State of a divided union
February 28, 2017 7:27 AM   Subscribe

Does Trump know he’s president? Tonight, President Trump will address Congress; "GOP lawmakers want guidance on how to handle Obamacare and tax reform." Trump's guests for his address: Scalia's widow, a private-school success story, three people who lost someone to an illegal immigrant. This morning, an interview with the president aired on Fox & Friends, where Trump discussed the leaks coming out of the White House, slain Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens, who died in the Yemen raid, and the protests around the country that he believes President Obama is behind.

Dozens of Historically Black College and University leaders met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Monday; last night, a photo taken of the event began making the rounds, showing advisor Kellyanne Conway making herself at home on the couch.

CNN: Trump tweets and the TV news stories behind them

Trump grades himself: A for achievement, C/C+ for messaging because “I or my people” 👀 haven't explained well enough
posted by roomthreeseventeen (2645 comments total) 86 users marked this as a favorite
 
At last, I've caught up with the thread.
posted by Gelatin at 7:27 AM on February 28, 2017 [71 favorites]


Thanks 317
posted by INFJ at 7:29 AM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


Gelatin, enjoy that rare moment...
posted by DreamerFi at 7:30 AM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Also, AG Jeff Sessions will deliver a speech at 11am today on African American History Month
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:30 AM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Mod note: Let's keep the noise/chitchat to a minimum in here, see if this thread can last a little longer without a hundred comments about "hey a new thread".
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 7:30 AM on February 28, 2017 [25 favorites]


He may know that he's president, but he believes that he's king.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:31 AM on February 28, 2017 [13 favorites]


Also, AG Jeff Sessions will deliver a speech at 11am today on African American History Month

Real and fake tags, please.
posted by dinty_moore at 7:31 AM on February 28, 2017 [21 favorites]


Also, AG Jeff Sessions will deliver a speech at 11am today on African American History Month

Pro or con?
posted by Mchelly at 7:34 AM on February 28, 2017 [49 favorites]


He may know that he's president, but he believes that he's king.

Trump's downfall is that only about 27% is willing to believe it too, and more will oppose him.
posted by Gelatin at 7:36 AM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


I was driving to work this morning and ended up in a thick fog bank. I mean, seriously thick. Zero visibility in front of me even with headlights and foglights on. Radio reception dropped for a moment to just static and when the music came back a moment later, a different song was playing on the same station. The fog lifted. For a moment, just a moment, I thought that I'd found the inter-dimensional crossrip and worked my way into the correct timeline. I'd planned to send for the rest of you, but alas I'm still here. Maybe tomorrow.
posted by Servo5678 at 7:37 AM on February 28, 2017 [214 favorites]


1344 days until the next presidential elections.
posted by Pendragon at 7:38 AM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


On the subject of history months:
Since 1988, U.S. presidents have issued annual proclamations designating the month of March as Women’s History Month.
posted by J.K. Seazer at 7:39 AM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]


I hope Trump starts out with a joke. That will work.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 7:40 AM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


...slain Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens, who died in the Yemen raid...

Whose father refuses to meet with Trump.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:41 AM on February 28, 2017 [15 favorites]


I hope Trump starts out with a joke. That will work.

"It's been a great first month, hasn't it?!"
posted by Talez at 7:41 AM on February 28, 2017 [14 favorites]


I'd hoped that I'd found the inter-dimensional crossrip and found my way into the correct timeline.

I can't find it now, but someone Sunday night tweeted that the Oscar being taken from La La Land and rightfully given to Moonlight was the universe beginning the process of course correcting from the bad timeline and fighting to get back on the right one.

Though their tweet was better said and more poignant.
posted by chris24 at 7:43 AM on February 28, 2017 [72 favorites]


Gawd. Our Canadian media makes me roll my eyes at time; the headline in the Globe & Mail this morning is: Trump looks for reset with speech to Congress. The first line: "Donald Trump gets a chance to put the rocky start to his presidency behind him on Tuesday night with a speech to the U.S. Congress here he will lay out his plans for the year..."

Really? Really, you think one good speech laying out his priorities for the year is going to undo the clusterfuck of his first few weeks? Is this his pivot moment, finally, do you think? He's going to emerge as the statesman of the new age, is he? FFS, whoever wrote that.
posted by nubs at 7:45 AM on February 28, 2017 [46 favorites]


Giving him the benefit of the doubt seems a very Canadian thing to do?
posted by INFJ at 7:47 AM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Remember 1812!

Here are two different Trump-Russia enthusiast-driven investigations (and link-roundup) resources.

https://www.sutori.com/story/trumputin

https://www.reddit.com/r/TrumpInvestigation/comments/5ub9c7/trump_investigation_megapost/

posted by sebastienbailard at 7:49 AM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Really? Really, you think one good speech laying out his priorities for the year is going to undo the clusterfuck of his first few weeks?

If they do, they aren't alone in pushing that ridiculous, normalizing story line. NPR had exactly the same angle this morning.
posted by Gelatin at 7:49 AM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


Yup, that's Canadian optimism for you :)

Trump grades himself: A for achievement

Did he define what he has actually achieved, beyond immigration agents and unofficial agents of hate and fear vandalizing Jewish cemetaries and other hate-based crimes increasing daily?
posted by filthy light thief at 7:49 AM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Found it:

@jonnysun
THIS IS THE RESULT OF OUR PROPER TIMELINE SHINING THRU THE SEAMS OF THE ALTERNATE REALITY WE FELL INTO AS THE UNIVERSE TRIES TO SELF-CORRECT
posted by chris24 at 7:50 AM on February 28, 2017 [63 favorites]


Trump doesn't pivot. He probably doesn't reset, either.
posted by notyou at 7:50 AM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Jeff Sessions: Reefer madness is back in style and the DOJ Ferguson and Chicago reports were "anecdotal, and not so scientifically based", but he didn't actually read them.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:51 AM on February 28, 2017 [17 favorites]


So, Mr. Obama is our era's Emmanuel Goldstein now.
posted by ocschwar at 7:52 AM on February 28, 2017 [17 favorites]


House Democratic women announce they will wear white to Trump's speech to Congress - reference to suffragist movement (statement attached to a tweet)
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:52 AM on February 28, 2017 [42 favorites]


Every time I see Sessions I secretly suspect he's benjamin-buttoning into the world's most racist baby.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:53 AM on February 28, 2017 [71 favorites]


Trump doesn't pivot. He probably doesn't reset, either.

You can only turn him off, then back on.
And pray the 'DISK ERR' goes away
posted by eclectist at 7:54 AM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Why would you turn him back on?
posted by ursus_comiter at 7:57 AM on February 28, 2017 [65 favorites]


this is a bizarre thing to choose to lie about

So far this administration will just baldfaced lie about anything and everything they can no matter how sensible it actually is to lie about it all. I'm not surprised.
posted by flatluigi at 7:57 AM on February 28, 2017 [22 favorites]


Spicer lies to the press literally every time he answers a question. This administration's credibility is already completely broken, it's just that their lies have yet to have catastrophic consequences.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:58 AM on February 28, 2017 [36 favorites]


So, Mr. Obama is our era's Emmanuel Goldstein now.

There is a global conspiracy to hide the fact that Mr. Obama's birth certificate _does not exist_ because _he does not exist_. He is secretly George Soros in a remarkably clever and intricate disguise.

I would provide my evidence of this, but I%*#%(!(#(@

NO CARRIER
posted by delfin at 8:00 AM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


Spicer lies to the press literally every time he answers a question.

I was telling a coworker yesterday that the only point of press conferences anymore is to get the questions on the record.
posted by Etrigan at 8:01 AM on February 28, 2017 [110 favorites]


The lies will have no consequences until Spicer denies the rivers of blood in the streets or the piles of corpses or the smoking/flooded crater that once was an american city or whatever undeniable awful thing there'll be video of on everybody's FB feeds. Even then, that'll only reduce the administration's credibility to 27-ish%.
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:03 AM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]




I hope Trump starts out with a joke. That will work.

"So, three patriotic American Nazis walk into a bar..."
posted by darkstar at 8:04 AM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Trump's First Month: An Evaluation
Governing is hard, and every new president faces a learning curve and procedural hurdles. Obama, Trump’s predecessor, also swept into office with big promises and, despite majorities in Congress, took more than a year to enact health-care reform and financial regulation.

But much of Trump’s appeal was that, as a businessman and artist of The Deal, he could cut through the dithering and gridlock and partisan bickering. Instead, in his first month, Trump has mostly been the loser in his battles against entrenched institutions. Rather than bend Washington to his will, Trump has, in his first month, mainly bent his priorities to the will of Republicans in Washington.
Why Trump can’t make a deal
Trump is having trouble delivering the goods. At this point in his presidency, Barack Obama had far more nominees both named and confirmed, and he had passed the stimulus bill, the Lily Ledbetter Act, and a massive expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program. As of today, Trump hasn’t signed any major legislation, and none seems close to his desk — in fact, Republicans and Democrats both tell me they’re beginning to doubt that Obamacare gets replaced or a major tax reform bill gets passed at all.

The reason the future looks bleak for Trump’s top priorities is that he seems to be doing everything he can to alienate the partners he needs — particularly Democrats, whose cooperation he needs in the Senate. His playbook has been more Breitbart than Art of the Deal.
posted by peeedro at 8:17 AM on February 28, 2017 [21 favorites]


The White House’s Politico slime job, from start to finish: "Dayspring confirms that Spicer leveled this SEAL-related accusation in the call itself. That wasn’t all: The press secretary also spoke in that call of the possibility of pitching that story to another outlet, the better to unmask Isenstadt’s alleged ridiculing of a dead Navy SEAL. Isenstadt explained he had done no such thing."
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:18 AM on February 28, 2017 [23 favorites]


"This was a mission that started before I got here," the president said.

Shut the fuck up Donnie. You're out of your element.
posted by Smedleyman at 8:19 AM on February 28, 2017 [25 favorites]


Typically when caught out in a lie, a politician will backpeddle and weasle-word, but then eventually if the lie is a big enough whopper, there will be shame and an apology. Except that doesn't work when the people involved don't actually have a capability to feel shame. Our social and political norms depend on everyone agreeing on some very basic standards of human behavior. But then you get people who are antisocial in every regard and the rest of us just don't know what to do with them. They are so fundamentally different from we are, we keep trying to fit their behavior into our own familiar paradigms and it just... doesn't work. It will never work. No matter how many long thinkipieces we read or write, it's not going to work.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:19 AM on February 28, 2017 [57 favorites]


The Democrats are like, at most only 50% on board right now.
posted by Artw at 8:19 AM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]




In response to New York Times ad, NRA accuses the media of arson “America has stopped looking to the New York Times for the truth,” the 75-second ad declares. “Now more than ever, the times are burning, and the media elite have been caught holding the match.”
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:22 AM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Since they are basically the KKK I'm sure they believe matches should only be used for responsible purposes like burning crosses.
posted by Artw at 8:24 AM on February 28, 2017 [13 favorites]


@benyc: Maxine Waters is skipping Trump's speech to Congress. Told caucus this morning that anyone who can't sit still shouldn't go, per sources.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:25 AM on February 28, 2017 [30 favorites]


You'd think with all that gun industry money, they could buy a fucking metaphor.
posted by Etrigan at 8:25 AM on February 28, 2017 [42 favorites]


I don't know about that, but I know I have an NRA card that's about to see who's holding the match when I goddamn get home.
posted by corb at 8:25 AM on February 28, 2017 [114 favorites]






@mekosoff: here's a trump adviser suggesting it's the democrats who are making bomb threats against jewish community centers

I am legit surprised that it took this long.
posted by Etrigan at 8:28 AM on February 28, 2017 [22 favorites]


“Now more than ever, the times are burning, and the media elite have been caught holding the match.”

I'm not sure that parses grammatically; I'm not sure how the "times are burning" has any meaning. But the whole thing can be summed up by Billy Joel, it just needs couple of new verses.
posted by nubs at 8:30 AM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


I'm going to reiterate my earlier suggestion: it's time to start pressing store chains to dump the National Enquirer.

They are engaged in defamation in order to coerce Obama into staying out of public life. This shit will place Obama's family in physical danger, right in time for his elder daughter to enroll in college without secret service protection.

I'd say start with CVS.
posted by ocschwar at 8:30 AM on February 28, 2017 [28 favorites]


The Boy who cried wolf.

The President who cried DEMOCRATS
posted by INFJ at 8:31 AM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


I am legit surprised that it took this long.

Me too, Etrigan. Blaming Jews for creating our own tragedies is sort of a Western tradition.
posted by Sophie1 at 8:31 AM on February 28, 2017 [40 favorites]


His playbook has been more Breitbart than Art of the Deal.

Well, I've never seen a ventriloquist act that where the puppet didn't sound like the person with their hand up its arse making a funny voice.
posted by lmfsilva at 8:33 AM on February 28, 2017 [16 favorites]


There's a special place in hell for the people who introduced the term "false flag" into the popular conservative vocabulary.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:33 AM on February 28, 2017 [13 favorites]


Where in the Bill of Rights is it guaranteed that the corporations supporting the NRA have the right to use all means necessary to maximize profits off of people exercising their 2nd amendment rights?
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:33 AM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


There's a special place in hell for the people who introduced the term "false flag" into the popular conservative vocabulary.

Alex Jones at least deserves a special recognition award.
posted by Artw at 8:35 AM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Where in the Bill of Rights is it guaranteed that the corporations supporting the NRA have the right to use all means necessary to maximize profits off of people exercising their 2nd amendment rights?

Pretty sure it's the Bible, duh.
posted by Etrigan at 8:35 AM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


@mekosoff: here's a trump adviser suggesting it's the democrats who are making bomb threats against jewish community centers

I don't fucking care who is doing it. I want it to stop and I want the people who are in charge of the government to say "this is not okay" and to commit to putting a stop to it. I have no problem as a liberal democrat saying "maybe a democratic voter is behind it." I highly doubt it, since white supremacists gotta white suprem, and based on almost all the other similar attacks where they've caught the guy, and the fact that the alt right sure seems pretty quiet about the whole thing, kind of like the call is coming from inside the house, but sure, maybe. Now can you agree it's a bad thing and fucking SPEAK OUT AGAINST IT AND DO SOMETHING about it?

Since the start of 2017, we have witnessed nearly 90 bomb threats being called into JCCs.
posted by Mchelly at 8:35 AM on February 28, 2017 [82 favorites]


I hope Trump starts out with a joke. That will work.

"It's been a great first month, hasn't it?!"


I predict a minute of blathering about Arnie's bad ratings on The Apprentice.
posted by lagomorphius at 8:36 AM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Alex Jones at least deserves a special recognition award.

Like an A for achievement and a C/C+ for messaging?
posted by peeedro at 8:37 AM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


I wish there were actual real consequences for "history looks back and wonders how any of this ever happened."

Especially as it's going to be cockroaches doing the reviewing, at this rate.
posted by maxwelton at 8:38 AM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


I am legit surprised that it took this long.

It's definitely bubbling up through the toxic swamps: "clearly it's the BDS movement and the people who supported Obama's Iran deal and not all the actual fucking white supremacists and lulznazis who were not shy about their affiliations..."
posted by holgate at 8:39 AM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


"One" bomb threat is abnormal. Ninety bomb threats come so often that they seem normal, which is in itself abnormal.
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:40 AM on February 28, 2017 [28 favorites]


I think we found our suspect.
posted by Artw at 8:40 AM on February 28, 2017


three people who lost someone to an illegal immigrant

Are you kidding me? No, I know you are not.
posted by thelonius at 8:43 AM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


I am legit surprised that it took this long.

Trump himself did it at the rambling mess of a press conference:
Some of the signs you'll see are not put up by the people that love or live Donald Trump. They're put up by the other side, and you think it's like playing it straight? No. But you have some of those signs, and some of that anger is caused by the other side. They'll do signs and they'll do drawings that are inappropriate. It won't be my people. It will be the people on the other side to anger people like you.
Funny how "it's probably actually liberals, who knows?" only works as a talking point as long as the bomb threats/cemetery vandalism/etc don't get investigated. There's a serious political conflict of interest there, and it sickens me.
posted by jedicus at 8:43 AM on February 28, 2017 [52 favorites]


I started listening to a new podcast, the 45th, which has come to a terrifying conclusion. Based on tweets & public statements going back years, they put forward the idea that Trump actually thinks he's going to return to Iraq and "take the oil." In his statements, he's called several times for the U.S. to seize the oil reserves of Iraq as "repayment" for overthrowing Hussein. He believes that the proceeds from this action can then be used to pay off the national debt, with the remains to be divided up among soldiers & veterans. This notion also feeds into his other inane promises:

1. Will "get rid of ISIS" by taking out what he believes to be their source of funding
2. Will force other oil-producing nations to accept totally asymmetric economic terms from the US for fear of similar retaliation
3. Will require a huge occupying military force to enact
4. Will pay for the above without raising any taxes

By the 80s movie-villain corporate-raider logic he aspires to, it seems like this may be the missing link between his incoherent promises. It also makes sense when paired with Bannon's Crusader fantasies.
posted by Kitty Stardust at 8:43 AM on February 28, 2017 [39 favorites]


C/C+ for messaging

Is Trump passing through immigration now?
posted by zrail at 8:45 AM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Q: Is there an internal leak inquiry right now?
MR. SPICER: Not that I’m aware of.


Has no one learned from classic stories of the tricksters, like leprechauns, jinn, and lawyers, who answer very specifically to the words you use in your question?

In this case, the question should not have included "right now," because the Trickster Spicer could deny knowing that there was any action happening on such a case at that exact moment in time, as he was in a press meeting at that time, and not personally interrogating anyone regarding leaks.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:45 AM on February 28, 2017 [33 favorites]


What's the over/under on the day he turns on Congress and blames them for not MAGA?
posted by archimago at 8:45 AM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Honestly, I'm kind of surprised that they're going with the "maybe it's the democrats" when "maybe it's Islamic terrorists" is such an easy low-hanging fruit that also conveniently meets their EO needs. It's almost like once again their evil is balanced out by their incompetence. Yay?
posted by Mchelly at 8:46 AM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


Well, if it was Islamic terrorists, they'd have to investigate it. If it's white Democrats, maybe not.
posted by dinty_moore at 8:48 AM on February 28, 2017 [22 favorites]


roomthreeseventeen: In response to New York Times ad, NRA accuses the media of arson “America has stopped looking to the New York Times for the truth,” the 75-second ad declares. “Now more than ever, the times are burning, and the media elite have been caught holding the match.”

"And in such times, your best action is defense, and your best defense is a gun. Strike that, a room full of guns."

Time to fight fire with guns!
posted by filthy light thief at 8:49 AM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


For a moment, just a moment, I thought that I'd found the inter-dimensional crossrip and worked my way into the correct timeline. I'd planned to send for the rest of you, but alas I'm still here. Maybe tomorrow.

Or perhaps there's another explanation for what's been going on around here lately.
posted by Fuzzypumper at 8:50 AM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


But then there is this:
The GOP controls the White House
The GOP controls the Senate
The GOP controls The House
The GOP will soon control the Supreme Court
The GOP controls most of the governorships
The GOP controls most of the state legislatures.
The good news? Any and all failures can now be clearly placed upon them. No excuses from now on. No more passing the blame.
posted by Postroad at 8:51 AM on February 28, 2017 [31 favorites]


“Now more than ever, the times are burning, and the media elite have been caught holding the match.”

well i guess when the reichstag catches fire we'll know who did it?
posted by murphy slaw at 8:51 AM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


No excuses from now on. No more passing the blame.\

Oh, they'll find a way. The Party of Personal Responsibility will remain completely incapable of taking any responsibility for their own actions. They will be blaming Obama for the next 200 years.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:53 AM on February 28, 2017 [70 favorites]


Metafilter: leprechauns, jinn, and lawyers
posted by theodolite at 8:54 AM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


TPM's Josh Marshall on antisemitism and right-wing politics: Canaries in the Coal Mine.
Recent desecrations of cemeteries in St. Louis and Philadelphia and the low-fi terror campaign of bomb threats against Jewish community centers across the country reminds us why in the post-Emancipation era, European Jews and subsequently American Jews, have gravitated heavily toward progressive political orientations. This is not always the case. In various times and regions, Jews have belonged to conservative parties like the UK tories or French Gaullist parties, for instance. But they are virtually absent from rightist politics. The reason is clear enough. Anti-semitism is almost inevitably and almost always part of rightist political movements. It is a natural feature. This is not always explicitly so. It is not always that way at first, but eventually it is always there.
Marshall makes a very interesting point in this piece, noting that the KKK weren't just anti-Black, but also antisemitic. It is thoroughly obvious to anyone being honest with themselves that this dramatic increase in antisemitic crimes (bomb threats, grave desecrations, and so forth) is tied with Republican party's rhetoric.

I'm going to extend his thesis a bit to discuss a related phenomenon: Anti-Catholic sentiment and revanchist politics. I am not making this point to take away from the particular, specific menace faced by the country's Jewish community. However, I do think it is worth considering how another religious group, whom many would feel is quite mainstream, has been attacked and demonized by the same group that is likely responsible for directing hate towards Jewish people (and Black people, and Muslim people, and immigrants, and LGBTQ folks......).

The KKK has an explicitly anti-Catholic history. At this point, Catholic people are not being targeted in the same was as Jewish people, but I think there's reason to be concerned that it could escalate to that. Consider the article The Ku Klux Klan and American Anti-Catholicism (CW: racist KKK quote, Conservative Catholic site, so some offensive ideas found in the links).
The list of undesirables that had to be driven from our nation’s shores now included Catholics and Jews, as well as African-Americans. This explains why so many Klan chapters were organized in urban centers north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Members feared the growing ballot-box power of immigrant Catholics and Jews. [emphasis mine]
Wikipedia has a few details on some specifically anti-Catholic crimes.

The specifics of anti-Catholic persecution often revolved around immigration from places within Europe that (some) white Protestants did not like, as well as the fear that Catholics were first and foremost loyal to the Pope. They'd burn crosses in front of churches, kill Catholic priests, and harass practitioners.

Although in the past 40 years, this anti-Catholic sentiment has reduced, it was still quite present in my life growing up, albeit in subtler forms. I grew up in the Church, and sooooo many times as a kid, I was told by Protestants how Catholic people weren't actually Christians. That's why it's been so very upsetting to see so many Catholic people fall in line with the KKK party--I think it's a matter of time before Catholics are back in the radical right's terroristic sights. Anti-Catholic sentiment--another canary in the coal mine.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 8:55 AM on February 28, 2017 [39 favorites]




Governing is hard, and every new president faces a learning curve and procedural hurdles. Obama, Trump’s predecessor, also swept into office with big promises and, despite majorities in Congress, took more than a year to enact health-care reform and financial regulation.

This false equivalency has been bothering me and it's been making the rounds.

It's comparing "well we have had some bumps in building the house because our electrical contractor substituted the wrong grade of wiring to pass the inspection so the guest powder room's vanity light had to be re-wired" and "we didn't know you needed tools to build a house but we haven't burned the mouldering piles of wood yet".
posted by winna at 8:55 AM on February 28, 2017 [54 favorites]


why the Jews? Götz Aly. Tracing the prehistory of the Holocaust from the 1800s to the Nazis' assumption of power in 1933, Aly shows that German anti-Semitism was―to a previously overlooked extent―driven in large part by material concerns, not racist ideology or religious animosity. As Germany made its way through the upheaval of the Industrial Revolution, the difficulties of the lethargic, economically backward German majority stood in marked contrast to the social and economic success of the agile Jewish minority. This success aroused envy and fear among the Gentile population, creating fertile ground for murderous Nazi politics.
posted by robbyrobs at 8:59 AM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Trump doesn't pivot. He probably doesn't reset, either.

You can only turn him off, then back on.
And pray the 'DISK ERR' goes away


I just had a terrifying thought -- there's going to be an animatronic Trump in the Disney Hall of Presidents. I wonder if they will be able to make the hair and skin color look fake enough. Robo-trump might pass the the turing test... not so sure about actual Trump.
posted by nathan_teske at 8:59 AM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Tuesday said that members of Congress have not seen evidence yet to support reports that associates of President Donald Trump were in contact with Russian officials before the election.

// Look for evidence
Evaluate evidence
Report on evidence
posted by Rykey at 9:00 AM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


He said he was certain Obama loyalists were behind both those protests and White House leaks. "In terms of him being behind things, that's politics. And it will probably continue," he added.

dude if you want to get obama loyalists out of the government appoint their fucking replacements
posted by murphy slaw at 9:01 AM on February 28, 2017 [28 favorites]


He believes that the proceeds from this action can then be used to pay off the national debt, with the remains to be divided up among soldiers & veterans.

That would be amazing. That's a straight-up high-mediaeval mercenary army, right down to the tissue-thin justification. Will they get three days to loot and rape Baghdad, too?
posted by Leon at 9:02 AM on February 28, 2017 [22 favorites]


Is this his pivot moment, finally, do you think?

Yeah, I was hearing some talk of this on XM as I drove to work, and just: ugh.

This is not hard: Trump is precisely as awful as he has always presented himself to be. He will not "pivot" to a more sane and nuanced style of governance, anymore than a rattlesnake can "pivot" away from being a poisonous reptile.
posted by tocts at 9:06 AM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


Trump would deffo pull a Galba and stiff the legions of their customary donative
posted by theodolite at 9:06 AM on February 28, 2017 [14 favorites]


I went to a Town Hall with Jim Himes last week and he said a few things that are important to note:
According to Himes, there are quite a few Rs who are horrified at what is happening but are terrified that one tweet will ruin their careers/lives.

The resistance is working. It's not going to stop everything, but the travel ban may have gone unchallenged if it were not for the voice of the people.

According to Himes, there is a more-than-good chance that there will be a significant terrorist "event" in the US over the next two years. While he never said this was the definitive direction, he himself fears it will be the excuse for martial law, and then it's just darkness from that point forward.
posted by archimago at 9:07 AM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


Rachel Maddow's little Russia primer functions as a nice explainer for anyone confused about some of the Russia allegations. Particularly strong is the section on the Florida house that a Russian heavy paid Trump $50 million too much for in what seems to be an attempt to get Trump out of trouble with Deutschebank, who was calling in a loan Trump couldn't pay. That Deutschebank was also conveniently laundering money for Russia is a connection that she draws quite cleanly. New to me was the information that the house is now being demolished, having been unoccupied since the sale.
posted by xyzzy at 9:07 AM on February 28, 2017 [66 favorites]


dude if you want to get obama loyalists out of the government appoint their fucking replacements

Im looking for the link, but I think just this morning he said something like he's not going to appoint lower level positions because a lot of them are "not necessary".

They really are trying to run the entire federal government out of Bannon's office.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:08 AM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


I grew up in the Church, and sooooo many times as a kid, I was told by Protestants how Catholic people weren't actually Christians. That's why it's been so very upsetting to see so many Catholic people fall in line with the KKK party...

I was raised Baptist and had a similar experience growing up. We had those anti-Catholic Chick tracts at our church and everything.

However, I doubt we'll see a serious resurgence of anti-Catholic sentiment. The big thing is that there used to be an ethnic component to the KKK's original anti-Catholic stance. Catholics were Irish, Irish were immigrants. But then the Irish were integrated successfully into American whiteness, and now the right is cool with Catholics as allies in the fight against gay rights and reproductive rights.

I don't see that dynamic changing any time soon.

Whereas anti-Semitism will become a more and more serious problem as the Trump presidency goes on because the position of Jews in American whiteness has always been quite tenuous even in periods when overt anti-Semitism was more muted. They're still an ethnic group apart and thus easy to demonise when a scapegoat becomes necessary.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:11 AM on February 28, 2017 [30 favorites]


They really are trying to run the entire federal government out of Bannon's office.

And into the ground.
posted by Etrigan at 9:11 AM on February 28, 2017 [13 favorites]


Im looking for the link, but I think just this morning he said something like he's not going to appoint lower level positions because a lot of them are "not necessary".

then he has to like, fire them, or they're going to be obama's people for the rest of his presidency.

god i want to see trump's google search history
what is a filibuster
what government agency has the uraniums
how to veto an appeals court
posted by murphy slaw at 9:12 AM on February 28, 2017 [31 favorites]


Iraq currently an ally of American and Iraqis are currently fighting side by side with Iraqis. Encouraging them to think of the Americas as a fifth column their to steal their country seems like a very bad idea.
posted by Artw at 9:12 AM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


From the previous thread: soren_lorensen does anyone know of a history podcast that covers Nazism and fascism and/or WWII from a political standpoint

Check out For the Record, a bi-weekly podcast produced and hosted by Dave Emory for WFMU and KFJC. Past shows also available on Spitfire.org. Dry, dense stuff but pretty comprehensive.
posted by christopherious at 9:12 AM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


However, I doubt we'll see a serious resurgence of anti-Catholic sentiment. ... now the right is cool with Catholics as allies in the fight against gay rights and reproductive rights.

If Francis decides to insert himself more overtly into anti-U.S.-Republican politics, look for this to turn on a dime.
posted by Etrigan at 9:12 AM on February 28, 2017 [25 favorites]


Yes, but, Artw, what if bad ideas.......were actually good?
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:13 AM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


Trump would deffo pull a Galba and stiff the legions of their customary donative

He thinks he's a Vespasian, but he's not even Galba. Probably just an Otho.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 9:13 AM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


Since it is inevitable he will lie about something tonight, I can not even express how desperately I want some gutsy young democrat who doesn't mind possibly being a 1 term congressperson to yell "YOU LIE" tonight.
posted by jermsplan at 9:13 AM on February 28, 2017 [37 favorites]


What the fuck is with Pivot truthers, anyway? HE IS NOT GOING TO BECOME NORMAL.
posted by Artw at 9:14 AM on February 28, 2017 [29 favorites]


I'm a pretty firm believer in the Everett interpretation being the only sensible interpretation of quantum mechanics. But I'm in this particular timeline, and so are my friends, and it sucks. I hope some other me's are having a better time (complaining about private email servers, most likely.)
posted by Dumsnill at 9:14 AM on February 28, 2017


He thinks he's a Vespasian, but he's not even Galba. Probably just an Otho.

dude he thinks probably thinks vespasian is a pepperidge farm cookie
posted by murphy slaw at 9:14 AM on February 28, 2017 [22 favorites]


Well, he knows Girl Scouts are against him.
posted by Artw at 9:15 AM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


I just had a terrifying thought -- there's going to be an animatronic Trump in the Disney Hall of Presidents.

Trump would deffo pull a Galba and stiff the legions of their customary donative


Got me thinking about how if we come out of this alive, we're likely to see a return of Damnatio Memoriae and there might eventually just be the empty spot where Animatronic Trump had been torn and chiseled out. Like the Disney version of Geta in the Severan Tondo.
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:15 AM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


Bannon is Catholic and allied with anti-Francis cardinals at the Vatican (spoiler: they're American).
posted by soren_lorensen at 9:15 AM on February 28, 2017 [32 favorites]


I just had a terrifying thought -- there's going to be an animatronic Trump in the Disney Hall of Presidents.

Some people are signaling that they don't want that to happen. Also there is a petition to at least silence the animatronic.
posted by mmascolino at 9:16 AM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


What the fuck is with Pivot truthers, anyway? HE IS NOT GOING TO BECOME NORMAL.

There are a lot of people who are desperate to believe that they didn't elect a complete moron with the arm of a would-be Nazi up his ass.
posted by Etrigan at 9:17 AM on February 28, 2017 [48 favorites]


He thinks he's a Vespasian, but he's not even Galba. Probably just an Otho.

He's not even an Otho Fenlock.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:19 AM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


I just had a terrifying thought -- there's going to be an animatronic Trump in the Disney Hall of Presidents.

I haven't been in there for years, despite literally being in Epcot just last week and walking right by it. If they add Trump, they might as well just tear it down and turn it into another random movie-focused attraction totally out of place in the midst of the World Showcase, ala the Frozen ride that took over Norway.
posted by tocts at 9:22 AM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


"the Frozen ride that took over Norway"

That's the animated Okkupert pavilion.
posted by chrillsicka at 9:24 AM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


I haven't been in there for years, despite literally being in Epcot just last week and walking right by it

The Hall of Presidents is in Liberty Square in the Magic Kingdom. The Epcot attraction is The American Adventure, which is a different animatronic show.

Thank you for subscribing to Disney World Facts
posted by Fleebnork at 9:24 AM on February 28, 2017 [34 favorites]


Ah, an animatronic Trump taking over Norway. Things just get better.
posted by Dumsnill at 9:26 AM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]




He will not "pivot" to a more sane and nuanced style of governance, anymore than a rattlesnake can "pivot" away from being a poisonous reptile.

There are a couple of signs that something like that's happening, though: EO's mandating production of a report intended to establish legitimacy for an ugly policy, prior to mandating said policy, and sane appointments like General McMaster as NSA. Not developments I celebrate, because I'd prefer to see his ugly policies fail, but they do suggest he's adapting.
posted by Coventry at 9:28 AM on February 28, 2017




I went to Disney World this past December with my now Fiance', and visited the Hall of Presidents.

That was one of a few dusty rooms in the Magic Kingdom...
posted by JoeXIII007 at 9:30 AM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Am I the only one who views Trump's reticence to staff his government as an undercover purge?
posted by xyzzy at 9:31 AM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]


Bannon is Catholic and allied with anti-Francis cardinals at the Vatican (spoiler: they're American).

Catholic enough to harm, once he's not enough use to the KKK terrorists he's been stirring up. That's the problem with getting too close to those who have a history of hatred directed towards your group--once they need a new scapegoat, you're up next. Especially, if you're a leader they deem responsible for their ills.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 9:31 AM on February 28, 2017 [11 favorites]


Here's the link to my earlier comment about Bannon's connection to the Islamophobic faction of the Catholic Church.

But as I told my mother... Jews and Catholics in Trump's movement had better be careful. Trump's alt right/KKK/neo Nazi base will team up with them for now to target Muslims. But eventually those guys will turn on you. The people who are saying "Islam is a cancer" today will be saying "Catholicism is a cancer" tomorrow.

(Then she told me is "Islam is not a real religion, just a political ideology disguised as a religion" and "Islam is inseparable from violence" and she sent me a link from "creepingsharia.wordpress.com" and now we're not speaking again. I'm really having a hard time with this, actually. I feel like I'm grieving the loss of the mom I grew up with. I don't know this scary person.)
posted by OnceUponATime at 9:32 AM on February 28, 2017 [87 favorites]


Not developments I celebrate, because I'd prefer to see his ugly policies fail, but they do suggest he's adapting.

They suggest that Bannon's adapting. Trump's going to be all by himself at the front of the room tonight.
posted by Etrigan at 9:32 AM on February 28, 2017


murphy slaw: dude he thinks probably thinks vespasian is a pepperidge farm cookie

Nah, man, they're scooters. From It'ly. He's seen the local guys in tight pants (who women still somehow are interested in) parking them outside the cafes there.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:32 AM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Am I the only one who views Trump's reticence to staff his government as an undercover purge?

I see it more as the federal government de-facto ceasing to exist, with no (as-yet) coherent or competent regime to actually take power in its stead.
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:33 AM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Here are the top ten Republican accomplishments of 2017 so far:
1. Trump signs executive order on immigration, but it's so badly drafted it causes chaos around the country and is immediately put on hold by court.
2. Trump chooses crackpot as National Security Advisor, fires him three weeks after inauguration.
3. Trump tries to bully China by playing games with One China policy, is forced into humiliating retreat after realizing he's playing out of his league.
4. Paul Ryan proposes border adjustment tax to raise $1 trillion, but can't convince anyone to sign on.
5. Trump casually green-lights raid on Yemen over dinner, it turns into an epic disaster that kills a SEAL and accomplishes nothing.
6. Trump blathers about the wall and a 20 percent border tax on Mexico, causing the Mexican president to cancel a planned visit.
7. Congress goes into recess, but Republicans are embarrassingly forced to cancel town hall events because they're afraid of facing big crowds opposed to their policies.
8. Trump continues to claim that crime is skyrocketing; that he won a huge election victory; that his inauguration crowd was immense; that polls showing his unpopularity are fake; and that refugees have wreaked terror on America, despite the fact that these are all easily-checkable lies.
9. After weeks of confusion on their signature priority, Republicans finally realize that repealing Obamacare isn't all that easy and basically give up.*
10. Trump proposes spending an extra $54 billion on defense without realizing he can't do that.
* We'll see if they don't manage to screw it up in the end, though.

In addition, Trump's nominees for Labor, Army, and Navy secretaries have withdrawn, his National Security Adviser resigned, and six White House staffers were escorted out by security for failing their background checks. (In fact, nineteen White House staff and advisors have been fired or resigned in the space of only one week.)

Winning!
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:33 AM on February 28, 2017 [158 favorites]


(I'm so sorry, OnceUponATime. Internet hugs and cookies, vegan and gluten free if necessary.)
posted by xyzzy at 9:34 AM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]


Has this been noted yet?

Betsy deVos issued a letter for the HBCU visit in which she misconstrues the founding of HBCUs not as a response to Jim Crow disenfranchisement, but as some kind of grassroots free market campaign for "school choice"

Oh, and Kellyanne Conway did this in the Oval Office while the HBCU representatives were all gathered
posted by Vic Morrow's Personal Vietnam at 9:35 AM on February 28, 2017 [30 favorites]


Samantha Schmidt: Video shows Tucson police shoving 86-year-old woman to pavement
The body camera footage of a recent protest against President Trump’s immigration policies in Tucson shows an 86-year-old woman, weighing less than 100 pounds and standing about 4 feet, 5 inches tall, approaching police officers and pointing at them as she shouted indiscernible words.

Then, a police officer appears to push her arm, causing her to fall backward and hit her head on the pavement. As a 65-year-old woman beside her reaches down to help the woman up, an officer pepper-sprays her in the face, temporarily blinding her and causing her to turn away in pain.

The video footage, released Friday by the Tucson Police Department to a local television station, illustrates the tense clashes from the Feb. 16 protest there that began peacefully but soon escalated as protesters reportedly began disrupting rush-hour traffic. Three police officers sustained minor injuries and four protesters were arrested.

Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus said the department is investigating but told reporters that he thinks his officers handled the crowd appropriately.
posted by zombieflanders at 9:37 AM on February 28, 2017 [52 favorites]


Catholic enough to harm, once he's not enough use to the KKK terrorists he's been stirring up. That's the problem with getting too close to those who have a history of hatred directed towards your group--once they need a new scapegoat, you're up next. Especially, if you're a leader they deem responsible for their ills.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 11:31 on February 28 [3 favorites +] [!]


Eponyouknowthedrill
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 9:38 AM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Oh, and Kellyanne Conway did this in the Oval Office while the HBCU representatives were all gathered

Forrest Gump: "You Ain't got no legs, Lt. Dan!"
posted by wenestvedt at 9:38 AM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Someone on Reddit said that Kellyanne looks like the personification of boxed wine in that picture. I know, I know, it's classist and horrible, but I lol'ed.
posted by xyzzy at 9:38 AM on February 28, 2017 [44 favorites]


I started listening to a new podcast, the 45th, which has come to a terrifying conclusion. Based on tweets & public statements going back years, they put forward the idea that Trump actually thinks he's going to return to Iraq and "take the oil."

I don't think is a "conclusion" it's necessary to "come to" - Trump has flat-out said this is what he wants.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:39 AM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


Republicans and Democrats both tell me they’re beginning to doubt that Obamacare gets replaced or a major tax reform bill gets passed at all.

Your mouth, God's ear, etc. etc.

And yeah, there are lots of anti-the-current-pope (but really not all the comfortable with Catholics in general) assholes among your evangelical types.

They're happy to take Catholic help in getting rid of women's autonomy/hating on Islam but deep down, they regard all that kneeling and saints and muttering in Latin and men-in-dresses business as Highly Suspect.
posted by emjaybee at 9:41 AM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]


USA Today: "Trump says he will 'speak from the heart' in speech"

Yeah, there's no speech written here. He's gonna ramble for 90 minutes. Should be a blast.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:41 AM on February 28, 2017 [49 favorites]


Jake Tapper, George Stephanopoulos, Chuck Todd, and other news anchors are currently at lunch with Trump. To be a fly on that wall.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:41 AM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


is he making them eat the meatloaf
posted by emjaybee at 9:42 AM on February 28, 2017 [49 favorites]


I mean there isn't any question about it.
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:43 AM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Someone on Reddit said that Kellyanne looks like the personification of boxed wine in that picture. I know, I know, it's classist and horrible, but I lol'ed.

it's like a two liter jug of white zinfandel came to life
posted by murphy slaw at 9:44 AM on February 28, 2017 [17 favorites]


Betsy deVos issued a letter for the HBCU visit in which she misconstrues the founding of HBCUs not as a response to Jim Crow disenfranchisement, but as some kind of grassroots free market campaign for "school choice"

I know she didn't go to public school, but was she educated at all?
posted by Sys Rq at 9:44 AM on February 28, 2017 [26 favorites]


They are so fundamentally different from we are, we keep trying to fit their behavior into our own familiar paradigms and it just... doesn't work. It will never work. No matter how many long thinkipieces we read or write, it's not going to work.

posted by soren_lorensen at 11:19 AM on February 28 [16 favorites +] [!]



This is exactly it. My analogy is my guardian, who viciously, horribly abused me, along with some other members of the assemblage of people I was born into. They were just at that baseline of feeling shame, because all my abusers tried to hide the fact that they hurt me, by demanding my silence, by hiding my bruises in long sleeved clothing, by playing "Happy Families" in public...

These people are doing their dirt completely in public, and openly lying their faces off to the entire world, and they're just going to repeat their lies. I don't think they expect us to believe them, I think they lie as they do to let those who are against them know they don't care what we think and that don't care if they're hurting anyone. They would have to be utter idiots to think anyone outside of their small base actually believes anything they say, including "a", "and" and "the". Do we get the picture, shut up, and go away so they can finish their dirt? And their base thinks it's marvelous. How does anyone counter such baldfaced wretchedness, greed, and spite?
posted by droplet at 9:45 AM on February 28, 2017 [16 favorites]


Am I the only one who views Trump's reticence to staff his government as an undercover purge?

I see it more as the federal government de-facto ceasing to exist, with no (as-yet) coherent or competent regime to actually take power in its stead.


It's sort of both. Most of the essential functions will still take place, because across the government career employees will be bumped up to serve in "acting" roles. Those functions are required by statute, they don't just go away, at least not due to staffing. Budget allocation will be a whole different story.

However, career employees in most cases aren't leadership. They don't have either the vision or more importantly, the authority for significant policy changes, or even response to new developments. On the one hand, a holding pattern with professional and fundamentally competent people more or less in charge maintaining the status quo is probably better than a legion of Stephen Millers coming in across the government to impose Bannon's agenda, but it's also not sustainable. The longer this goes on, the less qualified people will be available to step into senior management roles, and atrophy will set in. And when a real crisis happens, a competent response just won't happen. White House staff and cabinet level deputies exist mostly to coordinate policy across agencies, get everyone on the same page. Solve problems where two agencies have opposing views. When that's not happening, it's not realistic to expect acting career people to fill the void on top of holding the basic day to day functioning of their own agency together.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:46 AM on February 28, 2017 [22 favorites]




He thinks he's a Vespasian, but he's not even Galba. Probably just an Otho.

Otho, after a military defeat, committed suicide for the good of his country to prevent a larger civil war.

Trump is not even an Otho.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:52 AM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]




Samantha Schmidt: Video shows Tucson police shoving 86-year-old woman to pavement

fuck those fucking fucks and anyone who supports them actively or passively, you are fascist scum and you will burn in hell
posted by entropicamericana at 9:55 AM on February 28, 2017 [18 favorites]


Mod note: Couple comments deleted. Again, please don't just re-tweet random news updates, this isn't a breaking news emporium, and filling threads with a million one-line comments is what makes them hard to load.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 9:56 AM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Am I the only one who views Trump's reticence to staff his government as an undercover purge?

My speculation is it's also an attempt to mirror the way the Trump Org is run: A small core of executives/decision-makers consisting of trusted family members and close friends with Trump at the center of it all. Trump likes familiarity, so it would make sense for him to try to remake the federal bureaucracy to be more like Trumpland.

Then there's the early possibility I thought of, where he would just use executive appointees as a kitchen cabinet. Only it's not part of his "grand plan", it's just because he has no other choice now.
posted by FJT at 9:57 AM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


Yeah, there's no speech written here. He's gonna ramble for 90 minutes. Should be a blast.

I guess we'll know in a few hours, but I expect this speech to be reasonably well-composed, like his acceptance and inauguration speeches. The SOTU wasn't scheduled to be an ego trip, and his audience will not — or at least ought not to be — his base.
posted by Coventry at 9:57 AM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


WaPo: Trump faces a huge problem, and Bannon's con-artistry cannot make it disappear ( h/t ArtW )

It is perfectly possible that Trump’s speech will be well received by the American public. But the problem here runs far deeper than the need for a good sales pitch: There are no serious indications that the White House either knows or cares how unpopular his policies are thus far with the broad American mainstream.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:58 AM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]




I've long heard it said by people praising Reagan that part of his wily plan with SDI was to sucker the Soviets into sinking so much money into their military that their economy would falter from neglect, and thereby bring about the downfall of the communist system.

Now we have a Russian-backed President, who has been conned into cutting back social services in order to massively ramp up the American military to defeat an inflated bogeyman that cannot seriously hurt the nation, being praised by those same people.

Words truly fail.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 9:59 AM on February 28, 2017 [71 favorites]


The ‘Kellyanne Conway on the couch’ controversy is so incredibly dumb

It's actually not, though. After eight years of the Obamas being criticized for things like not wearing a tie, or Michelle going sleeve-less, something that's ACTUALLY rude is fine to make fun of.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:01 AM on February 28, 2017 [88 favorites]


The ‘Kellyanne Conway on the couch’ controversy is so incredibly dumb

This WashPo article is a better take:
It also means that one can safely question what the Trump administration hoped to get out of the event, and if, for a president consistently under fire for his fraught relationship with the black community, a key goal was simply to show Trump meeting those black leaders, a photo opportunity for the White House to show its outreach.

And the photo from that op that went viral? Conway.

Events like this are the lowest-hanging fruit for a politician. Come in, listen for a bit, take a photo, move on. It’s rarely the case that such events create new policy, but it’s probably even rarer that they end up creating a media firestorm.

It’s like the Trump team stepped up to the plate in a game of tee-ball, and somehow ended up spraining an ankle while hitting into a double play.
posted by peeedro at 10:03 AM on February 28, 2017 [58 favorites]


Trump's desk is clear of clutter now. Hmmm.
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:06 AM on February 28, 2017


From last thread

Where do the Hispanics who voted for Trump fit in

When I read about Jose Torres being convicted in the confederate flag waving, shotgun wielding threats to a children's birthday party incident I kept coming back to the guy's name. Jose Torres? I guess that's America for you.


I guess we need to remind people that Latinos are not a unified racial group. In fact, there are efforts underway to unify Hispanic Americans into "la raza", one race, because currently Latinos don't generally think of themselves as one race. And in general, they're not fucking having it! Latin America includes a hundred different countries, covering two continents, with several hundred different languages spoken in addition to Spanish. It's a group that is larger and more diverse than the countries of Europe.

So sometimes, a slur against Mexicans won't bother someone from Puerto Rico or Venezuela because it's not about them. Sometimes a slur against Hispanics won't bother someone who thinks of themself as white Hispanic. And sometimes someone who thinks of themself as entirely white ends up with a name like Torres because of one grandfather.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 10:07 AM on February 28, 2017 [43 favorites]


While not captured in most of the photos that initially circulated on the Web, other snaps of the moments following the initial picture show Conway just trying to get in position to take a photo of the gathering.
A couple questions: 1. Is she trying to take a picture of their crotches? 'Cause, like, the camera's three feet off the ground. 2. Has she never heard of crouching? #crouchnotcouch
posted by Sys Rq at 10:08 AM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


robbyrobs: "Tracing the prehistory of the Holocaust from the 1800s to the Nazis' assumption of power in 1933, Aly shows that German anti-Semitism was―to a previously overlooked extent―driven in large part by material concerns, not racist ideology or religious animosity. As Germany made its way through the upheaval of the Industrial Revolution, the difficulties of the lethargic, economically backward German majority stood in marked contrast to the social and economic success of the agile Jewish minority."

This is, of course, why calls to absolve Trump voters of their racism and/or sexism by focusing on their economic anxiety are just fucked up. The WWC (Weimar working class) also felt economic anxiety and look where that ended up.
posted by mhum at 10:08 AM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Trump's desk is clear of clutter now. Hmmm.

I really want to joke that it was because he realized a bunch of black people were going to be in his office, but I honestly do not know whether it would be a joke.
posted by Etrigan at 10:11 AM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


Lincoln Center Releases Statement in Support of the NEA: 'Art Anchors Communities': As previously reported, The New York Times writes that Trump has not backed down on intentions to eliminate the NEA as a way to curb government spending and balance the budget. The administration hopes to have a plan finalized by March 13.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:11 AM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Didn't the WWC also struggle with economic sanctions put on Germany after World War I? Did the Great Depression affect them?
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:12 AM on February 28, 2017


Now we have a Russian-backed President, who has been conned into cutting back social services in order to massively ramp up the American military to defeat an inflated bogeyman that cannot seriously hurt the nation, being praised by those same people.

Yes, but cutting social services is an unalloyed good and has been their explict policy goal since Reagan did the same thing. They don't need a Russian excuse for slashing domestic spending and expanding crony defense funding, that's always been the Republican agenda.

Reagan was able to assist in bankrupting the USSR because it was already a crumbling economy putting an unsustainable percentage of its GDP into defense spending with declining population and production. The US is really none of those things (at least not yet) and its not clear that defense spending in the US has any upper limit, at least not while the USD is the world's reserve currency. Certainly not in a relatively strong economy that Obama left humming along. They're praising the reallocation from programs benefiting the poor and middle class to defense spending largely concentrated in the hands of the rich that's the eternal Republican agenda, Russia or not.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:12 AM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]


Trump's desk is clear of clutter now. Hmmm.

They do that for photos, like the Ivanka & Trudeau shot. That means there's some poor intern whose job it is to stack the clutter onto a cart and roll the mess away then bring it back in a pile it up again afterwards.
posted by peeedro at 10:13 AM on February 28, 2017 [11 favorites]


Der Spiegel wrote a profile on Alex Jones. The full-body-shudder-inducing final paragraphs:
It's afternoon, and Jones is walking through the studio, his adrenaline level high and his blood sugar low. He needs to get something to eat. Platters of BBQ - chicken, beef and sausages - are set out on a table in the conference room. "Good barbecue," says Jones. "You tasted it already?"

He piles up food onto a plastic plate, and then he suddenly takes off his shirt without explanation. With his bare torso, he sits there and shovels meat into his mouth, a caricature of manliness, but also a show of power to the reporter sitting in front of him. He can do as he pleases.

Then Jones gets up and holds out a sausage. "Wanna suck?" he asks.
posted by rewil at 10:14 AM on February 28, 2017 [58 favorites]


From the Chris Cillizza WaPo blogpost about Kellyanne Conway on the couch:
THE HORROR.

SHE IS DISRESPECTING THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT.

HOW COULD SHE.
Jesus Christ, Cillizza. Way to miss the point again. It's not mainly the disrespect to Office of the President that people are mad about (I mean... after all... y'know...) It's the disrespect to the roomful of HBCU leaders and representatives. Do you think she'd be all up on the couch like that if it were, say, a roomful of Ivy League deans or Fortune 500 CEOs or the damned New England Patriots?
posted by mhum at 10:16 AM on February 28, 2017 [40 favorites]


Am I right in thinking Trump's speech to Congress is the equivalent of the UK Budget speech - where the Chancellor of the Exchequer outlines to Parliament the Government's budgetary plans for the coming year?

If it's meant to be along those lines, I can't see any way that Trump will be able to stay focused on the issues for more than about five minutes. For a start, his attention span is about 30 seconds before he goes off on a tangent, talking about how great he is. Secondly, he lacks the intellectual ability to be able to talk about complex fiscal matters. And he won't read from a prepared speech, at any rate, not a speech that isn't all about him.

It'll be a shitstorm.
posted by essexjan at 10:17 AM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


Trump's desk is clear of clutter now. Hmmm.

It's in a cardboard box in the lobby, and HR has called him down to their conference room for a meeting.
posted by Slap*Happy at 10:17 AM on February 28, 2017 [11 favorites]


"Wanna suck?" he asks.

I just want this to stay here.
posted by Dumsnill at 10:18 AM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Am I right in thinking Trump's speech to Congress is the equivalent of the UK Budget speech - where the Chancellor of the Exchequer outlines to Parliament the Government's budgetary plans for the coming year?

I don't think so. It's the equivalent of our State of the Union that the president does every year, only the first time someone does that, it isn't called that.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:19 AM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Business Week: Is Stephen Miller Speaking for Donald Trump? Or Vice Versa?

Washington Post ( daily digest ) highlighted the following from the BW article:
Miller’s resiliency after fumbling the refugee ban offers a lesson in how to survive the Darwinian world of Trump’s White House. To win favor, you must amplify Trump’s belief that he’s already accomplished great things; defend even his most outrageous claims as self-evidently correct; and look sharp, while projecting unshakable self-confidence.
Neither Miller nor Trump would seem to fit JFK's Profiles in Courage.
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:20 AM on February 28, 2017


Probably some people skated past the video of the Tucson cop attacking those women because it sounds horrible to watch, and it is, but I really think everybody should see it just to understand what we're dealing with. The short description doesn't really do it justice.

That officer was in no danger, not from the woman or from anyone else. The woman wasn't even, as the description claims, approaching him or advancing on him; she appears to be actually stepping back slowly because the line of cops is advancing forward. The cop isn't surrounded by a pressing mass of shouting people or anything. There's no possible argument that he was acting out of fear. He intentionally shoves a small old woman down, and then aggressively advances on her while pulling his pepper spray so that he can attack anyone nearby. What gets me about this (and this is not the only thing in the last few months like this) is the brazenness. We all knew it was getting bad, but to see it laid out in video like this is something else. This guy knows he's on camera, because he knows there are body cams and he can see all the cell phone cameras, and he has no problem going on the offensive and attacking a pair of people who he knows he can hurt. And he knows that his targets aren't going to be people that racists will agree "had it coming", or that he'll be able to pretend "deserved it" in some way. It's a brutal attack in broad daylight on film against people with no defense ON PURPOSE.
posted by IAmUnaware at 10:21 AM on February 28, 2017 [84 favorites]


None of this chaos and anti-Semitism and snafus would be happening if it wasn't for all this unprecedented and treasonous Democratic obstructionism, unwillingness on the part of coastal elites to accept the will of the majority of Americans, Obama's shadow government sabotaging America, radical Swedish Islamic terrorism, and the failing New York Times and Fake News CNN. Sad!

There. Now you've heard his speech.
posted by delfin at 10:21 AM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


he suddenly takes off his shirt without explanation

Makes sense -- BBQ can be messy.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 10:22 AM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


This is, of course, why calls to absolve Trump voters of their racism and/or sexism by focusing on their economic anxiety are just fucked up. The WWC (Weimar working class) also felt economic anxiety and look where that ended up.

The working class of pre-Weimar rebelled against the Kaiser and the military and immediately - like within days of the uprising - established a whole host of social and labor reforms, most of which had to be kept by the conservative wing of the SPD when the SPD took over.

During Weimar, there were many important Jewish leftists and political figures - like Rosa Luxemburg and Walter Rathenau.

Weimar was a contested period where the status of gays and lesbians, Jews, poor people, sex workers, trans people and other marginalized groups was actually improved quite a lot through activism and legislation. It took a tremendous amount of ideological work and violence to make sure that Weimar ended in Naziism.

Another thing: I'm working on a project about the establishment of the Weimar Republic right now, and two things have surprised me: First, how radical Weimar's roots really were, and second, how incredibly shitty the Social Democrats were in the first years of the Republic. I'd always heard it "ha ha yeah the KPD and the SPD, why couldn't they work together, what a circular firing squad", but right after the revolution, the SPD had the opportunity to side with working class people and regularize the workers' councils and popular governance, or side with the old aristocracy and the military. And guess who they sided with, often by violence? The person who oversaw the torture and murder of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht always maintained that he got the go-ahead from the SPD.

The way Weimar is narrated in the US is very, very substantially misleading - that's one of my big recent discoveries.

There was a real, small scale but violent popular revolution which brought about Weimar. Moderate forces could have sided with the left but chose not to. That's why the left didn't trust them.

But my point being - it took evil work to get from 1918 to 1933.
posted by Frowner at 10:23 AM on February 28, 2017 [83 favorites]


What gets me about this (and this is not the only thing in the last few months like this) is the brazenness. We all knew it was getting bad, but to see it laid out in video like this is something else.

first they came for the minorities but i did not speak up because i wasn't a minority
then they came for the hippies but i did not speak up because i wasn't a hippie
then they came for the little old ladies but i did not speak up because i wasn't a little old lady
then they came for me
posted by entropicamericana at 10:25 AM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]


As with many of these stories where white pundits tell us not to pay attention to “sideshows”, the context of the couch photo is more significant and fraught than the picture implies (and it implies plenty). Republicans spent eight years implying that Obama and his family were unfit to live in the WH because they were “too casual”— he didn’t wear a tie, or he took off his suit coat, or he put his feet on the desk. It was a never-ending round of respectability politics, where nothing the Obamas did would ever be good enough, no matter how glamorous and high-minded. It was always code for "uppity", btw.

Do you think Conway would hold this pose if Trudeau was in the room? Queen Elizabeth? Any other rich white people? This is a thing white people do to signal their disrespect to PoC. It may not be intentional in every case, but it is still A Thing. The inverse of accusing PoC of being "uppity" is often refusing to treat them with any dignity or respect, even in situations and settings where they deserve it, and have a right to expect it. And people reacting to this instance of it and pointing it out is not making a big deal out of nothing. It is people reacting to yet another slap in the face, and then being told the slap didn’t happen or doesn’t matter.
posted by a fiendish thingy at 10:26 AM on February 28, 2017 [154 favorites]


Makes sense -- BBQ can be messy.

Have you tried BBQ in the shower?
posted by notyou at 10:26 AM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


Pod Save America had a discussion of the SoTU (or a joint session speech, whatever) yesterday, it's traditionally a chance for the President to lay out his agenda and justify it to Congress and the nation. It's the most policy heavy speech he typically gives (although Obama gave some heavy health policy speeches in 2009 too). Trump has never really had to get in depth with policy details before. Throughout the campaign he could just make grandiose promises of "great" or "biggest" or "bigly", without saying what, how or how much. That doesn't really work now. Well, it shouldn't, if facts or truth still mattered in America. Which they don't.

It'll be pretty interesting to see how they do a 45-min policy speech without any policy. More problematic still, it's really tough to make sense or set out a coherent agenda when they don't actually have one. I expect it'll be half a poor attempt at articulating nonsense policy, and half Trump off script and slipping into his standard rally-mode speech.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:29 AM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


What gets me about this (and this is not the only thing in the last few months like this) is the brazenness. We all knew it was getting bad, but to see it laid out in video like this is something else.

I really do think the increased awareness of police violence and the rise of Trump are interrelated. The cops see themselves as under attack and so they strike back without concern of any professional or social reprisal. They are protected because they are The Police and how dare you defy them. The Trump voters are of the same mindset. They are Owed. They are Just. And most importantly they have been Wronged by this country and he is the only one who will right that wrong.

They don't care if you catch them on tape being assholes. They don't care if they get caught publicly lying. They give zero fucks if they misspell a name in a tweet or if you catch them with the metaphoric blood on their hands. All because they are imbued by some sort of divine right to rule over the rest of us. Cops and racists used to be ashamed of themselves when they were caught, but for decades very little happened to them other than a little bad press. Sure, Paula Deen lost a few licensing deals and that guy from Seinfeld got in trouble but over and over we've (as a society) have let the petty tyrants continue to get away with assholery and they've decided that there are no consequences to their actions.
posted by teleri025 at 10:30 AM on February 28, 2017 [28 favorites]


jason sattler, who runs the @LOLGOP twitter account, says that it's time to talk trump impeachment. this would be unremarkable coming from an admittedly partisan source, except it's running as an op-ed in USA Today
At the Constitutional Convention, James Madison imagined impeachment as a relief from a chief executive who “might lose his capacity after his appointment. He might pervert his administration into a scheme of peculation or oppression. He might betray his trust to foreign powers.”

President Trump might have won Madison’s Triple Crown — in his first few weeks.
next up, People magazine will be calling for vigorous enforcement of the emoluments clause
posted by murphy slaw at 10:32 AM on February 28, 2017 [72 favorites]


Has she never heard of crouching? #crouchnotcouch

The skirts that Kellyanne Conway wears, routinely - that are required to work in Trump's White House - are a gender performance that does not allow for a great range of motion. I am not sure she can, actually, crouch, in that skirt and those heels.

It's another reason I find myself frustrated with this "controversy". I don't care if she stripped naked and painted herself blue, nothing, nothing, can dishonor the White House more than its current occupant.
posted by corb at 10:36 AM on February 28, 2017 [57 favorites]


Have you tried BBQ in the shower?

is there a website for that or are you just happy to see us?
posted by petebest at 10:37 AM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


It's another reason I find myself frustrated with this "controversy".

tbh I only saw a really tightly cropped photo of the incident and I thought everybody was mad because she put her shoes on the couch
posted by OverlappingElvis at 10:38 AM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


"The big thing is that there used to be an ethnic component to the KKK's original anti-Catholic stance. Catholics were Irish, Irish were immigrants. But then the Irish were integrated successfully into American whiteness, and now the right is cool with Catholics as allies in the fight against gay rights and reproductive rights."

The thing is, though, that the place where Catholicism is growing fastest is the South, and the reason is Latino immigration. There were tensions evident when I lived in NC 15 years ago, with Baptists etc who thought their communities were being taken over by immigrant Catholics. It's worse these days. My parents live part of the year is small town NC, where their parish is basically five "white" families and 200 immigrant Latino families, many less-than-legal, most working as migrant farm labor or in chicken processing, many with little or no English. The very evangelical town was fine with the odd little Catholic Church when it was a dozen white people; five hundred Latinos is a different story. When the anti-immigrant rhetoric ramped up during the campaign last year, my parents church was set on fire. Arson. With bonus swastika vandalism. Now, there was a lot of support from the evangelical churches in town, money to rebuild, space to have Mass, etc. However, a lot of those people also say to my parents frequently, "Why don't you come to our evangelical church and find a REAL church home? The Catholic Church doesn't seem like YOUR KIND OF church."

So I'm sure conservative white English-speaking anti-abortion Catholics will be welcome in Trump's America. (They're not prolife ... To be Catholic pro life you have to be anti death penalty, pro living wage, pro social safety net, pro immigrant, pro refugee.) I'm just not so sure the rest of us Catholics will be, and most especially my co-religionists who speak Spanish at Mass or who have brown skin.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:38 AM on February 28, 2017 [53 favorites]


it's a few days late, but the generals have delivered the secret plan to defeat ISIS to president trump!

it's obama's plan.

i'm sure this will end well
posted by murphy slaw at 10:42 AM on February 28, 2017 [15 favorites]


OK, I had to look it up - Peculation: 1. to steal or take dishonestly (money, especially public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle.
posted by achrise at 10:43 AM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


Incoming Metaphor for Trump Presidency: "Donald J. Trump State Park sits in Westchester County, New York, and encompasses 436 acres of land originally purchased by Trump in the ’90s. He intended to develop it into a golf course, but couldn’t get permits from the towns in which the property sits, and thus turned around to donate the land to the state of New York in 2006, subsequently claiming a $100 million tax write-off. The park closed due to budget cuts in 2010, though it only had a $2,500 annual budget prior to that, and now sits mostly abandoned and entirely uncared for."

More photos of what the reporter describes as "abandoned wasteland" are on her Instagram account - come for the foul and fetid swimming pool, stay for the asbestos-tainted buildings!
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:45 AM on February 28, 2017 [47 favorites]


Peculiate me - HIIIIGHER PLEEE-EEEASE!
posted by Dumsnill at 10:46 AM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


My mother has also gone to the dark side, OnceUponATime. A few weeks ago she snail-mailed me "The Jihadist War Against Christianity" from the American Center for Law and Justice. (Will not link, burned the copy she sent me.) She continues to call and email and I can't find the words to respond so I've been ignoring her. Trying to reconcile this person with the mom who raised me has given me a permanent headache.
posted by ruetheday at 10:51 AM on February 28, 2017 [20 favorites]


Bank of Cyprus - Deutsche Bank - Wilbur Ross - Dmitry Rybolovlev - are the dots joining up yet?
posted by adamvasco at 10:51 AM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


Super excited to find out all the details of the ACA replacement, also known as...

       > > > The Care Less Plan! < < <

Less health care for everyone, courtesy republicans who couldn't care less.

(really trying to get this name to catch on...)
posted by rouftop at 10:53 AM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


Let me make clear to those of you who are not part of the Jewish community what these JCC bomb threats mean: my friend's TWO YEAR OLD knows how to pronounce EVACUATION because their DAY CARE has been EVACUATED BECAUSE OF BOMB THREATS THREE TIMES.
posted by bq at 10:53 AM on February 28, 2017 [152 favorites]


Any and all failures can now be clearly placed upon them. No excuses from now on. No more passing the blame.

The Party of Personal Responsibility will remain completely incapable of taking any responsibility for their own actions. They will be blaming Obama for the next 200 years.

It's already the GOP way - all gains are ours, all failures are yours. Democrats are calling in the bomb threats, and Obama is behind the protests around the country.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:58 AM on February 28, 2017 [13 favorites]


It's already the GOP way - all gains are ours, all failures are yours.

It's their policy: Privatize the profits, socialize the risks.
posted by Gelatin at 11:00 AM on February 28, 2017 [19 favorites]


> > > The Care Less Plan! < < <

I was going with the GOP's "Who Cares" plan
posted by shothotbot at 11:00 AM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


What gets me about this (and this is not the only thing in the last few months like this) is the brazenness. We all knew it was getting bad, but to see it laid out in video like this is something else.

Why shouldn't they be? If a cop even gets charged for shooting an unarmed man in the back, on video, we can't get a conviction. His accomplice, Clarence Habersham, who we know beyond question lied under oath, is still not charged at all. With Sessions' recent statements essentially blaming Obama for the police having a sad it's pretty clear that there will be no more civil rights prosecutions so they only have to worry about their own local justice systems. And we know that prosecutors are highly reluctant to go after cops because the cops have made it clear they'll retaliate against anyone who doesn't back them up 100%.

They are no more brazen that reality allows them to be. Probably less.
posted by phearlez at 11:01 AM on February 28, 2017 [19 favorites]


“They came to me, they explained what they wanted to do ― the generals ― who are very respected, my generals are the most respected that we’ve had in many decades, I believe

DUDE THE PRESIDENT DOESN'T APPOINT GENERALS, THEY'RE THE SAME GENERALS OBAMA HAD
posted by murphy slaw at 11:03 AM on February 28, 2017 [79 favorites]


The bomb threats to the JCCs are especially horrifying because of their targeted and terroristic nature, but now I'm staring to wonder if my lived experience as a high school student was unusual. We had at least a dozen bomb threats a year and some actual arson and tennis ball type bombs in the boy's locker room on a couple of occasions. I seriously thought until this week that most Americans experience multiple bomb threat evacuations in their lifetimes. Is that not the case?
posted by xyzzy at 11:04 AM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


“They came to me, they explained what they wanted to do ― the generals ― who are very respected, my generals are the most respected that we’ve had in many decades, I believe

DUDE THE PRESIDENT DOESN'T APPOINT GENERALS, THEY'RE THE SAME GENERALS OBAMA HAD


I am pretty sure that he believes that they're better generals now because they're "his". Just like how slapping the Trump name on someone else's real estate made the price go up.
posted by Etrigan at 11:05 AM on February 28, 2017 [25 favorites]


Found it, today on Fox and Friends (of course) - Trump says he's not behind in agency appointments; doesn't want to fill many “because they’re unnecessary”

People - media in particular - need to stop accepting these post-facto claims of intent at face value. This administration lies as easily as it breathes. They claim supporting evidence that does not exist. They insist plans are written and the next day say they're working on them and the next that someone else is in charge of that. This claim that they deliberately have not filled slots needs to go next to this current nonsense floating around that Bannon dropped the immigration stuff on a friday with the desire for their to be protest and outcry. [citation needed], unless you want to make the claims before the actions.

As it is, this is their spirit animal.
posted by phearlez at 11:07 AM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]


I was going with the GOP's "Who Cares" plan

The "Better Pray" plan
posted by tivalasvegas at 11:07 AM on February 28, 2017


"BOMB THREATS" There was a map of where these threats have been delivered. No threats in Washington, Montana, or Idaho. I decided that the threats are coming from Northern Idaho, home of some serious white power posers. They are keeping their nest clean of the business, and sending their messages out of state. They are amateurs, thinking that if the calls come from outside a certain radius they will be unobserved. They use a burner phone and call through a transponder. That is my armchair assessment. Or else it is from Riggs, it is more of the Mahleur type group.
posted by Oyéah at 11:08 AM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


Lucky us, we in Washington got some bomb threats this last time around.
posted by bq at 11:10 AM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


In Trump's defense, he made it clear during the campaign that he was going to ask the generals to deliver a plan, he was going to compare that plan to the plan in his head, and then he was going to use the best parts of both of them. Trump voters can't claim ignorance on this one.
posted by diogenes at 11:10 AM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]




Artw: Trump faces a huge problem, and Bannon's con-artistry cannot make it disappear
the problem Trump faces is pretty simple: The American people are largely rejecting Trump’s agenda, both in its conventional Republican and more Trumpist elements, and the policy specifics and rationales that have been put forth to flesh it out thus far range from weak sauce to outright gibberish.
But have the American people really rejected it all? The poll numbers are bad, but he doesn't have zero support for his actions so far.
Trump's personal favorability rating stands at 85 percent positive among Republicans, compared to just 34 percent positive among independents and nine percent among Democrats.

While only 30 percent of those polled overall say that Trump is off to a "great start," 63 percent of Republicans agree. A similar share of Democrats - 58 percent - say that Trump's lack of policy knowledge and his temperament demonstrate that he is not up to the job of being president.
Partisan split is very strong, and our only hope is that party affiliation on both sides is tragically low - 2017 Jan 4-8, R: 28% / I: 44% / D: 25% - if enough independents lean (as well as vote and act out) progressive/liberal, we have a hope.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:12 AM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


In other words, sure the ISIS "plan" is ridiculous, but it's ridiculous in the exact way that he promised it would be.
posted by diogenes at 11:13 AM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


The bomb threats to the JCCs are especially horrifying because of their targeted and terroristic nature, but now I'm staring to wonder if my lived experience as a high school student was unusual. We had at least a dozen bomb threats a year and some actual arson and tennis ball type bombs in the boy's locker room on a couple of occasions. I seriously thought until this week that most Americans experience multiple bomb threat evacuations in their lifetimes. Is that not the case?

In my sophomore year of high school (1997) we had daily bomb threats around 8:00am for about nine weeks without fail. Growing up on the Florida coast this meant we had to stand out a safe distance away in the marsh with the hungry mosquitoes for up to ninety minutes while officials swept the school searching for explosives.

Eventually they discovered that the calls were coming from inside the house; the school's one public payphone in the common area was being used each day to call in the threat. The culprit? A student who didn't want to go to his second period class. Fortunately, school administrators took bold steps to end the bomb threat crisis forever: they removed the pay phone.
posted by Servo5678 at 11:14 AM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


People are like thiiiiiiiiiiiiiis close to vocalizing nonsense like [basically blue lives matter]

If you're not hearing that already, count yourself lucky.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:16 AM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


> There was a map of where these threats have been delivered. No threats in Washington, Montana, or Idaho

There was a bomb threat called in to a JCC in Mercer Island, near Seattle, yesterday.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:17 AM on February 28, 2017




Just to be clear here: He's blaming jews?
posted by Artw at 11:19 AM on February 28, 2017 [31 favorites]


This is not The Dead Zone. Even if Trump bellow and points and blames the Jews tonight, or ever, the GOP and his base will find a way to justify it.
posted by maudlin at 11:23 AM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


People are like thiiiiiiiiiiiiiis close to vocalizing nonsense like [basically blue lives matter]
If you're not hearing that already, count yourself lucky.


One of our security guards told us that the night before he got pulled over by 4 cop cars and ordered out of his vehicle. The police had weapons drawn and demanded he step out of the car. After some verification, one cop asked him what color his car was and when he responded it was silver, they all lowered their weapons and chuckled.

Turns out they were looking for a bronze minivan not a silver one but all the winter dirt on his car made it hard to tell. They were also looking for a young African American male and our security guard is old white dude.

When we were appalled that this happened and mentioned we were worried for his safety and maybe the cops shouldn't have come out guns blazing like that, he said, and I quote, "Well, I mean. I want them to protect us and they have to do that sort of thing. If I'd come out like an aggressive asshole like some of these kids, I might have gotten shot, but it wouldn't have been the cops' fault."

When I pointed out that his car wasn't even the right color, he replied, "Yeah, it would have been a shame to be shot for the wrong color of car."

The abused can't even see the abuse it's so bad.
posted by teleri025 at 11:23 AM on February 28, 2017 [74 favorites]


Can someone connect the dots here for me? No one is saying "We've put a bomb in this JCC because of Trump." The threats are just pure anti-semitic attacks on community centers and schools. The only way this sort of action would make Trump look bad would be, say, if Trump already was aligned with groups who... oh.

I mean, I really think the logic is, it can't be us, if it was us we'd use real bombs?
posted by Mchelly at 11:24 AM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]


Here's the article from Orso:
President Donald Trump told Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro that bomb threats at Jewish Community Centers may have been from “the reverse” to try to “make others look bad,” Shapiro said today.

When a reporter asked Shapiro if he took this to mean that Trump was implying his supporters were being framed, he responded that he can’t be sure what the president meant but that “he used the word ‘reverse’ I would say two to three times in his comments.”

“I really don’t know what he means,” Shapiro said, “and I don’t know why he said that.”
That article also mentions that there were over 500 tombstones desecrated at Mount Carmel. Original reports said about 150.
posted by zombieflanders at 11:24 AM on February 28, 2017 [25 favorites]


okay but what if we sneak into the capitol building and stand in front of him holding a baby

there's a non-zero chance he will just start chowing down right
posted by murphy slaw at 11:24 AM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Only if it's well-done with ketchup.
posted by Cookiebastard at 11:26 AM on February 28, 2017 [24 favorites]


I don't give a flying fuck what political party or religion the bomb threats and cemetery desecration is coming from. We're evacuating preschools and day schools on a regular basis now. How depraved do you have to be to spend your time speculating about which "team" is responsible instead of just wanting it to stop and directing the resources of federal law enforcement to take this seriously? This isn't a political problem, except insofar as certain politicians seem uninterested in a matter that should greatly interest everybody.
posted by zachlipton at 11:27 AM on February 28, 2017 [71 favorites]


I might have gotten shot, but it wouldn't have been the cops' fault.

Okay, that's some straight up Stockholm Syndrome shit right there.
posted by darkstar at 11:29 AM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


Yep. A sane administration of either party would certainly grant either liberal leaning synagogues or far right Southern Baptist churches protection, because people deserve their government to protect them. Aside from any moral argument that might or might not appeal to Trump in the case of Jews, he'd be protecting a certain number of registered voters and/or the children of said voters.
posted by jaduncan at 11:32 AM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Trump's personal favorability rating stands at 85 percent positive among Republicans

I personally know two people who voted and support him and had no idea most of this stuff is happening because "we elected him and now I trust him to be the president."

You want your head to explode? Try having that conversation with someone who had no idea about the transgender EO because they don't watch the news.

There are more people like that than you realize. We need to ignore these wackjobs showing up in the dozens to his rallies and focus on people like above. She is my neighbor, and she listened to my concerns over lunch last week. I had to put aside my rage at her blanket acceptance of him and talk to her rationally and with evidence. To her credit, she listened. Is she flipped? Perhaps, but has too much pride to admit it if it happened.
posted by archimago at 11:32 AM on February 28, 2017 [31 favorites]


A good bit from Brian Beutler on where the Republicans are with Obamacare––Republicans’ Final Heinous Push for Obamacare Repeal

The Republicans are split into two camps. One won't be satisfied until they've ripped Obamacare to shreds and salted the earth so nothing grows there again. The other has realized that people are yelling at them at town halls and their constituents like having health insurance, and while they're willing to screw with it in any number of ways that will make people's lives worse, they're not on board with dropping cverage for tens of millions of people. And meanwhile we have a President stuck on "nobody knew health care could be so complicated."

And the pathetic thing is that this was a completely foreseeable situation, yet Ryan was too busy leading symbolic votes to repeal the thing 60+ times to actually start thinking about a plan his own party would accept.

The only way out of this now is to try to convince people that having health insurance isn't so hot anyway, an operation that's in motion now. Convince people that Obamacare is useless and you've got political cover for those who want to get rid of it. With that campaign underway, they're going to just push forward with a repeal bill and pray the party comes along.
posted by zachlipton at 11:32 AM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


I don't give a flying fuck what political party or religion the bomb threats and cemetery desecration is coming from.

As a Jewish person, I actually do.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 11:32 AM on February 28, 2017 [24 favorites]


"The Reverse"
Could be he means the Upside Down, which in our case would really be the Right Side Up. So perhaps progressive counterparts in more science-friendly dimensions are pulling a Fringe for us.

Could be he was actually saying "The Reavers", which I must admit is a rather sophisticated tactic from their ranks.
posted by erisfree at 11:33 AM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]


There's a popular flavor of Holocaust denial that says: sure, some Jews died, but there was never any coordinated campaign to wipe them out, and Jews today who keep going on about it are just whining and playing the victim and raking in those sweet Schindler's List royalties. Tied in with that is the idea that Jews are in love with their own victimhood and will harass themselves to keep the scam going.

That's why the Jew-omitting Holocaust statement was such a big deal, and where this weird response to the desecration and bomb threats is coming from. They're trying to signal their support for this theory without directly saying "Jews did it" (which is still pretty unacceptable).
posted by theodolite at 11:34 AM on February 28, 2017 [59 favorites]


But have the American people really rejected it all? The poll numbers are bad, but he doesn't have zero support for his actions so far.

Might be worth making sure we're comparing apples to apples. Those poll numbers are straight up approval rating of Trump himself. The assertion from Plum Line is that Trump's policies are unpopular. This would seem like a moronic thing to split hairs on were it not for having seen this exact dichotomy with regards to the ACA as a thing, which is not popular, versus the components of the ACA, which are.

We're seeing a lot of Trump backers stomping their feet and being angry people keep calling them racists & sexists just because they voted for a racist sexist who says racist and sexist things and outright saying that the assertions make them want to dig in harder. The idea that a lot of them are going to respond to any question of "do you approve of Trump" in the affirmative, even as he does things they don't like, is not remotely surprising.
posted by phearlez at 11:35 AM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Say it IS some Joshua Goldberg type. Trump has now applied blame to a whole category of people and set them up for reprisals, not just one guy. Also in all of this is that Trump basically assumes that everyone else would assume the attacks are from Trump voters, which, well, why do we all assume that?
posted by Artw at 11:35 AM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Also in all of this is that Trump basically assumes that everyone else would assume the attacks are from Trump voters, which, well, why do we all assume that?

Captain Trump: I'm shocked, shocked to find that anti-Semitism is going on in here! It's probably the Jews doing it, because I am the least anti-Semitic person that you've ever seen in your life.
posted by jaduncan at 11:37 AM on February 28, 2017 [22 favorites]


I personally know two people who voted and support him and had no idea most of this stuff is happening because "we elected him and now I trust him to be the president."

there are a lot of people for whom still going on about politics after the election is like still being mad about the Patriots winning the Super Bowl and you know all I can say about people like that is just bless their hearts, you know, bless their hearts, bless the hell out of their little hearts
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:41 AM on February 28, 2017 [40 favorites]


bomb threats at Jewish Community Centers may have been from “the reverse” to try to “make others look bad,”

I don't know what's worse. That he's sick enough to actually believe this, or that he's sick enough to say it purely for political gain.
posted by diogenes at 11:43 AM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


As a Jewish person, I actually do.

I mean, I do care in the sense that we have to know who's doing this, and knowing who they are is incredibly important to how we move forward from here. But what I meant is that this guy is the President of the United States, and he seems far more concerned with what the bomb threats mean for him politically, as if this is really an attack on him because people keep asking him why he won't do anything, than what they mean for the kids being rolled out of JCCs in cribs. What I meant is that any non sociopathic President would be worried about what is happening to this country and American Jews, rather than speculate that this is really all some secret effort to make him look bad. In his mind, he's once again managed to make this all about himself.
posted by zachlipton at 11:43 AM on February 28, 2017 [41 favorites]


I mean, he's basically just declared that an attack on nazis is an attack on him.

Which we knew, but still shocking.
posted by Artw at 11:45 AM on February 28, 2017 [32 favorites]


I mean, I take the point. My mom teaches at a Jewish pre-school. They don't need to prepare for a bomb threat because they have had active shooter drills and other emergency plans in place for the past half-decade. Obviously, the government's response should be the same, whoever it is. But the messaging will be radically different if this is a troll.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 11:46 AM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Four DREAMers will be in the audience at tonight's address. I cannot even imagine the guts that takes.
posted by Etrigan at 11:47 AM on February 28, 2017 [44 favorites]


There's actually no such thing as an "ironic" bomb threat, FWIW. They are all bomb threats.
posted by Artw at 11:48 AM on February 28, 2017 [19 favorites]


If he tries to pull that "least anti-Semitic person in the world" bullshit, or in the unlikely event he brings up the Kansas shooting and claims that there's no connection with him, I hope somebody yells "YOU LIE!"
posted by zombieflanders at 11:48 AM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]


I don't know what's worse. That he's sick enough to actually believe this, or that he's sick enough to say it purely for political gain.

This is the -40° of antisemitism: it's equally bad in Fahrenheit and Celsius.
posted by Freon at 11:49 AM on February 28, 2017 [51 favorites]


Also in all of this is that Trump basically assumes that everyone else would assume the attacks are from Trump voters, which, well, why do we all assume that?

Bonus facepalm points if answer includes "Lügenpresse."
posted by Sys Rq at 11:51 AM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Four DREAMers will be in the audience at tonight's address. I cannot even imagine the guts that takes.

Really awkward when Trump instructs ICE agents to deport them halfway through the speech.
posted by leotrotsky at 11:53 AM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


Four DREAMers will be in the audience at tonight's address. I cannot even imagine the guts that takes.
Meanwhile, FLOTUS will be seated at dinner with people related to those killed by immigrants.
posted by xyzzy at 11:55 AM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


AG Sessions Says DOJ to ‘Pull Back’ on Police Department Civil Rights Suits:

Donald Trump's attorney general said Tuesday the Justice Department will limit its use of a tactic employed aggressively under President Obama — suing police departments for violating the civil rights of minorities.

"We need, so far as we can, to help police departments get better, not diminish their effectiveness. And I'm afraid we've done some of that," said Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 11:57 AM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


FJT: Then there's the early possibility I thought of, where he would just use executive appointees as a kitchen cabinet. Only it's not part of his "grand plan", it's just because he has no other choice now.

There was something that kept crossing my mind back during the campaign which I couldn't (and can't) nail down in words, if you'll allow me some latitude. He'd sometimes use constructions like e.g. "When Donald Trump is President there will be a Wall with Mexico!" [fake]. Now, I loves me some cheesy "George is getting Angry!" [real] third-personism, but what niggled at me was the underlying weirdly-Arthurian suggestion that there was a Wound to the Land of America (here in the body of a Democratic/Black King) which would be instantly, perfectly healed by electing someone who chose to identify as Republican. (FWIW, I'm not daft and do imagine that previous candidates, probably including Obama, have intentionally used similar rhetoric against incumbents).

Now though, even while his unconfirmables gradually get confirmed, all I can see is what everyone said and saw all along: The grifter who Brexiteer-like sought to win by losing; the uncontrolled "Not I" railing against the judges and media (so-called); The man who without irony or understanding can say out loud he wants to run a country like a two-bit bankrupt business without knowing how floor-swallowingly, incapably naive that is for the worlds' foremost economy and democracy; Some mentally-weak mate to bullies who will "Hur-hur, hit him Mauler!" along with whatever his interlocutor suggests simply so he can tell himself that they really like him (cf. Putin, May, Abe, first of all Bannon); Someone who keeps America's friends closed out and her enemies closer; Someone so incompetent that they could be elected President of the United States of America and never be able to operate the levers of power, never even comprehend where the levers are, never understand that levers are needed, never conceive of investigating the utility that said levers provided previous Presidents.

Aargh, rant over! Even the poor, wilfully-stupid buggers who voted for him don't deserve him. I know I've left out stuff like the tolerance/courting of anti-semitism and I apologise for going easy on the man.
posted by comealongpole at 11:57 AM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Meanwhile, FLOTUS will be seated at dinner with people related to those killed by immigrants.

Why would Michelle even be at.... oh. Oh I see.
posted by zrail at 11:58 AM on February 28, 2017 [49 favorites]


"We need, so far as we can, to help police departments get better, not diminish their effectiveness. And I'm afraid we've done some of that," said Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Get better at what?

Never mind, we know.
posted by Artw at 11:59 AM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


i know that people in general are bad at reasoning about large numbers, but it basically proves nothing that you can find six people harmed by immigrants in a population of ~320 million
posted by murphy slaw at 12:00 PM on February 28, 2017 [19 favorites]


peeedro: It’s like the Trump team stepped up to the plate in a game of tee-ball, and somehow ended up spraining an ankle while hitting into a double play.
I never knew what was going on out in right field, I just knew I would get a free snow cone at the end of the game. I'd be out there, awww, free snow cone. "Brian, what's the score?" "Free Snowcone! Free snow cone at the end of the game, if you play they're gonna give you a free snowcone, even if you play half game you get a... you don't get a half snow cone...you get a whole snow cone for half the game... people that play whole game get a whole snow cone and the people that play half game get a whole snow cone. So it's always whole, whole snow cone. So, I'd rather play half game. I'd rather play half. Still get the whole snow cone..."
posted by filthy light thief at 12:01 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Meanwhile, FLOTUS will be seated at dinner with people related to those killed by immigrants.

That should be comfortable for her, given that she's an immigrant.
posted by jaduncan at 12:02 PM on February 28, 2017 [19 favorites]


Meanwhile, FLOTUS will be seated at dinner with people related to those killed by immigrants.

It seems really awkward to make the immigrant do your anti-immigration baiting. Maybe it's just me.
posted by dinty_moore at 12:03 PM on February 28, 2017 [20 favorites]


I mean, I can find 3 people killed by squirrels, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 12:03 PM on February 28, 2017 [38 favorites]


This is the -40° of antisemitism: it's equally bad in Fahrenheit and Celsius.
posted by Freon


And you would know.
posted by chris24 at 12:05 PM on February 28, 2017 [29 favorites]


Sometimes the Trump administration feels like this weird attempt to get Republicans to agree that the worst possible behavior is good, if not preferable.
posted by drezdn at 12:06 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


It seems really awkward to make the immigrant do your anti-immigration baiting. Maybe it's just me.

Yeah, it's part of his tremendous "Some Of My Best Friends Are..." policy. Jared and Ivanka are also goodwill ambassadors.
posted by Mchelly at 12:06 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


"One of the good ones".
posted by Artw at 12:09 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


I think it's also part of an ongoing series of weirdly performative demonstrations that he gives zero fucks about his wife.
posted by jaduncan at 12:09 PM on February 28, 2017 [30 favorites]


I know we're post-fact, but can anyone point to any empirical study that shows any sort of causal linkage between immigration and crime? I've never seen anything definitive either way, although anecdotally I know there doesn't seem to be a connection, and if anything immigration seems to have a positive influence on crime rate.
posted by aspersioncast at 12:10 PM on February 28, 2017


I think it's also part of an ongoing series of weirdly performative demonstrations that he gives zero fucks about his wife.

I doubt it's that many.
posted by phearlez at 12:10 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


@juliehdavis, NYT White House reporter
Trump said Fri that reporters should name their sources. Now anchors who just met w him reporting immigration news from "sr admin official"
posted by GhostintheMachine at 12:11 PM on February 28, 2017 [19 favorites]


ZeusHumms: Trump's desk is clear of clutter now. Hmmm.

Well, there was that casual photo that included a decent resolution of [secret code fob thing] ... help me MeFites, I'm totally failing to remember enough details to search for this. There was something on a briefcase in the background of a semi-candid photo in the oval office, and I'm failing to find the article or tweet about it.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:11 PM on February 28, 2017


Melania is white so I assure you there is no immigrant-adjacent irony whatsoever being perceived by Trump and those who adhere to Trumpism
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:12 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


jaduncan: I think it's also part of an ongoing series of weirdly performative demonstrations that he gives zero fucks about his wife.

That's assuming he actually thinks about her as a person with her own feelings and concerns. I don't know if he recognizes other people as sentient individuals with their own wants and needs, or just as beings set in a simple binary With Me / Against Me state.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:13 PM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


I know we're post-fact, but can anyone point to any empirical study that shows any sort of causal linkage between immigration and crime? I've never seen anything definitive either way, although anecdotally I know there doesn't seem to be a connection, and if anything immigration seems to have a positive influence on crime rate.

Regarding Robert Adelman, Lesley Williams Reid, Gail Markle, Saskia Weiss, Charles Jaret. Urban crime rates and the changing face of immigration: Evidence across four decades. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 2016; 15 (1): 52 DOI: 10.1080/15377938.2016.1261057, take it from the lead author:
"Our research shows strong and stable evidence that, on average, across U.S. metropolitan areas crime and immigration are not linked," said Robert Adelman, an associate professor of sociology at UB and the paper's lead author. "The results show that immigration does not increase assaults and, in fact, robberies, burglaries, larceny, and murder are lower in places where immigration levels are higher.
Methodology: The authors drew a sample of 200 metropolitan areas as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau and used census data and uniform crime reporting data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a 40-year period from 1970 to 2010.
posted by jaduncan at 12:13 PM on February 28, 2017 [56 favorites]


I know we're post-fact, but can anyone point to any empirical study that shows any sort of causal linkage between immigration and crime? I've never seen anything definitive either way, although anecdotally I know there doesn't seem to be a connection, and if anything immigration seems to have a positive influence on crime rate.

Contrary to Trump’s Claims, Immigrants Are Less Likely to Commit Crimes
posted by zombieflanders at 12:15 PM on February 28, 2017 [20 favorites]


filthy light thief, I think you're remembering the key left in the lockbag in the presence of non-cleared visitors.
posted by rewil at 12:15 PM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


jaduncan: in fact, robberies, burglaries, larceny, and murder are lower in places where immigration levels are higher.

THIS A MILLION TIMES - let's look at this: either you're allowed to come into the US through a screening process, or you came in by other means - wouldn't you be more concerned about being caught for a crime, especially if you entered illegally?

Meanwhile, Bribes Bore a Hole in the U.S. Border (New York Times, Dec. 28, 2016)
A review by The New York Times of thousands of court records and internal agency documents showed that over the last 10 years almost 200 employees and contract workers of the Department of Homeland Security have taken nearly $15 million in bribes while being paid to protect the nation’s borders and enforce immigration laws.
Yeah, let's beef up those borders with more people, we're sure to get the Good Ones applying, and not people who are likely to open the borders for a bribe.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:18 PM on February 28, 2017 [29 favorites]


rewil, thank you! That's it! And it's a messy desk photo! Clean desk = zero chance of sensitive material being photographed.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:19 PM on February 28, 2017


This is the -40° of antisemitism: it's equally bad in Fahrenheit and Celsius.
posted by Freon at 1:49 PM on February 28 [17 favorites −] Favorite added! [!]


Eponysterical!
posted by notsnot at 12:21 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]






I started listening to a new podcast, the 45th, which has come to a terrifying conclusion. Based on tweets & public statements going back years, they put forward the idea that Trump actually thinks he's going to return to Iraq and "take the oil."
posted by Kitty Stardust at 11:43 AM on February 28

I also listened to this podcast and was convinced that he has intentions to carry this out. One of the hosts put together an audio clip of him saying over and over in various ways that he thinks a) we should take the oil and b) pay off the National Debt with it because "to the victor, go the spoils" which will c) defund and therefore weaken Isis.

We have talked about this idea before and how it is neither feasible nor moral but it is going to take a lot to convince Donnie that his "secret plan" to defeat Isis will not work. After listening to that clip, I'm sure he thinks that this is what will make him the greatest President of all time.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 12:28 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus said the department is investigating but told reporters that he thinks his officers handled the crowd appropriately.

This sucks well beyond face value. Magnus famously cleaned up a racist Northern California PD, with really innovative and bold reforms. He is the cop you may have seen holding a Black Lives Matter while in uniform. He has been an advocate for sane, community service focused police reform. Losing Chris Magnus' advocacy and leadership could be like a death blow to socially responsible policing reform.
posted by The Noble Goofy Elk at 12:28 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


WH: Kansas shooting 'act of racially motivated hatred'

Bit surprised at that even if it took them long enough and it's super weak. Of course trump himself will never say anything.
posted by Artw at 12:30 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


I don't know if he recognizes other people as sentient individuals with their own wants and needs, or just as beings set in a simple binary With Me / Against Me state.

Sometimes I wonder if he can experience emotions other than anger and not-anger.
posted by ZeusHumms at 12:32 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


"Mr Warhol what do you think about Mr. Donald Trump?" ...."He's cheap"
posted by robbyrobs at 12:34 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Sometimes I wonder if he can experience emotions other than anger and not-anger.

Yes. He experiences brief flashes of fear which are then quickly demolished with hubris and anger.
posted by Sophie1 at 12:35 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Vox Trump says he's boosting defense spending by $54 billion. The real number is $18 billion.
The actual increase is closer to $18 billion. Eagle-eyed defense hawks like Arizona Republican John McCain have noticed the discrepancy, and they’re not happy.

“President Trump intends to submit a defense budget that is a mere 3 percent above President Obama’s defense budget, which has left our military underfunded, undersized, and unready to confront threats to our national security,” McCain said in a statement. “With a world on fire, America cannot secure peace through strength with just 3 percent more than President Obama’s budget. We can and must do better.” [...]

For the Defense Department, $18 billion is an almost literal drop in the bucket.

Cancian said the Army alone has drafted a wish list for next year that amounts to $18 billion. Now, the service will be lucky to get even a quarter of that money.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 12:38 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Well I'm guessing he has had a few moments of feeling lust and greed-- but not sloth because for sloth to happen you must own a bathrobe.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 12:39 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


McCain, what a Maverick.
posted by Artw at 12:42 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


for sloth to happen you must own a bathrobe.

