The Golden Age of Treason (The Mueller Investigation Part 50)

Link to previous thread for reference:

Previous thread titles for reference:

First Charges Filed in Mueller Investigation (10/27/17)

First Charges Filed in Mueller Investigation, Part Two (10/28/17)

The Four Treasons: Mueller Investigation, Part 3 (10/31/17)

A Man For All Treasons: Mueller Investigation, Part 4 (11/5/17)

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Treason! The Mueller Investigation Part 5 (12/4/17)

Treason Is The Reason For The Season! The Mueller Investigation Part 6 (12/16/17)

Treason to Believe (The Mueller Investigation Part 7) (12/26/17)

I Love You For Sentimental Treasons (The Mueller Investigation Part 8) (1/3/18)

Give Me One Treason To Stay Here... (The Mueller Investigation Part 9) (1/15/18)

Treasons of Love (The Mueller Investigation Part 10) (1/24/18)

For Treasons Which Are Well Known To Them (The Mueller Investigation Part 11) (1/30/18)

Come on and Treason Down, Treason Down the Road (The Mueller Investigation Part 12) (2/6/18)

13 Treasons Why (The Mueller Investigation Part 13) (2/18/18)

By Treason of Insanity (The Mueller Investigation Part 14) (2/23/18)

The Edge of Treason (The Mueller Investigation Part 15) (2/28/18)

A Treason to Live; A Treason to Die (The Mueller Investigation Part 16)…(3/10/18)

Treasons of the Heart (The Mueller Investigation Part 17) (3/17/18)

A Stormy Treason (The Mueller Investigation Part 18) (3/21/18)

Lovin', Touchin', Treason (The Mueller Investigation Part 19) (3/26/18)

Everything Happens for a Treason (The Mueller Investigation Part 20) (4/4/18)

For All the Right Treasons (The Mueller Investigation Part 21) (4/11/18)

Treasons Change (The Mueller Investigation Part 22) (4/16/18)

Dangerous Tre'asons (The Mueller Investigation Part 23) (4/22/18)

Don't Stop (the) Treason (The Mueller Investigation Part 24) (5/1/18)

Got This Treason in My Body (The Mueller Investigation Part 25) (5/7/18)

I'm Treason on a Jet Plane... (The Mueller Investigation Part 26) (5/14/18)

Treasonnaires' Disease (The Mueller Investigation Part 27) (5/21/18)

You've Lost That Lovin' Treason (The Mueller Investigation Part 28) (6/2/18)

Multiple Treasons Why (The Mueller Investigation Part 29) (6/9/18)

For Undisclosed Treasons (The Mueller Investigation Part 30) (6/18/18)

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far from the Treason (The Mueller Investigation Part 31) (06/23/18)

Treason d'être (The Mueller Investigation Part 32) (06/30/18)

My Treasons Are Not My Own (The Mueller Investigation Part 33) (07/08/18)

The Treasons a Baby Cries (The Mueller Investigation Part 34) (07/13/19)

Get to Know Your Family Treason (The Mueller Investigation Part 35) (07/15/18)

All You Got To Do is Hold Him And Kiss Him and Treason (The Mueller Investigation Part 36) (07/17/18)

Fall or Spring? Which Would / Wouldn't Be Your Favorite Treason? (The Mueller Investigation Part 37) (07/18/18)

It's the Time of the Treason (The Mueller Investigation Part 38) (07/21/18)

My Treasonal Summer Job Abroad (The Mueller Investigation Part 39) (07/25/18)

Yellow is the Color of the Treason (The Mueller Investigation Part 40) (07/27/18)

The Treason for my Life's Trials and Tribulations (The Mueller Investigation Part 41)1) (07/31/18)

Hunting Treason (The Mueller Investigation Part 42) (08/04/18)

It's Swimsuit Treason (The Mueller Investigation Part 43) (08/07/18)

Treasonably Priced (The Mueller Investigation Part 44) (08/12/18)

Tre45onal Affective Disorder (The Mueller Investigation Part 45) (08/16/18)

A Plea for Treason (The Mueller Investigation Part 46 (08/21/18)

Untreasonably Hot (The Mueller Investigation Part 47) (08/22/18)

There is a Treason... Turn, Turn, Turn (The Mueller Investigation Part 48) (08/24/18)

The Voice of Treason (The Mueller Investigation Part 49) (08/28/18)

The Golden Age of Treason (The Mueller Investigation Part 50) (09/04/18)

God Trump is such a fucking idiot.

Has the orange one been tweeting today, or is he saving up all his rage over the Woodward book and the Kavanaugh hearings for an intense twee-storm when decent folk are all abed?

Kavanaugh can NOT be allowed to get on the SC. Dump's picks should be halted immediately in light of all the new revelations.

Boy, today has been a shitstorm for Dump. The real shit is coming out and this is even before Mueller!

Yes, a very unusual day. Bad for Trump.

R7....

OP I see what you did there with the title! Good job!

They want us to feel discouraged, demoralized, disappointed, etc. They figure if just enough of us stay home they can win. Look at thevote per precinct margins in any election. When a candidate loses an election in a state by just 10 votes per precinct that ought to get you pissed off. We cannot afford the luxury of being afriad and depressed. We have to keep fighting. You will never hear the Republicans wring their hands and be afraid. They refuse to acknowledge defeat and they keep fighting. They have been doing that for decades. it works.

It's most unusual day.

I LOL'ed at reading in the last thread about John Dowd fearing foreign leaders figuring out Trump is an idiot... Really? like the whole world doesn't already know!

"...like the whole world doesn't already know!"

Apparently millions of Americans don't already know (and if they do know, they don't care if he is an idiot).

Idiots attract idiots (and vote for them, too), R13.

r13 They don't care. They don't care he is a fucking liar. They don't care he means nothing of what he says. I'll say one thing for them- they keep their eye on the prize. The SC is a huge get. The left took they eye off the prize because "her emails" or some other BS.

Though I would hope the left would never tolerate someone on our side like Dump. What I don't get is- they would get all the court picks and all WITH OR WITHOUT Dump. Pence would be just as bad policy wise.

What they need from Dump is the rabid base turning out and creating new white nationalists as we all know THIS is where the Repugs are going for the future. It will only get worse from their side.

I'll add- I've seen liberals on this site saying they will vote 3rd party instead of for Cuomo. He sucks. I hate him but COME ON! We cannot be so fucking stupid as to risk throwing away a Governorship. I still cannot believe we lost VT and MA!!!!!!!!!

[quote]I'll add- I've seen liberals on this site saying they will vote 3rd party instead of for Cuomo. He sucks. I hate him but COME ON! We cannot be so fucking stupid as to risk throwing away a Governorship. I still cannot believe we lost VT and MA!!!!!!!!!

Even with a surprisingly strong Green Party showing (almost 5%), Cuomo won in 2014 by nearly fifteen points.

There aren't any recent polls with Cynthia Nixon in a three-way race, but in the ones from the summer, Cuomo still wins, by a lot.

r17 I wouldn't risk it, though. Cuomo can fuck off but if it is him or a Repug, then it's him all the way.

What's the process for impeaching a SC judge?

But there's the rub, R16. We have to vote for a Cuomo to keep Republicans out, but Cuomo (and his ilk) then enable the Republicans, squeeze the Democrats out, play power games that screw regular people to the advantage of the right wing.

Great thread title and pic OP!

[quote][R17] I wouldn't risk it, though. Cuomo can fuck off but if it is him or a Repug, then it's him all the way.

He conspired with Republicans to keep the Democrats from being able to exercise their numerical majority in the state senate.

I'm sorry, but tell me how he's not a Republican pulling shit like that? I'm honestly hard pressed to figure out how the Republican with the balls to put the R after his name would be any worse.

And the “both parties are the same” trolls show up.

Have you guys seen this "fight back" tv ad asking you to help fight "the Mueller witch hunt"? It stars a very familiar African American Republican; not sure who. It was just on MSNBC where I am at the moment (Las Vegas, so maybe it’s a local thing).

Bullshit, R23, I'm not saying "both parties are the same," I'm talking about specific politicians like Cuomo who screw over their own party and its policies to their own advantage. (I won't speak for R22.)

So who would you rather have with veto authority R20?

Kellyanne & Lindsey Graham must be working tonight on their talking points for Fox & Friends tomorrow morning.

Does anyone have the latest predictions on a Senate flip to Democrat control?

[quote]And the “both parties are the same” trolls show up.

"Both parties" are not the same.

Cuomo, on the other hand...

My vote for the Green candidate in 2014 is literally the only time in my life I've voted third party.

R24 That guy in the ad is Herman Cain, former CEO of Godfather pizza and former GOP Presidential candidate (2012?) He dropped out over sexual harassment allegations. Am in the southeast, so it is a national bought ad by a right-wing PAC.

Cuomo is better than ANY repug. Period. End of. FFS, LEARN!!!!!!!

On principle I agree with that as electoral strategy: any Democrat over any Republican (and no third-party crap). But it has to be accompanied by putting elected Democrats' feet to the fire to make them stick to Democratic policies, and threatening primaries from the left or from the grassroots is one way to do that. Cuomo has already backed (temporarily) away from his support of Republicans and the right wing. In the case of e.g. Manchin or Heitkamp, Democrats who have to kneecap Democratic policies to stay in office in red areas, I'm not sure it's not better to just let them get voted out, at least once we've solidified gains in blue-leaning areas that elect Republicans because of gerrymandering or, in the case of the Senate, weak state parties (what's Maine's excuse?).

Vote out Manchin or Heitkamp? Are you nuts? They vote with us far more than not and on huge issues. A repug in their spot would vote with us ZERO percent. If we want to win the Senate, we need candidates who can WIN in red states. We can work on changing voter perceptions at the local/state level which in turn may yield more liberal candidates in the future.

What scares me is that you all seem to be intimating that all we have to do is get out the vote. Girls, we voted the last time; it didn't make any difference. Trump still won. Listen to Bill Nelson: the fix is in. The Russians are already fucking with the results. How many surprise come-from-behind wins will it take for you all to see the light?

Of course I will vote. I've become an official yellow-dog Democrat, i.e., I'll vote for the Democratic candidate even if the party runs a yellow dog for the position. But I no longer believe that voting is the answer.

Once upon a time I would have laughed like hell at someone who said what I stated above, and told that person to take off the tin hat. But these are strange times. Keep your eye on the November outcomes. If the Democrats don't take the House, the Russian dirty tricksters have prevailed again.

No, I'm not "nuts"; I said "AT LEAST ONCE we've solidified gains..." etc. They vote against us enough on huge issues that I'd trade them for Democrats in bluer areas who don't vote (e.g.) to confirm a Gina Haspel, a Kavanaugh, etc. I completely agree with you about candidates who can change perceptions in red areas, but these guys aren't them—their areas just get redder and redder—I think McCaskill is a better example of what you mean.

r34 I don't disagree with much of what you said but we still have to VOTE VOTE VOTE. Get as many like minded people to vote.

r35 You need to really pay attention to just how much those red state Dems vote for us and on some very key issues. They are well worth it and 999% better than their alternative. You aren't going to get a liberal Senator in ND. Heitkamp is changing perceptions, believe it or not. She is on the ground getting these very red state people to vote for her. The last thing we want is those voters getting in the habit of voting straight Repug every election. As long as they are willing to vote Dem that is a very good thing. A Senator will not change things on the ground. We need to get local people elected to change perceptions.

Ok, I'll take your word on Heitkamp, but I want to make a distinction between the immediate imperatives of voting for Democrats and the longer-term goals of promoting Democratic policies, which are not helped by people like Cuomo (and I believe Manchin) undercutting their own party. I think it's much better now than in the horrible days of Joe Lieberman and Zell Miller, but we still have to focus on enacting good policy and not only on electing a Democratic majority leader.

there are some states where the best we can ever do is a Manchin. Some groups of voters, sorry let's just admit, are almost too stupid to breathe. If they can at least be persuaded to vote for somebody who doesn't clearly hate them and want them to die ... PROGRESS!

Don't think New York is one of those states, so I sympathize with your Cuomo comments.

[quote]Does anyone have the latest predictions on a Senate flip to Democrat control?

They talked about that on Chris Mathews tonight and it looked unlikely.

Opinion piece. Gives me hope.

Cheeto wishes he were Queen Carlotta

R19siilar to POTUS. investigate, hold hearings, draft articles of impeachment, then vote. I don't think he'd go to trial in the Senate. He'd just get dumped. I think SC Justice Abe Fortas was either forced resignation or impeached. I Also think Alcee Hastings was impeached. That one is more recent. Google is your friend.

A Heitkamp or Manchin WILL vote for a Dem SC nominee. And they will vote for Dem court nominees. THAT is the ballgame. They vote with us, again, far more than they don't. We are fucking lucky to have Tester, Manchin, Heitkamp, McCaskill, Donnelly, Jones.....in the Senate this whole time.

Cuomo is an asshole and we weren't able to primary him out. He may play nicer now that he has presidential ambitions. He is a supreme asshole but, again, he is far better than a Repug. Hold his feet to the fire and give him hell. Sadly, though NY is true blue, it also has so much monied interests that, in this day and age of CUnited, they pull many of the strings in states like NY were they are based.

My Congressional friends have said they've heard things are going to start to unravel very fast for Dump. Like literally this Mueller investigation will unveil such systemic and deep rot within the entire Repug/conservative world it will be like an atomic bomb going off. Just watching the insane actions of every Repug member says it all. Their crazy behavior is a tell. They think nothing they do now will get undone so they are going for broke. Expect crazy shit to go down before the report. The jig is up and they know it. It is why the NRA suddenly is in trouble. The web is huge and all encompassing.

From the greedy jerk who helped destroy America:

Mark Zuckerberg: Protecting democracy is an arms race. Here’s how Facebook can help.

all it takes is the House. All it takes is the House. Say it with me. All it takes is the House. When he faces just one hostile part of the Congress, he will lose his already lost shit. He cannot deal with anything but love and praise, and a House demanding documents and answers will freak him the fuck out. He has never had to deal with actual pushback, ever.

Agreed, R46.

Just remember: It takes 38 states to amend the Constitution. So if the Republicans can gain control of 38 state legislatures and 38 Governors, and 38 Secretaries of State and the state court systems, and the state attorneys general, we can kiss America and our Constitution good bye. That is no joke. Yes, we voted and they stole the election. But they had the Electoral College. With all the games and dirty tricks Fraud suppression, etc they still lost the popular vote. So get involved with all the organizations out here who are fighting for free, fair elections.. Find out what the rules are to vote. Bring ID or WTF ever. Make sure you keep track of where to vote in case they have some last minute changes. Find out about early voting. Keep checking to make sure you're registered because they have been doing purges. Stop being passive and wringing you hands and get the fuck off your ass get out here and be engaged.

