Lawyer Up, Delete Facebook, Hit Kim Jong-Un
March 23, 2018 7:59 PM   Subscribe

Day 248: Trump has, after much whining and the threat of a veto, signed the House spending bill, keeping the US government open until September. Early reports (because, of course, it was put together and shoved through in a rush) are that it's not great, with way too much irresponsible spending on the military, but it's much better than could be expected given this administration. A policy solution for DREAMers is not included, which Trump tried to blame on Democrats, leading to Trump supporters confusingly calling for American residents who aren't citizens to be looked after by the government. [This is an American politics thread: to keep it manageable for mods, please read and abide by these instructions.] posted by Merus (2125 comments total) 108 users marked this as a favorite
 
Mod note: Official reminder: help keep these threads information-dense and not a headache to moderate. If you haven't read the thread, go read it, and please don't fill the thread with early one-liners and chatter!
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 8:11 PM on March 23, 2018 [14 favorites]


to me, the appointment of bolton is the biggest thing to happen since election day 2016. that guy has blood on his hands from the run up to the iraq war, and i'm certain he'd love to add a couple hundred thousand--or more--to the list.
As fucking stupid as W was--and don't get me wrong he was **Fucking Stupid** and eager to finish daddy's business--manipulating trump into war will be far easier. just wait til he's angry about something else, and be the last one in the room with him. And there wont be any asinine yellowcake donkey circuses at the UN this time... because the UN wont even know what we do til the day after. god help us.
posted by wibari at 8:11 PM on March 23, 2018 [38 favorites]


I put it in the post, Eyebrows!

I story I missed but would have included: Trump has formally directed that transgender people cannot serve in the military.
posted by Merus at 8:14 PM on March 23, 2018 [16 favorites]


Mod note: Yes but you still get it with a staff tag anyway so people know it's Rlly Srs!
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 8:19 PM on March 23, 2018 [61 favorites]


So on Tumblr people a lot of people got an email telling them they interacted with Russian troll accounts, and they're posting about it, and already I've seen three posts saying it's baseless Red Scare nonsense, or maybe propaganda. Like this meme. Or a text post: "anyone else noticing how many of the russian ~propoganda~ blogs have black in their url???????"

And another text post: "We thought tumblr didn’t understand their own website but then they sent a mass callout post baselessly accusing users of being Russian spies so maybe they understand their website better than we could have ever imagined."

So that's the scoop. I think the propaganda worked. Either that or it's still ongoing. So you might want to have some links in your back pocket to show ppl. I actually wanted to ask if someone remembers where the original reporting came from. I found some from BuzzFeed and more recent stuff on Daily Beast.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 8:24 PM on March 23, 2018 [18 favorites]


Wisconsinites, note that there is an election on April 3rd! But not special elections. A judge ordered the governor to hold special elections to fill two vacant seats in the legislature. In response, the governor and legislature are interested in adjusting the law surrounding special elections.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 8:30 PM on March 23, 2018 [14 favorites]


Oh yeah, consistently any of those links I shared on tumblr gets no notes except once, a driveby one along the lines of, 'oh so i guess it's all fake huh??'

anyway im expecting to see more the posts you've mentioned Rainbo Vagrant. I've not bothered with debunking via links just pointing out propa doesn't need to be based on lies, and swerving to point out CIA took advantage of social fractures in the soviet bloc. Not holding my breath.
posted by cendawanita at 8:31 PM on March 23, 2018 [3 favorites]


George Will finds out that yes, the face-eating leopards will even eat his poor befuddled "principled conservative" face. Who could have predicted it?

WaPo OpEd: The second-most dangerous American
... because of Bolton’s West Wing proximity to a president responsive to the most recent thought he has heard emanating from cable television or an employee, Bolton will soon be the second-most dangerous American. On April 9, he will be the first national security adviser who, upon taking up residence down the hall from the Oval Office, will be suggesting that the United States should seriously consider embarking on war crimes. ... How can the president square his convictions with Bolton’s? Let’s say this one more time: Trump. Has. No. Convictions.
posted by RedOrGreen at 8:35 PM on March 23, 2018 [41 favorites]


Has anyone seen the complete memo posted? The excerpt in that The Hill article seems to draw a difference between trans troops and “trans troops with gender dysphoria”, and I’m kind of confused.
posted by corb at 8:35 PM on March 23, 2018 [3 favorites]


Mod note: There is an active fucking fuck thread if you just need to primal scream or express disgust.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 8:38 PM on March 23, 2018 [14 favorites]


Has anyone seen the complete memo posted? The excerpt in that The Hill article seems to draw a difference between trans troops and “trans troops with gender dysphoria”, and I’m kind of confused.

I see it as basically inventing a delineation between 'trans troops who won't ask us to pay for anything' and 'trans troops that expect us to take care of them as a matter of course'.
posted by Quonab at 8:40 PM on March 23, 2018 [17 favorites]


Bolton wants a first-strike nuclear conflict with a non-nuclear nation. I'm too weary to cite this, just google "Bolton" and "Nuclear" together, you'll see it.

So this is where we are. Not just war crimes headed our way, but unforgivable ones we will never live down as a nation.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:40 PM on March 23, 2018 [22 favorites]


So it’s basically selectively denying troops part of their compensation based on a specific medical need. Real defensible.
posted by Artw at 8:45 PM on March 23, 2018 [25 favorites]


I'm not super familiar with the lines around gender dysphoria as a diagnosis and whatnot, so forgive me if this is out of turn... but it sure seems like the policy is "Transgender servicepeople are fine as long as they maintain a cis identity while they're in the service and as long as they haven't transitioned before joining and as long as they don't plan to transition until after they leave."

This sounds a lot like "Don't ask, don't tell" but like they're trying to create carve-outs for some reason? Maybe because they think it's more defensible in court against discrimination cases (which it still plainly is)?

I really want this put in front of the Mattis fans at every turn, 'cause this shit has his name on it. He's not the good guy everybody hopes for.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 8:56 PM on March 23, 2018 [29 favorites]


It's because Donald Trump and/or conservatives find it somehow morally reprehensible that we pay for any medical care for gender transition despite it costing less than the amount the military spends on boner pills.
posted by runcibleshaw at 9:00 PM on March 23, 2018 [26 favorites]


And medical care effectively being part of pay in the US. They are happy to see troops paid less.
posted by Artw at 9:01 PM on March 23, 2018 [8 favorites]


So they'd be fine with trans troops who paid for their own medical costs, just like most trans civilians do? I'm not being sarcastic. Most of my friends (all non military) had to pay for their own surgeries out of pocket. Many get their hormones at a sliding scale clinic that doesn't take insurance. So... they're okay to join?
posted by AFABulous at 9:05 PM on March 23, 2018 [4 favorites]


Worthwhile Twitter thread here from transgender veteran Charlotte Clymer.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 9:05 PM on March 23, 2018 [14 favorites]


so what if we just decided to guarantee a job for everyone?
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:39 PM on March 23, 2018 [10 favorites]


This is yet another quality Trump politics post from a user who specializes in them. Well done, merus!
posted by notyou at 10:01 PM on March 23, 2018 [15 favorites]


I don't feel like we can take anything this administration says on trans troops in good faith, especially now. They already lost on this once in court. It's sure to go back again on Monday. But what they're doing is going away from any last remaining shred of attempting to appeal to moderates/independents in the midterm. This is pure red meat, hate all the gays, hate all the trans and turn out every last homophobic FOX viewer possible. There's no principal here, its all ex post facto rationalizing from the political end, that's why they're reduced to dredging up discredited DSM terms like "gender dysphoria " from the 50s.

And that's why Mattis is no better than any of the rest. He knows trans servicemembers are serving fine right now. He's read the 1000s of pages of analysis under Obama that led to changing the military's stance in a controlled process. And now he's changing it to suit the Republicans' political ends.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:01 PM on March 23, 2018 [22 favorites]


Here's the story from The Hill: Trump moves to ban most transgender people from serving in military (John Bowden and Avery Anapol)

It links to the memo itself here. That includes the full report that was prepared by Mattis' Panel of Experts.

There are some valid medical reasons in there. In general, anyone who needs ongoing medication (e.g. antidepressants, synthetic thyroid, cholesterol and blood pressure meds) is disqualified from service without a waiver. It's very common for trans people to take synthetic hormones, obviously. Also typically disqualified are "anyone who had undergone chest or genital surgery [...] and anyone with a history of major abnormalities or defects of the chest or genitalia, including hermaphroditism and pseudohermaphroditism." Which, physically transitioning is in many ways a deliberate major abnormality. It also says that normally, any major surgery will disqualify someone from serving, and trans people already have an exception to that rule, and .... that's not fair? Those sections seem to be complaining that there's already different standards for trans people.

This is the money quote, I think, when it comes to explaining the reasoning: "The concept of gender transition is so nebulous, however, that drawing any line -- except perhaps at a full sex reassignment surgery -- would be arbitrary, not to mention at odds with current medical practice, which allows for a wide range of individualized treatment. [....] The wide variation of transition-related treatment, with all the challenges that entails for privacy, fairness, and safety, weigh in favor of maintaining a bright line based on biological sex -- not gender identity or some variation thereof -- in determining which sex-based standards apply to a given Service member. A person's biological sex is generally ascertainable through objective means. Moreover, this approach will ensure that biologically-based standards will be applied uniformly to all Service members of the same biological sex. Standards that are clear, coherent, objective, consistent, predictable, and uniformly applied enhance good order, discipline, steady leadership, and unit cohesion, which in turn, ensure military effectiveness and lethality. "

This is right after a section listing out different sex-based standards, i.e. sleeping quarters, latrines, and physical standards. The gist of it seems to be that the military has these sex-based standards that servicemembers have to comply with, and trans people screw all that up.

so uh. it's kind of about bathrooms.

I only skimmed it, though.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 10:01 PM on March 23, 2018 [6 favorites]


anyone who needs ongoing medication...is disqualified from service without a waiver

Like birth control? What?
posted by fluttering hellfire at 10:08 PM on March 23, 2018 [19 favorites]


A servicemember with a legitimate medical condition that interferes with or precludes service needs that issue addressed on an individual basis -- and solely based on their ability to perform. Tons of people on active duty take medication for ongoing conditions. If you've got a medical thing going on that could cause a huge problem if, say, you can't get that medicine while on deployment or whatever, that's a thing you take up with your doctor. That's not a matter of being transgender anymore than the matter of "oh noes women have periods" interferes with service.

You can either do the job or you can't. It's no different than the bullshit reasons why they barred women from serving in combat arms for so long (and other groups going farther back).

If they were concerned about a specific medication interfering with service, they'd address that as an issue. They aren't. They're cutting people out based on gender identity out of bigotry, which is why this hasn't held up in court.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:20 PM on March 23, 2018 [29 favorites]


I mean I'm not reading the whole thing tonight, or probably ever, but it reads to me like they just list out a lot of problems and don't bother to consider any solutions. Even though these seem like solvable problems.

There's a section on how transitioning limits a servicemember's active duty and may make them undeployable for over a year, because of surgery recovery, and lab monitoring for the first year of HRT. But so, logically. A person who has already transitioned and doesn't need or want more surgery, who probably just needs a maintenance regimen for their hormones and may not even need that, whose mental health is probably the best it's ever been - they should be okay to serve.

Birth control in the military: The Challenge of Accessing Birth Control in the Military, The Atlantic

I don't know much at all about the military, to be clear, i just know stuff about transgenderness
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 10:21 PM on March 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


As a refresher, the military already commissioned a RAND study to evaluate the issue of trans troops and found they were fit to serve and would have no significant cost or noticeable detriment to the service.
Between 1,320 and 6,630 transgender men and women already serve in active duty, the researchers estimated—a fraction of one percent of the total force. The costs of letting them serve openly and access military health care would be “overwhelmingly small” as a percentage of military spending.

No more than 140 active-duty service members a year would likely seek gender-transition hormone treatments, for example; even fewer would seek transition-related surgeries. That would add between $2.4 million and $8.4 million to an annual military health care budget of more than $6 billion, the researchers estimated.

Those medical treatments would also limit when and where between 25 and 130 active-duty service members could deploy in any given year. For comparison, the Army alone has 50,000 active-duty soldiers who cannot deploy for other reasons. [...]

Eighteen other countries already allow transgender people to serve in the military, including such close U.S. allies as Australia, Canada, Israel, and the United Kingdom. They have seen “no significant effect” on unit cohesion, operational effectiveness, or overall readiness since they opened their ranks, RAND researchers found.
posted by chris24 at 10:27 PM on March 23, 2018 [41 favorites]


It's because Donald Trump and/or conservatives find it somehow morally reprehensible that we pay for any medical care for gender transition despite it costing less than the amount the military spends on boner pills.

The military spends $84 million a year on erectile dysfunction pills. Trans care would cost $2.4 - 8.4 million a year. So trans care costs 10 to 30 times less than what the military spends on boner pills.
posted by chris24 at 10:33 PM on March 23, 2018 [74 favorites]


The full list of the 84 accounts tumblr suspended

(in other news, conspiracy tinhatting continues)
posted by cendawanita at 10:37 PM on March 23, 2018 [4 favorites]


There's a section on how transitioning limits a servicemember's active duty and may make them undeployable for over a year, because of surgery recovery

Which is some incredible and arbitrary stupidity right there, anyway, since a significant percentage of people who transition socially and hormonally (and thus "medically", I guess?) forego genital surgery for various reasons. The idea that surgery forms an essential and fundamental part of gender transition is honestly weird and ignorant.
posted by Pseudonymous Cognomen at 10:48 PM on March 23, 2018 [6 favorites]


"Weird and ignorant" sums up this entire administration.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:56 PM on March 23, 2018 [53 favorites]




I read the full 55 page report and it just...really, really makes me sad. Like, they’re not wrong that trans people are at higher risk for suicidality, anxiety, and depression, and that those things compound with PTSD or with families who turn their backs, but like - maybe those things wouldn’t be the case if there was more integration, and maybe people should be allowed to take the risk! Maybe families would be more decent if the military said yes, or maybe we could be their family like every soldier with a shitty birth family ever!
posted by corb at 11:23 PM on March 23, 2018 [63 favorites]


There's no principal here, its all ex post facto rationalizing from the political end, that's why they're reduced to dredging up discredited DSM terms like "gender dysphoria " from the 50s.
I'm confused, gender dysphoria is the term that most trans people, doctors and therapists use these days. The latest DSM calls it gender dysphoria too, but the old DSM called it "gender identity disorder" which isn't used anymore.
posted by floomp at 11:34 PM on March 23, 2018 [5 favorites]


Serious question...does anything need to be done to keep MetaChat from going down due to high traffic volume? Because I predict it will get really busy in there around 7pm on Sunday night.
posted by sexyrobot at 1:41 AM on March 24, 2018 [1 favorite]


The former Cambridge Analytica figures working in Australia
The head of data operations for Cambridge Analytica during the US election campaign has been sacked from the Sydney start-up where he recently found work.

Following queries from the Herald regarding his position and a week of revelations regarding alleged privacy breaches at his old employer, Joshua Coe was let go by local data firm Hyper Anna.

(...) Ms Nguyen said "Even though there is no proof or information in regards to Josh’s involvement in the breach, at Hyper Anna we put data privacy and ethical treatment of data above all, hence we have taken the action to relieve Josh of his duty here."
posted by moody cow at 2:20 AM on March 24, 2018 [10 favorites]


but [the bill] is much better than could be expected given this administration.

I know it can be crippling to my own productivity, and probably most of MetaFilter's, but I wonder if the administration's constant daily barrage of shitstorms and WTFs is actually impeding their own work, too? There's little time for organized demolishing when you're busy dealing with daily collapses.

And by "wonder", I mean "hope and pray".
posted by rokusan at 2:53 AM on March 24, 2018 [12 favorites]


the Atlantic has an interesting piece that relates to that, rokusan

Trump Can't Get What He Wants and Doesn't Know Why
Trump’s grandiose, semi-authoritarian claim, “I alone can fix it,” in his speech accepting the 2016 Republican nomination was a subject of intense criticism, but in retrospect it seems to have represented not so much a vision of how Trump could transform the presidency but a mistaken impression of how the presidency already worked. Though political scientists and some journalists have explained clearly how the power of the bully pulpit is badly overrated, this was yet another case in which Trump had not carefully studied the realities of politics.

He seems to have subscribed, and may still subscribe, to an extreme version of what Matt Yglesias termed the “Green Lantern Theory of the Presidency,” in which presidents are superheroes who get what they want through sheer force of will. This is not, however, the way Washington really works, and while Trump has experienced that, he doesn’t seem to have quite come to understand it, thus his fury and threat on the spending bill Friday.
trump thinks that he should get his way because he’s the president, damnit, but that’s not how politics works. he’s going to continue to grind through staff because no one can make his way of operating work.

he’s used to his obstacles being personal, where he can bully and bluff and wheedle his way through by beating one person at a time. now his opponent is a complex system and he can’t find any leverage. he can get what he wants as long as it was something the republicans were going to do anyway, and then he hits a … wall.

what i expect to see next is him trying to exercise power in the areas where the executive does have unilateral power, because those are the only places he won’t be constantly stymied. unfortunately, under the current AUMF, one of those areas is warfare.
posted by murphy slaw at 3:10 AM on March 24, 2018 [66 favorites]


He seems to have subscribed, and may still subscribe, to an extreme version of what Matt Yglesias termed the “Green Lantern Theory of the Presidency,” in which presidents are superheroes who get what they want through sheer force of will. This is not, however, the way Washington really works, and while Trump has experienced that, he doesn’t seem to have quite come to understand it, thus his fury and threat on the spending bill Friday.

This. And also, there is not one person in the White House who knows or is interested in knowing how government works, because they have the same misinformed opinion about it as Trump. This absolutely includes the generals, who are used to the fact that the military is a thing the president actually has some control over, and probably don't think much about the rest of society.
posted by mumimor at 3:31 AM on March 24, 2018 [13 favorites]


Keep in mind the trans military ban 2.0 is a distraction, tossed bone and a mission/mandate.

The_donald and other related areas of the internet are totally losing their shit over Trump signing the budget over A) DACA and B) continued lack of wall, paid for by Mexico.

Now for a public service announcement: KILL YOUR TELEVISION FACEBOOK.
posted by loquacious at 3:35 AM on March 24, 2018 [11 favorites]


Small clarification on the Cambridge Analytica business: its not the police doing the raid, it'll be the Information Commissioner's own enforcement team, who have vastly more limited powers.
posted by threetwentytwo at 3:39 AM on March 24, 2018 [3 favorites]


They are probably allowed to politely ask what all the shredded paper is but not to follow up to strongly when they are told it’s confetti for a party.
posted by Artw at 3:52 AM on March 24, 2018 [10 favorites]




Regarding any assumptions of biological sex with respect to trans people, the assumption that biological sex means squat is suspicious as hell to me and any political figure, puppet or “leader” using biological sex as any kind of measure of the potential of a person’s capabilities outside reproductive capability is failing to achieve jack shit outside of their own gross and terrible political agenda.

And trans bodies are not a “kind of like” a deliberate abnormality. That’s an absolutely wrong and violent phrase to be normalizing onto trans bodies and I would like all people cis queer and trans to reflect on why it’s violent and consider maybe not speaking of trans bodies in that way.

Trans bodies are a normal variation of the species and trans people with trans bodies need trans care. Mattis has decided that trans people with trans bodies requiring trans care are unfit to serve in the military, which is discriminatory and stupid. Like most actions which attempt to limit trans peoples abilities to exist in society.
posted by Annika Cicada at 4:21 AM on March 24, 2018 [86 favorites]


 after inexplicable delays in getting the warrant

I was wondering about that. A commenter at Ars Technica linked this BBC article which has something of an explanation:

Ms Denham demanded access to the firm's databases and servers after it missed her Monday deadline...

Labour's shadow digital economy minister Liam Byrne said Ms Denham's powers did not allow her to apply for a digital search warrant "quickly and quietly". Instead, she has "told the world she's going to court", giving Cambridge Analytica and others time to hide any evidence, he told the Today programme.

Former attorney general Dominic Grieve said her legal powers were inadequate and this matter had highlighted a need for "greater powers and greater sanctions". Ms Denham said she was using all the powers she had under the law but would not know whether evidence had been tampered with until her team of forensic experts gained access to the offices.

posted by mediareport at 4:37 AM on March 24, 2018 [3 favorites]


I'm as freaked about Bolton as anyone in the fucking fuck thread, but other than an nascent authoritarian foundation, does this administration have what it takes to wage a new war? GW's administration took about 2 years to groom a casus belli and march into Iraq. And that was with a US population easily fomented by a wasp sting they got on 9/11. It'd be interesting to see some polling, but after 15 years of war in the gulf, my gut feel is that it'll be hard to find anyone in the US cheering a new military adventure.
posted by klarck at 4:37 AM on March 24, 2018 [5 favorites]


Casus belli? How quaint a notion, klarck.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 4:50 AM on March 24, 2018 [21 favorites]


John Bolton: the new recurring herpes of conservative administrations.
posted by chillmost at 5:02 AM on March 24, 2018 [21 favorites]


So on Tumblr people a lot of people got an email telling them they interacted with Russian troll accounts, and they're posting about it, and already I've seen three posts saying it's baseless Red Scare nonsense, or maybe propaganda. Like this meme. Or a text post: "anyone else noticing how many of the russian ~propoganda~ blogs have black in their url???????"

I have a tumblr where I repost cute puppies and kittens and I do it as a mood manipulation specifically meant for my wife. I apparently interacted with 20+ russian troll accounts. What a time to be alive and looking at cute animals!
posted by srboisvert at 5:46 AM on March 24, 2018 [30 favorites]


I wondered what the hell was meant by you-know-who tweeting "Obama Administration legalized bump stocks", and USA Today looked into that. The short answer is that in 2010 and again in 2012, the ATF determined that bump stocks can't be regulated at the executive level because they aren't, themselves, a kind of firearm.

I'd consider it a stretch to call that "legalization", because it was a finding rather than a directive. But that could be argued either way, since Trump (if he doesn't encounter something shiny over the weekend) apparently plans to treat them as regulable anyway, by banning them. So I guess theoretically Obama could have done so?(Practically, of course, it would have the same backlash as DACA.)

In 2013 after Sandy Hook, Dianne Feinstein introduced a bill that would ban them (along with other gun control measures), and very unsurprisingly, Republicans in the Senate killed it.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 5:56 AM on March 24, 2018 [17 favorites]


Trump’s grandiose, semi-authoritarian claim, “I alone can fix it,” in his speech accepting the 2016 Republican nomination was a subject of intense criticism, but in retrospect it seems to have represented not so much a vision of how Trump could transform the presidency but a mistaken impression of how the presidency already worked.

The full quote was "Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it." I was watching when he said that, and my first thought was that anybody who knows even 1% about "the system" knows that no one person alone, ever, could "fix it." And that only a fucking moron would believe that "the system," being populated by minds woefully less brilliant than Trump's all these years, was lacking only that crucial One Person with the cojones to "fix it" to set it straight. At the time I didn't know whether that moron was Trump, his followers, or both.

Also, how could from anybody outside said system ever know the system better than people who had spent their careers within that system? If one person ever *could* know the system better than anyone else, wouldn't they know how stupid it sounded to say that, let alone to claim they could fix it by themselves? If one person could know the system better than anyone else, in fact, wouldn't their conclusion likely be that the system *couldn't* be "fixed," per se? At any rate, wouldn't somebody who knew the system better than anyone else, who could fix it alone, be able to articulate a plan for governance somewhat more coherently than Trump had on the campaign? It's an infinite regression of Trumpian stupidity, but I guess the joke was on me.
posted by Rykey at 6:04 AM on March 24, 2018 [27 favorites]


No more than 140 active-duty service members a year would likely seek gender-transition hormone treatments, for example; even fewer would seek transition-related surgeries. That would add between $2.4 million and $8.4 million to an annual military health care budget of more than $6 billion, the researchers estimated.

For context: Trump spent $6 million of government funds on his visits to Mar A Lago in 2017.
posted by srboisvert at 6:10 AM on March 24, 2018 [74 favorites]


For context: Trump spent $6 million of government funds on his visits to Mar A Lago in 2017.

It makes me feel better to pretend it's an investment, and Mueller's got this one down so pat, that when all the paperwork drops, a whole lot of Trump's assets, including those clubs' operating accounts, are going to be seized.
posted by mikelieman at 6:16 AM on March 24, 2018 [15 favorites]


my gut feel is that it'll be hard to find anyone in the US cheering a new military adventure.

As far as triggering liberals goes, starting a war with Iran is one of those things right at the top. Also, since the AUMF gives the executive carte blanche to start wars they don’t even need popular opinion on their side. Nuke the plateau and let the Democrats sort out the (metaphorical and literal) fallout. They don’t need to run a sophisticated media driven disinformation campaign. Which is why it’s so fucking scary right now.
posted by Talez at 7:00 AM on March 24, 2018 [10 favorites]


I have a tumblr where I repost cute puppies and kittens and I do it as a mood manipulation specifically meant for my wife. I apparently interacted with 20+ russian troll accounts. What a time to be alive and looking at cute animals!

I get periodic follows on Instagram from random Scottish Fold-themed accounts (with generic names, sometimes in wonky English, like scottish_fold_lovers and scottishfoldworlds), presumably due to following the Hana and Maru account. They only ever post stock photos of Scottish Fold cats; some of the earliest ones had text in Cyrillic in the profile, but they seem to have gotten rid of that recently.

I'm wondering if this is some subsidiary of Russian cybercrime and/or the Kremlin-linked troll complex, and if so, and if step 1 is “get people to follow you with cute kitteh pictures” and step 3 is some variant on “profit”, what step 2 could be.
posted by acb at 7:08 AM on March 24, 2018 [11 favorites]


acb: I get periodic follows on Instagram from random Scottish Fold-themed accounts (with generic names, sometimes in wonky English, like scottish_fold_lovers and scottishfoldworlds), presumably due to following the Hana and Maru account. They only ever post stock photos of Scottish Fold cats; some of the earliest ones had text in Cyrillic in the profile, but they seem to have gotten rid of that recently.

I'm wondering if this is some subsidiary of Russian cybercrime and/or the Kremlin-linked troll complex, and if so, and if step 1 is “get people to follow you with cute kitteh pictures” and step 3 is some variant on “profit”, what step 2 could be.


I can see that happening a lot, because a Russian troll, if smart, isn't going to tweet "I am a #russiantrollaccount, follow me!" They will sneak in with stuff they know you are into - whether it's cute cats, gardening, Game of Thrones, or any other innocuous interest. So: step 1, get people to follow you with kitteh pics, step 2, gradually start talking about politics, geared of course to the interests of the follower (for a Democrat, say bad things about Kirsten Gillibrand or Kamala Harris, etc.), step 3, profit!
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 7:26 AM on March 24, 2018 [15 favorites]


I'm as freaked about Bolton as anyone in the fucking fuck thread, but other than an nascent authoritarian foundation, does this administration have what it takes to wage a new war? GW's administration took about 2 years to groom a casus belli and march into Iraq. And that was with a US population easily fomented by a wasp sting they got on 9/11. It'd be interesting to see some polling, but after 15 years of war in the gulf, my gut feel is that it'll be hard to find anyone in the US cheering a new military adventure.

A lot has changed in the past 15 years, and the goldfish memory of a significant swath of the American public is gunning for war, with Iran or North Korea. Maybe you haven't noticed the various and sundry voices of conservative commentators, pundits, Congressfolk, and White House officials all sabre-rattling towards this end, but we've moved way beyond needing any kind of justification to launch a war against Iran or North Korea.

Remember Bush & Co. pushed distorted and doctored intelligence to push the WMD narrative in Iraq. Remember that literal millions of people marching against the invasion didn't stop them. And that's just neocons. This further-to-the-right-than-that administration has proven they don't even need to bother with that much; they're well aware there's somewhere between 25%-30% of the population who will roar with glee at the prospect of war, and that's good enough for them.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 7:26 AM on March 24, 2018 [2 favorites]


@voxdotcom:
Trump’s biggest fans aren’t buying his excuses not to veto the omnibus spending bill https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/23/17156968/trump-omnibus-right-wing-spending


@JoyAnnReid:
Retweeted Vox
One of the things that’s amazing about politics is that conservatives often seem to have more awareness and respect for Pelosi (and Schumer’s) political skills than some liberals do. The right is crystal clear about how badly “Chuck and Nancy” rolled Trump on that omnibus budget.
posted by chris24 at 7:27 AM on March 24, 2018 [63 favorites]


I have heard, and unfortunately I can't find the reference (maybe it was just a Daily Kos post), that Nancy Pelosi is the closest we have to LBJ right now. She really has done a damn fine job with herding Democratic cats. I think that is why so many dislike her - they are afraid of her because she is smart and capable.

If - pipe dream - we can ride the Blue Wave to a Dem majority in the House, have Nancy Pelosi as our Speaker, impeach Trump and Pence - I think Pelosi would make a damn fine interim President. She has a demonstrated skill at getting people to work together.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 7:31 AM on March 24, 2018 [63 favorites]


Can I get any kind of points for spending the last decade hollering like an old man that FaceBook is a scourge on society, and cannot be trusted in any way with our data? Even fake internet points?

I can't think of an Internet company I would rather see burned to the ground.
posted by rokusan at 7:32 AM on March 24, 2018 [55 favorites]


Yeah, folks should stop calling for Pelosi to step down. She is really good at this.
posted by notyou at 7:40 AM on March 24, 2018 [61 favorites]


but I wonder if the administration's constant daily barrage of shitstorms and WTFs is actually impeding their own work, too?

Tom Nichols sums this up in the WaPo as a best case scenario with regards to Bolton’s hire:
Bolton’s views are dangerous, and, yes, he could very well be the vehicle by which the United States yet again chooses a preventive war that no one knows how to finish. The more likely outcome, however, is also the one that would, somewhat pathetically, also be the best one: that Bolton turns out to be just another celebrity hire who thinks he has been brought on board to help steer the ship of state — only to find that the rudder has long been broken, and the captain is already extending yet another plank to be walked.
posted by peeedro at 7:41 AM on March 24, 2018 [18 favorites]


I'm pretty much trapped on Facebook due to my job, but man are they testing my patience. Apart from this data mining scandal, I am constantly frustrated by Facebook's blatant white supremacy. I have a number of Black comrades who get regular timeouts and bans for criticising killer cops, alt-righties, and systemic racism. Most of them have alt accounts as a given stop-gap measure to get around this. Yet when a blatantly white supremacist or Islamophobic page opens up, harassing people and organizing, I report them and invariably get that "thanks for reporting, but this doesn't violate our standards" message. They ask for feedback for their response, and I point out their inconsistencies, and nothing changes.

It all feels very Sisyphean, but I can't not do something. I just don't harbor any illusions that this platform I'm stuck inside is blatantly racist. As above, so below, I suppose.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 7:47 AM on March 24, 2018 [63 favorites]


GW's administration took about 2 years to groom a casus belli and march into Iraq. And that was with a US population easily fomented by a wasp sting they got on 9/11.

The difference is that G.W. and co did groom and lead to get what they wanted. They at least considered that there could be consequences for not doing so. If Trump wants a war, he can order a first strike and consequences be damned. Partially because he doesn't really think of having to deal with them and partially because even if he considers them he may think that it'll get him out of Mueller's noose.

Bolton doesn't really care if Trump gets impeached afterwards. As long as the first strike generates the war he wants (or the miraculous regeim change he claims would result), he doesn't care if it's President Trump or Pence left to fight it.
posted by Candleman at 7:47 AM on March 24, 2018 [6 favorites]


I'm on Tumblr and have noticed people being really blasé about the whole thing but as I'm involved in a very volatile fandom, I can see how these IRA trolls could manipulate some of these people since a lot of them are young and angry. Tumblr users have a tendency to post and reblog things that are demonstrably wrong and fulfill the old adage, "A lie travels around the globe while the truth is putting on its shoes." They are definitely not known for being aware, self-reflective, or prone to hyperbole.
posted by nikitabot at 7:55 AM on March 24, 2018 [6 favorites]


Well over half of any remaining left-wing failure to appreciate Nancy Pelosi is simple sexism. But I think there's also an unspoken feeling that, dammit, all the Democrats everywhere should already be gay space communists, rather than blue cats/dogs in need of wrangling. Which isn't, like, wrong, but, you know, serenity prayer. She's changing what really can be changed, and doing a really excellent job of it.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 7:57 AM on March 24, 2018 [46 favorites]


Maybe he meant he could “fix” the system in the sense of “prearrange the outcome,” drawing on Putin’s help?
posted by wenestvedt at 8:14 AM on March 24, 2018 [3 favorites]


Yeah, folks should stop calling for Pelosi to step down. She is really good at this.

She shouldn't step down, but she have mentored and be passing the torch to someone with a generation or two more of political future ahead of them at this point. She's earned whatever retirement she chooses, but her skills HAVE TO BE learned by the Journeymen...
posted by mikelieman at 8:29 AM on March 24, 2018 [17 favorites]


Aya Hirano, the phenomenon you describe sounds like something that a good investigative reporter could use to earn a heck of a Pulitzer.
posted by rokusan at 8:35 AM on March 24, 2018 [1 favorite]


Pelosi is a fine Bad Cop, which is probably the easiest way to be a successful speaker or leader anyway. You sure can't succeed at it by being nice-nice. She's just a little bit too last generation for the newer Democrats.

I don't see or smell sexism from those on the left who dislike her or want her out. Ageism, maybe.
posted by rokusan at 8:37 AM on March 24, 2018 [3 favorites]


but I wonder if the administration's constant daily barrage of shitstorms and WTFs is actually impeding their own work, too?

Absolutely it has. Despite Trump's claims that it's the Dems who are blocking everything and holding everything up, a fairly significant part of the reason they haven't been more successful at fulfilling their agenda via legislation is that the more conservative members of Congress won't cooperate. And that's because Trump fucking contradicts himself every five minutes, and about half the time he (seems to) agree with the most radically conservative viewpoint. So the conservative Congresspeople are emboldened to hold their ground and torpedo any bills they consider "too bipartisan", because it's entirely possible Trump won't sign the bill into law - he said he wouldn't on Twitter. And despite all evidence that Trump will sign pretty much any bill put in front of him, the "normal" Republican members of Congress don't trust him - McConnell has said more than once that he won't bring various bills to the floor for a vote because he doesn't know if Trump will sign it or not; because McConnell & Schumer & a small bipartisan group of Senators will meet with Trump on a Tuesday to hammer out a bill, and they think they've got a viable version ready for a vote, and then Wednesday morning Trump goes ballistic on Twitter about some element of the bill that completely contradicts the Tuesday meeting, and now nobody knows if the bill would actually be signed.

Take Obamacare repeal, for example - that should've been a walk in the park for a Republican-dominated Congress, gone in the first ten minutes of the first day. But long before McCain's dramatic thumbs-down (on legislative principle & ego), Trump kept waffling between "fix it, make it better", and "make it go away", so neither house of Congress could come up with a bill that would satisfy all the different Republican factions, because each faction had evidence that their Obamacare fix was the one Trump supported. And eventually they ran out of time to ram anything through without Democratic support. So Obamacare is still here.
posted by soundguy99 at 8:50 AM on March 24, 2018 [17 favorites]


I don't see or smell sexism from those on the left who dislike her or want her out.

Counterpoint: the difference in how she and Schumer are treated.
posted by chris24 at 8:59 AM on March 24, 2018 [68 favorites]


I don't see or smell sexism from those on the left who dislike her or want her out. Ageism, maybe.

I (really) don't mean to start an argument, but look for people who say she's not liberal enough or too corporate, etc, but who like Biden. See also people who don't like Booker because he's too corporate and not liberal enough but like Biden. This is of course not to say that everyone who dislikes Pelosi or Booker but likes Biden is a pure and total misogynist/racist, but the pattern of opinion points to latent misogyny/racism.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:03 AM on March 24, 2018 [88 favorites]


@JoyAnnReid:
Retweeted Vox
One of the things that’s amazing about politics is that conservatives often seem to have more awareness and respect for Pelosi (and Schumer’s) political skills than some liberals do. The right is crystal clear about how badly “Chuck and Nancy” rolled Trump on that omnibus budget.


Partly I think is the same phenomena of people not liking photographs of themselves. Other people think you look great because they see the whole picture. You on the hand think it is terrible because you only look to see if the things you think are your flaws show up and you ignore all the rest.
posted by srboisvert at 9:05 AM on March 24, 2018 [5 favorites]


but who like Biden

I think most folks think Biden's career is over, so it's OK to be fond of the old guy since he's not in a position to do harm. (Mostly.)
posted by SPrintF at 9:11 AM on March 24, 2018 [4 favorites]


Apart from this data mining scandal, I am constantly frustrated by Facebook's blatant white supremacy

I really, really don’t understand why Zuckerberg gets a pass for this, tbh. Facebook has been racist, misogynist, homophobic, and transphobic in how they selectively enforce rules since forever, and has not attracted the vitriol that Twitter has.

The simplest explanation is that both companies are run by people who are racist, misogynist, homophobic, and transphobic, even if they aren’t aware of their bigotry. They should be fucking treated as such.
posted by schadenfrau at 9:19 AM on March 24, 2018 [44 favorites]


I think most folks think Biden's career is over, so it's OK to be fond of the old guy since he's not in a position to do harm.

Look, I like Biden but when he was VP and still a possibility to jump in the race, Bernie supporters had a 20% favorability of Hillary and a 80% favorability of Joe. They're both "corporate, neo-liberal" Dems. Both voted for the Iraq War. There's really no way to explain this but misogyny. And ignoring it or pretending what is in front of our face isn't what it is does nothing but perpetuate it and lead to another woman being damaged by it.
posted by chris24 at 9:19 AM on March 24, 2018 [123 favorites]


And if you don’t “smell” sexism with respect to how Nancy Pelosi is regarded by the left, your nose isn’t worth shit.
posted by schadenfrau at 9:19 AM on March 24, 2018 [79 favorites]


Mod note: One deleted - Sorry, we're not going ten rounds on Hillary Clinton's personal qualities vs Bernie, what percentage of people's attitudes about her is sexism, etc. We're just not. Been there.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 9:43 AM on March 24, 2018 [13 favorites]


When you're surrounded by shit all the time, you stop smelling it. And then when someone points out to you that you stink, you assume there's something wrong with their nose.
posted by biogeo at 9:48 AM on March 24, 2018 [22 favorites]


I think most folks think Biden's career is over, so it's OK to be fond of the old guy since he's not in a position to do harm. (Mostly.)

Just take your ball and go home, Joe. Apparently you can't even set an example of adult discourse.

Is there anybody left in politics who can stand at a podium without threatening to start a fight on the playground, tossing insults, or using potty language?
posted by BlueHorse at 9:49 AM on March 24, 2018 [3 favorites]


When you're surrounded by shit all the time, you stop smelling it. And then when someone points out to you that you stink, you assume there's something wrong with their nose.

Exactly this. While the current Prez has shown himself capable of being rolled at tic-tac-toe, and his staff is in and out through a revolving door, I think that the likes of troll farmers might well be a little more skilled at this chess thing, whether eleven-dimensional or not. Or, rather, I think they are skilled at judo - using their opponents' weak points against them. And what better way to sandbag a great candidate than by using our unexamined, unconscious sexist and/or racist biases against her (or him?). We are going to have to wake up and smell our shit to keep this Blue Wave going.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 10:15 AM on March 24, 2018 [10 favorites]


Is this the right thread for the giant multi-city march for sane firearms policy or is that being followed elsewhere? Cuz it’s huge, folks.
posted by murphy slaw at 10:17 AM on March 24, 2018 [44 favorites]


Just take your ball and go home, Joe. Apparently you can't even set an example of adult discourse.

As Tapper pointed out, two tough guys with nine Vietnam deferrments between them for bone spurs and asthma.
posted by Talez at 10:19 AM on March 24, 2018 [8 favorites]


Yeah, folks should stop calling for Pelosi to step down. She is really good at this.

Gee, when you don't self-lobotomize when it comes to policy and process, it's amazing what you can get done.

On the other side, you've got 'serious' republicans like Lindsey Graham trying to fundamentally alter 1/5 of the economy with bubble gum and an completely unearned sense of self-confidence.

It's not just that they don't know how to govern. They're so far gone that they don't know that they don't know how to govern. It's Dunning-Kruger all the way down.

You've got a party that has been in opposition, and at war on reality for so long, that they are fundamentally incompetent at all aspects of their jobs. It's one of the major reasons why they cheat (along with the fact that their policies are shit).
posted by leotrotsky at 10:23 AM on March 24, 2018 [23 favorites]


It's not just that they don't know how to govern. They're so far gone that they don't know that they don't know how to govern. It's Dunning-Kruger all the way down.

Building on that. I mean, look at the legislation they've passed. First, of course, is that they can't pass shit, even though they control all the branches of government. Which is embarrassing, but that's what happens when 1/3 of your caucus is gibbering morons high on their own supply.

But even one thing they managed to pass, a tax cut, was so bubble gum and baling wire that they were literally scrawling shit in the margins at the last minute. And, of course, they fucked it up. First with the corporate deductions. And even now it's still fucked up beyond belief.

Seriously, you're Republicans, how the hell do you not have a tax cut bill in the hopper ready to go? That's a goddamn layup for you cretins.

I mean, if you're any lobbyist, regardless of industry, you've got to be giving the Democrats a hard look. There's plenty of corporate types you can swing with donations, and they're competent, and they can actually deliver on stuff when you elect them.

The Republicans are no good to anyone anymore except the racists, the fascists, and the Russians.
posted by leotrotsky at 10:41 AM on March 24, 2018 [62 favorites]


I know "boner pills" are a perennial favorite on metafilter, but could we please stop doing that? I've had erectile dysfunction since my early 30s. There's really nothing funny about it.
posted by double block and bleed at 11:31 AM on March 24, 2018 [38 favorites]


It also says that normally, any major surgery will disqualify someone from serving,

AFAIK, neither hysterectomy nor mastectomy disqualifies someone from serving. Neither does losing a foot. Major surgeries that don't affect one's ability to do the job haven't traditionally been disqualifications.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 11:39 AM on March 24, 2018 [13 favorites]


The problem isn't the "boner pills" it's that something that is not very crucial but only used by people with dicks is always covered but other types of crucial health care aren't- It shows an extreme bias in health care both military and civilian.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 11:43 AM on March 24, 2018 [65 favorites]




The Republicans are no good to anyone anymore except the racists, the fascists, and the Russians

If you are a white oligarch, government inaction and dysfunction is just fine, because any halfway functional government will stop you from stealing everything that isn't bolted down.
posted by benzenedream at 12:12 PM on March 24, 2018 [6 favorites]


Is this the right thread for the giant multi-city march for sane firearms policy or is that being followed elsewhere? Cuz it’s huge, folks.
we just came home from the Boston March for Our Lives and it felt like it was actually bigger than the 2017 Women's March, which until now was the biggest protest event in the Trump era.

Our local March for Our Lives event had felt more subdued than past protests. We used pretty much the same route as the post Charlottesville/BLM march (aka, the Troll Zoo protest) and that event had more noise, more singing and more chanting. This was a lot more somber and several attempts to get chants going ran out of steam pretty quickly.

With that said, I was struck with this phenomenon as we entered the office building canyons of the Back Bay. There were chants further ahead of high school kids yelling "What do we want? GUN CONTROL! When do we want it? NOW" and because of acoustics it echoed back to us from above, like a chorus of disembodied spirit children telling us that we failed them.
posted by bl1nk at 12:14 PM on March 24, 2018 [94 favorites]


With that said, I was struck with this phenomenon as we entered the office building canyons of the Back Bay. There were chants further ahead of high school kids yelling "What do we want? GUN CONTROL! When do we want it? NOW" and because of acoustics it echoed back to us from above, like a chorus of disembodied spirit children telling us that we failed them.

Honestly, if I maintained any social media profiles, I’d want to know if there was a way to will them to some organization that would haunt the fuck out of whoever was responsible for my untimely death.
posted by schadenfrau at 12:20 PM on March 24, 2018 [5 favorites]


This is the picture going around showing the scale of the March in DC and wow
posted by The Whelk at 12:24 PM on March 24, 2018 [44 favorites]


I need a picture showing it is bigger than Trump's inauguration crowd. I need it.
posted by Justinian at 12:31 PM on March 24, 2018 [25 favorites]


Yeah, I was at the NYC march and it seemed almost as big as the 2018 Women's March. The announcers said 200,000, but I haven't seen confirmation.

DC was supposedly half a million to a million. So as large or larger than Trump's inauguration.
posted by chris24 at 12:31 PM on March 24, 2018 [6 favorites]


At the Philly march, State Rep. Brian Sims said this during his speech: "No more racism disguised as economic policy. No more sexism disguised as religious beliefs. No more weapons of war disguised as hobbies and heritage. No more white fragility. No more thoughts and prayers."

He's my state rep and I love him.
posted by mcduff at 12:35 PM on March 24, 2018 [139 favorites]


Not exact but an indication.

Trump vs March for Our Lives.

More March pix to compare to Trump's above.
posted by chris24 at 12:36 PM on March 24, 2018 [5 favorites]


The march here in Omaha was pretty weak sauce, but it's kinda cold and wet today. Instead, there's this from Rob Reiner on twitter:
"If you’re not moved by what these kids are doing, you’re dead inside. I’ve said it before but whenever a ship is going down, you always hear “women and children first. If ever we’re going to keep this ship of state afloat, we’re gonna have to look to the women and children."
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 12:36 PM on March 24, 2018 [43 favorites]


Portland's was/is so jammed that I couldn't get close enough to the stage hear the speakers. A parade of signs and conga dancers on Broadway street too.
posted by msalt at 12:45 PM on March 24, 2018 [13 favorites]


The kids organizing the march are completely unstoppable. One of them even threw up in the middle of her speech, at the podium - and after a few seconds of someone helping her clean herself off, she turned back to the mike and hollered "I just threw up on international television and it feels great!" and went back to her speech.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:45 PM on March 24, 2018 [174 favorites]


GOP incumbent in PA-06 is dropping out of the race. This was pretty much the sole hope for the Republicans holding the seat, which went Clinton 53-43.
posted by Chrysostom at 12:46 PM on March 24, 2018 [57 favorites]


AFAIK, neither hysterectomy nor mastectomy disqualifies someone from serving. Neither does losing a foot. Major surgeries that don't affect one's ability to do the job haven't traditionally been disqualifications.

So there’s a couple of complicated things going on here that I think people may not be aware of. Ie, there’s a lot wrong in the policy, but I think it’s important to be aware of specifically which pieces.

The first thing is that recruiting standards and retention standards have always been different. When I joined the service, for example, before 9/11, any mental health issues were disqualifying unless you met some very specific circumstances. However, I acquired mental health issues on active duty, and remained for several more years - in part because I was valuable and had already been trained, and in part because there is a strong cultural opposition to removing people who were injured in service and still wanted to continue. However, there was not a strong objection to removing people who had issues they had not disclosed before joining -asthma was a big one, as was epilepsy, from what I recall.

Standards opened up quite a bit as I recall, once the Iraq war started, with waivers for physical health, mental health, and criminal records for critical shortage jobs - however, that was pretty resoundingly criticized for a lot of reasons, and once the drawdown happened, was undone. So while I’m not aware of what the precise state of recruiting is at the moment, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear it was “no major surgeries”.

However, that shouldn’t affect retention, even if you want a more lethal force. Because even if any individual surgery has a lengthy recovery time, there’s nothing saying you have to get them immediately one after the other, you could easily space out surgeries around deployments, and all the stuff about people who want to continue serving would still apply. ALSO, it could even be a benefit if people wanted genital surgery, because reconstructive surgery is totally a thing necessary for some wounds and it would give military surgeons practice that would be useful in the field. So any arguments based on surgery for retention are I feel completely discriminatory based on feelings about said surgery.

The second thing is: you know, you don’t realize how gendered the standards are in the military until you get outside it. Standards that would be completely unacceptable in civilian life. Like body fat and weight percentages, where people are measuring your hips and seeing if your neck is too thick. At the time, it all seemed perfectly normal, but there are actually huge issues with the entire program and it’s been sued for being racially discriminatory before as well, because people’s bodytypes are different.

I strongly suspect that at least 60% of the “problems integrating” could be eliminated by doing some things that have been urged on gender equality grounds, like having physical tests tailored to specific jobs, not your gender, or by stopping body-policing people if they can perform the physical fitness tests, or by having less gross uniform standards than “centered on the slope of the breast”, for example.
posted by corb at 12:52 PM on March 24, 2018 [45 favorites]


Out in the Detroit burbs, a march oganized in part by some wonderful high schoolers.

We met outside the small town hall, and began the march through a playground in memory of all those young gun violence victims who will never go past adolescence.
posted by NorthernLite at 1:28 PM on March 24, 2018 [11 favorites]


there was not a strong objection to removing people who had issues they had not disclosed before joining -asthma was a big one, as was epilepsy, from what I recall.

One of my exes joined the military and promptly got thrown out for asthma. He'd had asthma as a child and believed it was gone, had no symptoms for years - in coastal California. Move him to Georgia in July for basic training, and suddenly he was dealing with unfamiliar trees full of deadly attack pollen, and he couldn't breathe.

I suspect a lot of the medical dismissals are conditions that seemed entirely under control and benign in their home environment; move the person into another climate zone and all those "minor issues" that had gone away five years ago come back with a vengeance.

So I can understand making admission requirements much stricter than retention requirements. However, none of that explains how a post-op trans person would somehow be a medical burden on the military.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 1:28 PM on March 24, 2018 [3 favorites]


Page 8 of the report (page 16 of the PDF of the memo) has a section about accession (recruitment) standards prior to the Obama-era review. It says that chest and genital surgeries and such are disqualifying under DoDI 6130.03, which seems to apply to recruitment, not retention. Here's another summary from page 36 of the PDF:
Historically, absent a waiver, the Department has barred from accessing [entering] into the military anyone who had undergone chest or genital surgery (e.g., removal of the testicles or uterus) and anyone with a history of major abnormalities or defects of the chest or genitalia, including hermaphroditism and pseudohermaphroditism. 101 Persons with conditions requiring medications, such as anti-depressants and hormone treatment, were also disqualified from service, unless a waiver was granted.
These standards have long applied uniformly to all persons, regardless of transgender status. The [Obama-era] Carter policy, [which was scheduled to take effect July 1 2017,] however, deviates from these uniform standards by exempting, under certain conditions, treatments associated with gender transition ... For example, under the Carter policy, an applicant who has received genital reconstruction surgery may access without a waiver [under certain conditions] ... In contrast, an applicant who received similar surgery following a traumatic injury is disqualified from military service without a waiver. Similarly, under the Carter policy, an applicant who is presently receiving [HRT] may access without a waiver ... In contrast, an applicant taking synthetic hormones for the treatment of hypothyroidism is disqualified from military service without a waiver.
(sorry, I tried to make that as short as I could.) So, like, it definitely feels like they're full of shit in some ways, but I don't know which parts are bullshit and which not. But anyway that's their reasoning.

(the Carter policy is confusingly named for Secretary Ashton Carter who ordered the review that culminated in the report that recommended the updated policies for transgender servicemembers.)
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 1:40 PM on March 24, 2018 [1 favorite]


If you can watch Emma Gonzalez's speech (and long moment of silence) from today's march without getting teary-eyed, you're made of stronger stuff than I am.
posted by octothorpe at 1:42 PM on March 24, 2018 [76 favorites]


Not exact but an indication.

Trump vs March for Our Lives.

More March pix to compare to Trump's above.


So, we just got back. There were a lot of people. We came down from the north right at noon, they had already closed off Archives metro station and we got off at Gallery Place, walked down to Archives where we stopped and watched the screens through the whole thing. We maybe could've made it down to the Mall, but we could hear and see pretty well from there.

It's hard to compare crowds but the inauguration covers the whole huge area of the Mall, this was only on part of the Constitution side, they had between Constitution and Penn Ave and 7th to 10th Streets closed off. It very much smaller than the Women's March, which was absurd. That covered the ENTIRE Mall in all directions, the metro was incapacitated for hours. Today we walked straight out of the march and straight onto a train back at Gallery.

The crowd today was definitely angrier. The Women's March crowd was angry, and scared even, but also a lot of levity and novelty factor of people just being there for history or something. This wasn't scared, but it was angry. And well informed. There weren't a lot of funny signs, and the ones there were very black. Like this kid. But mostly anti-NRA signs. A lot of fuck Trump and fuck Paul Ryans. A lot of signs with actual policy requests. People informed about what the PLCAA is.

And the kids were beyond impressive. That little girl blew me away when she said she could vote in "seven short years".
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:52 PM on March 24, 2018 [69 favorites]


Oh, and there were people EVERYWHERE registering voters. Hopefully every rally in the country had similar numbers of people registering, because they were on top of it in DC.
posted by T.D. Strange at 2:03 PM on March 24, 2018 [60 favorites]


Emma Gonzalez's six minutes and twenty seconds of silence to my breath away. I don't think I ever saw something like that before. This wasn't like a "moment of silence"-- it was raw and defiant and only explained after the fact. It took insurmountable courage.
posted by meese at 2:08 PM on March 24, 2018 [91 favorites]


Lincoln, NE had a nice turnout and the high school girl who started the local March movement read their manifesto and it was well received. NE being what it is, I suppose, there were parts of it stating that it was not trying to ban guns or demonize gun owners and that the NRA may have started out with good intentions. But then she decried them for their inability to accept sensible law changes or restrictions. Also a big part of the manifesto addresses the false narrative of mental health as being a reason for shootings. All in all a good day despite the chilly wind and inability of the marchers to sustain a chant.
posted by PussKillian at 2:11 PM on March 24, 2018 [10 favorites]


ALSO, it could even be a benefit if people wanted genital surgery, because reconstructive surgery is totally a thing necessary for some wounds and it would give military surgeons practice that would be useful in the field.

Mary Roach’s 2016 book Grunt devotes a chapter to reconstructive surgeries on penises and testes and mentions in passing how much phalloplasty has advanced in recent years due to gender reassignment surgeries.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:17 PM on March 24, 2018 [14 favorites]


Is there anybody left in politics who can stand at a podium without threatening to start a fight on the playground, tossing insults, or using potty language?

Yes, and they spoke at the March for our Lives in DC today. Watching Naomi Wadler, Yolanda Renee King and Emma Gonzalez on CNN motivated me to get off my ass and join the sister march in my city today.

These girls are 11, 9, and 17 years old respectively, and they made me feel proud and hopeful about the future of the country for the first time in years.

Emma's speech has already been posted in this thread but you can watch Naomi's here and Yolanda's here.
posted by mrmurbles at 2:18 PM on March 24, 2018 [56 favorites]


Gonzalez For President 2036
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 2:19 PM on March 24, 2018 [46 favorites]


It strikes me, watching Emma Gonzalez's amazing speech, that although the issue is gun violence, THIS is the opposition. Decency. Militant, unafraid, decency.

It's like Patton Oswalt's thing about his late wife's dichotomy of the world into chaos and kindness. Gonzalez is representative of kindness, and although today I am frankly despairing because of Bolton and renewing my expatriation efforts, I am so, so, so, so proud to share a citizenship with Gonzalez and her allies.
posted by angrycat at 2:22 PM on March 24, 2018 [45 favorites]


Emma Gonzalez is a national treasure, and my new hero.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 2:23 PM on March 24, 2018 [25 favorites]


These kids make me want to go back in time and shake the shit out of my younger self, yelling, "STOP THINKING IT'S UNCOOL TO CARE ABOUT THINGS AND FIGHT FOR THEM!"
posted by runcibleshaw at 2:27 PM on March 24, 2018 [36 favorites]


I really, really want sociologists and historians to explain how this generation of kids became so powerful and competent.
posted by meese at 2:30 PM on March 24, 2018 [12 favorites]


Rainbo Vagrant: I understand you are trying explain how the military is erroneously applying cis body standards 1:1 onto trans bodies and then further comparing those standards against each other to arrive at a closest guess to help everyone here better understand how the trump administration is justifying being shitty to trans people, but I think you’re missing a few caveats in your analysis and explanations:

GRS (genital reconstruction surgery) when performed on a trans person is NOT going to have the same effect on a person as when GRS is performed on a cis person. The two surgeries may be attempting a similar outcome (body congruency) but they cannot be compared to each other as the same. The context of the body is different between cis people and trans people. That’s a HUGE and meaningful difference which must be driven home always. Standards which apply for cis bodies do not cleanly map to trans bodies. This type of comparison needs to be repeatedly exposed for the falsehood it is. Again: Cis bodies are not trans bodies. We can’t abstractly apply rules for one to the other and expect a harmless outcome. Even when trying to get into the minds of these bigots to understand their how their stupid fucking justifications work we must always be calling out the basic flaws in their worldview and exposing them as fraudulent and damaging.

If policies for trans people expose hypocrisy in the standards applied to cis people, then the cis standards are ridiculous for cis people and they need to be changed for cis people in the military.

Cis standards only mean something to trans people when Cis standards are erroneously applied to trans people, which leads to erasure and discrimination and policing and violence and lower life quality and life expectancy for trans people.

Hugs offered to anyone who needs them. Shits rough y’all.
posted by Annika Cicada at 2:30 PM on March 24, 2018 [10 favorites]


Decency. Militant, unafraid, decency. < Costello/Lowe with the theme music.
posted by rc3spencer at 2:32 PM on March 24, 2018 [7 favorites]


I really, really want sociologists and historians to explain how this generation of kids became so powerful and competent.

Trevor Noah mentioned on his show that the victims of Parkland are pretty privileged and are using that privilege to demand change. Paraphrasing he said something along the lines of them demanding "No, I don't want to speak to the waiter this is not good enough, get me the manager. NOW!"
posted by PenDevil at 2:36 PM on March 24, 2018 [25 favorites]


Emma's speech has already been posted in this thread but you can watch Naomi's here and Yolanda's here.

Naomi's speech is amazing. Speaking not only as a child of gun violence, but as and for females of color everywhere who have not been heard, not been recognized, not been mourned. 11 years old. The future and present is female.
posted by chris24 at 2:38 PM on March 24, 2018 [35 favorites]


I was here at the DC march, and it's hard to tell but I'd say this is the biggest since the women's march; felt bigger than the march for science. Tons of kids. I'd guess about half the crowd was under 20, at least around us.

It was interesting to me how much they used extremist gun nut rhetoric on big screens to get people fired up - lots of cutting to shots of Loesch or LaPierre or Alex Jones ranting. Pretty solid and media-savvy editing. Everything was organized really well. I too was impressed with how many people were registering voters.
posted by aspersioncast at 2:41 PM on March 24, 2018 [13 favorites]


I really, really want sociologists and historians to explain how this generation of kids became so powerful and competent.

I suspect it has something with all the time they waste with their faces glued to those dang phones, just learning about the world and making art and building and managing massive networks of friends based on social affinity rather than geographic or racial proximity. Like a bunch of glassy-eyed robots.
posted by contraption at 2:42 PM on March 24, 2018 [157 favorites]


I really, really want sociologists and historians to explain how this generation of kids became so powerful and competent.

there are powerful and competent people in every generation and they are often heard before their more apathetic cohorts become the majority and their dull and uncaring voices are finally heard - or if this majority feels betrayed and done in by their world and political system, they become angry and hateful voices that drown out the competency

that's what happened to MY generation and perhaps others

do not take the victory of the powerful and competent for granted - do not assume that the righteous of a generation shall prevail

civilization is a long and difficult struggle
posted by pyramid termite at 2:46 PM on March 24, 2018 [44 favorites]


I really, really want sociologists and historians to explain how this generation of kids became so powerful and competent.

The internet and smart phones. Seriously. Think about how limited social interactions used to be as recently as like, 2000. Kids saw and talked to their teachers, their parents, and some other kids in their town. If they were really lucky, their parents could afford a computer and dialup internet, and they could use that a little each day. And that was pretty much it until college if they were lucky enough to be able to go. Now they're talking and interacting with each other constantly from birth or at least the time they start school. They're almost never out of contact with their friends, and have access to essentially all the information in the world, and people from all over the world, all the time. The amount of practice and social experience they're able to acquire dwarfs what we could even 10-15 years ago.

There have always been smart and articulate kids, but now there's so many more of them, and they're able to use those same tools to demand a platform too.

Trevor Noah mentioned on his show that the victims of Parkland are pretty privileged and are using that privilege to demand change. Paraphrasing he said something along the lines of them demanding "No, I don't want to speak to the waiter this is not good enough, get me the manager. NOW!"

Yea, we'd be kidding ourselves if we didn't acknowledge this is a factor. These are kids of doctors and lawyers from one of the richest public schools in Florida. The march today had VERY high production values. A lot of social and monetary capital went into putting this together in 5 weeks. But the thing is, they know that too, and they're acknowledging it themselves, and explicitly saying they want to speak up for the other communities without that privilege. Several of the speakers talked about non-mass shooting gun deaths, and disproportionate impact on people of color, and it wasn't just the students of color saying that, the white kids were saying the same thing.
posted by T.D. Strange at 2:48 PM on March 24, 2018 [141 favorites]


Trevor Noah mentioned on his show that the victims of Parkland are pretty privileged and are using that privilege to demand change.

One of the things that really impressed me about March for Our Lives was the speaker assortment, and the things they chose to talk about. I was afraid it would be dominated by white boys talking about school shootings but these kids absolutely know they're privileged, acknowledged the privilege, and used it to speak about kids who are less privileged. They also had kids speak who were not students at Parkland, and some of those kids spoke about the kind of gun violence that has been hurting non middle class, nonwhite children endemically for decades.

I've seen some frustration on social media about the fact that (as ever) nobody cares about gun violence until it affects middle class white people, and that frustration is totally legitimate.

I also think these kids are mindful of that, aware of that history. It wasn't just the speeches that motivated me, it was the organization, the thoughtfulness, and while obviously some adults had to have been involved I believe this thing truly was led by students, and the job they did was inspiring.
posted by mrmurbles at 2:48 PM on March 24, 2018 [35 favorites]


I was here at the DC march, and it's hard to tell but I'd say this is the biggest since the women's march; felt bigger than the march for science. Tons of kids. I'd guess about half the crowd was under 20, at least around us.

Estimates I'm seeing run around a million. I have hope.
posted by scalefree at 2:50 PM on March 24, 2018 [3 favorites]


NYC was great; so many chants led by young girls and amplified throughout the crowd. The whole scope is so amazing. About a dozen Trump supporters at Columbus Circle.
posted by armacy at 2:55 PM on March 24, 2018 [5 favorites]


I am beginning to recognize that Hillary's loss to Darth Gump was like Obi-wan's death. It made the rebel forces even more powerful than we could imagine.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 3:04 PM on March 24, 2018 [44 favorites]


I really, really want sociologists and historians to explain how this generation of kids became so powerful and competent.

We had kids like this at my high school. Kind of a lot of them, actually. But nobody listened when they shouted, or protested, or or or, and we didn’t have social media or, really, non shitty internet.

I’m glad kids are using their privileges to stand up for things. But kids have been doing this in every generation. They just didn’t have the timing right.
posted by schadenfrau at 3:04 PM on March 24, 2018 [52 favorites]


I don't see or smell sexism from those on the left who dislike her or want her out. Ageism, maybe.


This has been linked before. Everyone should read it.

The Nancy Pelosi Problem
Gender scholars would not be surprised. For a 2010 paper in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, the Yale researchers Victoria Brescoll and Tyler Okimoto showed study participants the fictional biographies of two state senators, identical except that one was named John Burr and the other Ann Burr. (I referred to this study in an October 2016 article for this magazine called “Fear of a Female President.”) When quotations were added that described the state senators as “ambitious” and possessing “a strong will to power,” John Burr became more popular. But the changes provoked “moral outrage” toward Ann Burr, whom both men and women became less willing to support.
GOP incumbent in PA-06 is dropping out of the race.

SwingLeft's job just got easier! Also: Costello was one of the Republican legislators calling for the impeachment of the entire panel of judges who made the ruling on PA's redistricting. He can fuck right off.

I've seen some frustration on social media about the fact that (as ever) nobody cares about gun violence until it affects middle class white people, and that frustration is totally legitimate. I also think these kids are mindful of that, aware of that history.

From what I've seen the Parkland students have been very open about the fact that their tragedy is perceived to have happened to Nice White Suburban Kids. One of their talking points is that POC victims of gun violence get overlooked (and are more likely to be affected by it), and white ones have pointed out that not even their own black/brown classmates were getting the same amount of attention as themselves.

They're more aware of intersectionality and adept at addressing it and using their privilege than the majority of adults I know. Really excited to watch this generation grow up and seeing what they do.
posted by Anonymous at 3:05 PM on March 24, 2018


Jonathan Tamari ‏(Philidelphia Inquirer): This would leave GOP in a huge lurch, hand the R nomination to a little known lawyer & likely PA6 to Dems. Hearing Costello did say this but Rs hope to convince him to stick it out thru the primary - and then replace him with a chosen candidate. Very doubtful he runs in Nov.

Republicans hate democracy.
posted by T.D. Strange at 3:10 PM on March 24, 2018 [3 favorites]


I really, really want sociologists and historians to explain how this generation of kids became so powerful and competent.

In addition to the other points raised above (greater connectivity and visibility), I have been kicking around a theory in my head that the latest vogue for positive parenting - you know, the kind of "permissiveness" that allegedly creates bratty snowflakes - is having a positive effect on young people. Families are smaller, parents are more attuned to their kids rather than just expecting obedience and a "children should be seen and not heard" attitude, corporal punishment is falling out of favor, non-neurotypical kids are given support and IEP's and medication instead of being written off as bad kids.

Not in every family, not enough, not universally, but I think families treat their children better, on the whole, and it's come back to reward us in the form of smart, empathetic kids who aren't afraid to step up and speak out. If these kids are our future, I hope I live to see them change it!
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 3:11 PM on March 24, 2018 [51 favorites]


I really, really want sociologists and historians to explain how this generation of kids became so powerful and competent.

It's not that these particular kids are more competent than others. It's that these are the kids that the news are covering.

17 years ago there were a shit-ton of kids alongside me protesting the war in Iraq, and demonstrating against Dubya at the GOP protest in 2003. I was one of these kids in the early 90s protesting Bush Senior. They were just as articulate and organized and competent as these kids. You just never heard about them, or if you did, you were told that they were destructive rioters.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:12 PM on March 24, 2018 [113 favorites]


I’m glad kids are using their privileges to stand up for things. But kids have been doing this in every generation. They just didn’t have the timing right.

As T.D. Strange said--this generation has been empowered through the Internet and social media. Older generations were competent, but there wasn't an infrastructure for organizing that would allow kids to connect and build movements like these ones have. Nor did they grow up learning how to navigate the media and laughing at videos of people who do it badly. The rise of comedic political shows and viral videos don't do much for changing minds, but they're a crash-course in learning what not to do when you get your face on TV. That, and the power that comes if you're able to regularly present solid, simple arguments while keeping a cool head and peppering in clever one-liners.
posted by Anonymous at 3:13 PM on March 24, 2018


I mean, I know it's really counter productive, but part of me wishes they'd march to NRA's headquarters in Fairfax with torches.
posted by leotrotsky at 3:15 PM on March 24, 2018 [10 favorites]


Plus years of active shooter drills at school.
posted by armacy at 3:16 PM on March 24, 2018 [5 favorites]


It's not that these particular kids are more competent than others. It's that these are the kids that the news are covering.

That's because the news is racing to catch up with the kids' widespread support on social media. The newsmedia isn't setting the agenda here, they're just trying to stay relevant.
posted by leotrotsky at 3:16 PM on March 24, 2018 [22 favorites]


Sorry, I post and then think of a new thing. One non-material thing I think these kids have over previous generations is a better understanding of intersectionality and looking for the best ways to maximize coalition-building by incorporating it into their arguments. I don't think any of us should pretend that this was something prior generations were very good at--or at least those of us who came from privileged spaces.

That's because the news is racing to catch up with the kids' widespread support on social media. The newsmedia isn't setting the agenda here, they're just trying to stay relevant.

Exactly.
posted by Anonymous at 3:18 PM on March 24, 2018


Plus they've spent their entire formative years reading and watching dystopian fiction in which teenagers have to save the world because the adults suck. Harry Potter and the Hunger Games, y'all.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 3:18 PM on March 24, 2018 [137 favorites]


I mean, I know it's really counter productive, but part of me wishes they'd march to NRA's headquarters in Fairfax with torches.

Hard not to agree...

WaPo: NRA host taunts Parkland teens: ‘No one would know your names’ if classmates were still alive
posted by chris24 at 3:18 PM on March 24, 2018 [23 favorites]


‘No one would know your names’ if classmates were still alive

I'm sure all of them would be delighted to fade into obscurity in exchange for their classmates still being alive.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 3:22 PM on March 24, 2018 [155 favorites]


Plus they've spent their entire formative years reading and watching dystopian fiction in which teenagers have to save the world because the adults suck. Harry Potter and the Hunger Games, y'all.

This also explains their rather excellently different take on the black bloc.
posted by Buntix at 3:24 PM on March 24, 2018 [20 favorites]


wow, NRA, you really nailed it. nothing gets teens to shut up and be compliant more than adults belittling them when they stand up for themselves.

have you considered daring them to raise more money than you for the 2018 election? they’d probably quit and go right home.
posted by murphy slaw at 3:26 PM on March 24, 2018 [87 favorites]


17 years ago there were a shit-ton of kids alongside me protesting the war in Iraq, and demonstrating against Dubya at the GOP protest in 2003. I was one of these kids in the early 90s protesting Bush Senior. They were just as articulate and organized and competent as these kids. You just never heard about them, or if you did, you were told that they were destructive rioters.

10-30 million worldwide, every continent including Antarctica represented in the largest event in human history; but American press refused to recognize us so officially it didn't happen. What's different now? Total agreement, social media is leading the way & the press is forced to play catch-up if they want to stay relevant.
posted by scalefree at 3:27 PM on March 24, 2018 [57 favorites]


They’re running Season 5 of their gun-control reality show, featuring the freshest cast of characters yet in their modern march on Washington — except this time for less freedom,

how much freedom did those 17 dead people get?
posted by pyramid termite at 3:34 PM on March 24, 2018 [9 favorites]


Plus they've spent their entire formative years reading and watching dystopian fiction in which teenagers have to save the world because the adults suck. Harry Potter and the Hunger Games, y'all.

The Hunger Games only killed 11 kids a year; that's a much lower body count than Wayne LaPierre. Guns kill 1,300 children every year.

I mean, at least President Snow wouldn't lie to you.
posted by leotrotsky at 3:43 PM on March 24, 2018 [34 favorites]


Harry Potter and the Hunger Games, y'all.

Yes! Really. (I mean, there are other structural reasons I think are more important, but this is real):

@CharlotteAlter:
One thing I noticed while reporting on the #NeverAgainMSD students ahead of the #MarchForOurLives: this is not just a generation that has grown up with school shootings— it’s also a generation that grew up reading Harry Potter. Harry Potter has almost become their playbook: the Ones Who Lived fighting an “evil” force that has infiltrated the government and brainwashed adults using only the powers they’ve learned in school: illumination, protection, disarmament.

They refer to HP a lot. They call Rick Scott “Voldemort.” Bill Nelson is “a cross between Dumbledore and a dragon.” .@Emma4Change, who is still reading book 7, compared this battle to the showdown between the Dumbledore’s Army and the Death Eaters inside the ministry of magic. Other parallels they mentioned: They’re aided by a beloved principal & teachers. Gov officials are often useless. Their opponents use unfair tactics against children (one mentioned the Cruciatus curse.) I couldn’t help noticing there’s even a family of redheads on their side. Many of them pointed out that “Expelliarmus,” the disarmament spell, is the go-to spell for Hogwarts kids. Disarmament is the #MarchforOurLives strategy, both literally and rhetorically. They want to both reduce gun violence AND disarm the NRA using jokes, facts, social media.
The Parkland teens have done a damn amazing job of acknowledging their privilege and using it to bring others into the conversation in communities where regular gun violence doesn't get the kind of attention this is getting now.
posted by zachlipton at 4:08 PM on March 24, 2018 [108 favorites]


Annika Cicada: yeah, I feel like I should apologize for how I was failing to frame things and just copy pasting chunks from this document designed to justify bigotry. I'm really glad you explained what was wrong with their reasoning. I wouldn't have been able to.

Forgot to say this earlier - there's a section cherry picking studies to say that transitioning doesn't address gender dysphoria, and doesn't have good long term outcomes. ..... In terms that are exactly that vague. That's the justification for rejecting post-op recruits.

I wish more media people were talking about the Obama era report, because the contrast could not be more clear.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 4:08 PM on March 24, 2018 [2 favorites]


I really, really want sociologists and historians to explain how this generation of kids became so powerful and competent.

I suspect it has something with all the time they waste with their faces glued to those dang phones, just learning about the world and making art and building and managing massive networks of friends based on social affinity rather than geographic or racial proximity. Like a bunch of glassy-eyed robots.


yeah, that darned social media -- it's almost as if it's a two-edged sword ...
posted by philip-random at 4:12 PM on March 24, 2018 [3 favorites]


In addition to the other points raised above (greater connectivity and visibility), I have been kicking around a theory in my head that the latest vogue for positive parenting - you know, the kind of "permissiveness" that allegedly creates bratty snowflakes - is having a positive effect on young people. Families are smaller, parents are more attuned to their kids rather than just expecting obedience and a "children should be seen and not heard" attitude, corporal punishment is falling out of favor, non-neurotypical kids are given support and IEP's and medication instead of being written off as bad kids.

Plus a lot of parents are out there protesting with their kids today.

A lot of these protesters are not exactly "young families". They're teens with parents in their 40s and 50s thanks delayed parenthood.
posted by srboisvert at 4:13 PM on March 24, 2018 [13 favorites]


WaPo: NRA host taunts Parkland teens: ‘No one would know your names’ if classmates were still alive

BuzzFeed: Nevada Congressman Mark Amodei gets a 17 year old high school student suspended because the student called his office and told a staffer to "get off their fucking asses and do something" about gun violence. The ACLU has since gotten the suspension overturned.

Punishing children who take an interest in how government works is right up their alley.
posted by elsietheeel at 4:15 PM on March 24, 2018 [136 favorites]




Millennials might have actually figured out that if they voted at the same percentage of boomers there wouldn't be a Republican party or a Conservative movement at any level in large swaths of the country. It would die as a forgotten relic of a barbaric time.
posted by Talez at 4:26 PM on March 24, 2018 [26 favorites]


BuzzFeed: Nevada Congressman Mark Amodei gets a 17 year old high school student suspended because the student called his office and told a staffer to "get off their fucking asses and do something" about gun violence. The ACLU has since gotten the suspension overturned.

Punishing children who take an interest in how government works is right up their alley.


His response: “They were pretty passionate and correct in terms describing this guy’s First Amendment rights, but…I think those apply to my guy too,” Amodei said.

The First Amendment protects speech rights against the government. That's you and your staff, you ignorant fuckwit.

Man, it's depressing how many of our elected officials couldn't pass a basic civics test.
posted by leotrotsky at 4:29 PM on March 24, 2018 [112 favorites]


Millennials might have actually figured out that if they voted at the same percentage of boomers there wouldn't be a Republican party

I'll believe it when I see it. Milennial turnout was reportedly 3% in the Illinois primary for example. Compared to 40+% for those over 50. There's a reason the establishment and moderate types mostly won.
posted by Justinian at 4:32 PM on March 24, 2018 [19 favorites]


I mean, I know it's really counter productive, but part of me wishes they'd march to NRA's headquarters in Fairfax with torches.

I don't want that, because I want them to live. And I do not want the story of this march to be upstaged by violence.

The majority of those who marched today would probably love to go to the NRA HQ, throw rocks through the windows, burn it down and dance on the ashes. I'd gladly join them. But in the long run, that wouldn't help us win. Confrontation makes the enemy more powerful, simultaneously allowing them to claim victimhood while pundits bleat about unjustifiable acts "on both sides."

These kids, the leaders of this movement, will defeat the NRA by rendering it irrelevant. By backing politicians who will legislate it into irrelevance, and working to defeat politicians who won't. By winning the image battle and showing the NRA as the morally bankrupt spent force it is.

What we say about the NRA is ultimately much more effective than what we say to them.
posted by Pallas Athena at 4:53 PM on March 24, 2018 [9 favorites]


Mod note: Enough on the totally hypothetical pitchforks and torches at the NRA.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 5:10 PM on March 24, 2018 [8 favorites]


Millenials just need to vote more to make a difference - they don't need to vote at the same rate as Boomers*. The right is unpopular. If, like, another few percentages of younger people voted, we would have this thing.


*I always feel guilty w/the complaining about Boomers because my dad is very left wing and has only grown lefter as he's aged and because many of my political mentors are Boomer activists. So #NotAllBoomers, etc
posted by Frowner at 5:30 PM on March 24, 2018 [29 favorites]


His response: “They were pretty passionate and correct in terms describing this guy’s First Amendment rights, but…I think those apply to my guy too,” Amodei said.

Your guy didn't exercise his First Amendment rights, he used his position with your office to punish someone who did. Which is exactly what the First Amendment is there to ensure doesn't happen.

The school's response was also weak as shit.
posted by nubs at 5:56 PM on March 24, 2018 [64 favorites]


Every single transgender person is braver than Donald Trump.
Yes.

Una Mujer Fantástica is quite something.
posted by j_curiouser at 6:01 PM on March 24, 2018 [5 favorites]


Millennials might have actually figured out that if they voted at the same percentage of boomers there wouldn't be a Republican party

That was the major theme of a speech given by a high school kid at my local small town march today. It does seem different this time.
posted by contraption at 6:13 PM on March 24, 2018 [7 favorites]


Republican Donor Launches Gun Control Advocacy Group During the March For Our Lives
Hoffman made headlines in the aftermath of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida – an area where he has personal and professional ties – when he said he would refrain from donating to politicians who do not back a ban on assault weapons.
...
In total, those supporting the initiative have donated at least $600,000 alone to Republican candidates and committees in the 2017-2018 election cycle. Hoffman said the next step is using this influence to personally lobby the leaders of Congress, like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, along with Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Rand Paul of Kentucky.

“What [this group] intends to do is show those who are not on the right side of the movement, that maybe you’re fearful of the money from the NRA, then get on the right side of this movement. But there’s a movement elsewhere that can help. That those who stay on the wrong side of this movement they’re [going to] lose their traditional donor money,”
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:16 PM on March 24, 2018 [12 favorites]


> ...at my local small town march today.

That's a phrase one might not have seen so casually strung together before 2018. So there's that going for us.
posted by klarck at 6:18 PM on March 24, 2018 [44 favorites]


One non-material thing I think these kids have over previous generations is a better understanding of intersectionality and looking for the best ways to maximize coalition-building by incorporating it into their arguments.

A lot of movements for change from previous generations were splintered by playing coalitions off against one another. It's one of the reasons why an intersectional point of view is so important; it helps keep solidarity strong, particularly for the more privileged, and means that groups like Black Lives Matter can support movements like March for our Lives without fear of compromise or betrayal.

If American unions had been more comfortable with supporting civil rights in the 60s, when unions started to be dismantled, America would be a very different place.
posted by Merus at 6:22 PM on March 24, 2018 [56 favorites]


My favorite sign of the day:

"What if these kids are the answer to your thoughts and prayers? Are you listening?"
posted by msalt at 6:25 PM on March 24, 2018 [143 favorites]


Millennials might have actually figured out that if they voted at the same percentage of boomers there wouldn't be a Republican party.

Look. I'm thirty. I voted for the first time in 2016. This is because I never learned about registering to vote—or voting in general!—when I was growing up. Hell, I learned about primaries for the first time within the last year. (This was, unfortunately, too late to be able to vote in this year's, though I guess I'll be ready for 2020.)

I know the story is that Millennials are lazy and entitled, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of other people my age were failed by their parents, too.

(The good news is that this experience taught me a lot of things that I'd like to teach my children. So I have hope for them, even if I have none for myself.)
posted by ragtag at 6:36 PM on March 24, 2018 [36 favorites]


John Bolton gave an interview to Radio Free Asia this week, just before being named National Secuirty Advisor. It's goddamn insane.
RFA: What should the U.S. be prepared to offer North Korea in exchange for denuclearization? Economic aid? A peace treaty?

Bolton: I don't think we should offer them economic aid. That happened in the context of the Agreed Framework, where they took the heavy oil shipments and yet did not dismantle their nuclear program. There's no way we should give North Korea a peace treaty. They're lucky to have a meeting with the president of the United States. I think if they want economic progress for the people of North Korea, they should the end the charade of a divided peninsula. They should ask for reunification with South Korea. That's the best way to aid the people of North Korea.

...

RFA: Experts who talk with North Korea say there is not enough time to prepare for summit talks with North Korea. What do you think?

Bolton: We have plenty of experts. The kind of expert we need really is less about North Korea, and more about nuclear weapons. I think we've got plenty of time. I think it's a mistake to treat this like a normal summit meeting, with months and months of preparation by lower-level people. We know what the subject is here, at least from the US point of view: It's North Korea eliminating, dismantling its nuclear weapons program and, as I say, we'd be happy to store the program in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. That's what the conversation ought to be about. If it's about anything else, it's a waste of time.
So, they're going to demand Kim Jong-Un give up nuclear weapons, in exchange for nothing except the end of his regime. That should go well.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:40 PM on March 24, 2018 [59 favorites]


I’ve a bit of a track record when it comes to telling about people not voting in the midterms. I don’t think it’ll be a problem this year.
posted by Artw at 6:48 PM on March 24, 2018


The march in DC was large and very well-organized. It wasn't as large as the Women's March, but very heartening. Many, many parents with children.
posted by acrasis at 6:51 PM on March 24, 2018 [3 favorites]


so north korea developed nuclear weapons as an insurance policy against outside attempts at "regime change".
bolton's plan for a high level summit is to tell them to dismantle unilaterally, and then prove that they were correct to build nuclear weapons in the first place by demanding voluntary regime change.

at this point he should just call up Kim Jong Un and say "you might as well nuke Los Angeles, we're gonna glass you anyway".

this isn't diplomacy. it's not even force projection. it's an attempt to impose the death penalty on an entire country, and pretend there will be no consequences for doing so.

the most bloodthirsty maniacs at the pentagon are going to shit their pants if he tries to push this as actual US policy.
posted by murphy slaw at 7:05 PM on March 24, 2018 [28 favorites]


Mini corndogs... There's a reason Trump hasn't tweeted about her. She'll destroy him.

@BoStillTalking
@StormyDaniels what snack foods do you recommend for watching you on "60 Minutes" tomorrow night? Nachos and wings feel so January, you know? #StormySunday #TheStormIsComing

@StormyDaniels
Retweeted Bo Wilson
Tacos and mini corndogs just seems so right...and yet, so wrong. I believe the more traditional choice is popcorn, however.

---

And if you haven't read the Times profile on her today, it's good.

Stormy Daniels, Trump’s Unlikely Foe, Is ‘Not Someone to Be Underestimated’
posted by chris24 at 7:15 PM on March 24, 2018 [68 favorites]


The kind of expert we need really is less about North Korea, and more about nuclear weapons.

Cool, cool. That's the kind of moderating voice we need in the room with Donald Trump.
posted by contraption at 7:29 PM on March 24, 2018 [4 favorites]


It's in the Style section? The article is about her professional achievements and business acumen. Jesus, NYT.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 7:33 PM on March 24, 2018 [18 favorites]


It's in the Style section? The article is about her professional achievements and business acumen. Jesus, NYT.

I initially thought the same thing, but I've recently photographed Dr. Ruth and author James Patterson for WaPo and both features - which were about their lives and careers - ran in the big weekend Style section, like this is in the Times. And neither of them is an adult actress or style icon so I don't think it's an insult.
posted by chris24 at 7:43 PM on March 24, 2018 [16 favorites]


Millennials might have actually figured out that if they voted at the same percentage of boomers there wouldn't be a Republican party.

I think it's difficult to underestimate the 'both sides-ism' that permeated culture at the turn of the 21st century. South Park is the most obvious example, and I also hate it, so I'll go ahead with that. George W. Bush stealing an election was turned into a scoffable joke, where caring about the fact that Democracy was subverted by cronyism made you into a douchebag. Libertarian fuckboys that they are, Stone and Parker continued that line of thought in potentially one of the most influential satirical shows of the decade. They're always in the bag to make liberal caring into the same demon as reactionary bigotry, and it's not like they're alone. Family Guy has an ostensibly left leaning mouthpiece in Brian Griffin, but usually undercuts his points by making him into a pompous dick. Even a shows that are good, e.g. Community and The Simpsons, are eager to both chop the legs off of any left leaning character, while also indicating that the very effort of democracy is worthless, due to inherent corruption.

I think at least part of it is that Gen X was a defeated generation from the word go, and they were largely behind all of those creations. Caring has been presented as deeply uncool essentially throughout the 90s and early 2000s, and detached cynicism against a universally bad democratic system has been offered as the alternative, correct disposition. Perhaps some of it is backlash against boomer parents, and their failed hippydom... perhaps some of it is that even in the bad parts of the 90s and 2000s economies things were never that bad, and were framed against roaring growth of the 80s and 90s. Certainly a great deal is that marginalized voices never had actual outlets until the widespread adoption of networked technology (which also has its downsides in spreading conspiracy thinking, alongside giving the same opportunity to white supremacy).

As someone who's a leading edge of the Millenial generation, I hope that caring becomes cool again. I spent way too much of my 20s and teens sneering at those who cared, and even mistakenly voted for Michael Badnerik once due to that (my apologies). In no small part, I believe that this was shaped by toxic masculinity and fed by cultural touchstones who showed care-ers to be nagging, deluded busybodies . I know from talking to my non-voting friends, there was a similar naive detachment, with the thought that your vote never counts. As the relatively comfortable three decades of political indifference recede with the ascension of American fascism, I hope that sneering white boy cynicism is taken along with it. Put another way: bury the Ricky Gervaises
posted by codacorolla at 7:52 PM on March 24, 2018 [151 favorites]


This is the prize I get for staying silent during active shooter drills.

Yeah, my friends' kid had a devastating sign that said something like, "Learned about active shooters before I learned to read."
posted by TwoStride at 7:56 PM on March 24, 2018 [19 favorites]


Mod note: Deleted a big derail about Gen X that somehow devolved into arguing about Dan Harmon; please do better about not carrying on obvious derails just because they're a topic you like.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 8:47 PM on March 24, 2018 [17 favorites]


hey wanna discuss American collapse?
posted by the man of twists and turns at 10:16 PM on March 24, 2018 [8 favorites]


I don't see or smell sexism from those on the left who dislike her or want her out... ageism maybe.
Counterpoint: the difference in how she and Schumer are treated.


He's also a decade younger, though, and presents as a lot more with the times. I mean, he's still old guard, but he's a lot cuspier.

Weird coincidence, and yeah I know it's anecdote, not data. I fly coast-to-coast a lot, enough that I know all the brands of compression socks and sleeping pills very well. A ffew weeks ago, I was seated two seats away from Schumer. Last year I was just behind Pelosi.

Pelosi was with handlers that wouldn't let anyone really approach her, so I didn't get to talk to her. She spent what seemed the whole flight complaining about someone not doing something "properly" in a garden somewhere, some kind of flowerbed issue... I couldn't quite follow. But I spent a solid 15 minutes speaking with Schumer (mostly about Trump and Mueller) who appeared to be flying alone. A lot of people took selfies with him.

I know, I know: just one story. But when people say she seems disconnected or he seems sort of approachable, I remember that, I suppose because it fits my own tiny sliver of experience.

I will grant that sexism and racism play big, often subconscious roles in our minds (and so do our own tiny anecdotes, yes), but it remains possible to prefer A over B politician without it being a sexist or racist thing, and if you don't even allow that possibility, you're insulting the intellect and judgement of a whole lot of people. That never goes well!
posted by rokusan at 10:53 PM on March 24, 2018 [8 favorites]


I mean I'm a screaming red leftist and I've had lots of time to interact with democratic politicians (Dear god Schumer has given the same speech to Hoftstra for as long as I can remember) and I'd kind of prefer Pelosi to any of them, at the level of negotiation, cause I think Biden and Schumer are in ideological ruts and I just don't *like* them in the sense I feel they don't have any skin in the game and they're the very symbol of the useless cruft we need to get rid of , but I still think Pelosi has the legislative/negotiation skill to create majorities cause dear god there hasn't been a decent democratic whip in ...ever?

Like I actively loathe Biden and Schumer but Pelosi seems useful?
posted by The Whelk at 11:05 PM on March 24, 2018 [30 favorites]


It's in the Style section? The article is about her professional achievements and business acumen. Jesus, NYT.

Style sections of newspapers were orignally set up explicitly as women's sections, as opposed to the news, sports and business sections which were for men. The one here in Portland was literally titled "Women's Day" instead of Style.

That sexism ran in both directions, and the declaration of the first "men's" section as news is just as artificial as defining the women's section as "style." And deprecating style, fashion, celebrity news and other subjects designated as "feminine" is IMHO just as misogynist as forcing women into those categories.

Put it another way: like Stormy Daniels, I do some live shows and sell words for a living, though mine are slightly blander. I would happily appear in the Style section over News because -- especially with books -- that's a better to find paying customers.
posted by msalt at 11:07 PM on March 24, 2018 [6 favorites]


I will grant that sexism and racism play big, often subconscious roles in our mines, but it remains possible to prefer X over Y without it being a sexist or racist thing [...]

I know for a fact that the kids in my family were named after beloved relatives. None the less, their names all happened to be among the most popular Australian nanes for the year of their birth. If it happened by chance it's one whacking great coincidence.

I don't think it was chance: I think that when my family named our kids there were a bunch of relatives that might have been honoured, and each of them could have been remembered by one of several names (e.g., John / Jack / Johann). Popular culture means some names are more familiar than others, so even though we thought we were highly constrained in our choices we were edged into making the same decisions that lots of other people did.

What I'm saying is, that we all have reasons, but we're also affected by the zeitgeist. There's pretty good evidence IMO to suggest that people judge powerful women more harshly than men. You really might not be affected by this, but if those studies are correct then most people are probably being unfair to Pelosi while giving Schumer an easy pass.
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:27 PM on March 24, 2018 [39 favorites]


Today's 'Candorville' comic by Darrin Bell sums up our state of "Trump Overload" pretty well.
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:44 PM on March 24, 2018 [16 favorites]


I will grant that sexism and racism play big, often subconscious roles in our minds (and so do our own tiny anecdotes, yes), but it remains possible to prefer A over B politician without it being a sexist or racist thing, and if you don't even allow that possibility, you're insulting the intellect and judgement of a whole lot of people. That never goes well!

You have that backwards. Look at the most recent presidential election. Before November 2016, Trump was already known to be a serial liar, swindler, completely ignorant of government, a man of low character, arguably the most unqualified person to ever represent a major party, and yet a large percentage of the electorate chose him. Saying that people were influenced by racism and sexism is the charitable, face-saving option. Because otherwise we're saying that people were just complete idiots who deserve to have their intellect and judgment disparaged.

And since when are we concerned about honoring intellect and judgment anyway? According to stereotype, women are hysterical and constantly swayed by their periods, black people have animal urges and are unable to engage in long term thinking, latinos are hot-blooded and overly passionate, and asians can at best only imitate the achievements and accomplishments of their betters by hours of robotic tiger-mom-driven study. So in saying that a whole lot of people are entitled to the presumption of pure, high-minded rationality, we mean default people, aka white males. Only they get the intellectual benefit of the doubt in the first place. I mean, black voters had to endure eight years of our judgment being insulted by conservative pundits claiming the only reason we voted for Obama was because he was also black. We didn't get to vaguely threaten "that never goes well" because black supremacy isn't a thing.
posted by xigxag at 12:15 AM on March 25, 2018 [73 favorites]


i'm practical, when it comes down to it, when push comes to shove, would you vote for this imperfect candidate? if yes, then carry on. it's true people will have different opinions, articulated or expressed biases or not. keeps the candidate honest anyway. if anything, the current fallout in tumblrland has made it more stark for me. i like hearing opposing opinions but i find it extremely not worth my time when it's launched itself into pure theory with no consideration of what's going on elsewhere. if I want stan wars, i'll go to the fan forums.
posted by cendawanita at 12:44 AM on March 25, 2018 [2 favorites]


Mod note: One deleted. Let's maybe not extend the Schumer/Pelosi "which one seems more likable" (&tc) derail. Thanks.
posted by taz (staff) at 1:05 AM on March 25, 2018 [5 favorites]


Let me get this right, one of the things Trump was so angry about in the budget is the tiny amount of money for his stupid wall. Has anyone reminded him that he repeatedly promised that Mexico would pay for it?
posted by adept256 at 2:31 AM on March 25, 2018 [15 favorites]


Actually reminding him is pointless, but we should certainly remind his supporters if they share any of his outrage, they are supporting US taxpayers paying for the wall.
posted by adept256 at 2:43 AM on March 25, 2018 [5 favorites]


re: great comment above about TV/Press racing to catch-up to the social media movement these kids have organised, this is your Arab Spring and regime change is what they want. The vicious tenor of the attacks on them from the Maga gang suggest a few of them realise this.
posted by Wilder at 3:02 AM on March 25, 2018 [5 favorites]


His supporters don't care about Mexico not paying for the wall. Because nobody actually believed that Mexico would pay. It was a way to give Mexico and Mexicans the middle finger while maintaining the tiniest of nearly invisible fig leaves. Trump used the Mexico paying shtick to get across "See? I hate Mexicans! They are awful! Don't you guys hate Mexicans too?" without saying it in those words. I'd call it a dog whistle but it was more like a dog foghorn played over a 10 billion watt amplifier.

It had nothing to do with actually paying for the wall.
posted by Justinian at 3:48 AM on March 25, 2018 [59 favorites]


this is your Arab Spring and regime change is what they want

The Arab Spring is hardly the most comforting analogy that could be drawn.
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:52 AM on March 25, 2018 [47 favorites]


I know Nuzzi copped a lot of flack for the nymag story What Hope Hicks Knows, but this Behind the story: Olivia Nuzzi on how she got Hope Hicks to talk in the Columbia Journalism Review is something to behold.

A gem like:
I wrote back, “I’m happy to conduct the interview while the president watches Fox & Friends, if that would be more convenient.”
And this just takes the cake:
If I had more time, I probably would have included something about the issue of reliability in general with White House officials. Like, I have five of these senior White House officials, and the ones I’m quoting on the record are Kellyanne Conway and Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The people I’m quoting on the record here are known liars. When you’re saying, This is what they’re saying happened, and it’s in direct conflict with what people on background, or deep background, are saying happened, who do you believe there? I guess you go with the known liars who are on the record? But who the fuck knows, right?

It’s hard to know who to believe. Most of the time it’s probably no one. In this case, because I had multiple White House officials saying one thing, and because, I think, at least three of them were on the record, I guess you report what’s on the record, right? You report that versus the one person off the record who says, You know, actually, it’s X, Y, or Z. Well, if that’s true, then why don’t you go on the record with it or on background?

But again, who the fuck knows? It’s a difficult thing; I think about it all the time. They are saying this thing is true, but they also say that the sky is orange.
posted by moody cow at 4:00 AM on March 25, 2018 [37 favorites]


Before November 2016, Trump was already known to be a serial liar, swindler, completely ignorant of government, a man of low character, arguably the most unqualified person to ever represent a major party, and yet a large percentage of the electorate chose him. Saying that people were influenced by racism and sexism is the charitable, face-saving option. Because otherwise we're saying that people were just complete idiots who deserve to have their intellect and judgment disparaged.

I'm still mystified that anyone could consider voting for him after hearing him speak. It's nonsensical word salad every time he's off a script. It's clear to me that this guy shouldn't be in charge of anything, and sounds like he's got dementia (and I have some experience with knowing what that sounds like).

I've wondered about this a lot. Does everyone sound like that to them? Are they just reacting to appealing soundbites and ignoring the rest? Do they just not know how to follow a logical argument at all? It's scary to me that these folks are driving heavy machinery, or manufacturing products that I use in daily life. And I don't think it's lack of education, it's not just that Trump's using logical fallacies, he's incoherent and clearly deeply emotionally stunted and broken. This is obvious to anyone who pays the slightest attention. Maybe it's that many folks have a lack of language and skills talking about feelings? I know I didn't have the capacity to talk helpfully about my emotions until I was taught the words to describe them.

I don't like the word "stupid," both because it's an insult and it doesn't explain anything. But what's with people that they heard this guy and didn't immediately go, "He should see a doctor"?
posted by leotrotsky at 4:31 AM on March 25, 2018 [73 favorites]


leotrotsky, I think that’s just it: to a not-inconsiderable part of the electorate, any verbal display of expertise whatsoever does sound just like Charlie Brown’s teacher. They have no way of distinguishing word salad from a sensible, well-constructed argument bolstered by evidence. Without content to assess, they default to looking for nonverbal cues in the presentation, and – here’s the part that’s truly bizarre to me, and clearly to most of us here as well – they like and trust the cues they’re picking up from Trump.

What to you and me plainly looks like the flailing, desperate reassertion of competence in a once-dominant man in physical and mental decline registers to some kernel of his audience as confidence and vigor. They tune into that wavelength and aren’t bothered in the least by the inarticulate congeries spraying from his piehole.
posted by adamgreenfield at 5:09 AM on March 25, 2018 [55 favorites]


here’s the part that’s truly bizarre to me, and clearly to most of us here as well – they like and trust the cues they’re picking up from Trump.

As Deray says, behold the power of whiteness. 2016 proved that for a big chunk of America, the worst white man is better than any POC or woman. And they literally went for the worst.
posted by chris24 at 5:19 AM on March 25, 2018 [80 favorites]


why would people vote for trump? to flip the rest of the country off?

or could it be explained that 49% of the american people have below average intelligence? someone was bound to represent them sooner or later

all i know is the guy's an obvious con artist and i have yet to understand how it is that so many people cannot see that - i'm not even sure that the seeming dementia isn't an act - maybe it's a means by which he can put off the day of reckoning as far as possible - or maybe people think that having him in office will put off their day of reckoning - of having to face the reality of where the u s is

i expect more reality denial and sheer willful ignorance as trump's failings become very obvious
posted by pyramid termite at 5:31 AM on March 25, 2018 [6 favorites]


Well, as usual, ¿por qué no los dos? Or, hell, why not go for the hat trick: racism, toxic masculinity and Dunning-Krugerish incompetence. It doesn't take that many people presenting with that particular cluster of pathologies to sway elections, especially if they show up at the ballot box at higher rates than those not so afflicted.
posted by adamgreenfield at 5:36 AM on March 25, 2018 [9 favorites]


(And, of course, if active vote-suppression measures are deployed against a big chunk of the rest of the electorate.)
posted by adamgreenfield at 5:37 AM on March 25, 2018 [3 favorites]


to flip the rest of the country off?

If you think the establishment Republicans won't help you and the Democrats are busy helping minorities and not you, what else can you do but just flip the whole country off?
posted by Talez at 5:38 AM on March 25, 2018 [6 favorites]


It's scary to me that these folks are driving heavy machinery, or manufacturing products that I use in daily life.

It's actually more likely that they're small business owners.

So, my family has been quite lucky in terms of a lack of toxic individuals in our lives. No one's grandma was a raging abusive narcissist, we don't have an obnoxious racist uncle, there's no estranged sibling who refuses to hold down a job so he doesn't have to pay child support. We're just generally all pretty stable, generally down to earth folks. My husband's family is the same. But since I've been on the internet, I've realized that this good fortune in not having to endure toxic, disordered people on the daily is not the case for a huge number of people that I care about. I have a lot of internet friends who have escaped from, or who are forced to hold at arms length, their families of origin because of the toxicity, narcissism and abuse. The perpetrators of that toxicity think they are normal, that that's the way everyone is, that that's the best way to be, and they look at Trump and see a reflection of themselves. That's Trump's cult of personality base, right there (as opposed to people who joust pull the lever for the R and don't pay much attention otherwise). It's people who think a rambling word salad of narcissistic bluster and shit-talk is a standard mode of discourse, because that's how they talk, too.

It's like that wretched tv show where the serial killer creates a cult of other serial killers
posted by soren_lorensen at 5:40 AM on March 25, 2018 [77 favorites]


Being in the South and having FB 'friends' I haven't blocked for professional reasons, who voted for Trump, I can say they have certain things in common:

1) Racism and Misogyny. The biggest reason they voted for Trump was to get back at Obama and put Hillary in her place, in equal amounts. It wouldn't have mattered who the R was , they would have voted for him.

2) Fox News/Tea Party Anti-Establishmentism. The fact that Trump was an 'outsider' fit with the rhetoric they've been spoon-fed since the 90's, and the opponent being a Clinton just made it juicer. (Ironically, none of them would ever consider voting non-Republican... establishment Republicans were just RINOs).

3) Reactionary Projection. This is the part is don't see getting talked about a lot: all the Trump voters I know, regardless of education level or economic status, consistently talk and post about how they feel about things, their opinions on those things, carefully cherry-pick facts that support those feelings, and ignore any facts which contradict. Not just ignore, but seem to believe those facts just don't exist, because they don't fit their internal narrative. It's not that they're okay with Trump's word-salad dementia, it doesn't seem to exist for them. In much the same way that many of us (I'll cop to this myself) projected an image of the Progressive Savior onto Obama, despite his own words and actions to the contrary, so do these people believe things about Trump that are not only not in evidence, but directly opposed by actual reality.

I do not say that these people are stupid. They are almost universally upper-middle class wealthy, all did well in high school, about half or so have 4-year college degrees, all have either some kind of specialized training or were military. They're not stupid. They're functional and successful in the ways that are important to them... but they are completely driven by their emotions, while claiming rationality.

Oh, and they're all white men, but I guess that goes without saying.
posted by Kelrichen at 6:17 AM on March 25, 2018 [79 favorites]


Mod note: Please discontinue this same "why did they vote for Trump???" conversation we've been repeating nonstop with all the same conclusions since Nov '16. Please post news updates or analysis or similar substantive info rather than chat. If there's nothing going on, just take a break from the thread.
posted by taz (staff) at 6:31 AM on March 25, 2018 [23 favorites]


I was in Boston where my favorite sign said, "When I said I'd rather die than go to math class? That was hyperbole, assholes."

But I really feel the need to point out that while these kids are taking the stage and actively making change, there are millions of American kids who don't care, and it's dangerous to ignore them.

I work in a conservative high school in Massachusetts--a town that voted for Trump--and trust me when I say you would be stunned and horrified at what comes out of the mouths of my students. My students didn't walk out, they didn't march as a group. They don't care.

I don't have an intelligent conclusion to this but I guess I just want you all to know there are still millions of American kids who could give a fuck about school shootings. And it makes me sad.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 6:38 AM on March 25, 2018 [50 favorites]


I work in a conservative high school in Massachusetts--a town that voted for Trump--and trust me when I say you would be stunned and horrified at what comes out of the mouths of my students. My students didn't walk out, they didn't march as a group. They don't care.

I don't have an intelligent conclusion to this but I guess I just want you all to know there are still millions of American kids who could give a fuck about school shootings. And it makes me sad.


On the bright side, these kids are still in high school, which means still living at home under the influence of their parents. Republicans hate colleges and universities for a reason: college exposes their sheltered little darlings to a wider range of outlooks and opinions. The same could be said for any institution or event that cuts the apron strings. A lot of conservative parents want to isolate and abuse their children because it keeps kids dependent on them and forced to conform to their values.

Some of these un-woke, unaware kids might become fierce fighters for what is right once they leave home. And Metafilter will be here when they need advice on how to deal with their awful families.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 6:53 AM on March 25, 2018 [53 favorites]


I work in a conservative high school in Massachusetts--a town that voted for Trump--and trust me when I say you would be stunned and horrified at what comes out of the mouths of my students. My students didn't walk out, they didn't march as a group. They don't care.

The strange thing is, they don't strictly have to. Mass has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation. The number of deaths that have occurred by your typical school shooting you could count on the fingers of a double arm amputee. Only three people have been killed in MA on school grounds in the past two decades. One was Sean Collier, the campus cop the Boston bombers shot, one was a drug deal gone bad, and the other was a hit.

They don't even realize this isn't a problem for them because for your random kid to come shoot up a school in Mass it requires extraordinary resources that they probably don't have.
posted by Talez at 7:02 AM on March 25, 2018 [19 favorites]


On the topic of less-woke kids, this Jezebel piece compares and contrasts community response to school shootings in Benton, Kentucky and in Parkland. It’s illuminating and depressing reading.
posted by faineg at 7:04 AM on March 25, 2018 [8 favorites]




I do not say that these people are stupid. They are almost [a]universally upper-middle class wealthy, all did well in high school, about half or so have 4-year college degrees, all have either some kind of specialized training or were military. . . . [b]and they're all white men . . .

Conversely, [a] and [b] are probably better predictors of going to college etc. than intelligence. See also the president's "success."


Meanwhile, Trump (or realistically, whatever's left of his state dept.) is planning two dinners with Emmanuel Macron. I'm very curious about who's actually setting these things up nowadays.
posted by aspersioncast at 7:34 AM on March 25, 2018 [2 favorites]


Tamara Keith (NPR) reports that the crazy new lawyers will not be joining the Trump team after all:
@tamarakeithNPR: Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow confirms to me that Joe di Genova and his wife/law firm partner will not be joining the President’s legal team after all. “The President is disappointed that conflicts prevent [them] from joining the President's Special Counsel legal team.”
This follows some serious morning cable-news-live-tweeting/bald-face-lying by Trump himself:
@RealDonaldTrump: Many lawyers and top law firms want to represent me in the Russia case...don’t believe the Fake News narrative that it is hard to find a lawyer who wants to take this on. Fame & fortune will NEVER be turned down by a lawyer, though some are conflicted. Problem is that a new ... lawyer or law firm will take months to get up to speed (if for no other reason than they can bill more), which is unfair to our great country - and I am very happy with my existing team. Besides, there was NO COLLUSION with Russia, except by Crooked Hillary and the Dems!
@MattGertz: It's possible Trump flipped over to CNN, which was talking about whether diGenova and Toensing were in or out during that hour.

Left, CNN, 7:19 am
Right, Trump, 7:40 am
About which Maggie Haberman (NYTimes) noted:
@maggieNYT: This is a prelude to the lawyers who got announced last week, Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing, being conflicted out because she represents other witnesses, including Corallo. ... Can't be stressed enough - he's a sitting president with personal wealth and few if any white shoe firms want to work for him.
posted by pjenks at 7:42 AM on March 25, 2018 [31 favorites]


And now there's a Washington Post story (Josh Dawsey and Carol D. Leonnig):
In another blow to Trump’s efforts to combat Russia probe, diGenova will no longer join legal team
and a NYTimes story (Maggie Haberman, Michael S. Schmidt, Mark Landler):
Trump Won’t Hire 2 Lawyers Whose Appointments Were Announced Days Ago
posted by pjenks at 7:49 AM on March 25, 2018 [12 favorites]


This Liberal Sports Radio Host Thinks He Can Take Down Mitch McConnell

Things have been so weird lately that I was sure this meant he had challenged McConnell to a fist fight.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 7:55 AM on March 25, 2018 [12 favorites]


On the bright side, these kids are still in high school, which means still living at home under the influence of their parents. Republicans hate colleges and universities for a reason: college exposes their sheltered little darlings to a wider range of outlooks and opinions.

When I was entering college, my favorite book EVER was Anthem, by Ayn Rand. I wept when I finished it.

Look at my username.

Double irony. My job is helping people with money avoid paying transfer taxes.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:57 AM on March 25, 2018 [69 favorites]


A bit more morning news
@PhilipRucker: [VA Secretary] Shulkin’s expected firing is rolled out by Trump confidant Chris Ruddy on Sunday TV.
[clip from ABC's thisweek]
following yesterday's cryptic tweet from Maggie Haberman
@maggieNYT: Expect another personnel shuffle this coming week in the Trump administration
If I were a gambler, I'd put money down on "personnel shuffling" tonight at [checks TV Guide] 6:55pm.
posted by pjenks at 8:04 AM on March 25, 2018 [16 favorites]


When I was entering college, my favorite book EVER was Anthem, by Ayn Rand. I wept when I finished it.

My freshman year, I started a libertarian group and invited my dad as a guest speaker (though this was sort of an extinction burst because I spent a lot of high school rebelling by being kinda left-ish and becoming a vegetarian).

So, yeah. It's a process.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:07 AM on March 25, 2018 [6 favorites]


In another blow to Trump’s efforts to combat Russia probe, diGenova will no longer join legal team

That article he wrote about America benefiting from the indictment of the President must have been pretty

*fumbles with sunglasses*

...indicting.
posted by leotrotsky at 8:14 AM on March 25, 2018 [15 favorites]


Even Fox isn't a safe enough space for these idiots.

@mkraju:
Told line-item veto was ruled unconstitutional, Mnuchin says: “Congress can pass a rule that allows them to do it.” Told Congress would have to pass a constitutional amendment, Mnuchin says on Fox: “We don’t need to get into a debate ... There are different ways of doing this.”
posted by chris24 at 8:32 AM on March 25, 2018 [44 favorites]


I don't think the "gun fatalism" described in the Jezebel article is insurmountable. Here in red-state Montana, the city of Helena was host to both a March For Our Lives rally and a pro-gun* counter rally. The pro-gun group had 150 attendees, and MFOL had 1000. In addition there were MFOL protests in several other towns, but there were no other gun rallies that I'm aware of.

*Strangely, autocorrect tried to change pro-gun to pro-Trump. I mean it's not wrong, but the spellings are pretty different.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 9:02 AM on March 25, 2018 [12 favorites]


A lot of conservative parents want to isolate and abuse their children

Let’s not do this, please.

People, and parents, universally want to guide their children to be what they consider the model of good adults is. They all try various tactics, liberal and conservative, some more successful than others. I know liberal and conservative families alike that try to keep their kids from what they believe are poisonous or bigoted views, and I know liberal and conservative families alike that believe in exposing their kids to both sides so they can make educated choices.

People change their politics many times in their lives, and it is a beautiful thing - but it doesn’t have to be because of previous abuse or isolation.
posted by corb at 9:04 AM on March 25, 2018 [18 favorites]


Decades before Cambridge Analytica scooped up 50 million Facebook accounts, their billionaire backer Robert Mercer made his name leading an IBM research project on computational translation, using a completely different public dataset (Toronto Star):
The second problem was solved by a tip in the 1980s about where to score massive amounts of translated text, which would allow the programmers to detect patterns in data and develop algorithms based on that.

That news came from older IBM colleague John Cocke.

“John was on a plane and ... he struck up a conversation with the guy next to him and then suggested they have a drink together,” Mercer’s colleague Peter Brown recalled at the 2013 Conference on Empirical Methods on Natural Language Processing.

“Before he knew it the guy was telling John about the proceedings of the Canadian House of Parliament which were — and probably still are — kept in computer-readable form in French and in English.”

Canadian government employees had already done the work.
Thanks, Canada.

Bonus points for finding Mercer's completely idiotic CS story about why he hates "Big Government".

Here are two of their original papers from 1993.
posted by pjenks at 9:04 AM on March 25, 2018 [12 favorites]


Even Fox...

@FoxNewsSunday
NEW: Fox News Poll show strong support for stronger gun control
- Require Universal Checks: 91%
- Require Mental Health Checks: 84%
- Raise Legal Age to 21: 72%
- Put Armed Guards in Schools: 69%
- Ban Assault Weapons: 60%
posted by chris24 at 9:12 AM on March 25, 2018 [22 favorites]


Standard note that Fox polling is a reputable outfit, does not have the issues that Fox News has.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:14 AM on March 25, 2018 [15 favorites]


Standard note that Fox polling is a reputable outfit, does not have the issues that Fox News has.

Yep. The interesting thing to me was how Fox News was covering it. Or that they promoted it at all.
posted by chris24 at 9:20 AM on March 25, 2018 [3 favorites]


Let’s not do this, please.

Why can't we do this? There's actual science behind the idea that stricter, authoritarian parenting tends to lead the children of these parents to grow up to be conservative. Some 36% of parents who homeschool their kids do so for "religious and moral instruction". We need to examine how reactionaries are created, and their upbringing demonstrably has a lot to do with it.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 9:21 AM on March 25, 2018 [105 favorites]


I was in Boston where my favorite sign said, "When I said I'd rather die than go to math class? That was hyperbole, assholes."

And.... now it's my favorite, too. Thanks for that.
posted by rokusan at 9:26 AM on March 25, 2018 [3 favorites]


DailyBeast: ‘Stormy Will Eat You Alive’: How a Porn Star is Making Trump World’s Lives Hell - In public and on his Twitter feed, President Trump has kept mum about L’affaire Stormy. Behind the scenes, he’s spooked
In that final month on the trail, there was something else weighing on Trump’s mind, even more than the assault allegations. According to three top campaign officials, speaking to The Daily Beast on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, Trump began pressing senior staffers about the specific dates that the women were alleging that the assaults, affairs, or harassment took place.

If the date fell within the time period of the early stage of his marriage to Melania Trump—and the birth of their son Barron—Trump would suddenly care more about the story and quiz campaign aides more closely about it. Officials concluded that Trump’s true concern was not so much being accused of sexual harassment as it was, in the words of one aide, about “pissing off Melania.”

One of these accounts of a consensual relationship that drew Trump’s intensified interest was published at the website The Smoking Gun under the title, “Donald Trump And The Porn Superstar.” The piece reported on Trump’s alleged “sexual affair” with Stephanie Clifford, an adult-film actress known by her stage name, “Stormy Daniels.” Such an affair would have taken place not only while Donald and Melania Trump were newlyweds, but soon after Barron was born.

A year into the Trump era, the story of Stormy has morphed from a late-campaign nuisance into large-scale presidential crisis.

“The president may be able to fire Mr. [Robert] Mueller and others who may challenge him, but he cannot fire me, or my client. We will not be going away any time soon,” Michael Avenatti, Daniels’ attorney, told The Daily Beast. “If they [in Trumpworld] are upset about what has transpired over the last two weeks, they are really going to be upset when they see what is going to transpire over the next few months—because the last two weeks haven’t been a warm-up lap.”

Inside the chronically chaos-driven Trump White House, Stormy Daniels is a high-profile hassle and headache that now must be managed on a daily basis. According to two sources familiar with the situation, the White House press operation has at least one person whose job it is to monitor the latest developments on the Daniels front.

And in response to Trump buddy Chris Ruddy saying it was a hoax on this morning on the Sunday shows, and news reports that Trump is saying that to staffers...

@MichaelAvenatti
@ChrisRuddyNMX You are correct, Ms. Clifford's claims are yet another "hoax" - similar to other infamous "hoaxes" like the moon landing, 9/11, etc. Is this, along with claims that I worked on some campaigns 25 yrs ago, the best you guys can come upon with to discredit us? #basta

@MichaelAvenatti
Note: (a) not all of our evidence will be mentioned/displayed tonight – that would be foolish; (b) we are not sure what CBS will include but we know a lot from the full interview will have to be cut bc of the time allowed; (c) tonight is not the end – it’s the beginning. #basta
posted by chris24 at 9:29 AM on March 25, 2018 [32 favorites]


It's pretty fun to watch this Avenatti guy run circles around Trump's "best" lawyers.
posted by rokusan at 9:39 AM on March 25, 2018 [33 favorites]


Fame & fortune will NEVER be turned down by a lawyer, though some are conflicted. Problem is that a new ... lawyer or law firm will take months to get up to speed (if for no other reason than they can bill more)

Yeah, call your lawyers bill-padding fame-chasers; that'll help.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 9:47 AM on March 25, 2018 [64 favorites]


Yeah, call your lawyers bill-padding fame-chasers; that'll help.

I think his initial point is that being lawyer to the POTUS is supposed to be prestigious like being appointed to the queen or some shit. Then he takes a detour to slam elitist lawyers and he's just turned it into a flaming bag of dog turds.
posted by Talez at 9:50 AM on March 25, 2018 [9 favorites]


On the topic of less-woke kids,

I'm obviously all in favor of high school age kids who have half a grip on what's actually going on in the world, and what it's in their interest to get active about. But a quick reflection on my own high school crowd (way back when) reveals a vast majority of unformed brains and hearts who were still mostly thinking and talking in line with what their parents thought when it came to the big deal political stuff (even if they liked different music). Jump ahead a few years to college/university age and things were changing (for some), but that is very much the difference between still being officially a "child" and not, I think.

So I'm not going to despair if even a majority of 14-18 year olds don't know what's good for them. The adults on the other hand ...
posted by philip-random at 9:50 AM on March 25, 2018 [3 favorites]


Why can't we do this? There's actual science behind the idea that stricter, authoritarian parenting tends to lead the children of these parents to grow up to be conservative. Some 36% of parents who homeschool their kids do so for "religious and moral instruction". We need to examine how reactionaries are created, and their upbringing demonstrably has a lot to do with it.

The objection was not to the argument that "authoritarian parenting tends to lead the children to grow up to be conservative". The objection was to the characterization that the authoritarian parents were universally themselves conservative.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:51 AM on March 25, 2018 [9 favorites]


The best indication the tide is turning... Ds in swing districts running on gun control. IL-06 is rated by Cook R+2 and currently has a R congressman.

@Alex_Roarty (McClatchy)
Dem nominee in key #IL-06 race, who backs an assault-weapons ban: “Thank you, thank you, thank you to the kids in Parkland."

Democrats think Parkland-fueled activism can neutralize the NRA
Sean Casten remembers that shortly after he announced his campaign for Congress last year, a Democratic friend told him he had better avoid talking about gun control or risk an “onslaught” from the National Rifle Association.

He’s ignoring the advice.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you to the kids in Parkland,” said Casten, now the Democratic nominee in a battleground suburban Chicago House race who — in a break from his party’s recent past — supports an assault-weapons ban.

“Politically, I feel extremely fortunate that they basically made it possible for someone like me to say I’ll be honest and open with my positions and can still fend this off,” he said.
posted by chris24 at 9:54 AM on March 25, 2018 [28 favorites]


Santorum can't stand not being the dumbest fucking person on TV
"How about kids instead of looking to someone else to solve their problem, do something about maybe taking CPR classes or trying to deal with situations that when there is a violent shooter that you can actually respond to that," Santorum said on CNN's "State of the Union."
posted by Talez at 9:56 AM on March 25, 2018 [40 favorites]


Speaking of dinosaurs, why does Rick Santorum still exist?
posted by rokusan at 9:58 AM on March 25, 2018 [18 favorites]


Because then we wouldn't have a word for that mix of lube, smegma and fecal matter.
posted by Talez at 10:00 AM on March 25, 2018 [59 favorites]


The objection was to the characterization that the authoritarian parents were universally themselves conservative.

This is all bullshit. We know conservatives have a shit time with reality and authoritarianism. If I can stand it when people slag white het cismen (and they should) then conservatives can tolerate these truths.
posted by TypographicalError at 10:06 AM on March 25, 2018 [32 favorites]


"How about kids instead of looking to someone else to solve their problem, do something about maybe taking CPR classes or trying to deal with situations that when there is a violent shooter that you can actually respond to that," Santorum said on CNN's "State of the Union."

There's a reason why he repeated won the "Dumbest Person in Congress" award.

In the words of former Senator Bob Kerrey, "Santorum? Is that Latin for asshole?"
posted by leotrotsky at 10:13 AM on March 25, 2018 [19 favorites]


I don’t think you can see all this stuff going on with culture wars and home schooling and conservative news bubbles and not conclude that Conservatives are HEAVY on indoctrination and isolation these days. Some kids escape it, others don’t.
posted by Artw at 10:13 AM on March 25, 2018 [29 favorites]


The objection was to the characterization that the authoritarian parents were universally themselves conservative.

Looking back at those two posts, this doesn’t seem to be an accurate expression of either the objection or the characterization in question.
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 10:21 AM on March 25, 2018 [1 favorite]


Mod note: Let's maybe just drop the whole theory-of-parenting-mind thing in general here.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:24 AM on March 25, 2018 [15 favorites]


Because the medium is the message, journalists on Twitter are much franker - and snarkier - there than in their publications/programmes, not least since Trump makes himself perpetually, nakedly available on that platform while eschewing interviews and press conferences. Exempli gratia:

@RealDonaldTrump: Many lawyers and top law firms want to represent me in the Russia case...don’t believe the Fake News narrative that it is hard to find a lawyer who wants to take this on. Fame & fortune will NEVER be turned down by a lawyer, though some are conflicted. Problem is that a new ... lawyer or law firm will take months to get up to speed (if for no other reason than they can bill more), which is unfair to our great country - and I am very happy with my existing team. Besides, there was NO COLLUSION with Russia, except by Crooked Hillary and the Dems!

The Toronto Star's @ddale8: This is from the superb “no no, ignore your lying eyes, everyone is desperate to be with me” Trump tweet genre. Previous examples include the “I swear I actually disbanded my CEO councils myself” and “I swear I have a choice of 10 top experts for every vacant position” tweets.

Bloomberg's @spettypi: With Dowd and diGenova out, Sekulow is the winner of Trump Lawyer Survivor.[...]

MSNBC's @AriMelber: Making money by stiffing employees has drawbacks — there are *many* different reasons law firms won’t rep Trump, but one of them is how many law firms in NY he effectively stole from by not paying bills.

The Washington Post's @jdawsey1: Trump hired diGenova largely based on his Fox News hits. After he met him Thursday, the hire unraveled. POTUS legal team is now down to two: the curlicued Ty Cobb who sometimes elicits Trump grumbles, and Jay Sekulow, a conservative lawyer and radio host.

Also: Source writes to me of Joe di Genova: "He didn't even make it a Scaramucci!"
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:36 AM on March 25, 2018 [47 favorites]


I know a lot of people know this, but just to emphasize...

The kind of damage created by assault rifles is different from a handgun's. CPR is not going to save someone from an explosive wound that's taken out major organs. A bullet from a handgun goes through the body like you've pushed a pencil through it. A bullet from an assault rifle is like you've detonated a small grenade inside someone. Learning CPR is about as useful as learning to hide under your desk when the atom bombs come.
posted by xammerboy at 11:47 AM on March 25, 2018 [55 favorites]


For your Sunday viewing pleasure, a portrait of one Mr Mick Mulvaney, who, through sheer lack of discernible character, is repulsively odious, even by Trump administration standards.

A heads up, it's on Facebook. Going forward, would Instagram be a better platform for these drawings? Or is there another platform the fine folks here would prefer?
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 12:19 PM on March 25, 2018 [15 favorites]


someone from an explosive wound that's taken out major organs.

Explosive rounds are not needed here. Anything with high enough kinetic energy (high velocity and/or high calibre) will leave a small entry wound and a big gaping hole of an exit wound. The shock wave will also cause plenty of damage, even if the bullet doesn't hit bone. Poorly trained CPR is only going to push out blood from the arterial wounds; there's a reason that battlefield medicine is a specialisation with specific training.
posted by jaduncan at 12:21 PM on March 25, 2018 [26 favorites]


For various reasons (mostly their availability/popularity), handguns account for many more human deaths than other guns. (I think; sometimes statistics are unclear.) And of course, most instances of death-by-gun do not involve a shooter who intends to kill a maximum number of people. The usual motivations are criminal gain, domestic/personal conflict, and suicide (plus no motivation at all in the case of accidents).

Sometimes these basic facts are used to pooh-pooh actions that focus on assault weapons (however we define those), and it's argued that creating policy focused on reducing massacres is more about emotions and headlines than about cold, hard reality. When the assault weapons ban was in effect from 1994 to 2004, there was a definite reduction of mass shootings compared to the times before and after… but a negligible impact on overall gun violence.

To me, what's irrational isn't pushing to ban assault weapons, but treating every law/policy as pointless unless it addresses every conceivable related issue. It's like a serial murderer's lawyer pointing out that her client's actions account for a statistically miniscule percentage of American deaths ("Did you know more people were killed by vending machines last year than by my client?"), and hence locking him up would hardly accomplish anything.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 12:26 PM on March 25, 2018 [50 favorites]


: Trump Tweet>"Problem is that a new ... lawyer or law firm will take months to get up to speed (if for no other reason than they can bill more), which is unfair to our great country -"

Geez, can't imagine why a lawyer wouldn't jump at the chance of representing a client who accuses the entire profession of bill padding.

Talez: "I think his initial point is that being lawyer to the POTUS is supposed to be prestigious like being appointed to the queen or some shit."

Ah, the "Exposure" ploy.

chris24: "@FoxNewsSunday
NEW: Fox News Poll show strong support for stronger gun control
[...]
- Raise Legal Age to 21: 72%
"

How could this possibly be constitutional? IE: if you buy into the idea that the 2nd amendment guarantees access to these weapons as a right how the heck could this pass muster. Honestly I can't wrap my head around the 21 year old drinking age but at least drinking isn't a constitutional right.
posted by Mitheral at 12:31 PM on March 25, 2018 [4 favorites]


Trump Tweet>"Problem is that a new ... lawyer or law firm will take months to get up to speed (if for no other reason than they can bill more), which is unfair to our great country -"

Also, what the hell is unfair to our country about it? This isn't the government-paid White House lawyer he's hiring. This is his personal lawyer.
posted by Weeping_angel at 12:44 PM on March 25, 2018 [19 favorites]


From Cynthia Nixon's interview with Glamour magazine:
GLAMOUR: You’ve talked a lot about "better Democrats" and "real Democrats." What does "a real Democrat" mean to you in 2018?
CN: A real Democrat doesn’t slash taxes on the wealthy. A real Democrat doesn’t slash corporate taxes. A real Democrat doesn’t give away billions of dollars in economic development money to his cronies and his donors with no strings attached. A real Democrat doesn’t lose us $25 billion in revenue in eight years—money our state desperately needs to put into our schools, our transit system, and our public housing. The fact of the matter is, our working class doesn’t look like the working class from 1955. Our working class is largely women and people of color—it’s people like social workers and daycare workers, people who run senior centers and after-school youth programs and people who work in schools. We need to fund those things. We need to fund those things because we need those services. We also need to protect the people who are doing those jobs, and make sure there's $15 minimum wage—not just in the city, but in every part of the state.


Sady Doyle notes:
It took Cynthia Nixon roughly 30 seconds to address what Bernie Sanders has been angrily refusing to acknowledge for 3 straight years
posted by neroli at 12:46 PM on March 25, 2018 [183 favorites]


if you buy into the idea that the 2nd amendment guarantees access to these weapons as a right how the heck could this pass muster.

Even the Heller decision, which explicitly said individuals have the right to own guns, recognized that the Second Amendment is not absolute - just like every other amendment, it has limits. As one analysis puts it:
It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose: For example, concealed weapons prohibitions have been upheld under the Amendment or state analogues. The Court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.
And that is why states such as Massachusetts can continue to regulate both which guns can be sold (AR-15 sales? Nope) and who can buy them (Boston and some other communities make it particularly tough to get a license to carry a concealed weapon).
posted by adamg at 12:47 PM on March 25, 2018 [18 favorites]


Also, what the hell is unfair to our country about it? This isn't the government-paid White House lawyer he's hiring. This is his personal lawyer.

At the risk of treading ground well trod, he thinks he's the leader of the country. He thinks that what's bad for him is, by extension, bad for the country. This is not a man who can make such subtle distinctions as those between trump the man, and trump the public servant. Just one more statement in a long line that shows he fundamentally doesn't understand the position he's in.
posted by mrgoat at 1:03 PM on March 25, 2018 [11 favorites]


Russell Berman, The Atlantic: A Domestic Budget to Make Barack Obama Proud
In the $1.3 trillion spending bill that President Trump reluctantly signed on Friday, lawmakers did more than reject the steep cuts in dollars and programs that Trump proposed for domestic agencies a year ago. Across much of the government, Republican leaders agreed to spending levels that matched or even exceeded what Obama asked Congress to appropriate in his final budget request in 2016—and many of which lawmakers ignored while he was in office.
Interesting political price for the Republicans to pay to get Democrats to agree to increases in defense spending. Also an example of the Trump administration not having appointees to key roles which might have otherwise influenced the budget.
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:07 PM on March 25, 2018 [19 favorites]


Also, what the hell is unfair to our country about it? This isn't the government-paid White House lawyer he's hiring. This is his personal lawyer.