Do you put the sloth in the pockets of the bathrobe?
posted by Etrigan at 12:42 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


i wonder how many memos are circulating in washington right now, each claiming to be the trump budget proposal
posted by murphy slaw at 12:42 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


“President Trump intends to submit a defense budget that is a mere 3 percent above President Obama’s defense budget, which has left our military underfunded, undersized, and unready to confront threats to our national security,” McCain said in a statement. “With a world on fire, America cannot secure peace through strength with just 3 percent more than President Obama’s budget. We can and must do better.”

So McCain's anti-Trump outrage is focused on his over-militarization not being excessive enough. I'd gone almost a week without despising him but congrats John. Way to be the fucking worst.
posted by Rust Moranis at 12:43 PM on February 28, 2017 [45 favorites]


Tampa Bay Times As Trump is learning, it's not so easy to reject the president's paycheck
He is required to get a paycheck but will be giving it back to (the) treasury or donating," spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in email, adding that the staff was trying to determine the legal process to do so.

She declined to answer several inquiries into whether Trump has gotten a paycheck already, which would be about $33,333. In addition to the $400,000, a president is afforded a $50,000 expense account.

"I won't take even one dollar," Trump declared in September 2015. "I am totally giving up my salary if I become president."

He can't do that. Article II of the Constitution requires a president to be paid
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 12:44 PM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


My money on him just saying he's giving it to charity, then not.
posted by Artw at 12:47 PM on February 28, 2017 [53 favorites]


Vox Trump says he's boosting defense spending by $54 billion. The real number is $18 billion.

But of course. The military are also his contractors now.
posted by jaduncan at 12:49 PM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]


isn't the going theory that having an actual income will completely fuck up his paying-$0-income-tax scheme
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:50 PM on February 28, 2017 [22 favorites]




He is required to get a paycheck but will be giving it back to (the) treasury or donating," spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in email, adding that the staff was trying to determine the legal process to do so.

No, they'd be determining the legal process to do one of those things after he had decided on which one. He is clearly not going to do a damn thing like either of those.
posted by Etrigan at 12:54 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


I figure tonight' speech is just going to be more self-aggrandizing bullshit so I have no plans to watch it. I am confident if he says anything of note, I will read about it here. Meanwhile, I will make a cash donation to every Democrat congressperson who shouts "you lie" when he lies during the speech. No limit.
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:55 PM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]




@AprilDRyan: Breaking: officials on hand for Exec Order signing talked of the promise of money but there is not new money in the Exec Order for HBCU's.

Just when you thought the HBCU idiocy couldn't get any deeper.
posted by zombieflanders at 1:05 PM on February 28, 2017 [25 favorites]


stupid stupid person

if you imagine every action of the trump administration being carried out by a horde of stupid, stupid rat creatures it makes more sense
posted by murphy slaw at 1:06 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


French holocaust historian held up for 10 hours at immigration.

"What I know, having loved this country forever, is that the United States is no longer quite the United States."
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 1:08 PM on February 28, 2017 [45 favorites]


@AprilDRyan: Breaking: officials on hand for Exec Order signing talked of the promise of money but there is not new money in the Exec Order for HBCU's.

Just when you thought the HBCU idiocy couldn't get any deeper.

Given Trump's business and political career thus far, nobody should ever believe anything about money until the check clears.
posted by jaduncan at 1:08 PM on February 28, 2017 [14 favorites]


Anyone who had "David Duke's Twitter feed" as the place where Trump got the idea that it's the Jews and/or Democrats behind anti-Semitic violence, come and collect your prize:

Trump echoes David Duke, suggests Jews are behind threats to Jewish schools
posted by zombieflanders at 1:10 PM on February 28, 2017 [27 favorites]


How incompetent do you have to have been to screw up the HBCU thing? It really has not been that hard for most administrations to have a photo-op that doesn't have your advisor kneeling on a couch in the middle of it and to not put out statements acting like segregation and racism wasn't a thing and to not promise money that doesn't exist. This should have been an easy little PR win, and instead they've done everything possible to turn it into a disaster.
posted by zachlipton at 1:10 PM on February 28, 2017 [14 favorites]


Just to be clear here: He's blaming jews?

He can't just jump right to jews

Expect the speech to be about the "Criminal element" and "rootless cosmopolitans"
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 1:10 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


No, he jumped right to Jews. He did say something about "reverse" though so maybe he'll move back through those?
posted by Artw at 1:12 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


it'll be about (((Globalists)))
posted by Rust Moranis at 1:12 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


He did just jump right to jews.
posted by flatluigi at 1:12 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


"globalists"
posted by soren_lorensen at 1:13 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


This should have been an easy little PR win, and instead they've done everything possible to turn it into a disaster.

Well, likewise a president should probably be able to rattle off a condemnation of bomb threats on their sleep without drifting into "maybe the victims are the real bad guys".
posted by Artw at 1:13 PM on February 28, 2017 [11 favorites]


I plan to watch...with plenty of Bourbon on hand. I figure the breakdown will be:

40% I am such a great and popular leader
25% Brown people are bad. Let me count the ways
15% I have the greatest plans for a) ObamaCare replacement b) budget c) immigration
10% The fake media is lying about me.


Some of the old favorites he will be playing:

3 million people voted illegally for Clinton
I have achieved more in one month than anyone, ever
The wall has already been started
I have the smartest Cabinet ever assembled
I will make the best deals
I inherited a mess
The fake media is the true enemy of the American people
Putin thinks I'm great but I've never met the guy


A few things I will be looking for:

Obama has a secret cabal to bring me down
The paid protesters are rioting and destroying property
The Jewish attacks were carried out as a false flag
I will be adding more countries to my banned list
We must get ready for war
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 1:13 PM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


He doesn't jump to anything, guys. C'mon. I dare you to find footage of him jumping. No, he looms toward things.
posted by Rust Moranis at 1:14 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


Oh, but he can just jump to Jews and I called it months ago.
posted by Sophie1 at 1:14 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


It's a neat trick that he's simultaneously denying the reality of attacks on Jews whilst encouraging more of them.
posted by Artw at 1:14 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Well, likewise a president should probably be able to rattle off a condemnation of bomb threats on their sleep without drifting into "maybe the victims are the real bad guys".

His base includes people who harass the Sandy Hook parents for faking the whole thing. There are no truths or facts in their world, except one; If It's Bad, We (or Those We Support) Didn't Do It.
posted by emjaybee at 1:17 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Trump’s ‘Muslim ban’ is about to make a comeback. Here’s what’s really driving it.
In a new interview, one of the chief architects of that ban has offered an expanded rationale for it that goes well beyond the original one. Top Trump adviser Stephen Miller says the ban isn’t just about national security; it’s also about protecting American workers from foreign competition and protecting taxpayers from the drain on public benefits that refugees represent.
Do you think the lawyers fighting the ban have a bell they ring in celebration every time these idiots open their mouths?
posted by zachlipton at 1:18 PM on February 28, 2017 [40 favorites]


The inability to distinguish "undocumented immigrants" and "legal migrants, refugees, visitors and permanent residents" is coming from inside the house.
posted by soren_lorensen at 1:20 PM on February 28, 2017 [18 favorites]


i wonder how many memos are circulating in washington right now, each claiming to be the trump budget proposal

I picture a mob of Schoolhouse Rock-style sentient scrolls running down Pennsylvania Avenue and arguing amongst themselves:

"I'm the budget proposal!"

"Don't listen to that imposter, I'm the *real* proposal!"

"These fools! Look at my gilded edges, it's obvious those fakers are lying!"
posted by tivalasvegas at 1:21 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


I refuse to watch Trump speak tonight.

Instead, I'm going to post this story about how the Tibet Women’s Soccer (football) team was just denied tourist visas to come play in the US after a year of preparation and $5000 (half their yearly budget) spent on visas.

I don't know if this was Trump immigration EO fuckery (although they're not even immigrants or from one of the target countries) or if it's China against Tibet fuckery that might've happened even if Obama was in office, but I'm going to donate some money to their team fund and turn off my TV, because fuck this timeline.
posted by bluecore at 1:23 PM on February 28, 2017 [53 favorites]


I love neo Nazi logic: Jews are desecrating their own cemeteries (which by the way, should be totally legal to do).
posted by PenDevil at 1:24 PM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]




so to draw a historical parallel, was hitler's big pivot to statesmanship the anschluss or the annexation of the sudatenland?
posted by murphy slaw at 1:25 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


Ooh, spicy:
The former British spy who authored a controversial dossier on behalf of Donald Trump’s political opponents alleging ties between Trump and Russia reached an agreement with the FBI a few weeks before the election for the bureau to pay him to continue his work, according to several people familiar with the arrangement. ...

While Trump has derided the dossier as “fake news” compiled by his political opponents, the FBI’s arrangement with Steele shows that bureau investigators considered him credible and found his line of inquiry to be worthy of pursuit.
(from WaPo)
posted by un petit cadeau at 1:26 PM on February 28, 2017 [37 favorites]


It's the piss that keeps on giving.
posted by zachlipton at 1:27 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Salon: President Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, says term “radical Islamic terrorism” is unhelpful
[...] Despite protests from McMaster’s office, the controversial phrase will appear in the president’s speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, a senior White House aide told Politico.
posted by Room 641-A at 1:29 PM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


"Everything the Spicer thinks is shit is gold!"
posted by Artw at 1:30 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


so to draw a historical parallel, was hitler's big pivot to statesmanship the anschluss or the annexation of the sudatenland?

Remilitarization of the Rhineland
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 1:31 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


This should have been an easy little PR win, and instead they've done everything possible to turn it into a disaster.

No, I think the people they're speaking to picked up all the dog whistles loud and clear.

They want to be as racist as possible in public. Their base loves it, and then they love our horror--but because it's a dog whistle, our horror is an overreaction and just more evidence that we're completely irrational and none of our complaints should be taken seriously.

It's abuser 101.
posted by schadenfrau at 1:34 PM on February 28, 2017 [84 favorites]


I picture a mob of Schoolhouse Rock-style sentient scrolls running down Pennsylvania Avenue and arguing amongst themselves:

"I'm the budget proposal!"

"Don't listen to that imposter, I'm the *real* proposal!"

"These fools! Look at my gilded edges, it's obvious those fakers are lying!"
Spock, you must shoot all of them. It's the only way to ensure the safety of the country.
posted by ckape at 1:36 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Sen Graham says of Trump budget cutting 30% of State Dept budget: "It's dead on arrival, it's not going to happen, it would be a disaster."

Why do we even need a State Department? It's just more federal overreach. #10thAmmendent /fake.
posted by MikeKD at 1:45 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


I Did Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Workout. It Nearly Broke Me:'. . . “Justice Ginsburg does 10 pushups and she does not do the so-called ‘girl pushups,’” explained Georgetown Law Professor Mary Hartnett during an appearance with the justice earlier this month at the Virginia Military Institute. “She does not use her knees.10 And then she stretches back for a very brief pause and she does 10 more.” . . . Footnote 10: Johnson [Ginsburg's trainer] doesn’t call these “girl pushups” because some of his male clients do them.'

This is really entertainingly written. Don't miss the footnotes! Also, it's reassuring. RBG is doing everything she can to stay right where we need her. What an inspiration. /goes off to use my over-the-door pull-up bar that *cough* has been largely decorative since I installed it
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 1:45 PM on February 28, 2017 [37 favorites]




Everyone's healthier when they're in prison for non-violent, small-scale drug offenses! Thanks, Jeff!
posted by filthy light thief at 1:47 PM on February 28, 2017 [29 favorites]


"I'm not sure we're going to be a better, healthier nation if we're going to have marijuana being sold at every corner grocery store," he said.

looking forward to sessions' war on junk food and gasoline if that's the metric
posted by entropicamericana at 1:48 PM on February 28, 2017 [33 favorites]


A.V. Club gets a few swings in at the Trump piñata: Obama to blame for everything, reports paranoid idiot
Donald Trump, a misspelled and poorly kerned placard who became a real boy and ran for president, says he believes the many damaging leaks coming out of his administration, as well as all the angry town hall protests currently greeting lawmakers across the country, can be blamed on President Obama.
Nothing new, but an enjoyable, snarky read, if that lifts your spirits at all.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:51 PM on February 28, 2017 [11 favorites]


Livestream of Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee fighting for information about Trump's financial ties with Russia.
posted by diogenes at 1:52 PM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


Smart analysis from Helen Rosner at Eater: Actually, How Donald Trump Eats His Steak Matters*
Adults who won’t eat pink-hearted steaks might lean on any number of reasons for their position, but almost always it comes down to an aversion to risk, which is at its core an unwillingness to trust the validity and goodwill of any experiences beyond the limited sphere of one’s own. It is — and we’re talking about steak here, so don’t get huffy — a confession of a certain timidity, a defensiveness, an insecurity. It’s not just a fear of change, it’s also a bone-deep fear that the way you’ve always done something — the way that, without outside intervention, you might continue always do it — will turn out not to have been the best way for you after all. The risk of that private humiliation can easily outweigh any benefit that could come from your new, better way. It means that when presented with a risk, you make the choice not to trust.

(This is, it’s worth noting, the same lack of trust leads to thinking every contract worker is cheating you, and the same terror of being proven wrong that leads someone with no foreign policy experience to say his number one foreign policy adviser is himself. It manifests itself in other ways, too: The kind of person who traffics in loyalty rather than friendship, who considers challenges to be attacks, who twists every loss into a victory, who assesses every gesture and every act not in terms of how it will better or worsen the world overall, but how it will better or worsen the world for himself.)
* a previous version of this piece was in her newsletter and may have been posted here in that form, but I didn't find it on a quick search

One problem that I've noticed with the GOP, from stereotypical red state voters all the way up to the top, is how incurious they are. It's not just a fear of change, they literally don't want to know that things could be different than they are. So they're against immigration (don't want change to intrude on them), they don't travel (don't need to see anything new, everything we could want is right here), they're against science (scientists, people who are curious, are constantly bringing up new things to feel wrong or stupid about), they won't try new things (like, say, steak cooked medium rare), and they literally don't want to know anything about anything that disturbs their worldview. Those people see in Trump the apotheosis of themselves. He doesn't know and doesn't want to know either.
posted by fedward at 1:53 PM on February 28, 2017 [83 favorites]


The room keeps applauding their outrage (and getting yelled at by the Republican chairman).
posted by diogenes at 1:54 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]




It's a sad thing but I suspect that this weed stuff is going to be what does them in more than anything else. As shadenfrau says above, the stealth-ish racism stuff has deniability but makes their true believers happy. But if they want to hang on to the squishy middle - and they can't afford to lose anyone, including the mega-jerk wing of the Berniebros contingent - they can't piss them off with this meddling in state-level cannabis legalization. The libertarian contingent was very happy with the Obama DOJ turning away and the enforcement defunding.

Unfortunately that doesn't do any good till 2020; I'm skeptical it's enough folks to tip anything in 2018, particularly if the House and Senate keep their hands somewhat clean on this by letting it all fall on DOJ.
posted by phearlez at 1:55 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


It's said that Trump doesn't like eating out in D.C. so far. I imagine that when he eats out in NYC, he usually visits the same handful of restaurants.
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:55 PM on February 28, 2017


The weird thing is all conservatives probably think of themselves as T-Bone cafe types.
posted by Artw at 1:56 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Actually, How Donald Trump Eats His Steak Matters

I've seen plenty of hot takes, but only this one is at precisely 170°F and covered in ketchup.
posted by zachlipton at 1:56 PM on February 28, 2017 [20 favorites]


A real president only cooks his steak to 125°F.
posted by Justinian at 1:59 PM on February 28, 2017


Adults who won’t eat pink-hearted steaks might lean on any number of reasons for their position, but almost always it comes down to an aversion to risk

Seems to be no cite for this. 538 looked at it some and found no obvious connection, although thats hardly conclusive either.

In my own life I see no connection between risktaking and how people like their steak. Believe it or not, its mostly just down to what people's taste is.

(This steak thing, or the Conway couch photo thing.... ugh. There's so much meat (heh) to focus on with Trump this stuff is annoying because its something that Trump supporters can rightly point to as ridiculous criticism).
posted by thefoxgod at 1:59 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


Last week, the Department of Homeland Security issued an open call for designs for Trump's border wall – but architects have just five days to submit their proposals.

Weird submittal requirements like this sometimes suggest they already have a specific vendor in mind.
posted by mochapickle at 2:00 PM on February 28, 2017 [21 favorites]


If he 'donates' it to the Trump Foundation I will eat no hats, because I would be not at all surprised.

To be fair, that's his legal defense fund you're talking about. It's going to need all the funding it can get.
posted by triggerfinger at 2:01 PM on February 28, 2017


"These fools! Look at my gilded edges, it's obvious those fakers are lying!"

That's how you know it's fake. It only applies to maritime law.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 2:02 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


roomthreeseventeen: WH: Kansas shooting 'act of racially motivated hatred'

“The president condemns these and any racially and religiously motivated attacks,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters.

Gee, it would be great if the president said this himself, and maybe in more concrete terms. Say, "extreme Christian terrorism"?
posted by filthy light thief at 2:02 PM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


I mean, most of my life I preferred steaks medium well.

And I've eaten raw chicken (torisashi).
posted by thefoxgod at 2:02 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Weird submittal requirements like this sometimes suggest they already have a specific vendor in mind.

Could be. But, based on precedent, I feel confident that "everyone involved in this decision from Trump's team is a staggeringly incompetent halfwit" is a very solid explanation.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:04 PM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]


White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders

I will never get used to seeing that name and it will always feel like something in my brain popped.
posted by Rust Moranis at 2:04 PM on February 28, 2017 [16 favorites]


Last week, the Department of Homeland Security issued an open call for designs for Trump's border wall – but architects have just five days to submit their proposals.

mochapickle: Weird submittal requirements like this sometimes suggest they already have a specific vendor in mind.

My first take was that major contractors had been drawing up plans since Trump won the presidency, because major contractors plan ahead like that. But your take also sounds reasonable, and lines up with what a friend of mine who works in the federal government said about job postings - if they post an opening for the minimum time possible, they already have someone in mind for the job.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:05 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


> In my own life I see no connection between risktaking and how people like their steak. Believe it or not, its mostly just down to what people's taste is.

This is fine, but do read the steak-and-ketchup article. It's kinda' thought provoking.

It also includes this, about what Trump likes to eat in New York:

"When he dines at Jean-Georges, the three-Michelin-star restaurant in the Trump International Tower in New York, he asks for a personalized order — ”the special thing you made for me,” Chris Christie recalled him requesting of a server — rather than the innovative, creatively constructed dishes on the menu. Donald Trump is not a man who likes to try new things, and that says a lot about him."

That has a statement of fact, and an opinion, but even just the factual statement is interesting. This is a Michelin-starred restaurant - why eat there if you just want the comfort food?
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:06 PM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]


No sense letting money go into someone else's pocket.
posted by Artw at 2:07 PM on February 28, 2017


"Tracing the prehistory of the Holocaust from the 1800s to the Nazis' assumption of power in 1933, Aly shows that German anti-Semitism was―to a previously overlooked extent―driven in large part by material concerns, not racist ideology or religious animosity. As Germany made its way through the upheaval of the Industrial Revolution, the difficulties of the lethargic, economically backward German majority stood in marked contrast to the social and economic success of the agile Jewish minority."

I haven't reached the end of the thread yet, but wanted to post a comment to this before it was too far up: this is rubbish. It was conventional teaching when I was a teen, nearly 40 years ago, but since then tons of new and/or underreported documentation has shown that nope, it was the racism. Racism combined with accelerated immigration from Russia and neighbors to Russia after WW1, but beginning with pogroms at the last end of the 19th century.

It was conventional teaching when I was a teen for several reasons. First of all, the remaining European Jews wanted to reconcile with their former tormentors, so they created a narrative where there were reasons that for instance the Poles killed off even more Jews than the Germans. Then, in general, the culture after the war and up till Reagan/Thatcher was loaded with Marxist thinking, even among Conservatives. During my recent dive into old TV footage one of the things I found surprising was how even the far right embraced Marxist economic theory in their outlines for development. Just like today, "the market" is seen as a given natural force rather than a specific theoretical position, back then everyone was Bernie Sanders. So an economic theory of Holocaust seemed normal. Also, the Nazi image of scheming, cosmopolitan Jews was contradicted in everyday life by millions of extremely poor Jews — mostly refugees and immigrants in Germany itself, and impoverished peasants and peddlers in Eastern Europe. When the economic theory of Holocaust was spread after WW2, many of the people who spread it had a clear memory of the pre-war reality, and they deliberately promoted the economic understanding (of rich Jews outsmarting homey Germans) in contradiction with their own experience in order to engage and reconcile with those who had believed in Nazi and rightwing propaganda. It made sense for them.
In my view, this strategy carried the seeds of the new leftist anti-semitism of the 70's, and as a consequence that of today. Also, it never really succeeded in persuading those people it was supposed to persuade.
posted by mumimor at 2:08 PM on February 28, 2017 [26 favorites]


This is a Michelin-starred restaurant - why eat there if you just want the comfort food?

The same reason you'd have a shelf full of books with uncut pages - you want the look of class but not the actual content of class.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:09 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


My default level of pissed-off--just my normal resting state of currently percolating, available for any use latent anger--is maybe three notches higher since Trump got elected. I am low grade mad pretty much 24/7 now.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:10 PM on February 28, 2017 [35 favorites]


(This steak thing, or the Conway couch photo thing.... ugh. There's so much meat (heh) to focus on with Trump this stuff is annoying because its something that Trump supporters can rightly point to as ridiculous criticism).

Except it's not ridiculous. These people are philistines who have been part of a racist critique against the Obamas that was couched in terms of disrespect for the office. It is important to keep pointing out that they are behaving in ways that actually demonstrate disrespect instead of the fake offense of having black skin in the White House. This isn't just relitigating the Obama presidency, it's another way of saying these people who claimed superiority are frauds.
posted by fedward at 2:10 PM on February 28, 2017 [45 favorites]


Plus where else are you going to get a weird bacon clothes line?
posted by Artw at 2:10 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


and lines up with what a friend of mine who works in the federal government said about job postings - if they post an opening for the minimum time possible, they already have someone in mind for the job.

Yep... I worked briefly in DoD consulting and saw this a few times. Like, sometimes the submittal period was a matter of days, or the requirement was to have a full-time person with ABC experience already on staff, when the gov't knew full well that the only expert in the region with ABC experience worked for a specific vendor.

Sometimes it'd fall in your favor, sometimes it wouldn't.
posted by mochapickle at 2:11 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


This is fine, but do read the steak-and-ketchup article. It's kinda' thought provoking.


It only makes sense if you accept the premise that there is any connection between steak temperature and risk taking / behavior, which I don't. There is absolutely no evidence given for that idea. Or even between having a limited set of tastes and being someone who takes risks or has new experiences. Its trivial to me to find counterexamples --- people who eat the same thing every day but go on crazy adventures, are very open minded, etc. The whole article is asserting a connection between eating and behavior that goes against all my lived experience, and also presents no evidence for it.

It is important to keep pointing out that they are behaving in ways that actually demonstrate disrespect

Eating steak well done???
posted by thefoxgod at 2:17 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


>House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Tuesday said that members of Congress have not seen evidence yet to support reports that associates of President Donald Trump were in contact with Russian officials before the election.

>DUDE. YOUR GUY HAD TO FIRE HIS NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER FOR DOING JUST THAT.


To be precise, you are talking about two different things. Michael Flynn was fired for lying about his contacts with Russians, discussing Obama's sanctions after the election, not before.

Contacts with Russians before the election is a different issue related to foreign influence on the election. So far the intelligence agencies have kept what they know under wraps, at least publicly.
posted by JackFlash at 2:19 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


DirtyOldTown: Could be. But, based on precedent, I feel confident that "everyone involved in this decision from Trump's team is a staggeringly incompetent halfwit" is a very solid explanation.

Also this ... and his crazy claim that it's already "ahead of schedule" ... was there even a schedule to start?

Anyway, contractors still have to deal with geology, and more, as pointed out by the Texas Observer, including
navigate deep canyons, a national park, an ever-shifting river and a treaty with Mexico that requires binational consent before structures can be built in the river’s floodplains. In some parts of the border, the wall has aggravated flooding and resulted in diminished property values for landowners.
The Salt Lake Tribune has more on the issues facing the construction of even a partial wall.

Though the ghost of GWB could haunt us and make this new/expanded wall a reality sooner than expected, as "Experts told us that what’s now needed from Congress to build a wall are funds, not additional permission." (Politicfact, January 17th, 2017)

Fuck.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:19 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Well, there was that casual photo that included a decent resolution of [secret code fob thing] ... help me MeFites, I'm totally failing to remember enough details to search for this. There was something on a briefcase in the background of a semi-candid photo in the oval office, and I'm failing to find the article or tweet about it.

Trump left a classified lockbag on his desk with the key still in the lock and non-cleared people in the room.
posted by JoeZydeco at 2:19 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Steak temperature is but one piece of data. It only takes on meaning as part of an aggregate of behavioral data.

Getting the wall started sooner could be a play to make it impossible to stop building it, once started.
posted by ZeusHumms at 2:20 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


He's a man obsessed with status, yet eats like a picky brat. Probably turns his nose up at anything unfamiliar and stomps his feet if the peas touch the mashed potatoes. He's obsessed with the IDEA of fancy and hammers gold leaf onto anything but to actually expect him to act like an adult and appreciate a steak is not happening.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 2:21 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Eater.com: Why Won't Donald Trump Touch Food With His Hands?
posted by ZeusHumms at 2:22 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


and lines up with what a friend of mine who works in the federal government said about job postings - if they post an opening for the minimum time possible, they already have someone in mind for the job.

This is so true. Protip from someone who's been at couple different federal positions and applied to countless others, if you see something that says "1 vacancy", or open for 3 days or less, that's most likely not an actual public solicitation. They've got someone hired already and just have to post it to make it official. What you're looking for are vacancies that say "few" or "many" openings, and the best of all are ones that say something like "limited to the first 200 applicants" or x number of days, whichever comes first. Those are the ones you KNOW they're actually looking to hire someone, and are going to read all 200 resumes, not pick the person they had all along and trash the 2000 others who didn't know how the game works.
posted by T.D. Strange at 2:23 PM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


but to actually expect him to act like an adult and appreciate a steak

Wow, I can't believe people are this judgemental about what people choose to eat. This kind of analysis is ridiculous and unfounded.

IMHO it really hurts actual criticisms to talk about this stuff. Especially when there are a ton of people opposed to Trump who probably eat the same way as him (its not uncommon for Americans to be unadventurous eaters, after all).
posted by thefoxgod at 2:25 PM on February 28, 2017 [30 favorites]


Seems to be no cite for this

a connection between eating and behavior that goes against all my lived experience

Well, here's my lived experience. I was terrified of food poisoning as a kid, so I insisted on having my burgers and steaks prepared extremely well-done. I also avoided eating canned food, because I was afraid of botulism. Both quirks turned out to be early indications of obsessive-compulsive disorder, which sometimes manifests as a difficulty in coping with risk and uncertainty.

(Disclaimer: I'm not armchair-diagnosing anyone. I'm just confirming that food preferences can sometimes "come down to an aversion to risk.")
posted by Iridic at 2:29 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Wow, I can't believe people are this judgemental about what people choose to eat.

It was a well-done steak with ketchup.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 2:30 PM on February 28, 2017 [24 favorites]


I think the steak is fair game.

This isn't a $14.99 Golden Corral dinner, this is a steak that cost $54. And to have it prepared and eaten like a piece of shit Golden Corral dinner (with ketchup) says worlds about the kind of person Trump is.
posted by JoeZydeco at 2:30 PM on February 28, 2017 [19 favorites]


And sometimes someone who thinks of themself as entirely white ends up with a name like Torres because of one grandfather.

I think it's important to note that Republicans have been using this to their advantage blatantly in areas of high Latino population. See Ted Cruz or my own rep, Bill Flores, who is about the whitest man I've ever seen. (According to Wikipedia, his ancestors came from Spain in 1725 and he considers himself white.) It's not an accident that people with these names are chosen to run by the party. It helps them win, because people tend to vote for politicians they see as part of their own community, even when they are running on policies that will harm them. This isn't limited to Latinos, of course, I know plenty of women who think always voting for a female candidate will protect them.

The Democratic party doesn't seem to entirely have understood this lesson. They tend to take minorities and women for granted as automatic D votes and keep running white men to try to lure some of the racist white vote back. And it doesn't always work out so great.

But here in Texas, all the Democrats I know realize there's only one way to ever win, and that's to get Latinos firmly on our side. All the discussions around Cruz's seat in 2018 acknowledge this (and it's why so many people are hoping Joaquin Castro will run.)

Democrats need to give up on the racist white vote and start working to win back and gain the loyalty of Latinos by supporting candidates who represent them AND supporting measures that benefit their communities.
posted by threeturtles at 2:31 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


make it impossible to stop building it, once started.

I don't think this is possible. Just getting it started is going to be a massive undertaking, both physically and politically, and the continuation of the wall construction, let alone maintenance of what you've already built, will require constant effort in terms of securing funding and buy-in. It could grind to a halt very easily and never get started back up again. You've got multiple nations, multiple states, many many pissed off constituencies, and very unfriendly geography to contend with. Plus it's a disaster from an ecological, economic, political, and environmental standpoint.
posted by Existential Dread at 2:32 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Does this new EO about helping HCBU's smack to anyone else of the firing salvo of some "separate but equal" reboot of our educational system?

I hope I'm being paranoid. I really do.
posted by princesspathos at 2:33 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


thefoxgod: It only makes sense if you accept the premise that there is any connection between steak temperature and risk taking / behavior, which I don't.

Conservative people tend to be more squeamish. Nonpolitical Images Evoke Neural Predictors of Political Ideology (2014 study)

I grew up in a household where "steak night" was steaks on the grill, cooked medium well or longer, always served with A1 steak sauce. My conservative parents have become a little more adventurous in the kitchen in post-retirement, but they generally stick to one way of doing something.

The fact that steak (and Brussels sprouts, and a whole lot of food I grew up eating but not really appreciating) could be prepared a different way was life-changing for me.
posted by emelenjr at 2:33 PM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


Does this new EO about helping HCBU's smack to anyone else of the firing salvo of some "separate but equal" reboot of our educational system?

Reboot? We're still cranking out episodes of the original series today.
posted by zachlipton at 2:35 PM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


IMHO it really hurts actual criticisms to talk about this stuff.

People who wouldn't listen to actual criticisms because of something dumb like this would just find some other excuse, surely?
posted by ODiV at 2:35 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


This appears to be a divide between people who see food as fuel and others who see it as sometimes almost an art form. What Trump does is like going to a symphony and requesting the piece be changed from Brahms Symphony #4 to Buttons by the Pussycat Dolls.
posted by Justinian at 2:37 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


MetaFilter: for sloth to happen you must own a bathrobe.
posted by petebest at 2:38 PM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]


Haven't seen this in here yet (although I may not have been paying enough attention): FBI once planned to pay former British spy who authored controversial Trump dossier.

New tidbits:

• FBI thought Christopher Steele was credible enough that they were planning to pay him to continue his investigation. This plan fell apart after the dossier started spreading around in the media.

• Steele was upset that the United States wasn't taking his findings seriously enough, and he was particularly upset at Comey's October announcement about the emails and the Times' October 31 story that the FBI found "no clear link" between Trump's campaign and Russia.

• Democrats have apparently reached out to Steele for more info but haven't received a response.
posted by Dr. Send at 2:38 PM on February 28, 2017 [19 favorites]


Well, paint me blue and call me a cassowary, GWB is starting to sound remarkably statesmanlike:
George W. Bush paints dark picture of America under Trump: ‘I don’t like the racism’
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:40 PM on February 28, 2017 [26 favorites]


One problem that I've noticed with the GOP, from stereotypical red state voters all the way up to the top, is how incurious they are.

Yep, and there's a study that shows it. Trump voters aren't always less intelligent or less educated, but they sure as hell are less intellectually curious. From the WaPo in the more innocent times of November 7th:

‘Low information voters’ are a crucial part of Trump’s support
Our research finds that Trump has attracted a disproportionate (and unprecedented) number of “low-information voters” to his campaign. Furthermore, these voters are more likely to respond to emotional appeals — whether about the economy, immigration, Muslims, racial relations, sexism, and even hostility to the first African American U.S. president, Barack Obama. They are the ideal constituency for a candidate like Trump.

We define low-information voters as those who do not know certain basic facts about government and lack what psychologists call a “need for cognition.” Those with a high need for cognition have a positive attitude toward tasks that require reasoning and effortful thinking and are, therefore, more likely to invest the time and resources to do so when evaluating complex issues. Those with a low need for cognition, on the other hand, find little reward in the collection and evaluation of new information when it comes to problem solving and the consideration of competing issue positions. They are more likely to rely on cognitive shortcuts, such as “experts” or other opinion leaders, for cues.
posted by chris24 at 2:42 PM on February 28, 2017 [21 favorites]


Plus it's a disaster from an ecological, economic, political, and environmental standpoint.

Ecological/environmental issues won't stop it, I'm afraid. Part of the REAL ID Act that passed under GWB waives all statutes that impede building a border fence/wall, including environmental review, Clean Water Act protections, the Endangered Species Act, you name it. I was on a conference call with environmentalist opponents of the wall a few weeks ago and they said the only way to stop it will be in legislative fights because no court case has a prayer thanks to that waiver.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:43 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


We define low-information voters as those who do not know certain basic facts about government and lack what psychologists call a “need for cognition.”

I can think of shorter ways to say that.
posted by Rust Moranis at 2:44 PM on February 28, 2017 [36 favorites]


I love rare steaks and I hate adding fuel to discussions of stupid bullshit, but I feel the need to say that the steak thing is emblematic of a disgust and disdain for "uncultured" people that I do think is really hurting Democrats. (Yes, it's Trump we're talking about, but if I like my well-done $14.99 Golden Corral steaks with ketchup, I'm not necessarily going to see the difference between making fun of Trump about this and making fun of me.) I don't think we're in much danger of it driving anyone away here on Metafilter, and I understand the impulse (I'm agnostic on the steak thing but the Trump Tower martini just cries out for mockery), but just throwing it out there - think about what you're saying with this stuff and where you say it.
posted by sunset in snow country at 2:44 PM on February 28, 2017 [40 favorites]


My conservative parents have become a little more adventurous in the kitchen in post-retirement, but they generally stick to one way of doing something.

My super liberal parents are the same way, so I guess our anecdotes cancel each other out. Most of the older liberals I know are very unadventurous when it comes to food.

It was a well-done steak with ketchup.

So? It's just food. You really get upset with people who eat like this? Or only because its Trump?

I suspect the latter, which is why I think its ridiculous. Tons of people eat this way, liberal and conservative.
posted by thefoxgod at 2:44 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


I can think of shorter ways to say that.

Yeah, "Republican".
posted by Justinian at 2:45 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Here's a good summary of what the Democrats are up to in the Judiciary Committee:

How Democrats Are Trying to Corner GOPers on the Trump-Russia Scandal

"With his move, Nadler was forcing Republicans to vote on whether information related to the Trump-Russia connection and the president's financial conflicts should be made available to House members."
posted by diogenes at 2:46 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Adults who won’t eat pink-hearted steaks might lean on any number of reasons for their position, but almost always it comes down to an aversion to risk

Welp, I read TFA and got socks, calculus, adultery, and fracking, but no animal rights.

It fits in with all things tRump, just also extra annoying. I mean, what, no lip service even?
posted by petebest at 2:47 PM on February 28, 2017


Considering he's a Low Information president, it pretty much stands to reason....
posted by OHenryPacey at 2:49 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


CNN is reporting that there are rumors that in Trump's latest interview he blames the generals for the loss of the soldier in the Yemen raid, and that there are gaps on Capital Hill over it. I believe they used the word "rumors" as I said, so don't quote me on Twitter.
posted by Justinian at 2:50 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Ecological/environmental issues won't stop it, I'm afraid.

True, but they'll be critical in continuing catalyzing popular resistance. The money (so much fucking money!) will really do this project in.
posted by Existential Dread at 2:50 PM on February 28, 2017


From the "haha, what?" Department:

Trump Says He’s Open to Legal Pathway for Undocumented Immigrants
posted by Rhaomi at 2:51 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Anecdata: my husband will not eat my homegrown tomatoes, likes his steak well done and for months after I got chickens, wouldn't eat the eggs. He's a flaming liberal and I got chewed out last night for being elitist when I brought up the steak thing.
posted by Sophie1 at 2:54 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


From the Judiciary Committee feed:

Republican congressman Labrador (seriously):

"The only person that we have evidence of becoming wealthy off the government are Bill and Hillary Clinton."
posted by diogenes at 2:54 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


So my prediction for tonight's speech: the bar has been set so low that Trump manages to do the minimum necessary to blindly stumble over it, quite likely throwing out some grand promises of the sort he makes to non-right wing audiences when he wants to feel magnanimous like sheltering some people from deportation or a healthcare plan that will cost pennies and come with a free unicorn for every American. Despite offering no details, having no support in Congress, having already put in motion plans that directly undermine these promises, and appointed personnel devoted to doing the opposite, these plans will be taken seriously, just as his idiotic ever-changing plans were during the campaign. He'll be praised as "Presidential" and a "uniter" and we'll be told we're seeing a "softer Donald Trump." Despite the chaos and lack of achievements of the last 40 days, he'll praise himself for having done so much already, which will largely be accepted uncritically.

Like many of his speeches, I expect a weird hybrid of Bannon/Miller and Priebus components. Watch the ratio between the two closely, but recognize that this changes on a day-to-day basis depending on who's spoken to him most recently and what audience he is addressing.
posted by zachlipton at 2:54 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


People always predict that.
posted by Artw at 2:57 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


I feel the need to say that the steak thing is emblematic of a disgust and disdain for "uncultured" people that I do think is really hurting Democrats.

You think? More of a backyard barbecuer's gripe than anything, and a direct parallel to the mock-horror at Trump's eating pizza-joint pizza with a knife and fork. It's emblematic of his being out of touch with the common people.

Also, this is a supposed billionaire who owns restaurants and once sold a line of steaks bearing his stamp of approval like he was an authority. And here he is putting ketchup on dead steak like a person who neither knows anything about steak nor particularly likes it.
posted by Sys Rq at 2:58 PM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


Ok, it's a Fox&Friends interview. Trump says the raid wasn't his idea, that the Generals came to him and explained what "they" wanted to do, and "they" lost Ryan. (Ryan is the SEAL who was killed.)
posted by Justinian at 2:59 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


corb, any idea how Trump's interview is playing in the military?
posted by Justinian at 2:59 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


We are using up a lot of real estate here on fricking steak.
posted by futz at 3:01 PM on February 28, 2017 [21 favorites]


I feel the need to say that the steak thing is emblematic of a disgust and disdain for "uncultured" people that I do think is really hurting Democrats.

Or maybe not?
posted by zombieflanders at 3:01 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


ordering a $54 steak well-done and putting ketchup on it is like getting tickets to Hamilton and spending the whole show streaming Two and a Half Men on your phone and watching that instead

I mean yeah like to each their own but come on
posted by prize bull octorok at 3:02 PM on February 28, 2017 [62 favorites]


I wonder. If I could set up some Twitter accounts, and use them to kiss the president's ass for a few weeks, can I troll him into denouncing Emannuel Goldstein by that name...
posted by ocschwar at 3:03 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


"In a new interview, one of the chief architects of that ban has offered an expanded rationale for it that goes well beyond the original one. Top Trump adviser Stephen Miller says the ban isn’t just about national security; it’s also about protecting American workers from foreign competition and protecting taxpayers from the drain on public benefits that refugees represent."

So, let me get this straight. What Miller is saying here is that this is really a combination of nationalist policies designed to protect the country combined with some seemingly socialist policies designed to protect workers from the global markets? Someone should come up with a catchy name for this type of hybrid approach combining nationalism with socialism. I mean, say what you will about the tenets of it, at least it's an ethos.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 3:04 PM on February 28, 2017 [29 favorites]


From the Judiciary Committee feed:

Rep. Issa: Trump not the first to ask others to manage his financial affairs. George Washington asked Martha to manage his!
posted by diogenes at 3:04 PM on February 28, 2017


Some people have to eat steak well-done when they're immunosuppressed, due to a transplant or the like. I'm kinda unhappy thinking that so many of you would have mocked and sneered at my transplant recipient family member and simply assumed he was the worst kind of philistine while he was simply a very sick man just trying to enjoy a meal.
posted by mochapickle at 3:05 PM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


It is important to keep pointing out that they are behaving in ways that actually demonstrate disrespect

Eating steak well done???
Yes. Disrespect for, among others, the ranchers who raised healthy cattle, the packers who butchered it safely, the buyers who trust the chain above them to get all that right, and the discretion of a chef who certainly has opinions about how best to prepare it. Fine dining isn't just fuel, it's craft. Going to a place like that but insisting "I want what I want" demonstrates at least a lack of understanding of where one is, and at worst a display of petty power. It sends signals regardless of whether you think the signals are worthy of discussion.
It's just food. You really get upset with people who eat like this?
Upset isn't the right word, but I do, well, judge people who don't just reject new experiences but expertise itself. When I encounter people like that who aren't the president I mostly feel sad for them that they are denying themselves exposure to new experiences or knowledge, but in a president that sort of behavior really stands out. How are his state dinners going to work? Is he going to serve meatloaf?

Chefs are experts (and when they're doing it right, also artists). Scientists are experts. State Department officials are experts. This isn't just about taste. With Trump there is indeed enough background to suggest that he's at least had plenty of opportunity to experience fine dining, and his rejection of that experience is significant. I won't argue it's as significant as his rejection of, say, the workings of the State Department, but it's certainly of a piece. He's a guy who doesn't understand culture, who mistakes expense for taste, and who won't take advice. That's a problem when a lot of the president's job is the basic diplomacy of a state dinner, here or abroad.
posted by fedward at 3:06 PM on February 28, 2017 [28 favorites]


I mean, there's a lot of psychological stuff to pick apart about things that conservatives see as looking down on the average Joe and Jane that they themselves were behind and/or criticized Democrats for supposedly disdaining. Y'know, things like being horrified by Nazis, or sympathy for prisoners of war, for starters.
posted by zombieflanders at 3:06 PM on February 28, 2017


Fuck the stupid fucking steak.
posted by diogenes at 3:06 PM on February 28, 2017 [53 favorites]


R. Eric Thomas takes a break from writing love letters to Rep. Maxine Waters in Elle to bring us Everyone in This Photo Is Making a Strange Life Choice
posted by zachlipton at 3:07 PM on February 28, 2017 [16 favorites]


Yes. Disrespect for, among others, the ranchers who raised healthy cattle, the packers who butchered it safely, the buyers who trust the chain above them to get all that right, and the discretion of a chef who certainly has opinions about how best to prepare it.

Wow. So if I don't eat food exactly as you think I should, I don't respect the entire supply chain. Thats crazy.

Ugh, whatever. I should drop this. But I'm kinda disappointed in how judgemental so many people in this thread are about a non-political issue.

Most of the liberals of my parents generation that I know eat like Trump, but are super opposed to him. I find the steak argument pretty offensive but I guess I'm not going to convince anyone.
posted by thefoxgod at 3:10 PM on February 28, 2017 [22 favorites]


Mod note: Seems like the steak argument is getting rather far afield - let's let that drop. Thanks.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 3:14 PM on February 28, 2017 [47 favorites]


More economic anxiety at CPAC, huh? According to a HuffPo report, the National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association held its meeting at the same convention center during CPAC. During their closing session, a manager for the venue came out to apologize for the behavior of CPAC attendees:
“We are aware of some interactions between NIRSA attendees and CPAC attendees that are inconsistent with NIRSA’s values, in particular Equity, Diversity and Inclusion,” said NIRSA Executive Director Pam Watts. “NIRSA views equity, diversity, and inclusion as an essential component of inspiring healthy people and healthy communities, which is what our Association strives to do.”

Posts on social media and attendees who spoke with The Huffington Post referenced comments CPAC attendees made directed at members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and people who appeared to be Muslim.
The article goes on to list a few incidents of CPAC attendees using slurs and harassing a lesbian attendee of the recreation conference.
posted by zachlipton at 3:14 PM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]


We had a thread recently about food aversions. If you're judging Trump for the steak thing, I suggest giving it a read.
posted by downtohisturtles at 3:15 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Trump says the raid wasn't his idea, that the Generals came to him and explained what "they" wanted to do, and "they" lost Ryan

Ugh. I don't expect the President to come up with the ideas and the plans; I expect the military staff (who have the knowledge and expertise) to do that, to present them, and for the President to ask intelligent questions about the intended outcomes, the risks, the benefits, the downsides. And then make a decision on whether or not to go ahead, and then once that decision is made to fucking stand behind it and take responsibility.

The buck doesn't stop with this President, unless it's the best buck, the greatest buck, the finest buck ever made. If it's not that, he'll fucking disparage and blame everyone else.
posted by nubs at 3:18 PM on February 28, 2017 [16 favorites]


> Over 120 retired generals sign letter against Trump's defense spending plan

Here's the letter: Over 120 Retired Generals, Admirals on State and USAID Budget: “Now is not the time to retreat”
posted by homunculus at 3:29 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]




I hope that someone breeds a particularly headache-inducing strain of ditch weed and calls it "Jeff Fuckface Sessions".
posted by vverse23 at 3:32 PM on February 28, 2017 [17 favorites]


In one March 2015 exchange that appears to be between the two sisters, Andrea Manafort seems to suggest that their father bore some responsibility for the deaths of protesters at the hands of police loyal to Yanukovych during a monthslong uprising that started in late 2013.

“Don't fool yourself,” Andrea Manafort wrote. “That money we have is blood money.”

In another hacked exchange a few months later with someone else, Andrea Manafort wrote that her father’s “work and payment in Ukraine is legally questionable.”

posted by futz at 3:35 PM on February 28, 2017 [11 favorites]


> Also, AG Jeff Sessions will deliver a speech at 11am today on African American History Month

The Trump Administration Had One Hell of a Black History Month. Betsy DeVos and Jeff Sessions are doing us proud.
posted by homunculus at 3:36 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


I don't think this is possible. Just getting it started is going to be a massive undertaking, both physically and politically, and the continuation of the wall construction, let alone maintenance of what you've already built, will require constant effort in terms of securing funding and buy-in. It could grind to a halt very easily and never get started back up again. You've got multiple nations, multiple states, many many pissed off constituencies, and very unfriendly geography to contend with. Plus it's a disaster from an ecological, economic, political, and environmental standpoint.

Well the solution, at least from a SCROTUS standpoint, is to start up a GSE named Bobby Wae, give it the ability to levy border taxes on Mexican goods, and the directive to build that wall. You wouldn't be able to stop it without an act to repeal it.
posted by Talez at 3:40 PM on February 28, 2017




I'm not comfortable with the hacking of Manafort's daughter's phone and some of the reporting on it. The blackmail attempt on Manafort and/or his family is quite interesting indeed, and deserves a lot more scrutiny, but his kids concluding their father's work was, at best, morally questionable, not to mention the release of thousands of her irrelevant texts online, is not of much lower relevance.
posted by zachlipton at 3:43 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Say it with me now, "Radical Christian Terrorists, Radical Christian Terrorists, Radical Christian Terrorists!" Radical Christian Terrorists are shooting African Americans in their churches. Radical Christian Terrorists are making threats to intensify fighting in the Middle East. Radical Christian Terrorists are planning for the apocalypse. Radical Christian Terrorists are attacking Planned Parenthood Clinics. Radical Christian Terrorists are shooting brown strangers in bars.
posted by Oyéah at 3:45 PM on February 28, 2017 [52 favorites]


Well the solution, at least from a SCROTUS standpoint, is to start up a GSE named Bobby Wae, give it the ability to levy border taxes on Mexican goods, and the directive to build that wall. You wouldn't be able to stop it without an act to repeal it.

Thus kicking off a trade war with our third largest trading partner, the costs of which get passed on down to Joe and Jane SixPack.
posted by Existential Dread at 3:45 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Wow, all of these representatives wearing white looks GREAT. Are they going to sit together?
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 3:47 PM on February 28, 2017 [33 favorites]


Wow, all of these representatives wearing white looks GREAT.

The Political-phonic Spree
posted by Atom Eyes at 4:03 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


Seriously, if your commitment to not fascism is not having your feelings hurt you never were against fascism you're just looking for a license to accept the status quo and blame it on a straw man.
posted by Talez at 4:05 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


From tonight's talking points: Education is a civil rights issue, no matter what your zip code is.

[Apparently not bathrooms though.]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 4:10 PM on February 28, 2017


Mod note: Folks, I was not actually kidding about dropping the steak thing. Food preference fights are usually not minor here and this isn't the thread for them. Thanks.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 4:12 PM on February 28, 2017 [27 favorites]


Seriously, if your commitment to not fascism is not having your feelings hurt you never were against fascism you're just looking for a license to accept the status quo and blame it on a straw man.
posted by Talez at 8:05 AM on March 1 [+] [!]


My commitment to not fascism is because if we could stop blaming the straw men, maybe we could have another Lincoln.
posted by saysthis at 4:14 PM on February 28, 2017


And once again, I feel empowered to bust out the nearly-relevant Lily Tomlin line. Because that's just who I am, dammit.
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:17 PM on February 28, 2017


I live in one of the swung-for-Lord Dampnut states, am overweight, haven't seen Hamilton and didn't like any of the music I heard from it. I have an associates degree from a for-private school that the government recently killed.

Look, I think the core bit about being a Democrat, or liberal, is that you give a even a little bit of shit about people outside your close circle. What's good for the minority is good for the whole, even if you suffer a few more pennies for it. That kind of thing.

You're seeing a lot of extremes because extremism breeds extremism. We have an extremist* in oval office. It might be a case of two wrongs don't make a right, but are you going to let the one wrong get away with it while you're still trying to play the game the old way?

(*I would argue he's the more mouthpiece/signature of the extremists.)
posted by INFJ at 4:26 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Homunculus posted in the old thread:
Democracy Now: "Are You Muslim?": Muhammad Ali's Son & Former Wife on their Detention & Interrogation at FL Airport

I expect to hear many more stories like this, now that border officers feel emboldened to express their prejudices as a prudent fear of terrorism.

It just goes to show what happens when you start carving out exceptions to civil rights: you start with the position that the USA has the right "to protect itself by stopping and examining persons and property crossing into [the] country" (US v. Ramsey). Therefore, border officials have the right to perform warrantless searches. And since they may suspect people of being illegal entrants, they can detain or even deport them. And they can base their decisions on all sorts of things that should be forbidden in the USA, such as a person's race or religion. Oh, and they can also prevent people from assembling, from communicating or publishing, and pretty much every civil right imaginable. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if there were a way for them to justify involuntary servitude, too.
posted by Joe in Australia at 4:36 PM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


Look, I think the core bit about being a Democrat, or liberal, is that you give a even a little bit of shit about people outside your close circle. What's good for the minority is good for the whole, even if you suffer a few more pennies for it. That kind of thing.

Absolutely accurate. The liberal and the conservative, all other things being equal, want good things for themselves and those that they care about.

But the liberal views prosperity as something that can be shared, a renewable resource, and wants to keep everyone from falling too low and prop up those who need help even if it means donating a bit more themselves. The conservative views prosperity as finite and zero-sum, something for the deserving to earn and take, and if someone outside their set of Deserving gets any help it's theft of resources that should be withheld for The Right People.
posted by delfin at 4:37 PM on February 28, 2017 [19 favorites]


Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if there were a way for them to justify involuntary servitude, too.

They've called it prison, most recently.
posted by Existential Dread at 4:37 PM on February 28, 2017 [23 favorites]


He can't do that. Article II of the Constitution requires a president to be paid

Also minimum wage laws. I don't know how they've conscripted first ladies into so much unpaid work in defiance of minimum wage laws. I guess, like much labour law, there's no enforcement if the person doesn't file a complaint, but it seems like the ultimate unpaid crappy (in that it benefits the employer but not the intern) internship.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 4:41 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Let's check Trump's to-do list progress:

Make bitter enemies of entire US intel community? check
Piss off federal law enforcement? yup
Declare war on the free press? did it
Ensure that every living military officer hates your fucking guts? #taskcompleted
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:45 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Make bitter enemies of entire US intel community? check
Piss off federal law enforcement? yup
Declare war on the free press? did it
Ensure that every living military officer hates your fucking guts? #taskcompleted


🎵I wanna be adored🎵
posted by Existential Dread at 4:53 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Some weird speech excerpts dropping [spoiler alert, I guess?]
posted by zachlipton at 5:07 PM on February 28, 2017


For a good laugh (or cry), you can compare the excerpts provided for Trump's speech tonight with the ones that Obama provided for his first address.
posted by diogenes at 5:10 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]




A friend of mine who did PhD work with some of the folks mentioned in this article just told me that he's relieved that someone is finally reporting deeply on these chilling capabilities.
"Emma Briant, a propaganda specialist at the University of Sheffield, wrote about SCL Group in her 2015 book, Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change. Cambridge Analytica has the technological tools to effect behavioural and psychological change, she said, but it’s SCL that strategises it. It has specialised, at the highest level – for Nato, the MoD, the US state department and others – in changing the behaviour of large groups. It models mass populations and then it changes their beliefs."
posted by xyzzy at 5:13 PM on February 28, 2017 [21 favorites]


> The fog lifted. For a moment, just a moment, I thought that I'd found the inter-dimensional crossrip and worked my way into the correct timeline.

This website appears to cover news from the correct timeline: President Hillary Rodham Clinton News: from the Real America, Where the Majority Rules
posted by homunculus at 5:17 PM on February 28, 2017


Getting the press to quote yourself anonymously as "senior administration official" is very John Barron.

It's disgraceful that everyone went along with this game.
posted by zachlipton at 5:20 PM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]






I don't know, I'm pretty excited about this new healthcare that's cheaper and better in every way.
posted by diogenes at 5:30 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Whoa, holy cats, the writing in those excerpts is genuinely dreadful. I'm a poor writer and I'm reading that thinking "wow, even I can tell this is terrible." Ouch ouch ouch.
posted by Joey Michaels at 5:33 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


like everything else in this administration, this speech has been shat out by cynical and clumsy fascists

it's not gonna be shakespeare
posted by prefpara at 5:36 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Whoa, holy cats, the writing in those excerpts is genuinely dreadful.

It's dreadful but it's coherent sentences. Clearly Trump didn't write it.
posted by mmoncur at 5:36 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Oh, it's shakespeare, just not the fun to watch kind but the hurts to live kind.
posted by valkane at 5:37 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


It's unlikely but I can't shake the notion that the second he comes up to the podium the doors will shut and latch and "The Rains of Castermere" will start playing.
posted by Rust Moranis at 5:38 PM on February 28, 2017 [21 favorites]


It's dreadful but it's coherent sentences. Clearly Trump didn't write it.

Yeah, but he's got to deliver the thing.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 5:38 PM on February 28, 2017


I'm watching CNN. Trump is in the car with Jared and Ivanka and he seems to be practicing the speech, holding up the paper and reading from it.

Seeing the inside of the House Chamber it is really easy to pick out the female Democrats all dressed in white-- they really stand out.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:39 PM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]


xyzzy, that is the most chilling article I have ever read. I can't even believe people are giggling about steaks and pointing out poor grammar when that's the battle we're actually fighting. My god.
posted by theraflu at 5:40 PM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


More speech excerpts, more unicorns promised to everybody.

See this is where if the administration had any credibility whatsoever, we could debate whether any of these promises had merit, or were at all feasible.

But since they don't, and we know none of this shit is on the actual Republican agenda, what's the fucking point. This is the speech you give to your crying two year old in the car promising them cotton candy if they shut up for the new 2 hours, it's in no way a credible policy outline from the President of the United States, even if it had anything in the way of specifics to analyze.
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:40 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


President Trump's disingenuous middle-class tax cut pitch
I'm waiting for someone to say that in certain high-cost-of-living cities, one can make $3.75 million and still be middle class.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:40 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


CSPAN: McCain and Graham scuttled in together. Sanders wanders alone.
posted by Rust Moranis at 5:40 PM on February 28, 2017


Mod note: Housekeeping note: please remember that not everyone is watching (or watching the same feed.) Please make your comments substantive enough, and with enough context, that people can follow the thread. Thanks.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 5:42 PM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


It's unlikely but I can't shake the notion that the second he comes up to the podium the doors will shut and latch and "The Rains of Castermere" will start playing.

Unlikely, unless there's a feast you can spend 2 pages describing first.
posted by nubs at 5:44 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


I love the excerpt where he talks about his deep interest in working with Democrats on affordable childcare and women's health [real, if you can fucking believe it].

Seriously, how can his nose not literally grow like 5 feet if he has the gall to say that?
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:46 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Senator Warren is not wearing white but she is wearing an ACLU blue ribbon.

I also see lots of Democrats, Senators and Congress people, wearing blue buttons but I can't read them.

CNN is making a good point-- half the crowd (more or less) will be hostile. They will boo, they will not stand, they will not applaud, which is not something he is used to. He usually gives his speeches in front of appreciative audiences. They wonder if he will be goaded into showing his anger.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:49 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


I feel like the "Friends! Whites! Countrymen!" opener is *very* reminiscent of Shakespeare, personally.
posted by uosuaq at 5:49 PM on February 28, 2017


Unlikely, unless there's a feast you can spend 2 pages describing first

Uh, how long did we talk about that steak?
posted by flatluigi at 5:50 PM on February 28, 2017 [25 favorites]


Unlikely, unless there's a feast you can spend 2 pages describing first.

Bread, salt and sponge foam cake.
posted by snuffleupagus at 5:50 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


I know it was a ways upthread, but as always Awesomely Luvvie has the definitive take on the couch issue: GET YOUR GAHTDAMB FEET OFF THAT GOOD COUCH, KELLYANNE. Where do you think you are?? This is the Oval Office, not your slumber party. Why are you so comfortable? This is not your house and you don’t pay rent here so what you ain’t gon do is defile the furniture by wearing your outside clothes and then putting your outside feet on top of it. I bet that couch now smells like onion rings. Just unprofessional as hell.

This is a room where everyone else is in a suit and she’s all casual like she’s at her humble abode. It’s a mess.

This woman ain’t got no home training. Not a piece of broughtupsy to be found. Does she have on shoes? That couch looks like it stains easily and I don’t know where her feet have been and what she’s trudging in. I’m just mad for whoever has to come clean. But then if she doesn’t have on shoes, why is she in the freaking Oval Office without something covering her corns? Either way you slice it, this is unacceptable.

Someone’s grandma is throwing their shoe at Kellyanne’s head as we speak. She’s the reason for plastic over furniture. She is the reason why none of us are allowed to sit in the sitting room.

posted by TwoStride at 5:52 PM on February 28, 2017 [55 favorites]


Unlikely, unless there's a feast you can spend 2 pages describing first.

I don't need to read about the honey-roasted capon's juices dripping from Lindsey Graham's chin, thanks
posted by Rust Moranis at 5:53 PM on February 28, 2017


things about the trump administration that concern me

1. creeping fascism
2. corruption
3. mendacity

...

20,051. kellyanne's goddamn feet on a goddamn couch
posted by entropicamericana at 5:55 PM on February 28, 2017 [34 favorites]


Oh God. They are making a joke about an "80 minute speech." I won't make it.

War of the Buttons: Rick Perry and Ben Carson are wearing small green buttons. But not the VP or Ryan-- so not a "Republican" button.

Also a number of the Women in White are also wearing large black flowers. At first I thought it was just one person's decoration but now I see several women wearing them.

I feel like I need some sort of guide to iconography.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:56 PM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


I have a Republican rep who has consistently been on Trump's side. So when Trump promises ponies to everyone I call my Rep and demand that he "Help President Trump Keep This Promise"!

Today I told him I want insurance for all and no Medicaid cuts, just like we were promised. 🤣
posted by hilaryjade at 5:57 PM on February 28, 2017 [22 favorites]


melania's in all black like she's at a funeral
in a way she is
posted by prefpara at 5:58 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Melania does not want to be here. But that's cool, we don't want her here either.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 5:59 PM on February 28, 2017 [11 favorites]


We're all Melania now. Everyone change your facebook profile.
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:59 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


I'm kinda hoping that Melania inadvertently wears white since that is her favorite color.

Nope. She is wearing a belted dress of black sequins. She is getting a cheering, standing ovation from the Republicans.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:59 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


I feel like I need some sort of guide to iconography

I found this handy guide yesterday.
posted by valkane at 6:00 PM on February 28, 2017


> I feel like I need some sort of guide to iconography.
99 Percent Invisible on the AIDS ribbons at the 1991 Tony Awards:
no one explained the ribbons on-air. Rumor had it that the network threatened to go to commercial break if anyone tried to talk about AIDS.

Turns out, this degree of mystery provided some incredibly good press, and the next day, newspapers were buzzing about these mysterious red ribbons and what they meant.
posted by ASCII Costanza head at 6:02 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Giant fuck you to Chris Matthews for giving Nikki Haley the credit for pulling down the Confederate flag. If Bree Newsome hadn't done it first, it never would have come down.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:03 PM on February 28, 2017 [51 favorites]


Paul Ryan looks really, really nervous. He keeps shrugging his shoulders awkwardly and laughing too loudly with Pence.
posted by tivalasvegas at 6:03 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Heh. The cabinet is walking in to applause and Pence is applauding, however Ryan is not applauding because he is popping a mint into his mouth.

CNN tells us that Don, Jr. and Eric are not here because they are in Vancouver opening a hotel.

I found this handy guide yesterday.
Hah! You got me.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:03 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


The ribbons are from the ACLU
posted by soren_lorensen at 6:03 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Trump now entering on CSPAN.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:04 PM on February 28, 2017


This woman ain’t got no home training. Not a piece of broughtupsy to be found.

I love the language and shows class awareness, having to constantly be aware of behaviour and constantly being under scrutiny. Growing up as a visible minority immigrant, albeit in a different country, my parents taught me good manner and etiquette by example - rigorously - as we struggled up the economic ladder.

Furniture is expensive, I'm guessing the furniture in the Oval Office is kept around longer than something from IKEA.

But classy isn't something that this gang of thieves and thugs are capable of. Showing good home training and broughtupsy is the definition of classy.
posted by porpoise at 6:05 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Guys i just got home and my BOOZE IS NOT POURED YET.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:05 PM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


Trump now entering on CSPAN.

i'm not even watching and i felt my gorge rise
posted by murphy slaw at 6:06 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


Yes, I know the blue ribbons are the ACLU but many of the Dems are wearing round blue buttons with words I can't read and some of Trump's people are wearing small green buttons. Then there are the large black rosettes worn by the Ladies in White.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:06 PM on February 28, 2017


Wow, I've never seen the inside of the Capitol so crowded. There must be like a million, million and a half people in there for this speech.
posted by peeedro at 6:06 PM on February 28, 2017 [24 favorites]


It's okay, Trump just walked in, so there's another half hour to go before he makes it to the podium.
posted by uosuaq at 6:07 PM on February 28, 2017


Guys, The Wizards are in a tight one on NBA TV if you need to watch something happening in DC that won't make you vomit.
posted by selfnoise at 6:07 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


His tie is all askew. Is he going to speak like that?
posted by zachlipton at 6:07 PM on February 28, 2017


I've got work in with in 3 hours so no booze allowed. Did Not concider when Taking a 3rd shift.
posted by AlexiaSky at 6:07 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Oh god who's the designated survivor. Has anyone seen Carson?
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:08 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


VA Secretary Shulkin is the designated survivor tonight.

Apparently, nobody told Trump he was supposed to wait to be introduced either.
posted by zachlipton at 6:09 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Shulkin is designated survivor
posted by fluttering hellfire at 6:09 PM on February 28, 2017


Oooh, just a great shot of John Lewis definitely NOT applauding DJT. I know it's customary, but the cheers and applause--which he so clearly craves--is absolutely disgusting to me.
posted by TwoStride at 6:09 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


I put my tequila away...could become dangerous to myself or others. :(
posted by snsranch at 6:09 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


I was thinking maybe our country was the designated survivor.
posted by uosuaq at 6:10 PM on February 28, 2017 [14 favorites]


Thanks again, Metafilter, for filtering, in a meta way. I couldn't handle this, booze or no booze (of course booze but still can't do it.)
posted by WordCannon at 6:10 PM on February 28, 2017 [16 favorites]


Nobody explain to me why Melania just got a standing ovation.
posted by prefpara at 6:10 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


I'm watching Game of Thrones. Less lying and backstabbing.
posted by soren_lorensen at 6:10 PM on February 28, 2017 [15 favorites]


I guess I'm mollified that my wife isn't making me watch this. She made me watch the debates, when there seemed like a small chance of Trump actually winning, even though I couldn't bear to watch him then. I'm thankful that, like me, she can't stomach the reality.
posted by mollweide at 6:10 PM on February 28, 2017


Oooh, just a great shot of John Lewis definitely NOT applauding DJT. I know it's customary, but the cheers and applause--which he so clearly craves--is absolutely disgusting to me.

Most of the ladies in white were most decidedly not clapping.
posted by Talez at 6:10 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


DJT actually looks pretty sharp. His hair looks good and he doesn't look orange. He is wearing a black suit that fits well and a navy/white stripped tie. He looks the best I've ever seen him. Slightly odd that Pence and Ryan standing behind him are both wearing bright blue ties. I wonder if they talked to each other because it makes them seem united.

CNN just panned to Joe Scarborough standing amidst some Democrats and he is the only one clapping.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:10 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


He just got a standing ovation 1.5 sentences in. I may not last more than another minute or so.
posted by prefpara at 6:11 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


So what happened in Kansas, Trump? Don't leave us hanging!
posted by Yowser at 6:11 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


A SECOND STANDING OVATION?

I'm out. I do not have the stomach.
posted by prefpara at 6:11 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Okay, did not see that coming. starting with addressing the racial/religious discord and violence.
posted by OHenryPacey at 6:12 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Trump honors American history of civil rights — this is where he announces that he's all in on reparations, right?
posted by klangklangston at 6:12 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


He just got a standing ovation 1.5 sentences in. I may not last more than another minute or so.

I dunno. Calling out the Jewish bomb threats, Jewish cemetery vandalism, and Kansas City hate crime as hate and bigotry deserves a standing ovation to emphasize that shit isn't unacceptable.
posted by Talez at 6:12 PM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]


From this angle on CNN, it looks like Paul Ryan is working him like a puppet. Also, his weak statement on the JCC and cemeteries is such bullshit.
posted by Torosaurus at 6:12 PM on February 28, 2017


Hey look, it's Cruz clapping for Trump's "renewal of the American spirit." Never who, Ted?
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:13 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Vomit at the ovation, stay for the bloviation?
posted by wallabear at 6:13 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Chicago! /drink
posted by gatorae at 6:13 PM on February 28, 2017 [13 favorites]


Now that we've got hate crimes out of the way, he can get on with telling us how we're in such terrible shape.
posted by zachlipton at 6:14 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Where are the teleprompters? He can't be reciting this from memory. And he sure as hell didn't write this.
posted by Rykey at 6:14 PM on February 28, 2017


The prompters are there. He's reading from them.
posted by tomierna at 6:14 PM on February 28, 2017


This speech is pretty bad. He's better when he's improving. When he does this serious teleprompter read, he looks like he's holding in a massive shit. Also he said "anniverse".
posted by dis_integration at 6:15 PM on February 28, 2017


"A message of unity and strength" deeply from his heart, guise!

"What we are witnessing today is a renewal of the American spirit."

"I will not allow the mistakes of the past to (something something) define our future."

(Goes into a long spiel about how horrible America has become.)
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:15 PM on February 28, 2017


I love it. Half the room is not standing up.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:15 PM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


He's legitimately talking about how many votes he won by. Tens of millions of voices working to make America great again, with a little handwave to the silent majority.

He is now promising new railways. Wow.
posted by Torosaurus at 6:15 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Trump is now calling his election the "rebellion". Which sounds better than the "white supremacy", I suppose.
posted by triggerfinger at 6:15 PM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


Ah, I see them in the wider shot. Thanks.
posted by Rykey at 6:16 PM on February 28, 2017


"dying industries will come roaring back to life" and now all of the impossible unicorn dreams are being spewed forth

*drink again for the second mention of "neglected inner cities" within two minutes!
posted by TwoStride at 6:16 PM on February 28, 2017


That.... Sounds.... Presidential....
posted by AlexiaSky at 6:16 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


The prompters are there. He's reading from them.

Proof he can read, I suppose. So that's something.
posted by zrail at 6:16 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Oh god, he's bragging about his election win again, just in slightly bigger words. And going with the same America First bs from the inaugural.

Why does anybody buy his flaming pile of horseshit about "dying industries roaring back to life"? And cool, he's going to completely halt drug sales.
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:16 PM on February 28, 2017


Oh god. I me me mine.
posted by wallabear at 6:16 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Trump is now calling his election the "rebellion".

Are we not doing [fake] tags anymore?
posted by mikelieman at 6:16 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


We're trying to build a railway here in California. The Republicans just blocked the funding.
posted by zachlipton at 6:16 PM on February 28, 2017 [17 favorites]


"the chorus became an earthquake"? Is that from the Tom Friedman mixed metaphor guide?
posted by peeedro at 6:16 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


LOL he pronounced Lockheed as "Lakeed".
posted by Talez at 6:16 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Buttons say #ProtectOurCare
posted by fluttering hellfire at 6:17 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


"The earth shifted in 2016" in a "quiet rebellion"..."thousands of voices" in a "chorus" and then an "earthquake" demanding "America First."

This is all straight from the Bannon/Miller phrasebook for crypto-fascists.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:17 PM on February 28, 2017 [20 favorites]


This is the most focused effort at creating reality out of horseshit that he's ever endeavored. Bravo, President Bannon.
posted by Lyme Drop at 6:17 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


LOL he pronounced Lockheed as "Lakeed".

It was a very Chevy Chase moment.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:17 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


He is now promising new railways. Wow.
I feel like there is not much overlap between Trump supporters and people who want new railways? I say this as someone who wants new railways, in a state that turned down federal funds for a big new-railway project.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:17 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Oh, he has a little sippy cup of water.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:18 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Love to hear Paul Ryan's thoughts on increased funding for Amtrak.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:18 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Oh that groan when he mentioned draining the swamp.
posted by Talez at 6:18 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


I feel like there was some audible jeering when he said he "was beginnging to drain the swamp in DC"
posted by TwoStride at 6:18 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Oh boy, "Dying industries will come back to life."Coal? textiles? Silversmithing? Horseshoeing? Or maybe he is referring to textile dying.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:18 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


he's actually making sense and appearing presidential. can he keep this up for the full hour?
posted by Glibpaxman at 6:18 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Banning lobbying for a foreign government -- you sure you want to bring that up, pal?
posted by Rhaomi at 6:18 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


No way he makes it 60+ minutes without derailing. The sniffing starts within 10 minutes I bet.
posted by chris24 at 6:18 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]




I feel like there is not much overlap between Trump supporters and people who want new railways?

Maybe they forgot to find & replace all the passages they cribbed from good ol' Benito.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:19 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Oooo laughter on his line about draining the swamp. The Dems are having none of that nonsense!
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:19 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Oh, he has a little sippy cup of water.

That he needed two hands to lift!
posted by Torosaurus at 6:19 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


The railways thing isn't true anyway.
posted by panic at 6:19 PM on February 28, 2017


Or maybe he is referring to textile dying

Textile dying is where people steal the shirts of people who died in the street to resell them on the interstate offramps to try and feed their families, right?
posted by Talez at 6:19 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


My cat just puked. I concur, Olive. I concur.
posted by chaoticgood at 6:19 PM on February 28, 2017 [65 favorites]


I don't know that I can finish watching this. I'm going to go play Darkest Dungeon instead.
posted by Fizz at 6:20 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


I don't know, Glibpaxman, this speech reads like it was written by a roomful of sixth graders (maybe).
posted by mynameisluka at 6:20 PM on February 28, 2017


Banning the use of foreign steel -- YOU SURE YOU WANT TO BRING THAT UP, PAL?
posted by Rhaomi at 6:20 PM on February 28, 2017 [19 favorites]


CNN is doing a poor job of the crowd shots tonight. Don't want to show people sitting quietly?
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 6:20 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


{start with the truth}
{clapping intermission}
{less truthful}
{clapping intensifies}
{lies}
{clapping intensifies}
{doubleplus lies}
{clapping intensifies}
{and maybe a little truth wants to live right here}
{less truthful}
{clapping intensifies}
posted by erisfree at 6:20 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


Stop clapping Liz. Stoppit.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:21 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Shouldn't the Department of Justice already have a task force devoted to addressing violent crime? Like, isn't that kind of their thing already?
posted by zachlipton at 6:21 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Kirsten Gillibrand and Liz Warren sitting next to each other probably dissing Trump.
posted by Talez at 6:21 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Coal miners! /drink

Seriously this is a stupid stump speech cleaned up by Bannon/Miller. Nothing new here, move along.
posted by gatorae at 6:21 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


I don't know, Glibpaxman, this speech reads like it was written by a roomful of sixth graders (maybe).

Most Americans know politics at a 6th grade level. Maybe.
posted by Glibpaxman at 6:21 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Oh hey, gonna expand addiction treatment! How you like that one, Paul?
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:21 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Is the red button with the big question mark on it supposed to be for answering the Russia questions?
posted by chris24 at 6:22 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Aw man, I'm at my volunteer job and da boss just put this on. And none of us can drink.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:22 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]




I abhor hatred in all its forms.

Now here are my hateful policies, full of hatred in many forms.
posted by dis_integration at 6:23 PM on February 28, 2017 [14 favorites]


Doubling down on the "Great Great Wall"

Because it has to be better than Gyna's merely Great wall, dontcha know.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:24 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Did ISIS just surrender? Cuz he said the magic words.
posted by chris24 at 6:24 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


General McMaster, please take a drink.
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:24 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


"dismantle the criminal cartels" sounds a lot like committing to a ground war in Mexico.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:24 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Wow. He just threw shade on the Federal judiciary for the ruling on the EO right in front of SCOTUS. "What would you tell the families" 'victimized by criminal immigrants? '
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:24 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Is the red button with the big question mark on it supposed to be for answering the Russia questions?

Good question.

Oh fuck me. He thinks that by "finally enforcing our immigration laws" we will be saving "billions and billions" and making our nation safer. Big applause and standing ovation. Funny though we he announced his building of the wall, Ryan gave a little chuckle like he found that highly amusing.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:25 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


He is now promising new railways. Wow.

Yeah. Soon I'm going to have to abandon this thread / liveblog to jump on the slow-ass train you fucking defunded and will now never get electrified. Thanks dickwad.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 6:25 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


snuffleupagus: Doubling down on the "Great Great Wall" Because it has to be better than Gyna's merely Great wall, dontcha know.

Two greats good, one great bad.
posted by Superplin at 6:25 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Heard it, heard the first sniff.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:25 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


"Radical. Islamic. Terrorism." BINGO!
posted by gatorae at 6:25 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


He's getting agitated. Sniffing and derail imminent. Past his bedtime.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 6:26 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


Read sentence. *wait for applause*
Read sentence. *wait for applause*
Read sentence. *wait for applause*
Read sentence. *wait for applause*
Read sentence. *wait for applause*
posted by zennie at 6:26 PM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


"Extinguish this vile enemy from our planet." Gotta be Bannon and/or Miller.
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:27 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Seriously though his cabinet looks weird, dont they? Like constipated and disturbed and unhappy.
posted by gatorae at 6:27 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


We cannot allow our country to become a nation of extremists. [real]
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 6:27 PM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


Justice Kagen just looked like she was sick when he mentioned Israel.
posted by zachlipton at 6:27 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Shot of Rubio looking grim at all this talk about immigration control.

CNN just did a pan out and it is very striking to see half the house sitting and not clapping while the other half bobs up and down from their seats while clapping.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:27 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


"Extinguish this vile enemy from our planet." Gotta be Bannon and/or Miller.

Miller. If it sounds like Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet, it's Miller.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:27 PM on February 28, 2017 [44 favorites]


The Supreme Court looks moderately terrified.

"My list of 20 judges..."

Has no one told him how many are on the Supreme Court yet?
posted by Torosaurus at 6:28 PM on February 28, 2017 [13 favorites]


Mattis looks seriously like, um, wut.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:28 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


He's getting agitated. Sniffing and derail imminent. Past his bedtime.

Yeah, he nearly went off-script at "getting rid of the Bad Ones" into the usual immigration riff.
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:28 PM on February 28, 2017


Such big talk on upholding the Constitution from this fuckin guy
posted by triggerfinger at 6:29 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


And now (based on the prepared text), it's time for the "America is terrible and it's probably all Obama's fault" airing of grievances.
posted by zachlipton at 6:29 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


Oh fuck me. He thinks that by "finally enforcing our immigration laws" we will be saving "billions and billions" and making our nation safer. Big applause and standing ovation. Funny though we he announced his building of the wall, Ryan gave a little chuckle like he found that highly amusing.

One of the thing that really gets my goat about this is that they're trying to make 3.5 - 4 = 0. And the rubes keep thinking it's possible.

You could cut off every piece of discretionary spending and the US would still be in deficit. If you take defense spending back to 2% of GDP ($371.2b) and get rid of EVERY discretionary program you're just, by the skin of your teeth, back in surplus. But now people are dying in the street and your economy contracts again.

Anyone who says the US has a spending problem is FUCKING HIGH.
posted by Talez at 6:29 PM on February 28, 2017 [16 favorites]


Inherited a mess paragraph. Take a drink.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 6:30 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


[Spoiler alert: Harley-Davidson doesn't sell well around the world because chrome-plated smog-farting riding lawnmowers are not especially attractive in countries where roads have corners.]
posted by holgate at 6:30 PM on February 28, 2017 [42 favorites]


People keep saying "take a drink" like I'm not drinking continuously rn
posted by tivalasvegas at 6:30 PM on February 28, 2017 [35 favorites]


Scalia's widow is also wearing one of the small green buttons.

Jesus he can hardly get through one sentence without wild applause.

Now he is giving a bunch of statistics about what a horrible America he inherited. And "tragic foreign policies."
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:32 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


I mean you can just read the complete text here if you want to know how drunk you should get.

Very drunk is the answer.
posted by dis_integration at 6:32 PM on February 28, 2017 [11 favorites]


Gah, I can't take any more but can't stop watching at the same time.
posted by Rykey at 6:32 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


"we all bleed the same blood" Literal Nazi imagery in the closing.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:32 PM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


I couldn't take anymore before it even started
posted by Golem XIV at 6:33 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Everytime he says Trudeau's name, we have to wash our poor PM in hot bleach.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 6:33 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


"we all bleed the same blood" Literal Nazi imagery in the closing.

He test-drove that one at CPAC.
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:34 PM on February 28, 2017


If he's so concerned about the tariff rates Harley-Davidson pays to other countries, why is he pulling out of free trade agreements that would lower them?
posted by zachlipton at 6:34 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


Fuck you invoking Lincoln. Fuck you, SCROTUS.
posted by Talez at 6:34 PM on February 28, 2017 [11 favorites]


Ryan has this look on his face like "I know I'm supposed to applaud my nephew for using the potty but really he is a fucking idiot. "
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:34 PM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


Pence and Ryan look like a serial killers listening to someone describing his own first kill. Smug, condescending, approving.
posted by gatorae at 6:34 PM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


Woah. The rest of the text really is a mixture of mid-Thatcher Hellblazer villany and My Legislative Pony: Funding is Magic.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:35 PM on February 28, 2017 [48 favorites]


He circles the jackwagon back around to immigration.
posted by SillyShepherd at 6:35 PM on February 28, 2017


Think he's going to close out with The Snake?
posted by Rust Moranis at 6:35 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


there's no rebuttal/response, is there?
posted by murphy slaw at 6:36 PM on February 28, 2017


THE US FUCKING DOES MAKE ALL IMMIGRANTS SIGN A PLEDGE NOT TO USE PUBLIC HELP AND ALL OF THE FUNDING OF USCIS ARE USER PAYS FEES YOU ORANGE BAG OF SHIT.

What fucking reality is this?
posted by Talez at 6:36 PM on February 28, 2017 [42 favorites]


"Speaking of outcomes that have eluded our country for decades, let's move on to how I'm going to dismantle health care reform."
posted by Rhaomi at 6:37 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]




He test-drove that one at CPAC.

I think you mean the inauguration. "Bleed the same blood" is a major theme, as is our shared destiny, in the Bannon-Miller nationalist agenda.
posted by dis_integration at 6:37 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Well that's it for the details on his big immigration plan: if we dream it, maybe it can happen. Sort of like his plan for peace in the Middle East.
posted by zachlipton at 6:37 PM on February 28, 2017


Republicans giving a standing ovation for a giant public works program.

What fucking reality is this?
posted by Talez at 6:37 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


Where can I just get a feed of Al Franken and Dick Blumenthal reaction shots
posted by fluttering hellfire at 6:37 PM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


Hahahahah, camera pans the crowd. Someone was on their phone.
posted by CoffeeHikeNapWine at 6:38 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Most of Harley-Davidson's parts are made in other countries and brought here and assembled in the US! Why is this a made-in-america example?? argh.
posted by holyrood at 6:38 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


So, he's going to hold it together, stick to the script and this is going to be The Pivot, huh?
posted by goHermGO at 6:38 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Jesus. He really does speak a sentence and then wait for applause. I swear he is cuing the audience.

Say what you will about his rallies at least they were more interesting. I'm bored. His scripted shit is dull, dull, dull and his speaking style so monotonous.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:38 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Anyone who says the US has a spending problem is FUCKING HIGH.

I mean, if you think spending on ourselves is a problem this is almost true. But not really. There's never been a debt crisis.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:39 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]




"Buy American and Hire American" -- except at properties I own.
posted by zachlipton at 6:39 PM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


"Bleed the same blood" is a major theme, as is our shared destiny, in the Bannon-Miller nationalist agenda.

"One People, One Empire, One Leader", amirite?
posted by mikelieman at 6:39 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Can California get some of that money for the roads? We kinda had a bunch of them fall apart in the last couple months.

Oh boy, here we go....repealing Obamacare.
posted by CoffeeHikeNapWine at 6:39 PM on February 28, 2017


You know that Donnie will watch his speech tomorrow and remember who clapped or smirked. He probably has extra cameras in there to catch all the reactions...only slightly kidding and paranoid.
posted by futz at 6:39 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


every time the camera is on Elizabeth Warren, she's talking to the person next to her and shaking her head and you just know she's saying "this guy is just so full of shit i can't even"
posted by triggerfinger at 6:39 PM on February 28, 2017 [18 favorites]


Some vigorous thumb downs from the dem side for repealing and replacing Obamacare.
posted by gatorae at 6:40 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


I loved watching Ryan's smug grin die as Trump moved from "repeal and replace Obamacare" to describing the impossibly perfect provisions the replacement would definitely be containing.
posted by Rhaomi at 6:40 PM on February 28, 2017 [28 favorites]


Turtle Man (Mitch McConnel) was literally doing the evil villain hands gesture in the audience.
posted by Torosaurus at 6:40 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


What fucking reality is this?

The one where they want to deport legal immigrants because their US citizen kids got WIC or CHIP.
posted by holgate at 6:40 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


So, he's going to hold it together, stick to the script and this is going to be The Pivot, huh?

< trump takes off his suit coat, revealing a black turtleneck >

oh, and one more thing

we're annexing Grenada
posted by murphy slaw at 6:40 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


I thank everyone for their sacrifice in watching this so I don't have to.
posted by Yowser at 6:41 PM on February 28, 2017 [32 favorites]


"Access to coverage". Note that "access to coverage" just means "coverage if you can afford it". As in, fuck you if you're not rich.
posted by Justinian at 6:42 PM on February 28, 2017 [46 favorites]


You're welcome.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:42 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


It's healthcare unicorn time!

Democrats ought to hold Ryan to these bullet points, asking him how every single Republican healthcare proposal meets the President's criteria to "expand choice, increase access, lower costs, and at the same time, provide better Healthcare."
posted by zachlipton at 6:42 PM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


Trump is promising to fit an elephant into a VW Bettle.
posted by Talez at 6:43 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


"We should ensure that Americans with prexisting conditions should be covered..."

Um.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:43 PM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]


I thank everyone for their sacrifice in watching this so I don't have to.

Agreed. I can't even hate watch this. I miss President Obama so much :(
posted by futz at 6:43 PM on February 28, 2017 [11 favorites]


Another dig at Obama. I need more bourbon.

OK I am back as he talks about the disaster of ObamaCare and motions to Pelosi who just sneers and shakes her head.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:43 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


There has never been a more meaningless thing to stand and applaud for than selling health insurance across state lines.
posted by zachlipton at 6:44 PM on February 28, 2017 [15 favorites]


lol nobody in the white house read the GOP draft proposal before they wrote this speech
posted by murphy slaw at 6:44 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


So, repeal and replace Obamacare with...

...Obamacare?
posted by tomierna at 6:44 PM on February 28, 2017 [25 favorites]


Republicans giving a standing ovation for a giant public works program.

What fucking reality is this?


It's a fucking act. None of this means shit, they're only going to send him tax cuts, vote suppression and bathroom bills. Trump can get up there and give his stump speech, but he has no actual policy behind it, and it's Paul Ryan driving the agenda.

"Access to coverage". Note that "access to coverage" just means "coverage if you can afford it". As in, fuck you if you're not rich.

I think this is important through, yesterday they were test driving lines about how "coverage is not care", setting up an attack on even the need for coverage? Im not sure the realized that's an implict argument for the creation of an American NHS, but still, let him promise coverage for all as many times as he likes.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:44 PM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


Purchasing across state lines. The unicorniest cost-saver of all the cost-saving unicorns.
posted by tivalasvegas at 6:44 PM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


Democrats ought to hold Ryan to these bullet points, asking him how every single Republican healthcare proposal meets the President's criteria to "expand choice, increase access, lower costs, and at the same time, provide better Healthcare."
I am 100% certain that they intend to. No matter what happens next, the ads are going to write themselves.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:44 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


Purchasing health care across state lines is going to make insurance worthless so quick it'll make your head spin.

Watch how quickly the unsavory insurance companies buy a red state legislature and put through the world's shittiest insurance regulations.
posted by Talez at 6:44 PM on February 28, 2017 [28 favorites]


Republicans know how weird this is, right? Right?
posted by OverlappingElvis at 6:45 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Seven unicorns in one paragraph: "My administration wants to work with members in both parties to make childcare accessible and affordable, to help ensure new parents have paid family leave, to invest in women’s health, and to promote clean air and clear water, and to rebuild our military and our infrastructure."

He'll get credit for these platitudes even as he puts in place a cabinet devoted to undoing every one of these except for the military.
posted by zachlipton at 6:45 PM on February 28, 2017 [28 favorites]


Welp. He got the Dems to stand up for bringing down the price of prescription drugs.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:46 PM on February 28, 2017


Republicans know how weird this is, right? Right?

They're about 50/50 too dumb to know / too evil to care, I think.
posted by tivalasvegas at 6:46 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Republicans know how weird this is, right? Right?

"Paid family leave"

Ok. Please execute on that.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:46 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Ryan just about snorted at "paid family leave".

Wait... clean air and water? What?
posted by CoffeeHikeNapWine at 6:46 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


There has never been a more meaningless thing to stand and applaud for than selling health insurance across state lines.

Until we sneak off and turn it into a blue state single payer program. See ya, suckers.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:46 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


clear water

so tailings from coal mining are transparent now? what won't they think of next
posted by murphy slaw at 6:46 PM on February 28, 2017 [15 favorites]


When Trump just said "invest in women's health" I swear I saw Mike Pence's frozen smile slip a little.
posted by triggerfinger at 6:47 PM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


Trump's Infrastructure Program sounds like America Works by Frank Underwood
posted by Glibpaxman at 6:47 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


Trump showing us the: "60,000 Reichsmark is what this person suffering from a hereditary defect costs the People's community during his lifetime. Fellow citizen, that is your money too."
posted by Talez at 6:47 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


I don't blame Trump for being Trump—he's never pretended to be anybody else (god help us). But watching these jackoffs give standing him ovations for stuff they have no fucking intention of supporting—a trillion-dollar investment in infrastructure, a better alternative to Obamacare, paid family leave?!—I just can't even.
posted by Rykey at 6:47 PM on February 28, 2017 [16 favorites]


"invest in women's health"

he didn't say invest in improving women's health
posted by murphy slaw at 6:48 PM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


Um, Don. Probably not a smart idea to talk about "a father's love for a daughter," dude.
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:48 PM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


Wait... clean air and water? What?
I think that's code for "dismantle any agency capable of monitoring the cleanness of air and water and then tell everyone it's clean."
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:48 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


You don't need Obamacare, you just need a father well enough off to start a company to find a cure for your disease.
posted by chris24 at 6:48 PM on February 28, 2017 [17 favorites]


So basically Trump is promising free unicorns and puppies for everyone without even the faintest clue as to how to pay for them.

Wall - Billions
More Defense Appropriations - 50 some billion (not even remotely enough to cover all the manly stuff he and Bannon want)
Tax Cuts - Billions
Dirt Cheap health care - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Whatever else stupid he's promising - who the fuck cares it's not getting paid for
posted by vuron at 6:48 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]




Trump going to let us know how Republican snowflakes are going to close public schools.
posted by Talez at 6:49 PM on February 28, 2017


Watch how quickly the unsavory insurance companies buy a red state legislature and put through the world's shittiest insurance regulations.

And watch how 49 state commissioners of insurance suddenly find their jobs shrink, because if your $5 Wyoming plan doesn't pay out, good fucking luck sending your complaint to Commissioner Anthem McCigna in Cheyenne.
posted by holgate at 6:49 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


The other civil rights issue of our time is civil rights, BTW.
posted by uosuaq at 6:49 PM on February 28, 2017 [34 favorites]


in summary, the state of the union is leaning over, getting smoke blown up its ass
posted by murphy slaw at 6:50 PM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


If we slash the regulations of the FDA we will..." end up with more thalidomide babies?
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:50 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


"If we slash the restraints, not just at the FDA, but across our government, we'll be blessed with more miracles like Megan..."

ACT UP?

OTOH, thalidomide....
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:50 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


And watch how 49 state commissioners of insurance suddenly find their jobs shrink, because if your $5 Wyoming plan doesn't pay out, good fucking luck sending your complaint to Commissioner Anthem McCigna in Cheyenne.

And circle gets the square.
posted by Talez at 6:50 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


So we want to cut regulations across the government so more kids like Megan will be alive, but cut funding for science that actually does medical research and gut the EPA, so good luck to all the kids with the not-so-rare disease asthma.
posted by zachlipton at 6:51 PM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]


Education is the civil rights issue of our time [real]
posted by erisfree at 6:51 PM on February 28, 2017


Strap in. We're going to explore the murder rate.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:52 PM on February 28, 2017




Now entering the "blue lives matter" portion of this fascist shitshow
posted by tivalasvegas at 6:52 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


Blue lives matter!
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:52 PM on February 28, 2017


He's talking about VOICE now. Fuck.
posted by Rust Moranis at 6:53 PM on February 28, 2017


Here comes the Immigrant Inquisition office. (VOICE.) Some Dems booing.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:53 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


That groan at "immigrants". Fucking racist shitlord push polling in a joint session of congress.
posted by Talez at 6:53 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Bloody shirts matter.
posted by holgate at 6:53 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Very negative reaction for VOICE. Good.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:53 PM on February 28, 2017 [13 favorites]


There were audible gasps and sounds of disbelief and horror at his VOICE program.
posted by Justinian at 6:53 PM on February 28, 2017 [30 favorites]


Audible groans at VOICE.
posted by Rykey at 6:54 PM on February 28, 2017


VOICE. There's some nazi shit.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 6:54 PM on February 28, 2017 [13 favorites]


Jesus Christ -- begin speech by decrying hate crimes; spend later chunk of speech fanning the flames of hate crimes.
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:54 PM on February 28, 2017 [29 favorites]


We're now entering the "fuck this guy" portion of tonight's entertainment.
posted by uosuaq at 6:54 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


Naked effort now to play to resentment of brown on black crime and 'blue lives' at the same time.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:54 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]




oh good fuck
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:55 PM on February 28, 2017


"THESE MEN WERE VICIOUSLY GUNNED DOWN BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS"
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:55 PM on February 28, 2017


The previously administration had a terrible, horrible, stingy policy of not providing unicorns for American girls in need. And they knew they were doing it, ripping away unicorn dreams and giving them to illegal immigrants. This happened to a very good friend of mine.

*applause*

As we all know, access to a unicorn is vital to the mental wellbeing of lovely feminine little girls, for their happiness and futures, in our society. Every little American girl deserves a unicorn.

*applause*

We are going to work together with the forest sprites to ensure that each and every little girl gets a unicorn. There will be a rainbow of unicorns across the land, an honest-to-god unicorn in every room.

*applause*

We won't let illegal immigrants steal the unicorns from our daughters anymore.
posted by zennie at 6:55 PM on February 28, 2017 [50 favorites]


Do we get to see the parents of kids shot by their siblings or by an unsecured firearm? Ah, no, that's a terrible accident and haven't they suffered enough?
posted by holgate at 6:56 PM on February 28, 2017 [13 favorites]


Budget time!
posted by CoffeeHikeNapWine at 6:57 PM on February 28, 2017



zennie, that was perfect.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:57 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


My god. As his father battles publicly with the administration, they've got Ryan Owens' widow there.
posted by zachlipton at 6:57 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


I shouldn't read these live-blogs before bed
posted by aka burlap at 6:57 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Is it me, or did those military guys look completely fucking terrified?
posted by Go Banana at 6:57 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


It's terrible to see these mourning families used in such a calculating, hateful fashion.
posted by Scram at 6:58 PM on February 28, 2017 [16 favorites]


Budget time!

"Oil for the rich and babies for the poor..."
posted by mikelieman at 6:58 PM on February 28, 2017


I wonder if Trump's new program to help victims will also be investigating the murders of seven trans women so far in 2017.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:58 PM on February 28, 2017 [23 favorites]


yo can someone say what VOICE is
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 6:58 PM on February 28, 2017 [13 favorites]


Wow. bunch of generals looking stony as he announces the increase in military expenditure. Maybe generals are not allowed to smile or applaud while in uniform.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:58 PM on February 28, 2017


Is this second half just Trump pointing out people he's invited to this speech?!
posted by Fizz at 6:58 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


yo can someone say what VOICE is

Victims Of Immigration Crime Engagement.
posted by Talez at 6:58 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


"highly successful raid" [chug]
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:59 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


Highly successful Yemen raid. Parade his grieving wife around. Totally normal.
posted by gatorae at 6:59 PM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


Getting the press to quote yourself anonymously as "senior administration official" is very John Barron.