They didn't even have the Electoral College. They held onto it three times out of seven times BARELY while the Democrat won handily in their wins. They can ONLY cheat. And it is how they got the three EC wins they got.

The EC is insane, but even if we are able to hold onto our Democracy I do not see how we can change it. I want a fair voting system.

The EC does not remotely matter this year. Everyone focus, we will get to the EC later. Right now, just vote in your non-EC elections this election. Seriously, just the fucking House. Just the fucking House. We can actually do this thing. The Senate would be nice, but can we not wage every battle every minute? Right now, take the mother fucking House.

It's going to take a lifetime campaign to get rid of it.

R44 Thank you for your post; hope you post any and all updates!

r52, RICO

A Democratic majority in the House probably won't lead to impeachment, but they can and almost certainly will hold a multitude of hearings on all of his doings. A lot of very dirty shit will be brought out into the light of day. Hopefully enough will be found and will stick to him to result in the loss of all but his hardcore deplorable base in the next election. Benghazi him and bury him in his own shit.

Also, R55, they will gain subpoena power and get all the little fuckers under oath or charge them with contempt of Congress. Contempt or perjury? It will be such a hard decision for the Cheeto Cabal.

r55, they most certainly will be able to impeach with a simple majority. Conviction by the Senate needs 2/3 vote.

I would like to see the House send Articles of impeachment, all different lists of 10, just like the Republican House sent 50 repeal votes to Obama for the ACA.

Ten articles in each impeachment, one impeachment every other week, and we are at the 2020 election.

He will be the most impeached president in history.

R57, if there's zero chance that the Senate will convict, I'd rather the House spend their time investigating every single crime this fucking family has committed and then sending them all off to the federal prosecutors to take care of. Your scenario seems like a huge waste of time that will result in nothing. In fact, I can see the idiot and his family tweeting with elation about how he's "The most impeached president Ever!" as proof that "The Witch Hunt is REAL!!"

Holy fuck! So the uk police have charged a couple of Russian nationals with the nerve gas attack/poisoning. They have them tracked from arrival to departure from the uk, along with cctv footage of them near the Skripal’s place - and minute traces of novichok has been detected in their hotel room.

Any doubts the Russian government was behind this should surely now be dismissed. Tho the Kremlin will surely come up with a statement of denial later today or tomorrow that would do the Huckabeast proud.

Wonder what the Cheeto - and the rest of the American government will have to say about it. And I wonder how they’d have reacted if it had happened on US soil...

So when will the Russians will start pulling stunts in America too? I think it’ll more along the lines of disrupting utilities and other services - given we know they’ve tried to hack into the grid and various other stuff. Fuckers.

The Russians already faked the suicide of that older gentleman almost immediately after he spoke to the press, right? (Sorry blanking on his name.) It’s not as exciting as high tech poison, but it was on American soil.

Putin must have approved the poisoning. As a former KGB agent he had to know that the UK government would discover the identity of the assassins. They were traveling on authentic Russian passports and flew directly from and to Russia. If Putin had used normal intelligence tradecraft, the assassins would have traveled from and to a third country, used non-Russian passports, and worn disguises. Putin attempted to assassinate two people on foreign soil and made no attempt to cover it up. He is publicly taunting the UK, NATO, and the US. Will Trump condemn Putin or continue to lick his ass?

Yep, he is very openly provoking, as if to demonstrate his power and saying 'look what I can do and you can't do anything to stop me'.

It's all very deliberately.

Putin is doing more than provoking - he is threatening.

More interesting news

Will we ever defeat Russia? Just permanently tame them and leave them to their own misery, once and for all stopping them from spreading it around?

To the degree that the rest of Europe becomes less dependent on Russia for energy needs then we can isolate and defeat them. But Europe, including France & Germany, are in a precarious position and they a re handling Putin with more force than we are. It's shameful, really the way Trump grovels while Europe has more reason to grovel, yet stands up to him, and the Alt Right reactionary agitators he is importing and supporting. Putin has played his hand well. He has seeded reactionary movements all over Europe and in the United States and some of them have gain traction. In the USA, he has even won himself a President and a majority in our Congress. But he is about to run out of steam. he overreached. We are going to dismantle his destructive divisive shitkickers, and then we are going to dismantle him. Putin is not Russia. And Russia without Putin might do very well given half a chance.

Make no mistake, R12. The whole world has been watching this shit show for nearly 2 years and is very much aware of what a stupid idiot Trump is. You think Angela Merkel cares that he won’t shake her hand? It’s a badge of honour.

He is also such a obvious threat to national security - from all angles - I can’t believe Congress doesn’t just do an Article 24 impeachment. The U.S. is so vulnerable right now, from forces without and within.

Would the assassination of Assad have resulted in a WWIII-type scenario? No one really knows and, thankfully, we don't have to find out. They really need to just lock him in a padded room and keep him in front of his Happy Place Show on Fox.

r55, it won't while I'm in charge mister! Impeachment will be OFF the table!

[quote] And Russia without Putin might do very well given half a chance.

I don't know, R66. I doubt they'll ever do "very well." They have the resource curse, for one, and their culture is pretty rotten, in part because they've never had a sense of fair play in anything. Even their folk tales lionize only cheats - those who get one over on their neighbor, etc. I don't think they're going to do too well in a high-information rule-bound world. That's why they're trying to distort information reliability and dismantle any semblance of such norms. Corruption isn't something to stamp out with them, but rather something to spread and take advantage of.

An ok short.

The other thing to always remember. The other countries like France, the UK, Germany, and a host of others have intelligence operations that are pretty damned good. And they probably know a lot about Trump and his relationships with the oligarchs and with Putin. So if Trump is infantile enough to believe he can stop everything , and cover up his corruption and his treason simply by firing Mueller and discrediting the FBI, he is nuts. Now that Ohr is exposed it seems pretty clear to me that Trump, as part of his mission for Putin, has enabled, deliberately, the exposure of our intelligence networks, our methods, and our targets in PutinWorld and that is something he is going to pay for big time. The people who are running the show at CIA and FBI counter intel, and the NSA, etc are not the people he appointed. And our allies are extremely concerned. If Mueller can't deal with him, if Congress is too corrupt and too compromised to do it, he will still be brought down. He is playing in a much bigger world than he realizes.

Has anyone else seen Active Measures? What did you take away from it?

It was very good, R73.

I agree, r74. In my view, it is a primer for some eventual charges brought against Trump and his accomplices. I view the film as one possible means for getting Trump’s criminality firmly into the public conversation. This is crucial.

However, the interconnected criminality and the inferences the viewer must draw need to be presented clearly for the average American to see and understand. I don’t know if this film does that successfully.

There’s so much material to cover. Just the telling of active measures campaigns requires the viewer to hold many thoughts about at once before connecting them forward to Trump’s election. Then there are the branches of criminality that precede the election. Maybe I’m pessimistic about the level of comprehension present in the average US citizen, but I worry that justice will require understanding from all of us.

Trump has committed so much wrong doing and so many crimes, that it is difficult to tell the story in its enormity and entirety without sacrificing detailing the complexity in the name of easy comprehension.

Perhaps Mueller’s report will do this. Perhaps his indictments and other public filings are already doing it, but Democrats and Americans writ large would be well served to tell this story well. Groups like The Moscow Project by the Center for American Progress and films like Active Measures are a good start, but we need more clarity.

We need to be able to present Trump’s crimes even to deplorables and make them either come home or accept that they are on the side of criminality and Russia. There can be no negotiation.

Prediction from Nate Silver at 538. Democrats take the house. Please God, let it be true.

The status of current Republicanism is a two-pronged monster. trump, the deplorable magnet, outraging everyone, damaging all that he can, spreading hate and division, while a corrupt Congress looks the other way to further their own devious ends. Neither prong gives a shit about the well-being of this country. "Ask not you can do for your country but what your country can do for you," should be their motto.

It's a very slow drawback, this blue wave, reminiscent of a tsunami.

I'm hoping someone like Michael Moore ("Fahrenheit 11/9" is coming next month?) will make a new documentary that'll be engaging enough that everyone will watch it, and also will explain everything adeptly.

We must work to take the house and the senate. Every thing is possible

When an electoral wave comes, it's always bigger than polls predicted or anyone expected. Everything tips in the last few days. Let's hope that happens in two months.

My parents always vote and live in a swing district near DC. I'm going to call them and urge them to vote Dem. They're not Fox News people at all but may be slightly uninformed of the race in front of them.

Go, R82!

Active Meadures was excellent and really exposed Trump’s dealing with the the Russian mob for many years and also he has been a Russian asset for decades. Pretty much says Steele dossier pretty much verified and more than just urine lay with Riussian hookers that weekend. Literally said Putin and his henchmen have More and he’s a real sick pervert. No joke but we already knew that

Seth Abramson has a book coming out that pulls strings together, but he’s always going easy on Tad Devine due to Seth’s previous support for Bernie. Seth seems to have a blind spot there, but otherwise he makes good, clear connections.

Need a documentar that's entertaining and even funny at points. For Netflix, not the theaters.

Armando Iannucci, your time has come!

Opinion

Is Trump’s Support Slipping?

Multiple polls over the past week have held bad news for the president.

By David Leonhardt

Opinion Columnist

Sept. 4, 2018

More often than is probably healthy, I check out the FiveThirtyEight average of President Trump’s approval ratings. For months, it barely budged — hovering right around 42 percent for almost the entire summer. Over the past week, however, it has shifted.

Thanks to several negative polls for Trump — from YouGov, Emerson College, Investor’s Business Daily and the ABC/Washington Post collaboration — his approval rating has dropped. The FiveThirtyEight average is designed to be cautious, taking into account multiple polls, and it doesn’t tend to move sharply. Still, the share of Americans giving him positive ratings has fallen noticeably if modestly, to 40.1 percent. It is Trump’s worst mark since April.

By comparison, 54.1 percent of Americans disapprove of his performance. Those aren’t the sort of ratings that help a president’s political party win elections.

Now, whenever I come across data that’s consistent with my rooting interests, I try to view it with an extra degree of skepticism. And there are multiple reasons to doubt the mini-trend in Trump approval.

One, it is indeed a mini-trend, lasting only a few days, and may turn out to be just a blip. Two, Trump’s supporters — who tend to be older and white — have a history of voting at higher rates in midterm elections than Trump’s critics do. Three, some Americans who disapprove of Trump may still vote for congressional candidates from his party. Four, Democrats need to win the popular vote in the midterm elections by a lot to take control of the House.

Yet the drop in Trump’s standing has been significant enough — showing up across several polls — to deserve some attention.

John Merline of Investor’s Business Daily writes: “The drop in Trump’s approval rating comes after a spate of bad news, including the conviction of his former campaign chairman on eight counts of fraud and a guilty plea on campaign finance charges by Trump’s former lawyer, which sparked a torrent of impeachment talk. Trump also caught flak for his handling of Sen. John McCain’s passing.”

Jennifer Rubin of The Washington Post — in a piece headlined “Maybe Trump’s incredible poll drop is real” — added another possible explanation: the trade disputes he has started. Those disputes, she argues, “are also causing pain in rural America.”

Ahmed Baba of Rantt Media notes that Trump’s strong approval among Republicans may be slipping ever so slightly. More than 30 percent of Republicans support Robert Mueller’s investigation of Trump.

And Gary Langer of ABC News points out that Trump has “the lowest approval rating for a president heading into his first midterms in polling dating to 1954.”

Is all of this a trend or a blip? I’ll let you know if other meaningful evidence emerges over the next couple of weeks.

thank you for that tidbit, former congressional intern.

for those of you in NY bitching about Cuomo, you realize that the state Senate is full of democrats who have voted with repugs most of the time, right?

You have a primary coming up next THURSDAY to vote the yellow dogs out. Getting a true democrat state Senate will go a long way to keeping Cuomo in line. We need to start flipping these state governments as well as a firewall against the madness.

Opinion

Ayanna Pressley and the Might of the Black Political Left

Major electoral wins, and the reach of Black Lives Matter, show the rise of black progressives.

By Melanye Price

Dr. Price is a political scientist who specializes in contemporary black politics, public opinion and political rhetoric.

Sept. 5, 2018

The most significant political shift in decades is happening, but it’s not Trumpism or white nationalism or corruption or even on the right.

It’s in black politics.

Historic electoral wins, like Ayanna Pressley’s major upset in a Massachusetts House race on Tuesday, along with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, show the might of the black political left.

Ms. Pressley unseated a 10-term congressman in a campaign supported largely by minorities, immigrants and college students. And she did so without the backing of key Democrats like Representative John Lewis of Georgia and former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, both of whom endorsed her white opponent. Now Ms. Pressley is poised to become the state’s first nonwhite member of the House of Representatives.

Consider too Andrew Gillum’s victory in the Democratic nomination for Florida governor on Aug. 28. Florida Democrats and liberal donors like George Soros and Tom Steyer supported him over more centrist candidates. Mr. Gillum was also heavily endorsed by young black activists across the state, particularly the Dream Defenders, who cut their teeth on protests around the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012.

And for good reason: Mr. Gillum’s platform calls for single-payer health care, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as reforming the cash bail system and removing barriers to community re-entry after prison.

Unapologetically left in his orientation, Mr. Gillum has rejected the idea that he needs centrist Democratics to win. His sights are set on young people and progressive voters. Stacey Abrams of Georgia, whose strategy is similar, has a good chance to become the state’s first black female governor. Ben Jealous, the former head of the N.A.A.C.P., is vying to become Maryland’s first black governor, winning the state’s Democratic nomination by running to the left of his opponent.

We can also see this shift in big cities like Cleveland and Chicago and, recently, in St. Louis County, which have elected prosecutors who are sympathetic to the Black Lives Matter movement. This summer, Wesley Bell, a City Council member from Ferguson, Mo., defeated Robert McCulloch, the seven-term St. Louis County prosecutor who was widely criticized for his handling of the Michael Brown killing.

Beyond historic firsts, this new class of candidates is pushing the Democratic Party farther left. They also represent the new political power of black progressives who defy stereotypes of black politicians as wedded to respectability politics and unwilling to take on issues of people who live on the margins of the black community. It’s clear that the era of centrist black politicians is on the wane. The time of black progressives is in ascent.