Assuming he does pay the lawyers, is there a way to be sure he's paying from his personal accounts and not from some White House or other governmental account?
posted by Servo5678 at 1:14 PM on March 25, 2018 [3 favorites]


Gun control: ignore the guns themselves and focus on the weak point — ammunition. Constitution doesn’t say squat about bullets.

Tax the everloving shit out of ammo, and require a cigarette-style tax stamp for it. The stamp is to nail hand-loaders and the like. Make it mandatory for all gun ranges to check and record the tax status on any ammo brought to the range, with huge fines and personal jail time for failing to do so.

...or tax the gunpowder, then tax the brass, then tax the primer. Stamp/licenses required for each. Leave a loophole for black powder if you want. Hell, tax different calibers differently. Double the cost of a .308, but quintuple the cost of a 5.56, .223, whatever. If bullets are five bucks apiece, fewer people decide its worth it. Especially if getting caught with unlicensed ammo means you lose your house to fines.

Worked for cigarettes. Ammo has a shelf life too.
posted by aramaic at 1:30 PM on March 25, 2018 [69 favorites]


It took Cynthia Nixon roughly 30 seconds to address

My heart doesn’t want to love again

And yet
posted by schadenfrau at 1:36 PM on March 25, 2018 [24 favorites]


Is anybody else planning on watching the 60 Minutes thing tonight? Chat? FanFare?
posted by rhizome at 1:36 PM on March 25, 2018 [7 favorites]


Is anybody else planning on watching the 60 Minutes thing tonight? Chat? FanFare?

This is the type of programming that I would normally stab myself in the eye with a shrimp fork rather than watch, because sleazy celeb sex scandals are gross and stupid. However, my need to vicariously enjoy Trump's abject suffering and misery is so profound that I won't miss a single fucking second and have stockpiled an assortment of Stormy Snacks. #GoStormy #StormySunday #AvenattiByNature
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:43 PM on March 25, 2018 [41 favorites]


How could this possibly be constitutional?

Apart from the Heller decision cited above, it's also the same way that the voting age is 18.
posted by zombieflanders at 1:44 PM on March 25, 2018 [6 favorites]


A heads up, it's on Facebook. Going forward, would Instagram be a better platform for these drawings? Or is there another platform the fine folks here would prefer?

Mltshp?
posted by notyou at 2:00 PM on March 25, 2018 [5 favorites]


Will the 60 minutes Avenatti debacle be streaming anywhere? I’m having a migraine and sound makes me feel murderous rage, but at least I could direct that rage at supporting Stormy jnstead if contemplating destroying a radiator.

Also, thank you to everyone who marched. I had previously committed to attend a round table where youth of color talked about what would make their lives better on a day to day basis. The speakers (who were generous in sharing their time) want to be seen and heard and loved and respected, in case you were wondering.
posted by bilabial at 2:02 PM on March 25, 2018 [8 favorites]


TrumpFilter: a flaming bag of dog turds
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 2:16 PM on March 25, 2018 [1 favorite]


Minor Left Update: the Denver DSA petitioned to add some lanagauge to the Denver Democratic Party Platform and it passed! The language is:

"We believe the economy should be democratically owned and controlled in order to serve the needs of the many, not make profits for a few."
posted by The Whelk at 2:27 PM on March 25, 2018 [61 favorites]


Will the 60 minutes Avenatti debacle be streaming anywhere?

I just read three 'how to watch the thing' articles, and two of them said it'll be streaming at 7 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on CBSN.
posted by box at 2:31 PM on March 25, 2018 [1 favorite]


They shoulda gone with "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" and seen if anyone noticed!

The DSA is showing us how you build a political party. The contrast with the Greens is so stark that I'm starting to believe they could be a foreign-backed spoiler party aimed at destabilizing America. But that would be crazy.
posted by Justinian at 2:32 PM on March 25, 2018 [30 favorites]


Phlegmco(tm ) Going forward, would Instagram be a better platform for these drawings? Or is there another platform the fine folks here would prefer?

I respectfully request that the mods allow the <img> tag for these portraits.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 2:39 PM on March 25, 2018 [6 favorites]




Tax the everloving shit out of ammo, and require a cigarette-style tax stamp for it. The stamp is to nail hand-loaders and the like. Make it mandatory for all gun ranges to check and record the tax status on any ammo brought to the range, with huge fines and personal jail time for failing to do so.

...or tax the gunpowder, then tax the brass, then tax the primer. Stamp/licenses required for each. Leave a loophole for black powder if you want. Hell, tax different calibers differently. Double the cost of a .308, but quintuple the cost of a 5.56, .223, whatever. If bullets are five bucks apiece, fewer people decide its worth it. Especially if getting caught with unlicensed ammo means you lose your house to fines.

Worked for cigarettes. Ammo has a shelf life too.


And put ALL of the proceeds into a fund for the treatment non-self-inflicted gun shot wounds.

That way it is immune from a govt tax grab charge and it does some social good that nobody sane could disagree with.
posted by srboisvert at 3:03 PM on March 25, 2018 [5 favorites]




BTW, CBS often delays the start of their Sunday night programming if sports goes long, depending on time zone. I expect this will happen tonight, since they are showing college basketball.
posted by ZeusHumms at 3:07 PM on March 25, 2018


Re: 60 Minutes start time and basketball--there's ~ 50 minutes left in the basketball game. So I'd guess 7:30 Eastern start.
posted by johnny jenga at 3:26 PM on March 25, 2018


It is only very recently that the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution was understood to mean that everyone has the Constitutional right to own weapons. It was usually understood throughout history as a means of guaranteeing the United States would be able to create a militia army of U.S. citizens in times of need. This was necessary because the U.S. had no standing army.
posted by xammerboy at 3:58 PM on March 25, 2018 [4 favorites]


60 Minutes is apparently going to be delayed due to basketball, but the embargoed quotes on the interview still lifted at 7pm. Here's the transcript.
posted by zachlipton at 4:02 PM on March 25, 2018 [36 favorites]


Stormy Daniels: I was in a parking lot, going to a fitness class with my infant daughter. T-- taking, you know, the seats facing backwards in the backseat, diaper bag, you know, gettin' all the stuff out. And a guy walked up on me and said to me, "Leave Trump alone. Forget the story." And then he leaned around and looked at my daughter and said, "That's a beautiful little girl. It'd be a shame if something happened to her mom." And then he was gone.

Anderson Cooper: You took it as a direct threat?

Stormy Daniels: Absolutely.

Stormy Daniels: I was rattled. I remember going into the workout class. And my hands are shaking so much, I was afraid I was gonna-- drop her.

Anderson Cooper: Did you ever see that person again?

Stormy Daniels: No. But I-- if I did, I would know it right away.

Anderson Cooper: You'd be able to-- you'd be able to recognize that person?

Stormy Daniels: 100%. Even now, all these years later. If he walked in this door right now, I would instantly know.

Anderson Cooper: Did you go to the police?

Stormy Daniels: No.

Anderson Cooper: Why?

Stormy Daniels: Because I was scared.


Jesus H.
posted by Rust Moranis at 4:07 PM on March 25, 2018 [62 favorites]


Yeah, Stormy is brave as hell.
posted by triggerfinger at 4:10 PM on March 25, 2018 [4 favorites]


The Duke-Kansas game is in overtime. Roger Stone's fingerprints are all over this.
posted by theodolite at 4:10 PM on March 25, 2018 [12 favorites]


Stormy Daniels: I was in a parking lot, going to a fitness class with my infant daughter. T-- taking, you know, the seats facing backwards in the backseat, diaper bag, you know, gettin' all the stuff out. And a guy walked up on me and said to me, "Leave Trump alone. Forget the story." And then he leaned around and looked at my daughter and said, "That's a beautiful little girl. It'd be a shame if something happened to her mom." And then he was gone.
Well, that also explains why she is fighting back. If that had happened to me, there would be no limit to my anger.
posted by mumimor at 4:12 PM on March 25, 2018 [20 favorites]


Interesting fact, Adultery is still, technically, a crime in New York , so this Stormy thing constitutes a contract to cover up a crime.

Thin, but hey..
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 4:16 PM on March 25, 2018 [17 favorites]


Spoiler alert:

The contents of the DVD remain a mystery for now.

Anderson Cooper: You seem to be saying that she has some sort of text message, or video, or-- or photographs. Or you could just be bluffing.

Michael Avenatti: You should ask some of the other people in my career when they've bet on me bluffing.

posted by diogenes at 4:16 PM on March 25, 2018 [4 favorites]


Okay, are they going to show the whole 60 minutes or just cut in to where they would have been? This is bullshit.
posted by triggerfinger at 4:20 PM on March 25, 2018 [2 favorites]


They'll likely show the episode in its entirety, from the beginning.
posted by ZeusHumms at 4:22 PM on March 25, 2018


Okay, are they going to show the whole 60 minutes or just cut in to where they would have been? This is bullshit.

They start from the beginning (this often happens in sportsball season). But now I don't have to watch since we got the transcript! Hooray!
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:22 PM on March 25, 2018 [5 favorites]


"That's a beautiful little girl. It'd be a shame if something happened to her mom." And then he was gone.

I think we've got a bunch of thugs here, Dan.
posted by Capt. Renault at 4:29 PM on March 25, 2018 [10 favorites]


It'd be a shame if something happened to her mom.
I dunno -- normally, this kind of b-movie dialogue would be just the thing to set off my bullshit detector. But I could imagine that any goons Trump would hire would be just the sort of low-rent amateur goons that would take their cues from b-movie dialogue.
posted by neroli at 4:31 PM on March 25, 2018 [32 favorites]


i wouldn't say 'we finally got him,' but the scenario she describes is likely devastating to trump's ego. like, just brutal.
Anderson Cooper: He was showing you his own picture on the cover of a magazine.

Stormy Daniels: Right, right. And so I was like, "Does this-- does this normally work for you?" And he looked very taken-- taken back, like, he didn't really understand what I was saying. Like, I was-- does, just, you know, talking about yourself normally work?" And I was like, "Someone should take that magazine and spank you with it." (LAUGH) And I'll never forget the look on his face.
so. 'got' in the John-Oliver-dunking-tiger-mascot sense? no. 'got' in the sense of showing the world what he is? yeah. not that it wasn't known. but now it is confirmed.
posted by halation at 4:32 PM on March 25, 2018 [6 favorites]


@csmcdaniel:
Stormy Daniels says she and her daughter were threatened to "Leave Trump alone."

Worth pointing out: Trump security — including the current COO of the Trump Org — were accused of assaulting, and threatening a 12 year old boy and his mother in 1995.

There's also this @JasonLeopold story about a lawyer facing off against the Trump Organization.

He got a phone call where he was told "if you keep fucking with Mr. Trump, we know where you live and we’re going to your house for your wife and kids."
It does seem to fit an established pattern of threats from these goons.
posted by zachlipton at 4:33 PM on March 25, 2018 [74 favorites]


If they're preempting it for college basketball, I don't think we finally got him.

Dude, this is America. Aliens from Alpha Centauri could literally land on the White House lawn and start blasting, and nobody would interrupt a March Madness game to cover it.
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:34 PM on March 25, 2018 [69 favorites]


Michael Cohen is exactly the guy who would arrange something like that. He sees himself as Ray Donovan. Like, literally. He tweets with a #raydonovan hashtag. But without video it will come to nothing; Trump's supporters will call it fake news. I don't see how anything in this interview will amount to a hill of beans.

There are almost certainly campaign finance violations in addition to the salacious stuff. Yes, that got John Edwards. No, it won't matter with Trump.

If people are gonna liveblog one liners it's probably better in chat though? Y'all gonna get deleted.
posted by Justinian at 4:34 PM on March 25, 2018 [6 favorites]


Stormy's account of being threatened in such clichéd fashion might surprise people who don't know about Trump's longstanding ties to the mob...
posted by Doktor Zed at 4:35 PM on March 25, 2018 [13 favorites]


It seems to me, still, that the real story in the Stormy Daniels thing is the payment; am I missing something? Like, they had sex (and ugh, I hate the fact that she blames herself for putting herself in that situation and felt she had to go along), and there were threats (but without the thug who delivered the threats, that cant go anywhere) , but its the payment from Cohen that seems the big deal from where I sit? In terms of it being an illegal contribution.
posted by nubs at 4:36 PM on March 25, 2018 [6 favorites]


i wouldn't say 'we finally got him,'

No, but Michael Cohen got Trouble, capital-T. And that's sure to spill over.
posted by Capt. Renault at 4:36 PM on March 25, 2018


Mod note: Quick reminder: please avoid snarky one-liners, and contextualize your remarks rather than liveblogging. Thanks.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 4:37 PM on March 25, 2018 [4 favorites]


Pence secretly drafted Trump’s latest transgender military ban
A separate source independently confirmed to ThinkProgress Saturday that Pence was involved, characterizing him as forming his own ad hoc “working group,” including Anderson and Perkins, separate from the panel of experts Mattis had assembled. Though it bears Mattis’ signature, the report released Friday appears to reflect the findings of Pence’s working group and not the committee report that Mattis submitted to Trump last month. Mattis’ original document is not currently publicly available, but it was widely reported that Mattis favored an inclusive approach that resembled what had originally been proposed by Defense Secretary Ash Carter under President Obama in 2016.

How exactly Pence overruled Mattis’ recommendation over the past month the source did not know. But his working group’s influence is apparent. In particular, the report features numerous anti-trans talking points that FRC and other anti-LGBTQ groups have used in various campaigns favoring discrimination against transgender people.
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:38 PM on March 25, 2018 [50 favorites]


can someone comment on whether the transcript is the whole episode in its entirety? I was going to try and watch the episode right now while I'm at work but if I could just read it later and know I won't be missing anything that'd be great.

apologies if that's been answered above, have not been able to do more than skim the last ~ 200 comments
posted by robotdevil at 4:42 PM on March 25, 2018 [1 favorite]


BARF BARF BARF
Stormy Daniels: Yeah. He was like, "Wow, you-- you are special. You remind me of my daughter." You know-- he was like, "You're smart and beautiful, and a woman to be reckoned with, and I like you. I like you."
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAARF
posted by Anonymous at 4:51 PM on March 25, 2018


robotdevil, so far the transcript is following the broadcast accurately.
posted by Surely This at 4:52 PM on March 25, 2018


TBH, having the basketball game run long and then immediately cutting over to 60 minutes will probably lead to this episode getting bigger viewership than it would have otherwise.

David Dennison must be so pleased.

From screenshots I’ve seen, Daniels is dressed fairly conservatively with minimalist makeup. I wish that didn’t increase her percieved credibility, but it probably does.
posted by murphy slaw at 4:56 PM on March 25, 2018 [2 favorites]


BARF BARF BARF

I'm gonna suggest rather than everyone expressing their revulsion we all instead favorite schroedinger's post and leave it at that.

Me: Of course everybody's grossed out. It goes without saying, doesn't it? That's like saying you hate Nazis. Who doesn't?

Also Me: Oh wait 2016 and 2017 happened. I guess we can't all take that for granted anymore.

posted by scaryblackdeath at 5:05 PM on March 25, 2018 [7 favorites]


Oh, I by no means wanted to impugn her credibility. I just meant that there are people out there who are biased against her due to her line of work who might take her more seriously because she chose a neutral look. (Which is awful, but good on her for having the media savvy to anticipate it)

I find her entirely credible. Bare minimum, you don’t try to legally constrain the speech of someone who’s just making shit up. And there’s nothing in her story that is out of character for what we know about Trump.
posted by murphy slaw at 5:07 PM on March 25, 2018 [1 favorite]


There's a bit more on the "60 Minutes Overtime" site.

Why the Stormy Daniels story matters
COOPER: Correct. If Stormy Daniels' story is true that a thug came up to her in a parking lot in Las Vegas in 2011—this is long before Donald Trump was a presidential candidate—I mean, if somebody is using intimidation tactics, physical intimidation tactics, it's probably not the first time they've done it. So that's a potential story I would imagine people would look at of how this kind of thing happened before? And I don't know the answer to that.
posted by Surely This at 5:11 PM on March 25, 2018 [9 favorites]


I think what Stormy is showing is that this story isn't going anywhere. I remember Lewinsky. It's entirely possible that stuff like this swallows up the rest of Trump's presidency. Once the Democrats are in charge if they're smart they'll drown him in investigations.
posted by xammerboy at 5:22 PM on March 25, 2018 [5 favorites]


Mod note: Oh my cod, people. Enough.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 5:38 PM on March 25, 2018 [11 favorites]


From what I can tell, none of the Stormy details are truly new, insofar as she's already shared before (and it matches Trump's behavior to a tee). But that doesn't minimize the significance of this as an event. It's like the publication of Fire and Fury (but perhaps more consistently credible); there's a distinct new level of high interest in this stuff, from outside the usual circles. So while Donald's creepiness wrt Ivanka was public knowledge before 2015, the number of Americans now aware of it must have gone up by like 20% (while I suppose the number of people who watched the end of an NCAA basketball game probably increased by 10%...)
posted by InTheYear2017 at 5:38 PM on March 25, 2018 [1 favorite]


Stormy with a Chance of Meatloaf.

Gosh, I’ve been waiting a long time to use that one
posted by furtive at 5:39 PM on March 25, 2018 [37 favorites]


More good news in the fight against gun violence this weekend — as of Friday the CDC can study it as a public health crisis for the first time in 20 years.

This NPR interview transcript with the guy who was in charge of this before the Dickey amendment is interesting. Apparently he was able to influence Dickey enough over the years that Dickey came to regret having authored the prohibition before he died last year.

There’s still no specific budget for this research, and the language is not ideal but the guy who used to do the resesrch thinks its a step forward, so it’s definitely better than nothing.
posted by mrmurbles at 5:40 PM on March 25, 2018 [32 favorites]


So while you all are making presidential dick jokes, David Shulkin is going to be kicked out of the administration this week.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 5:41 PM on March 25, 2018 [5 favorites]


I don't know enough about Shulkin to know if that's a good or bad thing. Any context?

I mean, some google searches talk about corruption in his department and so on, but you'd think that would be a bonus for Trump.
posted by Archelaus at 5:44 PM on March 25, 2018 [2 favorites]


I think Anderson Cooper was very clever in his framing. As closely as I've been following all this, in the first 30 seconds of the piece he says that Trump denies it ever happens, and that they're suing her for $20 million for breaking the NDA, and I was like, "Wait, how did she break the NDA if it never happened?" (Even though, duh, I already knew all that and already made fun of Team Trump for that, but Cooper juxtaposed it very clearly so that it struck me anew.)

The use of the Bush appointee to talk about the campaign cash issues was good, and juxtaposing this with Jonathan Edwards was very good, like this was pitched at "centrists" who think any accusation must be overblown because of partisanship, and GOP voters who like the tax cuts and the Reaganomics, but not the rest of Trumpism.

The mention in the accompanying material that there was plenty more salacious and sleazy material that 60 Minutes opted not to use -- well that's just genius.

I also think Cooper was a good choice for the interview because he's very calm and unruffled, but he doesn't come across as square -- there was no sense he was judging her about the sex (or the porn), nor was there any sense he was dodging anything as too embarrassing to talk about. I made my kids leave the room when I watched it, but afterwards I was like, "Yeah, okay, my kids probably could have watched that," because Cooper made it very straightforward and matter-of-fact and unsensationalized and non-salacious, which I think will help bring the import of the story home to voters who are uncomfortable with sex on the evening news. It was very professional and very straightforward, and Cooper projected no hint of salacious interest. It was really well done for reporting (and interviewing) on a high-profile political sex scandal with serious legal ramifications.

Also, Stormy Daniels mimicking Donald Trump hitting on her is so devastatingly on point that I'm sure it convinced a million people.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:45 PM on March 25, 2018 [71 favorites]


> I think what Stormy is showing is that this story isn't going anywhere. I remember Lewinsky. It's entirely possible that stuff like this swallows up the rest of Trump's presidency. Once the Democrats are in charge if they're smart they'll drown him in investigations.

only to the extent that it doesn't get in the way of doing the very large quantites of very real work we have to do in the next two to four years. Obstruction can be good and necessary, but so is Actual Grownups doing Actual Grownup Things in our government.
posted by Old Kentucky Shark at 5:45 PM on March 25, 2018 [4 favorites]


@kyletblaine (CNN)
I know a lot of people are saying there's no news in the Stormy Daniels interview, but remember there's a whole new audience watching tonight who probably have not followed every single development in this story.

---

And this from Rick Wilson was written before it aired, but seems accurate in how it'll affect Trump. Between her saying she didn't find him attractive and didn't want to have sex with him, saying she turned him down the second time they met, saying he and Melania sleep in different rooms... She's in his head rattling some pots and pans.

@TheRickWilson
1/ It's not what she reveals tonight...it's what it does to Trump's head. If he summoned Cohen to Mar a Lago, it means he's in a raving, shit-hot panic.
2/ His impotent, restrained fury at not being able to tweet at her is delicious
3/ And if she questions his virility, the size of his junk, or his prowess as a lover...whoooo wheeee is he going to be sitting there limp and hopeless with rage.
posted by chris24 at 5:52 PM on March 25, 2018 [39 favorites]


What was the timing of the interview? I thought Cooper asking Karen McDougal about "did he compare you to his children" was ODD and out of context (of that interview) but not so much based on this interview on 60 minutes, where she brought it up.
posted by armacy at 5:54 PM on March 25, 2018 [2 favorites]


My (utterly ignorant) take on Shulkin is that it's kind of a wash, both from a personnel and a messaging perspective. He predated trump in the VA and I think there was briefly some hope he wasn't a Trumpist creature, but the corruption and general erraticness has suggested that he ate the Submission-loaf and isn't much better than an outside appointee. His replacement might be worse, but it's hard to see his replacement being a lot worse.

As for the message you take from this, it seems every administration member who gets the ax can be spun in multiple ways. You can read it as the executive in disarray and the wheels coming off the bus, you can read it as Trump consolidating power, you can read it as him building up enemies on the outside of his administration who might have damaging information, you can read it as him feeling more confident in his autocracy. Depending which tea leaves you're reading this might be a sign of weakness or a show of strength.
posted by jackbishop at 6:17 PM on March 25, 2018 [2 favorites]


And a married man with a newborn having unprotected sex with an adult film star. A man idolized by million of rightwing "Christians." Sure, they don't care cuz they're terrible people, but we need to never stop calling out their hypocrisy and vileness.

@Franklin_Graham (Dec 2017)
Never in my lifetime have we had a @POTUS willing to take such a strong outspoken stand for the Christian faith like @realDonaldTrump. We need to get behind him with our prayers.
posted by chris24 at 6:18 PM on March 25, 2018 [41 favorites]


Maybe someone needs to put Matthew Calamari (great villain name) in a photo line up. Because why not send the COO?
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:19 PM on March 25, 2018


i figure they kept it in the can that long because
a) they wanted to make sure they were airtight against a slander charge
b) 60 Minutes is weekly.
posted by murphy slaw at 6:19 PM on March 25, 2018 [5 favorites]


Josh Marshall:
I think maybe the best part of this story is that Trump invites Stormy over to have sex and he burns through four hours watching a shark attack documentary
posted by murphy slaw at 6:21 PM on March 25, 2018 [50 favorites]


Call me when there's something actionable.

Wait. You can’t think of a half a dozen ways this is actionable? You can’t imagine calling a congressperson and going on record to request an investigation of campaign funding problems? You can’t imagine having a conversation with a child about bodily autonomy, the right to say no, the right to leave a situation even if someone might suggest you ‘were asking for it?’ You can’t imagine requesting that NPR be actually fair and balanced when it covers things like this? You can’t imagine defending Stormy Daniels tomorrow around the water cooler when someone accuses her of being a money grubbing blabber mouth (or worse?) you can’t imagine writing Avenatti a mildly disappointed letter because he kept referring to Stormy as ‘this woman?’ (Was that a deliberate call back to Bill Clinton? I couldn’t tell. At any rate, I didn’t like it in the transcript.)

This isn’t actionable? What has been actionable so far? I’m seriously asking. What about this makes you feel there is nothing you can do?

I’m baffled. The past year+ has shown so many people that doing something is helpful.
posted by bilabial at 6:22 PM on March 25, 2018 [23 favorites]


And a married man with a newborn having unprotected sex with an adult film star. A man idolized by million of rightwing "Christians." Sure they don't care cuz they're terrible people, but we need to never stop calling out their hypocrisy and vileness.

"Christian" leaders love a story of the redemption of a straight, white man.

At least this presidency is finally putting the final nail in the coffin of evangelical self-righteousness. Everyone knows how craven they are for temporal power.
posted by Talez at 6:22 PM on March 25, 2018 [11 favorites]


You could (and I do) argue that this was all perfectly normal for Donald Trump all his life, and has been gradually getting more normal for larger sections of this country all MY life (and I'm a decade younger than Donny).

@Franklin_Graham Never in my lifetime have we had a @POTUS willing to take such a strong outspoken stand for the Christian faith like @realDonaldTrump.
The "Christian faith" has (d)evolved over the last few decades to where it is now to so many, like Trump and Graham, based on racism, sexism and greed, not morality and honor. "Evangelical self-righteousness" lives on, just as it does for ISIS.
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:28 PM on March 25, 2018 [3 favorites]


A political consultant who helped Stormy with her possible campaign for governor back in 2009 has released screenshots of an email from back then that confirms the shark week and spanking stories.

@AndDube (Andrea Dubé)
9 years, y’all. NINE YEARS.

I have lived with the spanking/ shark week knowledge for ALMOST A DECADE. #stormydaniels #60minutes

Welcome to hell. 👋

SCREENSHOT
Yep. She said one time he made her sit with him for three hours watching "shark week." Another time he had her spank him with a Forbes magazine.
posted by chris24 at 6:32 PM on March 25, 2018 [49 favorites]


Breaking: Former Cambridge Analytica workers say firm sent foreigners to advise U.S. campaigns (WaPo)
Cambridge Analytica assigned dozens of non-U.S. citizens to provide campaign strategy and messaging advice to Republican candidates in 2014, according to three former workers for the data firm, even as an attorney warned executives to abide by U.S. laws limiting foreign involvement in elections.

The effort was designed to present the newly created company, whose parent, SCL Group, was based in London, as “an American brand” that would appeal to U.S. political clients, according to former Cambridge Analytica research director Christopher Wylie.

Wylie, who emerged this month as a whistleblower, provided The Washington Post with documents that describe a program across several U.S. states to win campaigns for Republicans using psychological profiling to reach voters with individually tailored messages. The documents include previously unreported details about the program, which was called “Project Ripon” for the Wisconsin town where the Republican Party was born in 1854.

U.S. election regulations say foreign nationals must not “directly or indirectly participate in the decision-making process” of a political campaign, although they can play lesser roles.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 6:34 PM on March 25, 2018 [33 favorites]


I find Nate Silver's argument here (ok it's less an argument than an assertion captain pedant) convincing. The media is all over this story because of the humiliating (to trump) salaciousness of it. They claim it's because of the campaign finance, threatening, blah blah blah, but they aren't spending nearly this much time on much more serious violations of law and ethics so that argument rings hollow.

Not to say that this isn't a story, only that the media isn't being honest about why they are running with it so hard.
posted by Justinian at 6:37 PM on March 25, 2018 [14 favorites]


@jamesgibney (Bloomberg)
When you consider the behavior Trump exhibited in the Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal episodes, the question shifts from "How could the Russians have kompromat on Trump?" to "How could the Russians NOT have kompromat on Trump?"
posted by chris24 at 6:37 PM on March 25, 2018 [76 favorites]


The "Christian faith" has evolved over the last few decades to where it is now to so many, like Trump and Graham, based on racism, sexism and greed, not morality and honor. "Evangelical self-righteousness" lives on, just as it does for ISIS.

Are there any conservative churches or denominations that renounce Trump?
posted by scalefree at 6:39 PM on March 25, 2018 [3 favorites]


Who cares if they're covering it because it's salacious. It's the president of the United States, a man elected and supported primarily by a supposedly moral and righteous section of the electorate, a man trying to limit the rights of LGBT based on supposedly moral, biblical reasons. The sex part of it is a story regardless of the campaign finance issue.
posted by chris24 at 6:40 PM on March 25, 2018 [46 favorites]


Anderson Cooper: Did you ever see that person again?

Stormy Daniels: No. But I-- if I did, I would know it right away.

Anderson Cooper: You'd be able to-- you'd be able to recognize that person?

Stormy Daniels: 100%. Even now, all these years later. If he walked in this door right now, I would instantly know.


That part is interesting to me because I would not be surprised if "that person" is someone who is currently working for Trump. It would be a hell of a way for her to send a message.
posted by azpenguin at 6:59 PM on March 25, 2018 [51 favorites]


Yea, they forfeited the right to complain about salacious coverage years ago when they impeached Clinton over it. I want every last detail out. I want the uncensored Stormy DVD running on loop on CNN. I want the media doing the one thing they really know how to do here, play up sex scandals to the max. And ideally they'd have on every megachurch pastor in the country to answer for their congregation's votes for Trump, and every "family values" Republican should be asked about this repeatedly, in every interview, exactly like they did to Democrats in the 90s.

And as long as he's distracted over Stormy and who knows how many more will come after her, his attention is off of firing Mueller.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:00 PM on March 25, 2018 [54 favorites]


CBS: Why the Stormy Daniels story matters: Anderson Cooper talks about his 60 Minutes interview with the porn star: "I think there's more to come on this story."
SILVIO: And there were many tawdry details that you and the 60 Minutes team decided to leave out of this story.

COOPER: Yeah. Of course. I mean, yes. There are many, many tawdry details which we did not include in the story because it's just, you know, that's not our interest.
So we have these details to look forward to.
posted by chris24 at 7:01 PM on March 25, 2018 [23 favorites]


If it's not in your interest get goddamn Howard Stern on the line to do an interview
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 7:18 PM on March 25, 2018 [29 favorites]


The Hill:
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) raised questions on Sunday about whether President Trump's recently selected national security adviser, John Bolton, can obtain a full security clearance.

In an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," Kaine expressed concern at what he suggested were Bolton's "contacts with foreign governments," notably in Russia, pointing to a 2013 video for a Russian gun rights group in which Bolton appeared.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:33 PM on March 25, 2018 [94 favorites]


Former Cambridge Analytica workers say firm sent foreigners to advise U.S. campaigns

I really hope Mueller has much more on Cambridge Analytica, and that the charges go beyond Nix to the Mercers.

In light of the recent dirt on the company showing disregard for law at the highest levels, the coincidence of the Mercer Yacht parked alongside that of Dmitry Rybolovlev a year ago down near Mar-a-Lago looks even fishier.

Especially when coupled with at least one other similar coincidence last year: after the Whitehouse said Trump would be at Mar-a-Lago for Thanksgiving, the yacht of another oligarch, Roman Abramovich (who was on the new sanctions list before Trump basically ignored it), showed up to Palm Beach just before Thanksgiving and a week ahead of it's scheduled arrival. The Mercer yacht was there again too.

Nothing criminal on the surface of course, but I really hope the FBI has been monitoring the Mercers throughout all this, or that someone with more dirt on them at least flips for Mueller.
posted by p3t3 at 7:44 PM on March 25, 2018 [28 favorites]


We've got to be cautious about the timing of tawdry details releases because people might be shorting the penis length betting market.
posted by XMLicious at 7:55 PM on March 25, 2018 [5 favorites]


Tomorrow's front page of the Daily News is brutal.
posted by chris24 at 8:44 PM on March 25, 2018 [32 favorites]


Here’s what’ll happen after Trump’s dick pic comes out:

1. Charlie Kirk argues small dicks are actually the best kind of dicks

2. Fox News says Hillary’s never shown a picture of her vagina what is she hiding

3. NYT interviews man in a rural diner who loves Trump even MORE now
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:53 PM on March 25, 2018 [76 favorites]


"(LAUGH) it was sort of-- I had it coming for making a bad decision for going to someone's room alone and I just heard the voice in my head, "well, you put yourself in a bad situation and bad things happen, so you deserve this."
(...)
Anderson Cooper: Did you want to have sex with him?
Stormy Daniels: No. But I didn't-- I didn't say no. I'm not a victim, I'm not--


who could find this this "salacious?" who is capable of being more bothered by any theoretical video than by this? who is not more viscerally upset by this than by any 'tawdry' theoretical dick pics? who does not know the exact experience she's recounting and assuming responsibility for, whether or not it's ever happened to you? raise your fucking hands
posted by queenofbithynia at 8:59 PM on March 25, 2018 [89 favorites]


@DavidJollyFL (Former FL R congressman and NeverTrumper)
Maybe not my place, but a woman who suggests she was not interested in having a relationship with a man but felt compelled to as self-punishment for the bad decision of going to his room may be the most important societal conversation to come from this @60Minutes interview.
posted by chris24 at 9:03 PM on March 25, 2018 [131 favorites]


Matt Shuham, TPM: Lewandowski: ‘I Could See A Scenario’ In Which Trump Is His Own Chief Of Staff

Me, I could see a scenario where Trump pretends to be someone else being his Chief of Staff.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:40 PM on March 25, 2018 [39 favorites]


Maybe not my place, but a woman who suggests she was not interested in having a relationship with a man but felt compelled to as self-punishment for the bad decision of going to his room may be the most important societal conversation to come from this @60Minutes interview.

Women have been told that all of our lives. "If you didn't want it, why did you go/dress like that.." etc. To the point that so many of us, (including, apparently, Stormy) just totally internalize it. Stormy may do even moreso because she's a sex worker, and if there's anything people love, it's treating sex workers like they're less than human.

We need to protect Stormy and others like her by not letting jackasses make even one more snide remark about sex workers without encountering a fierce blowback. Stormy Daniels is smart, accomplished, brave and strong in the face of some pretty nasty people trying to keep her quiet. And if those traits aren't good enough to make of all the gross, disgusting men who would slut shame every woman into silence reconsider that tactic, then there truly is nothing else. And for some, that may be the case. But really, fuck them. I'm sick of them deciding how to frame everything. We write the stories now.
posted by triggerfinger at 9:42 PM on March 25, 2018 [76 favorites]


It's probably uncontroversial that the recently announced ban of transgender troops isn't meant as a distraction from Mueller or Daniels but is a blatant reminder to Trump's fundamentalist base as to why they should stick with him despite the incontrovertible fact that he is a liar and serial adulterer. Because, regardless of his sins, he's the guy who's going to stick it to the LGBTQs. (Just like jailing and deporting minorities is a reminder to the racist base.) But it occurs to me that the leak Pence is the one who drafted the policy might be a slight underhanded betrayal by the VP -- a below the radar pitch to the evangelicals that it'll still be okay if they dump Trump; Pence will still be their guy.
posted by xigxag at 9:43 PM on March 25, 2018 [14 favorites]


Dylan Matthews, Vox: Why the Stormy Daniels story matters, in one paragraph

Specifically:
This is about abuse of power, pure and simple, a point that Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, makes extremely well in his own interview with 60 Minutes’ Anderson Cooper:
Anderson Cooper: There are people who argue that this much ado about nothing, that if this was not a story about, an adult film actress and the President of the United States, no one would pay attention.

Michael Avenatti: This is about the cover-up. This is about the extent that Mr. Cohen and the president have gone to intimidate this woman, to silence her, to threaten her, and to put her under their thumb. It is thuggish behavior from people in power. And it has no place in American democracy.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:46 PM on March 25, 2018 [84 favorites]


But it occurs to me that the leak Pence is the one who drafted the policy might be a slight underhanded betrayal by the VP -- a below the radar pitch to the evangelicals that it'll still be okay if they dump Trump; Pence will still be their guy.

Could be, but that's a higher level of calculation than we have any reason to believe this administration is capable of.

I'm inclined to believe that they just throw Pence the occasional policy bone as a reward for his steadfast loyalty.
posted by mrmurbles at 9:49 PM on March 25, 2018 [12 favorites]


I wonder if Mattis leaked the Pence trans policy story since he was getting slammed for the new policy.
posted by chris24 at 10:33 PM on March 25, 2018 [12 favorites]


The other reason the Stormy Daniels matters is that Daniels is playing in Trump's domain. The manipulation of media for fame, the projection of an outsize personality onto the worlds' screens, and the constant attention grabbing. By the standards of reality tv she is an extremely potent player in the game. Trump will lash out in reaction to her and in doing he will commit more foolish acts that are likely to hurt him.

Not to mention if Michael Cohen gets hit with an indictment for campaign finance violations he might just flip.
posted by rdr at 11:57 PM on March 25, 2018 [7 favorites]


please don't tell trump one of his authoritarian mates has just managed to table (BrE meaning) an Anti-Fake News Bill [actualfax real] today in the Malaysian parliament.
posted by cendawanita at 12:20 AM on March 26, 2018 [3 favorites]


NYT, At a Crucial Juncture, Trump’s Legal Defense Is Largely a One-Man Operation
The second phase, which is now focused on the question of a presidential interview with Mr. Mueller, had been led by Mr. Dowd. One reason Mr. Dowd quit was that, against his advice, Mr. Trump was insistent that he wanted to answer questions under oath from Mr. Mueller, believing that it would help clear him.

Mr. Dowd had concluded that there was no upside and that the president, who often does not tell the truth, could increase his legal exposure if his answers were not accurate.
@OrinKerr: This is a nice way of saying that Dowd left because his client plans to perjure himself.
posted by zachlipton at 12:26 AM on March 26, 2018 [71 favorites]


And censorious Singapore had its Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods – Causes, Consequences and Countermeasures grill Facebook, where they now can use the Cambridge Analytica news to build a case against these tech companies.

these countries are not great role models for freedom of speech anyway.
posted by cendawanita at 12:28 AM on March 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


Ty Cobb is a White House lawyer, a government employee. He doesn't represent Trump personally. These clowns may not understand the distinction, but it's important.

I also imagine Cobb's credibility may have taken a hit because he kept insisting the investigation would end. His prediction back in August:
I’d be embarrassed if this is still haunting the White House by Thanksgiving and worse if it’s still haunting him by year end
A few indictments and guilty pleas later, it became "by the end of the year, if not shortly thereafter" and then "January or so" and then (in January) "four to six weeks."

I realize this kind of time estimating is Trump Administration SOP (cf. dragging Stormy Daniels along about a slot on The Apprentice, one of the aspects of this story that deserves more attention; that's pretty crappy behavior), but even Trump must be starting to doubt this guy by now.
posted by zachlipton at 12:48 AM on March 26, 2018 [10 favorites]


Trump’s Legal Team Is Bigger Than It Looks
President Donald Trump’s legal team is bigger than it looks. Two sources familiar with the president’s team have told The Daily Beast that about half a dozen attorneys affiliated with a conservative non-profit have been helping Jay Sekulow represent the president.
posted by PenDevil at 1:02 AM on March 26, 2018 [6 favorites]


So the ACLJ is a way for conservative billionaires to get Jay Sekulow's legal team to do work and get a tax deduction for it? Sounds legit.
posted by benzenedream at 1:32 AM on March 26, 2018 [11 favorites]


Lost in the Pelosi-Schumer criticisms is why the hell California (and therefore the rest of the US) still has to put up with Feinstein. California is solidly blue yet we can't seem to rid ourselves of this pol who really is and long has been out of touch with the electorate she is supposed to represent

A minor point of pedantry: given how quickly she walks back comments that get press, it's less 'out of touch' and more 'bad instincts'.

Anyway, the reason seems to be because she's wily as fuuuuuck - she was an important player in getting Trump to briefly agree to Democratic gun control positions over the objections of the Republicans in the room. If you can get a more blue D in there, go for it, but there are worse Ds.
posted by Merus at 1:45 AM on March 26, 2018 [11 favorites]


Two sources familiar with the president’s team have told The Daily Beast that about half a dozen attorneys affiliated with a conservative non-profit have been helping Jay Sekulow represent the president.

Couldn't this be viewed as a campaign contribution?
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:13 AM on March 26, 2018 [13 favorites]


@davidaxelrod:
Memo to Gen. Kelly:
Stormy Daniels reports that the @POTUS became more compliant after been spanked.
Desperate times demand desperate measures.
posted by chris24 at 3:36 AM on March 26, 2018 [75 favorites]


@trumpsalert: realDonaldTrump appears to be following @CNN. (This bot cannot tell if it was a new follow or the result of the account being reactivated.)

Somebody is trying out a new channel this morning?
posted by zachlipton at 4:15 AM on March 26, 2018 [3 favorites]


about half a dozen attorneys affiliated with a conservative non-profit have been helping Jay Sekulow represent the president.

Hear that, Mueller? Not one, but SIX fucking morons totally out of their depth are gunning for you.
posted by Rykey at 4:27 AM on March 26, 2018 [32 favorites]


Somebody is trying out a new channel this morning?

I guess he wants to see how the Stormy story is playing on the Twitters. Outside of his RWNJ corner of it.

Also, another good thing to come out of the interview last night is the simple fact she did it. And on the biggest mainstream news show. Despite the NDA, despite physical, legal and financial threats she spoke out. I think a big part of why they fought so hard on this against her is to stop an avalanche of people coming forward.* Bannon in Fire and Fury said they did hundreds of these NDAs. Even if he's off by an order of magnitude that's a lot of women, lots of lurid stories, lots of distractions that will consume his presidency, end his marriage, erode his base.

Stormy and MacDougal are big cracks in the dam and very damaging on their own. But it's what it could lead to when the dam breaks that is the real danger for him. Because you know he paid for abortions.

* Another reason I think is that proof of infidelity invalidates the vast majority of pre-nups.
posted by chris24 at 4:27 AM on March 26, 2018 [27 favorites]


Weird that for someone who will pick a fight with anyone on Twitter when it comes to Stormy Daniels, El Presidente is shtum.
posted by PenDevil at 4:29 AM on March 26, 2018 [12 favorites]


He can't even brag/lie correctly. Yes, it has been many years that we've been seeing these good economic numbers, because you're riding Obama's wave. You meant "since we've seen these kind of numbers", Mr. I Have The Best Words.


@realDonaldTrump
The economy is looking really good. It has been many years that we have seen these kind of numbers. The underlying strength of companies has perhaps never been better.
posted by chris24 at 4:44 AM on March 26, 2018 [3 favorites]


@mkraju (CNN)
Stormy lawyer @MichaelAvenatti says on @NewDay that “we have a whole host of evidence” that they will reveal over the “next weeks and months” to show Michael Cohen, with Trump’s knowledge, knew of efforts to silence and threaten her. “We’re just getting started.”

@CBSThisMorning
“Isn’t it interesting that we have a president that will tweet about the most mundane matters, but he won’t tweet about my client, the affair, the agreement or the $130,000 payment. You know why he won’t tweet about it? Because it’s true,” claims @MichaelAvenatti
VIDEO

@TODAYshow
“She was prepared to discuss intimate details relating to Mr. Trump. She can describe his genitalia.” Stormy Daniels' attorney Michael Avenatti on her latest interview
VIDEO

@ShimonPro (CNN)
Stormy Daniel’s lawyer @MichaelAvenatti refuses to say if Mueller’s office has contacted them.

CBS This Morning: Have you been contacted by federal investigators or the special counsel?

AVENATTI: I’m not going to answer that question.

---

@matthewjdowd (ABC)
A porn star hired a better attorney than the President has, or even can. Let that sink in for a moment.

@maggieNYT
Can't be stressed enough - he's a sitting president with personal wealth and few if any white shoe firms want to work for him.

@yashar (New York mag)
It really is quite remarkable. Law firms that go to great lengths to get clients like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, firms that represent people charged with murder, are refusing to represent the President of the United States..

---

"She can describe his genitalia."

I love the mindfuck, low-key threat of this line.
posted by chris24 at 5:05 AM on March 26, 2018 [104 favorites]


Another reason I think is that proof of infidelity invalidates the vast majority of pre-nups.

Given his very public history of what we might very politely term "dalliances," if Donald Trump's lawyers let him sign a prenup that didn't explicitly account for the possibility that he would stray from the marital bed, then they and he are idiots all. We already know that Trump doesn't get the best legal advice that would in potential be available to him, for reasons we've gone over at great length in these threads, but it's inconceeeeeeeivable to me that he wouldn't have backstopped himself against that specific eventuality.

(Of course, it was also inconceivable to me that every last safeguard against electing this dull-normal shitbird and hater of women President would fail. I'm not sure where that leaves us.)
posted by adamgreenfield at 5:13 AM on March 26, 2018 [10 favorites]


@yashar (New York mag)
It really is quite remarkable. Law firms that go to great lengths to get clients like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, firms that represent people charged with murder, are refusing to represent the President of the United States..


@truthiness2010
Replying to @yashar
They just have a few requirements: you tell them the truth, you follow their advice and you pay your bills. Can't see what the problem is myself.
posted by ZeusHumms at 5:19 AM on March 26, 2018 [67 favorites]


if Donald Trump's lawyers let him sign a prenup that didn't explicitly account for the possibility that he would stray from the marital bed, then they and he are idiots all.
RON HOWARD: They and he are idiots all.
Trump's lawyers have never had to DEFEND any of their contracts in court, since up to know DJT has been able to settle his way out of everything. As we've seen by their lack of attention to details in the Daniels' NDA, there's no upper limit to them getting spanked by civil courts when they can't settle their way out for a change.
posted by mikelieman at 5:21 AM on March 26, 2018 [4 favorites]


As with most Trump dalliances, it was short-lived.

@TrumpsAlert
realDonaldTrump appears to no longer follow @CNN. (This bot cannot tell if this was an unfollow, suspension or block.)
posted by chris24 at 5:23 AM on March 26, 2018 [10 favorites]




Please hurry on that one. It is so crushing to have my kid not want to apply for their "dream" schools due to financial burdens.
posted by mikepop at 6:16 AM on March 26, 2018 [10 favorites]


Well we just expelled 60 Russian diplomats in response to the Skripal poisoning.

Nothing from Two Scoops yet reveling in the triumph or the tough stance.
posted by Talez at 6:17 AM on March 26, 2018 [4 favorites]




Last week, the senior senator from Hawaii introduced the Debt-Free College Act of 2018...

Fuck yeah, don't play their bullshit "concerned about deficits" game.
So, eventually — barring the abolition of the filibuster — you’re gonna need a pay-for, right?:

A couple of things: First, this program is scalable, so we can make down payments and climb the hill to get all the way to where we want to go, eventually. And second of all, if there’s a conversation about revenue in the future, it’s not that I’m unwilling to negotiate. It’s just that Republicans are tactically skillful about never talking about paying for what they want, and Democrats are always very earnestly trying to satisfy the 13 people who are still doing Third Way work on K Street, and it’s a game that disadvantages Democrats, and I don’t want to play it anymore.
posted by chris24 at 6:18 AM on March 26, 2018 [94 favorites]


You know, one thing we need along with debt-free college is debt-relief for people who are already burdened. For various reasons which boil down to luck, I don't have college debt, so I don't have a dog in this fight - but I would sure love to see something which at least scales down payments to something rationally linked to income - if you're not making much, a $200/month "income linked" payment is still a lot, for instance.
posted by Frowner at 6:18 AM on March 26, 2018 [51 favorites]


Funnily enough, I scanned both the WaPo and NYT stories and they kind of missed something from the statement.

He shut the Seattle consulate down because it was too close to Boeing and a submarine base.

Even when he does the right thing he's a fucking idiot.
posted by Talez at 6:21 AM on March 26, 2018 [9 favorites]


Well, this has taken some time. I guess the procedure is: Kushner meets someone from the Russian side in a park and says we need to take action now, dad is getting cornered. Russian guy goes back to HQ and asks what can we give them? HQ says they can have Seattle and the UN, those are not really important these days, with most of the action being in Washington.
Russian guy gets back to Kushner who gets back to Trump and almost all are happy. Now Trump and all his hangers-on including republican congress can say "see: no collusion". The Russians can keep up whatever it is they are doing. We can just sigh and wait for Muellermas.
The end.
posted by mumimor at 6:25 AM on March 26, 2018 [16 favorites]


@NatashaBertrand: Big AP investigation finds that George Nader wired $2.5 million to Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy through a company in Canada to bankroll an effort to persuade the U.S. to take a hard line against Qatar.
posted by Dashy at 6:33 AM on March 26, 2018 [38 favorites]


from the "doth protest too much department":

Cohen’s Lawyer Sends Stormy Daniels Cease And Desist After CBS Interview
Cohen’s lawyer, Brent Blakely, charged that Clifford made “false and defamatory statements” during the “60 Minutes” interview, specifically when she claimed that she was threatened in a Las Vegas parking lot in 2011 not to discuss her relationship with Trump.

Blakely denied that Cohen has anything to do with the threat.

In the “60 Minutes” interview, Clifford did not suggest that Cohen was behind the threat.
please cease and desist from making accusations that you did not make, says very not guilty man Michael Cohen.
posted by murphy slaw at 6:41 AM on March 26, 2018 [85 favorites]


You know, one thing we need along with debt-free college is debt-relief for people who are already burdened. For various reasons which boil down to luck

Jubilee Now!
posted by The Whelk at 6:47 AM on March 26, 2018 [37 favorites]


Despite porn stars and Playboy models, white evangelicals aren’t rejecting Trump. This is why. (Andrew L. Whitehead, Joseph O. Baker and Samuel L. Perry, WaPo)
Why are white Christians sticking so closely to Trump, despite these claims of sexual indiscretions? And why are religious individuals and groups that previously decried sexual impropriety among political leaders suddenly willing to give Trump a “mulligan” on his infidelity?

Our new study points to a different answer than others have offered. Voters’ religious tenets aren’t actually what’s behind Trump support; rather, it’s Christian nationalism — their view of the United States as a fundamentally Christian nation. […]

Many voters believed, and presumably still believe, that regardless of his personal piety (or lack thereof), President Trump would defend what they saw as the country’s Christian heritage — and would help move the nation toward a distinctly Christian future. Ironically, Christian nationalism is focused on preserving a perceived Christian identity for America irrespective of the means by which such a project would be achieved.

Hence many white Christians believe Trump may be an effective instrument in God’s plan for America, even if he is not particularly religious himself.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:45 AM on March 26, 2018 [38 favorites]


Absolutely nothing matters to these people whatsoever except hurting people not like them, and Trump does that for them.
posted by Artw at 7:47 AM on March 26, 2018 [66 favorites]


Given that "Shark Week" is a euphemism in some places for the menstrual period, I am slightly relieved to see that the references to Shark Week re: Stormy involve _actual sharks_.
posted by delfin at 7:48 AM on March 26, 2018 [12 favorites]


Voters’ religious tenets aren’t actually what’s behind Trump support; rather, it’s white Christian nationalism — their view of the United States as a fundamentally white Christian nation.

FTFY
posted by PenDevil at 7:50 AM on March 26, 2018 [47 favorites]


Hence many white Christians believe Trump may be an effective instrument in God’s plan for America, even if he is not particularly religious himself.

Ironically, the Trump regime makes some tenets of Christianity seem more believable, because I'm pretty certain Donald Trump is the foretold Antichrist.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:52 AM on March 26, 2018 [21 favorites]


Hence many white Christians believe Trump may be an effective instrument in God’s plan for America, even if he is not particularly religious himself.

See also: Why evangelicals are calling Trump a “modern-day Cyrus.” It's from March 5 (a few eons ago) but I've not seen it posted here. The fact is that Trump and his handlers/minions are really good at identifying and weaponizing narratives that are completly nonsensical for anyone outside the target group.
posted by elgilito at 7:52 AM on March 26, 2018 [7 favorites]


Some fundamentalists I know put everything on a balance scale and say the coming abortion ban will save hundreds of thousands of lives per year and who cares if the instrument to bring that to them is a sleazebag.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 7:53 AM on March 26, 2018 [4 favorites]


Our new study points to a different answer than others have offered. Voters’ religious tenets aren’t actually what’s behind Trump support; rather, it’s Christian nationalism — their view of the United States as a fundamentally Christian nation. […]

So, in other words, for these people, The Handmaid's Tale is a how-to manual, not a novel or TV series. I'm not afraid of martial law, because I don't think these people have the smarts to carry out any kind of coup (and besides, martial law is hard to implement; the Trumpkins can't just snap their fingers and say "coup!") but it's telling that this is their ideal.

Fortunately their numbers are diminishing - one-quarter of Americans say they are "not religious" (most are still spiritual, some are not).
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 7:54 AM on March 26, 2018 [3 favorites]


When the Rpy Moore thing was happening it was revealed that the bulk of Evangelicals embrace and even celebrate paedophilia, so I don’t know why we would expect anything from them - they are a moral black hole.
posted by Artw at 7:55 AM on March 26, 2018 [26 favorites]


That AP story about George Nader and Elliot Broidy should be paired with this NYTimes story on Broidy’s influence peddling, Fund-Raiser Held Out Access to Trump as a Prize for Prospective Clients:
After Mr. Trump’s election, Mr. Broidy quickly capitalized, marketing his Trump connections to politicians and governments around the world, including some with unsavory records, according to interviews and documents obtained by The New York Times. Mr. Broidy suggested to clients and prospective customers of his Virginia-based defense contracting company, Circinus, that he could broker meetings with Mr. Trump, his administration and congressional allies.

Mr. Broidy’s ability to leverage his political connections to boost his business illuminates how Mr. Trump’s unorthodox approach to governing has spawned a new breed of access peddling in the swamp he vowed to drain.

Mr. Broidy offered tickets to V.I.P. inauguration events, including a candlelight dinner attended by Mr. Trump, to a Congolese strongman accused of funding a lavish lifestyle with public resources. He helped arrange a meeting with Republican senators and offered a trip to Mar-a-Lago, the president’s private Florida resort, for an Angolan politician. And he arranged an invitation to a party at Mr. Trump’s Washington hotel for a Romanian parliamentarian facing corruption charges, who posted a photograph with the president on Facebook.
posted by peeedro at 8:05 AM on March 26, 2018 [12 favorites]


Mod note: I know there's always fodder but let's try not to get deep into an nth round of Evidence That Evangelicals Stan Hypocritically For Trump -> free-form beefing about how much they suck. Like a lot of perennial catch-all topics, it's not a new conversation and not one we generally improve on when we cycle back around to the greatest hits.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:05 AM on March 26, 2018 [17 favorites]


I called my (evangelical) mother last night, and 60 minutes was on in the background. She mentioned Ms. Daniels specifically, and when I said I had no interest in hearing about it her response was "women care about these things". I didn't ask her to elaborate, but I hope and suspect that the constant drip-drip-drip of the Daniels news is having a cumulative effect on women like her.
posted by Slothrup at 8:07 AM on March 26, 2018 [31 favorites]


Megan Flynn, WaPo: ‘Mr. Santorum, CPR doesn’t work if all the blood is on the ground.’ Many doctors and surgeons expressed dismay at his statements via social media.
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:25 AM on March 26, 2018 [79 favorites]


> Santorum argued that they should try to learn how to respond to a mass shooter as an individual rather than demanding large-scale change from lawmakers.

This is so (willfully?) stupid I'm at a loss for how to respond to it. Isn't "large-scale change" the whole point of "laws"? Is Santorum an anarchist? Does he think the bucket of rocks in every classroom "solution" is a communist plot because presumably the idea is to have more than one person throwing rocks?
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:35 AM on March 26, 2018 [5 favorites]


Martial Law is quite as easy as a snap of the fingers, if America is as prepared as Canada was. Don't be so quick to dismiss the possibility.
posted by Yowser at 8:36 AM on March 26, 2018 [3 favorites]


The horrifying personal threat made toward Daniels/Clifford in 2011 is too disturbingly real despite the mob-movie cliche aspect. A Twitter account called the Sparrow Project noted the parallel to this event, which happened in 2009 but wasn't made public until last year thanks to an FIOA request. “If You Keep Fucking With Mr. Trump, We Know Where You Live”.

Trump has goons, and one of them (we don't know who) called a lawyer named Kristopher Hansen with that threat (specifically mentioning his family). It happened after Hansen's clients had decided not buy the struggling Trump Entertainment Resorts. (Or declined to sell them to Trump, or something, the article didn't detail that part of it much.)

From his following/looming around Hillary at the town hall debate, to the interactions with Jim Comey, to the countless stories of other victims of Donald Trump... this is his pattern, his default mode. It's cruelty both for personal gain and for its own sake.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 8:40 AM on March 26, 2018 [31 favorites]


questions on Sunday about whether President Trump's recently selected national security adviser, John Bolton, can obtain a full security clearance.

If Kushner can help out with a Saudi coup and Qatari blockade with an interim clearance, Bolton can start a few wars before Kelly does anything about it. If Kelly is still even there.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:43 AM on March 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


Mod note: A few comments removed. Folks, please continue to try to not-so-much with one-liners; and if there's a discussion to be had about NYC housing there should be a thread about it because as much as it like everything else can be connected in a holistic sense to The State Of Things, these threads get all the more unwieldy when they're used as not just US politics catch-alls but literal "here is a thing that is up" catch-alls. Please keep it more focused.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:48 AM on March 26, 2018 [12 favorites]


‘Locker Room Talk’: Trump Fans Charged In Anti-Muslim Terror Plot Say It Was Just Bluster
WICHITA, Kansas ― A trio of anti-Muslim Kansas militiamen who discussed plans to murder Somali refugees were hoodwinked by fake news on Facebook and unfairly exploited by a federal government targeting them for their conservative beliefs, their defense attorneys argued this week.

“Locker room talk,” Federico said, echoing the phrase then-candidate Trump used to describe the “Access Hollywood” tape in which he discussed how he could sexually assault women and get away with it because he was famous.
White privilege y'all. Talking about murdering refugees is just locker room talk.
posted by Talez at 8:50 AM on March 26, 2018 [78 favorites]


Anna North, Vox: Stormy Daniels makes Donald Trump sound a lot like Harvey Weinstein
It’s true that Daniels has never claimed to be a victim of sexual misconduct. And on Sunday, she described her sexual encounter with Trump — she says there was only one, though the two stayed in touch afterward — as completely consensual. But what she described, both in that initial encounter and in a later meeting that didn’t end in sex, is still deeply disturbing.

Only Daniels can decide whether she feels personally violated by Trump’s behavior. But other Americans are certainly entitled to their opinions of Trump, and in Daniels’s telling, he’s a powerful man who tried to use promises of career advancement as a tool to convince a woman to sleep with him, then threatened and intimidated her to keep her quiet.

It’s long been possible to draw parallels between Trump and producer Harvey Weinstein, but in the wake of Daniels’s 60 Minutes interview and other recent revelations, those parallels look even clearer. And while Daniels said she does not feel she is part of the #MeToo narrative, Trump seems more part of it than ever.
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:52 AM on March 26, 2018 [23 favorites]


In "a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth gets its boots on" news: WaPo's A fake photo of Emma González went viral on the far right, where Parkland teens are villains.

The animation bounced around conservative Twitter before it received a signal boost Saturday from actor Adam Baldwin.

He tweeted to a quarter of a million followers with a hashtag reading “#Vorwärts!” — the German word for “forward” and an apparent reference to the Hitler Youth, whose march song included the word.


...In case anyone needs any more confirmation.
posted by rp at 8:55 AM on March 26, 2018 [60 favorites]


TheBeat w/Ari Melber @TheBeatWithAri: "It's Monday and Trump currently has more lawyers working to silence women than he has on his Russia criminal defense team."

One problem, among many, that Trump appears to have created for himself is that by attempting to change legal horses in midstream, he's underestimated how many firms now have conflicts of interest because they're already representing other parties affected by Mueller's wide-ranging investigation.

Senior CNN writer Katelyn Polantz @kpolantz on the top "Reasons Why Big Law Firms Have Told Me They Won’t Rep Trump":
1 Already repping subjects in investigation
2 He’s a “difficult” client
3 Could hurt relationships w corporate clients
4 Could hurt associate recruiting
5 Key partner is “busy”
6 He attacked judge/rule of law
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:00 AM on March 26, 2018 [70 favorites]


Holy shit, I knew Baldwin was a far right shithead and Gamergator, but I didn't know he'd gone Full Nazi.
posted by zombieflanders at 9:00 AM on March 26, 2018 [39 favorites]


Neanwhile, back on the planet...

Trump, Lighthizer Reach Deal To Export Weak Standards, Pollution To South Korea (Sierra Club)

Today, the U.S. and South Korea reached an agreement “in principle” on the six-year-old U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) in which, among other things, South Korea has agreed to double the number of higher-polluting U.S. vehicles that may be imported each year without having to meet Korea’s stricter auto emissions standards. South Korea also agreed to consider the weaker U.S. standards when developing their 2021-2025 auto emissions standards.

Of immediate interest to groups such as us Brits, who are locked in super-secret trade deal negotiations with the US, South Koreans who may not want their local vehicle production put at a disadvantage, and, well, anyone who enjoys breathing.
posted by Devonian at 9:00 AM on March 26, 2018 [4 favorites]


About the Baldwin / Hitler Youth thing: a line I've seen a few times from the far right is that the Parkland activists are like the Hitler Youth. Because they're young and politically active, and also that usual thing about Nazis and gun control. It's extremely dumb, but Baldwin wasn't explicitly going Nazi with that tweet.
posted by skymt at 9:10 AM on March 26, 2018 [12 favorites]


I'm not ready for this Monday morning onslaught, and it's afternoon already here.

We've had the Facebook / CambAnal (sorry) garbage fire upgraded to multi-dumpster fire status. The revelations of wrong and ethically dubious actions just keep piling up, and yes, this was Facebook's business model all along. And Google's, and Twitter wishes it had a business model like this. And then there's outright illegality: Cambridge Analytica sent foreigners to advise U.S. campaigns, former workers say.

There's transgender military ban 2.0, and Kelly is pointing to Pence's working group as the responsible party.

There's the actual formal expulsion of Russian diplomats in retaliation for the assassination of a former spy on UK soil. And the closure of the Seattle consulate?

There's the March for Our Lives, which is a real sign of hope in this whole sordid gun violence saga - Gun Marches Keep Republicans on Defense in Midterm Races.

And then there's Stormy - from upthread, Stormy with a Chance of Meatloaf. The low grade B-movie goon in a parking lot, the straight-up threats of "I could pick out the goon" and "I can describe his genitalia" - she is obviously very smart, but I hope to hell she's got round-the-clock protection. She obviously has better lawyers than the President of the United States, who has been playing lawyer Survivor. Apparently Karen McDougal and Summer Zervos have pretty good legal teams too.

So anyway, having looked at all this:

In astronomy, we can sometimes infer the presence of massive things by the gravitational pull they exert, even though they don't emit light. Trump's silence on Twitter about Stormy is one such thing. The absence of comment shows discipline from someone who has shown minimal capacity for discipline in any other area. There's something huge out there.

And then there's the supermassive black hole of the Special Counsel investigation - I don't know what the end game is there, but the brief moments where we have news coverage, a guilty plea or an indictment, and then silence again - something is coming, and I have to believe that something scary for Trump has to be good news for us and the country and the rest of the world. It's just - I'm not sure how much time we have left, so if we could hurry it along a tiny tiny bit here...

And to think, I started this comment by saying that I wasn't ready for this onslaught.
posted by RedOrGreen at 9:19 AM on March 26, 2018 [40 favorites]


Baldwin's "Vorwärts" is both Nazi-accusatory and surface-level Nazi. Like an Ann Coulter tweet, but with a smidge more plausible deniability. I'd shelve it with other dog whistles that are made to look like... dog hearing aids, or something. Another example would be Trump's racist use of the name "Pocahontas", which (unbelievably enough) is ostensibly about accusing someone of being anti-Native-American.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 9:21 AM on March 26, 2018 [20 favorites]


Martial Law is quite as easy as a snap of the fingers, if America is as prepared as Canada was. Don't be so quick to dismiss the possibility.

If you're thinking about the invocation of the war measures act in October 1970, I'd say that was a very different situation and applying martial law to a whole and vast country would be really difficult. It mostly affected Montreal, and even though we can see in retrospect that it was excessive, it wasn't that unpopular at the moment it was invoked due to unfolding events.

But I'm sure the armed forces down south are somewhat prepared for that, since they have to be prepared for almost anything.
posted by WaterAndPixels at 9:23 AM on March 26, 2018


Baldwin wasn't explicitly going Nazi with that tweet.
In the current atmosphere of "alternative facts", it's what I'm going with. ANYONE associating the March for Our Lives movement with Nazi Youth are themselves totally Nazi or totally Stalinist. Full stop.
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:24 AM on March 26, 2018 [43 favorites]


Trump's racist use of the name "Pocahontas", which (unbelievably enough) is ostensibly about accusing someone of being anti-Native-American.

Speaking of that, the guy who popularized the term, Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr, got a Trumpian tongue bath last night (and then he returned the favor).
posted by adamg at 9:25 AM on March 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


Neanwhile, back on the planet...

Trump, Lighthizer Reach Deal To Export Weak Standards, Pollution To South Korea (Sierra Club)


Related -- Why Is China Treating North Carolina Like the Developing World? (Doug Bock Clark for Rolling Stone, March 19, 2018)
How lax regulation made it cheaper for China to outsource pork production – and all of its environmental and human costs – to the U.S.

In July 2013, Larry Pope, the CEO of Smithfield Foods, the largest pork producer in America, was called to testify before a U.S. Senate committee about the pending sale of his company to a Chinese conglomerate now known as WH Group. The $7.1 billion purchase, the largest-ever foreign takeover of its kind, had attracted concerns. The Chinese pork manufacturer had a checkered health record, allegedly feeding its hogs illegal chemicals, and Smithfield had a long history of environmental problems at its farms, including a $12 million fine for several thousand clean-water violations. But the worries did not stop there. The Chinese government had a track record of using nominally private entities as proxies for state power. "To have a Chinese food company controlling a major U.S. meat supplier, without shareholder accountability, is a bit concerning," said Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley. "A safe and sustainable food supply is critical to national security. How might this deal impact our national security?"
...
Today, Smithfield sends more than a quarter of its pork abroad, especially to China, which received nearly 300,000 tons in 2016. Part of what made the company such an attractive target is that it's about 50 percent cheaper to raise hogs in North Carolina than in China. This is due to less-expensive pig-feed prices and larger farms, but it's also because of loose business and environmental regulations, especially in red states, which have made the U.S. an increasingly attractive place for foreign companies to offshore costly and harmful business practices.
Emphasis mine, because we Americans need to be reminded that we aren't a pinnacle of health and human rights on our own terrain.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:28 AM on March 26, 2018 [78 favorites]


Baldwin's "Vorwärts" is both Nazi-accusatory and surface-level Nazi.

Yes, I'd wager that this reference was meaningless to 99% of the people who read it. Of the 1% who did get the reference, probably half are serious students of history while the other half are actual Nazis.

And I highly doubt very many serious students of history follow Adam fucking Baldwin on Twitter.
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:41 AM on March 26, 2018 [27 favorites]


Trump's silence on Twitter about Stormy is one such thing. The absence of comment shows discipline from someone who has shown minimal capacity for discipline in any other area. There's something huge out there.

Someone on twitter pointed out last night that Trump's pattern is this: when someone make him angry, he tweets. When someone shames and embarrasses him, he doesn't respond. I'm not sure that is always the case, but it is an interesting thesis and speaks to what might be going on here; I don't expect that he's been muzzled effectively by anyone, because that has never worked in the past.
posted by nubs at 9:51 AM on March 26, 2018 [33 favorites]


Does it really matter when these clowns embrace the actual, literal verbiage of nazis? I think to some extent we've let people get a pass on the fact that they're embracing the evil and corrupt thinking of these historical monsters so long as they don't put on the outfit and say the words. Other than being sort of a frosting of these people can look at this happening in the past and think it's still okay it's pretty much the same thing if they just come to this fuckery by inventing it from first principles. Perhaps when we get bogged down in this is-it-or-not we're working the flip side of the coin where it's asserted someone isn't racist because they don't burn crosses or say "the n-word."

tl;dr: Baldwin has been a small-n nazi in public for years now in every policy and platform way that matters. Hiim deploying Third Reich wording represents, at best, a coat of paint.
posted by phearlez at 9:56 AM on March 26, 2018 [14 favorites]




Regarding trumps silence on stormy/last night - I think he deleted it since it doesn't appear on his feed any longer, but I both Quote tweeted and screencapped the following, posted at 6:33 am today:

"Because of the $700 & $716 Billion Dollars gotten to rebuild our Military, many jobs are created and our Military is again rich. Building a great Border Wall, with drugs (poison) and enemy combatants pouring into our Country, is all about National Defense. Build WALL through M!"

Definitely written by someone who isn't not angry.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 9:57 AM on March 26, 2018


drugs (poison) and enemy combatants pouring into our Country

According to post-2001 precedent, non-uniformed enemy combatants can be disappeared and tortured to death with impunity.

Pay attention to language. It lays the groundwork.
posted by Rust Moranis at 10:01 AM on March 26, 2018 [77 favorites]


loose business and environmental regulations, especially in red states, which have made the U.S. an increasingly attractive place for foreign companies to offshore costly and harmful business practices

Isn't that why we sent all the manufacturing to China in the first place? The circle is now complete and holy shit that was fast eh?
posted by Meatbomb at 10:07 AM on March 26, 2018 [27 favorites]


Note that the "Wall through M" tweet was posted on the 25th, and is still up.

Couple of tweets today, but they look like somebody else wrote them.
posted by shenderson at 10:10 AM on March 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


Because of the $700 & $716 Billion Dollars gotten to rebuild our Military

Gotten? What the ever-loving hell is this? Not that I expect good grammar from him, but good lord. It's like how in comments about pop culture I see a lot of the use of phrasing such as "this movie got released on March 2" and I want to say "No, it was released."

Gotten. My god. I expect so little anymore, and boy do I get it.
posted by Servo5678 at 10:25 AM on March 26, 2018 [7 favorites]


Anyone who eats, drinks or breathes in North Carolina knows all about Smithfield's (and companies like Smithfield's) waste lagoons, whether from pigs or poultry.

Think about those the next time a hurricane brings flooding to the state.
posted by delfin at 10:25 AM on March 26, 2018 [15 favorites]


Sorry, what’s wrong with gotten? Garner’s Modern English Usage says it’s a totally standard American form.
posted by stopgap at 10:30 AM on March 26, 2018 [10 favorites]


Mitch McConnell, of all people, introduces legislation to remove hemp from the controlled-substance list.
posted by hanov3r at 10:30 AM on March 26, 2018 [9 favorites]


Sorry, what’s wrong with gotten? Garner’s Modern English Usage says it’s a totally standard American form.

Seriously? Then I apologize and retract my gripe. In elementary school back in the 1980s, "gotten" was drilled into us as wrong, wrong, wrong and it's stuck ever since.
posted by Servo5678 at 10:31 AM on March 26, 2018 [6 favorites]


Build WALL through M!

Instructions unclear; built wall through Montana. Please advise.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 10:32 AM on March 26, 2018 [46 favorites]


Sorry, what’s wrong with gotten? Garner’s Modern English Usage says it’s a totally standard American form.

It tends to crack up my British friends, who do not have that word in their vocabularies. But it's perfectly correct in American english.
posted by holborne at 10:33 AM on March 26, 2018 [4 favorites]


In the context of trump talking money, gotten is always appropriate but only if prefixed by ill-.
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:35 AM on March 26, 2018 [44 favorites]


Mitch McConnell, of all people, introduces legislation to remove hemp from the controlled-substance list.

Did he just get a bunch of shares in a rope company or something?
posted by Artw at 10:37 AM on March 26, 2018 [23 favorites]


The security firm UpGuard claims to have discovered a large code repository originating from AggregateIQ, a Canadian political data firm active in the 2016 US presidential race, was left publicly downloadable online. It reveals the inner workings of microtargeting systems like those of Cambridge Analytica. They posted part 1 of their analysis this morning.

In this first installment of “The AIQ Files,” we take a closer look at the suite of political data and microtargeting tools possessed by AggregateIQ and exposed in this data repository - in turn revealing the inner workings of the kind of influencing prowess in which Cambridge Analytica claimed expertise, to the campaigns of customers like Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, and Donald Trump.

posted by StrawberryPie at 10:41 AM on March 26, 2018 [27 favorites]


This is the second time I've run into somebody with a horror of forms of "get." I don't understand what's wrong with it, but it's definitely being taught in primary schools somewhere that "get" is the new "ain't." If it's "get" in all its permutations, then fine: you're like that person. But if it's just "gotten" you were taught was wrong? Naw: "We didn't get drunk, we got just shy of drunk, we should have gotten more beer, then we could've gotten drunk." Unless you sub a whole other word, what's right to use instead of "gotten" in that last two? "Then we could have achieved a state of inebriation."

"Money acquired to build a wall" would probably be too hifalutin for his base.

For me the problematic word is "through." Even if he means Mexico not Montana, if he's demanding a wall through it, that's new. Is he admitting we stole TX?
posted by Don Pepino at 10:44 AM on March 26, 2018 [7 favorites]


Instructions unclear; built wall through Montana. Please advise.

I think he meant we should hire Judy Dench and Ralph Fiennes to build it.
posted by cmfletcher at 10:52 AM on March 26, 2018 [12 favorites]


I (American) remember reacting to a line in Harry Potter with "Why did Dumbledore just say 'have got' when 'have gotten' would more correct? That's surprisingly colloquial for a scholarly character". And now today I learned the word is an archaism mostly gone from Britain but not the USA or Canada.

Trump's "M" isn't short for Mexico, but "Military" (in turn short for "military funding", i.e the bogus idea that the omnibus bill's military funding can partly be routed into the wall). He likes to abbreviate not-normally-abbreviated words when they occur close to the end of a tweet (to stay under the character limit, I assume). Of course this makes reading them all the more confusing, although his Strange Capitalization sort of helps to figure out which Word he had in mind. My bet is he doesn't know how to use the cursor at all, so that's his lazy alternative to pressing "delete" a whole bunch of times and rewriting the whole T.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 10:53 AM on March 26, 2018 [10 favorites]


tfw you leave a git server open and someone finds the tools you wrote for the election.

Looks like they're finding more and more of the threads.
posted by Talez at 10:55 AM on March 26, 2018 [27 favorites]


"Gotten" has the following approved usage:

"After just two years, national hero and Congressional candidate Stephanie Clifford has now gotten more money from book deals and speaking engagements than she was forced to pay in penalties after revealing the images that brought a swift end to the Trump presidency."
posted by gurple at 10:56 AM on March 26, 2018 [5 favorites]


W used "has-got" frequently.

And he still has a bad case of the Has-Gots.

This lurked in my brain for 12 years!
posted by andreap at 10:57 AM on March 26, 2018


Mod note: Folks, I think we've gotten as much out of this linguistic sidebar as we're gonna.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:00 AM on March 26, 2018 [92 favorites]


I get what you did there
posted by phearlez at 11:02 AM on March 26, 2018 [18 favorites]


This is a bad universe.

Vanity Fair: Gird Yourself: A Description of the Presidential Loins Seems Nigh
posted by Rust Moranis at 11:03 AM on March 26, 2018 [16 favorites]


I’ve a bit of a track record when it comes to telling about people not voting in the midterms. I don’t think it’ll be a problem this year.

My daughter and I attended the March for Our Lives here in Indianapolis -- where marchers stood in line for hours in six inches of snow in order to get into the State House, where the protest was held -- and many of her friends, of high school and college age, were talking about how they couldn't wait to be able to vote. There were many people passing out voter registration forms.

In astronomy, we can sometimes infer the presence of massive things by the gravitational pull they exert, even though they don't emit light. Trump's silence on Twitter about Stormy is one such thing. The absence of comment shows discipline from someone who has shown minimal capacity for discipline in any other area. There's something huge out there.

Josh Marshall has used this analogy since the beginning of the Trump/Russia scandal to point out that all the behavior on the Trump side suggests that there is something there, and it's terrible.
posted by Gelatin at 11:04 AM on March 26, 2018 [27 favorites]




Justice Dept. Revives Push to Mandate a Way to Unlock Phones (Charlie Savage for NYT, March 24, 2018)
Federal law enforcement officials are renewing a push for a legal mandate that tech companies build tools into smartphones and other devices that would allow access to encrypted data in criminal investigations.

F.B.I. and Justice Department officials have been quietly meeting with security researchers who have been working on approaches to provide such “extraordinary access” to encrypted devices, according to people familiar with the talks.

Based on that research, Justice Department officials are convinced that mechanisms allowing access to the data can be engineered without intolerably weakening the devices’ security against hacking.
...
A National Academy of Sciences committee completed an 18-month study of the encryption debate, publishing a report last month. While it largely described challenges to solving the problem, one section cited presentations by several technologists who are developing potential approaches.

They included Ray Ozzie, a former chief software architect at Microsoft; Stefan Savage, a computer science professor at the University of California, San Diego; and Ernie Brickell, a former chief security officer at Intel.
Found via Ars Technica, which has some extended coverage: Feds pushing new plan for encrypted mobile device unlocks via court order -- "Weakening security makes no sense," top Apple VP tells Ars. (Cyrus Farivar)
"[The] proposed encryption schemes are not considered ready for deployment until they have undergone careful scrutiny by experts regarding their effectiveness, scalability, and security risks and been subject to real-world testing at realistic scale in the relevant contexts," the report concluded.
...
Several lawyers and computer scientists reiterated to Ars that creating such a system and compelling companies to implement it could potentially be fraught with numerous problems, both legal and technical.

"A hardware-based backdoor would shift the burden onto smartphone users to go through extra inconvenience in order to secure their information," Stanford University legal fellow Riana Pfefferkorn told Ars by email. Pfefferkorn recently wrote a paper on the subject.

"The result would be that careful criminals would be more scrupulous about using app-level encryption, but unsophisticated criminals—and innocent everyday smartphone owners—probably wouldn't do a perfect job of it," elaborated Pfefferkorn. "That seems to be good enough for law enforcement, though."

A seemingly similar proposal, known as "key escrow," was first proposed under the Clinton administration in the 1990s, when mobile devices and encryption itself were far less sophisticated. The basic premise was that computers containing a special "Clipper Chip" would give the government access to devices when needed. Federal authorities would incentivize inclusion of the chips in commercial devices by requiring them in order for companies to do business with the government. However, under scrutiny, the underlying tech failed and the plan was essentially dead on arrival.
Maybe someone could whisper to Trump (or state on TV) that "this was Clinton's idea"and get him to torpedo this line of inquiry.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:29 AM on March 26, 2018 [12 favorites]


Cuomo goes to black church, says Jews can’t dance

Next up: Jewish dance-off in Albany.
posted by zarq at 11:29 AM on March 26, 2018 [12 favorites]


Maybe someone could whisper to Trump (or state on TV) that "this was Clinton's idea"and get him to torpedo this line of inquiry.

Clipper was indeed a Clinton-era thing, though WJ not HR.

Mostly I find that being in my late-40s means a lot less righteous anger. Or at least it did. Now we're having this same stupid fucking discussion again, twenty-five years later. Our populace is more invested in technology now but they're also more pants-wetting about terrorism, even as they get in their cars and die in wrecks in numbers that pale in comparison, threat-wise. I have no idea whether we'll win this one again.
posted by phearlez at 11:35 AM on March 26, 2018 [12 favorites]


My daughter and I attended the March for Our Lives here in Indianapolis -- where marchers stood in line for hours in six inches of snow in order to get into the State House, where the protest was held -- and many of her friends, of high school and college age, were talking about how they couldn't wait to be able to vote. There were many people passing out voter registration forms.

I attended the MfOL in NYC Saturday and was immediately swarmed by at least a couple dozen folks directly above the Columbus Circle subway station with voter registration forms, clip-boards, coordinated t shirts and in a couple cases very large signs being worn on backpack contraptions.

At some point during the march we passed yet more voter registration volunteers and when they asked a young woman in front of us carrying a large, glittery gold sign saying "Guns have fewer regulations than my vagina" if she was registered to vote yet she replied wistfully "not yet" which is when I realized that she and her friend marching in front of us were maybe all of 15.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:36 AM on March 26, 2018 [38 favorites]


Republican operative Arthur Schwartz, a Jewish, pro-Israel activist, wasn’t amused by Cuomo’s shtick.

“The governor should focus more on governing and less on Jew jokes,” he fumed.


Please make me agree less with Republican operatives, Cuomo.
posted by Rust Moranis at 11:36 AM on March 26, 2018 [9 favorites]


tfw you leave a git server open and someone finds the tools you wrote for the election.

Abramson has a better interpretation of what that github leak means.

"The allegation here appears to be—and again, I wish Gizmodo or anyone else had a clue how to report this story clearly—that Trump's digital marketing campaign was illegally funded through in-kind contributions by foreign entities, including intellectual property and software."
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:40 AM on March 26, 2018 [51 favorites]


Let's not overlook that the setup for Cuomo's joke was "Man, do you black people know how to dance!"
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:41 AM on March 26, 2018 [18 favorites]


Stormy Daniels’s Boring Interview Was Actually Brilliant Once again, she proves she’s a worthy adversary for Trump (Rhonda Garelick | NY Mag)
Last night’s 60 Minutes interview with Stormy Daniels set off so few fireworks, with so little new information, that it would be tempting to dismiss its importance. As Slate put it, “If you were hoping for a TV event that would do serious damage to the Trump presidency … [it] was a let down.” Let’s not be hasty here, though. Buried within the interview’s vanilla blandness lay some lessons worth pondering — if we want to save our republic. But the important parts were easy to miss.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 11:44 AM on March 26, 2018 [18 favorites]


While it largely described challenges to solving the problem, one section cited presentations by several technologists who are developing potential approaches.

They included Ray Ozzie, a former chief software architect at Microsoft; Stefan Savage, a computer science professor at the University of California, San Diego; and Ernie Brickell, a former chief security officer at Intel.


Hilariously, cryptographer Steven M. Bellovin says one of the three proposals for "exceptional access" has already been broken.
posted by RichardP at 11:48 AM on March 26, 2018 [7 favorites]


So Ryan Zinke, among other issues, thinks diversity isn't important (and appears to think that diversity means not getting good people). During his 2017 reorganization, 40% of the senior staff who were reassigned were minorities or women.
posted by suelac at 11:56 AM on March 26, 2018 [16 favorites]


So Daniels's lawyer has teased further evidence for weeks, and how does the White House respond to the 60 Minutes interview?
White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah said on Monday that President Donald Trump does not believe porn actress Stormy Daniels’ claim in a “60 Minutes” interview that she was threatened in 2011 not to share the details of her alleged relationship with Trump.

“The president doesn’t believe any of the claims that Ms Daniels made last night in the interview are accurate,” Shah said in the daily press briefing when asked about the alleged threat made against Daniels.

Asked for the basis of Trump’s belief, Shah said that “there’s nothing to corroborate her claim.”
Shah then stated "If Ms. Clifford has further evidence, why doesn't she show it? Is she chicken? Bwuck bwuck chickennn!" [FAKE]
posted by murphy slaw at 11:57 AM on March 26, 2018 [5 favorites]


The piece on UpGuard's site sure reads more like a pitch for whatever their services are, rather than a report on possible damning evidence of treason against a sitting president.
posted by runcibleshaw at 11:57 AM on March 26, 2018 [1 favorite]


Yeah, sorry, gitlab. My typo entirely.
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:58 AM on March 26, 2018


Suburban voters angry with Trump threaten GOP grip on House (Kari Lydersen, Michael Scherer | WaPo)
posted by Barack Spinoza at 12:00 PM on March 26, 2018 [7 favorites]


Claiming Executive Privilege To Avoid Mueller Could Backfire For Trump (Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux | FiveThirtyEight)
Will President Trump sit down for a one-on-one interview with special counsel Robert Mueller? It might be more likely after the president’s lead lawyer on the Russia investigation resigned last week. The lawyer, John Dowd, had reportedly advised the president against such a move, and now he’s out.

If Trump does talk to Mueller, there’s a possibility that he could invoke executive privilege to try to avoid answering some of the special counsel’s questions. That would be the first formal invocation of executive privilege in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, although legal experts say Trump is already expanding the power by instructing or allowing aides to refuse to answer questions in congressional testimony in case he wants to claim it later. The power of executive privilege isn’t unlimited. But because the courts and Congress have never established firm boundaries around it, any invocation of executive privilege in this context, whether formal or informal, could lead to a legal showdown in the courts if Congress or Mueller decided to challenge him — and it could also have serious political ramifications.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 12:09 PM on March 26, 2018 [4 favorites]


> tfw you leave a git server open and someone finds the tools you wrote for the election.


It is so weird seeing tools that are in my tech circle publishing this sort of thing. If I run into the researcher from UpGuard at a meet up, I owe them a beverage or three.
posted by mrzarquon at 12:13 PM on March 26, 2018 [6 favorites]


NPR added a detail I hadn't seen in regard to the surprise omnibus bill and Trump's veto threat - emphasis mine:
But less than four hours later Trump summoned the cameras to explain why he had gone ahead and signed the bill after all — with no changes. It turned out he had done the signing earlier, shortly after sending that veto threat via tweet.

Many of the president's most ardent supporters were taken by surprise. Not a few felt betrayed.

("Stabbing me in the back!" shouted Rush Limbaugh from atop the conservative talk radio world as he watched the president's news avail. Limbaugh had assured listeners the day before that Trump could not and would not sign the spending bill. )
Not sure why that's in parenthesis, but I'll celebrate any circular firing squads on the right. Maybe the left can give them some pointers in this.

Oh, and FUCK YOU NPR for turning this into an other case of "both sides":
Does Congress really vote on big important bills without reading them?

Short answer: Yes, it does so routinely, and for several reasons. First, ask yourself, when was the last time you read anything 2,200 pages long?
...
Back in 2009, one of the Senate Democrats fashioning what became Obamacare had to admit he had not read all the "statutory language" it contained. Some of his constituents were outraged, but the senator said such objections were misplaced. Just before Christmas last year, it was the Democrats protesting the rapid sequence of rollout-to-roll call for the Republican tax cut bill.
One of the Senate Democrats not reading Obamacare after months of public debates after releasing a 1,000-page plan for public review for overhauling the health care system equals having to vote on hand-written notes in the Tax Bill. I was pissed off enough to contact the Ombudsman and call them on this weak "but both sides!" BS.

But the article did highlight some more good points to note:
3. Why is the bill so all-encompassing and the bottom line so enormous?

[First, this is a bill to fund the entire government, except for Social Security, military and other pensions, and the interest payments on the national debt, and that's always a huge cost.]

The bottom line in dollars was a mind-boggling record, in part because President Trump demanded and got the biggest increase in defense spending in 15 years. Also escalating the price tag was the Democrats' insistence on rough parity for spending increases for domestic programs as well.
This is the type of "both sides" that I can accept - when it's accurate.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:15 PM on March 26, 2018 [45 favorites]


legal experts say Trump is already expanding the power by instructing or allowing aides to refuse to answer questions in congressional testimony in case he wants to claim it later.

It's probably fair to say that, stupidly, the Republican Congress is aiding and abetting Trump in expanding executive privilege by letting his people get away with their odious "we aren't claiming executive privilege, but I am refusing to answer anyway" claims.

But as with Mueller, this dodge has a short shelf life. Matters will likely be quite different under a Democratic Congress. Which may (tttcs) not be that far in the future.
posted by Gelatin at 12:16 PM on March 26, 2018 [6 favorites]


“The president doesn’t believe any of the claims that Ms Daniels made last night in the interview are accurate,” Shah said in the daily press briefing when asked about the alleged threat made against Daniels.

This is a really, really stupid tactic if she does have evidence. She'll probably never be able to prove being threatened (no eyewitnesses, etc.,) but "I don't remember having an affair with that woman" is an unbelievably bad idea for a guy who not only claims to be the smarter than anyone else but also once said that he has "one of the great memories of all time."

Maybe he'll sing Shaggy's 'It Wasn't Me" at a press conference.
posted by zarq at 12:25 PM on March 26, 2018 [10 favorites]


They could easily have refused to offer specific comment due to it being an ongoing legal matter, and even subtly questioned her veracity, but to state that none of her claims are accurate seems like setting up a chain of future self-owns that keeps on giving.

You'd think that a guy who has been philandering and covering it up for 40+ years would have developed some skill at it.
posted by murphy slaw at 12:30 PM on March 26, 2018 [7 favorites]


Maybe he'll sing Shaggy's 'It Wasn't Me" at a press conference.

Late night TV beat him to it.
posted by Talez at 12:32 PM on March 26, 2018 [10 favorites]


See also: Why evangelicals are calling Trump a “modern-day Cyrus.” It's from March 5 (a few eons ago) but I've not seen it posted here. The fact is that Trump and his handlers/minions are really good at identifying and weaponizing narratives that are completly nonsensical for anyone outside the target group.

Quick, someone tell them Cyrus was Iranian, and watch their heads explode.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:36 PM on March 26, 2018 [19 favorites]


You'd think that a guy who has been philandering and covering it up for 40+ years would have developed some skill at it.

He's never had to, beyond chucking a few thousand bucks in the direction of whomever he wanted to shut up and bullying them into a signing a garbage NDA. This has always been enough, because until recently he was nobody special: just one more gross old rich dude among dozens. But now that he's slimed his way, with the aid of foreign agents and home-grown Nazis, into the most prominent public office in the nation, he's painted a great big target on his own back. I wonder if he briefly realized this on election night, and that's why he looked so stricken.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:38 PM on March 26, 2018 [37 favorites]


"…Others, such as Feinstein, are reserving judgment but demanding more information be made public about Haspel’s role in the program prior to her confirmation hearing."

Gotanda: How much more information does Feinstein need? One, she already knows Haspel was responsible for torture. Two, she ought to goddamn well know that as a D Senator she has no business casting a vote in support of any Trump nominee. Ever. Party discipline, dammit!

Who knows what Feinstein's actually going to do, and she may have burned through a bunch of benefit-of-the-doubt already, but a possible non-negative explanation for her actions could be not intending to vote for Haspel, but holding out the (false) possibility of that to get more details of Haspel's actions on the record and publicized.
posted by JiBB at 12:50 PM on March 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


Can somebody help me understand the difference between the AggregateIQ/GitLab story, and this Cambridge Analytica/GitHub story from last year?

I mean, Cambridge Analytica is a (slightly?) different entity than AggregateIQ, and GitLab is a different entity than GitHub. But what is different about the code that was exposed?

Also... When I first read that story from last year, I just assumed Cambridge Analytica made that code available so that people at the Internet Research Agency could download and use it. I mean... Why is that not the assumption that everyone is leaping to with this new story?

Disclaimer -- I'm at work and haven't had the time to try to read the new report yet and fit it into my own understanding. Hoping someone can make it easier for me when I do get to it, which might not be for a couple of days, because Life.
posted by OnceUponATime at 12:50 PM on March 26, 2018


The problem isn't the "boner pills" it's that something that is not very crucial but only used by people with dicks is always covered but other types of crucial health care aren't- It shows an extreme bias in health care both military and civilian.

posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 11:43 AM on March 24 [60 favorites +] [!]


I believe erectile dysfunction is dismissed too easily here. I suspect a large proportion of medication for the condition is used recreationally, which may be the reason for dismissal, but that doesn't diminish the real pain that men who can no longer function sexually with their partners face. It is core to their sexual identities, and may be just as painful as having a body out of step with one's internal sexual identity. It is not necessary to disparage medication for erectile dysfunction in order to criticize strongly the military's or even society's mistreatment of transgender people. I believe that empathy for everyone equally is not only the morally correct stance, but it sells much better politically.
posted by Mental Wimp at 1:08 PM on March 26, 2018 [24 favorites]


Can somebody help me understand the difference between the AggregateIQ/GitLab story, and this Cambridge Analytica/GitHub story from last year?

The last-year story is just about one tool, which looks to just go through the Twitter stream and find people mentioning $candidate + $ideaword (gun-control, taxes, etc.). I swear, I just had an epiphany that "sentiment analysis" is just finding people who mention two things (or more, in larger shops, I imagine). CA's defense on this was "that API key wasn't even registered to us!" but they could just as easily had their underlings register for their own API keys (probably to avoid going over usage limits).

Today's story is about more stuff. The things that the script above fed its cleaned-up data.
posted by rhizome at 1:10 PM on March 26, 2018 [3 favorites]


I mean, Cambridge Analytica is a (slightly?) different entity than AggregateIQ, and GitLab is a different entity than GitHub. But what is different about the code that was exposed?

The earlier CA exposure looked like a pretty small-scale twitter scraper/analyzer maybe even suitable for interactive use (albeit via CLI). The AIQ leak shows ambitions for a much larger data warehouse project, though I haven't had time to look and see if that's what it really became.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 1:12 PM on March 26, 2018


This is due to less-expensive pig-feed prices and larger farms, but it's also because of loose business and environmental regulations, especially in red states, which have made the U.S. an increasingly attractive place for foreign companies to offshore costly and harmful business practices.
Emphasis mine, because we Americans need to be reminded that we aren't a pinnacle of health and human rights on our own terrain.

posted by filthy light thief at 9:28 AM on March 26 [46 favorites −] Favorite added! [!]


I drive through Duplin, Pender, and Onslow counties to get to my in-laws' home on the beach. This is where the brilliant hog farmers of North Carolina figured out that they could aerosolize pig waste, spraying it into the air to let the wind dissipate it. (NB: that article also details the story of one decent farmer who developed alternative methods of disposal when he realized how much he was harming his neighbors.) Those areas smell bad all the time and it is just another example of right-wing politicians allowing private businesses to socialize costs. Turns out they are also helping to keep China's air cleaner than it would be otherwise.
posted by Mental Wimp at 1:20 PM on March 26, 2018 [37 favorites]


Tech-health companies stepping in where local services have been restricted or shuttered: Birth Control Apps Find A Big Market In 'Contraception Deserts' (NPR, March 26, 2018)

It's a piece looking at app-centric remote access healthcare providers that offer birth control pills or patches, or even rings, after an "online doctor visit," with delivery to your doorstep or a local pharmacy, focusing on NURX birth control provider (Available in CA, NY, DC, WA, IL, PA, VA, FL, IN, MI, MA, MN, NJ, MO, NC, OH, CO and TX), with links to Lemonaid Health (Same Day Online Doctor Visits to answer questions and potentially provide treatment services, sending medication/ patches/ rings to your local pharmacy, Available in AZ, CA, CT, FL, GA, IL, MD, MI, MO, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, VA, and WA. "Other states coming soon.") and Maven Clinic ("healthcare designed exclusively for women," no obvious mention of where their services are available).

This is good, in light of the reality of Contraception deserts, before we get to Healthcare For Everyone, Everywhere.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:24 PM on March 26, 2018 [37 favorites]


Intercept: ICE Uses Facebook Data to Find and Track Immigrants, Internal Emails Show

In the(/case of a) future, Facebook will have to undergo denazification. And of course Thiel's Palantir appears as an evil garnish:

“I am going to see if our Palantir guy is here to dump the Western Union info in there since I know there is a way to triangulate the area he’s sending money from and narrow down time of day etc,” responded Jen Miller, an ICE agent on the email thread.
posted by Rust Moranis at 1:29 PM on March 26, 2018 [18 favorites]


I swear, I just had an epiphany that "sentiment analysis" is just finding people who mention two things (or more, in larger shops, I imagine).

Sometimes, but not always. I've worked alongside people using much more sophisticated sentiment analysis tools, but the approach you use depends a lot on how much data you have available. If you're analyzing all of Twitter, just using the simplest possible approach is fine, because even if 95% of the sentiments people express are too subtle to detect, the remaining 5% will be more than enough for a lot of purposes. In other scenarios (e.g. law enforcement looking to find people who express sympathy with terrorist groups) missing 95% of what you're looking for is considered unacceptable.

(I'm not saying that's a good application of sentiment analysis, just that it's a realistic scenario where someone would pay researchers to develop the necessary techniques.)
posted by shponglespore at 1:29 PM on March 26, 2018 [1 favorite]


Sure, I appreciate that distinction, and I'm sure in some cases the code is doing its own inference of the terms used, but for this they're really just searching for preset terms. "What are some 'Hillary good' words? What are some 'Hillary bad' words? OK, let's roll." This is to say, "sentiment analysis" isn't figuring out what categories the things people say fit into, it's building the categories and finding people/utterances that fit them. The sentiments being prebuilt is the difference. Kind of a fancy survey, really.
posted by rhizome at 1:34 PM on March 26, 2018


Mental Wimp: Turns out they are also helping to keep China's air cleaner than it would be otherwise.

I've been meaning to put together something on this, but it's been a while, so here's a few links about China's decision to stop taking foreign waste:

China to U.S.: Please stop sending us your junk (Jacopo Prisco for CNN Money, September 11, 2017)
For decades, shipping containers have been loaded with American scrap and waste and dispatched to China for recycling.

It's a $5 billion annual business that is now in danger of sinking.

Beijing notified the World Trade Organization in July that it plans to ban the import of 24 varieties of solid waste, including types of plastic and unsorted paper commonly sent from the U.S.

China said that the ban would take effect from September, giving American companies little time to prepare. ISRI estimates that roughly a fifth of the trade is at risk.

The announcement has made U.S. recyclers that trade with China very nervous.

"In the short term we're going to see a significant drop of exports from the U.S. into China, and there is a little bit of panic in the market," said Adina Adler, an official at the U.S. Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI).

"We respect what the Chinese government is trying to do ... and we want to be helpful, but they gave us practically no time for any kind of transition," said Adler.

Recycling Chaos In U.S. As China Bans 'Foreign Waste'
(NPR, December 9, 2017)
Like many Portland residents, Satish and Arlene Palshikar are serious recyclers. Their house is coated with recycled bluish-white paint. They recycle their rainwater, compost their food waste and carefully separate the paper and plastic they toss out. But recently, after loading up their Prius and driving to a sorting facility, they got a shock.

"The fellow said we don't take plastic anymore," Satish says. "It should go in the trash."

The facility had been shipping its plastic to China, but suddenly that was no longer possible.
Plastics Pile Up as China Refuses to Take the West’s Recycling (Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura for New York Times, Jan. 11, 2018)
Ever since China announced last year that it no longer wanted to be the “world’s garbage dump,” recycling about half of the globe’s plastics and paper products, Western nations have been puzzling over what to do when the ban went into effect, which it did on Jan. 1.

The answer, to date, in Britain at least, is nothing. At least one waste disposal site in London is already seeing a buildup of plastic recyclables and has had to pay to have some of it removed.

Similar backups have been reported in Canada, Ireland, Germany and several other European nations, while tons of rubbish is piling up in port cities like Hong Kong.

Steve Frank, of Pioneer Recycling in Oregon, owns two plants that collect and sort 220,000 tons of recyclable materials each year. A majority of it was until recently exported to China.

“My inventory is out of control,” he said.
China has pulled back on buying secondary fiber from the U.S., causing a stir and leading to plummeting prices (Megan Workman for Recycling Today Magazine, March 2018)
A lot can happen in a year. This time last year, Recycling Today reported how pricing for recovered fiber had skyrocketed and records were set in five consecutive months, with old corrugated containers (OCC) and mixed paper seeing the most gains. Both recovered fiber grades had reached levels that were more than double what they were selling for that same time in 2016. One source said at the time that the price hikes were “explosive,” “crazy” and “risky.”

Recyclers are citing risky business a year later, but for reversed reasons: Prices for recovered fiber grades have plummeted.

While the boom in early 2017 was a result of steady demand from China, that country has since pulled back on its buying of recovered paper shipped from the United States. This has created an oversupply of mixed paper in the U.S.
...
U.S. mixed paper pricing averaged $16.94 per ton in February, for a $76.95 per ton price spread between that grade and OCC.

As a result, recyclers in the U.S. have been piling up thousands upon thousands of bales of mixed paper when possible and even landfilling and incinerating this material. Others have found alternative outlets, selling recovered fiber typically destined for China to India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Several U.S. paper mills have been buying mixed paper loads that would have headed to China prior to the implementation of its import ban.

“We’re only buying the cleanest of the clean,” says a paper mill source who is buying mixed paper and other grades of recovered fiber. “We are demanding that MRFs (material recovery facilities) and brokers sell us only the highest quality paper that they can get because the market demands that right now. Any mixed paper below specification grade is simply not marketable, so any recovered fiber that has excess contamination, prohibitives or outthrows must be put in storage, go to landfill or [be] used as waste to energy.”
Where is Trump's anger at the US trade deficit for recyclables?
posted by filthy light thief at 1:39 PM on March 26, 2018 [54 favorites]


My problems with the Trump Tower / Alfa Bank email back-channel theory were that it was both less secure and less convenient than other, more readily available channels like WhatsApp. Also, who would have set it up at each end without being able to coordinate through an existing secret channel? But now the whole thing makes sense. You see, in Ye Old Days hackers would often use hacked computers for file repositories. And having hacked into one, they would set up an automatic "phone home" routine to restore their access if the server changed its address or they were locked out. This is all very amateurish nowadays, but it's easy and relatively deniable. More deniable than a Dropbox account, anyway. And it does look as though the initial approaches were somewhat amateurish.

So now we know that gigabytes of data were illegally flowing internationally, and it was distributed to a lot of unsophisticated recipients. Maybe the Trump Tower server was a repository for data meant for Trump's campaign team only; maybe it was just used to reduce the number of multi-gigabyte files that had to be sent internationally. The initial transfer to the Trump Tower server could be slow and secretive to avoid NSA attention, and it couod be sent onwards from there quickly and using normal file transfer commands. Whether the server was ever actually used this way or not, I think it makes a lot more sense than the idea that it was used for emails.
posted by Joe in Australia at 1:40 PM on March 26, 2018 [13 favorites]


Mental Wimp: Erectile dysfunction is a genuine medical problem. It's not great for non-sufferers to joke about "boner pills" . But to feel that ED means (in one sense or another) being less of a man, or somehow unfit for good sex... that strikes me as a psychological and societal problem, as something that society and individuals have to accommodate even as medical advances can contribute. Men should give themselves permission (and be given permission by the individuals and the media in their lives) to feel sexually okay regardless of whatever mischievous schemes their body parts plan for. And they should also, of course, get medication when needed, because the less unnecessary suffering in the world, the better.

I don't feel much differently about sexual reassignment surgery or hormones as treatment for gender dysphoria. After all, when and where those things aren't possible, it should still be possible for trans people to comfortably identifying as their real gender, and society should validate it. Surgery/hormones ideally allow further fulfillment, not 100% of the story. (The role can be totally crucial -- there are people for whom lack of medical intervention will guarantee some measure of misery no matter how supportive the world around them is -- I'm just syaing it's just not 100% of the story.)

This stuff relates to one of my fears regarding stories about Donald's dalliances: the public is going to conflate superficial nonsense with his general awfulness as a person, just as happens with fat jokes hurled his way. Hypothetically, despite near-universal assumptions, the man has an impressively sized dong that looks a third its real age, is perpetually erect, and has contributed to thousands of tremendous, beautiful sexual experiences. (Although that's obviously precluded a bit by his constant rape-adjacent behavior -- see how tough this stuff is to disentangle?) It means nothing regardless.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 1:45 PM on March 26, 2018 [5 favorites]


Here’s what’ll happen after Trump’s dick pic comes out:

1. Charlie Kirk argues small dicks are actually the best kind of dicks

2. Fox News says Hillary’s never shown a picture of her vagina what is she hiding

3. NYT interviews man in a rural diner who loves Trump even MORE now

posted by T.D. Strange at 8:53 PM on March 25 [64 favorites +] [!]


I want this to happen. I want to live in a time when we can see POTUS's dick, but not his tax returns.
posted by Mental Wimp at 1:58 PM on March 26, 2018 [7 favorites]


So, is there any hope that the current round of mass protest, March for Our Lives, will be a catalyst for actual change? Because I remember similar optimism around the Occupy Wall Street movement and we all know how that ended (with a barely audible whimper). Apologies, but I'm getting old and cynical.
posted by Vindaloo at 2:04 PM on March 26, 2018 [3 favorites]


I've always read the ED drug point made here on MeFi, perhaps made poorly and insensitively, as more about a society that values and treats those with ED -- i.e. men -- as a more important health issue that's okay to spend any amount of money on, while many other health and spending issues that affect women and LGBT are not treated as such. Meaning it's not directed at the sufferers, but the culture that values them more.
posted by chris24 at 2:05 PM on March 26, 2018 [68 favorites]


I've always read the ED drug point made here on MeFi, perhaps made poorly and insensitively, as more about a society and culture that values and treats those with ED -- i.e. men -- as a more important health issue that's okay to spend any amount of money on, while many other health and spending issues that affect women and LGBT are not treated as such.

posted by chris24 at 2:05 PM on March 26 [+] [!]


That's certainly the point, but it often bleeds over into mockery of ED medicine and assertions that it is frivolous. I've never needed it myself, but I can certainly see how terribly vital it would be if I did. Some men even undergo surgery so they can mechanically achieve erections.
posted by Mental Wimp at 2:08 PM on March 26, 2018


Mod note: Probably enough on the erectile dysfunction thing now; I think the points made all around add up to a reasonable summary of how and why it can be a complicated point of discussion on MeFi and within discussions in general of health policy and availability etc, but god help me let's not spend more time than we need to focusing speculatively on everything in the general ballpark of our stupid president's penis.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:11 PM on March 26, 2018 [36 favorites]


So, is there any hope that the current round of mass protest, March for Our Lives, will be a catalyst for actual change? Because I remember similar optimism around the Occupy Wall Street movement and we all know how that ended (with a barely audible whimper). Apologies, but I'm getting old and cynical.


It appears this movement is light years ahead of Occupy Wall Street in terms of organization and goal-setting. Thousands register to vote at March for Your Lives demonstrations.

Voter mobilization is a huge first step.
posted by DrAstroZoom at 2:12 PM on March 26, 2018 [37 favorites]


Cohen’s Lawyer Sends Stormy Daniels Cease And Desist After CBS Interview

Washington Post: Stormy Daniels Accuses Trump Attorney of Defamation
Stormy Daniels ramped up her legal battle against President Trump on Monday, alleging in court that his personal attorney Michael Cohen defamed her by insinuating that she lied about an affair with Trump more than a decade ago.

Daniels amended her existing lawsuit against Trump, adding Cohen as a defendant in the pending case. The expansion of the lawsuit in a California federal court comes one day after the adult-film actress’s widely watched interview on “60 Minutes.”[...]

Besides accusing Cohen of defamation, the amended complaint broadens Daniels’s contention that the confidentiality agreement was illegal, because it lacked Trump’s signature. The new complaint says the payment violated federal laws that impose limits on campaign donations and require those donations to be publicly reported. [emphasis added, because this is not your father's White House sex scandal]
It's as though Mickey "Sez Who?" Cohen isn't a very good lawyer at all…
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:13 PM on March 26, 2018 [50 favorites]


Oh god, Cohen was the “sez who” guy? This whole situation is so deliriously stupid.
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 2:17 PM on March 26, 2018 [9 favorites]


It's as though Mickey "Sez Who?" Cohen isn't a very good lawyer at all…

posted by Doktor Zed at 2:13 PM on March 26 [+] [!]


He's always reminded me of this guy.
posted by Mental Wimp at 2:18 PM on March 26, 2018


Cohen also sent a cease and desist to Stormy for a claim - that he ordered a goon to threaten her - that she did not make in the interview.
posted by PenDevil at 2:23 PM on March 26, 2018 [37 favorites]


It appears this movement is light years ahead of Occupy Wall Street in terms of organization and goal-setting. Thousands register to vote at March for Your Lives demonstrations.

That's because they made lack of leadership and structure a goal, which was

... counterproductive.
posted by leotrotsky at 2:39 PM on March 26, 2018 [16 favorites]


Asked for the basis of Trump’s belief, Shah said that “there’s nothing to corroborate her claim.”

It requires an amazing level of chutzpah to say that someone shouldn't be believed because there is no corroboration while simultaneously suing someone for $20million dollars in an effort to hold them to an NDA which prevents them from providing such corroboration. Scanners-head-exploding level of chutzpah.
posted by Justinian at 2:43 PM on March 26, 2018 [16 favorites]


So, is there any hope that the current round of mass protest, March for Our Lives, will be a catalyst for actual change? Because I remember similar optimism around the Occupy Wall Street movement and we all know how that ended (with a barely audible whimper). Apologies, but I'm getting old and cynical.

Think about how things happen. We have this model from television that there's, like, an uprising and then everything is different. But actually social change takes a long, long time and a lot of work on multiple vectors, and there are often - so often! - things that fizzle out along the way.

Each time there's a mass movement, it mobilizes new people and informs others who are not mobilized. The next time, those mobilized people are ready to go and many of the people who were informed the first time become mobilized. People's opinions shift and their ideas of what is possible and what is important shift. It's disappointing that Occupy Wall Street didn't bring about immediate social change, but at least here in MPLS it brought a bunch of people into activism and spun off a number of smaller, long-term projects that worked on housing policy.

Political struggle is long, so horribly long - if you see major change in a generation, you're lucky. Consider the Civil Rights movement - it wasn't just the fifties/sixties, it was....well, where do you really begin, since there have always been Black activists agitating? I mean, I guess you could say that the Civil Rights movement begins around WWI and the Great Migration, right? And builds momentum until there's a historical opening after WWII?

There are a lot of things that were true in 2009 that aren't true now - we don't have a Democratic president (so that percentage of liberals who are always quiestist during a Democratic administration isn't a problem), we don't have a president who is adroit at managing public opinion (and who frankly backed the banks), we were not as far on the road to precarity and total climate change as we are now, social media has become more pervasive (bad in many ways, but also good for some kinds of organizing)...all these things mean that a gun control movement expresses different social concerns and has different traction than Occupy did.
posted by Frowner at 2:44 PM on March 26, 2018 [59 favorites]


Oh god, Cohen was the “sez who” guy? This whole situation is so deliriously stupid.

He’s also the “it’s not illegal to rape your wife” guy.
posted by Weeping_angel at 2:44 PM on March 26, 2018 [15 favorites]


Is there any hope that the current round of mass protest, March for Our Lives, will be a catalyst for actual change? Because I remember similar optimism around the Occupy Wall Street movement

OWS had no specific goals in mind - the focus was on "the 1% are rigging everything so they get richer and everyone else gets poorer, and that's destroying America." Which was true enough that it got a whole lot of attention and participants, but doesn't lead to any specific desired changes.

The MFOL has a goal: Gun control laws. We know what those are; we know how to make them happen. (At least technically - I mean that we know what kind of laws would be needed, and what kind of text they would contain.) More importantly, that's a goal that anyone can take back to their state, county, or even city, and ask for specific changes for very obvious public safety reasons.

Where cities are blocked from preempting state laws (FLA, UT, NV, etc), they might have to come up with methods of gun discouragement that aren't based on ownership or carrying (10% sales tax on gun-related sales, possibly), but they can also work to elect legislatures that will make the changes the people want.

Occupy had a long list of "these things are wrong and need changing," but no concise list of "here's what we want instead," and no method for having a coherent discussion that would lead to that list.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 2:51 PM on March 26, 2018 [20 favorites]


I'd urge people not to dunk on Occupy too hard. It wasn't perfect, but I think it was a step in our history that made these movements today possible.
posted by showbiz_liz at 2:56 PM on March 26, 2018 [80 favorites]


It says something -- about both these threads and the times we're living in -- that the now-mercifully-terminated ED discussion was actually originally about President That Guy's genital essentialism (the trans ban), not his genitals. But in the end, it's all just one giant glob of grossness with this guy.

O tempore! O filis!
posted by shenderson at 2:56 PM on March 26, 2018 [5 favorites]


Occupy Wall Street also wasn't during an election year. It peaked September-November 2011, a year too early. If it had happened during 2012 it probably would've been a bigger issue in the election.
posted by kirkaracha at 3:07 PM on March 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


Because I remember similar optimism around the Occupy Wall Street movement and we all know how that ended (with a barely audible whimper).

Seriously? You think occupy achieved just a whimper? Bernie Sanders would not have had the momentum to pull the Democratic Party out of it's it neo-liberal hole if not for Occupy putting inequality front and center. A lot of the politically active and political activists you see today cut their teeth on the occupy movement.

Occupy may not have defeated Wall Street but I do think it put a crack in the foundation. That was not nothing.
posted by srboisvert at 3:11 PM on March 26, 2018 [47 favorites]


“So I’m warning you, tread very fucking lightly, because what I’m going to do to you is going to be fucking disgusting. You understand me? You write a story that has Mr. Trump’s name in it, with the word ‘rape,’ and I’m going to mess your life up…for as long as you’re on this frickin’ planet…you’re going to have judgments against you, so much money, you’ll never know how to get out from underneath it."

--Michael Cohen, from this Newsweek profile by Nina Burleigh from August that compares him to Andy Kaufman
posted by salix at 3:16 PM on March 26, 2018 [35 favorites]




Nevada lawmaker: 'Rumor mill' says Ryan headed for exit

“The rumor mill is that Paul Ryan is getting ready to resign in the next 30 to 60 days and that Steve Scalise will be the new Speaker,” [NV GOP Rep.] Amodei told Nevada Newsmakers, referring to the Majority Whip.


Ryan might be ready to scuttle off into the shadows and give a fresh goon the gavel.
posted by Rust Moranis at 3:39 PM on March 26, 2018 [20 favorites]


"Nevada lawmaker: 'Rumor mill' says Ryan headed for exit"
Oh, please let this be true! And may be never be able to get a Korbel old fashioned sweet without a garnish of spittle in any supper club in Wisconsin 'til the end of his days so help me Fighting Bob.
posted by Floydd at 3:42 PM on March 26, 2018 [31 favorites]


“The rumor mill is that Paul Ryan is getting ready to resign in the next 30 to 60 days and that Steve Scalise will be the new Speaker,” [NV GOP Rep.] Amodei told Nevada Newsmakers, referring to the Majority Whip.

Ryan might be ready to scuttle off into the shadows and give a fresh goon the gavel.


Aw come on, at least give us the pleasure of watching Ironstache humiliate your ass in the November elections, Paul!
posted by Existential Dread at 3:43 PM on March 26, 2018 [11 favorites]


It makes no sense though. Ryan is only 48. He’s basically scuttling his career in politics.
posted by Talez at 3:45 PM on March 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


I'm an Old, and by the standards of this thread a bit on the normie side and I'm here to tell you that Occupy definitely had an effect. And a bunch of stuff both before and after it, too. These things don't so much change laws as change discourse and norms. They make being liberal or socialist more accepted and acceptable. They bring new vocabulary into the public sphere. Before Occupy, no one outside of leftist activism used the term "income inequality" but because of Occupy, newscasters stated saying it and people who were nowhere near Occupy protests began to get computable with it enough to use it to describe their own concerns.

Thinking about the Women's March... Did we throw Trump out of the White House that very day? No, but a whole bunch of the activists currently working day and night to flip districts got their start through that march. In PA 18, there was a pre-existing activist group--led by a woman, started after the march--that that just helped get Conor Lamb elected. They had been working on the ground for nearly a year before the special election was even announced.

There have been massive changes in norms and discourse on the left in my lifetime. (And the right, which I think we've all noted--and much of that was due to activism too, however much it may have been astroturfed or done by utterly loathsome people.)
posted by soren_lorensen at 3:47 PM on March 26, 2018 [69 favorites]


It makes no sense though. Ryan is only 48. He’s basically scuttling his career in politics.

I wonder if he's hoping that by bowing out voluntarily, something horrid might not be brought to light?
posted by Slackermagee at 3:48 PM on March 26, 2018 [10 favorites]


Where does Steve Scalise fit on on the rabid right wing lunatic scale? Would he be likely to be more or less dire than Ryan as the speaker?
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 3:50 PM on March 26, 2018


It makes no sense though. Ryan is only 48. He’s basically scuttling his career in politics.

Or getting out of the limelight before the Mueller investigation findings become public and before the GOP takes a drubbing in a wave election (*knock on wood*), allowing him to sit the shitstorms out as a right-wing commentator and come back as a "time for a change" presidential candidate in 2024.
posted by deludingmyself at 3:53 PM on March 26, 2018 [23 favorites]


If those rumors are true, Ryan is probably seeing some really bad polling and may want to get out instead of losing an election.
posted by azpenguin at 3:56 PM on March 26, 2018 [10 favorites]


He's decided to run in 2020 and knows he has to establish anti-Trump cress which he can't do as Speaker.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 3:59 PM on March 26, 2018 [6 favorites]


I'm not accustomed to thinking of Paul Ryan as a person rather than an avatar of terribleness, but having recently left a soul-crushingly stressful job for mental health reasons, I wonder if he didn't just wake up one morning and think "hey, you know what, FUCK THIS."
posted by showbiz_liz at 4:02 PM on March 26, 2018 [40 favorites]


Because I remember similar optimism around the Occupy Wall Street movement and we all know how that ended (with a barely audible whimper).

Aside from the other stuff above, and the non-negligible (and I would assert actually pretty big) contribution to the discourse and our way of looking at income classes, OWS brought us Strike Debt and Rolling Jubilee. So not only did they amp up the discussion of how crippling college debt loads are for the younger (than me, anyway) generation, they did something about people being harmed by debt collectors.

We talk a lot about the distance between aspirational changes and actual incremental work, but OWS was an aspirational movement that got a lot of attention and then generated an incremental project. They should not be looked at as failing, they should be seen as poster children for the right way to evolve.
posted by phearlez at 4:04 PM on March 26, 2018 [7 favorites]


Where does Steve Scalise fit on on the rabid right wing lunatic scale?

Up there.

Would he be likely to be more or less dire than Ryan as the speaker?

Probably not less!
posted by Rust Moranis at 4:04 PM on March 26, 2018 [8 favorites]


Where does Steve Scalise fit on on the rabid right wing lunatic scale? Would he be likely to be more or less dire than Ryan as the speaker?

Let's put it this way. He got shot while warming up for the congressional ballgame last year. This year he was a primary sponsor of concealed carry reciprocity in the House. A+ rating from the NRA.

He's very conservative: has a terrible record on LGBT issues, anti-abortion, supported Trump's various immigration bans.

He's not part of the Freedom Caucus but he's fairly wingnutty.
posted by murphy slaw at 4:06 PM on March 26, 2018 [29 favorites]


Because I remember similar optimism around the Occupy Wall Street movement and we all know how that ended (with a barely audible whimper).

This is arguably (if only arguably) true in other places there were Occupations, but the only reason folks were able to stand up Occupy Sandy so quickly in the New York City area was because of the region-wide links that had been forged at the time of OWS. Not merely stand it up quickly, actually, but run it so effectively, right out of the gate.

Forgive me, but I don't think the many, many thousands of New Yorkers and New Jerseyans whose lives were materially improved by their interactions with OS in the terrifying days and weeks after the storm regard it as a whimper, barely audible or otherwise.

(Heads up, BTW, that that is a self-link.)
posted by adamgreenfield at 4:15 PM on March 26, 2018 [15 favorites]


I wonder if he didn't just wake up one morning and think "hey, you know what, FUCK THIS."

Ryan has been one of the fig leaves providing cover for the toxic austerity and obstruction that has characterized the GOP's last decade. Any reason he wants to leave is good enough for me, and we need to hang the worst government behaviors of the Obama years around his little chicken neck if he dares to pop up in politics again.

[edit, snuck the word "electoral" in there for some reason]
posted by aspersioncast at 4:20 PM on March 26, 2018 [6 favorites]


Thinking about the Women's March... Did we throw Trump out of the White House that very day? No, but a whole bunch of the activists currently working day and night to flip districts got their start through that march.

I would add to this the instant large protests when the Muslim ban first hit. While it didn't stop the whole xenophobic shitshow, the mass effort involved very clearly saved lives. It also provided a huge wake-up call to this administration to let them know their bullshit would not go unchallenged and it galvanized resistance much like the Women's March did. I fully believe the protests for the Muslim ban slowed or stopped a whole lot more fascist bullshit from this administration. They saw people would take to the streets immediately and gum up the airports. After that, the regime dialed their shit back and tread more carefully. It didn't fix everything, but imagine where we'd be if that didn't happen at all.

It also let the rest of the world know the whole country hasn't slid off into a big chasm of Islamophobia. I read more than one piece during those protests about how important they were outside the United States. Think about all the times we see big protest movements in other countries and how that shows a divide between the population and their corrupt or oppressive governments. Think about how often we say of other countries, "The problem isn't the people, it's the government." Why would that be any different when the US is the country that people are watching?

As others have said, there is no single moment and no single movement to fix everything that's wrong. But they add up, and those additions boost morale and engagement. All of that matters.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 4:28 PM on March 26, 2018 [85 favorites]


It makes no sense though. Ryan is only 48. He’s basically scuttling his career in politics.

Nah, coming in and out of the system is a badge of honor for some of these guys. Look, we're not just career politicians! We are out here in the real world with you guys, our lives in these K St lobby shops makes us just like you Mr Shopkeeper!

He's either got something lined up or this is a trial balloon to see what phone calls he gets with opportunities when this gets out there. Perhaps he doesn't want to be minority leader. Perhaps the intel they're getting about who is more or less likely to be bounced leads him to believe that those who remain later wouldn't even want him to be that and he wants to go out on a high. Perhaps it's just a matter of the benjamins, a la when Cantor bailed out before his remaining term was even over. But assuming this means the end of him politically doesn't jibe with history.
posted by phearlez at 4:29 PM on March 26, 2018 [7 favorites]


Would he be likely to be more or less dire than Ryan as the speaker?

What murphyslaw said, but it kind of doesn't matter how Scalise is individually because the Freedom Caucus controls who get and stays in the Speaker slot and they'd never let in somebody more moderate, and they also control what a Republican Speaker can and can't get away with doing in the House. So really, the key is ensuring that there is not a Republican Speaker after this year.
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:33 PM on March 26, 2018 [6 favorites]


“The Speaker is not resigning,” [Spokesperson AshLee] Strong told the Washington Examiner in a statement.
And Scalise's office is denying the rumor as well:
"Whip Scalise is proud to serve alongside Speaker Ryan, and fully supports him to remain Speaker,” spokesperson Lauren Fine said. “Our whole leadership team is focused on working with President Trump to deliver more conservative wins for the country, and also ensuring we keep the majority so we can continue implementing President Trump's agenda that is getting our economy back on track."

Lawmakers and political observers have been speculating about Ryan’s departure but few believe he would jump ship in the middle of the election cycle. Scalise would have to be elected speaker by the full House and could not simply replace Ryan. Ryan is visiting the Czech Republic this week and plans a press conference Tuesday.
This sounds more like Mark Amodei talking smack on a local podcast, which bottom-feeding aggregator outlets like The Hill recycle as poli-clickbait.
posted by Doktor Zed at 4:35 PM on March 26, 2018 [8 favorites]


He's decided to run in 2020 and knows he has to establish anti-Trump cress which he can't do as Speaker.

Ha. That ship has sailed, turn around, sailed back, circumnavigated the globe, sought the Northwest passage, been ice-locked over the winter, returned in disgrace, retired due to metal fatigue, scuttled, and is now serving as an artificial reef for marine life.

He will never live this down. We will never let him. Coward. Traitor. His name should be synonymous with Quisling and Judas. Parents will stop naming their children Paul to avoid the association.
posted by leotrotsky at 4:44 PM on March 26, 2018 [95 favorites]


Paul Ryan's approval rating is 24%. He's hated by the Republican base almost as much as by Democrats. He has no future running for president.
posted by chris24 at 5:04 PM on March 26, 2018 [21 favorites]


Scalise is a wingnut conservative but at least he's a bog-standard wingnut conservative whereas Ryan is a true believing granny starver that somehow got the press to fawn all over him as a "policy wonk."
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 5:07 PM on March 26, 2018 [8 favorites]


Note that while Ryan’s nationwide approval is terrible, in Wisconsin he was net zero approval (44-44) in the latest polls. He also won re-election with 65% of the vote last time. Even a major wave this year might not swamp him.

If he decides not to run, it may just be that he’s not looking forward to being in the minority.
posted by murphy slaw at 5:21 PM on March 26, 2018 [8 favorites]


It appears [March for Our Lives] is light years ahead of Occupy Wall Street in terms of organization and goal-setting.

Yes, which means it can raise funds and get permits and leases and so forth. These things are fundamental to any large movement.

It's been reliably reported that Russian state actors were inspiring/sponsoring activists on both sides of controversial issues. These are not new tactics; the agents provocateurs are just being used by a foreign government rather than a domestic one.

Micah White, one of the Occupy movement's founders, described being approached by a Russian agent and warned that they were using similar tactics with other groups. There's no reason to think that Russia gave up after failing with Micah White: maybe this is why Occupy was ultimately paralysed by endless internal debates about everything and no way to enforce decisions. I'm pretty sure the consequences were what Russia would have wanted anyway: no effective change to financial regulation, but a lot of angry activists and news stories showing tent cities in American financial

The good side of all of this is that even failed activist groups can nurture future activism, and people inspired by single-issue campaigns can bring their enthusiasm to other groups. That seems to be happening, and even the Republicans can see the Democratic Party (which is both the greatest hope and the greatest obstacle to serious social and economic reform in the US) is the beneficiary.
posted by Joe in Australia at 5:21 PM on March 26, 2018 [16 favorites]


There's no reason to think that Russia gave up after failing with Micah White: maybe this is why Occupy was ultimately paralysed by endless internal debates about everything and no way to enforce decisions.

For a little while I was confused about why my fellow leftists weren't really talking about Russia's efforts to interfere in the election. But I've come to understand that they're mainly just annoyed at the way centrist liberals keep inventing wild, baseless conspiracy theories to discredit anyone to the left of them. Look, it's ok if you're not a Socialist, but can folks stop trying to paint us all as Russian agents or credulous followers of Russian agents? There are a thousand good reasons someone might be left of center... We're not dupes.

Apologies for picking on you specifically, but this is definitely a recurring theme in these threads.
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 6:22 PM on March 26, 2018 [5 favorites]


Scalise is a wingnut conservative but at least he's a bog-standard wingnut conservative whereas Ryan is a true believing granny starver that somehow got the press to fawn all over him as a "policy wonk."

To be fair, Ryan is a conventionally-attractive conservative white dude who is capable of putting at least three words together in some sort of vaguely intelligent-sounding order so how could they not fawn
posted by tivalasvegas at 6:26 PM on March 26, 2018 [6 favorites]


If he decides not to run, it may just be that he’s not looking forward to being in the minority.

Well but that's what all the retiring wimps are doing.
posted by rhizome at 6:30 PM on March 26, 2018


Mod note: Couple deleted; let's not dig in on oh but Jill Stein, leftists v centrists v who's holding their positions in good faith vs who's been duped by Russians etc blah blah; I get why people want to dig back but unless more info comes out this is imponderable and we've been around this tree so many times before.]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 6:35 PM on March 26, 2018 [5 favorites]


Shark Person (Alexandra Petri, WaPo)
Like many viewers (including my colleague Christine Emba), I was struck by Stormy Daniels’s remarks on “60 Minutes” that she wound up engaging in a sexual encounter with Donald Trump because “I had it coming for making a bad decision for going to someone’s room alone.” I think the best way of showing how screwed up this is is to rewrite her account a la “Cat Person.”

Shark Person

Stormy met Donald on a weekend night in the middle of July 2006. He was there to play golf, and she was riding around the golf course in a golf cart as part of a promotion. They wound up riding from one place to another in a golf cart together. She could tell that he thought she was cute.

“I want to come talk to you later,” he told her. […]

When she went inside, he was lounging in his pajamas, and she worried for the first time that she might have misread the interaction. In her mental picture of this evening, he was dressed to go to dinner and they were going to ride the elevator down together to a restaurant with brass railings and white tablecloths and steak, making small talk, but instead he was sprawled on his couch wearing pajama pants that looked like hand-me-downs from Hugh Hefner. She told him this, and he got upset, defensive, as though she was the one who had misread things.

“I thought we would just relax here,” he said.

They would up eating in the room, because it became clear that they were not going to eat anywhere else. While they waited for the food he kept bringing the conversation back to himself and to his show, which was a reality TV competition, and to a magazine that he was on the cover of. The more he spoke, the more she became aware he thought this was a good technique to impress a woman — that he was genuinely trying to prove himself to her with this information; the knowledge of this vulnerability touched her. There was something affecting in the fact that, although he was much older than she was, he could still be so bad at something.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 6:36 PM on March 26, 2018 [36 favorites]


In her mental picture of this evening, he was dressed to go to dinner and they were going to ride the elevator down together to a restaurant with brass railings and white tablecloths and steak, making small talk, but instead he was sprawled on his couch wearing pajama pants that looked like hand-me-downs from Hugh Hefner.