Maybe it would be okay for every story from an anonymous source to attribute their quotes to "Senior White House Aide John Barron"?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:59 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Oh Shit, Ryan Owen's mother trying not to cry. I'M CRYING FOR YOU!!!
posted by CoffeeHikeNapWine at 6:59 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


He is currently using a servicemember's widow and this speech to wage a public battle between a SEAL's widow and his father over his death, on the same day he did his "the buck stops as far away from my desk as possible" routine.
posted by zachlipton at 6:59 PM on February 28, 2017 [72 favorites]


Couldn't get the father to appear because he told Trump to go fuck himself so he got the wife to come as a prop.
posted by Talez at 7:00 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


He went off-book here:

"Finally, to keep America Safe we must provide the men and women of the United States military with the tools they need to prevent war and –- if they must –- to fight and to win."

becomes

"Finally, to keep America Safe we must provide the men and women of the United States military with the tools they need to prevent war –- if they must –- they have to fight, and they only have to win."

Bit of a difference there
posted by choom at 7:00 PM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


Wow. bunch of generals looking stony as he announces the increase in military expenditure. Maybe generals are not allowed to smile or applaud while in uniform.

probably because his actual budget is stiffing them, from their point of view
posted by murphy slaw at 7:00 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Using Ryan's widow like this is fucking disgusting.
posted by chaoticgood at 7:00 PM on February 28, 2017 [39 favorites]


God this poor woman
posted by fluttering hellfire at 7:01 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


yo can someone say what VOICE is

From his prepared remarks: I have ordered the Department of Homeland Security to create an office to serve American Victims. The office is called VOICE –- Victims Of Immigration Crime Engagement. We are providing a voice to those who have been ignored by our media, and silenced by special interests.
posted by panic at 7:01 PM on February 28, 2017


Trump's loudly clapping into his own mic and not stopping. For two whole minutes.

This is fascist shit people.

Then Trump goes "As the Bible teaches us..."
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:01 PM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


Trump, fuck you for knowing what the hell her dead husband is thinking.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:01 PM on February 28, 2017 [20 favorites]


Do you think they had someone clapping with a stopwatch to set that "record?"
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:01 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


It's funny that he hasn't mentioned the other American citizen killed in the raid: the 8 year old girl who died slowly after we shot her in the neck. Not much applause for her.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:02 PM on February 28, 2017 [64 favorites]


He's really milking poor Ryan.
posted by Lyme Drop at 7:02 PM on February 28, 2017


He is so incapable of transitioning between topics. He just slured from "heroes who wear the uniform" to "Our foreign policy calls for a direct, robust and meaningful engagement with the world" without a pause.
posted by zachlipton at 7:02 PM on February 28, 2017


God, the way Ivanka just stood there and clapped. You think Michelle wouldn't have been hugging her, comforting, her? Please.
posted by uosuaq at 7:02 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Looking at the text as a whole: this is as gussied-up as American fascism gets, and it's still fucking ugly. It's up to the media to recognise this and not be all pivoty reboot and shit.
posted by holgate at 7:02 PM on February 28, 2017 [17 favorites]


He also just said Ryan's super-happy to be dead because the ovation for him and his widow broke a record. [100% real]
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:02 PM on February 28, 2017 [19 favorites]


Omg the fact we need an ovation for NATO support instead of it being fucking foundationally obvious.
posted by gatorae at 7:03 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


"Ryan's legacy is etched into eternity. Thank you."

Eh. a bit much. "eternity"?

Quite a long period of applause

Oh fuck. "And Ryan is looking down" "For the Bible teaches us there is no greater act of love than to lay down one's life for one's friends."

Jesus.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:03 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


"In fact, I can tell you the money is pouring in. Very nice, very nice."

Always about the money.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:04 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


reality tv star
posted by valkane at 7:04 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


I'm really enjoying the democrats just not having it.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 7:04 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


It was a very Chevy Chase moment.

Hey! It's all ball bearings nowadays.
posted by kirkaracha at 7:05 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


The worst thing is, this is still the best speech SCROTUS has ever given.
posted by Talez at 7:05 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


VOICE is a program to propagandize attacks allegedly caused by immigrants, to stir up hatred.
posted by scalefree at 7:05 PM on February 28, 2017 [17 favorites]


If that's Joe Manchin who keeps standing on the left he should really just cross the aisle already
posted by Lyme Drop at 7:05 PM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]


...is this paragraph about Russia?

He's talking about how nations we warred with just decades ago are now our besties.
posted by Torosaurus at 7:05 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


Now would be a fine time for the Dems to leave the chamber one by one, without trying to be quiet about it.
posted by holgate at 7:05 PM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]


America is looking for new friends. We are friends with former enemies. Ok, time for Russia!
posted by CoffeeHikeNapWine at 7:06 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


"Free nations are the best vehicle for expressing the will of the people –- and America respects the right of all nations to chart their own path. My job is not to represent the world. My job is to represent the United States of America."

This is the end of any pretense of America being some kind of moral authority in the world. I mean, we were quite often a shitty one, but we at least aspired to some degree of being a freedom light and a beacon and all that jazz. No more. Now it's "we've got ours, and you figure out your own crap."
posted by zachlipton at 7:06 PM on February 28, 2017 [13 favorites]


I just hear sad clown music steaming through Pence's head every time I see a shot of him.
posted by erisfree at 7:06 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


UH OH THE SNIFFING
posted by Lyme Drop at 7:06 PM on February 28, 2017


Is Al Franken asleep? I can't wait for the memes that produces.
posted by CoffeeHikeNapWine at 7:07 PM on February 28, 2017


yo can someone say what VOICE is

The Nazis kept files and reported on crimes they alleged were committed by Jews. This is that, but just with the word "immigrants" (read: Latinos and Muslims, regardless of actual citizenship status) in its place.
posted by zombieflanders at 7:07 PM on February 28, 2017 [45 favorites]


God, the way Ivanka just stood there and clapped. You think Michelle wouldn't have been hugging her, comforting, her? Please.

Ivanka showed the courage and selflessness to touch her once or twice with her fingertips -- what more can we expect her to do for someone wearing off-the-rack?

"For the Bible teaches us there is no greater act of love than to lay down one's life for one's friends."

You know, it's one thing for this bastard to lie constantly, but cribbing dialogue from Hannibal? HOW DARE HE?
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:07 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


DHS Secretary John Kelly writes: “Accordingly, I am establishing the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office within the Office of the Director of ICE, which will create a programmatic liaison between ICE and the known victims of crimes committed by removable aliens. To that end, I direct the Director of ICE to immediately reallocate any and all resources that are currently used to advocate on behalf of illegal aliens to the new VOICE Office, and to immediately terminate the provision of such outreach or advocacy services to illegal aliens.”

Does ICE actually use any of its resources to advocate for unauthorized immigrants?
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 7:07 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


"We all are made by the same God."
posted by gatorae at 7:08 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


"And we are all made by the same God."

Again, I ask what about all those Hindus whose support he's always boasting about?
posted by zachlipton at 7:08 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


"We all have the same blood, salute the same flag, and have the same god"

not good, guys.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:08 PM on February 28, 2017 [55 favorites]


Oh boy, 'Dying industries will come back to life.' Coal? textiles? Silversmithing? Horseshoeing? Or maybe he is referring to textile dying.

Yes, I'd like to send this letter to the Prussian consulate in Siam by aeromail. Am I too late for the 4:30 autogyro?
posted by kirkaracha at 7:08 PM on February 28, 2017 [11 favorites]


I actually don't think we all worship the same God, sir.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:08 PM on February 28, 2017 [24 favorites]


We've gotten to the "inspiring" part of the speech and I, for one, am checked out. It all sounds like dull drivel. He is sticking to the written speech and it is neither well written nor is he an inspiring speaker. A bad speech read by a bad speaker. D-
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:08 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


And now he's cribbing from the Serenity Prayer.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:08 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Ryan just laughed at "the time for trivial fights is behind us."
posted by zachlipton at 7:08 PM on February 28, 2017


"The time for small thinking is behind us..."

Ooh a heckle
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:09 PM on February 28, 2017


Do you beLIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVE in life after love?
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:09 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


The Dems are leaving
posted by Torosaurus at 7:10 PM on February 28, 2017


Holy shit the speech ended and the Democrats fucking bolted out.
posted by gatorae at 7:10 PM on February 28, 2017 [27 favorites]


Al Franken
posted by CoffeeHikeNapWine at 7:10 PM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


[insert "I believe" montage from Miracle on 34th Street]
posted by Talez at 7:10 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


> God, the way Ivanka just stood there and clapped. You think Michelle wouldn't have been hugging her, comforting, her? Please.

Well, yeah, but to her credit Ivanka did lay her hand on (Kelly Ryan's?) arm for a moment and said something.
posted by christopherious at 7:10 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


It makes me physically ill that such distinguished people are saying "Thank you Mr President" to him.
posted by Talez at 7:11 PM on February 28, 2017


the look on Melania's face just then. Like, guys, you know he's full of shit, right?
posted by wallabear at 7:11 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Oh jesus, he is still talking.

His writers really did not have a clue, did they. I can only imagine how this is going to be eviscerated by Speech and Communication students for years to come.

With his final "God bless you" the dems start to leave. The Republicans are still standing and clapping.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:11 PM on February 28, 2017


Well, folks. I hate to say it, but we're stuck with this turdburglar for the term if the Russia thing doesn't pan out. That speech worked for low-information voters.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 7:11 PM on February 28, 2017 [14 favorites]


Exit the Democrats, pursued by a Russian bear....
posted by uosuaq at 7:11 PM on February 28, 2017 [13 favorites]


Such big talk on upholding the Constitution from this fuckin guy

Article XII or the Emoluments Clause?
posted by kirkaracha at 7:13 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


EIN VOLK! EIN SCHICKSAL! EIN BLUT! EIN GOTT!
VORSPRUNG MIT DER MACHT DER VERZWEIGUNG!
ERNEURN DEN GEIST VON AMERIKA!
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:13 PM on February 28, 2017 [16 favorites]


Trump gave Manchin a far friendlier handshake than he did McConnell. Do I laugh or cry?
posted by gatorae at 7:14 PM on February 28, 2017


Well, folks. I hate to say it, but we're stuck with this turdburglar for the term if the Russia thing doesn't pan out. That speech worked for low-information voters.

Agreed. If he can act like this whenever he gets in front of a camera I'd go from depressed to scared. But I don't think he has the self control to do it everyday.
posted by Glibpaxman at 7:14 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


I just flipped channels b/c curiosity won. I hate looking at his face. He's got some pepe the frog expressions and there is this one weird look he gives that reminds me of a dr. seuss character but I can't think of which one and it is driving me nuts. Jesus, he is spouting drivel and platitudes from his puckered orange anus mouth.

I am going to join chaoticgood's cat Olive and puke on something.
posted by futz at 7:15 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


Some bootlicker just told him it was a "Reaganesque" speech. The handshake parade is so gross.
posted by gatorae at 7:15 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


That was indeed a disgusting exit. Although I'm glad CSPAN caught it all.
posted by uosuaq at 7:17 PM on February 28, 2017


did the low-information voters even watch? my conception of a low-info voter is a guy who shows up on election day with his boxers stuck in his zipper who checks off the names he recognizes from the teevee
posted by murphy slaw at 7:17 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


The moment where he discussed how happy a dead Navy SEAL is "looking down" because it set a record for applause was crazypants.

I'm curious how various news networks are starting to spin it, if anybody's heard anything worth quoting here.
posted by zachlipton at 7:17 PM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


dr. seuss character but I can't think of which one and it is driving me nuts

he wobbles between the grinch and Sylvester McMonkey McBean
posted by murphy slaw at 7:18 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


God, that slow clap applause for the war widow made me ill. I literally yelled at the screen that donnie should sit the fuck down because she's not going to sleep with him (trump)
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 7:19 PM on February 28, 2017


Sylvester McMonkey McBean in a nutshell!
posted by h00py at 7:19 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


I'm curious how various news networks are starting to spin it, if anybody's heard anything worth quoting here.

Just a low, broken keening.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:19 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Consensus seems to be a well-polished turd, punditry driven by "presidential" style points because he didn't shit himself. Now back to regularly-scheduled chaos and cruelty.
posted by holgate at 7:20 PM on February 28, 2017


He is now promising new railways.

Oh, God, if that were the fiscal stimulus instead of the Wall, it would be so nice.
posted by Coventry at 7:20 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Al Franken is my spirit animal now
posted by fluttering hellfire at 7:20 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


So, repeal and replace Obamacare with...

YoMamaCare
posted by kirkaracha at 7:20 PM on February 28, 2017 [18 favorites]


So earlier today at lunch he told the network anchors he wants a plan to give some kind of legal status to illegal immigrants. Tonight he doesn't say shit about that. Once again, telling everyone whatever the heck he thinks they want to hear, even if it's only a few hours apart.
posted by zachlipton at 7:20 PM on February 28, 2017 [26 favorites]


I often reflect on the Bible verse 'God so loved the world he sent his only son to die in a pointless raid that killed innocent people'.
posted by um at 7:21 PM on February 28, 2017 [44 favorites]


He just made a fuckload of promises they have no intention whatsoever of even attempting to keep. He can't do any of that. At some point they're either going to implement the real Republican agenda, which is wildly unpopular, or their supporters will start asking when they can expect their unicorns delivered. This speech worked for him for now, but did nothing long term.

Assuming their worst agenda item remained stalled in utter dysfunction (yes, big assumption), there's some light here for Democrats. If only they can capitalize, tie him and Republicans to everything he promised but can't deliver, and lay out a real populist agenda in opposition.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:21 PM on February 28, 2017 [23 favorites]


Beshear? Why him?
posted by fluttering hellfire at 7:22 PM on February 28, 2017


I was really looking forward to this speech, but by Hillary Clinton. I would've been so great to have the Sergeant at Arms say, "Mr. Speaker, the president of the United States" and have her walk in.
posted by kirkaracha at 7:22 PM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


Pro tip: if unsure of which reality you are currently in, look at the sky. If you see dirigibles you're in an alternate reality. If you don't you're in the terrible one.
posted by um at 7:23 PM on February 28, 2017 [36 favorites]


Beshear? Why him?

He's white and Appalachian.
posted by Justinian at 7:23 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


I know we don't usually like posts with a single tweet in this thread, but someone asked how the media is reacting to this and this tweet kinda sums it up perfectly:

Well, he didn't talk about his dick size or call anyone a pussy so PLEASE REMEMBER THE BAR CAN'T BE THAT LOW HE'S THE PRESIDENT.

And in case you think nobody in the media would actually lower the bar as low as that tweet implies, here's someone else quoting Wolf Blizter:

“He read that speech from the teleprompter much more effectively than he has in the past” — Wolf Blitzer, fiddling while Rome burns.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:23 PM on February 28, 2017 [31 favorites]


Transcript (slnyt)

I can't bring myself to look at the video. Was it like this or did it ramble?
posted by lalochezia at 7:24 PM on February 28, 2017


I was really looking forward to this speech, but by Hillary Clinton. I would've been so great to have the Sergeant at Arms say, "Mr. Speaker, the president of the United States" and have her walk in.


Goddammit. She would've been in all white, and I would've started crying in happiness.
posted by joyceanmachine at 7:24 PM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]




Goddammit. She would've been in all white, and I would've started crying in happiness.

Goddammit. Crying again.

Trump is going to be hate-tweeting about this Beshear response.
posted by CoffeeHikeNapWine at 7:26 PM on February 28, 2017


Has no one told him how many are on the Supreme Court yet?

I just read recently that one of Roosevelt's tactics for dealing resistance to the New Deal from the conservative Supreme Court was to appoint extra judges. There is no constitutional limit on the number of judges, and changing it merely requires an act of Congress.
posted by Coventry at 7:26 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


I'm liking this Beshear guy. Good choice.
posted by uosuaq at 7:26 PM on February 28, 2017


I've never heard of Beshear before tonight. His speech is pretty good so far. Railing on the GOPs determination to "rip" healthcare from millions of families. After talking about Trump rolling back all the regulations that protect us.
posted by triggerfinger at 7:26 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


He's white and Appalachian.

Yeah, but also because he delivered Medicaid expansion and a state-based exchange (that Matt Bevin is busily dismantling) and that shit's going away and eastern KY healthcare will go back to whatever opioids you can hoard and waiting for Remote Area Medical at 5am once a year.
posted by holgate at 7:27 PM on February 28, 2017 [22 favorites]


Assuming their worst agenda item remained stalled in utter dysfunction (yes, big assumption), there's some light here for Democrats. If only they can capitalize, ...

No.. There isn't.. The optics of the all-white and sitting actually sucked for anyone not already firmly in the Democratic camp. They're going to be able to easily blame all this dysfunction and failure on the Democrats not helping, and the Democrats are going to lose in 2018. Again.

Fucking bullshit, is what this is.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 7:28 PM on February 28, 2017


Of course it would play well with his base voters. You could say that ICE is going to stop deporting undocumented aliens and instead just execute them on the scene and plenty of Republican voters would say "America Fuck Yeah!".

Make no mistake the Republican party has 100% decided that as long as rich white donors get tax cuts they are okay with the rest of the US becoming a haven for white nationalists.

Oh of course when the tax cuts fail to spark economic growth and the ACA job losses plus public sector job cuts start increasing the unemployment rate they'll disavow but they'll get their tax cuts in place first
posted by vuron at 7:28 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


"Our system is broken because too many of our leaders think it's all about them." Oooooooooooooooooooooooo.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:29 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


I'm one of those Kentuckians that didn't have health insurance before Obamacare. Beshear's replacement, Matt Bevin, mostly ran on a platform of defeating Obamacare. Then in 2016, tons of Kentuckians WHO ARE ON OBAMACARE (or expanded Medicaid that Beshear championed) voted for Trump.
posted by Miss Cellania at 7:30 PM on February 28, 2017 [20 favorites]


What holgate said. Kynect (the Kentucky incarnation of the ACA) was an incredibly successful implementation that brought care to one of our poorest (and reddest) states, and Gov. Beshear is the one that maneuvered it into being.
posted by tivalasvegas at 7:30 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


The optics of the all-white and sitting actually sucked for anyone not already firmly in the Democratic camp

Are you putting forward the proposition that the Democrats should have stood and clapped for Trump's horrific policies?
posted by Justinian at 7:30 PM on February 28, 2017 [19 favorites]


here's someone else quoting Wolf Blizter

(To be clear: I wasn't watching, so I don't know whether Blitzer actually said that. But it seems like something he'd say.

Of course, Deplorable Twitter is going off on him anyway for a segment he apparently did pointing out that Trump's foot-dragging on cabinet appointments could theoretically cause a situation where an Obama appointee could become President if some unlikely series of events occurred.)
posted by tobascodagama at 7:30 PM on February 28, 2017


I feel ... all dirty. And not in a good way.
posted by Chitownfats at 7:30 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


xyzzy posted this earlier and it is a really chilling read about Mercer/Trump/Farage and the development of Internet Propaganda. I'm afraid of it getting lost in the live-blog as it was posted just before that shitshow began...

a couple of good follow-up reads:
Defense against the dark arts: networked propaganda and counter-propaganda
Medium, and The Reason You Can’t Stand the News Anymore.
posted by Golem XIV at 7:31 PM on February 28, 2017 [18 favorites]


They're going to be able to easily blame all this dysfunction and failure on the Democrats not helping, and the Democrats are going to lose in 2018.

Nobody loses an election in modern America for shitting on and fucking over the party in power. Ask Mitch McConnell.
posted by holgate at 7:32 PM on February 28, 2017 [17 favorites]


They're going to be able to easily blame all this dysfunction and failure on the Democrats not helping, and the Democrats are going to lose in 2018. Again.

Which is exactly why the GOP was punished in 2016 for all the stonewalling they did under Obama, right?
posted by tobascodagama at 7:32 PM on February 28, 2017 [17 favorites]


The Democratic response from Beshear is what hardcore "hey white working class, we're your party too!"-pandering could look like these next few years.
posted by windbox at 7:33 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


the proposition that the Democrats should have stood and clapped for Trump's horrific policies

Oh hell no. They really couldn't win that one. Maybe not GOING would have helped. Maybe. But I doubt it. There's no way to win against the pure infantile emotional appeal of that speech. His base is eating that shit up and the "undecideds" will swing toward it because it demonstrates power, just like Trump's whole fucking campaign.

Really, he needed to go out there and shit in his own hat, and that didn't happen.

I'm even more depressed and angry right now that I have been at any point since Nov 8th. I can't believe it.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 7:34 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Another plus for Steve Beshear is that this will burnish the cred of his son Andy, who is the state AG here. He is also one of few Kentucky Democrats who have been able to win on a state level and have a clear future in politics. I cannot overstate how hurting KY Dems are right now.

Thankfully, at least in Louisville, there is a serious effort to fight back.
posted by chaoticgood at 7:34 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


oh, and one more thing

we're annexing Grenada


What is this referencing? It sounds like my kind of entertainment.
posted by Coventry at 7:34 PM on February 28, 2017


"Has no one told him how many are on the Supreme Court yet?"

I really feel like that's something for the next president to decide.
posted by klangklangston at 7:35 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


So basically Trump is promising free unicorns and puppies for everyone without even the faintest clue as to how to pay for them.

Just mint a trillion-Dollar coin, and he won't need any silly Congressional budget.
posted by Coventry at 7:38 PM on February 28, 2017


I'm even more depressed and angry right now that I have been at any point since Nov 8th. I can't believe it.

Make some calls tomorrow and find people who want to make a difference. Like I said, this is the most gussied-up this turd will get. Events will start to intervene. It's either downhill for him, or downhill for everyone.
posted by holgate at 7:41 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


As long as the Democrats don't exclusively pander to the white working-class, I have no problem with things like the Kentucky Governor's response here. He had salient points and extremely relevant experience to the healthcare mess coming up. I'll be concerned if the Democrats decide old white men are their entire vision of the future, but this seemed laser focused on the ACA and tring to speak specifically to Republicans who benefit from Obamacare. I'll be watching who they put forward as time goes on, though.
posted by gatorae at 7:42 PM on February 28, 2017 [14 favorites]


I have ordered the Department of Homeland Security to create an office to serve American Victims. The office is called VOICE –- Victims Of Immigration Crime Engagement. We are providing a voice to those who have been ignored by our media, and silenced by special interests.

Well, that's terrifying.

The crimes committed by immigrants don't have different effects to the crimes committed by native-born citizens. You don't need a special office to help the victims; they're hurt in the same ways as any other victims of crime. This is a way of creating a special category of crime that only foreigners can be guilty of. From now on, whenever the Trump administration talks about "immigrant murders" and "immigrant theft" it will reflect on everybody who looks or sounds foreign-born. They'll be treated differently by police and the media, and the statistics (because of course there will be statistics) will be used to justify whatever terror-inducing measures the Administration comes up with.

Also, "silenced by special interests"? That means civil rights lawyers and social workers and journalists and liberal politicians as well as anyone who gives them support. Now they're not just enemies of this administration; they're enemies of the people. This is Nazi-level stuff.
posted by Joe in Australia at 7:43 PM on February 28, 2017 [126 favorites]


Donald Trump is riding that soldier's corpse like
posted by Existential Dread at 7:45 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


"Silenced by special interests" means silenced by Jews. Pretty much literally or completely literally depending on the audience.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:46 PM on February 28, 2017 [28 favorites]


ACLU: The Trump Administration Is Threatening to Publicly Release the Private Data of Immigrants and Foreign Visitors

What the executive order did was exclude all of these people from receiving the protections of the Privacy Act of 1974, which limits the government’s sharing of personal information without permission. Based on recent implementation memos, it appears that some federal agencies intend to put this policy change into effect in a way that violates existing law. That is why the ACLU is sending a letter to every federal agency calling on them to halt any plans they have to implement the order...

We are also — along with Human Rights Watch — writing to European Union officials to warn them that this new policy undermines U.S.-E.U. agreements on data sharing for law enforcement and commercial purposes because the U.S. would no longer be able to guarantee protections for European citizens’ private information.

posted by futz at 7:47 PM on February 28, 2017 [51 favorites]


I still want to know how the Republican Party went from "shining city on a hill" to "America respects the right of all nations to chart their own path. My job is not to represent the world. My job is to represent the United States of America."
posted by zachlipton at 7:48 PM on February 28, 2017


VOICE is basically creating the anti hate crime. Instead of protecting people Republicans hate, it's protecting people killed by people Republicans hate. Of course Republicans love it. See also reverse racism.
posted by gatorae at 7:51 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]




Holder: Obama is 'ready to roll'

Barack Obama is getting closer to making his public reappearance in politics, his friend and former Attorney General Eric Holder said on Tuesday.

Holder said he’s been talking to the former president about ways — including fundraising and interacting with state legislators — that could help the new National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which Obama asked Holder to chair last year.

“It’s coming. He’s coming,” Holder said, speaking to reporters at a briefing for the new group. “And he’s ready to roll.”

Throughout, Holder said, Obama “will be a more visible part of the effort.”

Holder also predicted that the usual pattern of the party in the White House losing state legislative seats in off-year elections would hold next year, but “I expect we’ll see that on steroids with President Trump.”

posted by futz at 7:52 PM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


Enjoy a future free of tourists, America.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:54 PM on February 28, 2017 [24 favorites]


this seemed laser focused on the ACA and trying to speak specifically to Republicans who benefit from Obamacare.

Ill health does not make partisan choices. The impact of tax cuts or infrastructure bullshit or regulatory bullshit or even the persecution of immigrants is going to be unevenly distributed, but illness doesn't discriminate. I've been around a few chronic disease support groups, and I've seen older religious conservative people and young gay liberal people become friends because the day-to-day struggles of living with illness (especially in the US, where unfairness is baked into the system) erase all manner of cultural and political differences.
posted by holgate at 7:54 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


"So basically Trump is promising free unicorns and puppies for everyone without even the faintest clue as to how to pay for them."

Same way he always does: Get a loan from Russia.
posted by klangklangston at 7:54 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


If I won a trip to the USA right now I wouldn't go which is sad because there are so many of you good people over there, but man. Trump. And Trump supporters*. Plus I couldn't deal with customs. It was bad enough in 1998.

*We have them here too, same breed but different figurehead.
posted by h00py at 7:55 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


You'd have to be bat shit crazy to visit the states now. Holy fuck that VOICE thing, elimination of privacy rights for non citizens.

Just stay the fuck away!!! No matter what your skin colour is.
posted by Yowser at 7:56 PM on February 28, 2017 [45 favorites]


At this point it's not safe for people who live here to leave or people who want to visit to come.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:56 PM on February 28, 2017 [27 favorites]


"Silenced by special interests" means silenced by Jews.

Pretty much. But for fascists, "Jewish" has never just meant "having Jewish ancestry and/or identifying with or practising Judaism". It's a shorthand for anything in opposition to fascist ideology. So you have art made by Jews and you have "Jewish art"; science done by Jews and "Jewish science". Like "immigrant crime", it's a weaponised term, not a descriptive one.
posted by Joe in Australia at 7:57 PM on February 28, 2017 [23 favorites]


Chuck Todd picked up on Trump's shift in language about pre-existing conditions as well. It sounds like a minor shift in tone but it isn't; Trump moving to talk about "access to health coverage" is very important. It means that all his talk during the campaign was bullshit and he'll sign Ryan's garbage sandwich.

It means that people with pre-existing conditions will, if they get their way, be in the same position they were in before the ACA. You will not be able to get coverage. Oh, maybe technically they will offer you a plan. But if you make 44k a year and they offer you a plan which costs $2800 a month and Ryan has generously offered to give you a $150 a month tax credit... have you really been given access to coverage?
posted by Justinian at 7:58 PM on February 28, 2017 [38 favorites]


because the U.S. would no longer be able to guarantee protections for European citizens’ private information.

Data protection is one of those things that the EU takes really fucking seriously at an institutional level, and the US does not. There were some very tense and detailed post-9/11 negotiations about access to things like SWIFT transfer data. Expect that to be a flashpoint going forward.
posted by holgate at 7:59 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


Can we talk about the font used by Betsy DeVos in this statement?

Does she think it looks like actual handwriting? I... just.... what? Why?
posted by CoffeeHikeNapWine at 8:00 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


She's literally never had a job. She thinks that looks good.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:02 PM on February 28, 2017 [34 favorites]


A Rand Paul strategist making a big deal out of the fact that Trump said "tax credits" and not "refundable tax credits" for healthcare. May well be meaningless, since everything was completely lacking details, but if they push forward with that, it would mean a tax cut for those with higher incomes and nothing for everybody else.
posted by zachlipton at 8:03 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


State of the Union response: (former) Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear
Then you started rolling back rules that provide oversight of the financial industry and safeguard us against another national economic meltdown.

And you picked a Cabinet of billionaires and Wall Street insiders who want to eviscerate the protections that most Americans count on and that help level the playing field.

That’s not being our champion.

That’s being Wall Street’s champion.
I wish more Democrats would hammer on this point more often. People remember the financial crisis, and the Republicans have made another one more likely. It's on them.
posted by homunculus at 8:04 PM on February 28, 2017 [44 favorites]


> Trump moving to talk about "access to health coverage" is very important. It means that all his talk during the campaign was bullshit and he'll sign Ryan's garbage sandwich.

George Takei‏: Pay attention: "Access to healthcare" is not healthcare. I have "access" to Ryan Reynolds. But he's not covering me.
posted by homunculus at 8:05 PM on February 28, 2017 [77 favorites]


Enjoy a future free of tourists, America.

The plans for Disney World Cancun [currently fake, but perhaps only a matter of time] will probably not go down well in the White House.
posted by holgate at 8:06 PM on February 28, 2017


And it's written so poorly. "first in her family to graduate high school, college and later this May" "afford to millions" "Kids are 100 percent of our future". Gah.
posted by perhapses at 8:06 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Please stay away, not just for your own protection but to show the Trumpists that choices have consequences. Spend your money elsewhere. Tell your friends. Refuse to play Sun City.

That goes for Americans too. If you want to vacation at a Great Lake, you can find a lovely beach in Minnesota, New York, Illinois, or Canada. Please forgo the ones in Michigan until the majority electorate here comes to their fucking senses.
posted by FelliniBlank at 8:07 PM on February 28, 2017 [14 favorites]


Enjoy a future free of tourists, America.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:54 PM on February 28 [6 favorites +] [!]


What's a tourist really? Just a dilettante immigrant I guess...
posted by Golem XIV at 8:08 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Yeah once I read that CBP deciding not to let you in/deport you back involved being SHACKLED while on the plane back, I thought "would I ever risk that happening to me or my kid?" haha fuck no. I would cancel all plans to come to a country that did that.

So yeah, tourism is fucked in this country, thanks Dampnut.
posted by emjaybee at 8:08 PM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


In the audience were children whose mom was just deported
posted by SyraCarol at 8:12 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


Enjoy a future free of tourists, America.

Santa Monica just released its annual report.

Residents: 92,987
Visitors: 7.3 million
Sales tax: $51 million

We are fukt.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:13 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


So yeah, tourism is fucked in this country

Not just tourism: conference travel, non-essential business travel. I know people who will be having a lot more meetings in Toronto and Vancouver this year.

The Pod Save America post-show notes that this speech makes a lot of promises that the GOP in Congress has no intention of upholding. The balance of the see-saw can't hold.
posted by holgate at 8:17 PM on February 28, 2017 [13 favorites]


Trump moving to talk about "access to health coverage" is very important. It means that all his talk during the campaign was bullshit and he'll sign Ryan's garbage sandwich.

Trump didn't write his speech and I wouldn't bet money that he even understood most of it. He was always going to sign Ryan's garbage sandwich, because whoever's in the room with him will tell him whatever he needs to hear to get him to sign it, and then later he'll find out what he did and get "outraged". The only hope we have - or have ever had - is that not enough Republicans back a bill repealing it.

What Trump actually thinks or wants is practically irrelevant. He doesn't read, he isn't curious, and he's surrounded by people with agendas who have figured out how to wave the right shiny thing at the right time so he thinks it's his idea at the moment of truth.
posted by Mchelly at 8:19 PM on February 28, 2017 [33 favorites]


I have to confess, at the beginning of the speech and he was saying "as I speak...." then something about the borders and getting the bad people out that I was going to come here and Twitter and read about how ICE raids were happening *as he was speaking*.

I think expecting that, and imagining my reaction is what has me thinking "wow, that wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting".
posted by CoffeeHikeNapWine at 8:20 PM on February 28, 2017


The business conference thing isn't even only about ethics any more. It's impossible to guarantee that everyone can turn up to a US-based conference (for instance, a UK national teacher was randomly barred from entry), so there's a business risk. Vancouver looks awfully good at that point.
posted by jaduncan at 8:21 PM on February 28, 2017 [26 favorites]


The Pod Save America post-show notes that this speech makes a lot of promises that the GOP in Congress has no intention of upholding. The balance of the see-saw can't hold.

Doesn't matter, though, at least to the Trump base. They flat-out say stuff like, "Oh, yeah, we know the coal jobs are never coming back. It doesn't matter if he tells the truth, just that he cares." To please them, he just needs to say the whole Letter to Santa set of pandering trite phrases, make life difficult for immigrants and people of color, blame shit on Democrats, and everybody's happy.
posted by FelliniBlank at 8:22 PM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


Medium is charging $75 for subdomains w/o any particular guarantee of service btw. As of last week. I know that's not outrageous b/c SSL but I'm guessing their days are numbered. The spigot is off.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:25 PM on February 28, 2017


Yes but we don't have to care about the Trump base. They are unwinnable and frankly, they're flatly the enemies at this point. The only people that matter are the marginal Trump supporters who flipped from voting Obama, and those who stayed home rather than vote Clinton. There are more than enough of those to win in 2018 and 2020. Never forget we're talking about less than 100k votes across 3 states. Appealing to MAGA hats is beyond counterproductive.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:26 PM on February 28, 2017 [36 favorites]




Yeah, CBP gave some bullshit excuse that a tourist visa meant that a renowned Holocaust historian from France couldn't receive payment for speaking despite him meeting the qualifications for an exemption. Ejected.
posted by xyzzy at 8:27 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


"I am here tonight to deliver a message of unity and strength, and it is a message deeply delivered from my heart," Trump said.

Needs more bass.
posted by perhapses at 8:29 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


@BraddJaffy:
.@kasie Q: Did Trump come off as more of a normal politician?

Tom Perez: “Oh, he read a TelePrompTer! It's like my kid ate & didn't spill.”
posted by chris24 at 8:29 PM on February 28, 2017 [27 favorites]


Between looking at destroying the tourism industry, the medical industry and a lot of the agricultural industry Trump's agenda seems guaranteed to result in a recession within the next 3-4 years.

Of course the even if the Republicans lose the House, Senate and Presidency by 2020 it's unclear whether we'll get the votes to re-establish ACA much less something more wide reaching like single payer.

Oh well I guess Hillary's emails were more important.
posted by vuron at 8:30 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


CNN instant poll of debate watchers:

57% very positive
21% somewhat positive
21% negative

69% policies will move country in right direction (was 58% pre-speech)
26% wrong direction

69% felt more optimistic
28% felt more pessimistic

For comparison, Obama's grades from his similar 2009 address:
Sixty-eight percent of speech-watchers questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey said they had a very positive reaction, with 24 percent indicating that they had a somewhat positive response and 8 percent saying they had a negative reaction [...]

Eighty-five percent of those polled said the president's speech made them more optimistic about the direction of the country over the next few years, with 11 percent indicating the speech made them more pessimistic.

Eighty-two percent of speech-watchers said they support the economic plan Obama outlined in his prime time address, with 17 percent opposing the proposal. [...]

After Clinton's first address to Congress in February 1993, 79 percent of speech-watchers supported his policies. George W. Bush got virtually the same amount of support for his proposals after his first speech to Congress eight years ago. [...]

"Among speech-watchers, the number who thought Obama's policies will move the country in the right direction grew by 17 points after they listened to Tuesday's address," Holland added.

Eight out of 10 said the president's plans will improve the economy and 68 percent said his proposals will reduce the federal deficit.

Three out of four questioned said Obama's plan will improve health care and 82 percent said his proposals will create or save jobs across the country.
posted by Rhaomi at 8:32 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


The thing is though that if you promise people specific things, they get mad if you don't deliver. If you just promise unicorns, you can get away with pointing to just about anything and say you delivered. There's a reason that this speech, his CPAC speech, his inauguration speech, they all had an "airing of grievances" section where he talked about how the country is in such horrible shape. It's so he can offer non-existent solutions to fake problems. Then he can turn around later and give the exact opposite speech where he talks about how we're in such great shape thanks to him.
posted by zachlipton at 8:34 PM on February 28, 2017 [17 favorites]


It almost goes without saying that academic conferences are being moved to non-U.S. locations as we speak. I know this first-hand.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:35 PM on February 28, 2017 [51 favorites]


In my Boston neighborhood, about 35 people showed up at a local park around 9 p.m. with pots and ladles to spend the speech time banging on their pots in protest (you knew this was a Boston protest when somebody showed up with Dunkin' Donuts Munchkins). Towards the end, some couple parked on the other side of the park, rolled down the window and cranked up Dear Leader's speech. Alas for them, they were too far away for anybody banging on pots to hear it.
posted by adamg at 8:35 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


I hope somebody collates lists of conferences that move because of the new immigration policies.
posted by Joe in Australia at 8:37 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


Were it not for the potential for other grift, it would all appear impressively stupid for a man with a heavily leveraged chain of hotels.
posted by jaduncan at 8:40 PM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


Not just tourism: conference travel, non-essential business travel.

Also the arts, on an international scale.

AFM: The business of independent motion picture production and distribution – a truly collaborative process – reaches its peak every year at the American Film Market. Over 8,000 industry leaders converge in Santa Monica for eight days of deal-making, screenings, seminars, networking and parties. Participants come from over 80 countries
posted by Room 641-A at 8:41 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]




Donald Trump fact check: Almost every big claim he made in his Joint Address to Congress was false.

Wouldn't it be great if Congress passed as law that every presidential address to it has to be under oath?
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 8:47 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


Trump is so dependent on his declinist viewpoint of the world that I'm not sure he could even pivot to another position.

Of course the CNN spot poll is vaguely positive, basically he said everyone gets a unicorn and instead of being asked to pay for said unicorn we are going to give you a great big tax cut (for some value of big and largely dependent on your income and investments).

He could promise anything at this point like making Anime real or turning the US back into a pastiche of Leave it to Beaver and most of the Republican base an a sizable number of independents would respond positively.

I actually don't even think it matters to some of them whether he delivers. He's telling them a story that makes them feel good about themselves. Because if you are really just concerned about border security you can't be called racist because apparently there hasn't been a history of laws with discriminatory intent in the US.
posted by vuron at 8:48 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


TPM:
U.S. officials say President Donald Trump's new immigration order will remove Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens face a temporary U.S. travel ban.

Four officials say the administration's decision follows pressure from the Pentagon and State Department. They had urged the White House to reconsider Iraq's inclusion given its key role in fighting the Islamic State group.

Trump is expected to sign the new order Wednesday. It is designed to replace an earlier Trump order that was blocked by federal courts.
while this is undoubtedly a good thing for Iraqis, it certainly doesn't help the perception that the policy is arbitrary.
posted by murphy slaw at 8:51 PM on February 28, 2017 [18 favorites]


Fast Facts About the South Dakota Tourism Industry:
2010 Fast Facts
  • Visitor spending: $1.059 billion.
  • In 2010, visitor spending rose $96 million, which represents an increase of 10 percent. This is the largest dollar increase since tracking began in 1985. *
  • Economic impact: $2.6 billion statewide. *
  • Visitation increased by 3 percent in 2010. **
  • Tourism-related activity generated 20 percent of all state and local tax revenue in 2010. **
  • Over 28,000 direct jobs were supported by core travel and tourism economic activity. **
  • Tourism activity generated $265 million in state and local government revenue in 2010, an increase of 4.8 percent over 2009. **
  • Without Tourism, each household would pay about $828 more in taxes. **
  • Every 434 visitors create a new job in South Dakota. **
ruh roh
posted by jason_steakums at 8:52 PM on February 28, 2017 [15 favorites]


If I was in the motion picture or television industry I would be looking at transitioning as much filming to Vancouver and Toronto as I possibly could. Big international movie stars will no doubt be more or less immune to the security theatre in the US but it seems like the production of smaller movies and/or television shows is likely to be negatively impacted. Hollywood might not feel too much of a pinch but a lot of the other states with lots of TV and Film production might see potential projects move to Canada to avoid all the border drama.

If the US starts dumping EU citizen data onto the internet what exactly would prevent various EU countries from doing the same to US citizens? Is every US citizen that has business overseas going to need to be concerned that suddenly their data will be exposed?

Seems like yet another completely half-assed implementation that more or less assume nobody else will play tit for tat with the US.
posted by vuron at 8:57 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


I hope somebody collates lists of conferences that move because of the new immigration policies.

The thing is, if you're running a conference, moving it out of the US isn't necessarily the obvious solution. Remember that many of the non-citizens likely to be hassled on border-crossing are already IN the US. If you move the conference elsewhere they would have to leave and then try to get back in. On the other hand, if you leave it in the US, people not already in the US might not bother trying to come or might be thwarted in their attempts. There's not really an obvious way to win this.

Fast Facts About the South Dakota Tourism Industry:

Is South Dakota really a big draw for international visitors? I'm having a hard time imagining that it is. I suspect that internal travel wouldn't be nearly as affected since it's not like traveling internally would ever take you from a place where Trump isn't president to one where he is, which is the distasteful thing international visitors are likely seeking to avoid.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 9:00 PM on February 28, 2017 [11 favorites]


I think they're gonna have to do a lot of Skypeing in the future.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:02 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Big international movie stars will no doubt be more or less immune to the security theatre in the US

I genuinely doubt this is a given.
posted by flatluigi at 9:03 PM on February 28, 2017 [7 favorites]


The obvious question about the travel ban is what they hell have they been doing for the last month? If it was really about a three month ban from certain countries for national security, surely they should be 1/3rd of the way through some kind of process to have more security by now, right? And they could point to specific things they're doing to provide more security. But of course they can't do that, because they can't even come up with grounds to justify the ban in the first place.

The fact that they've spent a month working on the supposed problem and all they could come up with is "let's ban fewer people" really doesn't give much evidence that they had a clue what they were talking about last month.
posted by zachlipton at 9:03 PM on February 28, 2017 [18 favorites]


Pro tip: if unsure of which reality you are currently in, look at the sky. If you see dirigibles you're in an alternate reality. If you don't you're in the terrible one.

"The Man in the Oh Christ I'm Not High Enough for This"
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:03 PM on February 28, 2017 [27 favorites]


The Centipede Lies Heavy
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:05 PM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]


Also the arts, on an international scale.

Absolutely.

The obvious question about the travel ban is what they hell have they been doing for the last month?

Issuing statements that won't go down well with any judge. But also allowing individual CBP brownshirts to work towards the fuehrer in their own shitty discretionary fashion, and creating facts on the ground that way.
posted by holgate at 9:06 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Can you imagine what sort of shit some of the Florida representatives are going to get from Big Mouse if international visits to Orlando and hotel bookings start to plummet?

Ultimately some of the big tourist states like California and Florida and NY will be able to weather most aspects of a drop in tourism because the economy of those states are more diversified but there are definitely a variety of states that are heavily dependent on tourism to keep their state coffers out of the red.

It already sounds like several Red state governors have already told Trump that ACA repeal without replacement is non-viable I wonder if he'll be hearing from governors about how his policies are fucking over their economies.

I can't even imagine how fucked up things are going to get in the agriculture industry if there is a massive crackdown on farm workers in various states. Alabama and Georgia have experience with how that works and having billions of dollars worth of crops rot in the fields because there is nobody willing to harvest them isn't going to make some of those red state farmers that voted for Trump in ridiculous number thrilled.
posted by vuron at 9:08 PM on February 28, 2017 [24 favorites]


Man, the more I think about VOICE and the clear connection to same blood, same God the more frightened I become. Because we all know that this dimwit particularly refers to a Christian God, right? I wonder how much it sticks in puppet master Bannon's craw that he has to tolerate Jared in the West Wing while he Goebbels shit up at his desk. As an atheist, the best I can do is fervently hope that I won't have test my true mettle as a human being in the next 4 years. I'm afraid I won't measure up.
posted by xyzzy at 9:13 PM on February 28, 2017 [22 favorites]


Is South Dakota really a big draw for international visitors? I'm having a hard time imagining that it is. I suspect that internal travel wouldn't be nearly as affected since it's not like traveling internally would ever take you from a place where Trump isn't president to one where he is, which is the distasteful thing international visitors are likely seeking to avoid.

For international figures, in 2015 in South Dakota:
Foreign visitors accounted for about 9 percent of the total economic input tourism generated in South Dakota last year.

That came to more than $124 million dollars of spending in the state, according to the state department of tourism. That’s big money but the state would like to see more if it can, said Wanda Goodman the Department of Tourism’s deputy secretary.
That's one of many things SD can look forward to feeling this year as a direct result of Trump policy. Far from the biggest one, but it spreads to a lot of businesses. It doesn't seem all that big in the grand scheme of things but the reliably red Black Hills will feel it the worst, lots of small businesses with tight margins that rely on selling to tourists, lots of big businesses trying to hit projections by appealing to international travelers, lots of knock-on effects to other businesses because of direct tourism-related businesses taking a hit. Even without totally tanking tourism it puts pressure from a lot of reliable supporters on state and national level politicians.

---

I can't even imagine how fucked up things are going to get in the agriculture industry if there is a massive crackdown on farm workers in various states. Alabama and Georgia have experience with how that works and having billions of dollars worth of crops rot in the fields because there is nobody willing to harvest them isn't going to make some of those red state farmers that voted for Trump in ridiculous number thrilled.

Things like this, too. Look forward to more moves like that if he keeps recklessly taunting the world into trade war territory.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:13 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


surely they should be 1/3rd of the way through some kind of process to have more security by now, right?

well, trump said the policy was put in place to tighten things down until they "figure out what the hell is going on".

so i guess it's going to be around indefinitely.
posted by murphy slaw at 9:15 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Same way he always does: Get a loan from Russia.

A loan is thinking small, think of the money laundering schemes they could cook up with the federal government!
posted by jason_steakums at 9:19 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


If I was in the motion picture or television industry I would be looking at transitioning as much filming to Vancouver and Toronto as I possibly could.

The film industry as a whole is pretty darn white. TBQH. Like yeah, mostly liberal, but they're still white.

It is curious what'll happen to New York City and the independent film ... industry? It feels weird calling it an industry. But I swear like half the filmmakers I meet in NYC are on a visa and they're all getting nervous.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 9:21 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Holy shit. Van Jones drank the flavor aid.

Trump critic Van Jones: ‘One of the most extraordinary moments you have ever seen in American politics, period’


Jones said Trump's tribute to Navy SEAL Ryan Owens, who died in a raid in Yemen, was "one of the most extraordinary moments you have ever seen in American politics, period" and that it was the moment Trump "became President of the United States." He also said it's the kind of thing that could make Trump a two-term president.

posted by futz at 9:22 PM on February 28, 2017


A senior admin. official says the 'revised' travel ban order will be signed later in the week. They don't want to step on tonight's big win.

Strange to delay such an important national security measure for political purposes, no?
posted by zachlipton at 9:23 PM on February 28, 2017 [42 favorites]


Rainbo, I don't think you understand. White folks from Australia, Germany, and France are being denied entry to the US right now. Academics, musicians, writers. As someone said earlier, the leash is off.
posted by xyzzy at 9:23 PM on February 28, 2017 [29 favorites]


It's not even clear what sort of border adjustment tariff would actually be viable within the context of NAFTA and WTO rules.

If Trump starts trying to implement a bunch of protectionist tariffs especially in regards to bound tariffs on certain products the US is going to get into a world of hurt really quick.

Yeah we could make the choice to ignore various WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding but at a certain point in time pushing too far will cause all sorts of trade war nastiness and that would not be pretty for the US or World economy.
posted by vuron at 9:24 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


i kept imagining that random dems would just periodically, off-handedly say, "you lie." not with any attitude, just a tiny, matter-of-fact, audible comment. grown ups ruin everything.
posted by j_curiouser at 9:29 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Holy shit. Van Jones drank the flavor aid.

He came out of his pupa stage as a fully formed villager. And no we never have to listen to him again.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:31 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


From the fake Jill Biden Twitter acct
Stop giving Trump credit for sounding "presidential for once." Stop lauding him for normal, average, standard behavior.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:33 PM on February 28, 2017 [11 favorites]


Is South Dakota really a big draw for international visitors?

Anecdotally - dude, I get to practice what German I learned in HS and College at the National parks more than anywhere else. The hike to delicate arch in Middle of Nowhere, Utah is like a UN gathering without the translator earpieces. A 10-20% decline in internation tourism is going to be great news for the lines and ..... not so great news for the people who sell things to people in the lines.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 9:34 PM on February 28, 2017 [16 favorites]


Strange to delay such an important national security measure for political purposes, no?

Is the Senior Admin named John Barron?
posted by futz at 9:35 PM on February 28, 2017


you know when someone delivers a litany of falsehoods without shifting their affect, we don't call that "normal, average, standard behavior", we call it sociopathy
posted by murphy slaw at 9:36 PM on February 28, 2017 [37 favorites]


Department of Justification: Stephen Bannon and Jeff Sessions, the new attorney general, have long shared a vision for remaking America. Now the nation’s top law-enforcement agency can serve as a tool for enacting it.
It is through the Justice Department that the administration is likely to advance its nationalist plans — to strengthen the grip of law enforcement, raise barriers to voting and significantly reduce all forms of immigration, promoting what seems to be a longstanding desire to reassert the country’s European and Christian heritage. It’s not an accident that Sessions, who presumably could have chosen from a number of plum assignments, opted for the role of attorney general. The Department of Justice is the most valuable perch from which to transform the country in the way he and Bannon have wanted. With an exaggerated threat of disorder looming, the nation’s top law-enforcement agency could become a machine for trying to fundamentally change who gets to be an American and what rights they can enjoy.
posted by homunculus at 9:37 PM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


Van Jones is clearly pretty choked up in that moment, and I can't for the life of me understand why. It was cheap and grossly manipulative for anyone who understood the context of that raid, as Jones surely should have.

If he's saying "millions of Americans will fall for stunts like this because they don't know the details," sure, but that's not what he said. Again, he's choked up there. He's moved. He jumped up and grabbed for the first thing he could call inspiring or even normalizing. I expected much better of him and I don't know what the hell is up with him tonight.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 9:38 PM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


Kushner went to the head of CNN to complain about Van Jones a couple weeks ago.

Collaborator fucks.
posted by Yowser at 9:42 PM on February 28, 2017 [34 favorites]


Trump is performing the role of president, not doing the job. He doesn’t want to be president, he just wants to play one on TV:
Trump is no longer a novelty candidate, a branding magnate, or a B-List TV show host. He’s now the president of the United States. He’s the subject of constant, obsessive media attention. And like any overexposed celebrity, he’s getting tiresome.

If you take any one moment from the Trump Show out of context, it’s striking. But together, Trump’s antics are now banal. He says, tweets, and does weird things. He gets attention. He pisses people off while thrilling others. Tonight, he even managed to attract attention and garner praise for slightly dialing it down. But speeches are supposed to be tools to help do the work of actually being president — learning about the issues, making decisions about trade-offs, and collaborating to get things done.

Amid the nonstop and increasingly tedious theatricality, Trump is only ever performing the role of the president; he’s never doing the job.
posted by peeedro at 9:44 PM on February 28, 2017 [45 favorites]


Trump critic Van Jones: ‘One of the most extraordinary moments you have ever seen in American politics, period’

We've had family members of service members killed in wars singled out during Presidential addresses to Congress several times before, including 2006 when we had the father, mother, and widow of a Marine killed in Fallujah, 2005 when we had the parents of a different Marine killed in killed in Fallujah, and 2002 when we had the widow of a CIA officer who was killed in Afghanistan.

The major things that were different about this moment compared to others was that:

- Nobody stopped applauding for several minutes
- This particular dead service member is in the middle of a very public fight between the SEAL's father, who's asking some serious questions about how and why he died and what intelligence was really gained in the raid, and the President. Carryn Owens was just used as a prop as part of the next round of that fight, just after the President shifted blame for what happened during the raid to anybody other than him.
- The President was overly pleased with himself for the length of the standing ovation

I mean, those facts are decidedly not ordinary, but they're not extraordinary in the sense Van Jones was using the term.
posted by zachlipton at 9:44 PM on February 28, 2017 [35 favorites]




I wonder how much it sticks in puppet master Bannon's craw that he has to tolerate Jared in the West Wing while he Goebbels shit up at his desk.

Being blunt, I should imagine that he's happy that he has someone onside who will do his best to do Jewish outreach and is somewhat insulated from accusations of anti-Semitism. They can also repeatedly say that Trump can't be anti-Semitic with a Jewish son-in-law and leave the complex justifications to Kushner.

Even more bluntly, that is never more useful than when you're a ragingly racist anti-Semite.
posted by jaduncan at 9:51 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Kushner went to the head of CNN to complain about Van Jones a couple weeks ago.

Collaborator fucks.


Gosh why would they do such a thing it's not like the president threatened to torpedo the AT&T/Time Warner merger because he's mad at CNN or anything oh wait:

"As an example of the power structure I'm fighting, AT&T is buying Time Warner and thus CNN, a deal we will not approve in my administration because it's too much concentration of power in the hands of too few," Trump said.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:54 PM on February 28, 2017 [10 favorites]




Kushner looks like Howdy Doody because he's an actual puppet. For now.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:56 PM on February 28, 2017


Eh, isn't this all still within Trump's range? We already know that during the campaign he is able to talk slower and sound more coherent when the deck has been stacked in his favor ahead of time like in highly structured public events and when the words have been written for him. And every time the media says he will pivot is after a major speech like the RNC, election night, and the inauguration. And every time he's kept up with appearances for a week, at most.

So, why would it be different this time?
posted by FJT at 10:01 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


it's ok to get a man killed if you clap for him, afterwards. this is important to know.

remember everybody was like, Trump can't really want to be president, it's a lot of hassle and for what that he doesn't already have? well, he's found his presidential niche and it's something you actually can't do in private life, usually! no more mystery, I guess.
posted by queenofbithynia at 10:01 PM on February 28, 2017 [12 favorites]


"I wonder how much it sticks in puppet master Bannon's craw that he has to tolerate Jared in the West Wing while he Goebbels shit up at his desk.

Being blunt, I should imagine that he's happy that he has someone onside who will do his best to do Jewish outreach and is somewhat insulated from accusations of anti-Semitism. They can also repeatedly say that Trump can't be anti-Semitic with a Jewish son-in-law and leave the complex justifications to Kushner.
"

"You're one of the good ones."
posted by klangklangston at 10:11 PM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


"it's ok to get a man killed if you clap for him, afterwards. this is important to know. "

SEALs ain't Tinkerbell, Donny. They don't come back to life if you get enough people to clap for them.
posted by klangklangston at 10:13 PM on February 28, 2017 [11 favorites]


So I hear the speech was a didn't-pee-his-pants success

Maybe he'll get to go on the big boy choo choo outside the K-Mart
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 10:25 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Eh, isn't this all still within Trump's range? We already know that during the campaign he is able to talk slower and sound more coherent when the deck has been stacked in his favor ahead of time like in highly structured public events and when the words have been written for him.

Yes, it was predictable.
posted by Coventry at 10:41 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


So if we're horrified at VOICE, who should we be calling and what is the best way to push back on this?
posted by threeturtles at 11:15 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]


Slate: The media are suddenly declaring Trump “presidential.” That’s absurd.
What’s remarkable is that CNN’s panel reverted to this sort of empty-headed boosterism even in response to a president who has repeatedly and strategically branded them as “fake news” in order to cover for his own bare-faced lies. It shows how deeply ingrained the old frameworks of judging a commander in chief remain and how uncomfortable the network must be with its new, unasked-for role as a truth-telling counterweight to a president whose habitual buffoonery makes it impossible to accord him the dignity of the office. By acting like a president for a night, Trump gave CNN license to act like CNN.
posted by zachlipton at 11:20 PM on February 28, 2017 [30 favorites]


futz: Feds threatening to shut down marijuana festival, Cannabis Cup, in Las Vegas

Jeff Fuckface Sessions: "I'm not sure we're going to be a better, healthier nation if we're going to have marijuana being sold at every corner grocery store," he said.


entropicamericana: looking forward to sessions' war on junk food and gasoline if that's the metric

Here's the thing - he's the ATTORNEY GENERAL. That's the head of the United States Department of Justice, with no direct oversight or control over the health, which would fall under the Department of Health.

Our AG is cracking down on weed in Nevada, where it was recently legalized for recreational use, because of health concerns. And not because pot arrests are really, really racially biased. Oh no, then he'd be racist.

Hey, Jefferson, get back to work and start reading DOJ's Chicago Police Report. Leave the health concerns to healthcare professionals.

/vent
posted by filthy light thief at 11:26 PM on February 28, 2017 [14 favorites]


Slate: The media are suddenly declaring Trump “presidential.” That’s absurd.

Several people here referred to him tonight as presidential or seeming presidential. I guess if t-rump appears even 1% more competent than his usual angry illiterate carrot self he can be considered *hand waviness* presidented/presidential.
posted by futz at 11:36 PM on February 28, 2017


The bar was set so low, the fact he got through the speech without calling Obama a racial epithet was enough for some to consider him worthy of re-election.
posted by PenDevil at 11:41 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


why, it's almost as though Republican politicians are held to different standards
posted by DoctorFedora at 11:46 PM on February 28, 2017 [43 favorites]


I'm trying to imaging the howling from the GOP if Valerie Jarrett was photographed with her feet on the sofa of the Oval Office.
posted by PenDevil at 11:52 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Commerce Sec. Wilbur Ross wore $600 slippers by Palm Beach @Stubbs_Wootton, with a custom Commerce Dept logo, to Trump’s speech tonight

This reminded me of something! More slipper info in 2nd link.

Trump taps billionaire investor Ross for commerce secretary

Wilbur Ross, the billionaire investor considered the "king of bankruptcy" for buying beaten-down companies with the potential to deliver profits, is President-elect Donald Trump's choice for commerce secretary, a senior transition official said.

...In early 2006, the Sago coal mine owned by Ross exploded, triggering a collapse that killed a dozen miners. Federal safety inspectors in 2005 had cited the West Virginia mine with 208 violations.

Ross said afterward that he knew about the safety violations but that the mine's management had assured him that it was a "safe situation."


November 17, 2016: Donald Trump Taps Billionaire Who Owned Deadly Coal Mine For Commerce Secretary

The article details Wilbur Ross's abhorrent treatment of people/employees and also includes this little despicable anecdote.

In 2012, Ross, clad in purple velvet slippers, took the stage at a black-tie induction ceremony for the secretive Wall Street fraternity Kappa Beta Phi and sang show tunes mocking poor people, according to a reporter who sneaked into the event... Two years later, Ross declared that “the 1 percent is being picked on for political reasons.”

T-rump picks the best people.
posted by futz at 11:53 PM on February 28, 2017 [44 favorites]


SCROTUS, The Moustache, Friedman Units, Tiger Beat On The Potomac, Shrub, Spicy, loser-of-the-popular-vote Donald Trump, Bees, Not-All-*, and now...(fanfare) Jeff FUCKFACE Sessions.

Since Gulf 2, the Left has really excelled at this colorful inside-baseball lexicon. #linguistAlert
posted by j_curiouser at 12:53 AM on March 1, 2017


Since Gulf 2, the Left has really excelled at this colorful inside-baseball lexicon. #linguistAlert

Tonight, for the first time, I heard the phrase, "his orange tic-tac" used to refer to Donald J. Trump's penis. I'd like to see that used more.
posted by mikelieman at 1:32 AM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


"his orange tic-tac" used to refer to Donald J. Tru

While we still live in a democracy, I'd like to vote for NONONONONO
posted by saysthis at 2:18 AM on March 1, 2017 [8 favorites]


I frankly don't care how much Donald's penis is used but I very much don't want to see it, thank you very much indeed.
posted by Too-Ticky at 2:21 AM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


What I'm thinking and reading is:
--Trump a few days ago gave a ridiculous speech at CPAC where he was riffing all over the place
--When the WH said that Trump was going to "speak from the heart" and there was some other language that suggested it would be his usual word salad
--We thought it was going to be the same shit show
I'm actually nauseous thinking about this but I feel worse about Trump's America upon a really quick 5:30 am review of front pages.
--Politico, NYT, and WP front pages are talking about about things like Trump's discipline and lack of bombastic tone
--TPM and Slate are like this guy just got scarier
--Van Jones had this bit where he described what went on with the widow of the slain SEAL as more or less brilliant and how at the moment "Trump became president of the country" and with stunts like this "he could be president for eight years" (Van Jones is no Trump supporter and the subtext of his argument I think was this guy just got scarier)
--The big moment was with the grieving widow for whose grief Trump is directly to blame
--Yet somehow he was able to effectively use this woman's grief as some transcendent unifying moment
--He did this weird pivot on immigration like earlier in the day but it wasn't really in his speech (except for one line) so anybody who paying 50 to 75 percent attention might think the pivot WAS addressed in the speech and so Trump is okay now
--after reducing the widow to tears Trump ad-libbed something about how Ryan must be so happy because Congress was unifying around this moment or whatever. I just offer this as Trump being Trump, focusing on ratings.

And excuse me, I'm just really fucking angry about this, so I'm to repeat it:

The biggest success came from manipulating the emotions of a widow whose husband's death was caused by Trump's incompetence

Anyway, fuck everything, sorry if these points were covered before in great detail.
posted by angrycat at 2:43 AM on March 1, 2017 [81 favorites]


The biggest success came from manipulating the emotions of a widow whose husband's death was caused by Trump's incompetence

This marks me as old, I don't care. I remember when Survivor became a thing on TV and I kinda sorta was like, "Oh, novel concept, this might be interesting." Then it just turned out to be a bunch of emotionally manipulative mugging for the camera. And then that was reality TV forever. And then I realized lots of my friends were emotionally abusive morons who liked that flavor of koolaid, and that I would be perpetually alone amidst a sea of them.

And now we have an entire country primed for decades to respond to this like even if it's just entertainment, these theatrics are expected. I mean come on did we not just have Hunger Games? An entire very successful trilogy? Like, didn't this point get made? And isn't the thing with the father in the news?

I saw "America First, Greece Second" on Youtube the other day, and they were like, "Before you nuke Greece, remember, our capital is called Athens, and you have 23 cities called Athens in your country alone! Feel free to nuke any of those to take out your frustration about us! We approve!" There are moments I'd be okay with that, tonight was one.

Anyway, fuck everything.
posted by saysthis at 3:11 AM on March 1, 2017 [28 favorites]


Spot of good news on the international front that I missed last month: Kenya's High Court ruled that the government can't close the ¼-to-½-million-resident Dadaab refugee camp, which may be vital now that drought has been declared in Somalia and famine in South Sudan. I think I'll add aid for East Africa as a thing to mention in calls to legislators, and money for UNICEF on my roster of donations.
posted by XMLicious at 3:31 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


So is now the time we start writing "VICHY" on pieces of paper, attaching them to bricks, and throwing them through newsroom windows?
posted by tobascodagama at 3:54 AM on March 1, 2017 [30 favorites]


Face of Bravery. For something that should never have been done and resulted in needless deaths, held up by Trump to improve his ratings. I feel sick.
posted by h00py at 4:01 AM on March 1, 2017 [18 favorites]




Funny how two weeks ago Kushner was complaining to Time Warner about Van Jones and now Van is selling out and the Time Warner/AT&T merger is going through.
posted by chris24 at 4:18 AM on March 1, 2017 [27 favorites]


This is where 24 hour news really bites us - getting everyone worried and upset again. I mean, even more worried and upset.

Trump is still a trainwreck. He is still going to be unable to deliver anything except corruption, lies and economic ruin, except to the extent that his plans are stymied. We are still where we were yesterday. Tomorrow or next week, he'll do something hideous again, or Bannon will be revealed to be six Gibbelins in a safari suit (that's why he has all those collars - Gibbelins, who, it is well known, eat nothing less good than man, don't understand collars).

Also, this speech sounds like it doesn't actually get us any forrader on repealing the ACA. Remember how Trump always does this "I promise you a pony" thing. The Republicans want to keep that pony so they can eat it raw. Trump has reminded everyone in the US that the Republicans should be giving them the pony. If he'd given a good speech about how we just have to suck it up and get rid of the ACA, we'd be much further in the soup.

Sometimes Trump will give a good speech. This will not, intrinsically, make him popular, because his policies aren't just sorta bad, they are a nightmare of terrible. Next year, when every place that gets international tourism is seeing a hit to its revenue and no improvement on the horizon, those people will sing a different tune.

He is still having trouble doing what he promises, because his ideas are bad. We need to keep working on resisting deportations, keep putting pressure on Congress, keep organizing. He will sometimes make a popular speech. Lots of presidents made good speeches.
posted by Frowner at 4:19 AM on March 1, 2017 [56 favorites]


Bernie Sanders: What Trump didn"t say in his speech to Congress{YT}
posted by Mister Bijou at 4:36 AM on March 1, 2017


Conway went on Lou Dobb's show and whined about the "venomous" hypocrisy of the left that "bothered my children." Also she "didn't mean to" put her feet on the sofa, she was asked to take a picture from that angle.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 4:50 AM on March 1, 2017


I heard an NPR story before the speech that said the markets had been rising since the election on the anticipation of deregulation, tax cuts, and infrastructure spending, which are all ways to do economic stimulus. But that those expectations were kind of priced into the market now, and if Trump didn't start doing all that, stock prices would start coming back down. Whoever they were interviewing said a lot of investors would be looking to this speech for specific policy proposals and schedules to give them some confidence that the administration was serious about implementing these measures. I wonder if they feel like they got what they were looking for? I guess we'lwe'll see if the markets keep going up.
posted by OnceUponATime at 5:03 AM on March 1, 2017


steve inskeep interviewed sebastian gorka on npr this morning and i listened and now i need to dig a hole in the ground and throw all the good things in there because otherwise they will be lost
posted by localhuman at 5:07 AM on March 1, 2017 [16 favorites]


I liked the part of the Republican President's speech where he said that the man he sent to his death was looking down and smiling on his grieving widow because they gave her a two minute standing ovation in Congress for her husband's death.
posted by Reverend John at 5:27 AM on March 1, 2017 [29 favorites]


You guys, I was so upset last night by that speech that I couldn't sleep. The section with the SEAL's widow was just ...... terrifying. Scary as fuck.

This morning I got up and nearly all the news coverage of it is positive??? Life in Trump's America is like a daily sanity check I never quite pass.
posted by gerstle at 5:28 AM on March 1, 2017 [35 favorites]


Ha, I guess Erik Paulsen heard that NPR story too.

"There were many encouraging aspects in the president's speech, including a substantive outline on initiatives like infrastructure, job creation, and the economy,” said Congressman Paulsen.

In other words "please don't sell your stocks everybody," says Republican Congressman.

I wonder to what extent legislators have been talking to big investors behind the scenes. Maybe they're placing their hope in Paul Ryan rather than Trump. Seems like a successful investor should be too smart to be fooled by Trump's "pony for everyone" promises, but Paul Ryan may well deliver ponies for big investors.
posted by OnceUponATime at 5:29 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


Even Trump & Co can't believe how fucking stupid and craven the pundits are...

@costareports
Some sources in WH are frankly surprised at how pundits are warming to the speech. Say Trump has not changed, no big shift in policy coming.
posted by chris24 at 5:45 AM on March 1, 2017 [38 favorites]


Seems like a successful investor should be too smart to be fooled

Heaven forfend that anyone mutter the term "irrational exuberance".
posted by Mister Bijou at 5:46 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


This morning I got up and nearly all the news coverage of it is positive??? Life in Trump's America is like a daily sanity check I never quite pass.

Yeah it's pretty bizarro world out there. I saw a really bad speech, poorly delivered, full of a fusillade of lies and impossible promises, with a disgusting, fascistic-heroic interlude (that poor woman!) and a terrifying blood and soil ending. I didn't dislike the speech just because I dislike Trump. It was just a badly delivered speech! Halting and stuttering, mostly mechnical, looking directly into the teleprompter like he had definitely not bothered to practice giving it once before, etc. And then it had very bad content. But if you listen to NPR today you're going to hear about Trump's success!
posted by dis_integration at 5:47 AM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


If you ever wondered if fascism would win with a better messenger, this morning is your answer. It may still, but speak calmly while you attack minorities and don't attack the press and they'll applaud your win.
posted by chris24 at 5:50 AM on March 1, 2017 [18 favorites]


Republicans Think Trump Gave Them What They Wanted. They Should Think Again: GOP lawmakers might soon realize that the president has boxed them in with impossible promises

And those very same GOP lawmakers know that, and they stood and applauded when he made those promises, and they'll get re-elected because they're not the party who didn't do that. Everything is stupid, I hate you reality.
posted by Rykey at 5:53 AM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


Anyone patiently awaiting more information has clearly never paid any attention to Trump before.
posted by Artw at 5:58 AM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


it's too bad that trump kills public broadcasting it will be the affiliate npr stations that feel the pain, while the beltway-insider vichy "journalists" at npr proper will largely be insulated to the pain thanks to the kroc bequest
posted by entropicamericana at 6:02 AM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


@JYSexton
Last night Trump used a widow to politicize a botched raid and the media bought in. This is what's wrong with politics in a nutshell 1/

There was hardly any talk of the raid, how he blamed the generals, how it was obviously a political ploy. They praised the rhetoric. 2/

Because politics is a game now. Something you watch like a game on Sunday. You praise the maneuvers and the media has become SportsCenter 3/

The president ordered a raid that has not yielded anything yet. A SEAL died. He's moving blame in a very, very blatant way. 4/

Last night, he had a widow cry on camera in order to protect himself. That's the very definition of cowardice. It's shameful. 5/

Instead of discussing the raid, he was given points for the spectacle, the "memorable moment." Nothing about substance or intent. 6/

This isn't a game. A man died. With Trump's policies, more are going to die and their lives are going to get worse. It isn't a game. 7/7
posted by chris24 at 6:09 AM on March 1, 2017 [100 favorites]


Even the front page of the liberal-leaning Toronto Star is something like "TRUMP SOFTENS HIS TONE" this morning. If the thing with the SEAL's widow plays well with members of the military, coming as it did immediately after he threw "the generals" under the bus ("It was like that when I got here!"), then...shit, I don't know. The whole thing has been such an obvious con from day one, and yet here we are. You can go a long, long way in life if you just tell people what they want to hear, especially if you appeal to their baser instincts at the same time. And if you're a rich, white, Republican man doing these things, well, the sky's the limit.

I don't think anyone actually believes that he'll even attempt to follow through on a lot of this stuff (remember when GWB told us we we sending a mission to Mars?), but anyone expecting his base to be angry at the deserving targets when shit he causes hits the fan is in for what should not be a surprise.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:11 AM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


Great news: President Trump did not bite any bats in half during his address to Congress! [Alexandra Petri; WaPo]
Then he directed our attention to the people he had brought along, including the widow of Navy SEAL Ryan Owens. Trump had told “Fox and Friends” earlier Tuesday that some ominous “They” had lost Owens, but now he insisted that everything had been a great success.

And in the entire speech he didn’t use the word “bad hombres” once! It was the Gettysburg Address, by Trump standards. I was so moved that I released a dove and cried.
posted by melissasaurus at 6:17 AM on March 1, 2017 [27 favorites]


Jesus, listening to this NPR interview with Gorka is like listening to a toddler trying to catch a greased weasel.
posted by jferg at 6:22 AM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


in a succinct and cogent summary, a member of ABC's audience reaction pool proves that, once again, black women are immune to his particular charms
posted by murphy slaw at 6:29 AM on March 1, 2017 [26 favorites]


And in the entire speech he didn’t use the word “bad hombres” once! It was the Gettysburg Address, by Trump standards. I was so moved that I released a dove and cried.

Oh hey me too except I didn't have any doves handy so I skipped that part

my doves are all in a secret training mission, turns out they are more reliable than eagles for the specifics of the plan I'm

I've said too much

posted by tivalasvegas at 6:34 AM on March 1, 2017 [23 favorites]


That that mendacious testicle could read off a teleprompter does not excuse any other unhinged moment in this presidency. If anything it just means we should pay attention more to the things he is hiding. I feel like America needs to be covered in Memento tattoos; "Don't believe his lies."
posted by Catblack at 6:36 AM on March 1, 2017 [14 favorites]


It's kind of depressing and telling of us as a nation that vilifying immigrants and telling egregious lies is a supposed good speech.
posted by Talez at 6:40 AM on March 1, 2017 [25 favorites]


Also she "didn't mean to" put her feet on the sofa, she was asked to take a picture from that angle.

Since that actually happens to be true, and since there are a million actual human rights violations coming from this White House to be concerned about, it would be okay with me if we all moved on from how Kellyanne was sitting in what appears to be one unfortunately timed snapshot.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 6:41 AM on March 1, 2017 [15 favorites]


The media reaction is reminder 901384701982731092873 of just how much lower the bar is for cis white men.
posted by joyceanmachine at 6:44 AM on March 1, 2017 [39 favorites]


Daily Beast:
The White House is considering delegating more authority to the Pentagon to greenlight anti-terrorist operations like the SEAL Team 6 raid in Yemen that cost the life of a Navy SEAL, to step up the war on the so-called Islamic State, multiple U.S. officials tell The Daily Beast.

President Donald Trump has signaled that he wants his defense secretary, retired Marine Gen. Jim Mattis, to have a freer hand to launch time-sensitive missions quickly, ending what U.S. officials say could be a long approval process under President Barack Obama that critics claimed stalled some missions by hours or days.

In declared war zones, U.S. commanders have the authority to make such calls, but outside such war zones, in ungoverned or unstable places like Somalia, Libya, or Yemen, it can take permissions all the way up to the Oval Office to launch a drone or a special operations team.
posted by murphy slaw at 6:50 AM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


Someday, someone will probably write a book called "Abuser in Chief" about the myriad ways in which the Orange Menace utilizes classic tactics of abuse to sieze and hold onto power.

He successfully lowered everyone's expectations so much as to make his speech seem "presidential" by being relentlessly horrible and incoherent leading up to it.

Then he shirked blame for a tragedy he oversaw by deflecting responsibility onto those he had leverage over, and successfully co-opted the pain caused by his actions to soften his image and score political points.

The end result is that his victims (America, The World) are either demoralized or apoplectic, or else buying-in out of self-preservation or to secure their own position within the hierarchy of abuse.

Fuck that. Fuck him. Fuck his enablers and collaborators and apologists.

He is an Old Man, of the Old Ways. He and his kind will be defeated by Women, and New Men.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 6:51 AM on March 1, 2017 [36 favorites]


he's an old boy
posted by murphy slaw at 6:53 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


Pater Aletheias: it would be okay with me if we all moved on from how Kellyanne was sitting

Normally I'd agree, but in this case, I believe that her behaviour was disrespectful towards the guests that were present, and shows a very specific lack of respect for that very specific group of guests. That matters to me because it shows... well... a rather specific attitude.

It's not about the couch. It's about the casual racism.
posted by Too-Ticky at 6:53 AM on March 1, 2017 [45 favorites]


President Donald Trump has signaled that he wants his defense secretary, retired Marine Gen. Jim Mattis, to have a freer hand to launch time-sensitive missions quickly, ending what U.S. officials say could be a long approval process under President Barack Obama that critics claimed stalled some missions by hours or days.

Presdentialize the successes, Pentagonize the losses.
posted by Talez at 6:53 AM on March 1, 2017 [56 favorites]


it would be okay with me if we all moved on from how Kellyanne was sitting in what appears to be one unfortunately timed snapshot.

I'll move on from things Kellyanne does when she resigns. Until then, I will criticize any and every action she takes because she is taking those actions while being an active promoter of white supremacist patriarchy. Same thing with Trump -- he can eat his steak any way he wants, once he's no longer eating it while being a white supremacist sexual predator whose salary, housing, and security is paid for by my tax dollars.
posted by melissasaurus at 6:54 AM on March 1, 2017 [55 favorites]


I think if there's anything that Metafilter is good at, it's criticizing multiple things at once. Just because we're angry about one thing doesn't mean we're not also angry about another.
posted by dinty_moore at 6:57 AM on March 1, 2017 [20 favorites]


MetaFilter: it just turned out to be a bunch of emotionally manipulative mugging
posted by kirkaracha at 6:57 AM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


...ending what U.S. officials say could be a long approval process under President Barack Obama that critics claimed stalled some missions by hours or days.

Cool, remind me again which administration got Bin Laden and a metric ton of intel and didn't lose a US life despite a helicopter crashing at the start of the mission? Because that's what careful planning looks like.
posted by PenDevil at 6:59 AM on March 1, 2017 [30 favorites]


and they center violence as the only way to effect change

but if you're the good guys, it isn't terrorism
posted by murphy slaw at 7:00 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


@realDonaldTrump

THANK YOU!


He's happy with the media this morning. Meanwhile NPR interviews Gorka again. Now is the time to examine the reactions of individual journalists and outlets and to decide whether or not to ever believe them or give them money again. A lot of people and companies need to be rode out of town on a rail if we ever come out of this era.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:01 AM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


It's grotesque to watch the media fawn all over Trump's ability to speak the occasional coherent sentence and sound within spitting distance of a grown, cognitively intact man. So many journalists and pundits want so very desperately for everything to go back to normal. That is what they are comfortable with, and that does not require them to actually do their jobs. They're much more comfortable in the inner circle than they are as opposition, and we're the ones who suffer for their comfort.
posted by supercrayon at 7:02 AM on March 1, 2017 [21 favorites]


Today's other-side story is the Democrats not standing for the entire two minutes of the ovation for the widow.
posted by Etrigan at 7:06 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


@kashanacauley:
When they go low, we lower the bar.
posted by chris24 at 7:06 AM on March 1, 2017 [34 favorites]


It's grotesque to watch the media fawn all over Trump's ability to speak the occasional coherent sentence and sound within spitting distance of a grown, cognitively intact man. So many journalists and pundits want so very desperately for everything to go back to normal.

Abusers know to bring flowers home once in a while. It helps with the gaslighting. I imagine the media's Ask MeFi question would read like "Please don't suggest DTMFA, he's actually really a great guy -- he didn't say the N word once during his speech!"
posted by melissasaurus at 7:10 AM on March 1, 2017 [10 favorites]


CBS: Jon Stewart visits the "Late Show" with a message to the media
After admitting he missed being on TV regularly and unloading some thoughts about President Donald Trump he’d been storing up, Stewart took aim at the press, addressing them like a recently dumped pal with a very NSFW appeal that made former subordinate Colbert a bit nervous.
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:10 AM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


Some sources in WH are frankly surprised at how pundits are warming to the speech. Say Trump has not changed, no big shift in policy coming.

Some of these "pundits" are basically corks in the Twitter stream, drunkenly spiraling from one eddy to the next.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:12 AM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


About two months ago I met my cardiologist, a woman with a musical accent and a kind manner. She's from Pakistan and she saved my life. Then a wonderful, funny man from the Middle East installed a device in my chest to help keep me alive. No one can pronounce his name so he introduces himself as Dr. Ali. When I told him that I mistook my nearly fatal heart arrhythmia as stress over Trump he said that such a mistake was perfectly understandable, patted my hand, and gave me a comforting smile. Those brilliant and wonderful people are at risk right now and I feel helpless to do anything about it. Where's VOICE for people saved by immigrants?
posted by xyzzy at 7:14 AM on March 1, 2017 [138 favorites]


...ending what U.S. officials say could be a long approval process under President Barack Obama that critics claimed stalled some missions by hours or days.

Cool, remind me again which administration got Bin Laden and a metric ton of intel and didn't lose a US life despite a helicopter crashing at the start of the mission? Because that's what careful planning looks like.


One tearful veteran's widow, surrounded by cheering white men and a chance to slip "heaven" into the commentary, is worth a million years in careful planning.
posted by Rykey at 7:14 AM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


One tearful veteran's widow, surrounded by cheering white men and a chance to slip "heaven" into the commentary

Anybody else wondering if this is the moment that gives Trump the idea to start a Dubya-style hyperpatriotic war to quell internal dissent and tighten his grip on the media?
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 7:17 AM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


Lots of presidents made good speeches.

Reagan's first SOTU: 1982
Reagan's Iran Contra mea culpa: 1987

Longer than I want to wait, longer than we may have, but still instructive.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:18 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


One tearful veteran's widow, surrounded by cheering white men and a chance to slip "heaven" into the commentary

Anybody else wondering if this is the moment that gives Trump the idea to start a Dubya-style hyperpatriotic war to quell internal dissent and tighten his grip on the media?


Umm, that's the plan been the Bannon's been openly promoting since he switched tracks from Seinfeld to Stasi.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:20 AM on March 1, 2017 [11 favorites]


Anybody else wondering if this is the moment that gives Trump the idea to start a Dubya-style hyperpatriotic war to quell internal dissent and tighten his grip on the media?

The moment that solidified it, maybe, but the tail's been wagging that dog all along.
posted by Etrigan at 7:21 AM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


Umm, that's the plan been the Bannon's been openly promoting since he switched tracks from Seinfeld to Stasi.

I think "Seinfeld to Schutzstaffel" might be more appropriate.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:22 AM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


Umm, that's the plan been the Bannon's been openly promoting since he switched tracks from Seinfeld to Stasi.

I think "Seinfeld to Schutzstaffel" might be more appropriate.


Oh great now the Soup Nazi episode is going to be impossible to laugh at. (From Soup Nazi to Real Nazi)
posted by dis_integration at 7:29 AM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


I wonder how much it sticks in puppet master Bannon's craw that he has to tolerate Jared in the West Wing while he Goebbels shit up at his desk.

The thing that honest to g_d terrifies me is that he's probably delighted because he has a Jewish man to blame when it all falls apart.
posted by winna at 7:29 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


Anyone know if Jerry Seinfeld himself has weighed in on Bannon being a monstrous Nazi fuck? If not, then I guess Jerry is too insulated by wealth and residual privilege to realize that he's not white any more.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:31 AM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


From NPR this morning, in a segment titled Evaluating Steve Bannon's Influence On Trump's Speech To Congress, Steve Inskeep and Scott Detrow talked with Kurt Bardella, who used to be a consultant for Breitbart News. Bardella thought it was all the same shit from Trump, in the worst way possible. Inskeep asked "clearly you're critical, isn't there anything that impressed you last night?" Bardella offered a one word reply:

No.

He went on to elaborate, saying it's bullshit that people are congratulating Trump on showing he can exercise restraint and not call anyone who opposes him an enemy. "You're a grown man, you're the president of the United States. The fact that he's being celebrated for this is somewhat ridiculous." This made me so happy!

Especially paired well with the super slimy review of the speech from Ohio Republican Rep. Bill Johnson, which made me shout FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! A number of times at Bill in my car. The only question that made Bill pause was "was this really different from his inaugural address?" He had to think for a while to say "well, he's looking for unity." FUCK YOU, we'll unite when he quits, because he's not going to turn in the face of his majority opposition, like Pence did. He talked about the same fear of immigrants, HE WANTS TO SET UP A NEW TASK FORCE FOR VIOLENCE BY IMMIGRANTS, NOT HATE CRIMES!

Seriously, you want my applause? Turn VOICE into a task force to address white, Christian violence and threats. Recognize the value of immigrants, like Bill Johnson says he does, except he can't seem to realize that children who were brought to the US are now as American as he is, not people to be kicked out and asked to return through "the proper channels."

And I'm back to full GRAR.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:32 AM on March 1, 2017 [26 favorites]


Meanwhile NPR interviews Gorka again.

Why bother? Just pinch your anus and say in your best RP "Ahnnnnnyonnnnne who criiiiiiticiiiiiizes the maaaaaagnificent preeeeeeesident is uhhhhhhhterly riiiiiiiiiidciiiculous."
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:33 AM on March 1, 2017 [8 favorites]


Anyone know if Jerry Seinfeld himself has weighed in on Bannon being a monstrous Nazi fuck? If not, then I guess Jerry is too insulated by wealth and residual privilege to realize that he's not white any more.

I've looked some and all I've ever found is the writers weighing in on it (aghast).
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:35 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


Among the many petals on this morning's badness flower is, Trump admin has been taught that it will be rewarded for abusing the media
posted by thelonius at 7:38 AM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


I just found this on Vox. Keep pushing them.

"Lorraine Badoy, a doctor in the Philippine capital of Manila, remembers exactly when she began to see Rodrigo Duterte as someone she could call “my president.”

It was November 2013, three years before Duterte became the president of the Philippines, unleashed a violent crackdown on the nation’s drug dealers that has killed more than 7,000 people, boasted about personally executing suspected criminals, called then-President Barack Obama “a son of a whore,” compared himself to Hitler, picked fights with the Catholic Church, and raised serious questions about the future of one of Washington’s most important diplomatic relationships.

All of that would come later. Badoy’s realization that she could see Duterte leading her country came during the deadly and chaotic aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda, which ravaged the Philippines in the waning weeks of 2013 and brought the already impoverished country to its knees. The typhoon killed an estimated 6,000 people, left more than 1,000 missing, and did $11.6 billion in property damage. Entire villages disappeared. It was a national tragedy for the Philippines on the scale of Hurricane Katrina in the US.

Badoy, who for years had gone on medical missions in the area hit hardest by the typhoon, watched the news from her home in Manila, feeling anguished and helpless.

Then she saw a news clip of Duterte, the mayor of Davao, a commercial hub in the southern island of Mindanao, who had brought an 80-person government medical team from his hometown and three helicopters lent by wealthy friends to help in the search-and-rescue operations. Duterte also brought the equivalent of $140,000 in cash to help typhoon survivors. In comments that drew enormous media coverage across the Philippines, Duterte cried as he said that “God must have been somewhere else” when the storm hit.

It was at that moment that Badoy began to wish that someone like Duterte, already known for talking tough and literally packing a pistol around Davao, would take the helm of her country. What Badoy watched touched her so deeply that it literally brought her to tears. “I remember thinking, ‘Wow, there is a local official like that,’” she told me. “Here was someone who mirrored my rage and grief.”"
posted by saysthis at 7:40 AM on March 1, 2017 [14 favorites]


No amount of grasping at "balance" is going to save NPR from Trump's scythe. Listening to Mara Fucking Liasson - or as I like to spell it, "Liaison" - lob softballs and use "right, okay" as her filler words when interviewing Trump apologists is such a waste of time.
posted by Caxton1476 at 7:41 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


Was in Fred Meyer the other day abscess there was an in store announcement that they had soups "from Seinfeld's Soup Guy" - ahh, normalization.
posted by Artw at 7:41 AM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


Was in Fred Meyer the other day abscess there was

sounds about right.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:43 AM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


It's always been branded as Soup Guy (Soup Man?) soup, for like a decade now.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:43 AM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


serious question: I've seen a lot of frustration with NPR in these treads for the past many months.

I'm often left wondering why in the world everyone still listens to them. Is it that they sometimes get it right, and sometimes get it wrong and people are venting their frustrations here.. or is it something else?
posted by INFJ at 7:43 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


I'm often left wondering why in the world everyone still listens to them. Is it that they sometimes get it right, and sometimes get it wrong and people are venting their frustrations here.. or is it something else?

People don't want the nation to have descended into an insane fascist dictatorship and if NPR isn't screaming that it has, then everything must be OK.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:45 AM on March 1, 2017


Guys i just got home and my BOOZE IS NOT POURED YET.

I gave it up for Lent. It just occurred to me that that maybe wasn't such a hot choice.
posted by Gelatin at 7:46 AM on March 1, 2017 [9 favorites]


i don't. i stopped listening to npr after election day.

and i will never stop being angry, frustrated, and disappointed they abandoned their mission
posted by entropicamericana at 7:46 AM on March 1, 2017 [12 favorites]


Quartz: What Steve Bannon really wants
If there is a political vision underlying Trumpism, however, the person to ask is not Trump. It’s his éminence grise, Stephen K. Bannon, the chief strategist of the Trump administration.

...

Bannon’s political philosophy boils down to three things that a Western country, and America in particular, needs to be successful: Capitalism, nationalism, and “Judeo-Christian values.” These are all deeply related, and essential.
And they're related in ways that promote purity of purpose and a very binary way of looking at the world.
What we do know for sure, though, is that a man who has staked out a deep desire for a violent resurgence of “Western civilization” now has the power to fulfill it.
His violent delights have violent ends.
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:51 AM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


I'm often left wondering why in the world everyone still listens to them. Is it that they sometimes get it right, and sometimes get it wrong and people are venting their frustrations here.. or is it something else?

Yes it can be awful but only if you don't compare it to right wing talk radio. It's popular not for what it is but what it isn't. Put it in that context & the reason becomes clear.
posted by scalefree at 7:53 AM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


I gave it up for Lent. It just occurred to me that that maybe wasn't such a hot choice.

I took 3 weeks off in October. The first three. It was supposed to be a month, but the debates and whatnot wore me down. Stay strong!
posted by lazaruslong at 7:54 AM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


“Judeo-Christian values.”

when you hear "judeo-christian values" these days, don't think "love thy neighbor as yourself", think "crusade to retake the holy land"
posted by murphy slaw at 7:57 AM on March 1, 2017 [33 favorites]


So pissed that the narrative has been about lauding how that man cleared a bar so low that it was buried in the ground. It's the political equivalent of the average, typical 12 year old using the toilet properly and being showered with praise like they had just completed a PhD--totally out of proportion in relation to what actually happened.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 7:58 AM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


Why NPR?
I listen during my commute and my only other choice is the am dial.
It's got nothing to do with wanting a cozy world view and everything to do with having a ten year old car with no Sirius or iPod jacks and no other stations that give me anything.
posted by SyraCarol at 7:58 AM on March 1, 2017 [9 favorites]


i don't. i stopped listening to npr after election day.

Same. I haven't been able to listen to NPR since election day - and I used to have it on for a good 4-6 hours every day. Now, the only time it's on is when we leave the house and turn on the radio for the dogs. Currently, the only things I can tolerate are the podcasts from Crooked Media and Stephen Colbert's Late Show segments.
posted by melissasaurus at 7:59 AM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


i used to leave it on for the cat but the baleful you-wont-believe-the-shit-they-said-today looks she was giving when i got home everyday made me stop last month
posted by entropicamericana at 8:03 AM on March 1, 2017 [61 favorites]


i stopped listening to npr after election day.

Same here. We'll listen if Wait, Wait is on but that's it.
Removed from my bookmarks of news sites.
posted by Dashy at 8:03 AM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


The State of Trump's State Department

“They really want to blow this place up,” said the mid-level State Department official. “I don’t think this administration thinks the State Department needs to exist. They think Jared [Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law] can do everything. It’s reminiscent of the developing countries where I’ve served. The family rules everything, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs knows nothing.”
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:07 AM on March 1, 2017 [60 favorites]


re: I don't have anything else to listen to.

May I suggest one of these? Cheap, nice sound, does fm radio, and plays sound from your phone (if you have a smartphone) and sd cards. Battery life seems pretty good too.

Don't listen to stuff that upsets you because it's your only option.
posted by INFJ at 8:07 AM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


Redemption narratives seem to sell well in the media.
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:08 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


I like NPR for my short drives because 1) there's a broad range of topics covered, 2) this includes world news coverage, 3) it's honestly my only news source outside of MetaFilter, and 4) my drive isn't that long, and I have a significant stock of CDs to blot out the ads and segments that I don't want to hear.

In terms of softballing dangerous idiots, they're far from alone, so I can't single them out.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:08 AM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


Also she "didn't mean to" put her feet on the sofa, she was asked to take a picture from that angle.

Huh, I wonder what Pete Souza would have done.

Or anyone who is paid to take photographs (gosh, do you think there were any around?) and yet manages not to take of their shoes at a formal gathering in the highest office in the country.

And I can only imagine the revolt if Obama (or Hillary) had taken off their shoes and put their bare feet where people sit and touch.

Casual racism, yes, in this case literally.
posted by Dashy at 8:09 AM on March 1, 2017 [10 favorites]


“Judeo-Christian values.”

when you hear "judeo-christian values" these days, don't think "love thy neighbor as yourself", think "crusade to retake the holy land"


I don't think there's a phrase that makes me angrier, mostly because it seeks to make Jews seem complicit in this Islamaphobic, anti-Immigrant, anti-Refugee bullshit.

Like, I'd rather they blame us for our own grave desecration and terrorism than saying that it's our values that send refugees back to die. I know it's not a real choice because we currently have both, but I still feel like the second seems to be the worse insult.
posted by dinty_moore at 8:10 AM on March 1, 2017 [18 favorites]


So, one of the lesser-discussed aspects of The View From Nowhere being brought to the forefront by the Trump administration is that TVFN basically requires that its adherents are subscribe to a form of Last Thursdayism. Acknowledging that the past exists and can be known might invite bias, after all. So to be properly unbiased, one must pretend that only the present matters and the future is pregnant with all possibilities, unburdened by cause-and-effect.
posted by tobascodagama at 8:13 AM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


Or anyone who is paid to take photographs (gosh, do you think there were any around?) and yet manages not to take of their shoes at a formal gathering in the highest office in the country.

I mean, it's not like they didn't have a professional photographer in the room. It's why we have a picture of Kellyanne in the first place.
posted by dinty_moore at 8:14 AM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


Currently, the only things I can tolerate are the podcasts from Crooked Media

Yeah, and frankly the post-Obama mutual admiration society over there needs to be adjourned in favor of actual discussion of the implications of policies and not whose tweets about them were funniest, and also interviews with people who don't hang out at their parties.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:17 AM on March 1, 2017 [10 favorites]


“Stephen Colbert Responds to the Democrats’ Response to Trump’s Address to Congress,” Megh Wright, Splitsider, 01 March 2017
“Showing a retired politician from a darkened cafeteria reinforced the Democrats’ central message for 2017: ‘Please don’t tell them where we’re hiding!'” Colbert says. “So, people who believe that Donald Trump is an existential threat to this nation, to the experiment of democracy, to Western civilization itself, take heart, because for their powerful rebuttal, the Democrats showed a rerun of The Andy Griffith Show.”
“No, Trump’s Address to Congress Wasn’t ‘Presidential,’” Adele M. Stan, The American Prospect, 01 March 2017
The consensus forming among political observers on Donald J. Trump’s first address to a joint session of Congress is that the president seemed “presidential.” Well, sure, if your idea of presidential is an authoritarian maniac who can read a teleprompter.
posted by ob1quixote at 8:18 AM on March 1, 2017 [31 favorites]


I switched from NPR to the local classical music station (which runs BBC news on the hour during morning and evening drive time). I grew up listening to Morning Edition and ATC every single day and had kind of assumed my own kid would also be raised like that so it was hard to stop. I still listen to the local NPR station on the weekends because it's really just the news I object to. And I still support my local NPR station because they do good local reporting and I don't want to throw that baby out with the bathwater.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:18 AM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


I don't think there's a phrase that makes me angrier, mostly because it seeks to make Jews seem complicit in this Islamaphobic, anti-Immigrant, anti-Refugee bullshit.

try not to take it too personally, it's just that we need to co-opt the old testament because that's where the kick-ass angry god lives
posted by murphy slaw at 8:19 AM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


I was actually kinda tickled that (if?) Bannon remembered to include the "Judeo." But yeah, thanks but no thanks.

It's pretty funny that it's lasted so long as a phrase people say, since if you know even a little about the fundamentals of both faiths, they really don't have very much in common when it comes to basic core values other than the ones that are universal to all religions (and honestly, once it gets down to the "don't kill / don't steal / be good to others" level, any non-nihilistic version of atheism as well). I mean, "For the Bible teaches us there is no greater act of love than to lay down one's life for one's friends" ? The Jewish Bible sure doesn't.
posted by Mchelly at 8:19 AM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


Oh, they only add the "Judeo" to make it seem like they're not Christianist theocrats. "Look everyone, there's one other religion we like too! We're not the Taliban! please pay no attention to our antisemitic apocalypse fanfiction"
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:20 AM on March 1, 2017 [14 favorites]


Also I have dishes to do and rugs to vacuum and cars from the 90s, and once you start actually trying to rely on podcasts instead of NPR you quickly exhaust everything that is current, interesting and listenable in a basic sense, unless you're OK with 101 flavors of TAL/Radiolab.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:21 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


When they say Judeo-Christian, the Judeo part means that in their Christian nation it will literally not be illegal to be Jewish.
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:21 AM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


"Judeo-Christian" has always bothered me, because it knocks Muslims out of the Abrahamic tripod quite deliberately. It's certainly descriptive in academic contexts, but in political speech it's solely exclusionary, imho.
posted by xyzzy at 8:23 AM on March 1, 2017 [18 favorites]


And I can only imagine the revolt if Obama (or Hillary) had taken off their shoes and put their bare feet where people sit and touch.

She kept her shoes on. You can see her heels digging into the couch in this picture, which for me is worse than taking them off.
I know the shoes thing is getting old for some people, so sorry to keep it going.
posted by peeedro at 8:24 AM on March 1, 2017 [9 favorites]


I mean, it's not like they didn't have a professional photographer in the room. It's why we have a picture of Kellyanne in the first place.

Okay, replying to my own comment to say - why did the photographer take this picture of Kellyanne, and why did the White House okay its release, other than to dogwhistle some disrespect?
posted by dinty_moore at 8:27 AM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


I listen to podcasts a lot. Like, a lot a lot. I listen while I'm running and while I'm commuting and while I'm doing housework. Shamefully, like 60% of my subscriptions right now are Trump/US politics-related. But there's plenty others that aren't and that don't follow the TAL/Radiolab format (as much as I love both those shows, come at me bros). For one, there's about umpteen thousand history podcasts. My husband is obsessed with them. There's true crime podcasts. There's scary ghost story podcasts (Lore is great). There's so much out there.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:27 AM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


They have plenty of time. They'll wait, and then they'll let it happen, and then they'll say we could've stopped the attack IF ONLY the government hadn't been so hamstrung by Liberal Privacy Advocates and Journalists and Muslim Sympathizers.

Yeah, for sure, but—DO they really have plenty of time? Each week brings us closer to an on-camera Incident that not even the compliant media can send to the memory hole—the President dropping a baby on its head, or erupting in explosive diarrhea in front of Wolf Blitzer, or forgetting where he is and drinking blood from the neck of his daughter.

Maybe I'm missing something, or being too rational in an irrational zeitgeist, but it seems to me that they need a Big Real Manly War ASAP.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 8:29 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


Meanwhile NPR interviews Gorka again.


Yup. I was listening in the car during my commute to work this morning (a 17 year old car), and when they announced his name, I actually said "Nope." out loud and turned off the radio.

I also stopped donating to NPR (was a monthly regular) a month ago and switched the gift to One-n-Ten here in Arizona, instead.

I can't express how disappointing NPR has become recently as a journalistic counterbalance to the authoritarian, nationalistic excesses of Trump and his administration. The fact that Gorka was offered a platform on NPR is frustrating.

I mean, what do they expect him to say that could provide anything enlightening and non-propagandistic? Like Sean Spicer, Kellyanne Conway, Stephen Miller, etc., Gorka's already been shown to be an unrepentant liar with an authoritarian streak. Find a Trump supporter who isn't paid to shill for Trump and ask their opinion, if they want to interview "both sides".
posted by darkstar at 8:29 AM on March 1, 2017 [13 favorites]


I'm often left wondering why in the world everyone still listens to them. Is it that they sometimes get it right, and sometimes get it wrong and people are venting their frustrations here.. or is it something else?

Their ME and ATC interviewers are deeply unsatisfying. I listen for better overall news coverage - national and international - than I can get from other local radio sources when I'm in the car. And my affiliate, Iowa Public Radio, gives air time to a decent array of programs. I suppose I just have warm memories of people like Ray Suarez holding people's feet to the fire back in the day on Talk of the Nation. (I think he's still on that one PBS program, but I never get to watch it. No idea what he's like now.)
posted by Caxton1476 at 8:31 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


Okay so a VICE news report about Stephen Miller just came across my FB feed and I'll admit I didn't know that much about him except that he's awful and from California and has cold, dead eyes.

Soooo okay this administration is purely made up of people who were normal-ish until 9/11 and then all went utterly bananapants insane?

Christ, the terrorists really did win, didn't they? (And where is Dennis Miller?)
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:31 AM on March 1, 2017 [10 favorites]


"Judeo-Christian" has always bothered me, because it knocks Muslims out of the Abrahamic tripod quite deliberately. It's certainly descriptive in academic contexts, but in political speech it's solely exclusionary, imho.

Indeed -- "Judeo-Christian" is a specific choice of phrasing over, say, "western monothesism." (Which is also interesting, in terms of gatekeeping the canonical sources Western civilization and science, Orientalism, etc). And in American political speech it's also linked to "biblical values" and "family values" -- they tend to be used in tandem. To make sure everyone understands whose bibles and families we're talking about.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:32 AM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


why did the photographer take this picture of Kellyanne, and why did the White House okay its release, other than to dogwhistle some disrespect?

I'd say there's a good chance that they just didn't even think it was disrespectful. Someone thought it was just a cute photo.
posted by Etrigan at 8:37 AM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


But there's plenty others that aren't and that don't follow the TAL/Radiolab format (as much as I love both those shows, come at me bros). For one, there's about umpteen thousand history podcasts. My husband is obsessed with them. There's true crime podcasts. There's scary ghost story podcasts (Lore is great). There's so much out there.

You can actually exhaust the history and culture etc stuff if you rely on it to the exclusion of radio for long enough, to the point that you're waiting on new episodes. It took me the better part of a year, but yeah. I'll admit that I'm not much into listening to true crime podcasts (101 flavors of Serial) or ghost stories. And I'm also not much into the kind of exhaustive analysis of some fandom or pop culture niche that lends itself well to long panel shows.

I like TAL and Radiolab too, but so many shows are done in that mold that it gets terribly boring.

I guess I want someone to try and do a podcast based Air America type thing. Without all the overhead that being on the actual radio had.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:44 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


I'd say there's a good chance that they just didn't even think it was disrespectful.

To which I forgot to add: And the far, far more telling aspect of it is that the response of the White House and the Right generally wasn't "Hrm, yeah, we see how that looked pretty uncool, sorry about that", but somewhere between "Oh, did this TRIGGER you, SNOWFLAKE?" and "Obama did it too, you HYPOCRITE."
posted by Etrigan at 8:49 AM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


I guess I want someone to try and do a podcast based Air America type thing. Without all the overhead that being on the actual radio had.

Crooked Media?
posted by OverlappingElvis at 8:50 AM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


I can't be the only one who thought of that Chappelle Show skit when they saw that photo of Conway.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:53 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]




James Fallows (Carter's chief speechwriter) dives deep into Trump's speech, it's a worthwhile take on the tone, content, what was missing, and the Ryan Owens moment: Giving Trump a Clean Shave.
posted by peeedro at 8:56 AM on March 1, 2017 [15 favorites]


Holy shit, the steak and shoes on the couch discussion is making me lose my mind. See y'all in the next thread.
posted by xyzzy at 8:58 AM on March 1, 2017 [22 favorites]


It's not like she was wearing well-done steaks on her feet and tracking ketchup footprints all over the White House.
posted by peeedro at 9:03 AM on March 1, 2017 [14 favorites]


Wired: Trump's Speech to Congress Was a Peter Thiel Fever Dream
After Trump’s speech ended, TV and Twitter pundits began debating whether it bore the populist hallmarks of chief strategist Steve Bannon or the policy wonkishness of senior advisor Stephen Miller. But for those who follow the Silicon Valley billionaire and Facebook investor, notes of Thiel sounded throughout the hour-plus address.
...
Note, for example, Trump’s call for easing the Food and Drug Administration’s regulatory oversight of new drug development. In the past, Thiel has railed against the safety restrictions with which pharmaceutical companies must comply. He told an audience in 2015, “You would not be able to invent the polio vaccine today.”
Counterpoint: It’s not the FDA that gets in the way of innovation — it’s the limits of our knowledge (Vox)
Trump has vowed to cut 75 to 80 percent of government regulations. “Instead of it being 9,000 pages, it’ll be 100 pages,” Trump told a group of pharmaceutical company executives in January, presumably in reference to FDA’s guidance and rules.

One of the key notions that undergirds Trump’s view of the FDA is that if the agency just got rid of some of the pesky restrictions for drug approval, we could have a golden age in drug development, not just for rare diseases, but all diseases.

To test this idea, I asked a longtime pharmaceutical scientist (and conservative), Derek Lowe, for his views. In his 28 years in the lab, Lowe has seen hundreds of thousands of compounds tested on a huge variety of drug targets. But he has never brought a drug to market.

The reason? “We don’t know how to find drugs that work,” he said.

For every 5,000 compounds discovered at this "preclinical" phase of drug development, only about five are promising enough to be tried in humans. That’s a success rate of 0.1 percent.
And more context on Thiel's polio comment, Peter Thiel has never met a regulation he didn’t hate (Fortune, Feb 10, 2015)
posted by filthy light thief at 9:04 AM on March 1, 2017 [20 favorites]


The cheap exploitation of a very deep and palpable grief during Trump's address was a very disturbing example of reality t.v. ratings sociopathy.

From peedro's link, the final two grafs are particularly pointed in comparing Trump's lack of leadership with his predecessors:
On the very same day in which Trump had tried to deflect blame for Ryan’s death and other problems of the Yemen raid, saying (incredibly) of military leaders “they lost Ryan”; on the very day after he said publicly that the nation’s military “doesn’t win any more” and “we don’t fight to win”—at that moment, Donald Trump thought it suitable to use a grieving widow in this way. And then to say, as the applause finally died down, that the cheers had “set a record.”

If you thought this “presidential,” fine.

For me, it was too easy.

The president I worked for, Jimmy Carter, forthrightly took personal responsibility after his administration’s most dramatic failure, the attempted rescue of American hostages from the embassy in Teheran. “It was my decision to attempt the rescue operation,” he said on national TV. “It was my decision to cancel it … The responsibility is fully my own.” The first president I remember, John F. Kennedy, took public responsibility early in his administration for the failed invasion of Cuba’s Bay of Pigs. Our most recent president, Barack Obama, said after an intelligence failure, “Ultimately, the buck stops with me.” This is, finally, what presidents do. As George W. Bush put it, each is “the decider.” They can accept credit for success, but they must take responsibility for failures.

I am not yet aware of the latest incumbent ever taking public responsibility for a mistake or a failure. That will be the next step in becoming presidential.
posted by darkstar at 9:05 AM on March 1, 2017 [33 favorites]


I understand having a laugh about the steaks when it happened, but really? People are still talking about that?

The Kellyanne photo at least reveals a telling difference in how the Obamas are treated versus Trump's white bread inner circle. But most of the comments about it aren't talking about that, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:05 AM on March 1, 2017




Mainly I'm surprised at how the blatant antisemitism just... *poof* ...disappeared.
posted by Artw at 9:11 AM on March 1, 2017


I'm pretty much convinced Twitler is frightened of the NatSec and operational military stuff. It's why he skips the intel briefings. It's one reason why he wants to outsource it to Bannon. It's why he wants to spike defense spending when he doesn't have a SecNav or a SecArmy and can't possibly understand what he's actually spending that money on. He wants to be seen as tough and strong, but he knows he's completely out of his depth so he wants to keep it all completely vague. And it's why he's happy to wash his hands of actions in Yemen, and why that will be a pattern.

As arrogant as he is, he knows how badly he could screw up a military action or a NatSec issue. He has already done it, too, and he choked during an op when all he had to do was observe and now a serviceman has died and the whole raid was a fiasco.

He's frightened, and he doesn't want to look.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 9:12 AM on March 1, 2017 [22 favorites]


The section with the SEAL's widow was just ...... terrifying. Scary as fuck.

What really bugs me, tons of commentary that essentially says "exploitation of the fallen" is a common political tactic of BOTH sides.

Like - yeah guys, c'mon, we all crap on people we order off to die for us for bullshit reasons all the time and parade their corpses and make grieving families dance for the public.

But this time is wrong because Trump. And "botched raid." And reasons.

No politicians, hell, no members of the public I've read in the news, takes any personal responsibility for sending men off to their death (With, Truman aside, one recent exception).

NO ONE says "yeah, our/my bad they died for a pointless reason/political expediency."

What's the difference, particularly, about a SEAL and a regular warfighter?
The bottom line seems to be money. We lost, the narrative goes, a $70 million piece of equipment and the life of a well trained (that is, very expensive) warfighter. As opposed to the usual peons in rank and file.
It's a qualitative consideration. Some other military family loses a loved one, meh.
Oh, but THIS guy...

Granted we lose a pilot or nuclear tech or TACP things have probably gone to hell.
But Pararescue, Drill Instructors, combat medics, combat engineers, helicopter WO, (and lawyers) have huge training costs. Intelligence cadre training costs are stupifying and ongoing (like engineers, medics, lawyers, etc). All that on top of (ballpark) $350K OCS training.

And yeah, the right jerks off over the military, SF in general and SEALs in particular. But - as odious as Trump genuinely is - this particular bit of self-serving military fetishizing rhetoric is endemic to American civilian society and has been for a while.

As long as we argue the political rightness or wrongness of the casus belli and cast military service in that light, the deaths will just keep rolling on and on. Because THIS time we're killing the right bad guys.

The purpose SCPO Ryan died for was beyond whatever stakes in a specific engagement.

The fighting was not worth the life or lives? Sure, I'd wholeheartedly agree under almost any warfighting we've done in our recent past.

But that's a different argument than whether or not a servicemember died in vain. A stove explodes and kills an E-1 on kitchen detail, that death is not in vain and just as meaningful as the well trained special forces operator who dies in a combat zone.
It's about service to a principle and living a life, not just risking a life, and sacrificing - even if blood isn't spilled in an overt and spectacular way it's a sacrifice - for an ideal.

It takes courage to swear an oath and devote oneself to duty and honor whether a life is lost or lived well in service. It's never a death in vain.
What about a SEAL (or grunt) who dies in training without reaching the front line just because of an accident (some are unavoidable like traffic accidents)? That's in vain because they never reached a war zone?

No. They lived up to their obligation they swore to their principles.

Now, did the U.S. fail to live up to their end? Ah, that's a different question.

Valor is not vanity.
Someone dies in an unfulfilled cause. The honor is theirs alone.
The disgrace belongs to the people who sent them.

That's the tragedy here. That's what perpetuates the war dead.

Mattis' service was exploited just as much.

As Lincoln said (as Trump mis-referenced) the fallen are concecrated on the field of battle far above "our poor power to add or detract" but the cause they fight for can only be made worthy to those who are "dedicated to the great task remaining before us" that "these dead shall not have died in vain."

We keep laying off the guilt for failing the fallen on political enemies - rightly or wrongly. (And yeah, I'd drop this particular one right on Trump)
But there's always going to be another raid, another operation, another war.

One we accept our obligation to be as politically selfless and as faithful in working for to our principles as those who fight for them, that will end.

I know there are plenty of Americans that do that of course. But the last famous one that first comes to mind was Cicero.

...I guess that makes Trump Mark Antony and makes Putin Cleopatra.

"All honest men killed Caesar....some lacked design, some courage, some opportunity: none lacked the will." - Cicero
posted by Smedleyman at 9:13 AM on March 1, 2017 [15 favorites]


Which part of antisemitism disappeared? Because these folks in Indiana are not feeling it.
posted by Sophie1 at 9:16 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


People are still talking about that?

I am people, so, yes, apparently. Others are not required to talk about it, though. :)

Also, "still" implies a rather long time between the act and the discussion. It just happened within the last couple of days. I understand that is like, forever, when we get a new thread to dump on Trump every few days, but it's not easy to keep up, you know?

That said, and more relevant to the content of what I posted:

If one follows my link to the Bors cartoon, they will see that it's not actually raking the Donald over the coals for his steaks at all. It's making a point how the relatively mild eye-rolling that his eating habits caused is being conflated with an argument that "the man is EVIL because he has ketchup on his steaks". And then THAT becomes the straw man used to undermine the much more deeply held objections to Trump many of us have on other bases, as if it's evidence of our having a kind of Trump Derangement Syndrome.

So, the cartoon addresses a meta issue in the discourse that goes far beyond the matter of the steaks or the shoes or what his hair looks like, or whatever insignificant criticisms we might have expressed in the past. For that reason, I thought it was relevant to the discussion.

To be clear: I really don't care what the man eats.* I'm more interested in his nationalist authoritarian statements and policies, his gross incompetence, and his evident sociopathic narcissism. And I am keen to make sure that chuckling at his minor peccadilloes isn't conflated with, and thus allows the dismissal of, these much more significant concerns.


*I feel like I'd want to qualify this in a hundred ways, but to do so would be stating what I hope would be obvious and not germane to the discussion.
posted by darkstar at 9:22 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


Something else about that Yemen raid that isn't getting remotely enough attention: Twitler said, very explicitly during the campaign, "We have to go after the families." And now we have fourteen dead civilians, nine of them children.

It is incredibly uncomfortable to consider that. Did our SEALs do that deliberately? Was it just one more awful aspect of a deadly fiasco? I've heard all the urban myths of how SpecOps guys are warned they might be ordered to kill civilians and that's one of the ways they screen people in early selection and training. Is it believable? I don't know. Something like that is simultaneously easy and hard to believe. It jumps right into confirming whatever world-view you have.

And that question almost doesn't matter, given how completely believable it is to have lots of accidental civilian casualties in a night raid where everything is going wrong.

But Twitler literally talked about killing families of suspected terrorists during the campaign and now we have nine dead kids.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 9:26 AM on March 1, 2017 [45 favorites]


And more context on Thiel's polio comment, Peter Thiel has never met a regulation he didn’t hate

Does Australia, being a country with English law, have any prohibition on bills of pains and penalties?

If not, there should be a Department of Thiel that just goes around and regulates every aspect of Thiel's life there. They can start with the Thiel Clownsuit Act.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:30 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


the sooner we as a species can stop cloaking murder, exploitation, and empire in terms like honor, valor, and duty, the better off we'll all be
posted by entropicamericana at 9:30 AM on March 1, 2017 [21 favorites]


Status Quo Bias Is a Hell of a Drug
In the wake of Bush v. Gore, Mark Tushnet wrote a short, brilliant essay about the various strategies that the legal academy would use to avoid the obvious implications of the Supreme Court lawlessly concluding a contested election along nakedly partisan lines. The felt need to see the Supreme Court as a legitimate institution, or that the public see it as such irrespective of whether this legitimacy is merited, is strong. It’s not always as naked as Larry Lessig making a bad argument as an oral advocate because if Antonin Scalia was a partisan hack rather than a Principled Jurist his whole life would be a lie, but it’s a powerful tendency.

And so it is with the presidency and the political press. Many pundits have a strong need to tell themselves that American political institutions are fundamentally OK when they very clearly aren’t OK. And, needless to say, the media was one of the institutions that completely failed and played a major role in producing a political crisis in 2016, so normalizing the Trump Show is self-serving as well.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:30 AM on March 1, 2017 [47 favorites]


When they say Judeo-Christian, the Judeo part means that in their Christian nation it will literally not be illegal to be Jewish.

It doesn't even usually mean that. It commonly means that christianity and judaism share a common origin. The word is usually used by non-jewish people who want to make it sound like they're refering to a culture that is thousands of years old, even though of course no such thing exists.

There was a Dutch politican who argued that a long time ago jewish people immigrated to the Netherlands, and now we call our culture a "judeo-christian" culture. And maybe, over time, we could have a similar process with muslim immigrants. That islam would similarly be part of our culture. That statement was immediately slammed down by our (current) prime minister, Mark Rutte, who said that of course the term "judeo-christian" had nothing to do with jewish immigrants, but with the origin of the christian faith.
posted by blub at 9:30 AM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


It almost goes without saying that academic conferences are being moved to non-U.S. locations as we speak. I know this first-hand.

The weird knock-on effect of this is that immigrants in the United States won't attend the foreign conferences due to uncertainty on whether they will be able to return back to the U.S. So immigrants get punished again as usual.
posted by srboisvert at 9:32 AM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


I guess I want someone to try and do a podcast based Air America type thing. Without all the overhead that being on the actual radio had.

Crooked Media?


See above re: Crooked Media. Pod Save the World is better, but it's once a week for 45 minutes (plus five minutes of ads for stuff Facebook is already trying to sell you). And I like Ana Marie Cox on a personality level, but it's going to get old listening to her scold the DNC for not listening to midwestern churchgoers. (I'm sure she still has awesome sources, but I don't think the plan is for her to do actual reporting.)
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:42 AM on March 1, 2017


The Worst Performance of Trump’s Presidency Now Belongs to the Press Corps

There is apparently less capacity for living and learning in political journalism than there is in elementary school; less object permanence than in nursery school.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:46 AM on March 1, 2017 [31 favorites]


I've got a million dollar idea for Crooked Media: they need to do a series following Democrats who are elected to or trying to get elected to small potatoes local offices. I've mentioned before that I'm friends with a small town mayor and my lunches with her are fascinating. And if folks are really looking to get more involved at a local level--and they absolutely should--they need to know this stuff. My friend has a completely different perspective on our state and federal level reps than I do, because she has to actually try to get money and resources out of them. She also gets harassed. A lot. This is great stuff for a newly energized Dem base to know about.

Call me, Lovett.
posted by soren_lorensen at 9:47 AM on March 1, 2017 [34 favorites]


It commonly means that christianity and judaism share a common origin.

And Christians have always treated Jews great!
posted by kirkaracha at 9:48 AM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


Call me, Lovett.

I said oh my God what's your name my name's Lyle
posted by kirkaracha at 9:49 AM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


And if I had my ponies, I'd ride them through the longboats. Me up on my ponies in the longboats on the blue.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:52 AM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


folks, i have a sick feeling that if the press cannot sink someone like donald trump, they are actually incapable of sinking anyone at this point
posted by murphy slaw at 9:54 AM on March 1, 2017 [22 favorites]


I've got a million dollar idea for Crooked Media: they need to do a series following Democrats who are elected to or trying to get elected to small potatoes local offices.

Hmm, Gimlet is primed to do this. It's a political version of their StartUp podcast.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:55 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


I don't think Gimlet is activist enough for it to reach full "Hey, you guys want to do this thing? You should want to do this thing. Here's how to do the thing." potential. They'd just be like, "Here's an interesting thing. Make of it what you will. Also here are some Republicans."
posted by soren_lorensen at 9:57 AM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


I've come to the realization that I only like these threads if we're talking about fresh evidence of Trump's collusion with Russia. Everything else feels bleak or pointless.
posted by diogenes at 9:59 AM on March 1, 2017 [21 favorites]


I don't think Gimlet is activist enough for it to reach full "Hey, you guys want to do this thing? You should want to do this thing. Here's how to do the thing." potential. They'd just be like, "Here's an interesting thing. Make of it what you will. Also here are some Republicans."

I mean....if it's a million dollar idea (or a quarter of a million dollar idea), I feel like they could get pretty activist. But you're probably right.
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:02 AM on March 1, 2017


A few threads back we mentioned Rep. Stephen Lynch and I mentioned that as a former constituent, I hoped they'd primary the hell out of him. Well,

Rep. Stephen Lynch says media has treated Trump unfairly
posted by waitingtoderail at 10:06 AM on March 1, 2017



So I take some time away for US politics and come back to the press being babies again?
What the hell happened?
posted by Jalliah at 10:09 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


What the hell happened?

MEDIA: He didn't yell at us! He likes us, he really likes us!
TRUMP: They didn't laugh at me! They like me, they really like me!
posted by murphy slaw at 10:11 AM on March 1, 2017 [26 favorites]


What the hell happened?

Bar = low.
Desire for return to status quo = high
posted by nubs at 10:13 AM on March 1, 2017 [20 favorites]




Assuming their worst agenda item remained stalled in utter dysfunction (yes, big assumption), there's some light here for Democrats. If only they can capitalize, tie him and Republicans to everything he promised but can't deliver, and lay out a real populist agenda in opposition.

What's more, for all the wailing about how only Trump listened to the concerns of the White Working Class Voter™, there's much that Democrats could -- and did, and do -- propose that should appeal to the working and middle classes. They need to be more aggressive, however, in pointing out that Republicans won't let them deliver because they'd have to give up their tax cuts for the rich.
posted by Gelatin at 10:14 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


So I take some time away for US politics and come back to the press being babies again?
What the hell happened?


He spent a whole hour where he didn't vomit on his shoes.
posted by dirigibleman at 10:15 AM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


It's almost 3 hours old at this point, but going back to this idea that Trump and Bannon are wetting their pants in anticipation of another 9/11 so he can show how bigly presidential he is - I really don't think he can pull it off. He's really terrible at any sort of extemporaneous speaking other than jocular self-aggrandizement and mocking of the "losers" surrounding him. Only in planned speeches does he come off at all "presidential." But at times like that, you don't have 3-4 days to write a speech, 36 hours to beat it into his brain, and teleprompters everywhere for him to read it from; rather, one needs to speak from the heart, and what's in his heart is... not good.

Like, does anyone remember that time he was trying to console a friend who had suffered some kind of loss and what he ended up saying was basically "you've got a great family; I tried to bang your wife once and she totally wouldn't, so very faithful. Anyway sorry for your loss."? I don't recall the people involved so I can't search for it. But that's how I see him coming off in the event of a national tragedy. I think the vast majority of people are going to be fully disgusted.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 10:15 AM on March 1, 2017 [10 favorites]


>Rep. Stephen Lynch says media has treated Trump unfairly

Then Rep. Lynch needs to be scraped off the political landscape like gum on a shoe. So does anyone who parrots Trump's (well known and pattern established) false victimhood. Maybe Rep. Lynch thinks Trump was cheated when he didn't get an emmy for The Apprentice?
posted by Catblack at 10:17 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


Like, does anyone remember that time he was trying to console a friend who had suffered some kind of loss

lol he's not going to be "i feel your pain america," he's gonna be "kill em all and let god sort it out and by the way imma suspend all civil rights and liberties while we 'figger this out'" and people are going to lick. it. up.
posted by entropicamericana at 10:17 AM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


So I take some time away for US politics and come back to the press being babies again?
What the hell happened?

He spent a whole hour where he didn't vomit on his shoes.

Well bah. *sigh* I took a brief break from this world and spent the past few days playing Dungeons and Dragons in my free time. Feel like I should just go back to that world and live there for the time being.
posted by Jalliah at 10:19 AM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


I do not care if Brianna Wu is not the perfect candidate, I am still glad she is primarying that fucker.
posted by dinty_moore at 10:21 AM on March 1, 2017 [18 favorites]


>lol he's not going to be...

So this draft-dodger who just today refused to accept responsibility for the SEAL who died on his orders, who has insulted military families. Yeah, we know he's waiting for another national tragedy to seize more power.

>and people are going to lick. it. up.

And those people are the real enemies to American democracy, and you shouldn't turn your backs on them for a second.
posted by Catblack at 10:24 AM on March 1, 2017 [21 favorites]


Like, does anyone remember that time he was trying to console a friend who had suffered some kind of loss and what he ended up saying was basically "you've got a great family; I tried to bang your wife once and she totally wouldn't, so very faithful. Anyway sorry for your loss."? I don't recall the people involved so I can't search for it.

It was Kelly Preston and John Travolta, after the death of their son:
The mogul expressed his condolences to Preston for her loss, but not before he mentioned the time he tried to sleep with her. According to Trump, the attempt failed.

"A long time ago, before I was married, I met Kelly Preston at a club and worked like hell to try and pick her up," he wrote on the Trump University website. "She was beautiful, personable, and definitely had allure. At the time I had no idea she was married to John Travolta."
posted by Dixon Ticonderoga at 10:26 AM on March 1, 2017 [14 favorites]


I do not care if Brianna Wu is not the perfect candidate, I am still glad she is primarying that fucker.

Coming around to this point of view also.
posted by Artw at 10:27 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


Mainly I'm surprised at how the blatant antisemitism just... *poof* ...disappeared.

It hasn't. All these attacks & threats on Jews are just awful & (either Jews or Democrats) are awful for making them, is the current line I believe.
posted by scalefree at 10:38 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


folks, i have a sick feeling that if the press cannot sink someone like donald trump, they are actually incapable of sinking anyone at this point

I think the press wanted Donald trump around for the ratings/eyeballs, and trusted that someone else would sink him instead.
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:44 AM on March 1, 2017 [8 favorites]


and trusted that someone else would sink him instead

This does seem to be the common theme of America the past few decades... "Someone else's problem"
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 10:47 AM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


Oh, in the real world it hasn't, just the media attention on what was coming out of Trump's mouth. Never happened, a President saying that would be too terrible, move along.
posted by Artw at 10:48 AM on March 1, 2017




Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is getting some very bad news about her favorite thing, school vouchers

Archive link for those who are blocked. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is getting some very bad news about her favorite thing, school vouchers

That’s why the latest findings, which emerge from studies of statewide programs in Louisiana, Ohio and Indiana, have left education experts stunned. In a nutshell, they find huge declines of academic achievement among students in voucher programs in those three states.

“These results are without precedent in the educational literature,” says Kevin Carey, director of the education policy program at the think tank New America. “Among the past results, none were as positive as these are negative.”


Will this educate DeVos? Nah, she won't care and academic success isn't the reason she wants these schools.
posted by futz at 11:17 AM on March 1, 2017 [66 favorites]


That’s why the latest findings, which emerge from studies of statewide programs in Louisiana, Ohio and Indiana, have left education experts stunned.

Did anyone check these "expert's" C.V.s?
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:19 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


Allow me:

Kevin Carey
Director, Education Policy Program, New America, author of The End of College: Creating the Future of Learning and the University of Everywhere.

Quelle surprise.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:21 AM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


Will this educate DeVos? Nah, she won't care and academic success isn't the reason she wants these schools.

You assume in good faith that academic achievement is one of the outcomes indicating success. I also have a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell extremely cheap.
posted by Talez at 11:22 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


Artw: Mainly I'm surprised at how the blatant antisemitism just... *poof* ...disappeared.

Here's the funny thing about what you say vs what you think and do - for most people*, it's easy to say the right thing, even if you're saying (and doing) the wrong thing, because you know what you say is a significant part of how people treat you.

* Except Trump isn't most people, so he's lowered the bar so far that by not blatantly saying anything anti-Semitic, he is suddenly "a decent human being," or worse, considered to actually be "presidential." I'll echo Kurt Bardella again: "You're a grown man, you're the president of the United States. The fact that he's being celebrated for this is ridiculous."
posted by filthy light thief at 11:26 AM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


As you might imagine, Cato institute types are blaming regulation for voucher programs' poor results. So expect to hear that from DeVos and the Worst Wing next.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:27 AM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


But that's how I see him coming off in the event of a national tragedy. I think the vast majority of people are going to be fully disgusted.

This is one of those points where I have to give even Dubya credit. No praise for his decisions or his ultimate results, but his moment at the rubble of Ground Zero with the bullhorn, surrounded by responders? That was an important rallying point, and it was downright tactful. Resolve without bloodlust, all without a script.

The address to Congress later, where he said explicitly that Islam was not our enemy? Look, say what you will about his (legion of) failures, but that was a good speech. It was important. It was also a missed opportunity in any number of ways, but that's my liberal mindset talking. For what it was, he did very well.

Can you imagine Cheetoh Mussolini doing that well? I can't. But I can imagine the media falling all over themselves to say whatever comes out of his mouth amid a crisis is awesome.

It's the morning after, and I'm far less disturbed by what that jerk said in his speech than I am by the headlines and the tremble in Van Jones's voice.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 11:30 AM on March 1, 2017 [28 favorites]


Look, those kids now know a lot about Jesus, what more do you want?
posted by Artw at 11:35 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


i used to leave it on for the cat but the baleful you-wont-believe-the-shit-they-said-today looks she was giving when i got home everyday made me stop last month

She'd probably appreciate some classic 80's better

more educational probably too
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 11:38 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


Alex Pareene minces no words: You Cretins Are Going To Get Thousands Of People Killed
That’s why the best reviews Trump has received so far in his short, mostly disastrous presidency have come in response to the moment in last night’s joint address in which he trotted out the widow of a service member—a SEAL whose death he’d denied any responsibility for just a few hours earlier—to a sustained standing ovation and rapturous press coverage.

The praise from the media was so fulsome that the White House is a bit confused at how easily they managed to win over a class of people they have spent a month demeaning, attacking, and lying to:

You think Donald Trump noticed how the first thing he did that actually got the TV guys to like him was kill a troop?

Here are some things Donald Trump is famous for:

1) Noticing which things he does that elicit positive attention and then doing those things over and over and over again.

2) Craving the validation of the press, generally the sort of press a 70-year-old upper class New Yorker pays attention to, especially cable news.

If one dead American service member won him this much praise, just imagine how much they’ll respect him when he kills a couple hundred—or a couple thousand!
posted by Existential Dread at 11:40 AM on March 1, 2017 [73 favorites]


Today in "Why Does Chris Cillizza Have a Job?
1. So now it's a special gift to know that one shouldn't try to talk over a crying widow receiving a round of applause? What president, in the course of a major address, would have done that? What president would have tried to take the spotlight back? Barack Obama? George W. Bush? I can't imagine it. Cillizza is giving Trump an A here for doing what any other president would do out of instinct and common courtesy.

2. The more important point is that what Cillizza interpreted as grace was actually Trump endeavoring to sustain the moment for his own benefit. We know this from two things that happened, neither of which Cillizza mentions. [...]
posted by tonycpsu at 11:42 AM on March 1, 2017 [24 favorites]


Well bah. *sigh* I took a brief break from this world and spent the past few days playing Dungeons and Dragons in my free time. Feel like I should just go back to that world and live there for the time being.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild comes out in two days, so I'm taking my vacation in Hyrule this year, although they do have their own unpopular piggish tyrant who wants to bring the whole government down and just won't go away no matter how many times he's kicked out of stolen power.
posted by Servo5678 at 11:47 AM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


But at times like that, you don't have 3-4 days to write a speech, 36 hours to beat it into his brain, and teleprompters everywhere for him to read it from; rather, one needs to speak from the heart, and what's in his heart is... not good.

whatever vile spittle-flecked hatred and racial slurs he'll be shouting if such an event should come to pass will be far more effective and well-received by his moronic admirers than anything sane, calming, and sensible.
posted by poffin boffin at 11:47 AM on March 1, 2017


She'd probably appreciate some classic 80's better

more educational probably too


When you come home she'll have flock of seagulls hair and big, neon bangly ear-rings
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 11:47 AM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild comes out in two days, so I'm taking my vacation in Hyrule this year, although they do have their own unpopular piggish tyrant who wants to bring the whole government down and just won't go away no matter how many times he's kicked out of stolen power.
posted by Servo5


The eeevil wizard Bannon?
posted by ian1977 at 11:51 AM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


Yo Pareene, I'mm'a let you finish, but
It does sound very self-indulgent and “I don’t have a TV”-ish to announce that I’m not sure if I’ll vote, but Marchman asked, and it’s the truth. It may be even more self-indulgent to cast a pointless symbolic vote, either for or against Clinton, than to not bother either way.
Sure, Cillizza's worse, but couldn't Deadspin find a writer who hadn't feasted at the trough of false equivalence at the worst possible time?
posted by tonycpsu at 11:54 AM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


If one dead American service member won him this much praise, just imagine how much they’ll respect him when he kills a couple hundred—or a couple thousand!

Yeah. I didn't watch last night. All this press I'm seeing today like "well gee that wasn't so bad" has me seriously scared. Because if the press is gonna be all "well, he's ok now" then I need to get the fuck out of this country.
posted by dnash at 11:54 AM on March 1, 2017 [11 favorites]


whatever vile spittle-flecked hatred and racial slurs he'll be shouting if such an event should come to pass will be far more effective and well-received by his moronic admirers than anything sane, calming, and sensible.

Mmm. But what we are worried about with the latest speech is that, per CNN et al, it is effective to Americans as a whole, not just his supporters.
posted by Artw at 11:55 AM on March 1, 2017


He successfully lowered everyone's expectations so much as to make his speech seem "presidential" by being relentlessly horrible and incoherent leading up to it.

Then he shirked blame for a tragedy he oversaw by deflecting responsibility onto those he had leverage over, and successfully co-opted the pain caused by his actions to soften his image and score political points.

The end result is that his victims (America, The World) are either demoralized or apoplectic, or else buying-in out of self-preservation or to secure their own position within the hierarchy of abuse.


I'm frustrated with the post-speech glow on all sides (supporters, media, administration), as I feel this mirrors a classic cycle of abuse. A co-worker/friend is going through an abusive relationship at this time too, and I feel like there are definite parallels. She talks achingly of his latest missive offering reconciliation, support, and/or distance ("whatever you want," he reassures her, despite months of escalating emotional and verbal abuse, small property destruction, paranoia, and flip-flopping on control and independence). "I know talk is cheap, it's just he's never used these words before and maybe he's learning a lesson!"

What I see after the speech is what I'm seeing with my co-worker: someone using prop words and values of basic decency that only look better because of the constant terror and stress that came before it. And people, even those victimized, wanting, aching for it to be true and responding glowingly because it's tiring to fight it off all the time. The things I feel about Trump's speech are the same as the things I've told my co-worker: that his words mean less than what he does before and after, that his conciliatory tone now does not excuse what he said and did before, because those were unacceptable and dealbreakers by themselves. And his calls for unity now ("don't you want the best for the relationship/country") don't address his violations, but call attention to the resistor as the unreasonable one. It's gaslighting all the way down.

And yeah, I'm scared. I'm a POC green card holder, and that speech wasn't speaking to me. I see sinister intentions hiding in plain sight in VOICE, limiting regulations, promoting national self-isolation. I'm doing the only thing I feel I can do right now to feel better, which is call my MOCs again to outline my concerns and signal that I'm still holding the line.
posted by orbit-3 at 11:57 AM on March 1, 2017 [54 favorites]




Cillizza is giving Trump an A here for doing what any other president would do out of instinct and common courtesy.

It doesn't take a whole lot of restraint to impress Chris "Raging bitch beer" Cillizza.
posted by phearlez at 11:59 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


Today in "Why Does Chris Cillizza Have a Job?

This is literally the first thing I thought upon opening Twitter this morning.
posted by Sophie1 at 12:03 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


People want things to be ok. Desperately. This performance was aimed directly at the millions of people who have only started to see the real Trump in the last month, and have started to have some icky feelings about our country. The praise he's getting shows that it worked. The question is just how long he can exploit this cycle (do fascist shit, be generally horrible--->media shows spine--->people get worried--->appear slightly less horrible--->media removes spine--->people feel better and move on--->return to step 1).
posted by Gaz Errant at 12:04 PM on March 1, 2017 [18 favorites]


Call me a cynic but ... I have trouble seeing the SEAL-widow moment as anything besides yet-another Mark Burnett scripted "reality" show moment. Shamelessly making someone cry on TV, and then all the involved parties stare at each other for prolonged camera time, just pure emotional exploitation.

And Van Jones's fawning reaction was exactly the reaction we've all been programmed to have.

That, my friends, is how we elected Trump; our emotional responses have been programmed by Burnett, by Russia, by Mercer. It didn't take long, and here we are feckless in the face of the real hypocrisy of that moment.
posted by Dashy at 12:04 PM on March 1, 2017 [29 favorites]


TPM: Oprah Hints That She Is Open To Running For President

Please tell me she's going to bring her secret weapon*.

* warning: large gif
posted by tocts at 12:08 PM on March 1, 2017 [40 favorites]


Today in "Why Does Chris Cillizza Have a Job?

Yeah, I've subscribed to the Washington Post for, like, ever and know just to skip anything by Cillizza. His stuff is primarily online in the The Fix section so his thing is really just pumping out one-inch deep pieces three or four times a day. He's a one man Buzzfeed for politics without any of the actual humor or depth of reporting of Buzzfeed.
posted by peeedro at 12:10 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


Re: Judeo-Christian values

I can't find the link now, but one of the GOP surveys soliciting topic feedback in advance of Trump's address to Congress asked a question (paraphrased) about whether Judeo-Christian values were waning in American society. They're not even hiding their intentions.
posted by orbit-3 at 12:13 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]




That, my friends, is how we elected Trump; our emotional responses have been programmed by Burnett, by Russia, by Mercer. It didn't take long, and here we are feckless in the face of the real hypocrisy of that moment.

"Is this something I'd have to have a TV to understand?"
posted by snuffleupagus at 12:18 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


Immigrant detained after press conference: "Moments after an immigrant spoke out about her fears of deportation, she was detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement." ICE used to have a policy to stay away from protests and similar events.

ICE confirms 11 immigration arrests near Woodburn. They were looking for two farmworkers with criminal records of some kind, didn't find them, but grabbed 11 other people instead.
posted by zachlipton at 12:18 PM on March 1, 2017 [31 favorites]


I think it's important to note how totally empty that speech was. I went through the transcript looking for info on his ACA promises to try to hold my reps responsible to them and when you get down to it there's not much there and what is there is so vague as to be meaningless. Literally anyone listening will just have heard what they wanted to hear. Which is pretty freaking scary.
posted by threeturtles at 12:28 PM on March 1, 2017 [18 favorites]


TPM: Oprah Hints That She Is Open To Running For President

Oh, please no. Trump has put enough incompetents in office. We don't need to follow up with quacks like Dr. Oz and Deepak Chopra.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 12:33 PM on March 1, 2017 [20 favorites]


Yeah, that's my reaction as well. Just because we put someone with no qualifications in office doesn't mean that now everyone with no qualifications should run. It SHOULD show us what a terrible fucking idea that is, and get back to nominating qualified people. Should.
posted by lazaruslong at 12:35 PM on March 1, 2017 [9 favorites]


Trump Administration Sets Off Alarm Bells By Pulling Nominees To Regulatory Commissions

This gets increasingly alarming if they start messing with the normal partisan balance of the FCC, FTC, FEC, SEC, FERC, etc...
posted by zachlipton at 12:36 PM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


There cannot be enough soulless Trumpist flacks out there to fill out all these regulatory bodies, can there? I mean, he can barely staff the West Wing.

(I will never forgive Oprah for the snake oil salespeople. Most especially Cesar Milan. Fuck that guy.)
posted by soren_lorensen at 12:41 PM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


VoteVets has another leaked memo about military child care being slashed due to Trump's hiring freeze. If the freeze isn't lifted in two weeks, they're cutting even more.

The Pentagon has included child care workers on a list of positions exempt from the freeze, but that still requires approval from the Secretary of the Army to hire anybody.
posted by zachlipton at 12:45 PM on March 1, 2017 [13 favorites]



Hunger Games trades on the excitement of the murder spectacle. Even while the movie claims that it's bad for the elites to pit poor people against each other in violent conflict, we the audience root for the underdog to win, first the Hunger Games themselves, then the more "real" battle against the oppressive government.

I think it's telling you refer to movies, when the books make it more clear that yes, the rebellion is using the same reality TV tactics as the hunger games. And ultimately, the protagonist's decision is fuck all of that, the new order is the same as the old order. The moral is ultimately humans really suck especially if they get any power at all. It's not an uplifting or hopeful ending.
posted by threeturtles at 12:49 PM on March 1, 2017 [14 favorites]


let's not conflate Oprah with Dr. Oz and Deepak Chopra like that. She's hired quacks for her show, but Oprah herself is a formidable woman and a hard worker.

She's a formidable woman and a hard worker who hires quacks to be on her staff.

It's bad enough she hires them to be on her show. But presidents hire staff too. And what makes you think that she wouldn't appoint Dr. Oz as her Surgeon General?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:51 PM on March 1, 2017 [18 favorites]


Posting this article in celebration of the call I got yesterday from Passport Canada to let me know that my Canadian passport has been issued and is on its way.
posted by soren_lorensen at 12:53 PM on March 1, 2017 [24 favorites]


I'd take Oprah and her cabinet of quacks all damn day over Trumpy trump and his junky bunch.
posted by ian1977 at 12:55 PM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


Foreign policy based on The Secret might be about comparable to what we have today tbh
posted by Existential Dread at 12:57 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


I really cannot put my head around the idea that Trump's speech could be perceived as anything but a gross insult to Owens' death, but I could not be much further removed from that world. How is it being received in military circles? If the answer is "rapturously," well...*trails off, stares into bottom of whisky tumbler*
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:58 PM on March 1, 2017 [20 favorites]


Julia Ioffe's article today in The Atlantic about the current state of the State Department is well worth reading.
“They really want to blow this place up,” said the mid-level State Department officer. “I don’t think this administration thinks the State Department needs to exist. They think Jared [Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law] can do everything. It’s reminiscent of the developing countries where I’ve served. The family rules everything, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs knows nothing.”
posted by rewil at 1:00 PM on March 1, 2017 [30 favorites]


What I see after the speech is what I'm seeing with my co-worker: someone using prop words and values of basic decency that only look better because of the constant terror and stress that came before it. And people, even those victimized, wanting, aching for it to be true and responding glowingly because it's tiring to fight it off all the time.

orbit-3, you just described what I've been hearing on NPR, and some understanding of why.

But it's refreshing and heartening that one group that doesn't seem to be repeating their decades of post-Reagan trauma is the Democrats. As a group, they seem to at least signal their willingness to resist Trump. I hope it's so.
posted by Gelatin at 1:06 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


Mod note: A few comments deleted. Please drop the Oprah thing.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 1:07 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


VoteVets has another leaked memo about military child care being slashed due to Trump's hiring freeze. If the freeze isn't lifted in two weeks, they're cutting even more.

The Pentagon has included child care workers on a list of positions exempt from the freeze, but that still requires approval from the Secretary of the Army to hire anybody.


Something I haven't seen mentioned elsewhere is the impact this hiring freeze is having on USG employees serving abroad (military, Foreign Service Officers, DoD Civilian employees, etc). Both DoD and State often hire accompanying family members of employees/service members locally for various jobs, which is a big deal when you consider the fact that these are folks who probably don't speak the local language and, due to visa restrictions, often are prohibited from working on the local economy anyway. Calling this a morale killer would be a massive understatement.
posted by photo guy at 1:12 PM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


Congrats soren_lorensen. You and every other MeFite in Canada are going to be our final hope.
posted by Sophie1 at 1:12 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


And speaking of State, I'd also suggest the Atlantic article upthread - great read and from what I've heard, definitely captures the current state of things in Foggy Bottom.
posted by photo guy at 1:17 PM on March 1, 2017


Oh, I'm not in Canada [yet]. I'm a dual citizen who just assumed I'd be in the US forever so no need for a Canadian passport. I have altered that assessment and am working to get myself and my son all the Canadian paperwork we can get because it's kind of the only thing I've got right now keeping me from a full-on 24/7 panic attack.

Also I want to visit Ottawa this summer to see La Machine and I've heard they nowadays like duals to have both passports. We'll see if they let me back into the country.
posted by soren_lorensen at 1:17 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


prefpara: Nobody explain to me why Melania just got a standing ovation.

I don't know what happened at that moment, but I wonder if the Dems clapped? Rebecca Mead at the New Yorker noted that they didn't applaud her entrance, and wrote "that action was understandable, and deserving of its own acclaim. In times like these, the withholding of ordinary graciousness may be the very least that one can do."

The very least, indeed.

John Cassidy at the New Yorker agrees there was no pivot, but doesn't add much to what has been said and cited in this thread already. At least there's one outlet recognizing that "The soft opening quickly transitioned into a reiteration of Trump’s harsh “America First” agenda, and once he got there his language got considerably darker."

A final New Yorker link: Amy Davidson, in writing on The Shameless Expediency of President Trump’s Address to Congress, made a connection which I had not:
the problem isn’t that Trump has been oblivious but that, when he responds to questions about them, he has, more than once, said that some number of them were carried out by his political opponents to discredit him—that the attacks were not anti-Semitic but anti-Trump.
Emphasis mine - and holy crap, now I can't un-think this thought. "False flags" are really "it's not a tragedy for someone else, it's an attack on me and my values."
posted by filthy light thief at 1:19 PM on March 1, 2017 [22 favorites]


soren_lorensen - by the time it gets bad enough for me to be up there, you'll be there. I promise.
posted by Sophie1 at 1:24 PM on March 1, 2017


As a brief follow-up to the Kansas shooting, here's an NYT OpEd by Sandip Roy: Indians Used to Dream of America. No Longer.

... From the outside it feels less like a darker country than like a more sullen one — one half of it apologetic, the other half suspicious. I am almost nostalgic for the naïve innocence of that other America I knew, where pleasant middle-aged women would tell me about a Dr. Patel from Mumbai and ask if I knew him. That America came with a sense of curiosity. The America I see now is shrunken, scared of its own shadow despite its bluster.
posted by RedOrGreen at 1:26 PM on March 1, 2017 [18 favorites]


Clarification - I just mean I have every intention of staying to fight through some pretty shitty stuff. It's going to have to get super bad for me to leave, but I'm really glad I'll have somewhere to go.
posted by Sophie1 at 1:28 PM on March 1, 2017


My hard line is the security of my kid. If that starts to feel iffy, I'm out.
posted by soren_lorensen at 1:31 PM on March 1, 2017 [12 favorites]


I see sinister intentions hiding in plain sight in VOICE...

I also see sinister intentions, cribbed from Hitler, hiding in plain sight in VOICE. I went to sleep sickened. I woke up and was startled that this wasn't the lead headline. (OK, I didn't watch the speech, just the discussion here, so I didn't see suits and hear applause. I freaking thought the potential for persecution baked into VOICE was the important issue. What's the deal? Is our m.s. media too white? Too young? Too eager to hug the abuser and hope that the soothing part of the cycle will last this time?)
posted by puddledork at 1:36 PM on March 1, 2017 [29 favorites]


My hard line is the security of my kid. If that starts to feel iffy, I'm out.

I'm wondering if my kids are still going to have an education system.
posted by Artw at 1:36 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


Given how sidelined and ignored Tillerson is, he's gotta be going through some incredible buyer's remorse. He might be talking a good game and maybe he is sincere about cutting down some of the bloat at State, but I really doubt he knew what he was getting into. How does he not wake up every morning and think, "I gave up being CEO of fucking Exxon for this?"
posted by scaryblackdeath at 1:39 PM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


C'mon up, but I fear that once he's consolidated power in the U.S., Trump will invade Canada because, aside from the looting opportunities, he and Bannon will not be able to abide living next door to a country with such different values. They'll regard us as an insult.
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:40 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


sincere about cutting down some of the bloat at State

That should pay for at least a good 50 yards of the Hate Wall.
posted by snuffleupagus at 1:41 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


Hey, guys, remember that asshole in Iowa who wanted to make sure them librul elites don't educate college kids too hard?

Forbco Management School: sounds legit.

(I seriously love everything about this story except that it's real.)
posted by soren_lorensen at 1:43 PM on March 1, 2017 [16 favorites]


Remember that Iowa lawmaker who introduced a bill demanding ideological balance on the faculty of state universities, imposing a hiring freeze until there was rough balance between registered Democrats and Republicans? It turns out that if you propose something like that, people might read your bio. And see.... Iowa Pol’s Bio Changed After ‘Sizzler U’ Discrepancy Emerges
An Iowa lawmaker who is pushing a controversial bill that caps the number of Democrats that state universities can hire as professors claimed on a government web site that he got a "business degree" from the "Forbco Management school."

But State Sen. Mark Chelgren's alleged alma mater is actually a company that operated a Sizzler steak house franchise in southern California and he doesn't have a "degree," Ed Failor, a spokesman for the Iowa State Republicans, told NBC News.
It's just swell with me for somebody who didn't graduate and who once managed a Sizzler to eventually become a State Senator, but if you're going to inflate your educational qualifications, it's probably best for you not to be the one trying to screw up the state's university system.
posted by zachlipton at 1:43 PM on March 1, 2017 [23 favorites]




And now I owe soren_lorensen a soda. Meet me at the nearest Sizzler.
posted by zachlipton at 1:44 PM on March 1, 2017 [11 favorites]


Do we have a list yet of which mainstream media outlets didn't fall for Dampnut's act? WaPo, New Yorker and who else?
posted by OHenryPacey at 1:44 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


The speech was terrible just on a simple rhetorical level. Yes, he managed to achieve nouns and verbs in every sentence and often in the correct order, but we should expect more from our leaders.

I listed to him speak and listen to him lie and wonder what I've wondered for months - how do we teach kids that truth and language skills are important for success when he's demonstrated that you don't need either to win an election? Lies and word salad are perfectly acceptable, even lauded.

I'm glad that most of the sites I frequent have not been hailing his speech but have been calling out the lies. Fat lot of good that does when other higher traffic sources are in full on normalization mode.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:45 PM on March 1, 2017 [8 favorites]


A million times yes to the cycle of abuse thing. Especially narcissistic abusers will keep throwing pretty much anything at their victims to try to maintain their hold. If anger and threats aren't working, it's time for the carrot.

It can get to the point of ridiculousness, like with my mother-in-law who sends emails to my husband and one week she says she has disowned him and written him out of the will for being a bad son and the next week is all sweetness and light like everything is perfectly normal, here's what I have been up to.

The only rational response after a while is no response because reaction of any kind is what a narcissist is after. Good behavior is typically a last resort after all other attempts at manipulation have failed. But if you give in and reward the good behavior, it just pulls you back into the cycle, setting you up for more abuse.
posted by threeturtles at 1:46 PM on March 1, 2017 [17 favorites]


VOICE is really the razor blade in the shit sandwich here. Just the potential for abuse is staggering. And we've seen this is an administration that will not let facts get in the way of the narrative they want to push.
posted by Kitty Stardust at 1:47 PM on March 1, 2017 [32 favorites]


And now I owe soren_lorensen a soda. Meet me at the nearest Sizzler.

Just let Chickenman bring you free beer. (Some things never change.)

His FB bio still makes claims about UC Riverside, and makes no mention of Community College.
posted by snuffleupagus at 1:47 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


well, this is some strange shit. one of my students whose brother is Puerto Rican (I guess she may be too) just got a very official looking census form.

i was like "but the census already happened."

she said, "exactly" and showed me a picture of the form. It looked like a fucking census form, asking for place of birth.
posted by angrycat at 1:48 PM on March 1, 2017 [27 favorites]


Vox.com: A top White House aide [Gorka] was asked if Trump thought Islam was a religion. He refused to answer.

This article is an analysis of this mornings interview on NPR, and adds some context.
This morning was Gorka’s second chance at this question on NPR, and his second time skirting around the answer.
The first chance was on Feb 3, where Gorka danced around the question in the context of Michael Flynn.

More context:
Questioning whether Islam is a religion is not, in and of itself, a new idea. Dr. Hussein Rashid, a professor of religion at Barnard College, told me that it was a dynamic that began in Europe and has a “centuries-long pedigree.”

“We are seeing a particularly American manifestation of it now,” he added.

He continued, “This administration is playing into all of these themes very clearly: They are trying to say that Muslims are not human and that they are not American.”
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:50 PM on March 1, 2017 [23 favorites]


I listed to him speak and listen to him lie and wonder what I've wondered for months - how do we teach kids that truth and language skills are important for success when he's demonstrated that you don't need either to win an election?

I don't teach too much these days, but I take the occasional sub job. When/if 45 comes up, I routinely point out that I'd throw anyone out of my class for saying things he has said. It wouldn't even be questioned. That, and if I found out a student did the things 45 has bragged about, I'd do my best to have them expelled.

It's 2017 and I would not allow the President of the United States into my classroom under any circumstances.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 1:52 PM on March 1, 2017 [32 favorites]


Some census activities happen all the time. The American Community Survey is an ongoing study that replaces what used to be the "long form." That's the most likely explanation.
posted by zachlipton at 1:53 PM on March 1, 2017 [10 favorites]


I've been confused as to why this has taken so long.

Surely Trump's handlers, or maybe even Trump himself, is aware that the media and a huge segment of America is desperate to pretend that he's not a cartoon supervillain, surely they noticed how, in the primaries and the general both the news was desperate to pretend that every single time he acted like an adult for even five minutes they fell all over themselves to proclaim it the long awaited pivot.

Given all that I'm stunned it took this long for Trump's handlers to get him out on stage somewhere with a prepared speech that he's been trained to read and not deviate from even slightly. They knew it'd work, they knew it'd kill the Trump criticism for a news cycle or two of the press praising him for being presidential and pivoting.

What made them wait this long?

What distresses me is that so many in the political news industry are still clinging to the blatantly false hope that somewhere, somehow, Trump will pivot. The comparison to people trapped in a cycle of abuse seems apt.
posted by sotonohito at 1:54 PM on March 1, 2017 [11 favorites]


Yep, there's a 2017 Puerto Rico Census Test, but it was supposed to be suspended? I'd be freaked out too, though.
posted by snuffleupagus at 1:55 PM on March 1, 2017


How does he not wake up every morning and think, "I gave up being CEO of fucking Exxon for this?"

I think he's planning to be able to far more for Exxon shareholder value in this position.
posted by Coventry at 1:55 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


They are really, really bad at fascism.

Not sure that's comforting as such.
posted by Artw at 1:56 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


Today in Fascism:

Roxane Gay was asked along with all other passengers to remove their books from their carry on luggage by the TSA and put them in a separate bin.
posted by Sophie1 at 1:43 PM on March 1 [+] [!]


haha, time to order some TSA themed porn from amazon for my next trip. maybe i'll read the titles out loud as i load the bin:

"My TSA bondage lover!"
"Hot times on the conveyer belt: a TSA love story"
"Look what i confiscated to day: tales from a TSA dildo lover"
posted by OHenryPacey at 1:57 PM on March 1, 2017 [11 favorites]


I am so embarrassed for this country and the world.

The cynical manipulation and lying and craven cowardice and yellow journalism is really starting to get to me now.

I started scolding a pro-lifer at the last White House protest, and had to walk away because I was reaally close to just punching him in the fucking face.
posted by aspersioncast at 1:58 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


Since the website says that 2017 test was suspended, I'd note the Census Bureau offers this guidance: "To verify that a visitor to your home is a Census Bureau employee, call or e-mail the Regional Office....To verify that a caller to your home or business is a Census Bureau employee, call the National Processing Center."

It doesn't have to be a sinister Trump thing, it could be a shitty identity theft thing.
posted by snuffleupagus at 1:59 PM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


Apparently the TSA imaging technology can't easily visualize the contents of hollowed-out books. To the extent the TSA mission is legitimate at all, singling out books for special examination might be sensible.
posted by Coventry at 2:04 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


> Apparently the TSA imaging technology can't easily visualize the contents of hollowed-out books.

As someone trained in physics, this defies my intuition. A metal knife inside a hollowed out book is trivially seen in X-rays, unless we're talking about metal-jacketed books? Drugs or non-metallic stuff, sure. But how is that different from something stuffed inside a roll of clothes, or in a little toiletry bottle? I can see e-readers being hard to image through - just as hard as laptops and tablets - but I'm confused that books are hard.
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:11 PM on March 1, 2017 [17 favorites]


Yes, I don't understand it, either.
posted by Coventry at 2:14 PM on March 1, 2017


Next we're going to find out that Hudson Bay is a subsidiary of TrumpCo, books will be illegal to pass through TSA and must be bought on the other side. it all fits
posted by OHenryPacey at 2:15 PM on March 1, 2017


Apparently the TSA imaging technology can't easily visualize the contents of hollowed-out books.

As someone trained in physics, this defies my intuition.

It's hard to detect a Quran bound inside the covers of In Trump We Trust.
posted by snuffleupagus at 2:16 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


Why are you carrying an analog book? You need to be carrying your easily trackable e-reader. How will we know where you've been what you're reading if you're one of us if you don't have one?
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:18 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


Maybe the threat they're trying to mitigate is that someone sticks explosives in the hollowed out book, and disguises the detonator as a component of an electronic device.
posted by Coventry at 2:21 PM on March 1, 2017


Why are you carrying an analog book? You need to be carrying your easily trackable e-reader. How will we know where you've been what you're reading if you're one of us if you don't have one?

You're not unscannable are you?
posted by snuffleupagus at 2:22 PM on March 1, 2017




> Apparently the TSA imaging technology can't easily visualize the contents of hollowed-out books.

As someone trained in physics, this defies my intuition. A metal knife inside a hollowed out book is trivially seen in X-rays, unless we're talking about metal-jacketed books?


I suspect it's more an issue that it does indeed see through the book and hidey-hole, but could be confusing when packed next to something else. Assuming there's any credibility to the above Travel&Leisure article, which comments on crowded bags.

I imagine this is a problem made worse by the increased amount of crap coming through security because of airline checked baggage fees.
posted by phearlez at 2:36 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


Apparently the TSA imaging technology can't easily visualize the contents of hollowed-out books.

Is it "hollowed out" that's the issue, or just the density of the pages. I got stopped both flights last July cuz I had a box set of Cards Against Humanity in my carry on. I guess something about the large solid box was too much for the x-ray? Got called to bring my bag over so they could look inside. At O'Hare when the agent saw the game she seemed to have seen it before in the same situation.
posted by dnash at 2:40 PM on March 1, 2017


From the first few minutes of the speech:

"Tonight, as we mark the conclusion of our celebration of Black History Month, we are reminded of our Nation's path toward civil rights and the work that still remains. Recent threats targeting Jewish Community Centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, as well as last week's shooting in Kansas City, remind us that while we may be a Nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms."

Jesus Christ, this is terrifying. All he had to do is say he disavows WHAT THE NAZIS ARE DOING. But he couldn't even do that. Every word in this passage has been tuned to explicitly not offend white supremacists. Imagine how a Nazi reads it. Imagine how the head of the KKK reads it. Boil it down to subjects and predicates.

Tonight, at the end of Black History Month, we're reminded of 'civil rights,' and the work that still remains. Recent attacks remind us* that we condemn hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms.

*the ATTACKS remind us???

A little while later, regarding ISIS, he said we would work "with our allies in the Muslim world" -- he expressly did NOT say those allies would themselves be Muslim -- "to extinguish this vile enemy from our planet." Again, he was talking about ISIS, but the bits I've quoted here are the only parts that will show up in the highlight reels that get traded around on whatever Pepe-branded YouTube knockoff the Neo-Nazis are using. When Trump says "vile enemy," who do they picture?

"Extinguish from our planet." For fuck's sake. I turned the TV off after that.
posted by EmGeeJay at 2:41 PM on March 1, 2017 [12 favorites]


They are swabbing the books so it sounds like they are looking for chemical substances like drugs or bomb materials.


VOICE is really the razor blade in the shit sandwich here. Just the potential for abuse is staggering. And we've seen this is an administration that will not let facts get in the way of the narrative they want to push.
posted by Kitty Stardust at 4:47 PM on March 1 [−] Favorite added!

Especially the "Immigration Crimes" label which leaves it wide open to all kinds of Immigrants-- including Green Card holders-- and all kinds of crimes-- like running a red light or not wearing a seat belt.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 2:43 PM on March 1, 2017 [8 favorites]


And the reports to be released with identifying info about who any non-cooperative local or state LEOs released, and why they refused to comply with ICE/CBP/DHS requests. (See the enforcement EO.)
posted by snuffleupagus at 2:46 PM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


Say the words: Goddamn Nazis Everywhere
posted by Artw at 2:54 PM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


A knock-on effect of fascists being in charge is that things that would make you shrug (swabbing books by the TSA, unexpected census questionnaire) now make you tense up.
posted by emjaybee at 2:55 PM on March 1, 2017 [25 favorites]


If the US starts dumping EU citizen data onto the internet what exactly would prevent various EU countries from doing the same to US citizens?

Which Americans in any position of power would give a shit?
posted by Meatbomb at 2:59 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]




Whaaaaaat
posted by agregoli at 3:02 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


Goddamn Nazis Everywhere

Interesting bit from wikipedias entry on religious views of Hitler:

In Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, Alan Bullock, wrote that Hitler was a rationalist and a materialist, not only in his "dismissal of religion" but also in his "insensitivity to humanity", with no feeling for the spiritual or emotional side of human existence. He suggested that Hitler's belief in himself echoed Hegel's views that heroes were above conventional morality and the role of "world-historical individuals" as the agents by which the "Will of the World Spirit", the plan of Providence is carried out.

Hitler, wrote Bullock, came to see himself as "a man with a mission, marked out by Providence, and therefore exempt from the ordinary canons of human conduct". Bullock concluded: "It is in this sense of mission that Hitler, a man who believed neither in God nor in conscience ('a Jewish invention, a blemish like circumcision') found both justification and absolution". Following his early military successes, Hitler "abandoned himself entirely to megalomania" and the "sin of hybris", an exaggerated self-pride, believing himself to be more than a man.
posted by valkane at 3:03 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


Where's VOICE for people saved by immigrants?
posted by xyzzy


You rang?

Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) - Launches Saved by American Immigrants National Taskforce

SAINT.
posted by futz at 3:03 PM on March 1, 2017 [96 favorites]


House Republicans Announce Only Republicans Are Allowed to See New Health-Care Plan:
Yesterday, House Speaker Paul Ryan boasted that his party would follow a deliberate, transparent process to repeal and replace Obamacare. “This is how the legislative process is supposed to be designed,” he told the Today show. “We’re not hatching some bill in a backroom and plopping it on the American people’s front door.” Today, House Republicans made it known that they will release their plan tomorrow and that it will only be made available to House Republicans. Representative Chris Collins tells the Washington Examiner the plan “would be made available Thursday morning to Republicans in a basement room of an office building that adjoins the Capitol.”

It is not clear what distinction Ryan draws between a “backroom” and a “basement room” only members of his party may access.
posted by zachlipton at 3:06 PM on March 1, 2017 [35 favorites]


Bloomberg: Republicans Hide New Obamacare Draft Under Shroud of Secrecy
The document is being treated a bit like a top-secret surveillance intercept. It is expected to be available to members and staffers on the House and Energy Commerce panel starting Thursday, but only in a dedicated reading room, one Republican lawmaker and a committee aide said. Nobody will be given copies to take with them.

The unusual secrecy is a reflection of the sensitivity -- and the stakes -- surrounding the GOP effort to rewrite the Affordable Care Act, a top priority of President Donald Trump, who has yet to offer his own plan. [...]

Collins said the panel may try to mark up the bill next week, but it hasn’t been processed yet by the Congressional Budget Office, which will provide a "score" on its cost, as well as an estimate of how many people the plan will insure. That score is critical to the debate, because the GOP plan is expected to provide coverage for significantly fewer people than Obamacare.

“It looks like, unfortunately, based on the delays, we may be marking it up and voting on it before we have a score,” Collins said.[...]

Moving ahead without a CBO score could be a problem for some members, particularly conservatives, who are worried that leaders might end up replacing Obamacare with something of a similar cost.
I cannot get over this insanity. Here they are trying to hide from their own members how much it will actually cost. They (Ryan?) want a replacement so bad they seem to be willing to go ahead with one that is more complicated, covers fewer people, yet costs the same.

I guess we just have to wait and see how bad it is.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 3:08 PM on March 1, 2017 [19 favorites]


Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) - Launches Saved by American Immigrants National Taskforce

SAINT.


The only better one would be SAMARITAN but given how little current Republicans seem to have read the Bible that would probably go over their heads.
posted by emjaybee at 3:12 PM on March 1, 2017 [14 favorites]


Republicans Hide New Obamacare Draft Under Shroud of Secrecy

Right... because hiding the legislation worked out so well for the TPP.

2018 is going to be a wave election.
posted by Coventry at 3:13 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


yikes. From zachlipton's link:

Alas, Collins also tells the Hill newspaper that the committee will vote on the bill before CBO releases its score, so exactly who will get hurt will not be known precisely. “It looks like unfortunately, based on the delays, we may be marking this up and voting on it before we have a score,” Collins said

Paul Ryan boasted that his party would follow a deliberate, transparent process to repeal and replace Obamacare. Great!

the plan “would be made available Thursday morning to Republicans in a basement room of an office building that adjoins the Capitol.” Oh really?

Jesus I hate these fuckers.
posted by futz at 3:15 PM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


2018 is going to be a wave election.

I hope that you're right.
posted by Talez at 3:15 PM on March 1, 2017 [11 favorites]


the plan “would be made available Thursday morning to Republicans in a basement room of an office building that adjoins the Capitol.”

...in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying "Beware of The Leopard".
posted by christopherious at 3:20 PM on March 1, 2017 [45 favorites]


The only better one would be SAMARITAN but given how little current Republicans seem to have read the Bible that would probably go over their heads.

As a Person of Interest fan this got a chuckle out of me.
posted by Pendragon at 3:23 PM on March 1, 2017 [10 favorites]


White House rebuffs ethics office recommendation to discipline Kellyanne Conway

They're claiming that Conway acted "inadvertently" when she launched into her sales pitch for Ivanka's clothing. I mean, who doesn't just inadvertently say "I'm gonna just going to give a free commercial here," thus demonstrating that she knew exactly what she was doing?
posted by zachlipton at 3:24 PM on March 1, 2017 [29 favorites]


WaPo: White House rebuffs ethics office recommendation to discipline Kellyanne Conway
The White House Counsel's Office has concluded that senior adviser Kellyanne Conway acted “inadvertently” when she endorsed Ivanka Trump's clothing line, rebuffing a recommendation by the top federal ethics official that she be disciplined for an apparent violation of federal rules.[...]

The ethics office does not have investigative powers or enforcement authority. OGE can recommend a penalty for employees who violate federal ethics rules, though its advice is nonbinding. The office can also inform the president if an agency fails discipline an employee, but Shaub noted last month that such a notification would be ineffective if the official declining to take action is the president.
So basically the OGE is toothless, which is bad news now that this shameless, unethical pirate crew are at the helm of the ship of state.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 3:24 PM on March 1, 2017 [13 favorites]


WI Sen Johnson just sent a cease and desist letter to constituents who want a town hall meeting

This letter is one of the most sniveling, cowardly bits of writing I've ever seen. The full text is as follows:
This Cease and Desist letter is to inform you that any further communication from you to U.S. Senator Ron Johnson's office can only be done in writing. This means you are not to call or visit any of Senator Johnson's staff or any of his offices at any time.

Our office has done all that we can to assist you with your concerns. This letter acts as a written notice of our expectation for you to discontinue your unwarranted telephone calls and office visits.

If you fail to comply with this notice, then we will have no other alternative but contact the United States Capitol Police and report your non-compliance.

Sincerely,
Staff
Ron Johnson's staff
U.S. Senate
I hope this asinine letter gets the ever flaccid Johnson a whooole bunch of blowback. His constituents have a right to address the letter verbally or to his face.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 3:24 PM on March 1, 2017 [67 favorites]


One of my co-workers today, starting talking some kind of shit about commiefornia (California?) and all the lib-tards and epithets for gays and immigrants etc.

I said, "Listen you fuck. You're on your third Filipina mail-order bride and you have kids with ALL of them. You're the last motherfucker that gets to talk shit about immigrants."

There were quite a few people around and most of them are not WHITE. Haha. Now he won't talk about anything but football and the weather. Fuckhead...I'm not going to stop riding his ass either.

We're going to be hearing a lot of shit like this. So if it's not too risky for you, don't take this shit from anybody.
posted by snsranch at 3:26 PM on March 1, 2017 [84 favorites]


REPORT: White House Lied to Journalists About Trump Speech in ‘Misdirection Play’

Color me unsurprised. CNN's got a source that outright admits that Trump's promise of legal status for illegal immigrants was just a "misdirection play." They got played, badly, and have learned nothing.
posted by zachlipton at 3:26 PM on March 1, 2017 [43 favorites]


During his speech, Trump listed various ways that Obamacare can be "improved", but none of them offer any protection to the millions of Americans living below poverty. No plan for how these Americans will afford healthcare when they can barely afford rent and food.
posted by Beholder at 3:27 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


This Cease and Desist letter is to inform you that any further communication from you to U.S. Senator Ron Johnson's office can only be done in writing. This means you are not to call or visit any of Senator Johnson's staff or any of his offices at any time.

The organizer should try to go get a declaratory judgment on the matter. Even if they lose, it's great publicity and an albatross for RoJo here.
posted by snuffleupagus at 3:27 PM on March 1, 2017 [29 favorites]


I can imagine from time to time that Congress people must resort to cease and desist letters when they are dealing with insane people who become fixated but to send them out to his constituents who are trying to get their representative to hear their concerns is a real slap in the face. I would be stunned to be so rebuffed. I wonder if other Congress members are thinking of doing this.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 3:32 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


Ron Johnson deserves a scathing poem, ala Ogden Nash, for this fucknuckery.
posted by emjaybee at 3:34 PM on March 1, 2017


So basically the OGE is toothless, which is bad news now that this shameless, unethical pirate crew are at the helm of the ship of state.

Ethics laws with teeth need to be a big part of the 2018 Dem platform, everybody can get behind laws making it harder for politicians to screw them.
posted by jason_steakums at 3:35 PM on March 1, 2017 [9 favorites]


The weirdest part of the Ron Johnson letter is that it's literally just signed "staff." Like somebody took a pen and signed the word "staff" in the place where you would write your name.
posted by zachlipton at 3:37 PM on March 1, 2017 [8 favorites]


I wonder if other Congress members are thinking of doing this.

Rubio's apparently being asked to relocate, so I think if pressed a court might very well approve the use of the C&D. But it would be good to make them force the issue.
posted by snuffleupagus at 3:37 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


This letter is one of the most sniveling, cowardly bits of writing I've ever seen. The full text is as follows:

Dear Ron Johnson,

Attached is a letter that we received on March 1, 2017. I feel that you should be aware that some asshole is signing your name to stupid letters.

Regards,
Your Constituents
posted by Talez at 3:38 PM on March 1, 2017 [68 favorites]


The weirdest part of the Ron Johnson letter is that it's literally just signed "staff." Like somebody took a pen and signed the word "staff" in the place where you would write your name.

This is some weaksauce plausible deniability. Who after all tells the staff what to do?
posted by puddledork at 3:40 PM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


The weirdest part of the Ron Johnson letter is that it's literally just signed "staff."

His name is Johnson. Is it a nickname?
posted by peeedro at 3:40 PM on March 1, 2017 [14 favorites]


With the tsunami of leaks recently couldn't we just start saying things about the Obamacare replacement? Would anyone know the difference between our fake leaks and the real ones? Things like "death panels" might play well.
posted by Glibpaxman at 3:44 PM on March 1, 2017


Ron Johnson deserves a scathing poem, ala Ogden Nash, for this fucknuckery.

Would you settle for...

mai name is ron
an wen u cal
to axe if i
wil hold town hal

then beads of swet
roll down my head
cease and desist -
i shit the bed
posted by Joey Michaels at 3:45 PM on March 1, 2017 [69 favorites]


The Staff also seem to think the US Capitol police have some nationwide jurisdiction over all of RoJo's satellite offices, which would be news to me if true.
posted by snuffleupagus at 3:45 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


via NBC: 10 senior officials tell NBC News that no actionable or vital intelligence has so far been gleaned from the Yemen raid
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 3:53 PM on March 1, 2017 [20 favorites]


> How different is the Republicans' apparent strategy to push the ACA repeal bill through than the Dems' strategy was when it pushed the ACA through?

The PPACA was signed into law in March of 2010, after a full year of "negotiation" with the GOP. The idea that it was somehow railroaded through is absurd -- yes, when the Democrats got their 60 seat majority they did push hard, but the bill had already been debated ad nauseum.
posted by tonycpsu at 3:55 PM on March 1, 2017 [23 favorites]


Serious question: How different is the Republicans' apparent strategy to push the ACA repeal bill through than the Dems' strategy was when it pushed the ACA through? Lack of transparency, a lightning-fast push to the floor vote without sufficient review time and scrutiny, etc. It stinks, to be sure. But a ton of the real problems with the ACA (not the ones Republicans complain about publicly, but the real ones that both Dems and Republicans recognize are there) are the result of that expedited process.

Are you fucking kidding? The ACA was debated about, in public, at length, with EXPLICT outreach and BEGGING for Republican input.
posted by T.D. Strange at 3:55 PM on March 1, 2017 [36 favorites]


Srsly, I bet that C&D letter from Johnson's staff has about has much legal weight as the kleenex I'm about to use to blow my nose
posted by Existential Dread at 3:57 PM on March 1, 2017 [8 favorites]


Greta Van Susteren is comparing Trump's disgusting use of Owens' widow to Reagan commemorating D-Day. Kill me. What the hell happened to the press?
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 3:58 PM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


> I'm not talking about the process before the bill that passed was pushed through.

Then you're not talking about the process that led to the bill, you're talking about a narrow window of that process that advances a bogus false equivalency.
posted by tonycpsu at 4:02 PM on March 1, 2017 [11 favorites]


Reuters: Exclusive: Trump administration has found only $20 million in existing funds for wall - document
The rapid start of construction, promised throughout Trump's campaign and in an executive order issued in January on border security, was to be financed, according to the White House, with "existing funds and resources" of the Department of Homeland Security.

But so far, the DHS has identified only $20 million that can be re-directed to the multi-billion-dollar project, according to a document prepared by the agency and distributed to congressional budget staff last week.

The document said the funds would be enough to cover a handful of contracts for wall prototypes, but not enough to begin construction of an actual barrier. This means that for the wall to move forward, the White House will need to convince Congress to appropriate funds.
The whole time Trump was speaking last night, I watched Paul Ryan who was smiling and clapping and I wondered what he was thinking. Was he just laughing to himself at how naive Trump is to think any of those unicorns are getting funded or was he truly enjoying the moment of a Republican President in control of himself and of Congress?
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 4:02 PM on March 1, 2017 [9 favorites]


How different is the Republicans' apparent strategy to push the ACA repeal bill through than the Dems' strategy was when it pushed the ACA through?


Helpful ACA passage timeline.

tl;dr: Obama convenes a "health summit" in March 2009, signs the law in March 2010. In the middle is an annum's worth of bullshit, jibber-jabber, and compromise.
posted by notyou at 4:05 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


Remember the bipartisan Gang of Six put together with the sole goal of getting even one Republican to vote for the ACA? And then none of them did anyway after stringing Obama along for nearly a year? That was ramming it down their throats, in their words.

Republicans negotiated the entire ACA process in total bad faith, while Democrats were on their knees pleading for them to come to the table. Where's the same outreach from the Republican majority this time? This is what "ramming" actually looks like, it's governing as an occupying force extracting reparations.

Bad faith is all they know now.
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:08 PM on March 1, 2017 [54 favorites]


What the hell happened to the press?

To extend the discussion regarding that man being an abuser--a large portion of the press have been acting as an enabler of that abuse. They're like people who hear about or see abuse and rationalize it with comments like, "Oh he's so nice--I can't believe he would do that!" or the ones who say, "Well, it takes two to tango..." They're acting like the bruises all over someone's face and arms aren't there--all the while, the victim of the abuse is begging for acknowledgment and help. Then they invite the abusers friends and subordinates (CNN are particularly bad about this) into the places where the victim is.

This metaphor is not perfect because people in the press are being targeted by the regime too, but dang, there're a bunch of folks who could be doing a waaaaay better job of pushing back.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 4:10 PM on March 1, 2017 [21 favorites]


The convo has moved on a bit, but for Air America fans, don't know if y'all know The Majority Report is back on, with Sam Seder. I found out this time last year when I got sick and watched enough youtube that it showed up on my rec list. Apparently he wasn't not broadcasting for too many years. He's got good guests (tho some conservative health care wonk pulled out of today's episode) and a good crew. While they mostly supported Bernie, they were never BernieBros and called them out. Their Gorka bits can run a bit long, and the humor may not be up everyone's alley, but I like it. They have a paid subscription, but the episodes are also streamed live on youtube daily at noon, and then uploaded shortly after. They run 2, 2.5, sometimes 3 hours. If you listen via podcast, it seems they break out the majority, if not all, of the segments with video into individual clips on youtube.

And thanks, metafilter, for reminding folks to support good journalism! Two weeks ago I got the Amazon Prime WaPo deal (will renew for sure). Last week I got The New Yorker and Atlanta Journal-Constitution (my local paper is crap, the one covering the capitol is streets ahead - and the commenters don't seem that coocoo, either). It feels a little too Eastern Standard Tribe-ish, but that's where I am, that's where the state capitol is, where the nation's capitol is, the financial, and the media capitols, too. So that's what I got, for now.
posted by mllm at 4:14 PM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


A Doctor Created a New Term to Describe the Pain Syrian Children Are Experiencing

It feels insufficient to say that children from Syria are suffering from “PTSD.” The oft-orphaned survivors of a horrible ongoing humanitarian crisis are, likely, experiencing post-traumatic stress, but these children of war have experienced more trauma — physical and emotional — than the medical professionals who care for them have ever seen...

...“Human devastation syndrome” is Dr. M.K. Hamza's term for the orphaned end-result.

posted by triggerfinger at 4:17 PM on March 1, 2017 [44 favorites]




Actually, that article is blog spam derived from this more serious report.
posted by Coventry at 4:22 PM on March 1, 2017 [20 favorites]


(Scott Brown winning the MA senate seat almost scuppered the whole thing. That moved the Democrats from 60 to 59, which meant any reconciliation bill negotiated to smooth over the differences between the Senate and the House versions of the law (both were passed by December 2009) wouldn't make it through the Senate. The solution was to send the already approved Senate bill to the House and have them approve that. That happened fast once the bill was moved to the floor for a vote, but it had been three months of scrutiny and lots of angry townhalls between the December votes and the ultimate vote in March 2010.)
posted by notyou at 4:23 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


>The weirdest part of the Ron Johnson letter is that it's literally just signed "staff." Like somebody took a pen and signed the word "staff" in the place where you would write your name.

This is the Cowardly Congress for sure. The Spineless Senate, if you must, but more so than usual.
posted by Catblack at 4:24 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


NYT: Donald Trump’s Obsession With Applause: In fact, the comment offered a useful peek into the president’s psyche: When he imagines a deceased veteran gazing down from heaven at his widow, the president and the assembled Congress, he sees that veteran measuring the length of his own ovation, and patting himself on the back for breaking a record. In other words, when asked to take the perspective of someone who has “laid down his life for his friends, for his country, and for our freedom,” Mr. Trump assumes that what would gratify such a person is the same thing that gratifies him: adulation.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 4:25 PM on March 1, 2017 [31 favorites]


Remember the bipartisan Gang of Six put together with the sole goal of getting even one Republican to vote for the ACA? And then none of them did anyway after stringing Obama along for nearly a year?

Also, as part of the extended negotiations for Obamacare, Republican Olympia Snowe did vote for the Baucus Bill though it faltered later in the process. So Democrats literally did get a single Republican vote for all their trouble.
posted by msalt at 4:28 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


Pentagon officials: Trump lied in his address about the effectiveness of the Yemen raid.
The Pentagon says Navy SEALs scooped up laptops, hard drives and cell phones in last month's Yemen raid, but multiple U.S. officials told NBC News that none of the intelligence gleaned from the operation so far has proven actionable or vital — contrary to what President Trump said in his speech to Congress Tuesday.

In a dramatic moment before a joint session of Congress, Trump introduced Carryn Owens, the widow of Senior Chief William "Ryan" Owens, the SEAL who lost his life in the Jan. 29 operation. Tears streamed down the widow's face as the president praised her husband.

"I just spoke to General (James) Mattis," Trump said, referring to his defense secretary, "who reconfirmed that, and I quote, 'Ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies.'"
TPM: Trump's Shame
Neither Owens' heroism nor the sacrifice of his death are diminished by the success of the raid in which he died. But as I wrote earlier today, this spectacle from President Trump last night was transparently constructed in order to repurpose Owens' widow's palpable grief into a heat shield to ward any effort to question the wisdom of the raid or Investigate what happened and why.

Mattis will have to answer for himself if his public statement matches the real after action assessment. But it is noteworthy that Trump laundered his apparent deception through Mattis.

...This 'presidential' moment was the most shameless kind of exploitation and it would seem a straight up lie.
posted by darkstar at 4:28 PM on March 1, 2017 [42 favorites]




NBC Officials: Still No Actionable Intel from Yemen SEAL Raid
multiple U.S. officials told NBC News that none of the intelligence gleaned from the operation so far has proven actionable or vital — contrary to what President Trump said in his speech to Congress Tuesday. [...]

"I just spoke to General (James) Mattis," Trump said, referring to his defense secretary, "who reconfirmed that, and I quote, 'Ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies.'"
MORE: So far, no valuable intelligence has been produced from Yemen raid, 10 senior officials tell @NBCNightlyNews.

Chris Hayes asked: Honest q: how unusual is it to order a ground raid like the one in Yemen for the sole purpose of intelligence acquisition? and he retweeted this answer (I don't know if this guy is an authority)

the op itself, for any reason, was unusual. Only confirmed ground raids in Yemen in 15 years before had been hostage rescue.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 4:39 PM on March 1, 2017 [18 favorites]


Actually, that article is blog spam derived from this more serious report.

That article has a ton of holes in it. They were found guilty of "violating the spirit and intent" of the flag reg, and received administrative punishment? That sounds like "Article 15" to me, but doesn't say whether it's a summarized (verbal spanking plus maybe painting walls or whatever) or company-grade, which has real punishments.
posted by corb at 4:46 PM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


Also, speaking of military perspective, here's Brandon Friedman on the differences between military and civilian reactions to that speech. (Spoiler alert: soldiers unsympathetic to waving their wives around)
posted by corb at 4:50 PM on March 1, 2017 [55 favorites]


Greta Van Susteren is comparing Trump's disgusting use of Owens' widow to Reagan commemorating D-Day. Kill me. What the hell happened to the press?

Greta's dad was besties with Senator McCarthy, so she's been damaged goods from the start.
McCarthy's friend and campaign manager, attorney and judge Urban P. Van Susteren, ...
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 4:51 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


Ron Johnson's Staff: If you fail to comply with this notice, then we will have no other alternative but to contact the lead singer of Echo and the Bunnymen.

DEAR MISTER ECHO
posted by delfin at 5:02 PM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]




What a waste of a great name, "Ron Johnson from Wisconsin" sounds fun and deserves to be attached to a better person. You ruin silly lighthearted rhymes, Ron! Those belong to silly lighthearted Rons!
posted by jason_steakums at 5:12 PM on March 1, 2017 [12 favorites]


Oh my fucking...PBS NewsHour just brought on Gorka the Goon to offer his opinions on the Yemen raid.

We started the day hearing from that tool expound on NPR, and wrapped up the day with a reprise performance on PBS??

What the hell is happening???
posted by darkstar at 5:26 PM on March 1, 2017 [8 favorites]


The thing with the Ron Jonson letter is that I can fully understand somebody exceeding the bounds of political engagement to such an extent that their behavior really does constitute pretty serious harassment. I'm not saying that's happened here, but it does inevitably happen. But in such a case, especially given the implications of sending a cease and desist letter to constituents, surely you could write a better letter? One that lays out some specific examples of wrongdoing or is basically anything other than that ridiculous letter.
posted by zachlipton at 5:31 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


A lamprey-mouthed loser named Don
Succeeded in his greatest con
But found out too late
He wasn't that great
And the hustle just went on and on.
posted by uosuaq at 5:32 PM on March 1, 2017 [9 favorites]


Remember that age-old question, is it in the museum because it's art, or is it art because it's in the museum? I feel like where we are with news as a culture is, for a long time, experts with something enlightening to offer were invited to speak on TV, and now... we're staring at a urinal.
posted by prefpara at 5:33 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


[placeholder for a urinalism joke]
posted by orange ball at 5:41 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


NYT: Obama Administration Rushed to Preserve Intelligence of Russian Election Hacking
In the Obama administration’s last days, some White House officials scrambled to spread information about Russian efforts to undermine the presidential election — and about possible contacts between associates of President-elect Donald J. Trump and Russians — across the government. Former American officials say they had two aims: to ensure that such meddling isn’t duplicated in future American or European elections, and to leave a clear trail of intelligence for government investigators.

American allies, including the British and the Dutch, had provided information describing meetings in European cities between Russian officials — and others close to Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin — and associates of President-elect Trump, according to three former American officials who requested anonymity in discussing classified intelligence. Separately, American intelligence agencies had intercepted communications of Russian officials, some of them within the Kremlin, discussing contacts with Mr. Trump’s associates.
posted by zachlipton at 5:42 PM on March 1, 2017 [35 favorites]


So this NYT article is interesting for explaining the lengths the Obama administration went to in its closing days to preserve and disseminate intelligence it had gained regarding meetings between Trump associates and various Russian officials during and after the campaign. They didn't trust that the incoming administration would not either destroy the data or cover it up, so they spread it as far as they were legally able to do so, within the US government and with foreign allies. Hopefully it will do some good.
posted by Silverstone at 5:45 PM on March 1, 2017 [23 favorites]


Sorry, zachlipton--I typed too slowly :(
posted by Silverstone at 5:46 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


It is now time that we ask the question: what do the Dutch know and when did they know it?
posted by zachlipton at 5:48 PM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


REPORT: White House Lied to Journalists About Trump Speech in ‘Misdirection Play’.

“Basically they fed [them] things that they thought these anchors would like, that they thought would give them positive press coverage for the next few hours. A senior administration official admitted that it was a misdirection play,” [CNN's Sara Murray] reported.
posted by scalefree at 5:51 PM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


On a different note, Jon Stewart noted that Trump says "Believe Me" a lot when he lies, and I wonder if he said that last night.
posted by ZeusHumms at 5:52 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]




So the people accusing journalists of manufacturing and reporting fake news manufactured fake news for the journalists to report accurately, except that it was fake.

This is how Herbert Lom developed Chief Inspector Dreyfus' eye tic.
posted by delfin at 5:56 PM on March 1, 2017 [22 favorites]


On a different note, Jon Stewart noted that Trump says "Believe Me" a lot when he lies, and I wonder if he said that last night.

No, Trump stayed on the written speech on the teleprompter almost entirely last night. He only added a few of his own flourishes (very, very).

And Tim Kaine wants his joke back, believe me.
posted by peeedro at 5:56 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


according to three former American officials who requested anonymity in discussing classified intelligence.

obama's shadow government strikes again
posted by murphy slaw at 6:03 PM on March 1, 2017


MSNBC seems to have replaced tonight's episode of The Rachel Maddow Show with something entitled The Trump/Putin Power Play hosted by Brian Williams.
posted by XMLicious at 6:07 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


WaPo Breaking: Sessions spoke twice with Russian ambassador during Trump’s presidential campaign, Justice officials says

Then-Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) spoke twice last year with Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Justice Department officials said, encounters he did not disclose when asked about possible contacts between members of President Trump’s campaign and representatives of Moscow during Sessions’s confirmation hearing to become attorney general.
posted by Room 641-A at 6:08 PM on March 1, 2017 [90 favorites]


Sessions is fast becoming one of the worst villains in this parade of horribles.
posted by Rust Moranis at 6:11 PM on March 1, 2017 [24 favorites]


drip drip drip.

begone in shame and humiliation you old racist fuck.
posted by futz at 6:12 PM on March 1, 2017 [40 favorites]


WaPo Breaking: Sessions spoke twice with Russian ambassador during Trump’s presidential campaign, Justice officials says

We tasted the first blood of Flynn, and it was nourishing, but the precious bodily fluids (note to FBI, I mean resignation) of racist Gollum shall sustain me through many press cycles to come.
posted by saysthis at 6:14 PM on March 1, 2017 [43 favorites]


or a prison.
posted by futz at 6:14 PM on March 1, 2017 [9 favorites]


If Sessions doesn't recuse himself at this point... I don't know what. The Democrats will no doubt wring their hands and whine.
posted by Justinian at 6:28 PM on March 1, 2017 [13 favorites]


The Supreme Court just delivered a major victory for gerrymandering opponents

Spoiler alert: In a concurring opinion, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas also wrote that all of the districts were unconstitutional due to racial gerrymandering. (!!!)
posted by un petit cadeau at 6:31 PM on March 1, 2017 [93 favorites]


I guess the Sessions is why Trump got all pissy about Russia and fake news the other day?
posted by Artw at 6:34 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


Pun not intended.
posted by Artw at 6:35 PM on March 1, 2017 [8 favorites]


It's being pointed out here that Sessions met with the ambassador literally the day after Trump praised Putin at the Matt Lauer forum, yet his office claims the election never came up at all.
posted by zachlipton at 6:36 PM on March 1, 2017 [20 favorites]


Days without stepping on dick: 0
posted by chris24 at 6:37 PM on March 1, 2017 [19 favorites]


Everything they say is a lie.
posted by erisfree at 6:38 PM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


Remember when the warship was spying on Delaware? That was such a simpler time.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:39 PM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


The Supreme Court just delivered a major victory for gerrymandering opponents

Last night I was near despondent after the speech and even worse today as the media fell over itself to praise Trump. But now tonight - SCOTUS rules in our favor on gerrymadering? Sessions talked to Russian ambassador during the election? My heart can't take much more of this rollercoaster.
posted by triggerfinger at 6:40 PM on March 1, 2017 [23 favorites]


The ridiculous gushing over Trump's speech
It was good to hear Trump start his remarks with a condemnation of the rash of bomb threats against Jewish community centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, as well as the shooting in Kansas City. It is, indeed, presidential to say, as Trump did, "We are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all its forms."

It is so presidential, it is so basic, that it should be unremarkable that he said it. But it is remarkable, because Trump has equivocated on the issue repeatedly. In fact, only hours before the speech, at a White House meeting with state attorneys general, Trump reportedly -- bafflingly -- appeared to suggest that the attacks might have been carried out "to make others look bad," according to one of the AGs in attendance, and that in terms of the threats, "the reverse can be true."

Indeed, if Trump genuinely condemns hatred, his plan to create an agency dedicated to highlighting crimes committed by undocumented immigrants is the most vile prescription imaginable for stoking prejudice and hatred. The "Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement Office," with the snappy acronym VOICE, is populist crowd-riling at its worst. It will likely lead to more hate crimes and vigilantism.

No wonder there was an audible gasp in the audience when he announced it. Research shows that in fact undocumented immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than the rest of the population.

What was utterly un-presidential in the speech is something that should never become acceptable, even though it is now routine in the Trump era: misstatements, manipulations of the truth, and downright falsehoods uttered by the President of the United States. For this he receives praise?
posted by homunculus at 6:42 PM on March 1, 2017 [31 favorites]


I guess the Sessions is why Trump got all pissy about Russia and fake news the other day?

Right, makes sense. We know Sessions testified to SSCI, we know they looked shocked on the way out. Must be when they confronted him with technical evidence of his calls & presumably he admitted or dodged it. Trump started his last round of "fake news!" shortly after.
posted by scalefree at 6:42 PM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


Well, let's not get too excited about the SC ruling. Voting rights expert Rick Hasen's take is: it's good as far as it goes, but that's not as far as it sounds.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:43 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


I would like Mr. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III to be exiled to the Mongolian Steppe on the Siberian side wherein he is the only white person for miles around and in Russian hands.
posted by Sophie1 at 6:46 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


@TeddyDavisCNN
Wash Post: Atty Gen Jeff Sessions spoke twice with Russian amb during Trump’s campaign, Justice officials say


NEWS IN #CNNtownhall -- >>

Sen. Lindsey Graham says: "Jeff Sessions - who is my dear friend - cannot make this decision about Trump."

posted by chris24 at 6:47 PM on March 1, 2017 [27 favorites]


Pildes disagrees with Hasen and sees this SCOTUS ruling as a very positive indication.
posted by prefpara at 6:47 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


This is true. Hasen seems like a very sharp guy, who is very concerned about voting rights, so I tend to take him on faith, not being a lawyer. That said, he could certainly be wrong here.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:51 PM on March 1, 2017


Must be weird to find out your "dear friend" is probably a traitor
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 6:52 PM on March 1, 2017 [8 favorites]


my endocrine system cannae take much more of this, cap'n
posted by murphy slaw at 6:53 PM on March 1, 2017 [13 favorites]


@CNNPolitics
Graham: If Jeff Sessions spoke with Russian diplomat, “then for sure you need a special prosecutor” #CNNTownHall [video]
posted by chris24 at 6:54 PM on March 1, 2017 [43 favorites]


That Times story just posted above certainly makes it seem like the intelligence community is getting restless about the Republicans' foot-dragging over the investigation. They're basically saying, "here's all the stuff we have, you just need to ask for it!"
posted by Dr. Send at 6:55 PM on March 1, 2017 [9 favorites]


Graham: "treason is mucho sad"
posted by Rust Moranis at 6:56 PM on March 1, 2017 [9 favorites]


That Times story just posted above certainly makes it seem like the intelligence community is getting restless about the Republicans' foot-dragging over the investigation. They're basically saying, "here's all the stuff we have, you just need to ask for it!"


not restless per se, but AWS attacks come at an oppurtune time, when most of IC technical infrastructure is hosted on AWS.
posted by xcasex at 6:57 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


Seems like somebody knew exactly what they were doing dropping this story late in the day in the middle of both CNN's Graham/McCain town hall (which otherwise has no real reason to even exist) and MSNBC's Putin-a-thon special.
posted by zachlipton at 6:58 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


Graham: "treason is mucho sad"

first thing to make me lol all day
posted by triggerfinger at 6:58 PM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


first thing to make me lol all day

One must take one's lols wherever they might be found these days my dude
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:00 PM on March 1, 2017 [10 favorites]


I so want Graham to be a good guy. He seems like he should be a good guy. But he believes such terrible things. Mucho sad.
posted by Justinian at 7:02 PM on March 1, 2017 [18 favorites]


encounters he did not disclose when asked about possible contacts between members of President Trump’s campaign and representatives of Moscow during Sessions’s confirmation hearing to become attorney general

Whoa, Attorney General nominee lying under oath to Congress? I'm pretty sure the bar association doesn't like that sort of thing. Yet another fine upstanding ethical member of the Trump administration, folks. Not that anything will come of it, but the Democrats should do their level best to make Sessions' name a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:02 PM on March 1, 2017 [44 favorites]


LIAR

At his Jan. 10 Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Sessions was asked by Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, what he would do if he learned of any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of the 2016 campaign.

“I’m not aware of any of those activities,” he responded. He added: “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.”

posted by futz at 7:03 PM on March 1, 2017 [45 favorites]


I am honestly okay with, "guy who believes wrong stuff, but is honorable." That's not my ideal, but that's the whole honorable opponent/Loyal Opposition thing that we need to have a functioning government.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:04 PM on March 1, 2017 [18 favorites]


"I did not have communications with the Russians."

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman... Miss Lewinsky."
posted by chris24 at 7:05 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


"Lying under oath is just how politics is done! Both sides do it! Who here isn't in regular contact with Russian intelligence? A certain degree of treason is normal! Etc... etc..."
posted by Artw at 7:05 PM on March 1, 2017 [13 favorites]


Seems like somebody knew exactly what they were doing dropping this story late in the day in the middle of both CNN's Graham/McCain town hall (which otherwise has no real reason to even exist) and MSNBC's Putin-a-thon special.

"I gotcher pivot right here, motherfucker."
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:05 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


Jeff Sessions is a garbage human being and I want nothing more than for this scandal to end his career for good, but honestly this Russian thing is way down the list of horrible things he has done and has promised to do.
posted by AceRock at 7:05 PM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


Same could be said for Al Capone cheating on his taxes.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:06 PM on March 1, 2017 [76 favorites]


An interesting, introspective twitter thread by a conservative on Trump's "pivot"

I'm less worried about letting Trump off the hook than I am at letting myself off the hook even though I opposed him. He's a cultural mirror
posted by chaoticgood at 7:07 PM on March 1, 2017 [12 favorites]


Al Capone, tax evasion.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:07 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


*buying Room 641-A a Coke*
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:07 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


WaPo changed their headline to:

"Sessions met with Russian envoy twice last year, encounters he later did not disclose"

Same url.
posted by futz at 7:11 PM on March 1, 2017 [16 favorites]


Oh, and here's a WaPo summary on the special elections so far. Upshot basically is: Dem results are definite improvements on the last general for the seats, but they haven't been able to move the needle enough on turnout to get flips yet. You could look at this as boding well or ill for 2018, I guess.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:12 PM on March 1, 2017


Jeff Sessions is a garbage human being and I want nothing more than for this scandal to end his career for good, but honestly this Russian thing is way down the list of horrible things he has done and has promised to do.

I have to agree. He claims to have been acting as a member of the Armed Services Committee which would be perfectly legit. I don't see any value in crying wolf every time a Russian walks in the door.

I do believe it should be checked out, but at this point it's pretty small beer.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 7:12 PM on March 1, 2017


Since Sessions is already a racist baby I just want his Benjamin-Buttoning to fast-forward a little until he's a racist zygote. Is that too much to ask.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:13 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


What I (and Yglesias) don't understand is why are these people lying about their contacts with the one guy who is most obviously under regular US Government surveillance? I mean, we know how Russia treats US diplomats (killing a defense attaché's dog among other incidents). So on the other side, surely the US Government is at least generally aware of what the Russian Ambassador is up to. And the people who are paid to be aware of such things are the same people who keep leaking bits about Trump's Russia connections to the press. Did Sessions and Flynn really think nobody would notice? Are they that incredibly stupid?
posted by zachlipton at 7:15 PM on March 1, 2017 [12 favorites]


An interesting, introspective twitter thread by a conservative on Trump's "pivot"

The responses are also very interesting:

(((Alex Nowrasteh)))‏ @AlexNowrasteh

@SethAMandel I've voted mostly GOP forever & agree more w/ conservatives on many issues. I defended them for years on race. I was wrong
posted by Room 641-A at 7:16 PM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


I kind of have to wonder if the timing on these breaking news stories on Russia tonight have anything at all to do with the media being super pissed that Trump fed them a huge (intentional) lie about his stance on immigration yesterday and they decided to overwhelm all the "presidential" coverage he's getting by hitting the Russian thing, hard.
posted by triggerfinger at 7:18 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


I have to agree. He claims to have been acting as a member of the Armed Services Committee which would be perfectly legit. I don't see any value in crying wolf every time a Russian walks in the door.

The problem is the lie during his confirmation hearing, just as the last problem was Flynn's repeated lies about his contacts. Had he just said "I met with the Russian Ambassador the same way I met with a couple dozen other ambassadors last year," this wouldn't be a thing.
posted by zachlipton at 7:18 PM on March 1, 2017 [58 favorites]


that "one people, one blood" tweet of trumps is a hh reference.
posted by xcasex at 7:19 PM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


If you lie about something that has a reasonable explanation, I assume the explanation isn't reasonable anymore.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:19 PM on March 1, 2017 [91 favorites]


He claims to have been acting as a member of the Armed Services Committee which would be perfectly legit. I don't see any value in crying wolf every time a Russian walks in the door.

FTA: The Washington Post contacted all 26 members of the 2016 Senate Armed Services Committee to see whether any lawmakers besides Sessions met with Kislyak in 2016. Of the 20 lawmakers who responded, every senator, including Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), said they did not meet with the Russian ambassador last year. The other lawmakers on the panel did not respond as of Wednesday evening.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:20 PM on March 1, 2017 [51 favorites]


now... we're staring at a urinal.

WHY IS EVERYTHING ABOUT PEE NOW
posted by emjaybee at 7:20 PM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


Alexandra Petri: If you thought Trump's speech was 'Presidential,' you probably loved Scar the Lion's. "A much-needed call for lion-hyena unity."
posted by terooot at 7:23 PM on March 1, 2017 [34 favorites]


Chekhov's pee tape hangs over all of this
posted by prize bull octorok at 7:23 PM on March 1, 2017 [10 favorites]


I will not be satisfied until they somehow connect Pence to the Russian collusion as well. We can't let him get off.
posted by triggerfinger at 7:28 PM on March 1, 2017 [21 favorites]


What I (and Yglesias) don't understand is why are these people lying about their contacts with the one guy who is most obviously under regular US Government surveillance?

I have commented on this before before. I think that they think that they are invisible. It is obvious to anyone with a brain that these things almost always exposed. They are surrounded by yes men and women, they are in charge of the House and Senate, and Trump has all his "special" people in place. He's picked the worst of the worst to surround him. I mean Sessions as AG?! Chaffetz? They are cocky and feeling invincible but even my dog could have told them that they were/are in major ruh-roh territory. TL;DR They are fucking idiots, dangerous idiots but still fucking idiots.
posted by futz at 7:28 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


Spoiler alert: In a concurring opinion, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas also wrote that all of the districts were unconstitutional due to racial gerrymandering. (!!!)

Part of me is curious to see what happens in a world where Thomas can't just sleep and then concur with Scalia.
posted by jaduncan at 7:30 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


WHY IS EVERYTHING ABOUT PEE NOW

Difficult to avoid when the man at the "top" is pissing on the citizenry and this is in addition to his constant shitting through his mouth.
posted by juiceCake at 7:30 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


Sessions is fast becoming one of the worst villains in this parade of horribles.

for clarity, be sure to use the full name: Jeff FUCKFACE Sessions. Thanks!
posted by j_curiouser at 7:33 PM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


Don't forget "...von Clownstick".
posted by uosuaq at 7:36 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


I kind of have to wonder if the timing on these breaking news stories on Russia tonight have anything at all to do with the media being super pissed that Trump fed them a huge (intentional) lie about his stance on immigration yesterday and they decided to overwhelm all the "presidential" coverage he's getting by hitting the Russian thing, hard.

I'm kind of loving that he gets a taste of his own abuser tactics. Endless negative coverage, one night of "oh baby it's ok you know we love you you're so presidential" then right back to Russia.
posted by jason_steakums at 7:36 PM on March 1, 2017 [13 favorites]


FTA: The Washington Post contacted all 26 members of the 2016 Senate Armed Services Committee to see whether any lawmakers besides Sessions met with Kislyak in 2016.

Ok, I stand corrected. Have at him.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 7:36 PM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


@johnjharwood - Trump admin official on Sessions/Russian envoy: "superficial comments about election-related news, not substance of their discussion"

why would you even admit that they talked about the election at all?
posted by murphy slaw at 7:37 PM on March 1, 2017 [35 favorites]


Another contradiction: Trump admin official on Sessions/Russian envoy: "superficial comments about election-related news, not substance of their discussion" (Flynn had similar excuses about how they were just wishing each other a Merry Christmas until someone pointed out that it was like five calls in one day).

But the Post story says that Sessions’ people are claiming that Sessions doesn't "remember in detail what he discussed with Kislyak." So why is the White House defending him when Sessions himself doesn't know what he even talked about? (because they do so pathologically...)
posted by zachlipton at 7:37 PM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


WSJ: (might be behind a paywall) Investigators Probed Jeff Sessions’ Contacts With Russian Officials

U.S. investigators have examined contacts Attorney General Jeff Sessions had with Russian officials during the time he was advising Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, according to people familiar with the matter.

The outcome of the investigation, and whether it is ongoing, wasn’t clear, these people said. The contacts were being examined as part of a wide-ranging U.S. counterintelligence investigation into possible communications between members of President Trump’s campaign team and Russian operatives, they said.

posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:37 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]




i know "the wheels of justice grind slow but they grind exceeding fine" but c'mon guys, pick up the pace, i will deal with a few chunks in my justice
posted by murphy slaw at 7:41 PM on March 1, 2017 [76 favorites]


seems like GCHQ could volunteer the recordings.
posted by j_curiouser at 7:41 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


Managing Editor of the Washington Examiner (a paper so right wing that Spicer just used it to plant a story attacking a reporter): "No. It's so ridiculous that anybody would be defending Sessions on this"

He's literally written a book called "Overcoming Obamacare: Three Approaches to Reversing the Government Takeover of Health Care," if you want to know how he sees the world.
posted by zachlipton at 7:41 PM on March 1, 2017 [14 favorites]


Evan Perez just said it on CNN, so I suppose I can here: Kislyak wasn't just ambassador, he was Russia's "top spy recruiter" in D.C.: SVR. -- @michaeldweiss

drip
drip


So this opens up the possibility that it's not nefarious Jeff Sessions meeting with a co-conspirator on their plot, but sad lapdog Sessions meeting with his handler.
posted by jason_steakums at 7:43 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


Wait a minute... Sessions met with the Russian Ambassador at the GOP Convention?!
posted by futz at 7:43 PM on March 1, 2017 [8 favorites]


and in his senate office!
posted by murphy slaw at 7:44 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


c'mon guys, pick up the pace, i will deal with a few chunks in my justice

yeah I'm fine with chunky justice, hell I'm fine with the kind of justice where the oil separates and you have to stir it in if it means a few perpwalks soon
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:45 PM on March 1, 2017 [13 favorites]


The fact that right wing nutters are falling over themselves to throw Sessions under the bus suggests that there are a LOT of nervous Trumpians right now.
posted by Yowser at 7:46 PM on March 1, 2017 [23 favorites]


MSNBC has a little video recap of Trump's shifting stance on his relationship with Putin. It's an old clip, but watch the look on Hillary's face in the debate clip at the end. She knows.
posted by zachlipton at 7:46 PM on March 1, 2017 [9 favorites]




How long has Russia been working on capturing our entire government? Even if it's been a long-term project, I'm quite impressed.
posted by uosuaq at 7:49 PM on March 1, 2017 [31 favorites]


The Sessions timeline on his changing stance on Russia is super telling too. As far as meeting the Russian Amb at the convention, I don't think that it was actually at the convention. I was responding to a CNN banner that differs from WaPo reporting. Not sure though.
posted by futz at 7:50 PM on March 1, 2017


Perjury could be grounds for disbarment, I believe. Happened to Pres. Clinton. Tough to be an AG when you can't practice law.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:54 PM on March 1, 2017 [49 favorites]


I wish journalists would raise the personal profiles of the investigators. It would make them that much harder to Saturday-Night-Massacre if the scandal really proves out.
posted by Coventry at 7:57 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


Surely this!
posted by drezdn at 7:59 PM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


Why do all these Russian officials keep sucking my cock?
posted by octobersurprise at 8:00 PM on March 1, 2017 [50 favorites]


MSNBC reporting that Pelosi is calling for Sessions to resign too
posted by XMLicious at 8:00 PM on March 1, 2017 [28 favorites]


i wonder if franken knew he was setting a trap when he asked sessions that question.
i'm reviewing the video now and the whole time franken is talking, sessions looks like he's shitting his pants.
posted by murphy slaw at 8:00 PM on March 1, 2017 [46 favorites]


i'm reviewing the video now and the whole time franken is talking, sessions looks like he's shitting his pants.

Again, that may be because he's gradually turning into the world's oldest baby.
posted by Freon at 8:03 PM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


It should be a standard question by now. Easier to count the ones that don't have a Russian connection.

Does Russia have a school voucher program?
posted by Artw at 8:04 PM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


Again, that may be because he's gradually turning into the world's oldest baby.

^ world's oldest most racist baby. Plenty of old babyfolk out there, no need to tar them with the sessions brush
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:04 PM on March 1, 2017 [10 favorites]


How long has Russia been working on capturing our entire government? Even if it's been a long-term project, I'm quite impressed.

Me too. Can you imagine the discipline and commitment it takes to willingly work with Trump on anything ?
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 8:05 PM on March 1, 2017 [9 favorites]




So, any bets they rush out a new travel ban order tomorrow (you know, the one that's such an emergency they couldn't even exempt people who were actually in the air, but now they've waited a month and said they were delaying it further for political purposes) as a distraction?
posted by zachlipton at 8:10 PM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


I am very happy with March 1st 2017. In like a lion indeed. Lyin' amirite?
posted by futz at 8:11 PM on March 1, 2017 [16 favorites]




I'll probably just get the O'Reilly book.
posted by Artw at 8:26 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


Minority Leader Pelosi is calling for Sessions to step down as well.
posted by murphy slaw at 8:28 PM on March 1, 2017


Lock him up? Lock him up?
posted by Justinian at 8:31 PM on March 1, 2017 [33 favorites]


Ya'll my Trump-voting brother called me and is trying to reconcile with me:

"I know about the problems for illegal immigrants, Most of my construction crew doesn't have papers. This whole industry relies on Mexicans."

"But you voted for a party that wants to take them away."

"I just want them to pay taxes."

"But wait don't you pay taxes out of what you pay them?"

Let's not go into all that detail." (yeah I assume he is paying under the table)

Also: "We do think he's the crudest President ever. We watch Fox but we also watch Morning Joe because we know someone on there is going to hate him."

Also "Don't pay attention to anything your sister texts you past 5pm that's when she starts drinking."

Yeah I don't know what to do with any of that either. Just reporting from the belly of the beast.
posted by emjaybee at 8:33 PM on March 1, 2017 [49 favorites]


So, any bets they rush out a new travel ban order tomorrow

Already promised for tmw IIRC
(Nascent legal Twitter has been waiting for it.)
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:34 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


if i get a sessions resignation and my copy of Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild by friday this is going to be the best weekend in a while
posted by murphy slaw at 8:35 PM on March 1, 2017 [12 favorites]


Jesus Christ. There are Russians lurking around every corner of this administration. It's gotten to the point where I expect to hear that there are actual Russian spies sleeping in Lincoln's bedroom.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 8:36 PM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


Oh my, and here's what Jeff Sessions had to say on the subject of perjury after the Clinton impeachment trial.
posted by FelliniBlank at 8:36 PM on March 1, 2017 [26 favorites]


No, we should go back to the classics. Guilty! Guilty, Guilty, Guilty!
posted by yhbc at 8:38 PM on March 1, 2017 [9 favorites]


heh. Sessions' spokesperson (a DOJ employee now) is using her personal Gmail account to push back on the Post story.

Didn't we just have a whole election devoted to that topic?
posted by zachlipton at 8:39 PM on March 1, 2017 [44 favorites]


Does... does your brother know that Morning Joe is solidly republican?
posted by Yowser at 8:39 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


Maybe Sessions and Kislyak just talked about their favorite anime or something
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 8:42 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


"Let's not go into all that detail."

Carve the epitaph for "principled conservatism".
posted by holgate at 8:42 PM on March 1, 2017 [11 favorites]




Resigning in ignominy is not the frog March for Sessions that I hoped for but if it gets him out of that office it will do.
posted by Joey Michaels at 8:43 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


Does... does your brother know that Morning Joe is solidly republican?

For tens of millions of Americans, Morning Joe is what they're thinking of when they talk about principled and moderate liberals.
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:43 PM on March 1, 2017 [21 favorites]


He looks guilty. He smells guilty. He IS guilty! And we recommend that he be fed to giant Iranian goat-eating cockroaches!
posted by Chrysostom at 8:44 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


"...not that the innocent are harmed but that the guilty go unpunished."

Another test of that line.
posted by holgate at 8:44 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


sessions has released a statement that requires parsing with a scalpel and jeweller's loupe:

"I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."
posted by murphy slaw at 8:45 PM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


If you fail to comply with this notice, then we will have no other alternative but contact the United States Capitol Police and report your non-compliance.

you go right ahead and do that, dipshit

just go right ahead and try to have some of your own constituents arrested
posted by Vic Morrow's Personal Vietnam at 8:45 PM on March 1, 2017 [17 favorites]


I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign.

"We only talked about how I would access my Rosneft shares."
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 8:49 PM on March 1, 2017 [56 favorites]


I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign.

"Clever" phrasing, translated: we ended up talking about the campaign even though we didn't announce ahead of time that that was the point of the meeting. He's halfway incriminating himself by means of stupidity here.
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:51 PM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]




I really wish I could take any shred of good news about all this without immediately going 'good fucking luck at it actually having anything near a major effect'
posted by flatluigi at 8:52 PM on March 1, 2017 [10 favorites]


Oh my, and here's what Jeff Sessions had to say on the subject of perjury after the Clinton impeachment trial.

There is no way his boss didn't commit perjury when he gave two conflicting statements under oath in two different cases re: his relationship with Felix Sater (if he told the truth in one he lied in the other) so beyond Sessions' own perjury he should be out of a job due to ridiculous incompetence. I mean there are court transcripts right there for anyone to see, it's kind of a slam dunk case.
posted by jason_steakums at 8:52 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


House panel to probe possible Russia-Trump campaign collusion

"We have reached a written agreement, the minority and the majority in the House intelligence committee, that we will investigate allegations of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign," Democratic Representative Adam Schiff said on MSNBC.

Trump Russia: House intelligence committee agrees inquiry

The panel said in a statement that its Republican chairman, Devin Nunes, and Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff had agreed to the investigation.

...Until now, Republican senators had been reluctant to agree to Democratic Party demands for the inquiry.


Intelligence Committee Chairman, Ranking Member Establish Parameters for Russia Investigation

This seems like it has already been posted but I searched and didn't find anything.
posted by futz at 8:53 PM on March 1, 2017 [14 favorites]


shame_nun.mp3
posted by OverlappingElvis at 8:53 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


"I have been called a [trump campaign] surrogate a time or two, and I did not have communications with the Russians." -- Sen. Sessions. (~2:00 in)
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 8:54 PM on March 1, 2017 [8 favorites]


It depends on what the definition of "to" is.

Oh btw before Trump, Conway was best known for helping get Bill Clinton disbarred. Just throwing it out there.
posted by Yowser at 8:54 PM on March 1, 2017 [13 favorites]


If Chuck Tingle doesn't release a book TOMORROW about being secretly pounded in the butt by a Russian ambassador, I'll be seriously disappointed.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 9:00 PM on March 1, 2017 [14 favorites]


Apropos of nothing, here's David Coffin (sea shanty singer) memorializing The Bowling Green Massacre.
posted by Soliloquy at 9:02 PM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]




Fine.

Tuned.

Machine.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:03 PM on March 1, 2017 [32 favorites]


that is way too straightforward for dr. chuck tingle, it'll be more like "pounded in the butt by the attorney general's non-denial denial about communicating with the russian government during the election"
posted by murphy slaw at 9:04 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


Just catching up. Holy fuck Jeff Sessions you lied to your Senate colleagues right to their faces after they gave you so much deference. And also you lied to America.

Holy fuck, timing. Trump didn't even get 24 hours to enjoy the obsequiousness.
posted by notyou at 9:08 PM on March 1, 2017 [59 favorites]


Fine.

Tuned.

Machine.


This Machine Shills Fascists
posted by jason_steakums at 9:11 PM on March 1, 2017 [39 favorites]


David Schraub in Ha'aretz: Trump’s Dangerous 'False Flag' Allegation [cached]
Donald Trump opened his first presidential address to Congress by saying “Recent threats targeting Jewish Community Centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, as well as last week’s shooting in Kansas City, remind us that while we may be a Nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all its forms.”

Several hours earlier, Trump reportedly told several state attorneys general that these anti-Semitic attacks may be “false flags” – plants to discredit him and his supporters. At least in some cases, the president suggested, the reported threats are not genuine but “the reverse,” done by his political opponents “to make people – or to make others – look bad.”

The prominent placement of the first message has caused some anti-Semitism watchdogs – desperate for even a hint of normalcy from a president increasingly enthralled to the far-right fringe – to ignore or underplay the second. They should not allow themselves to be bought so cheaply.
[…]
posted by Joe in Australia at 9:11 PM on March 1, 2017 [27 favorites]


A note about the framing of the Supreme Court ruling on gerrymandering in the Salon article linked above (emphasis mine):
In a vital win for Democrats, the Supreme Court reversed a ruling in a federal lawsuit pertaining to redistricting efforts by GOP politicians in Virginia.
No, it's not a win for Democrats, it's a win for democracy and representational government. It's not something that should be framed as good because it helps the Democrats but because racism is evil and should be unacceptable, regardless of who is doing it and who it helps and hurts.
posted by Candleman at 9:12 PM on March 1, 2017 [88 favorites]


it's a win for the democrats because racism is good for republicans
posted by murphy slaw at 9:16 PM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign.

This phrasing gets downright cunning. It can be technically true as long as his calendar doesn't literally say "meet with Russian Ambassador to discuss campaign issues." I mean, given the level of stupidity involved here, it probably does say just that, but even so. It's still technically true if he met with them for another purpose, but the conversation shifted to the campaign and they talked about it for an hour. It's even still technically true if he met with them to merely listen to issues of the campaign, rather than to have a two-way discussion on the topic.
posted by zachlipton at 9:18 PM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


Al Franken's pointed questioning leading to Jeff Sessions' perjury means that SNL continues to be the primary menace of the Trump administration
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:19 PM on March 1, 2017 [132 favorites]


It's even still technically true if he met with them to merely listen to issues of the campaign, rather than to have a two-way discussion on the topic.

The problem for Sessions, of course, is that his answer to Franken contained none of those technicalities (nor did it actually answer the question!) so he still perjured himself.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:21 PM on March 1, 2017 [14 favorites]


It will be rich indeed if Sessions voluntarily gave up a powerful Senate gig - from which he otherwise couldn't have been pried with a crowbar - in exchange for a Trump cabinet position from which he has to resign within a month of taking the job.

Not that he wouldn't land softly onto wingnut welfare if he had to step down as AG, but still... it would make me pretty damn pleased to see the arc of justice finally bend far enough to remove that scion of southern bigotry from power, and using Trump's toxic touch to do it.
posted by darkstar at 9:22 PM on March 1, 2017 [52 favorites]


It can be technically true as long as his calendar doesn't literally say "meet with Russian Ambassador to discuss campaign issues."

Nah. Watch the CSPAN video I linked earlier. He says - under oath - that he "had no communications with the Russians".

There's exactly zero wiggle room there for having a telephone conversation with Russians, no matter what was discussed.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 9:23 PM on March 1, 2017 [9 favorites]


Guys you don't understand if he hadn't perjured himself he wouldn't have been confirmed. Well, I mean, if course, he works have been confirmed, but he would have made the boss look bad. By boss, I mean Putin.
posted by Joey Michaels at 9:24 PM on March 1, 2017


i wonder if franken knew he was setting a trap when he asked sessions that question.

I think it's a certainty. But we probably will never know either way.
posted by notyou at 9:25 PM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


Do we really think Sessions will resign? Why would he do that? He's the only person with the power to prosecute himself, after all.
posted by dis_integration at 9:25 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


Man step away from the internet for 3 hours and another Trump cabinet member commits perjury regarding contacts with Russia.

Maybe there's something there that should be investigated by...wait. Shit.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:26 PM on March 1, 2017 [20 favorites]


it's a win for the democrats because racism is good for republicans

I understand that, but if the narrative still needs to be "The SC took a stand against racism" not "The SC took a stand against the Republicans." There's a lot of a soft racists that are uncomfortable identifying themselves as such but will happily stand with their tribe of Republicanism. Don't give them the easy out of making it about tribe against tribe, make them have to say ugly things if they want to defend it.
posted by Candleman at 9:27 PM on March 1, 2017 [46 favorites]


Do we really think Sessions will resign? Why would he do that? He's the only person with the power to prosecute himself, after all.

Hahahahaa no. This is the DGAF administration. They have all the power and no one can force them out except Republicans, who won't because tax cuts. The dynamic hasn't and won't change. Republicans are completely aligned with Putin's Russia now.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:28 PM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


This is what Senate comity'n'shit gets you, even when it's clear enough that plenty of GOP senators didn't like Jefferson Beauregard that much.
posted by holgate at 9:29 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


i wonder if franken knew he was setting a trap when he asked sessions that question.

I honestly doubt it. The question was about how he'd investigate if someone else was found to have been in contact with Russian officials. That Sessions leapt straight to denying that he'd talked with them should have been a big red flag from the beginning. Methinks the gremlin doth protest too much, and all that.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:33 PM on March 1, 2017 [16 favorites]


Does... does your brother know that Morning Joe is solidly republican?

For tens of millions of Americans, Morning Joe is what they're thinking of when they talk about principled and moderate liberals.


While hardly paragons of liberalism, the Brzezinskis are nominally Democratic.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:34 PM on March 1, 2017


Well, my parents and I, being three lawyers, had a meltdown at the dinner table about what happens if the AG is nakedly corrupt enough to refuse to appoint an independent prosecutor.

It took about 90 seconds to get to the merger of law and equity and "law abhors a vacuum" which is not very applicable (as I said to Dad) and so not a particularly good sign.

Best solution we came up with is the GOP controlled congress becomes scandalized enough to revise the independent prosecutor statute so as to deprive the AG of discretion, and enough to override any veto and hand power back to the Dems. But there are separation of power issues there too, because the Congress is not a court, bills of attainder, political question doctrine and oy vey.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:39 PM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


Or they simply decide the rule of law no longer applies in this country, which is pretty much how Trump wants it.
posted by Artw at 9:41 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


Here is NPR's headline. I didn't click through.


"AG Sessions' Talks With Russian Envoy May Conflict With Senate Testimony"
posted by futz at 9:42 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


If Congress wanted to get rid of Sessions they can impeach him. Of course, I don't think the GOP _will_ do that. But what happens if the AG is nakedly corrupt enough to refuse to appoint an independent prosecutor: if Congress cares, they can remove Sessions. If they don't, then you have both the executive and legislative branches embracing such a move and things are pretty hopeless (quite possibly where we end up).
posted by thefoxgod at 9:44 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


Downsides to doing nothing: If mad king Trump goes after them for whatever reason they've no protection against that, if Democrats ever get back in they all hang together.
posted by Artw at 9:44 PM on March 1, 2017


For fucks sake, NPR
posted by triggerfinger at 9:44 PM on March 1, 2017 [39 favorites]


(Here's an old NY Times article advocating for the possible impeachment of Gonzales back in the day, which discusses Congress's ability to impeach the AG)
posted by thefoxgod at 9:45 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


Who among us hasn't lied to Congress?
posted by guiseroom at 9:45 PM on March 1, 2017 [9 favorites]


This is the DGAF administration.

Then why was Flynn fired?
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:46 PM on March 1, 2017 [12 favorites]


If Congress wanted to get rid of Sessions they can impeach him.

That's true -- I'm not sure why we forgot about direct impeachment of the AG. Possibly because the conversation was grounded in Nixon-era precedent, in which the District Courts were used instead.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:46 PM on March 1, 2017


Who among us hasn't lied to Congress?

Well, contempt for it certainly is common.
posted by Candleman at 9:48 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


Best solution we came up with is the GOP controlled congress becomes scandalized enough to revise the independent prosecutor statute so as to deprive the AG of discretion, and enough to override any veto and hand power back to the Dems.

Literally not possible. This GOP congress is in complete approval of our de facto surrender to Russia in exchange for tax cuts.

Our constitutional system has a fatal flaw in that there's no check or balances when one entire branch of government decides it's perfectly OK with converting the country to a kleptocracy and/or client state of a foreign power.

Can't really blame the founders for failing to foresee 46% of the country and 51% of elected officials perfectly willing to commit treason just to win an election and punish their fellow citizens who don't agree with them.

Although maybe they did foresee this exact situation, given their warnings against political parties.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:49 PM on March 1, 2017 [25 favorites]


So I was driving across the state today (it's a big state, mind you) so I've been offline all day and then I come back to this. First thought was that Louise Mensch, crackpot that she might be, has been harping on Sessions being connected to the Russians for some time now, saying he's a target in investigations on this. It looks like she may have actually been right on this. My other thought - if Sessions is forced out, that is a YUGE win for America.
posted by azpenguin at 9:49 PM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


"AG Sessions' Talks With Russian Envoy May Conflict With Senate Testimony"

Arrrgh. When I was a rookie reporter, I dug up a story about a county official who approved a development project even though it specifically stated it would bring in more cars than permitted.

I turned in a story with this opening sentence: "County Planning Director (Joe Blow) violated state regulations in approving the stadium parking plan."

My editor called me up to his desk. "So, are county regulations laws?" I said, yes.
And if you do something the law doesn't allow, you've broken the law, right? I said, yes.
Tappity-tap on the keyboard.
New first sentence: ""County Planning Director (Joe Blow) broke state laws in approving the stadium parking plan."

I wish these guys had learned from my editor. Here's the headline he would have written:
"AG Sessions Lied Under Oath About His Talks With Russian Official"
posted by martin q blank at 9:52 PM on March 1, 2017 [64 favorites]


“I’m not aware of any of those activities,” [Sessions] responded. He added: “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.”

It's hilarious: if Sessions hadn't stuck on that gratuitous (and suspect-sounding) second sentence, he'd be more or less OK, since the first one is weaselly-vague enough to pass muster. But he just had to make the smug little joke. Did he miss the day of law school where they covered how attorneys should prep their clients to say not one word more than necessary in response to any question when giving a deposition or testimony, or what?
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:52 PM on March 1, 2017 [15 favorites]


Then why was Flynn fired?

I suspect he's considered ablative in a way that Sessions isn't, in that you might as well just admit pee-a-largo is real if Sessions goes versus Flynn they could say it was just about lying to Pence?

I don't know, that doesn't make much sense to me either since Flynn was a blatant Russian spy and they gave no other reason for him leaving, but everyone just seems to have agreed to handwave that one.
posted by Artw at 9:52 PM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


It should be a standard question by now. Easier to count the ones that don't have a Russian connection. Does Russia have a school voucher program?

Well, the Russians do have a server that mysteriously communicates with a health organization in Michigan run by Betsy DeVos's husband. At this point it seems nothing is too crazy to consider.
posted by JackFlash at 9:53 PM on March 1, 2017 [38 favorites]


I'm beginning to worry that maybe I had contact with Kislyak during the campaign, since the Russian Ambassador is apparently the least memorable person on the planet. Everybody who talks to him promptly forgets.

Note: Michael McFaul, former US Ambassador to Russia, tells us that "Kislyak is not some shrinking violet! He leaves an impression."
posted by zachlipton at 9:53 PM on March 1, 2017 [60 favorites]


Then why was Flynn fired?

Trump didn't fire him. He didn't have any idea either. It was palace intrigue from Priebus or Bannon, or both. Or they hoped to contain the story. If Sessions is now implicated, he's the lynchpin of the whole TrumpRiech, he'll never resign, he's immune from palace backstabbing, and also immune from the congressional GOP who fully agree with both Sessions' goals of vote suppression and free reign for the police state domestically, and in aligning with Russia to achieve them.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:55 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


the Russian Ambassador is apparently the least memorable person on the planet

Pretty soon we're going to find out that Trump's staff can't remember their gmail addresses, twitter logins, phone numbers, cellular carriers, mother's maiden name, first pet, childhood best friend, make and model of first car or job description.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:56 PM on March 1, 2017 [12 favorites]


Not everyone forgets their interactions with Putin's government; some people remember for the rest of their lives. Their unusually short lives
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:57 PM on March 1, 2017 [24 favorites]


Murderous Russian cover-up campaign, you stay away from Mr Sessions!
posted by Artw at 9:59 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


Man oh man. As a hockey fan (bear with me), I've learned that come playoff time, you can't get too low after the losses, nor too high after the wins. Gain some longer term perspective. Look for trends rather than final scores. You'll go batty otherwise with the game to game ups and downs.

Just sharing as a reminder to myself and a caution to the rest of you. This is a long season. Remember your fundamentals and don't let up for a second. Time for another round of calls and postcards!
posted by notyou at 10:05 PM on March 1, 2017 [31 favorites]


My god, this is a delicious reprieve from the tooth-grinding study I've been stuck in since the idiotic address to Congress.

Still, while my head says that in any other year, this guy would be toast, my heart still sinks a little because I'm sure they'll find another toady to step in. Assuming he resigns or something, which isn't a sure thing at all.

Also I'm seriously dismayed that I keep hoping for new evidence of shadiness, as though bringing misdeeds to light is a long-term strategy for backing these shitheels into a corner.
posted by Caxton1476 at 10:12 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


Don't get too excited, folks. He won't have to resign unless he lied to Mike Pence about it.
posted by msalt at 10:14 PM on March 1, 2017 [14 favorites]


About presidential addresses and such: The UC Santa Barbara American Presidency Project is a fantastic resource for texts, transcripts, and analysis. Not sure if it has been linked here yet, but I look at it all the time.
posted by Caxton1476 at 10:17 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


Dan Eggen at the post chronicles how the denials tonight went from not remembering anything to just "superficial" election talk to we didn't meet "to discuss" the campaign. A lot of very rapid backpedaling.
posted by zachlipton at 10:21 PM on March 1, 2017 [22 favorites]


A lot of very rapid backpedaling.

This is the problem when you get stuck in a lie, because it's hard to coalesce around a false alibi. "Oh, it was Senate business." What kind of Senate business? Which committee? Why did nobody else on those committees participate? All the flacks and toadies end up improvising with their own bullshit, and all that proves is that there's something to hide that Jefferson Beauregard considered worse than perjury.
posted by holgate at 10:29 PM on March 1, 2017 [9 favorites]


Sally Yates would make an excellent independent prosecutor.
posted by guiseroom at 10:31 PM on March 1, 2017 [82 favorites]


more like jefferson fucking bee regard
posted by Rust Moranis at 10:31 PM on March 1, 2017 [30 favorites]


Coordination with the Podesta and DNC hacks is the original sin here.

This is all cover up for the fact that Republicans knowingly worked with a hostile foreign power to steal an election.

If that's not treason, we need to make changes so that it is going forward, after the truth and reconciliation trials.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:32 PM on March 1, 2017 [45 favorites]


After the bee party, I think you mean.
posted by notyou at 10:35 PM on March 1, 2017 [8 favorites]


Bzzzz bzzzz, motherfuckers.
posted by Artw at 10:37 PM on March 1, 2017 [31 favorites]




An American has taken out a big ad in the Times to say he's the rightful king & intends to seize power.

I say we can't possibly do worse. All hail King Allan!
posted by scalefree at 10:40 PM on March 1, 2017 [13 favorites]


another point about parsing the sessions statement:
These are consecutive sentences in the Sessions statement: "I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false." -- @katherinemiller
posted by murphy slaw at 10:40 PM on March 1, 2017 [30 favorites]


"I Didn't Do It, Nobody Saw Me Do It, There's No Way You Can Prove Anything" is the kind of thing that ought to be taught in philosophy courses.
posted by holgate at 10:46 PM on March 1, 2017 [8 favorites]


That dude is planning to become the king of Great Britain (he seems not so keen on the Northern Ireland part). We're still on our own over here.
posted by zachlipton at 10:47 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


"I Didn't Do It, Nobody Saw Me Do It, There's No Way You Can Prove Anything" is the kind of thing that ought to be taught in philosophy courses.

It is taught in law courses: "My dog doesn't bite. And second, in the alternative, my dog was tied up that night. And third, I don't believe you really got bit. And fourth, I don't have a dog."
posted by zachlipton at 10:50 PM on March 1, 2017 [35 favorites]


Ironically, see also Wikipedia: Alternative facts (law)
posted by zachlipton at 10:51 PM on March 1, 2017 [6 favorites]


I was genuinely hoping King Allan there was going for that in the US, at this stage. /sigh
posted by Archelaus at 11:12 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


i have taken a brief break from endless total mayhem to reiterate once again that we must drive every last one of them into the sea
posted by poffin boffin at 11:16 PM on March 1, 2017 [41 favorites]


Considering the current fatality rate for the Russian Diplomatic Corps, if I were Kislyak I'd find the nearest Rent-A-Panic-Room fast and snappy. There's just too many people with a vested interest in having his exact recall be to their liking, damn that diplomatic immunity mess!
posted by moonbird at 11:19 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


"My dog doesn't bite. And second, in the alternative, my dog was tied up that night. And third, I don't believe you really got bit. And fourth, I don't have a dog."

Please tell me that it is called the Peter Sellers "Does your dog bite" defense. :)
posted by futz at 11:21 PM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


"AG Sessions Lied Under Oath About His Talks With Russian Official"

How about: "AG Sessions Met with Russian Spy Recruiter; Lied Under Oath in Attempted Cover Up"
posted by dirge at 11:23 PM on March 1, 2017 [10 favorites]


Lethal Weapon 2 taught me everything I know about diplomatic immunity.
posted by Yowser at 11:27 PM on March 1, 2017 [8 favorites]


So I think they're all guilty, but right now I can't decide whether it's more enjoyable to imagine that Jeff Sessions is actually innocent and gets taken down by his sucking up to Trump, or to imagine that Trump is actually clueless and can't figure out why all the people around him keep talking to the Russians.
posted by threeturtles at 11:34 PM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


Maybe Elizabeth Warren should read that letter again on the senate floor, the one she couldn't read because it demeaned the fine reputation of dear (ex) senator Sessions.
posted by OHenryPacey at 11:38 PM on March 1, 2017 [55 favorites]


"I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."

That's some true Trump-style self-contradiction right there.
posted by mmoncur at 11:41 PM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


"Why Do These Campaign Surrogates Keep Sucking Up To My Putin?"
posted by holgate at 11:42 PM on March 1, 2017 [5 favorites]


Are there any OMG-he's-a-Benedict-Arnold links between Bannon and Russia/Putin? Or is it just that Putin's a white Christian strongman and Bannon can't get himself enough of that stuff?
posted by Lyme Drop at 12:04 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


I cannot even imagine what rhetoric would be employed right now if the parties were switched.
posted by jaduncan at 12:05 AM on March 2, 2017 [37 favorites]


Sophistry.

Republicans are Sophists. Fulminations, smoke and mirrors, appeals to emotion (fear), misdirection, ad hominem attacks, the whole low kitchen sink of the rhetorical con to push through at all costs their militant white male patriarchal plantation agenda.

It is obvious to anyone paying attention, and/or anyone getting fucked. So, that's 99.99%+ of people, but with 50% give or take so traumatized by the corrosive effects of this long-term Sophistry that they either disassociate from hoping/working for change, or they actually begin to perversely and actively work for their own and their neighbors' destruction.

A background 40-60 year very-organized campaign of Republican Sophistry has effectively paralyzed/poisoned/sidelined half the country. Every. Thing. They. Say. Is. A. Lie.

The Truth, as always, will out. Patience is a Blessing, and in the meantime fuck these Fascist Sophists.
posted by riverlife at 12:13 AM on March 2, 2017 [17 favorites]


"more like jefferson fucking bee regard"

I just wanna say that that is hilarious, and the bee stuff, silly as it may be, is consistently making me laugh during a time when laughter is sorely needed. It just strikes the little-kid-humor part of my brain in exactly the right way. So thank you, Rust Moranis and the rest of the Bee Team. You are doing the Lord's work.
posted by litlnemo at 12:16 AM on March 2, 2017 [37 favorites]


Russian Expert Dude: *Stuff about Russian invasion of Crimea*

Chris Matthews: Y'know Stalin was from Crimea

Russian Expert Dude: Actually he was from Georgia
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 12:18 AM on March 2, 2017 [19 favorites]


Question - if Sessions resigns does he go back to the Senate? Luther Strange has already been sworn in to take his place. On that (hopefully imminent) glorious day that Sessions gets kicked out as Attorney General, it will be all that much more wonderful if he would have to pack up and head home without even getting his old job back.
posted by kms at 12:29 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Luther Strange? Is there like a factory in Alabama that makes villain names for the comic industry or something?
posted by Joe in Australia at 12:32 AM on March 2, 2017 [68 favorites]


Then why was Flynn fired?
Pence. The GOP can't sail away on the Good Ship Pence if it too is damaged by association with the Trumpists.

If there are any ratfuckers left in the Dems they should be focused on Pence. The Trumpists will eventually run out of feet to shoot and if Pence goes the GOP have no exit strategy.
posted by fullerine at 12:34 AM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


It's quite amusing to wake up on a morning, see a new story and then search through the thread for the protagonist's name and then have Chrome mark where the references are. When it's a new story like this it covers the bottom third of the thread in the scroll bar to the right.
posted by vbfg at 1:13 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


It is seriously every single fucking morning.

Re.: Sessions resigning: everyone is waiting for Mother Russia's verdict. I suspect it will be that he must go. He is too compromised, and he is compromising Kislyak. I bet Putin is fuming over the incompetence of these Americans he has been buying — they were not cheap and they are not doing their jobs. Counterintelligence can probably tell us if Kislyak is constantly on the phone, explaining "we just couldn't get better products, sir, and they are doing disruption just fine".
posted by mumimor at 2:19 AM on March 2, 2017 [26 favorites]


Question - if Sessions resigns does he go back to the Senate?

Not automatically, but I wouldn't put it past them to lean on Strange to resign so Governor Doctor Bob can appoint Sessions again.
posted by Etrigan at 3:09 AM on March 2, 2017


Not automatically, but I wouldn't put it past them to lean on Strange to resign so Governor Doctor Bob can appoint Sessions again.

Appointing someone who got the sack for lying to the Senate is not a very good look, but maybe they'd be that shameless.
posted by jaduncan at 3:14 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Dan Eggen at the post chronicles how the denials tonight went from not remembering anything to just "superficial" election talk to we didn't meet "to discuss" the campaign. A lot of very rapid backpedaling.

"Oh you mean those Russians."
posted by bibliowench at 3:23 AM on March 2, 2017 [21 favorites]


I wouldn't put it past them to lean on Strange to resign so Governor Doctor Bob can appoint Sessions again.

Would Sessions then have to start over as far as seniority, etc. were concerned?
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 3:26 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Would Sessions then have to start over as far as seniority, etc. were concerned?

Indeed he would. Prior non-consecutive service is only a tiebreaker (88-page PDF here -- it's on page 1). Good call.
posted by Etrigan at 3:39 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Indeed he would. Prior non-consecutive service is only a tiebreaker (88-page PDF here -- it's on page 1). Good call.

So as it turns out, Sessions resigning is quite the setback for racism in two branches? I hope everyone is adding to that pressure.
posted by jaduncan at 3:42 AM on March 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


I'm sort of in love with Al Franken right now.
And Obama scrambled to make sure the Russian evidence was protected. Thank you Obama! We love you and miss you and--and--and /flood of tears
posted by angrycat at 3:59 AM on March 2, 2017 [50 favorites]




Same could be said for Al Capone cheating on his taxes.

I think in these cases I am actually not in favor of these sideways ways to get fuckers out. Fuckers need to be removed specifically for the terrible things, or low info voters will continue to have no clue what's going on.
posted by corb at 4:05 AM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


I'm worried about Sam Bee. Each week I check to see if her show is on and looking at imdb now it says March 8. It seems like an odd time to take a hiatus. Is it the network? She is Canadian... is it her paperwork?

Oh no, I just realised John Oliver is British and Trevor Noah, well, Trump just has to look at him to be 100% certain of where he's from.
posted by adept256 at 4:09 AM on March 2, 2017


Well, this European thinks there is a huge difference in scale between lying under oath to hide that one has had sex with an intern (even as this is despicable), and then lying under oath to hide that one has been consorting with a foreign state to interfere with a US election (because this is criminal). But in the US, it's all "both sides do it".
Old world is old and new world is new, and the twain shall never meet..
posted by mumimor at 4:13 AM on March 2, 2017 [19 favorites]


I wasn't expecting such a large portion of Schadenfreude for breakfast this morning. Thanks Jeff Sessions, you stupid fucker.
posted by chaoticgood at 4:19 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Luther Strange? Is there like a factory in Alabama that makes villain names for the comic industry or something?

Luther Strange (R - Marvel Universe)
posted by uncleozzy at 4:21 AM on March 2, 2017 [19 favorites]


As long as we're in this alternate universe.

Political US Fanfic

Obama Admin has known for many years that there is collusion with the Russians at a high level with long-serving politicians, and that it was gaining influence and becoming more pernicious.

A plan was needed. A foil. Obama recruits Trump to the role. Two ways? He’s a dick, but a leftie at heart surrounded by the most covered in shit white collar criminals that might become assets, or cooperate or the govt pulls the rug from under his “empire.” In either instance he agrees. First move is the rabid birther stuff, placing him on the radar of the far right and gaining him access to politico’s and begins to set the stage for the Prez run.

The primaries run with dribs and drabs of intel sidelining the other wingnuts, leaving him as the nominee. Hillary is in on the deal. She’s seen the intel and understands her role is to manage a successful loss of the electoral college but push hard on popular numbers. Comey letter a part of it as well as it was looking likely that Hillary was still going to win despite everything. Trump wins and declares he’s going to drain the swamp.

Once Trump was the nominee, the swamp begins it’s approach and dance. They are drooling at the prospect of unfettered power. They make a ton of amateur mistakes. The Obama IC are actively tracking it all. Leaks and subsequent investigations tar many senior R MoCs and cabinet members compromising and leading to their resignations or removals, including Pence. The Sessions stuff being the most recent.

This ultimately leads to a series of by-elections resulting in a swing in the senate to the democrats. The swamp is cleaner. Trump nominates Hilary to the role of VP. The senate confirms. Trump resigns and the winner of the popular vote is installed as the 46th president of the United States.

Yeah, I know. I am this depressed.
posted by michswiss at 4:35 AM on March 2, 2017 [18 favorites]


I'm worried that the next president will have to saber rattle so aggressively to show distance from Putin that it will escalate and result in WW3.
posted by ian1977 at 4:39 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


If Sessions is forced to resign I will be so happy. Also, he seems to be the only one in the Trump administration who actually knows how government functions, so if he leaves their incompetence will continue to hobble them.
posted by maggiemaggie at 4:49 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Part of me wants to check monster.com to see if there's a rash of new job postings for "Food Taster, DC area, must own Geiger counter."
posted by delfin at 4:54 AM on March 2, 2017 [19 favorites]


Still trying to catch up bit wanted to post this tidbit about BCBS's soaring profits. Fuck insurance.
posted by yoga at 5:02 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]




octothorpe: 'Good way to go to jail'

We can hope...
posted by Too-Ticky at 5:07 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


I am tickled by how unnecessary it was for Sessions to deny that he had any communication with Russia. I imagine Sessions preparing for his confirmation hearing, telling himself, "The most important thing to remember is that you shouldn't testify that you personally colluded with Russia." So Franken asks his question, and at the mere mention of Russia, Sessions immediately spits out a half-relevant, "Russia? I absolutely didn't personally collude with Russia." And he probably thought to himself, "Nailed it!"
posted by vathek at 5:12 AM on March 2, 2017 [42 favorites]


Is it too much to hope that this will put some doubt in Trump Supporters? They've got to be thinking: "Oh but Mr. Trump didn't know about it. Jeff lied to him too!"

Even in the best of light that means your President is an extremely gullible fuck.
posted by INFJ at 5:13 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


God Bless the WaPo for giving Trump exactly 24 hours of a comeback and then stepping on it.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 5:15 AM on March 2, 2017 [44 favorites]


Al Franken's pointed questioning leading to Jeff Sessions' perjury means that SNL continues to be the primary menace of the Trump administration

Any given SNL alum could run circles around these dumb bastards, I think. I include post-OD John Belushi and Toonces, the Cat Who Could Serve as Special Prosecutor in that assessment.

OK, maybe not Adam Sandler. But any of the others.
posted by jackbishop at 5:15 AM on March 2, 2017 [13 favorites]


I am tickled by how unnecessary it was for Sessions to deny that he had any communication with Russia.

"Jeffey..." "What vase???"
posted by PontifexPrimus at 5:16 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


C-Span says no Spicer today scheduled. But the VP and Trump have remarks scheduled in the early afternoon.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 5:17 AM on March 2, 2017


It's pretty amazing how chillaxed the Republican Congress is about perjury.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:21 AM on March 2, 2017 [39 favorites]



It's pretty amazing how chillaxed the Republican Congress is about perjury.


They are alway up for IOKIYAR.
posted by drezdn at 5:24 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


It's pretty amazing how chillaxed the Republican Congress is about perjury.

Trump: I could shoot someone live on C-SPAN on the house floor and Paul Ryan would still defend me. [/fake but true]
posted by dis_integration at 5:26 AM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


It's pretty amazing how chillaxed the Republican Congress is about perjury.
"I just don't think it's useful to be doing investigation after investigation, particularly of your own party. We'll never even get started with doing the things we need to do, like repealing Obamacare, if we're spending our whole time having Republicans investigate Republicans. I think it makes no sense."
THIS IS WHAT REPUBLICANS ACTUALLY BELIEVE!
posted by Talez at 5:26 AM on March 2, 2017 [41 favorites]


How can we make the country into a smoldering ruins if we stop and have a investigation everytime someone commits a little treason?????
posted by ian1977 at 5:28 AM on March 2, 2017 [16 favorites]


They are alway up for IOKIYAR.

IOKIYAR(ussian).
posted by sebastienbailard at 5:29 AM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Illustrator Tim O'Brien: Kellyanne's World
posted by valetta at 5:34 AM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


The Trump administration reminds me of "The Man Who Was Thursday" except everyone is secretly working for the Russians.
posted by drezdn at 5:42 AM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


Many pundits have a strong need to tell themselves that American political institutions are fundamentally OK when they very clearly aren’t OK. And, needless to say, the media was one of the institutions that completely failed and played a major role in producing a political crisis in 2016, so normalizing the Trump Show is self-serving as well.

Last thread, there was a question as to how anyone could think the mainstream press could possibly want to go back to being corporate stenographers again.

These are two good views into how.
posted by petebest at 5:44 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


And Obama scrambled to make sure the Russian evidence was protected. Thank you Obama! We love you and miss you and--and--and /flood of tears

He was our AltNationalParkRanger-in-Chief! [sobbing]
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:45 AM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


Heh, Sen. Cruz on Morning Joe is quite the profile in courage. This Sessions business is "political theatre" designed to hurt the AG and the President. He's used the word "nothingburger" twice.
posted by xyzzy at 5:45 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Chaffitz is calling for Sessions to recuse himself. I think this is going to snowball and Sessions will be out in a day or two.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:46 AM on March 2, 2017 [39 favorites]


Heh, Sen. Cruz [...] used the word "nothingburger" twice.

Huh, I thought Grimace was more into milkshakes.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:47 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Oh my GOD, Ted Cruz is on Morning Joe scrambling to explain away Sessions-Russians with all the grace of a Great Dane on roller skates. It's glorious.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:47 AM on March 2, 2017 [16 favorites]


Is Cruz gunning for next AG? I can't see why else he'd jump in the breach like that.
posted by leotrotsky at 5:51 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]




Is Cruz gunning for next AG?


Maybe they have something on him? It would be irresponsible not to wildly speculate.
posted by drezdn at 5:53 AM on March 2, 2017 [39 favorites]


I doubt weevil-ridden evil flour sack would do something that stupid. Too ambitious.
posted by leotrotsky at 6:00 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Prepare yourself for the return of Giuliani.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:01 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Prepare yourself for the return of Giuliani.

or the Detroit guy
posted by thelonius at 6:04 AM on March 2, 2017


b-b-but her emails
posted by entropicamericana at 6:04 AM on March 2, 2017 [15 favorites]


C-Span says no Spicer today scheduled. But the VP and Trump have remarks scheduled in the early afternoon.

I bet that will be super presidential, don't you? They'll be pivoting like they're Chubby Checker.
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:05 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]




Weird thing I just remembered/learned about within the last week. Donald Trump supporter Sheriff David Clarke also took a trip to Russia last year. Weird.
posted by drezdn at 6:06 AM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


I really don't think Sean Spicer would be the first one in the administration to say no, fuck it guys, you're on your own on this one, but it might be nice if he was.
posted by yhbc at 6:07 AM on March 2, 2017


Here's the breaking WaPo story on Chaffitz etc calling for Sessions to recuse himself.

From what? There is literally no investigation.
posted by Etrigan at 6:09 AM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


Chaffitz is calling for Sessions to recuse himself.

Did hell just freeze over?
posted by Artw at 6:10 AM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


So a family friend of mine, who's brown and foreign (but not from one of the Official Enemy or Future Official Enemy countries....yet) just got his green card! Great! Except now he wants to go visit his original country and already bought tickets for a few weeks from now! Probably just in time for a new travel ban!

*headdesks*

I really really want to tell him not to go, except he's one of those slaphappy optimists and will just say "Everything will be fiiiiine!" to anything I say.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:10 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


I recuse my parents.
posted by drezdn at 6:10 AM on March 2, 2017 [12 favorites]


From what? There is literally no investigation.

He's probably staking this position now so he can flip-flop to a No if there's an actual investigation.
posted by Room 641-A at 6:14 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Prepare yourself for the return of Giuliani.

or the Detroit guy


Or Chris Christie Reek.
posted by carmicha at 6:15 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Today's phone call: "Does the Congressman believe that Attorney General Sessions should be impeached for lying to Congress?" I want to hear his staffer tell me that he doesn't know whether my chickenshit quote-Representative-unquote believes that, over and over again.
posted by Etrigan at 6:15 AM on March 2, 2017 [12 favorites]


Or Dr. Phil.
posted by drezdn at 6:16 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


It will be Reek for an afternoon or so before it is yanked away from him.
posted by Artw at 6:16 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


I called the DOJ, I called my senators, I'm going to call the White House and I'm going to write a letter to the editor of my local paper (everyone should write the paper because boy oh boy the Trump supporters sure do). This is our chance to get rid of Sessions and I will be thrilled if we do.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:21 AM on March 2, 2017 [21 favorites]


Luther Strange (R - Marvel Universe)

Surely at some point in the convoluted story line they've found an evil brother for Stephen Strange?

"BWAH HA HA! By opening the portal, I will bring the servants of the Brotherhood of Vileness across from the Dread Dimension! They will suck the life-force from this world and make me unto a god! Also, swingeing cuts to social programs and halving income tax for the 1%."
posted by Grangousier at 6:23 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Today's phone call: "Does the Congressman believe that Attorney General Sessions should be impeached for lying to Congress?" I want to hear his staffer tell me that he doesn't know whether my chickenshit quote-Representative-unquote believes that, over and over again.

I went with: "When President Clinton committed perjury before Congress, he was impeached and disbarred. Shouldn't the same standard apply to AG Sessions, particularly given that he's the top law enforcement official in the United States?"
posted by leotrotsky at 6:24 AM on March 2, 2017 [61 favorites]


Sessions recused as Russia rumours roil Republican ranks!
posted by nubs at 6:25 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


Congressman Cole is telling MSNBC that "everyone" tries to interfere with elections and that this is normal. Obama, for instance, interfered with the Brexit election. What.
posted by xyzzy at 6:27 AM on March 2, 2017 [23 favorites]


Obama, for instance, interfered with the Brexit election. What.

He publicly supported the UK staying in the EU, if you can call that interference I guess.
posted by PenDevil at 6:29 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Well, in a holistic sense we all alter reality in unquantifiable ways just by existing within it, so in that sense, you and I and Obama all interfered in the Brexit election.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:30 AM on March 2, 2017 [37 favorites]


Senator McCaskill has also apparently lied about meeting with Russian ambassadors, but not under oath.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:33 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Well, in a holistic sense we all alter reality in unquantifiable ways just by existing within it, so in that sense, you and I and Obama all interfered in the Brexit election.

You know, it's really all Heisenberg's fault.
posted by Etrigan at 6:34 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Obama failed in his efforts to get Remain elected. Sad!
posted by xyzzy at 6:34 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


"Under Oath" is when you are super-allowed to lie, right? That's why every single Trump appointee did it.
posted by Artw at 6:36 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Senator McCaskill has also apparently lied about meeting with Russian ambassadors, but not under oath.

Claire McCaskill should definitely recuse herself from the investigation of whether Russia interfered in the 2012 Missouri Senate election. I bet it was Putin who told Todd Akin to go all-in on "legitimate rape".
posted by Etrigan at 6:36 AM on March 2, 2017 [19 favorites]


Sessions recused as Russia rumours roil Republican ranks!

Ruh-roh!
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:42 AM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Chaffetz talking about recusal is Chaffetz saying "please help me not investigate you."
posted by holgate at 6:45 AM on March 2, 2017 [39 favorites]


Appointing someone who got the sack for lying to the Senate is not a very good look, but maybe they'd be that shameless.

To a certain segment of the population, Flynn (and maybe Sessions) are Martyrs to the Cause, ratfucked, cheated and set up by unaccountable Washington Insiders.

It all comes down to which story you choose to believe: the one where you're an impugned victim, or the one where you realize you're a dupe? In that context, the constant drumbeat of "fake news fake news fake news" and the endless conspiracy theorizing of the Alex Jones crowd (not to mention Robert Mercer's Facebook data mining shit) gain terrifying potential.
posted by Vic Morrow's Personal Vietnam at 6:48 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


They're calling for recusal to try and head off forced resignation. Which shows you how bad this is.
posted by chris24 at 6:49 AM on March 2, 2017 [57 favorites]


At some point, the Democrats might start needing to read classified information into the Congressional record, Pentagon Papers style, if Republicans continue to sidestep and stonewall Russia investigations. Democrats aren't entirely powerless here, and the behavior I've seen on display over Sessions makes me think that Democrats are going to need to be more forceful.
posted by xyzzy at 6:52 AM on March 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


I would like an immediate 24 hour web cam of Senator Joseph McCarthy's grave.
posted by Sophie1 at 6:57 AM on March 2, 2017 [27 favorites]


Based on how Flynn went down, I'd guess the next leak is that they know/have transcripts of what was said. So they leak the meetings, let him deny, say there was no election talk, then leak the contents. With election talk.

Deep State ftw.
posted by chris24 at 6:57 AM on March 2, 2017 [30 favorites]


Democrats are going to need to be more forceful.

Oh.
posted by Artw at 6:57 AM on March 2, 2017 [21 favorites]


I'm not too worried about the Republican flailing with recusal. They're in a panicked denial. In a few days, they'll push Sessions out. Blood for the blood gods in hopes the scary people with their scary leaks will go away. Which they won't, but I'd imagine the GOP is getting desperate and will try anything to make it stop.
posted by honestcoyote at 6:59 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


I wonder when Moscow Mike gets redeemed*, Ollie North style. In our present period of hyper-time probably next week.

* he will still be a Russian spy, naturally.
posted by Artw at 6:59 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Can't wait for the Jeff Sessions Show on Breitbart Radio, complete with a vaporwave cover of Dixie for the intro theme.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:02 AM on March 2, 2017 [12 favorites]


An admission of Russian interference, Trump resignation, and a thorough / agenda derailing investigation is probably the only thing that stops the leaks. No way Ryan allows anything to get in the way of his tax cuts, so leaks it is!
posted by Glibpaxman at 7:03 AM on March 2, 2017


Recusal is bullshit here, and it's not just about protecting Sessions. Thery're trying to avoid appointing an independent counsel, at which point the dominoes start falling like Watergate.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:04 AM on March 2, 2017 [61 favorites]


Countdown to "He has the full confidence of the President"...
posted by Etrigan at 7:04 AM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


At some point, Lindsey Graham is going to start whispering in Rubio and Cruz's ear that maybe the reason they aren't president is because the Russians were involved in the primaries, too. And then the whispers will spread - everyone on the R side of the aisle had a dog in that fight, and their guy/gal didn't win. They'll wake up to this sooner or later, and that worm will turn viciously.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:05 AM on March 2, 2017 [36 favorites]


Yesterday was rough. We went nearly the entire day without new evidence of Trump's collusion with Russia. But today we are rewarded for our suffering!
posted by diogenes at 7:06 AM on March 2, 2017 [57 favorites]


How much P90x will Paul Ryan have to do to deal with this latest news?
posted by drezdn at 7:07 AM on March 2, 2017 [18 favorites]




How much P90x will Paul Ryan have to do to deal with this latest news?

It depends on if he snorts it or just mainlines it straight into a vein.
posted by darkstar at 7:11 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


At some point, Lindsey Graham is going to start whispering in Rubio and Cruz's ear that maybe the reason they aren't president is because the Russians were involved in the primaries, too. And then the whispers will spread - everyone on the R side of the aisle had a dog in that fight, and their guy/gal didn't win. They'll wake up to this sooner or later, and that worm will turn viciously.

This would make me so deliriously happy.
posted by chaoticgood at 7:12 AM on March 2, 2017 [12 favorites]


We're only 40 days in, y'all.

At this rate, we may have to consider rationing the popcorn.
posted by darkstar at 7:15 AM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


At some point, Lindsey Graham is going to start whispering in Rubio and Cruz's ear that maybe the reason they aren't president is because the Russians were involved in the primaries, too. And then the whispers will spread - everyone on the R side of the aisle had a dog in that fight, and their guy/gal didn't win. They'll wake up to this sooner or later, and that worm will turn viciously.

Even Jeb?
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:16 AM on March 2, 2017


@timkmak: Sen. Manchin just now: if Sessions lied about contacts with Russian ambassador he should resign

Not even Manchin wants to be associated with this clownshow.
posted by chaoticgood at 7:18 AM on March 2, 2017 [50 favorites]


At this rate, we may have to consider rationing the popcorn.

Don't worry. We can use all the corn that Mexico isn't going to buy from us.
posted by Talez at 7:20 AM on March 2, 2017 [16 favorites]


Dasvidanya, Beauregard.
posted by spitbull at 7:20 AM on March 2, 2017 [16 favorites]




At some point, Lindsey Graham is going to start whispering in Rubio and Cruz's ear that maybe the reason they aren't president is because the Russians were involved in the primaries, too. And then the whispers will spread - everyone on the R side of the aisle had a dog in that fight, and their guy/gal didn't win. They'll wake up to this sooner or later, and that worm will turn viciously.
posted by Slap*Happy 10 minutes ago [7 favorites −] Favorite added! [!]


I just squealed with glee for the first time since...

Well, you know the date.

Although I think for this to actually happen, all of these craven little pocket fascists will have to see an expected ROI to turning on 45 that is greater than the expected ROI of staying "loyal."

In other words...this is how we'll know we're winning. Rats, ship, etc.
posted by schadenfrau at 7:20 AM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


Even Jeb?

You think GWB emerged from under his rock to put his two cents in for shits and giggles?
posted by Talez at 7:21 AM on March 2, 2017 [39 favorites]


Also want to start a balalaika/bluegrass band and put out an album called "The Russian Sessions."
posted by spitbull at 7:22 AM on March 2, 2017 [17 favorites]


Sessions ale. Aged for 25 days or so.
posted by ian1977 at 7:25 AM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


I know last week is like an eon long past in TrumpTime, but since we're bouncing people for perjury can we throw Pruitt to the rats now, too?
posted by Freon at 7:25 AM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


If Sessions gets impeached because of this, it will definitely be a little bit like Al Capone getting nailed on tax evasion, but I think its important to remember that the President himself shares Sessions's worldview on crime, law enforcement, immigration, civil liberties, and race. Certainly to a larger extent than he shared with Flynn wrt nat sec. If Sessions is out, it is not hard to see his replacement being just as bad.
posted by AceRock at 7:25 AM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Dasvidanya, Beauregard.

This would be a great title for a Coen Bros Burn After Reading-esque movie about the administration.
posted by jason_steakums at 7:26 AM on March 2, 2017 [23 favorites]


The United States conducted airstrikes against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen overnight, according to a senior US official.

There were conflicting reports as to whether one or multiple locations were struck. [CNN]
Does it still count as wagging the dog if it's a non-sexual distraction? Asking for me, not a friend.
posted by jaduncan at 7:27 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


I'm just imaging trump storming around the west wing in his bathroom screaming "KELLYANNE, SEAN, IVANKA, SOMEONE .... ALRIGHT WHO HAS MY FUCKING PHONE!"

Imagining the day's news raining on what had to be an orgy of post-speech narcissistic self-congratulation and gloating in the fascist WH inner circle is give me something better than schadenfreude.
posted by spitbull at 7:27 AM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


@DirtyOldTown: Please don't share memes that imply shooting the president.

Not sure if you didn't read that joke, or if you're making a separate one. The gag there is that sharing a shitty meme doesn't make you a revolutionary.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:27 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Hey Pittsburghers, if you're in the 21st State House District and the name Dom Costa means anything to you, memail me! Things are happening!
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:28 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


If Sessions is out, it is not hard to see his replacement being just as bad.

There's a lot of old racists who are compromised as hell, but there's not an infinite number of old racists who are compromised as hell, so in the balance, I'm okay with getting rid of the ones we can.
posted by Etrigan at 7:28 AM on March 2, 2017 [59 favorites]


If Sessions gets impeached because of this, it will definitely be a little bit like Al Capone getting nailed on tax evasion, but I think its important to remember that the President himself shares Sessions's worldview on crime, law enforcement, immigration, civil liberties, and race. Certainly to a larger extent than he shared with with Flynn. If Sessions is out, it is not hard to see his replacement being just as bad.

Part of me wonders if it might be Arpaio for some more pointless dick waving, but Flynn was replaced by a more rational person.
posted by jaduncan at 7:29 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Josh Marshall: My biggest takeaway is that this scandal has all the attributes of the vast and shattering scandals in which people who at least appear to have only indirect or limited roles themselves keep getting pulled under or compromised by it.
posted by diogenes at 7:29 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


Glenn Greenwald is going to bat for Jeff Sessions this morning. David Simon is having none of it.
posted by octobersurprise at 7:29 AM on March 2, 2017 [16 favorites]


MeFi: you for this.
posted by Kitty Stardust at 7:30 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


Glenn Greenwald is going to bat for Jeff Sessions this morning

Oh of course he is.
posted by spitbull at 7:31 AM on March 2, 2017 [33 favorites]


What will it take for Congress to act on this? I think they only do it to cover their asses. So I would look for some sort of oversight fig leaf if and only if they become worried about 2018.

Which...is quickly becoming the event horizon of the Republic.

Yay.
posted by schadenfrau at 7:31 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Glenn Greenwald is going to bat for Jeff Sessions this morning.

He has one of my strictly rationed evens. Maybe two.
posted by jaduncan at 7:32 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Greenwald should himself be presumed an FSB operative until proven otherwise. He's been in bed with Russian front group Wikileaks since the beginning.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:33 AM on March 2, 2017 [22 favorites]


Glenn Greenwald really is nothing more than a hot take factory, isn't he?
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:33 AM on March 2, 2017 [11 favorites]




Which...is quickly becoming the event horizon of the Republic.

I think you mean... the beevent horizon!
posted by diogenes at 7:34 AM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


No it's the event horizon of the beepublic
posted by ian1977 at 7:35 AM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


I'm glad I have a post-it paranoically placed over my webcam because the faces I am making reading these stories are embarrassing.
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:36 AM on March 2, 2017 [14 favorites]


Astronomers can't see black holes directly. They map them by their event horizon and their effect on nearby stars and stellar matter. We can't see yet what's at the center of the Trump/Russia black hole. But we can tell a lot about its magnitude by the scope of the event horizon and the degree of its gravitational pull, which is immense

Sometimes I think JMM writes just for me.
posted by schadenfrau at 7:37 AM on March 2, 2017 [23 favorites]


Simon has Glenn dead to rights about his varying standards of evidence:
How the fuck can you credibly declare every worst case scenario for US intel programming, and then in next dishonest breath call people who see dire scenarios in these Trump camp/Russian contacts McCarthyite? Is Glenn Greenwald the only viewpoint entitled to deep concern, or disbelief? Are your views so certain that you can conjure dystopian scenarios, but others should wait dispassionately until all evidence is in? Really? Suddenly, it seems, ideology has you buck naked here.
posted by tonycpsu at 7:37 AM on March 2, 2017 [62 favorites]


beevent hive-risin' of the beepublic

also holy jeez, T.D.Strange. The return of the mysterious Crimean text from the GOP Platform! That looks...jeez.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:38 AM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


Greenwald is pretty much just a Wikileaks style enabler of Trump at this point, and anyone Taking him seriously lacks all credibility.
posted by Artw at 7:38 AM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


Sessions will land on a soft, downy Fox News pundit pillow and be fine.

Sessions's replacement will be a horrible drone because of course he will be.

But Sessions is such a CONCENTRATED bag of rotting owl shit that it will be a pleasure to see him ascend to a position where he can make all of his supremacist and bigoted dreams come true, only to be booted out in a month before he can actually do anything significant, with his abandoned Senate seat already reoccupied. His political career ends in a puff of sulfur, and he spends his remaining days as a punchline for what's left of thinking people in America.
posted by delfin at 7:39 AM on March 2, 2017 [49 favorites]


put some hot cocoa in my coffee so I'd call this a GREAT DAY.

Mexican chocolate... three wedges in the coffee pot, trust me.
posted by spitbull at 7:39 AM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


Politico: McMaster rolls back Flynn’s changes at NSC, specifically positions created by the now ousted Flynn.
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:39 AM on March 2, 2017 [36 favorites]


McCarthy probably would have liked Putin. It's not the scary and authoritarian aspect of Russia he was against.
posted by Artw at 7:40 AM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


I'm glad I have a post-it paranoically placed over my webcam because the faces I am making reading these stories are embarrassing.
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:36 AM on March 2 [1 favorite −] Favorite added! [!]


The perjuries though.
posted by schadenfrau at 7:40 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


My own hot take: the problem with Greenwald isn't his take on Sessions, it's his repeated insistence that Claire McCaskill being a hypocrite on a more or less public meeting is the same thing as Sessions possibly lying under oath in order to become the highest law enforcement officerin the country.
posted by zombieflanders at 7:40 AM on March 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


Sessions Racist recused as Russia rumours roil Republican ranks!

Altered for alliteration and accuracy.
posted by Gelatin at 7:40 AM on March 2, 2017 [16 favorites]


No it's the event horizon of the beepublic

Where we're going we won't need eyes, just bees
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:40 AM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]



Glenn Greenwald really is nothing more than a hot take factory, isn't he?


Oh, for sure.

(As an aside, there was a story a few years ago, where I thought someone linked Glenn Greenwald to payments from pro-smoking groups, but I can't find the story anymore)

I ended up blocking Zaid on twitter a while ago for similar reasons.
posted by drezdn at 7:41 AM on March 2, 2017


Politico: McMaster rolls back Flynn’s changes at NSC, specifically positions created by the now ousted Flynn.

Make sure to unplug the mysterious box with the blinking lights and the FSB emblem.
posted by Artw at 7:43 AM on March 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


Has any enterprising weed marketer in a legal state introduced "Beauregard Sesh," a hybrid of paranoia-inducing indica and Russian-sourced Special K?
posted by spitbull at 7:43 AM on March 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


Has any enterprising weed marketer in a legal state introduced "Beauregard Sesh," a hybrid of paranoia-inducing indica and Russian-sourced Special K?

A "Jeff Sessions Ale" would be a beer marketed as a session beer but actually it has 20%ABV and turpentine in it.
posted by dis_integration at 7:44 AM on March 2, 2017 [21 favorites]


Josh Marshall: The Gravity is Strong
We've all heard the old saw: It's never the crime, it's the cover-up. This is almost never true. Covering scandals for any length of time is enough to tell you that. People are generally able to make judgments about how much trouble they're in. We think the 'cover up' is worse than the crime because it's actually very seldom that the full scope of the actual crime is ever known. The cover up works better than you think. The other reason the cover up is a logical response is that it usually works. You only find out about it when it doesn't. So it's a good bet.

Astronomers can't see black holes directly. They map them by their event horizon and their effect on nearby stars and stellar matter. We can't see yet what's at the center of the Trump/Russia black hole. But we can tell a lot about its magnitude by the scope of the event horizon and the degree of its gravitational pull, which is immense.
posted by tonycpsu at 7:45 AM on March 2, 2017 [65 favorites]


Make sure to unplug the mysterious box with the blinking lights and the FSB emblem.

If I were him, I'd unplug all the things and conduct my daily business in the SCIF.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:46 AM on March 2, 2017


A "Jeff Sessions Ale" would be a beer marketed as a session beer but actually it has 20%ABV and turpentine in it is a bottle of vodka.
posted by Freon at 7:46 AM on March 2, 2017 [21 favorites]


This was happening at the RNC while Sessions and Kislyak were at the RNC not discussing the campaign.

Holy moly. How much more fucking smoke does there need to be?
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:46 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


Melania Trump calls for the ‘gift of nature,’ not health insurance, to heal sick children

“I am a passionate believer in integrating and interpreting nature’s elements into our daily lives to create a warm, nurturing and positive environment,” said Melania Trump, according to a statement released by the hospital. “I believe that these same natural benefits can be instrumental to enhancing the health and well-being of all children.”

During the visit, Trump dedicated a healing garden to a D.C. philanthropist and planted Morning Glory seeds with sick children. The hospital did not mention any discussion of health care policies, but Kurt Newman, president of Children’s National Health System, said the hospital shares Trump’s “belief in the power of nature’s beauty to help kids heal and thrive.”


I guess the morning glories are so the kids can trip balls as they die. It's the gift of nature!
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:47 AM on March 2, 2017 [37 favorites]


This is what happens when you threaten to mess with Big Weed.
posted by drezdn at 7:47 AM on March 2, 2017 [15 favorites]


surely this
posted by entropicamericana at 7:48 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


I know this take is sort of hackneyed at this point, but: imagine if Michelle Obama had suggested healing kids with "the power of nature's beauty."
posted by tonycpsu at 7:49 AM on March 2, 2017 [51 favorites]


I like to imagine Putin reading the news, looking at a now more unified Europe, and just constantly doing the Stan Marsh Nose Pinch.

I hope that dead eyed sociopath has an absolutely excruciating frustration headache for the remainder of this administration.
posted by schadenfrau at 7:49 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


It's mildly remarkable how hard it is to find a Sessions defender on Twitter who doesn't have anything from the set of (Deplorable, Pizzagate, FakeNews, Cuck) in their recent tweets.
posted by delfin at 7:50 AM on March 2, 2017 [13 favorites]


I know this take is sort of hackneyed at this point, but: imagine if Michelle Obama had suggested healing kids with "the power of nature's beauty."

Don't forget that we got issue because too many OBGYN can't practice their love with women all across this country.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:51 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


interpreting nature’s elements into our daily lives

the fuck does this even mean?
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:51 AM on March 2, 2017 [17 favorites]


Well, this European thinks there is a huge difference in scale between lying under oath to hide that one has had sex with an intern (even as this is despicable), and then lying under oath to hide that one has been consorting with a foreign state to interfere with a US election (because this is criminal).

The guy that lied about the Russians voted to impeach the guy that lied about the intern.
Oh, hey, here’s a clip of Jeff Sessions yelling at Bill Clinton for perjury in 1999
posted by kirkaracha at 7:53 AM on March 2, 2017 [12 favorites]


planted Morning Glory seeds with sick children

Did they learn how to extract the LSA, or no?
posted by uncleozzy at 7:53 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


surely this!

One of these days you'll be right! It's like the lottery, you can't win if you don't play.
posted by spitbull at 7:53 AM on March 2, 2017 [24 favorites]


interpreting nature’s elements into our daily lives

the fuck does this even mean?


Bees are elements of nature
posted by jason_steakums at 7:54 AM on March 2, 2017 [51 favorites]


the fuck does this even mean?

Obamacare is getting replaced with Melaniaprayer.
posted by Artw at 7:54 AM on March 2, 2017 [19 favorites]


This was happening at the RNC while Sessions and Kislyak were at the RNC not discussing the campaign.

Also the same day, Trump gave an interview to RT.

please internet I really need a "coincidence!" gif from S4 of Arrested Development.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:55 AM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


In normal times, it'd just be somewhere between "oh, gardens are nice, especially for hospitals that are so scrubbed" and Paltrow-esque woo. Not normal times, though.
posted by holgate at 7:55 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Disappointing news for people who'd been looking forward to debates between Elizabeth Warren and former video-game magnate Curt Schilling: The Big Lug tweets he won't run, to clear the way for V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai, the man who sues Web sites that question whether he actually invented e-mail, who announced his own candidacy at a Mike Cernovich party at CPAC last week.
posted by adamg at 7:56 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


David Corn at Mother Jones thinks the NYT article about the Obama administration rushing to stash intelligence about Trump's Russian connections is a bigger story than the Sessions story (and that's saying something.)
posted by diogenes at 7:56 AM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


interpreting nature’s elements into our daily lives

the fuck does this even mean?


My money is on it being a pricy cosmetics line, like Cindy Crawford's melon anti-aging cream.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:57 AM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Rust Moranis: I guess the morning glories are so the kids can trip balls as they die. It's the gift of nature!

Fun fact: 'gift' means poison in at least Danish, German and Dutch.
posted by Too-Ticky at 7:57 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


What will it take for Congress to act on this?

The Democrats gaining control of at least one house in 2018.
posted by Gelatin at 7:57 AM on March 2, 2017 [13 favorites]




I think Melania should be pressed on this nature's beauty thing, because I'm pretty sure she means GOLD, and I would be 100% behind an initiative to pour gold into healthcare.
posted by OHenryPacey at 7:58 AM on March 2, 2017


What Jeff Sessions said about Russia, and when - WaPo timeline

I had no idea how early Sessions was on board the Trump campaign.
posted by gladly at 7:58 AM on March 2, 2017 [13 favorites]


Wait hang on. I thought there was one Tech Bro going after Warren but it's actually two?
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:58 AM on March 2, 2017


the fuck does this even mean?

We're talking about Slavic culture here, so it refers to mushrooms.
posted by spitbull at 8:00 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Reminder that the last attorney general had to recuse herself from the investigation into Clinton's emails because she had a conversation with Bill Clinton.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:00 AM on March 2, 2017 [74 favorites]


Update: The editorial desk wrote to me to confirm the contents of my letter, I think my letter demanding Sessions resignation is going to be printed! Write your local papers NOW so letters can get into tomorrow's papers.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 8:03 AM on March 2, 2017 [76 favorites]


I have the perfect suggestion for a special prosecutor:

Merrick Garland.
posted by spitbull at 8:03 AM on March 2, 2017 [99 favorites]


Melania enters the fray with the newest ACA replacement plan: the fusion of man and plant, dense bark protecting delicate flesh, swollen and sugar-laden fruiting bodies given freely by the sated to nourish those in need, delicate wispy children birthed from thorny seed-pods to drift on the winds and take up root where fate decrees
posted by jason_steakums at 8:03 AM on March 2, 2017 [26 favorites]


Wait hang on. I thought there was one Tech Bro going after Warren but it's actually two?

Is there someone other than Ayyadurai? I guess Schilling can be called a tech bro now, but he's really more of a sports-guy-turned-failed-entrepreneur.
posted by tobascodagama at 8:05 AM on March 2, 2017


Has any enterprising weed marketer in a legal state introduced "Beauregard Sesh," a hybrid of paranoia-inducing indica and Russian-sourced Special K?

Pretty sure that's already the Charlie Sheen strain.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:05 AM on March 2, 2017


McCarthy probably would have liked Putin. It's not the scary and authoritarian aspect of Russia he was against.

McCarthy didn't give a shit about communism. It was just a pretext for persecuting his political opponents. He would have had a long and distinguished career in the modern Republican party. There's a reason modern Reps venerate him.
posted by dirigibleman at 8:07 AM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


Al Franken reminds Jeff Sessions: ‘The ambassador from Russia is a Russian’
“I had simply asked him: What would he do if he had learned that other members of the campaign had met with the Russians, hoping he would say that he would recuse himself,” Franken said. “He chose not to answer that but instead chose to say that he had not met with the Russians.”

Then the punchline: “And, of course, the ambassador from Russia is a Russian,” the senator deadpanned.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:07 AM on March 2, 2017 [75 favorites]


I think Melania should be pressed on this nature's beauty thing, because I'm pretty sure she means GOLD, and I would be 100% behind an initiative to pour gold into healthcare.

We're talking about Slavic culture here, so it refers to mushrooms.

Maybe she's planning to steal the Sampo back from the Finns.
posted by Strange Interlude at 8:08 AM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


I had no idea how early Sessions was on board...

The early adopters were cranks, loons, bigots and misfits... so, yeah.
posted by holgate at 8:08 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


interpreting nature’s elements into our daily lives

I like to imagine it's prognosis and/or medicine selection via reading tea leaves.
posted by jaduncan at 8:09 AM on March 2, 2017


the fusion of man and plant

Alec Holland for Surgeon General!
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 8:10 AM on March 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


Well, in a holistic sense we all alter reality in unquantifiable ways just by existing within it, so in that sense, you and I and Obama all interfered in the Brexit election.

Thanks, Obama!
posted by Coventry at 8:12 AM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


Wait hang on. I thought there was one Tech Bro going after Warren but it's actually two?

Well, there's another guy who got rich selling aftermarket car parts online, so I guess that's sort of techie. And there's another candidate, a retired financial planner who describes himself as "an angry, conservative black man with a chip on his shoulder."
posted by adamg at 8:13 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


McCarthy didn't give a shit about communism.

communism was just a red herring
posted by entropicamericana at 8:19 AM on March 2, 2017 [36 favorites]


If Sessions gets impeached because of this, it will definitely be a little bit like Al Capone getting nailed on tax evasion

Nailed on perjury in an area related to a suspected misdeed, which is a little more intense.
posted by jaduncan at 8:20 AM on March 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


I'm beginning to worry that maybe I had contact with Kislyak during the campaign, since the Russian Ambassador is apparently the least memorable person on the planet. Everybody who talks to him promptly forgets.
YOU SHOULD INVESTIGATE US ALL ON SIGHT
posted by Servo5678 at 8:21 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


in all of the sessions news, i almost overlooked this bit of weirdness about the republican ACA replacement:

I have been told that the House Obamacare bill is under lock & key, in a secure location, & not available for me or the public to view.
-- @RandPaul

What's To Hide? House GOP Panel Viewing Obamacare Repeal Bill In Secret
Republicans on a House committee with jurisdiction over the Obamacare repeal legislation will be viewing the current version of the bill in secret in a basement room of a office building adjoining the Capitol Thursday, the Washington Examiner, Bloomberg and other outlets reported. GOP members and staff of the Energy and Commerce Committee will only be able to look at the legislation and will be prohibited from making copies, Bloomberg reported.
the presence of a sign on the door reading "beware the leopard" has not been confirmed at this time.
posted by murphy slaw at 8:23 AM on March 2, 2017 [51 favorites]


The lady, or the tiiiger?
posted by spitbull at 8:25 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


What exactly is Sessions supposed to recuse himself from? The WH leak investigation? A possible investigation to be named later? I mean, is he on some sort of investigation right now, even if in name only? (It's hard to keep track.)
posted by klarck at 8:28 AM on March 2, 2017


Republicans on a House committee with jurisdiction over the Obamacare repeal legislation will be viewing the current version of the bill in secret in a basement room of a office building adjoining the Capitol Thursday, the Washington Examiner, Bloomberg and other outlets reported. GOP members and staff of the Energy and Commerce Committee will only be able to look at the legislation and will be prohibited from making copies, Bloomberg reported.

The reasoning here is, what exactly? To prevent leaks that result in stories that result in congresspeople getting hounded by their constituents?

What the hell do they think happens if they actually pass the damn thing?
posted by leotrotsky at 8:30 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


Alec Holland for Surgeon General!

i'm sorry i did a bad thing with a computer
posted by jason_steakums at 8:31 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


SURELY everyone who said that Bill Clinton's saying hello to Loretta Lynch at an airport meant that Hillary shouldn't be president is now at least calling for Sessions to be fired, right? Right?

Perhaps I won't hold my breath.
posted by dnash at 8:31 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


> What the hell do they think happens if they actually pass the damn thing?

4. Profit!!!
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:31 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


What exactly is Sessions supposed to recuse himself from?

I think right now he's in charge of any prosecutions that come out of the active investigations in the House and Senate intelligence committees. And probably anything that comes out of the FBI.
posted by diogenes at 8:32 AM on March 2, 2017


So does that mean prosecuting Flynn is back on the table?
posted by C'est la D.C. at 8:33 AM on March 2, 2017


the presence of a sign on the door reading "beware the leopard" has not been confirmed at this time

Perhaps we should call the Spicer press conferences the Daily Vogon Poetry Slam.
posted by zombieflanders at 8:33 AM on March 2, 2017 [18 favorites]


What the hell do they think happens if they actually pass the damn thing?

It's like ripping off a bandaid. They don't want it to drag on for weeks. They want to pass it, let the liberals get pissed about it, and then forget about it completely when midterms come up.
posted by Talez at 8:33 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Probably any and all of:

a) Any FBI investigation we don't know about;
b) Any Intelligence Committee, House, or Senate investigations;
c) Any other IC investigation that might or might not be underway (they totally are, though) and resultant decisions around enforcement/prosecution.

Those FISA warrants didn't come from nothing.
posted by jaduncan at 8:33 AM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


There's no mystery on the ACA replacement: they haven't got anything that isn't an utter shitshow and so are trying to get the thing passed sight unseen.
posted by Artw at 8:34 AM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


There's no mystery on the ACA replacement: they haven't got anything that isn't an utter shitshow and so are trying to get the thing passed sight unseen.

if there's a drawn out shitshow where people know what they're up against the opposition will organize, galvanize, and turn it into a midterm wedge issue.
posted by Talez at 8:36 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


What the hell do they think happens if they actually pass the damn thing?

Take a look at some of the few town halls that have actually happened -- a common theme is "You can't say I'm lying about what's in the ACA, because no one's actually read the ACA." They figure they'll be able to keep doing that with the Federal Unified Care Knowledge: Official Followup Formula and Direction of Iatric Expedience.
posted by Etrigan at 8:38 AM on March 2, 2017 [49 favorites]


Now I'm listening to The Chemical Brothers because I started with Galvanize
posted by Talez at 8:40 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


What the hell do they think happens if they actually pass the damn thing?

They blame the resulting problems on Obama, any Clinton, or the Democrats in general. Or possibly Radical Islamic Terrorism. And say that while ordinary people's finances and health may be suffering, it's harder to get an abortion now, and isn't that what's really important?

It's worked for them since 1996, they pass absolutely terrible things and their base continues to eat it up.
posted by Candleman at 8:40 AM on March 2, 2017 [17 favorites]


Republicans on a House committee with jurisdiction over the Obamacare repeal legislation will be viewing the current version of the bill in secret in a basement room of a office building adjoining the Capitol Thursday, the Washington Examiner, Bloomberg and other outlets reported. GOP members and staff of the Energy and Commerce Committee will only be able to look at the legislation and will be prohibited from making copies, Bloomberg reported.

More angry red postcards, incoming.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:43 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Can someone edit Paul Ryan into the "This is fine" pic?
posted by drezdn at 8:44 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


This is an interesting detail in the NYT article:

As Inauguration Day approached, Obama White House officials grew convinced that the intelligence was damning and that they needed to ensure that as many people as possible inside government could see it, even if people without security clearances could not. Some officials began asking specific questions at intelligence briefings, knowing the answers would be archived and could be easily unearthed by investigators — including the Senate Intelligence Committee.

posted by diogenes at 8:45 AM on March 2, 2017 [22 favorites]


Okay, I'm pretty askance-y about Justin Amash (R-Michigan)'s "principled non-racist Republican" act, but damn if this ain't one of the better tweets from that side of the aisle lately.
posted by Etrigan at 8:47 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


As seen on Twitter: Can you imagine if Hillary's defense to something similar was "technically it wasn't perjury"?
posted by Talez at 8:48 AM on March 2, 2017 [28 favorites]


@SenGillibrand

It's clear that AG Sessions gave false testimony under oath at his hearing. This should disqualify him from leading the Justice Department.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:48 AM on March 2, 2017 [38 favorites]


Now I'm listening to The Chemical Brothers because I started with Galvanize

today's jam is Sisters of Mercy Dominion/Mother Russia
posted by murphy slaw at 8:49 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


Can someone edit Paul Ryan into the "This is fine" pic?

And then Cruz, and Issa, and Spicer, and... I'd enjoy them all!
posted by diogenes at 8:49 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]




Sen. Tester (very conservative D - MT) is calling strongly for Sessions to recuse. It's a lot, coming from Tester.
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:51 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


Ryan's answer to everything is "I haven't read/seen/heard" Controversial Thing and am therefore Not an Expert. Once you notice this tic it's impossible to ignore.
posted by xyzzy at 8:52 AM on March 2, 2017 [21 favorites]




Can someone edit Paul Ryan into the "This is fine" pic?

And then Cruz, and Issa, and Spicer, and... I'd enjoy them all!


thisisfine.jpg but with the GOP leadership instead of flames.
posted by tobascodagama at 8:52 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


There's no mystery on the ACA replacement: they haven't got anything that isn't an utter shitshow and so are trying to get the thing passed sight unseen.

if there's a drawn out shitshow where people know what they're up against the opposition will organize, galvanize, and turn it into a midterm wedge issue.


Plus, the key goal here for most Republicans isn't creating an improved heath care system, it's to be able to stand in front of conservative voters and say "I REPEALED OBAMACARE!!!". If they can keep the replacement plan hidden long enough and pass it alongside repeal, the right-wing fanfare over killing Obamacare might help drown out the fact that the replacement bill is just a shittier version of the ACA.
posted by parallellines at 8:53 AM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


As seen on Twitter: Can you imagine if Hillary's defense to something similar was "technically it wasn't perjury"?

Um. Like, what the meaning of "is" is? We already know how that went.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:54 AM on March 2, 2017


So, to recap:

1. Key people tied to Trump have been in compensated collusion with the Russians for a long time (e.g., Manafort, Flynn). The evidence is so powerful that they have to be fired from Trump's entourage/admin, but - in Flynn's case - not after covering it up and denying the contact had occurred for weeks, after the issue gained traction in the media.

2. There seems to be an intelligence "dossier" that suggests Trump was, if not being actively handled by the Russians, then at least at the very least in contact with them in his business dealings.

3. Trump repeatedly and inexplicably extols Putin's virtues, going so far as to dismiss criticisms of Putin's assassination of journalists and others by saying, essentially, that American is just as bad.

4. ALL of the US intelligence agencies agree that the Russians hacked into the DNC/Podesta's emails in order to subvert the US presidential election.

5. The Obama Administration, seemingly concerned that the incoming Trump admin might have reason to suppress or destroy evidence of Russian collusion, works to preserve said intel by distributing it across many servers and even possibly to foreign powers.

6. Jeff Sessions commits perjury in his confirmation hearing, denying he had any contact with Russians, when it now appears that he had meetings with he met with the Russian ambassador (also spymaster) on more than one occasion. Repeated attempts to "clarify" his statements dig his hole deeper.

6. Today, White House lawyers instructed staffers to retain all Russian-relection-hacking elated documents, a move almost certainly taken because the WH has probably received a subpoenae from some investigating body.

7. Just a few days ago, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said an investigation into Russian hacking would not be happening. Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D), another member of that committee, tweets out the document that sets forth the parameters agreed upon for that very investigation.

8. A growing list of congresscritters are now calling for Sessions to resign and/or recuse himself from any investigation/prosecution on Russian hacking, due to his own contacts with the Russian spymaster.

Is that about it? What did I miss?

As the song says: "There's something happening here...what it is ain't exactly clear..." But it doesn't bode well for the Trump train.
posted by darkstar at 8:55 AM on March 2, 2017 [114 favorites]


Let's hope they pull Geraldo Rivera out of mothballs for the reveal!
posted by OHenryPacey at 8:56 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Recusal just means a subordinate investigates and Sessions promises not to reach in. The hell with that.

28 CFR Part 600 - GENERAL POWERS OF SPECIAL COUNSEL

§ 600.1 Grounds for appointing a Special Counsel.

The Attorney General, or in cases in which the Attorney General is recused, the Acting Attorney General, will appoint a Special Counsel when he or she determines that criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted and -

(a) That investigation or prosecution of that person or matter by a United States Attorney's Office or litigating Division of the Department of Justice would present a conflict of interest for the Department or other extraordinary circumstances; and

(b) That under the circumstances, it would be in the public interest to appoint an outside Special Counsel to assume responsibility for the matter.

posted by snuffleupagus at 8:57 AM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


For those whose eyes are glazed with text, The Guardian has some infographics.
posted by adamvasco at 8:59 AM on March 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


Alec Holland for Surgeon General!

"It's raining in Washington tonight. Plump, warm summer rain that covers the sidewalks with leopard spots. Downtown, elderly ladies carry their houseplants out to set them on the fire-escapes, as if they were infirm relatives or Boy Kings. I like that."
posted by Joey Michaels at 9:01 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


Is that about it? What did I miss?


Don't forget the mysterious Rosneft sale that just happens to align perfectly with the amount promised in the uncorroborated dossier.
posted by contraption at 9:02 AM on March 2, 2017 [39 favorites]




The existence of the pee tape is anybodies guess, but Rosneft appears to be pretty damn solid.
posted by Artw at 9:06 AM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


White House says Sessions was ‘100% straight’ on Russia contacts, should still lead investigation

People also thought Freddie Mercury was 100% straight.
posted by Talez at 9:06 AM on March 2, 2017 [32 favorites]


Is that about it? What did I miss?

One of Sessions' meetings with the Russian ambassador took place at the RNC when Trump was pushing to change the party's platform positions on Russia/Ukraine.

The other one was when the Page/Manafort stories were all over the news.
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:07 AM on March 2, 2017 [21 favorites]


Now if we can just get Kellyanne to say sessions has trumps full confidence, we'll know he'll be gone by tonight.
posted by valkane at 9:09 AM on March 2, 2017 [25 favorites]


We're doubtlessly in for round 2 of that bullshit Muslim Ban in the immediate future. They held off 'cause they wanted to enjoy the way the media irrationally fawned all over that crappy speech, but clearly the afterglow is over now with this Sessions shit. They'll want to change this narrative. I'm kinda waiting for it any minute here. Surprised it hadn't dropped before I woke up this morning.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 9:09 AM on March 2, 2017 [17 favorites]


When can we start talking seriously about an illegitimate, stolen election? Is it now? Can it be now?
posted by schadenfrau at 9:09 AM on March 2, 2017 [44 favorites]


Oh, and there's all the Sater, Cohen, Ukraine deal stuff.
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:09 AM on March 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


Wag the swamp!
posted by spitbull at 9:10 AM on March 2, 2017 [14 favorites]


Before You Recuse Me (Take a Look at Yourself)
posted by kirkaracha at 9:12 AM on March 2, 2017 [16 favorites]


People also thought Freddie Mercury was 100% straight.

And OJ was absolutely, 100% not guilty.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:14 AM on March 2, 2017


contraption: Don't forget the mysterious Rosneft sale that just happens to align perfectly with the amount promised in the uncorroborated dossier.

And the mysterious creation of a company ("QHG Cayman") in the Cayman Islands right before it was involved in the Rosneft sale. The company was registered at a brokerage firm owned by a close ally of Trump who flew down on Air Force One for his birthday party at Mar A Lago.
posted by bluecore at 9:14 AM on March 2, 2017 [33 favorites]


When can we start talking seriously about an illegitimate, stolen election?

Like, even if you take for granted that there's an undercurrent of shady dealings in every election, that the road to any office passes through some number of extralegal rest areas, the sheer number and audacity of revelations that are bubbling to the surface in this cycle has to seem out of the ordinary, if not downright damning.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:15 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Is that about it? What did I miss?

FBI Director Comey's 2 hour classified briefing with the Senate Intel Committee.
posted by joedan at 9:15 AM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


More good news, with appropriate timing given the recent NYT report on the previous administration's end-days scramble to preserve evidence of Russian interference:

The 2017 JFK Profile in Courage recipient is President Barack Obama.
posted by orbit-3 at 9:15 AM on March 2, 2017 [41 favorites]


When can we start talking seriously about an illegitimate, stolen election? Is it now? Can it be now?

sadly i think that is never going to be on the table. we're going to have to keep mounting an ablative attack on the administration until it becomes impossible to shield trump any further.
posted by murphy slaw at 9:15 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


Stephen Colbert and Patrick Stewart, Waiting for Godot’s Obamacare Replacement
posted by kirkaracha at 9:16 AM on March 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


One of Sessions' meetings with the Russian ambassador took place at the RNC when Trump was pushing to change the party's platform positions on Russia/Ukraine.

The other one was when the Page/Manafort stories were all over the news.


IIRC Sessions is responsible for bringing Page into the campaign.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:18 AM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


28 CFR Part 600 - GENERAL POWERS OF SPECIAL COUNSEL

§ 600.1 Grounds for appointing a Special Counsel.


This is surely one of the regs they have identified for removal.
posted by phearlez at 9:18 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Even if proven they collaborated directly with Russia to hack the DNC and coordinate campaign response around timed leaks of the emails, possibly with Comeys knowledge and assistance, there's no mechanism for a new election. At best we're looking at President Pence or Orrin Hatch, and a slightly less compromised but still horrible cabinet dedicated to destroying the government.

That may be the reason why Republicans saw no downside to Russian treason, winning made it all worth it. We don't excute people for treason these days, and they got their Supreme Court seat plus the ability to reshape the SCOTUS and deny liberals a transformation on the Court. No one can ever take that back from them now no matter what.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:22 AM on March 2, 2017 [13 favorites]


They also need to win forever, as the moment the dems gain power a lot of folks are going to jail (or should, rather).
posted by Slackermagee at 9:25 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


We don't excute people for treason these days

Well why the hell not
posted by schadenfrau at 9:27 AM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]




At best we're looking at President Pence or Orrin Hatch

The GOP are barely getting anything done under the present level of resistance. You really think a successful impeachment is going to make things easier for them?
posted by tobascodagama at 9:29 AM on March 2, 2017 [17 favorites]




meanwhile, sebastian gorka states that having qualms about VOICE is un-american
posted by murphy slaw at 9:30 AM on March 2, 2017 [15 favorites]


snuffleupagus: Recusal just means a subordinate investigates and Sessions promises not to reach in. The hell with that.

Don't forget who is in charge of the investigation after Session's recusal, which he has reportedly agreed to:
"The second in command at the Department of Justice is Dana Boente, an Obama-appointed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia who Trump tapped to serve as Acting Attorney General when he fired former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates."
posted by msalt at 9:30 AM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


going to laugh my ass off so hard if the administration is brought down by an obama appointee they were too lazy to replace
posted by murphy slaw at 9:32 AM on March 2, 2017 [52 favorites]


Rand Paul went on a little quest this morning:
I am heading to the secure location where they are keeping the House obamacare bill. I will demand a copy for the American people.
--@RandPaul

A short time later:
Sen. Rand Paul demands a copy of the bill. This staffer says she can't give him one. [photo]
--@pdmcleod

And:
One member compares this to an egg hunt. This being finding the Obamacare bill.
--@caitlinnowens

Really, just read all of @pdmcleod's recent tweets about the search for the Obamacare replacement bill. This is madness.
posted by zachlipton at 9:33 AM on March 2, 2017 [20 favorites]


We're only 40 days in, y'all.

At this rate, we may have to consider rationing the popcorn.


Nah, we'll have a total surplus when Mexico doesn't buy any.

[dammit Talez already did it]
posted by aspersioncast at 9:33 AM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


if the democrats can't make some hay about the super-sekrit obamacare replacement bill being reviewed in a locked basement, i don't know what to do with them anymore
posted by murphy slaw at 9:34 AM on March 2, 2017 [27 favorites]


What I don't understand about both Flynn and Sessions is why they lied about talking to their FSB handlers Russian diplomatic counterparts.

There are entirely legitimate reasons for a Senator (the Senate being a powerful foreign policy making body) and a future NSAdvisor to talk to diplomatic counterparts of any nation.

So just say: yes, I spoke to them, in my capacity as X. We got to know each other so that we could have a good relationship going forward if we won the election. The story would die right then and there.

Since you fools lied, it's obvious you did something very bad. Get your damn stories straight. I want my criminal rulers to actually be good at being crooks.
posted by dis_integration at 9:35 AM on March 2, 2017 [14 favorites]


They also need to win forever, as the moment the dems gain power a lot of folks are going to jail (or should, rather).

We don't do that either though, because the country is so polarized and balanced on a knifes edge. That's why Obama didn't prosecute BushCo for obvious war crimes. He didn't want a future Trump administration to turn around and do the same, and didn't want to inflame the 50% of the country who would see it as a partisan witch hunt. Republicans are making a very good bet that either Democrats will never win again, or that they won't be prosecuted for crimes in or while seeking office.

You really think a successful impeachment is going to make things easier for them?

Yes. At least until 2018. A sane and competent president would be much more effective in passing tax cuts and vote suppression, staffing the agencies, and ready to appoint any more SCOTUS openings. I'm not sure they even have any more of an agenda than that, and sweeping out the Trump insanity and Bannon burn it all down cult would be a net positive for the establishment Republican agenda even if the fallout from impeachment resulted in losing the House in 2018. They could have 3.5 years to regroup around a "it was all Trump, not us" rebranding for 2020.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:35 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Really, just read all of @pdmcleod's recent tweets about the search for the Obamacare replacement bill. This is madness.

Headlines should be: House Speaker Ryan Unable To Perform Basic Duties
posted by Slackermagee at 9:36 AM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


"The second in command at the Department of Justice is Dana Boente, an Obama-appointed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia who Trump tapped to serve as Acting Attorney General when he fired former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates."

This is a guy who defended the immigration ban instead of resigning. I expect nothing and I still expect to be disappointed.
posted by Talez at 9:37 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


A sane and competent president would be much more effective in passing tax cuts and vote suppression, staffing the agencies, and ready to appoint any more SCOTUS openings.

I dunno... Gerald Ford was sane and competent and well-liked by both parties, and he didn't get shit done.
posted by Etrigan at 9:38 AM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Good think Mike Pence is neither sane nor competent.
posted by soren_lorensen at 9:38 AM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


meanwhile, sebastian gorka states that having qualms about VOICE is un-american


Obvs a Russian backed Hungarian Nazi would be the one to decide that.
posted by Artw at 9:38 AM on March 2, 2017 [29 favorites]


White House says Sessions was ‘100% straight’ on Russia contacts, should still lead investigation

So straight it's downright Victorian, compared to watersports.
posted by Coventry at 9:39 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Republicans are making a very good bet that either Democrats will never win again, or that they won't be prosecuted for crimes in or while seeking office.

The Democratic Party that emerges from this will be having none of that

I'm not saying that's a good thing

It's just a thing

(I sort of think we're headed toward cold civil war no matter what, so might as well finish them first chance we get.)
posted by schadenfrau at 9:40 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


I want my criminal rulers to actually be good at being crooks.

Yeah, other than the comic-book-villain names.

It's been remarked, but they suck at crime, they're not good at capitalism or even 'business,' and they don't even do rich very well.

Failing at treason is just like the icing on the cake. Like they could have at least sold us out to a slick modern bogeyman like the PRC.
posted by aspersioncast at 9:41 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]




Gerald Ford was sane and competent

Sane? Sure. Competent? Until W I thought he was regarded as the most inept and unintelligent of the 20th century Presidents. I guess he wasn't grossly incompetent, but he wasn't exactly a mover and shaker.
posted by dis_integration at 9:43 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


I bet they think they're actually really good at treason, just because they've lucked into office at a time when they get a pass on everything.
posted by Artw at 9:43 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Yes. At least until 2018. A sane and competent president would be much more effective in passing tax cuts and vote suppression

Remember that anyone who replaces an impeached president has essentially no constituency. Nobody voted for Pence to be president. Nobody voted for Hatch to be president. It matters because that person does not represent the will of the voters, and therefore has zero political capital. In order to achieve anything, the political will must be present, which derives mostly from voters.
posted by krinklyfig at 9:44 AM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


So the Patriot Party™ is openly fine with retroactively losing WWII to the Nazis and the Cold War to the Russians. Tax cuts are a helluva drug.
posted by chris24 at 9:45 AM on March 2, 2017 [56 favorites]


Thinking of calling about Sessions? Have some talking points, if you need them:

* Jefferson Beauregard Sessions clearly made false statements under oath to Congress about his contact with a Russian spymaster prior to the election.
* Sessions is, therefore, not fit to lead any investigation into Russian interference into the last federal election.
* Sessions should immediately resign from the DoJ or be fired.
* Special, independent counsel must be appointed to investigate these incredibly serious allegations of collaboration with a hostile foreign power.
* The investigation should be bipartisan and public as to avoid interference by the obviously compromised executive branch.
* This issue is of the highest importance because Russian electoral interference endangers our democratic institutions, our sovereignty, and way of life.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 9:46 AM on March 2, 2017 [28 favorites]


Don't forget who is in charge of the investigation after Session's recusal, which he has reportedly agreed to:

"The second in command at the Department of Justice is Dana Boente, an Obama-appointed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia who Trump tapped to serve as Acting Attorney General when he fired former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates."


I'm reading that with exactly the opposite implication. Boente was tapped to defend the EO Yates wouldn't. If she becomes less than compliant she'll be shown to the same exit.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:47 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Rand Paul went on a little quest this morning:
I am heading to the secure location where they are keeping the House obamacare bill.


I haven't seen anyone else here mention it, so I will - there's no way it's a coincidence that there's suddenly a rash of (R)s referring to this as the "obamacare bill" rather than a repeal bill, etc.
posted by phearlez at 9:47 AM on March 2, 2017 [21 favorites]


Horse update: Remember how exciting it was when Paul Ryan was on a horse last week? Well, now the brand new Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke rode a horse to his first day at work.

Instead of the bees, maybe we should be seeking an alliance with the horses?
posted by zachlipton at 9:49 AM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


If you are a bad liar, it's best to stick to the truth.
posted by thelonius at 9:49 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


If she becomes less than compliant she'll be shown to the same exit.

He. That's entirely possible but would be an excellent signal that the wheels are well and truly off.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:49 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]




Democrats also like horses.
posted by pxe2000 at 9:50 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Remember that anyone who replaces an impeached president has essentially no constituency.

That didn't stop LBJ from having an enormous impact.
posted by Coventry at 9:51 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Rand Paul throwing shade on the Republicans is kinda like seeing Joffrey Baratheon attacking the Death Star in an X-Wing.

You want to cheer him on, but it's weird.
posted by Sauce Trough at 9:51 AM on March 2, 2017 [30 favorites]


Heh.
posted by prefpara at 9:51 AM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


Dana Boente was also the AG explicitly removed from the DOJ succession order by Obama, without public explanation, a week before he left office. Not someone we should rejoice about picking the special prosecutor.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:52 AM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


Fucking hell, that Sessions gif. It's like he could hear the 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' theme song playing in his head already.
posted by sporkwort at 9:52 AM on March 2, 2017 [25 favorites]


Ack, quite right.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:54 AM on March 2, 2017


Rand Paul throwing shade on the Republicans is kinda like seeing Joffrey Baratheon attacking the Death Star in an X-Wing.

That's kind of his schtick. He throws shade at Republicans because he wants to be even shittier and awfuller than they are, and they won't let him.
posted by soren_lorensen at 9:54 AM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]



Do you suppose the Jan 12 EO wherein Obama gives US intelligence greater access to warrantless data on foreigners may have been one of the ways the Obama Administration Rushed to Preserve Intelligence of Russian Election Hacking?


I really think it was. It was such a weird and out of left field thing he did. It also apparently made it so other agencies could get access to raw info easier and without needing warrants and more formal requests. This does lead to an issue with the use of and privacy with public data, which there was an well warranted outcry about it. But apparently what it also did was allow IC peeps to get access to data in a way that would not lead to the WH knowing as easily that they were. Things like warrants and formal requests are easier to keep track of I guess. At least this is what I read a few weeks back.
posted by Jalliah at 9:55 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


Susan Collins becomes 2nd GOP Senator to call for Jeff Sessions to recuse himself
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:55 AM on March 2, 2017 [19 favorites]


I'm sure at least some of the Russia stuff is overblown, but it's incredible (read: entirely predictable) that the same credulous ass-clowns who were willing to entertain any and all wild conspiracy theory about Obama's selling us all out to China/Kenya/Sharia law are just doubling down on the "Nothing to see here."
posted by aspersioncast at 9:55 AM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


Yeah, I guarantee you Rand wants to see the bill so he can complain about it not repealing the ACA completely enough, or allowing insurance for too many moochers.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:56 AM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


Remember that anyone who replaces an impeached president has essentially no constituency.

That didn't stop LBJ from having an enormous impact.


Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

JFK wasn't impeached. It was kind of a whole big thing?
posted by tobascodagama at 9:56 AM on March 2, 2017 [53 favorites]


That didn't stop LBJ from having an enormous impact.

Kennedy was very popular, and he was not impeached.
posted by krinklyfig at 9:56 AM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Jim Comey declined to tell members of House Intel whether or who they are investigating re Trump/Russia (cite)
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:56 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Remember that anyone who replaces an impeached president has essentially no constituency...

That didn't stop LBJ from having an enormous impact.


Not even close to the same situation.
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:57 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Hatch says he's not concerned about Sessions. "My concern is, why are our Democratic senators so doggone rude to a former senator?"

There is no war in Ba Sing Se.
posted by chaoticgood at 9:57 AM on March 2, 2017 [14 favorites]


To do: Write another lovely note to Susan Collins thanking her for being a reasonable human being (which, by the way goes against my nature, because I think adults don't need thank you notes for doing their job, but apparently they do.)
posted by Sophie1 at 9:58 AM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Yeah, I guarantee you Rand wants to see the bill so he can complain about it not repealing the ACA completely enough, or allowing insurance for too many moochers.

He tweeted as much. 'Why won't they let me see this bill so I can make a ruckus about how it doesn't burn down our health care system completely, only mostly?'
posted by soren_lorensen at 9:58 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Hatch says he's not concerned about Sessions. "My concern is, why are our Democratic senators so doggone rude to a former senator?"

From comity to comedy.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:58 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


No sitting US President has ever been impeached. The only analogous situation is Nixon's resignation.

How much did Gerald Ford get done?
posted by tobascodagama at 9:59 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Hatch says he's not concerned about Sessions. "My concern is, why are our Democratic senators so doggone rude to a former senator?"

In 1865, Hatch would have demanded that Jefferson Davis be allowed to resume his legitimately elected seat as the junior senator from Mississippi.
posted by Etrigan at 9:59 AM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


CNN:

Senior administration official says White House learned of Sessions’ contacts with Russian ambassador from press reports
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:59 AM on March 2, 2017 [27 favorites]


So, who gets to play the Ollie North role this time around? They already used up Flynn.
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:00 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


LOL. Questionable how much better that lie makes them look, but I guess it means they are leaving the door open to axe him.
posted by Artw at 10:01 AM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


Senior administration official says White House learned of Sessions’ contacts with Russian ambassador from press reports

guys it sounds like pence was not informed
who'da thunk
posted by prefpara at 10:01 AM on March 2, 2017 [49 favorites]


"It was a totally normal and routine part of his duties as a senator and also we had no idea at all it was happening."
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 10:01 AM on March 2, 2017 [36 favorites]


Senior administration official says White House learned of Sessions’ contacts with Russian ambassador from press reports

Bullshit, of course. But they're distancing themselves from Jeff. Not great news for bee-regard.
posted by Rust Moranis at 10:01 AM on March 2, 2017 [29 favorites]


Senator McCaskill has also apparently lied about meeting with Russian ambassadors, but not under oath.

Don't buy this desperate Republican spin. (Brad Jaffy actually deleted the tweet you linked to, but it's being peddled by the craven National Review as part of their "Never Mind my Never Trump" campaign.)

McCaskill said specifically that she never met the Russian Ambassador as a member of the Armed Services Committee and that is true. She apparently met him once on some deal about adopting kids from Russia, and called him another time.

But the distinction is not just parsing words, it's exactly to the point. Sessions' defense is that he met with the Ambassador as part of his Armed Services Committee duties, like you do. And that's complete horseshit. Every one of the other 20 members of the committee told the WP that they did not meet the Russian Ambassador as part of their committee work.
posted by msalt at 10:01 AM on March 2, 2017 [23 favorites]


I love/hate when I copy something particularly egregious to be like "yo that thing you said was bad" and find that like fifteen MeFites have beaten me to the punch.

So how are we going to get this Special Prosecutor ball rolling?
posted by schadenfrau at 10:03 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Senior administration official says White House learned of Sessions’ contacts with Russian ambassador from press reports

lmaooooooo

I cannot with these people. I am reduced to millennial twitterisms.

I am going running. When I get back, I expect us to have booted all these fuckers out and instituted full luxury communism.
posted by soren_lorensen at 10:03 AM on March 2, 2017 [54 favorites]


Shut up, Orrin Hatch. Shut up forever.

And yeah, if we get Pence, he is not going to have any of the sympathy and support that the grieving nation extended to LBJ. He will be terrible, no doubt, but while is he is more competent that Trump (as am I, as are you), that doesn't mean he's a smart guy. He will be more determined to get us all to Gilead, but he will also be more predictable to fight.

And much as the Rs will want to get the Trump stink off, given how deep the Russia ties go, that stink is going to linger; they will never be free of suspicions of collusion with Russia.

I want Trump out largely and immediately because I fear he will push the button or get someone else to do it. Survival first. Then fighting like hell against Republican goals.
posted by emjaybee at 10:04 AM on March 2, 2017 [25 favorites]


No sitting US President has ever been impeached. The only analogous situation is Nixon's resignation.

Bill Clinton was impeached. It was not carried to a conviction, so he was not removed from office.

The terminology is a little weird. It's also not consistent from, say, Federal to state levels. I was a kid in Arizona when they impeached Governor Evan Mecham, and that removed him from office, but that was a state level with a different procedure.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:05 AM on March 2, 2017 [17 favorites]


Senior administration official says White House learned of Sessions’ contacts with Russian ambassador from press reports

Psst remember LITERALLY TWO DAYS AGO when a "senior white house official" told you stuff and it was an overt and deliberate lie meant to alter the public conversation and then THEY ADMITTED THAT FACT THE VERY NEXT DAY?

News media, you could literally have been born yesterday and still would know this.
posted by phearlez at 10:06 AM on March 2, 2017 [58 favorites]


No sitting US President has ever been impeached

Both Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were impeached, but neither were convicted by the Senate, which would have ended their terms.
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:06 AM on March 2, 2017 [28 favorites]


I managed to speak to a human being at Katko's office a few minutes ago and expressed my feelings about AG Sessions specifically and the Russian hacking investigations generally. I signed off by saying that I greatly looked forward to hearing an expression of the independent voice Katko promised us during his campaign.
No sitting US President has ever been impeached.
I think you mean removed from office after invoking the articles of impeachment. Clinton was impeached but not found guilty.
posted by xyzzy at 10:06 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


JFK wasn't impeached. It was kind of a whole big thing?

Thanks. Reading fail.
posted by Coventry at 10:07 AM on March 2, 2017


re: 45 vs Pence: We're absolutely better off with Pence. I say that with every sympathy and solidarity with the people Pence will hurt. He's awful and shitty and incompetent and hateful, yes. But every shitty thing Pence would do is something 454 will do, anyway. That said, Pence won't cheerfully piss away NATO. He'll actually attend intelligence briefings. Bannon will be gone. Pence will want cabinet appointees who are at least generally competent. Pence will want basic functions of government to continue. It's a matter of harm reduction, and that's important. We're all better off fighting Pence than fighting Cheetoh Mussolini.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:08 AM on March 2, 2017 [42 favorites]


It's almost like they should refuse to report denials from the White House unless they're attributed on the record to a named source or something. I mean, that's completely ridiculous, because it would involve standing their ground for a half a second, but would it kill them to try?
posted by zachlipton at 10:08 AM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


KY Sen Rand Paul wheeled over a portable copy machine to McMorris Rodgers office in an effort to photocopy the health care bill (real)
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:09 AM on March 2, 2017 [38 favorites]


I managed to speak to a human being at Katko's office

Please tell us her name was Kara Danvers.
posted by zombieflanders at 10:09 AM on March 2, 2017 [24 favorites]


Wait. Have they tried searching the Kremlin for the Obamacare replacement bill? Seems like both the most logical place and the only place they haven't looked.
posted by zachlipton at 10:10 AM on March 2, 2017 [18 favorites]


I'm sure at least some of the Russia stuff is overblown

I'm not.
posted by diogenes at 10:11 AM on March 2, 2017 [36 favorites]


I've got John Prine's "Come Back To Us, Barbara Lewis Hare Krishna Beauregard" stuck in my head.

Here, have an earworm.
posted by spitbull at 10:11 AM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


I'm beginning to worry that maybe I had contact with Kislyak during the campaign, since the Russian Ambassador is apparently the least memorable person on the planet. Everybody who talks to him promptly forgets.

I can only conclude that the Men in Black neuralyzer is real and that the Russians have it.
posted by Emera Gratia at 10:11 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


Reading Paul McLeod's tweets about the hunt for the ACA replacement bill (especially ones like this) is honestly making me think that the thing doesn't actually exist in the first place. Is it possible they were having such a hard time coming up with something that they thought would work and pass that they just lied about having created it so they could look like they were taking action?
posted by IAmUnaware at 10:12 AM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


At the very least, if the top echelon of the administration were actually unaware of this, or if the accusations of collusion were somehow unfounded, they would have asked senior officials about their contacts with Russia during the campaign. If the White House is saying that they didn't know about Sessions' talks before, but not also saying "that means he lied to us," the implications are even more damning than Sessions' lie.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 10:13 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


I think this is new:

House Judiciary Democrats en masse call for a perjury investigation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

(Link to a tweet by a Bloomberg reporter.)
posted by diogenes at 10:14 AM on March 2, 2017 [29 favorites]


No replacement. You're the replacement.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:14 AM on March 2, 2017 [13 favorites]


Is it possible they were having such a hard time coming up with something that they thought would work and pass that they just lied about having created it so they could look like they were taking action

woah, Woah, WOAH

Turn on the radio: administration doesn't "lie." It just tells "untruths."
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:15 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Devin Nunes, Chair of the House Intelligence Committee and prominent member of the Trump transition team, is threatening reporters who so much as call the Russian embassy with Congressional investigations.
posted by zombieflanders at 10:15 AM on March 2, 2017 [44 favorites]


Insofar as political theater goes, Rep. Hoyer speaking to a bust of Lincoln about what the Republican Party has become as part of the search for the Obamacare bill is a pretty good bit.
posted by zachlipton at 10:16 AM on March 2, 2017 [16 favorites]


He's actually speaking to the Russian consulate.
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:17 AM on March 2, 2017 [14 favorites]


Oh, Devin. You are just asking to be convicted of treason. Maddow already has her eye on you. You don't think this is going to cause some people to raise questions?
posted by Sophie1 at 10:17 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Devin Nunes, Chair of the House Intelligence Committee and prominent member of the Trump transition team, is threatening reporters who so much as call the Russian embassy with Congressional investigations.

I just ...how stupid can you be? You think you're going to scare reporters from reporting by threatening to investigate them ...for reporting?
posted by leotrotsky at 10:18 AM on March 2, 2017 [29 favorites]


Devin Nunes, Chair of the House Intelligence Committee and prominent member of the Trump transition team, is threatening reporters who so much as call the Russian embassy with Congressional investigations.

So we need to get Sessions designated a journalist, is what you're saying.
posted by Etrigan at 10:18 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]




Devin Nunes, Chair of the House Intelligence Committee and prominent member of the Trump transition team, is threatening reporters who so much as call the Russian embassy with Congressional investigations.

Definitely the way to get naturally curious people to look away. You're a champion, Nunes.
posted by jason_steakums at 10:23 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


A finely. tuned. machine.

I can only picture that Lada that bounces backwards when I see that phrase now.
posted by peeedro at 10:23 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


If Nunes keeps this stuff he'd better understand that he will not be bee leaved by the American people.
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:23 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


RED bad rep postcard for my rep Greg Walden, House E & C chair, for playing Easter Egg hunt with the ACA replacement bill. GREEN good senator postcards for Merkley and Wyden for calling out Sessions.

Today is fun.
posted by hilaryjade at 10:25 AM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Yeah, I'm sure that would be horrible for an ambitiious young reporters' career if they got prosecuted by a flailing administration for aggressively investigating Trumps' links to Russia.
posted by msalt at 10:26 AM on March 2, 2017 [31 favorites]


I can't decide which part of that Sessions GIF I prefer. The "oops!" face, or the "did the camera just catch that oops face?" face.

I'm also enjoying the spectacle of Republican Senators wandering around in the basement looking for the hidden bill.
posted by diogenes at 10:28 AM on March 2, 2017 [18 favorites]


Reading Paul McLeod's tweets about the hunt for the ACA replacement bill (especially ones like this) is honestly making me think that the thing doesn't actually exist in the first place

Republicans playing Russian roulette with replacement bill?
posted by nubs at 10:28 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Reading Paul McLeod's tweets about the hunt for the ACA replacement bill (especially ones like this) is honestly making me think that the thing doesn't actually exist in the first place. Is it possible they were having such a hard time coming up with something that they thought would work and pass that they just lied about having created it so they could look like they were taking action?

If you're up for a really, really deep dive, Jason Linkins at HuffPo has you covered: original from 2014 and followup from February. Disclosure: Jason has been a personal friend for years.
posted by fedward at 10:29 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


If I were a reporter, before Nunes said that I'd be thinking sure, I'll call the embassy and note their no comment or whatever, but it's not a priority because it's not useful information... after he said that I'd be on the phone to the embassy immediately.
posted by jason_steakums at 10:30 AM on March 2, 2017 [39 favorites]


Full Nunes quote:
Look, I'm sure some of you are in contact with the Russian Embassy. So be careful what you ask for here because if we start getting transcripts of any of you or other Americans talking to the press--do you want us to conduct an investigation on you or other Americans because you were talking to the Russian Embassy? I just think we need to be careful.
So according to Nunes, the crime just talking to the embassy is a crime, irrespective of the actual content of the communications? Even under this metric, Sessions committed a crime.

Nevertheless, there's a huge difference between reporters seeking comment from Russian government officials as a part of investigation done by the free press, and a campaign surrogate/cabinet appointee lying under oath to Congress about his contact with representatives of a hostile foreign power linked to electoral interference.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 10:32 AM on March 2, 2017 [22 favorites]


Today is fun.

Yup, so much so that I'm getting a little worried that we're going to incur the wrath of the Schadenfreude Fairy.
posted by diogenes at 10:33 AM on March 2, 2017 [15 favorites]


Yes! More of this kind of thing!
I just bought my mom a gift subscription to digital WaPo, year-long, DC + national, on purpose the most expensive possible. She's just going to skim the headlines and then play mahjong--the tree does not grow far from the fallen apple--but whatever, I need to throw money at them, they're saving us all. Every time some paper or magazine does something amazing, I'm buying another subscription to something for somebody. My house will either get foreclosed on or burn down from all the stockpiled unread magazines and partdone crosswords.
posted by Don Pepino at 10:33 AM on March 2, 2017 [27 favorites]


The above-mentioned White House ethics lawyer, Richard Painter, has an Op-Ed in the NYT calling for Sessions to resign.
posted by murphy slaw at 10:35 AM on March 2, 2017 [22 favorites]


Is it possible they were having such a hard time coming up with something that they thought would work and pass that they just lied about having created it so they could look like they were taking action?

I think that the whole thing is just a ruse to get them into a secret room where they can renew their blood oaths to Dread Cthulhu.
posted by nubs at 10:35 AM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]



Tom Hanks keeps sending fancy coffee machines to the WH press corps.


Who will be the one to find the escape tools hidden inside?
posted by drezdn at 10:40 AM on March 2, 2017 [12 favorites]


Since you fools lied, it's obvious you did something very bad. Get your damn stories straight. I want my criminal rulers to actually be good at being crooks.

All I will say is that I have Sweet Clyde warming up just in case. And with any luck, Sweet Clyde is going to be one tired Globetrotter by 1/1/2018.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:43 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Rand Paul throwing shade on the Republicans is kinda like seeing Joffrey Baratheon attacking the Death Star in an X-Wing.

The Death Star is way too big to fit into an X-Wing totally irrespective of who might be attacking it.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:44 AM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Devin Nunes, Chair of the House Intelligence Committee and prominent member of the Trump transition team, is threatening reporters who so much as call the Russian embassy with Congressional investigations.

The Entire Profession of Journalism replied, "If you're feeling froggy, Senator, then jump already. Do it, chicken. Doooo iiiiiiiiiiiiiit."

Can you imagine the ratings CNN will pull in as a NYT or WaPo reporter knocks the stuffing out of Sen. Nunes & Co during questioning with careful and damning answers? Just about everyone covering national politics is probably falling all over themselves to be the first to pick up the phone to say "Zdravstvujtye, Ambassador! Have time for a chat?"
posted by Slap*Happy at 10:45 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


The line about transcripts makes me think he's rolling his eyes.

The line about transcripts makes me think my earlier comment is even more likely:

- Based on how Flynn went down, I'd guess the next leak is that they know/have transcripts of what was said. So they leak the meetings, let him deny, say there was no election talk, then leak the contents. With election talk. -
posted by chris24 at 10:45 AM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


Nunes is in the House, not the Senate.
posted by fedward at 10:46 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Yup, so much so that I'm getting a little worried that we're going to incur the wrath of the Schadenfreude Fairy.

There is the precedent of IC leaks of personally compromising information being used to drive politics, but the bill for that won't really come due for a few years... the Republicans will have lie their way back to legitimacy again before they can pull that off.
posted by Coventry at 10:47 AM on March 2, 2017




That's been the drip-drip-drip approach so far: provide just enough time for a response, then when they dig themselves into a deeper hole...

It'll be the "didn't tell Mike Pence" escape clause again. Because Mike Pence knows nothing.
posted by holgate at 10:49 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


I'm so happy this all broke the day after Trump's disgusting speech. He was probably feeling so good about himself and now he must be so very, very angry. His tiny hands making fists and waving in the air.
posted by Justinian at 10:49 AM on March 2, 2017 [64 favorites]


The House intel ranking member also indicated that Comey and the Justice Department should be more cooperative and forthcoming at their next meeting “because we’re gonna need that information.”

“And we’re better off getting that through the voluntary cooperation of the FBI than having to contemplate whether we need to subpoena the FBI,” he warned.

posted by diogenes at 10:51 AM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


- Based on how Flynn went down, I'd guess the next leak is that they know/have transcripts of what was said. So they leak the meetings, let him deny, say there was no election talk, then leak the contents. With election talk. -

This one gets delicate. It's pretty low-risk to leak the fact that there were transcripts of the Flynn calls, because everybody already knew that the NSA exists and the Russian Ambassador is a target of US surveillance. I mean, it's still illegal to reveal such a thing, but it's hardly some great tradecraft secret. If there are transcripts of the meeting between Sessions and Kislyak, that means a recording was secretly made in Sessions' Senate office. If such a thing actually exists, and I'm skeptical––but who the heck knows––I don't think the intelligence agencies are going to want to publicly leak that they were bugging a private conversation in a sitting Senator's office.
posted by zachlipton at 10:52 AM on March 2, 2017 [14 favorites]


I'm so happy this all broke the day after Trump's disgusting speech. He was probably feeling so good about himself and now he must be so very, very angry. His tiny hands making fists and waving in the air.

His last tweet was at (you guessed it) 3 o'clock this morning: "Since November 8th, Election Day, the Stock Market has posted $3.2 trillion in GAINS and consumer confidence is at a 15 year high. Jobs!"

The sauce is weak, and confused. The bad man is sad or mad, and I am glad.
posted by Rust Moranis at 10:52 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


There is the precedent of IC leaks of personally compromising information being used to drive politics

It depends whose Intelligence you are talking about, comrade.
posted by Artw at 10:52 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Pogo_Fuzzybutt: "I have been called a [trump campaign] surrogate a time or two, and I did not have communications with the Russians." -- Sen. Sessions. (~2:00 in)

Why does that sound so familiar in pattern? Oh right: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky."
During the grand jury testimony, Clinton's responses were carefully worded, and he argued, "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is," with regard to the truthfulness of his statement that "there is not a sexual relationship, an improper sexual relationship or any other kind of improper relationship."
I'm looking forward to Sessions getting into a similar discussion debating what "communications" really means.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:53 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]




I'm so happy this all broke the day after Trump's disgusting speech. He was probably feeling so good about himself and now he must be so very, very angry. His tiny hands making fists and waving in the air.


is the backup plan for the deep state to just keep leaking until trump has a stroke
posted by murphy slaw at 10:54 AM on March 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


Comey's own involvement has still not been ruled out. He can't lead a credible investigation either. There has to be an independent prosecutor or commission with subpoena power.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:54 AM on March 2, 2017 [32 favorites]


The Rand Paul demanding entry to the secret Obamacare replacement bill room (where the secret Obamacare replacement bill wasn't actually being kept) picture is even better if Ryan Zinke's horse is photoshopped in.

(I, for one, am disappointed that these Republican on a horse stories are being overshadowed by all this perjury talk. I just want to enjoy a cabinet secretary riding a horse to work in peace without all these shouts of "treason.")
posted by zachlipton at 10:56 AM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


Random Observations on Trump's Speech to Congress Last Night
3. The post-speech praise he received from the mainstream media was just weird. It was like they watched a lunatic sit in a corner and polish a turd for a while, just rubbing and rubbing that same old shit to a fine shine, and instead of being disgusted that the lunatic was polishing a turd, they praised the lunatic for not throwing the shit at them for once. If that's what passes for "presidential" in this fucked-up time we're damned to experience, then Trump will be crowned emperor while the cowed media, afraid to appear biased, praise him for not executing too many of his enemies.
posted by homunculus at 10:56 AM on March 2, 2017 [29 favorites]


If there are transcripts of the meeting between Sessions and Kislyak, that means a recording was secretly made in Sessions' Senate office.

More likely there are recordings of Russians talking to each other about the meeting after it happened.
posted by diogenes at 10:56 AM on March 2, 2017 [34 favorites]


If I were in the GOP I'd be calling for a Special Prosecutor if only to show that the rot didn't extend to me. The longer they act like it's not necessary, the more people like Nunes, Chaffetz, and Ryan seem to be implicating themselves as at least complicit in a coverup. There's going to be a big asterisk next to every law those bastards manage to pass as long as the administration is tainted by this scandal. They should want to clean house because they'll still have a majority and they can still run roughshod over the environment, health care, and poor and brown people without Trump's help.
posted by fedward at 10:57 AM on March 2, 2017 [31 favorites]


Pogo_Fuzzybutt: "I have been called a [trump campaign] surrogate a time or two, and I did not have communications with the Russians." -- Sen. Sessions. (~2:00 in)

Why does that sound so familiar in pattern? Oh right: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky."


You're not the first to think so.

posted by phearlez at 11:00 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Hasn't it basically emerged that the media got a preview of a different speech and aimed all their praise at that? With maybe a last minute copy edit to congratulate Trump for his Navy SEAL applause?
posted by Artw at 11:00 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


"Total," says Pres Trump, asked if he still has confidence in Attorney General Sessions.

That's what they say right before they kick you to the curb, right?
posted by zachlipton at 11:02 AM on March 2, 2017 [43 favorites]


I would love to see Sessions hauled before the Senate Judiciary Committee, so Chuck Schumer can lay into him like he did to Alberto Gonzales.

Now that was some satisfying C-SPAN viewing.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 11:03 AM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Hasn't it basically emerged that the media got a preview of a different speech and aimed all their praise at that?

They got rolled by the orange menace briefing them (for attribution as a SAO) a different bullshit line about immigration, then were desperate to go with "pivoty reboot" shit. Institutional DC wants normal so badly. Tough.
posted by holgate at 11:04 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Hasn't it basically emerged that the media got a preview of a different speech and aimed all their praise at that? With maybe a last minute copy edit to congratulate Trump for his Navy SEAL applause?

Not sure where you'd have heard that, but the speech he gave was almost word-for-word the script I got from the White House press office at 9 PM, and most of the interjections were just his signature intensifiers. There were no substantive digressions, he read the words in front of him like a good boy.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:04 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


(There was an immigration head-fake earlier in the day, but it wasn't in the speech preview; rather, it came from an interview where Trump did his usual "say yes to whatever reasonable policy somebody suggests to him" move/senility tell.)
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:06 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


Reading Paul McLeod's tweets about the hunt for the ACA replacement bill (especially ones like this) is honestly making me think that the thing doesn't actually exist in the first place.

At the end of the hunt, Rand and company open a treasure chest that supposedly contains the bill only to reveal Paul Ryan crouching inside. "Have you come in search of the bill?" he asks. "Behold!"

Ryan gets out of the chest and raises his arms skyward. Rand, rumpled and confused, exclaims, "But there's nothing there! Your hands are empty!"

Ryan laughs and gives Rand an affectionate noogie. "Are bills merely parchment? Are laws simply words? If you've come to read dead letters, I cannot satisfy you. The moral of today's journey is that real happiness doesn't come from waiting for someone to write a bill to repeal Obamacare. You see, we have no idea what to do about Obamacare. But after all, was it ever really about destroying healthcare access? Or was it about the friendships you made along the way? Yes, in a sense, we kept the bill in a secure location, for the secret house bill to repeal Obamacare was in your hearts all along!"
posted by vathek at 11:10 AM on March 2, 2017 [71 favorites]


Well then the media has no excuses for not leading with "VOICE is horrifying and insane".
posted by Artw at 11:13 AM on March 2, 2017 [35 favorites]


Part of a recent David Frum (I know, I know) tweetstorm:

The peculiar grim irony in this case is that somewhere near the center of Trump’s story is the murky secret of Trump’s Russia connection. Meaning that Trump is rendering his party also complicit in what could well prove the biggest espionage scandal since the Rosenberg group stole the secret of the atomic bomb.
posted by diogenes at 11:13 AM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]




Fully agreed -- VOICE should have been front and center "holy shit we're in actual Nazi territory" news since it first leaked a month ago. The fact that he doubled down on it in a national speech and got praised for a "pivot" is insanely gross.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:16 AM on March 2, 2017 [43 favorites]


It depends whose Intelligence you are talking about, comrade.

Even the hint of Republican cooperation with Russian intelligence in the service of discrediting Clinton has obviously been very damaging. On the other hand, it took years to delegitimize the HUAC, because the CIA/FBI are on our side.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy about these results, and IC leaks are probably the only way out at this stage. But they reflect a politicization of the IC, which is potentially almost as harmful to democratic values as politicization of the military.
posted by Coventry at 11:16 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]






The peculiar grim irony in this case is that somewhere near the center of Trump’s story is the murky secret of Trump’s Russia connection. Meaning that Trump is rendering his party also complicit in what could well prove the biggest espionage scandal since the Rosenberg group stole the secret of the atomic bomb. And possibly even bigger. We won’t know if we don’t look.

Dear me from 2015: in two years, David Frum will imply that high-ranking members of the President Trump administration should be executed.

I'm now realizing that this attempt to beam a message through space-time failed and that's why I had that weird dream 2 years ago about a great orange fleshy mass with a hitler moustache pulsating above a furious field of bees.
posted by Rust Moranis at 11:20 AM on March 2, 2017 [17 favorites]


Well then the media has no excuses for not leading with "VOICE is horrifying and insane".

Nope. However they might align themselves with our interests in a given moment, their first priority remains finding a narrative to push, and "the night he became a President" draws more clicks than "he continues to be horrible."
posted by contraption at 11:20 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Do you suppose the Jan 12 EO wherein Obama gives US intelligence greater access to warrantless data on foreigners may have been one of the ways the Obama Administration Rushed to Preserve Intelligence of Russian Election Hacking?

Good catch. I can picture Obama being like "I'm just gonna leave this declassified dossier on the break room table for a few hours."
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 11:21 AM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


Even the hint of Republican cooperation with Russian intelligence in the service of discrediting Clinton has obviously been very damaging. On the other hand, it took years to delegitimize the HUAC, because the CIA/FBI are on our side.

I don't understand these two sentences.
posted by diogenes at 11:22 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


roomthreeseventeen: Senate reportedly calls Christopher Steele to testify
Mr Steele’s friends say it is currently unlikely he would be willing to travel to the US. But it is understood Democrats – as well as some Republicans – in Congress are prepared to facilitate discreet initial meetings in the UK or on other neutral territory.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:24 AM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


Don't get me wrong, I'm happy about these results, and IC leaks are probably the only way out at this stage. But they reflect a politicization of the IC, which is potentially almost as harmful to democratic values as politicization of the military.

I don't think it's fair for what's going on to be characterized as "politicization of the IC" just because some politicians are the wrongdoers here. This is a far cry from the FBI deciding to leak a senator's extramarital affairs because they're mad he isn't supporting a policy they like.

They swear an oath to protect the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. What else would that look like right now?
posted by Andrhia at 11:25 AM on March 2, 2017 [54 favorites]


Senate reportedly calls Christopher Steele to testify

What's more likely at this point: Putin has Steele killed, or Putin knows the jig is up and is willing to discard his toys, believing that there won't be any further consequences once Trump is gone?
posted by Etrigan at 11:26 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Why does that sound so familiar in pattern? Oh right: 'I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.'

Bill Clinton was a lawyer talking about a legal case that had a specific legal definition of "sexual relations" that didn't apply to her giving him oral sex. (Only part 1 of the linked definition was applicable; parts 2 and 3 were disallowed.)
With that, Clinton may have been given the room to offer a technically "true" denial to the question of whether he had sex with Lewinsky--even if she happened to perform fellatio on him. The truncated definition characterizes sex in terms of a checklist of body parts, including the genitals, breast and thigh. Oral sex would not necessarily require the President to touch anything on Lewinsky that appears on that list. Strange as it may sound, under one reading of the definition, Lewinsky could have been having sex with him (because she was "touching" the President's genitals) while at the same moment, he was not having sex with her. (At the deposition, Clinton wasn't asked if she had sexual relations with him, just if he had them with her.) Isn't the law a wonderfully intricate device?
That's why he used the odd formulation "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" instead of saying "I didn't have sex with her." Maybe it's a bullshit distinction, but it's a lawyer talking to other lawyers in a legal case with a legal definition.

Same thing with "the meaning of is." In addition to being a lawyer, Bill Clinton is a smartass. Monica Lewinsky had submitted an affidavit that said, "there is absolutely no sex of any kind in any manner, shape or form, with President Clinton" and Clinton was asked if it was a false statement. "Is" in that sentence is present tense. Since the affair was over by then he could've just said it was a true statement. But he had to be a smartass. I know this is all legalistic hairsplitting, but we are talking about lawyers.

posted by kirkaracha at 11:28 AM on March 2, 2017 [45 favorites]


I'm no fan of the Deep State or the politicization of the IC, but it is nice to see some evidence that the oath to protect and defend the Constitution may have some meaning. I mean, let's face it, if the IC is going to politicize the majority of them would be leaning right, not left.

In other news, #deleteshopify is a thing that is happening because Shopify hosts the Breitbart store despite their stated policy against hate speech.
posted by xyzzy at 11:28 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


Not that it's a big surprise or anything, but heterodox egyptologist Ben Carson and ridiculous numbskull Rick Perry were both confirmed today.
posted by theodolite at 11:28 AM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]




if Steele is killed in suspicious circumstances that basically validates the entire dossier, so i don't see what putin gains by doing that
posted by murphy slaw at 11:28 AM on March 2, 2017


diogenes, Artw implied that the DNC/Podesta leaks are a precedent for IC leaks driving politics. I'm arguing that the leaks from the US IC cross a different Rubicon, and are going to be harder to deal with when the power is abused. The longevity of the HUAC, which based much of its investigations on leaks from Hoover, is an example of how hard it can be to disentangle politics from intelligence work, once the two get mixed together.
posted by Coventry at 11:30 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


What's more likely at this point: Putin has Steele killed, or Putin knows the jig is up and is willing to discard his toys, believing that there won't be any further consequences once Trump is gone?

If Putin's goal is to generally destabilize the USA and reduce its power through infighting/unrest/collapse, then he doesn't have to do a goddamned thing other than hang out and be pleased with himself. To paraphrase Orwell, "If you want a vision of the future, imagine Putin patting himself on the back - forever."
posted by Rust Moranis at 11:30 AM on March 2, 2017 [14 favorites]


what could well prove the biggest espionage scandal since the Rosenberg group stole the secret of the atomic bomb.

The problem for me with statements like that is that the whole Russian disinformation operation was so broad that I'm not sure the case will ever be clear and believable to a huge number of 45's supporters. I'm talking about the ones who believe InfoWars, and don't know how the internet works in the first place, and suddenly they're gonna be asked to understand email security and social media disinformation. We already know they don't understand this stuff. They're gonna call the whole thing a sham and a fraud attack on Trump.

It's all a Hellscape either way, is what I guess I'm saying.
posted by dnash at 11:31 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Are they trying to reenact National Treasure? They even got a Nic Cage stand in. Half as likeable for twice as crazy.
posted by Glibpaxman at 11:31 AM on March 2, 2017


I think he'd kill Steele just to stay on brand.
posted by Artw at 11:32 AM on March 2, 2017 [12 favorites]


if Steele is killed in suspicious circumstances that basically validates the entire dossier, so i don't see what putin gains by doing that

Well, Steele wouldn't provide any more information, and it would slow down leaks from anybody else. Also it's not like Russians have any qualms about offing enemies even when it confirms motives. But maybe I've just read too many spy novels.
posted by fedward at 11:32 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


It seems to me the GOP has a powerful incentive to look the other way about Jeff Sessions and Russian connections within the new administration: there is a limited, rapidly shrinking window of less than 24 months to radically change up the American government. And there is a significant bloc of Americans who like the sound of harsher immigration "enforcement" and "buy America" rhetoric...

It would be amazing and disastrous to see Session torpedoed, which means it won't happen.

I do wonder if the White House and the GOP in Congress will be able to actually work together to accomplish their radical, dystopian overhaul of government.
posted by My Dad at 11:33 AM on March 2, 2017


Nixon's approval ratings bottomed out at around 25 percent. One quarter of Americans thought he was doing a great job in the midst of his disgrace and resignation.
posted by theodolite at 11:34 AM on March 2, 2017 [12 favorites]


Steele: Do you expect me to talk, Putin?
Putin: No Mr. Steele. I expect you TO DIE!
posted by valkane at 11:36 AM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


Donnie is speeching on the navy carrier. he's dressed up like a fool.
posted by futz at 11:37 AM on March 2, 2017


He looks like he's going as Tom Clancy for Halloween
posted by theodolite at 11:38 AM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


Does he have an "Миссия выполнена" banner behind him ?
posted by Pendragon at 11:39 AM on March 2, 2017 [25 favorites]


They swear an oath to protect the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. What else would that look like right now?

Like I said, it might be the only way out at this point. But the precedent it's setting is definitely a candidate for future visits from the "Schadenfreude fairy."
posted by Coventry at 11:39 AM on March 2, 2017


there is a limited, rapidly shrinking window of less than 24 months to radically change up the American government.

I don't know, it seems like the window is shrinking at an agonizingly slow pace to me.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 11:40 AM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


There's no point in killing Steele. He has already shared everything he knows as he was hired to do. The only reason to kill off somebody is to keep them from sharing what they know. I imagine, in fact, that Putin would want to keep Steele alive in the hopes that he can get Steele's sources from him. Those are the people who you want to kill if you're a demagogue.

Apparently, I've spent way too much time thinking about this.
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:40 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


I bet Trump is furious everyone is talking about Sessions and not how military he looks.
posted by zachlipton at 11:41 AM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


It's interesting to watch the servicewomen and men behind him: the fresh faced white boys are clapping up a storm, the PoC are fidgeting, golf-clapping or standing still.
posted by OHenryPacey at 11:42 AM on March 2, 2017


I don't know, it seems like the window is shrinking at an agonizingly slow pace to me.

i think that twitter has grossly distorted our perception of how fast a political scandal can unfurl
posted by murphy slaw at 11:42 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Six times Jeff Sessions talked about perjury, access and special prosecutors — when it involved the Clintons (WaPo).

In re: Bill's alleged perjury:
“I hope that he can rebut that and prove that did not happen. I hope he can show that he did not commit obstruction of justice and that he can complete his term. But there are serious allegations that that occurred.”
The tarmac meeting with Lynch:
“The appropriate response when the subject matter is public and it arises in a highly-charged political atmosphere is for the Attorney General to appoint a Special Counsel of great public stature and indisputable independence to assure the public the matter will be handled without partisanship,” the former prosecutors, all of whom were supporting Trump, said.
posted by fedward at 11:43 AM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


remember when donald trump had a neck
posted by murphy slaw at 11:43 AM on March 2, 2017


Donnie is speeching on the navy carrier. he's dressed up like a fool.
Trump promises to always support sailors, says he "will never ever let you down."— Ali Vitali‏ @alivitali
posted by octobersurprise at 11:44 AM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Donnie is speeching on the navy carrier. he's dressed up like a fool

It's like his ego is writing checks his body can't cash
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:44 AM on March 2, 2017 [27 favorites]


Trump has really big patches on his military jacket.

Anyway, CNN is blaring that Trump is telling reporters that he has "total confidence" in Attorney General Sessions, and he shouldn't recuse himself from the investigation.
posted by ZeusHumms at 11:44 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Huge amount of sympathy for all those sailors expending an heroic effort not to let their disgust show through on camera. Some of the white dudes seem genuinely happy to be there, but yeah.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:45 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Also it's not like Russians have any qualms about offing enemies even when it confirms motives. But maybe I've just read too many spy novels.

No it's not imaginative. Putin likes for these things to be "open secrets" - there's footage of him commenting on the Western reaction to Litvinenko that is so gross and smug and fucked-up. He likes that. Increases fear and uncertainty to know-but-be-denied proof.
posted by Golem XIV at 11:47 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


> I bet Trump is furious everyone is talking about Sessions and not how military he looks.

Look at that biiiiiiig smile! Maybe next Halloween he can go as Batman.
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:47 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


He is such an embarrassment to the office.
And the people who voted for him are an embarrassment to democracy
posted by mumimor at 11:48 AM on March 2, 2017 [12 favorites]


Steve Bannon Makeup Tutorial by Alikah

"...it's not 'whiteface' because we'll be covering it with salami..."
posted by Cookiebastard at 11:49 AM on March 2, 2017 [23 favorites]


Huge amount of sympathy for all those sailors

When I clicked over to watch he was giving a Navy 101 History lesson. I cringed.
posted by futz at 11:49 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Tom Hanks keeps sending fancy coffee machines to the WH press corps.

I've been saying for awhile that the Dems should run Tom Hanks in 2020.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 11:51 AM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


I bet Trump is furious everyone is talking about Sessions and not how military he looks.

That is a shit eating grin if ever I saw one.
posted by INFJ at 11:51 AM on March 2, 2017


That is a shit eating grin if ever I saw one.

He ate that shit well done and with catsup.
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:53 AM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


Even if proven they collaborated directly with Russia to hack the DNC and coordinate campaign response around timed leaks of the emails, possibly with Comeys knowledge and assistance, there's no mechanism for a new election.

I keep seeing this, everywhere. It's eating at me. On one level, I get it. Everyone would be so happy if Trump would just go away, and we didn't have an actual maniac in power, and we could go about believing that the system as built has a backup plan. But on another level -- no, forget it, that's not okay. So what if there's no mechanism. Necessarily, there has to be a first time for everything. Because we've never encountered something before, we're just going to pretend it didn't happen and that everything is solved by handing over the Presidency to the cheater's partner in cheating? The people who collaborated get everything they want by sacrificing Trump, with a person in power they preferred more to begin with? I don't even care if they can prove Pence didn't know -- he's only there because his team cheated.

If it comes out that this election was rigged, that the Republican candidate colluded with a foreign power, for money, or because of blackmail, or because he's a deranged narcissistic nutcase - I'm not actually going to be okay with Pence taking over the remainder of the term. I want actual protests in the street until the special election is announced. I want people's lives to be ruined and for there to be consequences, because if there aren't, it's damn well going to happen again.
posted by instead of three wishes at 11:53 AM on March 2, 2017 [62 favorites]


Perhaps the element referred to in "integrating and interpreting nature’s elements into our daily lives" is polonium?

But I doubt Putin would want to kill Steele, who was after all once thought of as a future head of MI5. Putin's jam is offing his internal enemies, and it's bad form to kill senior figures from the other side - it leads to all manner of bad feelings. I'd think Steele's most worried about nutjob Americans.
posted by Devonian at 11:54 AM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Look how big his chin is in that smile. His whole head is like half chin, half the rest of his facial features. The hat isn't helping.
posted by INFJ at 11:54 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Trump Jr. likely paid $50K for event hosted by Russian allies

Trump was a guest of the Center of Political and Foreign Affairs, whose president Fabien Baussart and Syrian-born wife Randa Kassis have cooperated with Russia on ending the Syrian civil war, U.S., Arab and European officials told the newspaper.

Trump, 39, serves as executive vice president of the Trump Organization and was a top official in his father’s 2016 presidential campaign before the October event.

posted by futz at 11:55 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Trump promises to always support sailors, says he "will never ever let you down."— Ali Vitali‏ @alivitali

He's been talking to Melania.
posted by leotrotsky at 11:55 AM on March 2, 2017


I've been saying for awhile that the Dems should run Tom Hanks in 2020.

Reluctantly, I've accepted that we will likely never elect another non-celeb as president, so I think I'm going to start printing up Winfrey/Hanks 2020 bumper stickers tout suite.
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:55 AM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


I'm not actually going to be okay with Pence taking over the remainder of the term.

Well, the solution is to propose a constitutional amendment. Unless you're advocating violent overthrow of our constitutional democracy, which is supposed to be the thing we're trying to preserve here.
posted by T.D. Strange at 11:56 AM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Register winfreyhanks2020.com stat
posted by soren_lorensen at 11:58 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Also, seen on a friend's wall today:

"Is there any evidence that anyone on Trump's team has ties to America?"
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:58 AM on March 2, 2017 [100 favorites]


Unacceptable Derails: Steak, Oprah, Buffett (Jimmy)
Acceptable Derails: Bees
posted by diogenes at 11:59 AM on March 2, 2017 [33 favorites]


cooperated with Russia on ending the Syrian civil war

Wait, what? Isn't that the opposite of what Russia's doing?
posted by Sys Rq at 12:00 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


We already know Trump "let down" at least one Navy officer, and his grieving family.
posted by spitbull at 12:02 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Look how big his chin is in that smile. His whole head is like half chin

YES. That is the face that trump makes that reminds me of a Dr. Seuss character. Suess draws a lot of characters with big chins/half face smiles but there is one specific ...
I will find it.
posted by futz at 12:03 PM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


Wait, what? Isn't that the opposite of what Russia's doing?

I presume that means "ending the Syrian civil war by helping Assad to put down the rebellion."
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:04 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]




Acceptable Derails: Bees
BEES/NICK CAGE 2020
posted by lmfsilva at 12:07 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


lol, i had to take an ethics course for my job, which does not offer me copious opportunities to take bribes from hostile foreign powers
posted by murphy slaw at 12:08 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


Well, the solution is to propose a constitutional amendment. Unless you're advocating violent overthrow of our constitutional democracy, which is supposed to be the thing we're trying to preserve here.

I guess I'm not convinced that the rules of Presidential Succession should apply when the means by which the position was acquired is invalid to begin with.
posted by instead of three wishes at 12:08 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]




If Trump is claiming to own the "victory" in Aleppo then he is now a war criminal, FWIW.
posted by Artw at 12:10 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


lol, i had to take an ethics course for my job, which does not offer me copious opportunities to take bribes from hostile foreign powers

You gotta dress for the job you want, man.
posted by Etrigan at 12:11 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


That is the face that trump makes that reminds me of a Dr. Seuss character. Suess draws a lot of characters with big chins/half face smiles but there is one specific ...

He lacks the giant chin, but to me he resembles the unnamed protagonist from Green Eggs and Ham (both in terms of appearance and in terms of stubborn, incurious refusal to step outside his culinary comfort zone.)
posted by contraption at 12:12 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


YES. That is the face that trump makes that reminds me of a Dr. Seuss character. Suess draws a lot of characters with big chins/half face smiles but there is one specific ...
I will find it.


You're a mean one...
posted by INFJ at 12:12 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


I guess I'm not convinced that the rules of Presidential Succession should apply when the means by which the position was acquired is invalid to begin with.

Morally I'm right there with you, but legally, at this stage of the game, there's no way to do that. The mechanisms to nullify a tainted election are for secretaries of state not to certify the results, or for the electoral college to vote for someone else. Once the POTUS takes office our constitution doesn't contemplate a do-over. We'd need an amendment.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:12 PM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


You're a mean one...

Heh. My kids the other night were listening to me complain about Trump and one of them wandered off singing "You're a mean one, Mr. Trump..."
posted by nubs at 12:13 PM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


Some levity: Once, Sean Spicer commanded respect from presidents and regular citizens, young and old alike. Once he could stroll the halls of the White House and people would clear a path, awed to be in his presence. Once upon a time, Sean Spicer was the Easter Bunny. (real, not a Donald Darko reference).
posted by elgilito at 12:13 PM on March 2, 2017 [12 favorites]




CNBC: Sessions will hold a news conference at 4pm.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 12:19 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]




We reached all 26 members of the 2016 Armed Services Committee to see who met with Russian envoy Kislyak in 2016. Sessions was the only one.

It occurs to me that this might be the tipping point. 13 of those (other) members are Republicans. That means that a quarter of the GOP caucus in the Senate actually answered this question on the record, rather than just ignoring it.
posted by Etrigan at 12:19 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


YES. That is the face that trump makes that reminds me of a Dr. Seuss character. Suess draws a lot of characters with big chins/half face smiles but there is one specific ...
I will find it.


He's kind of like an anti-Lorax.
posted by snuffleupagus at 12:22 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Once the POTUS takes office our constitution doesn't contemplate a do-over. We'd need an amendment.

Yep. It took nearly 200 years (and the assassination of JFK) to formalise and reform succession rules in the 25th amendment. It's still insufficient for a modern presidential republic. It'll probably take a full-on succession crisis to change this.
posted by holgate at 12:23 PM on March 2, 2017


INFJ, unfortunately it is not the Grinch. It is more of a smug self satisfied look. I don't want to derail the thread but I'll let you know when I find it.
posted by futz at 12:23 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Jeff Sessions is holding a press conference at 4 p.m. - Ryan J. Reilly

A real one or an Info Wars/Daily Caller type one?
posted by Artw at 12:24 PM on March 2, 2017


Now that he's not in the Senate, has that freed up senators to be critical of him in ways they felt bound to not be previously?

Not Orrin Hatch, but Hatch is the kind of lifetime senator who thinks that comity'n'shit is more important than perjury (as long as it's on the GOP side).
posted by holgate at 12:25 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


so my libertarian family member said today that to his Trump supporter friends, the Russia connection is the same thing as Hillary Clinton's emails. When I tried to gently point out that this was a steaming mass of dogsshit, he was all *no that's not my opinion that their opinion but you see they have a point I read Obama sold uranium to the Russians what's the difference* which, man, that's a hard phrase to listen to and not erupt. It's like own your fucking vomitus, fool.

But as much as I want Trump gone and I mean out by the roots, and if the roots include Ryan he (hopefully) goes to, I fear civil unrest.

There is far too much bullshit out there. This libertarian family member has a college degree. I'm a fucking nerd so I was able to just throw facts at him and I could just *feel* him withdrawing in the face of objective reality.
posted by angrycat at 12:25 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


it is the look of unearned self-satisfaction one finds on the faces of dislikeable children.
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:25 PM on March 2, 2017 [26 favorites]


Aside from being actively harmful, this government just seems so cartoonishly stupid. I mean, these are the big news stories of the day:

-Senior official is proved to have lied under oath, fellow officials line up to state how much his forgetfulness and their ignorance of the details must mean nothing actually happened

-Proposed bill to overhaul the nation's health care system is rumored to be locked inside a room in the basement of the capitol building. Elected members of congress lead a hunt for the secret bill, but are unsuccessful, leading to questions of whether or not the bill actually exists

-The president dresses up like a sailor and lifts lines from an 80's pop song in a speech to members of the military

-The senate votes overwhelmingly in favor of confirming two men to become heads of departments they have little knowledge of and no experience dealing with

We are operating at the level of a fictional banana republic right now.
posted by parallellines at 12:26 PM on March 2, 2017 [74 favorites]


Just to keep you all updated on the real story today, which is politicians doing stuff with animals, there are now beagles searching the Capitol for the GOP healthcare bill.
posted by zachlipton at 12:27 PM on March 2, 2017 [30 favorites]


It'll probably take a full-on succession crisis to change this.

...Something bigger than a foreign power seizing control of the executive branch? What would we be waiting for, exactly.
posted by instead of three wishes at 12:28 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


We are operating at the level of a fictional banana republic right now.

listen, you find any ice-9, you let me know. my body is ready.
posted by murphy slaw at 12:29 PM on March 2, 2017 [14 favorites]


-Proposed bill to overhaul the nation's health care system is rumored to be locked inside a room in the basement of the capitol building.

Beware of leopard.
posted by snuffleupagus at 12:29 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Something bigger than a foreign power seizing control of the executive branch? What would we be waiting for, exactly.

Two blowjobs.
posted by Etrigan at 12:30 PM on March 2, 2017 [31 favorites]


But as much as I want Trump gone and I mean out by the roots, and if the roots include Ryan he (hopefully) goes to, I fear civil unrest.

The toothpaste's out of the tube with regard to civil unrest. It's started and it's going to get worse, and no point in being afraid of it coming, since it's here: harm reduction and damage management will be the names of the game for the duration of the emergency.
posted by Rust Moranis at 12:32 PM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


so my libertarian family member said today that to his Trump supporter friends, the Russia connection is the same thing as Hillary Clinton's emails.

Considering people thought her emails were reason to "lock her up," surely your family member now wants Trump in prison, if the two situations are the same thing?

(You don't have to answer that, it's a rhetorical question.)
posted by dnash at 12:34 PM on March 2, 2017 [23 favorites]


Heh. My kids the other night were listening to me complain about Trump and one of them wandered off singing "You're a mean one, Mr. Trump..."

I'm imagining the timeline where Trump changes all of his attitudes, policies and personality traits.

And what happened, then? Well, in Whoville they say – that the Donald’s small hands grew three sizes that day.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 12:35 PM on March 2, 2017 [13 favorites]


i gotta admit, i was not expecting the outcome of an election that handed two branches of government to the GOP to reveal that, after six years of obstructionism, they actually don't know how to govern anymore

but i'll take it for now
posted by murphy slaw at 12:35 PM on March 2, 2017 [17 favorites]


Just to keep you all updated on the real story today, which is politicians doing stuff with animals, there are now beagles searching the Capitol for the GOP healthcare bill.

Fake news! The one on the right is a collie.
posted by scalefree at 12:36 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


The admin said they have complete confidence in Sessions, so this press conference is going to be him resigning, right? A little faster than with Flynn, but that just means the well-oiled machine is getting up to speed!
posted by tobascodagama at 12:39 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Sir Patrick Stewart: I’m applying for US citizenship to ‘fight and oppose’ the Trump administration

I take it the odds are against us and the situation is grim?
posted by octobersurprise at 12:39 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


-The president dresses up like a sailor and lifts lines from an 80's pop song in a speech to members of the military

The military was actually a small minority of the crowd, most of the crowd was guys in baseball caps and hoodies. There were more dudes in hard hats than uniformed navy personnel. Most of the speech was about his big promises for more ships, more planes and bluster about an increased budget, making deals, and rebuilding a "depleted" military. There was zero mention of any issues that affect the everyday life of sailors like healthcare, benefits, deployments, or the VA. More attention was paid to the shipbuilders and shipyard than the men and women who will serve on that ship.

The US Navy and its sailors were used as a prop today.
posted by peeedro at 12:45 PM on March 2, 2017 [42 favorites]


this press conference is going to be him resigning, right?

Nah, it's going to be "come at me, you fuckers" with added Foghorn Leghorn.
posted by holgate at 12:47 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


I accompanied my wife today to her naturalization ceremony. Today is the 100th anniversary of Puerto Ricans being granted U.S. citizenship. Being in Puerto Rico, she will not be able to vote for a president for the time being.

One of the speakers reminded us about important Latino Republicans. Another mentioned Puerto Ricans have gone on to become famous actors, but not just actors, but singers as well (Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin) Other than actors and singers, no other exemplars were given. (Sonia Sotomayor?) A speaker commented on all citizens being equal in the United States, native-born or naturalized. Brandeis was quoted: (from memory) There is only one title in the United States higher than president: citizen.

The itinerary promised that after the ceremony, the new citizens would be welcomed to the United States by a video of the president of the United States. No such video played.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 12:47 PM on March 2, 2017 [67 favorites]


Someone must be next to Sessions at this press conference with a large bell, ready to *BONG* any references to incoming sheriffs.
posted by delfin at 12:47 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


State Dept. Memo To End Leaks Promptly Leaks To The Media

apparently no one has ever had the talk with the administration that i just had with my six-year old, to wit: the first couple of times you do something funny, it's funny. after that it becomes annoying, and then pathetic.
posted by murphy slaw at 12:48 PM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


Probably fake POTUSStaff account maybe laying down a marker?
posted by T.D. Strange at 12:49 PM on March 2, 2017


Yeah, my sense is that recusal is a firewall against investigation for lying.
posted by rhizome at 12:54 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


The itinerary promised that after the ceremony, the new citizens would be welcomed to the United States by a video of the president of the United States. No such video played.


It's the little things that are the most portentous.
posted by Yowser at 12:55 PM on March 2, 2017 [16 favorites]


Spicer on AFO, re Sessions: "Why would we want to know everything he did conducting himself on behalf of" Alabama?"
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 12:58 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


I bet Trump is furious everyone is talking about Sessions and not how military he looks.

So far, "I'm a big boy who's about to see a big boat" is my fave twitter caption. It really is a remarkable photograph. Not just for capturing Donnie in all his narcissistic grandeur, but also for the pole-axed look on the face of the guy on the far right.
posted by octobersurprise at 12:58 PM on March 2, 2017 [19 favorites]


The itinerary promised that after the ceremony, the new citizens would be welcomed to the United States by a video of the president of the United States. No such video played.

I would have asked if they can play the Obama version of the video, for old time's sake.
posted by mach at 1:00 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Livestream link for the Sessions press conference. Due anytime now.
posted by zachlipton at 1:00 PM on March 2, 2017


Due anytime now.

Descriptive liveblogging for the stream-impaired very much appreciated.
posted by contraption at 1:01 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


today at work computers have made me very angry indeed and i can't decide if watching the KKKeebler elf prevaricate awkwardly will give me catharsis or send my fist flying through my monitor
posted by murphy slaw at 1:02 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


I will find it

Not Dr Seuss but Mr. Toad

Or worse, the original: dwelling chiefly on his own cleverness, and presence of mind in emergencies.
posted by glasseyes at 1:02 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


While we wait, enjoy Alexandra Petri: Sergey Kislyak, the least memorable man in the world

"He once slept on a memory-foam mattress and left no impression whatsoever.

Pigeons often fly directly into him, mistaking him for empty space."
posted by zachlipton at 1:02 PM on March 2, 2017 [36 favorites]


Sir Patrick Stewart: I’m applying for US citizenship to ‘fight and oppose’ the Trump administration

The line must be drawn here! This far, no further!
posted by kirkaracha at 1:02 PM on March 2, 2017 [12 favorites]


Sir Patrick Stewart: I’m applying for US citizenship to ‘fight and oppose’ the Trump administration

Does he have any standing to sue if they deny his application on the grounds that he's too bald? I'm a little worried that being too politically active before I get my citizenship act together could cause me problems.
posted by Coventry at 1:04 PM on March 2, 2017


Two minute warning on the Sessions press conference
posted by Rhaomi at 1:05 PM on March 2, 2017


Нет предателем. Нет предателем. Вы предатель!
posted by kirkaracha at 1:05 PM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


There are 4 lights!

(did I do that right?)
posted by Sophie1 at 1:06 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


We just got a 2 min warning on Sessions. See you in 2 mins. Also I moved a meeting to livestream this. I need therapy. Or regime change.
posted by prefpara at 1:06 PM on March 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


Two minute warning on the Session press conference

A nice change of pace from "four minute warning on the world"
posted by Rust Moranis at 1:07 PM on March 2, 2017


so my libertarian family member said today that to his Trump supporter friends, the Russia connection is the same thing as Hillary Clinton's emails.

Considering people thought her emails were reason to "lock her up," surely your family member now wants Trump in prison, if the two situations are the same thing?


I think its a tacit admission that they realized the email business was partisan bullshit all along.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:07 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Sir Patrick Stewart: I’m applying for US citizenship to ‘fight and oppose’ the Trump administration

I take it the odds are against us and the situation is grim?


He is coming to save us from Q judging us based on Trump.
posted by srboisvert at 1:07 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


NBC is reporting [possible spoiler!] that Sessions will recuse himself from the Russia investigation.
posted by zachlipton at 1:08 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Schumer's calling for a special prosecutor.
posted by snuffleupagus at 1:08 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Bloomberg says this is a recusal announcement.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 1:08 PM on March 2, 2017


Sir Patrick Stewart: I’m applying for US citizenship to ‘fight and oppose’ the Trump administration

I could really go for a Director Bullock episode of American Dad! right now about the deep state vs Trump
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:09 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]




Reminder: there's no public Russia investigation. Recusal is meaningless and insufficient unless there's also an independent prosecutor.
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:10 PM on March 2, 2017 [30 favorites]


Sessions: "I never had meetings with Russian operatives or Russian intermediaries about the Trump campaign."

Every time they open their mouths, the backtracking gets deeper.
posted by zachlipton at 1:10 PM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


Sessions says that he answered Franken's question directly.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 1:10 PM on March 2, 2017


1. "I never had meetings with Russian operatives or Russian intermediaries" while on the Trump campaign. Weasel. He's pretending to have misunderstood Franken's question, also.
posted by prefpara at 1:10 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Shorter Sessions: "Senator Franken's card said 'moops!'"
posted by tonycpsu at 1:10 PM on March 2, 2017 [18 favorites]


"honest and correct as I understood it at the time"
posted by Rust Moranis at 1:11 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Sessions just lied about his answer and the franken question.
posted by Yowser at 1:11 PM on March 2, 2017 [22 favorites]


"I never had meetings with Russian operatives or Russian intermediaries about the Trump campaign but I totally talked to them about Crimea and sanctions."
posted by soren_lorensen at 1:11 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


He sounds awfully defensive for someone who doesn't think he's done something wrong.
posted by Mothlight at 1:11 PM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


Someone's rattled! GOOD!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:12 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Yeah, I'm totally caught off guard by this -- I expected him to come out swinging and put up a defiant face. He must recognizes that Trump probably won't have his back if he ever needs a Presidential pardon.
posted by tonycpsu at 1:12 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


2. Recusal as everyone is now reporting. He's trying to sell this like he's keeping a promise. He wants a cookie.
posted by prefpara at 1:12 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Sessions's letter recusing himself

This is pretty hilarious. He's arguing that he's been meeting with DOJ officials for weeks to decide whether he should recuse himself, and it just so happens that those meetings concluded today. What a coincidence! He's been diligently evaluating the ethics rules for weeks and today was decision day.

He's claiming in the press conference they decided on Monday that today would be the decision day, in fact.
posted by zachlipton at 1:12 PM on March 2, 2017 [32 favorites]


Sessions's letter recusing himself

Gets Boente's name wrong. Rush job.
posted by snuffleupagus at 1:13 PM on March 2, 2017 [16 favorites]


Recusing himself is just to try to cut off the investigation. Nothing less than an independent prosecutor will have legitimacy.
posted by downtohisturtles at 1:13 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


He looks like all self-satisfied, wide-smiling closed-mouthed Seuss characters (Cat in the Hat, Sam I Am) crossed with Tweedles Dum and Dee crossed with a bullfrog.
posted by Don Pepino at 1:13 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


The Future That Liberals Want meme explained.

For those of you who don't exist in the Twitterverse, you're welcome.
posted by Talez at 1:14 PM on March 2, 2017 [60 favorites]


Note that he's recusing himself from investigations about the Presidential campaign. He said nothing about investigations of himself for perjury.

Now he's claiming DOJ resists confirming or denying the existence of investigations. Tell that to James Comey!
posted by zachlipton at 1:14 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


He must recognizes that Trump probably won't have his back if he ever needs a Presidential pardon.

Or he's seen some of the evidence and knows they're getting closer than he thought a couple weeks ago. Hopefully.
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:14 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Letter delegates authority to Dana Boente (Sally Yates's replacement) over any campaign-related investigation, even though there's no public investigation right now. Also absent from that letter: Russia. This is the "destroy the spillway to save the lake" option.
posted by holgate at 1:14 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


no, snuffle, it can't have been a rush job, as zachl just explained, this has been in progress for weeks #finetunedmachine
posted by prefpara at 1:14 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


"The Ukraine"
posted by goHermGO at 1:16 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


Says he met with the Ambassador and 2 senior staff members and maybe a younger staffer. What did they talk about? "Just normal stuff"
posted by msalt at 1:16 PM on March 2, 2017


oh he's real bad at ad-libbing an account of what he really talked about with the russians and how it definitely wasn't the campaign.
posted by Rust Moranis at 1:16 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


"Somehow the topic of the Ukraine came up." Oh, I bet it did.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:16 PM on March 2, 2017 [19 favorites]


We're squarely in "I don't recall..." territory. This machine is bigly fine-tuned.
posted by tonycpsu at 1:17 PM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


It's UKRAINE you fuckstick (keeps referring to it as 'the....")
posted by OHenryPacey at 1:18 PM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


Did they talk about the campaign? "Well these ambassador's are pretty gossipy but I don't recall any specific conversation."

Luckily, there are now at least four witnesses who can be interviewed under oath, and have their statements cross checked.
posted by msalt at 1:18 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


Why does this lie require so much detail?
posted by Artw at 1:18 PM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


I would believe him more if he said they talked about Verka Serduchka.
posted by delfin at 1:18 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


now it's just a drawled mass of mumbles and don't-recalls coming out of his little racist old-babymouth
posted by Rust Moranis at 1:19 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


I haven't been keeping close track of the "I don't recall"s but it's at least three so far.
posted by chaoticgood at 1:19 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


I turned it off when he started sounding like Abe Simpson during the Q&A.
posted by fedward at 1:19 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


From rough transcript:

>> THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY AND THE PRESIDENT HIMSELF SAID YOU SHOULD NOT RECUSE YOURSELF FROM THESE INVESTIGATIONS.

ATTY. GEN. SESSIONS: I DID SHARE WITH WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL AND STAFF THAT I INTENDED TO RECUSE MYSELF THIS AFTERNOON. I FEEL LIKE, THEY DO NOT KNOW THE RULES, THE ETHICS RULES.
posted by goHermGO at 1:20 PM on March 2, 2017 [32 favorites]


Sessions sure does a good impression of W.
posted by rhizome at 1:20 PM on March 2, 2017


Dude needs to chill out with a spliff.
posted by Artw at 1:20 PM on March 2, 2017 [12 favorites]


Why does this lie require so much detail?

Such a tell. When you've gone from "no conversations" to "can't recall" to "oh, just normal stuff", then you over-embellish certain bits of your bullshit cover story, but get found out on other bits.
posted by holgate at 1:20 PM on March 2, 2017 [27 favorites]


LOL his excuse for lying to congress is that he was just so shocked by the accusation of contact with Russia that he basically got the vapors
posted by Rust Moranis at 1:21 PM on March 2, 2017 [41 favorites]


That was shady as hell.
posted by diogenes at 1:21 PM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


i smell toast. does anyone else smell toast?
posted by murphy slaw at 1:21 PM on March 2, 2017 [22 favorites]


The Future That Liberals Want meme explained.

For those of you who don't exist in the Twitterverse, you're welcome.
ctrl-f "taco truck on every corner" (0 of 0)

oh ... another broken dream lost to the HilaryAs45 alternate universe.
posted by bl1nk at 1:21 PM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


Sessions does an amazing Hyper-Chicken impression.
posted by Yowser at 1:21 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


I can't imagine who would feel comforted and assured by that conference.
posted by theodolite at 1:22 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Dude needs to chill out with a spliff.
posted by Artw at 4:20 PM on March 2 [+] [!]


Nice timing.
posted by valkane at 1:22 PM on March 2, 2017 [59 favorites]


I FEEL LIKE, THEY DO NOT KNOW THE RULES, THE ETHICS RULES.

Oh, no? Whatever has given you that impression?
posted by contraption at 1:23 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Jewish Cemetery in Rochester vandalized, making it the third one in less than two weeks. 44% of JCCs have received bomb threats.
posted by zachlipton at 1:23 PM on March 2, 2017 [27 favorites]


He points to his meetings with other ambassadors to make it look like the Russian ones weren't unusual. But how does it actually look compared to other senators? Does Sessions just speak with a lot of ambassadors? How unique are the Russian meetings? We already know the rest of his committee said they did not meet with the Russian one, so it already looks unusual. Can we quantify just how unusual though?
posted by downtohisturtles at 1:24 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


One amusing thing about Senate comity'n'shit is that outside of election season every six years, and sometimes not even then, senators rarely end up in situations where they're obliged to answer pointed questions and look like shit if they don't.
posted by holgate at 1:24 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


There were more dudes in hard hats than uniformed navy personnel.

If they get a cop, a cowboy and an Indian chief they'll have a passable Village People tribute act.
posted by Strange Interlude at 1:24 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


I FEEL LIKE, THEY DO NOT KNOW THE RULES, THE ETHICS RULES.

In fact, it's almost like they didn't get any training in the ethics rules the government deals with. Oh, wait...
posted by nubs at 1:25 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


I missed a minute there in the middle, but am I right that the press asked him only about the Sept. 8 meeting and not the far more interesting July 18 RNC one? Because incidentally, this was the WaPo op-ed on July 18: Trump campaign guts GOP’s anti-Russia stance on Ukraine.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:25 PM on March 2, 2017 [14 favorites]


For those of you who don't exist in the Twitterverse, you're welcome.

Thanks. I prune politics from my twitter feed pretty aggressively, and I was only seeing fourth-order ricochets like this, which made no sense to me.
posted by Coventry at 1:26 PM on March 2, 2017


LOL his excuse for lying to congress is that he was just so shocked by the accusation of contact with Russia that he basically got the vapors

Yeah, and his focus on Franken's question being about "continuous" communications is interesting. Like, asking about communications would have been one thing, but continues communications? That just shocked his mind.

Maybe he's going to pin his alibi on that. I didn't lie because my conversations with Russia weren't continuous. I took breaks!
posted by diogenes at 1:26 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


There were more dudes in hard hats than uniformed navy personnel.

Hey, if you were in the military, would you want your picture taken with a known Russian operative?
posted by valkane at 1:27 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


am I right that the press asked him only about the Sept. 8 meeting and not the far more interesting July 18 RNC one?

They asked about it. He doesn't recall that one.
posted by diogenes at 1:27 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


His letter talks about meeting with ethics officials on whether or not he should recuse, makes it sound like a big to-do of a decision... motherfucker, the appearance of impropriety is where the line gets drawn, whether that's what the law says or not. You recuse proactively to give the administration legitimacy, it doesn't need to be a belabored decision and anything else is a failure. Also you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting someone in the DOJ more experienced to handle this than the guy who's been there a month, it's not like the presence of Jeff Sessions is necessary for the investigations.
posted by jason_steakums at 1:28 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


I think the odds are pretty good that he won't be removed. Has he done enough to warrent getting disbarred?
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:28 PM on March 2, 2017


Gov. Cuomo, in an act that I think of as his opening salvo for 2020, created a hate crimes division in the NY police dept. and has already called for an investigation into the Rochester desecration.
posted by xyzzy at 1:28 PM on March 2, 2017 [31 favorites]


Flustered "harmless and good-hearted" forgetful old man is not a good look for a press conference if you are the Attorney General of the US. Especially when you are trying to fend off accusations of what amounts to perjury and possibly collusion with a foreign government.
posted by monopas at 1:29 PM on March 2, 2017 [18 favorites]


The impression I'm getting here is that he's just given a hypothetical future independent investigator a lot of rope to hang him with?
posted by tobascodagama at 1:30 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


More from the cunning-plans-that-will-not-go-wrong department: Donald Trump's UK visit ‘will shift to Scotland to deter protests’
posted by rewil at 1:30 PM on March 2, 2017 [49 favorites]


"Somehow the topic of the Ukraine came up." Oh, I bet it did.

This was definitely the best moment. He tried to work it in so casually.
posted by diogenes at 1:30 PM on March 2, 2017 [22 favorites]


Shorter Jeff Sessions.
posted by spitbull at 1:30 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


There's also Sessions' written response to questions:
QUESTION: Several of the president-elect's nominees or senior advisers have Russian ties. Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day?

SESSIONS: No.
Sessions just said there were multiple staffers in the meeting with him. Call them in and get them all to testify about whether the election was discussed in any way. Want to bet they can't remember?
posted by zachlipton at 1:31 PM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


Yeah, and his focus on Franken's question being about "continuous" communications is interesting. Like, asking about communications would have been one thing, but continues communications? That just shocked his mind.

Isn't there something in interrogation strategy about "oh yeah, I forgot to tell you before that when I was walking down the street, at first, not later on, but just at first, that when the guy approached me he called me a white devil and that's why I used self-defense." stories where each successive iteration adds details is itself a sign of lying?
posted by rhizome at 1:31 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Flustered "harmless and good-hearted" forgetful old man is not a good look for a press conference if you are the Attorney General of the US.

The fact that he looks like a baby is kind of disarming though.
posted by diogenes at 1:34 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


He really doesn't seem smart enough to be a lawyer.

Did he get Gentleman's C's from some Confederate Law School?
posted by schadenfrau at 1:34 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Scotland will LOVE him! Especially after his last visit.
posted by Sophie1 at 1:34 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


Various places on Twitter are pointing out that he's only recused himself from investigations related to the campaign, not the broader question of Russian ties. So, that's a thing.
posted by anastasiav at 1:34 PM on March 2, 2017 [13 favorites]


For a lawyer, Sessions did a really terrible job there. He raised far more questions than he answered, and his story has been shifting every time he or his spokespeople have opened their mouths. Is he really so incompetent he never learned to pick one story and stick with it?
posted by zachlipton at 1:35 PM on March 2, 2017 [16 favorites]


None of these fuckers seems very good at anything.
posted by Artw at 1:36 PM on March 2, 2017 [15 favorites]


zachlipton: 44% of JCCs have received bomb threats.

So riddle me this, Don the Con: if all y'all are 'a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all its forms', who is doing all this crappy racist violence? Foreigners?
posted by Too-Ticky at 1:37 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


when's the last time any of these fucks had to bring their A game to anything
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:37 PM on March 2, 2017 [15 favorites]




Is he really so incompetent he never learned to pick one story and stick with it?

He's a white dude. Getting challenged at all is something very new to him.
posted by rocketman at 1:38 PM on March 2, 2017 [32 favorites]


He raised far more questions than he answered

Possibly intentional. Nobody will add more detail because "ongoing investigation," and it's good chum for reporters and take-factories that can dominate the news cycle while other odious things continue.
posted by rhizome at 1:38 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Who is doing all this crappy racist violence? Foreigners?

The dogwhistle answer was "democrats", Trump later clarified by directly blaming Jews, I'm pretty sure as far as he is concerned the answer is yes in both cases.
posted by Artw at 1:39 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


pick one story and stick with it

Oh he has, his whole life. It's the story of a Lost Cause.
posted by spitbull at 1:39 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]




Nobody will add more detail because "ongoing investigation,"

"It's our policy not to comment on an ongoing investigation, which may or may not be happening."
posted by Coventry at 1:40 PM on March 2, 2017


The White House thought this was a good time to let us know that Flynn and Kushner also met with Kislyak at Trump Tower in December. Nothing particularly wrong or unusual about that, but it's significant insofar as to what role that meeting played in the sanctions drama and what was discussed.

It also adds to the pile of lies from Flynn and the White House, because they were denying contacts even though they obviously knew about this meeting at Trump Tower. To me, that's the interesting part. The White House spun Flynn's ouster as "Flynn lied to Pence," but this story gives evidence for the belief that the White House was complicit in the lies, since they were also covering up the meeting.
posted by zachlipton at 1:40 PM on March 2, 2017 [24 favorites]


For a lawyer, Sessions did a really terrible job there. He raised far more questions than he answered, and his story has been shifting every time he or his spokespeople have opened their mouths.

Being a lawyer doesn't necessarily prepare you for lying with the stakes this high.
posted by diogenes at 1:40 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


uh guys that is not how getting out in front of a scandal works
posted by murphy slaw at 1:41 PM on March 2, 2017 [14 favorites]


when's the last time any of these fucks had to bring their A game to anything

Being privileged white men I would guess they've been able to bring a lazy C+ game to every single event of their lives and get a strong pat on the back and a shiny gold trophy. Donald is the pinnacle of achieving great nothingness but his entire inner circle is basically just this, over and over.
posted by Glibpaxman at 1:41 PM on March 2, 2017 [18 favorites]


Did he get Gentleman's C's from some Confederate Law School?

Alabama Law School is widely know as the Harvard of Alabama.
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:41 PM on March 2, 2017 [20 favorites]


Yeah, and his focus on Franken's question being about "continuous" communications is interesting. Like, asking about communications would have been one thing, but continues communications? That just shocked his mind.

And Franken didn't even ask him about whether he had communicated with Russians or knew about campaign people doing it! It wasn't at all about Sessions' own conduct or awareness of any shenanigans in the campaign but "as a prosecutor, what would you do if you found out if people had done that?" All he needed to say was, "I don't believe they did, but if that came up, I'd consider recusing myself."

But he immediately derailed to denying he personally had talked to Russians. It's a lot like Trump's wacky "I am the least anti-semitic person you ever saw" non-sequitur.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:41 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Flustered "harmless and good-hearted" forgetful old man is not a good look for a press conference if you are the Attorney General of the US.

The fact that he looks like a baby is kind of disarming though.



This is called the baby-face bias
posted by Brainy at 1:42 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


uh guys that is not how getting out in front of a scandal works

I think they confused it with getting run over by a scandal.
posted by diogenes at 1:42 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


NYT: Kushner and Flynn Met With Russian Envoy in December, White House Says

L.
M.
F.
A.
O.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:43 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


44% of JCCs have received bomb threats.

The Hebrew school classroom of a synagogue in Evansville, IN was shot at the other day. It is being investigated as a hate crime.
posted by chaoticgood at 1:43 PM on March 2, 2017 [12 favorites]


Sean Spicer: Anyone asking for Sessions to recuse himself from Russia case should be ‘ashamed’

In an excerpt released from a Fox News interview that will be aired in full on Friday, Spicer lashed out at people who are calling for Sessions to either resign or recuse himself.

“There’s nothing to recuse himself [from],” said Spicer. “He was 100% straight with the committee, and I think people who are choosing to play partisan politics with this should be ashamed of themselves.”

posted by Room 641-A at 1:43 PM on March 2, 2017 [32 favorites]


Jeff Sessions recuses himself from Russia inquiry amid calls for resignation (The Guardian, March 2, 2017)
Jeff Sessions announced that he would recuse himself from investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election, after a day of drama surrounding two meetings he held with the Russian ambassador last year.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, amid mounting calls for his resignation on Thursday, the attorney general insisted he’d done nothing wrong in testifying to Congress and claimed it was “totally false” to suggest he had met with “Russian operatives” about Donald Trump’s election campaign.

However, after meeting with justice department officials, he said Thursday he would be stepping back from the case. “I have now decided to recuse myself,” because, he said, his staff had said his involvement with the Trump campaign presented a possible conflict of interest.
Your staff? OK, if that's who you'll credit, sure. Why not. Are you sure the pressure from Democrats AND Republicans wasn't any part in this decision?
posted by filthy light thief at 1:43 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


Good catch on Reddit: So he doesn't remember what they talked about but he's sure they didn't discuss the campaign?
posted by spitbull at 1:44 PM on March 2, 2017 [34 favorites]


Nearly 23,000 coal miners and their dependents to lose health care benefits

Almost 23,000 retired coal miners and their dependents on Wednesday received official notification that they will lose their health care benefits by April 30.

“This is causing tremendous mental and in some cases physical trauma to these senior citizens,” United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts said Wednesday. “They will now have to begin contemplating whether to continue to get medicines and treatments they need to live or to buy groceries. They will now have to wonder if they can go see a doctor for chronic conditions like black lung or cancer or pay the mortgage.”


Wonder who they voted for? hmmmm.
posted by futz at 1:44 PM on March 2, 2017 [12 favorites]


More from the cunning-plans-that-will-not-go-wrong department: Donald Trump's UK visit ‘will shift to Scotland to deter protests’
posted by rewil at 1:30 PM on March 2 [9 favorites −] Favorite added! [!]


I LOL'ed for the first time for days. Did you know that the petition to Prevent Donald Trump from making a State Visit to the United Kingdom has a map function?
Seems the best place to go would be Northern Ireland. Mainly because they don't give a fuck
posted by mumimor at 1:45 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


Kislyak was on the House floor ahead of the STOTU address. Look at him not making an impression on everyone.
posted by octobersurprise at 1:46 PM on March 2, 2017 [15 favorites]


(Be sure to read or scroll to the bottom of the Guardian article on Sessions for a fun chart about what Sessions has said about his contact, or lack there-of, with Russians)

spitbull: Good catch on Reddit: So he doesn't remember what they talked about but he's sure they didn't discuss the campaign?

From up-thread: it's called alternative pleading

zachlipton: It is taught in law courses: "My dog doesn't bite. And second, in the alternative, my dog was tied up that night. And third, I don't believe you really got bit. And fourth, I don't have a dog."
posted by filthy light thief at 1:46 PM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


I'm sure at least some of the Russia stuff is overblown

I'm sure the estimated value of that Rosneft company is overblown given the ass clowns that now own a 5th of it.
posted by srboisvert at 1:46 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


So he doesn't remember what they talked about but he's sure they didn't discuss the campaign?

No, he believes he's sure.
posted by rhizome at 1:46 PM on March 2, 2017


So wait, Trump has publicly stated already that until the FBI briefed him and Obama about it in January, he didn't know Flynn had called Kislyak, did not instruct Flynn to call Kislyak, and did not instruct him to discuss sanctions in December. And this was around the same time Kislyak was meeting with Flynn and Kushner at Trump Tower?

Oh brother.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:48 PM on March 2, 2017 [52 favorites]


“This is causing tremendous mental and in some cases physical trauma to these senior citizens,” United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts said Wednesday.

If this administration lasts less than 6 months and gets labor back squarely in the Democratic party, I'll still be pissed off about all of the deported immigrants.
posted by Sophie1 at 1:48 PM on March 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


And he's recusing himself because there might be a conflict of interest, no mention of perjury from him. Others, sure:
Keith Ellison, the new deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, himself a criminal defense lawyer, said: “Since it has now come to light that Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied under oath about meeting with Russian officials during the campaign, we must be entirely clear on one thing: perjury is a felony and may be punishable by prison for up to five years.”
And losing your license to practice law.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:49 PM on March 2, 2017 [45 favorites]


Alternative pleading

Yes, that's what it is called. My point was to notice the contradiction as such, not the rhetorical trope.
posted by spitbull at 1:49 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Kislyak was on the House floor ahead of the STOTU address. Look at him not making an impression on everyone.

Is he the blurry area in the middle of the frame that my eyes can't focus on?
posted by diogenes at 1:50 PM on March 2, 2017 [26 favorites]


I'm not an expert: is it unusual for ambassadors to attend SOTUs? Would they need to have been invited by a member of Congress?
posted by birdheist at 1:53 PM on March 2, 2017


No.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 1:53 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Senator Franken: Did Attorney General Sessions meet with the Russian Ambassador about the Trump campaign?

Radio Trumpevan: No.

But if they did meet, the Attorney General does not recall the conversation.

And if the Attorney General does recall the conversation, it did not involve the Trump campaign.

And if the conversation did involve the Trump campaign, Crimea came up purely by coincidence.
posted by tobascodagama at 1:54 PM on March 2, 2017 [16 favorites]


futz: Nearly 23,000 coal miners and their dependents to lose health care benefits

The article with a bit more info, noting that Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio continue pressing for passage of the Miners Protection Act (link to 2015 bill), which they believe would solve much of the problem by re-directing funds to the UMWA pension plan.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:54 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


I'm not an expert: is it unusual for ambassadors to attend SOTUs?

More specifically, is it unusual for Russian spymasters/ambassadors to attend the SOTU?
posted by diogenes at 1:54 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


Kislyak was on the House floor ahead of the STOTU address. Look at him not making an impression on everyone.

"Martin Jefferson! To think, today I can in public come and learn your scientists' government's new secrets."
posted by snuffleupagus at 1:55 PM on March 2, 2017


Apparently, some law experts think that the Speech or Debate Clause in the Constitution shields Sessions from being prosecuted for perjury, since he was a sitting senator at the time.
posted by AceRock at 1:57 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


He took the oath, it was a confirmation hearing. That's a crock of shit.
posted by snuffleupagus at 1:58 PM on March 2, 2017 [45 favorites]


From the link:
Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe sees it differently. "That would be a laughable misuse of the Speech and Debate Clause," he says. "He was testifying under oath as an [Attorney General] nominee, not in the discharge of any Senatorial business of his own."

Yale Law Professor Bruce Ackerman says he's inclined to believe that Sessions is not protected by the clause. Still, Ackerman says there's no decisive case law on the issue, which muddies the waters. "Only one thing is clear," he says, "Sessions must recuse himself, and it is incumbent on the Administration to appoint a special prosecutor."
posted by snuffleupagus at 1:59 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


More specifically, is it unusual for Russian spymasters/ambassadors to attend the SOTU?

@frankthorp Why? A House aide says the House Sergeant at Arms’ office always invites the entire diplomatic corps for Joint Meetings and Joint Sessions.

@frankthorp Per the aide, there are nearly 100 seats on the floor reserved for diplomatic corps for Joint Addresses.
posted by anastasiav at 1:59 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Is he the blurry area in the middle of the frame that my eyes can't focus on?

diogenes, freeze all motor functions.

I have a hard time believing that The Hon. Mr. Sessions would treat me kindly if he were prosecuting me for something and I pulled a stammering "I believe I'm sure/I don't recall" alternative pleading routine.

I find it fascinating how much like the movie versions of organized crime cartels the Republican Inner Circle operates: code of silence, special privileges for "made men," doing dirt constantly but expecting praise for the occasional crumb they toss to widows and (some) children, etc.
posted by lord_wolf at 2:00 PM on March 2, 2017 [12 favorites]


House aide says the House Sergeant at Arms’ office always invites the entire diplomatic corps for Joint Meetings and Joint Sessions.

It's not abnormal, it's just unintentionally funny now.
posted by snuffleupagus at 2:01 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Apparently, some law experts think that the Speech or Debate Clause in the Constitution shields Sessions from being prosecuted for perjury, since he was a sitting senator at the time.
posted by AceRock at 13:57 on March 2 [+] [!]

He took the oath, it was a confirmation hearing. That's a crock of shit.
posted by snuffleupagus at 13:58 on March 2 [1 favorite][!]


Either way, between this and the comity rule nonsense, it seems like we're long overdue for a law or amendment that requires a sitting Senator to step down before being appointed to a position that requires Senate confirmation.
posted by tobascodagama at 2:01 PM on March 2, 2017 [19 favorites]


> He took the oath, it was a confirmation hearing. That's a crock of shit.

Yeah, otherwise any sitting senator facing confirmation hearings for a cabinet position has total license to lie. That's an absurd result.

(On the other hand, Al Franken's card did say "moop" so ...)
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:02 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Whenever I see Trump with his full paunchy body I hear Funeral March of a Marionette playing (Alfred Hitchcock theme song).

Maybe when Trump's doctor was saying he's the healthiest president ever he wasn't including William Henry Harrison.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 2:02 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


um, Mike Bost, who represents IL-12, on why he won't hold a town hall:
“The amount of time that I have at home is minimal, I need to make sure that it’s productive,” Bost said Friday. “You know the cleansing that the Orientals used to do where you’d put one person out in front and 900 people yell at them? That’s not what we need. We need to have meetings with people that are productive.”
Where do Republicans keep managing to find people who talk like this? I'm so devoid of evens right now.
posted by zachlipton at 2:03 PM on March 2, 2017 [107 favorites]


Either way, between this and the comity rule nonsense, it seems like we're long overdue for a law or amendment that requires a sitting Senator to step down before being appointed to a position that requires Senate confirmation.

That or a rush to appoint Senators to such positions, since it's now clear the nominating party can shut down any criticism and encourage them to lie under oath with impunity.
posted by contraption at 2:04 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Pew Poll: Less than half of Republicans believe free press important for democracy

The GOP still hasn't finished its vile metamorphosis and I don't want to see what comes clambering out of the chrysalis.
posted by Rust Moranis at 2:04 PM on March 2, 2017 [35 favorites]


You know the cleansing that the Orientals used to do where you’d put one person out in front and 900 people yell at them?

I do not! I am a simple man, please tell me more about these Orientals and their strange ways.
posted by contraption at 2:06 PM on March 2, 2017 [57 favorites]




cleansing that the Orientals used to do where


Hoooooly shit.
posted by soren_lorensen at 2:07 PM on March 2, 2017 [29 favorites]


You know the cleansing that the Orientals used to do where you’d put one person out in front and 900 people yell at them?

What the fuck is he talking about here? First, Orientals? In 2017? Second, what the fuck is he talking about here?
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:07 PM on March 2, 2017 [28 favorites]


I do not! I am a simple man, please tell me more about these Orientals and their strange ways.

Very well. Fetch me the beekeeper.
posted by snuffleupagus at 2:08 PM on March 2, 2017 [36 favorites]


The orientals? For fucks sake.
posted by supercrayon at 2:08 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]




two-minutes hate from 1984?
posted by ArgentCorvid at 2:10 PM on March 2, 2017


Second, what the fuck is he talking about here?

Probably this, which his feeble mind has somehow converted into some kind of Confucius Say folklore:

Stressed Japanese let off steam at shouting festival
Stressed and frustrated Japanese people have convereged on a shouting festival to vent their pent up rage and agression without restraint.

posted by snuffleupagus at 2:10 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Jesus Christ, dude, "Orientals" is even more not the preferred nomenclature.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:10 PM on March 2, 2017 [30 favorites]


He said "Orientals," but I'm sure it was occidental.
posted by Floydd at 2:12 PM on March 2, 2017 [91 favorites]




You know the cleansing that the Orientals used to do where you’d put one person out in front and 900 people yell at them?

I may be off, but aren't there scenes kind of like this in movies about China during the Revolution? Like The Last Emperor during the parts where he's in prison camp.

Basically, he's accusing citizens who disagree with him of being anti-American revolutionaries. Is what I think he means.
posted by dnash at 2:13 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


He said "Orientals," but I'm sure it was occidental.

(is this what the bees are for? I'm not sure what the bees are for, I'm coming into the bee joke late, but if the bees aren't for this, what the hell are they for?)
posted by Sauce Trough at 2:13 PM on March 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


This is precisely what the bees are for. But we can't waste all the bees on an idiot Congressman saying phenomenally offensive things. We have higher aspirations for the bees. The bees are going to the top!
posted by zachlipton at 2:15 PM on March 2, 2017 [21 favorites]


The "cleansing" thing sounds like the big CR to me - someone like that would have certainly read all those books that were so fashionable in the US in the 80s about the Cultural Revolution.

The Cultural Revolution was, in fact, pretty horrible and not in the slightest like town halls.
posted by Frowner at 2:15 PM on March 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


Wait, WHAT? Someone used the word Oriental for a reason other than to indicate the blue package of ramen? Lemme guess? Clueless middle-aged white guy?
posted by chaoticgood at 2:16 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Yeah, I think he's talking about ugly stuff from the Cultural Revolution. But he also calls people "Orientals," so he may just be drawing from his own sad, confused imagination.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:16 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


He said "Orientals," but I'm sure it was occidental.

(is this what the bees are for? I'm not sure what the bees are for, I'm coming into the bee joke late, but if the bees aren't for this, what the hell are they for?)


It's beeworthy.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 2:16 PM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]




Comparing the Cultural Revolution to a town hall is like comparing first-degree murder to a strongly worded letter.
posted by en forme de poire at 2:20 PM on March 2, 2017 [15 favorites]


We're perched under USA Today, trying to catch its drippings. It has come to this.
posted by Rust Moranis at 2:21 PM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


To do: Write another lovely note to Susan Collins thanking her for being a reasonable human being

You mean the reasonable human being who voted it lockstep with her fellow Republicans to confirm Sessions? You mean the reasonable human being who voted in lockstep with her fellow Republicans to sanction Elizabeth Warren for reading aloud Coretta Scott King's letter about Sessions during debate?
posted by JackFlash at 2:22 PM on March 2, 2017 [21 favorites]


Comparing the Cultural Revolution to a town hall is like comparing first-degree murder to a strongly worded letter.
American conservatives have been known to do that, though. See: constant use of "lynching" to describe any criticism that hits too close to home.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:22 PM on March 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


Guardian: If the cap fits: Vietnam absentee Donald Trump's military look raises eyebrows
Joy Reid tweeted: “Trump – who got five deferments from Vietnam – is currently cosplaying as a military man, complete with hat and jacket.”
posted by ZeusHumms at 2:22 PM on March 2, 2017 [21 favorites]


Leaked EPA budget cuts funding for San Francisco Bay work to zero, Great Lakes restoration 97% (way to go, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania; you voted for this stuff), Puget Sound and Chesapeake Bay 93%, lead paint remediation 29%, and slashes state grants. Looks for a 19% cut in employees.
posted by zachlipton at 2:27 PM on March 2, 2017 [29 favorites]


Comparing the Cultural Revolution to a town hall is like comparing first-degree murder to a strongly worded letter.

I don't even think you need the simile there - they're comparing ideologically driven slow death for thousands by starvation to some crowds yelling.
posted by dinty_moore at 2:27 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


dances_with_sneetches : Whenever I see Trump with his full paunchy body I hear Funeral March of a Marionette playing (Alfred Hitchcock theme song).

Damn you! Damn you to hell!! (earworm!)
posted by mikelieman at 2:30 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


"We have a great ‘Make America great again’ hat but I said, ‘This is a special day, we’re wearing this, right?’”

I have a hard time listening to him talk and am not too familiar with his unscripted rally patter; is the royal 'we' a new development?
posted by contraption at 2:30 PM on March 2, 2017


Today has been fun.
posted by triggerfinger at 2:30 PM on March 2, 2017


Today has been fun.

Please tell me this is facetiousness.
posted by Talez at 2:33 PM on March 2, 2017


I like to think it echoes the ambiguous, disconnected comment I came to make: "I'm starting to lose my patience."
posted by Brak at 2:34 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


is currently cosplaying as a military man, complete with hat and jacket.

Specifically, he's cosplaying as the similarly-aged Vietnam vets who I often see at memorial services or heading to the VA for treatment. Which to me feels worse than W Bush in a flight suit, because for all the murk around the extent of W Bush's TANG service, he actually showed up.
posted by holgate at 2:35 PM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


I think Bost was trying to invoke the "Struggle Sessions" held during the Cultural Revolution.... which is QUITE a stretch to compare to a townhall.
posted by Aubergine at 2:38 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Can you imagine the unceasing plague of shitstorm that would have happened if Obama had dressed up like that? The sky would have turned a violent stain of brown and rained slimy, mucous-heavy fecal torrents across the country because of the response from racist shitbags like AG Sessions and his cretinous fellow vermin.

I feel like everything is hopeless.
posted by rocketman at 2:40 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


Vox reports on a literal treasure hunt to try to find the Republican healthcare bill.

It may be a literal hunt but it sure as fuck won't be a 'treasure'.
posted by srboisvert at 2:41 PM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


dwarf fortress fun
posted by hleehowon at 2:47 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


In which Carter Page whiffs on proper usage of "I can neither confirm nor deny."
posted by diogenes at 2:49 PM on March 2, 2017 [22 favorites]


Can you imagine the unceasing plague of shitstorm that would have happened if Obama had dressed up like that?

The Navy windbreaker really is not a big deal (except maybe because of the draft dodging). All of the Presidents (at least since GHWB) have worn Commander in Chief windbreakers and stuff that's sort of midway between civilian and military dress. Here's Obama in a flight jacket.
posted by snuffleupagus at 2:50 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


The article with a bit more info, noting that Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio continue pressing for passage of the Miners Protection Act (link to 2015 bill), which they believe would solve much of the problem by re-directing funds to the UMWA pension plan.

Ha. I forgot to add the link but that is the same article.
posted by futz at 2:53 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Statement from Sen. Leahy: Sessions partial recusal does not go far enough

This still means nothing until there's an investigation to recuse from. Has to be a special prosecutor from DOJ or a bilateral congressional commission with full supoena powers.
posted by T.D. Strange at 2:54 PM on March 2, 2017 [21 favorites]


In which Carter Page whiffs on proper usage of "I can neither confirm nor deny."

Hahahaha, I can neither confirm nor deny this thing I am currently confirming.
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:54 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


In which Carter Page whiffs on proper usage of "I can neither confirm nor deny."

"i can neither confirm nor deny that i know where the bodies are buried, i can only say that there are definitely bodies, yep, so many bodies"
posted by murphy slaw at 2:54 PM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


Leaked EPA budget

94% reduction in endocrine disruptor research. Something something Alex Jones frogs are turning gay.

Also, zeroing out the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act grants is pretty dumb. That money goes to providing low-cost financing to rebuild or replace older diesel engines with newer, cleaner ones. Like cash for clunkers, it gets dirty engines off the roads and creates jobs making new ones. Companies like Caterpillar, Cummins, and Daimler Trucks should be unhappy to see this.
posted by peeedro at 2:55 PM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


Here's Obama in a flight jacket.

Correction: Here's Obama wearing the hell out of a flight jacket.
posted by Atom Eyes at 2:55 PM on March 2, 2017 [43 favorites]


Flustered "harmless and good-hearted" forgetful old man is not a good look for a press conference if you are the Attorney General of the US.

The fact that he looks like a baby is kind of disarming though.


The shorter way of saying that he simultaneously looks like a forgetful old man and also like a baby is saying that he looks like Cotton Hill incarnate.
posted by mudpuppie at 2:56 PM on March 2, 2017 [20 favorites]


when's the last time any of these fucks had to bring their A game to anything

It's a fallacy to assume they have an A game.
posted by srboisvert at 2:59 PM on March 2, 2017 [15 favorites]


given the evidence of Obama wearing a flight jacket, I think we can classify trump jacket under nazis eating crackers.
posted by Yowser at 3:01 PM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


it gets dirty engines off the roads and creates jobs making new ones. Companies like Caterpillar, Cummins, and Daimler Trucks should be unhappy to see this.

Caterpillar was just raided by the Feds today. Something about trading with enemy states on top of 2015's billion dollar tax evasion fine.
posted by srboisvert at 3:01 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


2 billion dollar fine.
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 3:06 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Yeah the Navy jacket is a nothingburger, other than the fact that he looked completely ridiculous and is undoubtedly so furious his little photo-op was upstaged by all this Russia talk. Just think, if he did this yesterday, he could have had a whole news cycle devoted to him and his big boat toy.
posted by zachlipton at 3:06 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Trump May Choose “Alternative Intelligence” to Support His “Alternative Facts,” Former Agents Warn
A former CIA analyst assigned to work on the Bush administration’s attempt to link Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda is warning that the Trump’s administration may be adopting the same model of “alternative intelligence” that led to the Iraq war. “They weighed false information. They also took raw reports and cherry-picked those from sources that we didn’t deem reliable, and gave those to the president,” said Nada Bakos, who worked at the CIA from 2000-2010, in an interview with Jeremy Scahill.

Bakos said she is concerned that the Trump administration is operating with “the expectation that you toe the line according to what they want versus the reality, the situation on the ground.” That approach will “politicize the structure of the intelligence community. So you can politicize the information that comes out, possibly develop your own team that feeds the bottom line that you’re after,” she said. “That to me is one of the more concerning underlying factors in how [Trump is] treating the intelligence community. If it’s always serving his needs and serving his view of the world, he may as well not have one.”
posted by homunculus at 3:07 PM on March 2, 2017 [26 favorites]


There were more dudes in hard hats than uniformed navy personnel.

Let's check the video. I see one dude in a hard hat and two uniformed Navy personnel.
And a biker. And a Native American. And a cowboy!
posted by kirkaracha at 3:08 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


Jesus didn't we just go through the alt-intel thing with the W admin and their "stovepiping" or whatever it was Cheney and Rumsfeld devised and it caused a war WTF.
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 3:10 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Are there any Trump campaign surrogates that didn't meet with Kislyak? Was Kislyak on the campaign?
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 3:10 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


What kind of yak corrupts American officials? A Kislyak!
posted by msalt at 3:12 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


so i just discovered that that fly as hell leather jacket i found somewhere and gave to my brother is an air force jacket and blessed by obama
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 3:13 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


A former CIA analyst assigned to work on the Bush administration’s attempt to link Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda is warning that the Trump’s administration may be adopting the same model of “alternative intelligence” that led to the Iraq war. “They weighed false information. They also took raw reports and cherry-picked those from sources that we didn’t deem reliable, and gave those to the president,” said Nada Bakos, who worked at the CIA from 2000-2010, in an interview with Jeremy Scahill.

It is ironic how Trump is using criticism of the run-up to the war in Iraq to get to the same corruption of intelligence.
posted by mumimor at 3:14 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]




Leaked EPA budget cuts funding for San Francisco Bay work to zero, Great Lakes restoration 97% (way to go, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania; you voted for this stuff), Puget Sound and Chesapeake Bay 93%, lead paint remediation 29%, and slashes state grants. Looks for a 19% cut in employees.

What are the remaining 80% of the employees going to do with their time?
posted by msalt at 3:15 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Trump May Choose “Alternative Intelligence”

Ohhhh, that is some low hanging fruit right there!
posted by futz at 3:15 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


Comparing the Cultural Revolution to a town hall is like comparing first-degree murder to a strongly worded letter.

American conservatives have been known to do that, though. See: constant use of "lynching" to describe any criticism that hits too close to home.


I have said it before, but these people are fundamentally cowards. Weak, fearful little babies.
posted by schadenfrau at 3:17 PM on March 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


Dreamer Arrested After Speaking To Media Will Be Deported Without Hearing, Attorney Says
Daniela Vargas, who came to the U.S. from Argentina when she was 7 years old, previously had a work permit and deportation reprieve under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. Her DACA status expired last November, and because she was saving money for the renewal — which costs $495 — her new application wasn’t received until Feb. 10.
Is there an organization devoted to paying these fees? Because it seems like that would be really useful.
posted by zachlipton at 3:17 PM on March 2, 2017 [39 favorites]


oh my god though subjecting Republican electeds to legit struggle sessions would be the best.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 3:18 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Specifically, he's cosplaying as the similarly-aged Vietnam vets who I often see at memorial services or heading to the VA for treatment.

Hey, he earned it! He avoided STDs and vaginas potential landmines. "It is my personal Vietnam. I feel like a great and very brave solider...if you have any guilt about not having gone to Vietnam, we have our own Vietnam — it’s called the dating game...Dating is like being in Vietnam. You’re the equivalent of a soldier going over to Vietnam."

Which to me feels worse than W Bush in a flight suit, because for all the murk around the extent of W Bush's TANG service, he actually showed up.

No, he didn't.
posted by kirkaracha at 3:20 PM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


Are there any Trump campaign surrogates that didn't meet with Kislyak? Was Kislyak on the campaign

1. Entomologists suggest that you are never more than five or six feet from a Kislyak.

2. "Look under your chairs. You get a Kislyak! And you get a Kislyak! Everyone gets a Kislyak!!"

3. We are all Kislyak now.
posted by darkstar at 3:20 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


1. Sean Spicer: Anyone asking for Sessions to recuse himself from Russia case should be ‘ashamed’
2. Jeff Sessions recuses himself from Russia inquiry amid calls for resignation


Well, Spicer raises a good point. Jeff Sessions should be ashamed.
posted by msalt at 3:21 PM on March 2, 2017 [48 favorites]


Dating is like being in Vietnam. You’re the equivalent of a soldier going over to Vietnam.

I'd say I was out of fucks to give, but honestly, that feels a little too on the nose in the context.
posted by nubs at 3:24 PM on March 2, 2017


I thought you'd like to see this image of Khzir Khan speaking with an immigration volunteer at Dulles. It's just something to boost our spirits in a good way. (s/l tweet)
posted by Silverstone at 3:27 PM on March 2, 2017 [20 favorites]


diogenes: "In which Carter Page whiffs on proper usage of "I can neither confirm nor deny.""

Oh my fuckin' god. For posterity, here's his actual statement:
I can neither confirm or deny any meeting with him at that event in the interest of respecting the confidentiality rules that people agreed to as it was an off the record session.
Can't any dumbass on this whole dumbass team do anything in a normal way? Just say "I can neither confirm nor deny any meetings." That's it. Just say that. That's at least a normal way to stonewall. This... this is just weird and pathetic.
posted by mhum at 3:30 PM on March 2, 2017 [18 favorites]


Most fitting news story I've ever posted in a MeFi politics thread: Can’t Get Any Work Done? New Survey Reveals Politics Is Killing Productivity
“The results were shocking,” Duggan said. “We found that 87 percent of employees are reading political social media posts during the workday.”

The survey found that workers on average are spending two hours reading or talking about political news at work. For some employees it’s three or four hours a day. And it’s not just liberals in the Bay Area. People from across the political spectrum and across the country have become news junkies.
posted by zachlipton at 3:30 PM on March 2, 2017 [58 favorites]


Sessions struggled today am I right? Thank you
posted by prize bull octorok at 3:32 PM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


GOP Rep Says Holding Town Halls Is Like Being Yelled At In A Ritual By 'Orientals'

*checks location of Mike Bost's district*
*experiences distinct lack of surprise*
posted by FelliniBlank at 3:32 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Anybody who has been in a closed room with a Kislyak should be assumed to have been subsumed into the group organism by now. We really need an open flame test with blood samples at this point to see who isn't an ameboid monster.
posted by benzenedream at 3:33 PM on March 2, 2017 [14 favorites]




I can neither confirm or deny any meeting with him at that event in the interest of respecting the confidentiality rules that people agreed to as it was an off the record session.

I can't confirm or deny any meeting with Kislyak because I promised him I wouldn't tell anybody that we met.
posted by msalt at 3:38 PM on March 2, 2017 [14 favorites]


Hey guys, Republican report-back here. Looks like the RNC sent me a "Trump Agenda Survey" begging for money. Should I just check "no" on everything or send it back with extra things added? I am taking any and all suggestions.
posted by corb at 3:38 PM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


I can neither confirm or deny that I am a dumbshit in the interest of keeping my actual stupidity a secret.
posted by chris24 at 3:40 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Wait, I just caught on to this: Donald Trump Jr. was paid 50k just to ATTEND a meeting with Russian allies to influence Trump admin actions in Syria???

How is that not blatant pay-for-access, and almost certainly bribed influence? Is it just because Jr. is assumed not to talk to his Dad about it? What the heck?
posted by darkstar at 3:40 PM on March 2, 2017 [26 favorites]


corb, do you have any rubles you can fax them?
posted by Sauce Trough at 3:41 PM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


Jim Acosta, who does not know how to thread tweets (just keep clicking, Jake Tapper has already been asked to teach him), says that Jeff Sessions presided over the meeting with Trump in March, as told by Gordon, who also met with Kislyak, where they discussed Trump's views on Ukraine. Gordon says he and others at the convention pushed for the GOP platform to have the language against arming Ukranians, "but there was no conversation about Russians helping Trump camp."

So that's a direct link from Trump folks meeting with Kislyak to the GOP platform changes on Ukraine, with Sessions participating in a March meeting with Trump on Russia policy.
posted by zachlipton at 3:41 PM on March 2, 2017 [74 favorites]


He points to his meetings with other ambassadors to make it look like the Russian ones weren't unusual. But how does it actually look compared to other senators? Does Sessions just speak with a lot of ambassadors?

Senators on the Foreign Relations committee speak to a lot of ambassadors. Sessions is not on Foreign Relations, he is on the Armed Services committee.
posted by JackFlash at 3:41 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]




I think an old school struggle session and intense reeducation program is exacrly what these fucks need. With their crimes pinned to their jackets and the full rage of honest hardworking Americans right up in their faces.

"I sold out my constituents for the personal gain of the elites."

"I am a racist who wants to disenfranchise coloured people."

"I do not think women or gay people should have the same rights as cis white men."

"I hold the interests of the Republican party above the interests of the United States."


etc. etc., just getting started.
posted by Meatbomb at 3:42 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


We really need an open flame test with blood samples at this point to see who isn't an ameboid monster.

We could try the Voight-Kampff test, but I don't think any of the Republicans would pass.

"You come across a turtle on its back, struggling. You aren't helping it. Why?"
  • Quick, grab its wallet!
  • Is it a foreign turtle? Is it even here legally?
  • I quickly steal power in the party while McConnell is incapacitated
  • Surely it can right itself by its own bootstraps
  • I inherited this upside-down turtle mess from Obama, why should I clean it up?
posted by Freon at 3:42 PM on March 2, 2017 [54 favorites]


Can’t Get Any Work Done? New Survey Reveals Politics Is Killing Productivity

::Looks briefly at pile of work on desk. Looks quickly back to thread::
posted by downtohisturtles at 3:44 PM on March 2, 2017 [66 favorites]


forgetful old man is not a good look for a press conference if you are the Attorney General of the US.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez said "I don't recall" more than 50 times in testimony before the Senate Judicial Committee. But then again, he was gone three months later.
posted by JackFlash at 3:46 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


How does this happen?

Sean Spicer accidentally tweets Trump is new HUD secretary

In a tweet that was deleted shortly after too many saw it, Spicer announced: "The Senate has confirmed @realDonaldTrump as the next Secretary of @HUDgov."
posted by futz at 3:47 PM on March 2, 2017 [16 favorites]


Is it new thread time?

On preview: holy shit zachlipton
posted by schadenfrau at 3:48 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


“average person meets 3 kislyaks a year” factoid actualy just statistical error. average person meets 0 kislyaks per year. Rubles Jeff, who lives in cave & meets over 10,000 each day, is an outlier adn should not have been counted
posted by jason_steakums at 3:49 PM on March 2, 2017 [17 favorites]


mhum: "This... this is just weird and pathetic."

Oh wait. I just remembered this Politico article from last September wherein Julia Ioffe tries to track down exactly who this Carter Page character is. Here are some choice quotes about Page that she managed to get on the record from the people she talked with:
  • “He made no impression whatsoever. Whether he was there or not, it made no difference,”
  • “When you’re dealing with a pro, you see it. Page, unfortunately, did not leave that impression.”
  • “without any special talents or accomplishments,”
  • “What can you say about a person who in no way [is] exceptional?”
  • “mildly speaking, not competent in the field of energy.”
  • “judging by the drivel he spews on Russia, you can tell he doesn’t really understand the topic.”
  • “did not create the impression of someone who was intellectual or well-educated, or someone who was in any way interested or knowledgeable in foreign policy,”
  • “He’s a nice guy, but of the people that I know that have Russian foreign policy experience or access and contacts, he wouldn’t be in the last decile, but he’d be in the second-to-last decile,”
Ell. Oh. Ell. There are actually even more amusing quotes about Page's less-than-impressive career and qualifications in the article, including some bits about his not-so-successful attempts at actually capitalizing on his so-called Russian energy industry expertise.
posted by mhum at 3:50 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


Hey guys, Republican report-back here. Looks like the RNC sent me a "Trump Agenda Survey" begging for money. Should I just check "no" on everything or send it back with extra things added? I am taking any and all suggestions.

If there's a line for 'other' or suggestions, write them about the need for an independent commission on Trump's ties to Russia. Promise them money forthcoming AFTER a special prosecutor is appointed.
posted by T.D. Strange at 3:51 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


“The results were shocking,” Duggan said. “We found that 87 percent of employees are reading political social media posts during the workday.”

I can neither confirm nor deny that I am one such employee having read this comment on social media.
posted by vac2003 at 3:52 PM on March 2, 2017 [30 favorites]


Do bees survive shipping?
posted by downtohisturtles at 3:52 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Very well. Fetch me the beekeeper

Beekeeper present and at your ser....WHAT THE FUCK? I take an hour and some asshole starts in about Orientals?
posted by Sophie1 at 3:53 PM on March 2, 2017 [19 favorites]




> We really need an open flame test with blood samples at this point to see who isn't an ameboid monster.

He's like the GOP's version of a Legion Yellow Eyed Demon parasite. http://imgur.com/a/b8odU
posted by christopherious at 3:56 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Thread from @RVAwonk about the September timeline. She has sources on click through:
Sessions met w/ Kislyak for the 2nd time on Sept. 8. I did a LexisNexis search to see what was going on at that time. Here we go...
* Three days before #Sessions met w/Kislyak in September, Obama met w/Putin at the G20 summit.
* At the G20 summit, Obama & Putin discussed sanctions that US imposed on Sept 1, which Putin said were inconsistent w/future cooperation.
* On Sept 7, Dir. of National Intelligence James Clapper publicly suggested for the first time that Russia was behind the DNC hack.
* Then, on Sept. 8 - the day of the Sessions/Kislyak meeting - Trump told a Russian TV network he didn't think Russia was behind the hack.
* The same day (9/8) that Sessions met w/Kislyak, Trump suggested it would be "wonderful" if we had a relationship with Russia...
* Also on the same day (9/8) that #Sessions met w/Kislyak, both Trump AND Pence heaped praise on Putin & his leadership style.
* And (here it is), on the same day that #Sessions met w/Kislyak, Russia suddenly became optimistic about building good relations w/the US,
* So at the start of the wk, Russia wasn't optimistic abt cooperation. After #Sessions-Kislyak mtg, that changed,
* And then, 5 days after #Sessions-Kislyak meeting, guess what happened? Hacked DNC emails were released.
* Coincidences. Take. Planning. -X-
posted by rewil at 4:00 PM on March 2, 2017 [102 favorites]


So as I see Acosta's tweets, that's a direct link from Trump associates having contact with Russian officials during the campaign to a meeting with Trump to discuss policies toward Russia to pro-Russia policies being inserted into the GOP platform.

The question I want answered is who else was at that March meeting with Trump and who else worked to influence the platform in this regard. Were Carter Page or Manafort at this meeting?
posted by zachlipton at 4:02 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


I can say with confidence that two years ago I never would have suspected that Metafilter consensus would ever be in favor of subjecting officials to struggle sessions. I thought I'd be out on that particular political ledge all by myself.

the bees thing, though, that I'm not surprised by.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 4:03 PM on March 2, 2017 [23 favorites]


Is there a record for hitting 2,000 posts? I watched the Tuesday speech and read most of the comments to that point on the new thread and now... what? Sessions just recused himself late today, so what else went sideways on Wednesday?
I'm getting something to eat and diving in again.
By the way, when the president reads from a prompter and stays on track, he does sound plausible. It's the other 23 hours a day that are a hot mess.
Thank goodness for the free press and sites like MetaFilter that stay on it the rest of the time.
posted by TrishaU at 4:06 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]




Here, in fact, is Manafort denying that the Trump campaign was involved in changing the GOP platform in this way, which Gordon just admitted they did do.
posted by zachlipton at 4:06 PM on March 2, 2017 [22 favorites]


* And then, 5 days after #Sessions-Kislyak meeting, guess what happened? Hacked DNC emails were released.

5 days after Sept 8th would be Sept 13th, when WaPo reports Sessions and Kislyak had a phone call.

Hmmm...
posted by chris24 at 4:07 PM on March 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


Bees do survive shipping in boxes but sadly the Post Office insists you label them. Though i do love the idea of "I have no money but have donated you 10,000 bees, to be used to encourage Congress to appoint a special prosecutor." Are in-kind donations restricted? Can they not use the bees for any other purpose?
posted by corb at 4:08 PM on March 2, 2017 [24 favorites]


5 days after Sept 8th would be Sept 13th, when WaPo reports Sessions and Kislyak had a phone call.

I want this to be true so much, but the source story was corrected to say that it was just an in-person meeting on the 8th, with the call on the 13th seemingly being removed.
posted by zachlipton at 4:09 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


with the call on the 13th seemingly being removed.

Ah, thanks. My bad.
posted by chris24 at 4:11 PM on March 2, 2017


Can they not use the bees for any other purpose?

Dear Representative __________,

It is said you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Please find enclosed my donation of one colony of bees, to aid you in making your message heard.

I believe it was Euripides who said,

“When one with honeyed words but evil mind
Persuades the mob, great woes befall the state.”

I feel that applies here, somehow, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

God Bless America,
posted by Freon at 4:15 PM on March 2, 2017 [27 favorites]


An interesting story about Trump looking to Canada for a couple of different policy ideas (infrastructure funding, immigration rules, air traffic control, regulatory reform). But not healthcare. Definitely not healthcare.
posted by zachlipton at 4:15 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


I'm conflicted about the plan to send a bunch of bees to DC. On the one hand, we need to let them alone to keep pollinating the food plants to ensure we survive as a species, but on the other hand we need to send them to drive the madness out of government to ensure we survive as a species. And on the third hand, ever since 11/8 I've been wondering whether we ought not just quit hassling the bees with our various bullshit. Is it definitive that we really need to keep on with this "survive as a species" project? Where's the evidence?
posted by Don Pepino at 4:18 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Scranton YMCA stops showing 24-hour news after political fights erupt: The gym's televisions are still on, but instead will air channels such as ESPN and the Weather Channel.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 4:20 PM on March 2, 2017 [20 favorites]


Indianapolis Star: Pence used personal email for state business -- and was hacked: Emails released to IndyStar in response to a public records request show Pence communicated via his personal AOL account with top advisers on topics ranging from security gates at the governor’s residence to the state’s response to terror attacks across the globe. In one email, Pence’s top state homeland security adviser relayed an update from the FBI regarding the arrests of several men on federal terror-related charges.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 4:30 PM on March 2, 2017 [54 favorites]


Of course Mike Pence uses an AOL account. Probably still hanging on to one of those CDs he got in the mail.
posted by zachlipton at 4:32 PM on March 2, 2017 [29 favorites]


Of course Mike Pence uses an AOL account. Probably still hanging on to one of those CDs he got in the mail.

Yep, he's firing up the 14.4k modem on his landline.
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:35 PM on March 2, 2017


"Mike, you have to get offline now. I need the phone line to call the church auxiliary about the potluck!"

"All right, Mother."
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:38 PM on March 2, 2017 [63 favorites]


Scranton YMCA stops showing 24-hour news after political fights erupt

I'll never understand why businesses think it's a good idea to have 24-hour cable news playing in public waiting spaces. Of course, it's worse when it's Fox News, but even if it's CNN or MSNBC—how do you not realize that, for a significant percentage of your clients, by forcing them to passively consume a relentless stream of mostly bad tidings you are making their day just a little bit worse.
posted by Atom Eyes at 4:38 PM on March 2, 2017 [40 favorites]


Snippets on Carter Page, international man of weird: no direct contact with the orange menace, but his trip to Russia was approved by Cory Lewandowski. Per that Julia Ioffe piece, nobody really knows how he got on the list of foreign policy people other than Jefferson Beauregard and his staff, and they're not telling. For now.
posted by holgate at 4:41 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


I bet Mike Pence hears messages from God when he dials in to his SLIP/PPP account
BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEEEEEEEEEEEP
M̯͕̘̰̗̕i̛̟ḱ̝͇͕̦̲̮e̦̳͔̥Ş̲͇̗a̼͎̜̩v̯͔ͅe̻͔͕T̘̣̥͔͔̦h̡̯͍̠̗̜̲͉e̙̞̫̫̙̦̰͞B̫̮͚a̘̰̲͙͈͡ͅb̞̭͕ḭ̴̘̦̖̜e̛͕̭͖̱͓̙s̗P͍̜͖̱ͅl̜̯͓a͉̩͍̻ͅc̳̘̻̟e̺̭T̮͚̩̤̦̼͞h͎̟̺̪̥̺͢e̤͖͖ͅW̱̩̪̣ó̠͖͚̟͖m̛̙e̸̹̼͕nÍ̹̖͙n͕̗̮̖T̻͟h͙̦̘̙̜͘ḙ̡͓̟B̶̥̣̦̘̝̹r̫e҉͙̮̗e̝̬̝d͓̰͍i̭̻̫̟͞ͅn̘͙͈͈̤͢ͅg҉̤Y̨̘̲̰̖͔͚o̰̩͇̙̬̪̣̕k̸̻̥͈̫e̟͖̫s̮̺̻̠Q͓̜̳̙͘u̲̰̤̲͎͎ͅi̶̜̻̯̥̤̬c̬̜̗k̴̙̰͚̠̞l̵y̠̲S̙͇̠̩a̟͜t̴̗a͈̼̤̝n҉͍̟̜̞͕̦͖I҉̠͈̤͕̺̣̗s̙̩̺̹̥̤̺C͓̠̼͕͓o͉m͉͓̻i̢͔̺͍̳ṇ͈̤͜g̷

CONNECT 33600
posted by Freon at 4:42 PM on March 2, 2017 [49 favorites]


(I wonder if throwing Page under the bus means more about him is set to come out.)
posted by holgate at 4:42 PM on March 2, 2017


Last time I went to the dentist they had Food Network playing in the waiting room. While I don't particularly care who the Next Food Network Star is, it's still infinitely better than unexpected Blitzer.
posted by downtohisturtles at 4:42 PM on March 2, 2017 [13 favorites]


I have run out of favourites to give thanks to this thread.
posted by MattWPBS at 4:45 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


"Daniela Vargas, who came to the U.S. from Argentina when she was 7 years old, previously had a work permit and deportation reprieve under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. Her DACA status expired last November, and because she was saving money for the renewal — which costs $495 — her new application wasn’t received until Feb. 10"

*blinding rage*

Is she supposed to be one of the "bad dudes"? She came here at age 7 FFS.

I wish there was a way to make these bastards experience the total cumulative existential terror they're inflicting on so many people all at once in a single instance. I suspect it'd either change their minds or fry their brains. Either works for me.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 4:46 PM on March 2, 2017 [68 favorites]


>I wish there was a way to make these bastards experience the total cumulative existential terror they're inflicting on so many people all at once in a single instance.

[Don's lab coat, opens Power Point deck] "Well, with the right number of bees..."
posted by mosk at 4:48 PM on March 2, 2017 [18 favorites]


This should be bigger news although i fully understand why it isn't atm.

FEC Complaint: Trump Filed False Campaign Report in Violation of Election Law

I found a TL;DR [reddit]:

Trump pretended to public to have 2016 Election debt, instead had $7M surplus, encouraged donations illegally to pay fake 2016 debt and avoid donation limits for 2020 campaign, fake 2016 debt ended up being millions to TRUMP companies and 2020 campaign events as late as December 31, reported everything falsely to FEC.

Here is the Daily Beast article about it. Team Trump Took Illegal Cash, Watchdogs Say
posted by futz at 4:49 PM on March 2, 2017 [87 favorites]


Here's Acosta's report on CNN about his call with Gordon. It's a direct link between advisors with weird Russian contacts to a meeting with Trump to pro-Russia language in the GOP platform.

I want to know more about this March meeting at the unfinished Trump hotel (how much more shady do you get than having your Russian collusion meeting in a construction site?). We know Sessions, Gordon, and Trump were there. Were the other advisors with Russian ties also present? March is when Manafort joined the campaign. March is also when Trump was asked who his foreign policy advisors were, and he named five people, including Carter Page. Was Page at this meeting? They've previously claimed that Trump never met Page.

This is painting a picture of basically everyone advising Trump on foreign policy talking to the Russian Ambassador throughout the campaign and after the election and directly inserting pro-Russia language into the GOP platform.
posted by zachlipton at 4:56 PM on March 2, 2017 [18 favorites]


Here, MattWPBS, have one of mine.

I wish there was a way to make these bastards experience the total cumulative existential terror they're inflicting on so many people all at once in a single instance.


I've been wishing for a lot of people to get Penance Stare'd since about October 2015.
posted by J.K. Seazer at 4:56 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


> Bees do survive shipping in boxes but sadly the Post Office insists you label them

With little collars, or...?
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:56 PM on March 2, 2017 [12 favorites]


> He's making this emoluments case pretty easy for the lawyers

Which lawyers? I've been a bit out of touch recently. Is anyone working on a case?
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:57 PM on March 2, 2017




It still just stuns me that all during mid-Feb when the news was a constant refrain of Flynn-Kislyak, Flynn-Russia, Flynn lied, Flynn resigns, all day long, Trump et al. just sat there saying, "The smart play here is definitely to keep concealing the Flynn-Kushner-Kislyak meeting that occurred IN TRUMP'S HOUSE, because certainly it will never ever come to light or make us look guiltier than fuck (again) in two weeks when it's discovered and we didn't mention it until we got caught."
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:01 PM on March 2, 2017 [33 favorites]


Pence's AOL mail, which he was using for work, getting hacked...
This has been said already, yet bears repeating: This isn't even farce anymore.
posted by Enturbulated at 5:01 PM on March 2, 2017 [15 favorites]


Ok. One more on Carter Page and I'll shut up.

Here he is two weeks ago denying any meetings with Russian officials in 2016

And here's Politico 30 minutes ago: Former Trump adviser Carter Page also met with Russian envoy (at the GOP convention).

Because Carter Page is an idiot who cannot keep his mouth shut, he'll be interviewed live by Chris Hayes at 8pm Eastern tonight. Popcorn futures are spiking.
posted by zachlipton at 5:03 PM on March 2, 2017 [26 favorites]


Fun fact about shipping bees: sometimes bees escape the packaging but as long as the queen remains inside, any loose bees will stay with the package.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:03 PM on March 2, 2017 [15 favorites]


Yep, March is when things start to coalesce around Russian connections, which is also when the GOP primary was leaning one way but far from sewn up, and when the Dem primary was basically sewn up in terms of delegate numbers, but the Clinton-Sanders contest was still blazing.

April was when Fancy Bear hacked the DNC. (Cozy Bear had already done so, but the ongoing assumption is that the two groups worked entirely separately.)
posted by holgate at 5:07 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Because Carter Page is an idiot who cannot keep his mouth shut, he'll be interviewed live by Chris Hayes at 8pm Eastern tonight. Popcorn futures are spiking.

Ooooooooo, I hope I get to see him neither confirm nor deny things!
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:07 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


All right, Mother.
'Mother, Mother, who prepared our meal this evening?'

The legislators looked at one another, speaking with their eyes: He just called his wife 'Mother.'

Maybe it was a joke, the legislator reasoned. But a few minutes later, Pence shouted again.

'Mother, Mother, whose china are we eating on?'

Mother Pence went on a long discourse about where the china was from. A little later, the legislators stumbled out, wondering what was weirder: Pence's inability to make conversation, or calling his wife 'Mother' in the second decade of the 21st century.
Could be worse, I guess.
posted by kirkaracha at 5:08 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


With little collars, or...?

Sharpie, certainly?
posted by spitbull at 5:10 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


> Bees do survive shipping in boxes but sadly the Post Office insists you label them.

Will this do?
posted by mosk at 5:10 PM on March 2, 2017 [13 favorites]


calling his wife 'Mother' in the second decade of the 21st century.

Oh come on. I hate the guy but is this really necessary. Some parents get into the habit of calling their wives "Mother" in front of the kids so they don't start calling them by the first name or "babe". It's probably just force of habit and some desperate "journalist" looking for something to make into a story.
posted by Talez at 5:17 PM on March 2, 2017 [13 favorites]


Trump statement on Sessions.
Jeff Sessions is an honest man. He did not say anything wrong. He could have stated his response more accurately, but it was clearly not intentional. This whole narrative is a way of saving face for Democrats losing an election that everyone thought they were supposed to win. The Democrats are overplaying their hand. They lost the election and now, they have lost their grip on reality. The real story is all of the illegal leaks of classified and other information. It is a total witch hunt!
posted by chris24 at 5:17 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


It has been suggested that there are those who would find amusement when reading about Sessions in substituting "recuse" with another, possibly ruder word. I can confirm on a personal basis that levity nay be found in this manner.
posted by scalefree at 5:18 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Incoming: Carter Page after commercial break on msnbc. I cannot believe he actually showed up.
posted by futz at 5:18 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


I am taking any and all suggestions.

all of my suggestions are definitely illegal
posted by poffin boffin at 5:18 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Oh come on. I hate the guy but is this really necessary.

Yes it is. Have you actually read the story? Everyone there was completely creeped out.
posted by futz at 5:20 PM on March 2, 2017


From the Department of Moving Goalposts, Obamacare is ‘a subset’ of the Affordable Care Act:
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the co-sponsor of legislation that would replace most of the Affordable Care Act by allowing states to keep portions of it, hears “repeal” differently than some Republicans. In a scrum with reporters this week, Cassidy said that “Obamacare” was not really a synonym for the Affordable Care Act. For many voters, he said, “Obamacare” meant the parts of the law that Republicans would get rid of, and the Affordable Care Act was the provisions, such as continued coverage for people with preexisting conditions, that Republicans intended to keep.

“The Affordable Care Act is, if you will, a different animal, and Obamacare is a different subset of it,” Cassidy said. “Complete repeal is not what President Trump ran on. President Trump ran on everyone having coverage, caring for those with preexisting conditions without mandates, at a lower cost.”
posted by peeedro at 5:20 PM on March 2, 2017 [46 favorites]


substituting "recuse" with another, possibly ruder word

J'accuse!
posted by Talez at 5:20 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Page is saying the conference he attended at the RNC along with various ambassadors was off the record and he won't talk about any meetings that he had there. He won't say that he met with Kislyak. Hayes asks him about the fact that he said "no meetings, no meetings" two weeks ago in an interview, and Page is backpedaling now, saying that he only had no meetings about "the investigation."
posted by zachlipton at 5:24 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


I can neither confirm or deny any meeting with him at that event in the interest of respecting the confidentiality rules that people agreed to as it was an off the record session.

I may or may
not have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
posted by jaduncan at 5:24 PM on March 2, 2017 [25 favorites]


Oh my god, this Page interview is a laugh riot. The completely wacky, idiotic attempts at equivocation.

......................and he invokes the Fight Club rule. I die.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:25 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Yes it is. Have you actually read the story? Everyone there was completely creeped out.

They're uptight evangelicals acting like every uptight evangelical couple I've ever known. It's weird, it's creepy, but if it works for them who gives a shit?
posted by Talez at 5:25 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Carter Page went from "I will neither confirm or deny" to "ok, I met the Russian Ambassador in Cleveland but at no other time".
posted by futz at 5:26 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


I almost feel like Putin let this man live to be on tv just for the entertainment value.
posted by schadenfrau at 5:26 PM on March 2, 2017 [13 favorites]


Hayes asks him about the fact that he said "no meetings, no meetings" two weeks ago in an interview, and Page is backpedaling now, saying that he only had no meetings about "the investigation."

The best bit was the "I may or may not have met with him in Cleveland, but I'm not denying I met with him there. But I will say I definitely never met with him anywhere outside of Cleveland."
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:26 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Carter Page went from "I will neither confirm or deny" to "ok, I met the Russian Ambassador in Cleveland but at no other time".

To clarify my
earlier statement
I only ate one
posted by jaduncan at 5:27 PM on March 2, 2017 [33 favorites]


Like I come off pretty creepy. I look like a hobo. I don't say much around unfamiliar people. My wife and I when we have dinner we never talk because that works for us.

If someone wants to come into my house and start judging me and my wife they can GFT.
posted by Talez at 5:27 PM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


Pence and his wife have three children, which I think conclusively proves that he's a Mother-

Shut yo mouth!
posted by J.K. Seazer at 5:28 PM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


Did you meet him in a boat?
Did you meet him on a goat?
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:28 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Cassidy said that “Obamacare” was not really a synonym for the Affordable Care Act. For many voters, he said, “Obamacare” meant the parts of the law that Republicans would get rid of, and the Affordable Care Act was the provisions, such as continued coverage for people with preexisting conditions, that Republicans intended to keep.

Senator, could you please give us a list of the provisions that constitute "Obamacare"? And which ones you would repeal? Preferably in the form of the text of a bill. In public please. Along with a submission to the CBO.
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:28 PM on March 2, 2017 [31 favorites]


but if it works for them who gives a shit?

I hope we can agree to disagree. I'm not interested in derailing the thread.
posted by futz at 5:29 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


The best bit was the "I may or may not have met with him in Cleveland, but I'm not denying I met with him there. But I will say I definitely never met with him anywhere outside of Cleveland."

I definitely
ate no plums
not in your
icebox?
posted by jaduncan at 5:29 PM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


"Ok, I met with him once outside of Cleveland, but we were both in a Cleveland state of mind."
posted by drezdn at 5:30 PM on March 2, 2017 [12 favorites]


Chris Hayes is interviewing Carter Page and it's like he's trying to nail snot to a wall
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 5:30 PM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


Oh my GOD.
Hayes: Did you ever meet with either of [these guys]?
Page: Nope, never.
Hayes: You never once met with either of them?
Page: I definitely never met with either of them one-on-one. Now, I may have been in a group meeting they were in.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:31 PM on March 2, 2017 [20 favorites]


How does Page going on TV and acting incredibly suspicious about every single thing he did possibly help this situation? Like, he was already shady as hell, and now every single question is met with ridiculous twisted denials and evasion. This is 1,000 times worse than him just not saying anything at all. Is he really going to walk away from this interview thinking "there, I fixed it."
posted by zachlipton at 5:31 PM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]




It's like some bizarre comedy routine.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:31 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Cassidy said that “Obamacare” was not really a synonym for the Affordable Care Act. For many voters, he said, “Obamacare” meant the parts of the law that Republicans would get rid of, and the Affordable Care Act was the provisions, such as continued coverage for people with preexisting conditions, that Republicans intended to keep.

So the mystery bill locked away in the bowels of the capitol is just a one line post-it note that reads "CHANGE NAME TO SUPER AWESOME TRUMPCARE"
posted by Glibpaxman at 5:31 PM on March 2, 2017 [31 favorites]


Look. I'm not saying that the sighting of a flock of turkeys slowly circling a dead cat is related to this thread as a metaphor or an End-Times omen, but part of me wonders which vial is poured out in Revelation to produce the Processional of the Great Birds around the Fallen Lion.
posted by Rust Moranis at 5:32 PM on March 2, 2017 [12 favorites]


How does Page going on TV and acting incredibly suspicious about every single thing he did possibly help this situation?

Why is the #1 thing for cops to do when they arrest you is to just get you talking? People want to tell their side of the story even if it sinks them.
posted by Talez at 5:33 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


"You come across a turtle Mitch McConnell on his back, struggling. You aren't helping him. Why?"
posted by benzenedream at 5:33 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


As a useful idiot, Carter Page really excels at the wrong half of the job.
posted by jason_steakums at 5:35 PM on March 2, 2017 [26 favorites]


"You come across a turtle Mitch McConnell on his back, struggling. You aren't helping him. Why?"

Because my foot is on the accelerator of the car hurtling towards him?
posted by Talez at 5:35 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Oh my GOD.
Hayes: Did you ever meet with either of [these guys]?
Page: Nope, never.
Hayes: You never once met with either of them?
Page: I definitely never met with either of them one-on-one. Now, I may have been in a group meeting they were in.

I don't want to overdo the plum thing. People may mentally insert their own plum poem adaptations as they wish. It strikes me as ironic that I have given up beating an unhealthy looking horse even as Page desperately hits any meat exiting the abattoir.
posted by jaduncan at 5:36 PM on March 2, 2017


Page sure kept implying that if you follow the paper trail and dig deep enough you'll find that the Clintons and Marc Rich are to blame.
posted by futz at 5:36 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


For fucks sake: Rep Trey "Benghazi" Gowdy a few moments ago on MSNBC pushing agst Congress investigating "Congress is not equipped to investigate crime. We don't have the tools to do it"

REALLY MOTHERFUCKER?
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:37 PM on March 2, 2017 [52 favorites]


He was just so good-natured and cheerful about it all, like a loopy golden retriever that binge-watched House of Cards.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:37 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Wrong to send Kislyak a greeting card that plays this when you open it?
posted by prefpara at 5:38 PM on March 2, 2017


For fucks sake: Rep Trey "Benghazi" Gowdy a few moments ago on MSNBC pushing agst Congress investigating "Congress is not equipped to investigate crime. We don't have the tools to do it"

I for one am delighted that Gowdy agrees that a crime may have been committed and supports turning this over to a grand jury. [fake/sarcasm]
posted by jaduncan at 5:38 PM on March 2, 2017 [23 favorites]


How does Page going on TV and acting incredibly suspicious about every single thing he did possibly help this situation? Like, he was already shady as hell, and now every single question is met with ridiculous twisted denials and evasion. This is 1,000 times worse than him just not saying anything at all. Is he really going to walk away from this interview thinking "there, I fixed it."

And John Dean agrees with you, zachlipton!
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:39 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Chris Hayes is going straight to John Dean, expert in Presidential coverups: "your questions are very clear, his answers were very evasive. I'm surprised someone like that would go on television."
posted by zachlipton at 5:39 PM on March 2, 2017 [32 favorites]


"Congress is not equipped to investigate crime. We don't have the tools to do it"

Right, Congress is only equipped for witch hunts and wild goose chases.
posted by notyou at 5:39 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


John Dean: What an amateur little shit

[not literal script]
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 5:40 PM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]



GOPer: Info On Sessions-Russia Contact 'Should Never' Have Become Public

He said that "all facets" of Sessions' contacts are important, but the leak particularly so.

"I'm not focused on the leak, but the leak is really, really, important," Gowdy said.

Gowdy also said that "Congress is not equipped to investigate crime."

"We don't have the tools to do it," he said. "We are welcome to investigate allegations of constitutional injury but allegations of criminal activity we are not equipped to do."

posted by futz at 5:40 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


"The smart play here is definitely to keep concealing the Flynn-Kushner-Kislyak meeting that occurred IN TRUMP'S HOUSE, because certainly it will never ever come to light or make us look guiltier than fuck (again) in two weeks when it's discovered and we didn't mention it until we got caught."

Also, Ivanka vacations with Putin's lover. No, really. She was also married to Rupert Murdoch until she aged-out of the position, and it was an amicable separation to say the least.

In the immortal words of Pee-Wee Herman...
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:41 PM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


It's like some bizarre comedy routine.

I can neither confirm nor deny who is on first base.
posted by spitbull at 5:42 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


Haha, Carter Page was a complete jackass to go on live TV.

I'm having this wonderful fanfic daydream about him and Stephen Miller doing the Sunday show rounds as a duo this week. The hosts/pundits would just sit there with their mouths hanging open.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:43 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Pence used private email address for state business, and was hacked.

LOCK. HIM. UP.
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:44 PM on March 2, 2017 [34 favorites]


The failure to neither confirm nor deny reminds me of an actual deposition I took in which the clever, clever witness did the following:

Me: Have you ever met Person X?
Witness: I refuse to answer on the basis of my privacy.
Me: Have you ever met Person Y?
Witness: I refuse to answer on the basis of my privacy.
Me: Have you ever met Person Z?
Witness: no.
posted by prefpara at 5:45 PM on March 2, 2017 [43 favorites]


These guys are all so embarassing. Like seriously, pick up a Le Carre or Deighton novel and get a feel for how to handle clandestine meetings and skullduggery and be cool about it afterwards. This is really amateur hour shit that Carter Page is putting forwards.
posted by jackbishop at 5:46 PM on March 2, 2017 [17 favorites]


Ivanka Trump And The Aesthetics Of Denial
The day of the election, I wrote that we shouldn’t pity Ivanka — who some had argued would be sunk by her father’s humiliating projected loss — but fear her. She might be the “social liberal” among her father’s advisers, but her understanding of who deserves advocacy (namely, those who look, behave, and “know their place” like she does) is the same as her father’s. Her ostensible apoliticism is, in fact, the most dangerous sort of politics, cloaking its own power in the banal aesthetics of domesticity and femininity, outwardly professing, “I’m not part of this narrative,” even as her ubiquitous presence communicates just how much a part of it she is.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 5:52 PM on March 2, 2017 [18 favorites]


I feel like I'm reading one of those Russian novels that have 300 different characters and the author uses five different variations of their names.
posted by SyraCarol at 5:53 PM on March 2, 2017 [34 favorites]


I am unconvinced that there is an actual healthcare document. This reeks of misdirection to me. Too bad it didn't work and we are still talking about Russia. The Rand Paul thing is political theatre.
posted by futz at 5:55 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Also, Ivanka vacations with Putin's lover. No, really. She was also married to Rupert Murdoch until she aged-out of the position, and it was an amicable separation to say the least.

This has bugged me for so long! I feel like I'm going crazy when the Trump camp is all "we have no connections with Russia!" and everyone else is like "we must uncover possible connections to Russia!" and this vacation has been right there in the open this whole time, a direct connection between Trump and Putin himself during the height of the campaign.
posted by jason_steakums at 5:55 PM on March 2, 2017 [44 favorites]


This is really amateur hour shit that Carter Page is putting forwards.

I wonder if they're actual amateurs. Like they got swept up in campaign business and were pressured to do the bidding of their betters even though they don't know how. This fits with my "succeed or be cut loose" theory of the Trump administration: for the purposes of their actions, they were effectively interns, and if anything blows up, well, "the generals did it wrong." You have to be at the level of a Manafort to get out before the shit hits.
posted by rhizome at 5:58 PM on March 2, 2017


you know they say that laughter is your brain's way of relieving tension and dealing with absurdity and it must be right because right now i am laughing so hard i can't breathe
posted by murphy slaw at 5:59 PM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


They're people who want to work with Trump, that's a hell of a filter and not much of worth is going to get through.
posted by Artw at 6:01 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Did someone steal Donald's phone? He's been so quiet. I hope my comment doesn't summon him.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:01 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Pence used private email address for state business, and was hacked.

LOCK. HIM. UP.

..'dmake a nice bumper-sticker.
posted by The_Auditor at 6:02 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


PENCEGHAZI!
posted by Hairy Lobster at 6:04 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


you guys I am frantically searching to find the full MSNBC Carter Page interview and I'm just finding scraps. Anyone got a link to the whole thing?
posted by Sauce Trough at 6:06 PM on March 2, 2017


Y'all need to see the video of the Carter Page interview (this is as much as I could find in one video for now). Our in-thread descriptions do not do it justice.
posted by zachlipton at 6:08 PM on March 2, 2017 [19 favorites]


It might be too soon for the Page segment to be posted. Not sure though. It was only an hour ago and lasted about 10-15 minutes. I'll keep an eye out.
posted by futz at 6:10 PM on March 2, 2017


Carter Page, Michael Cohen and Felix Sater are especially hilarious because of all the mystique built up around them - Carter Page, the man from nowhere that nobody's ever heard of with extensive ties to Russian oil money, just screams intelligence asset! Michael Cohen, the hard-nosed Trump family fixer! Felix Sater, deep in a web of mob ties and international terrorism, working for the Feds while cannily playing both sides!

...and then you put a microphone in front of these chucklefucks and they leap at the chance to go on the record and give us all a good long look at every bit of dirty business they were involved in. They make Sean Spicer look like a pro.

I'm seriously considering the possibility that all three were planted by the IC and working this whole time to bring the whole thing down on Trump's head.
posted by jason_steakums at 6:11 PM on March 2, 2017 [12 favorites]


Maddow is leading with the DHS intelligence document that was just leaked, but is confirmed authentic. It says that most foreign born US-based violent extremists are radicalized after entering homeland.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:12 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Carter Page is so comically bad at bullshitting and evading that I wonder whether he's being pressured to give these interviews, the same way Priebus et al. tried to pressure the FBI, Nunes, Comey, etc. to try to bury the Times story about "constant" communication. It's hard to imagine why he would agree to be interviewed voluntarily.
posted by Dr. Send at 6:13 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Maddow is breaking a story right now about the travel ban, but she's taking her sweet time to explain the entire history of the travel ban and the protests and the court battle in her usual fashion. She's got a new DHS intelligence document, from the same DHS office that produced the previous report questioning the travel ban that was leaked to the AP (the one saying that a list of citizens from certain countries was not a predictor of terrorism).

On Feb 16th they told the court they'd rescind the ban but a new one would be coming "in the near future." Delay, delay, delay, we kept getting told it would happen very soon. They admitted after Trump's speech that it was being delayed for political purposes so it doesn't overshadow the speech. Now they're still delaying.

The document she has now is a report dated literally yesterday (leakers are moving fast now!) titled "Most Foreign-born, US-based violent extremists radicalized after entering homeland: opportunities for tailored CVE programs exist." They conclude that most foreign-born extremists don't radicalize until several years after they enter the US. Therefore "extreme vetting" doesn't make particular sense because most people who go on to commit terrorist attacks weren't looking to do so at the time the vetting took place.
posted by zachlipton at 6:15 PM on March 2, 2017 [14 favorites]


Don't forget Boris Epshtyn!
posted by spitbull at 6:17 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


White House pushing back against Mattis appointment

-- Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis wants to tap the former U.S. ambassador to Egypt, Anne Patterson, as his undersecretary of defense for policy, but the Pentagon chief is running into resistance from White House officials, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.

-- She came under fire for cultivating too close a relationship with the regime and for discouraging protests against it—and White House officials are voicing concerns about those decisions now.

-- She was the top American official in the country during a tumultuous time that saw the rise of Morsi and his supporters and his supporters in the Muslim Brotherhood and, shortly thereafter, their ouster at the hands of the Egyptian military. Patterson became the subject of withering criticism when she dismissed the 2013 uprising against Morsi as “street protests.” Protesters plastered her face – crossed out with a red X – on signs and banners.

-- The secretary of defense has been warring with the president and his aides over personnel since before the inauguration in January.

posted by futz at 6:18 PM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


Here's the full video of the Carter Page video. Highly recommended.
posted by zachlipton at 6:19 PM on March 2, 2017 [12 favorites]


They conclude that most foreign-born extremists don't radicalize until several years after they enter the US. Therefore "extreme vetting" doesn't make particular sense because most people who go on to commit terrorist attacks weren't looking to do so at the time the vetting took place.

If this report comes out formally it is going to be used as an argument for the travel ban on the basis that you can't just let them in and wait to see who radicalises (or would be if they were competent racists who made policy based argument, which I will freely admit might be allowing too much).
posted by jaduncan at 6:20 PM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


Hey drezdn:

this is fine!
posted by aspersioncast at 6:22 PM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]




Why does Carter Page looks like he's trying to stifle laughter throughout the Hayes interview?
posted by diogenes at 6:22 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


oh no, the mad king is screaming from his balcony again.

@realDonaldTrump
Jeff Sessions is an honest man. He did not say anything wrong. He could have stated his response more accurately, but it was clearly not....

posted by Rust Moranis at 6:25 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Why does Carter Page looks like he's trying to stifle laughter throughout the Hayes interview?

Could be he's a sociopath, maybe?
posted by mikelieman at 6:25 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


One theory is that he is a fucking chucklehead.
posted by spitbull at 6:25 PM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


Hey diogenes:

this is fine!


Yes! I'm going to go to bed on this high note!
posted by diogenes at 6:26 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


One theory is that he is a fucking chucklehead.

Oh, man, I *wish* 'fucking chucklehead' was the most likely option.
posted by mikelieman at 6:27 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Donald part 2: ...intentional. This whole narrative is a way of saving face for Democrats losing an election that everyone thought they were supposed.....
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:29 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


“No one, by swearing, makes themselves an ounce more honest; any more than a man makes himself wealthy by counting his gold. Oaths may make a liar a liar yet again, having lied about the oath as well. But it cannot alter the worth of an honest man's word.”
― Jake Yaniak, The Punishment of the Gods
posted by jaduncan at 6:29 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


He didn't mean to perjure himself!
posted by spitbull at 6:29 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


I'm conflicted about the plan to send a bunch of bees to DC.

Well, here's an alternative. Cards Against Humanity wants to send potatoes to their (I assume) Senator.

@CAH We're sending potatoes to Senator @RonJohnsonWI until he holds a town hall, help us out: http://johnsonpotato.com/
posted by anastasiav at 6:29 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Prediction for the finish: Blah blah blah, I hate Democrats, why won't they admit that I am the winner and they suck, blah blah blah, also anything suggesting that I made some shabby deal with the Russians is FAKE NEWS and you and they suck.

I have been given to understand that Presidents should be functional adults, but maybe that's optional now.
posted by jaduncan at 6:33 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


“average person meets 3 kislyaks a year"

And swallows 10 kislyaks in their sleep.
posted by schoolgirl report at 6:35 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Remember 36 hours ago when he became President after exploiting a grieving war widow?

That's held up well.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:36 PM on March 2, 2017 [16 favorites]


Cassidy said that “Obamacare” was not really a synonym for the Affordable Care Act. For many voters, he said, “Obamacare” meant the parts of the law that Republicans would get rid of, and the Affordable Care Act was the provisions, such as continued coverage for people with preexisting conditions, that Republicans intended to keep.
This seems like a promising way of dealing with the healthcare debacle, but it can't work. The problem is that the least popular parts of Obamacare are also completely necessary. People want protection for preexisting conditions, but they hate the individual mandate. But you can't have protection for preexisting conditions unless you have some sort of incentive for healthy people to buy into the system. If you do that, then only sick people will buy insurance, and there will be no way to provide people with insurance at rates they can afford. The Republicans can't rebrand and keep the popular parts and ditch the unpopular parts, because they have to deal with reality. And that means that they are well and truly fucked, unless they can somehow find a way to bill single payer as a conservative policy.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:36 PM on March 2, 2017 [34 favorites]


They conclude that most foreign-born extremists don't radicalize until several years after they enter the US.

If this report comes out formally it is going to be used as an argument for the travel ban on the basis that you can't just let them in and wait to see who radicalises


It will also be used to blame Obama for any terrorism that happens on Trump's watch.
posted by Iridic at 6:37 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Trump part 3 of ? : ...to win. The Democrats are overplaying their hand. They lost the election, and now they have lost their grip on reality. The real story...
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:37 PM on March 2, 2017


> Our national trauma is starting to do weird things to people.

I was all over that and ready to buy one or more Johnson potatograms until I realized the site is insecure.
posted by christopherious at 6:37 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Trump part 3 of ? : ...to win. The Democrats are overplaying their hand. They lost the election, and now they have lost their grip on reality. The real story...

I'm excited by how well this accumulator bet is going so far.
posted by jaduncan at 6:39 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


I don't understand. He's just tweeting out the statement he put out earlier. Why has he been doing it piece by piece over 20 minutes? Should take 30 seconds max to chop that up into pieces and tweet it out, even with his tiny hands.
posted by zachlipton at 6:41 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


Interesting. He's tweeting exactly what the press release of an hour or so ago said. Trying to recapture the results of properly reading off the TelePrompTer?
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 6:41 PM on March 2, 2017


DUN DUN DUN

...is all of the illegal leaks of classified and other information. It is a total "witch hunt!"
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:41 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]




My wife is out of town a lot right now, and I've been looking for a new hobby or project I could take up. Maybe I should put together one of those Hollywood Cop Investigation Rooms with the photos and notes and pieces of string all over the place. Or a Crazy Person Room.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:43 PM on March 2, 2017 [19 favorites]


Here's the full video of the Carter Page video. Highly recommended.

He is … really bad at that. Chris Hayes even gives him opportunities to climb out of the holes he's digging, and instead he digs more.
posted by fedward at 6:45 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


She was also married to Rupert Murdoch until she aged-out of the position, and it was an amicable separation to say the least.

Wendi Deng has been friends with Jared and Ivanka way before her (rumored/denied) Putin days - she got them back together when they broke up over religious differences. Also, her marriage with Murdoch broke up for much more interesting reasons than "aging out" (you underestimate her!) including her affairs and her writing in her diary about Tony Blair's "good butt."

Right now she has a 21 year old Hungarian "toyboy lover."
posted by sallybrown at 6:45 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


@CAH We're sending potatoes to Senator @RonJohnsonWI until he holds a town hall, help us out: http://johnsonpotato.com/

Umm, as usual with CAH's stunts, this is clever.....but it doesn't actually cost $5 to buy and mail a potato.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:47 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


On rewatching the Page interview, he's just begging, BEGGING to be subpoenaed.
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:48 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


He's tweeting exactly what the press release of an hour or so ago said.

The earnestly deplorable segment of his Twitter following doesn't read press releases. The messaging is getting a little more controlled. Too late.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:51 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Um omg I'm just watching Seth Meyers and they played a clip of Trump speaking on the ship that he went and cosplayed on today.

You guys. Holy what the fuck was that?
posted by soren_lorensen at 6:53 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


I don't know, Page does a convincing impression of a publicity hound idiot who actually doesn't know anything.
posted by Yowser at 6:53 PM on March 2, 2017




On rewatching the Page interview, he's just begging, BEGGING to be subpoenaed.

Has to be someone issuing subpoenas first. Right now there's nothing public, that's the next step in pressuring Congress. Demand a real investigation. Whatever the FBI is or is not doing in secret is insufficient and utterly compromised by their own interference in the election, documented bias against Clinton and for Trump, and intentional failure to pursue the Russian links during the campaign. Comey specifically, and the FBI itself, cannot do this job credibly any more than Sessions could. Calls to Congress should demand an independent commission or special prosecutor.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:54 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Oh My Fucking God

Former Trump adviser at center of Russia firestorm wrote letter to DOJ accusing 'Clinton regime' of committing 'hate crimes' against him

Carter Page, an early foreign-policy adviser to Donald Trump's presidential campaign, wrote a letter to the Department of Justice on February 12 alleging Hillary Clinton's campaign committed "human rights abuses" and "hate crimes" against him during the 2016 election.

"The actions by the Clinton regime and their associates may be among the most extreme examples of human rights violations observed during any election in US history since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was similarly targeted for his anti-war views in the 1960s," Page wrote in a letter addressed to "Members of the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section" of the Department of Justice.


This is a must read folks.
posted by futz at 6:55 PM on March 2, 2017 [38 favorites]


Don't forget the batshit letter he sent to the Civil Rights Division at DOJ last month! Watching that video with the letter in mind was amazing.
posted by chaoticgood at 6:56 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


futz beat me to it
posted by chaoticgood at 6:57 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Why has he been doing it piece by piece over 20 minutes?

Typing seems like something he'd find challenging.
posted by spitbull at 6:57 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


WSJ Breaking: Jeff Sessions Used Political Funds for Republican Convention Expenses: The Trump administration says Attorney General Jeff Sessions was acting as a then-U.S. senator when he talked to Russia’s ambassador at an event during last year’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland, but Mr. Sessions paid for convention travel expenses out of his own political funds and he spoke about Donald Trump’s campaign at the event, according to a person at the event and campaign-finance records.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:57 PM on March 2, 2017 [56 favorites]


Top. Men.
Well. Oiled. Machine.

What is not clear here?
posted by jaduncan at 6:57 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


I'm re-reading All the President's Men right now, and something about Carter Page reminds me of Donald Segretti.
posted by sallybrown at 6:57 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Calls to Congress should demand an independent commission or special prosecutor.

I know I sound like a broken record, but independent counsel/special prosecutor is utterly essential now. Not just a commission that holds more hearings, some closed door, and then reports out its findings to a hostile DOJ after Trump is given months and months to be C+ Presidential.

Once there's an IC up and running, with everything we've seen, one of these shitbirds is going to lose their nerve and cut a deal. And then it all goes to pieces.

The ever flexible Schumer realized this today and seems to have put the word out.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:58 PM on March 2, 2017 [29 favorites]


Page does a convincing impression of a publicity hound idiot who actually doesn't know anything.

As I said, it's possible he's just a fucking chucklehead.
posted by spitbull at 6:58 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Is this just news to me? If so I will ask the mods to delete.

... "The clear evidence of intolerance against Catholics shown by the 'Hillary for America' campaign and the fact that several of her closest advisors knew of my religion helps to make part of the reason for her attacks more obvious."

Carter concluded that he still "remains a believer in the principles" of his religion "despite the harsh repression that I have endured from the Clinton campaign."

Page also alleged that the Clinton campaign discriminated against him because he is male.

"Although the advancement of women’s rights is essential, Mrs. Clinton has shown further evidence of discrimination on this basis as well last year. Although seen throughout her campaign, it was demonstrated most recently with her 'The future is female' speech last week."

posted by futz at 7:00 PM on March 2, 2017


WSJ Breaking: Jeff Sessions Used Political Funds for Republican Convention Expenses: The Trump administration says Attorney General Jeff Sessions was acting as a then-U.S. senator when he talked to Russia’s ambassador at an event during last year’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland, but Mr. Sessions paid for convention travel expenses out of his own political funds and he spoke about Donald Trump’s campaign at the event, according to a person at the event and campaign-finance records.

It's always the coverup that gets people.
posted by jaduncan at 7:00 PM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


Is this just news to me? If so I will ask the mods to delete.

... "The clear evidence of intolerance against Catholics shown by the 'Hillary for America' campaign


It's quite possibly news to HRC? This is Page you're listening to.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:01 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Also, her marriage with Murdoch broke up for much more interesting reasons than "aging out"

As if Murdoch was not supplied with video evidence and a quart of viagra pills. Again, the tried and true Ultra Right Wing strategy is projection. Cucks, indeed.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:01 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


I vaguely remember the "she's persecuting Catholics!" thing during the campaign. I don't remember details because it is all fucking guanopsychotic.
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:02 PM on March 2, 2017 [13 favorites]


I don't know, Page does a convincing impression of a publicity hound idiot who actually doesn't know anything.

And/or someone who's trying to blackmail Trump on live TV. I agree that he probably is the marginal hanger-on with little actual knowledge that he appears to be, but he was doing a whole coy "I know many damaging details about powerful people that I might or might not divulge for a fee" act, which is always how the foolish parlormaid ends up getting strangled in an Agatha Christie novel.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:02 PM on March 2, 2017 [16 favorites]


This is a problem:
Sessions, asked if Putin and the Russians wanted Trump to win, says: "I don't have any idea, Tucker. You'd have to ask them."
--@markberman

This means Sessions is disagreeing with every single US intelligence agency, including the FBI, which his is in his own department, which answered that question in the affirmative.

Sessions also said he'll submit a supplement to update his answer in the Congressional Record, which doesn't seem like the kind of thing you would do if your testimony was as accurate as he claimed it was.
posted by zachlipton at 7:03 PM on March 2, 2017 [24 favorites]


Buried in that WSJ piece:
One person at the Heritage event in Cleveland said Mr. Sessions left the impression he was there because of his role in the Trump campaign. This person said Mr. Sessions' remarks in part were focused on Mr. Trump's trade policy, saying the then-candidate would do away with multilateral trade deals.

Ms. Flores, Mr. Sessions' spokesman, said the attorney general's aides, who were at the Heritage Foundation event, don't recall Mr. Sessions speaking about the election with Mr. Kislyak, though they couldn't be sure, because the room was loud. [AHEM]

Staffers who were with him during a second meeting with Mr. Kislyak, which took place Sept. 8 in his Senate office, also didn't recall any discussion of the election, she said.
(emphasis added)
posted by sallybrown at 7:08 PM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


@sarahkendzior: Articles on Sessions are more fun to read if you replace "recuse" with the f-word. Here, give it a try!
It also represents a departure from Sessions's previous statements, including one on Monday, when he declined to say whether he would recuse himself. "I would recuse myself on anything I should recuse myself on," Sessions said then. "That's all I can tell you."
Try some more …
posted by Kabanos at 7:09 PM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


I don't understand. He's just tweeting out the statement he put out earlier. Why has he been doing it piece by piece over 20 minutes? Should take 30 seconds max to chop that up into pieces and tweet it out, even with his tiny hands.

Every time I read about his tiny hands lately I get Talking Heads' "Born Under Punches" stuck in my head. "Take a look at these hands/You don't have to mention it/No thanks/I'm a government man"
posted by jason_steakums at 7:18 PM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


I'm sure they're contacted David Duke as we speak to see if he can fill in on short notice.
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:19 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Kabanos that reminds me of this.
posted by INFJ at 7:19 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


I vaguely remember the "she's persecuting Catholics!" thing during the campaign. I don't remember details because it is all fucking guanopsychotic.

The Dems have half-cryptic missionary groups trying to convert American Catholicism into American Progressivism w/ syncretic Catholic elements, was in the Podesta emails. Like they were quite clear the groups were for the Democrats to meddle with Catholicism, it wasn't just clubs for Catholic Democrats to go out and be Democrats.

Would be troubling except ... the Democrats trying to take on Catholicism ... it's like when a chihuahua tries to fight a mastiff, it ends up just being ... fecklessly cute.
posted by save alive nothing that breatheth at 7:23 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


was in the Podesta emails. Like they were quite clear the groups were for the Democrats to meddle with Catholicism, it wasn't just clubs for Catholic Democrats to go out and be Democrats.

Was this plan hatched out of the basement of Comet Ping-Pong?
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:28 PM on March 2, 2017 [15 favorites]


The Dems have half-cryptic missionary groups trying to convert American Catholicism into American Progressivism w/ syncretic Catholic elements, was in the Podesta emails. Like they were quite clear the groups were for the Democrats to meddle with Catholicism, it wasn't just clubs for Catholic Democrats to go out and be Democrats.

Are you perhaps thinking of this Jennifer Palmieri email?

If so, that's not what it's saying. I wrote a lot of thoughts on that back in one of the old election threads, but basically she's talking about conservatives co-opting/converting to Catholicism and trying to "evangelicize" it while also trading on Catholicism's acceptability as a mainstream "elite" religion (as compared to evangelical churches) and how that's a perversion of Catholicism.
posted by sallybrown at 7:35 PM on March 2, 2017 [19 favorites]


Earlier tonight on CNN, Jim Acosta said he just got off the phone with J.D. Gordon, a Trump natsec advisor who was implicated today in meeting with Ambassador Kislyak. The meeting with Kislyak and Gordon also involved Carter Page and a third Trump advisor named Walid Ferez (sp?) and happened at Case Western Reserve University and then afterwards at a cocktail reception, during the time of the GOP convention.

Acosta says "Gordon says that he was a part of the effort that was pushed by the Trump campaign to put some language in the GOP platform that essentially said that the Republican party did not advocate for arming the Ukrainians in their battle against those pro-Russia separatists, of course that was part of the big issue that was flaring up at the time of the Republican convention, that effort was ultimately successful, they were successful in having that language in the GOP platform, and I asked JD Gordon, well why is that, why did you go ahead and advocate for that language and he said that this is the language that Donald Trump himself wanted and advocated for back in March, at a meeting at the unfinished Trump hotel here in Washington, DC."
posted by sallybrown at 7:45 PM on March 2, 2017 [33 favorites]


There were a couple of old hacked emails in which several people, most of whom are Catholic themselves, expressed disagreement with more politically conservative branches of American Catholicism. One person, not affiliated with the campaign, mused about a "Catholic Spring, in which Catholics themselves demand the end of a middle ages dictatorship and the beginning of a little democracy and respect for gender equality in the Catholic church". Podesta replied by naming two left-wing Catholic groups created "to organize for a moment like this" and posited that any such movement would come from the "bottom up."

In short, noting some that some Catholics (including converts) were essentially acting, in the eyes of those writing the emails, more like Evangelicals and the divide between them and the strong tradition of social justice among other Catholic groups. It was a rather hot topic for discussion during the campaign.

What's unclear to basically anybody not as delusional as Carter Page is what these emails have to do with Page or anything else. He seems to be suggesting that he was persecuted (not just a little bit, but as much as anyone since Martin Luther King, Jr.) on account of his faith and gender. I think anybody who watched tonight's MSNBC interview can conclude that there are plenty of good reasons to distrust Carter Page that don't involve those attributes.
posted by zachlipton at 7:46 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


A December CNN article on Walid Phares, who was present at the convention meeting with the Russian ambassador (according to JD Gordon):
President-elect Donald Trump's push for greater ties to Russia will help in key administration priorities in the region, starting with ending the civil war in Syria, a Trump foreign policy adviser told Middle East diplomats on Wednesday. Walid Phares met with Arab ambassadors Wednesday to brief them about the incoming Trump administration's policy toward the Middle East. . . . The sources said Phares did not have a firm answer for how he planned to strengthen ties with Russia but increase pressure on Iran at the same time -- two policy goals many diplomats have said would be difficult to square. However, he did suggest a better relationship with Moscow could help solve outstanding conflicts in the Middle East, pointing to Trump's appointment of Rex Tillerson as secretary of state as potentially facilitating better cooperation with Moscow because of his tight relationships with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other top officials.
posted by sallybrown at 7:54 PM on March 2, 2017


that means that they are well and truly fucked, unless they can somehow find a way to bill single payer as a conservative policy.
'I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: Oh Lord, make my enemies ridiculous. And God granted it.' - Voltaire
There's absolutely a way they could bill single payer as a nativist policy, and that's where their red meat is right now. They could grant single payer for non-naturalized citizens and children of citizens, who had never committed a felony, and declare that this "replaced" Medicaid.

Be very, very grateful that the Nazis in government are not smart Nazis.
posted by corb at 7:55 PM on March 2, 2017 [44 favorites]


Ellison: "Since it has now come to light that Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied under oath about meeting with Russian officials during the campaign, we must be entirely clear on one thing: perjury is a felony and may be punishable by prison for up to five years"
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:55 PM on March 2, 2017 [32 favorites]


Here's a bit of our pal Carter's 2/15 interview with Judy Woodruff on PBS that Hayes asked him about.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:57 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


From what I found googling, The Intercept reported on Feb 15 that Carter Page gave them a copy of his complaint letter to the DOJ and it was basically ignored by other media outlets until today. I did not do a comprehensive search but I think it is kind of amazing that this flew under the radar until today. To me the letter either indicates that he is a conspiracy bro or unstable or both.
posted by futz at 7:59 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


unless they can somehow find a way to bill single payer as a conservative policy.

From your lips to G-d's Ears!
posted by mikelieman at 7:59 PM on March 2, 2017


From your lips to G-d's Ears!

Yea...read that again. Trump/Bannon "single payer" would be limited to white people in one way or another. So far they've neglected the populist payoffs that generally buy fascist regimes popularity because the takeover of the Republican party is still incomplete, and the granny starvers control most of congress still. You don't really want them coming up with entitlement giveaways with blood and soil means tests.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:04 PM on March 2, 2017 [14 favorites]


I want to 98% endorse T.D. Strange's comment. At this point, the best hope of ending Trumpism that I see is if he never gets nativist populist giveaways off the ground. If he does, good fucking luck. Once he engineers a method of taking from 'foreigners' and giving to 'natives', people will vote for him full throatedly. Sure, they'll feel a little bit bad about it, but on the other hand, now they can send their kids to college, now that all the other people aren't there! Now they can buy houses at last! Now they don't have to wait in long lines at the emergency room!
posted by corb at 8:09 PM on March 2, 2017 [46 favorites]


...also I need to pour myself a drink.

On a related note, I had a fun time answering the alcohol related questions at my last doctors appointment. "How much do you drink on a monthly basis?" "Before or after November?"
posted by corb at 8:11 PM on March 2, 2017 [48 favorites]


Corb, you're scaring me. Let hope no one involved with policy reads MeFi.
posted by Yowser at 8:12 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


it's still infinitely better than unexpected Blitzer.

Nobody expects the unexpected Blitzer! His chief weapon is equivocation and pandering. His two chief weapons are equivocation, pandering and an unswerving allegiance to the status quo. Three! His three chief weapons...

Hang on start again.
posted by Joey Michaels at 8:19 PM on March 2, 2017 [17 favorites]


Corb, you're scaring me. Let hope no one involved with policy reads MeFi.

It isn't a coincidence that when laws started to be passed restricting the public lives of German Jews, suddenly all sorts of professional jobs were opening up for Good Germans.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 8:28 PM on March 2, 2017 [13 favorites]


Here's Acosta's report on CNN about his call with Gordon. It's a direct link between advisors with weird Russian contacts to a meeting with Trump to pro-Russia language in the GOP platform.

I want to know more about this March meeting at the unfinished Trump hotel (how much more shady do you get than having your Russian collusion meeting in a construction site?)...
posted by zachlipton


Shades of Watergate.

this is the language that Donald Trump himself wanted and advocated for back in March, at a meeting at the unfinished Trump hotel here in Washington, DC."
posted by sallybrown


Bigly.
posted by futz at 8:31 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Maddow is breaking a story right now about the travel ban

Here it is online, including the leaked DHS report. They conclude that most foreign-born US violent extremists don't begin radicalizing for more than 10 years until after they come into the country. This undercuts the whole narrative of the travel ban and "extreme vetting" and instead concludes that they can better prevent violent extremism by helping refugees and asylees integrate and by working with immigrant communities, including "opportunities to counter anti-immigrant attitudes in mainstream culture."

This entire report is a giant middle finger to Trump, and leaking it to Maddow right after it was completed just makes it that much more clear.
posted by zachlipton at 8:42 PM on March 2, 2017 [76 favorites]


"better prevent violent extremism"

This a thousand times. In fact, in my years working with refugees, i never heard of any of my clients even thinking about going for radical Islam, but I did know a couple iraqi kids who joined street gangs, as many undeserved young men do when they feel powerless, alone, and hated by society.
posted by Tarumba at 8:53 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


Hundreds chant 'Coward!' amid Paul Ryan's Rhode Island visit

The demonstrators said they were protesting the policies of Republicans including Ryan and President Donald Trump, especially their plans to repeal and replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act. People also carried signs that said, "No Ban No Wall" and "Hey! Wisconsin we found him!"

"No matter where he goes, wherever he takes his radically dangerous Ryan-Trump agenda, the resistance will be there to meet him," said state Rep. Aaron Regunberg, a Providence Democrat, who spoke to the crowd through a megaphone.

posted by futz at 8:58 PM on March 2, 2017 [30 favorites]


At this point, the best hope of ending Trumpism that I see is if he never gets nativist populist giveaways off the ground. If he does, good fucking luck.

There's an essay by George Lazenby that locates this horrific self-interest at the very heart of white supremacy. He gets into it by defining "the sequence that occurs when the powerful oppress the weak:"
1. Acquisition of group identity
2. Loss of economic diversity
3. Concentration by economic forces
4. Legal definition of race
5. Dismissals and expropriations
6. Forced concentration
7. Forced labor and food controls
8. Annihilation
"This is the sequence of events that turns a society with full citizens into one where the full citizens degrade, exploit, and eventually kill those who are seen as less than fully human. As you move down this ladder, oppression targets ever more basic aspects of being alive. On the first step down people who thought of themselves as citizens are forced to see themselves as separate; on the second, to become people who can only hold certain jobs; on the third, live only in certain places; on the fourth and fifth, become people who must endure legal punishment if they try to rise above their stations; on the sixth, suffer imprisonment or constrained movement; on the seventh, slavery and starvation; and finally, on the eighth, death.

"On this chart black people entered America at the seventh step and have since risen to somewhere between the fourth and third. [...] But if black people have climbed the ladder out of American slavery, American society hasn’t risen with them. This gets to the heart of the matter. When black people were slaves they were owned by slavemasters. And what can be expected of slavemasters? Rape, assault, hatred, and that the life of a slave will hang by the slenderest of threads: the slavemaster’s economic self-interest. This last is all that prevents the step down into oppression’s eighth and final destination. Economic self-interest also explains why it’s much easier for a society to go down this chart than up it. An assertion of human dignity is the only way to climb this ladder, whereas, to fall down it, all a society needs to do is enjoy the spectacular wealth that increasing oppression increasingly generates. Most of the gold ingots recovered from German salt mines and Swiss bank vaults after the Second World War began in someone’s mouth. To the oppressors, it goes without saying that gains accelerate as you descend, becoming total once you reach the bottom.

"This chart represents a terrible truth about humanity: it wants to get to 8."
posted by Iridic at 9:00 PM on March 2, 2017 [57 favorites]


And on that scale, we're well past 3 and charging headlong into 4, legally defining who is and is not deserving.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:07 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


I just learned of vote.org's SMS-based GOTV effort last year.
Each completed voter registration form costs Vote.org just over $8. It’s just preliminary numbers, but that’s less than half of the $20 it takes for most other voter turnout organizations. And, the group is reserving 250,000 phone numbers as a control group, for when their results are studied by the Analyst Institute. If this works, it’s a new method of encouraging people to vote.
Does anyone know where these results are reported?
posted by Coventry at 9:27 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


I am making hand gestures but I don't know what to say. Land of the Free, my ass.

Federal judge certifies class action against ICE detention center in Aurora ~ Lawyers say some 62,000 detainees were forced to work and threatened with solitary if they refused

About 62,000 people who were held in an Aurora immigration detention center and required to work, sometimes for $1 a day, while they awaited possible deportation have been certified as a class in a lawsuit alleging violations of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

Senior Judge John Kane’s ruling could have far-reaching implications, potentially boosting the cost of holding immigration detainees by millions of dollars at a time when President Donald Trump’s administration gears up to deport millions more people who are living in the U.S. illegally.

“It’s a huge step forward for all the detainees,” said Boulder attorney Brandt Milstein, one of several attorneys representing the class in U.S. District Court in Denver. “This lawsuit is a win for immigrants because it exposes the true cost of detaining immigrants.”


On Futz's Planet it is not hard to do the right thing. I hate almost everyone.
posted by futz at 9:30 PM on March 2, 2017 [80 favorites]


It says that most foreign born US-based violent extremists are radicalized after entering homeland.

Easy access to all those fucking guns seems to help. They're really just "American shithead with guns, alternate take." The only way to deal with that is to blanket-ban under-30s men from owning guns: the thread between white mass-shooters and brown ones is stronger than any kind of ideological divide.
posted by holgate at 9:32 PM on March 2, 2017 [14 favorites]


Oh I forgot to point out that this lawsuit targets the GEO Group which greatly benefits from Jeff "Fuckface" Sessions support of private prisons. Down the rabbit hole again.
posted by futz at 9:36 PM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


They conclude that most foreign-born extremists don't radicalize until several years after they enter the US. Therefore "extreme vetting" doesn't make particular sense because most people who go on to commit terrorist attacks weren't looking to do so at the time the vetting took place.

I don't know that this is such good news. There was never any attempt at reasonable justification for the ban besides "we wanted to" and this is just fuel for those that want to put restrictions on American Muslims and treat Islam in general as a threat.
posted by contraption at 9:42 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


corb: Once he engineers a method of taking from 'foreigners' and giving to 'natives', people will vote for him full throatedly.

We've done this bit already, right? I mean, I'm 'keeping up' with the tags/trump threads (or what News of the Weird used to call The Continuing Crisis), but I mean we can't all be Tehhund, I can only half-ass keep up because essentially for my own health, what Parallel Empress Oprah calls the self-care of her subjects, I cannot interact with the per-se so-called media, essentially Metafilter can be the only source of 'news' the patient can currently accept also holy squirrels, form re-submission re-constituted my previewed comment from the json-aether, this site is written with pride motor function halted. random access state saving...done. system restart.
posted by Rat Spatula at 9:45 PM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


The travel ban is just another non-white-people exclusion act, for which there is ample history. When African-American attempts to participate in democracy were being trampled in the east, Americans of Chinese origin were being trampled in the west.
posted by holgate at 10:05 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Love this shade.

As Trump heads south, so does Russian spy ship

The White House has not confirmed when Trump will arrive at Palm Beach Internation
al Airport, though a temporary FAA flight restriction over Palm Beach County begins at 3:30 p.m.
posted by futz at 10:07 PM on March 2, 2017 [13 favorites]


Palm Beach's reporters appear to be fucking sick of having to deal with Mr Mar-a-farrago.
posted by holgate at 10:18 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


"As Trump heads south, so does Russian spy ship"

Maybe the RC has limited range?
posted by Hairy Lobster at 10:26 PM on March 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


wait, is it that george lazenby, who played james bond exactly once?
posted by murphy slaw at 10:29 PM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


I feel bad for the people of Palm Beach. It was always a disruption hen Obama came to town; I can't imagine it every weekend. Trumo really is the worst at everything.
posted by Room 641-A at 10:38 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Palm Beach's reporters appear to be fucking sick of having to deal with Mr Mar-a-farrago.

Also, as mentioned here before the tRump shitshow is bankrupting the local (AMERICAN OWNED & OPERATED™) flight schools in Florida. He is actively hurting local businesses who make their money on the weekends when he decides to fly down to play golf and hang out with his people. Can the acid in vomit damage a gold golf club? Asking for a friend...
posted by futz at 10:39 PM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


We've discussed that batshit Carter Page letter before because I went and read the thing last time it was brought up in-thread. I feel like it was a month ago so it was probably last week?

As someone who has a slight hobby reading batshit letters, let me say I really feel like the original was written in crayon. It really makes me wonder for a minute if the Trump camp is being honest when they've claimed not to even know that guy, because how could someone be that big of a moron and pass for any kind of expert for more than 5 minutes. And then I remember we're talking about Donald Trump as president, so yeah.
posted by threeturtles at 11:15 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


Undocumented Dad Taken By ICE While Dropping Kids Off At School. 13-year-old films her father being taken away when he went to drop his kids off at school. He's been in the country for 20 years. ICE cited a nearly decade-old DUI conviction and some kind of 20-year-old incident involving a vehicle registration sticker as reasons for deportation.

Fuck this shit.
posted by zachlipton at 12:03 AM on March 3, 2017 [102 favorites]


Sweden brings back military conscription amid Baltic tensions

Ms Nyh Radebo said the return to conscription was prompted by "the security change in our neighbourhood".

"The Russian illegal annexation of Crimea [in 2014], the conflict in Ukraine and the increased military activity in our neighbourhood are some of the reasons," she said.

posted by PenDevil at 2:53 AM on March 3, 2017 [8 favorites]


FDNY says the fire that broke out a short time ago at at Trump International Hotel in the upper west side appears to be suspicious. [picture]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 3:06 AM on March 3, 2017




#TrumpstagFire
posted by J.K. Seazer at 3:09 AM on March 3, 2017 [13 favorites]


Stories on the costs associated with his weekend trips to Florida:

"$50k a day in fuel sales at local airport, $60k a day for sheriff overtime, etc." NYT.
"Conservatives often criticized President Obama for vacationing at taxpayer expense. Judicial Watch estimates his personal trips cost $97 million over eight years. But Trump is on pace to hit that figure in his first year." Sun Sentinel.
"Trump’s three Mar-a-Lago trips since the inauguration have probably cost the federal treasury about $10 million, based on figures used in an October government report analyzing White House travel, including money for Coast Guard units to patrol the exposed shoreline and other military, security and staffing expenses associated with moving the apparatus of the presidency. "WaPo.

Bonus NYT article comparing Mar-a-lago and Camp David.
posted by MattWPBS at 4:06 AM on March 3, 2017 [10 favorites]


Boy oh boy, the report that the FBI not only failed to update the House Intelligence committee about the Sessions investigation but also never told the Senate Judiciary committee about it during Sessions' confirmation hearings is classic Comey Selective Devotion to Duty, isn't it?
Matthew Miller, the director of public affairs for the Justice Department under Attorney General Eric Holder, said the FBI is typically expected to share information about investigations into a nominee before senators vote on their confirmation.

"The typical process is that the FBI conducts background checks on nominees, and if there is an ongoing FBI investigation into that person, the information is shared with the White House counsel's office and the relevant Senate committee before their vote," Miller said.
But no need whatsoever for the FBI to tell the Senate their currently testifying Attorney General nominee just perjured himself before he's confirmed and sworn in. In contrast, HILLARY HUMA WEINER EMAILS EMERGENCY STOP THE PRESSES.
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:16 AM on March 3, 2017 [75 favorites]


About 62,000 people who were held in an Aurora immigration detention center and required to work, sometimes for $1 a day, while they awaited possible deportation have been certified as a class in a lawsuit alleging violations of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

So ICE is making sure illegal immigrants do the work of hard-pressed American patriots whilst undercutting them on price? If only there was political ammunition there.
posted by jaduncan at 4:25 AM on March 3, 2017 [22 favorites]


I mean, it's not difficult to perceive the synergy between for profit prisons running newly constructed detention centers conveniently located near farmland that needs processed. Such a synergy would neatly sidestep any lingering fears over produce rotting in the fields.
posted by xyzzy at 4:44 AM on March 3, 2017 [6 favorites]


@frankthorp: Pres Trump complains about not having his full cabinet confirmed by the Senate, but as @marcorubio tweeted y'day, all avail noms are done.

Does anyone have a guess what TV show Trump was watching this morning, then?
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 4:54 AM on March 3, 2017 [12 favorites]


In re deportations: I have a dual point. First, as I've said elsewhere here, I personally know two people with horrible family deportation stories - one whose cousin (who her mother knew but she did not) fled Mexico to escape gang violence last year and was deported in October and immediately killed; and one whose father was deported when he was a little boy and he didn't see him again for more than twenty years. So my first point is that these terrible things have happened all along and it's only selective reporting and social segregation which hid them.

My second point is now that Trump is stepping up these deportations and making them much worse, at least they can't be hidden anymore, so maybe they can be stopped.

If there is an upside to this horrible situation, it's that a lot of intolerable abuses which were happening less often (but often enough, god knows) are becoming visible to the general public in a way that I don't even recall them being under Reagan. I am truly hoping that when we get rid of Trump, everyone will stick to their guns and remember that even a Democratic president must not be allowed to do this stuff. I'm hoping it will be easier to stop Trump, in a weird way.
posted by Frowner at 5:10 AM on March 3, 2017 [33 favorites]


The downside to the upside is that it would be really frustrating to live in a world where the accelerationists were right.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 5:13 AM on March 3, 2017 [12 favorites]


The downside to the upside is that it would be really frustrating to live in a world where the accelerationists were right.
I mean, I'll worry about that downside to the upside when I see any evidence at all that the upside actually exists. Because I'm seeing a huge amount of fear and disruption, and I haven't yet seen any coherent strategy to fight it.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:17 AM on March 3, 2017 [6 favorites]


ICE making illegal immigrants do the work of hard-pressed Americans

No, see, before they were working for low wages in appalling conditions because they were superhuman parasites who worked impossibly long hours that no American patriot could compete with due to their criminal laziness preventing them from getting proper jobs.

NOW they're doing it because they're being punished for all those sins, so it's fine.
posted by Scattercat at 5:21 AM on March 3, 2017 [6 favorites]




It doesn't really help to call something a witch hunt after the search has already exposed several actual witches.
posted by diogenes at 5:35 AM on March 3, 2017 [33 favorites]


Let hope no one involved with policy reads MeFi.

The manual says no one reads the comments down here. Also something about a "cat-wedge" which it doesn't really explain.
posted by petebest at 5:39 AM on March 3, 2017 [10 favorites]


Do you suppose Trump not wanting to stay at the white house is a little like Frollo and the Eyes of Notre Dame after he killed Quasimodo's mother?

Sort of like he can feel the ghosts of past presidents fuming at him and feels the need to flee at every opportunity?
posted by INFJ at 5:40 AM on March 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


Caterpillar Goes From White House Kudos to Multi-Agency Raid:
One week ago, Caterpillar Inc. was being praised by President Donald Trump for producing great bulldozers. “I love Caterpillar," Trump told company Chairman Doug Oberhelman at a meeting of manufacturing heads at the White House.

On Thursday, officials from the Commerce Department, Internal Revenue Service, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Illinois State Police moved in and out of the company’s corporate headquarters in Peoria, Illinois, in a raid seeking evidence related to exports and a Swiss subsidiary as part of a criminal probe. [...]

A spokesman for the FDIC declined to comment on Thursday’s raids. Justin Cole, a spokesman for the IRS Criminal Investigation division, confirmed that its agents were on-site, without elaborating. A voice mail seeking comment from the Commerce Department late Thursday wasn’t immediately returned.
Will be interesting to see if Trump tries to insert himself in this investigation....
posted by melissasaurus at 5:42 AM on March 3, 2017 [13 favorites]


Exclusive: Trump aides’ bid to plug leaks creates unease among some civil servants: President Donald Trump's Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin used his first senior staff meeting last month to tell his new aides he would not tolerate leaks to the news media, sources familiar with the matter said.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 5:43 AM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


Sort of like he can feel the ghosts of past presidents fuming at him and feels the need to flee at every opportunity?

I think he just misses his gold toilet.
posted by Rust Moranis at 5:43 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


Zinke’s first move as interior secretary is to scrap Obama-era ban on lead bullets

I don't know anymore if these things are a derail anymore, but just more grossness and ugh.
posted by archimago at 5:49 AM on March 3, 2017 [28 favorites]


I guess he doesn't care about condors since he can't hunt them.
posted by fedward at 5:57 AM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


Zinke’s first move as interior secretary is to scrap Obama-era ban on lead bullets

Pro-gun groups like the National Rifle Association claim lead-free bullets are more expensive and harder to obtain than their toxic counterparts.

A 2012 study from the University of Guelph found the retail price for most calibers of lead bullets was comparable to their non-toxic counterparts.

Just being a dick then. Right-O.

Environmental advocates worry Zinke may target other measures meant to protect endangered animals. During his confirmation hearing, Zinke said he would consider rolling back Obama-era plans to halt oil and gas drilling in the Arctic, which environmental advocates say would threaten polar bears and other wildlife.

Well I'm sure he has no ties to oil and gas groups. And besides cheap gas doesn't come from polar bears. Duh.
posted by petebest at 6:12 AM on March 3, 2017 [9 favorites]


Zinke's a low-bottom scumbag. His record in Montana on public lands wasn't uniformly awful; however I think (comparatively) moderate MT republicans tempered him and that he'll give in like a failed souffle to whatever he's told. He was on Steve Bannon's radio show a year or two ago talking about "radical Islam" and is happy to align himself ideologically with the regime even if he has no personal ideology besides Zinkism (Zinkslam?).

The silver lining of his squishy cowardice is that he also gives in to pressure from him constituents just as much as from his real masters. So if conservative voters who care about public lands (of which there are still a few, particularly in the west) get on his ass (like they did on Chaffetz recently over public lands sales), they might get him backpedaling fast and hard. Until he realizes his job doesn't depend on their votes any more, of course. But that might take a while, as he's dumb enough.
posted by Rust Moranis at 6:29 AM on March 3, 2017 [7 favorites]


Good news for once: FBI together with multiple law enforcement agencies have arrested the man who made the bomb threats to JCC's and ADL office.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:32 AM on March 3, 2017 [43 favorites]


I had a pair of experiences yesterday that left be bemused and depressed.

At work, for reasons too boring to get into here, I was speaking to a supervisor for a bus and van shuttle service for an hour or so while we waited for things to happen.

What struck me was how California, to hear him talking about it, wasn't so much a physical place but an almost mystic font of all evil in the world. And liberal was a synonym for evil. I'm not confrontational IRL, and I was at work anyway, so I just sort of smiled and nodded and listened and came away with an education.

In conversation I mentioned John Deere's DRM and parts scheme, and he said (as nearly as I can recall this is an exact quote) "they must be based out of California, that kind of liberal crap couldn't start anywhere else".

Later on he was talking about repairing cars and, just sort of randomly, he informed that in California it was illegal to repair your own car because they're all liberal over there.

Towards the end of our conversation he was talking about computers and what a rip off they were because one you bought one you had to buy a replacement in a few years. His PC was running Vista and Vista will be end of life in April. He finished by saying that MS must be out of California.

Three separate times, totally unprompted, he invoked California as a sort of explanation for bad things, if it's wrong it must have come from California because that's where the liberals live, and "wrong" or "bad idea" or "bad for me" are all synonyms for liberal in his mind.

This is clearly the weird stuff Trump was tapping into with his stuff about how if you didn't count California he won in a landslide, and how we can't let elections be decided by California, and so on.

Then, driving home, I passed a shiny new pickup truck, the biggest kind they make, with the dual wheels on the rear axle and all that stuff. Guy driving it had an Air Force vet bumper sticker, three different Confederate flag bumper stickers, a "The South Was Right" bumper sticker just in case the three Confederate flags weren't enough, a Trump bumper sticker. He had a ZZ Top beard and was wearing one of those sort of cowboy style Confederate officer hats.

I'm sure he would have agreed with the person I was speaking to earlier about California.

Which left me depressed. Clearly there's no reaching some people, and all we can do is outvote them, but the degree of sheer hatred for their fellow Americans baffles and depresses me.

You Can't Tip a Buick The downside to the upside is that it would be really frustrating to live in a world where the accelerationists were right.

Like it or not we're all accelerationists now. I don't like it, I think accelerationism is thoughtless, ahistoric, foolhardy, and preached from a position of privilege. But at this point its all we've got so we might as well push it.
posted by sotonohito at 6:36 AM on March 3, 2017 [42 favorites]




"if you can't handle a little (literal or figurative) lead poisoning, you're just a effete latte-sippin' liberal" -zinke [real, i guess]
posted by entropicamericana at 6:37 AM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


Republican apologists this morning are inching towards the acknowledgement that Trumpland met with Russians to discuss Russia policy (i.e. in case they won), as distinct from the campaign. (And ignoring the obvious implication that hacked oppo drops were being exchanged for policy promises.)

Talking head anchors don't seem to have much to fire back with. I'm expecting that to become the new talking point.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:38 AM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


"if you can't handle a little (literal or figurative) lead poisoning, you're just a effete latte-sippin' liberal"

Is there an NRA chapter in Flint? Maybe Zinke can drop by the local Starbucks for a little of both.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:40 AM on March 3, 2017 [4 favorites]


Like it or not we're all accelerationists now. I don't like it, I think accelerationism is thoughtless, ahistoric, foolhardy, and preached from a position of privilege. But at this point its all we've got so we might as well push it.

Nobody's an atheist in a foxhole and everybody's an accelerationist in a Trumphole.
posted by Rust Moranis at 6:40 AM on March 3, 2017 [8 favorites]



[Peter Thiel's] Palantir is just about ready to help a mass deportation operation.


An idle thought: this machine will be turned on citizens after it's chewed up non-citizens. Partly because Thiel is a comic-book villain, and partly because that's where the money will be. First they built a Palantir database to deport fathers on their way to get their kids, but I didn't speak up, etc etc.
posted by Frowner at 6:41 AM on March 3, 2017 [18 favorites]


The Worst Wing imploding and taking Trump down with it is not accelerationism, at least not as intended by the both-sides-same mask-ripping down-burners.

It will result in a lame Pence administration refusing to counter any anti-choice measures the party can push up from the statehouses, and then power shifting back the Dems and a desperate attempt to resume business as usual in hopes the international community will mostly pretend nothing happened and let us retain our place in the world (for want of anyone better and ready).
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:44 AM on March 3, 2017 [3 favorites]




I'm imagining a future where families are eating tainted wolf meat at their BBQ to celebrate the latest lynching with their developmentally disabled children who have lead poisoning but cant get treatment because they can't afford health care and can't get an education because schools don't have to follow IDEA anymore. It almost makes me yearn for martial law before that happens.
posted by archimago at 6:46 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


JCC update: Juan Thompson, 31 was arrested in St. Louis, MO. He is accused of making at least 8 of the threats against JCCs.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:48 AM on March 3, 2017 [19 favorites]


Hoping this gets yuge press coverage. These garbage people need to see that there are (still) consequences for hate crimes.
posted by archimago at 6:52 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


So I went on vacation over the weekend (as much as you can call it a vacation with two kids under three in tow) and I optimistically brought along a book to read, since I don't normally have much time for reading anything besides metafilter cough.

I got halfway through Margaret Atwood's The Heart Goes Last before I had to put it away in a cold sweat. Economic collapse of the United States giving rise to for profit prisons/towns where desperate citizens can be "employed" for life? Aughh. Stop being so damn prescient, Marge.
posted by lydhre at 6:53 AM on March 3, 2017 [8 favorites]


I'm sure he would have agreed with the person I was speaking to earlier about California.

For people like this "California" is Hollywood (just Hollywood, not SoCal generally and certainly not San Bernardino and Riverside) and the Bay Area, period, the end. No Imperial County, no central valley farmland, no northern coast, no Sierra Madre, no Mojave desert.

And I don't know if it's age or what but they completely misunderstand or overlook the libertarian slant of SV's 'disruption.'
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:54 AM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


JCC update: Juan Thompson, 31 was arrested in St. Louis, MO. He is accused of making at least 8 of the threats against JCCs.

And apparently he was stalking a female JCC employee.
posted by zombieflanders at 6:58 AM on March 3, 2017 [9 favorites]


and apparently he used to write for the Intercept?!?
posted by murphy slaw at 7:01 AM on March 3, 2017 [13 favorites]


And apparently he was stalking a female JCC employee.

Who he's now trying to blame for the threats on Twitter. Sounds like a lovely gentleman.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:03 AM on March 3, 2017


and apparently he used to write for the Intercept?!?

Same guy, according to the charges.
posted by zombieflanders at 7:05 AM on March 3, 2017


yay, this year just got weirder.
posted by murphy slaw at 7:06 AM on March 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


Thanks, asshole, now Trump is going to latch on to "it was the Democrats doing it all along!!!!"
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:07 AM on March 3, 2017 [4 favorites]


Glad they got someone, hope they don't just pack up bags and ignore the rest.
posted by Artw at 7:09 AM on March 3, 2017 [4 favorites]


I can't wait until the right wing ignores the "copycat" and "fired from Intercept" to blame all of the calls and the cemetery desecrations on leftists. 🍔
posted by zombieflanders at 7:09 AM on March 3, 2017 [7 favorites]


An idle thought: this machine will be turned on citizens after it's chewed up non-citizens. Partly because Thiel is a comic-book villain, and partly because that's where the money will be.

Just like how prison labor was perfected on former slaves, just like how subprime loans and CDOs were perfected on the poor. Just like how the techniques of enclosure and extraction are being turned on public education.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 7:10 AM on March 3, 2017 [5 favorites]


Looks like he's the same guy who wrote that fabricated interview with Dylan Roof's "cousin", as well as a number of other stories of strongly dubious provenance. I have a sinking feeling that this is going to be used as further "proof" of The Lying Media by the Trump camp.
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:11 AM on March 3, 2017 [19 favorites]


The Intercept is already crap. They are not us.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:11 AM on March 3, 2017 [12 favorites]


Yo that Twitter is... something? Jesus.
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:11 AM on March 3, 2017


Thompson claimed at Intercept that Dylann Roof was driven by anger at ex-girlfriend. (cite)
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:12 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


The Intercept is already crap. They are not us.

Regardless of the quality of The Intercept, he's not currently associated with them anyway.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:13 AM on March 3, 2017 [3 favorites]






triggerfinger: He's making this emoluments case pretty easy for the lawyers.

The corpse in the library: Which lawyers? I've been a bit out of touch recently. Is anyone working on a case?

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) have sued Trump over emoluments, way back in late January 2017.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:16 AM on March 3, 2017 [12 favorites]


I can guarantee you that the flag wants nothing to do with his sweaty armpits.
posted by lydhre at 7:17 AM on March 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


I have a sinking feeling that this is going to be used as further "proof" of The Lying Media by the Trump camp.

Of course it will be. But why do we care what their narrative is? They are lying, stealing, misogynistic, racist, incompetent people who have no interest in facts or evidence or truth or the lives of other people. They will always find some way to spin their wrongs as those of their enemies.

We like facts and accurate news reporting; Thompson does not like facts and accurate news reporting -- he is not us.

Most of us are not fans of the Intercept, or read it with caution; the Intercept is BFFs with Assange -- Thompson's employment there does not reflect on us.

We are advocating to end violence against women; they commit or ignore violence against women --Thompson will not find refuge among us.

We have to accept that they will spin everything to make themselves look better. But they aren't actually better. Their interpretation of us is not an accurate reflection of us. Fuck them; fuck what they think.
posted by melissasaurus at 7:20 AM on March 3, 2017 [44 favorites]


Longer article about the Thompson arrest: "He allegedly made at least eight of the JCC threats -- some in the victim's name, and some in his own name, as part of a purported campaign to smear the victim. Thompson allegedly went to extreme lengths to do so, including sending hoax faxes to the woman's employer alleging she had made anti-Semitic statements on social media." Lovely.
posted by Mchelly at 7:21 AM on March 3, 2017 [9 favorites]


I'm going to guess he did not push over a bunch of gravestones in Philly, though. Or shoot through a window in Indiana.
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:24 AM on March 3, 2017 [37 favorites]


I can't even use the snark of "your mother must be so proud" because it loses all irony with these people.
posted by archimago at 7:25 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


People might die because this misogynist asshole decided to jump on the bandwagon of actual violent anti-Semites. SMH.
posted by zombieflanders at 7:26 AM on March 3, 2017 [11 favorites]


Also, using the Jewish community as a prop in your misogynist revenge scheme also makes you an antisemite. A misogynist antisemite.
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:28 AM on March 3, 2017 [51 favorites]


Sean Spicer in suit coat apparently lined with American flag.

Looks more a Jacobean navy ensign, a flag traditionally "hoisted at the poop."
posted by Iridic at 7:36 AM on March 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


It's his jacket though
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:44 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


I have been mostly on catch up reading this thread the last couple days and I think the withdrawal manifested itself by my dreaming about reading the thread.

I think there should be an 'achievement unlocked' badge or something for that.
posted by CoffeeHikeNapWine at 7:46 AM on March 3, 2017 [27 favorites]


a flag traditionally "hoisted at the poop."

As you say.
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:47 AM on March 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


NPR is starting a series to track the progress of two freshmen Senators, Paul Mitchell, a Republican from Michigan (aka Millionaire Mitchell, former chairman of the Faith & Freedom Coalition) and Val Demings, a Florida Democrat, and former Orlando Police Chief. I mention this because Mitchell has opted to not hold open, public town hall meetings, "opting instead for a tele-town hall and smaller, more intimate constituent meetings." It's not clear what this means, except he can control who accesses him, because he doesn't like those public meeting that "devolve to yelling, screaming and waving signs."

So Audie Cornish asked him: "But if you're not in a special interest group, how do they get on Congressman Mitchell's calendar?" His reply? "Audie, the Education Association isn't a special interest group. They're teachers in the district."

"Special interest" isn't a bad or good term, and it accurately represents any group that promotes a specific interest. Education reform of any sort: a special interest. Support for first responders: a special interest.

Also, if there are any membership requirements, including but not limited to paying of dues, it's not an open, public group, so you are limiting your access to your constituents, you pompous jackass.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:50 AM on March 3, 2017 [12 favorites]


It's Trump's bathrobe, finally.

(Now I have this alternative reality snippet playing in my head: *Burns voice*: "Smithers, where is my bathrobe?" *Smithers voice* "Uh, here you are, Mr. Burns. I never leave the house without your bathrobe." Burns: "Ah, thank you, Smithers [Pause] Uuuh, you kept it under your armpits!")
posted by Namlit at 7:52 AM on March 3, 2017


But why do we care what their narrative is?

Because a substantial number of voters will believe it and basically all the Republicans will parrot it to further their repulsive agenda. We cannot let the liars control the narrative.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:53 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


Every time I forget how shitty the intercept is, they manage to remind me in grand style.
posted by Yowser at 7:53 AM on March 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


SXSW have well and truly crossed over into evil, btw:
Today, Felix Walworth—of bands such as Told Slant, Eskimeaux, and Bellows—tweeted a picture of the contract they were sent regarding their appearance at South By Southwest. What Walworth uncovered is that, in the fest’s hopes of stopping non-sanctioned performances, if SXSW finds out an international artist is playing a show that’s not part of the festival proper it will “notify the appropriate U.S. Immigration authorities of the above actions,” going on to say that “accepting and performing at any non-sanctioned events may result in immediate deportation, revoked passport, and denied entry by US Customs Border Patrol at US points of entry.”
There's two clarifications there from SXSW. Essentially they say they'd only inform immigration about performers if they are really annoyed by them.
posted by jaduncan at 7:55 AM on March 3, 2017 [67 favorites]


the fuck????
posted by Artw at 7:56 AM on March 3, 2017 [10 favorites]


a flag traditionally "hoisted at the poop."

Huh. I've been firing the signal gun.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:57 AM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


Paul Mitchell, a Republican from Michigan (aka Millionaire Mitchell, former chairman of the Faith & Freedom Coalition)

This guy was running ads on Detroit television in 2015. You want to talk about straight-up buying a Congressional seat, he did it.
posted by Etrigan at 7:58 AM on March 3, 2017


Trump and grandchildren have apparently left for Orlando already. Short work week.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:58 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


I've seen comparisons of the 2013 and 2017 SXSW contracts. The ICE stuff was added between 2014 and now. Does anyone know when the ICE stuff was added?
posted by Yowser at 8:00 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


There's two clarifications there from SXSW. Essentially they say they'd only inform immigration about performers if they are really annoyed by them.
“a much worse impression than what is real.”
Wow. They really spun that narrative out of whole cloth.

Threaten to bring the full weight of the CBP down on them and then say "it's a much worse impression than what is real".

Just go fuck yourself. Roland, how do you even get around with those giant brass balls weighing you down and your head up your own ass?
posted by Talez at 8:02 AM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


[Peter Thiel's] Palantir is just about ready to help a mass deportation operation.

Why does this immediately bring up images of Colonel Stryker in the Cerebro dome?
posted by darkstar at 8:03 AM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


Also, using the Jewish community as a prop in your misogynist revenge scheme also makes you an antisemite. A misogynist antisemite.

Imagine how crap of a person you have to be to put babies and children in fear to get back at your ex. I hope he enjoys prison.
posted by sallybrown at 8:07 AM on March 3, 2017 [25 favorites]


[Peter Thiel's] Palantir is just about ready to help a mass deportation operation.

I mean, the dude named his data analysis company after the all-seeing eye from LotR that falls into the hands of the great enemy who is trying to destroy all life, human or other. I feel like that's a pretty straightforward statement of intent.
posted by tocts at 8:09 AM on March 3, 2017 [52 favorites]


I suspect his lawyers will be making the case that he is not fit to stand trial.
posted by Artw at 8:10 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


Why does this immediately bring up images of Colonel Stryker in the Cerebro dome?

I find it instructive that the live action version of Destro (played by Eccleston) is evocative of Thiel's everyday look.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:10 AM on March 3, 2017 [4 favorites]


Trump and grandchildren have apparently left for Orlando already. Short work week.

Well, he stayed late on Tuesday.
posted by nubs at 8:13 AM on March 3, 2017 [34 favorites]


Also, using the Jewish community as a prop in your misogynist revenge scheme also makes you an antisemite. A misogynist antisemite.

Imagine how crap of a person you have to be to put babies and children in fear to get back at your ex. I hope he enjoys prison.


This guys twitter timeline is like raw meat for the worst of the deplorables, too. Reverse racism, false flags, ugh. I hate everything about this story.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:14 AM on March 3, 2017 [7 favorites]


I suspect his lawyers will be making the case that he is not fit to stand trial.

If so they won't succeed. Trying to target a specific person by catfish-threatening a commonly-themed series of groups (JCCs), while also tweeting and trying to cover your tracks takes careful effort and logical planning inconsistent with any solid legal incapacity defense. His goose is cooked. The only caveat is if the FBI has the facts completely wrong (which could certainly be the case).
posted by sallybrown at 8:16 AM on March 3, 2017 [5 favorites]


Wouldn't discussing policy "in case they won" while evidence of Russian election tampering is rampant be a violation of the Logan Act?
posted by xyzzy at 8:16 AM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


His twitter feed is truly off the chain bananapants. It's performance art levels of "the future the liberals want". I too pretty much hate every last atom of this story. I'm glad he's not going to be terrorizing people anymore (though I suspect he was not the only one, and those folks will surely want to re-assert that they're still out there), and I would now like him to just go away completely and have a boring trial and go to jail boringly.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:17 AM on March 3, 2017 [7 favorites]


The alt-right Twitter is losing their minds, as they recognize common cause with the Intercept.

The talking point (presumably from pol or daily stormer) is "the Intercept is compromised "
posted by Yowser at 8:18 AM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


Politico: Trump's advisers push him to purge Obama appointees
A number of President Donald Trump's advisers believe former President Barack Obama officials are behind the leaks and are seeking to undermine Trump's presidency.
A few themes are covered, not easy to summarize with quotes:

- The narrative that all leaks are coming from Obama appointees. There are a few dozen Obama appointees left, but civil service employees could also be leaking information, and for reasons beyond partisan motivation.

- The narrative that this is centralized and directed through Obama. Not surprisingly, Newt Gingrich among others is pushing this one, alleging that Obama is in control of the government this way.

- The current administrations' slow pace in nominating and placing officials in open positions.
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:20 AM on March 3, 2017 [5 favorites]


(though I suspect he was not the only one, and those folks will surely want to re-assert that they're still out there)

Sources are already telling the news media he was a copycat of the "real" culprit, so thankfully it sounds like they're not easing up on the investigation.

I have been so unnerved by this, especially since watching the American Experience about the Oklahoma City bombing (highly recommend). I can't imagine how the parents of kids in JCCs are feeling.
posted by sallybrown at 8:20 AM on March 3, 2017 [4 favorites]


Wouldn't discussing policy "in case they won" while evidence of Russian election tampering is rampant be a violation of the Logan Act?

Cue the whataboutist chorus.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:23 AM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]



The talking point (presumably from pol or daily stormer) is "the Intercept is compromised "


Did they not know it was a leftist rag
...?
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 8:27 AM on March 3, 2017


The narrative that this is centralized and directed through Obama. Not surprisingly, Newt Gingrich among others is pushing this one, alleging that Obama is in control of the government this way.

This is all just stealth marketing for Obama's PPV special with David Blaine where they spend a month encased in ice in Central Park while the republic burns around them.
posted by Etrigan at 8:27 AM on March 3, 2017 [7 favorites]


Oh great, Ann Coulter is gleefully pointing out that the guy wrote a freelance piece for Talking Points Memo two years ago.
posted by diogenes at 8:28 AM on March 3, 2017


Tweet from Feb 1 that bubbled up, presumably given priority on my feed because it's from a gamergater:
"...Support Alt Media

Breitbart News
Julian Assange
Wikileaks
The intercept
Michael Tracey
Prison Planet
Alex Jones
Rebel Media"

And you know what? I'd probably make the same grouping of media.
posted by Yowser at 8:31 AM on March 3, 2017 [11 favorites]


I posit that one reason Trump isn't so keen on appointing people is because he's never had to actually run a large organization before. Not really. His management style seems to be very micromanager, do everything himself or with a tiny group of cronies.

What few employees he has in positions of authority he tries to bind with NDA's and all manner of other legal documents so he can destroy them if they do something he doesn't like.

Look, for example, at how the State Department is basically being shut out while Trump tries to get everything done with his son-in-law and (maybe) Tillerson.

Trump, being quintessentially untrustworthy, assumes everyone else is as crooked as he is so he is fundamentally incapable of the level of trust it takes to have an actual staff and delegate responsibility and authority. If it isn't all him, or at least all his immediate family, he's not happy.

So of course he doesn't have the 400+ Executive level appointees he needs lined up. He doesn't have 400+ family members he trusts, therefore he really, really, doesn't want to fill those positions. Every person he appoints to any position is, to him, a weakness, a chink in his armor, a potential traitor who might betray Trump.

Everything like this is another reminder to Trump that other people are untrustworthy and can't be allowed at the levers of power, can't be allowed to potentially weaken him.

In a way that's good news. He can't do as much damage if he doesn't have a fully staffed Executive branch to use. On the other hand that's very bad news because it means America doesn't really have a President and the odds of a major terrorist attack are therefore much higher than they would be with someone competent at the helm.
posted by sotonohito at 8:31 AM on March 3, 2017 [71 favorites]


If this has already been talked about apologies I've just been skim reading to catch up.

One thing I'm not sure on. What is Sessions motivation to love Russia like this? Is he in it for a big pay out most likely? Or is it something else? I can figure out likely motivations (beyond money) for most others in this craziness but I'm having issues with Sessions. If not just money maybe some Christian world dominionist thing?
posted by Jalliah at 8:35 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


It's not good news if Trump drowns the government in a bathtub...
posted by Yowser at 8:36 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


What is Sessions motivation to love Russia like this?

Russia is ruled by racist, homophobic autocrats and he too is a racist, homophobic would-be autocrat?
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:38 AM on March 3, 2017 [21 favorites]


What is Sessions motivation to love Russia like this?

Russia hated Obama, and that's good enough for them.

Also, remember how during the Cold War, we occasionally worked with China? Now Russia is China, and China is the USSR.
posted by Etrigan at 8:39 AM on March 3, 2017 [5 favorites]


Russia is ruled by racist, homophobic autocrats and he too is a racist, homophobic would-be autocrat?

Russia hated Obama, and that's good enough for them.



I've now discovered that these sorts of potential motivations leading to a person selling out their country bugs me a shit-ton more then just regular 'it's about the money' type motivations. It's like a whole different type of evil.
posted by Jalliah at 8:44 AM on March 3, 2017 [7 favorites]


What is Sessions motivation to love Russia like this?

Power. That's it. He wants to remake all of America into his vision of racist 1950s Alabama, and that's all he's ever wanted. Beat down the hippies and darkies forever and ever.

He bet on Trump and was brought into the circle including the Russian hacks, and he bought into all of it to win. Now he's in too deep and has to do whatever it takes to cover up how deep the conspiracy goes. He probably never really had a plan for winning just like the rest of them, and never considered how difficult both the coverup and delivering on the Russian quid pro quo would be.

These are not smart people, Sessions was a backbench fringe GOP lunatic for decades for a good reason, he's stupid and transparently motivated by stark racism, and even his own party knew he wasn't good for much other than an easily controlled vote. Trump's razor extends to the entire administration.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:44 AM on March 3, 2017 [64 favorites]


Sessions' angle with the Russians? Just doing what the boss has asked him to do.
posted by notyou at 8:44 AM on March 3, 2017


Largely it's about winning. And money. Sweet, sweet Rosneft money.
posted by Artw at 8:45 AM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


What is Sessions motivation to love Russia like this?

I just figure everyone's trying to get a hand in on the payout. There's the 1/2 TRILLION dollars of oil & gas projects between Exxon Mobil and Rosneft that are on hold because of sanctions, the sale of Rosneft to the unknown LLC from the Caymans...

Lots of money is floating around and it's making people stupid with greed.
posted by readery at 8:46 AM on March 3, 2017 [5 favorites]


I posit that one reason Trump isn't so keen on appointing people is because he's never had to actually run a large organization before. Not really. His management style seems to be very micromanager, do everything himself or with a tiny group of cronies.

Recall that Trump didn't "build", in any way, the Trump Organization. He stepped into the leadership of a company that was already set up, full of people whose actual livelihoods depended on them doing their jobs and propping up the idiot scion of the Trump family, because if he went down, he took TrumpCo and them with him, and he didn't really care about failing because he didn't know what it was like to need a job.

So for all his talk of "doing deals", what he really did was (at best) sketch out a verbal rough draft: "Let's build a casino!" And then all of his VPs and Managers and suchlike, all the way down, would have to do all the actual work, all the while enduring his inevitable moronic "improvements" and "clarifications". They did it with a smile, feeding his ego the whole way ("Everything in gold! What a great idea!" "Of course we can do that for half the money!") because they knew that failing TrumpCo was forgiveable, but failing Donald Trump was not.

When you think about it, Elizabeth and Fred Trump are probably the greatest business leaders of the 20th Century, because they established an organization so strong that it is the one single solitary thing that Donald Trump has ever had control of that he didn't fuck up and run into the ground.
posted by Etrigan at 8:47 AM on March 3, 2017 [54 favorites]


Trump's team is obsessed with "radical islam" and they think they have an ally on the issue in Russia.
posted by drezdn at 8:49 AM on March 3, 2017 [6 favorites]


What is Sessions motivation to love Russia like this?

GOP controlled USA + USSR Russia (with a "fair sphere of influence") = white, Christian global hegemony
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:55 AM on March 3, 2017 [4 favorites]




Trump's team is obsessed with "radical islam" and they think they have an ally on the issue in Russia.

Yes. Trump's coalition is built on Islamophobia. Putin is their ally in the gloabl war they believe has already begun against "radical Islamic Terrorism" by which they mean "Islam." They believe it's not a real religion but an inherently violent political system.

Bannon, who considers himself a "traditionalist" and a "nationalist" said this about Putin:
"When Vladimir Putin, when you really look at some of the underpinnings of some of his beliefs today, a lot of those come from what I call Eurasianism; he's got an adviser who harkens back to Julius Evola [a favorite writer of Mussolini's fascist party and of Richard Spencer's alt right -ed] and different writers of the early 20th century who are really the supporters of what's called the traditionalist movement, which really eventually metastasized into Italian fascism. A lot of people that are traditionalists are attracted to that."

"One of the reasons is that they believe that at least Putin is standing up for traditional institutions, and he's trying to do it in a form of nationalism — and I think that people, particularly in certain countries, want to see the sovereignty for their country, they want to see nationalism for their country. They don't believe in this kind of pan-European Union or they don't believe in the centralized government in the United States."
Messed up ideology like that is way more dangerous than simple greed, always. People will do things out of a screwed up sense of "moral obligation" that they would never do for money. I have no doubt that Sessions is in this camp. Read the rest of that speech to understand Bannon's vision of a global war between the "Judeo-Christian West" and "radical Islam."
posted by OnceUponATime at 8:56 AM on March 3, 2017 [7 favorites]


Well, i mean have you seen bears? Those fuckers can RUN.

(Still not a reason to have guns in schools)
posted by Yowser at 8:57 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


What an idiotic headline. They were fine without guns. Bear spray is very powerful, and also powerful is not writing moronic fucking headlines.
posted by prefpara at 8:57 AM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


I'm pretty sure the headline is sarcastic.
posted by flatluigi at 8:58 AM on March 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


With all of Trump's talk about 'working with Russia in Syria,' I also think that wanting to set up some kind of foreign policy success (ala Nixon/China, Reagan/Iran hostage crisis) isn't out the question -- again, that doesn't require them to 'love Russia,' only to be willing to work with Russia for their own self-benefit.

Syria isn't going back to being a dynastic dictatorship without brutal repression and tens of thousands of politically motivated and sectarian murders. I'm not sure you'd ever want to call that a policy success but I'm sure the media will line up to give SCROTUS a cookie if he "solves" the Syrian clusterfuck.
posted by Talez at 9:00 AM on March 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


He bet on Trump and was brought into the circle including the Russian hacks, and he bought into all of it to win. Now he's in too deep and has to do whatever it takes to cover up how deep the conspiracy goes.

I think this is the core of it, and as for why he bet on Trump, well, probably nobody else in the running who had a shot would have given Jeff Sessions a position like the AG. Cruz and Rubio and Jeb all would have followed the kinds of norms that would see them installing people who probably have the same worldview as Sessions but hide it better, they wouldn't have even opened the door to something like Warren reading Coretta Scott King's letter. A guy like Trump is the only one who would have looked at Sessions' history and said sure, go have fun at your confirmation hearing.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:01 AM on March 3, 2017 [6 favorites]


I am Gunny McGunasaur, and even I would prefer bear mace as a first resort. To deal with bears with firearms you need a much more powerful gun than most people carry, or you're just wounding and angering it.
posted by corb at 9:01 AM on March 3, 2017 [36 favorites]


Betsy DeVos called it: Bear puts Connecticut schools on lockdown

JFC it's like Much Apu About Nothing coming to life.
posted by Talez at 9:02 AM on March 3, 2017 [6 favorites]


And this discussion of motivations shouldn't overlook just how much they hate liberals in general, and Hilary Clinton specifically. In their minds working with authortarian Russia is a very small price to stop literal anti-Christ mass murderer Hilary Clinton and impose endless pain and liberal tears on their neighbors who'd they'd just assume round up as soon as possible. Republicans hatred is plenty of reason in itself.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:04 AM on March 3, 2017 [9 favorites]




They'd climbed over the fence to the kindergarten playground and everyone was herded inside to give them some room. Then the kids watched footage from security cameras of baby bears playing on the playground. The solution to that sure as fuck isn't guns, or even bear mace. Just leave 'em alone and enjoy!

Yes, this! A bear near a school is not a problem, it's an educational opportunity with kids all excited to learn more about bears! If a bear becomes a problem, that's a situation for a trained animal control professional, not a school employee with a gun who would make things worse.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:07 AM on March 3, 2017 [23 favorites]


These bears attempting to infiltrate our schools - are they Fancy Bears or Cozy Bears? It's Russia, folks, don't you see?
posted by kerf at 9:10 AM on March 3, 2017 [5 favorites]




Sessions was a backbench fringe GOP lunatic for decades for a good reason, he's stupid and transparently motivated by stark racism, and even his own party knew he wasn't good for much other than an easily controlled vote.

Yep. Everybody who declared early for Camp Orange was a has-been, a throwback, a misfit, someone who was never likely to have a position in any other GOP administration, no matter how conservative.

Sessions had the fallback of a Senate seat for as long as he wanted it, and the chance of something more, something more in keeping with his retrograde beliefs. And once he was part of the gang, he was introduced to the Russians who would make "more" possible.
posted by holgate at 9:14 AM on March 3, 2017 [14 favorites]


Berenstein Bears, crossing over to try and set us back on the right timeline.

Sometimes you have to sit back and marvel at how much history and culture can be stuffed into a 14 word sentence.
posted by notyou at 9:15 AM on March 3, 2017 [44 favorites]


I'm sorry if you were offended, the standard republican non-apology statement.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:16 AM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


> And this discussion of motivations shouldn't overlook just how much they hate liberals in general, and Hilary Clinton specifically.

It seems like this is one advantage (if that's the right word) conservatives seem to have over liberals; the depth and fervor of their hate. I don't hate anyone as much as they hate the people they hate, and this hate gives them energy and motivation. This might help account for what often gets called the enthusiasm gap, because I don't know anyone on the liberal/left side of things who hates the way conservatives hate.
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:19 AM on March 3, 2017 [11 favorites]


Sometimes you have to sit back and marvel at how much history and culture can be stuffed into a 14 word sentence.

Goddamned unfortunate phrasing in an era of resurgent white nationalism.
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:23 AM on March 3, 2017 [16 favorites]


Berenstein Bears, crossing over to try and set us back on the right timeline.

Berenstain, though.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:24 AM on March 3, 2017 [6 favorites]


Like, they may hate her face and her uppity attitude and her husband, but have they ever shut off the radio to avoid her voice and then taken a tranquilizer and gone straight to bed and withdrawn from their families? I'd guess no.

They'd happily say no. You're describing the contents of their Liberal Tears mugs.
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:27 AM on March 3, 2017 [8 favorites]


On Both The Left And Right, Trump Is Driving New Political Engagement

Mostly interesting because of this:
The president tweeted last week that if his voters had their own rally, "it would be the biggest of them all."

Trump supporters are in fact planning rallies across the country on Saturday. They're being organized by Main Street Patriots, a conservative group started by members of the Tea Party.
Are counter-protests planned?
posted by Coventry at 9:28 AM on March 3, 2017


Berenstein Bears, crossing over to try and set us back on the right timeline.

Berenstain, though.


That's the joke. Berenstein is the right timeline.
posted by minsies at 9:29 AM on March 3, 2017 [21 favorites]


Berenstein is the right timeline.

Oops, sorry. My humor meter is broken these days.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:30 AM on March 3, 2017


Trump supporters are in fact planning rallies across the country on Saturday. They're being organized by Main Street Patriots, a conservative group started by members of the Tea Party.

Are counter-protests planned?


One of the local Indivisible chapters around Detroit is locked in a struggle over whether to counterprotest these, after someone pointed out that Trump will inevitably combine the numbers of Trumpists and counterprotestors, then claim that millions of people were supporting the MSP pro-Trump/pro-America/pro-Mom-and-apple-pie marches.
posted by Etrigan at 9:33 AM on March 3, 2017 [6 favorites]


Of course if no counter-protestors show up, he'll inflate the numbers by an order of magnitude anyway, sooooo...
posted by tonycpsu at 9:35 AM on March 3, 2017 [6 favorites]


Columbia Journalism Review is having a one-day conference on Covering Trump. They're livestreaming it. And, Jonathan Peters wrote a long piece on the ethics of covering the Democrats' hacked emails, Putin, Politics, and the Press.
posted by gladly at 9:36 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


Of 552 key positions requiring Senate confirmation…

Awaiting nomination: 517
Awaiting confirmation: 17
Confirmed: 18
posted by kirkaracha at 9:36 AM on March 3, 2017 [18 favorites]


Maybe we should cut the dude some slack. Those golf balls ain't gonna hit themselves.
posted by darkstar at 9:37 AM on March 3, 2017 [6 favorites]


Can't he just *not* fill the positions? I'm assuming that's Bannon's master plan.
posted by rabidsegue at 9:38 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


European Parliament votes to end visa-free travel for Americans: It comes after the US failed to agree visa-free travel for citizens of five EU countries – Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania – as part of a reciprocity agreement. US citizens can normally travel to all countries in the bloc without a visa.

The vote by the parliament’s civil liberties committee, which urged the revocation of the scheme within two months, means Americans will have to apply for extra documents for 12 months after the European Commission implements it.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:38 AM on March 3, 2017 [27 favorites]


Yeah, I'm looking forward to photos of 8 to 15 people waving dampnut signs, maga hats and confederate flags at....pigeons.
Activists will likely have better things to gather for than to rage against the 27%ers and deplorables.

I'm heading for a BLM rally in Seattle tomorrow myself, good luck to dampnut if he wants to include pictures of us in his numbers
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:39 AM on March 3, 2017 [10 favorites]


One of the local Indivisible chapters around Detroit is locked in a struggle over whether to counterprotest these, after someone pointed out that Trump will inevitably combine the numbers of Trumpists and counterprotestors, then claim that millions of people were supporting the MSP pro-Trump/pro-America/pro-Mom-and-apple-pie marches.

This seems like a really bad reason not to show up. Trump will invent his own turnout numbers in any case, and media photos will show the distinction between the red hats and the pink hats pretty clearly.
posted by contraption at 9:40 AM on March 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


This seems like a promising way of dealing with the healthcare debacle, but it can't work. The problem is that the least popular parts of Obamacare are also completely necessary. People want protection for preexisting conditions, but they hate the individual mandate. But you can't have protection for preexisting conditions unless you have some sort of incentive for healthy people to buy into the system. If you do that, then only sick people will buy insurance, and there will be no way to provide people with insurance at rates they can afford. The Republicans can't rebrand and keep the popular parts and ditch the unpopular parts, because they have to deal with reality. And that means that they are well and truly fucked, unless they can somehow find a way to bill single payer as a conservative policy.

Replace all references to health care with references to public education, and email it to Betsy DeVos.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:41 AM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


For those of us desperate to read into the fact that it's taking Twitler a while to get his admin confirmed and staffed, I'm afraid the page kirkaracha linked to tells a different story.

It took Bush the Elder and Bush the Lesser a while to make their nominations and get them confirmed, too. But eventually...they did.
posted by darkstar at 9:41 AM on March 3, 2017


Republican Rep. expresses regret for likening Town Halls to Maoist struggle sessions.

It's good that he can criticize himself like that.
posted by scalefree at 9:43 AM on March 3, 2017 [16 favorites]


European Parliament votes to end visa-free travel for Americans


Mother f...

I've traveled to Europe dozens of times and been able, basically, to breeze right on in because of the reciprocity agreement. I'm planning on traveling overseas this summer and, because of Trump, I'm going to have to apply for a VISA???

Fuck. that. orange. bastard.
posted by darkstar at 9:45 AM on March 3, 2017 [21 favorites]


For those of us desperate to read into the fact that it's taking Twitler a while to get his admin confirmed and staffed, I'm afraid the page kirkaracha linked to tells a different story.

It took Bush the Elder and Bush the Lesser a while to make their nominations and get them confirmed, too. But eventually...they did.


But for dampnut every day brings another investigation, another controversy, another "thanks but no thanks".
Maybe just a matter of time until he just can't find people willing to go through the scrutiny
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:46 AM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


The last time there were "MASSIVE PRO TRUMP PROTESTS #MAGA" planned, Twitter was a steady stream of pictures of like 12 people standing around in red hats looking vaguely forlorn. My impulse would be to ignore (and then later mock on Twitter).
posted by soren_lorensen at 9:47 AM on March 3, 2017 [27 favorites]


NYT: Sweden Reinstates Conscription, With an Eye on Russia

WaPo: Sweden institutes military draft for both men and women

(This was mentioned in the wee hours, but is in today's news rather than yesterdays.)
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:48 AM on March 3, 2017 [10 favorites]


The vote was non-binding. I don't pretend to know how the European Parliament works, but I think "non-binding" still means "symbolic." Would love for someone who understands the EP to give us some more insight.
posted by schadenfrau at 9:49 AM on March 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


Goddamned unfortunate phrasing in an era of resurgent white nationalism.

Cripes. I had no idea.
posted by notyou at 9:49 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


Whoops, nothing to see here.
posted by christopherious at 9:51 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


Can't he just *not* fill the positions? I'm assuming that's Bannon's master plan.

That's what they're claiming but it doesn't really pass the sniff test. While they're saying this is deliberate they are also ranting and raving about Obama holdovers (which they term loyalists because the idea of people being professionals just doing their jobs doesn't jibe with their loathing of competence/professionalism and their identifying everything as a partisan issue) who they can't muster up enough people to replace them with.

The simple explanation which seems likely to be the correct one is that they're having trouble finding people who want to work for this clownshow and they are ravingly paranoid about loyalty. That's why you end up with Ben Carson at HUD; aside from the seeming racist perception of that as a "black job," they're hard up for people who are all-in on Trump.

I wonder to what extent this is just their standard lunacy versus a concern about the 25th amendment. I'm inclined to think it's just their usual nuttery, given Trump's long-standing NDA obsessiveness and their general lack of competency. Worrying about being tossed out is a step farther ahead than it seems like they normally think.
posted by phearlez at 9:52 AM on March 3, 2017 [9 favorites]


From European Parliament votes to end visa-free travel for Americans (h/t 317):
The Commission discovered three years ago that the US was not meeting its obligations under the reciprocity agreement but has not yet taken any legal action. The latest vote, prepared by the civil liberties committee and approved by a plenary session of parliament, gives the Commission two months to act before MEPs can consider action in the European Court of Justice.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:57 AM on March 3, 2017 [5 favorites]


@realDonaldTrump: We should start an immediate investigation into @SenSchumer and his ties to Russia and Putin. A total hypocrite! [real omg this is real THE PAAAAAAIIIIIIINNNNNNN]
posted by zombieflanders at 9:59 AM on March 3, 2017 [28 favorites]


Oh my god.

@realDonaldTrump

We should start an immediate investigation into @SenSchumer and his ties to Russia and Putin. A total hypocrite!

[picture of Schumer standing next to Vladimir Putin at a breakfast, eating donuts.]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:59 AM on March 3, 2017 [9 favorites]


What is Sessions motivation to love Russia like this?

Here's my theory. Trump et al had as a policy platform a more open relationship with Russia, including vastly increased oil sales. Russia keyed into this during the campaign, met with all sorts of people in the campaign to feel it out. This is all relatively "okay". At some point, Russia indicates support, whatever that means, for Trumps campaign. Then quickly "things" start happening, like the wikileaks etc. Trump campaing, including Sessions, all knew the likely source and reason, but kept quiet about it. Trump actually lied with the "400 lb guy in bed" remark. Well maybe not lied, but they had suspicions where the help was coming from, and didnt reveal. Thats probably illegal, and even though none of them explicitly authorized or colluded, they had strong suspicions it was Russia and now dont want that getting out.
posted by H. Roark at 10:00 AM on March 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


European Parliament votes to end visa-free travel for Americans

GOD DAMN IT.

Visa-free travel in the EU was the single thing I was most excited about as far as becoming an American citizen (let's be honest, vacationing in Spain beats filling out a ballot anyday).

Despite flying to Europe many times in my life, and having layovers in Munich, Paris, London, etc., I have never been to those cities or countries (or practically anywhere else in Europe), because as a citizen of Serbia, I would have needed a visa, and getting a visa is such a hassle that simply popping into the city on a long layover was not worth it, nor was there any flexibility permitted as to my itinerary.

When I went to Finland in 2008, getting a visa required an exhaustive account of where I was staying, who I was staying with, how did I know them, how long have I known them, their job, my job, whether I was employed, by whom, how much money was in my bank account, did I have health insurance... etc. It was time-consuming and invasive.

When I applied for American citizenship in 2011 I envisioned new possibilities, like taking advantage of one of those insanely low, limited-time-only fares to some European capital, or planning a trip to Serbia that took advantage of the inevitable layovers (no direct flights) to do some sightseeing.

And now this. On the plus side, Russia and Serbia entered into an agreement whereby Serbian citizens don't need a visa to go to Russia... (ironically, when I did go to Russia in 2012, I couldn't take advantage of this since I hadn't yet upgraded to the new biometric Serbian passport... which meant I had to get a Russian visa on my American passport, a process much more arduous and bureaucratically frustrating than Finland's).
posted by Aubergine at 10:01 AM on March 3, 2017 [8 favorites]


That tweet.

If Schumer's notochord were ever to develop vertebrae, now should be the time.
posted by Rust Moranis at 10:01 AM on March 3, 2017 [9 favorites]


But for dampnut every day brings another investigation, another controversy, another "thanks but no thanks".
Maybe just a matter of time until he just can't find people willing to go through the scrutiny


I think they are just having trouble finding enough people with ties to Russia.
posted by srboisvert at 10:02 AM on March 3, 2017 [6 favorites]


@realDonaldTrump: We should start an immediate investigation into @SenSchumer and his ties to Russia and Putin. A total hypocrite! [real omg this is real THE PAAAAAAIIIIIIINNNNNNN]

That photo was from 2003 and was part of a state sponsored visit celebrating Lukoil starting up a retail presence in the United States (New York was the site of Lukoil's first service station).
posted by Talez at 10:04 AM on March 3, 2017 [14 favorites]


He bet on Trump and was brought into the circle including the Russian hacks, and he bought into all of it to win. Now he's in too deep and has to do whatever it takes to cover up how deep the conspiracy goes. He probably never really had a plan for winning just like the rest of them, and never considered how difficult both the coverup and delivering on the Russian quid pro quo would be.

So wait a minute... You're saying that Trump's campaign was literally "Springtime for Hitler"?
posted by J.K. Seazer at 10:06 AM on March 3, 2017 [17 favorites]


So Dana Boente is the acting #2 AG until Trump's nominee to replace him is confirmed by the Senate. There's a hearing scheduled next week.

The Attorney General has the authority to appoint special prosecutors, right? So, since Sessions has recused himself from investigations of the Trump campaign's ties to Russia, so does Boente have the authority to appoint a special prosecutor next week?

Trump would fire him immediately of course but that would just draw more attention to the situation, and the Independent Prosecutor would still be there.
posted by msalt at 10:06 AM on March 3, 2017 [9 favorites]


The simple explanation which seems likely to be the correct one is that they're having trouble finding people who want to work for this clownshow and they are ravingly paranoid about loyalty.

I know people are (justifiably) bitter about the legislators who claimed to be NeverTrump and then turned into Vichy Republicans the instant the getting was good, but I think this is a great example of how the grassroots level, everyday Republicans are really having a big impact in hamstringing this administration.

Any other Republican nominee would have had a large, competent contingent of Republican professionals. Those people aren't personally loyal to each of the other potential nominees. It's not that Jeb has 550 staffers who will only work for Jeb, or Rubio has 550 staffers that would only work for Rubio. It's that within the broader, extremely large pool of competent Republicans, 550 could have been found to staff under whichever President was chosen.

The fact that those 550 people are backing the fuck away from an administration that offers infinite potential for immediate advancement is significant. Yes, some of them probably don't want to be involved with a shitshow. But a lot of them are Republicans my age bracket - 30-40 - who are absolutely horrified by the monstrosities he is committing and the fascist cliff he's happily trotting the Republican Party over.
posted by corb at 10:07 AM on March 3, 2017 [46 favorites]


Sure, joint investigation of that picture and the Trump Administration's ties to Russia and Putin. I second. All in favor? The ayes have it.

(Is this somehow the dumbest thing Trump has done this week? )
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:07 AM on March 3, 2017 [18 favorites]


Are counter-protests planned?

I'm thinking protester counts are planned.
posted by srboisvert at 10:07 AM on March 3, 2017 [5 favorites]


> Republican Rep. expresses regret for likening Town Halls to Maoist struggle sessions.

He didn't, though: he expressed regret for using derogatory language while likening town halls to Maoist struggle sessions.

I think really the only way to get him to express regret for likening town halls to struggle sessions is to subject him to a struggle session. so that he can compare.

#strugglesesh
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:08 AM on March 3, 2017 [4 favorites]


Trump would fire him immediately of course but that would just draw more attention to the situation, and the Independent Prosecutor would still be there.

Yeah, firing the AG and the special prosecutor worked out really well for Nixon.
posted by fedward at 10:09 AM on March 3, 2017 [4 favorites]


So wait a minute... You're saying that Trump's campaign was literally 'Springtime for Hitler'?

“Trumped" Starring Matthew Broderick & Nathan Lane
posted by kirkaracha at 10:10 AM on March 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


Nigel Farage appears on Russia Today, is symbolically knighted by a little girl for whatever ridiculous reason, the girl then says "my mummy says you hate foreigners."

I don't really understand what's happening here at all, but the clip seems to sum up every single thing that is happening in our time.
posted by zachlipton at 10:11 AM on March 3, 2017 [28 favorites]


Well maybe not lied, but they had suspicions where the help was coming from, and didnt reveal. Thats probably illegal, and even though none of them explicitly authorized or colluded, they had strong suspicions it was Russia and now dont want that getting out.

Trump inner circle advisor Roger Stone had advance knowledge of the Podesta hacks. Trump publicly called on Russia to hack the Clinton campaign. Trump cited to details of the Wikileaks dumps in nearly every rally speech.

They had far more than just suspicions. All we're missing is the smoking gun proving direct coordination.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:11 AM on March 3, 2017 [15 favorites]


One of the local Indivisible chapters around Detroit is locked in a struggle over whether to counterprotest these, after someone pointed out that Trump will inevitably combine the numbers of Trumpists and counterprotestors, then claim that millions of people were supporting the MSP pro-Trump/pro-America/pro-Mom-and-apple-pie marches.

There's no dilemma there. Organize a larger counter-demonstration at a different location, on a topic that's actually important. Easy evidence for photographic comparisions, and you deny the violent confrontation that Bannon et. al. want.
posted by msalt at 10:11 AM on March 3, 2017 [13 favorites]


Comparing Trump to Hitler is ridiculous. At least Hitler didn't have the bad sense to link up with Russia oh wait.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 10:15 AM on March 3, 2017 [10 favorites]


Haaaa, I thought this exact thing, too, and then I had to laugh at myself.

First they came for the undocumented immigrants and I said nothing because I wasn't an undocumented immigrant.
Then they sent all the war orphans back to Syria to freeze, starve, or drown but I wasn't a war orphan so I didn't say anything.
Then they yadda but I yadda so I yadda...
[...]
..but then they fuckin made me apply for a VISA to go to Ireland? AAAAGH, WTF, you monsters!

(It does suck, though, god damn it; anything does that makes it harder to gtfo of here.)
posted by Don Pepino at 10:16 AM on March 3, 2017 [12 favorites]


Yes, some of them probably don't want to be involved with a shitshow. But a lot of them are Republicans my age bracket - 30-40 - who are absolutely horrified by the monstrosities he is committing and the fascist cliff he's happily trotting the Republican Party over.

I'm thinking the remaining amoral operatives who might not care about fascist cliffs DO care about the prospect of going to jail. If they were having staffing problems already, I can't imagine that that's gonna improve with a literal treason scandal on the burner.
posted by schadenfrau at 10:16 AM on March 3, 2017 [4 favorites]


@realDonaldTrump We should start an immediate investigation into @SenSchumer and his ties to Russia and Putin. A total hypocrite!

Hey everybody, let's talk about that guy's possible ties to Russia, don't look over here! Please, please, please don't look over here!
posted by filthy light thief at 10:17 AM on March 3, 2017 [15 favorites]


So Dana Boente is the acting #2 AG until Trump's nominee to replace him is confirmed by the Senate. There's a hearing scheduled next week.

The Attorney General has the authority to appoint special prosecutors, right? So, since Sessions has recused himself from investigations of the Trump campaign's ties to Russia, so does Boente have the authority to appoint a special prosecutor next week?

Trump would fire him immediately of course but that would just draw more attention to the situation, and the Independent Prosecutor would still be there.


The succession order that makes him Acting AG was set by EO. If Boente wasn't a safe pick post-Yates he wouldn't have been selected.
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:22 AM on March 3, 2017 [6 favorites]


The succession order that makes him Acting AG was set by EO. If Boente wasn't a safe pick post-Yates he wouldn't have been selected.

And Boente was specifically taken out of the succession by Obama in the last couple of weeks before the inauguration without any explanation.
posted by Etrigan at 10:26 AM on March 3, 2017 [18 favorites]


Politico: Trump Takes on The Blob: Up in New York at the United Nations, new Ambassador Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, had asked a bunch of the career officials to stay on, and they had started giving her briefings on how to talk tough to the Russians about their takeover of Ukrainian territory and other matters, I was told. Then the minders from the Trump “beachhead team” at Foggy Bottom found out about it; no way, they said, overruling Haley: They’re out.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:29 AM on March 3, 2017 [11 favorites]


@SenSchumer Happily talk re: my contact w Mr. Putin & his associates, took place in '03 in full view of press & public under oath. Would you &your team?
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:31 AM on March 3, 2017 [88 favorites]


One of the local Indivisible chapters around Detroit is locked in a struggle over whether to counterprotest these, after someone pointed out that Trump will inevitably combine the numbers of Trumpists and counterprotestors, then claim that millions of people were supporting the MSP pro-Trump/pro-America/pro-Mom-and-apple-pie marches.

When there was a pro Trump rally here in Portland, we were all asked to give them a wide, wide berth -- to the point of completely avoiding Monument Square if practical (which it totally is), and we ended up with this delightful thing.

Let them stand around and look foolish seems to work, FWIW.
posted by anastasiav at 10:32 AM on March 3, 2017 [11 favorites]


> And Boente was specifically taken out of the succession by Obama in the last couple of weeks before the inauguration without any explanation.

Which explains why the babyfaced man with a name full of racists was willing to recuse himself so quickly.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:33 AM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


The Root: Morehouse College President: We Got Played
After becoming one of the many people whom Trump has duped into believing his promises, only to leave empty-handed, Wilson did not address the loud chorus coming from HBCU alumni and black people in general, screaming, “We told y’all.”
Also it wasn't worth it to be there for Betsy DeVos' clueless statements about HBCUs.
See also his statement on the Morehouse website.
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:33 AM on March 3, 2017 [10 favorites]


is symbolically knighted by a little girl for whatever ridiculous reason

Oh gawd. Ambassador Lord Flange is currently miffed at Douglas Carswell, the kippers' only elected MP, for supposedly vetoing a knighthood or some other gong. The kippers' tax-avoiding moneybags A. Banks is supposedly trying to get Carswell (who was originally elected as a Tory) expelled from the party. British politics is ridiculous and that child may be its only hope.
posted by holgate at 10:37 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


“Do you beat your wife?” OK legislator requires loyalty test to meet with Muslim constituents.
Rep. John Bennett (R-Sallisaw) has a lengthy history of supporting anti-Muslim bigotry in the state of Oklahoma. Previously, Bennett [racist comment/action redacted]. On Thursday, the representative took things a step further. When approached for meetings from Oklahoma Muslims, Bennett handed out questionnaires and refused meetings unless answers were returned to him in writing, according to local activists.
posted by melissasaurus at 10:40 AM on March 3, 2017 [11 favorites]


“Do you beat your wife?” OK legislator requires loyalty test to meet with Muslim constituents.

Again, let's look at the number of people in Trump's cabinet that were accused of spousal abuse.
posted by dinty_moore at 10:43 AM on March 3, 2017 [34 favorites]


Goddammit. Well, here's where that fucking Trump tweet about Schumer came from apparently:

Presidential sausage-making. In order:
Top of /r/the_donald
Infowars Editor
Trump's Director of Social Media
Trump's official account

posted by sporkwort at 10:44 AM on March 3, 2017 [21 favorites]


Most dangerous woman Seema Verma who pushed for Medicaid recipients to pay premiums, passed the Senate Finance committee. (WaPo)
She will be in charge of Medicaid, Medicare and the Healthcare Exchanges.
posted by SyraCarol at 10:46 AM on March 3, 2017 [12 favorites]


And a anti Islamic hate crime in Oklahoma
posted by SyraCarol at 10:50 AM on March 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


Now the administration is trying to spin Sessions as just "a campaign volunteer," like he was a random person who dropped into phonebanks instead of a sitting US Senator and advisor.

[munches on popcorn]
posted by zachlipton at 10:51 AM on March 3, 2017 [22 favorites]


Politico: Trump Takes on The Blob
The Resistance didn’t seem like so much of a joke anymore. “That’s one of the dilemmas in terms of their relationship with The Blob (the bipartisan class of foreign policy elites),” the former Obama official said. “They need us to advise them how to actually do things, and, when locked out, they do things incompetently, exposing themselves. Then if they do consult us, then they worry about the leaks and conspiracies.”
That's the problem with ruling by fear and division: unless you have some god-like control over information and a core group of skilled and informed individuals, you yourself are subject to that same fear and division that you inflict on everyone else.

Such incompitent leadership makes me think of a high school principal who used to be at my wife's school - the principal was unreliable and lax about enforcing rules, and when they put their foot down in February at a school-wide pep rally where kids were acting up because they could, the students laughed at the principal.

Except our buffoon of a president still has enough power to make things happen, in part because some of his directions match the racist, misogynist, xenophobic, and fascist wet dreams of enough underlings. (See: racial and religious profiling at airports, even after the travel ban has been frozen, NPR, March 3, 2017 - no transcript up yet)
posted by filthy light thief at 10:52 AM on March 3, 2017 [6 favorites]


From the Department of Moving Goalposts, Obamacare is ‘a subset’ of the Affordable Care Act

The only thing that disgusts me more is that I have to wonder if the media will actually let the Republicans get away with that face-saving bait-and-switch.
posted by Gelatin at 10:52 AM on March 3, 2017 [6 favorites]


zachlipton: Now the administration is trying to spin Sessions as just "a campaign volunteer," like he was a random person who dropped into phonebanks instead of a sitting US Senator and advisor.

kirkaracha: Sessions was the chairman of Trump’s National Security Advisory Committee. (Donald J. Trump.com press release - "Donald J. Trump Announces Senator Sessions as Chairman of National Security Advisory Committee," March 3, 2016)
posted by filthy light thief at 10:54 AM on March 3, 2017 [15 favorites]


Now the administration is trying to spin Sessions as just "a campaign volunteer,"

Full confidence. Dana Boente gets to be Acting AG no later than Tuesday.
posted by Etrigan at 10:55 AM on March 3, 2017 [11 favorites]


Presidential sausage-making. In order:

The Schumer thing was also brought up on Gateway Pundit last night, then picked up by Drudge.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:00 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


SyraCarol: Most dangerous woman Seema Verma who pushed for Medicaid recipients to pay premiums, passed the Senate Finance committee. (WaPo) She will be in charge of Medicaid, Medicare and the Healthcare Exchanges.
On a vote of 13 to 12, with every Democrat in opposition, Verma’s nomination now moves to the full Senate, where the Republican majority has been moving swiftly to give its seal of approval to each of President Trump’s nominees who have come to a floor vote.
...
During the past six years, Verma’s Indianapolis-based consulting firm, SVC Inc., has held contracts totaling nearly $8 million with the state of Indiana, according to information she disclosed as part of the confirmation process. She led the Hoosier state’s successful effort to secure federal permission to expand Medicaid under the ACA in an unusual way, an effort that the state started a few years before the law existed. Under Indiana’s version of Medicaid, everyone who receives benefits, including the very poor, is required to pay monthly premiums and the contributions are invested in health savings accounts. Very poor people who do not make the payments are bumped down to a lower tier of coverage, while people with slightly more income are removed from the program.
Fffffuuuuuu ....
posted by filthy light thief at 11:01 AM on March 3, 2017 [22 favorites]


Goddammit. Well, here's where that fucking Trump tweet about Schumer came from apparently:

Presidential sausage-making. In order:
Top of /r/the_donald
Infowars Editor
Trump's Director of Social Media
Trump's official account


Something that successfully argues the President isn't getting his information directly from the Drudge Report is somehow a worse case scenario? What a fucking world!
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:02 AM on March 3, 2017 [5 favorites]


Two Republicans join Democratic campaign to force Trump to release his taxes

Reps. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.) signed a letter urging the chairmen of the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee to ask for copies of Trump's tax documents from the last decade.

This scandal could bring down the administration’: Fox military analyst slams Trump’s Russia stonewalling

One of Fox News’s top military analysts now says President Donald Trump must release his taxes to prove that the Russian government has no financial leverage over him.
posted by Room 641-A at 11:05 AM on March 3, 2017 [68 favorites]


(Trying to preview that comment killed my browser three times. In classic. new thread time?)
posted by Room 641-A at 11:07 AM on March 3, 2017 [4 favorites]


European Parliament votes to end visa-free travel for Americans

My Canadian passport is going to be useful sooner than I thought, apparently.
posted by soren_lorensen at 11:10 AM on March 3, 2017 [5 favorites]


There's a second TSA incident in Gorka's past (besides the 9mm pistol he tried to carry-on last year): in 2004 he was stopped with ammunition at Newark Airport. He showed his DoD ID and they let him go, but the ammunition was for a hunting trip and not any government purpose.

When asked about the story, Gorka, in a stunning display of email misuse for someone with a boss boss who is the world's leading proponent of email security, accidentally replied-all on his email to Sean Spicer suggesting that there be no comment, sending it to the reporter as well.
posted by zachlipton at 11:11 AM on March 3, 2017 [28 favorites]


snuffleupagus: The succession order that makes him Acting AG was set by EO. If Boente wasn't a safe pick post-Yates he wouldn't have been selected.
Etrigan: And Boente was specifically taken out of the succession by Obama in the last couple of weeks before the inauguration without any explanation.
I'm confused -- two different executive orders, one by Obama and one by Trump? Or does Obama's still control facts on the ground?
Is Boente in charge of investigations given Sessions' recusal? If not, who?
posted by msalt at 11:12 AM on March 3, 2017


The sooner you come to Canada the better Soren. Good god I'd be beating feet. But I am a bit paranoid.
posted by Yowser at 11:12 AM on March 3, 2017


I think Trump should release his taxes, but I worry when people equate the taxes with the Russia situation. If the taxes dont show Russia connection, it does not mean he does not have a Russia connection.
posted by H. Roark at 11:13 AM on March 3, 2017 [42 favorites]


Arnold is leaving "The Celebrity Apprentice."

His statement says that he loved working with NBC, Mark Burnett, and everyone involved with the show, and he would "absolutely work with all of them again on a show that doesn't have this baggage."

Ouch.
posted by zachlipton at 11:18 AM on March 3, 2017 [94 favorites]


"But Twitler literally talked about killing families of suspected terrorists during the campaign and now we have nine dead kids."

Depends on the SF.
Want the truth? A lot of black operators are guys who can't leave.

For those of you without experience in these matters, it's just the same as The Godfather or with Cartels, any other
"dirty" ugly intelligence operators. The movies don't show much of how fucked their lives are, but there it is.

I don't see much of a difference between sending a drone strike or sending in a team when it comes to deliberately targeting
non-combatants in terms of war crimes.
Used to be you could get away with laying it off on collateral damage, same as with bombing. But technological advances (the NSA, Recon office, et.al)
as well public knowledge of JASOC's high value target assassination programs make that less plausibly deniable.

All that said - and this is the big gorilla - no one who's not suffering from recto cranial inversion would be ok with killing the families of targets. It's the complete opposite. You would want to capture them to keep them safe.
The biggest danger to a terrorist's family comes from their own people. The VAST majority of those kinds of ops are exactly that.
This is how you get cooperation and intelligence out of someone. In contrast to killing someone's family, then torturing them to get information out of them which works about as well as you - or anyone who isn't a moron really - would think.

The difference then isn't in the given tools or willingness to deliberately target civilians (there are seemingy always enough psychopaths or barring that, obligated cadre who would follow that order and deny it later) but in the policies and
basic common sense of the politicians.

Plenty of checks in place to slow up a nutso politician. And it's instructive that Trump is facing so much bureaucratic resistance.

But look at the contrast - Obama: "before any strike is taken, there must be near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured – the highest standard we can set." - Sure, he's said, we assassinate people but "by narrowly targeting our action against those who want to kill us and not the people they hide among, we are choosing the course of action least likely to result in the loss of innocent life."

In addition to policy, this is strategically sound.

Trump otoh: (paraphrasing) "Giddim! Kill! Torture!"

And there are plenty of level headed, downright cold blooded bastards who WOULD kill someone's family if it served to protect the American people saying "That's strategically unsound Mr. President."

The difference in these policies are marked by the amount of risk involved. Personally I'm all for as much on scene human involvement as possible.
Precisely because people are not killing machines in the sense aircraft or drones are. Firing at a non-combatant is a waste of ammunition. It's simply far less efficient and more risky; humans tend to defend their team members lives regardless of training or the mission. Stick monkeys don't have that problem. The matrix is as simple as that. So whatcha do is - you send a drone, where there are indications of civilian deaths you analyze signals, surveillance, etc. to figure out what's changed. So you see if signals, say, are re-routed or stopped. If they're re-routed, you killed a civilian.
If they stop, you got the right guy - to really oversimplify it.

You hear all kinds of rumors about special ops though.

I heard one that SEALs were used to guard Area 51. So I asked the guy, why would you train the hell out of someone to make them a specialist in aggressive amphibious operations then place them in an immobile defensive position in the middle of a desert?


Sure, it happens under certain circumstances, sometimes (very, very, VERY rarely) it's even sanctioned, but there's no reason for us to send humans off to kill other humans anymore (and the idea itself is harmful - hence its propaganda value to all the fanatics involved - anyone remember Nawar al-Awlaki?'Cos plenty of radicalized nutcases sure do)

A raid is a very different thing with very different objectives. They wouldn't do that. They wouldn't be ordered to do that - granted, unless you're a f'ing idiot like Cheeto in charge.

But you'd need some very specific people (Ryan wouldn't be one) and you - or rather we the
American public - wouldn't know they were our casualties anyway. I mean, hell, unless it's so in house you absolutely can't let any information out, why use Americans anyway? Plenty of mercs out there.
(Reminds me of a bit from league of extraordinary gentlemen (the graphic novel) - why should we build half-smart animal hybrids to fight wars when we have soldiers?)

Now, Trump *could* have manipulated support, other things, to force them into a position where the team had to kill civilians (stuff like
this happens everywhere)


But I know everyone in the community (and out, anyone who knows anything) is telling him different.
Hell, Professor Ganor was telling him a year before Trump was *cough* elected that it's stupid.

And Israel isn't exactly soft on terrorism.

So it's exactly (as Existential Dread sed)
It's Trump's rhetoric, not just on this - like the "we should take their oil" bullshit does in Iraq - that puts American lives in danger.

I hate the fucks who say "We" should go kill 'em. Especially someone like Trump.

Someone morally opposed to the war in Vietnam, ok, or someone who outright protested
(IMHO it's at least participation in society) I can respect.

But how could anyone... Well, this guy say it better than me: "I realized just how isolated and self-absorbed he was during that turbulent period, and how completely out of sync he is with most of his generation, veterans and evaders alike. He seems to have escaped the turmoil of the 1960s and ’70s not merely unscathed, but untouched by humanity.



"OK legislator requires loyalty test to meet with Muslim constituents."

To be fair, there are plenty of legislators who meet other legislators on OK legislator.
posted by Smedleyman at 11:18 AM on March 3, 2017 [22 favorites]


Anyone up for making a new thread? This one's going to hurt if any end-of-the-week-please-don't-pay-attention news drops this afternoon.
posted by Coventry at 11:18 AM on March 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


snuffleupagus: The succession order that makes him Acting AG was set by EO. If Boente wasn't a safe pick post-Yates he wouldn't have been selected.

Etrigan: And Boente was specifically taken out of the succession by Obama in the last couple of weeks before the inauguration without any explanation.

I'm confused -- two different executive orders, one by Obama and one by Trump? Or does Obama's still control facts on the ground?


Obama took him out of the succession via EO. Trump restored him to the succession via EO, I think right after firing Sally Yates.

Is Boente in charge of investigations given Sessions' recusal? If not, who?

It's Boente.
posted by Etrigan at 11:20 AM on March 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


If the taxes dont show Russia connection, it does not mean he does not have a Russia connection.

I'm almost certain that his taxes will show a Russian connection. If they don't I will eat my hat.
posted by triggerfinger at 11:21 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


If the taxes dont show Russia connection, it does not mean he does not have a Russia connection.

I'm almost certain that his taxes will show a Russian connection. If they don't I will eat my hat.


It has been confirmed by multiple sources that when Comedy Central roasted Trump, he was (as is custom with the CC roasts) allowed to veto jokes that would be told about him. The only ones he vetoed were the ones that joked about how he wasn't really a billionaire. Even if there's no Russian connection in his (personal) taxes, he will go to any lengths for people not to find out that he's net-broke-or-worse.
posted by Etrigan at 11:24 AM on March 3, 2017 [19 favorites]


On preview, what Etrigan said. Or less eloquently: there's something no good in those taxes.
posted by Room 641-A at 11:27 AM on March 3, 2017


He won't be broke this year, not with all the secret service money flooding in.
posted by Artw at 11:29 AM on March 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


Which would be it's own tempest in a teapot. They won't release the taxes unless they're at the point where anything is better than letting the Russian story continue without anything else working as a diversion. Including more draconian EOs to rally the base.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:31 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


I think that even more likely than a Russian connection, the release of his taxes would starkly reveal the Trump Org to be a financial house of cards, resulting in a series of loans being immediately called in, and total bankruptcy and liquidation within months or weeks.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 11:31 AM on March 3, 2017 [10 favorites]


I think that even more likely than a Russian connection, the release of his taxes would starkly reveal the Trump Org to be a financial house of cards, resulting in a series of loans being immediately called in, and total bankruptcy and liquidation within months or weeks.

One can hope. I'd love to see him and his three oldest spoilt brats have to get jobs where someone has real institutional power over them.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 11:35 AM on March 3, 2017 [8 favorites]


Presidential sausage-making. In order:

I don't want to be in the room where that happens.
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:37 AM on March 3, 2017 [10 favorites]


One can hope. I'd love to see him and his three oldest spoilt brats have to get jobs where someone has real institutional power over them.

Won't happen. If nothing else, enough wealth will be sheltered for the family, and there's wignut welfare and the right wing segment of the private equity world for those two creeps to melt into. In Russia, if necessary.
(Or maybe they'd go hang out at Thiel's joint down under...)
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:39 AM on March 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


‘Celebrity Apprentice’ Loses Half Its Sponsors Amid Anti-Trump Boycott (Exclusive)

#GrabYourWallet” campaign reports six of 12 companies featured in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s season have agreed not to return

love it.
posted by futz at 11:41 AM on March 3, 2017 [53 favorites]


On counterprotests: media photos will show the distinction between the red hats and the pink hats pretty clearly.

Not clearly enough and things like police estimates of crowd size will not differentiate between them. Separate demonstrations elsewhere for the win.
posted by Candleman at 11:42 AM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


My question is whether the "baggage" Schwarzenegger refers to is the past history of the show or whether a certain Executive Producer has been meddling. It's hard to imagine Trump not giving copious notes on Schwarzenegger's performance.
posted by zachlipton at 11:44 AM on March 3, 2017


My question is whether the "baggage" Schwarzenegger refers to is the past history of the show or whether a certain Executive Producer has been meddling.

Trump led the National Prayer Breakfast off with a joke about Schwarzenegger's shitty ratings. Dunno whether that counts as meddling, but it's certainly one of the bags he's talking about.
posted by Etrigan at 11:46 AM on March 3, 2017 [9 favorites]


Since nobody else has jumped on the task of making a new FPP I guess I'll put one together. Gimme a bit.
posted by fedward at 11:48 AM on March 3, 2017 [9 favorites]


I love how Trump thinks the problem with his then-soon-to-be-AG meeting secretly with the head of state of a potentially hostile foreign power and having discussions about god knows what is the close physical proximity the person came into with the head of state -- as opposed to the secrecy, the potentially illegal discussions/promises, etc.

It's like he thinks this is all because the left is worried that Putin has cooties or something.
posted by tocts at 11:48 AM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


> I think that even more likely than a Russian connection, the release of his taxes would starkly reveal the Trump Org to be a financial house of cards, resulting in a series of loans being immediately called in, and total bankruptcy and liquidation within months or weeks.

Has any rich (or "rich") person ever gone bankrupt like this? There's bankrupt, and then there's Rich People Bankrupt, which is just another financial tool they can use as needed. I can't think of anyone who wound up like the two old guys at the end of Trading Places.
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:50 AM on March 3, 2017


Second half of Schwarzenegger's statement is more direct: "When people found out that Trump was still involved as executive producer and was still receiving money from the show, then half the people [started] boycotting it."
posted by zachlipton at 11:50 AM on March 3, 2017 [41 favorites]


It's hard to imagine Trump not giving copious notes on Schwarzenegger's performance.

It's hard to imagine Trump doing any actual work on a TV show that he isn't specifically appearing in. For a lot of TV shows, the title of "Executive Producer" can be effectively read as "Guy Whose Name Appears at This Point in the Opening Credits". There are some EPs who are more hands-on, but it's not a hard and fast rule by any means.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:51 AM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


maybe it's Texan pickup truck assholery, but it's our Texan pickup truck assholery [somebody's twitter. NSFW language]
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:55 AM on March 3, 2017 [17 favorites]


Trump administration defends low-key rollout of Human Rights Report (Politico, March 3, 2017)
The release of the State Department’s Human Rights Report is traditionally a high-profile event, almost always introduced personally by the secretary of state. Since 2000, the report’s release has always been accompanied by an on-the-record press conference and on all but two occasions, the secretary of state personally released the report.
This year? A conference call with reporters by an unnamed "senior administration official". Hey Donnie, I'm confused - should we be angry at The Media for not disclosing who this official is, or at this official for not wanting to be named?

Here's the page for the State Department’s Human Rights Report, with it's oh-so-powerful preface, that notes:
This year marks the 41st year the Department of State has produced annual Human Rights Reports. The United States Congress mandated these reports to provide policymakers with a holistic and accurate accounting of human rights conditions in nearly 200 countries and territories worldwide, including all member states of the United Nations and any country receiving U.S. foreign assistance. The reports cover internationally recognized individual civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments.
...
Our values are our interests when it comes to human rights. The production of these reports underscores our commitment to freedom, democracy, and the human rights guaranteed to all individuals around the world.
Emphasis mine - it's like you're saying "we did this because Congress said we had to." And you end with the most dry closing. It's like a kid saying "my book report on MLK underscores my commitment to Black History Month." - You had to do it, so you don't have much room to say "I did it because it shows the world who I am."
posted by filthy light thief at 11:57 AM on March 3, 2017 [5 favorites]


pence. pence email. i think this could be a fruitful avenue for some enterprising journalist to go down.

undisputed facts:
- private account
- gov business
- traffic related to fbi and other LEOs
- account was hacked

the question: did this involve any law enforcement sensitive (LES)?

because then he is edging up to criminal behavior that may be prosecutable under state law.
posted by j_curiouser at 11:57 AM on March 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


(close angle on old Trinitron CRT with AOL client running)
AOL voice: You've got Pencemail! 
(zoom out to "Peggy")
posted by snuffleupagus at 12:00 PM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


I can't think of anyone who wound up like the two old guys at the end of Trading Places.

All I want for the rest of my christmases is for DJT to get his Hollywood ending.
posted by Glibpaxman at 12:00 PM on March 3, 2017 [7 favorites]


Another goodie from the Politico article:
"Secretary Tillerson spoke quite clearly in his confirmation hearing about his views of the impact of human rights on, and the importance to, U.S. interests," the official said.
Really? You're saying because he defended his suitability for his job, he doesn't really need to say anything publicly now, over a month later? Sure, he broke from Trump's talking points then, but that doesn't give him an out now.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:01 PM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


U.S. suspends Obama airline transparency review: The Trump administration said on Friday it is suspending action on an Obama administration decision in October to probe a long-time practice by some airlines of preventing various travel websites from showing their fares and whether to require transparency in airline baggage and other fees.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 12:04 PM on March 3, 2017 [17 favorites]


Because when Americans voted for Trump, they sent a message loud and clear: "we want buying air tickets to be as confusing and complicated as possible."
posted by zachlipton at 12:08 PM on March 3, 2017 [57 favorites]


Jesus. It's all so fucking petty.
posted by suelac at 12:15 PM on March 3, 2017 [17 favorites]




Because when Americans voted for Trump, they sent a message loud and clear: "we want buying air tickets to be as confusing and complicated as possible."

Actually, pretty much yes. Voting Republican clearly meant big business profits over regular citizens. It always has. Shit like this is perfectly in character, and Rust Belt voters deserve blame for little things like the price of air tickets increasing, along with big things like house to house deportation squads. They voted for all of it.
posted by T.D. Strange at 12:17 PM on March 3, 2017 [22 favorites]


Hey, new post.
posted by fedward at 12:19 PM on March 3, 2017 [23 favorites]


Thank you, fedward
posted by Coventry at 12:20 PM on March 3, 2017 [5 favorites]


Thanks to fedward!

And thanks, as always, to everyone in these threads, which are helping me stay sane.
posted by snuffleupagus at 12:23 PM on March 3, 2017 [14 favorites]


“Do you beat your wife?” OK legislator requires loyalty test to meet with Muslim constituents.

Does this loser have a twitter? When this happens (because it has, enough that I already have an established response, SIGH) I like to tweet an image of the internment camp loyalty questionnaire at them, but it looks like I'm actually going to have to email the jackass. Shame.
posted by sunset in snow country at 12:30 PM on March 3, 2017 [4 favorites]


The only thing that disgusts me more is that I have to wonder if the media will actually let the Republicans get away with that face-saving bait-and-switch.

Don't wonder.

New thread!
posted by petebest at 12:30 PM on March 3, 2017


N E W

T H R E A D

posted by Coventry at 12:38 PM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


Has any rich (or "rich") person ever gone bankrupt like this?

The case of Robert Maxwell isn't the same -- it was his death that led banks to call in loans, which in turn exposed theft from pension funds to prop up his companies -- but as discussed elsethread, there are lots of parallels.
posted by holgate at 12:46 PM on March 3, 2017


He won't be broke this year, not with all the secret service money flooding in.

When all your cash flow needs to service your outstanding debt, you're still broke.

Donald J. Trump, Millionaire. He owns a mansion and a yacht.
posted by mikelieman at 1:15 PM on March 3, 2017 [9 favorites]


European Parliament votes to end visa-free travel for Americans

My Canadian passport is going to be useful sooner than I thought, apparently.


Finally!

As a Canadian expat I am constantly stuck in the long lines because in America the line is for American Citizens and then a line for others. In England it was for EU residents and then others. In Canada it was for residents and then others. So always with long lines with people who don't have their documents in order.

Of course this happens as I am afraid to leave U.S. soil because I am worried that some arbitrary rule change or jobsworth border asshole will decide to anticipate the fuhrer and blow up my life but it is nice that in my travel fantasies I can now plausibly take the quick line at airport customs.
posted by srboisvert at 1:15 PM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


The Austin "festival" SXSW, has decided they want to maga by threatening artists whom SXSW does not pay to perform, that if they do any other shows while in town, SXSW will turn them in to ICE, cancel their hotel rooms, have them deported, and report them for visa violations. I mean, I've been anti-sxsw for years, but this is some fucked up shit, right here.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 2:20 PM on March 3, 2017 [7 favorites]


I've been seeing that SXSW thing floating around and maybe down here at the end of a dead thread is a good place to ask. Does anyone know what an org like theirs' obligation is with regards to informing immigration when they cancel a show for an act coming in on a special visa? I, like you, don't have any real regard for sxsw but I wonder if this is just lawyer boilerplate that looks awful given the current climate. They may have no choice but to report folks if they know they're here on a visa specifically to perform for sxsw and the show is cancelled.

Now, the fact that they're such massive tools about trying to maintain exclusive control of every bit of entertainment in the city going on at that time? All on them, for sure. But I am wondering if this really is an immigration-related threat vs just a disclosure of what happens when they're their usual shitbird selves.
posted by phearlez at 2:28 PM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


Well, I for one, am sick to death of legal boilerplate exclusivity bullshit. I'd like to see some bigger acts in Chicago but I am not going to Lollapalooza or Riot Fest because I am not a drunken twenty year old asshole with all the time and patience in the world anymore.

SXSW wants to seem cool? Then fucking be cool. And this isn't cool.
posted by srboisvert at 4:07 PM on March 3, 2017 [4 favorites]


Yeah, there's a pretty reasonable argument that if you're an ostensibly creative organization forced by bullshit government action to do something gross given contingency x, the reasonable approach is not to build contingency x into boilerplate legalese but instead make a big noise out of warning the endangered parties that the government is forcing you into a bullshit position. Put "we've been fucked and you're not safe" in ten foot letters, not fine print, etc.
posted by cortex at 6:07 PM on March 3, 2017 [4 favorites]


THERE ARE NOT UNDERCOVER ICE AGENTS
ROAMING AROUND THIS FESTIVAL

WATCH FOR THE REMOVAL OF THIS SIGN

posted by Etrigan at 6:56 PM on March 3, 2017 [5 favorites]


I think we could fill a few threads with all the ways SXSW could change in order to suck less. My point was just that calling it threatening the artists with siccing immigration on them is likely overblown. SXSW's shitbaggery likely just continues to be the same garden variety shitbaggery as always.
posted by phearlez at 7:40 PM on March 3, 2017


An alternative view is that we have so normalized the idea of legalese shitbaggery that an on-paper straight-up threat of deportation for having a gig go south falls within the realm of "yeah well but..." somehow rather than being on paper as outrageous as it actually is. Like, I get your point, but let's not bend over backward here.
posted by cortex at 7:47 PM on March 3, 2017 [10 favorites]


Honestly, it really does read as a threat. And a vague one. Do something "that adversely affect[s] the viability of their official SXSW showcase" and they'll call ICE on you. Does that mean they'll try to get you deported for wheeling in 20 tons of unauthorized pyro or does it also apply if they don't like what's printed on your t-shirt when you go to perform? Who knows.

They could have put that in terms that didn't constitute a threat, more like: "there are a bunch of big scary guys with guns who could try to deport you, our foreign visitors; that's awful; here's the rules our lawyers tell us we have to follow and the best advice we've got to try to keep you safe." And then carefully laid out how they'll work with artists to try to avoid problems and exactly what both parties can expect from each other.
posted by zachlipton at 7:51 PM on March 3, 2017 [5 favorites]


All statements of the form "do [x] and they'll call ICE on you" make the people calling ICE bad people. Call ICE? You're a bad person. Your organization threatens to call ICE? Your organization is bad.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:25 PM on March 3, 2017 [8 favorites]


Trump is spiraling on Twitter this morning and seems to be (a) having paranoid delusions about Obama spying on him; (b) leaking information he knows about FISA warrants on himself; (c) re-upping Louise Mensch's FISA warrant theory; or (d) all of the above.

It might be time for a new thread as we begin this morning in the eye of a Twitter hurricane of massive proportions.
posted by sallybrown at 5:36 AM on March 4, 2017 [2 favorites]


sallybrown: It might be time for a new thread as we begin this morning in the eye of a Twitter hurricane of massive proportions.

new thread is here
posted by bluecore at 5:38 AM on March 4, 2017 [2 favorites]


They could have put that in terms that didn't constitute a threat, more like: "there are a bunch of big scary guys with guns who could try to deport you, our foreign visitors; that's awful; here's the rules our lawyers tell us we have to follow and the best advice we've got to try to keep you safe."

Except it is a threat, and not as vague as you think. Over the past 10 years or so I've heard enough stories of organizers threatening guests over things as harmless as "giving an interview or play a song on an acoustic guitar on a non-approved venue" to figure out they're using Emperor Tinyhands hard-on for border security to scare artists into place. One thing is approaching an international artist and say "we're not having you back", other is say "we'll sic ICE on you, and if you have a tourist visa you're going to be banned from the US for a decade".
posted by lmfsilva at 6:25 AM on March 4, 2017 [3 favorites]




Dude, dude, think about it. They're out in the middle of Texas with tourist visas, they look around, what do they see, nothing but ICE agents. "Oh, there's nowhere for me to run. What am I going to do? Play an unofficial showcase?"
posted by lmfsilva at 8:16 AM on March 4, 2017


It doesn't matter if they remove the ICE clause at this point- you don't need to sign a contract saying that they'll sic ICE on you for them to sic ICE on you. That they thought it was a good idea at all and only pulled back on it because people complained tells you that they're going to do it anyway if they feel like it.
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:37 AM on March 4, 2017 [5 favorites]


Update on my letter to the editor re: Jeff Sessions: it didn't run Friday or Saturday, so I figured Sunday was my last shot, and there it is! With a little picture of Sessions next to it, in case anyone forgot who he was. They only made one editorial change- I called out "so many members of the Trump administration" and they changed it to "some members of the Trump administration". Fair enough.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:59 AM on March 5, 2017 [10 favorites]


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