The Justice Department IG report amounts to a fart in the breeze:
The Justice Department’s internal watchdog is expected to find in a forthcoming report that political bias did not taint top officials running the FBI investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign in 2016, while at the same time criticizing the bureau for systemic failures in its handling of surveillance applications, according to two U.S. officials. […]
In broad terms, the report refutes accusations of a political conspiracy by senior law enforcement officials against the Trump campaign to favor Democrat Hillary Clinton, while also knocking the bureau for procedural shortcomings, said the officials. On balance, they said, it provides a mixed assessment of the bureau and department’s undertaking of a probe that became highly politicized and divided the nation.
Open thread.
laura
That report – if released will be shredded by the usual suspects before the sun goes down.
If it were of any benefit to president HamHead would be breaking news.
Yutsano
I’m shocked. Shocked I tells ya! How dare another Republican conspiracy theory blow up in their faces?
clay
So how many reports is it now, that Republicans have sworn will blow the lid off of everything? I guess they’ll keep trying until they find one…
Gin & Tonic
I’m struggling to understand why the name “Chalupa” is relevant to this post.
Yes, I’m being a dick about this. No, I’m not a friend of the Chalupa sisters. But, really, what the fuck here?
Kamala.Harris.2020
@Gin & Tonic:
ok boomer
Gin & Tonic
@Kamala.Harris.2020: Kindly go DIAF.
Adam L Silverman
@Gin & Tonic: I’m with you on this one.
Baud
Good. There was legitimate concern that this would be a bullshit hack job.
Baud
FTA
Scapegoat?
debbie
@laura:
I think he wouldn’t even notice. He’s too busy taking credit for being the only thing keeping China from an outright massacre of the Hong Kong demonstrators.
japa21
This is pretty much what I expected. Basically it is a reprise of Comey’s first announcement about Clinton. “Nothing illegal, but they weren’t as careful as they should have been.”
IOW, both sides can use it to their advantage, one side (the good one) has more legitimacy in its use, the other (we all know who that is) will jump on the caveat and say that is the most important part.
hells littlest angel
Has Taco Bell made any effort to capitalize on this? Their food is awful, but I’d buy some anyway if they had Alexandra Chalupa endorse their product. “Tastes like conspiracy theory!”
chris
@Gin & Tonic: Yeah, unclear what a cottage has to do with anything.
lamh36
Open thread…ok
I’m sure the response from supporters will be this guy is “that old guard” upset with the young upstart, oh and his probably a homophobe.
But guess what, when you stop and think about it, if polls are correct, Pete is actually polling lower than Chump with Black voters. And I’m sorry, but that can’t all be attributed to “homophobia” in the Black community.
Smh…damn
Jay
@clay:
in the Wingnutosphere, this report and others, are “blowing the wheels off impeachment”.
Gin & Tonic
@hells littlest angel: Bunch of fucking comedians here. Har, har.
ThresherK
My dad’s favorite phrase for this is fart in a windstorm, and I’m glad that I’m not the only one who says it.
However, my eyes zeroed in on that saying, and I figured it for Betty Cracker or Cole. Anyone else?
Dmbeaster
@Gin & Tonic: “Chalupa” is becoming generic for nutball GOP conspiracy theories. That is the only relevance.
mistermix loves your ass
On the title: if Glenn Kessler can issue Pinnochios to judge the truth or falsity of a claim, I think I can use Chalupas to rate the amount of wingnut bullshit that can be generated by a given document. This document rates zero.
Immanentize
@chris: Do you mean “boat?”
Gin & Tonic
@Dmbeaster: Fuck you
@mistermix loves your ass: You too
Quaker in a Basement
So when can we expect the fair-and-balanced summary version from Barr’s office?
chris
@Immanentize: Did I miss something? Goog says it’s Czech for cottage
ETA: I’m with G&T, leave the sisters out of this. As much as possible anyway.
Yutsano
@ThresherK: I think Mixie has successfully initiated a hostile takeover of this here top 10,000 blog.
Shalimar
@mistermix loves your ass: Pinocchio was a character in a story. Chalupa is a real human being who has been under attack for several years now for doing a good thing helping to expose Manafort’s crimes. You do you, but it is very insensitive.
debbie
@Shalimar:
How about “Zero Gymmies”?
Another Scott
@chris:
Gin & Tonic’s earlier comment about the Chalupa sisters.
(There’s more in that thread.)
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
Jay
@mistermix loves your ass:
Carol Orr notes that this report has in two days, generated 150 thousands tons of wingnuttery so far, with misrepresentations of the report filling slots #1 -#10 in your Facebook Uncles Feeds, coming up on 1.8 million wingnut shares.
it’s a wee bit more than zero Chalupas.
MomSense
@chris:
Alexandra Chalupa was a DNC staffer who is now the subject of another right wing conspiracy theory.
MattF
So… this is a leak, right? Meaning that someone wanted to get the news out before Barr offered a ‘summary’.
Quaker in a Basement
@Gin & Tonic: Why not tell us why this mild japery has you in such an uproar?
Marcopolo
@lamh36: Looks to me like Buttigieg is getting his front runner vetting—at least a lil bit.
I thought I saw some new reporting on the police chief firing issue as well today—just tried to find it & could not but the gist was Buttigieg was manipulated in to firing the AA chief by two donors who were fronting for white cops on the force. There was something about emails, I swear, providing back up but consider this hearsay until I or someone else actually posts a link.
Yutsano
Can I assume better motivations here and think Mixie is referring to the Mexican foodstuff?
Which I confess I actually like from Taco Bell. But only when the shells are fresh. Don’t even @ me about it.
Immanentize
@chris: Chalupa is most normally associated here with an excellent Mexican (or TexMex) item that is stuff on a crunchy taco called a Chalupa, which is Spanish for boat. So most people know Chalupa as dinner.
Miss Bianca
@lamh36: Wow. That’s gotta hurt.
Gin & Tonic
@Quaker in a Basement: Because we’re all supposedly woke liberals here, having some japery because somebody’s surname, which is a legitimate Slavic word, is the same as a made-up faux-Mexican foodstuff. As was said above, “Pinocchio” is a fictional character. Alexandra Chalupa has been facing real death threats for three years now, simply because she ran with the fact that Paul Manafort is a criminal. Har, har, she has a funny name, right? This is Beavis & Butthead territory.
Why the fuck am I even explaining this?
lamh36
@Marcopolo: I think this is what you’re talking about. But it’s from the Intercept which is GG outfit which I’m no fan of…but it’s their reporting.
https://twitter.com/ryangrim/status/1197956534854148098
Immanentize
@Yutsano: my Mexican friend says you shouldn’t mock Taco Bell because the primary consumers (in the valley) are Mexican Americans.. Popular is with you!
chris
@Another Scott: MomSense too, I’m aware.
PJ
@Yutsano: No.
lamh36
Immanentize
@Gin & Tonic:
Chalupa is not a made up Mexican food.
zhena gogolia
Your “zero Chalupas” reminds me of one of my favorite moments in the hearings, when some Rethug kept braying that the Dems had gotten “three Pinocchios” for saying the whistleblower’s anonymity was legally protected, and Jackie Spiers said, “President Trump gets five Pinocchios every day, so let’s not go there.” With her glasses sliding down her nose, it was perfect.
chris
@Immanentize: yes, thanks, I gathered that from Adam’s videos.
hells littlest angel
@Gin & Tonic: Your comments are genuinely puzzling. Is it that you find the word “chalupa” itself somehow offensive?
zhena gogolia
@Gin & Tonic:
People who don’t speak Ukrainian think it sounds funny and it reminds them of Mexican food, and Nunes kept repeating it like a mantra, so it’s become a funny word like Pinocchio. I don’t think there’s too much significance to it. It’s like Benghazi.
ETA: I see people have tried, but the explanation isn’t working. So sorry.
lamh36
@Miss Bianca: Check out the article.
The councilman makes some great points and NONE of them have anything to do with Pete being a gay man.
On Pete’s Douglass plan,
He also says Pete was missing in action during his failed 2010 run for state treasurer, when Davis and other local leaders were fighting for LGBT rights.
PJ
@Immanentize: If you are in Central/Eastern Europe, a chalupa is a country home or cottage. In the case of the sisters Alexandra and Andrea (whom people in the media and politics tend to confuse), it is their last name. As Gin & Tonic has pointed out repeatedly, that Taco Bell used the term for their food product doesn’t make it funny when Republicans have tied a real human being into their batshit Russian-sponsored conspiracy theories.
hells littlest angel
@hells littlest angel: Oh. I see you explained above. Not that I’m any less puzzled.
rikyrah
@lamh36:
We just don’t understand Mayor Pete, lamh?
Gin & Tonic
@Immanentize: Sure.
zhena gogolia
I have not joined in the merriment over “Chalupa,” but I believe mistermix is using it to ridicule Nunes, not the person with that last name. I guess that isn’t good enough.
MattF
@lamh36: I agree that there’s something odd going on with Graham. And, IMO, it’s not merely coincidental that the oddness is leading him to become a rabid Trumpite. Personally, I’d prefer to let the sleeping dog lie.
Immanentize
Dear Friends,, I have to totally throw myself on the mercy of the jackalariat. I see that in point 18 of new blog rules, puns across languages are verboten. I say this as a close relative of Irish Native Hugh Jackoff.
PS. I used to also enjoy having a drink with my LGBT friends in DC at the Big Hunt. I also used to dance at the Boat Hut in Austin. Guilty!!
MisterForkbeard
@Jay: In the Wingnutosphere, Sondland directly implicating the president was “good news for the president and the dems have no case now”.
They’ll say it about anything and everything. Trump’s already claimed complete vindication, even though the report actually says the whole thing wasn’t politically motivated and there weren’t any real problems.
Jeffro
The GOP will seize upon a lawyer correcting punctuation somewhere in the report, ANY report, and call it ‘evidence’. “Evidence of a criminal conspiracy against this president*!!!”, etc etc etc.
I’m interested in how we might get trumpov and his cult down to their 27% base. Perhaps instead of getting angrier and louder (although I certainly understand the sentiment) our officials need to ask more of the obvious questions and let the ‘light bulb’ come on in peoples’ heads. “If he’s so innocent, why won’t he let Pompeo, Mulvaney, etc testify and clear him? Odd, that…”
And maybe Schiff or Pelosi or even one of the presidential candidates needs to call a prime-time news conference and just lay it all out: the guy’s a traitor and everything he does – everything he makes his cult followers swallow – benefits Vladimir Putin. Wacky Ukraine conspiracy theories, disbelieving our own intelligence agencies, the GOP platform plank, all of it.
Worth a shot.
Jeffro
@MisterForkbeard: Yup. Heck, Fiona Hill told them all to their faces that their conspiracy theories were incorrect, benefitted Russia, and were damaging to our national security.
Nunes’ response was to simply repeat the Ukraine/Crownstrike/Steele Dossier/etc stuff all over again and then some. I’m shocked he didn’t ask “Yeah, but was Comet Ping Pong THOROUGHLY searched?”, he’s that far gone.
Immanentize
@PJ: I am such a person, but without scratch surface insult outrage perspective.
I have complained about using the word “gypped” on this here blog. But seeing puns in words and names is a positive human quality that separates us from Republicans.
Q. How many Eastern Europeans does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A. We don’t joke about that shit!
@zhena gogolia: yes
@Gin & Tonic: totally not responsive, but I love that gif!
Miss Bianca
@lamh36: Damn, just that Twitter thread was brutal!
MisterForkbeard
@Jeffro: I am honestly really worried about this. If Trump gets re-elected on the backs of people who really just don’t CARE about facts and they rub our faces in it, I can absolutely see people snapping and doing violent things. And it won’t be just at Republicans – it might even be our feckless/complicit/stupid media.
I can see this because it’s infuriating to ME, and I’m mostly levelheaded and hate drama.
MisterForkbeard
@Immanentize: On this note, I dated a romani girl in high school and she told me never to use “gypped” again. I hadn’t even realized it was a slur on gypsies or related to them in any way.
Never used it again. It’s weird what we don’t know without people telling us.
Spinoza Is My Co-pilot
“Fart in a breeze”
I don’t think so. The fascist spokespeople and officials will spin any and all irregularities described in the IG report about FBI conduct in regards to Trump’s 2016 campaign into nefarious, out-to-get Trump activities by part of the “deep state”, and claim that this de-legitimizes any investigation or findings about the Trump/Russia connection and election interference.
Trump will claim — in a typically moronic tweet or ten — that the report proves there was a conspiracy between “deep state” elements and Hillary/the Dems to gin up a phony Trump/Russia connection and conduct investigations into his campaign based on such false pretenses. Barr will do much the same, just using better vocabulary, spelling, and sentence structure. The entire massive fascist propaganda operation will follow suit, and much of whatever is still stupidly considered the “neutral” mainstream media will report these claims fairly credulously (at least Barr’s and similar such, the vile buffoon in the Oval Office no longer gets any credence outside fascist circles, so we have that at least).
For the mainstream media (broadcast and some cable TV, the FTFNYT and other such in print and online) I expect it’ll be not unlike the reception Barr’s Mueller Report spin got.
The fascist base will remain solidly all-in on Trump and swallow the bullshit straight, the vast mushy middle will mostly continue to either not care or “both-sides” it (“politics? a pox on both their houses!”), while most of the rest of us outside the useful-tool left will be all “WTF is wrong with you people!? That’s not what this report says, at all!”
How this all plays out for what really counts here (the 2020 elections) — whether it advantages the fascists, or our side — I have no idea. I don’t think it’s unimportant, though.
MisterForkbeard
@Spinoza Is My Co-pilot: What you’re describing IS already happening on the right, but it hasn’t been picked up by any mainstream media as a “both sides” issue yet, at least that I can see.
My ‘both sides’ bellwether of NPR hasn’t even commented on it, from what I can see.
PJ
@Immanentize: But it’s not a pun at all – it’s not playing with the sound and meaning of words, but making fun of the name of a human being (who is scurrilously attacked by Republicans for pointing out that Trump’s campaign manager was a sleazeball up to his eyeballs in corruption) because it’s a “funny” name to Americans who have watched a lot of Taco Bell commercials. (And of course the name and the food are pronounced differently, but most Americans will never realize that.)
I wasn’t offended by the title of the post, but I do think it’s stupid, and not in a good way. Did Mistermix intend to make fun of Chalupa herself? I don’t think so, but making light of someone’s name because it’s “funny” isn’t, in my opinion, funny, it’s first grade humor, and bad first grade humor at that.
trollhattan
@Immanentize:
I’ll go one better. After this ad campaign hit, when we’d take our Dal, Bruno outside to do his duty we started telling him to “drop the chalupa.” And eventually he could do it on command.
You can well guess what my instant reference is whenever I hear the word.
Immanentize
@trollhattan: Different than mine!
Spinoza Is My Co-pilot
@MisterForkbeard: I hope that remains the case with the mainstream media (which I consider to me most of the media — outside full-on fascist like Fox and hate radio, etc.) that most people follow most of the time.
I’ve just become very cynical about the mainstream media, including Nice Polite Republican radio.
jeffreyw
I’m pretty sure that the altering of the report by the FBI guy consisted of using an unauthorized font. There are rules here, folks.
Jeffro
@MisterForkbeard: if he gets re-elected, I’LL be the one who snaps!
i cannot contemplate that remote possibility right now, seriously.
Jay
Quaker in a Basement
@Gin & Tonic: Why explain? Because you were prompted to reply to a front-pager and a commenter in a way (see #21) that seems a little overboard and because someone (that’s me) asked you to.
Your explanation helps me understand your objection. Yes, Alexandra Chalupa has been the subject of conspiracy theories and even death threats. My estimation of the effect of the headline on the post differs from yours, but now you’ve helped me see your point of view. Thanks.
Anya
@Baud: Trump gets a head and he gets to use that until the end of his miserable life.
RSA
@MisterForkbeard:
Good for you. I’ve gone through the same experience, and it’s difficult. (Regardless of one’s political persuasions, of course.) And then you hear other people using the same or similar slurs…
chopper
@Gin & Tonic:
man, you have zero gorditas to give.
Dmbeaster
@PJ: The fact the her name and Taco Bell’s product are identical is a meaningless coincidence. I understand the reference to be shorthand for another wingnut conspiracy theater due to Ms. Chalupa reporting Manafort’s misconduct, as if that was bad. I doubt that Ms. Chalupa would object based on some of her public statements about this.
Gin & Tonic can get bent out of shape about it – seems misdirected given the actual context.
tobie
@Spinoza Is My Co-pilot: I agree. IG Michael Horowitz reminds me of no one more than Rod Rosenstein. He goes along to get along with his Republican bosses, and that is why in his report on Comey and now in the upcoming report he finds fault with career FBI people for picayune errors, whether deliberate or inadvertent. I imagine he thinks he’s being principled but in fact he’s being cowardly, trying to protect his own skin at the expense of the nation.
IG Horowitz is also the guy who cut corners to ensure Andrew McCabe would be fired before qualifying for retirement benefits. He’s never released a report on the activities of the NY office of the FBI in 2016, though I believe he said he would. As far as I can tell, he’s a slippery character who like Rosenstein looks out for himself and claims he’s super righteous.
Gin & Tonic
Have to say I’m surprised, and not in the “ooh, chocolate cake” way, by how many commenters feel compelled to tell me some version of “dude, lighten up, it’s a joke.”
If you say something, and somebody tells you it’s offensive, do you really want to go down the road of “no, it’s not offensive, it’s funny.” If it’s *somebody else* who said the thing, is defending the original writer really the hill you want to die on? “You’re wrong to find that offensive; here’s why” is never a good look, IMO.
I’m out.
jl
I haven’t seen any news on this yet. So, it’s a silent but non-deadly?
I remember reading that in some court procedures involving this bogus investigation, a federal judge told Barr’s flunkies at the DOJ to shit or get off the pot since so far they produced absolutely nothing. So maybe they had to release something, even if it was nothing.
hells littlest angel
@Gin & Tonic: Well put.
Gvg
@lamh36: he won’t be if he gets the nomination. I don’t think he will, but the black support is divided among all of the dem candidates. When we have a nominee, I expect who,ever it is will have about 95% of the black vote against Trump. But he won’t get the nom if he doesn’t get more than he is and it is a knock on him to me (white woman) that he doesn’t already have a better support from all his hometown groups. Anyway, he is not comparable to Trump, and any democrat who picks a lot of democrats to fill his admins jobs will do better by the whole country than any GOP candidate in this time. Having said that, I now have another concern with Sanders and i’m Glad he is sinking. I wouldn’t trust him to pick real democrats.
Changerous
And !POOF!
There goes another right-wing conspiracy theory up in the smoke it always was, and will be.
Mnemosyne
@Gin & Tonic:
FWIW, a chalupa is an actual Mexican foodstuff. I wouldn’t be surprised if the word came from a Slavic language or is a cognate. People forget that Mexico is just as much a nation of immigrants as the US, if not more so, and people of Slavic descent are pretty common.
Quaker in a Basement
Telling two people in one reply “FU” isn’t the same thing, especially when they didn’t come after you in the same way. Once you explained, folks seem to understand even if they don’t agree.
J R in WV
The other day I overheard a younger person (almost everyone is younger than me now!) say they disliked all politicians.
I wanted to say , “Well, me too, but one side I dislike because they disappoint me sometimes, and the other side I dislike because they are treasonous pawns of the Russian security services, and common thieves. I can pick which side I will vote for based upon those facts.” Disappointing folks over treasonous thieves every time~!!~
delosgatos
FWIW, the juxtaposition of “zero chalupas” and “fart in the wind” led to my first interpretation being a reference to Taco Bell food giving you gas.
Even given other interpretations, I’m struggling to see how “even more of a right wing delusion than were the smears of Chalupa” (to which the other interpretation of “zero chalupas” would seem equivalent) is “making fun of her name” or anything otherwise diminishing of A. Chalupa.
Ultimately though, “I’m right and you’re wrong to even question my interpretation, I’m done” just seems like grownup words for “la la la I can’t hear you”.