OK, I'm un-gaying myself so I can marry Alexandra Petri
posted by tivalasvegas at 6:40 PM on March 26, 2018 [21 favorites]




The discussion of that Alaska law is a fascinating look into the minds of R legislators:
Initiatives are constitutionally protected against repeal [including major changes] by the Legislature for two years after passage, but can be amended in minor ways.

..."the core intent behind the initiative was to create an automatic voter registration process,” she said. “The opt-out provisions are at the heart of that process."

Coghill said it was a matter of opinion, adding that he believed the voter initiative was just about making it easier to register not about automatic voter registration.
He also insists that voting needs to be something you choose to sign up for; the gov't isn't supposed to just allow people to vote just because it happens to be their legal right: “I just wanted to make the case that the burden of the willingness to vote still belongs to the voter.”
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 7:17 PM on March 26, 2018 [42 favorites]


"Whip Scalise is proud to serve alongside Speaker Ryan, and fully supports him to remain Speaker,” spokesperson Lauren Fine said. “Our whole leadership team is focused on working with President Trump to deliver more conservative wins for the country, and also ensuring we keep the majority so we can continue implementing President Trump's agenda that is getting our economy back on track."


In political speak "Full Support" usually indicates life support will be pulled in under 2 weeks.
posted by srboisvert at 7:23 PM on March 26, 2018 [7 favorites]


The Stormy Daniels scandal is not about sex – it’s about threats, bribes and silence (Sarah Kendzior, Globe & Mail )
When the news broke in January that U.S. President Donald Trump had allegedly had sex with adult film actress Stephanie Clifford (known professionally as Stormy Daniels), it seemed relatively benign due to the severity of his other controversies. Mr. Trump spent the past year being investigated for Kremlin ties and obstruction of justice, tolerating neo-Nazis, allegedly abusing presidential power to enhance his personal wealth, threatening nuclear war, and generally plunging the U.S. into a toxic mix of chaos and autocracy.

Thanks to a complicit and compliant GOP, he has gotten away with nearly every offence. Would the words of a porn star really matter?

As it turns out, yes. The most significant aspect of the Stormy Daniels case is not the sexual relationship, which she says was consensual – a rather novel concept given the many allegations of sexual assault levelled at Mr. Trump. What matters is the Trump team’s alleged use of non-disclosure agreements, payoffs, and threats to intimidate a target into silence – allegations that Mr. Trump and his enthusiastic backers have had to defend for decades. By refusing to stand down, Ms. Daniels provides valuable insight into how Mr. Trump maintains power – and prompts disturbing questions about what those who are too scared to speak might have to say.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:31 PM on March 26, 2018 [36 favorites]




You ... seem ... surprised?

They're conservatives. By the mere act of posing as a conservative they've already told everyone they don't care about facts.

I mean, ignoring or destroying facts is sort of a key premise of being a political conservative. Sorta like how being able to run is key to being a long distance runner?
posted by aramaic at 7:52 PM on March 26, 2018 [5 favorites]


This will guarantee an undercounting and shift in distribution from cities to rural areas. They're going to rig the census.

Elect Dems in 2018 and hold up all defense spending in R states until they back down. Criminals are a cowardly, superstitious lot.
posted by benzenedream at 7:56 PM on March 26, 2018 [16 favorites]


Re: the Census - is this something that can be controlled by Congress (assuming we can flip the majority this year)?
posted by Kelrichen at 7:57 PM on March 26, 2018


By the mere act of posing as a conservative they've already told everyone they don't care about facts.

I'm not entirely sure about that. re: the census

I think that its more that if the facts don't suit their purposes, 'conservatives' of a certain ilk will just manipulate how facts are determined.

This particular ploys sounds really old-school. Ginned up by people who understand how data is collected and interpreted - by deliberately sabotaging the methodology, they can torture the data more easily to come up with conclusions that they prefer, that they can use to back up a narrative.

As a scientist, I'm usually less interested in the conclusions (basically, an editorial for my the research presented is interesting and important) of a peer-reviewed paper and more about the methodology/ methodologies used and specific bits of data that it/ they produced.
posted by porpoise at 8:21 PM on March 26, 2018 [10 favorites]


Kellyanne Conway first shat out the incredibly effective "alternative news" 42.8 Scaramuchis ago, objective.

This is amateur hour, but I guess so is the critical thinking abilities/ (or more importantly, the lack of integrity of the information they are exposed to, sabotages what critical thinking abilities are latent) of a sufficient number of eligible voters who ended up being able to have their vote counted.
posted by porpoise at 8:36 PM on March 26, 2018 [1 favorite]


JUST IN: The U.S. Dept. of Commerce announced that a question on citizenship status will be on the 2020 census questionnaire, and stated that the decision "follows a request by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to add a question on citizenship status to the 2020 decennial census."

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra @AGBecerra:
#BREAKING: Filing suit against @realdonaldtrump's Administration over decision to add #citizenship question on #2020Census. Including the question is not just a bad idea — it is illegal:

SFChronicle: Citizenship Question On 2020 Census May Result In Undercount
The size of your child's kindergarten class. Homeland security funds for your community. Natural disaster preparation. Highway and mass transit resources. Health care and emergency room services....
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:45 PM on March 26, 2018 [68 favorites]


Ryan is the epitome of the Peter Principle - He does NOT want the job, literally no-one else can do it, and if he quits the lunatics take over the asylum. He was kicked into his lofty position by dint of not screwing up too much. Now every action he takes screws it up. Either with his horrified electorate (Hello IronStache!) or with the Ultra Cons.

He knows he's going to lose to IronStache, who's all about Tip O'Neil and all politics is local. Paul Ryan does not have the ground game, the fearless meet-and-greet and legit worker cred Randy Bryce does.

Ryan either bows out and hands over power to someone in a safe seat, or wow, things get fun!

RANDY BRYCE. REGISTER TO VOTE. VOTE RANDY BRYCE. You might just save our Nation!
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:50 PM on March 26, 2018 [16 favorites]


The DOJ will of course argue that it's not illegal to ask about citizenship, only illegal not to count the non-citizens if they answer in the negative with regard to citizenship status.

Lower courts have been taking a fairly broad discretion in looking at the intent behind moves like the travel bans when deciding these questions. I expect district courts will do the same here, but I still have little faith in the SC with the Gorsuch hijacking.
posted by Justinian at 8:53 PM on March 26, 2018 [3 favorites]


That Petri column is an interesting departure from her usual style, because it's much more a rumination/imitation than a jocular riff. This part in particular mimics the original (although the sentences are much longer, which may be intended as parody by exaggeration)… but it doesn't copy it exactly, and it's like whoa:

The thought of what it would require to correct his notion of what was about to happen seemed overwhelming. She was not physically attracted to him, but she was physically in a hotel room with him, and to have to explain to him that his equation was faulty — that her presence in his room, and the fact of the industry she worked in did not mean that she had agreed to anything further — seemed exhausting. And it could be, as well, that he had operated with this equation for years, reverse-engineering this very setup from punchlines of jokes at which he laughed too hard, so that, in his mind, all that was required was to manufacture these conditions and that what happened next would then seem inevitable, and not the result of dozens — maybe hundreds — of indulgences on the behalf of women who were too tired or too curious or too anything else to correct it. So she consented. It was easier to consent than to have to wrestle with what it would mean if she did not consent and he persisted.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 9:16 PM on March 26, 2018 [66 favorites]


Trump's trade war potentially good news for Canada.
posted by Mitheral at 9:25 PM on March 26, 2018


if she did not consent and he persisted.

Holy goddamn I'm not always as impressed by Petri as some MeFites but that paragraph manages to do a whole lot of amazing things at once.

If there's one prediction about this presidency that's held true (there's a bunch, we all knew it was a dumpster fire from the get-go), it's that comedic talent would thrive.
posted by aspersioncast at 9:44 PM on March 26, 2018 [5 favorites]


That is not comedy. That is tragedy, written in simple, clear language. I have been in similar circumstances, made a similar choice, and there is nothing comic about it. Reading that paragraph makes me wonder if she (Petri), too, has experienced similar circumstances.
posted by W Grant at 10:57 PM on March 26, 2018 [59 favorites]


Trump's trade war potentially good news for Canada.

Eh. Maybe for the LNG sector but not for the average sector:

Today's CBC: Why a U.S-China trade war could be a 'net negative' for Canada
A trade war between the United States and China could potentially provide benefits to a handful of industries in Canada but the overall impact would be negative for the Canadian economy, some experts warn.

"Any Canadian businesses that are selling products that could be substituted for Chinese products that have the tariffs being applied could benefit from this," said Craig Alexander, senior vice-president and chief economist of the Conference Board of Canada.

"But overall it's going to be a net negative."

...
See also this Ottawa Citizen's columnist opinion piece at CNN: How Justin Trudeau copes with Trump lies
posted by sebastienbailard at 11:48 PM on March 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


WaPo editorial board: The Fed just sent Congress a message
posted by Joe in Australia at 12:16 AM on March 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


Alexandra Petri also has a superb piece back in October on a similar theme: Movies that wouldn't exist if male protagonists hadn't "put themselves in that situation". I don't think I've seen this point made elsewhere, or definitely not so well.
posted by kelper at 12:57 AM on March 27, 2018 [28 favorites]


Apologies if this belongs in a different thread (or threads) but apparently ICE is using backend facebook data to track down immigrants.

Not saying we don't very much need to disband ICE, but this is a problem for The Intercept:
Due to editing errors, this story and its headline originally reported that the investigation referred to in the ICE emails targeted an immigrant. The story also said that the search for the target of the investigation was underway in New Mexico and suggested that the investigation was related to an immigration violation. The documents reported on in the story do not establish that the target of the investigation was an immigrant or that the individual was being pursued for immigration violations. The target of the investigation was, according to the documents, based in the New York metropolitan area, while several of the ICE agents on the emails were based in New Mexico. Additionally, this story has been updated to include a comment from Facebook stating that the site handed over the information to ICE in response to requests related to an investigation into an alleged child predator.
And the reporter deleted their Twitter apparently?

What...what do they think an editor does over there exactly?
posted by zachlipton at 1:12 AM on March 27, 2018 [41 favorites]


That Petri paragraph sounds straight out of a modern Middlemarch.
posted by Standard Orange at 2:53 AM on March 27, 2018 [10 favorites]


Isn't The Intercept the rag that got NSA whistleblower Reality Winner arrested through its carelessness?
posted by moody cow at 3:52 AM on March 27, 2018 [14 favorites]


idea for possible McSweeny's article: a collection of Mattis's increasingly agonized annotations in his different books. Like, maybe he's now studying how to hypnotize malignant narcissists.

Mattis isn't a hero of mine, but sometimes you go into the unraveling of society and just take what you can get
posted by angrycat at 3:57 AM on March 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


I am one of only three people in my office during the day, so I am not at liberty to speak up if someone says something I disagree with.

Yesterday we were talking about Stormy Daniels, and one of my co-workers frowned about halfway through and said "then again, she is a porn star, though, so...."

All I really can do in such situations is get quiet and turn away.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:39 AM on March 27, 2018 [17 favorites]


Dan Webb and Tom Buchanan Latest Lawyers to Decline to Join Trump’s Legal Team
Two more high-power attorneys have had to turn down President Donald Trump. Tom Buchanan and Dan Webb confirmed to The Daily Beast that Trump reached out to them about representing him, and that they couldn’t do it.

“President Trump reached out to Dan Webb and Tom Buchanan to provide legal representation,” they said in a statement. “They were unable to take on the representation due to business conflicts. However they consider the opportunity to represent the President to be the highest honor and they sincerely regret that they cannot do so. They wish the president the best and believe he has excellent representation in Ty Cobb and Jay Sekulow.


*snort*
posted by PenDevil at 4:51 AM on March 27, 2018 [34 favorites]


Isn't The Intercept the rag that got NSA whistleblower Reality Winner arrested through its carelessness?

Whether Glenn Greenwald is Russian compromised ala Assamge or less exotically just an easily led fuckwit has indeed been a subject of conversation around here, yes. Trusting The Intercept as a sole source on anything inadvisable.
posted by Artw at 4:53 AM on March 27, 2018 [8 favorites]


Doesn't it kind of depend on who is writing the article at the Intercept? He may be a little too leftie for some, but Schahill is pretty legit.
posted by bootlegpop at 4:55 AM on March 27, 2018


Probably don't need a whole Intercept derail, but yes, in addition to outing Reality Winner, they were co-founded by Glenn Greenwald, who has become a useful idiot since he let bothsidesism about the US and Russia take over parts of his brain.

It's not the most trustworthy publication when it comes to US politics. Fact-checking seems to be somewhere sub-Vox, but they have less of a liberal agenda and more of a broad anti-US agenda. That can be a useful perspective, but . . . grain of salt.
posted by aspersioncast at 4:56 AM on March 27, 2018 [11 favorites]


So, is there any hope that the current round of mass protest, March for Our Lives, will be a catalyst for actual change? Because I remember similar optimism around the Occupy Wall Street movement and we all know how that ended (with a barely audible whimper).

I'd like to add to the several fine responses to this point that Occupy Wall Street got the topic of income inequality to be part of the national conversation, which the so-called "liberal media" had previously steadfastly failed to do.

This new movement has people talking about sensible gun control, whereas after the Sandy Hook shooting, there was no national conversation at all. These kids have in a few weeks moved the Overton window from a place it took the NRA years and millions of dollars to get there.

Becoming a topic of national dialogue isn't a sufficient condition to enact change, but it is necessary.
posted by Gelatin at 5:05 AM on March 27, 2018 [39 favorites]


How Trump favored Texas over Puerto Rico: A POLITICO investigation shows a persistent double standard in the president’s handling of relief efforts for Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Maria.
Within six days of Hurricane Harvey, U.S. Northern Command had deployed 73 helicopters over Houston, which are critical for saving victims and delivering emergency supplies. It took at least three weeks after Maria before it had more than 70 helicopters flying above Puerto Rico.

Nine days after the respective hurricanes, FEMA had approved $141.8 million in individual assistance to Harvey victims, versus just $6.2 million for Maria victims.

During the first nine days after Harvey, FEMA provided 5.1 million meals, 4.5 million liters of water and over 20,000 tarps to Houston; but in the same period, it delivered just 1.6 million meals, 2.8 million liters of water and roughly 5,000 tarps to Puerto Rico.

Nine days after Harvey, the federal government had 30,000 personnel in the Houston region, compared with 10,000 at the same point after Maria.

It took just 10 days for FEMA to approve permanent disaster work for Texas, compared with 43 days for Puerto Rico.

Seventy-eight days after each hurricane, FEMA had approved 39 percent of federal applications for relief from victims of Harvey, versus 28 percent for Maria.
posted by chris24 at 5:14 AM on March 27, 2018 [65 favorites]


Now I'm just a simple interwebs commenter and don't know about that whole world of "facts" and "numbers" that the undeleted classes are on about, but

W/r/t polling, is it not likely that extra-national attentions could have influenced / distorted / outright-created incorrect polling? That is, if we accept the premise that Russian troll farms roiled teh socialz, and leet haxors scoured voting systems across multiple states, is it not likely that polling was also targeted for use in keeping a horse race a horse race?

If polls were Trump-ahead, at all, ever, wouldn't that have endangered the operation by mobilizing "opposition" voters? Hillary's 99% liklihood was the biggest evar in history, right? What if it was more 40%? If I was a canny international criminal usurping organization, I'd be all up in Nate Silver's bidness.

But I suppose that's just the way we think of things, down here below the fold.
posted by petebest at 5:14 AM on March 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


Reading that paragraph makes me wonder if she (Petri), too, has experienced similar circumstances.

This makes my skin crawl. I'm sure most women are aware that if we write about sexual pressure, sexual coercion, or sexual violence in any fictional or satirical context, readers will speculate about our own real-life sexual experiences as much as or more than about our viewpoints and artistry and capacity for imaginative empathy. but being aware of it doesn't mean we like it.

you can just assume that every woman has experienced the company of a man who expects things from us we do not care to supply, no matter what we did in response or had done to us. no need to wonder. you'll be wrong in one or two percent of cases but so what.

maybe you're a woman too, I don't know and it makes no difference.
posted by queenofbithynia at 5:29 AM on March 27, 2018 [40 favorites]


This will guarantee an undercounting and shift in distribution from cities to rural areas.

I don’t actually understand you here. What do you mean?
posted by corb at 5:34 AM on March 27, 2018


Why The President Has No Personal Attorney
I can think of lots of reasons no respected or prestigious lawyers are willing to represent the President. But I suspect this may be one of them that gets less attention than it should. From TPM Reader JB …

"No big law firm can rep Trump because of powerful partners (especially female) redlining it and the associate recruiting pr disaster it would trigger (especially with young women). Repping Trump is a political statement no large law firm can afford to make. Big city lawyers are disproportionately Dems.

Most firms now have at least a few powerful female partners and they ALL have 50 percent young women as associates. Of course many of the men despise Trump too, but it is the women who are saying you represent this fucking pig and I will quit tomorrow and everyone knows they mean it. And any firm that represented Trump may as well just give up on attracting female associates. It would become their entire brand overnight, and it is a terrible black mark. The top firms are interchangeable, so it doesn’t take much to drop to the bottom of young associates’ list. Yes, the fact that he won’t pay, will fucking lose spectacularly and along the way will inevitably force his lawyer to choose between suborning perjury and quitting (if he can), but the truth is it’s the Trump brand they just can’t afford. He’s a Swastika."
posted by chris24 at 5:34 AM on March 27, 2018 [113 favorites]


shift in distribution from cities to rural areas. --- I don’t actually understand you here. What do you mean?

Not my comment, but non-citizens will be reluctant to complete the census, resulting in an undercount of them in the areas where they are located, which is overwhelmingly urban areas. Apportionment of representatives and distribution of federal block grants is determined by population from the census, meaning dollars and political power will not flow as it should to urban areas, but disproportionately to rural areas, which as with the electoral college and the Senate will be unjustly advantaged. Needless to say, rural areas are very much white and this is just another manifestation of white supremacy.

It will also fuck up government and civil services because budgets, personnel and resources will be determined on a faulty distribution of population.
posted by chris24 at 5:39 AM on March 27, 2018 [34 favorites]


I don’t actually understand you here. What do you mean?

Trump DOJ Pushes For Citizenship Question On Census, Alarming Experts
“People are not going to come out to be counted because they’re going to be fearful the information would be used for negative purposes,” said Steve Jost, a former top bureau official during the 2010 census. “This line about enforcing voting rights is a new and scary twist.” He noted that since the first census in 1790, the goal has been to count everyone in the country, not just citizens.
Adding Citizenship Question Risks 'Bad Count' For 2020 Census, Experts Warn
Some experts fear, however, that reintroducing a citizenship question to all census participants in 2020 could discourage people from participating at a time of growing distrust in sharing personal information with the government.

In a recent memo written by Census Bureau staffers, researchers said that survey takers conducting field tests last year noticed a "new phenomenon" of increased fear among immigrant participants, many of whom referenced concerns about the "Muslim ban" and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "Respondents reported being told by community leaders not to open the door without a warrant signed by a judge," the researchers wrote in the memo, adding that they saw "respondents falsifying names, dates of birth, and other information on household rosters."
Trump DOJ Could Effectively Be Reviving A Long-Term Attack On Voting Rights
However, should the Trump Justice Department get its way in a new push to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census, it could breathe new life into the effort. The result could be that some states draw their legislative districts in ways that reduce the voting power of minority communities and boost the power of white ones.
...
Drawing legislative districts so that they equalize according to the number of legal citizens a district has instead of its total population would have huge implications for the political power of areas with a relatively high non-citizen populations, including immigrant communities. An analysis by Andrew Beveridge, a sociologist and demographics expert at CUNY, said that using citizen voting age instead of total population would result in a shift in voting power that would “substantially favor increasing the number of Republican-dominated districts.”
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:44 AM on March 27, 2018 [43 favorites]


but the truth is it’s the Trump brand they just can’t afford

I guess this is the 'business conflicts' excuse that the firms are using to turn down the gig?
posted by like_neon at 5:44 AM on March 27, 2018 [6 favorites]


@RealDonaldTrump: Many lawyers and top law firms want to represent me in the Russia case...don’t believe the Fake News narrative that it is hard to find a lawyer who wants to take this on. Fame & fortune will NEVER be turned down by a lawyer, though some are conflicted. Problem is that a new ... lawyer or law firm will take months to get up to speed (if for no other reason than they can bill more), which is unfair to our great country - and I am very happy with my existing team.

Mother Jones's impromptu interview with Ted Olson by David "Russian Roulette" Corn: Top Republican Lawyer: No One’s Asking to Be on Trump’s Legal Team
I asked Olson about being recruited for Trump’s squad. He rolled his eyes, suggesting that this was never going to happen and that it was not just a matter of conflicts.[...]

So this didn’t get too far? I queried. Olson shrugged in an I’m-not-getting-into-details way. “Who knows how these trial balloons happen?” he said, in a manner that definitely suggested he knows how they happen. He then joked, “Joe [diGenova] lasted longer. At least two days.”

So is Trump going to have trouble finding attorneys? Olson shrugged again. “Let me ask this a different way,” I said. “In the last few days has any lawyer come up to you and said, ‘I’m willing to work for Trump?'”

Without hesitation, Olson said, “No.” Not at all? “Not at all.”

Washington, I noted, is full of Republican lawyers who generally do not mind being in the middle of headline-generating scandals and earning a bit of notice. Olson laughed: “That’s right.” And not one of them had contacted him to say he or she was willing to sign up? “No,” he repeated.
Trump had better be happy with his existing team of attorneys 'cos he's burning his bridges with the legal profession.
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:46 AM on March 27, 2018 [22 favorites]


EmpressCallipygos: Yesterday we were talking about Stormy Daniels, and one of my co-workers frowned about halfway through and said "then again, she is a porn star, though, so...."

Sometimes it helps to encourage these folks to finish their sentences. It gets their prejudice out in the open. Of course, that may not be a good idea if you're not willing and able to engage with it. But sometimes, someone else does the work, and it even happens that hearing themselves say it out loud causes a glimmer of self-awareness.
So I might be tempted to wait politely, and then say "...Yes?"
posted by Too-Ticky at 5:47 AM on March 27, 2018 [49 favorites]


I'm sure some of these lawyers are conflicted out, and Trump's history of not paying bills isn't great (although lawyers will take on way worse high-profile clients in high-profile cases for the publicity), but I think the real reason Trump's unable to find representation at this point is that he is absolutely crystal clear he intends to perjure himself, against the advice of his attorneys, and it's a crime for a lawyer to knowingly allow a client to perjure himself (except in a very limited way in a criminal case). That's why Dowd resigned -- he was pressuring Trump not to talk to Mueller because that is all you can do when your client intends to perjure himself, and when Trump was clear he was going to ignore that advice, Dowd was forced to withdraw representation because it would be a crime (usually a felony) to allow his client to provide false testimony under oath. Any other lawyer who takes on Trump is going to have to immediately withdraw because Trump intends to commit perjury. He's not going to be able to hire or hang on to a competent lawyer until he either a) agrees to tell the truth or b) agrees to refuse to talk to Mueller. Or c) it becomes a criminal case, in which case he has a right to counsel, and the attorney is allowed a little leeway to allow the accused to testify in his own defense, even if he perjures himself, as long as the lawyer doesn't help him do it. You watch, if he gets indicted, better lawyers will be willing to represent him in the criminal case only. Nobody competent is going to touch any non-criminal part of this with a ten-foot pole.

I don't really care about Ty Cobb one way or the other, but I most sincerely hope that Jay Sekulow loses his license when he presents Trump to testify falsely. It'd be gravy if he went to jail for felony suborning of perjury. He is a terrible person, a bad lawyer, and a disgrace to the profession.

Actually the most entertaining way for this to go down would be for a particularly arrogant lawyer to take on Trump as a client, convinced he can control Trump, and get him to agree to tell the truth to Mueller, and then have Trump start lying his ass off while he's testifying, forcing the attorney to withdraw representation during the doubtless highly public testimony.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:47 AM on March 27, 2018 [106 favorites]


Mother Jones's impromptu interview with Ted Olson by David "Russian Roulette" Corn: Top Republican Lawyer: No One’s Asking to Be on Trump’s Legal Team

Ted Olson also had this to say yesterday...

“I think everybody would agree: This is turmoil, it's chaos, it's confusion, it's not good for anything,” Olson said Monday on MSNBC's “Andrea Mitchell Reports.” “We always believe that there should be an orderly process, and, of course, government is not clean or orderly ever. But this seems to be beyond normal.”
posted by chris24 at 5:51 AM on March 27, 2018 [6 favorites]


I've spent a lot of Favorites this morning on the folks who've spelled out all the concrete and measurable good that came of Occupy Wall Street, but I just wanted to add that I don't think we would have gotten the Mitt Romney "47%" tape, nor would it have gotten the traction it did, if Occupy hadn't changed the conversation.
posted by whuppy at 5:58 AM on March 27, 2018 [69 favorites]


More Putin contacts for everyone's favorite coffee boy.
When Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, attention fell on his meetings with a mysterious Maltese professor named Joseph Mifsud, who, according to court documents, told Papadopoulos that the Russians had thousands of Hillary Clinton emails — nearly two months before the Democrats themselves knew that their computers had been hacked.

But European security officials say another set of meetings Papadopoulos held in Europe in the months before and after the 2016 election should alarm US investigators. That’s because the person with whom he met, Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, is known to be close to Russian President Vladimir Putin — a relationship that goes beyond Greece’s traditional ties to Russia through the Eastern Orthodox Church and a growing relationship brought on by Greece’s economic collapse.

“Like much of the Greek economic and security establishment, the Ministry of Defense is considered compromised by Russian intelligence,” said one NATO military intelligence officer, who like the others in this story declined to be identified by name because of the sensitivity of his work. “Specifically, we have been officially warned against briefing Greek ministry representatives about sensitive intelligence operations involving the Russians” because of concerns about his apparent links to their intelligence services. [...]

Papadopoulos also was not the only Trump-connected figure who met Kammenos. Over the weekend of Trump’s inauguration, Kammenos was photographed at social events talking with incoming chief of staff Reince Priebus and Trump political adviser Steve Bannon. That was in contrast to Kammenos’s visit to Washington in 2015, when President Barack Obama’s secretary of defense, Ash Carter, canceled an already scheduled meeting with him. Photographs showing Priebus and Bannon with Kammenos were distributed by the Greek Defense Ministry.
posted by chris24 at 6:15 AM on March 27, 2018 [27 favorites]


Ryan is visiting the Czech Republic this week and plans a press conference Tuesday.

Come to think of it, why's Ryan visiting the Czech Republic, with its Putin-aligning President and Prime Minister and its deep penetration by Russian intelligence?
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:18 AM on March 27, 2018 [9 favorites]


Or c) it becomes a criminal case, in which case he has a right to counsel

I think I would weep for joy if Donald Trump needed a public defender, because of all the "conflicts" in representing him.
posted by mikelieman at 6:18 AM on March 27, 2018 [34 favorites]


petebest: W/r/t polling, is it not likely that extra-national attentions could have influenced / distorted / outright-created incorrect polling?

Polls that are answered by Web visitors are easily gamed (and hence almost totally untrustworthy). In fact, at least one online poll probably was skewed by Russian activity -- one that Donald proudly pointed to after the first debate, which claimed that just about everyone thought he "won" it.

But mainstream media sources (despite less-than-total tech savviness), are definitely aware of the flaws of online polling, and the polls they emphasize are are resistant to such tricks. You can spam social media with fake people that fool real people, but you can't spam phone-based polls with fake people that fool the pollsters, unless you have super-secret bleeding-edge AI voice software. Someone could have hacked into a server storing poll data, but we have no evidence that happened. (We can speculate, yes, but at that point we could speculate that, say, the content of news articles was changed just before publication -- either change would be very difficult to pull off undetected, given the amount of data that underlies things like news articles and polls.)

It's important to remember that the 2016 polls weren't actually very wrong. They downright nailed the popular vote totals, and the individual states were almost all in the margin of error. Anyone who dismisses a poll of Americans' level of support for policy X or politician Y, on the basis of "2016 polls were wrong", is considering an irrelevant factor (the electoral college).

Hillary's 99% liklihood was the biggest evar in history, right? What if it was more 40%? If I was a canny international criminal usurping organization, I'd be all up in Nate Silver's bidness.

Basically no experts ever said it was that high. FiveThirtyEight in particular was conservative enough (with numbers I think ranged from the 70s to the low 90s) that people throughout the campaign were yelling at Nate for being underconfident in Hillary. (He's expressed amusement at the ironic turnaround.)

The main reason she was given a much stronger edge in polls and betting markets is the high number of swing states that leaned her way, of which she only needed a few, thanks to the solid votes in her bag. Her victory condition was like getting at least 1 instance of heads in a series of three coin flips, whereas Donald had to get all tails -- that example gives a 12.5% likelihood to him and 87.5% to her. A one-in-eight event can of course be expected to happen about once every eight trials, and no one should bet their life savings against it. (For a set of 6 trials, there's a greater than 50% chance of the rare one-in-eight event occurring -- probability is weird and fun.)

One difference between my analogy and reality is that the states don't have independent odds; if something affected votes in one state, the same thing would probably affect the others. FiveThirtyEight took that fact into account, and they believe their final odds would have been closer to 50-50 if there had been more time for polls between the Comey letter (a "black swan" if there ever was one) and Election Day. But the underlying point remains.

The widespread misinterpretation of Hillary's sub-90% chance as a guarantee is partly due to the human bias for optimism. It could be argued that given this bias, and the extreme negatives a Trump presidency posed, the experts had a responsibility to alter their calculation of odds so that people would be less complacent, like setting a watch far ahead, an act of dishonesty to compensate for habitual tardiness. But that's a whole other can of worms.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 6:27 AM on March 27, 2018 [27 favorites]


We should really start dropping hints about how he isn’t smart enough to represent himself and he really shouldn’t do that.
posted by Artw at 6:28 AM on March 27, 2018 [72 favorites]


i’m surprised that any of trump’s attorneys have lasted this long. how would you ever be able to assure yourself that he wouldn’t commit perjury? he has almost certainly bullshitted to his lawyers about the facts of the case. he could give you every assurance that he was going to stick to an agreed-upon story in his testimony, but how do you know he’s not bullshitting you?

a belligerent client who can’t be relied upon not to lie under any circumstances is basically impossible for an ethical lawer to represent. so Trump has Sekulow, and his brand of partisan hack is the best he can hope for.
posted by murphy slaw at 6:32 AM on March 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


Why does he not simply get a lawyer who is a criminal also?
posted by Artw at 6:36 AM on March 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


The New York Times: It’s No Cold War, but Relations With Russia Turn Volatile
Each time Russia has been accused of having a hand in acts like the seizure of Ukrainian government buildings in Crimea or the 2014 shooting down of a Malaysian passenger plane over eastern Ukraine, in which nearly 300 people were killed, Moscow has responded with a mix of self-pity, fierce denials and florid conspiracy theories that put the blame elsewhere.

In the case of the poisoning in Salisbury, Russia’s denials became so baroque that even the state-run news media had a hard time keeping up.

After officials denied any Russian role and insisted that neither Russia nor the Soviet Union had ever developed Novichok, the nerve agent identified by Britain as the substance used against the Skripals, a state-controlled news agency published an interview with a Russian scientist who said he had helped develop a system of chemical weapons called Novichok-5. The agency later amended the article, replacing the scientist’s mention of Novichok with an assertion that the “chemical weapons development program of the U.S.S.R. was not called ‘Novichok.’”

posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:36 AM on March 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


Why does he not simply get a lawyer who is a criminal also?

Michael Cohen is very busy right now
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:37 AM on March 27, 2018 [54 favorites]


John Paul Stevens: Repeal the Second Amendment
In 2008, the Supreme Court overturned Chief Justice Burger’s and others’ long-settled understanding of the Second Amendment’s limited reach by ruling, in District of Columbia v. Heller, that there was an individual right to bear arms. I was among the four dissenters.

That decision — which I remain convinced was wrong and certainly was debatable — has provided the N.R.A. with a propaganda weapon of immense power. Overturning that decision via a constitutional amendment to get rid of the Second Amendment would be simple and would do more to weaken the N.R.A.’s ability to stymie legislative debate and block constructive gun control legislation than any other available option.

That simple but dramatic action would move Saturday’s marchers closer to their objective than any other possible reform. It would eliminate the only legal rule that protects sellers of firearms in the United States — unlike every other market in the world. It would make our schoolchildren safer than they have been since 2008 and honor the memories of the many, indeed far too many, victims of recent gun violence.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:37 AM on March 27, 2018 [92 favorites]


i’m surprised that any of trump’s attorneys have lasted this long. how would you ever be able to assure yourself that he wouldn’t commit perjury?

That's why Dowd quit. If he is in charge when Trump goes to testify under oath (as Trump is apparently eager to do) he'd be disbarred. Trump shouldn't go anywhere near an interview room, under oath or not, if he wants to survive.
posted by Talez at 6:40 AM on March 27, 2018 [3 favorites]


Why does he not simply get a lawyer who is a criminal also?
Maybe the lawyers who are also criminals don't want to step into the spotlight.
posted by Kriesa at 6:41 AM on March 27, 2018 [7 favorites]


I'm guessing that when diGenova came on board Trump immediately disclosed his plans to commit perjury and diGenova noped the fuck out.
posted by Talez at 6:43 AM on March 27, 2018 [6 favorites]


Since I've never heard about it before, I'm curious how the law interprets "allowing" a client to commit perjury. Like is there really no defense available along the lines of "He absolutely could not be stopped from lying"? Would a judge (or whoever is responsible for disciplining that attorney) respond with "Then your responsibility was to quit"?

I'm not about to feel sorry for anyone who chooses to represent Donald. But given this rule, doesn't a client like him become a legal hot potato? By the time he testifies, his most-recently-hired lawyer is screwed? I feel like this issue must have come up plenty of times in case law, because the world doesn't lack for compulsive liars.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 6:45 AM on March 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


Each time...Moscow has responded with a mix of self-pity, fierce denials and florid conspiracy theories that put the blame elsewhere

dang no wonder those folks over at the kremlin get on with Trump so famously
posted by halation at 6:48 AM on March 27, 2018 [13 favorites]


Overturning that decision via a constitutional amendment to get rid of the Second Amendment would be simple

Yup. You just highlight and delete it, changes apply automatically.
posted by BS Artisan at 6:48 AM on March 27, 2018 [6 favorites]


Like is there really no defense available along the lines of "He absolutely could not be stopped from lying"? Would a judge (or whoever is responsible for disciplining that attorney) respond with "Then your responsibility was to quit"?

Your responsibility is to quit unless it would grossly harm the client in the case. Then and only then can you send a defendant up the stand if they intend to lie.
posted by Talez at 6:48 AM on March 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


STEVENS: Overturning that decision via a constitutional amendment to get rid of the Second Amendment would be simple

Ten out of ten for intentions. Minus several million for practicality.
posted by delfin at 6:49 AM on March 27, 2018 [24 favorites]


So at some point does Trump have a public defender appointed for him? I mean, assuming this becomes a criminal matter. Or will Trump decide that he's the only one qualified to represent himself, and we'll have the privilege of hearing the president talk about the gold fringe on the US flag in the courtroom?
posted by logicpunk at 6:49 AM on March 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


You also can't question the client in a way that would allow them to lie (you have to let the other side do it) and you can't use their false testimony in your closing arguments.
posted by Talez at 6:50 AM on March 27, 2018 [6 favorites]


EmpressCallipygos: Yesterday we were talking about Stormy Daniels, and one of my co-workers frowned about halfway through and said "then again, she is a porn star, though, so...."

Sometimes it helps to encourage these folks to finish their sentences. It gets their prejudice out in the open. Of course, that may not be a good idea if you're not willing and able to engage with it. But sometimes, someone else does the work, and it even happens that hearing themselves say it out loud causes a glimmer of self-awareness.
So I might be tempted to wait politely, and then say "...Yes?"


I would have gone with "So you think he filmed it and paid her?"

It's interesting to me that people think because someone has sex on camera for money that they must therefore be more likely to have sex with anyone at any time. In my life though a few different career focuses it's been my experience that doing something for my work has made me about ten times less likely to want to do it in my off time. Do these people think that Stephen Curry is always up for a pickup game if you walk up to him on the street?
posted by phearlez at 6:55 AM on March 27, 2018 [45 favorites]


Sentient Moustache Ty Cobb and Notorious Fraudster Jay Sekulow are still working on Trump's personal legal team and will presumably continue to represent him in the Russian investigation.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:56 AM on March 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


You also can't question the client in a way that would allow them to lie (you have to let the other side do it) and you can't use their false testimony in your closing arguments.

That's in a criminal case only, though. In a non-criminal case the lawyer generally has an ethical duty to inform the tribunal if they know their client has perjured themselves and refuses to correct or retract their testimony, even if it would mean a perjury charge for the client. Model Rules 3.3(a)(3) and 3.3(b).
posted by jedicus at 7:00 AM on March 27, 2018 [9 favorites]


Christopher Steele's Other Report: A Murder In Washington
The FBI possesses a secret report asserting that Vladimir Putin’s former media czar was beaten to death by hired thugs in Washington, DC — directly contradicting the US government’s official finding that Mikhail Lesin died by accident.

The report, according to four sources who have read all or parts of it, was written by the former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele, who also wrote the famous dossier alleging that Russia had been “cultivating, supporting and assisting” Donald Trump. The bureau received his report while it was helping the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Department investigate the Russian media baron’s death, the sources said.

posted by PenDevil at 7:01 AM on March 27, 2018 [32 favorites]


Republicans Hope “Hillary Clinton” Still Scares Red-State Voters:
Republicans have struggled mightily at the ballot box since Donald Trump took office. They lost a U.S. Senate seat in dark-red Alabama last December and a House seat in heavily conservative western Pennsylvania earlier this month. In those races, the usual rhetoric about abortion and immigration did little to buoy Republican candidates, and even a recent tax cut failed to rally GOP voters. So, to reverse that trend, Republicans are turning back the clock to 2016.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee on Monday unveiled a new ad campaign that focuses on—who else?—Hillary Clinton. The ads hope to use the former presidential candidate as a weapon against 10 Senate Democrats up for re-election in states that went for Trump two years ago. The ads, which the NRSC says will run on Facebook for two weeks, highlight a pair of remarks Clinton made about Trump voters that she felt compelled to later walk back: her “basket of deplorables” comments last year and similar ones she made this month about Trump appealing to voters by “looking backwards.”
posted by octothorpe at 7:02 AM on March 27, 2018 [9 favorites]


Sentient Moustache Ty Cobb and Notorious Fraudster Jay Sekulow

I'm not up on these details, but are the able to represent people in federal criminal court too, or is there a license endorsement or something that's needed?
posted by mikelieman at 7:02 AM on March 27, 2018


So at some point does Trump have a public defender appointed for him? I mean, assuming this becomes a criminal matter. Or will Trump decide that he's the only one qualified to represent himself, and we'll have the privilege of hearing the president talk about the gold fringe on the US flag in the courtroom?

Or he finds a way to throw Ivanka under the bus for the all the collusion charges, after hearing about the infamous Bluth corollary, wherein they can't charge a husband and wife for the same crime.
posted by Mayor West at 7:04 AM on March 27, 2018 [3 favorites]


Sentient Moustache Ty Cobb works for the White House legal team, not Trump's personal team. Though he reports directly to Trump. This is one of those fine distinctions that Trump himself probably doesn't understand.
posted by murphy slaw at 7:04 AM on March 27, 2018 [19 favorites]


"Since I've never heard about it before, I'm curious how the law interprets "allowing" a client to commit perjury. Like is there really no defense available along the lines of "He absolutely could not be stopped from lying"? Would a judge (or whoever is responsible for disciplining that attorney) respond with "Then your responsibility was to quit"?"

It is absolutely your responsibility to quit. If your client surprise-perjures himself during trial, you have more options. But if you know your client intends to perjure himself, you're ethically obligated to withdraw from representation, if possible. Here's a short overview in reasonable layman's terms. (There are much more thorough treatments of the issue but they tend to get into the weeds with the rules of professional conduct and get fairly inside baseball.)

"I'm not about to feel sorry for anyone who chooses to represent Donald. But given this rule, doesn't a client like him become a legal hot potato?"

Yep!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:06 AM on March 27, 2018 [20 favorites]


> Not saying we don't very much need to disband ICE, but this is a problem for The Intercept:

zachlipton (and everyone else who chimed in), that is a genuinely astonishing editorial fuckup from the intercept, a deeply unimpressive correction (it should be at the top of the article) and that’s the first and last time that I link them.

For anyone who missed the earlier comments, they apparently took an article about ICE tracking down a child predator using FB data and, during the editorial process, changed the story to be about tracking down immigrants. (At least, that’s their explanation at the moment.) They inserted falsehoods into a moderately interesting story about two deeply awful institutions that can easily be criticised without resorting to lies.

I put the source in my original comment so that people would know that they were clicking a link to the intercept (I tend to agree with the criticism of Greenwald here) but I’ve now asked the mods if they could add a line to explain that the story as originally reported is false. Thanks for drawing attention to their “correction”.
posted by chappell, ambrose at 7:07 AM on March 27, 2018 [23 favorites]


That’s pure Greenwald all over, even if it’s not his byline - never one to let a story stand in its merits.
posted by Artw at 7:09 AM on March 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


Sentient Moustache Ty Cobb and Notorious Fraudster Jay Sekulow

I'm not up on these details, but are the able to represent people in federal criminal court too, or is there a license endorsement or something that's needed?


Basically they just ask the court for permission.

I actually think Trump would not have a hard time finding criminal defense attorneys to represent him. Can you imagine how famous you'd get for defending him in court? Hell, he's got Dershowitz on his side already, and Trump is more famous than OJ. It's the white shoe firms with expertise in these arcane political matters that want nothing to do with him.
posted by dis_integration at 7:11 AM on March 27, 2018 [3 favorites]


Note that a criminal case is different -- the accused has a right to speak in his own defense, AND he has a right to an attorney, and the confluence of those two rights means that a lawyer fulfilling that Constitutional obligation to provide the attorney may be unable to stop his client from speaking in his own defense -- and lying. But it's not Constitutional for the client to then be unrepresented, so basically you have to let them do it, not participate by questioning the client further or by using that testimony in your case, but also not hurt your client by "cross-examining" him yourself, and let the prosecution demolish them on cross.

But in a civil case, or where you're not the accused in a criminal case, or where nobody's indicted you yet, you're just kinda fucked, keeping-a-lawyer-wise, if you keep lying and lying and lying, Trump-style. There's no right to an attorney unless and until you're accused of a crime, and if attorneys all consider you radioactive because of your perjury problem, you're just SOL.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:16 AM on March 27, 2018 [11 favorites]


Vladimir Putin’s former media czar was beaten to death by hired thugs in Washington, DC

The guy who got so drunk he beat himself to death with a baseball bat the night before his scheduled meeting with the DOJ? Naw. That kind of ridiculous violence and cover-up would attract the white-hot glare of . . . Chuck Todd's Media Scrutiny™
posted by petebest at 7:17 AM on March 27, 2018 [36 favorites]


they apparently took an article about ICE tracking down a child predator using FB data and, during the editorial process, changed the story to be about tracking down immigrants. (At least, that’s their explanation at the moment.) They inserted falsehoods into a moderately interesting story about two deeply awful institutions that can easily be criticised without resorting to lies.

I really don't mean to defend the Intercept, but

*Why was ICE involved if they weren't looking for an alien?
*I have the sad expectation that ICE couches many of their straight-up racist crackdowns on brown people as being "really" about child predators or drug dealers or other things that anglos will believe brown people do without any real evidence except their foreign-seeming-ness.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 7:20 AM on March 27, 2018 [6 favorites]


Trump is more famous than OJ.

Johnnie Cochran and Bob Kardashian are dead, F. Lee Bailey isn't licensed, and Bob Shapiro doesn't do criminal stuff these days. Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld mostly do wrongful convictions, Carl Douglas mostly does police misconduct, and Gerry Spence doesn't want to mess up his perfect record.

None of those guys are going anywhere near Trump.
posted by box at 7:22 AM on March 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


*Why was ICE involved if they weren't looking for an alien?

This answers that question and more.
posted by drezdn at 7:25 AM on March 27, 2018 [7 favorites]


“If he’s full of shit, then I must quit!” could have been a real memorable trial moment.
posted by Artw at 7:25 AM on March 27, 2018 [65 favorites]


New from Foreign Policy, Meet Trump's New, Homophobic Public Health Quack. This guy is going to be the new CDC Director if we can't stop him.

His low-lights include:
in 1989, when I reported in and around Fort Hood, the Army’s largest training and staging area, located in Texas. Terrified 18- and 19-year-old soldiers found to be infected with HIV would be isolated to a special barracks wing, known on the base as the “HIV hotel” or “the leper colony,” where they were treated like prisoners until they either developed full-blown AIDS or were discharged dishonorably.
and
Outside of his work with the military, Redfield, a devout Roman Catholic, was associated with Americans for a Sound AIDS/HIV Policy (ASAP), a Christian organization headed by W. Shepherd Smith Jr. ASAP backed the idea of mandatory testing for HIV and isolation or identification of those infected with HIV.
He also fucked with vaccine data showing efficacy (it wasn't) during a time we needed good news which led to an investigation of his research (during which time hundreds more military personnel were given the vaccine that showed zero clinical improvement) and was removed from his position as a researcher at Walter Reed.

Fuck this guy. Hashtag Not my CDC Director
posted by Sophie1 at 7:37 AM on March 27, 2018 [92 favorites]


STEVENS: Overturning that decision via a constitutional amendment to get rid of the Second Amendment would be simple

Ten out of ten for intentions. Minus several million for practicality.


That spontaneous generation of "but... but...." notions in your head is the sound of the Overton window shifting.
posted by Killick at 7:38 AM on March 27, 2018 [39 favorites]


This is an observation about news from a while ago so I apologize if someone else has already made it:

I keep thinking about that story a while back about how Trump allegedly prefers McDonalds because the food is made before you arrive, making it more difficult to poison. And then Russia did a very scary, very public assassination attempt with a military-grade nerve agent, when they could've just shot/stabbed/strangled the targets in their home. Sure, it was a message to other spies, but I wonder if there was a small component of psychological warfare towards Trump too?
posted by bluecore at 7:43 AM on March 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


Terrified 18- and 19-year-old soldiers found to be infected with HIV would be isolated to a special barracks wing, known on the base as the “HIV hotel” or “the leper colony,” where they were treated like prisoners until they either developed full-blown AIDS or were discharged dishonorably. [...] He also fucked with vaccine data showing efficacy (it wasn't) during a time we needed good news which led to an investigation of his research (during which time hundreds more military personnel were given the vaccine that showed zero clinical improvement) and was removed from his position as a researcher at Walter Reed.

Imagine this shitheel as CDC director during the next pandemic. It's not as flashy as the nuclear war-hawks or the climate change denialists, but this too is a hire that invites hundreds of thousands or millions of unnecessary US deaths.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:50 AM on March 27, 2018 [47 favorites]


STEVENS: Overturning that decision via a constitutional amendment to get rid of the Second Amendment would be simple

Ten out of ten for intentions. Minus several million for practicality.


This is a form of paralytic cynicism. Even in the halcyon days of 2015 would you have thought that high school students would marshall their civic energy and organize a protest march for gun control that rivaled the largest protest marches in the history of America?

Amendments to the US constitution already exist and they are proof that it can be done. Rather famously the 18th was overturned by the 21st largely as result of the St. Valentines Day massacre where 6 gang members and a mechanic were gunned down and a nation was shocked and horrified. Every time you have an alcoholic drink you are celebrating the adaptability of the US constitution. That bourbon barrel aged imperial porter is liquid constitutional change with notes of Jimmy Carter.

Is is neither Ought nor Immutable. Things can get better and as we have seen things can also get worse. Where does cynicism lead? There is a reason that a major component of Russia's disinformation campaign was and still is the cultivation of cynicism in the American electorate.
posted by srboisvert at 7:54 AM on March 27, 2018 [63 favorites]


Redfield falsified data.

Not that I'm complaining, but I have to put a note to file every time there's a freaking accidental scribble on a consent form and I have a study monitor looking up my asshole with a flashlight for every low risk comparison study and this guy falsifies data and he's going to be CDC director.
posted by Sophie1 at 7:59 AM on March 27, 2018 [49 favorites]


Under most rules of professional conduct (can't speak to all), if the client refuses to correct the false testimony/evidence then the attorney has a duty to disclose it to the court (I.e. judge) to the extent necesssary even if it would otherwise be privileged. The judge then decides whether to make a statement to the jury, declare a mistrial, do something else, or do nothing. The attorney has a duty of candor to the court that supersedes the duty of confidentiality (in addition, failing to correct the false evidence can be considered participating in a client's fraud on the court, qualifying for the crime-fraud exception to privilege).
posted by melissasaurus at 7:59 AM on March 27, 2018 [17 favorites]


It is absolutely your responsibility to quit. If your client surprise-perjures himself during trial, you have more options. But if you know your client intends to perjure himself, you're ethically obligated to withdraw from representation, if possible.

And certainly there are lawyers out there who give no fucks about this ethical responsibility at all. But no matter how unethical you might be, you'll probably still shy away from doing it in one of the most high-profile legal cases in all of American history.
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:01 AM on March 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


> Sure, it was a message to other spies, but I wonder if there was a small component of psychological warfare towards Trump too?

If they know Trump enough to know his predilection for fast food they also know he doesn't read his briefings or even understand the news so how's he expected to find out about this having happened, much less have the self-awareness to apply someone else's experience to his own?
posted by komara at 8:04 AM on March 27, 2018 [7 favorites]


Thank you for the answer, Eyebrows McGee. That's an informative PDF. I also found another solid-looking page discussing it: You think your client is going to lie on the stand—The classic dilemma of a criminal defense lawyer.

Now I wonder if a secretly-good-person lawyer could agree to represent Trump, smile along as he details his ridiculous plans to lie/cheat his way out of justice, then when it's showtime, inform anyone questioning him "The statement my client just made is false and he knows it." After all, it looks like the core reason it's wrong to allow client perjury is that it is a form of presenting false evidence, and that should cancel that out, right?

In this hypothetical, the lawyer could add "I had to 'let' him do this, because if he'd fired me, you wouldn't get the whole truth you're getting now." It would be a great movie moment, but obviously the fallout for that lawyer's career could be enormous.

Stevens: Overturning [Heller] via a constitutional amendment to get rid of the Second Amendment would be simple

delfin: Ten out of ten for intentions. Minus several million for practicality.

Killick: That spontaneous generation of "but... but...." notions in your head is the sound of the Overton window shifting.

Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens is obviously vastly more qualified to discuss it than non-lawyer me... but I think the Overton window is exactly why 2A doesn't have to be repealed, unless the goal is abolishing militias (those being the one thing the amendment unquestionably protects). Any future where repeal is a possibility has long crossed a threshold of massive popular support for gun regulation equal to or greater than what courts used to happily consider 2A-compatible (as Stevens obviously knows). Courts would follow that sentiment unless democracy itself breaks down even further, which is an entirely different crisis to have. So if actual repeal were feasible, it would be a formality, like enacting a constitutional amendment guaranteeing marriage equality (still a very good idea!) when we already have both a 14th amendment and public sentiment favoring gay rights.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 8:05 AM on March 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


This is a form of paralytic cynicism. Even in the halcyon days of 2015 would you have thought that high school students would marshall their civic energy and organize a protest march for gun control that rivaled the largest protest marches in the history of America?

This is a form of looking, realistically, at the current state of America. Submitting an amendment requires a 2/3 majority in both House and Senate, either of which will be somewhat lucky to creep into 50%+ Democratic control in 2018. Ratifying it requires 3/4 of state legislatures to agree; 3/5 of them are currently under Republican control. Reaching any of these thresholds is left as an exercise for the reader, particularly when the conservative media machine howls day and night about how gun ownership is the cornerstone of all civil rights, how only tyrants seek to disarm a populace, how guns in public places make them safer places, and how terribly important it is to get out and vote because otherwise the liberals are going to seize all your guns and institute Communism.

I would like to live in a world in which moderate Republicans would look at this swelling of opinion around reasonable restrictions on gun ownership and say "you know, the hardcores in my base of constituents will not like this but it is reasonable to act on this for the common good." This is not that world. This is a world in which any Republican who even hints at sympathizing with repealing 2A will be instantly primaried and driven out of office. So-called moderate Republicans refuse to vote against things that their constituents _hate_ -- remember the "skinny repeal" vote? -- unless they get an explicit hall pass from party leadership. Getting large numbers of Repubs to defect on what is _the single key issue_ for many of their constituents is also left as an exercise for the reader.

Right now the hard right continues to push for an Article V convention to modify the Constitution to their liking. They are fruitcakes and it's not going to happen. But _they are closer to that goal_ than we on the left are to modifying the Constitution in a progressive direction. We need to focus on getting the "well-regulated" clause in 2A to be repeated loudly and often and stress that additional regulations _do not violate that clause in any way_, which is supported by vast portions of America's legislative and judicial history. Rambling about "well, let's just repeal 2A and ban all the guns" does nothing but rev up the crazies like the peasant in Holy Grail -- SEE! SEE! THAT'S WHAT I'M ON ABOUT! THEY'RE COMING FOR ALL OUR GUNS! -- and _revved-up crazies vote_.

Aim for the possible. Especially while you're in such a disadvantageous minority position that not much is possible.
posted by delfin at 8:14 AM on March 27, 2018 [7 favorites]


Andy Borowitz on Facebook: "Before you say, 'This country will never get rid of guns,' replace the word 'guns' with 'slavery' and think for a moment or two."

In related news, Lincoln, which dramatizes the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, is currently available on Netflix.
posted by Gelatin at 8:19 AM on March 27, 2018 [42 favorites]


"Before you say, 'This country will never get rid of guns,' replace the word 'guns' with 'slavery' and think for a moment or two."
Exactly. And that's not a pie in the sky analogy. They are directly related issues.
Atlantic- 'Southern men thus carried weapons both “as a protection against the slaves” and also to be prepared for “quarrels between freemen.”
Quarz- Gun ownership stats in the US.
posted by rc3spencer at 8:22 AM on March 27, 2018 [16 favorites]


that's not a pie in the sky analogy. They are directly related issues

When the Black Panthers took to carrying rifles, California Governor Ronald Reagan himself signed the law prohibiting the practice.
posted by Gelatin at 8:26 AM on March 27, 2018 [34 favorites]


> "Before you say, 'This country will never get rid of guns,' replace the word 'guns' with 'slavery' and think for a moment or two."

Fair enough, but to be complete, it also took an actual civil war to end slavery.
posted by mosk at 8:30 AM on March 27, 2018 [65 favorites]


"Before you say, 'This country will never get rid of guns,' replace the word 'guns' with 'slavery' and think for a moment or two."

I'm thinking. Thinking about the bloody civil war that was fought over the practice. Thinking about the century that followed of repression and third-class citizenship for racial minorities in the areas where slavery had been practiced. Thinking about how subsequent legislation putting federal teeth behind racial equality caused massive political shakeups, the departure of the Dixiecrats and the Southern Strategy. Thinking about how much further we really have to go in this country.
posted by delfin at 8:32 AM on March 27, 2018 [35 favorites]


Thinking about how much further we really have to go in this country.
Yes! in a historical perspective, we are still in the aftermath of the Civil War and the writing of slavery into the Constitution's hypocritical declaration of human rights and legislation of how to conduct slavery simultaneously.
For one of the best explanations of America's unique legacy and problem in world history, consult Baldwin (the US's best therapist). I Am Not Your Negro
Peck's film is one of the best companion pieces to To Kill A Mockingbird ever.
posted by rc3spencer at 8:37 AM on March 27, 2018 [13 favorites]


Same-sex marriage went from DOMA in '96 to nationally legal in 2013. It may take 15-20 years to get reasonable gun control in place but it can and needs to happen.
posted by cmfletcher at 8:38 AM on March 27, 2018 [16 favorites]


Same-sex marriage went from DOMA in '96 to nationally legal in 2013. It may take 15-20 years to get reasonable gun control in place but it can and needs to happen.

Same-sex marriage did not have the obstacle of an actual Constitutional Amendment that said anything about whether there were gender requirements for a marriage.

One of the other reasons that we may be having problems getting reasonable gun control in place may be because people keep conflating "gun control" with "repeal the Second Amendment" or "Confiscate guns". The gun lobby does enough of this - but those supporting gun control can also make the same mistake, either intentionally or by accident.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:43 AM on March 27, 2018 [13 favorites]


"Before you say, 'This country will never get rid of guns,' replace the word 'guns' with 'slavery' and think for a moment or two."

...

When the Black Panthers took to carrying rifles, California Governor Ronald Reagan himself signed the law prohibiting the practice.

OK, so the two proposals before us are "full-scale civil war between a coalition of the Northeast/Western states and the rest of the country" and "convince minorities to embrace open carry at what will almost certainly be a horrific cost to them in state-sanctioned violence against them."

Do we have any ideas for repealing the second amendment that aren't genocidal? No? Then maybe we should drop it, and focus on realistic policy goals that can be achieved when and if the GOP loses the House next year.
posted by Mayor West at 8:48 AM on March 27, 2018 [16 favorites]


unless the goal is abolishing militias (those being the one thing the amendment unquestionably protects)

I don't think this is true. Before Heller, militias were used as the justification for the right to keep and bear arms, but not as the thing actually being protected. After Heller, the prefatory clause is no longer important at all, according to a wafer-thin majority of SCOTUS. And I think this actually opens the doors to more regulation, not less. One prior regulatory limit was whether a gun was the kind of gun a militia member might carry - an AR-15 seems to fall safely within that category. No more! Now, guns like those can be limited or controlled, because Heller tells us that the Second Amendment isn't really about militias at all. Even Scalia said as much in his decision.
posted by me & my monkey at 8:49 AM on March 27, 2018 [8 favorites]


Same-sex marriage went from DOMA in '96 to nationally legal in 2013. It may take 15-20 years to get reasonable gun control in place but it can and needs to happen.

I remember 2004 and Bush winning because of "God, guns, and gays." Almost 15 years later, it's much harder to gin up opposition to gay rights and gay marriage, and even God is losing value as a touchstone in many areas, especially New England and the West Coast. That leaves guns, and I think the March For Our Lives movement is the start of something big.

I prefer cautious optimism to cynicism. The latter seems to want us to just crawl back into bed and give up, but cautious optimism gives us room for hope while realizing that change is a struggle and takes time, often more time than we would wish. The Civil Rights movement didn't spring up full-blown in the 1960's. Neither did the second wave of feminism. I can't think of very many human-rights progressions that took a nation by storm instead of occurring in steps (and sometimes two steps forward and one step back).
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 8:52 AM on March 27, 2018 [19 favorites]


Because we're living in the darkest timeline, CNN's latest poll shows 42% approve of Trump, the highest in 11 months
President Donald Trump's approval rating has rebounded to its highest level since the 100-day mark of his presidency, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, even as his approval ratings for handling major issues remain largely negative.

Overall, 42% approve of the way Trump is handling the presidency, 54% disapprove. Approval is up 7 points overall since February, including 6-point increases among Republicans (from 80% to 86% now) and independents (from 35% to 41% now). Trump's approval rating remains below that of all of his modern-era predecessors at this stage in their first term after being elected, though Trump only trails Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama by a narrow 4 points at this point in their first terms.

Trump's approval ratings have seesawed over the last four CNN polls -- from 35% in December up to 40% in January, down to 35% in February and back up to 42% now. Looking at intensity of approval, however, the share who strongly approve of Trump's performance (28% in the new poll) and strongly disapprove (46%) have held relatively steady over a similar time frame, suggesting the fluctuation in Trump's ratings comes largely among those whose views on the President aren't that deeply held.
CNN's Poll was conducted from March 22nd to 25th, suggesting neither the White House dysfunctionality last week nor the ongoing Stormy Daniels scandal affected his overall approval rating (even though his numbers are all net unfavorables on specific issues, except for the economy).
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:54 AM on March 27, 2018 [6 favorites]


OK, so the two proposals before us are "full-scale civil war between a coalition of the Northeast/Western states and the rest of the country" and "convince minorities to embrace open carry at what will almost certainly be a horrific cost to them in state-sanctioned violence against them."

The country is not divided neatly into states with people on your side and the other people, and minorities are neither tools nor a biddable them. This is both a bad and wrong model.
posted by The Gaffer at 9:01 AM on March 27, 2018 [9 favorites]


It may take 15-20 years to get reasonable gun control in place but it can and needs to happen.

I am in complete agreement on the need. Whether it can depends on how we define "reasonable" and if we can persuade Joe Public that it is indeed reasonable. Persuading enough of the middle that gun control in and of itself is not an extremist and unconstitutional position. Persuading enough of that middle to come out and vote against the Hardcore Patriots who view any restrictions at all as unthinkable, and to do so in places where those hardcores are in higher concentrations.

We can win a lot of battles in this fight. We must. If we frame it as all-or-nothing, we will not.
posted by delfin at 9:03 AM on March 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


> W/r/t polling, is it not likely that extra-national attentions could have influenced / distorted / outright-created incorrect polling? That is, if we accept the premise that Russian troll farms roiled teh socialz, and leet haxors scoured voting systems across multiple states, is it not likely that polling was also targeted for use in keeping a horse race a horse race?

It's virtually impossible to game telephone polls. Pollsters call a random sample of telephone numbers for each poll. Most people don't get called, and it's impossible to predict who's going to be in the sample. In theory, it's possible to do this with internet panel polls. (You'd get a bunch of your people to sign up for the panel and then try to feed them bogus data.) However, pollsters have statistical procedures to detect call center employees faking data – their data will stick out as statistically anomalous over time. This happens occasionally; people do get fired for this, and their data gets thrown out. Presumably, pollsters can use similar techniques to detect people trying to game internet panel polls, and along with taking steps to verify that their participants are real people and live where they say they live. It's unlikely that someone could game a sophisticated pollster like Ipsos, who had decades of experience doing internet panel polls in France before contracting with Reuters to do political polls in the US as well, without being detected.

Hillary's 99% liklihood was the biggest evar in history, right? What if it was more 40%? If I was a canny international criminal usurping organization, I'd be all up in Nate Silver's bidness.

Nate Silver and 538 gave Trump about a one in three chance of winning based on the polling. It was the pundits who were wildly overconfident about a Clinton win, not the stats nerds at 538 who based their analysis on the actual polling and a good understanding of probability theory. They'd been sounding the alarm for months before the election that a Trump victory was a not at all unlikely. Nobody wanted to listen.
posted by nangar at 9:06 AM on March 27, 2018 [13 favorites]


From the Office of the Press Secretary: President Donald J. Trump Sparks Renewed Focus on American Infrastructure

Jesus, not again. If you want a vision of the future, imagine Infrastructure Week stamping on a human face - forever.
posted by marshmallow peep at 9:08 AM on March 27, 2018 [85 favorites]


Rather than the herculean task of scrapping the 2nd Amendment, wouldn't it be easier to start interpreting “well-regulated militia” as actually meaning something other than “white dudes gonna white dude”?
posted by acb at 9:08 AM on March 27, 2018 [14 favorites]


They'd been sounding the alarm for months before the election that a Trump victory was a not at all unlikely. Nobody wanted to listen.

I remember someone setting up a less pessimistic more pundit-friendly poll aggregator and everyone coping over it because it showed bigger Clinton margins.
posted by Artw at 9:11 AM on March 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


Rather than the herculean task of scrapping the 2nd Amendment, wouldn't it be easier to start interpreting “well-regulated militia” as actually meaning something other than “white dudes gonna white dude”?

It would, but the Supreme Court Republicans have made clear that we can get that interpretation over their dead bodies. So it'd be dependent on other extremely significant victories -- a Democratic president replacing Anthony Kennedy, or a successful court-packing push.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:12 AM on March 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


komara: "If they know Trump enough to know his predilection for fast food they also know he doesn't read his briefings or even understand the news so how's he expected to find out about this having happened, much less have the self-awareness to apply someone else's experience to his own?"

Well there is always the possibility his handler warned him directly as an intimidation tactic.

Gelatin: "Andy Borowitz on Facebook: "Before you say, 'This country will never get rid of guns,' replace the word 'guns' with 'slavery' and think for a moment or two." "

He's right, an Australian style weapons ban would probably require a bloody civil war to enact.

cmfletcher: "Same-sex marriage went from DOMA in '96 to nationally legal in 2013. It may take 15-20 years to get reasonable gun control in place but it can and needs to happen."

Regulation can happen, a orderly repeal of the 2nd is wildly unlikely.
posted by Mitheral at 9:12 AM on March 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


Reuters: New York state will sue to block Census citizenship question, joining California's suit.
posted by jedicus at 9:13 AM on March 27, 2018 [54 favorites]


Aren't phone polls necessarily going to be skewed in particular demographic directions, though? They're more difficult to game intentionally, but they'd also be facing a fair bit of challenge when it comes to getting a representative sample, given the severe dropoff in landline use and the insidious plague that is spam/scam robocalling. Anecdotally, I know very few people who will even answer a call if the contact isn't known to them. Few people even have landlines these days, and most of them are older or tend to live in more rural areas (given spotty cell coverage). I know I've read countless articles in the past 5-10 years outlining these known problems, and I have not heard of any potential fixes to overcome these issues. I'd be curious to know whether workarounds exist.
posted by halation at 9:14 AM on March 27, 2018 [5 favorites]


I'm not convinced that the vicissitudes of Trump's approval rating are anything to worry about. It goes up a little, and it goes down a little, but there hasn't been any strong trend one way or the other since June. Actually, there was a bit in WaPo about how the fact that his approval rating never changes might be the bigger problem.
posted by J.K. Seazer at 9:16 AM on March 27, 2018 [19 favorites]


Nothing about this screams "well-regulated."

He's right, an Australian style weapons ban would probably require a bloody civil war to enact.

Worth noting that gun ownership is extremely concentrated, with 3% of the population owning 50% of the guns. Each of those individuals in that 3% only have two hands with which to fire those guns, so I suspect the likelihood of a bloody civil war is a bit overstated.

At any rate, if we don't disarm the cops at the same time as much of the populace we won't really be solving our gun violence problem.
posted by Existential Dread at 9:18 AM on March 27, 2018 [12 favorites]


I would happily holler about repealing the 2nd if it makes regulation sound like a reasonable compromise that can actually happen. The middle doesn't move to the left without a more lefty left tugging everyone along.
posted by like_neon at 9:18 AM on March 27, 2018 [33 favorites]


Scott Adams' (sorry) take on the telephone poll issue, ten years ago.
posted by Melismata at 9:20 AM on March 27, 2018


I remember someone setting up a less pessimistic more pundit-friendly poll aggregator and everyone coping over it because it showed bigger Clinton margins.

Sam Wang maybe. The bug he ate on TV doesn't sufficiently atone for that fucking graph I stared at every day leading up the election. It got to point a week or two out when his model was returning 100% odds for Hillary until they patched it to cap at 99%. I totally bought it.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 9:23 AM on March 27, 2018 [8 favorites]


Before you start worrying about Trump's approval rating, head over to fivthirtyeight and note that even with his approval breaking 40% he is still the least popular president (at this point in his presidency) since they started doing approval polling during the Truman administration.

And (relatively speaking) nothing bad has happened yet.

No energy crisis, no massively unpopular legislation like the Civil Rights Act, no hostage crisis, no recession. Trump is getting the presidency on easy mode and he's still widely perceived as doing a terrible job.
posted by murphy slaw at 9:27 AM on March 27, 2018 [22 favorites]


Whoa, check out how Ford's approval drops off a cliff 31 days into his administration.

He took office on August 9, 1974, and pardoned Nixon on September 8.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:32 AM on March 27, 2018 [10 favorites]


yes, should have included a caveat of "nothing bad from the point of view of major media and the average member of the public".

we talk about crises as serious as the ones mentioned on the daily here but they're not getting any traction in the public consciousness.
posted by murphy slaw at 9:32 AM on March 27, 2018 [6 favorites]


The more I think about it, the more I'm persuaded that the second amendment should be repealed purely because it's so confusingly written. It's a horse assembled by committee that adds way more noise than signal to our national conversations.

by like_neon: I would happily holler about repealing the 2nd if it makes regulation sound like a reasonable compromise that can actually happen. The middle doesn't move to the left without a more lefty left tugging everyone along.

I'm normally way in favor of this line of thought in other areas. Like, we definitely need people who actively argue for UK-style handgun ban. But given the very-well-based view that the current interpretation of the amendment is what's ridiculous, the move for repeal feels (just to me) a bit like campaigning to repeal the 3rd amendment so that we can finally legalize marijuana. Even as it stands in striking opposition to gun nuts, "repeal 2A" concedes much more of the argument than they've earned.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 9:44 AM on March 27, 2018 [3 favorites]


Existential Dread: "
Worth noting that gun ownership is extremely concentrated, with 3% of the population owning 50% of the guns. Each of those individuals in that 3% only have two hands with which to fire those guns, so I suspect the likelihood of a bloody civil war is a bit overstated.
"

And a 1/3rd of Americans own the other 50%. About the same percentage as Southern families that owned slaves.
posted by Mitheral at 9:48 AM on March 27, 2018 [7 favorites]


cmfletcher: "Same-sex marriage went from DOMA in '96 to nationally legal in 2013. It may take 15-20 years to get reasonable gun control in place but it can and needs to happen."

Only fifteen years ago, "57% of Americans supported a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman" and yet we now have same sex marriage.

Right now 60% of Americans support stronger gun laws so we're already way ahead.
posted by octothorpe at 9:52 AM on March 27, 2018 [37 favorites]


I'm trying to figure out if and what the connection between Pence and Redfield is.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 9:55 AM on March 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


Before Heller, militias were used as the justification for the right to keep and bear arms, but not as the thing actually being protected. After Heller, the prefatory clause is no longer important at all, according to a wafer-thin majority of SCOTUS.

Said majority composed of those who claim to be "originalists" and "strict constructionalists" who believe the plain text of the Constitution should prevail.
posted by Gelatin at 9:56 AM on March 27, 2018 [3 favorites]


I'm not convinced that the vicissitudes of Trump's approval rating are anything to worry about. It goes up a little, and it goes down a little, but there hasn't been any strong trend one way or the other since June.

I don't plan to freak out just because Trump's popularity barely tops 40%. Big deal. Trump has his crazy base, and he has a fluctuating set of Republicans that can be embarrassed out of the tribal urge to say he's doing a good job. But he's wildly unpopular and simply does not seem capable of doing anything that will cause this nation to look at him in a new light.

If and when Democrats take back either or both houses of Congress this year (tttcs), Republicans will scream about blocking Trump's initiatives and investigating his incompetence, corruption, and treason. And the so-called "liberal media" will give a disproportionate megaphone to those voices in the name of "balance." But I don't see any reason at all Democrats should be the least bit forgiving or in the mood to compromise once they take office.
posted by Gelatin at 10:06 AM on March 27, 2018 [12 favorites]


Fluttering hellfire - this should help in your search. Americans for a Sound AIDS/HIV Policy has changed it's name in recent years to CAFI, Children's AIDS Fund International.
posted by Sophie1 at 10:12 AM on March 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


I would happily holler about repealing the 2nd if it makes regulation sound like a reasonable compromise that can actually happen. The middle doesn't move to the left without a more lefty left tugging everyone along.

Yes, we need to stop treating the second amendment like it's a Commandment from G-d that we'll be smited for questioning. Be the shift in the Overton Window that you want to see.
posted by Lyme Drop at 10:13 AM on March 27, 2018 [40 favorites]


chris24: How Trump favored Texas over Puerto Rico: A POLITICO investigation shows a persistent double standard in the president’s handling of relief efforts for Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Maria.

And it's not apples to apples, but then there's California's fires and related floods: Trump approved a major disaster declaration on Jan. 2, 2018, to supplement state, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by wildfires from December 4, 2017 and continuing, and personally, Trump only visited California to view and promote border wall prototypes, and to attend a GOP fundraiser in Los Angeles, in March, month after the natural disasters, at which point that Guardian article noted that "No president since Franklin Roosevelt has waited this long to visit California."

Even Fox News commented on the fact that Trump didn't visit California in his first year in office, something that hadn't been done in 64 years, since Dwight D. Eisenhower. (That article also notes that Trump's claims of “serious voter fraud” in California as well as in Virginia and New Hampshire were not backed up with any evidence.)
posted by filthy light thief at 10:14 AM on March 27, 2018 [6 favorites]


I suspect the likelihood of a bloody civil war is a bit overstated.
I have witnessed many punk shows in the 80s where the 4-6 nazi punks intimidated and ruined the experience of 100+ other audience members until it was pointed out that there were only 4-6 nazis there. It was over shortly after that. No civil war needed, just the correction of the behavior of a tiny number of bullies.
posted by rc3spencer at 10:19 AM on March 27, 2018 [51 favorites]


from the "christ, what an asshole" dept.

At Q&A in Provo, Mitt Romney says he's more conservative than Trump on immigration
“For instance, I’m a deficit hawk,” Romney said. “That makes me more conservative than a lot of Republicans and a lot of Democrats. I’m also more of a hawk on immigration than even the president. My view was these DACA kids shouldn’t all be allowed to stay in the country legally.”

Romney said he is against giving legal residence to those 1.8 million people.

“That was not my posture,” Romney said. “So I was more conservative than others in my party. Now I will accept the president’s view on this, but for me, I draw the line and say, those who’ve come illegally should not be given a special path to citizenship.”

Romney said he believes DACA recipients “need to do more” to justify permanent residency, such as attending community college, getting a degree, serving in the military or serving in needed occupations like teaching.

Romney, as he has since his campaign began, emphasized the ways he agrees with Trump on policy, rather than focusing on their past differences.
posted by murphy slaw at 10:25 AM on March 27, 2018 [12 favorites]


It’s no surprise the man who is exceptionally cruel to animals is exceptionally cruel to other humans.
posted by Talez at 10:31 AM on March 27, 2018 [49 favorites]


So, Mexico's def not paying for the wall, and neither is that spending bill that just passed so...from Josh Dawsey and Mike DeBonis at WaPo:
President Trump frequently said Mexico would pay for a wall along the southern border as he sought the presidency in 2016. Now, he is privately pushing the U.S. military to fund construction of his signature project.

Trump, who told advisers he was spurned in a large spending bill last week when lawmakers only appropriated $1.6 billion for the border wall, has begun suggesting the Pentagon could fund the sprawling construction, citing a “national security” risk.

After floating the notion to several advisers last week, he told Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) that the military should pay for the wall in a meeting last Wednesday in the White House residence, according to three people familiar with the meeting. Ryan offered little reaction to the notion, these people said, but senior Capitol Hill officials later said it was an unlikely prospect.
TL;DR of the article is basically everyone involved going "lol no" with a side of "you don't have the votes now, and you definitely will not have the votes by the end of the year."
posted by yasaman at 10:33 AM on March 27, 2018 [16 favorites]


from the "christ, what an asshole" dept.

At Q&A in Provo, Mitt Romney says he's more conservative than Trump on immigration


So much for Mittens being some kind of "compassionate conservative" anti-Trump. (Never mind that that hope was... kind of forgetful.)

Setting aside the soul of the Republican party (as if they hadn't already done that themselves), isn't this just dumb from a strategic perspective, if you're angling for some kind of comeback? Even if you see it as expedient to appeal to the Asshole Bloc, you're not going to win the Biggest Asshole Contest with Trump around.
posted by cudzoo at 10:33 AM on March 27, 2018 [7 favorites]


I've discounted the possibility of Romney having any actual principles since he spouted off about the 47% who pay no taxes to a bunch of rich donors when he thought no one was looking. He's just a mediocre white guy who sways with the prevailing winds on the right.
posted by murphy slaw at 10:35 AM on March 27, 2018 [55 favorites]


"Romney said he believes DACA recipients “need to do more” to justify permanent residency, such as attending community college, getting a degree, serving in the military or serving in needed occupations like teaching."

Trump's ICE is currently deporting graduates, doctors, military veterans so Mitt it looks like you are less hawkish than the Cheeto.
posted by Mitheral at 10:48 AM on March 27, 2018 [41 favorites]


The idea that Romney likes anything other than accumulating wealth and personal power seems unwarranted based on past evidence. He was even more of a "look, I'll say whatever you want me to, just nominate me already" candidate than Kerry, and that's not easy.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 10:55 AM on March 27, 2018 [27 favorites]


Maggie Haberman, NYT:

@maggieNYT:
Per two senior administration officials, Trump continued to rail privately about the omnibus bill, and has become convinced of things that aren’t true about it.

Trump has been watching Fox, which had Coulter on Jeanine Pirro slamming Trump over the wall funding. That type of thing - as well as his conviction it includes Planned Parenthood funding - are animating him.
posted by Existential Dread at 11:03 AM on March 27, 2018 [22 favorites]


The idea that Romney likes anything other than accumulating wealth and personal power seems unwarranted based on past evidence. He was even more of a "look, I'll say whatever you want me to, just nominate me already" candidate than Kerry, and that's not easy.

(That’s deeply unfair to John Kerry, but I’m not about to drag this thread into that derail.)
posted by Barack Spinoza at 11:04 AM on March 27, 2018 [12 favorites]


Mod note: Really let's not.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 11:07 AM on March 27, 2018 [17 favorites]


Agreed, you can amend that to "the public perception of John Kerry swayed by a litany of attack ads" and I still stand by it just fine. Romney is that much of an empty suit.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:15 AM on March 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


Mattis, Pentagon quiet on new transgender policy
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis declined to answer questions Monday on the Pentagon’s new transgender policy, citing ongoing litigation that could make all of the department’s changes moot anyway.

“Right now, because these are matters under litigation, I’m not going to discuss them further,” Mattis said.

Late Friday night the White House released a memo from President Donald Trump amending his original July tweets and an August 2017 White House memo on the issue, which had directed a ban on all transgender service in the military.
It's possible that Mattis is keeping mum because he expects the policy to be thrown out in court and he doesn't want to piss off the rest of the administration. Or he's just an asshole, your choice.
posted by murphy slaw at 11:15 AM on March 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


I'm trying to figure out if and what the connection between Pence and Redfield is.

Pence is the vampire. Redfield eats spiders.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 11:26 AM on March 27, 2018 [29 favorites]


Pence is the vampire. Redfield eats spiders.
yep, checks out
posted by halation at 11:28 AM on March 27, 2018 [6 favorites]


Hey fellas, remember that curious story about the Canadian company (Stephanie Condon, zdnet) that was "discovered" something something Cambridge Analytica?

Okay so buried down deep in this particular article about the company, AggregateIQ, or AIQ, was a nifty tidbit. [Someone asked what the relationship was and it looks like AIQ built code that CambrAn used.]

AIQ left code online that someone found "exposing the political data and microtargeting tools that various Republican campaigns used to try to influence voters in the United States' 2016 election cycle."

So it seems obvious, but I'd never seen it explicitly spelled out that CambrAn only served Republican campaigns (or, arguably, assholes-only). Per the article,

they also reveal AggregateIQ (AIQ)'s connection to Ukrainian steel magnate Serhiy Taruta, head Ukraine's newly formed Osnova party.

Ukraine political party? What an odd connection (cue musical motif). Hm. Well, let's get to that nifty tidbit:

The exposed information confirms prior reporting that AIQ built a software program for Cambridge Analytica called Ripon (named for the town of Ripon, Wisconsin, where the Republican Party was founded).

Huh.
posted by petebest at 11:46 AM on March 27, 2018 [44 favorites]


> After floating the notion to several advisers last week, he told Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) that the military should pay for the wall in a meeting last Wednesday in the White House residence, according to three people familiar with the meeting. Ryan offered little reaction to the notion, these people said, but senior Capitol Hill officials later said it was an unlikely prospect.

That "little reaction" bit is killing me. I bet Ryan looked like Sad Ben Affleck while Trump was going on with this nonsense.
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:46 AM on March 27, 2018 [4 favorites]




> Actually, there was a bit in WaPo about how the fact that his approval rating never changes might be the bigger problem.

It really freaks me out that given everything that has happened since Trump took office, roughly 40% of Americans still approve of him and his policies (or what he represents, at least).
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:53 AM on March 27, 2018 [15 favorites]


I figure about 30% of it is the Crazification Factor bottom floor and the rest is the people who don't think about presidential politics at all unless they have some suffering they need to assign blame for. They have jobs, houses, and cars, and things haven't gotten worse for them since Obama left, so everything's fine.
posted by murphy slaw at 12:03 PM on March 27, 2018 [15 favorites]


Stormy Daniels on 60 minutes "drew 22 million viewers, according to Nielsen, more than the much-hyped recent telecasts for the Grammys and the Golden Globes. ... The episode was the best performer for “60 Minutes” since the airing of Steve Kroft’s interview with Barack and Michelle Obama after the 2008 election, which had more than 25 million viewers. The ratings on Sunday were probably helped somewhat by a strong lead-in, the college basketball game, which Kansas won, 85-81. The rise of streaming has fractured the television audience, and it has become a rarity for a show to draw more than 20 million viewers. The exceptions are live broadcasts of major sporting events and awards shows."
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:04 PM on March 27, 2018 [22 favorites]


(the 30% crazy factor also lines up with the rough percentages that "strongly approve" of Trump's performance)
posted by murphy slaw at 12:05 PM on March 27, 2018


The NRA thing shows how bad actors can easily get around laws about foreign influence in politics. What the NRA is saying is that they received foreign funds but those monies weren't directly used for campaigning as that would be illegal. But ... those monies were possibly used to pay for other tings the NRA does and "So what if we took money we would normally use to pay for those other activities and transferred it to our political arm". Basically saying "It's legal for us to move money around the organization."

So since they couldn't possibly be stupid enough to talk about this cunning plan in say some e-mails they are totally going to get away with it.

/Narrator: They are that stupid
posted by cirhosis at 12:10 PM on March 27, 2018 [16 favorites]


A rare double posting of drawings in the same thread but I seem to be quite animated these days as far as art goes.

This would be John Bolton, who truly frightens me because his only solution to anything seems to be war.

The very best spin I can put on this is perhaps it's Trump's attempt to frighten North Korea, like Nixon tried to do in the Vietnam War, by convincing the North that he's unstable and might nuke them. But given Trump's baleful knowledge of history, I don't think so.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 12:13 PM on March 27, 2018 [18 favorites]


NRA Acknowledges Receiving Foreign Funds, Moving Money Between Accounts

So the NRA says:

"Our review of our records has found no foreign donations in connection with a United States election, either directly or through a conduit."

As mentioned in the article, "in connection with" is a careful phrase that implies (but doesn't actually mean) that no money was used in a United States election.
posted by diogenes at 12:15 PM on March 27, 2018 [7 favorites]


It's a lucky thing for the NRA's accountants that cash donations aren't fungible. Otherwise how would they keep track of the individual dollars involved? /s
posted by murphy slaw at 12:17 PM on March 27, 2018 [15 favorites]


"Romney said he believes DACA recipients “need to do more” to justify permanent residency, such as attending community college, getting a degree, serving in the military or serving in needed occupations like teaching."

Get a degree and we might not deport you.

"According to the College Board, the average cost of tuition and fees for the 2017–2018 school year was $34,740 at private colleges, $9,970 for state residents at public colleges, and $25,620 for out-of-state residents attending public universities."

On the chance that we might not deport you gamble between $40,000 and $235,000 to get a degree and then we might require you to work where we tell you or alternatively risk your life in a war. Oh and keep in mind that that the policy may change at least every 4 years depending on how the electoral winds blow.

This is a great illustration of why you should never ever take any advice from someone in private equity. Their whole M.O. is to load you up with debt and then leave your bones on the side of the road for some other vultures to pick over.
posted by srboisvert at 12:45 PM on March 27, 2018 [41 favorites]


I've thought for years that we need a political movement that advocates for repeal of the second amendment. It doesn't matter if it's unrealistic, do it anyway. Pull the Overton window hard. Make it the anti-NRA: raise money and donate it to candidates and politicians who support repeal. Give candidates letter grades. Keep pushing.

Right now every politician who supports gun control says "I'm a big supporter of the second amendment, but..." Let's change that.
posted by medusa at 12:46 PM on March 27, 2018 [31 favorites]


Guys. I got a meeting with my Republican Representative on Thursday to discuss the Russia investigation. My plan is to emphasize "this is a crucial moment in American history," briefly lay out the 9 points in the "collusion" section of my site (http://2016activemeasures.org) and then give him specific actions we want him to take. I don't have long to put this together. Can you help me find bill numbers for the various "protect the Mueller investigation" and "establish an independent commission bills in the House? Anything else I should say?

You can send me private messages.
posted by OnceUponATime at 12:48 PM on March 27, 2018 [152 favorites]


I've thought for years that we need a political movement that advocates for repeal of the second amendment. It doesn't matter if it's unrealistic

I don't think it's unrealistic to update the Constitution since we've learned that militias are useless. The didn't do shit during any contemporary national emergency or crisis that I've ever found. I welcome counter-examples, but never get any.
posted by mikelieman at 12:49 PM on March 27, 2018 [6 favorites]


not abusing the edit window...

I know that the Heller ruling makes this argument seem less persuasive, but you know, Heller could be reversed some day, and it's still the right thing to do.
posted by mikelieman at 12:51 PM on March 27, 2018


To the contrary, the National Guard is often indispensable during emergencies.

But that's part of the point -- we already have a "well regulated militia;" it's called the National Guard. That doesn't mean any yo-yo gets to tote around a hotrod rifle just for kicks.
posted by Gelatin at 12:52 PM on March 27, 2018 [35 favorites]


Eyebrows McGee: Stormy Daniels on 60 minutes "drew 22 million viewers, according to Nielsen, more than the much-hyped recent telecasts for the Grammys and the Golden Globes. ... The episode was the best performer for “60 Minutes” since the airing of Steve Kroft’s interview with Barack and Michelle Obama after the 2008 election, which had more than 25 million viewers.

I'm going to treasure this as a double-hit on Trump: first, it was Stormy Daniels, the other party in his extra-marital affair, not an appearance by Trump himself, who drew those viewers, and that still didn't beat Obama's numbers.

At this point, I'll take such small pleasures when I get them.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:59 PM on March 27, 2018 [33 favorites]


But that's part of the point -- we already have a "well regulated militia;"

In New York, the law defines the Organized Militia, which is the mostly NY/National Guard, and the unorganized militia, everyone else. It's clear that the Organized/Guard isn't the problem here, it's the gun fetishists who have rendered the Constitutional ideals, which provide for the Organized Militia moot, so I don't see an effect on the National Guard from the repeal of the 2nd Amendment.

I apologize for unintentionally lumping in those serving honorably with the idiots causing the issues.

And yes, I should be more precise, "The unorganized militia has proven itself unnecessary for the security of a free state, and I haven't seen any counter-examples.
posted by mikelieman at 1:03 PM on March 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


I don't have long to put this together. Can you help me find bill numbers for the various "protect the Mueller investigation" and "establish an independent commission bills in the House? Anything else I should say?

You should throw up an Ask Metafilter post!

I don't have the bill numbers, and honestly I think you know the material better than I do (on top of nothing coming to mind for you to discuss with your rep). You do awesome work! You'll do great at the meeting. Make sure you have an elevator pitch and leave the rep with specific action items (which you seem to be already working on).
posted by wires at 1:04 PM on March 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


I think the fear is that if we start mucking around with getting rid of amendments, we run the risk of mucking around with more than one of them, and people are a little scared to open that particular box, particularly when there are tons of other possible legal remedies.

But hey, that's a slippery slope argument if I ever heard one. At this point any actual activity toward gun control seems positive.

I still think the best way to get some traction is through a regulatory structure like cars: age restriction, carry a license, insurance, and proof of the latter, and have to regularly pass inspection/relicensing. A waiver for subsistence hunters. You know, a "well-regulated" system.
posted by aspersioncast at 1:04 PM on March 27, 2018 [9 favorites]


much like his motion in DC on the 15th of this month:

Manafort Files Motion To Dismiss Mueller Indictment In Virginia
Paul Manafort on Tuesday filed a motion to dismiss special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment against him in Virginia, arguing that Mueller overstepped his authority by indicting Manafort with crimes unrelated to Russian election meddling.
IANAL - how common is it for indictments approved by a grand jury to have summary dismissal requested by the plaintiff, and how common for them to be overturned in this way? Is Manafort just shooting the moon?
posted by murphy slaw at 1:08 PM on March 27, 2018 [6 favorites]


Hey, so speaking of the census, I live in Providence county, RI, and I'm filling out the survey right now. I've never filled out a census before. When I checked white, it then said "Enter, for example, German, Irish, English, Italian, Lebanese, Egyptian, etc." Has it always done that?
posted by Ruki at 1:09 PM on March 27, 2018 [3 favorites]


OnceUponATime - that's AWESOME! YOU ROCK!

I'm hoping others will be able to give more specific answers, but if you have time to look at EVERYTHING:

Here's all the bills for "Russia" per the Congress.gov search.

There's also the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act - House and Senate
posted by kristi at 1:10 PM on March 27, 2018 [7 favorites]


washingtondc.craigslist.org: SEEKING LEAD ATTORNEY FOR DIFFICULT CLIENT

screenshot here in case the link dies
posted by octothorpe at 1:11 PM on March 27, 2018 [74 favorites]


Ruki, I don't remember supplying my ethnicity like this ten years ago, but....it was ten years ago.
posted by wenestvedt at 1:12 PM on March 27, 2018




It seems to me that the situation that would most closely resemble what the framers had in mind is that the states would each maintain a well regulated militia and each state's national guard fills that roll. Back in the framer's time, I imagine that the typical member of the militia would keep their weapon and all their other gear stored at home and break it out when deployed.

The implicit threat being that the federal government needs watch their step as each and every state has it's own military force to counter the federal government's standing army. The colonies banded their militias together to overthrow a tyrannical government once and they'll do it again if we need them to.

The national guard still fits that role pretty well to me and I think would be a MUCH MUCH more effective deterrent against tyranny than a bunch of random gun nuts with their guns.
posted by VTX at 1:12 PM on March 27, 2018 [5 favorites]




We have an obviously Jewish last name, and I don't know how I feel about telling this government that there are two Ukrainian Jews living here. 'Cause, you know, this timeline sucks. I'm going to try to skip that part.
posted by Ruki at 1:16 PM on March 27, 2018 [14 favorites]


Ruki - the 2010 Census form said:
NOTE: Please answer BOTH Question 5 about Hispanic origin and Question 6 about race. For this census, Hispanic origins are not races.

5. Is this person of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin?

_ No, not of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin
_ Yes, Mexican, Mexican Am., Chicano
_ Yes, Puerto Rican
_ Yes, Cuban
_ Yes, another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin - Print origin, for example, Argentinean, Colombian, Dominican, Nicaraguan, Salvadoran, Spaniard, and so on. ______________

6. What is this person's race? Mark [X] one or more boxes.

_ White
_ Black, African Am., or Negro
_ American Indian or Alaska Native - Print name of enrolled or principal tribe: ______________
_ Asian Indian
_ Chinese
_ Filipino
_ Japanese
_ Korean
_ Vietnamese
_ Native Hawaiian
_ Guamian or Chamorro
_ Samoan
_ Other Asian - Print race, for example, Hmong, Laotian, Thai, Pakistani, Cambodian, and so on. __________
_ Other Pacific Islander - Print race, for example, Fijian, Tongan, and so on. ______________
_ Some other race - Print race. ______________
posted by kristi at 1:20 PM on March 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


Ruki, you're always welcome at my place, as long as you bring the Kid, too.
posted by wenestvedt at 1:24 PM on March 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


I worked as an enumerator (census taker) and crew leader during the last census, in NYC. The number of people who wanted "Hispanic/Spanish/Latin@/Puerto Rican" put down as answer for #6 was so substantial that we were given extra training in how to respond to folks who gave once and in some cases insisted on giving an "invalid" answer. After cursory explanation that the information they were supplying appeared to fall under the previous question we were instructed to again reread the question and mark whatever reply was given, including "Some other race: Hispanic/Latin@ etc" even though we knew the census doesn't consider those categories to be races.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 1:27 PM on March 27, 2018 [3 favorites]


The implicit threat being that the federal government needs watch their step as each and every state has it's own military force to counter the federal government's standing army. The colonies banded their militias together to overthrow a tyrannical government once and they'll do it again if we need them to.

Except there wasn't really a permanent standing army in the US until WWII, because the the people who wrote the constitution distrusted standing armies.
posted by runcibleshaw at 1:29 PM on March 27, 2018 [3 favorites]


It did let me mark just white without having to add anything else. I don't like that they added that at all. There is no good reason for THIS administration to know what flavor of white someone is. There are plenty of bad reasons, though.
posted by Ruki at 1:32 PM on March 27, 2018 [3 favorites]


Kansas City Star, That citizenship question on the 2020 Census? Kobach says he pitched it to Trump
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach encouraged President Donald Trump to add a question about citizenship status to the U.S. Census during the early weeks of Trump’s presidency.

More than a year later, Trump’s administration has moved to enact that exact policy for the 2020 census.

“I won’t go into exact detail, but I raised the issue with the president shortly after he was inaugurated,” Kobach said Tuesday.

“I wanted to make sure the president was well aware.”
This has been the plan, since the beginning, pushed by Trump officials who flatly don't believe non-citizens should count for anything.
posted by zachlipton at 1:33 PM on March 27, 2018 [38 favorites]


Ruki, here's the NPR explainer for that question, which is new for the 2020 census:
The bureau has conducted extensive research into how to collect more accurate data about race and ethnicity in 2020. The data play a critical role in drawing legislative districts, enforcing civil rights laws and analyzing health statistics.

Researchers at the bureau have recommended adding check boxes for the largest ethnic groups and a write-in area for smaller groups under the racial categories in a proposal that would radically overhaul the race and ethnicity questions on the census.

But that extensive change would have required the White House's Office of Management and Budget — which sets the standards on race and ethnicity data for the Census Bureau and other federal agencies — to approve an Obama-era proposal that census experts say the Trump administration is not likely to move forward.

Nevertheless, in a report released last year, researchers at the Census Bureau wrote that it has been trying to address community concerns about the race and ethnicity questions, including a "call for more detailed, disaggregated data for our diverse American experiences as German, Mexican, Korean, Jamaican, and myriad other identities."
The Obama-era proposals mentioned above were about changing how Latinx responses were recorded and including more options for African and Middle Eastern races.

The census is so important that I'm super bummed of what should be important planning and (future) genealogical information has been politicized so much :/
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 1:34 PM on March 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


Ruki: I've never filled out a census before. When I checked white, it then said "Enter, for example, German, Irish, English, Italian, Lebanese, Egyptian, etc." Has it always done that?

No, this is new (NPR, Nov. 30, 2017)

When looking up reports on concerns about the added questions about race on the census, one of the top hits is a well-written "debunking" article from Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), which Wikipedia currently notes:
was founded by white nationalist activist John Tanton, whom CNN describes as "a retired Michigan ophthalmologist who has openly embraced eugenics, the science of improving the genetic quality of the human population by encouraging selective breeding and at times, advocating for the sterilization of genetically undesirable groups." The Hill notes that Tanton's opposition to immigration is driven by a desire for a white majority United States.
So when CIS says "don't worry, this trend started before Trump" (and that "before Trump" change was less than 20 years ago), red flags should fly wildly. On the other side, The American Prospect warned of An Insidious Way to Underrepresent Minorities back in 2015, ahead of the recent efforts to expand White and Black or African American categories (NPR, March 13, 2018).

While this more granular data would help some agencies (health agencies were noted, for providing more region-appropriate support for genetic issues that are more common from one country/region than another), it also makes the form harder to fill, and might set off "government prying" flags for people of lots of different ethnicities, though minorities are more likely to have concerns (that are founded and realistic, based on past experiences) about anti-immigration policies and policing.

In other words, even if this came from a place of honest intent and care for appropriate support and services, the current political/ real world environment has poisoned government outreach to minority communities and people.

And I was ready to fight with someone about picking Rhode Island, but it looks like the Census Bureau chose Providence County, where the demographics (Census quick facts), the bureau says, mirror the rest of the country (Census quick facts). Carry on, Census folks.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:38 PM on March 27, 2018 [10 favorites]


The national guard still fits that role pretty well to me and I think would be a MUCH MUCH more effective deterrent against tyranny than a bunch of random gun nuts with their guns.

When was the last time the National Guard resisted an oppressive federal government? The two biggest shows of force I can remember were the Kent State massacre and when Gov. Blanco gave orders to "shoot and kill" looters in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which were basically practical articulations of Nixon and Bush's policies towards protesters and minorities.
posted by Strange Interlude at 1:42 PM on March 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


The departures from this administration, in the style of Tom Lehrer and Animaniacs.
posted by NoxAeternum at 1:43 PM on March 27, 2018 [27 favorites]


This is reflected in state-level militia laws of the period, which explicitly call for the state to arm the militias:

Indeed, it appears many 2nd Amendment advocates have never read Article 1...
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
posted by mikelieman at 1:43 PM on March 27, 2018 [3 favorites]


I don't think it's unrealistic to update the Constitution since we've learned that militias are useless. The didn't do shit during any contemporary national emergency or crisis that I've ever found.

Can we ditch the Electoral College while we're at it? It also didn't do shit during a contemporary national emergency.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:45 PM on March 27, 2018 [36 favorites]


Don't continue to fool yourselves about 'militias' defending against a government. The 2nd amendment was a power play during the ratifying of the Constitution by the slave owning state economies. Mainly Virginia at the time.
truthout on the slave states move.
History of slave patrols at the founding of US.
posted by rc3spencer at 1:52 PM on March 27, 2018 [35 favorites]


the the people who wrote the constitution distrusted standing armies.

How did they feel about 50 Billion in secret military spending? (them's 2013 dollars)

Including $4 Billion to defend against foreign espionage which apparently was foiled by fucking Facebook
posted by petebest at 1:52 PM on March 27, 2018 [10 favorites]


Back in the framer's time, I imagine that the typical member of the militia would keep their weapon and all their other gear stored at home and break it out when deployed.

This is one of those really common things that people expect to be true, but it actually wasn't universally true


I'd recommend a relevant book called The Minute Men as another example of truth being very different from popular perception and myth.

There's a huge, rousing misperception of the British at Lexington & Concord being fought off by dudes who just grabbed their rifle off the shelf 'cause all those guys were so hardened by their frontier living and God-given 'Murican talent with guns. The truth is the militia very much expected a conflict and planned for it, they trained a lot, and many of them already had prior military training and combat experience.

There was simply never a point where a bunch of 'Muricans grabbed the family rifle to throw off tyranny. But like a lot of myths, a great many people can't stand to let that one go.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 1:58 PM on March 27, 2018 [25 favorites]


That truthout article has some interesting facts about the 2nd Amendment and explains how it got there, as a counter to Article 1, Section 8's possible interpretation to not let the militia respond to slave insurrections.

Madison's First Draft:
"The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; a well armed, and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country [emphasis mine]: but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms, shall be compelled to render military service in person."
vs..
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State [emphasis mine], the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
posted by mikelieman at 1:59 PM on March 27, 2018 [9 favorites]


No matter what Romney says or does contra Trump, or worse than Trump, he goes down in history as one of the people personally responsible for Trump. Beyond his self-deportation bullshit setting the stage and magnifying the xenophobia Trump exploited, his solicitation and acceptance of Trump's endorsement in 2012 despite his birtherism brought Trump into the rightwing mainstream enough to win in 2016. Romney is one of the few people who single-handledly could've ended this nightmare by having any morals and spine and rejecting the overt racism. Instead he embraced it for a chance to be president.
posted by chris24 at 2:07 PM on March 27, 2018 [31 favorites]


Dear lord, shouldn't the 2nd Amendment probably be on the list of Things Not to Re-Litigate for the Five-Millionth Time in Catchall Threads?
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:11 PM on March 27, 2018 [38 favorites]


Trump has his crazy base, and he has a fluctuating set of Republicans that can be embarrassed out of the tribal urge to say he's doing a good job. But he's wildly unpopular and simply does not seem capable of doing anything that will cause this nation to look at him in a new light.

While there are blocks of Americans who have more or less made their minds up about Trump one way or the other, there's still a significant group remaining who haven't. From the recent CNN polling article above: "Trump's approval ratings have seesawed over the last four CNN polls -- from 35% in December up to 40% in January, down to 35% in February and back up to 42% now. Looking at intensity of approval, however, the share who strongly approve of Trump's performance (28% in the new poll) and strongly disapprove (46%) have held relatively steady over a similar time frame, suggesting the fluctuation in Trump's ratings comes largely among those whose views on the President aren't that deeply held." [emphasis added, because how on earth can some people possibly not have formed an informed opinion about Trump yet? How?!? And yet…]

AP-NORC Poll: Trump Benefiting from Economic Policies
Trump remains unpopular with the majority of Americans, 58 percent. But 42 percent say they now approve of the job he’s doing as president, up seven points from a month ago. [...]

The poll suggests that at least some of the president’s improving standing is tied to the economy, which has steadily grown and added jobs, continuing a trajectory that began under President Barack Obama. Nearly half of Americans surveyed — 47 percent — say they approve of how Trump is handling the economy, his highest rating on any issue. When it comes to tax policy, 46 percent of Americans back Trump’s moves.
And since the AP poll finds nearly half of paycheck-earners report Trump's tax law has nearly increased their take-home pay, they pull a quote from an ordinary (Republican) American as an illustration:
Heather Dilios, a 46-year-old social worker from Topsham, Maine, is among them. Dilios, a Republican, estimates she’s now taking home between $100 to $200 more per paycheck as a result of the new tax law. That’s more than she expected when Trump signed the legislation.

Dilios said it’s more than the dollar amount that’s driving her support for the law.

“It’s more about being able to keep what is rightfully mine rather than giving it to the government,” she said.
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:17 PM on March 27, 2018 [6 favorites]


That's a hell of a quote from a social worker.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:19 PM on March 27, 2018 [136 favorites]


Can we ditch the Electoral College while we're at it?
As long as you're doing major Constitutional Reconstruction, let's just lose the Senate, at least in its "equal representation for each state" form. There is so much that is totally outdated in that "American Holy Document", that I felt that back in the just-after-Watergate-70s, we had an opportunity (and some capable persons in government and civic life) to do a New Constitutional Convention without screwing the pooch. That window slammed shut with the election of Ronald Reagan, and neither Bill Clinton nor Barack Obama gave me the confidence to reopen it a crack.
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:24 PM on March 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


I wonder if Ms. Dilios adjusted her withholdings on her W-4 to account for the flaws in the new tax law. Boy, I sure hope she's saving all that money in her fat new paychecks for the debt she'll owe in April 2019...
posted by palomar at 2:25 PM on March 27, 2018 [38 favorites]


That's a hell of a quote from a social worker.

It didn't say she was a particularly good social worker.
posted by Atom Eyes at 2:26 PM on March 27, 2018 [18 favorites]


Also I'm very curious if she's going to find herself with a smaller than usual tax refund/actual tax bill next year, i.e. are the actual tax rates being withheld correct? $100-200 per paycheck (presumably every two weeks) is a lot more of a cut than I'd expect for that salary paid by that sort of work.
posted by Nice Guy Mike at 2:26 PM on March 27, 2018 [12 favorites]


As long as you're doing major Constitutional Reconstruction, let's just lose the Senate, at least in its "equal representation for each state" form.

You can't. This is quite literally the only thing that can't be changed even with a Constitutional Amendment.
posted by Justinian at 2:26 PM on March 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


(The usual caveat applies where I suppose you could try to render the Senate vestigial like the House of Lords, but that could not include changing the equal representation for each state formula.)
posted by Justinian at 2:27 PM on March 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


Yeah, that quote makes it clear just how poor a job we progressives have done in educating people about what their tax dollars get them.

I've seen people from all walks of life and all political philosophies hold quite strongly the idea that the federal government takes their tax dollars and just straight up gives them to Those People Who Do That Thing I Don't Like instead of working hard like themselves and to the military to use to buy nails and toilet seats at $30k a pop.

Nothing about roads, parks, mail, schools, the arts, science, etc.

Also, from people all over the socioeconomic and political spectrums, I've heard expressed the idea that when they get tax dollars for something, it's because they truly deserve it either by dint of their hard work or because they're oh so clever in exploiting loopholes, but when Those People get tax dollars, it's because they're lazy liars and cheats.

We've got to combat these Randian and Reaganian beliefs about taxes if we want a truly first world nation for everyone.
posted by lord_wolf at 2:30 PM on March 27, 2018 [61 favorites]


A "social worker" getting a tax cut of over $100 a pay period? Based on a usual bi-weekly paycheck, that's over $2500 in 2018. More likely a Manager of a Social Agency with a Top 10% income.

And as I said, I once dreamed of a Constitutional Convention to totally rebuild our broken system from the ground up. There have been a lot of nations created since this one that get it a lot more right.
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:32 PM on March 27, 2018 [12 favorites]


A "social worker" getting a tax cut of over $100 a pay period?
Actually I've been getting a $104.00 tax break per pay period (twice a month). I'm just an audio editor at an east coast university, making barely under 50k a year. I don't know why it's such a huge break. It'll probably be a terrible let down come taxes due in 2019 (ala Bush tax cuts), but there it is.
posted by rc3spencer at 2:36 PM on March 27, 2018 [3 favorites]


It'll probably be a terrible let down come taxes due in 2019 (ala Bush tax cuts), but there it is.

Yeah, everyone should definitely recalc their withholdings...
posted by mikelieman at 2:39 PM on March 27, 2018 [10 favorites]


Aside from the Nomic-style amendment paradox of amending Article V to eliminate the equal representation clause and then eliminating the Senate, there are other ways to fix this problem, including eliminating their authority and powers over a generation until whether by rule or norm the Senate doesn’t really matter (a la the House of Lords). Best of all though would be a new Constitition that left leaning people litigate through every available avenue like their lives depend on it (because elected Democrats wouldn’t). The left will never win under the current constitutional order, which is rigged against them six different ways.
posted by gerryblog at 2:44 PM on March 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


A "social worker" getting a tax cut of over $100 a pay period?

I make just a hair under $50k and I was getting a tax break of over $100 every bi-weekly paycheck after the tax cut went through. That's over $2600 a year that I would fully expect them to bill me for in 2019, had I not adjusted my W-4 immediately to compensate. I'd rather run the "risk" of having the government deduct too much in taxes and get a refund next year, than have to pay because I believed their free-money bullshit in the first place.
posted by palomar at 2:46 PM on March 27, 2018 [10 favorites]


Mod note: Hi folks, it's been a chatty afternoon but at this point, let's reel this sucker back in some. If you want to chitchat there is Chat, and there's so much to read and enjoy on the site -- best space operas, this person befriending a bee, a record store in Nairobi, mapping imaginary cities, appreciating Smokey and the Bandit, and there's some great local comments in the religion in Singapore thread.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 2:51 PM on March 27, 2018 [43 favorites]


Nothing about roads, parks, mail, schools, the arts, science, etc.

"The roads around here are terrible; nobody's taking care of them."
"Parks? Who needs parks? I never go to parks; I shouldn't have to pay for them."
"Eh, I just use email anyway. And Amazon has free shipping."
"Why should I have to pay for other people's kids' education?"
"If art and science can't make a profit, the gov't shouldn't be supporting them. No handouts!"

The points to make in favor of taxes are:
* Firefighters
* Safety standards enforcement - like the ones that say the city has to provide clean drinking water, and your neighbor can't burn tires in his front yard
* More safety standards: licensing; air traffic control (ask if they think if it's okay for anyone with enough money to buy a plane and fly it wherever they want)
* Even more: Medical standards, the kind that mean a "psychic healer" can't declare himself a doctor
* Court system, both criminal and civil - so you can help lock up someone who breaks into your house and steals your TV, and so you can sue your boss if he decides not to fix the broken windows after a storm, and says you can all work in the snow, just wear a jacket.

Pick examples that will be compelling to the audience. For a lot of middle-aged white guys, anything related to public access or child support is going to be "meh, why should I be paying for that? It doesn't help me." They need reminders of what the government brings them that they believe is "just how things work" rather than "someone pays for this to happen, and pays more to keep it organized so it can keep happening."
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 2:51 PM on March 27, 2018 [49 favorites]


The tax cuts, and particularly the deceptive withholding guidelines, were specifically designed to make the new folks elected this coming fall look like the bad guys.

This shit always seems to work for the actual bad guys. Over and over again.
posted by yesster at 2:52 PM on March 27, 2018 [52 favorites]



There's a huge, rousing misperception of the British at Lexington & Concord being fought off by dudes who just grabbed their rifle off the shelf 'cause all those guys were so hardened by their frontier living and God-given 'Murican talent with guns. The truth is the militia very much expected a conflict and planned for it, they trained a lot, and many of them already had prior military training and combat experience.


And wherever they might have kept their muskets, they were forbidden by law from keeping powder at home.

Hence powder houses/

One of which was in Lexington.
posted by ocschwar at 3:18 PM on March 27, 2018 [15 favorites]


Former prosecutor and defense attorney Ken "Popehat" White: I once got a cold call from a guy who wanted to sue his last lawyer for malpractice. He had hired the last lawyer to sue the lawyer before that for malpractice, who had been suing the lawyer before that for malpractice. It would be smarter to take on that guy than to take Trump.
posted by T.D. Strange at 3:21 PM on March 27, 2018 [75 favorites]


The. Best. People.
The lure of another television personality has President Trump reportedly considering Fox News' Pete Hegseth to run the Department of Veterans Affairs. But while Hegseth's experience as a combat veteran and commentator on Fox would seem to appeal politically to the president, his appointment could extend two disruptive narratives playing out in the White House: marital infidelity and nepotism.

An APM Reports investigation has found Hegseth engaged in two extra-marital affairs with co-workers during two marriages and paid his brother — who had no professional experience — $108,000 to work for him while chief executive of a non-profit. And while running a political action committee in his native Minnesota, Hegseth spent a third of the PAC's money on Christmas parties for families and friends.
posted by chris24 at 3:33 PM on March 27, 2018 [19 favorites]


I just realized something:
we should thank our lucky stars that Bill O'Reilly doesn't have a prime time slot on Fox anymore.
posted by murphy slaw at 3:38 PM on March 27, 2018 [22 favorites]


Politico: How much is Rick Gates telling Mueller about Trump?
When Rick Gates struck a plea deal last month with special counsel Robert Mueller, the 45-year-old former Trump campaign official likely avoided decades behind bars and salvaged a chance to watch his children grow up. The question is what Gates offered Mueller in return. Though it is a virtual given that Gates will sell out his business partner and Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, less understood is the direct threat Gates could pose to President Donald Trump.

That’s the conclusion of several lawyers involved in the Russia case and more than 15 current and former Trump aides and associates interviewed by POLITICO to determine how much danger Gates’ guilty plea could pose to the president and his inner circle, and how alarmed they might be by his testimony.

While Gates now wears a GPS monitor around his ankle, in 2016 he wore a Secret Service lapel pin that gave him easy access to Trump on the campaign trail and at Trump Tower.

“He saw everything,” said a Republican consultant who worked with Gates during the campaign. The consultant called Gates one of the “top five” insiders whom Mueller could have tapped as a cooperative government witness. One defense attorney in the case said Gates’ plea has triggered palpable alarm in Trump world.

Manafort may have struck a larger public profile, but Gates spent more time in Trump’s orbit. Manafort left the Trump campaign under a cloud of scandal in mid-August 2016. Gates, his right-hand man, stayed on through the election before assisting the Trump inauguration and Trump’s early presidency.

Worst of all for the White House, Gates lacks hard-wired loyalty. He is not family, like Trump’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., or his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Nor is he among true Trump believers like Corey Lewandowski and Brad Parscale. “Let’s be honest, Don Jr. is not ratting out his dad. Gates is different,” said Paul Rosenzweig, who served as a senior counsel to Whitewater independent counsel Ken Starr.
posted by chris24 at 3:54 PM on March 27, 2018 [38 favorites]


Mueller initially indicted Gates and Manafort on a combined 12 counts last October, then filed an additional combined 32 counts against both of them in February.

Since they were both indicted at the same time it seems unlikely Mueller needs Gates to get Manafort.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:41 PM on March 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


Never mind Bill O'Reilly - be thankful Glenn Beck doesn't have a Fox show anymore. Think of the conspiracy theories that our federal government would be spending time investigating..
posted by wittgenstein at 5:01 PM on March 27, 2018 [7 favorites]


Since they were both indicted at the same time it seems unlikely Mueller needs Gates to get Manafort.

Manafort isn't Mueller's reason for flipping Gates. Gates is probably the person on everyone's CC list for all the various different shenanigans that the campaign, transition, and inauguration committees, so Gates is important for OTHER targets.
posted by mikelieman at 5:14 PM on March 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


Coons/Tillis: S.1741 - Special Counsel Integrity Act

Buzzfeed's Emma Loop @LoopEmma reported earlier today:
.@ChrisCoons and @SenThomTillis put out a statement on special counsel Robert Mueller: "We urge President Trump to allow the Special Counsel to complete his work without impediment, which is in the best interest of the American people, the President, and our nation.”

On the timing of this statement, Tillis’ office says: "No one thing or event prompted the release of today’s statement, Senators Tillis and Coons are simply reiterating their position on Special Counsel Mueller."
On one hand, the two-week congressional recess would be the perfect time for Trump to try to fire Mueller (though I haven't found any chatter from Trumpland to suggest he's in one of his firin' moods); on the other, Tillis, a political figure far less popular than Mueller, needs a bone to throw to his constituents when he faces at town hall meetings. (And since he's been implicated in the Cambridge Analytica affair, a little bipartisan cover could help.)
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:14 PM on March 27, 2018 [3 favorites]




“Diversity of opinions” always means going more conservative and heartless and not getting a social democrat and a liberation anarchist go at it in your op-ed eh?
posted by The Whelk at 6:23 PM on March 27, 2018 [81 favorites]


“Diversity of opinions” always means going more conservative and heartless and not getting a social democrat and a liberation anarchist go at it in your op-ed eh?
"Hang women who have abortions!"
Well he's "ideologically interesting" and I'm sure he's grown since then.
"EAT THE RICH!"
That's class warfare and you should feel ashamed of yourself!
posted by Talez at 6:30 PM on March 27, 2018 [48 favorites]


So long, snowflake..

A departing GOP congressman shares his thoughts about how unfair he feels it is that constituents wanted him to take positions on all of Trump's and the GOP's insane policies..
posted by Nerd of the North at 6:48 PM on March 27, 2018 [21 favorites]


That Slate article linked by Nerd of the North opens with a nice example of the tendency among quite a few Republican leaders (including, frequently, White House officials) to treat the president of the USA as… just this guy, you know?

It only took a week for Pennsylvania Rep. Ryan Costello, a moderate Republican representing suburban Philadelphia, to recognize the headwinds that Donald Trump’s presidency would create for him and members in similar districts.

“After the travel ban,” Costello said in an interview Tuesday. It wasn’t just the overwhelming protests at airports but all the protesters who gathered at his office, too. They were linking him, their Republican member of Congress, with the decisions of the new Republican president. He remembered “the expectation that, somehow, I needed to issue a statement within X number of minutes or somehow I was complicit, or whatever they were trying to accuse me of.”

posted by InTheYear2017 at 6:56 PM on March 27, 2018 [20 favorites]


He remembered “the expectation that, somehow, I needed to issue a statement within X number of minutes or somehow I was complicit, or whatever they were trying to accuse me of.”

Yes. That's it exactly. Complicit - helping to commit a crime or do wrong in some way

Used in a sentence: You are complicit for the rest of your life, Ryan Costello, and not even resigning will absolve you.

You had the power to stand up against this, and instead choose to do nothing and try to reap your tax cuts, just like every other Republican did. All of you are complicit.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:02 PM on March 27, 2018 [102 favorites]


I needed to issue a statement within X number of minutes or somehow I was complicit, or whatever they were trying to accuse me of.
It's like, holy shit people. I need a few minutes to decide whether to lean in and use naked bigotry in my quest to retain political power.

The reason they were happy to declare you complicit, asshat, is because how you act in situations like these exposes your true character and you failed that test HARD.
posted by Talez at 7:04 PM on March 27, 2018 [36 favorites]


"Build WALL throuh M!"

Remember that incomprehensible tweet? Apparently, the Washington Post has figured out what it meant.

Trump floats using military budget to pay for border wall
Still angry about the budget deal he signed last week, President Donald Trump has floated the idea of using the military’s budget to pay for his long-promised border wall with Mexico, despite the fact that such spending would likely require approval from Congress.

Trump raised the funding plan with House Speaker Paul Ryan at a meeting at the White House last Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the discussion who spoke on condition of anonymity.

And he’s publicly tweeted that building “a great Border Wall” is “all about National Defense,” and called to “Build WALL through M!”, meaning the military.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 7:16 PM on March 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


Wasn’t he all about how the military needed the extra money for something or other the other day?
posted by Artw at 7:58 PM on March 27, 2018


I like this approach!

The health of all Americans is all about National Defense! Build Medicare for all through M!

Full utilization of the talents of all Americans is all about National Defense! Fund guaranteed employment through M!

Eliminating dependence on fossil fuels is all about National Defense! Build an alternative energy grid through M!
posted by murphy slaw at 8:09 PM on March 27, 2018 [41 favorites]


Huh, did people really think M meant Mexico? I thought y'all were joking. The whole tweet capitalized "Military" a couple of times, and then he just ran out of room or patience and abbreviated it.
posted by xigxag at 8:10 PM on March 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


It's Donald "Covfefe" Trump we're talking about here. Personally, I thought he might have meant Michigan.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 8:13 PM on March 27, 2018 [41 favorites]


As I said above, "capitalize certain Terms and then use single-letter abbreviations for those Ts at the end" is a very non-obvious style choice on his part. Hence, inducing that M means Military is basically solving an inane little puzzle. (To this day, his tweet from a year ago ending with "Easy D!" is a mystery, though the likeliest answer is "Decision", given the context being a court case. MSNBC's Chris Hayes discussed both of those Things recently)
posted by InTheYear2017 at 8:19 PM on March 27, 2018 [3 favorites]


Per two senior administration officials, Trump continued to rail privately about the omnibus bill, and has become convinced of things that aren’t true about it.

I am sure this is just a filled-in macro:
Per ___ senior administration officials, Trump continued to rail privately about the _____________, and has become convinced of things that aren’t true about it.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:48 PM on March 27, 2018 [39 favorites]


Kathleen Parker was still blaming Bill Clinton for Trump's rise as recently as November of last year, although to be fair, she took issue with Sarah Palin before that was a cool thing to do for a "conservative". Anyway, here she is again with a healthy dose of what-about-Bill-Clinton, but she does manage to call out the family-values crowd.

Kathleen Parker, WaPo OpEd:
I’m not ashamed to be appalled by this sleazy saga. Nor am I ashamed to lay blame squarely at the president’s feet. Yes, I am judging, as I wonder whether anyone is taught anything anymore about proper conduct. ... That so many among the family-values cohort betray no offense at the porn star and the president — or rationalize looking away — is the real shame.
posted by RedOrGreen at 8:52 PM on March 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


"Two Party Opera", the semi-ingenious comic featuring caricatures of all the historical Presidents, reminds us that very tawdry sex-and-payoff scandals pre-date Trump AND Clinton, going as far back as the 'non-consecutive' Grover Cleveland.
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:59 PM on March 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


Lili Loofbourow on the story that many pundits are not seeing in the Stormy Daniels scandal: The Stormy Daniels Scandal is not gossip.
posted by suelac at 9:03 PM on March 27, 2018 [14 favorites]


It's Donald "Covfefe" Trump we're talking about here. Personally, I thought he might have meant Michigan.

If Trump wants to built a wall through/in/near Michigan, I'm OK with that as long as I get to be on the side he and his base are not on.
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:20 PM on March 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


The conclusions of that article are the same as the liberal vs. conservative conclusions about ruTpm: liberals took him literally but not seriously, conservatives took him seriously but not literally. Same with Williamson.
posted by um at 10:04 PM on March 27, 2018 [2 favorites]




That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die.

@MarkTokes: BREAKING: Rod Rosenstein has officially been served a subpoena to appear and produce documents to the Committee of the Judiciary on April 5, 2018.

He now must turn over all documents regarding:
Clinton Email Server
McCabe Firing
FISA Abuses
+ more
posted by scalefree at 10:44 PM on March 27, 2018 [34 favorites]


So this happened yesterday.

China says North Korea pledges denuclearization during friendly visit
China’s Foreign Ministry cited Kim in a lengthy statement as telling Xi that the situation on the Korean peninsula was starting to improve because North Korea had taken the initiative to ease tensions and put forward proposals for peace talks.

“It is our consistent stand to be committed to denuclearization on the peninsula, in accordance with the will of late President Kim Il Sung and late General Secretary Kim Jong Il,” Kim Jong Un said, according to the statement.

North Korea is willing to talk with the United States and hold a summit between the two countries, he said.

“The issue of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula can be resolved, if South Korea and the United States respond to our efforts with goodwill, create an atmosphere of peace and stability while taking progressive and synchronous measures for the realization of peace,” Kim said.

[...] China briefed Trump on Kim’s visit and the communication included a personal message from Xi to Trump, the White House said in a statement.

“The United States remains in close contact with our allies South Korea and Japan. We see this development as further evidence that our campaign of maximum pressure is creating the appropriate atmosphere for dialogue with North Korea,” the statement said.
posted by J.K. Seazer at 10:58 PM on March 27, 2018 [6 favorites]


Er, my bad, the dateline says March 26, but the announcement was made today (Wednesday China time). Reuters must have edited this from an older article (bad Reuters, bad!).
posted by J.K. Seazer at 11:03 PM on March 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


This pretty much puts them on my blacklist and I am ashamed to have ever given them money.

I'm ashamed to have written for them, and won't be doing so again.
posted by adamgreenfield at 11:40 PM on March 27, 2018 [38 favorites]


This is an interesting article in its own right, but I think it's worth reading in this context because if the Right's bogeyman, George Soros, can surreptitiously support elections around the country, there's probably a lot more going on on their side: What If Prosecutors Wanted to Keep People Out of Prison?
posted by Joe in Australia at 1:11 AM on March 28, 2018 [3 favorites]


Simply repealing the 2nd Am. would be a mess. We would need to replace it with a Constitutional ban, otherwise there's a strong argument it becomes a matter for state government under the 'general police power' (i.e. the public safety function) and devolution of powers not reserved.

There can be no new Civil War. Gun nuts may have AR-15s but they don't have AGM-65s or JDAMs or Apaches or F-16s or B-52s.

The ghastly scenario is a few months of non-stop mini Ruby Ridges, and maybe some confrontation between Federal and state/local law enforcement, and that would be destabilizing enough that it would be hard to predict the political consequences.
posted by snuffleupagus at 2:47 AM on March 28, 2018 [6 favorites]


The ghastly scenario is a few months of non-stop mini Ruby Ridges, and maybe some confrontation between Federal and state/local law enforcement, and that would be destabilizing enough that it would be hard to predict the political consequences.

There's probably a whiteboard in a room in the Kremlin with that scenario written in a box, with numerous paths of arrows pointing to it.
posted by acb at 3:06 AM on March 28, 2018 [5 favorites]


And as I said, I once dreamed of a Constitutional Convention to totally rebuild our broken system from the ground up.

So is the far right
posted by thelonius at 3:22 AM on March 28, 2018 [17 favorites]


The ghastly scenario is a few months of non-stop mini Ruby Ridges, and maybe some confrontation between Federal and state/local law enforcement, and that would be destabilizing enough that it would be hard to predict the political consequences.
And everything old is new again. Almost nothing is more american than confrontations between Federal and state/local law enforcement. < Whiskey Rebellion of 1794
"Historian Steven Boyd argued that the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion prompted anti-Federalist westerners to finally accept the Constitution and to seek change by voting for Republicans rather than resisting the government."
posted by rc3spencer at 3:33 AM on March 28, 2018 [3 favorites]


He now must turn over all documents regarding:
Clinton Email Server
McCabe Firing
FISA Abuses
+ more


oh no

what has saved Hillary Clinton from jail up until now is that no one has ever investigated anything she or her staff have been involved in, not even once
posted by delfin at 3:50 AM on March 28, 2018 [56 favorites]


Oh, this will be fun.

45's pals in real estate hate Amazon, because it's depressing retail property. So he's desperate to hit Bezos by... well, that's the hard part. But he's trying.

I have noted before that 45's ability to make powerful, well-funded, implacable enemies will run as far ahead of his office's ability to deal with them as Napoleon ran ahead of his logistics in the march on Moscow (and with comparable attrition rates). This is a - ahem - prime example.

Oh, and it's scandalously corrupt at the highest possible level. Nearly forgot that bit.
posted by Devonian at 4:06 AM on March 28, 2018 [21 favorites]


So I finished a first draft of the slides I want to print out and go through with my House Rep, about what he can do and why he should do it, about Russia and collusion. My meeting is tomorrow at 4pm. I'd appreciate any feedback folks have (by MeFi mail). I'm fairly nervous about this.

I think there is probably too much information here already to get through in the fifteen minutes I am scheduled for. But I really just want to make sure he knows this stuff. I don't think he's heard it from Fox News. And then I want to be the voice of his conscious, prodding him to act.

(If the beginning seems abrupt, it's because I left off the intro slide, which has personally identifying information on it.)
posted by OnceUponATime at 4:09 AM on March 28, 2018 [62 favorites]


All these scenarios of armed conflict between seditious gun nuts and Federal forces assume, unwontedly in my opinion, that the latter would willingly enforce the law of a post-Second Amendment Republic.
posted by adamgreenfield at 4:13 AM on March 28, 2018 [3 favorites]


By the way, I just want to say... all those links I've collected on the site, and then screenshotted for these slides that I'm now presenting to a member of congress... Those came from MeFi.

By collecting news from more sources than I could possibly ever follow on my own and sharing it here, you guys make it possible to piece together all these little details which have been drip-dripping out from all over, into a coherent picture of what is going on. I think without MeFi the world would make very little sense to me right now. And I certainly would not be talking to my congressional rep (again.)

Thank you all so much.
posted by OnceUponATime at 4:19 AM on March 28, 2018 [121 favorites]


@Tom_Winter (NBC)
NBC News: In a court filing tonight in the Special Counsel's case against Alex van der Zwaan it identifies a Person A (an associate of Paul Manafort) as having ties to the Russian intelligence service, GRU, in 2016 when Rick Gates was in contact with Person A.
- NBC News: Here's the filing. Person A is identified in previous pages as an associate of Paul Manafort: SCREENSHOT OF FILING

@AriMelber (MSNBC)
Retweeted Tom Winter
This new Mueller filing says Trump’s campaign chair *and* deputy campaign manager *knew* their associate was a former Russian intelligence officer. As they say in court, Um.

@joshtpm
Retweeted Tom Winter
Unless I’m mistaken Person A is almost certainly Konstantin Kilimnik. Not entirely new info. But Gates affirmative knowledge and then Manaforts wld be major development.
posted by chris24 at 4:20 AM on March 28, 2018 [41 favorites]


@renato_mariotti
Big news: Mueller told the court that Gates knew that he and Manafort were working with a former Russian intelligence officer.

@peterjukes
Retweeted Renato Mariotti
BREAKING: Roger Stone was in contact with GRU's Guccifer during Trump campaign. Now it appears Manafort and Gates were in contact with a former GRU officer too.
Just in case you hadn't noticed that's THREE Trump campaign officials in contact with Russian military intelligence
posted by chris24 at 4:37 AM on March 28, 2018 [80 favorites]


Exclusive: Spurned by top lawyers, Trump's defense elevates Washington outsider
(Karen Freifeld | Reuters)
A little-known former prosecutor with a doctorate in medieval history will play a central role on U.S. President Donald Trump’s legal team, as many top-tier lawyers shy away from representing him in a probe into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election.

Andrew Ekonomou, 69, is one of a handful of lawyers assisting Jay Sekulow, the main attorney representing Trump in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Sekulow told Reuters on Tuesday that after the departure of Washington attorney John Dowd from Trump’s personal legal team last week, Ekonomou will assume a more prominent role. Ekonomou said he has been working with Sekulow on the Mueller probe since June.

The elevation comes at a crucial time in the Mueller probe, as Trump’s team is negotiating the terms under which the president himself may be interviewed. Sekulow is now the last man standing of a trio of personal lawyers hired last spring to assist Trump on the probe. Combative New York lawyer Marc Kasowitz exited the team last summer.

... Trump has tried to tap top-tier lawyers to represent him but been repeatedly rebuffed, according to people familiar with the matter. For example, on Monday, Dan Webb, a former U.S. attorney in Illinois, said Trump had reached out to him and a Washington colleague, but business conflicts prevented them from representing the president.

Savannah Law School professor Andrew Wright, former associate counsel in the Obama White House, said it is unusual for a president to turn to lawyers like Ekonomou who are untested on the national scene and not part of the elite white-collar bar.

“He’s well past the A-team grab space,” Wright said.
insert B.A. Baracus joke here
posted by Barack Spinoza at 4:49 AM on March 28, 2018 [21 favorites]


Not to start something on the 2nd Amendment, but Trump "responded" to Justice Stevens this morning:
@realdonaldtrump: THE SECOND AMENDMENT WILL NEVER BE REPEALED! As much as Democrats would like to see this happen, and despite the words yesterday of former Supreme Court Justice Stevens, NO WAY. We need more Republicans in 2018 and must ALWAYS hold the Supreme Court!
He really thinks that the Supreme Court has something to do with constitutional amendments, doesn't he? His quotidian idiocy is really sort of suffocating.
posted by pjenks at 4:54 AM on March 28, 2018 [12 favorites]


Stormy Daniels' lawyer files motion to depose Trump, lawyer Michael Cohen
The lawyer for adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who says she had sex with Donald Trump in 2006, has filed a motion in federal court asking for permission to depose the president and his lawyer, Michael Cohen.
The move comes amid a lawsuit against Trump, alleging that he never signed a nondisclosure agreement that his lawyer had arranged with Daniels, and just days after a revealing interview on CBS' "60 Minutes" in which she detailed an alleged affair with the married mogul and claimed she was threatened in 2011 if she went public.

posted by PenDevil at 4:56 AM on March 28, 2018 [22 favorites]


Have you guys seen this fuckery/batshittery?

Robert Mercer’s Secret Adventure as a New Mexico Cop
Why was the fabulously wealthy Trump donor wearing a badge and a gun in a tiny desert town? To obtain something that’s impossible to buy.
By Zachary Mider (Bloomberg)

(Spoiler: the thing that's impossible to buy is nationwide concealed carry granted to off duty police officers.)
posted by soren_lorensen at 5:25 AM on March 28, 2018 [62 favorites]


He really thinks that the Supreme Court has something to do with constitutional amendments, doesn't he?

Well, the Supreme Court does interpret how Constitutional amendments affect legislation via their decisions. Such as D.C. v. Heller, for instance, which is a kick to the face of anyone who wants to see reasonable gun control in their lifetimes.

Not that I am suggesting that Cheeto has any understanding of that relationship. It is in many ways more offensive that he suggests that the Supreme Court should be, in and of itself, a partisan body that WE or THEY can "hold."
posted by delfin at 5:25 AM on March 28, 2018 [6 favorites]


(Spoiler: the thing that's impossible to buy is nationwide concealed carry granted to off duty police officers.)

Never in a million years would I have thought of that. I honestly first thought that he was going to hunt poor people for sport without repercussions.
posted by Talez at 5:28 AM on March 28, 2018 [58 favorites]


My first thought was more along the lines of "the ability for one hot second to actually believe he's as powerful as he believes he should be." But yeah, three deadliest game also occurred to me.

Apparently several of these little rural police departments run similar auxiliary officer programs and this is the win-win proposition they offer. We get free labor, you get to pack heat wherever you want.
posted by soren_lorensen at 5:32 AM on March 28, 2018 [5 favorites]


Unless I’m mistaken Person A is almost certainly Konstantin Kilimnik. Not entirely new info. But Gates affirmative knowledge and then Manaforts wld be major development.

Konstantin Kilimnik, who's come up a few times in the megathreads, is of course "Kostya, the guy from the GRU".

Washington Post: Manafort Associate Had Russian Intelligence Ties During 2016 Campaign, Prosecutors Say
The FBI has found that a business associate of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort had ongoing ties to Russian intelligence, including during the 2016 campaign when Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates, were in touch with the associate, according to new court filings.

The documents, filed late Tuesday by prosecutors for special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, also allege that Gates had said he knew the associate was a former officer with the Russian military intelligence service.[...]

Prosecutors made the allegation without naming the Manafort associate but described his role with Manafort in detail. The description matches the Russian manager of Manafort’s lobbying office in Kiev, Konstantin Kilimnik.[...]

Prosecutors explained that van der Zwaan had lied and withheld documents about information that was “pertinent” to their investigation — that Gates had been in direct contact during the presidential campaign with a person who “has ties to a Russian intelligence services and had such ties in 2016.”

They said when van der Zwaan was interviewed by the FBI in November, he told investigators that Gates had informed him that Person A was a former GRU officer.

Kilimnik ran Manafort’s office in Kiev during the 10 years he did consulting work there, The Post reported in 2017.

During his August 2016 meeting with Kilimnik, Manafort has said he and his longtime Kiev office manager discussed, among other topics, the ongoing campaign, including the hacking of Democratic National Committee emails. Stolen DNC emails had been released by WikiLeaks the previous month and the hack was widely suspected to be the work of Russia.

During Kilimnik’s time working for Manafort in Kiev, he had served as a liaison for Manafort to the Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska, with whom Manafort had done business. Emails previously described to The Post show that Manafort asked Kilimnik during the campaign to offer Deripaska “private briefings” about Trump’s effort. A Deripaska spokeswoman has said the billionaire, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was not offered and did not receive such briefings.[...]

Manafort has also denied knowingly communicating with Russian intelligence during the campaign. He told the New York Times last year, however, “It’s not like these people wear badges that say, ‘I’m a Russian intelligence officer.’ ”
To update the scorecard, the GRU was running Kilimnik, Guccifer 2.0, and Rinat Akhmetshin, the "active measures campaigns" specialist who met with Donald Jr., Manafort, and Kushner at Trump Tower in June, 2016.
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:43 AM on March 28, 2018 [30 favorites]


@marcorubio
Latest absurd freak out is over #census2020 citizenship question. In every nation citizenship matters, so shouldn’t we know how many we have? And districts apportioned based on # of people not here legally dilutes the political representation of citizens & legal residents.


@ThePlumLineGS (WaPo)
Actually, this @marcorubio quote might be highly newsworthy.
Is Rubio saying that undocumented immigrants *should not* be counted in the census for purposes of representation?
If so, that's a tacit admission to the apparent purpose of this change. The admin doesn't say this.


@steve_vladeck (CNN, Lawfare, UTLaw prof)
As @ThePlumLineGS points out, this is @marcorubio saying the quiet part out loud—and admitting that (one) purpose of adding a citizenship question is to find a way to _not_ count “all persons,” never mind that that’s exactly what Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment requires.

---

And the USA Today Editorial Board.

"Non-citizens need to be counted. They pay taxes, have kids in public schools and contribute in many ways to communities. The Supreme Court has even ruled that non-citizens count toward the drawing of political districts..."
posted by chris24 at 6:10 AM on March 28, 2018 [105 favorites]


During his August 2016 meeting with Kilimnik, Manafort has said he and his longtime Kiev office manager discussed, among other topics, the ongoing campaign, including the hacking of Democratic National Committee emails. Stolen DNC emails had been released by WikiLeaks the previous month and the hack was widely suspected to be the work of Russia.

I observe that this new filing from the Special Counsel, comes mere days after, Paul Manafort files motion to dismiss Mueller indictment in Virginia where Manafort alleges
None of the alleged conduct has any connection to coordination between the Trump presidential campaign and the Russian government. All predates the Trump campaign and Mr. Manafort’s brief involvement in it by years.
Well done Special Counsel. Well done.
posted by mikelieman at 6:11 AM on March 28, 2018 [37 favorites]


The good news about Bolton is he might not last long.

WaPo: For John Bolton, Russia is part of a new ‘axis of evil’
The Trump administration seems to be hardening on Russia, but not fast enough for its incoming national security adviser. John Bolton wants President Trump to go on the offensive against Moscow — and not just when it comes to Vladimir Putin’s interference in American democracy.

Speaking last month at the Daniel Morgan Graduate School of National Security, Bolton laid out his proposed strategy to respond to Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and to Russian aggression around the world. Bolton did not know that, only weeks later, he would be in a position to push his strategy as the top foreign-policy aide to the president.

The Trump administration has not done enough to respond to Russia’s attack on the United States and our democratic institutions, Bolton said, and Putin must pay a heavy price for his actions.

“I think that this is actually now the perfect time for President Trump to pivot to make it clear that he’s not going to permit additional [Russian] meddling, or meddling by any other foreign government in our election process,” Bolton said. “Whether [the Russians] were trying to collude with the Trump campaign or the Clinton campaign, their interference is unacceptable. It’s really an attack on the United States Constitution.”

The United States should respond in “cyberspace and elsewhere,” Bolton said, suggesting offensive action against the Russian operatives that perpetrated the interference. Only if the response is overwhelming will Russia and other countries be deterred.

“I don’t think the response should be proportionate, I think it should be very disproportionate,” he said.

But Bolton doesn’t want Trump to stop there. As he explained during his extensive remarks, the United States should also push back on a range of Kremlin transgressions: its support for Syria, its alliance with Iran, its undermining of North Korea sanctions, and its coordination with China to thwart the West.

In Bolton’s worldview, Russia is part of a larger set of challenges that must be addressed together. America’s adversaries form a network that works together in complex ways. Bolton asserted that Russia and China “fly wingman for each other” at the United Nations and have a “de facto territorial division of labor around the world.”
posted by chris24 at 6:16 AM on March 28, 2018 [12 favorites]


The Trump administration seems to be hardening on Russia, but not fast enough for its incoming national security adviser. John Bolton wants President Trump to go on the offensive against Moscow — and not just when it comes to Vladimir Putin’s interference in American democracy. ... The United States should respond in “cyberspace and elsewhere,” Bolton said

Did he... did he just call for getting involved in a literal land war in Asia?

Every day I wake up thinking "they can't possibly out-dumb themselves today," and every day I am wrong.
posted by Mayor West at 6:24 AM on March 28, 2018 [38 favorites]


Well done Special Counsel. Well done.

Also yesterday out of the blue several Senators spoke out or released statements that Trump should let Mueller do/finish his job. Politics Twitter consensus was something had happened behind the scenes to make them worry.

And then Mueller files something that shows knowing cooperation between two senior Trump campaign officials and a Russian spy. Well played Special Counsel indeed.
posted by chris24 at 6:25 AM on March 28, 2018 [43 favorites]


now the perfect time for President Trump to pivot

They'll never learn, will they?
posted by SPrintF at 6:26 AM on March 28, 2018 [19 favorites]


The United States should respond in “cyberspace and elsewhere,” Bolton said...

Did he... did he just call for getting involved in a literal land war in Asia?


With anyone else I'd assume it meant financial sanctions, cutting Putin and the oligarchs off from their money abroad. But Bolton probably means land war in Asia.
posted by chris24 at 6:27 AM on March 28, 2018 [6 favorites]


I'm sure the Kremlin won't give the order to cut Bolton loose until he has done enough damage to the United States first. His role is not to be a precision instrument of policy but a fragmentation grenade rattling around inside the body politic.
posted by acb at 6:29 AM on March 28, 2018 [5 favorites]


This census question feels like a real camel's-nose-under-the-tent moment. Hence Rubio's statement. He's always struck me as somewhat earnestly evil, so I'm not surprised he'd be one of the first to go there.
posted by angrycat at 6:38 AM on March 28, 2018 [13 favorites]


Wouldn't it be easy for Rubio to come back and say "No no, you count both, but you would now know how many are citizens and how many are not." which still works under the 14th right?

I mean, it's still a potentially evil-making stat to be collecting, but that's how I could interpret what he meant.
posted by like_neon at 6:58 AM on March 28, 2018


He seems pretty clear in that he doesn't want to count those "not here legally" at all when apportioning districts.

districts apportioned based on # of people not here legally dilutes the political representation of citizens & legal residents.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:01 AM on March 28, 2018 [6 favorites]


Hey Marco, you know what else dilutes the political representation of citizens and legal residents? The fucking US Senate and Electoral College.
posted by Slothrup at 7:03 AM on March 28, 2018 [60 favorites]


Yes, but it doesn't necessarily mean he meant they weren't ticked off as a number. So at the end of the censues you have x number of citizens and x number of non-citizens, policies are then based on just the number of citizens. Everyone is counted still in this terrible system
posted by like_neon at 7:04 AM on March 28, 2018


"Non-citizens need to be counted. They pay taxes, have kids in public schools and contribute in many ways to communities. The Supreme Court has even ruled that non-citizens count toward the drawing of political districts..."

The thing is, you don't even need a moral or a political argument about it. It's the goddamn census. It should accurately reflect the population of the country because inaccurate data leads to flawed decision making. This is like trying to change mathematics because you have a phobia of the number 13.
posted by dis_integration at 7:07 AM on March 28, 2018 [45 favorites]


According to Wikipedia:
Decennial U.S. Census figures are based on actual counts of persons dwelling in U.S. residential structures. They include citizens, non-citizen legal residents, non-citizen long-term visitors and undocumented immigrants. The Census Bureau bases its decision about whom to count on the concept of usual residence. Usual residence, a principle established by the Census Act of 1790, is defined as the place a person lives and sleeps most of the time.
The 1790 Census was the first one, so we've included non-citizens for as long as we've been doing the census (228 years).
posted by kirkaracha at 7:12 AM on March 28, 2018 [32 favorites]


I'm pretty sure Rubio's remark comports with the way many Americans would naturally assume the census already works -- that undocumented residents aren't "supposed" to be counted and this question just clarifies that. Of course, the Constitution itself very clearly states otherwise. There's no reason to suppose Rubio had anything else in mind -- he is explicitly taking the unconstitutional tack on this, because he's not just talking about policymaking like where to send government funding, he's talking about apportionment.

But honestly, if we're talking about how the system ought to work instead of how it does, I have a micron of sympathy for the view, insofar as the effect of counting noncitizens is to increase representation for their neighbors, not themselves. The argument that they pay taxes and so forth and "therefore" should be counted doesn't quite hold up for me, because the benefits for them are indirect at best. (For a much stronger example of modern-day malapportionment, see "prison gerrymandering", the practice of locating prisons to strategically advantage certain areas by adding population of people who legally can't vote.)

Instead, they should be given full legal status yesterday, because the real travesty is the various forces that result in a shadow class. Citizenship should be as easy to obtain as uninformed Americans (like the ones I mentioned in the first paragraph) usually assume it is ("Why don't they just get in line?").
posted by InTheYear2017 at 7:20 AM on March 28, 2018 [22 favorites]


So at the end of the censues you have x number of citizens and x number of non-citizens, policies are then based on just the number of citizens.

This is almost certainly unconstitutional under the “all persons” language used here and there throughout the Constitution, and probably also under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment.

(But I’m not a lawyer. )
posted by notyou at 7:20 AM on March 28, 2018 [2 favorites]


The thing is, you don't even need a moral or a political argument about it. It's the goddamn census. It should accurately reflect the population of the country because inaccurate data leads to flawed decision making.

I'm constantly revising downward the estimated portion of Americans who give a shit about data and accurately comprehending the world. Traditional American anti-intellectualism has for a long time now made us a place where it's worse to be called wrong than to be wrong; add new reality-shaping information technology to the mix and you get a hundred million Rubios.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:22 AM on March 28, 2018 [20 favorites]


@Eric_Jotkoff (Dem strategist)
Not the first time @marcorubio has flirted with this. He was against the Census counting undocumented immigrants in 2010.
Should The Census Count `illegal Immigrants? In Florida?

Before backtracking to @bethreinhard. Rubio Backtracks From Census Comment
posted by chris24 at 7:23 AM on March 28, 2018 [5 favorites]


Rubio's statement is wrong and bad in a number of different ways. I was just pointing out that the Twitter rebuttals above seem to be only addressing one interpretation of his stupid ass statement.
posted by like_neon at 7:24 AM on March 28, 2018


districts apportioned based on # of people not here legally dilutes the political representation of citizens & legal residents.

Aside from the fact that this is exacrly what the constitutiom requires... Many US citizens have non-citizen relatives. They may be deterred by thus question from responding to the census, out of fear for their relatives.

So there is a good chance that this question will result in an undercount of US citizens, thus "diluting their representation."
posted by OnceUponATime at 7:33 AM on March 28, 2018 [16 favorites]


WaPo: Another shoe just dropped in the Mueller probe
That means Mueller is now alleging that Trump’s deputy campaign manager knew in the fall of 2016 that his and Manafort’s business associate had ties to Russian intelligence. What’s more, The Post adds, based on previous reporting, that Manafort has said he and the associate discussed in August 2016 the “hacking of Democratic National Committee emails.” One month previously, WikiLeaks — widely believed to be a Russian cut-out operation — had released stolen DNC emails.

First, let’s note the reasons for caution about this story. As Paul Rosenzweig, who was special counsel during Ken Starr’s investigation of Bill Clinton, pointed out to me today, we don’t yet know how deep this associate’s “ties” to Russian intelligence remained at that point. And we don’t know what the discussions about the stolen emails really amounted to. It’s perfectly possible they were merely talking about something that was in the news. A Manafort spokesman has claimed this to be the case, adding that eventually it will be shown that no “conspiracy” was being discussed.

But Rosenzweig also said that these new revelations do raise some important possibilities. First, it suggests that Manafort — who was Trump’s campaign chair deep into August 2016 — likely knew his associate had connections to Russian intelligence, since if Gates knew, Manafort also probably knew. “At a minimum that says something about his willingness to work with people who have ties to Russian intelligence agencies,” Rosenzweig said. “That raises the question of whether Manafort was a conduit of Russian influence on the campaign,” though he may have been an “unwitting dupe” in this regard.

Second, and perhaps more important, Mueller may have put this information in the filing in part to increase the pressure on Manafort. Mueller’s investigators are “showing Manafort some of their cards as a way to increase the pressure on him to cooperate,” Rosenzweig says. Indeed, Politico recently reported that people around Trump are deeply worried about what Gates can tell Mueller, because that might end up inducing Manafort to conclude that his legal jeopardy is so severe that he should flip. Gates can perhaps tell Mueller what Manafort knew at the time about the associate’s ties to Russian intelligence.

Finally, putting this information in the filing might end up protecting the Mueller probe itself. “Mueller’s biggest strategic risk is being fired,” Rosenzweig said. “The more they put Russia into the equation, the harder it is for Trump to fire him.” As we have already seen, Trump has now begun to directly attack the Mueller investigation, and he has gotten rid of lawyers such as John Dowd who are advising caution. The new Mueller filing, however, could make it that much harder politically for Trump to try to shut down or hamstring the probe. And if that’s what this latest shoe dropping accomplishes, that itself will leave a pretty big footprint.
posted by chris24 at 7:40 AM on March 28, 2018 [37 favorites]


One month previously, WikiLeaks — widely believed to be a Russian cut-out operation

Huh, I think that's the first time I've seen WikiLeaks thusly characterized in a major news outlet. Incoming ragetweets from Assange in 3…2…1…
posted by murphy slaw at 7:44 AM on March 28, 2018 [33 favorites]


Second, and perhaps more important, Mueller may have put this information in the filing in part to increase the pressure on Manafort. Mueller’s investigators are “showing Manafort some of their cards as a way to increase the pressure on him to cooperate,” Rosenzweig says.

My first thought this morning was that this seemed like gradually increasing pressure on Manafort to cooperate. "Oh, the threat of these *gestures widly* charges doesn't scare you enough", *drops new charge*. "how about now?"
posted by Twain Device at 7:49 AM on March 28, 2018 [2 favorites]


because that might end up inducing Manafort to conclude that his legal jeopardy is so severe that he should flip

If he flips, he dies. Possibly his family dies too. Possibly his family dies first. Maybe not immediately. Maybe not next year. But eventually.

He’s not going to flip.
posted by schadenfrau at 7:49 AM on March 28, 2018 [4 favorites]


Regarding whether or not the census should count non-citizens for the purpose of representation, we already have a pretty strong (understatement) of what the founders intended.

For the purposes of representation, slaves were counted. Three-fifths, of course, but they were counted.

You wanna argue intent, argue with *that*, Rubio, you obscene little prick.
posted by notsnot at 7:58 AM on March 28, 2018 [38 favorites]


I think the killing of an American citizen on American soil would be too far for Putin. Or for the US to take. The reaction to a Russian murdered on British soil caused an international outrage that resulted in over a hundred diplomats expelled and possible further financial sanctions.

And Putin's goal is chaos and the diminishment of the US. A full fledged constitutional crisis/impeachment proceedings isn't a bad thing for him. Yes, he wants access to his and his oligarchs' money, but what would we learn from Manafort flipping we don't already suspect/know now? Sure it *might* lead to further financial sanctions, but in my opinion, the likelihood of additional sanctions is higher if he kills an American in America. That's a bigger risk to him than Manafort turning.
posted by chris24 at 7:58 AM on March 28, 2018 [6 favorites]


Depends on whether or not the killing has a signature with flamboyant calligraphy pointing clearly to its provenance, like the UK one did. There are far more subtle and deniable methods of striking a target than nerve agents and polonium.
posted by delfin at 8:02 AM on March 28, 2018 [5 favorites]


Poor Paul Manafort. All he wanted was to live a little large on his laundered blood money and hang out with the cool kids*. And now here he is, and it's a beautiful day. Well, I just don't understand it.

* "cool kids" in this case = a bunch of the world's most vile oligarchs
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:03 AM on March 28, 2018 [25 favorites]


Incoming ragetweets from Assange in 3…2…1…

It's a full two Scaramuccis old, but: bask in the gentle schadenfreude
posted by Mayor West at 8:07 AM on March 28, 2018 [2 favorites]


Incoming ragetweets from Assange in 3…2…1…

He can't because the Ecuadorian embassy has locked down his Internet privileges for being a naughty boy.
posted by Talez at 8:09 AM on March 28, 2018 [45 favorites]


Andrew Ekonomou, Trump's hot new lawyer has some … impressive credentials?:
Sekulow said Ekonomou, who works under contract as an assistant district attorney in Brunswick, Georgia, was a “brilliant strategist” who has handled complex investigations for decades. Ekonomou assisted Sekulow in a famous case involving the religious group Jews for Jesus before the Supreme Court in the 1980s.

While Ekonomou has also worked on criminal matters, he has not handled cases as high-profile and complex as the Mueller probe.

In an interview, Ekonomou told Reuters that he “prosecutes a lot of murders for the D.A.”

When asked about his biggest cases of late, Ekonomou said, “That’s basically it. Nothing earthshaking.”

Ekonomou said he is up to the task of defending Trump, saying he has practiced law for more than four decades.

“I’ve been tested plenty of times,” Ekonomou said. “Just because you’re not a Beltway lawyer doesn’t mean you don’t know what you’re doing.”
posted by murphy slaw at 8:15 AM on March 28, 2018 [4 favorites]


That link about Assange's internet privileges being shut down led me to this, which...PJ Harvey? That's a bummer.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:15 AM on March 28, 2018 [11 favorites]


Stormy Daniels' lawyer files motion to depose Trump

I got all excited until I figured out it was the other meaning of "depose".
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 8:20 AM on March 28, 2018 [56 favorites]


In other news, House GOP to push balanced budget amendment after recess: report.

You know, right before the Democrats are poised to wipe them out in the House, force them to clean up the mess.
posted by Talez at 8:21 AM on March 28, 2018 [14 favorites]


I think the killing of an American citizen on American soil would be too far for Putin. Or for the US to take.
Wasn't too far for Pinochet, and we were 'friends' with Chile and their grand experiment at the time.
Letelier assassination in DC.
posted by rc3spencer at 8:21 AM on March 28, 2018 [5 favorites]


I wonder whether we’ll ever see a timeline of when Assange crosses the rubicon to being a Kremlin puppet. I know he started out as an anti-authority hacker with leanings towards the anti-US radical left, and at some point became a committed Putin-parroting puppet. It would be interesting to see how the FSB/GRU engineered this: did they channel him into a path where there was only one way forward, or did he jump into the boat of his own initiative, perhaps out of a shared hatred of liberalism?
posted by acb at 8:22 AM on March 28, 2018 [4 favorites]


In other news, House GOP to push balanced budget amendment after recess: report.

In any functioning democracy, passing a balanced budget amendment after digging a giant hole with corporate tax cuts and then jumping in it with a massive spending bill would be the end of a political party for a generation.

Unfortunately, we live in America.
posted by murphy slaw at 8:24 AM on March 28, 2018 [43 favorites]


I wonder whether we’ll ever see a timeline of when Assange crosses the rubicon to being a Kremlin puppet.

I’m guessing much earlier than anyone here is going to be comfortable with, TBH.
posted by Artw at 8:25 AM on March 28, 2018 [15 favorites]


A fun game to try to pinpoint which month Assange made that crossing based on footage in real time: a rewatch of Poitras's Risk.
posted by rc3spencer at 8:28 AM on March 28, 2018


Trump proposal would penalize immigrants who use tax credits and other benefits
Current rules penalize immigrants who receive cash welfare payments, considering them a “public charge.” But the proposed changes from the Department of Homeland Security would widen the government’s definition of benefits to include the widely used Earned Income Tax Credit as well as health insurance subsidies and other “non-cash public benefits.”

The changes would apply to those seeking immigration visas, or legal permanent residency, such as a foreigner with an expiring work visa.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:32 AM on March 28, 2018 [2 favorites]


I think the killing of an American citizen on American soil would be too far for Putin. Or for the US to take.

Oh come on at this point Trump's claim that he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and get away with it seems like a reasonable claim so yeah the people who haven't flipped yet are people who aren't going to flip because they'd die if they did.
posted by winna at 8:36 AM on March 28, 2018 [6 favorites]


A balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution is about as likely as a this-amendment-repeals-the-2nd amendment. The people who actually understand how government spending works have zero interest in this, nor would it actually pass both houses with 2/3, but it plays well to the teahadi base.
posted by delfin at 8:39 AM on March 28, 2018 [10 favorites]


Public lands news!

** BLM is holding or has held public scoping meetings for new monument management plans for Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument (GSENM) and Bears Ears National Monuments, respectively.
-- Public meetings for GSENM will be in Kanab and Escalante, UT later today and tomorrow, respectively. Sorry for the short notice on this.

-- Public comments for Bears Ears are due within 15 days of March 27. Public comments for Grand Staircase are due within 15 days of March 29. If you wish to comment, plan on getting your comments in by the first week of April to be safe.
** The existing monument management plan (MMP) for GSENM (large PDF link) generally works well. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires the government to consider all reasonable alternatives; it would be helpful for the BLM to receive comments requesting that they use the existing MMP to govern both GSENM lands within the Trump boundaries and also those lands declared removed by Trump.
-- A shortcoming on GSENM's existing MMP is that it kicked the can on grazing when it was written. You can request that the BLM consider as a reasonable alternative grazing plans drafted and submitted during the scoping phase by environmental groups.
** For Bears Ears, I get the sense that environmental groups are generally deferring to the wishes of the affiliated tribes who are supposed to be involved with monument management. A helpful public comment may be to request that BLM consider all reasonable alternatives and requests submitted by tribes affiliated with the monument. However, I'm not sure whether the tribes intend to participate in this process or whether they intend to fight this one mainly in the courts.

** Reminder: Go here to comment on Grand Staircase Escalante, and go here to comment on Bears Ears.
posted by compartment at 8:47 AM on March 28, 2018 [36 favorites]


However, I'm not sure whether the tribes intend to participate in this process or whether they intend to fight this one mainly in the courts.

One can be considered to have waived a legal claim if it was not brought up during the public comment process. I'm sure the tribes are aware of that, and will pursue multiple avenues of dissent.
posted by suelac at 8:58 AM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]


The Washington Post: A congressional Republican cops to the real reason he’s retiring — working with Trump isn’t fun
Rep. Ryan Costello (R-Pa.) didn't try to be diplomatic when he announced over the weekend he would be retiring from Congress after just two terms: President Trump was a major factor.

“Whether it's Stormy Daniels,” he told the Daily Local News on Sunday, “or passing an omnibus spending bill that the president threatens to veto after promising to sign, it’s very difficult to move forward in a constructive way today.”

posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:58 AM on March 28, 2018 [2 favorites]


But the proposed changes from the Department of Homeland Security would widen the government’s definition of benefits to include the widely used Earned Income Tax Credit as well as health insurance subsidies

I'm not able to access the full draft legislation at the moment. If anyone is able, and if this information is currently available: what is meant here by 'health insurance subsidies' -- does that include benefits or tax breaks offered through employers, or is it referring strictly to Marketplace subsidies? And are the penalties retroactive -- that is, does having claimed EITC in previous tax years affect immigration status?
posted by halation at 8:59 AM on March 28, 2018


I want to highlight the post for this fascinating article from Foreign Policy: Nobody Knows Anything About China; Including the Chinese Government.
We don’t know the real figures for GDP growth, for example. GDP growth has long been one of the main criteria used to judge officials’ careers — as a result, the relevant data is warped at every level, since the folk reporting it are the same ones benefitting from it being high. If you add up the GDP figures issued by the provinces, the sum is 10 percent higher than the figure ultimately issued by the national government, which in itself is tweaked to hit politicized targets.
...
Beijing’s official population is 21.7 million; it may really be as high as 30 or 35 million.
...
The government’s solution to this is an increasing faith in big data, a belief that by circumventing lower-level officials it can gather information directly from the source. Huge amounts of money are being poured into big data, including efforts at predictive policing and the widespread monitoring of dissidents. The government requires Chinese firms, and foreign firms with a Chinese presence, such as Apple, to store and hand over data on a vast scale. But big data itself is prone to systematic distortions, misplaced trust, and the oldest rule of coding: garbage in, garbage out.

posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:10 AM on March 28, 2018 [15 favorites]


CNN:
A US Army veteran who served two tours in Afghanistan has been deported to Mexico, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. The deportation follows an earlier decision by US authorities to deny Miguel Perez's citizenship application because of a felony drug conviction, despite his service and the PTSD he says it caused.
...
Perez has said he was surprised to be in ICE detention and mistakenly believed that enlisting in the Army would automatically give him US citizenship, according to his lawyer, Chris Bergin. His retroactive application for citizenship was denied earlier this month. While there are provisions for expediting troops' naturalization process, a main requirement is that the applicant demonstrate "good moral character," and the drug conviction was enough to sway the decision against his application, Bergin said.

posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:15 AM on March 28, 2018 [12 favorites]


Caveats about reading into oral arguments still apply, but this is the legacy of losing a Supreme Court seat:

Just got out of SCOTUS. Weird arguments, but I’m skeptical the liberals have the votes in Gill to prohibit extreme partisan gerrymandering. They appeared desperate to find a standard; Gorsuch and Alito seemed smugly confident that they wouldn’t succeed. Breyer proposed putting over the partisan gerrymandering cases for one monster reargument—taking out a blackboard and debating different theories. Sounds like a Hail Mary to me. Would he float that if he had the votes in Gill? I don’t think so. Kennedy still doesn’t like partisan gerrymandering, but he seemed as frustrated as ever by the search for a standard. He could still come around. But I don’t think he’s there yet. It’s a mess.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:16 AM on March 28, 2018 [19 favorites]


It seems to me that, since Republicans have shown themselves willing to steal Merrick Garland's SCOTUS seat in an attempt to secure favorable rulings, surely the lack of a Senate filibuster-proof majority is the only thing stopping them from packing the courts, just as FDR tried to do.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:20 AM on March 28, 2018


> I’m skeptical the liberals have the votes in Gill to prohibit extreme partisan gerrymandering. They appeared desperate to find a standard; Gorsuch and Alito seemed smugly confident that they wouldn’t succeed.

Great - if we can't find a standard, the Supreme Court will endorse the "anything goes" standard. It would be a perfect companion to Citizens United - any amount of money is acceptable, and any amount of creative district drawing.
posted by RedOrGreen at 9:21 AM on March 28, 2018 [8 favorites]


what is meant here by 'health insurance subsidies' -- does that include benefits or tax breaks offered through employers, or is it referring strictly to Marketplace subsidies? And are the penalties retroactive -- that is, does having claimed EITC in previous tax years affect immigration status?
"DHS proposes to define subsidized health insurance as any health insurance for which the premiums are partially or fully paid by a government agency, on a non-earned basis, including but not limited to, advanced premium tax credits, tax credits, or other forms of reimbursement. Subsidized health insurance may include non-emergency benefits under Medicaid, CHIP, and health insurance under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) that has a premium tax credit or costsharing subsidy.

DHS proposes codifying the public charge inadmissibility determination as a prospective determination. Except for the absence of a required affidavit of support, DHS intends to base a public charge inadmissibility determination on the totality of an alien’s circumstances at the time the determination is made. [...]

DHS also proposes that USCIS would consider evidence of whether an alien has health insurance as part of the health factor for public charge inadmissibility determinations.... Therefore, DHS proposes that USCIS would consider whether an alien has non-subsidized health insurance as part of the health factor for public charge determinations. Lack of health insurance would be a negative factor in the totality of the circumstances for any person, while having nonsubsidized health insurance would be a positive factor for a person with a medical condition."
posted by melissasaurus at 9:21 AM on March 28, 2018 [2 favorites]


Non-citizens need to be counted. They pay taxes, have kids in public schools and contribute in many ways to communities

Indeed they do. And I’ll take it further. Let non-citizens vote, at least in state and local elections. This obsession with whether or not you have citizenship in order to vote feels absurd to me. If you live here, pay taxes here, you should vote here. This is your home, and you belong here but for a slip of paper that says you belong to some other plot of land somewhere else. It’s absurd. We’re a representative democracy. Let’s represent.

Draw the line at Federal elections if you want. Require three years residency. Or five. Or seven. Whatever. But if this is their home, it doesn’t feel wrong to give them some say in how it’s run. Hell, if you’re really worked up and fear they’ll have too much representation, just limit their input to…oh, I don’t know, how ‘bout three-fifths of a vote?

OK, that last bit might veer into snarkasm, but my point stands. Shift the goalpost.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 9:35 AM on March 28, 2018 [16 favorites]


You're saying there shouldn't be taxation... without representation?

I dunno man, sounds un-American.
posted by Artw at 9:37 AM on March 28, 2018 [27 favorites]


Tell it to District residents.
posted by phearlez at 9:41 AM on March 28, 2018 [42 favorites]


Let non-citizens vote, at least in state and local elections.

This is already happening in some places.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:42 AM on March 28, 2018 [13 favorites]


Oh man, you just made my day! That is lovely to read. I rather miss reading news that puts a smile on my face.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 9:50 AM on March 28, 2018 [2 favorites]


Jon Taylor on Twitter: BREAKING: A federal judge has denied Trump's motion to dismiss our emoluments lawsuit, finding that the plaintiffs—DC & Maryland—have standing! The case was brought by the Attorneys General of DC and Maryland, and we have the honor of serving as their co-counsel. #Emoluments
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:56 AM on March 28, 2018 [103 favorites]


Today’s big partisan gerrymandering case: Maryland (Benisek v. Lamone)

This account makes it sound like Roberts wants to strike down the Dem gerrymander in Maryland, which undoubtedly means a fucked up “distinction” between the Maryland and Wisconsin cases.

Just prepare for a world where Republican gerrymandering is explicit legal, while Democratic gerrymandering is explicitly illegal, because that’s happening.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:56 AM on March 28, 2018 [26 favorites]


Dems want an investigation of whether Zinke’s Interior Department underwent an illegal racist and partisan purge to go along with the illegal racist and partisan purge at the State Department.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 10:13 AM on March 28, 2018 [46 favorites]


Constitutional Challenge To Trump's Decision To Hold On To His Business Interests Can Move Forward

This is the enoulments clause case filed by DC and Maryland and supported by Norm Eisen’s CREW.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:19 AM on March 28, 2018 [27 favorites]


This account makes it sound like Roberts wants to strike down the Dem gerrymander in Maryland, which undoubtedly means a fucked up “distinction” between the Maryland and Wisconsin cases.

Just prepare for a world where Republican gerrymandering is explicit legal, while Democratic gerrymandering is explicitly illegal, because that’s happening.


Nothing I've read (including that Princeton link) makes it sound like a judgement against gerrymandering in either case would apply to any specific party. I've been looking at it as "a win in either case by the plaintiff is a win for democracy", but if anyone has any insight on that I'd be interested as I am a total law and court layman.

On NPR this morning they also mentioned that the plaintiffs in the Maryland case were arguing that gerrymandering infringed on the voter's first amendment rights specifically to address Kennedy's previous reluctance in these cases. Maybe it was just my optimism hoping that a win in that case is a win for all.
posted by history_denier at 10:21 AM on March 28, 2018 [3 favorites]


Just prepare for a world where Republican gerrymandering is explicit legal, while Democratic gerrymandering is explicitly illegal, because that’s happening.

I can’t imagine how a ruling could provide this outcome without specifically referring to the political parties having different rights under the constitution, which seems like Fall-of-the-Republic-level stuff.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 10:25 AM on March 28, 2018 [3 favorites]


That link about Assange's internet privileges being shut down led me to this, which...PJ Harvey? That's a bummer.

It is indeed.

I ought to note, for the sake of fairness, that the article you linked to's about a year old, and feelings about Assange among many people I know have shifted significantly in that timeframe. As the copy about WikiLeaks being more widely understood as a "Russian cut-out operation" indicates, there's a general sense abroad that WikiLeaks is not a cause to embrace, and Assange in particular has earned his shunning. Plenty of holdouts, yes, but not as many people doubling down on their earlier defense of him as I'd expected. He's just that toxic and egregious, I guess.

If it makes you feel any better, I've spoken directly with some of the folks named in that article about their support of him, and made my feelings clear regarding the wisdom and the cost of that support. People want to seem like, I dunno, Beauvoir signing a petition against the war in Algeria — they want to use the platform their fame affords them to speak publicly on behalf of something righteous. But what they very definitely do not want to do is seem like Beauvoir signing a petition arguing for the right of adults to have sex with children (as she actually did!). Like anyone else, public intellectuals, and pop heroes acting as public intellectuals, want to stay on the right side of history, and casting their lot with Julian Assange is not the way to do that.
posted by adamgreenfield at 10:29 AM on March 28, 2018 [13 favorites]


NYT: Trump’s Lawyer Raised Prospect of Pardons for Flynn and Manafort as Special Counsel Closed In
A lawyer for President Trump broached the idea of Mr. Trump pardoning two of his former top advisers, Michael T. Flynn and Paul Manafort, with their lawyers last year, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions. The discussions came as the special counsel was building cases against both men, and they raise questions about whether the lawyer, John Dowd, was offering pardons to influence their decisions about whether to plead guilty and cooperate in the investigation.

The talks suggest that Mr. Trump’s lawyers were concerned about what Mr. Flynn and Mr. Manafort might reveal were they to cut a deal with the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, in exchange for leniency. Mr. Mueller’s team could investigate the prospect that Mr. Dowd made pardon offers to thwart the inquiry, although legal experts are divided about whether such offers might constitute obstruction of justice.

Mr. Dowd’s conversation with Mr. Flynn’s lawyer, Robert K. Kelner, occurred sometime after Mr. Dowd took over last summer as the president’s personal lawyer, at a time when a grand jury was hearing evidence against Mr. Flynn on a range of potential crimes. Mr. Flynn, who served as Mr. Trump’s first national security adviser, agreed in late November to cooperate with the special counsel’s investigation. He pleaded guilty in December to lying to the F.B.I. about his conversations with the Russian ambassador and received favorable sentencing terms.

Mr. Dowd has said privately that he did not know why Mr. Flynn had accepted a plea, according to one of the people. He said he had told Mr. Kelner that the president had long believed that the case against Mr. Flynn was flimsy and was prepared to pardon him, the person said.

The pardon discussion with Mr. Manafort’s attorney, Reginald J. Brown, came before his client was indicted in October on charges of money laundering and other financial crimes. Mr. Manafort, the former chairman of Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign, has pleaded not guilty and has told others he is not interested in a pardon because he believes he has done nothing wrong and the government overstepped its authority. Mr. Brown is no longer his lawyer.
posted by chris24 at 10:30 AM on March 28, 2018 [21 favorites]


The denial from Dowd is something else.

“There were no discussions. Period,” Mr. Dowd said. “As far as I know, no discussions.”
posted by chris24 at 10:35 AM on March 28, 2018 [12 favorites]


Seems like a good day to still be interviewing lawyers.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:37 AM on March 28, 2018 [6 favorites]


The citizenship question is plainly an attempt to skew the Census and thus, indirectly, reapportionment. But the reason the Trump Administration and the GOP haven't been attacking apportionment and representation directly is because they substantially already won that fight nearly a century ago.

Which is why I've been saying that as soon as the Democrats control government, they need to scrap the stupid century-old law that caps the number of Representatives and ensure that future growth is proportional to population. Doing so should, at the very least, keep the House out of Republican hands for the foreseeable future, and may help skew the Electoral College to high-population blue states into the bargain.
posted by Gelatin at 10:37 AM on March 28, 2018 [18 favorites]


three people with knowledge of the discussions

So, any guesses as to who these three people are? And why are they leaking this? A warning to Trump, or a goad to push him towards trying to issue pardons? I didn't see any mention in the article of how presidential pardons don't cover state crimes, or any discussion of other downsides to the use of presidential pardons beyond how they might or might not play into the obstruction case. What's up with that?
posted by yasaman at 10:43 AM on March 28, 2018


cjelli: I hear where you're coming from, but making it far, far easier to become a citizen substantially solves the same issue and a bunch of other issues besides, and wouldn't require (for example) passing a new amendment to amendment to re-write the 14th & 15th Amendments to consider non-citizen voting, and to protect such voters when they do vote.

It's an art of the possible thing -- not to re-open that can of worms, but this is kind of like repeal of 2A as an "alternative" to gun regulation. Letting noncitizen residents vote even while they (as voters) aren't adequately protected on a Constitutional level shouldn't have to wait for dramatic immigration reform at the national level. It's not either/or.

As far as the possible rulings in gerrymandering cases... even Russia pretends to have true elections. Will the Supreme Court ever make an explicitly partisan ruling? I highly doubt it. Could they reach opposite conclusions about the two states, based on flimsy justifications? Sure. Will the Overton window shift to a point that Republican leaders discuss the Democratic party as inherently illegitimate, as text and not subtext, or even sing the praises of one-party rule? Very distinctly possible. They've talked about the federal government forcibly removing local leaders who permit sanctuary cities. Stay alert and don't lose heart.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 10:50 AM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]


What’s more, The Post adds, based on previous reporting, that Manafort has said he and the associate discussed in August 2016 the “hacking of Democratic National Committee emails.” One month previously, WikiLeaks — widely believed to be a Russian cut-out operation — had released stolen DNC emails.

First, let’s note the reasons for caution about this story. As Paul Rosenzweig, who was special counsel during Ken Starr’s investigation of Bill Clinton, pointed out to me today, we don’t yet know how deep this associate’s “ties” to Russian intelligence remained at that point.


Then again, we know Donald Trump specifically called on Russia to do more hacking, specifically Hillary Clinton's emails, so there's that bit of evidence. Besides, is any intelligence asset ever "former"?
posted by Mental Wimp at 10:56 AM on March 28, 2018 [7 favorites]


Another chapter in Mark Zuckerberg and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Quarter:

@AMillenialDog:
MARK ZUCKERBERG: aw gee whiz, leaking millions of peoples' data sure was a big oopsie!!! Can this week possibly get any worse?
THE NATIONAL FAIR HOUSING ASSOCIATION: [quietly cracking knuckles] yes, absolutely, we thought you'd never ask

tl;dr: NFHA is suing Facebook for allowing landlords to prevent "undesirable" classes of people from being shown housing ads, in violation of the Fair Housing Act.
posted by murphy slaw at 10:58 AM on March 28, 2018 [134 favorites]


Just prepare for a world where Republican gerrymandering is explicit legal, while Democratic gerrymandering is explicitly illegal, because that’s happening.
-
I can’t imagine how a ruling could provide this outcome without specifically referring to the political parties having different rights under the constitution, which seems like Fall-of-the-Republic-level stuff.

This would be trivial for the Court to do as long as they educate themselves a little on how gerrymandering works. There are algorithms which are facially neutral but will reliably produce Republican-favored maps due to how Democrats tend to cluster in cities. The Court could just bless that algorithm as a gold standard process which should always be acceptable and let all other gerrymanders get challenged on a case-by-case basis.
posted by 0xFCAF at 10:59 AM on March 28, 2018 [11 favorites]


WRT pardons for Manafort and Flynn.

Isn't a pardon an admission of guilt? So over simplified, if Trump says "hey, Manafort and Flynn are pardoned" doesn't that create the situation where Trump accepts: "Yeah, my dudes were in bed with the Russians" and open up he and his family to the next step of the investigation?

Like a pardon is great for those guys, but it puts an even clearer target on Trump himself?
posted by Twain Device at 11:02 AM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]


NFHA is suing Facebook for allowing landlords to prevent "undesirable" classes of people from being shown housing ads, in violation of the Fair Housing Act.
hmm . . that sounds familiar . . <way back when DOJ sued Trump real estate for discrimination.

"The suits charged Fred Trump, Coronet Hall, and the other defendants with “steering black persons away from predominantly white apartment buildings and into predominantly black or racially mixed apartment buildings, denying housing or making housing unavailable on the basis of race, discriminating in the provision of brokerage services and representing to persons that dwellings are not available for inspection, sale or rental when such dwellings are in fact so available, based on the race of those persons.” These actions, the suits asserted, violated the Fair Housing Act and various civil rights laws."
posted by rc3spencer at 11:09 AM on March 28, 2018 [12 favorites]


There are algorithms which are facially neutral but will reliably produce Republican-favored maps due to how Democrats tend to cluster in cities.

I'd love to learn more about this. Can you give an example of an algorithm that reliably produces urban-only districts without also producing rural-only districts?
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:11 AM on March 28, 2018


I ought to note, for the sake of fairness, that the article you linked to's about a year old, and feelings about Assange among many people I know have shifted significantly in that timeframe.

I will also note, for the sake of fairness, that Assange was a rapist a year ago and the year before that and the year before (and so on) that so I don't have any patience for people just getting woke about him this past year.
posted by Squeak Attack at 11:13 AM on March 28, 2018 [31 favorites]


Like a pardon is great for those guys, but it puts an even clearer target on Trump himself?

Yes, you lose your 5th Amendment rights as to the charges pardoned, so you can't refuse to answer questions (from Johnny Law) afterwards. I wouldn't say Mueller would love it, because I don't think he has any extra motivation beyond the four corners of his remit, but he could certainly use it. Pretty sure the Polonium Fusiliers know this, too.
posted by rhizome at 11:17 AM on March 28, 2018 [2 favorites]


Isn't a pardon an admission of guilt?

ProPublica: Ruling for the majority in the 1915 case Burdick v. United States, Supreme Court Justice Joseph McKenna ruled that a pardon "carries an imputation of guilt; acceptance a confession of it." For a time, President Ford reportedly carried this excerpt in his wallet.

It seems clear that even while the acceptance of a federal pardon constitutes an acknowledgement of guilt, not all parties are capable of accepting or rejecting a pardon: for example dead people, unindicted people pardoned as part of a mass amnesty, or people whose sentences are commuted. So presumably those people are not required to acknowledge guilt.

Maybe Trump could issue a mass amnesty for people working for his campaign. whether they committed crimes or not? Fun times.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:19 AM on March 28, 2018 [2 favorites]


More saying the quiet parts out loud.

@rebeccaballhaus (WSJ)
Trump campaign fundraising off the decision to add the citizenship question to the 2020 census. “GOOD NEWS: We are asking about citizenship.”
SCREENSHOT OF EMAIL

@AriBerman (MoJo)
This is proof citizenship question had nothing to do with enforcing Voting Rights Act & is all about weaponizing voter suppression & anti-immigrant sentiment https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/03/donald-trump-rigging-2020-census-undercounting-minorities/
posted by chris24 at 11:22 AM on March 28, 2018 [52 favorites]


or people whose sentences are commuted

Yep. See: Scooter Libby
posted by rhizome at 11:23 AM on March 28, 2018 [3 favorites]


I will also note, for the sake of fairness, that Assange was a rapist a year ago and the year before that and the year before (and so on) that so I don't have any patience for people just getting woke about him this past year.

Nobody could possibly agree with you more than I. But we all have friends and family that may not be as woke as we might like, and — should you believe in doing so in the first place, I guess — it takes constant, respectful engagement to move them toward the place we might wish they'd been all along.

Getting people to see Assange for what he is has been one of those longer-term challenges for me. It's required a great deal of investment in time, patience and energy, to say nothing of risked friendships, and I'm delighted to see that the Overton window on him has shifted. But that just wasn't true a year ago.
posted by adamgreenfield at 11:26 AM on March 28, 2018 [6 favorites]


Nixon was given a general pardon for all crimes he "may have committed" as President, and so was never charged with any crime; therefore the idea that his pardon constituted a voluntary acceptance of guilt regarding a specific crime seems nonsensical. However, now that Flynn and Manafort have been indicted, they would have to raise their pardons in court, which would constitute an acceptance of guilt. Similarly, Arpaio has legally accepted his guilt, even while he claims otherwise.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:27 AM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]


Just prepare for a world where Republican gerrymandering is explicit legal, while Democratic gerrymandering is explicitly illegal, because that’s happening.

Illegal? Let us consider: mathematically impossible.
posted by rhizome at 11:33 AM on March 28, 2018 [2 favorites]


[If pardoned] you lose your 5th Amendment rights as to the charges pardoned, so you can't refuse to answer questions (from Johnny Law) afterwards.

In theory, sure, but what could happen is that Manafort could still refuse to answer, be held in contempt, then pardoned from that, then hauled into court again, then refuse again, then he's in contempt again, then pardoned again, ad infinitum.
posted by xigxag at 11:46 AM on March 28, 2018 [4 favorites]


I'm skeptical that that strategy would work.
posted by rhizome at 11:48 AM on March 28, 2018 [6 favorites]


Illegal? Let us consider: mathematically impossible.

Since people don't read links, I will be a spoilsport and point out that Democratic gerrymanders are still possible (witness Maryland); Wasserman was merely saying that because of geographic urban clustering it is often true that Republican gerrymanders are somewhat more effective in many areas.

In this case you can draw districts in Wisconsin where 6 of 8 are R+7 or greater, while it is only possible to draw a Democratic map where 6 of 8 are D+6.5. And that's sketchy difficult. But the mathematically impossible thing referred to very specific criteria (6/8 D+7 districts) in a very specific place (Wisconsin).
posted by Justinian at 11:53 AM on March 28, 2018 [4 favorites]


pardoned again, ad infinitum

Fortunately we have Presidential term limits. The situation you're describing would not be a good situation for any defendant and avoiding it would likely be a major motivating factor towards co-operation.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:53 AM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]


Y'all are missing the larger point here. Trump pre-emptively pardoning someone in the Mueller investigation, like Manafort, might be an effective way to keep them from flipping on Trump, but it would also be indisputable evidence of Trump using his power to obstruct an investigation into himself. On top of that, Mueller already has cooperating witnesses/co-conspirators for whom the pardon means nothing now. It would be an extremely stupid move on Trump's part, which means he'll probably do it.
posted by runcibleshaw at 11:53 AM on March 28, 2018 [20 favorites]


Vox: 10 legal experts on why Trump can’t pardon his way out of the Russia investigation.

Someone asked whether accepting a Federal pardon and therefore confessing to guilt can be used as evidence in a related state prosecution. Any ideas?
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:57 AM on March 28, 2018 [5 favorites]


it would also be indisputable evidence of Trump using his power to obstruct an investigation into himself.

Dude already went on national television and bragged he fired the head of the FBI in order to shut down the investigation and then invited the Russians in to the Oval Office where he bragged that he fired the head of the FBI in order to shut down the investigation. And Rs still have his back. I don't understand why you think that pardoning Manafort or Flynn would be any different.
posted by Justinian at 11:57 AM on March 28, 2018 [23 favorites]


Y'all are missing the larger point here. Trump pre-emptively pardoning someone in the Mueller investigation, like Manafort, might be an effective way to keep them from flipping on Trump

A pardoned Manafort is required to flip, because they can't not answer questions.
posted by rhizome at 11:57 AM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]


Of course he can refuse to answer questions. I don't understand your reluctance to believe Trump would pardon him again for any new charges relating to a refusal to answer questions.
posted by Justinian at 12:00 PM on March 28, 2018 [2 favorites]


Someone asked whether accepting a Federal pardon and therefore confessing to guilt can be used as evidence in a related state prosecution. Any ideas?

Covered in that Vox article:
Put another way, if Trump pardoned Michael Flynn for false statements to the FBI, Flynn could not assert false statement liability to justify pleading the Fifth in front of Congress. (If he faced state criminal charges for the same conduct, then the Fifth could still be asserted, although that is hard to imagine in the Russia investigation context.)
posted by rhizome at 12:00 PM on March 28, 2018 [2 favorites]


"will Manafort be assassinated/pardoned" is always an easy square in Political Megathread Bingo
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:01 PM on March 28, 2018 [38 favorites]


rhizome, my question is whether the acceptance of the Federal pardon itself can be used as evidence of guilt in a state prosecution, which is not answered there.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:05 PM on March 28, 2018


A pardoned Manafort is required to flip, because they can't not answer questions.

Can he receive a pardon then just not answer questions? I’ve never actually understood what compels him to in this case.
posted by Artw at 12:12 PM on March 28, 2018


my question is whether the acceptance of the Federal pardon itself can be used as evidence of guilt in a state prosecution, which is not answered there.

Professional guess: probably? It is fact as already established by the court, or through acceptance, acknowledged by the defendant. However, it could also be prejudicial to the defendant in the new prosecution, and there are rules about that, and I have no idea what the applicable rules would be.

So as with all legal questions: it depends.
posted by Capt. Renault at 12:15 PM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]


Can he receive a pardon then just not answer questions? I’ve never actually understood what compels him to in this case.

People can be compelled to answer questions or be in contempt of court, unless they are citing their Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination. If the crime has been pardoned and there is no risk of a state prosecution for the same conduct, there is no possibility of self-incrimination, so there is no Fifth Amendment right. Such a defendant refusing to answer questions could be guilty of contempt of court.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:19 PM on March 28, 2018 [3 favorites]


Remind me what Trump pardoned Arpaio for again?
posted by Justinian at 12:21 PM on March 28, 2018 [13 favorites]


One of the points of the quote I pasted referred to the likelihood of state charges overlapping the federal ones for which they are pardoned. Unless I misunderstand, it seems moot because how do you leverage a pardon for, oh, lying to the FBI, in a state case for, let's say, money laundering? The two cases may derive from the same acts, but I'm thinking that due to the specificity of the pardon it would be hard to use it for any more than assessing credibility in general. That may be a good thing to do regardless, but I don't know (IANAL).
posted by rhizome at 12:21 PM on March 28, 2018


And contempt of court can result in confinement until answers are forthcoming.
posted by Mitheral at 12:21 PM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]




They can't complain if there's nobody to complain to.
posted by rhizome at 12:42 PM on March 28, 2018 [6 favorites]


I mean, for as many good articles as they put out in the past, I'd always looked askance at them for having people like Chait and Friedersdorf. This pretty much puts them on my blacklist and I am ashamed to have ever given them money.

Before the internet The Atlantic was a fine magazine. The internet is awesome at turning existing things into crappy clickbaity short-form outragey or cutesy vehicles for adware.

Old man shouts at "The Cloud" and then pulls out his CBT worksheet.
posted by srboisvert at 1:02 PM on March 28, 2018 [24 favorites]


The Supreme Court has, in the past, recognized or suggested limits on the president's power to pardon contempt of court specifically, since it makes it possible for the executive branch to completely neuter the judicial branch and render courts completely powerless.

If Trump attempted to do this -- repeatedly pardon contempt of court charges to prevent Manafort (let's say) from testifying and prevent the court from compelling him -- it would be a genuine constitutional crisis where one branch stole the powers belonging to another branch and literally broke our system of checks and balances. The proper remedy would appear to be impeachment, as it is with so many of Trump's antics, so it puts us in a bit of a bind since Congressional Republicans are idiots with no love for the Constitution.

But then, before Marbury v. Madison, the Court didn't have the power to declare laws unconstitutional, and it basically created that for itself out of its interpretation of the Constitution. It's possible the Supreme Court would find that the executive branch's use of the pardon to circumvent the judiciary (instead of its more proper use of providing mercy or correcting excessive sentences or the like) was unconstitutional in the same manner, in that it's clear in the Constitution that the judiciary is a co-equal branch of government and must have some method to exercise its power.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:21 PM on March 28, 2018 [11 favorites]


I don't understand your reluctance to believe Trump would pardon him again for any new charges relating to a refusal to answer questions.

AFAIK presidents can't pardon coercive contempt of the "You are going to stay in jail until you testify" kind because they aren't offenses. Arpaio's was punitive contempt.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 1:22 PM on March 28, 2018 [6 favorites]


But then, before Marbury v. Madison, the Court didn't have the power to declare laws unconstitutional, and it basically created that for itself out of its interpretation of the Constitution.

Nah, everyone knew the court could do that. It's discussed in the Federalist as if it's obvious.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 1:24 PM on March 28, 2018


AFAIK presidents can't pardon coercive contempt of the "You are going to stay in jail until you testify" kind because they aren't offenses. Arpaio's was punitive contempt.

Assuming that's true wouldn't it simply mean they should lie and face a pardonable perjury charge rather than refuse to testify and face a coercive contempt charge?

If the president is lawless I don't see how the law can shield us.
posted by Justinian at 1:29 PM on March 28, 2018 [3 favorites]


East Manitoba, you asked earlier about algorithms and background on jerrymandering.

Several months ago, Five Thirty Eight did a fantastic series on gerrymandering. It also has an interactive map where you can tinker around with different theories on districting. I highly recommend the podcast.

On the discussion of "different rules" for Republicans and democrats at the Supreme Court. Despite protestations of being "bound" by precedent, it's clear that the Supreme Court is formed of people who bring their own preconceptions and philosophies to each question. I reached the conclusion 20 years ago based on a constitutional litigation course that involved reading hundreds of pages of opinions, dissents, dissents joining in parts, etc. Over the years the court has become more partisan. I was especially disgusted by the outcry over Sonya Sotomayor's comment about a wise Latina during her confirmation hearings, which was either blind or hypocritical.

I have no doubt that any gerrymandering decisions will have justices drawing on different precedents depending on the party doing the gerrymandering and certain justices will be "forced" by precedent to opine against plaintiffs in Wisconsin while explaining while seemingly similarly situated plaintiffs in Maryland are subject to a completely different line of precedent.
posted by Measured Out my Life in Coffeespoons at 1:30 PM on March 28, 2018 [15 favorites]


Assuming that's true wouldn't it simply mean they should lie and face a pardonable perjury charge rather than refuse to testify and face a coercive contempt charge?

That would be the way to go - if, of course, you trusted the president to pardon you. And we all know how reliable the president is, and how well he supports his former employees when they get into trouble.

Counting on him to pardon a contempt of court charge is a reasonable plan, when the other option is "the court gets to hear the full truth about what happened." Counting on him to pardon a perjury charge leveled against someone that he's already said "dude was a loser so I fired him"... I don't see that happening.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 1:46 PM on March 28, 2018 [2 favorites]


The White House Believes Police Shootings Of Black Men Is Not A National Issue

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday that President Trump considers the high-profile police shootings of black men to be "local matters" that federal officials should stay out of.

Asked for President Trump's response to the recent shooting of Stephon Clark in Sacramento, an unarmed black man killed by two white officers in his grandmother’s backyard, Sanders said that while it was "certainly a terrible incident," it was "a local matter" to be handled by local authorities.

When Sanders was pressed further on whether the president feels "like he needs to do something" about black mothers fearing for their sons' lives, she responded:

"I think we should do every single thing we can every day to protect the people of this country — whether they're black, white, hispanic, male or female, rich or poor — we look for ways to protect the individuals in this country, particularly children."


I've said before that I don't hate anyone, I didn't even hate Fred Phelps, but I'm coming mighty damn close with SHS right about now.
posted by elsietheeel at 2:03 PM on March 28, 2018 [45 favorites]


A mining firm executive griped to Zinke about federal pollution rules. The Secretary apologized (WaPo):
“Hello, Secretary. Good to see you again. Phil Baker with Hecla Mining Company,” said the executive, Phillips S. Baker Jr. “I’m here to tell you and others about the impediments to mining from the permitting regime we

Before he could explain the impediments, Zinke responded: “On behalf of the United States government, we apologize.”
...
Hecla, which is seeking to operate two new mines in Montana, was recently labeled a “bad actor” by the state Department of Environmental Quality because of Baker’s ties to the defunct Pegasus Gold of Spokane, Wash.

Pegasus operated three Montana mines, including a gold mine near an Indian reservation. The company, for which Baker was chief financial officer, went bankrupt in 1998. That left the state and federal governments to foot the bill for a $100 million cleanup of cyanide, arsenic and other contaminants that polluted adjacent land and waterways.
Taxpayers are still waiting for an apology for paying to clean up after his shitty business.
posted by peeedro at 2:06 PM on March 28, 2018 [61 favorites]


Also on the topic of gerrymandering, I recently went to the fifth and final conference in a country-wide "Geometry of Redistricting" tour, and it was amazing. Organized by professor Moon Duchin from Tufts, the slides and videos are 100% worth watching, especially her lecture which was outstanding. I unfortunately don't think there's video from her SF lecture yet.
posted by cybertaur1 at 2:10 PM on March 28, 2018 [16 favorites]


ErisLordFreedom: Counting on him to pardon a contempt of court charge is a reasonable plan, when the other option is "the court gets to hear the full truth about what happened." Counting on him to pardon a perjury charge leveled against someone that he's already said "dude was a loser so I fired him"... I don't see that happening.

Yes, this distinction is critical. Trump only ever plays for Team Himself, and only for emotional rather than personal gain, so the future doesn't come down to "pardon or not pardon". He won't do it to advance the interests of Team Collusion, as a quid pro quo. He will do it if the immediate short-term alternative (people learn some terrible truth) is worse. And he'll do it if it boosts his base support (which is questionable because after each Mueller indictment, the deplorables tend to disown the indicted person as Actually a Hillary/Obama/Podesta Stooge All Along -- they'll appreciate the Liberal Tears, but they'll become more fractured).
posted by InTheYear2017 at 2:13 PM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]


Mod note: Let's leave the pardon thing there for now; we've been over it before and not clear there's anything new to go on.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 2:14 PM on March 28, 2018 [4 favorites]


Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday that President Trump considers the high-profile police shootings of black men to be "local matters" that federal officials should stay out of.

That didn't seem to be the standard when it came to the murder of Katie Steinle.

Or killings in Chicago.

Wonder why...
posted by chris24 at 2:16 PM on March 28, 2018 [36 favorites]


BuzzFeed has a leaked EPA talking points email on climate change:
  • Human activity impacts our changing climate in some manner. The ability to measure with precision the degree and extent of that impact, and what to do about it, are subject to continuing debate and dialogue.
  • While there has been extensive research and a host of published reports on climate change, clear gaps remain including our understanding of the role of human activity and what we can do about it.
  • As a key regulatory voice, it is important for the Agency to strive for a better understanding of these gaps given their potential significant influence on our country’s domestic economic viability.
  • Administrator Pruitt encourages an open, transparent debate on climate science.

posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:20 PM on March 28, 2018 [5 favorites]


New Yorker cartoon with interesting interpretation of the Census issues...

Remembering that during the primary campaigns, Marco Rubio was considered one of the 'more moderate' Republican Presidential Candidates, so his comments, awkward as they are, just reinforces my belief that any GOP President right now would be equally disastrous, and Trump's stupidity and history of spectacular failures may indeed save us from some of the worst of it.
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:21 PM on March 28, 2018 [11 favorites]


While there has been extensive research and a host of published reports on climate change, clear gaps remain including our understanding of the role of human activity and what we can do about it.

Ah, the good old "our knowledge is incomplete" argument. When your opponent has to invoke the God of the Gaps to support their point, they don't have one.

There are horrible things happening all across Trump's Cabinet, but every minute that Pruitt runs EPA is lost time in a race that we're already losing.
posted by murphy slaw at 2:26 PM on March 28, 2018 [37 favorites]


Really capturing the spirit of the age, Donald Trump Jr. got on twitter at 6 this morning to denounce the unenjoyability of non-white Disney princesses.

@DonaldJTrumpJr
We need Disney Princesses that let kids enjoy childhood rather than subjecting them to never ending identity politics. #DisneyPrincess


In an apparent effort to ingratiate himself with his father by adhering to his anti-shark deathcult, he also instagrammed himself last week murdering a large shark with his son.

Would Don Jr. leading a shark-extinction crusade to get his dad to notice him really be so surprising?
posted by Rust Moranis at 2:27 PM on March 28, 2018 [29 favorites]


In an apparent effort to ingratiate himself with his father by adhering to his anti-shark deathcult, he also instagrammed himself last week murdering a large shark with his son.

That's actually really weird. Drawing attention to the Stormy interview? Why would he ever do that? I know, they are all incredibly stupid, but to this day I can't believe that every single day brings a new example.
posted by mumimor at 2:32 PM on March 28, 2018 [5 favorites]


Shulkin's out.

@realDonaldTrump
I am pleased to announce that I intend to nominate highly respected Admiral Ronny L. Jackson, MD, as the new Secretary of Veterans Affairs....
....In the interim, Hon. Robert Wilkie of DOD will serve as Acting Secretary. I am thankful for Dr. David Shulkin’s service to our country and to our GREAT VETERANS!

posted by Rust Moranis at 2:35 PM on March 28, 2018 [4 favorites]


Really capturing the spirit of the age, Donald Trump Jr. got on twitter at 6 this morning to denounce the unenjoyability of non-white Disney princesses.

@DonaldJTrumpJr
We need Disney Princesses that let kids enjoy childhood rather than subjecting them to never ending identity politics. #DisneyPrincess


I started typing a really furious rant, because fuck that, but then I headed to the internet to figure out if there was a new Disney princess he might have been referring to and I guess this may be in response to the "We need a Disney princess who's had an abortion" tweet [WaPo] that a Pennsylvania Planned Parenthood branch briefly published before deleting. Apparently it's making the rounds on conservative Twitter.
posted by corb at 2:36 PM on March 28, 2018 [5 favorites]


We need Disney Princesses that let kids enjoy childhood rather than subjecting them to never ending identity politics. #DisneyPrincess

Does that mean he's going to stop calling Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas" then? Because you know he doesn't understand that Pocahontas was anything but a Disney Princess of Color.

P.S. Tiana is the best Disney Princess the end.
posted by elsietheeel at 2:37 PM on March 28, 2018 [18 favorites]


ugh how many animals are going to have to fucking die to make this absolute dipshit feel better about his divorce
posted by prize bull octorok at 2:39 PM on March 28, 2018 [41 favorites]


I guess this may be in response to the "We need a Disney princess who's had an abortion" tweet [WaPo] that a Pennsylvania Planned Parenthood branch briefly published before deleting. Apparently it's making the rounds on conservative Twitter.

I would bet anything that it's not that he's referring to, but Jordan Peterson. Like half of Peterson's garbage is reactionary deconstructions of Disney films and he has a weird thing with Disney specifically. The only part that's hard to fathom is the idea of Don Jr. reading a book. Maybe he has a velvet-draped attendant read it to him or something.
posted by Rust Moranis at 2:40 PM on March 28, 2018 [4 favorites]


Remember when Trump's White House doctor talked for an hour about how amazing Trump's health was?

Trump has nominated that doctor, Admiral Ronny Jackson, to be the new Secretary for Veterans Affairs.

This is normal!
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:40 PM on March 28, 2018 [67 favorites]


I knew it was a mistake when I clicked on this link:

WaPo: As Stormy Daniels tells her story, six conservative Americans debate whether Trump is a role model

And sure enough, it was a mistake. It's like a report from an anthropological expedition where the reporters went in with a spirit of wide-eyed wonder, and came across people who were distributed across the full breadth of the political spectrum, all the way from die-hard Trump supporters to reluctant Trump supporters. Yeah.

You can find such gems as:

White Christian housewife: "My daughters know that whether he is a good president or a bad president, God allowed him to be in this position.”

Hispanic Catholic lady: Trump has proved himself as “a great role model” - “I think he’s doing a bang-up job”.

White female secretary of the College Republicans: “Can you please tell me how you have lost rights as a woman now? Please. I haven’t lost my rights. My life is still the same.”

Alabama's top black Republican (no kidding, that's the description their local paper apparently used): “Everything he can do by himself he’s done, pretty much. And he’s doing that with the full onslaught of one thing after another. I’ve never seen a president bombarded the way he’s been bombarded. ... If we just throw a person under a bus because they’ve been accused, how many leaders would be left?”

I realize that the entire point of the article was to pick cherries, but I'm not sure how to wrap my brain around these apparently sincere beliefs.
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:40 PM on March 28, 2018 [21 favorites]


I didn't see anyone post this yet -- sorry if it's a double.

WaPo: Most Americans haven’t seen pay increases from tax cuts — but most Republicans have
About a fifth of Democrats and a fifth of independents who are employed said they hadn’t seen increases in their paychecks, and more than half of Republicans said they had. The same split exists among those who do and don’t approve of the job Trump is doing.
The article goes on to say it's tough to know if this is just because the rich are getting richer (probably) or because Democrats who saw increases don't want to give Trump any credit (who could blame them) but either way, I think it raises a really interesting point about the midterms. Even if the tax scam actually puts dollars in wallets (before they get clawed back because of faulty withholding next tax season), it probably won't buy the GOP many votes they didn't already have.
posted by saturday_morning at 2:43 PM on March 28, 2018 [14 favorites]


Hispanic Catholic lady: Trump has proved himself as “a great role model” - “I think he’s doing a bang-up job”.

Me too, but in the British sense:

bang up
verb
1.
(transitive, adverb) ( prison slang) to lock up (a prisoner) in his or her cell, esp for the night
posted by srboisvert at 2:53 PM on March 28, 2018 [3 favorites]




WaPo: Most Americans haven’t seen pay increases from tax cuts — but most Republicans have

Where's the dichotomy? Republican loyalists know that when elected Republicans say "real Americans" they mean "Republicans," and expect to be treated accordingly. In that sense most real Americans did get their pay increases. People outside that definition should realize that while they are legally are of the same class and with the same rights, they are no longer de-facto "real."
posted by Rust Moranis at 2:55 PM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]


Jeb Bush says he goes home to children who actually love him.
posted by rdr at 3:00 PM on March 28, 2018 [8 favorites]


my belief that any GOP President right now would be equally disastrous

That social worker who loves her some Trump tax cuts yesterday just borked my brain. We're livin' in a cuckoo clock!
posted by petebest at 3:04 PM on March 28, 2018 [3 favorites]


. Human activity impacts our changing climate in some manner. The ability to measure with precision the degree and extent of that impact, and what to do about it, are subject to continuing debate and dialogue.

. While there has been extensive research and a host of published reports on climate change, clear gaps remain including our understanding of the role of human activity and what we can do about it.

. As a key regulatory voice, it is important for the Agency to strive for a better understanding of these gaps given their potential significant influence on our country’s domestic economic viability.

. Administrator Pruitt encourages an open, transparent debate on climate science.


Four points. Four lies.

The biggest is the implication that acknowledging and doing something about climate change will have a negative impact on the domestic economy. It won't. It will have a negative impact on some of the GOP's biggest contributors, but the net effect will be increased economic activity and more jobs.

The second biggest? That Pruitt is interested in open, transparent debate. On any topic.
posted by Mental Wimp at 3:05 PM on March 28, 2018 [12 favorites]


GOP seeks to avoid Dem upset in Arizona
(The Hill)
Republican groups are dropping hundreds of thousands of dollars into Arizona in the hopes of keeping any prospect of another Democratic upset in next month's special election at bay.

The GOP says it's confident about the party will keep control of the seat last held by by ex-GOP Rep. Trent Franks, which represents a historically Republican area with a strong core of reliable GOP voters and retirees.

Still, national Republican groups have recently committed to more than a half-million dollars to keep what should be a safe seat that President Trump won by 21 points in 2016.

The investment underscores how the uncertain political climate is forcing the GOP to spend on races that should be easy Republican wins, especially after a shocking Democrat upset in Pennsylvania’s 18th district earlier this month.

“I’m skeptical the Democrats can actually win, [but] the more activity there is on the Republican side, the more indication it is actually competitive, because the parties are the ones with the best numbers,” said Kyle Kondik, an elections analyst with the University of Virginia.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 3:15 PM on March 28, 2018 [18 favorites]


WaPo (via saturday_morning above): About a fifth of Democrats and a fifth of independents who are employed said they hadn’t seen increases in their paychecks, and more than half of Republicans said they had.

Was really puzzled by the wording since I could read that to mean that up to 80% of Dems and Inds had actually seen increases, but the nice chart in the article clears it all up; about 65% of Democrats and 60% of independents stated they were not seeing more take-home pay, vs. about 20% of both groups who did see a pay boost.
posted by hangashore at 3:16 PM on March 28, 2018 [4 favorites]


We can but laugh because laugh we must....or vomit.
Scientists discovered a moth with golden hair and a tiny penis. They named it after Trump.
posted by adamvasco at 3:16 PM on March 28, 2018 [43 favorites]


NBC News. Baltimore's 911 emergency system hit by cyberattack: the disruption was the second cyber attack on a major U.S. city within the past week.

WASHINGTON — Baltimore's computer network that supports emergency calls was hacked this past weekend and suffered temporary disruption that forced city officials to resort to manual operations to handle calls, the city mayor's office said.

This will keep happening, theories will fly about who is responsible but the people in charge will act alternately feckless and suspicious, and we'll keep sinking deeper into the muck.
posted by Rust Moranis at 3:18 PM on March 28, 2018 [31 favorites]


> That social worker who loves her some Trump tax cuts yesterday just borked my brain. We're livin' in a cuckoo clock!

She is almost certainly providing government-funded services to, shall we say, deserving people, so it's okay. It's those...other people who are sponging off the government.
posted by The Card Cheat at 3:19 PM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]


Indeed, even money on her turning out to be a similar case to the celebrated educationalist Betsy DeVos.
posted by acb at 3:30 PM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]


That social worker who loves her some Trump tax cuts yesterday just borked my brain. We're livin' in a cuckoo clock!

It's possible to be a person who likes one of Trump's proposed policies, because he literally is insane and proposes things from all sides of the aisle all the time. He proposes all sorts of goals from Democratic to Republican to..god only knows. You're not a bad person if you think 'hey, this is a nice thing that happened from a shitshow.'

You are, imho, kind of a bad person if because of the nice thing that happened you are refusing to acknowledge it's a shitshow and hailing him as the best President ever.
posted by corb at 3:31 PM on March 28, 2018 [7 favorites]


WASHINGTON — Baltimore's computer network that supports emergency calls was hacked this past weekend and suffered temporary disruption that forced city officials to resort to manual operations to handle calls, the city mayor's office said.

"He said the impacted computer server was isolated and taken offline to mitigate the threat and the computer-assisted dispatch system was fully restored by early Monday morning, about 17 hours after the issue was identified."

Is it just google maps,uber and task rabbit? Why is any part of this infrastructure on the net?
posted by srboisvert at 3:34 PM on March 28, 2018 [4 favorites]


Jeb Bush says he goes home to children who actually love him.

My favorite part about that article is this part: Bush — the son of President George H.W. Bush ’48 and brother of President George W. Bush ’68 — gave a lecture under the title “A Conversation with Jeb Bush: Restoring Conservatism in America.”

Poor ol' Jeb! went to UT, not Yale, so they had to trot out 41 and 43's alumni bonafides.
posted by elsietheeel at 3:37 PM on March 28, 2018 [5 favorites]


They're good to their own.

Daily Beast: ICE Won’t Deport the Last Nazi War Criminal in America
posted by Rust Moranis at 3:39 PM on March 28, 2018 [45 favorites]


Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) is hoping to prevent courts from forcing him to hold special elections, by getting a new law passed saying he doesn't have to hold special elections.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:48 PM on March 28, 2018 [6 favorites]


Judge orders Trump to turn over names of experts ‘consulted’ on trans ban: "a federal judge on Thursday ordered the U.S. government to turn over — by a deadline of 8 p.m. EST on Thursday — the names of military experts that were consulted before he announced the policy on Twitter."

Defendants tried to claim some or all of that info is protected by executive privilege; the judge is having none of that (pdf of order), in part because
in order to assert privilege, a party must “expressly make the claim” and “describe the nature of the documents, communications, or tangible things not produced or disclosed—and do so in a manner that, without revealing information itself privileged or protected, will enable other parties to assess the claim.”
Can't say "that info is not available" without describing "that info."
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 3:48 PM on March 28, 2018 [64 favorites]


It probably shouldn’t be on a public network, but computer-aided dispatch systems are a little more complicated than just using Google Maps, particularly when they interface with real-time vehicle locators to ensure that the closest units are dispatched. There are lots of edge cases, such as weight limits and clearances, that are important. For example, one shopping center in my town has an ornamental “bridge” that is too low for our aerial units to clear.
posted by wintermind at 3:49 PM on March 28, 2018 [9 favorites]


President Donald Trump does not like the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. “It’s a horrible law,” Trump has said. The FCPA makes it a crime for U.S. companies to bribe foreign officials, or to partner with others who are clearly doing so.
The Trump Organization has five active projects in India, a country where corruption is common in the real estate industry.
posted by adamvasco at 3:52 PM on March 28, 2018 [45 favorites]


Is it just google maps,uber and task rabbit? Why is any part of this infrastructure on the net?

They are horrifically complex systems that involve highly detailed mapping data, including the inside of large structures. More, they need to co-ordinate with other, sometimes smaller and less well funded communities to smoothly transfer calls and requests for service.

I've been involved with edge security for an inexpensive E911 system popular with very small communities who would typically rely on the (really pricey) E911 services of large communities, sometimes hours away. The catch is that it runs on commodity Windows workstations and Linux servers, and is supported by the vendor's NOC rather than local IT. If you have a good sales partner selling you the solution, they include the services of someone like me to set up the industrial-grade firewall with all of the fancy security features to connect the system via VPN back to the vendor. If your community is really strapped for cash and buying on the cheap, you have the town IT guy try to roll his own VPN tunnels on a spare PC running Linux.
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:16 PM on March 28, 2018 [23 favorites]


The catch is that it runs on commodity Windows workstations and Linux servers, and is supported by the vendor's NOC rather than local IT.

And designed and built by whomever could do it, maybe or maybe not using contemporary software development and testing practices. E911 is really something the should have had a Veterans Administration style "VistA" type development process, but alas... Islands of proprietary code...
posted by mikelieman at 4:29 PM on March 28, 2018 [6 favorites]


Lawyer Who Lied to Bob Mueller May Have Blown Paul Manafort’s Russia Cover
(Cristian Farias | NY Mag)
Of all the characters targeted by Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election, Alex van der Zwaan, minor though he may seem, will make history. A well-moneyed former associate at Skadden Arps, the powerful New York law firm, the attorney had the gall to lie time and again to Mueller’s team during an interview with federal investigators. Van der Zwaan got caught, faced charges for it, pleaded guilty, and is now awaiting sentencing in federal court in Washington. Next month, when he goes before a judge, he’ll be the first defendant in Mueller’s sights who may land behind bars. His lawyers have asked for leniency.

But it’s not the prospect of jail time for van der Zwaan that matters. In a sentencing memorandum federal prosecutors filed late Tuesday, they even told the judge that the Department of Justice “does not take a position with respect to a particular sentence to be imposed.” Instead, Mueller’s team wanted to make it very clear to the court that van der Zwaan, for all his sophistication and legal experience, is a big liar with a thing for destroying evidence. And that no matter the warnings he received from the special counsel’s office about the legal perils of being untruthful, he nonetheless “deliberately and repeatedly lied” about matters that are critical to Mueller’s probe. All this, while his lawyer was in the interview room with him.

What does matter? That van der Zwaan had had communications, in the heat of the presidential election, with Rick Gates, a longtime business partner of Paul Manafort and Donald Trump’s campaign deputy who is now facing criminal charges of his own. And that he knew that Gates, who has since pleaded guilty and is cooperating with Mueller, was “directly communicating,” also during the campaign, with a mysterious “Person A” — whom the FBI has determined “has ties to Russian intelligence service and had such ties in 2016,” emphasis mine.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 4:41 PM on March 28, 2018 [27 favorites]


45's pals in real estate hate Amazon, because it's depressing retail property. So he's desperate to hit Bezos by... well, that's the hard part. But he's trying.

Amazon's shares dropped just short of 5 percent ($30 billion simoleons) on the news of the President's pique. Huckabee-Sanders' comments regarding it:
We have no announcements and no specific policies or actions that we’re currently pushing forward or considering taking.

The president has said many times before, he’s always looking to create a level playing field for all businesses and this is no different. And he’s always going to look at different ways, but there aren’t any specific policies on the table at this time

I don't like how this president makes vague threats to specific, private businesses in order to drive down value and carve out some leverage for himself (and perhaps his cronies). We have a regular, transparent process for dealing with scofflaw corporations, and if the President feels Amazon is such, he should pursue those options.

I don't expect people with even more at stake like it much, either.
posted by notyou at 4:46 PM on March 28, 2018 [15 favorites]


Jeb Bush says he goes home to children who actually love him.

LOLZ, but remember that Jeb Bush is a fucking horrible human being.
posted by mcstayinskool at 4:53 PM on March 28, 2018 [22 favorites]


We also have no idea of his holdings. Did Trump orp short Amazon before Trump attacked them today? Did he just make a[nother] billion dollars off the presidency? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:55 PM on March 28, 2018 [37 favorites]


Amazon's shares dropped just short of 5 percent
In one day? Compared to Facebook losing 7% in the last five trading days? (And 13% YTD). I'm getting an idea which side "the smart money" on Wall Street is on. (And considering that Trump has NEVER been "smart money" himself, this is the definition of 'not good')
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:58 PM on March 28, 2018


Donald Trump Jr. just retweeted his own Disney Princess tweet from this morning.

I don't much care for Donald Trump Jr.
posted by Rust Moranis at 5:20 PM on March 28, 2018 [32 favorites]


Cohen's lawyer got up on national TV and just threw Cohen under the bus for Trump.
the president was not aware of the agreement. at least michael cohen never told him about the agreement. i can tell you that.
He just admitted to something that's going to get his fucking client disbarred. Then he goes and admits his client has done it REPEATEDLY.
michael was the fixer. there were a ton of matters that michael fixed. donald trump wasn't involved in every single matter.
It's fucking morons all the way down.
posted by Talez at 5:45 PM on March 28, 2018 [115 favorites]


I just cannot believe these fucking clowns have been allowed near and to control the levers of power.
posted by Talez at 5:46 PM on March 28, 2018 [26 favorites]


I just cannot believe these fucking clowns have been allowed near and to control the levers of power.

I blame the entirety of the GOP and every single Republican for this, and I'm not in the mood to forgive OR forget.
posted by mikelieman at 5:55 PM on March 28, 2018 [79 favorites]


Cohen capped? Sooner than I expected.

S'pose he could survive, because it can always get weirder.
posted by rhizome at 5:55 PM on March 28, 2018


Cohen's lawyer got up on national TV and just threw Cohen under the bus for Trump.

Isn't that a serious ethics breach? I mean, not that these people give a damn about ethics, but isn't that a "get disbarred" kind of ethics breach - working directly against the interests of your client?
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 5:58 PM on March 28, 2018 [32 favorites]


Maybe the only way Cohen's lawyer can save his client is to get him disbarred. Then he won't have to represent Trump anymore.
posted by guiseroom at 6:11 PM on March 28, 2018 [18 favorites]


Maybe they're both done with the legal profession.
posted by rhizome at 6:29 PM on March 28, 2018


Michael Avenatti (who must be laughing his fucking ass off right now) pretty accurately summed up Cohen's lawyer earlier: "Mr. Schwartz is a hack straight out of central casting. Next question." Last week's Avenatti-Schwartz discussion on CNN was rather . . . unevenly matched but quite entertaining.
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:35 PM on March 28, 2018 [16 favorites]


E911 is really something the should have had a Veterans Administration style "VistA" type development process

do they even teach formal methods anymore?
posted by j_curiouser at 6:57 PM on March 28, 2018 [4 favorites]


I just cannot believe these fucking clowns have been allowed near and to control the levers of power.

I can't believe they all trip over themselves to fall on the sword for Donald Trump. It's amazing how him being so blatantly him makes sure his inner circle self selects for being sycophantic rubes.
posted by jason_steakums at 7:03 PM on March 28, 2018 [16 favorites]


I can't believe they all trip over themselves to fall on the sword for Donald Trump. It's amazing how him being so blatantly him makes sure his inner circle self selects for being sycophantic rubes.

I just do not get it! Why do all these people (at least some of them smarter than Trump with plenty of other, better options, like Hope Hicks) abase themselves and knowingly destroy their futures in slavish loyalty to him? At great personal loss and no possible gain? After they've seen him fuck over every single person he could?

I mean, I would hit myself in the head with an iron skillet rather than spend 10 minutes in the same room with this fucking awful gross icky boor even if he weren't ideologically hideous. But an endless line of people lay down their lives for him. I. do. not. get. it.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:10 PM on March 28, 2018 [55 favorites]


What kind of leaves me taken aback is the same thing at which Chris Hayes has expressed shock a few times. Not that the Republicans are covering for Trump, necessarily, since they're mostly scum. But rather that they have gone all-in on the coverup without even knowing what they're covering up. That's crazy! I assume it's a case where they took a whole bunch of individually small compromising steps along the path because each one didn't seem a big deal and all of a sudden they realized they were trapped and have no option but to keep going forward.

I give you all this guarantee now; if I ever cover up a serious crime I will make sure to learn what it is I am covering up before going all-in.
posted by Justinian at 7:11 PM on March 28, 2018 [67 favorites]


what are they even doing? this is a civil suit! trump can’t pardon their asses from being disbarred. does he have their kids in an undisclosed location?
posted by murphy slaw at 7:32 PM on March 28, 2018 [8 favorites]


I cannot even follow anything anymore. Give me the ELI5 about lawyers and and under bus throwing.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 7:39 PM on March 28, 2018 [10 favorites]


Gotanda: "Paging, chrysostom,"

Hey, sorry - I took the kids up to Cooperstown, so I've had super limited net access for a few days. Back to normal ELECTION NEWS tomorrow.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:43 PM on March 28, 2018 [24 favorites]


IANAL but Cohen’s lawyer just admitted that Cohen set up a three party contract where one of the parties not only didn’t intend to sign, but was unaware that the contract existed. This grants Stormy Daniels’s claim that the contract is invalid to a degree that her lawyer could only dream of. It’s not only invalid, it’s probably fraudulent.
posted by murphy slaw at 7:45 PM on March 28, 2018 [128 favorites]


Trump's one skill is involving and implicating everyone around him in corruption, which tends to bind your associates tightly.
posted by benzenedream at 7:48 PM on March 28, 2018 [9 favorites]


Ok but when we get to the foreseeable future point where Trump's lawyer's lawyer has to hire a lawyer because Trump's lawyer is suing him for malpractice for admitting on national television that Trump's lawyer broke the rules of lawyering, I'm going to need a diagram, and much much more to drink.
posted by zachlipton at 8:09 PM on March 28, 2018 [85 favorites]


It's a depressingly familiar process: once you're corrupt and in power, you relentlessly distort everything around you to keep things that way, and that ripples down from the top. Others see their chance to become part of the gang, and momentum builds. The base sees a figure in charge who promises them everything if they only support him, and he understands what they want without any compunction to deliver more than is needed to keep them in tow. That can be empty, easily falsifiable promises: doesn't matter.

You get hero worship, epic struggle, revenge, social climbing, atavistic tribalism, and - for some - immense wealth and power.

It's a compelling narrative, if you abandon (or never had) a wider vision of society, and sign up for your tribe and its leader.

So: the question is can the corrective forces of the justice system, the will of the rest of us, and the democratic process get there in time? This is the year we find out.
posted by Devonian at 8:12 PM on March 28, 2018 [26 favorites]


CNN, Emails reveal DOJ would have 'very little involvement' if Trump tweeted a pardon, in which government employees spent some time last year trying to figure out what would happen if Trump just up and decided to tweet out a pardon. They think the character limit could be an issue (they suggest it could be split into a couple tweets), but they'd pretty much just go with it if it happened.
posted by zachlipton at 8:18 PM on March 28, 2018 [16 favorites]


because today wasn’t stupid enough, here’s Trump’s new lawyer Andrew Ekonomou’s C.V. (pdf link)

savor the full page of unpublished manuscipts.
posted by murphy slaw at 8:43 PM on March 28, 2018 [11 favorites]


1L contracts professors will use this Stormy "contract" as the final exam hypo from now until forever. It's like Schrodinger's contract of Thesus crossed with a bear shitting in the woods.

The real contract was the fun we had along the way.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:00 PM on March 28, 2018 [72 favorites]


The real contract was the fun we had along the way.

The future rules lawyering of “fun” will equal the exact inverse of the experience of fun.
posted by Annika Cicada at 10:21 PM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]


And when they settle, they can sign another NDA!


It will be lawyers all the way down.
posted by darkstar at 12:10 AM on March 29, 2018 [4 favorites]


The whole thing is fascinating. I'll be surprised if it doesn't end in a sudden notice of settlement and dismissal with prejudice, with a confidential settlement for an undisclosed sum, before any ruling on the merits.

My hope from the Daniels and Zervos litigation is that the plaintiff's have zero interest in settling, but rather getting these half-assed NDA's tossed, opening the flood-gates on everyone who has ever signed one.

I want Jane Doe, who appeared to be prevailing on the evidence that Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein raped her when she was 13 in 1994, and withdrew her suit at the same time that Cohen was paying off Stormy Daniels, to have the right to tell her story.
posted by mikelieman at 12:15 AM on March 29, 2018 [56 favorites]


CNN, Emails reveal DOJ would have 'very little involvement' if Trump tweeted a pardon, in which government employees spent some time last year trying to figure out what would happen if Trump just up and decided to tweet out a pardon. They think the character limit could be an issue (they suggest it could be split into a couple tweets), but they'd pretty much just go with it if it happened.
posted by zachlipton at 8:18 PM on March 28 [9 favorites −] Favorite added! [!]


because today wasn’t stupid enough, here’s Trump’s new lawyer Andrew Ekonomou’s C.V. (pdf link)

savor the full page of unpublished manuscipts.
posted by murphy slaw at 8:43 PM on March 28 [4 favorites +] [!]


OK, that's it. America has definitely stopped making sense. You can add in the Stormy scandal if you like, and whatever Bolton says and does, but between the brainfuck of tweeting out pardons and the reality of hiring a tweedy history professor for a lawyer, I can't believe there has ever been a less competent president of anything, let alone the US.
posted by mumimor at 1:01 AM on March 29, 2018 [17 favorites]


Interception du jour:

Former FBI agent charged with leaking classified information, Reuters (credits at bottom of article)
The U.S. Justice Department has charged a former Minnesota FBI agent with leaking classified information to the online news site The Intercept, Minnesota Public Radio reported on Wednesday.

It said Terry Albury was charged this week by the department’s National Security Division with two counts including “knowingly and willfully” transmitting documents and information relating to national defense to a reporter for a national news organization.

Albury, the only African-American FBI field agent in Minnesota, was assigned as Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport liaison working on counterterrorism matters, MPR News said. [...]

In January 2017, The Intercept published a series titled “The FBI’s Secret Rules” based on Albury’s leaked documents, which show the depth and broad powers of the FBI expansion since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and its recruitment efforts, according to MPR News.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 2:14 AM on March 29, 2018 [13 favorites]


CNN, Emails reveal DOJ would have 'very little involvement' if Trump tweeted a pardon, in which government employees spent some time last year trying to figure out what would happen if Trump just up and decided to tweet out a pardon. They think the character limit could be an issue (they suggest it could be split into a couple tweets), but they'd pretty much just go with it if it happened.


The Trump Con Law podcast (in which Roman Mars, of 99% Invisible, talks to his constitutional law professor neighbor about issues raised by the Trump presidency) covered a potential pardon via tweet in their third episode. The opinion of the con law professor was basically, "Sure, why not?".
posted by damayanti at 3:51 AM on March 29, 2018 [5 favorites]


Trump Tweeted Pictures Claiming "The Start" Of His Border Wall, But It Was Actually An Old Project
President Trump on Wednesday tweeted that he had been briefed about "the start of our Southern Border WALL" and included pictures depicting construction for the project, but there was one slight problem with the announcement. The images tweeted by the president were not of his long-promised wall, but a months-long project to replace existing portions of a wall along Calexico, California.

The project, which started in 2009, will replace a 2.25-mile section in the California-Mexico border wall, according to a statement last month from US Customs and Border Protection. The original wall in that section, built in the 1990s, had been built from recycled metal scraps and old landing mat materials, the agency said.
posted by chris24 at 4:06 AM on March 29, 2018 [11 favorites]




IANAL but Cohen’s lawyer just admitted that Cohen set up a three party contract where one of the parties not only didn’t intend to sign, but was unaware that the contract existed. This grants Stormy Daniels’s claim that the contract is invalid to a degree that her lawyer could only dream of. It’s not only invalid, it’s probably fraudulent.

From a lawyer...

@TheViewFromLL2
Jesus. Cohen's attorney: "[Trump] was not aware of any of it, wasn't told about it. Michael Cohen left the option open. That's why he left that signature line, the option open to go to him. He chose not to. He chose to bind the LLC, EC LLC and Stormy Daniels into the contract."
- "My client has agreed to the proposed contract with you. Just sign here, and here, and we're done. ... PSYCH! Guess what, you actually just entered into an agreement with FU LLC, the Delaware LLC I just created. ... Man, I can't believe you fell for that. No take-backs fyi."
- Cohen's stupid plan could never work. But it's even stupider because Cohen wrote the stupid contract in a way that makes it crystal clear WHY it couldn't work, specifying that Trump waives his claims against Stormy "as material inducements to [her] to enter into this Agreement." SCREENSHOT
- "Each Party acknowledges that [Stormy] is executing this Agreement in reliance" on *Trump* releasing certain claims he has against Stormy. Michael Cohen can't offer that. EC LLC can't offer that either. Only Trump can. So if Trump ain't in the agreement, THERE IS NO AGREEMENT.
- Incidentally, there is no proof for this beyond the fact it's completely fucking obvious from the contract, but the major promise being offered in the contract here is that Trump was to agree not to initiate a criminal prosecution against Stormy under revenge porn laws.
- Trump "represents that, ... in connection with any of [Stormy's] attempts to sell, exploit and/or disseminate" "certain still images and/or text messages which were authored by or relate to [Trump]", Trump "will refrain... from disclosing [Stormy's] name to the authorities."
- Remember this portion of Stormy's 60 Minutes interview? Yes of course $130K was too low, she knows that. But when she was given this "very strict" agreement, she jumped on the chance anyway. Why? Well, if she was convinced she'd go to prison if she didn't, no wonder she signed. TRANSCRIPT
- None of which is to say any actual crimes were involved here. Trump/Cohen likely threatened Stormy with prosecution because she offered a reporter "The Property," which the contract defines as "certain still images and/or text messages which were authored by or relate to DD."
- There are so many variations on revenge porn laws in different states that there's no real way to evaluate the legality of any hypothetical conduct here. But that just means Cohen would've had a lot of wiggle room to convince Stormy she'd committed a crime here when she hadn't.
- Or sure, maybe Cohen had a semi-credible argument that Stormy could've violated some state's revenge porn law when she offered send a reporter corroborating evidence of her affair with Trump in the form of pics he texted her of him watching Shark Week. Maybe.
- But the fact she's pursuing these claims so openly would suggest she's not afraid of criminal prosecution now. But it seems like she was afraid of it back in October 2016. Afraid enough that Trump's promise not to disclose her name to the authorities was a material inducement.
- Why might that have been the case? If anyone's taking bets on this, put mine down on the source of Stormy's fear being her attorney, Keith Davidson. Nothing we've seen about him so far inspires confidence that it was his clients' interests that Davidson was advancing.
- Davidson represented Karen McDougal too, who Trump also had an affair with. And as alleged in McDougal's complaint, Davidson was colluding with Cohen – across multiple cases – to pressure McDougal and other women into signing agreements by misrepresenting to them the material terms. FILINGS
- And if there was any room for doubt about what's really going on here, just look at what Cohen has to say about Davidson. Cohen, who threatens violence against reporters who merely call up with questions, speaks GLOWINGLY about an attorney who repeatedly threatened to sue Trump. SCREENSHOT
- For all of Cohen's truly idiotic legal claims, repeated ethical breaches, & wannabe mobster ways, his sins here are the lesser ones. No one can say he wasn't zealously advocating for his client. But if Davidson did what the women allege he did, he can't be disbarred fast enough.
posted by chris24 at 4:36 AM on March 29, 2018 [106 favorites]


because today wasn’t stupid enough, here’s Trump’s new lawyer Andrew Ekonomou’s C.V. (pdf link)

savor the full page of unpublished manuscipts.

the reality of hiring a tweedy history professor for a lawyer,


Oh wait, it gets better. He's not a real professor, his midlife crisis was going back to school to get a history PhD. He's actually a shady contract prosecutor who got rich bringing asset forfeiture cases against convenience stores for allegedly running video poker machines. And he's taken other random contract prosecutor gigs across Georgia, and previously worked as Sekulow's local counsel for his equally shady Christian "fundraising"/send Sekulow money operation. He doesn't appear to have ever worked as defense counsel.
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:41 AM on March 29, 2018 [56 favorites]


The first rule of Trumpworld: everyone's a scumbag. Even the tweedy, donnish academic types.
posted by acb at 4:47 AM on March 29, 2018 [9 favorites]


uh can the supreme court issue an emergency injunction to stop the president being president any more and then immediately reverse their ruling for future presidents, that would be quick at least
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 4:47 AM on March 29, 2018 [3 favorites]


Yeah, Keith Davidson (Stormy Daniel's original attorney) is definitely shady.

Josh Marshall covered this at TPM a couple weeks ago.
posted by sporkwort at 4:50 AM on March 29, 2018 [13 favorites]


@TheViewFromLL2

from that thread:
There are just so many problems with this that it feels a bit silly to single any one of them out. Like arguing that someone's imaginary friend can't be elected president because he's not 35 years old yet, and also a Canadian.
posted by murphy slaw at 4:51 AM on March 29, 2018 [33 favorites]


You know, this can't continue. I know we all know this, but at some point the rule of law is going to clash with Trump and his wackiness. I'm glad that he can't get good lawyers, but it's also a fact that confirms what we know: he's fucked. Unfortunately, he's still POTUS. And the midterms are months away. I find myself avoiding reading articles regarding the fate of the 2018 midterms. It's too fucking scary.
posted by angrycat at 5:02 AM on March 29, 2018 [16 favorites]


At this point (idiot attorneys all the way down), all I want to know is who actually dresses Trump each morning. Because he seems incapable of doing it himself
posted by rc3spencer at 5:07 AM on March 29, 2018 [4 favorites]


@TheViewFromLL2
Jesus. Cohen's attorney: "[Trump] was not aware of any of it, wasn't told about it. Michael Cohen left the option open. That's why he left that signature line, the option open to go to him. He chose not to. He chose to bind the LLC, EC LLC and Stormy Daniels into the contract."


I've seen reasoning that since the contract is between Daniels and EC, LLC, than damages can't exceed the actual losses to EC, LLC from Daniels' breach, thus the millions and millions in penalties are punitive, and not allowed. Not sure if that's correct, but it would be the cherry on top of the issues with this NDA...
posted by mikelieman at 5:18 AM on March 29, 2018 [5 favorites]


Thurday morning boom. The Guardian
Trumps galore, including Towers, Latvia, Russian oligarchs, the FBI, Agalarovs and all the other usual suspects, 2014, corruption investigations.
posted by rc3spencer at 5:20 AM on March 29, 2018 [12 favorites]


The only possible reason the president isn't a self-declared sovereign citizen is that he's never heard of them.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 5:25 AM on March 29, 2018 [17 favorites]


The story of Trump’s life is that what he lacks in competence or decency, he makes up for in sheer volume.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 5:26 AM on March 29, 2018 [18 favorites]


What kind of leaves me taken aback is the same thing at which Chris Hayes has expressed shock a few times. Not that the Republicans are covering for Trump, necessarily, since they're mostly scum. But rather that they have gone all-in on the coverup without even knowing what they're covering up. That's crazy!

It depends. I don't presume at all that Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell don't know what they're covering up. Recall that McConnell was briefed with President Obama on Russia's efforts to interfere with the US election and then not only refused to join in a bipartisan condemnation but told Obama that he'd deny the very intelligence reports on which he'd just been briefed.

If memory serves me correctly, Biden was present at that occasion too, which means McConnell performed an overt act in front of two or more witnesses.
posted by Gelatin at 6:11 AM on March 29, 2018 [27 favorites]


he makes up for in sheer volume
Volume in decibels, or volume in cubic meters (of shit)?

Yes I know, por qué no los dos?
posted by notsnot at 6:28 AM on March 29, 2018 [3 favorites]


For a biographic title, I suggest “Trump: The Art of Noise”
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:37 AM on March 29, 2018


Trump loses Panama hotel in arbitration.
An international arbitration court ruled late Tuesday against the Trump Organization's effort to win back control of a landmark luxury hotel in Panama after it was evicted by the owners earlier this month over allegations of "horrific" mismanagement.

The arbitrator's decision effectively upheld the firing of Trump's hotel staff, the takeover of its bank accounts and physical removal of the Trump name from the hotel, which made headlines on March 5.
posted by Talez at 6:42 AM on March 29, 2018 [48 favorites]


Galen Druke, 538: Why Did The Supreme Court Hear A Second Gerrymandering Case?
The court could choose to rule on both cases at the same time in order to avoid accusations of partisanship. As Chief Justice John Roberts said during the oral arguments in the Wisconsin case, if Americans see the court as playing partisan favorites in these cases, “that is going to cause very serious harm to the status and integrity of the decisions of this Court in the eyes of the country.”
The article offers some additonal theories as well.

Sam Wang, Princeton Election Consortium: Today’s big partisan gerrymandering case: Maryland (Benisek v. Lamone)

Earlier from Wang:
What the Supreme Court didn’t say…yet (about the Wisconsin case)

Another SCOTUS partisan gerrymandering case in 2017-2018 goes forward! (about the Maryland case)
posted by nangar at 6:44 AM on March 29, 2018 [5 favorites]


Trump loses Panama hotel in arbitration.

I expect they’ll argue it’s invalid because not all parties signed the agreement
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:47 AM on March 29, 2018 [5 favorites]


I should have included this bit in my pullquote from 538:
The way that Justice Anthony Kennedy responded to the Wisconsin case already gave reformers reasons to be optimistic that the court could rule partisan gerrymandering unconstitutional. Having bipartisan cover now addresses one of Roberts’s key concerns.
posted by nangar at 6:54 AM on March 29, 2018 [12 favorites]


Daily Beast, Tom Steyer’s Impeachment Campaign Is Building Him a Political Death Star
Press them for their thoughts in private, however, and many concede that the man funding a $40 million campaign to get rid of the current president is not just a gifted self-promoter, but is, in fact, building one of the true powerhouse entities within the Democratic ecosystem. Steyer is poised to play a massive role in the midterms and pull the party in the direction of his choosing. He’s also set himself up incredibly well—perhaps better than any other potential aspirant—for a serious presidential bid in 2020.

“If I were a rich person and I wanted to run for president,” said one top Democratic strategist, “I would be doing exactly what he’s doing.”

What Steyer is doing is acquiring the equivalent of prime political real estate. Through his self-funded Need to Impeach campaign, he has now built an email list of more than 5.1 million members, a total that one former presidential campaign manager called “staggering” and a top digital adviser called “one of the biggest Democratic lists out there.”

Perhaps even more remarkable is how Steyer came about doing it. Kevin Mack, the lead strategist on the impeachment campaign, said the first million members signed up in just six days. He added that open rates remain high—“probably at least double the industry standard”—allowing them to take two to three campaign actions at a given time. Approximately 1,975,000 of those on the list are identified as infrequent midterm voters.

“They care more about digital than the DCCC and the DNC,” said one of the party’s top digital strategists.
...
Steyer’s critics—and he has a few, all of whom would rather not have their thoughts on the record—argue that the campaign is a political vanity project, one that doesn’t poll well among the broader public and could deeply damage the party’s messaging during the midterms. But even they concede that there is a maddening ingeniousness to it.
Add in NextGen, which has been building up a lot of capability to engage college students, and this is becoming quite the machine.
posted by zachlipton at 6:56 AM on March 29, 2018 [14 favorites]


But even they concede that there is a maddening ingeniousness to it

If it's stupid and it works, it's not stupid.
posted by Twain Device at 6:59 AM on March 29, 2018 [4 favorites]


- For all of Cohen's truly idiotic legal claims, repeated ethical breaches, & wannabe mobster ways, his sins here are the lesser ones. No one can say he wasn't zealously advocating for his client. But if Davidson did what the women allege he did, he can't be disbarred fast enough.

I don't disagree, but Cohen is at real risk of being disbarred, too. If we accept Cohen's own story as true, he didn't keep his client informed, he bound his client to obligations which Cohen didn't have the authority to do (so, misrepresentation and fraud), plus a whole whack of conduct offences. Those first two are BFDs. Cohen's own cover story is enough to get him tossed from the profession, nevermind what the real story is.
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:00 AM on March 29, 2018 [20 favorites]


White House Looks to Use Emergency Law to Halt Chinese Investment
WASHINGTON — As the White House prepares to levy punishing tariffs on an array of Chinese goods, it is planning a much more strategic strike against China’s dominance in cutting-edge technology by restricting investment in American innovation.
WHAT IS HE DOING?!?

This is the deal post Bretton Woods:
1) The United States gets to send out pieces of paper with no intrinsic worth for goods.
2) Other countries use these pieces of paper to buy things from other people or they send them back to us for safe keeping and to make more pieces of paper
2b) These pieces of paper are also necessary to buy oil which is the lifeblood of any modern economy
3) We keep the world safe from Communism by spending an outsized portion of our budget on the military

That's how the US became the unquestioned superpower of the free world. We're going to capsize the world order that keeps us in a privileged position out of sheer spite and we're going to deserve the fall that we're going to eventually see. Are they deliberately trying to induce the Mother of All Recessions?
posted by Talez at 7:10 AM on March 29, 2018 [51 favorites]


Kelly Is Said to Lose White House Clout as Trump Blazes Own Path(Jennifer Jacobs, Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- White House Chief of Staff John Kelly has lost some of his clout following recent missteps and wasn’t at President Donald Trump’s side for recent crucial decisions on staffing and policy moves, according to several senior aides.

Kelly wasn’t with the president last week when Trump abruptly decided to oust H.R. McMaster as national security adviser and replace him with John Bolton. Just two people were in the room for that decision: Trump and Bolton.

And Kelly is rarely on the line any more when Trump calls foreign leaders. Last week, when Trump spoke with President Vladimir Putin days before the U.S. decided to expel dozens of Russian diplomats, Kelly wasn’t on the call.

The chief of staff’s absence at those two key moments last week highlights his struggles in managing the White House for a president who has a penchant for unpredictability and often follows his own lead when making decisions. Kelly has seen his influence slip since a staffing controversy in February marred his credibility and damaged his image as an internal disciplinarian.


Also the disparaging Gold Star families too. And the misogyny. But when two Generals lose access to the WH in favor of - a genocidal maniac and ???, it's just Mattis left to witness the crushing of norms.
posted by petebest at 7:11 AM on March 29, 2018 [10 favorites]


It occurs to me that it's sort of irrelevant how bad Trump's lawyers are.

Trump's big bet is that rule of law no longer exists.

If he's right, incompetent counsel doesn't matter. If he's wrong, no lawyer on earth could save him.
posted by murphy slaw at 7:12 AM on March 29, 2018 [82 favorites]


He’s also set himself up incredibly well—perhaps better than any other potential aspirant—for a serious presidential bid in 2020.

Tom Steyer can have tremendous influence over the party, but to suggest him as a viable presidential candidate underestimates the degree of opposition Democratic primary voters would have to nominating an old, white, male, billionaire hedge fund manager.

He could be someone’s VP, I guess.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 7:12 AM on March 29, 2018 [20 favorites]


From one of the links in the Panama hotel story - How Trump’s 'Art of the Deal' came untied in Panama - some heartening portents.

The story of how the author of the 'Art of the Deal' lost control of the prized hotel offers some humbling lessons for the Trump Organization. According to interviews and court documents, the Trump family business appears to have been outsmarted by a largely unknown but well-connected group of real estate investors, some who voted for Trump in 2016 and donated money to his campaign.

Trump's anti-Hispanic rhetoric on the campaign trail and since becoming president may also have hurt his brand in Panama.

The hotel takeover was led by a Miami-based private equity fund, Ithaca Capital Partners, founded by an Oxford University-educated lawyer, Orestes Fintiklis, and aided by a legal dream team and the support of some of Panama’s most important ‘rabi-blanco’ (white tail) families, the nickname used to describe the country's mostly white business elite.

By contrast, the Trump Organization relied mostly on its New York lawyers, as well as a largely unknown law firm in Panama, and a handful of muscle-clad security guards, who now face charges in Panama from trespassing to physical assault and document shredding.


The whole story is educational, informative and entertaining - a Reithian serving of hot tasty schadenfreude.
posted by Devonian at 7:19 AM on March 29, 2018 [39 favorites]


Speaking of schadenfreude:
[Coulter] repeated a report that the president was seriously considering vetoing the spending legislation, but after White House chief of staff John Kelly explained that such a veto would mean missing his planned weekend at Mar-a-Lago, Trump said “f--- it!” [sic] and signed the bill instead.
‘Heartbroken’ Trump Critic Ann Coulter: He’s a ‘Shallow, Lazy Ignoramus’
posted by GrammarMoses at 7:25 AM on March 29, 2018 [58 favorites]


murphy slaw: "Trump's big bet is that rule of law no longer exists.

If he's right, incompetent counsel doesn't matter. If he's wrong, no lawyer on earth could save him.
"

If he's wrong having competent legal help (and actually listening to them when they tell him to stop digging) might mean the difference between a few years in jail plus a big fine or Trump and everyone touched by his scandal being in jail for decades plus personal and corporate bankruptcies all around.
posted by Mitheral at 7:28 AM on March 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


WHAT IS HE DOING?!?

Envelope please... And the answer is... Russia's Bidding!
posted by diogenes at 7:28 AM on March 29, 2018 [42 favorites]


If like me you are overwhelmed with the ongoing rendition of an entire semester's worth of Ethics and Professional Responsibility hypos, here's a write-up by retired lawyer @KeithDB80 on Medium:

Why Trump Can’t Hire An Attorney. The Legal and Ethical Challenges of Representing This President Are Daunting. (Contains lawyer-specific breakdown for Dowd, Cohen, Corallo)

And, of course, the Susan Simpson tweetthread linked above.

Suggested pairing: I Am Trump’s Lawyer’s Lawyer’s Lawyer’s Lawyer and Would Someone Please Tell Me What the Fuck I Am Supposed to Be Doing? (Gary M. Almeter, McSweeney's, vintage July 2017)
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 7:43 AM on March 29, 2018 [43 favorites]


Asha Rangappa:
THREAD. To add a little historical and constitutional color to @alexwhiting, a few things to consider that bolster his argument:

2. Consider that the pardon power is one of the few vestiges of royal power that made its way into the Constitution. Its origins are the "divine right of kings" -- the idea that monarchs are ordained by God to rule, and therefore have the absolute power to decide a person's fate.

3. At its essence, the power to pardon -- showing mercy -- is an act of grace. To quote Shakespeare's Portia, it "droppeth as the gentle rains from heaven/ Upon the place beneath" and "is an attribute of God himself."

4. Not surprisingly, the pardon power almost didn't make its way into the Constitution, at least so centralized in one person. (After all, the Founding Fathers were not big on kings.)

5. But our friend Alexander Hamilton offered its rationale in Federalist 74: That a single person could reverse "unfortunate guilt," or override the passions of the people, use it to promote national healing. Think: Washington/Whiskey Rebellion, Lincoln/Civil War, Ford/Nixon.

6. Certainly, this power has been also been exercised in controversial instances in modern times: Think Clinton/Marc Rich, Bush/Scooter Libby, Obama Chelsea Manning. But as @alexwhiting notes, in all of these cases POTUS had to do it publicly, and bear the political heat.

6. But the pardon "dangle" is *well* outside these original parameters. A pardon dangle is ultimately intended to confer -- explicitly or implicitly -- a benefit to the grantor: POTUS. The last time I checked, God doesn't expect anything in return for showing His grace.

7. The Constitution suggests this as well. As @jedshug has argued, POTUS has a fiduciary duty to use the pardon power in the interests of the country, not his own.

8. And the fact that Bribery is explicitly specified as a grounds for impeachment suggests that even the immense powers of the president can't be used as a bargaining chip.

9. So basically, dum dum POTUS would have been better off *actually* pardoning people, instead of "floating" it as a carrot to get folks to help him out of a pickle. Perhaps if he had better lawyers, he would have known that.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:53 AM on March 29, 2018 [55 favorites]


Obama Chelsea Manning

Not that this is a hugely important point, but didn't Obama merely commute Manning's sentence rather than pardon her?
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 7:55 AM on March 29, 2018 [20 favorites]


Fired Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin tells NPR's Morning Edition that political forces in the Trump administration want to privatize the VA — and that he was standing in the way.
posted by Elly Vortex at 8:07 AM on March 29, 2018 [50 favorites]


We're going to capsize the world order that keeps us in a privileged position out of sheer spite and we're going to deserve the fall that we're going to eventually see. Are they deliberately trying to induce the Mother of All Recessions?

They aren't part of your 'us', or indeed, U.S., though. It's more that the sans-national robber-baron oligarchy are trying to destroy any federation, unity, conclave, council, or international agreement that limits their theft and exploitation (as they always have).

They haven't realised, or have forgotten, that the reason we have assorted token dilutions of dirigisme rather than unrestrained capitalism is because the alternative is guillotines. Or at least it was.

As my favourite of all the Day-Lewis's said "defend the bad against the worse".

It really sucks that this now includes the WTO.
posted by Buntix at 8:16 AM on March 29, 2018 [8 favorites]




In this morning's Guardian

Maj-Gen Alexander Mikhailov, from the Russian security agency FSB, claimed that if it was true the poisoning happened on the doorstep then the Skripals would have died instantly and would not made it as far as the park where they were found slumped on a bench.

That seems a remarkable claim. Would it not presuppose knowledge of the nonexistent toxin used in an assassination for which the FSB and Russia deny responsibility?

But this sort of klein bottle narrative is FSB's stock in trade.
posted by maniabug at 8:32 AM on March 29, 2018 [8 favorites]


A guy who'd been convicted of threatening to burn down a Boston mosque, possessing an arsenal of high-powered weaponry and ammo (which, due to previous convictions, he wasn't supposed to have) and being caught with child porn on his iPad was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison yesterday. What was interesting about the sentencing recommendations from the US Attorney's office is that they emphasized the threats against the mosque, in part as a way to send a message to other racists:
[A] significant sentence would be likely to deter similar racist threats. ... A significant sentence that reaffirms that such discourse is prohibited could readjust those public norms.
posted by adamg at 8:32 AM on March 29, 2018 [17 favorites]


I'll take what I can get, and I'd rather deal with your Tom Steyers and Bill Gateses than your Kochs and Mercers.

But I'll trust this guy if and when Citizens United is overturned and he gives away 99.9% of his wealth to charity. Billionaires are a big part of what is breaking US democracy.
posted by aspersioncast at 8:40 AM on March 29, 2018 [27 favorites]


Nazi circular firing squad (/swastika-shaped firing squad?) updates.

Weev (genocidal Nazi troll living in exile in territories within Putin's sphere of influence) shared a screenshot of his conversation with Chris Cantwell ("crying nazi" ex-Libertarian Pinochet enthusiast), in which Cantwell enthusiastically admits to talking to the FBI in order to prosecute Antifa. Weev, although himself an actual D-grade supervillain, is of course correct that it's unimaginably stupid to talk to already-unfriendly law enforcement on their promises that they're actually going after your enemies.

Cantwell then doubled down and put out a blog post titled "I Am A Federal Informant," in which he calls Weev a Jew and says: "my attorney has already spoken with the FBI on my behalf, and we are soon to meet. [...] While the authorities in Charlottesville and Albemarle have given license to masked thugs and terrorists to wage war on the streets, the FBI seems more interested in stopping the violence, which necessarily means leftists going to prison. I would rather share a cell with these scum, than to see both sides go free."

Idiot. Idiot.

This is actually a pretty big development. Cantwell, Weev, and Heimbach's TWP all hate each others' guts. Other wings and factions of the Alt-Right are bogged down with infighting, largely about "optics."

See also. Daily Beast: Less Than a Year After Charlottesville, the Alt-Right Is Self-Destructing
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:46 AM on March 29, 2018 [39 favorites]


The Welk's a FPP about the splintering alt-right movement. It features the same Daily Beast article.
posted by nangar at 8:57 AM on March 29, 2018 [13 favorites]


Given Michael Cohen's lawyer's statements about Trump's lack of involvement in a number of cases that Cohen fixed...well, it defies credulity to believe that there are at least a few--and possibly many--more such NDAs. If Stephanie Clifford can get the NDA declared invalid, there's going to be a flood of challenges to them--probably not just sexual partners, but former employees and contractors. It seems likely that he'll be occupied for quite some time--even if he leaves the WH without facing charges or being impeached.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 9:00 AM on March 29, 2018 [7 favorites]


Why can't weev do something stupid that gets him killed and/or arrested?

Listen, we're in the darkest timeline so I actually sort of believe that the FBI are trying to arrest antifa in some misguided sense that arresting antifa will get them to stop (as opposed to 'there are no more fascists left').
posted by Merus at 9:02 AM on March 29, 2018 [3 favorites]


there are at least a few--and possibly many--more such NDAs

How many home equity lines of credit can he possibly have?
posted by BungaDunga at 9:03 AM on March 29, 2018 [11 favorites]


It would be great if some law firm made an ambulance-chaser style ad, asking viewers to call a 1-800 number if they have an NDA with the Trump Organization. Then put it on during Fox & Friends.
posted by condour75 at 9:08 AM on March 29, 2018 [82 favorites]


Why can't weev do something stupid that gets him killed and/or arrested?

I mean, a few months ago he fled from Abkhazia to Transnistria and posted a youtube video about how it was over his suspicions that unnamed groups had tracked him down. I think he has handlers who will happily kill/arrest him if he gets too far out of line (and other organizations that have targeted him in various ways) so just sit on that wish and wait.
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:13 AM on March 29, 2018 [4 favorites]


it's unimaginably stupid to talk to already-unfriendly law enforcement on their promises that they're actually going after your enemies.

Well...yes: Chris Cantwell is unimaginably stupid. Of course we knew that already, but if any doubt remained, there's weapons-grade Dunning-Krugeresque pomposity all over the cadence of "my attorney has already spoken with the FBI on my behalf, and we are soon to meet."
posted by adamgreenfield at 9:13 AM on March 29, 2018 [10 favorites]


"From one of the links in the Panama hotel story - How Trump’s 'Art of the Deal' came untied in Panama - some heartening portents."


OMG the Spanish version of this article has a picture of the hotel's new cocktail menu and there is a "Stormy Jack Daniels" and a "Fire and Fury". I love it!
posted by Tarumba at 9:17 AM on March 29, 2018 [57 favorites]


> That's a hell of a quote from a social worker.

Ms. Dilios is listed as Accommodations Coordinator, Disability Services Center at the University of Southern Maine. Sucks for students, faculty and staff who have disabilities. The ADA has been watered down by this administration. I can't imagine anyone who has a shred of intelligence and/or decency who is committed to rights for people with disabilities being in favor of the tax law, the administration, or President Pants-On-Fire. My experience with disability rights at USM was wretched.
posted by Mom at 9:18 AM on March 29, 2018 [13 favorites]


Merus: Listen, we're in the darkest timeline so I actually sort of believe that the FBI are trying to arrest antifa

Heck, that's regular-timeline stuff. What's impressive is the times that feds actually go after KKK and/or Nazis.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 9:23 AM on March 29, 2018 [10 favorites]


Trump being told he doesn't need a communications director or chief of staff By Kevin Liptak, CNN

It's only a few hours ago I thought things had reached peak crazy.
(Not that I thought things would normalize, just that they would flatline there).
posted by mumimor at 9:25 AM on March 29, 2018 [16 favorites]


Would it not presuppose knowledge of the nonexistent toxin used in an assassination for which the FSB and Russia deny responsibility?

Shades of OJ Simpson's If I Did It. если бы я это сделал.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:28 AM on March 29, 2018 [3 favorites]


Trump being told he doesn't need a communications director or chief of staff By Kevin Liptak, CNN

Pathetic, hilarious, and terrifying, all at the same time:
The post-Hicks era is a vast unknown for aides, who worry Trump will unravel without the near-constant presence of his sounding board and interpreter. Since she announced she was leaving the White House, Hicks has only been in the West Wing intermittently. This has resulted, at times, in the President summoning her to the Oval Office -- "Hope! Hopey!" -- when she's not there.
posted by jedicus at 9:33 AM on March 29, 2018 [36 favorites]


Hopey?? Thanks for my first horrified shudder of the day.
posted by orrnyereg at 9:35 AM on March 29, 2018 [42 favorites]


I want to be in the timeline where the Hopey in the White Hose is Esperanza Glass.
posted by Slothrup at 9:40 AM on March 29, 2018 [12 favorites]


Ms. Dilios is listed as Accommodations Coordinator, Disability Services Center at the University of Southern Maine. Sucks for students, faculty and staff who have disabilities.

I have, in the past (not on my current campus, ye sleuths of Metafilter), encountered some astonishingly ableist disability services coordinators. I am not quite sure how that happens, but it definitely does.
posted by soren_lorensen at 9:41 AM on March 29, 2018 [7 favorites]


It's only a few hours ago I thought things had reached peak crazy.
(Not that I thought things would normalize, just that they would flatline there).


I am kicking myself for using up all of my Weimar-esque ennui and decadence in the mid 90s.

If any historical moment called for too much absinthe and clove cigarettes, it is now.
posted by murphy slaw at 9:48 AM on March 29, 2018 [60 favorites]


I am kicking myself for using up all of my Weimar-esque ennui and decadence in the mid 90s.If any historical moment called for too much absinthe and clove cigarettes, it is now.

Wow murphy slaw, you are inside my head.
posted by rc3spencer at 10:20 AM on March 29, 2018 [3 favorites]


in other news, Reflexive Nazi Saluter Laura Ingraham is still terrible:

‘You’re a mother’: Laura Ingraham faces boycott for taunting Parkland teen over college rejections
Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg is calling for advertisers to boycott Laura Ingraham’s show after the Fox News host taunted the high school senior over his college rejections.

“David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it,” Ingraham tweeted Wednesday morning. She linked to a story from a conservative news site that described Hogg as a “Gun Rights Provocateur” who had not gained acceptance to four University of California schools.

“Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA…totally predictable given acceptance rates,” Ingraham added.

Ingraham faced immediate backlash over her tweet from those shocked she would attack a 17-year-old student who had survived the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Fla. Among the outraged were people who reminded Ingraham, simply, that she was a mother, and Hogg’s 14-year-old sister, who accused the Fox News host of stooping to a “real low” to boost her ratings.
On the one hand, I feel terrible for these kids. On the other hand, watching the rightwing media galvanize them into committed activists with ham-handed taunting is delightful.

(article includes details on the boycott if you'd like to join in)
posted by murphy slaw at 10:21 AM on March 29, 2018 [49 favorites]


No longer muzzled, Shulkin takes on Trump White House

A couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of hiking in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, up near the border of Texas and NM [1]. When I went to fill some water bottles for my family and friends, I saw a sign at the hydration station that said "Remember: Drink water before you feel thirsty" and it was an eye-opening moment for me.

Like, I've lived a pretty active lifestyle, and I know about the importance of staying hydrated, but I've typically only reached for my water bottle once I've been sweating a lot or my mouth is dry. It was such a simple tip -- and so blindly obvious now that I think about it -- but it paid dividends immediately once I started doing it.

I wish Shulkin and other folks who've been shown the door by Trump and who then go on to blast him would hydrate before they felt thirsty. When they lash out after they've been let go, it makes it easy for people to say "Well, of course they're dissing Trump now, they're mad at being fired lol. So that invalidates everything they're saying."

Someone needs to step up before he fires them. Someone has got to openly, publicly defy him while they are in a key position in the government and resist him in an "At long last, have you left no sense of decency?" way.

This is an extraordinary moment of peril in our country's history, and so many people keep whiffing on their chance to make a difference.

[1] Want to take a second to give TX a shout-out: I'm not a native Texan, but I've lived here for nearly 25 years, and I've traveled to every corner of it. I love this state so much, warts and all.
posted by lord_wolf at 10:25 AM on March 29, 2018 [67 favorites]


This is the deal post Bretton Woods:

If Trump has even heard of Bretton Woods, I'll eat my hat
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 10:31 AM on March 29, 2018 [23 favorites]


If Trump has even heard of Bretton Woods, I'll eat my hat

If you started talking to Trump about Bretton Woods, he'd think it was a golf course.

just discovered that the Mount Washinton Hotel, which hosted the Bretton Woods conference, has an 18-hole golf course. BUT MY POINT STANDS
posted by murphy slaw at 10:37 AM on March 29, 2018 [28 favorites]




Bretton Woods is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is getting recognized more and more, I notice.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:38 AM on March 29, 2018 [68 favorites]


Hey Ms. Ingraham, thanks for giving the kids a chance to show the grownups how to deal with bullying!
posted by maniabug at 10:42 AM on March 29, 2018 [8 favorites]


If I was in the admissions office at UCLA I would call Daniel Hogg today and tell him he was accepted.
posted by yoga at 10:45 AM on March 29, 2018 [33 favorites]


On the one hand, I feel terrible for these kids. On the other hand, watching the rightwing media galvanize them into committed activists with ham-handed taunting is delightful.

It's also instructive watching many on the right reveal their moral bankruptcy (again) while tacitly admitting they have no good faith arguments to make in favor of selling a flood of military armaments to civilians.

The other day, I heard NPR's David Green, speaking on a different program, commenting how impressed he was with these kids, their courage, and their clearly articulated message. I yelled at the radio, "Does it make you realize what abject nonsense you accept from the pro-gun lobby in the name of 'balance,'" but I doubt he heard me. Still, I hope journalist do realize what monsters they've been dealing with, and worse, normalizing for the American people.
posted by Gelatin at 10:45 AM on March 29, 2018 [27 favorites]


45's pals in real estate hate Amazon, because it's depressing retail property. So he's desperate to hit Bezos by... well, that's the hard part. But he's trying.

And apparently nobody in the punditocracy wants to state the bloody obvious: Trump personally hates Amazon because founder Jeff Bezos also owns the Washington Post, the newspaper world's most implacable critic of his administration.

e.g. Axios's Trump’s Land of Make-Believe
President Trump often gets agitated — and stirred to action — by random things he hears on TV or from shoot-the-bull conversations with friends. It drives staff nuts because they are responding to things that are either inaccurate, highly distorted or flat-out don't exist.

• Exhibit 1: Trump tells people Amazon has gotten a free ride from taxpayers and cushy treatment from the U.S. Postal Service. His real estate buddies tell him — and he agrees — that Amazon is killing shopping malls and brick-and-mortar retailers.
• Exhibit 2: "Per two senior administration officials, Trump continued to rail privately about the omnibus bill, and has become convinced of things that aren’t true about it," the N.Y. Times' Maggie Haberman tweeted yesterday.
• Exhibit 3: Trump officials like Gary Cohn who favor free trade have felt like "Groundhog Day" trying to explain trade deficits to him.
• Exhibit 4: Trump's conviction that the Paris climate deal is "killing" the U.S., when in reality it's a voluntary and pretty toothless agreement.
(And that "agitated" is a euphemism if ever I heard one. I keep railing to my friends that Trump is obviously cognitively impaired, to no avail.)
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:49 AM on March 29, 2018 [23 favorites]


Ms. Dilios is listed as Accommodations Coordinator, Disability Services Center at the University of Southern Maine. Sucks for students, faculty and staff who have disabilities. The ADA has been watered down by this administration. I can't imagine anyone who has a shred of intelligence and/or decency who is committed to rights for people with disabilities being in favor of the tax law, the administration, or President Pants-On-Fire. My experience with disability rights at USM was wretched.

Since she works for USM, her pay is public info. (USM is part of the UMaine system, a governmental agency). I just looked her up. She makes in the low $40ks. No way she's getting an extra $100 in her check. I call bullshit on her claims, actually.

Oh, and she's also a member of the State Employee's Union.
posted by anastasiav at 10:49 AM on March 29, 2018 [23 favorites]


She makes in the low $40ks. No way she's getting an extra $100 in her check. I call bullshit on her claims, actually.
I'd love to as well, . . .but as I already admitted, I make in the high $40ks, work in education, and receive an extra $104.00 twice monthly this year. I'm educated enough (and remember Bush) to realize that will probably be clawed back come 2019, but there it is.
posted by rc3spencer at 10:55 AM on March 29, 2018 [5 favorites]


“In the spirit of Holy Week” - so... if this were any other week of the year, she wouldn’t be apologizing? Also, that apology was barely an apology. I hope they continue the boycott until she learns how to actually apologize. (So, forever, maybe.)
posted by greermahoney at 11:00 AM on March 29, 2018 [13 favorites]




Am I alone in utterly rejecting these apologies? The boycott is on until the advertising is pulled. All they're showing me is that the only time they act like decent human beings is when their money is impacted, so be it, we impact the money non-stop.
posted by Shutter at 11:04 AM on March 29, 2018 [71 favorites]


Update on Scott Walker versus special elections:

Walker sets special election date after losing court fight, The Hill
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) will call special elections to fill two vacant legislative seats after two courts ruled against his efforts to delay and eventually cancel those elections.
live updating from WaPo/AP
Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald says the state Legislature will not proceed with a bill designed to cancel two special elections for vacant seats.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 11:07 AM on March 29, 2018 [43 favorites]


The way the Parkland kids and others have cut through the right-wing bullshit machine is nothing short of miraculous in my view. This one incident with Ingraham has laid bare that all she cares about is money. She tweeted at Hogg for the attention and the accompanying boost in ratings she thought it might bring. Now as soon as her revenue stream is threatened she immediately reverses course. A bunch of teenagers have cut to the heart of her craven cowardice in just a few tweets. Amazing.
posted by runcibleshaw at 11:07 AM on March 29, 2018 [108 favorites]


Am I alone in utterly rejecting these apologies?

No, because an apology without the intent and effort to change behavior is all but meaningless.

All they're showing me is that the only time they act like decent human beings is when their money is impacted

Which is ironic, given their presumption that wealth and virtue are practically synonymous.
posted by Gelatin at 11:08 AM on March 29, 2018 [16 favorites]


Re: Walker and special elections

Deets from the WaPo link:
The governor issued an executive order Thursday setting elections to fill vacancies in the 42nd Assembly District and the 1st Senate District for June 12. Primaries for both seats will be held May 15 if needed.

Candidates can begin circulating nomination papers Thursday. They must file the papers with the state Elections Commission by 5 p.m. on April 17.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 11:11 AM on March 29, 2018 [5 favorites]


lord_wolf: Someone needs to step up before he fires them. Someone has got to openly, publicly defy him while they are in a key position in the government and resist him in an "At long last, have you left no sense of decency?" way.

Adding to this, it's not even totally certain that doing so would result in getting fired. Under any other president, sure. Under Trump, probably yes. But he's so allergic to the idea of being told what to do that he'd instinctively fight a media narrative of "Well now Trump has to fire so-and-so." Plus, he likes punching bags (e.g Sessions), he likes to make threats without acting on them, and he likes drama. If Hillary somehow had a low-level job in the White House where she didn't interact with him face to face, he'd keep her there so he could complain about her. Plus, when it comes to people he brought in, he doesn't like the implication that the fired person shouldn't have been hired in the first place. That might not apply to someone like Shulkin, but does Trump even remember which people were originally "his"?

Also, while I'm not sure I could summon the necessary amount of guts to do this myself, I'd love to see someone go further by even refusing to take the message "you're fired" as meaning anything until they are physically pulled off the premises. (There are conflicting reports on whether that happened with Omarosa, but she wasn't fired for resistance.) They'd tell the world they don't believe the order because Trump is so volatile that his words carry little meaning. There's already language you can lift from how Republicans talk about the prez. "When I heard he 'fired' me, I just figured, eh, he says a lot of things, people get riled up, it's just Trump being Trump, and he'll be in a better mood tomorrow." And just saying that would get in Trump's head enough to interfere with his decision-making process. "Fine, be that way, you're un-fired!"

An underlying reason this doesn't happen like it should: all these folks have naturally been conditioned their whole lives on how to deal with humans, rather than with Donald Trump.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 11:16 AM on March 29, 2018 [10 favorites]


@barbarastarrcnn: JUST IN! Mattis first words to Bolton on Pentagon steps. Mattis joking in an off mic moment said, “I heard you’re actually the devil incarnate and I wanted to meet you.” Bolton laughed.
HAHAHA! Just some good ol' knee-slappers from two war criminals with violent masturbatory fantasies about bombing civilians during some light-hearted adventures in the Middle East and SE Asia!
posted by zombieflanders at 11:16 AM on March 29, 2018 [85 favorites]


The geopolitical temperature is rising. I'm not sure Putin has thought this all the way through.

NYT Breaking: Russia Will Expel 150 Diplomats, as Tensions With West Reach Fever Pitch
Intensifying Russia’s clash with Europe and the United States, the Kremlin on Thursday announced that it would expel 150 Western diplomats and close the American consulate in St. Petersburg. ... President Trump, who has long been loath to criticize Mr. Putin or his government, has made no public statement on the nerve-agent attack or who was to blame for it. But officials in his administration have publicly backed [British PM] May’s statements, and on Monday the president ordered the expulsion of 60 Russian officials who work in the United States, and the closing of the Russian consulate in Seattle.
NYT: Britain Signals Harder Look at Wealthy Russians and Russian Wealth
[The British government] signaled an openness to cutting off access to British financial markets for President Vladimir V. Putin’s government in Russia. ... the fact that Britain’s lax attitude toward corrupt fortunes and the need to change it has become a major topic of debate seems to signal a real change in the political atmosphere.
posted by RedOrGreen at 11:18 AM on March 29, 2018 [29 favorites]


Yulia Skripal no longer in critical condition, say Salisbury doctors, Owen Bowcott, The Guardian
The condition of Yulia Skripal, who was poisoned with a nerve agent in Salisbury along with her father, is improving rapidly, doctors have said.

Salisbury NHS foundation trust said on Thursday the 33-year-old was no longer in a critical condition, describing her medical state as stable. [...]

Her father’s condition was described by the hospital as still critical but stable. Sergei Skripal, 66, a former Russian double agent, is believed to have been the main target of the attack.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 11:22 AM on March 29, 2018 [14 favorites]


The geopolitical temperature is rising. I'm not sure Putin has thought this all the way through.

If Western Europe is going to take more significant measures (e.g. cutting off access to financial markets, seizing oligarchs' and Russian mobsters' assets), then now is the time. In the spring and summer Russia won't be able to exert much pressure by threatening to cut off the gas pipelines, and I doubt Russia's economy could sustain 6 months of severely reduced exports.
posted by jedicus at 11:24 AM on March 29, 2018 [26 favorites]


I'm still just working through the logic of "Colleges are liberal snowflake breeding grounds we deride, but we'll still mock you for not getting into THE BEST breeding grounds."
posted by nakedmolerats at 11:29 AM on March 29, 2018 [41 favorites]


I'm still just working through the logic of "Colleges are liberal snowflake breeding grounds we deride, but we'll still mock you for not getting into THE BEST breeding grounds."

Particularly when the right was so incensed! about Abigail Fisher being unfairly denied her rightful place at UT Austin.
posted by Existential Dread at 11:38 AM on March 29, 2018 [8 favorites]


@nycsouthpaw: Michael Cohen’s lawyer denies the existence of an attorney-client relationship between Cohen and Trump in the Stormy Daniels matter.

@MaxKennerly
Retweeted southpaw
Wait, what? Then the agreement isn't enforceable. The whole point is Trump buying things from Daniels - releases, intellectual property, and confidentiality. But now Cohen has no authority. Congratulations, guys, you now have nothing more than a $130,000 claim for restitution.


@FPWellman
Replying to @MaxKennerly
Wait. Doesn’t that also mean that without attorney-client privilege she can subpoena their conversations because they aren’t protected? My God...it really is stupid Watergate.
posted by chris24 at 11:49 AM on March 29, 2018 [82 favorites]


When I was growing up we had what was called Nazis. They weren't called alt-right. Because I don't know what that means, alt-right. I don't know what it means. I tell people, call them Nazis from now on.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:06 PM on March 29, 2018 [165 favorites]


I hope it's not too chatty to point out that this is nominally an infrastructure speech (and has indeed included talking up things like Keystone XL, legal changes to accelerate environmental permitting for roads, and suchlike) because the beatings Infrastructure Week will continue until morale improves.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:06 PM on March 29, 2018 [21 favorites]


it's just a matter of time before he gets up in front of a crowd of people and starts talking about how he used to have an onion tied to his belt, which was the style at the time.

i don't get why they keep trotting out infrastructure. maybe it polled well, but the omnibus bill has come and gone and already has all the money that's going to be spent on infrastructure in it for the year. and trump had fuck-all to do with any of that spending.

maybe it's the only topic they can get him to talk about without immediately going full racist?
posted by murphy slaw at 12:12 PM on March 29, 2018 [11 favorites]


Thanks USA! Canada's brain gain round 2. 10 of 12 new Canada150 chairs move to Canada from the USA:
  • Alán Aspuru-Guzik, Canada 150 Research Chair in Theoretical and Quantum Chemistry, who comes to the University of Toronto from Harvard University (USA).
  • Yves Vincent Brun, Canada 150 Research Chair in Bacterial Cell Biology, who comes to the Université de Montréal from Indiana University (USA).
  • Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, Canada 150 Research Chair in New Media, who comes to Simon Fraser University from Brown University (USA).
  • James S. Famiglietti, Canada 150 Research Chair in Hydrology and Remote Sensing, who comes to the University of Saskatchewan from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, and the University of California, Irvine (USA).
  • Judith Elizabeth Mank, Canada 150 Research Chair in Evolutionary Genomics, who comes to The University of British Columbia from University College London (United Kingdom).
  • Katherine O’Brien, Canada 150 Research Chair in Vaccinology and Global Health, who comes to Dalhousie University from Johns Hopkins University (USA).
  • Josef Martin Penninger, Canada 150 Research Chair in Functional Genetics, who comes to The University of British Columbia from the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Austria).
  • Jonathan Neal Pruitt, Canada 150 Research Chair in Biological Dystopias, who comes to McMaster University from the University of California, Santa Barbara (USA).
  • Azim Shariff, Canada 150 Research Chair in Moral Psychology, who comes to The University of British Columbia from the University of California, Irvine (USA).
  • Anita Tam Layton, Canada 150 Research Chair in Mathematics Biology and Medicine, who comes to the University of Waterloo from Duke University (USA).
  • Shireen Hassim, Canada 150 Research Chair in Gender and African Politics, who comes to Carleton University from the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa).
  • Sari Michelle van Anders, Canada 150 Research Chair in Social Neuroendocrinology, Sexuality and Gender/Sex, who comes to Queen’s University from the University of Michigan (USA).
posted by Mitheral at 12:13 PM on March 29, 2018 [34 favorites]


Daniel Dale of the Toronto Star is liveblogging this on Twitter if you do want other highlights.
Trump falsely claims that the US has spent $7 trillion on Middle East wars. He has made up that figure. He adds: "Seven trillion with a T! Nobody ever heard of the word 'trillion' until 10 years ago!"
Origin and Etymology of trillion
French, from tri- + -illion (as in million)
First Known Use: 1690
posted by zakur at 12:18 PM on March 29, 2018 [48 favorites]


Do you guys remember that one X-Files episode in like season 4 where we learn all about the Cigarette Smoking Man’s backstory and see that he went from Righteous Soldier willing to do whatever his bosses thought it took to Protect Democracy From The Evil Commies (such as assassinating JFK and MLK), to being essentially head of the Shadow Government but bored out of his fucking mind and using his sinister influence to keep the Bills from winning the Super Bowl because the Cold War was over so what even was the point of being in the Shadow Government anymore? I’ve just been thinking about that a lot recently.
posted by showbiz_liz at 12:19 PM on March 29, 2018 [38 favorites]


It is taking superhuman efforts of will not to post one-liner hot takes to this thread, it really is... ("Brittany Woods? Didn't Mike pay her off?")

If Western Europe is going to take more significant measures (e.g. cutting off access to financial markets, seizing oligarchs' and Russian mobsters' assets), then now is the time.

Yes, and I'd say the same for ramping up public protests, activism and whatever pressure can be brought to bear on the administration. Mueller is doing a slap-up job of screw-tightening while protecting his back; there are multiple, multiple other legal attacks on 45 while his legal team is melting like a snowman in a phaser beam; the gun lobby (which is a powerful avatar for much GOP-ness) is being pwned by a genuinely new, genuinely powerful children's crusade; 45 himself is defying all the laws of probability and becoming even more of a self-parody daily, and (linking back to the original observations) the Russians are isolated and angry in the face of a surprisingly mad-as-hell-and-not-going-to-take-it international consensus, which leaves 45 out to dry.

Plus, it's only just spring and you can already hear the distant thunder of the winter storms of mid-term.

When this thing starts to crack, it's going to be quite something.
posted by Devonian at 12:23 PM on March 29, 2018 [26 favorites]


All we need is the UK government to finally accept the Brexit vote outcome was outright illegitimate on top of being insanely stupid and 2018 might actually not be a completely shit year.

Well, I can dream, at least.
posted by Nice Guy Mike at 12:28 PM on March 29, 2018 [23 favorites]


Slate on why Cheeto can't find a lawyer.

I'm wondering if Trump might possibly wind up with a court-appointed lawyer. I mean, he has to have someone and if no one will do it voluntarily.... If that's how it plays out, hoo boy, do I feel sorry for *that* luckless sod.
posted by orange swan at 12:31 PM on March 29, 2018 [4 favorites]




David Kilon in the Nation: how should US progressives take on Russia? includes such steps as taking on Russian Oligarchs by taking on US ones
posted by The Whelk at 12:34 PM on March 29, 2018 [13 favorites]


All we need is the UK government to finally accept the Brexit vote outcome was outright illegitimate on top of being insanely stupid and 2018 might actually not be a completely shit year.

Boris is busy promising a Brexit dividend so I'd say it's not bloody likely.
posted by Talez at 12:35 PM on March 29, 2018 [4 favorites]


zakur: "Trump falsely claims that the US has spent $7 trillion on Middle East wars. He has made up that figure. He adds: "Seven trillion with a T! Nobody ever heard of the word 'trillion' until 10 years ago!""

BTW A trillion dollars is about what the major players in WWII spent in 1945 dollars. Call it 12ish Trillion or so in today's dollars.
posted by Mitheral at 12:36 PM on March 29, 2018 [3 favorites]


I enjoyed the animation on this from The Guardian: 11 Brexit promises the government quietly dropped
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:37 PM on March 29, 2018 [11 favorites]


rainydayfilms's appreciation of Tom Steyer (a followup to zachlipton's comment - thanks, zach!) made me go look Steyer up. I'm impressed with what I learned, including his strong opposition to Keystone and his urgent approach to climate change activism, along with his opposition to Citizens United and his support for raising taxes on the rich.

aspersioncast: "But I'll trust this guy if and when Citizens United is overturned and he gives away 99.9% of his wealth to charity. Billionaires are a big part of what is breaking US democracy."

I agree with you about billionaires in general, but I note that Wikipedia's article on Tom Steyer says "In 2010, Steyer and his wife signed The Giving Pledge to donate half of their fortune to charity during their lifetime." It's 49.9% less than you want, but it's a pretty great start.

This is why I love Metafilter. Before today, I had no idea who Tom Steyer was. Now, I'm watching his GOTV campaigns with great interest.
posted by kristi at 12:37 PM on March 29, 2018 [39 favorites]


Be scared, GOP.

Reuters: Mueller probing Russia contacts at Republican convention: sources


I know this is mostly about Sessions, but Carter Page is going to pop up again soon.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 12:54 PM on March 29, 2018 [10 favorites]


Every woman in the Senate just demanded Mitch McConnell hold a vote on sexual harassment legislation:
“Inaction is unacceptable when a survey shows that four out of 10 women congressional staffers believe that sexual harassment is a problem on Capitol Hill,” the letter reads, “and one out of six women in the same survey responded that they have been the survivors of sexual harassment.”
Full text of the letter at the link.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 12:56 PM on March 29, 2018 [89 favorites]


Of course, any two of Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Joni Ernst, Deb Fischer and Shelley Moore Capito could make that happen on their own, if they actually cared.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:01 PM on March 29, 2018 [16 favorites]


The Guardian: 11 Brexit promises the government quietly dropped

Holy crap. I know I have been head down in the shit-show that is my own country's current state of affairs...and I am not trying to throw stones or anything...but holy crap!

I am pretty floored by those....i mean, even conservatives have to be floating some "cancel Brexit" balloons, right??

I totally accept that the economic arguments for Brexit were simply a fig leaf for anti-immigration nationalism...but at some point even the horrible racist pigs have to be able to say "now hold on a second here...maybe this isn't such a good deal after all" ...right?

Who am I kidding. I live in Ohio. Why am I even asking if these people have some shred of reason and compassion under all that horribleness?
posted by das_2099 at 1:05 PM on March 29, 2018 [16 favorites]


U.S. Republicans supported Trump with the sincere belief he would not win. British Conservatives supported Brexit with the sincere belief it would never happen.

Whether Vladimir Putin believed these things were liable to happen remains unclear.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:08 PM on March 29, 2018 [23 favorites]


I believe firmly none of the Tories can afford to loose face by saying cancel Breixt and the people in charge really need it to complete thier “turn the UK into a gulf state with a guest worker program and tax shelter they don’t have to get on a plane to visit “plan
posted by The Whelk at 1:10 PM on March 29, 2018 [5 favorites]


das_2099, your link does not go where you think it goes.
posted by Bovine Love at 1:10 PM on March 29, 2018 [8 favorites]


President Von Clownstick also brought up the vocational schools vs. community colleges thing a little under a Scaramucci ago.
posted by Cookiebastard at 1:14 PM on March 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


Crap. I suck at the internet:

That was supposed to go HERE

But, there is some great info about " East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94" at the link I did provide :)

Sorry about that
posted by das_2099 at 1:16 PM on March 29, 2018 [22 favorites]


Fake Kirsten Gillibrand flap reveals double standard in our politics (Helaine Olen, WaPo)
Here’s a sentence I never thought I would need to write: Kirsten Gillibrand is not involved in a sex scandal.

Now I’ve got your attention, right?

That I even need to devote a blog post to this topic is evidence of the double standard women are held to in politics.

Gillibrand has gotten herself ensnared in a “scandal” that is getting play from the usual suspects like the Washington Free Beacon, and more surprising outlets like left-leaning Slate.

Here are the details: more than ten years ago, Gillibrand’s father, attorney and lobbyist Doug Rutnik, worked very briefly with Nxivm (that’s pronounced nex-ee-um, if you are wondering), a marketing and life-and-work seminars organization that experts generally refer to as a cult. Rutnik spent a few months doing legal and lobbying work for the company and then quit.

Nxivm co-founder and head Keith Raniere was arrested by federal authorities Monday. He is accused of running a sex slavery ring within the group. The feds allege female “slaves” not only needed to, er, service Raniere, but that a number were branded with his initials in public ceremonies. Smallville actress Allison Mack is involved, as are Sara and Clare Bronfman , the daughters of the late Canadian multimillionaire businessman Edgar Bronfman, Sr.

Now some Republicans are trying to link Gillibrand to this story. Earlier this week, Chele Farley, the little-known Republican running against Gillibrand in the November elections, stepped forward to demand Gillibrand answer for the scandal.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:28 PM on March 29, 2018 [19 favorites]


Trump:Nobody ever heard of the word 'trillion' until 10 years ago!

Which was 2008, about the time the bankers told him how much debt he owed on his real estate "empire".
posted by Kibbutz at 1:29 PM on March 29, 2018 [17 favorites]


Now some Republicans are trying to link Gillibrand to this story.

Does this mean I can link "some Republicans" to the serial sexual predation of their preferred candidate for President of the United States?
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:32 PM on March 29, 2018 [28 favorites]


Foxnews.com: Documents suggest possible coordination between CIA, FBI, Obama WH and Dem officials early in Trump-Russia probe: investigators. I clicked so you don't have to:

Newly uncovered text messages between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page suggest a possible coordination between high-ranking officials at the Obama White House, CIA, FBI, Justice Department and former Senate Democratic leadership in the early stages of the investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, according to GOP congressional investigators on Wednesday.

The investigators say the information provided to Fox News “strongly” suggests coordination between former President Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, then-Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, and CIA Director John Brennan — which they say would “contradict” the Obama administration’s public stance about its hand in the process.

[... discussion of texts by Strzok ...]

“We are not making conclusions. What we are saying is that the timeline is concerning enough to warrant the appointment of an independent investigator to look at whether or not the Obama White House was involved [in the Trump-Russia investigation],” a GOP congressional source told Fox News.

[... more texts, and discussion of a NYT article quoting Harry Reid ...]

Congressional investigators suggested that the Reid letter possibly provided “cover” for the fact that the FBI and Justice Department had already begun investigating the Trump campaign in mid-July on what they called “questionable ethical and legal grounds.”

“The ‘here we go’ text between Strzok and Page indicates the FBI/ DOJ knew the letter from Reid was coming,” a congressional source told Fox News. “This created the inference they knew it would create public calls for an investigation into Russian interference — covering them.”

The source told Fox News on Wednesday that investigators were neither “passing judgement” nor “claiming a smoking gun,” but suggested that the timeline was “incredibly concerning.”

“At some point, the amount of concerning information becomes enough for a special counsel to look into it.”
posted by StrawberryPie at 1:32 PM on March 29, 2018 [3 favorites]


I am stunned by this accusation of collusion between different branches of the Federal government
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:34 PM on March 29, 2018 [71 favorites]


Nxivm co-founder and head Keith Raniere was arrested by federal authorities Monday. He is accused of running a sex slavery ring within the group.

Nxivm previously, and previouslier.
posted by notyou at 1:34 PM on March 29, 2018 [2 favorites]


orange swan: I'm wondering if Trump might possibly wind up with a court-appointed lawyer. I mean, he has to have someone and if no one will do it voluntarily.... If that's how it plays out, hoo boy, do I feel sorry for *that* luckless sod.

I hadt this same thought yesterday, but don't courts only appoint lawyers for people who can't afford them? There's no "toxic client that private lawyers won't touch" or "plain refusal to pay people" rules that I'm aware of. Of course, Trump could release financials proving his lack of solvency, but he's likelier to just represent himself if it actually comes to that.

Plus, he's not about to go to criminal court any time soon, since it's an open question whether the president can even be prosecuted instead of impeached. Civil courts, like the ones that could get involved in the NDA cases, don't provide lawyers. And if Mueller forces him into questioning, I doubt he'd be provided one under those circumstances either.

(I've heard a good argument that in criminal contexts, court-appointed lawyers ought to be both universal and mandatory, to level the playing field between rich and poor people accused of crimes, but that's another story.)

Meanwhile, the utter gall of that Fox story. When it comes to the Justice Department, Trump has all but said l'etat c'est moi, but maybe Obama once sneezed in the FBI's general direction! They're about two months from declaring the investigation is the fruit of a tree so poisonous that midterm elections should be canceled. "Separation of powers was sacred before Obama ruined it, and that entitles his successor to do literally anything forevermore"
posted by InTheYear2017 at 1:41 PM on March 29, 2018 [4 favorites]


I mean, I thought everyone already knew by now that the FBI was investigating the campaign, since multiple people involved in the campaign were knowingly talking to Russian intelligence agents?
posted by gucci mane at 1:52 PM on March 29, 2018 [4 favorites]


New York Daily Intelligencer: Michael Cohen’s Attorney May Be an Even Worse Lawyer Than He Is
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:53 PM on March 29, 2018 [17 favorites]


Programming note: America's sweetheart, Carter Page Ph.D. (now on Twitter) announces his triumphal return to All In w/Chris Hayes tonight. So set the DVR and stock up on coping support items.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:53 PM on March 29, 2018 [15 favorites]


National Treasure Charles P. Pierce at Esquire has a good summary of Trump's cabinet wrecking everything
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:54 PM on March 29, 2018 [5 favorites]


Well, I was right. Carter Page is going to be on Chris Hayes tonight. Also, Carter Page is now on twitter.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 1:55 PM on March 29, 2018 [14 favorites]


I hadt this same thought yesterday, but don't courts only appoint lawyers for people who can't afford them?

That's super dependent on jurisdiction, I think.
posted by showbiz_liz at 2:04 PM on March 29, 2018


Boris is busy promising a Brexit dividend

...which May has pointedly refused to back, hanging him out to dry.

Maybe, just maybe, the cracks are starting to show.
posted by acb at 2:10 PM on March 29, 2018 [6 favorites]


I hadt this same thought yesterday, but don't courts only appoint lawyers for people who can't afford them?

That's super dependent on jurisdiction, I think.


Well, and as soon as all Trump's assets get frozen for emoluments shenanigans, he may qualify as indigent. OH SHUT UP I DON'T CARE IF IT'S A FANFIC DAYDREAM JUST LEAVE ME THIS ONE CRUMB.
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:10 PM on March 29, 2018 [22 favorites]


...which May has pointedly refused to back, hanging him out to dry.

True but right now May is just a walking corpse politically because nobody wants to be holding the shit and piss drenched bag when Brexit hard cuts and everything implodes.
posted by Talez at 2:16 PM on March 29, 2018 [2 favorites]


If May knows that Brexit will destroy Britain, could she, even as a dead PM walking, do enough to make it difficult for her successors to keep going full steam ahead over the cliff? If by the time they take over, consensus is that (a) the vote was illegitimate, and (b) Brexit will be a catastrophe, might it not be impolitic for them to dismiss this and stay the course?
posted by acb at 2:24 PM on March 29, 2018 [2 favorites]


I am sick of these kids demanding safe spaces (Alexandra Petri, WaPo)
Safe spaces! Back in my day, all we had were dangerous spaces. People would call you names that would turn your ears blue. Everyone had measles, mumps and rubella, just as a matter of course, and we did not go crawling to our family physicians for so-called vaccines. Disease was a ritual of childhood. We toughed it out. We built character.

We did not have satellite radio or the Internet. We had to make our own electricity by rubbing sticks together. Everyone had six guns apiece, which we used to fight world wars. (There has not been a good world war for too long, and kids have gotten needlessly soft.) When children misbehaved, their parents were strongly encouraged to hit them with a rod. […]

I look at kids these days and I despair. They need to man up and solve their own problems. They need to stop demanding to be coddled. Children now are bad and soft, and far too few of them have experienced the grit developed by being needlessly exposed to communicable diseases, or urged to ride bicycles without helmets.

Now, suddenly, they want to get rid of guns, too. The one thing I know is that we cannot stop guns. There is no point in discussing that; that is an immutable aspect of human nature. Children need to toughen up and learn how to care for themselves. They should learn CPR. And they need to stop using rude words when they respond to me, specifically, although I get to use those words back, as it will make them stronger and hardier.

If we let these kids have their way, soon there will not be danger anywhere. They will be able to go to school in the morning and feel confident that they will be able to come home in the evening. This is a radical thing to ask. I remember no such certainty. It is, therefore, undesirable. These children are weak. I do not want my children to live in a better world than the world that I grew up in, or the one we live in now. That would be to admit that things have progressed, and I do not admit that.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 2:27 PM on March 29, 2018 [46 favorites]




Re: That Fox News' war on the Rule of Law piece...

Congressional investigators suggested that the Reid letter possibly provided “cover” for the fact that the FBI and Justice Department had already begun investigating the Trump campaign in mid-July on what they called “questionable ethical and legal grounds.”

“The ‘here we go’ text between Strzok and Page indicates the FBI/ DOJ knew the letter from Reid was coming,” a congressional source told Fox News. “This created the inference they knew it would create public calls for an investigation into Russian interference — covering them.”

The source told Fox News on Wednesday that investigators were neither “passing judgement” nor “claiming a smoking gun,” but suggested that the timeline was “incredibly concerning.”

“At some point, the amount of concerning information becomes enough for a special counsel to look into it.”



So the FBI started investigating soon after the Trump Campaign's illegal meeting with Russian Criminals in Trump Tower, and the FBI and DOJ read-in Reid, and I assume McConnell, but we know how McConnell feels.

And don't worry, the Special Counsel is looking into it...
posted by mikelieman at 2:34 PM on March 29, 2018 [1 favorite]




I can't wait to hear Roseanne's stirring rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner at the next Republican National Convention!
posted by Atom Eyes at 2:45 PM on March 29, 2018 [15 favorites]




listen, consulting actual lawyers about legal issues is just the kind of elitism that donald trump was elected to overthrow
posted by murphy slaw at 2:51 PM on March 29, 2018 [51 favorites]


More solid gold from Petri.

One of the more queasily ironic outcomes of this conversation has been the "no safe spaces" crowd (which Petri nails to a tee) arguing that the real problem was never that Cruz could access guns, but that he was bullied. Some of them see Emma Gonzalez's heartfelt thoughts about the various high school conflicts that she and Cruz and the other classmates got into, and twist it into blaming her for what happened.

The only way one could possibly square that together is if, at the end of the fucking day, you outright sympathize with the shooter. These people's usual primary reaction to any concern about bullying is to "toughen up and stop playing victim". (Well, I guess the mentality is consistent if they think that's what Cruz did...) These creeps, these goblins would never pretend to sympathize with the grievances of a nonwhite Muslim kid who had done what Cruz did (nor should they). The "walk up not out" rhetoric seems vaguely inspiring, but when positioned as the primary solution to school massacres, it's not unlike "This is why Trump happened, liberals!", but much more disturbing.

My inner accelerationist imagines how things would go if Trump became aware of the unquestionable fact that Cruz was a Trump supporter. What things might he say in his next rant? But my inner realist has learned enough from the acceleration we've already seen.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 2:52 PM on March 29, 2018 [7 favorites]


And the media and news shows are full of gag-inducing puff pieces about the Roseanne reboot and how it's "the very first thing ever to offer a sympathetic portrayal of Trump voters." Yes, aside from the weekly handjobs and shoulder pats they get in every news publication in the country.
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:52 PM on March 29, 2018 [50 favorites]


@RVAwonk: #BREAKING: Attorney General Jeff Sessions has just told Congress that he is rejecting the GOP's demands and will NOT appoint a second special counsel to investigate the FBI, per @NBCNews.
posted by scalefree at 2:55 PM on March 29, 2018 [80 favorites]


Rule of Law, hanging by a thread.
posted by scalefree at 2:56 PM on March 29, 2018 [19 favorites]


> Well, and as soon as all Trump's assets get frozen for emoluments shenanigans, he may qualify as indigent. OH SHUT UP I DON'T CARE IF IT'S A FANFIC DAYDREAM JUST LEAVE ME THIS ONE CRUMB.
FelliniBlank, I'm willing to write this on a crumb cake if you will.
posted by Fiberoptic Zebroid and The Hypnagogic Jerks at 2:56 PM on March 29, 2018 [5 favorites]


I love John Goodman, I love Sarah Gilbert and Laurie Metcalf, I wish them all the best and I loved Roseanne when it first came on in the nineties but Jesus H. Christ, boycott that hacky both-sides shit with the fire of a thousand suns it's like Chris Cellizza had a baby with a NY times white people in a Pennsylvania diner article
posted by condour75 at 2:58 PM on March 29, 2018 [72 favorites]


Has anyone pointed out to Donny-boy that whatever presidential immunity he has from prosecution right now, that vanishes when the next person takes office - and it doesn't mean "crimes you commit in office are unprosecutable?"

I suppose he might run out the statute of limitations on a few things, but almost everything he is accused of doing while campaigning and while in office will still be within reach of an indictment when he's done.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 3:01 PM on March 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


NBC News: Putin's claim earlier this month that Russia has new nuclear-capable weapons that could hit the U.S., a threat he underscored with video simulating an attack, "really got under the president's skin," one official said. Two officials said "Trump told Putin during a phone call after Putin's re-election last week: "If you want to have an arms race we can do that, but I'll win."

We're still at 2 minutes to midnight.
posted by Rust Moranis at 3:03 PM on March 29, 2018 [19 favorites]



If May knows that Brexit will destroy Britain, could she, even as a dead PM walking, do enough to make it difficult for her successors to keep going full steam ahead over the cliff?


A determined push from the PM could stop it dead in 24 hours, or at least put it in absolute limbo - a flight to Brussels with a 'We withdraw our notification per Article 50' would do the trick. Then you fly back, assemble the Remainers and organise a vote. All of this is completely outside the EU protocols and the semi-hypothetical English/British/UK constitution (*), because this is entirely novel - so you rely on the EU wanting to keep the UK (it does) and the majority of the political class not wanting to leave (it doesn't) and let the feathers fly where they May.

In some respects, the PM is a (s)elected monarch who is expected to work within the consensus, which is kinda how power moved from the crown to Parliament, and - as America is now discovering - when the oroxy monarch gets a bit too Divine Righty things get interesting.

I am jealous of scholars of a hundred years hence, because they will have the context and luxury to analyse all this. And they will be jealous of us, because we're living through it. and what historian wouldn't want to be there for themselves?

One of these jealousies is misplaced.

(*) it's complicated, nobody's ever written it down, nobody even knows what to call it, and it keeps changing. But we don't have guns, and we do have universal healthcare, so don't knock it.
posted by Devonian at 3:06 PM on March 29, 2018 [35 favorites]




"Both sides" is the political and cultural equivalent of the old joke "We've got both kinds of music - country *and* western!"
posted by The Card Cheat at 3:13 PM on March 29, 2018 [67 favorites]


CNN: Source: Mueller pushed for Gates' help on collusion
Special counsel Robert Mueller's team last year made clear it wanted former Trump campaign deputy Rick Gates' help, not so much against his former business partner Paul Manafort, but with its central mission: investigating the Trump campaign's contact with the Russians. New information disclosed in court filings and to CNN this week begin to show how they're getting it.

In a court filing earlier this week, the public saw the first signs of how the Mueller team plans to use information from Gates to tie Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman, directly to a Russian intelligence agency. Mueller's team alleges that Gates was in contact with a close colleague of Manafort's who worked for a Russian intelligence agency -- and that Gates knew of the spy service ties in September and October 2016, while he worked on the Trump campaign. Gates would have to talk about the communication with the man if prosecutors wanted, according to his plea deal.

That's in line with what prosecutors told Gates months ago during high-stakes negotiations, CNN has learned. They told him they didn't need his cooperation against Manafort, according to a person familiar with the investigation, and instead wanted to hear what he knew about contact between the Trump campaign and Russians.

posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:14 PM on March 29, 2018 [30 favorites]


Programming note: And if Carter Page is not enough of a fix for your crazy jones, Sam Nunberg AND Randy Credico are apparently about to pop up on Ari Melber's show, like NOW.
posted by FelliniBlank at 3:17 PM on March 29, 2018 [6 favorites]


Reuters: Mueller probing Russia contacts at Republican convention: sources

From Reuters's report: "Another issue Mueller’s team has been asking about is how and why Republican Party platform language hostile to Russia was deleted from a section of the document related to Ukraine, said another source who also requested anonymity. [...] [T]he final platform language deleted the reference to 'lethal defensive weapons,' a change that made the platform less hostile to Russia, whose troops had invaded the Crimean peninsula and eastern Ukraine."

And this issue hasn't gone away now that Trump's occupying the Oval Office. NBC: Trump Tells Aides Not to Talk Publicly About Russia Policy Moves
President Donald Trump's national security advisers spent months trying to convince him to sign off on a plan to supply new U.S. weapons to Ukraine to aid in the country's fight against Russian-backed separatists, according to multiple senior administration officials.

Yet when the president finally authorized the major policy shift, he told his aides not to publicly tout his decision, officials said. Doing so, Trump argued, might agitate Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the officials.

"He doesn't want us to bring it up," one White House official said. "It is not something he wants to talk about."

Officials said the increasingly puzzling divide between Trump's policy decisions and public posture on Russia stems from his continued hope for warmer relations with Putin and stubborn refusal to be seen as appeasing the media or critics who question his silence or kind words for the Russian leader.
Has anyone pointed out to Donny-boy that whatever presidential immunity he has from prosecution right now, that vanishes when the next person takes office - and it doesn't mean "crimes you commit in office are unprosecutable?"

Did anyone think Trump was really joking when he said about Xi's abolition of presidential term limits, "He's now president for life. President for life. No, he's great. And look, he was able to do that. I think it's great. Maybe we'll have to give that a shot some day."?
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:20 PM on March 29, 2018 [19 favorites]


Officials said the increasingly puzzling divide between Trump's policy decisions and public posture on Russia stems from his continued hope for warmer relations with Putin and stubborn refusal to be seen as appeasing the media or critics who question his silence or kind words for the Russian leader.

Stubborn is my daughter refusing to eat her vegetables; this is like someone launching a terrorist campaign to destroy the American agriculture industry. Maybe there is some motivation besides "stubbornness".
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:26 PM on March 29, 2018 [8 favorites]


A determined push from the PM could stop it dead in 24 hours, or at least put it in absolute limbo - a flight to Brussels with a 'We withdraw our notification per Article 50' would do the trick.

From what I understand, the EU would, for understandable reasons, not accept a withdrawal of Article 50 unless there was a guarantee that it was permanent. A doomed PM flying back to be knifed before she leaves Heathrow, with a claque of Hard Brexiters waiting in the wings to take charge, would not offer sufficient assurance.
posted by acb at 3:27 PM on March 29, 2018 [8 favorites]


For people who can't watch MSNBC, Randy Credico is doing Godfather impressions and blaming Julian Assange's loss of Internet access on the Catalonian Deep State. [Real, and he said it was "part of Spain" so he wasn't just misstating "Ecuadorian"]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:45 PM on March 29, 2018 [15 favorites]


For me, this NYTimes editorial gave some insight into the Shulkin firing: A Coup at Veterans Affairs
Mr. Trump tends not to look very far when seeking to fill top government positions. He named his family event planner to head an important regional office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He floated the idea of putting his personal pilot in charge of the Federal Aviation Administration. What’s next, making his son-in-law Middle East peace envoy?
But, anyway, it seems that as secretary of veterans affairs, Dr. Jackson would not be tending to Mr. Trump so much as to the right-wing billionaires Charles and David Koch and others who support privatization of veterans’ health care and other services.
posted by mumimor at 3:54 PM on March 29, 2018 [8 favorites]


Mueller probing Russia contacts at Republican convention

They've been looking into that for a while.

Daily Beast, August 2016: Trump Campaign Changed Ukraine Platform, Lied About It
The Trump campaign went out of its way to dramatically alter the Republican Party’s official position on Ukraine—against the wishes of GOP hawks and despite senior Trump aide Paul Manafort’s insistence that they weren’t involved.
posted by kirkaracha at 3:57 PM on March 29, 2018 [5 favorites]


The Trump Make America Great Again Committee -- a joint fundraising operation run by President Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee -- is running a campaign advertisement on toxic conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ YouTube channel.
posted by adamvasco at 4:04 PM on March 29, 2018 [9 favorites]


Reuters: Mueller probing Russia contacts at Republican convention

kirkaracha: They've been looking into that for a while.

Same "that", different "they". The new thing is that the special counsel is looking at it, not just the Congressional investigation(s). It was a good guess that they were, but this is the happy confirmation.

I guess that's my usual reaction to these Mueller leaks, besides a mild unease that any leaking happens at all (unless those leaks serve a strategic prosecutorial purpose, which is definitely possible). It's unsurprising that they're looking into all the blatant criminal shenanigans, but it's reassuring that they are, since it confirms that the operation remains a non-sham project. Kind of like how if and when Democrats take back the House, it might not be a surprise, but it will be incredibly reassuring.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 4:21 PM on March 29, 2018 [4 favorites]


Mod note: Yet when the president finally authorized the major policy shift, he told his aides not to publicly tout his decision, officials said. Doing so, Trump argued, might agitate Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the officials.

"If we don't say anything, he won't find out about it!" Fake #makeAmericaGenuflectAgain
posted by kirkaracha (staff) at 4:38 PM on March 29, 2018


Roseanne reboot and how it's "the very first thing ever to offer a sympathetic portrayal of Trump voters."

It's like "Hogan's Heroes" but for America!
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 4:50 PM on March 29, 2018 [26 favorites]


Update on my 15 minute meeting with my Congressman.

I got through all the slides, and he even circled and underlined some stuff. He asked to keep both copies I brought with me.

He was eager to agree with me that it was terrible how Trump would not enforce the sanctions Congress passed, terrible that Kushner had a security clearance for so long, terrible all the stuff Cambridge Analytica did... But he promised nothing. Neither a signature on a discharge petition to protect Mueller or establish an independent commission, nor any specific response should Mueller be fired, (certainly not a vote to impeach. ) He simply promised there would be a terrible uproar if that happened.
posted by OnceUponATime at 5:41 PM on March 29, 2018 [167 favorites]


Oh, and I said "if there are not enough votes to pass a bill protecting Mueller, then there won't be enough votes to impeach him for firing Mueller. He can do whatever he wants."

He said, basically, "Thank you for coming in."
posted by OnceUponATime at 5:43 PM on March 29, 2018 [99 favorites]


Thanks everyone for all your help and all the feedback.
posted by OnceUponATime at 5:43 PM on March 29, 2018 [38 favorites]


That he didn't promise anything could be seen as a positive sign. He (and other pols) probably doesn't hand out many actual promises, and certainly not without some kind of exchange.
posted by rhizome at 5:46 PM on March 29, 2018 [5 favorites]


I really enjoy how nice Chris Hayes is to Goonybird. They have a precious rapport.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 5:47 PM on March 29, 2018 [3 favorites]


GREAT job, OnceUponATime! Thank you for doing that today!
posted by greermahoney at 5:58 PM on March 29, 2018 [41 favorites]


OnceUponATime, you are awesome and I am so, so grateful to you for doing that.

I have to say, I think a LOT of persuasion goes on over time, and in silence. You weren't able to get a promise from him today, but you may never know how much your words (and pictures! your great pictures!) will continue to influence him and his staff over the coming weeks and months. He may even agree with you now and want to vote to impeach now (not saying he does, just maybe), but he does the calculation every day, dozens of times a day, about whether an action he wants to take would actually accomplish anything other than risking his political capltal. If he knows for a fact that 80% of the House will not vote to impeach, his own commitment is all risk and no gain; but now that he has your facts and connecting info and calm but passionate patriotism in his head, he might be able to point something out to a colleague to sway them, he might be able to nudge a vote on a committee, he might be able to move the rest of the House toward doing the right thing - and once it's enough of the House, it's no longer a fool's errand for him to vote to impeach, it's part of a critical mass, it's low risk and high gain, he gets to strengthen his political capital instead of squandering it.

It's maddening to me when politicians don't all stand up and do the right thing from the start, but they don't, and sometimes they have strategic reasons for that. But now he knows how much his constituents know, and how much they care, and that will have to figure into his calculations from now on.

You are the best, and I thank you for doing this very good thing.

"Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it." -- maybe Gandhi, maybe not
posted by kristi at 6:02 PM on March 29, 2018 [73 favorites]






OnceUponATime, you are awesome and I am so, so grateful to you for doing that.

Me, three: you're rulin', OnceUponATime!
posted by wenestvedt at 6:36 PM on March 29, 2018 [7 favorites]


I quite appreciate how in today's Order Denying Plaintiff's [Stephanie Clifford's] Motion for Expedited Jury Trial, the Court, as part of the last branch of the United States Government retaining any worthiness to rule, saw fit to magisterially remind those involved that the popularity of their reality TV clownshow does not merit special treatment:
The parties are advised that the instant litigation is not the most important matter on the Court's docket. Requests for expedited proceedings, hearings, and discovery not clearly
supported by the record and law are discouraged.
posted by save alive nothing that breatheth at 7:23 PM on March 29, 2018 [8 favorites]


The current trend at my kids' elementary school is the boys doing surprise butt-pokes -- they sneak up behind you, and poke you HARD in the butt, and then laugh hysterically. Of course my kids picked this up and brought it home. They did it to me and I was furious, which they thought was hilarious.

So I said, "Do you know who likes surprise butt pokes?"

"Who?"

"Donald Trump! Do you want to be like Donald Trump?"

(Looks of horror.) "NO!"

"Then no more surprise butt pokes!"

They seem to have stopped, because they're pretty clear that Donald Trump is the worst person in the world.

What a time we live in when the president of the United States is a clear cautionary tale that children don't want to be like under any circumstances.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:50 PM on March 29, 2018 [163 favorites]


Re: Kentucky Republicans stealth voting in draconian teacher pension "reforms"

Fayette County (Lexington) has cancelled school tomorrow because more than a third of teachers called in sick to protest. It will be interesting to see if Jefferson County (Louisville) will follow their example.
posted by chaoticgood at 7:56 PM on March 29, 2018 [33 favorites]


In the wake of the successful teacher actions in WV and OK, the KY GOP may have chosen the wrong time to pull this nonsense.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:23 PM on March 29, 2018 [43 favorites]


I don't think anyone mentioned this on Tuesday:

ELECTION RESULT

GOP HOLD in Alabama House 21:
Reynolds [R] 52.8%
Jones [D] 47.1%
Margin changes compared to previous races:

vs 2016 presidential result margin: Dem improvement of about 17 points.
vs 2014 HD-51 result margin: Dem improvement of about 29 points. (2014 was the last race - AL House has 4-year terms)

GOP lead in the Tennessee Senate is extended to 71-32 (2 vacancies).
posted by Chrysostom at 8:27 PM on March 29, 2018 [24 favorites]


Nice: Onion Inc. has unionized, under The Writers Guild of America, East. "The new union comprises all of the creative staffs at Onion Inc.: The A.V. Club, The Onion, ClickHole, The Takeout, Onion Labs, and Onion Inc.’s video and art departments."
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:35 PM on March 29, 2018 [90 favorites]


for the Onion makes us strong
posted by clavicle at 9:54 PM on March 29, 2018 [62 favorites]


Worth noting that teachers in Kentucky don't participate in Social Security. At all. The pension changes for new teachers include removing the defined benefit in favor of 401k style cash accounts, and removing the "inviolable contract" guarantee, so retroactive changes in the future would be legal.

It's nothing less than ending any guarantee of retirement for all new teachers in Kentucky and going back to the pre-New Deal.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:58 PM on March 29, 2018 [39 favorites]


ELECTIONS NEWS

** WI special elections - As mentioned earlier, Gov Walker and the legislature have completely folded on their effort not to hold special elections for vacant seats (one in the Assembly, one in the Senate). Both seats were GOP but are considered flippable. The legislature doesn't have any more regular sessions scheduled before November, but incumbency would help whomever wins the specials.

** 2018 Senate:
-- FL: Gov Scott has been playing Hamlet for a while over whether he will jump into the race against incumbent Dem Nelson, but all signs now point to yes, as he has said he's got a big announcement coming April 9. Scott is by far the strongest potential GOP candidate, but Nelson is still favored by a couple of points in all polling. Sen Rubio has also said he will not campaign against Nelson.

-- CA: Survey USA poll has Feinstein with a very strong position of 31 points, with all challengers back in the mid-single digits. [+/- 5%].

-- OH: Survey USA poll has incumbent Dem Brown with a mid-teens lead over all of the potential GOP candidates [+/- 3.5%].

-- PA: Franklin & Marshall poll has Dem incumbent Casey up 43-25 on GOP challenger Barletta [+/- 6.8%].
** AZ-08 special -- Mentioned earlier, the GOP seems surprisingly nervous about an election in a Trump +19 district and are dumping in some bucks (they're up to about $500k from all sources). There's good reason to think this won't be PA-18 redux, but a single digit GOP victory would still be worrisome for the right.

** 2018 House:
-- PA is key to Dem hopes to flip the House.

-- Sabato: Open seats are a huge factor - they are at near record modern highs.

-- Enten: And eight of those open seats voted Clinton. Historically, the White House party never wins these seats...and these seats alone are a third of what the Dems need.

-- Interesting tidbit from that Franklin & Marshall poll - they also asked about the generic ballot. Overall, it was D+7. However, 60% of Ds are 'very interested' in 2018 compared to 41% of Rs. Among the 'very interested', the ballot is D+23[!]. This is why we're seeing bigger margins in special elections, only the very interested turn out for those. The $64 is whether the midterms look more like a special, or more like a regular.
** Odds & ends:
-- A district court has ordered Florida to replace it's current system of felon voter right restoration in the next month. This does not directly require all felons to have their rights restored - that would require the passage of the constitutional amendment that will be on the ballot this year - but does require a more fair and prompt process.

-- Also in that California Survey USA poll, Newsom continuing to lead in the governor race at 22, with Villaraigosa edging Republican Cox for second place (14 and 11) [+/- 5%].

-- Ogden & Fry poll of IL gov race has Dem challenger Pritzker up 46-28 on incumbent GOP Rauner [+/- 3.87%]

-- Looks like the PA GOP effort to impeach state Supreme Court justices over the redistricting decision is probably dead, with House leadership pouring cold water on the idea.

-- Maryland legislature has passed automatic voter registration, by veto-proof majorities. This is broad AVR, covering more kinds of interaction than just DMV stuff. MD will also have a constitutional amendment on the ballot in the fall for same day registration.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:00 PM on March 29, 2018 [46 favorites]


Doktor Zed: Did anyone think Trump was really joking when he said about Xi's abolition of presidential term limits, "He's now president for life. President for life. No, he's great. And look, he was able to do that. I think it's great. Maybe we'll have to give that a shot some day."?

I don't think that he is the kind of person who makes jokes just to be funny. I think that he's the kind of person who uses them as trial balloons... and if it doesn't go well, of course it was a joke, can't you take a joke?

His 'jokes' about things that he wants, including sex with specific people, are never just jokes. They're more of a wish list. Humour isn't a way to enjoy life and the company of others, it's a 'get out of jail free' card. A way to get away with saying something you can't really say.
posted by Too-Ticky at 10:33 PM on March 29, 2018 [91 favorites]


And since you've said it, you can say it again, and if you keep doing that, people might get used to the idea. And then it turns out it's not really a joke anymore. It never was.
posted by Too-Ticky at 10:34 PM on March 29, 2018 [50 favorites]


Missed this before:

Atlanta still grappling with widespread computer hack: officials, Laila Kearney, Reuters
Atlanta is still struggling with its ability to collect online payments of bills and fees, officials said on Monday, four days after a ransomware attack snarled the computer system of Georgia’s capital city.

Hackers caused outages of services offered through the city’s website and broader computer system while demanding a ransom of $51,000 paid in bitcoin to unlock the system.

“This is much bigger than a ransomware attack, this really is an attack on our government,” Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told a news conference. “We are dealing with a (cyber) hostage situation.”

She did not say whether Atlanta would pay the ransom. Atlanta officials said they have determined the hackers’ identity but declined to elaborate. City representatives were not immediately available for further comment.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 11:27 PM on March 29, 2018 [15 favorites]


Another NYTimes opinion on the new VA secretary: Ronny Jackson’s Disturbing Lack of Independence
About the authors: Norman L. Eisen (@NormEisen) is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and was President Obama’s ethics czar from 2009 to 2011. Bandy X.Lee is a forensic psychiatrist at the Yale School of Medicine and a project leader for the World Health Organization.
From the article:
Indeed, the very affability of Dr. Jackson’s approach when it comes to his current presidential patient is perhaps his greatest disqualification, followed closely by his lack of relevant management experience and the apparent absence of a normal pre-nomination personnel vetting.

Dr. Jackson’s January examination of President Trump, and subsequent news conference, give us great pause because they evinced a disturbing lack of independence — one of the most important qualities in a cabinet member. Dr. Jackson startled observers by not only finding the president healthy, but declaring he would remain so in the future. The doctor even looked into his crystal ball to predict good health for a second term, a pronouncement extending seven years into the future and so more fit for a fortuneteller than a scientist.
posted by mumimor at 1:49 AM on March 30, 2018 [32 favorites]


Trump says US will withdraw from Syria 'very soon' / Ryan Browne and Barbara Starr, CNN
President Donald Trump said Thursday that the US would "be coming out of Syria like very soon," just hours after the Pentagon highlighted the need for US troops to remain in the country for the immediate future.

"We're knocking the hell out of ISIS. We'll be coming out of Syria like very soon. Let the other people take care of it now," Trump told supporters at an Ohio event on infrastructure.
"We are going to have 100% of the caliphate, as they call it, sometimes referred to as land ... But we are going to be coming out of there real soon. We are going to get back to our country, where we belong, where we want to be," Trump added.
(Obviously, this comes as a surprise to the US military)
But who are "the other people"? Probably Iran: How Iran Used the Hezbollah Model to Dominate Iraq and Syria Ranj Alaaldin, NYTimes OP-ED.
But these Iranian proxies do not just turn up for battle, fight and return home. Hezbollah’s political prominence and “state within a state” status in Lebanon was once the exception, but now it is a model that is being replicated by other militia groups with devastating impact.
Iran has trained these groups to exploit disorder and fill the vacuum by providing services and security to often desperate communities. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which oversees these proxies, has helped them co-opt or take over local humanitarian organizations and charities as a way of acquiring legitimacy and popularity. Iran has ensured that aid is provided through these proxies.
And as in Iraq, Iran’s proxies in Syria have, in the areas they control, forced out populations that are not Shiite or do not support Iran.
Control over state institutions in Syria has given Iranian proxies a significant say over the purchases of property, enabling them to further consolidate their positions. The eventual goal is to translate their gains into parliamentary seats, ministerial posts and formalized control over state institutions.
The transformation of wartime militias into prominent political actors is exemplified by the evolution of Shiite militias in Iraq into versions of Lebanon’s Hezbollah. The Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia, which gained notoriety for sectarian atrocities and attacks on Western and Iraqi personnel, was established by Iran after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Today it runs extensive social and religious activities, including medical centers and clinics, independently of the Iraqi government.
The language makes all of this look very ominous, and I have met Hizbollah representatives and didn't like them. BUT, in plain language, what the Iranian proxies do that is different from what the US, or Turkey, or ISIS does is stay on an build a civil society with social services. The people supported by the West in Iraq and Syria do nothing of the sort, and thus have less support on the ground.
Same time when I met the Hizbollah guy, I also met a Lebanese lady who lived in an area that had been hardly hit during the civil war. When the war ended and the UN sent millions of dollars for reconstruction, she asked her husband when the money would arrive for their village. He apparently just shrugged, and said all had been taken by the corrupt politicians. She realized that was why the Hezbollah won the hearts and minds of the poor, and started her own movement, but that is all another story. The point is, if "we" want to succeed in the Middle East, "we" need to fight corruption and support civil reconstruction. Which is something no Republican Administration ever can or will. But if "we" don't, Iran will, on a budget.
posted by mumimor at 2:28 AM on March 30, 2018 [44 favorites]


For more on the dynamic between oppressive regimes in the Middle East, Islamist groups, and the social services infrastructure that is provided amidst this power struggle, read Shadi Hamid's excellent Temptations of Power.
It's focused on regimes in North Africa, and their dance with the Muslim Brotherhood's role as a 'state within a state'.
posted by rc3spencer at 4:50 AM on March 30, 2018 [4 favorites]


And apparently nobody in the punditocracy wants to state the bloody obvious: Trump personally hates Amazon because founder Jeff Bezos also owns the Washington Post, the newspaper world's most implacable critic of his administration.

The NYT comes to the Washington Post's defense in its article Trump Attacks Amazon, Saying It Does Not Pay Enough Taxes:
The president has lashed out publicly against the giant company and its chief executive, Jeff Bezos, on Twitter more than a dozen times since 2015. And privately, people close to him said, Mr. Trump repeatedly brings up his disdain for the company, often set off by his anger at negative stories in The Washington Post, which is owned by Mr. Bezos.[...]

Several current and former officials said that Mr. Trump regularly conflates Amazon with The Post. Mr. Bezos owns the paper privately, separate from his role at Amazon.

Brad Parscale, the president’s 2020 campaign manager, on Thursday channeled Mr. Trump’s anger about The Post in a tweet of his own, saying: “Do not forget to mention that @amazon has probably 10x the data on every American that @facebook does. All that data and own a political newspaper, The @washingtonpost. Hmm…”

And far-right, conspiracy-fanning websites — some of which Mr. Trump is known to read — have for months stoked the idea that The Post is in cahoots with the C.I.A. because the agency contracts with Amazon to provide cloud-based data storage. Last November, a headline at one of those sites, Infowars, said: “BEZOS & DEEP STATE UNITE: AMAZON LAUNCHES CLOUD SERVICE FOR CIA.”
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:26 AM on March 30, 2018 [12 favorites]


The Military Banned Waterboarding Trainees Because It Was Too Brutal — And Never Announced It
For years, the U.S. military used waterboarding, a centuries-old torture technique, to train American troops to resist interrogation if captured. Torture apologists have long cited this fact in defense of the CIA’s past use of torture to interrogate terrorist suspects.

Now Gina Haspel, a veteran CIA officer who reportedly oversaw a secret prison where an alleged terrorist was waterboarded, is President Donald Trump’s pick to become the next director of the agency — and some of her supporters are again citing the military’s use of waterboarding to defend her. Bush-era “enhanced interrogation” techniques “were the same as those used on our own people,” Liz Cheney, a Republican congresswoman and the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, tweeted in defense of Haspel earlier this month.

Here’s what Cheney, and other torture apologists, don’t mention — and perhaps don’t know: By 2002, several branches of the military had backed away from using waterboarding in training — and in November 2007, the Pentagon quietly banned it altogether.

The military decided waterboarding “provided no instructional or training benefit to the student,” Thomas Crosson, a Department of Defense spokesman, told HuffPost in an email. Crosson declined to release the 2007 directive forbidding the practice, citing classification issues. The existence of the document has not been previously reported, and HuffPost has requested a copy of it under the Freedom of Information Act.

The military’s decision made sense, veteran military interrogator and intelligence officer Steven Kleinman told HuffPost. Waterboarding “teaches failure,” he said. “No one succeeds. They can’t teach a strategy during that. Literally, it was absolutely so painful.”
posted by chris24 at 5:39 AM on March 30, 2018 [54 favorites]


Waterboarding “teaches failure,” he said. “No one succeeds. They can’t teach a strategy during that. Literally, it was absolutely so painful.”

Oh hey, it's another appearance of learned helplessness, the psychological phenomenon that leftists everywhere should know about. It's something social policy historically has not taken into account, and it should have; if you want to get people back on their feet, part of what you need to do is help them unlearn the expectation that the world is going to crush them no matter what they try.
posted by Merus at 6:02 AM on March 30, 2018 [34 favorites]


Syrian SDF says not informed of any U.S. withdrawal plan
“Our work and coordination (with the coalition) is continuing in the framework of the support program and joint operations in all regions,” SDF spokesman Kino Gabriel told Reuters in a written message.

Referring to Trump’s statement, he said it “was not clear”, and noted “statements that came from other American officials in the American administration did not confirm that or deny it”.

Asked whether the United States would be withdrawing troops from Syria, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said she was not aware of any such plan.
posted by MrVisible at 6:15 AM on March 30, 2018 [3 favorites]


BUT, in plain language, what the Iranian proxies do that is different from what the US, or Turkey, or ISIS does is stay on an build a civil society with social services. The people supported by the West in Iraq and Syria do nothing of the sort, and thus have less support on the ground.

This reminds me of Vietnam. The big difference in degree of failure between the Australians and the Americans in Vietnam was that the Australians are by and large a special forces and peace-keeping force, not a war machine. Australians had already fought jungle counter-insurgencies, and went into villages with the idea that if you get the villagers onside you'll make it a lot easier on yourself. America tried to build 'strategic hamlets'. Australia tended to reinforce the hamlets that were already there.

While both forces lost (Australia put a lot of resources into improving infrastructure for the locals without actually giving them any ownership over it, so the expected gratitude never materialised), the general consensus was that the Australians tested the Vietcong a lot more than the Americans. It's a little disappointing that America didn't actually learn anything from their junior partners.

(How good would it be if Iran's plan to rebuild these countries actually resulted in a bunch of new modern, liberal countries though. It's hard to build a liberal country with an armed insurgency though.)
posted by Merus at 6:24 AM on March 30, 2018 [3 favorites]


(How good would it be if Iran's plan to rebuild these countries actually resulted in a bunch of new modern, liberal countries though. It's hard to build a liberal country with an armed insurgency though.)
posted by Merus at 6:24 AM on March 30 [+] [!]


Not going to happen anytime soon. Regardless of which faction is in power in Iran, the groups they support are hardline Islamists. Not as radical as ISIS or Boko Haram, but very clear that liberal societies are not their thing.
The people I met (as part of a group) reminded me a lot of the illiberal radical left, very focused on social and economic justice, not so much on democracy and human rights.
posted by mumimor at 6:32 AM on March 30, 2018 [7 favorites]


Kentucky is up to 15 counties closed this morning, although I believe a couple of these were already planned or are closed for flooding.
posted by kimdog at 6:42 AM on March 30, 2018 [14 favorites]


Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting [in 2016 Presidential Election] while on probation, Meagan Flynn, WaPo
The 43-year-old former tax preparer hadn’t even planned on voting until her mother encouraged her to do it. She had only recently been released from federal prison for a 2012 tax fraud conviction, in which she pleaded guilty to inflating returns for her clients, her attorney, J. Warren St. John, told The Washington Post. [...]

The case is yet another illustration of Texas’s zealous crackdown on voter fraud, a problem that state GOP leaders have described as “rampant” in the past but for which they have yet to provide hard proof, save for isolated cases such as Mason’s. [...]

On the day of the presidential election, Nov 8., 2016, Mason arrived at her polling place to find that her name wasn’t on the voter roll, St. John said.

An election worker offered to help, he said, and presented her with a provisional ballot, which allows a person to cast a vote as long as they certify they are eligible by signing an affidavit. [...]

Ultimately, her vote didn’t even count. Provisional ballots are subject to review, which ultimately led to an investigation of Mason.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 6:52 AM on March 30, 2018 [22 favorites]


One Health and Human Services employee swore off online dating after potential suitors repeatedly got upset that he worked for the Trump administration. An Education Department fellow eagerly returned to teaching after listening to Betsy DeVos bash public schools. And one Environmental Protection Agency official said staffers are distraught at having to personally dismantle regulations they spent years crafting.

This is Donald Trump’s government 14 months into his presidency.
posted by The Whelk at 6:58 AM on March 30, 2018 [47 favorites]


Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting [in 2016 Presidential Election] while on probation

And Hans von Spakovsky and Kris Kobach and the rest of their New Jim Crow squad, who had their disgustingly racist voter suppression shenanigans exposed as actual fraud will not just walk free, but be able continue to peddle their BS to the highest levels of state and federal governments.
posted by zombieflanders at 7:07 AM on March 30, 2018 [24 favorites]


...Onion Inc. has unionized...

Never forget, workers: "There is power in an Onion"!
There is power in a factory, power in the land
Power in the hands of a worker
But it all amounts to nothing if together we don't stand
There is power in The Onion

Now the lessons of the past were all learned with workers' blood
The mistakes of the bosses we must pay for
From the cities and the farmlands to trenches full of mud
War has always been the bosses' way, sir

The Onion forever defending our rights
Down with the blackleg, all workers unite
With our brothers and our sisters from many far off lands
There is power in The Onion

Now I long for the morning that they realise
Brutality and unjust laws can not defeat us
But who'll defend the workers who cannot organise
When the bosses send their lackeys out to cheat us?

Money speaks for money, the Devil for his own
Who comes to speak for the skin and the bone
What a comfort to the widow, a light to the child
There is power in The Onion

The Onion forever defending our rights
Down with the blackleg, all workers unite
With our brothers and our sisters from many far off lands
There is power in The Onion
posted by wenestvedt at 7:15 AM on March 30, 2018 [14 favorites]


Boom? The Guardian, FBI questions Ted Malloch, Trump campaign figure and Farage ally
A controversial London-based academic with close ties to Nigel Farage has been detained by the FBI upon arrival in the US and issued a subpoena to testify before Robert Mueller, the special counsel who is investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

Ted Malloch, an American touted last year as a possible candidate to serve as US ambassador to the EU, said he was interrogated by the FBI at Boston’s Logan airport on Wednesday following a flight from London and questioned about his involvement in the Trump campaign.

In a statement sent to the Guardian, Malloch, who described himself as a policy wonk and defender of Trump, said the FBI also asked him about his relationship with Roger Stone, the Republican strategist, and whether he had ever visited the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has resided for nearly six years.
Just Security, House Intel Committee Findings Contradict Kushner’s Testimony
When Kushner read the report’s “Finding #32” he was surely disappointed. That’s because the Committee’s stated conclusion contradicts Kushner’s written statement to Congress concerning the important June 9 meeting with Russians in Trump Tower. The Committee’s finding states that Kushner, Donald Trump Jr., and Paul Manafort attended the meeting “where they expected to receive…derogatory information on candidate Clinton from Russian sources.”

That line in the Committee’s findings is generally consistent with what Trump Jr. told Congress he expected to receive at the meeting. It is highly inconsistent with what Kushner told Congress.

Kushner’s written statement to Congress, which his lawyers released publicly, denied that he knew what the June 9th meeting was going to be about. That’s at least the most plausible, if not universal understanding, of what Kushner wrote (read, for example, this line-by-line annotation of Kushner’s statement by former federal prosecutor turned defense attorney Renato Mariotti at Just Security). Even the most charitable reading of Kushner’s statement is that he did not directly and unequivocally state he had no foreknowledge of the meeting’s purpose, but that he nevertheless sought to leave the clear impression, with Congress and the public, that he did not know the purpose of the meeting before attending.
...
The implication is fairly clear: there’s a high likelihood Kushner’s submitted statements of fact that the House Committee has determined to be false–perhaps without the GOP committee members’ realizing the contradiction.
Lawfare, Susan Landau, Revelations on the FBI’s Unlocking of the San Bernardino iPhone: Maybe the Future Isn't Going Dark After All, in which an Inspector General report reveals the FBI has been full of crap about locked cell phones, to the extent that one official was upset that the phone was unlocked because it meant they couldn't keep using the high profile case to wage its legal battle against Apple to demand they build a backdoor.

Miami Herald, Black Marjory Stoneman Douglas students want the movement to include their voices too
Kai Koerber, a 17-year-old Marjory Stoneman Douglas student, returned to school after the shooting to see his slain classmates’ empty desks turned into memorials — and a campus swarming with police officers. To him, extra cops around doesn’t mean more people to protect him; it means more chances to become a victim of police brutality.

Kai worries that police will racially profile students and treat them as “potential criminals,” particularly students of color.

“It’s bad enough we have to return with clear backpacks,” he said. “Should we also return with our hands up?”
The folks at design firm Fathom made a visual map of Trump-Russia: Outline for a Dostoyevsky Novel. It's quite the graphic.

And during his speech yesterday, "Trump introduces his daughters: "Ivanka, who is working hard on infrastructure,” and "Tiffany."" @aedwardslevy:
the wise child
the wicked child
the child who is working hard on infrastructure
tiffany
posted by zachlipton at 7:17 AM on March 30, 2018 [78 favorites]


Good News Dept: The Georgia GOP's effort (SB363) to reduce voting time in Atlanta and end Sunday early voting died in the Senate Rules Committee.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:23 AM on March 30, 2018 [43 favorites]


There is power in The Onion

But I never harmed an onion!
posted by Melismata at 7:24 AM on March 30, 2018 [3 favorites]


the wise child
the wicked child
the child who is working hard on infrastructure
tiffany

🎶Angelica-aaaa!🎶
🎶Eliza-aaaa!🎶
and Tiffany.
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:27 AM on March 30, 2018 [47 favorites]


I called my Republican Senator Joni Ernst's office and thanked her for joining all other woman Senators in signing a letter demanding that Mitch McConnell provide a vote on reforms to the Congressional Accountability Act re sexual harassment. I noted that Chuck Schumer had issued a statement in support of the letter, whereas Mitch McConnell had said nothing, which is not surprising because he is a terrible human being. I applauded my Senator's bipartisan action and suggested that, as Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish noted, any two of Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Joni Ernst, Deb Fischer and Shelley Moore Capito could make pretty much anything they want happen by denying Mitch McConnell a Senate majority, and until they do so, they are rank hypocrites enabling an agenda of Constitutional destruction and the descent of our country into chaos and authoritarian rule in which the President is more like a King above the law. The staffer thanked me and said she would pass my message along
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 7:36 AM on March 30, 2018 [68 favorites]


You will be shocked to learn that Rep Blake Farenthold still hasn't repaid that sexual harassment settlement money.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:49 AM on March 30, 2018 [21 favorites]




Something that popped in my head - with Trump looking to include the citizenship question on the census, is there anything preventing the next administration from showing evidence of a drastic undercount and calling another census?
posted by azpenguin at 8:22 AM on March 30, 2018


NYT Breaking: Russia Will Expel 150 Diplomats, as Tensions With West Reach Fever Pitch

As usual, Trump has yet to respond publicly to this, instead trotting out Sarah Huckabee Sanders once again to issue a toothless statement: "Russia’s response was not unanticipated, and the United States will deal with it."
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:26 AM on March 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


But who are "the other people"? Probably Iran

They are of course a proxy/client state and armament customer for Russia.

Putin is doing a decent job of getting a lot of oil under his umbrella.
posted by srboisvert at 8:30 AM on March 30, 2018 [2 favorites]


Something that popped in my head - with Trump looking to include the citizenship question on the census, is there anything preventing the next administration from showing evidence of a drastic undercount and calling another census?

The fifty million other things like that also to be dealt with, probably.
posted by Artw at 8:32 AM on March 30, 2018 [9 favorites]


"Russia’s response was not unanticipated, and the United States will deal with it."

said Sanders, right before putting on a pair of rockin' shades and zooming away on a skateboard.
posted by Strange Interlude at 8:36 AM on March 30, 2018 [7 favorites]


Yeah, unfortunately, a "re-census" done after 2020 would be politically toxic beyond words, and God knows what the Supreme Court would say.

The only exception I can imagine is if undercounting were devastating in ways that go beyond the suppressive effects of the citizenship question and into total Trumpian mendacity -- as in, the 2020 census reports that California now has a population of one thousand people while Oklahoma boasts an impressive half-billion. (While that's... probably... not going to be the result, one can definitely imagine the Infowars crowd running with that one, Donald making noises that "it could be true, who knows?", and so on.)
posted by InTheYear2017 at 8:48 AM on March 30, 2018 [2 favorites]


Noor Salaman acquitted.

They were going really hard to punish her for her husband’s massacre.
posted by Talez at 8:48 AM on March 30, 2018 [14 favorites]


Nobody could possibly have seen this coming:

WaPo: Behind the chaos: Office that vets Trump appointees plagued by inexperience
As key government posts went unfilled, inexperienced White House office tasked with hiring was a social hub that hosted happy hours.
The Presidential Personnel Office (PPO) ... has far-reaching influence as a gateway for the appointed officials who carry out the president’s policies and run federal agencies. Under President Trump ... it has served as a refuge for young campaign workers, a stopover for senior officials on their way to other posts and a source of jobs for friends and family, a Washington Post investigation found. One senior staffer has had four relatives receive appointments through the office.

On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to surround himself “only with the best and most serious people,” but his administration has been buffeted by failed appointments and vacancies in key posts.
posted by RedOrGreen at 8:50 AM on March 30, 2018 [23 favorites]


Stone has fully turned on his former padawan. Something really hit a nerve.

Daily Beast: Roger Stone: Sam Nunberg Is a ‘Lying Asshole’ and ‘Psycho’

Roger Stone, a longtime confidant of Trump’s, took to his personal Instagram page on Thursday to call fellow ex-aide Sam Nunberg, a man who once viewed Stone as a mentor, a “psycho” and a "lying asshole."

Stone posted another video of himself smoking a cigar late last night in which he went further to criticize his former friend. “Sam Nunberg is a cocaine addict,” Stone said. “And any news organization that takes anything he said seriously is courting a serious lawsuit. Coke head.”


Watch that video and tell me Stone's demeanor doesn't scream cocaine or some other upper.
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:50 AM on March 30, 2018 [31 favorites]


Notice Stone has to respond on Instagram because he was too abusive for Twitter.
posted by Talez at 8:54 AM on March 30, 2018 [14 favorites]


The "Guccifer 2.0 == GRU" reveal has Stone well shook, I imagine.

Not sure who he thinks is the target of this rant. Nunberg has already spilled his guts to Mueller. I doubt that the prosecutor's office is going to consider Stone as a reliable witness to Nunberg's character when considering his testimony.
posted by murphy slaw at 8:58 AM on March 30, 2018 [2 favorites]


Thanks for the writing prompt East Manitoba. Resistbot letter sent.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 9:03 AM on March 30, 2018 [4 favorites]


The Trump administration is proceeding with plans to require immigration applicants to submit 5 years of social media history. They say that "The decision will not take effect immediately -- the publication of the planned change to visa applications on Friday will start a 60-day clock for the public to comment on the move" but considering what happened with the FCC's net neutrality comment period (majority of comments were found to be fake, but the FCC ignored the finding), does anyone believe the outcome is not predetermined?
posted by StrawberryPie at 9:17 AM on March 30, 2018 [23 favorites]


Hawaii’s Top Lawmakers Unite Against Gov. Ige’s Re-Election [Chad Blair; Civil Beat]
Top leaders at the Hawaii State Legislature are throwing the full power of their legislative offices behind Colleen Hanabusa in her bid to unseat David Ige for the governor’s office.

Senate President Ron Kouchi, House Speaker Scott Saiki, Senate Ways and Means Chair Donovan Dela Cruz and House Finance Committee Chair Sylvia Luke signed a fundraising letter on Hanabusa campaign letterhead criticizing Ige for his leadership of Hawaii and seeking support for Hanabusa.
(Note: Hanabusa is currently the rep for HI-01.)
posted by melissasaurus at 9:26 AM on March 30, 2018 [2 favorites]


Stone posted another video of himself smoking a cigar late last night in which he went further to criticize his former friend. “Sam Nunberg is a cocaine addict,” Stone said. “And any news organization that takes anything he said seriously is courting a serious lawsuit. Coke head.”

rats, sinking ship
posted by philip-random at 9:45 AM on March 30, 2018 [3 favorites]


The Trump administration is proceeding with plans to require immigration applicants to submit 5 years of social media history.

Does this apply to all non-citizens, or just those who need visas? Will citizens of countries in the Visa Waiver Program be affected?
posted by acb at 9:45 AM on March 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


Inside the lobbying campaign that caught Mueller's attention

interesting how Trump could well be aiding and abetting the draining of the swamp -- just not how he intended (not that he ever really intended to -- I wonder if he has a functional grasp of the concept of irony).
posted by philip-random at 9:49 AM on March 30, 2018 [4 favorites]


melissasaurus: "Hawaii’s Top Lawmakers Unite Against Gov. Ige’s Re-Election"

The interesting aspect of Ige getting primaried out is that Ige himself gained office by primarying out the previous sitting governor.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:53 AM on March 30, 2018 [2 favorites]


Does this apply to all non-citizens, or just those who need visas? Will citizens of countries in the Visa Waiver Program be affected?

It appears this will only apply to applicants for immigrant visas (i.e., not non-immigrant visas, such as visitor visas, student visas, H-1B and other temporary work visas, etc.) and since the proposal specifies changes to Form DS-260, it appears it will only apply to cases handled outside the continental U.S. via consular processing, as Form DS-260 is not required for applicants already in the United States and applying for adjustment of status.

Please also note that the process of filling out Form DS-260 is already a nightmare. It must be done online, and it takes about an hour under the best of circumstances. The system is prone to errors including crashing, booting users out mid-session, and deleting data. The additional questions, issues of privacy aside, will likely double the amount of time it takes to complete the form.
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:02 AM on March 30, 2018 [10 favorites]


"Hawaii’s Top Lawmakers Unite Against Gov. Ige’s Re-Election"

The interesting aspect of Ige getting primaried out is that Ige himself gained office by primarying out the previous sitting governor.


New York could learn a lot of lessons on how to be an actual liberal state, instead of Cuomo's personal feifdom, from Hawaii.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:04 AM on March 30, 2018 [19 favorites]


If you're curious about the governor situation in Hawaii , here is an overview .
posted by Joey Michaels at 10:08 AM on March 30, 2018 [5 favorites]


The Trump administration is proceeding with plans to require immigration applicants to submit 5 years of social media history.

You want my social media history? You can't handle my social media history!

Mostly because it is about 1 terabyte of cat photos.
posted by srboisvert at 10:09 AM on March 30, 2018 [22 favorites]


The Trump Make America Great Again Committee -- a joint fundraising operation run by President Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee -- is running a campaign advertisement on toxic conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ YouTube channel.

except wait a second ...

"I am off the Trump Train."

A man in the wilderness admits he was wrong.
posted by philip-random at 10:11 AM on March 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


"I am off the Trump Train."

A man in the wilderness admits he was wrong.


No he doesn't. Here's the end of the video:

"The President's not a dictator, like I've said 10 times already, probably. So that's it: are you smart enough to figure this out? You gonna buy a bunch of BS from Republican bluebloods just waiting to make their move? The Establishment's crapping its britches right now because they know this is the real restoration of our Republic, and they know the engine of America can lead the world into incredible prosperity. But you've had prosperity so long, some of you, maybe you don't appreciate it. So to all the Republicans and all the Democrats: if you like being smugs keep watching the mainstream media. As for me, I trust Trump and so far he hasn't steered us wrong."

Don't let Jones troll you.
posted by Rust Moranis at 10:34 AM on March 30, 2018 [45 favorites]


Does this apply to all non-citizens, or just those who need visas? Will citizens of countries in the Visa Waiver Program be affected?

It appears this will only apply to applicants for immigrant visas


FYI: On that CNN link, there is a separate pdf link for the word "notices" and for the word "submitted." One goes to the notice for immigrant visas, and the other goes to the notice for non-immigrant visas.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 10:34 AM on March 30, 2018 [2 favorites]


"I am off the Trump Train."

A man in the wilderness admits he was wrong.

I'm just not going to look at 26 minutes of Alex Jones. What did he say?
posted by mumimor at 10:35 AM on March 30, 2018 [3 favorites]


In a revelation that no one could have foreseen, Interior Sec Zinke's surprise exclusion of Florida from offshore drilling was in fact worked out ahead of time with GOP Gov Scott.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:35 AM on March 30, 2018 [32 favorites]


Some more uplifting news: California millennials are diving into politics in the age of Trump (Stephanie Buck, Quartz).
In California, millennial liberalism is even more pronounced. Climate change is a strong concern, as well, with seven in ten California millennials considering global warming a serious threat to the state’s economy and quality of life, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. The age group is more likely to support California setting its own climate policies, separate from the federal government.
Keep on keepin' Cali blue, millennials (and everyone else)! Those of you in other states, a nice blue state with a functioning government can be yours, eventually, if you get out and vote! #BlueWave2018
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 10:40 AM on March 30, 2018 [14 favorites]


Roseanne Barr celebrated her big ratings win by calling one of the Parkland shooting survivors a Nazi.

Roseanne the Nazi baker? Surely not! Can't say that I'm ... all that surprised ...

In other insane news about vile people, Wikileaks is trying to hook up the internet-less Julian with Jordan Peterson. But you know Peterson's just going to tell him to clean his room, fuck a lobster or something.
posted by octobersurprise at 10:50 AM on March 30, 2018 [12 favorites]


The Final Surrender of Anti-Trump Conservatism, Jon Chait
Just as September 4, A.D. 476, is the somewhat arbitrary date many historians choose as the end of the Roman Empire, March 28, 2018, could be picked as the moment of the final collapse of conservative opposition to Donald Trump. The symbolic equivalent of the last Roman emperor being deposed by Odoacer is a column by National Review editor Rich Lowry. Two years ago, Lowry’s magazine famously published a special issue denouncing Trump. Now Lowry acknowledges Trump is, and is likely to remain, a conservative Republican in good standing, and that “the coterie of his critics among writers and activists on the Right—loosely referred to as Never Trump—often sound like they are in denial.” It is the final surrender after a long decline.

Lowry argues that, contrary to the predictions by Never Trump conservatives that Trump would betray the movement in office, he has hewed tightly to doctrine as president.
me now
posted by the man of twists and turns at 10:55 AM on March 30, 2018 [8 favorites]


Richulus Lowrustulus.
posted by octobersurprise at 10:57 AM on March 30, 2018 [5 favorites]


FYI: On that CNN link, there is a separate pdf link for the word "notices" and for the word "submitted." One goes to the notice for immigrant visas, and the other goes to the notice for non-immigrant visas.

You are correct. I've never had to deal with Form I-160, but this is hot garbage. Everybody, please follow the directions to comment on both notices and point out how absurd it is to subject prospective visitors and immigrants to the United States to more scrutiny than that applied to presidential candidates.
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:02 AM on March 30, 2018 [13 favorites]


Spokesman Jahan Wilcox told reporters Pruitt paid $50-a-night to lease a single bedroom in the three-story brick building

Not just $50/night, but apparently he only had to pay the lobbyists (one of whom represents energy clients) on nights he actually stayed there. Despite the insistence of EPA's ethics counsel that this is all fine, that's way below market for DC (I've been traveling for a few weeks and am laughing so hard at the dream of just not paying rent for the days I'm not home), which raises the obvious conclusion he broke the law in accepting the place.
posted by zachlipton at 11:05 AM on March 30, 2018 [21 favorites]


Vindaloo: "So, is there any hope that the current round of mass protest, March for Our Lives, will be a catalyst for actual change? Because I remember similar optimism around the Occupy Wall Street movement and we all know how that ended (with a barely audible whimper). Apologies, but I'm getting old and cynical."

Related from 538, stuff that's already been effected by the Stoneman Douglas kids. Obviously, not nearly enough change, but there is a clear difference from past mass killings.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:15 AM on March 30, 2018 [13 favorites]


'Crime scene' projected onto Trump hotel, Rebecca Savransky, The Hill [with pics]
The projection included the words "Crime Scene — Do Not Enter" displayed on a yellow background.

It also included the phrase "It's Stormy Out," a reference to the ongoing controversy over Stormy Daniels, an adult-film actress who claims she had an affair with President Trump more than a decade ago.

It also used the phrases "Conflict of Interest Zone" and "Investigate Trump."

The projection came after a federal judge on Wednesday rejected Trump's push to dismiss a lawsuit accusing him of violating the Constitution by collecting profits from his luxury hotel in the nation's capital. [...]

This is not the first time phrases have been projected on the hotel. [...] Washington, D.C.-based artist Robin Bell typically claims credit for the projections. Bell tweeted the "Crime Scene" projection on Wednesday night.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 11:32 AM on March 30, 2018 [20 favorites]


Texas Woman Gets 5 Years In Prison For Unintentional Illegal Vote In 2016

Why yes she is African American, how did you know?
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:41 AM on March 30, 2018 [73 favorites]


Texas Woman Gets 5 Years In Prison For Unintentional Illegal Vote In 2016
---
Why yes she is African American, how did you know?


Meanwhile in NC, a woman who illegally voted for Trump a second time for her recently deceased mother wasn't charged by the DA out of compassion.

Yes she's white.
posted by chris24 at 11:51 AM on March 30, 2018 [117 favorites]


This can all be fixed by letting felons vote. If America has the highest incarceration rate and many of those are felons, that also means we have the highest disenfranchisement rate, right?
posted by runcibleshaw at 11:54 AM on March 30, 2018 [12 favorites]


Sure. Why not make this story even weirder? It's Friday afternoon after all. ABC News, EXCLUSIVE: Pruitt's EPA security broke down door to lobbyist condo
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s protective detail broke down the door at the Capitol Hill condo where he was living, believing he was unconscious and unresponsive and needed rescue, in a bizarre incident last year that the EPA has for months refused to discuss, according to sources and police radio traffic obtained by ABC News.

The incident occurred in the late afternoon on March 29, 2017 at the Capitol Hill address Pruitt was renting, which was co-owned by the wife of a top energy lobbyist. A Capitol Police officer called 911 at the behest of Pruitt’s security detail, which had tried unsuccessfully to reach him by phone, and by banging on the building’s front door, according to police recordings obtained by ABC News.
...
The protective detail then broke down the building’s glass-paneled front door and ascended two flights to Pruitt’s $50-a-night bedroom, where two sources tell ABC News he was found groggy, rising from a nap. It is unclear what led to the panic that caused the response. Pruitt declined medical attention, and a police report was never filed.

The EPA eventually agreed to reimburse the condo owner for the damage to the door, a source familiar with the arrangement told ABC News. EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox did not respond to requests for information on the incident or the reimbursement payments.
Great. Now we all had to buy the lobbyist a new door for Pruitt's profoundly unethical below-market living arrangement.
posted by zachlipton at 11:56 AM on March 30, 2018 [51 favorites]


Texas Woman Gets 5 Years In Prison For Unintentional Illegal Vote In 2016
---
Why yes she is African American, how did you know?

Meanwhile in NC, a woman who illegally voted for Trump a second time for her recently deceased mother wasn't charged by the DA out of compassion.

Yes she's white.


Cf also Terri Lynn Rote, Iowa woman who intentionally tried to vote twice for Trump, pled guilty to felony election misconduct, and was facing two years probation and community service as of summer 2017 (can't find update on actual sentencing).

The reddit thread for this news item contains other examples.

Ugh.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 12:06 PM on March 30, 2018 [32 favorites]


Capitol Police officer called 911 at the behest of Pruitt’s security detail, which had tried unsuccessfully to reach him by phone, and by banging on the building’s front door, according to police recordings obtained by ABC News.

Probably just dozed off in one of his taxpayer-funded soundproof paranoia booths.
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:07 PM on March 30, 2018 [7 favorites]


But you know Peterson's just going to tell him to clean his room, fuck a lobster or something

“Keep fucking that chicken lobster, Julian!”
posted by acb at 12:12 PM on March 30, 2018 [2 favorites]


Re: Texas Woman Gets 5 Years In Prison For Unintentional Illegal Vote In 2016

Also, her quote at the end:
“I don’t think I’ll ever vote again,” she told the news outlet after her indictment. “That’s being honest. I’ll never vote again.”
Again, voter disenfranchisement, suppression, and discouragement. How many other people will stay home rather than risk some unforeseen legal trouble?
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 12:20 PM on March 30, 2018 [57 favorites]


“I don’t think I’ll ever vote again,” she told the news outlet after her indictment. “That’s being honest. I’ll never vote again.”

Since individual votes rarely decide elections, choosing not to vote is often in a individual person's rational self-interest. Putting inessential barriers of any kind between a person and their vote ensures that election results do not show a true reckoning of the electorate's preferences, and causes under-representation of entire demographic groups. This is what Republican politicians depend on for their survival, and it must be combated wherever it occurs.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:24 PM on March 30, 2018 [30 favorites]


None of this, again, was normal for prior EPA heads

To be fair, none of the previous EPA heads have been comic book villains out of Captain Planet intentionally trying to destroy the Earth.
posted by T.D. Strange at 12:24 PM on March 30, 2018 [20 favorites]


I'm just not going to look at 26 minutes of Alex Jones. What did he say?

25 minutes of nonsense followed by "Psych!"
posted by scalefree at 12:30 PM on March 30, 2018 [8 favorites]


Since individual votes rarely decide elections

Bush won the 2000 election by 537 votes.
Or "won," whatever.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:34 PM on March 30, 2018 [19 favorites]


My point isn't that elections are rarely close but that elections are rarely decided by a single vote, meaning that it can be hard to persuade someone that their individual vote will make a difference. Votes in the aggregate are of course vital and decide every election.

This is one reason I fantasize about mandatory voting.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:40 PM on March 30, 2018 [5 favorites]


Russian accused of massive U.S. hacking is extradited, pleads not guilty, Jan Lopatka and Jonathan Stempel, Reuters
A Russian man on Friday pleaded not guilty to charges he hacked three U.S. technology companies, potentially compromising personal details of more than 100 million users, including on LinkedIn, after being extradited from the Czech Republic.

Yevgeniy Nikulin, 30, of Moscow, entered his plea in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, after having fought his extradition following his 2016 arrest in Prague. [...]

The U.S. Department of Justice accused Nikulin of illegally accessing computers belonging to U.S.-based social media firms LinkedIn, Dropbox and Formspring in 2012, including by using the credentials of LinkedIn and Formspring employees. [...]

“Computer hacking is not just a crime, it is a direct threat to the security and privacy of Americans,” U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. “This is deeply troubling behavior once again emanating from Russia,” he continued. “We will not tolerate criminal cyber-attacks and will make it a priority to investigate and prosecute these crimes, regardless of the country where they originate.” [...]

The decision by Czech Justice Minister Robert Pelikan to extradite Nikulin defied Russia, which had also sought his extradition. Courts in the Czech Republic, a U.S. ally and part of the European Union, had said extradition to both countries was permissible, and the decision was up to Pelikan. Prime Minister Andrej Babis has said he favored extradition to the United States, but Pelikan said President Milos Zeman, who often takes a pro-Russian stance, had urged extradition to Russia.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 12:41 PM on March 30, 2018 [9 favorites]


I know it won't happen but I would really love to see some kind of legal outcome that resulted in the owners of Pruitt's $50/night condo having to either rent it at that rate to a DC renter selected by lottery from anybody who applied or else be forced to admit that their arrangement with the EPA head was a criminally corrupt enticement intended to influence a cabinet-level official. Which, in my opinion, it very obviously was. But I'm sure some DC family less well off than Pruitt could probably really use access to some affordable housing at that rate..

Granted, Pruitt is not among the billionaires in this cabinet but one of the most disgusting things about the people surrounding Trump is that so many of them have no need whatsoever to sell themselves for even more money, and yet they cannot or will not refrain from doing so anyway. I really do hope that consequences await most of them but we have a pathetically weak track record, as a country, of holding the powerful accountable.
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:47 PM on March 30, 2018 [16 favorites]


ThinkProgress has your regular dose of Milo Yiannopoulos 𝕾𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖓𝖋𝖗𝖊𝖚𝖉𝖊
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:00 PM on March 30, 2018 [13 favorites]




What Really Went on at Russia’s Seattle Consulate? The closure of the facility could limit military and tech-industry espionage—and leaves Russia with no diplomatic presence on the West Coast. Zach Dorfman, Politico
While Seattle is an important city for Russian intelligence collection efforts domestically, its consulate’s profile has generally been quieter than San Francisco’s or New York’s, according to two former U.S. intelligence officials who asked to remain anonymous but have knowledge of Russian activities in these areas. But the closure of the consulate is noteworthy nonetheless: Along with the administration’s shuttering of the San Francisco consulate in 2017, Russia will now lack a diplomatic facility west of Houston, or any diplomatic presence on the West Coast for the first time since 1971. Russian intelligence officers—at least those under diplomatic cover—will no longer operate in easy proximity to America’s two great tech capitals. Indeed, at least in Seattle, suspected Russia spies have already been caught attempting to infiltrate local tech companies. [...]

In the past, suspected intel operatives based at Russia’s Seattle consulate were observed engaging in the same sorts of behavior as their counterparts in San Francisco, the two former intel officials said, including tracking down potential fiber-optic nodes (as part of Russia’s long-term effort to map where data were being transferred), or Cold War-era intelligence-collection sites, in Northwestern forests. U.S. officials also believed Russian operatives were traveling to remote beaches in the area in order to “signal,” or cryptically transmit and receive data, with interlocutors offshore. (There was a specific beach in Oregon these individuals would favor, the two former officials said.) [...]

The biggest Russia-related concern in Seattle was “cyber-related activities,” which were separate from the consulate, the two former officials said—including those of the local Kaspersky Labs affiliate. [...]
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 1:08 PM on March 30, 2018 [10 favorites]


Michael Cohen’s lawyer gets laughed at by studio audience during disastrous NBC interview "They are laughing at you openly, David."

Holy fuck, he admits Cohen did it because it would be damaging to Trump right before the election. Hello FEC.
Kelly asked a basic question: Why would Michael Cohen make this payment on Trump’s behalf? Schwartz responded that the decision was motivated, in part, by the proximity to the election.

“You gotta see the way this all comes down,” Schwartz said, “First off he got approached, OK, he got approached 19 days or 15 days before the election. It’ll take $130,000 to make this go away.”

In other words, Cohen was motivated because he understood the story would be damaging to Trump’s chances in the upcoming election. He is speaking on behalf of his client, and this is just about the worst possible answer Schwartz could provide.
And then admits Cohen physically threatens people.
Kelly asked Schwartz if Cohen had “threatened people in the past in vulgar and intimidating terms?” After some hemming and hawing by Schwartz, Kelly asked again, “He has threatened people. He has threatened people who are on the opposite side of Donald Trump, has he not? In vulgar, profane, and intimidating terms?”

Schwartz responded by essentially saying, yes, Cohen has made such threats in the past. “I have heard that through the grapevine,” Schwartz said, eliciting laughter from the audience. He was, after all, there to represent Cohen’s interests.
THE. BEST. PEOPLE.
posted by chris24 at 1:13 PM on March 30, 2018 [87 favorites]


Come on, writers. Nobody this stupid passes the bar.

A real lawyer would say something like "Did my client threaten people? Look, I don't know. You don't know. We don't know. People are saying he has and they have screenshots of emails. Do you know how easy those are to fake? Nobody has thought for a second 'hey this could be a political hitjob with fabricated evidence' and because my client is an employee for a controversial political figure this is entirely possible. Are there any phone calls? Are there any video? This is the age of cell phone cameras and surreptitious recording devices and nobody has caught my client on tape? Come on."
posted by Talez at 1:23 PM on March 30, 2018 [17 favorites]


anem0ne: Is it just me or does Michael Cohen's lawyer look a lot of Chris Cillizza?

A solid possibility for this timeline. "While secretly moonlighting under the name David Schwartz, I threw my client under the bus on behalf of his client, POTUS. The downside? My possible disbarment. I'll be lucky if I can return back to full-time punditry. The upside? It's something new for people tired of the Stormy story to talk about. Could definitely move the 2018 needle"
posted by InTheYear2017 at 1:25 PM on March 30, 2018 [2 favorites]


OK Trump just lost all the women. Except Roseanne who must have drunk something vicious.
posted by mumimor at 1:32 PM on March 30, 2018


Was there some kind of crazy mix up where Stormy Daniels' original lawyer who got her into the shitty NDA and Michael Cohen's lawyer who throws him under the bus constantly got like hired on Opposite Day or Freaky Friday'd or something?
posted by jason_steakums at 1:37 PM on March 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


OK Trump just lost all the women.

Did I miss something particularly vile and misogynistic today or is this just a comment on the more generalized aura of garbage that surrounds the President?
posted by Justinian at 1:41 PM on March 30, 2018 [16 favorites]


Did I miss something particularly vile and misogynistic today or is this just a comment on the more generalized aura of garbage that surrounds the President?
Just watch one of the Schwartz on Kelly videos.
posted by mumimor at 1:44 PM on March 30, 2018


Yes, watch all of the David Schwartz on Megyn Kelly videos, it's something special.

In other words, Cohen was motivated because he understood the story would be damaging to Trump’s chances in the upcoming election. He is speaking on behalf of his client, and this is just about the worst possible answer Schwartz could provide.

For this gang I feel like "passing the bar" refers to handing an associate a piece of scaffolding.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:50 PM on March 30, 2018 [9 favorites]


Come on, writers. Nobody this stupid passes the bar.

OTOH, Orly Taitz is still out there. But, yeah, maybe the lawyer's lawyer should hire a lawyer.
posted by octobersurprise at 1:56 PM on March 30, 2018 [9 favorites]


A bit of trivia that surfaced on Twitter: According to his Linkedin, David Schwartz got his law degree from Touro College, the same august institution that granted Sam Nunberg his law degree. It's been a real banner year for the fine alumni of Touro College's Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center.
posted by mhum at 2:00 PM on March 30, 2018 [24 favorites]


Guys I think maybe Trump hired Cohen and Cohen hired Schwartz because they're thugs and not because they're good lawyers.
posted by kirkaracha at 2:07 PM on March 30, 2018 [40 favorites]


"NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 2018 as National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month."

🙃
posted by zachlipton at 2:14 PM on March 30, 2018 [42 favorites]


If The Good Wife taught me anything, it's that lawyers themselves need better representation than a normal lawyer can provide; they need otherworldly, deceptively-distractible fairy-god-lawyers.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 2:16 PM on March 30, 2018 [11 favorites]


"NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 2018 as National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month."

What?
posted by mumimor at 2:18 PM on March 30, 2018 [3 favorites]


I'm just surprised he didn't sign it with donald-john: trump and affix a postage stamp to it.
posted by Talez at 2:20 PM on March 30, 2018 [4 favorites]


"NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 2018 as National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month."

They told him if he issued this proclamation on Sunday, it would be just a little too on the nose.
posted by hanov3r at 2:21 PM on March 30, 2018 [16 favorites]


It's been a real banner year for the fine alumni of Touro College's Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center.

I was about to say it wouldn't be surprising if it becomes kind of a self-perpetuating pattern, as the school attracts more prospectives of a similar caliber who want to be like those famous alumni...but then you get law alumni trivia like the fact that Michael Cohen, Rosemarie Aquilina (the judge in the Nassar gymnastics abuse case), and Joseph P. Overton (as in the Overton Window) all attended Cooley, so...

---
Speaking of people saying silly stuff, here's a recent installment: Donald Trump Gets Mocked After Showing He Really Doesn’t Know What The Post Office Does, HuffPo
The president slammed Amazon for using the USPS as a “Delivery Boy.” [...] That has people wondering: Isn’t the United States Postal Service supposed to be in the delivery business?
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 2:21 PM on March 30, 2018 [36 favorites]


Uhhh...
Russia releases 'Satan 2' missile test footage, Radina Gigova and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN [autoplay video]
Russia's Ministry of Defense released video footage Friday of a test launch of its new intercontinental ballistic missile, the Sarmat.
The short video said the missile -- nicknamed "Satan 2" -- was launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. According to Russian state-run news agency Sputnik, the launch marked the second time the missile had been successfully fired. The first test was in December. [...]

Russian state-run news agency TASS reported in 2016 that the missile would have a range exceeding 11,000 kilometers (6,835 miles) and that the warhead would weigh 100 tons.

The Sarmat was one of the weapons Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned in a speech this month boasting of new weaponry he said would render NATO defenses "completely useless." US officials played down the threat. [...]
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 2:27 PM on March 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


New York closes in on workaround to Trump’s new tax law, Jimmy Vielkind, Politico
New York is set to create an optional payroll tax and new charitable funds that will allow its residents to skirt new federal limits on the deductability of state and local taxes, officials said, becoming the first state to enact workarounds to the Trump administration’s new tax law. [...]

The legality of the workarounds is in question, and New York lawmakers could prompt a court challenge. New York is among a handful of states that have considered enacting ways to help residents find ways to avoid losing the tax benefits they’ve enjoyed from deducting state and local taxes on federal returns. [...]

Final bill language in New York has yet to be printed and publicly released and is expected to be included in a state budget of approximately $168 billion that lawmakers here are still working to fully complete. But a half-dozen lawmakers, lobbyists and officials tracking the budget progress said Cuomo’s plan will be included — and barring some unforeseen event will be enacted — largely as proposed. [...]

A similar bill in California has passed one house of the legislature but is pending in the other. A New Jersey bill that would permit towns and cities to give homeowners tax credits in exchange for counting property tax payments as charitable contributions is poised for a final vote in the Legislature next month. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy has pledged to sign the bill. [...]
Crowdfunding page for fired FBI deputy director close to $500K, Cheyenne Haslett, ABCNews
A crowdfunding campaign to cover legal costs for Andrew McCabe, the former FBI deputy director fired two days before he planned to retire and obtain a full pension, was approaching half a million dollars Friday, almost double its $250,000 goal. [...]

The funds will go toward “a number of congressional inquiries that he will be required to respond to, as well as the broader Office of the Inspector General (OIG) investigation that is ongoing, and any potential lawsuits he might consider,” the page said. [...] Extra money raised will go toward charities of the family's choosing[...]
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 2:37 PM on March 30, 2018 [9 favorites]


Well, THAT was short.

CNN: 'Clueless' star Stacey Dash withdraws from congressional race
"I started this run with the intention to address the pressing issues in the district where I live," Dash said in the statement. "I hoped, and remain hopeful, that I can assist people living here on the national level. My goal was, and remains, to improve the lives of people who have been forgotten for decades by the Democratic Party."
posted by hanov3r at 2:41 PM on March 30, 2018 [7 favorites]


Since a fired carrer fed doesn’t really need 500k might I suggest giving a dollar to the Howard Student Union Who are for low income students in a school that’s currently in direct action cause they found out a million dollars marked for student aid went into the president’s pockets
posted by The Whelk at 2:43 PM on March 30, 2018 [35 favorites]


HuffPost: Trump Has No Idea Why He Gets To Fill So Many Empty Court Seats

“You know, when I got in, we had over 100 federal judges that weren’t appointed,” Trump said at an infrastructure event in Ohio. “I don’t know why Obama left that. It was like a big beautiful present to all of us. Why the hell did he leave that? Maybe he got complacent?”

posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:47 PM on March 30, 2018 [41 favorites]


CNN: 'Clueless' star Stacey Dash withdraws from congressional race

CA-44 has a PVI of D+35 and went Clinton 83-12. This may, shall we say, not be that consequential.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:49 PM on March 30, 2018 [9 favorites]


Why would anyone want to donate money to a former deputy FBI director who was perfectly happy to work with Trump until he was fired? I just don't get it. He and his family are doing fine, donate your money to an actual charity or an actual political project. And why should any of us care how McCabe is doing in the first place? It's just asinine. This reminds me of that crowdfunding project to rebuild that burnt out GOP headquarters during the campaign. Stop funding your enemies!
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 2:57 PM on March 30, 2018 [23 favorites]


oh did you think this timeline had achieved Maximum Stupid
if so you were definitely wrong
because the Deputy Director of the Presidential Personnel Office and his bros are still icing each other like it's 2009
posted by halation at 3:35 PM on March 30, 2018 [3 favorites]




Damn it, I don't hate them.
posted by Atom Eyes at 4:07 PM on March 30, 2018 [10 favorites]


Could someone possibly memail me, if you find them, any commentary-and-analysis on the Russian missile test today? My Cold War Teen Year Fears are starting to wake back up again, and I'm looking for lots of talking-head analysis that can talk me back down, but all I'm finding online thus far is a series of news reports that "so this happened today".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:15 PM on March 30, 2018 [3 favorites]


It's hard to build a liberal country with an armed insurgency though.

Tell that to the PKK.
posted by adamgreenfield at 4:18 PM on March 30, 2018 [4 favorites]


Or the US.
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 4:24 PM on March 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


Jim Carrey has been trolling Trump and the GOP with paintings.

This doesn't make me forgive him for his vaccine denialism, but it's a good start.
posted by biogeo at 4:31 PM on March 30, 2018 [15 favorites]


Missile tests are relatively routine things and there's no reason to think this one is any more a prelude to war than the last one a few months ago was.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 4:32 PM on March 30, 2018 [10 favorites]


He and his family are doing fine

It wasn't pension fund. It was a legal fund. I really want to see MCabe's firing adjudicated. I want there to be legal consequences for the way Trump tried to discredit and/or get rid of all the witnesses to his obstruction of justice. McCabe was very clear in his statement that this was exactly trhe reason he believes he was reassigned and then fired. Along with McCabe, Jim Rybicki was also pushed out, and James Baker was reassigned.

I don't think it is a coincidence that these three are exactly the witnesses Jim Comey cited in his House Intelligence Committee testimony as people who could corroborate his account of the events surrounding his firing.

So yeah. I want Andrew McCabe to get himself some good lawyers and bring to light the evidence about why he was really fired. That's why I donated, personally.
posted by OnceUponATime at 4:38 PM on March 30, 2018 [54 favorites]


Surely you don't expect Russia to use an *untested* missile? That could be dangerous.
posted by uosuaq at 4:48 PM on March 30, 2018 [3 favorites]


Note that US missle tests and military exercises are rarely reported in US media.
posted by rhizome at 4:54 PM on March 30, 2018 [5 favorites]


You know what absolutely confuses the hell out of me with the Russia missile? Why the hell is it liquid fueled? Normally you have solid fuel for these sorts of things because you don't have to worry about the temperature of the liquid or waste weight on pressurized tanks.
posted by Talez at 4:56 PM on March 30, 2018


I dimly recall that the Soviets had a long history with liquid-fueled missles. Maybe there’s some carryover in design and engineering?
posted by wintermind at 5:08 PM on March 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


Bit of a followup on Sinclair Broadcasting Group, where journalism goes to die. The story of Sinclair exploring the possibilities of propaganda by coopting local newsreaders with mandatory on-air readings has already been told here. But if a picture's worth a thousand words, this video...multiplies...that value. It's one thing to read it on a page, it's quite another to hear it in stereo, quadrophonic, octoaural...
posted by scalefree at 5:19 PM on March 30, 2018 [33 favorites]


Why the hell is [the new Russian missile] liquid fueled?

Royal United Services Institute: Why did Russia opt for liquid-fuel in its next generation ICBMs?

The article is from 2011, but I assume that a country's nuclear deterrent is a slow-turning ship. If I'm understanding the article right:

NATO is fielding a lot of anti-ballistic missile systems. Russia can't maintain enough ICBMs to guarantee enough will get through the ABM to pose a credible nuclear deterrent. One way to get more warheads through the ABM shield is to load lots of warheads onto each ICBM: each warhead's trajectory is known to defenses for a shorter period of time, making them harder to intercept. But to load lots of warheads on an ICBM means you need more throw-weight, which means you need a more energetic fuel, which means you need liquid-fuelled rockets.

(Additionally, resource constraints make constructing and maintaining large numbers of solid-fuelled rockets difficult for Russia right now.)
posted by ragtag at 5:35 PM on March 30, 2018 [19 favorites]


Michael Cohen’s lawyer gets laughed at by studio audience during disastrous NBC interview

Megyn's been practicing that "what line of bullshit are you trying to feed me now?" face since the first time someone tried to pick her up in a bar.

David Schwartz actually had the stones to say, "Do you believe we should live in a world where you can just say whatever you want about people, you can call them rapists, you can call them whatever you want, and you could just get away with it—"

Are you fucking kidding me, dude? We live in a world where your guy said all that shit and got elected president! And no, I don't want to live in that world.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:02 PM on March 30, 2018 [37 favorites]


David Schwartz actually had the stones to say, "Do you believe we should live in a world where you can just say whatever you want about people, you can call them rapists, you can call them whatever you want, and you could just get away with it—"

Surely a big part of the answer to this depends on whether they actually are rapists. If they actually are rapists, then yes, I absolutely want to live in a world where you can call them that.
posted by kristi at 6:04 PM on March 30, 2018 [40 favorites]


Note that US missle tests and military exercises are rarely reported in US media.

You mean like this one?
posted by ArgentCorvid at 6:29 PM on March 30, 2018 [3 favorites]


Megyn's been practicing that "what line of bullshit are you trying to feed me now?" face since the first time someone tried to pick her up in a bar.

I know that she's got plenty of milkshake ducks to go around, but I've always supported the Home Team, and rooted for her because she was a local Albany 'burbs kid.

But despite some horrible career choices, like leaving private practice for show biz, she's very, very far from being an empty suit, and likely has far better chops than anyone Donald Trump. or his attorneys, or his attorney's attorneys, or his attorneys' attorneys' attorneys... can retain.

(Wikipedia)
She obtained an undergraduate degree in political science from Syracuse University in 1992[9] and earned a J.D. from Albany Law School in 1995.[14]

Kelly was an associate in the Chicago office of law firm Bickel & Brewer LLP, during which time she co-wrote an article for the American Bar Association's journal, Litigation, called "The Conflicting Roles of Lawyer as Director".[15] She later joined Jones Day for nine years, where one of her clients was the credit bureau Experian.[16]
posted by mikelieman at 6:37 PM on March 30, 2018 [4 favorites]


(not Wikipedia)
Kelly then chose to be a complete fucking tool for Fox News, despite being from Albany, and having skills that would have allowed her to do something less degrading. She is now attempting to escape the sinking ship that is her entire past, but it's kind of a struggle.
posted by uosuaq at 6:52 PM on March 30, 2018 [50 favorites]


More reasons to #deletefacebook

In a broad expansion of the information gathered from applicants for US visas, the federal government is proposing to collect social media identities from nearly everyone who seeks entry into the United States, according to a state department filing on Friday.
posted by Omon Ra at 7:17 PM on March 30, 2018 [3 favorites]


No, that is a reason not to visit the US on a visa.
posted by Bovine Love at 7:19 PM on March 30, 2018 [30 favorites]


More reasons to #deletefacebook

Done, this week, after years with it on my to do list.
posted by maniabug at 7:25 PM on March 30, 2018 [3 favorites]


I would really love to see some kind of legal outcome that resulted in the owners of Pruitt's $50/night condo having to either rent it at that rate to a DC renter selected by lottery from anybody who applied

One time a snowstorm cancelled all flights bound for greater DC. I called the Annapolis BnB to cancel my two rooms and was informed that it was too late, nor could I reschedule them for another time. I would have to pay. “Could I let someone else use them who might enjoy the guest experience you offer?” “Certainly!” “Great! I’ll call you back after I’ve confirmed the names with [nearby homeless shelter]. I’m sure they have clients who would love to stay at your BnB.” And suddenly the policy changed. When the trip was rescheduled we chose lodging elsewhere.
posted by carmicha at 7:27 PM on March 30, 2018 [96 favorites]


No, that is a reason not to visit the US on a visa.
posted by Bovine Love at 11:19 AM on March 31 [4 favorites −] Favorite added! [!]

For those of us that can't delete facebook quite yet, consider posting this on your account - "[Reasons facebook is creepy], so I will be deleting facebook in X days and re-registering a new account with a new throwaway email/phone. I will only use that account to contact other people on facebook, and only then to tell them 'get ahold of me on [non-facebook platform], and will not be liking, sharing, commenting on, or approving anything. I may add you as a friend again, or you may add me, but I want interaction limited to what will be useless to facebook."

It's basically staying on Facebook to tell people to get off Facebook. Do consider it.
posted by saysthis at 7:32 PM on March 30, 2018 [17 favorites]


Why would anyone want to donate money to a former deputy FBI director who was perfectly happy to work with Trump until he was fired?

He was a member of a nonpartisan agency. It seems like quite a leap to impute that he was "happy" to "work with" Trump.

But more to the point... I'm someone who works for a nonpartisan agency under a government (Wisconsin) that you likely would disagree with, and I believe we can't have a functioning civil service if you demand everyone in nonpartisan agencies resign when someone you disagree with is in charge. In McCabe's case, the FBI had valuable work to do regardless of who the chief executive was, and he may have felt it was his duty to carry that work on.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 7:35 PM on March 30, 2018 [40 favorites]


Clearly we can't have everyone from non-partisan agencies resign any time the opposition gets in power as in Wisconsin. Just as clearly there is a limit under which we would expect all people of moral character to resign even if they work in a nonpartisan agency (cf Nazi Germany or the Confederate States of America). I suppose everyone must decide for themselves where on that continuum the threshold resides.
posted by Justinian at 7:43 PM on March 30, 2018 [2 favorites]


I waited a day after posting my “goodbye message” to delete FB, but not everyone saw it, thanks to Herr Algorithm. So everyone thinks I personally unfriended them. (Which is true for some of them, just not all.)
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:46 PM on March 30, 2018




Kelly then chose to be a complete fucking tool for Fox News

Let's not kid ourselves, Megyn Kelly uses her NBC show to rewrite her racist history at Fox News (Splinter). Remember her top dog whistles of white supremacy: "saying that an African-American girl tackled by police was 'no saint; opining that Michele Obama promoted a 'culture of victimization'; portraying the New Black Panther Party as a massive threat to voting rights; amplifying voices like that of Ann Coulter; and characterizing ESPN anchor Jemele Hill’s description of Trump as a white supremacist as mere political bias."

If she wants to shoot fish like David Schwartz in the barrel that is the Trump administration shitshow, that may result in must-see teevee, but it's not redemption.

It's basically staying on Facebook to tell people to get off Facebook. Do consider it.

For literally years now, my FB account has consisted entirely of negative news stories about how horrible the corporation is. The best result I've had is one friend shutting off his account for a couple of months before crawling back. It's an uphill battle, thanks to the network effect.

Meanwhile, here's another sign the Kids Are All Right: Most Young Americans Think Trump Is Mentally Unfit To Be President, Poll Shows (Newsweek) "Six in 10 Americans age 15 to 34—all who will be of voting age by the 2020 presidential election—questioned Trump’s mental fitness, while only 38 percent thought he is mentally fit to be in office, according to the poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and MTV."
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:50 PM on March 30, 2018 [34 favorites]


At dinner tonight I got into a debate with somebody who summarized his perspective thusly: “Trump’s a despicable person, but his ideas are great and he’s putting the country back on the right track.” I think we’re going to see more of that.
posted by carmicha at 7:56 PM on March 30, 2018 [3 favorites]


"Why would a person with great ideas and clear vision choose to be a despicable person?"
posted by rhizome at 8:00 PM on March 30, 2018 [60 favorites]


but seriously if you travel in these upper middle class circles please make these comfy fascists as unwelcome as possible -like Chadwick "Gays for Trump" Moore being thrown of the Metropolitan bar.
posted by The Whelk at 9:25 PM on March 30, 2018 [9 favorites]


Mod note: Folks, let's not totally trash the comment count, thanks.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 9:26 PM on March 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


As a white guy in a mixed family, I'm doing my part by quoting with attribution the shit I hear as a token white guy to my Trump-leaning non white inlaws, so they understand that they are next. So many still want to believe that no no Trump meant those other guys.
posted by benzenedream at 9:29 PM on March 30, 2018 [7 favorites]




I'm sure that's a great thread but I feel that I've been reading waaaaay more than I want to know about white American Evangelical Christians.
posted by Too-Ticky at 4:16 AM on March 31, 2018 [23 favorites]


I just wanna share an observation...

Counting Guccifer 2.0, Rinat Akhmetshin, and Konstantin Kilimnik, members of the campaign were in contact with at least THREE people believed to be agents of the the Russian military intelligence agency the GRU.

We have had headlines about each of them separately, but I'm not sure how many people have noticed the pattern...

Guccifer 2.0 exchanged direct messages with Roger Stone (and sent voter data from the DNC to Republican operative in Florida which he used to target people in local elections.)And Guccifer 2.0 was the cover for someone at the GRU.

Rinat Akhmetshin met with Donald Trump Jr at Trump tower. He was a former GRU agent, but once told a friend there is no such thing as "former" with the GRU.

Konstantin Kilimnik was likewise a "former GRU" guy who worked for Paul Manfort in Ukraine. But according to Mueller's latest court filings, the US government had reason to believe he was still actively working for the GRU in 2016, and Gates, at least, was aware of what he was.

Imagine if this information had all come out at once. Imagine if it all came out in 2016.

People are much less shocked when things drip-drip out. But the facts are no less shocking.
posted by OnceUponATime at 4:59 AM on March 31, 2018 [97 favorites]


Sigh, I don't want to have to do this, but we're about 5 days away from this shit hitting mainstream FOX News, and from there jumping to Trump and all elected Republicans:

Meet “The Storm,” the conspiracy theory taking over the pro-Trump internet

Roseanne Barr is tweeting about QAnon, a new Pizzagate-style conspiracy theory

Earlier: The Storm Is the New Pizzagate — Only Worse

Roseanne's stupid normalizing reboot is going to kick these conspiracies up a level in terms of recognition and exposure, and the Republican media will of course defend her "dissenting views".
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:07 AM on March 31, 2018 [45 favorites]


Sigh, I don't want to have to do this, but we're about 5 days away from this shit hitting mainstream FOX News

You have more faith than I do. I'd say about 5 hours. Hannity already tweeted about QAnon in January.

And this is also an all too real possibility.

@KevinMKruse
Retweeted Roseanne Barr
As soon as Trump sees this insane conspiracy theory tweet praising him, he's going to start bragging that he actually did this.
posted by chris24 at 6:12 AM on March 31, 2018 [13 favorites]


So this morning on the Trump shitshow we're back to railing on Amazon. Also he took a swipe at Jerry Brown despite the fact that Brown is done because of term limits.
posted by Talez at 6:14 AM on March 31, 2018 [3 favorites]


So this morning on the Trump shitshow we're back to railing on Amazon.

@realDonaldTrump
While we are on the subject, it is reported that the U.S. Post Office will lose $1.50 on average for each package it delivers for Amazon. That amounts to Billions of Dollars. The Failing N.Y. Times reports that “the size of the company’s lobbying staff has ballooned,” and that......does not include the Fake Washington Post, which is used as a “lobbyist” and should so REGISTER. If the P.O. “increased its parcel rates, Amazon’s shipping costs would rise by $2.6 Billion.” This Post Office scam must stop. Amazon must pay real costs (and taxes) now!

---

“The whole post office thing, that's very much a perception he has,” another source said. “It's been explained to him in multiple meetings that his perception is inaccurate and that the post office actually makes a ton of money from Amazon." Axios' Ina Fried notes: The post office actually added delivery on Sunday in some cities because Amazon made it worthwhile.
posted by chris24 at 6:19 AM on March 31, 2018 [54 favorites]


Hm, hadn't heard of The Storm, and only quickly looked over the linked articles. I actually kind of like this theory so far, though: if wingnuts are placated by the idea that Trump will be vindicated once the other shoe drops, and it keeps them isolated from what's really going on and less mobilized, I'm fine with that. If they think Trump's prison cell is actually a secret Mar-a-Lago II, where he laughs at the rest of us sheeple, so much the better.
posted by Rykey at 6:21 AM on March 31, 2018 [2 favorites]


@JuliaDavisNews
#Russia's state TV: Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, says that 60 expelled Russian "diplomats" can be replaced by 60 others. The U.S. is reportedly not limiting the size of Russian diplomatic mission in the U.S., like Russia is doing to Britain.
60 out 🔁60 back in

@OrenDorell (USA Today)
I asked @StateDept about this, and it's true. Trump's expulsion this week of 60 Russian diplomats does not require the Russia to reduce its staffing levels in the U.S. and vice versa.
posted by chris24 at 6:31 AM on March 31, 2018 [33 favorites]


We have had headlines about each of them separately, but I'm not sure how many people have noticed the pattern...

I recently attended a gathering of traditional humans, in which the attendees are seated in an oblong circle where they ingest sustenance and beverages while "talking", or communicating information about the world and themselves in an asynchronous distributed pattern. Of note:

HUMAN: What's the deal with all the Russian stuff?
ME: (mentally scrolling through MegaThreads-as-teleprompter) [effective Panghazi/Omnigate theory]
HUMAN: (wide-eyed disgust) You actually think he's just out in the open with it?
ME: ROFLWUTLOL

I would hasten to add that my research subjects are aware that Trump=bad mmmkay. So the complexity and brazenness of the Turd Circus™ has apparently distracted them into a "Well he's terrible, I can't wait until he's gone in three more years."

There was also a chorus of "Mike Pence is worse" which was subdued by withering stares.
posted by petebest at 6:48 AM on March 31, 2018 [20 favorites]


Some details on Trumps claim that the USPS loses $1.50 on every Amazon package from CBS News:
The postal service has lost money for 11 straight years, mostly because of pension and health care costs. In 2017, the service lost $800 million on $69.7 billion operating revenue. Under a 2006 law, it must pre-fund 75 years' worth of retiree health benefits. Neither the government nor private companies are required to do that. (It has defaulted on those payments periodically, with the last one made in 2015).

A widely cited Citigroup analysis from last year holds that the "true" cost of shipping packages for the Postal Service is about 50 percent higher than what it currently charges. "It is as if every Amazon box comes with a dollar or two stapled to the packing slip -- a gift card from Uncle Sam," read the ensuing editorials.

But Citi arrived at that figure by re-allocating the Post Office's benefits costs -- not the costs specific to package delivery.

The 2006 law also mandated that each line of business within the postal service cover its attributable costs. In other words, for the postal service to lose money on package delivery would be against the law.
In conclusion, it’s bullshit. In multiple universes.
posted by notyou at 7:37 AM on March 31, 2018 [53 favorites]


A mysterious, all-knowing benefactor, dropping cryptic clues to an eager population of scavenger hunters hoping to win control of everything?

The Storm is Ready Player Derp.
posted by delfin at 8:25 AM on March 31, 2018 [22 favorites]


I had a very pre 2016 reaction to Qanon/The storm which was, this is so transparently dumb that it’s funny it’s consuming the minds of people with brain worms.

The proper reaction is, oh hey someone is definitely gonna die cause of this.
posted by The Whelk at 8:28 AM on March 31, 2018 [48 favorites]


Hm, hadn't heard of The Storm, and only quickly looked over the linked articles. I actually kind of like this theory so far, though: if wingnuts are placated by the idea that Trump will be vindicated once the other shoe drops, and it keeps them isolated from what's really going on and less mobilized, I'm fine with that.

Amusing as it is I actually think it's incredibly dangerous.

Seen on its own it's a logical progression. His supporters expected the arrest and imprisonment his political opponents should he win the election. Many of his supporters didn't really expect him to win: this was performative grievance expected by most to continue in the form of refusing to accept the Hillary presidency as legitimate.

But once he actually won (/"won"), the abstract fantasy became near-future expectation for his supporters, and when America didn't instantly turn Great again (or like how it was when his supporters were kids, same diff) their minds broke even more: it is being made great in secret, it's about to get there, and we're all just waiting for his master stroke to bring down the cabal. Now the expectation isn't just that Hillary will be locked up and maybe executed for treason, but also everybody they don't like: all long-standing grudges and grievances can now be lumped into this fantasy double-universe that they're just waiting to merge with ours.

It's the normalization of and preparation for the sudden mass arrest of dissidents, slowly working its way up from the gutters of 4chan to the Oval Office. The fact that it's a ridiculous conspiracy theory followed and promoted by buffoons only makes us take it less seriously, and makes many blind to the certainty that the development of The Storm community is being manipulated by greater forces to their own ends. That's a lesson we should have learned a long time ago.
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:30 AM on March 31, 2018 [77 favorites]


The Republicans that primary out all the tea-partners for being insufficiently Trumpy are all going to be hardcore QAnoners.
posted by Artw at 8:32 AM on March 31, 2018 [12 favorites]


Something to keep in mind about these newer virulent conspiracy theories is that they seem to be well crafted to manipulate the zeitgeist on both sides.

On the alt-right side, they've been very effective dog whistle politics and to borrow chenmistry terms, blowing or frothing agents.

On everyone else's side, they're often so ridiculous and outlandish that they're dismissed and not taken seriously, and I think that's probably by design, because laughing at the alt-right is also a great blowing/frothing agent, inspiring them to ratchet things up even more and take it as a sign that the conspiracies are true.

Someone(s) is playing both sides against each other pretty damn well.

And on preview: What The Whelk said. People have already died because of this shit. There will be more. It's breeding extremism and instigating action from extremists.
posted by loquacious at 8:32 AM on March 31, 2018 [21 favorites]


Most conspiracy theories depend on a secretive, all powerful villain as the prime mover (the Illuminati, the Deep State), so it was curious to see that The Storm places a hero (depending on your POV) there.

They may be waiting a while for redemption.
posted by notyou at 8:34 AM on March 31, 2018 [3 favorites]


So this morning on the Trump shitshow we're back to railing on Amazon.

"Which @washingtonpost story is the president subtweeting about today?" asks Washington Post deputy editor Mike Madden, cutting through Trump's bullshit. The choices are: From Mueller to Stormy to ‘Emoluments,’ Trump’s Business Is Under Siege and Behind the Chaos: Office That Vets Trump Appointees Plagued by Inexperience ("Hint - it’s not the one about the government," snarks the NYT's Maggie Haberman.)

“The whole post office thing, that's very much a perception he has,” another source said. “It's been explained to him in multiple meetings that his perception is inaccurate and that the post office actually makes a ton of money from Amazon."

To reiterate what insiders leaked to the New York Times, "[P]rivately, people close to him said, Mr. Trump repeatedly brings up his disdain for the company, often set off by his anger at negative stories in The Washington Post, which is owned by Mr. Bezos.[...] Several current and former officials said that Mr. Trump regularly conflates Amazon with The Post." [emphasis added, because the media apparently doesn't understand they have to blow away Trump's smokescreen and point out that the real reason why he's sticking with this lie line of attack.]
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:52 AM on March 31, 2018 [18 favorites]


To expand a bit more on From Mueller to Stormy to ‘emoluments,’ Trump’s business is under siege (Jonathan O'Connell and David A. Fahrenthold):
The inquiries are exposing the risks Trump took on when he made the decision to maintain ownership of the company that bears his name while serving in the White House — a departure from 40 years of presidential tradition and the advice of ethics officials. Previous presidents have chosen to fully divest their assets. When Trump took office, he instead put his stake in his company into a trust managed by his sons, accessible to him at any time.

Now, what initially seemed like a plum arrangement for Trump — enjoying the fruits of his business while running the country — may come back to harm the Trump Organization if it is forced to reveal the kind of financial information and private correspondence that real estate firms closely guard.
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:57 AM on March 31, 2018 [11 favorites]


@benwikler (MoveOn)
Trumpland is now saying Shulkin resigned, rather than being fired—w/o submitting a resignation letter or being allowed to return to his office.

Why? Bc if he was fired, Trump doesn’t get to pick the temp chief... & Shulkin’s #2 opposes VA privatization.

Politico: Did Shulkin get fired or resign? This is why it matters
The White House is now asserting that recently departed Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin resigned. Shulkin has made it clear in his public comments that he was forced out. While Washington often wraps firings in the verbal cloak of a resignation, the distinction this time could have far-reaching implications that could throw the Department of Veterans Affairs, the second-largest federal agency, into further disarray.

In announcing the removal of Shulkin as VA secretary, Trump tapped Defense Department official Robert Wilkie as the acting leader of the department, bypassing Shulkin’s deputy, who was next in line to succeed him. That decision has reignited a debate among legal experts about the president’s ability to hand-pick replacements for ousted Cabinet secretaries.

The debate centers on vague language in the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, which gives the president broad authority to temporarily fill a vacancy at a federal agency with an acting official if the current office holder “dies, resigns, or is otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties of the office.”

But some legal experts note that the law does not explicitly grant that authority to the president in the case of firings. That could make Trump’s decision to appoint Wilkie, the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, as acting VA secretary a potential test of the president’s authorities under the act. And it means that any formal actions Wilkie takes as acting secretary could face a legal challenge that might stall sorely needed reforms and modernizations at the troubled agency.
posted by chris24 at 9:08 AM on March 31, 2018 [49 favorites]


Twitter thread from the New Yorker’s Adam Davidson on Trumpian structural damage:
I know we're all numb, but this is very serious.

This is not just a comment. It is an important economic act that is restructuring our economy.

Trump is making clear that companies that publicly praise him can get billion dollar deals from govt agencies.
posted by schadenfrau at 9:32 AM on March 31, 2018 [68 favorites]


But some legal experts note that the law does not explicitly grant that authority to the president in the case of firings.

This is just splitting hairs for stupid reasons just because it's Trump. A firing is pro forma "unable to perform the functions and duties" otherwise why would one be fired? Even if the reasons for the firing are shitty, or if the replacement is shitty, if the President has no faith in a person's ability to perform the functions or duties it is their prerogative to fire that person.
posted by Talez at 9:38 AM on March 31, 2018 [3 favorites]


Twitter thread from the New Yorker’s Adam Davidson on Trumpian structural damage:
I strongly recommend this twitter thread. Another quote:
Countries in which companies succeed or fail because of their relationship with the leader are poorer, more violent and unstable, more unequal. More everything bad.

The U.S. and all nations have always, of course, had some degree of corruption. But not like this.
posted by mumimor at 9:41 AM on March 31, 2018 [32 favorites]


Hey look, Laura Ingraham is taking one of those Fox News PR-damage-control-mandated vacations.
posted by valkane at 10:00 AM on March 31, 2018 [16 favorites]




Speaking of conspiracy theories: Trump ally detained, served with Mueller subpoena at Boston airport

He said they asked him about former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone, author Jerome Corsi and WikiLeaks. Malloch said he told them he met Stone a total of three times and always with groups of people, and that Corsi had helped edit one of his books years ago.

Yes please upend Corsi's life Mueller, pls and ty.
posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee at 10:32 AM on March 31, 2018 [14 favorites]


A firing is pro forma "unable to perform the functions and duties" otherwise why would one be fired?

Because “agree with the President at all times” is nowhere in the job description.
posted by corb at 10:34 AM on March 31, 2018 [16 favorites]


So this morning on the Trump shitshow we're back to railing on Amazon.

The Washington Post fires back: Trump Accuses Amazon Of ‘Post Office Scam,’ Falsely Says The Post Is Company’s Lobbyist
In a pair of morning tweets sent during his drive from his Mar-a-Lago estate to the nearby Trump International Golf Club, the president argued that Amazon costs the U.S. Postal Service billions of dollars in potential revenue.

Trump has repeatedly advanced this theory, even though officials have explained to him that Amazon’s contracts with the Postal Service are profitable for the agency.

The president also incorrectly conflated Amazon with The Post and made clear that his attacks on the retailer were inspired by his disdain for the newspaper’s coverage. He labeled the newspaper “the Fake Washington Post” and demanded it register as a lobbyist for Amazon. The Post operates independently of Amazon, though the news organization is personally owned by Jeffrey P. Bezos, the founder and chief executive of Amazon.[...]

Trump is typically motivated to lash out at Amazon because of The Post’s coverage of him, officials have said. One person who has discussed the matter repeatedly with the president explained that a negative story in The Post is almost always the catalyst for one of his Amazon rants.
Hopefully other journalists will pick up that what's happening here is an old-fashioned shakedown by Trump from the bully pulpit.
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:00 AM on March 31, 2018 [23 favorites]


Newsweek: From Moscow with murder: Russia hunting defectors in America?

The defector Newsweek spoke with is fatalistic about his chances of living peacefully into old age here. “I know it’s going to happen to me sooner or later,” he said on the phone as a baby cried in the background. “All I can do is renew my life insurance. If they send a professional, I’m done.”
posted by Rust Moranis at 11:05 AM on March 31, 2018 [4 favorites]


Because “agree with the President at all times” is nowhere in the job description.
The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else.
-- Teddy Roosevelt
posted by kirkaracha at 11:18 AM on March 31, 2018 [78 favorites]


The word you're looking for Ronna McDaniel is "because." For example, it could also be used like this: Ronna McDaniel dropped the Romney from her name because she's a craven enabler of racism and fascism.

@GOPChairwoman
Democrats hate our President more than they love our country.
posted by chris24 at 11:29 AM on March 31, 2018 [15 favorites]


"We're knocking the hell out of ISIS. We'll be coming out of Syria like very soon. Let the other people take care of it now," Trump told supporters at an Ohio event on infrastructure.
"We are going to have 100% of the caliphate, as they call it, sometimes referred to as land ... But we are going to be coming out of there real soon. We are going to get back to our country, where we belong, where we want to be," Trump added.


White House chaos jeopardizes war on ISIS, U.S. commanders warn
Some U.S. commanders say what they perceive as a lack of guidance from the White House — which sent Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster packing in a 9-day span — is threatening their mission to destroy ISIS. Cracks are showing in America's alliance with the Kurds of northern Syria, who question whether they can rely on the U.S. under President Donald Trump.

"We’re on the two-yard line. We could literally fall into the end zone. We’re that close to total victory, to wiping out the ISIS caliphate in Syria,” one U.S. special forces commander told NBC News. “We’re that close and now it’s coming apart.”
posted by scalefree at 11:42 AM on March 31, 2018 [8 favorites]


Going way back to Tuesday's "a secret report asserting that Vladimir Putin’s former media czar was beaten to death by hired thugs in Washington, DC — directly contradicting the US government’s official finding that Mikhail Lesin died by accident", the death AND the cover-up happened while Obama and Company were still reportedly "in charge", deeply damaging my faith in the last legitimate President. Makes it sound like a big portion of America's Deep State was working for Putin well before they installed President Drumpf.

Meanwhile, my belief in "Trump's Mirror" has become so strong that hearing about QAnon and "global pedophile rings" just provides proof to me that Trump himself is profiting from human trafficking and is mostly frustrated that Forbes downgraded his Wealth Standing because he can't reveal the billions he's making on totally criminal activity. That "secret basement" in the Pizzagate fake scandal? The real one is either under either Trump Tower or Mar-A-Lago, or both.
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:55 AM on March 31, 2018 [18 favorites]


@GOPChairwoman
Democrats hate our President more than they love our country.


How does that not read as obviously backward to anyone whose mind is not poisoned by otherization? Democrats (and lots of other people too) hate the President because they love our country. You can't place cause and effect side-by-side like that.
posted by LooseFilter at 11:59 AM on March 31, 2018 [25 favorites]


Cracks are showing in America's alliance with the Kurds of northern Syria, who question whether they can rely on the U.S. under President Donald Trump.

No one can rely on the U.S. under trump. No one will be able to rely on the U.S. at all for at least a generation after trump, regardless of how he leaves office. The sooner every other country in the world comes to terms with the fact that the U.S. is a chaotic unpredictable loose cannon that can, in any four years, elect a donald trump to the presidency, the better. If the U.S. was a person, you'd keep them away from the sharp objects, back away calmly, and call for help.

Also,
@GOPChairwoman
Democrats hate our President more than they love our country.


And Republicans hate our country more than they love our president.

I don't know what kind of mirror to call it, but this has got to be some kind of linguistic something.
posted by mrgoat at 12:06 PM on March 31, 2018 [28 favorites]


I'd say they love the president more than they love the country.
posted by rhizome at 12:10 PM on March 31, 2018 [5 favorites]


Depends on how you define "country ":

- "rich white people like me" = love
- "those weird, not-white, not-rich, not-straight, not-men who don't know their place or how lucky they are" = well, not-love
posted by Kelrichen at 12:37 PM on March 31, 2018 [11 favorites]


Yes, that's the hard part.
posted by rhizome at 12:38 PM on March 31, 2018


Heartland solid for Trump policies, not the chaos

But Smith said the president is his own worst enemy on social media. “I would prefer he didn’t tweet at all. He’s a businessman and he’s been a businessman his entire life. I don’t think his ability to communicate effectively is shown in his tweets and sometimes on Facebook.”


i want to ask all these ignoramuses who call trump a great businessman
  1. what business was he in?
  2. what is one notable success he had in that business?
with reagan, an actor was playing the president
now a reality tv host is playing a successful businessman playing the president
posted by murphy slaw at 12:59 PM on March 31, 2018 [38 favorites]


Not to defend Trump one iota, but a ‘successful business’ in contemporary America is defined as ‘an enterprise that makes money for its owners’ rather than an organization that is sustainably profitable and good for those involved with it. Making money is the only acceptable definition of success we currently allow, and what used to be called ‘greed’ is now ‘massive success.’

This is of course a serious, huge problem, but by contemporary understanding and standards: Trump was a successful businessman. His business efforts may all have been crappy and failed, but they made him money, so: success.
posted by LooseFilter at 1:39 PM on March 31, 2018 [8 favorites]


Doubt they’d like the obvious answers...

what business was he in?

Crime.

what is one notable success he had in that business?

Becoming president.
posted by Artw at 1:41 PM on March 31, 2018 [58 favorites]


This is of course a serious, huge problem, but by contemporary understanding and standards: Trump was a successful businessman.

It isn't at all clear that Trump wouldn't be worth more if he had taken all the money his father gave him and just put it in the market. If I give you $100million dollars and you start businesses and in 20 years you are worth $160million dollars, well, you've made 60million. Generally speaking you'd have made a lot more if you hadn't run any businesses at all.

The second thing I'd point out is we don't actually know what Trump is worth. His net worth could be negative for all we know.

And lastly, it's pretty easy to make money when you launder cash for Russian oligarchs.
posted by Justinian at 1:44 PM on March 31, 2018 [36 favorites]


Trump has declared bankruptcy how many times? By which we know that many other people are far poorer than they would have been from Trump's adventures in business.
posted by suelac at 1:47 PM on March 31, 2018 [2 favorites]


I don't know how Trump got into the sort of cultural narrative that he was hugely successful, but it's there. See that episode of Sex and the City wherein Kim Cattrall meets an incredibly wealthy dude who's talking to Trump. Or that In the Heights Line where Benny is singing about how he's going to be such a success that Donald Trump will be his caddy. I remember some Will and Grace episode where they were trying to flip apartments and they were singing whatever The Apprentice used as its theme song as they hoped they'd become rich.

I mean I don't get it? It's like a Horatio Alger story-con? But I think that if writing instruments and people to use them exist after the age of Trump, one thing will be written about is this whole phenomenon of the reality star who is skilled at cultivating an aura that is bullshit but we eat it up.

My niece's puppy got sick from eating its own poop the other day. Maybe that's just about where we are.
posted by angrycat at 2:00 PM on March 31, 2018 [12 favorites]


Most people who consider Trump "a successful businessman" got it from the intro to The Apprentice. And Reality TV is, you know, Real, right? I blame Mark Burnett. (Also his many cameo appearances in TV and movies, which happened because he was recognizable and no REAL successful businessmen with a high public profile would bother. Home Alone II, baby. Zoolander, dudes.)
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:10 PM on March 31, 2018 [5 favorites]


I don't know how Trump got into the sort of cultural narrative that he was hugely successful, but it's there.

'The deal was that if you wanted to shoot in one of his buildings, you had to write him in a part'
"[Director] Martin Brest had to write something in Scent of a Woman — and the whole crew was in on it," he continued. "You have to waste an hour of your day with a b*llshit shot: Donald Trump walks in and Al Pacino’s like, “Hello, Mr. Trump!” — you had to call him by name — and then he exits. You waste a little time so that you can get the permit, and then you can cut the scene out. But I guess in Home Alone 2 they left it in."
posted by MrVisible at 2:12 PM on March 31, 2018 [42 favorites]


I don't know how my yahoo.com email address got on their list, but I'm getting email fundraising requests from rnchq.com and donaldtrump.com (addressed from either Donald, Eric or Lara Trump, and Lara's was the only one to land in my Spam folder). And the frequency of Trumpspam has increased to 6 in the last 36 hours, most about the FEC "deadline" for quarterly fundraising reports and begging to "put us over the top", with the last one (from rnchq) promising a TRIPLE match for all contributions in the last 12 hours. I think I know what he's going to be tweeting about on Easter Morning.
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:34 PM on March 31, 2018 [2 favorites]


> BuzzFeed: Fox News Strategic Analyst Lt Col Ralph Peters (Ret) has quit Fox News.

Peters has followed up with a Washington Post op-ed: Why I Left Fox News
My error was waiting so long to walk away. The chance to speak to millions of Americans is seductive, and, with the infinite human capacity for self-delusion, I rationalized that I could make a difference by remaining at Fox and speaking honestly.

I was wrong.

As early as the fall of 2016, and especially as doubts mounted about the new Trump administration’s national security vulnerabilities, I increasingly was blocked from speaking on the issues about which I could offer real expertise: Russian affairs and our intelligence community. I did not hide my views at Fox and, as word spread that I would not unswervingly support President Trump and, worse, that I believed an investigation into Russian interference was essential to our national security, I was excluded from segments that touched on Vladimir Putin’s possible influence on an American president, his campaign or his administration.[...]

Fox never tried to put words in my mouth, nor was I told explicitly that I was taboo on Trump-Putin matters. I simply was no longer called on for topics central to my expertise. I was relegated to Groundhog Day analysis of North Korea and the Middle East, or to Russia-related news that didn’t touch the administration. Listening to political hacks with no knowledge of things Russian tell the vast Fox audience that the special counsel’s investigation was a “witch hunt,” while I could not respond, became too much to bear. There is indeed a witch hunt, and it’s led by Fox against Robert Mueller.
It's not exactly "speaking truth to power", but at least there's a mea culpa in it. It will be interesting to see if CNN is now willing to book him as a talking head the way they have with so many fired Trump officials and failed GOP politicians.
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:38 PM on March 31, 2018 [69 favorites]


I think I know what he's going to be tweeting about on Easter Morning.

...not our risen Lord?
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 2:40 PM on March 31, 2018 [7 favorites]


Could someone possibly memail me, if you find them, any commentary-and-analysis on the Russian missile test today? My Cold War Teen Year Fears are starting to wake back up again, and I'm looking for lots of talking-head analysis that can talk me back down, but all I'm finding online thus far is a series of news reports that "so this happened today".

Oh, well don't worry - my contractor[1] assured me a few days ago, when I mentioned growing up at a time when I just took it for granted that at some point I was going to be vaporized, that "nuclear weapons don't work." Precisely what about physics is untrue was unclear, but apparently everything as far back as Nagasaki was just smoke and mirrors because those places were livable in a fairly short period of time as compared to Chernobyl and Fukushima. "Well, nukes are air-burst weapons so the nuclear reaction is actually miles-" is as far as I got before he rambled on some more about how faking shit with pictures and videos long predates photoshop. At which point I just sighed and let it run till I could re-steer the conversation to business.

I dunno what group this conspiracy bullshit traces back to but it's new to me.

[1] Hey, did you know that your contract to renovate your house probably doesn't have any language in it that lets you claw back tens of thousands of dollars when you find out, far too late, that your contractor is a fucking conspiracy-theory loving loon? Who knew you needed to add a rider with language like if it comes to pass that one party spends time telling the other party that the moon landing was all faked, the contract is immediately null and void and all monies must be refunded.
posted by phearlez at 2:56 PM on March 31, 2018 [35 favorites]


Jesus is someone whos doing great things and I think people will be talking about him more and more. Of course we celebrate today his rising from the ground and hope he sees the end of winter by his shadow. NO COLLUSION!
posted by petebest at 2:57 PM on March 31, 2018 [70 favorites]


I dunno what group this conspiracy bullshit traces back to but it's new to me.

The New Yorker's profile of longtime kook Robert Mercer outs him as a big fan of this pro-nuke fantasy: "Another onetime senior employee at Renaissance recalls hearing Mercer downplay the dangers posed by nuclear war. Mercer, speaking of the atomic bombs that the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, argued that, outside of the immediate blast zones, the radiation actually made Japanese citizens healthier. The National Academy of Sciences has found no evidence to support this notion. Nevertheless, according to the onetime employee, Mercer, who is a proponent of nuclear power, 'was very excited about the idea, and felt that it meant nuclear accidents weren’t such a big deal.'"

Their writer traces this back to a sheep-ranching biochemist scientist named Arthur Robinson, whose Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine is Mercer's one-stop shop for pseudoscience: "Robinson appears to be the source of Robert Mercer’s sanguine view of nuclear radiation: in 1986, Robinson co-authored a book suggesting that the vast majority of Americans would survive 'an all-out atomic attack on the United States.'"
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:16 PM on March 31, 2018 [21 favorites]


Yeah, Mercer..... didn’t he get into politics just because he wants to make his tax problems go away? What’s happening with that investigation, anyway? Doesn’t he owe tax dodge fines of like a billion dollars?
posted by valkane at 3:25 PM on March 31, 2018 [1 favorite]


Depends on how you define "country

This is, unfortunately, really the gist of things. I was talking with someone elsewhere about how national identity for Americans is really hard - we have few shared traditions or cultural touchstones to rally around, and so when we think of, say, 'What American Means' or 'What the American Way Of Life Is', we're barely even talking about the same place. For some people, it's the generational culture that they've experienced and hoped to pass on to their children - for others it's (certain) foundational ideals, and still other people want to think less nationally and more globally so would prefer not to prioritize our country at all - which isn't hating it, exactly, so much as trying to step outside nationalism.

I believe - and maybe this is the immigrant background talking - that nearly everyone inside its borders loves this country in the way that they understand it and what they mean it to be. Whether they love it for what it is, or what they think it has been, or what they think it could become, they love it.

The key thing is how to get us all loving the same thing, the same future country we would like to get to, or the same parts of the past country we would like to recreate, or to enjoy the pieces of the country that is. No view of America made with love has no redeeming values. I still believe that somehow, in some way, we can put these disparate ideas together and make a whole that is worth fighting for. I just don't know how right now.
posted by corb at 3:31 PM on March 31, 2018 [24 favorites]


The tweet makes sense if you define "our country" as "Russia."
posted by Lyme Drop at 3:44 PM on March 31, 2018 [4 favorites]


But once he actually won (/"won"), the abstract fantasy became near-future expectation for his supporters, and when America didn't instantly turn Great again (or like how it was when his supporters were kids, same diff) their minds broke even more: it is being made great in secret, it's about to get there, and we're all just waiting for his master stroke to bring down the cabal. Now the expectation isn't just that Hillary will be locked up and maybe executed for treason, but also everybody they don't like: all long-standing grudges and grievances can now be lumped into this fantasy double-universe that they're just waiting to merge with ours.

And his pet propagandist Sean Haw-Haw is on the air twice a day, five days a week, repeating this fantasy and expanding on this fantasy over and over and over again. There is no evidence at all of any collusion between Team Trump and Russia, but lots of clear evidence of collusion between Hillary and Russia. Hillary committed multiple felonies with her emails and the entire DOJ and FBI upper echelons conspired to keep her from being prosecuted and keep her in the race against Trump because they hate him and conservatives so much. The Steele Dossier is completely phony, bought and paid for entirely by Hillary and the DNC, completely Russian propaganda to tear down and slander Trump, completely unverified by anyone, and using it as the sole basis for the FISA warrant on Carter Page (who was, of course, not attached to Team Trump in any way) is its own set of felonies in waiting because that was used to spy on all things Trump illegally.

The contradictions, once you listen to it, are obvious. If you want to hear them, at least.

The key thing is how to get us all loving the same thing, the same future country we would like to get to, or the same parts of the past country we would like to recreate, or to enjoy the pieces of the country that is.

The trick is to get 35% of the country to not love a country where they and only they are full citizens with full civil rights.
posted by delfin at 3:46 PM on March 31, 2018 [7 favorites]


I'm currently sitting in an establishment that can only be described as What If Chipotle But Indian, where white and black kids are manning the tandoors and the people in line in front of me are East Asian, white and South Asian. About five different languages are being spoken within earshot and there's terrible EDM playing. This is the country I love and that I'm fighting for.
posted by soren_lorensen at 3:56 PM on March 31, 2018 [119 favorites]


And his pet propagandist Sean Haw-Haw is on the air twice a day, five days a week, repeating this fantasy and expanding on this fantasy over and over and over again.

Here's the latest example, for your viewing displeasure. Very dramatic! Hannity interviews Uranium One FBI informant!
posted by scalefree at 3:57 PM on March 31, 2018 [2 favorites]


longtime kook Robert Mercer

Surely you mean Association For Computational Linguistics Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Robert Mercer? The guy is not dumb, he is one of the few R backers who could actually understand a Cambridge Analytica pitch and possibly give feedback on how to improve it.
posted by benzenedream at 3:59 PM on March 31, 2018 [5 favorites]


This is the country I love and that I'm fighting for.

I was promised a taco truck on every corner.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 4:03 PM on March 31, 2018 [75 favorites]


The guy is not dumb

[citation needed]
being Good At Computers, or indeed Good At Any Given Particular Specific Thing, is not the same thing as 'not dumb.' indeed, the insidious thing about being Good At Computers/Having A PhD/Having a MD/JD is that it leads people to think that they must be equally Smart At Everything. generally, they are not.
posted by halation at 4:05 PM on March 31, 2018 [79 favorites]


sanguine view of nuclear radiation

These same people believe cell phone signals cause cancer.
posted by OnceUponATime at 4:06 PM on March 31, 2018 [8 favorites]


I love all the folks claiming that nuclear weapons are safe because Look, Hiroshima Is Great Now!

The bomb dropped on Hiroshima had an approximate yield of 15 kilotons.

A single Trident missile launched from the US submarine fleet can have up to 12 warheads in a MIRV configuration, each with a yield of up to 475 kilotons.

Basing your assumptions about nuclear war on WWII era weapons is like doing scenario planning for a Russian invasion of the Baltics by assuming that the Russians will be armed with black-powder blunderbusses.
posted by murphy slaw at 4:28 PM on March 31, 2018 [72 favorites]


murphy slaw is soft on blunderbusses
posted by kirkaracha at 4:42 PM on March 31, 2018 [28 favorites]


Robert Mercer is less dumb and more engineers disease writ large combined with being very evil and a Nazi.
posted by Artw at 4:45 PM on March 31, 2018 [21 favorites]


And he packs heat.
posted by valkane at 4:49 PM on March 31, 2018 [1 favorite]


And Hannity had dinner last night with Trump. I'm sure that was a sane healthy conversation that won't lead to any trouble.
posted by chris24 at 5:08 PM on March 31, 2018 [15 favorites]


being Good At Computers/Having A PhD/Having a MD/JD
...is often a contraindication for understanding how other people think and the World works. It's not all like an Operating System, dude, but sometimes it DOES have the same problems as Windows...
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:25 PM on March 31, 2018 [6 favorites]


Just got back from the El Paso County (CO) Democratic party county assembly. There were more than 500 delegates in attendance, my preferred gubernatorial candidate won the preference poll earning the larger share of delegates to the state convention in 2 weeks which I'll also be going to, and for the first time in forever every single county level race has a Democratic candidate. El Paso county is super red, but we're going to make the GOP fight races that haven't had a D candidate in years. It was very encouraging. And if it weren't for Metafilter, I don't think I would be involved in electoral politics to the extent I am, so thanks for the information and motivation to keep working towards 2018 midterms.
posted by danielleh at 5:26 PM on March 31, 2018 [96 favorites]


And the frequency of Trumpspam has increased to 6 in the last 36 hours, most about the FEC "deadline" for quarterly fundraising reports and begging to "put us over the top",

Every political group does this - over the last few days, I've received a handful of money-begging emails from Bernie and a few groups I thought I had turn off notifications from. I have received at least 3 phone calls from Democratic somethingorothers pleading for money and continuing to tell me how important it is, even after I tell them I'm broke right now. I'd wondered why I'm getting calls now, and you've reminded me: it's the end of quarter, and I haven't said "take me off your call list."

(And I haven't this time; I get a perverse pleasure in dragging out telemarketer phone calls. I tell them, "no, I can't afford to help out" as soon as their initial speech is done... and then they keep asking. So I keep talking until they realize that no amount of polite discussion nor listing upcoming special elections is going to change my initial "nope, not now" answer. I figure I'm sparing someone else who also can't afford it, but doesn't have the confidence to say "no" half a dozen times in the same phone call.)
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 5:27 PM on March 31, 2018 [4 favorites]


There was a poster for the movie Easy Rider that had the tagline "A man went looking for America. And couldn't find it anywhere..." There's the Simon & Garfunkel song where everyone's gone to look for America, but there's nothing about any of them finding anything. Sounds about right to me.
posted by save alive nothing that breatheth at 6:06 PM on March 31, 2018 [3 favorites]


> ... for the first time in forever every single county level race has a Democratic candidate. El Paso county is super red, but we're going to make the GOP fight races that haven't had a D candidate in years.

Yes! Yes! Yes! That's what we did in Virginia, and look what happened! Even then, we didn't get a Democrat running in every single county level race.

Thanks, danielleh, and thank you Colorado Democrats. I think this year's elections are going to be pretty amazing, and pretty devastating for Republicans.
posted by nangar at 6:20 PM on March 31, 2018 [19 favorites]


Makes it sound like a big portion of America's Deep State was working for Putin well before they installed President Drumpf.

Can we stop using the term 'deep state'? It was specifically workshopped and disseminated by Bannon and Cambridge Analytica in preparation for Trump's campaign, tailored lovingly for the American public with an obvious purpose: promote paranoia and confusion, foment distrust of the civil service, and prime the public psyche for more and more conspiracy theories to sprout up and worsen the chaos. When we use that term, we are advancing Steve Bannon's agenda.
posted by Vic Morrow's Personal Vietnam at 6:33 PM on March 31, 2018 [95 favorites]


This is extremely dangerous to our democracy..

[link goes to a Youtube supercut edit of many local news broadcasts, owned by the same giant media company, all reading from the same script..]

edited to add: it's creepier than you would think (based on just that description) and someone has done a masterful job of editing it together for maximum impact. worth a watch, in my opinion..
posted by Nerd of the North at 6:33 PM on March 31, 2018 [83 favorites]


The Whitehouse has released a photo of the new spring interns. It's hilariously non representative. Not just because of the lack diversity but because of the placement of the little diversity it exhibits.
posted by Mitheral at 6:53 PM on March 31, 2018 [5 favorites]


This is extremely dangerous to our democracy.

Wasn't that a scene in _A_Wrinkle_in_Time_?
posted by Slothrup at 6:56 PM on March 31, 2018 [4 favorites]


yes, sinclair news - you may find it a relief that wkzo, channel 3, can't seem to keep their website updated with the correct temperature - i've caught them out several times on this

so they can preach their conservative nonsense through their puppets all they want, but if they can't even be bothered to get the weather straight, what kind of credibility do they really have?
posted by pyramid termite at 6:59 PM on March 31, 2018 [2 favorites]


I'm currently sitting in an establishment that can only be described as What If Chipotle But Indian, where white and black kids are manning the tandoors and the people in line in front of me are East Asian, white and South Asian. About five different languages are being spoken within earshot and there's terrible EDM playing. This is the country I love and that I'm fighting for.

There is a bagel place in my neighborhood like that - the staff behind the counter are East Asian, Latin American, and possibly South Asian or Middle Eastern; college students at the tills, Gen-Xers in the kitchen or manning the toasters. Usually one of the girls at the tills is wearing a hijab. The customers are half-awake art students, old dudes who want coffee, guys who were out running and are sneaking a muffin, families with little kids who can't make up their mind what juice they want...it does a lively brisk business, better than the Starbucks' 2 blocks away.

(Plus they have a sandwich special called the Krabby Patty and how can you not love that)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:00 PM on March 31, 2018 [16 favorites]


whoops - it's wwmt, channel 3 - it stopped being wkzo a long time ago - i'm showing my age
posted by pyramid termite at 7:11 PM on March 31, 2018


indeed, the insidious thing about being Good At Computers/Having A PhD/Having a MD/JD is that it leads people to think that they must be equally Smart At Everything. generally, they are not.

QFT. In the general aviation world, certain high performance small aircraft are nicknamed “doctor killers” for a reason
posted by maniabug at 7:39 PM on March 31, 2018 [45 favorites]


Depends on how you define "country “

All my life I’ve understood my country as a place where you don’t have to be afraid of going to prison or being murdered for speaking your mind. Can’t say I like where we are headed.
posted by maniabug at 7:56 PM on March 31, 2018 [19 favorites]


Does anyone know how/if the Pittsburgh Sinclair stations do these segments? They own channel 22 and WPGH, but 22 doesn't do news and WPGH gets their news from WPXI (non-Sinclair).
posted by dirigibleman at 8:04 PM on March 31, 2018


This is extremely dangerous to our democracy..

[link goes to a Youtube supercut edit of many local news broadcasts, owned by the same giant media company, all reading from the same script..]


Oh wow. I remember news of this effort getting mentioned in a prior megathread (if anyone knows or remembers these comments, I'd love to go back and see what the original news/discussion about that was.) Watching that video was indeed horrifying and I second that you should watch it and add that you should send it to friends.
posted by robotdevil at 8:39 PM on March 31, 2018 [2 favorites]


Heard the segment on WJAC, which is Johnstown. I assume it was all O&O Sinclair stations.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 8:41 PM on March 31, 2018


Found the original comment about the Sinclair scripts, courtesy of halation.
posted by robotdevil at 8:43 PM on March 31, 2018 [2 favorites]


so they can preach their conservative nonsense through their puppets all they want, but if they can't even be bothered to get the weather straight, what kind of credibility do they really have?

I'd argue credibility hasn't been in play for about 30 years. It's all smash-and-grab on mainstreet news. Because that works amazingly well, obviously.
posted by petebest at 8:51 PM on March 31, 2018 [3 favorites]


David Hogg isn't satisfied with Laura Ingraham taking a week off air to lick her wounds, he wants to know why he's apologising for her comments about him but not, say, LeBron James, or LGBT people at Dartmouth. Conservatives seem to think he's overreaching here, but then conservative commentators, in general, have had no response to March for Our Lives other than insults and character attacks
posted by Merus at 9:09 PM on March 31, 2018 [86 favorites]


Can we stop using the term 'deep state'?

Doesn't matter. In a prior political post, this survey came up for its result that 74% believed the deep state "probably" or "definitely" exists. There's a nuance - the question before that was about familiarity with the term. Only 37% knew the term. The existence question defined "deep state" and a ton of people believed in such a thing without having known the specific term.
posted by save alive nothing that breatheth at 9:23 PM on March 31, 2018 [2 favorites]


There's a difference between institutional knowledge of career employees doing their professional work across partisan administrations, and the "deep state" conspiring to overthrow Trump because they're Democrats.

One is how the rule of law and a professional civil service works. The other is helping Trump and the Republicans who have abandoned the rule of law destroy it.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:00 PM on March 31, 2018 [12 favorites]


The "Deep State" survey question reads:
The term Deep State refers to possible existence of a group of unelected govt & military officials who secretly manipulate or direct natl policy. Do you think this type of Deep State in the federal govt definitely, probably, prob not, or def not exist?
By that definition, it most certainly exists, since most executive and legislative bureaucrats are appointed, not directly elected, and of course much of their business is conducted in private (hence FOIA, etc). If the survey writer's response is "yeah, but you know what we actually mean," then it's a not a very well designed survey question.
posted by chortly at 10:46 PM on March 31, 2018 [14 favorites]


My apologies; I used the term "America's Deep State" VERY sarcastically (that's why I didn't just say "Deep State"). I guess I needed to use a HAMBURGER (|] signifier. But the point I was trying to make was that, while it is fairly well proven (to me, at least) that many people in the Intelligence Community were partisan supporters of either candidate, or partisan opponents, and acted badly because they were, there seemed to also be an element who went far beyond that... if that kind of cover-up of Mikhail Lesin's murder was allowed to happen, there must be Russian operatives involved. And as bad as many of the Cold War things the U.S. did were, Russia (Soviet and Post-Soviet) has done worse, and is certainly still doing it.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:18 AM on April 1, 2018 [2 favorites]


Can we stop using the term 'deep state'? It was specifically workshopped and disseminated by Bannon and Cambridge Analytica in preparation for Trump's campaign, tailored lovingly for the American public with an obvious purpose: promote paranoia and confusion, foment distrust of the civil service, and prime the public psyche for more and more conspiracy theories to sprout up and worsen the chaos.

It's also been part of the RT playbook* from the start. They have consistantly pushed the establishment conspiracy angle: [nytimes]
From early on, the channel’s interviews highlighted Sept. 11 “truthers,” who believed the Sept. 11 attacks were an inside job, including Alex Jones, whose segments, ranging freely across the broader spectrum of conspiracy theories — from Osama bin Laden’s staged death to the all-powerful machinations of the Bilderberg Group — became regular occurrences on the network.

...(whataboutism quote snipped)...

To the extent that RT had any clear ideological bent, it was a sort of all-purpose anti-establishment stance that drew from both the anti-globalization left (the network hosted a Green Party debate) and the libertarian right (it lavished attention on the Rand Paul movement).

Which is presumably why it does still have supporters/boosters on the more fever-headed parts of the left. I guess they should get some points for being an actual deep-state establishment conspiracy meta-narrating fictional versions of itself.



* [RationalWiki] - link may stop working as they are apparently closing shop.
posted by Buntix at 12:20 AM on April 1, 2018 [6 favorites]


Be wary of any news announced on April 1st, is my rule.
posted by Merus at 12:23 AM on April 1, 2018 [9 favorites]




Can we stop using the term 'deep state'? It was specifically workshopped and disseminated by Bannon and Cambridge Analytica in preparation for Trump's campaign, tailored lovingly for the American public with an obvious purpose

One of my own beefs with this malicious propagation is that it completely obliterates the term's utility in its original context, i.e. discussions of the ways in which systems of power really operate, classically in the Turkish case.

I'm not in any way ordinarily a linguistic prescriptivist, but here's a place I tend to get all "but that's not what that meeeeeeeeeaaaans" on people, entirely futilely of course. It was a useful, valuable concept, which nobody will ever again be able to be invoke without sounding like a complete fucking loon and Fox News-tier dupe.
posted by adamgreenfield at 3:29 AM on April 1, 2018 [43 favorites]


(And this is admittedly among the most minor of all the ways in which Donald Trump and his enablers have vandalized public institutions, but it’s emblematic. It’s a poisoning of the language, a corruption and a conscious undermining of the very tools we use to frame thought, and I’ll take my resentment about the fact that all this damage was done for so little gain to my grave. It’s like finding out a legislator has sold their vote on some world-historical matter for dinner at Nobu and two tickets to whatever revival’s currently big on Broadway.)
posted by adamgreenfield at 3:59 AM on April 1, 2018 [28 favorites]


I'm not in any way ordinarily a linguistic prescriptivist, but here's a place I tend to get all "but that's not what that meeeeeeeeeaaaans" on people, entirely futilely of course. It was a useful, valuable concept, which nobody will ever again be able to be invoke without sounding like a complete fucking loon and Fox News-tier dupe.

Which is, of course, why they do it: it's much more difficult to talk about the concept of corrupt businesspeople with secret control over the levers of government without invoking connotations useful for those corrupt businesspeople. It is not a unique ploy - take 'Democrat', or 'Christian values'.
posted by Merus at 4:15 AM on April 1, 2018 [2 favorites]


For anyone else who missed this when it was mentioned above, a few days ago: Alt-Right erupts after crying Nazi Christopher Cantwell admits he’s a federal informant
posted by XMLicious at 4:32 AM on April 1, 2018 [17 favorites]


there seemed to also be an element who went far beyond that... if that kind of cover-up of Mikhail Lesin's murder was allowed to happen, there must be Russian operatives involved.

I think this premise is wrong. I can think of all sorts of diplomatic reasons not to announce that Russia had killed someone on our soil, not least of which is the simple embarrassment of that fact. Acts that could be interpreted as threats to sovereignty by rival nuclear states tend to be treated delicately.
posted by stopgap at 6:22 AM on April 1, 2018 [2 favorites]


If someone refers to the "deep state" as the elements of the federal government that exist to, y'know, actually _do the things that the government is designed to do_ and resist those who think they can just waltz into town and dismantle the whole fucking thing outside of tax cuts and guns, then yes, I will agree with that usage.

If someone refers to the "deep state" in a Grand Hannity Conspiracy sense, I will make a show of speaking quietly into a hidden microphone in my jacket, mentioning how the Deep State pales next to the threat of the Deeper State, declaring that "now that you are aware, you WILL BE EXPECTED at the next meeting at the docks" and swooping out of the room.
posted by delfin at 7:00 AM on April 1, 2018 [13 favorites]


Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump

Border Patrol Agents are not allowed to properly do their job at the Border because of ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws like Catch & Release. Getting more dangerous. “Caravans” coming. Republicans must go to Nuclear Option to pass tough laws NOW. NO MORE DACA DEAL!
Happy Easter, everyone! In honor of this holy day of Jesus rising from the dead, let us think of his words.
"But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or thirsty, and give you a drink? When did we see you as a stranger, and take you in; or naked, and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?’

“The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

“Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’

“Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
For people who want to enable Armageddon for Jesus to come back, they seriously want to be goats.
posted by Talez at 7:29 AM on April 1, 2018 [69 favorites]


As for where he got "caravans" from, as usual, it was on the web and then Fox News talked about it.
posted by delfin at 7:33 AM on April 1, 2018 [7 favorites]


This might just be the kind of rumor that goes around the playground, but I heard Jesus was one of . . y'know. A globalist.

It's hard to imagine the kind of f-*#d up theosophy the Grand Wig has. It's almost tempting to want him to expound on it. In a kind of "let's release the ants in zero-gravity" sort of way. I mean if you saw Trump was going to speak on the topic of The Meaning of the Resurrection of Jesus, on c-span, wouldn't you run to the popcorn pantry?
posted by petebest at 7:40 AM on April 1, 2018 [10 favorites]


Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
These big flows of people are all trying to take advantage of DACA. They want in on the act!
He doesn't even know what he's saying. Just saying random shit to gin up the racist parts of our society.
posted by Talez at 8:08 AM on April 1, 2018 [29 favorites]


@realDonaldTrump: These big flows of people are all trying to take advantage of DACA. They want in on the act!

Apparently the President of the United States was capable of revoking an immigration policy without any awareness of what the policy entailed.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:10 AM on April 1, 2018 [16 favorites]


He's also going to end NAFTA if big bad Mexico doesn't stop being big and bad.

@realDonaldTrump
Mexico is doing very little, if not NOTHING, at stopping people from flowing into Mexico through their Southern Border, and then into the U.S. They laugh at our dumb immigration laws. They must stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA. NEED WALL!
posted by chris24 at 8:16 AM on April 1, 2018 [6 favorites]


Border Patrol Agents are not allowed to properly do their job at the Border because of ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws like Catch & Release. Getting more dangerous. “Caravans” coming. Republicans must go to Nuclear Option to pass tough laws NOW. NO MORE DACA DEAL!

A reminder that the use of "Catch & Release," originally intended to refer to fishing, now normalizes coming atrocities. Look at his tweet again in the literal context.

"Border Patrol agents can't do their job because we free the animals instead of letting them die. Getting more dangerous. 'Caravans' coming. Republicans must go to Nuclear Option."

Take them both seriously and literally: this is the language of extermination.
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:21 AM on April 1, 2018 [62 favorites]


Aren’t Christians supposed to be in church right about now?
posted by theodolite at 8:23 AM on April 1, 2018 [12 favorites]


He's live-tweeting a Father Coughlin service.
posted by chris24 at 8:26 AM on April 1, 2018 [30 favorites]


‘Tired of the wait game’: White House stabilizers gone, Trump calling his own shots By Philip Rucker and Robert Costa, Washington Post. Possibly previously titled, "Unhinged or unleashed..."
Fourteen months into the job, Trump is increasingly defiant and singularly directing his administration with the same rapid and brutal style he honed leading his real estate and branding empire.

Trump is making hasty decisions that jolt markets and shock leaders and experts — including those on his own staff. Some confidants are concerned about the situation, while others, unworried, characterize him as unleashed.

The president is replacing aides who have tended toward caution and consensus with figures far more likely to encourage his rash instincts and act upon them, and he is frequently soliciting advice from loyalists outside the government. As he shakes up his administration, Trump is prioritizing personal chemistry above all else, as evidenced by his controversial selection of Navy Rear Adm. Ronny L. Jackson, the White House physician, to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“The president is in an action mood and doesn’t want to slow-roll things, from trade to the border to staffing changes,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. “He wants to make things that he’s been discussing for a while happen. He’s tired of the wait game.”

This dynamic — detailed in interviews with 23 senior White House officials and outside advisers, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer candid assessments — is evident in multiple realms.
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:28 AM on April 1, 2018 [9 favorites]


The pulse of a New York bellwether county: Voters reflect on Trump's win and the looming 2018 elections

"[A voter] He argued the leadership of the Democratic Party has become increasingly detached from working-class voters, accounting for at least part of Trump's success in 2016."

I grew up in this county and in rural Albany County (when it was a conservative Democrat stronghold. My Dad was in the O'Connell machine). Upstate was mildly left-leaning, good-government, Main-Street Republicans, except in rural Albany County and in cities and college towns. Social issues were generally personally regarded as matters of personal privacy/no one's business. Stefanik's district is a good example. (I realize the latter value does not necessarily support broad civil liberties in such matters.)

People generally would proudly identify themselves as an independent Republican/Democrat.

I don't recognize my home anymore. But I've been gone a long time.
posted by jgirl at 8:33 AM on April 1, 2018 [2 favorites]


Fourteen months into the job, Trump is increasingly defiant and singularly directing his administration with the same rapid and brutal style he honed leading his real estate and branding empire.

Incidentally I can thoroughly recommend the movie The Death of Stalin. Probably more fun if you don’t suspect it’s roughly how the country youvare in is being run.
posted by Artw at 8:39 AM on April 1, 2018 [7 favorites]


The pulse of a New York bellwether county: Voters reflect on Trump's win and the looming 2018 elections

Stay tuned to the end for the surprise twist ending!

It's always the same twist. They still support Trump.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:40 AM on April 1, 2018 [20 favorites]


Gotta reassure the racists.

@alexandraerin
Trump's tweets today about DACA and immigration are 100% his reaction to Ann Coulter going to the New York Times and threatening him.
Ann Coulter to Donald Trump: Beware the Former Trumpers
posted by chris24 at 8:46 AM on April 1, 2018 [20 favorites]


“He wants to make things that he’s been discussing for a while happen. He’s tired of the wait game.”

i guess we can take small consolation that
a) congress has decided that they're doing fuck all for the rest of the year and going campaigning
b) trump has no understanding whatsoever how this might stymie his plans
posted by murphy slaw at 8:47 AM on April 1, 2018 [2 favorites]


My Dad was in the O'Connell machine)

Man, the O'Connell machine was a thing of beauty, in contrast to what we have today. ( I live in the city of Albany, and am pretty sure our dead dog voted the party line last election... )
posted by mikelieman at 8:49 AM on April 1, 2018 [2 favorites]


the wise child
the wicked child
the child who is working hard on infrastructure
tiffany


I said, what about the daughter called Tiffany
Trump said, yes I think I remember that kid
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:53 AM on April 1, 2018 [17 favorites]


I think it's more likely his tweet storm is because someone has bought his attention to this:
A Huge Caravan Of Central Americans Is Headed For The US.
posted by adamvasco at 8:57 AM on April 1, 2018 [5 favorites]


Home of the Brave: Scared of 1,000 immigrants seeking shelter from gang warfare.
posted by Talez at 9:00 AM on April 1, 2018 [44 favorites]


‘Tired of the wait game’: White House stabilizers gone, Trump calling his own shots By Philip Rucker and Robert Costa, Washington Post. Possibly previously titled, "Unhinged or unleashed..."

Yes, NewsDiffs change log of that article shows the original headline began "‘Unhinged’ or ‘unleashed’?" but dropped that an hour an a half later.

Aren’t Christians supposed to be in church right about now?

The New York Times's Katie Rogers buttonholed Trump on the way to Easter service for clarification about his tweet "NO MORE DACA DEAL!": "Just asked POTUS as he was as heading into church what he meant by no DACA deal and he starts by saying Mexico has to help the US at the border. 'A lot of people are coming in because they want to take advantage of DACA. The Democrats blew it.'"

The Toronto Star's Daniel Dale @ddale8 calls bullshit:
This makes no sense. To be eligible for DACA, people had to have been living in the US since 2007. Nobody who arrives now would be covered by the program even if it wasn’t being terminated. Nor would they be covered by any of the citizenship deals on the table in Congress.

There are only two possibilities here: the president is egregiously lying; the president has no idea what DACA is.
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:00 AM on April 1, 2018 [77 favorites]


UPDATE: The NYT has published a quick article about Trump's statement, "Venting on Immigration, Trump Vows ‘No More DACA Deal’ and Threatens Nafta", which addresses the 2007 cut-off—though without drawing any conclusions about Trump's mischaracterization of DACA.

Anyroad, Daniel Dale's Twitter account is a must-follow for both diligent coverage and common-sense analysis of Trumpland.
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:10 AM on April 1, 2018 [12 favorites]


There are only two possibilities here: the president is egregiously lying; the president has no idea what DACA is.

There is a third possibility, which I think is the correct one: "DACA" is transmuting in right-wing discourse to refer to all birthright citizenship. The sentiment of "they come here to make their anchor babies who will then vote Democrat" absolutely suffuses the conservosphere and the references stop being nonsensical when DACA means all children of immigrants.
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:10 AM on April 1, 2018 [45 favorites]


If so, that's the Through the Looking-Glass theory of language: "When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty Donald Trump said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.'" So for Trump, DACA has collapsed into a placeholder for any and all immigrant legislative reform in Trumpland. Meanwhile, back in the real world, DACA continues to enjoy overall approval—even among Trump voters.
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:24 AM on April 1, 2018 [23 favorites]


'DACA' has become the new 'ACORN' - a catch-all acronym whose only meaning or purpose now is to evoke Pavlovian Trumpist/racist rage.

Or, what Doktor Zed just said.
posted by hangashore at 9:26 AM on April 1, 2018 [23 favorites]


I'm not in any way ordinarily a linguistic prescriptivist, but here's a place I tend to get all "but that's not what that meeeeeeeeeaaaans" on people, entirely futilely of course. It was a useful, valuable concept, which nobody will ever again be able to be invoke without sounding like a complete fucking loon.
see also: meme vs. meme /derail

posted by j_curiouser at 9:57 AM on April 1, 2018


BuzzFeed News: Trump's Pick To Lead CIA Actively Pushed To Have The "Torture Tapes" Destroyed
The current narrative is that Gina Haspel, Trump's pick to lead the CIA, was just following her boss's orders. The record suggests she pushed for their destruction.
Again I point out that Betsy DeVos’s nomination had to rely on Mike Pence’s tie-breaker vote, and she hadn’t covered up torture. This nomination can and should be blocked by the Senate.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 10:01 AM on April 1, 2018 [46 favorites]


Calvin County (A Watterson/Breathed Joint)
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:04 AM on April 1, 2018 [32 favorites]


I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.

Free food, drink, and medical care? Sounds pretty liberal to me!
posted by kirkaracha at 10:05 AM on April 1, 2018 [14 favorites]


Not that hypocracy matters to Trumpists or will ever affect their blind worship of the Liar-in-Chief, but in the face of the current attacks on Amazon, it would be nice to keep reminding people that FEC filings show Trump campaign regularly used Amazon for supplies.
posted by StrawberryPie at 11:08 AM on April 1, 2018 [6 favorites]


That's not an incosistent world view if Amazon being some inescapable monopoly is essential to your delusion.
"That's okay," she [Wyoming Knott] answered, her voice warm again. "Everybody does business with the AuthorityAmazon, we can't avoid it—and that's the trouble. That's what we're going to change."

[Manuel:] We are, eh? I thought. Everybody does business with AuthorityAmazon for same reason everybody does business with Law of Gravitation. Going to change that, too?
--

:: "@realDonaldTrump
Mexico is doing very little, if not NOTHING, at stopping people from flowing into Mexico through their Southern Border, and then into the U.S. They laugh at our dumb immigration laws. They must stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA. NEED WALL!
"

Geez can you imagine the right wing outrage if ICE started preventing large swaths of Americans from leaving the US?
posted by Mitheral at 11:25 AM on April 1, 2018 [4 favorites]


Geez can you imagine the right wing outrage if ICE started preventing large swaths of Americans from leaving the US?

I can imagine zero outrage. The GOP base basically never travels internationally. Their hopes are rife with limiting the freedom of others, including imprisoning the political opposition, arresting (and then [shrug]) tens of millions of "illegals," the monitoring and tracking (if not internment in camps) of Muslims, the mass execution and imprisonment of "drug pushers," et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

I think few Trump voters would give a single shit if ICE was suddenly given the task of preventing all citizens from leaving the country.
posted by Rust Moranis at 11:33 AM on April 1, 2018 [12 favorites]




Geez can you imagine the right wing outrage if ICE started preventing large swaths of Americans from leaving the US?
A few years ago, I was driving with a colleague in a European country that had been communist and was occupied by Russia for a time. We were driving to a town near the border, and while we were driving, he was describing the region. He mentioned that the border was much less dramatic than it used to be, but some of the armaments were still visible. He said, "You know, most borders are designed to keep people out. The thing about this border is the guns were turned inward. The border was designed to keep people in."
posted by StrawberryPie at 11:40 AM on April 1, 2018 [10 favorites]


The Washington Post profiles Rosa Sabido who is living in a Colorado church to avoid deportation, under a Federal policy against enforcement actions in places of worship.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:43 AM on April 1, 2018 [6 favorites]


Right wing twitter found that creepy Sinclair Broadcasting clip and just guess who they think is behind it.
posted by PenDevil at 11:43 AM on April 1, 2018 [14 favorites]


Right wing twitter found that creepy Sinclair Broadcasting clip and just guess who they think is behind it.

The weirdest part to me is that their tactic is to shift blame like it's indefensible, I'd have expected just a straightforward defense out of right wing Twitter but apparently this one's too obviously fucked up even for them.
posted by jason_steakums at 11:53 AM on April 1, 2018 [1 favorite]


Seth Abramson makes reasonable points in a Twitter thread that is worth reading. Here are the first several tweets – please see the rest in the thread itself:
(THREAD) If you or someone you know suffers from Trump-Russia exhaustion, please read and RT this. Trump's strategy is to get us to cease caring about his coordination with Russia because investigating it takes too long. A long thread may seem an unusual antidote, but try it out

The Trump-Russia probe is the largest federal criminal probe of the last half-century. POLITICO estimates it features 285 major players, but the number is likely well over 400—readers of this feed added 65 key names to the POLITICO list within five hours of it being published.

The Trump-Russia probe involves witnesses, documents and events in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Russia, and southeast Asia. Even with a team of 41 attorneys and investigators, we would expect Bob Mueller to need a decade to complete his investigation.

At the same, Mueller is investigating the possibility that Donald Trump committed the biggest political crime in the history of the United States and is currently governing America as the puppet of a hostile foreign power—in other words, he doesn't have anything like a decade.

His work is slowed by the perpetual threat he will be fired (as Trump already tried once, last summer, but Don McGahn refused to execute the order); sometimes conflicting Congressional probes; and the fact that the key suspect creates new inculpatory evidence every single day.

Americans' patience with Mueller is further limited by the fact that the White House has successfully established a fraudulent narrative of how federal investigations work, and US media has enabled that narrative by—variously—implicitly endorsing it or failing to challenge it.

For reasons that were foreseeable—many that Trump helped engineer—there's now a risk that, as we're presently in a slight "lull" in the Trump-Russia investigation, Americans will soon fully succumb to the very "Trump-Russia exhaustion" that is Trump's only way out of all this.

For this reason, we now need to take a step back and look at the "shape" of the Trump-Russia investigation. Doing so reveals to us that the only way Trump evades responsibility for his actions is us being too exhausted to actively, vocally support Mueller's pursuit of justice.

I mean this literally. From a legal and political standpoint, Trump's goose is cooked by mid- to late 2019 (defining the "shape" of that reality is the subject of another thread). He has no viable legal or political strategy left other than provoking investigative exhaustion.

So this thread aims to lay out how Trump is using "investigative exhaustion" as a strategy for weathering what is without a doubt the gravest political scandal in American history—even taking into account only what we know so far.

I'll start by looking at how the probe began.
posted by StrawberryPie at 11:55 AM on April 1, 2018 [71 favorites]


george baby, can you please hook us up? the resistance would be having a way easier time if you would just do all the shit that paranoid fascists think you're doing.
posted by murphy slaw at 11:57 AM on April 1, 2018 [16 favorites]


The Trump-Russia probe involves witnesses, documents and events in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Russia, and southeast Asia.
Hey, Seth, don't forget the Seychelles! [African archipelago far out in the Indian Ocean] It would be a mistake to overlook that shady mercenary f*cker's role in all of this. Perhaps that only reinforces the point, though -- there's a ridiculous amount over which to keep track, an enormous cast of characters, and actions which span the globe.
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:02 PM on April 1, 2018 [8 favorites]


Another thing that makes the Trump/Russia investigation such a quagmire is that it ties into hundreds of illegal acts previously perpetrated by Donald & Co. that never got dealt with thanks to corrupt prosecutors like Giuliani and Christie and the FBI offices in New York, New Jersey and Florida.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:10 PM on April 1, 2018 [35 favorites]


Trump's strategy

I've found a flaw in the basis of their argument.
posted by LionIndex at 12:33 PM on April 1, 2018 [12 favorites]


Trump's strategy
...well, not HIS strategy, but the strategy of those using him, like Robert Mercer and Vladimir Putin. (Hey, you want a conspiracy theory to counter the Infowars/Roseanne/alt-wrong theories? Mercer is really an alias for Putin.)
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:47 PM on April 1, 2018 [1 favorite]


Trump's strategy
I've found a flaw in the basis of their argument.
I hope it's obvious that while Trump himself may not have a strategy, that doesn't preclude people who support him having a strategy. The sham investigations in the House and Senate, the Fox News propaganda, the Russian-based social media bots, etc. – those didn't all come about by accident. I'm not saying there's a massive conspiracy controlling it all, but some of those people are clearly talking to each other, even if Trump himself is not in the conversation.
posted by StrawberryPie at 12:53 PM on April 1, 2018 [8 favorites]


the metaphor that keeps coming back to me for the task faced by the coven of venal bigots propping trump up:

grandpa has shown up to christmas dinner, drunk. the whole family knows that when grandpa gets drunk, in addition to all the gross abuse, he starts writing checks. the best thing for the family would be for someone to tuck grandpa into bed with a hot toddy, but then no one gets a check.

so everyone steers grandpa around, trying to keep him drunk enough to write checks, while at the same time giving the children ludicrous excuses for his behavior and praying to god that he doesn’t jump up on the table, fuck the turkey, and pass out.

and nobody, for even a second, considers not ruining christmas if it means they don’t get grandpa’s money.
posted by murphy slaw at 1:21 PM on April 1, 2018 [147 favorites]


PenDevil: Right wing twitter found that creepy Sinclair Broadcasting clip and just guess who they think is behind it.

jason_steakums: The weirdest part to me is that their tactic is to shift blame like it's indefensible, I'd have expected just a straightforward defense out of right wing Twitter but apparently this one's too obviously fucked up even for them.

I would have expected the same! But the screencaps suggest the conservatives in question simply don't know about Sinclair Group and how it leans, nor are they grasping the segment's pro-Trump subtext. (Or they're pretending as much.) They're not saying it's some kind of double-secret false flag to make conservatives look bad; they're just assuming these newscasters, reading from a central script, are "the liberal media" straight-up telling viewers to think liberal thoughts and reject conservative ones.

I don't even know how to react to this, or how I would begin talking someone out of it (at least one conservative Twitterer tried). But it's somewhat satisfying to imagine the blowback to Sinclair coming from all sides, partly as a consequence of their directive for the script-readers to look and sound as "neutral" as possible.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 1:29 PM on April 1, 2018 [16 favorites]


Reading yet more about the Pruitt rent debacle, and one thing astonishes me most: that he seems to have been on-board with having his daughter intern in the White House. Which makes me think he's not as close with Trump as I suspected, because anyone who's spent any significant time with Trump probably knows better than to let any young woman anywhere near him.
posted by suelac at 1:54 PM on April 1, 2018 [10 favorites]


the White House has successfully established a fraudulent narrative of how federal investigations work, and US media has enabled that narrative by—variously—implicitly endorsing it or failing to challenge it.

My recent exposure to Americans In the Wild confirmed that they know shit about Klownwig's dirt. Like, literally nothing. Who's Carter Page? What's a Rosneft? He said he fired Comey to "take the heat off" the Russia thing? Really?

I don't know the answer other than corporate media doing theIR FUCKING JOBS but in the absence of common sense and decency, plan B is baseball cards. Yeah, baseball cards with the stick of cardboard gum in it. Think of it - Packs of different series; series III forms a Pepe Silva String Board if you flip them over and put them together. At the checkout line. $1 each. Proceeds go to saving the fucking country. It'd sell like hotcakes. Which, apparently, sell very well.

Oh plus it would do the abdicated informational job of the corporate media.

Series V features a set of PhlegmCo™ drawings. My favorite is me barfing on Chuck Todd's grave
posted by petebest at 3:06 PM on April 1, 2018 [42 favorites]


Every time in the past year that I've had a yen to bust out Illuminati again, I've just felt this sudden wave of existential exhaustion wash over me. I always enjoyed playing that game but I'm not enjoying so much living it.

I think no one's going to know shit until and unless we have televised hearings a la Watergate.
posted by soren_lorensen at 4:25 PM on April 1, 2018 [22 favorites]


The New York Times: The Kushners Saw Redemption in the White House. It Was a Mirage.
Charles Kushner still does not speak to his brother, whom he publicly blamed for instigating the investigation that led to his two-year prison sentence. Asked whether he hoped for presidential absolution, Mr. Kushner said, “I would prefer not to have a pardon” because it would trigger only further publicity.
...
“We are actively involved in more than $3 billion of projects and banks are providing $1.5 billion of financing in the first six months of this year,” he said. “Does that seem like we are lacking in funds?”

That said, the company has been forced to rule out two major sources of financing — foreign nations’ sovereign wealth funds and a federal program that offers foreign investors a path to citizenship — after questions about the propriety of tapping them given Jared Kushner’s foreign policy influence. While Mr. Kushner transferred some holdings in Kushner Companies to a trust run by his mother, he retains the vast majority — holdings estimated to be worth at least $761 million.

Avoiding such entanglements has proved harder, company officials said, than they expected. Bloomberg recently reported that two months after Mr. Kushner joined the White House, the firm sold a stake in a Brooklyn building to an entity whose largest shareholder is the Japanese government. A spokesman said Kushner company officials were unaware of the Japanese government’s involvement until the news report.
...
A financing pact with a Chinese firm connected to some of the Communist Party’s leading families collapsed in the face of public scrutiny.

Now the Kushners are scrambling. They have only 10 months before a $1.2 billion mortgage comes due to find a profitable use for a 61-year-old office tower with dark corridors, low ceilings and too few tenants to cover the interest on the purchase loan.
lmao
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:51 PM on April 1, 2018 [35 favorites]


I'm confused about what a presidential pardon for Charles Kushner would even achieve. He's served his sentence, and he would still have to report his criminal record if he's applying to work in Starbucks or something
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:54 PM on April 1, 2018 [5 favorites]


Wouldn't it give him back the half million the FEC fined him and also let him get his law licence back?
posted by Talez at 7:13 PM on April 1, 2018


Elections matter:
New Jersey’s Liberal New Governor Is The Anti-Chris Christie -- Likable Phil Murphy is pushing an aggressively progressive agenda in Christie’s old stomping ground.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:14 PM on April 1, 2018 [41 favorites]


I suspect that Murphy will disappoint in sundry ways, because real people always do, but for now, I and other folks in the environmental and progressive communities here in NJ are cautiously optimistic. Certainly more is possible than it ever was under the Chris "Meatloaf Eater" Christie regime, and we will make some progress here.
posted by mollweide at 7:21 PM on April 1, 2018 [1 favorite]


The top White House leaker is... Kellyanne Conway[CNN]!

(Do you think she will be fired?)
posted by CCBC at 7:22 PM on April 1, 2018 [10 favorites]


Conway is an old Irish name meaning "the way of subterfuge"
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 7:24 PM on April 1, 2018 [23 favorites]


I'm especially pleased by Murphy because there was a lot of, "I don't know, this is a Goldman Sachs guy." And so far, he's pretty good!
posted by Chrysostom at 7:34 PM on April 1, 2018 [6 favorites]


Well, after Corzine, we're admittedly a bit shy in our enthusiasm in that regard.
posted by mollweide at 7:39 PM on April 1, 2018 [6 favorites]


May Murphy's administration bring the kind of sunshine to New Jersey's governance that previously only Christie and his family were privileged to enjoy on the Fourth of July.
posted by riverlife at 8:25 PM on April 1, 2018 [11 favorites]


My 72-Hour Safari in Clinton Country -- More than a year into Trump’s presidency, the bubble has closed back over the Acela Corridor, where voters say they do not regret not voting for Trump. (Adam Wren for Politico, March 30, 2018)
My editors had given me this assignment as something of a lark. The idea: Just as reporters from New York and D.C. trek into Trump Country to visit greasy spoons and other corners of Real America™ to measure support for the candidate, I’d venture from Trump Country to the most stereotypical bastions of coastal liberal elitism, and ask the people I met whether they still support Hillary Clinton. An innocent abroad, I would leave Hamilton County, Indiana, a deep-red suburb north of Indianapolis that Trump won by nearly 20 points, the kind of place where the Koch brothers are presently carpet-bombing Democrat Senator Joe Donnelly with $2 million in television and digital ads for his vote against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Once on the decadent East Coast, I would luxuriate in its undiluted upscale liberal consensus at bookstores, wine bars, cafes and other Blue State institutions peopled by NPR tote-bagging sophisticates. Perhaps I’d drop in on something activist-y, a meeting of Resistance types. It was a trip that would take me across three states, from a food co-op in Brooklyn to an unabashedly liberal bookstore in Bethesda, all in counties Clinton won by at least 60 percent or more of the vote.
That's right - Politico apparently tried to play the "let's take a brief moment to try and 'balance' the egregiously unbalanced reporting on good ol' fashioned Trump supporters, by sending someone from 'Trump country' ... to the east coast." And they then approved a piece that snarks at all the elitists who haven't changed their mind about Trump, despite Politico reporting on all the shit that the Trump party and the complicit Republicans have done in the past year plus. Huh, now why aren't there staunch Hillary supporters who are now questioning their vote?

Good job on the clickbait, it worked.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:45 PM on April 1, 2018 [23 favorites]


"Red State people" don't like bookstores or cafes? I mean, I'll spot you the wine bars.

Also, we have legit greasy spoons here and I live 12 miles from the Pacific Ocean.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:22 PM on April 1, 2018 [3 favorites]


I'm especially pleased by Murphy because there was a lot of, "I don't know, this is a Goldman Sachs guy." And so far, he's pretty good!

Well, after Corzine, we're admittedly a bit shy in our enthusiasm in that regard.


That's the big problem with the corporate aligned manifestation of the Democratic Party, it's hard to tell who is in it for the money but really holds Truly Progressive Views...and who is just in it for the money, period. Sometimes you get a Jon Corzine or a Andrew Cuomo, and sometimes a Terry McAuliffe turns out to be pretty damn good. But there's very little indication in their pre-in-power career to tell one from the other. Banksters and lobbyists look like banksters and lobbyists until they get a change to prove otherwise, and that's a hard vote to assess without knowing.

Maybe there's an alternative career path to electoral success. Perhaps some Democrat somewhere should try it.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:25 PM on April 1, 2018 [10 favorites]


I suppose if their point was to write just as wide-eyed and stereotyped a piece of reporting about Clinton voters as we get about Trump voters, that was successful.
posted by ChuraChura at 12:06 AM on April 2, 2018 [2 favorites]


China Slaps Tariffs on U.S. Products in Warning Shot to Trump Chris Buckley, NYTimes
From the article:
The Chinese retaliation was no surprise. But Beijing appeared to go a step beyond its initial threat last month to counter the United States’ tariffs on steel and aluminum.

The Ministry of Commerce said then that it could impose tariffs in two stages: first, a 15 percent duty on 120 products, including fruit and wine, and then, after further assessing the impact of the United States’ tariffs, a 25 percent tariff on eight other products, including pork, an important moneymaker, especially in farming regions in states that voted for Mr. Trump.

But the latest announcement said the tariffs that will take effect on Monday covered all 128 products, including the 25 percent charge on pork.
No surprise indeed. But knowledge and experience are disqualifying in the Trump administration.
posted by mumimor at 1:27 AM on April 2, 2018 [12 favorites]


What do MeFites recommend as the best summary of the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica aspect of this ongoing clusterfuck? I have the “three paragraphs” article from The Atlantic but has there been anything else I should read?
posted by harriet vane at 1:51 AM on April 2, 2018


The new cover for New York magazine is something. Won't bother Donny at all.
posted by chris24 at 2:42 AM on April 2, 2018 [27 favorites]


This is the country I love and that I'm fighting for.

Here in Knoxville, Yassin's Falafel House (previously) has done so well that last month, they opened a second location. (Yes, it also has a heartwarming chalkboard sign.)

People coming to America and contributing to our economy and culture is what makes America great--and it's what makes America America! I humbly welcome and thank everyone who wants to immigrate.
posted by heatvision at 3:08 AM on April 2, 2018 [24 favorites]


An innocent abroad, I would leave Hamilton County, Indiana, a deep-red suburb north of Indianapolis that Trump won by nearly 20 points,

You know, if you wanted to get away from the standard blue-collar, low education, lowish income, out-of-work or fearful-of-being-out-of-work Trump voter stereotype, you might do well to actually profile voters in Hamilton County, Indiana, which is home to some of Indianapolis's wealthiest suburbs. Profile some of the people living in multi-million dollar houses in Carmel and ask them why they voted for Trump and if they regret it.

(That said, yes, that article is satire. Not particularly well-done, but it's not meant to be a serious profile of a Clinton voter.)
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 4:05 AM on April 2, 2018 [13 favorites]


Same speech again today. Really trying to drown his blues in the greatest hits:

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
Mexico has the absolute power not to let these large “Caravans” of people enter their country. They must stop them at their Northern Border, which they can do because their border laws work, not allow them to pass through into our country, which has no effective border laws.....
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
...Congress must immediately pass Border Legislation, use Nuclear Option if necessary, to stop the massive inflow of Drugs and People. Border Patrol Agents (and ICE) are GREAT, but the weak Dem laws don’t allow them to do their job. Act now Congress, our country is being stolen!
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
DACA is dead because the Democrats didn’t care or act, and now everyone wants to get onto the DACA bandwagon... No longer works. Must build Wall and secure our borders with proper Border legislation. Democrats want No Borders, hence drugs and crime!
posted by bootlegpop at 4:26 AM on April 2, 2018 [3 favorites]


Insane man shakes fist at cloud and brown people.
posted by jaduncan at 4:32 AM on April 2, 2018 [13 favorites]


Groundhog Day meets Downfall.
posted by chris24 at 4:33 AM on April 2, 2018 [34 favorites]


Congress must immediately pass Border Legislation, use Nuclear Option if necessary, to stop the massive inflow of Drugs and People.

As a reminder, the version of the immigration bill Trump supported only got 39 votes. So ending the filibuster wouldn't have done anything.
posted by chris24 at 4:44 AM on April 2, 2018 [16 favorites]


I don’t know if that Politico piece is satire, but I do know one thing
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 4:55 AM on April 2, 2018 [27 favorites]


use Nuclear Option if necessary

Anyone else get a reflexive fear-twinge when he starts going on about the "nuclear option" before realizing he's talking about Congressional procedure?
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 4:58 AM on April 2, 2018 [16 favorites]


Congress must immediately pass Border Legislation, use Nuclear Option if necessary, to stop the massive inflow of Drugs and People.

president trump proposes nuking ciudad juarez, el paso evacuated
posted by pyramid termite at 4:58 AM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]




I see I'm in the minority that thinks that Politico piece in Clintontown was a savage satire of talentless opinion piece writers, thus proving yet again that my sense of humour is defective.
posted by Yowser at 5:02 AM on April 2, 2018 [6 favorites]


The problem with the supposed satire piece is that Trump voters are going to assume it’s not satire and use it as further proof of everything they ever thought about liberals. It’s just making our job that much more difficult. Thanks, dicks.
posted by Autumnheart at 5:17 AM on April 2, 2018 [11 favorites]


Mexico has the absolute power not to let these large “Caravans” of people enter their country. They must stop them at their Northern Border, which they can do because their border laws work, not allow them to pass through into our country

I literally don’t understand what this is supposed to mean. It’s a group of vaguely related words exuding an aura of disliking brown people
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 5:18 AM on April 2, 2018 [16 favorites]


erarrrrrrrgh this random capitalization of nouns and incorrect use of quotations is something I have to tell my students to not do and it is so dispiriting to be all 'yes, so, the leader of the free world? the most powerful person on the planet? don't be like him.' My students have no love of Trump but I guess they hate my red pen more at the moment so the tide is against me.
posted by angrycat at 5:23 AM on April 2, 2018 [13 favorites]


Somehow it feels like a proper exegesis of these kind of Trump tweets would be a lot easier for corporate news and some of the public if Trump had an accent like Roscoe P. Coletrain.

"Must build Wall and secure our borders with proper Border legislation. Democrats want No Borders, hence drugs and crime! Gyuk-gyuk-gyuk hoo we got them Duke boys now!"
posted by petebest at 5:28 AM on April 2, 2018 [8 favorites]


@realDonaldTrump: ...Congress must immediately pass Border Legislation, use Nuclear Option if necessary, to stop the massive inflow of Drugs and People. Border Patrol Agents (and ICE) are GREAT, but the weak Dem laws don’t allow them to do their job. Act now Congress, our country is being stolen!

@realDonaldTrump (February 28, 2018)
45 year low on illegal border crossings this year. Ice and Border Patrol Agents are doing a great job for our Country. MS-13 thugs being hit hard.

---

Which is it Donny?
posted by chris24 at 5:37 AM on April 2, 2018 [43 favorites]


Wait, he wants to stop “caravans of illegals” at Mexico’s *orthern* border? So, illegals going south from the US?
posted by RedOrGreen at 5:38 AM on April 2, 2018 [3 favorites]


Wait, he wants to stop “caravans of illegals” at Mexico’s *orthern* border? So, illegals going south from the US?

There is a literal 'caravan' at present, mostly people from Honduras, trekking together through Mexico. Some plan to stay in Mexico; others plan to cross into the US. So far, no one in Mexico has really moved to stop them, though technically they have no authorisation to be there, which is why Trump is yelling about it. He wants them stopped at the northern border so they remain in Mexico.
posted by halation at 5:42 AM on April 2, 2018 [5 favorites]


"What if all the articles about Trump voters, but instead Hillary" has been done a fair number of times. The serious ones (actual news pieces about unsurprisingly non-regretful Clinton voters) can be worth reading; the jokey ones are a mixed bag. Alexandra Petri might have done one (which I'm sure was excellent).

The difficulty underlying both the actual "Trumpland" articles and any form of parody is, I think, nicely captured by this tweet that addresses two distinct (yet overlapping) reactions to the new Roseanne. The typical article is both condescending and too generous, because it amounts to "These people are too poor and/or ignorant to know and/or care that Trump is horribly racist/sexist/etc." Nobody in a mainstream publication wants to say "Actually at least a third of Americans are pro-shittiness in their basic outlook."
posted by InTheYear2017 at 5:44 AM on April 2, 2018 [15 favorites]


So if I understand this morning's tweet barrage correctly, Trump's message has gone from "I am securing the border and will compel Mexico to pay for it" to "I am incapable of securing the border and dependent on Mexico to do so instead". Powerful stuff
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:11 AM on April 2, 2018 [68 favorites]


In the midterms, a core Republican message will be that Democrats are responsible for not securing the border. Trump's core message today is that Senate Republicans are responsible for not securing the border because they are scared to use the Nuclear Option. It’s a bold strategy, let’s see if it pays off
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:27 AM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


AP reporting that the Kremlin has announced 45 has invited Putin to the White House.

Perhaps interviewing for Kelly's replacement?
posted by Devonian at 6:37 AM on April 2, 2018 [11 favorites]


Perhaps interviewing for Kelly's replacement?

Knowing how he likes to troll us it'll be Putin in the oval office with his feet on the resolute desk.

Which would be great because we could wrap copper wire around Hannity and just show him the picture of Obama with his feet on the resolute desk and then Putin doing the same thing and he'd be spinning so fast he'd solve the world's energy worries.
posted by Talez at 6:43 AM on April 2, 2018 [13 favorites]


Daily Beast: Kremlin Says Donald Trump Invited Vladimir Putin to the White House
President Trump has reportedly invited Vladimir Putin to the White House for a visit, according to a statement from the Kremlin. Putin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters Monday that during a March 20 phone conversation, Trump “suggested that the first meeting could be held in Washington” between the two leaders. “If everything goes well, I hope that the American side would not refuse its proposal to discuss the possibility of organizing the summit talks.” According to an Agence France-Presse reporter, a senior U.S. official did “not deny” that Trump “floated the idea of a White House summit,” noting that “no planning has begun as yet.” According to a TASS state media report, Ushakov told journalists that since the U.S. and Russia has expelled their respective diplomats from their countries, “there have been no specific discussions of a possible meeting.” He also said Russia “would like to believe that preparations for such a meeting will begin.” The news follows reports Trump congratulated Putin on his re-election over the phone after his staff told him explicitly not to, as well as a suspected poisoning of an ex Russian spy on British soil and amid special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of alleged Trump campaign collusion with Russia in the 2016 presidential election.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:44 AM on April 2, 2018 [5 favorites]


I'm cautiously optimistic about Murphy in NJ. While his credentials might be less progressive than some would prefer, his politics seem like they're pretty much spot-on for the New Jersey electorate.

New Jersey desperately needed a governor like Murphy, because his predecessors have all been awful. If Murphy wants to be the best governor of New Jersey in my lifetime, the bar that he needs to clear is embarrassingly low -- he pretty much needs to complete his term, and do so without the title "Disgraced New Jersey Governor" frequently appearing before his name in non-opinion news articles.

This context often gets overlooked while talking about the NJ Governor's office, but the state has literally not had a good governor in my lifetime (Christine Whitman, a moderate Republican, probably comes closest). Less than half have completed their terms.

So, yeah. I can see why people are excited that Murphy is boring, reasonably progressive, good at running things, and low-key charismatic. As long as the state doesn't become nostalgic for the chaos of previous administrations, he's going to do well.
posted by schmod at 6:45 AM on April 2, 2018 [15 favorites]


Knowing how he likes to troll us it'll be Putin in the oval office with his feet on the resolute desk.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be like "No, Putin did not force President Trump to do the Russian kicking dance on the desk"

Tass will release footage of him doing the dance

Putin will go on tv and be like "Yes, he did the dance, which is Ukrainian FYI"

Trump will tweet "Fake News, I dance Hopak for all guests"
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 6:50 AM on April 2, 2018 [31 favorites]


Stay tuned for

Putin picks up the presidential seal embosser off the desk and says "I can kill someone with this..."
posted by maniabug at 7:00 AM on April 2, 2018 [2 favorites]


Fox News, running the country.

Trump Hears from Immigration Hardliners (CNN via PoliticalWire)

“Retreating from the White House for a three-night stay at his Florida estate, President Trump heard this weekend from a parade of allies — many on the Fox News payroll — that his base believes he is softening on immigration,” CNN reports. . .

“His conversations — including on Saturday with Jeanine Pirro, who has previously rankled some senior White House aides for her ardent views on the Russia investigation — led up to a burst of tweets on Sunday and Monday morning in which Trump blamed Democrats for weak immigration policies.”


Stupidest Timeline. Our supervillains are dumb as shit as STILL wrecking everything.
posted by petebest at 7:12 AM on April 2, 2018 [17 favorites]


So what are the chances Trump didn't actually invite Putin, but Putin knew Trump wouldn't contradict him so had his propaganda outlets say he was invited?
posted by dirigibleman at 7:25 AM on April 2, 2018 [7 favorites]


Stupidest Timeline. Our supervillains are dumb as shit as STILL wrecking everything.

Well, technically the supervillains installed a dumb shit who is wrecking everything. The Koch’s, Mercer’s etc are not quite as dumb, and Putin isn’t dumb at all.
posted by Artw at 7:28 AM on April 2, 2018 [3 favorites]


So what are the chances Trump didn't actually invite Putin, but Putin knew Trump wouldn't contradict him so had his propaganda outlets say he was invited?

According to the Kremlin Trump extended this invitation during the same "DO NOT CONGRATULATE" phone call (because of course he did), so I'd say the likelihood is good. After all, Trump's Razor tells us that the stupidest possible scenario that can be reconciled with the available facts almost always turns out to be right.

Trolling Trump with this leak may prove more damaging to his ego than the tit-for-tat expulsion of US diplomats from Russia. Putin's like a Washington Square chess hustler toying with a mark.
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:32 AM on April 2, 2018 [5 favorites]


Well, technically the supervillains installed a dumb shit who is wrecking everything. The Koch’s, Mercer’s etc are not quite as dumb, and Putin isn’t dumb at all.

They are certainly not as stupid as Trump and the Trumpists, but I'm wondering if this all isn't going to hit these guys in the back? A global recession doesn't hit billionaires as hard as the rest of us, but it does hit them. And even worse/better, the political backlash against Trump might even lead to something like the post WW2 tax levels, as well as a much harder stance towards Russia. Generally villains are not as smart as they think they are, because if they were, they wouldn't be villains.
I'm thinking that maybe they thought they could control the events because they think they are incredibly smart, but as we all know, things got out of hand...
posted by mumimor at 7:38 AM on April 2, 2018 [6 favorites]


theodolite: Aren’t Christians supposed to be in church right about now?

Depending on the church, they might be closer to "those illegals" than they realize - Mother facing deportation finds sanctuary at church (ABC News with auto-playing video; March 29, 2018)
Fitted with an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet, Gisella Collazo says she's been made to feel like a common criminal, forced to seek sanctuary in a Massachusetts church to avoid immigration authorities who have ordered her deported to her home country of Peru.

She admitted to ABC news she entered the country 17 years ago as an undocumented immigrant, but said she has made a life here, married an American and given birth to two American sons, ages 10 and 4, who don't understand why their government wants to send their mother nearly 4,000 miles away.
...
She said she defied an order from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to board a plane to Lima, Peru, on Tuesday, a flight she paid $600 for with her own money, because she couldn't bear to leave her family behind.
...
Since Collazo began staying at the church, Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno has publicly warned that Springfield is not a sanctuary city and has threatened to take action against the church for harboring Collazo.

"They are in violation of building and housing codes and proper non-taxable use of their property. Our city inspection teams will be notified," Sarno said in a statement released on Tuesday.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:41 AM on April 2, 2018 [4 favorites]


Alexandra Erin brings her always-sharp analysis to the Putin invitation news, live on Twitter. A key insight: Trump likely thinks that having other people come to your residence/office is a sign of power, since it often was in his old life of entertainment, real estate, and mafiosi. Also, it's quite possible he constantly makes spontaneous invites other heads of state to visit, since it would never occur to him that doing so now that he's president has any particular significance or requires unusual degree of preparation.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 7:43 AM on April 2, 2018 [22 favorites]


Nathaniel Rakich, 538: Be Skeptical Of Anyone Who Tells You They Know How Democrats Can Win In November
Did any of those suburbany variables predict the improvement in Democrats’ margins in 2017-2018 elections compared to each district’s normal partisan lean?

The answer is … not really.

Household income, college educations and swings toward Clinton all had slight — very slight! — negative relationships with Democratic overperformance in Trump-era elections; as the former went up, the latter went down.

[....]

On average, Democrats are doing better in working-class areas than in suburban ones — but the dozens of examples to the contrary make a blanket statement like that almost worthless (and certainly not something you should base a midterm prediction on).

[....]

A null finding like this can be frustrating, but it’s still valuable information, not least because it helps dispel narratives like the “suburban surge” that have little grounding in reality. One thing the data does show is that Democrats are capable of winning districts of all kinds, even if it doesn’t always work out that way. That should reassure the party that there may not be a wrong answer when choosing which types of districts to target — at least when it comes to demographics. (Some other factor, such as candidate quality, may better explain when Democrats overperform and when they don’t.)
I'd like to add a few observations of my own about Rakich's data:

1) His scatterplots are showing a lot more variability in districts with lower average incomes and a lower percentage of people with college degrees, as well as slightly larger shift towards Democrats on average. Districts like these vary a lot in racial and ethnic composition. (A lot of rural districts in the South, for instance, have black majorities, even though this runs contrary to the stereotypes about rural areas that most pundits rely on.) More "suburbany" districts are mostly white and, well, suburban.

2) Working-class Democrats, who aren't remotely all white, are notorious for not voting or voting irregularly. (That used to be me for a long time!)There's been a trend to higher Democratic turn-out in off-year and special elections since the 2016 presidential election. It may be showing up more in results from rural and working class districts, because there was more room for improvement in turn-out by Democrats in these districts. (Democratic turn-out in off-year elections has improved in affluent suburbs too, but it was already relatively high.)
posted by nangar at 7:49 AM on April 2, 2018 [3 favorites]


It's the same reason he wants to meet with Kim Jong-Un without preconditions. In-person meetings is how he's always got things done, and how he's always attempted to gain the advantage and roll the sucker on the other side of the table. The fact that he's the head of state of the largest economy and military on earth is irrelevant.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 7:49 AM on April 2, 2018 [7 favorites]


from the "stupidest timeline confirmed" dept.:

ThinkProgress: At Chicago nightclub, George Papadopoulos allegedly makes explosive new claim about Jeff Sessions
At a London bar in May 2016, after numerous drinks, Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos bragged to an Australian diplomat the Russians had obtained damaging information on Hillary Clinton. The diplomat reported the conversation to American officials, which prompted the FBI to launch their investigation of the Trump campaign and its connections to Russia.

On Thursday at a Chicago nightclub, Papadopoulos had some drinks and, in a conversation with a new acquaintance, allegedly made new and explosive claims about Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Papadopoulos, according to this new acquaintance, said that Sessions was well aware of the contact between Papadopoulos and Joseph Mifsud, an academic from Malta with high-level connections in Russia. Papadopoulos’ indictment revealed that Mifsud had told Papadopoulos that the Russians had “‘dirt’ on then-candidate Hillary Clinton in the form of ‘thousands of emails.'”

After some conversation about the city and their marriage, Wilson turned the topic to the Russia investigation, asking Papadopoulos whether he thought Wilson would be disappointed when all the facts came out. Papadopoulos responded that things were “just getting started” and emphasized Sessions’ role, particularly his connection to Papadopoulos’ contacts with Mifsud.
posted by murphy slaw at 7:53 AM on April 2, 2018 [48 favorites]


Trump voters are going to assume it’s not satire

There is no way Trump voters read Politico.

Re the Chinese tariffs, has there been any pushback from e.g. Grassley and Ernst yet? The fruit/wine/nuts stuff will hit CA hardest, but Florida, the Carolinas and Iowa stand to take big hits on this. Papaya, bananas/plantains, coconut, pork, Ginseng (a big export crop in the midwest these days).

Ditto the rustbelt; there's a lot of steel on the tariff list and the US still manufactures quite a bit for export, mostly in the Great Lakes region. Indiana and Michigan will be hit hard, let's see if they blame Trump.

And really, let's make sure they understand who's to blame.
posted by aspersioncast at 7:53 AM on April 2, 2018 [4 favorites]


In a subsequent interview with ThinkProgress on Sunday about the details of Wilson’s account, Mangiante said that Papadopoulos talked with Wilson but insisted that he would not have discussed his interactions with Sessions because he is not allowed to discuss the details of the case.

Does this mean that Papadopoulos's lawyer has told him to not discuss the details of the case, or the Special Counsel has told him to not do so? I'm not seeing it in the plea agreement.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:04 AM on April 2, 2018


The most Trumpian move would be to fire Sessions for colluding with the Russians, and replace him with Scott Pruitt who would then shut down the Russia investigation because there was NO COLLUSION.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:06 AM on April 2, 2018 [7 favorites]


Re the Chinese tariffs, has there been any pushback from e.g. Grassley and Ernst yet?

Will Trump Crash the Farm Economy?
Senator Joni Ernst and Iowa’s agriculture secretary, Mike Naig, both say the tariffs will hurt Iowans, and Mr. Naig says we need to expand markets, not shrink them. Senator Chuck Grassley said something similar, on Fox News: “Tariffs do not put America first — low barriers and expanded access do.”
(It's a NYTImes OP-ED, but the author, Robert Leonard is the news director for the radio stations KNIA and KRLS.)
posted by mumimor at 8:07 AM on April 2, 2018 [6 favorites]


I'm cautiously optimistic about Murphy in NJ. While his credentials might be less progressive than some would prefer, his politics seem like they're pretty much spot-on for the New Jersey electorate.

In the tradition of the "good enough" parent, we need "good enough" Democrats. We can't have Elizabeth Warrens all the way down, but we don't need to settle for "electable" empty-suit zeroes either. Murphy is good enough, Conor Lamb is good enough, Ralph Northam is good enough, and Roy Cooper would be good enough if it weren't for the obstructionism of North Carolina Republicans.

As we go into the midterms, we need to run Democrats in every race we can. It's depressing to see some publications (hello, Slate) run down perfectly decent Dems for not being Practically Perfect In Every Way. I emailed Slate to tell them that their hit piece on Kirsten Gillibrand meant that I was not going to subscribe and be a Slate Plus member (I would have for Jamelle Bouie and Daniel Mallory Ortberg, and if they leave, waah).

As for Papadopoulos, good god, they need to find a less loose-lipped coffee boy. It's like the Kriminal Keystone Kops.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 8:13 AM on April 2, 2018 [52 favorites]


Grassley and Ernst together could deny Trump a Senate majority until the tariffs are lifted.
Will they do so?No, they will not do so.

posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:14 AM on April 2, 2018 [3 favorites]


NYT Nov. 2017 Trump and Sessions Denied Knowing About Russian Contacts. Records Suggest Otherwise.
At a March 31, 2016, meeting between Mr. Trump and his foreign policy team, Mr. Papadopoulos introduced himself and said “that he had connections that could help arrange a meeting between then-candidate Trump and President Putin,” according to court records.

“He went into the pitch right away,” said J. D. Gordon, a campaign adviser who attended the meeting. “He said he had a friend in London, the Russian ambassador, who could help set up a meeting with Putin.”

Mr. Trump listened with interest. Mr. Sessions vehemently opposed the idea, Mr. Gordon recalled. “And he said that no one should talk about it,” because Mr. Sessions thought it was a bad idea that he did not want associated with the campaign, he said.

Several of Mr. Trump’s campaign advisers attended the March 2016 meeting, and at least two of those advisers are now in the White House: Hope Hicks, the communications director, and Stephen Miller, a senior policy adviser.

After Mr. Trump was sworn in, he could not escape questions about Russia. At a Feb. 16, 2017, White House news conference, a reporter asked Mr. Trump, “Can you say whether you are aware that anyone who advised your campaign had contacts with Russia during the course of the election?”

“No,” Mr. Trump said. “Nobody that I know of. Nobody.”
posted by adamvasco at 8:18 AM on April 2, 2018 [21 favorites]


For what it's worth:

@simonamangiante:
FAKE NEWS. "Jason Wilson" clearly looking for attention, simply asked for a picture and tried to make questions about the case to which George never answered. I told @JuddLegum multiple times yesterday ON THE RECORD that it was not true. call recorded-our lawyers will proceed
@NatashaBertrand:
In response to ThinkProgress story, Simona Mangiante tells me she was at the table with Papadop and Wilson all night, and that Wilson is "lying"; says she believes this is an attempt to further a narrative that began with George's drinking in London with the Australian diplomat.
posted by zachlipton at 8:39 AM on April 2, 2018 [6 favorites]


Irrespective of the accuracy of the most recent account, this does mean that it’s now every American’s civic duty to buy Papadopoulos shots whenever and wherever we may encounter him.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 8:43 AM on April 2, 2018 [48 favorites]


I told @JuddLegum multiple times yesterday ON THE RECORD that it was not true. call recorded-our lawyers will proceed

...but the article accurately says that you denied Wilson's claims. What are the lawyers going to proceed to do? Exciting!
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:43 AM on April 2, 2018 [5 favorites]


The worst member of Trump’s Cabinet: A bracketology (Daniel Drezner, WaPo)
Some of Trump’s Cabinet officers have managed to do their jobs well. Others have managed sufficient levels of competence or luck to avoid scandals.

Then there is everyone else.

Which leads us to the following question: Who is the worst member of Trump’s Cabinet?

“Worst” might be too vague a term. An awful lot of people dislike Attorney General Jeff Sessions, for example, for valid reasons. That said, Sessions has managed to avoid accusations of greed or bumbling. And that’s what we are looking for — the Cabinet members whose venality or incompetency is so large that they feed the narrative that Trump is beclowning the executive branch. This crew is bad enough for this White House to complain about optics.

So who is the worst? In honor of the NCAA college basketball tournament, let’s consider this using the time-honored tradition of bracketology. My seedings of the Elite Eight of Trump’s Cabinet:
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:53 AM on April 2, 2018 [12 favorites]


Today in Presidential answering:
Acosta: What about the DACA kids? Should they worry about what's going to happen to them?

POTUS: The Democrats have really let them down. They really let them down. They had this great opportunity.The Democrats have really let them down. It's a shame. And now people are taking advantage of DACA and thats a shame.

Acosta: Didnt you kill DACA?

POTUS: [No answer]
posted by zachlipton at 8:58 AM on April 2, 2018 [81 favorites]


Greg Sargent, Trump’s latest unhinged tweetstorm is worse than it appears, in which the implication of Trump's tweets has to be read as him thinking that people fleeing persecution shouldn't be even able to reach the US border to apply for asylum.
posted by zachlipton at 9:03 AM on April 2, 2018 [30 favorites]


Alamosa County Republicans in Colorado have accepted the resignation of a staffer who tweeted:
Out of self-respect–be Republican. Democrats love poor people because they think that poor people will vote Democrat. Republicans hate poor people because they think the dignity of man is above being poor.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:13 AM on April 2, 2018 [16 favorites]


The worst member of Trump’s Cabinet

oh don't fight boys, you're all the worst
posted by murphy slaw at 9:16 AM on April 2, 2018 [36 favorites]


Trump says worse things than that staffer literally every day
posted by saturday_morning at 9:18 AM on April 2, 2018 [16 favorites]


More on the illegal racist partisan purge at the Interior Department to go with the illegal racist partisan purge at the State Department.

Talking Points Memo:
Nearly a third of the senior Interior Department (DOI) career officials reassigned under Secretary Ryan Zinke in a major agency reshuffling are Native American, even though Native Americans make up less than 10 percent of the Department’s workforce, a review by TPM has found.

The finding comes days after Democratic lawmakers demanded an investigation into whether Zinke discriminated when he reassigned 33 career officials last summer, and follows on reports that Zinke has repeatedly told DOI officials he doesn’t care about diversity — which prompted one member of Congress to accuse Zinke of working to create a “lily-white department.”

Former government officials tell TPM that they see the reassignment of top Native American staffers as part of an effort to remove internal opposition to Zinke’s plan to open up more tribal and public lands to the fossil fuel industry.
...
Singling workers out for political reasons or because of their race would violate federal law. Additionally, DOI’s Indian Preference rules state that the agency must give “absolute preference in employment to American Indians and Alaska Natives” in several of its offices. Those rules specifically apply to reassignments as well as hiring decisions.

posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:20 AM on April 2, 2018 [52 favorites]


Putting inessential barriers of any kind between a person and their vote ensures that election results do not show a true reckoning of the electorate's preferences, and causes under-representation of entire demographic groups. This is what Republican politicians depend on for their survival, and it must be combated wherever it occurs.

It can't be emphasized enough -- and sadly, isn't being, by our Democratic spokespeople -- that Republican voter suppression shenanigans aren't the actions of a party confident they represent the majority of Americans, but an admission that they know they don't.

Over and over, they admit their agenda is unpopular and they can't implement it without cheating.
posted by Gelatin at 9:21 AM on April 2, 2018 [32 favorites]


him thinking that people fleeing persecution shouldn't be even able to reach the US border to apply for asylum.

I mean, of course he doesn't. They've been cancelling every Temporary Protected Status they can find, "asylum" reeks of internationalism, and you can't pick and choose based on skin colormerit. Trump-the-candidate didn't believe in birthright citizenship.
posted by BungaDunga at 9:27 AM on April 2, 2018 [2 favorites]




Gelatin: Over and over, they admit their agenda is unpopular and they can't implement it without cheating

Some solid points about that phenomenon in this twitter thread: The striking thing to me is nobody much will defend DIRECT counter-majoritarian political processes. Like you're concerned about cities dominating the popular vote? Why not propose to have individual votes weighted by distance to city centers? Oh because that sounds bad.

And later on: It's like something Democrats say about Republicans as an insult, but Republicans say it about themselves as an argument. "We couldn't possibly outvote Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago with only the entire rest of the goddamn country."
posted by InTheYear2017 at 9:32 AM on April 2, 2018 [19 favorites]


in which the implication of Trump's tweets has to be read as him thinking that people fleeing persecution shouldn't be even able to reach the US border to apply for asylum.

Well sure, of course he thinks that. But in a larger sense the repeated "caravan" imagery is an important look into his small, sticky brain and the small, sticky brains of his base as a whole.

No image scares fragile (/toxic) whiteness more than a large group of non-white people moving down a road toward them. Remember how effectively they propagandized the EU migrant crisis by repeating the exact same imagery as used by Nazis? Remember all those late-stage amateur 2016 campaign videos playing Trump reading The Snake over shots of winding columns of foreigners? Remember also the Danziger Bridge Shootings and the murder at Charlottesville. Groups of supposed enemy moving together aren't just a collection of Thugs and Bad Hombres: they're The Snake.

The sight of feared groups moving in unison hacks into the fascist-leaning brain and both increases the perceived urgency of the enemy (combining and focusing its powers) while also further removing the humanity of the enemy. This serves to remove any barrier to the fascist's inclinations to violence and, in his (or her, usually his) mind greatly increases the magnitude and scale of desired crimes against humanity. The more visible the enemy is as a faceless but advancing mass, the more the danger becomes ecological to the fascist rather than cultural. And that's fertile ground for mass murder.
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:32 AM on April 2, 2018 [43 favorites]


I work for a Sinclair station and I'm so broken. 99% of my coworkers hate this, across the majority of the company. We had a really heated, hours long station meeting about this and the message came through that if you don't play along, you're welcome to be terminated and someone else will fill your spot.

We had been coping with the must-run propaganda news stories by Boris and Sharyl Attkisson. We even started pushing back on them by airing a followup piece that showed what were lies in the piece, and tried to bury them deep in the broadcast calendar at 4am.

But this... it's so wrong. I feel like I've been made a gulag guard; do I follow orders and keep my head down, knowing I'm a nobody in the machine, or do I do something (what, exactly, I don't know) which will essentially be meaningless in the larger picture? The only way they'll back down is if their advertisers stop playing along, national and local ones.

I guess what I want to communicate is that there are 8000+ people in this company, many of them having heartache about this, and I'm not even a journalist. We're probably all struggling with this, and it's very much a top down directive. If you must direct your ire at someone, send it up the chain. Your local station staff is just trying to feed their families and make a mortgage.
posted by msbutah at 9:37 AM on April 2, 2018 [201 favorites]


There's a reason they're all in love with "The Camp of the Saints".
posted by BungaDunga at 9:38 AM on April 2, 2018 [2 favorites]


The only way they'll back down is if their advertisers stop playing along, national and local ones.

msbutah, can you let the advertisers know? A la Daniel Hogg?
posted by yoga at 9:42 AM on April 2, 2018 [15 favorites]




I work for a Sinclair station and I'm so broken. 99% of my coworkers hate this, across the majority of the company. We had a really heated, hours long station meeting about this and the message came through that if you don't play along, you're welcome to be terminated and someone else will fill your spot.

If 99% of your coworkers hate it as much as you do, they'll be willing to engage in mass action to stop or protest Sinclair's propaganda operations and are indeed ethically obligated to do so: they can't simultaneously fire everybody working there. If they're not willing to join you in it then they're in fact collaborators, albeit regretful ones. If nobody but you is willing to do anything about it, your ethical obligation is to do as much damage as possible (exact parameters being up to you) before you quit.
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:44 AM on April 2, 2018 [33 favorites]


msbutah, I am glad you posted what you did. KOMO in seattle has long been my go-to for weather, but last week when the Sinclair story began to break I did the knee-jerk thing and deleted the bookmark from my browser to deny them page-views, and have been thinking about posting to their FB page. I can't imagine that the Seattle employees are overjoyed by the messages from on-high, but I wonder if they have any power to resist...
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:45 AM on April 2, 2018 [4 favorites]


We're probably all struggling with this, and it's very much a top down directive. If you must direct your ire at someone, send it up the chain. Your local station staff is just trying to feed their families and make a mortgage.

Man, we need some kind of activist's union with a mutual support fund so people can afford to quit shitty jobs like this en masse.

Can you imagine how the headlines would be right now if 50% of Sinclair-owned staff just up and walked out at the same time? "Yeah, good luck replacing your entire workforce in a week, you assholes."
posted by loquacious at 9:46 AM on April 2, 2018 [41 favorites]


This context often gets overlooked while talking about the NJ Governor's office, but the state has literally not had a good governor in my lifetime

Well, maybe not a good elected governor. Richard Codey could have been acting governor for life as far as I was concerned.
posted by asperity at 9:54 AM on April 2, 2018 [2 favorites]


George Soros, it's your move.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:55 AM on April 2, 2018 [3 favorites]


Knowing how he likes to troll us it'll be Putin in the oval office with his feet on the resolute desk.

Or Kellyanne Conway in the briefing room with a revolver.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:56 AM on April 2, 2018 [5 favorites]


But this... it's so wrong. I feel like I've been made a gulag guard; do I follow orders and keep my head down, knowing I'm a nobody in the machine, or do I do something (what, exactly, I don't know) which will essentially be meaningless in the larger picture?

NOT MEANINGLESS AT ALL!!! This is exactly why people don't vote. They think their vote doesn't count. Your body and your work counts. Start looking for other work. You are not going to be the only one and you need to add your voice however you can.
posted by Sophie1 at 10:05 AM on April 2, 2018 [24 favorites]


A surreal image of the president bragging about military spending while standing next to the Easter bunny

Kids love hearing about military appropriations! Then they had the traditional White House Grenade Roll.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:08 AM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


Daily Beast, Donald Trump ‘Cherishes’ Lou Dobbs So Much He Puts Him on Speakerphone for Oval Office Meetings
As such, Dobbs doesn’t get to just interview and socialize with the president, he is involved in some of the administration’s more sensitive discussions. During the first year of the Trump era, the president has patched Dobbs in via speakerphone to multiple meetings in the Oval Office so that he could offer his two cents, according to three sources familiar with these conversations. Trump will ask Dobbs for his opinion before and after his senior aides or Cabinet members have spoken. Occasionally, he will cut off an official so the Fox Business host can jump in.

Dobbs, these sources all independently recounted, has been patched in to senior-level meetings on issues such as trade and tax policy—meetings that featured officials such as senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, former top economic adviser Gary Cohn, former chief strategist Steve Bannon, trade adviser Peter Navarro, and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

During the more intense days of the tax-bill push, Trump made sure to have his White House personal secretary get Dobbs on the line. And toward the conclusion of one memorable meeting, when the line was disconnected and Dobbs said farewell, Trump looked up, smiled, and simply told the room, “Love Lou.”
posted by zachlipton at 10:09 AM on April 2, 2018 [30 favorites]


Trump channeling Ted Knight is way too on the nose.
posted by rc3spencer at 10:14 AM on April 2, 2018 [10 favorites]


asperity: "
Well, maybe not a good elected governor. Richard Codey could have been acting governor for life as far as I was concerned.
"

Richard Codey spent so much time as Governor or Acting Governor that we had to create a new Lieutenant Governor's office to deal with the fact that the governors were resigning or becoming incapacitated so frequently.

Christie only broke the cycle by having no shame, and failing to make his exit into national politics and/or the Trump administration.
posted by schmod at 10:16 AM on April 2, 2018 [3 favorites]


Speaking of the worst member of Trump's cabinet:

The Conservative Coddling of Scott Pruitt (Emily Atkin, New Republic)
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has found a safe space to talk about his expensive first-class travel habit: conservative talk radio. On Wednesday, The Washington Post pointed out a few interviews the EPA chief has given recently. It turns out, Pruitt has plopped down in front of regional conservative-media hosts to defend himself against accusations that he is wasting taxpayer money on first-class travel and high-priced hotels. […]

In any case, the international travel comparison is actually all a red herring. You see, the backlash over Pruitt’s lavish spending is about unnecessarily expensive first-class domestic airfare, which runs afoul of federal regulations. Federal travel rules allow first- and business-class flights to be expensed to the EPA on long, international trips only. (Notably, Obama EPA chief Gina McCarthy flew coach even on international flights.) On other flights, however, federal regulations dictate government employees be “prudent” about travel and book “the least expensive class of travel that meets their needs.”

These are the regulations Pruitt is accused of violating. As The Washington Post’s reporting has shown, he routinely books $3,000 to $4,000 first-class flights to places like New York, South Carolina, and Alabama for the purposes of doing local media hits and promoting regulatory rollbacks. At least four times, he spent between $2,000 and $2,600 on first-class flights to meetings near his hometown in Oklahoma. He “frequently opts to fly Delta Air Lines, even though the government has contracts with specific airlines on certain routes,” according to the Post, and he often stays at high-end hotels. Over one seven-month period, Pruitt spent an average of $2,261 per week on travel, or $323 per day. The Post’s first story about this was headlined “First-class travel distinguishes Scott Pruitt’s EPA tenure” because, in reality, Pruitt is unlike any other EPA administrator—in the Obama administration or otherwise.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:25 AM on April 2, 2018 [28 favorites]


If nobody but you is willing to do anything about it, your ethical obligation is to do as much damage as possible (exact parameters being up to you) before you quit.

As wonderful as that would be, and as inspiring, and as righteous, I don't think anyone gets to tell Sinclair station employees what their ethical obligations are in one blanket statement. Feeding one's family and keeping a roof over their heads are also strong ethical obligations.

For those who can do so, quitting is a valiant and important act. I'm not going to judge the ones who can't, though.
posted by gurple at 10:29 AM on April 2, 2018 [100 favorites]


Speaking entirely personally, I would very seriously consider quitting, or if you're stuck, then working as hard as you can internally to fuck things up, by e.g., leaking material as you find possible. posted by odinsdream

NOT MEANINGLESS AT ALL!!! This is exactly why people don't vote. They think their vote doesn't count. Your body and your work counts. Start looking for other work. You are not going to be the only one and you need to add your voice however you can.
posted by Sophie1


I know this is approaching weird derail status in a megathread, but this is also directly relevant and direct action that we (as a community) can try to take. (Please be patient, mods.)

So, here's a wild idea. Anyone here have a new IT job in Salt Lake that doesn't suck for msbutah?

We are a well connected and resourceful bunch. We might not be able to save the world, but we can try (and have been able) to save many of our own. Many, many people have been able to get new jobs and start new freelance careers through MeFi.

And if we communicated more (not here, elsewhere on MeFi) about real world personal issues like this, we can try to help each other escape "I don't want to keep following these orders/supporting this corp/org." scenarios.

(I have an idea about starting a MeTa about this, so if you have a job lead for msbutah, shoot them a PM, and we can drop the derail for now.)
posted by loquacious at 10:32 AM on April 2, 2018 [79 favorites]


Yes, it bothers me to see people pushing for others to quit or even do one-day sick-outs, etc. I don't know the professional status or other job security level of people who post that, but with my own precarious, low-paid, non-unionized history, I empathize with anyone who can't afford to take those stands.

I've been aware of Sinclair for sometime, as they own one or two stations I used to watch when I lived in another part of Michigan.

On twitter there are some attempts to publicized Sinclair outlets nationwide, and baby-steps toward starting boycotts.
posted by NorthernLite at 10:34 AM on April 2, 2018 [15 favorites]


I work for a Sinclair station and I'm so broken. 99% of my coworkers hate this, across the majority of the company. We had a really heated, hours long station meeting about this and the message came through that if you don't play along, you're welcome to be terminated and someone else will fill your spot.

But this... it's so wrong. I feel like I've been made a gulag guard; do I follow orders and keep my head down, knowing I'm a nobody in the machine, or do I do something (what, exactly, I don't know) which will essentially be meaningless in the larger picture?


1) Protect yourself. Whether this means lining up resumes in what is and will continue to be a hard-to-find-jobs-in industry, documenting everything you do, say and hear, following requests to the letter but not beyond, and/or more drastic measures is up to you. Outright sabotage and career suicide would be admirable but well beyond the call of duty. Do what you have to do to keep the lights on at your house but keep your sanity as well.

2) Look around you to see who else has the same look on their faces. To quote Gregory McDonald:

In all newspapers Fletch had seen there was always a hard core of genuinely professional working staff which made it possible to commit genuine journalism occasionally, regardless of the incompetence among the executive staff.

The odds are pretty good that you're not alone and can find allies in finding ways, however subtle, to push back.

3) Learn to blink in Morse code in case they ever want you to read a Spontaneously Prepared Statement on the air.
posted by delfin at 10:40 AM on April 2, 2018 [20 favorites]


do I follow orders and keep my head down, knowing I'm a nobody in the machine, or

A. thanks for putting your situation out -- it humanizes things.
B. I'm not going to tell you what you should do because ...

Feeding one's family and keeping a roof over their heads are also strong ethical obligations.

I suppose if I have any advice, it's along the lines of writing it all down -- what you're feeling. Not an essay, a rant of rage, frustration, fear, loathing, all of it. Vomit forth. Then just concentrate on your breathing for a while.

Then when the time feels right, take a look at your own words. Let them tell you.
posted by philip-random at 10:40 AM on April 2, 2018 [22 favorites]


Thank you all for your helpful and important words. It's good information and help for moving through my day. My apologies for the derail into snowflake AskMeFi territory. If anyone wants to talk more, we can do so. I don't want to overwhelm the thread and mods with non-newsfilter stuff.
posted by msbutah at 10:51 AM on April 2, 2018 [37 favorites]


msbutah: I don't want to overwhelm the thread and mods with non-newsfilter stuff

My dude, Sinclair is a newsfilter - that's the point. That's what's at stake.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:12 AM on April 2, 2018 [17 favorites]




I don't think we've mentioned this yet -- stocks diving today, probably because the President is an idiot.

Dow Jones / S&P / Nasdaq currently all in negative territory for 2018, and in official "correction" territory (10% drop from their peak).
posted by saturday_morning at 11:34 AM on April 2, 2018 [23 favorites]


Some solid points about that phenomenon in this twitter thread: The striking thing to me is nobody much will defend DIRECT counter-majoritarian political processes. Like you're concerned about cities dominating the popular vote? Why not propose to have individual votes weighted by distance to city centers? Oh because that sounds bad.

If only we had a system in which large geographical regions, many of them sparsely populated, were given an equal number of votes, say, two, to those regions with large populations. That system could serve a counter-majoritarian purpose; we could call it a "Senate" or something.
posted by Gelatin at 11:34 AM on April 2, 2018 [6 favorites]


Mod note: Yeah, you're fine msbutah; the Sinclair stuff has been topical and some inside perspective on how that all went down is interesting and a valuable addition to the discussion here. Sorry you're dealing with that, it's a fucked up situation to be put in.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:36 AM on April 2, 2018 [73 favorites]


For msbutah, specifically, but for all of us really:

"There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part! And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop! And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it — that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all." — Mario Savio, 1964.
posted by adamgreenfield at 11:45 AM on April 2, 2018 [28 favorites]


Updating from Friday after Kentucky Republicans passed a "Sewer" bill [real] that actually ended pensions for future teachers and cut current beenfits for all other state employees, Kentucky teachers (including my sister) stormed the capital in Frankfort in the largest protest in Kentucky since the last teacher protest in 1988.

Meanwhile Kentucky Republicans inside today passed a two year state budget that does actually raise some (small) additional revenue...by shifting the tax burden onto regressive sales taxes and actually cuts (further) income taxes for the rich and corporations.
posted by T.D. Strange at 11:47 AM on April 2, 2018 [52 favorites]


Nick Miroff:
The "caravans" that triggered Trump are actually this ONE caravan, staged annually by these activists for the purpose of generating media attention about the plight of migrants. The only difference is this time they got on Fox News http://pueblosinfronteras.org/
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:49 AM on April 2, 2018 [51 favorites]


David Simon has been saying that unions are the (only?) most obvious way of fighting the Sinclairs out there.
posted by rhizome at 11:51 AM on April 2, 2018 [10 favorites]


I suspect targeted boycotts would probably help deal with Sinclair. Hopefully someone is compiling lists of advertisers.
posted by suelac at 11:52 AM on April 2, 2018 [10 favorites]


Alamosa County Republicans in Colorado have accepted the resignation of a staffer who tweeted:

Out of self-respect–be Republican. Democrats love poor people because they think that poor people will vote Democrat. Republicans hate poor people because they think the dignity of man is above being poor.
Trump says worse things than that staffer literally every day


Yeah but do you want awful, hateful things said by unelected bureaucrats or your (vaguely legitimately) elected officials?
posted by phearlez at 11:57 AM on April 2, 2018


I suspect targeted boycotts would probably help deal with Sinclair.

I already have a long list of companies to boycott. Pretty soon I'll be boycotting the entire economy except for the farmers down the road.

(...is that the point? I guess that's the point.)
posted by ragtag at 11:59 AM on April 2, 2018 [25 favorites]


I've been aware of Sinclair for sometime, as they own one or two stations I used to watch when I lived in another part of Michigan.

add wwmt channel 3 in kalamazoo to that list - and yes, i recognized them from the video

you know, it's puzzling - haven't they caught on that you can't do this sort of thing in the internet age and not get caught?
posted by pyramid termite at 12:07 PM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


you know, it's puzzling - haven't they caught on that you can't do this sort of thing in the internet age and not get caught?

I'm sure it's more that they don't care if they get caught.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 12:09 PM on April 2, 2018 [26 favorites]


WSJ, Shelby Holliday and Rob Barry, Roger Stone’s Claim of a 2016 Julian Assange Meeting Draws Scrutiny
In an email dated Aug. 4, 2016, Mr. Stone wrote: “I dined with Julian Assange last night,” according to a copy of the message reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Stone is a longtime informal adviser to President Donald Trump who at that point had no official campaign role.

The note, to former Trump adviser Sam Nunberg, adds to a growing number of times Mr. Stone claimed during the campaign to be in contact with WikiLeaks. The next day, Mr. Stone publicly praised Mr. Assange via Twitter .

In an interview, Mr. Stone said the email to Mr. Nunberg was a joke and that he never communicated with Mr. Assange in 2016.

“I never dined with Assange,” he said. The email “doesn’t have any significance because I provably didn’t go…there was no such meeting. It’s not what you say, it’s what you do. This was said in jest.”

Mr. Stone said he was flying out of Los Angeles the night before the email, putting him thousands of miles away from Ecuador’s embassy in London, where Mr. Assange has been holed up since 2012 under asylum. Mr. Stone provided the Journal with screenshots showing a booking for a person named “Roger” on a Delta Air Lines flight departing Los Angeles for Miami on Aug. 3, 2016, at 9:30 p.m. The airline confirmed a flight matching Mr. Stone’s screenshot but declined to say whether Mr. Stone was on board, citing customer privacy rules.
What a funny joke? What even is this?
posted by zachlipton at 12:18 PM on April 2, 2018 [25 favorites]


It’s like finding out a legislator has sold their vote on some world-historical matter for dinner at Nobu and two tickets to whatever revival’s currently big on Broadway.

One of the things that has been the most shocking to me about this shitshow we are currently witnessing is exactly how little people will sell their soul for.

I remember back when there was 'delegate hardening' going on, where they were talking about the kinds of things people were probably going to be offered to switch their vote if the delegates were unbound, and they were like 'Trump's people may offer that you can stay in Mar-a-Lago", and I was just fucking dumbfounded, like who is this person who's like 'sweet, a cool vacation? I'm totally down to pervert the process of our democracy!" I had thought people would be trying to bribe others with like, life-changing amounts of money that would be genuine temptations, and now I'm finding out that people are taking bribes for like, a .5% increase in their net worth and shit. It is genuinely horrifying.
posted by corb at 12:22 PM on April 2, 2018 [73 favorites]


“I never dined with Assange,” he said. The email “doesn’t have any significance because I provably didn’t go…there was no such meeting. It’s not what you say, it’s what you do. This was said in jest.”

1)I didn't do it
2)I probably didn't do it
3)There wasn't a meeting at all
4)Only my actions matter, not my words
5)It was a joke


Is this some remix of the narcissists' prayer?
posted by Twain Device at 12:23 PM on April 2, 2018 [24 favorites]


ABC News: Legal defense fund for Trump aides under scrutiny by congressional Democrats
Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee sent a letter to the chief ethics agency in the executive branch suggesting that the Patriot Legal Expense Fund may be set up in a way that it could keep the identities of donors secret and could allow the Trump campaign to control who gets disbursements from the fund and to hide the identity of recipients.
posted by hanov3r at 12:24 PM on April 2, 2018 [16 favorites]


WSJ, Laura Meckler, Immigration Judges Face New Quotas in Bid to Speed Deportations
The Justice Department has notified immigration judges that it will begin evaluating their job performance based on how quickly they close cases, setting quotas for the first time.

The new rules, laid out in a message sent Friday to immigration judges, aim to speed up the handling of cases and reduce the significant backlog in the immigration courts. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and other Justice Department officials say the backlog at the immigration courts delays the processing of individuals subject to removal from the U.S.

The union representing immigration judges counters that the metrics are a threat to their judicial independence, while lawyers warn they will unduly influence judge’s decisions.
posted by zachlipton at 12:26 PM on April 2, 2018 [43 favorites]


pyramid termite: haven't they caught on that you can't do this sort of thing in the internet age and not get caught?

Getting caught at this, or not, is a bit of a crapshoot. They've done similar "everyone has to read this" stuff before and never made the same waves (that I knew of), whereas this time multiple people had the idea of putting together a supercut, probably in part because of the obvious irony of telling viewers "Think for yourself!" by such Orwellian means.

Previous Sinclair unison scripts have actually been pro-Trump talking points, e.g as shown by a supercut in this pretty well-made PBS video about their history (that specific part may have been put together by Last Week Tonight, it's unclear).

As mentioned upthread, a ton of people just come away from seeing the supercuts with "Wow, all those TV stations speaking from the same script? Spooky! Good thing I don't trust the media!" and they don't get that there's a specific corporation openly behind the message, rather than an amorphous "they".
posted by InTheYear2017 at 12:28 PM on April 2, 2018 [16 favorites]


The union representing immigration judges counters that the metrics are a threat to their judicial independence, while lawyers warn they will unduly influence judge’s decisions.

Unions: the people who brought you weekends
posted by Sophie1 at 12:30 PM on April 2, 2018 [32 favorites]


The Justice Department has notified immigration judges that it will begin evaluating their job performance based on how quickly they close cases

So... I, an immigration judge, can make my quota look amazing by just letting everyone in and closing their case. GOOD JOB, SESSIONS.
posted by hanov3r at 12:34 PM on April 2, 2018 [38 favorites]


Sooo why does the DOJ, an executive agency, gets to evaluate judicial performance?
posted by jason_steakums at 12:44 PM on April 2, 2018 [4 favorites]


Immigration courts are run by the Department of Justice. John Oliver did a good run-down this past Sunday that you can see online.
posted by Quonab at 12:47 PM on April 2, 2018 [9 favorites]


Sooo why does the DOJ, an executive agency, gets to evaluate judicial performance?

Nice try, jason_steakums, but it's constitutional crises all the way down.
posted by Mayor West at 12:47 PM on April 2, 2018 [5 favorites]


Immigration Judges are Article I Administrative Law Judges, they're in the executive branch.

So... I, an immigration judge, can make my quota look amazing by just letting everyone in and closing their case. GOOD JOB, SESSIONS.

This basically happened with Social Security judges circa 2000-2008, and the correction became internal pressure to not be an "outlier" who allows too many people to get paid. There's always ways for agency management to press for the results they want.
posted by T.D. Strange at 12:48 PM on April 2, 2018 [5 favorites]


Thanks for the answers! The judicial branch and intricacies of the DOJ are a weak spot for me, things like the existence of executive judges and the US Marshals being under the DOJ but working for the judicial branch always surprise me. Lots of little things that feel like constitutional crises in waiting.
posted by jason_steakums at 12:59 PM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


Previous Sinclair unison scripts have actually been pro-Trump talking points, e.g as shown by a supercut in this pretty well-made PBS video about their history (that specific part may have been put together by Last Week Tonight, it's unclear).

As mentioned upthread, a ton of people just come away from seeing the supercuts with "Wow, all those TV stations speaking from the same script? Spooky! Good thing I don't trust the media!" and they don't get that there's a specific corporation openly behind the message, rather than an amorphous "they".


That’s the beautiful irony of it, though. The stats on the YouTube clip are currently approximately 2.4M views, 70K👍, 800👎. That level of unanimity is staggering. Virtually everyone is eating this up and dunking on Sinclair. If the script hadn’t tried so hard to seem so neutral and instead shoved out the usual right-wing garbage, or if the compilation had come from a recognizably left-wing source, those thumbs would undoubtedly be split along party lines. But without the slightest taint of partisan rhetoric, all that’s left is the pure, uncut EVIL OVERLORD aspect. If all anyone comes away with is, “Whoa, this is fucked up,” that’s still way more than would have got through if kneejerk ideology had come into play.
posted by Sys Rq at 1:08 PM on April 2, 2018 [31 favorites]


T.D. Strange: Kentucky teachers (including my sister) stormed the capital in Frankfort in the largest protest in Kentucky since the last teacher protest in 1988.

First, it's a sad state that we're seeing history repeat itself in such an obviously cyclical fashion. Second, they are far from alone this year, and I'd like to think that hearing that other states including Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico and Alaska are facing teacher strikes, and particularly following the success of West Virginia teachers, state legislators be move to act sooner than later. Or *gasp* other states take a pro-active look at their own teacher pension and salary status compared to other states, and respond accordingly. Or just be good to the people who are helping the state to be productive in the coming years/ babysitting their own brats and increase their pay at the same rate that legislators increase their own pay.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:10 PM on April 2, 2018 [8 favorites]


On Friday, an MS-13 member pleaded guilty to catfishing a 15-year-old to his death on a beach in Boston's East Boston neighborhood. He's the 40th of 61 people arrested in 2016 to plead or be found guilty on MS-13 related charges. All were arrested in a series of raids by the FBI and local police in Boston, Chelsea and Everett, in an investigation that began in 2014. All three of those cities are basically sanctuary cities, so don't let anybody tell you that a) the Obama-era FBI was doing nothing about MS-13, b) that sanctuary cities let criminals run free and c) that sanctuary cities don't lead to increased public safety (because people feel safer about going to the police to report crime and criminals).
posted by adamg at 1:12 PM on April 2, 2018 [35 favorites]


at the same rate that legislators increase their own pay

A lot of conservatives want to pay state legislators not at all, or barely anything. They would be happy to never give themselves a pay increase again. That's because Republican candidates tend to be independently wealthy types who want the power but don't need the money. Ordinary people who need to get paid for their work in order to support themselves tend to run as Democrats.
posted by OnceUponATime at 1:14 PM on April 2, 2018 [10 favorites]


This has been posted before but not recently. Young Jared explains the explicit quid pro quo between Trump & Sinclair. Kushner: We struck deal with Sinclair for straighter coverage.
posted by scalefree at 1:15 PM on April 2, 2018 [41 favorites]


Conservatives have decided that the Sinclair statement must be blamed on the man responsible: George Soros
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:15 PM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


Phlegmco(tm): For your Sunday viewing pleasure, a portrait of one Mr Mick Mulvaney, who, through sheer lack of discernible character, is repulsively odious, even by Trump administration standards.

To remind you how odious Mulvaney is, Trump Official Wants To Put Tight Leash On Consumer Watchdog Agency (NPR, April 2, 2018)
The Trump administration will ask Congress to make drastic changes to weaken the independence of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, NPR has learned.

Sources familiar with the matter tell NPR that the CFPB's interim director, Mick Mulvaney, will ask lawmakers to restructure the bureau in his upcoming semi-annual report to Congress. The sources asked not to be named, because they aren't authorized to speak on the matter. The bureau officially announced the move Monday afternoon, after this story first published.

Mulvaney wants to give Congress control over the CFPB's budget and to require that any major new rules created by the bureau to protect consumers be approved by Congress before they can go into effect.
Trump's consumer watchdog proposes to trim agency's power (Patrick Rucker reporting for Reuters, on the actual announcement today)
Mick Mulvaney, the head of the CFPB, said the agency has the kind of power that should only rest with Congress.

“The Bureau is far too powerful, with precious little oversight of its activities,” Mulvaney told Congress in a routine report.

“The power wielded by the director of the Bureau could all too easily be used to harm consumers, destroy businesses, or arbitrarily remake American financial markets.”
In other words "I can't single-handedly cripple this vital, critical agency! Help me, please!"
posted by filthy light thief at 1:16 PM on April 2, 2018 [15 favorites]


The Sinclair thing is incredible, because it's handed the rest of the media (ie. their competitors) a perfectly-legitimate axe to grind. It's fairly shocking just how much of an own-goal it's turning out to be.

Sinclair's "advantage" has been just how easily they've been able to fly under the radar, and it's increasingly looking like they just completely squandered that.
posted by schmod at 1:32 PM on April 2, 2018 [10 favorites]


The Special Counsel's investigation is claiming Alex Van der Zwaan has more important inside information about the Trump-Russia scandal. In their filing today to defend his FOIA waiver, CNN reports, that Mueller team writes, "Van der Zwaan is in an unusual position of having information related to the office's investigation that is not widely known -- including information that he knows first-hand due to his role in the conduct the Office is investigating."

Mueller explicitly warns against the risk of his tipping off other targets: "Van der Zwaan's forfeiture of his Freedom of Information Act ability prevents him from interfering with the Mueller investigation by requesting documents from it, tipping others off to 'investigative facts that are otherwise not known' and burdening the office with freedom of information tasks, the prosecutors told the judge Monday. The filing notes 'the scarce resources of the special counsel's office' and how it may face 'drain' if asked to 'assemble records and to help explain to others both their significance and the potential that their release could harm the ongoing investigation.'"

Van der Zwaan's sentencing for his guilty plea to lying to investigators is scheduled for tomorrow.
posted by Doktor Zed at 1:39 PM on April 2, 2018 [11 favorites]


Speaking entirely personally, I would very seriously consider quitting, or if you're stuck, then working as hard as you can internally to fuck things up, by e.g., leaking material as you find possible.

If you can't quit, there's always the OSS Simple Sabotage Field Manual published in 1944 for occupied Europe. Or just for fun!
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 1:42 PM on April 2, 2018 [46 favorites]


The Sinclair thing is incredible, because it's handed the rest of the media (ie. their competitors) a perfectly-legitimate axe to grind. It's fairly shocking just how much of an own-goal it's turning out to be.

Actually that's one really unnerving thing about this to me, we've got a Sinclair duopoly* in town and the competing stations have, as far as I've seen, said jack shit about it. But it makes sense when you realize that just because a station isn't owned by Sinclair, it definitely doesn't mean they're an ally. Lots of right wing jerks with too much money in charge of media conglomerates across the board.

*The loophole that allows them to run two stations in one market from one studio is laughably simple, all of the staff is under Sinclair which owns one station with the exception of one lowly employee who is the lone station employee of another company that technically owns the other station, while both stations are run with the same newsroom, engineering staff, sales staff, equipment, etc, all Sinclair people and Sinclair money and Sinclair agenda. It's a paper thin technicality.
posted by jason_steakums at 1:53 PM on April 2, 2018 [18 favorites]


Has that technicality been litigated? Is there any room to do so? It seems so clearly ridiculous. I'd happily support anyone trying to kill those duopolies.
posted by nat at 1:57 PM on April 2, 2018 [5 favorites]


odinsdream: Sinclair's "advantage" has been just how easily they've been able to fly under the radar, and it's increasingly looking like they just completely squandered that.

And on top of that, I don't think it's been mentioned here that the president (being the political chessmaster he is) expressed support for them today! Baltimore Sun: Trump tweets away what's left of Sinclair's credibility

nat: Has that technicality been litigated? Is there any room to do so? It seems so clearly ridiculous. I'd happily support anyone trying to kill those duopolies.

I was just reading about this earlier... a post on the collaborative blog Ordinary Times (I'm not certain of the source of this specific information) says: While Cunningham Broadcasting is a separate legal entity from Sinclair Broadcasting, that appears to be something of a legal fiction. Cunningham is owned by the same people that operate Sinclair, and almost all of Cunningham’s channels are operated by Sinclair. In 1999, Cunningham was poised to buy a network in Oklahoma City until a rule change allowed Sinclair to buy it, and Sinclair bought it instead. In 2001, Sinclair was fined $40,000 for illegally controlling Cunningham, but no action has been taken since.

So the short answer is: technically, yes, it has been litigated, but not in some permanent fashion. Also, we won't see more action if Ajit Pai has anything to say about it -- the current FCC is unsurprisingly Sinclair-friendly.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 2:07 PM on April 2, 2018 [8 favorites]


I wonder if you need to be a competing station in the market to have standing to sue one of these duopolies, and if most of the competitors would rather like to keep that same option open for themselves.

With the particular station duopoly I'm familiar with, I believe the duopoly arrangement was the same for the owners prior to Sinclair too, they just bought out one of the stations and basically got a BOGO deal. So this isn't new or unique to Sinclair, but obviously it's worse with Sinclair involved.
posted by jason_steakums at 2:12 PM on April 2, 2018


$40,000, huh? I bet they're still smarting from that one..

Obviously Ajit Pai was not in office when that took place in 2001, but he is so definitely not the FCC Chairman we need at this point in time. I don't usually go with the ironic "Thanks, Obama.." but Pai is an excellent example of someone who shouldn't have been appointed by a Democratic administration.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:14 PM on April 2, 2018 [7 favorites]


the only saving grace in this whole shitshow is that the people who still watch local news regularly are already solidly in the "low information voter" column.
posted by murphy slaw at 2:16 PM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


IIRC there’s some kind of deal where they had to give Republicans Pai as a freebie.
posted by Artw at 2:18 PM on April 2, 2018 [3 favorites]


I'd question how likely it would be for Sinclair's audience to ever really see this kind of stuff. Unless one of the stations ended up running the takedown piece themselves, which also seems pretty unlikely.

Sinclair stations are mostly network affiliates, so they presumably run the national network news shows. How do you think the various networks feel about having so many of their affiliates run by agenda-pushing fascists? Pulling all their programming from Sinclair stations might not be feasible, but griping about Sinclair right there on their own stations definitely is. Fingers crossed!
posted by Sys Rq at 2:29 PM on April 2, 2018 [2 favorites]


CT Mirror: Esty says she will not seek re-election

Rep. Elizabeth Esty (CT-5 D) has announced that she's not running for re-election following the revelation that she waited three months to fire her chief of staff after harassment and abuse allegations surfaced; she also gave him a job recommendation, a bonus, and signed an NDA about his dismissal.
posted by hanov3r at 2:44 PM on April 2, 2018 [11 favorites]


Sinclair-owned KDNL in STL has local horrible person Jamie Allman running his own 'non-traditional' newscast on there.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 2:47 PM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


I don't usually go with the ironic "Thanks, Obama.." but Pai is an excellent example of someone who shouldn't have been appointed by a Democratic administration.

I kinda doubt any other Republican would have been better in an appreciable way. Less smarmy, maybe, but they'd still be pushing through the same deregulatory bullshit with or without the ridiculous "Harlem Shake" video.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:50 PM on April 2, 2018 [3 favorites]


Zinke’s plan to open up more tribal and public lands to the fossil fuel industry.

Just pulling this shit-stick out of the shit-bonfire to marvel at it's comicbook evility. Zinke is such an odious fuckhead.
posted by petebest at 2:50 PM on April 2, 2018 [18 favorites]


Zinke’s plan to open up more tribal and public lands to the fossil fuel industry.

Just pulling this shit-stick out of the shit-bonfire to marvel at it's comicbook evility. Zinke is such an odious fuckhead.


Senate is back in session next week. I hope there's some sort of Interior oversight hearing scheduled because I'd love to see Jon Tester drag on Zinke
posted by fluttering hellfire at 2:55 PM on April 2, 2018 [5 favorites]


One of the most frequent questions about the Sinclair newsreaders is why they don't just quit. Here's the answer: they're held hostage by their employment contract. Evil but effective.
@mattdpearce: A Sinclair journalist, who has been trying to resist from inside the newsroom — but who doesn’t have a union — explains why it’s so hard for TV anchors to refuse the Sinclair’s editorial edicts. They have contracts that penalize them if they quit.
posted by scalefree at 3:18 PM on April 2, 2018 [27 favorites]


They have contracts that penalize them if they quit.

IANA contracts lawyer, but I read a lot of agreements, and if I saw that clause in a contract I would run the other way. Talk about a horrifically coercive clause. For those who don't Twitter, it reads:
In consideration of Employer's expenditure of considerable money, time and effort in training, promoting, and assimilating the Employee into Employer's business and operations, Employee agrees that (i) if Employee voluntarily terminates this Agreement other than in accordance to the provisions of Section 8 of this Agreement, or (ii) Employer terminates this Agreement pursuant to Section 8.1(a)(iii).....Employee will immediately pay to Employer as liquidated damages (and not as a penalty) an amount equal to 40% of Employee's then annual compensation multiplied by a percentage equal to the greater of (a) 25% or (b) the percentage of the current contract year remaining after such termination.
The idea that an employee quitting their job constitutes damages to the employer (particularly in a fucking at-will state!) is fucking sick. Training your employees is the cost of doing fucking business. I would hope such abusive and coercive clauses would be unenforceable in most states in the way that non-competes are in California, but I expect some sizeable percentage of states would allow for enforcement of this shit. Just awful.
posted by Existential Dread at 3:31 PM on April 2, 2018 [94 favorites]


Yeah news stations really lock in their talent hardcore, there are sometimes clauses like "if you get an offer from a top 50 market you can get out of the contract" at smaller stations but otherwise it's pretty black and white, you're in until next contract renewal.
posted by jason_steakums at 3:34 PM on April 2, 2018 [2 favorites]


Training your employees is the cost of doing fucking business.

You'd be surprised at what costs of doing business get passed on to everyone but the business these days. Car dealerships for years have been trying to get buyers to explicitly pay for advertising.
posted by Talez at 3:37 PM on April 2, 2018 [8 favorites]


The Sinclair thing got just over 2 minutes of coverage on NBC national news. About half of that was on Sinclair's and Trumps response. 10 second on why it was bad.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 3:45 PM on April 2, 2018 [5 favorites]


Why don’t the newscasters quit? scalefree points to contracts with penalties for quitting, but also there aren’t a lot of employers in this field. If you work in TV news, there are two to three other employers in your market. Maybe they’re not hiring another newscaster right now. So then if you want to have a job in your field, you have to move.
posted by chrchr at 3:46 PM on April 2, 2018 [4 favorites]


Perhaps the narrative should now shift to there being an established, documented conservative media bias, and all Dem candidates should just hammer at that for a while....
posted by OHenryPacey at 3:55 PM on April 2, 2018 [40 favorites]


I don't usually go with the ironic "Thanks, Obama.." but Pai is an excellent example of someone who shouldn't have been appointed by a Democratic administration.

That's not the way it works. There are 5 commissioners. 3 are members of the President's party. The other 2 are chosen by the leader of the opposition party; in the case of Pai that was Mitch McConnell. I suppose some folks would argue that we should chuck all those norms and traditions and next time the Democrats get in power they should go all Will To Power, but Obama cannot be blamed for not having a time machine to see that he should pre-emptively go nuclear.
posted by Justinian at 4:10 PM on April 2, 2018 [14 favorites]


Note for pedants: Yes, ok, technically McConnell only recommends the Republicans to be named Commissioners and Obama picks them. To you I say; nuts.
posted by Justinian at 4:11 PM on April 2, 2018 [4 favorites]


The Sinclair thing got just over 2 minutes of coverage on NBC national news.
It's weird to hear things like this for me and my wife (ImproviseOrDie), as we haven't watched live tv in 10-20 years. In fact, I don't know anyone who watches live tv, outside of my parents (in their 70s, one a lifelong union supporting Dem, the other a Dem about 15 minutes after GWB43 was elected.)
I'm gathering from these metafi comments it's a disturbing surreal experience to both know what's going on (thank you all on metafilter!) and maybe see it on your tv the same day.
Strange Days.
posted by rc3spencer at 4:17 PM on April 2, 2018 [3 favorites]


Yeah, Pai was appointed around 2012 or so as the FCC Republican. At the time there was still the illusion that McConnell was capable of acting in good faith occasionally, and it wasn't really clear until later how problematic Pai would prove to be if he were allowed to take the reins.

Come to think of it, Wheeler was actually widely suspected to be a similar type of industry stooge until he suddenly started bucking up.

[also what Justinian said]
posted by aspersioncast at 4:18 PM on April 2, 2018


WaPo, Americans tell Interior to take a hike over proposed national park fee increase, in which Interior is backing off from its plan for major entrance fee increases at parks following an outpouring of negative public comments.

Which is great, as the proposed fee increases were ludicrous, but it's hard to imagine them jumping to spend more public funds on the parks, many of which desperately need money for maintenance and capital projects.
posted by zachlipton at 4:29 PM on April 2, 2018 [16 favorites]


OK, I apologize for the Ajit Pai derail.

I still maintain that he's not the FCC chairman we need at this point, but I retract my criticism maintaining that President Obama should be considered responsible for his appointment.
posted by Nerd of the North at 4:33 PM on April 2, 2018 [3 favorites]


There's at least a suggestion on Twitter from an attorney that the Sinclair contract clause noted above may be unenforceable. I don't know how credible the source is, however.
posted by Existential Dread at 4:47 PM on April 2, 2018 [2 favorites]


That source is pretty credible. Also, this was mentioned upthread.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 4:50 PM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


Trump Unhinged/Unleashed Dept.: Vanity Fair reports, “Trump Is Like, ‘How Can I F--k with Him?’”: Trump’s War with Amazon (and The Washington Post) Is Personal—With the West Wing finally calm, Trump is contemplating a multi-front campaign against Jeff Bezos.
Now, according to four sources close to the White House, Trump is discussing ways to escalate his Twitter attacks on Amazon to further damage the company. “He’s off the hook on this. It’s war,” one source told me. “He gets obsessed with something, and now he’s obsessed with Bezos,” said another source. “Trump is like, how can I fuck with him?”

According to sources, Trump wants the Post Office to increase Amazon’s shipping costs. When Trump previously discussed the idea inside the White Hose, Gary Cohn had explained that Amazon is a benefit to the Postal Service, which has seen mail volume plummet in the age of e-mail. “Trump doesn’t have Gary Cohn breathing down his neck saying you can’t do the Post Office shit,” a Republican close to the White House said. “He really wants the Post Office deal renegotiated. He thinks Amazon’s getting a huge fucking deal on shipping.”

Advisers are also encouraging Trump to cancel Amazon’s multi-billion contract with the Pentagon to provide cloud computing services, sources say. Another line of attack would be to encourage attorneys general in red states to open investigations into Amazon’s business practices. Sources say Trump is open to the ideas.[...]

Even Trump’s allies acknowledge that much of what’s fueling Trump’s rage toward Amazon is that Amazon C.E.O. Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post, sources said. “Trump doesn’t like The New York Times, but he reveres it because it’s his hometown paper. The Washington Post, he has zero respect for,” the Republican close to the White House said. While the Post says that Bezos has no involvement in newsroom decisions, Trump has told advisers he believes Bezos uses the paper as a political weapon. One former White House official said Trump looks at the Post the same way he looks at the National Enquirer. “When Bezos says he has no involvement, Trump doesn’t believe him. His experience is with the David Peckers of the world. Whether it’s right or wrong, he knows it can be done.”
And the Washington Post has, of course, already reported on the very cozy relationship between Donald Trump and the National Enquirer.
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:00 PM on April 2, 2018 [33 favorites]


@EricKleefeld
The President of the United States is trying to tank Amazon, in order to punish its CEO for negative media coverage in the newspaper he also owns.

And I'm supposed to think David Hogg spearheading an advertising boycott of Laura Ingraham is an urgent threat to freedom of speech?
posted by chris24 at 5:06 PM on April 2, 2018 [106 favorites]


Setting aside the enormously dangerous precedent this sets when it comes to attacks on freedom of the press, of all of Trump's vendettas, this one especially seems like it well could backfire. Yes, they have horrible labor practices and destroy their warehouse workers and their effects on small business and etc..., yet people like Amazon. It's one of the most admired companies. People like free shipping. His base will do anything to own the libs, but I'm really not convinced "Amazon shipping should cost more" is broadly a politically popular position.
posted by zachlipton at 5:09 PM on April 2, 2018 [23 favorites]


Amazon and Bezos (especially Bezos!) also have some pretty deep pockets.
posted by mosk at 5:14 PM on April 2, 2018 [2 favorites]


but I'm really not convinced "Amazon shipping should cost more" is broadly a politically popular position.

It won't even cost more. The USPS will just lose business. Amazon has been ramping up its TaskRabbit/Uber hybrid delivery service. This takes away all those messy government union workers and replaces them with piecemeal contractors that are paid below minimum wage once their expenses are accounted for. If the USPS came up to them and said it'll be 20% more on the packages they'll just accelerate Amazon Logistics to more cities quicker.
posted by Talez at 5:17 PM on April 2, 2018 [18 favorites]


And Trump just gave Amazon a $789m tax cut. That'll cover a lot of higher shipping costs.
posted by chris24 at 5:18 PM on April 2, 2018 [29 favorites]


Last year when people were fleeing into Canada from the USA, the Canadian border agents union complained that American border officials were driving people to (and dropping them off at) an unauthorized crossing point. The Americans responded that there were many reasons a person might be in one of their vehicles and that there was no US law against crossing illegally into Canada so they couldn't stop anyone even if they wanted to.

U.S. border officers not doing enough to slow asylum-seekers, Canadian union rep says.
'There's nothing we can do,' U.S. officer in charge says, as number of people crossing illegally climbs
(CBC news article)
posted by phoque at 5:20 PM on April 2, 2018 [23 favorites]


I'm imagining all the depositions from discovery if he pushes Bezos into a legal fight that just lay out in black and white how unhinged and inept Trump is in day to day White House operations and I have to think Bezos might be relishing the fight.
posted by jason_steakums at 5:21 PM on April 2, 2018 [12 favorites]


Greg Sargent, Trump’s latest unhinged tweetstorm is worse than it appears, in which the implication of Trump's tweets has to be read as him thinking that people fleeing persecution shouldn't be even able to reach the US border to apply for asylum.

So Trump's latest ramblings just confirms this:
As ridiculous as it sounds, the laws of our country do not easily allow us to send those crossing our Southern Border back where they came from. A whole big wasted procedure must take place. Mexico & Canada have tough immigration laws, whereas ours are an Obama joke. ACT CONGRESS
For the record, some semblance of due process (and the extent to which our immigration system affords due process is a joke) is a constitutional requirement and not an Obama conspiracy.
posted by zachlipton at 5:44 PM on April 2, 2018 [27 favorites]


Do you think if I shaved off my beard and wore my blue suit I could convince Trump the only way to really grind Bezos’ gears is to nationalize amazon into a co-op?
posted by The Whelk at 5:51 PM on April 2, 2018 [35 favorites]


depends on if you talk to him last, The Whelk
posted by Merus at 5:53 PM on April 2, 2018 [30 favorites]


@HirokoTabuchi: We hear Chevy dealers were livid that EPA’s Scott Pruitt planned to announce plans to roll back auto emissions standards tomorrow at a Chevy dealership in VA. They just don’t want to be associated with that decision. Now the VA dealer tells us the event is cancelled.

Scott Pruitt: too toxic for a damn car dealership

In further Pruitt news, and he's really really under the gun today, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s Lobbyist-Owned Pad Was GOP Fundraising Hub

And Politico reports White House considered firing Pruitt
posted by zachlipton at 6:01 PM on April 2, 2018 [48 favorites]


The emissions rollback is mostly about picking a fight with California: Calling Car Pollution Standards ‘Too High,’ E.P.A. Sets Up Fight With California [NYT]
The E.P.A. statement was part of the agency’s widely expected decision to reconsider, and most likely roll back, Obama-era rules requiring automakers to hit ambitious emissions and mileage standards by 2025. The statement, though, was notable for the forcefulness of its language suggesting that the Trump administration would take on California’s authority to set its own rules.

Scott Pruitt, the E.P.A. administrator, signaled that he aimed to make California fall in line. The Obama administration, he said, “made assumptions about the standards that didn’t comport with reality, and set the standards too high.” California’s history of setting its own emissions rules “doesn’t mean that one state can dictate standards for the rest of the country,” Mr. Pruitt said.
(And maybe also about protecting oil interests? Higher average fuel-economy targets favor electric vehicles.)
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 6:09 PM on April 2, 2018 [10 favorites]


The $50/night apartment owner's husband is a lobbyist, whose client's project got EPA approval while Pruitt was in residence: NY Times report.
posted by suelac at 6:11 PM on April 2, 2018 [18 favorites]


@kylegriffin1 (MSNBC)
By my count, 5 separate stories have come out in the last couple hours about Scott Pruitt. That doesn't seem like an accident.
posted by chris24 at 6:11 PM on April 2, 2018 [30 favorites]


I'm not an expert, but I think it might have been a mistake to make a Captain Planet villain head of the EPA.
posted by runcibleshaw at 6:12 PM on April 2, 2018 [63 favorites]


The April 1 issue of New York magazine, the one with piggy Donald on the cover, has a nice summary by Joy Crane and Nick Tabor: 501 Days in Swampland:
More than at any time in history, the president of the United States is actively using the power and prestige of his office to line his own pockets: landing loans for his businesses, steering wealthy buyers to his condos, securing cheap foreign labor for his resorts, preserving federal subsidies for his housing projects, easing regulations on his golf courses, licensing his name to overseas projects, even peddling coffee mugs and shot glasses bearing the presidential seal.
Many, many details.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 6:13 PM on April 2, 2018 [46 favorites]


When Scott Pruitt was the Attorney General of Oklahoma, it really bothered me that he wasted so much taxpayer money on useless EPA lawsuits that I didn't think would go anywhere. I comforted myself with the thought, "At least he can't really do any harm."

Sometimes it makes me think I shouldn't try to look on the bright side of things ever again.
posted by Quonab at 6:17 PM on April 2, 2018 [12 favorites]


California’s history of setting its own emissions rules “doesn’t mean that one state can dictate standards for the rest of the country,” Mr. Pruitt said.

Ok. Now do Texas textbooks.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:30 PM on April 2, 2018 [104 favorites]


WSJ, Mueller Probe Into U.A.E. Influence Broadens
Special counsel Robert Mueller has asked questions about the work of a private consulting firm that has undertaken projects for the United Arab Emirates, according to people familiar with the investigation, suggesting his probe is looking more deeply at foreign influence in Washington.

The questions by Mr. Mueller’s team concern a private consulting firm, Wikistrat, as well as two of its co-founders, Joel Zamel and Daniel Green.
...
Mr. Zamel has informally met with Mr. Mueller’s team, according to a person familiar with the matter, and was asked questions about his business relationship with George Nader, a Lebanese-American who serves as a top adviser to U.A.E. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed and was also close to Trump administration officials last year.
I'm glad that Muller's investigation is seemingly addressing foreign influence beyond Russia, but man, what isn't he investigating at this point?
posted by zachlipton at 6:35 PM on April 2, 2018 [32 favorites]




The questions by Mr. Mueller’s team concern a private consulting firm, Wikistrat

Is anything even a wiki?
posted by jason_steakums at 6:48 PM on April 2, 2018 [12 favorites]


Just wait until Mueller looks into the private security and giant mechanical spider firm, Wikiwikiwildwildwest
posted by Merus at 7:03 PM on April 2, 2018 [33 favorites]


I'm glad that Muller's investigation is seemingly addressing foreign influence beyond Russia, but man, what isn't he investigating at this point?

I seriously worry about that. It's possible that Trump's criminal acts are fractal, and Mueller's investigation will hit a quantum horizon where it'll take more time to finish than the universe has remaining.
posted by mikelieman at 7:05 PM on April 2, 2018 [63 favorites]


Which general would replace Pruitt?
posted by rhizome at 7:06 PM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


Which general would replace Pruitt?
posted by rhizome at 10:06 PM on April 2


The short list is here.
posted by runcibleshaw at 7:16 PM on April 2, 2018 [4 favorites]


I'm imagining all the depositions from discovery if he pushes Bezos into a legal fight that just lay out in black and white how unhinged and inept Trump is in day to day White House operations and I have to think Bezos might be relishing the fight.

Trump probably doesn't realize it, but he's potentially picking a fight with every Amazon stockholder, maybe even every stock trader on the Dow Jones.

U Minn. Prof. of law and chief White House ethics lawyer for G. W. Bush Richard Painter @RWPUSA advises:
Trump violates the 1st Amendment by retaliating against the Washington Post and may be violating federal securities laws.
Securities fraud includes knowing false statements about a publicly traded company. 1934 Act Section 10(b); Rule 10b-5

A specific example is government officials who knowingly make false accusations against a public company to drive the stock price down. Investors who lose money can sue.

If you lost money today trading in Amazon stock or any other security, and you know of anyone who knowingly or recklessly made a false public statement about that company or its stock, causing your losses, you should contact a securities lawyer today.
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:17 PM on April 2, 2018 [76 favorites]


So when I read "Trump puts Lou Dobbs on Speakerphone", I hear for a moment "Obama puts Rachel Maddow on Speakerphone", and I imagine the vitriolic explosion of indignant righteousness from every member of the so-called liberal media (as well as every politician ever of all time) that would accompany the latter statement, and then flames on the side of my face engulf me and I pass into blissful infinity. Trump what?
posted by Go Banana at 7:27 PM on April 2, 2018 [21 favorites]


I am an Amazon shareholder, and President Twitler's recent tweets have cost me almost twenty thousand dollars over the last few days (on paper; we're talking about unrealized losses unless I decided to sell my shares). That's just the beginning of how this "pro America, pro business" dillweed has actually managed to mangle the stock market through his knee-jerk and thoughtless tweeted policy decisions. You may think, "Eh, capitalists and their problems." But if you have a 401(k) or IRA, or if you expect to receive a union pension, in America, that means you own stocks, and when the dimwit in chief makes proclamations of this sort, it hurts you.
posted by JimInLoganSquare at 7:29 PM on April 2, 2018 [90 favorites]


ELECTIONS NEWS

** AZ-08 special -- GOP dropping more money in for GOTV efforts.

** 2018 House
-- CT-05: Mentioned earlier, Rep Elizabeth Esty [D] has announced she will not be running for re-election since it became public she covered up some serious misbehavior by her chief of staff. Seat leans Dem, so might have been endangered if Esty had tried to hang on; probably safe (Cook has as Likely D) with her leaving. CT's filing deadline is quite late, so there's still time to scare up a good candidate.

-- Also mentioned, interesting article by Nathaniel Rakich on how it's pretty hard to guess what districts might be best for Dems this year, despite the various narratives everyone is pushing. Run everywhere, see what sticks!
** 2018 Senate:
-- GOP worried by vicious primary battles.

-- MO: Hawley trying to play himself as both pro and anti-Trump.
** Odds & ends:
-- NY gov: Good WP look at the Nixon/Cuomo fight in the NY Dem primary.

-- AZ gov: Greenberg Quinlan Rosner poll has incumbent GOP gov Ducey up just 49-44 on possible Dem opponent Farley [MOE: +/-4.4%]

-- In states past the filing deadline, Dems are contesting 76% of GOP-held state legislative seats. The GOP is contesting 53% of Dem-held seats.
***
Tomorrow - special elections in RI and MA (both Dem held seats), and the important WI Supreme Court election.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:36 PM on April 2, 2018 [24 favorites]


I am a tiny third-party seller making my living on Amazon and also a person who considers the USPS a democratic marvel and this hurts me, if only psychologically (thus far). He's creating enemies of everyone from Canada to Australia to Amazon and getting his stupid all over simply EVERYthing and I'm past agog at this incredible morass.
posted by thebrokedown at 7:39 PM on April 2, 2018 [41 favorites]


I seriously worry about that. It's possible that Trump's criminal acts are fractal, and Mueller's investigation will hit a quantum horizon where it'll take more time to finish than the universe has remaining

Fractal and self-generating, as he seems to be obstructing an investigation of obstruction of justice.

msbutah, I am glad you posted what you did. KOMO in seattle has long been my go-to for weather, but last week when the Sinclair story began to break I did the knee-jerk thing and deleted the bookmark from my browser to deny them page-views, and have been thinking about posting to their FB page. I can't imagine that the Seattle employees are overjoyed by the messages from on-high, but I wonder if they have any power to resist...

Lead KOMO anchor to Trump: 'This isn't funny at all'
'When media giants gobble up local news stations, there are repercussions,' Mary Nam tweeted.
...
"They're certainly not happy about it," a KOMO newsroom employee told SeattlePI of the segments. "It's certainly a forced thing."

KOMO management called for a newsroom meeting Monday afternoon following the media firestorm caused by the segments over the weekend. A person inside the meeting characterized it for SeattlePI: Take comfort in the good work you do, but if you don't like working for Sinclair, quit.
...
"Actually, this isn't funny at all. None of it," she wrote. "When media giants gobble up local news stations, there are repercussions. And since you brought it up first this morning, will your admin green light the Tribune buyout?"
posted by BungaDunga at 7:50 PM on April 2, 2018 [18 favorites]


Yeah, this is a stupid, stupid fight that he's going to lose, PR-wise.

I'm a small business owner (ACTUAL small business, not "small business" as defined by Republican'ts). Brick-and-mortar retail. It's a no-brainer that Amazon has cut into our revenue, since they sell our products, and even sell many of them through Prime Now (the "delivered to you in two hours or less" service available in most cities — including ours). I hate them and yet I order from them quite frequently — yes, I am a hypocrite.

AND YET, I side with Amazon and Bezos here. Jesus fuck, the stupidity of this "president" knows no bottom.
posted by CommonSense at 7:59 PM on April 2, 2018 [17 favorites]


. . . also, this Baltimoron apologizes for Sinclair. Not that 99.9% of us in this insanely super-deep blue city have anything to do with them. But there's all manner of wacky, ass-backward assholes out there, once you leave the city limits (and Sinclair is north of the city, in horse country . . . which might as well be Kentucky).
posted by CommonSense at 8:02 PM on April 2, 2018 [3 favorites]


Imagine being so pants-shittingly scared of a high school student who says he doesn't want to be shot that you make a whole website just for the community of people scared of him to compile stories about how scary he is.

Well imagine no further. I give you: hoggwatch.com

These hordes of terrified old white men would be so pathetically comic if they weren't also dangerously insane and armed with 20 million assault rifles.
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:02 PM on April 2, 2018 [32 favorites]




In response to the Sinclair message aired: "WMSN/FOX47 Madison did not air the Sinclair promotional announcement during our 9pm news this weekend. Rather, we stayed true to our commitment to provide our Madison area viewers local news, weather and sports of interest to them."

Good for them, but it sounds kind of like they're throwing shade on stations that didn't.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 8:14 PM on April 2, 2018 [3 favorites]


if you don't like working for Sinclair, quit.

This must be like a scripted management response at Sinclair, five-ish years ago when the station I worked at got bought out by Sinclair and things started to get shitty (in more ways than just the political) our general manager trotted that little ultimatum out at a meeting. It was too good a line to pass up the opportunity to throw in a "hey, about that thing you said..." when I quit a few weeks later after getting suuuper stressed out by the everything. Like on top of the political stuff I was seeing with one foot in the newsroom, going from regular local TV sales stuff with, y'know, the old "best buds with the sales rep that's been serving you for years and can always cut you a handshake deal" thing in the sales department (which I'm still unsure how I ended up in, hey this ball of social anxiety from the newsroom knows computers, have him sell half-baked digital marketing junk I guess?) to "holy shit insane aggressive high pressure money vacuum" was too much.

One of the things they kept trotting out at the time was this idea of like a national news network on digital subchannel stations in every market, so like Fox News without the cable fee. Still waiting for that one to rear its ugly head in this day and age but I guess they're settling for turning regular local news into this eerie hive mind wail that says the same thing with a thousand mouths now instead.
posted by jason_steakums at 8:18 PM on April 2, 2018 [17 favorites]


He can't touch anything and maintain credibility. There's a strong argument that Amazon IS too big, that it IS hurting all other retail, and exercising illegal monopoly power to do so. Actually enforcing our dead and buried antitrust laws SHOULD be a core Democratic policy, and I was happy to see them include it in the party platform this year. This COULD have even been an area where campaign-he's-breaking-down-party-lines-and-a-new-kind-of-populist-Republican-Trump could've made uncoformtable common cause with economic progressives and labor.

But if the actual real-life Trump does it now, we know it's 100% not based on economics, it's revenge against his political critic. He's already perverted even good policy ideas by making them impossible to implement through any principled or reasoned process.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:23 PM on April 2, 2018 [25 favorites]


Good for them, but it sounds kind of like they're throwing shade on stations that didn't.

I think they’ve earned it.
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 8:23 PM on April 2, 2018 [32 favorites]


When I was a kid I was under the impression spying was hard. It was kind of letdown as I Iearned over the years it just takes booze and miniskirts to influence the morons in power.

There is a strain of belief that says that espionage stories essentially created intelligence services; it had always been pretty crude influence, but the idea of sophisticated nudging, with reports breathlessly published in the British tabloids, encouraged politicians to think of their intelligence services as basically doing that, and for intelligence services to essentially try doing that.
posted by Merus at 8:34 PM on April 2, 2018 [2 favorites]


There's a strong argument that Amazon IS too big, that it IS hurting all other retail, and exercising illegal monopoly power to do so... But if the actual real-life Trump does it now, we know it's 100% not based on economics, it's revenge against his political critic...

TPM: McCabe, Amazon and Defending the Republic from Donald Trump
But the bigger point is that it’s not really about McCabe or Amazon. Having a sitting President launching scathing personal attacks on a federal law enforcement officer and demanding his firing or imprisonment for personal and political motives is wildly outside the norms that govern the American system. Similarly, a President who routinely threatens prosecutorial or regulatory vengeance against private companies because they are not sufficiently politically subservient to him personally is entirely outside of our system of governance. At present, Donald Trump is an autocrat without an autocracy. The system mostly resists his demands because it’s not designed to operate that way and we have centuries worth of norms that are remarkably resilient. But systems change. And it’s clear that ours is already starting to change under his malign influence.

When an autocrat imprisons or kills people on his own arbitrary authority, no doubt some of the people are really bad folks. I have zero doubt, for instance, that a lot of the people Saddam Hussein had tortured or killed were just as vicious and awful as he was. We don’t say these were the cases where Saddam actually ‘got it right’ because we are or should be against autocracy and judicial murder in general and on principle. Obviously the stakes at present are less severe for us. But principle is the same. The stakes are quite high. And putting it this way captures the idiocy of this logic.

As The New Yorker’s Adam Davidson noted yesterday on Twitter: “Countries in which companies succeed or fail because of their relationship with the leader are poorer, more violent and unstable, more unequal. More everything bad. The U.S. and all nations have always, of course, had some degree of corruption. But not like this.”

The same applies to a President who so commonly disregards the rule of law in regards to individuals or government agencies. Preserving a rule of law political system from sliding into one that is corrupt and autocratic is much more important than the specifics of whether any one company is monopolistic or nefarious or the individual rights and wrongs of what some high level executive at the FBI may or may not have done. I have no idea whether McCabe lied to that IG. I’ve never spoken to the guy. I don’t really know. But there’s really no way for us to know now or have any confidence that he’s not being singled out because you simply can’t unring the bell of the sitting President demanding his professional destruction for almost a year. Whether Donald Trump happens upon an accusation that may have some merit really doesn’t matter. As long as he is acting arbitrarily, seeking protection from the law or personal enrichment for himself or demanding personal loyalty to him as the cost of protection from the state we should oppose him every time. The rule of law is the path to the solution to every other ill in our society. Not a sufficient one but a necessary one in every case.

So jumping into the breach to visibly back up the targets of his arbitrary actions isn’t some blinkered liberalism that loses the forest for the trees in its rage and opposition to Donald Trump. It’s really the only way to oppose him. Because his attack on the rule of law and democracy itself is the heart of the danger he poses for all of us.
posted by chris24 at 8:39 PM on April 2, 2018 [87 favorites]


T.D. Strange, I was just remarking to the SO that it would be ironic if what finally ends up getting Amazon regulated is Trump's incoherent vindictiveness.
posted by aspersioncast at 8:40 PM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


How possible is it to pressure Sinclair through the national networks? We had Sinclair stations in Peoria and I gotta say, their local news was barely any different from other stations' local news, so it would have been no loss to anyone to watch another station for news ... how much does ABC/FOX/whomever care if you write them and say, "Look, I love show X, but I won't watch it because your local affiliate is a Sinclair station, deaffiliate and I'm back on board."
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:50 PM on April 2, 2018 [5 favorites]


Our local is an ABC affiliate. Maybe going through Disney would work.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 8:54 PM on April 2, 2018 [2 favorites]


Well imagine no further. I give you: hoggwatch.com

This is an Alex Jones cesspool through & through. Most of the site's devoted to hating David & the Never Again movement but it's also serving to mainstream InfoWars lunacy. I feel like I need to wash my eyes out.

RED ALERT: We are all being set up… The gun grab is INTENDED to start a civil war, followed by UN occupation of America.
posted by scalefree at 9:00 PM on April 2, 2018 [7 favorites]


@hsu_spencer (WaPo):
NEW Special counsel Robert Mueller's office defends Manafort prosecution from defense challenge, telling court that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein explicitly approved it in Aug. 2, 2017 memo, after AG Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia probe.
FILING
posted by chris24 at 9:10 PM on April 2, 2018 [18 favorites]




How possible is it to pressure Sinclair through the national networks?

It depends entirely on the terms of the contracts that Sinclair stations have with the networks, which will be a mishmash of different things from contracts that newly acquired stations and station groups have that were negotiated pre-Sinclair buyout to whatever kind of contracts that the full leverage of Sinclair can put together, some of which I'm sure must be pretty standard agreements for certain market sizes, some of which are probably special outliers.

One interesting potential point of public leverage is when Sinclair or its individual stations get into retransmission fee fights with entities like DirectTV or cable companies. Those fights get all kinds of nasty (our general manager once aired crawls with the personal cell phone # of one of the negotiators on the cable side asking viewers to call and tell them not to take away their programming, I'm not sure how that wasn't a lawsuit but also I'm not sure how that man wasn't perpetually in like five to ten lawsuits) and it's possible that the cable/satellite side would gladly wield any anti-Sinclair public outcry that they can to drive down fees or put conditions on a deal.

But on the other hand, the networks get a cut of those sweet retrans fees so they'd be incentivized to back Sinclair...

And on the other other hand the people with the money in broadcast TV and cable really will fight tooth and nail about money but it will be a cold day in hell before they fight each other over points of responsible broadcasting and respecting the consumer...

TV is a fucking gross mess since the Telecommunications Act of 1996 is what I think I'm saying.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:24 PM on April 2, 2018 [17 favorites]


Pushing boycott campaigns Sleeping Giants style would probably be the most effective action TBH, it only takes a few big clients to put serious hurt on stations in the majority of markets and when Sinclair moves in they throw a lot of upgrade money at stations that could never have afforded nice newsroom setups before in an effort to standardize the newsroom workflow for ease of content sharing between stations, not to mention the costs of the buyouts themselves, so I'd bet the bottom falling out of smaller market stations because businesses pulled their advertising (a grim little silver lining to everything being a national chain and local businesses being trampled I suppose) would put a serious strain on their ability to own so many stations.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:33 PM on April 2, 2018 [7 favorites]



RED ALERT: We are all being set up… The gun grab is INTENDED to start a civil war, followed by UN occupation of America.

Hogg's done it again! *shakes fist*
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 9:47 PM on April 2, 2018 [6 favorites]


Sinclair Chairman Claims Entire Print Media Has ‘No Credibility’ (Olivia Nuzzi, New York Mag)
David Smith, the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, said he dislikes and fundamentally distrusts the print media, which he believes “serves no real purpose.” In emails to New York, Smith said that print — as in newspapers and magazines — is a reality-distorting tool of leftists. Print media, he said, has “no credibility” and no relevance.

“I must tell that in all the 45 plus years I have been in the media business I have never seen a single article about us that is reflective of reality especially in today’s world with the shameful political environment and generally complete lack of integrity. Facts and truth have been lost for a long time and likely to never return,” Smith said.

“The print media is so left wing as to be meaningless dribble which accounts for why the industry is and will fade away. Just no credibility.”
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:22 PM on April 2, 2018 [19 favorites]


David Smith, the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, said he dislikes and fundamentally distrusts the print media, which he believes “serves no real purpose.” In emails to New York, Smith said that print — as in newspapers and magazines — is a reality-distorting tool of leftists. Print media, he said, has “no credibility” and no relevance.
I can only conceive of one possible explanation for this statement. Clearly, nefarious agents of David Hogg have replaced Smith's fire extinguisher with a similar-looking spray canister of gasoline.
posted by Nerd of the North at 11:17 PM on April 2, 2018 [10 favorites]


Making Atrocities Great Again: Donald Trump’s recycling program, a roundup by War is Boring. Nothing really new here, but a grim reminder of how little consequence getting involved in war crimes has.
posted by Harald74 at 3:05 AM on April 3, 2018 [4 favorites]


Meaningless DRIBBLE? Someone lost a spot of credibility there, and as these communications appear to be through email, I'm going say it's minus 10 points for Smith, and minus one for NY Mag for not using "[sic]." I despair.
posted by thebrokedown at 3:31 AM on April 3, 2018 [35 favorites]


A bit more of a breakdown of the Mueller/Manafort filing.

@nycsouthpaw
New filings from the Special Counsel, responding to Manafort's motion to dismiss his indictment, include a new heavily redacted document from Rosenstein dated last August confirming that Manafort is within his remit. FILING
- The money section
Allegations that Paul Manafort
  • Committed a crime or crimes by colluding with Russian government officials in the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 election of President of the United States in violation of United States law;
  • Committed a crime or crimes arising out of payments he received from the Ukrainian government before and during the tenure of President Viktor Vanukovych:
- Consider that Mueller's office could have chosen to redact that first bullet point, like they did most of the rest of the document, and they chose not to.
- Mueller's opposition to the motion makes clear that Manafort (and the public) hadn't previously seen any part of this August 2017 Rosenstein memo. FILING
- Mueller's case for why the original, public Rosenstein appointment order would cover Manafort too includes this line: "Open-source reporting also has described business arrangements between Manafort and "a Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, a close ally of Vladimir Putin." FILING
- The footnote is to the NYT's black ledger report during the campaign. FILING
- Mueller confirms that main DOJ, specifically the National Security Division and the Tax Division, signed off on parts of the Manafort indictment. FILING
- I think this is the first DOJ document we know of that uses a variant of the word "collusion" in connection with the Russia probe.
posted by chris24 at 3:49 AM on April 3, 2018 [58 favorites]


NO COLLUSION
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 4:15 AM on April 3, 2018 [11 favorites]


@PreetBharara
What if Jeff Bezos bought Twitter with the change in his pocket and shut Trump's account?
posted by chris24 at 4:28 AM on April 3, 2018 [103 favorites]


Sinclair Chairman Claims Entire Print Media Has ‘No Credibility’ (Olivia Nuzzi, New York Mag)

One Pychonesque detail stood out in this piece and sent me to 2005 Rolling Stone article about Sinclair CEO David Smith for further illumination: “Smith had some experience in the media when he took over the company from his father — but it wasn't the kind of work most conservatives would appreciate. In the 1970s, he was a partner in a business called Ciné Processors, which made bootleg copies of porn films in the basement of a building owned by another of his father's companies, the Commercial Radio Institute. "We had the film-processing lab in operation for, like, a year," recalls David Williams, Smith's partner at Ciné. "The first film we copied was Deep Throat, which had just opened in New York and was not available anywhere else." According to Williams, Ciné got involved with the mob and was busted by the police. "How David got control of the family company after that, I don't know," he says. "He was just a big egotist. He wanted attention."”

And: “Smith's media connections came in handy in 1996, when he was arrested on suspicion of soliciting a prostitute who, police said, performed "an unnatural and perverted sex act on him" in a Mercedes owned by Sinclair. Charged with a misdemeanor sex offense, Smith cut an unusual deal: In lieu of doing community service, he ordered Sinclair to broadcast reports publicizing local drug programs. "The judge was outraged," former Sinclair reporter LuAnne Canipe told Salon. "He said, 'How can employees do community service for their boss?'"”

Of course this piece of work is a die-hard Trump supporter (because everything is awful).
posted by Doktor Zed at 4:35 AM on April 3, 2018 [60 favorites]


In other words, David Smith is the very model of the Trump-era conservative.
posted by acb at 4:41 AM on April 3, 2018 [39 favorites]


His acts against our nation are demonstrably superlative
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 4:47 AM on April 3, 2018 [53 favorites]


“The print media is so left wing as to be meaningless dribble which accounts for why the industry is and will fade away. Just no credibility.”

"Words have a well-known liberal bias. Therefore I will offer all further comment on this matter in the form of rebuses and collage." [fake]

If conservatives want to cede the entire concept of the written word to us pinkos, I say "please proceed".
posted by murphy slaw at 5:01 AM on April 3, 2018 [16 favorites]


Well Donny went batshit again this morning.
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
The Fake News Networks, those that knowingly have a sick and biased AGENDA, are worried about the competition and quality of Sinclair Broadcast. The “Fakers” at CNN, NBC, ABC & CBS have done so much dishonest reporting that they should only be allowed to get awards for fiction!
Check out the fact that you can’t get a job at ratings challenged @CNN unless you state that you are totally anti-Trump? Little Jeff Zuker, whose job is in jeopardy, is not having much fun lately. They should clean up and strengthen CNN and get back to honest reporting!
Thank you to Rasmussen for the honest polling. Just hit 50%, which is higher than Cheatin’ Obama at the same time in his Administration.
I guess we should expect the Trump administration to setup a Ministry of Truth in the near future.
posted by Talez at 5:06 AM on April 3, 2018 [22 favorites]


I think Trump's tweet is going to end up Streisanding that Sinclair supercut.
posted by klarck at 5:09 AM on April 3, 2018 [16 favorites]


Cheatin’ Obama

Maybe he didn't think this through but if he is serious what is he accusing him cheating in?
posted by PenDevil at 5:11 AM on April 3, 2018 [13 favorites]


Check out the fact that you can’t get a job at ratings challenged @CNN unless you state that you are totally anti-Trump?

If I was CNN's HR department, I'd immediately publish a letter disproving that allegation, to protect the integrity of the brand, and the value of the stock.
posted by mikelieman at 5:12 AM on April 3, 2018 [5 favorites]


Maybe he didn't think this through but if he is serious what is he accusing him cheating in?

The polls, obviously. Obama always cheated when it came to popular opinion.
posted by pjenks at 5:16 AM on April 3, 2018 [5 favorites]


Jeff Zuker [sic] got a "Little"! Awww. I wonder if he'll frame that tweet and put it on his wall too.

Jeff, the chickens are tweeting. Why don't you take this opportunity to step down and maybe go back to what you're good at. Throw Jimmy whoosits off The Tonight Show and rake in some ill-gotten millions.

My retelling of "No Exit" includes "Little" Jeff Zucker and Chuck Todd. Haven't quite settled on the third prong yet.
posted by petebest at 5:22 AM on April 3, 2018 [3 favorites]


This is terrifying: 64% of the open jobs on http://journalismjobs.com (the main journalism job board) are for Sinclair Broadcasting

Tracks with my anecdotal experience there and on other job boards. Even in metro DC, which has maybe more different journalism outlets per square mile than anyplace else in the country.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 5:42 AM on April 3, 2018 [3 favorites]


Note to Sen. Doug Jones, (D) Alabama: Compromise Is a Last Resort (Paul Blest, Spinternews). Senator Jones, according to 538, has voted with the President 63% of the time during his (Jones') time in office.
posted by ZeusHumms at 5:57 AM on April 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


Note to Sen. Doug Jones, (D) Alabama: Compromise Is a Last Resort (Paul Blest, Spinternews). Senator Jones, according to 538, has voted with the President 63% of the time during his (Jones') time in office.

And yet he's still ridiculously more liberal than his state.
posted by Talez at 6:02 AM on April 3, 2018 [29 favorites]


He’ll probably hang on doing this forever Manchin 2.0 style, and they’ll form the “marginally better than whatever hell Nazi the. GOP runs, but not by much” wing of the Dems.
posted by Artw at 6:10 AM on April 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


This is terrifying: 64% of the open jobs on http://journalismjobs.com (the main journalism job board) are for Sinclair Broadcasting

To what extent is this because nobody wants to work for Sinclair and they can’t fill any of their openings?
posted by chrchr at 6:13 AM on April 3, 2018 [19 favorites]


That's a hopeful thought, and I like hopeful thoughts! But things aren't very hopeful these days :(
posted by michswiss at 6:21 AM on April 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


He’ll probably hang on doing this forever Manchin 2.0 style, and they’ll form the “marginally better than whatever hell Nazi the. GOP runs, but not by much” wing of the Dems.

And yet that's how Democrats fought elections up until the Tea Party reformation in 2010 wiped out what remained of the conservative Democrat wings.
posted by Talez at 6:39 AM on April 3, 2018 [3 favorites]


@matthewamiller (MSNBC Legal Analyst)
In addition to the collusion piece everyone has focused on, Rosenstein's memo also explicitly references Mueller's authority to "continue and complete" the investigation into attempts to interfere with his probe. Have to read through to the underlying regs to catch it.
You therefore have authority to continue and complete the investigation of those matters and additional matters described in 28 C.F.R. § 600.40 (a). (my bold)
---

What is 28 C.F.R. § 600.40 (a) you might ask?
§ 600.4 Jurisdiction.
(a)Original jurisdiction. The jurisdiction of a Special Counsel shall be established by the Attorney General. The Special Counsel will be provided with a specific factual statement of the matter to be investigated. The jurisdiction of a Special Counsel shall also include the authority to investigate and prosecute federal crimes committed in the course of, and with intent to interfere with, the Special Counsel's investigation, such as perjury, obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, and intimidation of witnesses; and to conduct appeals arising out of the matter being investigated and/or prosecuted.
So, Rosenstein's letter says Mueller investigating Manafort's collusion as well as financial and other ties to oligarchs is within the scope, then lists a huge section of crimes and evidence which is redacted, and concludes by saying you have authority to continue and complete these, as well as additional matters which the regulations describe as obstruction.

Have fun Paul. And Donny.
posted by chris24 at 6:40 AM on April 3, 2018 [58 favorites]


He’ll probably hang on doing this forever Manchin 2.0 style

This was Jeff Sessions' seat. So it seems way more likely that another Sessions (ie a gross racist white dude who can feign respectability and isn't an immediately-obvious pedophile) and that whoever that turns out to be whups Jones' ass in 2020.

And even if he not-impossibly-but-improbably wins in 2020, Manchin 2.0 would still be way the fuck better than Sessions 1.0 until he became as senile as Cochrane.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 6:41 AM on April 3, 2018 [8 favorites]


He’ll probably hang on doing this forever Manchin 2.0 style, and they’ll form the “marginally better than whatever hell Nazi the. GOP runs, but not by much” wing of the Dems.

I really don't think he will. He only won in Alabama this time because they ran a literal child molester. Jones was the best Alabama Democrats could do, and still would've lost to literally any other Republican in the entire state except Roy Moore. He shouldn't have any expectation of keeping that seat in 2020, and he should be free of typical "win all the Republicans possible" constraints. Jones should be the most liberal Senator for the only four years he's in office, unless he's a true believer in say deregulating Wall Street banks.

And I'm not sure we can assess that yet, he's still running on a very small sample size, the scored votes on 538 are almost exclusively related to the budget deals. But it still looks like Jones will be more Manchin than not, when he really has no reason to.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:45 AM on April 3, 2018 [7 favorites]


Splinter doesn't seem to get that politics is local. For Alabama to elect a Democrat at all is a step up for us; for Alabama to elect a liberal Democrat in the Jeff Merkley/Kamala Harris mode is not going to happen, at least for now, no matter how much those at Splinter or Daily Kos or wherever stomp their feet.

What Democrats can do is start moving the Overton window - we get a conservative Democrat this time, maybe a more moderate one the next. And make sure that conservative Democrats at least don't throw their whole party under the bus in the Lieberman or New York's "Independent Democrats" style. The more Jones (and Manchin, etc.) caucus with the rest of the Democrats, the stronger our party will be. The whole point with having conservative Democrats elected in otherwise red states is to give us a stronger team vote. Barring Lieberman-esque quisling moves, that is what we can get.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 6:45 AM on April 3, 2018 [33 favorites]


The long game is that even if you have conservative Democrats that will abandon you on some things, the caucus being over 50 means you get majority leader and committee chairs which are far more useful for resistance against a hostile administration in these sorts of situations. You can sink legislation in committee, you decide what comes up for votes and can get Republicans on record, you have a lot more leverage in any negotiation with the White House.

Sure they might not vote affirmatively for a late term abortion access guarantee but they'll at least make sure McConnell can't perform procedural bullshit to force through heinous shit.
posted by Talez at 6:45 AM on April 3, 2018 [56 favorites]


I'm glad that Muller's investigation is seemingly addressing foreign influence beyond Russia, but man, what isn't he investigating at this point?

Who knows, but I wouldn't be surprised if the UAE/Middle East parts of the investigation might be squarely focused on backing Jared into a corner.
posted by cudzoo at 6:45 AM on April 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


Beto O'Rourke says he raised staggering $6.7M in first quarter of 2018
U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, raised over $6.7 million for his U.S. Senate bid in the first quarter of 2018, according to his campaign, a staggering number that poses a new category of threat to Republican incumbent Ted Cruz.

The haul is easily O'Rourke's biggest fundraising quarter yet, more than double his next-closest total for a three-month period. It also is more than any Democratic Senate candidate nationwide took in last quarter, O'Rourke's campaign said.

Cruz has not released his first-quarter fundraising numbers yet, but O'Rourke's $6.7 million total is on a different level than his previous hauls, which ranged from $1.7 million to $2.4 million. Those alone were good enough to outraise Cruz for three of the last four reporting periods.

Furthermore, the $6.7 million total came from more than 141,000 contributions — another record-busting number for O'Rourke.

"Campaigning in a grassroots fashion while raising more than $6.7 million from 141,000 contributions, we are the story of a campaign powered by people who are standing up to special interests, proving that we are more than a match and making it clear that Texans are willing to do exactly what our state and country need of us at this critical time," O'Rourke said in a statement.
posted by chris24 at 6:47 AM on April 3, 2018 [47 favorites]


My recently transplanted from Texas to California friends are pulling hard for O'Rourke. They haaaated Ted Cruz, in their words, "an evil, waxy human simulacrum." (I also told them about Postcards to Voters and they are interested!)
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 6:53 AM on April 3, 2018 [8 favorites]


Voting with Trump 63% of the time beats voting with him 91.1% of the time, which Luther Strange did. Or how you can imagine Roy Moore voting.

The other thing is that, with McConnell holding the Senate on lockdown, there is only so much potential legislation out there on which Jones CAN vote. There are times in which I will expect a conservative Democrat from an ultraconservative state to vote conservatively. There is a balance between representing the national interest and demonstrating to constituents that voting for a Democrat does NOT necessarily represent Immediate Full Communism Now.

Will he vote with the Dems on the important stuff? Against the most draconian bills, against the most heinous nominees? Time will tell. I don't give him a complete free pass because if he consistently lets those go by, he really would be no improvement over the likes of Strange.
posted by delfin at 6:54 AM on April 3, 2018 [6 favorites]


I think it's important to note that only reflects 11 votes, and most of those "agree" votes were keeping the government open (the virtues and problems with have been well litigated here already, no need to reopen them). He voted no on restricting abortion and immigration as well as the military bill and on the two most dubious votes (rolling back restrictions on banks and warrant-less FISA spying), there were many other Democrats that might be far more worthy of complaining about before we fire up the good ol' circular firing squad on the new guy.

He said some milquetoast words about working together, just like pretty much every elected official does. When he starts voting against immigrants or abortion, then run him out of town.

And like it or not, he was elected to represent his state, even those that didn't vote for him. That's why we constantly encourage people to call their Republican senators here, because they are supposed to listen to their constituents, even the ones that didn't and will never vote for them.
posted by Candleman at 6:56 AM on April 3, 2018 [49 favorites]


How the hell have there been only 11 senate votes in the fifteen years that have elapsed since January?
posted by InTheYear2017 at 7:01 AM on April 3, 2018 [72 favorites]


Pray there aren't many more.
posted by petebest at 7:07 AM on April 3, 2018 [22 favorites]


"I am right about Amazon costing the United States Post Office massive amounts of money for being their Delivery Boy. Amazon should pay these costs (plus) and not have them bourne by the American Taxpayer. Many billions of dollars. P.O. leaders don’t have a clue (or do they?)!" (today)

This tweet confuses me a little. It uses the word 'bourne,' and that '?)!' punctuation is pretty neat. But then it uses P.O. rather than USPS, and it's also oddly capitalized and, y'know, nonsense. Dictated, maybe?
posted by box at 7:21 AM on April 3, 2018 [7 favorites]


It uses the word 'bourne,' and that '?)!' punctuation is pretty neat.

Trump probably thinks it's how you issue an ultimatum. Much like how Michael Scott declares bankruptcy.
posted by Talez at 7:25 AM on April 3, 2018 [17 favorites]


P.O. leaders don’t have a clue (or do they?)!" (today)

Speaking as a UKian, I would think that even the leadership of the Post Office would have some idea that the USPS run a profit on delivering Amazon packages.
posted by jaduncan at 7:28 AM on April 3, 2018 [5 favorites]


Reminder: You cannot expect rational thought and behaviour from irrational people. Don't put in too much effort trying.
posted by mikelieman at 7:31 AM on April 3, 2018 [32 favorites]


So I finally got round to reading the New York Mag article linked above, and I have a suggestion: all of you that have crazy old uncles and aunts and parents go and read that article aloud to them ASAP. When they shout that all politicians are corrupt and MAGA etc. just tell them they are fine and they just need to listen to the whole article before arguing. Then leave the magazine and a lovely cake with them and kiss them goodbye. They won't be able to not read it again. It won't work that same day, but over time it will.
posted by mumimor at 7:41 AM on April 3, 2018 [9 favorites]


Also, I believe the USPS is entirely self-sufficient (it operates entirely on the profits it makes from its sales), and as such does not cost taxpayers a dime.
posted by Rykey at 7:43 AM on April 3, 2018 [5 favorites]


Great, now he's ruined "Or DO they?"!
posted by rikschell at 7:46 AM on April 3, 2018 [8 favorites]


It uses the word 'bourne,' and that '?)!' punctuation is pretty neat. But then it uses P.O. rather than USPS, and it's also oddly capitalized and, y'know, nonsense.

That dread of something after tweeting, the undiscovered meaning from whose "bourne" no traveller returns, puzzles the will and makes us rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know not of.
posted by octobersurprise at 7:52 AM on April 3, 2018 [23 favorites]


The long game is that even if you have conservative Democrats that will abandon you on some things, the caucus being over 50 means you get majority leader and committee chairs which are far more useful for resistance against a hostile administration in these sorts of situations. You can sink legislation in committee, you decide what comes up for votes and can get Republicans on record, you have a lot more leverage in any negotiation with the White House.

Exactly. See also: Claire McCaskill.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 7:53 AM on April 3, 2018 [13 favorites]


And the 2006 Postal Act, which was a pretty blatant attempt to destroy the USPS and its unions by requiring them to prefund 75 years of pensions, also makes it illegal for the USPS to sign money losing contracts.
(2) the requirement that each class of mail or type of mail service bear the direct and indirect postal costs attributable to each class or type of mail service through reliably identified causal relationships plus that portion of all other costs of the Postal Service reasonably assignable to such class or type;
posted by chris24 at 7:56 AM on April 3, 2018 [48 favorites]


Sadly it seems very likely that the only (narrow) possibility of Alabama not electing a Republican senator in 2020 is for Doug Jones to be seen as very distinct from mainstream Democratic senators. He has the benefit of incumbency and little else.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:00 AM on April 3, 2018 [1 favorite]


Roy Moore could run again and win the primary again.
posted by cmfletcher at 8:02 AM on April 3, 2018 [12 favorites]


Cmfletcher, you go outside, turn around and spit.
posted by erisfree at 8:05 AM on April 3, 2018 [38 favorites]


Roy Moore could run again and win the primary again.

Alabama GOP: We somehow managed to lose to a Democrat in the most conservative state in the union. Takeaways: (1) Trump is not someone to hitch our wagon to. (2) Child molesters don't poll well. (3) We need to run someone who isn't actual human garbage in the general election.
Roy Moore: Hold my beer
Alabama GOP primary voters: LEEEEEEROY
posted by Mayor West at 8:29 AM on April 3, 2018 [17 favorites]


@kylegriffin1: .@PeteWilliamsNBC just reported on MSNBC that Alexander van der Zwaan has just been sentenced to 30 days in jail and a $20,000 fine for lying to Mueller's investigators. van der Zwaan is the first person to be sentenced in the Mueller probe.

Presumably van der Zwaan is cooperating to get that deal, though it's interesting to me that he was sentenced so soon, rather than holding it out while he cooperates for longer. Does that mean Mueller is done with him?
posted by zachlipton at 8:52 AM on April 3, 2018 [32 favorites]


My uneducated guess is that it is a signal flare. "Hey uncooperative suspects, jail time is coming. Last chance to cooperate."
posted by Twain Device at 8:56 AM on April 3, 2018 [12 favorites]


Hey it's barely been a double-digit number of hours before an incredibly damaging Scott Pruitt story, so obviously we're due for another one, and I know how we all feel about email stories around here. Daily Beast, Jay Michaelson, Scott Pruitt Lied to Congress About Using Private Email to Talk to Big Oil as Oklahoma Attorney General
A Feb. 17 investigation by Oklahoma City’s Fox 25 news station revealed that Pruitt used a private email account to coordinate strategy and talking points with fossil fuel companies to oppose environmental rules, among other things. And a subsequent review of more than 7,500 emails by the Associated Press showed that Pruitt used his private email to conduct official business, including communicating with staff and lobbyists.

That directly contradicts what Pruitt told Congress in January. In Pruitt’s pre-confirmation questionnaire, Senator Cory Booker asked, “Have you ever conducted business using your personal email accounts, nonofficial Oklahoma attorney general email accounts, text messages, instant messenger, voicemails, or any other medium?”

Pruitt’s responded: “I use only my official OAG [Office of the Attorney General] email address and government-issued phone to conduct official business.”

As we know now, that was untrue. (Pruitt’s EPA office did not respond to a request for comment.)
posted by zachlipton at 8:56 AM on April 3, 2018 [65 favorites]


Does that mean Mueller is done with him?

It means they don't need him for the next 30 days, so yeah, I expect that well is tapped and there's nothing left but testimony under oath in various upcoming trials -- which with all the wrongdoing, will be sometime in the next century.
posted by mikelieman at 8:57 AM on April 3, 2018 [1 favorite]


Does that mean Mueller is done with him?

I'm sure Mueller has a shoebox full of uncharged crimes he can wave under Alex's chin.
posted by rhizome at 9:01 AM on April 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


Pruitt is so bad I can't even put details on my radar of giving a shit. There is no Kremlinology that will explain it in terms other than "he's still there." What's next, a gold house? Surprised face.
posted by rhizome at 9:09 AM on April 3, 2018 [4 favorites]


Pruitt is so bad I can't even put details on my radar of giving a shit.

I just want him fined into oblivion and to spend a decade in prison, frankly
posted by Existential Dread at 9:12 AM on April 3, 2018 [35 favorites]


A Feb. 17 investigation by Oklahoma City’s Fox 25 news station revealed that Pruitt used a private email account to coordinate strategy and talking points with fossil fuel companies to oppose environmental rules, among other things.

FWIW, Oklahoma City's Fox 25 is a Sinclair station.
posted by Quonab at 9:14 AM on April 3, 2018 [7 favorites]


We knew about that when DiFi was busy confirming him. Or is there new news there?
posted by petebest at 9:20 AM on April 3, 2018


President Trump is acting unhinged because that’s all he can do (Daniel Drezner, WaPo)
Behavior like this puzzles most of the political class — including Trump’s own staff, based on the sources willing to talk to Costa and Rucker. The hard-working staff here at Spoiler Alerts offered a partial explanation for Trump’s behavior last month: Trump has said and done crazy things, and the world has not ended. Yet.

There is a more rational explanation for the president’s behavior, however, and it has nothing to do with staff turnover or any Axis of Adults: A politically weakened Trump has pivoted back to branding, because it is his only option before the midterm elections.

It is worth stressing just how little Trump is going to get from Congress between now and the midterms. As Paul Kane noted over at PowerPost, the omnibus spending bill was the last major action by Congress, and that was not exactly a policy triumph for Trump […]

Indeed, Trump’s empty threat to veto the omnibus, and the outrage from his base about the spending, suggest how powerless Trump must feel right now on policy issues. He is further beset with legal troubles including emoluments, women rebelling against NDAs and the special counsel.

This must be frustrating to a man who cannot comprehend the virtues of checks and balances or the rule of law. Despite the GOP controlling the House, Senate and Oval Office, the only major achievements Trump can claim are the tax bill and the Neil M. Gorsuch confirmation.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:29 AM on April 3, 2018 [21 favorites]


Apparently, according to multiple sources, both Trump personally and John Kelly separately, representing the White House, called Pruitt to tell him that the White House (& Trump) supported him and that there are 'no plans' to fire Pruitt.

There is no positive correlation between Trump telling a person he supports them, and the person keeping their job beyond a week or two. There may in fact be a negative correlation.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:39 AM on April 3, 2018 [16 favorites]


To be clear, no one in the actual investigation (e.g Mueller or the grand jury) have the power to sentence people, right? Just to charge them. My very limited understanding of plea deals is that prosecutors can add or drop charges, which have corresponding sentences if the defendant is found guilty) but they can't alter the time served by some direct action. Yes?
posted by InTheYear2017 at 9:41 AM on April 3, 2018


Force homeless people into institutions, Republican candidate for California governor says

This is a logical progression of Trump's post-Parkland "we gotta nab em' and lock em' up in institutions" rhetoric. Normalizing the idea of warehousing the "sick puppies" naturally leads to Mass Incarceration Creep, and it's not new:

Many black triangle prisoners were either mentally disabled or mentally ill. The homeless were also included, as were alcoholics, the habitually "work-shy", Roma and Sinti, prostitutes, and others (including draft dodgers and pacifists).
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:42 AM on April 3, 2018 [24 favorites]


My very limited understanding of plea deals is that prosecutors can add or drop charges, which have corresponding sentences if the defendant is found guilty) but they can't alter the time served by some direct action. Yes?

The judge is not bound by the plea deal, but they tend to be lenient if the prosecutors ask for leniency.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:43 AM on April 3, 2018 [4 favorites]


Plea deals sometimes involve direct negotiations on what the sentence will be, but even then the agreement must still be approved by a judge. Other times the agreement just sets a range and it's up the judge's discretion to select a sentence within that range.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:43 AM on April 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


@ewstephe: Trump on Scott Pruitt, according to the pool: "I hope he's going to be great."

So Pruitt is being recognized more and more? I don't think he has a clue who Pruitt is.

He rants about a wide variety of other topics too, including declaring "we are going to be guarding our border with our military" and "probably nobody's been tougher to Russia than Donald Trump."

This was followed by:
Another quick note: the White House has indicated this afternoon's press conference will feature one question from the media of each country, meaning there will only be one questioner selected from WH press today instead of the usual two.
Why even bother?
posted by zachlipton at 9:45 AM on April 3, 2018 [18 favorites]


Force homeless people into institutions, Republican candidate for California governor says

This is a logical progression of Trump's post-Parkland "we gotta nab em' and lock em' up in institutions" rhetoric. Normalizing the idea of warehousing the "sick puppies" naturally leads to Mass Incarceration Creep.


I feel compelled to point out that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine featured two 1995 episodes set in the 2020s on Earth that revolved around Sanctuary Districts. From Memory Alpha:
Internment in the Sanctuaries amounted to nothing less than imprisonment, as Sanctuary inhabitants were legally forbidden to leave "for their own protection". Sanctuaries also did not provide any meaningful job placement services so that people could find a way out. By 2024, with a bad economy and employment levels at record lows with no end in sight, residents rarely, if ever, obtained the employment opportunities they needed to leave the Sanctuaries, de facto guaranteeing that the "residents" of the Sanctuary Districts remained life-long inhabitants, detained without due process. These inhabitants were often derogatorily referred to as "gimmies" – as in "give me food, shelter, a job, etc." – even by Sanctuary case workers and employees.
When I've wished that Star Trek would come true, this is not the part of Star Trek that I had in mind.
posted by Servo5678 at 9:48 AM on April 3, 2018 [49 favorites]


The National Guard has been patrolling the border for many years. Not sure if Donald is talking about anything new or simply something that's new to him.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:48 AM on April 3, 2018 [7 favorites]


there will only be one questioner selected from WH press today instead of the usual two

My one question would be, "Special Counsel Mueller has now sent a person to jail and fined them twenty-thousand dollars. Do you still think his investigation is a Democratic hoax?"
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:51 AM on April 3, 2018 [9 favorites]


The National Guard has been patrolling the border for many years. Not sure if Donald is talking about anything new or simply something that's new to him.

Rightwing nutosphere is all hopped up about turning the border into a militarized zone to prevent the brown hordes from entering and destroying the country. Trump's whole rant about the North Korea - South Korea border being some kind of ideal is real. Not gonna link the crazy, but if you want a taste, go look at Charlie Kirk's Twitter. Call up troops, militarize the border, etc etc.
posted by chris24 at 10:00 AM on April 3, 2018 [1 favorite]


My theory is that the change is required in order to use the military budget to build the wall. The wall is the point, and the military is the only way he can get the money because no legislator will stand up for it.
posted by rhizome at 10:06 AM on April 3, 2018 [3 favorites]


Hey, it's been 15 minute, time for another Pruitt story. The woman who got the big raise? Pruitt had her go house hunting for him.
A top aide at the Environmental Protection Agency, who recently received a 33 percent raise from Administrator Scott Pruitt despite a lack of approval from the White House, helped shop for housing options for him and his wife last year, according to several individuals with knowledge of the matter.

Millan Hupp, 26, who serves as Pruitt’s director of scheduling and advance, contacted a local real estate firm last summer as the EPA chief was moving out of a $50-per-night rental condo owned by the wife of an energy and transportation lobbyist. Three individuals, including current and former EPA employees, said Hupp was the point person for Pruitt’s search.

Between July and September, Hupp corresponded with a real estate company and on some evenings and weekends went to view properties for rent or sale, according to two of the individuals. She typically used her private email but at times contacted the company during work hours. At other times, Pruitt himself viewed properties, the individuals said.

“This is not news,” EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said in a statement. “The notion that government resources were used to assist in finding housing is categorically false. Administrator Pruitt and his wife looked at numerous housing options.”

But Don Fox, the former acting director and general counsel of the Office of Government Ethics, said in an interview that federal officials are barred from enlisting one of their subordinates to do personal tasks for them, even if those take place during off hours.

“There’s a general prohibition against misusing government resources, and employees are government resources,” Fox said. “It’s clearly personal, and frankly, it doesn’t matter if she did it 11 a.m. on a Tuesday or at 2 p.m. on a Saturday if, in fact, that was an expectation of the job.”
posted by chris24 at 10:09 AM on April 3, 2018 [38 favorites]


As usual, it's just noise out of his mouth and shouldn't be considered as real policy, but Dara Lind makes a good point: "Tara is correct on all points here and note also that _when much of the flow is people coming to get apprehended and seek asylum, more people there to apprehend immigrants isn't a deterrent_"

Absent a change to current law or just outright ignoring it, as long as there's still some kind of asylum application process, the number of border guards is irrelevant when people are coming to "turn themselves in" and apply for protection.
posted by zachlipton at 10:10 AM on April 3, 2018 [12 favorites]


Loony Left Update: this photo of a tower of donated pizzas by North Texas DSA to striking Oklahoma teachers is warming my heart
posted by The Whelk at 10:22 AM on April 3, 2018 [59 favorites]


This tweet confuses me a little. It uses the word 'bourne,' and that '?)!' punctuation is pretty neat. But then it uses P.O. rather than USPS, and it's also oddly capitalized and, y'know, nonsense. Dictated, maybe?

It's just gibberish
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 10:23 AM on April 3, 2018 [4 favorites]


Of course, he frames it in a horrible dehumanizing way, but it's surprising and encouraging to me to hear a Republican candidate in CA at least proposing that mental health services would help the homeless in CA, even if he does propose some horrible additional stuff, too.

Save your good faith for those who have earned it. A Republican who wants to imprison people for being homeless has not earned it.

Omnitraitor Dana Rohrabacher has weighed in on the subject:

“The chickens are coming home to roost after almost a decade of Liberal/Left control of our state and federal government,” Rohrabacher wrote. “Those chickens have ended up in Orange County.” In the statement, Rohrabacher called “county financed homeless compounds” a “spectacle” and a “travesty.” “As a parent who owns a modest home in an Orange County neighborhood, I join the outrage that we are assuming responsibility for homeless people, taking care of their basic needs and elongating their agony by removing the necessity to make fundamental decisions about the way they live their lives,” he said. Providing them with “a place to stay and basic sustenance,” he added, “will not change them for the better and will encourage more such people to come to Orange County.”

So on the one hand we have the "put them in prison forever" camp (/nopun), and on the other side it's "they are akin to animals who should be allowed to die and be put out of their misery." Combine the two for a vision of the future.
posted by Rust Moranis at 10:28 AM on April 3, 2018 [43 favorites]


Splinter's Emma Roller infiltrated/volunteered at the White House Easter Egg Hunt: It was like Coachella for people who read mommy blogs.
posted by box at 10:33 AM on April 3, 2018 [31 favorites]


Republican congressman from FL. Tough reelection fight for him in a swing district probably driving it, but still...

@RepCurbelo
Major policy differences aside, @EPAScottPruitt‘s corruption scandals are an embarrassment to the Administration, and his conduct is grossly disrespectful to American taxpayers. It's time for him to resign or for @POTUS to dismiss him.
posted by chris24 at 11:04 AM on April 3, 2018 [27 favorites]


Key Trumpisms from Trump’s Tuesday Press Comments (Josh Marshall | TPM)
posted by Barack Spinoza at 11:28 AM on April 3, 2018 [4 favorites]


AP: DHS finds suspected phone spying in Washington

For the first time, the U.S. government has publicly acknowledged the existence in Washington of what appear to be rogue devices that foreign spies and criminals could be using to track individual cellphones and intercept calls and messages. The use of such cellphone-site simulators by foreign powers has long been a concern, but American intelligence and law enforcement agencies — which use such eavesdropping equipment themselves — have been silent on the issue until now. In a March 26 letter to Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged that last year it identified suspected unauthorized cell-site simulators in the nation’s capital. The agency said it had not determined the type of devices in use or who might have been operating them. Nor did it say how many it detected or where.

So I guess the nation's capital is essentially an international free-for-all panopticonfest. OK.
posted by Rust Moranis at 11:28 AM on April 3, 2018 [26 favorites]


What would possibly make you think such cell tower simulators would only be installed in DC?
posted by Mitheral at 11:36 AM on April 3, 2018 [8 favorites]


From that key Trumpisms link: We’ve helped rebuild China. So we intend to get along with China, but we have to do something very substantial.”
Any idea what the fuck he's talking about? Is it possible he doesn't know the difference between China and Japan?
posted by neroli at 11:38 AM on April 3, 2018 [35 favorites]


It could be anything from "Trump has no idea what happened in World War II" to "Trump considers everything outside the U.S. to be a poverty-ridden hellhole by nature, with the livable parts having been uplifted thanks to American generosity-slash-gullibility (because we didn't get paid enough)." Which come to think of it would probably trace back to a gross misunderstanding of the Marshall Plan.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:43 AM on April 3, 2018 [12 favorites]


Trump's whole rant about the North Korea - South Korea border being some kind of ideal is real.

does this vision include several million pounds of mexican artillery pointed at El Paso
posted by murphy slaw at 11:45 AM on April 3, 2018 [6 favorites]


neroli: "From that key Trumpisms link: We’ve helped rebuild China. So we intend to get along with China, but we have to do something very substantial.”
Any idea what the fuck he's talking about? Is it possible he doesn't know the difference between China and Japan?
"

Forget it, he's rolling.
posted by octothorpe at 11:56 AM on April 3, 2018 [10 favorites]


What would possibly make you think such cell tower simulators would only be installed in DC?

Because they're probably not worth the effort to maintain them outside of DC and New York, nor the risk. And there's no need to take this farther than the evidence supports. Whatever hypothetical enemy this is, is probably only interested in international issues, and if they did want information out of state or regional govts, we've already seen that they don't practice good data security at that level. It's not necessary to bring in physical infrastructure to hack them.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 11:56 AM on April 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


@AnandWrites (Anand Giridharadas)
An American president is pledging to use the military to enforce our domestic laws. This may violate the Posse Comitatus Act. More important, the declaration carries the noxious whiff of military rule.
- The president is combining three notions that are incredibly dangerous when braided:
1. A false sense of chaos.
2. The claim that the faux-chaos creates special circumstances that justify emergency action.
3. The use of the military he commands to prosecute that action.
- There is no indication of how he will go about this policy, and we are certainly far from military rule. But the rhetorical structure of today's announcement is very dangerous. Perhaps the first time the president has suggested using the military to solve a domestic problem.
- Given Trump's brazenness and disrespect for the rule of law, we should be especially alarmed about anything that sounds like a claim of emergency. Problems that are too urgent to await rule-of-law solutions. These are the tremors that must trigger our early-warning systems.
- Look closely at the structure of this: "Until we can have a wall and proper security, we’re going to be guarding our border with the military."
- The "until" is doing a lot of work here. The rather manageable present is being re-written as anarchy. This creates the opening for what we might not otherwise brook. This justifies the military solving what in normal times Congress would.
- This isn't the usual Trump: stupidity, callousness, vengefulness, impulsivity. This is how authoritarianism is built. It may not happen here, but this is how it would happen here if it was going to.
posted by chris24 at 11:58 AM on April 3, 2018 [113 favorites]


I think you have to admit the chaos is real.
posted by MtDewd at 12:02 PM on April 3, 2018 [4 favorites]


Key Trumpisms from Trump’s Tuesday Press Comments (Josh Marshall | TPM)

Not on the list...

@ZekeJMiller
Trump says he told Saudi: If you want us to stay [in Syria], maybe you’re going to have to pay

---

So the U.S military are Saudi mercenaries now? Good to know he'll put American kids at risk for money.
posted by chris24 at 12:04 PM on April 3, 2018 [48 favorites]


Perhaps the first time the president has suggested using the military to solve a domestic problem.

Or, perhaps not. But I agree with the main point of the comment.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 12:05 PM on April 3, 2018 [5 favorites]


- The president is combining three notions that are incredibly dangerous when braided:
1. A false sense of chaos.
2. The claim that the faux-chaos creates special circumstances that justify emergency action.
3. The use of the military he commands to prosecute that action.

Remember that he hasn't yet had a non-self-created crisis. The crank on the box continues to turn and at some point Jack's going to pop out; that's when it'll stop being rehearsal.
posted by Rust Moranis at 12:07 PM on April 3, 2018 [25 favorites]


Everyone just gave him Puerto Rico as a freebie.
posted by Artw at 12:08 PM on April 3, 2018 [80 favorites]


Yeah it’s hard to imagine a president fucking up worse than Bush did with Katrina, but 45 managed it less than a year in. And that first hurricane season you have to imagine there was still some inertial institutional competence held over from the Obama administration. And Puerto Rico is still fucked!

Next disaster is, somehow, going to be even worse.
posted by schadenfrau at 12:14 PM on April 3, 2018 [16 favorites]


this wall thing just blows my mind. 2/3rds immigrants without legal status crossed the border legally and then overstayed their visa.

it feels like trump ran on "education in america isn't going to get any better until we build a 300 foot tall TOWER OF BOILED HAM in POUGHKEEPSIE" and he got elected and every time someone says anything about education he tweets out "HAM TOWER!" and congress gave him enough money in the budget to buy about a five foot heap of boiled ham and now he's threatening to put an armed Marine in every classroom until he can figure out how to use defense appropriations to build the ham tower and the press just blandly says "today the president repeated his demand for a ham tower" instead of pointing out how it's stupid and impossible
posted by murphy slaw at 12:17 PM on April 3, 2018 [146 favorites]


Trump says he told Saudi: If you want us to stay [in Syria], maybe you’re going to have to pay

Cuz, three weeks ago the story was different. LOL. It was pay us billions to leave Syria. Money, money, money.
posted by rc3spencer at 12:19 PM on April 3, 2018 [3 favorites]


Yeah it’s hard to imagine a president fucking up worse than Bush did with Katrina, but 45 managed it less than a year in.

9/11 was less than a year into Bush's first term.
posted by rhizome at 12:19 PM on April 3, 2018 [17 favorites]


(content warning) Some graffiti appears in Alabama depicting Trump with a gun and dead schoolchildren. People are upset. Though I thought the inclusion of thrown paper towels was apt.
posted by emjaybee at 12:24 PM on April 3, 2018 [32 favorites]


Everyone just gave him Puerto Rico as a freebie.

From Axios this afternoon...

Death toll from Hurricane Maria severely underreported due to data shortfall
The lack of proper scientific data collection in Puerto Rico during and after Hurricane Maria hit the island last September has resulted in the death toll being severely underreported — the real number is closer to 1,085 than the government's estimate of 64 — essentially limiting necessary financial and other aid resources, according to research published in Health Affairs Monday. [...]

By the numbers: Several organizations have attempted to tabulate deaths from Hurricane Maria, which hit the island Sept. 20, 2017.
  • Santos, who estimates the death toll to be closer to 1,085, says most of the excess deaths were in older age groups — nursing homes showed a 45% increase of deaths in 2017 compared to 2016 and ERs experienced a 41% increase.
  • Mario Marazzi, executive director of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics (PRIS) — an independent agency that may soon be dismantled by the government — says he agrees the death toll in the three months following the hurricane reached more than 1,000 people.
  • The New York Times conducted its own research and estimates that 1,052 more people than usual died across the island in the 42 days after Maria struck.
  • The government's official tally remains at 64 people, but there has been growing criticism that this number is very low. They announced Feb. 22 that it has enlisted George Washington Universiy to review its estimate.
posted by chris24 at 12:33 PM on April 3, 2018 [41 favorites]


What would possibly make you think such cell tower simulators would only be installed in DC?

Because they're probably not worth the effort to maintain them outside of DC and New York, nor the risk.


Cell-site simulators (stingrays) are small and cheap. American police departments have been caught using them to track persons of interest without warrants. No installation or "infrastructure" required.
posted by SPrintF at 12:39 PM on April 3, 2018 [16 favorites]


Curbelo's statement was noted earlier; Ros-Lehtinen's is new.

Ros-Lehtinen is retiring, fwiw.
posted by Chrysostom at 12:40 PM on April 3, 2018 [8 favorites]


That is pretty great graffiti, IHMO. In unrelated news, a Swedish reporter interviewed Steve Bannon in New York in March and discovered that Bannon plans to spend lots of time in Europe in May and June and will visit Sweden because he is apparently a fan of the right-wing-pretending-not-to-be-Nazi party that has grown fast in recent years. In the Dagens Nyheter (both in Swedish and behind a paywall) article Bannon still sounds worried about the Time's Up movement and its threat to the patriarchy. Let us hope he's right about that part. Amusingly, the DN reporter, Björn af Kleen, ran into Michael Wolff of "Fire and Fury" fame. Wolff was on his way to meet with Bannon after af Kleen's time was over.
posted by Bella Donna at 12:43 PM on April 3, 2018 [8 favorites]


Speaking from Puerto Rico, the one thousand figure is close to the truth. My (medical) students have been around the island both in official capacities (rotations, other activities) and they described much more deaths.
Maybe they should talk to the funeral home businesses for the increased numbers they saw.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 12:53 PM on April 3, 2018 [47 favorites]


neroli: Any idea what the fuck he's talking about? Is it possible he doesn't know the difference between China and Japan?

I suspect that for Trump, "rebuild" has become an empty applause-line filler like "beautiful", and he's not talking about actual nation-rebuilding at all. He'd have picked up the habit when describing the military (which, of course, has not experienced anything that could be called "rebuilding" for a very long time), and now he applied it to China.

When that one reporter mentioned Scott Pruitt and Trump momentarily couldn't remember who it was (yeah, that's my sincere guess about the matter), he fell back on another standard, "He'll do a great job" (since from Trump's point of view there was a decent chance "Pruitt" was a new hire). Saying "we did/are/will rebuild it" is his variant when talking about things instead of people. For anyone curious, the president also has a great relationship with both Scott and China, and in the future, believe me, in the future we're going to do wonderful things, oh boy.

murphy slaw: it feels like trump ran on "education in america isn't going to get any better until we build a 300 foot tall TOWER OF BOILED HAM in POUGHKEEPSIE"

or as one Twitterer put it: we're having a national debate over, basically, whether to breed a giant mouse that can eat the moon
posted by InTheYear2017 at 1:01 PM on April 3, 2018 [17 favorites]


Mod note: Couple comments deleted; sorry, this isn't a post for just all breaking news about everything, and it isn't a place where we want folks to be just rebroadcasting twitter.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 1:17 PM on April 3, 2018 [11 favorites]


CNN, How EPA's Scott Pruitt avoided tough questions on Tuesday
The New York Times reported that there was pushback from some Chevy dealers who didn't want to see the brand tied to the Trump administration's announcement.

The event was subsequently moved to EPA headquarters, but with limited press access. A CNN journalist in the building was not allowed into the room for the event.

EPA had attempted to allow television camera access to Fox News without informing the other four networks: CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS. Fox alerted the networks and a pool was established allowing networks equal access to the event.
When Fox News has higher ethical standards than a government agency, something is seriously wrong.
posted by zachlipton at 1:25 PM on April 3, 2018 [99 favorites]


I just voted in WI. I live in one of the reddest counties in WI. There were a handful of people at the polling location. Right now is prime old-person voting time, and there's a retirement community within a couple of blocks of the polls. There were only a handful of non-poll workers there, though, and they were all socializing. I was the only person to actually vote while I was there. The weather is misty and hovering around freezing, so that may be keeping people home.
posted by tllaya at 1:28 PM on April 3, 2018 [10 favorites]


@AnandWrites (Anand Giridharadas)
An American president is pledging to use the military to enforce our domestic laws. This may violate the Posse Comitatus Act. More important, the declaration carries the noxious whiff of military rule.


I was on a panel at a sci-fi/fantasy convention this weekend talking about exactly this kind of thing. Everyone else on the panel was a career military officer type. We all nodded and hrm-hrmed about posse comitatus and how using the military for domestic law-enforcement ops was dangerous and unwise and impractical for a bazillion reasons and all the legal and practical barriers to it. How it only happens for straight-up disasters like hurricanes and even then only under lots of approvals and constraints and only certain not-built-to-shoot-anyone units.

I was there as a writer-type, but everyone else was a no-shit career person. Bunch of men and women all talking about that being impractical and dumb and what kind of crazy scenario you need to justify that in a sci-fi/fantasy tale because reality doesn't work that way.

That panel was Friday. Now here we are. Christ.

It's because I said TTTCS doesn't work, isn't it?
posted by scaryblackdeath at 1:33 PM on April 3, 2018 [27 favorites]


In addition to local races, Wisconsin today has a critical Supreme Court race, as well as a ballot question on eliminating the position of state treasurer, which seems to be a Trojan Horse for some GOP skulduggery.

If you are in WI, please make sure your friends get out and vote!
posted by Chrysostom at 1:36 PM on April 3, 2018 [28 favorites]


EPA had attempted to allow television camera access to Fox News without informing the other four networks: CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS. Fox alerted the networks and a pool was established allowing networks equal access to the event.

When Fox News has higher ethical standards than a government agency, something is seriously wrong.


It likely wasn't a management-level decision to alert the other networks. I'd guess a camera operator or audio tech tipped off some friends working for the competition.
posted by rocket88 at 1:39 PM on April 3, 2018 [14 favorites]


Fox has the most to lose and is the closest to the edge, so if they want anybody to ever grab their collar as they fall, they'll pay it forward now.
posted by rhizome at 2:01 PM on April 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


WaPo Breaking: Trump administration targets Chinese electronics, aerospace and machinery goods with $50 billion in tariffs

Politico has more details, and a link to the (long) list.
posted by box at 2:35 PM on April 3, 2018 [4 favorites]


So I guess we get that trade war.
posted by Talez at 2:35 PM on April 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


Don’t worry, they’re easy to win.
posted by The Card Cheat at 2:46 PM on April 3, 2018 [8 favorites]


The article that Bella Donna linked to upthread is really worth reading. Is there a translation somewhere, Bella Donna? It's as if Bannon is more direct when its for a foreign media.
posted by mumimor at 2:51 PM on April 3, 2018 [1 favorite]


I think it might have been Obama who used the analogy of turning a large boat in the water to describe the slowness of government to respond? As in, the effort and time it would take for progress to be made. I'm learning kayaking at the moment so that analogy is on my mind.

Another way our society is like a boat is that it can clearly take on a great deal of stress without sinking. And also sinking ships can be repaired.

But another way a society can be like a ship is that if it is injured sufficiently, it quickly sinks.

The combination of Bolton plus this Sinclair news bullshit plus I guess the idea I've seen floated that Democratic candidates will need to be generally up plus eleven to take the House, well, the SO and I are finally getting our passport shit together because man. Sometimes the ship can only take so much.
posted by angrycat at 2:53 PM on April 3, 2018 [4 favorites]


I'm not going to tell you not to worry about things, but I will say that the hypothesis that the Dems need to be +11 to take the House is pretty controversial.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:56 PM on April 3, 2018 [11 favorites]


Infrastructure Week don't care who gets in the way. It'll take down the whole damn thing.

@MalShelbourne (The Hill)
NEWS: DJ Gribbin, White House infrastructure policy advisor is leaving, WH official confirms to me
posted by chris24 at 2:58 PM on April 3, 2018 [26 favorites]


I'm not going to tell you not to worry about things, but I will say that the hypothesis that the Dems need to be +11 to take the House is pretty controversial.

That's true, but the non-controversial hypothesis that they need roughly +7 isn't particularly reassuring.
posted by Justinian at 2:59 PM on April 3, 2018 [7 favorites]


That feeling when you have to resign because you posted on Facebook in support of the conspiracy theory that your boss invented.

Trump appointee at Defense Department resigns after CNN reveals birther postings
posted by Rust Moranis at 3:08 PM on April 3, 2018 [56 favorites]


Infrastructure Week don't care who gets in the way. It'll take down the whole damn thing.

I'm losing touch with reality. I truly don't know if this week is actually another Infrastructure Week. I'm 90% sure it's a running joke, but then I see some conservative commentators on Twitter talking about it seriously.
posted by diogenes at 3:09 PM on April 3, 2018 [20 favorites]


"We have always been at war with Infrastructure Week..."
posted by mosk at 3:10 PM on April 3, 2018 [46 favorites]


I'm losing touch with reality. I truly don't know if this week is actually another Infrastructure Week. I'm 90% sure it's a running joke, but then I see some conservative commentators on Twitter talking about it seriously.
It doesn't help that it's the first week of April..
posted by Nerd of the North at 3:17 PM on April 3, 2018 [1 favorite]


Trump did make some infrastructure proclamation last week, but yes, Infrastructure Week is just the f̶r̶i̶e̶n̶d̶s̶ running gag we made along the way.

He's had three of them, never produced a real infrastructure plan, and each week turned into a shitshow of epic proportions with progressively worse things happening to his presidency. Frankly I'm surprised he didn't fire the infrastructure dude for being bad luck.
posted by chris24 at 3:21 PM on April 3, 2018 [13 favorites]


Also.. regarding that "Trump appointee at Defense Department resigns after CNN reveals birther postings" link above.. I get that "Trump appointee resigns over birther postings" is a more ironic headline but probably the bigger issue here should be "Department of Defense official resigns after history of bigoted anti-Islam social media postings is revealed." Birther stuff is clearly related, but the religious bigotry revealed should be the primary disqualifier.
posted by Nerd of the North at 3:22 PM on April 3, 2018 [26 favorites]


I think it might have been Obama who used the analogy of turning a large boat in the water to describe the slowness of government to respond? As in, the effort and time it would take for progress to be made. I'm learning kayaking at the moment so that analogy is on my mind.

I don't know how often he used that metaphor but one place was during his Marc Maron WTF interview.

"Sometimes the task of the government is to make incremental improvements or try to steer the Ocean liner two degrees North or South so that 10 years from now, we're in a very different place than we were. But, at the moment people may feel like we need a 50-degree turn. We don't need a two degree turn. You say 'well, if I turn 50 degrees, the whole ship turns. And you can't turn 50 degrees."
posted by ActingTheGoat at 3:28 PM on April 3, 2018 [7 favorites]


The turning a ship metaphor is not really a very good one. Progressive change can happen in incremental steps (gay marriage, medical/recreation marijuana) but the biggest changes have happened very quickly. The entire New Deal was passed basically in two two year stages, 1933-34 and 37-38. The Civil Rights era and Great Society through even Nixon's good things like the EPA was all within a 6 year span from 1964 - 1970.

Democrats have to be ready to take advantage of small windows of power and act DECISIVELY with a shit load of planned, tested, well crafted legislation, passed without ANY concern for Republican bad faith objections. Obama shouldn't have tried to turn the ship, it needed to be remodeled from the ground up in 100 days. The same thing will have to happen after Trump, only times 50 or times 100. Democrats can't afford to squander another supermajority and come away with only RomneyCare and some weaksauce Wall Street reforms that they immediately start undermining.
posted by T.D. Strange at 3:37 PM on April 3, 2018 [84 favorites]


If I ran China, my next act would be to pay the tariffs by selling the US Bonds that my country held.

But, you know.. no one will notice a tariff on TV's. MAGA.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 3:43 PM on April 3, 2018 [9 favorites]


But passing isn’t the same as implementing. ACA passed, but then the GOP spent the rest of Obama’s tenure hamstringing it as much as they could. And even though it is still law, the Trump administration has made it very difficult to sign up and has refused to honor existing contracts and budgets. And heck, it goes the other way—Trump wants a wall and yet there still is no wall or anything like a wall. Most of Trump’s announcements and policies and EOs go nowhere, or are implemented and then reversed once someone pipes up about how much damage they’ll cause.

That’s what is meant by turning the ship. Saying you want something to happen and even signing it into law doesn’t mean it’s gonna happen. Especially now that just flatly ignoring the law is becoming normalized. But...we could do that too. Trump passes something shitty and Democrats and the federal bureaucracy (and better, state bureaucracies) just doesn’t do it. What’s he gonna do, sic Jeff Sessions on every single state AG and governor? Cut off federal funding? K, then we don’t pay taxes.
posted by Autumnheart at 4:19 PM on April 3, 2018 [3 favorites]


Yea, it would also help to not phase in all the benefits of Democratic policies in 4-10years time. Pass popular things that help people. Then do it. Immediately. Don't give the Republicans the opportunity to fuck everything up, then retake power and fuck it up more.

Do big things that lots of people like that improve people's actual lives. And take credit for it. Then don't apologize that Republicans are mad about it, tell them to fuck themselves instead and point to all the good things you did again. It's not actually as hard as Obama and the smallest minded supermajority in history made it.
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:28 PM on April 3, 2018 [43 favorites]


WaPo: A new study suggests fake news might have won Donald Trump the 2016 election
The study from researchers at Ohio State University finds that fake news probably played a significant role in depressing Hillary Clinton's support on Election Day. The study, which has not been peer-reviewed but which may be the first look at how fake news affected voter choices, suggests that about 4 percent of President Barack Obama's 2012 supporters were dissuaded from voting for Clinton in 2016 by belief in fake news stories. [...]

This alone does not prove that fake news made a difference, of course. A recent Princeton-led study of fake news consumption during the 2016 campaign found that false articles made up 2.6 percent of all hard-news articles late in the 2016 campaign, with the stories most often reaching intense partisans who probably were not persuadable. And it wouldn't be surprising if Obama voters who weren't reliable Democratic supporters were more apt to believe fake news stories that affirmed their decision not to vote for Clinton.

So the researchers sought to control for other factors such as gender, race, age, education, political leaning and even personal feelings about Clinton and Trump using multiple regression analysis, a method to measure the relative impact of multiple independent variables. According to the researchers, all of these factors combined to explain 38 percent of the defection of Obama voters from Clinton, but belief in fake news explained an additional 11 percent.

For those defecting from Clinton, believing fake news had a greater effect than anything except being a Republican or personally disliking Clinton. Obama voters who believed one of these fake news stories “were 3.9 times more likely to defect from the Democratic ticket in 2016 than those who believed none of these false claims, after taking into account all of these other factors,” the researchers write.

“We cannot prove that belief in fake news caused these former Obama voters to defect from the Democratic candidate in 2016,” they write. “These data strongly suggest, however, that exposure to fake news did have a significant impact on voting decisions.” [...]

Exactly how that translates into raw votes and whether it swung the election is the big question — and the one that seems to preoccupy Trump. It's difficult to know how fake news played specifically in the three states that delivered him the presidency: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. But the fact that Clinton lost each of these divisive states by less than one percentage point means that even a slight impact by Russia and/or fake news — or even then-FBI Director James B. Comey's announcement about Clinton's emails or some other factor — could logically have changed the result.

But we can use this study to glean clues and even rerun a hypothetical 2016 election. The Washington Post's polling director, Scott Clement, ran a predictive probability analysis using the OSU team's data and compared the existing 2016 election to a hypothetical election in which these fake news stories didn't exist. The result: Clinton lost 4.2 percent more of Obama's votes in the race with fake news vs. the hypothetical race without it.

If we multiply that 4.2 percent drop-off by Obama's 2012 vote share in the three key states that delivered the presidency to Trump, it suggests that fake news cost Clinton about 2.2 or 2.3 points apiece in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. And Clinton lost Michigan by just 0.2 points and Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by 0.72 and 0.76 points, respectively.
posted by chris24 at 4:29 PM on April 3, 2018 [35 favorites]


does this vision include several million pounds of mexican artillery pointed at El Paso

What do you think's launching the heavy bags of drugs that keep hitting our kids?
posted by acb at 4:31 PM on April 3, 2018 [4 favorites]


Encino v. Navarro guts overtime for service advisors.

So SCOTUS /w Gorsuch is looking to gut the FLSA however it can. RBG is pissed in her dissent:
“[t]he conservative majority is undermining worker protections from the 1930s … ‘without even acknowledging that it unsettles more than half a century of our precedent.’”
Elections. Matter.
posted by Talez at 4:45 PM on April 3, 2018 [68 favorites]


believing fake news had a greater effect than anything except being a Republican or personally disliking Clinton. centuries of sexism.

ftfy, WaPo.
posted by Dashy at 4:47 PM on April 3, 2018 [10 favorites]


That grafitti seems like it's totally being misinterpreted in the linked article. Trump is holding a gun, saying money, and throwing paper towels. I don't these it's suggesting he shot anyone, just that he's using his go-to response for victims he can't relate to. Seems to be based on this political cartoon (same content warning)
posted by mabelstreet at 4:58 PM on April 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


On the ground Wisconsin election update! My neighborhood team has knocked almost 2000 doors over the past few weekends, and have knocked through almost our entire area. We still have 4 or five turfs out for a final GOTV push, along with phone banking. My wife has been running canvasses for progressive candidates in another part of the county.

The state party has been amazingly supportive, and have paid staff on the ground all over the state who are going be be here through November- and they are planning on hiring a whole bunch more. I don’t know if we are going to win, but it won’t be for lack of trying!
posted by rockindata at 5:01 PM on April 3, 2018 [58 favorites]


WaPo, Leonnig/Costa, Mueller told Trump’s attorneys the president remains under investigation but is not currently a criminal target
Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III informed President Trump’s attorneys last month that he is continuing to investigate the president but does not consider him a criminal target at this point, according to three people familiar with the discussions.

In private negotiations in early March about a possible presidential interview, Mueller described Trump as a subject of his investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. Prosecutors view someone as a subject when that person has engaged in conduct that is under investigation but there is not sufficient evidence to bring charges.

The special counsel also told Trump’s lawyers that he is preparing a report about the president’s actions while in office and potential obstruction of justice, according to two people with knowledge of the conversations.

Mueller reiterated the need to interview Trump — both to understand whether he had any corrupt intent to thwart the Russia investigation and to complete this portion of his probe, the people said.

Mueller’s description of the president’s status has sparked friction within Trump’s inner circle as his advisers have debated his legal standing. The president and some of his allies seized on the special counsel’s words as an assurance that Trump’s risk of criminal jeopardy is low. Other advisers, however, noted that subjects of investigations can easily become indicted targets — and expressed concern that the special prosecutor was baiting Trump into an interview that could put the president in greater legal peril.
...
Under Justice Department guidelines, a subject of an investigation is a person whose conduct falls within the scope of a grand jury’s investigation. A target is a person for which there is substantial evidence linking him or her to a crime.
posted by zachlipton at 5:08 PM on April 3, 2018 [11 favorites]


Huh. Maybe we were wrong to put our faith in the Republican federal cop.
posted by schmod at 5:13 PM on April 3, 2018 [9 favorites]


@renato_mariotti
THREAD: What does today’s news that Trump is a “subject” of Mueller’s investigation but not a “target” mean? (Short answer: Not as much as it seems at first glance.)
1/ Today the @washingtonpost reported that Mueller told Trump’s attorneys that he is a “subject” but not a “target” of his investigation.
2/ You are a “subject” of a federal investigation when your conduct is part of the government’s investigation. So if the government is investigating what you did, you are a “subject.” It’s what people commonly refer to as being “under investigation.”
3/ A “target” of an investigation is someone for whom the prosecutor has substantial evidence linking him or her to a crime and is a “putative defendant.” In other words, is someone the prosecutor intends to charge.
4/ As a practical matter, federal prosecutors typically don’t decide until late in an investigation whether they will charge a person who is under investigation. Usually prosecutors don’t make that judgement until they’ve interviewed witnesses and reviewed the relevant documents.
5/ For that reason, defense attorneys typically complain that a “non-target letter” isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. As a practical matter, if your client is a “subject,” a statement that the prosecutor doesn’t intend to indict you at this time doesn’t mean much.
6/ The prosecutor can just continue to collect evidence and make the decision to indict at a later time. That’s why any good federal criminal defense attorney knows that what really matters most is whether your client is a subject.
posted by chris24 at 5:19 PM on April 3, 2018 [65 favorites]


If there's anything the last two years have taught us, I would hope, it's that things can surprise us, so maybe not make any judgments mid-stream.
posted by Chrysostom at 5:20 PM on April 3, 2018 [18 favorites]


Huh. Maybe we were wrong to put our faith in the Republican federal cop.

I suppose that depends on whether you think Mueller's job is to "get Trump" or to follow the evidence he can obtain. To call Trump a "target" would mean he is going to be charged imminently.
posted by Justinian at 5:20 PM on April 3, 2018 [23 favorites]


he conservative majority is undermining worker protections from the 1930s … ‘without even acknowledging that it unsettles more than half a century of our precedent.’

This feels important. I could be wrong, but she's getting dangerously close to calling them Republicans, when they're all supposed to pretend they're nonpartisan servants of Justice. By SCOTUS standards, this is spitting fire.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 5:22 PM on April 3, 2018 [19 favorites]


Another possibility...

@nycsouthpaw
It strikes me that if Mueller has decided--either as a prudential matter or on constitutional grounds--that he will not be indicting a sitting president, that would mean the president will never be a "target" as defined in the US Attorneys' Manual so long as he remains in office.
- Here's the pertinent section of the USAM. If the President isn't a "putative defendant" in Mueller's judgment while he's in office, then he's never going to be a "target." https://www.justice.gov/usam/usam-9-11000-grand-jury
SCREENSHOT
posted by chris24 at 5:23 PM on April 3, 2018 [4 favorites]


It's interesting because the story says Mueller "is preparing a report about the president’s actions while in office and potential obstruction of justice." Trump may be pleased with the idea he's not a "target," but if a federal prosecutor is preparing a report about what you did and potential crimes associated with your actions, that's not, you know, good.

I also think there's a decent chance Mueller could view it as his role to put out a report about what Trump did and leave it to Congress to decide whether that warrants impeachment.
posted by zachlipton at 5:25 PM on April 3, 2018 [26 favorites]


I also think there's a decent chance Mueller could view it as his role to put out a report about what Trump did and leave it to Congress to decide whether that warrants impeachment.

That's always been my best "reasonable" hope for what comes out of this (plus a bunch of underling indictments). The only actual remedy a DOJ prosecutor has against a sitting president is to get him impeached anyway, and by all reports Mueller is a pragmatic operator.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 5:28 PM on April 3, 2018 [3 favorites]


Does Mueller think he'll be allowed to continue his Russia investigation if he comes out with a damning report on Obstruction saying that Trump is guilty as hell? Won't Trump just fire him at that point? Sure that sounds insane to fire the guy investigating your campaign after he just said you've been obstructing justice since that would be even more obstruction of justice but... Trump.
posted by Justinian at 5:29 PM on April 3, 2018


I also think there's a decent chance Mueller could view it as his role to put out a report about what Trump did and leave it to Congress to decide whether that warrants impeachment.

Yep.

@nycsouthpaw
If I'm right about that, Mueller would be looking to first refer any evidence related to Trump's criminal conduct to Congress for consideration of impeachment. And look, here's your report [to the Congress]...
"The special counsel also told Trump’s lawyers that he is preparing a report about the president’s actions while in office and potential obstruction of justice, according to two people with knowledge of the conversations."
posted by chris24 at 5:29 PM on April 3, 2018 [7 favorites]


Does Mueller think he'll be allowed to continue his Russia investigation if he comes out with a damning report on Obstruction saying that Trump is guilty as hell? Won't Trump just fire him at that point? Sure that sounds insane to fire the guy investigating your campaign after he just said you've been obstructing justice since that would be even more obstruction of justice but... Trump.

The report would come at the conclusion of his investigation.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 5:31 PM on April 3, 2018


Jeffrey Toobin on CNN, who I think has been one of the most reasonable and intelligent legal talking heads, summed up the "subject" vs "target" distinction as "subject" being somewhere in the middle between being a witness and being a target (which means about to be charged) but importantly says that he doesn't view that as being particularly good news for Trump. Because one can go from subject to target pretty much instantly.

Which is about where I come down. I don't think this news is surprising and I don't think it adds much to our understanding unless one is a crazy Taylor/Menschite who was under the impression that Trump had a sealed indictment against him.
posted by Justinian at 5:33 PM on April 3, 2018 [15 favorites]


The report would come at the conclusion of his investigation.

That's what I thought but some of what I'm reading seems like it is saying that Mueller will be preparing the report on Obstruction in the coming weeks. As in, before the midterms. And we know the overall investigation will not be finished by then.
posted by Justinian at 5:34 PM on April 3, 2018


The words "not currently" and "at this point" are carrying a lot of weight there. Muller probably knows full well that he could charge Trump with, and I suspect he's curious as to what else Trump will simply give him.
posted by Gelatin at 5:35 PM on April 3, 2018 [7 favorites]


Daily Beast: Prominent neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer might have to reveal its funding, thanks to a new court filing in a lawsuit against the website’s founder, Andrew Anglin.

Naming and exposing all the Hatreon funders would be a nice precedent to discourage future donors.
posted by Rust Moranis at 5:36 PM on April 3, 2018 [60 favorites]


I would also think that, as volatile as Trump is, especially when he feels threatened, that Mueller would make absolutely sure that his evidence is ironclad before declaring that Trump is officially a target, to give him as little opportunity to respond with harm and chaos as possible.
posted by Autumnheart at 5:37 PM on April 3, 2018 [10 favorites]


ELECTION RESULT

Dem HOLD in Rhode Island Senate 8th:
Cano [D] 72.9%
Luciano [R] 27.1%
Margin changes compared to previous races:

vs 2016 presidential result margin: Dem improvement of about 15 points.
vs 2012 SD-08 result margin: Dem underperformance of about 5 points. (seat was uncontested in 2014 and 2016)

Dem lead in the Rhode Island Senate is extended to 33-4 (1 vacancy).
posted by Chrysostom at 5:40 PM on April 3, 2018 [26 favorites]


If you swing at a king, you'd better kill him.

Mueller hasn't held leaks under control and come this far in pursuit of this ship of fools only to tip his hand unnecessarily now. Breathe.
posted by delfin at 5:41 PM on April 3, 2018 [41 favorites]


Being the subject of an investigation is pretty bad. Being the President of the United States and being the subject of an investigation that you keep saying is a hoax is really fucking bad.
posted by gucci mane at 5:42 PM on April 3, 2018 [36 favorites]


The segments on this story on both CNN and MSNBC were pretty good. The takeaway was, I think, provided by Frank Mumblemumble on MSNBC. He summed everything up by saying that a good attorney for Trump would come away from this report not thinking "oh good, the President isn't the target of an investigation" but rather "oh my, the President is a subject of an investigation."
posted by Justinian at 5:44 PM on April 3, 2018 [12 favorites]


Yeah despite the Post's "not a target" framing, it actually seems like a really big deal to have confirmation that Trump, personally, not his administration but the guy himself, is the subject of a criminal investigation.
posted by zachlipton at 5:47 PM on April 3, 2018 [31 favorites]


Mueller hasn't held leaks under control and come this far in pursuit of this ship of fools only to tip his hand unnecessarily now. Breathe.

Yeah, this leak didn't come from Mueller. So it's from Trump's attorneys and probably as favorable as it can be framed. And it's still bad news for Trump.

Why'd they leak it? With this framing I think it's to do the same thing Ty Cobb has been doing for months; convince Trump that it's winding down and he's almost in the clear.
posted by chris24 at 5:51 PM on April 3, 2018 [45 favorites]


I mean, am I the only one who sees the "Muller releases a report that is damning of Trump but leaving the actual next/punitive move to Congress" timeline leading us to lots of handwringing, perhaps the formation of an investigative panel chaired by a Republican stalwart, and a subsequent report that things are, while troubling, simply too complicated to act on.

Is that when we march? Because, honestly, that's one of the darkest timelines I can imagine here if things truly are revealed to be as bad as many of us suspect via Muller's (seemingly) plodding and deep investigation in the face of Tweet Mahyem on a daily basis.

...Not with a bang but with a whimper, and all that.
posted by RolandOfEld at 5:56 PM on April 3, 2018 [9 favorites]


Encino v. Navarro guts overtime for service advisors.

Once government is rational again, add "Update FLSA to eliminate "exempt" status. If we're in the gig economy, then everyone is hourly, right?
posted by mikelieman at 6:02 PM on April 3, 2018 [10 favorites]


I mean, am I the only one who sees the "Muller releases a report that is damning of Trump but leaving the actual next/punitive move to Congress" timeline leading us to lots of handwringing, perhaps the formation of an investigative panel chaired by a Republican stalwart, and a subsequent report that things are, while troubling, simply too complicated to act on

No. Mueller has to know that any report is insufficient. Republicans will not impeach Trump. Period. Ever. If Mueller concludes he can't bring charges against Trump himself, he has to release the report to Congress and the public coupled with charging Don. Jr., Ivanka, Kushner, Sessions, Pence, etc, etc, etc, hell maybe charging Tiffany even, we don't know how far this goes.

The criminality has to be unmistakable and undeniable. If Trump can't be charged, he has to be the only one left standing, and even then Republicans will do nothing, but some semblance of justice might be salvaged, and the fact that we're living under a traitor will be undeniable in the next election.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:02 PM on April 3, 2018 [10 favorites]


Texas Tribune: A federal judge has ruled that Texas is violating the federal National Voter Registration Act. This has the potential to introduce the state's first online voter registration system.
posted by chris24 at 6:10 PM on April 3, 2018 [52 favorites]


We don't know what Mueller's going to do. Right now we just got confirmation that Trump himself is under investigation. This is something Trump has been trying to get people to say publicly, and which Comey at one point in time did say was true. Now we know that Trump himself is under investigation. That's fairly huge.
posted by gucci mane at 6:12 PM on April 3, 2018 [6 favorites]


Madison area resident here.

I voted.

The Fox47 thing - they outsource their news to WISC which is not a Sinclair station. So it might be an opportunistic statement from them, but the end result is good.
posted by Billy Rubin at 6:15 PM on April 3, 2018 [1 favorite]


Huh. Maybe we were wrong to put our faith in the Republican federal cop.

Rule 3. Institutions will not save you
posted by benzenedream at 6:16 PM on April 3, 2018 [25 favorites]


He summed everything up by saying that a good attorney for Trump would come away from this report not thinking "oh good, the President isn't the target of an investigation" but rather "oh my, the President is a subject of an investigation."

It's a good thing, isn't it, that Trump doesn't have any good attorneys left working for him?

Seriously, though, Mueller's manoeuvring should be reviewed in the context of Team Trump's campaign against him. Not only has Trump finally dropped his Twitter embargo of mentioning Mueller by name, but the Capitol Hill Trumpists also started a new against Rod Rosenstein.

When Trump tweeted yesterday, "So sad that the Department of “Justice” and the FBI are slow walking, or even not giving, the unredacted documents requested by Congress. An embarrassment to our country!", he was referring to the March 22nd subpoena by the House Judiciary Committee of Rod Rosenstein to appear before them and produce documents about Clinton's email server, McCabe's firing, and, of course, FISA "potential abuses" by this Thursday. The revelation of Rosenstein's memo authorizing Mueller's scope of investigation has only further inflamed the Rabid Right's calls for his head.

Meanwhile, today Rosenstein named Ed O'Callaghan to serve as the acting Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General. A veteran prosecutor and counterterrorism expert, O'Callaghan will assist Rosenstein with managing all units at the Justice Department and, most importantly, with overseeing the Russia probe. He doesn't appear to be a Trumpist, although he recently towed Jeff Sessions's line about questionable terrorism figures and Trump's proposed immigration policy changes.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:17 PM on April 3, 2018 [4 favorites]


Josh at TPM has an interesting view. It's in the Prime section for subscribers, but here's part of it.
...As I interpret the story there are two big pieces of news.

1. Robert Mueller is preparing a report on the obstruction part of his investigation. He says he needs to interview the President to understand his intent as he took certain actions – presumably things like trying to get James Comey to drop the Flynn probe, firing James Comey, perhaps latter trying to bully Jeff Sessions into resigning etc. This report appears not to represent the end of the investigation but the conclusion of the obstruction portion of it. The interview seems to be focused on that rather than collusion.

2. The President is the “subject” of the Russia collusion part of the probe but not yet a “target”. This is to me the critical revelation. Not only is the collusion part of the investigation very much active (we know that after the last couple months) but the President is being investigated as part of that investigation. That is a very big deal. The Post explains what being a subject means: “Prosecutors view someone as a subject when that person has engaged in conduct that is under investigation but there is not sufficient evidence to bring charges.”

Here are the three paragraphs of the piece on which I base this with key portions highlighted.
In private negotiations in early March about a possible presidential interview, Mueller described Trump as a subject of his investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. Prosecutors view someone as a subject when that person has engaged in conduct that is under investigation but there is not sufficient evidence to bring charges.

The special counsel also told Trump’s lawyers that he is preparing a report about the president’s actions while in office and potential obstruction of justice, according to two people with knowledge of the conversations.

Mueller reiterated the need to interview Trump — both to understand whether he had any corrupt intent to thwart the Russia investigation and to complete this portion of his probe, the people said.
Again, what this sounds like to me is that the interview is mainly about the obstruction investigation. That appears to be leading to a report and perhaps not directly to an indictment. There would be a strong logic to this since it’s not clear a sitting President can be indicted before being impeached and removed from office. Even if it’s constitutionally possible there are various reasons why a prosecutor and the DOJ would find it imprudent or bad policy to do so...
posted by chris24 at 6:18 PM on April 3, 2018 [8 favorites]


It's easy for this to have gotten lost in the constant, constant noise, but as I understand it, Trump personally being a subject has been public knowledge since at least June (hence WaPo's use of the word "remains").
posted by InTheYear2017 at 6:26 PM on April 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


It's easy for this to have gotten lost in the constant, constant noise, but as I understand it, Trump personally being a subject has been public knowledge since at least June (hence WaPo's use of the word "remains").

Yes, for obstruction. This reveals he personally, not his campaign or relatives, is under active investigation for collusion with Russia. And the previous obstruction leak (probably from the FBI post-Comey firing) wasn't from Trump's own attorneys like this one most probably is.
posted by chris24 at 6:29 PM on April 3, 2018 [4 favorites]


ELECTION RESULT

Dem HOLD in Massachusetts House 2nd Bristol:
Hawkins [D] 52%
Hall [R] 48%
Margin changes compared to previous races:

vs 2016 presidential result margin: Dem underformance of about 5 points.
vs 2014 HD-2nd Bristol result margin: Dem underperformance of about 18 points. (seat was uncontested in 2016)

Dem lead in the Massachusetts House is extended to 122-34-2 (2 vacancies).
posted by Chrysostom at 6:29 PM on April 3, 2018 [19 favorites]


He doesn't appear to be a Trumpist, although he recently towed Jeff Sessions's line about questionable terrorism figures and Trump's proposed immigration policy changes.

I typed too soon about O'Callaghan—not only did he assist with the Trump transition team, but he also worked on the McCain campaign, specifically assisting Palin's personal lawyer with stalling "Troopergate." This CV does not inspire confidence.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:39 PM on April 3, 2018 [6 favorites]


Trump will be crowing on Twitter that he's not a target of investigation. He probably thinks 'subject' is a compliment about how interesting he is. Fool can't keep from running his mouth.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 6:42 PM on April 3, 2018 [3 favorites]


We won't have a final result for a while, but it looks like Rebecca Dallet (the Democrat) is going to pretty handily win the Wisconsin Supreme Court election. This will narrow conservative (the court is nominally non-partisan) control of the court to 4-3.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:45 PM on April 3, 2018 [41 favorites]


@JoyceWhiteVance (MSNBC legal analyst, Alabama law prof)
In light of this evenings news that Trump’s lawyers were advised by Mueller that he is not currently a target, here’s DOJ policy on when prosecutors must advise a suspect that they are a target.
9-11.153 - Notification of Targets

When a target is not called to testify pursuant to USAM 9-11.150, and does not request to testify on his or her own motion (see USAM 9-11.152), the prosecutor, in appropriate cases, is encouraged to notify such person a reasonable time before seeking an indictment in order to afford him or her an opportunity to testify before the grand jury, subject to the conditions set forth in USAM 9-11.152. Notification would not be appropriate in routine clear cases or when such action might jeopardize the investigation or prosecution because of the likelihood of flight, destruction or fabrication of evidence, endangerment of other witnesses, undue delay or otherwise would be inconsistent with the ends of justice.
---

Notification would not be appropriate in routine clear cases or when such action might jeopardize the investigation or prosecution because of the likelihood of flight, destruction or fabrication of evidence, endangerment of other witnesses, undue delay or otherwise would be inconsistent with the ends of justice.

Given Trump's propensity to obstruction, witness tampering and his desire to end the investigation and fire Mueller, you could argue that you'd never officially notify him he was a target.
posted by chris24 at 6:51 PM on April 3, 2018 [35 favorites]


chris24: This reveals he personally, not his campaign or relatives, is under active investigation for collusion with Russia.

Really? That would be pretty huge, but it's not something I see in that article.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 6:52 PM on April 3, 2018


Really? That would be pretty huge, but it's not something I see in that article.

"In private negotiations in early March about a possible presidential interview, Mueller described Trump as a subject of his investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. The special counsel also told Trump’s lawyers that he is preparing a report about the president’s actions while in office and potential obstruction of justice, according to two people with knowledge of the conversations. "

Not obstruction, Russian interference in the election. They list the obstruction as a separate thing.
posted by chris24 at 6:56 PM on April 3, 2018 [10 favorites]


@AshaRangappa_ (CNN analyst, former FBI CI agent)
LINT (short thread). The most interesting part of this piece is the revelation that Mueller wants to write a report on this, "to answer the public's questions." Remember that under the Special Counsel regulations, Mueller doesn't have the authority to produce a public report.
2. Rather, a report -- one that centers on obstruction charges against the President -- would, I suspect (as required by the regs), would include recommendations of charges that Mueller wants to pursue, and/or charges he declines to pursue, which would be submitted to Rosenstein.
3. Let's say that his obstruction report details evidence he has gathered and he recommends that charges SHOULD be filed against the President. At that point, Rosenstein can either approve that request/recommendation, or decline it.
4. It's likely that, since current DOJ policy is that a sitting President should not (or would not) be charged, Rosenstein would decline it. HOWEVER, here is the kicker:
5. Under the Special Counsel regs, if Rosenstein *declines* a recommendation of the SC, he must then turn around and report this decision -- and his reasons why -- to the chairs of the House and Senate Judiciary committees...*and the ranking members of those committees.*
6. The purpose of this provision is to prevent the DAG (or normally the AG), from saying no to the SC and then burying the info. It ensures that what the SC found, if it merit charges, will see sunlight.
7. Indeed, once Rosenstein reports what the SC gave him and his reasons for not following the recommendation, Congress can then make it public. (And part of the reason for requiring it to go to the ranking members is to make sure the controlling party can't bury it either.)
8. Of course, the SC might say in his report that he declines to pursue charges, and Rosenstein agrees. In which case Rosenstein wouldn't have to report anything to Congress, and that would be that.
9. But then it would be odd -- if that were the direction this were headed -- for the SC team to frame this report as something that would answer the public's questions. That is my read-between-the-lines on this whole piece
*NOTE: The SC regs do allow for the DAG to release a report because it is in the public interest (so theoretically, he could even in the case of #8 above). But this has to follow the same DOJ guidelines that applies to commenting on criminal investigations. Given the controversy over Comey's handling of the HRC case -- i.e., the potential prejudicial effect of publicly commenting when they decided *not* to pursue charges -- this could be a risky move for the DAG in terms of politicizing the agency further. Not sure he would do it.
posted by chris24 at 7:03 PM on April 3, 2018 [19 favorites]


As chris24 points out, Mueller is not obligated to tell Trump that he is a target (yet), and is entitled to say that he is not a target (yet), no matter his true feelings. It is also quite obvious that Mueller knows:
  • President Trump is a stupid man.
  • President Trump is capable of initiating the firing of Mueller and undermining his investigation.
  • President Trump may well respond to being told he is a target by initiating the firing of Mueller and undermining his investigation.
  • Hard as it is to believe, President Trump may well respond to being told he is not a target by recklessly sitting down with Mueller and perjuring himself.
Therefore, notifying Trump that he is a target serves only to harm the cause of justice, and notifying him that he is not a target may well aid the cause of justice. Mueller's alleged statement is not evidence for or against credible charges being outlined against Donald Trump as an individual.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 7:08 PM on April 3, 2018 [25 favorites]


Ah. I sort of interpreted "his investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election" as being the paper's words rather than Mueller's — as in, a standard journalistic summary of what the Mueller investigation is, for the reader's benefit.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 7:10 PM on April 3, 2018 [1 favorite]


Robert Costa, one of the writers of the article, just confirmed on Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC that there's two tracks on the investigation. The Russia investigation of collusion that is ongoing, and the obstruction and written report piece that he wants an interview for. So Josh's TPM take that there's two pieces seems right.
posted by chris24 at 7:10 PM on April 3, 2018 [7 favorites]


I think Mueller is going for the classic "Un-indicted Co-conspirator" with respect to the sitting President.
posted by mikelieman at 7:14 PM on April 3, 2018 [5 favorites]


vs 2016 presidential result margin: Dem underformance of about 5 points.
vs 2014 HD-2nd Bristol result margin: Dem underperformance of about 18 points. (seat was uncontested in 2016)


What the heck happened here? Was Hawkins complete garbage as a candidate? Did Democrats just rest on their laurels? Is the blue wave collapsing!?!?!?!? (ok, the last one is a little facetious, though I'd rest better knowing why Dems performed relatively quite badly in this particular race).
posted by Justinian at 8:09 PM on April 3, 2018 [1 favorite]


Hawkins is a total newcomer to politics. Hall is a long-time city councilor in Attleboro. The read from the local paper is that Hall was in fact favored.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:18 PM on April 3, 2018


(still counting in WI, but at this point, Dallet is not only considerably beating Clinton's numbers, she's exceeding Obama's numbers)
posted by Chrysostom at 8:21 PM on April 3, 2018 [19 favorites]


Scotty is bummed. And scared.

@ScottWalker:
Tonight’s results show we are at risk of a #BlueWave in WI. The Far Left is driven by anger & hatred -- we must counter it with optimism & organization. Let’s share our positive story with voters & win in November.
- Big government special interests flooded Wisconsin with distorted facts & misinformation. Next, they'll target me and work to undo our bold reforms. We need to keep moving #WIForward & make sure a #BlueWave of outside special interest money doesn’t take us backward.
- Wisconsin is working with RECORD-LOW unemployment thanks to our reforms, but the risk of a #BlueWave puts everything in jeopardy – balanced budgets, collective bargaining reforms, $8B in tax cuts, welfare reform & more.
- We have a positive story to tell & we need conservatives to take action and stop a #BlueWave by getting out there and telling it. Volunteer to share our optimistic plan for the future here: https://www.scottwalker.com/volunteer/

---

@ppppolls:
In October we found Scott Walker trailing a generic Democrat 48-43. Tonight’s Wisconsin result more evidence that he really could lose this fall
posted by chris24 at 8:34 PM on April 3, 2018 [67 favorites]


Baldwin has to be considered pretty safe for Senate. I'd call governor a toss-up, if Dems can unite behind a candidate (probably Tony Evers).
posted by Chrysostom at 8:44 PM on April 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


"We have a positive story to tell"

Less 'we hate the poor' and more 'we hate the poor ☺️'
posted by Merus at 8:46 PM on April 3, 2018 [46 favorites]


"We have a positive story to tell"

"And here it is: we are positively fucked."
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:53 PM on April 3, 2018 [25 favorites]


> Scott Walker: Tonight’s results show we are at risk of a #BlueWave in WI.

Isn't this just cementing the idea in voters' minds that there is a Blue Wave coming?

I mean, not that I have any objections to Scott F. Walker using that hashtag, but it seems ... ill advised for Republicans from a marketing point of view?
posted by RedOrGreen at 8:54 PM on April 3, 2018 [14 favorites]


I mean, not that I have any objections to Scott F. Walker using that hashtag, but it seems ... ill advised for Republicans from a marketing point of view?

Pretty sure it's to try and scare those "IF REPUBLICANS DON'T MAKE IT LEGAL TO HANG POOR PEOPLE TO REDUCE THEIR NUMBERS I'M STAYING HOME" wingnuts into voting. If you don't the Democrats will come along and give your money to poor people instead.
posted by Talez at 8:57 PM on April 3, 2018 [5 favorites]


Also of interest - the GOP-backed referendum to abolish the office of state treasurer is losing about 61-37.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:58 PM on April 3, 2018 [14 favorites]


@KellyannePolls, 6:12 PM - 28 Oct 2016
Most honest people I know are not under FBI investigation, let alone two.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:58 PM on April 3, 2018 [61 favorites]


Tonight’s results show we are at risk of a #BlueWave in WI.

It sure would be petty of me to post surfing videos like "Hawaii 5-0," "Wipeout," and "Surfin' USA" as replies to his tweet.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:07 PM on April 3, 2018 [18 favorites]


A statement definitely not under duress from Sinclair (Alexandra Petri, WaPo)
Hello. I am Name A.

Readers of this column, Name of Column, are no doubt aware of the high quality of balanced journalism that Name of Column provides. It is our greatest responsibility to serve our local community here in Name of Place.

But I could not help noticing — on my own, totally unprompted! Turn off the teleprompter. I am going to speak from the heart. Wait a beat. Now continue.

There is a plague of biased, fake news in this country. For instance, a story that was shared recently implied that Sinclair Broadcast Group was forcing anchors at its stations across the country to read an ominous editorial on the air warning people about the plague of biased, fake news in this country. This is obviously false, as was the accompanying video showing them doing just that. Isn’t it possible that more than 100 people employed by a single conglomerate independently came to an identical conclusion about fake news, and could not wait to share it with their viewers in a smooth, natural tone, using what happened to be exactly the same words, and blinking a normal number of times? Yes. Yes is the answer to that question.

I am sad to see that at outlets NOT owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, people will say all manner of things! And they will not check their facts first. We always check our facts first with Sinclair, which lets us know if they are facts or just things we thought we observed in the world but were wrong about. It is so easy to be wrong. I thought for a long time that there were four lights in this studio, but Sinclair knew better.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:14 PM on April 3, 2018 [63 favorites]


Donald Trump Jr. Continues to Make Terrible Accessory Decisions
Taking a look at this photo of Donald Trump Jr. above, from the White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday, you might think: "That, right there, is a man with terrible taste in ties." And you'd be right! That powder-pink thing with Regis levels of shine might not be the worst he's ever worn—that designation is reserved for one he knotted up in the fall of 2016—but it's real ugly. Especially when you top it off with that dead-eyed, shit-eating grin.

But, as with so many things about Donald Trump Jr., there is more terribleness here than immediately meets the eye.
...
What you're gazing upon is a "Deplorable" American-flag lapel pin. It's profoundly stupid! And completely inappropriate for an official event like the one he was attending, frequented, as it is, by innocent children and magical rabbits.

But it's not just dumb and unfit for the occasion. It's also badly executed!
posted by kirkaracha at 9:14 PM on April 3, 2018 [18 favorites]


Okay, we're at 97% reporting, so I'll say:

ELECTION RESULT

Dem GAIN in Wisconsin Supreme Court:
Dallet [D] 55.4%
Screnock [R] 44.6%
There's a liberal seat up next year, then a conservative in 2020. Winning both of those would flip control of the court.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:16 PM on April 3, 2018 [60 favorites]


I wrote Postcards to Voters for Dallet from here in AZ! I didn't realize until I did that the Supreme Court system in any state was voted in -- I thought they were appointed, like federal. Anyway, I'm so proud! Go WI!
posted by WidgetAlley at 9:22 PM on April 3, 2018 [22 favorites]




ELECTIONS NEWS

** ICYMI, Dems held onto seats in special elections in MA House and RI Senate and picked up a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

**2018 House:
-- In our weekly check in on the generic ballot, 538 average is D+7.8 (47.0/39.2).

-- IA-01: PPP poll has dire numbers for incumbent Rod Blum, showing a 34/54 approval number [MOE: +/- 4%]

-- NY-24: Dems filled one of their few glaring recruitment holes here as they found someone to run against Katko.
** MS Senate special -- Dem candidate Mike Espy (another one from the Time's Wingéd Chariot Dept - remember when he was Bill Clinton's Ag Secretary?) released an internal poll showing him leading with 34%. That's less good than it sounds, considering a) the two major GOP candidates combine for 48%, and that b) radioactive Chris McDaniel was behind more moderate Cindy Hyde-Smith.

** 2018 Senate:
-- AZ: No one knows if McCain will resign early enough to trigger a special election, and who the appointee senator would be either way.

-- TX: Mentioned earlier, Beto O'Rourke posted a stunning $6.7M in fundraising in Q1. Cruz is still very much the favorite in this race, but this is going to force the GOP to spend money in TX that they'd rather spend in IN or MO.
** Odds & ends:
-- Another lawsuit filed against the inclusion of a citizenship question in the Census, this one by 17 states and 7 cities.

-- Mentioned earlier, court finds Texas in violation of the National Voter Registration Act. This will likely result in TX adding online registration.

-- WSJ: Number of female candidates soaring.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:43 PM on April 3, 2018 [41 favorites]


-- TX: Mentioned earlier, Beto O'Rourke posted a stunning $6.7M in fundraising in Q1. Cruz is still very much the favorite in this race, but this is going to force the GOP to spend money in TX that they'd rather spend in IN or MO.

What's the most likely path, albeit unlikely, to take the Senate in 2018? All Dem holds, plus Nevada, plus... Flake's seat in Arizona? With Corker's open Tennessee seat as the desperation backup plan?
posted by Justinian at 9:47 PM on April 3, 2018


Yeah, pretty much the plan would be hold all D seats, pick up NV and AZ (Flake).

Possible at a stretch are TN and AZ (McCain), if he leaves in the next six weeks or so. TX and MS (special) are not impossible, but really unlikely.

My personal guess is that Dems stay even or pick up a seat (which would be 50-50). 51 seats...I don't know, maybe 1/3 chance?
posted by Chrysostom at 9:54 PM on April 3, 2018 [5 favorites]


I'd put both AZ and NV and maybe even TN over Donnelly holding on in IN, and McCaskill not much better in MO. Any path to Senate control needs both NV and AZ, plus either TN or TX, and only losing 1 other seat. Or lose two and pick up both TN and TX. Lose 3 Dems and its over.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:07 PM on April 3, 2018 [1 favorite]


I think it's fair to say you have a more pessimistic view of Democratic electoral prospects that I do in general. And you could totally be right! We'll just have to wait until November.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:11 PM on April 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


That's totally accurate, although I've been pretty happy with the early polls in TN. That could actually happen. I'm very pessimistic about Donnelly, he's a wooden board with a (D) in a suburban Republican state. He doesn't seem to have nearly the (inexplicable) local following of a Manchin or Heitkamp, he's just there, still riding Obama's coattails and his own version of Roy Moore as the opponent he beat. If I'm ranking the Dem incumbents in order of most likely to blow a chance at the majority:

Donnelly
McCaskill
Heitkamp
Nelson (we're all underestimating Floridaman's love of Rick Scott)
Manchin
Sherod Brown

But if I had to bet today I'd put a lot of money on a 50-50 split. And rooting for the Mueller surprise to put it over, but the margin between 51 D -49 R and 55 R - 45 D is really, really small.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:36 PM on April 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


It’s insane that any judges are elected, subject to the impulses of the most impassioned primary voters, etc., and even more so for State Supreme Court Justices. But then, I’m not sure that being appointed by political hyperpartisans is much better, so...
posted by darkstar at 11:19 PM on April 3, 2018 [8 favorites]


Cecile Richards has a book out, and there's an excerpt discussing that time Jared and Ivanka pitched the idea Planned Parenthood could just not do abortion anymore:
After Richards explained this, she writes that Kushner told her Planned Parenthood “had made a big mistake by becoming ‘political.’ ”

“The main issue, he explained, was abortion,” Richards writes. “If Planned Parenthood wanted to keep our federal funding, we would have to stop providing abortions. He described his ideal outcome: a national headline reading ‘Planned Parenthood Discontinues Abortion Services.'”

According to Make Trouble, Kushner said that if Richards agreed to the plan then funding could increase, but he urged them to “move fast.”

“If it wasn’t crystal clear before, it was now. Jared and Ivanka were there for one reason: to deliver a political win,” she writes. “In their eyes, if they could stop Planned Parenthood from providing abortions, it would confirm their reputation as savvy dealmakers. It was surreal, essentially being asked to barter away women’s rights for more money. It takes a lot to get Kirk mad, but it looked like his head was about to explode.”
I can just imagine how easy they thought this would be and how they view the world in what newspaper headlines they hoped to randomly and naively create.

Bonus link (parody account, but real photo): Trump gets bigger salt&pepper shakers than everyone else
posted by zachlipton at 11:38 PM on April 3, 2018 [45 favorites]


Nah it's just his tiny hands make them look bigger.
posted by awfurby at 12:17 AM on April 4, 2018 [3 favorites]


Mueller told Trump’s attorneys the president remains under investigation but is not currently a criminal target.
The president has privately expressed relief at the description of his legal status, which has increased his determination to agree to a special counsel interview, the people said. He has repeatedly told allies that he is not a target of the probe and believes an interview will help him put the matter behind him, friends said.
Please please please. Are we lucky enough to live in a world where he does this? Is it possible there's a way out of the Mirror Universe?
posted by scalefree at 12:53 AM on April 4, 2018 [22 favorites]




President Trump Is Still Posing as Anonymous Source to Leak Favorable News to Reporters

Don't blame me, I voted for John Miller. Or was it John Barron?
posted by kirkaracha at 1:10 AM on April 4, 2018 [4 favorites]


Please please please. Are we lucky enough to live in a world where he does this? Is it possible there's a way out of the Mirror Universe?

I honestly do not understand how anyone can still believe Trump to be simultaneously an intelligent man and a sane and stable person given his apparent eagerness to speak to Robert Mueller's team. You'd have to be dumb as a bag of hammers to feel that way... or completely irrational. The most innocent person in the world should be sweating bullets at the mere prospect of such an interview. Talking to the Feds cannot help you. There is no upside. The best case scenario is you're in pretty much the same place as you were before the interview. The worst case scenario is you've just bought yourself a first class ticket to the pokey.

Unlike essentially every other citizen of the country, for whom the only reasonable move is to plead the 5th, a President may feel there is no option but to testify. But the reports aren't "Trump doesn't want to do this but he feels a President must cooperate at least to the extant of a negotiated interview" they are "TRUMP CAN'T FUCKIN' WAIT TO DO THIS THING. **air guitar*** LEROY JENNNNNNNNNKINS"

How can anyone not see such a person is either stupider than dirt or suffering from a serious personality disorder which renders him incapable of rationally evaluating the situation?
posted by Justinian at 2:32 AM on April 4, 2018 [33 favorites]


Obviously Mueller and Trump are just playing roles, to generate cover for their efforts to root out the lizard pedophile conspirators
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 2:39 AM on April 4, 2018 [6 favorites]


How can anyone not see such a person is either stupider than dirt or suffering from a serious personality disorder which renders him incapable of rationally evaluating the situation?

Trump, if nothing else, effectively demonstrates that that's a false dichotomy.
posted by jaduncan at 3:12 AM on April 4, 2018 [24 favorites]


...cover for their efforts to root out the lizard pedophile conspirators
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon
(careful, that's dangerously eponisterical...)
But Trump IS a lizard pedophile conspirator, just not as highly ranked in the organization as he leads you to believe. Does Mueller realize that if he takes out Trump, he'll just be replaced by someone more competent?

But seriously, Trump has been totally corrupt AND totally stupid all his life and never has dealt with a competent non-corrupt prosecutor willing to make him deal with true consequences... and I honestly don't know if he's facing one now. Trump's not the problem, he's just the most obvious symptom of the sickness of our sick society.

Meanwhile, how, in this bizarro-verse, did we end up with a political expose being reported by People Magazine?!? Are there just so many hot stories that the respectable media entities can't handle them all, or is somebody trying to provide justification for Sinclair's David Smith's fascist anti-media rant?
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:41 AM on April 4, 2018 [9 favorites]


The Hill:
Breast cancer page scrubbed from women's health website: report. "Among the material removed is information about provisions of the Affordable Care Act that require coverage of no-cost breast cancer screenings for certain women, as well as links to a free cancer screening program administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)"
posted by zennie at 4:21 AM on April 4, 2018 [29 favorites]


Welcome to Breast Cancer Unawareness Month.

(I can't even see how that maps onto either financial cronyism or the politics of spite. Did Michelle Obama do a breast cancer initiative at some point? I do know there are differing views in the medical community on the wisdom of doing frequent early-detection tests, and they changed recommendations on it like a decade ago as a result, but I doubt that was the reason for this.)
posted by InTheYear2017 at 4:32 AM on April 4, 2018 [6 favorites]


It maps onto the politics of spite because it promotes the benefits of the Affordable Care Act, which Trump and Congressional Republicans unsuccessfully attempted to repeal.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 4:39 AM on April 4, 2018 [12 favorites]


Or they just looked at the average life expectancy for women being several years longer than men and thought "we have to do something to fix THAT",
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:39 AM on April 4, 2018 [5 favorites]


Outgoing White House emails not protected by verification system

Remember when the only issue covered by the NYT for a year was email management best practices?
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:51 AM on April 4, 2018 [69 favorites]



-- NY-24: Dems filled one of their few glaring recruitment holes here as they found someone to run against Katko.


I'm not sure what to think of this. There already was a Democratic candidate: Dana Balter. Juanita Perez Williams had previously declined an invitation to run, so I don't understand why she's getting into the race now.
posted by maurice at 4:53 AM on April 4, 2018 [1 favorite]


I mean, am I the only one who sees the "Muller releases a report that is damning of Trump but leaving the actual next/punitive move to Congress" timeline leading us to lots of handwringing, perhaps the formation of an investigative panel chaired by a Republican stalwart, and a subsequent report that things are, while troubling, simply too complicated to act on.

We can count on Republicans to ignore anything up to and including a smoking gun. But Mueller's report won't be too complicated for various state prosecutors in which Trump and his organization likely committed crimes, and where Trump's pardon power is worthless.

Trump will be crowing on Twitter that he's not a target of investigation. He probably thinks 'subject' is a compliment about how interesting he is. Fool can't keep from running his mouth.

Doubtless, but this morning NPR reported that Mueller's informing Trump he was not a target yet coincided with key resignations of his legal staff several weeks ago, in that Mueller seemed to be encouraging Trump's inclination to give a statement o=under oath, which we know his lawyers didn't want him to do, because the fool also wouldn't keep from perjuring himself.
posted by Gelatin at 4:54 AM on April 4, 2018 [6 favorites]


China has announced another 25 percent tariff hike on U.S. soybeans, autos, aircraft and other goods valued at $50 billion in reply to Trump's new tariffs.

The biggest states for soybeans? Ohio, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana.

Dow futures are down 500 points, or 2%, on top of the 11% the Dow is down for the year so far.

But don't worry, it's not a trade war.

@realDonaldTrump
We are not in a trade war with China, that war was lost many years ago by the foolish, or incompetent, people who represented the U.S. Now we have a Trade Deficit of $500 Billion a year, with Intellectual Property Theft of another $300 Billion. We cannot let this continue!
posted by chris24 at 4:54 AM on April 4, 2018 [25 favorites]


The war is over and we lost and we can't possibly have another one now because that would mean the President of the United States would be responsible for his own unilateral actions instead of being able to blame his oppressors and wallow in victimhood
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 5:05 AM on April 4, 2018 [24 favorites]


“This country is headed towards a civil war in terms of two sides that are just hating each other and if Robert Mueller wants, there’s a big red button in the middle of the table,” Hannity said. “And if Robert Mueller is so pompous and so arrogant and so power hungry and so corrupt that he’s going to hit the red button and he’s going to ignite a battle that we’ve not seen in this country before.”

“I’m not talking about violence, I’m talking about everyone hating each other. You’re not going to be able to have a family dinner without mashed potatoes being thrown across the room,” Hannity said.


in other words, if the law is actually enforced against the president, he's all for acts of domestic violence and potato abuse to stop the investigation from going on

this guy's an ass - threatening to spoil dinner with his antics unless he gets his way in the household, showing the impulse control of an 18 month old toddler who is fascinated by the possibilities of practical physics, and just stupid enough to take the phrase "please pass the potatoes" literally

this is male rage in action
posted by pyramid termite at 5:08 AM on April 4, 2018 [105 favorites]


@realDonaldTrump
We are not in a trade war with China, that war was lost many years ago by the foolish, or incompetent, people who represented the U.S. Now we have a Trade Deficit of $500 Billion a year, with Intellectual Property Theft of another $300 Billion. We cannot let this continue!


Is he... is he saying we've always been at war with East Asia?
posted by condour75 at 5:10 AM on April 4, 2018 [86 favorites]


War is Peace
Victory is Failure
Predecessors are Responsible
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 5:12 AM on April 4, 2018 [46 favorites]


Special Counsel Robert Mueller III informed President Donald Trump's attorneys last month that he is continuing to investigate the president but does not consider him a criminal target at this point [...]

[Lots of 'has Mueller betrayed us']


ICR who first explained this to me, but a detective is a salesperson with the world's shittiest product: Jail. Take Mueller's words down the scale a bit and they sound more familiar.

"Hi, I'm a detective investigating a crime. Don't worry, you're not in any trouble, but I could really use your help to clear up part of my investigation. Can you meet me at the station today to talk about it, so we can wrap this up and move on?"

And the prospect replies: "The president and some of his allies seized on the special counsel's words as an assurance that Trump's risk of criminal jeopardy is low." "We're not in trouble, they're investigating someone else, they sound friendly, we got away with it so far, maybe we can make all this go away before the detective finds out that ..."

One more Express Package and Bob gets a bonus.
posted by BS Artisan at 5:14 AM on April 4, 2018 [40 favorites]


It maps onto the politics of spite because it promotes the benefits of the Affordable Care Act, which Trump and Congressional Republicans unsuccessfully attempted to repeal.

It also could set up a phony justification for cutting the program, if no one is using it because the Trump Administration refuses to inform the public it exists. We'll see something like Senator Shameglutton (R) telling NPR "Obamacare screenings declined 400% in just one year because of this failed program!"
posted by Gelatin at 5:18 AM on April 4, 2018 [8 favorites]


“I’m not talking about violence, I’m talking about everyone hating each other. You’re not going to be able to have a family dinner without mashed potatoes being thrown across the room,” Hannity said.

oh no not shitty conservative family members ruining dinner by acting like children how will we ever counter this brand new never before seen threat
posted by jason_steakums at 5:20 AM on April 4, 2018 [118 favorites]


@realDonaldTrump
We are not in a trade war with China, that war was lost many years ago by the foolish, or incompetent, people who represented the U.S. Now we have a Trade Deficit of $500 Billion a year, with Intellectual Property Theft of another $300 Billion. We cannot let this continue!


Trump's economic advisor worked really hard on NPR this morning to conflate China's intellectual property theft with the trade deficit. (I will admit, a Republican was for once telling the truth when he says that everyone knows China does it.)

Of course, the NPR interviewer did not mention that intellectual property protection was a key provision of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, from which Trump foolishly or incompetently withdrew unilaterally.
posted by Gelatin at 5:22 AM on April 4, 2018 [17 favorites]


It occurs to me to wonder how mobbed up Trump has been in recent years, and whether Mueller's investigation will turn up some good old-fashioned homegrown American mob money laundering in addition to all the obstruction and collusion and so on.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:30 AM on April 4, 2018 [26 favorites]


The Trans-Pacific Partnership never included China. Also, it was a terrible agreement and even though Trump ended it for all the wrong reasons, I'm glad it's gone.
posted by rocket88 at 5:32 AM on April 4, 2018 [5 favorites]


whether Mueller's investigation will turn up some good old-fashioned homegrown American mob money laundering

I am hoping for this twist so much I'm afraid to talk about it, lest it get the Dumb Twitter Jinx.
posted by snuffleupagus at 5:32 AM on April 4, 2018 [4 favorites]


I am hoping for this twist so much I'm afraid to talk about it, lest it get the Dumb Twitter Jinx.


I presume Mueller has found plenty of evidence of Trump laundering Russian mob money already.

What I hesitate to mention is my hope for a good old fashioned RICO prosecution involving the Trump Organization, the Russian Mob, and Republican operatives like the NRA.
posted by Gelatin at 5:36 AM on April 4, 2018 [33 favorites]


I'm glad it's gone.

It's not gone everyone else just agreed to it without the USA's provisions and involvement.
posted by PenDevil at 5:39 AM on April 4, 2018 [25 favorites]


@Taniel
23 Wisconsin counties voted for Obama in 2012 & Trump in 2016. Rebecca Dallet won 15 of them today (10 by double-digits, the largest by 25%).
posted by chris24 at 5:40 AM on April 4, 2018 [20 favorites]


oh no not shitty conservative family members ruining dinner by acting like children how will we ever counter this brand new never before seen threat

no fewer than THREE SEPARATE THANKSGIVINGS i was required to spend with my ex's family were DIRECTLY AND TRACEABLY RUINED BY SPECIFICALLY YOU, SEAN HANNITY
A WWII-VET NEW DEAL DEMOCRAT WAS LITERALLY THREATENED WITH THE CARVING FORK WHILE THE DRUNK-UNCLE ASSAILANT SCREAMED YOUR TALKING POINTS
posted by halation at 5:42 AM on April 4, 2018 [105 favorites]


What I hesitate to mention is my hope for a good old fashioned RICO prosecution involving the Trump Organization, the Russian Mob, and Republican operatives like the NRA.

Shaddup! Shaddup! Shaddup! Do not speak of the Statute That Must Not Be Named!
posted by mikelieman at 5:42 AM on April 4, 2018 [9 favorites]


ico-Ray uave-Say!

*taps nose, winks*
posted by petebest at 5:50 AM on April 4, 2018 [11 favorites]


oh no not shitty conservative family members ruining dinner by acting like children how will we ever counter this brand new never before seen threat

This is very much on the level of oh no don't throw me into that briar patch. You train your listeners to be utter jackholes, we're going to stop inviting them to Thanksgiving. Fin.
posted by soren_lorensen at 5:57 AM on April 4, 2018 [10 favorites]


Re the discussion above about taking back/not taking back the Senate:
As someone who lives in North Florida, do not underestimate the likelihood of Scott taking Nelson's Senate seat.
(Prove me wrong, Florida!)
posted by wittgenstein at 5:59 AM on April 4, 2018 [3 favorites]


I presume Mueller has found plenty of evidence of Trump laundering Russian mob money already.

Not to mention the drug cartels (although IIRC that was mostly Ivanka): NARCO-A-LAGO: MONEY LAUNDERING AT THE TRUMP OCEAN CLUB PANAMA [globalwitness.org]
posted by Buntix at 6:11 AM on April 4, 2018 [5 favorites]


More recent history explained, again.
MORE EVIDENCE THAT RACISM AND SEXISM WERE KEY TO TRUMP'S VICTORY < Pacific Standard, with research led by political scientist Brian Schaffner of the University of Massachusetts–Amherst.

"While the economic variables in our models were significantly associated with vote choice, those effects were dwarfed by the relationship between hostile sexism and denial of racism and voting for Trump," the researchers report. "Moving from one end of the sexism scale to the other was associated with more than a 30-point increase in support for Trump among the average likely voter. The relationship for the denial-of-racism scale was nearly identical. Moving from the highest levels of acknowledgement and empathy for racism to the lowest level was associated with about a 30-point increase in support for Trump."
posted by rc3spencer at 6:22 AM on April 4, 2018 [30 favorites]


@CNNPolitics
Rep. Trey Gowdy says he thinks President Trump should talk with special counsel Robert Mueller: "If you have nothing to hide ... sit down and tell him what you know"


So, Trey Gowdy is a prosecutor, he has got to know how monumentally terrible this advice is. Even he is not that dim. He's really being going hard at Trump lately (for a given value of "hard" in relation to the rest of the people in his party). I wonder what happened.
posted by soren_lorensen at 6:27 AM on April 4, 2018 [51 favorites]


@realDonaldTrump
When you’re already $500 Billion DOWN, you can’t lose!


Real. Ye gods.
posted by Rust Moranis at 6:32 AM on April 4, 2018 [22 favorites]


So, Trey Gowdy is a prosecutor, he has got to know how monumentally terrible this advice is. Even he is not that dim. He's really being going hard at Trump lately (for a given value of "hard" in relation to the rest of the people in his party). I wonder what happened.

I wonder if he would like Trump to go down fast so that people like Trey Gowdy are not the focus of prosecutor attention.
posted by jaduncan at 6:34 AM on April 4, 2018 [20 favorites]


update on the Kansas education funding (and legislature vs judiciary, GOP vs Dem, House vs Senate) saga:

TLDR: House passes funding bill; Senate GOP refuses to debate it until Legislature passes constitutional amendment to remove state courts' authority to review school funding

Can Kansas lawmakers afford $500 million more for schools without raising your taxes?, Jonathan Shorman, Wichita Eagle:
The House passed a school funding plan on Tuesday that would phase in a $500 million increase for K-12 education over five years. Lawmakers passed the bill 71-53 after rejecting it a day earlier.

Its fate is unclear after Senate Republican leaders said the Senate will not debate school finance until the Legislature passes a constitutional amendment that would restrict future lawsuits over funding.

The bill, HB 2445, is the first Republican-supported response to a Kansas Supreme Court decision last fall that lawmakers aren’t adequately funding schools. [...]

The Legislature has until the end of April to submit a plan for adequate funding to the court. [...]

An amendment needs two-thirds support in both the House and Senate to pass. It would then go to a statewide vote.
Kansas GOP leaders seek to stop court rulings on education, John Hanna, AP/WaPo
Both houses must pass a constitutional amendment by two-thirds majorities to put it on the ballot. Republicans have the necessary supermajorities in both chambers, but GOP conservatives and moderates are split over an education funding amendment. Democrats strongly opposed such measures, seeing them as an attack on both the courts and public schools.
Kansas House Passes $500M School Funding Plan, Prompting Senate Ultimatum, Celia Llopis-Jepsen & Stephen Koranda, KCUR
If lawmakers don’t agree on a funding increase, the Kansas Supreme Court could shut down schools.

A House committee held a hearing late Tuesday on whether to let Kansans vote on a constitutional amendment to eliminate the judiciary’s authority to review school funding levels.
Kansas lawmakers advance rival education funding proposals, AP/KSHB (alert: autoplay video)
Meanwhile, a Senate committee on school funding approved its own bill that would phase in a $274 million increase over five years, dedicating some of the new money to early childhood education programs to prevent kids from falling behind later. A Senate debate is next. [...]

Top Democratic legislators believe that neither plan would satisfy the Supreme Court. It ruled in October that the state's current spending on public schools of more than $4 billion a year still isn't sufficient under the Kansas Constitution, even with increases approved last year. The court has said the constitution requires legislators to finance a suitable education for every child.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 6:34 AM on April 4, 2018 [14 favorites]


@realDonaldTrump
When you’re already $500 Billion DOWN, you can’t lose!

An attitude that is surely familiar to his creditors.
posted by jaduncan at 6:36 AM on April 4, 2018 [58 favorites]


The last four or five days have given me a newfound appreciation for Hope Hicks.
posted by theodolite at 6:40 AM on April 4, 2018 [26 favorites]


When you’re already $500 Billion DOWN, you can’t lose!

So, the plan is to label America "too big to fail", and hope China bails us out?

Somehow, I don't see a no-strings-attached bailout coming from China soon. They might offer to nationalize us, though.
posted by jackbishop at 6:47 AM on April 4, 2018 [5 favorites]


Whatever the true figure, it exploits people’s ignorance about the nature of trade and their fear of “deficits.” Plus the racism and xenophobia.

Some days it’s just too much.
posted by notyou at 6:48 AM on April 4, 2018 [7 favorites]


It's going to be the Pax Sinica by the end of this presidency.
posted by Talez at 6:52 AM on April 4, 2018 [8 favorites]


First year Donald Trump, which according to the recent spin, he was finding his feet. Dow Jones up 31.5%.
In two and a half months, since January 20, 2018, new spin, Donald Trump calling his own shots. Dow Jones down 9%. (as of 9:55 this morning, including today's 400 point drop so far). Down 11.4% from its peak.

I know people look down on the Dow as an indicator of financial health, but it does say something about general investor confidence. There is no surer way to tank an economy than to start a trade war.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:56 AM on April 4, 2018 [7 favorites]


"When I'm already possibly going to jail, I can't lose! Who cares if I destroy the world?"
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:56 AM on April 4, 2018 [4 favorites]


I think the worst part of Donnie Two Scoops pissing away US global economic hegemony is that a few short years ago, China was on a solid path to liberalization. Hell, there were even whispers of full convertibility of the yuan so that China could more easily compete in the Western market economies. The trade deficit? They buy our bonds with the profits. They literally SEND OUR OWN MONEY BACK TO US FOR SAFE KEEPING AND INVESTMENT IN OUR COUNTRY. Who would want to fuck with that kind of deal?

Well now that's all out the window. The world's economic order is going to consolidate around a brutal authoritarian autocrat but strangely enough, it's not going to be Trump or Putin. Xi must be laughing his fucking ass off that Trump is so willingly ceding global economic power.
posted by Talez at 6:58 AM on April 4, 2018 [77 favorites]


First year Donald Trump, which according to the recent spin, he was finding his feet. Dow Jones up 31.5%.

Of course, even the spin is bogus because every president is operating on their predecessor's budget during the first year, so by rights that jump belongs at least in part to Obama.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 7:01 AM on April 4, 2018 [9 favorites]


As a patriot, nothing gets my goat more than when other countries sell us all that stuff we want to buy from them. What gives them the nerve? [spits on ground in contempt]
posted by InTheYear2017 at 7:05 AM on April 4, 2018 [12 favorites]


I think Trump really believes that absolutely zero trade (not zero net trade imbalance, but no trade at all) would be preferable to a 1 dollar trade imbalance in "favor" of anyone else.

I don't know what to even call this. Mercantilism, as practiced by hangry 5-year-olds?
posted by BungaDunga at 7:07 AM on April 4, 2018 [11 favorites]


the next time trump has a state visitor and allows the press one question, i hope someone asks “mr. president, what is a trade deficit?”
posted by murphy slaw at 7:12 AM on April 4, 2018 [21 favorites]


As Charlie Pierce pointed out, these are the ravings of a man who went broke running a casino.
posted by Talez at 7:15 AM on April 4, 2018 [103 favorites]


I think Trump really believes that absolutely zero trade (not zero net trade imbalance, but no trade at all) would be preferable to a 1 dollar trade imbalance in "favor" of anyone else.

I don't know what to even call this. Mercantilism, as practiced by hangry 5-year-olds?


The Art of War: Children's Edition?
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:19 AM on April 4, 2018 [6 favorites]


Someone who doesn't know the price of anything, or the value of it, either.
posted by petebest at 7:21 AM on April 4, 2018 [7 favorites]


And now we're ceding Syria to Putin.

Assad will be restored to the throne in short order.
posted by Talez at 7:25 AM on April 4, 2018 [8 favorites]


> the next time trump has a state visitor and allows the press one question, i hope someone asks “mr. president, what is a trade deficit?”

Nice thought, but if obvious ignorance of basic information any President of the United States should know was going to damage Trump's standing with Republican voters, he wouldn't be President.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:35 AM on April 4, 2018 [6 favorites]


Turkey's Erdogan Says Missile Deal With Russia Is Final

Trump's strongman buddy and seekrit brocrush reach deals to put missiles and a nuclear plant in Turkey.

Attaboy Trump. Yer killin' it.
posted by petebest at 7:37 AM on April 4, 2018 [21 favorites]


And now we're ceding Syria to Putin. Assad will be restored to the throne in short order.

On the one hand, we never had any troops in Syria fighting against Assad or Putin. Nor was Assad ever actually deposed. In some sense we "ceded" Syria in 2013 when we decided not to intervene even after the chemical weapons attack in Ghouta. We went along with Putin's plan (allowing Assad to "surrender" his chemical weapons to Russia) rather than get involved in yet another war in the middle east.

So we're not withdrawing from the fight against Assad now. We never actually entered the fight against Assad. The most we did was supply weapons and support to anti-Assad forces within Syria.

The troops we had there were fighting against ISIS, which actually put them on the same side as Assad and Putin. (ISIS wanted an Islamic Caliphate, not a Baathist dictatorship like Assad's OR US-allied democracy or an independent Kurdistan like the forces we supported.)

On the other hand... according to that link: "He expects other countries, particularly wealthy Arab states in the region, to pick up the task of paying for reconstruction of stabilized areas, including sending their own troops, if necessary."

It will obviously be Iran and Russia who "pick up the task," and consolidate their influence in Syria. The Kurds who fought on our behalf are screwed. Russia is more or less getting everything it hoped to out of its role in the Syrian civil war. That all by itself probably makes the election meddling seem worthwhile to Putin.
posted by OnceUponATime at 7:39 AM on April 4, 2018 [25 favorites]


It seems like a lot of very wealthy Americans stand to lose a lot of money under Trump's "leadership," which kind of ruins this old Bill Hicks joke.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:43 AM on April 4, 2018 [3 favorites]


As a result of two Republican administrations, Iran will enjoy a regional sphere of influence as a Russian ally all the way to the Mediterranean. That's a hell of an accomplishment.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:43 AM on April 4, 2018 [22 favorites]


Mod note: One deleted. Good morning, let's reel it back in terms of despairing/grim/wtf/these fuckers etc one-liners.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 7:54 AM on April 4, 2018 [3 favorites]


The Kurds who fought on our behalf are screwed.

To put it mildly: Erdogan's almost certainly going to take the opportunity to take care of Turkey's* Kurd problem and wipe out the PKK/YPG/YPK and allies.




* That of their reactionary right wing, anyway.
posted by Buntix at 8:01 AM on April 4, 2018 [3 favorites]


In two and a half months, since January 20, 2018, new spin, Donald Trump calling his own shots. Dow Jones down 9%. (as of 9:55 this morning, including today's 400 point drop so far). Down 11.4% from its peak.

The tax bill was the wrong stimulus at the wrong time. The fed confirmed that in early January. Amazon announcing its joint healthcare venture with JPMorgan and Berkshire Hathaway was the spark that started the selloff in healthcare that spread everywhere else (and probably why Trump is gunning for Bezos right now - the WaPo crap is a smokescreen).

Wil the Democrats point this out during the midterms? I'm not counting on it.
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:03 AM on April 4, 2018 [5 favorites]


The guy who doesn’t know the difference between Medicaid and Medicare has no clue about Amazon’s selffunded insurance plans, he’s gunning for the Post. If Bezos owned Sinclair and was coming up with new insurance structures Trump would be having him at Mar a Lago every night.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:13 AM on April 4, 2018 [53 favorites]


ICR who first explained this to me, but a detective is a salesperson with the world's shittiest product: Jail.

One source for this was Davis Simon's "Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets"
posted by runincircles at 8:21 AM on April 4, 2018 [12 favorites]


Turkey's Erdogan Says Missile Deal With Russia Is Final

Trump's strongman buddy and seekrit brocrush reach deals to put missiles and a nuclear plant in Turkey.


So....what's the procedure for ejection of a NATO member?
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:21 AM on April 4, 2018 [1 favorite]


So....what's the procedure for ejection of a NATO member?

The NATO treaty has no formal procedure for expelling a signatory.
posted by dis_integration at 8:24 AM on April 4, 2018 [3 favorites]


And now we're ceding Syria to Putin.

I'll believe that when I see it. Trump has a long history of just saying stuff that no one has any intention of enacting, and in this particular case, the people he's put in command of these decisions would much, much rather watch any number of other people's children die uselessly in Syria to maintain a pretext for a future war with Iran.
posted by Copronymus at 8:25 AM on April 4, 2018 [2 favorites]


probably why Trump is gunning for Bezos right now - the WaPo crap is a smokescreen

it may be why trump's republican handlers are not intervening in his attacks on amazon but trump is attacking bezos because the WaPo is mean to him, full stop.
posted by murphy slaw at 8:29 AM on April 4, 2018 [6 favorites]


he’s gunning for the Post.
I actually think it's War on Happy Billionaires With Real Ideas Who Refuse To Be Embarrassed By Baldness.
posted by rc3spencer at 8:29 AM on April 4, 2018 [30 favorites]


Yeah, taking Trump at his word on a demilitarizing thing seems like a bad idea:

Trump agrees to keep U.S. troops in Syria for undetermined period of time to defeat ISIS
"He wasn’t thrilled about it, to say the least," a senior administration official said.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:32 AM on April 4, 2018 [1 favorite]


So we're not withdrawing from the fight against Assad now. We never actually entered the fight against Assad.

further to this, and call it wisdom, I guess.

The reason we (America, that is) never really committed to the Syria mess is completely connected to invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the catastrophic aftermath. The Stupid Invasion, I should say, the one that history now tells us was not remotely justified. It was, as the Onion put it way back when, America declaring war on whoever it is we're declaring war against ... because something big and angry and violent had to be done to somebody (preferably brown-skinned) after 9/11. And for various stupid historical reasons that included at least one other unnecessary declaration of war, Iraq won the red ribbon.

Anyway, after all of this played out about as badly as it could have (no weapons of mass destruction found, all manner of human suffering caused, an entire nation undermined, all manner of angry people set loose in the desert etc), America etc had nothing left in the military-industrial gas tank toward getting involved in yet another complex and dirty fight in the desert, even if this one, the rebellion in Syria, may actually have had certain ingredients that made it a half-worthy problem for The World's Greatest Democracy (TM) to lend its assistance to.

The wisdom being -- don't fucking declare war just because a bunch of loud mouthed demagogues and whoever want to. It will come back and bite you.
posted by philip-random at 8:32 AM on April 4, 2018 [16 favorites]


In local Wisconsin election news, challengers with no prior elected experience won 4 of 5 contested city council seats in my small city, all progressives, 3 women, 3 under 40. And a local attorney who is a woman beat a Walker appointee (who had some slick billboards) for a county judgeship with 61% of the votes. We are typically a lonely blue spot in Western Wisconsin anyway, and none of the incumbents were horrible as far as I know, but I'm really liking this surge in progressive political energy and super-grateful to those willing to run.
posted by Leona at 8:33 AM on April 4, 2018 [59 favorites]


I've seen it theorized that Trump thinks Amazon is costing USPS money because he thinks Amazon Prime's free shipping means shipping is free for Amazon.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:33 AM on April 4, 2018 [89 favorites]


The NATO treaty has no formal procedure for expelling a signatory.

I guess the Secretary General has to keep calling Erdogan until he catches him on the john.

In all seriousness, some quick searching shows that's entirely accurate and that's kind of mind-boggling. It must be intentional, that doesn't seem like the kind of thing likely to be overlooked in setting up a treaty-based alliance.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:33 AM on April 4, 2018 [1 favorite]


Wil the Democrats point this out during the midterms? I'm not counting on it.

Elizabeth Warren has already been pointing out that Republican economic policies do little but make the rich richer. And the Trump Administration, stem to stern, has been handing its opponents plenty of ammunition for that narrative. On top of that, there's the fact that Trumponomics -- which is to say, Republican economics, now with more protectionism -- seem to be taking the wind out of the sails of a healthy economy -- just as massive tax cuts created crisis, not prosperity, in Kansas and Oklahoma.

Will the Democrats stick with tepid, Republican-lite criticism of their political opposition? Well, maybe, but to do so would be to vastly misread how deeply unpopular Trump, and Republican policy writ large, is. (After all, if Republican policies and outcomes were popular, they wouldn't have to lie about them.) Not to mention overlooking how eager the Democratic coalition is to stand in opposition to Trump and the Republicans.

Yes, Democrats have been foolishly conciliatory in the past, but this year they do not seem at all to be in a forgiving mood.
posted by Gelatin at 8:34 AM on April 4, 2018 [10 favorites]


It must be intentional, that doesn't seem like the kind of thing likely to be overlooked in setting up a treaty-based alliance.

A mutual defense treaty based on the concept that an attack on one is an attack on all is of little value if a member can be expelled just as they need help.
posted by Gelatin at 8:37 AM on April 4, 2018 [9 favorites]


I've seen it theorized that Trump thinks Amazon is costing USPS money because he thinks Amazon Prime's free shipping means shipping is free for Amazon.

Yeah, I'd be shocked if he's ever actually mailed anything himself (he's got people for that, you know) and he probably thinks the USPS is free at point of service and paid for by taxes.
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:38 AM on April 4, 2018 [13 favorites]


The US has nuclear weapons stationed at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, so that’s a fun little aspect to them remaking themselves as a Russian backed autocracy.
posted by Artw at 8:38 AM on April 4, 2018 [8 favorites]


A mutual defense treaty based on the concept that an attack on one is an attack on all is of little value if a member can be expelled just as they need help.

Indeed, but it's also of little value if a member can effectively defect during peacetime and somehow remain part of the alliance. Presumably, expulsion would require those kinds of unusual conditions -- as we're seeing now.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:40 AM on April 4, 2018 [2 favorites]


Indeed, but it's also of little value if a member can effectively defect during peacetime and somehow remain part of the alliance.

Which is why Trump's coziness with Russia and reluctance to criticize Putin is so alarming.
posted by Gelatin at 8:43 AM on April 4, 2018 [8 favorites]


The US has nuclear weapons stationed at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, so that’s a fun little aspect to them remaking themselves as a Russian backed autocracy.

Alternatively, it may be that Russian nukes are replacing US/NATO nukes in Turkey. Which doesn't do much to improve the scenario. (Except that it would be bad to lose control of them and have to bargain for their return.) Lots of editorial calling for their removal -- but only thin reporting like that.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:46 AM on April 4, 2018 [1 favorite]


It must be intentional, that doesn't seem like the kind of thing likely to be overlooked in setting up a treaty-based alliance.

It dates to a time when membership in e.g. NATO or the Warsaw Pact was as much a matter of public alignment (Capitalist vs Communist) as it was about actual defense.
posted by Slothrup at 8:47 AM on April 4, 2018 [5 favorites]


maurice: "I'm not sure what to think of this. There already was a Democratic candidate: Dana Balter. Juanita Perez Williams had previously declined an invitation to run, so I don't understand why she's getting into the race now."

There were actually three active candidates. I believe the concern is that none of the candidates have raised that much money and also I don't believe Balter has run for office before. Conventional wisdom is that Dems were missing out on a winnable district.

This is not to say that Balter can't win, etc.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:01 AM on April 4, 2018 [2 favorites]


UK government deletes tweet about Russian spy's poisoning, James Masters, Sheena McKenzie, Gianluca Mezzofiore and Katie Polglase, CNN
Britain's claim that Moscow was behind the poisoning of a former Russian spy faced fresh scrutiny Wednesday when it emerged the UK government had deleted a tweet blaming Russia for producing the nerve agent used in the attack. [...]

A Foreign Office spokesperson told CNN that the tweet was removed because it was "truncated and did not accurately report" a briefing by the British ambassador to Moscow last month.

The revelation came as the UK government was already on the defensive on the issue. On Tuesday, the chief executive of the Porton Down defense laboratory in the UK said scientists could not confirm where the nerve agent was made. The British government insisted that additional material from intelligence sources led it to the conclusion that Russia was behind the attack.

Russia, which has repeatedly denied involvement in the attack and has sought to blame Britain instead, seized on the developments. The Russian embassy in London tweeted: "Why would @foreignoffice delete this tweet from 22 March?"
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 9:05 AM on April 4, 2018 [1 favorite]


from the "winning hearts and minds" department:

OK Guv: Teachers’ Call For Funding Like ‘Teenage Kid That Wants A Better Car’
Last week, Oklahoma’s GOP-controlled legislature passed a bill that would increase the average teacher salary by about $6,000 and bring an extra $50 million for school funding, falling far short of the $200 million the teachers were asking for.

“Teachers want more, but it’s kinda like having a teenage kid that wants a better car,” Fallin told CBS correspondent Omar Villafranca.

Villafranca pointed out that “their car has been taken away over the last 10 years.”

“Well, it has been a difficult time,” Fallin responded. “And that’s why I’m very proud that this year we were able to get something done for our teachers.”

Villafranca tweeted that Fallin had also said “outside groups” were involved in the protests, including “ANTIFA,” a left-leaning anti-fascist group often disparaged by conservatives.
posted by murphy slaw at 9:14 AM on April 4, 2018 [11 favorites]


BungaDunga: "I think Trump really believes that absolutely zero trade (not zero net trade imbalance, but no trade at all) would be preferable to a 1 dollar trade imbalance in "favor" of anyone else.

I don't know what to even call this. Mercantilism, as practiced by hangry 5-year-olds?
"

Autarky.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:17 AM on April 4, 2018 [2 favorites]


Villafranca tweeted that Fallin had also said “outside groups” were involved in the protests, including “ANTIFA,” a left-leaning anti-fascist group often disparaged by conservatives.

I wish Vilafranca had asked Fallin, on the air, to prove it.
posted by Gelatin at 9:18 AM on April 4, 2018 [13 favorites]


chris24: "@Taniel 23 Wisconsin counties voted for Obama in 2012 & Trump in 2016. Rebecca Dallet won 15 of them today (10 by double-digits, the largest by 25%)."

While we're look at tea leaves, Dallet won four of eight Congressional districts, and just lost a fifth by a hair. Trump had won six of eight.

On the other hand, WI-01 (Paul Ryan) went for Screnock by 5 points.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:20 AM on April 4, 2018 [5 favorites]


...and then followed up with a list of the "outside groups" that lobby Fallin. I'm sure the usual gang of malefactors like the Koch brothers would loom large.

For pity's sake, blaming protest of the terrible outcomes of conservative policy on "outside agitators" goes back at least to the Great Depression and probably beyond. It shouldn't be mentioned by reporters except to be ridiculed as the obvious admission of any cogent response and a total lack of good faith.
posted by Gelatin at 9:24 AM on April 4, 2018 [11 favorites]


I don't know what to even call this. Mercantilism, as practiced by hangry 5-year-olds?"

Autarky


aka Juche
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:29 AM on April 4, 2018 [9 favorites]


including “ANTIFA,” a left-leaning anti-fascist group often disparaged by conservatives

Given that it hasn't been so many years since Jonah Goldberg wrote his stupid book trying to claim liberals are the real fascists, it boggles the mind that conservatives are so quick to publicly take fascism's side that way.
posted by Gelatin at 9:31 AM on April 4, 2018 [2 favorites]


Is that extra $50 million in Oklahoma education funding enough to keep schools open 5 days a week? I have a couple of college friends who teach in Oklahoma school districts that have cut down to 4-day school weeks for budget reasons.
posted by bassooner at 9:40 AM on April 4, 2018 [3 favorites]


Is that extra $50 million in Oklahoma education funding enough to keep schools open 5 days a week? I have a couple of college friends who teach in Oklahoma school districts that have cut down to 4-day school weeks for budget reasons.

Setting aside the long term damage, the short-term loss of OK productivity caused by the need for childcare and/or time off work to parent across that period almost certainly exceeded the savings in the education budget. But this is MeFi, everyone can see the idiocy here.
posted by jaduncan at 9:43 AM on April 4, 2018 [32 favorites]


“Teachers want more, but it’s kinda like having a teenage kid that wants a better car,” Fallin told CBS correspondent Omar Villafranca.

Aw! If your state's teachers weren't on strike, they'd probably be teaching rhetoric right now! Kids, this analogy is insulting because:

a) it compares public education to a fun but not strictly necessary joyride
b) it implies that students and teachers are only worth the cheapest, barely running lemon
c) I don't understand the analogy because no one can afford a car for a teenager anymore ?
posted by nakedmolerats at 9:44 AM on April 4, 2018 [63 favorites]


@MattBors: If you want a picture of the future, imagine me squinting at this cartoon, forever.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:45 AM on April 4, 2018 [12 favorites]


(...where here refers to OK political leadership, not MeFi!)
posted by jaduncan at 9:46 AM on April 4, 2018


It...plainly isn't possible for Trump to have been attacking Bezos because because of Amazon's healthcare plans three years in advance of those plans being announced;

My idea was more about Bezos spoiling the party for Trump's "See, the Dow is great - I'm doing great!" line of rhetoric.

Granted, the market was nervous and looking for *anything* to panic about, but I recall the announcement came right after a bunch of back-patting from the White House.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:46 AM on April 4, 2018


MSNBC’s Steve Schmidt warns Trump is starting to wreck the economy because he’s an ‘imbecile.
Republican strategist Steve Schmidt hammered President Donald Trump and commerce secretary Wilbur Ross for bumbling into a trade war with China — and lying about it.
posted by adamvasco at 9:51 AM on April 4, 2018 [40 favorites]


@MattBors: If you want a picture of the future, imagine me squinting at this cartoon, forever

That might be the worst thing I've ever seen. Thank you so much!
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:56 AM on April 4, 2018 [20 favorites]


From WaPo’s Jenna Johnson, An airing of grievances: Trump spends days issuing a torrent of complaints against foes. The description of the press conference is surreal:
The president continued to refer to himself in the third person: “The three presidents just told me that NATO is taking in a tremendous amount of money because of Donald Trump. That would have never happened. So NATO is much stronger.”

Trump instructed one of his guests, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, to praise him on camera, just as he said she had done privately in the Oval Office. She obliged, saying changes to NATO would not be possible without the United States and that its “vital voice and vital leadership” are important.

Trump pressed her: “And has Donald Trump made a difference on NATO?”

Those in the room laughed, as she confirmed he has made a difference. As she continued to speak, Trump cut her off.
posted by peeedro at 9:57 AM on April 4, 2018 [52 favorites]


That might be the worst thing I've ever seen

Mike Luckovich is the 2005 winner of the Reuben, the National Cartoonists Society's top award for cartoonist of the year, and is the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes; thus you are mistaken and it is a very good and fine cartoon
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 10:04 AM on April 4, 2018 [6 favorites]


Since it seems like were going there wrt the Lukovich cartoon: WTF is up with Marge/Junior? is there a connection to the sopranos im not seeing (but that is implied by the title).
Why is wiggum depicted normally. what does any of this mean?
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 10:10 AM on April 4, 2018 [9 favorites]


Okay, I know Pres. Grybauskaite is too canny to do this, but I wish she had just belted him there in front of everybody. She's a tough old broad and I adore her.
posted by orrnyereg at 10:17 AM on April 4, 2018 [5 favorites]


WTF is up with Marge/Junior? is there a connection to the sopranos im not seeing (but that is implied by the title). Why is wiggum depicted normally. what does any of this mean?

I think that's too deep. It's "Simpranos" because they're the Stupids of criminal families.

Wiggum is normal because Mueller isn't a Trump/Simprano and it's clear enough he's represented by the Chief. Don Jr. is Marge because he supports Homer/Trump's bufoonery and wants his love ('ohh homey'), it doesn't matter that Jr. is sycophantic and Marge is often disapproving. And I guess making Ivanka into Marge would've been too gross. (It's interesting that Melania isn't depicted.)
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:43 AM on April 4, 2018 [3 favorites]


Given that it hasn't been so many years since Jonah Goldberg wrote his stupid book trying to claim liberals are the real fascists, it boggles the mind that conservatives are so quick to publicly take fascism's side that way.

My Fox News watching mother was so confused when I told her that Antifa stood for anti-fascist. Her brain kind of short-circuited and she changed the subject.
posted by diogenes at 10:45 AM on April 4, 2018 [66 favorites]


Trump Is Plotting a Diabolical Budget Double-Cross
Trump and House Republicans, furious about having to work with Democrats, have concocted a scheme to renege on the deal they made, according to Roll Call. It would involve using an obscure post-Watergate law to pass legislation cutting an unspecified amount of domestic spending out of the omnibus bill. And they can do it without needing a single Democratic vote.
...
The Supreme Court ruled some of Nixon’s actions illegal, and Congress responded in 1974 with the Impoundment Control Act. If a president wants to rescind spending on a certain program, they have to notify Congress specifically, with an estimated fiscal impact and a reason for the impoundment, and then get legislative approval. Congress would have to assent to the rescission request within 45 legislative days. Importantly, rescissions cannot be filibustered, which means that Congress could approve such a request with a simple majority vote in both chambers.
...
This would result in a bait-and-switch: dealing with Democrats to secure insane amounts of funding for the military, and then turning around and reversing the domestic spending that Democrats got in the deal.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:45 AM on April 4, 2018 [47 favorites]


Cartoons that need to put labels on the people are not the best.
posted by mumimor at 10:45 AM on April 4, 2018 [20 favorites]


I can't see how the attempted budget shenanigans could get 50 votes in the Senate at this point, so it feels more like an exercise in keeping Mark Meadows happy than actual policymaking, but it is a truly maddening plot.
posted by zachlipton at 10:50 AM on April 4, 2018 [6 favorites]


Cartoons that need to put labels on the people are not the best.

I disagree. The cartoon showing Uncle Sam cradling one frightened but uninjured suit-clad man among a field of bullet-ridden bodies is great because the suit is labeled "NRA."
posted by Gelatin at 10:54 AM on April 4, 2018 [9 favorites]




“Teachers want more, but it’s kinda like having a teenage kid that wants a better car,” Fallin told CBS correspondent Omar Villafranca.


I'm sure the hordes of strikebreaker teachers streaming to Oklahoma right now will prove the point by their eagerness to take the jobs left by these entitled ingrates.
posted by ocschwar at 11:06 AM on April 4, 2018 [2 favorites]


I'm sure the hordes of strikebreaker teachers streaming to Oklahoma right now

We can just simplify that to “scab”.
posted by corb at 11:14 AM on April 4, 2018 [21 favorites]


From the Roll Call story The Nation's story about the GOP possibly impounding some of the domestic spending in the budget:
Such an effort would almost certainly make it harder for appropriators to negotiate future bipartisan spending deals. Congress has just six months to attempt to pass all 12 appropriations bills, whether individually or packaged again as an omnibus, before the start of fiscal 2019 on Oct. 1.
Plus they'd have to negotiate in some mechanism to take the impoundment maneuver out of play.

Some background on the Impoundment Act:
The Act had two main goals: (1) strengthen and centralize Congress' budget authority; (2) reduce the President's impoundment authority. The latter was done by drafting detailed guidelines restricting how the President can impound funds already appropriated by Congress. The former—which has proven the more significant of the two—was done through a variety of means. The Act created the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to give Congress independent economic analysis and end the Executive Branch's monopoly on budgetary information created by the 1921 Budget and Accounting Act.
Congress acted to curtail the Executive's impoundment authority in response to Nixon's refusal to spend $12B of appropriations. Fascinating!
posted by notyou at 11:20 AM on April 4, 2018 [4 favorites]


@realDonaldTrump
We are not in a trade war with China, that war was lost many years ago by the foolish, or incompetent, people who represented the U.S. Now we have a Trade Deficit of $500 Billion a year, with Intellectual Property Theft of another $300 Billion. We cannot let this continue!


In an inauspicious start as Director of the National Economic Council, Larry "always wrong" Kudlow has walked straight into the buzzsaw of Trump's tweets. He beclowns himself even in the safe zone that is Fox Business:

@FoxBusiness: “.@larry_kudlow: 'The @POTUS is the @POTUS... He wants to tweet, he's going to tweet. That's the way it works here.'”

@FoxBusiness: “.@larry_kudlow: 'It's an unusually good relationship between the U.S. and China and between the two heads of states and I regard that as very positive.'”

@FoxBusiness: “.@larry_kudlow on tariff announcements: 'I doubt if there'd be any concrete action for several months... Nothing concrete has actually happened. These are proposals, but the message is clear.'”

@FoxBusiness: “.@larry_kudlow on market reaction to China's tariff announcement: 'Don't overreact, we'll see how this works out... At the end of this whole process, the end of the rainbow, there's a pot of gold.'”

TNR's Jeet Heer @HeerJeet has coined the perfect term for Kudlow's outlook: “Old GOP: Voodoo Economics / New GOP: Leprechaun Economics”
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:21 AM on April 4, 2018 [53 favorites]


Leprechaunomics.
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:24 AM on April 4, 2018 [47 favorites]


The sad part is that the "pot of gold" economic argument isn't actually any dumber than its previous incarnations. It's not like this is a new low. It's the same low we've been living in for decades.
posted by diogenes at 11:26 AM on April 4, 2018 [5 favorites]


Leprenomics

Plus it can easily modified to lepronomics as the rot sets in and chunks of the economy start to collapse
posted by Existential Dread at 11:27 AM on April 4, 2018 [19 favorites]


from the "i'm not saying there are more crimes, i'm just saying you shouldn't charge them" dept.

Paul Manafort's Lawyers Are Trying To Block Mueller's Office From Indicting Him Again
Former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort is worried about being indicted again.

During arguments Wednesday about whether Manafort's lawsuit challenging special counsel Robert Mueller's appointment could go forward, Manafort's lawyer said the case wasn't about getting the existing indictments tossed out — it was about stopping future prosecutions against Manafort by the special counsel's office.

Pressed by the judge about how Manafort could sue now if he was trying to stop activity by the special counsel's office that hadn't happened yet, Manafort's lead attorney Kevin Downing argued that the harm to Manafort was ongoing because the special counsel's investigation and the grand jury were still active.

Without an order from the court stopping Mueller's office from pursuing other charges in the future — based on an appointment order that Downing contends was unlawful — Manafort would have to "sit and wait" and keep chasing the special counsel's office wherever they decided to prosecute him next in order to challenge Mueller's appointment, Downing said. He didn't specify what other types of charges he thought the special counsel might be investigating against Manafort.
i wonder how many times Downing said "hypothetically" with air-quotes during that hearing
posted by murphy slaw at 11:28 AM on April 4, 2018 [22 favorites]


The Daily Mail is reporting, kind of weirdly and over a denial, (archive link, because Daily Mail) that Brad Parscale hired Rob Porter for his company, at Trump's request, just a few days after he left the White House. In case you're somehow under some kind of delusion that the White House takes domestic abuse seriously.
posted by zachlipton at 11:35 AM on April 4, 2018 [15 favorites]


Pressed by the judge about how Manafort could sue now if he was trying to stop activity by the special counsel's office that hadn't happened yet, Manafort's lead attorney Kevin Downing argued that the harm to Manafort was ongoing because the special counsel's investigation and the grand jury were still active.

Bold strategy to invent a non-presidential pardon, but Emptywheel explains what's what with this.
posted by rhizome at 11:36 AM on April 4, 2018


TPM has more on Downing's shenanigans, including this gem:
The lawsuit initially seemed to seek that the indictments be thrown out, but Downing has since agued that that’s not what Manafort was asking for. At Wednesday’s hearing, Downing also said that he was no longer pursuing the second count — focused on Mueller himself — and that the lawsuit was just challenging the appointment order. He also said that he wasn’t challenging the entire appointment order, but a bulletpoint allowing Mueller to investigate “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation,” which Downing said violated the Administrative Procedure Act.

“Nobody challenges prosecutions under the APA,” Jackson said while questioning Downing. “Do you have case that supports this?”

Downing later said he did not know if he had such a case.

posted by murphy slaw at 11:38 AM on April 4, 2018 [5 favorites]


There's some tantalizing hints that another Manafort indictment is coming, which could explain why his lawyers are fighting this ridiculous lawsuit to try to get Mueller tossed.

Bloomberg, Jennifer Jacobs, Oracle’s Safra Catz Raises Amazon Contract Fight With Trump
Oracle Corp. chief executive Safra Catz criticized the bidding process for a huge Pentagon cloud computing contract in a private dinner with President Donald Trump on Tuesday, complaining that it seemed designed for Amazon.com Inc. to win, according to people familiar with the matter.

Trump heard her out and said he wants the contract competition to be fair, but made no indication he’d interfere in the bidding, the people said. Oracle, where Catz shares the CEO title with Mark Hurd, is competing with Amazon for the contract, a point she didn’t emphasize to Trump, the people said.
Catz was there as the guest of Peter Thiel, who got an invite to dinner at the White House because everything is terrible.
posted by zachlipton at 12:19 PM on April 4, 2018 [19 favorites]


On a completely unrelated note, Fox News also brought up the condo scandal in the same interview. Scott Pruitt lied and claimed that his condo 'rental' was 'like an airbnb'
"Like an airbnb.."

"..that was rented to me below market price by a lobbyist representing business interests that are concerned with issues which fall under the jurisdiction of the agency I head," Pruitt did not go on to add.
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:22 PM on April 4, 2018 [35 favorites]


not to dwell too much on one single comment, but it's just bizarre to read Kasich talking about how people don't 'see him as' a Republican

It's another admission how toxic the Republican brand is becoming.
posted by Gelatin at 12:24 PM on April 4, 2018 [21 favorites]


I can't see how the attempted budget shenanigans could get 50 votes in the Senate at this point, so it feels more like an exercise in keeping Mark Meadows happy than actual policymaking, but it is a truly maddening plot.

Who on the R side will vote against it? Collins and Murkowski only vote against Republican orthodoxy when they are given hall passes to do so by McConnell. Corker and Flake grumble loudly about the President and then vote with him consistently. Rand Paul will spit rhetorical fire about the overreach and the violation of principles, get some small kickback, then announce that he is now satisfied and on board. And this assumes that the likes of Heitkamp and Manchin will not waver.

It is very dirty pool. But show me a modern Republican with a modicum of dignity and scruples.
posted by delfin at 12:24 PM on April 4, 2018 [8 favorites]


is testing out 'not really a Republican-type Republican' as his brand,

People getting too fat off Full Flavored Racism and they want to go back to Diet Racism.
posted by Talez at 12:26 PM on April 4, 2018 [32 favorites]


complaining that it seemed designed for Amazon.com Inc. to win, according to people familiar with the matter.


it couldn't possibly be that amazon has dedicated environments for federal hosting and oracle's cloud computing offering is the laughingstock of the portion of the industry that realizes it even exists
posted by murphy slaw at 12:27 PM on April 4, 2018 [41 favorites]


is testing out 'not really a Republican-type Republican' as his brand

America's most unconventional potential 2020 ticket spent the afternoon teasing the political world
The rumored 2020 "unity" ticket for president stirred the pot on Monday, fueling some renewed speculation about a pair of term-limited governors' plans for the presidential election.

Since last summer, Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Democratic Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper have been rumored to be considering the cross-party ticket, which would feature Kasich at the top and Hickenlooper as his running mate. The two have frequently appeared side by side to focus on influencing the national healthcare debate.
posted by mcdoublewide at 12:31 PM on April 4, 2018 [2 favorites]


Don't let Kasich fool you into thinking he's centrist. He's quite conservative. He's just not a traitor. Non-traitorous right conservatism is obviously preferably to traitorous ethnonationalism but it isn't centrist!
posted by Justinian at 12:37 PM on April 4, 2018 [72 favorites]


I can't see how "i'm a member of the asshole party and completely willing to use the funds and infrastructure of the asshole party to get elected president, but i am not, personally, an asshole" is going to be a win when the republican party requires the 30% guaranteed asshole vote to even get elected dogcatcher
posted by murphy slaw at 12:37 PM on April 4, 2018 [25 favorites]


I'm having a hard time getting past the sheer brazen gall of "One of the major parties is lining up behind a racist, corrupt and deeply stupid toddler-man who threatens to destroy all our institutions of government, so clearly we need a unity party. Yes, obviously a member of the Racist Corrupt Stupid Toddler Party should be in charge."
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:41 PM on April 4, 2018 [32 favorites]


Since last summer, Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Democratic Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper have been rumored to be considering the cross-party ticket, which would feature Kasich at the top and Hickenlooper as his running mate.

No. The Republicans don't get to atone for starting an unnecessary and disastrous war in Iraq, creating the conditions for the worst recession since the Great Depression, stealing a Supreme Court seat, and then saddling the nation with Trump, among many more sins, by getting the top of the ticket -- the one who gets to appoint SCOTUS judges.

If Kasich wants to distance himself from the Republican Party, let him run for Veep. But there's no reason a Democrat should let him on the ticket at all -- Kasich may well want to appeal to NeverTrump Republicans, and good on him if he helps split the Republican vote in 2020, but the Democrats who turned out to the Women's March and the many marches since aren't going to be in the mood to elect any Republican at all, nor a Democrat who would join one on a ticket in either slot.
posted by Gelatin at 12:41 PM on April 4, 2018 [39 favorites]


Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Democratic Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper have been rumored to be considering the cross-party ticket

Their slogan can be "Mr. President, respectfully Sir, I take great umbrage with that remark."
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:42 PM on April 4, 2018 [11 favorites]


The thing about Manafort doesn’t make sense to me. Are his lawyers arguing that the ongoing investigation is harming their client, and so there shouldn’t be more indictments against him?
posted by gucci mane at 12:43 PM on April 4, 2018 [3 favorites]


That's illustrative of his approach across the board: speak politely, govern conservatively. Any ticket he's on would necessarily not truly be a 'unity' ticket.

And given the way the Executive is structured, the presence of a Democrat in the VP slot would have exactly zero effect on what bills Kasich (or any Republican, for that matter) signs, who he nominates to judgeships (including but not limited to SCOTUS), or who he appoints to the cabinet. Look at the wrecking crew Trump brought on board (including but not limited to Pruitt).

Shame on Hickenlooper for endorsing such a weak stunt. He may get on TV and invited to speak at cushy conferences, and maybe that's all he wants, but Democrats should do nothing for Republicans but give them more and more rope -- with an anchor at the end.
posted by Gelatin at 12:50 PM on April 4, 2018 [16 favorites]


@ErinBurnett:
Trump voter and Iowa hog farmer Tim Schmidt tells me Chinese tariffs will cost him $35k/year. 3,700 jobs at risk in his county alone. If tariffs don’t change, says his vote at risk.

---

$35,000 and still not sure he'd change his vote. Racism is a helluva drug.
posted by chris24 at 12:52 PM on April 4, 2018 [105 favorites]


Also the one way that the Vice President isn't useless, tiebreaking in the Senate, would put him completely at odds with the President's legislative agenda unless he was not actually voting as a Democrat. A unity ticket at a time when the parties are farther apart on fundamentals than any time in recent history is ridiculous.
posted by murphy slaw at 12:54 PM on April 4, 2018 [15 favorites]


I'm not sure mefites really need a hard sell on "don't vote for a Republican"
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:57 PM on April 4, 2018 [18 favorites]


I must note that Mike Luckovich has published better-drawn and better-thought-out cartoons lately. The ugly Simpsons/Trumps hybrid was mostly intentional, but the Sopranos reference at the bottom just seemed randomly tossed in. And in depicting 'the family', he could've shown one of the sons as Maggie sucking a pacifier, while the First Lady stands far in the background. And using Chief Wiggum for Mueller is a sure sign Luckovich doesn't watch the show - I can't think of a good authority figure on The Simpsons, but Wiggum isn't it. Any time a good political cartoonist does a panel so easily deconstructed, it's not a good sign. And I expected Matt Bors (editor of The Nib) to be more discerning.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:59 PM on April 4, 2018 [3 favorites]


I'm getting a split the vote for a 2nd term vibe. Is this tour being funded by the Mercer family?
posted by cmfletcher at 12:59 PM on April 4, 2018 [1 favorite]


I'm not sure mefites really need a hard sell on "don't vote for a Republican"

Of course not, but "bipartisanship" is such a fetish with the so-called "liberal media" -- bipartisanship being defined, of course, as "Democrats agree to what Republicans want" -- that the harebrained idea of a "unity ticket" gets way too much attention on PBS, NPR, and the NYT op-ed pages. More than a few lurkers have mentioned that they get ideas and talking points from these threads, so the more ridicule the "unity ticket" idea meets in its nascent stages, the better.
posted by Gelatin at 1:01 PM on April 4, 2018 [18 favorites]


You guys, Kasichlooper is the condom snorting of the 2020 race. It’s not a thing, and you don’t have to worry about it.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 1:03 PM on April 4, 2018 [23 favorites]


Is the theory that a Kasich ticket wins the Republican primary or that they run third party? I don't see how the former is possible and in the latter case I don't see how it doesn't simply act as a spoiler for Trump's chances.
posted by Justinian at 1:16 PM on April 4, 2018 [2 favorites]


I think Kasich gets a non-zero bipartisan popularity boost from people confusing him with Dennis Kucinich.
posted by soren_lorensen at 1:20 PM on April 4, 2018 [11 favorites]


Yeah, I pondered if somehow the unity ticket was meant to water down Dem enthusiasm with another third-party choice (like Jill Stein in '16, but designed to appeal to moderates, which would also be an interesting presumption on the part of whosever scheme it is). But given the massive overperformance of Democratic candidates in Republican districts, it seems clear that John "I'm Not With These Guys, Honest" Kasich's backers are looking to siphon off Republican crossover votes.

Doing so might limit Democratic gains in purple districts after all, but then again, those votes won't be going for Republicans either, and they're the ones who will be needing help the next couple of election cycles.
posted by Gelatin at 1:20 PM on April 4, 2018


The kids that are protesting are embodying the greatness of America.
All we say to America is, ‘Be true to what you said on paper.’ If I lived in China or even Russia, or any totalitarian country, maybe I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges, because they hadn’t committed themselves to that over there. But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of the press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right.
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Mountaintop Speech," April 3, 1968
Full speech; text
posted by kirkaracha at 1:24 PM on April 4, 2018 [38 favorites]


Oh FFS. Kasich is NOT a moderate! (Joanna Walters, The Guardian) Authoritarianism with a smiley face is still authoritarianism. (I know this is preaching to the MeFite choir, but can I hope the mainstream media and the NPR totebaggers pick this up?)

I like to think that a "Reasonable John" ticket would just siphon off Republican votes and clear the field for Gillibrand/Harris 2020.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 1:31 PM on April 4, 2018 [2 favorites]


Kasich has no chance of winning the Republican nomination, and all an independent run would do is split the vote away from Trump or Pence, so I wish him every success!
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:34 PM on April 4, 2018 [5 favorites]


Yeah, Kasich has no chance to win with his whole Eeyore "aw shucks, well I guess I may as well run for president" schtick, but maybe he can split the R vote?

So a thing I think it's super important to remember is that there is still a primary even if there is a sitting President. Even though historically if the president has wanted to run, he usually doesn't have a lot of serious competition, I would not assume it was the case this time.

So any Republican running at the top of the ticket is essentially attempting to primary Trump - not necessarily hoping to win, themselves, but hoping to throw Trump off the possibility of a second term. This is most useful not for 'Who should Mefites Vote For In The General Election', but more 'Who should I Vote For In Open Republican Primaries'? Because we /all/ would benefit if Trump weren't able to run for a second term.
posted by corb at 1:38 PM on April 4, 2018 [18 favorites]


Who the heck is going to pay for this Unity Ticket thing?

Bloomberg/Hickenlooper is more likely.

And I don't think that's likely, either.
posted by notyou at 1:41 PM on April 4, 2018


I think ~20 reaction posts to the Kasichlooper ticket, with no new information, is probably enough.
posted by runcibleshaw at 1:43 PM on April 4, 2018 [26 favorites]


That's what's so interesting about the tack Kasich seems to be taking: he's (apparently, possibly) testing the waters for a 'Not Really A Republican (Please Vote)' run rather than the 'Really A True Republican (Unlike Trump)' route that one might expect given his anti-Trump run '16.

As a potential bellweather for how the '18 campaigns will go (not the votes, but the actual campaigns), it's morbidly fascinating and feels illustrative of how far right the Republican party has gone in only the last few years.


This is pretty much how Republicans campaign in Illinois. Nary a mention of the party affiliation in any signage or pamphleting in Chicago. Barely even on their websites. I end up checking on wikipedia when a candidate is in the news because there I know where I can find the party affiliation.
posted by srboisvert at 1:45 PM on April 4, 2018 [2 favorites]


corb: So any Republican running at the top of the ticket is essentially attempting to primary Trump - not necessarily hoping to win, themselves, but hoping to throw Trump off the possibility of a second term.

I wasn't old enough to vote in 1980, but I remember Teddy Kennedy trying to primary sitting Democratic President Jimmy Carter. It wasn't the (only) reason Carter lost to Reagan, but such a step showed that Carter had sufficient weakness with Democrats at large that a primary was thought of, because usually the incumbent is the default candidate.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 1:48 PM on April 4, 2018 [4 favorites]


The Stupid Invasion, I should say, the one that history now tells us was not remotely justified.

No. History does not even come into play. Everyone who wasn't high, dumb, Republican, Libertarian, or new to one of the above knew that evil rush-to-war was not remotely justified. But dig this big crux okay, we - all of us here commiserating under The Blue™ feel like we've been on a steady regimen of Crazy Pills since . . . At least two years ago, maybe more.

Looking back across the relative gauzy sweetness of The McConnell Usurpation years brings us to the grim shores of Bush the Jr., where crazy pills were weaponized and mass distributed. Although it's almost two goddamn decades now (holy shitsnacks), Bush the W was a horrific chimera of democracy, similarly foisted upon us by spurious circumstances and high strangeness.

Don't give up - Cheney's Iraq Fuckery was never justified, never OK, and never unsuspected. Neither is Fred Christ Trump's errant spoogeclown or his vainglorious abandon. It's not the case that history will inform us of anything we don't already know - it will only add details and include an autoplaying video of these greatest shits.

Before taking crazy pills, ask your doctor. Side effects of crazy pills can include vodka leakage, irritability, Fox News, the thundering realization that even Sarah Shit You Not Pailin would have been a better president, involuntary ice cream snarfing, bruxing, mild questioning of purpose, and spontaneous decrapitation. Crazy pills may not be right for everyone, but here we fuckin' are
posted by petebest at 1:50 PM on April 4, 2018 [30 favorites]


GOP delenda est. Their time as a legitimate political party is over. America has gone through shifts in the two-party system before and can again.

The few remaining Republican leaders who have any sense of decency and patriotism, like, it seems, Kasich, can and should start looking forward to the post-GOP era. In previous changes of the two-party system, when the nonviable party collapsed, the remaining dominant party fractured into two wings which became the new dominant parties. (For example, see Wikipedia on the First Party System and the subsequent party systems.) This seems likely to happen again, with the left and right wings of the Democratic party forming two new parties. Maybe the DSA will go mainstream and capture the left wing of the Democrats, leaving the core party structure to move rightward and soak up politicians like Kasich. Or maybe the right wing of the party will separate off into something new, forming alliances with former Republicans like Kasich and leaving the core party structure to move leftward.

If the American political system survives the next decade more or less intact, I think it will be without the GOP. (Put more darkly, if the GOP continues to be a major force for much longer, I don't think American democracy can survive.) But conservatism will remain, and conservatives will find a new political voice. Kasich restyling himself as a "Republican who's not really a Republican" seems like a recognition of this fact, and maybe the first hints of an attempt to build the post-GOP conservative party. I can't abide his politics myself, but if he and others like him help give conservatives a sense that they aren't forever bound to the GOP, and thus helps hasten its demise, that's good for America.

Of course if the GOP, Fox News and other right-wing propaganda machines, and Donald Trump manage to cling to enough electoral success for long enough, they'll have enough time to dismantle the remaining political and governmental systems we've relied on for at least a century, and then all bets are off. The only way to guarantee the necessary destruction of the Republican party and its replacement with something better (or at least less bad) is for the Democrats to have overwhelming electoral success in 2018 and 2020, at every level of government. The numerous posts from people in these threads participating in get-out-the-vote efforts like Postcards to Voters gives me a lot of hope that we can do it.
posted by biogeo at 1:54 PM on April 4, 2018 [24 favorites]


If the Trump campaign was thinking strategically they might encourage a never-Trump primary challenger. This would allow them to extend his campaign season and increase his tv coverage instead of ceding all the airtime and excitement to the democratic primary. If they were really smart they would emulate other autocratic regimes and field a neutered and subservient challenger to act as a foil, decoy, and anti-Democratic attack dog, plus give one more person for Trump to brag that he defeated to get where he is.
posted by peeedro at 1:56 PM on April 4, 2018 [3 favorites]


NEWSru (via Google Translate), The Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanded comments from the State Department on the fact of blocking accounts of the "troll factory" in Facebook
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation demanded official comments from the US authorities after the founder of the social network Facebook Mark Zuckerberg announced the decision to block accounts controlled by the Russian Agency for Internet Research, which is called the "troll factory" in the press.

As official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said during the briefing, they want to hear "official comments on the State Department line" at the Foreign Ministry. Response actions of the Russian authorities will be undertaken after studying "relevant statements, assessments and comments," she explained.
So they're not even bothering to pretend this wasn't a state-sanctioned operation anymore? Russia is just straight up complaining to the State Department that Facebook is blocking their trolls.

The article goes on to say that Russia will launch an English language news service called (I am not kidding this is really what it's called, they spell it out in English in the original article) "USA Really. Wake Up Americans," which will focus on "the promotion of information and problems that are hushed up by major American publications controlled by the political elite of the United States."
posted by zachlipton at 2:00 PM on April 4, 2018 [64 favorites]


CNN, Exclusive: Mueller's team questioning Russian oligarchs
Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has taken the unusual step of questioning Russian oligarchs who traveled into the US, stopping at least one and searching his electronic devices when his private jet landed at a New York area airport, according to multiple sources familiar with the inquiry.

A second Russian oligarch was stopped during a recent trip to the US, although it is not clear if he was searched, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Mueller's team has also made an informal voluntary document and interview request to a third Russian oligarch who has not traveled to the US recently.

The situations have one thing in common: Investigators are asking whether wealthy Russians illegally funneled cash donations directly or indirectly into Donald Trump's presidential campaign and inauguration.
posted by zachlipton at 2:08 PM on April 4, 2018 [60 favorites]


CNBC: John Bolton Runs Into Potential Ethics Issues Before He Becomes Trump’s National Security Advisor
John Bolton, who is days away from becoming President Donald Trump's national security advisor, has been meeting with White House attorneys about possible conflicts of interest, CNBC has learned.

The exact sticking points for Bolton are unclear, but ethics experts say the appearance of a possible future role for Bolton with an entity such as a political action committee could be a cause for concern for White House officials. Bolton's PAC and super PAC, which are no longer receiving or spending capital, have been financial players in the early going of the midterm election cycle.[...]

Ethics attorneys outside the administration are skeptical about Bolton's two PACs, the John Bolton PAC and Super PAC, not officially shutting down. A PAC is a committee that collects contributions to spend for or against certain campaigns. A super PAC, meanwhile, cannot spend on a particular candidate, but it is allowed to spend and raise unlimited amounts of money on independent entities that could sway elections, such as partisan television and digital advertisements.[...]

The groups' decision not to close could reflect an ongoing legal inquiry. According to the FEC's rules and regulations, a PAC cannot shut down if they are involved with any type of official litigation or enforcement action.

The FEC declined to acknowledge whether it is investigating Bolton's super PAC.
Bolton is scheduled to start next Monday. Call your members of Congress.
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:11 PM on April 4, 2018 [16 favorites]


I have to assume Mueller is not simply profiling wealthy Russian folk and has some evidence these individuals are connected to the inquiry. This is very promising.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:11 PM on April 4, 2018 [24 favorites]


If they were really smart they would emulate other autocratic regimes and field a neutered and subservient challenger to act as a foil, decoy, and anti-Democratic attack dog, plus give one more person for Trump to brag that he defeated to get where he is.

Hey, it's not like Chris Christie is doing anything that would keep him from being kicked around for another 6 months.
posted by Copronymus at 2:20 PM on April 4, 2018 [2 favorites]


"Did the Trump Organization offer to sell real estate to you at massively inflated prices through untraceable Cayman Islands shell companies, and then return half of the money to you?"
"Da."
*checks box*
"Did the money for this transaction come from illegal and frightening international operations?"
"Da."
*checks box*
"Thank you, fly through."
posted by petebest at 2:20 PM on April 4, 2018 [14 favorites]


@BrettPransky
Soybeans are Ohio's #1 cash crop.

Ohio soybean farmers lost $1.72 billion in crop value this morning alone, after a $.40/bushel drop.

It was entirely preventable.

A party is owed your allegiance only to the extent that it represents your interests.

China to Levy 25% Tariff on Soybeans

---

Brett is the Democratic candidate for State Rep in Ohio's 77th House District.
posted by chris24 at 2:29 PM on April 4, 2018 [69 favorites]


I have to assume Mueller is not simply profiling wealthy Russian folk and has some evidence these individuals are connected to the inquiry.

CNN's reporting indicates Mueller's going after very specific targets, not trawling for oligarchs:
Late last year Mueller's team asked some witnesses if they knew of Russians who made donations directly or indirectly to the Trump campaign, sources said.

Another source added that Mueller's investigators have asked about a handful of American citizens who were born in former Soviet states and maintain ties with those countries. This person said the inquiry appeared focused on Republican fundraising and how money flows into US politics. ABC News reported in September that Mueller's team has asked questions about the timing of contributions from US citizens with ties to Russia, citing a Republican campaign aide interviewed by Mueller's team.

Trump raised $333 million for his presidential campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. His inauguration committee raised a record $106.8 million, more than twice as much as any of his predecessors. Watchdog groups have criticized the committee for not fully disclosing how it spent the inauguration funds.

Another potential source of information for Mueller's investigators is Rick Gates, a former Trump campaign deputy chairman who pleaded guilty in February to financial fraud and lying to Mueller's team. Gates worked closely with Paul Manafort, who was Trump's campaign chairman for part of 2016, and stayed on as deputy chair of Trump's inaugural committee. As part of his plea agreement Gates is required to cooperate fully with Mueller's investigators and answer all their questions.
As a high-ranking member of both the Trump campaign and inauguration committee, Gates knows where a whole cemetery's worth of bodies are buried in terms of its finances.
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:30 PM on April 4, 2018 [26 favorites]


These people think they're untouchable, and they're usually right. They may have to go through some stages of grief to get to "I can't visit my summer home in the Hamptons any more".
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:34 PM on April 4, 2018 [26 favorites]


From Proofs and Refutations's linked story, more evidence that up is down and day is night in Trumpzarroland:
Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that the president is particularly obsessed with his depiction in what he thinks of as his “hometown paper,” the New York Times, despite Haberman’s unfavorable stories.
Am I perceiving the world through an inverting lens?
posted by Mental Wimp at 2:36 PM on April 4, 2018 [3 favorites]


The Republican primary for CD5 in Colorado is getting interesting. The incumbent, Doug Lamborn, didn't attend the El Paso county assembly and one of his challengers, Owen Hill, who was just endorsed by Senator Rand Paul, won the nomination at assembly by acclamation. Hill's FB post originally spelled this as "acclimation" and failed to note that he was the only candidate participating in the caucus/assembly path to being on the ballot, as the other 4 are petitioning on to the ballot. Today a lawsuit has been brought alleging that Lamborn's campaign hired petitioners who claimed to live in CO but are actually from out of state; petition signature collectors must be residents of CO for the signatures to be legal. If the claims in the suit are substantiated, Lamborn might not make it on to the ballot.
posted by danielleh at 2:37 PM on April 4, 2018 [9 favorites]


The thing about Manafort doesn’t make sense to me. Are his lawyers arguing that the ongoing investigation is harming their client, and so there shouldn’t be more indictments against him?

Yes, laughably they are. And when these nitwits appear in real court against Mueller's Attorneys for the United States, they're roadkill on the side of the road to federal prison for their clients.
posted by mikelieman at 2:39 PM on April 4, 2018 [9 favorites]


Judge skewers Manafort's civil case challenging Mueller's powers (Reuters, via PoliticalWire)

A federal judge tore into all of the legal arguments that a lawyer for President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort made on Wednesday in his long-shot civil case to convince her that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation has run amok and should be reined in.

“I don’t really understand what is left of your case,” U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson said to Kevin Downing, Manafort’s attorney, after peppering him with a lengthy series of questions.


Mmmmmm that's good jurisprudence!
posted by petebest at 2:40 PM on April 4, 2018 [60 favorites]


Maybe it's just me but I think Maggie Haberman writes cringingly tolerant things about Trump specifically so she can keep access to him, allowing her to reveal things like the time he told the Russians in the Oval Office that Comey was a nut job and that firing him reduced pressure on Trump re the Russia enquiry, or the time he started contradicting himself and saying the Access Hollywood tape was counterfeit. She even managed to get an interview with him and clarify for the nation just how mentally unfit their head of state is. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. Trump is unwilling to take combative press conferences or interviews, so something that reveals this monstrous man is better than nothing. And I'm guessing the number of sincere Trump supporters who read the New York Times is... probably limited to Donald reading Maggie Haberman articles.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:53 PM on April 4, 2018 [7 favorites]


"Won the nomination by acclimation?" How high up is El Paso County?
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 3:05 PM on April 4, 2018 [5 favorites]


‘Roseanne’ Taping Repeatedly Interrupted By Reporters Trying To Interview Members Of White Working Class (The Onion)
LOS ANGELES—Frustrating the producers who had to keep stopping due to the steady stream of journalists walking on set, sources confirmed that a taping of a Roseanne episode was repeatedly interrupted Wednesday by reporters trying to interview members of the white working class. “We’re forced to call cut every five minutes when another New York Times reporter shows up and asks Roseanne what it’s like to be a member of the white working class who feels left behind and supports President Trump,” said director John Pasquin, adding that they had only gotten through one scene the day before because reporters from the Los Angeles Times and CNN barged in to ask John Goodman about his experience living in “real America” and whether he thinks Trump has done a good job so far.
posted by FelliniBlank at 3:05 PM on April 4, 2018 [46 favorites]


This would allow them to extend his campaign season and increase his tv coverage instead of ceding all the airtime and excitement to the democratic primary.

Oh Crikey, he's going to tweet insults and nicknames at the Democratic primary field for 14 months nonstop, isn't he.
posted by notyou at 3:07 PM on April 4, 2018


Since we were talking about that Mike Luckovich "Simpranos" cartoon linked by Matt Bors, here's tomorrow's cartoon:

Oops
posted by Surely This at 3:45 PM on April 4, 2018 [9 favorites]


Popehat: What It Means That Trump Is "Only A Subject"
The analogy I sometimes use with clients is this: if you're a target, you're walking across an open field and a sniper is shooting at you from a tower. If you're a subject, you're walking across an open field and a sniper is shooting, but not shooting at you at this particular moment. How much safer do you feel?

Robert Mueller is rather by-the-book. Even when his goals are aggressive, his methodology is not envelope-pushing — he is meticulous about seeking judicial approval in the form of warrants and court orders. Some have speculated that he's classifying Trump as a subject only because Trump can't be indicted while in office and therefore can't be a target. That logic strikes me as fanciful: no court has held that a sitting President can't be indicted, Mueller has not said or done anything to indicate he holds that constrained view of his powers, and Mueller's more likely to take a conservative read of the U.S. Attorney's manual and warn Trump if he's a target under any theory without applying such concealed logic.

Given Mueller's caution (applying for judicial approval whenever necessary) and standard methodology (developing the case through subpoenas and interviews, catching suspects in lies and using those lies to flip them as cooperators, steadily indicting new defendants as they become vulnerable), the most reasonable explanation is that he means what he says — Trump is a subject. That doesn't mean he's made a determination that Trump won't be indicted, or that it's unlikely he'll be indicted, or that he hasn't committed crimes or wrongdoing. It doesn't reflect a judgment on whether there has been a crime. It means he's not there yet. Calling Trump a subject is completely consistent with continuing to pursue evidence that would move Trump into the target column. It doesn't reduce Trump's exposure at all. It doesn't change the dilemmas his godforsaken criminal defense lawyers face. It doesn't reduce the manifest dangers of him making a statement to Mueller. It doesn't stop the process or the process stories or the steady rolling-up of Trump associates for various crimes and foolishness.
Marcy Wheeler: MUELLER TELLS GUY WHO LEGALLY CAN’T BE A TARGET THAT HE’S NOT A TARGET, PERHAPS IN A BID TO MAKE HIM LEGALLY TARGETABLE
All of which is to say we may be looking at a public report saying that Trump should be impeached just as Republicans attempt to keep Congress.

Even as some of Mueller’s 17+ prosecutors write that up (by my estimate, only Watergate prosecutor James Quarles has been working the Trump obstruction full time), the rest will continue to roll out evidence — possibly in the form of very inflammatory indictments — of what Trump was trying to obstruct.

Effectively, I think Mueller is giving the GOP Congress a choice. They impeach Trump on the less inflammatory stuff,which will remove all threat of firing and/or pardons to threaten the investigation, not to mention make Trump eligible to be a target for the actual election conspiracy he tried to cover up. Or after they fail to hold the House while explaining why they’re covering up for Trump’s cover up, they will face a more serious inquiry relating to Trump’s involvement in the election conspiracy.
posted by T.D. Strange at 3:52 PM on April 4, 2018 [39 favorites]


This is fine.

Pentagon: Russia Tested Nuclear-Powered Cruise Missile Twice (Bill Gertz, Washington Free Beacon)
U.S. intelligence agencies monitored two Russian tests of an experimental nuclear-powered cruise missile in recent months and found both tests failed to demonstrate the novel use of a reactor to fuel long-range flight, according to Pentagon officials.

The two flight tests were conducted in the Russian arctic, including one in November on the island of Novaya Zemlya, the location of a Russian air base and nuclear testing site.

During both tests, the nuclear power source failed to ignite. "Both times it didn't light," one defense official said.[…]

Missile experts said flight testing an active nuclear reactor is dangerous.

"If the missile had ignited and then failed, they would have had a disaster on their hands," said former Pentagon nuclear weapons expert Mark Schneider.

"My view is that this weapon is insane," Schneider said. "It is going to cause a nuclear disaster in testing. What do they plan to do? Dump it into the deep ocean at the end of a successful test? Even if they can soft land it with parachutes, the reactor will melt down because it won't have any cooling."

Mitigating the effects of a nuclear reactor meltdown would be are very difficult.

"There would be significant radiation release," Schneider said. "Depending where the wind was blowing, it might end up in Eastern and Western Europe. In my view Russia should be subject to serious economic sanctions for this system and Status 6."

The Status 6 is a developmental Russian underwater drone submarine armed with a huge nuclear warhead.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 3:56 PM on April 4, 2018 [25 favorites]


If the Trump campaign was thinking strategically they might encourage a never-Trump primary challenger.

Even though Trump hates being President, he enjoyed running for President. It gave him the chance to be the star of (what was effectively) a reality TV series. I have no idea whether it would be strategically sound for him to be challenged, but I bet he would relish the idea of doing the Republican primaries again. And let's be frank: leaning on a podium and belittling people is really playing to his strengths.
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:57 PM on April 4, 2018 [9 favorites]


Since we were talking about that Mike Luckovich "Simpranos" cartoon linked by Matt Bors, here's tomorrow's cartoon: Oops

So apparently he's a competent cartoonist and The Simpranos was just a weird outlier.

I am disappoint.
posted by Atom Eyes at 4:06 PM on April 4, 2018 [3 favorites]


Even though Trump hates being President, he enjoyed running for President.

Enjoys running for president. He literally started his reelection campaign on Inauguration Day.
("unusually early for an incumbent President of the United States")
posted by kirkaracha at 4:08 PM on April 4, 2018 [7 favorites]


Andrew Cuomo today apparently ended the IDC, something he claimed for 8 years to be unable to do. After the IDC gerrymandered the NY Senate for Republicans. And only now that IDC members are finally facing primary challengers.

Cynthia Nixon is on it.

Between Feinstein and Cuomo, our two flagship liberal states are not remotely getting the job done in the Trump era. But this is why primaries from the left are necessary. They work.
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:15 PM on April 4, 2018 [34 favorites]


our two flagship liberal states are not remotely getting the job done in the Trump era
This seems like an overreaction to me.
posted by cybertaur1 at 4:23 PM on April 4, 2018 [24 favorites]


Yeahhh, California's Congressional delegation is the best is in the nation. Our other senator is Kamala Harris and a few of our Reps are Adam Schiff, Ted Lieu, and Maxine Waters. From contiguous districts.
posted by Justinian at 4:27 PM on April 4, 2018 [50 favorites]


Things were so quiet and then Boom. NYT, Witness in Mueller Inquiry Who Advises U.A.E. Ruler Also Has Ties to Russia
A witness who is cooperating in the special counsel investigation, George Nader, has connections to both the Persian Gulf states and Russia and may have information that links two important strands of the inquiry together, interviews and records show.

Mr. Nader’s ties to the United Arab Emirates are well documented — he is an adviser to its leader — but the extent of his links to Russia have not been previously disclosed.

Mr. Nader, a Lebanese-American businessman, has a catalog of international connections that paved the way for numerous meetings with White House officials that have drawn the attention of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. For example, Mr. Nader used his longstanding ties to Kirill Dmitriev, the manager of a state-run Russian investment fund, to help set up a meeting in the Seychelles between Mr. Dmitriev and a Trump adviser days before Donald J. Trump took office.

Separately, investigators have asked witnesses about a meeting Mr. Nader attended in 2017 at the office of a New York hedge fund manager, where he was joined by Jared Kushner and Stephen K. Bannon, who at the time were both senior advisers to Mr. Trump.
...
Mr. Nader’s dealings with Russia date at least to 2012, when he helped broker a controversial $4.2 million deal for the government of Iraq to buy Russian weapons. At the time, he was an informal adviser to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq, and he accompanied Mr. Maliki to Moscow in September 2012 to sign the arms deal at a meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

The deal was canceled shortly after because of concerns about corruption, and a spokesman for the prime minister said it would be renegotiated.
posted by zachlipton at 4:42 PM on April 4, 2018 [28 favorites]


Yeahhh, California's Congressional delegation is the best is in the nation. Our other senator is Kamala Harris and a few of our Reps are Adam Schiff, Ted Lieu, and Maxine Waters. From contiguous districts.

Kudos also to Eric Swalwell (CA-15), who has definitely been fighting the good fight every day.
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:53 PM on April 4, 2018 [9 favorites]


If, in anticipation of more U.A.E. dirt coming out, you want to get up to speed, I very much recommend Dexter Filkin's New Yorker piece on Mohammed bin Salman. It's the best backgrounder I've found on all the crazy shit going on with Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Qatar and Yemen, and includes lots of fun (by which I mean horrifying) scenes of Jared Kushner diplomacy. The glowing orb makes a cameo.
posted by neroli at 5:06 PM on April 4, 2018 [16 favorites]


Andrew Cuomo today apparently ended the IDC, something he claimed for 8 years to be unable to do. After the IDC gerrymandered the NY Senate for Republicans. And only now that IDC members are finally facing primary challengers.

The final version of the New York State budget is negotiated by the governor and the majority leaders of the state Senate and Assembly. The budget negotiation process for the coming year concluded on the last day of March, four days ago.

If the IDC did not exist, these negotiations would have been carried out between Cuomo and two Democrats, one of them a woman. Instead, it was carried out between Cuomo, a Democrat, a Republican, and the head of the IDC, all of them men.

If Cuomo gave a single damn about anything but his own personal agenda, he could have stopped this by making this anti-IDC declaration, oh, any time in the last three months while the budgets were being drafted. He didn't, because it was more convenient for him this way, and damn what the people actually voted for.
posted by showbiz_liz at 5:19 PM on April 4, 2018 [29 favorites]


from the "full support of the president" dept.

White House: ‘The President’s Not’ OK With Pruitt’s Apartment Deal
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday that President Donald Trump was “not” OK with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s below-market-rate townhouse lease with a lobbyist power couple, and that the White House was reviewing the situation.

In a press briefing, Fox News Radio’s John Decker called the arrangement “swamp-like” and asked: “Why is the President OK with this?”

“The President’s not,” Sanders replied. “We’re reviewing the situation. When we have had the chance to have a deeper dive on it we’ll let you know the outcomes of that, but we’re currently reviewing that here at the White House.”

“Does the President have confidence in the EPA administrator at this point?” Decker asked.

“The President thinks that he’s done a good job, particularly on the deregulation front,” Sanders said. “But again, we take this seriously we’re looking into it. We’ll let you know when we finish.”
The president's recent comments called in to question whether he remembered who Pruitt was, but this may prove to be the kind of reminder that Pruitt may not find to his advantage.
posted by murphy slaw at 5:22 PM on April 4, 2018 [11 favorites]


Speaking of Mohammed bin Salman: when I woke up this morning I saw on Instagram that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had gone to Rupert Murdoch’s mansion in LA to have a meeting with bin Salman, Morgan Freeman, James Cameron, and others. His Instagram post was really weird. Here’s a Business Insider post about it.
posted by gucci mane at 5:37 PM on April 4, 2018 [10 favorites]


So this "caravan" walking through Mexico sounded a bit off & now I know why. It's a periodic human rights march called Via Crucis (Stations of the Cross) sponsored by Pueblo Sin Fronteras (Town Without Borders). While some (300 of 1500) marchers plan on entering the US & asking for asylum, most will try to stay in Mexico. As far as is known none of the marchers plan on sneaking in & living here illegally.
posted by scalefree at 5:43 PM on April 4, 2018 [36 favorites]


(Hat tip to the inimitable Jim Acosta for the lead on Via Crucis.)
posted by scalefree at 5:54 PM on April 4, 2018 [4 favorites]


"Soybeans are Ohio's #1 cash crop. ... China to Levy 25% Tariff on Soybeans"

The big chatter on Illinois wonk blogs and politics blogs today is the 25% soybeans tariff (Illinois is the #1 producer -- and 1/3 are exported to China), along with the 15% tariff on ethanol (#3 producer), and 25% tariff on hogs (#4 producer) . It doesn't tend to get reported in the WSJ (because agricultural commodities are boring!), but soybean futures saw 7x their normal trading on CBOT (corn and hogs similar), and dropped more than 5%.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:59 PM on April 4, 2018 [14 favorites]


This is real. There's video.

@PatrickSvitek:
Woman in Austin last night apparently asked Cruz to "pledge to submit to a DNA test to prove that you're human."

Cruz: "Well, m'am, thank you for that, & 1 of the great things about our democratic system is we can treat each other w/ respect & civility."
posted by scalefree at 6:43 PM on April 4, 2018 [41 favorites]


Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had gone to Rupert Murdoch’s mansion in LA to have a meeting with bin Salman
Considering his WWE background, it seemed a 'heel turn' was inevitable.
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:46 PM on April 4, 2018 [9 favorites]


One of the other great things about our democratic system is that we're not legally required to if we don't think the person we're talking to merits it.
posted by biogeo at 6:48 PM on April 4, 2018 [13 favorites]


Holy shit, that New Yorker article. Holy shit. Tech bros disrupting the Middle East, moving fast and breaking things.

And fucking SCL Group working with M.B.S. and the U.A.E.?

And now the Rock is their next fucking candidate?

ITS ALL SO DUMB

THIS DUMB FUCKING TIMELINE MY GOD
posted by schadenfrau at 6:50 PM on April 4, 2018 [63 favorites]


There was a delightful former Trump economic advisor - I missed her name - on the radio this evening, and as far as I could decode her rather hard-to-follow arguments:

* The WTO is staunchly anti-American because
* It tries to help developing nations
* Previous administrations have caved into China. it's chaos and infamy
* There's always been a trade war, and the US has always lost it
* These are not tit-for-tat tariffs, and
* These are tit-for-tat tariffs (she rather lost me here)
* Sure, some sectors are going to see some temporary inconvenience
* Global economic growth over the past 20 years of trade agreements is bollocks (I forget the phrasing, but you get the idea)

I look forward to seeing how this plays as farms close and markets take fright. In a rather interesting coincidence, the UK department of fishing, farming and country frolics has decided that it's comfortable with 25 percent of farms going bankrupt as a result of Brexit, which is also going to be entertaining as the fishermen and farmers bought into the 'Brexit is magic, you'll all do very well' line. (The fishermen have already been told they're not getting what was promised, exactly as everyone who can tell a quota from a koala predicted would happen.)
posted by Devonian at 6:52 PM on April 4, 2018 [23 favorites]


Btw, there is an active thread about the New York IDC.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:53 PM on April 4, 2018 [3 favorites]


(Town Without Borders)

In this context, 'pueblo' is probably best translated as 'people' (or 'peoples') (without borders).
posted by AwkwardPause at 7:18 PM on April 4, 2018 [10 favorites]


Context for the Ted Cruz thing: It wasn't asked as a one-off joke like one might assume, but rather after she (the questioner) talked about the Obamacare exchanges, and how Cruz supports high-risk pools that would basically kill someone like her, with her pre-existing conditions. So think venom, not just trollishness. (Metaphorical venom, not the kind Cruz secretes prior to devouring prey.)
posted by InTheYear2017 at 7:39 PM on April 4, 2018 [52 favorites]




Because why not, A fierce opponent of the Endangered Species Act is picked to oversee Interior’s wildlife policy (WaPo):
Susan Combs, a former Texas state official who compared proposed endangered species listings to “incoming Scud missiles” and continued to fight the Endangered Species Act after she left government, now has a role in overseeing federal wildlife policy.
...
Combs is a rancher and former Texas comptroller with strong ties to the oil industry whose politics align with efforts to weaken the law. As comptroller, she fought the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service repeatedly over its attempts to enforce the Endangered Species Act in the state. In a 2015 report, the Austin American-Statesman showed how Combs worked to remove endangered protections for a native state songbird, the golden-cheeked warbler, claiming that its listing hurt military readiness.

Following a successful bid to keep a tiny lizard off the endangered list in 2012, Combs hailed the decision as a victory for state jobs and the national energy economy.
It also appears Zinke made this appointment out of spite because her nomination to a more senior, Senate-confirmed position is being blocked by Bill Nelson over inadequate offshore gulf drilling assurances.
posted by peeedro at 8:05 PM on April 4, 2018 [26 favorites]


So as a knock-on effect of Facebook changing things in light of the Cambridge Analytica debacle, apparently Tinder was having some issues today.
posted by Archelaus at 8:10 PM on April 4, 2018 [2 favorites]


so what you’re saying is that donald trump’s campaign is indirectly responsible for millions of people not getting laid tonight.

it’s an election year, how can we use this
posted by murphy slaw at 8:54 PM on April 4, 2018 [13 favorites]


So this "caravan" walking through Mexico sounded a bit off & now I know why

NYT has a good story ‘You Hate America!’: How ‘the Caravan’ Story Exploded on the Right, in which this got so far away from the facts it was too much even for someone from Breitbart:
The sensationalization of this story and others like it seems to serve a common purpose for Mr. Trump and other immigration hard-liners: to highlight the twin dangers of freely roving migrants — especially those from Muslim countries — and lax immigration laws that grant them easy entry into Western nations.

The narrative on the right this week, for example, mostly omitted that many people in the caravan planned to resettle in Mexico, not the United States. And it ignored how many of those who did intend to come here would probably go through the legal process of requesting asylum at a border checkpoint — something miles of new wall and battalions of additional border patrol would not have stopped.

“They end up in schools on Long Island, some of which are MS-13!” declared Brian Kilmeade on the president’s preferred morning news program, “Fox & Friends,” referring to the predominantly Central American gang.

The coverage became so distorted that it prompted a reporter for Breitbart News who covers border migration, Brandon Darby, to push back. “I’m seeing a lot of right media cover this as ‘people coming illegally’ or as ‘illegal aliens.’ That is incorrect,” he wrote on Twitter. “They are coming to a port of entry and requesting refugee status. That is legal.”
Sending soldiers to the border is irrelevant to those who are applying for asylum; they're coming to present themselves to US officials, not enter undetected. In today's press conference, Sec. Nielsen seemed to indicate that's where the next attacks on immigrants will come, continuing to make it harder to claim asylum, a process Trump keeps calling "loopholes."

In the meantime, as Vox puts it, Trump is mobilizing the National Guard to the US-Mexico border for literally no good reason.
posted by zachlipton at 9:07 PM on April 4, 2018 [40 favorites]


The woman who got fired for flipping off President Trump just sued her former employer (Petula Dvorak, WaPo)
“Akima’s actions — forcing Juli to resign out of fear of unlawful retaliation by the government — violated the basic tenets of Virginia employment law,” Simon said. (Full disclosure: Simon is married to Washington Post Outlook editor Adam Kushner).

See, Briskman’s bosses didn’t take a moral stand against her action. They didn’t worry that an obscene gesture offends her fellow employees or sullies the good name of her company.

I wasn’t successful in reaching anyone at Akima for comment. But the firm is a government contractor, and it made it clear to Briskman that it was worried about retaliation from this administration.

“Defendant forced plaintiff to resign for the stated reasons that the photograph of her would have an adverse effect on its ability to obtain government contracts,” the lawsuit said
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:39 PM on April 4, 2018 [23 favorites]


Stormy Daniels' lawyer claims porn star described President Trump’s genitalia in unaired ‘60 Minutes’ clip

“She can describe the President’s genitalia in great detail,” Avenatti told Megyn Kelly on her show, resulting in groans from the host and her audience.

The terrible knowledge will some day reach us all. It approaches, inexorable and indefatigable as time itself. We might try and hide, but in the end none will be spared.
posted by Rust Moranis at 10:09 PM on April 4, 2018 [73 favorites]


California's Congressional delegation is the best is in the nation. Our other senator is Kamala Harris and a few of our Reps are Adam Schiff, Ted Lieu, and Maxine Waters. From contiguous districts.

Oregon begs to differ. Our other senator is Jeff Merkley. And our main one is Ron Wyden, not DiFi. Wyden is our conservative one.
posted by msalt at 10:34 PM on April 4, 2018 [6 favorites]


Oregon also has Greg Walden, who is not just a Republican but a member of House G.O.P. leadership.
posted by chrchr at 11:02 PM on April 4, 2018


Metafilter: Everyone who can tell a quota from a koala.
posted by riverlife at 11:52 PM on April 4, 2018 [4 favorites]


The terrible knowledge will some day reach us all. It approaches, inexorable and indefatigable as time itself. We might try and hide, but in the end none will be spared.

Or, almost as Lovecraft put it: "The end is near. I hear a noise at the door, as of some immense slippery body lumbering against it. It shall not find me. God, that tiny hand! The window! The window!"
posted by erdferkel at 1:10 AM on April 5, 2018 [34 favorites]


The 'illegal immigrant' versus 'asylum seeker' differential is worth paying close attention to. Professor Hans Rosling points out that in Europe, there's been a lot of coverage of people trying to cross the Mediterranean in unseaworthy boats to get to Europe, with subsequent terrible footage of children's bodies being washed up on holiday beaches, and a consequent outcry about 'people smugglers' who charge thousands to desperate families before dumping them in highly dangerous craft.

He points out that there are plenty of cheap, safe flights that people could take instead; there's no shortage of seats and they cost a fraction of what's being charged for the boats. But an EU directive says that airline and ferry companies must pay for the return of anyone who arrives without the right documentation and who doesn't qualify for asylum. As there's no way for check-in staff to tell who falls into this category, the default is to deny boarding. Abd as for why the boats are unsafe: EU policy is to confiscate those that do make it, so the cheapest possible single-use boats are used.

These are predictable, logical and demonstrable consequences of policy.

The EU could change either or both these things and reduce or entirely eliminate the dangers in people smuggling. It's just easier to have the 'terrible people smugglers killing children through greed' narrative take the pressure off, or if one prefers the 'porous borders ushering in terrorists/criminals': neither is defensible on humanitarian grounds, but both are useful populist levers for the unscrupulous. We want simple answers with clearly defined reasons.

(Rosling's book, Factfulness, is adapted and currently available on iPlayer. It's very good and highly pertinent to many of the themes in the megathreads)
posted by Devonian at 3:18 AM on April 5, 2018 [82 favorites]


How reliable is Scott Dworkin? He tweeted that a couple of GOPs close to the WH say that Trump has no plans to sit down with Mueller and is just waiting for the right time to fire him, he's determined to do as much.

Uh, happy Thursday.
posted by angrycat at 3:24 AM on April 5, 2018


Dworkin isn't a Louise Mensch, but is a bit on the Seth Abramson spectrum, imo. He posted that 19 hours ago and none of the rest of Politics Twitter I follow has talked about it or said similar, so I'd take it with a grain of salt. I'm sure Trump wants to fire Mueller, but the whole "he has a plan" is pretty much the antithesis of what we know about Trump.
@funder (Scott Dworkin)
Two Republicans close to the White House just told me Trump is not going to sit down with Robert Mueller. They add that he is still trying to figure out the right timing to fire Mueller. It’s not a matter of IF he will try to fire Mueller, it’s WHEN. Trump “already has a plan.”
posted by chris24 at 3:30 AM on April 5, 2018 [2 favorites]


I'm sure Trump wants to fire Mueller, but the whole "he has a plan" is pretty much the antithesis of what we know about Trump.

No matter how good his sources are, Trump follows his urges & impulses. He tends to telegraph his moves but not even he knows which way he'll jump until he does it.
posted by scalefree at 3:41 AM on April 5, 2018 [2 favorites]


@rubycramer (Buzzfeed)
Bernie in Jackson, Miss.: "The business model, if you like, of the Democratic Party for the last 15 years or so has been a failure.. People sometimes don't see that because there was a charismatic individual named Barack Obama." (1/2)
- "He was obviously an extraordinary candidate, brilliant guy. But beyond that reality," Sen. Sanders says, Democrats have lost a record no. of legislative seats.


@AngryBlackLady (Imani Gandy, Rewire)
Bernie Sanders legit picked the anniversary of MLK’s death to slam the first black president.
Hahahaha. GTFO


@JillFilipovic
The Obama admin was indeed imperfect - welcome to politics. But this idea that Obama was all charisma and no substance is wrong and offensive.

---

Not to mention his whole "Ds lost a record # of seats" is wrong.
posted by chris24 at 3:53 AM on April 5, 2018 [67 favorites]


Also funny how it's the last 15 years that have been a failure, which correlates to post 2004 when a woman and a black man became the faces of the party. Weird that the 90s with neo-liberal third way Bill Clinton didn't rate a mention. I guess white males get a pass.
posted by chris24 at 3:56 AM on April 5, 2018 [49 favorites]


What a fucking world we live in.

@abbydphillip (CNN)
Judge Napolitano just said on Fox & Friends that Mueller saying Trump is a "subject" not a "target" of the investigation might be meant to give him a false sense of security. Napolitano, speaking directly to Trump, who is likely watching, says "Stay away from that, Mr. President"
posted by chris24 at 4:15 AM on April 5, 2018 [15 favorites]


More on NY-24: Dem leaders slam 'D.C. meddling' after Perez Williams enters race for Congress. It's a flippable seat but the fighting within the Democratic Party worries me.
posted by maurice at 4:51 AM on April 5, 2018


Napolitano, speaking directly to Trump, who is likely watching, says "Stay away from that, Mr. President"

This, I figure, is the entire reason the subject/target story was leaked. At least one of the articles hinted that hearing that he wasn't a 'target' made trump feel more secure about sitting down with Mueller. So of course they had to get it out there so the only people he listens to could tell him not to do it.
posted by sporkwort at 4:53 AM on April 5, 2018 [7 favorites]


"Nothing we say will convince him!"

"Let's get the TV to tell him."
posted by chris24 at 4:56 AM on April 5, 2018 [41 favorites]


legit picked the anniversary of MLK’s death to slam the first black president.

As charismatic but not competent, no less.

For real, he is like the perfect avatar for white people (particularly men) who think they’re post-racism and post-sexism but who, in fact, just refuse to do the work of self-reflection and are instead totally steeped in bigotry they choose not to recognize.

It’s not like there aren’t a million people who point out what’s wrong with him every time he does or says something fucked up. Like you’d think if you kept saying things and a BUNCH of women and black people kept being like “uuuuh that was not ok,” you would at some point think to yourself, “hmm perhaps I don’t know more about racism or sexism than people who actually live it, maybe I should listen to their criticisms with the assumption that they know more than I do and see what I can learn from it.”

BUT NOPE. And it’s so obvious why that is.

And it’s so tiring.
posted by schadenfrau at 4:58 AM on April 5, 2018 [88 favorites]


To quote hurdy gurdy girl in a completely different thread: Lord, give me the unearned confidence of a mediocre white man.
posted by mumimor at 5:08 AM on April 5, 2018 [63 favorites]


He just brushes off those criticisms as “identity politics” because of course if you focus on issues that primarily affect your race or gender, it’s because you’re trying to distract the party from focusing on REAL problems.
posted by Autumnheart at 5:30 AM on April 5, 2018 [12 favorites]


Mr. Nader used his longstanding ties to Kirill Dmitriev, the manager of a state-run Russian investment fund

Does "state-run Russian investment fund" sound like "Putin's money laundering vehicle" to you as much as it does to me?
posted by Gelatin at 5:32 AM on April 5, 2018 [11 favorites]


He just brushes off those criticisms as “identity politics” because of course if you focus on issues that primarily affect your race or gender, it’s because you’re trying to distract the party from focusing on REAL problems.

Always chuckle when white men, who denied women the vote and black people freedom and the vote for over a century, condemn identity politics. Um, who started this?
posted by chris24 at 5:38 AM on April 5, 2018 [52 favorites]


The same people who define white male concerns as serious politics and female/LGBTQIA/people of color concerns as distractions.
posted by Autumnheart at 5:44 AM on April 5, 2018 [26 favorites]


There’s also an awful lot of women who were fine with Sanders’ sexism in 2016 and seem reluctant to do the self-reflection necessary to figure out why they were so quick to believe complete bullshit about HRC. Like yes white men, terrible as always, but there’s something about Bernie’s brand of terrible that is particularly insidious. The degree to which people seem attached to him personally (or to who they want him to be), and the degree to which they double down when confronted with evidence that maybe he’s not awesome, is...

Troubling, ahead of the midterms. These are the very obvious fault lines that Russia manipulated in the 2016 elections to hobble HRC’s campaign, and we know they are gearing up to mess with the midterms, and Bernie is just...helping that along with this shit.
posted by schadenfrau at 5:54 AM on April 5, 2018 [30 favorites]


The terrible knowledge will some day reach us all.

Well good. He started it, telling us there is "no problem at all" re: his small hands and small wiener. No question in my mind that that is one more bit of blustery bullshit. Let's have the truth revealed, warts and all!
posted by Meatbomb at 6:00 AM on April 5, 2018 [3 favorites]


NYT has a good story ‘You Hate America!’: How ‘the Caravan’ Story Exploded on the Right, in which this got so far away from the facts it was too much even for someone from Breitbart
...
Sending soldiers to the border is irrelevant to those who are applying for asylum; they're coming to present themselves to US officials, not enter undetected.


Possibly, but I wonder if the furor on the right and the noise about "soldiers on the border" isn't designed to deter the refugees from presenting themselves in the first place, thus preventing the US from accepting legal and legitimate refugees. It's shameful and despicable.
posted by Gelatin at 6:06 AM on April 5, 2018 [4 favorites]


On a totally different note (sort of?), that New Yorker article on Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, and the Middle East is still rattling around inside my terrified brain.

Tl;dr seems to be that MBS is ringing the alarm that Saudi Arabia is going to run out of money soon, and that he has to completely remake his kingdom’s economy and society in the next five years. Somehow this means the regional Cold War with Iran needs to go hot (or hottish), so KSA and the UAE are trying to provoke one / box out Iran by, say, blockading Qatar, and organizing a coup in Egypt. It’s also the kind of hard sell someone makes when he’s consolidating power to become a true autocrat, which MBS has done. Trump and Kushner seem to be his useful little idiots. The KSA / UAE alliance has been using the SCL group / Cambridge Analytica type fuckery for their region-remaking goals.

After that I lost track. I’m not totally sure how Putin fits in (particularly with Syria), but, you know, it’s all bad.

A Kingdom on the verge of collapse will do insane shit, and they seem to really want war with Iran, with the US’s backing, in order to consolidate power over the region. Like the quotes they gave about Iran to an Anerican publication likened the Iranian regime to the Nazis, which is...not subtle. And MBS seems to see himself as a Great Man of History, enabled by literal morons in the US.

All of this in the run up to midterm elections that Trump doesn’t seem worried about because *ominous noises*.

This seems...not great.
posted by schadenfrau at 6:12 AM on April 5, 2018 [19 favorites]


Well good. He started it, telling us there is "no problem at all"

On live national television, during a primary debate, no less, and going out of his way to mention it as an aside into the bargain.
posted by Gelatin at 6:15 AM on April 5, 2018 [1 favorite]


How reliable is Scott Dworkin?

He's a grifter. He might not actually be lying, but he's not a reporter and he just says stuff.
posted by BungaDunga at 6:28 AM on April 5, 2018 [9 favorites]


California's Congressional delegation is the best is in the nation. Our other senator is Kamala Harris and a few of our Reps are Adam Schiff, Ted Lieu, and Maxine Waters. From contiguous districts.

Adding on to this on principle because indeed, I am proud of some of our reps in congress (in addition to Eric Swallwell mentioned above), is (also contiguous) Brad Sherman who was looking to be disappointing but has not actually disappointed at all, Karen Bass (who is decidedly badass), Judy Chu and Nanette Barragan (who showed up at LAX for the Muslim Ban protests), and Tony Cardenas who was one of very few congresspersons to skip the inauguration to have a town hall.
posted by Sophie1 at 6:31 AM on April 5, 2018 [2 favorites]


Laura Ingraham’s advertisers aren’t really staging a boycott. It’s a capital strike. (Elizabeth Bruenig, WaPo)
In the context of Ingraham’s long career in right-wing media, sniping at a teenager over college admissions is perhaps one of her less obscene stunts, which suggests it’s unlikely that these companies suddenly grew a collective conscience and decided to bring their expenditures into accord with their morals. It’s more likely that Ingraham is the victim of a capital strike, when investors withdraw or withhold investments en masse because they’ve determined that potential hazards outweigh potential gains.

Remember: Capital is capital; it is not your friend. Conservatives are learning this the hard way, and those on the left shouldn’t forget it, even when companies happen to decide the best bet is the morally correct one. As Ross Douthat pointed out recently in the New York Times, “Corporate activism on social issues isn’t in tension with corporate self-interest on tax policy and corporate stinginess in paychecks. Rather, the activism increasingly exists to protect the self-interest and the stinginess — to justify the ways of C.E.O.s to cultural power brokers, so that those same power brokers will leave them alone.”

But the fact that we can’t rely on capital to do much besides look out for its own cupidinous interests presents more than comeuppance for conservatives who’ve spent the past few decades building strategic political alliances with big business. It also foregrounds a key imbalance in our politics: While capital can strike on a whim and effectively shut down a political program or initiative, labor’s ability to similarly assert itself in the public sphere is comparatively limited.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 6:45 AM on April 5, 2018 [35 favorites]


Statement form Sanders: ...there was a charismatic individual named Barack Obama. He was obviously an extraordinary candidate, brilliant guy.

Response from a Hillary supporter: "Bernie Sanders legit picked the anniversary of MLK’s death to slam the first black president. Hahahaha."

Fucking typical. Some people can't let go of the primaries, and their blinding hate turns any statement Sanders makes into the exact opposite, even when they're looking right at it and quoting it. (The same applies to the way some people respond to anything Clinton says, but she's retired now and doesn't make as many public statements.)

But, yeah, Sanders was actually talking about the Democrats poor performance in legislative elections, and what we've seen in last year's elections in VA and NJ, special elections across the country and Democrats getting Congressional and Senate races in 2018 strongly suggests this is changing. Democrats are running in districts we haven't contested in decades, turning out in good numbers in elections that typically have low turn out, and winning!

Run For Something in particular has done a great job of recruiting and supporting new Democratic candidates. The organization was founded by a former Clinton campaign staffer. They support young, progressive Democratic candidates with a good understanding of and real ties to the communities they're running to represent, regardless of who they favored in the primaries. Yeah, I voted for a different candidate for in the primaries than one Amanda Litman worked, but I'm really impressed with the work they've done. This is the way forward. This is how we win elections. And Run For Something and the candidates they support have been amazing successful at this.
posted by nangar at 6:46 AM on April 5, 2018 [7 favorites]


Response from Hillary supporter: "Bernie Sanders legit picked the anniversary of MLK’s death to slam the first black president. Hahahaha."

Response from black woman.

But, yeah, Sanders was actually talking about the Democrats poor performance in legislative elections, and what we've seen in last year's elections in VA and NJ, special elections across the country and Democrats getting Congressional and Senate races in 2018 strongly suggests this is changing. Democrats are running in districts we haven't contested in decades, turning out in good numbers in elections that typically have low turn out, and winning!

Yeah, this change isn't due to Sanders or any huge change in D policies from 2016 to 18, it's due to Trump and being the party out of power. Lamb, Northam, Jones, etc. are no really different than Dems who ran the last 15 years and were blasted by the Sanders wing.
posted by chris24 at 6:52 AM on April 5, 2018 [17 favorites]


Fucking typical. Some people can't let go of the primaries, and their blinding hate turns any statement Sanders makes into the exact opposite, even when they're looking right at it and quoting it.

Call me crazy, but I think it's a real bad look these days to attack a black woman for recognizing and calling out microaggressions that are routinely used to dismiss black leaders. I trust black women to recognize that shit far faster than I can. Think before you attack someone for recognizing a thing that you didn't.
posted by palomar at 6:53 AM on April 5, 2018 [102 favorites]


Some people can't let go of the primaries...

Says the person who immediately reduces a black woman to a Hillary supporter.
posted by chris24 at 6:57 AM on April 5, 2018 [62 favorites]


Response from a Hillary supporter

Erasing her identity as a prominent (for twitter, anyway) black commentator when it was already in the thing you're quoting isn't really helping you if you're trying to beat the this isn't about racism drum.
posted by phearlez at 6:57 AM on April 5, 2018 [31 favorites]


Mod note: I think we've taken the Bernie derail about as far as it can go, so let's move on.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 7:03 AM on April 5, 2018 [20 favorites]


While we are talking about great congresspeople in CA and WA, I'd like to mention a great representative here in PA. As I've mentioned (a million times too many), I'm part of Tuesdays with Toomey, a group that has been protesting outside of Toomey's PA offices across the state every Tuesday since December 2016. In Philly we have speakers every week. This week, Rep. Dwight Evans joined us. He specifically called out Toomey for not doing his job, for not representing his constituents and for not holding town halls.

Evans doesn't get a whole lot of national attention, but he does good work.
posted by mcduff at 7:19 AM on April 5, 2018 [6 favorites]


@realDonaldTrump
The Fake News Washington Post, Amazon’s “chief lobbyist,” has another (of many) phony headlines, “Trump Defiant As China Adds Trade Penalties.” WRONG! Should read, “Trump Defiant as U.S. Adds Trade Penalties, Will End Barriers And Massive I.P. Theft.” Typically bad reporting!

Learn from my mistake: don't try to make sense of it. You will only feel your brain become smaller.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:22 AM on April 5, 2018 [19 favorites]


I also like how someone told him that constant whining about the out of control border made him looked weak and ineffective, so now he's trying to have it both ways. It's out of control AND better than ever.

@realDonaldTrump
The Caravan is largely broken up thanks to the strong immigration laws of Mexico and their willingness to use them so as not to cause a giant scene at our Border. Because of the Trump Administrations actions, Border crossings are at a still UNACCEPTABLE 46 year low. Stop drugs!
posted by chris24 at 7:32 AM on April 5, 2018 [11 favorites]


EPA Ethics Official Didn’t Have Facts on Pruitt Lease (PoliticalWire)

“The Environmental Protection Agency’s top ethics watchdog clarified his earlier analysis of whether Administrator Scott Pruitt’s rental arrangement broke the federal gift rule, saying he didn’t have all the facts when evaluating the lease,” according to a memo provided to CNN.

“The official also made clear that he didn’t evaluate whether Pruitt had violated other ethics rules.”


This, the public shaming on Fox News, and SHuckabee's half-garbled "yeah we think but we don't know, maybe kinda" sounds like groundwork for Pruitt to get the toilet tweet. Kelly losing influence as well because it's the next thing on today's The Stupidest Timeline.
posted by petebest at 7:34 AM on April 5, 2018 [2 favorites]


It's out of control AND better than ever.

We all might as well write it in glow-in-the-dark ink on the inside of our eyelids:

"Thus, by a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak."
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:35 AM on April 5, 2018 [66 favorites]


The Caravan is largely broken up thanks to the strong immigration laws of Mexico and their willingness to use them so as not to cause a giant scene at our Border.

Said "scene" consisting, as noted earlier, of refugees applying for asylum, as provided for under US law.
posted by Gelatin at 7:37 AM on April 5, 2018 [21 favorites]


@realDonaldTrump (quoted by Rust Moranis): The Fake News Washington Post, Amazon’s “chief lobbyist,” has another (of many) phony headlines, “Trump Defiant As China Adds Trade Penalties.” WRONG! Should read, “Trump Defiant as U.S. Adds Trade Penalties, Will End Barriers And Massive I.P. Theft.” Typically bad reporting!

Looks like a bold new strategy for winning trade wars: become a total denialist/truther with respect to the other side's retaliation. "China isn't taxing American goods any higher at all! That's fake news! They're actually rolling over on this!"

(Either it's that, or he's saying it doesn't matter whether or not Chinese trade penalties exist, because only American tariffs are the real story. So then it's kind of like saying "Another phony headline, 'Drake Tops Billboard Charts.' WRONG! Should read 'Trump Has Wonderful Singing Voice.' Typically bad reporting!")
posted by InTheYear2017 at 7:40 AM on April 5, 2018 [11 favorites]


“Trump Defiant as U.S. Adds Trade Penalties, Will End Barriers And Massive I.P. Theft.”

Uh, adding trade penalties is the polar opposite of ending barriers.
posted by PenDevil at 7:45 AM on April 5, 2018 [12 favorites]


> I also like how someone told him that constant whining about the out of control border made him looked weak and ineffective, so now he's trying to have it both ways. It's out of control AND better than ever.

We all might as well write it in glow-in-the-dark ink on the inside of our eyelids:

"Thus, by a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak."


Trump's appeal is textbook ur-fascism. As Umberto Eco writes in his NYBR essay that Rust quotes: "The followers must feel humiliated by the [...] force of their enemies. [...] However, the followers must be convinced that they can overwhelm the enemies. Thus, by a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak. Fascist governments are condemned to lose wars because they are constitutionally incapable of objectively evaluating the force of the enemy."

In Trump's twisted worldview, the US is constantly under threat from hispanic immigrants and gangs that are sneaking over the southern border with impunity and causing out-of-control chaos across the country and yet Donald Trump is securing our border and forcing Mexico to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! It's this kind of doublethink that keeps Trumpists in a constant state of uncertain fear and looking to Trump for reassurance. Expect a lot more of these apparent contradictions as the mid-term election campaign intensifies.

The good news is that this tactic is all Trump has left and it works only on his most loyal supporters. (The bad news is that Democrats still have to formulate their own appealing message, besides anti-Trumpism, then campaign effectively on it.)
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:58 AM on April 5, 2018 [25 favorites]


“Trump Defiant as U.S. Adds Trade Penalties, Will End Barriers And Massive I.P. Theft.”

Since I didn't pay any attention to Trump's politics before the nomination six hundred years ago, I'd kind of assumed that all these moves against China were fairly new, like someone had shown him a chart about trade imbalances and gotten him all worked up recently.

But it turns out (and maybe everyone else knew this) that he talks about China a lot in his 2011 book Time To Get Tough. After spending a surprising amount of time talking about cyberattacks from China, and how they're somehow simultaneously spending massive amounts on their military and yet getting a bargain because they're stealing all our military tech "with the click of a mouse," he gets to the meat of his argument against China...and his vision of why he's the man to fix things:

"Look, when it comes to China, America better stop messing around. China sees us as a naive, gullible, foolish enemy. [...] They manipulate their currency in a way that steals a million American jobs and inflates an utterly unfair trade imbalance by $300 billion. They rip off our business's trade secrets so they can save billions in research and development costs [...]

"We need a president who will sign the bipartisan legislation to force a proper valuation of China's currency. We need a president who will slap the Chinese with a 25 percent tax on all their products entering America if they don't stop undervaluating the yuan. [...]

"It may seem to many that I speak very badly about China and its representatives. The truth is I have great respect for the people of China. I also have great respect for the people that represent China. What I don't respect is the way that we negotiate and deal with China. Over the years, I have done many deals and transactions with the Chinese. I have made a tremendous amount of money. I have sold apartments for $53 million, $33 millions, and many at smaller numbers. I built one of the largest jobs in Manhattan with Chinese partners and made a great deal of money. So I know the Chinese, and understand and respect the Chinese. [...]

"So, I speak badly of China, but I speak the truth and what do consumers in China want? They want Trump."
posted by mittens at 8:04 AM on April 5, 2018 [9 favorites]


he talks about China a lot in his 2011 book Time To Get Tough.

No, his three ghostwriters do.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:08 AM on April 5, 2018 [19 favorites]


Mod note: This would be a great time for a new thread, I'm dyin' over here.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 8:13 AM on April 5, 2018 [38 favorites]


While capital can strike on a whim and effectively shut down a political program or initiative, labor’s ability to similarly assert itself in the public sphere is comparatively limited.

This is not the case at all, as we saw by the wildcat strikes in West Virginia. Power is not defined by the law of Taft Hartley. Power is defined by the willingness to use it. Sanitation strikes, transit strikes, transportation of goods strikes. Labor has all the power in the world, if they only realize it.
posted by corb at 8:15 AM on April 5, 2018 [22 favorites]


The Guardian: Former Trump aide approved 'black ops' to help Ukraine president
Exclusive: Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort authorised a secret media operation on behalf of Ukraine’s former president, featuring “black ops”, “placed” articles in the Wall Street Journal and US websites, and anonymous briefings against Hillary Clinton.

The project was designed to boost the reputation of Ukraine’s then leader, Viktor Yanukovych. It was part of a multimillion-dollar lobbying effort carried out by Manafort on behalf of Yanukovych’s embattled government, emails and documents reveal.

The strategies included:
  • Proposing to rewrite Wikipedia entries to smear a key opponent of the then Ukrainian president.
  • Setting up a fake “thinktank” in Vienna to disseminate viewpoints supporting Yanukovych.
  • A social media blitz “aimed at targeted audiences in Europe and the US”.
  • Briefing journalists from the rightwing website Breitbart to attack Clinton, when she was US secretary of state.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:17 AM on April 5, 2018 [19 favorites]


Trump strips endangered species protections so oil companies can profit bigly ("White House considering proposal that could strip protections from hundreds of threatened species: report", Rebecca Savransky, TheHill)

The proposal comes after reports that President Trump's appointee to oversee wildlife and parks at the Interior Department has a history of opposing endangered species protections.

Susan Combs, who was recently appointed as acting assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, has in the past compared the endangered species listings to “incoming Scud missiles.”


Fuckers.

DoktorZed (The bad news is that Democrats still have to formulate their own appealing message, besides anti-Trumpism, then campaign effectively on it.)

This spiked my personal JCPL. Only 215 days left til the midterms. I have so little confidence in the Dems, historically speaking. Stopping this environmental destruction-for-profit is too important to fuck up with banker-friendly loser candidates. If they start with misguided "better jobs" crap again its gonna suck. Again.
posted by petebest at 8:21 AM on April 5, 2018 [8 favorites]


It should be noted that Yanukovych was Putin’s boy, the invasions didn’t begin until he was ousted.

Putin’s reaction to one of his puppets losing power should also be noted.
posted by Artw at 8:23 AM on April 5, 2018 [17 favorites]


From the Umberto Eco article linked above by Rust Moranis:
We must keep alert, so that the sense of these words will not be forgotten again. Ur-Fascism is still around us, sometimes in plainclothes. It would be so much easier, for us, if there appeared on the world scene somebody saying, “I want to reopen Auschwitz, I want the Black Shirts to parade again in the Italian squares.” Life is not that simple. Ur-Fascism can come back under the most innocent of disguises. Our duty is to uncover it and to point our finger at any of its new instances—every day, in every part of the world. Franklin Roosevelt’s words of November 4, 1938, are worth recalling: “I venture the challenging statement that if American democracy ceases to move forward as a living force, seeking day and night by peaceful means to better the lot of our citizens, fascism will grow in strength in our land.” Freedom and liberation are an unending task.
We have been lazy for a couple of decades. The end of the cold war seemed like an amazing liberation from that struggle for freedom. And now fascism is getting back at us.
posted by mumimor at 8:24 AM on April 5, 2018 [35 favorites]


Yanukovych is living comfortably in exile in Russia. Donald should seriously consider this option; he wouldn't even have to pay airfare
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:24 AM on April 5, 2018 [5 favorites]


@ashleyfeinberg: if you’d like to listen to don jr tell a crowd of people that his dick is larger than his father's then boy do i have just the thing for you

yes we definitely need a new thread don't we
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:35 AM on April 5, 2018 [37 favorites]


The strategies included:
Proposing to rewrite Wikipedia entries to smear a key opponent of the then Ukrainian president.
Setting up a fake “thinktank” in Vienna to disseminate viewpoints supporting Yanukovych.
A social media blitz “aimed at targeted audiences in Europe and the US”.
Briefing journalists from the rightwing website Breitbart to attack Clinton, when she was US secretary of state.


I'm sure this was the part that took the most effort from Manafort...
posted by onehalfjunco at 8:50 AM on April 5, 2018 [1 favorite]


(Working on new thread...)
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:57 AM on April 5, 2018 [16 favorites]


Early, possibly an outlier, and a lot of undecideds, but...

Democrat Phil Bredesen holds a ten-point lead over Republican Marsha Blackburn in Tennessee Senate race. 45-35.

---

And in other state related news...

@OregonGovBrown
If @realDonaldTrump asks me to deploy Oregon Guard troops to the Mexico border, I’ll say no. As Commander of Oregon’s Guard, I’m deeply troubled by Trump’s plan to militarize our border. There’s been no outreach by the President or federal officials, and I have no intention of allowing Oregon’s guard troops to be used to distract from his troubles in Washington.
posted by chris24 at 9:05 AM on April 5, 2018 [77 favorites]


Open Secrets/Center for Responsive Politics, EXCLUSIVE: Robert Mercer backed a secretive group that worked with Facebook, Google to target anti-Muslim ads at swing voters, in which the 501(c)(4) Secure America Now ran carefully targeted Islamophobic ads (I mean like, scare people about a Muslim takeover by replacing the Hollywood sign with "Allahu Akbar" level of Islamophobic, it's not subtle) shortly before the election.

Said group, apparently not just being run by racists but also idiots (I repeat myself), sent over an unredacted copy of their tax documents, revealing Robert Mercer was their biggest donor, with $2M contributed to the effort in 2016.
posted by zachlipton at 9:10 AM on April 5, 2018 [87 favorites]


sent over an unredacted copy of their tax documents

holy freaking cow. I just have to note how amazing that is.

when I was a reporter, I used to request those tax reports all the time, and out of the hundreds I got, *just once* was someone sloppy enough to do that. (It revealed Ross Perot as a donor to a group I was investigating.) I just have to say that for the folks at the Center - some are old friends of mine - that must have been like Christmas, New Year's and everyone's birthday rolled into one. Confetti and champagne all around!
posted by martin q blank at 9:25 AM on April 5, 2018 [61 favorites]


> Robert Mercer backed a secretive group that worked with Facebook, Google to target anti-Muslim ads at swing voters

I guess Robert Mercer is going to go down in history - maybe not exactly the way he wanted, but he'll be remembered. That New Yorker profile ("The Reclusive Hedge-Fund Tycoon Behind the Trump Presidency") was one of the best (most disturbing) things ever. An extreme illustration of Engineers' Disease, on a world-changing scale.
posted by RedOrGreen at 9:41 AM on April 5, 2018 [22 favorites]


maurice: "More on NY-24: Dem leaders slam 'D.C. meddling' after Perez Williams enters race for Congress. It's a flippable seat but the fighting within the Democratic Party worries me."

I'm not super sympathetic to the "Dem leaders" complaint. The prior candidates weren't raising money. Obviously, it's not a simple case of most money wins, but you do need to clear a certain bar to be effective, and Balter only had $47K in the bank at the end of 2017 (she hasn't released 1Q numbers yet). And if local Dems don't want Perez Williams, then shouldn't vote for her in the primary!

These "outside meddlers" things are a lot more believable when a candidate is picked through a caucus or some sort of party convention. But there's a primary here, and that's what it's for.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:46 AM on April 5, 2018 [15 favorites]


And the web keeps getting larger. More grift.
Inside the Secretive Trump Lobby That Wants to Profit From the Breakup of Iraq
A network tied to Cambridge Analytica, Islamist insurgents, ExxonMobil and Koch convinced Trump to let go of Iraqi unity. ( and yes it's alternet but Nafeez Ahmed is the winner of a 2015 Project Censored Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism for his former work at the Guardian.
posted by adamvasco at 10:02 AM on April 5, 2018 [13 favorites]


Boss Hog cosplayer and Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is asking the Trump Administration for more foreign workers. (Mark Wilson, Austin American Statesman)

It's cool, though. He just wants them to come do backbreaking work for very little money and then go away.
“As I’ve always said, Texas agriculture is on the forefront of the legal immigration issue,” Miller said. “Ag producers want a strong and clear legal immigration system where non-immigrant workers can help American industries survive, especially seasonal ones like shrimping, then leave the U.S. and return home....”
posted by mcdoublewide at 10:03 AM on April 5, 2018 [8 favorites]




Oregon also has Greg Walden, who is not just a Republican but a member of House G.O.P. leadership.

Yes, there is one moderate Republican in Oregon's delegation (out of 7).
California has 14 Republicans, including Dana Rohrbacher and Devin Nunes. Darrel Issa and Duncan Hunter aren't even the worst. Sure you want to keep comparing?

OK, Oregon's governor just blocked our National Guard troops from following Trump's order to the border. Your move.
posted by msalt at 6:02 PM on April 5, 2018 [2 favorites]


Great, now the 'Couvs are going to overrun the whole place.
posted by rhizome at 6:55 PM on April 5, 2018 [2 favorites]


« Older “...but hot damn can Makoto Shinkai draw some fine...   |   The most obvious and potentially lethal flaw Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments