis strikes me as exactly correct. BTW, this may end the practice of giving ambassadorships to big donors because big donors may no longer want them.
Leto
Sondland going for the, “I’m not a note taker/I can’t remember anything” as his defense. Bold choice Cotton, let’s see how this plays out!
germy
Elizabelle
“We did not want to work with Mr. Giuliani. Simply put, we were playing the hand we were dealt …. so we followed the President’s orders.”
Slam!
Yarrow
Sondland: “Volker, Perry and I worked with Giuliani at the express direction of the President of the United States.”
Tick tock, motherfuckers
TS (the original)
@Baud: And Volker and Perry
Adam L Silverman
@JWR:
@Gin & Tonic:
Obligatory!
Elizabelle
If I had known what a crook Giuliani was “I would not have acquiesced to his participation.”
Slam!
germy
Are we sure Sondland will flip?
EDIT: Okay, now I see. It was all Rudy’s fault. Wait, but he was following orders from Trump.
eric
@Leto: actually, I think he is giving them some obstruction in return for being nicer to him
Elizabelle
@Yarrow: Yarrow! Hello bud!
zhena gogolia
@Yarrow:
Love it!
Marcopolo
Nice, the bus just rolled over Pompeo.
The wheels on the bus go round & round…
It seems to me the only route left clear for R’s at this point is yes the President did do all these things, it wasn’t the best way to go about diplomating, but it doesn’t rise to the level of impeachment.
zhena gogolia
He is spilling all the tea.
Betty Cracker
Good lord, I can’t wait for Daniel Goldman’s questioning.
zhena gogolia
@Betty Cracker:
I’ll be in class!!!! This is torture.
TS (the original)
@Baud:
Sen Ron Johnson!
germy
@Betty Cracker: I wonder what the Republicans’ approach will be now?
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
I bought a pack of cigarettes, and I don’t smoke.
Yarrow
Ron Johnson goes under the bus. He’s been on MTP a few times weakly trying to spin Trump’s story. Not worth it, big guy.
Betty Cracker
“We worked with Mr. Giuliani because the president directed us to do so.”
J R in WV
@Steve in the ATL:
My RWNJ sister-in-law went to Auburn, did an accounting degree.
So I love it whenever they lose, or otherwise look as stupid as they are.
Elizabelle
@zhena gogolia: Happily, C-Span footage will be available 24/7. You can feast at your own pleasure later. (I missed most of yesterday, so need to catch up.)
And you can speed right past Nunes and the howler monkeys, unlike real life.
Leto
@Elizabelle: That’s what I heard. Unlike every other professionally trained FSO, Mr Portland Hotel Man doesn’t bother to take notes on literally anything happening within his “portfolio”.
LAO
Holy crap!
RandomMonster
“…at the direction of the president.”
This thing is coming apart.
Cheryl Rofer
At some point, some guy is not going to want to go to prison for you.
O. Felix Culpa
@Betty Cracker: GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY!
Yarrow
@Betty Cracker: “We didn’t want to work with Giuliani but we did so because Trump told us we had to.” Not gonna save you, big guy.
Barbara
@Marcopolo: My impression of Pam Bondi is that she spends at least an hour in front of a mirror primping for the day, followed by an hour scouring newspapers to see whether and how she is mentioned. In fact, she kind of reminds me of Trump, that is, she is incredibly self-regarding and I can’t for the life of me think why anyone thought she would be helpful to the president in this mess.
germy
@zhena gogolia: PBS World Channel replays the hearings in their entirety, starting at 8pm
Yarrow
@Betty Cracker: No kidding. Goldman is going to destroy him. And Trump.
germy
@germy: PBS World Channel is antenna TV, no subscription needed. Full hearings will also be archived on youtube, I assume.
Adam L Silverman
@Yarrow: Glad to see you tick tocking away!
Adam L Silverman
@zhena gogolia: Stop by some time when you have no class!
germy
germy
@Adam L Silverman: I have no class, and I’m here most days.
JWR
@Adam L Silverman: ;)
zhena gogolia
These are the times that call for magenta.
???☢︎??
Adam L Silverman
@germy: Pull the fire alarm? Call in an active shooter threat to the Capitol Police? Throw stuff? Gym Jordan takes a shower in the well of the committee room while loudly proclaiming he “sees nothing”?
wvng
This is astonishing. He’s brought all of the players onto the ballfield. And he is far more impressive than I could have imagined.
Baud
@zhena gogolia: Ha!
Elizabelle
“Talk with Rudy.”
Talk with the crook.
“Let me say it again. We were not happy at President Trump’s directive. We did not want to work with Mr. Giuliani.”
Adam L Silverman
@Yarrow: Like Pam Bondi, he’s also not very bright.
Yarrow
@Adam L Silverman: Likely won’t be for long. You know why. Big day, today, though. If ever there was need for a ‘tick tock, motherfuckers’ it’s today.
Leto
@germy: Hunter Biden! Burisma! Whistle blower!
Also Sondland is a good little brown shirt. “I was following the orders of the President.”
zhena gogolia
@Adam L Silverman:
I never have any class. I was told in church that I was “as subtle as a sledgehammer” in calling for prayers for our brave career professionals.
Elizabelle
“We chose the latter path not because we liked it, but because it was the only path forward for us.”
The path being “Talk with Rudy.”
zhena gogolia
@Leto:
Where is Maximilian Schell when you need him?
Ladyraxterinok
@MattF: His wife was reported being very worried about their financial well-being because of hits on hotel chain
germy
@Adam L Silverman: The Republicans’ expert counsel will dismantle Sondland’s testimony bit by bit.
(this is me auditioning for a spot as a pundit on Fox News)
Yarrow
@Adam L Silverman: He comes across as really stupid. If even Chuck Todd is exasperated with him, you know he’s not very bright.
Elizabelle
Rudy brings up the DNC server as being important to the President.
And here comes in Pompeo’s staff. And staff at the NSC.
Adam L Silverman
@LAO: To paraphrase: “Rudy Giuliani – a noun, a verb, I just crapped myself!”
Cheryl Rofer
Sondland is specifically naming names. It’s a big bus.
Adam L Silverman
@RandomMonster: It was always going to come apart.
germy
The role of Volker in the made-for-TV movie will be played by the late George Gobel.
Marcopolo
So does this testimony now put Morrison in jeopardy? According to Sondland he was kept in the loop on everything.
Elizabelle
@Ladyraxterinok: Mrs. Sondland can extrapolate from what’s going on with Trump Organization hotels.
They notice money in this crowd.
Leto
He doesn’t remember anything, but remembers the “great pictures”. Priorities my man, priorities.
Bruce K
Sorry for breaking in with the dumb-cluck question, but things are happening faster than I can keep up on Teh Inatrweebs:
Did Sondland just blow up the defenses of the entire Trump cartel?
Elizabelle
@Cheryl Rofer: Greyhound says “I am one tired dog! Bring in a relief bus too!”
eric
@Elizabelle: I think we are gonna need a bigger bus
Elizabelle
@Leto: Well, he was not taking notes. He told us that. But he’s got a photographic reminder!
zhena gogolia
@germy:
IT WASN’T AS OUTLANDISH AS IT COULD HAVE BEEN, RIGHT? RIGHT?
LAO
@Bruce K: yes
Elizabelle
@zhena gogolia: That was so classic. Gonna be on GOP counsel’s tombstone.
zhena gogolia
@Bruce K:
Да, да, да, ёлки палки!
LAO
Everyone is in the loop. Wow
eric
I see an audit in someone;s immediate future…
rikyrah
@schrodingers_cat:
Tangerine T???
Adam L Silverman
@Barbara: When she and the President first met, she was ten years younger and, at least, 30 lbs lighter. That’s what he sees in her.
Also, every legitimate Republican oriented lawyer doesn’t want to touch this rapidly expanding toxic waste dump with a 100 foot pole, so the President’s options are limited to political hacks with law degrees who’ve been elected and/or appointed Republican officials.
Yarrow
Pompeo is toast. What was that about him running for Senate? Hahahahaha.
PPCLI
@Betty Cracker:
Watch this guy carefully. He is conceding a quid pro quo alright, but he’s sticking to the preposterous story that the trade was for the meeting and a “white house call”, not the release of aid. LIstening to the testimony so far, I am not sure this is not worked out with the administration carefully. They have figured out what they have to admit, because there is solid testimony from multiple witnesses attesting to it, and they’re still trying to come up with the admissions that will allow them to throw up some kind of smoke. It makes the overall testimony more credible if Sondland just openly admits to the stuff he can’t plausibly deny.
Hopefully the Democratic counsel will shred this.
low-tech cyclist
@Cheryl Rofer: “You’re either on the bus or under the bus.” – Not Ken Kesey
Rommie
That fender is getting dented repeatedly! It’s a Grand Theft Auto bus.
germy
https://balkin.blogspot.com/2019/11/senator-ron-johnson-has-problem.html
Jeffro
@Baud: LOL
I haven’t smoked in eighteen years but you know, maybe later today, I might grab two quick puffs.
HOO BOY
LAO
Sondland’s decision to go with outrage is pretty effective
Jeffro
@Adam L Silverman: True. There was no way it wasn’t going to come apart.
If they had half a brain between them, they wouldn’t have needed to be crooks. But…
TS (the original)
@wvng: He is also attempting to cover himself every which way what way.
He said he had every right to be involved with Ukraine – yet he was the amb. to the EU and Ukraine is NOT part of the EU. Europe is not the EU.
Bruce K
If what I’m reading is accurate … could this be what convinces the GOP that they’re now in the political equivalent of a Kobayashi Maru scenario? I mean, I’m pretty sure they’ve been there since Trump was elected, but could today be the day that they realize it?
Betty Cracker
@PPCLI: He’s being cagey, but it appears to me he’s only out to save his own ass, not Trump’s.
Yarrow
@LAO: Of course they’re in the loop. They were always in the loop. They just hoped no one would find out.
Adam L Silverman
@wvng: Despite appearances, he’s not stupid. He’s also been a political benefactor in exchange for political appointments, for both parties. He would like to 1) not go to prison, 2) not loose his source of wealth/his hotel business, 3) not become a pariah.
Jeffro
“ASAP Rocky”! Drink!
Elizabelle
We’re going to need a fresh thread for when the statement has concluded. Lots to comment on with this witness!
satby
@Yarrow: oh how we’ve missed that tick-tock!
Yarrow
“Yes, there was a quid pro quo.”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
TICK FUCKING TOCK, MOTHERFUCKERS!
low-tech cyclist
@dmsilev: “The Worst and the Stupidest”
https://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/1973/06/13
The scary part is, Trump and his gang make Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Mitchell, etc. look like geniuses by comparison. And as ‘Deep Throat’ Mark Felt said about the Watergate crew, “The truth is these are not very bright guys and things got out of hand.”
Steve in the ATL
@Baud: and lawyers
germy
@Elizabelle: Cole has one up
Ghost of Joe Lieblings Dog
Is the “gosh, fellows, had I but known what a dreadful crook he was, why, I would never have lied my head off under oath for him” defense a good one, generally speaking?
Elizabelle
@Yarrow: Did you see Mustache of Understanding Tom Friedman’s column this week about how Pompeo has no integrity?
People at DOS must be screaming. I would like to see Pompeo go down hard, but especially to see William Barr go down too.
zhena gogolia
@Elizabelle:
John already has a fresh thread up.
Elizabelle
@zhena gogolia: Yeah. Saw that.
germy
zhena gogolia
@Jeffro:
I made the same comment in the thread up above!
Steve in the ATL
@Adam L Silverman:
Pretty sure Baud is a dude, but point taken
germy
Adam L Silverman
@zhena gogolia: Stuck inside a murderous robot on the far side of a black hole if I’m remembering correctly.
PPCLI
@Betty Cracker: True. Listening and reading more, it is clear he is protecting himself first.
He is a very wealthy man, who has no doubt consulted with a battery of very expensive, exceptionally shrewd, independent lawyers.
Elizabelle
Haven’t been watching the feed. Curious about faces of the GOP howler monkey types. Might be amusing to see them.
Will Hurd has got to be so damn glad he’s retiring. He’s the only one of that whole goddamned GOP cmtee membership who is going to walk out with any credibility or dignity.
Adam L Silverman
@germy: That guy couldn’t organize an orgy in a whore house.
Adam L Silverman
@Yarrow: Chuck Todd is an expert in not very bright.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
So as an ordinary citizen and not a Trump appointee, I’m confused about the law here. If I lie in a sworn statement and the lawyers know it, how many times do I get to come back and correct it before they charge me with perjury?
PS: The user experience in “Visual” mode with blockquotes is kind of messed up. Summary: There doesn’t seem to be any way to start a response with a quote and then position the cursor outside the quote to type unquoted text.
Easily bypassed in Text mode so low priority.
TS (the original)
Not seeing them, camera focused on Sondland
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@germy: Was he expecting a knife to be thrown before he could get the names out, a la Get Smart?
Adam L Silverman
@Marcopolo: More jeopardy. One of the first questions Schiff or Goldman will ask Fiona Hill tomorrow is about whether she can 1) confirm that she spoke to Morrison about Vindland during the transition of her out and Morrison in, 2) if that conversation was as Morrison described it, and 3) if it was not, what did Morrison misstate. He put himself in a lot of trouble because he appears to be a prissy micro-manager.
germy
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: I think in Visual Mode you have to copy the entire phrase you want blockquoted, and then select the quote icon. Opposite of how you do it in Text Mode.
I could be wrong
germy
wvng
Just brought Pence in.
Mr. Mack
Can we expect minority counsel to try and paint Sondland as a liar? Seems there is nowhere else to go.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
The only Maru I know is the Japanese YouTube kitty who thinks he’s hiding when he sticks his head into tiny boxes much too small for the rest of his body. Which works as an analogy for Republicans, but I don’t think that’s what you were referring to?
Betty Cracker
@PPCLI: You’re right though — it’s ridiculous that he’s playing dumb on the aid release.
wvng
@wvng: Not Biden, Pence.
Adam L Silverman
@Bruce K: No, because Kobayashi Maru is a furrin name, not a Murican one. So they can’t be in it.
Also, it’s 19 parsecs out of Altair 6 and has hit a gravitic mine. I don’t think they’re going to get its distress call in time.
Roger Moore
@germy:
There are two logical approaches:
I expect them to try some god awful, incoherent mix of the two.
Marcopolo
Cole has a new thread up…
Sab
Go bus, go!
satby
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: paste in the quote first, then highlight it and select the quote button. Allows you to type your reply as usual below the block.
Adam L Silverman
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@germy: That’s how I did it, but then I couldn’t type any text outside the blockquote. If I hit the quote button again, that just unquoted the other text. That is, the sequence was: Reply, Paste Text, Quote (link and text quoted), then try to position cursor at end and type (shows up inside the blockquote).
I think that you can make it work if you paste the quoted text, type whatever you want to add, then highlight and blockquote the part you want quoted.
@satby: Nope. That’s what I was doing. Could not get any text to show up outside the block.
(Mac OS X, Firefox)
germy
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: I think hit return twice gets you out of quote mode.
Yarrow
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: I went to Text mode, hit return to get a new line, and then clicked back to Visual. The cursor was then after the code/blockquote.
satby
Yes, that’s as easy a way as what I did.
I do think the common thread I see is that Firefox users seem to have the most issues with the updated site. No statistics to verify that though. I use my Kindle Fire with its proprietary browser, so I expected some hiccups, but haven’t had any problems at all.
Dmbeaster
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Its from Star Trek, and refers to a training simulation for which there was no winning solution.
Geeno
@rikyrah: Now I’m hearing “Hey mister tangerine man” to the tune of that old 60’s song “Tambourine Man”
Couldn't Stand the Weather
@GregB:
Like a scene from a Michael Bay movie.
Couldn't Stand the Weather
Help!
Am trapped under moderation bus.
Wapiti
@Bruce K: Kobayashi was the name of the lawyer in The Usual Suspects. As my niece explains it, a Kobayashi Maru exercise is an assignment that has no good correct answers; it’s to see how well the students perform with a bad hand. I think that’s taken from a Star Trek episode.
J R in WV
@Yarrow:
Pompeo, first in his class at West Point, but as Friedman said the other day, they must not have counted any classes in ethics or morality in his leadership training.
Ladyraxterinok
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: At wiki it’s a text in Star Trek. Had to look it up
J R in WV
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
I find that if at the end of your quoted text, if you hit enter and then end quotes you get a new line you can start typing on. Usually, anyhoo.
mad citizen
Just now I achieved the long-running BJ joke of eating popcorn while watching/listening the hearing (actually reading through all the comments, looking at a few side tweets, and looking up Kobayashi Maru exercise on wikipedia (not being a Star Trek fan). A game theory corollary surely is the Prisoners Dilemma. With the number of “prisoners” in trumpov world, hopefully this whole House of Dumbass Cards falls soon. Will all the Rs go down with their party or what? Will our nation split into the Red States of America and the Blue States of America? Tune in tomorrow to see.
I hope at some point the democrats lay out WHY it was so important for trumpov to get the info war going, the psyops and all of that.
Changerous
So, Sondland is actually the ‘donorbassador’.
Whodathunk.
Changerous
@Geeno: Hucking Filarious!
Bill Arnold
@Wapiti:
Technically, there is a correct answer, that involves changing the Rules. Often an option, if frowned upon. (Considerable skill may be required to properly execute.)
Not clear the Republicans have that option now, though. Even a Reichstag fire (something functionally similar) would get instant hard pushback from the current, suspicious US press.