To some extent, centrist black politicians have been the victims of their greatest success and what some perceive as their greatest failure: the election of President Barack Obama. That represented the height of black electoral power. A successful Obama presidency became the entire black political agenda.

Before Mr. Obama, it was common for black activists and civil rights organizations to appeal to presidents when they were trying to win concessions from the federal government. But this strategy didn’t work with a black president. African-Americans had more access to the White House than ever before, yet they couldn’t use that access to wrangle specific policy reforms from the first black president without tarnishing the historical achievement of his election.

...

...

Remember when Representative Maxine Waters of California critiqued Mr. Obama’s remarks to the Congressional Black Caucus in 2011 because he told the audience to “stop complaining” about their problems? That was not as welcome as when she told Trump officials this summer she was “reclaiming her time.”

During the Obama presidency, traditional civil rights organizations like the N.A.A.C.P. and the National Urban League worked closely with the administration. This created a power vacuum in the black left. Which activists would drive black politics outside of the national spotlight? Young black activists filled the void, many of whom were already trained as local organizers.

At the end of Mr. Obama’s second term, black youth had become a significant and unified political voice. Since then, their power has only grown. The constellation of Black Lives Matter groups initially focused on police and vigilante violence but expanded its platform to address political and economic challenges facing the black community. From the outset, these groups have made clear that all black lives matter — women, queer and transgender people were always at the center of their political agenda.

The political focus of the Black Lives Matter movement is much farther to the left than traditional black civil rights organizations. The movement supports reparations in the form of fully funded education, an end to money bail and the demilitarization of the police. Since turning to electoral politics, its constituent groups have said that the candidates they endorse must also represent similar progressive views.

To be sure, there has always been a black progressive community whose politics skewed farther left than the Democratic Party’s or civil rights organizations’. Black progressives have long critiqued problematic policies of black elected officials and any solutions that left vulnerable members of the black community further marginalized.

In the places where this movement has been most effective, young leaders are crucial. But there is an intergenerational nature to the work and the composition of activists. These young people have allowed for a more inclusive black politics.

In fact, liberal leaders have emerged across a range of black institutions, not just formal politics. People like the Missouri pastor Traci Blackmon, the feminist scholar Brittney Cooper and the athlete Colin Kaepernick demand that businesses, organizations and candidates who want their endorsements represent their priorities.

This change is as much a generational replacement as it is a widespread ideological shift. These candidates are comparatively young. Mr. Gillum is 39. Ms. Abrams and Mr. Jealous are in their mid-40s. While age, particularly youth, plays a part, there are others reasons black progressivism is attracting more candidates and voters.

The black electorate is outraged at the perceived impotence of black politicians to ensure basic justice for black people who are killed by the police. The failures to convict or even indict the killers made clear targets out of prosecuting attorneys and other elected officials.

But it has also inspired new candidates for public office. Last month, the gun control activist Lucy McBath won the Democratic nomination for a congressional seat in Georgia after the killing of her son, Jordan Davis, received national attention in 2012.

As the party moves left, establishment leaders will be displaced. That will include centrist black politicians. But this new cohort of candidates, along with white women and Latino candidates, will decide the future of national politics.

The old political orthodoxy that has allowed black centrist Democrats to dominate black politics is being dethroned. Black progressives are on the rise.

Melanye Price (@ProfMTP) is an associate professor of Africana studies and political science at Rutgers University. She is the author, most recently, of “The Race Whisperer: Barack Obama and the Political Uses of Race.”

Any person pushing third party candidates or candidates unlikely to win the general — or encouraging you not to vote — is a fucking Putin boy.

Former President Barack Obama is poised to plunge into the fray of the midterm campaign, returning to electoral politics with a frontal attack on Republican power in two states that are prime Democratic targets this fall: California and Ohio.

Having largely avoided campaign activities since leaving office, Mr. Obama’s first public event of the midterm election will take place in Orange County, a traditionally conservative-leaning part of California where Republicans are at risk of losing several House seats. And Mr. Obama is expected to be joined by Democratic candidates from all seven of California’s Republican-held districts that Hillary Clinton carried in 2016.

Mr. Obama intends to campaign next Thursday in Cleveland for Richard Cordray, a former bank regulator in his administration who is the Democratic nominee for Ohio governor. Republicans have held total control of the state government since the 2010 election, and Mr. Obama helped encourage Mr. Cordray, also a former state attorney general, to seek the governorship.

The former president’s return to public politicking comes at a momentous point in the 2018 election season, furnishing Democrats again with one of their most formidable and popular campaigners in the closing months. While Mr. Obama has addressed several fund-raising events and issued a list of endorsements, he has otherwise confined his public appearances this year to loftier venues than the campaign trail.

...

Mr. Obama’s full schedule is still taking shape, and aides said he is figuring out how best to help a number of important Democrats, including groundbreaking African-American candidates for governor like Andrew Gillum in Florida and Stacey Abrams in Georgia. Mr. Obama will probably tread lightly in some parts of the country, though: In many of the red states vital to control of the Senate, he remains a divisive figure and less popular than Mr. Trump.

...

Maggie Haberman claims conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi will testify to the grand jury on Friday concerning Roger Stone.

Fuck Maggie.

I never read anything that shill puts out there anymore.

Since Stone is one of her main sources she probably wrote it to warn him, but if true it is news. Roger keeps claiming he's about to be indicted, so....fingers crossed.

I wonder if Obama getting out there is going to make Trump look even worse in comparison and have even people who didn't like him when he was president become nostalgic for sanity or if it will just rile up the racist right and make them actually show up to vote in November.

r89 I live in an NYC district that was betrayed by our rep, a member of the IDC, and you better believe I am voting her ass out.

[quote]he drop in Trump’s approval rating comes after a spate of bad news, including the conviction of his former campaign chairman on eight counts of fraud

Is the second Manafort trial still starting before the mid-terms? If trials and guilty pleas suppress Rethug approval and willingness to vote, it can't come sooner.

Also, I think the Woodward book should affect some old guard GOP who are on the verge. You can't dismiss it in the way you can the Wolfe or Omarosa books, and it helps that all books say virtually the same thing. Kelly and Mattis's denials only serve to corroborate the book/s cause everyone sane knows they're lying to protect the office out of whatever motives.

Opinion

Trump’s Southern hospitality

By Carter Eskew

Contributing opinion writer

September 5 at 1:10 PM

Nobody likes to be called “dumb,” especially if they are from the South. If you’re not from there, you may not understand this sensitivity, but it has existed for generations. One part of being a Southerner has been the perception, sometimes justified, that the rest of the country looks down on the region. As Gainesville, Fla., native Tom Petty sang, “There’s a Southern accent where I come from / The young’uns call it country, the Yankees call it dumb.” You better believe Southerners don’t like that superior attitude, not one little bit.

That’s why, of all the quotes and anecdotes in Bob Woodward’s new book, the one that may hurt the president most is his calling Attorney General Jeff Sessions a “dumb Southerner.”

Much of the rest of what Woodward uncovers Trump doing and saying, while great, original reporting and apparently mostly recorded, has already been, as they say, “priced into” the political markets. We already knew from many other sources that Trump’s White House staffers think their boss lacks the knowledge or curiosity to understand domestic or foreign policy; that much of his staff disrespects him; and that the president is given to tantrums within an already dysfunctional working environment. This is not to say that Woodward doesn’t introduce some great new examples of happenings in Trump’s White House, such as an aide stealing papers off his desk to prevent a decision or the secretary of defense agreeing to execute a presidential order then immediately telling a subordinate he has no intention of doing so. But little of it will alter preexisting and hardened views of the president.

The “dumb Southerner” quote may be an exception, however. One early indicator of its impact is that a group of Southern Republican senators has already pushed back on Trump, not for the “retarded” or “traitor” parts of Trump’s attack on Sessions, only the “dumb Southerner” phrase. (Trump, of course, denied saying what Woodward reports him saying about Sessions.) Nor did their rebuttal defend Sessions’s intellect per se, so much as umbrage at the implied general indictment of the entire region’s intellect.

These senators rightly sense something dangerous about Trump’s comment and one that they needed to disavow immediately. Trump, despite his gilded lifestyle, has been able to connect with Southerners’ feeling that they, like him, are shunned by elites, and that he is “one of us.” Trump’s quote calls that all into question and may make many Southerners feel as if they have been had. And Southerners don’t like that feeling, either, not one little bit.

Why should we count on the midterms??

Who here doesn't think Russia will tamper with the election again??

Do you really think Putin is going to take the chance that democrats could take the house and senate??

R99, if you are only voting out your rep due to IDC membership, then the problem is yours.

Further, I’d love for you to confirm you supported for president in the general election in 2016, and what you think a red-state strategy as opposed to New York State should look like. Thank you ever so much.

[quote]Fuck Maggie.

Thank you, but no.

R88 Just returned from rural Midwest visiting family and friends and can confirm the entire agricultural community there is pissed off by Dump's tariff fuckery. Maybe this is just anecdotal but regardless, the economic pain for these families is palpable.

[quote] Maybe this is just anecdotal ...

I look forward to Dump on twitter " It's just antidotal!"

R105 Interesting that they don't blame China one bit since it's really the Chinese imposing retaliatory tarriff that is the direct cause of their woes. It shows Trump and his hardliner trade hawks can't control the narrative.

R102, are you trolling? Trying to stamp out hope?

They think the Chinese need us when they just signed a huge deal with Brazil for soy and beef? If you want to blame China, you can, but only because they've beaten the shit out of us in every head to head economic confrontation. Losers whine.

Chinese tariffs are only in response to the Trump tariffs fuckery, so the only one the farmers should be blaming is the "great negotiator" they elected to care for them.

R107 Grumpy Dumpy needs China’s help with North Korea and Iran. China has A LOT of cards to play in the tariff wars with the US, so they're pissed he's so short sighted in this.

R102, after Trump, we got a Dem Senator elected in Alabama, so the Russians aren't omnipotent, and also, fuck'em!

Campaign your ass off (literally, if you have to) and vote!

R102, after Trump we got a Dem Senator elected in Alabama, so the Russians aren't omnipotent, and also, fuck'em!

Campaign your ass off (literally, if you have to) and vote!

R107, R110 is right. China signalled that it would impose tariffs on soy BEFORE the cult leader imposed his tariffs. He activated the machine, and things went from there as the Chinese promised.

Blaming China is like blaming country A, which states it'll nuke any country that nukes it, for retaliation after country B nukes A, instead of blaming country B, the initial attacker that knew full well that retaliation would follow.

R110 True, they elected this moron as their common man savior but only now are experiencing remorse now that they are personally affected.

R111 There are more Trump tariff against China coming this week. The fun keeps on coming! The funny thing is Trump doesn't know shit about trade... he just following the advice of the trade hardliners who kiss his ass.

R101 Yes, Southerners have been had! Grumpy Dumpy is an elitist with a huge preference for those with Ivy League pedigrees like himself.

I believe the Woodward account that he bashed Southerners and Sessions. I also never believed them when they said his mockery of the disabled reporter was "something he does to everyone." He does mock everyone and it's inappropriate and childish.

I was stationed in both Georgia and SC back in the day and got to know quite a few Southern folks and liked them. I do not believe this will be taken lightly. They do not care to have their intelligence questioned by damned yankees. This statement and that of the Trump juror on the Manafort trial - that 'guilty is guilty' no matter what loyalties you treasure - do not bode well for Mr. Trump's belief in his 'base' - that WV rally was pathetic - and so the worm turns.

R82 I have a better idea. Tell them you'll help them vote absentee. You are even willing to just fill out those complicated ol' ballots and mail them in for them..... BTW: All y'all better get to the damned nursing homes and help those people register, send for AV applications, and then, once the ballot arrives give them the support they need to "do the right thing."

Did you see the anonymous opinion piece in the NYT??

Hope the link works.

"have vowed to thwart parts of his agenda"

"Parts" is the problem.

Interesting, R120. Thanks for pointing it out.

R119, you are advocating cheating — you would be much more at home in the Trump camp.

Vote, get out the true vote.

The comments on the NYT piece are interesting -- and piling up by the minute . Apparently I clicked on the piece not too long after it was posted there.

I have no respect for the anonymous staffer. When I sw what happened with those little kids ripped from their parents' arms and put in cages? There is nothing they can say.....

For those actually discussing voting with people - please emphasize that voters should not accept provisional ballots if they feel they have been wrongly turned away from regular voting. Provisional ballots are just another form of voter suppression that many Republican precincts use; these votes are not counted unless deemed necessary (eg when there is a recount ordered which is rare, etc).

Don't let them push provisional ballots.

Goody, let NYT fuel Cheeto's victim complex.

Yes, R126 — provisional ballots are offered to placate voters at polling places, but they almost always end up in the trash.

The Times should spell out what they consider a 'senior official' in the Trump administration. And sorry Anonymous Coward, I don't consider you some sort of hero if you're actually proud of what this administration has done. You're just as bad as trump is.

Thank you, R128. The trash is exactly where those votes are likely to end up.

A high level official just wrote an article for the NYT explaining that there are adults in the room but he won't give his name. NYT says he is a high official.

Cowards, the lot of them. Stand by what you believe.

If the Op/ed is true then they need to invoke the 25th, crisis be damned. You're just trading one crisis for another and one gets you a safe transition while another threatens daily chaos. The writer is making excuses for his/their inaction. Fuck them all, the damn cowardly traitors.

Do they have a strait jacket big enough for this clown? That's the only way I see him leaving....at night, in a jacket, on a gurney, on the helicopter....gone.......

R133 I agree. Chickenshit. But I do believe this is a tipping point in this Presidency. If the Republicans ignore this or minimize the seriousness of the crazy in the WH then fuck it. Ryan and McConnell have already shown they have no morals either. I hope the whole lot of them get shitcanned by voters. The damage orangina has done to the country will last for decades.

They can have Brett K but I want Obama's SC pick back. We get to have HIS pick. I will never get over them stealing that. THAT was a fucking coup.

Second thought, no they do not get Brett K either. WE get that, too. Fuck them to hell and back.

Though most will never admit it, the person they voted for, Pres Tre45on, has been an epic disaster. The last 2 days alone are for the record books.

Fox must be covering Hillary's emails again tonight. Does anyone know if they are talking about the oped?

Brett Kavanaugh is scary. He is evil. Trump is fucking nuts and he picked this POS to give him cover from being indicted and even investigated. Trump is well past his sell by date. Impeach and convict, 25th Amendment, or boot his ugly ass outta this world.

