Trumpery – Balloon Juice

Friday Evening Open Thread: (Further) Proof Trump Really Is A Republican

by Anne Laurieat6:02 pm on October 18, 2019. It has 121 Comments.

(Jeff Danziger via GoComics.com)
.

Just not a professional Repub, like Dick Cheney:

the 'oil' is concentrated in Derr Ezzor where US troops are packing up & leaving. They have to because with US troops ordered out of Rojava the only way to supply them will be by parachute. Russian mercs and Iran-backed militias are already chomping at the bit to fill the vacuum. https://t.co/oxofL7AnBV
— Zeddy (@Zeddary) October 18, 2019

it's also not much. Syria's oil output is far smaller than Iraq, Iran or Saudi Arabia. A nice payday for a kleptocrat and a lifeline to a struggling dictator like Assad but hardly a strategic asset for a superpower.
— Zeddy (@Zeddary) October 18, 2019

This post is in All Too Normal, Assholes, Ever Get The Feeling You've Been Cheated?, Foreign Affairs, Hail to the Hairpiece, Military, Open Thread, Republican Venality and has 121 Comments.

Friday Morning Open Thread: Thick Mick Mulvaney Knows What His President Likes

by Anne Laurieat5:59 am on October 18, 2019. It has 271 Comments.

“You and what army?” pic.twitter.com/8TijggA6cD
— Schooley (@Rschooley) October 17, 2019

… Pre-sorted Starbursts, free money, and the wholehearted defense of even his dumbest moves.

Problem is, the guy with this kind of single-minded dedication to Lord Smallgloves’ whims is not necessarily an intellectual heavyweight.

here, from the WH podium, is Chief of Staff Mulvaney acknowledging quid pro quo – military aid for Ukraine to defend itself from Russian aggression in return for “DNC server” investigation intended to absolve Russia for its interference in 2016 election to help Trump win https://t.co/e5dk0J6ClX
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) October 17, 2019

"To be clear, what you described is a quid pro quo" — Here's Mick Mulvaney casually admitting that Trump held up aid to Ukraine as leverage to get the Ukrainian government to investigate the 2016 election pic.twitter.com/ylz7BKEmKd
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 17, 2019

Everyone’s free to choose the name by which they’re known, but as I have been pointing out for some time, Mick is generally not the cognomen of someone renowned for his wisdom.

Anyone stupid enough to work for Trump is too stupid to pull off the con. https://t.co/Fbw0Pgxg9o
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) October 17, 2019

Journos: don’t soft pedal was Mulvaney just said. They froze weapons aid to Ukraine until they agreed to get on board the Seth Rich/Crowdstrike server conspiracy theory. Why not just demand the Kurds invade Comet Ping Pong. We’re in freefall here.
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) October 17, 2019

Voiceover: Later, that same day…

NEW: Mulvaney walks back today's press briefing: “There never was any condition on the flow of the aid related to the matter of the DNC server.”
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) October 17, 2019

Like everyone around Trump, seems like Mulvaney’s goal is now protecting himself. This is the area where he has personal exposure and details of his involvement had started leaking out. So he got out there and put it on the president. https://t.co/CVz2daPnwz
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) October 17, 2019

SRSLY?

trump actually thought mick did a good job until someone had to tell trump that in fact mick did not do a good job https://t.co/IztPoX50uq
— darth™ (@darth) October 17, 2019

Late Night Open Thread: So Where’s Your Tipping Point, Repubs?

by Anne Laurieat12:25 am on October 18, 2019. It has 115 Comments.

G7 to Doral is hardly today's only news about @realDonaldTrump profiting from his presidency:
An evening of prayer for the Kurds is scheduled for Trump Hotel DC.
Trump will profit from people praying for a remedy to a crisis he instigated.
via @1100Penn https://t.co/AoSL97C28O
— Zach Everson (@Z_Everson) October 18, 2019

How bad does @realdonaldtrump’s Doral need this business? Look what’s happened there during his presidency. In ONE YEAR, from ‘16-‘17:
—revenue fell 13.8%
—Net operating income fell 62% pic.twitter.com/RTr9OST3wd
— David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) October 17, 2019

She makes a good point! We *dont* know if @realdonaldtrump is making a profit or losing $ overall. To me, the bigger Q is: is Trump using his power to force people to pay him money?
Today, the answer was a huge yes. https://t.co/J0tzQyjSwG
— David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) October 18, 2019

Trump doesn't want to put out any fires. His campaign (and Putin) taught him and his team that ten fires are better than one. Only so many firefighters, only so much water, and they are far easier to start than to put out. https://t.co/VoNs0ESUSm
— Mig Greengard (@chessninja) October 17, 2019

It always feels like it’s getting worse, but also it’s getting worse.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) October 17, 2019

Trump calls Rep. Louie Gohmert "a man who is smart as hell."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 18, 2019

NEW: Things aren't getting better for the Senate's most vulnerable Republicans.
Incumbents in #MESen #NCSen #COSen #AZSen and #IASen saw their net approval slide in the third quarter, with a 9 point drop for Joni Ernst – the biggest fall in the Senate. https://t.co/hSIvK5ez1A pic.twitter.com/KlLZJGPE9r
— Eli Yokley (@eyokley) October 17, 2019

I’ve said since November 2016 that:
A. I don’t think Trump will finish his term
B. Likely that Repubs will turn on Trump, not out of principle or because it’s a good move for them, but because Trump will get so bad that it’ll be their least catastrophic option
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) October 17, 2019

This post is in Foreign Affairs, Grifters Gonna Grift, Hail to the Hairpiece, Nobody could have predicted, Open Thread, Repubs in Disarray! and has 115 Comments.

Emoluments (Open Thread)

by Betty Crackerat1:16 pm on October 17, 2019. It has 235 Comments.

U.S. Constitution Emoluments Clause:

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

Breaking news from The Post:

President Trump has awarded the G-7 Summit of world leaders to his own private company, scheduling the massive gathering for next year at his Trump Doral resort outside Miami, the White House said Thursday.
That decision will bring hundreds of diplomats, media and security personnel to Trump’s financially struggling resort — where profits fell 70 percent after Trump entered politics. These events typically fill the host resort, bringing large payments for rooms and meals, and providing global publicity.
This appears to be the first time in American history that a president has given such a massive contract to himself. Trump still owns the Doral resort, and can draw profits from it, though his company has said they will not over-charge the government.

Can this be another article of impeachment? Trump on the site selection:

“They [Trump aides] went to places all over the country, and they came back and they said, ‘This is where we’d like to be.’ It’s not about me. It’s about getting the right location.”

Uh-huh. Everyone knows how pleasant inland Miami is during the summer, which is also hurricane season.

Open thread.

This post is in Assholes, General Stupidity, Open Thread, Politics, Republican Stupidity, Trump Crime Cartel and has 235 Comments.

Cold Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: Norman Desmond in the WH

by Anne Laurieat3:45 am on October 17, 2019. It has 35 Comments.

Oh hey! Rudy's Ukraine extortion coconspirators, DiGenova and Toensing, are back from meeting with oligarch client in Vienna (who seems to have funded the whole operation) to talk with Lou Dobbs about the missing DNC server, Crowdstrike and Hillary's emails! pic.twitter.com/xPQtgn8cKW
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) October 17, 2019

.@MerriamWebster can we do "decompensating"?
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) October 16, 2019

“I am big. It’s the pictures that got small.”

Trump watches Lou Dobbs in the same sad way Norma Desmond watched her movies every night.
— Schooley (@Rschooley) October 17, 2019

There are a lot of Sunset Boulevard gifs. pic.twitter.com/WwWQiI9BUr
— Schooley (@Rschooley) October 17, 2019

This post is in Clap Louder!, Decline and Fall, Hail to the Hairpiece, Impeachment Inquiry, Open Thread, Repubs in Disarray! and has 35 Comments.