Brett has those dead eyes that DL'ers like to evoke.

Miss Lindzey calls the op-ed "palace intrigue". She's been tweeting up a storm between appearing on cable shows.

...or phallic intrigue

Brett is definitely evil and a total sociopath. As are Alito and Thomas. Gorsuck is likely but not sure if he is just plain evil.

Everything out of Brett's mouth today should be followed by a "Sure, Jan"

So post McCain, post Woodward, post Op Ed, he is going to be even more greatly unhinged than ever and now left paranoid in office. The Washington Post is reporting fears in Washington that the book has notably damaged Mattis... that his influence over Trump is damaged and that puts everyone at even more risk.

Am I the only one thinking the people who really know what is going on in the White House are moving to force cabinet to invoke the 25th amendment? Because more than a great turn of palace intrigue, the king is fucking nuts and he doesn't cope well with anything that disrupts his delusions.

Palace intrigue is an apt term. This is the sort of nonsense that happens in countries where the leaders live in palaces aka dictatorships.

Maybe the op ed is a memo to Putin to terminate the asset as unable to deliver.

Michael Beschloss was talking about Nixon's final days and he spoke abut how Nixon's National Security Advisor, or his Defense Secretary or someone high up had to call the Defense department and tell them if they got any orders from Nixon they were to ignore them unless they were co-signed by him. Nixon was talking about summoning the army and surrounding the WH with tanks to barricade himself in and refuse to leave. Nixon. And he was sane compared to Trump. So who in this WH is high enough, Kelly? Mattis? We cannot afford for them to resign or get fired.

So...who wrote it?

For some reason, there's enough 'feeling' and 'descriptive' type language in that op-ed that I read it as a woman having written it. But, are there any higher up women anymore besides Suckabeast (who would never, ever have written it)?

It was Betsy DeVos. Her grasp of slash fiction reflects her expertise in most things.

[quote]It was Betsy DeVos

Doubtful. The grammar and spelling was too good. And it didn’t end with a shout out to Jesus and Kathie Lee Gifford.

Or a shoot out between Jesus and Kathie Lee Gifford, for that madder.

From R151's link:

[quote]The situation is so dire, the official says, that here have been “whispers within the cabinet about invoking the 25th Amendment” — the constitutional procedure by which the President can be removed because of mental illness.

[quote]“But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis,” the official writes. “So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it’s over.”

How, exactly, would utilizing an actual amendment of the Constitution precipitate a constitutional crisis? Again, they say things that are exactly opposite of what's going on. Trump IS the constitutional crisis!

Amused by some who think whoever wrote the op-ed threw in the term “lodestar” to make some THINK it was written by Pence.

My vote is that the anonymous op-ed author is Dan Coats, good friend of John McCain.

it's not Dan Coats, Lawrence is wrong. It's the guy who works for Pence. Coats is not cowardly. He would speak up.

It is as bad as anything we could envision. Let this be a lesson when you are ever tempted to vote Repug or 3rd party ever again. They are so craven, so power hungry, they will allow this to continue all the while teeth gnashing in private like cowards. This can, and will, happen again if they get power.

Lawrence O said it was Coates. Probably.

What if this Op-ed piece is actually directed by Putin. Putin has another asset in the WH and is sending Dump a signal? Letting him know he will agonizingly expose him little by little until he "plays ball"?

Lawrence O'Donnell of MSNBC revealed that he thinks it was written by Dan Coats.

He made a good argument for it too, but who knows?

r153, The NYT deals in words.

They have plagiarism software that can scan for similar words or phrases across a writers written pieces.

To first cleanse a statement and bring it down to an 8th grade level and then insert a red herring that shows up uniquely in another writer's works is a brilliant way to masque the original's identity.

We shall see.

I believe it is Kelly.

He is a Gold star dad, has a hard time masking how he feels when Trump is off the rails (NATO breakfast), is skilled in the difference between amoral and immoral, and I believe he broke when he attended the McCain memorial and saw the America he fought for buried on September 2nd.

But Kelly is a piece of shit, too. Remember his accusations against that Florida Congresswoman where he refused to apologize even when proven to be completely wrong. I'm not sure how honorable he is.

An asshole can still be a true patriot R160.

None of them are honorable. None. They are all cowards who have sold out their country for tax cuts (AGAIN!) and the usual failed Repug policies. It is like the deplorable who lives on my street who bitches about the streets being in disrepair but also says she wants them to cut taxes. Like WHAT? Taxes are already low that is why the streets suck, bitch!

The whole Repug party are fucking cowards and it is not at all surprising we get an anonymous editorial from them.

r160, the part about the successes of this administration lets you know that the person is a solid Republican douche bag.

Kelly is a piece of shit too.

But as above, douche bags and pieces of shit can be a solid citizen (I hate the word patriot as it now has a racist connotation.)

Cheeto is a treasonous corrupt imbecilic fuckup.

The NYT Op-Ed writer is a self-aggrandising cowardly fuckup.

There are no heroes here. Both sides are fuckups who are fucking with the nation.

[quote]Miss Lindzey calls the op-ed "palace intrigue".

Funny campy attempt to make light of the article, as though it's part of an operetta.

Trump's tweeted response isn't so blithe, and at last has to reach for the projection of 'treason.' Doubtless Mueller will read the tweet with interest.

If republicans in the WH can consider the 25th amendment, shouldn't the democrats make it front and center?

[quote]The other countries like France, the UK, Germany, and a host of others have intelligence operations that are pretty damned good. And they probably know a lot about Trump and his relationships with the oligarchs and with Putin.

If the know, the American ones know. And have known.

Where was the first place the Dotard went after the inauguration?

from r546 in Part 49--

[quote] Where is our resident stat keeper? I think this part of the thread might have been the longest we've gone without having to start a new one (minus it looks like part 4 and 5). Has it been a slow news week or are people losing interest or?

Part 49 took five days to fill. So did Part 48 before it.

The average time for a Mueller Investigation thread to fill, since the first one on October 27, 2017, is 6.33 days.

The longest time was for A Man For All Treasons: Mueller Investigation, Part 4--29 days.

The quickest threads to fill happened in one day: First Charges Filed in Mueller Investigation [Part 1] on October 27, 2017, and A Plea for Treason (The Mueller Investigation Part 46) on August 21, 2018.

There have been 13 threads that took 10, nine, or eight days to fill.

There have been 13 threads that took four, three, or two days to fill.

The 49 prior threads, at 600+ posts each, contain more than 29,000 posts in 10 months.

Thanks, R168!

And this means what exactly R169

And it is one contiguous discussion.

Er, it means thank you for providing us with the information so we can continue discussing Trump’s treachery without concern trolls repeatedly posting that interest in the Mueller investigation is dying down, R171.

Sorry, that was for R170.

It's now 50 - but it looks 32! And is in great shape.

For someone watching this shit show from the other side of the world these threads have been a great source of info, links, theories and a chuckle here and there. As others have said, they are like an historical archive of how the whole Russia story and its various offshoots have developed. Thanks to the OP/s and fingers crossed that the last thread will be read to the accompaniment of champagne corks popping.

Coming soon? “Surrounded and Up a Treason”

Lindsey is all over the place on TV yesterday doing damage control. That's what he is up to. He wants to get this damned SCOTUS nominee approved. Period.

That's the game, R176. Once they have Kavanaugh I can see them starting to pull away from Trump. Stampede if the midterms collapse underneath them.

But what they wanted they have: a Conservative court for the next thirty years.

[quote]How, exactly, would utilizing an actual amendment of the Constitution precipitate a constitutional crisis?

Keep in mine we are talking about REPUBLICANS here, who are by their nature RETARDS as Trump says!

If the Kavanaugh nomination fails, do you think Mitch would go rogue?

Russian trolls are f&fing this thread again en masse; it’s greyed out.

Why is this thread grey?

Does clicking the 'W&W' cancel out the grey if enough people do it? Will it break Datalounge?

I believe so r182.

and no, it won't break datalounge (assuming you were serious about that).

No, in fact it should be considered out patriotic duty to W&W this thread as often as possible, to strike a blow against the sinister designs of the Kremlin.

Go to "Settings" (the gear icon in the upper right corner of the web page. Move the slider for "Flames & Freaks" to "Asbestos Eyeballs". Problem solved - no more gray.

Trump had his inauguration pictures edited to make his tiny penis ... uh, tiny crowd look bigger.

The Vairst Letty refused to appear on television with Trump in response to the "grab 'em by the pussy" controversy. Gee, I wonder why.

Thx r185.

LOUD PROTESTER JUST INTERUPTED HEARINGS.

ANOTHER ONE! (An older well dressed lady)

[quote]Will it break Datalounge?

Was it ever whole? You queens crack me up.

Muriel, be proud!!! Be proud of us, of yourself, be proud of how smart DL is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cory Booker and Kamala Harris are both fucking bringing it during this hearing. BRAVO.

Not great news for midterms in North Carolina...

Not great news for midterms in North Carolina...

Biracial lesbian veteran challenging Tom Carper (old-school Dem, 40 years in the Senate) for Senate in Delaware.

Quislings scared.

Thank you Mr. Booker....

Thank you, Cory and Kamala. This country has a national scar and active wound for Americans of African descent, and yet you fight on to save the best of it. Thank you, John Lewis. Thank you, Maxine. Thank you, Obama.

So this is about affirmative action, R199? I don't know that I'm such a fan of AA, given the Harvard case... But I hate everything else about him.

What the hell, R200? This has nothing to do with affirmative action; this has to do with noticing that a group most ill treated is fighting hardest for the best of our country, and I am FUCKING GRATEFUL.

R200, Affirmative Action has existed and been practiced for decades. I'd go so far as to say ever since our country, our government was established. Certainly ever since 1866. The laws our Congress passed and the President signed in the 60's and 70's and that were upheld by the courts of that time, only made it possible to INCLUDE those people, (women & minorities) who had be previously excluded from the Affirmative Action that had been practiced ever since the Post Reconstruction period after the Civil War.

Fine, R202, and my post had fuck-all to do with affirmative action. It has to do with the courage and tenacity of Booker and Harris in fighting for our country. I honestly don’t know why you’re going on about affirmative action, so I’ll go back to my original point: thanks to courageous, patriotic African Americans who speak out against Kavanaugh when more white cowards should themselves.

R201, isn't it about affirmative action? "Racial set asides"? Isn't that K's label for pejorative label for AA?

R202, thanks for the civility and information. I don't doubt that you're right, but the practices at Harvard, disclosed in discovery, really turned me off, and O'Connor said in the Bollinger ruling that maybe affirmative action should run only 25 more years or so for race, 50 years or so for sex. Dicta, but still... not unreasonable. So that was 2003, and 25 years is 2028, another 10 years, but especially after the ugliness I saw on the part of Harvard, I'm thinking let's take the case to the Supreme Court and see what it thinks.

R203, it's also Hirono (HI) and Durbin (IL). Asian and Caucasian. Albeit joining in with Booker and Harris after they led.

What the hell? Stop derailing the thread with your dislike for affirmative action, which you brought up in the first place responding to a post that was lauding Booker and Harris. If you persist, you’re a distraction troll.

Re: the excellent link @ R186. This should I think be seen as iconic: a provable lie manufactured from DAY ONE by the 'President' who rarely lets a day go by without spewing about 'fake news.'

Thus hypocrisy, amidst so much else, was established from the word go. Needless to say, it also speaks to ego, vanity and overcompensation - that pesky popular vote.

This should be established as The Inaugural Lie. It's indefensible.

Trump is down to Melania defending him on the anonymous op-ed.

What I hope, eventually but soon, that all this backfires on Vlad Putty and his U.S. assets. The Dems take over, and sanctions, interventions, countering, and liberations happen strong enough, fueling "Rusher" unrest to a degree that Putty is relieved of power.

R177 don't be too sure. The new crop of teenagers/younger people have no intention of living in that kind of backward world. I see fire and desire in teenagers more than I do 20-somethings. Maybe the school shootings? My niece's friends cannot wait to register and vote, and they aren't conservative.

These old supremacists are trying their darndest to institutionalize and memorialize their bigotry--because they know the future isn't going to have it. This generation sees the world as a network, not an org chart. They'll chip away at these monuments of supremacy and inequality until they are gone. They won't be as easy to pull down as a Confederate statue, but they will come down.

I hold out more hope for Generation Z than millennials.

R204, when Affirmative Action was under assault and being hollowed out in the mid 90's etc. the slogan for the times was "mend it don't end it." There were some who believed that affirmative action ought to be tied in some way to income in the case of college admissions, for example. So there is room for discussion about how to make it more effective. The depth of social capital, while fragile would hardly exist at all among women and minorities without affirmative action opening doors. It is a very important concept.

Omg Affirmative action was put into place by Nixon. Please stop this bullshit about the civil war and read real history

This is a purposeful derailing. Just like the concerned poster who used to call the IP a misogynist.

Mueller’s team made a new filing today in conjunction with a Rodger Stone associate. I’ll follow up with a Twitter link.

Attached is a Twitter thread with more info.

What’s more, Woodward has included the document Cohn, citing grave national security concerns, removed from Trump’s desk in the book.

There’s a lot to talk about in conjunction with the topic of this thread—the treasonous and otherwise criminal behavior of the president and the ongoing investigation into it.

So the author of the op-ed is down to Larry Kudlow, Betsy DeVos, and Barron?

Can one imagine?:

"Barron, stop writing anonymous letters to the New York Times"!

Mel.,..

The op-ed? A red herring was thrown-in to deflect.

Style, content, and motive: Steve Bannon.

Navy terms, trade views, cleverness. etc.

I could see Bannon behind the op-ed, but I can’t see the Times going along with calling him a senior administration official at risk of losing the job. Bannon and Nick Ayers are close.

The op-ed uses the mantra "free minds, free markets, and free people." Unless this is intended to be a red herring, it means that the author is a traditional pro-immigration, anti-Wall, anti-Russia, pro-big business Republican. It couldn't be Bannon or anyone sympathetic to his ideology.

R219 it might be directed to libertarians and racists who only consider whites as people

It's a piece of cowardly bullshit and for once I fucking agree with the pustule that sits in the Oval office. The only one with anything to gain here is Pence. He can't be fired, he wants the top job badly, and he was already fingered as being the guy doing all the paperwork. He also fits the profile of gutless.

Chief of Pence's Staff Nick Ayers—is he a gay?

Interesting, is he Pence's lover ?

R221. Wow — you’re defending Trump, and criticizing someone speaking out against him. Interesting.

[quote]This should I think be seen as iconic: a provable lie manufactured from DAY ONE by the 'President' who rarely lets a day go by without spewing about 'fake news.'

That's also when the "alternative facts" euphemism officially entered the lexicon, thanks to Smellyanne.

Nope, R224, get some reading comprehension skills. Agreeing with the pronouncement that this op/ed was gutless, talking about acting in the right way instead of actually DOING something, isn't confined to deplorables.

Pence is disgusting and ambitious. He's no friend of anyone, including Trump. This person who wrote the op/ed sounds just like a simpering little weasel who is excusing himself from the crimes being committed around him. He's not immune and I hope he goes down with the rest of them. Pence is every bit as culpable and maybe more with his connections to Flynn and his transition team activities.

Only when his dick is in Pence's mouth, r222.

Boris at R226, licking Trump’s ass.

Sick subversive troll.

Speaking of traitors who are connected to Roger Stone, the man currently in Mueller's barrel, Twitter and Periscope just permanently banned Alex Jones and InfoWars.

Pence is an insatiable bottom.

R230 Well, good thing Mother is an domineering top.

Afterglow?

Ayers sounds awfully close to Aryan

So are we posting pics of Ayers because he's pretty and probably closeted? Or are we posting these pics because y'all agree with my proposal that it could be him?

I envy all the hot people on Instagram who have no idea how much trouble the republic is in. They live free of fear, oblivious.

Gotta wonder what kind of advice Trump is getting from Rudy and Sean these days.....

Hell, maybe Rudy wrote the fucking letter.

Ignorance is bliss.

Blessed are the hot people on Instagram: The lucid interspace of world and world, Where never creeps a cloud, or moves a wind, Nor ever falls the least white star of snow, Nor ever lowest roll of thunder moans, Nor sound of human sorrow mounts to mar Their sacred everlasting calm!

Nick Ayers looks like he was carved out of cream cheese. He would have been right at home on [italic]The Lawrence Welk Show.[/italic]

About Booker and the hearing.

R237 Giuliani submitted the op-ed in drag as Trudy. Thus, Rudy can deny.

Dotard has a rally tonight which should be even crazier than usual.

For some reason I can only see the last 10 posts, so pardon me if this was posted earlier. Dimitri Simes, Russian head of the think tank The Center for the National Interest, had an outline of a foreign policy speech days before Trump gave it. Simes is also connected to Maria Butina. Democrats wanted to delve into Trump's connection to Simes and Nunes blocked the effort.

I can't wait for that fool to get his comeuppance.

Lol Cheeto tweeted that Kim Jong Un called to support him (or something to that effect).

Of course Kim supports him, who wouldn't support a useful idiot.

So Dump folded his arms and tweeted today that at least Chairman Kim likes me!

THIS is the President? How effing embarrassing!

Every GD Repug in Congress needs their asses throw in jail for their enabling treason. More so the "Never Trumpers" who can't vote with him fast enough.

Me too, R245:

Guiliani says Trump won’t answer obstruction questions.

Maybe someone who knows can tell us if that means Trump will have to take the 5th.

R249, if the next step is taken, if Trump is successfully subpoenaed to testify, then he will either have to answer Mueller's questions or assert that he has a valid reason for not responding. That may include asserting the Fifth. Of course, Mueller may conclude that Trump's testimony is unnecessary to his obstruction case.

This is pretty funny. Jared standing outside locked door for almost two minutes while reporters shout at him.

We have witnessed rare political courage, as Cory Booker threw down a gauntlet and dared the Republicans to pick it up.

Kamala Harris is going to bring down the Hammer of Justice tomorrow, revealing Kavanaugh's discussions about Mueller and Russia. He knows she has the goods on him. Trump won't want a Jeff Sessions on the Supreme Court, and he doesn't really care about Roe v. Wade.

R249, That's like if Clinton's lawyer had declared that "He won't answer questions about Monica Lewinsky."

As in, Rudy is as demented as his client.

R252 I so hope that's right!

Don’t forget Mazie Hirono (D Hawaii), r252. She brought up how Kavanaugh feels benefits targeted to Native Hawaiians should be questioned, and paralleled that opinion to Native Alaskans, basically in order to get a reaction from the senator from Alaska who is one of the two pro choice female s mayors who can be persuaded to flip on Kavanaugh’s underhandedness with Roe v. Wade

S mayors >> Senators

R228, What?? I didn't get that from r226. Did you miss the "crimes being committed around him" line?

Swalwell alert on Rachel!

The woman at r233 is interchangeable with Trump wives and FOX hires.

Kamala was on with Rachel. I missed it. What happened? I want someone to pay Kavanaugh a visit tonight at his house, just tell him, "we have pictures. You have to withdraw. Prepare your wife and kids." then walk away. He'll announce he's withdrawing then he'll leave the bench and decide to open a B&B with his "close friend from college." a few days after he announces his divorce.

Maybe we can get the Nationals to offer Kavanaugh a ball boy position. Then he can withdraw for a reason instead of in humiliation or by eventually being impeached.

If there is true justice in this world, the Repugs will not get to confirm another SC judge.

Brett K has filth all over him. He is downlow and dirty. He is rotten to the core. Likely a Putin pick.

The male senators talk about abortion as they haul away women protesting to keep their reproductive rights. Slate's legal columnist and podcaster Dahlia Lithwick noted this on MSNBC.

We're getting another one like Thomas and his wife I bet. Crazy sociopaths.

Repugs= Sociopaths

Kamala read that asshat sociopath Brett good yesterday and today. He was stammering and looked weak. Like, if you can't answer a VERY direct, simple question, you do not belong on the SC you bitch.

Insanity. Our country is insane.

I have no idea what's going on in R266, even after reading the "article", if that's what it can be called.

Putin would love for Americans to believe their country is insane and hopeless. It’s what Serkov has been going for: hypernormalization.

Ghouliani has been MIA, and I'm not mad at it.

R269, he's been yapping all day about how Trump won't allow Mueller to talk to him after he submits his written responses and how he and Trump have just told Mueller 'no' and they'll see what Mueller wants to do about it. I wish he was MIA...or DOA would be fine, too.

Summing Trump up in a few words... dumb, stupid, crazy, idiot...

R260, it was a phone interview:

She told Rachel that it perplexed her and worried her that he insisted on throwing the question back at her asking for specific names. She also implied that she has intelligence about someone that didvtalk to him abdcjrptbusingbyhectetm equivocated when referring to Kavanaugh.

But her phone kept getting cut off and Rachel, respectful of the predicament and merely grateful to have her on live via phone, never cut her off to complain about the bad reception/signal. Later Rachel told her audience that she wished she had asked her to call on two cell phones. Even later, Lawrence O’D, in his habitual banter with Rachel during the show handoff, told her that the Capitol halls have solid marble floors and huge echoes that provide for horrible reception. They both pined for the days of phone booths located in a row outside Senate halls.

*Someone that did talk to him about the Muller investigation and kept referring to Kavanaugh as equivocated....

Trump says that the NYT committed treason by publishing the op-ed and that the op-ed was written by the "deep state".

Trump can be just as insane on Fox News as he is on Twitter.

Everything to Trumptard is 'treason' except all the actual treasonous things he does. I hate how alt-right assholes try to redefine what things mean to suit their own agendas. If WH staffers had ANY sort of honor to their country, they'd stage a full-scale walkout.

[quote] If WH staffers had ANY sort of honor to their country, they'd stage a full-scale walkout.

Don't count on it. They are as bad as he is -- only slightly less insane.

Amonynous

[quote]Pence ... was already fingered

Pics please.

Trump's "coffee boy" George Papadopoulos will be sentenced today as a result of his plea bargain. Another one bites the dust.

The Orange Menace is always projecting. So I guess he did commit treason after all? I take this as an admission of guilt.

Trump is now saying that the NYT committed Treason by publishing the Op-Ed in the first place.

Uh no...would somebody please explain to Dumpfus what Treason actually means? It would be greatly appreciated.

Is there any Pence porn out there? Gay porn daddies who look like him?

R282 What has that got to do with this thread? Also, yuck.

Lindsey Graham is not serving his constituents in South Carolina. Democrats and Republicans are not happy that he will not meet with his constituents in the state.

Tired of hearing him saying serving "my President". The media needs to stop featuring this camera sTRUMPet x-times a day. Of course he's beloved by Fox.

The GOP created this monster to steal the WH, and then now is telling the nation to keep clam, they can control of the monster (sort of).

Poor confused man....Trump did not vote him into office, but I'm sure that AG position will more than compensate for all the love he's currently ignoring at home.

Lindsey sure is some kind of southern trick. I wonder if the folks in SC get it yet?

R285, that op/ed was translated by my partner as 'we have the chimp back on the leash now.' It was anything but reassuring.

R287 They are essentially taking a page out of the amoral Trump playbook, admit the crime/atrocity and then say since we're addressing it (now), it's not really an issue. Carry on.

Next president, if you're a Democrat - if we're allowed to elect a Democrat given we'll have the popular vote - investigate and prosecute absolutely everyone in the current administration. Find out who collaborated with Russia, including that Green Party RT ho. Look into Paul Ryan's PAC money: where did it come from, was he aware, etc. He's hiding a ton of shit. Don't buy his wide-eyed "I care about the country, served it, and am now in the private sector and completely clean now" BS. He's a fucking predator sociopath.

Investigate News Corp., especially Fox News. Maybe the SEC should investigate Fox once it's spun off after the Disney sale. Investigate sexual harassment at Fox News. Investigate Hannity's weird finances. See what the New York state AG might be up for investigated and prosecuting.

Don't be conciliatory like Obama in fear of white male voters still wearing stupid red caps. Don't fear investigating what the fuck happened in the last 4 years because you're scared of turning them off. We want to know what happened, and we want everyone who can be prosecuted to be prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law.

This time, we won't be ok with your "trying to work with" Republicans for the sake of "moving forward," "healing," and being "united." NO MORE OF THAT BS. This is fucking war. Please accept that and act accordingly. They want to permanently take our votes. They want to destroy us. Stop them.

The Supreme Court. A nightmare. If the GOP still controls the Senate, and spaces open up in the Supreme Court, if they block you, do a recess appointment. Bring it to that. They stole 1 seats, maybe 2 given they stole the last election(s). Consider expanding the court to 10+ seats. Don't neglect appeals court and district court appointments, like Obama did (he did). Push those fuckers through the Senate, play hardball. Because the courts matter immensely.

Don't fuck up midterms and state government elections. State legislatures can fuck shit up at the federal level. Even though congressional district lines are drawn every 10 years, there are any number of ways state legislatures can fuck with things in the meantime. Small positions, even county-level (e.g., school boards) matter. Everything matters. Purple states can grow red again. Blue can become purple, then red (e.g., Florida). Fight for everything. Explain to everyone why midterms matter. The GOP has done that for the longest time, and it's allowed them to block the efforts of popularly elected Democratic governments.

Same with Russia, that hellhole. They're promoting racism and discord. They're trying to destroy democracy permanently, and they have partners all around the world, including the GOP. NO MORE "RESETS." This is a new Cold War, or the last one never ended. Bolster our allies. Build up protections of elections with the states that are willing to bother making sure elections aren't hacked. Force protections on those states that refuse to cooperate. Russia will never be our friend, and it doesn't matter. Their values are essentially the opposite of ours They're dangerous.

If you set a "red line," honor it. Don't be like Obama in Syria when Assad first used chemical weapons in their civil war and fail to execute. If you do, that'll signal to bullies like Russia that you'll be too scared of causing offense that you won't fight them when they actually fuck with our internal shit - like elections. Obama was like that. Don't be like that. Because if you're like that, we'll get another puppet like Trump. We will. You think it's a one-time thing, but it's not. They're out there, eager to take control. Look at that KKK fuck in Virginia running for Senate.

Don't drop this shit because you're too busy, or because division "hurt our country," or because the opposition is "overwhelming" (e.g., Obama with the NRA). Investigate your opposition, like FDR did. Study FDR - see how he operated. Because he was ... aggressive ... but stealthily so. Learn from him.

This is Trump's mentor's strategy of dealing with the press: get ahead of the story and minimize the damage or if caught with your pants down - deny, lie and obfuscate until the media gets tired and moves on. It's a strategy that works in an age of short attention spans.

Yeah, what R289 said. Hold public figures accountable for their actions. Don't listen to the nervous nellies who worry about "dividing the country" and let it slip farther into corruption. Hold everyone to the same standard and bring improper behavior into the light to be answered for.

Oh yeah, next Democratic president:

The press is going to say your party is just as bad - that things your doing are "questionable" and they'll rhetorically ask whether your actions are "no better" or "morally equivalent" to Trump and/or the GOP's. It's complete bullshit. The Times et al are making the same fucking mistake they did in 2016, because they can't fucking help themselves: journalists are neurotic navel-gazers who project their own neuroses to anyone in the public service: because their motivations are so mixed (and are more like 90% self-interest and 10% public service), they'll ascribe the same overwhelming disingenuousness and selfishness to you (even if, while president, you're more or less more about public service than self-interest). "Well, the current president is going to be doing speeches and making money after his time in office, so he's as bad as I am - everything he's doing now is almost purely selfish" they reason, usually incorrectly.

They're also largely hacks who have resorted to manufacturing controversy to make content - investigative reporting is a now a rarity.

Hold access above their heads: convey the message that they need to cut the crap to maintain meaningful access to your and your staff. You won't cut them off, but if they try what they did to Dems in 2016 (and no doubt will do in 2020 and 2024) DURING your administration, you're going to hold them at more than arm's length.

Don't fall for the press. They're NOT the cool kids whose judgment you worry about. Mostly they're fucking basket case hacks who deep inside realize they don't know how to be journalists because most of them never learned. They know they're creating crap content to sell pharmaceutical ads. Some of them are creepy predatory sociopaths -- e.g., Haberman. Watch out of their manipulations. Amy Chozick types are another one, but more overtly insecure, in large part because they know it pays off: they'll tear you the fuck down because you're not being nice to them, and then they'll neurotically navel-gaze for the harm they've caused, and maybe if they're high-profile enough, they'll write a book about it and be praised by their peers for their "deep introspection" and "honesty." Habermans are like pimps (they'll lure you in by professing their competence, then squeeze you dry and turn you out when it suits them). Chozicks are like white chicks who cry after being called out as racist. Cottonmouths.

A free press is important, because it'll keep you precise, focused, and on-the-ball, but that doesn't mean you have to pander to them. Be cordial, polite. Don't fight them, but don't give them any fodder. Answer their questions, but no more than actually responds to the actual question they're asking; don't add to the minimally sufficient response. When you need them, to push Medicare for all, etc., they'll come running regardless.

Next female presidential candidate: the press and cosplay rose twitter socialists will suck your less progressive NRA-living opponents’ dicks in both the primary and general and never fucking admit to their misogyny. You will be castigated and humiliated for things you never did. Lies will spread about you, often by the fake left propped up by disinformation campaigns run by oligarchs who murder. I’ll admire you and your courage always but by god I won’t envy you.

Free press ≠ corporate press.

Boris, R294? The Washington Post isn't representative of the free press? Really?

R295, ignore it.

Hey, first time I've been accused of being a Boris! Maybe my point was obscure, but I meant to agree with R292 and say that the hack journalists he/she is talking about are more representative of corporate media and their owners financial interests than of well-rounded, searching investigative journalism.

But to answer your question more concretely, R294, it's complicated: the Post has great reporting on Trump and related issues, and their opinion columnists are on fire the last couple of years, but in a lot of ways they still show corporate biases (consistent with the narrow interests of notorious miser Jeff Bezos). An example below.

R295 The corporate owned press gave us Trump as much as the GOP. Trump had so many fatal flaws as a human being much less an amateur politician, and the press coddled this big baby instead of annihilating him like a pesky bug that he was. Trying to play catch up now is just not good enough after all the damage done.

R296, thanks. Just ignored.

Sorry you Obama haters. He’s doing a speech right now and GOD DO I MISS AN INTELLIGENT MESMERIZING SPEAKER!

When I turned the TV on he was addressing lack of leadership that allows 3000 Americans to die in the aftermath of a hurricane.

Meant to say “An excellent ntelligent mesmerizing speaker like him”

Intelligent

R297

R297, OK I get it. Makes sense the way you explain it. Sorry.

Obama is giving a fantastic speech. Yes, the line about the deaths in Puerto Rico got a huge response, as it should have.

[quote]keep clam

Only if you give me a wedge of lime and a really, really good baggie.

R306, where was he speaking? Hope he uses that line in Florida.

In Illinois, r308

Rand Paul wants to give the executive branch employees lie detector tests to determine who is the op-ed writer. And this guy claims to be a libertarian and an advocate for individual rights? what a gross hypocrite.

Rand, why aren't YOU being required to take a lie detector test. One question to include: Does Putin have something on you?

No one needs to have anything on that reprobate. He's disgusting all on his own. There are reasons a neighbor is finally motivated to put a beat down on someone and the smug entitlement oozing out of Paul's pores is just one.

Apparently at last night's rally in Montana Trump said to the deplorables that if the House / Congress turn Dem at the mid-terms and he's impeached, they will be to blame. (heard this being commented on msnbc).

^^ I mean, he said it will be the deplorables' fault if he's impeached as a result of a Dem-controlled Congress

He can even insult them to their faces, like he did with Sessions, and they still vote for him.

And.....

^^ He knows or should have been told there's nothing here, but he's using this to blast the JD and Sessions when (as they should) do nothing of the sort.

Miz Lindz, just shut up a bit, and go home and take a break. Call your fave Fox fem anchor and tell her to bring along three gentleman callers.

Hope this changes some minds.

I can't wait to see it, R317. The release date is September 21.

George Papadopoulos sentenced to 14 days in prison. Alert on phone looking for link.

Still a felon? 14 days is nothing. Not an incentive for others to cooperate.

That betch is not Italian...

r320, this was the DISCOUNT time for a cooperating witness.

He dodged YEARS in prison.

Heaven help a non-cooperating witness.

R320, are you stupid? A short, nothing sentence IS incentive for others to cooperate to avoid the longer sentence a trial might end with. I agree, his wife is not Italian...she's one of the most Russian looking women I've ever seen.

That 14-day sentence ought to have Red Don shitting his pants. That means Papadopolous sang like a canary AND provided useful intel to prosecutors.

R320, are you mentally deficient in some way?

[quote]That betch is not Italian...

She's always sounded Russian to me. Could be a Russian emigree in Italy.

R323 and R325, you're idiots. He never cooperated with the FBI. They couldn't reach an agreement. From the NBC article:

[Quote] Court documents suggest Mueller's office had hoped to secure Papadopoulos' cooperation, but quickly concluded he could not be trusted when he began meeting with reporters. A scheduled FBI cooperation interview was cancelled.

So... Fuck you two.

[quote] Far from cooperating to energize the special counsel probe, prosecutors Jeannie Rhee, Andrew Goldstein and Aaron Zelinsky argued, Papadopoulos and his wife gave life to a false narrative about them and the seriousness of his offense.

So... He never cooperated.

From ABC:

The 30-year-old foreign policy and energy scholar, who in 2016 attempted his maiden venture into electoral politics, eventually became the first former Trump adviser to agree to cooperate with the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 elections.

Papadopoulos' lawyer Thomas Breen told the court Friday his client's cooperation earned him probation, saying he was "unsophisticated, he was naive and he was a fool.”

He cooperated, but if he had anything that was worthwhile is questionable. If he only got 14 days in jail.....

Saying things that may be true after you're caught in lies is not cooperating. There was no cooperation agreement. He didn't cooperate.

Yes, he did, R331, and more than one news outlet has reported it over the last six months. Stop with the fake news already.

[quote] They said Papadopoulos’s initial lies hindered investigators’ ability to effectively question, challenge or detain Joseph Mifsud, the London professor who had contacted him. Mifsud left the United States and not returned, after the FBI found him in the U.S. on Feb. 11, 2017, about two weeks after Papadopoulos’s first interview.

Terrible. 6 months was the mas. 14 days is nothing.

Now you are going to the "no agreement" argument.

There are plenty of cooperating criminals who do not have a a signed agreement.

I agree with r331, you are wrong Boris.

R332, see R327. It specifically addresses whether he cooperated. The FBI does not consider what he told them, after repeatedly lying, cooperation. You haven't shown anything to prove he cooperated. "Google it" isn't proof.

From ABC News:

[quote]As part of his plea agreement, Papadopoulos agreed to cooperate with Mueller as part of his probe into Russian meddling during the 2016 campaign.

Mueller's team tried to reach an agreement for him to cooperate, but dropped it because he was untrustworthy.

Mueller and the FBI are not the same thing.

Exactly, R338. Ol' Pappy cooperated with the IC and got the deal for lying to the FBI through his intervention. HE COOPERATED.

Google is your friend, R335. Save your LOLs for something that's actually funny. Your mockery isn't.

This is just one of MANY links.

R336, agreeing to cooperate isn't the same as cooperating. Nothing useful came of his agreeing to cooperate because Mueller decided he was untrustworthy.

The FBI is an instrument at the disposal of the Mueller team. The FBI isn't investigating on its own initiative.

You're not attorneys, I take it. Parsing language matters. Precision matters.

Yes, R340, it does, and particularly in a courtroom. Here, I believe we could all reasonably assume that any mention of cooperation had to do with the IC. That his information was unreliable and his role inflated had nothing to do with the fact that he DID agree to cooperate.

By the time Trump goes to jail, this guy will be forgotten.

But his information stays.

[quote] How, exactly, would utilizing an actual amendment of the Constitution precipitate a constitutional crisis?

Think of it this way: a “constitutional crisis“ doesn’t mean a crisis that the constitution can’t handle; instead, it means a crisis in government that is on the Constitutional level, where the Constitution is referenced to identify the course of action.

For example: Hurricane Maria was a national crisis, but not a constitutional one.

The death of an acting President creates a constitutional crisis, even though we have more than enough experience with a transition like this.

How’s that?

Doesn't make sense, R343. Why would those be crises? Your example would be a constitutional matter or situation involving the constitution but there'd be nothing crisis-like about it. In fact, the line of succession being outlined in the Constitution is to prevent a crisis from taking place. It's kind of the point of having a Constitution.

R343 Save the equivocation. The real crisis is the moral crisis within the GOP! Do they do the right thing when they can still salvage some dignity for themselves and their party, or just turn a blind eye to the glaring problem until a disaster befalls them?

Hmm.

So now he's going to cooperate?

Florida analysis.

The primary was only a week ago in Florida. They didn't even know who the candidates were going to be until then. How can they possibly all have decided already? This might be a good indication for the Democrats. The Gillum win was a surprise but it seems that all the Dems, even in Florida, don't even need to think about it and will be voting for the Dem, no matter who it was that got nominated. The fact that Gillum is ahead in all the polls after no one basically knowing who the hell he was two weeks ago means there is Repug crossover, too, even though he's really liberal.

I’m starting to feel more positive about us coming out of this. It feels like we’re entering a new phase of this whole sordid chapter of American history.

Also, it is just so absurd that Kavanaugh might be confirmed to the Supreme Court. Trump has been allowed to choose his own judge. There seems to be plenty of evidence for a later impeachment.

It'd be so inspiring if Gillum won, given all the racist garbage thrown at him. I'd have new great respect for Florida.

I think the left is more motivated to vote.

Barring more intervention from Russia, and more barriers to voting for minorities, I suspect Trump's hard base is loathe to believe he is doing badly. Anything that says he is would be fiction to them.

Shifting gears, I have convinced myself that the Op-Ed is undeniably part of a strategy that can ONLY be installing Pence. From the Anonymous Op-Ed thread:

The first few days since this article was published, i was convinced that it was Coats. Now, however, I am leaning most strongly to Nick Ayers. There are certain attitudes in the letter that point to a more “youthful” less experienced person, someone who hasn’t lived through much, someone who is not street wise, hardened by battle, and maybe even someone who has lots of faith in God that this will all work out if they just “stay strong.” One example of youth is saying that “there are adults in the room.” This persons attitude points to a level of naïveté that is more likely someone younger - Nick Ayers is 36. Another term that points to youth is the word “resistance.” I’m a Gen Xer, and while I am de facto a member of the Resistance, just saying that out loud always feels silly too me, like I’m playing good guys and bad guys, pretend time. I’ve just noticed that more younger people use it — though undoubtedly ALL ages call themselves members of the Resistance. I’m only pointing out that I think it’s become a word used more frequently by the younger generations, again supporting my theory the writer is say under 40.

I definitely think it’s a man. Why? Look at how few women Trump has!!! Also, the writing style is very succinct, which is less typical of how women write. Writing and speaking are two different things, but I think the choppy style and shorter sentence structure is more likely a man.

In addition, I keep pondering the motivation. Who would benefit MOST from the damage this article is causing? Pence. In fact, there really is not anyone else who benefits — only Pence does. Perhaps Ayers, being the good church boy, is SO loyal to Pence that he decided to shake things up to get Pence into the Oval Office. And IF I’m right, that also means that there is a HIGH probability that Pence KNOWS it is Nick. Pence may be complicit in the whole thing, he could have even come up with the idea, and Nick is being a loyal solider.

Another thing to consider.....who was this author trying to reach and why? DEFINITELY not Trump’s base. This person wanted to go to what he views as the Bible for liberals — the NYT’s. WHY? Does this person have sooooo much compassion and empathy for our fears, our worries, our stress? Hell no. So WHY is the writer targeting anti-Trumpers? I find it hard to believe the writer is trying to calm our fears. Instead, I think he’s trying to shift opinion and rally support. Support for what? Some type of change, and the only change I can imagine that would be huge is benching Trump.

I could keep going, but these are my biggest clues. I think many posters are correct, we are losing the importance of the message by playing guessing games. But another way to look at it is to keep asking WHY did he write this letter and WHO benefits most???? The more that I think about it, those two questions matter quite a bit. If I’m right, this really could mean we are witnessing a coup by Team Pence. Which is HORRIFYING.

Another observation. While of COURSE this place always always always has trolls in most threads, has anyone noticed a true decrease in political threads? I feel like overall, there is much less thread hijaking, that conversations are moving forward, that ideas are being debated with less interference. I do NOT think I’m imagining this. There was a point in the first 12 months if his term where you literally could not have a single thread that wasn’t literally taken over by trolls. That isn’t happening nearly as much. Ain’t it nice?

I felt that way last week, r354. Today not so much. But as a group we are better neutralizing them, be it calling them out or ignoring them.

Interesting, I thought I had just successfully blocked the posters. I’ll need to check the numbers as I scroll.

Agree with R353 and so does Omarosa. I would trust her on this since she is so experienced in these sorts of things.

From R353 above:

There are certain attitudes in the letter that point to a more “youthful” less experienced person, someone who hasn’t lived through much, someone who is not street wise, hardened by battle, and maybe even someone who has lots of faith in God that this will all work out if they just “stay strong.” One example of youth is saying that “there are adults in the room.” This persons attitude points to a level of naïveté that is more likely someone younger...

I thought this exact same thing as soon as I read it. As a former professor, I have a lot of experience reading essays from students who are trying to sound more intelligent and forthright than they really are. The NYT piece smacks of that -- a young person trying to sound wise and worldly.

Nick Ayers it is.

Has anyone considered Hope Hicks?

Ah, the eternally boyish Nick Ayers, age 36. Nick, pour me another cup of nectar—and don't be stingy, baby!

Ginger ale on the side, r360?

r347 So far reports are just pleading guilty, not cooperating.

I’d be shocked if Manafort cooperated. At least there, he’d be protected.

I bet manafort is looking for no jail time and witness protection.

DL has the best Miss Lindsey coverage and jokes. A closeted gay flaunting her vulva with the archenemy opposition will stuggle to find endearment on DL. Well, Natasha thinks she's hot.

Can't let Manafort be pardoned. The states need to pursue charges so he can't be pardoned for those.

From Kyle Griffin:

DNC lawyers wrote in court filings that Joseph Mifsud, the London-based professor who told George Papadopoulos that Russia had 'dirt' on Hillary Clinton, "is missing and may be deceased," Bloomberg News reports. The lawyers did not elaborate.

r367....thats not surprising.....several of the Russian "sources" have turned up dead in the last 2 years. But nothing to see here folks......

Nope nothing to see

^ his suicide occurred mere days after he spoke to a journalist. Total coincidence!

Gave me so much hope my hair was standing on end!

Chris Hayes is a Bernie Bro?

I'd laugh myself sick if one of the protesters in the hearing room let rip with a "Sure, Jan" after one of Kavanaugh's evasive answers.

Yes, r373, with a hair flip!

It would be REALLY great if a Kavanaugh scandal occurred within the next ten minutes. This is it. The thought of this lunatic being appointed is almost too much.

I don’t think this was posted yet. Word on the street is that Orange Hitler has been told they’re indicting Junior Mint any day now. Perhaps that was why he jumped out of his SUV?

I feel pretty confident JM will be indicted within the next four weeks, definitely before the election. And Mueller knows once that happens, every other hit he makes must be a kill shot. Once Junior is indicted, we will REALLY see him go crazy and we will long for the way things were with CrazyTown.

What is most fascinating is how Mueller continually passes the ball to various jurisdictions, thereby inoculating his team from the Wrath of Cheeto.

My god - he is so hideous in that picture above! Ugly man, inside and out.

His pout should be mocked more often.

I often wonder what he would look like with a proper haircut? I mean, he's a sloppy man. Tall but slightly stooped, fat, poorly dressed in expensive clothes but pathologically unable to button a jacket and stand up straight, so there's not much to work with, but I do wonder what he'd look like with a proper haricut, as of all his style sins that candy floss on his head is the worst of them.

And you just know the pervy old fool prides himself on it.

The more I see of him the more I am convinced Brett K is a Putin plant. He was not on the original list of SC picks given to Dump. Suddenly, Kennedy (whose son is connected in some shady way) steps down, BK is now on the list and gets picked! Even when Turtle said he would be among the toughest to get confirmed. Add to that all this dark money putting up commercials for him. He will side against Mueller any chance he gets.

BK is among the worst of the worst. He is a craven liar. He has dead eyes. He is a sociopath.

I would love for a reporter to ask how the Whitw House physician’s fitness regimen is going for the president. I clearly remember the mockery of an exam proclaiming Trump in good health and shaving pounds off his actual (obese) weight. Now he’s slurring words in speeches. The man is not well, and the nation deserves a follow-up. Maybe I just want to take vindictive pleasure in watching Trump be forced to exercise...

He was slurring his words back in the debates. And where did that nose sniffing originate?

I’ve noticed that Trump slurs more in speeches that occur after big and bad news breaks. I think other time was after Cohen’s Office was raided by the FBI. I’m sure he’s on an extensive cocktail of meds. Remember he was seeing that quack in NYC as a primary care physician? He was a GI specialist, not a PCP. He gave every impression to be a “Doctor Feelgood” who would prescribe Trump with whatever meds he wanted, no questions asked.

He wears dentures....thats why he insists his teeth are real.....you know everything he says is opposite.

Sigh. 🙄

Hmmmm

Totally off-topic, but someone needs to start a thread about Murphy Brown's gracelessly hidden neck wattle.

^ Rrrrrrrrran-dom.

Whatevs, R387.

Dead? The Kremlin is murdering them left, right and center.

R387 is a TROLL.

[Quote] The sheriffs who cheered on Trump's press attacks this week have been held accountable by local journalists for incidents like the leaving of a service pistol in a casino bathroom, alleged mistreatment in jails, and the wearing blackface by an officer.

Slurring, saying "amonynous"

Since things are kind of quiet I went to see what Seth A has been working on.

Interesting that Trump was told by intelligence in August 2016 that attempts were being made to infiltrate his campaign. He knew George Papa was connected to the Kremlin back in the spring of 2016. He likely was asked about it in the August briefing and likely lied. Treason/Conspiracy.

he doesn't care, r393. He is dumb enough to think no one else cares, either.

He thinks it's no big deal and so do his enablers and cultists.

Football season started.

Treason not as important anymore.

Thread dies down.

Sad.

You wish, R395.

R396, you idiot, I was kidding because the thread is so slow. At least, I was hopefully kidding. The Repugs do love their distraction and it's wall to wall football now. We'll see if the threads pick up again but this has been a very slow weekend and it's not a holiday.

This thread is slow because other threads were started about the anonymous op-ed and the Woodward book.

Funny how Papadopoulos married a Red Sparrow and both showed up on This Week with George.

What page and what catalogue did he find her on?

When he says he found himself in a room in a foreign country serendipitous with a Russian government intermediary I just laugh and laugh. This is what a Russian asset looks like when they do not know they are a Russian asset. His wife is deep cover .

Just like Marija Butina.

And now, they are hiding in plain sight.

Has anyone in the media actually questioned the fact that his wife is very obviously Russian and not Italian?

And she worked in the Duma, the Russian Congress.

And you know that Putin controls every, EVERY, person there.

Ven she say I not spy, I laugh and laugh.

Is Papadopolous some kind of Manchurian husband?

He sounds like his hard drive had been overwritten.

Do you think Mueller's team is keeping an eye on them or is that another department's job?

Papadapala vife not look Russian. Did vat Russian look like!

"Manchurian husband "?

How pissed off do you think Omarosa is now that Woodward and Anonymous are getting all the headlines?

She's fine, R405. I'm sure she's equally worried about you.

Things are also slow because it is the weekend, and we are between events. Oh, Cheatolini has tweeted out some additional insane ramblings over the last few days, but that's par for the course. We are in a holding pattern until the next event happens. Maybe we will finally get the indictments of Roger Stone and Junior Mint/Tater Tot. That'll make things interesting.

What's left...

Why do these articles keep repeating Guiliani's 60 day bullshit. It's always been 30 days before an election. Hence, October. Stupid lemming reporters.

Why did Papadapoulos get such a light sentence, yet is still faithfully kissing Dump's flabby orange ass?

Did he spill all he knows, yet is paying lip service to Dump in hopes of getting back in Dear Leader's good graces?

More likely back in Putin’s good graces

Was the judge that gave George Pap 2 weeks one of Trump’s appointees?

[quote]Slurring, saying "amonynous"

Really? Wow.

R413 And then Dump repeated "anomynous"!

The Daily Double, R414?

That Miss Lindsay character is an odd duck. What did she do that's making her act as she does?

[quote] Was the judge that gave George Pap 2 weeks one of Trump’s appointees?

No. It was Judge Randy Moss, an Obama appointee. I worked with Randy in the Reno Justice Department. He was a Clinton political appointee in the Office of Legal Counsel. Exceptionally smart lawyer and all-around nice guy. The sentence he gave likely came from a recommendation by Mueller's team.

Okay, someone with some media skills has to put that Trump clip of him repeatedly trying to pronounce 'anonymous' to the tune of 'Manamana' by the Muppets.

"Amonymous...dododododo...amonmynous...dodododo"

I think we are all absorbing the scale of events which have happened over the last few weeks. There's some much to take in. We need time to process.

The trolls are out on this thread.

Lololol, where are said trolls? I think this baby is humming nicely.

[quote]Okay, someone with some media skills has to put that Trump clip of him repeatedly trying to pronounce 'anonymous' to the tune of 'Manamana' by the Muppets.

They actually did this on Morning Joe on Friday. It was hilarious.

I don't know if this the same one you saw, R422, but still funny.

R417, can you elaborate on the sentence recommendations process? Is that always done privately or is some of it on record — ever available to the public or no? Obviously, this case, and all of these cases, are highly unusual so I would not expect them to be the norm. But I am curious to learn a bit more about that if it gives us any clues into Team Mueller’s strategy or if it helps us make predictions. Do you have any predictions?

Also, do you have any thoughts on Mueller building a RICO case? Is that just too out there?

The Mueller team didn't recommend a sentence but said to the judge that they thought the maximum of six months wasn't unreasonable. It's in one of the articles here.

Damn, I thought my 'Manamana' idea was original. Should have googled it first. It does work well, though! Ha.

New episode just posted.

A quick thank you to the person who has been promoting Mueller, She Wrote. I started listening about a month ago, and it's really excellent. I quickly became a patron. Totally worth supporting.

[quote]That Miss Lindsay character is an odd duck. What did she do that's making her act as she does?

Cock.

She is just a fool for cock.

This is a nice period when Mueller continues to do his job, quietly and effectively.

Methinks that, if we make it to January 3rd, that then the games begin.

There is all this Kavenaugh nonsense about indicting and subpoenaing a sitting president.

Either Mueller releases his findings to the Senate as part of the impeachment trial and invokes Rico after Trump leaves office or he waits till he leaves office. I believe that at that time there will be nobody to pardon him. He will have already pardoned his family and they will have paid him back by fully cooperating as they have no 5th Amendment recourse.

Either way, Trump is fucked.

The best way for Dems, if they retake the house, is to have investigation on investigation until, say the time of the Republican convention, end of July 2020, when they issue the articles of Impeachment.

So, say Trump pardons Junior and then Junior is subpoenaed to testify in a trial against daddy dearest. Since he can no longer take the 5th, he must testify or be found in contempt and jailed, right? And, of course, perjury laws still apply even to the pardoned, right?

right 431.

Here is Trump failing to pronounce "anonymous". As a bonus, you get to see "Plaid Shirt Guy" and a young Deplorable wiping her nose on the American flag.

Trump sounds drunk and/or drugged up in that clip.

What is the correlation between overdoses and strokes? Does anyone know? How about overdoses, strokes, old age and obesity?

Kompromat?

Shouldn't he be helping the folks in his state prepare for the coming storm? He may be willing to drown himself, but I doubt his constituents are happy with this constant mouthpiece act.

Miss Lindsey is sucking the shit out of Trump's asshole. What the fuck is wrong with the bitch?

Cash & Cock

Miz Lindz free yourself or that must be damn good dick.

R436, Graham makes his mama proud. Still no backbone and no honor!

Oh I'm sure they have kompromat on Ms. Lindsey. He's a high-power, high-profile target and closeted. Probably some photos, since he's not big on using the computer or smartphone.

Pretty blatant, actually. Good cop (oligarch money), bad cop (blackmail).

Senator Graham (R - Closet) knows the US intelligence agencies know all about him, but he's not scared of them b/c he knows they have rules they abide by regarding disclosure (except for Comey, I guess).

He IS afraid of certain foreign intelligence agencies and what they know and can disclose anytime they want/are so directed by ....

Some laughs...

$500 million from New Jersey pension funds (Gov. Chris Christie) to AMI (publisher of the National Enquirer)

If his staff is behaving as described in the anonymous editorial it's not much of a stretch to add drugging him .

I'm having some trouble connecting the dots in R444. What does this mean?

Why was half a billion dollars invested in AMI when it was clearly failing? Was Chris Christie directed to do so by someone? Did Christie instuct the bureaucrats administering the fund to pour money into AMI?

BatBoyGate?

Christie is out in full force trying to shift the conversation to the Woodward book and Trump.

Remember this?

Stone news.

So what do we think Andrew Miller is so afraid of being asked?

How is there any question whether that scary country has compromising information about Trump? He's known them since the 80s.

There is probably video of him fucking Ivanka and then her eating his ass out.

She’d have to push Lindsey Graham and Rudy Giuliani out of there first.

Lindsey, for years, has gone on taxpayer-funded junkets all over the world for many years. Many of those were with McCain. Some trips were near war zones, while others were plush or in exotic places. In some of those hotel rooms he could have been secretly videoed and caught on audio.

R455/R456

Good 538 podcast today. Especially the last segment re the generic ballot.

Good Ezra Klein Show today as well.

So r457 is blocking people, then tries to see what they? She's a strange one.

Locking R457 will probably clear up the thread too.

Hope it doesn't head back towards the mean before November.

New Mueller,She Wrote podcast is out today. Sponsorship rates going up on Oct. I joined for $1/mo.

Well lookie here...”Fear” just downloaded into my iBooks.

Where do we access Ezra and 538, iTunes?

Did anyone watch Rachel last night? George Papa is on a media blitz trying to rewrite history saying he has no recollection of that night in the bar with the Aussie diplomat. She thinks it is part of a coordinated effort to debase the Mueller investigation..again. Then Trump will release and declassify Bruce Ohr's investigations. How is this legal??

George Papadopoulos' wife *clarifying* she's not a Russian spy... Riiiiight!

r464 Here is the link for 538 podcasts.

r464 Here are all the ways to access the 538 podcast.

r464 And here are all the ways to access Ezra Klein's podcast.

"At a White House press briefing, Sanders slammed the book "Fear," from veteran journalist Bob Woodward, as "careless and reckless.""

You want to know what's actually careless and reckless, Sarah?

Does the Huckabeast want to take it to court and prove what's "careless and reckless"? I didn't think so.

Par for the course.....

Orange Hitler hasn't blamed 9/11 on Hillary Clinton yet? Well, it's still early.

[quote] George Papa is on a media blitz trying to rewrite history saying he has no recollection of that night in the bar with the Aussie diplomat.

So he's not cooperating, it sounds like. Bastard. Hope they get him on new charges.

Figures he would ignore blue New York on 9/11 and instead go to one of “his” stolen swing states to make a speech

Is this Pappa guy’s wife really suspected of being a Russian spy? Everything with Piggy and his cabal goes back to Russia.

Paps and his wife are on the View right now.

Why does Pappa’s wife keep insisting that she’s Italian? It’s quite obvious that she is either Russian or Ukrainian. Joy Behar was totally not buying her today on “The View.”

At the sentencing hearing the other day the prosecutor told the judge George made only begrudging efforts to cooperate and in no way met the standard for substantial cooperation. I don't think we're going to get the truth about Papadopoulos, his involvement and what he gave up until some report comes out or we get pieces of that info in other indictments.

In the end who cares? The Steele dossier has proven to be reliable and I would believe the Aussie diplomat over George P and his Russian whore of a wife.

I wonder how they’ll spin the fact that Russia is responsible for the “sonic attacks”in Cuba that injured the US diplomats ?!

OMG why are they on a fucking talk show? He's going to prison and is still part of a serious investigation. Show business shouldn't be trivializing this. During Watergate did anyone appear on the Tonight Show? Absurd.

Good people on both sides, R481. You know he'll say it again. And his cult will agree.

“ ...could be Russia... or it could be someone else... there’s a lot of people out there!”

If you look at Paps a year ago to now, it appears his "Italian" Red Sparrow wife wiped his mind.

He is the Manchurian Husband.

This is the Putin version of Jim and Tammy Fae.

They are hilarious in their FAIL!

A Democratic House can haul Papadopoulos in with a subpoena and make him testify under oath.

My gosh, Miss Lindzey is all over Fox with her fanatic pro-Trump agenda. She doesn't let up.

Not one tweet about her constituents who will be facing Hurricane Florence. But she is worried that when Kavanaugh takes a shit, he doesn't experience any gas pain.

Trump lied about donating $10,000 to the Twin Towers Fund. He also took $150,000 from the 9/11 "small business" recovery fund. Always a thief and a liar.

R482 George Papadopoulos is going to federal prison but only for 14 days and he continues to sing the Dotard's high praises.

There's no way Simona Mangiante is legitimately Italian; her surname "man GIANT" seems right out of the KGB playbook...

r489 Mangiante means "eating". It has nothing to do with "man" or "giant".

She’s still a Russian whore in a looks-discordant relationship with a convicted felon and Trump lackey (who is still kissing Trump’s ass even after being dismissed as a “coffee boy”).

That “man giant” post was hilarious. I laughed out loud.

He’s so foul and uncouth. When will this nightmare end?

[quote]How about overdoses, strokes, old age and obesity?

You forgot orange spray tan and baldness.

Will be hit here by Florence. Can't wait for Trump to visit next week and toss me a roll of paper towels.

Maybe Miz Lindz will come along and she'll toss out boxs of lavender Kleenex.

Maybe Melania will show up in her I DON’T CARE fall edition jacket from Zara.

Actually the Fall edition says I STILL DON'T CARE, r497, and they've added a madcap ball fringe trim.

Trump cancels trip to Ireland due to fear of protests. Always a bully - always a coward.

And afraid of Flo....

Final primaries this week!

Interesting.

Picture this, McTurtle in a knife fight. Can't do it?

[quote]That “man giant” post was hilarious. I laughed out loud.

Reminds me of SNL's Moose Lambs.

Video

Funny how Paps is disputing the very event that establishes the basis for the Mueller investigation....sounds suspicious at best.

And......

[quote] Picture this, McTurtle in a knife fight. Can't do it?

Nope, he'd just retract into his shell until the other side got bored and walked away. A Ninja Turtle, McTurtle is not.

Don't these deals usually come with conditions? If this Papp guy breaks any of those conditions, couldn't they call the deal off and prosecute him?

R509, there's no deal.

R323, so I guess Papadopoulos isn't cooperating after all.

R325 was wrong lol.

What a disgrace. He can’t even do the most simple presidential thing of honoring the fallen on 9/11. He’s a complete idiot, a narcissistic fool, and an international embarrassment. Trump is an asshole without even a single friend.

papadop may be more concerned about staying alive at this point.

Mangina Papadopolous (at your cervix)

I think the posters who’ve said Papadopolous looks and acts like the wife/handler wiped his hard drive are correct.

Wow. The shamelessness. This must be from Conway.

He is such a lying fuck. I’m really sick of him and his disgusting mouthpieces gaslighting us with demonstrably false statements. I’ve fucking had it.

R515 Hilarious!

Drink a little more vodka, Mangina Papadopoulos!

R513 The Dotard's double fist pumping today at the 9/11 memorial was infuriating.

Dump must be hoping Russia delivers him another 9/11 so he can rise in the polls to 47% approval.........

I'm more than willing to buy the Papadopolous family a bottle of top shelf vodka before they sit down with a sixty minutes film crew.

Mangina Papadopoulos really does give off the whiff of a Russian handler. I’ve seen her interviewed several times on Ari and she’s very smart and well-spoken. George seems to be under her command in a way.

Junior Mint is now 'Big Daddy' who hunts gators for 'Mama' Kimberly Guilfoyle.

That hussy!

[quote]George Papadopoulos' wife *clarifying* she's not a Russian spy... Riiiiight!

Papa's wife has some nerve calling herself "beautiful".

Trump declared that the electric company was essentially off, before the hurricane.

It did have its problems, big ones, but that asshole got it wrong, of course. The man has no understanding of nuance. Or of anything, really. He wants to gaslight this and imply that the year-long power outage started before the hurricane.

My parents live in the hurricane's path. They can't wait for him to throw them paper towels.

Hope they're Coronet!

You win the thread, r418!

Fat Nixon informed us today Hurricane Florence is going to be "tremendously wet", so it might take awhile for him to gather up enough paper towels for everyone. Please be patient with him. He's used to hurricanes being drier, like the land hurricanes we get here in the midwest.

Flo is gonna be hitting Trump country. If Trump can't muster up some sensitivity or even some sanity, this could sink his approval rating worse than all the scandals and tell-all books.

seriously, he will throw some fucking paper towels and the morons will eat that shit up. The South is lost, as always. Everywhere else, throw out every stupid cunt in the Republican Party.

Dem governor in NC facing evil GOP legislature. You know the latter are going to try to sabotage the hurricane efforts of the governor — for political points.

R531 Trump's performance is viewed nationally and will affect the GOP in the upcoming midterm elections. Here's hoping Trump go full on batshit when Flo hits.

I totally agree r533. The South will remain fucked up and living out some stupid Jim Crow fantasy. Everyone else will see a useless asshole being a useless asshole and, praying, vote accordingly.

The South need to be colonized. People need to flood in.

R323 and R325 were so proven wrong today.

Retards. Gullible idiots.

Cooperating my ass.

Cooperated. Why do you seem to think Mueller and his team would go around proclaiming to the world what Papadopolous told them or even that he told them anything? And, unless it was part of his deal that he isn't allowed to go around and endlessly yap to the media, he's free to do just that. It's not like this guy was Deep Throat. He probably pointed out some other bigger people, like Junior, and that's really all he had. Nothing happening now contradicts his having told Mueller what he knew, even if it wasn't much. He got a very light sentence for his charges.

Papadopoulos's professor friend is dead. He shouldn't have fled Mueller. He'd be alive and under protection. 😂

Wow Papadopoulos is hideous.

So Kimberly Guilfoyle is Pooh Bear, as Junior Mint calls her.

They go to Louisiana to campaign and call themselves Big Daddy and Mama.

Cuddling earlier in New York City, they must have been watching the 1985 classic movie: PORKY's REVENGE.

I’m in the path of the hurricane, and I’ve got plenty of paper towels. I’d like to put in my request for Play Doh.

I believe the public started to turn on GWB, jr. when they saw his incompetence in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. 9/11 didn't the trick in that regard for some reason.

Remember Michael D. Brown and Dyba's "You're doing a heck of a job, Brownie!"?

I mean with Trump it's almost a given that he fails this country on an epic level once more.

Sorry, 9/11 didn't DO the trick in that regard for some reason.

[quote]I mean with Trump it's almost a given that he fails this country on an epic level once more.

Trump needing NC's electoral votes will probably motivate him to up his game.

Especially when the NC govenor isn't a Deplorable and just hands him the win through all kinds of dirty tricks.

North Carolina's two senators (both Republicans) aren't eligible for re-election this year. The same goes for South Carolina's senators (including you-know-who). I kinda hoped this would be the factor that aided in a senate flip from Republican control.

I loved the Mayor of San Juan’s response to Trump.

R536, let it go, hon. You’re obsessed.

R545 where did you get that information? You mean they're not up for reelection?

I think, R548, that R545 means they're not up for reelection this round. They're staying put until 2020.

R548, a third of the Senate is up for reelection every two years. This is the reason why Dems taking over the Senate is often not mentioned, largely due to where the seats ARE for re-election this year.

If the Dems win the Senate, it'll be a sign from a god for me.

[quote]I loved the mayor of San Juan’s response to Trump

She’s endorsing Cynthia Nixon in an obvious pro LGBT blind support. Here she is with the girlfriend she has stashed in NYC, Councilwoman Marissa Mark Viverito.

R552, maybe she's just very progressive and is turned off by Cuomo's weird deals with Republicans.

Sorry, the councilwoman’s name is Melissa. Here they are in a more obvious and very telling embrace after the release of an old Puerto Rican militant from jail.

And in case there’s any doubt, here’s a picture of her with her current (and previous) bear, um beard, um “husband.” She married then divorced the remarried him, on an “as needed” basis.

Yeah, I dare you go ahead and tell me they’re fucking.

If I were in NY I would vote rather for Cynthia Nixon than for Cuomo to be honest. I find Cuomo shady as hell. But there'd be hell to pay if Cynthia turns out to be another Jill Stein *shakingfist*.

Who cares, R555?

I do, r557.

R558 is a lesbian Puerto Rican who hasn't lived there in years and obsesses over its San Juan's superstar mayor. Crush much?

So do I, asshole R557 and r559. And the mayor’s diatribe at Trump is more relevant than some other subjects brought up in this umbrella thread.

Here is the whole hand, including on the left, a mayor gay activist for Puerto Rican LGBT causes, now residing in New York - Pedro Julio Serrano.

Hilarious NPR Code Switch story about super privileged Puerto Ricans moving to the mainland and bitching that they're no longer considered white. Gut-bustingly funny. This one super-rich princess cries over it.

Who Ian the troll posting about the Mayor’s girlfriend? Who fucking cares if she eats pussy. Everything she has said about YOUR Cheeto is 100% correct.

Now he's taking the impending disaster of Florence and using it to blame and attack this woman. We see you, jerk. We also know why you cancelled the trip to Ireland. Someone finally got around to telling you their leader is a proud gay man, of color.

He's a complete embarrassment and a transparent racist. Any woman or person of color who votes for this asshole or anyone he endorses is mentally deranged.

AND a homophobe.

Seriously, he blames PR for being an island for his miserable incompetence in how they handled that situation. He calls the mayor incompetent only because she told the truth about what he and his administration were really doing. Another case of transference, another case of complete disregard for the American people.

[quote]Seriously, he blames PR for being an island for his miserable incompetence in how they handled that situation.

I thought the most recent take was that it was a triumph but the Fake News made it seem like a disaster.

Exactly. He does it again. He says it was a triumph, then blames the 'disaster' it was on someone or something else. In the same fucking tweet. It's maddening!

Here 'tis, and we paraphrased, but the meaning is clear.

Donald J. Trump ‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 4 hours ago

We got A Pluses for our recent hurricane work in Texas and Florida (and did an unappreciated great job in Puerto Rico, even though an inaccessible island with very poor electricity and a totally incompetent Mayor of San Juan). We are ready for the big one that is coming!

24,000 replies 9,451 retweets 42,659 likes

Speaking of, did the FAKE NEWS! Awards ever actually happen?

I have a lot of friends in the projected path, but I told them not to worry about stocking up on paper towels. Donnie's gotcha.

r568, it will happen any day now ... as soon the Mexicn Border Wall is finished.

THe mayor of San Juan was and still is my hero. She was actually in the trenches saving people’s lives while this fat fucking dotard was out golfing and eating his second helping of ice cream. He is a piec of shit.

[quote]She was actually in the trenches saving people’s lives while this fat fucking dotard was out golfing and eating his second helping of ice cream.

Hey, now, paper towels.

[quote]Speaking of, did the FAKE NEWS! Awards ever actually happen?

They did, but they didn't get much attention.

Hopefully the administration’s response to Hurricane Florence will make his rating dip even lower. Does anyone really think they’ll do something even approaching a good job?

[quote]Does anyone really think they’ll do something even approaching a good job?

Why would you even ask that? Of course he's going to do the best job. Best job ever!

Link to new thread for when this fills up.

(Although at the current rate it could be a few days)

They might do an okay job because those are states used to hurricanes, but it’s still going to be a costly disaster.

[quote]Who Ian the troll posting about the Mayor’s girlfriend? Who fucking cares if she eats pussy. Everything she has said about YOUR Cheeto is 100% correct.

Boy you got me all wrong. I like ve her and admire her and posted those pictures to show she was one of ours, you dipshit! You are the reason these threads are starting to slow down. Blindly calling everyone a Russian troll or”your Cheeto” without reading properly. I AM from Dan Juan, and I voted for her twice, you asshole! If you weren’t so obsessed you would have read my signatures clearly stating I’m a fan of hers.

Now go muérete en un fuego de grasa, pendejo.

Love her

I AM from San Juan

It's going to be ridiculous and you know why? Because those states have passed laws that make it illegal to mention projected flooding and rising ocean levels due to climate change. The result has been the building of expensive real estate that now will expect to be reimbursed via FEMA and fuck the taxpayers, like us, who don't.

The Huckabee family is totally guilty of this. I'm not sure where their 'beach house' is, but I hope it's in Flo's path. They totally fucked with local ordinances around rising ocean levels to build that house. Fuck them and fuck all the assholes expecting FEMA money for your coastal home.

This is how far the bitchery has gone in DL. Just because someone posts some evidence about someone being gay, the jaded bitter queens here think that person is being derided - instead of exalted!

It's not that it was done, R581, it was the HOW of it that brought umbrage. We fucking know when people use 'gay' as an insult.

The person posting here claiming to from San Juan (please) was posting negative things about the mayor. That she was hiding her girlfriend and bearding when necessary. Those accusations don’t look like the posts of an ally.

Telling someone to die in a grease fire in Spanish is not exactly proof that you’re posting from Puerto Rico either. What does her sexuality have to do with anything anyway.

Girls, girls.....

Can we do pins in DL? Or better yet, ask me anything about life in San Juan. I did not mean to put her down - we all know in San Juan about her glass closet and most of us (just like decades ago with Ricky Martin) ar very fine with it.

Go ahead, ask me anything to prove I’m from San Juan an. Better yet, go to the archives and find the Hurricane María thread and see for yourself that I’m the same person, same IP, who texted from Puerto Rico as we were being ravaged by the hurricane.

I just don’t appreciat the immediate accusations when most gay men and women are lighter and humorous about the circumstances that make some stay closeted for whatever reason and not everyone on DL is calling “gay” out of spite. I certainly wasn’t, no matter how many times you say I was.

I still remember the old days of DL when stating someone who was publicly straight but closeted and gay - and providing evidence for it - was not a political move anecdote did not come from a place of hatred. On the contrary, people were glad to hear someone was family. Now everything has to be interpreted as an act of derision and bullying.

If you interviewed someone for employment, and they talked like Trump, would you hire him?

“I would give myself an A+”

Hahahahhaaaaaa!

In other words, No.

“The person I worked with on a project before was an incompetent retard”

Someone make the new thread please.

It’s been created already (I ran into it but don’t have link).

r585 Many reflexive and shallow readers here. Anyone could temporarily 'ignore' one of your comments, read your recent posting history, and know better than to charge you with being derisive and mocking.

OK I found it again

R589 see R576

She pinged for me -- I'm glad to know my gaydar still works.

Indeed, R586, and I remember how there were just as many people, even back then, who derided those in the closet as 'holding us back.'

We all have our own truths, but some of them are generalized to the culture. If you haven't caught up with current attitudes around the language you used to describe someone you admire, then consider it your problem and not the 'DL's.' You come off sounding like someone trying to create division rather than passing off a indicator that she's 'one of ours.'

I'll accept that you didn't understand this. Now you know.

The “I’m from Puerto Rico!” poster is a new kind of nuisance. No one cares what you have to say, dear.

Link to new thread below.

Closing this thread.

New thread: