‘Our country is in a hellhole right now’—Cardi B
January 18, 2019 9:40 AM Subscribe
As the partial US government shutdown winds up its fourth week, we learned that President Trump directed his attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about his Moscow Tower Project (BuzzFeed), a bombshell development immediately condemned by Democrats (Politico) as obstruction of justice if not an impeachable offense (Lawfare). House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler both pledged to investigate (AP). Attorney General nominee Bill Barr, writing to DAG Rod Rosenstein last June about "Muller's 'Obstruction' Theory", also declared, "[I]f a President […] suborns perjury[…], then he, like anyone else, commits the crime of obstruction." In other Cohen news, the Wall Street Journal revealed he hired an IT Firm to rig early CNBC, Drudge Polls to favor Trump, subsequently stiffing the firm and Trump (allegedly). Cohen still intends to testify before before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on on February 7th, despite concerns for his family (CNN) after Trump's repeated hostile public remarks.
• Bill Barr Round-up:
• Trump Administration Appeals Ruling Blocking Citizenship Question On 2020 Census (NPR). A federal judge ordered the question be scrapped in a blistering order on Monday: The census citizenship question was designed to discriminate—until incompetence doomed it (Scott Lemieux for NBC).
• Trump Is Fraying Nerves Inside the Pentagon (CNN) "Pentagon officials have also been unnerved by requests from the White House National Security Council, which continues to ask the Pentagon for options to attack Iran. Military planners CNN has spoken to say these requests are concerning since there is no real understanding of how Iran might react — or exactly what military objective the Trump Administration is trying to achieve."
• Deripaska’s Rusal Flouts Sanctions Pledge With New Kremlin Stooge (Daily Beast) "The move further concerned lawmakers already worried that the changes made to comply with Treasury’s demands would prove cosmetic." As House Republicans join with Democrats to challenge the Trump administration's plans to lift sanctions, (WaPo), the Daily Beast's Erin Banco reflects, "I keep thinking about the conversations I’ve had over the last five months with people from Treasury who hailed the Rusal delisting as a “sanctions success story”"
• Shutdown Has Dropped grenade Onto Trump’s 2020 Team—The president publicly brags he is getting the best of Democrats as unhappy campaign officials find themselves trying to fire up his base. (Politico) "‘This is a really bad spot for him,’ said one person familiar with Trump’s campaign[…]. ‘He may just be fighting because he doesn’t know what the hell else to do.’" (c.f. In a PBS NewsHour poll, 57 percent of registered voters said they would definitely vote against Trump in 2020)
• GOP Congressmen Meet With Holocaust-Denying Troll Chuck Johnson (Daily Beast) Reps. Andy Harris (R-MD) and Phil Roe (R-TN) say they didn’t know about the alt-right troll’s past.
• A Night at the Theater With Trump’s Accusers (NYMag/The Cut) Seeing The Pussy Grabbers Plays, an eight-act play telling the stories of the women allegedly assaulted by Donald Trump, in the company of some of them.
• Government may have split up thousands more migrant families (AP) "‘The total number and current status of all children separated from their parents or guardians ... is unknown,’ according to the report. It could be thousands more because family separations were taking place much earlier, during an influx that began in 2017, investigators found."
• Robert Wright's longform essay How Trump Could Wind up Making Globalism Great Again (Wired): "There’s reason to think that, in a weird way, the Trump presidency, rather than drag us into a death spiral of tribalism and lethal technology, could be a roundabout path to a higher plane."
• After Giuliani's CNN interview, in which he claimed if "the collusion happened, it happened a long time ago" (USAToday), Jack Shafer writes in Politico: Rudy Giuliani Is Not Doing His Best Work These Days "Trump’s lawyer often sounds like he’s defending John Gotti rather than the president of the United States."
Today is the 728th day of the Trump administration and the 27th day of the government shutdown. There are 654 days until the 2020 elections.
New in MetaTalk:
• MetaTalk on Keeping Arguing about the US Primaries in Check, about avoiding the stuff that has gone badly on MetaFilter in previous election cycles.
• Hyucking Hyuck, a thread where people can post their jokes, one-liners, favorite Twitter snark, etc.
Previously in U.S. Politics Megathreads: "I may declare a national emergency dependent on what's gonna happen…"
Megathread-Adjacent Posts and Sites:
• Women's March AND March for Life events this weekend
• Tribal Politics (How Tribal Psychology Makes Us Prefer Being Wrong)
• They’re Gonna Rock It: The First Day Native Women Served on Capitol Hill
• "If you’re a good person, you have to sign RIGHT NOW" (Mothership Strategies political consultants' fundraising schemes)
• Salvator Mundi: The Art of the Deal (oligarchs, money-laundering, Robert Mueller, and the world's most expensive painting)
• OnceUponATime's Active Measures site
• Chrysostom's 2018 Election Ratings & Results Tracker
Elsewhere in MetaFilter: Working for a Campaign 101; Should government do what people want or what's effective governance? (AskMe).
As always, please consider MeFi chat and the unofficial PoliticsFilter Slack for hot-takes and live-blogging breaking news, the new MetaTalk venting thread for catharsis and sympathizing, and funding the site if you're able. Also, for the sake of the ever-helpful mods, please keep in mind the MetaTalk on expectations about U.S. political discussion on MetaFilter. Thanks to Little Dawn and zachlipton for helping to create this thread. U.S. Politics FPPs are generally collaborative, and a draft post can be found on the MeFi Wiki.
• Bill Barr Round-up:
Barr May Do Exactly What Trump Wants—The nominee for attorney general vowed independence, but his answers raised disturbing questions. (The Atlantic);• Shutdown Round-up:
William Barr tries to clean up his Clinton comments — but stumbles into a new Mueller problem (WaPo);
The Democrats’ capitulation to William Barr (WaPo);
The many red flags raised by William Barr’s hearing (WaPo)
‘Our country is in a hellhole right now’: Cardi B blasts Trump over government shutdown (WaPo)• Impeachment Round-up:
Tens of thousands more federal employees called back to work (ABC)
Shutdown is starting to hurt Trump's financial deregulation agenda (Reuters)
Security, immigration controls fraying as impasse over Trump's wall stretches into its fourth week (USA Today)
The record-breaking government shutdown is putting the US at risk of a major cyberattack (Business Insider)
Shutdown prompts hunger strike at Manhattan jail as family visits are canceled (NYT)
Impeach Donald Trump—Starting the process will rein in a president who is undermining American ideals—and bring the debate about his fitness for office into Congress, where it belongs; and Why Democrats Have Suddenly Started Talking About Impeachment (The Atlantic)• Emoluments Round-up:
How to Talk About Impeachment: Preventing Harm to the Country (Marcy Wheeler/EmptyWheel.net)
Ex-GOP congressman David Jolly to Democrats: Gear up to impeach Trump. It's your constitutional duty. (USA Today)
The Only Impeachment Guide You’ll Ever Need (Politico)
Federal agency ‘improperly’ ignored constitutional concerns before allowing Trump to keep lease to his hotel, internal watchdog says (WaPo)IN OTHER HEADLINES:
T-Mobile announced a merger needing Trump administration approval. The next day, 9 executives had reservations at Trump’s hotel. (WaPo)
At Trump’s Inauguration, $10,000 for Makeup and Lots of Room Service (NYT)
When asked about the emoluments clause yesterday, Attorney General nominee Bill Barr said: "I couldn’t even tell you what it says." (Natasha Bertrand)
• Trump Administration Appeals Ruling Blocking Citizenship Question On 2020 Census (NPR). A federal judge ordered the question be scrapped in a blistering order on Monday: The census citizenship question was designed to discriminate—until incompetence doomed it (Scott Lemieux for NBC).
• Trump Is Fraying Nerves Inside the Pentagon (CNN) "Pentagon officials have also been unnerved by requests from the White House National Security Council, which continues to ask the Pentagon for options to attack Iran. Military planners CNN has spoken to say these requests are concerning since there is no real understanding of how Iran might react — or exactly what military objective the Trump Administration is trying to achieve."
• Deripaska’s Rusal Flouts Sanctions Pledge With New Kremlin Stooge (Daily Beast) "The move further concerned lawmakers already worried that the changes made to comply with Treasury’s demands would prove cosmetic." As House Republicans join with Democrats to challenge the Trump administration's plans to lift sanctions, (WaPo), the Daily Beast's Erin Banco reflects, "I keep thinking about the conversations I’ve had over the last five months with people from Treasury who hailed the Rusal delisting as a “sanctions success story”"
• Shutdown Has Dropped grenade Onto Trump’s 2020 Team—The president publicly brags he is getting the best of Democrats as unhappy campaign officials find themselves trying to fire up his base. (Politico) "‘This is a really bad spot for him,’ said one person familiar with Trump’s campaign[…]. ‘He may just be fighting because he doesn’t know what the hell else to do.’" (c.f. In a PBS NewsHour poll, 57 percent of registered voters said they would definitely vote against Trump in 2020)
• GOP Congressmen Meet With Holocaust-Denying Troll Chuck Johnson (Daily Beast) Reps. Andy Harris (R-MD) and Phil Roe (R-TN) say they didn’t know about the alt-right troll’s past.
• A Night at the Theater With Trump’s Accusers (NYMag/The Cut) Seeing The Pussy Grabbers Plays, an eight-act play telling the stories of the women allegedly assaulted by Donald Trump, in the company of some of them.
• Government may have split up thousands more migrant families (AP) "‘The total number and current status of all children separated from their parents or guardians ... is unknown,’ according to the report. It could be thousands more because family separations were taking place much earlier, during an influx that began in 2017, investigators found."
• Robert Wright's longform essay How Trump Could Wind up Making Globalism Great Again (Wired): "There’s reason to think that, in a weird way, the Trump presidency, rather than drag us into a death spiral of tribalism and lethal technology, could be a roundabout path to a higher plane."
• After Giuliani's CNN interview, in which he claimed if "the collusion happened, it happened a long time ago" (USAToday), Jack Shafer writes in Politico: Rudy Giuliani Is Not Doing His Best Work These Days "Trump’s lawyer often sounds like he’s defending John Gotti rather than the president of the United States."
Today is the 728th day of the Trump administration and the 27th day of the government shutdown. There are 654 days until the 2020 elections.
New in MetaTalk:
• MetaTalk on Keeping Arguing about the US Primaries in Check, about avoiding the stuff that has gone badly on MetaFilter in previous election cycles.
• Hyucking Hyuck, a thread where people can post their jokes, one-liners, favorite Twitter snark, etc.
Previously in U.S. Politics Megathreads: "I may declare a national emergency dependent on what's gonna happen…"
Megathread-Adjacent Posts and Sites:
• Women's March AND March for Life events this weekend
• Tribal Politics (How Tribal Psychology Makes Us Prefer Being Wrong)
• They’re Gonna Rock It: The First Day Native Women Served on Capitol Hill
• "If you’re a good person, you have to sign RIGHT NOW" (Mothership Strategies political consultants' fundraising schemes)
• Salvator Mundi: The Art of the Deal (oligarchs, money-laundering, Robert Mueller, and the world's most expensive painting)
• OnceUponATime's Active Measures site
• Chrysostom's 2018 Election Ratings & Results Tracker
Elsewhere in MetaFilter: Working for a Campaign 101; Should government do what people want or what's effective governance? (AskMe).
As always, please consider MeFi chat and the unofficial PoliticsFilter Slack for hot-takes and live-blogging breaking news, the new MetaTalk venting thread for catharsis and sympathizing, and funding the site if you're able. Also, for the sake of the ever-helpful mods, please keep in mind the MetaTalk on expectations about U.S. political discussion on MetaFilter. Thanks to Little Dawn and zachlipton for helping to create this thread. U.S. Politics FPPs are generally collaborative, and a draft post can be found on the MeFi Wiki.
A brief MeTa note that many readers of political threads may not be aware. It is commonplace for these huge threads to have 200+ comments deleted; the last thread had 400+ comments deleted. This represents a ton of work for the mods. Let's do our best to keep things constructive. Here is the most recent MeTa thread discussing long politics posts.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 9:49 AM on January 18, 2019 [106 favorites]
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 9:49 AM on January 18, 2019 [106 favorites]
Infrastructure Week is coming, Exclusive: Trump meets with Cabinet officials to revive infrastructure push - sources (Reuters).
posted by peeedro at 9:50 AM on January 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by peeedro at 9:50 AM on January 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
A friend of mine works at the USDA, doing botany research. As you'd imagine, that includes things like watering the plants and recording data, on a careful regular schedule.
Needless to say, all of her experiments will basically need to be restarted from scratch.
Meanwhile, she's starting to feel the pinch, and wondering whether she should start looking for a private-sector job, or what.
Now imagine this, multiplied by tens of thousands.
Such a stupid waste. All for one man-child's fragile little ego.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 9:50 AM on January 18, 2019 [111 favorites]
Needless to say, all of her experiments will basically need to be restarted from scratch.
Meanwhile, she's starting to feel the pinch, and wondering whether she should start looking for a private-sector job, or what.
Now imagine this, multiplied by tens of thousands.
Such a stupid waste. All for one man-child's fragile little ego.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 9:50 AM on January 18, 2019 [111 favorites]
Government Shutdown Leads to Pornhub Traffic Increase (SFW but a link to PornHub.com)
posted by chavenet at 9:51 AM on January 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 9:51 AM on January 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
Certainly that could well become the end goal - perhaps it has already become the end goal - but do we really believe the initial intent was anything bar a fit of pique?
posted by ominous_paws at 9:51 AM on January 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by ominous_paws at 9:51 AM on January 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
In this June 2018 memo to Rosenstein and Engel, incoming AG William Barr states:
Obviously, the President and any other official can commit obstruction in this classic sense of sabotaging a proceeding's truth-finding function. Thus, for example if a President knowingly destroys or alters evidence, suborns perjury, or induces a witness to change testimony, or commits any act deliberately impairing the integrity or availability of evidence, then he, like anyone else, commits the crime of obstruction.
This seems to be the basis of Amy Klobucher's question about obstruction during the confirmation hearings. Well done Amy, she made him double down on that position.
posted by adept256 at 9:51 AM on January 18, 2019 [18 favorites]
Obviously, the President and any other official can commit obstruction in this classic sense of sabotaging a proceeding's truth-finding function. Thus, for example if a President knowingly destroys or alters evidence, suborns perjury, or induces a witness to change testimony, or commits any act deliberately impairing the integrity or availability of evidence, then he, like anyone else, commits the crime of obstruction.
This seems to be the basis of Amy Klobucher's question about obstruction during the confirmation hearings. Well done Amy, she made him double down on that position.
posted by adept256 at 9:51 AM on January 18, 2019 [18 favorites]
The thought I can't shake is that the end goal for the shutdown is to drag it out long enough that most of the federal workforce quits and all those services can be privatized.
Snopes just posted (and debunked) a right wing meme along similar lines.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 9:52 AM on January 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
Snopes just posted (and debunked) a right wing meme along similar lines.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 9:52 AM on January 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
The thought I can't shake is that the end goal for the shutdown is to drag it out long enough that most of the federal workforce quits and all those services can be privatized.
It's true. Time was, if you landed a good federal position, you could trust that you'd have pretty decent job security for life. Even if we get through the current crisis, it'll be a long time before our best and brightest can trust the government enough to go work for them.
You can also reduce immigration by ensuring that only the wealthiest and most privileged would ever want to live in America.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:53 AM on January 18, 2019 [14 favorites]
It's true. Time was, if you landed a good federal position, you could trust that you'd have pretty decent job security for life. Even if we get through the current crisis, it'll be a long time before our best and brightest can trust the government enough to go work for them.
You can also reduce immigration by ensuring that only the wealthiest and most privileged would ever want to live in America.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:53 AM on January 18, 2019 [14 favorites]
Has anyone (news source wise, I mean) begun making a tracker for how many senators seem to be wavering? Kind of like a whip count for impeachment? This is clearer evidence than I thought we would get outside of Mueller, and it might help folks know which Senators to pressure.
posted by corb at 9:54 AM on January 18, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by corb at 9:54 AM on January 18, 2019 [12 favorites]
I don't think the shutdown has an end goal, to be honest. The current administration is too ignorant of the minutae of governing to know what they're doing or not doing.
The remarkably prescient S. Kendzior would like to suggest otherwise: This is a hostile restructuring - thread
posted by progosk at 10:00 AM on January 18, 2019 [20 favorites]
The remarkably prescient S. Kendzior would like to suggest otherwise: This is a hostile restructuring - thread
posted by progosk at 10:00 AM on January 18, 2019 [20 favorites]
Has anyone (news source wise, I mean) begun making a tracker for how many senators seem to be wavering?
It's not exactly what you're looking for but WaPo's Philip Bump has a list of 14 republican senators who are on record for holding a president accountable for obstruction of justice, when that president is named Bill Clinton. TLDR; Blunt, Burr, Crapo, Enzi, Graham, Grassley, Inhofe, McConnell, Moran, Portman, Roberts, Shelby, Thune, and Wicker all voted for the impeachment charge on obstruction when it was a democrat as president.
posted by peeedro at 10:03 AM on January 18, 2019 [36 favorites]
It's not exactly what you're looking for but WaPo's Philip Bump has a list of 14 republican senators who are on record for holding a president accountable for obstruction of justice, when that president is named Bill Clinton. TLDR; Blunt, Burr, Crapo, Enzi, Graham, Grassley, Inhofe, McConnell, Moran, Portman, Roberts, Shelby, Thune, and Wicker all voted for the impeachment charge on obstruction when it was a democrat as president.
posted by peeedro at 10:03 AM on January 18, 2019 [36 favorites]
I was in mid conversation in the previous thread. Hopefully it's ok to pick it up here.
My initial comment: It sounds like they actually made plans to fly commercial, and then details of those plans were leaked, but I haven't seen that reported explicitly.
Response: Pelosi’s aide, Hammill, tweeted that multiple WH sources shared the info with hill reporters.
Right, but have any of those hill reporters written about WH sources sharing those details? Seems important since the WH is denying it.
posted by diogenes at 10:05 AM on January 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
My initial comment: It sounds like they actually made plans to fly commercial, and then details of those plans were leaked, but I haven't seen that reported explicitly.
Response: Pelosi’s aide, Hammill, tweeted that multiple WH sources shared the info with hill reporters.
Right, but have any of those hill reporters written about WH sources sharing those details? Seems important since the WH is denying it.
posted by diogenes at 10:05 AM on January 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
Maybe it would be more accurate to say that they might have a goal in mind, but no clear vision about unintended consequences that would hamper even their intentions.
posted by Autumnheart at 10:06 AM on January 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Autumnheart at 10:06 AM on January 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'm waiting to see what the outcome is of the lawsuit filed against the government asking the court to order that workers can't be forced to work without pay. If the government loses that one, then the shutdown calculus changes very fast. If they can't force essential employees to work while the government is shut down, then things are likely to become so untenable that even the Turtle has to go ahead and agree to allow a vote to reopen the government. Right now they're getting by because TSA, ATC, Coast Guard, various federal law enforcement agencies, and others have to show up to work or lose their job. If they end up being able to stay home, and flying becomes intolerable or impossible, then that's probably that.
posted by azpenguin at 10:06 AM on January 18, 2019 [13 favorites]
posted by azpenguin at 10:06 AM on January 18, 2019 [13 favorites]
For Trump, it's a tantrum. For the people around Trump, it's a gambit for hostile restructuring. For the rest of us, the longer it goes on, the more of an opportunity for impeachment it becomes.
The Buzzfeed article is great, but it's like...the eleventy millionth impeachable offense, and not even the one we have the most evidence for.
The sticking point, for both, is Mitch McConnell. And if he's implicated in Russia treason, or other crimes that get caught up in the Mueller investigation....then I don't know.
Either way, either Trump folds when challenged on his one move, like he always has in his long and storied history of failure, or, with enough pasty-faced, white supremacist, Christian Dominionist crazies whispering in his ear, we head toward constitutional crisis sooner rather than later.
Incredibly, this is a serious question: what happens if the Senate Majority Leader is impeached?
And so is this: do we...do we start a GoFundMe for congressional investigators?
posted by schadenfrau at 10:07 AM on January 18, 2019 [21 favorites]
The Buzzfeed article is great, but it's like...the eleventy millionth impeachable offense, and not even the one we have the most evidence for.
The sticking point, for both, is Mitch McConnell. And if he's implicated in Russia treason, or other crimes that get caught up in the Mueller investigation....then I don't know.
Either way, either Trump folds when challenged on his one move, like he always has in his long and storied history of failure, or, with enough pasty-faced, white supremacist, Christian Dominionist crazies whispering in his ear, we head toward constitutional crisis sooner rather than later.
Incredibly, this is a serious question: what happens if the Senate Majority Leader is impeached?
And so is this: do we...do we start a GoFundMe for congressional investigators?
posted by schadenfrau at 10:07 AM on January 18, 2019 [21 favorites]
Presumably they would elect someone else as Senate majority leader. The president pro tempore of the Senate ranks under the Speaker of the House in the presidential succession.
posted by Autumnheart at 10:14 AM on January 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Autumnheart at 10:14 AM on January 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
Waiting for a Shutdown to End in Disaster
As the longest government shutdown in American history lurches toward its fifth week, a grim but growing consensus has begun to emerge on Capitol Hill: There may be no way out of this mess until something disastrous happens.posted by jgirl at 10:15 AM on January 18, 2019 [11 favorites]
[...]
According to the Washington Post reporter Robert Costa, some Republican lawmakers close to the White House have privately concluded that the shutdown won’t end until TSA employees stay home and Americans “get furious about their flights.”
On a similar—if darker—note, I spoke to one congressional staffer who wondered aloud whether it might take a stressed-out air-traffic controller causing a plane crash to bring an end to the shutdown. And several aides worried that some kind of terrorist incident would end up serving as the catalyst to get the government up and running again.
[...]
Now that he’s in the fight, Trump seems to be relishing the opportunities for showmanship that the shutdown affords him. Why bother governing—a job he has rarely seemed to like—when he can spend all day doling out Quarter Pounders to college-football players, plotting publicity stunts, and trading barbs with political enemies? As long as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stays in line—and he’s shown no signs that he plans to break ranks—the president will be free to keep the show going for as long as he wants.
[...]
On Wednesday night, I spoke with a Democratic House aide who confessed that she was ambivalent about the shutdown. The battle had unified her party, with Democrats linking arms in defense of their ideals and in defiance of Trump. Polls suggested that a majority of Americans were with them, and that the “optics” of the fight were good. “While it may be horrible for the country,” she said of the shutdown, “it’s fine for the party.”
AP's Steve Peoples on the Trump White House's reaction to the Buzzfeed bombshell:
Meanwhile, the Daily Beast reports Trump's legal team is as chaotic as ever: John Dowd, President Trump’s Old Lawyer, Is Still Whispering in His Ear—That’s according to Dowd himself, and confirmed to The Daily Beast by the president’s current lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. "Giuliani said that in several conversations with his lawyers about the Mueller probe, Trump has asked, “What does John [Dowd] think?” All the instances came long after Dowd’s departure from the team, Giuliani added. […] On an informal basis, Dowd is still very much “a part of the team,” the former New York mayor added."
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:16 AM on January 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
Trump spokesman Hogan Gidley repeatedly refuses to deny central allegation in BuzzFeed report that Trump instructed Cohen to lie to Congress about Russia: “I’m not going to give any credence or credibility to Michael Cohen.”The NYT's Maggie Haberman has Rudy Giuliani's long-awaited statement: "Giuliani finally responds: “Any suggestion – from any source – that the President counseled Michael Cohen to lie is categorically false. Michael Cohen is a convicted criminal and a liar. To quote the prosecutors, he has traded on “a pattern of lies and dishonesty over an extended period of time” and for that “he is going to pay a very, very serious price.” Today’s claims are just more made-up lies born of Michael Cohen’s malice and desperation...”"
Fox News Host: “That was not a denial.”
Meanwhile, the Daily Beast reports Trump's legal team is as chaotic as ever: John Dowd, President Trump’s Old Lawyer, Is Still Whispering in His Ear—That’s according to Dowd himself, and confirmed to The Daily Beast by the president’s current lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. "Giuliani said that in several conversations with his lawyers about the Mueller probe, Trump has asked, “What does John [Dowd] think?” All the instances came long after Dowd’s departure from the team, Giuliani added. […] On an informal basis, Dowd is still very much “a part of the team,” the former New York mayor added."
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:16 AM on January 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
I don't think the shutdown has an end goal, to be honest.
it's hard for me to read some kind of high (or even low) strategy into the Trump Shutdown. Rather, it feels like the only card he's really got left in the game he's playing, which is to give The Base what he promised them. It feels as simple as that. Somebody else said it a while ago. This is really just Trump doing what he's always done, fumbling incompetently away at the top of the pyramid, making a mess of things ... until eventually something or someone bails him out.
Except he's never been in quite so high a pyramid*. How exactly does the President of the United States get bailed out?
* and ummm, the oval office isn't even the top of a pyramid really, the structure of American Power being rather more complicated than that.
posted by philip-random at 10:18 AM on January 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
it's hard for me to read some kind of high (or even low) strategy into the Trump Shutdown. Rather, it feels like the only card he's really got left in the game he's playing, which is to give The Base what he promised them. It feels as simple as that. Somebody else said it a while ago. This is really just Trump doing what he's always done, fumbling incompetently away at the top of the pyramid, making a mess of things ... until eventually something or someone bails him out.
Except he's never been in quite so high a pyramid*. How exactly does the President of the United States get bailed out?
* and ummm, the oval office isn't even the top of a pyramid really, the structure of American Power being rather more complicated than that.
posted by philip-random at 10:18 AM on January 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
Why would Republican lawmakers be waiting for a disaster to end the shutdown, when they could end it anytime they wanted by passing a funding bill?
posted by Autumnheart at 10:18 AM on January 18, 2019 [13 favorites]
posted by Autumnheart at 10:18 AM on January 18, 2019 [13 favorites]
An impeached officer stays in office until removed. The most likely scenario would be the Senate passing a resolution dismissing the charges. If enough Republicans were on board with convicting, he wouldn’t still be Majority Leader anyway.
The President pro tempore of the Senate is the longest serving member of the majority party (Chuck Grassley), and is not the same as the majority leader.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 10:20 AM on January 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
The President pro tempore of the Senate is the longest serving member of the majority party (Chuck Grassley), and is not the same as the majority leader.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 10:20 AM on January 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
Why would Republican lawmakers be waiting for a disaster to end the shutdown, when they could end it anytime they wanted by passing a funding bill?
Because, like Mark Sanford as mentioned in the previous thread, they'd get primaried out.
To which I say, well, that's kind of your fault, isn't it? Your candidate was Trump. You couldn't produce anyone better; even Jeb! didn't impress anyone. Find a better candidate, and then worry about it. For now, how about just reopening the goddamned government, and regrouping later.
posted by Melismata at 10:22 AM on January 18, 2019 [12 favorites]
Because, like Mark Sanford as mentioned in the previous thread, they'd get primaried out.
To which I say, well, that's kind of your fault, isn't it? Your candidate was Trump. You couldn't produce anyone better; even Jeb! didn't impress anyone. Find a better candidate, and then worry about it. For now, how about just reopening the goddamned government, and regrouping later.
posted by Melismata at 10:22 AM on January 18, 2019 [12 favorites]
Why would Republican lawmakers be waiting for a disaster to end the shutdown, when they could end it anytime they wanted by passing a funding bill?
McConnell could end it any time he wants to. He doesn't want to. I'm sure there are some rank and file GOP members who would happily vote to reopen the government if McConnell allowed the vote, but none of them are willing to publicly stand up to him directly without some sort of disaster that would force his hand.
posted by Roommate at 10:22 AM on January 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
McConnell could end it any time he wants to. He doesn't want to. I'm sure there are some rank and file GOP members who would happily vote to reopen the government if McConnell allowed the vote, but none of them are willing to publicly stand up to him directly without some sort of disaster that would force his hand.
posted by Roommate at 10:22 AM on January 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
Doktor Zed: Why Democrats Have Suddenly Started Talking About Impeachment (The Atlantic)
Aherm, may I point to a statement by John Whitbeck, the chairman of Virginia's Republican Party, on NPR on May 2nd, 2018: "If the Democrats take the House, they will impeach this president. And it's coming, if they have the majority."
So, this sounds crazy, right? Except that NPR story includes a soundclip, where Trump was first putting words in the mouth of Maxine Waters:
Back to the present: amid the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) press releases re-spun as articles, Wired makes the bold proclamation: If Trump Told Cohen to Lie, Impeachment Is Coming (Garrett M. Graff, Jan. 18, 2019)
posted by filthy light thief at 10:23 AM on January 18, 2019 [22 favorites]
Aherm, may I point to a statement by John Whitbeck, the chairman of Virginia's Republican Party, on NPR on May 2nd, 2018: "If the Democrats take the House, they will impeach this president. And it's coming, if they have the majority."
So, this sounds crazy, right? Except that NPR story includes a soundclip, where Trump was first putting words in the mouth of Maxine Waters:
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We have to keep the House. Because if you listen to Maxine Waters ... she goes around saying, we will impeach him. We will impeach him.(And then there's the fake quote, twisting this bit into a dumb meme that if elected president, her first act would be to impeach Trump, as if to shift the story that DONNY HIMSELF was spreading and make Congresswoman Waters look like a fool, but I digress.)
Back to the present: amid the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) press releases re-spun as articles, Wired makes the bold proclamation: If Trump Told Cohen to Lie, Impeachment Is Coming (Garrett M. Graff, Jan. 18, 2019)
AS THE GOVERNMENT shutdown neared the one-month mark, the political landscape shifted under Washington’s feet Thursday night, dramatically and perhaps permanently altering the path of our nation’s politics. BuzzFeed’s duo of Russia probe reporters posted a blockbuster report that President Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about the Trump Tower Moscow Project.Emphasis mine, because ... yeah, this particular "Maybe This Time..." is looks like the needle is pushing towards "YES, this time Trump went too far."
The allegation, which Buzzfeed sourced to two federal law enforcement officials, simultaneously adds new information to both the “collusion” and “obstruction” sides of the Russia probe. The idea that the President of the United States directed his personal attorney to lie to Congress about his attempt to complete a multi-hundred-million-dollar deal with Vladimir Putin in the midst of the presidential campaign is, in short, as big as it gets.
As senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a former prosecutor, laid out [tweet], the accusation at the core of the BuzzFeed report constitutes at least four potential felonies: “criminal obstruction of justice (18 U.S.C. 1505, 1512), subornation of perjury (18 U.S.C. 1622), conspiracy (18 U.S.C. 371) and likely aiding and abetting perjury (18 U.S.C. 2).” Those phrases also meant something specific to students of recent political history: Suborning perjury was part of the articles of impeachment that targeted both Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:23 AM on January 18, 2019 [22 favorites]
Why would Republican lawmakers be waiting for a disaster to end the shutdown, when they could end it anytime they wanted by passing a funding bill?
They think a disaster will give them enough political cover to break from Trump. It'll be a race to see which of them can be first to stand atop the rubble and declare enough is enough.
posted by notyou at 10:23 AM on January 18, 2019 [16 favorites]
They think a disaster will give them enough political cover to break from Trump. It'll be a race to see which of them can be first to stand atop the rubble and declare enough is enough.
posted by notyou at 10:23 AM on January 18, 2019 [16 favorites]
According to the Washington Post reporter Robert Costa, some Republican lawmakers close to the White House have privately concluded that the shutdown won’t end until TSA employees stay home and Americans “get furious about their flights.”I'd be really curious about what percentage of potential Trump fans fly regularly, though. I live in Iowa, and my friends here default to driving, even really long distances to places that I would definitely prefer to fly to. I wouldn't be surprised if flying vs. driving were one of those invisible differences that divided the middle-to-upper-middle-income white people who might consider voting for Trump from middle-to-upper-middle income people who wouldn't dream of voting for that asshole.
Honestly, I don't know what it's going to take for people here to start feeling like the shutdown is hurting them.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 10:23 AM on January 18, 2019 [13 favorites]
Why would Republican lawmakers be waiting for a disaster to end the shutdown, when they could end it anytime they wanted by passing a funding bill?
They're desperately hoping that a disaster will be enough to either cow the Dems into negotiating with terrorists and funding the wall, or else cow Trump into backing down and allow them to get the shutdown ended without having to call out the President and risk him turning on them in an impotent rage.
They're basically holding out and waiting for a miracle that lets them resolve this situation without losing face. Which: too fucking bad.
posted by sciatrix at 10:24 AM on January 18, 2019 [27 favorites]
They're desperately hoping that a disaster will be enough to either cow the Dems into negotiating with terrorists and funding the wall, or else cow Trump into backing down and allow them to get the shutdown ended without having to call out the President and risk him turning on them in an impotent rage.
They're basically holding out and waiting for a miracle that lets them resolve this situation without losing face. Which: too fucking bad.
posted by sciatrix at 10:24 AM on January 18, 2019 [27 favorites]
Melismata: For now, how about just reopening the goddamned government, and regrouping later.
Reopen and regroup? Sounds like a prior (failed) GOP jingle: repeal and replace. They need better song writers.
In other (scientific) news: To fight climate misinformation, point to the man behind the curtain -- Point not just to the lies, but who's behind them, researchers suggest. (Cathleen O'Grady for Ars Technica, Jan. 18, 2019)
Reopen and regroup? Sounds like a prior (failed) GOP jingle: repeal and replace. They need better song writers.
In other (scientific) news: To fight climate misinformation, point to the man behind the curtain -- Point not just to the lies, but who's behind them, researchers suggest. (Cathleen O'Grady for Ars Technica, Jan. 18, 2019)
In 2018, Gallup’s annual environment survey found that overall concern about climate change in the US was roughly stable. But within that stability was a growing divide. The 87 percent of Democrats who reported in 2017 that they believe global warming is a result of human activity bumped up slightly to 89 percent in 2018. Meanwhile, for Republicans, that number dipped from 40 percent in 2017 to 35 percent in 2018.posted by filthy light thief at 10:29 AM on January 18, 2019 [32 favorites]
How can the misinformation campaign driving this divide be fought? Just reporting and reiterating the facts of anthropogenic climate change doesn’t seem to work [Ars Technica x 2]. A paper in Nature Climate Change this week argues that attempts to counter misinformation need to draw on the research that is illuminating the bad actors behind climate denialism, the money funding them, and how their coordinated campaigns are disrupting the political process.
Facts alone won’t cut it
“It is not enough simply to communicate to the public over and again the scientific consensus on human-caused climate change,” write Justin Farrell, Kathryn McConnell, and Robert Brulle in their paper, because “individuals’ preexisting ideologies [Ars Technica] and values systems can play a significant role in whether they accept or reject scientific consensus.”
Something called “attitudinal inoculation” [Ars Technica] does show some promise as a strategy—essentially informing people of the facts while also providing a warning of the existence of misinformation campaigns and the arguments and strategies they might use. This “vaccine” strategy can create resistance by using a small dose of the virus, and it seems to work across the political spectrum.
They're basically holding out and waiting for a miracle that lets them resolve this situation without losing face.
McConnel is crafty, but craven. He's by and large the only decision maker who can save Trump from himself. He could easily veto Trump, but that would mean he wouldn't be Trump's boy anymore either.
Pelosi's play here, rightly I think, is to hold out long enough for Senate Republicans to revolt and over-ride McConnel publicly. She's probably only a handful of votes away from getting a veto over-ride majority in the Senate on a funding bill and gets more leverage with every terrible news story.
At this point McConnel might possibly prefer that as the least damaging option. There is less heat to him and caps the growing discontentment at the base. That makes Pelosi his Fairy Godmother here, if he's only smart enough to realize it.
posted by bonehead at 10:37 AM on January 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
McConnel is crafty, but craven. He's by and large the only decision maker who can save Trump from himself. He could easily veto Trump, but that would mean he wouldn't be Trump's boy anymore either.
Pelosi's play here, rightly I think, is to hold out long enough for Senate Republicans to revolt and over-ride McConnel publicly. She's probably only a handful of votes away from getting a veto over-ride majority in the Senate on a funding bill and gets more leverage with every terrible news story.
At this point McConnel might possibly prefer that as the least damaging option. There is less heat to him and caps the growing discontentment at the base. That makes Pelosi his Fairy Godmother here, if he's only smart enough to realize it.
posted by bonehead at 10:37 AM on January 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
PBS News Hour's Courtney Norris: "NEW: Sen. Jeff Merkley has formally requested FBI Director Wray open a perjury investigation into Sec. of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen. @SenJeffMerkley says “new documents show Nielsen lied in sworn testimony to Congress about the administration’s family separation policy.”" (pic)
The NYT's Caitlin Dickerson, yesterday: "First DHS said I made up family separation, that sources were lying to me and giving fake documents. Then they said it lasted only 45 days under “zero tolerance.” Today, HHS confirmed publicly what our reporting has always shown: None of that pushback was true."
Rep. Ted Lieu clarifies:
The NYT's Caitlin Dickerson, yesterday: "First DHS said I made up family separation, that sources were lying to me and giving fake documents. Then they said it lasted only 45 days under “zero tolerance.” Today, HHS confirmed publicly what our reporting has always shown: None of that pushback was true."
Rep. Ted Lieu clarifies:
TRANSLATION: @SecNielsen lied to the American people when she said there was no family separation policy. (This is not news, but I want to keep highlighting Nielsen is a liar).posted by Doktor Zed at 10:38 AM on January 18, 2019 [115 favorites]
NEWS: The family separation policy resulted in even more children ripped away from their parents.
How the shutdown might end, according to game theory
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:50 AM on January 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:50 AM on January 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
The realisation yesterday (when was that?) that *thousands* of children had been separated and incarcerated, beyond what was already known, and that this was going on before the advertised policy change came and went like a small cloud passing across the disc of the sun. It has filtered down to last century's news within 24 hours. In the coming few weeks, it will be important, for everyone's sanity, to sift, filter, and ensure that the big stories (no Big Macs, no Typos) stick.
posted by stonepharisee at 10:51 AM on January 18, 2019 [55 favorites]
posted by stonepharisee at 10:51 AM on January 18, 2019 [55 favorites]
BeginAgain: It’s still a little bit crazy to me that Trump has had the potential for a relatively boring and “successful” presidency (a growing economy, Middle East conflicts winding down, R control over Congress)
diogenes: That's kind of an odd framing. He's beholden to a hostile foreign power. A crisis was inevitable. There was never the potential for a boring and successful presidency.
Speaking for BeginAgain, and possibly misintrpreting their point, but I think the idea was that Trump had it really good when he won. It would have been easy to just coast on the successes set up by Obama, and in fact he did, for a while*.
But he had to be the Anti Obama, trying to undo anything with Obama's signature on it. That wasn't the whole of the problem - it was compounded by the fact that it was all so damned inept -- NO ONE of skill is in this administration, unless you count their over-all plan to take the money, inflict misery upon those deemed to be "Others," and run away with their ill-gained loot. They're pirates pretending to be modern royalty.**
*Well, depending on who you asked: Economists agree: Trump, not Obama, gets credit for economy (Liz Peak in an opinion piece run on The Hill, Jan. 14, 2018 -- but per her bio line, "Liz Peek is a former partner of major bracket Wall Street firm Wertheim & Company. For 15 years, she has been a columnist for The Fiscal Times, Fox News, the New York Sun and numerous other [Conservative] organizations."
For a more balanced look, Comparing the 'Trump economy' vs. the 'Obama economy' (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post | Fact Checkre, Sept. 18, 2018)
posted by filthy light thief at 10:53 AM on January 18, 2019 [17 favorites]
diogenes: That's kind of an odd framing. He's beholden to a hostile foreign power. A crisis was inevitable. There was never the potential for a boring and successful presidency.
Speaking for BeginAgain, and possibly misintrpreting their point, but I think the idea was that Trump had it really good when he won. It would have been easy to just coast on the successes set up by Obama, and in fact he did, for a while*.
But he had to be the Anti Obama, trying to undo anything with Obama's signature on it. That wasn't the whole of the problem - it was compounded by the fact that it was all so damned inept -- NO ONE of skill is in this administration, unless you count their over-all plan to take the money, inflict misery upon those deemed to be "Others," and run away with their ill-gained loot. They're pirates pretending to be modern royalty.**
*Well, depending on who you asked: Economists agree: Trump, not Obama, gets credit for economy (Liz Peak in an opinion piece run on The Hill, Jan. 14, 2018 -- but per her bio line, "Liz Peek is a former partner of major bracket Wall Street firm Wertheim & Company. For 15 years, she has been a columnist for The Fiscal Times, Fox News, the New York Sun and numerous other [Conservative] organizations."
For a more balanced look, Comparing the 'Trump economy' vs. the 'Obama economy' (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post | Fact Checkre, Sept. 18, 2018)
Many of the eight factors we examined tell a common story — the start of Trump’s economy follows the trend set by the last years of Obama’s economy. We’ll keep an eye out as the president’s policy changes — from tariffs to taxes — settle into the U.S. and global markets, but as of now, Trump is still working off the base Obama built.** Confirmed in this headline and article: Economists see the Trump economy slowing drastically next year before a possible recession in 2020 (Patti Dom for CNBC, Nov. 21 2018)
- Economic growth pops in 2018, boosted by tax cuts, but those benefits should fade in 2019 and growth will get back to its longer-term pace of near 2 percent.
- A group of 10 economists, including the Fed, have an average forecast of 2.4 percent for 2019, according to a CNBC survey.
- Three big factors are behind the slower growth — fading impact of tax cuts, trade wars and tariffs and the Federal Reserve’s rate-hiking policy.
- Economists do not see a recession until 2020, at the earliest.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:53 AM on January 18, 2019 [17 favorites]
“While it may be horrible for the country,” she said of the shutdown, “it’s fine for the party.”
This seems to be the slogan for politics in the Trump era. I hate that this kind of self-interest over-rides everything else. Ugh.
posted by Fizz at 11:20 AM on January 18, 2019 [17 favorites]
This seems to be the slogan for politics in the Trump era. I hate that this kind of self-interest over-rides everything else. Ugh.
posted by Fizz at 11:20 AM on January 18, 2019 [17 favorites]
@parscale: Since Chuck and Nancy keep stonewalling the President, we’ll send the wall to them, brick by brick, until they agree to secure the border! buildtheborderwall.com
@meridithmcgraw: Inbox: For a payment of $20.20, the Trump campaign says they will send a “faux brick” to Pelosi and Schumer’s offices “with facts about the need for border security and an appeal to “TEXT ‘WALL’ to 88022.”
@jackiekcalmes: Oh, so it's BRICKS now? I thought we'd moved from cement to steel? Does Trump know? Did you tell the steelworkers that Trump's said would benefit from the wall construction?
And why do we need $5.7 billion now if you can't make up your mind what the wall is made of?
@JohnDingell: Some 800,000 workers aren’t being paid during the shutdown, but Trump and his campign sure are. Families are suffering, yet this President remains a damned two-bit grifter.
@JoshSchwerin: Remember this when somebody gets a brick thrown through their office window
posted by zachlipton at 11:23 AM on January 18, 2019 [57 favorites]
@meridithmcgraw: Inbox: For a payment of $20.20, the Trump campaign says they will send a “faux brick” to Pelosi and Schumer’s offices “with facts about the need for border security and an appeal to “TEXT ‘WALL’ to 88022.”
@jackiekcalmes: Oh, so it's BRICKS now? I thought we'd moved from cement to steel? Does Trump know? Did you tell the steelworkers that Trump's said would benefit from the wall construction?
And why do we need $5.7 billion now if you can't make up your mind what the wall is made of?
@JohnDingell: Some 800,000 workers aren’t being paid during the shutdown, but Trump and his campign sure are. Families are suffering, yet this President remains a damned two-bit grifter.
@JoshSchwerin: Remember this when somebody gets a brick thrown through their office window
posted by zachlipton at 11:23 AM on January 18, 2019 [57 favorites]
I'd be really curious about what percentage of potential Trump fans fly regularly, though...
Honestly, I don't know what it's going to take for people here to start feeling like the shutdown is hurting them.
The precipitating event may be illness due to a lack of food inspections. Everyone eats, and a mass food poisoning may strike a nerve with people whose concept of morality is more likely to include an emphasis on cleanliness.
Honestly, I don't know what it's going to take for people here to start feeling like the shutdown is hurting them.
The precipitating event may be illness due to a lack of food inspections. Everyone eats, and a mass food poisoning may strike a nerve with people whose concept of morality is more likely to include an emphasis on cleanliness.
When asked what foods he won't eat during the shutdown, food safety attorney Bill Marler said, "I would say anything you aren't controlling yourself, so any fresh, uncooked products on the market place," such as ready-to-eat salads and prepackaged sandwiches, or meals that aren't cooked.posted by a snickering nuthatch at 11:29 AM on January 18, 2019 [35 favorites]
...
"I worry about those foods that are going to institutions like hospitals, like nursing homes ... I worry about our most vulnerable consumers," said Catherine Donnelly, a professor at the University of Vermont and expert on the microbiological safety of food.
“While it may be horrible for the country,” she said of the shutdown, “it’s fine for the party.”
This seems to be the slogan for politics in the Trump era. I hate that this kind of self-interest over-rides everything else. Ugh.
I hate this too, and when we had a 4 day shutdown about DACA a year ago, I was very much "stop the shutdown!"
But now it just feels inevitable, and we might as well get it over with. We had, what, 3 shutdowns in 2018? Trump takes hostages and makes threats. It's all he knows how to do. We gave in twice already in 2018. Since it worked so well for him, he's doing it again.
The better this tactic works, the more Trump will use it. I think capitulating now and paying the ransom will just put the hostages (federal workers, and all of us who depend on them) in more danger, since it gives him an incentive to do this again in the future.
So just this once, I'm saying "hold firm." Make him see that these tactics DON'T always work. We don't negotiate with terrorists.
But fuck "fine for the party." Do it only if you honestly believe it's good for the American people, including, in the long run, federal workers.
posted by OnceUponATime at 11:32 AM on January 18, 2019 [21 favorites]
This seems to be the slogan for politics in the Trump era. I hate that this kind of self-interest over-rides everything else. Ugh.
I hate this too, and when we had a 4 day shutdown about DACA a year ago, I was very much "stop the shutdown!"
But now it just feels inevitable, and we might as well get it over with. We had, what, 3 shutdowns in 2018? Trump takes hostages and makes threats. It's all he knows how to do. We gave in twice already in 2018. Since it worked so well for him, he's doing it again.
The better this tactic works, the more Trump will use it. I think capitulating now and paying the ransom will just put the hostages (federal workers, and all of us who depend on them) in more danger, since it gives him an incentive to do this again in the future.
So just this once, I'm saying "hold firm." Make him see that these tactics DON'T always work. We don't negotiate with terrorists.
But fuck "fine for the party." Do it only if you honestly believe it's good for the American people, including, in the long run, federal workers.
posted by OnceUponATime at 11:32 AM on January 18, 2019 [21 favorites]
Despite exhortations like "it's the economy stupid," do we have real evidence that the state of the economy is actually something the average American is capable of understanding or really giving a shit about, except to the extent that they're told they should?
It is pretty clear that only a tiny group of the already well-to-do has benefited from the post-2008 economic "recovery."
posted by aspersioncast at 11:32 AM on January 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
It is pretty clear that only a tiny group of the already well-to-do has benefited from the post-2008 economic "recovery."
posted by aspersioncast at 11:32 AM on January 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
ABC’s Alex Mallin: “.@PressSec: President Donald J. Trump met with Kim Yong Chol for an hour and half, to discuss denuclearization and a second summit, which will take place near the end of February. The President looks forward to meeting with Chairman Kim at a place to be announced at a later date.”
Nice little distraction from the shutdown for Trump, but what a way to engage in diplomacy.
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:34 AM on January 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
Nice little distraction from the shutdown for Trump, but what a way to engage in diplomacy.
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:34 AM on January 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
Those walls sure do work wonders...
CBP: Group of 376 migrants tunneled under border wall near Yuma
posted by MrVisible at 11:42 AM on January 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
CBP: Group of 376 migrants tunneled under border wall near Yuma
posted by MrVisible at 11:42 AM on January 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
The WaPo covered the meeting between Trump and North Korean Kim Yong Chol. Three things stood out: "denuclearization" is still an undefined term, the talks have been stalled because North Korea doesn't have any reason to treat envoy Steve Biegun seriously, and Kim Yong Chol is described as a "spy chief" and Trump sure has a thing for hosting people like that in the White House.
posted by peeedro at 11:43 AM on January 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by peeedro at 11:43 AM on January 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
The ongoing government shutdown seems like a good time to rewatch this from 2017:
posted by mazola at 11:44 AM on January 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by mazola at 11:44 AM on January 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
There's a food line for furloughed federal workers in DC that currently stretches around the side of this building.
posted by T.D. Strange at 11:51 AM on January 18, 2019 [33 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 11:51 AM on January 18, 2019 [33 favorites]
There's a food line for furloughed federal workers in DC that currently stretches around the side of this building.
Mere blocks from the Old Post Office, currently being soiled as a Trump Hotel.
A breadline in front of the huge TRUMP sign there would be an indelible image.
posted by ryanshepard at 11:55 AM on January 18, 2019 [58 favorites]
Mere blocks from the Old Post Office, currently being soiled as a Trump Hotel.
A breadline in front of the huge TRUMP sign there would be an indelible image.
posted by ryanshepard at 11:55 AM on January 18, 2019 [58 favorites]
According to the Washington Post reporter Robert Costa, some Republican lawmakers close to the White House have privately concluded that the shutdown won’t end until TSA employees stay home and Americans “get furious about their flights.”
They're basically begging someone, anyone, to give them enough cover to go against Trump's wishes. They need a big group to hide behind, like the TSA, so they can claim they're helpless and have to reluctantly go against the president. This still fails on the obvious points of Mitch Mconnell being Mitch McConnell and Trump being Trump.
But hey, it might lead to something crazy like Trump just firing the whole TSA without any plan to replace them, because that would make everything so much better, right?
posted by scaryblackdeath at 12:00 PM on January 18, 2019 [12 favorites]
They're basically begging someone, anyone, to give them enough cover to go against Trump's wishes. They need a big group to hide behind, like the TSA, so they can claim they're helpless and have to reluctantly go against the president. This still fails on the obvious points of Mitch Mconnell being Mitch McConnell and Trump being Trump.
But hey, it might lead to something crazy like Trump just firing the whole TSA without any plan to replace them, because that would make everything so much better, right?
posted by scaryblackdeath at 12:00 PM on January 18, 2019 [12 favorites]
Incredibly, this is a serious question: what happens if the Senate Majority Leader is impeached?
Under Article I, Section 5, clause 2, of the Constitution, a Member of Congress may be removed from office before the normal expiration of his or her constitutional term by an “expulsion” from the Senate (if a Senator) or from the House of Representatives (if a Representative) upon a formal vote on a resolution agreed to by two-thirds of the Members of that body present and voting....posted by DevilsAdvocate at 12:12 PM on January 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
Members of Congress are not removed by way of an “impeachment” procedure in the legislature, as are executive and judicial officers, but are subject to the more simplified legislative process of expulsion. A removal through an impeachment requires the action of both houses of Congress—impeachment in the House and trial and conviction in the Senate; while an expulsion is accomplished merely by the House or Senate acting alone concerning one of its own Members, and without the constitutional requirement of trial and conviction.
Reuters, $11 toothpaste: Immigrants pay big for basics at private ICE lock-ups
Detained in a California lockup with hundreds of other immigrants seeking asylum, Duglas Cruz faced a choice.posted by zachlipton at 12:21 PM on January 18, 2019 [65 favorites]
He could content himself with a jailhouse diet that he said left him perpetually hungry. Or he could labor in the prison’s kitchen to earn money to buy extra food at the commissary.
Cruz went to work. But his $1-a-day salary at the privately run Adelanto Detention Facility did not stretch far.
A can of commissary tuna sold for $3.25. That is more than four times the price at a Target store near the small desert town of Adelanto, about two hours northeast of Los Angeles. Cruz stuck with ramen noodles at 58 cents a package, double the Target price. A miniature deodorant stick, at $3.35 and more than three days’ wages, was an impossible luxury, he said.
“If I bought that there wouldn’t be enough money for food,” Cruz said.
Cruz went to work. But his $1-a-day salary at the privately run Adelanto Detention Facility did not stretch far.
Isn't that an obvious violation of the 13th Amendment? He's an asylee; he hasn't been convicted of any crime.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:24 PM on January 18, 2019 [87 favorites]
Isn't that an obvious violation of the 13th Amendment? He's an asylee; he hasn't been convicted of any crime.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:24 PM on January 18, 2019 [87 favorites]
Dustin Volz, WSJ: "DNC Says Russia Tried to Hack Into its Computer Network Days After 2018 Midterms"
WASHINGTON—The Democratic National Committee said it was targeted by an unsuccessful cyberattack eight days after the 2018 midterm elections—and believes one of the Russian hacking groups that broke into its network during the 2016 presidential campaign was behind the attempted intrusion.posted by OnceUponATime at 12:25 PM on January 18, 2019 [11 favorites]
Official DNC email addresses received spear-phishing emails on Nov. 14, 2018, the political organization wrote in an amended court submission filed late Thursday as part of a long-running lawsuit against the Russian government and others entities. There is no evidence that the attack was successful, the DNC said.
“The content of these emails and their timestamps were consistent with a spear-phishing campaign that leading cybersecurity experts have tied to Cozy Bear,” the DNC wrote, using a name commonly used to identify the hacking squad associated with Russian intelligence services. “Therefore, it is probable that Cozy Bear again attempted to unlawfully infiltrate DNC computers in November 2018.”
...
Cozy Bear was the first of two Russian groups to hack the DNC during the 2016 presidential cycle, according to the U.S. intelligence community and cybersecurity companies that investigated the intrusions.
...
Investigators concluded Cozy Bear wasn’t the Russian group that orchestrated the hack and leak operation of Democratic emails in 2016—and that its mission appeared to be one more aligned with traditional foreign espionage, such as eavesdropping on private communications to glean insight into possible policy decisions. The other group that hacked the DNC, known as Fancy Bear and associated Russia’s military intelligence agency, is generally blamed for the overt attempts to interfere in the election.
...
Some cyber researchers in recent months have said they have tracked new phishing campaigns linked to Cozy Bear. U.S.-based cyber firm FireEye published research saying it had detected new phishing activity on Nov. 14—the same day DNC said it received the unsuccessful phishing emails––against over 20 of its clients in various industries, including law enforcement, the U.S. military, transportation and national government.
In December the National Republican Congressional Committee disclosed that it fell victim to a cyberattack last April by an unidentified hacker that some familiar with the investigation believe was a foreign operator. In that episode, the intruder maliciously accessed confidential committee emails that were being hosted by a third-party cloud-service provider through a password compromise.
But hey, it might lead to something crazy like Trump just firing the whole TSA without any plan to replace them, because that would make everything so much better, right?
We should have dissolved the TSA and gone back to private contracted airport security anyway. If that were to happen here I'd call it a silver lining in a huge ugly cloud.
Personally I'm doubtful we'll see a motivating food safety issue because of this shutdown before other negative effects like TSA lines or some other social services - perhaps beer availability? Libertarian "they have a motivation to stay in business!!" statements are junk but food safety is a process, so it's not just going to go poof because inspection & enforcement stops. Those operations know that barring societal breakdown they'll be back to being inspected eventually (and if society breaks down they have bigger problems) so they're not going to just suddenly start doing reckless shit. I'm sure eventually there will be some marginal actors who will fuck up without regular policing but I don't think it'll speed up enough to worry people.
Unfortunately I think the public is primed to just view occasional food poisoning as the cost of society now. When was the last year without a sizable recall because of e coli and produce? The shutdown will likely just mean that these things, which people expect to happen, will be uglier and take longer to be detected and stopped. Perhaps what would have been a recall will instead be hushed up because some bean counter decides it's cheaper to pay off some victims than actually recall product. But that's probably under the radar, not a call to action.
posted by phearlez at 12:27 PM on January 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
We should have dissolved the TSA and gone back to private contracted airport security anyway. If that were to happen here I'd call it a silver lining in a huge ugly cloud.
Personally I'm doubtful we'll see a motivating food safety issue because of this shutdown before other negative effects like TSA lines or some other social services - perhaps beer availability? Libertarian "they have a motivation to stay in business!!" statements are junk but food safety is a process, so it's not just going to go poof because inspection & enforcement stops. Those operations know that barring societal breakdown they'll be back to being inspected eventually (and if society breaks down they have bigger problems) so they're not going to just suddenly start doing reckless shit. I'm sure eventually there will be some marginal actors who will fuck up without regular policing but I don't think it'll speed up enough to worry people.
Unfortunately I think the public is primed to just view occasional food poisoning as the cost of society now. When was the last year without a sizable recall because of e coli and produce? The shutdown will likely just mean that these things, which people expect to happen, will be uglier and take longer to be detected and stopped. Perhaps what would have been a recall will instead be hushed up because some bean counter decides it's cheaper to pay off some victims than actually recall product. But that's probably under the radar, not a call to action.
posted by phearlez at 12:27 PM on January 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
Trump’s Shutdown Is a Historic Opportunity for Democrats (Nathaniel Frank and Evan Wolfson, Slate)
posted by ZeusHumms at 12:32 PM on January 18, 2019 [41 favorites]
But while Democrats may be poised to win the short-term political argument over the shutdown, the pain and suffering it has inflicted are part of a long-term right-wing strategy that’s older and broader than many people realize. That strategy involved a decades-long campaign to turn everything from the courts to the Congress to the country’s overall cultural character sharply rightward by stigmatizing forms of collective action—government, unions, even voting—that history shows are necessary counterweights to the greed of the powerful.It's an opportunity for those who understand that there is a long game going on, and understand what it is. Emphasis mine.
This long-game effort calls for an equal and opposite strategy: something that will bolster the promising, if disparate, elements of the resistance—mass protests, diverse candidates, grass-roots door-knocking, bold policy ideas—by offering a sustained, deep story about the positive role government plays in American life. To change the narrative effectively, progressives should launch a long-term persuasion campaign designed to restore belief in government.
This campaign should draw lessons from the right-wing playbook and should also take elements from the last great successful progressive persuasion push: the movement to shift public opinion on LGBTQ equality. As with that transformation, which involved rejecting shame and timidity to insist that “gay is good,” this campaign should reinvigorate the understanding that “government is good,” and integrate a values-driven narrative alongside organizing, legislating, and other methods of change.
posted by ZeusHumms at 12:32 PM on January 18, 2019 [41 favorites]
Trump’s Russian Policy: Outright Collusion … or Baffling Incompetence? (Mike Pesca, Slate, 1/17/2019)
posted by ZeusHumms at 12:40 PM on January 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
Whether it’s to own the libs, feed his ego, or plow headfirst into the fire, Trump—even in a thought experiment where he is innocent—has acted in ways that are inexplicably destructive.It's an odd thought experiment that ends with the idea that the end results would be the same either way.
posted by ZeusHumms at 12:40 PM on January 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
What happens if a big earthquake hits during the government shutdown? Two minor earthquakes hit the San Fransisco Bay Area this week.
posted by homunculus at 12:41 PM on January 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by homunculus at 12:41 PM on January 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
Scientists say Trump’s first 2 years have been fatal for a livable climate. "Cause of death: the Trump presidency."
posted by homunculus at 12:45 PM on January 18, 2019 [30 favorites]
posted by homunculus at 12:45 PM on January 18, 2019 [30 favorites]
impeachment in the House and trial and conviction in the Senate; while an expulsion is accomplished merely by the House or Senate acting alone concerning one of its own Members, and without the constitutional requirement of trial and conviction
I should have been more clear. Both of these remedies seem like they depend on the Senate Majority Leader allowing the votes in the first place.
Does Mitch McConnell have to, like, be arrested before his strangle hold on the Senate is broken? I honestly don't know.
posted by schadenfrau at 12:47 PM on January 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
I should have been more clear. Both of these remedies seem like they depend on the Senate Majority Leader allowing the votes in the first place.
Does Mitch McConnell have to, like, be arrested before his strangle hold on the Senate is broken? I honestly don't know.
posted by schadenfrau at 12:47 PM on January 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
It's an odd thought experiment that ends with the idea that the end results would be the same either way.
It's especially weird considering we know that Putin had something on Trump: Trump's own outreach over Trump Tower Moscow. But in Pesca's thought experiment, Putin held nothing over Trump even though we know for a fact that's not true.
And now as of today we know that the coverup extended to suborning perjury.
posted by BungaDunga at 12:53 PM on January 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
It's especially weird considering we know that Putin had something on Trump: Trump's own outreach over Trump Tower Moscow. But in Pesca's thought experiment, Putin held nothing over Trump even though we know for a fact that's not true.
And now as of today we know that the coverup extended to suborning perjury.
posted by BungaDunga at 12:53 PM on January 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
What happens if a big earthquake hits during the government shutdown?
Same thing that happened when two big wildfires hit. And Hurricane Maria.
posted by Autumnheart at 12:54 PM on January 18, 2019 [19 favorites]
Same thing that happened when two big wildfires hit. And Hurricane Maria.
posted by Autumnheart at 12:54 PM on January 18, 2019 [19 favorites]
Federal workers look set to miss their second pay period. @LisaDNews
posted by zachlipton at 12:59 PM on January 18, 2019 [46 favorites]
(ICYMI) CONFIRMED w/ mult. offices:And it appears the Times has confirmed what Pelosi said: the White House leaked their plans to fly commercial to Afghanistan, even as the White House continues to deny it:
- The Senate has left for the next week. No votes are expected next week.
- Senators will get 24-hours'
notice of any votes.
- SO: Senate essentially expecting no deal and that *fed workers will miss a second paycheck*
People close to Mr. Trump, who did not want to be identified because they said they did not have authorization to divulge Ms. Pelosi’s schedule, revealed late Thursday that she was planning to make the trip anyway, flying commercially. Word of the plan spread through the White House, and among those who had conversations about it was Mr. Trump himself.The Onion did its part: Defiant Pelosi Begins Swimming To Afghanistan After Trump Denies Use Of Government Plane
On Friday, a White House official denied the charge, saying that there was no way for Ms. Pelosi to have kept her trip a secret.
posted by zachlipton at 12:59 PM on January 18, 2019 [46 favorites]
CBS, U.S. refuses to discuss Iranian TV anchorwoman's detention
posted by zachlipton at 1:04 PM on January 18, 2019 [52 favorites]
The constitutionality of the material witness law has "never been meaningfully tested," said Ricardo J. Bascuas, a professor at the University of Miami School of Law. "The government only relies on it when they need a reason to arrest somebody but they don't have one."She's a US citizen.
No matter the reason for Marzieh Hashemi's detention, she should have been granted a court appearance by now, Bascuas said.
posted by zachlipton at 1:04 PM on January 18, 2019 [52 favorites]
I've seen this video floating around lately & don't remember seeing it back when it was taken. It's pretty creepy, no?
@kylegriffin1 In light of recent reports, it's worth highlighting again this July 2017 video of Trump seeming to gesture to Putin at the G-20.
[video]
posted by scalefree at 1:05 PM on January 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
@kylegriffin1 In light of recent reports, it's worth highlighting again this July 2017 video of Trump seeming to gesture to Putin at the G-20.
[video]
posted by scalefree at 1:05 PM on January 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
MrVisible: Those walls sure do work wonders...
CBP: Group of 376 migrants tunneled under border wall near Yuma
Regarding the limitations of walls, there is (as always) a very good Alexandra Erin Twitter thread from a few days back. Takeaway:
CBP: Group of 376 migrants tunneled under border wall near Yuma
Regarding the limitations of walls, there is (as always) a very good Alexandra Erin Twitter thread from a few days back. Takeaway:
The wall is going to stop somewhere in the neighborhood of diddly and squat, so if the wall goes up, the point will not be to make us as a people feel safer but to make us as a people feel less safe. More afraid. Terrified. The wall didn't stop them. They're still coming.posted by InTheYear2017 at 1:23 PM on January 18, 2019 [49 favorites]
The wall's not designed to fail. It's not designed to do anything. It was a rhetorical concept to score political points, but using it has backed Trump into a position where he's got to pursue building it. And its failure will become the next rhetorical trick.
...
"We tried it your way, but these sick people are so determined they will cut through our beautiful wall." And the circumvention of the wall will be said to prove their intent is bad, because they didn't just walk in through an open door, they kicked it in.
The Trump regime has already committed atrocities to try to purge the country by shock and fear. That's the point of child separation. They want refugees to be more afraid to come to the US than they are to flee the dangers in their homelands.
...
The wall is the tactic of a racist fearmonger. But a fearmonger can't sell a solution that makes his marks actually *feel* safer, because in doing so he ends his power.
If the wall is built, it will be used to incite more fear, worse fear, deadlier fear.
We cannot allow it.
...
You know what time it is:
Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of civic participation.
The glee that washed over me with the Buzzfeed story drop has slowly but surely transformed into a furious anger. I am fighting my inclinations to wallow in angst and gloom, which is usually where anger takes me eventually.
I'm strongly in agreement with saysthis, from the tail end of the previous megathread. Aggressive intervention is warranted by the emergency situation that is rapidly escalating in the Executive Branch right now.
Trump is so very very clearly and definitively demonstrating that he is an active threat to the safety and security of the United States and its citizens, and is particularly hazardous to our duly elected officials. He is brazenly and openly broadcasting that this threat of harm is intentional, it is malicious, and he will not stop trying to actively harm anyone and everyone he chooses.
Pelosi can act right now by convening an emergency session of the House of Representatives and bring Robert Mueller in to corroborate the factual claims made in the Buzzfeed article. He is patriotic more than he is partisan, and he would likely comply with Pelosi if the scope of questions was narrow and didn't threaten other investigations. If Mueller agrees that it is substantially correct and supported by multiple independent smoking-gun incontrovertible evidence, then impeachment proceedings must start immediately after that, literally starting the vote while Mueller is walking toward the chamber exits.
Trump is actively harmful, right now. Whether he's acting on behalf of or under the direction of hostile foreign enemies, or he's history's most oblivious patsy, he has unquestionably demonstrated his intention and ability to cause harm to our citizens, our Government, and our elected leaders. This threat needs to be contained with extreme prejudice immediately.
Stop him now. Failure to act, by the only people who have the constitutional authority to do so, is a gross dereliction of duty.
Neutralize this unprecedented and unpredictable hostile enemy before he can do any more harm.
His immediate Administration staff and the military chain of command has a choice right now, with every order that Trump issues to them, of either doing this dangerous criminal's bidding, or standing in his way. Insubordination is risky, but if you can't do it in the face of this clear and present danger, when do you finally plant your feet? Following orders and facilitating this hostile domestic enemy's harmful actions is an overt threat to the country itself. You don't need to act on behalf of a known, named, and declared enemy nation or organization in order to commit acts of destructive aggression against our unexpectedly fragile nation at this turbulent time. We the people have a well-defined expression for this systematic, destructive, aggression: waging war.
Make no mistake, war against the United States is happening right now, and Donald Trump is waging it with every tweet, with every abhorrent administrative decision and executive order that stand in direct opposition to the highest principles that are expressed through, and strengthened by our Constitution. That Constitution is the charter by which the government of the United States has claim to legitimacy, as it is the only expressed consent of we the people to be so governed.
Donald Trump is continually ignoring, undermining, or outright attacking the Constitution.
At least one of his tweets this morning regarding Michael Cohen and his father-in-law cannot be seen as anything less than a felony act of witness tampering and intimidation. He is openly and repeatedly committing felonies, in a flagrant disregard for the laws of this country to which he has the most unique and solemn responsibility to defend. Donald Trump continues to declare war on the United States of America, through his relentless hostile aggressions that aren't just a dereliction of his duty, but an intentional, malicious, and doggedly persistent campaign to harm the people, institutions, and Constitution of this nation. The President has been given that blessed burden of tireless defense of this nation, and thereby has also been given terrifying powers he alone can wield to fulfill his sacred duty to defend. Instead of defending, he is attacking, thereby showing himself to be an enemy.
This president has declared war on the United States. That is treason, even if Congress is unwilling or unable to recognize or declare his status as an enemy.
The unique, historically unprecedented danger posed by the position of this existential threat within the Executive branch of the very government itself warrants an unprecedented and unmistakable countermeasure.
The possible punishments for being found guilty of treason are harsh. I don't invoke that word lightly. With what is known now, particularly considering the troves of unreleased but almost assuredly incontrovertible evidence currently in secretive investigative custody on our behalf, the charge is warranted.
But he's not even hiding it. The staggering audacity of his very public behaviors paints an undeniable portrait of Enemy Combatant Individual 1. He's been telling us for years exactly who and what he is, and we need to at last believe him, and act appropriately.
Stop him before he launches his next attack. People's lives are at stake. He told us in his uniquely dramatic honesty that he can get away with murder, which in his horrifically distorted world is about as close to a sincere promise as he can get, and the preventable deaths of migrant children is part of his fulfillment of that promise. He will not stop, he's told us loud and clear that he has no intention of stopping. He's going to continue his war against us, and no number of dead bodies will be too many for him.
Stop him. Today. Before he fulfills more of the horrible promises he made, before he adds even more evidence to the astonishing flood of it that pours so audaciously unprovoked from his every word and action, that he is an earnest, willful traitor to the United States.
This is an unnecessary flirtation with unknown dangers. I'm trying to balance the possibility of civil unrest that might arise from aggressive intervention, against the existential threat of a known traitor being given free reign to wallow unchecked in the Presidency. What are we even trying to defend if we are just going to watch it happen in high-definition agonizing slowness? Everything about this situation has unpredictable historical gravity, and no matter how we get through this we will be forever different. Patience feels like a concession, a surrender. It's just not good enough.
I want us to be better than this.
It saddens me to no end that the institutional defenses in our arsenal would have been engaged with an entirely different disposition if a treasonous President had somehow emerged from the progressive political networks, rather than conservative ones. A progressive equivalent to Trump, if such a thing could exist at all, would have been summarily derailed from any shot at real political power long before the first Primaries were even being scheduled. The gears of justice always turn faster and more aggressively for the poor and powerless and their defenders, and that demonstrable reality is entrenched very deep, and must be addressed with stark honesty if we are to survive and thrive as a nation.
(and I'll stop now, too. Restraining myself to the extent necessary to be this careful and measured in my screed herein is physically and emotionally exhausting.)
posted by yesster at 1:24 PM on January 18, 2019 [87 favorites]
I'm strongly in agreement with saysthis, from the tail end of the previous megathread. Aggressive intervention is warranted by the emergency situation that is rapidly escalating in the Executive Branch right now.
Trump is so very very clearly and definitively demonstrating that he is an active threat to the safety and security of the United States and its citizens, and is particularly hazardous to our duly elected officials. He is brazenly and openly broadcasting that this threat of harm is intentional, it is malicious, and he will not stop trying to actively harm anyone and everyone he chooses.
Pelosi can act right now by convening an emergency session of the House of Representatives and bring Robert Mueller in to corroborate the factual claims made in the Buzzfeed article. He is patriotic more than he is partisan, and he would likely comply with Pelosi if the scope of questions was narrow and didn't threaten other investigations. If Mueller agrees that it is substantially correct and supported by multiple independent smoking-gun incontrovertible evidence, then impeachment proceedings must start immediately after that, literally starting the vote while Mueller is walking toward the chamber exits.
Trump is actively harmful, right now. Whether he's acting on behalf of or under the direction of hostile foreign enemies, or he's history's most oblivious patsy, he has unquestionably demonstrated his intention and ability to cause harm to our citizens, our Government, and our elected leaders. This threat needs to be contained with extreme prejudice immediately.
Stop him now. Failure to act, by the only people who have the constitutional authority to do so, is a gross dereliction of duty.
Neutralize this unprecedented and unpredictable hostile enemy before he can do any more harm.
His immediate Administration staff and the military chain of command has a choice right now, with every order that Trump issues to them, of either doing this dangerous criminal's bidding, or standing in his way. Insubordination is risky, but if you can't do it in the face of this clear and present danger, when do you finally plant your feet? Following orders and facilitating this hostile domestic enemy's harmful actions is an overt threat to the country itself. You don't need to act on behalf of a known, named, and declared enemy nation or organization in order to commit acts of destructive aggression against our unexpectedly fragile nation at this turbulent time. We the people have a well-defined expression for this systematic, destructive, aggression: waging war.
Make no mistake, war against the United States is happening right now, and Donald Trump is waging it with every tweet, with every abhorrent administrative decision and executive order that stand in direct opposition to the highest principles that are expressed through, and strengthened by our Constitution. That Constitution is the charter by which the government of the United States has claim to legitimacy, as it is the only expressed consent of we the people to be so governed.
Donald Trump is continually ignoring, undermining, or outright attacking the Constitution.
At least one of his tweets this morning regarding Michael Cohen and his father-in-law cannot be seen as anything less than a felony act of witness tampering and intimidation. He is openly and repeatedly committing felonies, in a flagrant disregard for the laws of this country to which he has the most unique and solemn responsibility to defend. Donald Trump continues to declare war on the United States of America, through his relentless hostile aggressions that aren't just a dereliction of his duty, but an intentional, malicious, and doggedly persistent campaign to harm the people, institutions, and Constitution of this nation. The President has been given that blessed burden of tireless defense of this nation, and thereby has also been given terrifying powers he alone can wield to fulfill his sacred duty to defend. Instead of defending, he is attacking, thereby showing himself to be an enemy.
This president has declared war on the United States. That is treason, even if Congress is unwilling or unable to recognize or declare his status as an enemy.
The unique, historically unprecedented danger posed by the position of this existential threat within the Executive branch of the very government itself warrants an unprecedented and unmistakable countermeasure.
The possible punishments for being found guilty of treason are harsh. I don't invoke that word lightly. With what is known now, particularly considering the troves of unreleased but almost assuredly incontrovertible evidence currently in secretive investigative custody on our behalf, the charge is warranted.
But he's not even hiding it. The staggering audacity of his very public behaviors paints an undeniable portrait of Enemy Combatant Individual 1. He's been telling us for years exactly who and what he is, and we need to at last believe him, and act appropriately.
Stop him before he launches his next attack. People's lives are at stake. He told us in his uniquely dramatic honesty that he can get away with murder, which in his horrifically distorted world is about as close to a sincere promise as he can get, and the preventable deaths of migrant children is part of his fulfillment of that promise. He will not stop, he's told us loud and clear that he has no intention of stopping. He's going to continue his war against us, and no number of dead bodies will be too many for him.
Stop him. Today. Before he fulfills more of the horrible promises he made, before he adds even more evidence to the astonishing flood of it that pours so audaciously unprovoked from his every word and action, that he is an earnest, willful traitor to the United States.
This is an unnecessary flirtation with unknown dangers. I'm trying to balance the possibility of civil unrest that might arise from aggressive intervention, against the existential threat of a known traitor being given free reign to wallow unchecked in the Presidency. What are we even trying to defend if we are just going to watch it happen in high-definition agonizing slowness? Everything about this situation has unpredictable historical gravity, and no matter how we get through this we will be forever different. Patience feels like a concession, a surrender. It's just not good enough.
I want us to be better than this.
It saddens me to no end that the institutional defenses in our arsenal would have been engaged with an entirely different disposition if a treasonous President had somehow emerged from the progressive political networks, rather than conservative ones. A progressive equivalent to Trump, if such a thing could exist at all, would have been summarily derailed from any shot at real political power long before the first Primaries were even being scheduled. The gears of justice always turn faster and more aggressively for the poor and powerless and their defenders, and that demonstrable reality is entrenched very deep, and must be addressed with stark honesty if we are to survive and thrive as a nation.
(and I'll stop now, too. Restraining myself to the extent necessary to be this careful and measured in my screed herein is physically and emotionally exhausting.)
posted by yesster at 1:24 PM on January 18, 2019 [87 favorites]
Trump will be 2 years in office come Sunday. (I've aged 2000). I've posted these trackings of the Dow Jones performance for presidents at the time of their anniversaries.
The Dow Jones has been around in some form since May 2, 1885. My usual source of historic data has gone 404, so I ended up using a database from a financial firm that goes back to 1900. Here is a list of the percent increase (or decrease) in the first two years of each presidency. I didn't include McKinley, as he started the century in his second term.
Among these Trump's two year performance is 8 out of 20. Trump is no Gerald Ford.
1. F. Roosevelt +90.5%
2. Coolidge +54.0%
3. Obama +48.7%
4. Harding +39.3%
5. Eisenhower +36.5%
6. L. Johnson +33.1%
7. Ford +26.4%
8. Trump +24.6%
9. Clinton +19.4%
10. Bush I +18.4%
11. Reagan 12.6%
12. Truman +8.4%
13. Kennedy +6.0%
14. T. Roosevelt -21.7%
15. Wilson -5.3%
16. Taft 0% (59.92 on March 4, 1909. 59.92 on March 4, 1911)
17. Nixon -8.7%
18. Carter -12.7%
19. Bush II -18.9%
20. Hoover -42.3% (it would go a lot lower)
For those wondering about following the Dow, doing it on a day to day basis will inspire craziness. For example, with the crash of the markets in 1929, the Dow Jones sat at 326.5 on October 22nd and 198.69 on November 13th. In the coming months it would rise to 245.09 by September 10th, 1930 before finally spiraling down to 41.22 in July, 1932.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 1:27 PM on January 18, 2019 [14 favorites]
The Dow Jones has been around in some form since May 2, 1885. My usual source of historic data has gone 404, so I ended up using a database from a financial firm that goes back to 1900. Here is a list of the percent increase (or decrease) in the first two years of each presidency. I didn't include McKinley, as he started the century in his second term.
Among these Trump's two year performance is 8 out of 20. Trump is no Gerald Ford.
1. F. Roosevelt +90.5%
2. Coolidge +54.0%
3. Obama +48.7%
4. Harding +39.3%
5. Eisenhower +36.5%
6. L. Johnson +33.1%
7. Ford +26.4%
8. Trump +24.6%
9. Clinton +19.4%
10. Bush I +18.4%
11. Reagan 12.6%
12. Truman +8.4%
13. Kennedy +6.0%
14. T. Roosevelt -21.7%
15. Wilson -5.3%
16. Taft 0% (59.92 on March 4, 1909. 59.92 on March 4, 1911)
17. Nixon -8.7%
18. Carter -12.7%
19. Bush II -18.9%
20. Hoover -42.3% (it would go a lot lower)
For those wondering about following the Dow, doing it on a day to day basis will inspire craziness. For example, with the crash of the markets in 1929, the Dow Jones sat at 326.5 on October 22nd and 198.69 on November 13th. In the coming months it would rise to 245.09 by September 10th, 1930 before finally spiraling down to 41.22 in July, 1932.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 1:27 PM on January 18, 2019 [14 favorites]
Buzzfeed’s Chris Geidner:
BREAKING: #SCOTUS removes the Census citizenship question case — over the evidence allowed in the case — from the argument calendar; the "briefing schedule is suspended pending further order of the Court." It was supposed to be heard on Feb. 19.posted by Doktor Zed at 1:27 PM on January 18, 2019 [14 favorites]
So, what now? Well, the most likely next step is for DOJ to ask the Supreme Court to review the case — a request for certiorari before judgment. (This would make sense b/c the issue needs to be resolved before the Census is printed this summer.)
So, although the case has been removed from the argument calendar — don't think it's gone. I'd be surprised if we don't see it back before the justices, on the merits, yet this term.
Earlier someone said they didn't see the Buzzfeed Cohen bombshell in the NYT at all.
Right now, 4:45pm EST on Friday, the top of the right-most (op ed) column on their web site's front page is Frank Bruni, "Buzzfeed's Cohen Story Suggests Trump Never Wanted to Be President." The story itself is below the fold but fairly prominent: "Democrats Call for Inquiry Into Report That Trump Directed Cohen to Lie"
posted by msalt at 1:45 PM on January 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
Right now, 4:45pm EST on Friday, the top of the right-most (op ed) column on their web site's front page is Frank Bruni, "Buzzfeed's Cohen Story Suggests Trump Never Wanted to Be President." The story itself is below the fold but fairly prominent: "Democrats Call for Inquiry Into Report That Trump Directed Cohen to Lie"
posted by msalt at 1:45 PM on January 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
It pays well to work with the Mnuchin. The three Americans to control shares in Deripaska business empire < FT
"Mr Knower of Cerberus Capital Management, Mr Crane, senior operating executive at Pegasus Capital Advisors and Mr Baker, former global chair of corporate restructuring at Latham & Watkins, will also serve as trustees for shares controlled by associates of Mr Deripaska and a Russian bank, Bloomberg reported."
posted by Harry Caul at 1:52 PM on January 18, 2019 [8 favorites]
"Mr Knower of Cerberus Capital Management, Mr Crane, senior operating executive at Pegasus Capital Advisors and Mr Baker, former global chair of corporate restructuring at Latham & Watkins, will also serve as trustees for shares controlled by associates of Mr Deripaska and a Russian bank, Bloomberg reported."
posted by Harry Caul at 1:52 PM on January 18, 2019 [8 favorites]
I’ve been reading through section 170 of the 113rd Senate Manual, which is the latest that’s up, and it has a lot of specific times and actions and instructions for the Presiding Officer, but the majority leader is not specifically mentioned. Obviously if you have the votes you can do whatever, but the trial at least starts up automatically. It’s a separate session from general business.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 2:13 PM on January 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 2:13 PM on January 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
I've posted these trackings of the Dow Jones performance for presidents at the time of their anniversaries.
But isn't it basically just superstition to think that the President influences the performance of the stock market (and the entire economy) as much as seems to be the conventional wisdom?
posted by thelonius at 2:15 PM on January 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
But isn't it basically just superstition to think that the President influences the performance of the stock market (and the entire economy) as much as seems to be the conventional wisdom?
posted by thelonius at 2:15 PM on January 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
WaPo, Senate GOP mulling rules change to speed up confirmations of Trump nominees
posted by zachlipton at 2:42 PM on January 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
Senate Republicans are again considering using a controversial procedural maneuver to change how the chamber handles presidential nominations — a move that would significantly speed up processing of President Trump’s nominees and that of his successors in the White House.Sarah Binder has some thoughts on why this is happening and why it didn't happen already.
Typically, a nomination can be debated for a maximum of 30 hours on the Senate floor after senators invoke cloture, which is a vote that officially cuts off unlimited debate on a nomination and now only needs a simple majority to occur. But Republicans are mulling cutting short those 30 hours to as brief as two hours for relatively noncontroversial nominees, such as candidates for the district court.
Changing the Senate rules was one of several topics raised during a private Senate Republican retreat held at a conference center at Nationals Park on Thursday. While GOP senators discussed wanting support from Democrats to revise the rules — a process that would take 67 votes — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also raised the prospect of using the so-called “nuclear option” to change the rules unilaterally, according to two senators in attendance who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door retreat.
posted by zachlipton at 2:42 PM on January 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
Trump announcement via Twitter: I will be making a major announcement concerning the Humanitarian Crisis on our Southern Border, and the Shutdown, tomorrow afternoon at 3 P.M., live from the @WhiteHouse.
His use of the word Crisis here indicates this will be the announcement of a national emergency since that's the prerequisite for doing so.
posted by Justinian at 2:56 PM on January 18, 2019 [16 favorites]
His use of the word Crisis here indicates this will be the announcement of a national emergency since that's the prerequisite for doing so.
posted by Justinian at 2:56 PM on January 18, 2019 [16 favorites]
This is the bumpy part, right? He is not going to get saner or less crimey the closer he gets to ouster. Far from it, dude.
YT link of Trump's ... gesture to Putin at G20, around 00:51.
twitter video doesn't work on any device I have and noiamnotgettingtwitter.
posted by petebest at 3:08 PM on January 18, 2019 [8 favorites]
YT link of Trump's ... gesture to Putin at G20, around 00:51.
twitter video doesn't work on any device I have and noiamnotgettingtwitter.
posted by petebest at 3:08 PM on January 18, 2019 [8 favorites]
If he does, I think the impeachment momentum begins to hit critical mass.
posted by schadenfrau at 3:12 PM on January 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by schadenfrau at 3:12 PM on January 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
He's actually gonna do it. I never thought it was likely. Ugh.
posted by j_curiouser at 3:13 PM on January 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by j_curiouser at 3:13 PM on January 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
[Krugman]
Even Trump loyalists know that Trump-Putin-treason is a real thing, they just think it's an OK price for the racism
posted by growabrain at 3:14 PM on January 18, 2019 [37 favorites]
Even Trump loyalists know that Trump-Putin-treason is a real thing, they just think it's an OK price for the racism
posted by growabrain at 3:14 PM on January 18, 2019 [37 favorites]
Trump's been amplifying his rhetoric since before the shutdown began. @realDonaldTrump first started using the c-word in regard to the border on December 22nd, upgrading to the "Humanitarian and National Security crisis" in conjunction with his Oval Office speech announcement on January 7. It's interesting that today, however, he dropped the national security angle. The broader picture is that he's using reality TV show promo tactics—"Tune in tomorrow to learn what Donnie's major announcement is!"—to draw attention away from the Buzzfeed bombshell. We'll see how far he's willing to take it.
Meanwhile, a border-district GOP rep sets Rolling Stone straight about the situation there: Republican Congressman: Trump’s Border Crisis Is a ‘Myth’
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:17 PM on January 18, 2019 [44 favorites]
Meanwhile, a border-district GOP rep sets Rolling Stone straight about the situation there: Republican Congressman: Trump’s Border Crisis Is a ‘Myth’
Congressman Will Hurd of Texas is an increasingly lonely voice in the “build the wall” Republican Party of Donald Trump. A 41-year-old former undercover CIA officer, Hurd represents one of the largest congressional districts in America, Texas’ 23rd, a vast expanse of land roughly the size of Georgia that stretches from San Antonio to El Paso.The full interview is worth reading for an on-the-ground look at the situation as well as a Republican who can talk about it without sounding utterly batshit.
Hurd’s district includes 820 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, more than any other member of the House of Representatives. But if you’re expecting Hurd, who was narrowly re-elected to a third term last year, to support President Trump’s “big, beautiful wall” and stand with the decision to partially shut down the federal government over the fight, you’ve got it all wrong. Trump’s border crisis is a “myth,” Hurd tells Rolling Stone, and a wall made of cement or steel slats is a “third-century solution to a 21st-century problem.”
“What I always say is building a wall from sea to shining sea is the most expensive and least effective way to do border security,” Hurd says.
He is one of the few Republicans to break ranks and vote with Democrats to approve funding to reopen the government. On Wednesday, he announced that he’d landed a coveted seat on the powerful Appropriations Committee, bringing the perspective of someone who actually knows the border to Congress’ main government-funding committee.
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:17 PM on January 18, 2019 [44 favorites]
Hurd is a living example of the fact that Texas is becoming purpler and purpler. Which is a good thing, obvs
posted by mumimor at 3:20 PM on January 18, 2019 [16 favorites]
posted by mumimor at 3:20 PM on January 18, 2019 [16 favorites]
My understanding of the legalities here are that Congress has ceded so much authority to the President that he can almost certainly declare the emergency legally (though it will no doubt be challenged anyway) but that his ability to use that emergency to steal money from other places is very much in doubt. Is that everyone else's understanding too?
I assume he'll try to have the military build it with DoD funds rather than grab at disaster relief funds but I wouldn't be surprised at anything anymore.
posted by Justinian at 3:22 PM on January 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
I assume he'll try to have the military build it with DoD funds rather than grab at disaster relief funds but I wouldn't be surprised at anything anymore.
posted by Justinian at 3:22 PM on January 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
YT link of Trump's ... gesture to Putin at G20
That doesn't seem that unexplainable to me? It's, "You and me, we're tight buds." The fist-shake is international bro sign for "we're manly brothers, you and I." I mean, it's fucking ridiculous because they are not bros, they are heads of adversarial states and supposedly grown ass adults, but the gesture seems pretty standard.
posted by soren_lorensen at 3:26 PM on January 18, 2019 [22 favorites]
That doesn't seem that unexplainable to me? It's, "You and me, we're tight buds." The fist-shake is international bro sign for "we're manly brothers, you and I." I mean, it's fucking ridiculous because they are not bros, they are heads of adversarial states and supposedly grown ass adults, but the gesture seems pretty standard.
posted by soren_lorensen at 3:26 PM on January 18, 2019 [22 favorites]
If he does, I think the impeachment momentum begins to hit critical mass.
Nope, a fake national emergency will do nothing to move Republicans, there's been several Senators encouraging him to do just that, including Graham. The only "surely this..." that might move them one day is the Mueller report, and that's pretty unlikely too, as was just stated above:
Even Trump loyalists know that Trump-Putin-treason is a real thing, they just think it's an OK price for the racism.
Yep, that's accurate, and most of the base openly admits it. They would gladly vote to install Putin himself, as long as he promised to bring his agenda of open white supremacy and open warfare against liberals with him.
The Pod Save America guys last week thought that the national emergency might be the only way to let Trump out with some sort of face saving move, it'll get blocked in court immediately, and let Trump pretend he's done something and is "fighting for the wall" on FOX. At this point that might be the least bad option, but letting him throw an authoritarian fit every few months (or weeks?) backed by McConnell and relying on the (increasingly Trumpified) courts to save us isn't sustainable either.
posted by T.D. Strange at 3:26 PM on January 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
Nope, a fake national emergency will do nothing to move Republicans, there's been several Senators encouraging him to do just that, including Graham. The only "surely this..." that might move them one day is the Mueller report, and that's pretty unlikely too, as was just stated above:
Even Trump loyalists know that Trump-Putin-treason is a real thing, they just think it's an OK price for the racism.
Yep, that's accurate, and most of the base openly admits it. They would gladly vote to install Putin himself, as long as he promised to bring his agenda of open white supremacy and open warfare against liberals with him.
The Pod Save America guys last week thought that the national emergency might be the only way to let Trump out with some sort of face saving move, it'll get blocked in court immediately, and let Trump pretend he's done something and is "fighting for the wall" on FOX. At this point that might be the least bad option, but letting him throw an authoritarian fit every few months (or weeks?) backed by McConnell and relying on the (increasingly Trumpified) courts to save us isn't sustainable either.
posted by T.D. Strange at 3:26 PM on January 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
Also its not clear at all that after declaring a state of emergency, Trump will actually allow the government to reopen. He could just keep it up, we don't really know how much he's looking for a way out versus just being Trump.
posted by T.D. Strange at 3:28 PM on January 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 3:28 PM on January 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
Proof that corporate news has f**k-all of an idea for what to do: NYT story on Trump's-definitely-provably-obstructed-justice-at-least is STILL below the fold, under the Kim Jong Un summit "news", "Pelosi delays trip", and I shitteth thee not, a story on Alabama Democrat is mad about the shutdown. Eventually the story appears, entitled Democrats Call for Inquiry Into Report That Trump Directed Cohen to Lie (!!!)
The fnording NYT needs to wake the f up.
posted by petebest at 3:29 PM on January 18, 2019 [22 favorites]
The fnording NYT needs to wake the f up.
posted by petebest at 3:29 PM on January 18, 2019 [22 favorites]
Of course he's going to do it. What else can he do?
If he loses chunks of his hardcore base, he's done. No one else supports him, either because the others are sane or because they fear the wrath (electoral and otherwise) of his hardcore base. And the number one thing that his hardcore base wants is The Wall, as a tall, ineffective, expensive monument to how America Is Just For Us.
He can't butt heads with Pelosi and win. He can't force the House to give in. And he's shitting mothballs over all things Mueller and Russia right now. So, this situation calls for a futile and stupid gesture on someone's part... and he's just the guy to do it.
posted by delfin at 3:31 PM on January 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
If he loses chunks of his hardcore base, he's done. No one else supports him, either because the others are sane or because they fear the wrath (electoral and otherwise) of his hardcore base. And the number one thing that his hardcore base wants is The Wall, as a tall, ineffective, expensive monument to how America Is Just For Us.
He can't butt heads with Pelosi and win. He can't force the House to give in. And he's shitting mothballs over all things Mueller and Russia right now. So, this situation calls for a futile and stupid gesture on someone's part... and he's just the guy to do it.
posted by delfin at 3:31 PM on January 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY-6) has introduced a bill (H.R. 522) that would prohibit emergencies from being used to build border walls. The text isn't available on congress.gov yet, but here is her press release. It has four cosponsors so far. I would expect it to pass the House if Trump actually declares an emergency, although as long as McConnell maintains his inexplicable iron grip on the Senate I don't see how it goes anywhere there.
posted by jedicus at 3:31 PM on January 18, 2019 [23 favorites]
posted by jedicus at 3:31 PM on January 18, 2019 [23 favorites]
He's losing at every turn. The harm from the shutdown grows increasingly dire, his approval is falling, Nancy Pelosi dunks on him and when he tries to retaliate he falls flat on his face. And then there's the new Cohen revelations, which have to have them all scared. Also, he currently stands to lose the State of the Union, and the Women's March is tomorrow and he wants those headlines for himself.
He can't keep fighting the shutdown fight. He needs it to go away. He also needs to look big and strong and do something to hurt some of his usual targets. And above all, he's not thinking about the consequences or whether or not it will work, because he never does. So yeah, I was worried but not super worried about a declaration of emergency with his last "address." This time it seems to add up a little more clearly.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 3:35 PM on January 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
He can't keep fighting the shutdown fight. He needs it to go away. He also needs to look big and strong and do something to hurt some of his usual targets. And above all, he's not thinking about the consequences or whether or not it will work, because he never does. So yeah, I was worried but not super worried about a declaration of emergency with his last "address." This time it seems to add up a little more clearly.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 3:35 PM on January 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
WSJ, Byron Tau and Alexandra Berzon, Justice Department’s Reversal on Online Gambling Tracked Memo From Adelson Lobbyists
The legal reasoning behind the Justice Department’s unusual reversal this week of an opinion that paved the way for online gambling hewed closely to arguments made by lobbyists for casino magnate and top Republican donor Sheldon Adelson.posted by zachlipton at 3:37 PM on January 18, 2019 [24 favorites]
In April 2017, one of the lobbyists sent a memo to top officials in the Justice Department, arguing that a 2011 opinion that benefited online gambling was wrong.
Officials in the department’s Criminal Division, in turn, forwarded it to the Office of Legal Counsel, which had issued the opinion, and asked attorneys there to re-examine their stance that a law on the books for decades didn’t prohibit online gambling, according to documents and interviews with people familiar with the matter.
The Justice Department this week announced that its Office of Legal Counsel had, in an unusual move, reversed its position, according to documents and interviews.
The department’s new position was a victory for Mr. Adelson, who has poured millions into a multiyear lobbying campaign on the matter, according to public lobbying disclosures. In addition to his advocacy to curb online gambling, Mr. Adelson spent tens of millions in the 2016 election backing President Trump and has emerged as one of the most powerful and influential donors in GOP politics.
The fnording NYT needs to wake the f up.
Nobody has confirmed the BuzzFeed News story yet. Jason Leopold has a problematic past with sourcing stories. Other news orgs aren't going to run with it until they know it's solid.
The NY Times story is just a reaction to the BuzzFeed story; the WaPo has done the same thing, Democrats vow aggressive investigations into report that Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress; CNN too from the other side, Republicans stay mum on bombshell BuzzFeed reporting.
posted by peeedro at 3:39 PM on January 18, 2019 [17 favorites]
Nobody has confirmed the BuzzFeed News story yet. Jason Leopold has a problematic past with sourcing stories. Other news orgs aren't going to run with it until they know it's solid.
The NY Times story is just a reaction to the BuzzFeed story; the WaPo has done the same thing, Democrats vow aggressive investigations into report that Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress; CNN too from the other side, Republicans stay mum on bombshell BuzzFeed reporting.
posted by peeedro at 3:39 PM on January 18, 2019 [17 favorites]
Some of NYT's hesitancy on the Buzzfeed bombshell may be related to incidents in the reporter's history. See:
Reporter with checkered past comes back with Trump Tower Moscow bombshells for BuzzFeed (CNN)Of course, right-leaning media are pushing this angle hard. See:
BuzzFeed defends reporter behind bombshell Cohen story (The Hill)
Shocker: Reporter Who Co-Wrote ‘Bombshell’ Story About Trump Directing Cohen To Lie Has A Fake News History ([deliberately not linking to] Townhall)posted by zakur at 3:41 PM on January 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
CNN, Nicole Gaouette, Lawmakers lambast Pentagon climate report
Hurricane Florence ravaged Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina in September, leaving behind an estimated $3.6 billion worth of wreckage. But there's no mention of that in a new Pentagon report detailing the impact of climate change on the defense department.posted by zachlipton at 3:46 PM on January 18, 2019 [15 favorites]
The "Report on Effects of a Changing Climate to the Department of Defense" does not mention Camp Lejeune, the Marine Corps, Hurricane Florence or even the threats posed by extreme weather events -- more destructive storms, more intense rainfall -- that scientists say are more likely given climate change and global warming.
Those omissions are just one reason lawmakers greeted the Congressionally mandated report with eviscerating criticism on Friday. The report didn't meet the legal requirement to list the 10 most vulnerable military installations for each service, they said. And despite the global impact of climate change, it didn't list a single US military installation outside the United States.
CNN: Stalled shutdown talks leave Trump feeling cold
There is some joy in knowing that Trump would like to be nowhere else right now than at Mar-a-lago, but the optics would be terrible, so he's forced to sit alone in an under-staffed White House in January.
posted by gwint at 3:47 PM on January 18, 2019 [23 favorites]
There is some joy in knowing that Trump would like to be nowhere else right now than at Mar-a-lago, but the optics would be terrible, so he's forced to sit alone in an under-staffed White House in January.
posted by gwint at 3:47 PM on January 18, 2019 [23 favorites]
CBS, Trump says he'll make “major announcement” about border
That fits in with something Politico reported today:
posted by zachlipton at 4:19 PM on January 18, 2019 [17 favorites]
A senior administration official told CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent Major Garrett that Mr. Trump will present what the White House believes could be a deal to end the shutdown. The deal was largely influenced by talks between Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Trump son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner.Those...those are all Republicans. They maybe made a tentative deal with themselves?
That fits in with something Politico reported today:
The administration, the [GOP] senator added, is not fully factoring in that the Senate’s 60-vote threshold will require Democratic support.It's strange that they want to simultaneously blame Pelosi for the shutdown while acting as if they can end it entirely on their own.
“Every time I talk to them. That’s the assumption, that they believe we can just do it,” the senator said.
posted by zachlipton at 4:19 PM on January 18, 2019 [17 favorites]
There's two reporters on the Buzzfeed byline, and only Leopold has a "checked past". They're not going after Cormier, and hoping to disparage the story by attacking only half the people signed on.
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:21 PM on January 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:21 PM on January 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
Wait, so he's not announcing a national emergency tomorrow? You can't just keep calling these press things and say nothing, can you?
The administration, the [GOP] senator added, is not fully factoring in that the Senate’s 60-vote threshold will require Democratic support.
Well, yeah, and the Dems have the majority in the House? If you can command a majority in the House it seems like you'd get the 7 Democratic Senators needed to break a filibuster. This point seems to only matter in the case where a majority of House Democrats support a given deal while a majority of Senate Democrats oppose it... which doesn't strike me as likely. So how is the Senate more of a stumbling block to a deal than the House?
posted by Justinian at 4:24 PM on January 18, 2019
The administration, the [GOP] senator added, is not fully factoring in that the Senate’s 60-vote threshold will require Democratic support.
Well, yeah, and the Dems have the majority in the House? If you can command a majority in the House it seems like you'd get the 7 Democratic Senators needed to break a filibuster. This point seems to only matter in the case where a majority of House Democrats support a given deal while a majority of Senate Democrats oppose it... which doesn't strike me as likely. So how is the Senate more of a stumbling block to a deal than the House?
posted by Justinian at 4:24 PM on January 18, 2019
People interested in Jason Leopold's checkered past, who have some time on their hands, might want to listen to this Longform Podcast episode. There's an argument to be made, which he makes fairly convincingly, that his massive mistake taught him to be much more careful about his sourcing; and in fact, it was his need to rebuild his credibility that led him into the FOIA specialization that's put him back on the map since then, since documents tend to be more reliable than human sources. Ymmv.
posted by Dr. Send at 4:30 PM on January 18, 2019 [14 favorites]
posted by Dr. Send at 4:30 PM on January 18, 2019 [14 favorites]
Wow
posted by zachlipton at 4:34 PM on January 18, 2019 [48 favorites]
A spokesperson for special counsel Robert Mueller's office, Peter Carr, disputed BuzzFeed News’ report.Given how rarely the Special Counsel's office speaks on anything, that's a notable, if utterly vague to the point of near-meaninglessness, statement.
“BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the Special Counsel’s Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s Congressional testimony are not accurate,” Carr said.
posted by zachlipton at 4:34 PM on January 18, 2019 [48 favorites]
Buzzfeed better be right here or Leopold needs to stop being a journalist and Buzzfeed's entire journalism arm will be in deep doo-doo. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, won't get fooled again.
posted by Justinian at 4:37 PM on January 18, 2019 [25 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 4:37 PM on January 18, 2019 [25 favorites]
That's why the Times hasn't gone all in. Maybe Buzzfeed got Killian Document-ed.
posted by vibrotronica at 4:37 PM on January 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by vibrotronica at 4:37 PM on January 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
The Special Counsel’s statement also aligns with the vague, polite statement Lanny Davis put out yesterday evening.
posted by notyou at 4:44 PM on January 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by notyou at 4:44 PM on January 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
Has anyone (news source wise, I mean) begun making a tracker for how many senators seem to be wavering?
I've been trying to keep track, and this is the latest sign of wavering I've seen, reported by Politico yesterday:
posted by Little Dawn at 4:48 PM on January 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
I've been trying to keep track, and this is the latest sign of wavering I've seen, reported by Politico yesterday:
Some Senate Republicans were also trying to give Trump an off-ramp, including Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio). They hoped to get as many as 20 Republicans and 20 Democrats to sign their letter to Trump, with the hopes that a substantial Democratic commitment to debating border security and a push from Trump’s own party could shift Washington’s stalemate.As noted by Elizabeth Drew in The Inevitability of Impeachment (NYT), 67 Senate votes is the magic number, and a goal of rallying 20 GOP Senators seems like a step in that direction. If they can get that many GOP members on board, it's no longer an attempt at pleading with the President, it reads like an implied threat.
posted by Little Dawn at 4:48 PM on January 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
That’s a strange non-denial denial for the spokesman to break his silence for. My (optimistic) guess would be that the SCO wants to delay Congress from subpoenaing witnesses and documents on the basis of this report. Don’t know if that means anything is imminent, but it should put a damper on all the urgent impeachment talk of the past 24 hours for a couple weeks at least.
posted by stopgap at 4:49 PM on January 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by stopgap at 4:49 PM on January 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
John Dowd, President Trump’s Old Lawyer, Is Still Whispering in His Ear—That’s according to Dowd himself, and confirmed to The Daily Beast by the president’s current lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
I was wondering why the Beast would be at all interested right now in dragging Dowd back into the spotlight and why Giuliani is so willing to help shine it on him…
The LA Times's Chris Megerian delves into Dowd's original role as Trump's lawyer in light of the Buzzfeed bombshell:
posted by Doktor Zed at 4:50 PM on January 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
I was wondering why the Beast would be at all interested right now in dragging Dowd back into the spotlight and why Giuliani is so willing to help shine it on him…
The LA Times's Chris Megerian delves into Dowd's original role as Trump's lawyer in light of the Buzzfeed bombshell:
Who saw Michael Cohen's false testimony before he gave it to Congress?Marcy Wheeler: "There ya go: John Dowd's the guy who helped Cohen coordinate his lies with Don Jr." (I'd also include Jay Sekulow as a candidate, but even if he were, he's shrewd enough to pin this on Dowd as the fall guy.)
Rudy Giuliani tells me it was shared with the president's lawyers ahead of time.
John Dowd, the president's lawyer at that point, says he didn't give it to Trump.
But did the president talk to Michael Cohen about his testimony?
"I don't know if the president had an individual conversation with him," Rudy Giuliani told me.
It's clear that all of this has drawn scrutiny from Robert Mueller.
In a court filing, the special counsel said Michael Cohen "described the circumstances of preparing and circulating his response to the congressional inquiries."
posted by Doktor Zed at 4:50 PM on January 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
Chris Hayes
The Carr denial is fascinating and also pretty lawyerly: "description of specific statements" and "characterization"
• Also notable they declined comment in the story itself and then released this *22 hours* after it published. Which is a little odd.
Renato Mariotti
1/ What this suggests to me is that some of the information relied upon by the sources cited by @BuzzFeedNews exists, but was mischaracterized by the sources, who I strongly suspect were not prosecutors.
2/ As I discussed during the episode of my #OnTopic podcast (with @neal_katyal) that is coming out soon, the description of the materials in the @BuzzFeedNews report is so vague that we know very little about them. We don’t know who wrote the texts or emails or who received them.
3/ In a white collar criminal case, precision is very important. It is possible that a law enforcement agent, analyst, or contractor saw a document but didn’t understand its legal significance or a nuance in the document that is important. These cases are rarely black and white.
Malcolm Nance
Shorter Special Counsel statement: ‘Your report may not be precise ... but, more importantly WE don’t leak.’ #CarryOn
posted by chris24 at 5:00 PM on January 18, 2019 [17 favorites]
The Carr denial is fascinating and also pretty lawyerly: "description of specific statements" and "characterization"
• Also notable they declined comment in the story itself and then released this *22 hours* after it published. Which is a little odd.
Renato Mariotti
1/ What this suggests to me is that some of the information relied upon by the sources cited by @BuzzFeedNews exists, but was mischaracterized by the sources, who I strongly suspect were not prosecutors.
2/ As I discussed during the episode of my #OnTopic podcast (with @neal_katyal) that is coming out soon, the description of the materials in the @BuzzFeedNews report is so vague that we know very little about them. We don’t know who wrote the texts or emails or who received them.
3/ In a white collar criminal case, precision is very important. It is possible that a law enforcement agent, analyst, or contractor saw a document but didn’t understand its legal significance or a nuance in the document that is important. These cases are rarely black and white.
Malcolm Nance
Shorter Special Counsel statement: ‘Your report may not be precise ... but, more importantly WE don’t leak.’ #CarryOn
posted by chris24 at 5:00 PM on January 18, 2019 [17 favorites]
Buzzfeed has pulled its reporter from AC360 in the wake of Carr's statement. That's not a good sign in terms of their confidence in their sourcing and such.
posted by Justinian at 5:02 PM on January 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 5:02 PM on January 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
The non-denial denial from the SCO may also have the intended effect of calming panic in the White House and the crime family in order to buy Mueller more time for whatever he wants that time for. It may be about stalling the House investigations, but it also may be about controlling I-1's reactions. Malcom Nance's read cited above also sounds pretty solid.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 5:02 PM on January 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by scaryblackdeath at 5:02 PM on January 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
Ken Dilanian (NBC)low @KenDilanianNBC
To be clear: Mueller is not disputing that Cohen says Trump told him to lie. He’s disputing the line about corroborating evidence taken from Trump Org emails, texts, etc. Still a huge deal. But not a total refutation. In fact, Cohen’s 11/30 memo says Trump directed him to lie.
posted by chris24 at 5:06 PM on January 18, 2019 [11 favorites]
To be clear: Mueller is not disputing that Cohen says Trump told him to lie. He’s disputing the line about corroborating evidence taken from Trump Org emails, texts, etc. Still a huge deal. But not a total refutation. In fact, Cohen’s 11/30 memo says Trump directed him to lie.
posted by chris24 at 5:06 PM on January 18, 2019 [11 favorites]
@RonanFarrow
I can’t speak to Buzzfeed’s sourcing, but, for what it’s worth, I declined to run with parts of the narrative they conveyed based on a source central to the story repeatedly disputing the idea that Trump directly issued orders of that kind.
posted by bluesky43 at 5:07 PM on January 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
I can’t speak to Buzzfeed’s sourcing, but, for what it’s worth, I declined to run with parts of the narrative they conveyed based on a source central to the story repeatedly disputing the idea that Trump directly issued orders of that kind.
posted by bluesky43 at 5:07 PM on January 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
The fnording NYT needs to wake the f up.
It's good to remember that if some big breaking news hasn't shown up in the Times, it's almost always NOT because they're asleep. They're probably more awake than ever, frantically trying to independently confirm it, because that's what they do. And almost always, the problem turns out to be the fnording story, not the fnording NYT.
But "problem" doesn't necessarily mean the story's false, of course. Just that it's not as clear-cut as earlier sources had presented.
It's good to remember this, because it certainly will happen again.
posted by neroli at 5:09 PM on January 18, 2019 [14 favorites]
It's good to remember that if some big breaking news hasn't shown up in the Times, it's almost always NOT because they're asleep. They're probably more awake than ever, frantically trying to independently confirm it, because that's what they do. And almost always, the problem turns out to be the fnording story, not the fnording NYT.
But "problem" doesn't necessarily mean the story's false, of course. Just that it's not as clear-cut as earlier sources had presented.
It's good to remember this, because it certainly will happen again.
posted by neroli at 5:09 PM on January 18, 2019 [14 favorites]
Right, the NYT was clearly correct here and it's important to acknowledge that, not just memory hole the criticism and move on to the next time it's time to criticize the NYT.
If Buzzfeed got this story substantially, or even more than trivially wrong, they have done a massive disservice to journalism but more importantly to the country as a whole because it will become a giant cudgel for TrumpCo to absolutely hammer every single journalist investigating them and all the Democrats in Congress who commented with "If true, then..." statements. Which were a lot.
On the other hand if that statement from the SC's office is actually a very carefully parsed denial of a minor aspect of the story while the story as a whole is actually true then they've done journalism and the country a disservice by sowing that discord in an attempt to keep their investigation under wraps for longer. Normally I'd dismiss this possibility as Mueller's office has never shown poor judgment in that way... but in this case they actually declined to comment on the story before publication. If they had told Buzzfeed the story was false, Buzzfeed may well have taken a second look or worded things differently. To decline comment and then to push back less than 24 hours later publicly is very questionable.
Either of the above options is a bad result.
posted by Justinian at 5:14 PM on January 18, 2019 [48 favorites]
If Buzzfeed got this story substantially, or even more than trivially wrong, they have done a massive disservice to journalism but more importantly to the country as a whole because it will become a giant cudgel for TrumpCo to absolutely hammer every single journalist investigating them and all the Democrats in Congress who commented with "If true, then..." statements. Which were a lot.
On the other hand if that statement from the SC's office is actually a very carefully parsed denial of a minor aspect of the story while the story as a whole is actually true then they've done journalism and the country a disservice by sowing that discord in an attempt to keep their investigation under wraps for longer. Normally I'd dismiss this possibility as Mueller's office has never shown poor judgment in that way... but in this case they actually declined to comment on the story before publication. If they had told Buzzfeed the story was false, Buzzfeed may well have taken a second look or worded things differently. To decline comment and then to push back less than 24 hours later publicly is very questionable.
Either of the above options is a bad result.
posted by Justinian at 5:14 PM on January 18, 2019 [48 favorites]
Speaking of Katyal, WaPo has an op-ed by Neal Katyal and Michael Hayden, The House should investigate impeaching Trump:
We have been exceptionally reluctant to call for the impeachment of President Trump. Impeachment runs the risk of undoing an election and dividing the nation. But there is a big difference between calling for impeachment and calling for an investigation into whether impeachment is appropriate.posted by peeedro at 5:14 PM on January 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
After careful review of the articles of impeachment for President Richard M. Nixon, we now believe it is appropriate for the House of Representatives to begin the process by launching an impeachment investigation. No legislator should rush to judgment one way or the other. The process should be designed to uncover the facts.
Special Counsel Mueller is apparently disputing the BuzzFeed News claim that there is proof Trump told Cohen to lie to Congress. I am 💯 serious when I say: Mueller does not want Donald Trump to shut down his investigation, and Mueller knows that Donald Trump is an idiot. That is why he has made this temporary claim, just like his temporary claim that Donald Trump was not the “target of an investigation”. Simple! 😪😍🇺🇸
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 5:15 PM on January 18, 2019 [18 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 5:15 PM on January 18, 2019 [18 favorites]
Buzzfeed has now put out a statement that they stand by their reporting.
posted by Justinian at 5:15 PM on January 18, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 5:15 PM on January 18, 2019 [12 favorites]
@Popehat
FWIW my read of the Special Counsel statement is "Oh hell yes obviously we think Trump was in the loop but no we don't have all the evidence they claim." (The fact that someone in the White House was in the loop of Cohen lying was already clear from their sentencing brief.)
---
Yeah, I think BuzzFeed's sources – perhaps FBI agents rather than lawyers – were more confident that what SDNY/Mueller has shows Trump told Cohen to lie than Mueller wants to be publicly or legally right now.
posted by chris24 at 5:19 PM on January 18, 2019 [8 favorites]
FWIW my read of the Special Counsel statement is "Oh hell yes obviously we think Trump was in the loop but no we don't have all the evidence they claim." (The fact that someone in the White House was in the loop of Cohen lying was already clear from their sentencing brief.)
---
Yeah, I think BuzzFeed's sources – perhaps FBI agents rather than lawyers – were more confident that what SDNY/Mueller has shows Trump told Cohen to lie than Mueller wants to be publicly or legally right now.
posted by chris24 at 5:19 PM on January 18, 2019 [8 favorites]
BuzzFeed were right with the Steele Dossier and they’re right now. Other groups either want to temporarily or permanently deny that, but I have 17 Surprising Reasons Why They’re Wrong (Number 8 Will Surprise You!)
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 5:19 PM on January 18, 2019 [35 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 5:19 PM on January 18, 2019 [35 favorites]
I’m with East Manitoba on this. And it is truthful to say the article is not accurate because there are probably not only documents but tapes.
posted by jasondigitized at 5:21 PM on January 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by jasondigitized at 5:21 PM on January 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
I think you guys are reaching because of how badly you want it to be true. I mean, I absolutely believe it's true as well, but it's not about what people believe it's about what they can prove. A statement from the SC's office disputing the story on the basis of something like what jasondigitized suggests would be a grave disservice to the country and not something I would expect. There must be something important wrong with the Buzzfeed story.
posted by Justinian at 5:26 PM on January 18, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 5:26 PM on January 18, 2019 [15 favorites]
Buzzfeed has now put out a statement that they stand by their reporting.
BuzzfeedPR issued a statement six hours ago in response to CNN's hatchet job, before SCO issued its own: "Jason is one of the best journalists in the world, and he has proven it, with reporting that's been months ahead of developments in the Mueller investigation. His and Anthony's work has been provoved to be true at every turn—and it's interesting that these personal attacks are surfacing only now, as the facts become more dangerous for the individuals involved.
"BuzzFeed News stands by this story 100%"
BuzzFeed were right with the Steele Dossier and they’re right now.
The Steele Dossier is, of course, nowhere near 100% accurate, but in publishing it, Buzzfeed pushed the envelope of what the media was willing to report about Trump and Russia. I suspect this is a similar case.
On a completely different topic, could I just mention how fun and refreshing the Hyucking Hyuck thread is? Everyone's bringing their best humor, and the nonstop stream of jokes, japes, and gags really lifts my spirits. Here's hoping the experiment will continue!
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:26 PM on January 18, 2019 [16 favorites]
BuzzfeedPR issued a statement six hours ago in response to CNN's hatchet job, before SCO issued its own: "Jason is one of the best journalists in the world, and he has proven it, with reporting that's been months ahead of developments in the Mueller investigation. His and Anthony's work has been provoved to be true at every turn—and it's interesting that these personal attacks are surfacing only now, as the facts become more dangerous for the individuals involved.
"BuzzFeed News stands by this story 100%"
BuzzFeed were right with the Steele Dossier and they’re right now.
The Steele Dossier is, of course, nowhere near 100% accurate, but in publishing it, Buzzfeed pushed the envelope of what the media was willing to report about Trump and Russia. I suspect this is a similar case.
On a completely different topic, could I just mention how fun and refreshing the Hyucking Hyuck thread is? Everyone's bringing their best humor, and the nonstop stream of jokes, japes, and gags really lifts my spirits. Here's hoping the experiment will continue!
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:26 PM on January 18, 2019 [16 favorites]
I've been holding my breath on the Cormier/Leopold stories, because I worked with Cormier several years ago. He's an aggressive reporter, good at developing law enforcement sources, but he also wrote a story that resulted in the longest, ugliest correction I saw in my professional career. It was a "please don't sue us" kind of correction, based on an investigation of a county sheriff.
I think he's better, wiser, more careful reporter now, but man, with every byline and every story I can't help having the mental image of a high-wire act. I hope that he and Leopold are bombproof, because if not, Trump will use it to reverse the momentum that's building.
posted by martin q blank at 5:26 PM on January 18, 2019 [22 favorites]
I think he's better, wiser, more careful reporter now, but man, with every byline and every story I can't help having the mental image of a high-wire act. I hope that he and Leopold are bombproof, because if not, Trump will use it to reverse the momentum that's building.
posted by martin q blank at 5:26 PM on January 18, 2019 [22 favorites]
I don't know if it was on purpose, but releasing this the day before Trump makes some big announcement is kind of good, in that any announcement of him changing the investigation would make the claims in the story more credible, and affect public opinion where he appears to be reacting to the story. Maybe it'll be NK, maybe UK, maybe Syria again. I'm planning on making an angel food cake soon, so if he does announce something bad I'll put some words on it that I didn't think he'd ever ankle Mueller.
posted by rhizome at 5:27 PM on January 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 5:27 PM on January 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
Greg Sargent (WaPo)
It seems like an awfully narrow denial. Carr is saying that the "description of specific statements to SC's office" are inaccurate.
Here is what's attributed. We don't know *how much* or *what* is inaccurate here:
It seems like an awfully narrow denial. Carr is saying that the "description of specific statements to SC's office" are inaccurate.
Here is what's attributed. We don't know *how much* or *what* is inaccurate here:
Now the two sources have told BuzzFeed News that Cohen also told the special counsel that after the election, the president personally instructed him to lie — by claiming that negotiations ended months earlier than they actually did — in order to obscure Trump’s involvement.• Second, Carr says that the "characterization of documents/testimony" obtained by SC regarding "Cohen's Congressional testimony" is not accurate. Here's what we're told on that. How much of this, or what in particular, is inaccurate? Unclear.
The special counsel’s office learned about Trump’s directive for Cohen to lie to Congress through interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents. Cohen then acknowledged those instructions during his interviews with that office.posted by chris24 at 5:37 PM on January 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
Matt Miller, former DOJ and DSCC, MSNBC analyst is saying what I am trying to say only a lot better: You can spend hours parsing the Carr statement, but given how unusual it is for any DOJ office to issue this sort of on the record denial, let alone this office, suspect it means the story’s core contention that they have evidence Trump told Cohen to lie is fundamentally wrong.
My suspicion based on following the story and the SC's statement is that Cohen coordinated his lies with someone in the White House and they have evidence of that... but that evidence is not directly linked to Trump himself. Which was the characterization of the Buzzfeed piece.
posted by Justinian at 5:37 PM on January 18, 2019 [14 favorites]
My suspicion based on following the story and the SC's statement is that Cohen coordinated his lies with someone in the White House and they have evidence of that... but that evidence is not directly linked to Trump himself. Which was the characterization of the Buzzfeed piece.
posted by Justinian at 5:37 PM on January 18, 2019 [14 favorites]
I think you guys are reaching because of how badly you want it to be true.
FWIW, I think several of the things suggested here can simultaneously be true. There probably is something wrong with the Buzzfeed story, but we're also being left in the dark as to what that might be specifically. That leaves us to wonder why, and what benefit there is to leaving us dark on that point.
But I 100% agree that Buzzfeed being wrong in any way here is a gift to the right-wing bullshit machine and everyone who rallies around the "fake news" battle cry. That part of it absolutely sucks and I'm not looking forward to it.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 5:38 PM on January 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
FWIW, I think several of the things suggested here can simultaneously be true. There probably is something wrong with the Buzzfeed story, but we're also being left in the dark as to what that might be specifically. That leaves us to wonder why, and what benefit there is to leaving us dark on that point.
But I 100% agree that Buzzfeed being wrong in any way here is a gift to the right-wing bullshit machine and everyone who rallies around the "fake news" battle cry. That part of it absolutely sucks and I'm not looking forward to it.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 5:38 PM on January 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
Mod note: I think we've gone circles around the BuzzFeed story/DOJ denial/possible interpretations enough and can wait for more information to drop.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 5:40 PM on January 18, 2019 [14 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 5:40 PM on January 18, 2019 [14 favorites]
Marcy Wheeler
Folks, as I noted in my post from this morning, the BuzzFeed story conflicted with what SCO had Cohen allocute to under oath. That raised questions for me last night. ABOUT THE BUZZFEED SCOOP: IT’S IMPORTANT, BUT IT OVERSELLS THE LYING PART
• Keep in mind that the BF story is scoped just like Cohen's plea filings were scoped, which went thru SDNY, and SDNY is famously leaky, suggesting sources are at SDNY and not SCO.
• Now consider that SDNY doesn't need Cohen to prove a campaign finance case against Trump, bc they've got people like Weisselberg who didn't themselves commit perjury. That meant they could aggressively characterize Trump's instructions to Cohen.
• Mueller, however, DOES need Cohen. The entire reason he made him plea to that lie, the entire reason he's not gotten a 5K, the entire reason Cohen has shut the fuck up is that Mueller needs to be able to put Cohen on the stand.
• That may well explain why EVEN COHEN'S LAWYER describes Trump's role in Cohen's two lies very differently (the update to my post). SDNY has an incentive to be dramatic w/Cohen's testimony, Mueller must be measured.
• If I'm right that BF's sources are in the vicinity of SDNY, then Mueller is likely even more pissed at them than BF (tho they prolly hate BF bc they've gotten parts of the story no one else has).
• Mueller has spent 1.5 years ensuring they never get accused of leaking. If BF's sources were SDNY, then SDNY just endangered that effort. And THAT is prolly why SCO made a statement, not (primarily) bc of what BF said.
posted by chris24 at 5:54 PM on January 18, 2019 [44 favorites]
Folks, as I noted in my post from this morning, the BuzzFeed story conflicted with what SCO had Cohen allocute to under oath. That raised questions for me last night. ABOUT THE BUZZFEED SCOOP: IT’S IMPORTANT, BUT IT OVERSELLS THE LYING PART
• Keep in mind that the BF story is scoped just like Cohen's plea filings were scoped, which went thru SDNY, and SDNY is famously leaky, suggesting sources are at SDNY and not SCO.
• Now consider that SDNY doesn't need Cohen to prove a campaign finance case against Trump, bc they've got people like Weisselberg who didn't themselves commit perjury. That meant they could aggressively characterize Trump's instructions to Cohen.
• Mueller, however, DOES need Cohen. The entire reason he made him plea to that lie, the entire reason he's not gotten a 5K, the entire reason Cohen has shut the fuck up is that Mueller needs to be able to put Cohen on the stand.
• That may well explain why EVEN COHEN'S LAWYER describes Trump's role in Cohen's two lies very differently (the update to my post). SDNY has an incentive to be dramatic w/Cohen's testimony, Mueller must be measured.
• If I'm right that BF's sources are in the vicinity of SDNY, then Mueller is likely even more pissed at them than BF (tho they prolly hate BF bc they've gotten parts of the story no one else has).
• Mueller has spent 1.5 years ensuring they never get accused of leaking. If BF's sources were SDNY, then SDNY just endangered that effort. And THAT is prolly why SCO made a statement, not (primarily) bc of what BF said.
posted by chris24 at 5:54 PM on January 18, 2019 [44 favorites]
CNN's Marshall Cohen and Katelyn Polantz find "a handful of distinct areas where reporting from BuzzFeed's bombshell lines up with court records, including the charging documents against Michael Cohen, sentencing memos and hearings": What Court Filings Tell Us About BuzzFeed's Trump-Cohen Allegations
In fact, Cohen’s 11/30 memo says Trump directed him to lie.
Here's what Cohen's defense memo specifically says:
What we don't know is if Mueller has proof of this or merely Cohen's word…
P.S. At the moment, the mainstream media is issuing tons of sloppy reporting about the SCO statement, with headlines like the WaPo's "In a rare move, Mueller's office denies BuzzFeed report that Trump told Cohen to lie about Moscow Project", which may be just as bad as BuzzFeed potentially overselling their story.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:00 PM on January 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
In fact, Cohen’s 11/30 memo says Trump directed him to lie.
Here's what Cohen's defense memo specifically says:
Information 18 Cr. 602: Counts Seven and Eight: Campaign Finance Violations &That may be a piece of lawyerly rhetorical slight of hand, but it sure sounds like the defense is saying Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress the same way he told him to lie about the Stormy Daniels hush money. They're more circumspect, however, in the actual section on "False Statements to Congress":
Information 18 Cr. 850: Count One: False Statements to Congress
We address the campaign finance and false statements allegations together because both arose from Michael’s fierce loyalty to Client-1. In each case, the conduct was intended to benefit Client-1, in accordance with Client-1’s directives.
Michael’s false statements to Congress likewise sprung regrettably from Michael’s effort, as a loyal ally and then-champion of Client-1, to support and advance Client-1’s political messaging. At the time that he was requested to appear before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Michael was serving as personal attorney to the President, and followed daily the political messages that both Client-1 and his staff and supporters repeatedly and forcefully broadcast. Furthermore, in the weeks during which his then-counsel prepared his written response to the Congressional Committees, Michael remained in close and regular contact with White House-based staff and legal counsel to Client-1.So we're back to the hypothesis that a Trump lawyer, probably John Dowd, was coordinating Team Trump's prevarications on Capitol Hill, with the implication by Cohen's lawyers is that it was done at Trump's behest. Perhaps Cohen only received the instructions secondhand, through an intermediary, but they came from the top.
What we don't know is if Mueller has proof of this or merely Cohen's word…
P.S. At the moment, the mainstream media is issuing tons of sloppy reporting about the SCO statement, with headlines like the WaPo's "In a rare move, Mueller's office denies BuzzFeed report that Trump told Cohen to lie about Moscow Project", which may be just as bad as BuzzFeed potentially overselling their story.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:00 PM on January 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
Liked the wedding ring story? Here are further feel-good tales. (Alexandra Petri, WaPo)
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 6:17 PM on January 18, 2019 [70 favorites]
If you liked the heartwarming story of the furloughed federal employee who pawned her wedding ring, only to have her family buy it back for her, don’t worry! There are plenty more stories where that came from!Damn.
One of the more depressing angles of being alive in this wonderful corner of time is our relentless tendency to try to put a positive spin on horrifying situations: This isn’t a horrifying story about someone without access to the medication they need to live; it’s a heartwarming tale of how 50 strangers got together and bought insulin! This isn’t a harrowing account of how teachers supply classrooms from their own pocket; it’s a feel-good story about the Mom Who Bought 90 Glue Sticks and a Truck! (My friend Jessica M. Goldstein has written about this “Feel-Good Feel-Bad Story” phenomenon repeatedly.)
If we are going to continue this relentless insistence on presenting fundamentally alarming tales about the system’s deep brokenness as uplifting stories of human friendship, here are a few more readers should love: […]
Right in the Feels! This Little Match Girl Was Finally Reunited with Her Grandmother!
Inspiring! Unused Baby Shoes Find New Home
Heartwarming! After Fired Employee Dies on the Street, Former Factory Owner Takes in and Raises Her Child as His Own […]
Uplifting! Self-Sacrificing Employees Demonstrate for Shirtwaist Factory Owner the Importance of Keeping Doors Unlocked
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 6:17 PM on January 18, 2019 [70 favorites]
I think this is relevant.
@juliettekayyem:
"For two years, stories, whether accurate or not, had no political consequences b/c Ryan didn't do anything. When House Dems start to take news stories as potential evidence to start essentially legal proceedings, Mueller's office has an interest in correcting."
posted by Tarumba at 6:22 PM on January 18, 2019 [43 favorites]
@juliettekayyem:
"For two years, stories, whether accurate or not, had no political consequences b/c Ryan didn't do anything. When House Dems start to take news stories as potential evidence to start essentially legal proceedings, Mueller's office has an interest in correcting."
posted by Tarumba at 6:22 PM on January 18, 2019 [43 favorites]
Well, since we have to wait a while to find out the whole obstruction story...I was still curious about that signed boxing glove that went to the Liberty U. CIO in lieu of payment for faking polls. (Chronicle story here.) I have no direct connection, but one the most most famous ever MMA guys is Royce Gracie, and he was a supporter of Trump back in 2016. You can read his endorsement here, all about discipline and respect. I wonder what he thinks now?
posted by TreeRooster at 6:33 PM on January 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by TreeRooster at 6:33 PM on January 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
At the moment, the mainstream media is issuing tons of sloppy reporting about the SCO statement, with headlines like the WaPo's "In a rare move, Mueller's office denies BuzzFeed report that Trump told Cohen to lie about Moscow Project", which may be just as bad as BuzzFeed potentially overselling their story.
This is why non-denial denials work. The media (who you would expect to know better) never parses carefully when dramatic over-generalized interpretations are available.
posted by stopgap at 6:42 PM on January 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
This is why non-denial denials work. The media (who you would expect to know better) never parses carefully when dramatic over-generalized interpretations are available.
posted by stopgap at 6:42 PM on January 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
> Trump announcement via Twitter: I will be making a major announcement concerning the Humanitarian Crisis on our Southern Border
Speaking of humanitarian crises: Trump wants to take ‘unnecessary’ food away from Americans in Puerto Rico: "In a new low in Trump’s cruel desire to inflict more pain upon the American citizens in Puerto Rico, Trump is opposing funding for nutrition assistance to families on the devastated island."
posted by homunculus at 6:51 PM on January 18, 2019 [19 favorites]
Speaking of humanitarian crises: Trump wants to take ‘unnecessary’ food away from Americans in Puerto Rico: "In a new low in Trump’s cruel desire to inflict more pain upon the American citizens in Puerto Rico, Trump is opposing funding for nutrition assistance to families on the devastated island."
posted by homunculus at 6:51 PM on January 18, 2019 [19 favorites]
Politico: Cohen’s adviser presses lawmakers on safety concerns after Trump attacks
posted by saysthis at 6:57 PM on January 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
A legal representative for Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen expressed concern to congressional investigators this week about his clients’ safety and urged Republicans to rein in the president’s attacks on his former fixer.Cohen's own lawyer, folks. ("legal representative" but still)
“I’m very concerned about the president of the United States acting like a mobster,” Davis said in a short phone interview Friday, just before an MSNBC appearance. “It’d not be any difference if the ‘don’ called somebody telling the truth a ‘rat’ and attacked the family and sent the implicit message to beware.”
Minutes later, Davis went on MSNBC to reiterate that message: “Family is out of bounds. There is only one person in this country — one president in our history — that would threaten family as a tactic to make fear of somebody he calls a ‘rat’ by telling the truth. And that’s President Trump, and the Republicans should be holding him accountable.”
...
House Democrats plan to discuss their options for responding to Trump and protecting Cohen in the coming days. Rep. Gerry Connolly, a senior Oversight panel member, said his party should go back and review how Congress protected witnesses during a series of sensitive hearings they had in the 1960s on organized crime and the mafia.
“It’s not even a veiled attempt at intimidation of a witness and obstruction of the process of witnesses wanting to come forward to testify before the legislative branch of government,” the Virginia Democrat said Friday. “It’s a repugnant act on the part of the president who clearly is afraid of public testimony by Mr. Cohen under oath.”
Asked whether he thought his GOP counterparts on the committee might use their relationships with Trump to get him to back off—ranking Republican Jim Jordan and panel member Mark Meadows are close allies of the president—Connelly said no.
posted by saysthis at 6:57 PM on January 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
Both WaPo and the NYT have pieces up on the Mueller denial and both seem to support the idea that this wasn't intended as a carefully parsed statement denying very narrow aspects of the story, but rather as much broader refutations.
From WaPo:
posted by Justinian at 7:10 PM on January 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
From WaPo:
The story had claimed Cohen had acknowledged to Mueller’s prosecutors that the president directed him to deceive Congress about key facts linking the president to the proposed Trump Tower project in Moscow. BuzzFeed also said Mueller learned about the directive to lie from “interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents.”And then from NYT:
Mueller’s denial, according to people familiar with the matter, aims to make clear that none of those statements in the story are accurate.
The New York Times has not independently confirmed the BuzzFeed report. One person familiar with Mr. Cohen’s testimony to the special counsel’s prosecutors said that Mr. Cohen did not state that the president had pressured him to lie to Congress.Things looking pretty grim for Buzzfeed. And us, I guess, given how TrumpCo will use this mess.
posted by Justinian at 7:10 PM on January 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
Huh? From tomorrow's White House schedule:
Does anyone have any idea who the President is naturalizing in the Oval Office?
posted by zachlipton at 7:14 PM on January 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
1:00PM THE PRESIDENT hosts a Naturalization CeremonyThat's prior to the 3pm remarks on the border and shutdown.
Oval Office
Closed Press
Does anyone have any idea who the President is naturalizing in the Oval Office?
posted by zachlipton at 7:14 PM on January 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
at's the start of a good thread from Will Bunch,
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:15 PM on January 18, 2019 [47 favorites]
9. But more importantly, it's time for Congress, with a Democratic House, to start serving the public with a public, open process, moving at an urgent deliberative speed, that will determine whether Donald Trump is fit to serve out his term. 10. The obvious vehicle for that an immediate House impeachment inquiry with public hearings ASAP. What just happened today with the Buzzfeed flap makes that need even more urgent, not less so. The secret Mueller probe isn't helping us, the American people, get the government.. 11. ...re-opened, or telling us whether the president of the United States is a Russian agent, a question we needed answered yesterday, not months from now. Only Congress and its impeachment vehicle can do that. So please get to work. Tomorrow if possible. -30-This, and Chris Murphy's initial response to the Buzzfeed story, strike me as exactly right. We can't afford to wait for Mueller anymore. It's already almost close to too late. Either Mueller needs to wrap this up, and issue his report, like within a month, and let Congress know that he's going to do so, or the Democratic House needs to start subpoenaing the same witnesses and evidence in a parallel open investigation and public hearings. We've waited long enough, we need real answers. Democracy really is dying. A secret investigation that never ends isn't saving it fast enough, and if it takes 4 more years to get all the facts, and after Trump is reelected...it'll be too late to help us.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:15 PM on January 18, 2019 [47 favorites]
But I 100% agree that Buzzfeed being wrong in any way here is a gift to the right-wing bullshit machine and everyone who rallies around the "fake news" battle cry. That part of it absolutely sucks and I'm not looking forward to it.
I've got some good news and some bad news for you. The good news is that whatever pans out with the Buzzfeed article, there will be no effect upon those rallying around the "fake news" flag.
The bad news is that there will be no effect because they've always acted in bad faith and facts don't matter. The rally around their "fake news" flag, screaming their "fake news" battle cry will continue as scheduled regardless.
posted by mikelieman at 7:28 PM on January 18, 2019 [17 favorites]
I've got some good news and some bad news for you. The good news is that whatever pans out with the Buzzfeed article, there will be no effect upon those rallying around the "fake news" flag.
The bad news is that there will be no effect because they've always acted in bad faith and facts don't matter. The rally around their "fake news" flag, screaming their "fake news" battle cry will continue as scheduled regardless.
posted by mikelieman at 7:28 PM on January 18, 2019 [17 favorites]
All of the "OMG MUELLER HURRY UP I CAN'T TAKE IT" commentary is striking me as a little too breathless, and suspect. I know there are real people suffering under Trump, but I want it to take as long as it takes so that it sticks. If Trump slithers out of all of this, and if that is attributable to uncrossed t's and undotted i's, then I will be very cross indeed.
posted by rhizome at 7:30 PM on January 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 7:30 PM on January 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
Connecting several dots, with the mods' indulgence: all of the different statements and facts we know fit one scenario, where Trump's attorney Dowd told Cohen (in person and corroborated via text, email or other document) to lie to congress, and said in those messages that "this comes straight from the President."
That is NOT the same as Cohen telling Mueller that Trump directed him to lie, and the characterization of the evidence would also be wrong -- though none of it would evidence against Trump actually making that order. It would just be indirect.
posted by msalt at 7:31 PM on January 18, 2019 [29 favorites]
That is NOT the same as Cohen telling Mueller that Trump directed him to lie, and the characterization of the evidence would also be wrong -- though none of it would evidence against Trump actually making that order. It would just be indirect.
posted by msalt at 7:31 PM on January 18, 2019 [29 favorites]
All of the "OMG MUELLER HURRY UP I CAN'T TAKE IT" commentary is striking me as a little too breathless, and suspect.
Mueller really needs to give Congress a timeline. If this is close to wrapping up, by all means wrap up and issue the report. If it's open ended and no where close to making a final judgment or findings of fact...Congress has a responsibility to conduct the real oversight that should've been happening in parallel with the criminal investigation this whole time, and which the Republicans have been blocking. And ALL of that needs to be in completely open hearings, no more cloak and dagger shit. Open. In public. No redaction. And if Congress pursuing the same sources and witnesses and evidence puts pressure on Mueller to come to conclusions faster...good. That's what should've been happening all along, and only didn't because Republicans were also guilty of treason and treasonous cover-up of more treason.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:41 PM on January 18, 2019 [28 favorites]
Mueller really needs to give Congress a timeline. If this is close to wrapping up, by all means wrap up and issue the report. If it's open ended and no where close to making a final judgment or findings of fact...Congress has a responsibility to conduct the real oversight that should've been happening in parallel with the criminal investigation this whole time, and which the Republicans have been blocking. And ALL of that needs to be in completely open hearings, no more cloak and dagger shit. Open. In public. No redaction. And if Congress pursuing the same sources and witnesses and evidence puts pressure on Mueller to come to conclusions faster...good. That's what should've been happening all along, and only didn't because Republicans were also guilty of treason and treasonous cover-up of more treason.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:41 PM on January 18, 2019 [28 favorites]
I don't know that the refusal to investigate is really treason, absent facts not in evidence. It does constitute nonfeasance of office, though. Malfeasance and nonfeasance is pretty much how Republicans roll in the best of times, though.
posted by wierdo at 7:45 PM on January 18, 2019
posted by wierdo at 7:45 PM on January 18, 2019
Mueller’s denial, according to people familiar with the matter, aims to make clear that none of those statements in the story are accurate.
It's weird because the Trumps have spent the last couple of days attacking Cohen as a liar, not saying the Buzzfeed report was inaccurate.
This isn't the first time that the official line out of Washington has poured water on reportage about Russia-gate only to later have it verified.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 8:58 PM on January 18, 2019 [8 favorites]
It's weird because the Trumps have spent the last couple of days attacking Cohen as a liar, not saying the Buzzfeed report was inaccurate.
This isn't the first time that the official line out of Washington has poured water on reportage about Russia-gate only to later have it verified.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 8:58 PM on January 18, 2019 [8 favorites]
>That's the start of a good thread from Will Bunch
Speaking of Bunch, his latest column LA school strike is very good.
L.A. teacher strike may be cutting edge of a revolution against what’s rotten in America
Speaking of Bunch, his latest column LA school strike is very good.
L.A. teacher strike may be cutting edge of a revolution against what’s rotten in America
And that’s not all, in many ways. the L.A. teacher strike feels more like the cutting edge of a wider social revolution. For one thing, as noted in a recent Atlantic analysis of the standoff, both the students and the teachers who remain in the city’s public schools after the charter-school stampede are heavily Hispanic, and many see the roots of this movement not so much in the contract battles of yesterday but the so-called “brown power” uprisings of the 1960s and early 1970s — a fight for social justice.posted by homunculus at 9:09 PM on January 18, 2019 [30 favorites]
Also, timing is everything. And the thousands of red-shirted teachers and students flooding the uncharacteristically rain-soaked streets of Los Angeles this past week are showing what protest can do at the exact same moment when things are unraveling everywhere else, when 800,000 federal workers have been working without pay for a month, when many more who depend on Washington for income or vital services are also about to be slammed by the government shutdown, and when our deer-in-the-headlights Establishment seems flummoxed by a growing case for impeachment of a dangerous president.
Noguera told me he’d visited a picket line at one L.A. school on Wednesday morning and what he heard was that teachers had reached a tipping point where the poor conditions inside the public schools were no longer acceptable — that if they didn’t take action now then “we’re pretending that we’re offering kids an education — and that in some way we’re complicit.”
If the teachers of Los Angeles can win back in the streets what they so passively watched slip away over the last decade, it’s possible — likely, really — that other citizens will start to speak out and act up more aggressively as well, in a year when increasingly America’s center is not holding.
Mod note: Deleted a bunch of chatter & speculation.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 9:13 PM on January 18, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 9:13 PM on January 18, 2019 [11 favorites]
Trump plans to make Democrats an offer to end shutdown, not declare national emergency, in Saturday speech, official says
posted by mmoncur at 9:26 PM on January 18, 2019 [8 favorites]
President Donald Trump plans to offer Democrats another proposal to end the shutdown when he addresses the nation from the White House on Saturday afternoon ....Hoo boy, this isn't going to go well. He's probably going to offer to call it "peaches" again.
Trump's idea is to put something on the table to get Democrats to engage with negotiations. Trump is not expected to back down from his demand for a border wall, but the plan will seek to entice Democrats by offering other concessions.
posted by mmoncur at 9:26 PM on January 18, 2019 [8 favorites]
And speaking of the politics of education: As LA Teachers Strike Over Charter Schools, Democrat Cory Booker Speaks at Pro-Charter Rally
posted by homunculus at 9:27 PM on January 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by homunculus at 9:27 PM on January 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
Charles Pierce: There Is No More Loathsome Creature Walking Our Political Landscape Than Mitch McConnell. Yes, that includes the jumped-up real-estate crook in the White House.
posted by homunculus at 9:36 PM on January 18, 2019 [55 favorites]
posted by homunculus at 9:36 PM on January 18, 2019 [55 favorites]
Trump and the GOP are crushing themselves with the immigration hardliner position + shutdown and must be hearing it from all sides. Unless Trump is offering a DACA fix and a broader path toward comprehensive immigration reform, he does not have enough to take the leverage away.
posted by notyou at 9:38 PM on January 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by notyou at 9:38 PM on January 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
AJC poll has Trump approval at -19 (37/56) in *Georgia*.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:50 PM on January 18, 2019 [36 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 9:50 PM on January 18, 2019 [36 favorites]
I've seen quite conflicting reports as to whether the reporters on the Buzzfeed story themselves saw any of the supposed underlying documentary evidence or if they only heard about it via their sources. That seems like a pivotal question to me; has anyone seen a definitive statement on that they can point us towards?
posted by Justinian at 10:06 PM on January 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 10:06 PM on January 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
As I said earlier, before we learned about the buzzfeed credibility crisis: We shouldn't need Mueller.
Trump committed a felony this morning in a tweet, which is just the latest in a very long line of felonies that Traitor #1 willingly and intentionally committed, right there in the limelight of all the public attention he can turn on himself, while purportedly performing the duties of the President. He has made sure that we have watched him commit felonies. This brazen criminality is how he demonstrates his contempt for, and dominance over, any and all of the laws of the USA.
And so far, his contempt is warranted, because nobody anywhere is stopping him. In all the various agencies and departments of career government employees who are specifically responsible for ensuring our defense from enemies both foreign and domestic, there is nary a whisper of resistance to this hostile occupation. Every day is a fresh opportunity for Trump to commit another new felony in front of everyone, while daring us to do anything about it.
That is an aggressive action directly defying the Constitution, and his duty to defend it. That establishes his status as an Enemy of the State, whether or not the Russia treasons are true. (they're true)
We don't need Mueller to impeach, and we don't need Congress to tell us who our enemies are. He's right there where we can see him, treasoning every day with complete impunity.
Every day he's allowed to remain in office is a damning indictment of the entire intelligence and enforcement apparatus of our government.
We're also demonstrating a deep inability to defend the USA, and the world must be taking notice. The damage of this realization, of how utterly broken and nakedly vulnerable this nation is, will likely be permanent.
Medicare for all, right now. Take all of the funding from our largely pointless military and war mongering systems. A vast arsenal of that size cannot provide for our defense, if a hostile enemy can conquer the Presidency this easily with no consequence whatsoever, for two years (and counting).
posted by yesster at 10:22 PM on January 18, 2019 [105 favorites]
Trump committed a felony this morning in a tweet, which is just the latest in a very long line of felonies that Traitor #1 willingly and intentionally committed, right there in the limelight of all the public attention he can turn on himself, while purportedly performing the duties of the President. He has made sure that we have watched him commit felonies. This brazen criminality is how he demonstrates his contempt for, and dominance over, any and all of the laws of the USA.
And so far, his contempt is warranted, because nobody anywhere is stopping him. In all the various agencies and departments of career government employees who are specifically responsible for ensuring our defense from enemies both foreign and domestic, there is nary a whisper of resistance to this hostile occupation. Every day is a fresh opportunity for Trump to commit another new felony in front of everyone, while daring us to do anything about it.
That is an aggressive action directly defying the Constitution, and his duty to defend it. That establishes his status as an Enemy of the State, whether or not the Russia treasons are true. (they're true)
We don't need Mueller to impeach, and we don't need Congress to tell us who our enemies are. He's right there where we can see him, treasoning every day with complete impunity.
Every day he's allowed to remain in office is a damning indictment of the entire intelligence and enforcement apparatus of our government.
We're also demonstrating a deep inability to defend the USA, and the world must be taking notice. The damage of this realization, of how utterly broken and nakedly vulnerable this nation is, will likely be permanent.
Medicare for all, right now. Take all of the funding from our largely pointless military and war mongering systems. A vast arsenal of that size cannot provide for our defense, if a hostile enemy can conquer the Presidency this easily with no consequence whatsoever, for two years (and counting).
posted by yesster at 10:22 PM on January 18, 2019 [105 favorites]
It's an odd thought experiment that ends with the idea that the end results would be the same either way.
It's a thought experiment that paves the way for the "He's not a criminal, just an idiot. Being an idiot isn't a crime" defense. No thanks.
posted by ctmf at 10:27 PM on January 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
It's a thought experiment that paves the way for the "He's not a criminal, just an idiot. Being an idiot isn't a crime" defense. No thanks.
posted by ctmf at 10:27 PM on January 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
But there's no mention of that in a new Pentagon report detailing the impact of climate change on the defense department.
I'm pretty sure I remember the NDAA having language in it prohibiting the DoD from spending a dime studying climate change effects (which many high-up people are worried about, since many military bases happen to be in inconvenient locations).
So that's awkward, if you're required by law to write a report about a thing you can't spend any money studying.
posted by ctmf at 10:50 PM on January 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'm pretty sure I remember the NDAA having language in it prohibiting the DoD from spending a dime studying climate change effects (which many high-up people are worried about, since many military bases happen to be in inconvenient locations).
So that's awkward, if you're required by law to write a report about a thing you can't spend any money studying.
posted by ctmf at 10:50 PM on January 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
AOC’s first speech in the house is now the most watched CSPAN video of all time
posted by The Whelk at 1:37 AM on January 19, 2019 [60 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 1:37 AM on January 19, 2019 [60 favorites]
That AOC speech was great. We absolutely need someone who will talk about this and who can also get people to watch. And even if you tuned in to hate watch it, can you really disagree with the message? I hope she is the 2nd woman president (after Pelosi finishes this term). But just getting her ideas out there so effectively is a huge benefit right now.
posted by snofoam at 4:41 AM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by snofoam at 4:41 AM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
Mod note: One deleted. Just going to quickly cut off an invitation to a big, wildly speculative sidebar debate on Mueller's secret personal motivations, for good or evil.
posted by taz (staff) at 5:30 AM on January 19, 2019 [18 favorites]
posted by taz (staff) at 5:30 AM on January 19, 2019 [18 favorites]
NYMag tweeted yesterday evening:
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:32 AM on January 19, 2019 [160 favorites]
In a new poll, even 45% of self-identified Republicans approved of @AOC's 70% top marginal tax rateTo which Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded: "All your base (are) belong to us 👾"
Poll: Majority Backs AOC’s 70 Percent Top Marginal Tax Rate "Some pundits deemed Ocasio-Cortez’s plans for soaking the rich “radical.” Forty-five percent of GOP voters say it sounds about right."
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:32 AM on January 19, 2019 [160 favorites]
One thing I haven't seem mentioned that could give a little different perspective on the Cohen Kerfuffle: it's possible (albeit potentially willfully optimistic) to view this as the exception that proves the rule, in close to the actual precise meaning of that term: if this was so egregiously incorrect that it actually prompted a statement from the SCO... what does that say about all the other *hand wave* stuff *hand wave* that's been said/leaked/released this whole time without a peep out of them?
posted by jammer at 7:22 AM on January 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by jammer at 7:22 AM on January 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
That's a good point. Comey said in his testimony that this is why they don't usually confirm true stories OR deny false ones...lest the lack of a denial be taken as confirmation.
I was not sure why the special counsel's office would be leaking this when I thought it was a leak, and now I am not sure why they would be denying it. I guess I come to the same conclusion as before... either way, letting any information out seems like a sign that the endgame is near.
posted by OnceUponATime at 7:57 AM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
I was not sure why the special counsel's office would be leaking this when I thought it was a leak, and now I am not sure why they would be denying it. I guess I come to the same conclusion as before... either way, letting any information out seems like a sign that the endgame is near.
posted by OnceUponATime at 7:57 AM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
I was not sure why the special counsel's office would be leaking this when I thought it was a leak
The Special Counsel’s Office doesn’t leak. As far we know, there hasn’t been a single leak on their side — only leaks from witnesses/targets and their lawyers, and from peripheral law enforcement sources like the FBI and SDNY. But the SCO doesn’t leak, so the question should always be: who is leaking, and why?
posted by stopgap at 8:44 AM on January 19, 2019 [10 favorites]
The Special Counsel’s Office doesn’t leak. As far we know, there hasn’t been a single leak on their side — only leaks from witnesses/targets and their lawyers, and from peripheral law enforcement sources like the FBI and SDNY. But the SCO doesn’t leak, so the question should always be: who is leaking, and why?
posted by stopgap at 8:44 AM on January 19, 2019 [10 favorites]
The WaPo has a piece that offers a roundup of reporting like BuzzFeed's that remain unverified, BuzzFeed’s stumble fuels doubts about the press, even if a few details are missing:
- No news outlet, for example, has been able to corroborate the Guardian’s story in late November about a secret meeting between Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and Julian Assange
- Last month, McClatchy reported that unidentified intelligence agencies had picked up cellphone signals indicating that Cohen had traveled to Prague at the height of the presidential campaign in 2016
- CNN has published at least two disputed stories in the Russia probe. The first, in June of 2017, reported that Congress was investigating a Russian investment fund with ties to Trump transition officials.
- A second CNN article in July reported that Michael Cohen intended to tell Mueller that Trump had approved a fateful meeting at Trump Tower in June 2016 between Russian operatives and his top campaign officials, Manafort, Donald Trump Jr. and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
- BuzzFeed itself faced a buzz saw of criticism from Trump supporters for publishing the Steele Dossier, a collection of unconfirmed reports alleging that Russian officials held compromising information about Trump
The fact that the normally buttoned-up special counsel’s office felt compelled to issue a statement at all suggested that the story’s conclusions were too baldly stated and too consequential to stay unchallenged. In effect, Mueller’s office seemed to be saying that BuzzFeed went too far, and got some things wrong, though it did not say how or what.posted by peeedro at 9:06 AM on January 19, 2019 [20 favorites]
In fact, what it didn’t say was important, too. It didn’t say that Mueller had no evidence that Trump had sought to influence Cohen — just that BuzzFeed’s description of such statements was inaccurate. Nor did it spell out which reported statements were inaccurate and in what way. Further, it offered no details about how BuzzFeed had mischaracterized any evidence that Mueller has collected.
We interrupt this wire service to bring you so much chatter and speculation - What did the SCO deny exactly? They denied that the BF reporting was "accurate", is that accurate? Is that truthful?
It seems like they could have said "this is not true" or "no such testimony exists" or something more along the lines of what the WaPo later asserted, that a little bird told them what the SCO meant to say was that none of the references were true. I mean they're denying it, is that right? Something like "The report paints a false picture", "these reported events did not happen" - But instead went with "not accurate"? 22 hours after the story dropped and engulfed the news cycles across the world?
Okay. Let's go to the tape:
“BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the Special Counsel’s Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s Congressional testimony are not accurate,” Mueller spokesman Peter Carr said in a statement. He did not elaborate. (Politico's report)
I think ol Rude may have accidentally cracked the case: Later Friday, Giuliani said Cohen "is on his way to destroying the credibility of anyone relying on him.” SCO might be in more of a delicate position than usual and wanted to stop a runaway train of a news story to keep control of it. The reddit magahats are in full victory lap mode. It's bullplop.
Bullplop!
posted by petebest at 9:12 AM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
It seems like they could have said "this is not true" or "no such testimony exists" or something more along the lines of what the WaPo later asserted, that a little bird told them what the SCO meant to say was that none of the references were true. I mean they're denying it, is that right? Something like "The report paints a false picture", "these reported events did not happen" - But instead went with "not accurate"? 22 hours after the story dropped and engulfed the news cycles across the world?
Okay. Let's go to the tape:
“BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the Special Counsel’s Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s Congressional testimony are not accurate,” Mueller spokesman Peter Carr said in a statement. He did not elaborate. (Politico's report)
I think ol Rude may have accidentally cracked the case: Later Friday, Giuliani said Cohen "is on his way to destroying the credibility of anyone relying on him.” SCO might be in more of a delicate position than usual and wanted to stop a runaway train of a news story to keep control of it. The reddit magahats are in full victory lap mode. It's bullplop.
Bullplop!
posted by petebest at 9:12 AM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
Peeedro, couldn’t it be as simple as the president’s tweets to or at Cohen et al are his witness tampering? At some point either Spicer or SHS said the president’s tweets are official communications. If the president is tweeting something at a witness that seems intimidating to my mind.
posted by Gadgetenvy at 9:13 AM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Gadgetenvy at 9:13 AM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
"The report paints a false picture", "these reported events did not happen"
Both of those require speculation. A good lawyer could say, "we have no evidence that those reported events happened," but not "it didn't happen." Same with false picture - the story might describe a situation that's not what's currently being investigated, or that assumes facts not in evidence, but that doesn't mean it's actually wrong. The only denial they can make is "some of that is not accurate."
Okay, they could also say, "we do not, in fact, have documents describing Cohen's orders from Trump to lie," but they may have reasons for not doing that. (Maybe they can't verify that because they haven't finished dredging through the emails and audio tapes.)
I suspect the real truth is found in Trump's reaction: he's not filing a lawsuit for libel. Buzzfeed accused him of a federal crime - suborning perjury - and his reaction is "Cohen's a damn liar; nobody should believe him" and "fake news" but not "BF, you're going down like Gawker."
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 9:22 AM on January 19, 2019 [8 favorites]
Both of those require speculation. A good lawyer could say, "we have no evidence that those reported events happened," but not "it didn't happen." Same with false picture - the story might describe a situation that's not what's currently being investigated, or that assumes facts not in evidence, but that doesn't mean it's actually wrong. The only denial they can make is "some of that is not accurate."
Okay, they could also say, "we do not, in fact, have documents describing Cohen's orders from Trump to lie," but they may have reasons for not doing that. (Maybe they can't verify that because they haven't finished dredging through the emails and audio tapes.)
I suspect the real truth is found in Trump's reaction: he's not filing a lawsuit for libel. Buzzfeed accused him of a federal crime - suborning perjury - and his reaction is "Cohen's a damn liar; nobody should believe him" and "fake news" but not "BF, you're going down like Gawker."
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 9:22 AM on January 19, 2019 [8 favorites]
Axios's Jon Swan has a leak from the Trump White House as they test the waters prior to Trump's afternoon announcement: Exclusive: Trump Plans Shutdown Compromise
3pm [4pm]* speech confirms this @jonathanvswan scoop to me. Trump is expected to propose a extending DACA & TPS protections (BRIDGE Act) in exchange for his $5.7 billion wall demand"
* Per the WH public pool, Trump's announcement has been pushed back to 4 PM because his newly added quick stop to Dover Air Force Base to see the coffins of the Americans killed in Syria on Wednesday.
The NYT's Kushner-friendly Maggie Haberman adds: "Confirmed - this is what Kushner has been working on. They believe they can get enough senate votes to push it through and then pressure builds on the House. And/but, as always, things with Trump can change and nothing it set until the president actually says it."
CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem: "As I just noted, it seemed odd for WH to speak of a deal when only Kushner, Pence and McConnell in room. But the deal is actually convincing McConnell that Trump has folded and is back to deal he rejected when Rs in charge and before they wrecked such misery on fed employees." and "The ? is with the Dreamers being allowed to stay due to court injunction and the Dems unified and in charge of House, will they go back in time?"
As we've seen time and again, Team Trump is trying to generate anticipation by setting a date for a vague "major announcement" and then leaking details to take the temperature of public opinion—or sow confusion (they do this with candidate searches as well). Whether Trump actually follows through, however, is always up for grabs.
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:28 AM on January 19, 2019 [16 favorites]
President Trump plans to use remarks from the Diplomatic Reception Room on Saturday afternoon to propose a notable immigration compromise, according to sources familiar with the speech.CNN's Jeremy Diamond corroborates: "A source familiar with the
The offer is expected to include Trump’s $5.7 billion demand for wall money in exchange for the BRIDGE Act — which would extend protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) — and also legislation to extend the legal status of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, according to a source with direct knowledge.
Jared Kushner and Mike Pence have led the crafting of this deal and the negotiations with members, according to White House officials.
A source privy to the negotiations told me the inflection point for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was the letter from Nancy Pelosi telling Trump not to deliver the State of the Union.[…] [A]fter Pelosi’s letter, the source said, it became clear to McConnell she was “never going to get off her position and some other spark needed to happen.”
McConnell told the president that it was his view that Pelosi was never going to move. She would and could not negotiate on border funding because her caucus, and Trump needed to be the one to put something forward he would sign so that McConnell would have the presidential backing to bring it to the floor.[…]
The Pence-Kushner-McConnell meeting on Thursday night solidified the plan. McConnell did not try to write the bill for them; this bill is the culmination of Kushner and Pence’s conversations with some Democrats and an inventory of proposals they discussed. Democratic whip Dick Durbin is Kushner’s closest Democratic ally in the Senate after they worked together on criminal justice reform, according to White House officials.
* Per the WH public pool, Trump's announcement has been pushed back to 4 PM because his newly added quick stop to Dover Air Force Base to see the coffins of the Americans killed in Syria on Wednesday.
The NYT's Kushner-friendly Maggie Haberman adds: "Confirmed - this is what Kushner has been working on. They believe they can get enough senate votes to push it through and then pressure builds on the House. And/but, as always, things with Trump can change and nothing it set until the president actually says it."
CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem: "As I just noted, it seemed odd for WH to speak of a deal when only Kushner, Pence and McConnell in room. But the deal is actually convincing McConnell that Trump has folded and is back to deal he rejected when Rs in charge and before they wrecked such misery on fed employees." and "The ? is with the Dreamers being allowed to stay due to court injunction and the Dems unified and in charge of House, will they go back in time?"
As we've seen time and again, Team Trump is trying to generate anticipation by setting a date for a vague "major announcement" and then leaking details to take the temperature of public opinion—or sow confusion (they do this with candidate searches as well). Whether Trump actually follows through, however, is always up for grabs.
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:28 AM on January 19, 2019 [16 favorites]
The offer is expected to include Trump’s $5.7 billion demand for wall money in exchange for the BRIDGE Act — which would extend protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) — and also legislation to extend the legal status of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, according to a source with direct knowledge.
no, that's not good enough - he needs to reunite all the families he's broken up since that deal was first proposed
he has committed a massive human rights violation and it MUST be corrected
posted by pyramid termite at 9:35 AM on January 19, 2019 [46 favorites]
no, that's not good enough - he needs to reunite all the families he's broken up since that deal was first proposed
he has committed a massive human rights violation and it MUST be corrected
posted by pyramid termite at 9:35 AM on January 19, 2019 [46 favorites]
Under the gun is no way to conduct this deal, and I hope Democrats don't play. The message should be "open the government now, and we can talk DACA-for-Wall swaps later, when we're not in the midst of a self-inflicted disaster" (spoiler: we will not swap a fully funded wall for any sort of DACA/DREAM amnesty).
posted by jackbishop at 9:38 AM on January 19, 2019 [27 favorites]
posted by jackbishop at 9:38 AM on January 19, 2019 [27 favorites]
i don’t see how pelosi’s response to this isn’t “no, reopen the government with the CR that passed the senate unanimously, and once that’s done we can talk about the Dreamers (and maybe the wall but lol no).”
posted by murphy slaw at 9:41 AM on January 19, 2019 [13 favorites]
posted by murphy slaw at 9:41 AM on January 19, 2019 [13 favorites]
spoiler: we will not swap a fully funded wall for any sort of DACA/DREAM amnesty
I don't think it's either; $5.7B isn't close to a fully funded wall, and the BRIDGE act isn't amnesty, it just kicks the can down the road providing provisional protected status for another three years.
posted by peeedro at 9:43 AM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
I don't think it's either; $5.7B isn't close to a fully funded wall, and the BRIDGE act isn't amnesty, it just kicks the can down the road providing provisional protected status for another three years.
posted by peeedro at 9:43 AM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
Splinter: We Work for the Federal Government and It's Time to Strike
This administration is using the shutdown and its effects to pick and choose which parts of the federal government to operate to the benefits of its masters in industry. Oil and gas easements are granted, but no inspections of facilities to ensure environmental and safety laws are conducted. Tax refunds are processed, but no audits will be conducted against wealthy tax cheats.posted by Rhaomi at 9:55 AM on January 19, 2019 [57 favorites]
Without direct action, the inevitable endgame is that more and more federal employees who were hired to fulfill democratic laws will quit because they can’t afford their bills, and the deconstruction of the federal workforce will be greatly accelerated, leaving the most vulnerable Americans unprotected. This will also lead to an undemocratic privatization of government services when certain functions are rebuilt.
To prevent this, those who are currently deemed “essential” and those who are being recalled must strike and refuse to work without pay.
According to the National Immigration Law Center the BRIDGE Act offers...
Those links don't make it sound like BRIDGE status wouod be renewable, but this link says it would be? Does anyone know? Does it come with any restrictions on legal immigration?
posted by OnceUponATime at 10:17 AM on January 19, 2019 [18 favorites]
No path to U.S. citizenship.Emphasis mine. Am I right to read that as "we'll postpobe the deportations for 3 years if you tell us where to find you so that we can deport you at that time"? And their FAQ seems to say it's not 3 years after you apply, it's 3 years after the law passes!
People who are eligible for—or who already have—DACA may receive work authorization and provisional protected presence (PPP) for at most three years.
People who do not have DACA would have to apply for PPP (under BRIDGE). People who have DACA would automatically have PPP until the date their DACA expires. Upon expiration, they could apply for PPP (under BRIDGE).
Those links don't make it sound like BRIDGE status wouod be renewable, but this link says it would be? Does anyone know? Does it come with any restrictions on legal immigration?
posted by OnceUponATime at 10:17 AM on January 19, 2019 [18 favorites]
My suspicion is $5-6 billion doesn't actually get much built, but rather mostly disappears down various channels of graft and corruption. Even so, I'm not sure how any compromise on any amount of wall money is acceptable. DACA, TPS, separated families, all of that is incredibly important. It's lives on the line. It's also hostage tactics, all in exchange for a monument to racism--no matter how much or how little ground it covers, that's what it is--and a massive scar on the landscape doing permanent ecological harm.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:19 AM on January 19, 2019 [25 favorites]
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:19 AM on January 19, 2019 [25 favorites]
The president fills his time on phone calls with random people in a Paris brasserie, ‘Would you like to speak to the president?’ (WaPo)
“I hear you’ve been saying nice things about me,” the president volunteered.posted by peeedro at 10:20 AM on January 19, 2019 [35 favorites]
The statement caught me by surprise and I demurred. The man at the table next to us had mentioned to the president that, even in Paris, people were talking about him. “Are they still there? Let me speak to them,” the president had said, I later learned.
Whatever had been conveyed to him about the conversation McAuley and I had been having, he seemed to believe he had a sympathetic American on the other end of the phone. But with my noncommittal response, he seemed a bit puzzled.
He asked me another question: “Are you Hillary or are you Trump?”
At that point, I realized that confusion was rampant on both ends of this telephone call.
“I’m a reporter,” I replied.
My suspicion is $5-6 billion doesn't actually get much built, but rather mostly disappears down various channels of graft and corruption.
This was always going to be the case. Trump still has to make payments on his civilian life, he can't just claim Presidential Bankruptcy. Not only does he have to make decisions that benefit his friends and creditors, he has to make direct payments to them.
posted by rhizome at 10:24 AM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
This was always going to be the case. Trump still has to make payments on his civilian life, he can't just claim Presidential Bankruptcy. Not only does he have to make decisions that benefit his friends and creditors, he has to make direct payments to them.
posted by rhizome at 10:24 AM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
Burgess Everett (Politico)
News: Democrats are panning Trump's temporary DACA/TPS deal 3 hours before his announcement
"Dems were not consulted on this and have rejected similar overtures previously. It’s clearly a Republican and Republican negotiation," aide says
---
Good.
posted by chris24 at 10:26 AM on January 19, 2019 [42 favorites]
News: Democrats are panning Trump's temporary DACA/TPS deal 3 hours before his announcement
"Dems were not consulted on this and have rejected similar overtures previously. It’s clearly a Republican and Republican negotiation," aide says
---
Good.
posted by chris24 at 10:26 AM on January 19, 2019 [42 favorites]
The offer is expected to include Trump’s $5.7 billion demand for wall money in exchange for the BRIDGE Act — which would extend protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
This is the same deal that Trump agreed to by telephone a year ago and then reneged on in the 20 minutes it took Durbin and Graham to travel from the Capital to the White House. Since then federal judges have already placed Trump's DACA repeal on hold, so Trump is now offering nothing that is not already in place. DACA is already extended by judicial ruling.
If he really wants to make a serious offer, it would be to make DACA permanent for both current and future children, including a path to citizenship. And he needs to do it in writing this time since he changes his mind every 20 minutes. Otherwise he offering nothing.
posted by JackFlash at 10:27 AM on January 19, 2019 [22 favorites]
This is the same deal that Trump agreed to by telephone a year ago and then reneged on in the 20 minutes it took Durbin and Graham to travel from the Capital to the White House. Since then federal judges have already placed Trump's DACA repeal on hold, so Trump is now offering nothing that is not already in place. DACA is already extended by judicial ruling.
If he really wants to make a serious offer, it would be to make DACA permanent for both current and future children, including a path to citizenship. And he needs to do it in writing this time since he changes his mind every 20 minutes. Otherwise he offering nothing.
posted by JackFlash at 10:27 AM on January 19, 2019 [22 favorites]
Harry Enten points out a pretty stunning (and heartening) Pew Research poll: More Americans pessimistic about Trump's presidency than any presidency in last 25 years.
It doesn't sound that surprising at first, since the successful/unsuccessful numbers largely track his net approval rating, but compare with past administrations and you find that his unsuccessful % is higher (and undecideds lower) then the last three presidents... at the end of their second terms. Even Bush post-Iraq, Katrina, midterms, and economic crash had a higher number of people saying it was too early to judge his tenure.
posted by Rhaomi at 10:27 AM on January 19, 2019 [21 favorites]
It doesn't sound that surprising at first, since the successful/unsuccessful numbers largely track his net approval rating, but compare with past administrations and you find that his unsuccessful % is higher (and undecideds lower) then the last three presidents... at the end of their second terms. Even Bush post-Iraq, Katrina, midterms, and economic crash had a higher number of people saying it was too early to judge his tenure.
posted by Rhaomi at 10:27 AM on January 19, 2019 [21 favorites]
It really bothers me that, in January of 2019, the president* is still asking random people that he ends up on the phone with if they’re “Hillary or Trump?” I liked his answer, but I really wish he had said “I’m an American.” Remember when the president used to be the president of all Americans, not just his base?
posted by Weeping_angel at 10:33 AM on January 19, 2019 [36 favorites]
posted by Weeping_angel at 10:33 AM on January 19, 2019 [36 favorites]
She would and could not negotiate on border funding because her caucus
They have a fascinating* way of looking at things. Not, "she won't agree to this because she thinks it's a horrific violation of various human rights and also a waste of a fuckton of money," and not even, "because it's against the will of her constituent voters," but "because the congressional team she's part of wouldn't like it."
They really don't think non-millionaires are human.
*a euphemism
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 10:46 AM on January 19, 2019 [13 favorites]
They have a fascinating* way of looking at things. Not, "she won't agree to this because she thinks it's a horrific violation of various human rights and also a waste of a fuckton of money," and not even, "because it's against the will of her constituent voters," but "because the congressional team she's part of wouldn't like it."
They really don't think non-millionaires are human.
*a euphemism
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 10:46 AM on January 19, 2019 [13 favorites]
Indian Country Today, Outrage as non-Native youth wearing #MAGA hats taunt and disrespect Native elder
The students are reportedly Catholic school students from Northern Kentucky.
@AJentleson: On MLK weekend, a mob of whites heckled indigenous people while the lone black statewide officeholder in VA (population 20% black) protested as the legislature paid tribute to a Confederate general. But tell me more about how we're not instilling racism in the next generation. One act by young people wearing Trump’s hat. The other by statewide elected officials. One casual and spontaneous, the other planned & official. Both in broad daylight. Both statements of power: racists don’t have to hide, they feel protected and emboldened in Trump’s America.
posted by zachlipton at 10:47 AM on January 19, 2019 [107 favorites]
Native Twitter has gone ablaze as a Native American elder singing the AIM Song in Washington DC during the Indigenous Peoples March was ridiculed, taunted and mocked by a group of non-Native youth.Here's a video in which Phillips discusses what happened: "I wish I could see the energy of these young men to making this country really really great...helping those that are hungry."
The video, which was posted by YouTube account holder KC NOLAND, was also screen captured and shared on other social media accounts with views shortly gaining tens of thousands of views.
The elder is Nathan Phillips, an Omaha elder who is also a Vietnam Veteran and former director of the Native Youth Alliance. He is also a keeper of a sacred pipe and holds an annual ceremony honoring Native American veterans in the Arlington National Cemetery.
The students are reportedly Catholic school students from Northern Kentucky.
@AJentleson: On MLK weekend, a mob of whites heckled indigenous people while the lone black statewide officeholder in VA (population 20% black) protested as the legislature paid tribute to a Confederate general. But tell me more about how we're not instilling racism in the next generation. One act by young people wearing Trump’s hat. The other by statewide elected officials. One casual and spontaneous, the other planned & official. Both in broad daylight. Both statements of power: racists don’t have to hide, they feel protected and emboldened in Trump’s America.
posted by zachlipton at 10:47 AM on January 19, 2019 [107 favorites]
We will hear that mob of students harassing that man is an aberration, how this isn't the real character of the school, how this isn't what they're taught, and how these are basically good kids deep down. Something like this only happens because many adults showed them this is okay. Day after day. Their parents, their teachers, and lately, their president.
I'm trying to imagine what I'd do if I was still teaching and I saw my students do something like this, but the hypothetical doesn't work. It requires me to be surprised. There's no chance the parents and teachers of these kids can be surprised. None. They produced this.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:50 AM on January 19, 2019 [46 favorites]
I'm trying to imagine what I'd do if I was still teaching and I saw my students do something like this, but the hypothetical doesn't work. It requires me to be surprised. There's no chance the parents and teachers of these kids can be surprised. None. They produced this.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:50 AM on January 19, 2019 [46 favorites]
Mod note: Couple deleted. The linked incident is outrage-inducing, agreed, but let's not go twenty "that's horrible" comments elaborating on that. Ideally these threads are for substantive updates on potus and actual national political news/analysis.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 11:01 AM on January 19, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 11:01 AM on January 19, 2019 [7 favorites]
#1. The function of the U.S. government should never be used as a pawn in negotiations for anything. Not for anything, ever.
#2. The wall would never work for the supposed immigration problems.
#3. The crisis at the border is a racist fantasy which Trump has time and again tried to support through transparent, outright lies.
#4. We should never fund fantasies, much less racist ones. To give into propagandist lies disgraces us as a nation.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 11:13 AM on January 19, 2019 [36 favorites]
#2. The wall would never work for the supposed immigration problems.
#3. The crisis at the border is a racist fantasy which Trump has time and again tried to support through transparent, outright lies.
#4. We should never fund fantasies, much less racist ones. To give into propagandist lies disgraces us as a nation.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 11:13 AM on January 19, 2019 [36 favorites]
Marcy Wheeler has some thoughts on the Special Counsel's statement last night: Peter Carr Speaks. It's all totally speculative, but the theory is that it only makes sense if Cohen has a role to play in a possible future trial:
They released an updated schedule this morning (to add the President's trip to Dover for the reception of service members killed in Syria) that has the naturalization ceremony moved to 2:45, still closed press. I've yet to see anyone who knows who is being naturalized (Melania's parents already took their oath last fall, if you were thinking along those lines)
posted by zachlipton at 11:18 AM on January 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
Finally, the actions Carr took yesterday (and Mueller’s big-footing on Cohen’s testimony before the Oversight Committee next month) only make sense if Cohen might have to play a role in a possible trial, and not a report submitted confidentially to Attorney General William Barr. That’s what more likely explains Carr’s response than anything else: the discrepancy between what Buzzfeed reported and what Cohen allocuted posed a risk to a possible jury trial. And that may explain another reason why Mueller is a lot more modest about Trump’s role in Cohen’s lies than SDNY is.Did the naturalization thing scheduled for 1pm get canceled?
Trump’s not going to be indicted by Mueller — at least not before he leaves office via election defeat or impeachment. So Mueller’s focus needs to be on the crimes of those he can charge, like Don Jr. That doesn’t rule out that the evidence he’s looking at show that Trump oversaw a series of coordinated false statements. He did! With Mike Flynn’s lies, Don McGahn’s clean up of Flynn and Jim Comey’s firings, the response to the June 9 meeting, and yes, this Trump Tower deal, nothing explains the coordinated story-telling of multiple Trump flunkies other than Trump’s approval of those lies. It is, frankly, journalistic malpractice that the press hasn’t noted that, especially on the June 9 meeting, the evidence that Trump lied and ordered others to has already been made public. Trump’s tacit (and explicit, with the June 9 statement) approval of serial false statements, to Congress, to the FBI Director, to FBI Agents, and to Mueller, is an impeachable offense. Multiple outlets have gotten solid proof of that, they just haven’t stated the obvious like Buzzfeed did, perhaps in part because they’re relying on White House sources for their reporting.
But Mueller won’t need to allege that for his case in chief, at least not on the issue of the Trump Tower deal. Because the events that matter to Mueller’s case in chief — the events to which Cohen might have to serve as a witness — happened in 2016, not 2017 or 2018. And the guilt that Mueller would need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt if he does indict this conspiracy is not Trump’s guilt — except as an unindicted co-conspirator. It is Don Jr’s guilt.
They released an updated schedule this morning (to add the President's trip to Dover for the reception of service members killed in Syria) that has the naturalization ceremony moved to 2:45, still closed press. I've yet to see anyone who knows who is being naturalized (Melania's parents already took their oath last fall, if you were thinking along those lines)
posted by zachlipton at 11:18 AM on January 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
Trump’s tacit (and explicit, with the June 9 statement) approval of serial false statements, to Congress, to the FBI Director, to FBI Agents, and to Mueller, is an impeachable offense. Multiple outlets have gotten solid proof of that, they just haven’t stated the obvious like Buzzfeed did, perhaps in part because they’re relying on White House sources for their reporting.
Emphasis added, for the Grey Lady, which Wheeler goes into as part of a Twitter thread about how reporters have forgotten other examples of Trump's suborning perjury:
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:34 AM on January 19, 2019 [21 favorites]
Emphasis added, for the Grey Lady, which Wheeler goes into as part of a Twitter thread about how reporters have forgotten other examples of Trump's suborning perjury:
When I was arguing--correctly--that Buzzfeed was wrong that theirs was the first example of Trump ordering others to lie (I provided 4 other examples), I got tons of pushback.Meanwhile, BuzzFeed spokesperson Matt Mittenthal has issued an updated statement: “As we’ve re-confirmed our reporting, we’ve seen no indication that any specific aspect of our story is inaccurate. We remain confident in what we’ve reported, and will share more as we are able.” (via the NYT's Michael Grynbaum )
After some reflection, I realized why: bc other outlets that had presented rock solid proof Trump had suborned perjury hadn't said what BuzzFeed said, straight out, Trump told people to lie. He did. There's abundant public evidence he did. But the news outlets didn't say that.
At least three of the stories that provided rock solid evidence that Trump suborned perjury were published by NYT. But NYT didn't say that.
Significantly, NYT got those stories thru access journalism. Access journalism that has LONG misled the public abt the investigation.
So the reason why BuzzFeed claimed--incorrectly, IMO--that they were the first to show that Trump ordered a subordinate to lie is bc NYT (and others, but most of all NYT) refused to say what the evidence it was looking at showed: that Trump ordered people to lie.
There are two differences here:
1) NYT got those stories thru access journalism. BuzzFeed got yesterdays from well placed LE sources.
2) @BuzzFeedBen is more aggressive than NYT's.
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:34 AM on January 19, 2019 [21 favorites]
That seems weird. If the potus is involved it has to be someone important right?
It just needs to be performative.
posted by mazola at 11:34 AM on January 19, 2019 [10 favorites]
It just needs to be performative.
posted by mazola at 11:34 AM on January 19, 2019 [10 favorites]
It's just so frustrating to me to see people posting about appealing to reason with these Republicans (I don't mean necessarily at MeFi but in articles or FB or whatnot). I mean, there may be some reason attached to their masters checkbooks that eventually sticks a pin in McConnell's ass, but the dreams of the Confederacy are being realized with the crumbling institutions and suffering people - most specifically Black people, but any minority will do and also all disgusting poor people really, and and forced unpaid labor, because the people being hurt are the people they want to hurt. They literally do. not. care. Wasn't one of their followers reported to complain recently, "they're hurting us too, and we're not the people they are supposed to be hurting." But of course, if you're not a rich white guy- preferably with Confederate roots or at minimum the appropriate disdain for nonwhites - then yeah, you are also one of the people they are absolutely gleeful about hurting.
/full disclosure In the last week I listened to the unabridged audiobook of White Rage, by Carol Anderson. Have you read it/heard it? You should. Everyone should. I thought about doing a FanFare on it.
/additional disclosure, middle-aged white woman
posted by Glinn at 11:38 AM on January 19, 2019 [9 favorites]
/full disclosure In the last week I listened to the unabridged audiobook of White Rage, by Carol Anderson. Have you read it/heard it? You should. Everyone should. I thought about doing a FanFare on it.
/additional disclosure, middle-aged white woman
posted by Glinn at 11:38 AM on January 19, 2019 [9 favorites]
Durbin says 'No thanks.'
DURBIN RESPONSE TO REPORTED WHITE HOUSE OFFER TO END TRUMP SHUTDOWN IN EXCHANGE FOR BORDER WALL AND DACAposted by chris24 at 11:53 AM on January 19, 2019 [42 favorites]
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today issued the following statement after reports that President Trump will offer to end the government shutdown M exchange for $5.7 billion for President Trump's border wall and temporary protection for some DACA and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients:
First, President Trump and Senate Majority Leader McConnell must open the government today. Second, I cannot support the proposed offer as reported and do not believe it can pass the Senate. Third, I am ready to sit down at any time after the government is opened and work to resolve all outstanding issues.
I love that they're preemptively saying Hell No. Rob him of much of the attention his speech/offer might get.
posted by chris24 at 11:55 AM on January 19, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 11:55 AM on January 19, 2019 [10 favorites]
Mod note: A few deleted. If you haven't seen it, we're asking folks to redirect snarky one-liners and "here's the deal I'D offer for the wall" jokes, etc, over to the joke thread that we're test-driving.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 12:15 PM on January 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 12:15 PM on January 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
Dems need to echo Durbin and be unified on this. Trump cannot offer "The Wall _and_ X, Y or Z" in exchange for ending the shutdown and be taken at all seriously, no matter what X, Y or Z is, because the offer itself is illegitimate. The shutdown and the Wall are separate concerns, one being of major importance and the other being a racist daydream. Every day that Trump and McConnell maintain the charade that they're equivalent, much less inseparable, is dereliction of duty on their part.
To even consider "...okay, give us A, B and C and open the government" offers grants the Wall political legitimacy. That, too, would be dereliction of duty.
posted by delfin at 12:21 PM on January 19, 2019 [13 favorites]
To even consider "...okay, give us A, B and C and open the government" offers grants the Wall political legitimacy. That, too, would be dereliction of duty.
posted by delfin at 12:21 PM on January 19, 2019 [13 favorites]
The only problem with the Dems preemptively reacting to these leaks about Trump's speech is that this leaves Trump room to pivot. He can now offer something different to strike a deal (though who knows what) or declare a bogus national emergency because he can paint the Dems as unwilling to compromise.
And the LA Times's Noah Bierman asks, and answers, Why Can’t Trump Make Deals? No One Trusts Him Anymore
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:29 PM on January 19, 2019 [14 favorites]
And the LA Times's Noah Bierman asks, and answers, Why Can’t Trump Make Deals? No One Trusts Him Anymore
As Trump reaches the halfway mark of his term on Sunday, he has left a trail of negotiating partners from both chambers of Congress, both political parties and countries around the world feeling double-crossed and even lied to.[…]The current situation with Trump is familiar to anyone with a passing familiarity with his business career: Trump makes grandiose promises he can't keep, refuses to address imminent problems, cuts off his options and boxes himself in, alienates his partners and pisses off his creditors, and finally digs in with a take-it-or-leave-it offer, threatening to blow everything up if he doesn't get his way (or be allowed to get away). Only this time, it's happening in D.C. instead of Manhattan or Atlantic City.
“He just undermined the trust and confidence that some Republican members did want to have in him,” said Carlos Curbelo, a Florida Republican who lost his House seat in November, in part because of Trump’s unpopularity.[…]
Trump’s tactics were honed over decades. Throughout his business career, he moved from one project to the next — real estate development, sales, casinos and branding — often leaving scorned partners or creditors to deal with the fallout from bankruptcies or deals gone bad.
“This was all to stay ahead of his reputation,” said Michael D'Antonio, author of “The Truth About Trump.” But “in Washington,” he said, “you can’t escape who you are for very long. He’s proven that he can’t keep his word.”[…]
The president has broken records for false statements, according to nonpartisan fact checkers. An increasing majority of voters — by 61% to 34% in one recent poll — say he is not honest. The same poll, from Quinnipiac University, found that voters also rated his leadership skills as poor, by 58% to 39%.[…]
“Even things that should on paper be easy, there just always seems to be a way for him to step on his own foot,” said a former aide who requested anonymity to avoid upsetting his current employer. “Sometimes, this is unintentional — he just says stuff.”[…]
After Trump seems to have made a decision, he remains “flexible,” as another former aide put it, making it nearly impossible for his staff to craft a strategy to rally Congress or the public. Often, he will hear from far-right lawmakers in the House Freedom Caucus, or from like-minded commentators including Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham or Sean Hannity.[…]
“What kind of credibility do you have when the president says he supports a bill and then says he doesn’t like it anymore?” one of the former officials asked.
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:29 PM on January 19, 2019 [14 favorites]
I love that they're preemptively saying Hell No. Rob him of much of the attention his speech/offer might get.
Given his past, the preemptive rejections could really get under his skin to the point that he goes completely off-script. How, or can, his staff keep him on-script?
posted by Thorzdad at 12:34 PM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
Given his past, the preemptive rejections could really get under his skin to the point that he goes completely off-script. How, or can, his staff keep him on-script?
posted by Thorzdad at 12:34 PM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
Trump makes grandiose promises he can't keep, refuses to address imminent problems, cuts off his options and boxes himself in, alienates his partners and pisses off his creditors, and finally digs in with a take-it-or-leave-it offer, threatening to blow everything up if he doesn't get his way (or be allowed to get away).
..and then eventually settles outside of court when confronted, (with his daddy tax fraud trust fund millions) instructing his legal team to beg for a clause that news of the settlement is squashed in the press.
posted by Harry Caul at 12:34 PM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
..and then eventually settles outside of court when confronted, (with his daddy tax fraud trust fund millions) instructing his legal team to beg for a clause that news of the settlement is squashed in the press.
posted by Harry Caul at 12:34 PM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
I don't want to start an argument here and this is solely my own opinion, but as a purist lefty pacifist pragmatic realist, if Trump offers enough goodies, I'd be perfectly willing to "fold" (ie, compromise), regardless of whether that's a dereliction of duty, betrayal of the government, negotiating with terrorists, etc. Tens of thousands of hostages are being seriously hurt, and to be honest, I never really believed the idea that you must let the hostage-taker shoot these hostages because the alternative would just encourage them more in the future. In the real world, I support paying for hostages and then trying to hunt down the hostage-takers afterwards, and the game-theory stuff seems about as tenuous as the similar logic that the death penalty is a good deterrent. The future is long, Trump's time is short, and the immediate damage being done is real, so if we can get some good stuff in return for some wall, I'm okay with that even if there are symbolic losses for our side. Even the wall itself is mainly symbolic: in reality, it will be a few scraps of concrete quickly decaying in the desert, rebar instantly rusting to pieces because 80% of the funds were embezzeled away before it was even started, and the environmental damage will be real but a fantastically tiny drop in the bucket compared to the damage done by our metastasizing civilization daily. If we can get real stuff on DACA or other important things, then avoiding the symbolic damage / win for Trump is for me not worth the real, serious harm being done to thousands of people. A hostage standoff that ends with saving the hostages, handing the hostage-taker a bag of money, rescuing some additional long-forgotten hostages, and then hunting the hostage-taker down in two years, is not a terrible solution in the eyes of this purist lefty pacifist realist.
All that said, it sounds like what Trump is offering is not yet worth making a deal over, so at the very least we keep pushing until the trade is worth it. There's also the serious problem that you can trust neither Trump nor McConnell to make binding promises about future bills, so making a credible deal, no matter how much is promised, is a serious practical challenge no matter how willing one may be to bargain.
posted by chortly at 12:36 PM on January 19, 2019 [8 favorites]
All that said, it sounds like what Trump is offering is not yet worth making a deal over, so at the very least we keep pushing until the trade is worth it. There's also the serious problem that you can trust neither Trump nor McConnell to make binding promises about future bills, so making a credible deal, no matter how much is promised, is a serious practical challenge no matter how willing one may be to bargain.
posted by chortly at 12:36 PM on January 19, 2019 [8 favorites]
Pelosi's statement on Trump's "plan": "taken together, they are a non-starter. For one thing, this proposal does not include the permanent solution for the Dreamers and TPS recipients that our country needs and supports."
posted by zachlipton at 12:45 PM on January 19, 2019 [27 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 12:45 PM on January 19, 2019 [27 favorites]
I honestly don't care if he reacts badly to being preempted. Not gonna live my life based on what he might do. That's abuser behavior. We have power now and need to use it.
posted by chris24 at 12:45 PM on January 19, 2019 [68 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 12:45 PM on January 19, 2019 [68 favorites]
Tens of thousands of hostages are being seriously hurt
Hundreds of thousands, and that's before we get to the fact that SNAP recipients have received their final food stamp allotment until the gov't is running again. So yeah, the idea of a deal shouldn't be off the table.
There's also the serious problem that you can trust neither Trump nor McConnell to make binding promises about future bills
Yep yep yep. Any exchange/bargain/agreement needs to be on paper and signed into the approved budget, not some "do this and later I will..." claim.
And Pelosi and other Democrats need to keep pushing the message: We passed a budget. Both houses. It was going through the final stages, and Mitch McConnell decided that Donald wouldn't sign it so there was no value in even showing it to him--even though they have the votes to override a veto. This is not a Democratic failure; it's Trump's failure to govern and Mitch's failure to do his job.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 12:48 PM on January 19, 2019 [47 favorites]
Hundreds of thousands, and that's before we get to the fact that SNAP recipients have received their final food stamp allotment until the gov't is running again. So yeah, the idea of a deal shouldn't be off the table.
There's also the serious problem that you can trust neither Trump nor McConnell to make binding promises about future bills
Yep yep yep. Any exchange/bargain/agreement needs to be on paper and signed into the approved budget, not some "do this and later I will..." claim.
And Pelosi and other Democrats need to keep pushing the message: We passed a budget. Both houses. It was going through the final stages, and Mitch McConnell decided that Donald wouldn't sign it so there was no value in even showing it to him--even though they have the votes to override a veto. This is not a Democratic failure; it's Trump's failure to govern and Mitch's failure to do his job.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 12:48 PM on January 19, 2019 [47 favorites]
I never really believed the idea that you must let the hostage-taker shoot these hostages because the alternative would just encourage them more in the future. In the real world, I support paying for hostages and then trying to hunt down the hostage-takers afterwards
That works in the real world because you can, uh, hunt down and kill/imprison the hostage-takers. The analogy breaks down when it comes to negotiation because you can do nothing equivalent.
The debt ceiling is up in 6 weeks. What do you think Trump will do if Dems cave on the arguably much less important government shutdown?
posted by Justinian at 12:51 PM on January 19, 2019 [15 favorites]
That works in the real world because you can, uh, hunt down and kill/imprison the hostage-takers. The analogy breaks down when it comes to negotiation because you can do nothing equivalent.
The debt ceiling is up in 6 weeks. What do you think Trump will do if Dems cave on the arguably much less important government shutdown?
posted by Justinian at 12:51 PM on January 19, 2019 [15 favorites]
Supreme Court unlikely to hear Trump DACA appeal
If the justices don't take up the issue during the court's current term, the government will be required to keep the program going for at least ten more months.
posted by scalefree at 12:53 PM on January 19, 2019 [24 favorites]
If the justices don't take up the issue during the court's current term, the government will be required to keep the program going for at least ten more months.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court took no action on Friday on the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. It now appears likely that the court will not take up the issue during its current term, which would require the government to keep the program going for at least ten more months.So if Dems sit tight & do nothing, we still get 10 months of DACA for free. This is pure Trump, offering literally nothing in exchange for what he wants.
The Trump administration urged the justices to hear appeals of lower court rulings that prevent the government from shutting DACA down, but Friday was the last day for adding cases to the current term's docket, barring unusual circumstances. Any cases accepted in subsequent weeks won't be heard until the next term, which begins October 1, and it would take a few months more for the court to issue a decision.
posted by scalefree at 12:53 PM on January 19, 2019 [24 favorites]
That works in the real world because you can, uh, hunt down and kill/imprison the hostage-takers. The analogy breaks down when it comes to negotiation because you can do nothing equivalent.
Sorry to be unclear there -- the analogy was meant to be impeaching Trump and/or electing someone else in two years.
The debt ceiling is up in 6 weeks. What do you think Trump will do if Dems cave on the arguably much less important government shutdown?
Specifically with regard to the debt ceiling, I don't really expect a deal there, and expect the government will have to fall back on the usual accounting tricks, which as I vaguely recall are expected to be able to last into the fall, at which point the shit really hits the fan. But I expect that to happen whatever the outcome of the current shutdown -- though god knows I have no confidence in my predictive abilities at this point, and am a bit skeptical of any strategic decision that heavily depends on a strong confidence in scenario A vs B eventuating in the future -- and therefore my disposition towards taking good deals on the table, should such a thing ever appear.
posted by chortly at 12:58 PM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
Sorry to be unclear there -- the analogy was meant to be impeaching Trump and/or electing someone else in two years.
The debt ceiling is up in 6 weeks. What do you think Trump will do if Dems cave on the arguably much less important government shutdown?
Specifically with regard to the debt ceiling, I don't really expect a deal there, and expect the government will have to fall back on the usual accounting tricks, which as I vaguely recall are expected to be able to last into the fall, at which point the shit really hits the fan. But I expect that to happen whatever the outcome of the current shutdown -- though god knows I have no confidence in my predictive abilities at this point, and am a bit skeptical of any strategic decision that heavily depends on a strong confidence in scenario A vs B eventuating in the future -- and therefore my disposition towards taking good deals on the table, should such a thing ever appear.
posted by chortly at 12:58 PM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
Dems need to echo Durbin and be unified on this. Trump cannot offer "The Wall _and_ X, Y or Z" in exchange for ending the shutdown and be taken at all seriously, no matter what X, Y or Z is, because the offer itself is illegitimate
Which brings up the question of how many Democrats support the wall, because I'm sure there are some, and I'm sure some of those some make campaign donations. That alone probably determines how illegitimate the offer turns out to be.
posted by rhizome at 12:59 PM on January 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
Which brings up the question of how many Democrats support the wall, because I'm sure there are some, and I'm sure some of those some make campaign donations. That alone probably determines how illegitimate the offer turns out to be.
posted by rhizome at 12:59 PM on January 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
@DLind: I think it's really important to understand this as the WH realizing that it can't count on a SCOTUS DACA decision as a pressure point for Ds anymore. Problem for them: Ds are realizing the exact same thing.
@brianschatz: You don’t negotiate a compromise with your own Vice President and your son in law. That’s not how this works.
@elianayjohnson: Told there’s increasing nervousness inside the White House that Trump’s gambit will fail with Dems, which seems clear at this point — but also that it will hurt him with his base, which has supported him thru shutdown.
@DLind: Hard to imagine they didn't understand that the Anns Coulter of the world would not be on board with this. The question has always been whether those folks can successfully turn the base against Trump; it's an open question, but one the WH has not yet been willing to test.
posted by zachlipton at 1:07 PM on January 19, 2019 [22 favorites]
@brianschatz: You don’t negotiate a compromise with your own Vice President and your son in law. That’s not how this works.
@elianayjohnson: Told there’s increasing nervousness inside the White House that Trump’s gambit will fail with Dems, which seems clear at this point — but also that it will hurt him with his base, which has supported him thru shutdown.
@DLind: Hard to imagine they didn't understand that the Anns Coulter of the world would not be on board with this. The question has always been whether those folks can successfully turn the base against Trump; it's an open question, but one the WH has not yet been willing to test.
posted by zachlipton at 1:07 PM on January 19, 2019 [22 favorites]
Um, is this a do-over of his oval office speech from 10 days ago?
posted by homunculus at 1:13 PM on January 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by homunculus at 1:13 PM on January 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
I am writing my Senators to insist that any deal include immediate citizenship for Deamers and TPS recipients. Any deal with a N-year path to citizenship will be broken as soon as possible; this is a group that wants to set fire to green cards and deport everyone they can.
posted by benzenedream at 1:15 PM on January 19, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by benzenedream at 1:15 PM on January 19, 2019 [15 favorites]
He's offering a temporary extension of protections for some immigrants in exchange for... everything he wants? That's ridiculous and this is going nowhere.
posted by Justinian at 1:18 PM on January 19, 2019 [52 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 1:18 PM on January 19, 2019 [52 favorites]
President Trump is now saying how important a moral imperative it is to legalize those brought to America as children, the DACA recipients... for three years. In exchange for the wall funding. Trump’s bargaining chip is that he is willing to do something which is obviously right and morally obligatory, and which requires no significant effort or expenditure... for three years. It’s a protection racket. It’s Tony Soprano saying he’ll make sure your restaurant doesn’t burn down. For three years.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:23 PM on January 19, 2019 [63 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:23 PM on January 19, 2019 [63 favorites]
Twitter thread on the cost of maintaining a wall of steel slats.
posted by homunculus at 1:24 PM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by homunculus at 1:24 PM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
@elianayjohnson: Told there’s increasing nervousness inside the White House that Trump’s gambit will fail with Dems, which seems clear at this point — but also that it will hurt him with his base, which has supported him thru shutdown.
@DLind: Hard to imagine they didn't understand that the Anns Coulter of the world would not be on board with this.
Ya think?
Ann Coulter
Trump proposes amnesty. We voted for Trump and got Jeb!
posted by chris24 at 1:27 PM on January 19, 2019 [18 favorites]
@DLind: Hard to imagine they didn't understand that the Anns Coulter of the world would not be on board with this.
Ya think?
Ann Coulter
Trump proposes amnesty. We voted for Trump and got Jeb!
posted by chris24 at 1:27 PM on January 19, 2019 [18 favorites]
Ann Coulter: Trump proposes amnesty. We voted for Trump and got Jeb!
That means Trump is going to renege on the deal he just offered 10 minutes ago. You can't do a deal with Trump.
posted by JackFlash at 1:40 PM on January 19, 2019 [30 favorites]
That means Trump is going to renege on the deal he just offered 10 minutes ago. You can't do a deal with Trump.
posted by JackFlash at 1:40 PM on January 19, 2019 [30 favorites]
CNN's Manu Raju: McConnell, who has said repeatedly only bills with support of Trump and Dems can end shutdown, says he will hold vote on Trump proposal - even though Dems are rejecting it. “Everyone has made their point—now it’s time to make a law. I intend to move to this legislation this week”
McConnell blocked bills to reopen the government twice this week, but he's willing to let Trump's DOA proposal receive a floor vote (despite how many times Trump has been rude to him and pulled the legislative rug out from under him). The Gravedigger of Democracy at work.
posted by Doktor Zed at 1:42 PM on January 19, 2019 [48 favorites]
McConnell blocked bills to reopen the government twice this week, but he's willing to let Trump's DOA proposal receive a floor vote (despite how many times Trump has been rude to him and pulled the legislative rug out from under him). The Gravedigger of Democracy at work.
posted by Doktor Zed at 1:42 PM on January 19, 2019 [48 favorites]
Twitter thread on the cost of maintaining a wall of steel slats.
But that says "forget the Mexican side" and somehow I'm skeptical that Mexico would put any effort at all into maintaining "their side" of a fence.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:46 PM on January 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
But that says "forget the Mexican side" and somehow I'm skeptical that Mexico would put any effort at all into maintaining "their side" of a fence.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:46 PM on January 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
McConnell blocked bills to reopen the government twice this week, but he's willing to let Trump's DOA proposal receive a floor vote
Nice posturing. Senate Republicans get a chance to give proof that they're anti-government-shutdown, with little guarantee that anything changes for the better (since the House is unlikely to vote the proposal in).
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:48 PM on January 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
Nice posturing. Senate Republicans get a chance to give proof that they're anti-government-shutdown, with little guarantee that anything changes for the better (since the House is unlikely to vote the proposal in).
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:48 PM on January 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
So, correct me if I'm wrong here, but it appears that Trump's "major announcement" was basically just a repeat of his prior demands with an offer of three years amnesty for DACA recipients as the bribe he hopes the Democrats will accept? Did I get it right, or was there something I missed?
I hope the Democrats stand firm. We cannot negotiate with hostage takers, nor can we permit the Republican habit of trying to gain by blackmail what they can't gain by legitimate democratic processes to be normalized.
My only complaint with the Democrats so far is that, especially the Senate Democrats, are permitting normal government business to continue rather than shutting down everything except negotiations to re-open the government. Not one Trump nominee should be permitted a hearing until the government is reopened. IIRC it only takes a single Senator to withdraw unanimous consent and bring the entire Senate to a near halt with votes taken for absolutely everything, and I'm sad that no Democrat has yet done this.
posted by sotonohito at 1:53 PM on January 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
I hope the Democrats stand firm. We cannot negotiate with hostage takers, nor can we permit the Republican habit of trying to gain by blackmail what they can't gain by legitimate democratic processes to be normalized.
My only complaint with the Democrats so far is that, especially the Senate Democrats, are permitting normal government business to continue rather than shutting down everything except negotiations to re-open the government. Not one Trump nominee should be permitted a hearing until the government is reopened. IIRC it only takes a single Senator to withdraw unanimous consent and bring the entire Senate to a near halt with votes taken for absolutely everything, and I'm sad that no Democrat has yet done this.
posted by sotonohito at 1:53 PM on January 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
I do not understand how a legislative body turns out to be the personal playground of a single individual, with no way for the body to do anything about that individual.
posted by maxwelton at 1:53 PM on January 19, 2019 [38 favorites]
posted by maxwelton at 1:53 PM on January 19, 2019 [38 favorites]
Vox has an explainer will all the parts of this proposal, if you want the details on a dead horse.
@SarahPierceEsq: NOTE - what the President offered was NOT like the BRIDGE Act, which would have offered protections to 1.3 million. INSTEAD, it is like Goodlatte's Securing America’s Future (SAF) Act that would essentially enshrine DACA protections into law for the EXISTING 699,000 recipients.
There's a lot of concern that the asylum changes in here could end up being very bad, but we'd need to see the actual text of the bill McConnell moves to understand whether or how that's the case.
posted by zachlipton at 1:56 PM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
@SarahPierceEsq: NOTE - what the President offered was NOT like the BRIDGE Act, which would have offered protections to 1.3 million. INSTEAD, it is like Goodlatte's Securing America’s Future (SAF) Act that would essentially enshrine DACA protections into law for the EXISTING 699,000 recipients.
There's a lot of concern that the asylum changes in here could end up being very bad, but we'd need to see the actual text of the bill McConnell moves to understand whether or how that's the case.
posted by zachlipton at 1:56 PM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
If you're referring to the Senate, it isn't. The majority of the Senate should be considered to be pleased by McConnell's stonewalling and in support of his actions. Their obstinate silence rules out any other possibility.
posted by delfin at 1:58 PM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by delfin at 1:58 PM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
The shutdown has almost nothing to do with Trump. They don't need him at all to reopen.
Mitches owns this shutdown and has (paid for?) received a free pass from corporate news.
posted by petebest at 2:05 PM on January 19, 2019 [14 favorites]
Mitches owns this shutdown and has (paid for?) received a free pass from corporate news.
posted by petebest at 2:05 PM on January 19, 2019 [14 favorites]
But that says "forget the Mexican side" and somehow I'm skeptical that Mexico would put any effort at all into maintaining "their side" of a fence.
Given that the vast majority of any wall/fence will be well inside the US border, I suspect you’re correct.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:08 PM on January 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
Given that the vast majority of any wall/fence will be well inside the US border, I suspect you’re correct.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:08 PM on January 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
Not going over well on Breitbart either. Not gonna link, but two headlines.
Trump Pitches Dems: Daca for 230 Miles of ’Barrier’
Three-Year Amnesty, Most of Border Remains Open
posted by chris24 at 2:13 PM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
Trump Pitches Dems: Daca for 230 Miles of ’Barrier’
Three-Year Amnesty, Most of Border Remains Open
posted by chris24 at 2:13 PM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
So he pissed off his base for something that has no chance of passing. Not racist enough for a racist.
Steve King
A Big Beautiful Concrete Border Wall will be a monument to the Rule of Law, the sovereignty of the USA, & @RealDonaldTrump. If DACA Amnesty is traded for $5.7 billion(1/5 of a wall), wouldn’t be enough illegals left in America to trade for the remaining 4/5. NO AMNESTY 4 a wall!
posted by chris24 at 2:19 PM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
Steve King
A Big Beautiful Concrete Border Wall will be a monument to the Rule of Law, the sovereignty of the USA, & @RealDonaldTrump. If DACA Amnesty is traded for $5.7 billion(1/5 of a wall), wouldn’t be enough illegals left in America to trade for the remaining 4/5. NO AMNESTY 4 a wall!
posted by chris24 at 2:19 PM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
But that says "forget the Mexican side" and somehow I'm skeptical that Mexico would put any effort at all into maintaining "their side" of a fence.
Note that the wall would need to be built entirely on American land; it'd be near the Mexican border, but not on it. US agents would still be tasked with patrolling the "Mexican side" of the wall, even though they'd have trouble accessing it. (They would, however, be likely to shoot people who approach the wall from the other side, probably without checking to see if they have a legal right to be there.)
The land on the other side would be unusable by Mexico, as it's US property; it'd also be unusable by most US citizens - the wall plan involves losing a large strip of land near the border for any purpose other than "maintain the wall."
Given how incompetently it'd no doubt be made, and how unlikely maintenance funds are, I don't mind negotiations that involve actual funding for a wall - as long as what's gotten in exchange is actually worth something. Citizenship for DREAMers is the perfect option for that.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 2:33 PM on January 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
Note that the wall would need to be built entirely on American land; it'd be near the Mexican border, but not on it. US agents would still be tasked with patrolling the "Mexican side" of the wall, even though they'd have trouble accessing it. (They would, however, be likely to shoot people who approach the wall from the other side, probably without checking to see if they have a legal right to be there.)
The land on the other side would be unusable by Mexico, as it's US property; it'd also be unusable by most US citizens - the wall plan involves losing a large strip of land near the border for any purpose other than "maintain the wall."
Given how incompetently it'd no doubt be made, and how unlikely maintenance funds are, I don't mind negotiations that involve actual funding for a wall - as long as what's gotten in exchange is actually worth something. Citizenship for DREAMers is the perfect option for that.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 2:33 PM on January 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
Assuming the Senate actually passes a bill--which is far from given if the immigration hardliners howl loudly enough--Pelosi's response is simple: Pass a clean CR with no DACA and no wall (again), then pass a bill with $5.7B for border security in exchange for something like the full amnesty program the Senate passed in 2013, plus a couple of items from the voting rights bill the House just passed. Alternately, you could pass a bill with the 3-year protection DJT floated today and, like, $1B in border security.
Easy. Now we're negotiating! Otherwise the shutdown is back in Trump and McConnell's court.
posted by johnny jenga at 2:36 PM on January 19, 2019 [11 favorites]
Easy. Now we're negotiating! Otherwise the shutdown is back in Trump and McConnell's court.
posted by johnny jenga at 2:36 PM on January 19, 2019 [11 favorites]
Please stop treating the wall like a real thing.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 2:36 PM on January 19, 2019 [73 favorites]
posted by Barack Spinoza at 2:36 PM on January 19, 2019 [73 favorites]
Given how incompetently it'd no doubt be made, and how unlikely maintenance funds are, I don't mind negotiations that involve actual funding for a wall - as long as what's gotten in exchange is actually worth something. Citizenship for DREAMers is the perfect option for that.
I doubt that anyone thinks the wall will be effective in any way, except maybe trump and the most hardcore of his supporters. It's mostly a power move over the left, and it's also a validation of the Executive and The Senate countermanding the will of the people by coordinating on shutdowns whenever they don't get their way. The DACA "bargaining chip" is illusory anyway - it's another problem that they invented so that they can use it to enact fascist policy. It's like kidnapping your neighbor's dog and then offering it back so you can buy his car below market value. Regardless of all of that, we're dealing with people who view symbolic power as absolute (that's the essence of right wing bigoted identity politics), and who have shown time and time again they cannot be trusted. They "give" us DACA and then find some smooth (or, more likely, completely blatant) way to rip it away again. It's an awful deal, and any Democrat who remotely considers it should have a much deserved primary coming their way in 2 years.
posted by codacorolla at 2:47 PM on January 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
I doubt that anyone thinks the wall will be effective in any way, except maybe trump and the most hardcore of his supporters. It's mostly a power move over the left, and it's also a validation of the Executive and The Senate countermanding the will of the people by coordinating on shutdowns whenever they don't get their way. The DACA "bargaining chip" is illusory anyway - it's another problem that they invented so that they can use it to enact fascist policy. It's like kidnapping your neighbor's dog and then offering it back so you can buy his car below market value. Regardless of all of that, we're dealing with people who view symbolic power as absolute (that's the essence of right wing bigoted identity politics), and who have shown time and time again they cannot be trusted. They "give" us DACA and then find some smooth (or, more likely, completely blatant) way to rip it away again. It's an awful deal, and any Democrat who remotely considers it should have a much deserved primary coming their way in 2 years.
posted by codacorolla at 2:47 PM on January 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
Rather, it feels like the only card he's really got left in the game he's playing, which is to give The Base what he promised them. It feels as simple as that.
I think we tend to lose sight of a fact that is very important in these discussions. Although Trump is almost totally id driven, those around him are filled with agenda. His reason for pursuing the wall is just as you state, but don't forget that the wall, which he initially thought was silly, was fed to him by some of these evil schemers (Bannon, e.g.) on the campaign trail. So we don't know the underlying purpose, although it has served up multiple opportunities to the racists and government destroyers around him.
posted by Mental Wimp at 3:06 PM on January 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
I think we tend to lose sight of a fact that is very important in these discussions. Although Trump is almost totally id driven, those around him are filled with agenda. His reason for pursuing the wall is just as you state, but don't forget that the wall, which he initially thought was silly, was fed to him by some of these evil schemers (Bannon, e.g.) on the campaign trail. So we don't know the underlying purpose, although it has served up multiple opportunities to the racists and government destroyers around him.
posted by Mental Wimp at 3:06 PM on January 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
Please stop treating the wall like a real thing.
This. The point isn't that the wall will work or that it needs to be maintained. IT'S NOT A GOOD-FAITH ARGUMENT! The debate here isn't "do we need a wall or not?" The debate is "is this a white ethno-christian country or not". Building a wall, any wall, means that anyone who isn't white isn't welcome here.
It's not about the wall but what the wall represents.
posted by VTX at 3:16 PM on January 19, 2019 [65 favorites]
This. The point isn't that the wall will work or that it needs to be maintained. IT'S NOT A GOOD-FAITH ARGUMENT! The debate here isn't "do we need a wall or not?" The debate is "is this a white ethno-christian country or not". Building a wall, any wall, means that anyone who isn't white isn't welcome here.
It's not about the wall but what the wall represents.
posted by VTX at 3:16 PM on January 19, 2019 [65 favorites]
USCG Station Alameda is out of food.
Coast Guard Group Holds Food Drive For Government Workers
posted by jgirl at 3:24 PM on January 19, 2019 [18 favorites]
Coast Guard Group Holds Food Drive For Government Workers
posted by jgirl at 3:24 PM on January 19, 2019 [18 favorites]
As Matt Yglesias noted, Wall™ is not a priority for hardline immigration restrictionists (other than a symbolic fuck-you) who really want changes to the law to keep out even more non-whites and punish the US citizen children of unauthorised immigrants.
There's a parallel here with Theresa May changing the font of her Brexit deal without changing the terms. The assumption is that I-1 can essentially offer the same proposal again and again, while McConnell can keep a clean CR off the Senate floor, because doing so will eventually get the media to forget the Oval Office "proud to own the shutdown" meeting and lapse back into default bothsidesism. (You could see a hint of that over the past couple of days.) The job for Democrats is to remind the media of that boast. On camera.
posted by holgate at 3:38 PM on January 19, 2019 [9 favorites]
There's a parallel here with Theresa May changing the font of her Brexit deal without changing the terms. The assumption is that I-1 can essentially offer the same proposal again and again, while McConnell can keep a clean CR off the Senate floor, because doing so will eventually get the media to forget the Oval Office "proud to own the shutdown" meeting and lapse back into default bothsidesism. (You could see a hint of that over the past couple of days.) The job for Democrats is to remind the media of that boast. On camera.
posted by holgate at 3:38 PM on January 19, 2019 [9 favorites]
The land on the other side would be unusable by Mexico, as it's US property; it'd also be unusable by most US citizens - the wall plan involves losing a large strip of land near the border for any purpose other than "maintain the wall."
If this were a real problem then a wall wouldn't be enough, because tunnels are a thing. Egypt's experience is instructive here: they have gradually increased the buffer zone between Egypt and Gaza to 1500 meters (nearly a mile) and it reportedly still doesn't work. They've also tried ongoing things like digging for tunnels and pouring sewage into trenches that intersect the paths of tunnels. So an effective border wall wouldn't just be effectively sacrificing the use of US territory on its far side, but also a vast swathe on its inside - including, I suppose, a big chunk of San Diego. And it's not even as if 1.5 kilometres is enough: it was enough at the time, but the border zone used to be much smaller, or nonexistent: if the stakes are high enough then the tunnels just keep getting longer.
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:58 PM on January 19, 2019 [17 favorites]
If this were a real problem then a wall wouldn't be enough, because tunnels are a thing. Egypt's experience is instructive here: they have gradually increased the buffer zone between Egypt and Gaza to 1500 meters (nearly a mile) and it reportedly still doesn't work. They've also tried ongoing things like digging for tunnels and pouring sewage into trenches that intersect the paths of tunnels. So an effective border wall wouldn't just be effectively sacrificing the use of US territory on its far side, but also a vast swathe on its inside - including, I suppose, a big chunk of San Diego. And it's not even as if 1.5 kilometres is enough: it was enough at the time, but the border zone used to be much smaller, or nonexistent: if the stakes are high enough then the tunnels just keep getting longer.
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:58 PM on January 19, 2019 [17 favorites]
Simon Rosenberg
1/Key point: Trump is not going to reopen the government until he gets his immigration bill passed but offers 1) a plan which cannot pass Senate or House 2) path which would preclude regular order - no committees, hearings, studies, debate, votes. Process normally takes months.
2/And to me this is the rub - the President is literally trying to change how our democracy has worked for hundreds of years. He has to do this because his immigration plan can never pass as is, and he needs to break the system to get what he wants.
3/Debate isn't really abt immigration/border it's abt Trump and McConnell conspiring to make Trump something more than a President, an authoritarian, a Mad King. Trump made no concession today. He just changed the terms of his anti-democratic demands.
4/More on all this in a thread from earlier today: Bottom line - Trump is asking for something no Speaker can ever give him - a structural weakening of the legislative branch.
5/Folks need to keep asking - why can't the President just bring his immigration ideas to Congress as all other Presidents have for hundreds of years? Have the debate, go thru the process we set up in the 18th century. Why does the govt need to be shutdown? This is the issue.
6/So the reasonable scenario now is Trump’s bill fails in the Senate, Dems pass their own bill with no wall funding. Where are we then Mr President? Is this leadership and a path forward? It’s monumental incompetence and intolerable stupidity, holding us all hostage.
posted by chris24 at 4:09 PM on January 19, 2019 [65 favorites]
1/Key point: Trump is not going to reopen the government until he gets his immigration bill passed but offers 1) a plan which cannot pass Senate or House 2) path which would preclude regular order - no committees, hearings, studies, debate, votes. Process normally takes months.
2/And to me this is the rub - the President is literally trying to change how our democracy has worked for hundreds of years. He has to do this because his immigration plan can never pass as is, and he needs to break the system to get what he wants.
3/Debate isn't really abt immigration/border it's abt Trump and McConnell conspiring to make Trump something more than a President, an authoritarian, a Mad King. Trump made no concession today. He just changed the terms of his anti-democratic demands.
4/More on all this in a thread from earlier today: Bottom line - Trump is asking for something no Speaker can ever give him - a structural weakening of the legislative branch.
5/Folks need to keep asking - why can't the President just bring his immigration ideas to Congress as all other Presidents have for hundreds of years? Have the debate, go thru the process we set up in the 18th century. Why does the govt need to be shutdown? This is the issue.
6/So the reasonable scenario now is Trump’s bill fails in the Senate, Dems pass their own bill with no wall funding. Where are we then Mr President? Is this leadership and a path forward? It’s monumental incompetence and intolerable stupidity, holding us all hostage.
posted by chris24 at 4:09 PM on January 19, 2019 [65 favorites]
On a more awesome note: Supreme reveal: Ruth Bader Ginsburg makes star appearance in 'Lego Movie 2'.
posted by Capt. Renault at 4:13 PM on January 19, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by Capt. Renault at 4:13 PM on January 19, 2019 [11 favorites]
I just received an email from my senator asking what I want him to do about the shutdown (my senator is Mark Warner). I emailed him that he should not give in to Trump's demands for a wall because it is only his attempt to cater to his base's white ethno-nationalism, and the wall is not only immoral, it's un-American. Of course that's just my view, but I wanted to remind everyone -- now is a good/important time to contact your representatives and tell them what you want them to do about the shutdown.
posted by rue72 at 4:25 PM on January 19, 2019 [28 favorites]
posted by rue72 at 4:25 PM on January 19, 2019 [28 favorites]
There have already been a bunch of border tunnels discovered near San Diego, some with rails and air handling systems. The wall has always been a bullshit idea.
posted by LionIndex at 4:30 PM on January 19, 2019 [13 favorites]
posted by LionIndex at 4:30 PM on January 19, 2019 [13 favorites]
the wall is not only immoral, it's un-American.
un-American and un-Constitutional. The word "immigration" does not appear in the Constitution. This is obviously because the Framers enjoyed Open Borders.
That changed in 1882 with the racist and sexist ( and therefore unconstitutional ) Chinese Exclusion Acts, initially targeting Chinese women. A Federal power-grab.
The only reason this is considered "normal" is because this nation is built on the blood and bones of slaves and racism is baked into it. ( See 3/5th Compromise )
posted by mikelieman at 4:32 PM on January 19, 2019 [31 favorites]
un-American and un-Constitutional. The word "immigration" does not appear in the Constitution. This is obviously because the Framers enjoyed Open Borders.
That changed in 1882 with the racist and sexist ( and therefore unconstitutional ) Chinese Exclusion Acts, initially targeting Chinese women. A Federal power-grab.
The only reason this is considered "normal" is because this nation is built on the blood and bones of slaves and racism is baked into it. ( See 3/5th Compromise )
posted by mikelieman at 4:32 PM on January 19, 2019 [31 favorites]
Four women found guilty after leaving food and water for migrants in Arizona desert
A federal judge on Friday reportedly found four women guilty of misdemeanors after they illegally entered a national wildlife refuge along the US-Mexico border to leave water and food for undocumented migrants.posted by jgirl at 4:41 PM on January 19, 2019 [27 favorites]
According to The Arizona Republic, the four women were aid volunteers for No More Deaths, an advocacy group dedicated to ending the deaths of undocumented immigrants crossing desert regions near the southern border.
WaPo, Inside the Mueller team’s decision to dispute BuzzFeed’s explosive story on Trump and Cohen. Rosenstein's office makes an interesting cameo.
This is a very careful yet confusing report about which I have nothing other to say beyond Quinta Jurecic's conclusion: Something weird is happening here, but I have no clue what it is
posted by zachlipton at 4:44 PM on January 19, 2019 [19 favorites]
This is a very careful yet confusing report about which I have nothing other to say beyond Quinta Jurecic's conclusion: Something weird is happening here, but I have no clue what it is
posted by zachlipton at 4:44 PM on January 19, 2019 [19 favorites]
The WaPo story confirms that the SC office's statement is indeed intended as an almost blanket denial rather than a careful parsing. I agree something weird is happening but it appears that the weirdness involves why Buzzfeed's sources are so sure about something which appears to be false? Were they planning to burn Buzzfeed the whole time? Or is this evidence in the possession of a law enforcement entity besides the SC's office, like SDNY... but has not been shared between SDNY and the SC? How could that possibly be?
In any case the limb on which Buzzfeed is standing has begun to tremble.
posted by Justinian at 4:56 PM on January 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
In any case the limb on which Buzzfeed is standing has begun to tremble.
posted by Justinian at 4:56 PM on January 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
On MSNBC, a pundit was hypothesizing that maybe the AG handed down the order that the denial be made. He was just hypothesizing, though.
posted by rue72 at 4:59 PM on January 19, 2019
posted by rue72 at 4:59 PM on January 19, 2019
via Politico: Diocese apologizes after students mock Native American at D.C. rally
Videos circulating online show a youth staring at and standing extremely close to Nathan Phillips, an elderly Native American man singing and playing a drum. Other students, some wearing Covington clothing and many wearing red "Make America Great Again" hats and sweatshirts, surrounded them, laughing and jeering.posted by Little Dawn at 5:01 PM on January 19, 2019 [24 favorites]
[...] "We extend our deepest apologies to Mr. Phillips," the statement read. "This behavior is opposed to the Church's teachings on the dignity and respect of the human person."
According to the "Indian Country Today" website, Phillips is an Omaha elder and Vietnam veteran who holds an annual ceremony honoring Native American veterans at Arlington National Cemetery.
"When I was there singing, I heard them saying 'Build that wall, build that wall,'" Phillips said, as he wiped away tears in a video posted on Instagram. "This is indigenous lands. We're not supposed to have walls here. We never did."
He said he wished the group would put their energy into "making this country really great."
This still stands out though:
posted by zachlipton at 5:02 PM on January 19, 2019 [20 favorites]
Two people familiar with the matter said lawyers at the special counsel’s office discussed the statement internally, rather than conferring with Justice Department leaders, for much of the day. In the advanced stages of those talks, the deputy attorney general’s office called to inquire if the special counsel planned any kind of response, and was informed a statement was being prepared, the people said.The special counsel's office never comments on anything. So why did Rosenstein's office call to ask if they were going to break from that practice and respond? Why did the DAG's office know enough details of the investigation to specifically believe the BuzzFeed story could call for a response? Was it just because Congress was starting to talk impeachment, or is Rosenstein so in the loop in the investigation that he knows where the BuzzFeed story went wrong?
posted by zachlipton at 5:02 PM on January 19, 2019 [20 favorites]
On MSNBC, a pundit was hypothesizing that maybe the AG handed down the order that the denial be made. He was just hypothesizing, though.
The WaPo story says that the deputy AG (I assume Rosenstein) inquired as to whether the SC's office was going to put out a statement but it doesn't seem to imply that it was an order. I suppose one could argue it was a turbulent priest kind of inquiry but even if it was I don't see Mueller's team putting out an untrue denial.
Buzzfeed is still saying their sources remain solid and have not changed their reporting, so something is fucked somewhere.
posted by Justinian at 5:03 PM on January 19, 2019 [7 favorites]
The WaPo story says that the deputy AG (I assume Rosenstein) inquired as to whether the SC's office was going to put out a statement but it doesn't seem to imply that it was an order. I suppose one could argue it was a turbulent priest kind of inquiry but even if it was I don't see Mueller's team putting out an untrue denial.
Buzzfeed is still saying their sources remain solid and have not changed their reporting, so something is fucked somewhere.
posted by Justinian at 5:03 PM on January 19, 2019 [7 favorites]
The SC response to Buzzfeed’s story is reminding me more and more of Comey’s dismissal of NYT in his testimony. In June 2017.
posted by Harry Caul at 5:17 PM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Harry Caul at 5:17 PM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
Please stop treating the wall like it's a real thing.
I'm aware it's not, but I apologize, my framing was flippant about something that's gravely serious.
While all of us here realize "The Wall" is just a monument to MAGA, I think it's important to make that common knowledge and a media narrative. Immigration hardliners aren't willing to give up anything of substance for "The Wall" precisely because it's not actually a real thing. If they scream loudly enough about Trump's proposal, then they might demonstrate this fact all by themselves with either another failed Senate vote or another last minute reversal by Trump.
But if they do pass the proposal, then I think a bit of "negotiation" over "The Wall" will demonstrate how fake it is and put the blame for the shutdown back on the Republicans, where it belongs.
And while it's risky to even pretend to treat the proposal and "The Wall" like real, good faith things, there's also risk to letting Trump and the media spin a narrative that the Democrats are the ones who are being stubborn.
posted by johnny jenga at 5:22 PM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'm aware it's not, but I apologize, my framing was flippant about something that's gravely serious.
While all of us here realize "The Wall" is just a monument to MAGA, I think it's important to make that common knowledge and a media narrative. Immigration hardliners aren't willing to give up anything of substance for "The Wall" precisely because it's not actually a real thing. If they scream loudly enough about Trump's proposal, then they might demonstrate this fact all by themselves with either another failed Senate vote or another last minute reversal by Trump.
But if they do pass the proposal, then I think a bit of "negotiation" over "The Wall" will demonstrate how fake it is and put the blame for the shutdown back on the Republicans, where it belongs.
And while it's risky to even pretend to treat the proposal and "The Wall" like real, good faith things, there's also risk to letting Trump and the media spin a narrative that the Democrats are the ones who are being stubborn.
posted by johnny jenga at 5:22 PM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
WaPo, Inside the Mueller team’s decision to dispute BuzzFeed’s explosive story on Trump and Cohen.
n.b. Matt Zapotosky shares the byline on this article, and his DoJ articles experienced an uptick in sourcing when Trumpist Ezra Cohen-Watnick slipped in as an aide to Sessions. Now that Matt Whitaker is in place at the top, Justice seems even leakier. His piece today on the Buzzfeed story seems like it's spun to discredit Leopold and Cormier's reporting as much as possible, which, coincidentally, takes the heat off Trump for Cohen's perjured testimony.
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:22 PM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
n.b. Matt Zapotosky shares the byline on this article, and his DoJ articles experienced an uptick in sourcing when Trumpist Ezra Cohen-Watnick slipped in as an aide to Sessions. Now that Matt Whitaker is in place at the top, Justice seems even leakier. His piece today on the Buzzfeed story seems like it's spun to discredit Leopold and Cormier's reporting as much as possible, which, coincidentally, takes the heat off Trump for Cohen's perjured testimony.
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:22 PM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
Please stop treating the wall like it's a real thing.
I'm aware it's not, but I apologize, my framing was flippant about something that's gravely serious.
I apologize for the confusion, johnny jenga. Looks like we posted our comments simultaneously. I was replying to the comment immediately prior to yours, above, not your comment.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 5:26 PM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'm aware it's not, but I apologize, my framing was flippant about something that's gravely serious.
I apologize for the confusion, johnny jenga. Looks like we posted our comments simultaneously. I was replying to the comment immediately prior to yours, above, not your comment.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 5:26 PM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
Nancy Pelosi has issued a statement (OK, tweeted) on Trump's afternoon announcement:
Which one of these members of Congress sounds like their position is weakening?
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:40 PM on January 19, 2019 [38 favorites]
What is original in the President’s proposal is not good. What is good in the proposal is not original. Democrats will vote next week to add additional border security funding for ports of entry, advanced technology for scanning vehicles for drugs & immigration judges.Chuck Schumer also issued a statement (pic) and tweeted:
What we didn’t hear from the President was any sympathy for the federal workers who face so much uncertainty because of the chaos of the #TrumpShutdown.
There’s only way out: open up the government, Mr. President, and then Democrats and Republicans can have a civil discussion and come up with bipartisan solutions.Meanwhile, the WaPo reports on McConnell's manoeuvring behind the scenes to work with Trump: "McConnell laid out his plan in a private call with GOP senators late Saturday afternoon, where there was little dissent, according to an official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. […] McConnell could move [the package] to advance as early as Tuesday, although a Thursday vote appears more likely[….] McConnell’s decision to advance the bill to the Senate floor in the coming days marks a reversal of his promise not to hold votes on legislation that did not already have explicit support from the White House and Democratic leaders."
It was President @realDonaldTrump who single-handedly took away DACA and TPS protections in the first place—offering some protections back in exchange for the wall is not a compromise but more hostage taking.
Which one of these members of Congress sounds like their position is weakening?
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:40 PM on January 19, 2019 [38 favorites]
WaPo, ‘We’re left in the dark’: As many industries get shutdown relief, those without political clout feel left behind, in which how you get treated during the shutdown depends on who you are:
posted by zachlipton at 5:46 PM on January 19, 2019 [39 favorites]
Alaska’s cod and pollock fishing fleet headed out on the Bering Sea this month without delay, thanks to federal inspectors brought back from furlough to certify their boats. And alcohol producers have two calls scheduled next week with Treasury Department officials to discuss how to keep new products moving onto liquor store shelves.Some states, including Nebraska and Ohio are paying out their February SNAP benefits early to ensure people get their benefits before funds run out, but are now working to make sure recipients get the news and budget accordingly. There's not enough money to make full payments for March.
But advocates for survivors of domestic violence have not been able to find an official at the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help them access their grant money for temporary housing. And some Native American leaders said they are operating with no guidance about what to do about the abrupt cutoff of federal funds.
In the chaotic landscape of the partial federal shutdown, some constituencies have gotten speedy relief and attention from federal officials — while others are still trying to get in the door.
The lack of guidance from the White House on what services can be considered essential — as well as the ability of agencies to restart some programs with discretionary funds — has created an opening for politically connected interests to prod parts of the government back into action.
The haphazard aspect of what services are getting restored has fueled a sense that the shutdown, in many cases, has been more painful for those without political power, critics said.
...
Some nonprofit groups and shelters that receive funding through HUD to subsidize transitional housing costs for domestic violence victims cannot access the grant money because they are locked out of HUD’s computer system — and the staffers who would help are furloughed.
posted by zachlipton at 5:46 PM on January 19, 2019 [39 favorites]
The "immigration hardliner" response looks like a feeding frenzy:
posted by Little Dawn at 5:52 PM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
“Trump proposes amnesty. We voted for Trump and got Jeb!” Coulter added, referring to Trump’s 2016 GOP primary rival, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who has previously criticized the president’s immigration rhetoric.And that's just one example, of course.
posted by Little Dawn at 5:52 PM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
FWIW I think that kind of strategy is pretty effective for whatever cause it's being employed towards. You get to rally the base with red meat while still getting 60 percent of what you want. I wish the left would take notes.
posted by codacorolla at 5:58 PM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by codacorolla at 5:58 PM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
effectively sacrificing the use of US territory on its far side, but also a vast swathe on its inside - including, I suppose, a big chunk of San Diego
San Diego is like 3 cities and 17 miles from the US/Mexico border.
posted by sideshow at 6:11 PM on January 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
San Diego is like 3 cities and 17 miles from the US/Mexico border.
posted by sideshow at 6:11 PM on January 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
No, San Ysidro is part of San Diego and right on the border. It's connected to the rest of the city by a thin strip of territory running through the bay.
posted by LionIndex at 6:21 PM on January 19, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by LionIndex at 6:21 PM on January 19, 2019 [8 favorites]
codacorolla: The DACA "bargaining chip" is illusory anyway - it's another problem that they invented so that they can use it to enact fascist policy. It's like kidnapping your neighbor's dog and then offering it back so you can buy his car below market value.
This right here in a nutshell. It's not a deal, it's a RANSOM.
posted by hangashore at 7:16 PM on January 19, 2019 [17 favorites]
This right here in a nutshell. It's not a deal, it's a RANSOM.
posted by hangashore at 7:16 PM on January 19, 2019 [17 favorites]
ErisLordFreedom: "The land on the other side would be unusable by Mexico, as it's US property; it'd also be unusable by most US citizens - the wall plan involves losing a large strip of land near the border for any purpose other than "maintain the wall." "
The only upside is it might turn out to be the sort of defacto nature preserve that the Korean DMZ is.
posted by Mitheral at 7:30 PM on January 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
The only upside is it might turn out to be the sort of defacto nature preserve that the Korean DMZ is.
posted by Mitheral at 7:30 PM on January 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
[I-1] is asking for something no Speaker can ever give him - a structural weakening of the legislative branch.
As I've said before, American folk civics is now more parliamentary -- 18th-century limited-monarchy parliamentary -- than the constitutional model in which Article I, er, comes first. That's exploitable. The reformulation here assumes a permanent rural veto (because Senate and heartlandism) which is almost a permanent GOP veto. But it also assumes that a GOP president acquires the de facto power of the purse in a way that won't be available to Dem presidents.
posted by holgate at 8:00 PM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
As I've said before, American folk civics is now more parliamentary -- 18th-century limited-monarchy parliamentary -- than the constitutional model in which Article I, er, comes first. That's exploitable. The reformulation here assumes a permanent rural veto (because Senate and heartlandism) which is almost a permanent GOP veto. But it also assumes that a GOP president acquires the de facto power of the purse in a way that won't be available to Dem presidents.
posted by holgate at 8:00 PM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
Vox: By the numbers: how 2 years of Trump’s policies have affected immigrants
Most telling are these:
55%: Hispanics who say they worry a lot or some that they, a family member or a close friend could be deported (up from 47 percent in January 2017).
78%: Share of Hispanics who are not citizens or legal permanent residents who worry (up from 67 percent in January 2017).
46%: Latinos who said they were confident in their place in America (down from 54 percent in January 2017).
49%: Latinos who said they had “serious concerns” about their place in America (up from 41 percent in January 2017).
24%: Latinos who reported being treated in a discriminatory way in last year.
22%: Latinos who were criticized for speaking Spanish in public in last year.
22%: Latinos told to go back to their home country in last year (including 25 percent of second-generation Latinos and 10 percent of third-or-later-generation Latinos).
#JerryLundegaardfeels
posted by saysthis at 8:28 PM on January 19, 2019 [15 favorites]
Most telling are these:
55%: Hispanics who say they worry a lot or some that they, a family member or a close friend could be deported (up from 47 percent in January 2017).
78%: Share of Hispanics who are not citizens or legal permanent residents who worry (up from 67 percent in January 2017).
46%: Latinos who said they were confident in their place in America (down from 54 percent in January 2017).
49%: Latinos who said they had “serious concerns” about their place in America (up from 41 percent in January 2017).
24%: Latinos who reported being treated in a discriminatory way in last year.
22%: Latinos who were criticized for speaking Spanish in public in last year.
22%: Latinos told to go back to their home country in last year (including 25 percent of second-generation Latinos and 10 percent of third-or-later-generation Latinos).
#JerryLundegaardfeels
posted by saysthis at 8:28 PM on January 19, 2019 [15 favorites]
This right here in a nutshell. It's not a deal, it's a RANSOM.
A ransom implies you intend to release the hostage.
DACA enrollees are only being offered an extension in this deal
posted by ocschwar at 8:29 PM on January 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
A ransom implies you intend to release the hostage.
DACA enrollees are only being offered an extension in this deal
posted by ocschwar at 8:29 PM on January 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
The ‘Bright Spot’ for Trump in the Government Shutdown (Elaina Plott, The Atlantic)
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:10 PM on January 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
The president used the closures as justification for skipping the World Economic Forum, in Davos. But he’s never shown a desire to engage with voters or leaders who challenge him.He doesn't like variety or challenge, two things that travel regularly provides.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:10 PM on January 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
mikelieman: "un-American and un-Constitutional. The word "immigration" does not appear in the Constitution. This is obviously because the Framers enjoyed Open Borders.
That changed in 1882 with the racist and sexist ( and therefore unconstitutional ) Chinese Exclusion Acts, initially targeting Chinese women. A Federal power-grab."
I'm not a constitutional scholar, but also I would think that the power to control immigration flows pretty clearly from the portion of Article 1, Section 8 that states as a power of Congress, "To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization." Naturalization is distinct from immigration, to be sure, but it's related. There is a long history of not sticking to black letter text in the Constitution, way before Justice Douglas's emanations and penumbras.
From a more realpolitik perspective, something is constitutional if the Supreme Court finds it so. And there were a number of cases related to the Chinese Exclusion Act and subsequent immigration legislation that came before the Court (Chae Chan Ping v. US, Nishimura Ekiu v. US, Fong Yue Ting v. US). And SCOTUS consistently found that Congress had power to control immigration (and indeed, that there was limited scope for judicial review of most such decisions).
posted by Chrysostom at 9:25 PM on January 19, 2019 [8 favorites]
That changed in 1882 with the racist and sexist ( and therefore unconstitutional ) Chinese Exclusion Acts, initially targeting Chinese women. A Federal power-grab."
I'm not a constitutional scholar, but also I would think that the power to control immigration flows pretty clearly from the portion of Article 1, Section 8 that states as a power of Congress, "To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization." Naturalization is distinct from immigration, to be sure, but it's related. There is a long history of not sticking to black letter text in the Constitution, way before Justice Douglas's emanations and penumbras.
From a more realpolitik perspective, something is constitutional if the Supreme Court finds it so. And there were a number of cases related to the Chinese Exclusion Act and subsequent immigration legislation that came before the Court (Chae Chan Ping v. US, Nishimura Ekiu v. US, Fong Yue Ting v. US). And SCOTUS consistently found that Congress had power to control immigration (and indeed, that there was limited scope for judicial review of most such decisions).
posted by Chrysostom at 9:25 PM on January 19, 2019 [8 favorites]
“This Was the Last Straw”: State Staffers Fume as Pompeo Backs Trump in Shutdown (Abigail Tracy, Vanity Fair)
"For staffers who were already frustrated with their newish, Trump-loving boss, being forced to work without pay has been salt in the wound. Worse, it has underscored a growing sense within the State Department that diplomats don’t have Mike Pompeo’s respect."posted by ZeusHumms at 9:41 PM on January 19, 2019 [22 favorites]
...
Perhaps even more important than the paycheck, however, is what the shutdown has symbolized for America’s diplomatic corps. Current and former State staffers I spoke to were particularly upset by Pompeo’s decision to bring his wife, Susan, on his trip in the Middle East last week, even as some diplomats were filing for unemployment benefits or working unpaid overtime to manage the workload. “I don’t like it because no matter what you do, the wife needs staffing,” a former U.S. ambassador told me. “During a shutdown, it is just totally inappropriate.” (Pompeo defended the decision, saying Susan is a “force multiplier.”)
Together with his unceasing praise of Donald Trump, Pompeo’s perceived cavalier attitude toward the shutdown has made some staffers feel like they have been taken for granted—or worse, been taken advantage of. “What is universal is a sense that they are pawns in a bigger political dynamic,” said Rob Berschinski, a former deputy assistant secretary of state still in touch with former colleagues.
This NYT report on where Trump now finds himself reminds me of how in the story of Frankenstein, the monster is the doctor who created him:
Yet in seeking to inch toward the center, Mr. Trump alienated portions of his hard-right base, the core supporters he most depends on and the group he and his closest aides have most feared losing. That raised the possibility that, in his zeal to get out of an intractable situation, he may have landed himself in the worst of all worlds, without a clear solution or the support of his most ardent followers.and in other news:
An NPR poll released last week showed Mr. Trump’s approval ratings down and the first cracks in backing among critical supporters, including whites without a college education and white evangelicals.posted by Little Dawn at 10:19 PM on January 19, 2019 [9 favorites]
The Postmates driver who brought us our takeout last night was a furloughed NASA Ames lawyer.
posted by notyou at 10:23 PM on January 19, 2019 [84 favorites]
posted by notyou at 10:23 PM on January 19, 2019 [84 favorites]
From the WAPO article:
posted by xammerboy at 10:42 PM on January 19, 2019 [8 favorites]
While neither Cohen nor his representatives had ever said explicitly that Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress, Guy Petrillo, Cohen’s attorney, wrote in a memo in advance of his sentencing, “We address the campaign finance and false statements allegations together because both arose from Michael’s fierce loyalty to Client-1. In each case, the conduct was intended to benefit Client-1, in accordance with Client-1’s directives.”It seems clear to me that Trump probably did not personally tell Cohen to lie, but rather communicated through his staff to Cohen that officially business with Russia had ended. Cohen knew that to be a lie, and knew Trump knew that to be a lie, and he knew that Trump knew that he knew to tow the party line. Trump is legally shielded from wrongdoing, perhaps, by the letter of the law, though his lie is absolutely ethically damning. He was, at the least, lying to the American public during a presidential election regarding his relationship with a hostile foreign power while it was conducting an attack on the United States. Impeach him for that.
Client-1 refers to Trump. Petrillo declined to comment Saturday. It is unclear precisely what “directives” Petrillo was referring to, though he did not allege elsewhere in the memo that Trump explicitly instructed Cohen to lie to Congress. He wrote that Cohen was “in close and regular contact with White House-based staff and legal counsel to Client-1” as he prepared his testimony and “specifically knew . . . that Client-1 and his public spokespersons were seeking to portray contact with Russian representatives in any form by Client-1, the Campaign or the Trump Organization as having effectively terminated before the Iowa caucuses of February 1, 2016.”
posted by xammerboy at 10:42 PM on January 19, 2019 [8 favorites]
From a more realpolitik perspective, something is constitutional if the Supreme Court finds it so.
For an even more realpolitik perspective, "Acts of the legislature are presumed Constitutional UNLESS the US Supreme Court rules otherwise".
I'm not naive about the realities but I think it's important to remember what the docs actually say, and the original intent of the framers vs. the contemporary implementation.
posted by mikelieman at 11:00 PM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
For an even more realpolitik perspective, "Acts of the legislature are presumed Constitutional UNLESS the US Supreme Court rules otherwise".
I'm not naive about the realities but I think it's important to remember what the docs actually say, and the original intent of the framers vs. the contemporary implementation.
posted by mikelieman at 11:00 PM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
According to the Brookings Institution, in August 2018, there was enough potential obstruction of justice by then to warrant a second edition of their report, and more credible attorneys than Cohen who have also cooperated with Mueller investigation:
We also know that White House Counsel Don McGahn and his lawyer at one point were reportedly so concerned that the president was going to blame McGahn that he provided extraordinary cooperation with the special counsel, including sitting for 30 hours of interviews in an apparent effort to exonerate himself.This cold logic is my favorite part:
We also explain our view that a sitting president does not enjoy immunity from prosecution, as some have claimed. If facing an indictment so burdens the president that he cannot fulfill the duties of his office, it is hardly self-evident that those obligations should trump the rule of law. Under our constitution, we elect a vice president whose principal responsibility is to assume the office of the president if the chief executive resigns or is incapacitated. Temporary or permanent incapacitation of a president by indictment is not the same as incapacitation of the office or of the executive branch. For those reasons, we believe that criminal indictment of a president is better viewed as an option of last resort rather than one that is foreclosed by any binding legal opinion.posted by Little Dawn at 11:03 PM on January 19, 2019 [24 favorites]
From Emptywheel's colleague: "As to whether Trump personally ordered Cohen to do so, face to face, (and there is still a decent shot of that being true, but we do not know), that is not the end of the discussion legally."
Just another nugget to chew on.
posted by kemrocken at 11:06 PM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
Just another nugget to chew on.
posted by kemrocken at 11:06 PM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
A ransom implies you intend to release the hostage.
Kidnap for ransom is a stunt pulled by the desperate and inexperienced. Trump is a professional mobster, and what he's asking for is protection money, which is an annuity business. Once he sees that he can use threats against the Dreamers for leverage to extract what we wants, there is no reason for him not to keep pulling that lever and demanding larger and larger tributes until it stops working.
posted by contraption at 11:11 PM on January 19, 2019 [64 favorites]
Kidnap for ransom is a stunt pulled by the desperate and inexperienced. Trump is a professional mobster, and what he's asking for is protection money, which is an annuity business. Once he sees that he can use threats against the Dreamers for leverage to extract what we wants, there is no reason for him not to keep pulling that lever and demanding larger and larger tributes until it stops working.
posted by contraption at 11:11 PM on January 19, 2019 [64 favorites]
He was, at the least, lying to the American public during a presidential election regarding his relationship with a hostile foreign power while it was conducting an attack on the United States. Impeach him for that.
According to the Brookings Institution, in August 2018, there was enough potential obstruction of justice by then to warrant a second edition of their report, and more credible attorneys than Cohen who have also cooperated with Mueller investigation:
From Emptywheel's colleague: "As to whether Trump personally ordered Cohen to do so, face to face, (and there is still a decent shot of that being true, but we do not know), that is not the end of the discussion legally."
An NPR poll released last week showed Mr. Trump’s approval ratings down and the first cracks in backing among critical supporters, including whites without a college education and white evangelicals.
The sound of the Overton Window moving. Music to my ears.
posted by saysthis at 11:11 PM on January 19, 2019 [13 favorites]
According to the Brookings Institution, in August 2018, there was enough potential obstruction of justice by then to warrant a second edition of their report, and more credible attorneys than Cohen who have also cooperated with Mueller investigation:
From Emptywheel's colleague: "As to whether Trump personally ordered Cohen to do so, face to face, (and there is still a decent shot of that being true, but we do not know), that is not the end of the discussion legally."
An NPR poll released last week showed Mr. Trump’s approval ratings down and the first cracks in backing among critical supporters, including whites without a college education and white evangelicals.
The sound of the Overton Window moving. Music to my ears.
posted by saysthis at 11:11 PM on January 19, 2019 [13 favorites]
I mean - this isn’t likely to happen this way for various reasons but I like to keep all my failure modes open - this comment “You know, some of us have seem to come to it being a foregone conclusion that Trump is going to lose in 2020, that he’s just so unpopular and scandal ridden, but just a quick look at history should dispel that. Look at where Regan was in the exact same point (in the polls) in his Presidency, less popular than Trump by a healthy chunk, got schlacked in the ‘82 midterm more than Trump did in 2018 (11.8% D in 82, +8.6% D in 18), then look at how the 1984 election went for Reagan..”
Won all but one state.
So I think the way to operate is to assume barring his death or resignation (more likely then most situations, I think, guy is miserable) we have to assume eight years of this no matter what.
(There are obvious huge differences between an upcoming 2020 and 1984 but it’s worth nothing 84 is when the Democratic Party got shellshocked and the leadership still behaves as if it’s fighting 84 in the same way the old GOP neocons always acted like it was 68.)
The Overton windowis moving pretty radically, I’ve always said I’m sensitives to shifts in WhatIs Acceptable Discource for Media people and wooo boy we’ve had several I would’ve considered radical enough I just the past 6 months. i stand by my previous prediction, we’re going to be a very different country in the next few years for good or ill.
posted by The Whelk at 11:50 PM on January 19, 2019 [31 favorites]
Won all but one state.
So I think the way to operate is to assume barring his death or resignation (more likely then most situations, I think, guy is miserable) we have to assume eight years of this no matter what.
(There are obvious huge differences between an upcoming 2020 and 1984 but it’s worth nothing 84 is when the Democratic Party got shellshocked and the leadership still behaves as if it’s fighting 84 in the same way the old GOP neocons always acted like it was 68.)
The Overton windowis moving pretty radically, I’ve always said I’m sensitives to shifts in WhatIs Acceptable Discource for Media people and wooo boy we’ve had several I would’ve considered radical enough I just the past 6 months. i stand by my previous prediction, we’re going to be a very different country in the next few years for good or ill.
posted by The Whelk at 11:50 PM on January 19, 2019 [31 favorites]
All I know is Demprez20x2 jeez belongs here, and this is the first article in major media addressing a point many on this site have made many a time, mostly in my view correctly.
Axios: Why 2020 Democrats can't ignore Trump
If you asked me to explain why, I'd suck compared to them, they have pro writers
"No matter how substantive an HRC speech would be in 2016, if there was one line on Trump, that's what would be the one that was on the news,"
If candidates can't say "I'm not like Trump because I stand for [things]" in 50 words or less, try again.
posted by saysthis at 3:24 AM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
Axios: Why 2020 Democrats can't ignore Trump
If you asked me to explain why, I'd suck compared to them, they have pro writers
"No matter how substantive an HRC speech would be in 2016, if there was one line on Trump, that's what would be the one that was on the news,"
If candidates can't say "I'm not like Trump because I stand for [things]" in 50 words or less, try again.
posted by saysthis at 3:24 AM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
A ransom implies you intend to release the hostage.
Kidnap for ransom is a stunt pulled by the desperate and inexperienced. Trump is a professional mobster, and what he's asking for is protection money, which is an annuity business.
It's for this very reason that analogies are sometimes not that useful. But in any case I believe the original intended symbolic value of the "kidnapped parties" wasn't the dreamers but the federal workers' jobs. Their jobs are being held as ransom while wall funding and daca are being bandied about as bargaining ploys. But you're correct in that it's also an implied protection racket because Trump can threaten "nice jobs, be a shame if anything should happen to them" every time the continuing resolution runs out.
posted by xigxag at 3:59 AM on January 20, 2019 [10 favorites]
Kidnap for ransom is a stunt pulled by the desperate and inexperienced. Trump is a professional mobster, and what he's asking for is protection money, which is an annuity business.
It's for this very reason that analogies are sometimes not that useful. But in any case I believe the original intended symbolic value of the "kidnapped parties" wasn't the dreamers but the federal workers' jobs. Their jobs are being held as ransom while wall funding and daca are being bandied about as bargaining ploys. But you're correct in that it's also an implied protection racket because Trump can threaten "nice jobs, be a shame if anything should happen to them" every time the continuing resolution runs out.
posted by xigxag at 3:59 AM on January 20, 2019 [10 favorites]
A museum dedicated to the history of the U.S. Border Patrol seeks to give a more complex view of a once unknown agency that rose from obscurity to become one of the nation’s most powerful arms of law enforcement. The privately funded museum in El Paso, Texas — near one of the busiest U.S. ports of entry — attempts to piece together its history as the nation’s views on immigration, travel and border security have changed.
Using photos, artifacts, newspaper clippings and even movie posters, the U.S. Border Patrol Museum explores the story from the agency’s formation — to fight Chinese immigration and enforce Prohibition — to its current role at a time of massive migration, cartel drug smuggling and political skirmishes.
glorification
posted by infini at 4:46 AM on January 20, 2019 [28 favorites]
Using photos, artifacts, newspaper clippings and even movie posters, the U.S. Border Patrol Museum explores the story from the agency’s formation — to fight Chinese immigration and enforce Prohibition — to its current role at a time of massive migration, cartel drug smuggling and political skirmishes.
glorification
posted by infini at 4:46 AM on January 20, 2019 [28 favorites]
Regarding whether or not the executive branch specifically ordered Cohen to lie to Congress, is it accurate to say they knew about the lie once it was spoken and hence can be taken to task for not correcting the record? Or was the original Cohen testimony secret enough that the White House has plausible deniability for not knowing about it?
chris24: So he pissed off his base for something that has no chance of passing. Not racist enough for a racist.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 6:01 AM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
chris24: So he pissed off his base for something that has no chance of passing. Not racist enough for a racist.
Steve King: ... If DACA Amnesty is traded for $5.7 billion(1/5 of a wall), wouldn’t be enough illegals left in America to trade for the remaining 4/5.It's pretty striking how much they care about hurting Dreamers, who actually number in the thousands rather than the millions (contrary to Corn Hitler's math) and are probably, from the mainstream white American perspective, the most "sympathetic" people in a migration predicament today.( During and after 2016, Trump had repeatedly promised to treat Dreamers well rather than say "illegal is illegal" or whatever.) But I guess it's not that different from a wall; in both cases the point is symbolic cruelty, because fascism prefers that even to any pragmatic accomplishment of its goals.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 6:01 AM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
The. Best. People.
Jon Swaine (Guardian)
Rudolph Giuliani tells @CNNSotu that Trump may indeed have spoken to Michael Cohen about his congressional testimony beforehand. "And so what if he talked to him about it?" Denies Trump told Cohen to lie.
Meet the Press
WATCH: @rudygiuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer, says that negotiations over Trump Tower Moscow likely went up to the 2016 election. #MTP
VIDEO
posted by chris24 at 6:31 AM on January 20, 2019 [29 favorites]
Jon Swaine (Guardian)
Rudolph Giuliani tells @CNNSotu that Trump may indeed have spoken to Michael Cohen about his congressional testimony beforehand. "And so what if he talked to him about it?" Denies Trump told Cohen to lie.
Meet the Press
WATCH: @rudygiuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer, says that negotiations over Trump Tower Moscow likely went up to the 2016 election. #MTP
VIDEO
posted by chris24 at 6:31 AM on January 20, 2019 [29 favorites]
He also throws Dowd, Sekulow and Cobb under the bus by suggesting Cohen talked to them as well before his testimony.
posted by chris24 at 6:37 AM on January 20, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 6:37 AM on January 20, 2019 [11 favorites]
#TimeTravelTrump
@realDonaldTrump It's almost like the United States has no President - we are a rudderless ship heading for a major disaster. Good luck everyone!
8:41 PM - 19 Mar 2014
posted by scalefree at 6:45 AM on January 20, 2019 [21 favorites]
@realDonaldTrump It's almost like the United States has no President - we are a rudderless ship heading for a major disaster. Good luck everyone!
8:41 PM - 19 Mar 2014
posted by scalefree at 6:45 AM on January 20, 2019 [21 favorites]
As folks here are noting, this really is a hostage situation:
posted by Little Dawn at 6:51 AM on January 20, 2019 [18 favorites]
“No, Amnesty is not a part of my offer,” Trump tweeted. “It is a 3 year extension of DACA. Amnesty will be used only on a much bigger deal, whether on immigration or something else. Likewise there will be no big push to remove the 11,000,000 plus people who are here illegally-but be careful Nancy!”This article is linked from the current red-lettered, all-caps Drudge banner: TRUMP DANGLES FULL AMNESTY, with no reference to holding 11,000,000 plus people hostage.
posted by Little Dawn at 6:51 AM on January 20, 2019 [18 favorites]
It's pretty striking how much they care about hurting Dreamers,
It makes sense when you keep in mind clawsoon's hypothesis
"Performative Cruelty", as seen in the catholic high-school kids harassing the native american viet-nam veteran...
posted by mikelieman at 6:57 AM on January 20, 2019 [72 favorites]
It makes sense when you keep in mind clawsoon's hypothesis
I think that toxic masculinity can be boiled down to the idea that the world is divided into fuckers and fuckees. If you don't constantly demonstrate that you're a fucker, you get turned into a fuckee. Being a fucker is the essence of manlinessA long-form analysis is On Social Sadism by China Miéville
"Performative Cruelty", as seen in the catholic high-school kids harassing the native american viet-nam veteran...
posted by mikelieman at 6:57 AM on January 20, 2019 [72 favorites]
He already rejected the "bigger deal" last year. Fearless leader Chuck Schumer was willing to give him full funding for his stupid wall, $25 billion, in exchange for the full Dream Act. Then Stephen Miller and Sean Hannity vetoed it. That's the problem here, Trump is not the final arbiter of a deal he can accept, FOX News is.
He can't put up a credible offer in exchange for anything Democrats actually want to negotiate for. And I'm conceding here that there's something that would be worth trading away the racist symbol of the Wall for at all, which I don't think there is, but could be convinced otherwise if there were really a large immigration reform and citizenship deal on the table. On the other side, Republicans know that "the Wall" is at best a boondoggle, and more likely total vapor-policy, and it is completely useless as something to "trade away" at all, so they're never going to allow him to make any real policy concessions to Democrats in exchange for it.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:00 AM on January 20, 2019 [30 favorites]
He can't put up a credible offer in exchange for anything Democrats actually want to negotiate for. And I'm conceding here that there's something that would be worth trading away the racist symbol of the Wall for at all, which I don't think there is, but could be convinced otherwise if there were really a large immigration reform and citizenship deal on the table. On the other side, Republicans know that "the Wall" is at best a boondoggle, and more likely total vapor-policy, and it is completely useless as something to "trade away" at all, so they're never going to allow him to make any real policy concessions to Democrats in exchange for it.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:00 AM on January 20, 2019 [30 favorites]
Openly considering full amnesty will... not appease the Steve King set. He already went through this with the gun control thing. He's not a reliable negotiator nor a reliable ally. Now that they've got their Supreme Court picks, why don't they just wash their hands of him?
posted by Selena777 at 7:48 AM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Selena777 at 7:48 AM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
There’s always more court seats somewhere.
posted by schadenfrau at 7:51 AM on January 20, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by schadenfrau at 7:51 AM on January 20, 2019 [7 favorites]
Steve King's constituents don't even agree with Steve King about immigration. Polling has shown that a large majority of people in King's district want a path to citizenship for Dreamers, and a majority want a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who are not Dreamers.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:59 AM on January 20, 2019 [17 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:59 AM on January 20, 2019 [17 favorites]
So I think the way to operate is to assume barring his death or resignation (more likely then most situations, I think, guy is miserable) we have to assume eight years of this no matter what.
If we can keep the House and take back the Senate, especially if we can get close to a veto-proof majority, we can shut down most of his power. We can pass laws demanding the President hand over his tax returns every year. We can push through the emoluments investigations. We can pass environmental laws, pass civil rights laws, pass medicare for all, pass an 80% tax rate on multimillionaires and re-fund all the defunded things. Pass the ERA through Congress rather than state votes. We can pass education laws that will have DeVos fuming. We can refer evidence to various criminal courts. We can impeach and remove both of them. Hell, we can investigate and impeach SCOTUS justices, and leave the damn court running at 7 or even fewer and tell him, "it stays this way until you nominate Garland."
He's already burned through the goodwill and blithe avarice of his pack of grifters; people are strongly considering saying "no" when he asks them to run a department, because they've figured out it's not a free ride of money and power. He has to run - that's his only play here - but he didn't want the job the first time and he's even less happy about it now. Without the support of both houses, he's flailing; without either, he'd go entirely off the rails.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 8:26 AM on January 20, 2019 [11 favorites]
If we can keep the House and take back the Senate, especially if we can get close to a veto-proof majority, we can shut down most of his power. We can pass laws demanding the President hand over his tax returns every year. We can push through the emoluments investigations. We can pass environmental laws, pass civil rights laws, pass medicare for all, pass an 80% tax rate on multimillionaires and re-fund all the defunded things. Pass the ERA through Congress rather than state votes. We can pass education laws that will have DeVos fuming. We can refer evidence to various criminal courts. We can impeach and remove both of them. Hell, we can investigate and impeach SCOTUS justices, and leave the damn court running at 7 or even fewer and tell him, "it stays this way until you nominate Garland."
He's already burned through the goodwill and blithe avarice of his pack of grifters; people are strongly considering saying "no" when he asks them to run a department, because they've figured out it's not a free ride of money and power. He has to run - that's his only play here - but he didn't want the job the first time and he's even less happy about it now. Without the support of both houses, he's flailing; without either, he'd go entirely off the rails.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 8:26 AM on January 20, 2019 [11 favorites]
I'm talking about the inordinately prominent hardliners that he's keeping the government closed for - King's ideological group.
posted by Selena777 at 8:27 AM on January 20, 2019
posted by Selena777 at 8:27 AM on January 20, 2019
He's not keeping the gov't closed for King's group. Setting aside the issue that McConnell is the one actually keeping the gov't closed, Trump's interest is entirely in flexing his power; this is something he can do, and it gets a reaction from a lot of people, so it's what he's doing.
He can't win the support of Democrats so he's out to get their fear and rage. He isn't happy that his approval numbers have dropped with everyone, but he quickly convinces himself that those results are fake news - he likes hurting people, and it's good for ratings, so his people must like it. "His people" is defined as "whichever people are telling him he's awesome right now;" they are his because they support him, not the other way around.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 8:35 AM on January 20, 2019 [18 favorites]
He can't win the support of Democrats so he's out to get their fear and rage. He isn't happy that his approval numbers have dropped with everyone, but he quickly convinces himself that those results are fake news - he likes hurting people, and it's good for ratings, so his people must like it. "His people" is defined as "whichever people are telling him he's awesome right now;" they are his because they support him, not the other way around.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 8:35 AM on January 20, 2019 [18 favorites]
Andrew Kaczynski (CNN)
BuzzFeed News is strongly standing by its Michael Cohen story. BF reporter @a_cormier_:“I have further confirmation that this is right. We are being told to stand our ground…The same sources that we used in that story are standing behind it, as are we.”
VIDEO
---
Plus you had Rudy basically admitting Trump talked to Cohen about his testimony this morning.
posted by chris24 at 8:42 AM on January 20, 2019 [27 favorites]
BuzzFeed News is strongly standing by its Michael Cohen story. BF reporter @a_cormier_:“I have further confirmation that this is right. We are being told to stand our ground…The same sources that we used in that story are standing behind it, as are we.”
VIDEO
---
Plus you had Rudy basically admitting Trump talked to Cohen about his testimony this morning.
posted by chris24 at 8:42 AM on January 20, 2019 [27 favorites]
The Wall is a wedge issue and like abortion and gay marriage and bathroom bills before it the Republicans may not even want the issue solved so long as it turns out their base. From that perspective everything so far makes a lot more sense.
posted by Rumple at 8:58 AM on January 20, 2019 [28 favorites]
posted by Rumple at 8:58 AM on January 20, 2019 [28 favorites]
If we can keep the House and take back the Senate, especially if we can get close to a veto-proof majority
There's no universe in which Trump is reelected and Democrats retake the Senate. The 2020 map is not as bad as 2018, but it's not good for Democrats either. There's only a few credible pickup opportunities, none of which are locks or even lean Democrat (in descending order of likelihood: Colorado, Arizona, Maine, Iowa/North Carolina, Georgia) and Democrats need to win at least 5 of those, or 4 plus holding Alabama, just to get to a majority. There's no universe where Democrats can win a veto-proof majority in the Senate, ever. And probably no universe where we will ever come close to a filibuster-proof 60 again either. So things that posit having 60 or 67 Senate seats are worth discussing only slightly more than the progressive wishlist for a constitutional convention. If you want to talk radical action in the Senate, it's going to have to be with BOTH a Democratic president in 2020, and 50 Senate Democrats willing to repeal the filibuster.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:14 AM on January 20, 2019 [17 favorites]
There's no universe in which Trump is reelected and Democrats retake the Senate. The 2020 map is not as bad as 2018, but it's not good for Democrats either. There's only a few credible pickup opportunities, none of which are locks or even lean Democrat (in descending order of likelihood: Colorado, Arizona, Maine, Iowa/North Carolina, Georgia) and Democrats need to win at least 5 of those, or 4 plus holding Alabama, just to get to a majority. There's no universe where Democrats can win a veto-proof majority in the Senate, ever. And probably no universe where we will ever come close to a filibuster-proof 60 again either. So things that posit having 60 or 67 Senate seats are worth discussing only slightly more than the progressive wishlist for a constitutional convention. If you want to talk radical action in the Senate, it's going to have to be with BOTH a Democratic president in 2020, and 50 Senate Democrats willing to repeal the filibuster.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:14 AM on January 20, 2019 [17 favorites]
My hope is Trump personally told Cohen to lie to congress. What I think is more likely at this point is that Trump told Cohen something along the lines of "Our Russia business is finished. Now go to Russia and get me that hotel." Now, did Trump tell Cohen to lie to congress or not? One lawyer may say yes, and another no. While I don't think Giuliani would see any problem with that statement, I think most juries would see right through it. This is the kind of language mob bosses use to shield themselves with the letter of the law while making their orders crystal clear.
posted by xammerboy at 9:18 AM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by xammerboy at 9:18 AM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
There's no upside to Cohen testifying in a couple of weeks, especially now that Cormier and Leopold are going back to their sources, every other media org is hitting its own sources, and Giuliani spent the morning spitting out prebuttals. (There's probably more upside from him saying that I-1's threats to his family make it impossible to testify.)
Cummings ought to hold hearings on the Hotel des Emoluments instead.
posted by holgate at 9:32 AM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
Cummings ought to hold hearings on the Hotel des Emoluments instead.
posted by holgate at 9:32 AM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
“No, Amnesty is not a part of my offer,” Trump tweeted. “It is a 3 year extension of DACA. Amnesty will be used only on a much bigger deal, whether on immigration or something else. Likewise there will be no big push to remove the 11,000,000 plus people who are here illegally-but be careful Nancy!”
So this is a humanitarian crisis requiring the longest government shutdown in history and on the verge of being declared a national emergency but it's not a big enough deal to offer anything substantial as a concession for getting the border wall built, even though the wall is "the only solution" to the supposed problem? Huh.
posted by SpaceBass at 9:41 AM on January 20, 2019 [40 favorites]
So this is a humanitarian crisis requiring the longest government shutdown in history and on the verge of being declared a national emergency but it's not a big enough deal to offer anything substantial as a concession for getting the border wall built, even though the wall is "the only solution" to the supposed problem? Huh.
posted by SpaceBass at 9:41 AM on January 20, 2019 [40 favorites]
There's only a few credible pickup opportunities, none of which are locks or even lean Democrat (in descending order of likelihood: Colorado, Arizona, Maine, Iowa/North Carolina, Georgia)
Montana's constantly overlooked as a credible pickup opportunity with Daines and I don't see why: Tester just won re-election and Daines' approval is 10 points lower than Tester's (42 v. 52). Not to say it's a likely pickup but a strong opponent would definitely have a good shot.
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:44 AM on January 20, 2019 [11 favorites]
Montana's constantly overlooked as a credible pickup opportunity with Daines and I don't see why: Tester just won re-election and Daines' approval is 10 points lower than Tester's (42 v. 52). Not to say it's a likely pickup but a strong opponent would definitely have a good shot.
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:44 AM on January 20, 2019 [11 favorites]
I think it's because Tester is the sort of sui generis candidate that can win in a blood red state that we don't really have a model for recreating. He's like Manchin if Manchin actually held Democratic positions. It's not clear there's another Tester waiting to challenge Daines, although I freely admit I don't know the field of potential Montana democrats. But I'd put Montana along with Texas next on my list, definitely below those I listed.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:48 AM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:48 AM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
I think it's because Tester is the sort of sui generis candidate that can win in a blood red state that we don't really have a model for recreating.
We also have Bullock as governor so Jon can't be entirely sui generis.
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:50 AM on January 20, 2019 [5 favorites]
We also have Bullock as governor so Jon can't be entirely sui generis.
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:50 AM on January 20, 2019 [5 favorites]
Fox News’ Chris Wallace calls out Mike Pence for blaming Democrats for shutdown: ‘You could open the government tomorrow’ (David Edwards / Raw Story via Alternet)
From Fox News Sunday.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:52 AM on January 20, 2019 [43 favorites]
From Fox News Sunday.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:52 AM on January 20, 2019 [43 favorites]
Steve Bullock is the current Democratic governor of Montana and he's term limited. So he's probably running for Senate in 2020 or president.
His approval rating is 54% and his net approval is +26.
posted by chris24 at 9:52 AM on January 20, 2019 [13 favorites]
His approval rating is 54% and his net approval is +26.
posted by chris24 at 9:52 AM on January 20, 2019 [13 favorites]
I think it's because Tester is the sort of sui generis candidate that can win in a blood red state that we don't really have a model for recreating. He's like Manchin if Manchin actually held Democratic positions.
Montana also has a greater number of federal workers per capita than West Virginia, which is a non-insubstantial factor.
posted by C'est la D.C. at 9:58 AM on January 20, 2019 [4 favorites]
Montana also has a greater number of federal workers per capita than West Virginia, which is a non-insubstantial factor.
posted by C'est la D.C. at 9:58 AM on January 20, 2019 [4 favorites]
The Wall is a wedge issue and like abortion and gay marriage and bathroom bills before it the Republicans may not even want the issue solved so long as it turns out their base. From that perspective everything so far makes a lot more sense.
But unlike those issues the Wall has the disadvantage of being utterly incoherent as policy, impracticable in execution, and ludicrously wasteful of revenue. Both blanket abortion illegality and not recognizing gay marriage have prior art in American history: they're horrible, hurtful ideas but fairly unambiguously straightforward to enshrine in law with little immediate outlay of revenue. Bathroom bills are a bit messier: outside of schools, gyms, and other facilities where some record of participants' genders is kept it's not clear how they'd be implemented (nobody actually wants the "gender police" hovering inside mall bathrooms to assess your sex, I don't think), but even there the implementation-level details can be stated somehow and in a way which looks vaguely revenue-neutral. Basically, even though these things may be political pie-in-the-sky, they're logistically plausible enough to be put forward as suggestions which some (terrible) segment of the population can believe that, if their political will is strong enough, could actually happen.
By contrast, I find it hard to imagine anyone who knows anything at all about construction thinks the problem with the Wall is political wlll. It's a huge undertaking, which would have massive cost both for construction and upkeep, which would take years to finish no matter how badly people wanted it, and on which major logistical questions remain unanswered still. It's pie-in-the-sky not only as a political undertaking but also as a practical one.
posted by jackbishop at 10:00 AM on January 20, 2019 [6 favorites]
But unlike those issues the Wall has the disadvantage of being utterly incoherent as policy, impracticable in execution, and ludicrously wasteful of revenue. Both blanket abortion illegality and not recognizing gay marriage have prior art in American history: they're horrible, hurtful ideas but fairly unambiguously straightforward to enshrine in law with little immediate outlay of revenue. Bathroom bills are a bit messier: outside of schools, gyms, and other facilities where some record of participants' genders is kept it's not clear how they'd be implemented (nobody actually wants the "gender police" hovering inside mall bathrooms to assess your sex, I don't think), but even there the implementation-level details can be stated somehow and in a way which looks vaguely revenue-neutral. Basically, even though these things may be political pie-in-the-sky, they're logistically plausible enough to be put forward as suggestions which some (terrible) segment of the population can believe that, if their political will is strong enough, could actually happen.
By contrast, I find it hard to imagine anyone who knows anything at all about construction thinks the problem with the Wall is political wlll. It's a huge undertaking, which would have massive cost both for construction and upkeep, which would take years to finish no matter how badly people wanted it, and on which major logistical questions remain unanswered still. It's pie-in-the-sky not only as a political undertaking but also as a practical one.
posted by jackbishop at 10:00 AM on January 20, 2019 [6 favorites]
Trump, Mueller and the lessons of history: Special prosecutors "are incapable of saving us" (Andrew O'Hehir, Salon)
"Legal scholar Andrew Coan says Mueller's survival is a tribute to democracy — but don't look to him as a savior"posted by ZeusHumms at 10:02 AM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
...
What do you think will come out of the Mueller investigation? What do you hope will come out of it?
I’m going to punt on that. It would be irresponsible to speculate on that question. But I will say that the reason we have these investigations is to find out what happened. I think that both liberals and conservatives have tended to think about this in the wrong way. I think it's become an article of faith among liberals that if Mueller's allowed to complete his investigation he's going to produce a really damaging report. I think conservatives secretly share this belief, which is why we see them attacking Robert Mueller so relentlessly. I mean, you don't typically attempt to destroy the person that you think is about to exonerate you.
But I don't think we know enough to be confident that this report will in fact be as damaging as either side assumes. There are a lot of key questions that we don't yet know the answers to. There's a huge amount of smoke here, and there seems almost certain to be some kind of fire. But exactly how big that fire is, who's involved and who started it, we really don't know yet.
Sherrod Brown is another in Ohio. Jason Kander even though he lost and I'm not sure he's got another run in him. Mayor Pete Buttigeg, maybe. There is a mold of blue collar, working class focused, unfortunately almost all white guy Democrats that are out performing the national party in red states. Which makes it really unfortunate Democrats abandoned organized labor in the 90s, imagine how many more Testers and Browns and Bullocks we could have on the bench if that hadn't happened.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:05 AM on January 20, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:05 AM on January 20, 2019 [10 favorites]
Steve Bullock is the current Democratic governor of Montana and he's term limited. So he's probably running for Senate in 2020 or president.
Scuttlebutt up here is that Bullock is indeed planning on a Senate run.
posted by NoxAeternum at 10:14 AM on January 20, 2019 [9 favorites]
Scuttlebutt up here is that Bullock is indeed planning on a Senate run.
posted by NoxAeternum at 10:14 AM on January 20, 2019 [9 favorites]
Bloomberg: Trump-Kim February Summit Expected to Take Place in Vietnam.
"Administration officials are planning for President Donald Trump’s second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to take place in Vietnam, said people familiar with the plans. […] The February summit is likely to take place in Hanoi, the capital, but Danang, site of the 2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, and Ho Chi Minh City in the country’s south have also been discussed as possible venues."
Like a crap used car salesman, Trump's been bloviating about having "made a lot of progress that has not been reported by the media" without mentioning any actual details of that progress. (video)
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:16 AM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
"Administration officials are planning for President Donald Trump’s second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to take place in Vietnam, said people familiar with the plans. […] The February summit is likely to take place in Hanoi, the capital, but Danang, site of the 2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, and Ho Chi Minh City in the country’s south have also been discussed as possible venues."
Like a crap used car salesman, Trump's been bloviating about having "made a lot of progress that has not been reported by the media" without mentioning any actual details of that progress. (video)
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:16 AM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
Picking up on earlier thoughts that the only actually sane (if evil) leverage is McConnell and the Republican Senators, and our best chance forward is to force a bill through the Senate first, whereupon Trump has to actually veto it:
Does anyone know of an organization or website that is collecting the opinions of each Republican Senator on McConnell's no-bill strategy? That is, what do their offices say when you ask them "Do you approve of McConnell refusing to bring to a vote the funding bill you already voted for?" I can think of lots of ways to dodge the question, but I'm a bit curious what their flacks actually say, and how many of them outright say Yes vs dodging. I'm also curious what they individually say to "Do you agree with McConnell's new rule for the Senate that no bills should ever be brought to floor unless they are already approved by the President?" That's a pretty big change in Senate rules and there too it's hard to believe any Republican Senator can outright say they approve of that.
My guess is that responding to these sorts of questions is tricky for many Republicans, hence the new plan to pass Trump's new "compromise" in the Senate, at which point the whole "no bills" strategy can be dropped in favor of "the Senate and President back this compromise bill, why won't the House," which is a much safer position for Republicans to be in. At that point we have a Senate bill and a House bill, and we're almost back in familiar House-Senate reconciliation committee territory, which much as both sides will dislike it, is probably the most realistic path to getting out of this mess. But in the meantime, I'd still like to put the R Senators on the spot about McConnell's bullshit new rules, or see what they've already said about it if anyone knows where that might be.
posted by chortly at 10:20 AM on January 20, 2019 [13 favorites]
Does anyone know of an organization or website that is collecting the opinions of each Republican Senator on McConnell's no-bill strategy? That is, what do their offices say when you ask them "Do you approve of McConnell refusing to bring to a vote the funding bill you already voted for?" I can think of lots of ways to dodge the question, but I'm a bit curious what their flacks actually say, and how many of them outright say Yes vs dodging. I'm also curious what they individually say to "Do you agree with McConnell's new rule for the Senate that no bills should ever be brought to floor unless they are already approved by the President?" That's a pretty big change in Senate rules and there too it's hard to believe any Republican Senator can outright say they approve of that.
My guess is that responding to these sorts of questions is tricky for many Republicans, hence the new plan to pass Trump's new "compromise" in the Senate, at which point the whole "no bills" strategy can be dropped in favor of "the Senate and President back this compromise bill, why won't the House," which is a much safer position for Republicans to be in. At that point we have a Senate bill and a House bill, and we're almost back in familiar House-Senate reconciliation committee territory, which much as both sides will dislike it, is probably the most realistic path to getting out of this mess. But in the meantime, I'd still like to put the R Senators on the spot about McConnell's bullshit new rules, or see what they've already said about it if anyone knows where that might be.
posted by chortly at 10:20 AM on January 20, 2019 [13 favorites]
Basically, even though these things may be political pie-in-the-sky, they're logistically plausible enough to be put forward as suggestions which some (terrible) segment of the population can believe that, if their political will is strong enough, could actually happen.
Yes, this. Anti-civil-rights laws can be enforced socially as well as legally. Same-sex marriage being legal doesn't make it available everywhere until you have higher courts willing to override local community restrictions; abortion rights don't bring access to abortion clinics; legal access to school bathrooms doesn't help a kid get through a gauntlet of scowling, punching co-students. The bigots just need a figleaf of legality - or a hands-off approach from the higher courts - to enforce the rules they want to happen.
The wall, OTOH, requires a tremendous outlay of money AND it's not something that bigots in Idaho - or even bigots in Texas - can strengthen just by the power of their will and going about their daily lives. A lot of rich powermongers are pushing "the wall" as equivalent to "anti-abortion" or "fight the gay agenda" as if the average evangelical Nazi could make it happen and keep it functioning just by maintaining their hate level, and it really can't work that way.
I almost want them to grab some useful concessions for the wall ("extend DACA" is not it) and then spend the next two decades pointing to "Trump's Folly" and telling everyone how the Republican party wants to waste taxpayer money on drama-projects that don't help anyone. (The meme possibilities for a rusting and partially-broken wall are amazing.)
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 10:25 AM on January 20, 2019 [9 favorites]
Yes, this. Anti-civil-rights laws can be enforced socially as well as legally. Same-sex marriage being legal doesn't make it available everywhere until you have higher courts willing to override local community restrictions; abortion rights don't bring access to abortion clinics; legal access to school bathrooms doesn't help a kid get through a gauntlet of scowling, punching co-students. The bigots just need a figleaf of legality - or a hands-off approach from the higher courts - to enforce the rules they want to happen.
The wall, OTOH, requires a tremendous outlay of money AND it's not something that bigots in Idaho - or even bigots in Texas - can strengthen just by the power of their will and going about their daily lives. A lot of rich powermongers are pushing "the wall" as equivalent to "anti-abortion" or "fight the gay agenda" as if the average evangelical Nazi could make it happen and keep it functioning just by maintaining their hate level, and it really can't work that way.
I almost want them to grab some useful concessions for the wall ("extend DACA" is not it) and then spend the next two decades pointing to "Trump's Folly" and telling everyone how the Republican party wants to waste taxpayer money on drama-projects that don't help anyone. (The meme possibilities for a rusting and partially-broken wall are amazing.)
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 10:25 AM on January 20, 2019 [9 favorites]
There is a mold of blue collar, working class focused, unfortunately almost all white guy Democrats that are out performing the national party in red states.Abby Finkenauer, the 29-year-old Democrat who recently unseated a Republican in Iowa's first congressional district, is very much in that mold. I don't know how she would play nationally, though, and I don't know if she has national ambitions. (I wouldn't be surprised if she were eyeing Chuck Grassley's Senate seat in 2022.) I strongly suspect that the left wing of the party would denounce her as a neoliberal shill for things that they would let slide in a dude with the same political profile.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 10:38 AM on January 20, 2019 [9 favorites]
Bloomberg: Trump-Kim February Summit Expected to Take Place in Vietnam
Your friendly reminder here that almost all of the folks who'd have to support this trip (USSS, State, NSC, etc - there's a lot that goes into an overseas POTUS trip) are working UNPAID. Working without pay is insulting enough, flying halfway around the world and working massive unpaid OT is far worse.
Pompeo recently did this in the Middle East, and let's just say State employees aren't too happy - here's a good Vanity Fair piece on it: “This was the last straw”: State Staffers fume as Pompeo backs Trump in shutdown
These idiots are acting like everything is fine. YOU ARE NOT PAYING YOUR EMPLOYEES, THIS IS NOT FINE.
posted by photo guy at 10:42 AM on January 20, 2019 [49 favorites]
Your friendly reminder here that almost all of the folks who'd have to support this trip (USSS, State, NSC, etc - there's a lot that goes into an overseas POTUS trip) are working UNPAID. Working without pay is insulting enough, flying halfway around the world and working massive unpaid OT is far worse.
Pompeo recently did this in the Middle East, and let's just say State employees aren't too happy - here's a good Vanity Fair piece on it: “This was the last straw”: State Staffers fume as Pompeo backs Trump in shutdown
These idiots are acting like everything is fine. YOU ARE NOT PAYING YOUR EMPLOYEES, THIS IS NOT FINE.
posted by photo guy at 10:42 AM on January 20, 2019 [49 favorites]
To emphasise, the point of bathroom bills isn't to station gender police in bathrooms or whatever, it's both to empower the people who were already harassing trans people in bathrooms and to position trans people as "controversial" so you can attack our slow, hard-won progress. Left to their own devices, an awful lot of people think "well that's a bit weird, but whatever, I'm not an asshole" when it comes to trans people, meaning they don't really care when we convince insurance to pay or things or institutions to change our gender markers. Tell them these things are controversial and that they should be scared of us and they'll kick up a fuss.
posted by hoyland at 10:58 AM on January 20, 2019 [69 favorites]
posted by hoyland at 10:58 AM on January 20, 2019 [69 favorites]
Okay, so now it's obvious that the Russian asset in the oval office is actively sabotaging the nation with this pointless shutdown. But consider also that every single government employee in a sensitive position is now enormously vulnerable to compromise due to their dire financial circumstances.
I honestly can't think of a more effective way of sabotaging the economy and security of the United States from the office of the President than the course of action that President Trump is on.
posted by MrVisible at 11:04 AM on January 20, 2019 [31 favorites]
I honestly can't think of a more effective way of sabotaging the economy and security of the United States from the office of the President than the course of action that President Trump is on.
posted by MrVisible at 11:04 AM on January 20, 2019 [31 favorites]
Natalia Rybka is accosted and brutally manhandled by FSB the moment she touched down in Moscow after being deported from Thailand. She secretly taped Oleg Deripaska on his yacht with a senior Russian official talking about manipulating US politics.
Last april the reporter maxim Borodin fell to his death from his fith floor flat. Although mainly investigating Russian mercenaries in Syria he had also investigated political scandals, including allegations made by a Belarusian escort known as Nastya Rybka in a video posted by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
posted by adamvasco at 11:17 AM on January 20, 2019 [34 favorites]
Last april the reporter maxim Borodin fell to his death from his fith floor flat. Although mainly investigating Russian mercenaries in Syria he had also investigated political scandals, including allegations made by a Belarusian escort known as Nastya Rybka in a video posted by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
posted by adamvasco at 11:17 AM on January 20, 2019 [34 favorites]
Russian media monitor Julia Davis has further news: Anastasia Vashukevich, aka "Nastya Rybka," appears in Moscow court, says she regrets that her actions have compromised #Deripaska, promises that she won't disseminate any info about Deripaska and accepts blame for his enemies using her story against him.
Bill Browder continues: The Nastya Rybka case is standard Putin playbook. The regime can’t have mistresses & escorts talking about what they hear while sleeping with officials & oligarchs. They will make an extreme example out of her to make sure that no other person in her position will ever talk again
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:27 AM on January 20, 2019 [21 favorites]
Bill Browder continues: The Nastya Rybka case is standard Putin playbook. The regime can’t have mistresses & escorts talking about what they hear while sleeping with officials & oligarchs. They will make an extreme example out of her to make sure that no other person in her position will ever talk again
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:27 AM on January 20, 2019 [21 favorites]
It's also a sort of flanking move to attack anyone queer or who isn't appropriately feminine.
Of the handful of videos where a woman gets harassed out of a bathroom (once dragged out by police I think) I think pretty much all the women targeted were in fact Cis Lesbians of the Butch persuasion so this definitely rings true. It's main target is trans women, but it's work against anyone of any gender who doesn't conform.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 11:27 AM on January 20, 2019 [8 favorites]
Of the handful of videos where a woman gets harassed out of a bathroom (once dragged out by police I think) I think pretty much all the women targeted were in fact Cis Lesbians of the Butch persuasion so this definitely rings true. It's main target is trans women, but it's work against anyone of any gender who doesn't conform.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 11:27 AM on January 20, 2019 [8 favorites]
New from the Times:
posted by chris24 at 11:29 AM on January 20, 2019 [46 favorites]
Mr. Giuliani said in an interview with The New York Times that Mr. Trump “recalls a series of conversations” with his former lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, about the project during the campaign.So Trump admits pursuing a deal with Russia, a deal involving a *former* GRU agent, with sanctioned banks, and an adversary he knew was helping him win the election, up until he won. All while denying it in public, and after the FBI had warned his campaign about possible Russian interference. And after it had become a campaign issue.
“He can’t tell you the date” that it ended, Mr. Giuliani said. “There are no entries or phone logs” that indicated specifics, he added.
“The best he could do is, ‘We talked about it, I knew he was running with it, I honestly didn’t pay much attention to it,’” Mr. Giuliani said, characterizing Mr. Trump’s memory. He added that Mr. Trump recalled, “‘It was all going from the day I announced to the day I won.’”
posted by chris24 at 11:29 AM on January 20, 2019 [46 favorites]
Former FBI agent Asha Rangappa also points out: “And didn’t report either the deal or the contacts as the FBI requested in their security briefing, and lied about both”
It’s as though Giuliani’s strategy is to admit to Trump’s crimes and culpability because “if the future president does it, it’s not illegal”.
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:38 AM on January 20, 2019 [31 favorites]
It’s as though Giuliani’s strategy is to admit to Trump’s crimes and culpability because “if the future president does it, it’s not illegal”.
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:38 AM on January 20, 2019 [31 favorites]
I've always been of the opinion that of course he did it and of course there's tons of evidence because no one's ever gone broke betting on Trump doing the worst thing in the stupidest way possible. But how fucking bad must they think the Mueller report is going to be to be preemptively admitting to all this shit.
posted by chris24 at 11:46 AM on January 20, 2019 [39 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 11:46 AM on January 20, 2019 [39 favorites]
Trump, Mueller and the lessons of history: Special prosecutors "are incapable of saving us"
I dunno, you could make a good case that Archibald Cox and Leon Jaworski saved the U.S. from Nixon. The electoral process certainly didn't. And Congressional Republicans weren't going to do anything until the Special Prosecutors pried free the information about Nixon's secret taping system, and those tapes started to come out (or get suspiciously erased).
posted by msalt at 11:59 AM on January 20, 2019 [25 favorites]
I dunno, you could make a good case that Archibald Cox and Leon Jaworski saved the U.S. from Nixon. The electoral process certainly didn't. And Congressional Republicans weren't going to do anything until the Special Prosecutors pried free the information about Nixon's secret taping system, and those tapes started to come out (or get suspiciously erased).
posted by msalt at 11:59 AM on January 20, 2019 [25 favorites]
Buzzfeed is really strongly standing by its reporting. Combined with Giuliani's... whatever that was... this morning and now it's the SC's rebuttal that seems questionable? I think at this point we have no idea what's going on but Schiff better get out his subpoena pants and get to the bottom of this because clearly we can no longer wait.
posted by Justinian at 12:39 PM on January 20, 2019 [25 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 12:39 PM on January 20, 2019 [25 favorites]
Special Counsel's rebuttal was NOT a denial even though it's shamelessly and repeatedly being reported as such. It said that specific things were inaccurate, without specifically saying anything. The SC's motivation is unknown, but a categorical denial wasn't their intent here.
BuzzFeed broke the Steele Dossier, a document dragged through the mud repeatedly, yet findings in it have held up remarkably well.
It's a very weird world when BuzzFeed News is a trusted source, but right now I have no basis to think they aren't quite confident in this story, for good reason.
posted by mcstayinskool at 12:55 PM on January 20, 2019 [37 favorites]
BuzzFeed broke the Steele Dossier, a document dragged through the mud repeatedly, yet findings in it have held up remarkably well.
It's a very weird world when BuzzFeed News is a trusted source, but right now I have no basis to think they aren't quite confident in this story, for good reason.
posted by mcstayinskool at 12:55 PM on January 20, 2019 [37 favorites]
Both blanket abortion illegality and not recognizing gay marriage have prior art in American history: they're horrible, hurtful ideas but fairly unambiguously straightforward to enshrine in law with little immediate outlay of revenue.
Yes, that's my point: Republicans have had lots of chances to ban abortion but they prefer to just keep picking at it to keep the issue alive.
I agree The Wall would be a logistical nightmare to build and maintain and likely would be of marginal effectiveness, but would argue that the underlying point is that they have no intention of building it other than a few symbolic sections and I would bet they really would not mind talking about it for the next 10 years.
posted by Rumple at 1:01 PM on January 20, 2019 [5 favorites]
Yes, that's my point: Republicans have had lots of chances to ban abortion but they prefer to just keep picking at it to keep the issue alive.
I agree The Wall would be a logistical nightmare to build and maintain and likely would be of marginal effectiveness, but would argue that the underlying point is that they have no intention of building it other than a few symbolic sections and I would bet they really would not mind talking about it for the next 10 years.
posted by Rumple at 1:01 PM on January 20, 2019 [5 favorites]
Counterpoint to the idea of wedge issues being a thing: Republicans introduced 1000+ antiabortion restrictions since taking control in 2010, shuttered abortion clinics in every state they control, and made overturning Roe and explicit litmus test for all their judges. They do like to run on culture war issues instead of economic ones...but they also really do want to inflict the pain on women and minorities that their policies would cause. We know because they have, at every opportunity, and continue to propose and enact ever more draconian policies every year while never compromising or rolling back, ever. It's both.
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:11 PM on January 20, 2019 [77 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:11 PM on January 20, 2019 [77 favorites]
Yes, they have effectively kept it as a live issue by these 1000+ restrictions (which really do have an effect, I don't mean to minimize that) but they have not gone for their home run of banning it, or defining it as murder, or whatever else one would expect. (I realize it would certainly go to the Supreme Court if they tried to ban it - but they just had control of Congress and Presidency and have stacked the court, and they haven't even tried anything - as they also didn't when W was in charge).
Anyway this is a bit of a derail except I expect to see The Wall as Debate become a parallel issue over time and one of the lasting legacies of Trump.
posted by Rumple at 1:20 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
Anyway this is a bit of a derail except I expect to see The Wall as Debate become a parallel issue over time and one of the lasting legacies of Trump.
posted by Rumple at 1:20 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
I know food stamps can be a polarizing issue but there are 38 million people on food stamps who could potentially not get their benefits in March if this shutdown continues. That will be a lot of people going hungry because the two sides cannot come together to move things forward. About 44 percent of food stamps recipients are children.
posted by rocopoly01 at 1:30 PM on January 20, 2019 [21 favorites]
posted by rocopoly01 at 1:30 PM on January 20, 2019 [21 favorites]
That will be a lot of people going hungry because the two sides cannot come together to move things forward.
The problem with this statement is that only one side is willing to work on things, while the other side is sticking its tongue out and lighting itself on fire.
posted by Celsius1414 at 1:45 PM on January 20, 2019 [52 favorites]
The problem with this statement is that only one side is willing to work on things, while the other side is sticking its tongue out and lighting itself on fire.
posted by Celsius1414 at 1:45 PM on January 20, 2019 [52 favorites]
they have not gone for their home run of banning it, or defining it as murder, or whatever else one would expect.
Yes, they have. There are inactive laws in multiple states that have been found unconstitutional. Ohio and Iowa banned abortion after six weeks. Mississippi banned abortion after 15 weeks. Indiana allows homicide charges for a fetus. Ohio tried to pass personhood bills that would completely criminalize abortion TWICE. Don’t go around pretending that these laws aren’t being pushed as far as legally possible.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 1:46 PM on January 20, 2019 [90 favorites]
Yes, they have. There are inactive laws in multiple states that have been found unconstitutional. Ohio and Iowa banned abortion after six weeks. Mississippi banned abortion after 15 weeks. Indiana allows homicide charges for a fetus. Ohio tried to pass personhood bills that would completely criminalize abortion TWICE. Don’t go around pretending that these laws aren’t being pushed as far as legally possible.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 1:46 PM on January 20, 2019 [90 favorites]
>So Trump admits pursuing a deal with Russia, a deal involving a *former* GRU agent, with sanctioned banks, and an adversary he knew was helping him win the election, up until he won. All while denying it in public, and after the FBI had warned his campaign about possible Russian interference. And after it had become a campaign issue.
Not to worry, I'm sure the NYT and WaPo are even now writing up damning stories that use the words "lie" and "impeachment" without using "Democrats" in the title. With all this information smack in the public sphere such that anyone can parse it exactly so, why wouldn't they get all Times New Roman on it?
*dramatic pause* Oh yeah. Right, I keep forgetting. Hey - member that time when they were all "FBI Sees No Clear Link to Russia" and then got super fussy when it was pointed out how much free ink and support they gave the Turmp campaign?
>>Special Counsel's rebuttal was NOT a denial even though it's shamelessly and repeatedly being reported as such.
THANK YOU. Yes. That. That WaPo "deep dive" on the SCO "denial" is replete with "people familar with the matter" as the only source, and yet that's the same "source" BFN used so - ?? (We shouldn't trust anonymous sources unless they come from WaPo. Got it.) And it's a long article with many quotes from a source that's supposedly so familiar with the epically leak-proof office of Mueller. The WaPo is really sure the SCO statement was a full blanket denial of all things related to the SCO investigation in that BFN article. Which is great, but it wasn't, so.
posted by petebest at 2:56 PM on January 20, 2019 [26 favorites]
Not to worry, I'm sure the NYT and WaPo are even now writing up damning stories that use the words "lie" and "impeachment" without using "Democrats" in the title. With all this information smack in the public sphere such that anyone can parse it exactly so, why wouldn't they get all Times New Roman on it?
*dramatic pause* Oh yeah. Right, I keep forgetting. Hey - member that time when they were all "FBI Sees No Clear Link to Russia" and then got super fussy when it was pointed out how much free ink and support they gave the Turmp campaign?
>>Special Counsel's rebuttal was NOT a denial even though it's shamelessly and repeatedly being reported as such.
THANK YOU. Yes. That. That WaPo "deep dive" on the SCO "denial" is replete with "people familar with the matter" as the only source, and yet that's the same "source" BFN used so - ?? (We shouldn't trust anonymous sources unless they come from WaPo. Got it.) And it's a long article with many quotes from a source that's supposedly so familiar with the epically leak-proof office of Mueller. The WaPo is really sure the SCO statement was a full blanket denial of all things related to the SCO investigation in that BFN article. Which is great, but it wasn't, so.
posted by petebest at 2:56 PM on January 20, 2019 [26 favorites]
The Mystery of the Disappearing Security Clearance
President Trump tried to unilaterally strip a CIA director’s security clearance, but it’s still unclear whether he actually did.
Trump can issue these dicta (interdicta?) without any oversight or due process, whether they're effective or not, but caution dictates that they have to be treated as if they are effective. Consequently, there may as well be no due process at all.
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:59 PM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
President Trump tried to unilaterally strip a CIA director’s security clearance, but it’s still unclear whether he actually did.
Trump can issue these dicta (interdicta?) without any oversight or due process, whether they're effective or not, but caution dictates that they have to be treated as if they are effective. Consequently, there may as well be no due process at all.
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:59 PM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
My current theory on the Mueller office denial, is that they are hoping to ask Trump about this situation when they question him in person. They want to keep exactly what they know and the pile of evidence they have for what they know quiet--so that he'll feel more free to just lie as usual. With the Buzzfeed story public, he'll be more on guard on that topic and have more opportunity to spin obfuscation.
Regardless, it's a very, very, very strange situation and the digging in we've seen on both sides today makes it even more strange.
posted by flug at 4:04 PM on January 20, 2019 [8 favorites]
Regardless, it's a very, very, very strange situation and the digging in we've seen on both sides today makes it even more strange.
posted by flug at 4:04 PM on January 20, 2019 [8 favorites]
Regardless, it's a very, very, very strange situation and the digging in we've seen on both sides today makes it even more strange.
Which is oddly reassuring. Since the whole train went off the rails, NONE OF THIS IS NORMAL. So now the legal system is catching up with all the "NOT NORMAL" stuff, and of course, it's going to look "NOT NORMAL".
In other words, "Well you know it's gonna get stranger. So let's get on with the show."
posted by mikelieman at 4:22 PM on January 20, 2019 [6 favorites]
Which is oddly reassuring. Since the whole train went off the rails, NONE OF THIS IS NORMAL. So now the legal system is catching up with all the "NOT NORMAL" stuff, and of course, it's going to look "NOT NORMAL".
In other words, "Well you know it's gonna get stranger. So let's get on with the show."
posted by mikelieman at 4:22 PM on January 20, 2019 [6 favorites]
My current theory on the Mueller office denial, is that they are hoping to ask Trump about this situation when they question him in person.
That may be true, and if I have one criticism of the SC's investigation so far (based on my decades of experience not being involved in any form of law enforcement) it's that they've let the "subpoena Trump yes/no" question go unresolved so long. The longer they let Trump go without talking to him the more info is going to leak back.
If their plan was to hold this until they could ask Trump about it they done fucked up.
posted by Justinian at 4:23 PM on January 20, 2019 [8 favorites]
That may be true, and if I have one criticism of the SC's investigation so far (based on my decades of experience not being involved in any form of law enforcement) it's that they've let the "subpoena Trump yes/no" question go unresolved so long. The longer they let Trump go without talking to him the more info is going to leak back.
If their plan was to hold this until they could ask Trump about it they done fucked up.
posted by Justinian at 4:23 PM on January 20, 2019 [8 favorites]
He's a lifelong liar, and they already have the receipts. You don't need to ask Trump anything about anything to build a case, and it would be irresponsible to make a plan that relied on doing so.
No, but they can still plan on asking him things because he's a lifelong liar, adding them to the ever-expanding list of perjurious instances.
posted by Celsius1414 at 5:06 PM on January 20, 2019 [12 favorites]
No, but they can still plan on asking him things because he's a lifelong liar, adding them to the ever-expanding list of perjurious instances.
posted by Celsius1414 at 5:06 PM on January 20, 2019 [12 favorites]
Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to blunder about in the Middle East as it attempts to confront Iran, Haaretz reports: Trump's 'Arab NATO' Push Against Iran Comes to a Head, and He's the Biggest Obstacle—Next month, Washington will convene 70 world leaders in Warsaw in an attempt to form an alliance against Iran. But they all remember Trump's zigzagging policies
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:56 PM on January 20, 2019 [8 favorites]
In less than a month, officials from 70 countries will come to Warsaw for the anti-Iran show Pompeo is staging. It’s not clear what the conference is meant to achieve, since the administration has already taken the most important step – withdrawing America from the nuclear deal. Efforts to persuade the European Union to follow suit have failed, renewed sanctions have already been imposed, and even if their full implementation has been postponed until May, the message has gotten through.Incidentally, today officially marks the mid-point of Trump's occupation of the Oval Office—only 730 more days to go…
Usually, such a conference is convened prior to some diplomatic or military move. But this time, it seems to be an effort to maintain the anti-Iranian momentum, given that threats and pressure haven’t persuaded Iran either to reopen the nuclear deal or negotiate a separate deal on its ballistic missile program. […]
America’s diplomatic strategy, to the degree that it deserves that term, is operating on two main tracks. One is aimed at persuading as many states as possible to join the sanctions on Iran, thereby narrowing the gaping holes created by Iran’s ties with Russia, China and Turkey. The second is aimed at building an effective Arab coalition to block Iranian influence in the Middle East.[…]
The flowchart for U.S. policy against Iran in the Middle East requires it first to effect a reconciliation between the Arab states, then persuade Iraq to reduce its ties with Iran, push Lebanon to decide whether to make Hezbollah a partner in the government, see what can be done to end the war in Yemen and persuade Turkey to abandon its alliance with Iran.
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:56 PM on January 20, 2019 [8 favorites]
According to the NYT, many people remember Trump's zigzagging:
“I think he was always a terrible negotiator,” said Tony Schwartz, co-author with Mr. Trump of “The Art of The Deal.”posted by Little Dawn at 6:07 PM on January 20, 2019 [21 favorites]
That book, published in 1987, was intended to be an autobiography of Mr. Trump, who was 41 at the time. Mr. Schwartz said that he created the idea of Mr. Trump as a great deal maker as a literary device to give the book a unifying theme. He said he came to regret the contribution as he watched Mr. Trump seize on the label to sell himself as something he was not — a solver of complicated problems.
Rather, Mr. Schwartz said, Mr. Trump’s “virtue” in negotiating was his relentlessness and lack of concern for anything but claiming victory.
“If you don’t care what the collateral damage you create is, then you have a potential advantage,” he said. “He used a hammer, deceit, relentlessness and an absence of conscience as a formula for getting what he wanted.”
My theory on the sphinx-like response from Mueller's office about the Buzzfeed story is that it may be related to how important it is to maintain the integrity of the investigation, i.e. no leaks:
posted by Little Dawn at 6:27 PM on January 20, 2019 [4 favorites]
[...] special counsel Robert S. Mueller III does his job methodically, secretly and effectively, wrapping up one witness after another. Despite the Trump onslaught, he retains the confidence of most Americans. The Pew Research Center reports, “A majority (55%) remains confident that special counsel Robert Mueller is conducting a fair investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 election. Confidence in Mueller has held steady over the course of the past year, and there remains more confidence in Mueller to conduct a fair investigation than in Trump to handle matters related to the inquiry appropriately.”And I think this detail may also be important to note, in the context of how important maintaining the integrity of the investigation appears to be:
The reporter informed Mueller’s spokesman, Peter Carr, that he and a colleague had “a story coming stating that Michael Cohen was directed by President Trump himself to lie to Congress about his negotiations related to the Trump Moscow project,” according to copies of their emails provided by a BuzzFeed spokesman. Importantly, the reporter made no reference to the special counsel’s office specifically or evidence that Mueller’s investigators had uncovered.In this context, it looks like they didn't have an opportunity to respond in advance, and then took unusual action after publication to protect the integrity of the investigation from the appearance of leaks.
posted by Little Dawn at 6:27 PM on January 20, 2019 [4 favorites]
T.D. Strange: "Jason Kander even though he lost and I'm not sure he's got another run in him. Mayor Pete Buttigeg, maybe."
Kander has had struggles with depression, which is why he dropped out of the KC mayoral race; hard to say where he goes next. When Buttigeg finishes with his quixotic presidential campaign, he's going to be getting a lot of pressure to run for Indiana governor (up in 2020).
posted by Chrysostom at 7:23 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
Kander has had struggles with depression, which is why he dropped out of the KC mayoral race; hard to say where he goes next. When Buttigeg finishes with his quixotic presidential campaign, he's going to be getting a lot of pressure to run for Indiana governor (up in 2020).
posted by Chrysostom at 7:23 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
(based on my decades of experience not being involved in any form of law enforcement)
Heh. We've sort of normalised how I-1 has already handed out pardons to people who didn't deserve them, is reported to have offered pardons to key actors in the Russia investigation, and is in a position to pardon even more of them even before any indictments come out -- and that the offer of pardons might itself be obstruction of justice. When you come for the self-appointed king, you better not miss.
posted by holgate at 7:27 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
Heh. We've sort of normalised how I-1 has already handed out pardons to people who didn't deserve them, is reported to have offered pardons to key actors in the Russia investigation, and is in a position to pardon even more of them even before any indictments come out -- and that the offer of pardons might itself be obstruction of justice. When you come for the self-appointed king, you better not miss.
posted by holgate at 7:27 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
In this context, it looks like they didn't have an opportunity to respond in advance, and then took unusual action after publication to protect the integrity of the investigation from the appearance of leaks.
posted by Little Dawn at 6:27 PM on January 20 [1 favorite +] [!]
This rings true to me. As I recall, there is no law against investigators lying about the investigation, so this could be a lie in order to preserve a belief in the "persons of interest" that they are not implicated.
posted by Mental Wimp at 7:28 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Little Dawn at 6:27 PM on January 20 [1 favorite +] [!]
This rings true to me. As I recall, there is no law against investigators lying about the investigation, so this could be a lie in order to preserve a belief in the "persons of interest" that they are not implicated.
posted by Mental Wimp at 7:28 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
Shutdown imperils NASA’s decadelong ice-measuring campaign
The spreading effects of the partial U.S. government shutdown have reached Earth’s melting poles. IceBridge, a decadelong NASA aerial campaign meant to secure a seamless record of ice loss, has had to sacrifice at least half of what was supposed to be its final spring deployment, its scientists say. The shortened mission threatens a crucial plan to collect overlapping data with a new ice-monitoring satellite called the Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat)-2.posted by homunculus at 7:34 PM on January 20, 2019 [22 favorites]
This rings true to me. As I recall, there is no law against investigators lying about the investigation, so this could be a lie in order to preserve a belief in the "persons of interest" that they are not implicated.
It wouldn't be illegal for it to be a lie but I think the odds of that are so close to nil as to be indistinguishable. It could be a lawyerly parsing aimed at specific aspects of the story rather than all or most of it, though followups from WaPo and NYT have indicated otherwise. But a flat-out lie? I can't see it happening. Lying to a suspect during an interrogation (and I suspect Mueller's guys do even that very sparingly... these aren't beat cops working a corner man) is entirely different than lying to the American people on a matter of such national importance.
posted by Justinian at 7:40 PM on January 20, 2019 [6 favorites]
It wouldn't be illegal for it to be a lie but I think the odds of that are so close to nil as to be indistinguishable. It could be a lawyerly parsing aimed at specific aspects of the story rather than all or most of it, though followups from WaPo and NYT have indicated otherwise. But a flat-out lie? I can't see it happening. Lying to a suspect during an interrogation (and I suspect Mueller's guys do even that very sparingly... these aren't beat cops working a corner man) is entirely different than lying to the American people on a matter of such national importance.
posted by Justinian at 7:40 PM on January 20, 2019 [6 favorites]
lying to the American people on a matter of such national importance.
Especially when we already know that one of Team Trump's tactics is going to be claiming that Mueller is a lying liar whose investigation is full of lies. Any admitted deceit by Mueller, no matter how defensible, is going to be spun as tainting the veracity of the entire enterprise.
posted by xigxag at 8:09 PM on January 20, 2019 [6 favorites]
Especially when we already know that one of Team Trump's tactics is going to be claiming that Mueller is a lying liar whose investigation is full of lies. Any admitted deceit by Mueller, no matter how defensible, is going to be spun as tainting the veracity of the entire enterprise.
posted by xigxag at 8:09 PM on January 20, 2019 [6 favorites]
Immigration hardliners [including Ann Coulter] outraged over Trump’s proposed shutdown deal (Amanda Sakuma, Vox)
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:15 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:15 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
I don't think they're lying, but I think the vague response from Mueller's office makes sense as protective lawyerly parsing in the context of Wapo's follow up reporting:
posted by Little Dawn at 8:18 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
People familiar with the matter said Carr told others in the government that he would have more vigorously discouraged the reporters from proceeding with the story had he known it would allege Cohen had told the special counsel Trump directed him to lie — or that the special counsel was said to have learned this through interviews with Trump Organization witnesses, as well as internal company emails and text messages.The details could be the problem with Buzzfeed's story, especially given how Mueller's office emphasized "descriptions of specific statements" and "characterization of documents," but I read it as vague enough to deflect the appearance of leaks while also not confirming or denying much of anything.
posted by Little Dawn at 8:18 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
Good analysis of the DC confrontation in a short thread:
@IowaPeg:
@IowaPeg:
2 Videos show Nick is lying about Nathan Phillips.posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:33 PM on January 20, 2019 [23 favorites]
Phillips told AP he moved between the two groups to diffuse the tension.
This video is from pov of the BI group- clearly shows that's exactly what he did.
By the end you can see kids have surrounded NP
Bear in mind that just like The Wall isn't really a wall, "Trump Tower Moscow" isn't really a hotel in Russia.
In an organization like Trump's, influence-seekers are going to hitch their personal hobbyhorses to whatever bandwagon has momentum at the moment. So for Manafort, the Trump Tower Moscow is "getting whole with Deripaska," for Sater, it's the "Ukraine peace plan," for Cohen it's history's greatest money laundering conduit, and for Kushner it is, implausibly, refinancing 666 5th Ave. For the FSB and GRU, it's "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump." Only Trump thinks it's an actual building, but he doesn't distinguish that from a metonym for the whole farrago of corruption with which it's associated.
Frankly, I don't think it's safe to assume that the Tump Organization is capable of clearly distinguishing between the campaign and the tower project. So when they say it lasted up until the election, they might be talking about the campaign as a subproject of Trump Tower Moscow.
It's also worth bearing in mind that the "continuous shifting of rhetorical focus" endemic to fascist thought isn't just a propaganda tactic. That tactic arrises from a habit of sloppy thought. The same sloppiness will be evident when talking about the Wall, or Trump Tower. In one sentence the Tower is my pet project, in the next it's a literal building, and in the next it's an umbrella term for the whole mess. So maybe it was over in 2014, June 2016, or November, or it's not over at all, or all of those things are true or none of them.
Realizing that everybody was talking about it, but nobody agreed on what it was, will help explain why none of what we hear about it holds together consistently. It was never a clear and consistent thing in the first place.
posted by dirge at 9:09 PM on January 20, 2019 [67 favorites]
In an organization like Trump's, influence-seekers are going to hitch their personal hobbyhorses to whatever bandwagon has momentum at the moment. So for Manafort, the Trump Tower Moscow is "getting whole with Deripaska," for Sater, it's the "Ukraine peace plan," for Cohen it's history's greatest money laundering conduit, and for Kushner it is, implausibly, refinancing 666 5th Ave. For the FSB and GRU, it's "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump." Only Trump thinks it's an actual building, but he doesn't distinguish that from a metonym for the whole farrago of corruption with which it's associated.
Frankly, I don't think it's safe to assume that the Tump Organization is capable of clearly distinguishing between the campaign and the tower project. So when they say it lasted up until the election, they might be talking about the campaign as a subproject of Trump Tower Moscow.
It's also worth bearing in mind that the "continuous shifting of rhetorical focus" endemic to fascist thought isn't just a propaganda tactic. That tactic arrises from a habit of sloppy thought. The same sloppiness will be evident when talking about the Wall, or Trump Tower. In one sentence the Tower is my pet project, in the next it's a literal building, and in the next it's an umbrella term for the whole mess. So maybe it was over in 2014, June 2016, or November, or it's not over at all, or all of those things are true or none of them.
Realizing that everybody was talking about it, but nobody agreed on what it was, will help explain why none of what we hear about it holds together consistently. It was never a clear and consistent thing in the first place.
posted by dirge at 9:09 PM on January 20, 2019 [67 favorites]
Importantly, the reporter made no reference to the special counsel’s office specifically or evidence that Mueller’s investigators had uncovered.
This is the part that bothers me. I worked on newspaper investigative teams for eight years. More importantly, because of my skillsets (background in finance and data analysis), I often worked with young reporters when they were digging into potential investigations. Whenever you have a story like this, the *bare minimum* is calling involved parties for a comment. (Buzzfeed clearly did that.) But what rookies would often do is call and say, "I'm working on a story that says X," and of course the involved party would give a vague denial or a "no comment." And -- this is the key point -- that's what a novice reporter wants, a "no comment" that doesn't refute their story and therefore allows the story to pass muster with an editor. Hey, they got a chance to respond, right?
But that's not best practice. As a reporter, what you should do is go to the central players in the story and tell them *exactly* what you've got, and see if they can dispute the specific statements. As a reporter, you *never* give out a copy of your story in advance, but many times, on the big stories, I'd type up a bullet-point list of every fact that would be in the story, give it to the subjects, and say, have at it.
That's not to say you hold off if they dispute it. They will. But you want them to say specifically what they think is wrong. Most of the time, you get pushback but no denial of the facts, and you publish that story. But more than once, the response sent me back to do more digging, more analysis and I got a better, rock-solid story.
As I posted above, I know one of the reporters and he has done some great work, and he also has made at least one major mistake in his early days. So far Buzzfeed's reporting has been excellent and has stood up. What I worry is that the run of success might have made them a bit cocky, or earned them a bit too much lenience from their editor. A good editor will ask not only "how do you know this?" but "how do you know your source knows this?" And without a satisfactory answer, that editor will send the story back. I don't know if their editor had the experience or the courage to do that.
posted by martin q blank at 10:12 PM on January 20, 2019 [81 favorites]
This is the part that bothers me. I worked on newspaper investigative teams for eight years. More importantly, because of my skillsets (background in finance and data analysis), I often worked with young reporters when they were digging into potential investigations. Whenever you have a story like this, the *bare minimum* is calling involved parties for a comment. (Buzzfeed clearly did that.) But what rookies would often do is call and say, "I'm working on a story that says X," and of course the involved party would give a vague denial or a "no comment." And -- this is the key point -- that's what a novice reporter wants, a "no comment" that doesn't refute their story and therefore allows the story to pass muster with an editor. Hey, they got a chance to respond, right?
But that's not best practice. As a reporter, what you should do is go to the central players in the story and tell them *exactly* what you've got, and see if they can dispute the specific statements. As a reporter, you *never* give out a copy of your story in advance, but many times, on the big stories, I'd type up a bullet-point list of every fact that would be in the story, give it to the subjects, and say, have at it.
That's not to say you hold off if they dispute it. They will. But you want them to say specifically what they think is wrong. Most of the time, you get pushback but no denial of the facts, and you publish that story. But more than once, the response sent me back to do more digging, more analysis and I got a better, rock-solid story.
As I posted above, I know one of the reporters and he has done some great work, and he also has made at least one major mistake in his early days. So far Buzzfeed's reporting has been excellent and has stood up. What I worry is that the run of success might have made them a bit cocky, or earned them a bit too much lenience from their editor. A good editor will ask not only "how do you know this?" but "how do you know your source knows this?" And without a satisfactory answer, that editor will send the story back. I don't know if their editor had the experience or the courage to do that.
posted by martin q blank at 10:12 PM on January 20, 2019 [81 favorites]
I'm not a reporter, and have never been one. However, I would imagine in this case there was the extra pressure of suspecting the Special Counsel's Office might kill the story, regardless of its veracity, if they felt it impeded their investigation in any way. My imaginings come from my memories of all the shenanigans the Washington Post reporters pulled to get sources to back their stories in the movie "All the President's Men". I have no idea how well that jibes with reality, but the circumstances sure are similar.
One reason I suspect a parsing error is that if Trump and crew implied, or even directly ordered, Cohen to lie, but not in those words, I suspect it could hurt their investigation's credibility later if they didn't refute the accusation. If Trump merely said "Our business with Russia is officially done. Now go get me my hotel." then later Trump's legal team could claim Mueller had shown bias by supporting a claim with contestable evidence. The SCO's hands would be tied in terms of refuting the Buzzfeed story. This also jibes with their weird non-denial denial, which does make sense if the Buzzfeed story is a mis-characterization in a literal sense but a true description of what happened at the same time.
posted by xammerboy at 11:12 PM on January 20, 2019 [5 favorites]
One reason I suspect a parsing error is that if Trump and crew implied, or even directly ordered, Cohen to lie, but not in those words, I suspect it could hurt their investigation's credibility later if they didn't refute the accusation. If Trump merely said "Our business with Russia is officially done. Now go get me my hotel." then later Trump's legal team could claim Mueller had shown bias by supporting a claim with contestable evidence. The SCO's hands would be tied in terms of refuting the Buzzfeed story. This also jibes with their weird non-denial denial, which does make sense if the Buzzfeed story is a mis-characterization in a literal sense but a true description of what happened at the same time.
posted by xammerboy at 11:12 PM on January 20, 2019 [5 favorites]
Also, Trump's kids would be dumb enough to put "please lie to congress" in an email, but Trump's campaign staff and lawyers? I doubt they even knew anything. I think it more likely they were simply communicating the official line that Trump has no business with Russia.
posted by xammerboy at 11:23 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by xammerboy at 11:23 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
NYT, Book by Former Staff Member Describes a White House ‘Out of Control’, in which Cliff Sims, former communications aide and campaign staffer, has decided a book deal sounds like a profitable next step:
posted by zachlipton at 11:30 PM on January 20, 2019 [10 favorites]
John F. Kelly, as White House chief of staff, presented himself as the man leading a charge of “country first, president second.” The attorney general suggested administering lie-detector tests to the small group of people with access to transcripts of the president’s calls with foreign leaders. And President Trump sought a list of “enemies” working in the White House communications shop.Most of the descriptions sound like the same chaos we see publicly, though "country first, president second" is a fairly extraordinary thing for a chief of staff to say, let alone not succeed at achieving.
...
But Mr. Sims also describes painfully awkward interactions with Paul D. Ryan, the former speaker of the House, during efforts to repeal the health care law and after the Charlottesville white nationalist riots. During the legislative discussions, according to Mr. Sims, Mr. Trump abruptly left the Oval Office during a meeting with Mr. Ryan to watch television in the adjacent dining room, before returning some moments later.
When Mr. Ryan expressed displeasure with the president’s statements after the Charlottesville riots, Mr. Trump called Mr. Ryan, Mr. Sims writes.
“I remember being in Wisconsin and your own people were booing you,” Mr. Trump yelled, recalling Mr. Ryan distancing himself from Mr. Trump after the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape emerged in October 2016. “You were out there dying like a dog, Paul. Like a dog!”
posted by zachlipton at 11:30 PM on January 20, 2019 [10 favorites]
As to Cliff Sims et al. I suggest they re-read their dictionaries.
posted by vac2003 at 2:32 AM on January 21, 2019 [4 favorites]
We will always remember that they are fascists.
Hagiography:
a very admiring book about someone or a description of someone that represents the person as perfect or much better than they really are, or the activity of writing about someone in this way.
posted by vac2003 at 2:32 AM on January 21, 2019 [4 favorites]
Kamala Harris is officially running for President.
posted by PenDevil at 4:38 AM on January 21, 2019 [57 favorites]
posted by PenDevil at 4:38 AM on January 21, 2019 [57 favorites]
Pence Compares Trump to Martin Luther King Jr. (David Boddiger, Splinter)
He was on CBS News' Face The Nation.
He was on CBS News' Face The Nation.
And somehow, in Pence’s brain, or in the brain of whoever convinced him that this ridiculous stunt was a good idea, the spreading of fear and xenophobic paranoia about immigrants seeking a better life relates to the life’s work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Folks, the gaslighting has now reached interstellar dimensionsposted by ZeusHumms at 4:53 AM on January 21, 2019 [49 favorites]
From a longer Vox piece this morning on Senator Kamala Harris’ declaration to run:
Harris would be the first African American woman to be a major party nominee for the presidency if she ultimately secures the Democratic nomination. With her announcement, she joins trailblazers including Shirley Chisholm and Carol Moseley Braun, two African American women who have previously vied for the Democratic ticket.posted by Barack Spinoza at 5:05 AM on January 21, 2019 [19 favorites]
From the NYTimes article linked above by Little Dawn:
posted by mumimor at 6:18 AM on January 21, 2019 [72 favorites]
One example of that stamina — seen by others as evidence of unreliability — recounted in Mr. O’Donnell’s book, “Trumped! The Inside Story of the Real Donald Trump — His Cunning Rise and Spectacular Fall,” written with James Rutherford, involved the construction of an exclusive lounge at the top of a casino.He's been abusive, stupid and lazy all along.
Mr. Trump liked very high ceilings, according to the account. He screamed and cursed when he was told some ceilings had to be low to allow for pipes. He begrudgingly acquiesced. But he had forgotten by the time he next visited the construction site. He cursed again. Was reminded again. To the bewilderment of his executives, that cycle repeated itself several times.
Finally, toward the end of construction, Mr. Trump reamed an executive with vulgarities, leapt up and punched a hole in one of the low ceilings. “After that day,” Mr. O’Donnell wrote, “Donald never set foot inside it again if he could help it.”
posted by mumimor at 6:18 AM on January 21, 2019 [72 favorites]
This frequent cycle of [Get notion in skull -> Angrily insist on notion -> Be told it can't be done -> temporarily acquiesce -> Seemingly forget about impossibility -> Angrily insist on notion] seems to happen so much and it's as pathetic as it is alarming.
You'd expect it to end in one state or another -- a total acquiescence, or a permanent state of insistence on the bugaboo until it is (somehow) accomplished. But no, it seems like the yelling is what he cares about more than either living in reality or manifesting his brainfarts, or it's the result of personality traits in exact balanced opposition (causing him to rise and back down with equal degree).
posted by InTheYear2017 at 6:56 AM on January 21, 2019 [14 favorites]
You'd expect it to end in one state or another -- a total acquiescence, or a permanent state of insistence on the bugaboo until it is (somehow) accomplished. But no, it seems like the yelling is what he cares about more than either living in reality or manifesting his brainfarts, or it's the result of personality traits in exact balanced opposition (causing him to rise and back down with equal degree).
posted by InTheYear2017 at 6:56 AM on January 21, 2019 [14 favorites]
What Is the Far Right’s Endgame? A Society That Suppresses the Majority.
Nancy MacLean, author of an intellectual biography of James McGill Buchanan, explains how this little-known libertarian’s work is influencing modern-day politics.
Nancy MacLean, author of an intellectual biography of James McGill Buchanan, explains how this little-known libertarian’s work is influencing modern-day politics.
Tell me more about the relationship between Koch and Buchanan.posted by scalefree at 7:03 AM on January 21, 2019 [40 favorites]
I think too many people on the left have really underestimated Koch’s intelligence and his drive, and also misunderstood his motives. There’s been brilliant work by journalists, really good digging on the money trail and the Koch operations, but much of that writing seems to assume that he is doing this just because it’s going to lower his tax bill or because he wants to evade regulations, personally. I think that really misgauges the man. He is deeply ideological and has been reading almost fanatically for a very long time. I see him as someone who’s quite messianic. He’s compared himself to Martin Luther and his effort being like the Protestant Reformation. When he invested in Buchanan’s center at George Mason University, he said he wanted to “unleash the kind of force that propelled Columbus.”
This is not someone who’s just trying to lower his tax bill. He wants to bring in a totally new vision of society and government, that’s different from anything that exists anywhere in the world or has existed because he is so certain that he is right. I think it’s more chilling because it doesn’t correspond to the ideas we have about politics.
Right, like he’s not trying to get a particular person elected. You mention several times Buchanan was very against that idea, that the point was to get a particular person elected. The point, for him, was to change the whole system.
Right. You asked how the two men connected. I only have the documentary trail that I found. But from what I found, I believe that they first came in contact or first began to work together about 1969 or 1970, and that was in the context of the campus upheaval against the war in Vietnam, and for black studies, and so forth. Buchanan wrote a book about the campus unrest that applied his particular school of thought to it. Koch had an operation called the Center for Independent Education, and that center took Buchanan’s book and turned it into a kind of pamphlet that could be circulated more broadly.
In 1970, Koch joined the Mont Pelerin Society. Once he got in, he began to advertise his many different organizations and efforts and try to recruit and get people to events and so forth, through Mont Pelerin. Buchanan helped with the founding of the Cato Institute and with various other intellectual enterprises that were close to Charles Koch’s heart, like this thing called the Institute for Humane Studies.
According to the NYT, it's de ja vu, all over again:
The email did not mention that the article would also assert that Mr. Mueller had substantial evidence of the supposed presidential marching orders — a vital component that gave the story so much apparent heft.posted by Little Dawn at 7:07 AM on January 21, 2019 [4 favorites]
To be fair, Fortress Mueller has been a frustration for reporters. The special counsel’s office has kept leaks to a minimum while refusing, for the most part, to confirm or deny whatever report about its work is firing up the news algorithm. While its impenetrability may explain the BuzzFeed reporters’ casual-seeming approach, it’s not much of an excuse for skipping the steps taught in Journalism 101.
[...] Even after the special counsel’s statement on Friday night, Rachel Maddow of MSNBC speculated that it wasn’t a true denial. During an interview with Mr. Smith, she asked, “Do you have any concern that this statement from the special counsel’s office might be an effort to dissuade you and dissuade your reporters from pursuing this, even if it is accurate, either because it interferes with the special counsel’s investigation in some way or it is otherwise too uncomfortable for this Justice Department?”
Giuliani is always perplexing, but I really don't understand why he confirmed the heart of the Buzzfeed story after the Mueller statement came out. I guess because he knows it's true, and leaning into denial will be problematic later? It still seems like shutting up would have been an easier and more effective path for now.
posted by diogenes at 7:20 AM on January 21, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by diogenes at 7:20 AM on January 21, 2019 [5 favorites]
Pence Compares Trump to Martin Luther King Jr.
This is just one more step down a path of very purposeful neutering of King's message (and those of other civil rights leaders) by the descendants of the forces they fought against. They know what they're doing, and their followers want to believe that they would have been walking over that bridge because "Equality, yay!"
posted by Etrigan at 7:24 AM on January 21, 2019 [37 favorites]
This is just one more step down a path of very purposeful neutering of King's message (and those of other civil rights leaders) by the descendants of the forces they fought against. They know what they're doing, and their followers want to believe that they would have been walking over that bridge because "Equality, yay!"
posted by Etrigan at 7:24 AM on January 21, 2019 [37 favorites]
Giuliani is always perplexing, but I really don't understand why he confirmed the heart of the Buzzfeed story after the Mueller statement came out.
If Giuliani is meant to get ahead of the news, then I can see why he would confirm it in the middle of the Mueller denial. That makes the story so convoluted that it's hard to follow, and then hard for casual watchers to know what to believe.
posted by gladly at 7:26 AM on January 21, 2019 [6 favorites]
If Giuliani is meant to get ahead of the news, then I can see why he would confirm it in the middle of the Mueller denial. That makes the story so convoluted that it's hard to follow, and then hard for casual watchers to know what to believe.
posted by gladly at 7:26 AM on January 21, 2019 [6 favorites]
Trump’s Rhetoric Is Raising the Risk of Right-Wing Terrorism (Daniel Byman, Slate)
"We need to have a serious debate about the causes of political violence, before the next attack."posted by ZeusHumms at 7:42 AM on January 21, 2019 [29 favorites]
...
Right-wing extremists have embraced Trump. According to extremism scholar J.M. Berger, in the right-wing Twitterverse, “Support for Trump outstripped all other themes by a wide margin,” with #MAGA slogans and imagery pervading much of their content. ... All political causes have a loony fringe, but the president’s reaction to his most extreme supporters is at times sympathetic and in other cases a genuine question mark, in contrast to other leaders who openly rejected objectionable individuals and movements on their side of the political spectrum.
The president’s reactions, and nonreactions, make right-wing terrorism much more potentially dangerous. They give more attention to extreme voices and legitimate their cause. In addition, the Trump administration has not devoted resources to right-wing terrorism despite the danger it poses. As such, it is more likely to continue and has a greater political impact—the goal of terrorism.
This frequent cycle of [Get notion in skull -> Angrily insist on notion -> Be told it can't be done -> temporarily acquiesce -> Seemingly forget about impossibility -> Angrily insist on notion] seems to happen so much and it's as pathetic as it is alarming.
If this was a domestic violence case, this is the kind of defendant who would get arrested for violating the restraining order. This case includes a standoff, hostages, threats of harm and an ability to act on them, as well as powerful enablers who currently seem too scared to take coordinated action to address the threats of harm. If there were kids involved, CPS would likely be arriving by this point.
Similarly, it has been my experience that law enforcement reaches out when they are acutely concerned about the risks of harm, such as when there has been a standoff. I've been thinking about the motivation of Buzzfeed's law enforcement sources and why they would attempt to leak information, and given how present and real the risks appear to be, that may help explain it. As an attorney, it can be frustrating to only have paper and the rule of law to fight with, so I empathize with the instinct to accelerate the process, while also cringing about the potential negative impacts on all of the cases that may be brought in the nearish future.
And similarly, Guiliani's behavior may be easier to understand if he is seen as similar to an attorney representing a volatile, self-destructive client in a domestic violence case. Damage control is basically impossible with a client like this.
posted by Little Dawn at 7:50 AM on January 21, 2019 [9 favorites]
If this was a domestic violence case, this is the kind of defendant who would get arrested for violating the restraining order. This case includes a standoff, hostages, threats of harm and an ability to act on them, as well as powerful enablers who currently seem too scared to take coordinated action to address the threats of harm. If there were kids involved, CPS would likely be arriving by this point.
Similarly, it has been my experience that law enforcement reaches out when they are acutely concerned about the risks of harm, such as when there has been a standoff. I've been thinking about the motivation of Buzzfeed's law enforcement sources and why they would attempt to leak information, and given how present and real the risks appear to be, that may help explain it. As an attorney, it can be frustrating to only have paper and the rule of law to fight with, so I empathize with the instinct to accelerate the process, while also cringing about the potential negative impacts on all of the cases that may be brought in the nearish future.
And similarly, Guiliani's behavior may be easier to understand if he is seen as similar to an attorney representing a volatile, self-destructive client in a domestic violence case. Damage control is basically impossible with a client like this.
posted by Little Dawn at 7:50 AM on January 21, 2019 [9 favorites]
GoFundMe launches fundraiser for workers affected by government shutdown (Jon Porter, The Verge)
This is a direct relief fund run by the company itself which will distribute donations to a number of nonprofits helping the workers impacted by the shutdown.
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:59 AM on January 21, 2019 [14 favorites]
This is a direct relief fund run by the company itself which will distribute donations to a number of nonprofits helping the workers impacted by the shutdown.
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:59 AM on January 21, 2019 [14 favorites]
News You May Have Missed for 20 January 2019.
posted by joannemerriam at 8:09 AM on January 21, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by joannemerriam at 8:09 AM on January 21, 2019 [6 favorites]
Why 2019 Could Be Marijuana’s Biggest Year Yet
A green tide in Congress raises hopes that pot could be legal under federal law by year’s end. (Politico)
posted by Barack Spinoza at 8:20 AM on January 21, 2019 [6 favorites]
A green tide in Congress raises hopes that pot could be legal under federal law by year’s end. (Politico)
posted by Barack Spinoza at 8:20 AM on January 21, 2019 [6 favorites]
I don't know that the Koch-Buchanan article should be terribly surprising, although it is quite accurate. The Kochs and their ilk are clearly not card-carrying Trumpoids, though they've found him to be a useful idiot along the road to their goals, nor are they solely interested in profit, though it's certainly one of their primary aims.
History is littered with wannabe philosopher-king types who wish nothing more than to impose their own particular beliefs on society, to remake its caste system into their own flavor of meritocracy in which The Right People are in charge. Some have a distinctly religious approach to that, while others, like the Koches, are far more secular. (Though their fervor certainly approaches that of religious devotion; there's some quibbling to be made over whether you can have a religion based on ideals rather than anthropomorphized deities.)
It is authoritarianism in a nutshell; only _I_ and people who think like me are qualified to judge Right and Wrong, only _we_ grasp what's truly best for you, so only _we_ should be allowed to grasp the reins of power. Whether the gun being pointed at the masses is physical, economic, theological or otherwise is the differentiator between one authoritarian movement or another, separating Bull Connor from Rushdoony from Mencius Moldbug. It's only partially about personal gain; it is about control. And any means used to gain that control is legitimate to them, because it is all about the perceived desirability of their ends.
posted by delfin at 8:30 AM on January 21, 2019 [34 favorites]
History is littered with wannabe philosopher-king types who wish nothing more than to impose their own particular beliefs on society, to remake its caste system into their own flavor of meritocracy in which The Right People are in charge. Some have a distinctly religious approach to that, while others, like the Koches, are far more secular. (Though their fervor certainly approaches that of religious devotion; there's some quibbling to be made over whether you can have a religion based on ideals rather than anthropomorphized deities.)
It is authoritarianism in a nutshell; only _I_ and people who think like me are qualified to judge Right and Wrong, only _we_ grasp what's truly best for you, so only _we_ should be allowed to grasp the reins of power. Whether the gun being pointed at the masses is physical, economic, theological or otherwise is the differentiator between one authoritarian movement or another, separating Bull Connor from Rushdoony from Mencius Moldbug. It's only partially about personal gain; it is about control. And any means used to gain that control is legitimate to them, because it is all about the perceived desirability of their ends.
posted by delfin at 8:30 AM on January 21, 2019 [34 favorites]
President Trump Posts Altered Photos to Facebook and Instagram That Make Him Look Thinner (Gizmodo)
Does it matter if the president is overweight? Not really. But for a guy who’s constantly complaining about fake news, it’s pretty hypocritical that President Trump’s social media team is using photos that have been altered to make him look thinner and less wrinkled. It’s especially weird that his fingers have been made longer, which might lead one to believe that the president has had some input in these alterations. But, again, that’s just speculation at this point.posted by box at 8:52 AM on January 21, 2019 [44 favorites]
Trump's kids would be dumb enough to put "please lie to congress" in an email
While that's likely a bit blunt even for them, I can easily imagine direct instructions of, "don't mention X meeting" and "whatever they ask, don't tell them about this business deal." Or even, "Dad says it's important not to talk about Z." Not quite "instructions to lie to Congress," but very much telling a witness what not to say, with the obvious intention of, "and if they ask you directly, lie about it."
And it's also possible that they mentioned what to say instead of "I don't know" or "I can't answer that": something like, "If they ask about real estate in Russia, tell them we have no plans in that direction." And that is telling him to lie, but since it doesn't use the word "lie" or "perjury," I'm sure the Trumps don't think it's illegal.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 8:54 AM on January 21, 2019 [4 favorites]
While that's likely a bit blunt even for them, I can easily imagine direct instructions of, "don't mention X meeting" and "whatever they ask, don't tell them about this business deal." Or even, "Dad says it's important not to talk about Z." Not quite "instructions to lie to Congress," but very much telling a witness what not to say, with the obvious intention of, "and if they ask you directly, lie about it."
And it's also possible that they mentioned what to say instead of "I don't know" or "I can't answer that": something like, "If they ask about real estate in Russia, tell them we have no plans in that direction." And that is telling him to lie, but since it doesn't use the word "lie" or "perjury," I'm sure the Trumps don't think it's illegal.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 8:54 AM on January 21, 2019 [4 favorites]
GoFundMe launches fundraiser for workers affected by government shutdown (Jon Porter, The Verge)
I said, almost two years ago, we have to go forward assuming the federal goverment won’t exist.
I didn’t realize it woukd be this literal.
posted by The Whelk at 8:57 AM on January 21, 2019 [28 favorites]
I said, almost two years ago, we have to go forward assuming the federal goverment won’t exist.
I didn’t realize it woukd be this literal.
posted by The Whelk at 8:57 AM on January 21, 2019 [28 favorites]
Trump Makes Surprise Visit To MLK Memorial, Leaves After About 2 Minutes (HuffPo)
“The president addressed reporters during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day visit but did not mention the civil rights icon.”
He doesn’t deserve to stand at the foot of that statue.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 9:38 AM on January 21, 2019 [86 favorites]
“The president addressed reporters during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day visit but did not mention the civil rights icon.”
He doesn’t deserve to stand at the foot of that statue.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 9:38 AM on January 21, 2019 [86 favorites]
the BuzzFeed reporters’ casual-seeming approach . . . skipping the steps taught in Journalism 101
The Post and NYT are so all-in on the Buzzfeed hate-on that it seems like they're foreclosing on their own credibility if they were to confirm all or parts of that story at this point. I think this is what Jay Rosen talks about when he criticizes the press for believing the myth that they're "above it all," when in fact they're participating in the course of events through their editorial decisions.
posted by Dr. Send at 9:44 AM on January 21, 2019 [43 favorites]
The Post and NYT are so all-in on the Buzzfeed hate-on that it seems like they're foreclosing on their own credibility if they were to confirm all or parts of that story at this point. I think this is what Jay Rosen talks about when he criticizes the press for believing the myth that they're "above it all," when in fact they're participating in the course of events through their editorial decisions.
posted by Dr. Send at 9:44 AM on January 21, 2019 [43 favorites]
it seems like they're foreclosing on their own credibility if they were to confirm all or parts of that story at this point.
Largely agree. The big papers hate to concede that a small paper (or God forbid, a web-only upstart) beats them on something. They look lazy -- or worse, complicit -- if the story proves to be true. But you can be sure that the Post and NYT editors fairly flogged their reporters to get confirmation. (I've been on both sides of this equation.) That they haven't yet means either that Buzzfeed has better sources, or that Buzzfeed's are wrong. Given that Buzzfeed is based in NYC and its biggest stories have come out of there, I'm concerned it's the latter (SDNY types who have only second-hand knowledge of the action). But as someone who spent most of his career at small and mid-sized papers, I hope that at the end of the day, BF can rub the big guys' noses in it.
posted by martin q blank at 11:19 AM on January 21, 2019 [15 favorites]
Largely agree. The big papers hate to concede that a small paper (or God forbid, a web-only upstart) beats them on something. They look lazy -- or worse, complicit -- if the story proves to be true. But you can be sure that the Post and NYT editors fairly flogged their reporters to get confirmation. (I've been on both sides of this equation.) That they haven't yet means either that Buzzfeed has better sources, or that Buzzfeed's are wrong. Given that Buzzfeed is based in NYC and its biggest stories have come out of there, I'm concerned it's the latter (SDNY types who have only second-hand knowledge of the action). But as someone who spent most of his career at small and mid-sized papers, I hope that at the end of the day, BF can rub the big guys' noses in it.
posted by martin q blank at 11:19 AM on January 21, 2019 [15 favorites]
it’s not much of an excuse for skipping the steps taught in Journalism 101.
I always thought that ramming a stick up one's rear end was a masters-level class. Again, to cite Marcy Wheeler, Cormier and Leonard are operating with a different source network outside the constraints implicit in "elite" journalism's house style and use of access. That doesn't vindicate or condemn their work, but it also doesn't give the NYT or WaPo the authority to get snitty.
posted by holgate at 11:27 AM on January 21, 2019 [8 favorites]
I always thought that ramming a stick up one's rear end was a masters-level class. Again, to cite Marcy Wheeler, Cormier and Leonard are operating with a different source network outside the constraints implicit in "elite" journalism's house style and use of access. That doesn't vindicate or condemn their work, but it also doesn't give the NYT or WaPo the authority to get snitty.
posted by holgate at 11:27 AM on January 21, 2019 [8 favorites]
The same BuzzFeed writers broke this story a month and half ago and there's never been any pushback on it and everybody else ran with it.
The Trump Organization Planned To Give Vladimir Putin The $50 Million Penthouse In Trump Tower
posted by chris24 at 11:38 AM on January 21, 2019 [36 favorites]
The Trump Organization Planned To Give Vladimir Putin The $50 Million Penthouse In Trump Tower
posted by chris24 at 11:38 AM on January 21, 2019 [36 favorites]
Buzzfeed also broke this almost 6 months before any others picked it up. Trump Tower Moscow, Sater and Cohen's hijinks.
posted by Harry Caul at 12:11 PM on January 21, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by Harry Caul at 12:11 PM on January 21, 2019 [7 favorites]
NYT, Kenneth Vogel, Russian Oligarch and Allies Could Benefit From Sanctions Deal, Document Shows
posted by zachlipton at 12:24 PM on January 21, 2019 [22 favorites]
When the Trump administration announced last month that it was lifting sanctions against a trio of companies controlled by an influential Russian oligarch, it cast the move as tough on Russia and on the oligarch, arguing that he had to make painful concessions to get the sanctions lifted.I am shocked, shocked.
But a binding confidential document signed by both sides suggests that the agreement the administration negotiated with the companies controlled by the oligarch, Oleg V. Deripaska, may have been less punitive than advertised.
The deal contains provisions that free him from hundreds of millions of dollars in debt while leaving him and his allies with majority ownership of his most important company, the document shows.
posted by zachlipton at 12:24 PM on January 21, 2019 [22 favorites]
The Shutdown Is Making the U.S. Less Prepared for Hurricane Season (Brian Kahn, Earther/Gizmodo)
posted by ZeusHumms at 12:26 PM on January 21, 2019 [16 favorites]
Of all the trouble the shutdown has brought upon the weather community, this might be the most impactful. Putting the off-season on hold over Trump’s imaginary border emergency could result in real life-and-death consequences if a hurricane strikes U.S. shores this year.Oh, joy.
Last year saw two multi-billion dollar hurricanes hit the U.S.. The year before was the costliest hurricane season in history. Yet losses would’ve been much worse if not for National Hurricane Center (NHC) and the U.S. hurricane program improvements, ranging from narrowing the cone of uncertainty that shows a storm’s projected path to refining response plans. The bulk of those improvements happen at this time of year, when the odds of hurricanes are low and scientists and program managers can turn to long-term projects. The NHC, along with a host of other federal agencies from the Environmental Monitoring Center to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) analyze data, tweak forecasts and models, and provide training to local emergency managers, all so every American can get better forecasts and evacuation warnings.
All that has come to a grinding halt as the shutdown has dragged on.
posted by ZeusHumms at 12:26 PM on January 21, 2019 [16 favorites]
AOC Breaks the Internet by Dropping in on Charity Twitch Stream for Trans Kids (Sophie Weiner, Splinter)
posted by ZeusHumms at 12:32 PM on January 21, 2019 [40 favorites]
posted by ZeusHumms at 12:32 PM on January 21, 2019 [40 favorites]
From the Oneonta, N.Y., Daily Star, in the middle of I-1 country*:
In Our Opinion: Evil has an ally at the State Dept.
*Regardless of Delgado, who got an Ag seat -- yay!
posted by jgirl at 12:45 PM on January 21, 2019 [6 favorites]
In Our Opinion: Evil has an ally at the State Dept.
[A]s a career-driven opportunist, Pompeo is wiling to put loyalty to an erratic, isolationist president ahead of his country’s best interests.
*Regardless of Delgado, who got an Ag seat -- yay!
posted by jgirl at 12:45 PM on January 21, 2019 [6 favorites]
Rudy's brain worms would like to make a clarification:
My recent statements about discussions during the 2016 campaign between Michael Cohen and then-candidate Donald Trump about a potential Trump Moscow ‘project’ were hypothetical and not based on conversations I had with the President. My comments did not represent the actual timing or circumstances of any such discussions.
posted by diogenes at 1:27 PM on January 21, 2019 [10 favorites]
My recent statements about discussions during the 2016 campaign between Michael Cohen and then-candidate Donald Trump about a potential Trump Moscow ‘project’ were hypothetical and not based on conversations I had with the President. My comments did not represent the actual timing or circumstances of any such discussions.
posted by diogenes at 1:27 PM on January 21, 2019 [10 favorites]
Ok, that is definitely news, but it also definitely belongs in the hyucking hyuck thread.
posted by schadenfrau at 1:31 PM on January 21, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by schadenfrau at 1:31 PM on January 21, 2019 [3 favorites]
@courtneyknorris: NEW: TSA experienced a national rate of 10% of unscheduled absences compared to 3.1% one year ago on the same day. "Many employees are reporting that they are not able to report to work due to financial limitations..some airports experienced longer than usual wait times
Air travel seems to be on the verge of imminent collapse, and we're no closer to ending the shutdown.
posted by zachlipton at 1:33 PM on January 21, 2019 [17 favorites]
Air travel seems to be on the verge of imminent collapse, and we're no closer to ending the shutdown.
posted by zachlipton at 1:33 PM on January 21, 2019 [17 favorites]
WaPo headlines right now:
"Some Trump voters now blame him for government shutdown. While the president's relationship with much of his base remains strong, his ties are fraying with voters in key pockets throughout the industrial Midwest..."
But right below it we have:
"Senate Republicans all but surrender to Trump on wall despite shutdown’s toll. ... Under pressure from conservatives to help Trump deliver on a signature campaign promise and unable to persuade him to avert the partial government shutdown, these lawmakers have all but surrendered to the president’s will."
Which is it??
posted by Melismata at 1:37 PM on January 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
"Some Trump voters now blame him for government shutdown. While the president's relationship with much of his base remains strong, his ties are fraying with voters in key pockets throughout the industrial Midwest..."
But right below it we have:
"Senate Republicans all but surrender to Trump on wall despite shutdown’s toll. ... Under pressure from conservatives to help Trump deliver on a signature campaign promise and unable to persuade him to avert the partial government shutdown, these lawmakers have all but surrendered to the president’s will."
Which is it??
posted by Melismata at 1:37 PM on January 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
Some Trump voters now blame him for government shutdown ...
Senate Republicans all but surrender to Trump on wall despite shutdown’s toll ...
Which is it??
They're not mutually exclusive. What it's really saying is Republican lawmakers are acting against their best interests. Unlikely, but not impossible.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 1:45 PM on January 21, 2019 [6 favorites]
Senate Republicans all but surrender to Trump on wall despite shutdown’s toll ...
Which is it??
They're not mutually exclusive. What it's really saying is Republican lawmakers are acting against their best interests. Unlikely, but not impossible.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 1:45 PM on January 21, 2019 [6 favorites]
Between personal leave, special circumstances leave, and flexitime usage, a 10% overhead for unplanned absences isn't much more than what I budget for in my capacity as a workforce planner on a *normal* day. How little sick leave does a federal worker in the US get?
posted by MarchHare at 1:48 PM on January 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by MarchHare at 1:48 PM on January 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
Air travel seems to be on the verge of imminent collapse, and we're no closer to ending the shutdown.
Republicans have as much as said that's what it's gonna take before they will stand up to Trump.
posted by emjaybee at 1:55 PM on January 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
Republicans have as much as said that's what it's gonna take before they will stand up to Trump.
posted by emjaybee at 1:55 PM on January 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
From WaPo: Sen. Kamala Harris’s 2020 policy agenda: $3 trillion tax plan, tax credits for renters, bail reform, Medicare for all.
I'd prefer getting rid of the tax credit for mortgages rather than expand it to renters but, eh, whatchagonnado.
posted by Justinian at 1:56 PM on January 21, 2019 [4 favorites]
I'd prefer getting rid of the tax credit for mortgages rather than expand it to renters but, eh, whatchagonnado.
posted by Justinian at 1:56 PM on January 21, 2019 [4 favorites]
10% unplanned sick leave would be 4.5 to 5 weeks a year. That’s really high for unplanned leave. On top of the normal scheduled vacations and sick leave for things like surgery, I bet they are pushing towards 20% absent.
posted by meinvt at 2:02 PM on January 21, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by meinvt at 2:02 PM on January 21, 2019 [3 favorites]
Air travel seems to be on the verge of imminent collapse, and we're no closer to ending the shutdown.
I flew SNA -> SJC -> SNA last week, and the only thing that caused delays was all the people showing up at 6:30AM for their 9:30AM flights* because the news said TSA would be a disaster. Santa Ana and San Jose aren't huge airports, of course, but at least this point the "TSA is going to bring the country down!" rhetoric is a bit overblown, based on my experience this week.
* This had the knock-on effect of making all the food places suuuuper crowded and backed up, since what else are people going to do with 2+ hours to kill but eat and drink? I found out the hard way that I should have grabbed dinner on the way to the airport Friday night.
posted by sideshow at 2:42 PM on January 21, 2019 [4 favorites]
I flew SNA -> SJC -> SNA last week, and the only thing that caused delays was all the people showing up at 6:30AM for their 9:30AM flights* because the news said TSA would be a disaster. Santa Ana and San Jose aren't huge airports, of course, but at least this point the "TSA is going to bring the country down!" rhetoric is a bit overblown, based on my experience this week.
* This had the knock-on effect of making all the food places suuuuper crowded and backed up, since what else are people going to do with 2+ hours to kill but eat and drink? I found out the hard way that I should have grabbed dinner on the way to the airport Friday night.
posted by sideshow at 2:42 PM on January 21, 2019 [4 favorites]
Have any of the credible 2020 Dem candidates not endorsed Medicare for All? Seems like the Overton window on this didn't shift, it pole vaulted.
posted by Justinian at 3:13 PM on January 21, 2019 [32 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 3:13 PM on January 21, 2019 [32 favorites]
I'm curious: what would happen if Trump just showed up to give the State of the Union at the House of Representatives chamber? Setting aside whether he'd even want to do it or how everyone would know in advance so it wouldn't really be a surprise... but what if the Republicans showed up and Trump showed up? I know he technically has to be invited by the Speaker of the House, but would they stop him? How? Who? I have a hard time believing whatever Capitol police guards are usually there would stop the Secret Service and the President... or would they?
I'm sure Trump is much happier not having to "do the homework" of prepping for a speech, but he might also instinctively know his base would eat up the performative dickishness as Trump "playing by his own rules."
It's a weird thought experiment because when they let big things like the Emoluments clause slide, it seems like there aren't any mechanisms to stop these procedural norms from being broken too.
posted by bluecore at 3:33 PM on January 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'm sure Trump is much happier not having to "do the homework" of prepping for a speech, but he might also instinctively know his base would eat up the performative dickishness as Trump "playing by his own rules."
It's a weird thought experiment because when they let big things like the Emoluments clause slide, it seems like there aren't any mechanisms to stop these procedural norms from being broken too.
posted by bluecore at 3:33 PM on January 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'm curious: what would happen if Trump just showed up to give the State of the Union at the House of Representatives chamber?
The reason he won't do this is because, in light of it being unannounced, nobody will be there. Especially the all-important TV cameras.
posted by CommonSense at 3:37 PM on January 21, 2019 [22 favorites]
The reason he won't do this is because, in light of it being unannounced, nobody will be there. Especially the all-important TV cameras.
posted by CommonSense at 3:37 PM on January 21, 2019 [22 favorites]
I know he technically has to be invited by the Speaker of the House, but would they stop him? How? Who? I have a hard time believing whatever Capitol police guards are usually there would stop the Secret Service and the President... or would they?
POTUS doesn't need an invite to enter the chamber only to make the speech. So nobody would stop him from entering the House chamber. If he then started to make the speech one assumes Speaker Pelosi would rule him out of order. If he ignored her and continued, well, that's when it would get interesting. She would be within her rights to at that point instruct the House's Sergeant at Arms to present the Mace of the United States to POTUS to restore order.
If Trump continued, Pelosi would have to instruct the SaA to arrest the President. Who the hell knows how that would play out. I don't know if he even has that authority. The SaA of the Senate does if I understand the protocols correctly but I don't know about the SaA of the House.
But again the key point is that POTUS can enter the House without an invite just not give a speech.
posted by Justinian at 4:04 PM on January 21, 2019 [33 favorites]
POTUS doesn't need an invite to enter the chamber only to make the speech. So nobody would stop him from entering the House chamber. If he then started to make the speech one assumes Speaker Pelosi would rule him out of order. If he ignored her and continued, well, that's when it would get interesting. She would be within her rights to at that point instruct the House's Sergeant at Arms to present the Mace of the United States to POTUS to restore order.
If Trump continued, Pelosi would have to instruct the SaA to arrest the President. Who the hell knows how that would play out. I don't know if he even has that authority. The SaA of the Senate does if I understand the protocols correctly but I don't know about the SaA of the House.
But again the key point is that POTUS can enter the House without an invite just not give a speech.
posted by Justinian at 4:04 PM on January 21, 2019 [33 favorites]
Between personal leave, special circumstances leave, and flexitime usage, a 10% overhead for unplanned absences isn't much more than what I budget for in my capacity as a workforce planner on a *normal* day. How little sick leave does a federal worker in the US get?
Same, I staff for 20% over, but I also count training (initial and continuing) and miscellaneous routine requirements like occupational medical screening at the clinic in that 20%. I have a lot of training, so 10% unscheduled leave would start to make me unhappy and put me in a big required training and medical appointment debt that would crush me later.
posted by ctmf at 4:23 PM on January 21, 2019
Same, I staff for 20% over, but I also count training (initial and continuing) and miscellaneous routine requirements like occupational medical screening at the clinic in that 20%. I have a lot of training, so 10% unscheduled leave would start to make me unhappy and put me in a big required training and medical appointment debt that would crush me later.
posted by ctmf at 4:23 PM on January 21, 2019
On top of the normal scheduled vacations and sick leave for things like surgery, I bet they are pushing towards 20% absent.
I... would not approve any scheduled leave with a 10% unscheduled leave trend and service degradation. Approving that would be management malpractice. (On the other hand, maybe I'm not getting paid either, so I might stamp leave slips with yolo, lol)
posted by ctmf at 4:28 PM on January 21, 2019 [7 favorites]
I... would not approve any scheduled leave with a 10% unscheduled leave trend and service degradation. Approving that would be management malpractice. (On the other hand, maybe I'm not getting paid either, so I might stamp leave slips with yolo, lol)
posted by ctmf at 4:28 PM on January 21, 2019 [7 favorites]
As some might recall from recent years shenanigans and Dem floor protests, the majority party can just order CSPAN to turn off the cameras. That would remove any motivation for Trump to want to speak in the House chamber.
posted by phearlez at 5:26 PM on January 21, 2019 [26 favorites]
posted by phearlez at 5:26 PM on January 21, 2019 [26 favorites]
Wouldn't the leave have been scheduled before the shutdown?
posted by Mitheral at 5:31 PM on January 21, 2019
posted by Mitheral at 5:31 PM on January 21, 2019
If it comes to it, I’m sure the Senate Majority Leader would be happy to invite the President to give his speech in the Senate instead of the House. There aren’t as many seats, but they wouldn’t need many as Democrats (save for a few scalliwags) from both chambers would boycott the event.
Fun times.
posted by notyou at 6:09 PM on January 21, 2019
Fun times.
posted by notyou at 6:09 PM on January 21, 2019
Mitheral, all leave is canceled during a shutdown.
posted by wintermind at 6:57 PM on January 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by wintermind at 6:57 PM on January 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
Hypothetically:
On Sunday, Mr. Giuliani told The Times that Mr. Trump had said the discussions around the proposed tower were “going on from the day I announced to the day I won.” In television interviews the same day, he said that discussions about the tower might have continued up until November 2016 — the month Mr. Trump was elected president.These are fun times, indeed:
But on Monday, Mr. Giuliani, in a widely issued statement, said that he was making hypothetical remarks.
“My recent statements about discussions during the 2016 campaign between Michael Cohen and then-candidate Donald Trump about a potential Trump Moscow ‘project’ were hypothetical and not based on conversations I had with the president,” Mr. Giuliani said.
Giuliani told Fox News that Trump "had several conversations with Michael Cohen about the Trump Tower proposal. Cohen said the effort ended in January of 2016, and as far as President Trump knows, it ended then." However, Giuliani added that Trump can't say definitely when the proposal was shelved and answered a written question from Mueller to that effect.posted by Little Dawn at 7:02 PM on January 21, 2019 [5 favorites]
"President Trump remembers very little about this, and Michael Cohen keeps saying different things," Giuliani said. "There are no documents to reflect anything about this transaction other than a letter of intent."
The Trump Administration Quietly Changed the Definition of Domestic Violence and We Have No Idea What For (Natalie Nanasi, Slate)
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:34 PM on January 21, 2019 [70 favorites]
Without fanfare or even notice, the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women made significant changes to its definition of domestic violence in April. The Obama-era definition was expansive, vetted by experts including the National Center for Victims of Crime and the National Domestic Violence Hotline. The Trump administration’s definition is substantially more limited and less informed, effectively denying the experiences of victims of abuse by attempting to cast domestic violence as an exclusively criminal concern.Bolded emphasis mine.
The previous definition included critical components of the phenomenon that experts recognize as domestic abuse—a pattern of deliberate behavior, the dynamics of power and control, and behaviors that encompass physical or sexual violence as well as forms of emotional, economic, or psychological abuse. But in the Trump Justice Department, only harms that constitute a felony or misdemeanor crime may be called domestic violence. So, for example, a woman whose partner isolates her from her family and friends, monitors her every move, belittles and berates her, or denies her access to money to support herself and her children is not a victim of domestic violence in the eyes of Trump’s Department of Justice. This makes no sense for an office charged with funding and implementing solutions to the problem of domestic violence rather than merely prosecuting individual abusers.
Restoring nonphysical violence to the definition of domestic violence is critical. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports, over one-third of U.S. women (43.5 million) have experienced “psychological aggression” at the hands of an intimate partner. Experts have long recognized that the manipulative behaviors identified in the Obama-era definition as restricting a victim’s liberty or freedom can cause greater and more lasting damage than physical harm. ... In nearly every case, the bruises and broken bones eventually heal, but the psychological scars can last a lifetime.
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:34 PM on January 21, 2019 [70 favorites]
There's a lot of concern that the asylum changes in here could end up being very bad, but we'd need to see the actual text of the bill McConnell moves to understand whether or how that's the case.
Update: they're very bad.
@TheToddSchulte [FWD.us], tweets cleaned up by me:
As far as I can tell, they tried to present a reasonable offer to reopen the government, and then loaded it up with some of Stephen Miller's wishlist when it came time to file the actual amendment text in the Senate.
posted by zachlipton at 7:38 PM on January 21, 2019 [38 favorites]
Update: they're very bad.
@TheToddSchulte [FWD.us], tweets cleaned up by me:
NEW: POTUS's "offer" to re-open the government is up [1300 page PDF]. In at least 2 places I've seen, there was a huge effort to mislead press & public:One change would eviscerate the notion of Temporary Protected Status by making it only apply to those lawfully present. Another would make it impossible for Central American Minors to apply for asylum at the border, and then imposes a cap of 50k applications per year, of which only 15k can be granted, and the applications would be done by DHS, not immigration judges, with no appeals process. Many other changes would make the asylum process unworkable as well.
1) They keep calling this the BRIDGE Act. It is not, its just current DACA
2) This has *massive* asylum restrictions
I'm reading in real-time. On asylum: press release says "a further corresponding statutory change would be required to ensure the proper return of those who circumvent the process by coming to the United States without authorization."
NEW Stephen Miller addition: On page 417, there is a 20% expansion in immigrant jail beds. That is a massive expansion for the Trump administration's ability to keep families detained and part of their long-term strategy.
This is also *not* an extension for those who have TPS, despite that is how it was sold. It only covers 4 countries, albeit the largest ones in terms of TPS population, Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala & Honduras. Excludes all the African countries for example.
On asylum changes, There are at least 2 huge restrictions to asylum:
1) What they're selling as helping with in-country processing is in fact an unworkable program with a cap on asylum numbers and in exchange they will eliminate people's ability to claim asylum at the border...
2) They change TVPRA to that children from contiguous countries like the northern triangle who escape violence and reach the US can be immediately deported with a chance to seek an asylum hearing.
As far as I can tell, they tried to present a reasonable offer to reopen the government, and then loaded it up with some of Stephen Miller's wishlist when it came time to file the actual amendment text in the Senate.
posted by zachlipton at 7:38 PM on January 21, 2019 [38 favorites]
nycsouthpaw: The Republican bill containing the President’s “offer” to reopen the govt makes extreme changes to the asylum system, including forbidding entirely asylum applications by Central American minors at the border or other ports of entry.This is a significantly worse 'offer' than anything Trump has previously 'agreed' to and then reneged on, or anything proposed by Graham. It's a Fuck You offer designed to be unacceptable. Stephen Miller is the President.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:39 PM on January 21, 2019 [57 favorites]
As far as I can tell, they tried to present a reasonable offer to reopen the government, and then loaded it up with some of Stephen Miller's wishlist when it came time to file the actual amendment text in the Senate.
I think a real problem here is the White House has no one that can draft legislation other than Stephen Miller, or has delegated full authority over the boring draft portions to staff answering to Miller, likely because they literally don't have anyone else in the White House who is capable of focusing on a draft for more than 90 seconds without getting distracted by cable news and Twitter. It's a White House full of complete morons...and Stephen Miller, the lone, insanely racist, policy nerd. So no matter what Trump agrees to...Miller is the one actually drafting the policy.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:43 PM on January 21, 2019 [32 favorites]
I think a real problem here is the White House has no one that can draft legislation other than Stephen Miller, or has delegated full authority over the boring draft portions to staff answering to Miller, likely because they literally don't have anyone else in the White House who is capable of focusing on a draft for more than 90 seconds without getting distracted by cable news and Twitter. It's a White House full of complete morons...and Stephen Miller, the lone, insanely racist, policy nerd. So no matter what Trump agrees to...Miller is the one actually drafting the policy.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:43 PM on January 21, 2019 [32 favorites]
Rudy911 has either not asked I-1 because he's scared of the answer, or has asked and received answers so conflicting that the answers to Mueller were designed to accommodate all versions of the lies he was told.
IANAL, but it seems to me as if a lawyer who can't ascertain what his client actually did is not really lawyering. Or even playing a lawyer on TV. This gets into Harry Frankfurt bullshit territory:
posted by holgate at 8:01 PM on January 21, 2019 [12 favorites]
IANAL, but it seems to me as if a lawyer who can't ascertain what his client actually did is not really lawyering. Or even playing a lawyer on TV. This gets into Harry Frankfurt bullshit territory:
The liar is inescapably concerned with truth-values. In order to invent a lie at all, he must think he knows what is true. And in order to invent an effective lie, he must design his falsehood under the guidance of that truth. On the other hand, a person who undertakes to bullshit his way through has much more freedom.The US media (especially the political media) has a difficult time with bullshitters.
posted by holgate at 8:01 PM on January 21, 2019 [12 favorites]
The Trump Administration Quietly Changed the Definition of Domestic Violence and We Have No Idea What For (Natalie Nanasi, Slate)
So, for example, a woman whose partner isolates her from her family and friends, monitors her every move, belittles and berates her, or denies her access to money to support herself and her children is not a victim of domestic violence in the eyes of Trump’s Department of Justice.
Yes they did, didn't they?
One side effect of this presidency that I hope becomes a national priority is science on what abusers with power do, and what they cost us. We are f**king cavemen when it comes to keeping sadists and abusers away from positions of power, and discussions of it often aren't couched in dollar terms because it devalues individual experience. Well, we're all experiencing it now, so it's time to quantify it.
posted by saysthis at 8:13 PM on January 21, 2019 [32 favorites]
So, for example, a woman whose partner isolates her from her family and friends, monitors her every move, belittles and berates her, or denies her access to money to support herself and her children is not a victim of domestic violence in the eyes of Trump’s Department of Justice.
Yes they did, didn't they?
One side effect of this presidency that I hope becomes a national priority is science on what abusers with power do, and what they cost us. We are f**king cavemen when it comes to keeping sadists and abusers away from positions of power, and discussions of it often aren't couched in dollar terms because it devalues individual experience. Well, we're all experiencing it now, so it's time to quantify it.
posted by saysthis at 8:13 PM on January 21, 2019 [32 favorites]
IANAL, but it seems to me as if a lawyer who can't ascertain what his client actually did is not really lawyering. Or even playing a lawyer on TV. This gets into Harry Frankfurt bullshit territory:
This isn't really the case, there's plenty of cases where you as the lawyer can't tell what the client did, or wouldn't ask because having that knowledge would compromise the defense. An ethical defense cannot assert facts while having actual knowledge that those facts are false. Doing so is grounds for disbarment. A lawyer can do a fine job defending the client, without knowing whether they are truly guilty or not, that's not the point in a criminal case, the state has to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. The lawyer is there to challenge the state's presentation of the evidence, and present alternative interpretations, not assert something he knows not to be true. What Rudy is doing though, is inexplicable from a legal standpoint. He's asserting facts that he can't know without having talked to his client, in public, for no clear legal reason, and backtracking on facts he asserted the day or hour before, clearly compromising his client's interest. But he's not really mounting a legal defense, he's playing a PR strategy on TV, and we don't know yet how much his lies and changing facts can hurt Trump if this ever move to a true legal phase.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:18 PM on January 21, 2019 [8 favorites]
This isn't really the case, there's plenty of cases where you as the lawyer can't tell what the client did, or wouldn't ask because having that knowledge would compromise the defense. An ethical defense cannot assert facts while having actual knowledge that those facts are false. Doing so is grounds for disbarment. A lawyer can do a fine job defending the client, without knowing whether they are truly guilty or not, that's not the point in a criminal case, the state has to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. The lawyer is there to challenge the state's presentation of the evidence, and present alternative interpretations, not assert something he knows not to be true. What Rudy is doing though, is inexplicable from a legal standpoint. He's asserting facts that he can't know without having talked to his client, in public, for no clear legal reason, and backtracking on facts he asserted the day or hour before, clearly compromising his client's interest. But he's not really mounting a legal defense, he's playing a PR strategy on TV, and we don't know yet how much his lies and changing facts can hurt Trump if this ever move to a true legal phase.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:18 PM on January 21, 2019 [8 favorites]
Giuliani gave a batshitinsane interview to the New Yorker to try to explain why he keeps contradicting himself, and he's not helping: “Even if He Did Do It, It Wouldn’t Be a Crime”: Rudy Giuliani on President Trump
posted by zachlipton at 8:21 PM on January 21, 2019 [42 favorites]
The Times reported yesterday, “President Trump was involved in discussions to build a skyscraper in Moscow throughout the entire 2016 presidential campaign . . .”I'm just going to stop you there, Rudes, because we do know exactly what you told NBC on "Meet the Press" yesterday—they thoughtfully took the precaution of video-recording your words and beaming them out to the entire world because that's the fundamental purpose of their existence—, and there was no hypothetical or arguing in the alternative there: "Well it's our understand that they went on throughout 2016—weren't a lot of them, but there were conversations. Can't be sure of the exact date...Probably up to, could be up to as far as October, November."
He’s wrong! They’re wrong!
“. . . His personal lawyer said on Sunday.”
I didn’t say that. Go find out where I said that on Sunday. I never said he was involved in such conversations. I said the same thing I said to you, which is—
The quote in the story from you is that the “ ‘discussions were going on from the day I announced to the day I won,’ Mr. Giuliani quoted Mr. Trump as saying during an interview with The New York Times.”
I did not say that.
The Times just made that quote up?
I don’t know if they made it up. What I was talking about was, if he had those conversations, they would not be criminal.
If he had them, but he didn’t have them?
He didn’t have the conversations. Lawyers argue in the alternative. If we went to court, we would say we don’t have to prove whether it’s true or not true, because, even if it’s true, it’s not criminal. And that’s why Mueller will not charge him with it.
Does it matter to the American people if it’s true? We are living in a democracy here. We want to know these things.Click the link for more, including Giuliani making a weird reference to "tapes" and a well-timed casual "The Central Park Five? Trying to think of other people treated badly" by interviewer Isaac Chotiner.
That’s an insane question you just asked me. I am not saying that he did it. I just told you he didn’t do it. I am telling you that their investigation is so ridiculous that, even if he did do it, it wouldn’t be a crime. Now, would the American people be interested in it? Of course. There’s a big difference between what the American people would be interested in and what’s a crime. The American people can be interested in a lot of things people conceal that aren’t crimes. I’m a criminal lawyer. I am not an ethicist. And I defend people against unfair criminal charges.
...
Saying things for Trump, not always being truthful about it—do you ever worry that this will be your legacy? Does that ever worry you in any way?
Absolutely. I am afraid it will be on my gravestone: “Rudy Giuliani: He lied for Trump.” Somehow, I don’t think that will be it. But if it is, so what do I care? I’ll be dead. I figure I can explain it to St. Peter. He will be on my side, because I am, so far . . . I don’t think, as a lawyer, I ever said anything that’s untruthful. I have a sense of ethics that is as high as anybody you can imagine. I’ve been doing this forever. I am doing what I believe in. I may not always be right, but I am doing what I believe. And I believe this man has been treated horribly.
posted by zachlipton at 8:21 PM on January 21, 2019 [42 favorites]
wintermind: "all leave is canceled during a shutdown."
So if you had planned a couple weeks off to get married or something you not only can't take the time off but you are in some cases working for free?
posted by Mitheral at 8:21 PM on January 21, 2019 [6 favorites]
So if you had planned a couple weeks off to get married or something you not only can't take the time off but you are in some cases working for free?
posted by Mitheral at 8:21 PM on January 21, 2019 [6 favorites]
And here we were worrying that the whitehouse was going to make a really tempting offer to try and peel away dems in congress, lol.
posted by ryanrs at 8:22 PM on January 21, 2019 [19 favorites]
posted by ryanrs at 8:22 PM on January 21, 2019 [19 favorites]
Does McConnel still plan to being Trump’s offer to a vote?
posted by C'est la D.C. at 8:26 PM on January 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by C'est la D.C. at 8:26 PM on January 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
Click the link for more, including a well-timed casual "The Central Park Five? Trying to think of other people treated badly" by interviewer Isaac Chotiner.
I'm pretty stoked to see Chotiner get snapped up by the New Yorker (he was previously at Slate) because it looks like he'll have more opportunities for high-profile interview targets like ol' Rudy. I think one of Chotiner's main strengths as an interviewer is that he: a) actually listens to an interview subject's answers and reacts and asks follow-ups instead of just rattling down a list of pre-determined questions, and b) is willing and able to call people out on their BS and/or clown on them. Case in point:
posted by mhum at 8:49 PM on January 21, 2019 [66 favorites]
I'm pretty stoked to see Chotiner get snapped up by the New Yorker (he was previously at Slate) because it looks like he'll have more opportunities for high-profile interview targets like ol' Rudy. I think one of Chotiner's main strengths as an interviewer is that he: a) actually listens to an interview subject's answers and reacts and asks follow-ups instead of just rattling down a list of pre-determined questions, and b) is willing and able to call people out on their BS and/or clown on them. Case in point:
Do you—Also, bringing up the Central Park Five in the midst of Rudy complaining about unfair treatment was just *chef's kiss*. Rudy Giuliani shouldn't be able to appear anywhere in public without someone screaming "Central Park Five" in his face at least once every fifteen minutes.
But I can tell you, from the moment I read the story, I knew the story was false.
Because?
Because I have been through all the tapes, I have been through all the texts, I have been through all the e-mails, and I knew none existed. [...]
Wait, what tapes have you gone through?
I shouldn’t have said tapes. [...]
posted by mhum at 8:49 PM on January 21, 2019 [66 favorites]
Does McConnell still plan to bring Trump’s offer to a vote?
And if so, can this get all 53 R votes, or even break 50? But not that any of that matters: since McConnell et al. know that it will never get 60, it doesn't really matter if it gets 45 or 53 or 56 with a few D turncoats. Either way, they know that Democrats will decry anything that Trump would ever agree to, and either way they intend to use the vote to blame the Democrats for preventing the shutdown from ending. So given that, I imagine they reason that they might as well pass something juicy and lib-triggering as something more "moderate."
posted by chortly at 9:27 PM on January 21, 2019
And if so, can this get all 53 R votes, or even break 50? But not that any of that matters: since McConnell et al. know that it will never get 60, it doesn't really matter if it gets 45 or 53 or 56 with a few D turncoats. Either way, they know that Democrats will decry anything that Trump would ever agree to, and either way they intend to use the vote to blame the Democrats for preventing the shutdown from ending. So given that, I imagine they reason that they might as well pass something juicy and lib-triggering as something more "moderate."
posted by chortly at 9:27 PM on January 21, 2019
Mitheral, yes, that's my understanding based on the last few of these [shutdowns] we've been through. There's also a nice little twist in that many Feds take use-or-lose leave at the end of the year (a maximum of 240 hours of annual leave can be carried from one year to the next for most employees), and you lose those hours into the ether, too.
posted by wintermind at 9:29 PM on January 21, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by wintermind at 9:29 PM on January 21, 2019 [4 favorites]
- This makes no sense for an office charged with funding and implementing solutions to the problem of domestic violence rather than merely prosecuting individual abusers.
McClatchy DC, May 2017 - Massive cuts to Violence Against Women programs just ‘technical,’ White House says
WaPo, Feb. 2018 - Trump still hasn’t nominated a director for the Violence Against Women office at the Justice Department
The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Feb. 2018 - NCADV Denounces President Trump's FY'19 Budget Request
This administration would like to do away with that charge, the funding, any implementation of solutions, and the office itself. The new wording specifies:
The term “domestic violence” includes felony or misdemeanor crimes of violence committed by a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner, by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction receiving grant monies, or by any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction. [emphasis mine]
[Also, the NRA (with its keen interest in the Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban, aka the Lautenberg Amendment) may have lobbied for a briefer def.]
Lastly, nolo.com - Claiming Asylum Based on Domestic Violence
IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a changing area of U.S. immigration law. In 2018, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in a case called Matter of AB, undercut the possibility of claiming domestic violence as a ground for asylum. Then a federal court decision in December, 2018 held in the case of Grace v. Whitaker that Sessions had violated both the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the Immigration and Nationality Act.
The Nation, 11/28/18 - They’re Refugees, Fleeing Gang Violence and Domestic Abuse. Why Won’t the Trump Administration Let Them In?
NBC, 12/19/2018 - Federal judge strikes down Trump asylum rules for domestic and gang violence victims
TPTB sometimes do things out of sheer bloody-mindedness, but in this instance, for them, there was no downside to re-defining 'domestic violence' at the DOJ's Office on Violence Against Women.
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:38 PM on January 21, 2019 [28 favorites]
McClatchy DC, May 2017 - Massive cuts to Violence Against Women programs just ‘technical,’ White House says
WaPo, Feb. 2018 - Trump still hasn’t nominated a director for the Violence Against Women office at the Justice Department
The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Feb. 2018 - NCADV Denounces President Trump's FY'19 Budget Request
This administration would like to do away with that charge, the funding, any implementation of solutions, and the office itself. The new wording specifies:
The term “domestic violence” includes felony or misdemeanor crimes of violence committed by a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner, by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction receiving grant monies, or by any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction. [emphasis mine]
[Also, the NRA (with its keen interest in the Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban, aka the Lautenberg Amendment) may have lobbied for a briefer def.]
Lastly, nolo.com - Claiming Asylum Based on Domestic Violence
IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a changing area of U.S. immigration law. In 2018, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in a case called Matter of AB, undercut the possibility of claiming domestic violence as a ground for asylum. Then a federal court decision in December, 2018 held in the case of Grace v. Whitaker that Sessions had violated both the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the Immigration and Nationality Act.
The Nation, 11/28/18 - They’re Refugees, Fleeing Gang Violence and Domestic Abuse. Why Won’t the Trump Administration Let Them In?
NBC, 12/19/2018 - Federal judge strikes down Trump asylum rules for domestic and gang violence victims
TPTB sometimes do things out of sheer bloody-mindedness, but in this instance, for them, there was no downside to re-defining 'domestic violence' at the DOJ's Office on Violence Against Women.
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:38 PM on January 21, 2019 [28 favorites]
can this get all 53 R votes, or even break 50? But not that any of that matters: since McConnell et al. know that it will never get 60, it doesn't really matter if it gets 45 or 53 or 56 with a few D turncoats
The vote count on this will be interesting, it's bad enough on the asylum changes and TRS restrictions that no Democrats should be tempted to cross over, and there's real Republican constituencies like the Cubans who traditionally Republicans would not sell out. Who knows how much that holds now, but it wouldn't be that surprising for this proposal to not even carry the whole Republican Senate caucus, much less draw Democratic votes. Again, this is a total Fuck You proposal, they know this can't come close to passing.
Meanwhile a clean CR, or even a full year funding bill, would get 50 votes handily, and most likely draw a veto proof majority.
This is Mitch McConnell's shutdown. He's the ONLY person in America keeping it going. He has the power to override Trump at any time. Every federal employee and person that relies on federal programs that suffers, Mitch is directly, personally, responsible, in a way that is hard to attribute as directly to any other political figure in American history outside of a wartime order. Mitch McConnell is personally hurting millions of American citizens, and may kill some. It will end THE MOMENT McConnell allows a vote.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:45 PM on January 21, 2019 [44 favorites]
The vote count on this will be interesting, it's bad enough on the asylum changes and TRS restrictions that no Democrats should be tempted to cross over, and there's real Republican constituencies like the Cubans who traditionally Republicans would not sell out. Who knows how much that holds now, but it wouldn't be that surprising for this proposal to not even carry the whole Republican Senate caucus, much less draw Democratic votes. Again, this is a total Fuck You proposal, they know this can't come close to passing.
Meanwhile a clean CR, or even a full year funding bill, would get 50 votes handily, and most likely draw a veto proof majority.
This is Mitch McConnell's shutdown. He's the ONLY person in America keeping it going. He has the power to override Trump at any time. Every federal employee and person that relies on federal programs that suffers, Mitch is directly, personally, responsible, in a way that is hard to attribute as directly to any other political figure in American history outside of a wartime order. Mitch McConnell is personally hurting millions of American citizens, and may kill some. It will end THE MOMENT McConnell allows a vote.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:45 PM on January 21, 2019 [44 favorites]
Why does anyone think Guliani is coherent and acting as a lawyer? His only purpose is as media chaff; his point is just to suck up oxygen and airtime and repeat a few cult talking points
posted by benzenedream at 10:02 PM on January 21, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by benzenedream at 10:02 PM on January 21, 2019 [7 favorites]
House Judiciary Democrat: Kavanaugh Will ‘Likely’ Be Investigated for Perjury
Representative Joe Neguse (D., Colo.), a freshman member of the House Judiciary Committee, told constituents Friday that the panel will “likely” investigate perjury claims against Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh and may move to impeach him depending on their findings.
I thoroughly welcome a real investigation.
posted by adept256 at 10:08 PM on January 21, 2019 [109 favorites]
Representative Joe Neguse (D., Colo.), a freshman member of the House Judiciary Committee, told constituents Friday that the panel will “likely” investigate perjury claims against Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh and may move to impeach him depending on their findings.
I thoroughly welcome a real investigation.
posted by adept256 at 10:08 PM on January 21, 2019 [109 favorites]
James Fallows at the Atlantic has a short bit about the Coast Guard during the shutdown.
I'm at a loss: who would re-up after this? The agency is going to lose a lot of good people, and nobody seems to be even noticing. Not to mention all the CG families running short on food or risking eviction.
Is anyone in Congress trying to pass a carve-out for DHS?
posted by suelac at 10:34 PM on January 21, 2019 [11 favorites]
I'm at a loss: who would re-up after this? The agency is going to lose a lot of good people, and nobody seems to be even noticing. Not to mention all the CG families running short on food or risking eviction.
Is anyone in Congress trying to pass a carve-out for DHS?
posted by suelac at 10:34 PM on January 21, 2019 [11 favorites]
Hmm. Not saying I agree with it but I thought I'd post it anyhow, even though the present circumstances are significantly more urgent than parsing polls from the 2016 election:
American Conservative: "Why Ex-churchgoers flocked to Trump"
posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee at 10:58 PM on January 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
American Conservative: "Why Ex-churchgoers flocked to Trump"
posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee at 10:58 PM on January 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
Much like "internships" in the business world, government employment with no direct monetary compensation is an effective guarantee that the candidate pool is entirely comprised of the wealthy.
posted by yesster at 11:40 PM on January 21, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by yesster at 11:40 PM on January 21, 2019 [3 favorites]
Justinian: If he ignored her and continued, well, that's when it would get interesting. She would be within her rights to at that point instruct the House's Sergeant at Arms to present the Mace of the United States to POTUS to restore order.
That is an awesome bit of arcane ritual, thanks! If you didn't follow his link, be sure to check out the picture of the Mace, an actual physical object.
posted by msalt at 11:49 PM on January 21, 2019 [33 favorites]
That is an awesome bit of arcane ritual, thanks! If you didn't follow his link, be sure to check out the picture of the Mace, an actual physical object.
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"Sitting above the ebony rods of the mace is a cast-silver globe, which holds an eagle with spread wings. The continents are etched into the globe, with North America facing front. The eagle, the national bird, is cast in solid silver. … on the rare occasion that a member becomes unruly, the Sergeant at Arms, upon order of the Speaker, lifts the mace from its pedestal and presents it before the offenders, thereby restoring order."Is there ritual language for this occasion? I want the Sergeant at Arms to say "Desist from disorder or fear the mighty wrath of the House Mace!!"
posted by msalt at 11:49 PM on January 21, 2019 [33 favorites]
Perhaps it has been useful that a lot of interviewers just go through the motions, as in a way it has not trained their subjects to be able to respond to actual interrogation when it does happen.
posted by chiquitita at 12:36 AM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by chiquitita at 12:36 AM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
So I am currently up at 3:30am in order to catch a train from Boston to New York to take a flight to Phoenix because my original direct flight to Phoenix got cancelled, and then the new flight that would have gotten me to Philly so I could get to PHX in time to teach my class—- well, that flight had us sitting on the tarmac for four hours as a cluster of weather, maintenance, and airline stupidity delays occurred.
The final result was that we came back to the gate due to ATC giving us a “completely ridiculous delay that times out our cockpit crew”. By the time we got back to the airport and rebooked, no new seats were available out of Boston until Wednesday or possibly Thursday.
Upshot: ATC was the last problem in a string of issues, but I can’t help but wonder if the shutdown is the real culprit, cf. this article about the stupid situation they are in (some has changed, now they can use sick leave).
BOS has a very high cancellation (and slow cancellation) rate today, for a storm that was mostly yesterday. I think the air traffic decay is starting to be felt. Let’s find Mitch McConnell and put him in a plane on the tarmac until he ends this.
posted by nat at 12:50 AM on January 22, 2019 [15 favorites]
The final result was that we came back to the gate due to ATC giving us a “completely ridiculous delay that times out our cockpit crew”. By the time we got back to the airport and rebooked, no new seats were available out of Boston until Wednesday or possibly Thursday.
Upshot: ATC was the last problem in a string of issues, but I can’t help but wonder if the shutdown is the real culprit, cf. this article about the stupid situation they are in (some has changed, now they can use sick leave).
BOS has a very high cancellation (and slow cancellation) rate today, for a storm that was mostly yesterday. I think the air traffic decay is starting to be felt. Let’s find Mitch McConnell and put him in a plane on the tarmac until he ends this.
posted by nat at 12:50 AM on January 22, 2019 [15 favorites]
But in the Trump Justice Department, only harms that constitute a felony or misdemeanor crime may be called domestic violence. So, for example, a woman whose partner isolates her from her family and friends, monitors her every move, belittles and berates her, or denies her access to money to support herself and her children is not a victim of domestic violence in the eyes of Trump’s Department of Justice. This makes no sense for an office charged with funding and implementing solutions to the problem of domestic violence rather than merely prosecuting individual abusers.
So just yesterday I was catching up with a friend who was complaining about the process of dealing with the executor of a family member's will. He is, according to her "the kind of Christian who thinks women should be inferior" and refuses to have anything to do with her, despite her having a power of attorney authorizing her to handle matters relating to the inheritance. Her husband works out of town, but this guy insists on calling him about things the husband has no idea about, after which he calls his wife, she answers the question and then he has to communicate that back to the executor. If she tries to contact him directly, he refuses to talk to her.
My husband added the story of a grubhub team who service his restaurant where the husband does all the driving because the wife is not allowed to drive. She does the running of the food, but any discussion of business or complaints require you to go out to car to speak to him because she's not allowed to discuss business.
My point is, to you and I this move by the Justice Department seems nonsensical, but to a certain sector of this country, it's a move towards legitimizing their "faith-based lifestyle" and not letting people call it abuse anymore.
posted by threeturtles at 12:51 AM on January 22, 2019 [101 favorites]
So just yesterday I was catching up with a friend who was complaining about the process of dealing with the executor of a family member's will. He is, according to her "the kind of Christian who thinks women should be inferior" and refuses to have anything to do with her, despite her having a power of attorney authorizing her to handle matters relating to the inheritance. Her husband works out of town, but this guy insists on calling him about things the husband has no idea about, after which he calls his wife, she answers the question and then he has to communicate that back to the executor. If she tries to contact him directly, he refuses to talk to her.
My husband added the story of a grubhub team who service his restaurant where the husband does all the driving because the wife is not allowed to drive. She does the running of the food, but any discussion of business or complaints require you to go out to car to speak to him because she's not allowed to discuss business.
My point is, to you and I this move by the Justice Department seems nonsensical, but to a certain sector of this country, it's a move towards legitimizing their "faith-based lifestyle" and not letting people call it abuse anymore.
posted by threeturtles at 12:51 AM on January 22, 2019 [101 favorites]
[Giuliani] is not really mounting a legal defense, he's playing a PR strategy on TV, and we don't know yet how much his lies and changing facts can hurt Trump if this ever move to a true legal phase.
I'm not sure if Giuliani is supposed to know anything substantial in his own right; he's just saying stuff that he thinks or has heard. I think these statements would mostly be considered hearsay, but Giuliani's constant changes of story would make him an undesirable witness even if his statements turned out to be covered by some exemption.
posted by Joe in Australia at 1:02 AM on January 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'm not sure if Giuliani is supposed to know anything substantial in his own right; he's just saying stuff that he thinks or has heard. I think these statements would mostly be considered hearsay, but Giuliani's constant changes of story would make him an undesirable witness even if his statements turned out to be covered by some exemption.
posted by Joe in Australia at 1:02 AM on January 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
Well, that's nice: China Grants Ivanka Trump Five Trademarks As White House Continues Trade Negotiations With Beijing
posted by Joe in Australia at 1:09 AM on January 22, 2019 [14 favorites]
posted by Joe in Australia at 1:09 AM on January 22, 2019 [14 favorites]
I fly multiple times per week: Chicago, NYC, Houston, Cincinnati. I'm currently sitting in Newark. For the first time in years, I just got barked at by a TSA guy. The problem was trivial, which made it even more disturbing. The strain is showing. I literally told him a) I didn't vote for the motherfucker, and b) seriously, if he and his colleagues stopped working for free this would all be over faster. There are thousands upon thousands of us traveling consultants who fly every week. If we can't fly, our companies can't make money and our clients don't get the services they need. All of these companies understand the very real cost of this shutdown and they won't like it. They all make political donations.
posted by nushustu at 3:28 AM on January 22, 2019 [64 favorites]
posted by nushustu at 3:28 AM on January 22, 2019 [64 favorites]
Hmm. Not saying I agree with it but I thought I'd post it anyhow, even though the present circumstances are significantly more urgent than parsing polls from the 2016 election:
Notably, that story is about where Trump's primary support came from, rather than the general election. So it's specifically looking at non-churchgoing Republicans.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 5:49 AM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
Notably, that story is about where Trump's primary support came from, rather than the general election. So it's specifically looking at non-churchgoing Republicans.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 5:49 AM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
Vox: How Trump wins press conferences - YouTube (12:36)
Press conferences as ritual.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:13 AM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
Press conferences as ritual.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:13 AM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
Why does anyone think Guliani is coherent and acting as a lawyer? His only purpose is as media chaff; his point is just to suck up oxygen and airtime and repeat a few cult talking points
The question is, why do the TV networks keep booking him? What purpose do they think it serves? Is he seriously such a ratings boost that airing his obvious nonsense is preferable to not giving an unrepentant, unsubtle liar a national audience?
posted by Gelatin at 6:27 AM on January 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
The question is, why do the TV networks keep booking him? What purpose do they think it serves? Is he seriously such a ratings boost that airing his obvious nonsense is preferable to not giving an unrepentant, unsubtle liar a national audience?
posted by Gelatin at 6:27 AM on January 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
SCOTUS just stayed the 9th Circuit's order barring the military from discriminating against transgender servicemembers. 5-4, of course.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 6:37 AM on January 22, 2019 [18 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 6:37 AM on January 22, 2019 [18 favorites]
WaPo story on the Court’s ruling:
Supreme Court allows Trump restrictions on transgender troops in military to go into effect as legal battle continues
Supreme Court allows Trump restrictions on transgender troops in military to go into effect as legal battle continues
The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed President Trump’s broad restrictions on transgender people serving in the military to go into effect while the legal battle continues in lower courts.posted by Barack Spinoza at 6:56 AM on January 22, 2019 [18 favorites]
The justices lifted nationwide injunctions that had kept the administration’s policy from being implemented.
It reversed an Obama-administration rule that would have opened the military to transgender men and women, and instead barred those who identify with a gender different from the one assigned at birth and who are seeking to transition
The court’s five conservatives--Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh--allowed the restrictions to go into effect while the court decides to whether to consider the merits of the case.
Rudy911: I have a sense of ethics that is as high as anybody you can imagine.
Being a divorced Catholic, while he has a sense of ethics, he doesn't follow any ethical standards.
In the video of the exchange disseminated by a conservative advocacy group, Neguse did not explain which specific statement of Kavanaugh’s he believes constituted perjury.
I think the Kavanaugh Perjury "low hanging fruit" is his denials of being a violent, blackout drunk, and the testimony of his college roommate that Kavanaugh was a violent, blackout drunk.
posted by mikelieman at 7:10 AM on January 22, 2019 [28 favorites]
Being a divorced Catholic, while he has a sense of ethics, he doesn't follow any ethical standards.
In the video of the exchange disseminated by a conservative advocacy group, Neguse did not explain which specific statement of Kavanaugh’s he believes constituted perjury.
I think the Kavanaugh Perjury "low hanging fruit" is his denials of being a violent, blackout drunk, and the testimony of his college roommate that Kavanaugh was a violent, blackout drunk.
posted by mikelieman at 7:10 AM on January 22, 2019 [28 favorites]
The question is, why do the TV networks keep booking him? What purpose do they think it serves? Is he seriously such a ratings boost that airing his obvious nonsense is preferable to not giving an unrepentant, unsubtle liar a national audience?
My uncharitable answer to my husband about why Rudy keeps getting air time is that it's a modern equivalent of reading tea leaves or chicken entrails. Rudy comes on and makes loud, incomprehensible mouth noises and then the pundits go to town in the attempt to figure out what it all means. Humans like trying to find patterns in chaos and randomness and Giuliani's performances offer lots of opportunity to make that effort. The networks should stop giving him a platform.
posted by danielleh at 7:30 AM on January 22, 2019 [26 favorites]
My uncharitable answer to my husband about why Rudy keeps getting air time is that it's a modern equivalent of reading tea leaves or chicken entrails. Rudy comes on and makes loud, incomprehensible mouth noises and then the pundits go to town in the attempt to figure out what it all means. Humans like trying to find patterns in chaos and randomness and Giuliani's performances offer lots of opportunity to make that effort. The networks should stop giving him a platform.
posted by danielleh at 7:30 AM on January 22, 2019 [26 favorites]
Calls For Change Follow NPR/Frontline Black Lung Investigation (NPR, January 22, 2019)
posted by filthy light thief at 7:38 AM on January 22, 2019 [48 favorites]
Thousands of coal miners are dying from an advanced form of black lung disease, and federal regulators could have prevented it if they'd paid closer attention to their own data.Emphasis mine. Investigative reporting matters. Elections matter.
That's the conclusion of a joint NPR/Frontline investigation that aired last month and continues tonight on PBS.
The regulatory system that is supposed to protect coal miners from exposure to toxic silica dust failed to prevent dangerous exposures more than 21,000 times since 1986, according to data collected by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and analyzed by NPR/Frontline.
And while the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) counted 115 cases of advanced black lung nationwide through its monitoring program from 2010 to 2018, NPR and Frontline identified more than 2,300 cases by contacting health clinics across Appalachia.
Federal regulations for silica dust in coal mines haven't changed in decades, even as mining has changed. But since the NPR/Frontline report, some are calling for a new response.
A call for congressional hearings
Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., the chair of the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor, says he will schedule congressional hearings on the epidemic of advanced black lung disease and the regulatory failures cited by the NPR/Frontline investigation. "Congress has no choice but to step in and direct MSHA and the mining industry to take timely action," Scott said in a statement.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:38 AM on January 22, 2019 [48 favorites]
Justinian: Have any of the credible 2020 Dem candidates not endorsed Medicare for All? Seems like the Overton window on this didn't shift, it pole vaulted.
This may not be pole-vaulting, but this is definitely a solid push for inclusive and supportive policies -- For 2020 Democrats, The Race Is On To Win Over Black Voters (NPR, January 21, 2019)
posted by filthy light thief at 7:46 AM on January 22, 2019 [18 favorites]
This may not be pole-vaulting, but this is definitely a solid push for inclusive and supportive policies -- For 2020 Democrats, The Race Is On To Win Over Black Voters (NPR, January 21, 2019)
When Elizabeth Warren announced her exploratory committee for president at the end of last month, the Massachusetts senator didn't only talk about a crumbling middle class - her signature policy issue - but she acknowledged the impact of race and racism on the economy, saying that "families of color" face a rockier path "made even harder by the impact of generations of discrimination."NPR goes on to state "All of these Democrats are making explicit appeals to African-American voters," but ignores the fact that most of those statements are not exclusively focused on African American voters, and rather speak more broadly to people of color.
A few weeks later, Julian Castro, the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, explicitly spoke about reforming the justice system when he announced his candidacy for president, saying that "for far too many people of color, any interaction with the police can become fatal."
Just last week on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announced her intentions to run for president by mentioning the need to take on "institutional racism."
And California Sen. Kamala Harris chose the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday to announce her campaign, highlighting issues of racial inequality and her parents' experience in the civil rights movement. "The thing about Dr. King that always inspires me is that he was aspirational," Harris told ABC's Good Morning America on Monday, nodding to a theme of her campaign.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:46 AM on January 22, 2019 [18 favorites]
Ted Koppel's Nightline got its start as "Iran Crisis -- America Held Hostage" followed by a running tally of the days the embassy staff were captive.
I wonder whether it could be revived as "Trump's Shutdown -- America Held Hostage."
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 7:52 AM on January 22, 2019 [21 favorites]
I wonder whether it could be revived as "Trump's Shutdown -- America Held Hostage."
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 7:52 AM on January 22, 2019 [21 favorites]
Local credit unions and a few banks in my area have been offering no-interest, short-term loans to government employees affected by the shutdown. It is a net positive for those who need it, and can get it, but its a net negative overall. Ad-hoc relief enables the situation to fester unresolved even longer.
posted by yesster at 8:24 AM on January 22, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by yesster at 8:24 AM on January 22, 2019 [15 favorites]
There's another wrinkle behind Giuliani's media blitz about the Buzzfeed bombshell, from NBC'S Geoff Bennett: “A source familiar with the matter tells @HallieJackson that on Friday morning, after the disputed BuzzFeed article dropped, the president’s legal team "raised concerns" in a letter to Mueller's office. This was prior to the special counsel issuing its rare rebuke Friday evening.”
The WSJ's Rebecca Ballhaus confirms: "Friday marked the first time that Trump’s legal team contacted Mueller over a media report, according to a person familiar with the matter. The lawyers said they hoped the special counsel’s office would address the BuzzFeed report expeditiously, the person said." And: "More precisely: Friday marked the first time that Trump’s legal team contacted Mueller to ask him to address a media report."
And this morning BuzzFeed's legal editor Chris Geidner has an update on the Grand Jury mystery client, confirming it's a corporation wholly owned by a foreign state:
The WSJ's Rebecca Ballhaus confirms: "Friday marked the first time that Trump’s legal team contacted Mueller over a media report, according to a person familiar with the matter. The lawyers said they hoped the special counsel’s office would address the BuzzFeed report expeditiously, the person said." And: "More precisely: Friday marked the first time that Trump’s legal team contacted Mueller to ask him to address a media report."
And this morning BuzzFeed's legal editor Chris Geidner has an update on the Grand Jury mystery client, confirming it's a corporation wholly owned by a foreign state:
#SCOTUS also allows the secret grand jury matter to proceed under seal, with a redacted version of the cert petition to be made public.posted by Doktor Zed at 8:26 AM on January 22, 2019 [11 favorites]
JUST IN: The mystery foreign-owned company grand jury subpoena dispute is Supreme Court docket No. 18-948.
Here is the redacted cert petition in the mystery foreign-owned company grand jury subpoena dispute
https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/18-948/81196/20190122085546947_00000001.pdf
SCOTUS Lifts Two Injunctions Against Trump’s Trans Troops Ban—but the Policy Remains Blocked (Joseph Stern, Slate)
There was one injunction before the above two that was already lifted.
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:38 AM on January 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
There was one injunction before the above two that was already lifted.
Yet a fourth nationwide injunction, issued by U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis in Maryland, remains in place—for now. The Trump administration may argue that this ruling only applies to the initial ban, not the Mattis policy. But Garbis’ injunction still seems to forbid the Pentagon from discriminating against transgender troops by blocking all “policies and directives” encompassed in Trump’s initial memo. Since the Mattis policy merely implemented those “policies and directives,” the injunction should apply to them, as well.Some say it's a matter of time until the fourth is lifted as well.
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:38 AM on January 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
Regarding the Covington Catholic MAGAkids harassing Native American vet Nathan Philips:
Slate: The MAGA Teens Aren’t Innocent Victims
Talking Points Memo: Making Sense of the Phillips-Sandman Viral Video
Talking Points Memo: PR firm RunSwitch, co-run by adviser to Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Scott Jennings, has played a significant role in quelling the outrage over a video that at first appeared to show a MAGA hat-wearing teen disrespectfully crowding the space of and smirking at a Native American man.
There's also now another video making the Twitter rounds showing a group of the kids hanging out unsupervised and yelling at passersby before the incident.
posted by soundguy99 at 8:53 AM on January 22, 2019 [37 favorites]
Slate: The MAGA Teens Aren’t Innocent Victims
Talking Points Memo: Making Sense of the Phillips-Sandman Viral Video
Talking Points Memo: PR firm RunSwitch, co-run by adviser to Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Scott Jennings, has played a significant role in quelling the outrage over a video that at first appeared to show a MAGA hat-wearing teen disrespectfully crowding the space of and smirking at a Native American man.
There's also now another video making the Twitter rounds showing a group of the kids hanging out unsupervised and yelling at passersby before the incident.
posted by soundguy99 at 8:53 AM on January 22, 2019 [37 favorites]
showing a group of the kids hanging out unsupervised and yelling at passersby before the incident.
To be clear, they're harassing women walking by.
posted by chris24 at 8:58 AM on January 22, 2019 [74 favorites]
To be clear, they're harassing women walking by.
posted by chris24 at 8:58 AM on January 22, 2019 [74 favorites]
This is apparently very on brand for these little assholes:
Newest video to surface of the Covington kids shows one of them yelling to a group of girls “IT’S NOT RAPE IF YOU ENJOY IT!” Fuck anyone who is still defending them. Catholic Schools in the south like Covington are incubators for vile racism and misogyny.
Covington Catholic High students in blackface at past basketball game
posted by zombieflanders at 9:02 AM on January 22, 2019 [84 favorites]
Newest video to surface of the Covington kids shows one of them yelling to a group of girls “IT’S NOT RAPE IF YOU ENJOY IT!” Fuck anyone who is still defending them. Catholic Schools in the south like Covington are incubators for vile racism and misogyny.
Covington Catholic High students in blackface at past basketball game
posted by zombieflanders at 9:02 AM on January 22, 2019 [84 favorites]
To be clear, they're harassing women walking by.
18 year old Covington basketball star on trial as a violent serial rapist
It's the exact same culture that produced Kavanaugh.
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:07 AM on January 22, 2019 [78 favorites]
18 year old Covington basketball star on trial as a violent serial rapist
It's the exact same culture that produced Kavanaugh.
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:07 AM on January 22, 2019 [78 favorites]
Former MS-13 Member Who Secretly Helped Police Is Deported (ProPublica)
An immigration judge said he was “very sympathetic” to the teenager who cooperated with authorities only to be jailed with those he informed on. The judge nonetheless rejected his plea for asylum.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 9:12 AM on January 22, 2019 [16 favorites]
An immigration judge said he was “very sympathetic” to the teenager who cooperated with authorities only to be jailed with those he informed on. The judge nonetheless rejected his plea for asylum.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 9:12 AM on January 22, 2019 [16 favorites]
Mod note: A few comments deleted - sorry, "can we cut off Russia's internet" is a pretty big topic unto itself that would be better served either by a narrow AskMe or if you want a wider ranging discussion, by finding an article or source on it and making a separate post on the blue.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 9:26 AM on January 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 9:26 AM on January 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
ABC catches Mark Burnett influence-peddling: US Banker With Ties to Putin’s Inner Circle Sought Access to Trump Transition: Sources - ABC News
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:33 AM on January 22, 2019 [38 favorites]
Nine days after Donald Trump won the presidency, as scores of supporters clamored for meetings with his transition team, the Hollywood producer of “The Apprentice,” Mark Burnett, reached out to one of Trump’s closest advisers to see if he would sit down with a banker who has long held ties to Russia.Sometimes the Trump-Russia affair looks less like an international conspiracy than the world's shittiest LinkedIn network.
The banker, Robert Foresman, never got the role he was seeking with the fledgling Trump administration. But he has recently attracted the attention of congressional investigators as one more name on an expanding list of Americans with established ties inside the Kremlin who appears to have been seeking access to the newly elected president’s inner circle, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
Foresman, who is now vice chairman of the Swiss bank UBS’s investment arm, lived for years in Moscow, where he led a $3 billion Russian investment fund and was touted by his new company as someone who maintains connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.[…]
[I]n mid-November [2016], Foresman sought contacts inside Trump’s orbit. And with Burnett’s help, he found his way onto the daily calendar of Thomas Barrack, who at the time was chairing what would become Trump’s $100 million inaugural fund, internal emails show.[…]
Foresman was listed on Barrack’s schedule after a series of other meetings Barrack had that day – including a 10 a.m. sit-down with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and a 3 p.m. meeting with the president-elect. Foresman’s name appears without a scheduled time, and a notation, “Mark Burnett contact,” next to it.[…]
Email exchanges shared with ABC News show Barrack’s meeting with Foresman was ultimately canceled. But sources said Foresman continued to pursue a role with the Trump team. In January, he secured a meeting with retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, according to two sources familiar with Foresman’s contacts.[…]
Also during the transition, Foresman held a December meeting in New York with the chairman of a state-owned Russian development bank [Vnesheconombank (VEB)], Sergei Gorkov, according to a recent court filing in an unrelated case. Gorkov was the same banker who flew from Moscow to New York for one day that month to meet with Kushner.
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:33 AM on January 22, 2019 [38 favorites]
What happens if Putin wins? Michael McFaul on "the end of the liberal international order" (Matthew Rozsa, Salon)
"Salon speaks with Michael McFaul, former US ambassador to Russia and a man that Vladimir Putin wants to interrogate"posted by ZeusHumms at 9:52 AM on January 22, 2019 [20 favorites]
If American-British businessman Bill Browder is Russian President Vladimir Putin's "public enemy no. 1," then Michael McFaul, who served as President Barack Obama's representative to Russia from 2012 to 2014 after helping him craft the "Russia reset" policy as a senior foreign policy adviser, is seemingly a close second. Along with Browder, McFaul was one of several people who Trump offered to hand over to Putin for interrogation at the Helsinki summit last July.
…
Let's say Vladimir Putin wins, what does that look like for America and for the world?
Well, for the free world, I'm trying to think where to pick up the story. I am optimistic that he eventually will fail. I think our ideas are better. I'm much less certain about that prediction than I was four or five years ago, because in the short term, he has achieved real successes with like-minded people in Hungary, and Italy, and in the UK, and now in the United States.
The consequence, I think, is the end of the liberal international order. If he succeeds, that's what he's aiming to do. The breakup of states as you have in the UK, the breakup of alliances and NATO, the breakup of the European Union, those are all things that Putin thinks are in his national interest. Tragically, he had some wins lately.
This is apparently very on brand for these little assholes:
Newest video to surface of the Covington kids shows one of them yelling to a group of girls “IT’S NOT RAPE IF YOU ENJOY IT!” Fuck anyone who is still defending them. Catholic Schools in the south like Covington are incubators for vile racism and misogyny.
Polite request that we either a) don't pull in tweets quite so much in here and/or b) if we do, please don't copy paste the awful thing, especially in all caps. I don't read Twitter, and stumbling across tweets like this remind me why I stopped reading Twitter - I would prefer not to stumble across them on MeFi as well.
nothing personal, zombieflanders - you're tops.
posted by lazaruslong at 10:02 AM on January 22, 2019 [21 favorites]
Newest video to surface of the Covington kids shows one of them yelling to a group of girls “IT’S NOT RAPE IF YOU ENJOY IT!” Fuck anyone who is still defending them. Catholic Schools in the south like Covington are incubators for vile racism and misogyny.
Polite request that we either a) don't pull in tweets quite so much in here and/or b) if we do, please don't copy paste the awful thing, especially in all caps. I don't read Twitter, and stumbling across tweets like this remind me why I stopped reading Twitter - I would prefer not to stumble across them on MeFi as well.
nothing personal, zombieflanders - you're tops.
posted by lazaruslong at 10:02 AM on January 22, 2019 [21 favorites]
and/or b) if we do, please don't copy paste the awful thing, especially in all caps.
I thought there were people who couldn't read tweets for some reason, and copypasta was therefore preferred.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 10:07 AM on January 22, 2019 [16 favorites]
I thought there were people who couldn't read tweets for some reason, and copypasta was therefore preferred.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 10:07 AM on January 22, 2019 [16 favorites]
What school did you go to? An essay on Covington.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 10:09 AM on January 22, 2019 [14 favorites]
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 10:09 AM on January 22, 2019 [14 favorites]
AVClub - Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez tells rich guy Stephen Colbert why her 70 percent tax isn't scary
The charming AOC on Sotomayor, making trouble, #WheresMitch, her social media theory, and more; the 'zero fucks' faux-mining in the second clip kills me.
Over at the CBS store - a Don't Even Talk To Me Until I've Had My Paycheck fundraising mug: "100% of The Late Show's profits from this mug will benefit World Central Kitchen, which is feeding federal workers going unpaid during the government shutdown."
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:18 AM on January 22, 2019 [32 favorites]
The charming AOC on Sotomayor, making trouble, #WheresMitch, her social media theory, and more; the 'zero fucks' faux-mining in the second clip kills me.
Over at the CBS store - a Don't Even Talk To Me Until I've Had My Paycheck fundraising mug: "100% of The Late Show's profits from this mug will benefit World Central Kitchen, which is feeding federal workers going unpaid during the government shutdown."
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:18 AM on January 22, 2019 [32 favorites]
Mod note: One deleted. Just to address this, copying offensive stuff into the thread is something we'd like people to avoid in general, yes -- generally please don't unless there's some really really compelling reason why the actual quote is needed rather than a description of it. And -- on Covington Catholic -- if we really need to dig deeply into particulars about the one school, probably we're at the point where it should split off into a separate post.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 10:22 AM on January 22, 2019 [24 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 10:22 AM on January 22, 2019 [24 favorites]
So, um, follow up to my hypothetical question yesterday about what if he just decided to give the SOTU speech:
Yamiche Alcindor (PBS White House correspondent):
1) Just confirmed that the White House has sent a letter to the Sergeant-at-Arms, asking to schedule a walk-through for State of the Union and that President Trump still plans to be at the U.S. Capitol on Jan 29 for the speech. (First reported by @johnrobertsFox.)
2) UPDATE: A WH official tells me that President Trump is preparing to give the State of the Union as scheduled. I specially asked where? That person said they are preparing for the House.
???
posted by bluecore at 10:43 AM on January 22, 2019 [18 favorites]
Yamiche Alcindor (PBS White House correspondent):
1) Just confirmed that the White House has sent a letter to the Sergeant-at-Arms, asking to schedule a walk-through for State of the Union and that President Trump still plans to be at the U.S. Capitol on Jan 29 for the speech. (First reported by @johnrobertsFox.)
2) UPDATE: A WH official tells me that President Trump is preparing to give the State of the Union as scheduled. I specially asked where? That person said they are preparing for the House.
???
posted by bluecore at 10:43 AM on January 22, 2019 [18 favorites]
CNN: FBI has lost several informants who had penetrated target groups at the center of terrorism investigations, a joint terrorism task force coordinator said anonymously in a report released Tuesday by the FBI Agents Association. via @davidgshortell and @SchneiderCNN
That’s from Jim Acosta (CNN)
Translation: the Trump Shutdown is making Americans less safe by the day.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 10:46 AM on January 22, 2019 [38 favorites]
That’s from Jim Acosta (CNN)
Translation: the Trump Shutdown is making Americans less safe by the day.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 10:46 AM on January 22, 2019 [38 favorites]
Maybe she'll cancel it, but she hasn't yet, as far as I know.
It would require passing a Concurrent Resolution in both houses "providing for a joint session of Congress to receive a message from the President." Based on the current status of legislative bills currently available online, it doesn't look like one has even been introduced yet. No vote, no speech.
posted by stopgap at 11:07 AM on January 22, 2019 [10 favorites]
It would require passing a Concurrent Resolution in both houses "providing for a joint session of Congress to receive a message from the President." Based on the current status of legislative bills currently available online, it doesn't look like one has even been introduced yet. No vote, no speech.
posted by stopgap at 11:07 AM on January 22, 2019 [10 favorites]
When I have called my elected folks this week and last, I am getting a lot of full voicemail boxes. Does anyone know if that is shutdown related or volume related or perhaps Start of a New Congress related?
posted by Emmy Rae at 11:10 AM on January 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Emmy Rae at 11:10 AM on January 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
2) UPDATE: A WH official tells me that President Trump is preparing to give the State of the Union as scheduled. I specially asked where? That person said they are preparing for the House.
From the WaPo, Trump prepares two versions of State of the Union address as shutdown tensions escalate:
From the WaPo, Trump prepares two versions of State of the Union address as shutdown tensions escalate:
Trump is preparing two versions of his annual speech — one that could be delivered in Washington and another that would be held somewhere else in the country, according to a senior White House official. The administration is trying to do advance work to prepare for an address at the Capitol, but as top House official, Pelosi has the power to determine whether Trump can give the speech in the House chamber.posted by peeedro at 11:28 AM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
If I'm getting this right: the modern tradition is to fulfill the Constitutional "from time to time" stipulation by resolving every year to hold a joint session and inviting the POTUS. That session has to be established by a new joint resolution (I think? Or does only the House pass it?) -- it never happens "by default".
So here's a thought: If he's possibly planning to "crash the party" or whatever, why would he not do so in the Republican Senate rather than the Democratic House? If you're going to break protocol anyway it doesn't matter if you also change the location, right? Or might he prefer to spectacle of being stopped?
posted by InTheYear2017 at 11:29 AM on January 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
So here's a thought: If he's possibly planning to "crash the party" or whatever, why would he not do so in the Republican Senate rather than the Democratic House? If you're going to break protocol anyway it doesn't matter if you also change the location, right? Or might he prefer to spectacle of being stopped?
posted by InTheYear2017 at 11:29 AM on January 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
That's a good learner on how the SOTU happens procedurally from WaPost, . . .along with the tidbit that the WH director of presidential advance is named Bobby Peede.
posted by Harry Caul at 11:29 AM on January 22, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by Harry Caul at 11:29 AM on January 22, 2019 [15 favorites]
So here's a thought: If he's possibly planning to "crash the party" or whatever, why would he not do so in the Republican Senate rather than the Democratic House? If you're going to break protocol anyway it doesn't matter if you also change the location, right? Or might he prefer to spectacle of being stopped?
If nothing is scheduled, House members won't be there, and there won't be speakers and microphones and press set up. What's he going to do: lunge for a mic?
posted by Lord Chancellor at 11:31 AM on January 22, 2019
If nothing is scheduled, House members won't be there, and there won't be speakers and microphones and press set up. What's he going to do: lunge for a mic?
posted by Lord Chancellor at 11:31 AM on January 22, 2019
The WaPo reports on another senior resignation from the Trump administration: Top Diplomat For European Affairs Resigns From State Department
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:35 AM on January 22, 2019 [10 favorites]
A. Wess Mitchell, the top diplomat in charge of European affairs, will resign from the State Department next month, creating a key vacancy at a time when European leaders are questioning President Trump’s commitment to historic alliances.A critic of the Obama administration's diplomacy, Mitchell favored diplomatic ties with Hungary's authoritarian regime and emphasized ‘baurden sharing’ in US-European relations, but he was otherwise pro-NATO. His departure a week before the major NATO summit in Brussels could be just coincidence, or it might be a straw in the wind.
Mitchell, 41, cited personal and professional reasons in a Jan. 4 letter of resignation he submitted to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. His last day as assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs is Feb. 15.
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:35 AM on January 22, 2019 [10 favorites]
why would he not do so in the Republican Senate rather than the Democratic House?
I found this article that covers the various possible outcomes. With respect to the Senate, the issue is getting 60 votes to prevent a filibuster, though I guess nothing could stop it if Mitch wanted to go nuclear over this BS.
posted by stopgap at 11:44 AM on January 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
I found this article that covers the various possible outcomes. With respect to the Senate, the issue is getting 60 votes to prevent a filibuster, though I guess nothing could stop it if Mitch wanted to go nuclear over this BS.
posted by stopgap at 11:44 AM on January 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Nancy's daughter, Alexandra Pelosi, was on TV earlier this month and said of her mother 'She'll cut your head off and you won't even know you're bleeding, that's all you need to know about her'. Tough talking on her mom's behalf, I thought, but it's becoming a pretty good metaphor for what she's doing to Trump.
posted by adept256 at 11:53 AM on January 22, 2019 [21 favorites]
posted by adept256 at 11:53 AM on January 22, 2019 [21 favorites]
Supreme Court Takes 1st Gun Case In Nearly A Decade, Possibly With Big Consequences (NPR, January 22, 2019)
posted by filthy light thief at 11:55 AM on January 22, 2019 [6 favorites]
With the Supreme Court now having five justices who are less likely to approve of gun regulations and laws, it granted a major gun case Tuesday for the first time in nearly a decade.Entire NPR article (sorry NPR, you're good at succinct articles)
The court granted a right-to-carry case out of New York that that pits the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association against the City of New York. New York bans transporting permitted handguns outside city lines, even if the gun is not loaded and locked in a container. The guns currently can only be taken to one of a handful of shooting ranges within city limits.
The case could have wide ramifications for gun rights and gun restrictions across the country, depending on how broadly the court rules.
Conservative justices have been champing at the bit to take up gun-rights cases. Justice Clarence Thomas in 2014, for example, criticized the court for not taking up more gun cases, calling it a "disfavored" right.
"The right to keep and bear arms is apparently this Court's constitutional orphan," Thomas wrote (PDF).
With a newfound majority after the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, conservatives may have their chance to make a broad ruling, holding, for example, that the right to own a gun means the right to carry one, or it could rule more narrowly, saying New York's law is overly restrictive or something in between.
When the Supreme Court decided in 2008 and 2010 that there is a personal right to own a gun for self defense in one's home, the vote was 5-to-4, with Justice Anthony Kennedy the deciding vote.
The late Justice Antonin Scalia wrote a long opinion, but the critical section said essentially that state and local governments could still enact reasonable regulations.
Since then, the National Rifle Association and its supporters have brought plenty of gun cases to the Supreme Court, but the justices stayed away from the issue — one suspects because four of the five conservatives thought that Kennedy would approve many of these regulations. But Kennedy is now retired.
Note: The Supreme Court did not take up the Trump administration's ending of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy challenge. That leaves DACA protections in place for immigrants brought to the United States as children until at least Feb. 19 when the justices are scheduled to meet again.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:55 AM on January 22, 2019 [6 favorites]
Lord Chancellor: If nothing is scheduled, House members won't be there, and there won't be speakers and microphones and press set up. What's he going to do: lunge for a mic?
White House Moves Forward With State Of The Union Plans After Pelosi Urged Delay (NPR, January 22, 2019)n impromptu SotU address security walk-through on Dr. MLK Jr. Holiday thanks to the day being a federal holiday.
Trump reached out to Pelosi over the weekend ... via twitter.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:00 PM on January 22, 2019 [12 favorites]
White House Moves Forward With State Of The Union Plans After Pelosi Urged Delay (NPR, January 22, 2019)
After a week of tit for tat with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, amid a monthlong government shutdown, the White House is now moving ahead with plans for the president's State of the Union address, proceeding as if it were happening as originally planned next week.We were saved from a
White House officials are aiming for the speech to occur before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, Jan. 29. But it is far from guaranteed. The House must pass a resolution to call a joint session with the Senate before the president can come speak.
It's unclear whether that will happen; Pelosi hasn't yet weighed in on whether she will allow it.
White House and House Democratic aides confirm to NPR that the White House requested a security walk-through of the U.S. Capitol on Monday. That was declined because of the federal Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
Trump reached out to Pelosi over the weekend ... via twitter.
Nancy, I am still thinking about the State of the Union speech, there are so many options - including doing it as per your written offer (made during the Shutdown, security is no problem), and my written acceptance. While a contract is a contract, I’ll get back to you soon!It almost sounds like he thought he was leaving her a voice message, instead of a public notice. So weird. So 2019.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:00 PM on January 22, 2019 [12 favorites]
What happens if Putin wins? Michael McFaul on "the end of the liberal international order"
Lenin and his comrades created the Communist International. I do think Putin is leading something akin to an Illiberal International, not only in our country, but trying to find like-minded individuals, and movements and parties first and foremost, in Europe, in the United States and he's investing in those relationships...
This part was interesting. It's the antithesis of super power foreign policies of the last 50-60 years. During the cold war countries used to try to outcompete each other on dimensions of freedom. The Soviets celebrated a marxist "freedom from" - freedom from religion, racism, sexism, exploitation, hunger, the past, nature and so on. The American's celebrated a "freedom to" - get rich, be the boss, drive big cars, buy crazy stuff, rebel and so on.
Now with the lack of global ideological competition there is no battle over freedoms anymore. It's neoliberal order all the way - we are all slaves to a market economy and the only ideological alternative offered up seems to be the opportunity to put on the boot of fascism be the oppressor of others yourself.
I think this is clearly Putin's strategy but his goals still seem a bit opaque to me. He wants more power for Russia and therefor himself either in absolute (russia gains) or relative (everybody else loses) senses but I am not really sure how the rise of illiberal democracy really works that well for him or Russia in the long run.
posted by srboisvert at 12:00 PM on January 22, 2019 [14 favorites]
Lenin and his comrades created the Communist International. I do think Putin is leading something akin to an Illiberal International, not only in our country, but trying to find like-minded individuals, and movements and parties first and foremost, in Europe, in the United States and he's investing in those relationships...
This part was interesting. It's the antithesis of super power foreign policies of the last 50-60 years. During the cold war countries used to try to outcompete each other on dimensions of freedom. The Soviets celebrated a marxist "freedom from" - freedom from religion, racism, sexism, exploitation, hunger, the past, nature and so on. The American's celebrated a "freedom to" - get rich, be the boss, drive big cars, buy crazy stuff, rebel and so on.
Now with the lack of global ideological competition there is no battle over freedoms anymore. It's neoliberal order all the way - we are all slaves to a market economy and the only ideological alternative offered up seems to be the opportunity to put on the boot of fascism be the oppressor of others yourself.
I think this is clearly Putin's strategy but his goals still seem a bit opaque to me. He wants more power for Russia and therefor himself either in absolute (russia gains) or relative (everybody else loses) senses but I am not really sure how the rise of illiberal democracy really works that well for him or Russia in the long run.
posted by srboisvert at 12:00 PM on January 22, 2019 [14 favorites]
I think this is clearly Putin's strategy but his goals still seem a bit opaque to me.
The world at large is opaque to him. Like all human beings, Putin can only process so much information in a day. If his intelligence apparatus was up to the task of enabling him to be a mastermind pulling strings everywhere, the Ukraine revolution would never have happened. He is as much in a filter bubble as any of us. This is not a good thing.
posted by ocschwar at 12:05 PM on January 22, 2019 [9 favorites]
Nancy, I am still thinking about the State of the Union speech, there are so many options - including doing it as per your written offer (made during the Shutdown, security is no problem), and my written acceptance. While a contract is a contract, I’ll get back to you soon!
Pelosi Deputy Chief of Staff Drew Hammill responded: To be clear, the Speaker’s Office never received a “written acceptance” from the President.
And Trump never met a contract he wouldn't break.
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:06 PM on January 22, 2019 [22 favorites]
Pelosi Deputy Chief of Staff Drew Hammill responded: To be clear, the Speaker’s Office never received a “written acceptance” from the President.
And Trump never met a contract he wouldn't break.
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:06 PM on January 22, 2019 [22 favorites]
SCOTUS just stayed the 9th Circuit's order barring the military from discriminating against transgender servicemembers. 5-4, of course.
and
Supreme Court Takes 1st Gun Case In Nearly A Decade, Possibly With Big Consequences (NPR, January 22, 2019)
I don't know if it's just me, but a blatantly partisan (and perhaps corrupt) Supreme Court seems to be very damaging for the international perception of the US as a beacon of democracy. There are tons of other things that have undermined that perception for decades, but to me, this is extra bad. If you can't trust the rule of law, you cannot live as a free citizen.
posted by mumimor at 12:06 PM on January 22, 2019 [16 favorites]
and
Supreme Court Takes 1st Gun Case In Nearly A Decade, Possibly With Big Consequences (NPR, January 22, 2019)
I don't know if it's just me, but a blatantly partisan (and perhaps corrupt) Supreme Court seems to be very damaging for the international perception of the US as a beacon of democracy. There are tons of other things that have undermined that perception for decades, but to me, this is extra bad. If you can't trust the rule of law, you cannot live as a free citizen.
posted by mumimor at 12:06 PM on January 22, 2019 [16 favorites]
That beacon got switched to a nightlight bulb many decades ago.
With an odd-numbered court and increasing polarization, it's hard to avoid the appearance of partisanship on SCOTUS. We're not quite at the full reactionary court crisis point, but we're very close, to where whoever put up that mistaken RBG obituary screen should be sued for causing heart palpitations nationwide.
posted by delfin at 12:19 PM on January 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
With an odd-numbered court and increasing polarization, it's hard to avoid the appearance of partisanship on SCOTUS. We're not quite at the full reactionary court crisis point, but we're very close, to where whoever put up that mistaken RBG obituary screen should be sued for causing heart palpitations nationwide.
posted by delfin at 12:19 PM on January 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
From the NewYorker Rude article (and thank you for introducing me to Isaac Chotiner):
Last thing, and then you can go shower. The President has called this a witch hunt. If that’s the case, were you surprised the Mueller team said that the BuzzFeed story was flawed?
I think they had no choice but to do that. And I do think that, when they do something good, we should commend them, which I did immediately. And, when they do something bad, it is my job to point that out. And they did do something good. I don’t think their whole team is a bunch of renegades. I think some are. I think they have some good people there. But, also, they were basically being victimized. The story said two federal agents gave this information out. The federal agents would have had to work for them.
It could have been people from the Southern District of New York office.
Kinda. It could have been, but everything pointed back to . . . BuzzFeed made it sound like it came out of the special counsel’s office. I think they were angry on their own. It didn’t take us to get them angry. I would have been angry.
"Kinda"?? And what's the SDNY-FBI-Rudy trigonometry there? They tipped him off about Weiner, but they didn't about this story? And did SCO "deny" the "accurateness" of the story just to placate the screamy manbaby? It'd be hard to fault them if they did although a true wave to impeach was started and they single-handedly stopped it. (h/t WaPo and NYT. They stopped it.)
posted by petebest at 12:20 PM on January 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
Last thing, and then you can go shower. The President has called this a witch hunt. If that’s the case, were you surprised the Mueller team said that the BuzzFeed story was flawed?
I think they had no choice but to do that. And I do think that, when they do something good, we should commend them, which I did immediately. And, when they do something bad, it is my job to point that out. And they did do something good. I don’t think their whole team is a bunch of renegades. I think some are. I think they have some good people there. But, also, they were basically being victimized. The story said two federal agents gave this information out. The federal agents would have had to work for them.
It could have been people from the Southern District of New York office.
Kinda. It could have been, but everything pointed back to . . . BuzzFeed made it sound like it came out of the special counsel’s office. I think they were angry on their own. It didn’t take us to get them angry. I would have been angry.
"Kinda"?? And what's the SDNY-FBI-Rudy trigonometry there? They tipped him off about Weiner, but they didn't about this story? And did SCO "deny" the "accurateness" of the story just to placate the screamy manbaby? It'd be hard to fault them if they did although a true wave to impeach was started and they single-handedly stopped it. (h/t WaPo and NYT. They stopped it.)
posted by petebest at 12:20 PM on January 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
2) UPDATE: A WH official tells me that President Trump is preparing to give the State of the Union as scheduled. I specially asked where? That person said they are preparing for the House.
This was entirely predictable, and I imagine lots of us probably didn't predict it here because it seemed like unhelpful speculation. But as it was entirely predictable, I have to imagine Pelosi and company planned through several possible outcomes, including this one. And it's one of the reasons why she was so deliberate in her language in both that letter and her public statements on the matter.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 1:04 PM on January 22, 2019 [6 favorites]
This was entirely predictable, and I imagine lots of us probably didn't predict it here because it seemed like unhelpful speculation. But as it was entirely predictable, I have to imagine Pelosi and company planned through several possible outcomes, including this one. And it's one of the reasons why she was so deliberate in her language in both that letter and her public statements on the matter.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 1:04 PM on January 22, 2019 [6 favorites]
It looks like there are now two bills: the Wall + bullshit temporary Dreamer stuff + Stephen Miller cruelty one, and a surprise new one that funds the government through February 8??
posted by theodolite at 1:05 PM on January 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 1:05 PM on January 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
When I have called my elected folks this week and last, I am getting a lot of full voicemail boxes. Does anyone know if that is shutdown related or volume related or perhaps Start of a New Congress related?
Congress is working. New members are not fully staffed at this point, and there's always staff churn in a new congress at least through March. If the full voicemail is in D.C., it might be because of snowstorm-related employee absences. And it certainly could be volume related.
posted by jgirl at 1:11 PM on January 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Congress is working. New members are not fully staffed at this point, and there's always staff churn in a new congress at least through March. If the full voicemail is in D.C., it might be because of snowstorm-related employee absences. And it certainly could be volume related.
posted by jgirl at 1:11 PM on January 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Although to be absolutely clear; if they pass the Feb 8 funding bill that isn't a compromise, it's a full capitulation by the GOP. I suppose we're not supposed to say that in order to let them save face but, no, fork those guys.
(Obviously the racist Miller bill will never pass.)
posted by Justinian at 1:11 PM on January 22, 2019 [8 favorites]
(Obviously the racist Miller bill will never pass.)
posted by Justinian at 1:11 PM on January 22, 2019 [8 favorites]
Looks like McConnell is finally trying to slip the Trump noose. A CR to Feb 8 is not the end, but it leaves them in distinctly worse position on Feb 8 -- though perhaps someone hopes that with a reinstated SOTU, Trump can bully-pulpit his way to victory.
posted by chortly at 1:13 PM on January 22, 2019
posted by chortly at 1:13 PM on January 22, 2019
If nothing is scheduled [for a State of the Union address], House members won't be there, and there won't be speakers and microphones and press set up. What's he going to do: lunge for a mic?
I wouldn't put it past the Trump administration to try a guerilla speech by just showing up, and you can be sure the press would be there with battery power and boom mics to record all of his words.
Is there a typical set time for the SOTU? In that case, Pelosi's best move would be to make sure the House is not in session, lights off, doors locked, maybe even circuit breakers popped.
Trump wins is he forces a speech in the full chamber with Republicans cheering. But if he gives his talk in the hallway outside a locked door he loses.
posted by msalt at 1:13 PM on January 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
I wouldn't put it past the Trump administration to try a guerilla speech by just showing up, and you can be sure the press would be there with battery power and boom mics to record all of his words.
Is there a typical set time for the SOTU? In that case, Pelosi's best move would be to make sure the House is not in session, lights off, doors locked, maybe even circuit breakers popped.
Trump wins is he forces a speech in the full chamber with Republicans cheering. But if he gives his talk in the hallway outside a locked door he loses.
posted by msalt at 1:13 PM on January 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
It's also potentially a way for both parties to have it both ways: the cruelty-extra bill passes the Republican Senate but fails in the Democratic-held House, while the short-term funding without a wall does the reverse--Republicans vote it down in the Senate while the House passes.
This means both sides can shout "We voted to reopen the government but the other side blocked us." It's the status quo but with refreshed rhetoric, and the main party I see benefiting from that is specifically Mitch McConnell.
I dunno. I'll hope for the best, I guess?
posted by scaryblackdeath at 1:14 PM on January 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
This means both sides can shout "We voted to reopen the government but the other side blocked us." It's the status quo but with refreshed rhetoric, and the main party I see benefiting from that is specifically Mitch McConnell.
I dunno. I'll hope for the best, I guess?
posted by scaryblackdeath at 1:14 PM on January 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
This was entirely predictable, and I imagine lots of us probably didn't predict it here because it seemed like unhelpful speculation. But as it was entirely predictable, I have to imagine Pelosi and company planned through several possible outcomes, including this one.
Flashback to when the minority Republican party was....uh...protesting??...in favor of offshore drilling. Pelosi officially adjourned the House, turned out the lights, and killed CSPAN coverage. (Also you can read about Republican antics a decade ago, when they were slightly less hateful, but still harmful and stupid.)
posted by grandiloquiet at 1:15 PM on January 22, 2019 [10 favorites]
Flashback to when the minority Republican party was....uh...protesting??...in favor of offshore drilling. Pelosi officially adjourned the House, turned out the lights, and killed CSPAN coverage. (Also you can read about Republican antics a decade ago, when they were slightly less hateful, but still harmful and stupid.)
posted by grandiloquiet at 1:15 PM on January 22, 2019 [10 favorites]
It's also potentially a way for both parties to have it both ways: the cruelty-extra bill passes the Republican Senate
Except that it won't, it will fail the cloture vote and never come up. And I think the GOP surrender bill passes the Senate.
posted by Justinian at 1:18 PM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
Except that it won't, it will fail the cloture vote and never come up. And I think the GOP surrender bill passes the Senate.
posted by Justinian at 1:18 PM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
scaryblackdeath: while the short-term funding without a wall does the reverse--Republicans vote it down in the Senate while the House passes.
If I'm not mistaken, this has already happened multiple times, right?
posted by InTheYear2017 at 1:21 PM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
If I'm not mistaken, this has already happened multiple times, right?
posted by InTheYear2017 at 1:21 PM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
this has already happened multiple times, right?
This [the Senate voting on a House passed CR or government reopening bill] has not happened this term; McConnell has blocked each attempt to place a bill on the floor.
posted by notyou at 1:29 PM on January 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
This [the Senate voting on a House passed CR or government reopening bill] has not happened this term; McConnell has blocked each attempt to place a bill on the floor.
posted by notyou at 1:29 PM on January 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
Trump's decided to double down on the Covington kids:
Donald Trump has defended a group of high school students who were filmed apparently confronting a Native American activist and military veteran. In a tweet on Tuesday, the president said the students “have become symbols of fake news”. He also suggested the students will use their experience “to bring people together”.posted by xammerboy at 1:37 PM on January 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
the president said the students “have become symbols of fake news”
Well he isn't wrong. To look at the video and then imagine/protest that these kids were acting in good faith is a prime example of distorting reality beyond all norms and order.
posted by mumimor at 1:41 PM on January 22, 2019 [40 favorites]
Well he isn't wrong. To look at the video and then imagine/protest that these kids were acting in good faith is a prime example of distorting reality beyond all norms and order.
posted by mumimor at 1:41 PM on January 22, 2019 [40 favorites]
It looks like there are now two bills: the Wall + bullshit temporary Dreamer stuff + Stephen Miller cruelty one, and a surprise new one that funds the government through February 8??
To the extent this was even a plan at all (it was originally reported as a "bipartisan deal"), it all fell apart within 15 minutes because now they're saying Trump won't sign the February 8 bill.
@AliABCNews: The Schumer/McConnell announcement is not a deal, aides on both sides say. They had to announce both votes in order to reach an agreement to avoid the Senate staying in session through the weekend, and neither R's nor Dems think there are the votes to pass the short-term bill.
@mkraju: McConnell is NOT supporting the House bill that the Senate will vote on Thursday to reopen the government until early February, and the WH has indicated Trump will NOT sign it. Several GOP aides say it won’t get 60. Dems have votes to block Trump plan also. Shutdown continues
It seemed like this was possibly a way out for them—let them take the failed vote on the bill with the wall funding and then try to get to 60 on the House-passed bill without it—, but it seems like it was never really even a deal that could lead to reopening the government so much as a plan to try to send the Senate home for the weekend.
posted by zachlipton at 1:41 PM on January 22, 2019 [13 favorites]
To the extent this was even a plan at all (it was originally reported as a "bipartisan deal"), it all fell apart within 15 minutes because now they're saying Trump won't sign the February 8 bill.
@AliABCNews: The Schumer/McConnell announcement is not a deal, aides on both sides say. They had to announce both votes in order to reach an agreement to avoid the Senate staying in session through the weekend, and neither R's nor Dems think there are the votes to pass the short-term bill.
@mkraju: McConnell is NOT supporting the House bill that the Senate will vote on Thursday to reopen the government until early February, and the WH has indicated Trump will NOT sign it. Several GOP aides say it won’t get 60. Dems have votes to block Trump plan also. Shutdown continues
It seemed like this was possibly a way out for them—let them take the failed vote on the bill with the wall funding and then try to get to 60 on the House-passed bill without it—, but it seems like it was never really even a deal that could lead to reopening the government so much as a plan to try to send the Senate home for the weekend.
posted by zachlipton at 1:41 PM on January 22, 2019 [13 favorites]
Ohh, that definitely changes things. I was under the impression that McConnell was bringing up the bill as part of a deal and not a procedural maneuver. The original reporting was... not good and quite misleading.
This is going to go on for a long, long time.
posted by Justinian at 1:44 PM on January 22, 2019 [6 favorites]
This is going to go on for a long, long time.
posted by Justinian at 1:44 PM on January 22, 2019 [6 favorites]
My 16 year old was asking about what it would take for a general strike, or to borrow his words, if we seize the means of creating capital, the capitalists will start to talk. His rotc crew is donating their trip funds to feed coast guard families. This is fucked up.
But he’s right, if there’s not some sort of mass protests, general strikes, they will continue to force government workers into slavery. If the workers quit, they’ll likely not get paid for the month of unpaid labor they already sacrificed, as well as losing insurance, pensions, and everything they paid into the private retirement funds.
The politicians aren’t going to save us. Mueller isn’t going to save us. Buzzfeed isn’t going to save us.
I will cart my crippled ass out to the barricades, but how do we start? Because I’m starting to think it’s the only chance we’ve got.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 1:55 PM on January 22, 2019 [27 favorites]
But he’s right, if there’s not some sort of mass protests, general strikes, they will continue to force government workers into slavery. If the workers quit, they’ll likely not get paid for the month of unpaid labor they already sacrificed, as well as losing insurance, pensions, and everything they paid into the private retirement funds.
The politicians aren’t going to save us. Mueller isn’t going to save us. Buzzfeed isn’t going to save us.
I will cart my crippled ass out to the barricades, but how do we start? Because I’m starting to think it’s the only chance we’ve got.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 1:55 PM on January 22, 2019 [27 favorites]
Trump's decided to double down on the Covington kids:
Or triple down (possibly)...
President Trump will meet with Covington Catholic boys at the White House [Rawstory]
posted by Buntix at 1:55 PM on January 22, 2019 [21 favorites]
Or triple down (possibly)...
President Trump will meet with Covington Catholic boys at the White House [Rawstory]
President Donald Trump will meet with the Covington Catholic High School boys at the center of a national controversy over their confrontation with a Native American man on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.Guessing he wants to meet with them, but has one of the saner factions trying to talk him out of it...
The news was posted by Fox News host Laura Ingraham, who described the students as having been “threatened by the leftist internet mob” and said the meeting could happen as soon as Wednesday.
...
Update: A CBS News producer disputes the report with an anonymous source.
“They are not coming tomorrow, they are not coming this week, that does not mean they are not going to come at all? I don’t know,” he quotes the anonymous source as saying.
...
Update 2: Ingraham is now backing away from her reporting, saying that “White House now seems to be in flux” and that the meeting would happen “after shutdown.”
posted by Buntix at 1:55 PM on January 22, 2019 [21 favorites]
My 16 year old was asking about what it would take for a general strike, or to borrow his words, if we seize the means of creating capital, the capitalists will start to talk
The government isn't the means of creating capital. All this would mean is to privatize the operations that are currently federalized.
A strike isn't what we're looking for. What we're looking for is a way to pay federal employees directly, and in a larger sense, re-staff the government with effective employees, without having to go through Congress. Basically the opposite of a strike.
posted by Autumnheart at 2:00 PM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
The government isn't the means of creating capital. All this would mean is to privatize the operations that are currently federalized.
A strike isn't what we're looking for. What we're looking for is a way to pay federal employees directly, and in a larger sense, re-staff the government with effective employees, without having to go through Congress. Basically the opposite of a strike.
posted by Autumnheart at 2:00 PM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
Mod note: Maybe take continuing "should government workers strike?" discussion over to the shutdown and possible strike thread.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 2:02 PM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 2:02 PM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
Buzzfeed calls BS on Giuliani: Trump’s Lawyer Said There Were “No Plans” For Trump Tower Moscow. Here They Are.
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:13 PM on January 22, 2019 [59 favorites]
On Monday, his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said “the proposal was in the earliest stage,” and he went on to tell the New Yorker that “no plans were ever made. There were no drafts. Nothing in the file.”Rudy simply lacks the mental stamina for the non-stop lying that working as Trump’s public-facing lawyer requires.
However hundreds of pages of business documents, emails, text messages, and architectural plans, obtained by BuzzFeed News over a year of reporting, tell a very different story. Trump Tower Moscow was a richly imagined vision of upscale splendor on the banks of the Moscow River.
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:13 PM on January 22, 2019 [59 favorites]
Matt Taibbi:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Crusher of Sacred Cows
With its silly swipes at AOC, the American political establishment is once again revealing its blindness to its own unpopularity
posted by growabrain at 2:26 PM on January 22, 2019 [25 favorites]
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Crusher of Sacred Cows
With its silly swipes at AOC, the American political establishment is once again revealing its blindness to its own unpopularity
posted by growabrain at 2:26 PM on January 22, 2019 [25 favorites]
Taibbi: The Beltway press mostly can’t stand [AOC]. A common theme is that, as a self-proclaimed socialist, she should be roaming the halls of Rayburn and Cannon in rags or a barrel.
Can someone please explain this to me?
posted by reductiondesign at 2:36 PM on January 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
Can someone please explain this to me?
posted by reductiondesign at 2:36 PM on January 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
Rayburn and Cannon are the buildings that house congressional offices - she should be wandering around begging the corporate overlords for more scraps, not slicing from the loaf herself.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 2:38 PM on January 22, 2019 [26 favorites]
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 2:38 PM on January 22, 2019 [26 favorites]
Another day, another Cliff Sims book excerpt. How Trump Offered NASA Unlimited Funding to Go to Mars in His First Term
posted by zachlipton at 2:42 PM on January 22, 2019 [28 favorites]
Donald Trump nearly derailed a televised call to the International Space Station after he got distracted, first by a sudden fantasy of going to Mars before the end of his first term in the White House, and then by a trip to the bathroom to check his reflection in the mirror, according to Team of Vipers, a new book by Cliff Sims, who worked as a communications official for Trump on his presidential campaign and in the West Wing.The President, who had to be on camera in three minutes or he'd miss the window to communicate with the space station, started asking about getting a manned mission to Mars by the end of his first term, offering an unlimited budget, and was disappointed when told it wouldn't be possible to shave a decade off the timeline in the NASA bill he had just signed a month earlier.
The April 24, 2017 video call to congratulate the astronaut Peggy Whitson, who that day broke the record to become the American who has spent the longest amount of time in space, was an unusually smooth public event for the president.
posted by zachlipton at 2:42 PM on January 22, 2019 [28 favorites]
I know that people are writing off the Feb08th bill, though surely with farm export reports not going out (according to NPR) amid everything else that is hurting rural areas there's some pressure on GOP senators to vote yes.
It's, what, 18 defections? 18 GOP senators who have major military bases, contractors, government projects, extensive areas of farms exporting food, etc etc.
Even if it doesn't get to the veto-proof side, just sending the bill to Trump's empty desk ups the pressure. AND no one knows how he would react to the thing if it did arrive after he shouted "no" about it. Maybe he'll own-goal on agriculture subsidies and make every MAGA farmer shit themselves.
posted by Slackermagee at 3:00 PM on January 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
It's, what, 18 defections? 18 GOP senators who have major military bases, contractors, government projects, extensive areas of farms exporting food, etc etc.
Even if it doesn't get to the veto-proof side, just sending the bill to Trump's empty desk ups the pressure. AND no one knows how he would react to the thing if it did arrive after he shouted "no" about it. Maybe he'll own-goal on agriculture subsidies and make every MAGA farmer shit themselves.
posted by Slackermagee at 3:00 PM on January 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
As a fed who's not getting paid, and who doesn't have resources to ride this out much longer, I'm strongly opposed to the February 8th bill. It would really help a lot of people -- me included -- but we'll just be back here again in a month. This needs to be dealt with once and for all.
posted by wintermind at 3:05 PM on January 22, 2019 [42 favorites]
posted by wintermind at 3:05 PM on January 22, 2019 [42 favorites]
The WaPo's Philip Rucker has a insider account of the Trump White House dealing with the shutdown: Trump Two Years In: The Dealmaker Who Can’t Seem to Make a Deal
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:09 PM on January 22, 2019 [28 favorites]
One month into the shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, a preponderance of public polls show Trump is losing the political fight. For instance, a Jan. 13 Washington Post-ABC News survey found that many more Americans blame him than blame Democrats for the shutdown, 53 percent to 29 percent. And the president’s job approval ratings continue to be decidedly negative.Art of the Deal ghostwriter Tony Schwartz assesses Trump's bargaining prospects: "Trump’s problem in negotiating with Dems to reopen govt is that he has literally no interest other than his own — namely saving face. That’s a terrible place from which to accomplish anything when you don’t have all the power."
“Even though he thinks he’s doing a great job for his core, it’s ripping the nation apart,” said one Trump friend, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “I don’t think there is a plan. He’s not listening to anybody because he thinks that if he folds on this, he loses whatever constituency he thinks he has.”
Behind the scenes at the White House, some aides acknowledge the difficulties.
“The president is very much aware he’s losing the public opinion war on this one,” one senior administration official said. “He looks at the numbers.”[…]
Trump’s management of the impasse has also drawn criticism about his competence as an executive. The administration this past month has been playing a game of whack-a-mole, with West Wing aides saying they did no contingency planning for a shutdown this long and have been learning of problems from agencies and press reports in real time. Officials have scrambled to respond as best they can and keep key services operating, but they fear they may soon run out of so-called Band-Aid solutions, and temporary pots of money may run dry in February, one official said.
Inside the West Wing, morale has been low in recent weeks, according to aides. Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, has not sought to impose the same level of discipline as his predecessor, John F. Kelly, so aides flow in and out of the Oval Office, reminiscent of the early months of Trump’s presidency.[…]
Trump has been preoccupied by the political messaging and stagecraft of the shutdown showdown, according to White House aides. He has personally met with outside allies to ask them to go on cable television to defend his position, and he has spent time calling those who have praised him.[…]
In private conversations with advisers, Trump alternately complains that nobody has presented him a deal to end the shutdown, grouses about Pelosi and Schumer and asks how the fight affects his reelection chances. Aides said they have shown him polling that shows he is losing the shutdown battle and that most Americans do not think the situation at the border is a crisis, as he and his administration have termed it.
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:09 PM on January 22, 2019 [28 favorites]
Last I read, the debt ceiling goes back into effect on March 29th, with some time after that for fiddling with the treasury payment schedule before we hit the hard limit. I'm assuming that whatever budget they're considering would include an increase in that? Or would we be back in this brinkmanship as government in a few weeks?
posted by msbutah at 3:13 PM on January 22, 2019
posted by msbutah at 3:13 PM on January 22, 2019
Well, the pilot of this flight just told us that our delay in landing is due to “a lot of ATC issues due to staffing”. I missed teaching my class— and that’s the lowest possible form of issue. ATC keeps us safe and we need to pay them.
posted by nat at 3:17 PM on January 22, 2019 [35 favorites]
posted by nat at 3:17 PM on January 22, 2019 [35 favorites]
ATC can keep us safe by reminding us that takeoffs are optional.
posted by ocschwar at 3:18 PM on January 22, 2019 [34 favorites]
Ways to get the shutdown over, without encouraging hostage taking:
1) Do not give McConnell a moment of peace until he allows a funding bill to the Senate floor for a veto-proof vote
posted by benzenedream at 3:23 PM on January 22, 2019 [40 favorites]
1) Do not give McConnell a moment of peace until he allows a funding bill to the Senate floor for a veto-proof vote
posted by benzenedream at 3:23 PM on January 22, 2019 [40 favorites]
They don't 👏 need 👏 Trump 👏👏
But they're scared of him.
The WaPo took a survey yesterday of GOP senators, and Profiles in Courage, it ain't: Senate Republicans All But Surrender to Trump On Wall Despite Shutdown’s Toll
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:29 PM on January 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
But they're scared of him.
The WaPo took a survey yesterday of GOP senators, and Profiles in Courage, it ain't: Senate Republicans All But Surrender to Trump On Wall Despite Shutdown’s Toll
One month into a historic government shutdown, Republican senators are standing staunchly behind President Trump’s demand for money to build a border wall, even as the GOP bears the brunt of the blame for a standoff few in the party agitated for, according to interviews this past week with more than 40 Republican senators and aides.Alaska has more federal workers per capita affected by the shutdown than any other, according to the WaPo, so Murkowski's political self-interest is pretty predictable on this issue.
Under pressure from conservatives to help Trump deliver on a signature campaign promise and unable to persuade him to avert the partial government shutdown, these lawmakers have all but surrendered to the president’s will. Their comments show how the cracks in the 53-member Republican majority that emerged at the outset of the shutdown have not spread beyond a handful of lawmakers.
Asked about the pressure from constituents and some of the 800,000 affected federal workers to end the impasse, GOP senators insisted they are facing equal — if not more — insistence to stand behind Trump and his call for $5.7 billion for a U.S.-Mexico border wall, especially from conservative voters.
[…]
Throughout the dozens of interviews with The Washington Post, only six Republican senators were willing to say they would support reopening the government without wall money and without the president’s approval being a precondition. Some Republicans, such as Sens. Cory Gardner (Colo.), Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), have made it clear almost since the shutdown began that they would back spending legislation to end the impasse, even without border wall funding.
“Just a few weeks ago, they had no qualms in saying, ‘yeah, let’s move [a stopgap funding measure] until the eighth of February’ with nothing. They didn’t ask for anything with that and they were good with that then,” Murkowski said of her Republican colleagues. “And now we’re not good with it?”
Asked if she believed Senate Republicans, writ large, were afraid to cross Trump, Murkowski responded: “I think some are, absolutely.”[…]
Yet in private, key Republicans are signaling more concern about the long-term repercussions of the shutdown and the atmosphere in Washington deteriorating after weeks of bitter brinkmanship and no substantive negotiations to reopen the government.
White House officials and GOP leaders would accept virtually any offer from Democrats to end the impasse, hoping they sell it to Trump as a “victory” and move forward, said one Republican with close ties to both the administration and congressional leaders. This person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, said there is extreme consternation about how poorly the shutdown was playing out and how polling shows many Americans heaping blame on Trump.
There is growing concern in the GOP that the longer the shutdown drags on, the more the party will stand to suffer politically.
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:29 PM on January 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
It's, what, 18 defections? 18 GOP senators who have major military bases, contractors, government projects, extensive areas of farms exporting food, etc etc.
20 to override a veto, no? 2/3 of 100 rounds to 67, and Democrats currently have 47 seats. 13 to invoke cloture and send it to his desk.
posted by Justinian at 3:32 PM on January 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
20 to override a veto, no? 2/3 of 100 rounds to 67, and Democrats currently have 47 seats. 13 to invoke cloture and send it to his desk.
posted by Justinian at 3:32 PM on January 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
It appears that Andrew Cuomo just signed Liz Kruger's S. 240/A. 21 Reproductive Health Act. Prepare yourself for the backlash.
posted by mikelieman at 4:00 PM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by mikelieman at 4:00 PM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
They invited the MAGAhat kids to the White House. [real]
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:02 PM on January 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:02 PM on January 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
Specifically, “Sarah Sanders says that WH has reached out to the Covington Catholic kids and invited them to the WH but any meeting would take place after the shutdown.”
posted by Doktor Zed at 4:03 PM on January 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Doktor Zed at 4:03 PM on January 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
It appears that Andrew Cuomo just signed Liz Kruger's S. 240/A. 21 Reproductive Health Act. Prepare yourself for the backlash.
We're going to see a lot of progressive legislation introduced (and hopefully passed) in New York State in the next few months. Two reasons: 1) the Democrats finally have control of both chambers and the governorship for the first time in almost a decade, so they no longer have to compromise with a Republican-controlled Senate, and 2) Governor Cuomo wants to run for president and has recently begun giving way more lip service to progressive issues (he went from "weed is a gateway drug" to "here is my proposal for recreational weed" in two years, for example). As a result, every progressive interest group that does state-level advocacy is rushing to get their long-neglected issues into bills this session. And the NYS legislative session ends in June, so they're having to work fast.
posted by showbiz_liz at 4:11 PM on January 22, 2019 [33 favorites]
We're going to see a lot of progressive legislation introduced (and hopefully passed) in New York State in the next few months. Two reasons: 1) the Democrats finally have control of both chambers and the governorship for the first time in almost a decade, so they no longer have to compromise with a Republican-controlled Senate, and 2) Governor Cuomo wants to run for president and has recently begun giving way more lip service to progressive issues (he went from "weed is a gateway drug" to "here is my proposal for recreational weed" in two years, for example). As a result, every progressive interest group that does state-level advocacy is rushing to get their long-neglected issues into bills this session. And the NYS legislative session ends in June, so they're having to work fast.
posted by showbiz_liz at 4:11 PM on January 22, 2019 [33 favorites]
I believe there was concern about new reps from the left not getting committee assignments?
@desiderioDC: Source tells me @AOC just got a spot on the House Oversight Committee. Wow.
Confirming @LissandraVilla: progressive flamethrowers Ro Khanna, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib also got Oversight spots.
They'll be matched up for fights with the Freedom Caucus, which is also disproportionately represented on Oversight.
posted by zachlipton at 4:33 PM on January 22, 2019 [69 favorites]
@desiderioDC: Source tells me @AOC just got a spot on the House Oversight Committee. Wow.
Confirming @LissandraVilla: progressive flamethrowers Ro Khanna, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib also got Oversight spots.
They'll be matched up for fights with the Freedom Caucus, which is also disproportionately represented on Oversight.
posted by zachlipton at 4:33 PM on January 22, 2019 [69 favorites]
If GOP senators (especially from farm / western states) are not budging, it's probably time to visit them when they're back in their home states for the weekend. Or visit their home-state offices tomorrow.
posted by holgate at 4:40 PM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by holgate at 4:40 PM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
Senators are afraid of Trump for a reason. They have access to polling and other information that gives them pretty good insight into how things will play with their constituents (well, the ones that are likely to vote for them especially). It's very easy for those of us living outside of the Trump bubble to discount his popularity and power, but I think seeing no turncoat elected Repubs tells you a lot about how powerful Trump remains.
posted by chaz at 4:44 PM on January 22, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by chaz at 4:44 PM on January 22, 2019 [8 favorites]
White House invites for the MAGA thug kids? Once again Trump disrespects vets, particularly ones who aren't cis straight white males. At this point it's clearly his default pose.
Even if we were to accept the kids were just victims here, inviting only them and not inviting Phillips is the political equivalent of if Obama had only invited Skip Gates for a beer and not the campus police sergeant who wrongly arrested him.
(That's to say nothing of how every discussion of the issue automatically asserts with no reflection whatsoever that the real bad guys were obviously, unquestionably, the very scary Black Hebrew Black Israelite Blacks.)
posted by xigxag at 4:48 PM on January 22, 2019 [19 favorites]
Even if we were to accept the kids were just victims here, inviting only them and not inviting Phillips is the political equivalent of if Obama had only invited Skip Gates for a beer and not the campus police sergeant who wrongly arrested him.
(That's to say nothing of how every discussion of the issue automatically asserts with no reflection whatsoever that the real bad guys were obviously, unquestionably, the very scary Black Hebrew Black Israelite Blacks.)
posted by xigxag at 4:48 PM on January 22, 2019 [19 favorites]
Trump’s popularity among his base has lately been showing weakness, due to the shutdown, which is why they’ve clung so hard to the Kentucky Catholic schoolboys: it’s a cheap way to reset the white identity bonds between Trump and base.
posted by notyou at 4:52 PM on January 22, 2019 [23 favorites]
posted by notyou at 4:52 PM on January 22, 2019 [23 favorites]
(That's to say nothing of how every discussion of the issue automatically asserts with no reflection whatsoever that the real bad guys were obviously, unquestionably, the very scary Black Hebrew Black Israelite Blacks.)I mean, I don't know whether you've ever encountered those guys before, but they are unquestionably assholes. They're assholes who pretty much everyone knows to ignore, but being real jerks in public is kind of their thing. The problem is that everyone with a bit of sense knows to ignore them and walk away, and these dumb suburban rich boys had never been out of their suburban bubble enough to know that it was stupid to be confrontational and escalate the situation.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:08 PM on January 22, 2019 [48 favorites]
Daily Beast, ‘We Are Fighters’: Trans Troops Are Not Giving Up After SCOTUS Ruling for Trump Ban, featuring a photo of an awesome "DON'_ ASK DON'_ _ELL: MISSION INCOMPLETE" shirt
If the Trump administration gets its way, this would be the result: people in King’s position will eventually leave, people in Karnoski’s position will be discouraged from joining, and eventually the military would no longer have openly transgender service members. But both King and Karnoski remain undeterred.BuzzFeed, Transgender Soldiers Are Terrified, Disappointed, And Anxious After The Supreme Court’s Ruling
“It’s kind of a calling—and once you’ve heard that calling, it isn’t really something that you would ignore,” Karnoski told The Daily Beast.
“I’m a service member,” said King. I love serving my country. And service members are not victims. We are fighters—and we will continue to fight for what’s right.”
“Transgender soldiers are waking up and seeing this nation is going to turn their backs on them, and that is a difficult thing to swallow,” Chief Warrant Officer Lindsey Muller, an active duty Army attack helicopter pilot who also served during the Iraq war, told BuzzFeed News.posted by zachlipton at 5:25 PM on January 22, 2019 [20 favorites]
“To be told that I’m now a burden, after nearly 19 years of service, it’s really hard to understand,” she said.
“The uneasiness is palpable,” she added, describing phone calls from other transgender soldiers and applicants. “They are terrified.
...
“As trans people, we have served for two years with honor and dignity," Wyatt said. "There are no words to describe how much pain suffering we have incurred these past years.” For now, she said, “I am going to do my job to the best of my ability, I will still serve my country just as I did before.””
-Boys are caught on video demonstrating the bigotry and white privilege of their community.
-Pushback lets everyone who is uncomfortable calling out said bigotry to retreat to their corners.
-Further evidence shows: yep, it's even worse than it looked.
-No apologies from the boys or their community, no reflection, only doubling-down.
-Right wing culture war adopts boys as mascots.
I feel like I've seen this show somewhere before. Swap out "boys" for some other pronoun, singular or plural, but almost assuredly male and white.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 5:29 PM on January 22, 2019 [69 favorites]
-Pushback lets everyone who is uncomfortable calling out said bigotry to retreat to their corners.
-Further evidence shows: yep, it's even worse than it looked.
-No apologies from the boys or their community, no reflection, only doubling-down.
-Right wing culture war adopts boys as mascots.
I feel like I've seen this show somewhere before. Swap out "boys" for some other pronoun, singular or plural, but almost assuredly male and white.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 5:29 PM on January 22, 2019 [69 favorites]
Axios has that 4 interesting people have been named to the House Oversight Committee:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Ro Khanna
Ayanna Pressley
Rashida Tlaib
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 5:39 PM on January 22, 2019 [15 favorites]
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Ro Khanna
Ayanna Pressley
Rashida Tlaib
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 5:39 PM on January 22, 2019 [15 favorites]
Mark Warner introduces legislation to prevent future government shutdowns in the event of funding lapses: The Stop STUPIDITY Act. The acronym stands for Shutdowns Transferring Unnecessary Pain and Inflicting Damage In The Coming Years
Seung Min Kim: Isn’t it the STUPIDITCY Act?
posted by peeedro at 5:43 PM on January 22, 2019 [23 favorites]
Seung Min Kim: Isn’t it the STUPIDITCY Act?
posted by peeedro at 5:43 PM on January 22, 2019 [23 favorites]
The very scary Black Hebrew Black Israelite Blacks
I have ran into these guys before, and stopped to listen. I can only describe them as a bunch of black guys decked out in medieval space garb who preach non-stop about the white devil. I am not looking forward to Trump presenting them to America as your average leftist minority protest group.
posted by xammerboy at 5:51 PM on January 22, 2019 [26 favorites]
I have ran into these guys before, and stopped to listen. I can only describe them as a bunch of black guys decked out in medieval space garb who preach non-stop about the white devil. I am not looking forward to Trump presenting them to America as your average leftist minority protest group.
posted by xammerboy at 5:51 PM on January 22, 2019 [26 favorites]
ArbitraryAndCapricious, yes they are definitely obnoxious asshole cult members, I do totally agree. In fact, if you listen to the clip they are telling the indigenous women that they should be subservient to their husbands, that they're fake five-dollar culture vulture Indians, they called the MAGA kids dusty-ass crackers and basically dared them to come over and get an ass whooping. And more along that vein. But, as fucked up as all that is, they were exercising their first amendment rights no more or less than the MAGA brats themselves who as we know were all about building Wall, regulating women's bodies and engaging in some casual racism for extra credit. The BHIsraelites are if anything more subdued in a way. Unlike the free-range MAGAteens, their m.o. is to stake out a corner of a public gathering and lob loud vocal taunts from the sidelines. They don't form a large group to surround and physically intimidate people, at least not in my experience.
They're also incidentally not necessarily African Americans and in theory don't even identify as black. One of this particular group was Puerto Rican and another Panamanian, and their theology includes the idea that indigenous peoples of the Western hemisphere belong to various of the true tribes of Israel and should consider themselves as natural kin.
posted by xigxag at 5:58 PM on January 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
They're also incidentally not necessarily African Americans and in theory don't even identify as black. One of this particular group was Puerto Rican and another Panamanian, and their theology includes the idea that indigenous peoples of the Western hemisphere belong to various of the true tribes of Israel and should consider themselves as natural kin.
posted by xigxag at 5:58 PM on January 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
WSJ's Rebecca Ballhaus reports on Democratic oversight of the DoJ:
Elections matter.
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:59 PM on January 22, 2019 [46 favorites]
House Judiciary Chairman Nadler in letter to Whitaker ahead of his Feb. 8 testimony asks:Nadler has more uncomfortable questions for Whittaker:
- if Trump contacted him after Cohen’s guilty plea
- if Trump contacted him after he was ID’d as “Individual 1”
- if Trump considered firing SDNY officials
https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/democrats.judiciary.house.gov/files/documents/1.22.2018%20Letter%20to%20Whitaker.pdf
The letter also asks Whitaker: "Did you have any communication with the White House about the BuzzFeed report or the decision of the Special Counsel’s office to issue its subsequent statement? If so, with whom? What was discussed?”
• President Trump fired former Attorney General Jeff Sessions November 7, 2018. On or before that date, did you have any communication with any White House official, including but not limited to President Trump, about the possibility of your appointment as Acting Attorney General? If so, when and with whom? Did any of those communications discuss the possibility of your recusal from oversight of the Special Counsel's investigation?He's also asked that Whittaker give 48 hours' advance notice if Trump intends to invoke executive privilege on any of the questions.
• You announced your decision _not_ to recuse yourself from the Special Counsel's investigation on December 19, 2018. Did you consult with the White House about that decision, before or after it was announced? If so, with whom?
• Have you ever received a briefing on the status of the Special Counsel's investigation? If so, have you communicated any information you learned in that briefing to any White House official, including but not limited to President Trump, or any member of President Trump's private legal team?
Elections matter.
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:59 PM on January 22, 2019 [46 favorites]
i, for one, enjoyed watching the black hebrew israelites (instances of whom i too have encountered in real life) call the not-very-catholic catholic school boys "esau," old school shade the catholic school boys did not appear sufficiently versed in their nominal founding literature to appreciate.
posted by 20 year lurk at 6:04 PM on January 22, 2019 [41 favorites]
posted by 20 year lurk at 6:04 PM on January 22, 2019 [41 favorites]
They don't form a large group to surround and physically intimidate people, at least not in my experience.
It really depends on the specific sect. The SPLC has warned of some hate group activity within some BI sects, I'm not sure which the DC contingent fell into.
posted by corb at 6:17 PM on January 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
It really depends on the specific sect. The SPLC has warned of some hate group activity within some BI sects, I'm not sure which the DC contingent fell into.
posted by corb at 6:17 PM on January 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
I am not looking forward to T[erriblest Presidont] presenting them to America as your average leftist minority protest group.
the hate group rating under SPLC's imprimatur is why i'm reasonably confident such a characterization will not find a receptive, credulous audience. except among the deplorable base, maybe.
posted by 20 year lurk at 6:29 PM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
the hate group rating under SPLC's imprimatur is why i'm reasonably confident such a characterization will not find a receptive, credulous audience. except among the deplorable base, maybe.
posted by 20 year lurk at 6:29 PM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
The fact that those kids' reaction to getting street harassed by obnoxious weirdos (something that many of us have to deal with on a regular basis in our daily lives from pretty young ages) was to... well, definitely not walk away and ignore them like anyone with a lick of sense and experience dealing with harassment is a testament to their privilege. That they then directed their ill-advised retaliatory aggro to the person trying to deescalate is, again, a sign of their unthinking privilege. Never once did it seem to occur to any of them that hey, this might end badly for us, maybe we should take a hint and leave this area for a bit. And I guess it hasn't really ended badly for them, and they were right. They did a stupid stupid thing that anyone who has had obscenities shouted at them on the street on the regs* would never do, and it turned out just fine.
*My most recent nom de random asshole is "stupid bitch". I did not attempt to step to this gentleman because doing so would have been dumb and definitely not ended well.
posted by soren_lorensen at 6:33 PM on January 22, 2019 [31 favorites]
*My most recent nom de random asshole is "stupid bitch". I did not attempt to step to this gentleman because doing so would have been dumb and definitely not ended well.
posted by soren_lorensen at 6:33 PM on January 22, 2019 [31 favorites]
I just think it's a little hilarious that the dumb little racist MAGA boys managed to get into a toxic-masculinity-off with some of the only people who could rival them in the toxic-masculinity department.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:41 PM on January 22, 2019 [32 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:41 PM on January 22, 2019 [32 favorites]
Politico reports that the knives are coming out for Rudy: Trump exasperated by gaffe-prone Giuliani—After the president's freewheeling lawyer cleans up yet another set of public comments, the West Wing's patience is wearing thin.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:57 PM on January 22, 2019 [8 favorites]
Trump was apoplectic after a pair of weekend media interviews by his personal lawyer, in which Giuliani said that the president had been involved in discussions to build a Trump Tower in Moscow through the end of the 2016 campaign — a statement that enraged Trump because it contradicted his own public position, according to two sources close to the president.For his part, Giuliani thinks he’s simply engaging in “alternative arguing”: “I do have a mastery of the facts, which is why I can spin them honestly, argue them several different ways.”
Giuliani’s statement was the latest in a series of remarks over several months that has required walk-backs or reversals, and Trump spent much of Sunday and Monday fuming to aides and friends about his lawyer’s missteps. Most of those people share Trump’s frustration, noting that the former New York mayor often appears to lack a mastery of the facts of Trump’s legal headaches.
Giuliani’s public remarks — typically made in sporadic clusters of freewheeling media interviews — have long exasperated White House aides, including the president’s in-house lawyer handling the Russia investigation, Emmet Flood. The latest fracas comes at a time of maximum vulnerability for the president and his legal team. Special counsel Robert Mueller has no deadline for finishing his work, but many outside observers see him as nearing the end of his probe into 2016 Russian election meddling and whether it was coordinated with Trump or his campaign.
Asked who in the White House is responsible for handling Giuliani’s missteps, a White House aide said, “Handling Rudy’s f--- ups takes more than one man.”[…]
Despite his frustrations with Giuliani, Trump associates say the president understands his value as an attack dog against Mueller. Because legal advisers have told the president that he cannot be indicted while in office, Trump has put a greater emphasis on the politics of the Mueller probe and fending off a potential impeachment by Congress rather than on contesting specific allegations the special counsel seems to be pursuing.
“I think that the president has been persuaded that he needs to treat this as a political matter and so this is primarily going to be a messaging battle, and Rudy much of the time has been a very effective messenger,” said a former White House aide.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:57 PM on January 22, 2019 [8 favorites]
Rayburn and Cannon are the buildings that house congressional offices
Just to expand on this, there are seven Congressional office buildings:
posted by Chrysostom at 7:09 PM on January 22, 2019 [8 favorites]
Just to expand on this, there are seven Congressional office buildings:
* Russell Senate (Sen. Richard Russell [D-GA])AOC's actual office is in Cannon; Pelosi's is in Longworth.
* Dirksen Senate (Sen. Everett Dirksen [R-IL])
* Hart Senate (Sen. Philip Hart [D-MI])
* Cannon House (Speaker Joseph Cannon [R-IL])
* Longworth House (Speaker Nicholas Longworth [R-OH])
* Rayburn House (Speaker Sam Rayburn [D-TX])
* Ford House (Rep. Gerald Ford [R-MI]) => This one is a few blocks away and doesn't have Member offices, just committee staff, and other odds and ends like the Architect of the Capitol.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:09 PM on January 22, 2019 [8 favorites]
HuffPo: Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has agreed to testify before Congress next month amid accusations he lied about his controversial decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census the last time he was under oath in front of Congress.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:12 PM on January 22, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 7:12 PM on January 22, 2019 [11 favorites]
Not new to avid mega thread readers but interesting to see everything in one place and the scope of it The Young Left’s Anti-Capitalist Manifesto (538)
posted by The Whelk at 7:14 PM on January 22, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 7:14 PM on January 22, 2019 [15 favorites]
Good news dept:
* Illinois's State Board of Elections voted to leave Crosscheck, the Kris Kobach-designed program that was being used to purge eligible voters.
* Meanwhile, Kobach's replacement as Kansas SOS is looking at scrapping the program altogether.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:17 PM on January 22, 2019 [29 favorites]
* Illinois's State Board of Elections voted to leave Crosscheck, the Kris Kobach-designed program that was being used to purge eligible voters.
* Meanwhile, Kobach's replacement as Kansas SOS is looking at scrapping the program altogether.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:17 PM on January 22, 2019 [29 favorites]
Speaking of Kobach, Fear of Kobach and 2020 ‘disaster’ drive Pompeo recruitment, say GOP strategists, in which Republicans are trying to get Pompeo to run for Senate in Kansas (replacing the retiring Sen. Roberts) so that Kobach doesn't run and turn what should be a safe red seat into a repeat of the disaster that was his gubernatorial campaign.
Also speaking of Kobach, turns out he used state funds to pay for the continuing legal education class a federal judge ordered him to take as a sanction after he kept trying to introduce last-minute new evidence. He previously paid a $1,000 fine, issued for misleading the court, with a government credit card that had been issued to an employee who was deployed with the National Guard at the time.
posted by zachlipton at 7:25 PM on January 22, 2019 [19 favorites]
Also speaking of Kobach, turns out he used state funds to pay for the continuing legal education class a federal judge ordered him to take as a sanction after he kept trying to introduce last-minute new evidence. He previously paid a $1,000 fine, issued for misleading the court, with a government credit card that had been issued to an employee who was deployed with the National Guard at the time.
posted by zachlipton at 7:25 PM on January 22, 2019 [19 favorites]
PPP poll has every Dem they asked about beating Trump:
* Biden 53%, Trump 41%posted by Chrysostom at 7:29 PM on January 22, 2019 [21 favorites]
* Sanders 51%, Trump 41%
* Harris 48%, Trump 41%
* O’Rourke 47%, Trump 41%
* Warren 48%, Trump 42%
* Booker 47%, Trump 42%
* Gillibrand 47%, Trump 42%
Did they factor in Russian interference in the 2020 election?
posted by perhapses at 7:42 PM on January 22, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by perhapses at 7:42 PM on January 22, 2019 [9 favorites]
It's good to see Trump at no higher than 42% but it's disheartening to see all the Democrats except Biden under 50% (Sanders currently being an I). Of course Biden and Sanders are also the two candidates with the highest name recognition so that probably helps.
But 5 points is an uncomfortably small lead given the last couple years. Very uncomfortably small.
posted by Justinian at 7:42 PM on January 22, 2019 [25 favorites]
But 5 points is an uncomfortably small lead given the last couple years. Very uncomfortably small.
posted by Justinian at 7:42 PM on January 22, 2019 [25 favorites]
“I do have a mastery of the facts, which is why I can spin them honestly, argue them several different ways.”
Assuming:
-- that the competent lawyers in the White House (basically, Emmet Flood) have taken advantage of the multiple JDAs and the discovery process after the Cohen raid to assemble something approximating a narrative of what happened;
-- that I-1 lies about everything;
-- that Rudy 911 spends more time on the blower to I-1 and journalists than with the competent lawyers;
I think it's likely that Rudes accidentally blurts out damning truths in his freestyle sessions that are known to the targets of the investigation but not to him or the other lawyers.
posted by holgate at 7:45 PM on January 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
Assuming:
-- that the competent lawyers in the White House (basically, Emmet Flood) have taken advantage of the multiple JDAs and the discovery process after the Cohen raid to assemble something approximating a narrative of what happened;
-- that I-1 lies about everything;
-- that Rudy 911 spends more time on the blower to I-1 and journalists than with the competent lawyers;
I think it's likely that Rudes accidentally blurts out damning truths in his freestyle sessions that are known to the targets of the investigation but not to him or the other lawyers.
posted by holgate at 7:45 PM on January 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
From the same PPP poll: Finally, we asked voters to put Trump’s Presidency so far in historic context. 44% say Trump is the worst President of the last 40 years to 31% for Barack Obama with no one else polling in double digits. Obama wins when it comes to who voters say is the best President of the last 40 years with 31% to 26% for Ronald Reagan, 15% for Trump, and 11% for Bill Clinton. 53% of voters wish Obama was still President, to 43% for Trump. And 49% of voters wish Hillary Clinton was President instead, to 43% for Trump.
31% say Obama was the worst president. White male supremacy is a hell of a drug.
posted by benzenedream at 7:45 PM on January 22, 2019 [48 favorites]
31% say Obama was the worst president. White male supremacy is a hell of a drug.
posted by benzenedream at 7:45 PM on January 22, 2019 [48 favorites]
The terrifying thing to me is that I remember the "27% crazification factor" during the GWB years.
I think everyone fucked up taking that as some sort of baseline or constant. Sure feels like a lot more than that now.
posted by absalom at 7:46 PM on January 22, 2019 [12 favorites]
I think everyone fucked up taking that as some sort of baseline or constant. Sure feels like a lot more than that now.
posted by absalom at 7:46 PM on January 22, 2019 [12 favorites]
But 5 points is an uncomfortably small lead given the last couple years.
That’s 760 respondents and a 3.6% MOE. I dunno. I think it’s way too early to start being concerned about “leads” and whatnot.
posted by lazaruslong at 7:47 PM on January 22, 2019 [8 favorites]
That’s 760 respondents and a 3.6% MOE. I dunno. I think it’s way too early to start being concerned about “leads” and whatnot.
posted by lazaruslong at 7:47 PM on January 22, 2019 [8 favorites]
I suspect quite a few poll-takers have trouble not seeing various Democratic candidates as anything but in competition, which will naturally have the effect of splitting the field. Also, few want to look so ~unsophisticated~ that they would support absolutely any Dem over Trump, even though that's the best answer and more people doing it would lead to higher numbers all around.
20 year lurk a: the hate group rating under SPLC's imprimatur is why i'm reasonably confident such a characterization will not find a receptive, credulous audience. except among the deplorable base, maybe.
This is reasonable. At the same time, whenever another right-wing figurehead is exposed as even more heinous than previously believed, the left is asked (often by supposed educated centrists) to disown antisemite Louis Farrakhan, who is a literal Trump supporter. So.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 7:51 PM on January 22, 2019
20 year lurk a: the hate group rating under SPLC's imprimatur is why i'm reasonably confident such a characterization will not find a receptive, credulous audience. except among the deplorable base, maybe.
This is reasonable. At the same time, whenever another right-wing figurehead is exposed as even more heinous than previously believed, the left is asked (often by supposed educated centrists) to disown antisemite Louis Farrakhan, who is a literal Trump supporter. So.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 7:51 PM on January 22, 2019
the thing to remember about the 27% crazification factor is that it originated in a discussion about Alan Keyes’ run for the Illinois seat in the US Senate against Barack Obama - which is to say that it specifcally excluded the devoted racist bloc.
trump’s base is the intersection of the 27% incurably crazy demographic and the single-issue white supremacy voters, which is why his floor seems to be higher than the crazification factor indicates.
posted by murphy slaw at 7:55 PM on January 22, 2019 [62 favorites]
trump’s base is the intersection of the 27% incurably crazy demographic and the single-issue white supremacy voters, which is why his floor seems to be higher than the crazification factor indicates.
posted by murphy slaw at 7:55 PM on January 22, 2019 [62 favorites]
Leads?! Leads, yeah sure. I'll uh, just check with the boys down at the Crime Lab! They uh, got uh, four more detectives working on the case. They've got us working in shifts! HAhahahaha.
Leads. But speaking of burying ledes, here's a fun article that could be just what it says it is, or it could be a perfect metaphor for coroporate news In The Time of Turmp:
“White House press briefings, in steady decline even before the partial government shutdown, have now ground to a halt as a prolonged power struggle among President Trump’s aides leads to a muddled messaging strategy,” CNN reports.
“No one has emerged as the clear leader among Sarah Sanders, Bill Shine, Kellyanne Conway or Mercedes Schlapp, leading to deep divisions among one of the administration’s most fractious departments and causing a void for a coverage-obsessed president.”
So let's hope nothing too involved hits their plates as they'll be desperately trying to cling to relevance for *something/Anything*.
posted by petebest at 7:57 PM on January 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
Leads. But speaking of burying ledes, here's a fun article that could be just what it says it is, or it could be a perfect metaphor for coroporate news In The Time of Turmp:
“White House press briefings, in steady decline even before the partial government shutdown, have now ground to a halt as a prolonged power struggle among President Trump’s aides leads to a muddled messaging strategy,” CNN reports.
“No one has emerged as the clear leader among Sarah Sanders, Bill Shine, Kellyanne Conway or Mercedes Schlapp, leading to deep divisions among one of the administration’s most fractious departments and causing a void for a coverage-obsessed president.”
So let's hope nothing too involved hits their plates as they'll be desperately trying to cling to relevance for *something/Anything*.
posted by petebest at 7:57 PM on January 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
Operation Shut Up Rudy is on.
AP, Giuliani’s media blitz draws ire of Trump and some allies
posted by zachlipton at 8:07 PM on January 22, 2019 [18 favorites]
AP, Giuliani’s media blitz draws ire of Trump and some allies
Rudy Giuliani’s latest media blitz, which was filled with a dizzying array of misstatements and hurried clarifications, agitated President Donald Trump and some of his allies, who have raised the possibility that the outspoken presidential lawyer be at least temporarily sidelined from televised interviews.Vanity Fair, Jared and Ivanka-whisperer Gabriel Sherman, “Trump Is Screaming. He’s So Mad at Rudy”: Giuliani’s Fate Is Uncertain After Botched Interviews
Trump was frustrated with Giuliani, according to three White House officials and Republicans close to the White House who were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. The president told advisers that he felt his lawyer had obscured what he believed was a public relations victory: the special counsel’s rare public statement disputing portions of a BuzzFeed News story that Trump instructed his former attorney, Michael Cohen, to lie before Congress.
The president told confidants that Giuliani had “changed the headlines” for the worse and raised the possibility that Giuliani do fewer cable hits, at least for a while, according to the officials and Republicans.
Trump is “furious” with Giuliani’s recent botched press appearances, two Republicans briefed on the president’s thinking told me. What makes the most recent interviews so frustrating to Trumpworld is that, on Friday, the president secured his biggest victory yet when Robert Mueller’s spokesman issued a rare public denial of BuzzFeed’s explosive report alleging Trump had directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about Trump Tower Moscow. “Before Rudy stepped in it, Mueller had basically called BuzzFeed ‘fake news,’” a Republican close to the White House said. According to sources, a debate is playing out inside the West Wing over Giuliani’s future. Trump is being encouraged by several people, including Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, to dump Giuliani before it’s too late, while outside advisers Corey Lewandowski and Dave Bossie are lobbying Trump to keep Giuliani. “Trump is screaming. He’s so mad at Rudy,” one of the sources said. (“No, he’s not pissed. He just wants it clarified,” Giuliani told CNN’s Dana Bash on Tuesday, when asked about the president’s response to the interviews.)We're stuck in this bizarre loop where Rudy is clearly worse than useless at providing information, yet he's also one of the only people who has access to all the information who goes around talking about it, so everyone wants to try to get him to say something that incriminates the President, which he'll then later deny. All the while, he grows ever more enamored of seeing his own face on TV.
As Giuliani’s unforced errors pile up, former West Wing officials and 2016 campaign veterans are privately debating what’s gone wrong with Rudy. Why, they ask, is he making statements that so obviously damage his client? A former White House official speculated that maybe Giuliani “has lost his mind.” But there are other, more charitable ways of interpreting Giuliani’s interviews. As I’ve previously reported, the Trump-Giuliani relationship hasn’t been good for weeks. Giuliani has said privately that he “hates the job” and that Mueller’s final report will be “horrific” for Trump. Facing these challenges and pressures, it’s understandable he would make mistakes, the thinking goes. “Everyone who works for Trump screws up because there’s no way to please the guy,” an outside Trump adviser said.
But, frustrating as the job may be, Giuliani also may be addicted to it. Friends said the former New York mayor was embittered after being out of the limelight for years following his failed 2008 presidential campaign. He’s been exhilarated by the press attention that comes with being Trump’s lawyer. Sources said Giuliani often books his own interviews and frequently texts with television news anchors. “There’s a school of thought that it’s better to be famous and ridiculed than ignored,” a Giuliani friend told me. But the media environment has become vastly more complicated than it was a decade ago, the last time Giuliani was on the national stage, and he has struggled to adapt. “This has been a trial by fire for him,” the friend said. “He can’t just say whatever he wants, because he’s being fact-checked on Twitter. Every time he does anything he gets caught.”
posted by zachlipton at 8:07 PM on January 22, 2019 [18 favorites]
he's also one of the only people who has access to all the information
Hypothetically. Do you think, for instance, that he knows who Junior called at 4:27pm and 8:40pm on June 6th 2016?
posted by holgate at 8:26 PM on January 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
Hypothetically. Do you think, for instance, that he knows who Junior called at 4:27pm and 8:40pm on June 6th 2016?
posted by holgate at 8:26 PM on January 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
Rudy hasn't been "reined in" before, has he? It's abject Kremlinology to pursue it, but maybe they have some "take the news cycle" statistics they boil down to a number that Rudy didn't meet. The "tapes" word usage probably has me the most curious (possibly enough to rewatch for facial tics), but everything else had already long been speculated or spelled out by Emptywheel and others.
posted by rhizome at 8:28 PM on January 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 8:28 PM on January 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
trump’s base is the intersection of the 27% incurably crazy demographic and the single-issue white supremacy voters, which is why his floor seems to be higher than the crazification factor indicates.
My quick guideline is subtract 27% from both sides of a poll to get a sense of what the "Not Insane" cohort thinks.
posted by mikelieman at 8:29 PM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
My quick guideline is subtract 27% from both sides of a poll to get a sense of what the "Not Insane" cohort thinks.
posted by mikelieman at 8:29 PM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
hat makes the most recent interviews so frustrating to Trumpworld is that, on Friday, the president secured his biggest victory yet when Robert Mueller’s spokesman issued a rare public denial of BuzzFeed’s explosive report alleging Trump had directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about Trump Tower Moscow. “Before Rudy stepped in it, Mueller had basically called BuzzFeed ‘fake news,’”
This is what they're counting as a victory...a completely vague non-denial "denial", just because Mueller finally said one word, possibly after being prompted by Whitaker the Toilet Salesman.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:30 PM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
This is what they're counting as a victory...a completely vague non-denial "denial", just because Mueller finally said one word, possibly after being prompted by Whitaker the Toilet Salesman.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:30 PM on January 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
From that AP story:
posted by holgate at 8:33 PM on January 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
Part of his confusion is that while Giuliani frequently speaks to his client, the president’s legal team has had a difficult time corralling [I-1] for a lengthy debriefing about the facts of the case, particularly from events stemming before the presidency, according to one official and a Republican close to the White House.The lawyers don't have access to all of the information. They are having to reverse-engineer it as best they can. The stuff that matters is a rigidly-defined area of doubt and uncertainty.
posted by holgate at 8:33 PM on January 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
many Feds take use-or-lose leave at the end of the year (a maximum of 240 hours of annual leave can be carried from one year to the next for most employees), and you lose those hours into the ether, too.
Nah, if you make a good-faith effort to schedule that leave prior to the end of the leave year and it gets denied (and you have a denied written request or several to show), you can get it restored.
Interesting thing about that 10% sick number at TSA - that might not just be out-for-the-day-type sick. If you take leave while a furlough is going on, you stand the chance of being immediately furloughed. With the back-pay thing sorted in advance, I bet there are people *trying* to get furloughed by calling in sick. Unsustainable.
posted by ctmf at 8:45 PM on January 22, 2019
Nah, if you make a good-faith effort to schedule that leave prior to the end of the leave year and it gets denied (and you have a denied written request or several to show), you can get it restored.
Interesting thing about that 10% sick number at TSA - that might not just be out-for-the-day-type sick. If you take leave while a furlough is going on, you stand the chance of being immediately furloughed. With the back-pay thing sorted in advance, I bet there are people *trying* to get furloughed by calling in sick. Unsustainable.
posted by ctmf at 8:45 PM on January 22, 2019
This feels like the third or fourth “Trump has had it up to here with Giuliani” tea reading we’ve gone through.
posted by notyou at 9:48 PM on January 22, 2019 [14 favorites]
posted by notyou at 9:48 PM on January 22, 2019 [14 favorites]
It really depends on the specific sect. The SPLC has warned of some hate group activity within some BI sects, I'm not sure which the DC contingent fell into.
Even "some hate group activity" understates the situation. I don't know the names of the individuals at the Capitol Saturday or their connections to other BI groups and members, but members of one group -- the Nation of Yahweh, led by the late Yahweh ben Yahweh, were convicted of 14 murders and some other crimes. (CW: details are gruesome).
The reason this matters is that many conservatives online are saying that Nathan Phillips is lying when he says that he stepped in because he feared violence between the MAGA kids and the BHI. This history of violence lends credence to his explanation. In the video BHI members are bragging that the kids don't dare mess with them.
posted by msalt at 9:57 PM on January 22, 2019 [9 favorites]
Even "some hate group activity" understates the situation. I don't know the names of the individuals at the Capitol Saturday or their connections to other BI groups and members, but members of one group -- the Nation of Yahweh, led by the late Yahweh ben Yahweh, were convicted of 14 murders and some other crimes. (CW: details are gruesome).
The reason this matters is that many conservatives online are saying that Nathan Phillips is lying when he says that he stepped in because he feared violence between the MAGA kids and the BHI. This history of violence lends credence to his explanation. In the video BHI members are bragging that the kids don't dare mess with them.
posted by msalt at 9:57 PM on January 22, 2019 [9 favorites]
A strike isn't what we're looking for. What we're looking for is a way to pay federal employees directly, and in a larger sense, re-staff the government with effective employees, without having to go through Congress. Basically the opposite of a strike.
There's a part of me that really likes something like this idea: a strike against tax withholding, individuals directing payments to government workers. Buuuut... this is also effectively privatization. It lets the wealthy and ideologically possessed who would *love* to jettison public institutions into the realm of private voluntary funding do just that. Hell, it lets those among them with the right grifter's instinct set themselves up as the middleman.
I think that generalizes to the fact that just as there's ultimately no way for the worst actors in the GOP to achieve their goals while respecting the best of American law, norms, and institutions.... there's no way stop Republicans from governing badly via extralegal action, short of actual complete revolution. Any attempt to take over something that's being mismanaged at the federal level other than the entirety of government feeds right back into their plan to cripple public institutions.
The legal fallbacks are state government and beating the shit out of the GOP in the future elections, which will hopefully be easier the more people can see that the parties are in fact different and elections have consequences, possibly up to and including the mass layoff of the entire federal workforce.
posted by wildblueyonder at 10:23 PM on January 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
There's a part of me that really likes something like this idea: a strike against tax withholding, individuals directing payments to government workers. Buuuut... this is also effectively privatization. It lets the wealthy and ideologically possessed who would *love* to jettison public institutions into the realm of private voluntary funding do just that. Hell, it lets those among them with the right grifter's instinct set themselves up as the middleman.
I think that generalizes to the fact that just as there's ultimately no way for the worst actors in the GOP to achieve their goals while respecting the best of American law, norms, and institutions.... there's no way stop Republicans from governing badly via extralegal action, short of actual complete revolution. Any attempt to take over something that's being mismanaged at the federal level other than the entirety of government feeds right back into their plan to cripple public institutions.
The legal fallbacks are state government and beating the shit out of the GOP in the future elections, which will hopefully be easier the more people can see that the parties are in fact different and elections have consequences, possibly up to and including the mass layoff of the entire federal workforce.
posted by wildblueyonder at 10:23 PM on January 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
I think that generalizes to the fact that just as there's ultimately no way for the worst actors in the GOP to achieve their goals while respecting the best of American law, norms, and institutions....
I linked to this a few days ago. It fills in a lot of the gaps I've had in the big picture. I think it dovetails nicely with what you're saying.
What Is the Far Right’s Endgame? A Society That Suppresses the Majority.
posted by scalefree at 10:40 PM on January 22, 2019 [26 favorites]
I linked to this a few days ago. It fills in a lot of the gaps I've had in the big picture. I think it dovetails nicely with what you're saying.
What Is the Far Right’s Endgame? A Society That Suppresses the Majority.
posted by scalefree at 10:40 PM on January 22, 2019 [26 favorites]
The 5-to-7-point leads almost every Democrat has over Trump doesn't concern me... yet, because they haven't built up much name recognition... yet. The highest rated two old guys with 10 and 12 point leads have been around forever, and remember much of the so-called Liberal Media was promoting The Donald for decades - two years of awfulness doesn't erase all that goodwill, but close to 4 years will come closer.
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:18 PM on January 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:18 PM on January 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
I mean, that media stuff doesn’t get talked about enough, by treating Trump as a fun news item cause he was good for business and clicks all the major news networks basically ran free press for him for years - he didn’t have to buy airtime or print ads or whatever and the most watched news network in the country was basically running his media team (going so far as to send him talking points for speeches) and now controls what he talks about by telling him what to say via thier morning news show he watches.
the TV is President now. Literally. Allowing these media empires to consolidate will go down as one of the biggest mistakes in history, along with just allowing people to have that much money to influence things in the first place.
If you want toke down the right you take down their funding. Everything is being propped up by outside billions. You think Breitbart ever made a single dollar in profit?
posted by The Whelk at 11:24 PM on January 22, 2019 [50 favorites]
the TV is President now. Literally. Allowing these media empires to consolidate will go down as one of the biggest mistakes in history, along with just allowing people to have that much money to influence things in the first place.
If you want toke down the right you take down their funding. Everything is being propped up by outside billions. You think Breitbart ever made a single dollar in profit?
posted by The Whelk at 11:24 PM on January 22, 2019 [50 favorites]
What Is the Far Right’s Endgame? A Society That Suppresses the Majority.
That vision in the first paragraph sounds an awful lot like Galt's Gulch to me.
Also, I don't believe these guys want to stop their suppression at the borders but spread it around the planet.
posted by infini at 12:38 AM on January 23, 2019 [8 favorites]
That vision in the first paragraph sounds an awful lot like Galt's Gulch to me.
Also, I don't believe these guys want to stop their suppression at the borders but spread it around the planet.
posted by infini at 12:38 AM on January 23, 2019 [8 favorites]
House Intelligence Committee Looking Into Tweet About Viral MAGA Hat Teen Video (Nick Robins-Early, Huffington Post)
The Twitter account @2020fight on Friday posted the minute-long video of Covington Catholic High School students and Omaha tribe elder Nathan Phillips, and was viewed over 2.5 million times in the days since. The tweet sparked a national controversy and heated partisan debate over the incident, which included President Donald Trump defending the students against allegations of racism.posted by ZeusHumms at 4:59 AM on January 23, 2019 [38 favorites]
But now there is additional scrutiny over how the video became so widely viewed after Twitter suspended the @2020fight account on Monday, following a CNN investigation into several suspicious aspects of the account. The @2020fight account followed over 37,000 users and averaged 210 posts and likes a day, which experts say are classic signs that an account may be automated or inauthentic. The account claimed to be a California school teacher named Talia, but the photo used matched a Brazilian blogger and model.
The House Intelligence Committee is now requesting more information about the @2020fight account. A spokesperson for Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) ― who is vice chairman of the U.S Senate Select Committee On Intelligence ― also told HuffPost that the senator’s office had contacted Twitter regarding the video.
...
As recently as Jan. 13, the @2020fight account was listed on social media marketplace Shoutcart ― a service that allows individuals to pay for “shoutout” posts on highly followed social media accounts, according to Robert Matney, Director of Communications at cyber security firm New Knowledge. The @2020fight account, which had around 41,400 followers at the time, listed a price of $20 a tweet.
PPP poll has every Dem they asked about beating Trump:
Actually I think that's kind of comforting? Like, last time around there was a lot of talk about 'who is electable' rather than 'who is a good leader, who is best for our country right now'. Those polls show that it doesn't matter - any Democrat with a pulse can beat Trump, so people can afford to choose who is actually best rather than who has The Best Chance To Win.
posted by corb at 5:03 AM on January 23, 2019 [10 favorites]
Actually I think that's kind of comforting? Like, last time around there was a lot of talk about 'who is electable' rather than 'who is a good leader, who is best for our country right now'. Those polls show that it doesn't matter - any Democrat with a pulse can beat Trump, so people can afford to choose who is actually best rather than who has The Best Chance To Win.
posted by corb at 5:03 AM on January 23, 2019 [10 favorites]
It isn’t just the Covington Catholic students — MAGA hats are a teen trend (Rebecca Jennings, Vox)
The red baseball caps are a provocative way to signify you’re on a “winning” team.posted by ZeusHumms at 5:05 AM on January 23, 2019 [12 favorites]
House Intelligence Committee Looking Into Tweet About Viral MAGA Hat Teen Video (Nick Robins-Early, Huffington Post)
The Twitter account @2020fight on Friday posted the minute-long video of Covington Catholic High School students...
I've followed 2020fight for quite awhile. I always figured that her pick and name were intentionally obscure because a public school teacher who posted so many things that angered right wing people so often would have to be stupid to attach their real info to their account. I too, like anyone who isn't paid to be political should, also use a different name on Twitter to be safe. Though, my pic isn't of someone else, it's of the egg that ended up being popular on Instagram.
I think that this person may be being scapegoated for a couple reasons:
-I had a fairly lengthy conversation with them about certain really in the weeds details about US common core math, with them being for it and me being slightly against.
-I saw them looking for and asking advice on local places to get cheap supplies for the more poor students in her classes.
-I'm from the same state that she was supposed to be from. She knew more small details about said state than I do.
-She didn't say anything false in her tweet about the MAGAhat ogreteens. Her video wasn't cut or messed with. It was just a minute of a situation described the way that the situation looked based on that minute. It was going to get out anyway.
-Public schoolteachers don't get paid that much. If she amassed 40k followers, I don't fault her for monetizing that like every other person seems to, as long as she wasn't propping any products that are immoral, which I never noticed.
Either way, her content was often great, and it's pretty damn ridiculous that Twitter lets hundreds of thousands of Russian Magabots run wild all over Twitter lying about every little thing while busting one person who hurt some vile teens' feefees.
posted by bootlegpop at 5:15 AM on January 23, 2019 [52 favorites]
The Twitter account @2020fight on Friday posted the minute-long video of Covington Catholic High School students...
I've followed 2020fight for quite awhile. I always figured that her pick and name were intentionally obscure because a public school teacher who posted so many things that angered right wing people so often would have to be stupid to attach their real info to their account. I too, like anyone who isn't paid to be political should, also use a different name on Twitter to be safe. Though, my pic isn't of someone else, it's of the egg that ended up being popular on Instagram.
I think that this person may be being scapegoated for a couple reasons:
-I had a fairly lengthy conversation with them about certain really in the weeds details about US common core math, with them being for it and me being slightly against.
-I saw them looking for and asking advice on local places to get cheap supplies for the more poor students in her classes.
-I'm from the same state that she was supposed to be from. She knew more small details about said state than I do.
-She didn't say anything false in her tweet about the MAGAhat ogreteens. Her video wasn't cut or messed with. It was just a minute of a situation described the way that the situation looked based on that minute. It was going to get out anyway.
-Public schoolteachers don't get paid that much. If she amassed 40k followers, I don't fault her for monetizing that like every other person seems to, as long as she wasn't propping any products that are immoral, which I never noticed.
Either way, her content was often great, and it's pretty damn ridiculous that Twitter lets hundreds of thousands of Russian Magabots run wild all over Twitter lying about every little thing while busting one person who hurt some vile teens' feefees.
posted by bootlegpop at 5:15 AM on January 23, 2019 [52 favorites]
It looks like Pete Buttigieg is officially in. I think he's a more credible pick for VP, but I kind of like the idea of having a 37-year-old in the race.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:30 AM on January 23, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:30 AM on January 23, 2019 [8 favorites]
It isn’t just the Covington Catholic students — MAGA hats are a teen trend (Rebecca Jennings, Vox)
My teenage daughter lives in the DC suburbs (a block away from the parking garage where Woodward and Bernstein first met Deep Throat, I recently discovered to my delight), and she routinely tells me about how she has to avoid the throngs of MAGA-hat tourist shithead teens whenever she goes into the city.
posted by Etrigan at 5:39 AM on January 23, 2019 [37 favorites]
My teenage daughter lives in the DC suburbs (a block away from the parking garage where Woodward and Bernstein first met Deep Throat, I recently discovered to my delight), and she routinely tells me about how she has to avoid the throngs of MAGA-hat tourist shithead teens whenever she goes into the city.
posted by Etrigan at 5:39 AM on January 23, 2019 [37 favorites]
More shutdown news:
NBC: FBI Agents Say Shutdown Is Hampering Counterterrorism, Sex Trafficking Probes—"The fear is, our enemies know they can run freely," says an FBI counterterrorism agent.
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:59 AM on January 23, 2019 [36 favorites]
NBC: FBI Agents Say Shutdown Is Hampering Counterterrorism, Sex Trafficking Probes—"The fear is, our enemies know they can run freely," says an FBI counterterrorism agent.
The partial government shutdown is hampering FBI investigations into terror suspects, drug traffickers and child sexual predators, according to a report by a group representing the federal law enforcement officers.CNN: State Department Cancels Border Security Conference Due To Shutdown Over Border Security
The 72-page report, titled "Voices from the Field," features dozens of firsthand accounts from unnamed agents detailing the ways the shutdown is hindering their work.[…]
The FBI’s roughly 35,000 employees, including 13,000 special agents, are bracing to miss their second paycheck this Friday as the shutdown stretches into its fifth week.
"That is one month, four weeks, 30 days without pay," FBI Agents Association President Thomas O’Connor said Tuesday at a news conference.
O’Connor’s voice began to quiver as he recalled bringing food to his office Monday night to help those in need. "It is truly sad that we must resort to this because we are being let down by our elected officials," O’Connor said.
The 16th International Export Control and Border Security Conference was scheduled to take place in Edinburgh, Scotland, in mid-February, with a goal of preventing the proliferation and transfer of weapons of mass destruction and conventional weapons across borders.WaPo: Hundreds of IRS Employees Are Skipping Work. That Could Delay Tax Refunds.
However, it has been postponed "due to uncertainty associated with the continuing partial U.S. federal government shutdown," according to a letter obtained by CNN, signed by Kathryn Insley, the director of the Office of Export Control Cooperation. In the letter, dated January 16, Insley wrote that they "are working to identify alternative dates" and would be in contact with participants "as soon as we are operational again."
Hundreds of Internal Revenue Service employees have received permission to skip work during the partial government shutdown due to financial hardship, and union leaders said Tuesday that they expected absences to surge as part of a coordinated protest that could hamper the government’s ability to process taxpayer refunds on time.NYT: Shutdown’s Pain Cuts Deep for the Homeless and Other Vulnerable Americans
The Trump administration last week ordered at least 30,000 IRS workers back to their offices, where they have been working to process refunds without pay. It was one of the biggest steps the government has taken to mitigate the shutdown’s impact on Americans’ lives.
But IRS employees across the country — some in coordinated protest, others out of financial necessity — won’t be clocking in, according to Tony Reardon, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, and several local union officials. The work action is widespread and includes employees from a processing center in Ogden, Utah, to the Brookhaven campus on New York’s Long Island.
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:59 AM on January 23, 2019 [36 favorites]
It isn’t just the Covington Catholic students — MAGA hats are a teen trend (Rebecca Jennings, Vox)
All those teen (boys) being radicalized into white male supremacy by YouTube? You don't say
posted by schadenfrau at 6:13 AM on January 23, 2019 [44 favorites]
All those teen (boys) being radicalized into white male supremacy by YouTube? You don't say
posted by schadenfrau at 6:13 AM on January 23, 2019 [44 favorites]
The new elite’s phoney crusade to save the world – without changing anything. Today’s titans of tech and finance want to solve the world’s problems, as long as the solutions never, ever threaten their own wealth and power.
posted by homunculus at 6:28 AM on January 23, 2019 [38 favorites]
posted by homunculus at 6:28 AM on January 23, 2019 [38 favorites]
Tomi Lahren: AOC Encouraged Physical Violence Against Me With Cardi B Tweet (Nicole Lafond, TPM)
Metafilter Cynic: Noted conservative personality name checks noteworthy individuals with popular online followings to boost ratings metrics.
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:07 AM on January 23, 2019 [18 favorites]
Metafilter Cynic: Noted conservative personality name checks noteworthy individuals with popular online followings to boost ratings metrics.
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:07 AM on January 23, 2019 [18 favorites]
@Alyssa_Milano
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:13 AM on January 23, 2019 [23 favorites]
The red MAGA hat is the new white hood.Media reaction was predictable (Google News). This will probably make the hats even more popular now.
Without white boys being able to empathize with other people, humanity will continue to destroy itself.
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:13 AM on January 23, 2019 [23 favorites]
The red MAGA hat is the new white hood.
I would argue that the red MAGA hat is more like a brown shirt, because the wearers aren't afraid to show their faces.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 7:16 AM on January 23, 2019 [90 favorites]
I would argue that the red MAGA hat is more like a brown shirt, because the wearers aren't afraid to show their faces.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 7:16 AM on January 23, 2019 [90 favorites]
Tomi Lahren: AOC Encouraged Physical Violence Against Me With Cardi B Tweet (Nicole Lafond, TPM)
Another cynical take is that Lahren's obviously bad faith isn't even meant to be taken seriously by her viewers, but rather to preempt criticism that conservatives in general and Trump in particular encourage violence with their rhetoric. By making an obviously, laughably phony claim, she encourages her drones to dismiss genuine claims as phony as well.
Of course, AOC doesn't have a (now-forgotten) string of attempted bombing assassinations and a mass shooting or two to her credit the way the rhetoric of the right does.
For Lahren and the people she speaks for, what makes AOC scary is that she's talking about economic justice, which means going after their money.
posted by Gelatin at 7:21 AM on January 23, 2019 [26 favorites]
Another cynical take is that Lahren's obviously bad faith isn't even meant to be taken seriously by her viewers, but rather to preempt criticism that conservatives in general and Trump in particular encourage violence with their rhetoric. By making an obviously, laughably phony claim, she encourages her drones to dismiss genuine claims as phony as well.
Of course, AOC doesn't have a (now-forgotten) string of attempted bombing assassinations and a mass shooting or two to her credit the way the rhetoric of the right does.
For Lahren and the people she speaks for, what makes AOC scary is that she's talking about economic justice, which means going after their money.
posted by Gelatin at 7:21 AM on January 23, 2019 [26 favorites]
Another cynical take is that Lahren's obviously bad faith isn't even meant to be taken seriously by her viewers, but rather to preempt criticism that conservatives in general and Trump in particular encourage violence with their rhetoric. By making an obviously, laughably phony claim, she encourages her drones to dismiss genuine claims as phony as well.
Its kayfabe.
posted by yesster at 7:38 AM on January 23, 2019 [19 favorites]
Its kayfabe.
posted by yesster at 7:38 AM on January 23, 2019 [19 favorites]
> The red baseball caps are a provocative way to signify you’re on a “winning” team.
Hopefully someday soon they'll be the equivalent of the t-shirts pre-printed for the team that winds up losing the Super Bowl, but more likely they'll (and this is a better-case scenario) wind up being an alternate Confederate flag.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:41 AM on January 23, 2019 [8 favorites]
Hopefully someday soon they'll be the equivalent of the t-shirts pre-printed for the team that winds up losing the Super Bowl, but more likely they'll (and this is a better-case scenario) wind up being an alternate Confederate flag.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:41 AM on January 23, 2019 [8 favorites]
Government Executive published a poll last week about the shutdown: Nearly Three-Quarters of Federal Workers Oppose Shutdown, Majority Oppose Wall
"Federal employees remain overwhelmingly opposed to the partial government shutdown, according to a new poll by Government Business Council and GovExec.com, with 72 percent against it and just 21 percent supporting it. […] Just 34 percent of federal employees support President Trump’s request for funding a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, while 56 percent oppose it. Of those against the wall, more than four out of five are strongly opposed to it. One in 10 respondents said they were neither for nor against Trump’s push for the wall."
Newsweek covers Team Trump's message to furloughed government workers: Federal Employees Going Through ‘a Little Bit of Pain’ but Border Wall Is ‘Bigger Than’ Them Says Lara Trump
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:43 AM on January 23, 2019 [15 favorites]
"Federal employees remain overwhelmingly opposed to the partial government shutdown, according to a new poll by Government Business Council and GovExec.com, with 72 percent against it and just 21 percent supporting it. […] Just 34 percent of federal employees support President Trump’s request for funding a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, while 56 percent oppose it. Of those against the wall, more than four out of five are strongly opposed to it. One in 10 respondents said they were neither for nor against Trump’s push for the wall."
Newsweek covers Team Trump's message to furloughed government workers: Federal Employees Going Through ‘a Little Bit of Pain’ but Border Wall Is ‘Bigger Than’ Them Says Lara Trump
The 800,000 furloughed federal employees and 400,000 working without pay due to the government shutdown over $5 billion dollars in funding for a wall on the U.S. southern border are going through “a little bit of pain,” but “this is so much bigger than any one person” said Lara Trump, campaign adviser and daughter-in-law to President Donald Trump and wife to Eric Trump, to right-leaning web show Bold TV on Monday.[…]Meanwhile, CBS's latest survey shows Trump and his wall are historically unpopular: Pelosi Has Edge Over Trump On Budget Negotiations, CBS News Poll Shows
“I know it’s hard, I know they have bills to pay, they have mortgages, they have rents that are due, but the president is trying every single day to come up with a good solution here and the reality is it’s been something that has gone on for too long and gone unaddressed,” she said.
Seven in 10 Americans don't think the issue of a border wall is worth a government shutdown, which they say is now having a negative impact on the country. But partisans don't want their own side to budge: 65 percent of Republicans say President Trump should refuse a budget unless it includes wall funding, and 69 percent of Democrats think congressional Democrats should keep refusing to fund it.Here's the link to a PDF with the complete poll results.
Among Americans overall, and including independents, more want to see Mr. Trump give up wall funding than prefer the congressional Democrats agree to wall funding. Comparably more Americans feel House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is handling negotiations better than the president is so far.[…]
Republicans are more divided than Democrats are on whether the shutdown is worth it [28% say it is, 71% say no].[…]
Mr. Trump's overall approval rating has dipped three points from November to 36 percent today. Fifty-nine percent of Americans now disapprove of the job he is doing – a high for his presidency, although just one point above his previous high. The president's ratings have not varied much over the course of his term so far.
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:43 AM on January 23, 2019 [15 favorites]
“I know it’s hard, I know they have bills to pay, they have mortgages, they have rents that are due,
No, I don't think you do, Lara.
posted by Rykey at 7:51 AM on January 23, 2019 [44 favorites]
No, I don't think you do, Lara.
posted by Rykey at 7:51 AM on January 23, 2019 [44 favorites]
Last time I was unemployed, the mounting debt hobbled me for years afterward. It doesn't disappear with a pay-day.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 7:54 AM on January 23, 2019 [84 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 7:54 AM on January 23, 2019 [84 favorites]
This will also wreck a lot of people's credit which will haunt and limit them for a long time even once the checks resume.
posted by chris24 at 7:59 AM on January 23, 2019 [60 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 7:59 AM on January 23, 2019 [60 favorites]
Last time I was unemployed, the mounting debt hobbled me for years afterward. It doesn't disappear with a pay-day.
This will also wreck a lot of people's credit which will haunt and limit them for a long time even once the checks resume.
So Trump and McConnell get to shaft loyal, competent, and professional government workers, and at the same time benefit the vulture capitalists and rent-seekers of the payday loan industry, who will get to extract more interest on their debt, despite it being no fault of the workers.
posted by Gelatin at 8:05 AM on January 23, 2019 [50 favorites]
This will also wreck a lot of people's credit which will haunt and limit them for a long time even once the checks resume.
So Trump and McConnell get to shaft loyal, competent, and professional government workers, and at the same time benefit the vulture capitalists and rent-seekers of the payday loan industry, who will get to extract more interest on their debt, despite it being no fault of the workers.
posted by Gelatin at 8:05 AM on January 23, 2019 [50 favorites]
“Big Sister” Barbara Lee’s Advice for the New Women of Color in Congress (Christina Cauterucci, Slate)
How do you see your role in this wave of new progressive women, especially women of color, taking seats in Congress?posted by ZeusHumms at 8:07 AM on January 23, 2019 [31 favorites]
I hope I am a supportive peer who can really help them navigate the legislative process, and do exactly what they want to do in their congressional career—serving their constituents and how they want to go, what path they want to take. And now as a co-chair of the Steering and Policy Committee, I want to make sure they’re able to get to the committees that they want—to carve out what issues they want to address. In terms of the seniority system and how you navigate that—I’ve had a lot of experience … [with] ways to think out of the box and be creative in what I want to do when there are systemic and institutional kinds of roadblocks.
So I want to help [new members of Congress] figure those out. But also, I have to tell you: They encourage me, and they give me a lot of insight, and I learn a heck of a lot from them. It goes both ways.
Mod note: Reminder there's a Shutdown and strike thread for folks who want to talk about the shutdown at more length
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 8:10 AM on January 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 8:10 AM on January 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
House Intelligence Committee Looking Into Tweet About Viral MAGA Hat Teen Video
I am not and haven't been one of those "russiagate democrats are all worthless" leftists. But good god. It was disgusting enough that the media leapt for any chance to paint the nazi children in a sympathetic light. Now we get the establishment Democrat response of "it must be interference from foreign actors that's fomenting this racial strife." No, dipshits. It's us. It's our little sociopaths being unafraid to display their hate on camera and getting praise and adoration and Good Morning America airtime for it. Looking overseas for your culprit bespeaks the party's continuing devotion to stability, civility and low-key nationalism over the life and safety of its constituents.
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:32 AM on January 23, 2019 [46 favorites]
I am not and haven't been one of those "russiagate democrats are all worthless" leftists. But good god. It was disgusting enough that the media leapt for any chance to paint the nazi children in a sympathetic light. Now we get the establishment Democrat response of "it must be interference from foreign actors that's fomenting this racial strife." No, dipshits. It's us. It's our little sociopaths being unafraid to display their hate on camera and getting praise and adoration and Good Morning America airtime for it. Looking overseas for your culprit bespeaks the party's continuing devotion to stability, civility and low-key nationalism over the life and safety of its constituents.
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:32 AM on January 23, 2019 [46 favorites]
Looking overseas for your culprit bespeaks the party's continuing devotion to stability, civility and low-key nationalism over the life and safety of its constituents.
Both/and, no? The Kremlin didn’t invent old-fashioned American racism (unofficial motto: “There since Day 1!”) but they’ve proven deft at flaming our self-started racist conflagration.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 8:38 AM on January 23, 2019 [26 favorites]
Both/and, no? The Kremlin didn’t invent old-fashioned American racism (unofficial motto: “There since Day 1!”) but they’ve proven deft at flaming our self-started racist conflagration.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 8:38 AM on January 23, 2019 [26 favorites]
(Also, so not as to abuse EDIT:)
Admittedly, it can’t really be that hard to pull off since so many of our fellow Americans are so deeply racist and under-/malinformed in the first place.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 8:42 AM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
Admittedly, it can’t really be that hard to pull off since so many of our fellow Americans are so deeply racist and under-/malinformed in the first place.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 8:42 AM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
I'm all for the House investigating anyone fanning divisiveness in the US, as long as it focuses on the conservatives who openly do this. Sunday, as the PR-firm driven counterattack took hold, literally HUNDREDS of right-wing YouTube videos flooded the channel (often with all caps headlines and +++s) repeating the same points.
These made it impossible to find, for example, a very telling video by someone in the moment who did a 360 pan around Nathan Phillips to show how surrounded he was by Covington kids. (Still can't find it -- msg me if you know the one I mean.)
posted by msalt at 8:46 AM on January 23, 2019 [16 favorites]
These made it impossible to find, for example, a very telling video by someone in the moment who did a 360 pan around Nathan Phillips to show how surrounded he was by Covington kids. (Still can't find it -- msg me if you know the one I mean.)
posted by msalt at 8:46 AM on January 23, 2019 [16 favorites]
@mkraju: NEW: Elijah Cummings announces "in-depth investigation" of the WH and Trump transition team security clearance processes, citing breaches at the highest levels of government, including with Michael Flynn. Cummings sends letter to WH asking for an array of documents.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:46 AM on January 23, 2019 [76 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 8:46 AM on January 23, 2019 [76 favorites]
Here's Cummings's full four-page letter to Pat Cipollone. He's going after Flynn, Kushner, Pence, Rob Porter, Gorka, Bolton, KT McFarland, and more. He is absolutely not messing around.
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:50 AM on January 23, 2019 [75 favorites]
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:50 AM on January 23, 2019 [75 favorites]
NYT, Texas Democrat Leaves 2 Posts Over Accusations She Fired an Aide Who Reported Sexual Assault
Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, facing blowback from a lawsuit claiming she fired an aide who said she was sexually assaulted by a supervisor at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, has decided to resign as the foundation’s chairwoman on Wednesday.posted by zachlipton at 8:52 AM on January 23, 2019 [12 favorites]
And Ms. Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat in her 13th term, will also step down temporarily from an important House Judiciary subcommittee chairmanship.
NEW: Elijah Cummings announces "in-depth investigation" of the WH and Trump transition team security clearance processes, citing breaches at the highest levels of government, including with Michael Flynn. Cummings sends letter to WH asking for an array of documents.
Elections, consequences, etc. For everyone who was caterwauling about how "spineless" Democrats were in 2017, remember we were in the minority in both houses. Elect a majority in the House and watch those spines stiffen and action be taken.
I'd love to see the Senate taken back in 2020. That is as important as the Presidency, I think.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 8:58 AM on January 23, 2019 [28 favorites]
Elections, consequences, etc. For everyone who was caterwauling about how "spineless" Democrats were in 2017, remember we were in the minority in both houses. Elect a majority in the House and watch those spines stiffen and action be taken.
I'd love to see the Senate taken back in 2020. That is as important as the Presidency, I think.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 8:58 AM on January 23, 2019 [28 favorites]
ArbitraryAndCapricious: "It looks like Pete Buttigieg is officially in. I think he's a more credible pick for VP, but I kind of like the idea of having a 37-year-old in the race."
I don't. He's probably the best Democratic shot at Indiana governor, as opposed to a very very slim shot at the presidential nomination.
Likewise, Beto should run for TX Senate, Hickenlooper should run for CO Senate, Bullock should run for MT Senate. We need those seats.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:00 AM on January 23, 2019 [60 favorites]
I don't. He's probably the best Democratic shot at Indiana governor, as opposed to a very very slim shot at the presidential nomination.
Likewise, Beto should run for TX Senate, Hickenlooper should run for CO Senate, Bullock should run for MT Senate. We need those seats.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:00 AM on January 23, 2019 [60 favorites]
There are going to be many, many Democratic candidates who will be classifiable under the We'd All Be Better Off If You Stuck With What You're Doing Now heading.
posted by delfin at 9:02 AM on January 23, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by delfin at 9:02 AM on January 23, 2019 [10 favorites]
There’s still plenty of time for a bunch of candidates to fail early and switch to Race B.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 9:06 AM on January 23, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 9:06 AM on January 23, 2019 [7 favorites]
It's not a good look, though, to be running for a seat as a consolation prize. Hmmm, I should poke around and see if anyone has run numbers on the effect of that....
posted by Chrysostom at 9:09 AM on January 23, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 9:09 AM on January 23, 2019 [12 favorites]
Here's Cummings's full four-page letter to Pat Cipollone. He's going after Flynn, Kushner, Pence, Rob Porter, Gorka, Bolton, KT McFarland, and more. He is absolutely not messing around.
Yeah, in 11 pages Cummings goes into exactly what they expect, when they expect it, and the legal grounds for expecting it. KUDOS to the staffers who put so much energy and effort into this example of Effective Congressional Oversight, and I'm sure the recipient is shitting bricks right now.
posted by mikelieman at 9:13 AM on January 23, 2019 [51 favorites]
Yeah, in 11 pages Cummings goes into exactly what they expect, when they expect it, and the legal grounds for expecting it. KUDOS to the staffers who put so much energy and effort into this example of Effective Congressional Oversight, and I'm sure the recipient is shitting bricks right now.
posted by mikelieman at 9:13 AM on January 23, 2019 [51 favorites]
Both/and, no? The Kremlin didn’t invent old-fashioned American racism (unofficial motto: “There since Day 1!”) but they’ve proven deft at flaming our self-started racist conflagration
The failure to recognize this makes me crazy. I think people worry about a misattribution of responsibility, that shining a light on deliberate, inciting interference will somehow let the perpetrators of the hook. But...no? That is not how it works. Literally no one is saying these little shits aren't terrifying, racist Kavanaughs.
But they were immediately protected by a PR firm that has connections to Mitch McConnell, I *think* through that former aide/CoS or whatever who also heads up McConnell's PAC, the one that got all the money from Russian oligarchs and the NRA?
Like, I'm not making this up. That is a real thing. An oligarch and politically-connected PR firm went to bat for a bunch of high schoolers. THAT IS VERY WEIRD.
So, I mean, yeah. On general principles I think we should blitz them with investigations from every angle, so for that alone, fuck yeah. But this is also EXACTLY the sort of culture war front that we know Russian intelligence has sought to manipulate in the past. This is a 100% valid avenue for investigation. And if we're lucky, it leads to smoking guns that lead to more investigations.
Like, that's how investigations work. You follow all the leads. This is a lead.
posted by schadenfrau at 9:15 AM on January 23, 2019 [82 favorites]
The failure to recognize this makes me crazy. I think people worry about a misattribution of responsibility, that shining a light on deliberate, inciting interference will somehow let the perpetrators of the hook. But...no? That is not how it works. Literally no one is saying these little shits aren't terrifying, racist Kavanaughs.
But they were immediately protected by a PR firm that has connections to Mitch McConnell, I *think* through that former aide/CoS or whatever who also heads up McConnell's PAC, the one that got all the money from Russian oligarchs and the NRA?
Like, I'm not making this up. That is a real thing. An oligarch and politically-connected PR firm went to bat for a bunch of high schoolers. THAT IS VERY WEIRD.
So, I mean, yeah. On general principles I think we should blitz them with investigations from every angle, so for that alone, fuck yeah. But this is also EXACTLY the sort of culture war front that we know Russian intelligence has sought to manipulate in the past. This is a 100% valid avenue for investigation. And if we're lucky, it leads to smoking guns that lead to more investigations.
Like, that's how investigations work. You follow all the leads. This is a lead.
posted by schadenfrau at 9:15 AM on January 23, 2019 [82 favorites]
Trump just sent a gaslighting, passive-aggressive letter to Soeaker Pelosi “accepting her invitation” to address Congress during the “upcoming” State of the Union. I’ll find the text.
o.O
posted by Barack Spinoza at 9:25 AM on January 23, 2019 [10 favorites]
o.O
posted by Barack Spinoza at 9:25 AM on January 23, 2019 [10 favorites]
Here’s a link via twitter to the letter.
God, he’s such an ass.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 9:31 AM on January 23, 2019 [20 favorites]
God, he’s such an ass.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 9:31 AM on January 23, 2019 [20 favorites]
Trump just sent a gaslighting, passive-aggressive letter to Soeaker Pelosi “accepting her invitation” to address Congress during the “upcoming” State of the Union. I’ll find the text.
Apparently he's trying to turn some letter she sent him that vaguely refers to the SoU into a formal, irrevocable contract. Trump's business methodology at its finest.
posted by scalefree at 9:32 AM on January 23, 2019 [10 favorites]
Apparently he's trying to turn some letter she sent him that vaguely refers to the SoU into a formal, irrevocable contract. Trump's business methodology at its finest.
posted by scalefree at 9:32 AM on January 23, 2019 [10 favorites]
Like, I'm not making this up. That is a real thing. An oligarch and politically-connected PR firm went to bat for a bunch of high schoolers. THAT IS VERY WEIRD.
It's not weird, though. A right-wing PR firm proactively creating the right's version of the Parkland teens is the least surprising thing. There's untold millions in grift to be made and that udder's ready to be milked of lib tears.
Remember the Eric Garner video? And the immediate, overpowering "he was no angel, anyway if he wasn't tall the cops wouldn't have had to murder him" counternarrative? How would you feel if instead of addressing the murder itself or the evil lies that followed it, congress were to decided to spend their time and energy investigating whether the video was disseminated by foreign adversaries?
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:36 AM on January 23, 2019 [12 favorites]
It's not weird, though. A right-wing PR firm proactively creating the right's version of the Parkland teens is the least surprising thing. There's untold millions in grift to be made and that udder's ready to be milked of lib tears.
Remember the Eric Garner video? And the immediate, overpowering "he was no angel, anyway if he wasn't tall the cops wouldn't have had to murder him" counternarrative? How would you feel if instead of addressing the murder itself or the evil lies that followed it, congress were to decided to spend their time and energy investigating whether the video was disseminated by foreign adversaries?
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:36 AM on January 23, 2019 [12 favorites]
Politico reports the Trump administration's stonewalling/buck-passing has begun for the new congress: Trump's Health Secretary Refuses Democrats' Request to Testify On Separated Kids
Here's Cummings's full four-page letter to Pat Cipollone.
Oops. The attached summary Document Requests section is four pages. Cummings's letter is seven.
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:36 AM on January 23, 2019 [14 favorites]
HHS Secretary Alex Azar has declined a request to testify on the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant families at the border, angering House Democrats who accused the administration of "stonewalling" their investigation into the controversial practice.Let the subpoenaing begin!
House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), who announced earlier this month plans to hold a hearing on the administration's separation policy, had personally asked Azar to testify, a committee spokesperson told POLITICO. Azar's office declined the request Tuesday afternoon, the spokesperson said.
"It has been eight months since this cruel policy came to light, and Secretary Azar has yet to appear before Congress at a hearing specifically on this policy," Pallone said in a statement, calling Azar's refusal "unacceptable."[…]
An HHS official said the department offered other Trump appointees to testify, including the top two officials involved in providing care to the children: Lynn Johnson, the assistant secretary overseeing the children and families program, and Jonathan Hayes, who leads the refugee office. The committee, however, has rejected those offers.[…]
The House Judiciary Committee has also said it will hold hearings on family separations. Pallone on Tuesday said Azar will eventually face questions on his role in the policy.
"[W]e are going to get him here at some point one way or another," he added.
Here's Cummings's full four-page letter to Pat Cipollone.
Oops. The attached summary Document Requests section is four pages. Cummings's letter is seven.
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:36 AM on January 23, 2019 [14 favorites]
But they were immediately protected by a PR firm that has connections to Mitch McConnell, I *think* through that former aide/CoS or whatever who also heads up McConnell's PAC, the one that got all the money from Russian oligarchs and the NRA?
But the Congressional Dems are saying they want to investigate the account of the person/people who posted the video, not any of that. And yes, that's a monumentally stupid waste of time and resources given the plethora of targets that are both lower-hanging fruit, demonstrably worse people/orgs, and not more likely to just be some random schoolteacher who "lucked" into viral fame.
posted by zombieflanders at 9:42 AM on January 23, 2019 [6 favorites]
But the Congressional Dems are saying they want to investigate the account of the person/people who posted the video, not any of that. And yes, that's a monumentally stupid waste of time and resources given the plethora of targets that are both lower-hanging fruit, demonstrably worse people/orgs, and not more likely to just be some random schoolteacher who "lucked" into viral fame.
posted by zombieflanders at 9:42 AM on January 23, 2019 [6 favorites]
So there's a million more important things going on, and once again asshole-in-chief steals the show with reality tv drama. All the cable news networks haven't shut up about his decision to go ahead with SOTU since the story broke over 30 min ago.
The Cummings inquiry letter is fantastic and not messing around. I'm almost fine if it doesn't get media attention if it allows those investigating to keep their head down and do their business. Let all the house investigations commence immediately and start taking down the Kushner level targets etc. Keep flipping them until we run them all out of town.
posted by andruwjones26 at 9:46 AM on January 23, 2019 [17 favorites]
The Cummings inquiry letter is fantastic and not messing around. I'm almost fine if it doesn't get media attention if it allows those investigating to keep their head down and do their business. Let all the house investigations commence immediately and start taking down the Kushner level targets etc. Keep flipping them until we run them all out of town.
posted by andruwjones26 at 9:46 AM on January 23, 2019 [17 favorites]
Both/and, no? The Kremlin didn’t invent old-fashioned American racism (unofficial motto: “There since Day 1!”) but they’ve proven deft at flaming our self-started racist conflagration
The failure to recognize this makes me crazy. I think people worry about a misattribution of responsibility, that shining a light on deliberate, inciting interference will somehow let the perpetrators of the hook. But...no? That is not how it works. Literally no one is saying these little shits aren't terrifying, racist Kavanaughs.
The racism is all our own problem. Absolutely.
A foreign power attacking us through every means it can get away with to exacerbate that problem is still an attack, and a foreign power attacking us is still an enemy. We need to address both the internal and external problems. There's a riddle in here about walking and chewing gum somewhere.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 9:52 AM on January 23, 2019 [12 favorites]
The failure to recognize this makes me crazy. I think people worry about a misattribution of responsibility, that shining a light on deliberate, inciting interference will somehow let the perpetrators of the hook. But...no? That is not how it works. Literally no one is saying these little shits aren't terrifying, racist Kavanaughs.
The racism is all our own problem. Absolutely.
A foreign power attacking us through every means it can get away with to exacerbate that problem is still an attack, and a foreign power attacking us is still an enemy. We need to address both the internal and external problems. There's a riddle in here about walking and chewing gum somewhere.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 9:52 AM on January 23, 2019 [12 favorites]
Since this post's title comes from Cardi B, it might be worth noting that her estranged husband, Migos rapper Offset, made some comments about the hellhole to Esquire
“Seeing people talk about how they can't pay their bills but they have to work. That's some slave shit....posted by box at 10:03 AM on January 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
And then the president, I don't really want to speak on him but he's rich. Make a [n-word] respect you, because a [n-word] don't respect you. He's rich and has these folks struggling."
How would you feel if instead of addressing the murder itself or the evil lies that followed it, congress were to decided to spend their time and energy investigating whether the video was disseminated by foreign adversaries?
This is exactly why Russian political interference using social media is so pernicious. It's all too easy to ignore or overlook when they are spreading controversy one thinks should be spread. However, allowing them that platform has been well proven to be incredibly destructive to our society.
In this particular case, it appears that an investigation is misguided, at least with respect to the original tweet, but not everyone has the information we have, and it certainly looks close enough to a troll account to anyone who only sees the surface.
It's entirely possible a few days from now Congressional staffers will gather some more evidence and quietly drop it. Or maybe they will find that everything was amplified (after the fact) in a way that reeks of interference. Only by looking into everything that gives the appearance of troll bots can Congress figure out a way to draw the necessary distinctions.
Despite what the TV has been telling us for 30 years, investigations shouldn't only target the guilty. If they do, there is something very suspect about the investigator. Some suspicious things are not actually wrong or illegal. Acting as if looking into something is a declaration of that thing being inappropriate is unhelpful at best.
posted by wierdo at 10:08 AM on January 23, 2019 [15 favorites]
This is exactly why Russian political interference using social media is so pernicious. It's all too easy to ignore or overlook when they are spreading controversy one thinks should be spread. However, allowing them that platform has been well proven to be incredibly destructive to our society.
In this particular case, it appears that an investigation is misguided, at least with respect to the original tweet, but not everyone has the information we have, and it certainly looks close enough to a troll account to anyone who only sees the surface.
It's entirely possible a few days from now Congressional staffers will gather some more evidence and quietly drop it. Or maybe they will find that everything was amplified (after the fact) in a way that reeks of interference. Only by looking into everything that gives the appearance of troll bots can Congress figure out a way to draw the necessary distinctions.
Despite what the TV has been telling us for 30 years, investigations shouldn't only target the guilty. If they do, there is something very suspect about the investigator. Some suspicious things are not actually wrong or illegal. Acting as if looking into something is a declaration of that thing being inappropriate is unhelpful at best.
posted by wierdo at 10:08 AM on January 23, 2019 [15 favorites]
How would you feel if instead of addressing the murder itself or the evil lies that followed it, congress were to decided to spend their time and energy investigating whether the video was disseminated by foreign adversaries?
It’s the “instead” that I think is possibly straw-man-like.
And, dude, that comparison is...maybe not great. The murder of Eric Garner was a crime, and should have been investigated as such. And it was a murder. These teens haven’t committed murder. There is no murder to investigate. Congress seem to be going after whatever possible crime might have been committed — fraud, whatever — as a way of getting the entire truth of the incident, which is what investigations are supposed to do.
What would you have them do “instead”? Investigate the social media presence of teenagers for racist memes? That seems like an appropriate use of Congressional power to you?
posted by schadenfrau at 10:10 AM on January 23, 2019 [7 favorites]
It’s the “instead” that I think is possibly straw-man-like.
And, dude, that comparison is...maybe not great. The murder of Eric Garner was a crime, and should have been investigated as such. And it was a murder. These teens haven’t committed murder. There is no murder to investigate. Congress seem to be going after whatever possible crime might have been committed — fraud, whatever — as a way of getting the entire truth of the incident, which is what investigations are supposed to do.
What would you have them do “instead”? Investigate the social media presence of teenagers for racist memes? That seems like an appropriate use of Congressional power to you?
posted by schadenfrau at 10:10 AM on January 23, 2019 [7 favorites]
And, dude, that comparison is...maybe not great. The murder of Eric Garner was a crime, and should have been investigated as such. And it was a murder. These teens haven’t committed murder.
The only reason the media and centrist politicians finally took the antifascist side over Charlottesville is that someone was murdered. Bodies in the street is what it would take for them to come out against the MAGA hat kids, too.
What would you have them do “instead”? Investigate the social media presence of teenagers for racist memes? That seems like an appropriate use of Congressional power to you?
I would have the house intelligence committee keep their foot out of it entirely. Period. The waters have been muddied enough with cynical misdirection and both-sidesism. They already have one billion clearly legitimate and clearly treasonous lines of inquiry and they should be giving those their attentions. Yes, they can walk and chew gum at the same time; that doesn't mean that their time and money and staff are infinite.
posted by Rust Moranis at 10:25 AM on January 23, 2019 [9 favorites]
The only reason the media and centrist politicians finally took the antifascist side over Charlottesville is that someone was murdered. Bodies in the street is what it would take for them to come out against the MAGA hat kids, too.
What would you have them do “instead”? Investigate the social media presence of teenagers for racist memes? That seems like an appropriate use of Congressional power to you?
I would have the house intelligence committee keep their foot out of it entirely. Period. The waters have been muddied enough with cynical misdirection and both-sidesism. They already have one billion clearly legitimate and clearly treasonous lines of inquiry and they should be giving those their attentions. Yes, they can walk and chew gum at the same time; that doesn't mean that their time and money and staff are infinite.
posted by Rust Moranis at 10:25 AM on January 23, 2019 [9 favorites]
But the Congressional Dems are saying they want to investigate the account of the person/people who posted the video, not any of that. And yes, that's a monumentally stupid waste of time and resources given the plethora of targets that are both lower-hanging fruit, demonstrably worse people/orgs, and not more likely to just be some random schoolteacher who "lucked" into viral fame.
It does look like a (no pun intended) red herring but I can understand House Dems being somewhat skittish anytime the spectre of Russian interference pops up.
There's a serious technological awareness gap in the upper echelons of government. I'm really pleased to see signs of that gap closing, with people like AOC who's not just immersed in Internet culture but deeper issues like the risks of encoding racism into AI (took me by surprise, she really knows her stuff) & Beto O'Rourke who actually founded his own ISP. We need to recruit more like them to help navigate the 21st Century legislative issues.
posted by scalefree at 10:27 AM on January 23, 2019 [9 favorites]
It does look like a (no pun intended) red herring but I can understand House Dems being somewhat skittish anytime the spectre of Russian interference pops up.
There's a serious technological awareness gap in the upper echelons of government. I'm really pleased to see signs of that gap closing, with people like AOC who's not just immersed in Internet culture but deeper issues like the risks of encoding racism into AI (took me by surprise, she really knows her stuff) & Beto O'Rourke who actually founded his own ISP. We need to recruit more like them to help navigate the 21st Century legislative issues.
posted by scalefree at 10:27 AM on January 23, 2019 [9 favorites]
It's not a good look, though, to be running for a seat as a consolation prize. Hmmm, I should poke around and see if anyone has run numbers on the effect of that....
Worked for Marco Rubio.
posted by Daily Alice at 10:33 AM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
Worked for Marco Rubio.
posted by Daily Alice at 10:33 AM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
And Tim Kaine. And Lieberman. etc.
posted by phearlez at 10:35 AM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by phearlez at 10:35 AM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
NBC, Trump recognizes Venezuela opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president
posted by zachlipton at 10:37 AM on January 23, 2019 [7 favorites]
President Donald Trump officially recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Interim President of Venezuela after Guaido declared himself the country's leader amid cheers from thousands who were protesting in the streets.This follows yesterday's Pence Tells Venezuelans That U.S. Backs Efforts to Oust Maduro, in which Pence shot a video directly encouraging Venezuelans to take action to overthrow Maduro.
"In its role as the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people, the National Assembly invoked the country’s constitution to declare Nicolas Maduro illegitimate, and the office of the presidency therefore vacant," said Trump in a statement. "The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law."
...
Maduro was inaugurated two weeks ago to a second, six-year term, which the U.S. and dozens of other countries have called illegitimate.
posted by zachlipton at 10:37 AM on January 23, 2019 [7 favorites]
The Cohen hearing has been postponed due to "ongoing threats"; I think I called it upthread. Even if it's an excuse to avoid a hearing that would be limited and allow Jim Jordan and others to grandstand, it's a good excuse.
posted by holgate at 10:38 AM on January 23, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by holgate at 10:38 AM on January 23, 2019 [6 favorites]
Prepare For Birtherism 2.0: The Kamala Harris Edition (Nancy LeTourneau, Washington Monthly)
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:41 AM on January 23, 2019 [29 favorites]
In other words, rather than question where Harris was born, these folks want to completely redefine what it means to be a “natural born citizen” in a way that excludes Harris. As Wohl demonstrated, if that doesn’t fly, they’ll simply claim that she wasn’t raised in the United States, even though Harris has lived here for 44 of her 55 years (she lived in Canada from the age of 7 until she graduated from high school).Very short.
We’ll have to see what kind of traction this gets. Should Kamala Harris become the 2020 Democratic nominee, I expect we’ll hear a lot more of this kind of thing. Keep in mind that it was a revival of birtherism about Obama that gave Donald Trump a platform on the national political stage.
But having experienced this particular brand of racism before means that fuses will be extremely short.
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:41 AM on January 23, 2019 [29 favorites]
"Ongoing threats against his family from President Trump and Mr. Giuliani, as recently as this weekend"
Isn't that, you know, the definition of witness tampering? Like, we all saw Trump make the threats, and then now Cohen saying he won't show up, and this is all publicly happening before our eyes in real time?
Cohen, of course, knows this, which makes it the perfect way for him to get out of testifying, but it still doesn't change the fact that we all saw what happened.
posted by zachlipton at 10:42 AM on January 23, 2019 [47 favorites]
Isn't that, you know, the definition of witness tampering? Like, we all saw Trump make the threats, and then now Cohen saying he won't show up, and this is all publicly happening before our eyes in real time?
Cohen, of course, knows this, which makes it the perfect way for him to get out of testifying, but it still doesn't change the fact that we all saw what happened.
posted by zachlipton at 10:42 AM on January 23, 2019 [47 favorites]
phearlez: "And Tim Kaine. And Lieberman. etc."
I don't think those are directly comparable to running for another office the *same year* that your presidential campaign flamed out, which is what we were talking about.
Tim Kaine ran in 2018, after being the VP nom in 2016. Lieberman did run for VP and Senate simultaneously, but he was already Senator, so you've got incumbency effects.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:48 AM on January 23, 2019
I don't think those are directly comparable to running for another office the *same year* that your presidential campaign flamed out, which is what we were talking about.
Tim Kaine ran in 2018, after being the VP nom in 2016. Lieberman did run for VP and Senate simultaneously, but he was already Senator, so you've got incumbency effects.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:48 AM on January 23, 2019
Barack Spinoza: Trump just sent a gaslighting, passive-aggressive letter to Soeaker Pelosi “accepting her invitation” to address Congress during the “upcoming” State of the Union. I’ll find the text.
If you're Twitter blocked or adverse, NPR has it, too: Trump Says State Of The Union Will Be 'On Schedule' And 'On Location' (January 23, 2019) -- document embedded in the article.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:51 AM on January 23, 2019 [11 favorites]
If you're Twitter blocked or adverse, NPR has it, too: Trump Says State Of The Union Will Be 'On Schedule' And 'On Location' (January 23, 2019) -- document embedded in the article.
The president's letter amounts to an affirmative RSVP for an invitation that was already withdrawn. His may not be the last word, however. The Democratic-controlled House still has to pass a resolution to hold a joint session with the Senate before hosting the president.Summary: Thanks for inviting me to your event on January 3rd, to be held on January 29th. I'm ignoring the fact that you cancelled the event on January 16th.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:51 AM on January 23, 2019 [11 favorites]
Progressive groups gearing up to primary 6 House Dem moderates >>
#TX28 CUELLAR
#MA06 MOULTON
#MA08 LYNCH
#NY04 RICE
#MD02 RUPPERSBERGER
#IL03 LIPINSKI
BUT unlike 2018 DCCC now vows to help anti-abortion @RepLipinski
from the start
posted by Chrysostom at 10:51 AM on January 23, 2019 [20 favorites]
#TX28 CUELLAR
#MA06 MOULTON
#MA08 LYNCH
#NY04 RICE
#MD02 RUPPERSBERGER
#IL03 LIPINSKI
BUT unlike 2018 DCCC now vows to help anti-abortion @RepLipinski
from the start
posted by Chrysostom at 10:51 AM on January 23, 2019 [20 favorites]
a gaslighting, passive-aggressive letter
A good reminder of Miss Teen USA dressing rooms, "moved on her like a bitch", Summer Zervos, Natasha Stoynoff and all the other allegations of sexual assault.
posted by holgate at 11:08 AM on January 23, 2019 [17 favorites]
A good reminder of Miss Teen USA dressing rooms, "moved on her like a bitch", Summer Zervos, Natasha Stoynoff and all the other allegations of sexual assault.
posted by holgate at 11:08 AM on January 23, 2019 [17 favorites]
But while progressives still hope that an independent judiciary will act as a check on Donald Trump, McConnell is taking a longer view—doing something rather more apocalyptic and decidedly more cynical. He continues to pack the judicial branch with extremely young, radically conservative white Christian men who will—assuming constitutional democracy survives—continue to deliver wins on gun rights and anti-abortion rights as well as the deregulation of environmental, consumer, labor, and other safeguards, long after Trump leaves office. These picks will also continue to work to circumscribe the vote itself, through gerrymandering, voter suppression, and limitless money in politics.
The article includes this bit, which explains in part (beyond, you know, the racism) why so many "Never Trump" Republicans continue to support him:
Carrie Severino, the chief counsel and policy director of the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, told Politico at the time that “Executive orders don’t outlast the president, legislation can change, but these judgeships last a long time,” adding that there are “a lot of Never-Trumpers and conservatives who have had to admit, sometimes begrudgingly, that ‘Wow, this has been a home run.’
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:19 AM on January 23, 2019 [34 favorites]
The article includes this bit, which explains in part (beyond, you know, the racism) why so many "Never Trump" Republicans continue to support him:
Carrie Severino, the chief counsel and policy director of the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, told Politico at the time that “Executive orders don’t outlast the president, legislation can change, but these judgeships last a long time,” adding that there are “a lot of Never-Trumpers and conservatives who have had to admit, sometimes begrudgingly, that ‘Wow, this has been a home run.’
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:19 AM on January 23, 2019 [34 favorites]
Boston's doing something right. The tourists don't fucking dare wear MAGA hats.
posted by ocschwar at 11:21 AM on January 23, 2019 [29 favorites]
posted by ocschwar at 11:21 AM on January 23, 2019 [29 favorites]
On the subject of McConnell packing the judiciary, Buzzfeed's Zoe Tillman has an update on Trump's new batch of proposed judges: Trump Is Doubling Down On Some of His Criticized Judicial Nominees – But Not All Of Them—Those renominated include Wendy Vitter, opposed by Democrats for her comments about abortion. Thomas Farr, who never got a final vote when several Republicans broke ranks, was not on the list.
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:26 AM on January 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
President Donald Trump is making a new push on some of the most criticized judicial nominees he selected during his first two years in office, with the White House announcing late Tuesday the renomination of 50 of the president's picks for the federal bench.Pics of the full list: 1, 2, 3
However, the Senate returned 73 federal court nominees when the last Congress ended in early January — meaning there are 23 previous nominees that Trump has decided to drop, or hasn't determined what to do with just yet. The omissions include a handful of nominees opposed by Democrats, as well as all of Trump's nominees for federal courts in California — the state's senior senator, Democrat Dianne Feinstein, has been in talks with the White House about reconsidering certain names, two sources familiar with the situation tell BuzzFeed News.[…]
The vast majority of judicial nominations returned to the White House at the start of the new Congress this month were for seats on the district and circuit courts. But they also included the president's picks for vacancies on the US Court of Federal Claims — the court that's handling a number of lawsuits filed by federal workers required to work without pay during the partial shutdown — and the US Court of International Trade. The renominations list included two of Trump's three Federal Claims nominees, and both previous nominees for the Court of International Trade.
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:26 AM on January 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
Boston's doing something right. The tourists don't fucking dare wear MAGA hats.
But every so often, yahoos on motorcycles thunder down I-93 from New Hampshire and ride around the State House a couple times, then go back up I-93.
posted by adamg at 11:29 AM on January 23, 2019 [5 favorites]
But every so often, yahoos on motorcycles thunder down I-93 from New Hampshire and ride around the State House a couple times, then go back up I-93.
posted by adamg at 11:29 AM on January 23, 2019 [5 favorites]
Every few weeks we seem to get another flurry of stories about TrumpCo filling up the judiciary and I'm not exactly sure what we're supposed to do with it. We know they're doing it and we know there's nothing we can do to stop it for at least 2 more years and we know it's going to have devastating effects for decades.
It's like if a family member had a slowly debilitating and fatal disease and the doctor kept writing you emails every so often saying "Hey, just wanted to let you know your family member is still dying, have a good day." Like hey thanks but thats not something we're likely to forget.
Yeah, the judge thing is killing us. Same as it was a few weeks ago, and a year ago.
posted by Justinian at 11:34 AM on January 23, 2019 [79 favorites]
It's like if a family member had a slowly debilitating and fatal disease and the doctor kept writing you emails every so often saying "Hey, just wanted to let you know your family member is still dying, have a good day." Like hey thanks but thats not something we're likely to forget.
Yeah, the judge thing is killing us. Same as it was a few weeks ago, and a year ago.
posted by Justinian at 11:34 AM on January 23, 2019 [79 favorites]
Step 1: recapture the Senate.
Step 2: pass a law to federalize the issuing of limited liability corporate charters.
Step 3: watch our oligarchs scream in terror.
That is what we do. Look for nuclear options.
posted by ocschwar at 11:39 AM on January 23, 2019 [47 favorites]
Step 2: pass a law to federalize the issuing of limited liability corporate charters.
Step 3: watch our oligarchs scream in terror.
That is what we do. Look for nuclear options.
posted by ocschwar at 11:39 AM on January 23, 2019 [47 favorites]
the president is trying every single day to come up with a good solution here
beginning at 5am yesterday morning, please list in order the things which the president tried, the outcome of each of those things, and what he is doing to address the failure of each of those things.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 11:39 AM on January 23, 2019 [24 favorites]
beginning at 5am yesterday morning, please list in order the things which the president tried, the outcome of each of those things, and what he is doing to address the failure of each of those things.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 11:39 AM on January 23, 2019 [24 favorites]
Speaker Pelosi wrote Trump back [letter attached]: BREAKING: @SpeakerPelosi to decline steps to permit a State of the Union Jan 29
She reminds him that he's accepting an invitation that was cancelled and says "I am writing to inform you that the House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the President's State of the Union Address in the House Chamber until government has opened." She says she'll welcome him in the chamber after that.
posted by zachlipton at 11:42 AM on January 23, 2019 [105 favorites]
She reminds him that he's accepting an invitation that was cancelled and says "I am writing to inform you that the House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the President's State of the Union Address in the House Chamber until government has opened." She says she'll welcome him in the chamber after that.
posted by zachlipton at 11:42 AM on January 23, 2019 [105 favorites]
> "I am writing to inform you that the House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the President's State of the Union Address in the House Chamber until government has opened."
Translated, "I offered you the fig leaf of security concerns, but fine, if you want me to say fuck you, I'll say that."
posted by RedOrGreen at 11:46 AM on January 23, 2019 [126 favorites]
Translated, "I offered you the fig leaf of security concerns, but fine, if you want me to say fuck you, I'll say that."
posted by RedOrGreen at 11:46 AM on January 23, 2019 [126 favorites]
The WH correspondent on MSNBC (whose name I missed, sorry) repeated as fact the common but false belief that Trump can't enter the Capitol unless invited because of separation of powers. As I posted before that's not true. It's important, I think, that we know what powers Trump actually does and does not have since he's so dead set on doing whatever he wants.
Do better, WH reporter!
posted by Justinian at 11:51 AM on January 23, 2019 [11 favorites]
Do better, WH reporter!
posted by Justinian at 11:51 AM on January 23, 2019 [11 favorites]
Every motherfucker who took out the knives for Pelosi as Speaker should stab themselves in the face while screaming I WAS WRONG I AM SO SORRY YOU ARE A BADASS.
posted by phearlez at 11:55 AM on January 23, 2019 [145 favorites]
posted by phearlez at 11:55 AM on January 23, 2019 [145 favorites]
federalize the issuing of limited liability corporate charters
What would this do? (And that's aside from the question of, "how would this work in a MAGAhat-controlled congress?")
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 12:00 PM on January 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
What would this do? (And that's aside from the question of, "how would this work in a MAGAhat-controlled congress?")
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 12:00 PM on January 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
The Atlantic's Natasha Bertrand has an update from the House Dem chairs about Michael Cohen: Just in: House Oversight chair Elijah Cummings and House Intel chair Adam Schiff say Michael Cohen not testifying has never been an option. "We expect Mr. Cohen to appear before both Committees, and we remain engaged with his counsel about his upcoming appearances.” (Pic of full statement) They say furthermore, "As we stated previously with our colleague, Chairman Jerry Nadler of the Judiciary Committee, efforts to intimidate witnesses, scare their family member, or prevent them from testifying before Congress are textbook mob tactics that we condemn in the strongest terms."
MSNBC's Kyle Griffin: "Reporting by @KatyTurNBC just on @MSNBC: A source close to Cohen says his wife and father-in-law are particularly scared, feel directly targeted by Trump. "The threats are real," the source says, "Trump knows what he's doing." Cohen's wife feared physically attending the hearing."
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:09 PM on January 23, 2019 [38 favorites]
MSNBC's Kyle Griffin: "Reporting by @KatyTurNBC just on @MSNBC: A source close to Cohen says his wife and father-in-law are particularly scared, feel directly targeted by Trump. "The threats are real," the source says, "Trump knows what he's doing." Cohen's wife feared physically attending the hearing."
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:09 PM on January 23, 2019 [38 favorites]
I imagine the idea about the president having to be invited into Congress was influenced by the fact that the British monarch cannot enter the House of Commons.
posted by Chrysostom at 12:10 PM on January 23, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 12:10 PM on January 23, 2019 [12 favorites]
Every motherfucker who took out the knives for Pelosi as Speaker should stab themselves in the face while screaming I WAS WRONG I AM SO SORRY YOU ARE A BADASS.
I would append "TURNS OUT I HAD NO IDEA WHAT 'MINORITY PARTY' MEANT!". Also, keep those knives ready for 2020 (assuming Dems take the Senate) so you can do the same thing when Schumer actually has power to do things.
posted by sideshow at 12:12 PM on January 23, 2019 [9 favorites]
I would append "TURNS OUT I HAD NO IDEA WHAT 'MINORITY PARTY' MEANT!". Also, keep those knives ready for 2020 (assuming Dems take the Senate) so you can do the same thing when Schumer actually has power to do things.
posted by sideshow at 12:12 PM on January 23, 2019 [9 favorites]
The WH correspondent on MSNBC (whose name I missed, sorry) repeated as fact the common but false belief that Trump can't enter the Capitol unless invited because of separation of powers.
But they can make it that way very easily.
Lisa Desjardins
From sources all over the Capitol:
- POTUS DOES have right to enter the House chamber, at anytime.
- That includes if they are out of session, technically.
- But he can't speak from podium or dais w/out express House permission.
I can't believe I'm writing all this.
Josh Chafetz
Retweeted Lisa Desjardins
His right to enter the House chamber is pursuant to House Rule IV -- which can be amended by simple majority of the House at any time.
---
Pelosi also controls the mics and cameras, so....
posted by chris24 at 12:16 PM on January 23, 2019 [52 favorites]
But they can make it that way very easily.
Lisa Desjardins
From sources all over the Capitol:
- POTUS DOES have right to enter the House chamber, at anytime.
- That includes if they are out of session, technically.
- But he can't speak from podium or dais w/out express House permission.
I can't believe I'm writing all this.
Josh Chafetz
Retweeted Lisa Desjardins
His right to enter the House chamber is pursuant to House Rule IV -- which can be amended by simple majority of the House at any time.
---
Pelosi also controls the mics and cameras, so....
posted by chris24 at 12:16 PM on January 23, 2019 [52 favorites]
That is what we do. Look for nuclear options.
Flush out the tax havens (and repatriate the proceeds). They seem to be where a whole lot of the money corrupting politics (whether via Russia, the U.S. or U.K.) comes from.
And maintaining the unfettered wealth imbalance tax havens help facilitate is perhaps the primary cause for those pushing the far-right authoritarian agenda from the top, in the same way that white supremacy is for their hoi polloi.
posted by Buntix at 12:17 PM on January 23, 2019 [8 favorites]
Flush out the tax havens (and repatriate the proceeds). They seem to be where a whole lot of the money corrupting politics (whether via Russia, the U.S. or U.K.) comes from.
And maintaining the unfettered wealth imbalance tax havens help facilitate is perhaps the primary cause for those pushing the far-right authoritarian agenda from the top, in the same way that white supremacy is for their hoi polloi.
posted by Buntix at 12:17 PM on January 23, 2019 [8 favorites]
His right to enter the House chamber is pursuant to House Rule IV -- which can be amended by simple majority of the House at any time.
There's no need to keep him out of the House chamber - if he wants to show up and listen, he's welcome. Just keep him away from cameras and mics, and he'll go away on his own pretty quick.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 12:25 PM on January 23, 2019 [6 favorites]
There's no need to keep him out of the House chamber - if he wants to show up and listen, he's welcome. Just keep him away from cameras and mics, and he'll go away on his own pretty quick.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 12:25 PM on January 23, 2019 [6 favorites]
Dunno. Pelosi and the dems are showing more of a backbone right now than they have at any other point in my lifetime (including the times when they held a majority).
Democrats are openly talking about and fighting for the things that they believe in. They aren't backing down or giving up the farm when pressured by the other party. They finally understand how the Overton window works, and they're pushing it back in the right direction. This feels very different than anything else we've experienced.
The current iteration of Speaker Pelosi is also far more outspoken than anything I've seen before. The poker face is gone — she's the smartest one in the room, she has all the cards, and she's not afraid to hide it. If past criticisms of Pelosi are invalid, it's only because her political genius was rarely demonstrated out in the open.
posted by schmod at 12:26 PM on January 23, 2019 [89 favorites]
Democrats are openly talking about and fighting for the things that they believe in. They aren't backing down or giving up the farm when pressured by the other party. They finally understand how the Overton window works, and they're pushing it back in the right direction. This feels very different than anything else we've experienced.
The current iteration of Speaker Pelosi is also far more outspoken than anything I've seen before. The poker face is gone — she's the smartest one in the room, she has all the cards, and she's not afraid to hide it. If past criticisms of Pelosi are invalid, it's only because her political genius was rarely demonstrated out in the open.
posted by schmod at 12:26 PM on January 23, 2019 [89 favorites]
Every motherfucker who took out the knives for Pelosi as Speaker should stab themselves in the face while screaming I WAS WRONG I AM SO SORRY YOU ARE A BADASS.
And she's teaching a masterclass on How It's Done to everyone smart enough to pay attention.
posted by mikelieman at 12:30 PM on January 23, 2019 [21 favorites]
And she's teaching a masterclass on How It's Done to everyone smart enough to pay attention.
posted by mikelieman at 12:30 PM on January 23, 2019 [21 favorites]
Justinian: The WH correspondent on MSNBC (whose name I missed, sorry) repeated as fact the common but false belief that Trump can't enter the Capitol unless invited because of separation of powers.
So you're saying he's ... a vampire?
And this has become politics as reality TV, as CNN's page with Live Updates on the Government Shutdown now include a video clip of Trump saying that Pelosi's response is an example that Democrats have been "radicalized," saying "this will go on for a while, and ultimately the American people will have their way because they want to see no crime," as if paying for or building the magical southern border wall/ fence/ thing will Ends Crime Forever (maybe he's just going to re-categorize more crimes as non-crimes, like when the administration changed the definition of domestic violence -- linking back in this thread).
Then he said "we lowered prescription drug prices, the first time in 50 years, the Democrats would never do that." It looks like he's overstating what's going on -- Grassley to hold drug pricing hearing (Nathaniel Weixel for The Hill, Jan. 22, 2019)
posted by filthy light thief at 12:32 PM on January 23, 2019 [20 favorites]
So you're saying he's ... a vampire?
And this has become politics as reality TV, as CNN's page with Live Updates on the Government Shutdown now include a video clip of Trump saying that Pelosi's response is an example that Democrats have been "radicalized," saying "this will go on for a while, and ultimately the American people will have their way because they want to see no crime," as if paying for or building the magical southern border wall/ fence/ thing will Ends Crime Forever (maybe he's just going to re-categorize more crimes as non-crimes, like when the administration changed the definition of domestic violence -- linking back in this thread).
Then he said "we lowered prescription drug prices, the first time in 50 years, the Democrats would never do that." It looks like he's overstating what's going on -- Grassley to hold drug pricing hearing (Nathaniel Weixel for The Hill, Jan. 22, 2019)
The Senate Finance Committee's first hearing of the year will focus on prescription drug prices, panel chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced Tuesday.Meanwhile, the Invisible Hand does its thing: Prescription Drug Companies Are Raising Prices on Older Medicines (Erik Sherman for Fortune, via Yahoo! News, January 18, 2019)
The Jan. 29 hearing "will be the first in a series of hearings scrutinizing prescription drug pricing and considering policy and oversight solutions to lower costs for American patients," Grassley said in a statement Tuesday.
Prescription drug prices have become one of the “hottest political issues” of 2019, according to the Indianapolis Star. And drug manufacturers keep adding fuel to the fire.And more recently, Hard-to-trace groups work to kill proposals to lower drug prices (Christopher Rowland and Jeff Stein, for The Washington Post, via Mercury News, January 22, 2019 at 8:58 pm | UPDATED: January 23, 2019 at 4:25 am)
Companies have sharply raised prices on older drugs in the face of shortages and recalls, the Wall Street Journal reported. Some of the medicines are now triple or more their previous cost.
Out of 120 drugs that the FDA listed as in short supply, a third raised prices after the shortages began. The manufacturers argue that the prices only reflect their own higher expenses to fill shortages.
The political war over prescription drug practices is spawning a frenzy of activity by outside lobbying groups, some with names that mask their ties to industry and one that has gone to great lengths to disguise its origins.Of course, none of this comes up in Trump's fake news soundbite. It's just GOP MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
The increase in advertising, advocacy and pressure tactics is aimed at thwarting some proposals to control drug costs proposed in the Democratic-controlled House, such as allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, as well as ideas to curb prices pursued by the Trump administration.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:32 PM on January 23, 2019 [20 favorites]
In more health news: Pelosi works her health care strategy from the ground up (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Associated Press via WSB-TV Atlanta, Jan 22, 2019)
posted by filthy light thief at 12:35 PM on January 23, 2019 [27 favorites]
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is laying out her strategy on health care and first up is improvements to "Obamacare" and legislation to lower prescription drug costs. "Medicare for all" will get hearings.Sounds pretty radical, in the right sort of way, to me.
Pelosi and President Donald Trump have been sounding similar themes about the need to address the high drug costs. But her plans to broaden financial help for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act are unlikely to find takers among Republicans.
Either way, Democrats believe voters gave them a mandate on health care in the midterm elections that returned the House to their control.
Pushing her agenda, Pelosi is working from the ground up through major House committees. Her relationships with powerful chairmen and subcommittee chairs stretch back years. She's "playing chess on three boards at once," said Jim McDermott, a former Democratic congressman from Washington state, who predicts Pelosi's most difficult challenge will be "herding new members" impatient for sweeping changes.
Responding to written questions from The Associated Press, Pelosi called the ACA "a pillar of health and financial security," comparing it to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. "Democrats have the opportunity not only to reverse the years of Republicans' health care sabotage, but to update and improve the Affordable Care Act to further lower families' premiums and out-of-pocket costs, and expand coverage."
posted by filthy light thief at 12:35 PM on January 23, 2019 [27 favorites]
And she's teaching a masterclass on How It's Done to everyone smart enough to pay attention.
I'm not unhappy with anything Pelosi has done lately, but it seems a little premature to declare her strategy a complete success. We're still mid-crisis.
posted by diogenes at 12:38 PM on January 23, 2019 [20 favorites]
I'm not unhappy with anything Pelosi has done lately, but it seems a little premature to declare her strategy a complete success. We're still mid-crisis.
posted by diogenes at 12:38 PM on January 23, 2019 [20 favorites]
And this has become politics as reality TV, as CNN's page with Live Updates on the Government Shutdown now include a video clip of Trump saying that Pelosi's response is an example that Democrats have been "radicalized," saying "this will go on for a while, and ultimately the American people will have their way because they want to see no crime," as if paying for or building the magical southern border wall/ fence/ thing will Ends Crime Forever
In this morning's Twitter rampage he decided that the GOP's new slogan for 2020 will be “BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL!” so it's good to see he still remembers that so many hours later.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:39 PM on January 23, 2019 [6 favorites]
In this morning's Twitter rampage he decided that the GOP's new slogan for 2020 will be “BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL!” so it's good to see he still remembers that so many hours later.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:39 PM on January 23, 2019 [6 favorites]
There's no need to keep him out of the House chamber - if he wants to show up and listen, he's welcome. Just keep him away from cameras and mics, and he'll go away on his own pretty quick.
Nope. Motherfucker wants optics and reality-TV-show drama, we'll give it to him. Bar the doors. Tell him he's trespassing on Congressional property and threaten to summon the Capitol Police, who do not serve at the discretion of the executive, to expel the interloper. Send the sergeant-at-arms to stand menacingly at the door, wielding the Congressional Mace. Make a human circle, join hands, and sing kumbaya; I don't care, just make it clear that you're not going down without a fight, and that every negotiation from here on out will end exactly like this if he doesn't stop throwing temper tantrums on Twitter.
It's not likely to be a fight she can win, but it will for damn sure take all media attention away from the SOTU address that will happen outside the chamber.
posted by Mayor West at 12:40 PM on January 23, 2019 [19 favorites]
Nope. Motherfucker wants optics and reality-TV-show drama, we'll give it to him. Bar the doors. Tell him he's trespassing on Congressional property and threaten to summon the Capitol Police, who do not serve at the discretion of the executive, to expel the interloper. Send the sergeant-at-arms to stand menacingly at the door, wielding the Congressional Mace. Make a human circle, join hands, and sing kumbaya; I don't care, just make it clear that you're not going down without a fight, and that every negotiation from here on out will end exactly like this if he doesn't stop throwing temper tantrums on Twitter.
It's not likely to be a fight she can win, but it will for damn sure take all media attention away from the SOTU address that will happen outside the chamber.
posted by Mayor West at 12:40 PM on January 23, 2019 [19 favorites]
"President Barges In and Gives Speech Despite Being Refused" seems like a tipping point in history sort of moment to me. And I would say it won't happen and it won't be that big a deal, but I keep thinking about stuff like the initial Muslim ban when we had judges giving orders that law enforcement agencies were basically ignoring. If that was misreported, I'd feel better to know that--but then I'm down the rabbit hole of doubting my own memories and what I saw in the press, which feels like yet another effect of all the constant gaslighting.
Right now I'm reminding myself that Nancy Pelosi is 100x smarter than every one of the goons in this White House put together and has surely gamed all this out. But I'm also thinking "turn out the lights and lock the doors and go home" sounds like the kind of thing requiring under/currently-un-paid workers to handle and I don't know which way they break.
Trump throws tantrums. Nancy makes plans and has actual backbone (and yes, screw her critics). That's kinda where I'm at now.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 12:41 PM on January 23, 2019 [11 favorites]
Right now I'm reminding myself that Nancy Pelosi is 100x smarter than every one of the goons in this White House put together and has surely gamed all this out. But I'm also thinking "turn out the lights and lock the doors and go home" sounds like the kind of thing requiring under/currently-un-paid workers to handle and I don't know which way they break.
Trump throws tantrums. Nancy makes plans and has actual backbone (and yes, screw her critics). That's kinda where I'm at now.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 12:41 PM on January 23, 2019 [11 favorites]
I don't think the Seth Moultons and Tim Ryans of the world had the knives out for Pelosi because they thought she wouldn't be tough enough on Trump. While I think neither has any love for Trump's policies or governance, they certainly saw some political opportunity in using him as a forcing function to demand a leadership change. I bet if you asked them privately, they'd acknowledge that she's extremely competent. That's why they tried to pounce on her when she was at her weakest.
posted by tonycpsu at 12:46 PM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by tonycpsu at 12:46 PM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
Bloomberg's Jennifer Epstein: Trump seems to have given up on doing the SOTU in the Capitol, telling reporters "we'll do something in the alternative" and that it's "sad" he won't be doing the speech in the "beautiful" Capitol. Via @ToluseO.
Trump always folds, like cheap lawn furniture.
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:46 PM on January 23, 2019 [72 favorites]
Trump always folds, like cheap lawn furniture.
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:46 PM on January 23, 2019 [72 favorites]
He'll find a venue, set it up as a campaign rally style event, and sling red meat even more than he would have if it were held in the Capitol. The question is will the major networks suspend their programming to carry it, and I think they probably will.
posted by tonycpsu at 12:49 PM on January 23, 2019 [28 favorites]
posted by tonycpsu at 12:49 PM on January 23, 2019 [28 favorites]
His right to enter the House chamber is pursuant to House Rule IV -- which can be amended by simple majority of the House at any time.
Reading to the bottom of the section, it appears that the President, VP, and their private secretaries cannot be excluded. Of course, that's a total of four people speaking to an empty chamber with no lights.
posted by mikelieman at 12:50 PM on January 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
Reading to the bottom of the section, it appears that the President, VP, and their private secretaries cannot be excluded. Of course, that's a total of four people speaking to an empty chamber with no lights.
posted by mikelieman at 12:50 PM on January 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
The question is will the major networks suspend their programming to carry it, and I think they probably will.
Then they should give equal time to Pelosi and Schumer giving a response. From the Capitol chambers.
posted by Gelatin at 12:51 PM on January 23, 2019 [53 favorites]
Then they should give equal time to Pelosi and Schumer giving a response. From the Capitol chambers.
posted by Gelatin at 12:51 PM on January 23, 2019 [53 favorites]
I don't care why they were wrong. I just care that they were and it's time for some auto-facial-stabbin and apologizing groveling for their transgression.
I'm not unhappy with anything Pelosi has done lately, but it seems a little premature to declare her strategy a complete success. We're still mid-crisis.
I don't think anyone is doing that. I'm certainly not. But I am calling her strategy a good one considering her opponent and a good one on appearance.
posted by phearlez at 1:00 PM on January 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
I'm not unhappy with anything Pelosi has done lately, but it seems a little premature to declare her strategy a complete success. We're still mid-crisis.
I don't think anyone is doing that. I'm certainly not. But I am calling her strategy a good one considering her opponent and a good one on appearance.
posted by phearlez at 1:00 PM on January 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
Fast-moving news day in Caracas: Venezuelan president Nicholas Maduro has given US diplomats 72 hours to leave the country. (Sacramento Bee with the latest from AP)
posted by box at 1:01 PM on January 23, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by box at 1:01 PM on January 23, 2019 [11 favorites]
C-SPAN is obliged to show gavel-to-gavel House business when it's in session. Pelosi could conceivably declare a recess subject to the call of the chair and they wouldn't be able to show anything else.
(But this is perhaps too big of a distraction for the DC media right now.)
posted by holgate at 1:07 PM on January 23, 2019
(But this is perhaps too big of a distraction for the DC media right now.)
posted by holgate at 1:07 PM on January 23, 2019
I don’t think I1 giving a rally counts under the mandate that he provide a sotu to Congress. He’s still going to have to write a book report, even if mean ol Miss Nancy wont let him read it in front of the class.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 1:08 PM on January 23, 2019 [14 favorites]
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 1:08 PM on January 23, 2019 [14 favorites]
Buzzfeed's Zoe Tillman brings news from the Mueller front:
posted by Doktor Zed at 1:08 PM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
JUST IN: Here is Paul Manafort's reply to materials Mueller's office submitted last week re: whether he lied. His lawyers dispute that the evidence supports the conclusion that he intentionally lied. (It appears the redactions are properly done this time)Vox's Andrew Prokop attempts to read into the redactions: "Perhaps a claim that there were two Ukraine peace plans Manafort and Kilimnik discussed at different points " (pic)
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5692176/1-23-19-Manafort-Reply.pdf
Manafort's lawyers: "Rather, when placed in proper context, much of the evidence presented by the OSC merely demonstrates a lack of consistency in Mr. Manafort’s recollection of certain facts and events"
posted by Doktor Zed at 1:08 PM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
@CrimeADay 40 USC §§5109 & 5104(e)(2)(A) make it a federal crime to enter or remain on the floor of either House of Congress without authorization from that House.
posted by scalefree at 1:11 PM on January 23, 2019 [13 favorites]
posted by scalefree at 1:11 PM on January 23, 2019 [13 favorites]
Bangor Daily News: Susan Collins voices support for wall funding in Trump’s latest pitch to end shutdown
posted by notyou at 1:14 PM on January 23, 2019 [12 favorites]
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins backs President Donald Trump’s offer to reopen the federal government for $5.7 billion in border wall funding, though she called it “by no means ideal” and remains noncommittal on a rival Democratic plan also up for a Senate vote on Thursday.Not exactly a surprise, but there it is.
posted by notyou at 1:14 PM on January 23, 2019 [12 favorites]
From a strict law-nerdery perspective, I'm not sure why a rally in some arbitrary location can't qualify as the State of the Union while a written letter would. Just mail Congress a DVD or whatever the kids use today, no? All three are forms of "giving information".
I suppose it could be argued that in rally-mode, he's vastly less informative because he's more prone to following tangents of idiocy than a teleprompter, but...
posted by InTheYear2017 at 1:27 PM on January 23, 2019 [5 favorites]
I suppose it could be argued that in rally-mode, he's vastly less informative because he's more prone to following tangents of idiocy than a teleprompter, but...
posted by InTheYear2017 at 1:27 PM on January 23, 2019 [5 favorites]
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins backs President Donald Trump’s offer to reopen the federal government for $5.7 billion in border wall funding, though she called it “by no means ideal” and remains noncommittal on a rival Democratic plan also up for a Senate vote on Thursday.
Susan Collins got a lot of mileage out of her phony "moderate" pose, despite voting pretty much in lockstep with the worst Republicans. Her apparently abandoning pretense and declaring her vote in lockstep with the so-called Tea Party and the new-Confederates is a bold choice, but I wonder if the voters of Maine will reward her for it.
posted by Gelatin at 1:28 PM on January 23, 2019 [12 favorites]
Susan Collins got a lot of mileage out of her phony "moderate" pose, despite voting pretty much in lockstep with the worst Republicans. Her apparently abandoning pretense and declaring her vote in lockstep with the so-called Tea Party and the new-Confederates is a bold choice, but I wonder if the voters of Maine will reward her for it.
posted by Gelatin at 1:28 PM on January 23, 2019 [12 favorites]
but I wonder if the voters of Maine will reward her for it.
The voters of Maine have not yet come down from the high of not having LePage as governor anymore.
posted by Melismata at 1:33 PM on January 23, 2019 [31 favorites]
The voters of Maine have not yet come down from the high of not having LePage as governor anymore.
posted by Melismata at 1:33 PM on January 23, 2019 [31 favorites]
Trump wall - all you need to know about US border in seven charts (BBC)
posted by joannemerriam at 1:36 PM on January 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by joannemerriam at 1:36 PM on January 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
Oh, and for those who may not be aware, LePage = Trump:
"LePage was the first Maine governor to use social media to promote the annual State of the State address, when he used Twitter to send several tweets previewing his February 5, 2013, speech. As Governor, LePage issued 642 vetoes, which broke the record of 118 set by Governor James B. Longley and was more than all his predecessors since 1917 combined. Most of LePage's vetoes have come since 2013, when Democrats regained control of the Legislature from the Republicans. In the 2015 session of the Legislature, LePage promised to veto every bill sponsored by a Democrat, regardless of its merits, in retaliation for the rejection of his proposal for a constitutional amendment referendum to eliminate Maine's income tax. LePage later expanded his veto threat to all bills sponsored by all legislators in order to force needing a 2/3 vote on them for passage. He stated that he feels it is the only way he can "get the most representation that I can for the people of the state of Maine" and that Democrats had convinced Republicans to sponsor bills to get around his initial veto threat." (Wikipedia)
posted by Melismata at 1:45 PM on January 23, 2019 [6 favorites]
"LePage was the first Maine governor to use social media to promote the annual State of the State address, when he used Twitter to send several tweets previewing his February 5, 2013, speech. As Governor, LePage issued 642 vetoes, which broke the record of 118 set by Governor James B. Longley and was more than all his predecessors since 1917 combined. Most of LePage's vetoes have come since 2013, when Democrats regained control of the Legislature from the Republicans. In the 2015 session of the Legislature, LePage promised to veto every bill sponsored by a Democrat, regardless of its merits, in retaliation for the rejection of his proposal for a constitutional amendment referendum to eliminate Maine's income tax. LePage later expanded his veto threat to all bills sponsored by all legislators in order to force needing a 2/3 vote on them for passage. He stated that he feels it is the only way he can "get the most representation that I can for the people of the state of Maine" and that Democrats had convinced Republicans to sponsor bills to get around his initial veto threat." (Wikipedia)
posted by Melismata at 1:45 PM on January 23, 2019 [6 favorites]
From a strict law-nerdery perspective, I'm not sure why a rally in some arbitrary location can't qualify as the State of the Union while a written letter would. Just mail Congress a DVD or whatever the kids use today, no? All three are forms of "giving information".
US Constitution Article 2 Section 3 Clause 1
posted by scalefree at 1:52 PM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
US Constitution Article 2 Section 3 Clause 1
He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient;Says nothing about timing, format or location. Could be a letter, a MAGA rally or an MP3 published to whitehouse.gov.
posted by scalefree at 1:52 PM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
> I wonder if Trump will take this opportunity to hold the State of the Union speech at a venue of his choosing [...]
He can hold a speech any time he likes, and he can invite whoever he wants - that doesn't make it a "State of the Union" address. No joint session => It's not a State of the Union address.
Of course, he doesn't need to deliver one - a DVD of his campaign rally with chants of "Lock her up" would be a fine summary of the state of our union right now, and meet his Constitutional obligations just fine.
posted by RedOrGreen at 1:55 PM on January 23, 2019 [7 favorites]
He can hold a speech any time he likes, and he can invite whoever he wants - that doesn't make it a "State of the Union" address. No joint session => It's not a State of the Union address.
Of course, he doesn't need to deliver one - a DVD of his campaign rally with chants of "Lock her up" would be a fine summary of the state of our union right now, and meet his Constitutional obligations just fine.
posted by RedOrGreen at 1:55 PM on January 23, 2019 [7 favorites]
Vox, Kellyanne Conway wants you to stop calling Trump’s wall a wall
In a confusing discussion with CNN reporter Abby Phillip, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway asked why Phillip and recent CBS polls on the ongoing government shutdown kept referring to a “wall” rather than “steel slat barriers.” After nearly four years of demanding a border wall even at the cost of an unpopular government shutdown, the Trump administration now appears to wish to avoid the word “wall” at all costs.posted by zachlipton at 1:55 PM on January 23, 2019 [20 favorites]
“I’m asking why you and the polling questions, respectfully, are still saying ‘wall’ when the president said you can call it whatever you want,” Conway said.
...
However, Trump himself appears to not have gotten the message, tweeting multiple times Tuesday morning about the need to “BUILD A WALL.”
On a different, podcast-y note, Ken White aka popehat, talking on ”All the Presidents Lawyers” has some good points about the whole ‘Buzzfeed news’ . A good podcast, brings a perspective that is otherwise not heard in the media.
posted by From Bklyn at 1:58 PM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by From Bklyn at 1:58 PM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
Chris Murphy shut down talk he might jump in the Presidential ring. Points out that maybe 2 or 3 Senators should stay behind to, you know, do Senate things.
posted by Justinian at 2:00 PM on January 23, 2019 [21 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 2:00 PM on January 23, 2019 [21 favorites]
Trump seems to have given up on doing the SOTU in the Capitol, telling reporters "we'll do something in the alternative"
He said that about needing funding for the wall in the budget, too, and look where we are.
Also:
“I’m asking why you and the polling questions, respectfully, are still saying ‘wall’ when the president said you can call it whatever you want,” Conway said.
Thx for the permission, Mr. President. So that would include calling it a "wall" if that's what I want to call it, no?
posted by Rykey at 2:14 PM on January 23, 2019 [9 favorites]
He said that about needing funding for the wall in the budget, too, and look where we are.
Also:
“I’m asking why you and the polling questions, respectfully, are still saying ‘wall’ when the president said you can call it whatever you want,” Conway said.
Thx for the permission, Mr. President. So that would include calling it a "wall" if that's what I want to call it, no?
posted by Rykey at 2:14 PM on January 23, 2019 [9 favorites]
Going through the links here, I am overwhelmed and worried by the Republican activism. Not just for you people who actually live in the USA, but also all of the rest of us who have to deal with the USA. Happily, the 2018 elections made it clear that elections matter and votes matter. But we all need a lot more of that, in all 50 states. As it is right now, a naive communist is a lot less dangerous than a tea-party racist, for the world, not just the USA.
posted by mumimor at 2:25 PM on January 23, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by mumimor at 2:25 PM on January 23, 2019 [7 favorites]
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway asked why Phillip and recent CBS polls on the ongoing government shutdown kept referring to a “wall” rather than “steel slat barriers.”
We have lots and lots of examples of this kind of thing in tone arguments, "you're saying it wrong!" Control over language is one of the most basic ways that humans can interfere with each others' lives, and naturally this flows downhill to authoritarian regimes.
posted by rhizome at 2:29 PM on January 23, 2019 [23 favorites]
We have lots and lots of examples of this kind of thing in tone arguments, "you're saying it wrong!" Control over language is one of the most basic ways that humans can interfere with each others' lives, and naturally this flows downhill to authoritarian regimes.
posted by rhizome at 2:29 PM on January 23, 2019 [23 favorites]
It's particularly Orwellian (or Kellyanniean?) to assert that Trump never wanted a wall, he has always wanted steel slats, which are not a wall, how dare you use such a loaded term?
posted by BungaDunga at 2:35 PM on January 23, 2019 [36 favorites]
posted by BungaDunga at 2:35 PM on January 23, 2019 [36 favorites]
Specifically, it's as if during That Scene In 1984, they changed all the posters and whatnot to be about the neverending war against Eastasia and all the while the leader continued giving a speech about the ongoing war against the evil and brutal regime of Eurasia. Maybe not as coordinated and efficient, but even Orwell didn't posit that level of doublethink.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:39 PM on January 23, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:39 PM on January 23, 2019 [8 favorites]
They've been trying to pivot away from "The Wall" basically from the inauguration, except Trump loves the rush he gets from the applause and the chant*.
An enterprising PoliSci grad student should look at the chicken and egg problem that is Trump and the Base. It's not always clear who's leading whom.
---------
(*And Trump doesn't pivot.)
posted by notyou at 2:48 PM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
An enterprising PoliSci grad student should look at the chicken and egg problem that is Trump and the Base. It's not always clear who's leading whom.
---------
(*And Trump doesn't pivot.)
posted by notyou at 2:48 PM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
Two new polls are out today, CBS and AP and they're both terrible for Trump.
Approval down to 36% (down 3 from last poll) and 34% (down 8 from last month!) respectively, both close to all-time lows and the lowest in over a year. And disapproval is up to 59% in AP, an all-time high. And his approval with Inds is near all-time lows as well. The story at 538 averages is clear as well.
And that doesn't even get to the Wall and shutdown numbers in these polls where he's getting killed. He's losing badly and his base is showing signs of breaking over this.
posted by chris24 at 2:51 PM on January 23, 2019 [43 favorites]
Approval down to 36% (down 3 from last poll) and 34% (down 8 from last month!) respectively, both close to all-time lows and the lowest in over a year. And disapproval is up to 59% in AP, an all-time high. And his approval with Inds is near all-time lows as well. The story at 538 averages is clear as well.
And that doesn't even get to the Wall and shutdown numbers in these polls where he's getting killed. He's losing badly and his base is showing signs of breaking over this.
posted by chris24 at 2:51 PM on January 23, 2019 [43 favorites]
I’m asking why you and the polling questions, respectfully, are still saying ‘wall’ when the president said you can call it whatever you want,
This is our chance to choose a name and have the Democrats repeat it any chance they get. I suggest "Colossal monument to racism."
posted by mmoncur at 2:56 PM on January 23, 2019 [25 favorites]
This is our chance to choose a name and have the Democrats repeat it any chance they get. I suggest "Colossal monument to racism."
posted by mmoncur at 2:56 PM on January 23, 2019 [25 favorites]
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins backs President Donald Trump’s offer
On a brighter note, she voted for Bart "I like beer" O'Kavanaugh, so that $1.X million dollar war chest is waiting to be given to her next opponent.
posted by duoshao at 3:10 PM on January 23, 2019 [15 favorites]
On a brighter note, she voted for Bart "I like beer" O'Kavanaugh, so that $1.X million dollar war chest is waiting to be given to her next opponent.
posted by duoshao at 3:10 PM on January 23, 2019 [15 favorites]
We have a perfectly good word for it, it's called a "boondoggle" though you can also add "completely pointless", "economically devastating", "ecologically damaging", and of course "racist and hateful" as modifiers.
Border Boondoggle is also good if you like alliteration.
posted by emjaybee at 3:17 PM on January 23, 2019 [20 favorites]
Border Boondoggle is also good if you like alliteration.
posted by emjaybee at 3:17 PM on January 23, 2019 [20 favorites]
So this is a pretty short (half hour) talk with the author of The Reactionary Mind On how vulnerable Trump and the GOP is because they basically got everything they wanted and have no future vision and tying it into Cater/Reagan and how the long term project of the right was to destroy the labor movement - just really interesting stuff.
posted by The Whelk at 3:35 PM on January 23, 2019 [14 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 3:35 PM on January 23, 2019 [14 favorites]
Washington Post: White House seeks list of programs that would be hurt if shutdown lasts into March
posted by scaryblackdeath at 3:37 PM on January 23, 2019 [12 favorites]
White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has pressed agency leaders to provide him with a list of the highest-impact programs that will be jeopardized if the shutdown continues into March and April, people familiar with the directive said.(Emphasis mine.)
posted by scaryblackdeath at 3:37 PM on January 23, 2019 [12 favorites]
The Hill: The McConnell Blocks Bill to Reopen Most of Government
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:39 PM on January 23, 2019 [38 favorites]
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) went to the Senate floor to ask for consent to take up the House-passed bill that would fund every agency and department impacted by the partial shutdown, except the Department of Homeland Security, through Sept. 30.(I cant believe I have to link to The Hill, but this basic piece of reporting doesn’t seem to be receiving any attention in the mainstream media. Which says a lot about how the politics of the shutdown is being mishandled by them.)
McConnell, however, objected. It's the fourth time he's blocked the bill to reopen most of government. He has also blocked, as recently as Tuesday, a House-passed bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security through Feb. 8.
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:39 PM on January 23, 2019 [38 favorites]
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway asked why Phillip and recent CBS polls on the ongoing government shutdown kept referring to a “wall” rather than “steel slat barriers.”
It will be journalistic malpractice if one of the major news outlets doesn't show up to the next press conference with a laminated poster of today's Trump Tweets about "The Wall," to ask Kellyanne whose words we should be using.
Extra points if one of them manages to get in a question about the viability of eating one's pudding if one doesn't eat one's meat
posted by Mayor West at 3:46 PM on January 23, 2019 [9 favorites]
It will be journalistic malpractice if one of the major news outlets doesn't show up to the next press conference with a laminated poster of today's Trump Tweets about "The Wall," to ask Kellyanne whose words we should be using.
Extra points if one of them manages to get in a question about the viability of eating one's pudding if one doesn't eat one's meat
posted by Mayor West at 3:46 PM on January 23, 2019 [9 favorites]
$1.X million dollar war chest is waiting to be given to her next opponent.
You mean $3.8 million dollar war chest.
posted by OnceUponATime at 3:48 PM on January 23, 2019 [41 favorites]
You mean $3.8 million dollar war chest.
posted by OnceUponATime at 3:48 PM on January 23, 2019 [41 favorites]
Politico, White House eyes energy push as Russia strategy
posted by zachlipton at 3:53 PM on January 23, 2019 [5 favorites]
The White House is weighing a new round of executive actions to boost the U.S. energy industry in an attempt to portray strength against Russia.Why the hell would you give someone anonymity to say that? Anyway, I guess they're trying infrastructure week (along with the ongoing climate change denial week) again.
The moves the White House is considering — President Donald Trump’s third effort to help pipeline companies — include possible executive orders that would weaken states’ power to block energy projects and ease the construction of new pipelines to facilitate the movement of a glut of domestic oil and gas, according to a senior administration official and others familiar with the effort.
The administration official said the pipeline executive order would be “quite similar” to the president’s previous actions, but “broader, deeper.”
...
“This is not only about economic growth and power. A lot of this is about international security policy. We’re aiming at the Russians. We can beat them,” the senior administration official told POLITICO.
posted by zachlipton at 3:53 PM on January 23, 2019 [5 favorites]
NPR has more on Cummings’s investigation of John Bolton’s security clearance and his NRA ties: House Oversight Panel Launches Inquiry Into White House Security Clearances
The oversight committee is specifically interested in Trump's current national security adviser, John Bolton, and his onetime participation in a Russian gun rights campaign.posted by Doktor Zed at 4:17 PM on January 23, 2019 [29 favorites]
Bolton recorded a video in 2013 for The Right To Bear Arms, a Russian gun rights group then run by Maria Butina, the Russian woman who has admitted serving as a clandestine agent for Russia.
NPR has previously reported that Bolton was asked to do the video by a former president of the National Rifle Association.
Cummings asked the NRA in a letter Wednesday to provide any documents related to Bolton's foreign contacts.[…]
Cummings also asked for more information about the NRA's subcommittee on international affairs, a largely opaque group that Bolton was appointed to head in 2011. The committee told the NRA that it expected a response by Feb. 6.
Mod note: Couple things deleted. In general it's a really good idea to start with looking for the actual text of a bill, not by repeating the things people you distrust in the first place are saying and asking folks to prove those folks wrong.
posted by cortex (staff) at 4:18 PM on January 23, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by cortex (staff) at 4:18 PM on January 23, 2019 [9 favorites]
Fast-moving news day in Caracas: Venezuelan president Nicholas Maduro has given US diplomats 72 hours to leave the country. (Sacramento Bee with the latest from AP)
Update: US State Dept. says it does not consider Maduro's order to break relations, or for US diplomats to leave Venezuela, as legal, and the US “will take appropriate actions to hold accountable anyone who endangers the safety and security of our mission and its personnel.”
This seems like a rather provocative escalation, and it's fundamentally unclear what happens if the government of a country orders us out and we don't acknowledge that government is in charge so we just stay.
posted by zachlipton at 4:38 PM on January 23, 2019 [22 favorites]
Update: US State Dept. says it does not consider Maduro's order to break relations, or for US diplomats to leave Venezuela, as legal, and the US “will take appropriate actions to hold accountable anyone who endangers the safety and security of our mission and its personnel.”
This seems like a rather provocative escalation, and it's fundamentally unclear what happens if the government of a country orders us out and we don't acknowledge that government is in charge so we just stay.
posted by zachlipton at 4:38 PM on January 23, 2019 [22 favorites]
I've followed 2020fight for quite awhile. I always figured that her pick and name were intentionally obscure because a public school teacher who posted so many things that angered right wing people so often would have to be stupid to attach their real info to their account. I too, like anyone who isn't paid to be political should, also use a different name on Twitter to be safe. Though, my pic isn't of someone else, it's of the egg that ended up being popular on Instagram.
Brandy Zadrozny dug deep on this account and agrees with your conclusions: the account seems to belong to a teacher in California who tweets a lot and took steps to remain anonymous, not part of some kind of foreign plot.
posted by zachlipton at 4:43 PM on January 23, 2019 [16 favorites]
Brandy Zadrozny dug deep on this account and agrees with your conclusions: the account seems to belong to a teacher in California who tweets a lot and took steps to remain anonymous, not part of some kind of foreign plot.
posted by zachlipton at 4:43 PM on January 23, 2019 [16 favorites]
This seems like a rather provocative escalation, and it's fundamentally unclear what happens if the government of a country orders us out and we don't acknowledge that government is in charge so we just stay.
Government of Venezuela wishes for all diplomatic missions to remain present, proclamations from persons or entities lacking any authority in this matter notwithstanding.
posted by save alive nothing that breatheth at 4:58 PM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
Government of Venezuela wishes for all diplomatic missions to remain present, proclamations from persons or entities lacking any authority in this matter notwithstanding.
posted by save alive nothing that breatheth at 4:58 PM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
We’re aiming at the Russians. We can beat them,” the senior administration official told POLITICO.
Gah. You know how else you can beat them? By making their export (dirty energy) obsolete.
(The comment about easing the domestic glut gives the game away; this is about helping dirty energy multinationals get their product to better-paying markets overseas — which will drive up the price for domestic consumers.)
posted by notyou at 5:06 PM on January 23, 2019 [11 favorites]
Gah. You know how else you can beat them? By making their export (dirty energy) obsolete.
(The comment about easing the domestic glut gives the game away; this is about helping dirty energy multinationals get their product to better-paying markets overseas — which will drive up the price for domestic consumers.)
posted by notyou at 5:06 PM on January 23, 2019 [11 favorites]
Whatever the fuck is going on in Venezuela, I'm definitely glad that our diplomats are caught in the middle of an international incident when the State Department is "minimally staffed" because of the stupid shutdown.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:14 PM on January 23, 2019 [36 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:14 PM on January 23, 2019 [36 favorites]
If you're interested in following events in Venezuela from a sympathetic point of view, that's pretty much the entire of Boots Riley's twitter right now.
posted by absalom at 5:21 PM on January 23, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by absalom at 5:21 PM on January 23, 2019 [15 favorites]
Another day, another Cliff Sims excerpt. Come for the description of Kellyanne Conway "if she’d collected 98 Dalmatians with only 3 more to go" along with the strange detail that Conway has both an executive assistant and a "body man" who follows her around, and stay for Sims putting on the record that "a source close to the President" can well just be the President himself.
posted by zachlipton at 5:25 PM on January 23, 2019 [11 favorites]
Like many presidents, he was obsessed with White House staffers who leaked against him—and was always on a quest to figure out a way to unmask them. On one memorable occasion, the president got a prominent White House reporter on the phone who had written a story that quoted anonymous staff members. “Who gave you this story?” Trump asked playfully. “I’d just be curious to know who told you this.”The primary purpose of the excerpt is to relate the time Sims claims he was called to Conway's office to draft a statement for her about how much he really likes the President, and caught her texting away to every news outlet under the sun bashing her co-workers.
The reporter laughed somewhat nervously, saying they obviously could not reveal their sources. Leaning over the phone in the Oval Office, arms crossed in front of him with his elbows sitting on the Resolute Desk, Trump tried to cut a deal. “Well, I guess that’s fine,” he replied. “But, of course, you know I could give you so much better stories—so much better.” After a little more unsuccessful coaxing, Trump relented. The reporter hung up without a hot scoop from “a source close to the president.”
posted by zachlipton at 5:25 PM on January 23, 2019 [11 favorites]
Mod note: Folks, the Venezuela situation seems like something that might work best as its own post with some context on the situation built into it rather than bits and pieces of twitter strung throughout in here.
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:26 PM on January 23, 2019 [19 favorites]
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:26 PM on January 23, 2019 [19 favorites]
RC046 passed the House today 229-184. It was the most recent 2019 appropriations bill to pass the house without any wall funding. Democrats supported it 223-1.
The 1 no vote among Democrats was AOC, who voted against reopening the government if the bill didn't defund ICE. Sure it's a purely symbolic vote but the symbolic votes are usually by members in close districts not somebody who is gonna win their district by 60 points. Kinda crappy in my opinion.
posted by Justinian at 5:50 PM on January 23, 2019 [7 favorites]
The 1 no vote among Democrats was AOC, who voted against reopening the government if the bill didn't defund ICE. Sure it's a purely symbolic vote but the symbolic votes are usually by members in close districts not somebody who is gonna win their district by 60 points. Kinda crappy in my opinion.
posted by Justinian at 5:50 PM on January 23, 2019 [7 favorites]
Fox News's Chad Pegram poses a loaded question to Pelosi (Trump having called the SOTU situation "A horrible precedent"):
Just Security's Asha Rangappa: "The Constitution says that the President shall report on the state of the union “from time to time.” He has no constitutional right to do it on a certain date, or in person, or in the House chamber. #TooBadSoSad"
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:52 PM on January 23, 2019 [43 favorites]
I ask Pelosi if she is concerned about establishing a new precedent by perhaps not having a State of the Union speech:Vox's Aaron Rupar has a video:
Pelosi: No. Not at all
REPORTER: Why not invite Trump to a joint session next Tuesday?PBS's Yamiche Alcindor: "Just ran into VP Pence at the WH and I asked him what he thought of Pelosi calling off the SOTU. Pence said of President Trump, “He has a constitutional duty to report on the state of the union.”"
PELOSI: "Because government is closed."
Just Security's Asha Rangappa: "The Constitution says that the President shall report on the state of the union “from time to time.” He has no constitutional right to do it on a certain date, or in person, or in the House chamber. #TooBadSoSad"
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:52 PM on January 23, 2019 [43 favorites]
The 1 no vote among Democrats was AOC, who voted against reopening the government if the bill didn't defund ICE. Sure it's a purely symbolic vote but the symbolic votes are usually by members in close districts not somebody who is gonna win their district by 60 points.
Moving out to the left and leaving Pelosi as a relative moderate seems a viable option, especially if one is in a safe district.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:18 PM on January 23, 2019 [18 favorites]
Moving out to the left and leaving Pelosi as a relative moderate seems a viable option, especially if one is in a safe district.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:18 PM on January 23, 2019 [18 favorites]
Yabbut... when the position of the Democratic caucus in the House is that government funding should not be held hostage to policy goals it's a little questionable to hold government funding to your policy goals. At that point you've moved the goalposts to "it's okay to not pay workers, just not for this particular goal."
Wanting to defund ICE is moving left. Wanting to refuse to pay workers unless ICE is defunded doesn't strike me as particularly leftist. Paying workers what they earn is leftist, no?
posted by Justinian at 6:24 PM on January 23, 2019 [56 favorites]
Wanting to defund ICE is moving left. Wanting to refuse to pay workers unless ICE is defunded doesn't strike me as particularly leftist. Paying workers what they earn is leftist, no?
posted by Justinian at 6:24 PM on January 23, 2019 [56 favorites]
Trump: Pelosi Cancelling State Of The Union Is ‘A Great Blotch’ On The Country (Matt Shuham, TPM)
posted by ZeusHumms at 6:33 PM on January 23, 2019 [16 favorites]
“The State of the Union speech has been cancelled by Nancy Pelosi because she doesn’t want to hear the truth,” Trump told reporters from the White House’s Cabinet Room, saying that Pelosi is “afraid of the truth and the super-left Democrats.”He probably believes that she can't handle the truth.
posted by ZeusHumms at 6:33 PM on January 23, 2019 [16 favorites]
Wanting to refuse to pay workers unless ICE is defunded
Do you really think she would do that if she was the deciding vote? That's what symbolic means, let's not get silly. On the other hand, maybe someone should ask her exactly that. Our hard-hitting media! Oh wait...
posted by ctmf at 6:57 PM on January 23, 2019 [7 favorites]
Do you really think she would do that if she was the deciding vote? That's what symbolic means, let's not get silly. On the other hand, maybe someone should ask her exactly that. Our hard-hitting media! Oh wait...
posted by ctmf at 6:57 PM on January 23, 2019 [7 favorites]
Mod note: A few "here's what I think we should call it instead of 'wall', then" type comments removed over the course of the last while. That kind of group riffing is a good example of the sort of thing that we're hoping folks can use the experimental Hyucking Hyuck thread for, since it's basically purpose built to allow for that without clogging up the catch-all with a string of one-liners.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:03 PM on January 23, 2019 [14 favorites]
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:03 PM on January 23, 2019 [14 favorites]
Defunding ICE is an entirely defensible demand, within this context, as a step toward Republican compensation for the act of holding government hostage in the first place. If we do manage to return to the status quo ante, it won't really the status quo ante at all, it'll be a post-shutdown world, and the interest on back pay to workers won't square things up by itself.
Of course it would be horrendous politics for the Democratic caucus to unify behind any new demands at all, and in practical terms would screw everyone over. But my point is that by not adding demands to a clean CR, Dems are being especially generous.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 7:10 PM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
Of course it would be horrendous politics for the Democratic caucus to unify behind any new demands at all, and in practical terms would screw everyone over. But my point is that by not adding demands to a clean CR, Dems are being especially generous.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 7:10 PM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
when the position of the Democratic caucus in the House is that government funding should not be held hostage to policy goals it's a little questionable to hold government funding to your policy goals
It's a counter to the Senate Republicans "we'll open the govt if you agree to x." AOC gets out there and says, "no, agree to y." Pelosi (and, really, the rest of the party) says "let's meet in the middle and just open the govt. "
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:41 PM on January 23, 2019 [24 favorites]
It's a counter to the Senate Republicans "we'll open the govt if you agree to x." AOC gets out there and says, "no, agree to y." Pelosi (and, really, the rest of the party) says "let's meet in the middle and just open the govt. "
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:41 PM on January 23, 2019 [24 favorites]
@realDonaldTrump: As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed. She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative - I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over. I am not looking for an........alternative venue for the SOTU Address because there is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber. I look forward to giving a “great” State of the Union Address in the near future!
He gets told "no" by one woman he's required to listen to, and he folds completely.
posted by zachlipton at 8:22 PM on January 23, 2019 [88 favorites]
He gets told "no" by one woman he's required to listen to, and he folds completely.
posted by zachlipton at 8:22 PM on January 23, 2019 [88 favorites]
The oversight committee is specifically interested in Trump's current national security adviser, John Bolton, and his onetime participation in a Russian gun rights campaign.
During the Obama years, Bolton was also involved in the campaign to get the MEK removed from the foreign terrorism list, and earned a lot of money doing so. Oh, and he was hanging out with Pamela Geller long after Geller decided that it was best to hang out with European white-nationalist types. It's not unusual for foreign policy types to retreat to sinecures or lobbying when the other party is in power, but Bolton seemed to pick out every dodgy crank.
posted by holgate at 8:48 PM on January 23, 2019 [8 favorites]
During the Obama years, Bolton was also involved in the campaign to get the MEK removed from the foreign terrorism list, and earned a lot of money doing so. Oh, and he was hanging out with Pamela Geller long after Geller decided that it was best to hang out with European white-nationalist types. It's not unusual for foreign policy types to retreat to sinecures or lobbying when the other party is in power, but Bolton seemed to pick out every dodgy crank.
posted by holgate at 8:48 PM on January 23, 2019 [8 favorites]
Washington Post: White House seeks list of programs that would be hurt if shutdown lasts into March
White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has pressed agency leaders to provide him with a list of the highest-impact programs that will be jeopardized if the shutdown continues into March and April, people familiar with the directive said.
This also serves as a pressure tactic to nudge people into voting for an existing bill to reopen government & give in to Trump.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:10 PM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has pressed agency leaders to provide him with a list of the highest-impact programs that will be jeopardized if the shutdown continues into March and April, people familiar with the directive said.
This also serves as a pressure tactic to nudge people into voting for an existing bill to reopen government & give in to Trump.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:10 PM on January 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
MSNBC's Ari Melber interviews Jerome Corsi, Sam Nunberg, Michael Caputo and Carter Page for 39 minutes
posted by growabrain at 9:12 PM on January 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by growabrain at 9:12 PM on January 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
The current iteration of Speaker Pelosi is also far more outspoken than anything I've seen before. The poker face is gone — she's the smartest one in the room, she has all the cards, and she's not afraid to hide it.
When I started paying attention to it, something that I noticed again and again in business and politics was that the best, the brightest and the bravest in the room are the women, more often than not. The reason I had never fully, consciously realized this before is because when as soon as women accomplish things, everyone rushes in to discredit/minimize their accomplishments or otherwise tear them down, and I bought into the narrative as much as anyone else did.
Quick story. Someone upthread linked to the wikipedia page for the Mace of the US House of Representatives. That article says that there is no instance on the official record of any member ever being presented with the Mace, but does note that there is a video of a threat to do so, in 1994, to Rep. Maxine Waters. If you go watch the video, you can see her brief speech that caused other members to threaten her with the Mace:
"Thank you very much Madam Chairwoman. Last evening a Member of this House, Peter King, had to be gaveled out of order at the Whitewater hearings of the Banking Committee. He had to be gaveled out of order because he badgered a woman who was a witness from the White House, Maggie Williams. I am pleased I was able to come to her defense. Madam Chairwoman, the day is over when men can badger and intimidate women...
[interruptions begin from the floor]
...marginalize them, and keep them from speaking. I am pleased I was able to come to her defense. We are now in this House, we are members of this House, we will not allow men to intimidate us and to keep us from participating. Madame Chairwoman thank you again. You see a man [unintelligible]. Madame Chairlady, do you ever see men do this to other men? It is only when a women attempts to speak...it is only when a woman attempts to exercise her rights in this house that you have this kind of intimidation. This is a fine example of what they try to do to us. I am pleased that I was able to come to Maggie Williams' defense. The women of this nation will not continue to have this kind of treatment. That's a fine example. Thank you Madame Chairwoman."
That's a great speech by today's standards. She said it during the 90s, the decade of Monica Lewinsky, Marcia Clark and Tonya Harding, when we collectively decided to be pretty fucking awful to women for basically just being women. Maxine Waters was saying this stuff the whole time, even when the country seemed mostly okay with bullying women. She's only become nationally known for being a total badass in recent years, but she's been always been like that. I now see women who are like that, everywhere, every day, and we (society) are only just starting to see it. At the same time Trump is intimidating Michael Cohen into silence, Nancy Pelosi is standing front and center and telling him no, again and again, and taking all the blowback that comes from him and his rabid base without blinking, even once.
posted by triggerfinger at 9:25 PM on January 23, 2019 [141 favorites]
When I started paying attention to it, something that I noticed again and again in business and politics was that the best, the brightest and the bravest in the room are the women, more often than not. The reason I had never fully, consciously realized this before is because when as soon as women accomplish things, everyone rushes in to discredit/minimize their accomplishments or otherwise tear them down, and I bought into the narrative as much as anyone else did.
Quick story. Someone upthread linked to the wikipedia page for the Mace of the US House of Representatives. That article says that there is no instance on the official record of any member ever being presented with the Mace, but does note that there is a video of a threat to do so, in 1994, to Rep. Maxine Waters. If you go watch the video, you can see her brief speech that caused other members to threaten her with the Mace:
"Thank you very much Madam Chairwoman. Last evening a Member of this House, Peter King, had to be gaveled out of order at the Whitewater hearings of the Banking Committee. He had to be gaveled out of order because he badgered a woman who was a witness from the White House, Maggie Williams. I am pleased I was able to come to her defense. Madam Chairwoman, the day is over when men can badger and intimidate women...
[interruptions begin from the floor]
...marginalize them, and keep them from speaking. I am pleased I was able to come to her defense. We are now in this House, we are members of this House, we will not allow men to intimidate us and to keep us from participating. Madame Chairwoman thank you again. You see a man [unintelligible]. Madame Chairlady, do you ever see men do this to other men? It is only when a women attempts to speak...it is only when a woman attempts to exercise her rights in this house that you have this kind of intimidation. This is a fine example of what they try to do to us. I am pleased that I was able to come to Maggie Williams' defense. The women of this nation will not continue to have this kind of treatment. That's a fine example. Thank you Madame Chairwoman."
That's a great speech by today's standards. She said it during the 90s, the decade of Monica Lewinsky, Marcia Clark and Tonya Harding, when we collectively decided to be pretty fucking awful to women for basically just being women. Maxine Waters was saying this stuff the whole time, even when the country seemed mostly okay with bullying women. She's only become nationally known for being a total badass in recent years, but she's been always been like that. I now see women who are like that, everywhere, every day, and we (society) are only just starting to see it. At the same time Trump is intimidating Michael Cohen into silence, Nancy Pelosi is standing front and center and telling him no, again and again, and taking all the blowback that comes from him and his rabid base without blinking, even once.
posted by triggerfinger at 9:25 PM on January 23, 2019 [141 favorites]
Denver Post: Colorado Republican Sen. Cory Gardner’s spokesman told us Wednesday he intends to vote for a clean funding bill that would open the government with no increased border-security funding attached.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:43 PM on January 23, 2019 [55 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 9:43 PM on January 23, 2019 [55 favorites]
Sen. Cory Gardner’s spokesman told us Wednesday he intends to vote for a clean funding bill that would open the government with no increased border-security funding attached.
Which is what Mitch was trying to avoid, the venal shithead that he is. Nobody gives a shit about the wall, you notice how there have been, oh, twice-weekly? polls about Trumps approval rating, how he'd fare against every elected Democrat of Presidential age...but I've not seen a poll about the wall, who wants the wall, what the wall is worth, or anything like that. If only I were a billionaire.
posted by rhizome at 9:50 PM on January 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
Which is what Mitch was trying to avoid, the venal shithead that he is. Nobody gives a shit about the wall, you notice how there have been, oh, twice-weekly? polls about Trumps approval rating, how he'd fare against every elected Democrat of Presidential age...but I've not seen a poll about the wall, who wants the wall, what the wall is worth, or anything like that. If only I were a billionaire.
posted by rhizome at 9:50 PM on January 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
The last poll I saw about the wall came out today. Way too many people still think the wall is a good idea (a couple points over 40%, same as Trump's approval before the current downturn) but only something like 17% thought it was worth shutting down the government over. So the wall itself is still only 10 or 12 points underwater but the idea of the shutdown over it is massively unpopular.
posted by Justinian at 9:53 PM on January 23, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 9:53 PM on January 23, 2019 [9 favorites]
only something like 17% thought it was worth shutting down the government over
Cool, and I think it's safe to say this is the important number. Even if they're saying "Oh, 40% of those surveyed are still racist," that's not nearly as immediately material as the 17%. I mean, the similarities with Brexit seem glaring, in terms of these being things that are being pushed through, and in not a lot of peoples' best interests..
posted by rhizome at 10:37 PM on January 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
Cool, and I think it's safe to say this is the important number. Even if they're saying "Oh, 40% of those surveyed are still racist," that's not nearly as immediately material as the 17%. I mean, the similarities with Brexit seem glaring, in terms of these being things that are being pushed through, and in not a lot of peoples' best interests..
posted by rhizome at 10:37 PM on January 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'm not unhappy with anything Pelosi has done lately, but it seems a little premature to declare her strategy a complete success. We're still mid-crisis.
What the U.S. has desperately lacked since the day that Barack Obama left office has been leadership. Nancy Pelosi is providing leadership, and the fact that she is not promoting herself to become president is a big part of what makes her a true leader. She is doing what needs to be done, for its own sake.
posted by msalt at 11:37 PM on January 23, 2019 [93 favorites]
What the U.S. has desperately lacked since the day that Barack Obama left office has been leadership. Nancy Pelosi is providing leadership, and the fact that she is not promoting herself to become president is a big part of what makes her a true leader. She is doing what needs to be done, for its own sake.
posted by msalt at 11:37 PM on January 23, 2019 [93 favorites]
Gelatin : [T]hey should give equal time to Pelosi....giving a response. From the
...Oval Office in the White House.
Yes I am implying that her presidency at this point is nearly inevitable. As noted above she is one of a very few bringing leadership to the nation. For multiple coalescing and intersecting political and cultural reasons--including triggerfinger's excellent point/observation just above--I believe this is rapidly becoming the Speaker's time.
posted by riverlife at 1:23 AM on January 24, 2019 [5 favorites]
...Oval Office in the White House.
Yes I am implying that her presidency at this point is nearly inevitable. As noted above she is one of a very few bringing leadership to the nation. For multiple coalescing and intersecting political and cultural reasons--including triggerfinger's excellent point/observation just above--I believe this is rapidly becoming the Speaker's time.
posted by riverlife at 1:23 AM on January 24, 2019 [5 favorites]
I don't want to clog up the thread with back and forth so I'll just say I couldn't disagree more. Not that Pelosi isn't awesome but at the idea that her presidency is inevitable. It won't happen. I won't say it's a 0% chance but certainly sub 1%. And I don't think people should get their hopes up (and thus dashed.)
posted by Justinian at 2:06 AM on January 24, 2019 [31 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 2:06 AM on January 24, 2019 [31 favorites]
From the Twitter thread of Ben Winkler, Washington DC director of MoveOn:
posted by TWinbrook8 at 2:45 AM on January 24, 2019 [19 favorites]
Here's the target list I've seen circulating privately: R senators who, we hear, want to reopen the govt:MoveOn has a toll-free legislative hotline: 855-456-0395. (That way, [they] can count the calls we generate.)
Alexander
Blunt
Burr
Cassidy
Collins
Enzi
Ernst
Fischer
Gardner
Graham
Isakson
Kennedy
McSally
Murkowski
Portman
Rick Scott
Roberts
Romney
Young
posted by TWinbrook8 at 2:45 AM on January 24, 2019 [19 favorites]
Trump has folded:
President Donald Trump said Wednesday night he is postponing his State of the Union address until the partial government shutdown ends, yielding after a weeklong showdown with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.posted by GrammarMoses at 2:45 AM on January 24, 2019 [8 favorites]
Following a high-stakes game of dare and double-dare, Trump conceded that "no venue ... can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber" and that he was not looking for an alternate option after Pelosi served notice earlier Wednesday that he won't be allowed to deliver the address to a joint session of Congress next week.
Trump has folded...
Yes, well...This is Trump we're talking about. All it will take is some talking head on Fox telling him he caved to a woman, and he'll be right back to stamping his feet and demanding to do the SotU in the House.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:52 AM on January 24, 2019 [23 favorites]
Yes, well...This is Trump we're talking about. All it will take is some talking head on Fox telling him he caved to a woman, and he'll be right back to stamping his feet and demanding to do the SotU in the House.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:52 AM on January 24, 2019 [23 favorites]
It's true that Trump folded. At the same time, I'm hesitant to characterize it that way because it would be literally illegal for him to give a speech in the House if they refuse to invite him to do so. If he ends the shutdown without wall money, that would be folding, because it would be him making a concession when other valid options remain.
Like... on some future date, something will cause Trump to no longer be president. Whatever it is, he likely will refuse to call that thing legitimate, even if (heaven and hell forbid) it's the end of a second term. But if he eventually decides to leave office quietly after "teasing" us with a declaration that he wouldn't, it won't be "Whoa, after all his tough talk, he buckled under hardly any pressure at all!" it will be "Oh, thank god, he chose not to flout the law for the 10,785th time."
posted by InTheYear2017 at 4:06 AM on January 24, 2019 [11 favorites]
Like... on some future date, something will cause Trump to no longer be president. Whatever it is, he likely will refuse to call that thing legitimate, even if (heaven and hell forbid) it's the end of a second term. But if he eventually decides to leave office quietly after "teasing" us with a declaration that he wouldn't, it won't be "Whoa, after all his tough talk, he buckled under hardly any pressure at all!" it will be "Oh, thank god, he chose not to flout the law for the 10,785th time."
posted by InTheYear2017 at 4:06 AM on January 24, 2019 [11 favorites]
The real reason the Senate is taking 2 doomed votes to end the shutdown (Dylan Scott, Vox)
The pageantry of failed floor votes has become one of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s calling cards in the Senate over the past few years. They’ve proven a potent tool to defuse awkward standoffs and to navigate stalemates. It used to be that a failed bill on the Senate floor signaled weak leadership, but McConnell has used them to his tactical advantage in a highly polarized Washington.posted by ZeusHumms at 4:34 AM on January 24, 2019 [12 favorites]
McConnell has used this gambit before in high-pressure situations. Some Republican lobbyists in town have called it a “show them a body” strategy: holding votes you know will fail in order to break the impasse over a given issue.
...
So what’s the point? Senators will get a public opportunity to release their frustrations by voting to open the government — and McConnell will have shown Democratic leaders and President Trump that neither course has the necessary support in the Senate right now.
Politico Playbook explained the objective of the dueling failed votes like this: “This is a pressure-valve release, of sorts.” It is not actually intended to end the shutdown.
ArbitraryAndCapricious: it's because she's third in the line of succession, and she's next if both Trump and Pence are impeached
Not just that, but: simultaneously impeached/removed. The case of Gerald Ford was practically invented to confuse civics students: He was the House minority leader, easily misremembered as Speaker (but it was a Democratic House, so he couldn't have been). Then, after Spiro Agnew resigned, he was chosen to be vice president.
If something happened to Mike Pence tomorrow, a new Republican VP would be chosen; Pelosi wouldn't "ascend" to that vacant office. If something happened to Individual-1, it's the same deal, with Pence losing the VP position (to become prez) and a new Republican VP being chosen in a separate process.
I believe Trump has some reason to worry about losing his job (though I still rate the likelihood quite small), but Pence has almost nothing to worry about (for him to get that scrutiny is an even less likely timeline).
posted by InTheYear2017 at 6:07 AM on January 24, 2019 [13 favorites]
Not just that, but: simultaneously impeached/removed. The case of Gerald Ford was practically invented to confuse civics students: He was the House minority leader, easily misremembered as Speaker (but it was a Democratic House, so he couldn't have been). Then, after Spiro Agnew resigned, he was chosen to be vice president.
If something happened to Mike Pence tomorrow, a new Republican VP would be chosen; Pelosi wouldn't "ascend" to that vacant office. If something happened to Individual-1, it's the same deal, with Pence losing the VP position (to become prez) and a new Republican VP being chosen in a separate process.
I believe Trump has some reason to worry about losing his job (though I still rate the likelihood quite small), but Pence has almost nothing to worry about (for him to get that scrutiny is an even less likely timeline).
posted by InTheYear2017 at 6:07 AM on January 24, 2019 [13 favorites]
Civil penalties for polluters dropped dramatically [85%] in Trump’s first two years, analysis shows (WaPo)
Civil penalties for polluters under the Trump administration plummeted during the past fiscal year to the lowest average level since 1994, according to a new analysis of Environmental Protection Agency data.posted by Barack Spinoza at 6:08 AM on January 24, 2019 [24 favorites]
In the two decades before President Trump took office, EPA civil fines averaged more than $500 million a year, when adjusted for inflation. Last year’s $72 million in fines was 85 percent below that amount, according to the agency’s Enforcement and Compliance History Online database.
tomorrow marks the second missed paycheck for federal workers
posted by angrycat at 6:18 AM on January 24, 2019 [20 favorites]
posted by angrycat at 6:18 AM on January 24, 2019 [20 favorites]
WaPo reports on Jared's role in the shutdown: ‘Master Negotiator’ or ‘Nonentity’? Kushner Thrusts Himself Into Middle of Shutdown Talks.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:21 AM on January 24, 2019 [24 favorites]
Kushner has emerged as an omnipresent and assertive player in the now-33-day impasse, despite deep skepticism on Capitol Hill about his political abilities and influence, according to more than a dozen Trump associates, lawmakers and others involved in the discussions.It's astonishing that Jared's track record of bad advice hasn't completely discredited him at the Trump White House, but that's the way nepotism works. And the person who described Jared as a "master negotiator" is Rep. Matt Gaetz, so chalk that up to pure sycophancy.
Repeatedly assuring Trump that he can personally strike a deal with Democrats, Kushner has overshadowed other advisers in a largely empty West Wing this month. He usually huddles to discuss strategy each morning with the president, Vice President Pence and a few others, White House aides said.[…]
Convinced that Senate Democrats will eventually crack and that there are votes for a bipartisan agreement, Kushner has urged the president to dig in while also adjusting his position as his popularity suffers in public polls, according to a person close to him and White House officials.
Kushner, who referred a request for comment to the White House, has told Trump advisers that he has solid relationships with several Democrats, such as Senate Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin (Ill.), and that he can sell a compromise to moderate Democrats and Republicans with whom he built a rapport while working on the criminal-justice bill.
But a number of key Senate Democrats, including Sen. Joe Manchin III (W.Va.), haven’t heard from Kushner in weeks, according to aides. And aides to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) say he has played no role in their discussions to reopen the government.
“He is totally a nonentity,” one senior Democratic aide said.[…]
Yet Trump, who often tires of advisers, has continued to give a great deal of control to Kushner, according to a senior White House official.[…]
Another senior White House official called Kushner’s positioning “delusional.”
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:21 AM on January 24, 2019 [24 favorites]
Only one Speaker of the House has ever gone on to become President, and that was James K. Polk.
Supposedly one of the factors in the acquittal of Andrew Johnson was that Senate President pro tem Ben Wade, who would have become President, was viewed as too radical. Likewise, it was much easier for Republican Senators to desert Nixon with Ford sitting there, vs. Carl Albert (who hated having a Secret Service detail following him around anyway).
posted by Huffy Puffy at 6:27 AM on January 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
Supposedly one of the factors in the acquittal of Andrew Johnson was that Senate President pro tem Ben Wade, who would have become President, was viewed as too radical. Likewise, it was much easier for Republican Senators to desert Nixon with Ford sitting there, vs. Carl Albert (who hated having a Secret Service detail following him around anyway).
posted by Huffy Puffy at 6:27 AM on January 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
Donald Trump and his ship of fools are courting calamity in Venezuela (Guardian)
Going off half-cock in crucial matters of foreign policy and international relations is a familiar characteristic of the Trump administration. Trump himself is demonstrably clueless about such matters. And after a wave of high-level sackings and resignations during his first two years in office, he badly lacks experienced, politically savvy and level-headed advisers. That dangerous weakness may be about to be exposed.posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 6:28 AM on January 24, 2019 [7 favorites]
And the person who described Jared as a "master negotiator" is Rep. Matt Gaetz, so chalk that up to pure sycophancy.
Let's not leap to the worst possible reason. It may simply be that Gaetz had polished off a couple of bottles of mouthwash right before talking to the reporter.
posted by Etrigan at 6:30 AM on January 24, 2019 [6 favorites]
Let's not leap to the worst possible reason. It may simply be that Gaetz had polished off a couple of bottles of mouthwash right before talking to the reporter.
posted by Etrigan at 6:30 AM on January 24, 2019 [6 favorites]
Nancy Pelosi is providing leadership, and the fact that she is not promoting herself to become president is a big part of what makes her a true leader. She is doing what needs to be done, for its own sake.
Ambitious women are consistently described as seeking power for the sake of power rather than as an act of public service. Considering the effect it had on the election in 2016, I would be very cautious about replicating that dynamic in how we talk about our female leadership seeking the presidency now, even if it's to praise Nancy Pelosi.
Nancy Pelosi is an exceptional leader who has been underestimated many times. And the fact that Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren want to be president does not undermine their status as leaders.
posted by Emmy Rae at 6:56 AM on January 24, 2019 [62 favorites]
Ambitious women are consistently described as seeking power for the sake of power rather than as an act of public service. Considering the effect it had on the election in 2016, I would be very cautious about replicating that dynamic in how we talk about our female leadership seeking the presidency now, even if it's to praise Nancy Pelosi.
Nancy Pelosi is an exceptional leader who has been underestimated many times. And the fact that Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren want to be president does not undermine their status as leaders.
posted by Emmy Rae at 6:56 AM on January 24, 2019 [62 favorites]
They are such fucking assholes:
Trump's commerce secretary: I don't quite understand' why federal workers need food banks during shutdown
Trump's commerce secretary: I don't quite understand' why federal workers need food banks during shutdown
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Thursday that he was confused why thousands of federal workers, who've already missed one paycheck, are relying on food banks during the partial government shutdown.posted by PontifexPrimus at 7:10 AM on January 24, 2019 [82 favorites]
Ross said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" that he didn't understand why some of the roughly 800,000 unpaid federal workers have flocked to food banks for meals instead of taking out loans against back pay guaranteed by a bill President Trump signed last week.
"I know they are and I don’t really quite understand why," said Ross, who's reportedly worth roughly $700 million.
There are other quotes where he says it's no big deal if 800,000 people never get paid because it's a small drop in our larger economy.
posted by archimago at 7:47 AM on January 24, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by archimago at 7:47 AM on January 24, 2019 [11 favorites]
John Kelly Is Back…And Telling Trump To Reopen The Government (Kate Riga, TPM)
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 7:49 AM on January 24, 2019 [42 favorites]
Former chief of staff John Kelly joined his fellow ex-DHS secretaries in imploring President Donald Trump to allow the government to reopen, citing the suffering of DOD employees and the risk that they’ll leave vital posts to seek work in the private sector.The story also includes a tweet from Chuck Schumer with the text of the letter and the observation that "This is President @realDonaldTrump’s former Chief of Staff. Who left just recently. Calling for the President to re-open the government. Without the wall."
Though the letter is addressed to both Trump and members of Congress, it calls for restoring funding immediately, which the Democratic bill currently in the Senate would do if Trump would allow Republicans to vote for it.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 7:49 AM on January 24, 2019 [42 favorites]
There are other quotes where he says it's no big deal if 800,000 people never get paid because it's a small drop in our larger economy.
Without even counting federal contractors, it still exceeds the steel industry that Ross embroiled the country in a trade war over.
posted by zombieflanders at 7:54 AM on January 24, 2019 [24 favorites]
Without even counting federal contractors, it still exceeds the steel industry that Ross embroiled the country in a trade war over.
posted by zombieflanders at 7:54 AM on January 24, 2019 [24 favorites]
That interview with Wilbur Ross is something else.
posted by Mayor West at 7:56 AM on January 24, 2019 [75 favorites]
"So the 30 days of pay that some people will be out, there’s no real reason why they shouldn’t be able to get a loan against it, and we’ve seen a number of ads of financial institutions doing that."That's some Lucille-Bluth-level out-of-touch-with-reality. Why don't they have tens of thousands of dollars in liquid assets just sitting around? Why can't they just borrow the money from their parents, who are bottomless fountains of wealth, like normal people? Or go the bank, where they'll definitely give you a loan on the spot with no collateral and no red tape, because they'll just secure it with the vast sums of money you have invested elsewhere.
posted by Mayor West at 7:56 AM on January 24, 2019 [75 favorites]
In Another Recession, It Could Be Tough For Washington To Boost The Economy (NPR, January 24, 2019)
GOP will hamstring Dems with bad economy (Bruce Bartlett, Opinion contributor for USA Today, Nov. 21, 2018)
posted by filthy light thief at 8:00 AM on January 24, 2019 [23 favorites]
It just might be time to start thinking about a recession.2020, you say? So can we blame Trump for this downturn?
Not a recession in the immediate future, of course. The latest jobs report was unexpectedly strong, and the economy is growing at a good clip.
But there's reason to get nervous. A majority of economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal predict a recession by the end of 2020, and a majority of Americans appear to have the same fear.
Then there's the yield curve — a measure of how much of a return U.S. debt is paying out. That curve happens to be a good predictor of recessions, and it's flashing, if not red, then yellow right now.
But even if a recession isn't coming next month, it's never too early to start thinking about how prepared the country is. And there's a good case to be made that the levers that we usually pull to stop a recession either won't work this time, or won't work as well as they have in the past.
GOP will hamstring Dems with bad economy (Bruce Bartlett, Opinion contributor for USA Today, Nov. 21, 2018)
The next recession could be a particularly bad one, too, because Republicans will be loath to take even the modest countercyclical measures that President George W. Bush supported in 2007 and 2008. Especially if it looks likely that a Democrat will win in 2020, Republicans might intentionally sabotage the economy so that they can blame the downturn on Democrats, just as they blamed the last one on President Barack Obama, even though it began in December 2007, according to the nonpartisan National Bureau of Economic Research.And Obama ended it, teeing up a better economy for Trump to ride, only to have him to sink it in 4 years, or less. A recession isn't great, but politically, the timing seems pretty good for Dems to cue up a New Green Deal, both cutting emissions and adding jobs, in a time when automation will continue to impact the workforce -- Robots Will Take Jobs From Men, the Young, and Minorities (Tom Simonite for Wired, Jan. 24, 2019)
Economists who study employment have pushed back against recent predictions by Silicon Valley soothsayers like Elon Musk of an imminent tidal wave of algorithmic unemployment. The evidence indicates US workers will instead be lapped by the gentler swells of a gradual revolution, in which jobs are transformed piecemeal as machines grow more capable. Now a new study predicts that young, Hispanic, and black workers will be most affected by that creeping disruption. Men will suffer more changes to their work than women.Time to be proactive, for the environment AND the economy! That's not going to happen with the GOP, because white plight is good for their causes, as fear and suffering rally their base, while those on top will benefit from increased automation.
The analysis, from the Brookings Institution, suggests that just as the dividends of recent economic growth have been distributed unevenly, so too will the disruptive effects of automation. In both cases, nonwhite, less economically secure workers lose out.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:00 AM on January 24, 2019 [23 favorites]
Vanity Fair has an inside report from Michael Cohen's camp about calling off his testimony: “We Don’t Accept This Behavior and There Are Consequences”: Inside Michael Cohen’s Decision to Postpone His Big Day on Capitol Hill
"Under Trump, the lies are facilitated not through any kind of bureaucratic genius, but instead through an insistence that underlings toe the public line. These lies include more innocuous ones like inauguration attendance, as well as more serious ones involving Trump’s awareness that a Russian linked to military intelligence was brokering a $300 million real estate deal at the same time that Russia’s military intelligence was offering dirt stolen from Trump opponent’s server to his son. […] The record indicates that Trump decides what lie is going to be told, and the people around him, indirectly or otherwise, do what they need to sustain it, even if it includes lying to Congress, the FBI, and Mueller’s team."
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:11 AM on January 24, 2019 [23 favorites]
According to people familiar with his thinking, Cohen was looking forward to telling the truth to Congress and a hungry audience. He had already spent hours preparing for the testimony; he continued to meet with officials in order to cooperate in investigations with the Southern District of New York, the New York Attorney General, and the special counsel. He did not, however, want to leave his family vulnerable to further attacks, according to these people. He also did not want the president to get away with what House Democrats had previously called an effort to “discourage, intimidate, or otherwise pressure a witness not to provide testimony to Congress.” {emphasis added} […]Relatedly, Marcy Wheeler writes in TNR: How Trump Suborns Perjury—Even without BuzzFeed’s explosive report about Michael Cohen, the evidence shows that the president has persuaded his associates to lie to Congress and the feds.
It is not yet clear when Cohen might reschedule his appearance. He is due to begin serving his sentence on March 6. There is a very real possibility that Cummings could subpoena Cohen to appear before his committee. People familiar with Cohen’s thinking have said he would comply with any subpoena, but he would not answer any questions unless he knew that the president would not longer be a threat to him. “If they can do this to Michael—intimidate him and obstruct justice and tamper with witnesses—they can do that to anyone and no one will be able to testify in the open, out of fear,” a person familiar with his thinking told me. Congress was going to have the chance to ask questions of Cohen on February 7, this person said, and now, until it is rescheduled and Cohen feels that strong enough action has been taken to ensure the safety of his family, that chance is off the table. “This is the time for Democrats and Republicans to make a bipartisan effort to take real action to say we don’t accept this behavior and there are consequences.”
"Under Trump, the lies are facilitated not through any kind of bureaucratic genius, but instead through an insistence that underlings toe the public line. These lies include more innocuous ones like inauguration attendance, as well as more serious ones involving Trump’s awareness that a Russian linked to military intelligence was brokering a $300 million real estate deal at the same time that Russia’s military intelligence was offering dirt stolen from Trump opponent’s server to his son. […] The record indicates that Trump decides what lie is going to be told, and the people around him, indirectly or otherwise, do what they need to sustain it, even if it includes lying to Congress, the FBI, and Mueller’s team."
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:11 AM on January 24, 2019 [23 favorites]
That interview with Wilbur Ross is something else.
"So the 30 days of pay that some people will be out, there’s no real reason why they shouldn’t be able to get a loan against it, and we’ve seen a number of ads of financial institutions doing that."
Sure would be nice if some Dems in an oversight roll wanted to look into whether the ole commerce secretary has any financial interests in any of those financial institutions running those ads . . . since hes lied twice before about divesting (including in a bank stock)
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 8:12 AM on January 24, 2019 [34 favorites]
"So the 30 days of pay that some people will be out, there’s no real reason why they shouldn’t be able to get a loan against it, and we’ve seen a number of ads of financial institutions doing that."
Sure would be nice if some Dems in an oversight roll wanted to look into whether the ole commerce secretary has any financial interests in any of those financial institutions running those ads . . . since hes lied twice before about divesting (including in a bank stock)
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 8:12 AM on January 24, 2019 [34 favorites]
Ross' theory is that every federal worker should be able to get payday loans because they'll be guaranteed by the retroactive pay they'll receive once the government reopens.
Which almost makes sense in a spherical-cow sort of way.
posted by BungaDunga at 8:14 AM on January 24, 2019 [5 favorites]
Which almost makes sense in a spherical-cow sort of way.
posted by BungaDunga at 8:14 AM on January 24, 2019 [5 favorites]
"So the 30 days of pay that some people will be out, there’s no real reason why they shouldn’t be able to get a loan against it, and we’ve seen a number of ads of financial institutions doing that."
FWIW, I did a little digging. Credit Unions with members in federal service are bending over backwards. Making short term, zero-interest loans, etc.
Wells-Fucking-Fargo however will waive late fees and negative credit reporting for up to 90 fucking days.
So, once again, support your local Credit Union and they'll support you.
posted by mikelieman at 8:16 AM on January 24, 2019 [82 favorites]
FWIW, I did a little digging. Credit Unions with members in federal service are bending over backwards. Making short term, zero-interest loans, etc.
Wells-Fucking-Fargo however will waive late fees and negative credit reporting for up to 90 fucking days.
So, once again, support your local Credit Union and they'll support you.
posted by mikelieman at 8:16 AM on January 24, 2019 [82 favorites]
I have a strong feeling that if Ross were in the position of deciding whether to grant some loans personally, he'd decline. Just as it's absurd to imagine, say, Jared and Ivanka accepting work from a tenant in lieu of rent (as other departments heads have advised).
posted by InTheYear2017 at 8:20 AM on January 24, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by InTheYear2017 at 8:20 AM on January 24, 2019 [15 favorites]
I suspect he'd be happy to lend to federal workers... if they paid a sufficiently high interest rate. It's probably not a bad business, since you know that they are all going to get paid eventually.
posted by BungaDunga at 8:25 AM on January 24, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by BungaDunga at 8:25 AM on January 24, 2019 [6 favorites]
Has anyone been calling the Trump and Kushner properties to ask what chores or barter they'll exchange for a one night stay or club membership?
posted by cmfletcher at 8:25 AM on January 24, 2019 [17 favorites]
posted by cmfletcher at 8:25 AM on January 24, 2019 [17 favorites]
My boss spent the long weekend on Block Island, which is off the coast of Rhode Island. He couldn't come home Monday because the ferries were all shut down, thanks to a winter storm.
He's a recreational salt-water sailor himself. I told him that he's lucky that the ferries stopped sailing (instead of persisting in dangerous weather), since the Coast Guard isn't getting paid and maybe if they'd foundered he would have been left to his own devices -- and his eyebrows shot up as he said, "Oh! I never thought of that!"
Yeah, there's knock-on effects all over the place, I tell you -- and I think most people still haven't felt them.
posted by wenestvedt at 8:28 AM on January 24, 2019 [33 favorites]
He's a recreational salt-water sailor himself. I told him that he's lucky that the ferries stopped sailing (instead of persisting in dangerous weather), since the Coast Guard isn't getting paid and maybe if they'd foundered he would have been left to his own devices -- and his eyebrows shot up as he said, "Oh! I never thought of that!"
Yeah, there's knock-on effects all over the place, I tell you -- and I think most people still haven't felt them.
posted by wenestvedt at 8:28 AM on January 24, 2019 [33 favorites]
Ross' theory is that every federal worker should be able to get payday loans because they'll be guaranteed by the retroactive pay they'll receive once the government reopens.
And a disproportionately big slice of that reimbursement will go directly to payday lending industry. Leaving correspondingly less disposable income for the Federal workers.
Marvel at the fact that people like Ross are willing to say such things not only in public, but also on the record. It'll make enacting a 70% marginal income tax rate (with a corresponding boost to capital gains, of course) a genuine pleasure.
posted by Gelatin at 8:31 AM on January 24, 2019 [75 favorites]
And a disproportionately big slice of that reimbursement will go directly to payday lending industry. Leaving correspondingly less disposable income for the Federal workers.
Marvel at the fact that people like Ross are willing to say such things not only in public, but also on the record. It'll make enacting a 70% marginal income tax rate (with a corresponding boost to capital gains, of course) a genuine pleasure.
posted by Gelatin at 8:31 AM on January 24, 2019 [75 favorites]
Glenn Kessler, WaPo: Ocasio-Cortez’s misfired facts on living wage and minimum wage
David Walsh, Twitter thread: "Seriously, let's unpack one of the key claims in this fact-check, because it's really bugging me..."
posted by homunculus at 9:19 AM on January 24, 2019 [43 favorites]
David Walsh, Twitter thread: "Seriously, let's unpack one of the key claims in this fact-check, because it's really bugging me..."
posted by homunculus at 9:19 AM on January 24, 2019 [43 favorites]
I can confirm that my credit union is offering loans with no interest or payments for 60 days to furloughed workers.
posted by runcibleshaw at 9:23 AM on January 24, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by runcibleshaw at 9:23 AM on January 24, 2019 [6 favorites]
Ah yes, the Post on minimum wage, I'm sure that it will be fair and balanced journalism at its finest.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 9:28 AM on January 24, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 9:28 AM on January 24, 2019 [6 favorites]
(From the Elections Matter dept) USAToday: Senate panel subpoenas Michael Cohen, President Trump's former personal lawyer
posted by Fiberoptic Zebroid and The Hypnagogic Jerks at 9:33 AM on January 24, 2019 [37 favorites]
posted by Fiberoptic Zebroid and The Hypnagogic Jerks at 9:33 AM on January 24, 2019 [37 favorites]
Shouldn't the WaPo article fact checking AOC make note somewhere of their potential conflict of interest in regards to Amazon? Or is that sort of thing out if fashion?
posted by thedward at 9:36 AM on January 24, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by thedward at 9:36 AM on January 24, 2019 [9 favorites]
It did: "Disclosure: Jeffrey P. Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, owns The Washington Post."
posted by Turd Ferguson at 9:39 AM on January 24, 2019 [14 favorites]
posted by Turd Ferguson at 9:39 AM on January 24, 2019 [14 favorites]
The political scientist Donald Trump should read (Ezra Klein, Vox)
"What Trump would do if he really wanted his wall."posted by ZeusHumms at 9:49 AM on January 24, 2019 [27 favorites]
…
[Frances Lee’s] research reverses the conventional wisdom on two forces that we’ve long believed make American politics run more smoothly: political competition and presidential leadership. The conventional wisdom holds that close competition ensures voters have real choices and politicians face real accountability and strong presidential leadership injects a necessary energy into the system. Lee challenges both views, presenting new evidence suggesting that both forces intensify, and perhaps even drive, the kind of all-out partisan combat that is paralyzing the system.
The current government shutdown is Lee’s thesis in action.
…
The implication is that if Trump truly wanted his wall — which was always going to be difficult with a Democratic House that opposes it on both ideological and electoral grounds — he should’ve gone about it quietly, trying to work out a deal behind closed doors that both sides could present as a win.
That’s the crucial thing: Presidents who want to get big legislation done amid divided government have to do everything in their power to avoid making that outcome a win for them, and a loss for the other side. It’s an emotionally unsatisfying form of leadership, but if you care more about the policy than the winning, it’s your best bet.
But Trump cares about the winning. So he’s escalated and escalated, focusing the entire country’s attention on the issue, staking his reputation on winning the shutdown fight and the funding for the project. There’s literally no strategy he could’ve chosen that would’ve made Democratic support for the wall less likely.
On the other hand, Trump's wall and shutdown strategies are excellent for energizing and rallying his base.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:52 AM on January 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:52 AM on January 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
Mod note: Folks, the "Pelosi as president" theorizing is a profound derail. Let's leave that rabbit hole to the rabbits. Thanks.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 9:57 AM on January 24, 2019 [26 favorites]
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 9:57 AM on January 24, 2019 [26 favorites]
Islamberg leaders: Foiled plot 'hurts our hearts'
Members of the Islamberg community and representatives from Muslims of America, Inc. held a press conference Wednesday following Tuesday’s announcements of a foiled plot to attack the Muslim enclave in Delaware County [N.Y.].posted by jgirl at 10:02 AM on January 24, 2019 [9 favorites]
During an hour press conference, Islamberg leaders railed against Islamophobia, emphasizing their roles within the community, thanking law enforcement for their swift action and making a plea for religious tolerance and understanding.
Here's a transcript of Ross's remarks: he straight up says "now, true, the people might have to pay a little bit of interest." Which also demonstrates how out of touch he is and makes me wonder if he's ever stopped to briefly contemplate a payday loan and how much it costs. He also calls it a "liquidity crisis," which is totally how normal people talk about their personal finances. And he's entirely forgotten about another set of workers:
@MEPFuller: As Wilbur Ross touts legislation granting federal workers backpay *after* the shutdown ends, it’s a good time to remember that most federal contractors — cafeteria workers, carpenters, security officers, etc. — don’t get backpay. Ever. And they’re often the most vulnerable.
Nobody's making loans to the contractors, because they're not getting backpay.
posted by zachlipton at 10:05 AM on January 24, 2019 [79 favorites]
@MEPFuller: As Wilbur Ross touts legislation granting federal workers backpay *after* the shutdown ends, it’s a good time to remember that most federal contractors — cafeteria workers, carpenters, security officers, etc. — don’t get backpay. Ever. And they’re often the most vulnerable.
Nobody's making loans to the contractors, because they're not getting backpay.
posted by zachlipton at 10:05 AM on January 24, 2019 [79 favorites]
I dreaded going on vacation or becoming sick for a day or two. Then my conservative supervisor, who would personally turn down assistance to any case I would bring to her, took over for me and spent my month's budget in two days. When that supervisor personally met the person requesting assistance, she couldn't say no. In one instance she funded a man who wanted to travel from Washington to El Paso to meet his girlfriend.
It sounds like both you and your so-called superior should be in each other's jobs.
Conservatives (for the most part) think poor people in need are lay-abouts, but only if they don't meet them.
They can't stand the thought of anyone getting something they deserve, as defined by their own personal values. But objective criteria (administered by the "faceless, unaccountable bureaucrats" are exactly what enables the needy to get assistance without someone's subjective morality standing in judgement, which is why conservatives hate it.
posted by Gelatin at 10:16 AM on January 24, 2019 [17 favorites]
It sounds like both you and your so-called superior should be in each other's jobs.
Conservatives (for the most part) think poor people in need are lay-abouts, but only if they don't meet them.
They can't stand the thought of anyone getting something they deserve, as defined by their own personal values. But objective criteria (administered by the "faceless, unaccountable bureaucrats" are exactly what enables the needy to get assistance without someone's subjective morality standing in judgement, which is why conservatives hate it.
posted by Gelatin at 10:16 AM on January 24, 2019 [17 favorites]
That’s the crucial thing: Presidents who want to get big legislation done amid divided government have to do everything in their power to avoid making that outcome a win for them, and a loss for the other side. It’s an emotionally unsatisfying form of leadership, but if you care more about the policy than the winning, it’s your best bet.This seems like it will be relevant for the foreseeable future. Off to read to find out how it works out when one side is run by pirates allied with an apocalyptic death cult.
posted by schadenfrau at 10:22 AM on January 24, 2019 [18 favorites]
Local shutdown efects report: yesterday my local food bank was almost wiped out by hungry Coast Guard people. I am told they came through as a unit or troop, commanding officers and all.
The food bank is gearing up for a lot more people when people run out of SNAP benefits. It was already extra busy yesterday and next week may be the busiest I've personally yet seen.
This is not ok.
posted by loquacious at 10:26 AM on January 24, 2019 [76 favorites]
The food bank is gearing up for a lot more people when people run out of SNAP benefits. It was already extra busy yesterday and next week may be the busiest I've personally yet seen.
This is not ok.
posted by loquacious at 10:26 AM on January 24, 2019 [76 favorites]
Nancy Pelosi responds to Wilbur Ross: "Is this the 'let them eat cake' kind of attitude, or 'call your father for money?'"
posted by Dashy at 10:45 AM on January 24, 2019 [99 favorites]
posted by Dashy at 10:45 AM on January 24, 2019 [99 favorites]
Schumer, e'er the diplomat, tries to translate in to rich-people-speak: "Secretary Ross, they just can't call their stock broker and ask them to sell some of their shares"
posted by Dashy at 10:47 AM on January 24, 2019 [18 favorites]
posted by Dashy at 10:47 AM on January 24, 2019 [18 favorites]
How to move the Overton Window: Elizabeth Warren to propose new ‘wealth tax’ on very rich Americans, economist says
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) will propose a new “wealth tax” on Americans with more than $50 million in assets, according to an economist advising her on the plan, as Democratic leaders vie for increasingly aggressive solutions to the nation’s soaring wealth inequality.posted by zombieflanders at 10:49 AM on January 24, 2019 [73 favorites]
Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, two left-leaning economists at the University of California, Berkeley, have been advising Warren on a proposal to levy a 2 percent wealth tax on Americans with assets above $50 million, as well as a 3 percent wealth tax on those who have more than $1 billion, according to Saez.
The wealth tax would raise $2.75 trillion over a ten-year period from about 75,000 families, or less than 0.1 percent of U.S. households, Saez said.
Pelosi has her eyes on the prize, responding to @realDonaldTrump's SOTU concession: Mr. President, I hope by saying “near future” you mean you will support the House-passed package to #EndTheShutdown that the Senate will vote on tomorrow. Please accept this proposal so we can re-open government, repay our federal workers and then negotiate our differences.
This morning Pelosi held a news conference (w/video): "As the #TrumpShutdown hits Day 34, the consequences of this senseless shutdown continue to build. President Trump & Senate Republicans must allow us to do the responsible thing and re-open government." At one point, she mentions Ross: "Wilbur Ross saying he doesn't understand why, when he was asked about people going into food lines and pantries and the rest, he says he doesn't understand why they have to do that."
@realDonaldTrump deliberately misunderstands and responds, "Nancy just said she “just doesn’t understand why?” Very simply, without a Wall it all doesn’t work." and declares, "We will not Cave!" (Trump also is workshopping a new all-caps rallying cry: "BUILD THE WALL AND CRIME WILL FALL!") So he's back to lies and trolling as the shutdown continues.
I know it's a fool's errand trying to track down the sources of Trump's bullshit, but sometimes it's the only way to reassert reality.
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:49 AM on January 24, 2019 [29 favorites]
This morning Pelosi held a news conference (w/video): "As the #TrumpShutdown hits Day 34, the consequences of this senseless shutdown continue to build. President Trump & Senate Republicans must allow us to do the responsible thing and re-open government." At one point, she mentions Ross: "Wilbur Ross saying he doesn't understand why, when he was asked about people going into food lines and pantries and the rest, he says he doesn't understand why they have to do that."
@realDonaldTrump deliberately misunderstands and responds, "Nancy just said she “just doesn’t understand why?” Very simply, without a Wall it all doesn’t work." and declares, "We will not Cave!" (Trump also is workshopping a new all-caps rallying cry: "BUILD THE WALL AND CRIME WILL FALL!") So he's back to lies and trolling as the shutdown continues.
I know it's a fool's errand trying to track down the sources of Trump's bullshit, but sometimes it's the only way to reassert reality.
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:49 AM on January 24, 2019 [29 favorites]
My initial reaction to the Dems proposal of offering 5.7B for border security that can't be used for the wall was that it was caving. But my reaction on reflection is that it is a pretty savvy move - most Americans can be on board with border security particularly if it involves an increase in immigration judges and better facilities for those waiting asylum decisions, as well as how to figure out what to do with people who have overstayed their visas. And the icing on the cake is that Individual-1's main racist talking point (build the wall!) is totally neutralized. So once again, I say go Pelosi!
posted by bluesky43 at 10:49 AM on January 24, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by bluesky43 at 10:49 AM on January 24, 2019 [10 favorites]
Lanny Davis Calls For ‘Criminal Investigation’ Of Giuliani For ‘Witness Tampering’ (Nicole Lafond, TPM)
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 10:56 AM on January 24, 2019 [57 favorites]
Lanny Davis, legal adviser and spokesman for Michael Cohen, called for an investigation into President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani over what he’s calling “witness tampering.”I think Davis is on the right tack here---Individual 1 and his pet "lawyer" Giuliani are on national/global media networks actively committing crimes, in front of everybody, to obstruct the administration of justice through witness intimidation.
“Let me be very clear, the House of Representatives now has an obligation,” Davis told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Thursday. “A resolution of censure when the President of the United States indisputably intimidates and obstructs justice to prevent a witness from testifying is an order. So is a federal criminal investigation of Rudy Giuliani for witness tampering. Calling out a man’s father-in-law and wife in order to intimidate the witness is not fair game.”
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 10:56 AM on January 24, 2019 [57 favorites]
How to move the Overton Window: Elizabeth Warren to propose new ‘wealth tax’ on very rich Americans, economist says
I love the plan, but it needs better branding. Call it a "hoarding tax." We don't want to hurt all people with wealth, just the ones who sit on it like fucking Smaug and contribute nothing to society.
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:56 AM on January 24, 2019 [69 favorites]
I love the plan, but it needs better branding. Call it a "hoarding tax." We don't want to hurt all people with wealth, just the ones who sit on it like fucking Smaug and contribute nothing to society.
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:56 AM on January 24, 2019 [69 favorites]
We don't want to hurt all people with wealth
"It should be illegal to be a billionaire" isn't yet a majority opinion in the Democratic Party but it needs to be.
posted by Rust Moranis at 11:00 AM on January 24, 2019 [51 favorites]
"It should be illegal to be a billionaire" isn't yet a majority opinion in the Democratic Party but it needs to be.
posted by Rust Moranis at 11:00 AM on January 24, 2019 [51 favorites]
FoB Wealth is, by its definition, hoarded capital. I dont think 'wealth tax' is a bad name but i do think it could be zipped up with an all caps EXTREME beforehand. You wanna get rich? you still can. You need more than 50M dollars? no fucking way.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:00 AM on January 24, 2019 [17 favorites]
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:00 AM on January 24, 2019 [17 favorites]
Reminder while were all living in overton-window-shifting-dreamland: we still live in a country where you can write off the interest on the loan for your VACATION HOME. . .
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:01 AM on January 24, 2019 [23 favorites]
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:01 AM on January 24, 2019 [23 favorites]
I love the plan, but it needs better branding. Call it a "hoarding tax."
Or a Miser Tax. Or a Scrooge Tax.
As a society, we have a ton of negative ideas about people who hold on to individual wealth to the detriment of the larger community. May as well tap into that cultural reserve.
posted by Uncle Ira at 11:08 AM on January 24, 2019 [59 favorites]
Or a Miser Tax. Or a Scrooge Tax.
As a society, we have a ton of negative ideas about people who hold on to individual wealth to the detriment of the larger community. May as well tap into that cultural reserve.
posted by Uncle Ira at 11:08 AM on January 24, 2019 [59 favorites]
Victorian thinker John Ruskin has come back into vogue lately. Here are some of his thoughts on wealth and the wealthy (and "illth"), which the discussion of a wealth tax reminded me of. (From Unto This Last (1862))
posted by notyou at 11:17 AM on January 24, 2019 [22 favorites]
Wealth, therefore, is ‘The possession of the valuable by the valiant’; and in considering it as a power existing in a nation, the two elements, the value of the thing, and the valour of its possessor, must be estimated together. Whence it appears that many of the persons commonly considered wealthy, are in reality no more wealthy than the locks of their own strong boxes are, they being inherently and eternally incapable of wealth; and operating for the nation, in an economical point of view, either as pools of dead water, and eddies in a stream (which, so long as the stream flows, are useless, or serve only to drown people, but may become of importance in a state of stagnation should the stream dry); or else, as dams in a river, of which the ultimate service depends not on the dam, but the miller; or else, as mere accidental stays and impediments, acting not as wealth, but (for we ought to have a correspondent term) as ‘illth,’ causing various devastation and trouble around them in all directions; or lastly, act not at all, but are merely animated conditions of delay, (no use being possible of anything they have until they are dead,) in which last condition they are nevertheless often useful as delays, and ‘impedimenta,’ …It does feel like there's been a lot of illth running amok lately, "causing various devastation and trouble," and it may be a good idea to reduce it.
posted by notyou at 11:17 AM on January 24, 2019 [22 favorites]
We don't want to hurt all people with wealth
"It should be illegal to be a billionaire" isn't yet a majority opinion in the Democratic Party but it needs to be.
I also believe corporate bankruptcy should destroy the wealth of the board members. Like conservatives always say "It's a moral hazard unless they have skin in the game".
You want the power? Then say hello to responsibility...and consequences.
Liability should be a lot less limited.
posted by srboisvert at 11:27 AM on January 24, 2019 [56 favorites]
"It should be illegal to be a billionaire" isn't yet a majority opinion in the Democratic Party but it needs to be.
I also believe corporate bankruptcy should destroy the wealth of the board members. Like conservatives always say "It's a moral hazard unless they have skin in the game".
You want the power? Then say hello to responsibility...and consequences.
Liability should be a lot less limited.
posted by srboisvert at 11:27 AM on January 24, 2019 [56 favorites]
After telling the press that federal workers are "volunteering" by continuing to come to work without pay, a reporter calls out Larry Kudlow's incorrect assessment and he fumbles further, saying they are working without pay out of respect for the presidency and Trump.
posted by bluesky43 at 11:28 AM on January 24, 2019 [28 favorites]
posted by bluesky43 at 11:28 AM on January 24, 2019 [28 favorites]
Manchin is a yes on the first vote in the senate (along with 7 republicans) to advance trumps wall plan.
Only 40 senators have voted thus far.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:52 AM on January 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
Only 40 senators have voted thus far.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:52 AM on January 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
NBC's David Gura checks in on Mike Pompeo after his diplomatic tour: “Asked by if U.S. soldiers would defend a NATO ally "if needed," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says, "I'm not going to get into hypotheticals..."”
Any response other than "yes" is unacceptable, but Pompeo's repeating the Trumpist party line about transactional alliances. This will not go over well with NATO allies in advance of the Brussels summit.
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:52 AM on January 24, 2019 [52 favorites]
Martha MacCallum, Fox News: But there are some people who ask the question about Article 5. If Montenegro is attacked, should young men and women from the United States fight to defend Montenegro? What’s the answer to that?WaPo's Dan Lamothe : “U.S. officials typically answer yes unambiguously and refer to such a situation as an "Article 5 obligation" -- i.e., something world leaders promised to each other in a treaty.”
Pompeo: The answer is coalitions can work when every member of the coalition is doing their fair share. That’s how these relationships have worked for an awfully long time. And unfortunately, some countries took a vacation for 20 years and thought that the threats from Russia or from Asia or from all the places in the Middle East and terrorism – they weren’t doing what they needed to do to protect their countries. Our urging is this: every country needs to make sure it’s contributing enough to make sure that their country is secure, and when they do, America will be with them to support their efforts.
MacCallum: So yes, American soldiers would go to defend Montenegro, if needed?
Pompeo: I’m not going to get into hypotheticals about what might happen or how a certain scenario might unfold, but make no mistake about it: America has always been there when there were important American and global interests at stake.
Any response other than "yes" is unacceptable, but Pompeo's repeating the Trumpist party line about transactional alliances. This will not go over well with NATO allies in advance of the Brussels summit.
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:52 AM on January 24, 2019 [52 favorites]
From jgirl’s link above:
posted by gucci mane at 11:55 AM on January 24, 2019 [4 favorites]
Hussein Adams, Chief Executive of Muslims of America Inc, cited the “misuse of social media and internet to spread lies” as a prime impetus for the anti-Muslim rhetoric that has led to multiple threats on Islamberg in particular, and called on one another to “continue an open dialogue to avoid misinterpretations of what it is to be Muslim.”You know, this totally reminded me of Fox News’ claims that vast swaths of America were under Sharia law and were “no go zones”, where Muslims had taken over and usurped local law. It’s no wonder these guys, who probably grew up hearing about this stuff when they were younger, would conspire to commit a terrorist attack against a Muslim community.
posted by gucci mane at 11:55 AM on January 24, 2019 [4 favorites]
Just to firmly explain how far into fantasy land a wealth tax is, if implemented naively it would require a constitutional amendment and a much bigger IRS and a huge book of new regulations on how non-liquid things are valued.
I think adding more individual tax brackets, rolling back the corporate tax cuts, and taxing all capital gains and dividends as ordinary income would have more bang for the buck.
posted by zrail at 11:59 AM on January 24, 2019 [7 favorites]
I think adding more individual tax brackets, rolling back the corporate tax cuts, and taxing all capital gains and dividends as ordinary income would have more bang for the buck.
posted by zrail at 11:59 AM on January 24, 2019 [7 favorites]
Jamelle Bouie, The New York Times -- Yeah, You Read That Right -- The New York Fucking Times -- How You Feeling Now, Bret Stephens?: Trump’s Wall of Shame
posted by tonycpsu at 12:00 PM on January 24, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by tonycpsu at 12:00 PM on January 24, 2019 [7 favorites]
filthy light thief, Wed., Jan. 23, 2019: Then [Trump] said "we lowered prescription drug prices, the first time in 50 years, the Democrats would never do that." It looks like he's overstating what's going on -- Grassley to hold drug pricing hearing [on Jan. 29, 2019]
Trump Seeks Action To Stop Surprise Medical Bills (NPR, January 24, 2019)
It'll be interesting to see what comes of this current direction. Hopefully we'll get more than declaring the opioid epidemic a crisis, but not providing any funding (NYT, Oct. 26, 2017), or even declaring it a national emergency, which would have given state and local agencies more freedom to try new approaches and access to funds.
Instead, Trump is using the opioid crisis to justify the need for the wall -- "The epidemic is an integral part of the president’s anti-immigration rhetoric, but it otherwise hasn’t become an urgent part of his policy agenda." (Vann R. Newkirk II for The Atlantic, Jan. 9, 2019)
posted by filthy light thief at 12:16 PM on January 24, 2019 [12 favorites]
Trump Seeks Action To Stop Surprise Medical Bills (NPR, January 24, 2019)
President Trump instructed administration officials Wednesday to investigate how to prevent surprise medical bills, broadening his focus on drug prices to include other issues of price transparency in health care.So perhaps Trump thought that his Wednesday proclamation = automagically lower prescription drug prices? Yeah, sounds plausible.
Flanked by patients and other guests invited to the White House to share their stories of unexpected and outrageous bills, Trump directed his health secretary, Alex Azar, and labor secretary, Alex Acosta, to work on a solution, several attendees said.
It'll be interesting to see what comes of this current direction. Hopefully we'll get more than declaring the opioid epidemic a crisis, but not providing any funding (NYT, Oct. 26, 2017), or even declaring it a national emergency, which would have given state and local agencies more freedom to try new approaches and access to funds.
Instead, Trump is using the opioid crisis to justify the need for the wall -- "The epidemic is an integral part of the president’s anti-immigration rhetoric, but it otherwise hasn’t become an urgent part of his policy agenda." (Vann R. Newkirk II for The Atlantic, Jan. 9, 2019)
Donald Trump hasn’t talked about the opioid epidemic much recently. So when he used the peerless pulpit of the Oval Office to discuss it on Tuesday night, it could have been an opportunity to rally the public and to provide meaningful solutions.Emphasis mine -- sorry, suffering Americans, your misery is just a tool to promote his racist policies and narcissistic monument to himself.
His words framed the urgency of the situation, which for many Americans may have been out of sight in the past few months. “Our southern border is a pipeline for vast quantities of illegal drugs, including meth, heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl,” he said. “Every week, 300 of our citizens are killed by heroin alone, 90 percent of which floods across from our southern border. More Americans will die from drugs this year than were killed in the entire Vietnam War.”
The president isn’t wrong about the yearly death toll. Opioids like heroin and fentanyl killed more than 70,000 people in 2017, higher than the more than 50,000 Americans who died in Vietnam. If the 2018 and 2019 numbers are similar, the total number of Americans killed by opioids since 2014 will rival the number killed in World War II. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently confirmed that opioid deaths have become such a burden, they’ve reduced the overall American life expectancy.
But Trump presented the same fix for the crisis as for every other problem in his speech: the border wall that he’d gone on TV to pitch. The epidemic, in that way, was only a convenient means to an end, fuel for an argument the president has been making for years. The wall is the only proposal that Trump has genuinely fought to enact as president, but it’s the one that will almost surely do the least to halt the epidemic.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:16 PM on January 24, 2019 [12 favorites]
The Senate is currently voting on the White House and the House bills to reopen the government. It's not going great.
First, please enjoy Sen. Bennet (D-CO) going full "can you believe this asshole?" mode on Ted Cruz who now thinks shutdowns are bad: "These crocodile tears that the Senator from Texas is crying for first responders are too hard for me to take."
Second, the White House's bill, which they packed full of Stephen Miller's wishlist to restrict asylum, has now been voted down by Republican Senators Lee and Cotton (Democratic Senator Manchin voted for it), presumably because they think it doesn't hurt immigrants enough. So Republicans couldn't even show unanimity in their failure here.
The White House's plan went down 51-47; it needed 60. Onto the House bill, without the wall funding.
posted by zachlipton at 12:18 PM on January 24, 2019 [44 favorites]
First, please enjoy Sen. Bennet (D-CO) going full "can you believe this asshole?" mode on Ted Cruz who now thinks shutdowns are bad: "These crocodile tears that the Senator from Texas is crying for first responders are too hard for me to take."
Second, the White House's bill, which they packed full of Stephen Miller's wishlist to restrict asylum, has now been voted down by Republican Senators Lee and Cotton (Democratic Senator Manchin voted for it), presumably because they think it doesn't hurt immigrants enough. So Republicans couldn't even show unanimity in their failure here.
The White House's plan went down 51-47; it needed 60. Onto the House bill, without the wall funding.
posted by zachlipton at 12:18 PM on January 24, 2019 [44 favorites]
Why wouldn't existing capital gains taxation rules cover all the ways to value things?
Capital gains taxes don’t care about valuation, per se. They tax the difference between the price you buy at and the price you sell at. If you’re going to implement a wealth tax you have to be able to accurately ascertain the value of non-monetary components of wealth (art, private businesses, horses, real estate that isn’t actively on the market, intellectual property, etc.) and you have to do it at least once a year. On top of that you have to figure out a way to do this across international borders if you actually plan on the tax actually being effective.
That’s a hard thing.
posted by zrail at 12:19 PM on January 24, 2019 [10 favorites]
Capital gains taxes don’t care about valuation, per se. They tax the difference between the price you buy at and the price you sell at. If you’re going to implement a wealth tax you have to be able to accurately ascertain the value of non-monetary components of wealth (art, private businesses, horses, real estate that isn’t actively on the market, intellectual property, etc.) and you have to do it at least once a year. On top of that you have to figure out a way to do this across international borders if you actually plan on the tax actually being effective.
That’s a hard thing.
posted by zrail at 12:19 PM on January 24, 2019 [10 favorites]
Tallahassee Democrat, Florida Secretary of State Michael Ertel resigns after Halloween blackface photos emerge [cw: blackface photo]. It gets worse though. Yes, you might be wondering how blackface photos could get worse, since that really seems sufficiently horrible on its own: the photo is from 2005, and he was "posing as a Hurricane Katrina victim in blackface" at a Halloween party.
posted by zachlipton at 12:21 PM on January 24, 2019 [39 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 12:21 PM on January 24, 2019 [39 favorites]
A woman Hurricane Katrina victim in blackface, to be precise.
posted by Sophie1 at 12:22 PM on January 24, 2019 [18 favorites]
posted by Sophie1 at 12:22 PM on January 24, 2019 [18 favorites]
That’s a hard thing.
It definitely is! But we do already do all the stuff you list... when you die and your estate has to be valued for the estate tax. Granted that's once a lifetime rather than once a year which is a massive difference.
There's definitely a reason these sorts of wealth clawbacks tend to be one-offs rather than annual.
posted by Justinian at 12:22 PM on January 24, 2019 [5 favorites]
It definitely is! But we do already do all the stuff you list... when you die and your estate has to be valued for the estate tax. Granted that's once a lifetime rather than once a year which is a massive difference.
There's definitely a reason these sorts of wealth clawbacks tend to be one-offs rather than annual.
posted by Justinian at 12:22 PM on January 24, 2019 [5 favorites]
Capital gains tax is triggered upon sale, for the most part, therefore there is a clear valuation.
While I think it's good for our more radical Congresspeople to agitate for a wealth tax, I think there is more danger than many here realize in taking it up as part of the party platform. Wealth, especially in America is aspirational. The old saw about the American poor thinking of themselves as temporarily embarrassed millionaires is more accurate than I'd like it to be.
Even high top marginal income tax rates are perceived quite differently than literally confiscating people's stuff because I personally think they have too much, which is exactly how a wealth tax would be perceived. Not to mention that it's pretty easily gamable anyway with trusts and even perfectly legitimate businesses. Better to have a wide definition of income to capture it when it is made (and the liquidity available to pay the tax is more certain) and an estate tax to keep generational wealth from continuing to become a thing again.
Also, I don't particularly care for having the government snooping into precisely what assets a person happens to own at any given time when there is no suspicion of illegal activities. While the wingers fetishize the Constitution to a ridiculous degree, they aren't entirely wrong in the idea that there are limits to how intrusive government should be regarding an individual's life. If there are less intrusive means to accomplish the goal, better to use those, if for no other reason than practicality.
posted by wierdo at 12:23 PM on January 24, 2019 [5 favorites]
While I think it's good for our more radical Congresspeople to agitate for a wealth tax, I think there is more danger than many here realize in taking it up as part of the party platform. Wealth, especially in America is aspirational. The old saw about the American poor thinking of themselves as temporarily embarrassed millionaires is more accurate than I'd like it to be.
Even high top marginal income tax rates are perceived quite differently than literally confiscating people's stuff because I personally think they have too much, which is exactly how a wealth tax would be perceived. Not to mention that it's pretty easily gamable anyway with trusts and even perfectly legitimate businesses. Better to have a wide definition of income to capture it when it is made (and the liquidity available to pay the tax is more certain) and an estate tax to keep generational wealth from continuing to become a thing again.
Also, I don't particularly care for having the government snooping into precisely what assets a person happens to own at any given time when there is no suspicion of illegal activities. While the wingers fetishize the Constitution to a ridiculous degree, they aren't entirely wrong in the idea that there are limits to how intrusive government should be regarding an individual's life. If there are less intrusive means to accomplish the goal, better to use those, if for no other reason than practicality.
posted by wierdo at 12:23 PM on January 24, 2019 [5 favorites]
Mod note: Guys, the double-digit deleted confusion over who voted what is why liveblogging doesn't work in these threads.. Please take your time and contextualize your comments.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 12:29 PM on January 24, 2019 [28 favorites]
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 12:29 PM on January 24, 2019 [28 favorites]
Speaking of trusts... perhaps it's time to return to the idea that perpetual trusts are bad?
posted by another_20_year_lurker at 12:32 PM on January 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by another_20_year_lurker at 12:32 PM on January 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
To be precise, that wasn't a vote on a bill but a vote on cloture, right? I'm not aware of any process whereby a bill actually needs 60 votes to pass, even though every news source I can find is describing it in those terms.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 12:33 PM on January 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by InTheYear2017 at 12:33 PM on January 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
It was the vote on cloture, but in the modern Senate a vote for cloture is, 99.99% of the time, effectively a vote on passage. Especially when the 60-vote threshold applies (you might find one person who'd vote for cloture but not the bill itself, McCain-on-healthcare-like, but not 10).
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:35 PM on January 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:35 PM on January 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
One widely used tax dodge for wealth is: take out a loan against your huge pile to finance your current life. Not only do you avoid paying tax from actually redeeming the gains -- bonus, the interest on that loan is tax-deductible (when you're wealthy it's a "business" loan)!
Loan gets paid off when you die, at which point the value of the pile is stepped up. But that's another ball of wax ...
You had to value that huge pile to get a loan against it. That's one valuation.
posted by Dashy at 12:38 PM on January 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
Loan gets paid off when you die, at which point the value of the pile is stepped up. But that's another ball of wax ...
You had to value that huge pile to get a loan against it. That's one valuation.
posted by Dashy at 12:38 PM on January 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
And now for the Senate vote on the House's wall-free bill to reopen the government.
Several Republicans have crossed over to join Democrats in voting for the bill: Lamar, Collins, Gardner, Isakson, Murkowski, Romney.
The Democratic bill to reopen the government goes down 52-44 (it also needed 60, yes this was a cloture vote, not voting: Burr, Paul, Risch, Rosen).
The White House's plan went down 51-47; it needed 60.
Update: that should be 50-47. Sen. Braun (R-IN), presiding over the Senate, said the wrong number for some reason or another. So the White House's big plan got 50 votes.
posted by zachlipton at 12:38 PM on January 24, 2019 [10 favorites]
Several Republicans have crossed over to join Democrats in voting for the bill: Lamar, Collins, Gardner, Isakson, Murkowski, Romney.
The Democratic bill to reopen the government goes down 52-44 (it also needed 60, yes this was a cloture vote, not voting: Burr, Paul, Risch, Rosen).
The White House's plan went down 51-47; it needed 60.
Update: that should be 50-47. Sen. Braun (R-IN), presiding over the Senate, said the wrong number for some reason or another. So the White House's big plan got 50 votes.
posted by zachlipton at 12:38 PM on January 24, 2019 [10 favorites]
Right, still closed, but like valuing wealth, which is easier when something is sold, the votes today tell us where the Senate is. Which is leaning toward the Democratic plan and away from Trump's.
Pelosi's strong offer tomorrow may knock everything loose.
posted by notyou at 12:54 PM on January 24, 2019 [15 favorites]
Pelosi's strong offer tomorrow may knock everything loose.
posted by notyou at 12:54 PM on January 24, 2019 [15 favorites]
not voting: Burr, Paul, Risch, Rosen
For the record: Burr (NC), Paul (KY) and Risch (ID) are Republicans and Rosen (NV) is a Democrat. None of them are particularly moderate. So with full participation, the vote would almost certainly be 53-47 on both bills.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:58 PM on January 24, 2019 [4 favorites]
For the record: Burr (NC), Paul (KY) and Risch (ID) are Republicans and Rosen (NV) is a Democrat. None of them are particularly moderate. So with full participation, the vote would almost certainly be 53-47 on both bills.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:58 PM on January 24, 2019 [4 favorites]
I'm sure this has been discussed before, but is the rule actually that literally 60 votes are always needed for cloture? Or would 51 have been enough without the permanent threat of filibuster, like the good old days? If the latter, I would love to know which Republicans would actually go on the record as willing to filibuster the clean reopening of government, the same bill they unanimously voted for previously. It's one thing when McConnell just refused to allow a vote at all, but now that they're voting on it, responsibility is shared.
posted by Roommate at 12:59 PM on January 24, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by Roommate at 12:59 PM on January 24, 2019 [7 favorites]
I'm sure this has been discussed before, but is the rule actually that literally 60 votes are always needed for cloture?
Yes, after reforms in the late 60's, the number for cloture was set at 3/5ths of all senators seated, instead of senators present.
Also, all a filibuster means is the prevention of cloture. This can be done by making sure there's 41 votes against it, or by controlling the floor if you know there's 60 votes for cloture.
posted by NoxAeternum at 1:22 PM on January 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yes, after reforms in the late 60's, the number for cloture was set at 3/5ths of all senators seated, instead of senators present.
Also, all a filibuster means is the prevention of cloture. This can be done by making sure there's 41 votes against it, or by controlling the floor if you know there's 60 votes for cloture.
posted by NoxAeternum at 1:22 PM on January 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
is the rule actually that literally 60 votes are always needed for cloture
Apparently so.
posted by BungaDunga at 1:22 PM on January 24, 2019
Apparently so.
posted by BungaDunga at 1:22 PM on January 24, 2019
That's the rule. The rule can be changed by a simple majority vote. So far nobody on either side (in the Senate) thinks that's a good idea.
posted by Justinian at 1:24 PM on January 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 1:24 PM on January 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
Seriously, I highly recommend watching Sen. Bennet (D-CO)'s epic anti-Cruz rant. posted above by zachlipton. Also what he has to say about The Wall. Highly cathartic, especially for my fellow Texans. (Non-twitter link.)
posted by threeturtles at 1:26 PM on January 24, 2019 [40 favorites]
posted by threeturtles at 1:26 PM on January 24, 2019 [40 favorites]
There may be a fold in progress:
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:31 PM on January 24, 2019 [46 favorites]
Schumer, on the Senate floor: "Leader McConnell has requested I go to his office."More Republicans crossed over than Democrats. That counts as a win for Schumer.
GRAHAM: "Just got off the phone with the president and told him we're talking about a three week continuing resolution."
He said the president indicated what he would want in a 3 week CR and that those proposals are being discussed by Leaders McConnell & Schumer right now.
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:31 PM on January 24, 2019 [46 favorites]
When do employees get their back pay? If a CR is passed? Or only if a new budget is passed?
posted by thefoxgod at 1:33 PM on January 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by thefoxgod at 1:33 PM on January 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
Statement from Sarah Sanders, via The Hill's Jordan Fabian: “The President would consider a CR only if it includes a down payment on the wall.”
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:34 PM on January 24, 2019
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:34 PM on January 24, 2019
A three week continuing resolution is definitely better than nothing, but I'm worried we'll be right back at the same place in three weeks.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 1:35 PM on January 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 1:35 PM on January 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
NBC news with more activity by our Asset-In-Chief (rhymes with no-thanktions)
posted by Harry Caul at 1:37 PM on January 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Harry Caul at 1:37 PM on January 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
When do employees get their back pay?
When a CR is passed. They also already passed a technical bill which would allow a mid pay-cycle disbursement of funds to repay everyone...which really begs the question of why the fuck this is allowed to happen, if even the Republicans have already agreed to make (most) everyone whole, but still must suffer until some indeterminate time.
If Democrats do retake complete control, ending the hostage taking by reforming the antideficiency act and/or passing a new budget law that automatically passes continuing resolutions need to move to the top of the list.
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:38 PM on January 24, 2019 [8 favorites]
When a CR is passed. They also already passed a technical bill which would allow a mid pay-cycle disbursement of funds to repay everyone...which really begs the question of why the fuck this is allowed to happen, if even the Republicans have already agreed to make (most) everyone whole, but still must suffer until some indeterminate time.
If Democrats do retake complete control, ending the hostage taking by reforming the antideficiency act and/or passing a new budget law that automatically passes continuing resolutions need to move to the top of the list.
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:38 PM on January 24, 2019 [8 favorites]
Statement from Sarah Sanders, via The Hill's Jordan Fabian: “The President would consider a CR only if it includes a down payment on the wall.”
And then they revised the statement to add the word "large". It's a bullshit offer that's going nowhere. He gets no wall money to open the government. None.
posted by Justinian at 1:40 PM on January 24, 2019 [27 favorites]
And then they revised the statement to add the word "large". It's a bullshit offer that's going nowhere. He gets no wall money to open the government. None.
posted by Justinian at 1:40 PM on January 24, 2019 [27 favorites]
Roommate: If the latter, I would love to know which Republicans would actually go on the record as willing to filibuster the clean reopening of government, the same bill they unanimously voted for previously. It's one thing when McConnell just refused to allow a vote at all, but now that they're voting on it, responsibility is shared.
All Republicans except nine voted against cloture on debate to reopen government sans wall. Three of them didn't vote, while the other six crossed the aisle. One Democrat didn't vote, but (unsurprisingly) none of them crossed over on this.
Comparing the two votes may be confusing because they're not mirror images, but the numbers result from the existence of both Republicans and one Democrat (Manchin) who believe in re-opening either with or without a wall. As far as I can tell, no Senators are against both bills (a la AOC).
posted by InTheYear2017 at 1:43 PM on January 24, 2019
All Republicans except nine voted against cloture on debate to reopen government sans wall. Three of them didn't vote, while the other six crossed the aisle. One Democrat didn't vote, but (unsurprisingly) none of them crossed over on this.
Comparing the two votes may be confusing because they're not mirror images, but the numbers result from the existence of both Republicans and one Democrat (Manchin) who believe in re-opening either with or without a wall. As far as I can tell, no Senators are against both bills (a la AOC).
posted by InTheYear2017 at 1:43 PM on January 24, 2019
LA Times, U.S. officials to start pushing asylum seekers back across the border
U.S. border officials finalized plans Thursday to require asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their cases are considered in the United States, a dramatic escalation of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.posted by zachlipton at 1:44 PM on January 24, 2019 [7 favorites]
Border officers will start pushing asylum applicants back across the border as soon as the implementation becomes operational on Friday, beginning at the San Ysidro port of entry in California, a Homeland Security official said on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning.
Provoked By Trump, The Religious Left Is Finding Its Voice (NPR, January 24, 2019)
posted by filthy light thief at 1:53 PM on January 24, 2019 [53 favorites]
Religious conservatives have rarely faced much competition in the political realm from faith-based groups on the left.I'm glad to see this gathering coming together to respond to the hate and division spread in the name of Christianity.
The provocations of President Trump may finally be changing that.
Nearly 40 years after some prominent evangelical Christians organized a Moral Majority movement to promote a conservative political agenda, a comparable effort by liberal religious leaders is coalescing in support of immigrant rights, universal health care, LGBTQ rights and racial justice.
"We believe that faith has a critical role to play in shaping public policies and influencing decisionmakers," says the Rev. Jennifer Butler, an ordained Presbyterian minister and founder of the group Faith in Public Life. "Our moral values speak to the kinds of just laws that we ought to have."
Her group, part of what could be considered a religious left, says it has mobilized nearly 50,000 local clergy and faith leaders, with on-the-ground operations in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Ohio. Butler founded the organization in 2005 with a precedent in mind: It was religious leaders who drove the abolitionist movement in the 19th century and the civil rights movement in the 20th century.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:53 PM on January 24, 2019 [53 favorites]
Border officers will start pushing asylum applicants back across the border as soon as the implementation becomes operational on Friday
On the 'Are We The Baddies?' scale, that puts us at the level of Bulgaria 2014 now.
posted by Harry Caul at 1:55 PM on January 24, 2019 [15 favorites]
On the 'Are We The Baddies?' scale, that puts us at the level of Bulgaria 2014 now.
posted by Harry Caul at 1:55 PM on January 24, 2019 [15 favorites]
Meanwhile, Lawsuits Allege 'Grave Harm' To Immigrant Children In Detention (NPR, January 24, 2019)
posted by filthy light thief at 1:58 PM on January 24, 2019 [37 favorites]
At least four federal lawsuits have been filed since March that challenge the way the government cares for child migrants. The legal actions allege that the administration is ignoring a federal mandate to place immigrant children "in the least restrictive setting available."The Lawsuits:
Advocates for the migrant children say they are being locked up for months when there are family members already living in the United States ready to take them into their homes. Most of the underage migrants are teenagers who trek to the U.S. border from Central America alone or without a parent or legal guardian. They say they're fleeing violent street gangs in their home neighborhoods and most of them ask for asylum. They are allowed to live with sponsors while they await their day in immigration court.
A lawsuit on behalf of migrant children in ORR custody claims the government is violating a federal mandate by prolonging confinement of underage immigrants on the false pretext that adult sponsors are unfit custodians.In the past year, lawyers say at least 170 willing sponsors were arrested and put in deportation proceedings after coming forward for the child.
A class action lawsuit on behalf of migrant children and their potential sponsors challenges "egregious delays" in the release of the youths from ORR custody because of rigorous fingerprint background checks.
A class action lawsuit represents migrant teenagers detained by ICE who came to the US when they were 17 years old and arrested when they turned 18; the legal action calls on ICE to follow the federal mandate that immigrant teenagers should be placed in "the least restrictive setting available."
A class action lawsuit accuses the Office of Refugee Resettlement of working with ICE to "facilitate civil immigration enforcement against sponsors."
posted by filthy light thief at 1:58 PM on January 24, 2019 [37 favorites]
And now he's called an unscheduled press pool to talk about the FART act. [real].
The White House press pool has just been summoned for an unscheduled event. Not sure what this is, but we’ll likely be hearing from President Trump shortly. Per pool, reporters have been brought into the Cabinet room where POTUS is meeting with Republican lawmakers. The topic of the meeting is the US Reciprocal Trade Act. The bill, known as the Free and Reciprocal Trade Act (FART Act) would withdraw the US from the World Trade Organization and increase Trump tariff powers.posted by T.D. Strange at 2:07 PM on January 24, 2019 [30 favorites]
zachlipton: LA Times, U.S. officials to start pushing asylum seekers back across the border
Mexico Says Will Not Accept Return of At-Risk U.S. Asylum Seekers (Anthony Esposito, Jan. 23, 2019, U.S. News & World Report)
posted by filthy light thief at 2:08 PM on January 24, 2019 [10 favorites]
Mexico Says Will Not Accept Return of At-Risk U.S. Asylum Seekers (Anthony Esposito, Jan. 23, 2019, U.S. News & World Report)
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Two U.S.-Mexico meetings have been held to work out details of a new plan to return across the shared border migrants seeking U.S. asylum, but Mexico will not accept anybody facing a credible threat back home, a Mexico Foreign Ministry spokesman said.Emphasis mine, as Mexico Reports Highest Ever Homicide Rate In 2018, Tops 33,000 Investigations (Fanessa Romo for WKSU, Jan. 23, 2019)
In a major policy change, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration said on Dec. 20 it would send non-Mexican migrants who cross the U.S. southern border back to wait in Mexico while their U.S. asylum requests are processed.
At the time, Mexico said it would accept some Central American asylum seekers for humanitarian reasons, in what many saw as an early concession to Trump by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who took office on Dec. 1.
...
In an interview on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Roberto Velasco said Mexico cannot accept the return of migrants who are "in danger."
"If they return people that are vulnerable, that have a founded fear of persecution in Mexico, or people that require some special attention, we don't have resources to address that," he said.
Mexico's homicide rate continued to skyrocket last year, making 2018 the deadliest on record for the country with an average of 91 deaths a day.I realize that the US-Mexico talks on pushing migrants back into Mexico have been going on for a short while now, but this report is making it look like we're intentionally asking asylum seekers to face increased dangers while waiting to hear their cases.
A report [PDF] released by Mexico's Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection recorded 33,341 intentional homicides in 2018, a 15% increase over 2017, which held the previous record for the highest number of opened investigations with 28,866 cases [PDF].
Widespread violence over more than a decade has ravaged cities and towns alike, as drug cartels and criminal organizations appear to operate with impunity, facing few if any repercussions from law enforcement agencies that are rife with corruption or crippled by intimidation.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:08 PM on January 24, 2019 [10 favorites]
"We believe that faith has a critical role to play in shaping public policies and influencing decisionmakers,"
Fuck, no it doesn’t. Look, I appreciate that they’re on the progressive side of a lot of things, but “faith” shouldn’t be anywhere near our government, on either side. We should be pushing to get all religion out of politics, not inviting more in.
posted by greermahoney at 2:10 PM on January 24, 2019 [77 favorites]
Fuck, no it doesn’t. Look, I appreciate that they’re on the progressive side of a lot of things, but “faith” shouldn’t be anywhere near our government, on either side. We should be pushing to get all religion out of politics, not inviting more in.
posted by greermahoney at 2:10 PM on January 24, 2019 [77 favorites]
Provoked By Trump, The Religious Left Is Finding Its Voice (NPR, January 24, 2019)I feel like this narrative really only works if you ignore black people. Because there's been a black religious left since always.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:13 PM on January 24, 2019 [126 favorites]
Fuck, no it doesn’t. Look, I appreciate that they’re on the progressive side of a lot of things, but “faith” shouldn’t be anywhere near our government, on either side. We should be pushing to get all religion out of politics, not inviting more in.
Faith is part of ideology, personal ethics, and identity; it's kind of hard to not have it inform how people interact with government. Should we have laws based on religions? No, but should religious people make laws. In so far as they are people, yes.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 2:13 PM on January 24, 2019 [22 favorites]
Faith is part of ideology, personal ethics, and identity; it's kind of hard to not have it inform how people interact with government. Should we have laws based on religions? No, but should religious people make laws. In so far as they are people, yes.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 2:13 PM on January 24, 2019 [22 favorites]
Yeah if you kick religion out of politics you gotta kick out Martin Luther King Jr.
posted by BungaDunga at 2:15 PM on January 24, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by BungaDunga at 2:15 PM on January 24, 2019 [15 favorites]
I’m a dirt worshipping pagan and I give money every month to Reverend William Barber and the Poor People’s Campaign.
posted by Sublimity at 2:16 PM on January 24, 2019 [48 favorites]
posted by Sublimity at 2:16 PM on January 24, 2019 [48 favorites]
The FART act? What the hell?
*reads on, sees what it does*
Takes the USA out of the WTO and gives Trump more authority to impose trade tariffs!!!???
Nancy won’t let that act go very far, but nevertheless, in the Before Time a news item like that would have cratered Wall Street.
posted by notyou at 2:22 PM on January 24, 2019 [22 favorites]
*reads on, sees what it does*
Takes the USA out of the WTO and gives Trump more authority to impose trade tariffs!!!???
Nancy won’t let that act go very far, but nevertheless, in the Before Time a news item like that would have cratered Wall Street.
posted by notyou at 2:22 PM on January 24, 2019 [22 favorites]
CNN, Exclusive: White House preparing draft national emergency order and identified $7 billion for wall
posted by zachlipton at 2:24 PM on January 24, 2019 [9 favorites]
The White House is preparing a draft proclamation for President Donald Trump to declare a national emergency along the southern border and has identified more than $7 billion in potential funds for his signature border wall should he go that route, according to internal documents reviewed by CNN.It seems like it would be problematic to declare an emergency over something that Congress just explicitly declined to fund this afternoon, but avoiding problematic things is hardly the White House's priority. The story is careful to note that there's no firm plan he'll sign it, just that the order is being prepared and updated.
Trump has not ruled out using his authority to declare a national emergency and direct the Defense Department to construct a border wall as Congress and the White House fight over a deal to end the government shutdown. But while Trump's advisers remain divided on the issue, the White House has been moving forward with alternative plans that would bypass Congress.
...
According to options being considered, the administration could pull: $681 million from treasury forfeiture funds, $3.6 billion in military construction, $3 billion in Pentagon civil works funds, and $200 million in Department of Homeland Security funds, the official said.
posted by zachlipton at 2:24 PM on January 24, 2019 [9 favorites]
Nancy won’t let that act go very far, but nevertheless, in the Before Time a news item like that would have cratered Wall Street.
The FART Act has been around since 2018.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:26 PM on January 24, 2019
The FART Act has been around since 2018.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:26 PM on January 24, 2019
And now he's called an unscheduled press pool to talk about the FART act. [real].
Whatever nonsense this turns out to be. it is almost certainly Trump’s reaction to having to give in to Pelosi on the SOTU. Suffering narcissistic injury compels him to strike out at another target.
Still, having been dominated by Pelosi, he’s showing her his belly, per Bloomberg’s Jennifer Jacobs:
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:28 PM on January 24, 2019 [4 favorites]
Whatever nonsense this turns out to be. it is almost certainly Trump’s reaction to having to give in to Pelosi on the SOTU. Suffering narcissistic injury compels him to strike out at another target.
Still, having been dominated by Pelosi, he’s showing her his belly, per Bloomberg’s Jennifer Jacobs:
Trump says Pelosi was “reasonable” to say no State of the Union address til after govt reopens.Daniel Dale is live-blogging/fact-checking Trump’s press conference, although at the moment, he’s mostly bloviating about the Wall and border security fantasies.
“It’s really her choice,” he says.
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:28 PM on January 24, 2019 [4 favorites]
Mod note: The faith-or-not thing is too big for this thread.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 2:37 PM on January 24, 2019 [24 favorites]
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 2:37 PM on January 24, 2019 [24 favorites]
Still, having been dominated by Pelosi, he’s showing her his belly, per Bloomberg’s Jennifer Jacobs:
Trump says Pelosi was “reasonable” to say no State of the Union address til after govt reopens.
“It’s really her choice,” he says.
It's going to be very interesting when Republican lawmakers realize that he is easier and more predictable to deal with using dominance instead of sycophancy.
posted by jason_steakums at 2:38 PM on January 24, 2019 [38 favorites]
Trump says Pelosi was “reasonable” to say no State of the Union address til after govt reopens.
“It’s really her choice,” he says.
It's going to be very interesting when Republican lawmakers realize that he is easier and more predictable to deal with using dominance instead of sycophancy.
posted by jason_steakums at 2:38 PM on January 24, 2019 [38 favorites]
I don't mean to pick on you, Dr Zed, but yours is the most recent example, so I'm going to use it, but I wonder if it's a good idea to run with the dominance-lingo about Trump rolling over etc, like in this quote: Still, having been dominated by Pelosi, he’s showing her his belly...
I feel that a lot of what is going on these days is because some people have a 'fuck or be fucked' mentality (it has been discussed several times here, and there is a very good analysis of it somewhere on the site - a comment I cannot find). It's a kind of mentality that, I feel, should absolutely not be encouraged, and I think we should frame AWAY from it as much as possible.
Maybe 'Pelosi is one of the few people who manages to occasionally spark fleeting glimmers of reason in Trump'?
Anyone can 'own' someone else on the internet; few people can boast to discover traces of Trump, the human. I feel this makes her stature appear much more impressive.
posted by doggod at 2:40 PM on January 24, 2019 [9 favorites]
I feel that a lot of what is going on these days is because some people have a 'fuck or be fucked' mentality (it has been discussed several times here, and there is a very good analysis of it somewhere on the site - a comment I cannot find). It's a kind of mentality that, I feel, should absolutely not be encouraged, and I think we should frame AWAY from it as much as possible.
Maybe 'Pelosi is one of the few people who manages to occasionally spark fleeting glimmers of reason in Trump'?
Anyone can 'own' someone else on the internet; few people can boast to discover traces of Trump, the human. I feel this makes her stature appear much more impressive.
posted by doggod at 2:40 PM on January 24, 2019 [9 favorites]
It's going to be very interesting when Republican lawmakers realize that he is easier and more predictable to deal with using dominance instead of sycophancy.
Won't work, because for Republicans, he has the ultimate tool to reassert dominance - he can cut off their support. He has no such leverage over Pelosi, which is why dominance games don't work with her.
posted by NoxAeternum at 2:41 PM on January 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
Won't work, because for Republicans, he has the ultimate tool to reassert dominance - he can cut off their support. He has no such leverage over Pelosi, which is why dominance games don't work with her.
posted by NoxAeternum at 2:41 PM on January 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
Trump's response to Sec. Ross's comments [video], in which the president thinks banks and grocery stores will "work along" for federal workers who aren't getting paid. While there have been some great acts of charity, grocery stores will not, in fact, give you groceries if you do not give them money in exchange.
posted by zachlipton at 2:45 PM on January 24, 2019 [78 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 2:45 PM on January 24, 2019 [78 favorites]
Honestly, at this point I'm not as surprised at the fact that Trump clearly doesn't know the first thing about buying groceries as I am at how often it comes up.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:49 PM on January 24, 2019 [36 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:49 PM on January 24, 2019 [36 favorites]
Maybe 'Pelosi is one of the few people who manages to occasionally spark fleeting glimmers of reason in Trump'?
Donald Trump has lived his life as an unreasonable asshole for over seventy years, and his zero-sum worldview is a familiar topic here. The face-eating leopard isn't going to change his spots after one public setback.
Incidentally, here's a report from the House by Fox's Chad Pergram: “From colleague Peter Doocy. Pelosi on Trump saying he wants a down payment for the wall to re-open the gov't: Pelosi: "That is not a reasonable agreement between the senators" Reporter: "Do you know what he’s talking about?" Pelosi: "I don’t know if he knows"”
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:57 PM on January 24, 2019 [35 favorites]
Donald Trump has lived his life as an unreasonable asshole for over seventy years, and his zero-sum worldview is a familiar topic here. The face-eating leopard isn't going to change his spots after one public setback.
Incidentally, here's a report from the House by Fox's Chad Pergram: “From colleague Peter Doocy. Pelosi on Trump saying he wants a down payment for the wall to re-open the gov't: Pelosi: "That is not a reasonable agreement between the senators" Reporter: "Do you know what he’s talking about?" Pelosi: "I don’t know if he knows"”
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:57 PM on January 24, 2019 [35 favorites]
Won't work, because for Republicans, he has the ultimate tool to reassert dominance - he can cut off their support. He has no such leverage over Pelosi, which is why dominance games don't work with her.
I honestly think he's afraid to use his leverage in a real fight and only plays dominance games when kid gloves are on - see his fear of firing anyone personally. I think against a republican lawmaker going hard after him to get what they want he'd flinch and hurt himself with his base by showing weakness.
And I kind of think McConnell knows this and that's why he's been blocking bills. If Trump vetoes a bill to keep the government open, that's not going to move the needle much with his base, if it takes a veto override and he can be shown standing up for it with a fig leaf of grumble grumble Democrats swamp grumble to cover the loss it won't either, but if he flinches and signs it anyways before it goes back for an override vote it will show him as the paper tiger he is. And that kind of identity crisis in the base would be bad for all Republicans.
posted by jason_steakums at 2:57 PM on January 24, 2019 [11 favorites]
I honestly think he's afraid to use his leverage in a real fight and only plays dominance games when kid gloves are on - see his fear of firing anyone personally. I think against a republican lawmaker going hard after him to get what they want he'd flinch and hurt himself with his base by showing weakness.
And I kind of think McConnell knows this and that's why he's been blocking bills. If Trump vetoes a bill to keep the government open, that's not going to move the needle much with his base, if it takes a veto override and he can be shown standing up for it with a fig leaf of grumble grumble Democrats swamp grumble to cover the loss it won't either, but if he flinches and signs it anyways before it goes back for an override vote it will show him as the paper tiger he is. And that kind of identity crisis in the base would be bad for all Republicans.
posted by jason_steakums at 2:57 PM on January 24, 2019 [11 favorites]
The Stranger: [Governor] Inslee Gives Unemployment Benefits to Coast Guard, TSA, and Other Federal Workers in Washington state
posted by scaryblackdeath at 3:09 PM on January 24, 2019 [38 favorites]
posted by scaryblackdeath at 3:09 PM on January 24, 2019 [38 favorites]
I resistbotted Iowa Senator Joni Ernst and just got the most lukewarm response ever: a paragraph about how the government shouldn't be held hostage to politics, and then a paragraph about how border security was also very important and shouldn't be a partisan issue. She meant that as a criticism of Democrats, but there was no mention of the wall. She's voting in lock-step with Trump, but I really get the sense that her heart isn't in it. I'm going to call her office tomorrow.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 3:09 PM on January 24, 2019 [14 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 3:09 PM on January 24, 2019 [14 favorites]
Donald Trump has lived his life as an unreasonable asshole for over seventy years, and his zero-sum worldview is a familiar topic here. The face-eating leopard isn't going to change his spots after one public setback.
Oh, I completely agree, Dr. Zed, I'm not arguing that HE will have a road-to-Damaskus moment or anything like this. I'm arguing for a move away about the rhetoric that is currently (allowed to) control public life. It's all about winning, power over, dominating, superior and inferior, us vs them. It's so pervasive that it almost automatically invites people to find antagonists and seek to subdue them, and we have zero control over what random thing individual people base their choice of 'team' on.
I also feel that it encourages people to loose sight of what (beyond sheer survival) we are fighting for: an inclusive society in which everyone can thrive. And that is not a society in which people dominate each other; it is a society in which you stand up for what is right, you fight for those who are at risk of exclusion or worse, as far as you need to take that fight. But you never seek to dominate. You stand up FOR. There is no place for dominance in this society; this kind of gamified/ militarized approach to having a society is antithetical to what we all ultimately hope can be achieved once this nightmare is over.
So, to me, standing up to Trump (which has an explicit 'standing up FOR something') is not a matter of dominance so much as of not loosing sight of the dream endangered by this profoundly unserious and dangerous lot, and pursuing it doggedly even in the face of (temporary, apparent) defeat. And this is what I think reframing Nancy Pelosi's actions (and others') can achieve: remind everybody that at the bottom of this heap of shit is something achievable and worth having.
This is why I think the language of dominance should be left behind: because it tacitly accepts a repugnant, vicious, infantile framework for human interaction and co-existence and obscures our own dream of a society in which all can flourish with joy and heads held high.
posted by doggod at 3:26 PM on January 24, 2019 [20 favorites]
Oh, I completely agree, Dr. Zed, I'm not arguing that HE will have a road-to-Damaskus moment or anything like this. I'm arguing for a move away about the rhetoric that is currently (allowed to) control public life. It's all about winning, power over, dominating, superior and inferior, us vs them. It's so pervasive that it almost automatically invites people to find antagonists and seek to subdue them, and we have zero control over what random thing individual people base their choice of 'team' on.
I also feel that it encourages people to loose sight of what (beyond sheer survival) we are fighting for: an inclusive society in which everyone can thrive. And that is not a society in which people dominate each other; it is a society in which you stand up for what is right, you fight for those who are at risk of exclusion or worse, as far as you need to take that fight. But you never seek to dominate. You stand up FOR. There is no place for dominance in this society; this kind of gamified/ militarized approach to having a society is antithetical to what we all ultimately hope can be achieved once this nightmare is over.
So, to me, standing up to Trump (which has an explicit 'standing up FOR something') is not a matter of dominance so much as of not loosing sight of the dream endangered by this profoundly unserious and dangerous lot, and pursuing it doggedly even in the face of (temporary, apparent) defeat. And this is what I think reframing Nancy Pelosi's actions (and others') can achieve: remind everybody that at the bottom of this heap of shit is something achievable and worth having.
This is why I think the language of dominance should be left behind: because it tacitly accepts a repugnant, vicious, infantile framework for human interaction and co-existence and obscures our own dream of a society in which all can flourish with joy and heads held high.
posted by doggod at 3:26 PM on January 24, 2019 [20 favorites]
This is why I think the language of dominance should be left behind: because it tacitly accepts a repugnant, vicious, infantile framework for human interaction and co-existence and obscures our own dream of a society in which all can flourish with joy and heads held high.
That's an admirable sentiment, but it's utterly alien to how a malignant narcissist like Donald Trump thinks. When I employ the language of dominance to describe his actions—and similarly Putin's—it's because that's the most accurate mode. (I'm not going to use it to describe Nancy Pelosi's tough negotiating stance, though, since it simply doesn't apply to her political savvy. To say nothing of the win-lose style of reporting that blights mainstream journalism.)
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:53 PM on January 24, 2019 [5 favorites]
That's an admirable sentiment, but it's utterly alien to how a malignant narcissist like Donald Trump thinks. When I employ the language of dominance to describe his actions—and similarly Putin's—it's because that's the most accurate mode. (I'm not going to use it to describe Nancy Pelosi's tough negotiating stance, though, since it simply doesn't apply to her political savvy. To say nothing of the win-lose style of reporting that blights mainstream journalism.)
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:53 PM on January 24, 2019 [5 favorites]
Mod note: Y'all let's wind down this general theory-of-discourse thing at this point; none of us is running Pelosi's or Trump's communications strategy and we don't need to have a long proxy battle in here as if those were the stakes.
posted by cortex (staff) at 4:09 PM on January 24, 2019 [13 favorites]
posted by cortex (staff) at 4:09 PM on January 24, 2019 [13 favorites]
Pompeo: I’m not going to get into hypotheticals about what might happen or how a certain scenario might unfold, but make no mistake about it: America has always been there when there were important American and global interests at stake.
Unless you are war the whole reason for the entire defense department is hypotheticals. What is this dumbass spending his time doing. Anticipating the past?
posted by srboisvert at 4:13 PM on January 24, 2019 [10 favorites]
Unless you are war the whole reason for the entire defense department is hypotheticals. What is this dumbass spending his time doing. Anticipating the past?
posted by srboisvert at 4:13 PM on January 24, 2019 [10 favorites]
What is this dumbass spending his time doing. Anticipating the past?
Well, as the American philosopher of baseball once put it: it’s hard to make predictions, especially about the future.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 4:17 PM on January 24, 2019 [21 favorites]
Well, as the American philosopher of baseball once put it: it’s hard to make predictions, especially about the future.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 4:17 PM on January 24, 2019 [21 favorites]
I resistbotted Iowa Senator Joni Ernst and just got the most lukewarm response ever: …. She's voting in lock-step with Trump, but I really get the sense that her heart isn't in it.
Ernst has recently gone public about her ex-husband abusing her (and trying to stifle her political career), and about being raped while in college. Yes I'm a crazy optimist, but I have some hope that she might be starting to see Democratic positions in a new light -- at least on a couple of political issues.
posted by msalt at 4:19 PM on January 24, 2019 [6 favorites]
Ernst has recently gone public about her ex-husband abusing her (and trying to stifle her political career), and about being raped while in college. Yes I'm a crazy optimist, but I have some hope that she might be starting to see Democratic positions in a new light -- at least on a couple of political issues.
posted by msalt at 4:19 PM on January 24, 2019 [6 favorites]
Reporter: "Do you know what he’s talking about?" Pelosi: "I don’t know if he knows"”
Pelosi isn’t just playing hardball. She’s saying loudly, publicly, repeatedly, that the emperor has no clothes. She’s calling bullshit on the entire edifice of gaslighting lies that every Republican has agreed to pretend is actual reality. She’s ending the goddamn LARP and pointing out that the President is actually not competent.
She’s telling the truth. Loudly. Publicly. Repeatedly.
It’s starting to change things.
posted by schadenfrau at 4:24 PM on January 24, 2019 [164 favorites]
Pelosi isn’t just playing hardball. She’s saying loudly, publicly, repeatedly, that the emperor has no clothes. She’s calling bullshit on the entire edifice of gaslighting lies that every Republican has agreed to pretend is actual reality. She’s ending the goddamn LARP and pointing out that the President is actually not competent.
She’s telling the truth. Loudly. Publicly. Repeatedly.
It’s starting to change things.
posted by schadenfrau at 4:24 PM on January 24, 2019 [164 favorites]
You know how there was that thing in 2016 about NIH folks not talking to congress through whatever GOP design?
As someone who used to work in NINDS, Pelosi's staffers could have some great conversations with some folks there, in line with Schadenfrau's comment.
posted by Slackermagee at 4:35 PM on January 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
As someone who used to work in NINDS, Pelosi's staffers could have some great conversations with some folks there, in line with Schadenfrau's comment.
posted by Slackermagee at 4:35 PM on January 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
Politico: Trump White House grows eager to escape losing shutdown fight
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:49 PM on January 24, 2019 [51 favorites]
The White House's new appetite for a negotiated resolution came after the administration managed to peel off just one Democratic vote — that of Sen. Joe Manchin (D, W.V.) — a fact that came as a particular surprise to Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, who has touted his relationships with Democratic lawmakers but lacks deep experience on Capitol Hill.Jared really thought they'd get Democrats to crossover and vote for the wall...in exchange for nothing.
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:49 PM on January 24, 2019 [51 favorites]
TechDirt: Emma Best's New Transparency Project Targets Russian Leaks She Says Wikileaks Refuses To Touch
posted by M-x shell at 5:05 PM on January 24, 2019 [8 favorites]
...transparency activist and long-time infosec reporter Emma Best has unveiled the creation of Distributed Denial of Secrets. The organization is expected to make waves this week with the publication of hundreds of thousands of hacked emails and gigabytes of leaked documents, some of which come from previous hacks of Putin aides like Vladislav Surkov.I guess you have to have Tor to get the full benefit of the site (and definitely use it if you have Putin's emails to offer them) but I was able to access it through straight up Chrome.
Unlike Wikileaks, DDoS will focus more on compiling and curating information, much of it coming from past hacks and breaches, building a sort of museum and library of now easily-accessible information. Especially information related to the Russian government and its bone-grafted relationship to Russian organized crime; stuff, project supporters claim, Wikileaks has steered clear of in recent years...
posted by M-x shell at 5:05 PM on January 24, 2019 [8 favorites]
The WaPo has an article about Infowars payments of $15k per month to Jerome Corsi, basically boils down to:
posted by peeedro at 5:20 PM on January 24, 2019 [12 favorites]
Investigators have also asked questions about Corsi’s payments from Infowars, according to a person familiar with the special counsel investigation. Mueller’s team appears to be exploring whether the payments were made to ensure that Corsi would offer investigators a version of events favorable to Stone, the person said.The weird thing is that there are so many explanations about the payments. A lawyer for Infowars says that it was a pre-arranged six months of payments as a severance package, but Roger Stone posted email on Instagram from Infowars HR director David Jones (father of Alex) informing Corsi that the payments were ending after the Post started looking into them, Corsi himself offered up two explanations for the payments saying they were for an ongoing "fake news" project then later claimed it was severance and now he is asking for $1.6 billion in damages in a lawsuit filed against Bezos, The Post, and one of its journalists for looking into the payments causing them to stop. Not suspicious at all.
posted by peeedro at 5:20 PM on January 24, 2019 [12 favorites]
Breaking: Officials rejected Jared Kushner for top secret security clearance, but were overruled (NBC News)
Jared Kushner was rejected for a top secret clearance by two career security specialists, but their supervisor overruled them and approved him, say sources.
Jared Kushner was rejected for a top secret clearance by two career security specialists, but their supervisor overruled them and approved him, say sources.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information, said the Trump White House attracted many people with untraditional backgrounds who had complicated financial and personal histories, some of which raised red flags.posted by Barack Spinoza at 5:29 PM on January 24, 2019 [69 favorites]
Kushner's FBI background check identified questions about his family's business, his foreign contacts, his foreign travel and meetings he had during the campaign, the sources said, declining to be more specific.
Kushner’s case was one of thirty.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 5:35 PM on January 24, 2019 [51 favorites]
posted by Barack Spinoza at 5:35 PM on January 24, 2019 [51 favorites]
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information, said the Trump White House attracted many people with untraditional backgrounds who had complicated financial and personal histories, some of which raised red flags.
Whenever things seem darkest, I like to remind myself: Donald might be old enough that the prospect of life in prison doesn't deter him from openly pissing on American ideals. But Donald Jr.? Jared? They get to stare down what happens in 2020. By the time the tribunal is finished, those sons of bitches are going to rot in a federal penitentiary for 30+ years.
posted by Mayor West at 5:44 PM on January 24, 2019 [24 favorites]
Whenever things seem darkest, I like to remind myself: Donald might be old enough that the prospect of life in prison doesn't deter him from openly pissing on American ideals. But Donald Jr.? Jared? They get to stare down what happens in 2020. By the time the tribunal is finished, those sons of bitches are going to rot in a federal penitentiary for 30+ years.
posted by Mayor West at 5:44 PM on January 24, 2019 [24 favorites]
Jared really thought they'd get Democrats to crossover and vote for the wall...in exchange for nothing.
Pelosi is a master at keeping her caucus together. Jared is a rank amateur. and arrogant.
posted by bluesky43 at 6:01 PM on January 24, 2019 [6 favorites]
Pelosi is a master at keeping her caucus together. Jared is a rank amateur. and arrogant.
posted by bluesky43 at 6:01 PM on January 24, 2019 [6 favorites]
Maddow's take on Jared Kushner's and others top secret clearance.
posted by bluesky43 at 6:31 PM on January 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by bluesky43 at 6:31 PM on January 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
The President of the United States is so manifestly evil that sometimes things in plain sight are forgotten, temporarily.
HuffPost: In 2014 Fox News Video, Trump Touts 'Disaster' As A Way To Make America Great Again
HuffPost: In 2014 Fox News Video, Trump Touts 'Disaster' As A Way To Make America Great Again
"When the country goes to total hell — then you’ll have riots to go back to where we used to be when we were great," he said on a "Fox & Friends" show.posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:33 PM on January 24, 2019 [16 favorites]
Pelosi is a master at keeping her caucus together.
Well, today's vote was in the Senate, and Chuck Schumer is...not a master of that. But all the Manchin-caucus that would've been tempted to sell out in the last Congress, all pretty much all lost in 2018. There's just Doug Jones and Manchin left now really, and even Doug Jones isn't totally without principles just to get reelected. None of the rest of Senate Dems should be at all tempted to cross over without significant concessions in return, and it's completely inexplicable why Kushner could've even reasonably thought they would, or even if they did pick up a couple more votes, why that would have any bearing on what Pelosi does in the House. Pelosi is the one with the real power on the Democratic side, its almost beside the point what a couple Senators do or not.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:33 PM on January 24, 2019 [7 favorites]
Well, today's vote was in the Senate, and Chuck Schumer is...not a master of that. But all the Manchin-caucus that would've been tempted to sell out in the last Congress, all pretty much all lost in 2018. There's just Doug Jones and Manchin left now really, and even Doug Jones isn't totally without principles just to get reelected. None of the rest of Senate Dems should be at all tempted to cross over without significant concessions in return, and it's completely inexplicable why Kushner could've even reasonably thought they would, or even if they did pick up a couple more votes, why that would have any bearing on what Pelosi does in the House. Pelosi is the one with the real power on the Democratic side, its almost beside the point what a couple Senators do or not.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:33 PM on January 24, 2019 [7 favorites]
Pelosi is the one with the real power on the Democratic side, its almost beside the point what a couple Senators do or not.
I agree on the first point but not on the second. Defections of more democrats (besides the idiot from W.V.) would've been seen as cracks in her strategy. The two are completely intertwined. (but I will refrain from any more derail in this direction - I think Nancy Pelosi has been covered in great detail in these threads).
posted by bluesky43 at 6:45 PM on January 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
I agree on the first point but not on the second. Defections of more democrats (besides the idiot from W.V.) would've been seen as cracks in her strategy. The two are completely intertwined. (but I will refrain from any more derail in this direction - I think Nancy Pelosi has been covered in great detail in these threads).
posted by bluesky43 at 6:45 PM on January 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
But all the Manchin-caucus that would've been tempted to sell out in the last Congress, all pretty much all lost in 2018.
It’s weird. Right after the election last November, Trump had the crazy presser claiming victory because the GOP kept the Senate, and the Dem House victory was so small (it grew over time), and that pols he had campaigned for did well, and those who rejected the “embrace” lost.
Standard issue Trump bluster, right? TrumpCo seem to have actually believed it, and that belief walked them right into the shutdown debacle (while noting that it isn’t over yet despite a horribad 48 hours for Trump).
OTOH, what choice did Trump have once Ann Coulter put the hammer down? His control over the party depends on his relationship with the base. If he loses that, there’ll be a lot more than six GOP Senators willing to sell him out. Sucks for him now that the shutdown is chiseling away at his base. He’s stuck.
posted by notyou at 6:48 PM on January 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
It’s weird. Right after the election last November, Trump had the crazy presser claiming victory because the GOP kept the Senate, and the Dem House victory was so small (it grew over time), and that pols he had campaigned for did well, and those who rejected the “embrace” lost.
Standard issue Trump bluster, right? TrumpCo seem to have actually believed it, and that belief walked them right into the shutdown debacle (while noting that it isn’t over yet despite a horribad 48 hours for Trump).
OTOH, what choice did Trump have once Ann Coulter put the hammer down? His control over the party depends on his relationship with the base. If he loses that, there’ll be a lot more than six GOP Senators willing to sell him out. Sucks for him now that the shutdown is chiseling away at his base. He’s stuck.
posted by notyou at 6:48 PM on January 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
go back to where we used to be when we were great
Has he or any MAGA-heads ever been pressed on when specifically America Was Great and What Was Great Then That Isn't Great Now? (I know, white men had all the power.)
"So what's the thrust here? We were great then and we're shit now?" -- The Big Chill
posted by kirkaracha at 6:50 PM on January 24, 2019 [6 favorites]
Has he or any MAGA-heads ever been pressed on when specifically America Was Great and What Was Great Then That Isn't Great Now? (I know, white men had all the power.)
"So what's the thrust here? We were great then and we're shit now?" -- The Big Chill
posted by kirkaracha at 6:50 PM on January 24, 2019 [6 favorites]
The biggest of the big things in that NBC News story:
posted by holgate at 6:55 PM on January 24, 2019 [28 favorites]
The official, Carl Kline, is a former Pentagon employee who was installed as director of the personnel security office in the Executive Office of the President in May 2017.They were having problems getting senior staff high-level security clearances, so they hired a fixer. If you look at the adjudicative guidelines -- foreign influence, foreign preference, personal conduct, financial considerations, etc -- that's a lot of shit.
posted by holgate at 6:55 PM on January 24, 2019 [28 favorites]
(Meanwhile, getting Criminal Justice Reform passed is a model (quietly, with buy in from all stakeholders) Trump could follow again and again, if he were at all interested in getting anything worthwhile done. Either he’s bereft of ideas that aren’t graft, or he’s figured that losing the base would hurt more than any base-broadening toward the center such initiatives would give him. Both, probably,)
posted by notyou at 6:56 PM on January 24, 2019
posted by notyou at 6:56 PM on January 24, 2019
In short: Crown Prince Jared is compromised -- if the stuff around 666 Fifth Avenue and the various Gulf entities didn't give you a hint -- and the spooks have known he's compromised, probably going back to the transition.
posted by holgate at 6:58 PM on January 24, 2019 [28 favorites]
posted by holgate at 6:58 PM on January 24, 2019 [28 favorites]
CSPAN tweets that the video of Bennet denouncing Cruz is the most-watched Senate video in its history.
As always, even in unprecedentedly polarized times, everybody hates Ted Cruz.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:06 PM on January 24, 2019 [94 favorites]
As always, even in unprecedentedly polarized times, everybody hates Ted Cruz.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:06 PM on January 24, 2019 [94 favorites]
From The New Yorker, by Adam Entous and Evan Osnos:
Jared Kushner Is China’s Trump Card
How the President’s son-in-law, despite his inexperience in diplomacy, became Beijing’s primary point of interest.
"Among national-security specialists, Kushner’s difficulty obtaining a permanent security clearance has become a subject of fascination. Was it his early failure to disclose foreign contacts? Or did it have something to do with the investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 elections? As the Administration finished its first year, some clues to Kushner’s security troubles have come into sharper focus, giving a new perspective on his encounters with China."
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:14 PM on January 24, 2019 [6 favorites]
Jared Kushner Is China’s Trump Card
How the President’s son-in-law, despite his inexperience in diplomacy, became Beijing’s primary point of interest.
"Among national-security specialists, Kushner’s difficulty obtaining a permanent security clearance has become a subject of fascination. Was it his early failure to disclose foreign contacts? Or did it have something to do with the investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 elections? As the Administration finished its first year, some clues to Kushner’s security troubles have come into sharper focus, giving a new perspective on his encounters with China."
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:14 PM on January 24, 2019 [6 favorites]
Texas Observer: Texas Border Sheriffs: There is No Crisis and We Don’t Want Trump’s Wall
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:43 PM on January 24, 2019 [57 favorites]
Hidalgo County Sheriff J.E. “Eddie” Guerra, who is in charge of policing the largest and most populous county in the Rio Grande Valley, said that crime rates in his county are at record lows, and that illegal immigration has very little effect on the safety of residents. Meanwhile, Brewster County Sheriff Ronny Dodson, who is responsible for policing the largest county in Texas, said he doesn’t support the construction of a wall along any part of the 192-mile stretch of border in Brewster County, which includes Big Bend National Park.It turns out that local law enforcement doesn't want the Wall any more than the members of congress whose districts lie along the border.
“Because we’re on the border, the perception is that there’s murders every day and there’s shootings every day. Yet here in our county, we don’t have that going on. It’s very, very safe,” Guerra told the Observer.[…]
“We have a river, and we don’t want to cut ourselves off from that river. I know there’s a better way,” said Dodson“[…].
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:43 PM on January 24, 2019 [57 favorites]
The WaPo invites you to taste the schadenfreude: ‘This is your fault’: GOP senators clash over shutdown inside private luncheon
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:00 PM on January 24, 2019 [67 favorites]
“This is your fault,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) told Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) at one point, according to two Republicans who attended the lunch and witnessed the exchange.Meanwhile, a new crowdfunded PAC is pledging to take on the Senate leader: EITHER Mitch McConnell ends the shutdown OR we fund his future opponent.
“Are you suggesting I’m enjoying this?” McConnell snapped back, according to the people who attended the lunch.
Johnson spokesman Ben Voelkel confirmed the confrontation. He said Johnson was expressing frustration with the day’s proceedings — votes on dueling plans to reopen the government, both of which failed to advance.[…]
The argument was one of several heated moments in a lunch that came just before the Senate voted on the opposing plans to end the shutdown offered by President Trump and Democrats.[…]
Also during the lunch, McConnell made clear to Pence and others in the room that the shutdown was not his idea and was not working. According to Republicans familiar with his comments, he quoted a favorite saying that he often uses to express his displeasure with government shutdowns: “There is no education in the second kick of a mule.”
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:00 PM on January 24, 2019 [67 favorites]
McConnell snapped back
Someone at the Post is having a little fun.
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:04 PM on January 24, 2019 [119 favorites]
Someone at the Post is having a little fun.
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:04 PM on January 24, 2019 [119 favorites]
Jared really thought they'd get Democrats to crossover and vote for the wall...in exchange for nothing.
Jared thought Democrats would welcome Trump firing Comey. He's a fucking genius.
posted by chris24 at 8:06 PM on January 24, 2019 [17 favorites]
Jared thought Democrats would welcome Trump firing Comey. He's a fucking genius.
posted by chris24 at 8:06 PM on January 24, 2019 [17 favorites]
Texas Observer: Texas Border Sheriffs: There is No Crisis and We Don’t Want Trump’s Wall
This has been my standard response on Twitter for some weeks now. "It's not a problem, it's not an emergency, and nobody wants it." Rinse and repeat, every pro-wall argument/troll-bait boils down to one of those criteria. Immigration? Not a problem. Crime? Not an emergency. Congress won't just give up the cash GOSH and reopen the government? Nobody wants the stupid wall, stop trying to make the wall happen.
posted by rhizome at 8:08 PM on January 24, 2019 [16 favorites]
This has been my standard response on Twitter for some weeks now. "It's not a problem, it's not an emergency, and nobody wants it." Rinse and repeat, every pro-wall argument/troll-bait boils down to one of those criteria. Immigration? Not a problem. Crime? Not an emergency. Congress won't just give up the cash GOSH and reopen the government? Nobody wants the stupid wall, stop trying to make the wall happen.
posted by rhizome at 8:08 PM on January 24, 2019 [16 favorites]
[From WTFJHT]: The White House is preparing a draft proclamation for Trump to declare a national emergency at the border. They've identified more than $7 billion in potential funds for his border wall by pulling $681 million from the treasury forfeiture funds, $3.6 billion in military construction[...]
Uh, I need that construction money. That crumbling and inadequate infrastructure the country has? The military is enjoying the same problem with facilities and we were just getting rolling on doing something about it. We can argue about why the military should get to fix theirs when the public can't, but I think we can agree that "Wall" was not on the list.
posted by ctmf at 8:19 PM on January 24, 2019 [36 favorites]
Uh, I need that construction money. That crumbling and inadequate infrastructure the country has? The military is enjoying the same problem with facilities and we were just getting rolling on doing something about it. We can argue about why the military should get to fix theirs when the public can't, but I think we can agree that "Wall" was not on the list.
posted by ctmf at 8:19 PM on January 24, 2019 [36 favorites]
Remember the weird report about Jared approaching the Russian embassy and requesting that he be allowed to use the confidential Russian embassy facilities when communicating with Russia? Security clearances are checks to see whether someone is likely to, e.g., have secret links with a foreign country, or whether they would be susceptible to blackmail. They're meant to give an added level of assurance, over and above the fact that most people aren't traitors. Once you know someone has already tried to set up a secret channel with a foreign country then they've definitively failed the test. This should not be the sort of thing people have to think twice about.
posted by Joe in Australia at 8:23 PM on January 24, 2019 [71 favorites]
posted by Joe in Australia at 8:23 PM on January 24, 2019 [71 favorites]
CSPAN tweets that the video of Bennet denouncing Cruz is the most-watched Senate video in its history.
Days after AOC claimed that title.
Not mad, he did good. It's just weird that C-SPAN is having this inadvertent America's Got Talent show going on.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 8:26 PM on January 24, 2019 [16 favorites]
Days after AOC claimed that title.
Not mad, he did good. It's just weird that C-SPAN is having this inadvertent America's Got Talent show going on.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 8:26 PM on January 24, 2019 [16 favorites]
Oh wait. Senate video.
Well, doing well in both conferences.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 8:31 PM on January 24, 2019 [20 favorites]
Well, doing well in both conferences.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 8:31 PM on January 24, 2019 [20 favorites]
Senator Bennet is one of my senators and I have the impression his favorite word is "bipartisanship ." From my perspective , he's given a lot of cover to his colleague Cory Gardner (R-CO), and he doesn't really have a reputation as a firebrand (though I watched him take his jacket off and throw it on the floor behind him at a Hillary campaign rally for dramatic effect I think). He must hate Ted Cruz. I'm proud of him and I think I'll go to his Colorado Springs office tomorrow to say so.
posted by danielleh at 8:40 PM on January 24, 2019 [41 favorites]
posted by danielleh at 8:40 PM on January 24, 2019 [41 favorites]
"When the country goes to total hell — then you’ll have riots to go back to where we used to be when we were great
Did any one of these geniuses ever ask themselves, at any point, what would happen if the country went to total hell while THEY were the ones in charge? Cause the obvious answer is that the angry public will look to your enemies as the solution.
Fixin' things shore is easy when someone else is in power, huh?
posted by threeturtles at 9:16 PM on January 24, 2019 [4 favorites]
Did any one of these geniuses ever ask themselves, at any point, what would happen if the country went to total hell while THEY were the ones in charge? Cause the obvious answer is that the angry public will look to your enemies as the solution.
Fixin' things shore is easy when someone else is in power, huh?
posted by threeturtles at 9:16 PM on January 24, 2019 [4 favorites]
Effect of Fox News on Republican presidential vote: Somewhere between 1% and 6%.
Effect of MSNBC: 0%.
Or as Kevin Drum puts it, Without Fox News, Republicans Would Be Toast
posted by flug at 9:32 PM on January 24, 2019 [33 favorites]
Effect of MSNBC: 0%.
Or as Kevin Drum puts it, Without Fox News, Republicans Would Be Toast
posted by flug at 9:32 PM on January 24, 2019 [33 favorites]
He must hate Ted Cruz.
“One thing Ted Cruz is really good at: uniting people who otherwise disagree about everything else in a total hatred of Ted Cruz.”
(Neither house of Congress is really home to much debate or great speechmaking any more, but if the Senate chamber can be devoted to a few minutes of Ted Cruz being a unctuous dick and everybody else shitting on Ted Cruz for being an unctuous dick, C-SPAN2 will win the ratings.)
posted by holgate at 9:57 PM on January 24, 2019 [7 favorites]
“One thing Ted Cruz is really good at: uniting people who otherwise disagree about everything else in a total hatred of Ted Cruz.”
(Neither house of Congress is really home to much debate or great speechmaking any more, but if the Senate chamber can be devoted to a few minutes of Ted Cruz being a unctuous dick and everybody else shitting on Ted Cruz for being an unctuous dick, C-SPAN2 will win the ratings.)
posted by holgate at 9:57 PM on January 24, 2019 [7 favorites]
Or as Kevin Drum puts it, Without Fox News, Republicans Would Be Toast
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:59 PM on January 24, 2019 [44 favorites]
Drum: The problem is that these numbers depend on extrapolating from a few minutes of watching Fox to an hour of watching Fox, and it’s unlikely that this is a linear effect. So I’d guess that the real effect of Fox News is more likely something in the ballpark of one or two percentage points.The thing is, the way most people consume FOX News is by the minute, only a small audience actually watches by the hour. Your MAGAhats and the bedridden. But it's on EVERYWHERE. Doctors, dentists, mechanics, the DMV, in the food court, the airport, any public waiting area with a captive audience, there's a TV with FOX on. If there's more than one TV, it'll have FOX and CNN, but in most places, FOX is the default. MSNBC is only maybe on one TV in the corner of Laguardia. The cumulative effect of the default option for all political discourse being batshit rightwing insanity is impossible to quantify, given the secondary effects of all other political coverage having to respond to the insane default.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:59 PM on January 24, 2019 [44 favorites]
it's on EVERYWHERE. Doctors, dentists, mechanics, the DMV, in the food court, the airport, any public waiting area with a captive audience, there's a TV with FOX on. If there's more than one TV, it'll have FOX and CNN, but in most places, FOX is the default. MSNBC is only maybe on one TV in the corner of Laguardia.
So, complain, change the channel, do whatever it takes to say, "You know that shutdown? That channel." Make lists of local businesses that refuse to change the channel on Facebook and suggest that people don't frequent them. In other words, boycott. They're so tainted by Trump at this point that it shouldn't be hard to convince people not to give Fox the extra reach.
posted by saysthis at 10:13 PM on January 24, 2019 [32 favorites]
So, complain, change the channel, do whatever it takes to say, "You know that shutdown? That channel." Make lists of local businesses that refuse to change the channel on Facebook and suggest that people don't frequent them. In other words, boycott. They're so tainted by Trump at this point that it shouldn't be hard to convince people not to give Fox the extra reach.
posted by saysthis at 10:13 PM on January 24, 2019 [32 favorites]
A lot of older FOX viewers turn their TV to FOX and leave it on all day everyday. A lot of Republicans, according to some studies I have seen, get their news from FOX and FOX only. My Dad has a lot of older Republican friends, some of whom he says can't get through the night without watching FOX News.
posted by xammerboy at 10:34 PM on January 24, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by xammerboy at 10:34 PM on January 24, 2019 [12 favorites]
7 reasons Trump can’t make an immigration deal (Dara Lind, Vox)
"Trump tried to win over Nancy Pelosi without upsetting Ann Coulter — and he ended up losing support from both sides."posted by ZeusHumms at 11:08 PM on January 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
...
5) The White House is terrified that losing conservative influencers will mean losing Trump’s base
...
Trump would hardly be the first Republican president to lose base support by underestimating the influence figures like Ann Coulter have with those voters. But his base hasn’t abandoned him when he’s departed from conservative orthodoxy so far. It’s possible that in a fight between Trump and Coulter, Trump would win.
The Trump administration has never actually tested this, partly because Trump himself appears afraid to (when Trump started referring to border barriers as something other than a “wall” and posted an image of a bollard fence in December, he was hammered by Coulter and others and appeared to snap back into place). But without having any idea where the breaking point is, there’s really not much they can do to move to the left. They’re not going to come up with an idea that wins over Pelosi — or even the “pragmatic” first-term Democrats in the House — without losing Coulter.
So, complain, change the channel, do whatever it takes to say, "You know that shutdown? That channel." Make lists of local businesses that refuse to change the channel on Facebook and suggest that people don't frequent them. In other words, boycott. They're so tainted by Trump at this point that it shouldn't be hard to convince people not to give Fox the extra reach.
About 15 years ago, I worked as a night auditor at a hotel. One of my duties was to prep the breakfast area, and as part of that, I was instructed to put the TV on the news. Now, I would always put it on CNN to start with - but more often than not, I would get an older guest come over and invariably ask me to change the TV to Fox News.
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:35 PM on January 24, 2019 [9 favorites]
About 15 years ago, I worked as a night auditor at a hotel. One of my duties was to prep the breakfast area, and as part of that, I was instructed to put the TV on the news. Now, I would always put it on CNN to start with - but more often than not, I would get an older guest come over and invariably ask me to change the TV to Fox News.
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:35 PM on January 24, 2019 [9 favorites]
Now, I would always put it on CNN to start with - but more often than not, I would get an older guest come over and invariably ask me to change the TV to Fox News.
That still happens, but I tell them no. Local news channels only. Every hotel I work at, I convince the owners/management Fox news gets too many complaints. If they think that's just snowflake liberals whining, that's fine because they really only care about losing money so local news it is. (Except on the TV nightmare that is Sunday mornings when every channel plays garbage. There isn't any good option then, so Headline news wins by default.)
posted by gusottertrout at 12:36 AM on January 25, 2019 [20 favorites]
That still happens, but I tell them no. Local news channels only. Every hotel I work at, I convince the owners/management Fox news gets too many complaints. If they think that's just snowflake liberals whining, that's fine because they really only care about losing money so local news it is. (Except on the TV nightmare that is Sunday mornings when every channel plays garbage. There isn't any good option then, so Headline news wins by default.)
posted by gusottertrout at 12:36 AM on January 25, 2019 [20 favorites]
A long, thoughtful article about engagement and self care by Elad Nehorai, also known as the Twitterer @PopChassid:
Why Do We Care So Much About The Covington Students?
posted by Joe in Australia at 1:16 AM on January 25, 2019 [7 favorites]
Why Do We Care So Much About The Covington Students?
[...] Part of the pain and difficulty of the moment, I think, is that many of us recognize that these debates do matter, and that standing up for the truth and against things like racism and misogyny are not games. After all, it was the proliferation of memes that helped spread the post-truth lies about Hillary Clinton (that she was hiding a serious illness, for example) that then directly contributed to Trump’s win.
If we have learned anything in the past few years, it is that social media actually matters. So much so that foreign adversaries have found it to be a potent, inexpensive, and unique weapon in spreading disinformation, division, and bigotry.
This is all to say that our anger, our frustration, and our exhaustion are valid. They are real. And is quite possible they are not going away for some time.
posted by Joe in Australia at 1:16 AM on January 25, 2019 [7 favorites]
Assholes gonna asshole:
Imany Gandi on Twitter
posted by PontifexPrimus at 2:35 AM on January 25, 2019 [62 favorites]
Imany Gandi on Twitter
*taps mic* Utah just introduced anti-trans legislation to prevent people from changing the gender on their birth certificate. But here’s the kicker—and I guarantee a lot of you will yell “what the fuck?!” When you read it.I honestly don't know what to say, the combination of unscientific, long-disproven idiocy (couched in pseudo-scientific jargon, no less), plain meanness to an already much-suffering group, and needless cruelty (WHAT PROBLEM DOES THIS LEGISLATION SOLVE???) is too much for me.
The bill defines female as: “an individual with ovaries who is confirmed before or at birth to have external anatomical characteristics that appear to have the purpose of performing the natural reproductive function of providing eggs and receiving sperm from a male donor.“
I wish I was kidding.
Link to legislation on Rewire.News
It is going to get so. much. worse.
posted by PontifexPrimus at 2:35 AM on January 25, 2019 [62 favorites]
BBC reports that ROGER STONE IS ARRESTED
posted by pxe2000 at 3:34 AM on January 25, 2019 [112 favorites]
posted by pxe2000 at 3:34 AM on January 25, 2019 [112 favorites]
More on Stone indictment from the NYT
posted by gusottertrout at 3:37 AM on January 25, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by gusottertrout at 3:37 AM on January 25, 2019 [12 favorites]
its_happening.gif
posted by PenDevil at 3:44 AM on January 25, 2019 [18 favorites]
posted by PenDevil at 3:44 AM on January 25, 2019 [18 favorites]
I love this observation from the NYT:
posted by stonepharisee at 3:45 AM on January 25, 2019 [20 favorites]
His brash behavior made him less of a subject of news media scrutiny than other current and former aides to President Trump — like the character in a whodunit who readers immediately dismiss as too obvious to have committed the crime.OTOH, everyone in this sorry drama is so obviously compromised and guilty, the reader might be forgiven for not knowing quite where to pay attention.
posted by stonepharisee at 3:45 AM on January 25, 2019 [20 favorites]
Kyle Griffin: Indictment: "By in or around June and July 2016, STONE informed senior Trump Campaign officials that he had info indicating Org. 1 had docs whose release would be damaging to the Clinton Campaign. The head of Org. 1 was located ... at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London."
posted by PenDevil at 3:46 AM on January 25, 2019 [49 favorites]
posted by PenDevil at 3:46 AM on January 25, 2019 [49 favorites]
Yes, and senior Trump Campaign officials are alleged to have instructed Stone to make contact to find out what Wikileaks had! This is a massive deal. It really might be its_happening.gif
posted by Justinian at 3:47 AM on January 25, 2019 [17 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 3:47 AM on January 25, 2019 [17 favorites]
Yeah, senior Trump campaign officials asking Stone about future Wikileaks releases is not a good look.
Kyle Griffin: Indictment: "During the summer of 2016, STONE spoke to senior Trump Campaign officials about Org. 1 and information it might have had that would be damaging to the Clinton Campaign. STONE was contacted by senior Trump Campaign officials to inquire about future releases by Org."
posted by chris24 at 3:52 AM on January 25, 2019 [7 favorites]
Kyle Griffin: Indictment: "During the summer of 2016, STONE spoke to senior Trump Campaign officials about Org. 1 and information it might have had that would be damaging to the Clinton Campaign. STONE was contacted by senior Trump Campaign officials to inquire about future releases by Org."
posted by chris24 at 3:52 AM on January 25, 2019 [7 favorites]
To the best of my legal understanding mere knowledge of future releases is not, in and of itself, illegal. However if they did anything, and I mean anything, differently because of it... as little as changing the date of a speech... that's conspiracy.
posted by Justinian at 3:54 AM on January 25, 2019 [18 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 3:54 AM on January 25, 2019 [18 favorites]
With the Roger Stone indictment, we can actually start to look forward to hearing questions about Hillary's emails again.
But the special counsel’s investigators spent months encircling Mr. Stone, renewing scrutiny about his role during the 2016 presidential race. Investigators interviewed former Trump campaign advisers and several of his associates about both about Mr. Stone’s fund-raising during the campaign and his contacts with WikiLeaks, one of the organizations that made thousands of Democratic emails public in the months before the election.
posted by gusottertrout at 3:54 AM on January 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
But the special counsel’s investigators spent months encircling Mr. Stone, renewing scrutiny about his role during the 2016 presidential race. Investigators interviewed former Trump campaign advisers and several of his associates about both about Mr. Stone’s fund-raising during the campaign and his contacts with WikiLeaks, one of the organizations that made thousands of Democratic emails public in the months before the election.
posted by gusottertrout at 3:54 AM on January 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
My wife just woke me with this news. It’s like Christmas here.
posted by Harry Caul at 4:07 AM on January 25, 2019 [36 favorites]
posted by Harry Caul at 4:07 AM on January 25, 2019 [36 favorites]
I think this is the ballgame:
posted by Justinian at 4:07 AM on January 25, 2019 [32 favorites]
12. After the July 22, 2016 release of stolen DNC emails by Organization 1, a senior Trump Campaign official was directed to contact STONE about any additional releases and what other damaging information Organization 1 had regarding the Clinton Campaign. STONE thereafter told the Trump Campaign about potential future releases of damaging material by Organization 1.Tell me, who can direct a senior Campaign Official to do anything? Someone above the senior Campaign Official. I can think of two people to whom that could refer... and they both have the same initials.
posted by Justinian at 4:07 AM on January 25, 2019 [32 favorites]
After further exchanges with STONE, Person 2 said, “I think it[’]s on for tomorrow.”
Apostrophic shade. [this is good.]
posted by emelenjr at 4:07 AM on January 25, 2019 [64 favorites]
Apostrophic shade. [this is good.]
posted by emelenjr at 4:07 AM on January 25, 2019 [64 favorites]
The "senior Trump campaign official" was Steve Bannon, right? Because...
Read the Emails: The Trump Campaign and Roger Stone (NYT)
"Mr. Bannon then contacted Mr. Stone directly, asking for insight into Mr. Assange’s plan."
Roger Stone reveals he talked to Trump campaign about WikiLeaks in 2016 (CNN)
posted by OnceUponATime at 4:10 AM on January 25, 2019 [9 favorites]
Read the Emails: The Trump Campaign and Roger Stone (NYT)
"Mr. Bannon then contacted Mr. Stone directly, asking for insight into Mr. Assange’s plan."
Roger Stone reveals he talked to Trump campaign about WikiLeaks in 2016 (CNN)
posted by OnceUponATime at 4:10 AM on January 25, 2019 [9 favorites]
I'm reading the beginning of the indictment, which reminds us about how the DNC and Podesta got hacked and that WikiLeaks had "h had previously posted documents stolen by others from U.S. persons, entities, and the U.S. government." And I just had this weird thought like ZING --
They were trying so hard to hack Hillary Clinton's emails. We know this now! And they couldn't. Why? Because she kept them on a private server with very few users who could be phished. And then she deleted all the work related ones. That must have been so frustrating for Russia. They could get into the State Department's servers; they could get Podesta's emails, the DNCs emails, but not HER EMAILS.
The so-called-crimes Trump thought she should be locked up for -- using a private email server and deleting the emails relating to her work for the state department -- are exactly the actions which kept the Russians from being able to access those emails, in the end.
I don't know why it took me so long to see it, but doesn't it feel like that's why Trump was so upset about HER EMAILS?
posted by OnceUponATime at 4:24 AM on January 25, 2019 [237 favorites]
They were trying so hard to hack Hillary Clinton's emails. We know this now! And they couldn't. Why? Because she kept them on a private server with very few users who could be phished. And then she deleted all the work related ones. That must have been so frustrating for Russia. They could get into the State Department's servers; they could get Podesta's emails, the DNCs emails, but not HER EMAILS.
The so-called-crimes Trump thought she should be locked up for -- using a private email server and deleting the emails relating to her work for the state department -- are exactly the actions which kept the Russians from being able to access those emails, in the end.
I don't know why it took me so long to see it, but doesn't it feel like that's why Trump was so upset about HER EMAILS?
posted by OnceUponATime at 4:24 AM on January 25, 2019 [237 favorites]
like the character in a whodunit who readers immediately dismiss as too obvious to have committed the crime.
You left out the part where he literally has a back tattoo of Richard Nixon.
No publisher would buy a novel that was this heavyhanded.
posted by schmod at 4:30 AM on January 25, 2019 [69 favorites]
You left out the part where he literally has a back tattoo of Richard Nixon.
No publisher would buy a novel that was this heavyhanded.
posted by schmod at 4:30 AM on January 25, 2019 [69 favorites]
Regardless of how far this will go, it's just wonderful to think that this menace on democracy will finally get the jail time he deserves.
posted by mumimor at 4:31 AM on January 25, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by mumimor at 4:31 AM on January 25, 2019 [8 favorites]
I don't know why it took me so long to see it, but doesn't it feel like that's why Trump was so upset about HER EMAILS?
posted by OnceUponATime at 8:24 PM on January 25 [4 favorites +] [!]
In a sense I agree, but I don't think it was his line or idea. A strategy that straightforwardly evil, which at the time would probably been to put pressure on her to release her emails in a fit of pique so they could find more dirt and/or accuse Hillary of being dangerous and liable to cave under pressure, is too smart for him. I think someone else was behind it, and I bet before this is over we find out who.
posted by saysthis at 4:32 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by OnceUponATime at 8:24 PM on January 25 [4 favorites +] [!]
In a sense I agree, but I don't think it was his line or idea. A strategy that straightforwardly evil, which at the time would probably been to put pressure on her to release her emails in a fit of pique so they could find more dirt and/or accuse Hillary of being dangerous and liable to cave under pressure, is too smart for him. I think someone else was behind it, and I bet before this is over we find out who.
posted by saysthis at 4:32 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
(she deleted the ones NOT related to work sorry)
posted by OnceUponATime at 4:32 AM on January 25, 2019 [16 favorites]
posted by OnceUponATime at 4:32 AM on January 25, 2019 [16 favorites]
CNN’s coverage of Stone’s arrest includes colorful details from the FBI: Roger Stone indicted on charges brought by special counsel
posted by Doktor Zed at 4:37 AM on January 25, 2019 [42 favorites]
A number of law enforcement vehicles with silent sirens flashing pulled in front of Stone's home on a darkened Ft. Lauderdale street just after 6 a.m. Friday morning.Individual 1’s Twitter account has yet to say anything this morning about the arrest of another of his campaign managers (in another predawn raid), but here’s hoping for the trifecta with Steve Bannon!
About a dozen officers with heavy weapons and tactical vests fanned out across Stone's lawn.
Law enforcement shined a flashlight into Stone's front door before one officer rapped against it, shouting, "FBI. Open the door."
Seconds later, the agent shouted, "FBI. Warrant."
A floor light turned on and moments later, Stone appeared in the front entryway. He confirmed who he was to law enforcement.
posted by Doktor Zed at 4:37 AM on January 25, 2019 [42 favorites]
In case it wasn't clear, they knew the emails were hacked by Russia at the time they worked with WL.
Greg Sargent (WaPo)
Here's something.
It became public in June of 2016 that Russia was behind DNC email hack, per WaPo reporting.
It was *after* this that a senior Trump campaign official was "directed" by ______ to contact Stone about any further unreleased hacked info that might be forthcoming.
Greg Sargent (WaPo)
Here's something.
It became public in June of 2016 that Russia was behind DNC email hack, per WaPo reporting.
It was *after* this that a senior Trump campaign official was "directed" by ______ to contact Stone about any further unreleased hacked info that might be forthcoming.
After the July 22, 2016 release of stolen DNC emails by Organization 1, a senior Trump Campaign official was directed to contact STONE about any additional releases and what other damaging information Organization 1 had regarding the Clinton Campaign. STONE thereafter told the Trump Campaign about potential future releases of damaging material by Organization 1.posted by chris24 at 4:40 AM on January 25, 2019 [26 favorites]
Speaking of CNN - the biggest MAGA-Twitter response has so far been that "say, isn't it strange that CNN just conveniently happened to be there to get video of the FBI arresting him?"
And by "isn't it strange" I mean that they're already booting up the fake-news-this-is-like-stasi-germany spin machine.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:40 AM on January 25, 2019 [9 favorites]
And by "isn't it strange" I mean that they're already booting up the fake-news-this-is-like-stasi-germany spin machine.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:40 AM on January 25, 2019 [9 favorites]
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I can't wait to see Trump's tweets today.
posted by Rykey at 4:40 AM on January 25, 2019 [13 favorites]
posted by Rykey at 4:40 AM on January 25, 2019 [13 favorites]
In case it wasn't clear, they knew the emails were hacked by Russia at the time they worked with WL.
And after the big outrage of "Russia if you're listening" which was July 13th, 2016. So even after that, they reached out to Wikileaks to use Russian hacked emails.
posted by chris24 at 4:46 AM on January 25, 2019 [11 favorites]
And after the big outrage of "Russia if you're listening" which was July 13th, 2016. So even after that, they reached out to Wikileaks to use Russian hacked emails.
posted by chris24 at 4:46 AM on January 25, 2019 [11 favorites]
Reminder: Trump brought up Wikileaks and the hacked emails over 160 times in the last month of the campaign.
posted by chris24 at 4:49 AM on January 25, 2019 [46 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 4:49 AM on January 25, 2019 [46 favorites]
Neal Katyal (fmr Acting Solicitor General)
A simple 3 step guide to understanding the morning’s news:
1. Read tweet below
2. Read Mueller indictment of Roger Stone
3. Ask yourself why a sitting President of the US would have felt compelled to tweet the below. At some point, # of criminals surrounding Trump not coincidence
Michael Grunwald (Politico)
Maybe Trump is innocent even though his political guru, legal fixer, campaign manager (& deputy) & national security adviser were crooked.
• You hear lots of WITCH HUNT and HILLARY’S WORSE but you rarely hear: Trump’s an ethical follow-the-law guy who inadvertently hired crooks.
Alex Finley (for CIA)
Don't forget this other part of the story. After Corsi wrote to Stone on Aug. 2, 2016 to start focusing on Hillary's health, InfoWars began running such stories on Aug. 4, and National Enquirer ran one Aug. 8. Probably just a coincidence though.
Blake Hounshell (Politico)
How long has a CNN crew been sitting outside Stone’s house? Months?
Kaitlan Collins (CNN)
Retweeted Blake Hounshell
That would be @davidgshortell. He said on air that he got to Stone's house early this morning after they noticed some unusual grand jury activity in Washington yesterday.
posted by chris24 at 5:17 AM on January 25, 2019 [67 favorites]
A simple 3 step guide to understanding the morning’s news:
1. Read tweet below
2. Read Mueller indictment of Roger Stone
3. Ask yourself why a sitting President of the US would have felt compelled to tweet the below. At some point, # of criminals surrounding Trump not coincidence
@realDonaldTrump: “I will never testify against Trump.” This statement was recently made by Roger Stone, essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about “President Trump.” Nice to know that some people still have “guts!”
Michael Grunwald (Politico)
Maybe Trump is innocent even though his political guru, legal fixer, campaign manager (& deputy) & national security adviser were crooked.
• You hear lots of WITCH HUNT and HILLARY’S WORSE but you rarely hear: Trump’s an ethical follow-the-law guy who inadvertently hired crooks.
Alex Finley (for CIA)
Don't forget this other part of the story. After Corsi wrote to Stone on Aug. 2, 2016 to start focusing on Hillary's health, InfoWars began running such stories on Aug. 4, and National Enquirer ran one Aug. 8. Probably just a coincidence though.
Blake Hounshell (Politico)
How long has a CNN crew been sitting outside Stone’s house? Months?
Kaitlan Collins (CNN)
Retweeted Blake Hounshell
That would be @davidgshortell. He said on air that he got to Stone's house early this morning after they noticed some unusual grand jury activity in Washington yesterday.
posted by chris24 at 5:17 AM on January 25, 2019 [67 favorites]
Does make you wonder who else's houses CNN is staking out at dawn every morning after there's unusual grand jury activity. Bannon's? Jared and Ivanka's?
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:20 AM on January 25, 2019 [34 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:20 AM on January 25, 2019 [34 favorites]
I can’t express how happy I am waking up to hear that Roger Freaking Stone, the human equivalent of a rusty heroin needle, has finally been arrested for Aggravated Ratfuckery in the First Degree.
Finally, after fifty years of just lounging in its underwear watching tv, the Arc of the Moral Universe got up off the sofa and went knocking on Stone’s door this morning.
posted by darkstar at 5:26 AM on January 25, 2019 [98 favorites]
Finally, after fifty years of just lounging in its underwear watching tv, the Arc of the Moral Universe got up off the sofa and went knocking on Stone’s door this morning.
posted by darkstar at 5:26 AM on January 25, 2019 [98 favorites]
OTOH, everyone in this sorry drama is so obviously compromised and guilty, the reader might be forgiven for not knowing quite where to pay attention.
It's like the Clue movie. You can swap out the villains and it still hangs together.
Eric is a red herring.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:34 AM on January 25, 2019 [24 favorites]
It's like the Clue movie. You can swap out the villains and it still hangs together.
Eric is a red herring.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:34 AM on January 25, 2019 [24 favorites]
TPM: "A person familiar with the situation confirmed to TPM that the unnamed official is Bannon."
--
Gee, wonder who in Trump & Co has the juice to order Bannon to do something.
posted by chris24 at 5:34 AM on January 25, 2019 [44 favorites]
--
Gee, wonder who in Trump & Co has the juice to order Bannon to do something.
posted by chris24 at 5:34 AM on January 25, 2019 [44 favorites]
You left out the part where he literally has a back tattoo of Richard Nixon.
Snopes:
Snopes:
He has boasted that the tattoo is a hit with the ladies. “You’ll never meet another man with a dick in the front and a dick in the back,” he offered, as we descended the stairs and rounded the corner to a local diner.posted by pracowity at 5:39 AM on January 25, 2019 [27 favorites]
@CrimeADay 18 USC §1505 makes it a federal crime to corruptly try to influence, obstruct, or impede an inquiry or investigation being conducted by either House, or any committee of either House or any joint committee of the Congress.
posted by scalefree at 5:41 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by scalefree at 5:41 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
Even if the Mueller investigation doesn't make it to Individual 1 in time to prompt impeachment hearings before the end of his term, I really like the precedent he's establishing: if you work with Trump in any senior capacity, we'll find out what you did, Orange Julius will disavow you, and you'll go to prison for the crimes he ordered you to commit. At the bare minimum, this should make Trump so radioactive that no right-minded person would even consider working for his campaign in 2020.
Now we just need a couple of state AGs to step up and start pressing charges for the crimes committed in their jurisdictions, to drive home the point that even if he pardons you for the federal stuff, you will still rot in jail for Trump's crimes.
posted by Mayor West at 5:43 AM on January 25, 2019 [13 favorites]
Now we just need a couple of state AGs to step up and start pressing charges for the crimes committed in their jurisdictions, to drive home the point that even if he pardons you for the federal stuff, you will still rot in jail for Trump's crimes.
posted by Mayor West at 5:43 AM on January 25, 2019 [13 favorites]
Reminder: The FBI agents who arrested Stone were working unpaid.
posted by chris24 at 5:43 AM on January 25, 2019 [159 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 5:43 AM on January 25, 2019 [159 favorites]
HAHAHAHAHA!!!
Betsy Woodruff (Daily Beast)
Last night Stone texted me this CNN story, which pointed out that he had not been indicted
posted by chris24 at 5:50 AM on January 25, 2019 [49 favorites]
Betsy Woodruff (Daily Beast)
Last night Stone texted me this CNN story, which pointed out that he had not been indicted
posted by chris24 at 5:50 AM on January 25, 2019 [49 favorites]
My rep and Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee who would begin impeachment proceedings.
Rep. Jerry Nadler
Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, Rick Gates, Michael Flynn... What did the President know and when did he know it?
posted by chris24 at 5:54 AM on January 25, 2019 [65 favorites]
Rep. Jerry Nadler
Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, Rick Gates, Michael Flynn... What did the President know and when did he know it?
posted by chris24 at 5:54 AM on January 25, 2019 [65 favorites]
Marcy Wheeler points out the timing of Mueller's raid on Stone:
And by the way, "The reason Mueller focuses on Stone's threats against Toto is bc witness tampering with threats of violence bring up to 20 years punishment."
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:55 AM on January 25, 2019 [43 favorites]
One thing I noted earlier this month: Mueller said nothing abt the content of abt half of Manafort's interviews w/SCO, and we know he was asked abt Stone. That prolly partly explains timing of this raid.Manafort's court appearance today may prove almost as interesting as Stone's arrest.
https://www.emptywheel.net/2019/01/16/manafort-was-pursuing-a-ukrainian-peace-deal-well-after-he-was-charged-for-lying-about-being-an-agent-of-ukraine/Indeed, unless I’m missing them or the discussions were redacted, the details provided in this filing address only lies told at about half of Manafort’s meetings with prosecutors (September 20, 21, October 1, 16) and a grand jury appearance on October 26 where they sprung both the 2018 peace efforts and 2018 communications on him. I believe there are no unredacted details about his three meetings on September 25, 26, and 27 or his grand jury appearance on November 2, a period when Mueller was also focused closely on Roger Stone. This filing doesn’t tell us whether Manafort told the truth in those sessions.
And by the way, "The reason Mueller focuses on Stone's threats against Toto is bc witness tampering with threats of violence bring up to 20 years punishment."
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:55 AM on January 25, 2019 [43 favorites]
Also from Marcy Wheeler: The reason Mueller focuses on Stone's threats against Toto is bc witness tampering with threats of violence bring up to 20 years punishment.
That's a lot of leverage.
posted by PenDevil at 5:56 AM on January 25, 2019 [14 favorites]
That's a lot of leverage.
posted by PenDevil at 5:56 AM on January 25, 2019 [14 favorites]
Is Congress Putting Mueller’s Probe At Risk By Subpoenaing His Witnesses? (Tierney Sneed, TPM)
“There are risks, even if Mueller is on board with certain questions being asked,” said Randall Samborn, a former prosecutor who served as a spokesperson for the Patrick Fitzgerald investigation into the Valerie Plame leak.posted by ZeusHumms at 6:02 AM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
“If you’re in a forum where he can’t control the questioning and that witness is compelled to answer, there could be some collision of interests that can definitely muddy the waters,” Samborn said.
...
In almost any situation — regardless how high-profile or politically sensitive a federal investigation is — prosecutors would be resistant to the idea of their witnesses saying anything under oath, or even just publicly, outside of the forums in which the feds want their testimony.
“No [prosecutor] ever wants a witness to go on the record more than necessary,” said Paul Rosenzweig, who worked on the Whitewater investigation. “You want the story that they tell — at trial, say — to be the only time they tell the story under oath, so there’s no room for inconsistencies, no changes, nothing.”
@realDonaldTrump: “I will never testify against Trump.” This statement was recently made by Roger Stone, essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about “President Trump.” Nice to know that some people still have “guts!”
Lawfare, from December: Is Donald Trump's Tweet About Roger Stone Witness Tampering? (Short answer: It's "far from a slam dunk", but "the president’s larger course of conduct is relevant to demonstrating his overall obstructive intent".)
P.S. The Hyucking Hyuck thread is on fire this morning!
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:04 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
Lawfare, from December: Is Donald Trump's Tweet About Roger Stone Witness Tampering? (Short answer: It's "far from a slam dunk", but "the president’s larger course of conduct is relevant to demonstrating his overall obstructive intent".)
P.S. The Hyucking Hyuck thread is on fire this morning!
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:04 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
To summarize, the indictment charges seven counts:
Count 1: Obstruction - in violation of Title 18, United States Code Sections 1505 and 2.
Counts 2-6: Making False Statements - in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1001(a)(2) and 2.
Count 7: Witness Tampering - in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1512(b)(1).
Interesting note: none of these counts are for actually engaging in manipulating the election with the Wikileaks email stuff. They are all about the attempted cover-up of those deeds by lying, witness tampering, and otherwise impeding Mueller’s investigation.
So this has got to be the opening gambit on Stone to get him to plea down, in exchange for flipping him to get the dirt on the actual election misdeeds Individual 1 and family engaged in, right?
posted by darkstar at 6:05 AM on January 25, 2019 [17 favorites]
Count 1: Obstruction - in violation of Title 18, United States Code Sections 1505 and 2.
Counts 2-6: Making False Statements - in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1001(a)(2) and 2.
Count 7: Witness Tampering - in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1512(b)(1).
Interesting note: none of these counts are for actually engaging in manipulating the election with the Wikileaks email stuff. They are all about the attempted cover-up of those deeds by lying, witness tampering, and otherwise impeding Mueller’s investigation.
So this has got to be the opening gambit on Stone to get him to plea down, in exchange for flipping him to get the dirt on the actual election misdeeds Individual 1 and family engaged in, right?
posted by darkstar at 6:05 AM on January 25, 2019 [17 favorites]
And after the big outrage of "Russia if you're listening" which was July 13th, 2016.
Sorry, this was actually July 27th. So just after they directed Stone to work with Wikileaks, Trump reached out the source.
posted by chris24 at 6:06 AM on January 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
Sorry, this was actually July 27th. So just after they directed Stone to work with Wikileaks, Trump reached out the source.
posted by chris24 at 6:06 AM on January 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
Guys I think I might know why Steve Bannon fled to Europe
posted by schadenfrau at 6:09 AM on January 25, 2019 [75 favorites]
posted by schadenfrau at 6:09 AM on January 25, 2019 [75 favorites]
Reminder: The FBI agents who arrested Stone were working unpaid.
Sometimes the job is its own reward. They must have enjoyed knocking on his door this morning.
posted by pracowity at 6:11 AM on January 25, 2019 [16 favorites]
Sometimes the job is its own reward. They must have enjoyed knocking on his door this morning.
posted by pracowity at 6:11 AM on January 25, 2019 [16 favorites]
So we’re assuming this is the opening gambit on Stone to get him to plea down, in exchange for flipping him to get the dirt on the actual election misdeeds Individual 1 and family engaged in, right?
Renato Mariotti
THREAD: What does the indictment of Roger Stone tell us?
1/ Today Roger Stone was arrested in the early morning at his home pursuant to a seven-count indictment that charged him with one count of obstructing the House Intel Committee's Russia investigation, five counts of lying to House Intel, and one count of witness tampering.
2/ The indictment contains many explosive allegations that will have political consequences, alleging that Stone sought stolen emails from WikiLeaks that could damage Trump's opponents at the direction of "a senior Trump Campaign official."
3/ Pursuant to Justice Department policy, the names of all of the individuals who have not been charged are not disclosed. Two people are discussed throughout the indictment and members of the public have already identified Person 1 as @jerome_corsi and Person 2 as Randy Credico.
4/ The indictment also discusses a "senior Trump campaign official who"was directed to contact Stone about any additional releases and what other damaging information [WikiLeaks] had regarding the Clinton Campaign." It's unclear who it is or who could have directed the official.
5/ A "high-ranking Trump campaign official" is described later in the indictment having contact with Stone through intermediaries about the WikiLeaks hacked emails. One of those emails was previously published by @nytimes and they identified the official as Steve Bannon.
6/ Much of the discussion will be about the facts alleged by the grand jury in the indictment, because they're significant. They show that some Trump Campaign officials were eager for Wikileaks to continue to distribute hacked emails and a desire to coordinate with Wikileaks.
7/ But I want to talk about the charges and the legal consequences. Many of you are asking me why Stone was charged with lying to Congress, obstruction, and witness tampering instead of "bigger" crimes (your words, not mine) like conspiracy to defraud the United States.
8/ As I've said many times, federal prosecutors tend to bring narrowly-drawn charges and charge only with overwhelming evidence, because proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt is really difficult. (Here is a piece I wrote about this for Time Magazine.)
9/ Mueller has almost certainly considered charging Stone with conspiring with Wikileaks. But to do so he would need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Stone and some individual at Wikileaks agreed together to commit a crime. That agreement wouldn't be written down, either.
10/ So Mueller would have to prove that agreement through other communications between Stone and the Wikileaks individual. He'd have to prove not just that Wikileaks told Stone about distributing stolen materials but that Stone agreed to play some role in doing so.
11/ This doesn't necessarily mean that Stone won't be charged with additional crimes, but today's charges likely represent what Mueller believes he can prove beyond a reasonable doubt right now. It's unlikely that he can charge Stone with more right now and is holding it back.
12/ Although Stone famously said that he would "never flip" on Trump, who has praised him for having "guts" for not flipping, the crimes Stone is charged with could result in a significant prison sentence.
13/ You may hear some media outlets talking about the many years Stone *could* go to prison for. That is true, but typically sentences are far below the maximum possible. A good starting point is the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
14/ The relevant guideline here is 2J1.2, which would result in a Guidelines range of 15 to 21 months in prison. That would go up to 24 to 30 months if "the offense resulted in substantial interference with the administration of justice."
15/ (You won't find those ranges on the link above. I had to plug them into a separate chart.)
The guidelines could be much higher if the judge found that Stone "threatened to cause physical injury to a person" when he told Credico to "prepare to die."
posted by chris24 at 6:11 AM on January 25, 2019 [35 favorites]
Renato Mariotti
THREAD: What does the indictment of Roger Stone tell us?
1/ Today Roger Stone was arrested in the early morning at his home pursuant to a seven-count indictment that charged him with one count of obstructing the House Intel Committee's Russia investigation, five counts of lying to House Intel, and one count of witness tampering.
2/ The indictment contains many explosive allegations that will have political consequences, alleging that Stone sought stolen emails from WikiLeaks that could damage Trump's opponents at the direction of "a senior Trump Campaign official."
3/ Pursuant to Justice Department policy, the names of all of the individuals who have not been charged are not disclosed. Two people are discussed throughout the indictment and members of the public have already identified Person 1 as @jerome_corsi and Person 2 as Randy Credico.
4/ The indictment also discusses a "senior Trump campaign official who"was directed to contact Stone about any additional releases and what other damaging information [WikiLeaks] had regarding the Clinton Campaign." It's unclear who it is or who could have directed the official.
5/ A "high-ranking Trump campaign official" is described later in the indictment having contact with Stone through intermediaries about the WikiLeaks hacked emails. One of those emails was previously published by @nytimes and they identified the official as Steve Bannon.
6/ Much of the discussion will be about the facts alleged by the grand jury in the indictment, because they're significant. They show that some Trump Campaign officials were eager for Wikileaks to continue to distribute hacked emails and a desire to coordinate with Wikileaks.
7/ But I want to talk about the charges and the legal consequences. Many of you are asking me why Stone was charged with lying to Congress, obstruction, and witness tampering instead of "bigger" crimes (your words, not mine) like conspiracy to defraud the United States.
8/ As I've said many times, federal prosecutors tend to bring narrowly-drawn charges and charge only with overwhelming evidence, because proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt is really difficult. (Here is a piece I wrote about this for Time Magazine.)
9/ Mueller has almost certainly considered charging Stone with conspiring with Wikileaks. But to do so he would need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Stone and some individual at Wikileaks agreed together to commit a crime. That agreement wouldn't be written down, either.
10/ So Mueller would have to prove that agreement through other communications between Stone and the Wikileaks individual. He'd have to prove not just that Wikileaks told Stone about distributing stolen materials but that Stone agreed to play some role in doing so.
11/ This doesn't necessarily mean that Stone won't be charged with additional crimes, but today's charges likely represent what Mueller believes he can prove beyond a reasonable doubt right now. It's unlikely that he can charge Stone with more right now and is holding it back.
12/ Although Stone famously said that he would "never flip" on Trump, who has praised him for having "guts" for not flipping, the crimes Stone is charged with could result in a significant prison sentence.
13/ You may hear some media outlets talking about the many years Stone *could* go to prison for. That is true, but typically sentences are far below the maximum possible. A good starting point is the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
14/ The relevant guideline here is 2J1.2, which would result in a Guidelines range of 15 to 21 months in prison. That would go up to 24 to 30 months if "the offense resulted in substantial interference with the administration of justice."
15/ (You won't find those ranges on the link above. I had to plug them into a separate chart.)
The guidelines could be much higher if the judge found that Stone "threatened to cause physical injury to a person" when he told Credico to "prepare to die."
posted by chris24 at 6:11 AM on January 25, 2019 [35 favorites]
CNN tweeted out a snippet of its exclusive footage:
“FBI. Open the door.”posted by ZeusHumms at 6:13 AM on January 25, 2019 [23 favorites]
Julian Sanchez:
Most interesting thing to my mind in the Stone indictment: There’s a direct quote where Stone asks to move a sensitive conversation to an encrypted channel, but all the other references are to plaintext e-mails or SMS conversations. Obvious question: Did Mueller have access to Stone’s WhatsApp messages or other encrypted channels? One obvious reason to lie about whether he had written comms with Corsi or Credico would be to forestall a subpoena or warrant for those comms. This *implies* that they did, or at least learned the substance of the WhatsApp communication, but seems conspicuously vague about how, relative to other descriptions. We go from the specific “texted” or “sent an e-mail” to the more nebulous “told.” It seems odd Stone’s most incriminating exchanges would be in the clear given his clear preference to switch to a secure channel for sensitive conversations. The indictment seems written to deliberately preserve ambiguity about the extent of Mueller’s access to WhatsApp comms. Also, the heavy-handed pre-dawn arrest with a dozen FBI agents seems unlikely to be motivated by fear Stone would come out guns blazing. The plausible reason you’d do that is if there’s additional evidence you want to secure & prevent him from being able to wipe/lock quickly. I don’t recall any prior report of any execution of a search warrant to directly access physical endpoint devices in Stone’s possession. Which would be the only way to gain full access to his encrypted comms with any & all parties. Might THAT be the real goal? The sections on Stone’s alleged obstruction & false testimony also read like a search warrant application: They’re an argument that Stone sought to conceal the existence of relevant written comms, ergo could not be trusted to produce them in response to a subpoena. That said... I can’t imagine Stone wouldn’t have deleted local copies of anything really incriminating long, long ago. So if that’s an aim, I don’t know how much material of value they’re likely to get out of it. FWIW, I note that CNN describes the arrest as happening “just after the hour” of 6 am. In other words, literally the earliest possible moment they could do it without getting a judge to authorize an exception to Rule 41’s presumption warrants are executed in “daytime” hours. More generally, this doesn’t seem like one of Mueller’s “speaking indictments”—almost everything in there was already on the public record. With only a couple exceptions, it turns vague as soon as it gestures in the direction of anything not already reported. I also note Mueller’s previous filings have shown clear interest in Stone’s communications with “Guccifer 2.0”—no mention of that here. On Stone’s version of events, he traded a few DMs with Guccifer, but never responded to offers of help from the hacker.posted by T.D. Strange at 6:13 AM on January 25, 2019 [24 favorites]
Reminder: The FBI agents who arrested Stone were working unpaid.
The Atlantic's Natasha Bertrand: The Wheels of Justice Are Grinding to a Halt—FBI agents say the government shutdown is costing them confidential sources, postponing indictments, and shutting down investigations.
Sometimes the job is its own reward. They must have enjoyed knocking on his door this morning.
Aspen Institute's Cybersecurity & Technology Program's Aspen Cyber's Garrett Graf: "Worth mentioning: No other Mueller target has been treated to a full FBI arrest raid. Everyone else has turned themselves in civilly. Bureau must've felt Stone either would have fled or destroyed evidence (or both)."
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:16 AM on January 25, 2019 [47 favorites]
The Atlantic's Natasha Bertrand: The Wheels of Justice Are Grinding to a Halt—FBI agents say the government shutdown is costing them confidential sources, postponing indictments, and shutting down investigations.
Sometimes the job is its own reward. They must have enjoyed knocking on his door this morning.
Aspen Institute's Cybersecurity & Technology Program's Aspen Cyber's Garrett Graf: "Worth mentioning: No other Mueller target has been treated to a full FBI arrest raid. Everyone else has turned themselves in civilly. Bureau must've felt Stone either would have fled or destroyed evidence (or both)."
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:16 AM on January 25, 2019 [47 favorites]
Everyone Who’s Been Charged in Investigations Related to the 2016 Election
Just a reminder of where we are from the NYT (recently updated)
posted by bluesky43 at 6:22 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
Just a reminder of where we are from the NYT (recently updated)
posted by bluesky43 at 6:22 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
The plausible reason you’d do that is if there’s additional evidence you want to secure & prevent him from being able to wipe/lock quickly.
@yashar | Yashar Ali: "A source confirms that the FBI has also raided Roger Stone’s apartment in Manhattan on 117th street."
"CNN’s @SaraMurray just confirmed this and that the FBI called Kristin Davis who shares this duplex with Stone to let her know they’d be searching the apartment. Murray says the FBI did this because Davis has a young child. She told authorities that she moved a week ago."
posted by Buntix at 6:25 AM on January 25, 2019 [23 favorites]
@yashar | Yashar Ali: "A source confirms that the FBI has also raided Roger Stone’s apartment in Manhattan on 117th street."
"CNN’s @SaraMurray just confirmed this and that the FBI called Kristin Davis who shares this duplex with Stone to let her know they’d be searching the apartment. Murray says the FBI did this because Davis has a young child. She told authorities that she moved a week ago."
posted by Buntix at 6:25 AM on January 25, 2019 [23 favorites]
Guys I think I might know why Steve Bannon fled to Europe
I had to check, so here is the Agreement on extradition between the European Union and the United States of America
posted by mumimor at 6:31 AM on January 25, 2019 [10 favorites]
I had to check, so here is the Agreement on extradition between the European Union and the United States of America
posted by mumimor at 6:31 AM on January 25, 2019 [10 favorites]
Brian Winter:
Maybe everybody has a story like this (?)I was on the late Acela DC-->NY in April 2017 when I heard this guy BELLOWING into his phone: "Unless you fire Pompeo I'm gonna f--k you guys, I swear it!" I had zero interest in listening to this guy but he was S-C-R-E-A-M-I-N-G and a row ahead of me. I couldn't see his face. Eventually old journalist's instinct kicked in and I took out earbuds "Fire him or I'm gonna go on Infowars and mount a campaign! You'll see!" Earlier that day Pompeo, then CIA director, had said this: The screaming continued for at least 15 minutes, multiple conversations. "I'll f--k you! I'll do it!" All of us on train were looking at each other, bewildered. Finally the guy calmed down. I still didn't know who it was. Half-hour later a young guy walking through aisle of train stops and says - "Hey man, haven't I seen you on TV? Like Bill Maher?" And the screamer stands up, smiles: "Yes. I'm Roger Stone."posted by T.D. Strange at 6:33 AM on January 25, 2019 [87 favorites]
Anyway I suspect many have similar stories.
Today's news didn't exactly shock me
@NYCSouthPaw: "This indictment really has everything."
NYT's Amy Ficus: "F.B.I. agents were also seen carting hard drives and other evidence from Mr. Stone’s apartment in Harlem, The New York Times reported."
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:39 AM on January 25, 2019 [30 favorites]
e. On multiple occasions, including on or about December 1, 2017, STONE told Person 2 that Person 2 should do a “Frank Pentangeli” before HPSCI in order to avoid contradicting STONE’s testimony. Frank Pentangeli is a character in the film The Godfather: Part II, which both STONE and Person 2 had discussed, who testifies before a congressional committee and in that testimony claims not to know critical information that he does in fact know.A source confirms that the FBI has also raided Roger Stone’s apartment in Manhattan on 117th street.
f. On or about December 1, 2017, STONE texted Person 2, “And if you turned over anything to the FBI you’re a fool.” Later that day, Person 2 texted STONE, “You need to amend your testimony before I testify on the 15th.” STONE responded, “If you testify you’re a fool. Because of tromp I could never get away with a certain [sic] my Fifth Amendment rights but you can. I guarantee you you are the one who gets indicted for perjury if you’re stupid enough to testify.”
NYT's Amy Ficus: "F.B.I. agents were also seen carting hard drives and other evidence from Mr. Stone’s apartment in Harlem, The New York Times reported."
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:39 AM on January 25, 2019 [30 favorites]
You left out the part where he literally has a back tattoo of Richard Nixon.
I always assumed he was BSing about that, but [real].
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:41 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
I always assumed he was BSing about that, but [real].
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:41 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
Here's a refresher of Roger Stone's involvement with Watergate: FBI Documents on Roger Stone Reveal Sabotage, Espionage, and the Life of a Serial Bagman.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 6:42 AM on January 25, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by 1970s Antihero at 6:42 AM on January 25, 2019 [11 favorites]
CNN: Sanders Says Stone Indictment Has Nothing to Do With Trump
SHS's statement isn't exactly a ringing endorsement of Trump's innocence: “The charges brought against Mr. Stone have nothing to do with the president, has nothing to do with the White House. […] The president did nothing wrong. There was no collusion on his part.”
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:47 AM on January 25, 2019 [6 favorites]
SHS's statement isn't exactly a ringing endorsement of Trump's innocence: “The charges brought against Mr. Stone have nothing to do with the president, has nothing to do with the White House. […] The president did nothing wrong. There was no collusion on his part.”
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:47 AM on January 25, 2019 [6 favorites]
Meanwhile, Krugman is worried: The Sum of Some Global Fears
posted by mumimor at 6:48 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
The last global economic crisis, for all its complex detail, had one big, simple cause: A huge housing and debt bubble had emerged in both the United States and Europe, and it took the world economy down when it deflated.He gets to Trump in there, but the main point I think is that someone should be taking care of the economy and no one is.
The previous, milder recession, in 2001, also had a single cause: the bursting of a bubble in technology stocks and investment (remember Pets.com?).
But the slump before that, in 1990-91, was a messier story. It was a smorgasbord recession — a downturn with multiple causes, ranging from the troubles of savings and loan institutions, to a glut of office buildings, to falling military spending at the end of the Cold War.
The best guess is that the next downturn will similarly involve a mix of troubles, rather than one big thing. And over the past few months we’ve started to see how it could happen. It’s by no means certain that a recession is looming, but some of our fears are beginning to come true.
posted by mumimor at 6:48 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
One thing that bears repeating in this context, especially given how much Trump's henchmen and Russian minders are going to try to spin Stone's arrest and the entire conspiracy to defraud the United States, is how there are basically two explanations for all the criminals and crooks around Individual 1. Either he was in on the conspiracy and directed it to some degree from the very top of the "campaign" OR Individual 1 is too stupid and incompetent to properly vet people who work for him. Or both. It's probably both.
Whatever the explanation, it (again) shows that Individual 1 is completely unsuited to be in the White House.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 6:51 AM on January 25, 2019 [45 favorites]
Whatever the explanation, it (again) shows that Individual 1 is completely unsuited to be in the White House.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 6:51 AM on January 25, 2019 [45 favorites]
I've done some blog-level research on Stone. He is a seriously creepy dude. He covers up his crimes by confessing to other crimes which he never did. He has that Roy Cohn vibe with even more sleaze and less competency.
I read his book about the Bushes (with a book blurb endorsement from Trump). Stone runs down all the murders the Bushes supposedly committed, including JFK. The writing is so poor, it reads like an unedited screed.
If you told me he ran a child-trafficking scheme, I would believe it.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:55 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
I read his book about the Bushes (with a book blurb endorsement from Trump). Stone runs down all the murders the Bushes supposedly committed, including JFK. The writing is so poor, it reads like an unedited screed.
If you told me he ran a child-trafficking scheme, I would believe it.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:55 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
Marcy Wheeler: The reason Mueller focuses on Stone's threats against Toto is bc witness tampering with threats of violence bring up to 20 years punishment.
REMINDER: Section 1512 offenses are also RICO predicate offenses.
posted by mikelieman at 6:56 AM on January 25, 2019 [9 favorites]
REMINDER: Section 1512 offenses are also RICO predicate offenses.
posted by mikelieman at 6:56 AM on January 25, 2019 [9 favorites]
@justinsink says
posted by Brainy at 7:02 AM on January 25, 2019 [58 favorites]
FAA HALTS FLIGHTS INTO N.Y.'S LAGUARDIA ON AIR TRAFIC CONTROL STAFF SHORTAGESeems like this might put pressure on a certain president. Luckily nothing is going on for him today.
posted by Brainy at 7:02 AM on January 25, 2019 [58 favorites]
Bloomberg is reporting that flights are no longer coming into LaGuardia on the orders of the FAA due to a shortage of ATC staff.
posted by zombieflanders at 7:03 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by zombieflanders at 7:03 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
CNN: Sanders Says Stone Indictment Has Nothing to Do With Trump
"The president did nothing wrong. There was no collusion on his part.”
As per Rudy earlier this week, the goal posts are moving...
posted by cudzoo at 7:04 AM on January 25, 2019 [18 favorites]
"The president did nothing wrong. There was no collusion on his part.”
As per Rudy earlier this week, the goal posts are moving...
posted by cudzoo at 7:04 AM on January 25, 2019 [18 favorites]
From the "Roger Stone is going out for Pizza CNN article:
"One of the attorneys reached out to Mueller's team roughly a year ago to let them know Stone had legal representation. It was an "if you ever need us, here's an address" type of contact, Smith said. Mueller's team never reached out."
Bob Mueller never had and never will have any intention of interviewing I-1.
posted by mikelieman at 7:05 AM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
"One of the attorneys reached out to Mueller's team roughly a year ago to let them know Stone had legal representation. It was an "if you ever need us, here's an address" type of contact, Smith said. Mueller's team never reached out."
Bob Mueller never had and never will have any intention of interviewing I-1.
posted by mikelieman at 7:05 AM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
Sanders also said that Mueller was supposed to be investigating whether the president colluded. Um no, it was to investigate Russian interference and related matters but nice try at moving goalposts for the nth time.
posted by chris24 at 7:05 AM on January 25, 2019 [31 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 7:05 AM on January 25, 2019 [31 favorites]
From the FAA's website (which may well be on a delay in updating? who knows...)
Due to OTHER / ZDC + ZJX STAFFING and OTHER / STAFFING, there is a Traffic Management Program in effect for traffic arriving La Guardia Airport, New York, NY (LGA). This is causing some arriving flights to be delayed an average of 41 minutes. To see if you may be affected, select your departure airport and check "Delays by Destination".posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 7:07 AM on January 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
Also, FlightAware has the following to say about LGA and EWR.
LGA:
LGA:
inbound flights delayed at their origin an average of 41 minutesEWR
departure delays of 30 minutes to 44 minutes (and decreasing) due to a ground stop
all inbound flights being held at their origin until Friday at 10:45AM EST
Newark Liberty Intl (KEWR) is currently experiencing departure delays of 46 minutes to 1 hours (and increasing) due to an air traffic management program.posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 7:11 AM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
You can watch the map turn from green to yellow to red in realtime, if you like: https://www.fly.faa.gov/flyfaa/nemap.jsp
EWR and PHL are already backed up by over an hour, since so many of the flights there are departing for LGA and can't take off. The backups are going to cascade over the entire eastern seaboard as the morning progresses, and if they can't find emergency fill-ins in New York goddamn City, I would imagine this is not a problem that's going to stay isolated to one airport.
Buckle up, everybody.
posted by Mayor West at 7:16 AM on January 25, 2019 [30 favorites]
EWR and PHL are already backed up by over an hour, since so many of the flights there are departing for LGA and can't take off. The backups are going to cascade over the entire eastern seaboard as the morning progresses, and if they can't find emergency fill-ins in New York goddamn City, I would imagine this is not a problem that's going to stay isolated to one airport.
Buckle up, everybody.
posted by Mayor West at 7:16 AM on January 25, 2019 [30 favorites]
Shimon Prokupecz
This is incredible.
Air traffic is delayed at LaGuardia, Philadelphia, and Newark Airports due to staffing issues at an FAA regional air traffic control center, according to the FAA status website.
posted by chris24 at 7:17 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
This is incredible.
Air traffic is delayed at LaGuardia, Philadelphia, and Newark Airports due to staffing issues at an FAA regional air traffic control center, according to the FAA status website.
posted by chris24 at 7:17 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
MSNBC's Kyle Griffin (w/video): "Sarah Sanders is asked at least twice about whether Trump directed "a senior Trump Campaign official" to contact Roger Stone about Wikileaks. She does not directly answer. Via CNN"
The WaPo's Robert Costa checks in with Rudy:
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:18 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
The WaPo's Robert Costa checks in with Rudy:
“Another false statement case? God almighty,” Giuliani tells WashPost, when asked about what the indictment reveals about the Mueller probe. “I thought they were taking all this time with Stone to try to develop something on him, not to have a lot about ‘I don’t remember this.'""The president is safe here" and "The president did nothing wrong. There was no collusion on his part." really don't inspire confidence.
Giuliani added, “They do have some alleged false statements and I don’t want to minimize that. That’s not right, you shouldn’t do that. But there is no evidence of anything else but false statements. The president is safe here."
Giuliani declined to discuss the indictment's mention of a Trump campaign official being directed to contact Stone and said he wanted to "go back and read that again, and then get back to you."
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:18 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
LaGuardia is the 21th busiest airport in the US, Newark is 11th, Philly is 20th.
If JFK gets added, it's 6th.
posted by chris24 at 7:25 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
If JFK gets added, it's 6th.
posted by chris24 at 7:25 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
Air traffic is delayed at LaGuardia, Philadelphia, and Newark Airports due to staffing issues at an FAA regional air traffic control center, according to the FAA status website.
Background on the FAA's Ground Delay program
The cascading failures though? That's the system breaking down. ( See Also: New York City blackout of 1977)
posted by mikelieman at 7:28 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
Background on the FAA's Ground Delay program
The main factor for determining if a ground delay program is needed is a number called Airport Arrival Rate (AAR). This number is set by the controlling air traffic facility. When the AAR is reduced by the supporting ATC facility, the Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC), in Warrenton, Virginia (Vint Hill Farms Station) institutes a Ground Delay Program.(emphasis mine)
The cascading failures though? That's the system breaking down. ( See Also: New York City blackout of 1977)
posted by mikelieman at 7:28 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
PontifexPrimus: Utah just introduced anti-trans legislation to prevent people from changing the gender on their birth certificate. But here’s the kicker—and I guarantee a lot of you will yell “what the fuck?!” When you read it.
To make you feel better: Five States Have New Protections For LGBTQ Residents (Bea Bischoff for Go Mag, January 21, 2019)
posted by filthy light thief at 7:28 AM on January 25, 2019 [18 favorites]
To make you feel better: Five States Have New Protections For LGBTQ Residents (Bea Bischoff for Go Mag, January 21, 2019)
2019 is starting off strong for LGBTQ people in several states where new governors have taken office this month following the midterm elections in November. So far, four of these new governors have signed new orders prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.State names bolded by me for emphasis. And it's positive that the changes all haven't been from Democrats coming into power, particularly considering what DeWine said a mere four years ago: Ohio Attorney General: Gays Don’t Need Equal Rights Protections Anymore (Ahiza Garcia for Talking Points Memo, March 30, 2015)
In Ohio, a state that has long lacked permanent protections for LGBTQ employees, Republican Governor Mike DeWine signed an executive order on his first day in office that prohibits discrimination against LGBTQ state workers. In a statement, Executive Director of Equality Ohio, Alana Jochum said, “Governor DeWine made a strong statement on his first day that he will be a Governor for all Ohioans. Ohio is still playing catch-up when it comes to welcoming LGBTQ people—and we are grateful that Governor DeWine, like Governor Kasich before him, recognizes the need for these common-sense protections in Ohio.”
In Wisconsin, Democratic Governor Tony Evers signed a similar executive order. Under the order, Wisconsin state agencies will have to implement new policies designed to protect employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In Michigan, new Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an order banning LGBTQ discrimination by state services or state contractors. Whitmer said in a statement, “If we’re going to attract the talented workforce our businesses need to create jobs and grow our economy, then we’ve got to get on the right side of history.”
Democratic Kansas governor Laura Kelly also signed an order to protect LGBTQ state employees and contractors in the state, as well as prohibit discrimination in receiving state services. While Kansas used to have these protections in place, they were rescinded by Sam Brownback, the previous governor. “Governor Kelly’s order is the right thing to do for Kansas, and a step toward ensuring our state is well-positioned to attract and maintain businesses that strengthen our economy, our communities and our families,” another previous Kansas governor, Kathleen Sebelius, told NBC News.
New Jersey will enshrine the rights of trans people in the state with two new laws set to go into effect this year, one of which makes it easier to change the gender marker on a birth certificate, and one of which affirms a person’s right to have their correct gender identity marker on their death certificate. And of course, New York also became the fifteenth state to ban conversion therapy on minors with the passage of the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA).
Attorney General Mike DeWine submitted a brief [PDF] to the Supreme Court in which he argued that gays and lesbians have “‘attract[ed] the attention of the lawmakers’ at every level of government.” The brief was submitted to the Supreme Court in an attempt to secure the continuance of Ohio’s ban on same-sex marriage, according to ThinkProgress.For more context, Chris Johnson writes for the Washington Blade that
DeWine noted that “any discrimination against them has been on a steady decline” because of the fact that LGBT people can “gain the attention of lawmakers now more than ever.”
The order [PDF] essentially renews the executive order former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, another Republican, signed last month before leaving office barring discrimination in state employment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, another Republican, also signed an executive order against anti-LGBT discrimination in state employment before leaving office.Emphasis mine -- better than nothing, and great considering his past statements, but not exactly groundbreaking at this time. But given Utah's bullshit, I'll take the chance to celebrate even cases where LGBTQ rights kept where they were with a prior administration, which is a sad fact by itself.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:28 AM on January 25, 2019 [18 favorites]
"But there is no evidence of anything else but false statements"
Stone was literally charged with witness tampering over threatening Randy Credico's dog!
posted by BungaDunga at 7:32 AM on January 25, 2019 [53 favorites]
Stone was literally charged with witness tampering over threatening Randy Credico's dog!
posted by BungaDunga at 7:32 AM on January 25, 2019 [53 favorites]
Meanwhile, Buzzfeed's Zoe Tillman reports from the DC courthouse on Manafort's sentencing hearing:
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:33 AM on January 25, 2019 [22 favorites]
—Paul Manafort's hearing is underway. Manafort just entered the courtroom, walking slowly and in a stilted manner, using a cane. He is wearing a dark suit, after the judge agreed he could do that (instead of wearing a jail uniform)Incidentally, while we're waiting for Stone's arraignment in Florida, his Instagram account is already pushing a "Who Framed Roger Stone?" meme in order to raise funds for his legal defense. They never stop grifting.
—Judge Amy Berman Jackson said she has not made a decision yet about whether Manafort violated his plea deal — the filings raised questions for her. She says some of govt's submissions are confusing or lack context, and some of Manafort's filings are conclusory and lack specifics
—But Jackson says her questions on the substantive issue of whether Manafort lied would involve discussing matters that need to be sealed, so she's not going to get into that just yet. She's starting with more procedural Qs — such as, what are the consequences *if* he lied
—Jackson asks Manafort's lawyer Richard Westling if they're conceding that Mueller's office made the determination in "good faith" that Manafort breached the deal. Westling says yes
—To be clear: Manafort's lawyers still dispute that Manafort intentionally lied after signing his plea deal. They're conceding that Mueller's office had discretion under the terms of the deal to say Manafort breached it, and that the govt reached the determination in good faith
—Special counsel prosecutor Andrew Weissmann says that b/c the govt contends the plea deal was breached, they are no longer bound to not pursue other charges in the superseding indictment against Manafort. Weissmann says there's no plan to do that, but want to reserve the ability
—Jackson notes the govt called Manafort's lying a "crime" and didn't rule out charges in the future. The judge asked if a finding now that Manafort lied could prejudice Manafort if that happened. Weissmann said there are no plans to do that, and if it did there could be remedies
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:33 AM on January 25, 2019 [22 favorites]
"Sarah Sanders is asked at least twice about whether Trump directed "a senior Trump Campaign official" to contact Roger Stone about Wikileaks. She does not directly answer. Via CNN"
Recall how easily Sarah Sanders lies, how effortlessly and pointlessly she will make the most obviously, factually incorrect statement. And now imagine how much she must know that she doesn't want to go on the record -- not in court, under oath, but just in public -- as saying "The President did not do this thing."
I'm glad that the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee is asking "What did the President know, and when did he know it?" I hope they continue to ask "What did everyone else who worked within shouting distance of the President know, and when did they know it?"
posted by Etrigan at 7:34 AM on January 25, 2019 [21 favorites]
Recall how easily Sarah Sanders lies, how effortlessly and pointlessly she will make the most obviously, factually incorrect statement. And now imagine how much she must know that she doesn't want to go on the record -- not in court, under oath, but just in public -- as saying "The President did not do this thing."
I'm glad that the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee is asking "What did the President know, and when did he know it?" I hope they continue to ask "What did everyone else who worked within shouting distance of the President know, and when did they know it?"
posted by Etrigan at 7:34 AM on January 25, 2019 [21 favorites]
My Dad has a lot of older Republican friends, some of whom he says can't get through the night without watching FOX News.
Yeah, you can't account for the prevalence of foxnewsthink simply from it being on mute or low-volume in the car shop or barber's during the working day. That's low-dose. The high-grade stuff is Fox & Friends and the primetime white-power hours. (And Dobbs on Fox Business with a live audience of not many.)
They could get into the State Department's servers; they could get Podesta's emails, the DNCs emails, but not HER EMAILS.
Hence the Peter Smith operation during the late summer of 2016. Content-wise, the Podesta emails were mostly a bust: the speeches to rich people were mostly a thing, but the fact that a bunch of loons spun a pizza-related conspiracy out of them tells you how little there was there. (Most of the juiciest documents had been dumped (without direct attribution) by Guccifer 2.0 months previously.) The drip-feed obsessed the media, but you can plausibly argue that they were dumped in early October because nobody could get hold of HER EMAILS.
posted by holgate at 7:34 AM on January 25, 2019 [8 favorites]
Yeah, you can't account for the prevalence of foxnewsthink simply from it being on mute or low-volume in the car shop or barber's during the working day. That's low-dose. The high-grade stuff is Fox & Friends and the primetime white-power hours. (And Dobbs on Fox Business with a live audience of not many.)
They could get into the State Department's servers; they could get Podesta's emails, the DNCs emails, but not HER EMAILS.
Hence the Peter Smith operation during the late summer of 2016. Content-wise, the Podesta emails were mostly a bust: the speeches to rich people were mostly a thing, but the fact that a bunch of loons spun a pizza-related conspiracy out of them tells you how little there was there. (Most of the juiciest documents had been dumped (without direct attribution) by Guccifer 2.0 months previously.) The drip-feed obsessed the media, but you can plausibly argue that they were dumped in early October because nobody could get hold of HER EMAILS.
posted by holgate at 7:34 AM on January 25, 2019 [8 favorites]
Nancy Pelosi knows how to exploit Trump's sexism — and she's totally owning him (Amanda Marcotte, Salon)
[The reason] that there's any hope of a resolution [to the shutdown] at all is due largely to Pelosi's ability to see through Trump's posturing to see the insecure brat that he actually is. Throughout this, she has shown that we need more women in power not just because of fairness, but because they bring different perspectives. Trump likes to play macho games, and it takes a woman to disrupt his boys club strategy.posted by ZeusHumms at 7:44 AM on January 25, 2019 [54 favorites]
ABC's John Santucci: Statement from Trump legal team on Roger Stone - Statement from Jay Sekulow, Counsel to the President:
“The indictment today does not allege Russian collusion by Roger Stone or anyone else. Rather, the indictment focuses on alleged false statements made to Congress.”
This conveniently ignores everything the indictment says Stone was lying about, e.g.
• "STONE was contacted by senior Trump Campaign officials to inquire about future releases by Organization 1."
• "After the July 22, 2016 release of stolen DNC emails by Organization 1, a senior Trump Campaign official was directed to contact STONE about any additional releases and what other damaging information Organization 1 had regarding the Clinton Campaign."
• "Shortly after Organization 1’s release, an associate of the high- ranking Trump Campaign official sent a text message to STONE that read “well done.”"
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:45 AM on January 25, 2019 [25 favorites]
“The indictment today does not allege Russian collusion by Roger Stone or anyone else. Rather, the indictment focuses on alleged false statements made to Congress.”
This conveniently ignores everything the indictment says Stone was lying about, e.g.
• "STONE was contacted by senior Trump Campaign officials to inquire about future releases by Organization 1."
• "After the July 22, 2016 release of stolen DNC emails by Organization 1, a senior Trump Campaign official was directed to contact STONE about any additional releases and what other damaging information Organization 1 had regarding the Clinton Campaign."
• "Shortly after Organization 1’s release, an associate of the high- ranking Trump Campaign official sent a text message to STONE that read “well done.”"
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:45 AM on January 25, 2019 [25 favorites]
To make you feel better: Five States Have New Protections For LGBTQ Residents
The NY State legislature has also been working seemingly overtime to push through all the things they've been forced to sit on for the past decade due to the hate-motivated work of state repubs, like the ban on conversion therapy and the reproductive health act and a NYS DREAM act, all of which Cuomo has already signed or is expected to sign.
posted by poffin boffin at 7:46 AM on January 25, 2019 [22 favorites]
The NY State legislature has also been working seemingly overtime to push through all the things they've been forced to sit on for the past decade due to the hate-motivated work of state repubs, like the ban on conversion therapy and the reproductive health act and a NYS DREAM act, all of which Cuomo has already signed or is expected to sign.
posted by poffin boffin at 7:46 AM on January 25, 2019 [22 favorites]
Pelosi isn’t just playing hardball. She’s saying loudly, publicly, repeatedly, that the emperor has no clothes. She’s calling bullshit on the entire edifice of gaslighting lies that every Republican has agreed to pretend is actual reality. She’s ending the goddamn LARP and pointing out that the President is actually not competent.
Every Democrat should loudly proclaim that -- and specifically, Hillary Clinton -- they told America in no uncertain terms that Trump was not just a bad choice to lead America but actually unfit for the presidency, and those predictions have proved correct, and that we shouldn't be listening to those who pretended otherwise, politicians and pundits alike.
posted by Gelatin at 7:48 AM on January 25, 2019 [68 favorites]
Every Democrat should loudly proclaim that -- and specifically, Hillary Clinton -- they told America in no uncertain terms that Trump was not just a bad choice to lead America but actually unfit for the presidency, and those predictions have proved correct, and that we shouldn't be listening to those who pretended otherwise, politicians and pundits alike.
posted by Gelatin at 7:48 AM on January 25, 2019 [68 favorites]
Funny fact about LaGuardia: it's located in AOC's district.
posted by zombieflanders at 7:59 AM on January 25, 2019 [17 favorites]
posted by zombieflanders at 7:59 AM on January 25, 2019 [17 favorites]
CNBC's Kayla Tausche reports the GOP Senate is going to punt on the FAA shutdown problems: GRAHAM leaving @senatemajldr's office (via @Kj_Sloan): “Here’s what Leader McConnell is going to do, he’s going to let the White House figure out what move they want to make... The Leader is waiting on to see what the White House wants to do.”
Way to head an equal branch of the government, Gravedigger Mitch.
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:00 AM on January 25, 2019 [17 favorites]
Way to head an equal branch of the government, Gravedigger Mitch.
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:00 AM on January 25, 2019 [17 favorites]
Y'all should be following Daniel Dale. He's correcting misinformation about the airport delays. As far as I can tell from his reporting no airport is closed to air traffic. There's just delays.
posted by runcibleshaw at 8:00 AM on January 25, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by runcibleshaw at 8:00 AM on January 25, 2019 [9 favorites]
"Robert Mueller's early morning raid was straight out of the gestapo's playbook."
It wasn't SWAT, they didn't break in. They were armed, but knocked.
In comparison...
Radley Balko
Here's video of a raid last June on a Little Rock man suspected of selling pot. The cops also shattered a glass sliding door in the back of the house. There was a 9 y.o. child inside at the time. LRPD presented no evidence in the warrant application the man was dangerous.
VIDEO
posted by chris24 at 8:02 AM on January 25, 2019 [78 favorites]
It wasn't SWAT, they didn't break in. They were armed, but knocked.
In comparison...
Radley Balko
Here's video of a raid last June on a Little Rock man suspected of selling pot. The cops also shattered a glass sliding door in the back of the house. There was a 9 y.o. child inside at the time. LRPD presented no evidence in the warrant application the man was dangerous.
VIDEO
posted by chris24 at 8:02 AM on January 25, 2019 [78 favorites]
Ohhhhh:
posted by notyou at 8:02 AM on January 25, 2019 [22 favorites]
@sarahkendizor: Davis was the madam involved in the case of Elliot Spitzer, who before resigning in scandal had been investigating white collar crime. Stone bragged about his role in bringing down Spitzer in the documentary Client 9.That’s Kristin Davis, who shared the (also raided by the FBI) NYC apartment with Stone.
posted by notyou at 8:02 AM on January 25, 2019 [22 favorites]
I noticed the other day that the website for the office of the Special Counsel says:
Thanks anonymous federal IT person who took the time to do that unpaid. When I link to an indictment, I like to link to the version hosted on justice.gov !
posted by OnceUponATime at 8:02 AM on January 25, 2019 [82 favorites]
Due to the lapse in appropriations, Department of Justice websites will not be regularly updated. The Department’s essential law enforcement and national security functions will continue. Please refer to the Department of Justice’s contingency plan for more information.But they got the indictment of Roger Stone uploaded right on time!
Thanks anonymous federal IT person who took the time to do that unpaid. When I link to an indictment, I like to link to the version hosted on justice.gov !
posted by OnceUponATime at 8:02 AM on January 25, 2019 [82 favorites]
More about Manafort from Zoe Tillman:
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:05 AM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
—Jackson notes the govt called Manafort's lying a "crime" and didn't rule out charges in the future. The judge asked if a finding now that Manafort lied could prejudice Manafort if that happened. Weissmann said there are no plans to do that, and if it did there could be remediesMaybe the government will even be open by then. (Funny how the shutdown indirectly benefits all the targets of the Mueller probe by gumming up law enforcement and the courts.)
—After a break, the judge comes back and says she's persuaded to hold a hearing on whether Manafort lied before any presentence report is final. She's going to hold the hearing under seal, and then make a transcript available soon after with as much info public as possible
—The sealed hearing before Jackson will be Feb. 4 at 10am — the judge suggested the week before, but Westling asked for a little more time because they'll be prepping for Manafort's sentencing in EDVA on Feb. 8 (sentencing memo likely due by the end of next week)
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:05 AM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
According to Caroline Orr, the "well done" statement was in response to WikiLeaks providing immediate distraction from the video evidence of Cheeto's confession to sexual assault.
So on October 7, 2016:
-The Access Hollywood tape came out.
-Less than an hour later, WikiLeaks started dropping Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's emails.
-A high-ranking Trump campaign official sent a text to Roger Stone saying, "well done."
posted by Dashy at 8:11 AM on January 25, 2019 [59 favorites]
So on October 7, 2016:
-The Access Hollywood tape came out.
-Less than an hour later, WikiLeaks started dropping Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's emails.
-A high-ranking Trump campaign official sent a text to Roger Stone saying, "well done."
posted by Dashy at 8:11 AM on January 25, 2019 [59 favorites]
-A high-ranking Trump campaign official sent a text to Roger Stone saying, "well done."
Bannon.
posted by chris24 at 8:13 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
Bannon.
posted by chris24 at 8:13 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
Also during the lunch, McConnell made clear to Pence and others in the room that the shutdown was not his idea and was not working.
Big deal. McConnell could stop the shutdown practically with a word -- by re-passing the spending bill that passed the Senate unanimously in December and then whipping a veto override if Trump unexpectedly doesn't fold and actually vetoes the thing.
posted by Gelatin at 8:18 AM on January 25, 2019 [18 favorites]
Big deal. McConnell could stop the shutdown practically with a word -- by re-passing the spending bill that passed the Senate unanimously in December and then whipping a veto override if Trump unexpectedly doesn't fold and actually vetoes the thing.
posted by Gelatin at 8:18 AM on January 25, 2019 [18 favorites]
Mod note: Something like the Oklahoma teacher-walkout bill would be (if it were well-sourced and actually in motion, which it looks like it might not be) a great candidate for its own thread but is a poor candidate for discussion here.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 8:19 AM on January 25, 2019 [13 favorites]
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 8:19 AM on January 25, 2019 [13 favorites]
NBC is live, reporting that Stone will be released on $250,000 bond and will come out to talk to press within an hour.
posted by theodolite at 8:21 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 8:21 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I can't wait to see Trump's tweets today.
@realDonaldTrump is tweeting! "Greatest Witch Hunt in the History of our Country! NO COLLUSION! Border Coyotes, Drug Dealers and Human Traffickers are treated better. Who alerted CNN to be there?"
The Trump or Not Bot calculates only a 21% chance of authorship, but that dismisses all the work by Bill Shine and Dan Scavino to encapsulate Trump's ravings about this.
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:27 AM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
@realDonaldTrump is tweeting! "Greatest Witch Hunt in the History of our Country! NO COLLUSION! Border Coyotes, Drug Dealers and Human Traffickers are treated better. Who alerted CNN to be there?"
The Trump or Not Bot calculates only a 21% chance of authorship, but that dismisses all the work by Bill Shine and Dan Scavino to encapsulate Trump's ravings about this.
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:27 AM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
Worth watching Pelosi speak in the House yesterday ... 20 seconds and she is just dialed in.
Or, because Patton Oswalt called it exactly, ”The pause before ... ‘statement.’”
posted by young_simba at 8:30 AM on January 25, 2019 [28 favorites]
Or, because Patton Oswalt called it exactly, ”The pause before ... ‘statement.’”
posted by young_simba at 8:30 AM on January 25, 2019 [28 favorites]
McConnell could stop the shutdown practically with a word -- by re-passing the spending bill that passed the Senate unanimously in December
McConnell did allow that to come up for a vote, and it failed to get the 60 needed for cloture.
McConnell did allow that to come up for a vote, and it failed to get the 60 needed for cloture.
The vote on the Democrats’ bill was 52 to 44, also short of 60, with Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Cory Gardner (Colo.), Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Johnny Isakson (Ga.), and Mitt Romney (Utah) defying Trump to join all Democrats in voting in favor.posted by OnceUponATime at 8:32 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
In the Stone indictment:
b. Also on or about October 3, 2016, STONE received an email from a reporter who had connections to a high-ranking Trump Campaign official that asked, “[the head of Organization 1] – what’s he got? Hope it’s good.” STONE responded in part, “It is. I’d tell [the high-ranking Trump Campaign official] but he doesn’t call me back.”
What reporter is this referring to?
posted by gucci mane at 8:33 AM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
b. Also on or about October 3, 2016, STONE received an email from a reporter who had connections to a high-ranking Trump Campaign official that asked, “[the head of Organization 1] – what’s he got? Hope it’s good.” STONE responded in part, “It is. I’d tell [the high-ranking Trump Campaign official] but he doesn’t call me back.”
What reporter is this referring to?
posted by gucci mane at 8:33 AM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
Worth watching Pelosi speak in the House yesterday ... 20 seconds and she is just dialed in.
Or, because Patton Oswalt called it exactly, ”The pause before ... ‘statement.’”
Christine Pelosi knows that pause all too well: "That ... pause .... before “statement” is everything you need to know and nothing you want to experience firsthand."
posted by Uncle Ira at 8:35 AM on January 25, 2019 [33 favorites]
Or, because Patton Oswalt called it exactly, ”The pause before ... ‘statement.’”
Christine Pelosi knows that pause all too well: "That ... pause .... before “statement” is everything you need to know and nothing you want to experience firsthand."
posted by Uncle Ira at 8:35 AM on January 25, 2019 [33 favorites]
McConnell did allow that to come up for a vote, and it failed to get the 60 needed for cloture.
McConnell can do more to pass a bill than just bring it up for a vote. If six GOP senators broke ranks to vote for a clean CR, how many more do you think it would get if leadership was whipping votes for the bill?
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:36 AM on January 25, 2019 [18 favorites]
McConnell can do more to pass a bill than just bring it up for a vote. If six GOP senators broke ranks to vote for a clean CR, how many more do you think it would get if leadership was whipping votes for the bill?
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:36 AM on January 25, 2019 [18 favorites]
I wouldn't assume that "senior Trump Campaign official" and "high-ranking Trump Campaign official" are the same person. Legal writing like this tends to be very precise and adjectives aren't changed up for variety like you might do in non-legal writing.
posted by stopgap at 8:47 AM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by stopgap at 8:47 AM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
What reporter is this referring to?
Matthew Boyle, Breitbart’s Washington editor.
Courtesy of NYT, you can read their emails:
Incidentally, I think this is what the indictment is talking about when it says Bannon "was directed" to contact Stone. I think they mean by Boyle, rather than by Trump.
posted by OnceUponATime at 8:47 AM on January 25, 2019 [21 favorites]
Matthew Boyle, Breitbart’s Washington editor.
Courtesy of NYT, you can read their emails:
Monday, October 3, 2016
FROM: Matthew Boyle
TO: Roger Stone
EMAIL:
Assange — what’s he got? Hope it’s good.
—
Thanks,
Matthew Boyle
Washington Political Editor, Breitbart News
http://twitter.com/mboyle1
http://www.breitbart.com/Columnists/matthew-boyle
[...]
Monday, October 3, 2016
FROM: Roger Stone
TO: Matthew Boyle
EMAIL:
It is. I’d tell Bannon but he doesn’t call me back.
My book on the TRUMP campaign will be out in Jan.
Many scores will be settled.
R
[...]
Monday, October 3, 2016
FROM: Matthew Boyle
TO: Steve Bannon
EMAIL:
You should call Roger. See below. You didn’t get from me.
[...]
Monday, October 3, 2016
FROM: Steve Bannon
TO: Matthew Boyle
EMAIL:
I’ve got important stuff to worry about
[...]
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
FROM: Matthew Boyle
TO: Steve Bannon
EMAIL:
Well clearly he knows what Assange has. I’d say that’s important.
Incidentally, I think this is what the indictment is talking about when it says Bannon "was directed" to contact Stone. I think they mean by Boyle, rather than by Trump.
posted by OnceUponATime at 8:47 AM on January 25, 2019 [21 favorites]
Who alerted CNN to be there?
Since this seems to be an early talking point, I'll ask: why is it supposed to matter? Is it some stupid suggestion that the Deep State has CNN on its payroll or something? And is that supposed to be somehow worse than FOX News running the White House?
posted by Rykey at 8:50 AM on January 25, 2019 [10 favorites]
Since this seems to be an early talking point, I'll ask: why is it supposed to matter? Is it some stupid suggestion that the Deep State has CNN on its payroll or something? And is that supposed to be somehow worse than FOX News running the White House?
posted by Rykey at 8:50 AM on January 25, 2019 [10 favorites]
Also, the answer is "nobody, they've just had a camera crew staking out Roger Stone's house every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday since November."
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:52 AM on January 25, 2019 [28 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:52 AM on January 25, 2019 [28 favorites]
I think Roger Stone alerted CNN to be there. He's been saying for a long time now that he expects to get indicted. CNN presumably staked out his house so they could get the story when that happened. If you don't want to be on the news, Roger, quit announcing to the world that something newsworthy is about to happen to you.
posted by OnceUponATime at 8:52 AM on January 25, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by OnceUponATime at 8:52 AM on January 25, 2019 [5 favorites]
No one had to alert CNN. Twitter was all abuzz yesterday because Mueller's grand jury (staked out by news orgs every day) was meeting on a Thursday, which is not their regular day. The last time that had happened, indictments dropped the following day. Stone had widely been expected to be indicted, and yesterday's witnesses were connected to Stone. Connect the dots:
· · · · · · · > Stone
posted by stopgap at 8:55 AM on January 25, 2019 [46 favorites]
· · · · · · · > Stone
posted by stopgap at 8:55 AM on January 25, 2019 [46 favorites]
I think Roger Stone alerted CNN to be there.
Im not saying this isnt possible, but if it was CNN might have been trying to provide themselves some cover with this story from last night:
CNN: As Stone waits for Mueller, he's back to going out for pizza on Fridays.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 8:55 AM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
Im not saying this isnt possible, but if it was CNN might have been trying to provide themselves some cover with this story from last night:
CNN: As Stone waits for Mueller, he's back to going out for pizza on Fridays.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 8:55 AM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
Incidentally, I think this is what the indictment is talking about when it says Bannon "was directed" to contact Stone. I think they mean by Boyle, rather than by Trump.
I think you're right. You're actually ahead of Josh Marshall on this one. He's assuming that the "was directed" phrase means that Bannon was ordered by a superior.
posted by diogenes at 9:02 AM on January 25, 2019 [5 favorites]
I think you're right. You're actually ahead of Josh Marshall on this one. He's assuming that the "was directed" phrase means that Bannon was ordered by a superior.
posted by diogenes at 9:02 AM on January 25, 2019 [5 favorites]
Since this seems to be an early talking point, I'll ask: why is it supposed to matter? Is it some stupid suggestion that the Deep State has CNN on its payroll or something? And is that supposed to be somehow worse than FOX News running the White House?
CNN reporter Josh Campbell used to work for Jim Comey. So yes, stupid Deep State.
posted by scalefree at 9:04 AM on January 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
CNN reporter Josh Campbell used to work for Jim Comey. So yes, stupid Deep State.
posted by scalefree at 9:04 AM on January 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
Im not saying this isnt possible
I just mean he alerted them at the same time he alerted the rest of us, with his public statements. Like this:
posted by OnceUponATime at 9:06 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
I just mean he alerted them at the same time he alerted the rest of us, with his public statements. Like this:
“I am prepared should that be the case,” Stone said on "Meet The Press" after being asked if he was ready for a possible indictment.Plus,
Rep. Joaquin Castro tells MSNBC's Ari Melber he expects Roger Stone to be indicted for lying to Congress. Castro says "I think everybody in that room had the sense" that Stone "perjured himself that day."So yeah, that sort of thing plus grand jury observations = reporters staked out outside your house.
posted by OnceUponATime at 9:06 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
Since this seems to be an early talking point, I'll ask: why is it supposed to matter?
It's not. No one who's flailing about "WHY WAS CNN THERE?!?" actually cares. They don't think this is evidence of Mueller being a showboat or CNN having a wiretap in the SCO or literally anything else. But they know that Stone is a criminal and a liar and a lying criminal who criminally lies. They know that he knows where many, many bodies are buried, and they know that he's never been tested like he's about to be tested. So they need to do anything to muddy the waters, and working the referee has worked for them for decades. They want to give their followers an excuse not to trust CNN, because CNN is soon going to tell their followers' children and cousins and Facebook friends exactly what the President knew and when he knew it.
posted by Etrigan at 9:11 AM on January 25, 2019 [37 favorites]
It's not. No one who's flailing about "WHY WAS CNN THERE?!?" actually cares. They don't think this is evidence of Mueller being a showboat or CNN having a wiretap in the SCO or literally anything else. But they know that Stone is a criminal and a liar and a lying criminal who criminally lies. They know that he knows where many, many bodies are buried, and they know that he's never been tested like he's about to be tested. So they need to do anything to muddy the waters, and working the referee has worked for them for decades. They want to give their followers an excuse not to trust CNN, because CNN is soon going to tell their followers' children and cousins and Facebook friends exactly what the President knew and when he knew it.
posted by Etrigan at 9:11 AM on January 25, 2019 [37 favorites]
NBC live-feed: Overheard someone say "he just called into infowars!"
posted by onehalfjunco at 9:16 AM on January 25, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by onehalfjunco at 9:16 AM on January 25, 2019 [6 favorites]
Daniel Dale is covering Stone's call-in to Alex Jones:
Grifters gotta grift.
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:24 AM on January 25, 2019 [19 favorites]
—Roger Stone is live on Alex Jones's show, because sure, and says "they could have just contacted my attorneys" to turn himself in. He says, "It was meant to intimidate me, but I am not intimidated." Jones then tells him to hold on and runs some ads in which Jones is screaming.Natasha Bertrand also tuned in: “Roger Stone tells Alex Jones in an interview right now that the FBI treated him "very well" and were "very courteous" this morning. Interesting shift in tone. Still says the charges are "bogus."” And "Stone says there is "no circumstance" under which he will plead guilty to the charges and says he intends to go to trial in DC."
—“They would like me to plead guilty to charges that are completely bogus," Stone tells Alex Jones, saying this is all "politically motivated" and there is "no collusion."
—Stone: “There is no circumstance under which I would plead guilty to these charges” or “bear false witness against the president.”
—One possible reason for this phone call to Alex Jones: Stone just gave people the web address for his legal defence fund, saying he needs the money help for his big fight, in which he will not surrender under any circumstances.
—Stone is apparently coming back after the commercial break involving Jones shouting about supplements and touting a good price on "the very best fish oil."
Grifters gotta grift.
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:24 AM on January 25, 2019 [19 favorites]
think of the general ineptitude these people have shown in their dealings here - they can't keep secrets, they're no good at skullduggery, they have no ability to make a well thought out plan
then consider them trying to intervene in venezuela or iran - or restarting a cold war with russia and china
trump and his cronies are going to bungle everything they touch
posted by pyramid termite at 9:25 AM on January 25, 2019 [5 favorites]
then consider them trying to intervene in venezuela or iran - or restarting a cold war with russia and china
trump and his cronies are going to bungle everything they touch
posted by pyramid termite at 9:25 AM on January 25, 2019 [5 favorites]
The fact that Stone (and, for that matter, Trump) didn't land in jail for long sentences decades ago is a big part of why they are overconfident they can beat this.
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:31 AM on January 25, 2019 [64 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:31 AM on January 25, 2019 [64 favorites]
> Stone totally did the Nixon hands on the courthouse steps while people chanted “lock him up”.
It looked like this
edit: Also some video
posted by guiseroom at 9:36 AM on January 25, 2019 [13 favorites]
It looked like this
edit: Also some video
posted by guiseroom at 9:36 AM on January 25, 2019 [13 favorites]
consider them trying to intervene in venezuela
WSJ: Pence Pledged U.S. Backing Before Venezuela Opposition Leader’s Move—Trump administration’s secret plan pledging support for opposition leader Juan Guaidó was preconceived and tightly coordinated
Reuters: Russia offers to Mediate Between Government And Opposition in Venezuela: RIA
This will not end well.
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:40 AM on January 25, 2019 [26 favorites]
WSJ: Pence Pledged U.S. Backing Before Venezuela Opposition Leader’s Move—Trump administration’s secret plan pledging support for opposition leader Juan Guaidó was preconceived and tightly coordinated
Mr. Pence pledged that the U.S. would back Mr. Guaidó if he seized the reins of government from Nicolás Maduro by invoking a clause in the South American country’s constitution, a senior administration official said.NYT: Fears Grow that Venezuela Opposition Leader Could Be Arrested "On Friday the United Nations human rights office in Geneva reported that Venezuelan security forces and pro-government armed groups had killed at least 20 people and wounded many more in recent days. Local groups reported a higher death toll."
That late-night call set in motion a plan that had been developed in secret over the preceding several weeks, accompanied by talks between U.S. officials, allies, lawmakers and key Venezuelan opposition figures, including Mr. Guaidó himself.
It culminated in the 35-year-old Mr. Guaidó’s declaration Wednesday that Mr. Maduro’s government was illegitimate and that Mr. Guaidó, president of the country’s National Assembly, was assuming power in accordance with the country’s constitution.
Almost instantly, just as Mr. Pence had promised, President Trump issued a statement recognizing Mr. Guaidó as the country’s rightful leader. Soon after came similar pronouncements from Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru and others.
But Mr. Maduro, who refused to step aside, nearly as quickly drew statements of support from Turkey, Russia, Mexico and Bolivia, setting into motion a tense international faceoff over the future of Venezuela.[…]
Administration officials are talking to businesses in Venezuela and top administration officials have been calling financial institutions. The State Department served notice to the Federal Reserve Thursday that Mr. Guaidó is the agent for access to Venezuelan assets in U.S. banks, the senior administration official said.
Reuters: Russia offers to Mediate Between Government And Opposition in Venezuela: RIA
This will not end well.
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:40 AM on January 25, 2019 [26 favorites]
federal prosecutors tend to bring narrowly-drawn charges and charge only with overwhelming evidence,
I'd suggest that you could ask Aaron Swartz if he agrees with this assessment but he dead. If this statement is accurate it's only when you add some qualifiers to make it "charges against the rich and powerful" or tack "unless the person lacks sufficient resources and support structures so they can be overwhelmed into a lesser plea."
posted by phearlez at 9:41 AM on January 25, 2019 [29 favorites]
I'd suggest that you could ask Aaron Swartz if he agrees with this assessment but he dead. If this statement is accurate it's only when you add some qualifiers to make it "charges against the rich and powerful" or tack "unless the person lacks sufficient resources and support structures so they can be overwhelmed into a lesser plea."
posted by phearlez at 9:41 AM on January 25, 2019 [29 favorites]
CBS Chief WH Correspondent Major Garrett: Senior administration officials expect @realDonaldTrump to endorse short-term funding bill to reopen government in next hour. Final details being worked out in WH convos now. Unclear if 2 or 3 weeks. Border debate will continue. Stress on Govt systems was increasing.
Trump always folds.
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:46 AM on January 25, 2019 [40 favorites]
Trump always folds.
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:46 AM on January 25, 2019 [40 favorites]
Roger Stone indicted in Mueller investigation - The Washington Post
Speaking before a raucous crowd outside the courthouse, Stone vowed to fight the case.posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 9:49 AM on January 25, 2019
“I will plead not guilty to these charges. I will defeat them in court,” he said. Some in the crowd jeered and chanted “lock him up.” Others shouted support for Stone.
So, is the short-term funding cover for Trump to approve long-term funding in three weeks when the news cycle has moved on? Or will we be shut down again in three weeks and just keep lurching from shutdown to shutdown every few weeks?
posted by Mavri at 9:54 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Mavri at 9:54 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
Adam Serwer: Trump’s Inner Circle Keeps Violating the Stringer Bell Rule
Trump surrogates’ extensive documentation of their activities has given both federal investigators and the general public a trail to follow when attempting to discern the nature of the president’s relationship with the Russian government, and to prosecute those trying to obstruct the investigation. Which is the kind of thing Stringer Bell was worried about. If you’re going to engage in a criminal conspiracy, it’s a bad idea to take notes.posted by zombieflanders at 9:55 AM on January 25, 2019 [36 favorites]
Just before the end of the meeting in The Wire, one of the other distributors, Prop Joe, expresses satisfaction at the outcome of the gathering.
“For a cold-ass crew of gangsters,” Prop Joe observes, “y’all carried it like Republicans and shit.”
I don't trust any short-term funding bill now or in the near future coming from the White House, because I suspect someone will always try to sneak in more restrictions on immigration.
The difference is McConnell is involved now, where he was sitting on the sidelines before. I don't trust him either obviously, but if it's McConnell's staff writing the short-term CR, Stephen Miller won't have his grubby racist hands on it, there's less chance of a poison pill. McConnell wants this to end, if it does, that's the only reason, because he finally got involved.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:02 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
The difference is McConnell is involved now, where he was sitting on the sidelines before. I don't trust him either obviously, but if it's McConnell's staff writing the short-term CR, Stephen Miller won't have his grubby racist hands on it, there's less chance of a poison pill. McConnell wants this to end, if it does, that's the only reason, because he finally got involved.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:02 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
Air Traffic Control is getting extremely strained from the shutdown. More sick days are being taken and it's causing delays and cancellations at the larger airports. A ground stop was enacted at LaGuardia today. So if you're wondering why the sudden momentum to end the shutdown, there ya have it.
posted by azpenguin at 10:10 AM on January 25, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by azpenguin at 10:10 AM on January 25, 2019 [7 favorites]
You can watch the map turn from green to yellow to red in realtime, if you like: https://www.fly.faa.gov/flyfaa/nemap.jsp
I've been watching this map, posted above. LGA got back to "yellow" for a while, but now LGA and Newark are orange, which is "Traffic destined to this airport is being delayed at its departure point. Check your departure airport to see if your flight may be affected."
Atlanta has been yellow (Departures are experiencing taxi delays of 16 to 45 minutes and/or arrivals are experiencing airborne holding delays of 16 to 45 minutes.) for a while now and there are now three airports in Florida also flipped to yellow.
posted by mikepop at 10:12 AM on January 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
I've been watching this map, posted above. LGA got back to "yellow" for a while, but now LGA and Newark are orange, which is "Traffic destined to this airport is being delayed at its departure point. Check your departure airport to see if your flight may be affected."
Atlanta has been yellow (Departures are experiencing taxi delays of 16 to 45 minutes and/or arrivals are experiencing airborne holding delays of 16 to 45 minutes.) for a while now and there are now three airports in Florida also flipped to yellow.
posted by mikepop at 10:12 AM on January 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
@ddale8: FBI Director Wray records video to employees: "Making some people stay home when they don’t want to, and making others show up without pay – it’s mind-boggling, it’s short-sighted, and it’s unfair...I’m about as angry as I’ve been in a long, long time."
Trump will be speaking in the Rose Garden at 1:30pm, nominally about the shutdown, though it's possible some other topics might just come up. There's been some talk of a CR with no border funding to last through February 15th (though there are technical reasons to make it a slightly different date). Yesterday, Trump demanded "a down payment on the wall" as part of a CR, so he'd be caving on that entirely if he was willing to sign one without any wall funding.
posted by zachlipton at 10:13 AM on January 25, 2019 [14 favorites]
Trump will be speaking in the Rose Garden at 1:30pm, nominally about the shutdown, though it's possible some other topics might just come up. There's been some talk of a CR with no border funding to last through February 15th (though there are technical reasons to make it a slightly different date). Yesterday, Trump demanded "a down payment on the wall" as part of a CR, so he'd be caving on that entirely if he was willing to sign one without any wall funding.
posted by zachlipton at 10:13 AM on January 25, 2019 [14 favorites]
The air travel disruptions are more noticeable at the moment, but this is also a big deal: At least 14,000 unpaid IRS workers did not show up for work as broad shutdown disruption hits tax agency, according to House aides
posted by zachlipton at 10:20 AM on January 25, 2019 [50 favorites]
The Trump administration ordered more than 30,000 employees back to work unpaid to prepare for tax filing season, which is set to begin next week. But of the 26,000 workers called back to the IRS division that includes the tax processing centers and call centers, about 9,000 workers could not be reached and about 5,000 more claimed a hardship exemption, IRS officials have told members of Congress, according to aides, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the numbers.The government already has enormous difficulty recruiting IT staff, and every one of those people walking out the door has knowledge that's never coming back.
These numbers are as of Tuesday, according to the House aides, and the rate of employees returning to work may have changed since then. The IRS announced on Jan. 15 it would begin calling back workers as fears mounted about the IRS’s ability to process tax returns.
The shutdown appears to be affecting the IRS. In the call centers, which answer taxpayer questions over the phone, about 35 percent of calls are being answered, IRS officials told congressional staff, according to one of the aides. The initial plan for filing season was for 80 percent of calls to be answered. The average call time, of 7 to 10 minutes last filing season, has jumped to 25 to 40 minutes.
The IRS is also losing 25 IT staffers every week since the shutdown began, with many finding other jobs, one House aide said, citing the IRS officials' briefing.
posted by zachlipton at 10:20 AM on January 25, 2019 [50 favorites]
Breaking: Congressional leaders, Trump reach tentative deal to temporarily reopen government without wall funds, according to Hill officials (WaPo)
With President Trump’s approval, the pact would reopen the government for three weeks while leaving the issue of $5.7 billion for the U.S.-Mexico border wall to further talks.posted by box at 10:22 AM on January 25, 2019 [13 favorites]
....
Trump was expected to announce the deal in a White House ceremony at 1:30 p.m. in the Rose Garden.
Incidentally, I think this is what the indictment is talking about when it says Bannon "was directed" to contact Stone. I think they mean by Boyle, rather than by Trump.
I think you're right. You're actually ahead of Josh Marshall on this one. He's assuming that the "was directed" phrase means that Bannon was ordered by a superior.
Huh, either we're wrong about this, or we're also ahead of Adam Schiff, which would be concerning.
"Most significant in the Stone indictment is new info that a senior campaign official was 'directed' in July 2016 to contact Mr. Stone about additional Wikileaks releases."
posted by diogenes at 10:29 AM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
I think you're right. You're actually ahead of Josh Marshall on this one. He's assuming that the "was directed" phrase means that Bannon was ordered by a superior.
Huh, either we're wrong about this, or we're also ahead of Adam Schiff, which would be concerning.
"Most significant in the Stone indictment is new info that a senior campaign official was 'directed' in July 2016 to contact Mr. Stone about additional Wikileaks releases."
posted by diogenes at 10:29 AM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
Herr Twitler: “Greatest Witch Hunt in the History of our Country! NO COLLUSION! Border Coyotes, Drug Dealers and Human Traffickers are treated better.”
Wait, what? Where does Stone's indictment say collusion? Christ, this is like a badly written Encyclopedia Brown story. That NYTimes graphic is just bonkers too. Little Donny Two-Scoops must be getting quite nervous.
I always knew the White House Squatter was a blowhard, and clearly not the brightest bulb in the box, but I am just astounded at how stupid that man is. It's breathtaking. Blustering his way out of trouble has always worked before, but now that it's not working against people like Mueller and Pelosi, he's simply entirely too stupid to change tactics.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 10:39 AM on January 25, 2019 [23 favorites]
Wait, what? Where does Stone's indictment say collusion? Christ, this is like a badly written Encyclopedia Brown story. That NYTimes graphic is just bonkers too. Little Donny Two-Scoops must be getting quite nervous.
I always knew the White House Squatter was a blowhard, and clearly not the brightest bulb in the box, but I am just astounded at how stupid that man is. It's breathtaking. Blustering his way out of trouble has always worked before, but now that it's not working against people like Mueller and Pelosi, he's simply entirely too stupid to change tactics.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 10:39 AM on January 25, 2019 [23 favorites]
Interesting note: none of these counts are for [Roger Stone] actually engaging in manipulating the election with the Wikileaks email stuff. They are all about the attempted cover-up of those deeds by lying, witness tampering, and otherwise impeding Mueller’s investigation.
Imagine how many people also were involved in the cover-up, lying to investigators, and/or obstructing justice. They must all be wondering today what Muller might have on them.
posted by Gelatin at 10:40 AM on January 25, 2019 [9 favorites]
Imagine how many people also were involved in the cover-up, lying to investigators, and/or obstructing justice. They must all be wondering today what Muller might have on them.
posted by Gelatin at 10:40 AM on January 25, 2019 [9 favorites]
CNN: Sanders Says Stone Indictment Has Nothing to Do With Trump
The WaPo's Philip Bump, Once again, a major development in the Mueller probe ‘has nothing to do with the White House’.
posted by peeedro at 10:41 AM on January 25, 2019 [80 favorites]
The WaPo's Philip Bump, Once again, a major development in the Mueller probe ‘has nothing to do with the White House’.
That line — “This has nothing to do with us” — comes up over and over again in the White House’s dismissals of new bad news. As with “collusion,” it seems like a stretch to try to draw a clear line separating a guy who was involved in Trump’s campaign from the start, who allegedly was tasked by a Trump campaign official to learn what WikiLeaks knew in July 2016 and who later allegedly lied to congressional investigators about his communications. Stone clearly has something to do with Trump, and, by extension, has something to do with the White House.His list of the things the White House has said have "nothing to do with Trump" include:
- A reported meeting between a Russian and Erik Prince, an informal adviser to Trump.
- Indictments against former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates.
- A new indictment against Manafort.
- Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s leveraging access to Trump to get consulting gigs from companies.
- Russian interference efforts.
- Manafort’s conviction on various charges.
- Cohen’s guilty pleas on the same day.
- Manafort’s guilty plea.
- Mueller’s indictments broadly.
- Revelations that Manafort lied to the special counsel’s office.
- Former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s false statements to investigators.
posted by peeedro at 10:41 AM on January 25, 2019 [80 favorites]
@revrrlewis: Fox’s John Roberts on the reported deal to re-open the government without border wall funding: “It’s difficult to see this as anything but the president giving in to Democrats on Capitol Hill”
@MattGertz: That thing where you can't rule out that the whole deal goes up in smoke because the president was watching Fox News and freaked out at criticism.
posted by zombieflanders at 10:55 AM on January 25, 2019 [64 favorites]
@MattGertz: That thing where you can't rule out that the whole deal goes up in smoke because the president was watching Fox News and freaked out at criticism.
posted by zombieflanders at 10:55 AM on January 25, 2019 [64 favorites]
WaPo has more on the Trump administration's shambolic Venezuela policy: With Risks Ahead, Trump Administration Pins Hopes On Venezuela’s Opposition
“I think that speaks for itself,” national security adviser John Bolton said when asked Thursday what Trump meant by saying “all options” are available to him.[…]NYer: We Interrupt This Crisis: Trump, Venezuela, and the Crazy Politics of the Shutdown
Asked whether Trump would intervene militarily if diplomats were at risk, Pompeo said in an interview with Laura Ingraham that he “didn’t want to speculate or create a hypothetical situation” but that “we’re prepared to do what it takes to make sure that we do everything we can do to keep our people safe.”
The Trump administration hopes Venezuela’s armed forces switch allegiances, but there is no clear road map for what Trump would do if that does not happen, or if blood is spilled.[…]
The Pentagon did not buy into Trump’s previously implied threats of using military force in Venezuela. Former defense secretary Jim Mattis had argued that with major wars and deployments underway in the Middle East, along with possible conflict with North Korea, any discretionary use of force in the hemisphere was irresponsible.
Rather than preparing for a possible use of force in Venezuela, the head of the U.S. Southern Command, Adm. Craig S. Faller, is on an extended tour of Central America this week and on Thursday was visiting Guatemala.
“It’s kind of a giveaway, that [the Defense Department] or Southcom was not part of this process or wasn’t given a heads-up,” said one former senior administration official.
[T]here’s something deeply unsettling, and very Trumpy, about inciting a full-fledged diplomatic crisis in this way. In our conversation, Rubio seemed to acknowledge that Trump made an abrupt move on Venezuela. “The President has acted boldly on this issue,” he said. “In a more traditional Administration, we would still be having interagency debates.”posted by Doktor Zed at 10:56 AM on January 25, 2019 [6 favorites]
That is precisely what is so worrying. “It’s characteristic of the way they do things,” Michael Shifter, the president of the Inter-American Dialogue, told me. “There’s no process, but there’s no process on any issue. I’m not sure the implications were really thought through. I’m not sure anybody really knows what this means in terms of the practical effects of having parallel governments.”
zombieflanders: @MattGertz: That thing where you can't rule out that the whole deal goes up in smoke because the president was watching Fox News and freaked out at criticism.
I wanted to click the heart icon on that tweet, but decided against it for the reason the tweet itself describes.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 10:59 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
I wanted to click the heart icon on that tweet, but decided against it for the reason the tweet itself describes.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 10:59 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
Reuters, Exclusive: Kremlin-linked contractors help guard Venezuela's Maduro - sources
Trump's so stuck in the past, we're bringing back Cold War proxy wars in Latin America.
posted by zachlipton at 10:59 AM on January 25, 2019 [18 favorites]
Trump's so stuck in the past, we're bringing back Cold War proxy wars in Latin America.
posted by zachlipton at 10:59 AM on January 25, 2019 [18 favorites]
CNN's Manu Raju: "Dems say the deal will include a stop-gap measure until February 15 to reopen the government, and then they will try to cut a border security deal as part of the Homeland Security funding bill in a House-Senate conference. There's no wall money. Furloughed workers get backpay"
CNN's Jim Accosta reports that, thirty minutes behind schedule, "Several cabinet members have arrived for Trump statement in Rose Garden. Pompeo, Carson, Ross, Chao and others."
The teleprompter is standing by…
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:05 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
CNN's Jim Accosta reports that, thirty minutes behind schedule, "Several cabinet members have arrived for Trump statement in Rose Garden. Pompeo, Carson, Ross, Chao and others."
The teleprompter is standing by…
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:05 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
Asked whether Trump would intervene militarily if diplomats were at risk, Pompeo said in an interview with Laura Ingraham that he “didn’t want to speculate or create a hypothetical situation” but that “we’re prepared to do what it takes to make sure that we do everything we can do to keep our people safe.”
Well, this confirms what I thought yesterday. They're leaving our diplomats in Venezuela to provoke Maduro into doing something, anything, to justify an intervention.
I wonder how the unpaid State Department skeleton crew still left feels about this plan.
posted by BungaDunga at 11:09 AM on January 25, 2019 [23 favorites]
Well, this confirms what I thought yesterday. They're leaving our diplomats in Venezuela to provoke Maduro into doing something, anything, to justify an intervention.
I wonder how the unpaid State Department skeleton crew still left feels about this plan.
posted by BungaDunga at 11:09 AM on January 25, 2019 [23 favorites]
Is re-opening the government meant to distract us from the Stone story?
The movement towards this was happening already yesterday, so probably not. If it was, caving to Pelosi to own the libs is fine by me. Stone won't let the story leave the headlines for long anyway.
posted by BungaDunga at 11:12 AM on January 25, 2019 [16 favorites]
The movement towards this was happening already yesterday, so probably not. If it was, caving to Pelosi to own the libs is fine by me. Stone won't let the story leave the headlines for long anyway.
posted by BungaDunga at 11:12 AM on January 25, 2019 [16 favorites]
While we wait for Trump to show up, the WaPo has a new poll: Majority of Americans Hold Trump and Republicans Responsible for Shutdown
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:13 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
Public disapproval of President Trump has swelled five points to 58 percent over three months as a majority of Americans continue to hold him and congressional Republicans most responsible for the partial federal government shutdown, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.Two minute warning on Trump's appearance!
In addition, more than 1 in 5 Americans say they have been personally inconvenienced by the record-long shutdown[….]
The Post-ABC poll finds that Trump’s overall popularity has weakened, with 37 percent of the public approving of his job performance and 58 percent disapproving.[…]
Though the new survey finds that a 54 percent majority of Americans disapprove of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s performance during the shutdown, negative ratings for Trump on this question are higher, at 60 percent. And when asked who is most responsible, 53 percent blame Trump and congressional Republicans while 34 percent blame Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Democrats.
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:13 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
Here's a C-SPAN link for Trump's address, which should be starting shortly in theory, 45+ minutes late (they gave a two minute warning...more than two minutes ago, but it's starting now).
@MEPFuller:
@MEPFuller:
It took Trump about...posted by zachlipton at 11:17 AM on January 25, 2019 [95 favorites]
-35 days
-Two missed pay periods
-40,000 delayed immigration cases
-Federal workers resorting to food pantries
-AND 1 HOUR OF HALTED FLIGHTS AT LAGUARDIA
...To end the shutdown.
In case anyone questioned who this administration really cares about.
I recently discovered the podcast Behind the Bastards and just last night finished listening to the episodes about Paul Manafort. I link them here because, as it turns out, they make a delightful aperitif for today's Piece of Shit Go to Jail news.
posted by soren_lorensen at 11:20 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by soren_lorensen at 11:20 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
Trump’s “win” in ending the shutdown is apparently that Democrats have finally acknowledged that “fencing, or whatever you want to call it” should be a part of border security. Finally, we can start having inessential things like “airplane inspections” again. Powerful, historic stuff. God Bless America 🇺🇸
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:24 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:24 AM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
It is vital that the Speaker invite the President to address the joint session of Congress. I don’t want to miss out on her facial expressions.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:27 AM on January 25, 2019 [20 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:27 AM on January 25, 2019 [20 favorites]
Sounds like Trump is trying to salvage something for his ego while ending the shutdown.
posted by ZeusHumms at 11:28 AM on January 25, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by ZeusHumms at 11:28 AM on January 25, 2019 [7 favorites]
Trump ended his bizarro address by saying that if he doesn't get his wall by February 15th, he'll either have another shutdown or use his powers to, presumably, declare a national emergency. Can you schedule a national emergency three weeks in advance?
@attackerman: I will declare a national emergency but you should know it goes to another school and the school is in Canada
Anyway, please enjoy this closing thought from Lindsey Graham at this time. "He’s not going to sign a bill that doesn’t have money for the wall... if he gives in now, that’s the end of 2019 in terms of him being an effective president. That’s the probably the end of his presidency." - Lindsey Graham, January 2
posted by zachlipton at 11:40 AM on January 25, 2019 [65 favorites]
@attackerman: I will declare a national emergency but you should know it goes to another school and the school is in Canada
Anyway, please enjoy this closing thought from Lindsey Graham at this time. "He’s not going to sign a bill that doesn’t have money for the wall... if he gives in now, that’s the end of 2019 in terms of him being an effective president. That’s the probably the end of his presidency." - Lindsey Graham, January 2
posted by zachlipton at 11:40 AM on January 25, 2019 [65 favorites]
Question: it seems that Stone is counting on Trump pardoning him, and Stone might even be right about that, (while I don't think Manafort is), so can the Special Council move the part of the indictment which is about threatening that guy's dog to NY State? It seems this has potentially the longest jail time (for now), and that Stone might cool down a bit if he was looking at 20 years with no pardon.
posted by mumimor at 11:45 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by mumimor at 11:45 AM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
Daniel Dale live-blogged/fact-checked Trump's Rose Garden announcement to temporarily reopen the government for three weeks:
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:48 AM on January 25, 2019 [65 favorites]
—Trump: "I am very proud to announce today that we have reached a deal to end the shutdown and reopen the federal government."WaPo's Philip Rucker summarizes Trump's past five weeks:
—Trump immediately ad-libs a second sentence: "As everyone knows, I have a very powerful alternative. But I didn't want to use it at this time. Hopefully it will be unnecessary."
—Trump to federal workers: “Not only did you not complain, but in many cases you encouraged me to keep going” because you care so much about border security. (Lots of them complained...)
—Trump says it's a three-week deal. He says he's heard Dems and Republicans are willing to put partisanship aside - "I think." He claims Dems have "finally and fully acknowledged" that barriers and walls will be "an important part of the solution."
—Trump is now re-touting the value of border walls, saying they "should not be controversial." He explains that these barriers would be made of STEEL and would be see-through, which, as usual, he says is very important. "We do not need 2,000 miles of concrete walls."
—Trump is telling his "four women" "duct tape" "backs or cars or trucks" "desert areas" human trafficking tale again. Again, human trafficking experts tells me they've never heard of this happening; just isn't how it usually works.
—This has turned into a regular Trump immigration speech, filled with talk of murder and disease and duct tape. He hasn't attempted to offer an extended explanation for why he rejected this kind of deal for weeks and is now accepting it.
—The threat: "Really have no choice but to build a powerful wall or steel barrier. If we don't get a fair deal from Congress, the govt will either shut down on Feb. 15, again, or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and the Constitution...to address this emergency."
—Trump walked out after making this threat, didn't take questions. Perhaps notably and perhaps not, he didn't quite make the threat contingent on getting wall funding -- just said walls are important and that he needs a "fair deal."
To build a wall Trump has:Now let's see how the US mainstream media attempts to spin this as a "presidential" performance.
-Delivered primetime Oval Office address
-Toured the border
-Shut the government down for 35 days
-Warned of rapists, murderers, drugs, terrorists coming from Mexico
Right now Trump is folding to Democrats having secured $0 for the wall
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:48 AM on January 25, 2019 [65 favorites]
The speech isn't over yet. It won't officially end until Ann Coulter tweets something hateful and racist and Trump runs back to the microphone, screaming WAIT I CHANGED MY MIND.
posted by delfin at 11:49 AM on January 25, 2019 [46 favorites]
posted by delfin at 11:49 AM on January 25, 2019 [46 favorites]
according to Jared Holt of Right Wing Watch the right wing internet is having a profound crisis in response to this, "Commander-In-Soy" was used.
posted by The Whelk at 11:52 AM on January 25, 2019 [55 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 11:52 AM on January 25, 2019 [55 favorites]
And there it is, 2 presidents with one tweet:
Ann Coulter: "Good news for George Herbert Walker Bush: As of today, he is no longer the biggest wimp ever to serve as President of the United States."
posted by Buntix at 11:59 AM on January 25, 2019 [58 favorites]
Ann Coulter: "Good news for George Herbert Walker Bush: As of today, he is no longer the biggest wimp ever to serve as President of the United States."
posted by Buntix at 11:59 AM on January 25, 2019 [58 favorites]
@maggieNYT: TelePrompTer has now frozen as Trump does extended riff on duct taped women,’accounts that trafficking experts say aren’t grounded in reality.posted by pjenks at 12:00 PM on January 25, 2019 [29 favorites]
@JordanFabian (WaPo): The prompter said “[Talk about Human Trafficking]” then stopped. Trump ad libbed the entire thing.
It is vital that the Speaker invite the President to address the joint session of Congress. I don’t want to miss out on her facial expressions.
It's also important so that the GOP base understands he caved in exchange for the state of the union
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 12:04 PM on January 25, 2019 [14 favorites]
It's also important so that the GOP base understands he caved in exchange for the state of the union
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 12:04 PM on January 25, 2019 [14 favorites]
Trump runs back to the microphone, screaming WAIT I CHANGED MY MIND.
Yes, this feels like a speech that is definitely going to be followed by a "very fine people"-like sequel. Especially once he gets back to his TV and hears the unanimous "Trump caved" talk.
Yes, this feels like a speech that is definitely going to be followed by a "very fine people"-like sequel. Especially once he gets back to his TV and hears the unanimous "Trump caved" talk.
@GlennThrush (NYT): Everybody's gonna write how he got his clock cleaned tomorrow, and that, in itself, is an X factor.posted by pjenks at 12:04 PM on January 25, 2019 [21 favorites]
Jonathan Swan [via Twitter]:
A former White House official texts me, unsolicited: “Trump looks pathetic...he just ceded his presidency to Nancy Pelosi.”
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:06 PM on January 25, 2019 [33 favorites]
A former White House official texts me, unsolicited: “Trump looks pathetic...he just ceded his presidency to Nancy Pelosi.”
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:06 PM on January 25, 2019 [33 favorites]
Ann Coulter: "Good news for George Herbert Walker Bush: As of today, he is no longer the biggest wimp ever to serve as President of the United States."
She just enjoys torturing Trump, doesn’t she? I’d laugh if the stakes weren’t so stupidly high.
posted by BeginAgain at 12:07 PM on January 25, 2019 [17 favorites]
She just enjoys torturing Trump, doesn’t she? I’d laugh if the stakes weren’t so stupidly high.
posted by BeginAgain at 12:07 PM on January 25, 2019 [17 favorites]
My suspicion is that the IRS employees were a big factor in getting this temporary deal done. The Republicans don't want to be held responsible for people not getting their tax refunds. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that a significant portion of the rightest-wing base are beneficiaries of the Earned Income Tax Credit. It's easy to believe that it's not such a big deal for federal employees missing paychecks, it's another thing to not receive the money that you yourself expected and planned for. It's a concrete consequence of the shutdown that would affect more than 20 million people - more concrete than lapses in food safety, more concrete than delays at La Guardia.
posted by stowaway at 12:10 PM on January 25, 2019 [22 favorites]
posted by stowaway at 12:10 PM on January 25, 2019 [22 favorites]
Wasn't some arrangement made to send refunds even with the shutdown in progress? Or were those just whispers of a plan that didn't materialize?
posted by InTheYear2017 at 12:13 PM on January 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by InTheYear2017 at 12:13 PM on January 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
Coulter is also going to be live on Real Time with Bill Maher this evening.
Thinking Trump's nannies are probably feverishly trying to "accidently" knock his phone into his coke right now...
@RealTimers: "TONIGHT: @BillMaher will be LIVE on @HBO with @AnnCoulter @fakeDanSavage @HMcGhee @JoshuaGreen + former U.S. Ambassador to Russia @McFaul! Tag your questions with #RTOvertime and watch them answer after the show on @YouTube. http://bit.ly/Jan25Guests"
posted by Buntix at 12:14 PM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
Thinking Trump's nannies are probably feverishly trying to "accidently" knock his phone into his coke right now...
@RealTimers: "TONIGHT: @BillMaher will be LIVE on @HBO with @AnnCoulter @fakeDanSavage @HMcGhee @JoshuaGreen + former U.S. Ambassador to Russia @McFaul! Tag your questions with #RTOvertime and watch them answer after the show on @YouTube. http://bit.ly/Jan25Guests"
posted by Buntix at 12:14 PM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
This is driving me nuts! Adam Davidson also thinks that the person who "directed" Bannon to talk to Stone is significant.
"Who did this directing? Why did Mueller avoid naming the person? Could it possibly have been Trump?"
I really think OnceUponATime already figured this out based on the NYT emails between Stone and Boyle!
(edit: I'm harping on this because it's freaking me out that I'm convinced MetaFilter is ahead of The New Yorker and Talking Points Memo.)
posted by diogenes at 12:15 PM on January 25, 2019 [20 favorites]
"Who did this directing? Why did Mueller avoid naming the person? Could it possibly have been Trump?"
I really think OnceUponATime already figured this out based on the NYT emails between Stone and Boyle!
(edit: I'm harping on this because it's freaking me out that I'm convinced MetaFilter is ahead of The New Yorker and Talking Points Memo.)
posted by diogenes at 12:15 PM on January 25, 2019 [20 favorites]
She just enjoys torturing Trump being on TV, doesn’t she?
posted by The Whelk at 12:17 PM on January 25, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 12:17 PM on January 25, 2019 [9 favorites]
more concrete than delays at La Guardia.
Refund delays are future Trump's problem. Mobs of angry travelers who can't leave the airport because of Trump makes national news.
To Trump, perception is more "concrete" than reality. He can't envision people getting mad because of a delay in tax refunds. He can imagine airports becoming de facto anti-Trump rallies.
posted by explosion at 12:17 PM on January 25, 2019 [22 favorites]
Refund delays are future Trump's problem. Mobs of angry travelers who can't leave the airport because of Trump makes national news.
To Trump, perception is more "concrete" than reality. He can't envision people getting mad because of a delay in tax refunds. He can imagine airports becoming de facto anti-Trump rallies.
posted by explosion at 12:17 PM on January 25, 2019 [22 favorites]
Wasn't some arrangement made to send refunds even with the shutdown in progress? Or were those just whispers of a plan that didn't materialize?
The IRS called a ton of employees who work on tax return processing back to the job without pay to try and make that happen, but then 14,000 of them didn't show.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:18 PM on January 25, 2019 [38 favorites]
The IRS called a ton of employees who work on tax return processing back to the job without pay to try and make that happen, but then 14,000 of them didn't show.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:18 PM on January 25, 2019 [38 favorites]
Wasn't some arrangement made to send refunds even with the shutdown in progress? Or were those just whispers of a plan that didn't materialize?
More than half of the 26,000 IRS workers recalled this week did not show up.
posted by Etrigan at 12:18 PM on January 25, 2019 [22 favorites]
More than half of the 26,000 IRS workers recalled this week did not show up.
posted by Etrigan at 12:18 PM on January 25, 2019 [22 favorites]
Wasn't some arrangement made to send refunds even with the shutdown in progress? Or were those just whispers of a plan that didn't materialize?
They called back in thousands of IRS employees but around half, as I recall, were not reporting. Presumably the ATC issues today finally drove home that sick-outs were only going to get worse.
Coulter's tantrum doesn't matter much if the Fox brigade doesn't amplify it, I think, and if the strategizing there is sufficiently overt they won't fuck this up. They're in it for a larger game and this was going badly and looking like it was heading worse for the Republicans in general.
posted by phearlez at 12:19 PM on January 25, 2019 [5 favorites]
They called back in thousands of IRS employees but around half, as I recall, were not reporting. Presumably the ATC issues today finally drove home that sick-outs were only going to get worse.
Coulter's tantrum doesn't matter much if the Fox brigade doesn't amplify it, I think, and if the strategizing there is sufficiently overt they won't fuck this up. They're in it for a larger game and this was going badly and looking like it was heading worse for the Republicans in general.
posted by phearlez at 12:19 PM on January 25, 2019 [5 favorites]
Jeffrey Toobin has the tagline for 2019: "shocking, but not surprising"
He said it in a video clip while talking about seeing the early morning arrest of Roger Stone, which is currently included in this CNN article by Chris Cillizza titled Why Roger Stone's stunning indictment is a huge moment in the Russia probe.
The article doesn't include anything new to those reading this thread, but it includes a good recap:
posted by filthy light thief at 12:23 PM on January 25, 2019 [10 favorites]
He said it in a video clip while talking about seeing the early morning arrest of Roger Stone, which is currently included in this CNN article by Chris Cillizza titled Why Roger Stone's stunning indictment is a huge moment in the Russia probe.
The article doesn't include anything new to those reading this thread, but it includes a good recap:
Regardless, Stone is the 37th person or entity to be charged in the Mueller probe. He is the sixth Trump associate -- joining Michael Flynn, Rick Gates, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos and Michael Cohen -- to be charged in connection with the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign.And yet somehow Trump is not involved? That's as in the article, sort of --
While Sanders' denial of any connection to Trump is predictable, her refusal to rule out the possibility that it was Trump who directed the "senior campaign official" to have Stone reach out to WikiLeaks is notable. She told CNN that she had yet to read the indictment, adding: "I'm not an attorney -- I'm not able to get into the weeds on this subject.Emphasis mine, because ... yeah.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:23 PM on January 25, 2019 [10 favorites]
But it's not just Trump who needed to capitulate - he has to bring the Republican caucus along with him. They don't want their staffers to have to tell callers that their refunds are delayed.
posted by stowaway at 12:40 PM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by stowaway at 12:40 PM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
It's also important so that the GOP base understands he caved in exchange for the state of the union
/r/The_Donald is cheerleading as usual, e.g. "What President Trump did today was show that Democrats would rather starve government employees and watch our airlines crash to the ground rather than have meaningful border security. 3 Weeks. The Wall Is Coming!", "FEBRUARY 15 WE ARE GOING TO GET THE WALL. BUILD THE WALL. BUILD THE WALL. BUILD THE WALL" and "⭐⭐⭐ 4D SOTU ⭐⭐⭐ 👱♂️: I'm doing it! 🙍♀️: No, you're not! (Media🤬Media🤯Media) Government Is Open!! SOTU As Scheduled! Ratings Bonanza!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸".
Ann Coulter, Drudge, and Breitbart all oppose Trump's cave-in, but Trump's favorite Fox pundits are falling in line. Sean Hannity's apparently come out favor since he's convinced Dems will eventually give Trump his Wall money, Lou Dobbs suggests Trump will declare a national emergency if they don't, and Jeanine Pirro merely tweeted, "Congrats to @realDonaldTrump!".
The Trumpist playbook is to declare everything Trump does a yuge success until it's an undeniable failure.
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:43 PM on January 25, 2019 [25 favorites]
/r/The_Donald is cheerleading as usual, e.g. "What President Trump did today was show that Democrats would rather starve government employees and watch our airlines crash to the ground rather than have meaningful border security. 3 Weeks. The Wall Is Coming!", "FEBRUARY 15 WE ARE GOING TO GET THE WALL. BUILD THE WALL. BUILD THE WALL. BUILD THE WALL" and "⭐⭐⭐ 4D SOTU ⭐⭐⭐ 👱♂️: I'm doing it! 🙍♀️: No, you're not! (Media🤬Media🤯Media) Government Is Open!! SOTU As Scheduled! Ratings Bonanza!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸".
Ann Coulter, Drudge, and Breitbart all oppose Trump's cave-in, but Trump's favorite Fox pundits are falling in line. Sean Hannity's apparently come out favor since he's convinced Dems will eventually give Trump his Wall money, Lou Dobbs suggests Trump will declare a national emergency if they don't, and Jeanine Pirro merely tweeted, "Congrats to @realDonaldTrump!".
The Trumpist playbook is to declare everything Trump does a yuge success until it's an undeniable failure.
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:43 PM on January 25, 2019 [25 favorites]
I really think OnceUponATime already figured this out based on the NYT emails between Stone and Boyle!
Mueller is very precise with language and phrasing in his indictments. I personally doubt he'd use "directed" in a situation where the person he means had no authority over Bannon.
There's lots of ways to phrase the possible Boyle thing without implying an order. He didn't do that.
posted by chris24 at 12:50 PM on January 25, 2019 [14 favorites]
Mueller is very precise with language and phrasing in his indictments. I personally doubt he'd use "directed" in a situation where the person he means had no authority over Bannon.
There's lots of ways to phrase the possible Boyle thing without implying an order. He didn't do that.
posted by chris24 at 12:50 PM on January 25, 2019 [14 favorites]
Abby D. Phillip: Trump took one question on the shutdown and whether he'll declare a national emergency: "We’ll work with the Democrats and negotiate and if we can’t do that, then we’ll do a -- obviously we’ll do the emergency because that’s what it is. It’s a national emergency.”
He's calling an end to the shutdown but he's still in a bind politically. He's likely to keep shouting "national emergency" for three weeks to puff himself up and look strong to the racist base, who may or may not buy it. But then in three weeks he has to put up or shut up unless he can do something else super stupid to change the focus.
It also sounds like Trump wants to keep the cameras on himself today, but there could be so many reasons for that--either to try to keep control of the shutdown deal spin (he'll fail), or distract from the bucket of other bad news...or just because that's entirely normal behavior for him.
It's hard to imagine a majority of Senate Republicans will want to go back to do this shit again in three weeks, though. McConnell has clearly had enough.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 12:54 PM on January 25, 2019 [9 favorites]
He's calling an end to the shutdown but he's still in a bind politically. He's likely to keep shouting "national emergency" for three weeks to puff himself up and look strong to the racist base, who may or may not buy it. But then in three weeks he has to put up or shut up unless he can do something else super stupid to change the focus.
It also sounds like Trump wants to keep the cameras on himself today, but there could be so many reasons for that--either to try to keep control of the shutdown deal spin (he'll fail), or distract from the bucket of other bad news...or just because that's entirely normal behavior for him.
It's hard to imagine a majority of Senate Republicans will want to go back to do this shit again in three weeks, though. McConnell has clearly had enough.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 12:54 PM on January 25, 2019 [9 favorites]
Three weeks is a long time in Trump news cycles, I think we're back to he's going to look for any additional money from Democrats, call that "the wall" no matter how much or what conditions, and try to sell that as a win to the base, because McConnell will not want to back him up on another shutdown. And something else will change the conversation in the next three weeks enough for everyone to sign a full year funding bill or longer CR.
posted by T.D. Strange at 12:58 PM on January 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 12:58 PM on January 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
The problem was, he had taken ownership of this shutdown. In three weeks, when we do this all again, he gets another chance to try to spin THAT shutdown to blame it on the Democrats. And it might work.
posted by Weeping_angel at 12:59 PM on January 25, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by Weeping_angel at 12:59 PM on January 25, 2019 [8 favorites]
Elections have consequences.
Matthew Miller (MSNBC)
I bet Jared Kushner is pretty happy today the latest story on his security clearance has been blasted out of the news. But unlike the past two years, the news cycle changing doesn’t mean the issue is dead - subpoenas are still coming.
posted by chris24 at 1:04 PM on January 25, 2019 [34 favorites]
Matthew Miller (MSNBC)
I bet Jared Kushner is pretty happy today the latest story on his security clearance has been blasted out of the news. But unlike the past two years, the news cycle changing doesn’t mean the issue is dead - subpoenas are still coming.
posted by chris24 at 1:04 PM on January 25, 2019 [34 favorites]
and his reelection will be assured.
He's got some work to do in WI.
Kyle Griffin (MSNBC)
Registered Wisconsin voters
27% say they would definitely vote to reelect Trump in 2020
12% say they probably would
8% probably vote for someone else
49% definitely vote for someone else.
—Marquette U. Law poll
posted by chris24 at 1:11 PM on January 25, 2019 [21 favorites]
He's got some work to do in WI.
Kyle Griffin (MSNBC)
Registered Wisconsin voters
27% say they would definitely vote to reelect Trump in 2020
12% say they probably would
8% probably vote for someone else
49% definitely vote for someone else.
—Marquette U. Law poll
posted by chris24 at 1:11 PM on January 25, 2019 [21 favorites]
Pelosi: State Of The Union ‘Is Not Planned Now’ (Nicole Lafond, TPM)
Tuesday SoTU unlikely at this time.
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:11 PM on January 25, 2019 [14 favorites]
Tuesday SoTU unlikely at this time.
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:11 PM on January 25, 2019 [14 favorites]
Peter Zeidenberg
Two points re the Stone indictment. 1) it is the strongest false statements/obstruction of justice indictment I have seen. A slam dunk. 2) Mueller does not want Stone’s cooperation. Stone would be far more trouble than he’s worth as a cooperator.
Marcy Wheeler
Retweeted Peter Zeidenberg
Dude who successfully prosecuted a notably powerful Vice President's Chief of Staff on false statements says this indictment is stronger than the one he used.
posted by chris24 at 1:21 PM on January 25, 2019 [69 favorites]
Two points re the Stone indictment. 1) it is the strongest false statements/obstruction of justice indictment I have seen. A slam dunk. 2) Mueller does not want Stone’s cooperation. Stone would be far more trouble than he’s worth as a cooperator.
Marcy Wheeler
Retweeted Peter Zeidenberg
Dude who successfully prosecuted a notably powerful Vice President's Chief of Staff on false statements says this indictment is stronger than the one he used.
posted by chris24 at 1:21 PM on January 25, 2019 [69 favorites]
In case you're wondering whether the Trump administration is planning to directly overthrow Maduro in Venezuela, the fact that Pempeo just named convicted Iran-Contra co-conspirator Elliott Abrams as special envoy might be a subtle hint.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:45 PM on January 25, 2019 [23 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:45 PM on January 25, 2019 [23 favorites]
Has anyone else noticed a subtle shift in CNN reporting of Trump in the last few months? Like a kind of "no more shits to give" shift? Like, some current headline comparison:
Fox: Trump announces short-term deal to end shutdown; vows to build wall despite uncertain funding
Washington Post: Senate passes deal to temporarily reopen government
NBC News: Trump announces short-term deal to end shutdown — but doesn't get wall funding
NYT: Trump Agrees to Reopen Government for 3 Weeks in Surprise Retreat
CNN: Trump caves on the shutdown
posted by gwint at 1:47 PM on January 25, 2019 [41 favorites]
Fox: Trump announces short-term deal to end shutdown; vows to build wall despite uncertain funding
Washington Post: Senate passes deal to temporarily reopen government
NBC News: Trump announces short-term deal to end shutdown — but doesn't get wall funding
NYT: Trump Agrees to Reopen Government for 3 Weeks in Surprise Retreat
CNN: Trump caves on the shutdown
posted by gwint at 1:47 PM on January 25, 2019 [41 favorites]
Republican Chief Justice of North Carolina Supreme Court resigning; governor-named replacement will make court 6-1 Dem.
This increases the likelihood the NC SC will follow the path of the PA SC and find that - on state constitutional grounds - the current state legislative districts are illegally gerrymandered.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:48 PM on January 25, 2019 [71 favorites]
This increases the likelihood the NC SC will follow the path of the PA SC and find that - on state constitutional grounds - the current state legislative districts are illegally gerrymandered.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:48 PM on January 25, 2019 [71 favorites]
Josh Barro with the exact take I was going to post: I hear Trump is also picking up the fee for the gaming license.
This is the offer I hoped Pelosi would make, it was the offer she made, and today is a good day for America.
posted by Justinian at 1:55 PM on January 25, 2019 [18 favorites]
This is the offer I hoped Pelosi would make, it was the offer she made, and today is a good day for America.
posted by Justinian at 1:55 PM on January 25, 2019 [18 favorites]
Thats Eliott Abrams actual war criminal.
posted by adamvasco at 1:56 PM on January 25, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by adamvasco at 1:56 PM on January 25, 2019 [11 favorites]
Roger Stone Draws the Judge Who Threw Paul Manafort in Jail
Considering his proclivity for running off at the mouth, I wonder if there's a betting pool for how long Monsieur Stone manages to stay out on bail.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 2:03 PM on January 25, 2019 [33 favorites]
Considering his proclivity for running off at the mouth, I wonder if there's a betting pool for how long Monsieur Stone manages to stay out on bail.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 2:03 PM on January 25, 2019 [33 favorites]
More reactions from the rabid right:
Sean Hannity: ‘LET ME BE CLEAR’: Trump Demands 'Fair Deal' by Feb 15th, Another Shutdown, or 'Emergency’
Rush Limbaugh is against declaring a national emergency
Breitbart's Bill Mitchell: "CALLED IT! NO CAVE - TRUMP LAYS DOWN LAW - FUND WALL IN 3 WEEKS OR HE DECLARES EMERGENCY!"
Stefan Molyneux: "Dear President Trump: Here’s the thing about appeasement. You don’t gain the respect of your enemies. You only lose the love of your friends."
Daily Beast's Will Somer: "Mike Cernovich is doing a livestream about Trump caving on the shutdown, and he's had to say several times that he's not crying."
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:12 PM on January 25, 2019 [22 favorites]
Sean Hannity: ‘LET ME BE CLEAR’: Trump Demands 'Fair Deal' by Feb 15th, Another Shutdown, or 'Emergency’
Rush Limbaugh is against declaring a national emergency
Breitbart's Bill Mitchell: "CALLED IT! NO CAVE - TRUMP LAYS DOWN LAW - FUND WALL IN 3 WEEKS OR HE DECLARES EMERGENCY!"
Stefan Molyneux: "Dear President Trump: Here’s the thing about appeasement. You don’t gain the respect of your enemies. You only lose the love of your friends."
Daily Beast's Will Somer: "Mike Cernovich is doing a livestream about Trump caving on the shutdown, and he's had to say several times that he's not crying."
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:12 PM on January 25, 2019 [22 favorites]
How CNN captured video of the Roger Stone raid by Jeremy Herb, CNN
CNN producer David Shortell and photojournalist Gilbert De La Rosa were outside Stone's home Friday morning to witness the FBI approaching Stone's door to arrest him on a seven-count indictment that special counsel Robert Mueller's grand jury approved a day earlier.posted by OnceUponATime at 2:14 PM on January 25, 2019 [6 favorites]
They were there staking out Stone because there was just enough evidence lurking in the special counsel's activity over the past week that CNN's team covering the Mueller investigation placed a bet that Stone could be arrested as early as Friday.
Stone's possible indictment has been looming for months now, as Mueller has interviewed many of his associates and others connected to the longtime Trump confidante, whose political career dates back to President Richard Nixon.
So it sounds like there are two reads on the shutdown deal:
1. Trump is capitulating, and this buys him some time to sell it to his base.
2. Trump will capitulate to his base and un-capitulate to everyone else, and who the fuck knows what that will look like.
My guess is the outcome is going to depend on what happens with the Mueller investigation in the next three weeks. Trump may try to orchestrate a distraction, but on the other hand, congressional Republicans may desert him.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:19 PM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
1. Trump is capitulating, and this buys him some time to sell it to his base.
2. Trump will capitulate to his base and un-capitulate to everyone else, and who the fuck knows what that will look like.
My guess is the outcome is going to depend on what happens with the Mueller investigation in the next three weeks. Trump may try to orchestrate a distraction, but on the other hand, congressional Republicans may desert him.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:19 PM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
There's lots of ways to phrase the possible Boyle thing without implying an order. He didn't do that.
And Banning has already testified to the House committee and met with Mueller's team, so he may have testified about being directed to do this.
Bannon doesn't strike me as someone who would take a risk on getting nailed for perjury and probably testified truthfully.
posted by duoshao at 2:31 PM on January 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
And Banning has already testified to the House committee and met with Mueller's team, so he may have testified about being directed to do this.
Bannon doesn't strike me as someone who would take a risk on getting nailed for perjury and probably testified truthfully.
posted by duoshao at 2:31 PM on January 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
Even Nixon* doesn't want to be associated with him.
* Foundation
Nixon Foundation
This morning’s widely-circulated characterization of Roger Stone as a Nixon campaign aide or adviser is a gross misstatement. Mr. Stone was 16 years old during the Nixon presidential campaign of 1968 and 20 years old during the reelection campaign of 1972. 1/2
• Mr. Stone, during his time as a student at George Washington University, was a junior scheduler on the Nixon reelection committee. Mr. Stone was not a campaign aide or adviser. Nowhere in the Presidential Daily Diaries from 1972 to 1974 does the name "Roger Stone" appear. 2/2
posted by chris24 at 2:43 PM on January 25, 2019 [60 favorites]
* Foundation
Nixon Foundation
This morning’s widely-circulated characterization of Roger Stone as a Nixon campaign aide or adviser is a gross misstatement. Mr. Stone was 16 years old during the Nixon presidential campaign of 1968 and 20 years old during the reelection campaign of 1972. 1/2
• Mr. Stone, during his time as a student at George Washington University, was a junior scheduler on the Nixon reelection committee. Mr. Stone was not a campaign aide or adviser. Nowhere in the Presidential Daily Diaries from 1972 to 1974 does the name "Roger Stone" appear. 2/2
posted by chris24 at 2:43 PM on January 25, 2019 [60 favorites]
Initial House ratings for 2020 from Sabato. Democrats favored to hold the House.
It's behind a paywall, but the initial Cook ratings are pretty similar.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:53 PM on January 25, 2019 [7 favorites]
It's behind a paywall, but the initial Cook ratings are pretty similar.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:53 PM on January 25, 2019 [7 favorites]
Thats Eliott Abrams [Special Envoy to Venezuela] actual war criminal.
G-ddamn.
As a member of George W. Bush’s National Security Council staff, Abrams encouraged, according to credible reports, a (briefly successful) military coup against the democratically elected government of Venezuela in 2002, poisoning the US relationship with that government once it returned to power.
...But these are still relative misdemeanors in the Abrams dossier, paling in comparison with the role he played in the Reagan administration. As assistant secretary of state for human rights, Abrams sought to ensure that General Efraín Ríos Montt, Guatemala’s then-dictator, could carry out “acts of genocide”—those are the legally binding words of Guatemala’s United Nations–backed Commission for Historical Clarification—against the indigenous people in the Ixil region of the department of Quiché, without any pesky interference from human-rights organizations, much less the US government.
As the mass killings were taking place, Abrams fought in Congress for military aid to Ríos Montt’s bloody regime. He credited the murderous dictator with having “brought considerable progress” on human-rights issues.
That's our Venezuelan Special Envoy? Yay. Thanks Republicans.
posted by petebest at 3:10 PM on January 25, 2019 [53 favorites]
G-ddamn.
As a member of George W. Bush’s National Security Council staff, Abrams encouraged, according to credible reports, a (briefly successful) military coup against the democratically elected government of Venezuela in 2002, poisoning the US relationship with that government once it returned to power.
...But these are still relative misdemeanors in the Abrams dossier, paling in comparison with the role he played in the Reagan administration. As assistant secretary of state for human rights, Abrams sought to ensure that General Efraín Ríos Montt, Guatemala’s then-dictator, could carry out “acts of genocide”—those are the legally binding words of Guatemala’s United Nations–backed Commission for Historical Clarification—against the indigenous people in the Ixil region of the department of Quiché, without any pesky interference from human-rights organizations, much less the US government.
As the mass killings were taking place, Abrams fought in Congress for military aid to Ríos Montt’s bloody regime. He credited the murderous dictator with having “brought considerable progress” on human-rights issues.
That's our Venezuelan Special Envoy? Yay. Thanks Republicans.
posted by petebest at 3:10 PM on January 25, 2019 [53 favorites]
Stone is prone to exaggerating his role in the Nixon campaign, administration, and Watergate, even as the Nixon people are pretty obviously understating the same connections, and I think lying outright when not calling him an aide.
(I'm now watching Get Me Roger Stone, which I can't actually recommend much, and Nixon literally named Stone on live TV, indeed not using his first name, as an example of someone he had paid a hundred dollars to. That was a sort of turning point in Stone's life because he was initially mortified by the sudden puiblic association with someone whose reputation was falling, but then decided to embrace the dirt.)
posted by InTheYear2017 at 4:04 PM on January 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
(I'm now watching Get Me Roger Stone, which I can't actually recommend much, and Nixon literally named Stone on live TV, indeed not using his first name, as an example of someone he had paid a hundred dollars to. That was a sort of turning point in Stone's life because he was initially mortified by the sudden puiblic association with someone whose reputation was falling, but then decided to embrace the dirt.)
posted by InTheYear2017 at 4:04 PM on January 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
Trump said a border wall is needed to block illegal guns, drugs and cash coming from Mexico, but much of the contraband he pointed to came through legal ports of entry. Trump Laid Out Evidence That a Wall Is Needed. We Took a Hard Look. (NYTimes)
posted by peeedro at 4:10 PM on January 25, 2019 [25 favorites]
“This is just all recent. This is all very recent,” Mr. Trump said, pointing to the illicit exhibit in front of him. Mr. Trump was not shy about his disgust for the illegal goods: “It looks pretty brutal. This is not a manufactured deal, as you say. This is the real stuff.”It was a manufactured deal.
But the display at the president’s Jan. 10 round table, it turns out, had little to do with what happens along unfortified reaches of the border. An examination of the seized items suggests that a border wall would not have stopped most of the items from entering the United States, or, in the case of several weapons displayed in front of the president, from leaving the United States for Mexico.
Many of the items on display were seized on international bridges on the Texas border, detected by canines and Customs and Border Protection officers. Some of them were found during traffic stops or, in one case, inside a South Texas home, and it’s hard to know how they entered the country.
posted by peeedro at 4:10 PM on January 25, 2019 [25 favorites]
Just a reminder, this was never really up to Trump. It's up to McConnell and his apparently inexhaustible desire to placate Trump, which may now be put to the test. Pelosi and Schumer have three weeks in which to convince McConnell that it's not politically worth it to take a hit again next month on behalf of the feckless Caver-in-chief. And to hammer the message home to the rest of the nation that Congress has it within its power to easily pass a budget or CR with a veto-proof majority. McConnell has thus far stayed the course but his partner Trump is uncontrollable by his coterie of grifters, sycophants and losers. Nothing's going to change that equation in three weeks, or ever. And McConnell doesn't like losing.
posted by xigxag at 4:10 PM on January 25, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by xigxag at 4:10 PM on January 25, 2019 [10 favorites]
The Daily Beast reports Pelosi is in a sanguine mood: Trump Caves, Ends Longest Government Shutdown in History Without His Precious Wall
Though at a lunch briefing with reporters and columnists on Friday, Pelosi said she felt optimistic that there would not be a shutdown again, owing to the likelihood that Trump will have recognized how politically damaging the current standoff had been.posted by Doktor Zed at 4:24 PM on January 25, 2019 [123 favorites]
“The point was to make sure he doesn’t see this is an option that he can cavalierly use,” she explained. “So I think it makes it less likely.”
Pelosi was also critical of Republican lawmakers for letting the situation get to its current point. In particular, she singled out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who had insisted it was pointless to move any government funding measure through the Senate if Trump had not committed to signing it—including reintroducing a clean funding bill that the Senate had overwhelming backed in December.
“I know he is a professional,” Pelosi said of McConnell. “So it is particularly painful to see him kowtowing to the president of the United States. And I said to him, ‘Do you just want to abolish the Congress or maybe just the United States Senate? Because that is effectively what you’re doing.’”
Asked what McConnell said in response, Pelosi replied: “What does he ever say? Nothing.”
"directed"
Brad Parscale
Truth: Jared Kushner and @EricTrump were joint deputy campaign managers to @realDonaldTrump. Nobody else. Not one person made a decision without their approval. Others just took credit for this family’s amazing ability. I’m done with all these lies. They will be embarrassed!
11:00 AM - 5 Jan 2018
---
Thank you Brad. Appreciate the list of suspects.
posted by chris24 at 5:00 PM on January 25, 2019 [39 favorites]
Brad Parscale
Truth: Jared Kushner and @EricTrump were joint deputy campaign managers to @realDonaldTrump. Nobody else. Not one person made a decision without their approval. Others just took credit for this family’s amazing ability. I’m done with all these lies. They will be embarrassed!
11:00 AM - 5 Jan 2018
---
Thank you Brad. Appreciate the list of suspects.
posted by chris24 at 5:00 PM on January 25, 2019 [39 favorites]
Mod note: When Bernie actually declares you can post about it and then we will NOT BE ARGUING ABOUT BERNIE or the mods are Thelma & Louising with the server.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 5:03 PM on January 25, 2019 [121 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 5:03 PM on January 25, 2019 [121 favorites]
Pelosi: “The point was to make sure he doesn’t see this is an option that he can cavalierly use,” she explained. “So I think it makes it less likely.”
Is it just me or does this sound like a dare? (I don't think it's Pelosi's style and I don't think she would want federal workers to have to go through this again but....). Whatever, Pelosi is a boss.
posted by bluesky43 at 5:15 PM on January 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
Is it just me or does this sound like a dare? (I don't think it's Pelosi's style and I don't think she would want federal workers to have to go through this again but....). Whatever, Pelosi is a boss.
posted by bluesky43 at 5:15 PM on January 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
Speaking of Parscale, the layer of the onion that Mueller has reached -- Stone's direct outreach to Guccifer 2.0 and indirect attempt to hit up Assange -- is probably the same layer as everybody's least favourite bearded campaign manager. (And so is Junior.) He was the one with the Assange poster ("Dear Hillary, I miss reading your classified emails.") and had an iPhone and the boss's Twitter credentials, like whoever made all those Wikileaks posts as the campaign ended.
posted by holgate at 5:16 PM on January 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by holgate at 5:16 PM on January 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
Pelosi: “The point was to make sure he doesn’t see this is an option that he can cavalierly use,” she explained. “So I think it makes it less likely.”
Less likely, but since it’s Trump, not unlikely.
@realDonaldTrump posted earlier this evening: “I wish people would read or listen to my words on the Border Wall. This was in no way a concession. It was taking care of millions of people who were getting badly hurt by the Shutdown with the understanding that in 21 days, if no deal is done, it’s off to the races!”
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:20 PM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
Less likely, but since it’s Trump, not unlikely.
@realDonaldTrump posted earlier this evening: “I wish people would read or listen to my words on the Border Wall. This was in no way a concession. It was taking care of millions of people who were getting badly hurt by the Shutdown with the understanding that in 21 days, if no deal is done, it’s off to the races!”
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:20 PM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
I can’t recall when I have ever seen anything in national politics that has been more clearly a blatant capitulation yet desperately attempted to be spun as a bold victory. This is a blunt failure by a would-be Mussolini (a comparison that is, alarmingly, only barely hyperbolic).
I’m ecstatic to hear that the government is re-opening and that federal workers will get back pay. I’m equally ecstatic that this attempt to hold Americans hostage by one political party has failed.
The nation owes a huge debt of gratitude to Pelosi, yes. But also to every long-suffering federal worker and contractor who endured this completely artificial crisis, caused by our malignant Narcissist-in-Chief and his enablers in the GOP.
The economic and psychological pain these workers have all been dragged through is shameful. Their sacrifice will ultimately benefit this country, though that may come as little consolation amid the current disruption to their lives.
Thank you all who stuck it out during this national embarrassment of a failure to govern. Thank you for the protests (and for those who were arrested). Thank you for enduring the economic uncertainty and the indignity of being treated this way, in a manner that is completely beneath contempt for a government of an honorable society.
You deserve better, and hopefully we can get better, with every coming election.
posted by darkstar at 5:47 PM on January 25, 2019 [33 favorites]
I’m ecstatic to hear that the government is re-opening and that federal workers will get back pay. I’m equally ecstatic that this attempt to hold Americans hostage by one political party has failed.
The nation owes a huge debt of gratitude to Pelosi, yes. But also to every long-suffering federal worker and contractor who endured this completely artificial crisis, caused by our malignant Narcissist-in-Chief and his enablers in the GOP.
The economic and psychological pain these workers have all been dragged through is shameful. Their sacrifice will ultimately benefit this country, though that may come as little consolation amid the current disruption to their lives.
Thank you all who stuck it out during this national embarrassment of a failure to govern. Thank you for the protests (and for those who were arrested). Thank you for enduring the economic uncertainty and the indignity of being treated this way, in a manner that is completely beneath contempt for a government of an honorable society.
You deserve better, and hopefully we can get better, with every coming election.
posted by darkstar at 5:47 PM on January 25, 2019 [33 favorites]
I’m ecstatic to hear that the government is re-opening and that federal workers will get back pay.
I think it bears repeating that only those who work directly for the government will be getting backpay. Federal contractors, who I believe outnumber government employees, got no such guarantee. My company allowed me to work from home for the first two weeks as long as I could document my work. They then allowed me to "borrow" paid time off, so I won't actually miss any pay. But, I suspect a lot of other contractors won't get that luxury. Meaning that some people missed a month of pay and won't get it back. That's devastating to those living a paycheck or two ahead of their expenses.
posted by runcibleshaw at 6:03 PM on January 25, 2019 [55 favorites]
I think it bears repeating that only those who work directly for the government will be getting backpay. Federal contractors, who I believe outnumber government employees, got no such guarantee. My company allowed me to work from home for the first two weeks as long as I could document my work. They then allowed me to "borrow" paid time off, so I won't actually miss any pay. But, I suspect a lot of other contractors won't get that luxury. Meaning that some people missed a month of pay and won't get it back. That's devastating to those living a paycheck or two ahead of their expenses.
posted by runcibleshaw at 6:03 PM on January 25, 2019 [55 favorites]
Although bills have been introduced by Sen Smith and Rep Pressley to pay the contractors.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:11 PM on January 25, 2019 [19 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 6:11 PM on January 25, 2019 [19 favorites]
I really wish the media would spend the next three weeks doing long form stories on the human and economic costs of the shutdown. While there were some stories, I feel like a lot of them were still holding the breath waiting to see how bad it would get. And there are long-term impacts that have yet to be counted. Lots of stories to come, media. Bring it.
posted by Dashy at 6:13 PM on January 25, 2019 [36 favorites]
posted by Dashy at 6:13 PM on January 25, 2019 [36 favorites]
Roger Stone was just interviewed by CNN’s Chris Cuomo. Stone says that when his indictment claims that he told Randy Credico, who was about to testify to Congress, to “do a Frank Pentangeli”, he was not asking him to lie in his forthcoming testimony to Congress, as the character Frank Pentangeli did in “The Godfather Part II”. He claims he was asking Randy Credico, who is apparently a talented mimic, to literally do an impression of the voice and mannerisms of The Godfather character Frank Pentangeli.
And that, my friends, is the State of the Union.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:20 PM on January 25, 2019 [102 favorites]
And that, my friends, is the State of the Union.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:20 PM on January 25, 2019 [102 favorites]
RE the ongoing human costs of the shutdown, absolutely. Also, I’m concerned that all the shutdown drama — with a side order of Mueller — is soaking up all the attention from the ongoing, massive civil rights issues that immigrants, transgender folks, and people of color are still dealing with right now.
It seems like Native American and BLM concerns, immigrant children in cages, the transgender military ban, and inadequate funding for education just slide right off the front page, due to the slow-motion train wreck of the shutdown. Hopefully now that it’s over, the media can bring attention back to those issues, too.
posted by darkstar at 6:22 PM on January 25, 2019 [20 favorites]
It seems like Native American and BLM concerns, immigrant children in cages, the transgender military ban, and inadequate funding for education just slide right off the front page, due to the slow-motion train wreck of the shutdown. Hopefully now that it’s over, the media can bring attention back to those issues, too.
posted by darkstar at 6:22 PM on January 25, 2019 [20 favorites]
I don't know why it took me so long to see it, but doesn't it feel like [the inability of Russian/Wikileaks hackers to get into Hillary Clinton's email servers] was why Trump was so upset about HER EMAILS?
Which arguably supports a theory of long-planned collusion with Russia, with email hacking a major element. Some people laugh about Trump refusing to use email as a sign of him being old and out of touch, but it has proven to be a very shrewd anti-hacking strategy. And that may not be an accident.
posted by msalt at 6:40 PM on January 25, 2019 [8 favorites]
Which arguably supports a theory of long-planned collusion with Russia, with email hacking a major element. Some people laugh about Trump refusing to use email as a sign of him being old and out of touch, but it has proven to be a very shrewd anti-hacking strategy. And that may not be an accident.
posted by msalt at 6:40 PM on January 25, 2019 [8 favorites]
I really wish the media would spend the next three weeks doing long form stories on the human and economic costs of the shutdown.
NPR has pretty much being doing wall to wall stories on people suffering due to the shutdown, all week long.
posted by msalt at 6:41 PM on January 25, 2019 [12 favorites]
NPR has pretty much being doing wall to wall stories on people suffering due to the shutdown, all week long.
posted by msalt at 6:41 PM on January 25, 2019 [12 favorites]
Stone says that when his indictment claims that he told Randy Credico, who was about to testify to Congress, to “do a Frank Pentangeli”, he was not asking him to lie in his forthcoming testimony to Congress, as the character Frank Pentangeli did in “The Godfather Part II”. He claims he was asking Randy Credico, who is apparently a talented mimic, to literally do an impression of the voice and mannerisms of The Godfather character Frank Pentangeli.
I hadn't seen the movie in a while, so I just went back and watched this scene, and it bears mentioning that when Frank Pentangeli was called to testify before the congressional committee, the reason he reneged on his previous sworn statement and denied any knowledge of the mafia is because Michael Corleone was in the galley with his (Pentangeli's) brother - an implicit threat of violence against his family, given the context.
I think this reference alone should count as witness tampering or suborning perjury or something similar. It's an implicit threat of violence. (Also, The Godfather II came out within a couple months of the day when Stone's first muse, R.M. Nixon, resigned. JFC.)
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 6:52 PM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
I hadn't seen the movie in a while, so I just went back and watched this scene, and it bears mentioning that when Frank Pentangeli was called to testify before the congressional committee, the reason he reneged on his previous sworn statement and denied any knowledge of the mafia is because Michael Corleone was in the galley with his (Pentangeli's) brother - an implicit threat of violence against his family, given the context.
I think this reference alone should count as witness tampering or suborning perjury or something similar. It's an implicit threat of violence. (Also, The Godfather II came out within a couple months of the day when Stone's first muse, R.M. Nixon, resigned. JFC.)
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 6:52 PM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
One thing I can say about 2020 is I will not vote for anyone who makes noises about letting the past remain in the past and looking forward (i.e., not investigating and prosecuting crimes committed by this administration.) No-one. I get it looks bad to retaliate for political reasons, but this would not be that, and the age of "make them stop me" with no lasting consequences to deter that behavior has to end.
posted by ctmf at 6:59 PM on January 25, 2019 [51 favorites]
posted by ctmf at 6:59 PM on January 25, 2019 [51 favorites]
He claims he was asking Randy Credico, who is apparently a talented mimic, to literally do an impression of the voice and mannerisms of The Godfather character Frank Pentangeli.
Yeah, if you've ever heard Credico on WBAI (ancient Pacifica station at 99.5 FM in New York; rich in history and home of the infamous "Seven Dirty Words" case, and in recent years, a pathetic shadow of its former self), you know he's a not-half-bad impersonator. And until this present omnishambles, I only knew him as a typical far-left 'BAIer who did some political comedy shows on the station (Cat Radio Cafe and others), all from a far-left progressive/radical/socialist perspective.
So you can imagine the perverse surprise it was to me to see his name pop up years later, connected to . . . Roger Freakin' Stone?
posted by CommonSense at 7:02 PM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
Yeah, if you've ever heard Credico on WBAI (ancient Pacifica station at 99.5 FM in New York; rich in history and home of the infamous "Seven Dirty Words" case, and in recent years, a pathetic shadow of its former self), you know he's a not-half-bad impersonator. And until this present omnishambles, I only knew him as a typical far-left 'BAIer who did some political comedy shows on the station (Cat Radio Cafe and others), all from a far-left progressive/radical/socialist perspective.
So you can imagine the perverse surprise it was to me to see his name pop up years later, connected to . . . Roger Freakin' Stone?
posted by CommonSense at 7:02 PM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
Roger Stone was just interviewed by CNN’s Chris Cuomo. Stone says that when his indictment claims that he told Randy Credico, who was about to testify to Congress, to “do a Frank Pentangeli”, he was not asking him to lie in his forthcoming testimony to Congress, as the character Frank Pentangeli did in “The Godfather Part II”. He claims he was asking Randy Credico, who is apparently a talented mimic, to literally do an impression of the voice and mannerisms of The Godfather character Frank Pentangeli.
Did he actually testify in character? If so, touche Roger Stone, you can skate on that count. So sad for you there are many others that will send you to prison. Maybe don't be a bag man for your entire adult life if you don't want to spend your retirement in the clink.
posted by wierdo at 7:03 PM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
Did he actually testify in character? If so, touche Roger Stone, you can skate on that count. So sad for you there are many others that will send you to prison. Maybe don't be a bag man for your entire adult life if you don't want to spend your retirement in the clink.
posted by wierdo at 7:03 PM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
If they were to declare an immediate walkout, the shutdown won't last more than 48 hours.
An ATC walkout could be career suicide. There’s federal law prohibiting them, and precedence from the Reagan years that ATC who walk out can be ruined for life.
What they did this time was good enough. It allowed for the realities of short staffing to have a felt impact on the nation without triggering legal jeopardy for the workers.
posted by darkstar at 7:04 PM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
An ATC walkout could be career suicide. There’s federal law prohibiting them, and precedence from the Reagan years that ATC who walk out can be ruined for life.
What they did this time was good enough. It allowed for the realities of short staffing to have a felt impact on the nation without triggering legal jeopardy for the workers.
posted by darkstar at 7:04 PM on January 25, 2019 [15 favorites]
Pelosi Statement on Special Counsel Indictment and Arrest of Trump Campaign Advisor Roger Stone
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:24 PM on January 25, 2019 [114 favorites]
The indictment of Roger Stone makes clear that there was a deliberate, coordinated attempt by top Trump campaign officials to influence the 2016 election and subvert the will of the American people. It is staggering that the President has chosen to surround himself with people who violated the integrity of our democracy and lied to the FBI and Congress about it.Nancy Pelosi would like Trump to know there’s a new sheriff in town.
In the face of 37 indictments, the President’s continued actions to undermine the Special Counsel investigation raise the questions: what does Putin have on the President, politically, personally or financially? Why has the Trump Administration continued to discuss pulling the U.S. out of NATO, which would be a massive victory for Putin?
Lying to Congress and witness tampering constitute grave crimes. All who commit these illegal acts should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. We cannot allow any effort to intimidate witnesses or prevent them from appearing before Congress.
The Special Counsel investigation is working, and the House will continue to exercise our constitutional oversight responsibility and ensure that the Special Counsel investigation can continue free from interference from the White House.
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:24 PM on January 25, 2019 [114 favorites]
From Philip Rucker, Josh Dawsey, and Seung Min Kim at the Washington Post:
posted by yasaman at 7:25 PM on January 25, 2019 [77 favorites]
Trump repeatedly predicted to advisers that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) would cave and surmised that she had a problem with the more liberal members of her caucus. But she held firm, and her members stayed united.And from Rachel Bade, Heather Caygle, and John Bresnahan at Politico:
“Why are they always so loyal?” Trump asked in one staff meeting, complaining that Democrats so often stick together while Republicans sometimes break apart, according to attendees.
“I don’t unify our caucus, our values unify us,” Pelosi told reporters. “Our unity is our power and that is maybe what the president underestimated.”So Trump is probably incapable of understanding that Pelosi's not ruling her caucus with an iron fist of fear and punishment, and that the Democratic caucus has, you know, actual values and ethics and morals as opposed to just racism and a yawning void of desire for money and attention. And because he's incapable of understanding that, he's unlikely to ever best her. She did the absolute right thing here by not giving in and making sure her caucus held the line.
Democrats, however, haven't been so subtle in rubbing their victory in Trump’s face. In fact, they flooded Twitter with praise for Pelosi and how she outfoxed Trump.
One tweet from Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) included a picture of the cover of the president’s famous book, The Art of the Deal, with Pelosi’s image replacing Trump’s.
"I think [Pelosi] always organizes her political strategy around a moral core," said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.). "And the core of her argument her[e] was that you do not shut down the government of the United States over a policy difference."
posted by yasaman at 7:25 PM on January 25, 2019 [77 favorites]
“Why are they always so loyal?” Trump asked in one staff meeting, complaining that Democrats so often stick together while Republicans sometimes break apart, according to attendees.
Oh my god it feels so good to hear a Republican complaining about having this problem for once. Thank you Nancy Pelosi for flipping the old dynamic on its head.
posted by jason_steakums at 7:42 PM on January 25, 2019 [117 favorites]
Oh my god it feels so good to hear a Republican complaining about having this problem for once. Thank you Nancy Pelosi for flipping the old dynamic on its head.
posted by jason_steakums at 7:42 PM on January 25, 2019 [117 favorites]
It strikes me that Pelosi's new visibility in the media is a real problem for Trump, beyond the no-duh level. He's held very few press conferences and basically only speaks to his base through rallies and a few weird, rambling events like the Oval Office speech this month.
Until Pelosi was in power, this was a good strategy for maintaining approval ratings, because he and his base could feed off each other, and no one else had to hear from him. Now he has to choose between speaking to press or letting Pelosi dominate national attention, and both options are bad for him.
posted by condour75 at 7:45 PM on January 25, 2019 [25 favorites]
Until Pelosi was in power, this was a good strategy for maintaining approval ratings, because he and his base could feed off each other, and no one else had to hear from him. Now he has to choose between speaking to press or letting Pelosi dominate national attention, and both options are bad for him.
posted by condour75 at 7:45 PM on January 25, 2019 [25 favorites]
If they were to declare an immediate walkout, the shutdown won't last more than 48 hours.
There won't be a formal walkout, for the reasons darkstar brings up, but it won't take nearly as long for them to start calling in sick in large numbers if Trump tries it again.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:49 PM on January 25, 2019 [9 favorites]
There won't be a formal walkout, for the reasons darkstar brings up, but it won't take nearly as long for them to start calling in sick in large numbers if Trump tries it again.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:49 PM on January 25, 2019 [9 favorites]
“Why are they always so loyal?” Trump asked in one staff meeting, complaining that Democrats so often stick together while Republicans sometimes break apart, according to attendees.
Democrats in array.
posted by chris24 at 7:53 PM on January 25, 2019 [64 favorites]
Democrats in array.
posted by chris24 at 7:53 PM on January 25, 2019 [64 favorites]
“Why are they always so loyal?” Trump asked in one staff meeting, complaining that Democrats so often stick together while Republicans sometimes break apart, according to attendees.
My kingdom! My kingdom for a Republican with one iota of self-awareness!
Seriously, what I wouldn't give for that. If Democrats—so unruly a mob that getting them to agree has been famously, and repeatedly, compared to herding cats—are united lockstep against you, maybe it's you.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 8:01 PM on January 25, 2019 [58 favorites]
My kingdom! My kingdom for a Republican with one iota of self-awareness!
Seriously, what I wouldn't give for that. If Democrats—so unruly a mob that getting them to agree has been famously, and repeatedly, compared to herding cats—are united lockstep against you, maybe it's you.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 8:01 PM on January 25, 2019 [58 favorites]
There won't be a formal walkout, for the reasons darkstar brings up, but it won't take nearly as long for them to start calling in sick in large numbers if Trump tries it again.
Makes me wonder whether the various government employee unions are smart enough to demand a return of all sick time / PTO / whatever they call it spent during the lockout.
posted by Etrigan at 8:03 PM on January 25, 2019 [8 favorites]
Makes me wonder whether the various government employee unions are smart enough to demand a return of all sick time / PTO / whatever they call it spent during the lockout.
posted by Etrigan at 8:03 PM on January 25, 2019 [8 favorites]
Trump repeatedly predicted to advisers that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) would cave and surmised that she had a problem with the more liberal members of her caucus.
What? Like literally...what? Pelosi faced a leadership challenge from the right of the party, and most of them have laid low since losing that. Any plan to peel off votes for a wall would have to come from the red state winners of Trump districts, and would still be a terrible plan because most of those people just won their seats running explicitly against both Trump and his wall. But there's no logical or coherent reason to think the left wing of the party like AOC could ever, under any circumstance whatsoever, be persuaded to turn against Pelosi over a Republican immigration plan. It's goddamn insane.
AOC and the new loud progressives may at some point make trouble for Pelosi...but right now they're working with her closely and have been rewarded with high profile committee assignments. And if they do break with her, it'll be over progressive goals, not the fucking wall. It breaks my brain how stupid this is, even for Trump.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:04 PM on January 25, 2019 [75 favorites]
What? Like literally...what? Pelosi faced a leadership challenge from the right of the party, and most of them have laid low since losing that. Any plan to peel off votes for a wall would have to come from the red state winners of Trump districts, and would still be a terrible plan because most of those people just won their seats running explicitly against both Trump and his wall. But there's no logical or coherent reason to think the left wing of the party like AOC could ever, under any circumstance whatsoever, be persuaded to turn against Pelosi over a Republican immigration plan. It's goddamn insane.
AOC and the new loud progressives may at some point make trouble for Pelosi...but right now they're working with her closely and have been rewarded with high profile committee assignments. And if they do break with her, it'll be over progressive goals, not the fucking wall. It breaks my brain how stupid this is, even for Trump.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:04 PM on January 25, 2019 [75 favorites]
most of those people just won their seats running explicitly against both Trump and his wall.
One of the narratives about the midterms is "All these fresh-faced young Democrats who made their premieres in 2018 weren't really running against Trump or against the wall (because, after all, Trump and his pet Republicans never tried to build one when they had all the cards), they were running for Medicare for all or for a higher minimum wage." I'm hearing it more and more from otherwise respectable news sources.
posted by Etrigan at 8:10 PM on January 25, 2019 [8 favorites]
One of the narratives about the midterms is "All these fresh-faced young Democrats who made their premieres in 2018 weren't really running against Trump or against the wall (because, after all, Trump and his pet Republicans never tried to build one when they had all the cards), they were running for Medicare for all or for a higher minimum wage." I'm hearing it more and more from otherwise respectable news sources.
posted by Etrigan at 8:10 PM on January 25, 2019 [8 favorites]
T.D. Strange,
It looks to me like he's letting it slip that he's got problems coming from the right-most members of his right-wing caucus. And he just assumes that the situation is symmetrical, because dumb.
Trump's Mirror strikes again.
posted by Horkus at 8:19 PM on January 25, 2019 [31 favorites]
It looks to me like he's letting it slip that he's got problems coming from the right-most members of his right-wing caucus. And he just assumes that the situation is symmetrical, because dumb.
Trump's Mirror strikes again.
posted by Horkus at 8:19 PM on January 25, 2019 [31 favorites]
AOC and the new loud progressives may at some point make trouble for Pelosi...but right now they're working with her closely and have been rewarded with high profile committee assignments. And if they do break with her, it'll be over progressive goals, not the fucking wall.
AOC just voted against funding the government unless ICE was de-funded, which did seem to weaken the argument that Democrats are against shutting down the government to get what they want politically. Just saying.
posted by xammerboy at 8:27 PM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
AOC just voted against funding the government unless ICE was de-funded, which did seem to weaken the argument that Democrats are against shutting down the government to get what they want politically. Just saying.
posted by xammerboy at 8:27 PM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
In GFII, Pentangeli's decision to renege on his testimony is driven by Tom Hagen subtly bringing up the treatment of plotters against Roman Emperors. Pentangeli, being a good fascist soldier, understands and handles the rest himself.
Fast forward to somewhat less capable consigliere Stone just texting Credico to "do a Frank Pentangeli". A bad Xerox copy of the original, this time as farce. So, a little Stupid Godfather to go with Stupid Watergate.
posted by condour75 at 8:28 PM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
Fast forward to somewhat less capable consigliere Stone just texting Credico to "do a Frank Pentangeli". A bad Xerox copy of the original, this time as farce. So, a little Stupid Godfather to go with Stupid Watergate.
posted by condour75 at 8:28 PM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
One of the narratives about the midterms is "All these fresh-faced young Democrats who made their premieres in 2018 weren't really running against Trump or against the wall (because, after all, Trump and his pet Republicans never tried to build one when they had all the cards), they were running for Medicare for all or for a higher minimum wage." I'm hearing it more and more from otherwise respectable news sources.
They were running against Trump in safe blue areas, but that absolutely wasn't the message used by those who flipped seats. #1 message was healthcare. Talk to any Dem campaign strategist and see what they say.
posted by Anonymous at 8:29 PM on January 25, 2019
They were running against Trump in safe blue areas, but that absolutely wasn't the message used by those who flipped seats. #1 message was healthcare. Talk to any Dem campaign strategist and see what they say.
posted by Anonymous at 8:29 PM on January 25, 2019
Defund ICE, sure, but the platform should be "abolish DHS" and roll back the extraordinary post 9-11 powers that were not meant to be permanent. (We can go back to INS on the immigration front in the bargain.) We don't need a cabinet level Department of Stasi to avoid intel stovepiping. Most of the Dem caucus ought to be able to get behind that. Those that can't are already the purple-state wobblers.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:33 PM on January 25, 2019 [33 favorites]
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:33 PM on January 25, 2019 [33 favorites]
“I don’t unify our caucus, our values unify us,” Pelosi told reporters. “Our unity is our power and that is maybe what the president underestimated.”
YEAH GODDAMN put that on billboards and bumper stickers. That’s our 2020 sound bite if I ever saw one.
posted by Autumnheart at 8:43 PM on January 25, 2019 [35 favorites]
YEAH GODDAMN put that on billboards and bumper stickers. That’s our 2020 sound bite if I ever saw one.
posted by Autumnheart at 8:43 PM on January 25, 2019 [35 favorites]
AOC just voted against funding the government unless ICE was de-funded, which did seem to weaken the argument that Democrats are against shutting down the government to get what they want politically.
It was an utterly meaningless protest vote that injected "Defund ICE" back into the conversation while not actually holding up a single person's paycheck. If @AOC didn't have a thumbs-up from @SpeakerPelosi to make that vote, I will find a smart red coat and eat it.
posted by Etrigan at 8:44 PM on January 25, 2019 [42 favorites]
It was an utterly meaningless protest vote that injected "Defund ICE" back into the conversation while not actually holding up a single person's paycheck. If @AOC didn't have a thumbs-up from @SpeakerPelosi to make that vote, I will find a smart red coat and eat it.
posted by Etrigan at 8:44 PM on January 25, 2019 [42 favorites]
They were running against Trump in safe blue areas, but that absolutely wasn't the message used by those who flipped seats.
I see a subtle but important difference between "They weren't running against Trump" and "Their message wasn't anti-Trump". Those purple seat-flippers were absolutely running against the specter of a Trump-dominated Republican party; they just didn't feel they needed to say those words out loud, largely because there were plenty of safe blue seat-holders saying it for them, on national news and in many of the same media markets.
posted by Etrigan at 8:47 PM on January 25, 2019 [8 favorites]
I see a subtle but important difference between "They weren't running against Trump" and "Their message wasn't anti-Trump". Those purple seat-flippers were absolutely running against the specter of a Trump-dominated Republican party; they just didn't feel they needed to say those words out loud, largely because there were plenty of safe blue seat-holders saying it for them, on national news and in many of the same media markets.
posted by Etrigan at 8:47 PM on January 25, 2019 [8 favorites]
Which arguably supports a theory of long-planned collusion with Russia, with email hacking a major element. Some people laugh about Trump refusing to use email as a sign of him being old and out of touch, but it has proven to be a very shrewd anti-hacking strategy. And that may not be an accident.
Sort of? I think it's more about being held accountable for his words. Same reason he tears up his speeches. Words to him are a tool to be used in the moment, not meant to convey persistent meaning. Because he has nothing that means anything beyond the needs of the moment. Once the moment's over the words' usefulness is over & can only be used against him.
posted by scalefree at 8:52 PM on January 25, 2019 [13 favorites]
Sort of? I think it's more about being held accountable for his words. Same reason he tears up his speeches. Words to him are a tool to be used in the moment, not meant to convey persistent meaning. Because he has nothing that means anything beyond the needs of the moment. Once the moment's over the words' usefulness is over & can only be used against him.
posted by scalefree at 8:52 PM on January 25, 2019 [13 favorites]
Meanwhile on Fox:
@justinbaragona Guys, Fox News is devoting primetime coverage to outrage over Ruth Bader Ginsburg getting her own LEGO figure
posted by scalefree at 9:07 PM on January 25, 2019 [46 favorites]
@justinbaragona Guys, Fox News is devoting primetime coverage to outrage over Ruth Bader Ginsburg getting her own LEGO figure
posted by scalefree at 9:07 PM on January 25, 2019 [46 favorites]
that the Democratic caucus has, you know, actual values and ethics and morals
But also likes seeing I-1 lose, bigly, in a way that enforces all that. If you're on the left of the party, especially if you've come up through the wave of protest and activism, you're all about the power of collective action. There will be times when members of caucus will be asked to take individual votes that aren't squarely in line with what they ran on, generally when it's necessary to get something past the Senate, but given the configuration of Congress until 2021, the job of the House is to serve as a robust opposition, setting out policies-in-waiting and limiting the ability of I-1 to do harm.
posted by holgate at 9:11 PM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
But also likes seeing I-1 lose, bigly, in a way that enforces all that. If you're on the left of the party, especially if you've come up through the wave of protest and activism, you're all about the power of collective action. There will be times when members of caucus will be asked to take individual votes that aren't squarely in line with what they ran on, generally when it's necessary to get something past the Senate, but given the configuration of Congress until 2021, the job of the House is to serve as a robust opposition, setting out policies-in-waiting and limiting the ability of I-1 to do harm.
posted by holgate at 9:11 PM on January 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
While I'm as concerned about ICE as the rest of you, if the Democrats are going to squeeze any major concessions out of this crisis, it should be to close the loopholes that allow shutdowns to happen at all.
Fix the problem permanently. This may very well be the one time when they're ever going to find broad, popular support for ending this specific variety of bullshit once and for all.
posted by schmod at 9:20 PM on January 25, 2019 [43 favorites]
Fix the problem permanently. This may very well be the one time when they're ever going to find broad, popular support for ending this specific variety of bullshit once and for all.
posted by schmod at 9:20 PM on January 25, 2019 [43 favorites]
Also, this piece is delicious: Trump held government workers hostage for a month — and walked away with nothing (Jonathan Allen, NBC News)
The deal he cut boils down to this: He gave up the $5.7 billion wall-money ransom he'd sought and the hostage he'd taken — his own government's operations — in exchange for Democrats agreeing to participate in a "conference committee," which is the legislative equivalent of a firing squad for his wall.posted by J.K. Seazer at 9:20 PM on January 25, 2019 [16 favorites]
Fix the problem permanently.
How would they do this? They don't actually pass budgets any more, and if the POTUS won't sign it, and they don't have Veto majorities, it's a shutdown.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 9:41 PM on January 25, 2019
How would they do this? They don't actually pass budgets any more, and if the POTUS won't sign it, and they don't have Veto majorities, it's a shutdown.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 9:41 PM on January 25, 2019
They can pass a bill saying that if you fail to pass a CR or whatever you continue funding at the current levels until you do. Still need Trump to sign it or to override his veto to get the initial bill passed, of course. But it's completely plausible to pass something to prevent shutdowns.
posted by Justinian at 9:48 PM on January 25, 2019 [33 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 9:48 PM on January 25, 2019 [33 favorites]
Make a law saying the government does not shut down if the president doesn't sign the budget. I'd like to see Republican Senators refuse to sign on to that. It's not like other countries governments shut down when this happens.
posted by xammerboy at 9:49 PM on January 25, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by xammerboy at 9:49 PM on January 25, 2019 [9 favorites]
While I'm as concerned about ICE as the rest of you, if the Democrats are going to squeeze any major concessions out of this crisis, it should be to close the loopholes that allow shutdowns to happen at all.
Fix the problem permanently. This may very well be the one time when they're ever going to find broad, popular support for ending this specific variety of bullshit once and for all.
posted by schmod at 9:20 PM
Present it as a national security measure: a shutdown government is a weakened government. Repeat on video loop all of the TSA and Air Traffic mayhem, the statements from the weakened FBI, etc, that have come out from the current shutdown. Do it quickly, before our collective memories are overtaken by the deluge of the new.
How?
Make it so: if there's no new budget, follow the old budget. If there's no new plan for next month, we do what we did last month, and the absence of a new plan is a de-facto directive to follow the old one, whether it was a formal comprehensive budget, or a spiderweb of Continuing Resolutions.
posted by yesster at 9:49 PM on January 25, 2019 [33 favorites]
Fix the problem permanently. This may very well be the one time when they're ever going to find broad, popular support for ending this specific variety of bullshit once and for all.
posted by schmod at 9:20 PM
Present it as a national security measure: a shutdown government is a weakened government. Repeat on video loop all of the TSA and Air Traffic mayhem, the statements from the weakened FBI, etc, that have come out from the current shutdown. Do it quickly, before our collective memories are overtaken by the deluge of the new.
How?
Make it so: if there's no new budget, follow the old budget. If there's no new plan for next month, we do what we did last month, and the absence of a new plan is a de-facto directive to follow the old one, whether it was a formal comprehensive budget, or a spiderweb of Continuing Resolutions.
posted by yesster at 9:49 PM on January 25, 2019 [33 favorites]
... there are basically two explanations for all the criminals and crooks around Individual 1. Either he was in on the conspiracy and directed it to some degree from the very top of the "campaign" OR Individual 1 is too stupid and incompetent to properly vet people who work for him. Or both. It's probably both.
A lot of Trumpists are going to avail themselves of Door Number Three: this is all a gigantic deep state conspiracy. Every crime was a setup, every piece of evidence was fabricated, every confession and damning testimony was wrenched out falsely when the deep state cabal tightened the screws. Trump tried to fight city hall, but the rot goes too deep. The fbi, the cia, the nsa, the department of justice -- isn't it obvious that all those smug feds had a grudge against an outsider like Trump who would dare to question their power?
The question is, how many Trumpists are going to choose Door Number Three?
posted by Vic Morrow's Personal Vietnam at 9:55 PM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
A lot of Trumpists are going to avail themselves of Door Number Three: this is all a gigantic deep state conspiracy. Every crime was a setup, every piece of evidence was fabricated, every confession and damning testimony was wrenched out falsely when the deep state cabal tightened the screws. Trump tried to fight city hall, but the rot goes too deep. The fbi, the cia, the nsa, the department of justice -- isn't it obvious that all those smug feds had a grudge against an outsider like Trump who would dare to question their power?
The question is, how many Trumpists are going to choose Door Number Three?
posted by Vic Morrow's Personal Vietnam at 9:55 PM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
yeah I get it, pass a bill. But you got 67 Senators on board? It'll take a like-minded President and both Houses to get something like that. I was thinking an Amendment might help but ya need 67 for that and the states of course, but at least it'd be a little more.....permanent than a law.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 10:08 PM on January 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 10:08 PM on January 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
Republican senators may well be the first to sign such a bill, so that in three weeks time they can safely grandstand about not passing the budget until it includes the money for a space gun wall that Coulter suggested, without risking actual disapproval from their pissed off constituents.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 10:20 PM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by the agents of KAOS at 10:20 PM on January 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
yeah I get it, pass a bill. But you got 67 Senators on board? It'll take a like-minded President and both Houses to get something like that. I was thinking an Amendment might help but ya need 67 for that and the states of course, but at least it'd be a little more.....permanent than a law.
So, what causes shutdowns is actually statutory, not constitutional. The Antideficiency Act was originally passed in the (original) Robber Barron era, as an anti-corruption measure. What would happen is government contractors would intentionally create cost overruns, extorting Congress to appropriate more funds than originally allowed to line their own pockets. The Antideficiency Act was passed to say that no money could be spent without prior appropriation. That's now been abused, but Congress can easily fix it by reforming the Antideficiency Act and other budgeting statutes to say that in the event of a lapse in appropriations, the previous year's levels will carry over unless expressly ended by contract terms, or superseded by a new appropriation. It's all statutory, this could be fixed. And if this language was added into the full year funding bill in 3 weeks, or the FY 2020 bill, Trump wouldn't be smart enough to veto it. Even Chuck Grassley today made noises about how hostage taking has to end, and Mitch McConnell cannot want to leave this weapon in Trump's hands...he didn't want to use it this time because he knew he'd be exactly where he is today. Shutdowns are not an effective weapon, and quickly backfire on the side that is viewed as causing it. NOW is the time to try for reforms, not the next time this shit happens, when the worst shutdown in history is fresh in mind.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:25 PM on January 25, 2019 [78 favorites]
So, what causes shutdowns is actually statutory, not constitutional. The Antideficiency Act was originally passed in the (original) Robber Barron era, as an anti-corruption measure. What would happen is government contractors would intentionally create cost overruns, extorting Congress to appropriate more funds than originally allowed to line their own pockets. The Antideficiency Act was passed to say that no money could be spent without prior appropriation. That's now been abused, but Congress can easily fix it by reforming the Antideficiency Act and other budgeting statutes to say that in the event of a lapse in appropriations, the previous year's levels will carry over unless expressly ended by contract terms, or superseded by a new appropriation. It's all statutory, this could be fixed. And if this language was added into the full year funding bill in 3 weeks, or the FY 2020 bill, Trump wouldn't be smart enough to veto it. Even Chuck Grassley today made noises about how hostage taking has to end, and Mitch McConnell cannot want to leave this weapon in Trump's hands...he didn't want to use it this time because he knew he'd be exactly where he is today. Shutdowns are not an effective weapon, and quickly backfire on the side that is viewed as causing it. NOW is the time to try for reforms, not the next time this shit happens, when the worst shutdown in history is fresh in mind.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:25 PM on January 25, 2019 [78 favorites]
Make it so: if there's no new budget, follow the old budget.
That gives too much power to the president. Without the hammer of a government shutdown a president could lock in the old budget until there's enough votes for a veto proof budget. There has to be pain to supply the pressure needed for a resolution.
posted by rdr at 12:07 AM on January 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
That gives too much power to the president. Without the hammer of a government shutdown a president could lock in the old budget until there's enough votes for a veto proof budget. There has to be pain to supply the pressure needed for a resolution.
posted by rdr at 12:07 AM on January 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
I think the lesson to be learned here is that strikes should be warming up much sooner than they did this time. That this didn't start happening weeks ago proves to me that labor in the US is quite cowed indeed.
posted by rhizome at 12:34 AM on January 26, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 12:34 AM on January 26, 2019 [8 favorites]
“Let me be very clear,” Trump said, “we really have no choice but to build a powerful wall or steel barrier..."
Four Years Of Speeches, One Signature Phrase [TIME] supercut of Obama saying 'let me be clear' 400 times. He's using Melania's speechwriters now.
posted by adept256 at 1:22 AM on January 26, 2019 [5 favorites]
Four Years Of Speeches, One Signature Phrase [TIME] supercut of Obama saying 'let me be clear' 400 times. He's using Melania's speechwriters now.
posted by adept256 at 1:22 AM on January 26, 2019 [5 favorites]
For anyone whose state is turning purple, here's a possible project: during the past few election cycles I've taken an interest in the Republican primaries, particularly when some small-time right-wing local or state politician's campaign created a Wikipedia page for them and basically cut-and-pasted a promotional brochure into it. (In my area at least, right-wingers seem to do this much more frequently than centrist or left politicians.)
I would pore through the candidate's public record—copies of legislative minutes for many states appear to be digitized and available at the Internet Archive, for example—and listen to conservative podcasts they appeared on, and watch speeches they'd give posted to Youtube.
Then I'd add to their Wikipedia articles, simply thoroughly documenting their achievements and articulated policy positions and awards from conservative groups and stuff like that... content I'd expect might actually appeal to voters on the right in a primary contest, but simply neutrally laying out evidence of their actual character and linking to the sources.
Now in the past couple of years, during the Trump-induced leftward shift, I've noticed efforts to delete much of what I wrote in the past: apparent attempts to wipe the slate clean so that these right-wing candidates can redefine themselves further to the left and hide things like Christian Coalition endorsements under the carpet SEO-wise. Today I noticed that a message was posted, purportedly from one of these politicians himself, disavowing the article as the creation of PR people in years past and begging for it to be deleted. But fortunately other Wikipedia editors recognized that there's enough substantial content added to the original brochure crap to make it a half-decent article and declined to pursue deletion of the entire article.
If anyone else in a purple state embarks on an endeavor of this sort, be aware that it's extremely laborious: I'd say that easily 80% of what I've written over the years in political bio articles has been deleted (mostly because deleting stuff is a favorite pasttime on Wikipedia; God forbid anyone ever “balance” an article by researching and writing content rather than spending a fraction of a second deleting swathes of other peoples' work) but it warms my shriveled bitter black heart to see pushback like that. To quote (Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee last fall) Andrew Gillum's grandmother, a hit dog hollers.
(Pro tip though: save an Internet Archive copy—fill in the "Save Page Now" field and press the button—of every source you come across and put that in the citation, and there are many other archiving projects to save stuff on... early on I'd find completely ridiculous stuff a candidate actually posted on their campaign web site but once that site was scrubbed or taken down it was basically impossible to keep the evidence in a Wikipedia article. I guess “ridiculous” is an extremely relative term in the Trump era but you get what I mean.)
posted by XMLicious at 2:00 AM on January 26, 2019 [119 favorites]
I would pore through the candidate's public record—copies of legislative minutes for many states appear to be digitized and available at the Internet Archive, for example—and listen to conservative podcasts they appeared on, and watch speeches they'd give posted to Youtube.
Then I'd add to their Wikipedia articles, simply thoroughly documenting their achievements and articulated policy positions and awards from conservative groups and stuff like that... content I'd expect might actually appeal to voters on the right in a primary contest, but simply neutrally laying out evidence of their actual character and linking to the sources.
Now in the past couple of years, during the Trump-induced leftward shift, I've noticed efforts to delete much of what I wrote in the past: apparent attempts to wipe the slate clean so that these right-wing candidates can redefine themselves further to the left and hide things like Christian Coalition endorsements under the carpet SEO-wise. Today I noticed that a message was posted, purportedly from one of these politicians himself, disavowing the article as the creation of PR people in years past and begging for it to be deleted. But fortunately other Wikipedia editors recognized that there's enough substantial content added to the original brochure crap to make it a half-decent article and declined to pursue deletion of the entire article.
If anyone else in a purple state embarks on an endeavor of this sort, be aware that it's extremely laborious: I'd say that easily 80% of what I've written over the years in political bio articles has been deleted (mostly because deleting stuff is a favorite pasttime on Wikipedia; God forbid anyone ever “balance” an article by researching and writing content rather than spending a fraction of a second deleting swathes of other peoples' work) but it warms my shriveled bitter black heart to see pushback like that. To quote (Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee last fall) Andrew Gillum's grandmother, a hit dog hollers.
(Pro tip though: save an Internet Archive copy—fill in the "Save Page Now" field and press the button—of every source you come across and put that in the citation, and there are many other archiving projects to save stuff on... early on I'd find completely ridiculous stuff a candidate actually posted on their campaign web site but once that site was scrubbed or taken down it was basically impossible to keep the evidence in a Wikipedia article. I guess “ridiculous” is an extremely relative term in the Trump era but you get what I mean.)
posted by XMLicious at 2:00 AM on January 26, 2019 [119 favorites]
I think the lesson to be learned here is that strikes should be warming up much sooner than they did this time. That this didn't start happening weeks ago proves to me that labor in the US is quite cowed indeed.
It's straight-up illegal for federal workers to strike, and they can be fired, their union can be fined, they can be barred from future federal employment, and they can go to jail. So you're asking people to do something pretty huge, and if it's at all a remote possibility, there would have to be an enormous amount of support behind it from the start, from bail funds to lawyers to protests.
I've seen a view in a few corners of the internet that what happened today wasn't exactly a quasi-strike so much as the consequence of a new policy OPM announced the other day. Congress recently passed the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, which guarantees backpay, ASAP, to furloughed federal workers during a shutdown (all shutdowns in the future too, not just this one). OPM just put out a memo on Wednesday offering guidance on it, and it has an interesting quirk: previously, essential employees couldn't take leave during a shutdown, and the new law says they now can.
Under the new law, essential employees who are required to work during shutdowns "shall be entitled to use leave" subject to the normal request/approval procedures to take time off in their agencies. And here's the fun part. If you, an essential employee, take some of your leave during a shutdown, it doesn't need to be regular paid leave (which wouldn't actually get paid until the government reopens), you can take leave by jumping over to furlough status for the day just like a non-essential employee. That's a beautiful thing, because another bit of the new law says that everyone on furlough status is guaranteed backpay. That's amazing; if you're an essential employee during a shutdown, you can now take leave, get paid for that time during the shutdown, and yet not have anything deducted from your leave balance.
So the theory is that's how we got What Did and Didn't Happen at LaGuardia Today: air traffic controllers could actually take leave today, and a bunch of controllers were sick since everyone's been coming to work ill, so between the whole not getting paid thing and the colds going around, some controllers at Washington and Jacksonville centers stayed home. Under OPM's guidance, that means those workers can get paid for the day off and not have to spend a sick day, which is a pretty good deal.
With this guidance in place, unless I'm entirely misunderstanding this, the stakes of any future shutdown are going to be higher, since it seems like there's a big incentive for essential federal workers to request as much free leave as they possibly can.
posted by zachlipton at 2:10 AM on January 26, 2019 [45 favorites]
It's straight-up illegal for federal workers to strike, and they can be fired, their union can be fined, they can be barred from future federal employment, and they can go to jail. So you're asking people to do something pretty huge, and if it's at all a remote possibility, there would have to be an enormous amount of support behind it from the start, from bail funds to lawyers to protests.
I've seen a view in a few corners of the internet that what happened today wasn't exactly a quasi-strike so much as the consequence of a new policy OPM announced the other day. Congress recently passed the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, which guarantees backpay, ASAP, to furloughed federal workers during a shutdown (all shutdowns in the future too, not just this one). OPM just put out a memo on Wednesday offering guidance on it, and it has an interesting quirk: previously, essential employees couldn't take leave during a shutdown, and the new law says they now can.
Under the new law, essential employees who are required to work during shutdowns "shall be entitled to use leave" subject to the normal request/approval procedures to take time off in their agencies. And here's the fun part. If you, an essential employee, take some of your leave during a shutdown, it doesn't need to be regular paid leave (which wouldn't actually get paid until the government reopens), you can take leave by jumping over to furlough status for the day just like a non-essential employee. That's a beautiful thing, because another bit of the new law says that everyone on furlough status is guaranteed backpay. That's amazing; if you're an essential employee during a shutdown, you can now take leave, get paid for that time during the shutdown, and yet not have anything deducted from your leave balance.
So the theory is that's how we got What Did and Didn't Happen at LaGuardia Today: air traffic controllers could actually take leave today, and a bunch of controllers were sick since everyone's been coming to work ill, so between the whole not getting paid thing and the colds going around, some controllers at Washington and Jacksonville centers stayed home. Under OPM's guidance, that means those workers can get paid for the day off and not have to spend a sick day, which is a pretty good deal.
With this guidance in place, unless I'm entirely misunderstanding this, the stakes of any future shutdown are going to be higher, since it seems like there's a big incentive for essential federal workers to request as much free leave as they possibly can.
posted by zachlipton at 2:10 AM on January 26, 2019 [45 favorites]
That gives too much power to the president. Without the hammer of a government shutdown a president could lock in the old budget until there's enough votes for a veto proof budget. There has to be pain to supply the pressure needed for a resolution.
The simple fix for that is to suspend executive rulemaking authority during an apropriations lapse. No budget means no new rules, everything just continues as is until the squabbling stops. Since the powers are delegated by Congress, Congress can limit executive power in this way.
posted by wierdo at 2:39 AM on January 26, 2019 [17 favorites]
The simple fix for that is to suspend executive rulemaking authority during an apropriations lapse. No budget means no new rules, everything just continues as is until the squabbling stops. Since the powers are delegated by Congress, Congress can limit executive power in this way.
posted by wierdo at 2:39 AM on January 26, 2019 [17 favorites]
CNN reports “dismay” from within Trumpland over the Cave: Trump concedes to temporarily end shutdown
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:06 AM on January 26, 2019 [93 favorites]
Inside Trump's own camp, there appeared to be intense dismay. A Trump adviser offered a pretty stark assessment of what happened on the shutdown.If the knives are coming out for Stephen Miller, that would be the best bonus for this debacle.
"A humiliating loss for a man that rarely loses," the adviser said.
"I miss winning," the adviser added.
Acknowledging the new political reality with Pelosi in charge of the House, the adviser said the only way forward for Trump is "compromise."
The adviser went on to question whether Trump will continue to listen to aide Stephen Miller on immigration.
"Today is not a cave, but a grave for Stephen Miller policies," the adviser said, though it's not clear at all that Trump is ready to make that kind of course correction.
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:06 AM on January 26, 2019 [93 favorites]
The NYT offers an annotated and color-coded chart in Trump and His Associates Had More Than 100 Contacts With Russians Before the Inauguration:
During the 2016 presidential campaign and transition, Donald J. Trump and at least 17 campaign officials and advisers had contacts with Russian nationals and WikiLeaks, or their intermediaries, a New York Times analysis has found.posted by Little Dawn at 5:27 AM on January 26, 2019 [34 favorites]
Politico adds some context to CNN's report on the Trumpland dismay:
posted by Little Dawn at 5:54 AM on January 26, 2019 [23 favorites]
That official said that Trump’s core supporters and former aides are “furious” and “melting down.”(emphasis added)
Bewildered by his decision to accept a deal without funding for a wall on the southern border — not even the “down payment” the White House had requested a day earlier — some of his most loyal supporters fretted that Trump was in danger of losing his fervent base that has fueled his presidency. It didn’t help that special counsel Robert Mueller had just released more details about the Trump campaign’s alleged attempts to backchannel with WikiLeaks during the election.
It all left Trump staring at a tough road ahead. Having staked his nascent 2020 reelection messaging to the wall fight, Trump now can’t claim victory as Democrats start entering the field. After stumbling in his first bout with Pelosi, Trump must now face an invigorated Democratic-led House keen to investigate the White House. And following Mueller's reveal of more evidence that Trump’s 2016 team tried to furtively gather intel about hacked Democratic emails, Trump will have to fend off increasing calls for impeachment.
posted by Little Dawn at 5:54 AM on January 26, 2019 [23 favorites]
Trump ends government shutdown after realizing unpaid FBI agents can still arrest people (Beaverton, satire)
posted by Orange Pamplemousse at 6:22 AM on January 26, 2019 [43 favorites]
posted by Orange Pamplemousse at 6:22 AM on January 26, 2019 [43 favorites]
...during the past few election cycles I've taken an interest in the Republican primaries, particularly when some small-time right-wing local or state politician's campaign created a Wikipedia page for them and basically cut-and-pasted a promotional brochure into it.
XMLicious, I am intrigued by your ideas and wish to subscribe to your newsletter. There's a MeFi Projects page somewhere around here and it always seemed ripe for channeling MegaThread™ brand rage into some sort of action like that.
I mean, instead of fuming about Ernie-bay annoucing another andidacy-kay we could help takedown Racist Joe Smaug down in Texabamassippi. Just need to gamify that sucker and make it a mobile app, then we'd be cookin' with clean renewable solar and wind energy.
posted by petebest at 6:24 AM on January 26, 2019 [30 favorites]
XMLicious, I am intrigued by your ideas and wish to subscribe to your newsletter. There's a MeFi Projects page somewhere around here and it always seemed ripe for channeling MegaThread™ brand rage into some sort of action like that.
I mean, instead of fuming about Ernie-bay annoucing another andidacy-kay we could help takedown Racist Joe Smaug down in Texabamassippi. Just need to gamify that sucker and make it a mobile app, then we'd be cookin' with clean renewable solar and wind energy.
posted by petebest at 6:24 AM on January 26, 2019 [30 favorites]
Roger Stone's attorney has written a novel.
It's a political thriller
(Thread Reader link)
posted by Floydd at 6:29 AM on January 26, 2019 [16 favorites]
It's a political thriller
(Thread Reader link)
posted by Floydd at 6:29 AM on January 26, 2019 [16 favorites]
There was an arson investigator who wrote a novel about an arsonist, which was later used in the trial to convict him of arson, because it was basically his diary of the time he went and set a bunch of fires. It sounds so stupid that a crook would write it all down and try to pass it off as 'fiction', but it really happens sometimes.
Roger Stone's Attorney's novel is about a crooked president. Knowing that criminals really are that stupid maybe it's worth someone in the Muellertary giving it a skim.
posted by adept256 at 6:46 AM on January 26, 2019 [12 favorites]
Roger Stone's Attorney's novel is about a crooked president. Knowing that criminals really are that stupid maybe it's worth someone in the Muellertary giving it a skim.
posted by adept256 at 6:46 AM on January 26, 2019 [12 favorites]
Jack Shafer at Politico offers a political weather report in Week 88: Did Stone's Indictment Finally Tie Trump’s Campaign to Russia?
It’s a bad time to lie to Congress is one takeaway from the Stone indictment and from Michael Cohen’s confession. Donald Trump Jr. suffers similar legal exposure, especially since Cohen spilled his lies and stated that Moscow Trump Tower development continued into June 2016. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., has also complained, saying that Junior “provided false testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee.” Said Blumenthal on the day Junior’s testimony was made public, “I have no confidence that he has told the whole truth.”posted by Little Dawn at 7:05 AM on January 26, 2019 [7 favorites]
Busting liars is great legal sport, but as former acting U.S. solicitor general Neal Katyal told the Guardian in November, the richest question isn’t: Who else lied? It’s: Why did they lie? As Katyal said: “At whose direction? Who stood to gain from the lies? What did they know and when?”
Politico adds some context to CNN's report on the Trumpland dismay
There are more schadenfreuderiffic quotes from that Politico article:
MMA's Matt Gertz mentions: "It sure is weird that the head of the American Conservative Union is praising Trump after the cave given that he **checks notes** is the husband of a top White House aide and has a consulting business built on monetizing those ties."
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:16 AM on January 26, 2019 [17 favorites]
There are more schadenfreuderiffic quotes from that Politico article:
“I’m not sure allies are going along with [Trump's cave], more just letting it happen. It’s like watching a house completely engulfed in flames; there’s nothing you can do except watch,” a former campaign aide told POLITICO when asked about the reaction from hard-line immigration groups like the Federation for American Immigration Reform, whose president Dan Stein appeared to tepidly endorse Trump’s latest strategy.Meanwhile, @realDonaldTrump's been licking his wounds on Twitter this morning. He's promised to start negotiations with Democrats "immediately" and reiterated "We will build the Wall!" (and indulged in Roger Stone–related whataboutism). He's spent more time thanking the RNC for formally voting yesterday to support him in 2020 and selectively quoting Fox & Friends allies such as Obama's former CBP chief and American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp.
In a statement, Stein said Trump “acted in good faith” to reopen parts of the federal government that have been shuttered for more than a month. “The ball is now in Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer’s court to demonstrate theirs.”
Three former Trump aides disagreed with Stein’s assessment, claiming the president raised a white flag on Friday and surrendered the already-limited leverage he had left. All three expressed dismay at the president’s strategy over the past 72 hours — from him submitting to Pelosi’s request to delay the State of the Union until the government reopened to endorsing a wall-less spending bill while congressional Democrats and Republicans hash things out.
“He allowed 35 days of chaos and hurt all for nothing," said the second former White House official. "I’m so glad people will start being paid, but this could have been done in December.”
The White House allies said their chief concern going forward is a situation in which Trump backpedals again if a deal isn’t struck in the coming weeks.[…]
“He’s going to cave again in [three] weeks,” predicted the former campaign official. “Democrats have Trump by the balls.”
MMA's Matt Gertz mentions: "It sure is weird that the head of the American Conservative Union is praising Trump after the cave given that he **checks notes** is the husband of a top White House aide and has a consulting business built on monetizing those ties."
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:16 AM on January 26, 2019 [17 favorites]
So what would the deal be if Trump declares a national emergency? What are the mechanics of that? If we take the last two years into account, we can assume (a) Trump will use any and all powers afforded to him and (b) Republicans will do nothing about it. This Atlantic Magazine article shows the powers granted to the President are quite broad. Is everyone just assuming congress will come up with a compromise bill within 3 weeks?
posted by gwint at 7:32 AM on January 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by gwint at 7:32 AM on January 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
Brian Schatz: We are not done trying to make federal workers and contractors whole. There is legislation to pay contractors, to provide relief against civil action, and eventually a bill to cause the government to go to an automatic CR if appropriations lapse. Let this be the last shutdown.
Steve Dennis (Bloomberg): Automatic CRs are all the rage now. Used to be an idea that conservatives loved and liberals hated because it nukes spending over time via inflation.
(Warner's bill includes automatic inflation INCREASES, Portman's includes automatic CUTS.)
This is absolutely key, an auto-CR must be indexed to inflation, or it gives Republicans effectively an autotmatic way to cut all spending by being intransient. They could block ever passing another budget again, and slowly starve all government functions to death.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:33 AM on January 26, 2019 [71 favorites]
Steve Dennis (Bloomberg): Automatic CRs are all the rage now. Used to be an idea that conservatives loved and liberals hated because it nukes spending over time via inflation.
(Warner's bill includes automatic inflation INCREASES, Portman's includes automatic CUTS.)
This is absolutely key, an auto-CR must be indexed to inflation, or it gives Republicans effectively an autotmatic way to cut all spending by being intransient. They could block ever passing another budget again, and slowly starve all government functions to death.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:33 AM on January 26, 2019 [71 favorites]
Guardian: Roger Stone's arrest may renew threat of impeachment for Trump
As usual, the White House moved swiftly to dismiss the arrest. “This has nothing to do with the president and certainly nothing to do with the White House,” Sanders said on CNN. “This is something that has to do solely with that individual.”posted by Little Dawn at 7:40 AM on January 26, 2019 [15 favorites]
But influential members of Congress and legal analysts described a sharply different view of what the arrest meant.
Perhaps most troubling for Trump was a tweet by the Democratic representative Jerry Nadler, the freshly minted chairman of the House judiciary committee – where articles of impeachment against Trump would originate, if Democrats decided to bring them.
(((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler)
Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, Rick Gates, Michael Flynn... What did the President know and when did he know it?
January 25, 2019
IRS will need at least a year to recover from government shutdown, watchdog tells Congress
For instance, the IRS has a backlog of 5 million unanswered pieces of mail from taxpayers, up from 2.5 million on Jan. 16, IRS officials have told House aides. With in-person taxpayer assistance centers closed during the shutdown, the IRS was receiving more than 700,000 pieces of mail every day, up from 200,000 pieces of mail daily as of Jan. 16.posted by T.D. Strange at 8:00 AM on January 26, 2019 [30 favorites]
The government shutdown also delayed training for IRS employees, who must be taught how to implement changes to the tax code passed by Republicans in 2017. About 2,000 recently hired IRS employees also need to be trained before they can start answering taxpayer questions over the phone.
Concerns are also mounting over the service’s information technology, as a hardware glitch on Tax Day last year crashed the IRS’s online filing systems. The IRS is also losing 25 IT staffers every week since the shutdown began, with many finding other jobs, one House aide said, citing a briefing by IRS officials earlier in the week.
New regulations clarifying the more complex parts of the law have also come out at a significantly slower pace during the shutdown, and tax attorneys and accountants say they struggled to get IRS officials on the phone for help.
Secret Service members create challenge coin for working without pay - CNNPolitics
Hard to see, but there are little pacifiers next to the "Don't worry" text.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 8:08 AM on January 26, 2019 [47 favorites]
"DON'T WORRY, YOU'LL GET BACKPAY," is printed on one side of the coins, according to a photo obtained by CNN's Jake Tapper. The other side has "UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE" and "ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL" printed on it
Hard to see, but there are little pacifiers next to the "Don't worry" text.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 8:08 AM on January 26, 2019 [47 favorites]
John Podesta is enjoying some sweet, sweet schadenfreude today in the WaPo: John Podesta: It might now be Roger Stone’s time in the barrel
posted by Sublimity at 8:13 AM on January 26, 2019 [13 favorites]
posted by Sublimity at 8:13 AM on January 26, 2019 [13 favorites]
“He’s going to cave again in [three] weeks,” predicted the former campaign official. “Democrats have Trump by the balls.”
Oh thank you for that quote DoktorZed - that is the sweetest thing I have read in the last 2 years, 5 days, 23 hours, 39 minutes and 2 seconds.
posted by bluesky43 at 8:26 AM on January 26, 2019 [16 favorites]
Oh thank you for that quote DoktorZed - that is the sweetest thing I have read in the last 2 years, 5 days, 23 hours, 39 minutes and 2 seconds.
posted by bluesky43 at 8:26 AM on January 26, 2019 [16 favorites]
NBC: Hill Dems Say Roger Stone Indictment a Preview of 'Coming Attractions'
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:56 AM on January 26, 2019 [22 favorites]
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said in an interview on "Morning Joe" that there are only two options: either Trump himself was actively involved in collusion, or he surrounded himself on the campaign with a circle of people who have now been charged with engaging in criminal activity, and that the "witch hunt" theory he has plugged is now disproven.It's good to see the Dems more or less united in messaging, and. now that they have political leverage, being listened to.
"Since WikiLeaks was the vehicle through which a vast store of emails and materials that were damaging to the Democratic campaign and to the DNC and to the Democratic nominee were released to the public, this strongly suggests that this might be the connection point between the Trump Campaign’s leadership and WikiLeaks and Russian Intelligence," Coons said. "This strongly suggests there was exactly that connection between the senior most levels of the Trump campaign."
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is also conducting its own probe, said the indictment could be a sign of things to come. “Stone indictment a possible preview of coming attractions — in living color, more dynamite disclosures are likely from this dramatic Trump crony & potential co-conspirator,” he tweeted. “Stone is an existential threat to Trump. A claimed key conduit for Russian communication, Stone was as close to Trump as anyone in the campaign — with possibly damning info on him & others.”
Others went even further. “Stone indictment clears it up: the Trump organization and campaign and administration are criminal enterprises,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va.
“Who directs a senior “Trump Campaign Official?” ONLY a more senior campaign official. #RogerStone,” tweeted Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., another member of the House Intelligence panel and possible 2020 Democratic presidential contender.
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:56 AM on January 26, 2019 [22 favorites]
re: Wikipedia
In 2017 I created a wikipedia account and got verified for the sole reason of creating new pages. Mostly, I wanted to create a few pages about politicians that A) didn't yet exist and B) needed to, because they were outrageously evil. So I got verified, and did that. Almost immediately, one of the pages was the subject to a massive fight, ended up protected, and now I take some small credit for the re-election loss of this person because the first thing you saw when you googled him was his wikipedia page, which clearly spelled out his insane racism.
Wikipedia is a good tool to use to spread knowledge about someone. It has very strict policies, has extremely high credibility, and is the first damn thing most people see when they google someone.
posted by weed donkey at 9:26 AM on January 26, 2019 [110 favorites]
In 2017 I created a wikipedia account and got verified for the sole reason of creating new pages. Mostly, I wanted to create a few pages about politicians that A) didn't yet exist and B) needed to, because they were outrageously evil. So I got verified, and did that. Almost immediately, one of the pages was the subject to a massive fight, ended up protected, and now I take some small credit for the re-election loss of this person because the first thing you saw when you googled him was his wikipedia page, which clearly spelled out his insane racism.
Wikipedia is a good tool to use to spread knowledge about someone. It has very strict policies, has extremely high credibility, and is the first damn thing most people see when they google someone.
posted by weed donkey at 9:26 AM on January 26, 2019 [110 favorites]
From the Podesta OpEd: Stone instructs Person 2 to do a “Frank Pentangeli” — a character from “The Godfather Part II” who famously lies to congressional investigators — and, my nostalgic favorite, Stone paraphrases a quote from President Richard M. Nixon during the Watergate coverup: “Stonewall it. Plead the Fifth. Anything to save the plan.”
Stone quotes Nixon in FBI indictment charges. No new crooks under the sun.
posted by petebest at 9:41 AM on January 26, 2019 [19 favorites]
Stone quotes Nixon in FBI indictment charges. No new crooks under the sun.
posted by petebest at 9:41 AM on January 26, 2019 [19 favorites]
"A humiliating loss for a man that rarely loses," the adviser said.
Has this dumbass actually been paying attention to the last two years? While Trump's definitely had a few highly influential and destructive successes (most of which, like judiciary packing, he owes to the maneuvering of his more politically savvy allies instead of any actual skill on his behalf), he's nonetheless lost a lot more fights than he'swon. The travel ban and the healthcare repeal are the two nearest the front of my mind, but he's put forward a lot of executive orders that have been overturned and legislative proposals that got no traction. Fucker loses all the damn time.
posted by jackbishop at 10:22 AM on January 26, 2019 [27 favorites]
Has this dumbass actually been paying attention to the last two years? While Trump's definitely had a few highly influential and destructive successes (most of which, like judiciary packing, he owes to the maneuvering of his more politically savvy allies instead of any actual skill on his behalf), he's nonetheless lost a lot more fights than he'swon. The travel ban and the healthcare repeal are the two nearest the front of my mind, but he's put forward a lot of executive orders that have been overturned and legislative proposals that got no traction. Fucker loses all the damn time.
posted by jackbishop at 10:22 AM on January 26, 2019 [27 favorites]
Mod note: One comment deleted; let's not kick off into a general "has he been successful or not? should we despair or hope? what about this bad thing? but this failure?" back-and-forth; been there done that many times, and it doesn't lead anywhere useful.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 10:48 AM on January 26, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 10:48 AM on January 26, 2019 [7 favorites]
An additional Wikipedia note: it used to be that you'd see a legion of redlinked accounts (accounts with no profile page, often indicating that they were recently or hastily created) editing groups of politicians' articles; you'd google all the names and find they were on the client list of one particular PR firm.
They've gotten more sophisticated than that over the years, but anyone who's looking to become a diligent biographer from afar of politicians in red and purple states might find leads this way: go spelunking through the history of a known sleazebag's article and find accounts copiously editing other politician bio articles.
As I understand it there are all sorts of fancy software tools for attempting to analyze coordinated editing patterns on Wikipedia, so there may be easier ways too.
For that matter, there's also just the internal WikiProject Conservatism. (WikiProjects being coordinated efforts to improve the quality of particular categories of articles.)
posted by XMLicious at 10:50 AM on January 26, 2019 [11 favorites]
They've gotten more sophisticated than that over the years, but anyone who's looking to become a diligent biographer from afar of politicians in red and purple states might find leads this way: go spelunking through the history of a known sleazebag's article and find accounts copiously editing other politician bio articles.
As I understand it there are all sorts of fancy software tools for attempting to analyze coordinated editing patterns on Wikipedia, so there may be easier ways too.
For that matter, there's also just the internal WikiProject Conservatism. (WikiProjects being coordinated efforts to improve the quality of particular categories of articles.)
posted by XMLicious at 10:50 AM on January 26, 2019 [11 favorites]
I'm more than 24 hours late now, but I just read through the whole Stone indictment and I have a few comments that I don't think have been hit on or settled:
- Trump campaign official "directed" to contact Stone: As has been discussed above, I don't think it's completely clear who is being described here:
After the July 22, 2016 release of stolen DNC emails by Organization 1, a senior Trump Campaign official was directed to contact STONE about any additional releases and what other damaging information Organization 1 had regarding the Clinton Campaign. STONE thereafter told the Trump Campaign about potential future releases of damaging material by Organization 1.
I would tend to agree with OnceUponATime that the most likely explanation is that this refers to Bannon's early-October nudge from Breitbart reporter Matthew Boyle. October is indeed after July, and the "thereafter" could most easily be interpreted as Stone's responses to Bannon's query. Another point in support of OnceUponATime's theory is that there were no major Wikileaks dumps between the 22Jul DNC emails and the 7Oct Podesta emails, so the phrasing "After the July 22, 2016 release ... a ... Campaign official was directed to contact Stone ... [who] thereafter told the Trump Campaign about potential future releases" makes sense.
But Marcy Wheeler, for example, does not think that "After ... July" could refer to October, and claims that this "senior Trump Campaign official" cannot be Bannon, who joined the campaign in late-August and is clearly identified as a "high-ranking Trump Campaign official" later in the indictment (her guess is Rick Gates). There are no publicly known communications that would support a senior Trump Campaign official receiving such direction in late-July/early-August, but surely Mueller could be holding something back. - "a supporter involved with the Trump Campaign": These segments of communications never appeared in media reports prior to yesterday (unlike the Corsi stuff, which came out in November):
On or about October 3, 2016, STONE wrote to a supporter involved with the Trump Campaign, “Spoke to my friend in London last night. The payload is still coming.”
andLater that day, on or about October 4, 2016, the supporter involved with the Trump Campaign asked STONE via text message if he had “hear[d] anymore from London.” STONE replied, “Yes - want to talk on a secure line - got Whatsapp?” STONE subsequently told the supporter that more material would be released and that it would be damaging to the Clinton Campaign.
It's not clear if this is a "Trump supporter" or a "Stone supporter", but it is definitely someone "involved with the Trump Campaign" and it is someone that has, seemingly, been a cooperative witness with Mueller (since Mueller has these communications and knows the content of the WhatsApp call).
This mystery person, it seems to me, could be one key in proving communications from Stone to the Trump Campaign, beyond the publicly know communications with Bannon. And this is a completely new avenue (to us). Exactly what was discussed in the WhatsApp call, and what the "supporter" did with the information Stone gave him/her is being retained by Mueller to use at another date. - Corsi vs. Credico: According to the indictment, Stone opened up two lines of communication with Assange/Wikileaks. The first was immediately after the DNC document dump, in late-July 2016, through Jerome Corsi (and, possibly, his London lawyer friend, Ted Malloch). The second was in late-August 2016 through radio host Randy Credico (and his lawyer friend, Margaret Kunstler).
Stone is being charged with, basically, omitting his communications with Jerome Corsi (in late-July/early-August 2016, regarding Assange and Wikileaks) from his testimony to the House Intelligence Committee. Stone told the Committee (almost) everything about his (actually much more extensive) communications through Randy Credico. Unfortunately for him, the Credico communications only occurred in late-August 2016, and Stone was bragging publicly about his back-channel to Wikileaks in early-August.
Jerome Corsi remained an unknown player in this saga long after Stone's testimony before the House Committee. As far as I can tell, his name was only mentioned in this connection after the detainment and subsequent Mueller Grand Jury testimony of Ted Malloch in March-April 2018. (As an aside, how big an idiot is Corsi for giving false testimony to Congress about his communications with Ted Malloch, five months after Malloch testified to Mueller?)
Randy Credico actually tried mightily to help Stone out. After Stone's original testimony in September 2017, Credico pleaded with him to correct his testimony, he refused an initial invitation to give voluntary testimony to the House Intelligence Committee, and he pleaded the 5th in front of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees for nearly a year, before being subpoenaed by Robert Mueller in September 2018. This means that Stone not only had the opportunity not to lie in the first place, but could have corrected the record at any time in the next year, saying he forgot a few text messages with Jerome Corsi. Instead, he spent his time suborning perjury and threatening Credico and his dog.
So, as Rachel Maddow discussed extensively last night, the big question is "Why was Roger Stone hiding his communication with Jerome Corsi, but not Randy Credico?" - Don Jr.: At the exact same time Roger Stone was hyping the upcoming dump of Podesta's emails, communicating with Wikileaks through Randy Credico, and passing information on to Steve Bannon (late-September/early-October 2016), Donald Trump Jr. was communicating with Wikileaks through Twitter DMs (Daily Beast 13 Nov 2017). It would not be a stretch to think that this person:
10/3/16, 1:25PM @WikiLeaks: Hiya, it'd be great if you guys could comment on/push this story. [links to story on Hillary saying she'd like to 'drone' Assange]
10/3/16, 3:01PM @DonaldJTrumpJr: Already did that earlier today. It's amazing what she can get away with.
10/3/16, 3:03PM @DonaldJTrumpJr: What's behind this Wednesday leak I keep reading about?
and the "supporter involved with the Trump Campaign"10/3/16 (Stone to "supporter"): Spoke to my friend in London last night. The payload is still coming.
10/4/16 ("supporter" to Stone): hear anymore from London
10/4/16 (Stone to "supporter"): Yes - want to talk on a secure line - got Whatsapp?
are similar people.
Via TPM's Josh Marshall, a very long thread (unrolled) from Jennifer Taub, summarizing "where we are, what we know, and what we are still waiting for": We Have Seen the Mueller Report –– And It’s Spectacular. Spoiler: "The special counsel investigation has already delivered the evidence we need to take action to remove from office a corruptly compromised president who, in the word of veteran reporter Carl Bernstein, “helped Putin destabilize the United States.”"
posted by MonkeyToes at 11:27 AM on January 26, 2019 [56 favorites]
posted by MonkeyToes at 11:27 AM on January 26, 2019 [56 favorites]
In norm-shattering news, Clarence Thomas and POTUS went on a dinner double date after which Trump met with Ginni Thomas's hard-right activist group. Presidential historians, how fucked is this?
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:41 AM on January 26, 2019 [45 favorites]
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:41 AM on January 26, 2019 [45 favorites]
Okay so we’ve got “senior Trump Campaign official” as Rick Gates, “high-ranking Trump Campaign official” as Bannon, and “supporter” as Don Jr. Who are these people:
posted by gucci mane at 11:47 AM on January 26, 2019
Shortly after Organization 1’s release, an associate of the high- ranking Trump Campaign official sent a text message to STONE that read “well done.” In subsequent conversations with senior Trump Campaign officials, STONE claimed credit for having correctly predicted the October 7, 2016 release.“Associate of the high-ranking Trump Campaign official” (Bannon), and “senior Trump Campaign officials”. This obviously lays out that these “officials” in the Trump Campaign had been privy to the releases.
posted by gucci mane at 11:47 AM on January 26, 2019
Presidential historians, how fucked is this?
From the American Bar Association, the history of judicial ethics includes:
From the American Bar Association, the history of judicial ethics includes:
In August of 2017, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch spoke at an event at the Washington D.C. Trump Hotel.and:
Due to various concerns that his appearance at this event raised various questions of judicial ethics, a flurry of news reports ensued, some of which criticized Gorsuch for having participated in the event.
In 2004, Vice President Dick Cheney went on a hunting trip with Justice Scalia at a time when Cheney had a matter pending in his official capacity before the Supreme Court.
Again, immediately after this event took place, various news and other sources questioned whether it raised judicial ethics concerns.
In 1973, the Judicial Conference of the United States adopted the Code of Conduct for United States Judges. This code, while binding on lower federal court judges, does not apply to the Supreme Court Justices.posted by Little Dawn at 11:48 AM on January 26, 2019 [6 favorites]
[...] Roberts also noted that if the other justices were permitted to review an individual Justice’s decision not to recuse, this could have the effect of giving the other justices the power to determine who would be able hear the affected cases. Therefore, Justices make their own determination, sometimes using the Code and other available authorities for guidance, and their final decision is not subject to review.
Only Burgers Forever Now
In modern life, what seems to be fake is almost always the most real. Trump seems like a fabrication of a president offering a simulation of food in a stress dream about a strange country: But it’s all real. The illusion is Lincoln in the backdrop.posted by homunculus at 12:02 PM on January 26, 2019 [3 favorites]
Will Bunch: Why the fate of this tiny Louisiana island is the world’s most important news story of 2019
posted by homunculus at 12:03 PM on January 26, 2019 [21 favorites]
posted by homunculus at 12:03 PM on January 26, 2019 [21 favorites]
Gillibrand talked about the Supreme Court in her Pod Save America interview:
posted by xammerboy at 12:42 PM on January 26, 2019 [55 favorites]
“The fact that a Supreme Court justice can be wined and dined by a special interest, [can] have junkets paid for where they can be lobbied incessantly by the rich special interests, I think we have to make that illegal. I’d be very interested in looking at a very significant transparency agenda for the Supreme Court because I do not think they are held accountable.”I have to admit I didn't know the Supreme Court Justices were going on trips paid for by tobacco companies or what have you. I'm pretty incensed, and would like to know more specifics.
posted by xammerboy at 12:42 PM on January 26, 2019 [55 favorites]
Republicans are stalling Adam Schiff by just not appointing anyone to the intelligence committee: Dithering GOP Stalls House’s New Trump-Russia Probe
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:03 PM on January 26, 2019 [24 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:03 PM on January 26, 2019 [24 favorites]
Republicans are stalling Adam Schiff by just not appointing anyone to the intelligence committee: Dithering GOP Stalls House’s New Trump-Russia Probe
Oh it's worse than that. There's four committees they're not naming anyone to (per Maddow):
Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
Ethics
House Administration
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
Those committees can't conduct any business until their rosters are complete. How conveeenient. How petty.
posted by scalefree at 1:14 PM on January 26, 2019 [63 favorites]
Oh it's worse than that. There's four committees they're not naming anyone to (per Maddow):
Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
Ethics
House Administration
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
Those committees can't conduct any business until their rosters are complete. How conveeenient. How petty.
posted by scalefree at 1:14 PM on January 26, 2019 [63 favorites]
Can one party bring another party to court? If the Republicans are obstructing the business of Congress by refusing to participate in committees can they be found to violate the Constitution and it's duties assigned to the legislature?
posted by downtohisturtles at 1:20 PM on January 26, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by downtohisturtles at 1:20 PM on January 26, 2019 [5 favorites]
There's four committees they're not naming anyone to
It is a pretty bald-faced admission of "we know what the data is going to say, we just don't like it and we're not even trying to hide that"
It's like not even trying to defend a criminal, just using every trick in the book to make sure he can't have a trial.
posted by ctmf at 1:21 PM on January 26, 2019 [23 favorites]
It is a pretty bald-faced admission of "we know what the data is going to say, we just don't like it and we're not even trying to hide that"
It's like not even trying to defend a criminal, just using every trick in the book to make sure he can't have a trial.
posted by ctmf at 1:21 PM on January 26, 2019 [23 favorites]
Those committees can't conduct any business until their rosters are complete.
Seems like a simple rule change.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 1:22 PM on January 26, 2019 [13 favorites]
Seems like a simple rule change.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 1:22 PM on January 26, 2019 [13 favorites]
Can one party bring another party to court?
Alternately, is the Minority Leader responsible and accountable to the Speaker for timely committee assignments (and other duties generally), and are there sanctions available to the Speaker for derelictions of those duties?
posted by ctmf at 1:23 PM on January 26, 2019 [8 favorites]
Alternately, is the Minority Leader responsible and accountable to the Speaker for timely committee assignments (and other duties generally), and are there sanctions available to the Speaker for derelictions of those duties?
posted by ctmf at 1:23 PM on January 26, 2019 [8 favorites]
Those committees can't conduct any business until their rosters are complete.
This is the same sort of procedural b.s. tactic the Republicans used when refusing to confirm Garland. I maintain that Obama should have simply appointed him and let the supreme court itself later decide on the constitutionality of not holding confirmation hearings. Similarly, here Democrats should just move forward (guess you've appointed no one to the committees - fine). We've already seen what happens when you play along with Republicans who are clearly circumventing the intent of the law.
posted by xammerboy at 1:26 PM on January 26, 2019 [75 favorites]
This is the same sort of procedural b.s. tactic the Republicans used when refusing to confirm Garland. I maintain that Obama should have simply appointed him and let the supreme court itself later decide on the constitutionality of not holding confirmation hearings. Similarly, here Democrats should just move forward (guess you've appointed no one to the committees - fine). We've already seen what happens when you play along with Republicans who are clearly circumventing the intent of the law.
posted by xammerboy at 1:26 PM on January 26, 2019 [75 favorites]
Better yet, give them a deadline (of about 24 hours) or else the Speaker will fill the remaining slots with more Democrats and let them sue over it.
Fuck norms.
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:28 PM on January 26, 2019 [100 favorites]
Fuck norms.
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:28 PM on January 26, 2019 [100 favorites]
> Only Burgers Forever Now
When I saw the creepy AF photo at the top of that article the first thing that popped into my head was a joke from The Mindy Project, where she walks into a party full of white frat boys and whispers "So this is how I die."
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:49 PM on January 26, 2019 [11 favorites]
When I saw the creepy AF photo at the top of that article the first thing that popped into my head was a joke from The Mindy Project, where she walks into a party full of white frat boys and whispers "So this is how I die."
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:49 PM on January 26, 2019 [11 favorites]
Jesus, that picture. I continue to believe the United States can recover from Trumpism. I see no path, however, where that picture stays out of the history books. It's too awful, too perfect.
posted by EatTheWeek at 1:58 PM on January 26, 2019 [30 favorites]
posted by EatTheWeek at 1:58 PM on January 26, 2019 [30 favorites]
Walter Jones [R-NC-03], who hasn't attended the current Congress at all, is now in hospice.
District went 61-37 Trump, 59-41 Romney.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:03 PM on January 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
District went 61-37 Trump, 59-41 Romney.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:03 PM on January 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
A majority of a committee is all that's necessary to vote on things. Committees are allowed to meet with less than a majority, as long as it's more than 2 (or more than 1/3, depending). Not showing up won't stop them, except by making it look sketchy, and definitely won't stop them for long.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 2:08 PM on January 26, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 2:08 PM on January 26, 2019 [6 favorites]
The Dems should make life-size cardboard silhouettes with a big question mark on them and put them in every empty republican committee seat. Good optics there.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:16 PM on January 26, 2019 [43 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 2:16 PM on January 26, 2019 [43 favorites]
Not showing up won't stop them, except by making it look sketchy
When I don't put someone on a committee I'm invited to, that means "I have no concerns and will accept whatever decision the committee makes."
posted by ctmf at 2:17 PM on January 26, 2019 [16 favorites]
When I don't put someone on a committee I'm invited to, that means "I have no concerns and will accept whatever decision the committee makes."
posted by ctmf at 2:17 PM on January 26, 2019 [16 favorites]
If you missed it the other day, NY gov Cuomo has signed into law legislation providing for:
* early voting
* pre-registration of 16/17 year olds
* same day registration
* no-excuse absentee ballots
* putting state and fed primaries on the same day
posted by Chrysostom at 2:18 PM on January 26, 2019 [82 favorites]
* early voting
* pre-registration of 16/17 year olds
* same day registration
* no-excuse absentee ballots
* putting state and fed primaries on the same day
posted by Chrysostom at 2:18 PM on January 26, 2019 [82 favorites]
In a surprise upset, far right whackdoodle Kelli Ward has won the chair of the Arizona GOP. The state party has been riven with infighting between extremists and more moderate members; this probably won't ease that tension.
One wonders if someone might try to primary McSally in 2020?
posted by Chrysostom at 2:21 PM on January 26, 2019 [10 favorites]
One wonders if someone might try to primary McSally in 2020?
posted by Chrysostom at 2:21 PM on January 26, 2019 [10 favorites]
I've been waiting for this to happen. The Yellow Jacket movement, covertly co-opted by the far right in France, is being jump-started in the US. Here's a Twitter thread detailing its history. I'd Thread Reader it but it's full of screenshots.
@mikefarb1 #unhackthevote
@Jack
@SpeakerPelosi
@SenSchumer
@Emmanuelmacron
@RepAdamSchiff
Bots are pushing for a violent Yellow Jacket revolt in America--just as they did in France.
@jack Please jump on the hashtags #YellowVests and #YellowJackets now
Please Retweet for all to see
[image: yellow jacket bot tweet]
posted by scalefree at 2:41 PM on January 26, 2019 [21 favorites]
@mikefarb1 #unhackthevote
@Jack
@SpeakerPelosi
@SenSchumer
@Emmanuelmacron
@RepAdamSchiff
Bots are pushing for a violent Yellow Jacket revolt in America--just as they did in France.
@jack Please jump on the hashtags #YellowVests and #YellowJackets now
Please Retweet for all to see
[image: yellow jacket bot tweet]
posted by scalefree at 2:41 PM on January 26, 2019 [21 favorites]
Bots are pushing for a violent Yellow Jacket revolt in America--just as they did in France.
i know this is a little derail - but we have these at work and we call them green vests - they look green
can someone briefly explain this as i have been mystified by this for some time
posted by pyramid termite at 3:10 PM on January 26, 2019 [3 favorites]
i know this is a little derail - but we have these at work and we call them green vests - they look green
can someone briefly explain this as i have been mystified by this for some time
posted by pyramid termite at 3:10 PM on January 26, 2019 [3 favorites]
can someone briefly explain this as i have been mystified by this for some time
Follow the link, it lays out the whole history in great detail complete with screenshots.
posted by scalefree at 3:11 PM on January 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
Follow the link, it lays out the whole history in great detail complete with screenshots.
posted by scalefree at 3:11 PM on January 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
I have to admit I didn't know the Supreme Court Justices were going on trips paid for by tobacco companies or what have you. I'm pretty incensed, and would like to know more specifics.
The specifics are that Congress has the power to impeach Supreme Court justices if they appear to be violating conflict of interest rules and/or norms. There need not be an actual crime or anything, they could impeach Gorsuch due to the shenanigans surrounding his appointment if they felt like it.
Obviously, with McConnell running the Senate, it would take scathing public opinion and a near certainty of something along the lines of actual bribery caught on tape for there to be any hope of conviction, but a person can dream, can't they?
posted by wierdo at 3:12 PM on January 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
The specifics are that Congress has the power to impeach Supreme Court justices if they appear to be violating conflict of interest rules and/or norms. There need not be an actual crime or anything, they could impeach Gorsuch due to the shenanigans surrounding his appointment if they felt like it.
Obviously, with McConnell running the Senate, it would take scathing public opinion and a near certainty of something along the lines of actual bribery caught on tape for there to be any hope of conviction, but a person can dream, can't they?
posted by wierdo at 3:12 PM on January 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
Chrysostom: If you missed it the other day, NY gov Cuomo has signed into law legislation providing for: * early voting * pre-registration of 16/17 year olds * same day registration * no-excuse absentee ballots * putting state and fed primaries on the same day
Meanwhile, in Arizona, the GOP is trying to restrict early voting to mail-in only.
posted by Superplin at 4:04 PM on January 26, 2019 [4 favorites]
Meanwhile, in Arizona, the GOP is trying to restrict early voting to mail-in only.
posted by Superplin at 4:04 PM on January 26, 2019 [4 favorites]
Former AUSA-SDNY Elie Honig contemplates the possibility of flipping Roger Stone ("firmly on “unlikely’ but far from “impossible.”"):
posted by Doktor Zed at 4:36 PM on January 26, 2019 [11 favorites]
So what would it take to turn Roger Stone into a government witness? I see three areas of vulnerability. First, a prosecutor would need to appeal to – perhaps exploit – Stone’s natural sense of self-preservation.[…] As a practical matter, Stone isn’t looking at anything close to 50 years, but he easily could be facing five years or so if convicted on all counts. For a 66 year-old man like Stone, that could mean most or all of the rest of his life, which has to be at least a bit sobering. And the evidence laid out in the indictment seems locked in; over and over again, the indictment quotes Stone’s lies and then cites hard proof – typically Stone’s own texts – to prove that he lied.[…]Like Cohen or Manafort, Stone is more self-interested than loyal to Trump (or anyone, except the ghost of Richard Nixon). The greatest factor against Stone becoming a cooperating witness is whether Mueller wants the headache of dealing with such an egomaniacal, duplicitous clown.
Second, as much as we don’t like to acknowledge it in our quest for pure justice, money matters. It is expensive to defend yourself in federal court, and it is jaw-droppingly costly to go to trial. Stone has flashed vulnerability on this, declaring that he faces legal fees of $2 million – not an outrageous estimate, if a trial is involved – while noting that he is “not a wealthy man” and begging for crowdfunded donations.
Third, Stone is nothing if not ego-driven. We all are, of course, but Stone’s in his own league. A prosecutor might therefore make a pitch to Stone along these lines. You can stay quiet, you can be a “stand-up” guy, you can fight the government and maybe even go to trial. Trump will send nice tweets about you, you’ll have a heavy media following for a couple years, but ultimately you’ll be a strange footnote in history. Or you can flip and be John Dean.
posted by Doktor Zed at 4:36 PM on January 26, 2019 [11 favorites]
Stone sounds like he's counting on a pardon, though. That's a complicating factor in this whole mess: Individual 1 can issue pardons.
posted by uosuaq at 5:19 PM on January 26, 2019
posted by uosuaq at 5:19 PM on January 26, 2019
But then Stone isn’t immune and can be compelled to talk.
posted by Autumnheart at 5:27 PM on January 26, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Autumnheart at 5:27 PM on January 26, 2019 [3 favorites]
Mod note: If there's a lot of meat to dig into on the yellow jacket stuff, someone should make a thread specifically for that -- it's picking up a lot of flags as derailing.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 5:31 PM on January 26, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 5:31 PM on January 26, 2019 [8 favorites]
The greatest factor against Stone becoming a cooperating witness is whether Mueller wants the headache of dealing with such an egomaniacal, duplicitous clown.
There's also the complicating factor that in order to use Stone's testimony for anything, Mueller would neet Stone to be believable to a judge and ultimately jury. Which is laughable. That may have been one of the motivations behind the SC's statement this week in the Cohen case, to preserve Cohen's credibility, as Mueller is relying on Cohen's testimony.
There's no indications in the Stone indictment that's where they're headed with Stone. Even Cohen has a more believable turn, "I lied for Trump, then he sold me out, now I'm telling all his secrets...and he's threatening my family for it". Stone doesn't, and has a worse credibility problem than even Cohen, if that's even possible. I can't imagine Mueller wants to actually use Stone for testimonial evidence. He'll gladly use whatever else they turn up in searching every last bit and byte of his electronic devices, but putting him on the stand against Trump or Don Jr (the only other targets that would make Stone's testimony at all valuable) doesn't seem either plausible or necessary.
Stone is fucked. He has nothing to offer, and if he did, Mueller doesn't need or want to deal with his credibility problems in exchange for it anyway.
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:36 PM on January 26, 2019 [35 favorites]
There's also the complicating factor that in order to use Stone's testimony for anything, Mueller would neet Stone to be believable to a judge and ultimately jury. Which is laughable. That may have been one of the motivations behind the SC's statement this week in the Cohen case, to preserve Cohen's credibility, as Mueller is relying on Cohen's testimony.
There's no indications in the Stone indictment that's where they're headed with Stone. Even Cohen has a more believable turn, "I lied for Trump, then he sold me out, now I'm telling all his secrets...and he's threatening my family for it". Stone doesn't, and has a worse credibility problem than even Cohen, if that's even possible. I can't imagine Mueller wants to actually use Stone for testimonial evidence. He'll gladly use whatever else they turn up in searching every last bit and byte of his electronic devices, but putting him on the stand against Trump or Don Jr (the only other targets that would make Stone's testimony at all valuable) doesn't seem either plausible or necessary.
Stone is fucked. He has nothing to offer, and if he did, Mueller doesn't need or want to deal with his credibility problems in exchange for it anyway.
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:36 PM on January 26, 2019 [35 favorites]
Yeah he's going away but unless Mueller files superseding indictments to add more charges Stone won't serve that much time, relatively speaking. But I suppose when you're 66 years old 18 months is a pretty good stretch.
Remember, as scummy and immoral as we know Stone to be he has never before been charged with anything so he gets the "first offense" sentence, not the "been forking Democracy over for 50 years" sentence.
posted by Justinian at 5:53 PM on January 26, 2019 [5 favorites]
Remember, as scummy and immoral as we know Stone to be he has never before been charged with anything so he gets the "first offense" sentence, not the "been forking Democracy over for 50 years" sentence.
posted by Justinian at 5:53 PM on January 26, 2019 [5 favorites]
Yea, 18-24 months, or even 3-5y doesn't seem nearly adequate. We can hold out hope for a superseding indictment once the full picture becomes clearer and Mueller plays all his cards. I'm less confident we're approaching the end game though if they really only just now moved against Stone in order to obtain his communications, and not in anticipation of indicting Don Jr. and issuing the final report in short order.
Again, Mueller needs to give Adam Schiff his timeline. And Schiff needs to start a parallel, fully public, investigation, like now. We need answers. It's already 2020 season. It's entirely possible Trump could get reelected, still without the American people knowing whether he obtained the 2016 election by treason. Hurry. The. Fuck. Up.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:01 PM on January 26, 2019 [18 favorites]
Again, Mueller needs to give Adam Schiff his timeline. And Schiff needs to start a parallel, fully public, investigation, like now. We need answers. It's already 2020 season. It's entirely possible Trump could get reelected, still without the American people knowing whether he obtained the 2016 election by treason. Hurry. The. Fuck. Up.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:01 PM on January 26, 2019 [18 favorites]
Regardless of what Stone's legal strategy turns out to be, Mueller's decision to indict him now has a lot of pundits wondering about his motive.
U of Alabama Law Prof and 25-year federal prosecutor Joyce Alene thinks it's tied to Trump's answers to Mueller's questionnaire three months ago: "Here’s one possible reason for the timing of the Stone indictment: Mueller didn’t get Trump’s written answers to questions until late last November & it’s likely he wanted him to be locked in & needed to run down a few last things after he got the answers." And "Why didn’t Mueller charge Stone with conspiracy? The rules in federal cases require that prosecutors provide defendants with broad discovery. By indicting Stone on a fairly narrow set of charges, Mueller limits what has to be disclosed & can protect ongoing investigation."
Julian Sanchez writes in the NYT: Mueller’s Real Target in the Roger Stone Indictment—It was probably not Stone himself, but rather his electronic devices. (n.b. "Yet if Mr. Mueller is indeed less interested in Mr. Stone than the potential evidence on his phones and computers, the conventional wisdom that the special counsel probe is wrapping up — and could issue a final report as soon as next month — seems awfully implausible. Digital forensics takes time, and a single device could easily hold many thousands of messages to sift through. And if this really is the first time Mr. Mueller’s office is seeing the most sensitive communications from a key figure like Mr. Stone, it’s likely they’ll come away with new leads to follow and new questions to pose to other witnesses.")
And then there's Stone's odd claim on the Monday before his arrest that "I will expose […] illegal surveillance on me". Was this just more BS from the old rat-fucker to confuse the media and the public, or did he really think that Mueller had gotten wind of some scheme of his—or Team Trump's—that was being hatched? If it turns out Stone was being wiretapped all this time, I would be amazed but somehow not surprised.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:06 PM on January 26, 2019 [12 favorites]
U of Alabama Law Prof and 25-year federal prosecutor Joyce Alene thinks it's tied to Trump's answers to Mueller's questionnaire three months ago: "Here’s one possible reason for the timing of the Stone indictment: Mueller didn’t get Trump’s written answers to questions until late last November & it’s likely he wanted him to be locked in & needed to run down a few last things after he got the answers." And "Why didn’t Mueller charge Stone with conspiracy? The rules in federal cases require that prosecutors provide defendants with broad discovery. By indicting Stone on a fairly narrow set of charges, Mueller limits what has to be disclosed & can protect ongoing investigation."
Julian Sanchez writes in the NYT: Mueller’s Real Target in the Roger Stone Indictment—It was probably not Stone himself, but rather his electronic devices. (n.b. "Yet if Mr. Mueller is indeed less interested in Mr. Stone than the potential evidence on his phones and computers, the conventional wisdom that the special counsel probe is wrapping up — and could issue a final report as soon as next month — seems awfully implausible. Digital forensics takes time, and a single device could easily hold many thousands of messages to sift through. And if this really is the first time Mr. Mueller’s office is seeing the most sensitive communications from a key figure like Mr. Stone, it’s likely they’ll come away with new leads to follow and new questions to pose to other witnesses.")
And then there's Stone's odd claim on the Monday before his arrest that "I will expose […] illegal surveillance on me". Was this just more BS from the old rat-fucker to confuse the media and the public, or did he really think that Mueller had gotten wind of some scheme of his—or Team Trump's—that was being hatched? If it turns out Stone was being wiretapped all this time, I would be amazed but somehow not surprised.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:06 PM on January 26, 2019 [12 favorites]
That's exactly what I was talking about, it they're only just now starting digital forensics on Stone, and don't have his comms already through NSA methods or whatever...this is YEARS away from wrapping up, not next month.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:08 PM on January 26, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:08 PM on January 26, 2019 [8 favorites]
(If Mueller can obtain comms off Stone’s devices, then he doesn’t have to reveal in court any evidence he received from the NSA or Five Eyes. But yes, filing criminal charges against Stone now, whether it results in a trial or plea bargaining, suggests Mueller is nowhere near wrapping up.)
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:18 PM on January 26, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:18 PM on January 26, 2019 [5 favorites]
And then there's Stone's odd claim on the Monday before his arrest that "I will expose […] illegal surveillance on me". Was this just more BS from the old rat-fucker to confuse the media and the public, or did he really think that Mueller had gotten wind of some scheme of his—or Team Trump's—that was being hatched?
Yes. According to Politico on December 9, 2018:
Yes. According to Politico on December 9, 2018:
An author and conspiracy theorist who says he’s being threatened with indictment by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team in the Trump-Russia probe filed a federal lawsuit Sunday night accusing Mueller of constitutional violations and leaking grand jury secrets.posted by Little Dawn at 6:19 PM on January 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
Jerome Corsi’s new suit against Mueller also accuses the special prosecutor of trying to badger Corsi into giving false testimony that he served as a conduit between Wikileaks found Julian Assange and Roger Stone, a longtime adviser to then-candidate Donald Trump.
[…] Corsi is represented in the suit by his defense attorney, David Gray of New Jersey, and longtime conservative gadfly and Judicial Watch founder, Larry Klayman. The suit takes some unusual tacks, accusing Mueller of conducting unconstitutional surveillance of Corsi through the National Security Agency’s PRISM program, a digital snooping program exposed by NSA leaker Edward Snowden.
“Defendants Mueller, DOJ, NSA, CIA, and FBI have engaged in ongoing illegal, unconstitutional surveillance on Plaintiff Corsi, in violation of the Fourth Amendment and the USA FREEDOM Act as well targeted ‘PRISM’ collection under Section 702 of the Foreign Sovereignties Immunity Act at the direction of Defendant Mueller,” the suit says, with the latter reference apparently intending to invoke a different statute, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
I want to see Roger Stone's booking sheet to see how they describe 'Identifying Marks and Characteristics.'
posted by MarchHare at 6:21 PM on January 26, 2019 [28 favorites]
posted by MarchHare at 6:21 PM on January 26, 2019 [28 favorites]
when you're 66 years old 18 months is a pretty good stretch.
While I'd love to see him serve many years, a stretch of 18 months to 5 years will seem like forever to a rich white dude who has been working in conservative rich-white-dude politics since he was a teenager. He has likely never had a job with a dress code that made him uncomfortable, hasn't eaten on a schedule since he got out of high school, has never done physical labor that he didn't like.
In a better world, I could hope that a sprinkling of prison sentences would bring many of these men to develop something like empathy; in this one, I can only expect that they'll mope and moan about "I don't deserver this treatment" and if we're very lucky, it will break some part of their spirits so that their fear outweighs their ambition when they get out.
OTOH, a short, solid indictment could lead to a simple, quick conviction, along with collection of enough evidence to throw more indictments at him later.
He can hold out for a pardon, but the pardon game is a loop: He gets a pardon; he loses immunity and is subpoena'd to testify; refuses; gets contempt of court; gets pardoned for contempt; loses immunity and is subpoena'd... repeat until Trump gets tired of pardoning or is out of office. I dunno how deep Stone's self-delusion capacity runs, but anyone who's been paying attention won't be counting on Trump doing them a long string of favors.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 6:37 PM on January 26, 2019 [10 favorites]
While I'd love to see him serve many years, a stretch of 18 months to 5 years will seem like forever to a rich white dude who has been working in conservative rich-white-dude politics since he was a teenager. He has likely never had a job with a dress code that made him uncomfortable, hasn't eaten on a schedule since he got out of high school, has never done physical labor that he didn't like.
In a better world, I could hope that a sprinkling of prison sentences would bring many of these men to develop something like empathy; in this one, I can only expect that they'll mope and moan about "I don't deserver this treatment" and if we're very lucky, it will break some part of their spirits so that their fear outweighs their ambition when they get out.
OTOH, a short, solid indictment could lead to a simple, quick conviction, along with collection of enough evidence to throw more indictments at him later.
He can hold out for a pardon, but the pardon game is a loop: He gets a pardon; he loses immunity and is subpoena'd to testify; refuses; gets contempt of court; gets pardoned for contempt; loses immunity and is subpoena'd... repeat until Trump gets tired of pardoning or is out of office. I dunno how deep Stone's self-delusion capacity runs, but anyone who's been paying attention won't be counting on Trump doing them a long string of favors.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 6:37 PM on January 26, 2019 [10 favorites]
I dunno how deep Stone's self-delusion capacity runs
It may run quite deep:
It may run quite deep:
“I launched the idea of Donald J. Trump for President,” he wrote in last year’s Stone’s Rules.posted by Little Dawn at 6:48 PM on January 26, 2019 [4 favorites]
If Trump got from his father a running start of political connections as well as a colossal financial safety net and from Cohn a decade-and-a-half-long tutorial on dark-arts verve, this is what he gleaned from Stone. The road map. The goading and the prodding. “Roger,” Trump said in an interview for the 2017 documentary, “Get Me Roger Stone,” “always wanted me to run for president.”
“Roger’s relationship with Trump has been so interconnected that it’s hard to define what’s Roger and what’s Donald,” Manafort said in the same film.
Yeah, Stone's particular brand of self-delusion / disconnection from reality coupled with his obvious obsession with Nixon and a particular flavor of rich white dude tough guy bullshit makes me think that he may actually choose to try and cosplay the loudmouthed loyal henchman with brains that stays in pocket no matter what and gets a pardon.
Whether that will actually work is another matter - I suspect not.
posted by lazaruslong at 7:04 PM on January 26, 2019 [3 favorites]
Whether that will actually work is another matter - I suspect not.
posted by lazaruslong at 7:04 PM on January 26, 2019 [3 favorites]
Bill Mitchell: "1st mistake Dems make is assuming they are smarter than Trump. Trump's intuitive mind is a super-computer. Perhaps that is why he occasionally makes awkward public remarks? He is a strategic savant. Instead of wasting energy on things like tact, his brain focuses on strategy."
I just snorted cheese popcorn you guys
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:42 PM on January 26, 2019 [83 favorites]
I just snorted cheese popcorn you guys
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:42 PM on January 26, 2019 [83 favorites]
Mueller’s Real Target in the Roger Stone Indictment—It was probably not Stone himself, but rather his electronic devices.
I think this is Mueller's first goal with all of these shifty schemers. They're great at spinning reality but they can't spin the texts and memos they sent. And as he turns people one by one, he is getting their passwords for encrypted messages, leading him to a) false testimony charges against the recipients of those messages, who thought they were safe, then hopefully b) flipping them and getting their passwords and messages.
Best of all is if he never needs to put a single one of these guys on the stand at all.
posted by msalt at 7:45 PM on January 26, 2019 [7 favorites]
I think this is Mueller's first goal with all of these shifty schemers. They're great at spinning reality but they can't spin the texts and memos they sent. And as he turns people one by one, he is getting their passwords for encrypted messages, leading him to a) false testimony charges against the recipients of those messages, who thought they were safe, then hopefully b) flipping them and getting their passwords and messages.
Best of all is if he never needs to put a single one of these guys on the stand at all.
posted by msalt at 7:45 PM on January 26, 2019 [7 favorites]
Trump’s Company Fires Undocumented Immigrants (WaPo)
The sudden firings — which were previously unreported — follow last year’s revelations of undocumented labor at a Trump club in New Jersey, where employees were subsequently dismissed. The firings show Trump’s business was relying on undocumented workers even as the president demanded a border wall to keep out such immigrants.
Trump's Crooked Empire of Money Laundering turns out to be run by complete assholes.
posted by petebest at 7:52 PM on January 26, 2019 [13 favorites]
The sudden firings — which were previously unreported — follow last year’s revelations of undocumented labor at a Trump club in New Jersey, where employees were subsequently dismissed. The firings show Trump’s business was relying on undocumented workers even as the president demanded a border wall to keep out such immigrants.
Trump's Crooked Empire of Money Laundering turns out to be run by complete assholes.
posted by petebest at 7:52 PM on January 26, 2019 [13 favorites]
Well, the first two years were apparently just the Turd Circus' opening act.
The White House Is A Bit Of A Mess (Politico)
-- THE WHITE HOUSE IS A BIT OF A MESS. Everyone we speak to in the administration and on Capitol Hill says that since Mick Mulvaney took over as chief of staff, the process in the White House has gone to hell. The shutdown became a Jared Kushner show, and the people whose job it is to deal with policy and politics were sidelined. Of course, Kushner is the president’s son in law, and his camp believes he was empowered to do this by the president.
Wait - NOW it's gone to hell? What the fuck was it before?? What "process" do we suppose there is in there? And yet here we are - Bannonless, Reinceless, and without the Glower of The Kelly. Truly only madness and chaos shall remain. The GOP did this for the sake of a few judges. A relentless desire to harm The Other for the rest of everyone's lives. Putin's cabana boy, the tittering Pen Pal of Kim Jong Un, Mr. Two Scoops The Speed Snorting Sadist, and nothing the founders did can save us because Republicans Only Value Money and Power.
Meuller's not coming, you guys. Or, more to the point - he's already delivered a full compliment of packaged gifts, ready for Impeachmas. But we're still here with two years on the clock and a bunch of fucked up bullshit to get through before then. We'll do it. We'll make it. But Putin only gave the GOP the fuel and a match. They willingly set all this shit on fire for a Gorsuch and a Boof.
(on preview, I see T.D.Strange is on the same page. Must be astromological or something.)
posted by petebest at 8:14 PM on January 26, 2019 [32 favorites]
The White House Is A Bit Of A Mess (Politico)
-- THE WHITE HOUSE IS A BIT OF A MESS. Everyone we speak to in the administration and on Capitol Hill says that since Mick Mulvaney took over as chief of staff, the process in the White House has gone to hell. The shutdown became a Jared Kushner show, and the people whose job it is to deal with policy and politics were sidelined. Of course, Kushner is the president’s son in law, and his camp believes he was empowered to do this by the president.
Wait - NOW it's gone to hell? What the fuck was it before?? What "process" do we suppose there is in there? And yet here we are - Bannonless, Reinceless, and without the Glower of The Kelly. Truly only madness and chaos shall remain. The GOP did this for the sake of a few judges. A relentless desire to harm The Other for the rest of everyone's lives. Putin's cabana boy, the tittering Pen Pal of Kim Jong Un, Mr. Two Scoops The Speed Snorting Sadist, and nothing the founders did can save us because Republicans Only Value Money and Power.
Meuller's not coming, you guys. Or, more to the point - he's already delivered a full compliment of packaged gifts, ready for Impeachmas. But we're still here with two years on the clock and a bunch of fucked up bullshit to get through before then. We'll do it. We'll make it. But Putin only gave the GOP the fuel and a match. They willingly set all this shit on fire for a Gorsuch and a Boof.
(on preview, I see T.D.Strange is on the same page. Must be astromological or something.)
posted by petebest at 8:14 PM on January 26, 2019 [32 favorites]
....All of Trump world seems to forget that Mueller has all the receipts, phone records, emails, text messages, metadata, and financial records. Stone lied to the Special Counsel because he trusted WhatsApp, which is a grandpa mistake of the first order. Stone lied in Congress because he believed that the House Republicans would sit on his transcript and he would never be held to account. Those lies met with the hard reality that elections have consequences. Donald Trump incinerated 40 GOP House seats, and so the Democratic majority shared the transcript the GOP had suppressed with Mueller. It wasn’t partisan; they had evidence of Stone committing multiple crimes in the form of lying to Congress.....
Welcome to the Barrel! Cosplaying Supervillain Roger Stone Meets Robert Mueller’s Real-Life Feds
posted by growabrain at 8:42 PM on January 26, 2019 [7 favorites]
Welcome to the Barrel! Cosplaying Supervillain Roger Stone Meets Robert Mueller’s Real-Life Feds
posted by growabrain at 8:42 PM on January 26, 2019 [7 favorites]
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/01/multiple-us-gov-domains-hit-in-serious-dns-hijacking-wave-dhs-warns/
No official word yet if the shutdown will be the root cause of MITM attacks on government websites.
posted by ryoshu at 8:59 PM on January 26, 2019 [8 favorites]
No official word yet if the shutdown will be the root cause of MITM attacks on government websites.
posted by ryoshu at 8:59 PM on January 26, 2019 [8 favorites]
And as he turns people one by one, he is getting their passwords for encrypted messages
Or as Doctor Zed said, he's getting access to material in ways that are acceptable as evidence. There's a good chance that parallel construction was already part of the Manafort case -- that is, having access to (legal) intercepts and then using subpoenas or even polite requests to deliver the goods. And the Stone indictment has a couple of sentences that essentially give the finger to his opsec.
If you read that indictment as entering the level of "dodgy fuckers who weren't officially part of the campaign but had plenty of interaction with it", I don't think there are many steps left. Maybe just one big step, because it can't be done piecemeal.
posted by holgate at 9:01 PM on January 26, 2019 [6 favorites]
Or as Doctor Zed said, he's getting access to material in ways that are acceptable as evidence. There's a good chance that parallel construction was already part of the Manafort case -- that is, having access to (legal) intercepts and then using subpoenas or even polite requests to deliver the goods. And the Stone indictment has a couple of sentences that essentially give the finger to his opsec.
If you read that indictment as entering the level of "dodgy fuckers who weren't officially part of the campaign but had plenty of interaction with it", I don't think there are many steps left. Maybe just one big step, because it can't be done piecemeal.
posted by holgate at 9:01 PM on January 26, 2019 [6 favorites]
The Nonsense Trump Spewed During the Shutdown Wasn’t Oblivious. It Was Tactical. (Dahlia Lithwick, Slate)
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:20 PM on January 26, 2019 [37 favorites]
"A Paul Ryan narrative came back into play this week."Added some paragraph breaks.
There’s more to Trump and Ross’ bizarre Norman Rockwell parable of friendly greengrocers and your brother-in-law the jolly bank manager than just the cluelessness of old white billionaires who have never had to run a personal errand. They’re also telling a crappy old story about good old American volunteerism and the beauty of local charity and the gosh-golly spirit of communities caring for their own.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because this story was actually the cornerstone of the Paul Ryan vision for America. It’s the story wherein even if you slash government entitlement programs and food programs and health care, what arises—beatifically and from the rubble—to replace it all is good old-fashioned local and religious charities. In Paul Ryan’s telling, there was no crisis a good old-fashioned barn raising couldn’t cure.
And so every time Trump minimized the human suffering of the shutdown, he wasn’t just saving himself or belittling government workers. He was also building out a long-running conservative narrative that downplays the need for many crucial government services.
...
It’s too easy to say that the enduring lesson of the shutdown is simply that Trump and his plutocrat Cabinet are hilariously clueless about how most of us live. The real story is much more grim: They are also trying to other us against one another, positing government workers as unpatriotic if they decline to work for free, and lazy for being unwilling to put the president’s interests ahead of their own.
They’re making the same bad argument that I wish had stopped when Paul Ryan departed the national stage: that the best source of aid in a crisis lies in the charity of warm and loving communities, not in government services.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:20 PM on January 26, 2019 [37 favorites]
We have the goods on Trump. Trump lied about his relationship with Russia during a presidential election that was being manipulated by Russia. His campaign team purposely led people to believe Russia's involvement in the election was a hoax when they knew it wasn't.
Republican Senators can vote not to impeach, but if they do - they will be saying that it's fair for any presidential candidate to lie about issues vital to the interests of the nation during their campaign. The American public will have no reason to trust anything that comes out of a candidate's mouth during their campaign ever again.
Even if you don't believe the vote will pass, Republicans will use up the little faith the public has in them defending the indefensible. Democrats will either impeach Trump, or show the world that the Republican party is completely without scruples.
posted by xammerboy at 9:23 PM on January 26, 2019 [14 favorites]
Republican Senators can vote not to impeach, but if they do - they will be saying that it's fair for any presidential candidate to lie about issues vital to the interests of the nation during their campaign. The American public will have no reason to trust anything that comes out of a candidate's mouth during their campaign ever again.
Even if you don't believe the vote will pass, Republicans will use up the little faith the public has in them defending the indefensible. Democrats will either impeach Trump, or show the world that the Republican party is completely without scruples.
posted by xammerboy at 9:23 PM on January 26, 2019 [14 favorites]
Mueller's methodial process may ultimately have been effective, if allowed to run it's course and it was faster...but it's not sufficient to save democracy, we know for a fact it's under threat, and we don't have time to wait for Mueller's unknown schedule any longer. It's beyond time for the underlying intelligence to be revealed in open hearings.
For three decades, the intelligence and defense institutions of the United States watched Donald Trump engage in illegal business with Vladmir Putin and other Russians who provided the Trump Organization with most of its current assets and cash.
Starting about three years ago, the intelligence and defense institutions of the US watched as Donald Trump and multiple collaborators engaged in criminal conspiracies with Putin/Russia to help Trump win the Presidency.
Since the election, the intelligence and defense institutions of the US have watched as Trump and his co-conspirators obstructed the FBI investigation and maligned the reputation of all 17 US intelligence agencies.
Today, Donald Trump, agent of Vladmir Putin, enemy to the United States, remains President of the United States, under the watchful eye of the mighty intelligence and defense institutions that have been looking right at him and his co-conspirators, indicted and un-indicted, for three decades.
The elephant in the room is right there.
posted by yesster at 10:03 PM on January 26, 2019 [78 favorites]
For three decades, the intelligence and defense institutions of the United States watched Donald Trump engage in illegal business with Vladmir Putin and other Russians who provided the Trump Organization with most of its current assets and cash.
Starting about three years ago, the intelligence and defense institutions of the US watched as Donald Trump and multiple collaborators engaged in criminal conspiracies with Putin/Russia to help Trump win the Presidency.
Since the election, the intelligence and defense institutions of the US have watched as Trump and his co-conspirators obstructed the FBI investigation and maligned the reputation of all 17 US intelligence agencies.
Today, Donald Trump, agent of Vladmir Putin, enemy to the United States, remains President of the United States, under the watchful eye of the mighty intelligence and defense institutions that have been looking right at him and his co-conspirators, indicted and un-indicted, for three decades.
The elephant in the room is right there.
posted by yesster at 10:03 PM on January 26, 2019 [78 favorites]
Right now, the room is inside the elephant.
posted by yesster at 10:10 PM on January 26, 2019 [58 favorites]
posted by yesster at 10:10 PM on January 26, 2019 [58 favorites]
My mother, an old radical from days of yore, said, “ It’s unreal, but I think they hated the Johnson administration so much, they’re willing to destroy the country if they can roll back the war on poverty and civil rights.”
I have to say, I see yessters elephant, and it is the most worrisome piece of this puzzle, from my perspective.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 10:21 PM on January 26, 2019 [39 favorites]
I have to say, I see yessters elephant, and it is the most worrisome piece of this puzzle, from my perspective.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 10:21 PM on January 26, 2019 [39 favorites]
or show the world that the Republican party is completely without scruples.
Well yeah, but you say that like it's going to come as a surprise to people. There's pretty much nobody who doesn't know that already. Only people who know it and are repulsed, people who know it and admire it, and people who suspect it but don't want to know and will continue to refuse to look when shown.
We can't just show, as if everyone's then going to then, obviously, do the right thing. They're not. We have to make them or do it without them.
posted by ctmf at 10:40 PM on January 26, 2019 [18 favorites]
Well yeah, but you say that like it's going to come as a surprise to people. There's pretty much nobody who doesn't know that already. Only people who know it and are repulsed, people who know it and admire it, and people who suspect it but don't want to know and will continue to refuse to look when shown.
We can't just show, as if everyone's then going to then, obviously, do the right thing. They're not. We have to make them or do it without them.
posted by ctmf at 10:40 PM on January 26, 2019 [18 favorites]
I agree, but with each clear case you win some converts. I was just listening to an interview with Max Block, former Republican luminary turned Never Trumper, on his realization that the Republican Party is not, and never was, a party of ideas that used racist tactics, but a party of racism used to bolster ideas with no real popular support. I know we say it all the time here, but there's something breathtaking in hearing lifelong careerist Republicans say that the party is straight up racist and intellectually bankrupt.
I get where you're coming from. Trump is a con man. Research shows that people who are conned will refuse to believe so even when shown evidence. Often, their victims will come to court to testify as to their good character. In those cases, the victims need to be shown the evidence repeatedly and clearly before the truth sinks in. Some of them never come around, but many eventually do. Max Block describes the Republican support of Trump as a turning up of the volume for him. The truth could no longer be denied.
posted by xammerboy at 11:03 PM on January 26, 2019 [33 favorites]
I get where you're coming from. Trump is a con man. Research shows that people who are conned will refuse to believe so even when shown evidence. Often, their victims will come to court to testify as to their good character. In those cases, the victims need to be shown the evidence repeatedly and clearly before the truth sinks in. Some of them never come around, but many eventually do. Max Block describes the Republican support of Trump as a turning up of the volume for him. The truth could no longer be denied.
posted by xammerboy at 11:03 PM on January 26, 2019 [33 favorites]
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/01/multiple-us-gov-domains-hit-in-serious-dns-hijacking-wave-dhs-warns/
No official word yet if the shutdown will be the root cause of MITM attacks on government websites.
Can anyone put this into perspective, please? I RTMFA but it doesn't say anything about who (Russia? China?) or why this might have been done.
posted by msalt at 1:26 AM on January 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
No official word yet if the shutdown will be the root cause of MITM attacks on government websites.
Can anyone put this into perspective, please? I RTMFA but it doesn't say anything about who (Russia? China?) or why this might have been done.
posted by msalt at 1:26 AM on January 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
Can anyone put this into perspective, please? I RTMFA but it doesn't say anything about who (Russia? China?) or why this might have been done.
The group doing it is believed to be an Iranian cyber-espionage group. Six as-yet unnamed US agencies have been penetrated. The attack isn't using anything new or sophisticated, it's just very aggressive for Iran.
posted by scalefree at 1:45 AM on January 27, 2019 [2 favorites]
The group doing it is believed to be an Iranian cyber-espionage group. Six as-yet unnamed US agencies have been penetrated. The attack isn't using anything new or sophisticated, it's just very aggressive for Iran.
posted by scalefree at 1:45 AM on January 27, 2019 [2 favorites]
Not to abuse the window, I'd guess it's partly opportunistic because of the shutdown & partly about the US push to get other nations to drop support for JCPOA sanctions. They need to know stuff & this is the perfect time to find it out.
posted by scalefree at 1:55 AM on January 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by scalefree at 1:55 AM on January 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
For Trump Administration, It Has Been Hard to Follow the Rules on Rules /NYTimes
At least they are incompetent.
posted by mumimor at 2:00 AM on January 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
At least they are incompetent.
posted by mumimor at 2:00 AM on January 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
My mother, an old radical from days of yore, said, “ It’s unreal, but I think they hated the Johnson administration so much, they’re willing to destroy the country if they can roll back the war on poverty and civil rights.”
I have to say, I see yessters elephant, and it is the most worrisome piece of this puzzle, from my perspective.
I mean, the goal has always been to undo the advances of the 30s and 40s - a lot of thr new deal reforms where given tons of concessions to racist southern democracts (only one member of the household could work for the goverment, not unionizing or protecting domestic work, etc) but the Civil Rights movements broke thier back a d drove pretty much all the Dixiecrats into the GOP* and put al that John Birch stuff into the mainstream , you don’t get an explosion in private and religious schools until intergration happens, and it’s around the time the evangelical community becomes a political, reactionary force.
The goal is to undo the 20th century and restore the old hierarchies between master and worker, White and Black, man and woman, always has been.
posted by The Whelk at 3:00 AM on January 27, 2019 [85 favorites]
I have to say, I see yessters elephant, and it is the most worrisome piece of this puzzle, from my perspective.
I mean, the goal has always been to undo the advances of the 30s and 40s - a lot of thr new deal reforms where given tons of concessions to racist southern democracts (only one member of the household could work for the goverment, not unionizing or protecting domestic work, etc) but the Civil Rights movements broke thier back a d drove pretty much all the Dixiecrats into the GOP* and put al that John Birch stuff into the mainstream , you don’t get an explosion in private and religious schools until intergration happens, and it’s around the time the evangelical community becomes a political, reactionary force.
The goal is to undo the 20th century and restore the old hierarchies between master and worker, White and Black, man and woman, always has been.
posted by The Whelk at 3:00 AM on January 27, 2019 [85 favorites]
(Not for nothing but No Shortcuts, one of the best books about the nuts and bolts of union organizations, mentions the right wing has had a multidecade outlook Guiding them to dismantle the labor movement. The left needs something similar to take the lost land)
posted by The Whelk at 4:08 AM on January 27, 2019 [34 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 4:08 AM on January 27, 2019 [34 favorites]
...we don't have time to wait for Mueller's unknown schedule any longer. It's beyond time for the underlying intelligence to be revealed in open hearings.
I agree generally but my worry is that the GOP controlled Senate still won't do anything. Maybe there is a bunch of evidence that half the GOP Senators and Congresspeople are guilty of a bunch of campaign finance and money laundering, maybe it all comes out in the hearings and maybe something can actually be done about it but it would take a good chunk of time remove the necessary number of Senators from office.
So we might be better off waiting for Mueller if at the end of his investigation he just up and arrests everyone implicated except Trump and then what's left of the House and Senate can impeach the shit out of him.
posted by VTX at 6:22 AM on January 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
I agree generally but my worry is that the GOP controlled Senate still won't do anything. Maybe there is a bunch of evidence that half the GOP Senators and Congresspeople are guilty of a bunch of campaign finance and money laundering, maybe it all comes out in the hearings and maybe something can actually be done about it but it would take a good chunk of time remove the necessary number of Senators from office.
So we might be better off waiting for Mueller if at the end of his investigation he just up and arrests everyone implicated except Trump and then what's left of the House and Senate can impeach the shit out of him.
posted by VTX at 6:22 AM on January 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
Bloomberg rips Trump: ‘Totally incompetent’
posted by GrammarMoses at 6:58 AM on January 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
The former New York City mayor delivered his most scathing remarks about Trump since he called then-candidate Donald Trump a “dangerous demagogue” and knocked his business credentials in a speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention...Apparently he's trying to make "boring but competent" happen. I personally doubt that in this era a person without charisma could get elected. Could Bloomberg 1) excite the base and/or 2) peel votes away from Trump? Not to mention the whole "globalist" issue.
He assailed the former real estate mogul for what he called “a complete failure of presidential leadership" and "totally incompetent management" as some federal agencies remain shuttered amid the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
posted by GrammarMoses at 6:58 AM on January 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
Bloomberg is never, ever going to happen. He's not a Democrat, and his main qualification is that he's the 11th richest person on the world. Nobody in the Democratic party is going to vote for him in a primary. Literally nobody. His best shot is to run as an independent, which would probably ensure a Trump victory. I don't think he's that much of an asshole.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:44 AM on January 27, 2019 [21 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:44 AM on January 27, 2019 [21 favorites]
So we might be better off waiting for Mueller if at the end of his investigation he just up and arrests everyone implicated except Trump and then what's left of the House and Senate can impeach the shit out of him.
What happens to McConnell's Leader position if the balance of power changes mid-congress?
posted by contraption at 8:02 AM on January 27, 2019
What happens to McConnell's Leader position if the balance of power changes mid-congress?
posted by contraption at 8:02 AM on January 27, 2019
Motion to enter Yessters Elephant into the record.
Since the election, the intelligence and defense institutions of the US have watched as Trump and his co-conspirators obstructed the FBI investigation and maligned the reputation of all 17 US intelligence agencies.
We've mentioned it before in These Threads® but too much more discussion on this topic invariably gets flagged and deleted within a minute or two. It's a fascinating angle though, because for all the literally-lowest-level information we get about the SCO investigation from corporate news, there's got to be 100 times that amount floating around the various marble halls of DC.
And one of the most perplexing is how and/or why the DIA would allow this clown to access the levers of power or publicly shame and demean them over and over again, without any visible response. They may have promoted a leak here or there - perhaps - but nothing that's come out in the last two years appears to be anything other than what the press or SCO came up with through boring-old-investigative-work or perhaps a confluence of social media transgressions.
I mean, spooks gonna spook, that's what they're for so it's not likely they're unaware of the level of governmental depravity this administration wallows in. And, who knows, maybe they're all 100% Good People with no ulterior motives than to keep the place running until someone can fix it. I doubt that, but it's nice to think about. It seems much more likely there's a factional slap-fight over Trump such that the side that won isn't seeing the benefits they, bafflingly, thought they would get.
posted by petebest at 8:09 AM on January 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
Since the election, the intelligence and defense institutions of the US have watched as Trump and his co-conspirators obstructed the FBI investigation and maligned the reputation of all 17 US intelligence agencies.
We've mentioned it before in These Threads® but too much more discussion on this topic invariably gets flagged and deleted within a minute or two. It's a fascinating angle though, because for all the literally-lowest-level information we get about the SCO investigation from corporate news, there's got to be 100 times that amount floating around the various marble halls of DC.
And one of the most perplexing is how and/or why the DIA would allow this clown to access the levers of power or publicly shame and demean them over and over again, without any visible response. They may have promoted a leak here or there - perhaps - but nothing that's come out in the last two years appears to be anything other than what the press or SCO came up with through boring-old-investigative-work or perhaps a confluence of social media transgressions.
I mean, spooks gonna spook, that's what they're for so it's not likely they're unaware of the level of governmental depravity this administration wallows in. And, who knows, maybe they're all 100% Good People with no ulterior motives than to keep the place running until someone can fix it. I doubt that, but it's nice to think about. It seems much more likely there's a factional slap-fight over Trump such that the side that won isn't seeing the benefits they, bafflingly, thought they would get.
posted by petebest at 8:09 AM on January 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
What happens to McConnell's Leader position if the balance of power changes mid-congress?
Even if a handful of Republican Senators are indicted and found guilty, they'd have to be impeached to be removed from office - catch-22. Also, even if they're impeached and removed, chances are that most of them will be replaced by appointees from Republican governors until such time as there's a special election held, which by the time the federal prosecution and impeachment are done, will probably just get punted to 2020.
tl;dr: elections matter, McConnell is in the driver's seat until Democrats take the Senate the old fashioned way.
posted by murphy slaw at 8:11 AM on January 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
Even if a handful of Republican Senators are indicted and found guilty, they'd have to be impeached to be removed from office - catch-22. Also, even if they're impeached and removed, chances are that most of them will be replaced by appointees from Republican governors until such time as there's a special election held, which by the time the federal prosecution and impeachment are done, will probably just get punted to 2020.
tl;dr: elections matter, McConnell is in the driver's seat until Democrats take the Senate the old fashioned way.
posted by murphy slaw at 8:11 AM on January 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
It's unlikely, but couldn't a few fed-up Republican senators switch parties to take the leadership away from McConnell?
posted by rochrobbb at 8:21 AM on January 27, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by rochrobbb at 8:21 AM on January 27, 2019 [6 favorites]
Note from the Daily Beast article on the slam-dunk of Stone's indictment:
The email and text evidence laid out in excruciating detail in the indictment is not open to interpretation. Just one example: On the very day that Stone testified that he had never sent or received emails or text messages from Credico, the two men had exchanged more than 30 text messages. Good luck spinning that.
And here's something Rachel Maddow covered: Stone's indictment was simply predicated on the newly-Democratic House committee giving them the official transcript of his testimony. From the above article on the 'cosplaying supervillain Roger Stone':
Stone lied in Congress because he believed that the House Republicans would sit on his transcript and he would never be held to account. Those lies met with the hard reality that elections have consequences.
Maddow says that's why the Republicans aren't staffing the intelligence committee in particular - because Adam Schiff has said he'll give all official transcripts to Mueller as soon as they meet - as soon as Wednesday. Which the Republicans know/fear will result in more arrests of their own crooks.
As shocking as it may be to contemplate, it's possible the formerly-Republican-led House Select Committee on Intelligence has been slow-rolling, stalling, and outright obstructing the SCO investigation for their own benefit.
posted by petebest at 8:23 AM on January 27, 2019 [81 favorites]
The email and text evidence laid out in excruciating detail in the indictment is not open to interpretation. Just one example: On the very day that Stone testified that he had never sent or received emails or text messages from Credico, the two men had exchanged more than 30 text messages. Good luck spinning that.
And here's something Rachel Maddow covered: Stone's indictment was simply predicated on the newly-Democratic House committee giving them the official transcript of his testimony. From the above article on the 'cosplaying supervillain Roger Stone':
Stone lied in Congress because he believed that the House Republicans would sit on his transcript and he would never be held to account. Those lies met with the hard reality that elections have consequences.
Maddow says that's why the Republicans aren't staffing the intelligence committee in particular - because Adam Schiff has said he'll give all official transcripts to Mueller as soon as they meet - as soon as Wednesday. Which the Republicans know/fear will result in more arrests of their own crooks.
As shocking as it may be to contemplate, it's possible the formerly-Republican-led House Select Committee on Intelligence has been slow-rolling, stalling, and outright obstructing the SCO investigation for their own benefit.
posted by petebest at 8:23 AM on January 27, 2019 [81 favorites]
It's unlikely, but couldn't a few fed-up Republican senators switch parties to take the leadership away from McConnell?Yeah, but who would that be? You'd need four of them, assuming that Manchin didn't respond by switching to the Republicans. I can't think of any obvious candidates.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:25 AM on January 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
How long can the House GOP stall on filling committees? Does anyone know if there's any rule/law in place for this? It's downright Gorsuchian, I hope the House Dems have some kind of strategy to fix this stat.
posted by mcstayinskool at 8:31 AM on January 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by mcstayinskool at 8:31 AM on January 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
Note: Senators and Representatives don't go through an impeachment process. They can be expelled by their own house by a two-thirds vote of all members (Article I, Section 5).
(An impeachment vote was brought against a Tennessee senator in the early days, and while the House voted to impeach, the Senate rejected the impeachment as lacking jurisdiction, instead voting to expel the senator on their own.)
In modern politics, this would mean that Senators or Reps indicted by Mueller would need a two-thirds vote but only in one house. In the Senate, that'd mean 20 Republican senators voting to expel. In the House, that would mean 55 Republican representatives voting to expel - assuming all Democrats voted to expel.
posted by Chanther at 8:40 AM on January 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
(An impeachment vote was brought against a Tennessee senator in the early days, and while the House voted to impeach, the Senate rejected the impeachment as lacking jurisdiction, instead voting to expel the senator on their own.)
In modern politics, this would mean that Senators or Reps indicted by Mueller would need a two-thirds vote but only in one house. In the Senate, that'd mean 20 Republican senators voting to expel. In the House, that would mean 55 Republican representatives voting to expel - assuming all Democrats voted to expel.
posted by Chanther at 8:40 AM on January 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
Chanther: "In modern politics, this would mean that Senators or Reps indicted by Mueller would need a two-thirds vote but only in one house. In the Senate, that'd mean 20 Republican senators voting to expel."
Which gets kind of interesting if there are 34 Senators implicated by the investigation. Also is it 2/3rds of seats or 2/3rds of sitting members. Because if the latter once you've expelled half a dozen Senators the threshold would be lower until appointments are made.
posted by Mitheral at 8:49 AM on January 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
Which gets kind of interesting if there are 34 Senators implicated by the investigation. Also is it 2/3rds of seats or 2/3rds of sitting members. Because if the latter once you've expelled half a dozen Senators the threshold would be lower until appointments are made.
posted by Mitheral at 8:49 AM on January 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yeah, but who would that be?
I actually think this is a not crazy line of attack on McConnell, but I’m happy to be schooled on this. Off the top of my head / with light Wikipedia-ing on purple states...
Martha McSally is up in 2020 to keep McCain’s seat. She lost to an atheist bisexual Dem in 2018 for Flake’s seat, and the Arizona GOP has become increasingly insane, having just elected Kelli Ward (who McSally narrowly? Defeated in the Republican primary). Shit seems weird enough in Arizona and caucusing with the Dems to remove McConnell would be very mavericky, more mavericky than McCain every actually was. And McSally’s Dem opponent could be literally astronaut Mike Kelly. So. It might not be entirely crazy, depending on how the situation develops.
Cory Gardner is looking at a tough fight from a former governor in Colorado.
Stacey Abrams is building a machine in Georgia that might terrify whatever old white dude has that seat?
Joni Ernst seems not entirely insane, though Iowa is pretty freaking red at this point.
There’s the Montana Republican who’s scared of Bullock.
So. Maybe not totally nuts, especially not as the crisis deepens and the crimes become more obvious, involving more people.
posted by schadenfrau at 8:53 AM on January 27, 2019 [9 favorites]
I actually think this is a not crazy line of attack on McConnell, but I’m happy to be schooled on this. Off the top of my head / with light Wikipedia-ing on purple states...
Martha McSally is up in 2020 to keep McCain’s seat. She lost to an atheist bisexual Dem in 2018 for Flake’s seat, and the Arizona GOP has become increasingly insane, having just elected Kelli Ward (who McSally narrowly? Defeated in the Republican primary). Shit seems weird enough in Arizona and caucusing with the Dems to remove McConnell would be very mavericky, more mavericky than McCain every actually was. And McSally’s Dem opponent could be literally astronaut Mike Kelly. So. It might not be entirely crazy, depending on how the situation develops.
Cory Gardner is looking at a tough fight from a former governor in Colorado.
Stacey Abrams is building a machine in Georgia that might terrify whatever old white dude has that seat?
Joni Ernst seems not entirely insane, though Iowa is pretty freaking red at this point.
There’s the Montana Republican who’s scared of Bullock.
So. Maybe not totally nuts, especially not as the crisis deepens and the crimes become more obvious, involving more people.
posted by schadenfrau at 8:53 AM on January 27, 2019 [9 favorites]
Remember Whitey Bulger? Heather Digby Parton speculates that Cohen is scared to testify not only because of the risk to his family, but also because of what might happened to him in prison
posted by growabrain at 9:01 AM on January 27, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by growabrain at 9:01 AM on January 27, 2019 [2 favorites]
Joni Ernst seems not entirely insane, though Iowa is pretty freaking red at this point.Joni Ernst is a total Republican true believer. She will never, ever flip. Iowa is not that red, and we could defeat her in 2020. (Three quarters of our House delegation is now Democratic, although it's harder for Democrats to win statewide, because the Nazi-snugglers in Steve King's district turn out in droves and vote for any Republican.) But I think it is very, very unlikely that she will ever become a Democrat. I think she would like to view herself as patriotic, and she might do the right thing and vote to impeach, but she'll do it as a Republican. Maybe she would go Independent and side with Democrats on a few things? But I doubt it.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 9:02 AM on January 27, 2019 [13 favorites]
I feel like I’m going crazy. I’ve been following all the Trusted Twitter Sources as best I can for commentary on the “was directed” phrase from Stone’s indictment, and I haven’t seen a single person tie it to the Breitbart email Onceuponatime pointed to. Has anyone outside metafilter speculated about this?
So many people are breathlessly speculating that Trump or a Trump family member would have been the person doing the directing. I’d like to believe that, too, but Onceuponatime’s discovery seems to plausibly puncture that theory. Has this not made it off the Blue?
posted by scarylarry at 9:03 AM on January 27, 2019 [7 favorites]
So many people are breathlessly speculating that Trump or a Trump family member would have been the person doing the directing. I’d like to believe that, too, but Onceuponatime’s discovery seems to plausibly puncture that theory. Has this not made it off the Blue?
posted by scarylarry at 9:03 AM on January 27, 2019 [7 favorites]
xammerboy, do you remember where that interview was? Googling for someone called Max Block gives a lot of spurious results.
posted by bink at 9:33 AM on January 27, 2019
posted by bink at 9:33 AM on January 27, 2019
I would tend to agree with OnceUponATime that the most likely explanation is that this refers to Bannon's early-October nudge from Breitbart reporter Matthew Boyle.
I don't agree with this at all. The indictment is not playing games with chronology. Para 12 is "After the July 22 release"; Para 13(a) is "On or about July 25"; 13(b) is "On or about July 31". There's no reason not to assume that the "was directed" happened between July 22 and July 25 -- that is, before Bannon was hired -- and that the paragraph 13 contacts were done at the campaign's direction.
posted by holgate at 9:40 AM on January 27, 2019 [13 favorites]
I don't agree with this at all. The indictment is not playing games with chronology. Para 12 is "After the July 22 release"; Para 13(a) is "On or about July 25"; 13(b) is "On or about July 31". There's no reason not to assume that the "was directed" happened between July 22 and July 25 -- that is, before Bannon was hired -- and that the paragraph 13 contacts were done at the campaign's direction.
posted by holgate at 9:40 AM on January 27, 2019 [13 favorites]
WaPo: Trump advisers lied over and over again, Mueller says. The question is, why?
Trump’s former campaign chairman, deputy campaign manager, former national security adviser, personal lawyer and a campaign foreign policy adviser have all been accused of lying to investigators exploring Russia activity.posted by Little Dawn at 9:42 AM on January 27, 2019 [6 favorites]
[...] Steve Hall, who retired from the CIA in 2015 after 30 years of running and managing Russia operations, said that the substance of the lies and alleged false statements documented by Mueller paint a broad picture with serious implications.
“In my view, those lies — what was lied about and under what condition the lies were told — contribute to a counterintelligence pattern that has begun to emerge pointing to senior members of the Trump team being involved with the Russians,” he said.
[...] Sam Nunberg, a former Trump aide, said he believed that people around Trump lied to investigators because they were trying to make sure their version of events lined up with lies the president was telling to the American people.
So Daniel Dale's reporting on the taped up women was posted here, Trump’s tales about gagged women are misleading Americans about human trafficking, experts say. The WaPo had their own story a couple of days later, Trump again mentioned taped-up women at the border. Experts don’t know what he is talking about.
Now Vox has an email from CBP's Acting Assistant Chief looking for any evidence to back him up, Trump claimed women were gagged with tape. Then Border Patrol tried to find some evidence:
Now Vox has an email from CBP's Acting Assistant Chief looking for any evidence to back him up, Trump claimed women were gagged with tape. Then Border Patrol tried to find some evidence:
The email, shown to Vox by a source within Border Patrol, was sent as a “request for information” by an assistant Border Patrol chief, apparently on behalf of the office of Customs and Border Protection commissioner Kevin McAleenan (referred to internally as “C-1”). It asked agents to reply within less than two hours with “any information (in any format)” regarding claims of tape-gagged women — and even linked to the Post article “for further info.”posted by peeedro at 9:42 AM on January 27, 2019 [20 favorites]
Vox’s source indicated that they and others in their sector hadn’t heard anything that would back up Trump’s claims, but wasn’t sure if agents in other sectors had provided information. However, no one from the Trump administration has come forward to offer evidence for the claim, either before or after the internal Border Patrol email was sent. (Customs and Border Protection did not respond to a request for comment.)
And again, "directed" implies authority which Boyle did not have over Bannon. Mueller is precise with language.
posted by chris24 at 9:43 AM on January 27, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 9:43 AM on January 27, 2019 [5 favorites]
"This seems like a rather provocative escalation, and it's fundamentally unclear what happens if the government of a country orders us out and we don't acknowledge that government is in charge so we just stay."
Sounds like an occupation.
...And what is it Trump has said he'd like to do in an occupation of an oil-rich nation like Iraq Venezuela? Steal its oil.
I don't think Trump's choice of countries to play chicken with in this case is a coincidence. He's a goddamned two-bit mafia boss with a Pennsylvania Avenue address, and Venezuela is the neighborhood business with the gall to hold assets he wants for himself.
posted by Rykey at 10:06 AM on January 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
Sounds like an occupation.
...And what is it Trump has said he'd like to do in an occupation of an oil-rich nation like
I don't think Trump's choice of countries to play chicken with in this case is a coincidence. He's a goddamned two-bit mafia boss with a Pennsylvania Avenue address, and Venezuela is the neighborhood business with the gall to hold assets he wants for himself.
posted by Rykey at 10:06 AM on January 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
WaPo: ‘I hope we get some common sense’: Republicans reeling from political damage caused by shutdown
[...] once Trump signaled late last year that he would not extend funding for about a fourth of the federal government without wall money, Republican lawmakers aligned themselves with him in a fight few of them believed was worth waging.posted by Little Dawn at 10:12 AM on January 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
Now, they are left reconsidering their decision to hitch themselves to Trump despite pressure to break with him as they plot their moves for the next three weeks, before the next shutdown deadline arrives.
Several believe the party has learned its lesson.
“I came to the conclusion a long time ago that none of these are a good idea,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, one of the handful of Senate Republicans who broke from Trump and the broader party strategy. “What I have heard from our conference is a greater number of voices that are saying, ‘Hey, this does not work so well. This is not a tool that we should be using.’ ”
OK, we have a marker. Let's see if he sticks to it.
@TPMLiveWire McCarthy: I'll appoint the Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee "next week."
[video]
posted by scalefree at 10:31 AM on January 27, 2019 [11 favorites]
@TPMLiveWire McCarthy: I'll appoint the Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee "next week."
[video]
posted by scalefree at 10:31 AM on January 27, 2019 [11 favorites]
Racism, Politics Screwed Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria, New Peer-Reviewed Study Shows
The worst tragedy of Donald Trump's presidency may have already passed. Nearly 3,000 Americans died after the near-category-five Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, according to a spate of recent studies, And the Trump administration suppressed or failed to adequately report the true death toll.posted by homunculus at 11:22 AM on January 27, 2019 [46 favorites]
Now a new study in the peer-reviewed journal BMJ Global Health has confirmed the federal government provided more money and faster support to Texas and Florida after hurricanes Harvey and Irma. All three storms made landfall in 2017. Maria was by far the most lethal.
McCarthy: I'll appoint the Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee "next week."
Does he mean "next week" as "these coming five days" or as "beginning seven days from now"?
posted by Thorzdad at 11:45 AM on January 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
Does he mean "next week" as "these coming five days" or as "beginning seven days from now"?
posted by Thorzdad at 11:45 AM on January 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
NBC, earlier this month: Democrats Renew Push To Investigate Trump's Hurricane Maria Response In Puerto Rico
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:47 AM on January 27, 2019 [69 favorites]
As the new Congress starts the year, Democrats are picking up an unresolved fight: investigating the Trump administration's response to Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Puerto Rico.Last summer, members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus called for an independent commission into Puerto Rico hurricane deaths.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand , D-N.Y., announced on Monday that she's reintroducing a bill to establish a “9/11-style” independent commission "to investigate exactly how and why the federal government abandoned its responsibilities and turned its back on Puerto Rico."[…]
The legislation co-sponsored by Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Edward Markey, D-Mass., Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., would analyze how a questionable methodology to account for hurricane deaths, a lack of disaster preparedness, and an inadequate telecommunications systems, among other missteps, hurt Puerto Rico's emergency response.
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:47 AM on January 27, 2019 [69 favorites]
McCarthy: I'll appoint the Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee "next week."
I wonder if the holdup is in finding members willing to take the job.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 12:10 PM on January 27, 2019 [5 favorites]
I wonder if the holdup is in finding members willing to take the job.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 12:10 PM on January 27, 2019 [5 favorites]
I wonder if the holdup is in finding members willing to take the job.
I can't imagine the house republicans are lacking in members willing to go and monkeywrench the HIC as much as possible.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:19 PM on January 27, 2019 [2 favorites]
I can't imagine the house republicans are lacking in members willing to go and monkeywrench the HIC as much as possible.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:19 PM on January 27, 2019 [2 favorites]
Googling for someone called Max Block gives a lot of spurious results.
bink, I Googled too, with lousy results, and now I think maybe xammerboy was referring to Max Boot...?
posted by GrammarMoses at 12:26 PM on January 27, 2019 [6 favorites]
bink, I Googled too, with lousy results, and now I think maybe xammerboy was referring to Max Boot...?
posted by GrammarMoses at 12:26 PM on January 27, 2019 [6 favorites]
The Withering of the Giuliani Defense of “No Crime of Collusion” in Wake of Roger Stone’s Indictment (Bob Bauer, Just Security h/t Salon)
... By now the president’s lawyers must believe they have a fairly good sense of his exposure on the facts of the case. Their position seems to have shifted from “no collusion,” to “no crime of collusion,” and they have tried to redirect the focus away from whether a host of campaign members colluded. Their hope may be that the Trump campaign-Wikileaks-Russia alliance is so extraordinary and unprecedented that the law cannot clearly reach it.posted by ZeusHumms at 12:30 PM on January 27, 2019 [6 favorites]
...
But the more that details accumulate about the extent to which this campaign would march with Russia arm-in-arm to victory in the general election, the more uncertain are the prospects for Mr. Giuliani’s claim that even if there was collusion, there was no crime. Gone are the days where “no collusion” could be voiced. We are now down to the question of whether crimes were committed and will be charged.
Cory Gardner (R-CO) was previously the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and is currently a deputy whip. He's not changing parties. I'm hopeful that he doesn't get re-elected and will be working on that goal, but I don't see him switching parties. (It's happened in CO before. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell switched from the Democratic party to the Republican party in 1995, and was re-elected in 1998.)
posted by danielleh at 12:36 PM on January 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by danielleh at 12:36 PM on January 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
Bloomberg [winning the Democratic nomination] is never, ever going to happen. .... His best shot is to run as an independent, which would probably ensure a Trump victory. I don't think he's that much of an asshole.
It's not clear to me that he would take away Democratic votes more than Republican. A successful independent businessman might peel off a lot of long time Republicans who don't like Trump but can't find anyone in their party with the cojones to stand up to him. IE people who could never vote for a Democrat and probably voted for Trump while grimacing.
posted by msalt at 12:36 PM on January 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
It's not clear to me that he would take away Democratic votes more than Republican. A successful independent businessman might peel off a lot of long time Republicans who don't like Trump but can't find anyone in their party with the cojones to stand up to him. IE people who could never vote for a Democrat and probably voted for Trump while grimacing.
posted by msalt at 12:36 PM on January 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
Looks like the "Maddow Theory" (ok you name it then) has got some legs for now. That is, questions regarding the lengths that these men went to to cover up what would be ostensibly legal, if suspicous or unscrupulous, activity. Certainly not worth going to prison for on the face of them. (This article is linked several comments up.)
This is literally not news, but one of our sacred 800-pound gorillacows has said it, so it's a thing. Please note this is *not* an Op-Ed, but instead "actual" reporting in the Politics section. Also note is chock-full of pulled punches and equivocating. But, it's something.
Trump advisers lied over and over again, Mueller says. The question is, why?
(WaPo)
They lied to the public for months before Donald Trump was elected — and then repeatedly after he took office. They lied to Congress as lawmakers sought to investigate Russia’s attack on American democracy in 2016. And they lied to the FBI, even when they knew lying was a crime.
In indictments and plea agreements unveiled over the last 20 months, special counsel Robert Mueller has shown over and over again that some of President Trump’s closest friends and advisers have lied about Russia and related issues.
...Did the president’s men lie to protect a still-hidden dark secret about the campaign’s interaction with Russia, engaging in a broad effort to obstruct the probe — one that included perhaps even Trump?
Did they lie to avoid diminishing Trump’s victory by acknowledging Russia played a role in his election?
Did they each lie for their own reasons, taking their cue from the president — who has told many whoppers of his own, including about Russia? ["Whoppers" FFS.]
...The remaining question — for both Mueller’s team, as it works on a final investigative report, and for the American people — is why.
It may be the remaining quesiton, but it has very little do do with booting the fuckers out. This is not exclusively a legal situation. This is an emergency at the heart of American federal governance. One that has been buried and covered up by the entirety of one party for their own benefit and no one else's. The whole freakin' system actually is out of order, right in front of us.
posted by petebest at 12:40 PM on January 27, 2019 [43 favorites]
This is literally not news, but one of our sacred 800-pound gorillacows has said it, so it's a thing. Please note this is *not* an Op-Ed, but instead "actual" reporting in the Politics section. Also note is chock-full of pulled punches and equivocating. But, it's something.
Trump advisers lied over and over again, Mueller says. The question is, why?
(WaPo)
They lied to the public for months before Donald Trump was elected — and then repeatedly after he took office. They lied to Congress as lawmakers sought to investigate Russia’s attack on American democracy in 2016. And they lied to the FBI, even when they knew lying was a crime.
In indictments and plea agreements unveiled over the last 20 months, special counsel Robert Mueller has shown over and over again that some of President Trump’s closest friends and advisers have lied about Russia and related issues.
...Did the president’s men lie to protect a still-hidden dark secret about the campaign’s interaction with Russia, engaging in a broad effort to obstruct the probe — one that included perhaps even Trump?
Did they lie to avoid diminishing Trump’s victory by acknowledging Russia played a role in his election?
Did they each lie for their own reasons, taking their cue from the president — who has told many whoppers of his own, including about Russia? ["Whoppers" FFS.]
...The remaining question — for both Mueller’s team, as it works on a final investigative report, and for the American people — is why.
It may be the remaining quesiton, but it has very little do do with booting the fuckers out. This is not exclusively a legal situation. This is an emergency at the heart of American federal governance. One that has been buried and covered up by the entirety of one party for their own benefit and no one else's. The whole freakin' system actually is out of order, right in front of us.
posted by petebest at 12:40 PM on January 27, 2019 [43 favorites]
It's not clear to me that he would take away Democratic votes more than Republican.
As you say, I don't think anyone knows for sure whether Bloomberg or that Starbucks guy would help or hurt Trump's chances. But I do think that we have an advantage right now so anything that adds chaos and noise to the system is a bad thing. We don't want the dynamics shaken up since they currently favor the good guys.
Chaos is Trump's only strategy.
posted by Justinian at 12:40 PM on January 27, 2019 [17 favorites]
As you say, I don't think anyone knows for sure whether Bloomberg or that Starbucks guy would help or hurt Trump's chances. But I do think that we have an advantage right now so anything that adds chaos and noise to the system is a bad thing. We don't want the dynamics shaken up since they currently favor the good guys.
Chaos is Trump's only strategy.
posted by Justinian at 12:40 PM on January 27, 2019 [17 favorites]
Thank you, GrammarMoses! I think this might be the interview:
posted by bink at 1:30 PM on January 27, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by bink at 1:30 PM on January 27, 2019 [2 favorites]
While I wish this "condemnation" arrived via a different politician, here's Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), former head of the Democratic National Committee, during a CNN interview yesterday (per Huffpost):
“In this case with Roger Stone, he literally weaponized information stolen by (Russian President) Vladimir Putin to help elect Donald Trump president,” she said. “He worked with high-level campaign officials from the Trump campaign who were directed by someone even higher essentially to make sure that they could traffic in information stolen by a foreign enemy state to elect the candidate that he supported president of the United States, and it was a disgusting and traitorous act, and it needs to be prosecuted.”posted by Iris Gambol at 2:01 PM on January 27, 2019 [13 favorites]
Wasserman Schultz resigned from her DNC post after the hacking and subsequent WikiLeaks dump of the organization’s emails exacerbated tensions within the party stemming from the fight for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.
More ICE fuckery:
Mohanad Elshieky (stand up comedian from Benghazi) -
This morning, ICE agents got on my Greyhound bus that was headed from Spokane to Portland. They walked around before they asked me and few others to step outside and took my documents and interrogated me for around 20 mins then claimed my papers were fake and that I’m “illegal”...
(twitter thread)
posted by bluecore at 2:15 PM on January 27, 2019 [54 favorites]
Mohanad Elshieky (stand up comedian from Benghazi) -
This morning, ICE agents got on my Greyhound bus that was headed from Spokane to Portland. They walked around before they asked me and few others to step outside and took my documents and interrogated me for around 20 mins then claimed my papers were fake and that I’m “illegal”...
(twitter thread)
posted by bluecore at 2:15 PM on January 27, 2019 [54 favorites]
scarylarry: So many people are breathlessly speculating that Trump or a Trump family member would have been the person doing the directing. I’d like to believe that, too, but Onceuponatime’s discovery seems to plausibly puncture that theory. Has this not made it off the Blue?
holgate: I don't agree with this at all. The indictment is not playing games with chronology.
chris24: And again, "directed" implies authority which Boyle did not have over Bannon. Mueller is precise with language.
I guess I'm still 50/50 on whether the "direction" refers to the Breitbart reporter's email to Bannon, or something more interesting. I don't need to have authority over you to direct you to Housewares at the other end of the store.
But in going back to look at the indictment, I see now that Mueller clearly has evidence (signals or testimony) of communications between Stone and the Trump Campaign that has not been disclosed yet. While the "directed to contact" could be explained by the Breitbart email, none of these phrases can be explained by evidence presented in the indictment (or by publicly available information, as far as I know):
posted by pjenks at 2:15 PM on January 27, 2019 [11 favorites]
holgate: I don't agree with this at all. The indictment is not playing games with chronology.
chris24: And again, "directed" implies authority which Boyle did not have over Bannon. Mueller is precise with language.
I guess I'm still 50/50 on whether the "direction" refers to the Breitbart reporter's email to Bannon, or something more interesting. I don't need to have authority over you to direct you to Housewares at the other end of the store.
But in going back to look at the indictment, I see now that Mueller clearly has evidence (signals or testimony) of communications between Stone and the Trump Campaign that has not been disclosed yet. While the "directed to contact" could be explained by the Breitbart email, none of these phrases can be explained by evidence presented in the indictment (or by publicly available information, as far as I know):
- Para 5: "During the summer of 2016, STONE spoke to senior Trump Campaign officials about Organization 1 and information it might have had"
- Para 6: "[After mid-August 2016,] STONE also continued to communicate with members of the Trump Campaign about Organization 1 and its intended future releases"
- Para 11: "By in or around June and July 2016, STONE informed senior Trump Campaign officials that he had information indicating Organization 1 had documents whose release would be damaging to the Clinton Campaign."
- Para 35(a): "On multiple occasions [, distinct from the communications with the "supporter" and Bannon], STONE told senior Trump Campaign officials about materials possessed by Organization 1 and the timing of future releases."
posted by pjenks at 2:15 PM on January 27, 2019 [11 favorites]
Daily Kos has an feature called "Fascism Watch", a variation on the Doomsday Clock (previously).
06 Dec 2017 - 11:53 PM - Watch starts
20 May 2018 - 11:57 PM - Trump increases attacks on special counsel
11 Jan 2019 - 11:59 PM - Trump considers declaring a 'national emergency'
26 Jan 2019 - 11:55 PM - For the first time, hands move back due to government reopening, Trump backing down from a shutdown.
posted by ZeusHumms at 2:36 PM on January 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
06 Dec 2017 - 11:53 PM - Watch starts
20 May 2018 - 11:57 PM - Trump increases attacks on special counsel
11 Jan 2019 - 11:59 PM - Trump considers declaring a 'national emergency'
26 Jan 2019 - 11:55 PM - For the first time, hands move back due to government reopening, Trump backing down from a shutdown.
posted by ZeusHumms at 2:36 PM on January 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
Disregarding anything else, the Trump campaign knew that the Dems had been hacked before it was publicly acknowledged, and didn’t tell anybody, and instead seemed to get them.
March 2016: DNC, DCCC, Clinton campaign hacked
May 2016: They find out they were hacked
June 3rd 2016: Rob Goldstone tells Don Jr “This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump-helped along by Aras and Emin.” Don Jr responds ““Seems we have some time and if it's what you say I love it especially later in the summer. Could we do a call first thing next week when I am back?”
June 14th 2016: It’s publicly disclosed that the hacks had happened.
That’s it. That’s “collusion” right there. Game set and match. I understand why Mueller needs to get all the evidence, but I don’t understand why the court of public opinion isn’t set on this when it’s plainly obvious.
posted by gucci mane at 2:48 PM on January 27, 2019 [39 favorites]
March 2016: DNC, DCCC, Clinton campaign hacked
May 2016: They find out they were hacked
June 3rd 2016: Rob Goldstone tells Don Jr “This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump-helped along by Aras and Emin.” Don Jr responds ““Seems we have some time and if it's what you say I love it especially later in the summer. Could we do a call first thing next week when I am back?”
June 14th 2016: It’s publicly disclosed that the hacks had happened.
That’s it. That’s “collusion” right there. Game set and match. I understand why Mueller needs to get all the evidence, but I don’t understand why the court of public opinion isn’t set on this when it’s plainly obvious.
posted by gucci mane at 2:48 PM on January 27, 2019 [39 favorites]
MeFiTone News Presents! Pizzagate! update!
*dootdootdoodedootdootdeetdootdootdootdoodedootdootdeetdoot*
Some Creep Set The Pizzagate Restaurant On Fire, Because That's Still A Thing. (Wonkette)
Given that it's been over two goddamn years since a bunch of idiots came up with a completely bonkers theory about how Hillary Clinton and John Podesta were running a child sex ring through a Washington, D.C. pizza restaurant, which they claimed had a sex dungeon in its non-existent basement. You would think they'd be over it by now, that they would have moved onto some other weird shit. But you would be wrong. So, so wrong.
On Wednesday, someone tried to set fire to Comet Ping-Pong, the pizza restaurant at the center of all of this ridiculousness, the same restaurant where Edgar Maddison Welch showed up with an AR-15 military-style rifle, ready to investigate the non-existent dungeon. Police believe it was intentionally set.
Via The Washington Post:
If you're new to the exciting world of Pizzagate, it works like this: a pizza store that supported HRC's campaign uses a triangle on their sign to show a "slice of pizza". Well, the FBI says a triangle is also the seekrit code symbol for pedophiles! Coincidence?!?!
Yes. FFS yes it's a pizza slice. It's trianguley. They're all trianguley ... except for Detroit stylee whatwhat
posted by petebest at 2:57 PM on January 27, 2019 [18 favorites]
*dootdootdoodedootdootdeetdootdootdootdoodedootdootdeetdoot*
Some Creep Set The Pizzagate Restaurant On Fire, Because That's Still A Thing. (Wonkette)
Given that it's been over two goddamn years since a bunch of idiots came up with a completely bonkers theory about how Hillary Clinton and John Podesta were running a child sex ring through a Washington, D.C. pizza restaurant, which they claimed had a sex dungeon in its non-existent basement. You would think they'd be over it by now, that they would have moved onto some other weird shit. But you would be wrong. So, so wrong.
On Wednesday, someone tried to set fire to Comet Ping-Pong, the pizza restaurant at the center of all of this ridiculousness, the same restaurant where Edgar Maddison Welch showed up with an AR-15 military-style rifle, ready to investigate the non-existent dungeon. Police believe it was intentionally set.
Via The Washington Post:
A police report says investigators found several burned matches on the floor under where the curtain had hung in a backroom. The report says they also found a box of matches and an open, partially full plastic bottle of lighter fluid on a table.
The report says the curtains were destroyed in the fire, which was extinguished by staff members.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Friday evening released a photo of a man they are seeking to question in the incident. Federal authorities described him as a white man between 25 and 30 years-old, who has blonde hair, a mustache and beard and wore a blue and white varsity-style jacket and blue jeans.
If you're new to the exciting world of Pizzagate, it works like this: a pizza store that supported HRC's campaign uses a triangle on their sign to show a "slice of pizza". Well, the FBI says a triangle is also the seekrit code symbol for pedophiles! Coincidence?!?!
Yes. FFS yes it's a pizza slice. It's trianguley. They're all trianguley ... except for Detroit stylee whatwhat
posted by petebest at 2:57 PM on January 27, 2019 [18 favorites]
The Atlantic’s Scott Stedman has a late-breaking update on Rusal:
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:00 PM on January 27, 2019 [77 favorites]
—It's official. The Trump admin just lifted sanctions on Oleg Deripaska: https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20190127.aspxHere’s the Treasury Dept.’s BS press release.
—They did this on a Sunday afternoon so people wouldn't see it. We won't forget.
—The lifting of sanctions on Deripaska makes the Russian government much richer (via VTB bank). This is a gift to Putin, nothing less.
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:00 PM on January 27, 2019 [77 favorites]
From the Max Boot interview: I mean, I have chapter and verse in my book of the sycophants of Donald Trump who literally refer to him as if he were the second-coming, who think that he is the savior of humanity. It's unbelievable...
This is something that I've been trying to understand too. I don't remember Republicans being messianic about Dubya -- supportive yes, but not "only he can save America" the way some people are about Trump. How did Cheeto's supporters get into this weird mindset?
posted by duoshao at 3:14 PM on January 27, 2019 [6 favorites]
This is something that I've been trying to understand too. I don't remember Republicans being messianic about Dubya -- supportive yes, but not "only he can save America" the way some people are about Trump. How did Cheeto's supporters get into this weird mindset?
posted by duoshao at 3:14 PM on January 27, 2019 [6 favorites]
Newsweek 1/12/18: Evangelical Christians overwhelmingly support President Donald Trump because they believe he'll cause the world to end.
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:25 PM on January 27, 2019 [33 favorites]
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:25 PM on January 27, 2019 [33 favorites]
This is something that I've been trying to understand too. I don't remember Republicans being messianic about Dubya -- supportive yes, but not "only he can save America" the way some people are about Trump. How did Cheeto's supporters get into this weird mindset?
I think part of it is people look for a narrative where they aren't wrong, didn't make the wrong choice, aren't on the losing side of the situation. And if you're a conservative voter and you've got a reasonably normal conservative president in power, you don't need to go looking for a narrative to justify it, because the straight-forward one works: this normal-ish person who is on my side politically is in charge, and is behaving competently and within politically normal parameters, and that's obviously good, and end of story.
Take someone who doesn't fit in that narrative and you've got a problem. People can point to the guy on your side and say "that's not normal, that's not competent, that's obviously blatantly weird and fucked up" and it's harder than normal to stand by him on the merits. Your narrative of the inevitability of normal, competent leadership doesn't work.
So you've got a couple options: change your position, or change the narrative.
Some folks looked at their baseline conservativism, and at Trump, and said, shit, these things do not match and this guy's a pile of trash who's fucking it up for normal people like me. Those are the folks who changed their position or at least rejected Trump from it, or who got quiet about politics to wait for normalcy to return to the conservative narrative.
Other folks looked at the dissonance between Trump and their narrative and said, okay, hold my beer, I can explain this in a way that doesn't make me wrong and doesn't make my guy a bad outcome for my positions. If Trump's not normal or competent or saying the right things, find a narrative where the weird incompetent stuff shit Trump does is good. A firebrand, a maverick, an outsider, a messiah with a clear vision to break through the old tired narratives.
People weren't messianic about George W. Bush because they didn't have to be. He was a shitty president but he was shitty within normal parameters. People might be pissed at you for voting for him but they could comprehend the fact that you did so within the bounds of normal partisan politics. You don't have to double down on a bar bet just to make your vote seem not actively monstrous within that narrative.
posted by cortex at 3:39 PM on January 27, 2019 [78 favorites]
I think part of it is people look for a narrative where they aren't wrong, didn't make the wrong choice, aren't on the losing side of the situation. And if you're a conservative voter and you've got a reasonably normal conservative president in power, you don't need to go looking for a narrative to justify it, because the straight-forward one works: this normal-ish person who is on my side politically is in charge, and is behaving competently and within politically normal parameters, and that's obviously good, and end of story.
Take someone who doesn't fit in that narrative and you've got a problem. People can point to the guy on your side and say "that's not normal, that's not competent, that's obviously blatantly weird and fucked up" and it's harder than normal to stand by him on the merits. Your narrative of the inevitability of normal, competent leadership doesn't work.
So you've got a couple options: change your position, or change the narrative.
Some folks looked at their baseline conservativism, and at Trump, and said, shit, these things do not match and this guy's a pile of trash who's fucking it up for normal people like me. Those are the folks who changed their position or at least rejected Trump from it, or who got quiet about politics to wait for normalcy to return to the conservative narrative.
Other folks looked at the dissonance between Trump and their narrative and said, okay, hold my beer, I can explain this in a way that doesn't make me wrong and doesn't make my guy a bad outcome for my positions. If Trump's not normal or competent or saying the right things, find a narrative where the weird incompetent stuff shit Trump does is good. A firebrand, a maverick, an outsider, a messiah with a clear vision to break through the old tired narratives.
People weren't messianic about George W. Bush because they didn't have to be. He was a shitty president but he was shitty within normal parameters. People might be pissed at you for voting for him but they could comprehend the fact that you did so within the bounds of normal partisan politics. You don't have to double down on a bar bet just to make your vote seem not actively monstrous within that narrative.
posted by cortex at 3:39 PM on January 27, 2019 [78 favorites]
Lord spare me from the New Pharisees and their Red Heifer.
posted by jadepearl at 3:43 PM on January 27, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by jadepearl at 3:43 PM on January 27, 2019 [6 favorites]
Nixon Foundation Scrambles To Distance Late President From Roger Stone, unsuccessfully
posted by growabrain at 3:46 PM on January 27, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by growabrain at 3:46 PM on January 27, 2019 [10 favorites]
I remember one of the rhetorical goto moves for a certain kind of cretin, in 2008 and after, was to mock Democrats for supposedly venerating Obama as their "savior". This was fairly easy to do, as there was kind of a cult of personality about Obama, who won the election in large part due to has ability to deliver the inspirational goods. But the thing is, they seemed to be perfectly sincere - they could not conceive that someone simply supported and voted for Obama, without venerating him as a quasi-religious figure. And these are the people, I think, who have moved on to doing the same with Trump. It's the old right wing projection, or it's like Morgoth making the Orcs in mockery of the elves. This is a lot of Trump's popularity, among his voters, I think: he's s far from Obama asa you can possibly be, and therefore produces maximum "liberal tears".
posted by thelonius at 4:03 PM on January 27, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 4:03 PM on January 27, 2019 [10 favorites]
If you're new to the exciting world of Pizzagate, it works like this: a pizza store that supported HRC's campaign uses a triangle on their sign to show a "slice of pizza". Well, the FBI says a triangle is also the seekrit code symbol for pedophiles! Coincidence?!?!
Yes. FFS yes it's a pizza slice. It's trianguley. They're all trianguley ... except for Detroit stylee whatwhat
posted by petebest at 2:57 PM on January 27
In light of the now apparently universal law that every Republican accusation is a projection (see also: Trump's Mirror), what is Pizzagate a projection of?
posted by yesster at 4:08 PM on January 27, 2019 [2 favorites]
Yes. FFS yes it's a pizza slice. It's trianguley. They're all trianguley ... except for Detroit stylee whatwhat
posted by petebest at 2:57 PM on January 27
In light of the now apparently universal law that every Republican accusation is a projection (see also: Trump's Mirror), what is Pizzagate a projection of?
posted by yesster at 4:08 PM on January 27, 2019 [2 favorites]
In light of the now apparently universal law that every Republican accusation is a projection (see also: Trump's Mirror), what is Pizzagate a projection of?
Roy Moore et. al.
posted by murphy slaw at 4:11 PM on January 27, 2019 [6 favorites]
Roy Moore et. al.
posted by murphy slaw at 4:11 PM on January 27, 2019 [6 favorites]
what is Pizzagate a projection of?Well, Trump is implicated in the Jeffrey Epstein child rape ring, but then so is just about every powerful man in the world. I'm going with that one.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:12 PM on January 27, 2019 [55 favorites]
Well, Trump is implicated in the Jeffrey Epstein child rape ring, but then so is just about every powerful man in the world. I'm going with that one.
The preponderance of evidence in Doe v. Trump (1:16-cv-07673) District Court, S.D. New York shows that in 1994, Donald J. Trump raped a 13 year old girl, recruited for Epstein's child rape ring at the Port Authority, as she was returning home after her dreams of modelling failed. She withdrew the suit when Trump's Fixer, Michael Cohen, was buying women's silence.
posted by mikelieman at 4:29 PM on January 27, 2019 [62 favorites]
The preponderance of evidence in Doe v. Trump (1:16-cv-07673) District Court, S.D. New York shows that in 1994, Donald J. Trump raped a 13 year old girl, recruited for Epstein's child rape ring at the Port Authority, as she was returning home after her dreams of modelling failed. She withdrew the suit when Trump's Fixer, Michael Cohen, was buying women's silence.
posted by mikelieman at 4:29 PM on January 27, 2019 [62 favorites]
Why NeverTrumpers were never on our side.
Howard Schultz, Former Starbucks Chief, Is Preparing for an Independent 2020 Run
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:43 PM on January 27, 2019 [12 favorites]
Howard Schultz, Former Starbucks Chief, Is Preparing for an Independent 2020 Run
Mr. Schultz is relying in part on a small team of outside advisers, including Steve Schmidt, the former campaign strategist for John McCain’s 2008 presidential effort.The best revenge of NeverTrump will be to assure his reelection with 34% of the vote.
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:43 PM on January 27, 2019 [12 favorites]
@HowardSchultz has all of 13,500 followers on Twitter. Mr Popularity he's not.
posted by scalefree at 5:02 PM on January 27, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by scalefree at 5:02 PM on January 27, 2019 [9 favorites]
This is the podcast episode I was talking about with Max Block talking about how Republicans are racist.
The Good Fight Podcast By Yascha Mounk
The Convert: How one of the country’s leading conservatives became one of the Republican Party’s staunchest critics.
posted by xammerboy at 5:14 PM on January 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
The Good Fight Podcast By Yascha Mounk
The Convert: How one of the country’s leading conservatives became one of the Republican Party’s staunchest critics.
posted by xammerboy at 5:14 PM on January 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
Schultz is just doing this as a stunt to sell books, I wouldn't worry that he'll do any real electoral damage.
posted by BeginAgain at 5:18 PM on January 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by BeginAgain at 5:18 PM on January 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
This is the podcast episode I was talking about with Max Block talking about how Republicans are racist.
The Good Fight Podcast By Yascha Mounk
The Convert: How one of the country’s leading conservatives became one of the Republican Party’s staunchest critics.
Yeah but his name is Max Boot, right?
posted by counterfeitfake at 5:57 PM on January 27, 2019
The Good Fight Podcast By Yascha Mounk
The Convert: How one of the country’s leading conservatives became one of the Republican Party’s staunchest critics.
Yeah but his name is Max Boot, right?
posted by counterfeitfake at 5:57 PM on January 27, 2019
At the risk of relitigating 2016, many people said take him literally but not seriously, and others said take him seriously but not literally while I was bellowing to take him both literally AND seriously.
No that particular he is in the White House.
Just a book promotion is not an argument I will brook. It may turn out that Schultz fails in his bid, but when people tell you who they are, believe them. Schultz says he wants to run.
Believe. Him.
posted by bilabial at 5:58 PM on January 27, 2019 [8 favorites]
No that particular he is in the White House.
Just a book promotion is not an argument I will brook. It may turn out that Schultz fails in his bid, but when people tell you who they are, believe them. Schultz says he wants to run.
Believe. Him.
posted by bilabial at 5:58 PM on January 27, 2019 [8 favorites]
Mod note: Gonna gently remind folks that preemptively digging in on every candidate exploratory/intending/announcing vein of the primaries is gonna be unworkable and we need y'all to help keep it in check. A link to note in passing and maybe a couple of comments if there's something to flesh that out with is fine; treating each tidbit as a prompt to riff reflexively in here or reexamine the soul of the American electorate etc. is not gonna work. If you've got a good riff that just needs to get out, take it to the Hyucking Hyuck thread; otherwise, maybe just wait till there's some there there before discussing it and if there is some there there consider making a topic-specific post about it.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:14 PM on January 27, 2019 [14 favorites]
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:14 PM on January 27, 2019 [14 favorites]
Yeah but his name is Max Boot, right?
Ummm. Yes! Sorry!!!
posted by xammerboy at 6:16 PM on January 27, 2019 [2 favorites]
Ummm. Yes! Sorry!!!
posted by xammerboy at 6:16 PM on January 27, 2019 [2 favorites]
Bill Mitchell: "1st mistake Dems make is assuming they are smarter than Trump. Trump's intuitive mind is a super-computer. Perhaps that is why he occasionally makes awkward public remarks? He is a strategic savant. Instead of wasting energy on things like tact, his brain focuses on strategy."
I've been following Mitchell, pretty much convinced he's on the grift with mostly Q people as his marks.
posted by scalefree at 7:08 PM on January 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
I've been following Mitchell, pretty much convinced he's on the grift with mostly Q people as his marks.
posted by scalefree at 7:08 PM on January 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
schadenfrau: "the Arizona GOP has become increasingly insane, having just elected Kelli Ward (who McSally narrowly? Defeated in the Republican primary)."
Just a minor point of order here. McSally won her primary fairly handily:
posted by Chrysostom at 7:22 PM on January 27, 2019 [9 favorites]
Just a minor point of order here. McSally won her primary fairly handily:
McSally 54.6%You could less charitably look at it as only prevailing by about 9 points over the combined crazy person vote.
Ward 27.6%
Arpaio 17.8%
posted by Chrysostom at 7:22 PM on January 27, 2019 [9 favorites]
“I came to the conclusion a long time ago that none of these are a good idea,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, one of the handful of Senate Republicans who broke from Trump and the broader party strategy. “What I have heard from our conference is a greater number of voices that are saying, ‘Hey, this does not work so well. This is not a tool that we should be using.’ ”
Whatever, Murkowski. It's worth noting that so-called "moderate" Republicans such as she and Mitt Romney effectively voted to repeal Russian sanctions on Jan 16, and lo and behold, the Treasury department lifted these sanctions on three firms tied to Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska today.
Please don't hold out any hope that someone with an (R) after their name has any backbone.
posted by jeremias at 7:28 PM on January 27, 2019 [30 favorites]
Whatever, Murkowski. It's worth noting that so-called "moderate" Republicans such as she and Mitt Romney effectively voted to repeal Russian sanctions on Jan 16, and lo and behold, the Treasury department lifted these sanctions on three firms tied to Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska today.
Please don't hold out any hope that someone with an (R) after their name has any backbone.
posted by jeremias at 7:28 PM on January 27, 2019 [30 favorites]
msalt: "It's not clear to me that he would take away Democratic votes more than Republican. A successful independent businessman might peel off a lot of long time Republicans who don't like Trump but can't find anyone in their party with the cojones to stand up to him. IE people who could never vote for a Democrat and probably voted for Trump while grimacing."
This is basically what happened in KS governor in 2018. Orman's independent candidacy was supposed to torpedo the Dem candidate, but it looks like Orman mostly siphoned off voters who wanted to vote GOP but couldn't stomach Kris Kobach.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:38 PM on January 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
This is basically what happened in KS governor in 2018. Orman's independent candidacy was supposed to torpedo the Dem candidate, but it looks like Orman mostly siphoned off voters who wanted to vote GOP but couldn't stomach Kris Kobach.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:38 PM on January 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
duoshao: I don't remember Republicans being messianic about Dubya -- supportive yes, but not "only he can save America" the way some people are about Trump. How did Cheeto's supporters get into this weird mindset?
Cortex is very correct about the compensation-for-overt-flaws stuff, but there's also some "genuine" cultism here that can be explained with even more distressing reasons.
So Bush's core appeal was to Christian conservatives and their worldview of "Yay Bible, boo abortion". That gang had a good run convincing themselves and everyone else that the were the core of conservatism, but they never were.
Trump captures the actual core of the party, namely "Boo brown people". Plenty of what Bush did was reflective of this core, but you have to dig to find him saying anything that sounds like it beyond a faint dog whistle. (Like, this says more about the overton window than about Bush, but: I remember a whole news cycle regarding his mentioning a "crusade" against terrorism, and the Muslim world's reaction to this. It's impossible to imagine that being a scandal today.)
Trump uses a dog bullhorn -- not the full-fledged "No really, I'm cool with white nationalism in those exact words" bullhorn of a Steve King, but close enough for cultism. There was a more-or-less untapped market for this, and he rapidly monopolized it. A good video I recommend everyone check out for more is The Alt-Right Playbook: The Death of a Euphemism.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 7:40 PM on January 27, 2019 [21 favorites]
Cortex is very correct about the compensation-for-overt-flaws stuff, but there's also some "genuine" cultism here that can be explained with even more distressing reasons.
So Bush's core appeal was to Christian conservatives and their worldview of "Yay Bible, boo abortion". That gang had a good run convincing themselves and everyone else that the were the core of conservatism, but they never were.
Trump captures the actual core of the party, namely "Boo brown people". Plenty of what Bush did was reflective of this core, but you have to dig to find him saying anything that sounds like it beyond a faint dog whistle. (Like, this says more about the overton window than about Bush, but: I remember a whole news cycle regarding his mentioning a "crusade" against terrorism, and the Muslim world's reaction to this. It's impossible to imagine that being a scandal today.)
Trump uses a dog bullhorn -- not the full-fledged "No really, I'm cool with white nationalism in those exact words" bullhorn of a Steve King, but close enough for cultism. There was a more-or-less untapped market for this, and he rapidly monopolized it. A good video I recommend everyone check out for more is The Alt-Right Playbook: The Death of a Euphemism.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 7:40 PM on January 27, 2019 [21 favorites]
Well there was that scene in the documentary Jesus Camp where the kids were instructed to pray over a cardboard cutout of Bush.
posted by scalefree at 7:47 PM on January 27, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by scalefree at 7:47 PM on January 27, 2019 [6 favorites]
Ted Lieu:
A rich businessman with no government experience has wrecked America as @POTUS the past 2 years.
Howard Schultz thinks the solution is another rich businessman with no government experience.
posted by growabrain at 7:50 PM on January 27, 2019 [66 favorites]
A rich businessman with no government experience has wrecked America as @POTUS the past 2 years.
Howard Schultz thinks the solution is another rich businessman with no government experience.
posted by growabrain at 7:50 PM on January 27, 2019 [66 favorites]
The guy who was comms director for the Schumer and Clinton campaigns, Exec Director of DCCC and Bloomberg's former deputy mayor and the guy who talked him out of running as an independent in 2016 is pretty sure it'll help Trump.
Howard Wolfson (Bloomberg Foundation)
I have seen enough data over many years to know that anyone running for POTUS as an independent will split the anti-incumbent, anti-Trump vote. The stakes couldn’t be higher. We can not afford the risk of spoiler politics that result in Trump’s re-election.
---
And the whole indy billionaire campaign idea comes from the same undemocratic place as Trump's.
Taniel
One problem is the belief that the best way to improve the country is if I'm put in charge of governing it. Not a program, a team, a party organized around some set of principles, a record of public service, some trail of what changes & policies I think are needed—no, simply me.
posted by chris24 at 8:06 PM on January 27, 2019 [59 favorites]
Howard Wolfson (Bloomberg Foundation)
I have seen enough data over many years to know that anyone running for POTUS as an independent will split the anti-incumbent, anti-Trump vote. The stakes couldn’t be higher. We can not afford the risk of spoiler politics that result in Trump’s re-election.
---
And the whole indy billionaire campaign idea comes from the same undemocratic place as Trump's.
Taniel
One problem is the belief that the best way to improve the country is if I'm put in charge of governing it. Not a program, a team, a party organized around some set of principles, a record of public service, some trail of what changes & policies I think are needed—no, simply me.
posted by chris24 at 8:06 PM on January 27, 2019 [59 favorites]
To be clear, America, it's not simply that billionaire @HowardSchultz sold the Seattle Sonics to Oklahoma City. It's that first he tried to extort hundreds of millions of $$$ from taxpayers to replace a 10-YEAR-OLD arena, and then sold the team to OKC to spite us when we refused.
Why Schultz tuned out and sold out the Sonics
Howard Schultz, 2020? We in Seattle know he’d be a lamb to the slaughter
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:25 PM on January 27, 2019 [53 favorites]
Why Schultz tuned out and sold out the Sonics
Howard Schultz, 2020? We in Seattle know he’d be a lamb to the slaughter
“If Howard Schultz gets elected president, who will he ultimately sell America to when things get tough?”Confessions of a Sonics employee: Howard Schultz was cheap, cared about rich
According to the Deadspin piece, Schultz and his investment group wanted a publicly financed arena (a new one or a KeyArea refurbishment) solely to pander to the Seattle area’s super-rich. They wanted higher capacity, more high-end concessions and more premium seats so they could rope in millionaires and their $70,000 season tickets.Howard Schultz Gave Out $3.50 Starbucks Gift Cards: An Insider's Notes On The Shabby Death Of The Seattle SuperSonics
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:25 PM on January 27, 2019 [53 favorites]
Well, this is interesting. I have no idea if this portends anything.
Trump rips into Fox News over shutdown, border wall coverage
posted by J.K. Seazer at 11:28 PM on January 27, 2019 [25 favorites]
Trump rips into Fox News over shutdown, border wall coverage
President Trump on Sunday blasted a pair of Fox News reporters over their coverage of the border wall negotiations, claiming that they have "less understanding" than journalists at "fake news CNN & NBC."That poll also found that 57 +/-4.2% of registered voters "definitely plan to vote against" Trump in the 2020 election.
"Never thought I’d say this but I think [John Roberts] and [Gillian Turner] have even less understanding of the Wall negotiations than the folks at FAKE NEWS CNN & NBC!" Trump tweeted, referring to two of the news network's top correspondents.
"Look to final results! Don’t know how my poll numbers are so good, especially up 19% with Hispanics?" Trump continued, referring to a poll published earlier this month that found a growing number of Latino adults approved of Trump's job performance.
The Marist poll, published in partnership with PBS and NPR, found that 50 percent of Latino adults approve of Trump's job as president, up from 31 percent in December. The survey also found that just 39 percent of adults approved of Trump's job performance.
posted by J.K. Seazer at 11:28 PM on January 27, 2019 [25 favorites]
You'll see this a lot, so it's worth recognising it before anyone's actually announced (and then we can all link back to it every time someone flags interest in running): a lot of people running as independents this cycle would run as a Republican, except the Republican brand is so toxic that they're hoping to peel off voters who can no longer vote Republican, but whose entire self-image bars them from ever voting for Democratic candidates.
I'm seeing the same thing in Australia, where the right-wing Liberal party is at war with itself, with arch-conservatives and cryptofascists successfully derailed the largely neoliberal government but didn't have the numbers to replace it. Turns out voters don't appreciate culture war horseshit instead of governing, but that doesn't mean these rich white suburbs are going to vote for the Labor Party or the environmental socialist Greens! Enter independents, who are safely neoliberal, have a broadly positive reputation through their careers, and most importantly don't need to play the culture war so can be for climate action or getting people off Nauru without losing their base.
I'd expect there to be quite a few independent candidates for president this cycle, and they're all going to fit that general centre-right mould. The trick for Democrats is knowing how much they're currently relying on protest votes, and how much they're alienating those more left-wing who have stayed home in the previous decade.
posted by Merus at 11:29 PM on January 27, 2019 [14 favorites]
I'm seeing the same thing in Australia, where the right-wing Liberal party is at war with itself, with arch-conservatives and cryptofascists successfully derailed the largely neoliberal government but didn't have the numbers to replace it. Turns out voters don't appreciate culture war horseshit instead of governing, but that doesn't mean these rich white suburbs are going to vote for the Labor Party or the environmental socialist Greens! Enter independents, who are safely neoliberal, have a broadly positive reputation through their careers, and most importantly don't need to play the culture war so can be for climate action or getting people off Nauru without losing their base.
I'd expect there to be quite a few independent candidates for president this cycle, and they're all going to fit that general centre-right mould. The trick for Democrats is knowing how much they're currently relying on protest votes, and how much they're alienating those more left-wing who have stayed home in the previous decade.
posted by Merus at 11:29 PM on January 27, 2019 [14 favorites]
Trump rips into Fox News over shutdown, border wall coverage
I think everyone should send supportive tweets to Trump, telling him not to take what weak-ass traitor crap from Fox News. Give 'em hell, Donny!
Also, everyone should send emails to Fox News, thanking then for telling the hard truths on the shut down and urging them not to be intimidated by Trump, we love it and that's why we watch you all day long!
posted by msalt at 11:34 PM on January 27, 2019 [22 favorites]
I think everyone should send supportive tweets to Trump, telling him not to take what weak-ass traitor crap from Fox News. Give 'em hell, Donny!
Also, everyone should send emails to Fox News, thanking then for telling the hard truths on the shut down and urging them not to be intimidated by Trump, we love it and that's why we watch you all day long!
posted by msalt at 11:34 PM on January 27, 2019 [22 favorites]
The trick for Democrats is knowing how much they're currently relying on protest votes, and how much they're alienating those more left-wing who have stayed home in the previous decade.
I dearly hope that after four years of Trump the left-wing has learned the problems with refusing to vote.
posted by Anonymous at 4:35 AM on January 28, 2019
I dearly hope that after four years of Trump the left-wing has learned the problems with refusing to vote.
posted by Anonymous at 4:35 AM on January 28, 2019
I don't know if we've learned those lessons yet. I'm already seeing histrionic posts on FB smearing Kamala Harris that are straight out of the 2016 playbook. The right wing disinformation machine must really be afraid of her and some folks I know are falling for it all over again.
I'm pushing back against it when I see it ("when you see posts like this that press your buttons, please respond by doing research instead of reflexively sharing it. NO candidate is perfect and you of course are not required to like any of them. But please do not feed the social media circular firing squad. This was a disinformation tactic used in 2016, don't fall for it this time.")
posted by Sublimity at 4:41 AM on January 28, 2019 [72 favorites]
I'm pushing back against it when I see it ("when you see posts like this that press your buttons, please respond by doing research instead of reflexively sharing it. NO candidate is perfect and you of course are not required to like any of them. But please do not feed the social media circular firing squad. This was a disinformation tactic used in 2016, don't fall for it this time.")
posted by Sublimity at 4:41 AM on January 28, 2019 [72 favorites]
I dearly hope that after four years of Trump the left-wing has learned the problems with refusing to vote.
The problem isn’t that the left wing doesn’t vote or the right wing votes consistently it’s that the majority of the country doesn’t vote at all.
posted by The Whelk at 5:15 AM on January 28, 2019 [44 favorites]
The problem isn’t that the left wing doesn’t vote or the right wing votes consistently it’s that the majority of the country doesn’t vote at all.
posted by The Whelk at 5:15 AM on January 28, 2019 [44 favorites]
The Marist poll, published in partnership with PBS and NPR, found that 50 percent of Latino adults approve of Trump's job as president, up from 31 percent in December. The survey also found that just 39 percent of adults approved of Trump's job performance.
Uh ... WHAT. here's the poll (PDF). Full disclosure: IMO polls are modern phrenology and the sooner we ignore them the better [w/ apologies to the MegaThread All-Stars who Read Them] but as that will never happen and we're all agreeing to allow the national conversation to be driven by 1,023 people who picked up the phone from fake local / unknown number and had a chatty conversation about the state of the world during dinnertime, well here we are.
Per the results, 143 people who said they were Latino and of voting age answered the poll. roughly half of them said they think Trump is aces. There was no followup question to ask if they responded that way because they thought the odds were just as good that it was in fact ICE calling, and that answering differently would have resulted in a violent home invasion.
For bonus fun, 33%, of Latino respondents also thought "Republicans in Congress" were doing super during the longest shutdown in American history over a southern border wall. /red_flag
While even less, 25% or about 35 Latino respondents thought the Democrats were doing great. So, per this super relevant poll which jibes exactly with everyone's experience, only 34% of all respondents total thought the Dems were doing well between Jan 10 - Jan 13. So.
Oh, and of those Latinos that support Trump, 58% will "definitely vote against him" in 2020. Great poll.
posted by petebest at 5:39 AM on January 28, 2019 [30 favorites]
Uh ... WHAT. here's the poll (PDF). Full disclosure: IMO polls are modern phrenology and the sooner we ignore them the better [w/ apologies to the MegaThread All-Stars who Read Them] but as that will never happen and we're all agreeing to allow the national conversation to be driven by 1,023 people who picked up the phone from fake local / unknown number and had a chatty conversation about the state of the world during dinnertime, well here we are.
Per the results, 143 people who said they were Latino and of voting age answered the poll. roughly half of them said they think Trump is aces. There was no followup question to ask if they responded that way because they thought the odds were just as good that it was in fact ICE calling, and that answering differently would have resulted in a violent home invasion.
For bonus fun, 33%, of Latino respondents also thought "Republicans in Congress" were doing super during the longest shutdown in American history over a southern border wall. /red_flag
While even less, 25% or about 35 Latino respondents thought the Democrats were doing great. So, per this super relevant poll which jibes exactly with everyone's experience, only 34% of all respondents total thought the Dems were doing well between Jan 10 - Jan 13. So.
Oh, and of those Latinos that support Trump, 58% will "definitely vote against him" in 2020. Great poll.
posted by petebest at 5:39 AM on January 28, 2019 [30 favorites]
143 people who said they were Latino and of voting age answered the poll.
Which is the problem with looking at these subgroups, because the sample size is so small that the margin of error is so big as to make them meaningless.
posted by chris24 at 5:45 AM on January 28, 2019 [15 favorites]
Which is the problem with looking at these subgroups, because the sample size is so small that the margin of error is so big as to make them meaningless.
posted by chris24 at 5:45 AM on January 28, 2019 [15 favorites]
143 people who said they were Latino and of voting age answered the poll.
Which is the problem with looking at these subgroups, because the sample size is so small that the margin of error is so big as to make them meaningless.
All you have to do to get this kind of result is oversample Florida where there is a right wing community of anti-castro cubans.
posted by srboisvert at 6:14 AM on January 28, 2019 [14 favorites]
Which is the problem with looking at these subgroups, because the sample size is so small that the margin of error is so big as to make them meaningless.
All you have to do to get this kind of result is oversample Florida where there is a right wing community of anti-castro cubans.
posted by srboisvert at 6:14 AM on January 28, 2019 [14 favorites]
WaPo: Trump’s fantasy claim that Michael Cohen’s hush-money payments were no crime
posted by Little Dawn at 6:21 AM on January 28, 2019 [8 favorites]
We’re fact-checking Trump’s separate claim that the hush-money payments weren’t even crimes to begin with. Trump also suggests he’s being unfairly singled out, noting that President Barack Obama’s campaign only paid a fine for misreporting contributions in 2008 and that members of Congress for years had a special fund to settle employment claims, including sexual harassment cases.Spoiler alert: Four Pinnochios
posted by Little Dawn at 6:21 AM on January 28, 2019 [8 favorites]
Yes, the vile attacks on both Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris - mostly on Twitter - are out in force. I don't know if they are trolls, sincere, or sincere people ginned up by trolls, but someone(s) is really afraid of these particular candidates.
posted by Rosie M. Banks
I think it's going to be a matter of ignoring the noise, eyes on the prize. I'd hope that enough people learned from the noise (trump) in 2016 by now.
posted by yoga at 6:28 AM on January 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Rosie M. Banks
I think it's going to be a matter of ignoring the noise, eyes on the prize. I'd hope that enough people learned from the noise (trump) in 2016 by now.
posted by yoga at 6:28 AM on January 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
‘Want to see the Lincoln bedroom?’: Trump relishes role as White House tour guide (WaPo). It goes how you'd expect, he's obsessed with Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, lies about Obama trashing the place, and brags about all the art and historical artifacts in a way that makes it unclear if he understands that they don't belong to him.
posted by peeedro at 6:42 AM on January 28, 2019 [36 favorites]
posted by peeedro at 6:42 AM on January 28, 2019 [36 favorites]
To the extent that it isn't trolls or bots or coordinated disinformation campaigns, NYT: The Tabloid Myths of Jennifer Aniston and Donald Trump
posted by Little Dawn at 6:48 AM on January 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
Driving the belief in political conspiracy theories and celebrity pregnancies alike is “a desire to have the truth fit” the heart’s desires, said Renée Ann Cramer, a professor of law, politics and society at Drake University in Iowa. “They want it to be true,” she said.As an X-Files fan, I want to believe that things like confirmation bias and culture play a role in how we process information, because the disinformation campaigns don't seem workable without it. It also can create distracting noise, so I think it is important to keep focused on relevant facts from credible and reliable sources, and thereby avoid feeding the trolls that promote disinformation.
posted by Little Dawn at 6:48 AM on January 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
Trump Is Destroying His Own Case for a National Emergency (Elizabeth Goitein, Atlantic Op-Ed)
"By waiting for Congress to act, the president is undermining the legal basis for any declaration."posted by ZeusHumms at 6:48 AM on January 28, 2019 [19 favorites]
[The] more time Congress has to act—and the more times it votes against providing the funding the president has asked for—the clearer it becomes that an emergency declaration in this case would be designed as an end-run around the Constitution. Article I provides that “No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law.” This provision is one of the Constitution’s most important checks against executive-branch overreach. Congress has now consistently declined to appropriate funding for the border wall. Whatever deference judges might owe to the president’s assessment of what constitutes an emergency, an interpretation of the National Emergencies Act that would allow the president to engage in an expenditure of funds for which Congress has expressly withheld consent cannot be squared with the Constitution.
Mod note: Several deleted. Sorry, but this thread just can't support discussion of all the 20+ people who may run for president against Trump, what people are saying about them on Twitter, and what might happen if they do run, etc.
posted by taz (staff) at 6:54 AM on January 28, 2019 [21 favorites]
posted by taz (staff) at 6:54 AM on January 28, 2019 [21 favorites]
NYT reports on Deripaska's sweetheart sanctions deal: Treasury Dept. Lifts Sanctions on Russian Oligarch’s Companies. "After the sanctions were officially lifted, EN+ announced the appointment of seven new directors under the deal, including Christopher Bancroft Burnham, a banker who served on Mr. Trump’s State Department transition team and worked in George W. Bush’s State Department." Burnham also used to be a vice chairman of Deutsche Bank Asset Management, and another new EN+ board member, Igor Lojevsky, is a former chairman of two Deutsche Bank divisions in Eastern Europe. (ChiTrib).
Speaking of Deutsche Bank, last Thursday it released a statement to say "The bank has received an inquiry from the House financial services and intelligence committees" about its financial relationship with Trump (Reuters). Also, Deutsche Bank is willing to report Jared Kushner’s ‘suspicious transactions’ to Robert Mueller, according to German publication Manager Magazin (Newsweek). (Incidentally, Bloomberg reports the Federal Reserve is probing billions of dollars of suspicious transactions that Deutsche handled via Estonia from Russia, Latvia, and Cyprus in a €200 billion money-laundering scandal, just to underscore how improper it is to appoint DB executives to a sanctioned Russian company's board.)
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:55 AM on January 28, 2019 [35 favorites]
Speaking of Deutsche Bank, last Thursday it released a statement to say "The bank has received an inquiry from the House financial services and intelligence committees" about its financial relationship with Trump (Reuters). Also, Deutsche Bank is willing to report Jared Kushner’s ‘suspicious transactions’ to Robert Mueller, according to German publication Manager Magazin (Newsweek). (Incidentally, Bloomberg reports the Federal Reserve is probing billions of dollars of suspicious transactions that Deutsche handled via Estonia from Russia, Latvia, and Cyprus in a €200 billion money-laundering scandal, just to underscore how improper it is to appoint DB executives to a sanctioned Russian company's board.)
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:55 AM on January 28, 2019 [35 favorites]
143 people who said they were Latino and of voting age answered the poll.
I mean, it's also not unprecedented for some people who have familial origins as fairly recent immigrants to be okay with pulling up the ladder behind them. My husband was just talking about his grandparents in relation to this this weekend. His dad's family is Italian, and it took them about a generation to go from being immigrants themselves to "fuck immigrants."
(Also also "Latino" is not a real fine-grained ethnic identifier. Like, what are we talking here? Puerto Ricans? Cubans? Mexicans? Hondurans? Tejanos? All groups with very different policy priorities.)
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:23 AM on January 28, 2019 [23 favorites]
I mean, it's also not unprecedented for some people who have familial origins as fairly recent immigrants to be okay with pulling up the ladder behind them. My husband was just talking about his grandparents in relation to this this weekend. His dad's family is Italian, and it took them about a generation to go from being immigrants themselves to "fuck immigrants."
(Also also "Latino" is not a real fine-grained ethnic identifier. Like, what are we talking here? Puerto Ricans? Cubans? Mexicans? Hondurans? Tejanos? All groups with very different policy priorities.)
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:23 AM on January 28, 2019 [23 favorites]
I mean, it's also not unprecedented for some people who have familial origins as fairly recent immigrants to be okay with pulling up the ladder behind them. My husband was just talking about his grandparents in relation to this this weekend. His dad's family is Italian, and it took them about a generation to go from being immigrants themselves to "fuck immigrants."
This is also my father in law. He came from Greece as a kid, his parents went back and left him, and he made a career in software and retired early. Immigration is his political driving force, fueled by too much free time watching Fox. It is all about fairness, and the idea that if he did it "the right way" everyone else should too. Of course, that doesn't apply to the good, hard working immigrants of questionable documentation he interacts with on the regular since he's owned a small citrus grove.
posted by schoolgirl report at 7:50 AM on January 28, 2019 [24 favorites]
This is also my father in law. He came from Greece as a kid, his parents went back and left him, and he made a career in software and retired early. Immigration is his political driving force, fueled by too much free time watching Fox. It is all about fairness, and the idea that if he did it "the right way" everyone else should too. Of course, that doesn't apply to the good, hard working immigrants of questionable documentation he interacts with on the regular since he's owned a small citrus grove.
posted by schoolgirl report at 7:50 AM on January 28, 2019 [24 favorites]
"After the sanctions were officially lifted, EN+ announced the appointment of seven new directors under the deal, including Christopher Bancroft Burnham, a banker who served on Mr. Trump’s State Department transition team and worked in George W. Bush’s State Department."
It's frustrating beyond measure when I point this out to people and they can't even form a denial, just a raw blindness to the global high-stakes looting happening: There's a cabal of corrupt billionaires who have no loyalty to any country, and are working together to enable their meta-national wealth hoarding. Trump, McConnell, and crew, has been dismantling every roadblock. It is especially galling that new sanctions aren't being enforced by the Executive, in direct defiance of Congress. These actions are against the interests of the US and our allies, on behalf of Russian oligarchs. Putting aside motives and look only at the overt actions: Trump is quite literally, clearly, and undeniably "working for the Russians."
The only ray of hope I see is that their wealth is just "on account" at institutions, or a contractual ownership of a business, and those sorts of things can be confiscated with a few carefully executed keystrokes.
posted by yesster at 7:58 AM on January 28, 2019 [39 favorites]
It's frustrating beyond measure when I point this out to people and they can't even form a denial, just a raw blindness to the global high-stakes looting happening: There's a cabal of corrupt billionaires who have no loyalty to any country, and are working together to enable their meta-national wealth hoarding. Trump, McConnell, and crew, has been dismantling every roadblock. It is especially galling that new sanctions aren't being enforced by the Executive, in direct defiance of Congress. These actions are against the interests of the US and our allies, on behalf of Russian oligarchs. Putting aside motives and look only at the overt actions: Trump is quite literally, clearly, and undeniably "working for the Russians."
The only ray of hope I see is that their wealth is just "on account" at institutions, or a contractual ownership of a business, and those sorts of things can be confiscated with a few carefully executed keystrokes.
posted by yesster at 7:58 AM on January 28, 2019 [39 favorites]
The Midterms Devastated California Republicans. Now They’re Fighting Each Other. (Bryan Schatz, Mother Jones)
Republicans lost every House seat in Orange County, a historical bastion of conservatism. They now hold just seven House seats—their lowest number since 1944.posted by ZeusHumms at 8:02 AM on January 28, 2019 [43 favorites]
Yeah, "Latino" is really such a broad category it's not very useful for analyzing political alignment. Bourgeoisie immigrants from Central/South America often hate poor migrants and refugees just as much as nativist white Americans do. Add in to that the multi-factoral prejudices of colorism, anti-indigenous sentiment, machismo, and strong alignment with socially conservative beliefs and you get a clearer picture why many Latinos support the Republican party.
posted by Kitty Stardust at 8:06 AM on January 28, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by Kitty Stardust at 8:06 AM on January 28, 2019 [9 favorites]
In 'Team Of Vipers,' It's Mr. Sims Who Goes To Washington (Ron Elving, NPR)
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:07 AM on January 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:07 AM on January 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
Trump offers encouragement for state efforts to teach Bible literacy in public schools
More distraction?
posted by agregoli at 8:08 AM on January 28, 2019
More distraction?
posted by agregoli at 8:08 AM on January 28, 2019
More distraction?
Live-tweeting Fox & Friends.
posted by chris24 at 8:20 AM on January 28, 2019 [15 favorites]
Live-tweeting Fox & Friends.
posted by chris24 at 8:20 AM on January 28, 2019 [15 favorites]
> But Sims also maintains that, despite everything, "it's dang near impossible to spend one-on-one time with Donald Trump and not end up liking him."
I don't know that I've read anything written about Donald J. Trump that I find harder to believe than this.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:31 AM on January 28, 2019 [95 favorites]
I don't know that I've read anything written about Donald J. Trump that I find harder to believe than this.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:31 AM on January 28, 2019 [95 favorites]
Yeah, I can believe that GWB, despite destroying several countries, was still a jovial sort. Donald Trump may have less blood on his hands, but nothing I've seen makes me think that he is anything other than the petulant man-baby he appears to be.
posted by octobersurprise at 8:37 AM on January 28, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by octobersurprise at 8:37 AM on January 28, 2019 [12 favorites]
Politico has a 'Team of Vipers' excerpt:
“Well, Joe [Manchin]’s been a friend of mine, so we’ll have to see,” Trump said, turning his attention back to McConnell. “Do we have to go after him like that?” “Absolutely, Mr. President,” McConnell shot back without a moment’s hesitation. “We’re going to crush him like a grape.” Outside the walls of the Roosevelt Room, the conventional wisdom was that men like McConnell would temper Trump’s aggressive impulses. Just the opposite was happening right now. There was a brief silence—maybe a half second—when the atmosphere in the room felt like the scene in Goodfellas when no one can tell how Joe Pesci is going to react to Ray Liotta calling him “funny.” Would he freak out? Would he laugh it off? Finally Trump broke the tension.posted by box at 8:48 AM on January 28, 2019 [13 favorites]
“This guy’s mean as a snake!” he said, pointing at McConnell and looking around the room. The entire group burst out laughing.
Midway through first term, Trump is not meeting the public’s modest expectations for his job performance, poll finds (WaPo):
In his first two years in office, President Trump has largely underperformed the even modest expectations that Americans had for him as he took office in January 2017, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.posted by peeedro at 9:04 AM on January 28, 2019 [12 favorites]
The new assessment of Trump, which measures his public standing across 10 major issues and character traits, comes as his overall job-approval rating languishes at 37 percent, one point above his record low in August and at two previous points. Nearly 6 in 10 say they have an unfavorable view of the president as a person. Similar majorities say they doubt his empathy, honesty and ability to make political deals, although on several of those attitudes, his ratings have not changed significantly during his time in office.
Trump’s favored Fox News hosts fault him for caring ‘way too much about people in the media’ (Alex Horton, WaPo)
[Brian Kilmeade, co-host 'Fox and Friends':] “I just think the president cares way too much about people in the media,” he said. “He is president. He is not a candidate . . . he has got to make some tough decisions and he is not an absolute monarch.”‘Maybe I didn’t return her phone call’: Trump ridicules Ann Coulter, slams Fox News in fallout over wall (Isaac Stanley-Becker, WaPo)
Together, the swipes represent one more piece of evidence that the dawn of divided government has put Trump in a dangerous and defensive political position, compounded by the indictment Friday of his longtime associate Roger Stone. They show just how much he depends on positive punditry and other forms of approval. And they telegraph his sensitivity to criticism, particularly from people he has identified as friends, loyal to his often-dubious claims.posted by ZeusHumms at 9:16 AM on January 28, 2019 [9 favorites]
A lasting fissure could have untold consequences for his presidency, which relies on right-wing media for policy ideas as well as for the rosy picture of his White House that it paints for its audience. Across the political spectrum, though not without some predictable dissenters, he was judged the loser of the high-wire maneuvering over the shutdown, bested by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Meanwhile, his approval rating took a dive, down to 37 percent in a Washington Post-ABC poll released Friday.
The government shutdown cost the economy $11 billion, including a permanent $3 billion loss, Congressional Budget Office says [cnbc]
CBO: Shutdown Will Cost Government $3 Billion of Projected 2019 GDP [wsj]
A pragmatist may say, in a few weeks when he pulls this stunt again, it'll be cheaper to give him his fucking wall.
posted by adept256 at 9:16 AM on January 28, 2019 [17 favorites]
CBO: Shutdown Will Cost Government $3 Billion of Projected 2019 GDP [wsj]
A pragmatist may say, in a few weeks when he pulls this stunt again, it'll be cheaper to give him his fucking wall.
posted by adept256 at 9:16 AM on January 28, 2019 [17 favorites]
A pragmatist may say, in a few weeks when he pulls this stunt again, it'll be cheaper to give him his fucking wall.
The pragmatic lesson to be learned from the shutdown is not "give Trump whatever he wants whenever he wants it or he will hurt us again."
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:20 AM on January 28, 2019 [117 favorites]
The pragmatic lesson to be learned from the shutdown is not "give Trump whatever he wants whenever he wants it or he will hurt us again."
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:20 AM on January 28, 2019 [117 favorites]
As much as the thought of Fox turning on Trump and vice-versa warms my heart, the prospect of Trump getting his policy ideas from even less creditable journalistic sources (which I know is something he already does to a certain extent) is...bad.
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:34 AM on January 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:34 AM on January 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
The pragmatic lesson to be learned from the shutdown is not "give Trump whatever he wants whenever he wants it or he will hurt us again."
I theorize that part of the reason for Trump caving was that Mitch McConnell's name was getting mentioned more and more often. The media just loved to portray the shutdown as "Trump versus Democrats," but the fact is that whatever Trump wants isn't relevant to passing a budget as long as 2/3 of the Congress can agree on it.
The risk for Trump in the upcoming negotiations is that exactly that happens -- that a budget passes with a veto-proof majority, or enough of one that Trump's veto would even possibly be overridden, humiliating him. And how willing is Mitch McConnell to take the heat of Democrats pointing out every day that he could end the shutdown if he could get even half his caucus behind a budget, the way he did just last December?
posted by Gelatin at 9:44 AM on January 28, 2019 [7 favorites]
I theorize that part of the reason for Trump caving was that Mitch McConnell's name was getting mentioned more and more often. The media just loved to portray the shutdown as "Trump versus Democrats," but the fact is that whatever Trump wants isn't relevant to passing a budget as long as 2/3 of the Congress can agree on it.
The risk for Trump in the upcoming negotiations is that exactly that happens -- that a budget passes with a veto-proof majority, or enough of one that Trump's veto would even possibly be overridden, humiliating him. And how willing is Mitch McConnell to take the heat of Democrats pointing out every day that he could end the shutdown if he could get even half his caucus behind a budget, the way he did just last December?
posted by Gelatin at 9:44 AM on January 28, 2019 [7 favorites]
The best analysis I've ever heard of Trump's statements when interviewed about Citizen Kane is on this episode of The Relentless Picnic podcast. Really wonderful discussion of the movie as a whole too, as well as its incredible relevance to the second Gilded Age we're living through. It's my favorite podcast, highly recommended.
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 10:20 AM on January 28, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 10:20 AM on January 28, 2019 [8 favorites]
A pragmatist may say, in a few weeks when he pulls this stunt again, it'll be cheaper to give him his fucking wall.
And that is called paying the Dane-geld;
But we've proved it again and again,
That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld
You never get rid of the Dane.
posted by Etrigan at 10:31 AM on January 28, 2019 [52 favorites]
And that is called paying the Dane-geld;
But we've proved it again and again,
That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld
You never get rid of the Dane.
posted by Etrigan at 10:31 AM on January 28, 2019 [52 favorites]
Gelatin: The risk for Trump in the upcoming negotiations is that exactly that happens -- that a budget passes with a veto-proof majority, or enough of one that Trump's veto would even possibly be overridden, humiliating him.
Or even by simple majority! He is going to be very hesitant to actually veto a permanent re-opening of government. He does like the attention and the "Democrats vs Trump" narrative, but he wouldn't want just about everyone to to perceive him and him alone as the one at fault, and he knows that, even more than his verbal ownership of the shutdown, a veto would have such an effect.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 10:37 AM on January 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
Or even by simple majority! He is going to be very hesitant to actually veto a permanent re-opening of government. He does like the attention and the "Democrats vs Trump" narrative, but he wouldn't want just about everyone to to perceive him and him alone as the one at fault, and he knows that, even more than his verbal ownership of the shutdown, a veto would have such an effect.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 10:37 AM on January 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
News You May Have Missed for 27 January - I would imagine most of you already know most of the news we covered but we do have science and tech stories at the end I haven't seen on Metafilter, plus a long list of horrific judicial nominees you might want to contact your MoCs about (about a third of them have 5 Calls scripts, which could be adapted for any of them, subbing in the information we give).
One thing I've noticed with judicial nominations: it's basically Mitch McConnell's entire raison d'etre so you'd think they'd just ram them all through, but vigorous objections have actually prevented several (notably Thomas Farr who has not been renominated, yay) so I think it's worth the phone calls.
posted by joannemerriam at 10:38 AM on January 28, 2019 [21 favorites]
One thing I've noticed with judicial nominations: it's basically Mitch McConnell's entire raison d'etre so you'd think they'd just ram them all through, but vigorous objections have actually prevented several (notably Thomas Farr who has not been renominated, yay) so I think it's worth the phone calls.
posted by joannemerriam at 10:38 AM on January 28, 2019 [21 favorites]
> But Sims also maintains that, despite everything, "it's dang near impossible to spend one-on-one time with Donald Trump and not end up liking him."
I don't know that I've read anything written about Donald J. Trump that I find harder to believe than this.
I think it's very believable. Trump is a con artist, so he has to have a backslapping charm offensive he uses to ingratiate himself to his marks. However, the fact that Sims thinks Trump's charm would work on nearly everybody reveals more about Sims and Trump/GOP aides than about Trump.
posted by johnny jenga at 10:56 AM on January 28, 2019 [30 favorites]
I don't know that I've read anything written about Donald J. Trump that I find harder to believe than this.
I think it's very believable. Trump is a con artist, so he has to have a backslapping charm offensive he uses to ingratiate himself to his marks. However, the fact that Sims thinks Trump's charm would work on nearly everybody reveals more about Sims and Trump/GOP aides than about Trump.
posted by johnny jenga at 10:56 AM on January 28, 2019 [30 favorites]
I just heard about the Danes building a fence on their south border to keep German pigs out. I did a little math and extrapolated how much the Danish fence would cost over 3000 miles and it's about $250 million. Which is 20 times less than what Trump is asking for.
But the Danish fence is practical and within reason, which cannot be said of the wall.
posted by adept256 at 10:56 AM on January 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
But the Danish fence is practical and within reason, which cannot be said of the wall.
posted by adept256 at 10:56 AM on January 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
I don't think he's that much of an asshole.
You'd be right!
Mike Bloomberg: In 2020, the great likelihood is that an independent would just split the anti-Trump vote and end up re-electing the President. That's a risk I refused to run in 2016 and we can't afford to run it now.
posted by zabuni at 10:57 AM on January 28, 2019 [49 favorites]
You'd be right!
Mike Bloomberg: In 2020, the great likelihood is that an independent would just split the anti-Trump vote and end up re-electing the President. That's a risk I refused to run in 2016 and we can't afford to run it now.
posted by zabuni at 10:57 AM on January 28, 2019 [49 favorites]
My first day back at work at a federal facility. We are already planning for another shutdown once this CR expires in February. I will be stockpiling data to work on in case the next one drags on for weeks again. This isn't how a government should work.
posted by runcibleshaw at 11:00 AM on January 28, 2019 [78 favorites]
posted by runcibleshaw at 11:00 AM on January 28, 2019 [78 favorites]
How a Trump judicial nominee reignited the debate over dwarf tossing (WaPo). This is Neomi Rao, currently the administrator of the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and now Trump's nominee to replace Brett Kavanaugh on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. She's a cog in the Koch machine who has a working definition of "freedom" similar to Neil Gorsuch, that's it's an affront to the personal dignity of the weak and powerless to be protected from the exploitation of the rich and powerful.
posted by peeedro at 11:17 AM on January 28, 2019 [18 favorites]
posted by peeedro at 11:17 AM on January 28, 2019 [18 favorites]
> I think it's very believable. Trump is a con artist, so he has to have a backslapping charm offensive he uses to ingratiate himself to his marks. However, the fact that Sims thinks Trump's charm would work on nearly everybody reveals more about Sims and Trump/GOP aides than about Trump.
After I wrote that it occurred to me that his charms probably work very well indeed on people who a) have similar personalities and/or beliefs and/or b) Trump wants something from. Like, say, his base.
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:45 AM on January 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
After I wrote that it occurred to me that his charms probably work very well indeed on people who a) have similar personalities and/or beliefs and/or b) Trump wants something from. Like, say, his base.
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:45 AM on January 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
My first day back at work at a federal facility. We are already planning for another shutdown once this CR expires in February. I will be stockpiling data to work on in case the next one drags on for weeks again. This isn't how a government should work.
This. I've been working the entire time (was lucky, my agency had carryover funds to tide us over) but it's become almost impossible to do much of anything for over a month. Everything is supposed to be back to normal now but we still can't start any long-term projects or book travel since we might be shut down again in three weeks. It's ridiculous.
posted by photo guy at 11:51 AM on January 28, 2019 [23 favorites]
This. I've been working the entire time (was lucky, my agency had carryover funds to tide us over) but it's become almost impossible to do much of anything for over a month. Everything is supposed to be back to normal now but we still can't start any long-term projects or book travel since we might be shut down again in three weeks. It's ridiculous.
posted by photo guy at 11:51 AM on January 28, 2019 [23 favorites]
Watch live: First White House Press Briefing In 41 Days
posted by lazaruslong at 12:41 PM on January 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by lazaruslong at 12:41 PM on January 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
Amy Goodman interviews Matt Tyrnauer , director of the new film Where’s My Roy Cohn? about the relationships between Cohn, Stone & trump
posted by growabrain at 12:46 PM on January 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by growabrain at 12:46 PM on January 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
DCCC initial list of 2020 target districts is out. Quite a few of these folks had close calls in 2016.
AZ-06 -- Dave Schweikertposted by Chrysostom at 1:05 PM on January 28, 2019 [40 favorites]
CA-22 -- Devin Nunes
CA-50 -- Duncan Hunter
CO-03 -- Scott Tipton
FL-15 -- Ross Spano
FL-18 -- Brian Mast
GA-07 -- Rob Woodall
IA-04 -- Steve King
IL-13 -- Rodney Davis
IN-05 - Susan Brooks
KY-06 -- Andy Barr
MI-06 -- Fred Upton
MN-01 -- Jim Hagedorn
MO-02 -- Ann Wagner
NC-02 -- George Holding
NC-09 -- [open or whatever you want to call this at this point]
NC-13 - Ted Budd
NE-02 -- Don Bacon
NY-01 -- Lee Zeldin
NY-02 -- Peter King
NY-24 -- John Katko
NY-27 -- Chris Collins
OH-01 -- Steve Chabot
PA-01 -- Brian Fitzpatrick
PA-10 -- Scott Perry
PA-16 - Mike Kelly
TX-10 -- Mike McCaul
TX-21 -- Chip Roy
TX-22 -- Pete Olson
TX-23 -- Will Hurd
TX-24 -- Kenny Marchant
TX-31 -- John Carter
WA-03 -- Jaime Herrera Beutler
If you're suspected of colluding with Russia, maybe using a map at your press conference that puts the Whitehouse logo in the middle of Russia isn't the best graphic design.
posted by chris24 at 1:11 PM on January 28, 2019 [60 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 1:11 PM on January 28, 2019 [60 favorites]
From the above linked Democracy Now! interview:
MATT TYRNAUER: Roger Stone is a political dirty trickster whose methods and persona really dovetail with and presage the Trump administration. They’re cut from the same cloth. And again, they had the same mentor—I can’t overstate the importance of that. This comes from the dirty pool kind of illegitimate political world that Roy Cohn personified, Richard Nixon toiled in. And Donald Trump is a kind of delayed re-emergence of this dirty pool transactional type of politics that now really is verging onto a type of fascism, that I think has been incipient in our republic for a long time but has emerged. And the point of the film is that the seeds for this were planted long ago, and Roy Cohn was a major sower of those seeds.
posted by petebest at 1:12 PM on January 28, 2019 [8 favorites]
MATT TYRNAUER: Roger Stone is a political dirty trickster whose methods and persona really dovetail with and presage the Trump administration. They’re cut from the same cloth. And again, they had the same mentor—I can’t overstate the importance of that. This comes from the dirty pool kind of illegitimate political world that Roy Cohn personified, Richard Nixon toiled in. And Donald Trump is a kind of delayed re-emergence of this dirty pool transactional type of politics that now really is verging onto a type of fascism, that I think has been incipient in our republic for a long time but has emerged. And the point of the film is that the seeds for this were planted long ago, and Roy Cohn was a major sower of those seeds.
posted by petebest at 1:12 PM on January 28, 2019 [8 favorites]
NY-01 -- Lee Zeldin
NY-02 -- Peter King
NY-24 -- John Katko
NY-27 -- Chris Collins
I know this is the smart money, and what does one more seat matter anyway, but I'm crushed that the odious Tom Reed (NY-23) didn't make the list.
posted by RedOrGreen at 1:12 PM on January 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
NY-02 -- Peter King
NY-24 -- John Katko
NY-27 -- Chris Collins
I know this is the smart money, and what does one more seat matter anyway, but I'm crushed that the odious Tom Reed (NY-23) didn't make the list.
posted by RedOrGreen at 1:12 PM on January 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
I just heard about the Danes building a fence on their south border to keep German pigs out. I did a little math and extrapolated how much the Danish fence would cost over 3000 miles and it's about $250 million. Which is 20 times less than what Trump is asking for.
Hmm, so they're both pork projects, but the Danish one might actually work.
On another note, leaving aside the disturbing racism element of the wall, is the steel idea supposed to be feasible? You'd be taking an enormous amount of steel to do that, and that would likely spike the price of steel, which is already higher due to the tariffs. Think about how much steel it would take - the specifications call for a minimum of 18 feet high and 6 feet deep. So you're talking a minimum of 24 feet per piece. This steel has to be thick enough so that it will stay upright at 18 feet high and resist attempts to damage it, like, say, straps pulled by a truck or something, or easy cutting to take to the scrap yard for a quick buck. You'd need enough of this to go for 2,000 miles. So we're probably talking millions of tons of steel.
posted by azpenguin at 1:20 PM on January 28, 2019 [8 favorites]
Hmm, so they're both pork projects, but the Danish one might actually work.
On another note, leaving aside the disturbing racism element of the wall, is the steel idea supposed to be feasible? You'd be taking an enormous amount of steel to do that, and that would likely spike the price of steel, which is already higher due to the tariffs. Think about how much steel it would take - the specifications call for a minimum of 18 feet high and 6 feet deep. So you're talking a minimum of 24 feet per piece. This steel has to be thick enough so that it will stay upright at 18 feet high and resist attempts to damage it, like, say, straps pulled by a truck or something, or easy cutting to take to the scrap yard for a quick buck. You'd need enough of this to go for 2,000 miles. So we're probably talking millions of tons of steel.
posted by azpenguin at 1:20 PM on January 28, 2019 [8 favorites]
A) just curious, Is there a list of vulnerable districts that were gained in 2018? that Dems might need to double down and protect?
B)
"Absolutely, Mr. President,” McConnell shot back without a moment’s hesitation. “We’re going to crush him like a grape.”
I've long had a theory that, in addition to being a Republican ideologue, in addition to being shameless, McConnell really hates Democrats. In a visceral, eliminationist, burn-their-fields, lamentations-of-their-women kind of way.
It's not the kind of theory you can really prove, but nothing has disproven it yet, and here is another bit of supporting evidence.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 1:21 PM on January 28, 2019 [15 favorites]
B)
"Absolutely, Mr. President,” McConnell shot back without a moment’s hesitation. “We’re going to crush him like a grape.”
I've long had a theory that, in addition to being a Republican ideologue, in addition to being shameless, McConnell really hates Democrats. In a visceral, eliminationist, burn-their-fields, lamentations-of-their-women kind of way.
It's not the kind of theory you can really prove, but nothing has disproven it yet, and here is another bit of supporting evidence.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 1:21 PM on January 28, 2019 [15 favorites]
Two things.
How a Trump judicial nominee reignited the debate over dwarf tossing (WaPo).
Because something something this timeline, obvs.
Also, anybody wanna do a separate 2020 Dem candidates thread? It seems imminent, may as well get it out of the way, but I'm horribly informed, and probably should not be in charge of threads, so who got this?
posted by saysthis at 1:29 PM on January 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
How a Trump judicial nominee reignited the debate over dwarf tossing (WaPo).
Because something something this timeline, obvs.
Also, anybody wanna do a separate 2020 Dem candidates thread? It seems imminent, may as well get it out of the way, but I'm horribly informed, and probably should not be in charge of threads, so who got this?
posted by saysthis at 1:29 PM on January 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
I'm crushed that the odious Tom Reed (NY-23) didn't make the list.
Keep in mind that a) this is just the initial list,and there will probably be additions/changes, and b) it's just where the DCCC thinks is vulnerable, which is not necessarily the same as flipping.
Still, NY-23 went from Romney 50-48 to Trump 55-40, and Reed won in 2018 54-46. Probably not the most vulnerable guy around.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:30 PM on January 28, 2019
Keep in mind that a) this is just the initial list,and there will probably be additions/changes, and b) it's just where the DCCC thinks is vulnerable, which is not necessarily the same as flipping.
Still, NY-23 went from Romney 50-48 to Trump 55-40, and Reed won in 2018 54-46. Probably not the most vulnerable guy around.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:30 PM on January 28, 2019
A) just curious, Is there a list of vulnerable districts that were gained in 2018? that Dems might need to double down and protect?Nope, that's Republican districts that they think they can pick up, I believe. Interesting to see Steve King on the list. We'll see. What I'm hearing from Iowa Democrats is that they think he'll survive any primary challenge and will probably be the Republican nominee in 2020.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 1:32 PM on January 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
A) just curious, Is there a list of vulnerable districts that were gained in 2018? that Dems might need to double down and protect?
Yeah, although I haven't seen it yet. Sabato has 10 D-held districts as tossups. And at some point, the NRCC will have a list of districts *they're* targeting, too.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:32 PM on January 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
Yeah, although I haven't seen it yet. Sabato has 10 D-held districts as tossups. And at some point, the NRCC will have a list of districts *they're* targeting, too.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:32 PM on January 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
And the point of the film is that the seeds for this were planted long ago, and Roy Cohn was a major sower of those seeds.I often feel like I'm living in one of those horror movies where the polestar of human evil just won't stay dead.
(I swear to God that I read some right-wing screed the other day that championed Cohn, then noted that he wasn't gay, he just liked to have sex with men, but I can't call it to mind at the moment.)
posted by octobersurprise at 1:35 PM on January 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
Re: Steve King primary - I *think* if no one clears 35% in the primary, they go to a convention. Which might be interesting.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:37 PM on January 28, 2019
posted by Chrysostom at 1:37 PM on January 28, 2019
NY-02 -- Peter King
I am thrilled to hear that this literal terrorism fundraiser may be on the hot seat!
posted by M-x shell at 1:39 PM on January 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
I am thrilled to hear that this literal terrorism fundraiser may be on the hot seat!
posted by M-x shell at 1:39 PM on January 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
Then again, 62/38 wasn't particularly a close election.
posted by M-x shell at 1:43 PM on January 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by M-x shell at 1:43 PM on January 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
(I swear to God that I read some right-wing screed the other day that championed Cohn, then noted that he wasn't gay, he just liked to have sex with men, but I can't call it to mind at the moment.)
Ther's a great monologue in Angels in America that has Cohn explain this exact point.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:07 PM on January 28, 2019 [10 favorites]
Ther's a great monologue in Angels in America that has Cohn explain this exact point.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:07 PM on January 28, 2019 [10 favorites]
Roundup of William Barr's written replies to questions from the Judiciary Committee, some good some bad:
USA Today: William Barr says he would resign rather than fire Mueller 'without good cause'
AP: Trump AG pick says he’s discussed Mueller probe with Pence
WaPo: Barr still refuses to pledge to release Mueller probe
CNN: Barr says he hasn't spoken to White House about executive privilege on Mueller report
Politico: Barr dodges questions on national emergency declaration
posted by peeedro at 2:13 PM on January 28, 2019 [11 favorites]
USA Today: William Barr says he would resign rather than fire Mueller 'without good cause'
AP: Trump AG pick says he’s discussed Mueller probe with Pence
WaPo: Barr still refuses to pledge to release Mueller probe
CNN: Barr says he hasn't spoken to White House about executive privilege on Mueller report
Politico: Barr dodges questions on national emergency declaration
posted by peeedro at 2:13 PM on January 28, 2019 [11 favorites]
Get ready for Wag the Dog...
Ned Price
My eagle-eyed colleague spotted on Bolton’s notepad what sure looks like:
“Afghanistan—>welcome the talks.
5,000 troops to Colombia”
IMAGES
posted by chris24 at 2:17 PM on January 28, 2019 [32 favorites]
Ned Price
My eagle-eyed colleague spotted on Bolton’s notepad what sure looks like:
“Afghanistan—>welcome the talks.
5,000 troops to Colombia”
IMAGES
posted by chris24 at 2:17 PM on January 28, 2019 [32 favorites]
Mueller investigation is ‘close to being completed,’ acting attorney general says (SLWaPo)
Not much more at the link, though.
posted by greermahoney at 2:19 PM on January 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
Not much more at the link, though.
posted by greermahoney at 2:19 PM on January 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
Oddly, other sources have the quote slightly (but importantly) different. WaPo quotes Whittaker as saying "right now the investigation is close to being completed." Everywhere else has it as "right now I think the investigation is close to being completed."
To me the former quote implies Mueller or Rosenstein have told him they are almost done. The latter implies that is his interpretation based on where they are at, and Whittaker is an idiot so could be wrong.
posted by Justinian at 2:23 PM on January 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
To me the former quote implies Mueller or Rosenstein have told him they are almost done. The latter implies that is his interpretation based on where they are at, and Whittaker is an idiot so could be wrong.
posted by Justinian at 2:23 PM on January 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
Mueller investigation is ‘close to being completed,’ acting attorney general says
I would think it would be some substantive amount of time AFTER House Intel hands over their hearing transcripts.
posted by Harry Caul at 2:23 PM on January 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
I would think it would be some substantive amount of time AFTER House Intel hands over their hearing transcripts.
posted by Harry Caul at 2:23 PM on January 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
Listen to his actual words though: the investigation "is, I think, close to being completed, and I hope that we can get the report from Director Mueller as soon as possible"
It's about as vague as he can be, with "I think" and "I hope" tossed in there, and seems to represent more of his aspirations than it necessarily reflects reality.
posted by zachlipton at 2:25 PM on January 28, 2019 [31 favorites]
It's about as vague as he can be, with "I think" and "I hope" tossed in there, and seems to represent more of his aspirations than it necessarily reflects reality.
posted by zachlipton at 2:25 PM on January 28, 2019 [31 favorites]
Yeah, this might be like how Dowd and Guiliani and the rest of Trump's legal idiots were always telling him it was about to wrap up to keep him "calm" and from firing Mueller.
posted by chris24 at 2:33 PM on January 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 2:33 PM on January 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
My eagle-eyed colleague spotted on Bolton’s notepad what sure looks like:
“Afghanistan—>welcome the talks.
Pretty sure the last word on that line is Taliban, as in this fun news item:
Taliban talks: Draft framework for Afghanistan peace 'agreed' (BBC Link) - of course these talks didnt include the Afghan government or any of their ideas or representatives, instead Zalmay Khalilzad, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, was in Kabul to brief the Afghan government about the talks.
Zalmay Khalilzad was of course the #1 source of "US Hegemony must be maintained at all costs" material in my high school debate days (pre 9/11) - apparently it even warranted a mention in his wikipedia:
"Khalilzad also wrote several articles on the subject of the value of U.S. global leadership in the mid-1990s. The specific scenarios for conflict that he envisioned if a decline in American power occurred have made his writings extremely popular in competitive high school and college policy debate, particularly his writing that links the loss of US hegemony to global instability.[5] Khalilzad was a signatory of the letter from members of the Project for the New American Century to President Bill Clinton sent on January 26, 1998. It called for Clinton's help in "removing Saddam Hussein and his regime from power" by using "a full complement of diplomatic, political and military efforts."[6]"
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 2:39 PM on January 28, 2019 [7 favorites]
“Afghanistan—>welcome the talks.
Pretty sure the last word on that line is Taliban, as in this fun news item:
Taliban talks: Draft framework for Afghanistan peace 'agreed' (BBC Link) - of course these talks didnt include the Afghan government or any of their ideas or representatives, instead Zalmay Khalilzad, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, was in Kabul to brief the Afghan government about the talks.
Zalmay Khalilzad was of course the #1 source of "US Hegemony must be maintained at all costs" material in my high school debate days (pre 9/11) - apparently it even warranted a mention in his wikipedia:
"Khalilzad also wrote several articles on the subject of the value of U.S. global leadership in the mid-1990s. The specific scenarios for conflict that he envisioned if a decline in American power occurred have made his writings extremely popular in competitive high school and college policy debate, particularly his writing that links the loss of US hegemony to global instability.[5] Khalilzad was a signatory of the letter from members of the Project for the New American Century to President Bill Clinton sent on January 26, 1998. It called for Clinton's help in "removing Saddam Hussein and his regime from power" by using "a full complement of diplomatic, political and military efforts."[6]"
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 2:39 PM on January 28, 2019 [7 favorites]
I was hoping Pelosi would not invite Trump for the State of the Union and now it's gonna be Feb 5th, it looks like.
posted by agregoli at 2:52 PM on January 28, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by agregoli at 2:52 PM on January 28, 2019 [6 favorites]
So she has a week to move the goal posts. Let's say on Friday, announce no SOTU if Trump doesn't expressly rule out another shutdown.
posted by ocschwar at 2:55 PM on January 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by ocschwar at 2:55 PM on January 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
Buzzfeed's Zoe Tillman reports on the Manafort front:
And Buzzfeed's Emma Loop on Michael Cohen: “NEW: @RepAdamSchiff says @MichaelCohen212 has agreed to testify "voluntarily" before the House Intelligence Committee in a closed session on Feb. 8. "We will continue to work with Mr. Cohen and law enforcement in order to protect Mr. Cohen and his family."” {Pic}
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:08 PM on January 28, 2019 [11 favorites]
NEW: The judge in Paul Manafort's Virginia case has cancelled the sentencing hearing scheduled for Feb. 8, saying the resolution of the "current dispute" in Manafort's DC case — whether he lied and violated his plea deal — "may have some effect on the sentencing decision" {Pic}Buzzfeed's Chris Geidner on the SCOTUS mystery defendant: "Some peripheral movement in the mystery grand jury matter: @rcfp asked #SCOTUS to file a request for publicly redacted versions of the filings in the case. Today, DOJ responded that request isn't necessary because it supports partial unsealing." {PDF} And "In the mystery grand jury case, some action today at the DC Circuit. On Friday, the mystery company, owned by a foreign country, filed a sealed supplement to its reply to a motion it initially made on 1/16. Today, the gov't filed a response to that supplement, also under seal."
There hasn't been much discussion about the consequences of a plea deal breach on Manafort's EDVA case — he's going to be sentenced for crimes the EDVA jury found him guilty of, not pursuant to any plea agreement (which was entered in his DC case before a trial could happen)
One thing that immediately comes to mind is that the plea deal contemplates prosecutors agreeing to drop the counts that the jury failed to reach consensus on in EDVA (which they could retry him on if they wanted to)
And Buzzfeed's Emma Loop on Michael Cohen: “NEW: @RepAdamSchiff says @MichaelCohen212 has agreed to testify "voluntarily" before the House Intelligence Committee in a closed session on Feb. 8. "We will continue to work with Mr. Cohen and law enforcement in order to protect Mr. Cohen and his family."” {Pic}
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:08 PM on January 28, 2019 [11 favorites]
Actually, come to think of it, there's a whole bunch of stuff that Speaker Nancy Van Pelt can demand in exchange for the SOTU:
1. Explicit pledge not to cause more shutdowns. (yeah, his word is worthless, but make him say it anyway)
2. Explicit pledge not to attempt any more family separations (yeah, his word is worthless, but make him say it anyway)
3. GOP fills the committees they're trying to stall by leaving empty.
4. DACA.
This could be awesome. Bonus points if she can cause McConnell to complain.
posted by ocschwar at 3:18 PM on January 28, 2019 [10 favorites]
1. Explicit pledge not to cause more shutdowns. (yeah, his word is worthless, but make him say it anyway)
2. Explicit pledge not to attempt any more family separations (yeah, his word is worthless, but make him say it anyway)
3. GOP fills the committees they're trying to stall by leaving empty.
4. DACA.
This could be awesome. Bonus points if she can cause McConnell to complain.
posted by ocschwar at 3:18 PM on January 28, 2019 [10 favorites]
Actually, come to think of it, there's a whole bunch of stuff that Speaker Nancy Van Pelt can demand in exchange for the SOTU:
She's already made the invitation & he accepted. This time, it's on.
posted by scalefree at 3:24 PM on January 28, 2019 [9 favorites]
She's already made the invitation & he accepted. This time, it's on.
posted by scalefree at 3:24 PM on January 28, 2019 [9 favorites]
But not necessarily on camera.
posted by Iris Gambol at 4:02 PM on January 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Iris Gambol at 4:02 PM on January 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
Blumenthal & Grassley out with a bill requiring Mueller findings to be made public.
posted by Chrysostom at 4:15 PM on January 28, 2019 [19 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 4:15 PM on January 28, 2019 [19 favorites]
Monmouth poll finds shutdown helped Pelosi, hurt Trump and McConnell:
Jan net faves (change since Nov):
Pelosi: -11 (+ 10)
McConnell: -25 (-12)
Trump: -13 (-7)
posted by Chrysostom at 4:21 PM on January 28, 2019 [28 favorites]
Jan net faves (change since Nov):
Pelosi: -11 (+ 10)
McConnell: -25 (-12)
Trump: -13 (-7)
posted by Chrysostom at 4:21 PM on January 28, 2019 [28 favorites]
"We will continue to work with Mr. Cohen and law enforcement in order to protect Mr. Cohen and his family."
I understand why they're saying this, but how on Earth can law enforcement protect Mr Cohen from the President of the United States?
posted by BungaDunga at 4:33 PM on January 28, 2019 [12 favorites]
I understand why they're saying this, but how on Earth can law enforcement protect Mr Cohen from the President of the United States?
posted by BungaDunga at 4:33 PM on January 28, 2019 [12 favorites]
The problem is that if Cohen is provided with protection then it will be derided as a political stunt. If he isn’t and is then attacked the attack will be dismissed as coming from mental illness rather than incitement.
posted by um at 5:36 PM on January 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by um at 5:36 PM on January 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
Yeah, this might be like how Dowd and Guiliani and the rest of Trump's legal idiots were always telling him it was about to wrap up to keep him "calm" and from firing Mueller.
And Whitaker wants to stay on Team Trump's good side since he'll be looking for a job soon… NPR's Carrie Johnson: “Whither Acting AG Matthew Whitaker? Here's what AG nominee Bill Barr says: "Whitaker and I have had preliminary discussions to explore possible positions both inside & outside of the Dept where he may best be able to continue to serve his country. No decisions have been made."”
While the media is falling over itself to report Whitaker's press conference remarks, Luppe Luppen/@nycsouthpaw examines them in the context of the SCO's recent actions:
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:42 PM on January 28, 2019 [11 favorites]
And Whitaker wants to stay on Team Trump's good side since he'll be looking for a job soon… NPR's Carrie Johnson: “Whither Acting AG Matthew Whitaker? Here's what AG nominee Bill Barr says: "Whitaker and I have had preliminary discussions to explore possible positions both inside & outside of the Dept where he may best be able to continue to serve his country. No decisions have been made."”
While the media is falling over itself to report Whitaker's press conference remarks, Luppe Luppen/@nycsouthpaw examines them in the context of the SCO's recent actions:
The SCO executed search warrants on a significant figure in the investigation on Friday. They also indicted him, and he hasn’t ruled out cooperation. They’re still litigating to get grand jury testimony from witnesses. Presumably what they find/are told informs their timeline.Max Kennerly adds, “Really cool to see the SCO can be roused to issue ambiguous denials of "characterizations" and "descriptions" by BuzzFeed, but can't be bothered to say if the Attorney General is accurately describing the situation to the public.”
SCO not commenting on Whitaker’s remarks. {w/pic} {emphasis added}
The Mueller investigation will, some day, end. I def don't know when it will be. I don't think we've established that Whitaker knows when it will be. His comments are big news, given his role, but I'd really caution against assuming their truth and extrapolating from them.
The context of Whitaker's remarks was his first ever press conference on a wholly different subject, at which he was, shall we say, visibly very stressed. What he said about what he thought the investigation's timeline would be came at the end of a meandering answer to a reporter {emphasis added, because sweaty Dollar Store Lex Luthor had the unruffled demeanor of a perp in an FBI interrogation room}
In other words, it looked like anything but a considered disclosure that he had circulated internally and gotten Rosenstein and Mueller's approval to make. Maybe the spontaneity adds to its credibility, or maybe he blurted something he didn't really know.
last point: Before the comments that everyone is reporting about what he thinks Mueller's timing is, Whitaker says he's been briefed and he's "not going to talk about an open and ongoing investigation otherwise." He changed his mind on that mid-answer. {w/video}
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:42 PM on January 28, 2019 [11 favorites]
In docket news, Roger Stone's two attorneys messed up their pro hac vice applications to the DC Circuit because they didn't follow the local rules, and have to try again before 9am tomorrow. (Florida's state bar is famously protectionist, but that can bite Florida lawyers who haven't done much out-of-state work on the rear.) That's probably not a great sign, nor endearing to the Magistrate Judge.
posted by holgate at 5:52 PM on January 28, 2019 [13 favorites]
posted by holgate at 5:52 PM on January 28, 2019 [13 favorites]
@matt_cam: THREAD: New details on the Trump #remaininmexico #asylum plan out now, and it's so much worse than I was expecting. This is an illegal, immoral, unconscionable human rights disaster in the making. Let's talk about what this is and how it's going to get people killed.
In which asylum applicants are entitled to an interview to determine whether they could be persecuted in Mexico while waiting for their case to be heard. Unlike the usual "credible fear" standard, this requires a much more difficult "more likely than not" standard, but "DHS is currently unable to provide access to counsel" even if applicants manage to hire their own lawyer.
posted by zachlipton at 5:53 PM on January 28, 2019 [37 favorites]
In which asylum applicants are entitled to an interview to determine whether they could be persecuted in Mexico while waiting for their case to be heard. Unlike the usual "credible fear" standard, this requires a much more difficult "more likely than not" standard, but "DHS is currently unable to provide access to counsel" even if applicants manage to hire their own lawyer.
posted by zachlipton at 5:53 PM on January 28, 2019 [37 favorites]
This is an illegal, immoral, unconscionable human rights disaster in the making.
The Cliff Sims book is officially out tomorrow, so we'll probably be sharing all sorts of excerpts from it soon, but The Atlantic has one that stands out in their Team of Vipers coverage. Sims mentions to Jason Miller that it's hard to reconcile his faith with Trump's attitude toward refugees, including "persecuted Christians," Miller responds, "I would be happy if not a single refugee foot ever again touched America’s soil." That's their policy position in plain language.
posted by peeedro at 6:07 PM on January 28, 2019 [22 favorites]
The Cliff Sims book is officially out tomorrow, so we'll probably be sharing all sorts of excerpts from it soon, but The Atlantic has one that stands out in their Team of Vipers coverage. Sims mentions to Jason Miller that it's hard to reconcile his faith with Trump's attitude toward refugees, including "persecuted Christians," Miller responds, "I would be happy if not a single refugee foot ever again touched America’s soil." That's their policy position in plain language.
posted by peeedro at 6:07 PM on January 28, 2019 [22 favorites]
The Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance says Postcards to Voters may be a PAC under state law and wants it to stop organizing postcard campaigns to Massachusetts voters until after it has a little sitdown with the office. You wouldn't think MA would be a state ripe for such postcard drives, but they sent postcards to voters in support of a state rep in Attleboro and a candidate for a seat on the board of selectmen in Chelmsford last fall (both won).
posted by adamg at 6:18 PM on January 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by adamg at 6:18 PM on January 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
Roger Stone's two attorneys messed up their pro hac vice applications to the DC Circuit because they didn't follow the local rules... That's probably not a great sign, nor endearing to the Magistrate Judge.
At the same time it is also extremely common; in my experience (10+ years in federal court) maybe 5-10% of all pro hac applications get bounced on the first try. It really has more to do with how narrowly the judge or magistrate interprets terms in local rules, state ethics rules, etc., that are sometimes frankly quite ambiguous. I've seen many people be required to re-submit a pro hac app and then go on to do spectacular work in a case.
All of which is just to say we don't need to read some huge import into every single filing in the various Trump associate prosecutions. Sometimes a minor slip up is just a minor slip up. Usually, in fact.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 6:19 PM on January 28, 2019 [17 favorites]
At the same time it is also extremely common; in my experience (10+ years in federal court) maybe 5-10% of all pro hac applications get bounced on the first try. It really has more to do with how narrowly the judge or magistrate interprets terms in local rules, state ethics rules, etc., that are sometimes frankly quite ambiguous. I've seen many people be required to re-submit a pro hac app and then go on to do spectacular work in a case.
All of which is just to say we don't need to read some huge import into every single filing in the various Trump associate prosecutions. Sometimes a minor slip up is just a minor slip up. Usually, in fact.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 6:19 PM on January 28, 2019 [17 favorites]
The Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance says Postcards to Voters may be a PAC under state law and wants it to stop organizing postcard campaigns
It's so infuriating that regular people banding together to send postcards is squashed while hundreds of millions in anonymous cash flows into campaigns.
On the bright side, after seeing how easy and effective it is, my Democratic Town Committee had already started doing it without going through Postcards to Voters.
posted by diogenes at 6:28 PM on January 28, 2019 [57 favorites]
It's so infuriating that regular people banding together to send postcards is squashed while hundreds of millions in anonymous cash flows into campaigns.
On the bright side, after seeing how easy and effective it is, my Democratic Town Committee had already started doing it without going through Postcards to Voters.
posted by diogenes at 6:28 PM on January 28, 2019 [57 favorites]
Only one of Stone's three lawyers advertises any criminal practice experience on their websites. Although they seem to be Stone's goto team for everything, mostly defending him from various libel suits from what's available on a cursory google search. Probably a steady paycheck for them, but not exactly the A team you'd want against Mueller.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:30 PM on January 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:30 PM on January 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
Sims mentions to Jason Miller that it's hard to reconcile his faith with Trump's attitude toward refugees, including "persecuted Christians," Miller responds, "I would be happy if not a single refugee foot ever again touched America’s soil." That's their policy position in plain language.
That's Stephen Miller, the Nazi-est guy in any room he enters, in case you were worried that maybe he recruited his brother or something and nobody noticed.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 6:43 PM on January 28, 2019 [15 favorites]
That's Stephen Miller, the Nazi-est guy in any room he enters, in case you were worried that maybe he recruited his brother or something and nobody noticed.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 6:43 PM on January 28, 2019 [15 favorites]
Jason Miller is the other Miller, but indeed that quote is from Stephen Miller, racist Trump-whisperer, not Jason, comms guy fired after an affair with another Trump staffer and allegedly slipping her an abortion pill.
posted by BungaDunga at 6:52 PM on January 28, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by BungaDunga at 6:52 PM on January 28, 2019 [15 favorites]
Mitch McConnell’s Ties to Russian Oil Money
McConnell recently voted to drop sanctions against Russian aluminum company RusAl which is still owned by one of Vladimir Putin’s sanctioned oligarchs, Oleg Deripaska. His action directly benefits one of the GOP leader’s major donors, whose fortune comes from Russian oil.posted by homunculus at 6:55 PM on January 28, 2019 [46 favorites]
Only one of Stone's three lawyers advertises any criminal practice experience on their websites.
Not being a lawyer, I hesitate to read too much into this, but it does sound like practically every birther/sovcit lawyer ever—long on talk, short on playing in your league/not being an actual grifter.
posted by octobersurprise at 7:08 PM on January 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
Not being a lawyer, I hesitate to read too much into this, but it does sound like practically every birther/sovcit lawyer ever—long on talk, short on playing in your league/not being an actual grifter.
posted by octobersurprise at 7:08 PM on January 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
chris24: "If you're suspected of colluding with Russia, maybe using a map at your press conference that puts the Whitehouse logo in the middle of Russia isn't the best graphic design."
To be fair the logo was put in as part of the video feed, not actually on the map.
posted by Mitheral at 7:10 PM on January 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
To be fair the logo was put in as part of the video feed, not actually on the map.
posted by Mitheral at 7:10 PM on January 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
To be fair the logo was put in as part of the video feed, not actually on the map.
Okay, then howabout putting *all* of the United States on the map, y'know along with all of Russia.
posted by petebest at 7:16 PM on January 28, 2019 [6 favorites]
Okay, then howabout putting *all* of the United States on the map, y'know along with all of Russia.
posted by petebest at 7:16 PM on January 28, 2019 [6 favorites]
Creating an Automatic CR Mechanism That Appropriates at Merely the Previous Year’s Levels Would Destroy Critical Programs
If lack of Congressional action meant those programs would be funded only at the previous year’s levels, it means they wouldn’t keep up with inflation, and they certainly wouldn’t keep up with population growth. Over time, a permanent freeze would effectively reduce those programs to inefficacy, destroying programs that keep people out of poverty (WIC, LIHEAP, Section 8, etc.), that fund research (NIH, NSF, etc.), and that keep the country safe (CDC, NOAA, etc.). Republicans want to cut these programs anyway, and this would give them the ability to cut them without even looking as though they forced a cut. Republicans could, and would, simply filibuster all non-defense appropriations bills for the rest of time. Unless Democrats had 60 Senators and the House of Representatives, no appropriations bill would get passed, and those programs would continue at the previous year’s level. And if they did manage to pass a bill, a Republican president could simply veto it. Simply put, this would lead to a near-permanent freeze of vital programs. And those cuts come quickly.posted by T.D. Strange at 7:17 PM on January 28, 2019 [27 favorites]
By just the second year, each program would be cut 5.7 percent below baseline (think of the baseline as just keeping up with inflation, and thus of this as a real cut in services), or 7.3 percent if you also count population growth. By the fifth year, each program would be cut 12.7 percent, or 16.2 percent if you also count population growth. By the end of 10 years, each program would be cut 22.7 percent, or 28.6 percent if you also count population growth.
As far as I know there actually isn't a bill being pushed to continue appropriations unchanged in the event of a lapse -- the Democrats' bill would index its automatic CR to inflation, while the Republicans' includes automatic cuts that supposedly provide an incentive for Congress to pass a real spending bill (sure, guys).
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:29 PM on January 28, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:29 PM on January 28, 2019 [11 favorites]
Well, that's nice. Mnuchin OKs the release of Russian funds and very shortly thereafter stops payments to Venezuela's oil company, thus spiking the value of now unencumbered Russian assets.
When will anyone in the media bother pointing out that Trump (and Mnuchin) is now openly working to benefit Russian oligarchs? For some reason all the reporting I've seen glosses over the broader impacts of this new thing he's gotten into with Venezuela. At best it's cast as an attempt to distract, when in fact it is another example of putting Russian interests ahead of the US.
posted by wierdo at 7:33 PM on January 28, 2019 [67 favorites]
When will anyone in the media bother pointing out that Trump (and Mnuchin) is now openly working to benefit Russian oligarchs? For some reason all the reporting I've seen glosses over the broader impacts of this new thing he's gotten into with Venezuela. At best it's cast as an attempt to distract, when in fact it is another example of putting Russian interests ahead of the US.
posted by wierdo at 7:33 PM on January 28, 2019 [67 favorites]
Maggie Haberman: "POTUS also told his tale of duct-taped women again, but in tonight's version there was also electrical tape, and he described it as "blue" at one point, per two attendees. One attendee thought blue was intended as a joke. "
Dude is gonna full on confess to abducting women soon
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:43 PM on January 28, 2019 [55 favorites]
Dude is gonna full on confess to abducting women soon
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:43 PM on January 28, 2019 [55 favorites]
Mitch McConnell’s Ties to Russian Oil Money
McConnell recently voted to drop sanctions against Russian aluminum company RusAl which is still owned by one of Vladimir Putin’s sanctioned oligarchs, Oleg Deripaska. His action directly benefits one of the GOP leader’s major donors, whose fortune comes from Russian oil.
posted by homunculus at 6:55 PM on January 28
Oh man this is a juicy story. Maybe this was on other people's radar but the link between Russian money, sanctions and the GOP leadership is dispicable:
The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC run by Sen. McConnell’s former Chief of Staff, received a total of $3,500,000 ($2,500,000 in 2016 and $1,000,000 in 2017) via Access Industries and a subsidiary. Len Blavatnik is a Russian oligarch with US and UK citizenship who owns Access Industries and donated to Sen. McConnell’s 2016 Senate campaign vehicles.
They are traitors all the way down.
posted by bluesky43 at 7:47 PM on January 28, 2019 [64 favorites]
McConnell recently voted to drop sanctions against Russian aluminum company RusAl which is still owned by one of Vladimir Putin’s sanctioned oligarchs, Oleg Deripaska. His action directly benefits one of the GOP leader’s major donors, whose fortune comes from Russian oil.
posted by homunculus at 6:55 PM on January 28
Oh man this is a juicy story. Maybe this was on other people's radar but the link between Russian money, sanctions and the GOP leadership is dispicable:
The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC run by Sen. McConnell’s former Chief of Staff, received a total of $3,500,000 ($2,500,000 in 2016 and $1,000,000 in 2017) via Access Industries and a subsidiary. Len Blavatnik is a Russian oligarch with US and UK citizenship who owns Access Industries and donated to Sen. McConnell’s 2016 Senate campaign vehicles.
They are traitors all the way down.
posted by bluesky43 at 7:47 PM on January 28, 2019 [64 favorites]
If Democrats had a solid constituency that believed in shrinking the military to proverbial "If they want a bomber they can host their own bake sale" levels, then the playing field in budget conflicts would be a lot closer to even, because hostages would be available to both sides. But there isn't. In fact, the wall is the first major proposed expenditure I can think of in a long time that Republicans supported and Democrats opposed with serious intensity on both sides.
I don't know of a real fix for shutdowns that also overcomes this asymmetry, and it's probably another symptom of the troubles with our democracy, period, because it's not like Americans want to cut social programs in proportion to Republican power. But I still think any solution is better than none; the status quo doesn't really provide extra assurance to social programs compared to a world with rules for permanent CRs, because the GOP is happy to use shutdowns as a tactic anyway.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 7:47 PM on January 28, 2019 [6 favorites]
I don't know of a real fix for shutdowns that also overcomes this asymmetry, and it's probably another symptom of the troubles with our democracy, period, because it's not like Americans want to cut social programs in proportion to Republican power. But I still think any solution is better than none; the status quo doesn't really provide extra assurance to social programs compared to a world with rules for permanent CRs, because the GOP is happy to use shutdowns as a tactic anyway.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 7:47 PM on January 28, 2019 [6 favorites]
If lack of Congressional action meant those programs would be funded only at the previous year’s levels, it means they wouldn’t keep up with inflation, and they certainly wouldn’t keep up with population growth.
Well, yeah; "just keep going" is a short-term stopgap meant to prevent everything from falling apart while Mitch stalls to figure out how much grifting and racism he can pack into what's allowed to reach the floor for a vote. "Just keep going" also means funding programs that are complete and don't need money anymore. And it means not being able to hire people for the next stage of long-term projects. It's not supposed to be, "instead of passing a budget, Congress can just roll with what we've got now until, y'know, a new president gets voted in or something."
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 7:51 PM on January 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
Well, yeah; "just keep going" is a short-term stopgap meant to prevent everything from falling apart while Mitch stalls to figure out how much grifting and racism he can pack into what's allowed to reach the floor for a vote. "Just keep going" also means funding programs that are complete and don't need money anymore. And it means not being able to hire people for the next stage of long-term projects. It's not supposed to be, "instead of passing a budget, Congress can just roll with what we've got now until, y'know, a new president gets voted in or something."
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 7:51 PM on January 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
NY-01 -- Lee Zeldin
NY-02 -- Peter King
NY-24 -- John Katko
NY-27 -- Chris Collins
I know this is the smart money, and what does one more seat matter anyway, but I'm crushed that the odious Tom Reed (NY-23) didn't make the list.
posted by RedOrGreen at 1:12 PM on January 28 [4 favorites −]
Tom Reed SHOULD be on the list of vulnerable house seats (and my disdain for the DCCC grows daily). Tracy Mitrano is running again and my sense is that she will have a much better organized campaign in 2020. As she pointed out, the last time NY-23 went blue it was for a candidate who won on their second attempt. Name recognition is a huge thing in upstate NY, and people may just be so disgusted with the GOP - plus great grass roots organization - I think she has a chance.
posted by bluesky43 at 8:03 PM on January 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
NY-02 -- Peter King
NY-24 -- John Katko
NY-27 -- Chris Collins
I know this is the smart money, and what does one more seat matter anyway, but I'm crushed that the odious Tom Reed (NY-23) didn't make the list.
posted by RedOrGreen at 1:12 PM on January 28 [4 favorites −]
Tom Reed SHOULD be on the list of vulnerable house seats (and my disdain for the DCCC grows daily). Tracy Mitrano is running again and my sense is that she will have a much better organized campaign in 2020. As she pointed out, the last time NY-23 went blue it was for a candidate who won on their second attempt. Name recognition is a huge thing in upstate NY, and people may just be so disgusted with the GOP - plus great grass roots organization - I think she has a chance.
posted by bluesky43 at 8:03 PM on January 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
I don't know of a real fix for shutdowns that also overcomes this asymmetry, and it's probably another symptom of the troubles with our democracy, period, because it's not like Americans want to cut social programs in proportion to Republican power. But I still think any solution is better than none; the status quo doesn't really provide extra assurance to social programs compared to a world with rules for permanent CRs, because the GOP is happy to use shutdowns as a tactic anyway.
I think we just saw the limits of shutdowns as a tactic - whoever is seen as causing it loses, unequicoably. Deliberately hurting the American people for any reason is seen as fundamentally illegitimate, and cannot be maintained for longer than about a month, or however long it takes the airplanes and SNAP benefits to stop.
A "fix" to the problem of shutdowns that gives Republican an insidious and invisible way to decrease the effectiveness of government services would be very much worse than the status quo, and a massive win for Republicans, who would rather shutdown all parts of the government for forever, so long as they could avoid blame for the fallout.
Im not encouraged that even now we'll really see any movement on budgetary reform, because the Johnson plan is a poison pill that Republicans can point to to avoid actual accountability, but it's impossible to be too vigilant about Democrats falling into a fit of bipartisan austerity at the drop of a hat if they get it in their mind to. Never forget the only thing that saved us from Obama's "grand bargain" to cut all entitlements as we know them was Republicans refusing to give him a "win". This is a dangerous moment for progressive policies.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:15 PM on January 28, 2019 [7 favorites]
I think we just saw the limits of shutdowns as a tactic - whoever is seen as causing it loses, unequicoably. Deliberately hurting the American people for any reason is seen as fundamentally illegitimate, and cannot be maintained for longer than about a month, or however long it takes the airplanes and SNAP benefits to stop.
A "fix" to the problem of shutdowns that gives Republican an insidious and invisible way to decrease the effectiveness of government services would be very much worse than the status quo, and a massive win for Republicans, who would rather shutdown all parts of the government for forever, so long as they could avoid blame for the fallout.
Im not encouraged that even now we'll really see any movement on budgetary reform, because the Johnson plan is a poison pill that Republicans can point to to avoid actual accountability, but it's impossible to be too vigilant about Democrats falling into a fit of bipartisan austerity at the drop of a hat if they get it in their mind to. Never forget the only thing that saved us from Obama's "grand bargain" to cut all entitlements as we know them was Republicans refusing to give him a "win". This is a dangerous moment for progressive policies.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:15 PM on January 28, 2019 [7 favorites]
Mueller team signals to Stone associate another indictment may be in the works (CNN)
A defense attorney for Andrew Miller, who's fighting a subpoena from Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, learned Monday afternoon that the special counsel still wants witness testimony for a federal grand jury.posted by Barack Spinoza at 8:26 PM on January 28, 2019 [14 favorites]
Paul Kamenar, the defense attorney, says the assertion from Mueller's team made clear to him that Mueller and the Justice Department are considering an additional indictment of Roger Stone or have plans to charge others.
Seth Abramson: "(THREAD) Here are 20 indications that Mueller has *months* of work left to do. I write this thread in the shadow of a vague, hesitant, afterthought-like remark that AG Whitaker made today. I hope you'll read on and retweet; this may be the most important issue before the country..."
posted by homunculus at 9:44 PM on January 28, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by homunculus at 9:44 PM on January 28, 2019 [9 favorites]
Mitch McConnell’s Ties to Russian Oil Money
I hope Kentucky folks are passing these stories around and bringing them up at every opportunity. Clearly Republicans have considered Trump as some kind of runaway train that's going to carry them for hundreds of miles (or judges) until they jump off at the last second.
For all of them we need to tie them to the Russian spying scandal, but none more than Mitch McConnell, who's up for reelection in 2 years.
posted by msalt at 10:00 PM on January 28, 2019 [22 favorites]
I hope Kentucky folks are passing these stories around and bringing them up at every opportunity. Clearly Republicans have considered Trump as some kind of runaway train that's going to carry them for hundreds of miles (or judges) until they jump off at the last second.
For all of them we need to tie them to the Russian spying scandal, but none more than Mitch McConnell, who's up for reelection in 2 years.
posted by msalt at 10:00 PM on January 28, 2019 [22 favorites]
NNSA Has Started Building Low-Yield Sub Warhead
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Friday it has started building the first low-yield, submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead ordered by the Donald Trump administration last year.Trump Administration Begins Production Of A New Nuclear Weapon
“The Pantex Plant has initiated assembly of the W76-2 First Production Unit,” an agency spokesperson wrote Friday in an email response to a query from Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor. “NNSA is on track to complete the W76-2 Initial Operational Capability warhead quantity and deliver the units to the Navy by the end of Fiscal Year 2019.”
The U.S. Department of Energy has started making a new, low-yield nuclear weapon designed to counter Russia.posted by scalefree at 10:18 PM on January 28, 2019 [10 favorites]
The National Nuclear Security Administration says production of the weapon, known as the W76-2, has begun at its Pantex Plant in the Texas Panhandle. The fact that the weapon was under production was first shared in an e-mail to the Exchange Monitor, an industry trade magazine, and independently confirmed by NPR.
The weapon is a variant of the Navy's primary submarine-launched nuclear weapon, the W76-1. That warhead is a "strategic weapon," meaning it makes a very big boom. The W76-1 is believed to have a yield of around 100 kilotons, according to Hans Kristensen, director of the nuclear information project at the Federation of American Scientists, an arms control advocacy group. By contrast, the bomb dropped on Hiroshima had a yield of about 15 kilotons.
The Energy Department would not provide details about the W76-2, but it's believed to have a yield of around 5 to 7 kilotons, Kristensen says. That smaller yield is probably created by removing or disabling the secondary stage of the W76-1. The secondary is designed to deliver a large thermonuclear blast triggered by a much smaller nuclear weapon known as the primary. Removing or disabling the secondary while leaving the primary would, in effect, create a smaller weapon.
Now we know where Donald Trump got that nonsense from about women being duct taped in cars
On Monday evening, Rachel Maddow connected the dots during her MSNBC show and figured out that Donald Trump has been quoting scenes from the fictional movie Sicario: Day of the Soldado, which came out about six months ago. In the film, characters are indeed seen driving across the border in impossibly technologically advanced cars. The characters are also seen duct taping women’s mouths in these cars. In another movie scene, prayer rugs are found near the border, which is another recent claim that Trump has been making. So what’s going on here?posted by homunculus at 10:57 PM on January 28, 2019 [153 favorites]
It’s clear that Donald Trump has been quoting scenes from a fictional movie as if they were really happening on the border. This is one of the scariest developments of the Trump era yet, because it points to just how far gone he truly is. It’s not clear if Trump watched the movie and then later convinced himself that the things he saw in it were real, or if his advisers have been feeding him clips from the movie and telling him that it’s real world footage. But either way, it means Trump isn’t anywhere close to being mentally competent.
So now what? No one outside of Donald Trump’s base ever believed any of the claims he was making to begin with. But we all assumed he was just making things up, or repeating misleading reports he heard on Fox News. Now that we know he’s basing his foreign policy on scenes from a fictional movie, this is grounds for immediate removal via the 25th Amendment.
Rachel Maddow connected the dots during her MSNBC show and figured out that Donald Trump has been quoting scenes from the fictional movie Sicario: Day of the Soldado
In the interests of accuracy, Maddow may be the first TV anchor to connect these dots on-air but people online have been pointing it out for some time now. Here's a Vanity Fair piece from a couple weeks ago about it, for example. And the online article writers were getting it from randos on twitter before that.
posted by Justinian at 11:03 PM on January 28, 2019 [50 favorites]
In the interests of accuracy, Maddow may be the first TV anchor to connect these dots on-air but people online have been pointing it out for some time now. Here's a Vanity Fair piece from a couple weeks ago about it, for example. And the online article writers were getting it from randos on twitter before that.
posted by Justinian at 11:03 PM on January 28, 2019 [50 favorites]
Elizabeth Warren Does Teddy Roosevelt
Today's Krugman
It's more about taxing the rich than about Warren as a candidate, IMO, otherwise I wouldn't have posted it.
Today's Krugman
It's more about taxing the rich than about Warren as a candidate, IMO, otherwise I wouldn't have posted it.
America invented progressive taxation. And there was a time when leading American politicians were proud to proclaim their willingness to tax the wealthy, not just to raise revenue, but to limit excessive concentration of economic power.posted by mumimor at 12:45 AM on January 29, 2019 [45 favorites]
“It is important,” said Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, “to grapple with the problems connected with the amassing of enormous fortunes” — some of them, he declared, “swollen beyond all healthy limits.”
Today we are once again living in an era of extraordinary wealth concentrated in the hands of a few people, with the net worth of the wealthiest 0.1 percent of Americans almost equal to that of the bottom 90 percent combined. And this concentration of wealth is growing; as Thomas Piketty famously argued in his book “Capital in the 21st Century,” we seem to be heading toward a society dominated by vast, often inherited fortunes.
So can today’s politicians rise to the challenge? Well, Elizabeth Warren has released an impressive proposal for taxing extreme wealth. And whether or not she herself becomes the Democratic nominee for president, it says good things about her party that something this smart and daring is even part of the discussion.
It’s not clear if Trump watched the movie and then later convinced himself that the things he saw in it were real, or if his advisers have been feeding him clips from the movie and telling him that it’s real world footage.
A third possibility is that he watched the movie, thought the scenes would resonate, and didn't care if they were real. Frankly that seems the most likely, given that we already know he lies all the time.
posted by ropeladder at 1:43 AM on January 29, 2019 [58 favorites]
A third possibility is that he watched the movie, thought the scenes would resonate, and didn't care if they were real. Frankly that seems the most likely, given that we already know he lies all the time.
posted by ropeladder at 1:43 AM on January 29, 2019 [58 favorites]
Meanwhile in Opposite Land, some GOP senators introduced a bill that would repeal the estate tax.
The bill is unlikely to become law in the next two years, since it would need 60 votes to pass the Senate and would be unable to pass the Democratic-controlled House. But by introducing the bill, Senate Republicans are able to highlight one of their longstanding tax priorities.
posted by heatvision at 4:14 AM on January 29, 2019 [10 favorites]
The bill is unlikely to become law in the next two years, since it would need 60 votes to pass the Senate and would be unable to pass the Democratic-controlled House. But by introducing the bill, Senate Republicans are able to highlight one of their longstanding tax priorities.
posted by heatvision at 4:14 AM on January 29, 2019 [10 favorites]
Ronald Reagan also confused films with reality.
posted by maurice at 4:43 AM on January 29, 2019 [21 favorites]
posted by maurice at 4:43 AM on January 29, 2019 [21 favorites]
Creating an Automatic CR Mechanism That Appropriates at Merely the Previous Year’s Levels Would Destroy Critical Programs (Because inflation and population growth)
It's astonishing that professional politicians, and Democrats who ostensibly believe in the role of government, appear not to realize this essential fact. This morning NPR interviewed Senator Mark Warner about his proposal to fund the government at current levels in case of an impasse, and neither he nor Steve Inskeep (no surprise there) mentioned whether the funding would be indexed to inflation (and as a bonus, aired Sarah Sanders using Democrat as a slur). Warner claimed that funding at current levels would mean no wins for either side, but mandating effective cuts would be an automatic win for Republicans (not to mention de-motiviating them from ever passing a budget).
How could he be so naive? Inskeep's a fool, but how could Congressional reporter Ayesha Rascoe affect not to notice such an obvious flaw? Perhaps because they're spending too much time in the theater criticism of Republicans trying to pin the blame for the next shutdown on the Democrats?
posted by Gelatin at 5:35 AM on January 29, 2019 [16 favorites]
It's astonishing that professional politicians, and Democrats who ostensibly believe in the role of government, appear not to realize this essential fact. This morning NPR interviewed Senator Mark Warner about his proposal to fund the government at current levels in case of an impasse, and neither he nor Steve Inskeep (no surprise there) mentioned whether the funding would be indexed to inflation (and as a bonus, aired Sarah Sanders using Democrat as a slur). Warner claimed that funding at current levels would mean no wins for either side, but mandating effective cuts would be an automatic win for Republicans (not to mention de-motiviating them from ever passing a budget).
How could he be so naive? Inskeep's a fool, but how could Congressional reporter Ayesha Rascoe affect not to notice such an obvious flaw? Perhaps because they're spending too much time in the theater criticism of Republicans trying to pin the blame for the next shutdown on the Democrats?
posted by Gelatin at 5:35 AM on January 29, 2019 [16 favorites]
From OpenSecrets.org: In response to the Democratic dominance of small donors that ActBlue provides, Republicans revealed on Jan. 21 that they will be launching a similar platform called Patriot Pass. This software would create a central tool for small donors to contribute to Republican candidates of their choice.
Gerrit Lansing, former top digital strategist for the National Republican Campaign Committee and cofounder of the fundraising platform Revv, helped plan Patriot Pass.
The idea developed during the 2018 midterm election, during which Democratic campaigns, mostly through the ActBlue software, collected almost $374.9 million from small individual donors compared to the Republicans who only received around $114.9 million. Small individual donors accounted for 23 percent of the total raised for Democrats and 10 percent for Republicans in 2018.
“We thought, ‘How do we put something together to combat that problem,’” Lansing said.
He explained that Patriot Pass was formed from the four biggest companies that raised the most in the past election cycle.
“It’s a carrot operation,” Lansing said. “We want to create a set of incentives … the best tech, the best features,” to attract campaigns and donors to use it.
Howdy, everybody. Apparently I couldn't sit out the mega thread for the entire month of January. But I got close!
posted by Bella Donna at 5:59 AM on January 29, 2019 [19 favorites]
Gerrit Lansing, former top digital strategist for the National Republican Campaign Committee and cofounder of the fundraising platform Revv, helped plan Patriot Pass.
The idea developed during the 2018 midterm election, during which Democratic campaigns, mostly through the ActBlue software, collected almost $374.9 million from small individual donors compared to the Republicans who only received around $114.9 million. Small individual donors accounted for 23 percent of the total raised for Democrats and 10 percent for Republicans in 2018.
“We thought, ‘How do we put something together to combat that problem,’” Lansing said.
He explained that Patriot Pass was formed from the four biggest companies that raised the most in the past election cycle.
“It’s a carrot operation,” Lansing said. “We want to create a set of incentives … the best tech, the best features,” to attract campaigns and donors to use it.
Howdy, everybody. Apparently I couldn't sit out the mega thread for the entire month of January. But I got close!
posted by Bella Donna at 5:59 AM on January 29, 2019 [19 favorites]
Under Warner's bill the automatic CR would be indexed to inflation if the standoff goes on long enough to cross a fiscal year (which makes sense to me as the trigger for when "another shutdown fight" would cross the line into "one side is trying to make this the new status quo" but I'm open to counterarguments). Specifically, funding levels would rise:
by the percentage increase, if any, in the gross domestic product for the calendar year ending during such preceding fiscal year as compared to the gross domestic product for the calendar year before such calendar year.posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 6:07 AM on January 29, 2019 [43 favorites]
Under Warner's bill the automatic CR would be indexed to inflation if the standoff goes on long enough to cross a fiscal year
Good. I wish Inskeep had stuck with one topic long enough to let Warner make the point that this provision is necessary to force Republicans to bargain in good faith, and hope Warner would have taken the opportunity to point out that Republicans don't. But again, given that NPR pretended once again not to know that Sanders' use of "Democrat" is a deliberate slur makes me wonder if he would have been allowed to make the point.
posted by Gelatin at 6:12 AM on January 29, 2019 [9 favorites]
Good. I wish Inskeep had stuck with one topic long enough to let Warner make the point that this provision is necessary to force Republicans to bargain in good faith, and hope Warner would have taken the opportunity to point out that Republicans don't. But again, given that NPR pretended once again not to know that Sanders' use of "Democrat" is a deliberate slur makes me wonder if he would have been allowed to make the point.
posted by Gelatin at 6:12 AM on January 29, 2019 [9 favorites]
Democrats weigh whether Wall Street money is still allowed in 2020 (Emily Stewart, Vox)
"Grassroots funding is in for 2020. The question is whether Wall Street is out."posted by ZeusHumms at 6:59 AM on January 29, 2019 [15 favorites]
In recent weeks, I spoke with multiple strategists and fundraisers — mostly Democrats, but some Republicans — to ask whether going to Wall Street for backing in politics was still allowed. Opinions were split about eschewing cash from Wall Street — and corporate America more broadly — entirely. Those in the more progressive wing of the party said any perceived alignment was a nonstarter and unwise, even immoral. But in a competitive race with as many as 30 candidates, some are reluctant to give up any edge.
...
Most agreed that small-dollar fundraising is at least the most important avenue for candidates: The ability to generate enthusiasm among a big pool of individual donors translates to enthusiasm for the campaign overall. Plus, people who give small amounts of money to a campaign are likelier to volunteer for those candidates, tell their friends about them, and vote for them.
Some anonymous Democrats are threatening to primary...AOC???
posted by Ouverture at 7:30 AM on January 29, 2019 [37 favorites]
Today’s installment is at least kind of funny: A couple of anonymous Democrats told the Hill that they want to primary Ocasio-Cortez. One anonymous Democratic lawmaker said they want to “make her a one-term congressperson,” whereas an anonymous “New York political insider” said she is “pissing off a lot of people and has probably made a lot of enemies. (Tellingly, those two anonymous sources are also the only people quoted actually floating the primary challenge idea.)Centrists really do want to watch the world burn, literally.
posted by Ouverture at 7:30 AM on January 29, 2019 [37 favorites]
That Seth Abramson tweetfest that h-dogg linked to above is very interesting. Of the "20 reasons why Mueller isn't close to done":
Indictments still to come for: Jr., Paul Erickson, Erik Prince (yay), Jerome Corsi, whatever comes from Cohen, whatever comes from George Nader, whatever comes from Stone's devices
Lines of inquiry still to flesh out: Deutche Bank and TrumpOrg shell company money laundering (Hello RICO) and Saudi/Emerati collusion.
Sentencing for Flynn, Gates, Manafort, and Stone's trial because of course there'll be.
More details and Things I Missed at the tweetage. So giggity fun times a-comin' and not any time soon will we get to finally, officially, for really realz kick that bastard out and lock up his toadies. Kind of a good-news/bad-news deal there.
posted by petebest at 7:34 AM on January 29, 2019 [10 favorites]
Indictments still to come for: Jr., Paul Erickson, Erik Prince (yay), Jerome Corsi, whatever comes from Cohen, whatever comes from George Nader, whatever comes from Stone's devices
Lines of inquiry still to flesh out: Deutche Bank and TrumpOrg shell company money laundering (Hello RICO) and Saudi/Emerati collusion.
Sentencing for Flynn, Gates, Manafort, and Stone's trial because of course there'll be.
More details and Things I Missed at the tweetage. So giggity fun times a-comin' and not any time soon will we get to finally, officially, for really realz kick that bastard out and lock up his toadies. Kind of a good-news/bad-news deal there.
posted by petebest at 7:34 AM on January 29, 2019 [10 favorites]
This is how I see Mueller. A good prosecutor lies. He tells Trump that he's not investigating Trump. Why tell your target you're coming? He hints that he is almost done. Let Trump think that he doesn't need to shut down the probe.
He'll be busy at least another six months -- if he's not fired.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 7:38 AM on January 29, 2019 [9 favorites]
He'll be busy at least another six months -- if he's not fired.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 7:38 AM on January 29, 2019 [9 favorites]
They need to add protection for the Mueller investigation to every single compromise bill.
posted by cmfletcher at 7:47 AM on January 29, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by cmfletcher at 7:47 AM on January 29, 2019 [11 favorites]
The 'primary AOC' call is hilarious. Firstly, it completely validates AOC and the Justice Democrats' call for contested primaries, and I imagine that AOC herself would say that if she's not representing her constituents, then she should be primaried.
Secondly, she will crush any challenger from the Dem right by at least 20 points and we all know that.
posted by carsondial at 8:04 AM on January 29, 2019 [60 favorites]
Secondly, she will crush any challenger from the Dem right by at least 20 points and we all know that.
posted by carsondial at 8:04 AM on January 29, 2019 [60 favorites]
Imagine thinking you could catch the most Extremely Online member of Congress napping in a primary.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:12 AM on January 29, 2019 [40 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:12 AM on January 29, 2019 [40 favorites]
I am extremely unhip, and yet throughout my life, almost every elected official has been even less hip than me. AOC is very hip, and I'm loving every minute of it.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:19 AM on January 29, 2019 [37 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:19 AM on January 29, 2019 [37 favorites]
A couple of anonymous Democrats told the Hill that they want to primary Ocasio-Cortez.
Yeah, those two men had better get used to the idea that the future is already here, and they'd do well to get out of the buggy-whip business. Furthermore, if they think they could primary her without riling up a sizable cross-section of the Bronx in a united "OH YEAH?", they're even more out of touch than they realize.
posted by Capt. Renault at 8:26 AM on January 29, 2019 [21 favorites]
Yeah, those two men had better get used to the idea that the future is already here, and they'd do well to get out of the buggy-whip business. Furthermore, if they think they could primary her without riling up a sizable cross-section of the Bronx in a united "OH YEAH?", they're even more out of touch than they realize.
posted by Capt. Renault at 8:26 AM on January 29, 2019 [21 favorites]
"Grassroots funding is in for 2020. The question is whether Wall Street is out."
&
Centrists really do want to watch the world burn, literally.
posted by Ouverture at 7:30 AM on January 29 [13 favorites +] [!]
First of all, to address the question of Wall Street, NYT, 10/16/2018,
There's been a lot of talk about the political spectrum experiencing a big "Overton Window" shift to the right, where the regressive policies of the far right have become accepted by a growing number of people. Whereas before to be on the political right meant maintaining the status quo, now it means Making America Great Again (and similar ideas in other parts of the world, of course). Progressive politics have worked at widening the spectrum to the left. And that has left the political center with the position of maintaining the status quo.
The status quo being that 0.01% of the America's population controls 90% of its wealth, and that 0.01% would very much like to keep it that way to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign contributions every few years. A drop in the bucket, no doubt, and clearly worth it.
posted by carsonb at 8:36 AM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
&
Centrists really do want to watch the world burn, literally.
posted by Ouverture at 7:30 AM on January 29 [13 favorites +] [!]
First of all, to address the question of Wall Street, NYT, 10/16/2018,
Across the 69 most competitive House races, Democrats have raised a total of $46 million from small donors during the 2018 eating contest, compared with just $15 million for their Republican opponents, according to campaign finance data released this week.There's a graphic between these two paras that illustrates the proportion of grassroots funds raised by both parties (in those selected competitive races) compared to overall funds raised, and it makes the answer to the question of Wall Street obvious: Nope. Never gonna give up those hundreds of millions of dollars.
Democrats have taken in $252 million altogether in those races over the course of the campaign, versus $172 million for Republicans. The gap in small donors accounts for about 40 percent of the Democrats’ overall financial advantage.
There's been a lot of talk about the political spectrum experiencing a big "Overton Window" shift to the right, where the regressive policies of the far right have become accepted by a growing number of people. Whereas before to be on the political right meant maintaining the status quo, now it means Making America Great Again (and similar ideas in other parts of the world, of course). Progressive politics have worked at widening the spectrum to the left. And that has left the political center with the position of maintaining the status quo.
The status quo being that 0.01% of the America's population controls 90% of its wealth, and that 0.01% would very much like to keep it that way to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign contributions every few years. A drop in the bucket, no doubt, and clearly worth it.
posted by carsonb at 8:36 AM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
“Centrist” doesn’t really mean anything anymore ...what you only want half a white ethnostate? A better definition may be “I support what the majority supports” which is Medicare for all, Green New deal, high marginal tax rates, etc.
posted by The Whelk at 8:38 AM on January 29, 2019 [22 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 8:38 AM on January 29, 2019 [22 favorites]
Schultz was motivated to run because offear of hgh marginal tax rates, his net worth is 3.4 Billion. If he lost 99% of it, he would still have 34 Million.
No.More. Billionaires.
posted by The Whelk at 8:40 AM on January 29, 2019 [90 favorites]
No.More. Billionaires.
posted by The Whelk at 8:40 AM on January 29, 2019 [90 favorites]
I know it was announced late Sunday afternoon and it's only Tuesday, but I have a growing suspicion that the dropping of Rusal/Deripaska sanctions has been effectively pushed 100% out of the collective consciousness. It's all out in the open and we can't even pay attention to it.
posted by mcstayinskool at 8:48 AM on January 29, 2019 [42 favorites]
posted by mcstayinskool at 8:48 AM on January 29, 2019 [42 favorites]
Some more bad polling news for Trump:
From the AP: AP-NORC poll: Most Americans Oppose Trump’s Foreign Policy
Trump may take small comfort that the Washington Post-ABC News poll for Jan. 21-24 shows Team Trump's repeated attacks on the Mueller probe have sunk in. Responding to the question "How much confidence do you have that Mueller’s final report will be fair and evenhanded?", 43% said they had confidence in Mueller (a great deal 24%/good amount 19%) but 50% did not (just some 28%, none at all 22%).
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:51 AM on January 29, 2019 [5 favorites]
From the AP: AP-NORC poll: Most Americans Oppose Trump’s Foreign Policy
A majority of Americans disapprove of the way President Donald Trump is handling U.S. foreign policy and about half think the country’s global standing will deteriorate during the next year, according to a new poll that highlighted the nation’s partisan divide on foreign issues.[…]From the WaPo: 'Wrong Track': Public Sours On Nation's Direction After Shutdown
Overall, the president receives low marks from the public for his job handling foreign policy — 35 percent approve, while 63 percent disapprove. Like other issues, the partisan divide is startling. While 76 percent of Republicans approve, just 8 percent of Democrats say the same.
According to the poll, only 28 percent of Americans say the nation is headed in the right direction, which is the lowest percentage on this question during Trump’s presidency. By contrast, 63 percent believe the country is on the wrong track — tied for the highest mark since Trump took office.[…]More WaPo: Democrats’ 2020 Presidential Contest Is Wide Open As Danger Mounts For Trump, New Washington Post-Abc News Poll Shows. "A 56 percent majority of all Americans say they would “definitely not vote for him” should Trump become the Republican nominee, while 14 percent say they would consider voting for him and 28 percent would definitely vote for him. Majorities of independents (59 percent), women (64 percent) and suburbanites (56 percent) rule out supporting Trump for a second term."
On the issue of the partial government shutdown, which ended (at least for the time being) on Friday, 50 percent say that Trump is more to blame, while 37 percent pointed the finger at Democrats. […] Just 39 percent approve of Trump’s handling of immigration and border security, compared with 51 percent who approve of his handling of the economy.
Trump may take small comfort that the Washington Post-ABC News poll for Jan. 21-24 shows Team Trump's repeated attacks on the Mueller probe have sunk in. Responding to the question "How much confidence do you have that Mueller’s final report will be fair and evenhanded?", 43% said they had confidence in Mueller (a great deal 24%/good amount 19%) but 50% did not (just some 28%, none at all 22%).
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:51 AM on January 29, 2019 [5 favorites]
the anonymous AOC primary-from-the-democratic-right is likely just whining from yellow dogs getting heat from their donors, and it's unlikely that it would be anything but a win for AOC long-term--I think it's probably reassuring to a median primary voter in her district to hear the party is unhappy with her, it shows that she hasn't taken an pro-establishment turn after getting elected. If I thought less of AOC I'd suspect the whole thing came from her side.
posted by skewed at 8:54 AM on January 29, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by skewed at 8:54 AM on January 29, 2019 [5 favorites]
I have a growing suspicion that the dropping of Rusal/Deripaska sanctions has been effectively pushed 100% out of the collective consciousness.
Except that House committees can now bring it back into the collective consciousness, ideally with Mnuchin behind a desk.
posted by holgate at 8:55 AM on January 29, 2019 [17 favorites]
Except that House committees can now bring it back into the collective consciousness, ideally with Mnuchin behind a desk.
posted by holgate at 8:55 AM on January 29, 2019 [17 favorites]
Responding to the question "How much confidence do you have that Mueller’s final report will be fair and evenhanded?", 43% said they had confidence in Mueller (a great deal 24%/good amount 19%) but 50% did not (just some 28%, none at all 22%).
This is a good example of polling questions that are designed not to meaningfully reveal public opinion, but instead to make sure that as many poll respondents as possible can answer the question without resorting to "not sure" or "no opinion". WaPo wants to interpret the question as though it's unambiguous, but being unsure about the final report's fairness can be caused by right-wing paranoia (Mueller=DeepState), or leftish anxiety that the Republican-controlled DOJ, White House, Senate and Judiciary will keep the Mueller from letting the evidence take the investigation wherever it leads, and making the investigation's findings public. It's silly to make a question about the public's confidence in "Mueller's final report" without reference to the fact that it's not even clear that a final report will be made, or made public, and what effect that uncertainty might have on responses. If that level of ambiguity was incorporated into the poll, they'd have much higher rates of non-response or unsure responses, both things that poll designers hate, because they don't lead to useful headlines.
posted by skewed at 9:06 AM on January 29, 2019 [17 favorites]
This is a good example of polling questions that are designed not to meaningfully reveal public opinion, but instead to make sure that as many poll respondents as possible can answer the question without resorting to "not sure" or "no opinion". WaPo wants to interpret the question as though it's unambiguous, but being unsure about the final report's fairness can be caused by right-wing paranoia (Mueller=DeepState), or leftish anxiety that the Republican-controlled DOJ, White House, Senate and Judiciary will keep the Mueller from letting the evidence take the investigation wherever it leads, and making the investigation's findings public. It's silly to make a question about the public's confidence in "Mueller's final report" without reference to the fact that it's not even clear that a final report will be made, or made public, and what effect that uncertainty might have on responses. If that level of ambiguity was incorporated into the poll, they'd have much higher rates of non-response or unsure responses, both things that poll designers hate, because they don't lead to useful headlines.
posted by skewed at 9:06 AM on January 29, 2019 [17 favorites]
skewed: I think it's probably reassuring to a median primary voter in her district to hear the party is unhappy with her, it shows that she hasn't taken an pro-establishment turn after getting elected.
These aren't the same thing: the establishment doesn't like her, but the party is very happy with her, regardless of whether you define "party" as "elected Democrats" or "Americans in the Democratic Party". She wouldn't have her committee positions if that weren't so.
It mirrors the other side (not in a horseshoe-theory sense of actual similarity). A common narrative back in 2016 was that "Republicans" didn't like Trump, but that was never really true. Two or three blue/yellow dogs attacking AOC are the equivalent of Bob Corker and Jeff Flake (except perhaps with more meaningful flexing of political muscles, but eh, I'll believe an actual primary threat against her when I see it). You can say "Trump is not a real Republican" because he's too far gone, and you can say that the "real" Democratic party is about neoliberalism before everything else, but you'd be wrong on both counts (though the shift has yet to fully manifest as much on the left as it has on the right).
posted by InTheYear2017 at 9:08 AM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
These aren't the same thing: the establishment doesn't like her, but the party is very happy with her, regardless of whether you define "party" as "elected Democrats" or "Americans in the Democratic Party". She wouldn't have her committee positions if that weren't so.
It mirrors the other side (not in a horseshoe-theory sense of actual similarity). A common narrative back in 2016 was that "Republicans" didn't like Trump, but that was never really true. Two or three blue/yellow dogs attacking AOC are the equivalent of Bob Corker and Jeff Flake (except perhaps with more meaningful flexing of political muscles, but eh, I'll believe an actual primary threat against her when I see it). You can say "Trump is not a real Republican" because he's too far gone, and you can say that the "real" Democratic party is about neoliberalism before everything else, but you'd be wrong on both counts (though the shift has yet to fully manifest as much on the left as it has on the right).
posted by InTheYear2017 at 9:08 AM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
Yeah, I just used "party" because I didn't want to use the word "establishment" twice in the same sentence. :) I agree that AOC is probably more representative of the party than the democratic establishment, though those are obviously shifty terms.
posted by skewed at 9:12 AM on January 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by skewed at 9:12 AM on January 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
In a new role, Jeff Flake will issue strong denunciations of the president without actually doing anything, so it’s not unlike his old role
posted by growabrain at 9:15 AM on January 29, 2019 [36 favorites]
posted by growabrain at 9:15 AM on January 29, 2019 [36 favorites]
From "Mitch McConnell’s Ties to Russian Oil Money", above,
"The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC run by Sen. McConnell’s former Chief of Staff, received a total of $3,500,000 ($2,500,000 in 2016 and $1,000,000 in 2017) via Access Industries and a subsidiary. Len Blavatnik is a Russian oligarch with US and UK citizenship who owns Access Industries and donated to Sen. McConnell’s 2016 Senate campaign vehicles. Blavatnik’s Access Industries made many of its billions from Putin’s decisions about its Russian oil partnership. He is also a long-term business partner of Kremlin-linked Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska at RuSal, in which he is a major investor, as well as Viktor Vekselberg, who is entangled with Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen through his U.S. family office Columbus Nova."
Later in the article: "Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is also a longtime business partner of Blavatnik", and even later "Blavatnik gave a total of $7.35 million to PACs working for high-ranking Republicans including organizations linked to both the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader during the 2015–16 federal campaign cycle. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is probing donor Blavatnik for his ties to Donald Trump and specifically a million dollar inaugural donation.
Forbes amply documented Blavatnik’s source funds from the Kremlin in 2013 by exhibiting a copy of the wire transfer itself in a story entitled “The Four Horsemen of Russia’s Economic Collapse.” It described his sale of a private Russian oil company to state-controlled Rosneft."
So, the answer to the question posed lo these many moons ago: "Uh, yeah, they're pretty much all corrupt with Russian money." Nothing we didn't know, but it's good to know that it's on Mueller's radar. If Blavatnik could be found to have laundered money from anyone on the Magnitsky list and dispersed that through the party, that's gonna make a truth and reconcilliation period pretty much mandatory, 'cause that, along with everything else done in the interim, is beyond illegal.
posted by eclectist at 9:19 AM on January 29, 2019 [54 favorites]
"The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC run by Sen. McConnell’s former Chief of Staff, received a total of $3,500,000 ($2,500,000 in 2016 and $1,000,000 in 2017) via Access Industries and a subsidiary. Len Blavatnik is a Russian oligarch with US and UK citizenship who owns Access Industries and donated to Sen. McConnell’s 2016 Senate campaign vehicles. Blavatnik’s Access Industries made many of its billions from Putin’s decisions about its Russian oil partnership. He is also a long-term business partner of Kremlin-linked Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska at RuSal, in which he is a major investor, as well as Viktor Vekselberg, who is entangled with Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen through his U.S. family office Columbus Nova."
Later in the article: "Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is also a longtime business partner of Blavatnik", and even later "Blavatnik gave a total of $7.35 million to PACs working for high-ranking Republicans including organizations linked to both the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader during the 2015–16 federal campaign cycle. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is probing donor Blavatnik for his ties to Donald Trump and specifically a million dollar inaugural donation.
Forbes amply documented Blavatnik’s source funds from the Kremlin in 2013 by exhibiting a copy of the wire transfer itself in a story entitled “The Four Horsemen of Russia’s Economic Collapse.” It described his sale of a private Russian oil company to state-controlled Rosneft."
So, the answer to the question posed lo these many moons ago: "Uh, yeah, they're pretty much all corrupt with Russian money." Nothing we didn't know, but it's good to know that it's on Mueller's radar. If Blavatnik could be found to have laundered money from anyone on the Magnitsky list and dispersed that through the party, that's gonna make a truth and reconcilliation period pretty much mandatory, 'cause that, along with everything else done in the interim, is beyond illegal.
posted by eclectist at 9:19 AM on January 29, 2019 [54 favorites]
How President Trump Is Like A Terrible Poker Player (Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight)
Trump [...] has gotten a long way on the basis of hustle and luck — he was lucky in several important respects to be elected president. There are some cases in which he has displayed solid (if unconventional) tactical instincts, from his negotiations with foreign leaders to his handling of the media to his belittling of his primary opponents. That’s not to say he always gets these decisions right or even does so anywhere near approaching a majority of the time. But he gets enough “wins” — he became president of the United States! — to sustain his ego and not prompt a lot of self-reflection.posted by ZeusHumms at 9:20 AM on January 29, 2019 [11 favorites]
But Trump has no sense for which battles to pick and seemingly little awareness of his own unpopularity and the consequences it has for the presidency. Moreover, although Trump sometimes seems to realize when he has gotten himself into a no-win position, he doesn’t recognize how often his own decisions are responsible for putting him there. The presidency is a long game, and a much harder one than being a real-estate developer or a reality television host. The scary possibility for Trump — and I do mean merely a possibility — isn’t that the chaos of the shutdown, coming on the heels of the midterms and as the Russia investigation still looms over him, is a new low for him. It’s that it’s the new normal.
I honestly don't think my heart can take two years of presidential horse race polls. Gonna need to write a browser script to replace poll data with pictures of corgi puppies or something.
posted by gwint at 9:21 AM on January 29, 2019 [33 favorites]
posted by gwint at 9:21 AM on January 29, 2019 [33 favorites]
In the interests of accuracy, Maddow may be the first TV anchor to connect these dots on-air but people online have been pointing it out for some time now.>
This movie s also where the "and prayer rugs are being found on the banks of the Rio Grande!" stuff comes from, which I brought up 10,000 years ago in a previous MegaThread™. Although I don't think Trump uses that in speeches, someone else is saying it as a reason for the wall.
posted by sideshow at 9:28 AM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
This movie s also where the "and prayer rugs are being found on the banks of the Rio Grande!" stuff comes from, which I brought up 10,000 years ago in a previous MegaThread™. Although I don't think Trump uses that in speeches, someone else is saying it as a reason for the wall.
posted by sideshow at 9:28 AM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
How President Trump Is Like A Terrible Poker Player
In this analogy, I guess he was a whale being bankrolled by mobsters who owned him due to prior debts, and wound up winning the World Series of Poker sort of by accident because the mob was helping him cheat?
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:38 AM on January 29, 2019 [38 favorites]
In this analogy, I guess he was a whale being bankrolled by mobsters who owned him due to prior debts, and wound up winning the World Series of Poker sort of by accident because the mob was helping him cheat?
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:38 AM on January 29, 2019 [38 favorites]
Although I don't think Trump uses that in speeches, someone else is saying it as a reason for the wall.
Adam Serwer, the Atlantic, 1/18/19: Donald Trump tweeted about a story from the Washington Examiner that cited an anonymous rancher who claimed that Muslim “prayer rugs” were found at the U.S. border.
So some rancher watched Sicario, was quoted anonymously by a partisan News* source, and it ended up in the presidents twitter feed.
Honestly sort of surprised Liam Neeson never came up for secretary of state. [taken reference]
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 9:43 AM on January 29, 2019 [20 favorites]
Adam Serwer, the Atlantic, 1/18/19: Donald Trump tweeted about a story from the Washington Examiner that cited an anonymous rancher who claimed that Muslim “prayer rugs” were found at the U.S. border.
So some rancher watched Sicario, was quoted anonymously by a partisan News* source, and it ended up in the presidents twitter feed.
Honestly sort of surprised Liam Neeson never came up for secretary of state. [taken reference]
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 9:43 AM on January 29, 2019 [20 favorites]
Exclusive: Clemson’s Black Players Refused to Accept Donald Trump’s Invitation to the McCookout (The Root)
“It wasn’t like we had a team meeting or anything,” said one of Clemson’s offensive stars who spoke with The Root on the condition of anonymity. “Players were talking amongst each other but everybody was like: ‘I’m not going to that.’”posted by box at 9:44 AM on January 29, 2019 [75 favorites]
....
In total, 15 of the University’s black players listed on the school’s official roster attended the White House visit, the vast majority of whom (11) were freshmen or sophomores who had very little playing time during the season. Just one senior made the trip and only six of the players in attendance were even listed on Clemson’s national championship depth chart. There are at least 57 black student-athletes on Clemson’s official team roster, which means 74 percent of Clemson’s African-American players chose not to make the trip to the White House.
....
“So, you think players just wanted to go to classes so bad?” another sophomore member of the team asked rhetorically. “They told us it was up to us. Folk just didn’t want to go.”
because the Democratic establishment (however we define that)
I wonder how many people who use the phrase "Democratic establishment" unironically have ever worked a national election campaign.
I did some volunteer engineering work for the DNC and Hillary's people in 2016, and we couldn't even get on the calendar of many of the more local Democratic groups. Like, HRC's people from Brooklyn are calling them to onboard their people with something I was help building to get people to the polls, and the dude in charge of somewhere like Pittsburg is "nah, thanks but no thanks DNC/HRC Campaign, we know more about this then you do."
So, "however we define that" is closer to "does not exist" as anything.
posted by sideshow at 9:44 AM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
I wonder how many people who use the phrase "Democratic establishment" unironically have ever worked a national election campaign.
I did some volunteer engineering work for the DNC and Hillary's people in 2016, and we couldn't even get on the calendar of many of the more local Democratic groups. Like, HRC's people from Brooklyn are calling them to onboard their people with something I was help building to get people to the polls, and the dude in charge of somewhere like Pittsburg is "nah, thanks but no thanks DNC/HRC Campaign, we know more about this then you do."
So, "however we define that" is closer to "does not exist" as anything.
posted by sideshow at 9:44 AM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
Just when you thought the GOP's tactics for the next three weeks couldn't get any stupider: Graham urges Trump to tie debt limit to border security funding
The Shutdown II, now with astronomically worse domestic and global repercussions!
posted by zombieflanders at 9:52 AM on January 29, 2019 [9 favorites]
The Shutdown II, now with astronomically worse domestic and global repercussions!
posted by zombieflanders at 9:52 AM on January 29, 2019 [9 favorites]
This movie s also where the "and prayer rugs are being found on the banks of the Rio Grande!" stuff comes from, which I brought up 10,000 years ago in a previous MegaThread™. Although I don't think Trump uses that in speeches, someone else is saying it as a reason for the wall.
It is more accurate to say the movie used an old fake story. This nonsense dates back over a decade.
posted by phearlez at 9:54 AM on January 29, 2019 [10 favorites]
It is more accurate to say the movie used an old fake story. This nonsense dates back over a decade.
posted by phearlez at 9:54 AM on January 29, 2019 [10 favorites]
@MuslimIQ This is brilliant. A follow up to the earlier video of the oblivious billionaire.
Watch these two scholars shut down another set of oblivious wealthy people.
Davos Panelist Calls Out Davos For Not Addressing the Obvious
‘It feels like I’m at a firefighters conference and no one’s allowed to speak about water.’ — This historian wasn’t afraid to confront the billionaires at Davos about their greed
[video]
posted by scalefree at 9:55 AM on January 29, 2019 [87 favorites]
Watch these two scholars shut down another set of oblivious wealthy people.
Davos Panelist Calls Out Davos For Not Addressing the Obvious
‘It feels like I’m at a firefighters conference and no one’s allowed to speak about water.’ — This historian wasn’t afraid to confront the billionaires at Davos about their greed
[video]
posted by scalefree at 9:55 AM on January 29, 2019 [87 favorites]
Howard Schultz's Hostage Negotiation (Paul Blest, Splinter News)
Schultz’s purpose so far appears to be to warn the Democratic Party: If you nominate someone who wants me to pay the relative equivalent of breadcrumbs in order to fund a safety net, someone who won’t resuscitate the long-dead corpse of the Bill Clinton 1992 campaign but rather runs a forward-looking progressive campaign, I will stay in the race and throw the election to Trump.posted by ZeusHumms at 10:50 AM on January 29, 2019 [62 favorites]
This is not a presidential campaign. It’s a hostage negotiation, and Schultz’s prisoners are Democratic primary voters.
WaPo has a DPRK scoop: Russia Secretly Offered North Korea a Nuclear Power Plant, Officials Say
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:53 AM on January 29, 2019 [3 favorites]
Russian officials made a secret proposal to North Korea last fall aimed at resolving deadlocked negotiations with the Trump administration over its nuclear weapons program, said U.S. officials familiar with the discussions.Politico reports from today's Senate Intelligence Committee hearings: U.S. Intelligence Chief Breaks With Trump on North Korea, Iran, ISIS—Dan Coats says North Korea is not likely to give up their nukes and that ISIS is far from defeated.
In exchange for dismantling its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, Moscow offered the country a nuclear power plant.
The Russian offer, which intelligence officials became aware of in late 2018, marks a new attempt by Moscow to intervene in the high-stakes nuclear talks as it reasserts itself into a string of geopolitical flash points from the Middle East to South Asia to Latin America. Its latest bid is expected to unsettle Chinese and U.S. officials wary of granting Moscow an economic foothold on the Korean Peninsula.
"We currently assess that North Korea will seek to retain its [weapons of mass destruction] capabilities and is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capabilities because its leaders ultimately view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival," Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said during a hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee.[…]@realDonaldTrump recently complained, "The Media is not giving us credit for the tremendous progress we have made with North Korea. Think of where we were at the end of the Obama Administration compared to now. Great meeting this week with top Reps. Looking forward to meeting with Chairman Kim at end of February!" and that "more than has ever been accomplished with North Korea, and the Fake News knows it."
[Coats] said that their assessments and observations show that some of North Korea's activity is "inconsistent with full denuclearization."
Coats added, "While we assess that sanctions on exports have been effective and largely maintained, North Korea seeks to mitigate the effects of the U.S.-led pressure campaign through diplomatic engagement, counter-pressure against the sanctions regime and direct sanctions evasion."
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:53 AM on January 29, 2019 [3 favorites]
WOW, in today's editions of HUGE IF TRUE:
Chris Hayes (via twitter):
NEWS
A reliable source tells me that Chuck Schumer called STACEY ABRAMS three weeks ago to ask her to deliver the Democratic response to the State of the Union.
CHUCK YES!
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:09 AM on January 29, 2019 [78 favorites]
Chris Hayes (via twitter):
NEWS
A reliable source tells me that Chuck Schumer called STACEY ABRAMS three weeks ago to ask her to deliver the Democratic response to the State of the Union.
CHUCK YES!
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:09 AM on January 29, 2019 [78 favorites]
Exclusive: Clemson’s Black Players Refused to Accept Donald Trump’s Invitation to the McCookout (The Root)
When asked if they regretted their decision to stay in South Carolina once they saw the piles of cold McMeat their teammates got to enjoy, all three laughed.posted by kirkaracha at 11:12 AM on January 29, 2019 [51 favorites]
“Now if it was some Five Guys, I might feel different,” responded one.
Trump Administration Begins Production Of A New Nuclear Weapon
I asked a friend with extensive experience with nuclear weapons what he thought of this development, here's his reply.
posted by scalefree at 11:17 AM on January 29, 2019 [75 favorites]
I asked a friend with extensive experience with nuclear weapons what he thought of this development, here's his reply.
No [scalefree], I'm right there on the ledge with you: I just rote this response to Richard Clark.Building a meant-to-be-used (is there anyone who doubts Trump's intention?) pony nuke in the first place is madness. Deploying it on a ballistic missile sub in replacement for a much more powerful warhead it would be indistinguishable from at launch or in flight is suicidal. Any nuclear-capable nation that sees one of these launch in the vicinity of their theater would be forced to launch a full strike on detection.
"There is no valid case for removing the secondary from a strategic weapon typically (Exclusively?) launched from a strategic platform.
This is the kind of thinking colloquially described in military post-graduate circles as being from the Fulda-Fucktard school of modern warfare. As Max Brooks so eloquently put it: " [T]he Fulda Fucktards, you know, those generals who spent their nard-drop years training to defend West Germany from Ivan. Tight assed, narrow minded... "
Describing the W76-2 as a 'Tactical', 'Nuclear', 'Weapon' is literally wrong on all counts. The idea that a Ohio Skipper would be comfortable swapping out both doctrine (deterrence patrol), and capability ( W88 & W76) for this mission and warhead is ludicrous.
Would any nuclear capable opponent with a global surveillance capability refrain from massive counter attack upon the detection of a sea-launched weapon in a ballistic trajectory? I fucking think not, and certain wouldn't bet my country on the discretion and restraint of some Russian RVSN Stárshiy Leytenánt."
posted by scalefree at 11:17 AM on January 29, 2019 [75 favorites]
eclectist: So, the answer to the question posed lo these many moons ago: "Uh, yeah, they're pretty much all corrupt with Russian money."
Meanwhile, Putin's Ministry of Justice says "some corruption is just going to happen, so let's make it legal" -- Russia Proposes Easing Laws On Corruption, Saying It's Unavoidable Sometimes (Bill Chappell for NPR, January 29, 2019)
In other news: Spy Boss Coats Warns That Russia, Others Plot New Interference Techniques For 2020 (Tim Mak for NPR, January 29, 2019)
Speaking of tactics of division, CNN thinks "deepfakes," modified videos where people are made to do or say things that they didn't actually do or say, are a growing threat, and platforms will have to filter videos to be proactive in this fight for truth.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:26 AM on January 29, 2019 [36 favorites]
Meanwhile, Putin's Ministry of Justice says "some corruption is just going to happen, so let's make it legal" -- Russia Proposes Easing Laws On Corruption, Saying It's Unavoidable Sometimes (Bill Chappell for NPR, January 29, 2019)
Russia's Ministry of Justice is proposing a change to make some corrupt acts exempt from punishment, if the corruption is found to be unavoidable. The proposed rule says officials and public figures could be exempt if "objective circumstances" made it impossible for them to comply with corruption laws.Emphasis mine -- I can't wait to hear how this sounds in English, when Trump decrees his crimes are not crimes.
Corruption that is "due to force majeure is not an offense," the proposal states. But it does not go into detail about the circumstances under which conflicts of interest, bribery, fraud and other offenses might be decriminalized.
The proposed rule, which is published online (Regulations.gov.ru), was created to fulfill a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin last year. Because of that order, several federal agencies are now working to amend Russia's corruption laws, with the Justice Ministry leading the effort along with the ministries of labor and internal affairs and the public prosecutors' office.
In other news: Spy Boss Coats Warns That Russia, Others Plot New Interference Techniques For 2020 (Tim Mak for NPR, January 29, 2019)
Russia and other foreign actors will try new techniques to interfere in the 2020 elections, building off the tactics they used in the 2016 and 2018 campaigns, America's top intelligence official warned Tuesday.Emphasis mine -- Trump is a Russian asset, even if (by some highly unlikely scenario) he didn't collude with Russia, because he fans the flames of division, which Russian (and Iranian, and others) happily spread far and wide.
"We assess that foreign actors will view the 2020 U.S. elections as an opportunity to advance their interests," Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told the Senate intelligence committee. "We expect them to refine their capabilities and add new tactics as they learn from each other's experiences and efforts."
...
Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the committee, said that the intelligence community has adapted to these perils since the 2016 campaign, although the threat continues.
"While we did see Russia continue to try to divide Americans on social media and we saw cyberactivity by unknown actors targeting our election infrastructure in 2018, the good news is that the [intelligence community] did not see successful efforts to disrupt the vote or the kind of 'hack and leak' operations we saw in 2016 against the DNC and [Hillary] Clinton campaign," Warner said.
But Warner also said that the core problem started within the United States itself — something the intelligence community can't address.
"Let us remember that while Russia can amplify our divisions, it cannot invent them," he said at Tuesday's hearing. "When a divisive issue like the 'take a knee' NFL controversy or a migrant caravan dominates the national dialogue, these are issues that can be — and are — taken advantage of by Russian trolls. Let's not make their work easier."
Speaking of tactics of division, CNN thinks "deepfakes," modified videos where people are made to do or say things that they didn't actually do or say, are a growing threat, and platforms will have to filter videos to be proactive in this fight for truth.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:26 AM on January 29, 2019 [36 favorites]
This is not a presidential campaign. It’s a hostage negotiation, and Schultz’s prisoners are Democratic primary voters.I'm sure that's the goal, but he's such a self-evident doofus that I'm not sure it's going to work. Who is his constituency? People who were really impressed by the Race Together idea, where random Starbucks customers were supposed to make their baristas uncomfortable by forcing them to discuss racism? He's a parody of a tone-deaf rich guy, and I don't think he's going to get any traction.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 11:31 AM on January 29, 2019 [18 favorites]
FT has a scoop on another Trump-Putin off-the-record conversation: Trump Sat Down With Putin At G20 Without US Note-taker
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:35 AM on January 29, 2019 [23 favorites]
Donald Trump sat down with Vladimir Putin for several minutes of conversation at the end of an evening event at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires in November, with no translator or note-taker from the US side to record the dialogue between the leaders, according to people who had direct knowledge of the encounter or were briefed on it.And like a game of hot potato, the US State Department, refusing to comment, referred the FT to the Trump White House, which, after having to admit the meeting took place, likewise refused to comment.
The discussions between the US and Russian presidents occurred at the 19th-century Colón theatre in the Argentine capital, as world leaders and their spouses or guests were streaming out of the building.
Mr Trump was accompanied by Melania Trump, his wife, but no staff, while Mr Putin was flanked by his translator. The four of them sat at a table and were among the last to leave.[…]
Mr Trump’s aides characterised the Putin encounter as one of several “informal” conversations that Mr Trump had with his counterparts that evening. The accounts of people familiar with the conversation said it appeared longer and more substantive than the White House has acknowledged.
According to a Russian government official’s account, the two leaders spoke for about 15 minutes about a number of foreign policy issues, including the Azov Sea incident, and the conflict in Syria. They also discussed when they could have a formal meeting, the official said.
Mr Trump explained that a full meeting with Mr Putin was impossible at the time, and the Russian leader responded by saying he “was not in a hurry” and remained ready to meet when it suited Mr Trump best, the Russian official said.
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:35 AM on January 29, 2019 [23 favorites]
So, if I'm understanding the thinking here. It's like we're in a fight, we've agreed not to use any of our many big, deadly knives. In a knife fight, even if you "win" you're definitely going to get stabbed and there is a very, very good chance that you'll die after you've "won" so we're all better off if no one uses them.
So what Trump wants to do it build a smaller knife thinking that it'll give us edge. What it actually does is, as soon as you stab the other guy, the other guys says, "Oh, I didn't think we were using knives. But if you want to turn this into a knife fight, I'm happy to oblige." The opponent then takes out a big knife/short sword so we get out our biggest knife and everyone dies.
That about the shape of it?
posted by VTX at 11:39 AM on January 29, 2019 [26 favorites]
So what Trump wants to do it build a smaller knife thinking that it'll give us edge. What it actually does is, as soon as you stab the other guy, the other guys says, "Oh, I didn't think we were using knives. But if you want to turn this into a knife fight, I'm happy to oblige." The opponent then takes out a big knife/short sword so we get out our biggest knife and everyone dies.
That about the shape of it?
posted by VTX at 11:39 AM on January 29, 2019 [26 favorites]
more or less
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 11:39 AM on January 29, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 11:39 AM on January 29, 2019 [4 favorites]
Is there a decent writeup on this new nuke thing? My father is an engineer in the war machine business, and seems like half the stuff he's doing these days was asked for during the GWB administration. Kind find it hard to believe that something asked for while Trump was POTUS is anywhere near field ready.
posted by sideshow at 11:41 AM on January 29, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by sideshow at 11:41 AM on January 29, 2019 [3 favorites]
So what Trump wants to do it build a smaller knife thinking that it'll give us edge.
I see what you did there.
What it actually does is, as soon as you stab the other guy, the other guys says, "Oh, I didn't think we were using knives. But if you want to turn this into a knife fight, I'm happy to oblige." The opponent then takes out a big knife/short sword so we get out our biggest knife and everyone dies.
No, it's worse and stupider. It's like producing a sword scabbard, making the other person grab for their own sword scabbard -- a missile launched from a ballistic missile submarine would provoke an immediate and massive response -- and yet the only thing you pull from the sword scabbard is a tiny pocketknife. While the other guy cuts you to ribbons with a sword.
posted by Gelatin at 11:42 AM on January 29, 2019 [26 favorites]
I see what you did there.
What it actually does is, as soon as you stab the other guy, the other guys says, "Oh, I didn't think we were using knives. But if you want to turn this into a knife fight, I'm happy to oblige." The opponent then takes out a big knife/short sword so we get out our biggest knife and everyone dies.
No, it's worse and stupider. It's like producing a sword scabbard, making the other person grab for their own sword scabbard -- a missile launched from a ballistic missile submarine would provoke an immediate and massive response -- and yet the only thing you pull from the sword scabbard is a tiny pocketknife. While the other guy cuts you to ribbons with a sword.
posted by Gelatin at 11:42 AM on January 29, 2019 [26 favorites]
WaPo is reporting that Abrams will give the SOTU response.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:45 AM on January 29, 2019 [57 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:45 AM on January 29, 2019 [57 favorites]
it's like acquiring an airsoft gun so you can shoot someone and hope they can tell the difference at range and not shoot back with a real gun.
posted by BungaDunga at 11:54 AM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by BungaDunga at 11:54 AM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
"Let us remember that while Russia can amplify our divisions, it cannot invent them," he said at Tuesday's hearing. "When a divisive issue like the 'take a knee' NFL controversy or a migrant caravan dominates the national dialogue, these are issues that can be — and are — taken advantage of by Russian trolls. Let's not make their work easier."
Hey, look! He made no attempt to both-sides this. The Republicans own the damage.
A thought about the speed of the Mueller investigation from abroad: at the end of the day, I think it is more important that no stone is left unturned than that Trump is impeached before the end of his term. The issue here is cleaning up corruption and treason at the highest levels of US government, so you guys can start over, sober and awake. I try the best I can not to be speculative, but right now it looks like several senators are also involved, and that means they'll be fighting teeth and nails against the impeachment proces. Mueller slowly but very steadily demonstrating the extent of the high crimes and misdemeanors is a solid approach. Hearings in the house built on Mueller's work as it goes along gets the reality out to the general public. Fox and Friends will call all reality a conspiracy everyday, but hey, they are already cracking at the seams.
But of course, that's just how I see it, not actually knowledge...
posted by mumimor at 12:01 PM on January 29, 2019 [21 favorites]
Hey, look! He made no attempt to both-sides this. The Republicans own the damage.
A thought about the speed of the Mueller investigation from abroad: at the end of the day, I think it is more important that no stone is left unturned than that Trump is impeached before the end of his term. The issue here is cleaning up corruption and treason at the highest levels of US government, so you guys can start over, sober and awake. I try the best I can not to be speculative, but right now it looks like several senators are also involved, and that means they'll be fighting teeth and nails against the impeachment proces. Mueller slowly but very steadily demonstrating the extent of the high crimes and misdemeanors is a solid approach. Hearings in the house built on Mueller's work as it goes along gets the reality out to the general public. Fox and Friends will call all reality a conspiracy everyday, but hey, they are already cracking at the seams.
But of course, that's just how I see it, not actually knowledge...
posted by mumimor at 12:01 PM on January 29, 2019 [21 favorites]
A couple of coal links: Coal will remain part of the US grid until 2050, federal energy projections say -- EIA's Annual Energy Outlook isn't without critics. (Megan Geuss for Ars Technica, Jan. 26, 2019)
Meanwhile in the US, Out-Of-Work Appalachian Coal Miners Train As Beekeepers To Earn Extra Cash (Jodi Helmer for NPR, January 28, 2019)
If only the Republicans cared as much about miners as they did about mine owners. "Saving coal" isn't going to save jobs, it'll keep mine owners making money.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:04 PM on January 29, 2019 [24 favorites]
On Thursday, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its 2019 Annual Energy Outlook (AEO), which contains projections about trends in energy—from the amount of fossil fuels produced and sold, to the growth of renewable energy—out to 2050.Good news! Some are planning a path forward without coal: It’ll cost $45 billion, but Germany proposes to eliminate coal in 19 years -- The plan includes $45 billion in aid to coal-reliant regions. (Megan Geuss for Ars Technica, Jan. 28, 2019)
This year, against the backdrop of recent warnings from top scientists about the urgency of climate action (Ars Technica), the EIA's projections don't look great. Coal, one of the most carbon-emitting sources of energy, is still projected to provide 17 percent of the United States' electricity in 2050, and that's assuming that no carbon-capture technology has been made mandatory. Natural gas—a fossil fuel that is less carbon-emitting than coal but still a problem for climate change—will increase its share of US electricity production from 34 percent to 39 percent.
These projections are from the EIA's "reference case," which omits any predictions about unplanned policy changes. But they do contain assumptions about how technology will change and the economy will grow. In the EIA's own words (PDF), "The AEO2019 Reference case represents EIA's best assessment of how US and world energy markets will operate through 2050, based on many key assumptions. For instance, the Reference-case projection assumes improvement in known energy production, delivery, and consumption technology trends."
As such, the projections give us a view into a world where we stick to today's status quo well into the future.
Needs a grain of salt
The EIA stresses that its predictions aren't gospel and can't take everything into account—history rarely follows a straight path, and that makes projections of the future inherently unreliable.
But critics of the EIA's Annual Energy Outlook say that its reference case (and even the six "side cases" that it outlines in its report) favors fossil fuels. (The six side cases are high and low oil price, high and low gas production, and high and low US economic growth. There are no outlined cases for renewable development or storage cost, for example.)
On Saturday, a German commission made up of federal and state leaders as well as industry representatives, environmentalists, and scientists agreed on a proposal to close all of Germany's 84 remaining coal plants by 2038. The proposal is expected to be adopted by Chancellor Angela Merkel's government, according to the Los Angeles Times.According to EIA, in 2017 coal provided 1,206 billion kWhs, or 29.9% of the country's energy, so we're using less, percentage-wise than Germany, but I'm not sure how much production that is in Germany, so it's not apples-to-apples. Still, fooking fantastic work, Germany!
The closures would be compensated with €40 billion ($45.7 billion) in government aid, which would be directed toward communities hardest hit by coal closures. Currently, coal is a major component of Germany's energy sector. Last year, it provided the country with 38 percent of its energy, according to the Fraunhofer Institute. The country is situated near substantial resources of cheap lignite coal.
Meanwhile in the US, Out-Of-Work Appalachian Coal Miners Train As Beekeepers To Earn Extra Cash (Jodi Helmer for NPR, January 28, 2019)
Just like his grandfather and father before him, James Scyphers spent almost two decades mining coal in West Virginia.So the title is misleading, as this guy isn't unemployed, he's underemployed, at least compared to what he was making in the mines.
"These were the best jobs in the area; we depended on 'em," he recalls.
But mining jobs started disappearing, declining from 132,000 in 1990 to 53,000 in 2018, devastating the area's economy. In a state that now has the lowest labor-force participation rate in the nation, the long-term decline of coal mining has left West Virginia residents without new options to make a living.
Scyphers was fortunate to find a construction job, but it paid two-thirds less than what he earned underground. He often took odd jobs to make ends meet. One of those odd jobs included building hives and tending bees for the Appalachian Beekeeping Collective.
"I wish this group had been here 30 years ago," he says. "Our region needs it."
Appalachian Headwaters operates the Appalachian Beekeeping Collective. The nonprofit was formed in 2016 to invest a $7.5 million settlement from a lawsuit against coal mine operator Alpha Natural Resources for violations of the Clean Water Act. The money has been used to fund environmental restoration projects and to develop sustainable economic opportunities in the once-thriving coal-mining communities of West Virginia.
If only the Republicans cared as much about miners as they did about mine owners. "Saving coal" isn't going to save jobs, it'll keep mine owners making money.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:04 PM on January 29, 2019 [24 favorites]
Is there a decent writeup on this new nuke thing?
It's getting picked up by a number of news orgs but the site that has by far the most information about it is Exchange Monitor, who originally discovered it in response to a FOIA request. Some of it's behind their very high priced (~$2K/year) paywall but a fair amount's out in the open.
My father is an engineer in the war machine business, and seems like half the stuff he's doing these days was asked for during the GWB administration. Kind find it hard to believe that something asked for while Trump was POTUS is anywhere near field ready.
It's not a new weapon per se. Modern nuclear weapons have two stages, fission & fusion. You use the first to ignite the second. The W76-1 is one of those. The new W76-2 is just a W76-1 with stage 2 disabled.
posted by scalefree at 12:04 PM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
It's getting picked up by a number of news orgs but the site that has by far the most information about it is Exchange Monitor, who originally discovered it in response to a FOIA request. Some of it's behind their very high priced (~$2K/year) paywall but a fair amount's out in the open.
My father is an engineer in the war machine business, and seems like half the stuff he's doing these days was asked for during the GWB administration. Kind find it hard to believe that something asked for while Trump was POTUS is anywhere near field ready.
It's not a new weapon per se. Modern nuclear weapons have two stages, fission & fusion. You use the first to ignite the second. The W76-1 is one of those. The new W76-2 is just a W76-1 with stage 2 disabled.
posted by scalefree at 12:04 PM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
Nuclear armed submarines help keep us safe from a nuclear war because other nations know that even if they were to take out the majority of the land-based ICBMs and whatever bombers we have on standby with nuclear capability, the subs would still be able to blast the aggressors. Basically, you can't win. Putting crippled weapons on the nuke subs is a big mistake.
posted by azpenguin at 12:16 PM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by azpenguin at 12:16 PM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
Basically, you can't win. Putting crippled weapons on the nuke subs is a big mistake.
Well: “mistake” — from the POV of the president’s bosses, fucking with US submarines would be a feature, not a bug. At the very least it throws the DoD into even more chaos and does even more damage to US relations, all without firing a shot.
posted by Celsius1414 at 12:22 PM on January 29, 2019 [10 favorites]
Well: “mistake” — from the POV of the president’s bosses, fucking with US submarines would be a feature, not a bug. At the very least it throws the DoD into even more chaos and does even more damage to US relations, all without firing a shot.
posted by Celsius1414 at 12:22 PM on January 29, 2019 [10 favorites]
The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner, by Daniel Ellseberg, is a really good resource for details about how our Nuke strategy works. In the last chapter, he advocates complete, unilateral disarmament. But recognizing that'd be politically impossible, he suggests starting with land-based disarmament, because the subs by themselves provide enough deterrence to meet all the MAD goals.
posted by another_20_year_lurker at 12:24 PM on January 29, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by another_20_year_lurker at 12:24 PM on January 29, 2019 [9 favorites]
He wants a nuke he can use, he's on record saying so. Even if that was a good idea which it isn't, this is the worst way to go about it because you can't fire one of these without triggering WW3. It's just stupid & pointless. Because of course.
posted by scalefree at 12:27 PM on January 29, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by scalefree at 12:27 PM on January 29, 2019 [12 favorites]
The deterrence theory for the W76-2, from the folks who previously brought you such hits as Mutual Assured Destruction and Massive Retaliation, goes something like this: The Russians have a whole bunch of low-yield nuclear weapons while the US, in its ballistic missile forces, have almost entirely strategic-level moderate and high yield weapons. So the fear is the Russians might use low yield or tactical nukes on our forces in the belief that we won't be willing retaliate by escalating the conflict to city busters (MAD). By producing a submarine launched alternative with relatively low yield policy makers give US forces the ability to retaliate to low yield Russian nukes with our own submarine launch capabale low yield stuff in a tit-for-tat fashion rather than massive retaliation escalation.
If you wonder how the Russians, who must obviously decide how to retaliate to our launches, make the determination as to whether the ballistic missiles flying towards their forces and territory are W76-1 city busters or W76-2 lower yield weapons, well, they have to wait until the things explode and they can see the blasts... because W76-1 and W76-2 weapons look exactly the same when you launch 'em! The Russians would have no idea what's flying towards them while they are formulating their response. So that's a thing!
If this sounds like some Dr. Strangelove shit I guess you aren't a US military theorist working for the Trump administration and furthermore are probably a communist sympathizer.
posted by Justinian at 12:28 PM on January 29, 2019 [27 favorites]
If you wonder how the Russians, who must obviously decide how to retaliate to our launches, make the determination as to whether the ballistic missiles flying towards their forces and territory are W76-1 city busters or W76-2 lower yield weapons, well, they have to wait until the things explode and they can see the blasts... because W76-1 and W76-2 weapons look exactly the same when you launch 'em! The Russians would have no idea what's flying towards them while they are formulating their response. So that's a thing!
If this sounds like some Dr. Strangelove shit I guess you aren't a US military theorist working for the Trump administration and furthermore are probably a communist sympathizer.
posted by Justinian at 12:28 PM on January 29, 2019 [27 favorites]
I don't know how anyone else feels but from my perspective as a GenXer freaking out about nukes feels completely impossible/pointless. I grew up feeling a certainty that eventually there'd be a flash and life would be over. It wasn't till the early 90s till I saw contrails in the sky without a bit of a twinge thinking well is that it? To fall back into thinking my government is going to go down a road of madness and brinksmanship.... just feels like life.
I'm not saying we shouldn't react, but the idea of reacting here feels so unlike any other political situation, even the abortion fight that has been going on my whole life, where my reaction is an immediate fuck you, time to give someone an earfull. Perhaps this sense of what the hell am I supposed to say to my rep if I call them? is how most other people feel about that.
posted by phearlez at 12:30 PM on January 29, 2019 [26 favorites]
I'm not saying we shouldn't react, but the idea of reacting here feels so unlike any other political situation, even the abortion fight that has been going on my whole life, where my reaction is an immediate fuck you, time to give someone an earfull. Perhaps this sense of what the hell am I supposed to say to my rep if I call them? is how most other people feel about that.
posted by phearlez at 12:30 PM on January 29, 2019 [26 favorites]
Who is his constituency? People who were really impressed by the Race Together idea, where random Starbucks customers were supposed to make their baristas uncomfortable by forcing them to discuss racism? He's a parody of a tone-deaf rich guy, and I don't think he's going to get any traction.
My feeling here is that not only is he unlikely to win big with a "slightly-more-charismatic-than Joe Lieberman/slightly-more-liberal-than-Lamar-Alexander" shtick, a year of focus on his inane grandpa platitudes is much more likely to get him nothing but relentless dunking and bad PR.
posted by octobersurprise at 12:42 PM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
My feeling here is that not only is he unlikely to win big with a "slightly-more-charismatic-than Joe Lieberman/slightly-more-liberal-than-Lamar-Alexander" shtick, a year of focus on his inane grandpa platitudes is much more likely to get him nothing but relentless dunking and bad PR.
posted by octobersurprise at 12:42 PM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
Steven Mnuchin Draws Claims of Conflict of Interest in Decision on Russian Oligarch. This is a massive scandal in plain sight, please let it get more traction.
posted by mcstayinskool at 1:11 PM on January 29, 2019 [63 favorites]
posted by mcstayinskool at 1:11 PM on January 29, 2019 [63 favorites]
Mod note: Trump with nukes is obviously bad, but let's try to avoid full-on doomsday prophecies.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 1:25 PM on January 29, 2019 [13 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 1:25 PM on January 29, 2019 [13 favorites]
Reuters: Democrats still push Trump on Rusal sanctions deal
posted by Doktor Zed at 1:45 PM on January 29, 2019 [28 favorites]
U.S. congressional Democrats said on Tuesday they are not satisfied with the Trump administration’s decision to ease sanctions on companies linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, demanding briefings and planning legislation.Waters, Schiff, and Engel want Mnuchin to turn over all documentation by Feb. 5th.
“We are considering additional legislative actions to ensure that (the U.S.) Treasury and these companies comply with the agreement in letter and in spirit,” the four Democratic chairs of the House Ways and Means, Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Financial Services committees said in a joint statement.
And Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to request ongoing briefings from the administration on the deal it reached to ease sanctions on the companies.
posted by Doktor Zed at 1:45 PM on January 29, 2019 [28 favorites]
I hope everyone's sitting down when I mention that NPR let Chris Christie downplay the Trump campaign's treason.
The Trump campaign didn't need a "Tom Clancy-type operation," the Trump campaign just had to accept what Russia was offering. And we already know from the infamous Trump Tower meeting, which Trump himself crafted a lie about, that the campaign was willing to accept Russian help. Former NPR national security correspondent Mary Louise Kelly did not see fit to point out this obvious fact.
(And as if collusion with Russia was the Trump campaign's only outrage, NPR -- good Ford, you were there!)
posted by Gelatin at 1:48 PM on January 29, 2019 [34 favorites]
“I hardly think that they were organized enough to put together a Tom Clancy-type operation with Russia. Now, I could be proven wrong on that because, as I said, I was not there most of the time from, I’d say about June or so going through all the way to the election because I was spending my time in the transition.”
The Trump campaign didn't need a "Tom Clancy-type operation," the Trump campaign just had to accept what Russia was offering. And we already know from the infamous Trump Tower meeting, which Trump himself crafted a lie about, that the campaign was willing to accept Russian help. Former NPR national security correspondent Mary Louise Kelly did not see fit to point out this obvious fact.
(And as if collusion with Russia was the Trump campaign's only outrage, NPR -- good Ford, you were there!)
posted by Gelatin at 1:48 PM on January 29, 2019 [34 favorites]
Steven Mnuchin Draws Claims of Conflict of Interest in Decision on Russian Oligarch. This is a massive scandal in plain sight, please let it get more traction.
In all fairness, in few administrations would "massive scandal in plain sight" have so much competition.
posted by Gelatin at 1:51 PM on January 29, 2019 [11 favorites]
In all fairness, in few administrations would "massive scandal in plain sight" have so much competition.
posted by Gelatin at 1:51 PM on January 29, 2019 [11 favorites]
Christie’s “they were too stupid to collude” means they don’t have anywhere else to hide.
posted by notyou at 1:53 PM on January 29, 2019 [36 favorites]
posted by notyou at 1:53 PM on January 29, 2019 [36 favorites]
Nita Lowey (D-NY), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, comes out against the bills to stop future shutdowns through automatic CRs:
While well intentioned, automatic Continuing Resolutions would weaken Congress’ power of the purse, shift power to the President, and make it much harder to fund investments important to working families. Discretionary spending should be subject to annual review by Congress, not indefinite autopilot.posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:57 PM on January 29, 2019 [7 favorites]
I intend to lead a House Appropriations Committee that will work in a bipartisan, collaborative way to responsibly fund the federal government on time. Together, we can prevent future government shutdowns without resorting to fundamental changes in the legislative process that bring with them serious unintended consequences.
He wants a nuke he can use, he's on record saying so. Even if that was a good idea which it isn't, this is the worst way to go about it because you can't fire one of these without triggering WW3. It's just stupid & pointless. Because of course.
And we have dial-a-yield nukes already.
posted by BungaDunga at 2:03 PM on January 29, 2019 [4 favorites]
And we have dial-a-yield nukes already.
posted by BungaDunga at 2:03 PM on January 29, 2019 [4 favorites]
Christie’s “they were too stupid to collude” means they don’t have anywhere else to hide.
The majority of criminal statutes don't require you to succeed at the crime you attempt to commit.
posted by srboisvert at 2:19 PM on January 29, 2019 [37 favorites]
The majority of criminal statutes don't require you to succeed at the crime you attempt to commit.
posted by srboisvert at 2:19 PM on January 29, 2019 [37 favorites]
This is not a presidential campaign. It’s a hostage negotiation, and Schultz’s prisoners are Democratic primary voters.
Way to read the room, dude. The president is a Russian half-asset, the Republicans are traitors and/or criminals, and the Democrats just won a wave election with outright socialists. (And this after Hillary Clinton got 3,000,000 more votes running the most progressive major campaign ever.) I don't think weak tea bothsidesism is going to fly.
posted by kirkaracha at 2:24 PM on January 29, 2019 [11 favorites]
Way to read the room, dude. The president is a Russian half-asset, the Republicans are traitors and/or criminals, and the Democrats just won a wave election with outright socialists. (And this after Hillary Clinton got 3,000,000 more votes running the most progressive major campaign ever.) I don't think weak tea bothsidesism is going to fly.
posted by kirkaracha at 2:24 PM on January 29, 2019 [11 favorites]
box: "which means 74 percent of Clemson’s African-American players chose not to make the trip to the White House"
There's that 26% again.
posted by schmod at 2:26 PM on January 29, 2019 [15 favorites]
There's that 26% again.
posted by schmod at 2:26 PM on January 29, 2019 [15 favorites]
[...] Patriot Pass. This software would create a central tool for small donors to contribute to Republican candidates of their choice.
Missing from the report is any explanation of how the tool would raise meaningful amounts of money. The reason Republicans haven't been raising large amounts from small donors isn't a lack of software backup: it's because large donors historically provided more money with far less effort.
In the absence of a massive candidate-driven attempt to attract small donations this looks more like a way to dilute the apparent significance of their reliance on large donors. It doesn't matter if the absolute donation size remains the same: it's still a plus for the Republicans if the app nudges a donor into converting one $5 donation into two $2.50 donations to two separate candidates. And, of course, (at least on Android) it will let the app's owners link donors to all their other activities: their location, their media consumption, and their other spending habits. They're going to be so microtargeted. Call it Griftr.
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:30 PM on January 29, 2019 [15 favorites]
Missing from the report is any explanation of how the tool would raise meaningful amounts of money. The reason Republicans haven't been raising large amounts from small donors isn't a lack of software backup: it's because large donors historically provided more money with far less effort.
In the absence of a massive candidate-driven attempt to attract small donations this looks more like a way to dilute the apparent significance of their reliance on large donors. It doesn't matter if the absolute donation size remains the same: it's still a plus for the Republicans if the app nudges a donor into converting one $5 donation into two $2.50 donations to two separate candidates. And, of course, (at least on Android) it will let the app's owners link donors to all their other activities: their location, their media consumption, and their other spending habits. They're going to be so microtargeted. Call it Griftr.
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:30 PM on January 29, 2019 [15 favorites]
The majority of criminal statutes don't require you to succeed at the crime you attempt to commit.
I believe it was Neal Katyal who said that conspiracy charges are all about uncompleted crimes.
posted by rhizome at 2:37 PM on January 29, 2019 [6 favorites]
I believe it was Neal Katyal who said that conspiracy charges are all about uncompleted crimes.
posted by rhizome at 2:37 PM on January 29, 2019 [6 favorites]
Missing from the report is any explanation of how the tool would raise meaningful amounts of money.
Automatic monthly donations that where the agreement for a donation to be automatic will be as opaque as legally possible, nearly impossible to shut off, and easy to forget about.
It's basically what the Trump campaign did and the most obvious explanation (though I'm sure there is more than one reason) for why the official 2020 Trump campaign started as soon as he was sworn in, they didn't want anything to disrupt the automatic, monthly donations that donors have forgotten about.
posted by VTX at 2:47 PM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
Automatic monthly donations that where the agreement for a donation to be automatic will be as opaque as legally possible, nearly impossible to shut off, and easy to forget about.
It's basically what the Trump campaign did and the most obvious explanation (though I'm sure there is more than one reason) for why the official 2020 Trump campaign started as soon as he was sworn in, they didn't want anything to disrupt the automatic, monthly donations that donors have forgotten about.
posted by VTX at 2:47 PM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
Brazilian Feds target Rio’s Trump Hotel project.
posted by adamvasco at 2:53 PM on January 29, 2019 [27 favorites]
posted by adamvasco at 2:53 PM on January 29, 2019 [27 favorites]
Momentum marketing was what it was called in the magazine trade when I was there, and it was something we were cautioned never to talk about in public. The forgotten subscriptions accounted for a surprisingly large amount of revenue, especially since they required no tending or outlay One of the addictive drugs of the industry which helped hollow it out.
posted by Devonian at 2:55 PM on January 29, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by Devonian at 2:55 PM on January 29, 2019 [12 favorites]
Brazilian Feds target Rio’s Trump Hotel project.
posted by adamvasco at 2:53 PM on January 29
THIS is why I love reading metafilter.
From the article: (you couldn't make this stuff up)
Brazil’s Federal Police launched an operation this morning to target a bribery scheme involving former and current directors of BRB — a bank controlled by the state administration of Brasília. In exchange, these directors would push for investments into the now-defunct Trump Hotel project in Rio de Janeiro (currently named LSH Lifestyle). At least five arrest warrants have been issued by a federal court in Brasília.
The list of investigated individuals is rather odd — including not only bank directors, but also the son and daughter of a 1980s soap opera star, and the grandson of the last president of Brazil’s military dictatorship. Paulo Renato Figueiredo, grandson of the late General João Baptista Figueiredo, has an arrest order against him. He currently lives abroad.
In 2013, Mr. Figueiredo became an associate to U.S. President Donald Trump to develop a luxury hotel in Rio’s flashy Barra da Tijuca neighborhood. He held a license to use the Trump Organization brand until 2016, when it pulled out from the deal two months after Mr. Figueiredo was placed under investigation.
At the time, the Trump Organization avoided mentioning the criminal investigation, blaming construction delays for pulling their brand from the project. Spokesperson Jennifer Rodstrom said at the time that “the developers of the Rio de Janeiro hotel are significantly behind on the completion of the property, and their vision for the hotel no longer aligns with the Trump Hotels brand.”
posted by bluesky43 at 2:59 PM on January 29, 2019 [21 favorites]
posted by adamvasco at 2:53 PM on January 29
THIS is why I love reading metafilter.
From the article: (you couldn't make this stuff up)
Brazil’s Federal Police launched an operation this morning to target a bribery scheme involving former and current directors of BRB — a bank controlled by the state administration of Brasília. In exchange, these directors would push for investments into the now-defunct Trump Hotel project in Rio de Janeiro (currently named LSH Lifestyle). At least five arrest warrants have been issued by a federal court in Brasília.
The list of investigated individuals is rather odd — including not only bank directors, but also the son and daughter of a 1980s soap opera star, and the grandson of the last president of Brazil’s military dictatorship. Paulo Renato Figueiredo, grandson of the late General João Baptista Figueiredo, has an arrest order against him. He currently lives abroad.
In 2013, Mr. Figueiredo became an associate to U.S. President Donald Trump to develop a luxury hotel in Rio’s flashy Barra da Tijuca neighborhood. He held a license to use the Trump Organization brand until 2016, when it pulled out from the deal two months after Mr. Figueiredo was placed under investigation.
At the time, the Trump Organization avoided mentioning the criminal investigation, blaming construction delays for pulling their brand from the project. Spokesperson Jennifer Rodstrom said at the time that “the developers of the Rio de Janeiro hotel are significantly behind on the completion of the property, and their vision for the hotel no longer aligns with the Trump Hotels brand.”
posted by bluesky43 at 2:59 PM on January 29, 2019 [21 favorites]
West Virginia Teachers Look to Strike Again: Republican legislators are trying to crush the teachers' insurgency where it began — West Virginia. But the state's teachers are preparing to strike again to stop them.
posted by homunculus at 4:21 PM on January 29, 2019 [29 favorites]
posted by homunculus at 4:21 PM on January 29, 2019 [29 favorites]
From MSNBC: GOP leaders push new tax cut to exclusively benefit the wealthy
It's another reminder that everything that's happening is international billionaires waging war on democracy, every where they can. GOP and Trump are not fighting for democracy.
posted by yesster at 4:29 PM on January 29, 2019 [44 favorites]
It's another reminder that everything that's happening is international billionaires waging war on democracy, every where they can. GOP and Trump are not fighting for democracy.
posted by yesster at 4:29 PM on January 29, 2019 [44 favorites]
Christie is also convinced that if Jared and Bannon hadn’t thrown his ‘30 binders of staff picks and executive orders drafted by roomfuls of lawyers,’ in the dumpster that America would be in a much better place right now. Just read his CHAPTER about Jared!
posted by tilde at 4:41 PM on January 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by tilde at 4:41 PM on January 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
The crazy part is they must think that [estate tax repeal] will help them with voters? As the article says, there is no chance of this passing the house. So unlike the first tax cut bill (unpopular but successful), this only makes sense if the GOP thinks it helps them to raise the issue again.
I suppose it could be "lets signal to our wealthy donors we still have their back".
posted by thefoxgod at 4:52 PM on January 29, 2019 [2 favorites]
I suppose it could be "lets signal to our wealthy donors we still have their back".
posted by thefoxgod at 4:52 PM on January 29, 2019 [2 favorites]
... running the most progressive major campaign ever ...
Um ... FDR?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 4:59 PM on January 29, 2019 [6 favorites]
Um ... FDR?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 4:59 PM on January 29, 2019 [6 favorites]
The crazy part is they must think that [estate tax repeal] will help them with voters?
Actually, I believe there would still be a lot of appeal in Middle America for this, where a lot of people still believe there are lots of family farms that would be positively affected by this change.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 5:04 PM on January 29, 2019 [4 favorites]
Actually, I believe there would still be a lot of appeal in Middle America for this, where a lot of people still believe there are lots of family farms that would be positively affected by this change.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 5:04 PM on January 29, 2019 [4 favorites]
John Bolton's notes on '5,000 troops to Colombia' spark speculation about military intervention in Venezuela
Ted Lieu responds
posted by growabrain at 5:17 PM on January 29, 2019 [28 favorites]
Ted Lieu responds
posted by growabrain at 5:17 PM on January 29, 2019 [28 favorites]
It's basically what the Trump campaign did and the most obvious explanation (though I'm sure there is more than one reason) for why the official 2020 Trump campaign started as soon as he was sworn in, they didn't want anything to disrupt the automatic, monthly donations that donors have forgotten about.
Another major reason is so Cheeto can keep doing rallies so he doesn't die from lack of adoration.
posted by duoshao at 5:21 PM on January 29, 2019 [5 favorites]
Another major reason is so Cheeto can keep doing rallies so he doesn't die from lack of adoration.
posted by duoshao at 5:21 PM on January 29, 2019 [5 favorites]
Um ... FDR?
Calling Clinton's 2016 campaign the Democrats' most progressive ever was pretty common in 2016. Even if that's hyperbolic it doesn't change my point that it was one of their most progressive campaigns and between that and the 2018 midterms I don't think people are looking for a centrist candidate.
The most progressive Democratic platform ever
Democrats Advance Most Progressive Platform in Party History
Hillary Clinton’s New Progressive Alignment
posted by kirkaracha at 5:42 PM on January 29, 2019 [11 favorites]
Calling Clinton's 2016 campaign the Democrats' most progressive ever was pretty common in 2016. Even if that's hyperbolic it doesn't change my point that it was one of their most progressive campaigns and between that and the 2018 midterms I don't think people are looking for a centrist candidate.
The most progressive Democratic platform ever
Democrats Advance Most Progressive Platform in Party History
Hillary Clinton’s New Progressive Alignment
posted by kirkaracha at 5:42 PM on January 29, 2019 [11 favorites]
The crazy part is they must think that [estate tax repeal] will help them with voters?
A good part of the Republican base consider themselves Temporarily Embarrassed Millionaires, or at least think they're entitled to be millionaires and if only all of the [gender or ethnic group] would stop conspiring against them they really could be. This is why they'll vote to support things that only benefit millionaires every time they can.
posted by mmoncur at 5:51 PM on January 29, 2019 [11 favorites]
A good part of the Republican base consider themselves Temporarily Embarrassed Millionaires, or at least think they're entitled to be millionaires and if only all of the [gender or ethnic group] would stop conspiring against them they really could be. This is why they'll vote to support things that only benefit millionaires every time they can.
posted by mmoncur at 5:51 PM on January 29, 2019 [11 favorites]
Anyone who thinks that an estate tax will hurt them either doesn't understand the estate tax, is a millionaire, or is about to become a millionaire.
posted by runcibleshaw at 5:55 PM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by runcibleshaw at 5:55 PM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
Ted Lieu responds
Also interesting in that Twitter thread: it looks like someone caught a hyperpolitical bot/shill account with strange hashtagging and 127,500 tweets since opening the account only 260 days ago. Or, a tweet every two minutes for 16 hours a day. It has over 8,000 followers.
Maybe that account is legit, maybe not. But it reminds me that we’ve really got to be on the alert for manipulation by social media. Particularly manipulation of our existing-but-sublimated internecine rivalries. This primary season is going to be prime time for provocateurs to sow dissent and stir up animosity among the different camps on the Left.
posted by darkstar at 5:55 PM on January 29, 2019 [18 favorites]
Also interesting in that Twitter thread: it looks like someone caught a hyperpolitical bot/shill account with strange hashtagging and 127,500 tweets since opening the account only 260 days ago. Or, a tweet every two minutes for 16 hours a day. It has over 8,000 followers.
Maybe that account is legit, maybe not. But it reminds me that we’ve really got to be on the alert for manipulation by social media. Particularly manipulation of our existing-but-sublimated internecine rivalries. This primary season is going to be prime time for provocateurs to sow dissent and stir up animosity among the different camps on the Left.
posted by darkstar at 5:55 PM on January 29, 2019 [18 favorites]
Last Friday, while most of us were paying attention to other things, this happened.
The White House quietly rolled back workplace safety rules during the shutdown (Alexia Fernández Campbell, Vox)
The White House quietly rolled back workplace safety rules during the shutdown (Alexia Fernández Campbell, Vox)
"Public health groups are suing the Trump administration for blocking a rule requiring employers to report details of workplace injuries."posted by ZeusHumms at 6:08 PM on January 29, 2019 [44 favorites]
On Friday, the Trump administration gutted a 2016 rule that required most employers to electronically submit detailed reports of all workplace injuries to the Department of Labor each year — reports they’ve long been required to keep, but never required to submit.
The Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses rule would have allowed the government, for the first time, to get more complete data on how many US workers are injured on the job and how those injuries happened. Enacted under the Obama administration, it was supposed to help inspectors identify dangerous work conditions, and in turn pressure businesses to comply with workplace safety laws.
But in 2017, the Trump administration put the electronic reporting rule on hold, then amended it this summer to let employers off the hook. Employers would no longer have to submit the detailed injury reports — just a summary report.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which reviews regulations before they are published, then rushed the amendment through the three-month review process in just six weeks — even though the office was closed during the shutdown and two-thirds of the office’s employees were furloughed. By Friday, the changes were finalized and published.
The move caught labor leaders off-guard and drew sharp criticism from public health researchers, who rely on injury data to analyze health risks and develop prevention programs. Public Citizen, a nonprofit group that promotes research-based policies to improve occupational health, immediately filed a lawsuit with two other public health groups to block the changes. The AFL-CIO labor federation accused the department of ramming through the controversial changes as a favor to big business groups, who oppose the rule.
Anyone who thinks that an estate tax will hurt them either doesn't understand the estate tax, is a millionaire, or is about to become a millionaire.I think your estate has to be significantly more than a million dollars for the estate tax to hit you. It was more like $5 million under the old rules, and it's more than $10 million now. It's really not a lot of people, and if you're one of those people, your heirs are going to be ok even if you have to pay estate tax.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:12 PM on January 29, 2019 [38 favorites]
In response to Individual-1's tweet whining about Roger Stone and maligning everybody he can think of, John Brennan's response (I wish I had written this....)
@JohnBrennan
Your cabal of unprincipled, unethical, dishonest, and sycophantic cronies is being methodically brought to justice. We all know where this trail leads. If your utter incompetence is not enough to run you out of office, your increasingly obvious political corruption surely will
posted by bluesky43 at 6:23 PM on January 29, 2019 [59 favorites]
@JohnBrennan
Your cabal of unprincipled, unethical, dishonest, and sycophantic cronies is being methodically brought to justice. We all know where this trail leads. If your utter incompetence is not enough to run you out of office, your increasingly obvious political corruption surely will
posted by bluesky43 at 6:23 PM on January 29, 2019 [59 favorites]
It's $11.18M per person (so $22.36M for a married couple) after the last tax bill. Which is way over the 99.5th percentile for net worth. (Whereas $1M is the 88th percentile, at least according to this calculator).
So yeah, even the vast majority of millionaires don't have to worry about the estate tax.
posted by thefoxgod at 6:26 PM on January 29, 2019 [27 favorites]
So yeah, even the vast majority of millionaires don't have to worry about the estate tax.
posted by thefoxgod at 6:26 PM on January 29, 2019 [27 favorites]
From MSNBC: GOP leaders push new tax cut to exclusively benefit the wealthy
Why stop there? I wish some Democratic congress person with a knack for trolling would introduce a bill to eliminate all taxation for people with net worth over $100M and further, to specify additional subsidies paid to those people, to be funded by taxing food. It'd be interesting to see how many cosponsors it gets.
posted by M-x shell at 6:44 PM on January 29, 2019 [13 favorites]
Why stop there? I wish some Democratic congress person with a knack for trolling would introduce a bill to eliminate all taxation for people with net worth over $100M and further, to specify additional subsidies paid to those people, to be funded by taxing food. It'd be interesting to see how many cosponsors it gets.
posted by M-x shell at 6:44 PM on January 29, 2019 [13 favorites]
The Trump Administration Is Trying to Make It Easier for Doctors to Deny Care to LGBTQ People: Health-care providers would be able to refuse to provide treatment, referrals, or assistance with procedures if these activities would violate their stated religious or moral convictions. "The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced last week that it is close to finalizing a conscience protection rule that would allow people to discriminate in health-care settings under cover of law."
posted by homunculus at 7:20 PM on January 29, 2019 [24 favorites]
posted by homunculus at 7:20 PM on January 29, 2019 [24 favorites]
The NYer's Isaac Chotiner grills Chris Sims: Cliff Sims Is Proud to Have Served Trump
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:21 PM on January 29, 2019 [26 favorites]
Sims: If you give Trump the benefit of the doubt on Charlottesville, if you like Trump, when he says there are good people on both sides, what you think is, There are good people who say, “We should not have these monuments because they are monuments to slavery and racism.” And then there are also good people who say—And to follow up @realDonald Trump's Tuesday morning tweet "A low level staffer that I hardly knew named Cliff Sims wrote yet another boring book based on made up stories and fiction. He pretended to be an insider when in fact he was nothing more than a gofer. He signed a non-disclosure agreement. He is a mess!", Chief Operating Officer of Donald J. Trump for President Michael Glassner promised, "The Trump campaign is preparing to file suit against Cliff Sims for violating our NDA."
Chotiner: Jews will not replace us?
Sims: “Slavery and racism are abhorrent, but we shouldn’t get rid of those monuments, because it is our history, even our bad history.” If you give him the benefit of the doubt, that’s what you think. If you think he is a racist, if you don’t like him, you hear that, you say, “Well, this guy is saying there is such a thing as a good white supremacist.”
Chotiner: The crowd was chanting “Jews will not replace us,” just to be clear. It wasn’t people just concerned with monuments.
Sims: I am not trying to relitigate the whole Charlottesville thing.
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:21 PM on January 29, 2019 [26 favorites]
I think your estate has to be significantly more than a million dollars for the estate tax to hit you. It was more like $5 million under the old rules, and it's more than $10 million now. It's really not a lot of people, and if you're one of those people, your heirs are going to be ok even if you have to pay estate tax.
You're right. I was thinking of the estate tax in NJ when I lived there which started at $675,000 at the time. I believe it's $2 million now. Anyway, that only reinforces my point. Only multi-millionaires should be worried about estate taxes.
posted by runcibleshaw at 7:42 PM on January 29, 2019
You're right. I was thinking of the estate tax in NJ when I lived there which started at $675,000 at the time. I believe it's $2 million now. Anyway, that only reinforces my point. Only multi-millionaires should be worried about estate taxes.
posted by runcibleshaw at 7:42 PM on January 29, 2019
If you're like most people, your end of life medical expenses will eat your entire estate before your kids get it any anyway.
posted by octothorpe at 7:48 PM on January 29, 2019 [51 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 7:48 PM on January 29, 2019 [51 favorites]
Dems demand records from Mnuchin on lifting sanctions on Deripaska-tied firms
Three top House Democrats have formally requested documents related to the Trump administration’s decision to lift sanctions on companies connected to a prominent Russian oligarch with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday, Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) asked for documents pertaining to the administration's decision to remove three companies previously controlled by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska from a list of sanctioned firms. They described the terms of the agreement under which Treasury agreed to lift the sanctions as “unusual” and alleged that “many questions remain unanswered.”
posted by Chrysostom at 7:51 PM on January 29, 2019 [21 favorites]
Three top House Democrats have formally requested documents related to the Trump administration’s decision to lift sanctions on companies connected to a prominent Russian oligarch with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday, Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) asked for documents pertaining to the administration's decision to remove three companies previously controlled by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska from a list of sanctioned firms. They described the terms of the agreement under which Treasury agreed to lift the sanctions as “unusual” and alleged that “many questions remain unanswered.”
posted by Chrysostom at 7:51 PM on January 29, 2019 [21 favorites]
The crazy part is they must think that [estate tax repeal] will help them with voters?
I’m pretty sure, if you asked random people on the street, a good majority would tell you everyone pays estate taxes. Seriously. People really have no clue about taxes.
It’s along the same line as when when you tell them so-and-so just won a boatload of money. You’re pretty guaranteed to hear someone make a crack about the government taking most of it.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:54 PM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
I’m pretty sure, if you asked random people on the street, a good majority would tell you everyone pays estate taxes. Seriously. People really have no clue about taxes.
It’s along the same line as when when you tell them so-and-so just won a boatload of money. You’re pretty guaranteed to hear someone make a crack about the government taking most of it.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:54 PM on January 29, 2019 [8 favorites]
Yet another drop from the the flood-of-questionable-maneuvers from this flailing administration, which we also sort of missed: apparently serious talks with the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan. (I guess with the new wars upcoming in Iran and Venezuela, they can let one go.)
The thing is, there's no reason to think that the conditions on the ground are any more conducive to a US departure than before Trump took office, and there's already pushback on Trump's right flank. Ryan Crocker: I was ambassador to Afghanistan. This deal is a surrender.
posted by msalt at 8:01 PM on January 29, 2019 [11 favorites]
The thing is, there's no reason to think that the conditions on the ground are any more conducive to a US departure than before Trump took office, and there's already pushback on Trump's right flank. Ryan Crocker: I was ambassador to Afghanistan. This deal is a surrender.
posted by msalt at 8:01 PM on January 29, 2019 [11 favorites]
“I hardly think that they were organized enough to put together a Tom Clancy-type operation with Russia. Now, I could be proven wrong on that because, as I said, I was not there most of the time from, I’d say about June or so going through all the way to the election because I was spending my time in the transition.”
I think it's evident Christie is trying to put himself as far away from the campaign as he can.
posted by chiquitita at 8:28 PM on January 29, 2019 [13 favorites]
I think it's evident Christie is trying to put himself as far away from the campaign as he can.
posted by chiquitita at 8:28 PM on January 29, 2019 [13 favorites]
Cheeto: "Cliff Sims wrote yet another boring book based on made up stories and fiction."
Trump campaign rep: "The Trump campaign is preparing to file suit against Cliff Sims for violating our NDA."
If someone writes a book that is completely fabricated is that still covered by an NDA?
posted by duoshao at 9:06 PM on January 29, 2019 [30 favorites]
Trump campaign rep: "The Trump campaign is preparing to file suit against Cliff Sims for violating our NDA."
If someone writes a book that is completely fabricated is that still covered by an NDA?
posted by duoshao at 9:06 PM on January 29, 2019 [30 favorites]
The sub-title of the book suggests it is about his time in the White House, not I-1's organisation, nor even his campaign. Surely there can't be any binding NDA regarding someone's time working for the Executive?
posted by GeckoDundee at 9:10 PM on January 29, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by GeckoDundee at 9:10 PM on January 29, 2019 [4 favorites]
It seems the answer is "it depends".
posted by GeckoDundee at 9:15 PM on January 29, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by GeckoDundee at 9:15 PM on January 29, 2019 [3 favorites]
Is an NDA typically enforceable if the thing not being disclosed is illegal activity?
posted by Mitheral at 9:36 PM on January 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Mitheral at 9:36 PM on January 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
The last time they tried to enforce an NDA, Michael Cohen wound up convicted and cooperating with Mueller. They probably ought to rethink this threat.
posted by notyou at 9:39 PM on January 29, 2019 [45 favorites]
posted by notyou at 9:39 PM on January 29, 2019 [45 favorites]
If they file suit on the NDA that means Cliff gets discovery?
posted by rhizome at 9:52 PM on January 29, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 9:52 PM on January 29, 2019 [12 favorites]
Trump had senior staff sign nondisclosure agreements. They’re supposed to last beyond his presidency.
In the early months of the administration, at the behest of now-President Trump, who was furious over leaks from within the White House, senior White House staff members were asked to, and did, sign nondisclosure agreements vowing not to reveal confidential information and exposing them to damages for any violation. Some balked at first but, pressed by then-Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and the White House Counsel’s Office, ultimately complied, concluding that the agreements would likely not be enforceable in any event.posted by kirkaracha at 10:00 PM on January 29, 2019 [11 favorites]
An NDA, as a contract, requires consideration in order to be enforceable. Salary and benefits with no NDA has been sufficient for prior Administrations. What other "consideration" is possibly on offer to Trump's staff? If there's no payoff, there's no constraint.
posted by yesster at 10:10 PM on January 29, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by yesster at 10:10 PM on January 29, 2019 [6 favorites]
He knows it isn't legal. It doesn't matter. The threat of having to pay lawyer fees to fend off a ridiculous lawsuit is threat enough for many.
posted by xammerboy at 10:16 PM on January 29, 2019 [36 favorites]
posted by xammerboy at 10:16 PM on January 29, 2019 [36 favorites]
And what's the penalty for violating the NDA? For most business NDAs, the penalty is "you owe us for all the lost business you cost us by spilling our secrets, plus you have to pay us back for all your bonuses." And maybe there's an assumed dollar amount attached, but mostly, it's "we can sue you for everything you own on the grounds that you've cost us some nebulous amount."
Working for the government isn't a for-profit business. Spilling secrets can't be said to have cost the employer millions. It might be said to be a danger to national security - but that's a criminal matter that can't be covered by breach-of-contract lawsuit.
I'm unsure if the president is even "the employer" legally. Cabinet members are appointed by the president and can be fired by him, but I'm not sure if they technically work for him rather than for "the government." Which would make the NDA just a private-citizen contract, and would need consideration not related to the employment to be valid.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 12:06 AM on January 30, 2019 [9 favorites]
Working for the government isn't a for-profit business. Spilling secrets can't be said to have cost the employer millions. It might be said to be a danger to national security - but that's a criminal matter that can't be covered by breach-of-contract lawsuit.
I'm unsure if the president is even "the employer" legally. Cabinet members are appointed by the president and can be fired by him, but I'm not sure if they technically work for him rather than for "the government." Which would make the NDA just a private-citizen contract, and would need consideration not related to the employment to be valid.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 12:06 AM on January 30, 2019 [9 favorites]
The amusing thing is that Trump, as president, could have made routine WH work for-real Secret by controlling classification. Yes, it would have been stupid and impractical, but he's a stupid and impractical guy. The real problem was that half of staff couldn't get clearances, lol.
posted by ryanrs at 1:05 AM on January 30, 2019 [19 favorites]
posted by ryanrs at 1:05 AM on January 30, 2019 [19 favorites]
Obviously the consideration for the NDA was continued employment in the WH. If you didn't sign it, you would be fired.
The problem is that Trump, either personally or via Trump Inc., is the beneficiary of the NDA. It's his name they aren''t allowed to disparage, he gets the fines if they tell all, etc. I really doubt those contracts say to send the fines to the US Treasury.
So Trump is receiving personal benefit in return for giving out a gov't job. That's probably illegal.
posted by ryanrs at 1:14 AM on January 30, 2019 [74 favorites]
The problem is that Trump, either personally or via Trump Inc., is the beneficiary of the NDA. It's his name they aren''t allowed to disparage, he gets the fines if they tell all, etc. I really doubt those contracts say to send the fines to the US Treasury.
So Trump is receiving personal benefit in return for giving out a gov't job. That's probably illegal.
posted by ryanrs at 1:14 AM on January 30, 2019 [74 favorites]
Roger Stone registered the domain name stonedefensefund.com 1 day after he testified in the House. (via reddit)
posted by ryanrs at 1:52 AM on January 30, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by ryanrs at 1:52 AM on January 30, 2019 [11 favorites]
He knows it isn't legal. It doesn't matter. The threat of having to pay lawyer fees to fend off a ridiculous lawsuit is threat enough for many.
Trump has skated on a lot of shitty behavior for decades by intimidating people with overwhelming legal force. My fantasy is that hundreds of small businesspeople, assaulted women and other victims realize that he's overwhelmed and hamstrung and that now is the time to either call his legal bluff or take the lead and sue him.
The Clinton precedent established that a President can't dodge private lawsuits. Every young or underemployed lawyer should be doing pro bono work seeking justice for unpaid workers, stiffed vendors and harassment victims from Trump.
posted by msalt at 2:18 AM on January 30, 2019 [48 favorites]
Trump has skated on a lot of shitty behavior for decades by intimidating people with overwhelming legal force. My fantasy is that hundreds of small businesspeople, assaulted women and other victims realize that he's overwhelmed and hamstrung and that now is the time to either call his legal bluff or take the lead and sue him.
The Clinton precedent established that a President can't dodge private lawsuits. Every young or underemployed lawyer should be doing pro bono work seeking justice for unpaid workers, stiffed vendors and harassment victims from Trump.
posted by msalt at 2:18 AM on January 30, 2019 [48 favorites]
For what it's worth, there are a fair number of current lawsuits against him, some for things I'd never even heard about before reading this Wikipedia article: Legal affairs of Donald Trump.
The problem is a system that gives so much benefit of the doubt to the ostensibly wealthy that "just suing" them doesn't tend to result in justice. If we want to see him on a witness stand in civil court, that would still take a federal judge determining that should happen.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 4:04 AM on January 30, 2019 [6 favorites]
The problem is a system that gives so much benefit of the doubt to the ostensibly wealthy that "just suing" them doesn't tend to result in justice. If we want to see him on a witness stand in civil court, that would still take a federal judge determining that should happen.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 4:04 AM on January 30, 2019 [6 favorites]
WaPo: ‘I want him to declare an emergency’: Eric Trump urges his father to use executive power to build a border wall
Politico: AOC’s far-right fan club
Featuring such hits as
posted by saysthis at 5:08 AM on January 30, 2019 [6 favorites]
In a Tuesday night interview on Fox News, Eric Trump said he wants his father, President Trump, to declare a national emergency to build a border wall if negotiations fall through with congressional Democrats. Sean Hannity, who reportedly has regular conversations with the president, responded that he believes Trump will do just that.Don't read it, there's nothing more to know except the part I quoted, just...that is a conversation that happened.
Politico: AOC’s far-right fan club
Featuring such hits as
“I aspire to be the conservative AOC,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) told POLITICO. Gaetz, an outspoken 36-year-old in his second term who has achieved a measure of prominence as a highly isible Trump defender, said there’s just one problem with that aspiration: “I can’t dance for shit.”And many more of your favorites, including Mike Cernovich, Newt Gingrich, Scott Adams, and Ann Coulter!
"AOC has what I call 'gameness' or competitive heart — the combination of grit, determination, fighting spirit that you can't coach,” Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, told POLITICO. “You either have it or you don't, and she has it big league."
posted by saysthis at 5:08 AM on January 30, 2019 [6 favorites]
highly isible Trump defender
There's a letter missing at the front of that word, and I think it's an R.
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:14 AM on January 30, 2019 [63 favorites]
There's a letter missing at the front of that word, and I think it's an R.
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:14 AM on January 30, 2019 [63 favorites]
Look, I'm not entirely comfortable with AOC's celebrity status. (I'm glad she won, I support many of her policies, and I'm interested to see where her career goes. But she's a junior representative with no prior experience in political office, and sick Twitter burns – as entertaining as they might be – are not legislation. Let's hold off on canonizing her just yet, maybe?)
That said: "the conservative AOC" is an oxymoron. Conservatives look at AOC, and see the way she captures media cycles and moves the Overton window, and they say "we want someone like that". But they completely fail to understand why she's captured people's attention.
It's because she's unafraid to point at injustice, and say "this is unjust; let's tear it down; and I don't want to hear that it isn't possible".
There is no conservative counterpart to that, because (in the United States) there is no vast structure of left-wing injustice to call out. Sure, you can manufacture scapegoats to demonize – but if that's what you're doing, you're not "the conservative AOC". You're just another cynical demagogue. You might succeed in capturing the news cycle and moving the Overton window – but riling up the sort of low-information marks who respond to demagoguery is not the same thing as inspiring people with a progressive vision for correcting corruption and injustice.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 5:25 AM on January 30, 2019 [64 favorites]
That said: "the conservative AOC" is an oxymoron. Conservatives look at AOC, and see the way she captures media cycles and moves the Overton window, and they say "we want someone like that". But they completely fail to understand why she's captured people's attention.
It's because she's unafraid to point at injustice, and say "this is unjust; let's tear it down; and I don't want to hear that it isn't possible".
There is no conservative counterpart to that, because (in the United States) there is no vast structure of left-wing injustice to call out. Sure, you can manufacture scapegoats to demonize – but if that's what you're doing, you're not "the conservative AOC". You're just another cynical demagogue. You might succeed in capturing the news cycle and moving the Overton window – but riling up the sort of low-information marks who respond to demagoguery is not the same thing as inspiring people with a progressive vision for correcting corruption and injustice.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 5:25 AM on January 30, 2019 [64 favorites]
Oh lord, I remember those NDAs from back when Omarosa was in the White House (remember that?). I believe their validity was covered in the press then, with the final conclusion of 'so ridiculous as to be legally nonsensical'. There's NO way to make them stick. Just bluster. Ignore.
posted by sexyrobot at 5:26 AM on January 30, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by sexyrobot at 5:26 AM on January 30, 2019 [7 favorites]
> I think it's evident Christie is trying to put himself as far away from the campaign as he can.
The only winning move was not to play, but it's too late for that.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:05 AM on January 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
The only winning move was not to play, but it's too late for that.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:05 AM on January 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
Look, I'm not entirely comfortable with AOC's celebrity status. (I'm glad she won, I support many of her policies, and I'm interested to see where her career goes. But she's a junior representative with no prior experience in political office, and sick Twitter burns – as entertaining as they might be – are not legislation. Let's hold off on canonizing her just yet, maybe?)
This standard isn't applied to any other freshman representative, and especially not to any cookie-cutter conservaDem that simply spouts the establishment party line of deficit reduction and tax cuts forever and ever. Are we haranguing Conor Lamb for his lack of legislative achievements in 26 days? Did we worry over Jon Osseff's lack of prior congressional experience? AOC has a real coherent policy vision, listen to her interviews and not just her twitter feed. There's a reason she got placed on finance, and she's behind many actual substantive positions, not just slinging sick twitter burns. None of her policies are actually going to pass as law as Congress is currently configured, so judging her on "where's her bills" is not a fair or intellectually honest critique.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:16 AM on January 30, 2019 [73 favorites]
This standard isn't applied to any other freshman representative, and especially not to any cookie-cutter conservaDem that simply spouts the establishment party line of deficit reduction and tax cuts forever and ever. Are we haranguing Conor Lamb for his lack of legislative achievements in 26 days? Did we worry over Jon Osseff's lack of prior congressional experience? AOC has a real coherent policy vision, listen to her interviews and not just her twitter feed. There's a reason she got placed on finance, and she's behind many actual substantive positions, not just slinging sick twitter burns. None of her policies are actually going to pass as law as Congress is currently configured, so judging her on "where's her bills" is not a fair or intellectually honest critique.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:16 AM on January 30, 2019 [73 favorites]
I don't think that was a judgement so much as a plea for people to withhold their judgement pending results.
My concern for the lionisation of AOC is that putting people on such a high pedestal means they have further to fall when they don't meet these unrealistic expectations for a new member of the HOR. I fear that there will be a counterproductive backlash when she has not personally dismantled late stage capitalism within her first term and that as a WOC the judgement will be ever harsher.
posted by chiquitita at 6:33 AM on January 30, 2019 [28 favorites]
My concern for the lionisation of AOC is that putting people on such a high pedestal means they have further to fall when they don't meet these unrealistic expectations for a new member of the HOR. I fear that there will be a counterproductive backlash when she has not personally dismantled late stage capitalism within her first term and that as a WOC the judgement will be ever harsher.
posted by chiquitita at 6:33 AM on January 30, 2019 [28 favorites]
Trump appears to be trying to pick a fight with Iran (and the U.S. intelligence services).
I realise the idea that building a border wall would somehow be a relevant response to an immediate international crisis with a country half-way round the planet is absurd. It's not like Iran is going to be sending undercover guerrilla fighters over the border with Mexico, and even if they were then the wall wouldn't be complete for years. But that is a reality-based quibble, so not really relevant.
posted by Buntix at 6:35 AM on January 30, 2019 [6 favorites]
The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran. They are wrong! When I became President Iran was making trouble all over the Middle East, and beyond. Since ending the terrible Iran Nuclear Deal, they are MUCH different, but....Wonder if this is to create the appearance (or actuality) of a crisis/conflict that he can then use an excuse to call a national emergency to enable him to siphon off cash for the border wall boondoggle.
....a source of potential danger and conflict. They are testing Rockets (last week) and more, and are coming very close to the edge. There economy is now crashing, which is the only thing holding them back. Be careful of Iran. Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!
I realise the idea that building a border wall would somehow be a relevant response to an immediate international crisis with a country half-way round the planet is absurd. It's not like Iran is going to be sending undercover guerrilla fighters over the border with Mexico, and even if they were then the wall wouldn't be complete for years. But that is a reality-based quibble, so not really relevant.
posted by Buntix at 6:35 AM on January 30, 2019 [6 favorites]
Josh Marshall (TPM) on Has Howard Schultz Really Thought This Through?
I know I won't be going to Starbucks. Even though Howard Schultz isn't the CEO, he probably has quite a lot of stock in the company, and a 10 or 20% drop in sales due to his egotism might spur him to rethink this terrible, foolish course of action.
If you want to join in letting Starbucks know about why they've lost your business, their corporate number is: 1-800-782-7282.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 6:45 AM on January 30, 2019 [54 favorites]
Howard Schultz is no longer CEO of Starbucks. But as de facto founder (he took it over as a small coffee roaster and developed it into what we know as Starbucks) I imagine he is still a major shareholder. Really he and Starbucks are inseparable. But I don’t think he’s really considered how vulnerable the company is to a boycott or simply enduring brand damage tied to this effort. [...]The point Josh makes is a strong one--Schultz's actions could be very alienating to one of Starbuck's primary customer bases: city-dwellers who tend to lean more Democratic. It seems that billionaires don't really care about others, especially those of us without 7 to 13 figure asset totals, unless they themselves are make to feel it in the pocket book.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of it, saying no to Amazon ain’t easy precisely because of their ubiquity and market power. Starbucks isn’t like that. Certainly in most big cities there’s always another place to get a cup of coffee and often it’s a better one. It’s a voluntary decision; it’s an affinity attachment; and you’ve got lots of options. [...]
But basically it’s an urban brand. I imagine that the core Starbucks demo doesn’t really line up with the core Trump demo. Myself, considering what we’ve seen over the last 72 hours, I’d be hard pressed to go into a Starbucks. I just think he’s too big of a jerk, courting too much potential damage for the country for reasons that don’t seem to go beyond ego.
I know I won't be going to Starbucks. Even though Howard Schultz isn't the CEO, he probably has quite a lot of stock in the company, and a 10 or 20% drop in sales due to his egotism might spur him to rethink this terrible, foolish course of action.
If you want to join in letting Starbucks know about why they've lost your business, their corporate number is: 1-800-782-7282.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 6:45 AM on January 30, 2019 [54 favorites]
Of course president Dunning-Kruger thinks he's better informed about Iran than the U.S. intelligence services.
In his mind he gave them (the Directors of each intelligence service) a job, so he is the boss of them and they need to do what he says.
posted by PenDevil at 6:49 AM on January 30, 2019 [4 favorites]
In his mind he gave them (the Directors of each intelligence service) a job, so he is the boss of them and they need to do what he says.
posted by PenDevil at 6:49 AM on January 30, 2019 [4 favorites]
Politico: It’s probably not true that half of Hispanics are on Trump’s side.
[...] veteran pollsters who spoke with POLITICO called the number suspect, citing issues with the poll’s sample size and methodology. Broader polling data show little sign that Trump’s standing with Hispanics is on the rise. [...]posted by Little Dawn at 6:54 AM on January 30, 2019 [4 favorites]
“Generally, Trump is probably around 25% approval among Latinos right now nationally, based on the decrease in his poll standings after the shutdown,” Matt Barreto, co-founder of the polling and research firm Latino Decisions, wrote in an email to POLITICO. [...]
"The problem is that estimates from small survey subsamples have large margins of error, so the risks of outliers are even greater," John Sides, a political science professor at George Washington University, said. "Just as you shouldn't focus on any one poll's estimate of Trump's overall approval rating, you certainly shouldn't cherry-pick one poll's estimate of his approval rating among Latinos."
The lowest-paid shutdown workers aren’t getting back pay (WaPo)
One worker:
posted by jet_pack_in_a_can at 6:54 AM on January 30, 2019 [81 favorites]
One worker:
She clocks in again Tuesday but doesn’t expect a paycheck for at least another week. After her husband died last year of a heart attack, she has struggled to support her sons, ages 12 and 15.And another:
“I did have a little money in the bank — now that’s all gone,” she said, crying. “I don’t have any help. My electricity might be turned off any day now.”
Quintanilla lost about $1,000 in savings during the shutdown, tumbled into a similar amount of debt and relied on churches for free meals. Her boss told her she’s not eligible for back pay, she said.And another:
He’s thrilled to return to work Wednesday, he said, but it’s hard to celebrate with a month’s worth of income gone. Russell, who has a 3-year-old daughter, estimates he’s down $2,000.And yet another:
Loniece Hamilton, 25, another Smithsonian guard, said she watched about $1,000 disappear from her bank account during the budget stalemate. She’d started her job in May, figuring a government-tied position would be more stable.There's nothing clever or witty I can say here. Mitch McConnell and his ilk are directly hurting families with this crap. (Family values party, my ass) The DC Metro area is a very expensive place to live. I donated to a DC-area food bank because I don't know how else I can help.
“I thought it’d be better,” she said.
She borrowed money from her grandfather and cousin. She didn’t drive unless she was taking her 5-year-old son to school. And when he asked for his favorite cookies and juice at the store, she said: Next month.
“I’m late on all of my bills,” she said. “Every single last one of them.”
posted by jet_pack_in_a_can at 6:54 AM on January 30, 2019 [81 favorites]
Politico reports that, per Podesta, Hillary is not going to run for president in 2020:
posted by GrammarMoses at 6:55 AM on January 30, 2019 [15 favorites]
“She would’ve been a great president but she said she's not running for president,” John Podesta said. He said that reporting by CNN’s Jeff Zeleny that the former Democratic nominee had told associates she was not closing the door on a 2020 run was “media catnip.”Thank god.
He also said that though he wished the former secretary of State was president, “I take her at her word. She’s not running for president.”
posted by GrammarMoses at 6:55 AM on January 30, 2019 [15 favorites]
T.D. Strange, you can see quite plainly that I haven't "harangued" AOC. I'm not even criticizing her. Nothing I've said is a judgment on her. It's a judgment on the way that other people are treating her like some kind of savior. It's simply too early for that. (And that isn't due to any fault of AOC's.)
I'm not even saying that the people who are treating her like a savior are bad people. I'm just saying that I disagree with them.
As I've said, I like AOC, support her positions, and hope she's as successful as she can be at implementing them. Politely, I ask you to ease up on the circular firing squad.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 6:56 AM on January 30, 2019 [27 favorites]
I'm not even saying that the people who are treating her like a savior are bad people. I'm just saying that I disagree with them.
As I've said, I like AOC, support her positions, and hope she's as successful as she can be at implementing them. Politely, I ask you to ease up on the circular firing squad.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 6:56 AM on January 30, 2019 [27 favorites]
There is no conservative counterpart to that, because (in the United States) there is no vast structure of left-wing injustice to call out. Sure, you can manufacture scapegoats to demonize – but if that's what you're doing, you're not "the conservative AOC".
There are plenty of conservatives like this, they just favor making money in media over elected office. Which is probably preferable to having to Tomi Lahren or Ben Shapiro in the Congress.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:57 AM on January 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
There are plenty of conservatives like this, they just favor making money in media over elected office. Which is probably preferable to having to Tomi Lahren or Ben Shapiro in the Congress.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:57 AM on January 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
Politico reports that, per Podesta, Hillary is not going to run for president in 2020: --- Thank god.
Neera Tanden
Every few months, someone whispers to a reporter that Hillary has not signed in blood that she won’t run and we get this media swarm which is an opportunity to drag her. It then ends within a day with actual advisors saying she’s not running. It’s painful and mean and should end.
posted by chris24 at 7:06 AM on January 30, 2019 [55 favorites]
Neera Tanden
Every few months, someone whispers to a reporter that Hillary has not signed in blood that she won’t run and we get this media swarm which is an opportunity to drag her. It then ends within a day with actual advisors saying she’s not running. It’s painful and mean and should end.
posted by chris24 at 7:06 AM on January 30, 2019 [55 favorites]
As I've said, I like AOC, support her positions, and hope she's as successful as she can be at implementing them. Politely, I ask you to ease up on the circular firing squad.
Respectfully, I see efforts to tamp down enthusiasm over the emergence of a popular and effective progressive communicator as also part of the circular firing squad. AOC doesn't have to get a single bill passed to be an effective progressive advocate, and she's already using her platform better and more strategically than nearly any other elected Democrat. Her success at writing and passing legislation obviously remains to be seen, but that is an entirely separate question from her overall effectiveness in advancing her and progressive's goals.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:12 AM on January 30, 2019 [49 favorites]
Respectfully, I see efforts to tamp down enthusiasm over the emergence of a popular and effective progressive communicator as also part of the circular firing squad. AOC doesn't have to get a single bill passed to be an effective progressive advocate, and she's already using her platform better and more strategically than nearly any other elected Democrat. Her success at writing and passing legislation obviously remains to be seen, but that is an entirely separate question from her overall effectiveness in advancing her and progressive's goals.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:12 AM on January 30, 2019 [49 favorites]
On MSNBC Hallie Jackson just said that Trump has talked to the "interim president" of Venezuela. Did Maduro step down?
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:13 AM on January 30, 2019
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:13 AM on January 30, 2019
My concern for the lionisation of AOC is that putting people on such a high pedestal means they have further to fall when they don't meet these unrealistic expectations for a new member of the HOR. I fear that there will be a counterproductive backlash when she has not personally dismantled late stage capitalism within her first term and that as a WOC the judgement will be ever harsher.
posted by chiquitita at 6:33 AM on January 30 [7 favorites +] [!]
If I may make one more comment on AOC: She reminds me of the young Paul Wellstone (RIP), when he first got to the Senate. He was brash and outspoken about his agenda and was bright and enthusiastic about making changes. And he did. He was a champion for the liberal side and vocalized much of the hope and objectives for progressive politics. I am confident AOC is someone like Paul and anticipate her growing into the role just as Wellstone did.
posted by Mental Wimp at 7:14 AM on January 30, 2019 [25 favorites]
posted by chiquitita at 6:33 AM on January 30 [7 favorites +] [!]
If I may make one more comment on AOC: She reminds me of the young Paul Wellstone (RIP), when he first got to the Senate. He was brash and outspoken about his agenda and was bright and enthusiastic about making changes. And he did. He was a champion for the liberal side and vocalized much of the hope and objectives for progressive politics. I am confident AOC is someone like Paul and anticipate her growing into the role just as Wellstone did.
posted by Mental Wimp at 7:14 AM on January 30, 2019 [25 favorites]
Mod note: Good morning friends, a few comments deleted - we are not going to fight about Hillary Clinton this morning. Also, maybe call it good on AOC, or make a post about her (if there's enough ongoing genuine stuff to discuss and it's not just "there's a lot of noise around her").
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 7:14 AM on January 30, 2019 [33 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 7:14 AM on January 30, 2019 [33 favorites]
he probably has quite a lot of stock in the company
According to investopedia, Schultz is the largest individual shareholder of Starbucks with 33 million directly owned shares and 1.7 million indirectly owned. I've been thinking a boycott is in order all week.
posted by tracknode at 7:19 AM on January 30, 2019 [41 favorites]
According to investopedia, Schultz is the largest individual shareholder of Starbucks with 33 million directly owned shares and 1.7 million indirectly owned. I've been thinking a boycott is in order all week.
posted by tracknode at 7:19 AM on January 30, 2019 [41 favorites]
Ray Walston, Luck Dragon: On MSNBC Hallie Jackson just said that Trump has talked to the "interim president" of Venezuela. Did Maduro step down?
The US is leading a coalition of countries to recognize "interim President Guaido," despite Maduro also claiming victory (NPR recap, Jan. 27, 2019)
Meanwhile, Trump Administration Begins 'Remain In Mexico' Policy, Sending Asylum-Seekers Back (NPR, January 29, 2019)
posted by filthy light thief at 7:28 AM on January 30, 2019 [17 favorites]
The US is leading a coalition of countries to recognize "interim President Guaido," despite Maduro also claiming victory (NPR recap, Jan. 27, 2019)
Meanwhile, Trump Administration Begins 'Remain In Mexico' Policy, Sending Asylum-Seekers Back (NPR, January 29, 2019)
The Trump administration began implementing a new hard-line immigration policy by sending a single asylum-seeker from Central America back to Tijuana, Mexico, to await his assigned court date later this year in San Diego.Buena suerte, Carlos Catarlo Gomez, y lo siento.
The first asylum-seeker to be returned to Mexico was a Honduran man identified as Carlos Catarlo Gomez. He appeared confused and scared by the throng of reporters waiting for him Tuesday on the Mexican side of the San Ysidro border crossing, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. He was whisked away by Mexican authorities.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:28 AM on January 30, 2019 [17 favorites]
She's been in office less than a month and is already moving the overton window on the top tax rates. My arm chair quarterback advice is to shut up and keep feeding her the damn ball.
posted by cmfletcher at 7:34 AM on January 30, 2019 [116 favorites]
posted by cmfletcher at 7:34 AM on January 30, 2019 [116 favorites]
Voter suppression update: On Friday, the Texas secretary of state's office announced it would send local election officials a list of 95,000 registered voters whom the state says counties should consider checking to see whether they are U.S. citizens and, therefore, legally eligible to vote. On Monday, civil rights groups warn that Texas voter citizenship check could violate federal law. Now, Texas quietly informs counties that some of the 95,000 voters flagged for citizenship review don't belong on the list.
“We’re going to proceed very carefully,” said Douglas Ray, a special assistant county attorney in Harris County, where 29,822 voters were initially flagged by the state. A “substantial number” of them are now being marked as citizens, Ray said.
posted by mcdoublewide at 7:35 AM on January 30, 2019 [29 favorites]
“We’re going to proceed very carefully,” said Douglas Ray, a special assistant county attorney in Harris County, where 29,822 voters were initially flagged by the state. A “substantial number” of them are now being marked as citizens, Ray said.
posted by mcdoublewide at 7:35 AM on January 30, 2019 [29 favorites]
I didn't hear about this during the Stone indictment discussion...
On her 45th podcast this week, Susan Simpson re-surfaces a Corsi-Stone story from 2016:
posted by pjenks at 7:39 AM on January 30, 2019 [28 favorites]
On her 45th podcast this week, Susan Simpson re-surfaces a Corsi-Stone story from 2016:
@WajahatAli and I discuss a mystery that's been bugging me for 2 years now: in August 2016, right after his alleged contacts with Wikileaks began, Roger Stone blamed "hackers" for getting into his online bank accounts and sending money to unknown places.Less than two weeks after Jerome Corsi emailed Roger Stone with information about Assange and the next WikiLeaks dump (according to the Stone indictment), Corsi himself wrote an article about Stone (WND, 15Aug2016):
Jerome Corsi wrote an article about it back in 2016. But let's be real: no one mysteriously hacked Roger Stone's bank accounts.
So in the middle of these discussions with Wikileaks, Stone was making mysterious money transfers. Where did this money go?
A top Trump adviser says his computer and personal bank accounts were hacked in retaliation for declaring publicly he believes Julian Assange of Wikileaks has a complete set of Hillary Clinton’s 30,000 scrubbed “private emails” and is preparing to release them to derail the Democratic Party nominee’s presidential campaign.And then he quotes Roger Stone:
He said the hackers who penetrated his personal bank accounts managed to establish an online portal through which they began stealing money before they were detected and stopped.I'm not going to link to the WND story, which is mostly a re-hash of Corsi's conspiracy theories... the segment quoted above is the only relevant part.
“Major portions of the hard drive on my computer system were destroyed, erasing maybe permanently decades of email contacts and various writing projects that were yet in progress,” he said.
Stone told WND that while he has hired a team of computer experts to determine if his lost computer files can be recovered, he believes much of the damage is permanent.
posted by pjenks at 7:39 AM on January 30, 2019 [28 favorites]
WaPo: Trump blasts U.S. intelligence officials, disputes assessments on Iran and other global threats
Politico: Trump tells intel chiefs to 'go back to school' after they break with him
NYT: Trump Calls His Intelligence People ‘Naive’
posted by Little Dawn at 7:57 AM on January 30, 2019 [20 favorites]
Politico: Trump tells intel chiefs to 'go back to school' after they break with him
NYT: Trump Calls His Intelligence People ‘Naive’
In a series of Twitter posts the day after senior American intelligence officials briefed Congress and directly contradicted some of Mr. Trump’s rosier estimations, the president reasserted his own conclusions and trumpeted his accomplishments on critical national security matters, saying the Islamic State’s control in parts of Iraq and Syria “will soon be destroyed,” and that there was a “decent chance of Denuclearization” in North Korea.And in a seemingly related and prescient perspective, from Michael Gerson at WaPo: Trump is a fraud
posted by Little Dawn at 7:57 AM on January 30, 2019 [20 favorites]
Howard Schultz is no longer CEO of Starbucks. But as de facto founder (he took it over as a small coffee roaster and developed it into what we know as Starbucks) I imagine he is still a major shareholder.
From Investopedia
posted by phearlez at 8:06 AM on January 30, 2019 [4 favorites]
From Investopedia
According to Schultz's most recent filing with the SEC on June 26, 2018, Schultz owns 33 million shares of Starbucks directly and another 1.7 million shares indirectly through trusts.As a percentage of 1,240,600,000 shares it's not huge - not quite 3% - but it still puts him as top shareholder according to Investopedia.
posted by phearlez at 8:06 AM on January 30, 2019 [4 favorites]
Briefly, on NDAs: whatever you think of the situation with Daniels and Avenatti, people are going to decide to talk, lawyers are going to be happy to represent them, and there'll be no problem crowdfunding the legal fees. Once it happens, the floodgates will open.
posted by holgate at 8:08 AM on January 30, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by holgate at 8:08 AM on January 30, 2019 [4 favorites]
Also, the reporting on the NDAs at the time did suggest that the leaked drafts were written as for the benefit of the United States and not Trump personally (to avoid the problems discussed upthread) -- even though Trump's "authorized representatives" are empowered to enforce them.
That suggests that — despite any language in the document — there are standing issues with Trump or the White House Counsel trying to enforce them. That is not how the US government is represented in civil court.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:23 AM on January 30, 2019 [5 favorites]
That suggests that — despite any language in the document — there are standing issues with Trump or the White House Counsel trying to enforce them. That is not how the US government is represented in civil court.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:23 AM on January 30, 2019 [5 favorites]
ryanrs: "So Trump is receiving personal benefit in return for giving out a gov't job. That's probably illegal."
It would be so delicious if this is the emoluments clause violation that actually sticks.
phearlez: "As a percentage of 1,240,600,000 shares it's not huge - not quite 3% - but it still puts him as top shareholder according to Investopedia."
But that much stock is probably personally economically significant and he'd notice if a boycott sliced 20% off it's value.
posted by Mitheral at 8:26 AM on January 30, 2019 [11 favorites]
It would be so delicious if this is the emoluments clause violation that actually sticks.
phearlez: "As a percentage of 1,240,600,000 shares it's not huge - not quite 3% - but it still puts him as top shareholder according to Investopedia."
But that much stock is probably personally economically significant and he'd notice if a boycott sliced 20% off it's value.
posted by Mitheral at 8:26 AM on January 30, 2019 [11 favorites]
And in economic news, NBC News reports: Foxconn may not build $10B Wisconsin plant Trump touted.
The 20-million square foot campus was praised by President Donald Trump as proof of his ability to revive American manufacturing.posted by adamg at 9:00 AM on January 30, 2019 [16 favorites]
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department of Health and Human Services is quietly considering big changes to HIPAA, ostensibly to "reduce burden" and address the opioid crisis:
posted by Iridic at 9:00 AM on January 30, 2019 [59 favorites]
Here are some of the protections at stake:The OCR's Request for Information (ie, for feedback) closes on 2/12. @mattbc has suggestions on how to phrase and submit a comment.
-Your doctor may be required to release information to other doctors without your consent.
-Your private and sensitive health information about your mental health and substance use, and even genetic information could be shared with friends or family without your consent.
-Your right to know who is getting your health information may be limited.
-Getting a copy of your rights and how to enforce them may be at stake.
posted by Iridic at 9:00 AM on January 30, 2019 [59 favorites]
There's a protester named Bill Christeson, AKA "Sign Guy", who keeps showing up during the Trump gang's perp walks with pithy homemade signs
posted by growabrain at 9:03 AM on January 30, 2019 [45 favorites]
posted by growabrain at 9:03 AM on January 30, 2019 [45 favorites]
ryanrs: The amusing thing is that Trump, as president, could have made routine WH work for-real Secret by controlling classification. Yes, it would have been stupid and impractical, but he's a stupid and impractical guy. The real problem was that half of staff couldn't get clearances, lol.
Hmm, I wonder how that might work in practice. There was a big to-do in the rightosphere that James Comey divulging his personal notes of conversations with Individual-1 amounted to illegal leaking of "classified information", on the simple basis that any discussion with the president is somehow automatically classified, I guess? Or maybe I'm misremembering and it was more that "notes made by the FBI director" have the top-secret status as a matter of course, after which even the FBI director lacks the power to remove that status. Regardless, nobody in the White House pursued that angle, and obviously Comey was never asked to sign an NDA or we'd have heard about that.
Could, or would, the president declare that henceforth all interaction with him is classified? I guess that's where clearances would be an issue -- his staff would constantly need his permission to repeat anything to other staff, and he'd forget why or be annoyed when it was explained, because he'd expect everyone to "just know" which sort of information he accepts the transmission of and which he doesn't.
As I understand, his NDAs are primarily about disparaging information -- you probably aren't liable if what you say about him is nice, as long as it isn't really personal or whatever. Can that possibly be worded into a definition for classifiable material?
posted by InTheYear2017 at 9:05 AM on January 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
Hmm, I wonder how that might work in practice. There was a big to-do in the rightosphere that James Comey divulging his personal notes of conversations with Individual-1 amounted to illegal leaking of "classified information", on the simple basis that any discussion with the president is somehow automatically classified, I guess? Or maybe I'm misremembering and it was more that "notes made by the FBI director" have the top-secret status as a matter of course, after which even the FBI director lacks the power to remove that status. Regardless, nobody in the White House pursued that angle, and obviously Comey was never asked to sign an NDA or we'd have heard about that.
Could, or would, the president declare that henceforth all interaction with him is classified? I guess that's where clearances would be an issue -- his staff would constantly need his permission to repeat anything to other staff, and he'd forget why or be annoyed when it was explained, because he'd expect everyone to "just know" which sort of information he accepts the transmission of and which he doesn't.
As I understand, his NDAs are primarily about disparaging information -- you probably aren't liable if what you say about him is nice, as long as it isn't really personal or whatever. Can that possibly be worded into a definition for classifiable material?
posted by InTheYear2017 at 9:05 AM on January 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
Foxconn may not build $10B Wisconsin plant Trump touted.
Reply All did a great podcast about how the town ended up making the deal. It was an obvious swindle from the start, but the chair of the local government was a MAGA true believer.
posted by diogenes at 9:11 AM on January 30, 2019 [37 favorites]
Reply All did a great podcast about how the town ended up making the deal. It was an obvious swindle from the start, but the chair of the local government was a MAGA true believer.
posted by diogenes at 9:11 AM on January 30, 2019 [37 favorites]
Hmm, I wonder how that might work in practice. There was a big to-do in the rightosphere that James Comey divulging his personal notes of conversations with Individual-1 amounted to illegal leaking of "classified information", on the simple basis that any discussion with the president is somehow automatically classified, I guess?
Are you suggesting that they might have a problem with hypocritical claims? I would suggest you consider, as a counter-claim, the last thirty years of rightosphere behavior.
posted by phearlez at 9:11 AM on January 30, 2019
Are you suggesting that they might have a problem with hypocritical claims? I would suggest you consider, as a counter-claim, the last thirty years of rightosphere behavior.
posted by phearlez at 9:11 AM on January 30, 2019
This is something that I've been trying to understand too. I don't remember Republicans being messianic about Dubya -- supportive yes, but not "only he can save America" the way some people are about Trump.
This was central to Trump's campaign from the very beginning. "I'm going to make America white again, but I won't be able to talk about it openly. I'm not even going to be able to tell you openly how I'm going to do it. I'll allude to it in barely disguised code we all understand, and you're going to have to have faith in me." If you're on board you believe that all of Trump's actions are 11 dimensional chess moves whose real meaning must remain hidden from the public.
This is a party that believes they need to con the people at large to get what they want. Their supporters understand this on some level. Trump basically said "My qualifications? I am a great con man." And it is quasi-religious because the promise powering it is a fantasy, like Brexit making England an empire again or the thousand year Reich.
posted by xammerboy at 9:14 AM on January 30, 2019 [23 favorites]
This was central to Trump's campaign from the very beginning. "I'm going to make America white again, but I won't be able to talk about it openly. I'm not even going to be able to tell you openly how I'm going to do it. I'll allude to it in barely disguised code we all understand, and you're going to have to have faith in me." If you're on board you believe that all of Trump's actions are 11 dimensional chess moves whose real meaning must remain hidden from the public.
This is a party that believes they need to con the people at large to get what they want. Their supporters understand this on some level. Trump basically said "My qualifications? I am a great con man." And it is quasi-religious because the promise powering it is a fantasy, like Brexit making England an empire again or the thousand year Reich.
posted by xammerboy at 9:14 AM on January 30, 2019 [23 favorites]
[twitter thread]
This whole story of Cliff Sims and the NDA reminds us just how dependent Trump's entire scam is on the use of a gag contract.
posted by growabrain at 9:24 AM on January 30, 2019 [5 favorites]
This whole story of Cliff Sims and the NDA reminds us just how dependent Trump's entire scam is on the use of a gag contract.
posted by growabrain at 9:24 AM on January 30, 2019 [5 favorites]
Reply All did a great podcast about how the town ended up making the deal. It was an obvious swindle from the start, but the chair of the local government was a MAGA true believer.
Seconded as Fantastic -- Small government xenophobe true believers decide to subsidize the shit out of a Chinese company and destroy their town. The MAGA true believer Dave DeGroot has some telling moments where he flips out on a woman who dares to challenge his Trump-derived authority.
posted by benzenedream at 9:39 AM on January 30, 2019 [14 favorites]
Seconded as Fantastic -- Small government xenophobe true believers decide to subsidize the shit out of a Chinese company and destroy their town. The MAGA true believer Dave DeGroot has some telling moments where he flips out on a woman who dares to challenge his Trump-derived authority.
posted by benzenedream at 9:39 AM on January 30, 2019 [14 favorites]
This whole story of Cliff Sims and the NDA reminds us just how dependent Trump's entire scam is on the use of a gag contract.
Those NDAs are another admission that Trump has something to hide.
That said, we need to establish the legal principle that NDAs are null and void when it comes to illegal activity.
posted by Gelatin at 9:39 AM on January 30, 2019 [21 favorites]
Those NDAs are another admission that Trump has something to hide.
That said, we need to establish the legal principle that NDAs are null and void when it comes to illegal activity.
posted by Gelatin at 9:39 AM on January 30, 2019 [21 favorites]
Even so, without Cohen, who is going to go after Trump's NDA crowd? This is prime bluff-calling territory, especially if Trump filing suit gives the defendants discovery.
posted by rhizome at 9:43 AM on January 30, 2019
posted by rhizome at 9:43 AM on January 30, 2019
Small government xenophobe true believers decide to subsidize the shit out of a Chinese company and destroy their town.
Foxconn is Taiwanese. Unless you are of the “Chinese Taipei” persuasion I guess.
posted by sideshow at 9:47 AM on January 30, 2019 [5 favorites]
Foxconn is Taiwanese. Unless you are of the “Chinese Taipei” persuasion I guess.
posted by sideshow at 9:47 AM on January 30, 2019 [5 favorites]
Chinese in the ethnic sense rather than country of origin sense.
posted by Mitheral at 9:48 AM on January 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Mitheral at 9:48 AM on January 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
The MAGA true believer Dave DeGroot has some telling moments where he flips out on a woman who dares to challenge his Trump-derived authority.
And Walker-derived authority. Best comment from a WaPo commenter: "This was a scam from day one. Walker and Trump thought they had found a golden goose, the reality is that they have both been goosed and the people of Wisconsin have watched a wild goose chase."
posted by Melismata at 10:06 AM on January 30, 2019 [10 favorites]
And Walker-derived authority. Best comment from a WaPo commenter: "This was a scam from day one. Walker and Trump thought they had found a golden goose, the reality is that they have both been goosed and the people of Wisconsin have watched a wild goose chase."
posted by Melismata at 10:06 AM on January 30, 2019 [10 favorites]
The Chinese vs. Taiwanese confusion is understandable* given Foxconn's concentration of manufacturing facilities in (mainland) China. Particularly notable for some of us were the reports of sweatshop-like working conditions and employee suicides at their Shenzhen facility.
*Well, understandable to me at least, since up until sideshow's comment above I also thought Foxconn were headquartered in mainland China. So I learned a thing!
posted by hangashore at 10:13 AM on January 30, 2019 [24 favorites]
*Well, understandable to me at least, since up until sideshow's comment above I also thought Foxconn were headquartered in mainland China. So I learned a thing!
posted by hangashore at 10:13 AM on January 30, 2019 [24 favorites]
phearlez: Are you suggesting that they might have a problem with hypocritical claims? I would suggest you consider, as a counter-claim, the last thirty years of rightosphere behavior.
Yes, but I'm drawing the distinction between wharrgarbl and action; Comey was never sued or indicted. Also, I'm not talking about hypocrisy, but about something functionally similar to "Interactions with Trump are now all classified", the "NDA by classification" route. It seems like the waters of that were touched, but never fully entered.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 10:14 AM on January 30, 2019
Yes, but I'm drawing the distinction between wharrgarbl and action; Comey was never sued or indicted. Also, I'm not talking about hypocrisy, but about something functionally similar to "Interactions with Trump are now all classified", the "NDA by classification" route. It seems like the waters of that were touched, but never fully entered.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 10:14 AM on January 30, 2019
Me, 2016, I feel, like I knew this might come to pass, but it's crazier than I thought, it feels surreal. We saw, we have watched, and now...what comes next. I feel very unsure.
------So, I looked at the non-disclosure agreement and I'm wondering if they just modified his standard non-disclosure agreement and are having everyone sign it, because that's just how he rolls (deep paranoia and control), or because they don't understand that's not how volunteering works, or...I'm trying to apply Trump's Razor here. I guess I already understood that he does his best to keep a tight lid on anything former employees or partners have to say about him, but yet I felt like the language was very revealing.
posted by dawg-proud at 10:15 AM on September 2, 2016 [3 favorites +] [!]
Oh, oh, and I meant to say, so how many people will he sue afterwards? Would he try and drag a volunteer into court over a Facebook post? The lawyers will have a field day with that agreement! And now I wonder what will come of the tell-all books I've been promised in lo these many threads of Metafilter, I want the wailing and gnashing. Though law suits, depositions, and the like could be pretty revealing, too.
posted to MetaFilter by dawg-proud at 10:31 AM on September 2, 2016 [1 favorite +]
posted by dawg-proud at 10:19 AM on January 30, 2019 [4 favorites]
------So, I looked at the non-disclosure agreement and I'm wondering if they just modified his standard non-disclosure agreement and are having everyone sign it, because that's just how he rolls (deep paranoia and control), or because they don't understand that's not how volunteering works, or...I'm trying to apply Trump's Razor here. I guess I already understood that he does his best to keep a tight lid on anything former employees or partners have to say about him, but yet I felt like the language was very revealing.
posted by dawg-proud at 10:15 AM on September 2, 2016 [3 favorites +] [!]
Oh, oh, and I meant to say, so how many people will he sue afterwards? Would he try and drag a volunteer into court over a Facebook post? The lawyers will have a field day with that agreement! And now I wonder what will come of the tell-all books I've been promised in lo these many threads of Metafilter, I want the wailing and gnashing. Though law suits, depositions, and the like could be pretty revealing, too.
posted to MetaFilter by dawg-proud at 10:31 AM on September 2, 2016 [1 favorite +]
posted by dawg-proud at 10:19 AM on January 30, 2019 [4 favorites]
Those NDAs are another admission that Trump has something to hide.
That said, we need to establish the legal principle that NDAs are null and void when it comes to illegal activity.
We need to establish a law that NDAs cannot be used for PUBLIC SERVICE.
Even if your job is just serving someone whose service is public. Enough with that BS -- taxpayers pay? Information public. Full stop.
posted by Dashy at 10:23 AM on January 30, 2019 [61 favorites]
That said, we need to establish the legal principle that NDAs are null and void when it comes to illegal activity.
We need to establish a law that NDAs cannot be used for PUBLIC SERVICE.
Even if your job is just serving someone whose service is public. Enough with that BS -- taxpayers pay? Information public. Full stop.
posted by Dashy at 10:23 AM on January 30, 2019 [61 favorites]
Stephen Miller Has Orchestrated Trump’s Most Horrible Policies. Why Doesn’t He Get the Credit? (Dahlia Lithwick, Slate)
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:34 AM on January 30, 2019 [32 favorites]
But you know whom we don’t talk about as the real brain behind the Trump administration? Stephen Miller. And this is weird, frankly, because nobody has been a more consistent architect of Trump and Trumpism than the 33-year-old Miller. He was the cruel visionary behind the family-separation policy—which he gleefully crowed about—and the demented champion of Trump’s recent wall-building hostage spree. He was the primary author of the speech about the pretend crisis that necessitated the wall, and also, he was behind slashing refugee-admission policies and, famously, the Muslim ban. His nativist fingerprints were all over Trump’s most recent efforts to reach a “compromise” on reopening the government, which was larded up with cruel poison pills that would have hurt the same people Miller has spent two years trying to hurt in the open.The most insidious power is that which is wielded anonymously. Fittingly, it appears he avoids the spotlight and avoids paper trails that lead to him.
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:34 AM on January 30, 2019 [32 favorites]
Huffpost: House Democrats Unveil Social Security Expansion Bill With Unprecedented Support
posted by octothorpe at 10:36 AM on January 30, 2019 [109 favorites]
Democratic Reps. John Larson (Conn.), Conor Lamb (Pa.) and Jahana Hayes (Conn.) are introducing the Social Security 2100 Act on Wednesday, legislation that would expand Social Security benefits across the board and prolong the program’s solvency for the next 75 years and beyond. The legislation finances a more generous benefit and cost-of-living adjustment formula, a reduction in income taxes on benefits and the closure of Social Security’s long-term funding gap by lifting the cap on income subject to payroll taxes and raising those tax rates.
The bill is being rolled out on the 137th birthday of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who established Social Security as part of his New Deal in 1935.
posted by octothorpe at 10:36 AM on January 30, 2019 [109 favorites]
Trump Administration Gets An Earful On New Campus Sexual Assault Rules (NPR, January 30, 2019)
Which is not to say that we shouldn't submit comments, but rather that the comments themselves are not the end, and that, like net neutrality, this is just one more battle in this ongoing fight.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:41 AM on January 30, 2019 [20 favorites]
The Department of Education has been inundated with approximately 100,000 public comments on its proposed new rules for how campuses handle cases of sexual assault. Secretary Betsy DeVos opened the public comment period two months ago, after unveiling her plan to replace Obama-era rules with regulations that, she says, would better protect the accused. The window for comments closes Wednesday at midnight.Lots of links to public comments on Regulations.gov.
Many who have weighed in praise the new rules for "restoring sanity" and fairness to the process but many more are critical.
Those comments range from short expletives (link appears dead now) and insults aimed at DeVos, to personal and sometimes graphic accounts of sexual assaults,and pleas not to return to the bad ol' days, when victims were not believed and incidents were swept under the rug.
At a recent meeting of the Boston University Students For Reproductive Freedom club, Sage Carson with the survivor advocacy group, Know Your IX joined in by video conference, updating students on what the proposals would do.What will DoE do with these comments? Pull a Pai and say "the raw number is not as important as the substantive comments that are in the record," despite the fact that 98.5% of unique net neutrality comments oppose Ajit Pai’s anti-Title II plan (Ars Technica articles on Net Neutrality public comments)? Because this seems way too likely.
"I'll be blunt," she says, "It's devastating." She tells the students the proposed rules would mean schools don't automatically have to investigate incidents alleged to have occurred in private, off-campus apartments, or misconduct that is reported to a coach or resident advisor, for example, instead of the official Title IX officer.
She then instructs students how to formally file their objections through the Hands Off IX website. A Mad Libs-type of template makes commenting easy, and then forwards submissions on to the official regulation comment website.
Students first fill in their name, and identify as a survivor or concerned citizen, for example. Then they can pick from a list of rules they take issue with, and then from a list of studies and data that bolster their case. Carson urges the students to make it their own.
"As long as you submit something that is personal, and you say why this is important, the department is legally required to respond," she says. "It takes about 5-10 minutes ... It's super simple and can have real-world implications."
Which is not to say that we shouldn't submit comments, but rather that the comments themselves are not the end, and that, like net neutrality, this is just one more battle in this ongoing fight.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:41 AM on January 30, 2019 [20 favorites]
the closure of Social Security’s long-term funding gap by lifting the cap on income subject to payroll taxes and raising those tax rates.
I am so, so glad to see this. And I have income "protected" by that stupid cap. Solid work, Conor!
posted by Dashy at 10:47 AM on January 30, 2019 [43 favorites]
I am so, so glad to see this. And I have income "protected" by that stupid cap. Solid work, Conor!
posted by Dashy at 10:47 AM on January 30, 2019 [43 favorites]
What will DoE do with these comments? Pull a Pai and say "the raw number is not as important as the substantive comments that are in the record,"
The pro-DeVos people in the NPR story said pretty much the same thing ("quantity is not as important as quality"), which is a tacit admission from defenders of DeVos' policy that the problem of college sexual assault is far, far broader than the problem of false accusations.
posted by Gelatin at 11:13 AM on January 30, 2019 [9 favorites]
The pro-DeVos people in the NPR story said pretty much the same thing ("quantity is not as important as quality"), which is a tacit admission from defenders of DeVos' policy that the problem of college sexual assault is far, far broader than the problem of false accusations.
posted by Gelatin at 11:13 AM on January 30, 2019 [9 favorites]
Raising the cap on income for Social Security taxes has always seemed like a blazingly obvious way to fix the threat of insolvency but Democrats have been terrified to even talk about it for as long as I can remember. It's been so frustrating for the last twenty years or so to keep hearing, "well, we have to figure out how to save Social Security" and not hearing a single voice say, "hey the cap is stupid and regressive, get rid of it or at least raise it". Meanwhile we've had years of "centrists" stroking their chins thoughtfully and saying that it's regrettable but we have no choice but to cut benefits or raise the age of retirement.
posted by octothorpe at 11:23 AM on January 30, 2019 [37 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 11:23 AM on January 30, 2019 [37 favorites]
Sign guy! Not just perp walk duty; last year, Bill Christeson stood outside Manafort's place with a sign reading
TAKE WITNESS
PROTECTION
&
A MOVIE DEAL posted by Iris Gambol at 11:26 AM on January 30, 2019 [14 favorites] Stephen Miller Has Orchestrated Trump’s Most Horrible Policies. Why Doesn’t He Get the Credit? (Dahlia Lithwick, Slate)
Because the idea of all the nastiness being down to one guy is stupid and conspiratorial. Miller is a horrible person, but so are they all, and so are the people who elected and support the dog-whistler-in-chief. It might be nice to imagine that the US's present position is down to the perversions of some arch-manipulator, but the fact is that Trump still retains the support of a large proportion of Americans.
It's very telling that Lithwick apparently can't make her case without calling on antisemitic stereotypes, particularly by calling Miller "Trump’s real Svengali, the enduring power behind the throne". Orwell said about this character that
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:29 AM on January 30, 2019 [14 favorites]
Because the idea of all the nastiness being down to one guy is stupid and conspiratorial. Miller is a horrible person, but so are they all, and so are the people who elected and support the dog-whistler-in-chief. It might be nice to imagine that the US's present position is down to the perversions of some arch-manipulator, but the fact is that Trump still retains the support of a large proportion of Americans.
It's very telling that Lithwick apparently can't make her case without calling on antisemitic stereotypes, particularly by calling Miller "Trump’s real Svengali, the enduring power behind the throne". Orwell said about this character that
There is no question that the book is antisemitic. Apart from the fact that Svengali's vanity, treacherousness, selfishness, personal uncleanliness and so forth are constantly connected with the fact that he is a Jew, there are the illustrations.And lo, it turns out that Miller isn't just evil, he's ugly and socially awkward – much like Svengali. But Svengali isn't a real person; he's a racist caricature. And so is Lithwick's depiction of Miller as the One Weird Trick that turned America racist.
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:29 AM on January 30, 2019 [14 favorites]
We need to establish a law that NDAs cannot be used for PUBLIC SERVICE.
Blagojevich was taken down by a whistleblowing staffer. Our public employees need to be protected, and always know that their boss is the American people. This is one reason I am troubled by Pritzker doubling his staff's salary out of his own pocket.
posted by xammerboy at 11:30 AM on January 30, 2019 [9 favorites]
Blagojevich was taken down by a whistleblowing staffer. Our public employees need to be protected, and always know that their boss is the American people. This is one reason I am troubled by Pritzker doubling his staff's salary out of his own pocket.
posted by xammerboy at 11:30 AM on January 30, 2019 [9 favorites]
he's a racist caricature. And so is Lithwick's depiction of Miller as the One Weird Trick that turned America racist.
I had the same concerns running through my head, and I have for a little while since Miller has become known as the author of some of Trump's racistest policies- but for what it's worth, Dahlia Lithwick is Jewish and keeps kosher.
posted by BungaDunga at 11:35 AM on January 30, 2019 [6 favorites]
I had the same concerns running through my head, and I have for a little while since Miller has become known as the author of some of Trump's racistest policies- but for what it's worth, Dahlia Lithwick is Jewish and keeps kosher.
posted by BungaDunga at 11:35 AM on January 30, 2019 [6 favorites]
Really he and Starbucks are inseparable. But I don’t think he’s really considered how vulnerable the company is to a boycott or simply enduring brand damage tied to this effort. [...]I think Marshall's right. And I think, given Schultz's reputation—however accurate—as a sort of benevolent entrepreneur, that he has a lot to lose. Personally, I was happy to just roll my eyes at him up 'til now, but now he's re-tweeting fulsome Roger Simon praise and he can get in the bin! Eh. Maybe Howard's decision to be the Jill Stein of Very Concerned Old White Guys will dissuade some of the other VCOWGs from leaping in.
posted by octobersurprise at 11:36 AM on January 30, 2019 [7 favorites]
Elections, consequences, etc.: New Mexico, under Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, has joined the U.S. Climate Alliance, bringing the number of states in the alliance to nineteen.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 11:44 AM on January 30, 2019 [33 favorites]
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 11:44 AM on January 30, 2019 [33 favorites]
he's re-tweeting fulsome Roger Simon praise
For an ostensibly rah-rah op ed the Simon piece is ugly. It uses crude words to attack more than one Dem candidate. Schultz is not off to a good start in staking out a middle ground.
posted by scalefree at 11:50 AM on January 30, 2019 [5 favorites]
For an ostensibly rah-rah op ed the Simon piece is ugly. It uses crude words to attack more than one Dem candidate. Schultz is not off to a good start in staking out a middle ground.
posted by scalefree at 11:50 AM on January 30, 2019 [5 favorites]
For those wondering who is in the U.S. Climate Alliance, here is a list from their website:
Gavin Newsom, California
Jared Polis, Colorado
Ned Lamont, Connecticut
John Carney, Delaware
David Ige, Hawaii
J.B. Pritzker, Illinois
Larry Hogan, Maryland
Charlie Baker, Massachusetts
Tim Walz, Minnesota
Phil Murphy, New Jersey
Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico
Andrew Cuomo, New York
Roy Cooper, North Carolina
Kate Brown, Oregon
Ricardo Rosselló, Puerto Rico
Gina Raimondo, Rhode Island
Phil Scott, Vermont
Ralph Northam, Virginia
Jay Inslee, Washington
If your gov is not on there, well one thing politicians have said they love is hearing from their constituents.
posted by Emmy Rae at 11:52 AM on January 30, 2019 [36 favorites]
Gavin Newsom, California
Jared Polis, Colorado
Ned Lamont, Connecticut
John Carney, Delaware
David Ige, Hawaii
J.B. Pritzker, Illinois
Larry Hogan, Maryland
Charlie Baker, Massachusetts
Tim Walz, Minnesota
Phil Murphy, New Jersey
Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico
Andrew Cuomo, New York
Roy Cooper, North Carolina
Kate Brown, Oregon
Ricardo Rosselló, Puerto Rico
Gina Raimondo, Rhode Island
Phil Scott, Vermont
Ralph Northam, Virginia
Jay Inslee, Washington
If your gov is not on there, well one thing politicians have said they love is hearing from their constituents.
posted by Emmy Rae at 11:52 AM on January 30, 2019 [36 favorites]
he's a racist caricature. And so is Lithwick's depiction of Miller as the One Weird Trick that turned America racist.
I can't think of a way you could more have revealed that you didn't even skim TFA than to characterize it this way. You want to take a stance that nobody should ever describe someone as a Svengali again given its racist origin, cool, I'm with you. But this article is just a piece that talks about all the other folks who have gotten the spotlight for their degree of influence while Miller has managed to avoid the same level of scrutiny. It doesn't lay out any conspiracy or put it all at his feet, just calls them peas in a pod. He actually revels in Trump’s basest cruelties, she writes.
posted by phearlez at 11:53 AM on January 30, 2019 [21 favorites]
I can't think of a way you could more have revealed that you didn't even skim TFA than to characterize it this way. You want to take a stance that nobody should ever describe someone as a Svengali again given its racist origin, cool, I'm with you. But this article is just a piece that talks about all the other folks who have gotten the spotlight for their degree of influence while Miller has managed to avoid the same level of scrutiny. It doesn't lay out any conspiracy or put it all at his feet, just calls them peas in a pod. He actually revels in Trump’s basest cruelties, she writes.
posted by phearlez at 11:53 AM on January 30, 2019 [21 favorites]
About Miller: let's all just get him out in the light. After all, the Trumpists usually fade and die (politically) when they are shone upon, partly because Trump wants to be front and center, partly because they cannot stand up to scrutiny.
posted by mumimor at 12:06 PM on January 30, 2019 [21 favorites]
posted by mumimor at 12:06 PM on January 30, 2019 [21 favorites]
For an ostensibly rah-rah op ed the Simon piece is ugly. It uses crude words to attack more than one Dem candidate. Schultz is not off to a good start in staking out a middle ground.
He's really not. The idea of a custom-made spoiler who runs to peel off anti-Trump votes from a progressive Dem and ensure the president's re-election is terrifying on paper, but the first impression that Schultz is making comes off as as a warmed-over Jeb! rather than anybody I can imagine a Democratic voter going for. There's a lot of time left to rework his message, but as-is he's not exactly sticking the landing.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:08 PM on January 30, 2019 [8 favorites]
He's really not. The idea of a custom-made spoiler who runs to peel off anti-Trump votes from a progressive Dem and ensure the president's re-election is terrifying on paper, but the first impression that Schultz is making comes off as as a warmed-over Jeb! rather than anybody I can imagine a Democratic voter going for. There's a lot of time left to rework his message, but as-is he's not exactly sticking the landing.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:08 PM on January 30, 2019 [8 favorites]
Superstition is one of those things I normally get really irritated about, so it’s ironic that I worry my growing belief the pendulum may finally be beginning its long fall back to the left could actually jinx it. But you what, fuck that. We need to be talking like it's a fait accompli, shift the national discourse by sheer weight of numbers.
The zeitgeist carries a palpable cultural weight, and it is heartening to see the Democrats so emboldened they can propose things like the Social Security legislation linked above, or feel secure enough to launch investigations into the NRA, or call to tax the hyper rich at (totally) reasonable rates. The current conservative freakout feels more and more like the group desperately pushing harder and harder, not understanding why they have no traction, or that the pendulum has already reached the top of its arc. There is only one way it goes now. The Senate proposed repealing the Estate tax all together, and I want our congress people on the left to start saying things like, “Guys, it’s over. 328 million Americans are beginning to realize this Republican KoolAid tastes funny. To mix some metaphors, you will either be swept away in a wave of voter anger, or if you do slow it, ground to dust under an advancing glacier of Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z. You can lead, follow, or get out of the way, to borrow phrasing from those stupid motivational posters you guys always liked.” And I want them to keep saying it. Over. And Over. The far right is fond of getting their way by repeating the same talking points until they're simply taken as true. We can absolutely use the same tactics. Even better, ours are grounded in facts and reality. Democrats speak for the majority; they need to seize that authority.
There may only be one way this plays out for Republicans in the long run, but boy howdy am I gonna end up with ulcers before we get there. The smart ones would look back to progressive Republicans like Teddy Roosevelt and get ahead of our rising anger, but who am I kidding, there aren’t any smart ones currently.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 12:13 PM on January 30, 2019 [32 favorites]
The zeitgeist carries a palpable cultural weight, and it is heartening to see the Democrats so emboldened they can propose things like the Social Security legislation linked above, or feel secure enough to launch investigations into the NRA, or call to tax the hyper rich at (totally) reasonable rates. The current conservative freakout feels more and more like the group desperately pushing harder and harder, not understanding why they have no traction, or that the pendulum has already reached the top of its arc. There is only one way it goes now. The Senate proposed repealing the Estate tax all together, and I want our congress people on the left to start saying things like, “Guys, it’s over. 328 million Americans are beginning to realize this Republican KoolAid tastes funny. To mix some metaphors, you will either be swept away in a wave of voter anger, or if you do slow it, ground to dust under an advancing glacier of Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z. You can lead, follow, or get out of the way, to borrow phrasing from those stupid motivational posters you guys always liked.” And I want them to keep saying it. Over. And Over. The far right is fond of getting their way by repeating the same talking points until they're simply taken as true. We can absolutely use the same tactics. Even better, ours are grounded in facts and reality. Democrats speak for the majority; they need to seize that authority.
There may only be one way this plays out for Republicans in the long run, but boy howdy am I gonna end up with ulcers before we get there. The smart ones would look back to progressive Republicans like Teddy Roosevelt and get ahead of our rising anger, but who am I kidding, there aren’t any smart ones currently.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 12:13 PM on January 30, 2019 [32 favorites]
Luppe B. Luppen/@nycsouthpaw glosses new Concord discovery opposition filing from the SCO:
Finally, checking in on Jerome Corsi's Throw Roger Under the Bus media tour, on Monday he told MSNBC’s Ari Melber that Roger Stone wanted WikiLeaks dump to distract from ‘Access Hollywood’ tape (WaPo). “I had one call from Roger, as I recall it — Roger disputes this — on the day that WikiLeaks did begin in October dropping the final emails on John Podesta, in which Roger was essentially saying, ‘We’ve got this timing issue because the Billy Bush tape is going to be released, and we’d like to have Assange begin releasing emails now.’”
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:40 PM on January 30, 2019 [27 favorites]
In a new filing in the Internet Research Agency case, Mueller's team says they've found evidence discovery documents were forged as part of a "disinformation campaign aimed (apparently) at discrediting ongoing investigations into Russian interference in the US political system."The Atlantic's Natasha Bertrand also has an update on the negotiations over Michael Cohen's Capitol Hill testimony: Michael Cohen Is Ready to Talk Russia to Congress. "Cohen is willing to answer questions about what he’s told Mueller and other issues related to the ongoing investigation, according to two people familiar with his plans. (They, like other people I spoke with, requested anonymity to discuss the private deliberations.) However, his legal team is also in talks with Mueller’s office to determine whether there are any parameters for his testimony. The House Intelligence Committee is also “in consultation with the special counsel’s office to ascertain any concerns that they might have and to deconflict,” according to a committee aide."The subsequent investigation has revealed that certain non-sensitive discovery materials in the defense’s possession appear to have been altered and disseminated as part of a disinformation campaign aimed (apparently) at discrediting ongoing investigations into Russian interference in the U.S. political system.This sentence in particular stands out to me. Mueller's team perceives that whoever allegedly manipulated the discovery materials is trying to leave the impression that they don't have that much on "IRA and Russian collusion." And they really object to that.In addition, the dissemination of the link to the webpage via a Twitter message claiming to provide access to “all the files Mueller had about the IRA and Russian collusion” and the fact that the webpage contained numerous irrelevant files suggest that the person who created the webpage used their knowledge of the non-sensitive discovery to make it appear as though the irrelevant files contained on the webpage were the sum total evidence of “IRA and Russian collusion” gathered by law enforcement in this matter in an apparent effort to discredit the investigation.the @hackingredstone account referenced in the SCO's filing has been suspended, but @josh_emerson has some screenshots of what it posted
Finally, checking in on Jerome Corsi's Throw Roger Under the Bus media tour, on Monday he told MSNBC’s Ari Melber that Roger Stone wanted WikiLeaks dump to distract from ‘Access Hollywood’ tape (WaPo). “I had one call from Roger, as I recall it — Roger disputes this — on the day that WikiLeaks did begin in October dropping the final emails on John Podesta, in which Roger was essentially saying, ‘We’ve got this timing issue because the Billy Bush tape is going to be released, and we’d like to have Assange begin releasing emails now.’”
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:40 PM on January 30, 2019 [27 favorites]
Say what you will about Manchin, this is pretty good:
Fun nugget: I’m told that yesterday, after Joe Manchin learned McConnell reportedly told Trump that Republicans would “crush him like a grape” (via Cliff Sims’ book), Manchin dropped off a packet of grape jelly for McConnell on the Senate floor.posted by Chrysostom at 12:55 PM on January 30, 2019 [61 favorites]
OK so I just saw the Whittaker press vid. My god, that guy is scared to death.
Maybe winter really is coming to the White House
posted by mumimor at 12:59 PM on January 30, 2019 [11 favorites]
Maybe winter really is coming to the White House
posted by mumimor at 12:59 PM on January 30, 2019 [11 favorites]
Can the SCO subpoena the house testimonies being held up for submission because the republicans haven't sat members on the intel committee?
More to the point, can Mueller just ask for them, and a Democrat hand them to him? It may not be something he can technically cite as evidence in court until all of the proper rituals have been performed, but then there won't be any delays as a result of these petty games.
posted by msalt at 1:08 PM on January 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
More to the point, can Mueller just ask for them, and a Democrat hand them to him? It may not be something he can technically cite as evidence in court until all of the proper rituals have been performed, but then there won't be any delays as a result of these petty games.
posted by msalt at 1:08 PM on January 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
The zeitgeist carries a palpable cultural weight, and it is heartening to see the Democrats so emboldened they can propose things like the Social Security legislation linked above, or feel secure enough to launch investigations into the NRA, or call to tax the hyper rich at (totally) reasonable rates. ... (los pantalones del muerte, above)
Yes! Democrats must push back against all of the tide of legislation that has been designed by and for billionaires. Raise the SS cap, start taxing wealth, increase the estate tax.
Increase worker protections. Every exploitative labor practice is a giveaway to the billionaires.
Plus, we should be pushing for increasing deficit spending, or at least not worrying about costs for programs. Like many on the new young Left say, nobody asks where the money is coming from when we want to spend on military.
Deficit spending is a good thing. It is also one more way to claw back wealth from the neo-oligarchs. Total US assets/wealth is approximately 90 Trillion, while total US government debt is about 20 Trillion. There's another 70 Trillion available on the national credit card, and we should use it.
Medicare for all, guaranteed housing, guaranteed basic income. Push for them now!
posted by yesster at 1:22 PM on January 30, 2019 [17 favorites]
Yes! Democrats must push back against all of the tide of legislation that has been designed by and for billionaires. Raise the SS cap, start taxing wealth, increase the estate tax.
Increase worker protections. Every exploitative labor practice is a giveaway to the billionaires.
Plus, we should be pushing for increasing deficit spending, or at least not worrying about costs for programs. Like many on the new young Left say, nobody asks where the money is coming from when we want to spend on military.
Deficit spending is a good thing. It is also one more way to claw back wealth from the neo-oligarchs. Total US assets/wealth is approximately 90 Trillion, while total US government debt is about 20 Trillion. There's another 70 Trillion available on the national credit card, and we should use it.
Medicare for all, guaranteed housing, guaranteed basic income. Push for them now!
posted by yesster at 1:22 PM on January 30, 2019 [17 favorites]
GOP members of the Intel committee are set and committee can meet next week.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:23 PM on January 30, 2019 [33 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 1:23 PM on January 30, 2019 [33 favorites]
Mueller says Russians using his discovery materials in disinformation effort
Russians are using materials obtained from special counsel Robert Mueller's office in a disinformation campaign apparently aimed at discrediting the investigation into Moscow's election interference, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday.
One or more people associated with the special counsel's case against Russian hackers made statements last October claiming to have stolen discovery materials that were originally provided by Mueller to Concord Management, Mueller's team said in court documents filed on Wednesday in the Russian troll farm case.
That discovery — evidence and documents traded between both sides of a lawsuit — appears to have been altered and disseminated as part of a disinformation campaign apparently aimed at discrediting the ongoing investigations in Russian interference in the U.S. political system, according to the documents.
posted by bluesky43 at 1:35 PM on January 30, 2019 [29 favorites]
Russians are using materials obtained from special counsel Robert Mueller's office in a disinformation campaign apparently aimed at discrediting the investigation into Moscow's election interference, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday.
One or more people associated with the special counsel's case against Russian hackers made statements last October claiming to have stolen discovery materials that were originally provided by Mueller to Concord Management, Mueller's team said in court documents filed on Wednesday in the Russian troll farm case.
That discovery — evidence and documents traded between both sides of a lawsuit — appears to have been altered and disseminated as part of a disinformation campaign apparently aimed at discrediting the ongoing investigations in Russian interference in the U.S. political system, according to the documents.
posted by bluesky43 at 1:35 PM on January 30, 2019 [29 favorites]
@cjcmichel
Here's the DM I received from the Twitter account mentioned in Mueller's filing today, claiming they got access to Mueller's database:
Hi there. We are anonymous hackers. We are like hundreds of others, but we are the one and only who got the Special Counsel Mueller database....
posted by bluesky43 at 1:41 PM on January 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
Here's the DM I received from the Twitter account mentioned in Mueller's filing today, claiming they got access to Mueller's database:
Hi there. We are anonymous hackers. We are like hundreds of others, but we are the one and only who got the Special Counsel Mueller database....
posted by bluesky43 at 1:41 PM on January 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
Sorry, I'd like to modify that last comment, but not abuse the edit window. It's been quite a while since NATO said that cyberwar is war. But the American President does not at all feel any commitment to NATO. Now, Russia is escalating their offensive, while NATO is stalled by a compromised president. And the EU is stalled by the spectacle of Brexit. Who are the good guys in this movie?
posted by mumimor at 1:49 PM on January 30, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by mumimor at 1:49 PM on January 30, 2019 [8 favorites]
Steve Schmidt, the poster boy for never Trumpers who now appears to be doing everything possible to get Trump re-elected through boosting Schultz as a third party spoiler, is on Nicole Wallace right now. They're old colleagues from the W administration. And she is clearly unable to hide how aghast she is about what he's doing.
posted by Justinian at 1:49 PM on January 30, 2019 [19 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 1:49 PM on January 30, 2019 [19 favorites]
Yes Schmidt is stumping hard for Schultz. I'm a bit aghast watching it.
posted by Harry Caul at 1:52 PM on January 30, 2019
posted by Harry Caul at 1:52 PM on January 30, 2019
Here is all you need to know about Schultz, condensed into his only two major statements about his campaign:
1. He says the most important problem facing the US is not climate change, not healthcare, not student loans, not family leave, not childcare, not minimum wage. No, the most important problem facing the US is the national debt -- which translates to cuts for social security and medicare.
2. He says that healthcare for all is "unaffordable." It seems that the US, the so-called richest country on the planet, can't afford what Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Japan, every developed country in the world can afford.
Just a billionaire asshole who has no idea of how real people live or what is of concern to them.
posted by JackFlash at 1:52 PM on January 30, 2019 [141 favorites]
1. He says the most important problem facing the US is not climate change, not healthcare, not student loans, not family leave, not childcare, not minimum wage. No, the most important problem facing the US is the national debt -- which translates to cuts for social security and medicare.
2. He says that healthcare for all is "unaffordable." It seems that the US, the so-called richest country on the planet, can't afford what Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Japan, every developed country in the world can afford.
Just a billionaire asshole who has no idea of how real people live or what is of concern to them.
posted by JackFlash at 1:52 PM on January 30, 2019 [141 favorites]
Greg Sargent, Howard Schultz is anything but a realist. Schultz's "common sense" "centrism" is contrasted with Warren's proposals in that Warren at least identifies problems and proposes policies that aim to address them. You can disagree with Warren's diagnoses, you can disagree with whether those policies are good, and you can disagree with whether the policies will be effective, but there's at least an inherent logic to that process: it's a realistic form of problem-solving. What Schultz and others who pray at the altar of centrism do isn't realism; they identify problems, claim they're very serious, and then talk around them:
posted by zachlipton at 1:58 PM on January 30, 2019 [33 favorites]
At the core of this sort of centrism is the idea that there’s a hallowed middle ground that — simply by virtue of being equidistant between arbitrarily designated and presumptively equivalent “extremes" — is inherently sensible, virtuous, and above all, non-ideological. This idea is certainly seductive to far too many people. But it doesn’t give rise to anything resembling realism. In a way, it’s a rigid ideology all its own.On a related note, Margaret Sullivan tackles the same thing from a journalism angle: The media feel safest in the middle lane. Just ask Jeff Flake, John Kasich and Howard Schultz
One of supposed golden rules of journalism goes like this: “If everybody’s mad at your coverage, you must be doing a good job.”I'd add that it doesn't work either. The people chanting "CNN sucks" if not tweeting nooses at journalists won't adopt a nobler view of the profession no matter how scrupulously centrist you try to be.
That’s ridiculous, of course, though it seems comforting. If everybody’s mad, it may just mean you’re getting everything wrong.
But it’s the kind of muddled thinking that feels right to media people who practice what I’ll call the middle-lane approach to journalism — the smarmy centrism that often benefits nobody, but promises that you won’t offend anyone.
posted by zachlipton at 1:58 PM on January 30, 2019 [33 favorites]
Schultz is terrified that Democrats seem poised to finally touch the third rail of wealth redistribution, and he wants to run in a desperate attempt to steer the party back into billionaire-friendly neoliberal rearranging of deckchairs on the Titanic.
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 1:59 PM on January 30, 2019 [43 favorites]
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 1:59 PM on January 30, 2019 [43 favorites]
If Schultz wants to be president, he'll have to defeat two people: Donald Trump, and the best candidate the Democratic party can find. So if he really believes he can win, and should win, then he should prove it by defeating Donald Trump in the Republican primary.
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:09 PM on January 30, 2019 [36 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:09 PM on January 30, 2019 [36 favorites]
@AlexNBCNews NEW: Republicans were just named to the House Intelligence Committee on House floor:
Nunes, Devin CA
Conaway, Mike TX
Turner, Michael OH
Wenstrup, Brad OH
Stewart, Chris UT
Crawford, Rick AR
Stefanik, Elise NY
Hurd, Will TX
Ratcliffe, John, TX
posted by scalefree at 2:14 PM on January 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
Nunes, Devin CA
Conaway, Mike TX
Turner, Michael OH
Wenstrup, Brad OH
Stewart, Chris UT
Crawford, Rick AR
Stefanik, Elise NY
Hurd, Will TX
Ratcliffe, John, TX
posted by scalefree at 2:14 PM on January 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
So if he really believes he can win, and should win, then he should prove it by defeating Donald Trump in the Republican primary.
Or beat whomever in the Democratic Primary.
posted by sideshow at 2:15 PM on January 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
Or beat whomever in the Democratic Primary.
posted by sideshow at 2:15 PM on January 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
Hi there. We are anonymous hackers. We are like hundreds of others, but we are the one and only who got the Special Counsel Mueller database....
"Also, we have a girlfriend but you don't know her, she's in Vladivostock." Plausible deniability isn't going to cut it when it's fair to assume that Reed Smith shared discovery (directly or indirectly) with the troll factory to mess around with it and then leak it, without even bothering to hide its origins.
The Concord case has been built upon trolling the US legal system from the moment Dubelier and Seikaly showed up, but this is the kind of stuff that possibly maybe gets them sanctioned.
posted by holgate at 2:20 PM on January 30, 2019 [6 favorites]
"Also, we have a girlfriend but you don't know her, she's in Vladivostock." Plausible deniability isn't going to cut it when it's fair to assume that Reed Smith shared discovery (directly or indirectly) with the troll factory to mess around with it and then leak it, without even bothering to hide its origins.
The Concord case has been built upon trolling the US legal system from the moment Dubelier and Seikaly showed up, but this is the kind of stuff that possibly maybe gets them sanctioned.
posted by holgate at 2:20 PM on January 30, 2019 [6 favorites]
Huffpost: House Democrats Unveil Social Security Expansion Bill With Unprecedented Support
The text of the bill also create a single trust fund for both OASI and DI, which is a technical fix, but eliminates the need to pass future transfers into the disability fund, which is the less solvent one, and Republicans always spin as "not Real Social Security". Although it makes no other changes to the disability program, which also really could use some positive changes for once.
posted by T.D. Strange at 2:22 PM on January 30, 2019 [8 favorites]
The text of the bill also create a single trust fund for both OASI and DI, which is a technical fix, but eliminates the need to pass future transfers into the disability fund, which is the less solvent one, and Republicans always spin as "not Real Social Security". Although it makes no other changes to the disability program, which also really could use some positive changes for once.
posted by T.D. Strange at 2:22 PM on January 30, 2019 [8 favorites]
The subsequent investigation has revealed that certain non-sensitive discovery materials in the defense’s possession appear to have been altered and disseminated as part of a disinformation campaign aimed (apparently) at discrediting ongoing investigations into Russian interference in the U.S. political system.
This reminds me that Mueller said he felt he needed to publicly come down hard on Clinton's use of a personal server, because a fake Russian document was floating around claiming the FBI was in Clinton's corner. I wonder if that's a document Mueller has looked into? I never heard about that document again.
posted by xammerboy at 2:25 PM on January 30, 2019
This reminds me that Mueller said he felt he needed to publicly come down hard on Clinton's use of a personal server, because a fake Russian document was floating around claiming the FBI was in Clinton's corner. I wonder if that's a document Mueller has looked into? I never heard about that document again.
posted by xammerboy at 2:25 PM on January 30, 2019
So if he really believes he can win, and should win, then he should prove it by defeating Donald Trump in the Republican primary.
Or beat whomever in the Democratic Primary.
I think the point here is that ain't no way another billionaire businessman is going to win the hearts and votes on the left, so if the GOP is ripe for that BS again, then they can embrace Schultz as their nominee. he's barking up the wroooooooong tree if he thinks his kind of outsiderism is going to fly with left leaning indies. i think.
posted by OHenryPacey at 2:25 PM on January 30, 2019 [6 favorites]
Or beat whomever in the Democratic Primary.
I think the point here is that ain't no way another billionaire businessman is going to win the hearts and votes on the left, so if the GOP is ripe for that BS again, then they can embrace Schultz as their nominee. he's barking up the wroooooooong tree if he thinks his kind of outsiderism is going to fly with left leaning indies. i think.
posted by OHenryPacey at 2:25 PM on January 30, 2019 [6 favorites]
Mod note: Folks, if people think there's worthwhile stuff to dig into on Schultz, the best thing is to make a separate thread for it. Otherwise let's drop it in here.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 2:26 PM on January 30, 2019 [14 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 2:26 PM on January 30, 2019 [14 favorites]
Nice to see Herr Twitler getting pushback on his latest temper tantrum.
Dem lawmaker: Trump is 'becoming a national security threat'
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 2:27 PM on January 30, 2019 [53 favorites]
Dem lawmaker: Trump is 'becoming a national security threat'
“It is not normal for the president of the United States to disparage his intelligence experts or his military experts,” Speier, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said during an appearance on MSNBC. “And yet that’s what the president does, day in and day out. He is becoming a national security threat himself.”I find myself getting frustrated when the larger news organizations don't latch onto other statements like this, but I'm also pleased to see there is now just a flood of such talk from Democratic lawmakers as the committees they took control of begin to operate like they should have all along. So much is being said now, by so many with actual power, that the Republican talking points Wall-O-Bullshit™ method of controlling the narrative is beginning to give way.
"And I think we have got to step back and recognize that he spews out toxic information," she continued. "He spews out lies and we’re not going to accept that. His intelligence community has now stated very clearly what the threats are, where we are succeeding, where we are not. [Trump] chooses not to recognize that."
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 2:27 PM on January 30, 2019 [53 favorites]
xammerboy: "This is one reason I am troubled by Pritzker doubling his staff's salary out of his own pocket."
Wait, What? How is that even legal and not seen as a big ass bribe.
posted by Mitheral at 2:30 PM on January 30, 2019 [12 favorites]
Wait, What? How is that even legal and not seen as a big ass bribe.
posted by Mitheral at 2:30 PM on January 30, 2019 [12 favorites]
NBC: GOP Delay In Naming House Intelligence Committee Members May Have Cost Mueller—Democrats have been unable to authorize release of witness transcripts to the special counsel without GOP members who were just named Wednesday.
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:53 PM on January 30, 2019 [9 favorites]
It is likely that Mueller and his team of investigators have had access to the committee’s transcripts, two sources familiar with the matter tell NBC News. But while the committee voted unanimously last September to authorize the release of redacted transcripts of most of their Russia-related interviews, the then-GOP majority rejected a Democratic motion to provide all transcripts, including classified materials, directly to Mueller.[…]Elsewhere on the Hill, Lindsey Graham is doubling down on running interference for Team Trump: Senate judiciary chair requests FBI briefing on arrest of Trump ally (Reuters) (Pics of Graham's letter to Wray 1 & 2)
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., chairman of the committee, told NBC Wednesday that even if Mueller’s team has seen the transcripts, they have been limited in what they could do with that information.
“They don’t have the use of them for perjury prosecutions until we authorize them for that use. And whether they could actually use the material in it as part of their report is also I think in question,” Schiff said. “So for those reasons and perhaps others, we ought to do this sooner rather than later."
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:53 PM on January 30, 2019 [9 favorites]
Graham just wants Trumpy to know that there are other Sessions out there, working hard for the white race.
posted by valkane at 3:13 PM on January 30, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by valkane at 3:13 PM on January 30, 2019 [5 favorites]
This reminds me that Mueller said he felt he needed to publicly come down hard on Clinton's use of a personal server, because a fake Russian document was floating around claiming the FBI was in Clinton's corner.
Wasn't that Comey?
posted by petebest at 3:35 PM on January 30, 2019 [13 favorites]
Wasn't that Comey?
posted by petebest at 3:35 PM on January 30, 2019 [13 favorites]
I was @realDonaldTrump‘s pastor for 5 years @MarbleChurch. I assure you, he had the “option” to come to Bible study. He never “opted” in. Nor did he ever actually enter the church doors. Not one time. https://t.co/hf06e6LyRz
— David Lewicki (@dlewicki) January 29, 2019
posted by bluesky43 at 4:20 PM on January 30, 2019 [45 favorites]
— David Lewicki (@dlewicki) January 29, 2019
posted by bluesky43 at 4:20 PM on January 30, 2019 [45 favorites]
Mitch McConnell Admits He’s Against High Voter Turnout Because He Suspects People Will Vote for Democrats [gq]
Video of the comments are no better. He mocks the suggestion that federal employees be granted time off to volunteer at polling places because, in his words, they're likely to support Democrats. McConnell doesn't even bother to come up with a half-assed excuse—instead he exposes his blanket contempt for government workers because, he suspects, they vote for Democrats, and for that reason alone it shouldn't be easier for them to cast a vote.
posted by adept256 at 4:27 PM on January 30, 2019 [76 favorites]
Video of the comments are no better. He mocks the suggestion that federal employees be granted time off to volunteer at polling places because, in his words, they're likely to support Democrats. McConnell doesn't even bother to come up with a half-assed excuse—instead he exposes his blanket contempt for government workers because, he suspects, they vote for Democrats, and for that reason alone it shouldn't be easier for them to cast a vote.
posted by adept256 at 4:27 PM on January 30, 2019 [76 favorites]
Y'know Mitch, it's not super mysterious why government workers, at this point in time, might feel like voting for democrats. That's on you.
posted by adept256 at 4:30 PM on January 30, 2019 [69 favorites]
posted by adept256 at 4:30 PM on January 30, 2019 [69 favorites]
xammerboy: "This is one reason I am troubled by Pritzker doubling his staff's salary out of his own pocket."
Wait, What? How is that even legal and not seen as a big ass bribe.
The previous governor also overpaid his staff. Except he use taxpayer money.
posted by srboisvert at 4:34 PM on January 30, 2019
Wasn't that Comey? --> Yes, I've been having problems with names recently :-)
posted by xammerboy at 4:40 PM on January 30, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by xammerboy at 4:40 PM on January 30, 2019 [4 favorites]
Brian Buetler: Howard Schultz And The Plutocrat Revolt
Schultz is just one billionaire, but he’s standing in here for a small but astonishingly powerful class of individuals who whose actions over the past two-plus years belie the sincerity of their anti-Trump comments. Schultz, like other public-facing billionaires, may genuinely believe that Trump is unacceptably racist and incompetent, but he and they also apparently believe that the only thing worse than a catastrophe like Trump is a tax level high enough restore public faith in the American political system.posted by T.D. Strange at 5:12 PM on January 30, 2019 [47 favorites]
...
Schultz’s candidacy is a counterpoint to corporate America’s winking complicity with Trump’s agenda. It’s a warning from donors to Democrats not to respond to Trumpism with an appeal to working-class solidarity—a threat to boobytrap the applecart if Democrats promise to upset it.
The proposition is not that he or another billionaire can persuade the anti-Trump majority that the economic status quo in the country is basically fine, but that they will return Trump to power if Democrats don’t accept their terms. Schultz has declined to enter the Democratic primary, because he knows entering the Democratic primary would be a pointless waste of time and money. Running outside of it, dividing the united front, gives him and his peers the leverage they’ll need to bring a progressive answer to Trumpism to heel.
...
Democrats will spare themselves a lot of heartache by if they can remain clear eyed about how the Schultz class has really responded to Trump’s victory. To avoid scaring off donors, some of them will be tempted to treat the members of this moneyed elite as if they are, by and large, allies in the fight rather than opportunists. But Schultz and his supporters have taken themselves out of the fold. To continue to reward them with policy concessions would be worse than a betrayal. It would communicate to the whole coalition that doing what’s necessary to beat Trump isn’t worth a bit of affliction for the comfortable. The fracture would spread like a crack in a windshield. If Democrats don’t learn to welcome the hatred of the plutocrats, we will either be stuck with Trump, or his movement will come roaring back in four years to take on a governing party that will have nothing to show for itself.
So I know everyone’s apoplectic about Schultz, but he’s not Nader. And Nader isn’t the only third party spoiler. Isn’t a much better comparison Ross Perot? I keep seeing people talk about an independent splitting the anti-incumbent vote, but the one time that happened, didn’t it go the other way?
I don’t see Schultz appealing to anyone who was going to vote Democratic. I see him appealing to Republicans who think they’re better than Trump.
Still fuck him on general principles, though.
posted by schadenfrau at 5:26 PM on January 30, 2019 [14 favorites]
I don’t see Schultz appealing to anyone who was going to vote Democratic. I see him appealing to Republicans who think they’re better than Trump.
Still fuck him on general principles, though.
posted by schadenfrau at 5:26 PM on January 30, 2019 [14 favorites]
There's been a lot of research on Perot's '92 run. Best we can tell, he pulled from HW and Clinton about equally.
posted by Chrysostom at 5:32 PM on January 30, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 5:32 PM on January 30, 2019 [10 favorites]
Trump invited The Daily Caller in for an interview tonight. They try to clean it up with ellipses in their "articles", but this section of the transcript is impressive:
TDC: Speaking of that, sir, Matt Whitaker came out I think a couple of days ago. He said that the Mueller probe seems to be wrapping up, generally. Has he communicated that to you?posted by pjenks at 5:35 PM on January 30, 2019 [18 favorites]
Trump: No. No, I haven’t spoken to him about that. I would say that I think after almost two years it certainly should be. Process crimes or process, you know, questions. The answer is different than what you thought it might be and some people say they lost their memory or a lack of memory, which a lot of people can understand that too.
No, I never spoke to him about that.
Mod note: Y'all, I'm gonna ditto LM shortly upthread and suggest Schultz stuff goes to a thread dedicated to Schultz stuff if there's actually something to discuss beyond just sort of springboarding to idle speculation.
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:36 PM on January 30, 2019 [18 favorites]
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:36 PM on January 30, 2019 [18 favorites]
Sen. Cory Gardner [R-CO] formally endorses Trump re-election.
Gardner is the consensus most vulnerable GOP Senate seat, and this sure won't make him less so.
posted by Chrysostom at 5:42 PM on January 30, 2019 [32 favorites]
Gardner is the consensus most vulnerable GOP Senate seat, and this sure won't make him less so.
posted by Chrysostom at 5:42 PM on January 30, 2019 [32 favorites]
We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace--business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering.
They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.
Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me--and I welcome their hatred.
So as in the thirties as it is today, this is the only acceptable position for the Democratic party.
Except, this time without concessions to racist assholes. This way or no way.
posted by absalom at 5:45 PM on January 30, 2019 [23 favorites]
They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.
Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me--and I welcome their hatred.
So as in the thirties as it is today, this is the only acceptable position for the Democratic party.
Except, this time without concessions to racist assholes. This way or no way.
posted by absalom at 5:45 PM on January 30, 2019 [23 favorites]
I don't really understand Gardner. He has to know that endorsing Trump now all but guarantees he won't win re-election in 2020. I don't have the link but saw polling today that his favorable rating in CO is as low as Trump's at 39%.
His office put out a press release today about the legislation he co-sponsored with Mazie Hirono to award Fred Korematsu the Congressional Gold Medal. It's bizarre to me that Gardner can see the wrong the U.S. did to Japanese Americans in WW2 but not the parallel in the current concentration camps at the border. It's probably a waste of time but I can't figure what he's about.
posted by danielleh at 6:12 PM on January 30, 2019 [7 favorites]
His office put out a press release today about the legislation he co-sponsored with Mazie Hirono to award Fred Korematsu the Congressional Gold Medal. It's bizarre to me that Gardner can see the wrong the U.S. did to Japanese Americans in WW2 but not the parallel in the current concentration camps at the border. It's probably a waste of time but I can't figure what he's about.
posted by danielleh at 6:12 PM on January 30, 2019 [7 favorites]
Here's the Denver Post story on the Gardner polling. He's at -4, Trump at -21; newly elected Dem gov Polis at +20.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:16 PM on January 30, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 6:16 PM on January 30, 2019 [6 favorites]
A cynic might conjecture that Gardner is trying to pander to Colorado voters of Japanese extraction?
posted by Rat Spatula at 6:30 PM on January 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Rat Spatula at 6:30 PM on January 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
Loony Leftist Report: State Senator Julia Salazar’s new eviction Bill is the first step towards universal rent controls
posted by The Whelk at 7:14 PM on January 30, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 7:14 PM on January 30, 2019 [11 favorites]
WaPo’s Spencer Hsu: NEW Docket unsealed for mystery foreign company battling Mueller grand jury subpoena, here http://bit.ly/2Sfso4h*. Entity's name seems to be 22 to 27-ish bold capital characters long. U.S. seems to have moved to seize related property. background here http://wapo.st/2GdsQJS
* https://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/sites/dcd/files/Final_18gj41_Public_Docket.pdf
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:29 PM on January 30, 2019 [12 favorites]
* https://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/sites/dcd/files/Final_18gj41_Public_Docket.pdf
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:29 PM on January 30, 2019 [12 favorites]
The Atlantic’s Scott Stedman runs down the list of suspects for the mystery company:
Mystery company fighting Mueller subpoena:posted by Doktor Zed at 7:43 PM on January 30, 2019 [43 favorites]
-Wholly owned by a foriegn government (court docs)
-Has business in the US (court docs)
-Financial institution (per WaPo)
-Represented by Alston & Bird (per BuzzFeed and CNN)
So let's put this together: A financial institution owned fully by a foreign government, with biz in the US, rep'd by Alston & Bird.
Alston & Bird represented the Russia govenment as recently as 2014.
It is NOT:
-Alfa Bank
-VTB
-Sberbank
-Deutsche Bank
-Bank of Cyprus
-Gazprom
-Rosneft
This leaves two clear frontrunners:
-Vnesheconombank (VEB) - CEO met with Kushner during transition
-Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) - Official met with Cohen during transition
Whoever it is just passed the $1,000,000 mark in fines for fighting the subpoena. The court previously ruled that they must pay $50,000 in fines daily for not complying. It is day 21.
It's QIA. People have been guessing that since the first mention of the subpoena battle and everything since then has done nothing but bolster the guess.
posted by Justinian at 7:53 PM on January 30, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 7:53 PM on January 30, 2019 [11 favorites]
Colorado pulls out of the Crosscheck vote suppression program. Illinois had done so a few days ago.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:55 PM on January 30, 2019 [45 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 7:55 PM on January 30, 2019 [45 favorites]
Betsy Fisher and Samantha Power, NYT op-ed, The Trump Administration Is Making a Mockery of the Supreme Court
This assurance was a key rationale for the court’s decision. Chief Justice John Roberts’s majority opinion argued that a waiver process would provide humanitarian exceptions to the ban and thus supported “the government’s claim of a legitimate national security interest.” However, in their separate dissents, Justice Stephen Breyer raised serious concerns about the waiver process, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor argued that it was a “sham.”WaPo, Jason Rezaian and Kate Woodsome, In love and tangled up in Trump’s travel ban [includes a 10-minute film]
It turns out they were right. The waiver process is opaque, arbitrary and unreasonably harsh, and it has not mitigated the ban’s effects on thousands of families in dire circumstances. It makes a mockery of the rule of law.
The waiver provision in the ban stipulates that those barred by their nationality from entering the United States may be granted waivers if they satisfy a three-part test: Applicants must show that being denied entry would cause “undue hardship,” that their entry would be “in the national interest” and that their entry would “not pose a threat to the national security or public safety of the United States.” But there are no published instructions as to how or where to apply for a waiver. Nor is there a form to fill out. This is in direct violation of the text of the ban, which explicitly directs the secretaries of state and of homeland security to clarify the process.
We have no way of knowing how many people have tried to obtain a waiver. What we do know is that the State Department has interpreted the ban’s provisions in an excessively harsh manner: Between Dec. 8, 2017 and April 30, 2018, according to the only data the administration has made available, roughly 98 percent of people who applied for a visa did not receive a waiver.
Two years since President Trump promised to “Make America Great Again” by barring citizens of several Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, the dreams of thousands of Americans are being shattered. U.S. citizens who have fallen in love with someone from a banned country and had hoped to build a life with their partners in the United States are being told to wait, indefinitely.posted by zachlipton at 8:57 PM on January 30, 2019 [35 favorites]
Trump said his executive order on “extreme vetting” is “about terror and keeping our country safe.” For the married couples ripped apart by it, the order means worrying about fertility and not being able to start a family, postponing financial decisions such as buying a house, and anxiously wondering if they should abandon their life in the United States to live with the person they love.
There is no relief in sight.
Does anyone know any good corkboard-and-string links or resources for the QIA's connections to all this, especially to Kushner and his company? The QIA-linked bailout of 666 Fifth Avenue is the most blatant connection but it came up so many times in so many contexts.
Seems one of the Steele Dossier items about Carter Page and Rosneft involved al-Rumaihi, too.
Cohen is the prosecution witness who just keeps on giving...
posted by mikelieman at 9:02 PM on January 30, 2019 [11 favorites]
" Ahmed al-Rumaihi, a former Qatari diplomat in the United States and the current head of Qatar Investments - a division of the world’s largest sovereign investment fund - entering an elevator in Trump Tower on Dec. 12, 2016. The visit happened five days after news broke of the multibillion-dollar sale of 19.5 percent of the Russian oil giant Rosneft to Qatar Investments.... "https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/qatar-kushner-and-cohen-the-latest-trump-scandal-rocking-d-c-1.6096437
..."Al-Rumaihi was at the meeting on Dec. 12, 2016, which occurred less than two hours before a public meeting between Cohen and incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn. "
Seems one of the Steele Dossier items about Carter Page and Rosneft involved al-Rumaihi, too.
Cohen is the prosecution witness who just keeps on giving...
posted by mikelieman at 9:02 PM on January 30, 2019 [11 favorites]
Another QIA/Trump connection is through Thomas Barrack. Trump and Barrack have been tight from the sale of Plaza Hotel in 1988 through to Barrack serving as the chairman of the Presidential Inaugural Committee. He also has extensive ties with QIA through his firm Colony Capital. Put those together with this December NYTimes story: Trump Inaugural Fund and Super PAC Said to Be Scrutinized for Illegal Foreign Donations:
The inquiry into potential foreign donations to the inaugural fund and the super PAC is yet another front being pursued by multiple teams of prosecutors. Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a billionaire financier and one of Mr. Trump’s closest friends, raised money for both funds.posted by peeedro at 9:16 PM on January 30, 2019 [5 favorites]
Betsy Fisher and Samantha Power, NYT op-ed, The Trump Administration Is Making a Mockery of the Supreme Court
The Gorsuch*-Kavanaugh Court knows full well when the Trump Administration is lying to it. They make the deliberate choice to accept false representations at face value, because Roberts wants the same policy outcome as Trump does, but wants to preserve the Court's "legitimacy" as long as possible until it's undeniable that the *-Court is ruling. Pay no attention to the Chief Justice behind the curtain.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:33 PM on January 30, 2019 [10 favorites]
The Gorsuch*-Kavanaugh Court knows full well when the Trump Administration is lying to it. They make the deliberate choice to accept false representations at face value, because Roberts wants the same policy outcome as Trump does, but wants to preserve the Court's "legitimacy" as long as possible until it's undeniable that the *-Court is ruling. Pay no attention to the Chief Justice behind the curtain.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:33 PM on January 30, 2019 [10 favorites]
Mitch McConnell: making Election Day a federal holiday is a Democratic “power grab” (Tara Golshan, Vox)
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:35 PM on January 30, 2019 [34 favorites]
"McConnell is saying the quiet part out loud on voting rights."A supporting position for his views on high voter turnout.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:35 PM on January 30, 2019 [34 favorites]
Whoever it is just passed the $1,000,000 mark in fines for fighting the subpoena. The court previously ruled that they must pay $50,000 in fines daily for not complying. It is day 21.
QIA has ~ $320Bn in assets.. At $50k/day it will take ~ 175 years to drain 1% of their assets,. The judge needs to do a Martingale style fine. where the payment doubles every day.
posted by benzenedream at 10:41 PM on January 30, 2019 [35 favorites]
QIA has ~ $320Bn in assets.. At $50k/day it will take ~ 175 years to drain 1% of their assets,. The judge needs to do a Martingale style fine. where the payment doubles every day.
posted by benzenedream at 10:41 PM on January 30, 2019 [35 favorites]
At $50k/day it will take ~ 175 years to drain 1% of their assets
And that's assuming they have that $320 billion stuffed in a mattress, not earning any return at all. It reduces their investment income by less than a thousandth of a percentage point.
More leverage is certainly required.
posted by bcd at 10:54 PM on January 30, 2019 [4 favorites]
And that's assuming they have that $320 billion stuffed in a mattress, not earning any return at all. It reduces their investment income by less than a thousandth of a percentage point.
More leverage is certainly required.
posted by bcd at 10:54 PM on January 30, 2019 [4 favorites]
At the core of this sort of centrism is the idea that there’s a hallowed middle ground that — simply by virtue of being equidistant between arbitrarily designated and presumptively equivalent “extremes" — is inherently sensible, virtuous, and above all, non-ideological. This idea is certainly seductive to far too many people. But it doesn’t give rise to anything resembling realism. In a way, it’s a rigid ideology all its own.
So.... I understand myself as a kind of centrist, in that I see a lot of problems in terms of tradeoffs and balancing tension between important principles. But this criticism is an absolutely necessary one to consider in order for there to be such a thing as any reasonable form of centrism.
In a physical system (the one that balanced tensions folks like myself are implicitly invoking when making centrist appeals), there's no guarantee the solution producing the vector you want involves equidistance. Or even equilibrium -- because in some matters you want stability, of course, but in some you want movement. Progress. And you get that by understanding the system you're working with (which is my one beef with some idealists who seem to want to skip this step), but then setting up various systemic forces in a systems configuration to get a desired effect.
One could argue that this has some technocratic weaknesses, and I'd consider that criticism, but the point is that in its simplest form the fundamental assumption that some centrists make isn't true. An optimal policy point may be "in between" two poles, but the idea that means it's "right in the middle" is as bad a starting assumption that it's always at the pole. And this doesn't even start to account for the major issue of where the "poles" are planted at the start of a given discussion. Especially in an era one one of the parties people look to for establishing reference points is planting theirs around ethnostates, fascism, and kleptocracy.
And this hits Schultz specifically because, well, I don't want to hear another word from someone talking about the national debt... unless they're admitting national revenue to the discussion. If someone is trying to discuss national debt from a spending-only perspective, they are categorically not a centrist, they're a single pole ideologue. Hell, if they're not explicitly invoking revenue, they're likely invoking a single-poled frame, whether intentionally or unintentionally. And why is it always the businessmen who talk like this? I can kindof understand when voters who have never had a real glimpse into the economics of an entity more complex than a household end up using consumer debt as their go-to metaphor for macroeconomics, wrong as it is. But anyone who's been a CEO (especially of a large enterprise) should know better, and when they talk like they don't, that should be the end of any patience for even the pretense that they have any place in important national public office.
posted by wildblueyonder at 11:39 PM on January 30, 2019 [37 favorites]
So.... I understand myself as a kind of centrist, in that I see a lot of problems in terms of tradeoffs and balancing tension between important principles. But this criticism is an absolutely necessary one to consider in order for there to be such a thing as any reasonable form of centrism.
In a physical system (the one that balanced tensions folks like myself are implicitly invoking when making centrist appeals), there's no guarantee the solution producing the vector you want involves equidistance. Or even equilibrium -- because in some matters you want stability, of course, but in some you want movement. Progress. And you get that by understanding the system you're working with (which is my one beef with some idealists who seem to want to skip this step), but then setting up various systemic forces in a systems configuration to get a desired effect.
One could argue that this has some technocratic weaknesses, and I'd consider that criticism, but the point is that in its simplest form the fundamental assumption that some centrists make isn't true. An optimal policy point may be "in between" two poles, but the idea that means it's "right in the middle" is as bad a starting assumption that it's always at the pole. And this doesn't even start to account for the major issue of where the "poles" are planted at the start of a given discussion. Especially in an era one one of the parties people look to for establishing reference points is planting theirs around ethnostates, fascism, and kleptocracy.
And this hits Schultz specifically because, well, I don't want to hear another word from someone talking about the national debt... unless they're admitting national revenue to the discussion. If someone is trying to discuss national debt from a spending-only perspective, they are categorically not a centrist, they're a single pole ideologue. Hell, if they're not explicitly invoking revenue, they're likely invoking a single-poled frame, whether intentionally or unintentionally. And why is it always the businessmen who talk like this? I can kindof understand when voters who have never had a real glimpse into the economics of an entity more complex than a household end up using consumer debt as their go-to metaphor for macroeconomics, wrong as it is. But anyone who's been a CEO (especially of a large enterprise) should know better, and when they talk like they don't, that should be the end of any patience for even the pretense that they have any place in important national public office.
posted by wildblueyonder at 11:39 PM on January 30, 2019 [37 favorites]
Team Trump quietly filling 'pot of gold' encouraging Kim Jong-un to denuclearize
The Trump administration is quietly preparing a special “economic package” designed to entice North Korean leader Kim Jong-un into taking specific steps toward dismantling his nuclear weapons program when he and President Trump meet for their highly anticipated second summit.posted by scalefree at 12:01 AM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
The initiative, spearheaded by Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, has already been touted in private working-level talks with the North Koreans and involves creating a kind of escrow account to prove to Mr. Kim that the U.S. and its allies are truly committed to rewarding Pyongyang economically if it comes through on denuclearization, The Washington Times has learned.
While the State Department has not commented publicly, sources familiar with the plan say it centers on securing guarantees for billions of dollars worth of cash contributions from Japan, South Korea, the European Union and others that would go toward North Korean infrastructure and development projects.
“These are guarantees that can be waved under Kim’s nose to assure him of the pot of gold waiting for him on the other side of the rainbow,” said one of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Something something Iran something something.
posted by scalefree at 12:02 AM on January 31, 2019 [13 favorites]
posted by scalefree at 12:02 AM on January 31, 2019 [13 favorites]
Yeah, I certainly hope the EU makes it a condition for contribution that the US gets back into the Iran deal.
posted by mumimor at 12:58 AM on January 31, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by mumimor at 12:58 AM on January 31, 2019 [9 favorites]
German media reports that Germany, France and the UK have set up a payment channel with Iran called INSTEX, to help continue trade and circumvent US sanctions.
posted by infini at 3:57 AM on January 31, 2019 [26 favorites]
posted by infini at 3:57 AM on January 31, 2019 [26 favorites]
Not really news but worth mentioning again:
How the religious right gained unprecedented access to Trump
As the president offers a sympathetic ear – and policies to match – critics see a de facto advisory committee, violating federal law.
posted by adamvasco at 3:58 AM on January 31, 2019 [11 favorites]
How the religious right gained unprecedented access to Trump
As the president offers a sympathetic ear – and policies to match – critics see a de facto advisory committee, violating federal law.
posted by adamvasco at 3:58 AM on January 31, 2019 [11 favorites]
Well, Florida’s racist governor just had his racist Secretary of State resign and is “asking” the entire SFWMD board to resign, so I don’t think we will hear from him on joining that board of states anytime soon.
Also, 2020 canary check: my “work” (honeypot) FB account is being friend requested by some busy “Bernie or Bust” babes/fake accounts. All joined in Dec, few if no real friends, busily posting Bernie stuff and photos they allegedly took wif der own widdle phones at local environmental justice events.
posted by tilde at 4:03 AM on January 31, 2019 [13 favorites]
Also, 2020 canary check: my “work” (honeypot) FB account is being friend requested by some busy “Bernie or Bust” babes/fake accounts. All joined in Dec, few if no real friends, busily posting Bernie stuff and photos they allegedly took wif der own widdle phones at local environmental justice events.
posted by tilde at 4:03 AM on January 31, 2019 [13 favorites]
took wif der own widdle phones
I'm not sure what the joke is supposed to be here, but I have a feeling it's in poor taste.
posted by hoyland at 4:07 AM on January 31, 2019 [11 favorites]
I'm not sure what the joke is supposed to be here, but I have a feeling it's in poor taste.
posted by hoyland at 4:07 AM on January 31, 2019 [11 favorites]
For the record regarding Florida, DeSantis is pulling a twofer by getting rid of Rick Scott's people (there is no love lost between them) while appearing to take a stand against some of Lord Voldemort's more blatant corruption. In actuality, he's just stacking the deck in favor of his cronies instead of Scott's.
Basically, he's talking like a Teahadist while pretending to be one of the early Contract-With-America good governance (which we all now know was a scam, but the propaganda still works on many people) types to throw the opposition off their game and distort the record.
posted by wierdo at 5:00 AM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
Basically, he's talking like a Teahadist while pretending to be one of the early Contract-With-America good governance (which we all now know was a scam, but the propaganda still works on many people) types to throw the opposition off their game and distort the record.
posted by wierdo at 5:00 AM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yeah, maybe it’s funnier inside my head. Head cold pre coffee.
Just trying to condense (badly, apparently) the idea that Bernie Bro accounts were error checked and have been upgraded for this go-round.
Girls instead of as many guys, cute and athletic and could be Instagram influencers but instead choose to be breathlessly pro Bernie. Friending perceived local socialists early on, making sure their posts aren’t just all memes, making or faking pictures that “seem” to be captured in quirky real life at awesome local small social justice speaking events to “prove” they are really in the local ish area but actually on the other side of the state so sorry we can’t meet for coffee.
No visible friends, but lots of comments from other real people pro socialist in various ways, though no posts from friends they ostensibly attended the local events with. Never “checks in” at events, never selfies, or live casts, but posts about being somewhere afterwards.
Active in target time zones usual hours instead of their actual location, etc.
posted by tilde at 5:01 AM on January 31, 2019 [28 favorites]
Just trying to condense (badly, apparently) the idea that Bernie Bro accounts were error checked and have been upgraded for this go-round.
Girls instead of as many guys, cute and athletic and could be Instagram influencers but instead choose to be breathlessly pro Bernie. Friending perceived local socialists early on, making sure their posts aren’t just all memes, making or faking pictures that “seem” to be captured in quirky real life at awesome local small social justice speaking events to “prove” they are really in the local ish area but actually on the other side of the state so sorry we can’t meet for coffee.
No visible friends, but lots of comments from other real people pro socialist in various ways, though no posts from friends they ostensibly attended the local events with. Never “checks in” at events, never selfies, or live casts, but posts about being somewhere afterwards.
Active in target time zones usual hours instead of their actual location, etc.
posted by tilde at 5:01 AM on January 31, 2019 [28 favorites]
Does anyone know any good corkboard-and-string links or resources for the QIA's connections to all this,
This is my corkboard. But what I am trying to figure out is how the Qatar stuff fits with the UAE/Saudi Arabia/Israel stuff. Because those last three countries are in a short of cold war with Qatar. But all of them including Qatar are nominally US allies, and all of them seem to have been trying, to some extent, to get Trump elected. It's weird that BOTH sides of that conflict would be trying to help Trump.
I'm also confused about Iran, which is allied with Russia and Assad in Syria, and bitterly opposed to UAE/Saudi Arabia/Israel. But again, both sides of THAT conflict seem to have invested in Trump. I mean both Russia, which is allied with Iran, and Saudi Arabia, which is very opposed to Iran, were helping Trump. And the Trump administration is full of Iran hawks.
Somebody let me know if anyone figures out why both sites of these geopolitical conflicts would be supporting the same guy.(And where does Turkey fit in?)
posted by OnceUponATime at 5:01 AM on January 31, 2019 [16 favorites]
This is my corkboard. But what I am trying to figure out is how the Qatar stuff fits with the UAE/Saudi Arabia/Israel stuff. Because those last three countries are in a short of cold war with Qatar. But all of them including Qatar are nominally US allies, and all of them seem to have been trying, to some extent, to get Trump elected. It's weird that BOTH sides of that conflict would be trying to help Trump.
I'm also confused about Iran, which is allied with Russia and Assad in Syria, and bitterly opposed to UAE/Saudi Arabia/Israel. But again, both sides of THAT conflict seem to have invested in Trump. I mean both Russia, which is allied with Iran, and Saudi Arabia, which is very opposed to Iran, were helping Trump. And the Trump administration is full of Iran hawks.
Somebody let me know if anyone figures out why both sites of these geopolitical conflicts would be supporting the same guy.(And where does Turkey fit in?)
posted by OnceUponATime at 5:01 AM on January 31, 2019 [16 favorites]
I'm also confused about Iran, which is allied with Russia and Assad in Syria, and bitterly opposed to UAE/Saudi Arabia/Israel. But again, both sides of THAT conflict seem to have invested in Trump. I mean both Russia, which is allied with Iran, and Saudi Arabia, which is very opposed to Iran, were helping Trump. And the Trump administration is full of Iran hawks.
It is very convenient for Russia if Iran is geopolitically isolated and 100% dependent on them.
posted by srboisvert at 5:06 AM on January 31, 2019 [12 favorites]
It is very convenient for Russia if Iran is geopolitically isolated and 100% dependent on them.
posted by srboisvert at 5:06 AM on January 31, 2019 [12 favorites]
Somebody let me know if anyone figures out why both sites of these geopolitical conflicts would be supporting the same guy.(And where does Turkey fit in?) Because grifting for influence is easy, and this administration is open for business with any one who has money.
posted by Harry Caul at 5:32 AM on January 31, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Harry Caul at 5:32 AM on January 31, 2019 [3 favorites]
Salt Lake Tribune: More than half of Utah voters say they won’t vote to re-elect President Trump in 2020
“The Salt Lake Tribune-Hinckley Institute of Politics poll shows that 54 percent of Utah voters — usually among the most conservative in the nation — would probably or definitely not vote to re-elect the president in 2020, while the same number of voters say they approve of Romney standing up to Trump.”
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:33 AM on January 31, 2019 [7 favorites]
“The Salt Lake Tribune-Hinckley Institute of Politics poll shows that 54 percent of Utah voters — usually among the most conservative in the nation — would probably or definitely not vote to re-elect the president in 2020, while the same number of voters say they approve of Romney standing up to Trump.”
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:33 AM on January 31, 2019 [7 favorites]
Trump's spiritual adviser encourages her followers to send her their January salaries
The best people...
posted by Thorzdad at 5:56 AM on January 31, 2019 [11 favorites]
The best people...
posted by Thorzdad at 5:56 AM on January 31, 2019 [11 favorites]
Even In His Own Memoir, 'Let Me Finish,' Chris Christie Gets Upstaged By Trump [npr]
You can expect an earful about all the above, but Christie's main beef is with Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Trump. Christie blames the young Kushner for ousting him from Trump's inner circle.
Dragging Jared's name through the mud. Sure, I could read that. I wonder if the meatloaf story is in there. He was promoting this book on the Colbert show and behaving very strangely. He drank four big shots of tequila in about five minutes, down in one. If you saw a friend drinking like this, you'd keep an eye on them, make sure they don't drive, maybe have a chat about how things are going for them. This is how you drink when you have zero fucks left, on TV too, as if this will never haunt him. A zero fucks Chris Christie book may be interesting.
posted by adept256 at 6:01 AM on January 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
You can expect an earful about all the above, but Christie's main beef is with Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Trump. Christie blames the young Kushner for ousting him from Trump's inner circle.
Dragging Jared's name through the mud. Sure, I could read that. I wonder if the meatloaf story is in there. He was promoting this book on the Colbert show and behaving very strangely. He drank four big shots of tequila in about five minutes, down in one. If you saw a friend drinking like this, you'd keep an eye on them, make sure they don't drive, maybe have a chat about how things are going for them. This is how you drink when you have zero fucks left, on TV too, as if this will never haunt him. A zero fucks Chris Christie book may be interesting.
posted by adept256 at 6:01 AM on January 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
Christie has behaved so ridiculously in public that it is clear there are no rules that apply to him, nor has he ever given any fucks. Don't buy the book!
posted by armacy at 6:10 AM on January 31, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by armacy at 6:10 AM on January 31, 2019 [10 favorites]
I've seen that Utah link floating around, and there's not really anything there.
I agree that the poll is unilluminating in 2019 as an electoral predictor without a 2020 Democratic nominee (or, ugh, third-party candidate) as a contrasting choice.
These kinds of polls do offer some value, though, in assessing Trump's GOP support as an alternative to approval ratings, which, I suspect, trip Republicans' loyalty instincts when they're considering current politics. (Trump's approval ratings among Republican voters has stayed solid—the latest Gallup shows it's down only 1% since he first took office.)
I wonder what "Romney standing up to Trump" means in the context of this poll.
According to 538, Romney's 3 for 4 in voting with Trump (his vote to funding the federal government through Feb. 8, without money for a border wall is his only dissent so far). I suspect he'll take this Utah poll as a signal that he can adopt the mantle of Jeff Flake for the 116th Congress.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:25 AM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
I agree that the poll is unilluminating in 2019 as an electoral predictor without a 2020 Democratic nominee (or, ugh, third-party candidate) as a contrasting choice.
These kinds of polls do offer some value, though, in assessing Trump's GOP support as an alternative to approval ratings, which, I suspect, trip Republicans' loyalty instincts when they're considering current politics. (Trump's approval ratings among Republican voters has stayed solid—the latest Gallup shows it's down only 1% since he first took office.)
I wonder what "Romney standing up to Trump" means in the context of this poll.
According to 538, Romney's 3 for 4 in voting with Trump (his vote to funding the federal government through Feb. 8, without money for a border wall is his only dissent so far). I suspect he'll take this Utah poll as a signal that he can adopt the mantle of Jeff Flake for the 116th Congress.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:25 AM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
Jerome Corsi’s claims about Roger Stone, WikiLeaks, and the Access Hollywood tape, explained
Andrew Prokop (Vox) read Jerome Corsi's book so you don't have to (twitter thread summary). He explains that, while continuing to plead his own innocence, Corsi makes a lot of trouble for Roger Stone by (1) detailing the allegations made by Mueller and (2) backing up those allegations with his own records.
In particular, Prokop summarizes Corsi's phone records on October 7, 2016:
Andrew Prokop (Vox) read Jerome Corsi's book so you don't have to (twitter thread summary). He explains that, while continuing to plead his own innocence, Corsi makes a lot of trouble for Roger Stone by (1) detailing the allegations made by Mueller and (2) backing up those allegations with his own records.
In particular, Prokop summarizes Corsi's phone records on October 7, 2016:
At 4pm that day the Access Hollywood tape dropped. At 4:30 WikiLeaks released the first Podesta emails. And, a short time later, Stone received at text from a "high-ranking Trump Campaign official": "well done".
- 11:27 am: Corsi calls Roger Stone and they speak for one minute. (Corsi says this happened at 11:27 pm but given the timeline, I think this is a typo.)
- 1:08 pm: Corsi joins a conference call for WorldNetDaily (the conservative website he works for), which lasts 28 minutes.
- 1:42 pm: Stone calls Corsi, they speak for 18 minutes.
- 2:00 pm: Corsi has a call with Total Banking Solutions, a deposit brokering company he says he’s consulting for.
- 2:18 pm: Corsi calls Stone back. They speak for 21 minutes. The Access Hollywood tape came out around 4 pm, and WikiLeaks started releasing the Podesta emails around 4:30 pm.
Corsi’s purported recollection of what happened here, which he says he told Mueller’s team, is that most of these calls were about Stone’s news that the damaging tape on Trump would soon be released, and his desire to get WikiLeaks to start dumping the Podesta emails to counteract it.posted by pjenks at 6:26 AM on January 31, 2019 [15 favorites]
He writes that he explained all this on the conference call with the staff of WorldNetDaily — meaning there would be witnesses to back his version of events up, if it’s true. (Perhaps some of those witnesses talked to Mueller already.)
Corsi is cagier, however, about what he said on his call with Total Banking Solutions. This is a financial company Corsi says he was consulting for — along with Ted Malloch, the person to whom Corsi forwarded Stone’s older “Get to Assange” email. Corsi does not clearly explain who was on this call or what happened.
A zero fucks Chris Christie book may be interesting.
posted by octobersurprise at 6:40 AM on January 31, 2019 [12 favorites]
The host took out two shot glasses and placed them on his desk. He picked up a bottle, and warned, “This is that liberal George Clooney tequila, I hope you don’t mind.”Lol. I have less than no interest in buying or reading Christie's new book, but if this is the new Zero Fucks Christie, I am here for it. *imagines Christie in the green room— I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am ...*
“Let me tell you something, if it gets me loaded, I don’t care.”
posted by octobersurprise at 6:40 AM on January 31, 2019 [12 favorites]
I think Christie could have used his powers for good. Perhaps he will some day. But yeah his book is gonna have to go on the pile over there with the Corey books right now.
What I'm interested in seeing is the connection between the dumpf of the Wikileaks DNC emails and the bizarro-world unsane forging of the Pizzagate narrative. There's no way that's not fully mapped out on the IRA whiteboards and 'thought leaders' or 'sectional troll managers' aren't named in that whole process.
We know about the BernieBots and the BLMbots to some extent, but since Pizzagate seems to be the only "thing" that actually stuck from all the stupid Wikileaks DNC risotto-recipe emails, I'm curious what machinations had to occur to get there? Besides just throwing it on Reddit and letting everyone hoot and holler until Edgar Maddison Welch decided "enough" was, in fact, "enough". I think we could agree that's the high water mark there.
The reason is - colluding with a known GRU cutout to spend foreign money on influencing an election is one thing. But the extra sauce is that astroturfed pedo panic that photoshopped Hillary into the middle of some astonishingly ridiculous theory that stuck around long enough to lose, what was it? 10,000 swing votes?
I mean, it kind of sounds like a Roger Stone joint dunnit.
posted by petebest at 6:56 AM on January 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
What I'm interested in seeing is the connection between the dumpf of the Wikileaks DNC emails and the bizarro-world unsane forging of the Pizzagate narrative. There's no way that's not fully mapped out on the IRA whiteboards and 'thought leaders' or 'sectional troll managers' aren't named in that whole process.
We know about the BernieBots and the BLMbots to some extent, but since Pizzagate seems to be the only "thing" that actually stuck from all the stupid Wikileaks DNC risotto-recipe emails, I'm curious what machinations had to occur to get there? Besides just throwing it on Reddit and letting everyone hoot and holler until Edgar Maddison Welch decided "enough" was, in fact, "enough". I think we could agree that's the high water mark there.
The reason is - colluding with a known GRU cutout to spend foreign money on influencing an election is one thing. But the extra sauce is that astroturfed pedo panic that photoshopped Hillary into the middle of some astonishingly ridiculous theory that stuck around long enough to lose, what was it? 10,000 swing votes?
I mean, it kind of sounds like a Roger Stone joint dunnit.
posted by petebest at 6:56 AM on January 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Firm’s close ties to Georgia stir concerns about voting system purchase:
When Gov. Brian Kemp hired an election company’s lobbyist this month, the move raised alarm bells about one company’s influence on Georgia’s upcoming purchase of a new statewide voting system.
Concerns from government accountability advocates only grew days later, when a commission created by Kemp recommended that the state buy the type of voting machines sold by the lobbyist’s company, Election Systems & Software. Several other vendors also offer similar voting machines.
Then Kemp proposed spending $150 million on a new statewide voting system, an amount that matches estimates for the cost of the system promoted by ES&S, called ballot-marking devices, which use a combination of touchscreens and ballot printers.
The latest moves fueled suspicions that cozy connections between lobbyists, Kemp and other elected officials will lead to ES&S winning a rich contract to sell its computerized voting products to the state government, even though 55 percent of Georgia voters said in a poll by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution this month that they prefer a cheaper system where paper ballots are filled in by voters.
[...]
Election security advocates, including the only cybersecurity expert on Kemp’s voting system commission, want the state government to move to paper ballots bubbled in by hand and counted by optical scanning machines, saying they’re less expensive and more accountable. By comparison, the machines recommended by a majority of the commission require voters to use touchscreens to make their selections and then insert their printed ballots into scanning machines.
[...]
“I’m telling you, no paper ballots. They’re fraudulent,” said Mullis, a Republican from Chickamauga. “The most secure place in our entire election system should be the ballot box, and I will not stand here and let paper ballots take us back to the Dark Ages.”
[...]
Georgia’s government has a history of tailoring state laws to accommodate a single election vendor.
Before Georgia voters used the state’s electronic voting machines for the first time in 2002, the General Assembly changed a state law requiring an independent audit trail of each vote cast. Lifting that requirement paved the way for the state to buy Diebold’s voting machines, which lacked a paper trail to back up electronic vote counts.
posted by Emmy Rae at 7:02 AM on January 31, 2019 [32 favorites]
When Gov. Brian Kemp hired an election company’s lobbyist this month, the move raised alarm bells about one company’s influence on Georgia’s upcoming purchase of a new statewide voting system.
Concerns from government accountability advocates only grew days later, when a commission created by Kemp recommended that the state buy the type of voting machines sold by the lobbyist’s company, Election Systems & Software. Several other vendors also offer similar voting machines.
Then Kemp proposed spending $150 million on a new statewide voting system, an amount that matches estimates for the cost of the system promoted by ES&S, called ballot-marking devices, which use a combination of touchscreens and ballot printers.
The latest moves fueled suspicions that cozy connections between lobbyists, Kemp and other elected officials will lead to ES&S winning a rich contract to sell its computerized voting products to the state government, even though 55 percent of Georgia voters said in a poll by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution this month that they prefer a cheaper system where paper ballots are filled in by voters.
[...]
Election security advocates, including the only cybersecurity expert on Kemp’s voting system commission, want the state government to move to paper ballots bubbled in by hand and counted by optical scanning machines, saying they’re less expensive and more accountable. By comparison, the machines recommended by a majority of the commission require voters to use touchscreens to make their selections and then insert their printed ballots into scanning machines.
[...]
“I’m telling you, no paper ballots. They’re fraudulent,” said Mullis, a Republican from Chickamauga. “The most secure place in our entire election system should be the ballot box, and I will not stand here and let paper ballots take us back to the Dark Ages.”
[...]
Georgia’s government has a history of tailoring state laws to accommodate a single election vendor.
Before Georgia voters used the state’s electronic voting machines for the first time in 2002, the General Assembly changed a state law requiring an independent audit trail of each vote cast. Lifting that requirement paved the way for the state to buy Diebold’s voting machines, which lacked a paper trail to back up electronic vote counts.
posted by Emmy Rae at 7:02 AM on January 31, 2019 [32 favorites]
"You should treat Texas as a swing state. ... It's not as red as people think it is. It's actually a competitive state"
That quote is from the former Republican chairman for the state of Texas. It's real, y'all. We can take back Texas and the GOP is already saying it out loud. They are scared.
(I recommend the entire article. First two-thirds especially.)
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 7:18 AM on January 31, 2019 [71 favorites]
That quote is from the former Republican chairman for the state of Texas. It's real, y'all. We can take back Texas and the GOP is already saying it out loud. They are scared.
(I recommend the entire article. First two-thirds especially.)
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 7:18 AM on January 31, 2019 [71 favorites]
Concerns from government accountability advocates only grew days later, when a commission created by Kemp recommended that the state buy the type of voting machines sold by the lobbyist’s company, Election Systems & Software. Several other vendors also offer similar voting machines.
Then Kemp proposed spending $150 million on a new statewide voting system, an amount that matches estimates for the cost of the system promoted by ES&S, called ballot-marking devices, which use a combination of touchscreens and ballot printers.
NY uses the ESS scantron scanners w/ BMD's for assistance.
I don't see any reason to trade off the simplicity of "fill in the bubble for your candidate", which we've all be trained to do, and is simple enough to teach anyone unfamiliar, for touch screen BMDs for everyone UNLESS you're trying to rig the system.
If you can't do a hand-counted audit of the results, you're doing it wrong.
posted by mikelieman at 7:31 AM on January 31, 2019 [18 favorites]
Then Kemp proposed spending $150 million on a new statewide voting system, an amount that matches estimates for the cost of the system promoted by ES&S, called ballot-marking devices, which use a combination of touchscreens and ballot printers.
NY uses the ESS scantron scanners w/ BMD's for assistance.
I don't see any reason to trade off the simplicity of "fill in the bubble for your candidate", which we've all be trained to do, and is simple enough to teach anyone unfamiliar, for touch screen BMDs for everyone UNLESS you're trying to rig the system.
If you can't do a hand-counted audit of the results, you're doing it wrong.
posted by mikelieman at 7:31 AM on January 31, 2019 [18 favorites]
I don't see any reason to trade off the simplicity of "fill in the bubble for your candidate", which we've all be trained to do, and is simple enough to teach anyone unfamiliar, for touch screens UNLESS you're trying to rig the system.
Plus paper ballots are cheaper!
posted by Emmy Rae at 7:33 AM on January 31, 2019 [9 favorites]
Plus paper ballots are cheaper!
posted by Emmy Rae at 7:33 AM on January 31, 2019 [9 favorites]
I could do a long FPP on this, but the bottom line is that best practice is electronic voting machines with a machine printed voter-verified paper ballot and electronic scanners, with statistically significant number of precincts subjected to hand counted audit.
posted by M-x shell at 7:52 AM on January 31, 2019 [35 favorites]
posted by M-x shell at 7:52 AM on January 31, 2019 [35 favorites]
Trump’s Use of Undocumented Workers Should Be a Bigger Scandal (Martin Longman, Washington Monthly)
When stories like this fail to elicit the proper amount of outrage and get wall-to-wall media coverage, it permits people to proudly wear their MAGA hats and say that the message is to “buy American, hire American.” In truth, Trump doesn’t hire American if he can help it. He’s running the biggest con I’ve ever seen.posted by ZeusHumms at 7:54 AM on January 31, 2019 [52 favorites]
Although the con is being exposed, the problem is that there are so many examples of his hypocrisy and criminality that they all bleed together. To me, this story about his use and mistreatment of undocumented workers should be an exception. I’d like to see every Republican office-holder asked about this on a daily basis. I’d like to see every person with a MAGA hat have to respond to why this is okay.
Yet, if I’m honest, I won’t be writing about this tomorrow or the next day. I’ll be chasing the next big thing like everyone else.
Primaries Matter: How a Long-Shot Challenge Shifted the Debate on the War in Yemen:
posted by Ouverture at 8:07 AM on January 31, 2019 [10 favorites]
Since 2015, the United States has provided logistical support to Saudi Arabia, in addition to tens of billions of dollars in arms sales. The resolution, which seeks to end that, picked up momentum in the wake of the butchering of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.I am looking forward to the day where Democrats don't need to be pressured to stop enabling war crimes in Yemen and everywhere else.
But inside the House, a much lower-profile development played a critical but overlooked role: a Democratic primary campaign in Washington state. Significant credit for that resolution’s earlier momentum, say people closely involved in the process, belongs indirectly to Sarah Smith, a long-shot congressional candidate who challenged Democratic Rep. Adam Smith in Washington last year, making it to the general election before losing. Adam Smith at the time was the top-ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee and is now the panel’s chair, and Sarah Smith mounted her challenge largely in opposition to what she cast as his hawkish foreign policy approach, with a specific emphasis on Yemen.
Adam Smith, facing the challenge from Sarah Smith, became an outspoken advocate of using the War Powers Resolution in the fall to go up against the Trump administration, including by becoming a leading sponsor of a new War Powers resolution on Yemen. Now that he has won re-election, he remains a supporter of the effort, but his enthusiasm for it has changed noticeably.
posted by Ouverture at 8:07 AM on January 31, 2019 [10 favorites]
Maybe winter really is coming to the White House
From Politico: White House preps emergency wall plan while Congress negotiates
From Politico: White House preps emergency wall plan while Congress negotiates
If Trump goes through with an emergency order, it could split the Republican Party, said one former senior administration official. It would divide conservatives, driving a wedge between those strongly believe in ending illegal immigration at all costs and those worried about the legal precedent it would set.posted by Little Dawn at 8:10 AM on January 31, 2019 [9 favorites]
“It could be seen as subverting the Constitution for his own ego, and it will be the end of his presidency,” said one former senior administration official.
Whistleblower In White House Is Suspended (NBC News) (via)
“A White House security specialist has been suspended without pay for defying her supervisor Carl Kline, less than a week after NBC News reported Kline approved Jared Kushner for top secret clearance over the objections of career staff,” NBC News reports.
“The specialist, Tricia Newbold, had filed a discrimination complaint against Kline three months ago… Newbold’s lawyer considers her a whistleblower and said he believes the administrative charges were brought as payback for her decision to file the complaint against Kline.”
Just because ol Jared explicitly sought out the Russian ambassador to set up a seekrit back-channel encrypted commiunications line to the Kremlin, or that he solicited real estate buyouts from foreign governments with promises of below-list-price arms sales is no reason to deny him super level US gov clearances. Unless you're a smart person doing good. Which, doesn't seem to describe Carl Kline.
posted by petebest at 8:14 AM on January 31, 2019 [35 favorites]
“A White House security specialist has been suspended without pay for defying her supervisor Carl Kline, less than a week after NBC News reported Kline approved Jared Kushner for top secret clearance over the objections of career staff,” NBC News reports.
“The specialist, Tricia Newbold, had filed a discrimination complaint against Kline three months ago… Newbold’s lawyer considers her a whistleblower and said he believes the administrative charges were brought as payback for her decision to file the complaint against Kline.”
Just because ol Jared explicitly sought out the Russian ambassador to set up a seekrit back-channel encrypted commiunications line to the Kremlin, or that he solicited real estate buyouts from foreign governments with promises of below-list-price arms sales is no reason to deny him super level US gov clearances. Unless you're a smart person doing good. Which, doesn't seem to describe Carl Kline.
posted by petebest at 8:14 AM on January 31, 2019 [35 favorites]
Whistleblower In White House Is Suspended (NBC News) (via)
And once again, petty cruelty turns out to be the hallmark of a Trumpist:
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:18 AM on January 31, 2019 [53 favorites]
And once again, petty cruelty turns out to be the hallmark of a Trumpist:
In her EEOC complaint, Newbold, who has a rare form of dwarfism, accused Kline of discriminating against her because of her height.Meanwhile, the Trump White House still hasn't explained why Kline overruled the IC's clearance vetters and permitted Kusher top secret clearance. And now the US has a walking, talking national security risk as Trump's go-to negotiator for matters domestic and internation.
Her complaint states that, in December 2017, Kline moved security files to a new location that were too high and out of her reach. "You have people, have them get you the files you need; or you can ask me," he told Newbold, according to her complaint.
Two sources who did not want to be identified confirmed that Kline had moved files out of Newbold's reach.
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:18 AM on January 31, 2019 [53 favorites]
Let's not go overboard with the hagiography of Chris Christie.
He's a corrupt grifter who tried to get in bed with another corrupt grifter, and failed spectacularly at it. His career was in shambles before the Trump campaign even existed.
Trump saw his own reflection in Christie. It may very well be the only time he's accurately judged the character of one of his associates.
posted by schmod at 8:26 AM on January 31, 2019 [57 favorites]
He's a corrupt grifter who tried to get in bed with another corrupt grifter, and failed spectacularly at it. His career was in shambles before the Trump campaign even existed.
Trump saw his own reflection in Christie. It may very well be the only time he's accurately judged the character of one of his associates.
posted by schmod at 8:26 AM on January 31, 2019 [57 favorites]
Speaking of primaries : We have used incredibly sophisticated modelling techniques to conclusively determine that Henry Cuellar was the shittiest Democrat in the 115th Congress. (Data For Progress)
posted by The Whelk at 8:32 AM on January 31, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 8:32 AM on January 31, 2019 [6 favorites]
Emmy Rae: Election security advocates, including the only cybersecurity expert on Kemp’s voting system commission, want the state government to move to paper ballots bubbled in by hand and counted by optical scanning machines, saying they’re less expensive and more accountable. By comparison, the machines recommended by a majority of the commission require voters to use touchscreens to make their selections and then insert their printed ballots into scanning machines.
Hmm, I wonder what the experts' issue with printed (as opposed to inked) ballots would be, since there's a paper trail either way. Is it an assumption that the electronic count would be used no matter what, or perhaps that many voters won't bother to confirm that the printout matches what they put in the machine? Like M-x shell above, I've shared my support for computer-made-paper ballots before (In principle you get total clarity of voter intent, plus you can upgrade to better systems of election like ranking), but I may change my view on this.
Equivalently, I wonder why the Georgia commission of cronies supports it, instead of going all-in on the more reliably means of election-stealing, namely a purely electronic system. They even have the rhetoric prepared, they just have to argue that any use of paper is "the dark ages".
posted by InTheYear2017 at 8:40 AM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
Hmm, I wonder what the experts' issue with printed (as opposed to inked) ballots would be, since there's a paper trail either way. Is it an assumption that the electronic count would be used no matter what, or perhaps that many voters won't bother to confirm that the printout matches what they put in the machine? Like M-x shell above, I've shared my support for computer-made-paper ballots before (In principle you get total clarity of voter intent, plus you can upgrade to better systems of election like ranking), but I may change my view on this.
Equivalently, I wonder why the Georgia commission of cronies supports it, instead of going all-in on the more reliably means of election-stealing, namely a purely electronic system. They even have the rhetoric prepared, they just have to argue that any use of paper is "the dark ages".
posted by InTheYear2017 at 8:40 AM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
Hmm, I wonder what the experts' issue with printed (as opposed to inked) ballots would be, since there's a paper trail either way.
Let's say you're using a ballot-printing interface for some uber complicated Midwestern election. THe interface complies with your wishes for race after race, but then switches your state rep, secretary of state, and/or county commissioner to GOP.
DO you notice? If you do, do you spoil the ballot and start again?
This can make a difference in close races.
Or.... it's just money. Making everyone uses these means a bigger price tag for ES&S.
posted by ocschwar at 8:49 AM on January 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
Hmm, I wonder what the experts' issue with printed (as opposed to inked) ballots would be, since there's a paper trail either way.
Bubble ballots don't change after you fill them out. Printed ballots might, so there's an additional burden on the voter (especially in states with long ballots.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 8:51 AM on January 31, 2019 [8 favorites]
Bubble ballots don't change after you fill them out. Printed ballots might, so there's an additional burden on the voter (especially in states with long ballots.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 8:51 AM on January 31, 2019 [8 favorites]
Let's not go overboard with the hagiography of Chris Christie.
He's a corrupt grifter who tried to get in bed with another corrupt grifter, and failed spectacularly at it. His career was in shambles before the Trump campaign even existed.
The thing about Christie is he is fluent in decency and common sense as second languages -- but to his soul, they are in fact second languages and not natural to him. A lot of politicians of his ilk have the same talent. The difference with Trump is he isn't fluent at all and the best he can do is the ugly "SPEAK. AMERICAN. AT. ME." bullshit and yet somehow he's gone farther than the ones who learned to fake it, which pisses the rest off because they had to work harder to learn those languages.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 9:03 AM on January 31, 2019 [18 favorites]
He's a corrupt grifter who tried to get in bed with another corrupt grifter, and failed spectacularly at it. His career was in shambles before the Trump campaign even existed.
The thing about Christie is he is fluent in decency and common sense as second languages -- but to his soul, they are in fact second languages and not natural to him. A lot of politicians of his ilk have the same talent. The difference with Trump is he isn't fluent at all and the best he can do is the ugly "SPEAK. AMERICAN. AT. ME." bullshit and yet somehow he's gone farther than the ones who learned to fake it, which pisses the rest off because they had to work harder to learn those languages.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 9:03 AM on January 31, 2019 [18 favorites]
Pompeo has tried to rebrand the State Department as the Department of Swagger (real)
posted by mumimor at 9:05 AM on January 31, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by mumimor at 9:05 AM on January 31, 2019 [6 favorites]
One of the Democratic senators should ask AG nomineee William Barr whether he intends to enforce Trump's NDAs on federal employees working in the White House.
And why has no employee leaked the actual NDA document? It would be nice to know who exactly countersigned the document and on whose behalf.
posted by JackFlash at 9:11 AM on January 31, 2019 [22 favorites]
And why has no employee leaked the actual NDA document? It would be nice to know who exactly countersigned the document and on whose behalf.
posted by JackFlash at 9:11 AM on January 31, 2019 [22 favorites]
“It could be seen as subverting the Constitution for his own ego, and it will be the end of his presidency,”
What the heck does that even mean?
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:11 AM on January 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
What the heck does that even mean?
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:11 AM on January 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
How the religious right gained unprecedented access to Trump
Love bombing. As a narcissist Trump is uniquely vulnerable to people openly praising him so forcefully. Christians are very much in touch with their emotions, having that directed at him must be a shot in the arm. And being told he's an instrument of God? That's high quality junk to a praise junky. They do seem to freak him out, I don't think he really gets the whole idea of God. But as long as they keep delivering the good stuff he'll keep giving them what they want in return.
posted by scalefree at 9:14 AM on January 31, 2019 [17 favorites]
Love bombing. As a narcissist Trump is uniquely vulnerable to people openly praising him so forcefully. Christians are very much in touch with their emotions, having that directed at him must be a shot in the arm. And being told he's an instrument of God? That's high quality junk to a praise junky. They do seem to freak him out, I don't think he really gets the whole idea of God. But as long as they keep delivering the good stuff he'll keep giving them what they want in return.
posted by scalefree at 9:14 AM on January 31, 2019 [17 favorites]
In today's episode of "what crime are they describing?"
Little Dawn: “It could be seen as subverting the Constitution for his own ego, and it will be the end of his presidency,” said one former senior administration official.
The correct answer in this instance is "issue an emergency order to build his southern monument to racism and greed," but we'll also take trying to end "birthright citizenship" via executive order," or enriching himself himself off of foreign governments through his global business ties, and probably a dozen other options, but I'm too tired to list them all at the moment.
Meanwhile, we are about to find out. if U.S. assistance to the Palestinians is an indulgence we can do without, and its elimination will leave Israelis, Palestinians and U.S. interests better off, unless Congress and the Trump administration act quickly (NPR opinion piece from Dana Stroul, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who served as a senior staff member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee covering the Middle East; and Daniel B. Shapiro, a visiting fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, who served as U.S. ambassador to Israel during the Obama administration; January 31, 2019).
posted by filthy light thief at 9:14 AM on January 31, 2019 [7 favorites]
Little Dawn: “It could be seen as subverting the Constitution for his own ego, and it will be the end of his presidency,” said one former senior administration official.
The correct answer in this instance is "issue an emergency order to build his southern monument to racism and greed," but we'll also take trying to end "birthright citizenship" via executive order," or enriching himself himself off of foreign governments through his global business ties, and probably a dozen other options, but I'm too tired to list them all at the moment.
Meanwhile, we are about to find out. if U.S. assistance to the Palestinians is an indulgence we can do without, and its elimination will leave Israelis, Palestinians and U.S. interests better off, unless Congress and the Trump administration act quickly (NPR opinion piece from Dana Stroul, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who served as a senior staff member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee covering the Middle East; and Daniel B. Shapiro, a visiting fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, who served as U.S. ambassador to Israel during the Obama administration; January 31, 2019).
posted by filthy light thief at 9:14 AM on January 31, 2019 [7 favorites]
Hmm, I wonder what the experts' issue with printed (as opposed to inked) ballots would be, since there's a paper trail either way. Is it an assumption that the electronic count would be used no matter what, or perhaps that many voters won't bother to confirm that the printout matches what they put in the machine?
The ESS Ballot Marking Device (BMD) is a piece of shit and is a hassle with anything but the most trivial primary ballots. This is from experience as a NYS Elections Inspector who works at a HUD housing building, that's also a polling place, so we see above average requests for assistive devices.
There is no reason not to expect a voter to "fill in the circle" without assistance unless they request assistance.
With my experience, I see the use of BMD's instead of paper and pencil a potential DDOS as BMD usage exceeds capacity. Seriously. They suck eggs.
posted by mikelieman at 9:27 AM on January 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
The ESS Ballot Marking Device (BMD) is a piece of shit and is a hassle with anything but the most trivial primary ballots. This is from experience as a NYS Elections Inspector who works at a HUD housing building, that's also a polling place, so we see above average requests for assistive devices.
There is no reason not to expect a voter to "fill in the circle" without assistance unless they request assistance.
With my experience, I see the use of BMD's instead of paper and pencil a potential DDOS as BMD usage exceeds capacity. Seriously. They suck eggs.
posted by mikelieman at 9:27 AM on January 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
The thing about Christie is he is fluent in decency and common sense as second languages -- but to his soul, they are in fact second languages and not natural to him.
Hence his love of Bruce Springsteen's music without any understanding of his lyrics.
One of the Democratic senators should ask AG nomineee William Barr whether he intends to enforce Trump's NDAs on federal employees working in the White House.
These NDAs are private agreements between Trump's government hires and Trump's 2020 campaign, and as such are civil matters that wouldn't involve the DoJ (although in a better world, it would be the DoJ suing Trump and his campaign organization over them). The question that senators should ask all Trump nominees is if they'll sign a Trump NDA themselves.
As a narcissist Trump is uniquely vulnerable to people openly praising him so forcefully.
Hence the messianic language lately from Trump's sycophants, such as Sarah Huckabee Sanders ("I think God calls all of us to fill different roles at different times and I think that he wanted Donald Trump to become president.") and Steve Bannon ("I was doing the Lord’s work.").
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:42 AM on January 31, 2019 [11 favorites]
Hence his love of Bruce Springsteen's music without any understanding of his lyrics.
One of the Democratic senators should ask AG nomineee William Barr whether he intends to enforce Trump's NDAs on federal employees working in the White House.
These NDAs are private agreements between Trump's government hires and Trump's 2020 campaign, and as such are civil matters that wouldn't involve the DoJ (although in a better world, it would be the DoJ suing Trump and his campaign organization over them). The question that senators should ask all Trump nominees is if they'll sign a Trump NDA themselves.
As a narcissist Trump is uniquely vulnerable to people openly praising him so forcefully.
Hence the messianic language lately from Trump's sycophants, such as Sarah Huckabee Sanders ("I think God calls all of us to fill different roles at different times and I think that he wanted Donald Trump to become president.") and Steve Bannon ("I was doing the Lord’s work.").
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:42 AM on January 31, 2019 [11 favorites]
The question that senators should ask all Trump nominees is if they'll sign a Trump NDA themselves.
You assume they already haven't. I wouldn't doubt that anyone being interviewed to merely become a Trump nominee signs an NDA up-front.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:49 AM on January 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
You assume they already haven't. I wouldn't doubt that anyone being interviewed to merely become a Trump nominee signs an NDA up-front.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:49 AM on January 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
Hmm, I wonder what the experts' issue with printed (as opposed to inked) ballots would be, since there's a paper trail either way. Is it an assumption that the electronic count would be used no matter what, or perhaps that many voters won't bother to confirm that the printout matches what they put in the machine? Like M-x shell above, I've shared my support for computer-made-paper ballots before (In principle you get total clarity of voter intent, plus you can upgrade to better systems of election like ranking), but I may change my view on this.
You want the speed and cost savings of automation (optical scanners work fine with machine printouts but not hand inking) and the physical backup to verify results as necessary, both to detect fraud and, as now appears necessary these days, to defend against accusations of fraud where none exists. Hand inked bubbles have many many issues, even when counted by hand, that lead us into chad territory. We don't want that.
posted by M-x shell at 10:00 AM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
You want the speed and cost savings of automation (optical scanners work fine with machine printouts but not hand inking) and the physical backup to verify results as necessary, both to detect fraud and, as now appears necessary these days, to defend against accusations of fraud where none exists. Hand inked bubbles have many many issues, even when counted by hand, that lead us into chad territory. We don't want that.
posted by M-x shell at 10:00 AM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
Bloomberg: Trump Considering Herman Cain for Federal Reserve Board, Sources Say
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:04 AM on January 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
Cain, 73, was in the White House on Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter. Two seats on the Fed board are vacant, but nominating Cain raises the prospect of a Senate confirmation hearing focused on the sexual harassment and infidelity accusations that ended his presidential campaign.And CNBC confirms the rumor, because Trump could use the distraction of a confirmation hearing donnybrook…
The people declined to be identified discussing the matter because Trump hasn’t made a decision. Cain was also under consideration for other possible top government posts.
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:04 AM on January 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
Mueller seized ‘several terabytes of information’ to build case against Roger Stone
posted by growabrain at 10:08 AM on January 31, 2019 [35 favorites]
posted by growabrain at 10:08 AM on January 31, 2019 [35 favorites]
It was always about the devices, the information on them, not the man. That's why the raid.
@NatashaBertrand JUST IN: According to Mueller and DC USA, discovery in the Roger Stone case is "both voluminous and complex," and "is composed of multiple hard drives containing several terabytes of information"—including bank records & comms taken from iCloud/email accounts, electronic devices.
USA v Stone Complex Case Designation Motion [Document Cloud]
posted by scalefree at 10:10 AM on January 31, 2019 [23 favorites]
@NatashaBertrand JUST IN: According to Mueller and DC USA, discovery in the Roger Stone case is "both voluminous and complex," and "is composed of multiple hard drives containing several terabytes of information"—including bank records & comms taken from iCloud/email accounts, electronic devices.
USA v Stone Complex Case Designation Motion [Document Cloud]
posted by scalefree at 10:10 AM on January 31, 2019 [23 favorites]
I'm not a Crime Guy, so is there an obvious reason I'm forgetting why someone would keep hard drives full of evidence incriminating them and their associates, especially *after* several of the people involved or at least adjacent to my own criminal activities had already been arrested, charged and/or sent to prison?
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:24 AM on January 31, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:24 AM on January 31, 2019 [8 favorites]
They keep evidence to make sure they're being paid, and paid correctly. They keep it to blackmail co-conspirators. They hang onto their bullshit so they can keep their stories straight. They keep it for all the same reasons you or I keep legitimate stuff--to help with memory, because they might need it again, because they did work and why throw away work?
And they keep it because they think they're clever and they won't get caught.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:29 AM on January 31, 2019 [51 favorites]
And they keep it because they think they're clever and they won't get caught.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:29 AM on January 31, 2019 [51 favorites]
And, as a last resort, in case they need to turns state's evidence. It would be something if Roger the rat-fucker became a rat.
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:33 AM on January 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:33 AM on January 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
What I see on television crime documentaries again and again is the criminal believes they've encrypted or otherwise invulnerably protected the information only to find that's not the case. Stone freely communicated on WhatsApp. He probably believes his hard drives are similarly protected.
My take-away from the "terabytes of information" is that Mueller's investigation is far from finished. If that's the case, I want to know if he's uncovered anything that calls into question whether or not Trump should be impeached right now, and for proceedings to move forward.
I'm really not into the scenario where at the end of four years Democrats wake up and realize that information we've had since day one meant Trump should have been impeached on day 2 but waited four years for the Mueller investigation to wrap up. There's no reason the investigation can't continue through impeachment proceedings.
A full investigation is critical for future generations to know the truth of what happened, but that won't matter if the country burns to the ground in the meantime.
posted by xammerboy at 10:59 AM on January 31, 2019 [22 favorites]
My take-away from the "terabytes of information" is that Mueller's investigation is far from finished. If that's the case, I want to know if he's uncovered anything that calls into question whether or not Trump should be impeached right now, and for proceedings to move forward.
I'm really not into the scenario where at the end of four years Democrats wake up and realize that information we've had since day one meant Trump should have been impeached on day 2 but waited four years for the Mueller investigation to wrap up. There's no reason the investigation can't continue through impeachment proceedings.
A full investigation is critical for future generations to know the truth of what happened, but that won't matter if the country burns to the ground in the meantime.
posted by xammerboy at 10:59 AM on January 31, 2019 [22 favorites]
Also, they may not know how to delete stuff properly
posted by mumimor at 11:01 AM on January 31, 2019 [17 favorites]
posted by mumimor at 11:01 AM on January 31, 2019 [17 favorites]
As someone who has worked on digital forensic cases, the data is probably highly duplicative. The old phones have likely much of the same information as the new phones and that data is also backed up multiple times to a computer and to iCloud. A measure of the amount of data doesn't mean it is all unique data.
posted by procrastination at 11:18 AM on January 31, 2019 [20 favorites]
posted by procrastination at 11:18 AM on January 31, 2019 [20 favorites]
xammerboy: I want to know if he's uncovered anything that calls into question whether or not Trump should be impeached right now, and for proceedings to move forward.
Like, he could discover that we all just imagined him confessing to obstruction of justice on live TV? The news still has a tendency to talk about Trump's culpability as an open question, but it's not. The issue is entirely about extent of criminality, the ways his associates are involved, and how the chances of convincing Republican senators to flip can be raised above the snowball-in-hell threshold.
Our situation is not unlike a Matt Leacock collaborative board game, where the passage of time means both raises the danger level and increases our ability to achieve victory, by way of uncovering ever more damning information.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 11:25 AM on January 31, 2019 [14 favorites]
Like, he could discover that we all just imagined him confessing to obstruction of justice on live TV? The news still has a tendency to talk about Trump's culpability as an open question, but it's not. The issue is entirely about extent of criminality, the ways his associates are involved, and how the chances of convincing Republican senators to flip can be raised above the snowball-in-hell threshold.
Our situation is not unlike a Matt Leacock collaborative board game, where the passage of time means both raises the danger level and increases our ability to achieve victory, by way of uncovering ever more damning information.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 11:25 AM on January 31, 2019 [14 favorites]
Rep. Ted Lieu (D, CA). is having fun. Many people say that
@realDonaldTrump likes visuals. Below is a memo my office sent
@POTUS in light of Trump's statements contradicting our Intel Chiefs.
posted by young_simba at 11:28 AM on January 31, 2019 [65 favorites]
@realDonaldTrump likes visuals. Below is a memo my office sent
@POTUS in light of Trump's statements contradicting our Intel Chiefs.
posted by young_simba at 11:28 AM on January 31, 2019 [65 favorites]
several terabytes of information
You'd have to work really hard to fill up a terabyte of space with textual information. That would be like the equivalent of over 300,000 copies of War and Peace. I wonder if much of it isn't just movies and music. Or maybe he was also into recording his conversations like Cohen?
posted by mach at 11:33 AM on January 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
You'd have to work really hard to fill up a terabyte of space with textual information. That would be like the equivalent of over 300,000 copies of War and Peace. I wonder if much of it isn't just movies and music. Or maybe he was also into recording his conversations like Cohen?
posted by mach at 11:33 AM on January 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
Masha Gessen, writing in the New Yorker, cautions against putting too much emphasis on potential involvement of the Russian state in the Trump campaign, and suggests instead that we focus on the Mafia element:
What unites Yanukovych, Veselnitskaya, Manafort, Stone, Wikileaks’s Julian Assange, the Russian troll factory, the Trump campaign staffer George Papadopoulos and his partners in crime, the “Professor” (whose academic credentials are in doubt), and the “Female Russian National” (who appears to have fraudulently presented herself as Putin’s niece) is that they are all crooks and frauds. This is not a moral assessment, or an attempt to downplay their importance. It is an attempt to stop talking in terms of states and geopolitics and begin looking at Mafias and profits.posted by suelac at 11:33 AM on January 31, 2019 [22 favorites]
...
When members of the American media cover the story of Russian meddling, they implicitly portray Russia as a normal state, and the influence operation as an undertaking of the state aimed at furthering Russia’s national interests. This strikes Russians as absurd. By the measure of national interest, the Trump Presidency has been disappointing for Russia. [...] By the metrics of a Mafia state, though, the Trump Presidency has yielded great results for Russia. A Mafia boss craves respect, loyalty, and perceived power. Trump’s deference to Putin and the widespread public perception of Putin’s influence over Trump have lifted Putin’s stature beyond what I suspect could have been his wildest dreams.
Maybe I'm just missing the semantics, but I thought the Russian State WAS the Mafia Element.
posted by mcstayinskool at 11:36 AM on January 31, 2019 [17 favorites]
posted by mcstayinskool at 11:36 AM on January 31, 2019 [17 favorites]
NBC News, Ben Collins, Twitter says it removed troll accounts tied to Russia, Iran and Venezuela in run-up to 2018 midterm elections
posted by zachlipton at 11:36 AM on January 31, 2019 [8 favorites]
Twitter disclosed on Thursday that it had identified and shut down disinformation and government-backed trolling operations from thousands of accounts from five different countries, including Russia, Iran and Venezuela.This story was under embargo this morning, so you'll be seeing it roughly everywhere in the next few minutes.
Twitter said the Russian operation mirrored the tactics of the 2016 campaign by the Internet Research Agency, the Kremlin-backed organization whose employees were indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller for attempting to interfere in the U.S. election to favor President Donald Trump.
The company said it removed 418 Russian troll accounts, which the company said aimed to inflame hot-button political debates in the U.S. The efforts were less effective than in 2016, a Twitter spokesperson told NBC News.
The accounts averaged one-third of a like and one-fifth of a retweet per post, although there was high variability with the success of the accounts.
posted by zachlipton at 11:36 AM on January 31, 2019 [8 favorites]
"And they keep it because they think they're clever and they won't get caught."
It is impossible to overstate how arrogant white collar criminals are. My husband did criminal defense for a while and HATED defending white collar criminals because they constantly incriminated themselves in court, by admitting to major crimes but EXPLAINING why they were totally justified in the crime, because if the court would just UNDERSTAND they embezzled/defrauded/stole, the court would agree they had a super-good reason and, no, of course, you're right, the rules shouldn't apply to YOU!
It's not even that they think they won't get caught, they've convinced themselves they're not doing anything wrong, and they've never faced consequences before, so why would that start now?
All these people who've been rolled up by Mueller so far -- Manafort, Gates, Stone -- are textbook white collar criminals. They're dead easy to hoist by their own petards because THEY ARCHIVE ALL THE E-MAILS DETAILING THEIR PETARD-RELATED BUSINESS.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 11:43 AM on January 31, 2019 [102 favorites]
It is impossible to overstate how arrogant white collar criminals are. My husband did criminal defense for a while and HATED defending white collar criminals because they constantly incriminated themselves in court, by admitting to major crimes but EXPLAINING why they were totally justified in the crime, because if the court would just UNDERSTAND they embezzled/defrauded/stole, the court would agree they had a super-good reason and, no, of course, you're right, the rules shouldn't apply to YOU!
It's not even that they think they won't get caught, they've convinced themselves they're not doing anything wrong, and they've never faced consequences before, so why would that start now?
All these people who've been rolled up by Mueller so far -- Manafort, Gates, Stone -- are textbook white collar criminals. They're dead easy to hoist by their own petards because THEY ARCHIVE ALL THE E-MAILS DETAILING THEIR PETARD-RELATED BUSINESS.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 11:43 AM on January 31, 2019 [102 favorites]
Maybe I'm just missing the semantics, but I thought the Russian State WAS the Mafia Element.
Well, pretty much. I failed to make it clear that what Gessen is saying is that the Russian involvement was not for geopolitical benefit of the Russian people, but for the personal financial benefit of the Russian Mafia/oligarchs who operate within and without the Russian state.
posted by suelac at 11:44 AM on January 31, 2019 [10 favorites]
Well, pretty much. I failed to make it clear that what Gessen is saying is that the Russian involvement was not for geopolitical benefit of the Russian people, but for the personal financial benefit of the Russian Mafia/oligarchs who operate within and without the Russian state.
posted by suelac at 11:44 AM on January 31, 2019 [10 favorites]
These NDAs are private agreements between Trump's government hires and Trump's 2020 campaign, and as such are civil matters that wouldn't involve the DoJ.
If that is true, then a Democratic senator should ask AG nominee Barr whether a private NDA is enforceable against federal employees during their service for the government. That is definitely a question that falls in the purview of the Department of Justice since it covers their time on the federal payroll. It's time to call Trump's bluff.
posted by JackFlash at 11:48 AM on January 31, 2019 [19 favorites]
If that is true, then a Democratic senator should ask AG nominee Barr whether a private NDA is enforceable against federal employees during their service for the government. That is definitely a question that falls in the purview of the Department of Justice since it covers their time on the federal payroll. It's time to call Trump's bluff.
posted by JackFlash at 11:48 AM on January 31, 2019 [19 favorites]
Kevin Poulson, Daily Beast: "Russian DNC Hackers Launch Fresh Wave of Cyberattacks on U.S."
Russia’s military intelligence directorate, the GRU, has been caught in a new round of computer intrusion attempts, this time aimed at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a prominent Washington, D.C. think tank heavy with ex-government officials.posted by OnceUponATime at 11:50 AM on January 31, 2019 [8 favorites]
The new efforts by the Kremlin hackers who notoriously breached the DNC and Hillary Clinton campaign to support Donald Trump suggests that indictments, international sanctions, a botched assassination and an unprecedented global spotlight have done little to deter Vladimir Putin from continuing to target the West with his hacker army, even as American intelligence agencies warn that Russia is gearing up to interfere in the 2020 election.
...
In a court filing Wednesday, Microsoft wrote that Fancy Bear was behind the spoof sites registered last month. The hackers set up a slew of fake websites and a mail server mimicking systems at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a non-profit think tank that’s closely studied Russia’s influence. Microsoft seized four of the domains on Dec. 20, csis.cloud, login-csis.org, csis.exchange and csis.events.
...
Microsoft also disclosed that it seized a domain name that Fancy Bear had registered in November. Public internet records show that domain was used to host a site at rferl.my-shareonline.com, likely created to spoof an internal login at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a US government-funded media organization focused on Russia’s Eastern European backyard, with dedicated programming for Ukraine."
The question that senators should ask all Trump nominees is if they'll sign a Trump NDA themselves.
You assume they already haven't. I wouldn't doubt that anyone being interviewed to merely become a Trump nominee signs an NDA up-front.
Which is why that question actually is the perfect trap. Either way, the Senate should get Trump appointees on the record.
posted by Gelatin at 11:51 AM on January 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
You assume they already haven't. I wouldn't doubt that anyone being interviewed to merely become a Trump nominee signs an NDA up-front.
Which is why that question actually is the perfect trap. Either way, the Senate should get Trump appointees on the record.
posted by Gelatin at 11:51 AM on January 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
Just to quickly revisit what this Roger Stone "terabytes" story probably means... Here's the TPM headline: Feds Have ‘Terabytes’ Of Evidence That ‘Span Several Years’ In Stone Case
Most of that will be repeated files - but they will include the regular iPhone backups to their mothership computers back when that was a thing. If they can recover those, and force Roger to cough up his password to unlock them (or if he didn't know to encrypt his phone backups) - well, that's the gold mine.
But yeah, "multiple hard drives" with "several Terabytes" that "include" stuff - that's pretty straightforward, and doesn't need exotic interpretations.
(Swinger parties, really? What do you guys even have on your computers?)
posted by RedOrGreen at 11:55 AM on January 31, 2019 [10 favorites]
The government has “multiple hard drives containing several terabytes of information” relevant to the case, which includes “bank and financial records and the contents of numerous physical devices.”If someone conducted a raid at my house, they'd probably seize the external disks that I've used for backups over the years. That would be - well, I'm a bit of a backup paranoiac, so it would be disks adding up to dozens of TB.
Most of that will be repeated files - but they will include the regular iPhone backups to their mothership computers back when that was a thing. If they can recover those, and force Roger to cough up his password to unlock them (or if he didn't know to encrypt his phone backups) - well, that's the gold mine.
But yeah, "multiple hard drives" with "several Terabytes" that "include" stuff - that's pretty straightforward, and doesn't need exotic interpretations.
(Swinger parties, really? What do you guys even have on your computers?)
posted by RedOrGreen at 11:55 AM on January 31, 2019 [10 favorites]
(Swinger parties, really? What do you guys even have on your computers?)
From Washtington Post, 1996: Background on the Stone Swinger Oogieness
posted by mcstayinskool at 12:03 PM on January 31, 2019 [9 favorites]
From Washtington Post, 1996: Background on the Stone Swinger Oogieness
posted by mcstayinskool at 12:03 PM on January 31, 2019 [9 favorites]
If you read the filing, the "terabytes" are referencing things the Feds had prior to Stone's arrest:
Upon the entry of a protective order, the government intends to begin providing defense counsel with discovery. This discovery in both voluminous and complex. It is composed of multiple hard drives containing several terabytes of information consisting of, among other things, FBI case reports, search warrant applications and results (e.g., Apple iCloud accounts and email accounts), bank and financial records, and the contents of numerous physical devices (e.g., cellular phones, computers, and hard drives). The communications contained in the iCloud accounts, email accounts, and physical devices span several years.So these are probably federal hard drives containing information obtained from various search warrants and subpoenas. The things they got during his arrest will take some time to process:
The government also intends to produce to the defense the contents of physical devices recently seized from his home, apartment, and office. Those devices are currently undergoing a filter review by the FBI for potentially privileged communications.posted by pjenks at 12:03 PM on January 31, 2019 [7 favorites]
Reuters: Inside the UAE's Secret Hacking Team of American Mercenaries
Stroud had been recruited by a Maryland cybersecurity contractor to help the Emiratis launch hacking operations, and for three years, she thrived in the job. But in 2016, the Emiratis moved Project Raven to a UAE cybersecurity firm named DarkMatter. Before long, Stroud and other Americans involved in the effort say they saw the mission cross a red line: targeting fellow Americans for surveillance.posted by M-x shell at 12:11 PM on January 31, 2019 [24 favorites]
“I am working for a foreign intelligence agency who is targeting U.S. persons,” she told Reuters. “I am officially the bad kind of spy.”
It's tough because the Russian state doesn't work for the benefit of the Russian people either, it works for the benefit of those who control the government which is Russian organized crime/Russian oligarchs.
Which I think most everyone who follows these threads knows and we understand the terms "The Russians", "Russia", "Russians", and "The Russian State" to all basically mean Putin and the oligarchs/mafia heads that answer to him.
But I don't think most people even know that that's the reality in Russia today so while it might be a bit confusing to us for whom this isn't new information I think it's probably good information to get out to average person.
posted by VTX at 12:24 PM on January 31, 2019 [13 favorites]
Which I think most everyone who follows these threads knows and we understand the terms "The Russians", "Russia", "Russians", and "The Russian State" to all basically mean Putin and the oligarchs/mafia heads that answer to him.
But I don't think most people even know that that's the reality in Russia today so while it might be a bit confusing to us for whom this isn't new information I think it's probably good information to get out to average person.
posted by VTX at 12:24 PM on January 31, 2019 [13 favorites]
Miami Velvet is the leading “swingers’ club” in Miami, and Roger Stone took me there to explain the role he may have played in the fall of Eliot Spitzer, the former governor of New York.
Top Trump advisor says he’s “try-sexual” when asked about swinging sex parties
Stone is pretty open about being a sex creep. It is entirely within the wheelhouse of a dirtbag like Stone to have blackmail material, too.
posted by Kitty Stardust at 12:33 PM on January 31, 2019 [15 favorites]
Top Trump advisor says he’s “try-sexual” when asked about swinging sex parties
Stone is pretty open about being a sex creep. It is entirely within the wheelhouse of a dirtbag like Stone to have blackmail material, too.
posted by Kitty Stardust at 12:33 PM on January 31, 2019 [15 favorites]
whether a private NDA is enforceable against federal employees during their service for the government
Too vague. If I signed an NDA with my previous employer, agreeing not to disclose their corporate secrets, and then I take a job with the government, nobody is going to say "your previous NDA is invalid now."
You'd need a question about whether NDAs related to the work they're doing are enforceable, and someone who speaks more federal law than me would need to hash out the phrasing to make it a useful question.
Re: Terabytes - yeah, that'd be a ton of text. But it's probably "entire contents of multiple hard drives, phones, and external drives" - includes the apps, the programs, the OS, vacation photos, and so on. They need to wade through the vacation photos to figure out if any of them are incriminating; they need to figure out which communication apps were used; they need to review the "recently opened" records in Word and Acrobat and so on. They may even need to check installation dates on programs/apps to see when they started doing some activities. But very little of those TB will be actual evidence.
Regarding encryption: Setting aside the belief that WhatsApp communications are totally secure and can never be seen by anyone else, they may have encryption on their communications. But they don't have encryption on the system's records of program usage activity. And most of them think that a password works the same as encryption.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 12:35 PM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
Too vague. If I signed an NDA with my previous employer, agreeing not to disclose their corporate secrets, and then I take a job with the government, nobody is going to say "your previous NDA is invalid now."
You'd need a question about whether NDAs related to the work they're doing are enforceable, and someone who speaks more federal law than me would need to hash out the phrasing to make it a useful question.
Re: Terabytes - yeah, that'd be a ton of text. But it's probably "entire contents of multiple hard drives, phones, and external drives" - includes the apps, the programs, the OS, vacation photos, and so on. They need to wade through the vacation photos to figure out if any of them are incriminating; they need to figure out which communication apps were used; they need to review the "recently opened" records in Word and Acrobat and so on. They may even need to check installation dates on programs/apps to see when they started doing some activities. But very little of those TB will be actual evidence.
Regarding encryption: Setting aside the belief that WhatsApp communications are totally secure and can never be seen by anyone else, they may have encryption on their communications. But they don't have encryption on the system's records of program usage activity. And most of them think that a password works the same as encryption.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 12:35 PM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
Russian involvement was not for geopolitical benefit of the Russian people, but for the personal financial benefit of the Russian Mafia/oligarchs who operate within and without the Russian state.
See also: GOP.
Two and a half branches of the US government are basically operated by and working for the interests of the oligarchy, and not the US people.
posted by jetsetsc at 1:03 PM on January 31, 2019 [27 favorites]
See also: GOP.
Two and a half branches of the US government are basically operated by and working for the interests of the oligarchy, and not the US people.
posted by jetsetsc at 1:03 PM on January 31, 2019 [27 favorites]
New Monmouth Poll: Most Say Trump Knew About Efforts to Mislead Investigators
posted by Doktor Zed at 1:13 PM on January 31, 2019 [11 favorites]
NATIONAL POLL: Does the Russian government have harmful information about Donald Trump that they are using to try influence him?While the results are predictably divided, they do appear to be shifting away from Trump's favor.
19% definitely; 27% probably; 24% probably not; 23% definitely not
Do you think Donald Trump did or did not personally ask anyone to mislead government investigators or Congress on his business dealings or Russian interference in the election?
50% did; 42% did not
Was Donald Trump aware of people associated with his campaign trying to mislead investigators or Congress?
62% was aware; 32% was not aware
Should the Russia investigation continue or should it end?
51% continue; 45% end
posted by Doktor Zed at 1:13 PM on January 31, 2019 [11 favorites]
ICE force-feeding detainees on hunger strike
posted by adamvasco at 1:15 PM on January 31, 2019 [16 favorites]
posted by adamvasco at 1:15 PM on January 31, 2019 [16 favorites]
I'm really not into the scenario where at the end of four years Democrats wake up and realize that information we've had since day one meant Trump should have been impeached on day 2 but waited four years for the Mueller investigation to wrap up. There's no reason the investigation can't continue through impeachment proceedings.
I've been wondering about this along with the rest of you; it's not like law enforcement officials would have to wait until they have enough evidence to charge and convict Trump for each and every one of the (let's just say) ten thousand crimes he may or "may not" have committed before taking action, right?
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:16 PM on January 31, 2019 [7 favorites]
I've been wondering about this along with the rest of you; it's not like law enforcement officials would have to wait until they have enough evidence to charge and convict Trump for each and every one of the (let's just say) ten thousand crimes he may or "may not" have committed before taking action, right?
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:16 PM on January 31, 2019 [7 favorites]
@DefenseBaron: JUST IN: House Armed Services chairman says Pentagon "was not transparent" and policy chief John Rood was possibly "knowingly withholding information from this committee" about Trump admin plans to send 3500 additional US troops to the border. @HASCDemocrats @RepAdamSmith letter
It turns out that if you testify before Congress about troops at the border, don't mention anything about thousands more troops, and then tell the press about that bit later on, you'll make Congress mad.
Speaking of Congress, @christinawilkie: From the WH Pool: Trump talked with DNI Dan Coats and CIA director Gina Haspel "about his displeasure with their congressional testimony" today. Trump said they claimed they'd been misquoted and it’s fake news.
Note: It was public testimony. On video tape.
posted by zachlipton at 1:19 PM on January 31, 2019 [46 favorites]
It turns out that if you testify before Congress about troops at the border, don't mention anything about thousands more troops, and then tell the press about that bit later on, you'll make Congress mad.
Speaking of Congress, @christinawilkie: From the WH Pool: Trump talked with DNI Dan Coats and CIA director Gina Haspel "about his displeasure with their congressional testimony" today. Trump said they claimed they'd been misquoted and it’s fake news.
Note: It was public testimony. On video tape.
posted by zachlipton at 1:19 PM on January 31, 2019 [46 favorites]
Coats didn't resign when Trump said he takes the Saudi opinion about Qatar over Coats and the NSC, so I guess he is used to just being ignored now and is happy to collect a paycheck.
posted by PenDevil at 1:24 PM on January 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by PenDevil at 1:24 PM on January 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
This would be the 'epistemic closure' that the 2012 autopsy warned about: you get so bogged down in your 'fake news' mindset that when someone tells you that you are days away from being impeached, and will likely lose the vote in the senate, you simply reply 'Nah, fake news', but when Alex Jones starts talking about boner pills you order a bajillion for the armed forces so that they can retain their dragon energy, or something.
posted by eclectist at 1:25 PM on January 31, 2019 [17 favorites]
posted by eclectist at 1:25 PM on January 31, 2019 [17 favorites]
it's not like law enforcement officials would have to wait until they have enough evidence to charge and convict Trump for each and every one of the (let's just say) ten thousand crimes he may or "may not" have committed before taking action, right?
There's very little action they can take right now. Trump is the head of the executive branch, which means everyone in the justice department ultimately reports to him. This is a serious problem if you want them to prosecute him. If he were found not guilty, would you believe that result, given that the prosecutors report to him and can be fired if they don't do what he wants?
And, I mean, just imagine they had tried to arrest him two years ago. Do you remember two years ago? Even Democrats were pooh-poohing the Russia scandal. Nobody believed it could possibly be this bad. Nobody.
Law enforcement is waiting until they have a rock solid case, because even with everything that has become public in the last two years, half the country still does not believe that Trump is guilty. And arresting him with half the country feeling that way would be seen as a coup by entire states and communities, and would seriously undermine American democracy and stability.
To say nothing of the fact that only congress can remove him from office, so if Trump were arrested but not impeached, he'd have to serve as president from jail. (Yes, Pence could step in under the 25th amendment if you think being in jail counts as being incapacitated. But if Trump disputed that and said he could still perform his duties, then a super majority in both houses of congress would have to vote to let Pence stay. Whereas impeachment only requires a super majority in the Senate, and a simple majority in the House.)
All Mueller can do is lay out a completely rock solid case and then leave it up to congress and us as citizens to do the right thing.
As we have seen, any mistakes or holes will be pounced on, and used to discredit the whole investigation.
Mueller can only do so much. I mean, he can investigate and tell us what he finds once he's sure of it, but he can't change the fact that Trump is president. That's up to Congress, and it's up to us.
posted by OnceUponATime at 1:27 PM on January 31, 2019 [19 favorites]
There's very little action they can take right now. Trump is the head of the executive branch, which means everyone in the justice department ultimately reports to him. This is a serious problem if you want them to prosecute him. If he were found not guilty, would you believe that result, given that the prosecutors report to him and can be fired if they don't do what he wants?
And, I mean, just imagine they had tried to arrest him two years ago. Do you remember two years ago? Even Democrats were pooh-poohing the Russia scandal. Nobody believed it could possibly be this bad. Nobody.
Law enforcement is waiting until they have a rock solid case, because even with everything that has become public in the last two years, half the country still does not believe that Trump is guilty. And arresting him with half the country feeling that way would be seen as a coup by entire states and communities, and would seriously undermine American democracy and stability.
To say nothing of the fact that only congress can remove him from office, so if Trump were arrested but not impeached, he'd have to serve as president from jail. (Yes, Pence could step in under the 25th amendment if you think being in jail counts as being incapacitated. But if Trump disputed that and said he could still perform his duties, then a super majority in both houses of congress would have to vote to let Pence stay. Whereas impeachment only requires a super majority in the Senate, and a simple majority in the House.)
All Mueller can do is lay out a completely rock solid case and then leave it up to congress and us as citizens to do the right thing.
As we have seen, any mistakes or holes will be pounced on, and used to discredit the whole investigation.
Mueller can only do so much. I mean, he can investigate and tell us what he finds once he's sure of it, but he can't change the fact that Trump is president. That's up to Congress, and it's up to us.
posted by OnceUponATime at 1:27 PM on January 31, 2019 [19 favorites]
Mod note: One specific policy of Kamala Harris's either needs its own thread or to wait until the primaries are a whole lot farther along (and probably still be in its own thread.)
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 2:14 PM on January 31, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 2:14 PM on January 31, 2019 [7 favorites]
IANAL but it seems to me that it may be illegal to ask government employees to sign these NDAs.
The NDAs presumably go beyond the normal confidentiality expected of employees and the already-existing laws regarding classified information. So, to the extent that they protect the US government generally, there are obvious first amendment issues in something that unnecessarily gags employees. But, there's every reason to think that the NDAs specifically protect Trump. That looks like the Trump administration is demanding a private benefit in exchange for a job, or the possibility of a job. That's very illegal! On the administration side it's extortion; on the (potential) employee's side it's bribery. It's absolutely the sort of thing that the prospective attorney-general ought to be asked about. I hope someone does.
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:28 PM on January 31, 2019 [6 favorites]
The NDAs presumably go beyond the normal confidentiality expected of employees and the already-existing laws regarding classified information. So, to the extent that they protect the US government generally, there are obvious first amendment issues in something that unnecessarily gags employees. But, there's every reason to think that the NDAs specifically protect Trump. That looks like the Trump administration is demanding a private benefit in exchange for a job, or the possibility of a job. That's very illegal! On the administration side it's extortion; on the (potential) employee's side it's bribery. It's absolutely the sort of thing that the prospective attorney-general ought to be asked about. I hope someone does.
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:28 PM on January 31, 2019 [6 favorites]
NBC on the IRA’s attempt to smear Mueller: 'It's some galaxy brain stuff they wanted us to believe:' How Russia's effort to sabotage Mueller's investigation backfired—The fake trove of the special counsel’s files were immediately dismissed as largely fabricated by the reporter and researcher who received them.
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:43 PM on January 31, 2019 [38 favorites]
The fake documents were sent to ThinkProgress reporter Casey Michel and independent disinformation researcher Josh Russell in November in direct messages from a Twitter account called @HackingRedstone. The messages’ sender claimed to be “anonymous hackers.”[…]It turns out that the IRA has trouble fooling responsible journalists. We’ll see if that applies in 2020.
“The DM I got was ridiculous, both in terms of its syntax as well as the types of phrases it used,” Michel told NBC News. “It reminded me of the types of language we saw on some of the fake Russian Facebook pages, like when the Russian trolls claimed they were Texas secessionists who were ‘in love with Texas shape!’”[…]
“The reason it fell apart on them was that we agreed to sit on the info, both of us just investigating and not saying anything about it until after we got all the information we needed,” said Russell. “I think they expected my amateur a-- to immediately start tweeting about it.”
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:43 PM on January 31, 2019 [38 favorites]
Sngh.
David Schraub @schraubd
Democratic efforts to enhance voting rights will face a stiff political backlash once voters realize it involves deeply unpopular sacrifices like *checks notes* paid holidays.
David Schraub @schraubd
Democratic efforts to enhance voting rights will face a stiff political backlash once voters realize it involves deeply unpopular sacrifices like *checks notes* paid holidays.
Jamie Dupree Verified account @jamiedupreeposted by Joe in Australia at 3:08 PM on January 31, 2019 [15 favorites]
On the Senate floor, Sen McConnell just knocked the Election Day/national holiday idea: "Just what America needs, another paid holiday" for federal workers
[Salon]
Analyst Lucian K. Truscott says indictments and arrests could be coming for Don Jr and Kushner as soon as Thursday, February 7th...
The next arrest and indictment you’re going to see from Mueller will be his biggest yet. One morning in the not too distant future, he’s going to sweep up everyone remaining who was associated with using the Democratic Party emails stolen by the Russians. Julian Assange will be indicted. So will Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner. Roger Stone will probably face a superseding indictment along with the others for defrauding the United States by conspiring with WikiLeaks and the Russian intelligence service, the GRU, to steal Democratic Party campaign documents and use them to interfere with the American presidential election of 2016, the same charge he made against the Russians. Mueller will probably follow Justice Department guidelines and the example set by Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski in Watergate. He will probably not indict the president, but he will name him as an unindicted co-conspirator, just as Richard Nixon was in Watergate
posted by growabrain at 3:08 PM on January 31, 2019 [18 favorites]
Analyst Lucian K. Truscott says indictments and arrests could be coming for Don Jr and Kushner as soon as Thursday, February 7th...
The next arrest and indictment you’re going to see from Mueller will be his biggest yet. One morning in the not too distant future, he’s going to sweep up everyone remaining who was associated with using the Democratic Party emails stolen by the Russians. Julian Assange will be indicted. So will Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner. Roger Stone will probably face a superseding indictment along with the others for defrauding the United States by conspiring with WikiLeaks and the Russian intelligence service, the GRU, to steal Democratic Party campaign documents and use them to interfere with the American presidential election of 2016, the same charge he made against the Russians. Mueller will probably follow Justice Department guidelines and the example set by Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski in Watergate. He will probably not indict the president, but he will name him as an unindicted co-conspirator, just as Richard Nixon was in Watergate
posted by growabrain at 3:08 PM on January 31, 2019 [18 favorites]
...indictments and arrests could be coming for Don Jr and Kushner as soon as Thursday, February 7th...
What a lovely birthday present that would be! Thank you!
posted by Thorzdad at 3:12 PM on January 31, 2019 [13 favorites]
What a lovely birthday present that would be! Thank you!
posted by Thorzdad at 3:12 PM on January 31, 2019 [13 favorites]
adamvasco, thanks for the ICE AP link. ICE confirmed the force-feeding 6 of the 11 hunger-striking detainees in El Paso; also per ICE, there are more people on strike, "an additional four in the agency’s Miami, Phoenix, San Diego and San Francisco areas of responsibility."
Other sources in the story put the number of strikers at close to thirty in El Paso alone. I contacted my representatives in CA.
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:13 PM on January 31, 2019 [8 favorites]
Other sources in the story put the number of strikers at close to thirty in El Paso alone. I contacted my representatives in CA.
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:13 PM on January 31, 2019 [8 favorites]
Analyst Lucian K. Truscott says indictments and arrests could be coming for Don Jr and Kushner as soon as Thursday, February 7th...
Did something in the article change? Because I'm not seeing any reference to Feb. 7th -- or any date at all for indictments and arrests -- in the Salon article.
Also, as far as I can tell, there's no new information presented in the article supporting the author's thesis that arrests and/or indictments are coming for Don Jr. and Kushner. It just seems like a lot of speculation and logical leaps (and no small amount of wishful thinking) based on the current, publicly-known indictments, etc.. that the SCO has made.
posted by mhum at 3:27 PM on January 31, 2019 [3 favorites]
Did something in the article change? Because I'm not seeing any reference to Feb. 7th -- or any date at all for indictments and arrests -- in the Salon article.
Also, as far as I can tell, there's no new information presented in the article supporting the author's thesis that arrests and/or indictments are coming for Don Jr. and Kushner. It just seems like a lot of speculation and logical leaps (and no small amount of wishful thinking) based on the current, publicly-known indictments, etc.. that the SCO has made.
posted by mhum at 3:27 PM on January 31, 2019 [3 favorites]
ICE confirmed the force-feeding
Can we call them Death Camps yet?
posted by banshee at 3:28 PM on January 31, 2019 [7 favorites]
Can we call them Death Camps yet?
posted by banshee at 3:28 PM on January 31, 2019 [7 favorites]
Thorzdad, it's the least the SCO could do since he completely missed your birthday last year. Better late than never I guess.
posted by duoshao at 3:34 PM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by duoshao at 3:34 PM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
How is force feeding legal? Not being rhetorical, I mean, how could a judge say the state has that right over your person? I think it should be illegal across the board, but using gitmo techniques on innocent asylum seekers is unconscionable. How do we stop it?
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 3:34 PM on January 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 3:34 PM on January 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
"Just what America needs, another paid holiday" for federal workers
Capitalism has been hard at work to devour the Friday after Thanksgiving -- and even Thanksgiving itself -- as a paid holiday in November. So don't think of it as "another" paid holiday, think of it as putting back a day so many working Americans have lost.
posted by wildblueyonder at 3:45 PM on January 31, 2019 [28 favorites]
Capitalism has been hard at work to devour the Friday after Thanksgiving -- and even Thanksgiving itself -- as a paid holiday in November. So don't think of it as "another" paid holiday, think of it as putting back a day so many working Americans have lost.
posted by wildblueyonder at 3:45 PM on January 31, 2019 [28 favorites]
Crimes against Humanity, by Trump Administration. And no, we can't stop it.
I don't know who can.
posted by yesster at 3:46 PM on January 31, 2019
I don't know who can.
posted by yesster at 3:46 PM on January 31, 2019
Daily Beast may have turned up Roger Stone's last piece of rat-fuckery: Bezos’ Investigators Question the Brother of His Mistress, Lauren Sanchez, in National Enquirer Leak Probe—Michael Sanchez is an outspoken Trump supporter with ties to Roger Stone and Carter Page.
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:59 PM on January 31, 2019 [8 favorites]
Gavin de Becker, the Amazon chief’s longtime personal security consultant and the point person for the investigation, confirmed to The Daily Beast on Wednesday that his probe has scrutinized Michael Sanchez, the brother of Bezos mistress Lauren Sanchez and a personal and business associate of Trumpworld figures including Roger Stone, Carter Page, and Scottie Nell Hughes.[…]If Roger Stone turns out to have had a hand in forwarding dirt on Bezos to the National Enquirer, that would be quite the capstone to his career. (And because Trumpworld is apparently a small one, Page once shared the same talent management with Sanchez and says he's a friend.)
Michael Sanchez’s name bubbled up on the British celebrity news and gossip website Popbitch last week in the context of the Enquirer story. Stone also mentioned Sanchez in an interview with conspiracy theory site Infowars on Wednesday that sought to preempt The Daily Beast’s reporting by falsely claiming that it would accuse him of conspiring with the Trump administration to hack Bezos’ phone.[…]
According to documents reviewed by The Daily Beast, Stone and Sanchez were in touch about the National Enquirer story in the days after it ran—and in the days before Stone was arrested by the FBI and charged with seven criminal counts related to the federal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:59 PM on January 31, 2019 [8 favorites]
I could do a long FPP on this, but the bottom line is that best practice is electronic voting machines with a machine printed voter-verified paper ballot and electronic scanners, with statistically significant number of precincts subjected to hand counted audit.
I think that's open to discussion, for instance, the cybersecurity expert from Georgia Tech on the state commission called for paper ballots; but in any case, that is not the alternative preferred by Gov* Kemp and Sec of State* Raffensperger. They like ones that print out a barcode that allegedly records ones votes for easy recount, but that cannot be verified by the voter.
There's also the fact that until this year, due to state funding cuts, multiple counties in Georgia had run for 10 years with fewer than 180 school days for public school kids (to save money by furloughing teachers for the lost days). A state with Georgia's budget problems doesn't need to pay $150 million for (allegedly) the very best practice when we can get a perfectly good practice supported by many cybersecurity experts for $30 million.
And finally, after 16 years of questionable election results with the Diebold black box machines, voters in Georgia are demanding paper ballots. And that alone should be given some sway. But the former Diebold lobbyist who is now Kemp's chief of staff will make sure that what the people want doesn't matter.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:06 PM on January 31, 2019 [26 favorites]
I think that's open to discussion, for instance, the cybersecurity expert from Georgia Tech on the state commission called for paper ballots; but in any case, that is not the alternative preferred by Gov* Kemp and Sec of State* Raffensperger. They like ones that print out a barcode that allegedly records ones votes for easy recount, but that cannot be verified by the voter.
There's also the fact that until this year, due to state funding cuts, multiple counties in Georgia had run for 10 years with fewer than 180 school days for public school kids (to save money by furloughing teachers for the lost days). A state with Georgia's budget problems doesn't need to pay $150 million for (allegedly) the very best practice when we can get a perfectly good practice supported by many cybersecurity experts for $30 million.
And finally, after 16 years of questionable election results with the Diebold black box machines, voters in Georgia are demanding paper ballots. And that alone should be given some sway. But the former Diebold lobbyist who is now Kemp's chief of staff will make sure that what the people want doesn't matter.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:06 PM on January 31, 2019 [26 favorites]
A. Chalupa goes deep on Venezuela, and is passionately disappointed by Rep. Ilhan Omar’s naïveté regarding RT & Co. on the latest episode of Gaslit Nation: Roger Stone: Democracy’s Undertaker.
posted by progosk at 4:07 PM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by progosk at 4:07 PM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
There's a Wisconsin Supreme Court election in April, which could swing the court from 4-3 conservative control to 4-3 progressive. And it looks like the right's(*) candidate has some colorful views.
* WI SC races are nominally non-partisan.
posted by Chrysostom at 4:21 PM on January 31, 2019 [10 favorites]
* WI SC races are nominally non-partisan.
posted by Chrysostom at 4:21 PM on January 31, 2019 [10 favorites]
Just what America needs, another paid holiday" for federal workers.
Mitch needs to look closely at his calendar and note how many days the words “senate in recess” appear in.
C,WAA.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:24 PM on January 31, 2019 [22 favorites]
Mitch needs to look closely at his calendar and note how many days the words “senate in recess” appear in.
C,WAA.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:24 PM on January 31, 2019 [22 favorites]
NBC: INF Treaty talks between Russia and the U.S. fail at summit
posted by Doktor Zed at 4:27 PM on January 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
The United States and Russia announced Thursday that they had failed to reconcile their differences over a Cold War-era nuclear pact, something some experts warn could spark a new arms race in Europe.Since both Trump and Putin have openly expressed interest in expanding their countries’ nuclear arsenals, this feels like political kabuki.
The U.S. accuses Russia of violating the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty[….] Moscow denies this and accuses Washington of violating the treaty.[…]
Andrea Thompson, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security affairs, said Washington will most likely announce the suspension of the INF Treaty in the coming days.
posted by Doktor Zed at 4:27 PM on January 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
I don't have anything to add except that I'm reading This Boy's Life and all the Nazi sympathizers are ridiculous. It's like, if this is a memoir of the 50's and early 60's, that we didn't vote in a Trump sooner is kind of amazing. The thread is right there.
It's almost like Democrats and women have always been holding back the tide of awful, if this is classic formative boylit. My god.
posted by saysthis at 5:04 PM on January 31, 2019
It's almost like Democrats and women have always been holding back the tide of awful, if this is classic formative boylit. My god.
posted by saysthis at 5:04 PM on January 31, 2019
CNN: Trump Jr.'s mysterious calls weren't with his father
Senate investigators have obtained new information showing Donald Trump Jr.'s mysterious phone calls ahead of the 2016 Trump Tower meeting were not with his father, three sources with knowledge of the matter told CNN.ABC identifies them: Blocked calls, long a mystery, went to longtime Trump family friends
Records provided to the Senate Intelligence Committee show the calls were between Trump Jr. and two of his business associates, the sources said, and appear to contradict Democrats' long-held suspicions that the blocked number was from then-candidate Donald Trump.
The calls to blocked numbers, which came on June 6, and after the meeting on June 9, were between Trump Jr.’s cell phone and two family friends -- NASCAR CEO Brian France and real estate developer Howard Lorber, according to the sources.posted by Rhaomi at 5:06 PM on January 31, 2019 [15 favorites]
Both men have close ties to President Donald Trump and actively supported his campaign during the 2016 election. [...] In the 1990s, when Trump started exploring real estate options in Russia, Lorber accompanied him on a tour of Moscow.
Warren: Billionaires should ‘stop being freeloaders’
Now that is how you frame the argument. Fucking hell, took them goddam well long enough to learn the lesson.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 5:25 PM on January 31, 2019 [114 favorites]
Now that is how you frame the argument. Fucking hell, took them goddam well long enough to learn the lesson.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 5:25 PM on January 31, 2019 [114 favorites]
Why would the IRA send the documents to ThinkProgress, and not some conservative outlet?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 5:37 PM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by ZenMasterThis at 5:37 PM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
Two separate news orgs run stories on Junior's mysterious phone calls within minutes of each other, both citing "three sources familiar with the matter"? Huh. The timing seems... interesting. Almost as if it's trying to get out in front of something.
posted by holgate at 5:40 PM on January 31, 2019 [19 favorites]
posted by holgate at 5:40 PM on January 31, 2019 [19 favorites]
oh this is super interesting on the heels of the reports of donny jr and his smarmy brother-in-law on the list for Mueller's next move.....I'm thinkin Kellyanne?
posted by bluesky43 at 5:43 PM on January 31, 2019
posted by bluesky43 at 5:43 PM on January 31, 2019
A. Chalupa goes deep on Venezuela, and is passionately disappointed by Rep. Ilhan Omar’s naïveté regarding RT & Co. on the latest episode of Gaslit Nation: Roger Stone: Democracy’s Undertaker.
RT? Russia Today? The printed summary doesn’t explain.
Also: “A. Chalupa”? C’mon.
posted by msalt at 5:47 PM on January 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
RT? Russia Today? The printed summary doesn’t explain.
Also: “A. Chalupa”? C’mon.
posted by msalt at 5:47 PM on January 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
Sen. Burr, who I remind you is chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee and is supposed to be investigating all this, has identified his top priority: GOP Senator Lights Up Trump's FDA Chief on Menthol Cigarette Ban. He gave a speech trashing the FDA Commissioner over the proposed ban, saying he wants Trump to intervene, and then used a Twitter incident to try to turn Trump against the Commissioner:
Burr, the Senate intelligence panel chairman who’s leading a two-year, bipartisan investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, also faulted Gottlieb for a “like” on his Twitter account earlier this month of a tweet describing the president’s falling poll ratings.posted by zachlipton at 5:56 PM on January 31, 2019 [2 favorites]
“There was a tweet that said the president’s numbers are going down. The commissioner liked the tweet,” Burr said. “Maybe I’ll say that one a few more times so the president will see it or hear it. Maybe somebody’s listening that will tell him.”
An FDA spokesperson said Gottlieb inadvertently “liked” the tweet and quickly “unliked it.” His account no longer shows the “like.”
The New York Times has an exclusive interview with Trump:
"...Mr. Trump brushed off the investigations that have consumed so much of his presidency, saying that his lawyers have been reassured by the outgoing deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, that the president himself was not a target."
"The interview was arranged after Mr. Trump reached out to A.G. Sulzberger, the publisher of The New York Times, and invited him for an off-the-record dinner. Mr. Sulzberger declined, saying he would prefer an on-the-record interview that included two of his reporters. The president agreed."
"'I lost massive amounts of money doing this job,' he said. 'This is not the money. This one of the great losers of all time. You know, fortunately, I don’t need money. This is one of the great losers of all time. But they’ll say that somebody from some country stayed at a hotel. And I’ll say, "Yeah." But I lose, I mean, the numbers are incredible.'"
"'I would say the best opening so far would be Kamala Harris,' he said, pronouncing it 'Kameela.' 'I would say in terms of the opening act, I would say, would be her.' He added, 'A better crowd, better crowd, better enthusiasm.'"
"But Mr. Trump said the intelligence chiefs told him their presentation was misinterpreted. 'They said, "Sir, our testimony was totally mischaracterized,"' Mr. Trump said. 'I said, "What are you talking about?" And when you read their testimony and you read their statements, it was mischaracterized by the media.'"
posted by reductiondesign at 6:22 PM on January 31, 2019 [8 favorites]
"...Mr. Trump brushed off the investigations that have consumed so much of his presidency, saying that his lawyers have been reassured by the outgoing deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, that the president himself was not a target."
"The interview was arranged after Mr. Trump reached out to A.G. Sulzberger, the publisher of The New York Times, and invited him for an off-the-record dinner. Mr. Sulzberger declined, saying he would prefer an on-the-record interview that included two of his reporters. The president agreed."
"'I lost massive amounts of money doing this job,' he said. 'This is not the money. This one of the great losers of all time. You know, fortunately, I don’t need money. This is one of the great losers of all time. But they’ll say that somebody from some country stayed at a hotel. And I’ll say, "Yeah." But I lose, I mean, the numbers are incredible.'"
"'I would say the best opening so far would be Kamala Harris,' he said, pronouncing it 'Kameela.' 'I would say in terms of the opening act, I would say, would be her.' He added, 'A better crowd, better crowd, better enthusiasm.'"
"But Mr. Trump said the intelligence chiefs told him their presentation was misinterpreted. 'They said, "Sir, our testimony was totally mischaracterized,"' Mr. Trump said. 'I said, "What are you talking about?" And when you read their testimony and you read their statements, it was mischaracterized by the media.'"
posted by reductiondesign at 6:22 PM on January 31, 2019 [8 favorites]
Daily Beast: White House Abruptly Canceled Trump’s Meeting With Intel Chiefs—The cancellation came a day after top officials gave testimony to congress seemingly contradicting key parts of the president’s foreign policy.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:23 PM on January 31, 2019 [18 favorites]
The White House abruptly canceled the President’s daily intelligence briefing on Wednesday, the morning after top intelligence officials testified before Congress, The Daily Beast has learned.This is the sort of incident that underlies Rep. Jackie Speier saying Trump’s “becoming a national security threat himself.”
Reached for comment, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders simply said, “It was moved.” She did not go into further detail as to why and did not respond to follow-up inquiries.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:23 PM on January 31, 2019 [18 favorites]
Also: “A. Chalupa”? C’mon.
I often see Sarah Kendzior and Andrea Chalupa referenced here as "S. Kendzior" and "A. Chalupa" and it makes me feel like I've missed some memo. It feels like it might be an attempt to avoid drawing attention to their gender.
On further searching, it looks like it's always progosk? Maybe it's just that poster's personal style.
posted by lostburner at 6:24 PM on January 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
I often see Sarah Kendzior and Andrea Chalupa referenced here as "S. Kendzior" and "A. Chalupa" and it makes me feel like I've missed some memo. It feels like it might be an attempt to avoid drawing attention to their gender.
On further searching, it looks like it's always progosk? Maybe it's just that poster's personal style.
posted by lostburner at 6:24 PM on January 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
his lawyers have been reassured by the outgoing deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, that the president himself was not a target.
“Outgoing”? When was that story officially confirmed, or is this editorializing from Trump (or Maggie Haberman)? The NYT better release a transcript of the interview or otherwise clear this up.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:32 PM on January 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
“Outgoing”? When was that story officially confirmed, or is this editorializing from Trump (or Maggie Haberman)? The NYT better release a transcript of the interview or otherwise clear this up.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:32 PM on January 31, 2019 [4 favorites]
Mr. Sulzberger declined, saying he would prefer an on-the-record interview that included two of his reporters.
I hadn't noticed before that there are always 2 reporters when Trump does off-camera interviews! It must be for the same reason that his old lawyers would only meet with him in pairs; if you meet with him 1 on 1 he will flat out lie about what he said.
If you think lying to one of your lawyers about what you told another of your lawyers is a bad move, well, it's Trump.
posted by Justinian at 6:35 PM on January 31, 2019 [15 favorites]
I hadn't noticed before that there are always 2 reporters when Trump does off-camera interviews! It must be for the same reason that his old lawyers would only meet with him in pairs; if you meet with him 1 on 1 he will flat out lie about what he said.
If you think lying to one of your lawyers about what you told another of your lawyers is a bad move, well, it's Trump.
posted by Justinian at 6:35 PM on January 31, 2019 [15 favorites]
Conservatives head to Texas to try to build their own wall
posted by scalefree at 6:47 PM on January 31, 2019 [24 favorites]
HOUSTON (AP) — What started as an online fundraiser to provide President Donald Trump with donations for his southern border wall has morphed into a foundation whose members vow to build a wall themselves.Destined to end in tears & recriminations.
The "We The People Will Build the Wall" campaign has surpassed $20 million since it was created in December by Air Force veteran and triple amputee Brian Kolfage. The campaign has received almost 350,000 donations even as wall opponents derided the effort and after the longest government shutdown in U.S. history ended with Congress refusing Trump's demand for billions in wall funding.
Kolfage and other Trump supporters have now organized a nonprofit corporation, WeBuildtheWall Inc. Its board of directors includes former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a hardline immigration opponent who has advised Trump. The group spent part of this week in South Texas touring the U.S.-Mexico border and meeting landowners the group hopes will allow private construction on their land.
Whether a private group could build such as wall remains to be seen. There are legal and environmental obstacles in South Texas that have delayed the U.S. government, even with its powers to seize land and waive laws for national security.
The group acknowledges the obstacles. But Dustin Stockton, one of the group's leaders, said he still believed they could build something in "months, not years."
posted by scalefree at 6:47 PM on January 31, 2019 [24 favorites]
I feel like this pony request has been pony requested before, but since the Irish Republican Army exists, could we maybe refer to the Internet Research Agency by a different acronym?
posted by aspersioncast at 6:58 PM on January 31, 2019 [61 favorites]
posted by aspersioncast at 6:58 PM on January 31, 2019 [61 favorites]
The White House abruptly canceled the President’s daily intelligence briefing on Wednesday, the morning after top intelligence officials testified before Congress, The Daily Beast has learned.
Combine this with a story previously reported, that the intelligence briefing was literally the only job duty he had scheduled for the entire week, and it appears Trump simply decided not to President anymore. I believe he also had a scheduled lunch with VP Pence but that's not exactly "work".
posted by Justinian at 7:05 PM on January 31, 2019 [11 favorites]
Combine this with a story previously reported, that the intelligence briefing was literally the only job duty he had scheduled for the entire week, and it appears Trump simply decided not to President anymore. I believe he also had a scheduled lunch with VP Pence but that's not exactly "work".
posted by Justinian at 7:05 PM on January 31, 2019 [11 favorites]
I’d be fine with Putin’s Trolls.
posted by schadenfrau at 7:05 PM on January 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by schadenfrau at 7:05 PM on January 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
It turns out that the IRA has trouble fooling responsible journalists. We’ll see if that applies in 2020.
...
Why would the IRA send the documents to ThinkProgress, and not some conservative outlet?
I apologize for the speculation, but (adjusts tin foil hat) I wonder if this story was purposefully made to confuse our estimate of how effective/competent Russian disinformation is. Maybe* ThinkProgress was the chosen vehicle because Russian disinfo "incompetence" was what the Russians wanted the story to be. Remember the tremendous success that Russia enjoyed with the Jade Helm conspiracy theory! They're not dummies.
*Another possibility is that they just throw a ton of shit at the wall, and sometimes they end up with Jade Helm successes and sometimes they end up with Mueller hack duds.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 7:05 PM on January 31, 2019 [7 favorites]
...
Why would the IRA send the documents to ThinkProgress, and not some conservative outlet?
I apologize for the speculation, but (adjusts tin foil hat) I wonder if this story was purposefully made to confuse our estimate of how effective/competent Russian disinformation is. Maybe* ThinkProgress was the chosen vehicle because Russian disinfo "incompetence" was what the Russians wanted the story to be. Remember the tremendous success that Russia enjoyed with the Jade Helm conspiracy theory! They're not dummies.
*Another possibility is that they just throw a ton of shit at the wall, and sometimes they end up with Jade Helm successes and sometimes they end up with Mueller hack duds.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 7:05 PM on January 31, 2019 [7 favorites]
What Trump said on intelligence today is worth highlighting.
First, the tweets: Just concluded a great meeting with my Intel team in the Oval Office who told me that what they said on Tuesday at the Senate Hearing was mischaracterized by the media - and we are very much in agreement on Iran, ISIS, North Korea, etc. Their testimony was distorted press........I would suggest you read the COMPLETE testimony from Tuesday. A false narrative is so bad for our Country. I value our intelligence community. Happily, we had a very good meeting, and we are all on the same page!
Ok, fine, I'll read the COMPLETE testimony. Specifically, I'll read the document they were testifying about: Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community. It's a big deal regularly-scheduled global assessment of threats. What does it say?
Yesterday, Trump flipped out, presumably because he saw they were saying negative things about him on the TV, and tweeted "Intelligence should go back to school!" Which, you know, implies that the agencies are wrong in their assessments. Today, he's claiming that the intelligence chiefs told him that they were misquoted and it was "fake news." Something that can be disproven by glancing at the report.
Certainly, it's not the first time he's called something he doesn't like "fake news" or lied about intelligence, but this is a very particular pattern of claiming his advisors told him that they were misquoted when they were actually accurately quoted contradicting him, and it only involves the most important matters under the President's powers.
posted by zachlipton at 7:36 PM on January 31, 2019 [32 favorites]
First, the tweets: Just concluded a great meeting with my Intel team in the Oval Office who told me that what they said on Tuesday at the Senate Hearing was mischaracterized by the media - and we are very much in agreement on Iran, ISIS, North Korea, etc. Their testimony was distorted press........I would suggest you read the COMPLETE testimony from Tuesday. A false narrative is so bad for our Country. I value our intelligence community. Happily, we had a very good meeting, and we are all on the same page!
Ok, fine, I'll read the COMPLETE testimony. Specifically, I'll read the document they were testifying about: Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community. It's a big deal regularly-scheduled global assessment of threats. What does it say?
We continue to assess that Iran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons-development activities we judge necessary to produce a nuclear device.However, Iranian officials have publicly threatened to reverse some of Iran’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) commitments—and resume nuclear activities that the JCPOAlimits—if Iran does not gain the tangible trade and investment benefits it expected from the deal.The report even helpfully puts all those bits in bold for easy reading. It, of course, does not say that all Iran and ISIS are paragons of virtue in every way and that there aren't other threats, but it's clear that the official position of the intelligence community is not "very much in agreement" with the nonsense that routinely comes out of the President's mouth on these topics.
...
ISIS still commands thousands of fighters in Iraq and Syria, and it maintains eight branches, more than a dozen networks, and thousands of dispersed supporters around the world, despite significant leadership and territorial losses. The group will exploit any reduction in CT pressure to strengthen its clandestine presence and accelerate rebuilding key capabilities,such as media production and external operations.ISIS very likely will continue to pursue external attacks from Iraq and Syria against regional and Western adversaries, including the United States.
...
However,we continue to assess that North Korea is unlikely to give up all of its nuclear weapons and production capabilities, even as it seeks to negotiate partial denuclearization steps to obtain key US and international concessions.
Yesterday, Trump flipped out, presumably because he saw they were saying negative things about him on the TV, and tweeted "Intelligence should go back to school!" Which, you know, implies that the agencies are wrong in their assessments. Today, he's claiming that the intelligence chiefs told him that they were misquoted and it was "fake news." Something that can be disproven by glancing at the report.
Certainly, it's not the first time he's called something he doesn't like "fake news" or lied about intelligence, but this is a very particular pattern of claiming his advisors told him that they were misquoted when they were actually accurately quoted contradicting him, and it only involves the most important matters under the President's powers.
posted by zachlipton at 7:36 PM on January 31, 2019 [32 favorites]
Combine this with a story previously reported, that the intelligence briefing was literally the only job duty he had scheduled for the entire week, and it appears Trump simply decided not to President anymore. I believe he also had a scheduled lunch with VP Pence but that's not exactly "work".
Too busy giving White House tours. I can't believe that's actually true.
posted by scalefree at 8:00 PM on January 31, 2019 [3 favorites]
Too busy giving White House tours. I can't believe that's actually true.
posted by scalefree at 8:00 PM on January 31, 2019 [3 favorites]
We've heard similar stories before, but it seems to me that this report in the Washington Post hits closer to home:
A case against Trump is going to trial. Attorneys want a judge to force him to testify.
A case against Trump is going to trial. Attorneys want a judge to force him to testify.
Five protesters who allege that President Trump’s security team assaulted them in 2015 have subpoenaed the president to testify at trial.posted by Joe in Australia at 8:08 PM on January 31, 2019 [26 favorites]
The case was brought against six defendants, including then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, the Trump Organization and Trump security director Keith Schiller, three months after Trump announced his candidacy.
[...]
Trump tried to argue that he was not involved and, therefore, not personally responsible, but Tapia rebuffed the attempt to distance himself from the lawsuit. In August, Tapia ruled that a jury could find that Trump “authorized and condoned” the guards’ conduct.
(The judge based his decision, in part, on a statement Trump made at a campaign rally, which he buried in a footnote: “Maybe he should have been roughed up because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing,” Trump said, according to the judge’s decision in August.)
Wait; Gavin deBecker is Bezos’ chief of security?
I think that might be burying the lede a bit!
posted by das_2099 at 8:49 PM on January 31, 2019 [6 favorites]
I think that might be burying the lede a bit!
posted by das_2099 at 8:49 PM on January 31, 2019 [6 favorites]
I'm not sure what this means, but David Brooks seems to be on team Kamala Harris.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 9:29 PM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 9:29 PM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
Between that and George Will's endorsement of Klobuchar it really does feel like a come-to-Jeez moment on the part of the semi-aware conservative beltway luminaries.
posted by aspersioncast at 9:47 PM on January 31, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by aspersioncast at 9:47 PM on January 31, 2019 [2 favorites]
But Tucker Carlson hasn’t got that telegram yet, I’m guessing.
posted by valkane at 10:06 PM on January 31, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by valkane at 10:06 PM on January 31, 2019 [2 favorites]
I don't know much about David Brooks, but seeing someone write about Harris with all of those adjectives (formidable, pugilistic, agressive, rough, tough, ruthless...) and only use the phrase "black woman" once toward the end.... makes me very happy.
posted by mmoncur at 10:17 PM on January 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by mmoncur at 10:17 PM on January 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
Since David Brooks' whole purpose in life is to bleat out vaguely centrist-seeming pap to cover up for GOP crimes and lies, I wonder what his angle is in saying nice things about Harris. Makes me more suspicious of her than I was already....
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 10:35 PM on January 31, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 10:35 PM on January 31, 2019 [7 favorites]
@willripleyCNN #breaking A senior administration official and a second source with knowledge tell @PamelaBrownCNN the current plan is for the second summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to be held in the Vietnamese coastal city of Da Nang. Plan is being finalized.
posted by scalefree at 11:05 PM on January 31, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by scalefree at 11:05 PM on January 31, 2019 [2 favorites]
RT? Russia Today? The printed summary doesn’t explain..
Yes, msalt.
Also, lostburner’s correct. (Genuinely interested: why would initializing elicit a “c’mon”?)
posted by progosk at 12:00 AM on February 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
Yes, msalt.
Also, lostburner’s correct. (Genuinely interested: why would initializing elicit a “c’mon”?)
posted by progosk at 12:00 AM on February 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
Kamala Harris seems to be carving out an interesting, complicated stance that could be read as the right wing of Democratic candidates (prosecutor, anti-truancy, etc.) by those who want to see that (Brooks) and socialist by others (single payer, wealth taxes). Americans seems to like complicated candidates; I might argue that it’s a modern form of coalition building better suited to a post-truth society, where the only things you can trust are the ones that opponents attack you for.
IE Trump’s base likes him precise because he’s racist and gropes women. “Prosecutor and anti-truancy” seems like a more appealing set of “scandals.” She dated an older, successful, “separated” man? That’s pretty relatable too.
posted by msalt at 12:02 AM on February 1, 2019 [6 favorites]
IE Trump’s base likes him precise because he’s racist and gropes women. “Prosecutor and anti-truancy” seems like a more appealing set of “scandals.” She dated an older, successful, “separated” man? That’s pretty relatable too.
posted by msalt at 12:02 AM on February 1, 2019 [6 favorites]
Just heard a discouraging report on the Afghanistan peace talks on the BBC. The “breakthrough” in talks is that the Taliban has always refused to negotiate with the Afghan government, which they consider a puppet of the U.S. government. So they’ve always demanded to speak to the U.S. alone, which previous U.S. governments of both parties refused for obvious reasons.
Trump agreed, and Ryan Crocker is not the only person who considers Donald’s move a total surrender to the Taliban, throwing Afghanistan’s current government under the bus. The BBC interviewed the Taliban’s spokesman, who confirmed all of this and made it clear that women’s rights would be severely curtailed once they regain power and reimpose Sharia law.
That’s right. The only American of any faith working to get Sharia law imposed today is Donald Trump.
posted by msalt at 12:24 AM on February 1, 2019 [70 favorites]
Trump agreed, and Ryan Crocker is not the only person who considers Donald’s move a total surrender to the Taliban, throwing Afghanistan’s current government under the bus. The BBC interviewed the Taliban’s spokesman, who confirmed all of this and made it clear that women’s rights would be severely curtailed once they regain power and reimpose Sharia law.
That’s right. The only American of any faith working to get Sharia law imposed today is Donald Trump.
posted by msalt at 12:24 AM on February 1, 2019 [70 favorites]
That NYTimes interview is pure waste of time. The way they ask the questions, they make it easy for him to lie, and hard for themselves to follow up with facts. We've been through the Trump-whisperers a gazillion times, so no need for a derail on that, but this ridiculous. He's a president, not a baby.
But while I was there, I also read Krugman's: Attack of the Fanatical Centrists about Schultz and more.
But while I was there, I also read Krugman's: Attack of the Fanatical Centrists about Schultz and more.
Schultz, however, still declares debt our biggest problem. Yet true to centrist form, his deficit concerns are oddly selective. Bowles and Simpson, charged with proposing a solution to deficits, listed as their first principle … reducing tax rates. Sure enough, Schultz is all into cutting Social Security, but opposes any tax hike on the wealthy.posted by mumimor at 12:59 AM on February 1, 2019 [21 favorites]
Funny how that works.
In general, centrists are furiously opposed to any proposal that would ease the lives of ordinary Americans. Universal health coverage, says Schultz, would be “free health care for all, which the country cannot afford.”
And he’s not alone in saying things like that. A few days ago Michael Bloomberg declared that extending Medicare to everyone, as Kamala Harris suggests, would “bankrupt us for a very long time.”
Now, single-payer health care (actually called Medicare!) hasn’t bankrupted Canada. In fact, every advanced country besides America has some form of universal health coverage, and manages to afford it.
The real issue with “Medicare for all” isn’t costs — the taxes needed to pay for it would almost surely be less than what Americans now pay in insurance premiums. The problem instead would be political: It would be tricky persuading people to trade private insurance for a public program. That’s a real concern for Medicare-for-all advocates, but it’s not at all what either Schultz or Bloomberg is saying.
(Genuinely interested: why would initializing elicit a “c’mon”?)
A chalupa. Unknowing readers might have considered this a joke alias.
posted by SPrintF at 1:32 AM on February 1, 2019 [7 favorites]
A chalupa. Unknowing readers might have considered this a joke alias.
posted by SPrintF at 1:32 AM on February 1, 2019 [7 favorites]
Or that the writers were fucking with us again.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 1:54 AM on February 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by inpHilltr8r at 1:54 AM on February 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
A chalupa. Unknowing readers might have considered this a joke alias.
Oh right - had no idea.
posted by progosk at 1:56 AM on February 1, 2019 [6 favorites]
Oh right - had no idea.
posted by progosk at 1:56 AM on February 1, 2019 [6 favorites]
“There was a tweet that said the president’s numbers are going down. The commissioner liked the tweet,” Burr said. “Maybe I’ll say that one a few more times so the president will see it or hear it. Maybe somebody’s listening that will tell him.”
What is this? "We all know the President [who I'm supposed to be investigating] hires and fires based on perceived loyalty and nothing else, so I'm going to get the commissioner whose policies I don't like fired"? I thought you were supposed to do this stuff behind the scenes.
posted by trig at 2:32 AM on February 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
What is this? "We all know the President [who I'm supposed to be investigating] hires and fires based on perceived loyalty and nothing else, so I'm going to get the commissioner whose policies I don't like fired"? I thought you were supposed to do this stuff behind the scenes.
posted by trig at 2:32 AM on February 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
This is horrifying:
[Guardian] Blackwater founder Erik Prince to build training camp in China's Xinjiang
posted by stonepharisee at 2:34 AM on February 1, 2019 [27 favorites]
[Guardian] Blackwater founder Erik Prince to build training camp in China's Xinjiang
posted by stonepharisee at 2:34 AM on February 1, 2019 [27 favorites]
RT? Russia Today? The printed summary doesn’t explain..
Some more background on the backlash to Omar's recent tweets. In the podcast, Chalupa recommends that anyone looking to understand the situation in Venezuela to "center the country and the people who are suffering", and suggests starting via the on-the-ground, long-standing SOS Venezuela FB page.
posted by progosk at 3:30 AM on February 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
Some more background on the backlash to Omar's recent tweets. In the podcast, Chalupa recommends that anyone looking to understand the situation in Venezuela to "center the country and the people who are suffering", and suggests starting via the on-the-ground, long-standing SOS Venezuela FB page.
posted by progosk at 3:30 AM on February 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
RT? Russia Today? The printed summary doesn’t explain..
Gaslit Nation’s Kendzior is a scholar in authoritarian regimes, is of Ukrainian descent, and seems to have deep deep knowledge of Russia’s history and current situation. Part of this episode focused on Ohmar naively amplifying very targeted Russian propaganda coming from RT.
RT is the English language/Western-targeted propaganda arm (Russia: They’re just like us!) of Russia Today.
Russia Today is Russian language and internal-facing Russian-targeted (Oligarchs are great! Kill gays & journalists!) propaganda suppressing the populace.
It’s a little confusing, but they are two different arms of the same state-owned propaganda machine. At least that’s what I learned from that episode.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 3:32 AM on February 1, 2019 [12 favorites]
Gaslit Nation’s Kendzior is a scholar in authoritarian regimes, is of Ukrainian descent, and seems to have deep deep knowledge of Russia’s history and current situation. Part of this episode focused on Ohmar naively amplifying very targeted Russian propaganda coming from RT.
RT is the English language/Western-targeted propaganda arm (Russia: They’re just like us!) of Russia Today.
Russia Today is Russian language and internal-facing Russian-targeted (Oligarchs are great! Kill gays & journalists!) propaganda suppressing the populace.
It’s a little confusing, but they are two different arms of the same state-owned propaganda machine. At least that’s what I learned from that episode.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 3:32 AM on February 1, 2019 [12 favorites]
Nearly one month into office, Blackburn among new senators still without email contact forms
She is not alone. Freshman U.S. Sens. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., also still do not list email contact forms.
posted by heatvision at 3:41 AM on February 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
She is not alone. Freshman U.S. Sens. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., also still do not list email contact forms.
posted by heatvision at 3:41 AM on February 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
ZenMasterThis: Why would the IRA send the documents to ThinkProgress, and not some conservative outlet?
My understanding of the Russian trolling operation is that individuals are left a lot to their own devices. I'm guessing whoever did it wasn't thinking enough steps ahead, and just wanted "the news" to repeat their disinfo. Or possibly they'd only expect non-conservative websites to even accept the existence of a Russian troll/hack operation as a premise... and possibly they'd be right.
NYT: "But Mr. Trump said the intelligence chiefs told him their presentation was misinterpreted. 'They said, "Sir, our testimony was totally mischaracterized,"' Mr. Trump said. 'I said, "What are you talking about?" And when you read their testimony and you read their statements, it was mischaracterized by the media.'"
I imagine they were sobbing while they told him this, and even he was a little weirded out.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 3:55 AM on February 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
My understanding of the Russian trolling operation is that individuals are left a lot to their own devices. I'm guessing whoever did it wasn't thinking enough steps ahead, and just wanted "the news" to repeat their disinfo. Or possibly they'd only expect non-conservative websites to even accept the existence of a Russian troll/hack operation as a premise... and possibly they'd be right.
NYT: "But Mr. Trump said the intelligence chiefs told him their presentation was misinterpreted. 'They said, "Sir, our testimony was totally mischaracterized,"' Mr. Trump said. 'I said, "What are you talking about?" And when you read their testimony and you read their statements, it was mischaracterized by the media.'"
I imagine they were sobbing while they told him this, and even he was a little weirded out.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 3:55 AM on February 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
Kendzior is a scholar in authoritarian regimes, is of Ukrainian descent
It's actually co-host A. Chalupa who is of Ukranian descent. (She's also author/producer of this upcoming movie.)
posted by progosk at 3:55 AM on February 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
It's actually co-host A. Chalupa who is of Ukranian descent. (She's also author/producer of this upcoming movie.)
posted by progosk at 3:55 AM on February 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
Corey Booker has announced his presidential run on the first day of Black History Month.
posted by Anonymous at 4:11 AM on February 1, 2019
posted by Anonymous at 4:11 AM on February 1, 2019
Speaking of the writers and their shenanigans, meet the Indiana GOP state senator working to repeal child labor laws to benefit his business, Chip Perfect.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 4:35 AM on February 1, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by Horace Rumpole at 4:35 AM on February 1, 2019 [8 favorites]
The only Democratic candidate Trump praised in the NY Times interview was Kamala Harris, making it crystal clear which contender he’d most like to run against in the general.
posted by CottonCandyCapers at 4:40 AM on February 1, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by CottonCandyCapers at 4:40 AM on February 1, 2019 [7 favorites]
The FBI investigated civil rights group as 'terrorism' threat and viewed KKK as victims SLGuardian
posted by Botanizer at 4:51 AM on February 1, 2019 [33 favorites]
posted by Botanizer at 4:51 AM on February 1, 2019 [33 favorites]
Gaslit Nation’s Kendzior is a scholar in authoritarian regimes, is of Ukrainian descent, and seems to have deep deep knowledge of Russia’s history and current situation. Part of this episode focused on Ohmar naively amplifying very targeted Russian propaganda coming from RT.
I think these kinds of exchanges (here and everywhere) are incredibly important moving into the election cycle. I am worried about naively amplifying targeted propaganda myself. And getting past the surface "Ohmar is wrong on Venezuela" to the underlying dynamics of what is being pushed and unknowingly re-tweeted and spread is critical. Thank you.
And the mainstream reporting on the Venezuela situation is not particularly deep or nuanced. I'm finding it difficult to get a clear picture of what's really going on vs what's being pushed as an "angle".
posted by jetsetsc at 4:54 AM on February 1, 2019 [13 favorites]
I think these kinds of exchanges (here and everywhere) are incredibly important moving into the election cycle. I am worried about naively amplifying targeted propaganda myself. And getting past the surface "Ohmar is wrong on Venezuela" to the underlying dynamics of what is being pushed and unknowingly re-tweeted and spread is critical. Thank you.
And the mainstream reporting on the Venezuela situation is not particularly deep or nuanced. I'm finding it difficult to get a clear picture of what's really going on vs what's being pushed as an "angle".
posted by jetsetsc at 4:54 AM on February 1, 2019 [13 favorites]
The reality in Venezuela is that both of the competing narratives being pushed at the moment are self serving horseshit and it's only a thing at this particular moment because there was a need for plausible deniability for the latest round of Trump illegally enriching Russians.
Maduro has been an utter disaster for the country and needs to go for a litany of reasons, but the situation has been made exponentially worse by the opposition which has been literally looting the country for the past few years. Despite the popular narrative, it is the latter that drives the hyperinflation.
(We also shouldn't overlook that the US has played a big role in enabling and even legally condoning to some extent the removal of capital from the country contrary to Venezuelan law)
The tl;dr is that nobody making news in Venezuela has clean hands.
posted by wierdo at 5:08 AM on February 1, 2019 [18 favorites]
Maduro has been an utter disaster for the country and needs to go for a litany of reasons, but the situation has been made exponentially worse by the opposition which has been literally looting the country for the past few years. Despite the popular narrative, it is the latter that drives the hyperinflation.
(We also shouldn't overlook that the US has played a big role in enabling and even legally condoning to some extent the removal of capital from the country contrary to Venezuelan law)
The tl;dr is that nobody making news in Venezuela has clean hands.
posted by wierdo at 5:08 AM on February 1, 2019 [18 favorites]
The only Democratic candidate Trump praised in the NY Times interview was Kamala Harris, making it crystal clear which contender he’d most like to run against in the general.
I'm sure that's because he's very aware of her policy positions and considers them to be more unpopular than his, not because of her combination of race and gender and his opinion about how strong an opponent that would make her.
posted by jammer at 5:26 AM on February 1, 2019 [12 favorites]
I'm sure that's because he's very aware of her policy positions and considers them to be more unpopular than his, not because of her combination of race and gender and his opinion about how strong an opponent that would make her.
posted by jammer at 5:26 AM on February 1, 2019 [12 favorites]
I am not sure there is much that we as Americans can or should do about the situation in Venezuela. The stakes are awfully high, and if we screw up, it won't be us that pay the cost.
But I do know it ia not safe there for vulnerable people right now. There's no food or medicine, and the political situation is starting to turn violent.
Meanwhile, Venezuela was added to thied version of the "Muslim ban" as a fig leaf to make it look like it didn't only target Muslims. And that is the version the supreme court approved.
So while Trump keepa threatening to send troops, he is denying entry to all Venezuelan refugees.
I think step one of "what to do about Venezuela" needs to be "admit the refugees."
posted by OnceUponATime at 5:37 AM on February 1, 2019 [43 favorites]
But I do know it ia not safe there for vulnerable people right now. There's no food or medicine, and the political situation is starting to turn violent.
Meanwhile, Venezuela was added to thied version of the "Muslim ban" as a fig leaf to make it look like it didn't only target Muslims. And that is the version the supreme court approved.
So while Trump keepa threatening to send troops, he is denying entry to all Venezuelan refugees.
I think step one of "what to do about Venezuela" needs to be "admit the refugees."
posted by OnceUponATime at 5:37 AM on February 1, 2019 [43 favorites]
WaPo: U.S. to withdraw from nuclear arms control treaty with Russia, says Russian violations render the Cold War agreement moot.
Fuck.
posted by schmod at 5:50 AM on February 1, 2019 [37 favorites]
Fuck.
posted by schmod at 5:50 AM on February 1, 2019 [37 favorites]
The NYT is publishing only excerpts of the transcript of Haberman and Baker's interview with Trump (omitting "off-the-record comments and asides"). While these contain some interesting exchanges and leading questions—and it seems that the NYT reporters are the ones who called Rosenstein the "outgoing deputy attorney general"—there's no way to tell what's in the unpublished amount of the interview. The general impression Trump gives off in what we can see, however, is of a rambling, defensive dotard.
For instance, here's the exchange over Trump's threatening statements about Michael Cohen's father-in-law:
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:57 AM on February 1, 2019 [14 favorites]
For instance, here's the exchange over Trump's threatening statements about Michael Cohen's father-in-law:
BAKER: Can I ask, speaking of Mr. Cohen, you’ve said that investigators should be looking at his father-in-law. What did you mean by that?Daniel Dale has posted a Twitter thread to annotate and fact-check the excerpts, e.g.
TRUMP: Well, that’s what I’ve heard. I’ve heard his father-in-law was — I’m not saying investigation.
[And here the NYT cuts off their transcript and picks it up a little later.]
BAKER: Can I ask, on the record, what’s the purpose of saying that? Some people are wondering whether or not this kind of thing might count as witness tampering, that you’re kind of publicly —
TRUMP: It’s not witness tampering. It’s not witness tampering at all. It’s not witness tampering.
BAKER: What’s your purpose, then? Help us understand that.
TRUMP: I did have to read what I said. What did I say? I don’t know. What did I say?
HABERMAN: Just that people ought to be taking a look at Michael Cohen’s father-in-law. And House Democrats have said they thought that —
TRUMP: Well, I will say this: I think people have the right to speak their mind. You know, speaking your mind. I’ve heard that for a period of time. But other people have said it, too. I mean, many people have said it.
Twice, Trump lies to @maggieNYT, and she corrects him, and then he just admits he was wrong. This happens a lot: when he’s challenged, he just concedes.The transcript of a Trump interview always turns out to be much more informative than the published articles, whether it's the Daily Caller or the Grey Lady.HABERMAN: Speaking of former aides, we wanted to talk to you about [Roger] Stone.And:
TRUMP: Sure, now you know Roger didn’t work for me in the campaign.
HABERMAN: Initially and then he —
TRUMP: Well, yeah, but that was before I — you know, that was either early primary or before primary.
HABERMAN: It was August or September [2015].
TRUMP: That was a long time. I will say this, I’ve always liked — I like Roger, he’s a character. But I like Roger.BAKER: Do you think you’ll have a Republican challenger for the nomination? Is that something you —
TRUMP: I don’t see it. You know, we’ve had polls as high as 93 percent. Which is the highest there is. Reagan was 86.
HABERMAN: W. was the only other one, right? George W. Bush?
TRUMP: Um —
HABERMAN: They seemed higher —
TRUMP: During, during a tiny little period, during the World Trade Center. That ended quickly.
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:57 AM on February 1, 2019 [14 favorites]
That is precisely the reaction they are looking for, schmod. This is the tail trying to wag the dog, don't let it.
posted by wierdo at 6:03 AM on February 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by wierdo at 6:03 AM on February 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
Corey Booker has announced his presidential run on the first day of Black History Month.
Sorry, but I'll be voting for someone who might be able to pass legislation.
Sorry, but I'll be voting for someone who might be able to pass legislation.
Countered Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), another likely presidential contender: “We should not be doing anything to mess with the strength of the filibuster. It’s one of the distinguishing factors of this body. And I think it is good to have the power of the filibuster.”posted by chris24 at 6:04 AM on February 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
They should get Trump on the record that Russia is not violating the INF treaty because Putin told him they weren't and he has no reason to not trust him, just like how they haven't tried to interfere in US elections.
posted by PenDevil at 6:07 AM on February 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by PenDevil at 6:07 AM on February 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
As Iridic has mentioned, some significant changes to the HIPAA privacy regulations are being considered. There is also a post on the blue that links to more information. Comments close after February 12; please consider commenting.
posted by Bella Donna at 6:09 AM on February 1, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by Bella Donna at 6:09 AM on February 1, 2019 [7 favorites]
Since David Brooks' whole purpose in life is to bleat out vaguely centrist-seeming pap to cover up for GOP crimes and lies, I wonder what his angle is in saying nice things about Harris. Makes me more suspicious of her than I was already....
I would submit that David Brooks has spent the last two years trying to rehabilitate himself from vicious Iraq War ideologue to "reasonable conservative" because he knows that liberals love to prop up anyone who represents a respectable opposition. It's a great move for his career.
Part of this act includes walking a very tight line where he excites liberals while maintaining his own (bloody and despicable) conservative worldview. This is a good example of that. He's terrified of the insurgent left wing of the Democratic primaries (Sanders and Warren), so he's saying nice things about a candidate he sees as closer to the right of the party. He gets attention and praise from liberals for praising a Democrat, but he also gets to fight their left flank.
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 6:55 AM on February 1, 2019 [16 favorites]
I would submit that David Brooks has spent the last two years trying to rehabilitate himself from vicious Iraq War ideologue to "reasonable conservative" because he knows that liberals love to prop up anyone who represents a respectable opposition. It's a great move for his career.
Part of this act includes walking a very tight line where he excites liberals while maintaining his own (bloody and despicable) conservative worldview. This is a good example of that. He's terrified of the insurgent left wing of the Democratic primaries (Sanders and Warren), so he's saying nice things about a candidate he sees as closer to the right of the party. He gets attention and praise from liberals for praising a Democrat, but he also gets to fight their left flank.
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 6:55 AM on February 1, 2019 [16 favorites]
TRUMP: I don’t see it. You know, we’ve had polls as high as 93 percent. Which is the highest there is. Reagan was 86.
He's talking about his polling numbers with Republicans (and probably according to Rasmussen, which has a Republican bias). Gallup only shows a few instances of a high of 45% approval among all voters, and two instances of 91% approval with Republicans.
TRUMP: During, during a tiny little period, during the World Trade Center. That ended quickly.
Bush's approval ratings skyrockets after the 9/11 attacks and started falling almost immediately, but his first-term average approval was 62%.
posted by kirkaracha at 7:01 AM on February 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
He's talking about his polling numbers with Republicans (and probably according to Rasmussen, which has a Republican bias). Gallup only shows a few instances of a high of 45% approval among all voters, and two instances of 91% approval with Republicans.
TRUMP: During, during a tiny little period, during the World Trade Center. That ended quickly.
Bush's approval ratings skyrockets after the 9/11 attacks and started falling almost immediately, but his first-term average approval was 62%.
posted by kirkaracha at 7:01 AM on February 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
TRUMP: I don’t see it. You know, we’ve had polls as high as 93 percent. Which is the highest there is. Reagan was 86.
He's talking about his polling numbers with Republicans (and probably according to Rasmussen, which has a Republican bias). Gallup only shows a few instances of a high of 45% approval among all voters, and two instances of 91% approval with Republicans.
GOD WHY AM I DEFENDING HIM - he was talking about a republican primary challenge possibility here, so his in-group approval does seem like the relevant metric (not that he understands that, or numbers, or anything else)
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 7:07 AM on February 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
He's talking about his polling numbers with Republicans (and probably according to Rasmussen, which has a Republican bias). Gallup only shows a few instances of a high of 45% approval among all voters, and two instances of 91% approval with Republicans.
GOD WHY AM I DEFENDING HIM - he was talking about a republican primary challenge possibility here, so his in-group approval does seem like the relevant metric (not that he understands that, or numbers, or anything else)
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 7:07 AM on February 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
'They said, "Sir, our testimony was totally mischaracterized,"' Mr. Trump said.
I didn't catch this yesterday when it was fresh but the use of 'sir' here means this conversation is almost certainly made up whole cloth.
I wonder if we'll see any of the intel folks talking to the press today to, again, disagree with something the President has said.
If Trump tells a story in which an unnamed person calls him “sir,” it’s probably invented.
PS: I'm certain that article was linked to in these threads back in November when it was new but it still does wonderful things for my sanity to hear a journalist calling his lies 'lies' instead of some euphemism.
posted by VTX at 7:10 AM on February 1, 2019 [19 favorites]
I didn't catch this yesterday when it was fresh but the use of 'sir' here means this conversation is almost certainly made up whole cloth.
I wonder if we'll see any of the intel folks talking to the press today to, again, disagree with something the President has said.
If Trump tells a story in which an unnamed person calls him “sir,” it’s probably invented.
PS: I'm certain that article was linked to in these threads back in November when it was new but it still does wonderful things for my sanity to hear a journalist calling his lies 'lies' instead of some euphemism.
posted by VTX at 7:10 AM on February 1, 2019 [19 favorites]
Would calling the President (as Commander-in-Chief) "Sir" be normal etiquette or even a requirement for a military officer?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 7:16 AM on February 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by ZenMasterThis at 7:16 AM on February 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
'They said, "Sir, our testimony was totally mischaracterized,"' Mr. Trump said.
I didn't catch this yesterday when it was fresh but the use of 'sir' here means this conversation is almost certainly made up whole cloth.
I dunno… I've worked for toxic assholes before, and toadies often go along with whatever fantasy world the boss is living in to his face, regardless of what the toadies are doing the rest of the time.
posted by Etrigan at 7:24 AM on February 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
I didn't catch this yesterday when it was fresh but the use of 'sir' here means this conversation is almost certainly made up whole cloth.
I dunno… I've worked for toxic assholes before, and toadies often go along with whatever fantasy world the boss is living in to his face, regardless of what the toadies are doing the rest of the time.
posted by Etrigan at 7:24 AM on February 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
Corey Booker has announced his presidential run on the first day of Black History Month.
Cory Booker Launched His Presidential Campaign in the Most Cory Booker Way Possible (Edward-Isaac Dovere, The Atlantic)
Cory Booker Launched His Presidential Campaign in the Most Cory Booker Way Possible (Edward-Isaac Dovere, The Atlantic)
The senator received prayers from the congregation at his Baptist church in a small service in Newark last night. Twelve hours later, he told the world.posted by ZeusHumms at 7:25 AM on February 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
The damage caused by Trump's shutdown aren't over, even as people are once again paid for their work: The Shutdown Is Over. Now The Federal Workforce Faces 'Untold Morale Problems' (NPR, February 1, 2019)
Hundreds of thousands of federal workers received their first partial paychecks this week as the government reopened Monday after a 35-day partial shutdown.U.S. Added 304,000 Jobs In January; Shutdown Boosts Unemployment To 4 Percent (NPR, February 1, 2019)
Some 400,000 workers had been furloughed, and another 400,000 had been on the job but were not getting paid.
While the financial costs for those workers were high, the shutdown also took a heavy toll on employee morale. And it may have the longer-term impact of making it more difficult to bring new people into the government.
"I think this is just going to further kill morale," says Jared Hautamaki, an attorney at the Environmental Protection Agency. "It's going to hurt recruiting."
Hautamaki, who has worked for the EPA for 10 years, says he has had enough.
"Federal employees are demonized by Congress and industry and the public. It's just not a good place to be," he says.
In its annual study of the "Best Places to Work in the Federal Government," the Partnership for Public Service found that federal workforce morale was already on the decline for a number of reasons. The Trump administration instituted a temporary hiring freeze and then a pay freeze.
Now, after the second partial government shutdown in a year, Partnership CEO Max Stier says working for a federal agency feels even less rewarding, especially for those workers with a sense of mission.
Job growth picked up for the 100th consecutive month in January even as hundreds of thousands of federal workers were furloughed during the partial government shutdown, the Labor Department said Friday.posted by filthy light thief at 7:44 AM on February 1, 2019 [6 favorites]
Employers added 304,000 jobs last month — topping analysts' expectations and the 223,000 average monthly gain in 2018. The string of job growth underscored the long economic expansion since the Great Recession.
The unemployment rate inched up to 4 percent and the shutdown contributed to the uptick, the department said.
GOD WHY AM I DEFENDING HIM - he was talking about a republican primary challenge possibility here, so his in-group approval does seem like the relevant metric
GOD WHY AM I RESEARCHING TRUMP'S GOP APPROVAL NUMBERS - Yes, Trump's talking specifically about his Republican approval ratings, but he's still lying about his popularity compared to other GOP presidents (Politifact). From Politifact's article last July, Gallup showed Trump, at 85% among Republicans, trailed behind the following at the same point in their presidencies: George W. Bush 96%, Dwight Eisenhower 92%, and George H.W. Bush 91%.
Haberman barely presses the issue of Trump's distortion, although one of the tasks of a responsible journalist is to provide accurate context in which to judge a politician's claims. None of this makes it into the NYT article, though, because in New York journalism, saying Donald Trump lies is like reporting dog bites man.
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:51 AM on February 1, 2019 [9 favorites]
GOD WHY AM I RESEARCHING TRUMP'S GOP APPROVAL NUMBERS - Yes, Trump's talking specifically about his Republican approval ratings, but he's still lying about his popularity compared to other GOP presidents (Politifact). From Politifact's article last July, Gallup showed Trump, at 85% among Republicans, trailed behind the following at the same point in their presidencies: George W. Bush 96%, Dwight Eisenhower 92%, and George H.W. Bush 91%.
Haberman barely presses the issue of Trump's distortion, although one of the tasks of a responsible journalist is to provide accurate context in which to judge a politician's claims. None of this makes it into the NYT article, though, because in New York journalism, saying Donald Trump lies is like reporting dog bites man.
posted by Doktor Zed at 7:51 AM on February 1, 2019 [9 favorites]
I would submit that David Brooks has spent the last two years trying to rehabilitate himself from vicious Iraq War ideologue to "reasonable conservative" because he knows that liberals love to prop up anyone who represents a respectable opposition.
No, that's not it - there's no "rehabilitation" happening, attempted or otherwise, because playing faux-reasonable is, and has always been, David Brooks' entire schtick, at least since joining the NYT.
He assumes the persona of "mild-mannered conservative that even PBS viewers can like, for some values of the word like" even while advocating for vile things and people. I suppose Kamala Harris is, in some ways, the most "conservative" of the currently declared Democratic candidates, but there's no way Brooks actually likes or respects her, or wants to advance her candidacy. There's something else going on there.
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 7:56 AM on February 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
No, that's not it - there's no "rehabilitation" happening, attempted or otherwise, because playing faux-reasonable is, and has always been, David Brooks' entire schtick, at least since joining the NYT.
He assumes the persona of "mild-mannered conservative that even PBS viewers can like, for some values of the word like" even while advocating for vile things and people. I suppose Kamala Harris is, in some ways, the most "conservative" of the currently declared Democratic candidates, but there's no way Brooks actually likes or respects her, or wants to advance her candidacy. There's something else going on there.
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 7:56 AM on February 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
YouGov asked for my opinion on SHS's comment that God wanted Trump to be president. Although "Not applicable; I don't believe in God" was the option that most accurately reflects my beliefs, it felt really good to reply "Disagree; God wanted Trump to not become president." I can't wait to see the results.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:16 AM on February 1, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:16 AM on February 1, 2019 [9 favorites]
I suppose Kamala Harris is, in some ways, the most "conservative" of the currently declared Democratic candidates, but there's no way Brooks actually likes or respects her, or wants to advance her candidacy. There's something else going on there.
Broadly, what's going on is that any GOPers who aren't actually stupid or actively invested in fascism know which way the wind is blowing - that is, anyone who is willing to accept merely "being super rich in a racist and unequal society" rather than "rule as tyrant king over immiserated serfs". They figure that Trump losing is a real possibility, and they'd rather back/ingratiate themselves with the most conservative Democrats than get shut out altogether.
On the one hand, this is great because it shows that they're running scared. On the other, I think folks should keep a weather eye on the people they're enthused about. If the non-stupid GOPers turn out to be thinking "we can live with Kamala Harris but we can't live with Elizabeth Warren", we should ask ourselves why.
posted by Frowner at 8:18 AM on February 1, 2019 [26 favorites]
Broadly, what's going on is that any GOPers who aren't actually stupid or actively invested in fascism know which way the wind is blowing - that is, anyone who is willing to accept merely "being super rich in a racist and unequal society" rather than "rule as tyrant king over immiserated serfs". They figure that Trump losing is a real possibility, and they'd rather back/ingratiate themselves with the most conservative Democrats than get shut out altogether.
On the one hand, this is great because it shows that they're running scared. On the other, I think folks should keep a weather eye on the people they're enthused about. If the non-stupid GOPers turn out to be thinking "we can live with Kamala Harris but we can't live with Elizabeth Warren", we should ask ourselves why.
posted by Frowner at 8:18 AM on February 1, 2019 [26 favorites]
The first thing the United States should do about Venezuela is not invade Venezuela. The second thing the US should do is not try to pick and choose what Venezuelan should be running the country.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 8:26 AM on February 1, 2019 [36 favorites]
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 8:26 AM on February 1, 2019 [36 favorites]
non-stupid GOPers
Assumes facts not in evidence.
Seriously though, David Brooks doesn't care one whit about being "shut out altogether." As an opinion columnist, he doesn't really need access to sources to do his job (unlike reporters). And working for the New York Times, he will always have access to readers.
I suppose the piece about Harris could be just another periodic attempt to shore up his "reasonable" credentials, or maybe he just needed to crap out 800 words on deadline and couldn't think of anything else to write about. I'm hesitant to spend any more time thinking about it because, hey, it's David Brooks, so it is by definition a waste of time for any thinking person.
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 8:28 AM on February 1, 2019 [14 favorites]
Assumes facts not in evidence.
Seriously though, David Brooks doesn't care one whit about being "shut out altogether." As an opinion columnist, he doesn't really need access to sources to do his job (unlike reporters). And working for the New York Times, he will always have access to readers.
I suppose the piece about Harris could be just another periodic attempt to shore up his "reasonable" credentials, or maybe he just needed to crap out 800 words on deadline and couldn't think of anything else to write about. I'm hesitant to spend any more time thinking about it because, hey, it's David Brooks, so it is by definition a waste of time for any thinking person.
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 8:28 AM on February 1, 2019 [14 favorites]
The second thing the US should do is not try to pick and choose what Venezuelan should be running the country.
Lots of other nations are weighing in on VZ, because they can no longer afford not to. The number of refugees from VZ in the rest of SOuth America is too large now. Invading would be a bad idea with a moron as Commander ib Chief, but the avalance has begun and it is too late for the snowflakes to hold another vote.
posted by ocschwar at 8:34 AM on February 1, 2019
Lots of other nations are weighing in on VZ, because they can no longer afford not to. The number of refugees from VZ in the rest of SOuth America is too large now. Invading would be a bad idea with a moron as Commander ib Chief, but the avalance has begun and it is too late for the snowflakes to hold another vote.
posted by ocschwar at 8:34 AM on February 1, 2019
If the non-stupid GOPers turn out to be thinking "we can live with Kamala Harris but we can't live with Elizabeth Warren", we should ask ourselves why.
This. Brooks' column, and the Schultz candidacy, strike me as similar. The rich and their media defenders know that Warren, Bernie and the progressive wing will raise their taxes. That's what they care about, defending against any tax increase, ever. The real threat is a progressive president who ran on soaking the rich, and will do it. They either know that Harris isn't as committed to tax increases as Warren/Bernie, or think they can manipulate her easier into going back on campaign promises of tax increases on the rich once she's in office, or think it will be easier for Trump to defeat a black woman, and thus keep cutting their taxes. Or all of the above.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:44 AM on February 1, 2019 [19 favorites]
This. Brooks' column, and the Schultz candidacy, strike me as similar. The rich and their media defenders know that Warren, Bernie and the progressive wing will raise their taxes. That's what they care about, defending against any tax increase, ever. The real threat is a progressive president who ran on soaking the rich, and will do it. They either know that Harris isn't as committed to tax increases as Warren/Bernie, or think they can manipulate her easier into going back on campaign promises of tax increases on the rich once she's in office, or think it will be easier for Trump to defeat a black woman, and thus keep cutting their taxes. Or all of the above.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:44 AM on February 1, 2019 [19 favorites]
Lots of other nations are weighing in on VZ, because they can no longer afford not to.
If only there were some way for those nations to unite to address the situation.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:44 AM on February 1, 2019 [23 favorites]
If only there were some way for those nations to unite to address the situation.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:44 AM on February 1, 2019 [23 favorites]
The first thing the United States should do about /country in the world/ is not invade /country in the world/. The second thing the US should do is not try to pick and choose what /member of any given country/ should be running the country. aka: stop being the United States historically already.
posted by Harry Caul at 8:45 AM on February 1, 2019 [20 favorites]
posted by Harry Caul at 8:45 AM on February 1, 2019 [20 favorites]
Would calling the President (as Commander-in-Chief) "Sir" be normal etiquette or even a requirement for a military officer?
Yeah, that's normal. I would call and Admiral "Admiral" the first time in a conversation, and then the more casual "Sir" after that. I imagine it would be the same with the president and "Mr. President"/"Sir". That's discounting my distaste with calling Trump himself that, but I don't think I could get away with less and still technically be the required level of respectful.
There's also the thing where when you call someone "Sir" when it's not necessary, that's actually a sarcastic insult. It means, "that's a breathtakingly stupid idea, but you're the boss [shrug]".
posted by ctmf at 8:47 AM on February 1, 2019 [10 favorites]
Yeah, that's normal. I would call and Admiral "Admiral" the first time in a conversation, and then the more casual "Sir" after that. I imagine it would be the same with the president and "Mr. President"/"Sir". That's discounting my distaste with calling Trump himself that, but I don't think I could get away with less and still technically be the required level of respectful.
There's also the thing where when you call someone "Sir" when it's not necessary, that's actually a sarcastic insult. It means, "that's a breathtakingly stupid idea, but you're the boss [shrug]".
posted by ctmf at 8:47 AM on February 1, 2019 [10 favorites]
Invading would be a bad idea with a moron as Commander ib Chief, but the avalance has begun and it is too late for the snowflakes to hold another vote.
Invading would be a bad idea under any president. Supporting a coup and overthrow of an elected leader in South America was a bad idea the last 30 times we did it and it's a bad idea now. If you think there's a Venezuelan refugee problem now and that we're committing human rights abuses at the border now, wait until millions head north after we put in another Pinochet. My god, it's like everybody was napping for the last hundred years.
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:48 AM on February 1, 2019 [28 favorites]
Invading would be a bad idea under any president. Supporting a coup and overthrow of an elected leader in South America was a bad idea the last 30 times we did it and it's a bad idea now. If you think there's a Venezuelan refugee problem now and that we're committing human rights abuses at the border now, wait until millions head north after we put in another Pinochet. My god, it's like everybody was napping for the last hundred years.
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:48 AM on February 1, 2019 [28 favorites]
If you think there's a Venezuelan refugee problem now, wait until millions leave after
Already happened.
after we put in another Pinochet
Ecuador is siding against Maduro.
Ecuador. Not exactly a nation likely to support a Pinochet.
posted by ocschwar at 8:51 AM on February 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
Already happened.
after we put in another Pinochet
Ecuador is siding against Maduro.
Ecuador. Not exactly a nation likely to support a Pinochet.
posted by ocschwar at 8:51 AM on February 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
I feel like Venezuela is a lose-lose proposition for Democrats, not just politically but morally. Neutrality is really not an option at this point – when there are two people both claiming to be head of state in a country that you do significant, ongoing business with, you have to decide which of them to treat as legitimate. And Maduro is a complete bastard who's only nominally leftist, which is why the U.S. is far from alone in telling him it's time to go (and most of the group is pretty far to our left, so it's not just reactionaries making this move). But Trump's motivation for supporting the opposition government, and his ultimate goal, are very clearly corrupt: to take as much of their oil as possible. And I'm not sure how you split that baby.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:53 AM on February 1, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:53 AM on February 1, 2019 [7 favorites]
Mod note: The Venezuela question is definitely one of those big sub-topics that would do very well with its own well-sourced post.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 9:09 AM on February 1, 2019 [27 favorites]
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 9:09 AM on February 1, 2019 [27 favorites]
New Republic has a good topical piece on the trolly-right's tactic of 'brigading': meme coordinated waves of criticism at their targets. Of course Tucker Carlson is involved as well. > The Fetid, Right-Wing Origins of “Learn to Code”
posted by Harry Caul at 9:38 AM on February 1, 2019 [20 favorites]
posted by Harry Caul at 9:38 AM on February 1, 2019 [20 favorites]
Missed this one yesterday night: Trump to Throw Spotlight on Abortion in SotU (Politico)
posted by box at 9:40 AM on February 1, 2019 [18 favorites]
President Donald Trump is telling conservative allies he wants to incorporate firm anti-abortion language into his State of the Union address Tuesday, and potentially include an anti-abortion figure among his list of invitees, according to four sources familiar with his plansSounds like we have a highly coherent speech to look forward to.
....
Trump is even expected to deliver what one Republican close to the White House called a “warm and fuzzy” overture to his recent nemesis in the border wall fight, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who will be sitting a few feet behind the president atop the House chamber’s dais.
....
A current administration official said White House policy adviser Stephen Miller has taken the lead on developing the speech in Trump’s voice.
posted by box at 9:40 AM on February 1, 2019 [18 favorites]
Following a Heritage Foundation-hosted panel of so-called "radical feminists" opposed to trans rights, two women, Posie Parker (AKA Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull) and Julia Long, disrupted a public meeting by Rep. Joseph Kennedy III and the HRC's Sarah McBride to shout abuse at McBride.
posted by octobersurprise at 9:44 AM on February 1, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by octobersurprise at 9:44 AM on February 1, 2019 [8 favorites]
The transcript of a Trump interview always turns out to be much more informative than the published articles, whether it's the Daily Caller or the Grey Lady.
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:57 AM on February 1
The NYT Daily podcast for today, Feb 1, is about this interview and has some interesting details. The publisher was invited to dinner by Trump for the first time in 6 months and he, Sulzberger, requested a sit-down, on-the-record, interview instead. When he arrived at the White House with the two reporters however, they were cleared to enter but his name was not entered into the system so he had to stand outside in the cold until the aides could be contacted and clear him to enter. Another one of the many examples of their complete lack of competence. In fact, Trump was a bit put out by their late appearance because he wanted to be caught in the act of being Presidential by meeting with a Chinese delegation.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 9:45 AM on February 1, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:57 AM on February 1
The NYT Daily podcast for today, Feb 1, is about this interview and has some interesting details. The publisher was invited to dinner by Trump for the first time in 6 months and he, Sulzberger, requested a sit-down, on-the-record, interview instead. When he arrived at the White House with the two reporters however, they were cleared to enter but his name was not entered into the system so he had to stand outside in the cold until the aides could be contacted and clear him to enter. Another one of the many examples of their complete lack of competence. In fact, Trump was a bit put out by their late appearance because he wanted to be caught in the act of being Presidential by meeting with a Chinese delegation.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 9:45 AM on February 1, 2019 [15 favorites]
“I’m sort of entitled to a great story”: Trump wants the New York Times to love him (Emily Stewart, Vox)
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:11 AM on February 1, 2019 [21 favorites]
Trump doesn’t think the New York Times is failing. He thinks it’s failing to give him credit where credit is due.This is a poor substitute for the love of friends and family.
Trump has for years derided the “failing New York Times” in the media, on the campaign trail, and on Twitter. He often claims that stories about him are false and unfairly slanted.
Yet he keeps on talking to them.
…
But the somewhat relaxed nature of their exchanges, per the transcripts, show that a lot of Trump’s derision of the press is performative. He knows it plays well with his base — and with a lot of voters who are distrustful of the news — and that it’s easier to declare a negative story as false than to accept it and explain what’s going on.
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:11 AM on February 1, 2019 [21 favorites]
Current Trump WH presser is full on El Supremo nutty again. Lots of wall being built, almost 115 miles, it's reducing crime already, etc. Whoa.
posted by Harry Caul at 10:11 AM on February 1, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by Harry Caul at 10:11 AM on February 1, 2019 [8 favorites]
The Economist (who won't tell you who wrote it because that's their thing, but I'm informed that it was Shashank Joshi), The Pentagon wants satellites with laser beams attached to their heads (sadly, "This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline 'Laser tag'")
Laser weapons orbiting in space and warplanes that shoot down rockets sound like the doodlings of a teenage boy. Both appear in the Trump administration’s missile-defence review, published on January 17th. It lays out a celestial vision of homeland defence that looks cosmically expensive and technologically dubious.posted by zachlipton at 11:08 AM on February 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
America does not skimp on shooting missiles out of the sky. Its 2018 budget allocated $19.3bn to the task—roughly equivalent to the entire defence budget of Canada or Turkey. Since 2001 it has splashed out over $130bn. Some of that is spent on ship-based Aegis and land-based Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) systems, which are aimed at short or medium-range missiles. Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMS) fly higher and faster.
More on that NYT interview and The Daily podcast.
@jayrosen_nyu: Just listened to this whole thing [the podcast]. To me it was fascinating. But not in the way the participants find it so. From my POV it's... Normalization: live! From theirs: a very serious interview with the President of the United States.
Greg Sargent, In remarkable exchange, Trump offers startling view of role of free press
@jayrosen_nyu: Just listened to this whole thing [the podcast]. To me it was fascinating. But not in the way the participants find it so. From my POV it's... Normalization: live! From theirs: a very serious interview with the President of the United States.
Greg Sargent, In remarkable exchange, Trump offers startling view of role of free press
In this latest case, we saw Trump’s circular logic go global, before rebounding back to where it always ends up: Sure, it might be a bad thing that dictators and tyrants are taking inspiration from his attacks on the independent press, but this might not be happening if there weren’t so much fake news. Exhibit A being, of course, the fake-news treatment of him.posted by zachlipton at 11:14 AM on February 1, 2019 [16 favorites]
But the somewhat relaxed nature of their exchanges, per the transcripts, show that a lot of Trump’s derision of the press is performative. He knows it plays well with his base — and with a lot of voters who are distrustful of the news...
This is such baloney -- we are what we DO not what an observer thinks we are because they think they've been invited into the con.
posted by notyou at 12:18 PM on February 1, 2019 [9 favorites]
This is such baloney -- we are what we DO not what an observer thinks we are because they think they've been invited into the con.
posted by notyou at 12:18 PM on February 1, 2019 [9 favorites]
From the LA Times: America is falling out of love with billionaires, and it’s about time
I'll be a little optimistic here too. Because the left doesn't usually use this sort of technique for its arguments, I'll instead choose to hope it represents a genuine shift in the zeitgeist. And that should chill the right to the core.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 12:41 PM on February 1, 2019 [79 favorites]
Multimillionaires and billionaires love to describe themselves as “self-made,” but the truth is that every fortune is the product of other people’s labor — the minimum-wage workers overseas who assemble Michael Dell’s computers or the low-wage baristas in Howard Schultz’s Starbuck stores, or the taxpayers who fund the roads, bridges and airports that help keep their businesses profitable.Note that this discussion has moved off the opinions page of newspapers and has migrated up to columns. Also note that the article doesn't even paint this as a controversial position to take, but instead accepts the basic premise as fact—billionaires are not paying their fair share. This is a technique the right has been using for decades now, and were I them, I'd be extremely nervous, for control of the narrative is slipping from their greasy little hands.
I'll be a little optimistic here too. Because the left doesn't usually use this sort of technique for its arguments, I'll instead choose to hope it represents a genuine shift in the zeitgeist. And that should chill the right to the core.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 12:41 PM on February 1, 2019 [79 favorites]
I suppose Kamala Harris is, in some ways, the most "conservative" of the currently declared Democratic candidates
To try to establish some basic groundwork, Kamala Harris was literally the second more liberal Senator in the 115th congress. We in California did not, in fact, elect a conservative to be our junior Senator. I suppose "in some ways" could be doing a lot of work in the quoted sentence but...
posted by Justinian at 12:43 PM on February 1, 2019 [69 favorites]
To try to establish some basic groundwork, Kamala Harris was literally the second more liberal Senator in the 115th congress. We in California did not, in fact, elect a conservative to be our junior Senator. I suppose "in some ways" could be doing a lot of work in the quoted sentence but...
posted by Justinian at 12:43 PM on February 1, 2019 [69 favorites]
In related news, Democrats do not need to nominate a white man in order to defeat Trump. Hmm, maybe related but not actually news to folks on the blue.
posted by Bella Donna at 12:53 PM on February 1, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by Bella Donna at 12:53 PM on February 1, 2019 [9 favorites]
Mod note: We are absolutely not getting into this eat-our-own bickering about the primaries this bloody early
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 1:17 PM on February 1, 2019 [61 favorites]
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 1:17 PM on February 1, 2019 [61 favorites]
Pelosi could force Senate Republicans into awkward vote on Trump emergency powers (WashExam, tho)
posted by Chrysostom at 1:46 PM on February 1, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 1:46 PM on February 1, 2019 [10 favorites]
Ralph Northam yearbook page shows men in blackface and KKK robe. This comes on the heels of him poorly handling a ginned up controversy over reducing restrictions on abortion.
posted by peeedro at 1:47 PM on February 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by peeedro at 1:47 PM on February 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
> This is such baloney -- we are what we DO not what an observer thinks we are because they think they've been invited into the con.
Why not both? The guy certainly has a history/obsession with professional wrestling, and it wouldn't be inaccurate to say he's adopted a heel performance for quite some time now. The problem is that he's a heel behind the scenes, too. So, he has a heel persona as well as a heel personality at his core.
He's "playing" a heel when he calls the NYT fake news while they laugh, shake hands, chum it up, and normalize fascism in private. He's being a heel when he says and does things to try and get journalists from other outlets killed.
TL;DR: He's not just an asshole; he also plays one on TV. It's a shell game to try and call out his true asshole personality only to be rebutted with claims that those complaints are actually just referring to his asshole persona.
posted by Arson Lupine at 1:47 PM on February 1, 2019 [11 favorites]
Why not both? The guy certainly has a history/obsession with professional wrestling, and it wouldn't be inaccurate to say he's adopted a heel performance for quite some time now. The problem is that he's a heel behind the scenes, too. So, he has a heel persona as well as a heel personality at his core.
He's "playing" a heel when he calls the NYT fake news while they laugh, shake hands, chum it up, and normalize fascism in private. He's being a heel when he says and does things to try and get journalists from other outlets killed.
TL;DR: He's not just an asshole; he also plays one on TV. It's a shell game to try and call out his true asshole personality only to be rebutted with claims that those complaints are actually just referring to his asshole persona.
posted by Arson Lupine at 1:47 PM on February 1, 2019 [11 favorites]
From that article Bella Donna posted:
Since the end of World War II, only three presidents have won a majority of the popular vote twice; one of them was black.
I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this. Only three presidents that have served more than one term have won the popular vote both times? That doesn’t seem right. There have only been 5 presidents elected who lost the popular vote, so wouldn’t that number sky rocket if a bunch had lost the popular vote the second time around? Or am I completely failing at understanding this?
posted by gucci mane at 1:57 PM on February 1, 2019
Since the end of World War II, only three presidents have won a majority of the popular vote twice; one of them was black.
I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this. Only three presidents that have served more than one term have won the popular vote both times? That doesn’t seem right. There have only been 5 presidents elected who lost the popular vote, so wouldn’t that number sky rocket if a bunch had lost the popular vote the second time around? Or am I completely failing at understanding this?
posted by gucci mane at 1:57 PM on February 1, 2019
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night
This is how trolls get turned into white nationalists. They start out telling themselves they're just trolling the libs for the lulz but they don't really believe all the nonsense they spout. Then they forget that it's just pretend because now they're ingrained in this social circle and the only way to stay in that group is to be a true believer.
I don't care of it's just a performance, I'm going to treat it like it's not so if trolls like Trump don't to get treated like an asshole, stop acting like one, full stop.
posted by VTX at 1:59 PM on February 1, 2019 [62 favorites]
― Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night
This is how trolls get turned into white nationalists. They start out telling themselves they're just trolling the libs for the lulz but they don't really believe all the nonsense they spout. Then they forget that it's just pretend because now they're ingrained in this social circle and the only way to stay in that group is to be a true believer.
I don't care of it's just a performance, I'm going to treat it like it's not so if trolls like Trump don't to get treated like an asshole, stop acting like one, full stop.
posted by VTX at 1:59 PM on February 1, 2019 [62 favorites]
Only three presidents that have served more than one term have won the popular vote both times? That doesn’t seem right. There have only been 5 presidents elected who lost the popular vote, so wouldn’t that number sky rocket if a bunch had lost the popular vote the second time around? Or am I completely failing at understanding this?
The trick is that only five Presidents have served two full terms since the end of WWII. So the claim is that two of those five didn't win the popular vote both times. We know one of the guys who didn't is GWB, who lost the popular vote to Gore in 2000. I think the other President they are talking about is probably Clinton in 1992 but I think that's wrong. He got the most votes by almost 6 million, it's just that Perot ran a third party campaign so his 6 million vote victory was only 43% of the popular vote.
But to me "winning the popular vote" means getting the most votes, not getting over 50% of the votes. So, enh. But as I said the trick is that "only 3" sounds much more impressive if you don't realize that the sample size is 5.
posted by Justinian at 2:06 PM on February 1, 2019 [11 favorites]
The trick is that only five Presidents have served two full terms since the end of WWII. So the claim is that two of those five didn't win the popular vote both times. We know one of the guys who didn't is GWB, who lost the popular vote to Gore in 2000. I think the other President they are talking about is probably Clinton in 1992 but I think that's wrong. He got the most votes by almost 6 million, it's just that Perot ran a third party campaign so his 6 million vote victory was only 43% of the popular vote.
But to me "winning the popular vote" means getting the most votes, not getting over 50% of the votes. So, enh. But as I said the trick is that "only 3" sounds much more impressive if you don't realize that the sample size is 5.
posted by Justinian at 2:06 PM on February 1, 2019 [11 favorites]
gucci mane, I think the author means that only three presidents garnered more than 50% of the vote (often defined as a majority) twice. He says nothing of a plurality (more votes than any other candidate in the race, but less than 50%). That’s how I read it anyway.
Or what Justinian said ;)
posted by Silverstone at 2:08 PM on February 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
Or what Justinian said ;)
posted by Silverstone at 2:08 PM on February 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
I don't care of it's just a performance, I'm going to treat it like it's not so if trolls like Trump don't to get treated like an asshole, stop acting like one, full stop.
Sufficiently advanced trolling is indistinguishable from just being a bad person.
posted by flaterik at 2:09 PM on February 1, 2019 [36 favorites]
Sufficiently advanced trolling is indistinguishable from just being a bad person.
posted by flaterik at 2:09 PM on February 1, 2019 [36 favorites]
Well, if nothing else Northam is still better than Corey Stewart since one of them could keep this under wraps and the other couldn't manage to surface it. Gonna be a lot of campaigns questioning whether their oppo research spending is worth more than having someone's kid brother google around for an hour.
posted by phearlez at 2:22 PM on February 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by phearlez at 2:22 PM on February 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
The trick is that only five Presidents have served two full terms since the end of WWII.
The claim was "elected twice," not "served two full terms," which adds Nixon as a sixth. But I agree that they seem to be counting "won only a plurality of the popular vote" as not winning the popular vote, when that really should count.
The breakdown is:
Eisenhower - a majority both times
Nixon - only a plurality in 1968 (George Wallace)
Reagan - a majority both times
Clinton - a plurality both times (Ross Perot)
GWBush - lost the popular vote in 2000
Obama - a majority both times
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:25 PM on February 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
The claim was "elected twice," not "served two full terms," which adds Nixon as a sixth. But I agree that they seem to be counting "won only a plurality of the popular vote" as not winning the popular vote, when that really should count.
The breakdown is:
Eisenhower - a majority both times
Nixon - only a plurality in 1968 (George Wallace)
Reagan - a majority both times
Clinton - a plurality both times (Ross Perot)
GWBush - lost the popular vote in 2000
Obama - a majority both times
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:25 PM on February 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
KHN, Winners And Losers Under Bold Trump Plan To Slash Drug Rebate Deals. It's kind of a land of contrasts that could reduce prices at the pharmacy counter for patients with expensive medicines, but could lead to small increases in premiums for drug plans while not particularly going after drug companies themselves.
Task & Purpose, Trump Nominates White House Doctor Ronny Jackson For 2nd Star, Despite Ongoing Investigation. The recommendation (pending before the Senate now) was made directly by the President without the use of a promotion board. So that's all totally on the up and up.
posted by zachlipton at 2:35 PM on February 1, 2019 [13 favorites]
The measure already faces fierce opposition from some in the industry and is unlikely to be implemented as presented or by the proposed 2020 effective date, health policy analysts said.----
In any event, it’s hardly a pure win for seniors or patients in general. Consumers are unlikely to collect the full benefit of eliminated rebates.
At the same time, the change would produce uncertain ricochets, including higher drug-plan premiums for consumers, that would produce new winners and losers across the economy.
“It is the most significant proposal that the administration has introduced so far” to try to control drug prices, said Rachel Sachs, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis. “But I’m struck by the uncertainty that the administration has in what the effects would be.”
Task & Purpose, Trump Nominates White House Doctor Ronny Jackson For 2nd Star, Despite Ongoing Investigation. The recommendation (pending before the Senate now) was made directly by the President without the use of a promotion board. So that's all totally on the up and up.
posted by zachlipton at 2:35 PM on February 1, 2019 [13 favorites]
Sheesh, the Ralph Northam yearbook is from 1984. I remember 1984 well enough to know that blackface was not considered ok in 1984.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:46 PM on February 1, 2019 [40 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:46 PM on February 1, 2019 [40 favorites]
Unless something crazy comes out like he had nothing to do with the yearbook and he's not wearing either of the costumes (which seems unlikely) he's going to resign and it's simply a matter of timing at this point. He'd be replaced by the lieutenant Governor. The current Lt. Governor of Virginia is currently Justin Fairfax, the second African American ever to be elected to statewide office in VA.
posted by Justinian at 2:50 PM on February 1, 2019 [20 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 2:50 PM on February 1, 2019 [20 favorites]
(And the actual picture isn't just blackface: it's a white guy in blackface and another white guy dressed up in Klan regalia. It's horrifying. It's also his medical school yearbook, which means he was an adult when it was taken.)
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:51 PM on February 1, 2019 [21 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:51 PM on February 1, 2019 [21 favorites]
I wasn't sure about the Northam news at first, because the original reporting was a right-wing website. But the Washington Post apparently has confirmed that it is true. This is disappointing, as I really liked Ralph Northam and thought he was doing a good job. But if this is as bad as it looks, sorry, guy's gotta go. He was an adult in medical school and ought to have known better. And Virginia is a blue state, with plenty of political talent. I'm sure Justin Fairfax will do a good job too. (If I was Tom Perriello, I'd be pretty shirty at my campaign manager for not finding this oppo!)
It's important to remember that if we bite the bullet and do the right thing, that makes us stronger. We're putting our money where our mouths are in respecting all our constituents.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 2:57 PM on February 1, 2019 [32 favorites]
It's important to remember that if we bite the bullet and do the right thing, that makes us stronger. We're putting our money where our mouths are in respecting all our constituents.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 2:57 PM on February 1, 2019 [32 favorites]
The current Lt. Governor of Virginia is currently Justin Fairfax [...]
Relevant.
posted by runcibleshaw at 3:01 PM on February 1, 2019 [10 favorites]
Relevant.
posted by runcibleshaw at 3:01 PM on February 1, 2019 [10 favorites]
Original reporting on the Northam story from the the Virginian-Pilot.
posted by emelenjr at 3:03 PM on February 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by emelenjr at 3:03 PM on February 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
Trump admits to foreign leaders paying him for staying at his hotel rooms.
Well, actually he says... things. Which may be interpreted as such.
"Mr. Trump, you stand accused of breaking the emoluments clause on several occasions. How do you plead?"
"The emoluments - you know, people often say to me, sir, they say, I never cried before, but now I'm crying, like Chuck Schumer, bad man, can't stand him, he should be on the other side of the wall. Steel slats, can you believe it? They can't get over that with their duct-taped women. Like Pocahontas, many people call her that, and I know Indians, yes, like red, although red is a stupid color. I prefer blue, like the symbol color of our party. or was that the other one? Anyway, MAGA."[FAKE]
posted by PontifexPrimus at 3:05 PM on February 1, 2019 [20 favorites]
Well, actually he says... things. Which may be interpreted as such.
This job is from an economic — you know, I get a kick out of these people saying ‘Oh, a rich Arab stayed at his hotel,’ you know, I’ll bet you between opportunity cost and actual cost, you know but I lost massive amounts of money doing this job. This is not the money. This is, this is one of the great losers of all time. You know fortunately I don’t need money. This is one of the great losers of all time. But they’ll say that somebody from some country stayed at a hotel. And I’ll say ‘Yeah.’ But I lose, I mean, the numbers are incredible.[REAL]I wonder if this will be his defense in court - just blathering nonsense until he lowers the IQ of everyone in the room:
"Mr. Trump, you stand accused of breaking the emoluments clause on several occasions. How do you plead?"
"The emoluments - you know, people often say to me, sir, they say, I never cried before, but now I'm crying, like Chuck Schumer, bad man, can't stand him, he should be on the other side of the wall. Steel slats, can you believe it? They can't get over that with their duct-taped women. Like Pocahontas, many people call her that, and I know Indians, yes, like red, although red is a stupid color. I prefer blue, like the symbol color of our party. or was that the other one? Anyway, MAGA."[FAKE]
posted by PontifexPrimus at 3:05 PM on February 1, 2019 [20 favorites]
Oh shit nm it’s the same page under his name? Fuuuuuck that. Resign now.
posted by lazaruslong at 3:05 PM on February 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by lazaruslong at 3:05 PM on February 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
If I was Tom Perriello, I'd be pretty shirty at my campaign manager for not finding this oppo!
Yeah, about that...
Fenrit Nirappil [via Twitter]: Republicans did do research on Northam's family history of slave owning and fighting for the Confederacy... which turned into an attack on him "turning his back on his own family's heritage" by opposing Confederate monuments
posted by Atom Eyes at 3:14 PM on February 1, 2019 [22 favorites]
Yeah, about that...
Fenrit Nirappil [via Twitter]: Republicans did do research on Northam's family history of slave owning and fighting for the Confederacy... which turned into an attack on him "turning his back on his own family's heritage" by opposing Confederate monuments
posted by Atom Eyes at 3:14 PM on February 1, 2019 [22 favorites]
I'm struck by how similar the yearbook stuff is with the Kavanaugh yearbook
We need a crowdfunded project to track down and go through yearbooks to weed out assholes
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 3:15 PM on February 1, 2019 [14 favorites]
We need a crowdfunded project to track down and go through yearbooks to weed out assholes
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 3:15 PM on February 1, 2019 [14 favorites]
It is absolutely crazy to me that people go into high-profile politics knowing there's a photo like that on their goddamn yearbook page. Like, I'm still kept up at night by an accidentally-racist thing I said on a train three years ago.
posted by theodolite at 3:17 PM on February 1, 2019 [72 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 3:17 PM on February 1, 2019 [72 favorites]
Northam put out a statement confirming it's him (he does not specify which one, not that either is ok) and apologizing, deeply sorry, not who I am today, heal the damage, blah blah blah...
He should resign.
posted by zachlipton at 3:17 PM on February 1, 2019 [20 favorites]
He should resign.
posted by zachlipton at 3:17 PM on February 1, 2019 [20 favorites]
Hello everyone. Voice texting from Palm Beach County. Southern Boulevard is lousy with state troopers . State Road A1A northbound is closed. That usually means Trump is in town. I guess that’s what you let the government reopens, bolivar a Lago
posted by tilde at 3:24 PM on February 1, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by tilde at 3:24 PM on February 1, 2019 [7 favorites]
As a joke, the "Society of Political Thought" at my high school renamed itself "The Young Totalitarians". I was a member, but not the person who decided to change the name. Anyway, the yearbook advisor made us change it back because "This group is the most likely of anyone in the school to run for political office. You don't want your opponent accusing you of being a totalitarian to discredit you."
That was at least 15 years ago, so yeah the yearbook trick ain't exactly new. Dude did not forget that he posed in either blackface or a KKK robe AS AN ADULT and it is astonishingly irresponsible that he risked the governorship like that.
posted by Emmy Rae at 3:26 PM on February 1, 2019 [26 favorites]
That was at least 15 years ago, so yeah the yearbook trick ain't exactly new. Dude did not forget that he posed in either blackface or a KKK robe AS AN ADULT and it is astonishingly irresponsible that he risked the governorship like that.
posted by Emmy Rae at 3:26 PM on February 1, 2019 [26 favorites]
I'm always surprised that it seems to take so long for old yearbooks to surface. Are they that difficult to track down? If I were a reporter I imagine I'd try to track down as many yearbooks as I could for just this sort of reason.
posted by reductiondesign at 3:35 PM on February 1, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by reductiondesign at 3:35 PM on February 1, 2019 [9 favorites]
Harry Enten says what we're all thinking: When the question many are asking after your apology is "are you the guy in blackface or the kkk outfit?", you're in deep, deep trouble.
posted by Justinian at 3:57 PM on February 1, 2019 [65 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 3:57 PM on February 1, 2019 [65 favorites]
I do wonder if Lt Gov Fairfax would be able to run for re-election as governor? Virginia doesn't allow consecutive terms, but not sure if that applies to moving up from LG.
posted by Chrysostom at 3:58 PM on February 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 3:58 PM on February 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
I do wonder if Lt Gov Fairfax would be able to run for re-election as governor?
At first blush, the answer is yes. The Va constitution says "[The Governor] shall be ineligible to the same office for the term next succeeding that for which he was elected..." Fairfax will have succeeded into the office, not elected into it.
posted by peeedro at 4:01 PM on February 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
At first blush, the answer is yes. The Va constitution says "[The Governor] shall be ineligible to the same office for the term next succeeding that for which he was elected..." Fairfax will have succeeded into the office, not elected into it.
posted by peeedro at 4:01 PM on February 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
Elizabeth Warren's team has set up a helpful website where you can learn the answers to such helpful questions as "Does Warren take the antipsychotic drug Risperdal", "Does Elizabeth Warren keep racist stuff in her kitchen?", and "Is it true Warren has never passed a bill?". (real)
Guess nobody on the tech team has read up on their Lyndon Johnson anecdotes, specifically the one in which he started a rumor his opponent has sex with animals... solely to make him deny it.
(i know this may well be apocryphal)
posted by Justinian at 4:03 PM on February 1, 2019 [10 favorites]
Guess nobody on the tech team has read up on their Lyndon Johnson anecdotes, specifically the one in which he started a rumor his opponent has sex with animals... solely to make him deny it.
(i know this may well be apocryphal)
posted by Justinian at 4:03 PM on February 1, 2019 [10 favorites]
> "Guess nobody on the tech team has read up on their Lyndon Johnson anecdotes"
Lyndon Johnson's voters didn't use Google.
Do you want the top hit on "Elizabeth Warren never passed a bill" to be a site saying "no, that's bullshit" or a site saying "it's totally true man plus did you hear about the drug stuff"?
We no longer live in an age when rumors can be ignored. They can only be managed.
posted by kyrademon at 4:11 PM on February 1, 2019 [39 favorites]
Lyndon Johnson's voters didn't use Google.
Do you want the top hit on "Elizabeth Warren never passed a bill" to be a site saying "no, that's bullshit" or a site saying "it's totally true man plus did you hear about the drug stuff"?
We no longer live in an age when rumors can be ignored. They can only be managed.
posted by kyrademon at 4:11 PM on February 1, 2019 [39 favorites]
Sen. Josh "But Her E-mails!" Hawley, R-MO, turns out to have used private e-mail for government conduct as attorney general AND lied about it in response to a FOIA request.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:14 PM on February 1, 2019 [75 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:14 PM on February 1, 2019 [75 favorites]
To add to the shock, a page from Northam's yearbook at the Virginia Military Institute listed one of his nicknames as "Coonman," a racial slur.
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:14 PM on February 1, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:14 PM on February 1, 2019 [11 favorites]
At first blush, the answer is yes. The Va constitution says "[The Governor] shall be ineligible to the same office for the term next succeeding that for which he was elected..." Fairfax will have succeeded into the office, not elected into it.
VA Constitution experts agree that Fairfax would be eligible to run for election after Northam resigns. That article has other procedural details on what could happen next.
posted by zachlipton at 4:43 PM on February 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
VA Constitution experts agree that Fairfax would be eligible to run for election after Northam resigns. That article has other procedural details on what could happen next.
posted by zachlipton at 4:43 PM on February 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
Julian Castro, Kamala Harris, and Derrick Johnson are all calling for Northam to step down. He’s finished.
posted by Doktor Zed at 4:57 PM on February 1, 2019 [23 favorites]
posted by Doktor Zed at 4:57 PM on February 1, 2019 [23 favorites]
Daily Kos, Move On, Priorities USA, NAACP.
posted by chris24 at 5:03 PM on February 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 5:03 PM on February 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
Do you want the top hit on "Elizabeth Warren never passed a bill" to be a site saying "no, that's bullshit" or a site saying "it's totally true man plus did you hear about the drug stuff"?
For what it's worth, the top response isn't currently this site. In fact the sponsored ad from Warren that gets nominal top billing doesn't link to this site either. I don't think it's a bad idea, but this is such a weird way to handle it.
posted by codacorolla at 5:07 PM on February 1, 2019
For what it's worth, the top response isn't currently this site. In fact the sponsored ad from Warren that gets nominal top billing doesn't link to this site either. I don't think it's a bad idea, but this is such a weird way to handle it.
posted by codacorolla at 5:07 PM on February 1, 2019
Jesse Ferguson
🚨NEW Poll from @ChangePolls on HOWARD SCHULTZ
Among those who can identify him: 4% favorable /// 40% unfavorable
- Among Dems: 4% fav // 50% unfav
- Among GOP: 4% fav // 43% unfav
- Among Independents: 4% fav // 31% unfav
W/O Schultz in Race...
- Warren +1 (47-46) over Trump
- Harris +1 (47-46) over Trump
W/ Schultz in the Race...
- Trump +2 (45-43) over Warren
- Trump +2 (45-43) over Harris
#Spoiler
----
Everyone hates him, he has no chance, but he'll benefit Trump 2-4 points against every D candidate polled. Only Biden still beats Trump in three way races. Nothing but a rich guy ensuring his taxes stay low by reelecting the fascist.
posted by chris24 at 5:14 PM on February 1, 2019 [37 favorites]
🚨NEW Poll from @ChangePolls on HOWARD SCHULTZ
Among those who can identify him: 4% favorable /// 40% unfavorable
- Among Dems: 4% fav // 50% unfav
- Among GOP: 4% fav // 43% unfav
- Among Independents: 4% fav // 31% unfav
W/O Schultz in Race...
- Warren +1 (47-46) over Trump
- Harris +1 (47-46) over Trump
W/ Schultz in the Race...
- Trump +2 (45-43) over Warren
- Trump +2 (45-43) over Harris
#Spoiler
----
Everyone hates him, he has no chance, but he'll benefit Trump 2-4 points against every D candidate polled. Only Biden still beats Trump in three way races. Nothing but a rich guy ensuring his taxes stay low by reelecting the fascist.
posted by chris24 at 5:14 PM on February 1, 2019 [37 favorites]
but if he gets ousted, his replacement is then appointed by our Republican governor. Either way, Missouri loses.
When bad guys go to jail, others think twice. It's the slow way to win, for sure, but it helps.
posted by ctmf at 5:25 PM on February 1, 2019 [19 favorites]
When bad guys go to jail, others think twice. It's the slow way to win, for sure, but it helps.
posted by ctmf at 5:25 PM on February 1, 2019 [19 favorites]
Everyone hates him, he has no chance, but he'll benefit Trump 2-4 points against every D candidate polled.
Yeah, he helps Trump under every scenario and has no chance whatsoever to win. So we'll see if his surrogate's words about not being a spoiler and only running if there are paths to victory is true. Let's hope.
That Change Research poll is way more favorable to Trump in the non-Schultz matchups than any other polling I've seen. It has every non-Biden candidate only beating Trump by 1 point (except Sanders at... +2) while the last national polls I saw had non-Biden Democrats beating Trump by between 5 and 8 points and Biden at +13. The Change numbers are all consistently 5-6 points better for Trump than that. And that's even granting that matchups 21 months out are meaningful.
The takeaway, though, and what is meaningful is that every piece of data we have says that Schultz has no path to victory, or even to a single electoral vote, and would do nothing but help Trump get elected.
posted by Justinian at 5:25 PM on February 1, 2019 [13 favorites]
Yeah, he helps Trump under every scenario and has no chance whatsoever to win. So we'll see if his surrogate's words about not being a spoiler and only running if there are paths to victory is true. Let's hope.
That Change Research poll is way more favorable to Trump in the non-Schultz matchups than any other polling I've seen. It has every non-Biden candidate only beating Trump by 1 point (except Sanders at... +2) while the last national polls I saw had non-Biden Democrats beating Trump by between 5 and 8 points and Biden at +13. The Change numbers are all consistently 5-6 points better for Trump than that. And that's even granting that matchups 21 months out are meaningful.
The takeaway, though, and what is meaningful is that every piece of data we have says that Schultz has no path to victory, or even to a single electoral vote, and would do nothing but help Trump get elected.
posted by Justinian at 5:25 PM on February 1, 2019 [13 favorites]
Worth noting the margin of error on that Schultz poll is 2.7%...his favorables across all categories are barely above statistical noise.
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:35 PM on February 1, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:35 PM on February 1, 2019 [15 favorites]
Not the Onion: McConnell privately cautions Trump about emergency declaration on border wall (WaPo)
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cautioned President Trump privately this week about the consequences of declaring a national emergency to build his border wall, telling him the move could trigger political blowback and divide the GOP, according to two Republicans with knowledge of the exchange.posted by Little Dawn at 5:38 PM on February 1, 2019 [7 favorites]
McConnell (R-Ky.) told Trump that Congress might end up passing a resolution disapproving the emergency declaration, the people said — which would force the president to contemplate issuing his first veto ever, in the face of opposition from his own party.
McConnell delivered the message during a face-to-face meeting with the president Tuesday at the White House, according to the Republicans, who requested anonymity to describe the encounter. The two men met alone and conversed with no aides present. Their meeting was not publicly announced.
I have to take my victories where I can, and honestly the Northam reaction is a wonderful change in my life. The world I lived in in eighth-grade, peak Reagan 1984-1985, what was notable about it was that it was de rigeour for a man in medical school, even one who'd go on to make it big in Democratic politics, to have his entry in his yearbook be in blackface with a KKKlansman, of course he would and why wouldn't he?? No one who saw that entry back then would've blinked twice, because it was of a piece with the culture. The notion then that such a yearbook page might affect one's employment or life was: Unfathomable.
This kind of toxic racism and hatred (let's not forget the inevitably present misogyny) has been the simmering background radiation the nation has marinated/stewed in since at least its inception. Born into the boiling pot, we frogs have known nothing else.
I am so grateful that, as evidenced by the quick reaction to this news, this has begun to change. So so grateful. The casual, everyday racism, sexism, hatred of yore is no longer tolerated nor celebrated. These dinosaurs will rage and flail, devastating many, but I believe the gravity of the tarpit has them now. Their fall is only a matter of time.
And that's a measurable, noticeable change in my life. It has cost everyone not a white cis-male dearly, too much, but the change is there, and that is a beautiful, notable thing.
posted by riverlife at 6:37 PM on February 1, 2019 [52 favorites]
This kind of toxic racism and hatred (let's not forget the inevitably present misogyny) has been the simmering background radiation the nation has marinated/stewed in since at least its inception. Born into the boiling pot, we frogs have known nothing else.
I am so grateful that, as evidenced by the quick reaction to this news, this has begun to change. So so grateful. The casual, everyday racism, sexism, hatred of yore is no longer tolerated nor celebrated. These dinosaurs will rage and flail, devastating many, but I believe the gravity of the tarpit has them now. Their fall is only a matter of time.
And that's a measurable, noticeable change in my life. It has cost everyone not a white cis-male dearly, too much, but the change is there, and that is a beautiful, notable thing.
posted by riverlife at 6:37 PM on February 1, 2019 [52 favorites]
McConnell delivered the message during a face-to-face meeting with the president Tuesday at the White House, according to the Republicans, who requested anonymity to describe the encounter. The two men met alone and conversed with no aides present.
I feel like there's a good chance that what really happened is McConnell spun some bullshit about what he said to Trump to mollify "two Republicans with knowledge of the exchange" and make them think he's bringing caucus concerns to Trump and has any control over him. That feels a lot more likely than McConnell having a Come to Jesus talk with the guy he rolled over on the shutdown for.
posted by jason_steakums at 6:47 PM on February 1, 2019 [7 favorites]
I feel like there's a good chance that what really happened is McConnell spun some bullshit about what he said to Trump to mollify "two Republicans with knowledge of the exchange" and make them think he's bringing caucus concerns to Trump and has any control over him. That feels a lot more likely than McConnell having a Come to Jesus talk with the guy he rolled over on the shutdown for.
posted by jason_steakums at 6:47 PM on February 1, 2019 [7 favorites]
That feels a lot more likely than McConnell having a Come to Jesus talk with the guy he rolled over on the shutdown for.
WaPo also notes this fun fact:
posted by Little Dawn at 7:36 PM on February 1, 2019 [12 favorites]
WaPo also notes this fun fact:
a growing concern for Republicans — which McConnell voiced to Trump at the White House — is that they would be forced to vote on a disapproval resolution aimed at overturning the declaration, and that the resolution would pass.So perhaps it was an attempt to explain one of the exceptions to the 60-vote rule, and how an attempt to invoke emergency powers under these circumstances could be counterproductive, to say the least.
That would take place under provisions of the National Emergencies Act, which provides that a presidential declaration can be terminated if lawmakers pass a joint resolution to do so. House Democrats would be likely to move swiftly to approve such a resolution, and the law provides that it would come to the Senate floor, where it would require only a majority vote to pass.
posted by Little Dawn at 7:36 PM on February 1, 2019 [12 favorites]
Interesting 538 on recent "who will you vote for in 2020?" polling. tl;dr: although Trump's total "wouldn't vote for" isn't that much worse than Obama's in 2012, he has *way* more intense dislikes who won't vote for him under any circumstances.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:42 PM on February 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 7:42 PM on February 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
Unfortunately Trump could then veto the joint resolution, but a) that looks terrible and b) at that point it's hard to imagine a court wouldn't do something.
Congress should have given every emergency declaration an automatic sunset that couldn't be extended without positive approval, ie another vote. Instead they did it with this fast-tracked joint resolution thing, and just hoped that no president would be mendacious enough to veto one.
posted by BungaDunga at 9:10 PM on February 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
Congress should have given every emergency declaration an automatic sunset that couldn't be extended without positive approval, ie another vote. Instead they did it with this fast-tracked joint resolution thing, and just hoped that no president would be mendacious enough to veto one.
posted by BungaDunga at 9:10 PM on February 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
The Sweet Meteor of Death suggests the only statement that could save Northam's job at his presser tomorrow: NORTHAM: I am proud of including in my yearbook a picture of the two racists I killed with my bare hands.
posted by Justinian at 10:18 PM on February 1, 2019 [54 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 10:18 PM on February 1, 2019 [54 favorites]
The two groups are Teahadists and Tiger-by-the-Tail Republicans. The latter group are getting sweaty palms.
posted by Horkus at 10:55 PM on February 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Horkus at 10:55 PM on February 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
No one who saw that entry back then would've blinked twice, because it was of a piece with the culture.
See, I beg to differ here. Not with your assessment of the country’s implicit racism because, yes, 1984 America was deeply racist in ways that white people didn’t even care to see. But what’s so repulsive about that picture is how explicitly racist it is. I was at a largely white southern college in 1984. None of us had an inkling of the privileges that permitted us to be there, but even in that atmosphere such a picture would’ve been regarded as shockingly racist. “That was the culture back then” lets Northam off too easy because even in my lilly white southern childhood that picture would’ve been racist as fuck.
posted by octobersurprise at 3:49 AM on February 2, 2019 [74 favorites]
See, I beg to differ here. Not with your assessment of the country’s implicit racism because, yes, 1984 America was deeply racist in ways that white people didn’t even care to see. But what’s so repulsive about that picture is how explicitly racist it is. I was at a largely white southern college in 1984. None of us had an inkling of the privileges that permitted us to be there, but even in that atmosphere such a picture would’ve been regarded as shockingly racist. “That was the culture back then” lets Northam off too easy because even in my lilly white southern childhood that picture would’ve been racist as fuck.
posted by octobersurprise at 3:49 AM on February 2, 2019 [74 favorites]
No one who saw that entry back then would've blinked twice, because it was of a piece with the culture.
No one white, maybe, but POC were aware of the problems with the culture in the 1980s. (and in the 1880s and 1780s, too)
posted by hydropsyche at 4:09 AM on February 2, 2019 [18 favorites]
No one white, maybe, but POC were aware of the problems with the culture in the 1980s. (and in the 1880s and 1780s, too)
posted by hydropsyche at 4:09 AM on February 2, 2019 [18 favorites]
Young people do that kind of stuff because they know it is transgressive, offensive. That's the whole point. Break the rules to show to show you are not afraid, and to bond with your fellow rule-breakers as partners in crime. "Pimp and ho" parties are the same thing. Or stupid frat pledge dares. Or in the extreme, that thing where gangs make you kill somebody to be a full member. You don't do this unless you know it's wrong.
But at the same time, you also don't do it unless you're sure you can get away with it.
posted by OnceUponATime at 4:28 AM on February 2, 2019 [15 favorites]
But at the same time, you also don't do it unless you're sure you can get away with it.
posted by OnceUponATime at 4:28 AM on February 2, 2019 [15 favorites]
Mod note: I think we all agree that it’s wrong and racist, and Northam needs to go, but if folks want to get into further extensive dialogue about now vs then, why, who, etc., best to have dedicated post for that.
posted by taz (staff) at 4:36 AM on February 2, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by taz (staff) at 4:36 AM on February 2, 2019 [8 favorites]
The congressional map remains plenty biased against Democrats. In 2018, the party won 235 seats with a 6.7% margin in the popular vote (more on how I arrive at 6.7% later). Republicans could have won 235 seats with a popular vote margin of just 1.1%.
The Impact of Gerrymandering, Visualized from Data for Progress.
posted by Bella Donna at 4:38 AM on February 2, 2019 [19 favorites]
The Impact of Gerrymandering, Visualized from Data for Progress.
posted by Bella Donna at 4:38 AM on February 2, 2019 [19 favorites]
The Virginia Democratic Party on Twitter:
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:40 AM on February 2, 2019 [9 favorites]
We made the decision to let Governor Northam do the correct thing and resign this morning - we have gotten word he will not do so this morning.NYT's Jonathan Martin:
NEWS: Northam is calling Va Dems and telling them that’s *not* him in the yearbook photo and he will make a statement this afternoon to say the same. In other words, he is NOT quitting as of right now.What the HELL.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:40 AM on February 2, 2019 [9 favorites]
@AriBerman: How bout Mitch McConnell also resigns for this
posted by zombieflanders at 7:43 AM on February 2, 2019 [24 favorites]
posted by zombieflanders at 7:43 AM on February 2, 2019 [24 favorites]
Mitch McConnell should resign for roughly infinity-plus-three reasons, but in the meantime Dems shouldn't condition their housecleanings on Republicans agreeing to do the same.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:45 AM on February 2, 2019 [22 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:45 AM on February 2, 2019 [22 favorites]
So, who was it and why was it on his page? And was his nickname "Coonman"? ...because if so he should also resign over that. That's more than enough.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:15 AM on February 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:15 AM on February 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
A. The nickname....he needs a story for that
B. If not him, who are they and why are they on his page?
C. By not stepping down he dooms us to weeks of talking about this mess. That's a bad and damaging distraction and hurts the folks of color in our party
Trying to think of a way he comes out of this looking ok, and failing.
posted by emjaybee at 8:24 AM on February 2, 2019 [8 favorites]
B. If not him, who are they and why are they on his page?
C. By not stepping down he dooms us to weeks of talking about this mess. That's a bad and damaging distraction and hurts the folks of color in our party
Trying to think of a way he comes out of this looking ok, and failing.
posted by emjaybee at 8:24 AM on February 2, 2019 [8 favorites]
Mitch McConnell should resign for roughly infinity-plus-three reasons, but in the meantime Dems shouldn't condition their housecleanings on Republicans agreeing to do the same.
Oh, I'm not. We get rid of everybody who's proud to have associated with racist regalia and the casualties on the GOP side would be so much worse. I'd be glad to get rid of a couple Northams for a decimation+ of Republican office-holders including most of their Federal leadership and more than a few high state-level officials.
Not that such a welcome purge will ever happen, of course (see also: the entirety of post-Civil Rights Act GOP history).
posted by zombieflanders at 8:24 AM on February 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
Oh, I'm not. We get rid of everybody who's proud to have associated with racist regalia and the casualties on the GOP side would be so much worse. I'd be glad to get rid of a couple Northams for a decimation+ of Republican office-holders including most of their Federal leadership and more than a few high state-level officials.
Not that such a welcome purge will ever happen, of course (see also: the entirety of post-Civil Rights Act GOP history).
posted by zombieflanders at 8:24 AM on February 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
So....the state Democratic Party says he should go. Republicans are, of course, loving this. Northam knows that they can actually fire him, right? If he decides to dig in impeachment doesn't look so bad because the only way this stops being news is if he stops being governor.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:26 AM on February 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:26 AM on February 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
How come this photo has never popped up before? And if people knew about it, why was he never told to resign then? I’m sure it probably is him in the photo, but the timing of this political assassination seem a little odd. Did nobody vet him or do oppo on him before? And now suddenly he’s hit with this huge scandal?
posted by gucci mane at 8:37 AM on February 2, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by gucci mane at 8:37 AM on February 2, 2019 [4 favorites]
When Democrats do this stuff, they have to go. Franken had to step down and the world didn't end. The rank and file have to push for him to go if he won't go on his own.
The Democratic party is deeply flawed, but it's a site of struggle, not something fixed. One of the ways that the party gets pushed to the left is by forcing out the bigots and abusers - both because they go and because it creates a new consensus that bigotry and abuse aren't just things we hide and work around. It also sends a message about less obviously toxic crimes - if you can't just abuse women as a group, if you can't just abuse BIPOC as a group, that starts to soften the ground for attacks on, eg, racist prosecutions, racist support for landlords and banks, policies that criminalize poor mothers, etc, even though those are all things that the Democratic party as an institution allows now.
If we kick out the obvious bigots, it will have a knock-on effect of discouraging the petty bigots, in short.
posted by Frowner at 8:40 AM on February 2, 2019 [52 favorites]
The Democratic party is deeply flawed, but it's a site of struggle, not something fixed. One of the ways that the party gets pushed to the left is by forcing out the bigots and abusers - both because they go and because it creates a new consensus that bigotry and abuse aren't just things we hide and work around. It also sends a message about less obviously toxic crimes - if you can't just abuse women as a group, if you can't just abuse BIPOC as a group, that starts to soften the ground for attacks on, eg, racist prosecutions, racist support for landlords and banks, policies that criminalize poor mothers, etc, even though those are all things that the Democratic party as an institution allows now.
If we kick out the obvious bigots, it will have a knock-on effect of discouraging the petty bigots, in short.
posted by Frowner at 8:40 AM on February 2, 2019 [52 favorites]
How come this photo has never popped up before?
I will say this is the first I’m learning that they have yearbooks in medical school. It’s not like they had a yearbook in my PhD program. Sometimes (most of the time) the oppo research is not done by the brightest bulbs. I mean shit, Roger Stone is the ratfucker extraordinaire. The guy doing his crimes over SMS. Further, it’s kind of tough for the GOP to run oppo in the south that makes the opponent look racist. Then you split the all important racist vote.
posted by dis_integration at 8:44 AM on February 2, 2019 [6 favorites]
I will say this is the first I’m learning that they have yearbooks in medical school. It’s not like they had a yearbook in my PhD program. Sometimes (most of the time) the oppo research is not done by the brightest bulbs. I mean shit, Roger Stone is the ratfucker extraordinaire. The guy doing his crimes over SMS. Further, it’s kind of tough for the GOP to run oppo in the south that makes the opponent look racist. Then you split the all important racist vote.
posted by dis_integration at 8:44 AM on February 2, 2019 [6 favorites]
Professional opposition researcher Will Caskey has a thread on that. To wit:
- Super in-depth opposition research is expensive. The "check all the candidate's yearbooks" tier more than doubles the price, as it also sweeps in things like archived student papers, published letters, and so on. It's easy to say now "why didn't they just look at his yearbooks" but until the scandal breaks you don't know which bit of paper from his school days is the silver bullet.
- The person with the biggest research budget against Northam would have been Gillespie, but his campaign strategy was to be extra racist, and to attack Northam for not being pro-Confederate -- this would arguably have undercut his own message. It would have been much more effective in the primaries, where budgets are tighter.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:45 AM on February 2, 2019 [27 favorites]
- Super in-depth opposition research is expensive. The "check all the candidate's yearbooks" tier more than doubles the price, as it also sweeps in things like archived student papers, published letters, and so on. It's easy to say now "why didn't they just look at his yearbooks" but until the scandal breaks you don't know which bit of paper from his school days is the silver bullet.
- The person with the biggest research budget against Northam would have been Gillespie, but his campaign strategy was to be extra racist, and to attack Northam for not being pro-Confederate -- this would arguably have undercut his own message. It would have been much more effective in the primaries, where budgets are tighter.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:45 AM on February 2, 2019 [27 favorites]
Also, that guy was going to be a doctor. Doesn't it just give you a horrible, horrible chill to think of a doctor who gets a kick out of blackface and KKK costumes? What was he going to do - what did he do - to any Black people who were under his care? What conditions did he ignore? What medicine did he underprescribe? What care did he withhold because he didn't think they were worth it? What were the outcomes for his BIPOC patients versus his white patients? He was a pediatric neurologist. Would you want to risk a child under his care?
posted by Frowner at 8:46 AM on February 2, 2019 [57 favorites]
posted by Frowner at 8:46 AM on February 2, 2019 [57 favorites]
Fenit Nirappil: Justin Fairfax would become Virginia’s 2nd black governor if Northam resigns
posted by zombieflanders at 8:51 AM on February 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by zombieflanders at 8:51 AM on February 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
Because the story continues to evolve, should there be a Northam thread?
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 8:54 AM on February 2, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 8:54 AM on February 2, 2019 [6 favorites]
Would you want to risk a child under his care?
This isn't whataboutism, but you probably don't want to know the political beliefs of some of your own doctors. (Consider the physicians currently or recently in Congress.) Northam needs to step aside because not doing so undermines everything Democrats in Virginia have achieved over the past couple of years.
posted by holgate at 9:00 AM on February 2, 2019 [11 favorites]
This isn't whataboutism, but you probably don't want to know the political beliefs of some of your own doctors. (Consider the physicians currently or recently in Congress.) Northam needs to step aside because not doing so undermines everything Democrats in Virginia have achieved over the past couple of years.
posted by holgate at 9:00 AM on February 2, 2019 [11 favorites]
Mod note: Sure, if there's going to be stuff worth discussing, then a separate thread makes sense.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 9:01 AM on February 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 9:01 AM on February 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
Will Caskey agrees with Frowner (as do I): "Churn based on the truth is good even when it hampers collateral efforts in the short term."
posted by Bella Donna at 9:27 AM on February 2, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by Bella Donna at 9:27 AM on February 2, 2019 [9 favorites]
NYT, Trump Sought a Loan During the 2016 Campaign. Deutsche Bank Said No.
Donald J. Trump was burning through cash.posted by zachlipton at 11:06 AM on February 2, 2019 [52 favorites]
It was early 2016, and he was lending tens of millions of dollars to his presidential campaign and had been spending large sums to expand the Trump Organization’s roster of high-end properties.
To finance his business’s growth, Mr. Trump turned to a longtime ally, Deutsche Bank, one of the few banks still willing to lend money to the man who has called himself “The King of Debt.”
Mr. Trump’s loan request, which has not been previously reported, set off a fight that reached the top of the German bank, according to three people familiar with the request. In the end, Deutsche Bank did something unexpected. It said no.
Senior officials at the bank, including its future chief executive, believed that Mr. Trump’s divisive candidacy made such a loan too risky, the people said. Among their concerns was that if Mr. Trump won the election and then defaulted, Deutsche Bank would have to choose between not collecting on the debt or seizing the assets of the president of the United States.
NYT, Trump Sought a Loan During the 2016 Campaign. Deutsche Bank Said No.
Trump naturally lied about his relations with Wall Street at the time: “They are totally happy with me,” he told The New York Times in March 2016. “I do business with them today.”
The WaPo's David Fahrenthold, who has written about the mysterious finances of Trump's golf courses extensively, points out, "This is one of the courses that Trump Org bought in its odd all-cash spending spree."
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:08 AM on February 2, 2019 [8 favorites]
Trump naturally lied about his relations with Wall Street at the time: “They are totally happy with me,” he told The New York Times in March 2016. “I do business with them today.”
The WaPo's David Fahrenthold, who has written about the mysterious finances of Trump's golf courses extensively, points out, "This is one of the courses that Trump Org bought in its odd all-cash spending spree."
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:08 AM on February 2, 2019 [8 favorites]
Donald J. Trump was burning through cash.
Gee, with money getting tight, I bet $300 million from Trump Moscow sounded good.
posted by chris24 at 11:11 AM on February 2, 2019 [13 favorites]
Gee, with money getting tight, I bet $300 million from Trump Moscow sounded good.
posted by chris24 at 11:11 AM on February 2, 2019 [13 favorites]
“They are totally happy with me,” he told The New York Times in March 2016. “I do business with them today.”
(I still haven't been able to track down the exact source of this quote that the NYT used in its article today since I can't quite tell if Trump meant Wall Street in general or Deutsche Bank in particular, though I believe it's the latter. It's possible that it never made it into publication before. The closest I can find is something from May that year, Trump Boasts of Rapport With Wall St., but the Feeling Is Not Quite Mutual: “I am friends with all the major banks. They are dying to do business with me,” Trump said. Deutsche Bank declined to comment at the time.)
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:26 AM on February 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
(I still haven't been able to track down the exact source of this quote that the NYT used in its article today since I can't quite tell if Trump meant Wall Street in general or Deutsche Bank in particular, though I believe it's the latter. It's possible that it never made it into publication before. The closest I can find is something from May that year, Trump Boasts of Rapport With Wall St., but the Feeling Is Not Quite Mutual: “I am friends with all the major banks. They are dying to do business with me,” Trump said. Deutsche Bank declined to comment at the time.)
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:26 AM on February 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
I know we're moving to a new thread for this topic, but two minute warning on Northam's press conference [video].
posted by zachlipton at 11:39 AM on February 2, 2019
posted by zachlipton at 11:39 AM on February 2, 2019
The White House announced today that the President's former physician, Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, will serve as assistant to the President and chief medical advisor. The appointment comes less than a year after Jackson withdrew from consideration as Donald Trump's nominee for Veterans Affairs secretary over allegations that he was "abusive" toward colleagues, loosely handled prescription pain medications and was periodically intoxicated. Jackson has denied all of the allegations leveled against him, calling them "completely false and fabricated." He remains under Pentagon investigation over allegations of improper behavior.
posted by Bella Donna at 11:43 AM on February 2, 2019 [17 favorites]
posted by Bella Donna at 11:43 AM on February 2, 2019 [17 favorites]
It seems to me the most interesting lines in this NYTimes story are:
A Trump entity ended up lending at least $45 million to Turnberry that year, on top of the $96 million it had lent Turnberry in the previous two years.Although I guess this information is not new (what's new is the rejection by Deutsche Bank). As mentioned above, David Fahrenhold and his colleagues at the Washington Post noted the transfers to Turnberry in their May 2018 story about Trump's mysterious cash purchases over the past ten years.
The biggest cash binge came last, in the year before Trump announced his run for president. In 2014, he paid a combined $79.7 million for large golf courses in Scotland and Ireland. Since then, those clubs have lost money while Trump renovated them, requiring him to pump in $164 million in cash to keep them running.Adam Davidson (New Yorker) followed-up on this piece in July, asking: Where Did Donald Trump Get Two Hundred Million Dollars to Buy His Money-Losing Scottish Golf Club?
This property has not received the attention it deserves. It is, by far, the biggest investment the Trump Organization has made in years. It is so much bigger than his other recent projects that it would not be unreasonable to describe the Trump Organization as, at its core, a manager of a money-losing Scottish golf course that is kept afloat with funds from licensing fees and decades-old real-estate projects...posted by pjenks at 11:45 AM on February 2, 2019 [31 favorites]
After buying the property for more than sixty million dollars, he then spent a reported hundred and fifty million pounds—about two hundred million dollars total—remaking the site...
A comprehensive analysis by the Wall Street Journal, in 2016, concluded that Trump brought in about a hundred and sixty million dollars in income a year ... There simply isn’t enough money coming into Trump’s known business to cover the massive outlay he spent on Turnberry.
There simply isn’t enough money coming into Trump’s known business to cover the massive outlay he spent on Turnberry.
This was true before the NYTimes unveiled the tax avoidance inheritance scheme which provided him $400 million in liquidity to go on his all-cash buying spree, so now I think we better understand where that money came from.
posted by peeedro at 11:51 AM on February 2, 2019 [7 favorites]
This was true before the NYTimes unveiled the tax avoidance inheritance scheme which provided him $400 million in liquidity to go on his all-cash buying spree, so now I think we better understand where that money came from.
posted by peeedro at 11:51 AM on February 2, 2019 [7 favorites]
(SL Mother Jones) After remaining all but mum for the past two years about news reports detailing its ties to Russia, the National Rifle Association finally spoke up this week. The gun group tried to distance itself from a 2015 trip to Moscow by top NRA officials that was arranged by Maria Butina, who pleaded guilty last year to acting as a Russian agent and participating in a conspiracy against the United States. But congressional investigators are challenging the NRA on what they think is a bogus cover story and stepping up investigations of the group.
posted by Bella Donna at 11:54 AM on February 2, 2019 [14 favorites]
posted by Bella Donna at 11:54 AM on February 2, 2019 [14 favorites]
'Willful Ignorance.' Inside President Trump's Troubled Intelligence Briefings
posted by kirkaracha at 12:05 PM on February 2, 2019 [57 favorites]
In the wake of President Donald Trump’s renewed attacks on the U.S. intelligence community this week, senior intelligence briefers are breaking two years of silence to warn that the President is endangering American security with what they say is a stubborn disregard for their assessments.Ceterum autem censeo Trumpem esse delendam
Citing multiple in-person episodes, these intelligence officials say Trump displays what one called “willful ignorance” when presented with analyses generated by America’s $81 billion-a-year intelligence services. The officials, who include analysts who prepare Trump’s briefs and the briefers themselves, describe futile attempts to keep his attention by using visual aids, confining some briefing points to two or three sentences, and repeating his name and title as frequently as possible.
What is most troubling, say these officials and others in government and on Capitol Hill who have been briefed on the episodes, are Trump’s angry reactions when he is given information that contradicts positions he has taken or beliefs he holds. Two intelligence officers even reported that they have been warned to avoid giving the President intelligence assessments that contradict stances he has taken in public.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:05 PM on February 2, 2019 [57 favorites]
This was true before the NYTimes unveiled the tax avoidance inheritance scheme which provided him $400 million in liquidity to go on his all-cash buying spree, so now I think we better understand where that money came from.
I think the $400 million number is the estimate of the total in today's dollars. From the NYTimes tax expose, the last great payout from Dad was "only" $180 million
That was 8 years before he spent $65 million on Doral and the Old Post Office in 2012 (Deutsche Bank put in $125 and $170 million, respectively), and 10 years before he spent $80 million to buy the golf properties in Scotland and Ireland (see the bar chart in that May 2018 WaPost article).
And then in 2015-2016, he put another $150 million cash into Turnberry.
So with $300 million in cash payments in 2012-2016 alone, I would say that there is still some money unaccounted for, even after taking into account his $180 million from dad in 2004.
posted by pjenks at 12:28 PM on February 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
I think the $400 million number is the estimate of the total in today's dollars. From the NYTimes tax expose, the last great payout from Dad was "only" $180 million
The biggest payday he ever got from his father came long after Fred Trump’s death. It happened quietly, without the usual Trumpian news conference, on May 4, 2004, when Mr. Trump and his siblings sold off the empire their father had spent 70 years assembling with the dream that it would never leave his family.and it was in 2004.
Donald Trump’s cut: $177.3 million, or $236.2 million in today’s dollars.
That was 8 years before he spent $65 million on Doral and the Old Post Office in 2012 (Deutsche Bank put in $125 and $170 million, respectively), and 10 years before he spent $80 million to buy the golf properties in Scotland and Ireland (see the bar chart in that May 2018 WaPost article).
And then in 2015-2016, he put another $150 million cash into Turnberry.
So with $300 million in cash payments in 2012-2016 alone, I would say that there is still some money unaccounted for, even after taking into account his $180 million from dad in 2004.
posted by pjenks at 12:28 PM on February 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
This was true before the NYTimes unveiled the tax avoidance inheritance scheme which provided him $400 million in liquidity to go on his all-cash buying spree, so now I think we better understand where that money came from.
Except that revenue stream from the 1990s had long since run dry when the Trump Org was spending around $80 million in cash outlays in 2012 and in 2014—more than twice the total of the rest from that period. Fred Christ Trump's estate closed two years after his death in 1999, his wife's four years after hers in 2000, and Trump's cash purchases began with a $12.6 million one of a money-losing Aberdeen property in 2006. (It also doesn't square with Eric Trump's boast in 2014: "Well, we don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.")
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:28 PM on February 2, 2019 [8 favorites]
Except that revenue stream from the 1990s had long since run dry when the Trump Org was spending around $80 million in cash outlays in 2012 and in 2014—more than twice the total of the rest from that period. Fred Christ Trump's estate closed two years after his death in 1999, his wife's four years after hers in 2000, and Trump's cash purchases began with a $12.6 million one of a money-losing Aberdeen property in 2006. (It also doesn't square with Eric Trump's boast in 2014: "Well, we don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.")
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:28 PM on February 2, 2019 [8 favorites]
Oh, thank you for the corrections.
posted by peeedro at 12:32 PM on February 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by peeedro at 12:32 PM on February 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
This was true before the NYTimes unveiled the tax avoidance inheritance scheme
Maybe this is a little too pedantic even for Metafilter but what the NYT reported was tax evasion rather than tax avoidance. Tax avoidance is using legal or quasi-legal methods to minimize one's tax liability while tax evasion is using illegal methods to avoid paying taxes one legitimately owes.
posted by Justinian at 12:32 PM on February 2, 2019 [35 favorites]
Maybe this is a little too pedantic even for Metafilter but what the NYT reported was tax evasion rather than tax avoidance. Tax avoidance is using legal or quasi-legal methods to minimize one's tax liability while tax evasion is using illegal methods to avoid paying taxes one legitimately owes.
posted by Justinian at 12:32 PM on February 2, 2019 [35 favorites]
(SL ThinkProgress) On Friday, the Trump administration officially released a proposed rule that would put 755,000 Americans’ food assistance in jeopardy over three years, according to its own analysis. The rule focuses on “able bodied adults without dependents” from ages 18 to 49 who need food assistance and would essentially limit the flexibility states have to determine residents’ needs. The Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) proposal says the rule is “consistent with the administration’s focus on fostering self-sufficiency.”
In December, President Donald Trump’s effort to strip millions of people of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits through the Farm Bill failed. But Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue vowed that the administration would find another path to put limits on food assistance. “Through regulation we’ll be able to please those conservatives who expected more work requirements in the Farm Bill, as I did, as President Trump did,” Perdue said at the time.
posted by Bella Donna at 12:39 PM on February 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
In December, President Donald Trump’s effort to strip millions of people of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits through the Farm Bill failed. But Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue vowed that the administration would find another path to put limits on food assistance. “Through regulation we’ll be able to please those conservatives who expected more work requirements in the Farm Bill, as I did, as President Trump did,” Perdue said at the time.
posted by Bella Donna at 12:39 PM on February 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
(SL NYT) President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, in a decision that was widely expected, suspended his country’s observance of a key nuclear arms control pact on Saturday in response to a similar move by the United States a day before.
But adding to a sense that the broader architecture of nuclear disarmament has started to unravel, Mr. Putin also said that Russia would build weapons previously banned under the treaty and would no longer initiate talks with the United States on any matters related to nuclear arms control.
posted by Bella Donna at 12:52 PM on February 2, 2019 [4 favorites]
But adding to a sense that the broader architecture of nuclear disarmament has started to unravel, Mr. Putin also said that Russia would build weapons previously banned under the treaty and would no longer initiate talks with the United States on any matters related to nuclear arms control.
posted by Bella Donna at 12:52 PM on February 2, 2019 [4 favorites]
In case anyone was wondering, here are the results of the aforementioned YouGov survey:
I believe God wanted Donald Trump to be President: 18%posted by Faint of Butt at 1:04 PM on February 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
I believe God wanted Donald Trump not to be President: 13%
I believe God did not have a preference on whether or not Donald Trump became President: 36%
Don't know: 16%
Not applicable - I do not believe in God: 17%
1385 US adults were questioned on Jan 31, 2019.
Results are weighted to be representative of the US population.
Oh, thank you for the corrections.
No worries—Trump's finances are so complex and opaque that I have trouble keeping straight what little I know. Maybe something from Trump's parents' estate went into the 2006 purchase, but that's dwarfed by the later ones, which I'd forgotten were so large in comparison to the others in that span. And this discussion provides us with an occasion to revisit all those articles now that we have a (slightly) better idea of them.
Maybe this is a little too pedantic even for Metafilter but what the NYT reported was tax evasion rather than tax avoidance.
In the plainest language, a crime. The difference between that and the one perpetrated by the Trump Foundation that Fahrenhold uncovered for the WaPo is that the latter was discovered through shoe-leather journalistic investigation and resulted in legal consequences while the former was assisted by tipoffs from confidential sources and is conveniently outside the statute of limitations. The NYT's reporters performed a lot of forensic accounting, but I remain suspicious why "people familiar with the president’s father and his empire" felt comfortable talking to them about Fred's financial shenanigans in the first place.
In my most paranoid scenario, the NYT story amounts to a limited hangout, intended to distract from Trump's more recent and more serious financial crimes. Or maybe Trump's just lucky that bad news in today's headlines somehow always seems to work out as a diversion from worse questions hanging over his head.
posted by Doktor Zed at 1:36 PM on February 2, 2019 [4 favorites]
No worries—Trump's finances are so complex and opaque that I have trouble keeping straight what little I know. Maybe something from Trump's parents' estate went into the 2006 purchase, but that's dwarfed by the later ones, which I'd forgotten were so large in comparison to the others in that span. And this discussion provides us with an occasion to revisit all those articles now that we have a (slightly) better idea of them.
Maybe this is a little too pedantic even for Metafilter but what the NYT reported was tax evasion rather than tax avoidance.
In the plainest language, a crime. The difference between that and the one perpetrated by the Trump Foundation that Fahrenhold uncovered for the WaPo is that the latter was discovered through shoe-leather journalistic investigation and resulted in legal consequences while the former was assisted by tipoffs from confidential sources and is conveniently outside the statute of limitations. The NYT's reporters performed a lot of forensic accounting, but I remain suspicious why "people familiar with the president’s father and his empire" felt comfortable talking to them about Fred's financial shenanigans in the first place.
In my most paranoid scenario, the NYT story amounts to a limited hangout, intended to distract from Trump's more recent and more serious financial crimes. Or maybe Trump's just lucky that bad news in today's headlines somehow always seems to work out as a diversion from worse questions hanging over his head.
posted by Doktor Zed at 1:36 PM on February 2, 2019 [4 favorites]
[Craig Unger - twitter]
Fascinating that "blocked #" phone call circa 2016 Trump Tower meeting went to real estate developer Howard Lorber who was much more than just a family friend. In '96, when Trump went to RU to try to develop Trump Tower in Moscow, Lorber came w his partner Bennett LeBow.
posted by growabrain at 1:44 PM on February 2, 2019 [13 favorites]
Fascinating that "blocked #" phone call circa 2016 Trump Tower meeting went to real estate developer Howard Lorber who was much more than just a family friend. In '96, when Trump went to RU to try to develop Trump Tower in Moscow, Lorber came w his partner Bennett LeBow.
posted by growabrain at 1:44 PM on February 2, 2019 [13 favorites]
@SethAbramson:
Considering who our president is and what he's done and how publicly he's done it and for how long he's done it, it's really something to watch Gov. Northam's political career go from fine to dead in 24 hours.
Imagine if America could arouse this level of moral outrage for Trump
posted by growabrain at 2:12 PM on February 2, 2019 [40 favorites]
Considering who our president is and what he's done and how publicly he's done it and for how long he's done it, it's really something to watch Gov. Northam's political career go from fine to dead in 24 hours.
Imagine if America could arouse this level of moral outrage for Trump
posted by growabrain at 2:12 PM on February 2, 2019 [40 favorites]
Imagine if America could arouse this level of moral outrage for Trump
This isn't America, it's Democrats putting ideals into practice. Any Republican governor today could and would survive a KKK picture, following Trump's example. And any Democratic president would've been impeached 1000 times over for countless things Trump has done. The reason "America" hasn't, and *CAN'T* turn on Trump like on Northam is because Republicans fully endorse everything he's done and protect him from all consequences. "America", if given any say in the matter, would've impeached him already.
I would say Abramson should be smarter than that, but it's Seth Abramson.
posted by T.D. Strange at 2:22 PM on February 2, 2019 [63 favorites]
This isn't America, it's Democrats putting ideals into practice. Any Republican governor today could and would survive a KKK picture, following Trump's example. And any Democratic president would've been impeached 1000 times over for countless things Trump has done. The reason "America" hasn't, and *CAN'T* turn on Trump like on Northam is because Republicans fully endorse everything he's done and protect him from all consequences. "America", if given any say in the matter, would've impeached him already.
I would say Abramson should be smarter than that, but it's Seth Abramson.
posted by T.D. Strange at 2:22 PM on February 2, 2019 [63 favorites]
Imagine if America could arouse this level of moral outrage for Trump
There's a pretty obvious difference; Trump has a known history of overt racism and ran as candidate of a party that's both explicitly and implicitly the party of white people (Trump's share of the African-American vote looks is probably in the range of statistical error). Northam had no previously known history of racism and ran as a Democrat in a state where African-Americans comprise 20% of the electorate (and he received 87% of the African-American vote). Racism from Republicans is expected, and probably won't lose them any votes; racism from Democrats is unacceptable and will alienate a significant part of the party's core constituency.
posted by Pseudonymous Cognomen at 2:28 PM on February 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
There's a pretty obvious difference; Trump has a known history of overt racism and ran as candidate of a party that's both explicitly and implicitly the party of white people (Trump's share of the African-American vote looks is probably in the range of statistical error). Northam had no previously known history of racism and ran as a Democrat in a state where African-Americans comprise 20% of the electorate (and he received 87% of the African-American vote). Racism from Republicans is expected, and probably won't lose them any votes; racism from Democrats is unacceptable and will alienate a significant part of the party's core constituency.
posted by Pseudonymous Cognomen at 2:28 PM on February 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
Northam's press conference can literally be summed up as "I wasn't in blackface in that pic because I vividly remember the OTHER time I was in blackface, and that pic ain't it." Followed by pro tips on how best to use shoe polish to DO blackface - just a little cuz it's a bitch to get off - and finally by publicly preparing to demonstrate he could still moonwalk before his wife stopped him.
I kid you not.
posted by chris24 at 2:40 PM on February 2, 2019 [50 favorites]
I kid you not.
posted by chris24 at 2:40 PM on February 2, 2019 [50 favorites]
Before today's presser, The WaPo's Aaron Blake calls the remainder of Northam's time a governor a "lost cause", touché.
posted by peeedro at 2:45 PM on February 2, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by peeedro at 2:45 PM on February 2, 2019 [10 favorites]
chris24, that needs a real or fake tag. He really, actually said that?
posted by medusa at 2:58 PM on February 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by medusa at 2:58 PM on February 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
Sorry, that is my summary, not a literal quote. But that is in no way an unfair summary of what was said.
posted by chris24 at 3:01 PM on February 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 3:01 PM on February 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
In Bizarre Press Conference, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam Refuses to Resign. He denied being in blackface in the yearbook but admitted to wearing blackface another time. from Rolling Stone
what the actual fuck
posted by medusa at 3:02 PM on February 2, 2019 [15 favorites]
what the actual fuck
posted by medusa at 3:02 PM on February 2, 2019 [15 favorites]
It's a fair summary of the presser, Northam says that he is not in the picture on his yearbook page. He is not the man in blackface or in the KKK robe in the photo. He does not know how the photo got on his yearbook page and has never seen it before and did not own a yearbook. He says immediately apologized when it came out because of the time he dressed in blackface as Michael Jackson in a talent show (and won because he can moonwalk). He has a black staff member who told him that blackface is wrong when he was running for office and apologized for doing that.
posted by peeedro at 3:02 PM on February 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by peeedro at 3:02 PM on February 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
real, and the press conference clip is even worse and so bad I needed to transcribe it here, for you, right now.
"I dressed up in, uh- um- what's his name?" "Michael Jackson."posted by BungaDunga at 3:02 PM on February 2, 2019 [8 favorites]
"Excuse me. I had the shoes, a glove, and I used just a lil bit of shoe polish to put under my- on my cheeks. And the reason I used only a little bit of it is because, I don't know if anybody's tried it, you can't get shoe polish off. I actually won the contest, because I had learned how to do the moonwalk.
I have a very close friend who was my assistant during the campaign... his name is Seth Opoku-Yeboah and during some of our long rides around the Commonwealth, the very issue of blackfacing came up, and he did a very good job of communicating with me why that's so offensive. And it was actually during that conversation that I said, you know Seth, I put some polish on my face, I competed in a dance contest dressed up as Michael Jackson, and I put some polish on my face, and I said I assume you probably would think that was offensive, and he said he would, and I said you know what Seth, I appreciate you being open with me, and I apologize for what I did in the past and I can promise you, I'll never do that again in the future."
So does Virginia have a state level equivalent of the 25th amendment? That would be a nice precedent to set, get everyone used to the idea of removing executives for gibbering racist nonsense.
posted by schadenfrau at 3:09 PM on February 2, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by schadenfrau at 3:09 PM on February 2, 2019 [7 favorites]
From the WaPo:
But John Dinan of Wake Forest University, author of “The Virginia State Constitution,” points out that the constitution “makes clear that impeachment is limited to cases where an official has offended ‘against the Commonwealth by malfeasance in office, corruption, neglect of duty, or other high crimes or misdemeanor.’ ” Northam’s past behavior seems unlikely to meet such a standard.posted by peeedro at 3:12 PM on February 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
Mod note: Maybe we could cover the VMI yearbook stuff without quoting all the slurs in full.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 3:15 PM on February 2, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 3:15 PM on February 2, 2019 [12 favorites]
So does Virginia have a state level equivalent of the 25th amendment?
VA Democrats are giving him till Monday to resign, strongly hinting that he's going to be impeached if he doesn't.
posted by T.D. Strange at 3:32 PM on February 2, 2019 [4 favorites]
VA Democrats are giving him till Monday to resign, strongly hinting that he's going to be impeached if he doesn't.
Mike Valero (WUSA9 Northern VA): Virginia Democrats moving towards forcing Governor Northam to resign by MONDAY...Said story: Virginia Democrats want Gov. Ralph Northam out by Monday after racist photos surface
• Exerting maximum pressure so the legislative session can finish without impeachment proceedings.
• STORY TO COME
posted by T.D. Strange at 3:32 PM on February 2, 2019 [4 favorites]
Since the press conference, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax has spoken out about Gov. Ralph Northam
"Now more than ever, we must make decisions in the best interests of the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia."as have (Democratic) Virginia Senators Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, and Representative
“After we watched his press conference today, we called Governor Northam to tell him that we no longer believe he can effectively serve as Governor of Virginia and that he must resign."posted by pjenks at 3:59 PM on February 2, 2019 [10 favorites]
Dear FBI, I would like to speak with a manager, please (Alexandra Petri, WaPo)
Dear FBI,posted by Johnny Wallflower at 4:08 PM on February 2, 2019 [34 favorites]
I would like to complain about the service Roger Stone recently received. There were a lot of problems with the raid! First, we can all clearly see that Roger Stone is not only a white gentleman who owns numerous hats, but furthermore, is a cable news personality. How dare arresting officers burst unexpectedly into this man’s home with undue force, nearly as though he were a black man who had done nothing wrong? This is not the treatment for a Roger Stone.
I believe (I do not have the guidelines in front of me) the arrest ought to have been conducted in a much different manner!
First, they ought to have gotten the key from his housekeeper, then, upon entering (and removing their shoes, leaving them on the doormat), they ought to have gently struck a glockenspiel to stir him from his slumber. “Mr. Stone,” they should have murmured, in a low, warm whisper, “there has been some general unpleasantness, which we will tell you about shortly, when you are ready to hear it.”
That’s reminiscent of the Rod Blagojevich arrest story that made the rounds recently.
posted by lostburner at 4:50 PM on February 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by lostburner at 4:50 PM on February 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
Re: source of Trump’s recent cash
One source was the (crazily excessive) $95 million price that one Russian oligarch (Rybolovlev iirc) paid Trump for a Palm Beach property in the middle of the 2008 depression.
Still sketchy AF and still Russian financing of course.
posted by msalt at 5:00 PM on February 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
One source was the (crazily excessive) $95 million price that one Russian oligarch (Rybolovlev iirc) paid Trump for a Palm Beach property in the middle of the 2008 depression.
Still sketchy AF and still Russian financing of course.
posted by msalt at 5:00 PM on February 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
The NYT reports on a scandal for the Bureau of Prisons/DoJ: No Heat for Days at a Jail in Brooklyn Where Hundreds of Inmates Are Sick and ‘Frantic’
Luppe B. Luppen/@nycsouthpaw comments on the fish rotting from the head:
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:05 PM on February 2, 2019 [19 favorites]
Luppe B. Luppen/@nycsouthpaw comments on the fish rotting from the head:
Both the Bureau of Prisons and the cabinet agency it’s in, the Department of Justice, have acting heads at this time. So I believe President Trump is the only elected or confirmed official in the entire chain of command, and he’s on a golfing trip to Florida.MEGATHREAD NOTE: A new draft for the next USPolitics FPP is ready on the MeFi wiki for people to contribute/collaborate. (This one is nearing 2K comments, so we'll probably need a replacement by Monday morning.)
The Appointments Clause of the Constitution is in part intended to prevent situations like this, in which the only publicly accountable official with authority is so lofty and remote that he doesn’t attend to the problems his unvetted subordinates foster.
Confirming this— By law, 18 USC 4041, the Director of the Bureau of Prisons is appointed by and serves directly under the Attorney General. So there’s no Senate-confirmed official anywhere in the chain of command supervising the humanitarian crisis at MDC.
To my knowledge, even though it’s been months since challenges were first presented, no federal court has opined on the constitutional validity of Whitaker’s designation as AAG. (SCOTUS denied one challenge without comment at the same time it denied cert for the related case.)
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:05 PM on February 2, 2019 [19 favorites]
@NYCMayor New York City is sending trucks with hundreds of blankets and hand warmers to the Metropolitan Detention Center NOW and generators are being readied for transport. We've told the Federal Bureau of Prisons the supplies are coming – whether they like it or not.
posted by scalefree at 5:20 PM on February 2, 2019 [39 favorites]
posted by scalefree at 5:20 PM on February 2, 2019 [39 favorites]
It feels like a number of Trump's cabinet members and other GOP members have discovered over the past couple years that if you're involved in a massive scandal, you can just ... not resign. Like, strictly speaking, it's discretionary, so why not try to just ... not resign? It seems like Northam is trying to take this lesson to heart, apparently not realizing that democrats have a different set of standards.
posted by Dr. Send at 5:24 PM on February 2, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by Dr. Send at 5:24 PM on February 2, 2019 [9 favorites]
strongly hinting that [Northam]'s going to be impeached if he doesn't.
So I know impeachment is a political process and whatnot, but usually it's a remedy where they try to gin up some sort of crime to tie it to. And Northam's behavior, although disgusting, alarming, and unfit for a governor, neither are now, or were when committed, actual violations of the law as far as I can tell. I'm not saying he shouldn't be given the boot somehow, but impeachment for a non-crime seems like the sort of thing that opens up a can of worms --- possibly a big enough can of worms that an impeachment push would be unsuccessful.
posted by jackbishop at 5:34 PM on February 2, 2019 [6 favorites]
So I know impeachment is a political process and whatnot, but usually it's a remedy where they try to gin up some sort of crime to tie it to. And Northam's behavior, although disgusting, alarming, and unfit for a governor, neither are now, or were when committed, actual violations of the law as far as I can tell. I'm not saying he shouldn't be given the boot somehow, but impeachment for a non-crime seems like the sort of thing that opens up a can of worms --- possibly a big enough can of worms that an impeachment push would be unsuccessful.
posted by jackbishop at 5:34 PM on February 2, 2019 [6 favorites]
We've told the Federal Bureau of Prisons the supplies are coming – whether they like it or not.
At BuPris expense? Or the city's? They better not get to just fail until someone does it for them, externalizing the cost like WalMart making the government feed their employees via food stamps.
posted by ctmf at 5:38 PM on February 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
At BuPris expense? Or the city's? They better not get to just fail until someone does it for them, externalizing the cost like WalMart making the government feed their employees via food stamps.
posted by ctmf at 5:38 PM on February 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
if you're involved in a massive scandal, you can just ... not resign.
Yeah I think they've known that since David Vitter. I actually wish more Democrats would stand their ground this way, but only when the scandals are stupid and ginned-up. (Which I am not saying applies here.)
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 5:40 PM on February 2, 2019 [4 favorites]
Yeah I think they've known that since David Vitter. I actually wish more Democrats would stand their ground this way, but only when the scandals are stupid and ginned-up. (Which I am not saying applies here.)
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 5:40 PM on February 2, 2019 [4 favorites]
Impeachment under the Virginia constitution is somewhat broader than the federal, and includes “malfeasance in office, corruption, neglect of duty, or other high crime or misdemeanor”.
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:48 PM on February 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:48 PM on February 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
attempted moonwalk-in-defense-of-blackface prob counts as malfeasance
posted by Rust Moranis at 5:56 PM on February 2, 2019 [36 favorites]
posted by Rust Moranis at 5:56 PM on February 2, 2019 [36 favorites]
So to cleanse the palate after news of that idiot Northam, this is heartening: 'Socialism Surging in Iowa' Giving Cold Feet to Centrist Democrats Contemplating 2020 Run: Report
love affair Stockholm Syndrome with the hyper-rich.
And a final tasty treat: Howard Schultz viewed unfavorably by Dems, GOP and independents
Go back to your coffee flavored dessert products, Howie. No one wants you.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 6:08 PM on February 2, 2019 [41 favorites]
Citing informed sources, Axios reports that both "Michael Bloomberg and former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, each of whom were virtual locks to run, are having serious second thoughts after watching Democrats embrace "Medicare for All," big tax increases and the Green New Deal.It seems that lurch to the left that we're all wondering "is this real?" just might be. With the ground shifting like this, I'm gonna continue skimming by all the doom and gloom over that idiot Schultz and table any worries over him for later. Reagan was the gift that kept on giving to the hyper-rich, and I'm beginning to think that might finally be ending. It'll be a very strange thing indeed if we have the Squatter in the White House to thank for finally ending American's
And a final tasty treat: Howard Schultz viewed unfavorably by Dems, GOP and independents
Go back to your coffee flavored dessert products, Howie. No one wants you.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 6:08 PM on February 2, 2019 [41 favorites]
I just want one, one politician in a scandal like this to say, I was an evil racist jerk in my twenties and I've fought to put that part of me behind me and build a better world. I might believe him and forgive him.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:22 PM on February 2, 2019 [23 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:22 PM on February 2, 2019 [23 favorites]
I just want one, one politician in a scandal like this to say, I was an evil racist jerk in my twenties and I've fought to put that part of me behind me and build a better world. I might believe him and forgive him.
Senator Robert C Byrd.
posted by scalefree at 6:26 PM on February 2, 2019 [12 favorites]
Senator Robert C Byrd.
posted by scalefree at 6:26 PM on February 2, 2019 [12 favorites]
Northam said basically exactly that, though. I did a racist thing, I own it, and I've put it behind me and tried to be better. The moonwalking stuff seems to be mostly an explanation of why he didn't immediately disavow the photo.
Or do you mean during the campaign? Seems like a dicey strategy.
posted by dbx at 6:30 PM on February 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
Or do you mean during the campaign? Seems like a dicey strategy.
posted by dbx at 6:30 PM on February 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
Robert Windrem and Ben Popken, NBC News: "Russia's propaganda machine discovers 2020 Democratic candidate Tulsi Gabbard"
Since Gabbard announced her intention to run on Jan. 11, there have been at least 20 Gabbard stories on three major Moscow-based English-language websites affiliated with or supportive of the Russian government: RT, the Russian-owned TV outlet; Sputnik News, a radio outlet; and Russia Insider, a blog that experts say closely follows the Kremlin line. The CIA has called RT and Sputnik part of "Russia's state-run propaganda machine."posted by OnceUponATime at 6:35 PM on February 2, 2019 [9 favorites]
All three sites celebrated Gabbard's announcement, defended her positions on Russia and her 2017 meeting with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, and attacked those who have suggested she is a pawn for Moscow. The coverage devoted to Gabbard, both in news and commentary, exceeds that afforded to any of the declared or rumored Democratic candidates despite Gabbard's lack of voter recognition.
Gabbard was mentioned on the three sites about twice as often as two of the best known Democratic possibilities for 2020, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, each with 10 stories. Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren had fewer. In each case, the other contenders were treated more critically than Gabbard, with headlines like "'Don't Run': Vermont Paper Begs Bernie Sanders Not to Seek US Presidency in 2020" and "Sexist much? Biden blames 'conservative blonde woman' for shutdown, 'forgets' Ann Coulter's name."
Lt Gov Fairfax and his staff are talking to the WaPo, Fairfax was preparing to be Va. governor. Then Northam said he was staying put.
On Friday evening, as the photo spread on social media, Northam called and invited Fairfax to meet with him in the governor’s office on Capitol Square. Initially, the men were alone; staff came in later. Northam apologized for the photo, saying that he had no memory of it but that he took responsibility for it, Fairfax told reporters on Saturday.posted by peeedro at 6:42 PM on February 2, 2019 [4 favorites]
“He said at the time, ‘I don’t recall the party or taking that particular photo, but it’s on my page and I’m sorry,’ ” Fairfax said. “He thought it may have depicted him. He didn’t know which of the two individuals may have been him.”
Later that evening, just before 10, the governor called and told Fairfax that he was going to “sleep on” any decision about what to do next. He hadn’t specified resignation, but the lieutenant governor had seen the avalanche of calls for Northam to step down and assumed it was a strong possibility.
[...]
When Northam phoned Fairfax again on Saturday morning, though, his tone was more assured. “He said he thought it wasn’t him” in the photo, Fairfax said.
The governor did not mention a fact that he would later reveal during the news conference: that he had used shoe polish to darken his face as part of a Michael Jackson costume for a 1984 dance contest.
“That obviously was disturbing as well,” Fairfax said. “I think blackface is always wrong. Whatever context it takes place in, it’s never okay.”
So, his story is that he's not sure if he's one of the people in the picture, and if he is, he isn't sure which one? I mean, if I had dressed up in either blackface or a klan hood and robe, I think I would remember it....
posted by Weeping_angel at 7:04 PM on February 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by Weeping_angel at 7:04 PM on February 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Tells Joe Rogan: Trump Is No Worse Than Obama (Tarpley Hitt, Daily Beast)
"‘Everyone has a right’ to social media, says the head of the website that notoriously tolerates racists, death threats, and trolls."posted by ZeusHumms at 7:20 PM on February 2, 2019 [41 favorites]
I just want one, one politician in a scandal like this to say, I was an evil racist jerk in my twenties and I've fought to put that part of me behind me and build a better world. I might believe him and forgive him.
I sort of thought this was Obama when confronted with Rev. Wright's comments. Not only did Obama handle that in the right way, he turned it into an opportunity for a national discussion about race. That's a class response. Northam's response will probably serve as the case study for how not to handle stuff like this.
posted by xammerboy at 7:39 PM on February 2, 2019 [6 favorites]
I sort of thought this was Obama when confronted with Rev. Wright's comments. Not only did Obama handle that in the right way, he turned it into an opportunity for a national discussion about race. That's a class response. Northam's response will probably serve as the case study for how not to handle stuff like this.
posted by xammerboy at 7:39 PM on February 2, 2019 [6 favorites]
I would disagree that Northam’s response to this was to fully own it and apologize, even before today’s shitshow.
posted by phearlez at 8:14 PM on February 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by phearlez at 8:14 PM on February 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
I sort of thought this was Obama when confronted with Rev. Wright's comments. Not only did Obama handle that in the right way, he turned it into an opportunity for a national discussion about race. That's a class response.
2007 me and 2019 me have very different opinions about the validity and accuracy of Rev. Wright's comments.
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:22 PM on February 2, 2019 [52 favorites]
2007 me and 2019 me have very different opinions about the validity and accuracy of Rev. Wright's comments.
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:22 PM on February 2, 2019 [52 favorites]
the thing governor northam did wrong, to hear him tell it, and apart from the commonplace crass racist displays of before some time in 1984, was to fail, between 1984 and yesterday, to become aware of and quash the yearbook page ("& it was my responsibility to recognize and prevent it from being published in the first place"). he had "nothing to do with the preparation of the yearbook" during his medical school deployments and rotations, although he did submit those other photos on the page bearing his name. he "did not wear that costume or attend that party," he says, having reflected on that racist milieu with his family and classmates of the era.
he is sure he didn't do that one, because he has a very clear recollection of another time he "darkened" his face for a dance contest in san antonio ("you remember these things.") in his telling, he understands now "the harmful legacy of an action like that." he does not indicate that he did learn of the harmful legacy with horrified regret in 1984 between the date of the dance contest and the date of the party.
since that time, the governor has distinguished himself in army, and in pediatrics and in public service. and grown. and changed. 'cept wait: the yearbook page in question notes* his focus on pediatrics then in 1984 and he just offered his army duties as excuse for his inattention to yearbook-oriented affairs.
the governor is "simply asking for the opportunity to demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that the person i was is not the man i am today. i am asking for the opportunity to earn your forgiveness." tho i don't poll in virginia, i think that opportunity could be easily found shoud he resign and run again at a later date, perhaps devoting himself to some significant antiracism work in the mean time.
the governor did another thing wrong, that he regrets. and that is, although his main nickname in high school and college was "goose," and only two older guys ("i know who they are.") called him that other nickname ("i don't know their motives or intent."), it "ended up in the yearbook and i-- i regret that."
so the governor of the commonwealth of virginia regrets failing to prevent material that he had nothing to do with from being published in not one but two yearbooks that he also had nothing to do with, or, subsequently, failing to learn of those yearbooks and cause their expungement. he hopes to make it up to us, to prove that he's learned to suppress potentially offensive or derogatory information.
*the yearbook page also betokens the governor's interest in beer: although he did not angrily exclaim so at the presser, he likes beer.
posted by 20 year lurk at 8:42 PM on February 2, 2019 [11 favorites]
he is sure he didn't do that one, because he has a very clear recollection of another time he "darkened" his face for a dance contest in san antonio ("you remember these things.") in his telling, he understands now "the harmful legacy of an action like that." he does not indicate that he did learn of the harmful legacy with horrified regret in 1984 between the date of the dance contest and the date of the party.
since that time, the governor has distinguished himself in army, and in pediatrics and in public service. and grown. and changed. 'cept wait: the yearbook page in question notes* his focus on pediatrics then in 1984 and he just offered his army duties as excuse for his inattention to yearbook-oriented affairs.
the governor is "simply asking for the opportunity to demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that the person i was is not the man i am today. i am asking for the opportunity to earn your forgiveness." tho i don't poll in virginia, i think that opportunity could be easily found shoud he resign and run again at a later date, perhaps devoting himself to some significant antiracism work in the mean time.
the governor did another thing wrong, that he regrets. and that is, although his main nickname in high school and college was "goose," and only two older guys ("i know who they are.") called him that other nickname ("i don't know their motives or intent."), it "ended up in the yearbook and i-- i regret that."
so the governor of the commonwealth of virginia regrets failing to prevent material that he had nothing to do with from being published in not one but two yearbooks that he also had nothing to do with, or, subsequently, failing to learn of those yearbooks and cause their expungement. he hopes to make it up to us, to prove that he's learned to suppress potentially offensive or derogatory information.
*the yearbook page also betokens the governor's interest in beer: although he did not angrily exclaim so at the presser, he likes beer.
posted by 20 year lurk at 8:42 PM on February 2, 2019 [11 favorites]
You know what's more expensive than thorough vetting of your candidate(s)? Having them elected and, as it turns out, they're awful people in a way which was discoverable, and now your party no longer holds that office.
Maybe do that instead of yet another Email Blast!™
posted by maxwelton at 9:01 PM on February 2, 2019 [20 favorites]
Maybe do that instead of yet another Email Blast!™
posted by maxwelton at 9:01 PM on February 2, 2019 [20 favorites]
A big, gigantic thank you to all those who worked so hard in the run-up to this past November (and the years before!) to get new blood into the Democratic party. Elections have consequences.
Democrats’ tax plans reflect profound shift in public mood
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 9:21 PM on February 2, 2019 [57 favorites]
Democrats’ tax plans reflect profound shift in public mood
The proposals reflect a broad shift in the mood of the Democratic Party and the country more generally, as the recent financial crisis and a distrust of big institutions has fueled a populist surge in both parties. A few years ago, Democrats were shifting to the center amid concerns they had drifted too far left, and emphasizing tax hikes was anathema; now some in the party are happy to call themselves socialists.I can hardly believe the public discourse has shifted so far, in such a short time, that we're actively discussing what amounts to dismantling forty years of Republican attacks on the nation's treasury. It's welfare reform all over again, but this time aimed where it's needed, our subsidizing the hyper-wealthy. The window is moving, and I have little doubt many of my fellow MeFites owe themselves a pat on the back. This American thanks you.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 9:21 PM on February 2, 2019 [57 favorites]
From the article I linked:
The talk mentioned in the quote, posted just a few days ago: Davos 2019: Historian Rutger Bregman berates billionaires at World Economic Forum over tax avoidance
It. Is. Glorious. And the rest of the panel is great too. Well worth a watch.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 9:37 PM on February 2, 2019 [71 favorites]
The shift in worldview, not just in the United States but globally, was reflected in an unusually sharp speech delivered by Dutch author and historian Rutger Bregman at the recent Davos economic conference.Emphasis mine. Seriously, the mood is shifting so far and so quickly the rich were getting lectured at Davos about how they're failing to shoulder their fair share. What I wouldn't have given to watch their expressions as he lectured them on their failures and why they need to pay more taxes.
The talk mentioned in the quote, posted just a few days ago: Davos 2019: Historian Rutger Bregman berates billionaires at World Economic Forum over tax avoidance
It. Is. Glorious. And the rest of the panel is great too. Well worth a watch.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 9:37 PM on February 2, 2019 [71 favorites]
Unless a scandal is impeachable, politicians can pretty much always ride out the scorn and survive in office, at least to the end of their term. It’s hard to imagine how intense all of that pressure feels in the moment, especially for extroverted politician types, but the public’s attention fades pretty quickly.
Remember Arnold Schwarnegger’s mutiple sexual harassment allegations, that he promised to have investigated? Everyone else forgot about them too within a month and he totally blew the whole thing off.
posted by msalt at 11:34 PM on February 2, 2019 [4 favorites]
Remember Arnold Schwarnegger’s mutiple sexual harassment allegations, that he promised to have investigated? Everyone else forgot about them too within a month and he totally blew the whole thing off.
posted by msalt at 11:34 PM on February 2, 2019 [4 favorites]
The Washington Post: Deutsche Bank faces inquiry from congressional committees
Well, that seems reasonable, they were (presumably are?) Trump's bankers, I'm sure that they'd be happy to do the usual little dance about disgraced executives having been moved on and records being lost, we shouldn't expect very much -
posted by Joe in Australia at 12:28 AM on February 3, 2019 [25 favorites]
Well, that seems reasonable, they were (presumably are?) Trump's bankers, I'm sure that they'd be happy to do the usual little dance about disgraced executives having been moved on and records being lost, we shouldn't expect very much -
Asked about the joint investigation by CNBC on Friday, [Representative Maxine] Waters called Deutsche Bank “one of the biggest money laundering banks in the country, or in the world perhaps. And we know that this is the only bank that will lend money to the president of the United States because of his past practices.”Huh. Maybe the gloves really are coming off.
posted by Joe in Australia at 12:28 AM on February 3, 2019 [25 favorites]
WaPo assumes everyone remembers that Congresswoman Maxine Waters serves as Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee. something something reclaiming my financial system...
posted by mikelieman at 12:43 AM on February 3, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by mikelieman at 12:43 AM on February 3, 2019 [8 favorites]
Congresswoman Maxine Waters serves as Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee
She was the ranking member. As of 3 January 2019, she is the chair of that committee.
posted by bonje at 12:57 AM on February 3, 2019 [48 favorites]
She was the ranking member. As of 3 January 2019, she is the chair of that committee.
posted by bonje at 12:57 AM on February 3, 2019 [48 favorites]
One of the dubious silver linings, I suppose, of the Trump era is that it has made it easier for journalists to finally state plainly, as William Saletan does in Slate, that "Ralph Northam is Lying," wherein Saletan incontrovertibly points out that Northam is gaslighting us. His statements simply don't line up, and he's pretending that they do, and hoping we don't notice.
I'm going to assume Northam was in the photo. It's inconceivable to me that a person could be shown a picture of someone in a KKK outfit or blackface and not immediately know whether or not it was them or not. So to me, he's a liar and a coward. He's admitted that he is in some way "responsible for" the photo being "mistakenly" placed in his yearbook and for that sin alone is asking for total absolution, but won't even admit his full sin, like the husband who returns home from cheating on his spouse and profusely begs forgiveness for being really late, and for a coworker's lipstick somehow being innocently on his collar, nothing more. I don't live in Virginia, but I think I would find his dissembling unforgivably untrustworthy, to say nothing of the actual offense.
I think it would've been more honorable for him to stick to his original plan of apologizing and promising to make amends, and letting the people of Virginia honestly decide whether or not they would forgive him. Because in some ways blackface, like a lot of horrifyingly racist things, was not seen quite in the offensive light in 1984 that it is today. I mean, even the medical school presumably vetted their yearbook photos at some point and saw no issue whatsoever with them. Haha, just lads having a goof, what's the harm in that.
I'm old enough to remember the film "Soul Man" coming out in 1986, a comedy about a white kid adopting blackface to get a scholarship. Even the trailer is a total trainwreck of offensiveness in hindsight ("this is the Cosby decade") yet was presumably approved for all audiences. The film, while indeed the subject of controversy and boycott, was less protested because of the blackface and more because of the offensive high concept that a white person, if just able to "pass," would be more qualified for a black targeted Harvard scholarship than any actual black person. A statement by protesting black law students at the time did mention the "Al-Jolson like portrayal" by the titular character but didn't specifically say anything about blackface as being intrinsically beyond the pale, as we would think today (or would we?) I remember seeing the film on HBO with one or two friends a couple years after it came out (all of us were black) and while it was kind of broadly offensive in the way that comedy often is, it wasn't deeply hurtful to watch, just stoopid. In my mind, it wasn't until after Spike Lee's Bamboozled came out in 2000 that mainstream culture began to be reeducated in how blackface was prima facie unforgivably offensive. It's plausible to me that in 1984 that a person not of color might not have even realized it to offensive at all, and just thought it was silly and in good fun. That's not to say that it was ok, or that many people did not find it offensive even then, or that Northam ought to be let off the hook. But speaking for my recollection of that time in history, the shock of seeing that kind of portrayal was not as intense as it is now.
In recent years, cis people are belatedly awakening to the fact that adopting "transface" (a straight actor pretending to be trans) is similarly offensive. Not to say that it hasn't always been hurtful to trans people, but those of us who are not trans are finally seeing the reality of it. Perhaps one day even the concept of dressing in drag by non-queer cisgender people will universally be seen as offensively transface. If that's the case, many of us will have offensive costume party/Halloween etc. photos and videos in our past. And we will have to apologize, atone, and face the consequences for doing so. And if so, let's not northam it. Let's not think we can get away with pretending it's not us in the costumes, or trying to seek forgiveness on our own selfish terms.
posted by xigxag at 1:21 AM on February 3, 2019 [54 favorites]
I'm going to assume Northam was in the photo. It's inconceivable to me that a person could be shown a picture of someone in a KKK outfit or blackface and not immediately know whether or not it was them or not. So to me, he's a liar and a coward. He's admitted that he is in some way "responsible for" the photo being "mistakenly" placed in his yearbook and for that sin alone is asking for total absolution, but won't even admit his full sin, like the husband who returns home from cheating on his spouse and profusely begs forgiveness for being really late, and for a coworker's lipstick somehow being innocently on his collar, nothing more. I don't live in Virginia, but I think I would find his dissembling unforgivably untrustworthy, to say nothing of the actual offense.
I think it would've been more honorable for him to stick to his original plan of apologizing and promising to make amends, and letting the people of Virginia honestly decide whether or not they would forgive him. Because in some ways blackface, like a lot of horrifyingly racist things, was not seen quite in the offensive light in 1984 that it is today. I mean, even the medical school presumably vetted their yearbook photos at some point and saw no issue whatsoever with them. Haha, just lads having a goof, what's the harm in that.
I'm old enough to remember the film "Soul Man" coming out in 1986, a comedy about a white kid adopting blackface to get a scholarship. Even the trailer is a total trainwreck of offensiveness in hindsight ("this is the Cosby decade") yet was presumably approved for all audiences. The film, while indeed the subject of controversy and boycott, was less protested because of the blackface and more because of the offensive high concept that a white person, if just able to "pass," would be more qualified for a black targeted Harvard scholarship than any actual black person. A statement by protesting black law students at the time did mention the "Al-Jolson like portrayal" by the titular character but didn't specifically say anything about blackface as being intrinsically beyond the pale, as we would think today (or would we?) I remember seeing the film on HBO with one or two friends a couple years after it came out (all of us were black) and while it was kind of broadly offensive in the way that comedy often is, it wasn't deeply hurtful to watch, just stoopid. In my mind, it wasn't until after Spike Lee's Bamboozled came out in 2000 that mainstream culture began to be reeducated in how blackface was prima facie unforgivably offensive. It's plausible to me that in 1984 that a person not of color might not have even realized it to offensive at all, and just thought it was silly and in good fun. That's not to say that it was ok, or that many people did not find it offensive even then, or that Northam ought to be let off the hook. But speaking for my recollection of that time in history, the shock of seeing that kind of portrayal was not as intense as it is now.
In recent years, cis people are belatedly awakening to the fact that adopting "transface" (a straight actor pretending to be trans) is similarly offensive. Not to say that it hasn't always been hurtful to trans people, but those of us who are not trans are finally seeing the reality of it. Perhaps one day even the concept of dressing in drag by non-queer cisgender people will universally be seen as offensively transface. If that's the case, many of us will have offensive costume party/Halloween etc. photos and videos in our past. And we will have to apologize, atone, and face the consequences for doing so. And if so, let's not northam it. Let's not think we can get away with pretending it's not us in the costumes, or trying to seek forgiveness on our own selfish terms.
posted by xigxag at 1:21 AM on February 3, 2019 [54 favorites]
She was the ranking member. As of 3 January 2019, she is the chair of that committee. (wikipedia link)
I copy/pasted from the her official House website. Damned shutdown, freaking wikipedia is more accurate than our official sources.
posted by mikelieman at 2:06 AM on February 3, 2019 [4 favorites]
I copy/pasted from the her official House website. Damned shutdown, freaking wikipedia is more accurate than our official sources.
posted by mikelieman at 2:06 AM on February 3, 2019 [4 favorites]
Virtually every Democrat in Virginia elective office has called for Northam's resignation. He can no longer effectively govern.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:05 AM on February 3, 2019 [24 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 6:05 AM on February 3, 2019 [24 favorites]
Northam voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004. He says that he was "politically underinformed."
Maybe you get a pass for voting for Bush once, but again in 2004 after seeing the disaster of his first term? Northam was a major in the army. He saw what Bush did to Kerry's military service reputation yet voted for Bush a second time.
Maybe Democrats should stop nominating Republicans for office.
posted by JackFlash at 6:24 AM on February 3, 2019 [97 favorites]
Maybe you get a pass for voting for Bush once, but again in 2004 after seeing the disaster of his first term? Northam was a major in the army. He saw what Bush did to Kerry's military service reputation yet voted for Bush a second time.
Maybe Democrats should stop nominating Republicans for office.
posted by JackFlash at 6:24 AM on February 3, 2019 [97 favorites]
On xigxag’s point of how society has shifted: Ted Danson and Whoopie Goldberg did their blackface stunt 9 years later, in 1993. While it backfired, they both still have careers. “Pimps and hos” was seen as a hilarious gag through the 1990s, which still bugs me and may destroy some political careers when party photos emerge later.
As for Northam, not only did he vote for Bush twice but apparently he’s been involved in some heavy-handed environmental racism pushing through a gas compressor station in a poor, 85% Black neighborhood (Union Hill).
posted by msalt at 7:20 AM on February 3, 2019 [5 favorites]
As for Northam, not only did he vote for Bush twice but apparently he’s been involved in some heavy-handed environmental racism pushing through a gas compressor station in a poor, 85% Black neighborhood (Union Hill).
posted by msalt at 7:20 AM on February 3, 2019 [5 favorites]
The new revelations about Northam cast his decision to leave Fairfax off of a campaign flyer, ostensibly to accommodate a power company union in favor of those same pipelines, in a whole new light.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:23 AM on February 3, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:23 AM on February 3, 2019 [6 favorites]
xigxag: In recent years, cis people are belatedly awakening to the fact that adopting "transface" (a straight actor pretending to be trans) is similarly offensive.
Another one that mysteriously persists is "yellowface". It's often as mild as casting one or more white actors in an originally Asian setting and role and just sort of eliding any resulting conflicts (a bit like the convention of characters speaking English when they are "really" speaking something else). But the especially egregious kind, with actual makeup applied and/or accents used, still happens plenty. Like, there was an SNL skit within just the last several years about Americans giving an Apple product bad reviews before being surprise-confronted by the Chinese factory workers who made them... and only some of the actors playing those workers were Asian at all.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 7:25 AM on February 3, 2019 [10 favorites]
Another one that mysteriously persists is "yellowface". It's often as mild as casting one or more white actors in an originally Asian setting and role and just sort of eliding any resulting conflicts (a bit like the convention of characters speaking English when they are "really" speaking something else). But the especially egregious kind, with actual makeup applied and/or accents used, still happens plenty. Like, there was an SNL skit within just the last several years about Americans giving an Apple product bad reviews before being surprise-confronted by the Chinese factory workers who made them... and only some of the actors playing those workers were Asian at all.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 7:25 AM on February 3, 2019 [10 favorites]
Maybe Democrats should stop nominating Republicans for office.
I should probably clarify that. National Dems supported Perriello for governor -- Obama and Clinton. It was in-state Dems who endorsed Northam -- Tim Kaine, Mark Warner, Terry McAuliffe, and the state legislative caucus.
The point still stands. Democrats should stop nominating conservatives in a concession to the right.
posted by JackFlash at 8:13 AM on February 3, 2019 [12 favorites]
I should probably clarify that. National Dems supported Perriello for governor -- Obama and Clinton. It was in-state Dems who endorsed Northam -- Tim Kaine, Mark Warner, Terry McAuliffe, and the state legislative caucus.
The point still stands. Democrats should stop nominating conservatives in a concession to the right.
posted by JackFlash at 8:13 AM on February 3, 2019 [12 favorites]
In quiet political tides changing news : Colorado has become the latest state to getting close to passing a National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, a kind of workaround to the Electoral College. Ah, by passing the increasingly undemocratic Senate, a fine American tradition.
posted by The Whelk at 8:26 AM on February 3, 2019 [18 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 8:26 AM on February 3, 2019 [18 favorites]
Democrats should stop nominating conservatives in a concession to the right.
Was the support of the VA Democrats a concession or because their beliefs genuinely leaned more towards Northam's? Because if it's the latter, then the left needs to do a better job of (A) articulating to voters why a more left-wing position is preferable and (B) empowering its supporters to vote. I think too often we blame losses on some shadowy cabal within our own parties rather than face the fact that the problem is deeper than that: we get less-than-ideal (to say the least) politicians partly because of the lack of support in some groups, and partly because the people who would support more leftist positions are disempowered.
posted by Anonymous at 8:27 AM on February 3, 2019
Was the support of the VA Democrats a concession or because their beliefs genuinely leaned more towards Northam's? Because if it's the latter, then the left needs to do a better job of (A) articulating to voters why a more left-wing position is preferable and (B) empowering its supporters to vote. I think too often we blame losses on some shadowy cabal within our own parties rather than face the fact that the problem is deeper than that: we get less-than-ideal (to say the least) politicians partly because of the lack of support in some groups, and partly because the people who would support more leftist positions are disempowered.
posted by Anonymous at 8:27 AM on February 3, 2019
Undocumented worker fired from Trump golf club to attend State of the Union
Victorina Morales, who was reportedly fired after disclosing her immigration status, plans to attend as a guest of Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J.
posted by scalefree at 8:28 AM on February 3, 2019 [18 favorites]
Victorina Morales, who was reportedly fired after disclosing her immigration status, plans to attend as a guest of Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J.
posted by scalefree at 8:28 AM on February 3, 2019 [18 favorites]
The Whelk: Ah, by passing the increasingly undemocratic Senate, a fine American tradition.
I can parse two totally-opposite meanings of this, and can't tell which is likelier. Do you mean the compact is on the verge of passing Coloradio's state senate, or that the compact's state-by-state means of becoming a reality is "bypassing" the United States Senate (and its role in the Constitutional amendment process)?
posted by InTheYear2017 at 8:35 AM on February 3, 2019
I can parse two totally-opposite meanings of this, and can't tell which is likelier. Do you mean the compact is on the verge of passing Coloradio's state senate, or that the compact's state-by-state means of becoming a reality is "bypassing" the United States Senate (and its role in the Constitutional amendment process)?
posted by InTheYear2017 at 8:35 AM on February 3, 2019
The latter.
posted by The Whelk at 8:44 AM on February 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 8:44 AM on February 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is a such a great idea but I don't get the feeling that anybody actually believes it will happen--i.e. conservatives don't seem to be dumping money into fighting it. It would be such a massive shift in US elections.
posted by ropeladder at 8:45 AM on February 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by ropeladder at 8:45 AM on February 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
This is what a Department of Swagger looks like, Palestinians refuse to meet with Trump’s adviser, so he’s tweeting them (WaPo).
posted by peeedro at 8:46 AM on February 3, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by peeedro at 8:46 AM on February 3, 2019 [10 favorites]
I’m stunned at how Northam could win multiple elections in the last decade without anyone noticing a 1984 blackface and KKK yearbook photo, until the white guy (natch) has been a sitting governor for a year.
Just don’t get how something like that goes unnoticed and unmentioned for this long, but also I can fully appreciate how there’s perhaps been some perfect VA-specific storm scenario of Northam’s overt, photographed racism not being useful against him as oppo research in that specific VA context. But still. Dang.
And, and! This is the 2nd blackface story in as many weeks involving a white politician: FL Sec’y of State Michael Ertel did it, too. In 2005. And this past Halloween, Megan Kelly was rightly shitcanned for supporting the practice.
Why aren’t these white fragility fuckers ashamed and embarrassed?? I mean, I have a working theory that when MAGA-heads speak of the old America that was once Great but no more they are referring to the halcyon days of yore in 2005 and 1984 when privileged white men could publicly wear blackface without an ounce of remorse about it.
posted by edithkeeler at 8:57 AM on February 3, 2019 [8 favorites]
Just don’t get how something like that goes unnoticed and unmentioned for this long, but also I can fully appreciate how there’s perhaps been some perfect VA-specific storm scenario of Northam’s overt, photographed racism not being useful against him as oppo research in that specific VA context. But still. Dang.
And, and! This is the 2nd blackface story in as many weeks involving a white politician: FL Sec’y of State Michael Ertel did it, too. In 2005. And this past Halloween, Megan Kelly was rightly shitcanned for supporting the practice.
Why aren’t these white fragility fuckers ashamed and embarrassed?? I mean, I have a working theory that when MAGA-heads speak of the old America that was once Great but no more they are referring to the halcyon days of yore in 2005 and 1984 when privileged white men could publicly wear blackface without an ounce of remorse about it.
posted by edithkeeler at 8:57 AM on February 3, 2019 [8 favorites]
T.D. Strange, I cannot access that link from Europe. Can you explain briefly?
posted by Bella Donna at 9:05 AM on February 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Bella Donna at 9:05 AM on February 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
Not TD Strange, but their link works for me. Apparently Northam left a photo of his running mate, a black man, off of some of his flyers. He says it’s because a union endorsed him but not Fairfax.
posted by Weeping_angel at 9:52 AM on February 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Weeping_angel at 9:52 AM on February 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
In recent years, cis people are belatedly awakening to the fact that adopting "transface" (a straight actor pretending to be trans) is similarly offensive. Not to say that it hasn't always been hurtful to trans people, but those of us who are not trans are finally seeing the reality of it.
Hi, I'm a (white) trans person who's really quite uncomfortable with this comparison and hope that cis people of Metafilter do not walk away with this lesson. Casting trans characters is hard, and there are many, many, many ways to cast a cis person as a trans character and have it be offensive, particularly when it comes to cis men playing trans women, especially when they inevitably win an award for it. However, saying it is categorically offensive to have a cis person play a trans character (never mind saying it's on par with blackface in terms of offensiveness) just casts us as some weird "other" that is so strange we can't possibly be portrayed by cis people. I feel comfortable stating categorically that you should not be considering only cis actors for trans characters, but that's a much milder statement.
posted by hoyland at 10:22 AM on February 3, 2019 [62 favorites]
Hi, I'm a (white) trans person who's really quite uncomfortable with this comparison and hope that cis people of Metafilter do not walk away with this lesson. Casting trans characters is hard, and there are many, many, many ways to cast a cis person as a trans character and have it be offensive, particularly when it comes to cis men playing trans women, especially when they inevitably win an award for it. However, saying it is categorically offensive to have a cis person play a trans character (never mind saying it's on par with blackface in terms of offensiveness) just casts us as some weird "other" that is so strange we can't possibly be portrayed by cis people. I feel comfortable stating categorically that you should not be considering only cis actors for trans characters, but that's a much milder statement.
posted by hoyland at 10:22 AM on February 3, 2019 [62 favorites]
The Northam thing really validated the "vote for the leftmost viable candidate" strategy. Like all the other DC-suburb middle-aged moderates in VA, I was going to vote for Northam in the primary because I thought he had the best chance to beat the Republican. Then I talked to a 20-something guy putting up Perriello signs who persuaded me that my demographic was going to vote for whoever had a (D) by their name. So I might as well vote for Perriello, who I actually liked, instead of Northam, who was an adequate place holder. I cannot tell you how happy I am to say I voted for Perriello in the primary.
posted by selfmedicating at 10:48 AM on February 3, 2019 [16 favorites]
posted by selfmedicating at 10:48 AM on February 3, 2019 [16 favorites]
Not something I can summarize or pull quotes from.
Transcript: President Trump on "Face the Nation," February 3, 2019
posted by scalefree at 11:17 AM on February 3, 2019 [13 favorites]
Transcript: President Trump on "Face the Nation," February 3, 2019
posted by scalefree at 11:17 AM on February 3, 2019 [13 favorites]
AP has further news about the Nastya Rybka-Deripaska affair: Belarusian model: I gave info on Trump to Russian tycoon
[Rybka (AKA Anastasia Vashukevich)] told the AP in an interview Friday that, contrary to earlier reports that she had destroyed the recordings, she had given them to Deripaska because it “relates to him” and that she “did not want any more trouble.”[…]posted by Doktor Zed at 11:25 AM on February 3, 2019 [6 favorites]
When pressed Friday by the AP about her previous claims, Vashukevich said she had emailed “everything I had” to Deripaska and dodged a question of whether she kept a copy for herself.
“Oleg (Deripaska) has it all. If he wants to make any of it public, if he thinks that it’s a good idea, he can do it himself,” she said.[…]
When asked Friday if the reports proving the Russian interference in the U.S. elections included recordings of Waldman, Prikhodko and Deripaska, the Belarusian woman said: “I didn’t tell you that.”
Why aren’t these white fragility fuckers ashamed and embarrassed??
Because no matter how you slice it, white fragility fuckers want to believe that people who aren’t white “Christian” males are not quite human to them. We don’t have feelings or rights that such people want to respect. If they had to respect us, there’s a lot of what they have and do now that they’d have to re-evaluate and let go of, and they can’t. They’re much too addicted to their feelings of superiority, false as their beliefs are.
posted by droplet at 11:28 AM on February 3, 2019 [14 favorites]
Because no matter how you slice it, white fragility fuckers want to believe that people who aren’t white “Christian” males are not quite human to them. We don’t have feelings or rights that such people want to respect. If they had to respect us, there’s a lot of what they have and do now that they’d have to re-evaluate and let go of, and they can’t. They’re much too addicted to their feelings of superiority, false as their beliefs are.
posted by droplet at 11:28 AM on February 3, 2019 [14 favorites]
Why won’t anyone ask what information Trump has that the intelligence agencies don’t have that explains why he disagrees with them? Follow up question: why are you hiding information from your own intelligence agencies?
posted by kerf at 11:44 AM on February 3, 2019 [20 favorites]
posted by kerf at 11:44 AM on February 3, 2019 [20 favorites]
Axios: Scoop: Insider leaks Trump's "Executive Time"-filled private schedules
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:46 AM on February 3, 2019 [35 favorites]
A White House source has leaked nearly every day of President Trump's private schedule for the past three months.Axios has published the full schedules, which run from November 7 to February 1, here. The takeaway is that Trump doesn’t want people to know when he’s up to something or when he’s only goofing off.
This unusually voluminous leak gives us unprecedented visibility into how this president spends his days. The schedules, which cover nearly every working day since the midterms, show that Trump has spent around 60% of his scheduled time over the past 3 months in unstructured "Executive Time."[…]
Since Nov. 7, the day after the midterm elections, Trump has spent around 297 hours in Executive Time, according to the 51 private schedules we've obtained. For those same schedules, Trump has had about 77 hours scheduled for meetings that include policy planning, legislative strategy and video recordings.
Some days, Executive Time totally predominates. For instance, he had 1 hour of scheduled meetings on Jan. 18 (with acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin) and 7 hours of Executive Time.[…]
The president sometimes has meetings during Executive Time that he doesn't want most West Wing staff to know about for fear of leaks. And his mornings sometimes include calls with heads of state, political meetings and meetings with counsel in the residence, which aren't captured on these schedules.
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:46 AM on February 3, 2019 [35 favorites]
I see two possibilities here:
1) He's neglecting his duties as president because he's preoccupied with his legal troubles, in which case he's clearly unable to do the job and should be removed from office;
2) He's not well, whether mentally or physically, in which case he's clearly unable to etc. etc.
The two things aren't necessarily unrelated.
posted by Buck Alec at 12:05 PM on February 3, 2019 [16 favorites]
1) He's neglecting his duties as president because he's preoccupied with his legal troubles, in which case he's clearly unable to do the job and should be removed from office;
2) He's not well, whether mentally or physically, in which case he's clearly unable to etc. etc.
The two things aren't necessarily unrelated.
posted by Buck Alec at 12:05 PM on February 3, 2019 [16 favorites]
This Russian oligarch is being Directly paid-off by the President of the United States to in order to keep damaging information about the President from being revealed.
Potential information that the FBI was prevented from obtaining when the Thai authorities blocked investigators from meeting with Rybka last March.
And in an interview earlier last week with CNN, she told them, "I had some talk when I was in Russian jail, and they explained to me very clear(ly) what should I do, what should I say and what I shouldn't say." (“Asked who explained that to her, Vashukevich said "Russian agents," adding, "They said to me, 'Don't touch Oleg Deripaska anymore.'"”)
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:17 PM on February 3, 2019 [4 favorites]
Potential information that the FBI was prevented from obtaining when the Thai authorities blocked investigators from meeting with Rybka last March.
And in an interview earlier last week with CNN, she told them, "I had some talk when I was in Russian jail, and they explained to me very clear(ly) what should I do, what should I say and what I shouldn't say." (“Asked who explained that to her, Vashukevich said "Russian agents," adding, "They said to me, 'Don't touch Oleg Deripaska anymore.'"”)
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:17 PM on February 3, 2019 [4 favorites]
Not something I can summarize or pull quotes from.
Transcript: President Trump on "Face the Nation," February 3, 2019
WaPo: Trump refuses to comment on whether Mueller report should be made public
Transcript: President Trump on "Face the Nation," February 3, 2019
WaPo: Trump refuses to comment on whether Mueller report should be made public
The president’s comments on the investigation, which the acting attorney general said is wrapping up soon, came in a wide-ranging interview with CBS News. Among the highlights of the interview: The president said he is keeping another government shutdown on the table, outlined disagreements with top intelligence officials, argued that keeping troops in Iraq is vital to watching Iran, contended that having a Cabinet packed with interim secretaries is a plus for his administration and again attacked former defense secretary Jim Mattis by falsely saying he forced him to resign.posted by Little Dawn at 12:23 PM on February 3, 2019 [4 favorites]
Since Nov. 7, the day after the midterm elections = about 3 months, or 90 days
Trump has had about 77 hours scheduled for meetings =less than an hour a day on average
Am I reading this right? Trump, on average, has spent less than an hour a day in officially scheduled meetings while President? I've had jobs that are not meeting oriented at all (e.g. waiting tables, grounds keeping, whatever) where you still attended a group or supervisor meeting of some kind for longer than that on average. If I'm reading that right, I'm gobsmacked.
posted by xammerboy at 12:44 PM on February 3, 2019 [13 favorites]
Trump has had about 77 hours scheduled for meetings =less than an hour a day on average
Am I reading this right? Trump, on average, has spent less than an hour a day in officially scheduled meetings while President? I've had jobs that are not meeting oriented at all (e.g. waiting tables, grounds keeping, whatever) where you still attended a group or supervisor meeting of some kind for longer than that on average. If I'm reading that right, I'm gobsmacked.
posted by xammerboy at 12:44 PM on February 3, 2019 [13 favorites]
Axios has published the full schedules, which run from November 7 to February 1, here.
One thing that stands out to me is how short the substantive meetings are. Some of the lunches and general meetings are a half hour or more, but "meeting with stakeholders on the First Step Act" is 15 minutes (surrounded by hours of executive time), "policy time" is usually 15-30 minutes at a go, almost nothing besides lunch is longer than a half an hour. He's entirely unwilling or able to have an in-depth meeting on any topic.
posted by zachlipton at 12:48 PM on February 3, 2019 [24 favorites]
One thing that stands out to me is how short the substantive meetings are. Some of the lunches and general meetings are a half hour or more, but "meeting with stakeholders on the First Step Act" is 15 minutes (surrounded by hours of executive time), "policy time" is usually 15-30 minutes at a go, almost nothing besides lunch is longer than a half an hour. He's entirely unwilling or able to have an in-depth meeting on any topic.
posted by zachlipton at 12:48 PM on February 3, 2019 [24 favorites]
Finding all migrant children separated from their families may be impossible, feds say
The Trump administration said in a court filing that reuniting thousands of migrant children separated from their parents or guardians at the U.S.-Mexico border may not be "within the realm of the possible."
"Oopsie-doodle, looks like we committed some crimes against humanity, that's why pencils have erasers"
posted by Rust Moranis at 1:09 PM on February 3, 2019 [53 favorites]
The Trump administration said in a court filing that reuniting thousands of migrant children separated from their parents or guardians at the U.S.-Mexico border may not be "within the realm of the possible."
"Oopsie-doodle, looks like we committed some crimes against humanity, that's why pencils have erasers"
posted by Rust Moranis at 1:09 PM on February 3, 2019 [53 favorites]
Or he’s unwilling to commit on the record to having done so.
Meetings are structured gatherings with a defined topic or agenda. Phone calls chatting about whatever (meaning mainly him) with his buddies are not meetings. But other than that you're right, he'd want as little transparency & oversight into who he talks with in his unofficial calls.
posted by scalefree at 1:13 PM on February 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
Meetings are structured gatherings with a defined topic or agenda. Phone calls chatting about whatever (meaning mainly him) with his buddies are not meetings. But other than that you're right, he'd want as little transparency & oversight into who he talks with in his unofficial calls.
posted by scalefree at 1:13 PM on February 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
Anybody know how this official calendar compares with other holders of the office? Were they any more transparent?
One of the reasons until now the Presidency stereotypically ages people is that it is an exhausting job. If you look at old calendars sometimes they have the President scheduled down to the minute. It's pretty unique for a Presidential calendar to just have huge empty chunks of time.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 1:19 PM on February 3, 2019 [29 favorites]
One of the reasons until now the Presidency stereotypically ages people is that it is an exhausting job. If you look at old calendars sometimes they have the President scheduled down to the minute. It's pretty unique for a Presidential calendar to just have huge empty chunks of time.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 1:19 PM on February 3, 2019 [29 favorites]
Anybody know how this official calendar compares with other holders of the office? Were they any more transparent?
How Trump's schedule compares to past presidents
How Trump's schedule compares to past presidents
To put our new reporting on his schedules in context, we spoke with former top aides to presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.posted by kirkaracha at 1:37 PM on February 3, 2019 [18 favorites]
The big picture: The difference between Trump and his recent predecessors is eye-popping.
If you look at old calendars sometimes they have the President scheduled down to the minute.
Bush 43 was assiduously punctual. His schedulers broke his days into 10-minute increments, with the first meeting around 8:15 a.m., according to the former aide.posted by kirkaracha at 1:39 PM on February 3, 2019 [13 favorites]
In summation: yes, presidents used to actually work, even bad ones, and that we find this fact worthy of discussion indicates exactly how far into the hell-dimension we have now travelled.
posted by Rust Moranis at 1:43 PM on February 3, 2019 [96 favorites]
posted by Rust Moranis at 1:43 PM on February 3, 2019 [96 favorites]
One of the reasons until now the Presidency stereotypically ages people is that it is an exhausting job.
One of my lasting memories of Obama is seeing photos and videos of him shortly after he’d taken office, typically with dark circles under his eyes. New to the presidency and a historic economic crisis, I can only imagine what the shock to his system was like. Campaigning is hard work, but then you step in as president and the job has tons of things that need to be done now, need answers now, and it’s a never ending list. But he figured it out. As much as I disliked Dubya, he figured it out and was capable of acting presidential. Trump is doing as little as possible to get by and just allowing evil people to run wild to handle everything else.
posted by azpenguin at 1:54 PM on February 3, 2019 [9 favorites]
One of my lasting memories of Obama is seeing photos and videos of him shortly after he’d taken office, typically with dark circles under his eyes. New to the presidency and a historic economic crisis, I can only imagine what the shock to his system was like. Campaigning is hard work, but then you step in as president and the job has tons of things that need to be done now, need answers now, and it’s a never ending list. But he figured it out. As much as I disliked Dubya, he figured it out and was capable of acting presidential. Trump is doing as little as possible to get by and just allowing evil people to run wild to handle everything else.
posted by azpenguin at 1:54 PM on February 3, 2019 [9 favorites]
Trump is the most important person in the world. That's sort of true now but to him it's always been true. As the most important person what's most important to him is what others are saying about him. So the majority of his time is spent watching TV news so he can catch every appearance of himself & every comment on himself. Narcissist? He's Narcissus himself, staring into a 21st century mirror.
posted by scalefree at 2:14 PM on February 3, 2019 [24 favorites]
posted by scalefree at 2:14 PM on February 3, 2019 [24 favorites]
It bears repeating that not only is Trump not working as hard as his predecessors but he has explicitly disparaged them, especially (but probably not coincidentally) President Obama.
Without evidence and with little credibility on the topic, President Trump nevertheless had the temerity to claim to White House guests that President Obama used to watch basketball all day in the private dining room off the Oval Office.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:23 PM on February 3, 2019 [5 favorites]
Without evidence and with little credibility on the topic, President Trump nevertheless had the temerity to claim to White House guests that President Obama used to watch basketball all day in the private dining room off the Oval Office.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:23 PM on February 3, 2019 [5 favorites]
Regarding reuniting the immigrant children with their families: I can’t decide whether I believe the Trump administration is too stupid to remember that DNA profiling exists, or is so evil that they intended from the start to induce a situation where every beleaguered immigrant volunteers to be DNA profiled.
posted by Sublimity at 3:08 PM on February 3, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by Sublimity at 3:08 PM on February 3, 2019 [6 favorites]
Am I the only one who thinks the thing where we look at pictures of a President at their first inauguration and then near the end of their second terms and say "Oh look how much the Presidency ages you!" is vastly overstated? Yes, you see a big difference in such photos. But if you look at a photograph at someone age 58 and someone age 66 you'll tend to see those differences.
How many of us have been surprised at how much a parent appears to age in just a few short years if we don't see them regularly? And I assume most of them aren't Presidents.
posted by Justinian at 3:19 PM on February 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
How many of us have been surprised at how much a parent appears to age in just a few short years if we don't see them regularly? And I assume most of them aren't Presidents.
posted by Justinian at 3:19 PM on February 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
Regarding reuniting the immigrant children with their families
From the Guardian: Trump policy to deter asylum seekers is illegal, says Amnesty director
From the Guardian: Trump policy to deter asylum seekers is illegal, says Amnesty director
Huang cited a memo from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that was leaked last month showing the intent of the Trump administration to traumatize migrant children and parents to deter migrants coming to the US. Huang said the newest policy appeared to be an extension of previous efforts to shortcut all legal avenues for migrants to come into the country.posted by Little Dawn at 3:20 PM on February 3, 2019 [10 favorites]
“It really is throwing the entire system into chaos. It feels like the US government is saying: ‘Lets make things as complicated as confusing as possible so we deter people from coming and if they try, we’ll make it so hard for them and make them feel miserable,’,” Huang said.
I can’t decide whether I believe the Trump administration is too stupid to remember that DNA profiling exists, or is so evil that they intended from the start to induce a situation where every beleaguered immigrant volunteers to be DNA profiled.
Don't give them so much credit either way: they wanted to separate the children and didn't care at all if they were ever reunited. That's why there's no system at all.
posted by suelac at 3:21 PM on February 3, 2019 [41 favorites]
Don't give them so much credit either way: they wanted to separate the children and didn't care at all if they were ever reunited. That's why there's no system at all.
posted by suelac at 3:21 PM on February 3, 2019 [41 favorites]
One of my lasting memories of Obama is seeing photos and videos of him shortly after he’d taken office, typically with dark circles under his eyes.
Not to mention how freaking revitalized the guy looks now that he is out of the office.
posted by srboisvert at 3:23 PM on February 3, 2019 [24 favorites]
Not to mention how freaking revitalized the guy looks now that he is out of the office.
posted by srboisvert at 3:23 PM on February 3, 2019 [24 favorites]
I completely understand the outrage at Individual - 1's lack of attention as indicated by his official schedule. But is there really anything surprising in this? I mean that jerk doesn't want to be president except for the graft, publicity and the $ on the horizon when he's out of office.
posted by bluesky43 at 4:50 PM on February 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by bluesky43 at 4:50 PM on February 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
think it's wonderful that Trump's not jam-packing his days in the White House. i shudder to imagine him being driven and effective. let's hope he spends every single day from here on out tweeting and watching tv. that's horrible, but it's so much LESS horrible then a busy, meddling shit-midas trump.
posted by wires at 5:13 PM on February 3, 2019 [36 favorites]
posted by wires at 5:13 PM on February 3, 2019 [36 favorites]
Trump's scheduler thinks it's not nice to leak schedules
posted by growabrain at 5:44 PM on February 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by growabrain at 5:44 PM on February 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
UnLike 99.99% of America, I'm not watching the Super Bowel because football. But this tweet, relevant to the current state of our politics, and apparently the current state of the Super Bowl made me laugh out loud.
@TheDweck
These teams are playing like they know whoever wins goes to the White House
9:03 PM - 3 Feb 2019
posted by bluesky43 at 6:10 PM on February 3, 2019 [81 favorites]
@TheDweck
These teams are playing like they know whoever wins goes to the White House
9:03 PM - 3 Feb 2019
posted by bluesky43 at 6:10 PM on February 3, 2019 [81 favorites]
Trump's scheduler thinks it's not nice to leak schedules
It's worse than that. It includes the mandatory lazy Obama dog whistle:
What a disgraceful breach of trust to leak schedules. What these don’t show are the hundreds of calls and meetings @realDonaldTrump takes everyday. This POTUS is working harder for the American people than anyone in recent history.
My response to this: Prove it. Release the details of these purported calls and meetings. Other presidents did.
posted by srboisvert at 6:18 PM on February 3, 2019 [45 favorites]
It's worse than that. It includes the mandatory lazy Obama dog whistle:
What a disgraceful breach of trust to leak schedules. What these don’t show are the hundreds of calls and meetings @realDonaldTrump takes everyday. This POTUS is working harder for the American people than anyone in recent history.
My response to this: Prove it. Release the details of these purported calls and meetings. Other presidents did.
posted by srboisvert at 6:18 PM on February 3, 2019 [45 favorites]
News You May Have Missed for this week.
posted by joannemerriam at 6:27 PM on February 3, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by joannemerriam at 6:27 PM on February 3, 2019 [4 favorites]
Trump's scheduler thinks it's not nice to leak schedules
So Trump’s keeping an unbelievable “hundreds of calls and meetings” off the record on a daily basis and/or Madeleine Westerhout is a very bad liar covering for a lazy boss.
The other factor in this scoop how it reflects the breakdown in discipline at the Trump White House. Whoever leaked these schedules to Axios wanted to embarrass Trump, even if only by confirming what everyone suspected about his work habits—and raising the question of concealed meetings and calls and violating the Presidential Records Act. They probably also wanted to shiv Mulvaney, who’ll be blamed for letting this leak occur.
Meanwhile, today the Gray Lady scored a journalistic coup by investigating Trump’s tan. “Mr. Trump’s glow is the result of “good genes,” according to a senior administration official who would speak only on the condition of anonymity.”
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:49 PM on February 3, 2019 [8 favorites]
So Trump’s keeping an unbelievable “hundreds of calls and meetings” off the record on a daily basis and/or Madeleine Westerhout is a very bad liar covering for a lazy boss.
The other factor in this scoop how it reflects the breakdown in discipline at the Trump White House. Whoever leaked these schedules to Axios wanted to embarrass Trump, even if only by confirming what everyone suspected about his work habits—and raising the question of concealed meetings and calls and violating the Presidential Records Act. They probably also wanted to shiv Mulvaney, who’ll be blamed for letting this leak occur.
Meanwhile, today the Gray Lady scored a journalistic coup by investigating Trump’s tan. “Mr. Trump’s glow is the result of “good genes,” according to a senior administration official who would speak only on the condition of anonymity.”
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:49 PM on February 3, 2019 [8 favorites]
If Trump were really taking these calls and meetings, a failure to record them would be a breach of good governance, and maybe even illegal. We know he isn't really engaged in actual Presidential business, of course, but I wish someone would ask the scheduler about her compliance with the Presidential Records Act.
posted by Joe in Australia at 7:11 PM on February 3, 2019 [44 favorites]
posted by Joe in Australia at 7:11 PM on February 3, 2019 [44 favorites]
That Trump tan thing is weirdly analogous to , er , Hitler's physical non-conforming to the Aryan Ideal that he peddled.
Trump stirring up white identify while he chooses to darken his skin is sooo 2018. I'm hoping, but not optimistic, that 2019 might bring something new. *edit: especially with the "good genes" thing
posted by porpoise at 7:27 PM on February 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
Trump stirring up white identify while he chooses to darken his skin is sooo 2018. I'm hoping, but not optimistic, that 2019 might bring something new. *edit: especially with the "good genes" thing
posted by porpoise at 7:27 PM on February 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
Trump was pasty in his youth, in keeping with his German-Scottish ancestry.
By the by, JFK's tan was caused by Addison's disease.
posted by Iris Gambol at 7:47 PM on February 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
By the by, JFK's tan was caused by Addison's disease.
posted by Iris Gambol at 7:47 PM on February 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
growabrain: Trump's scheduler thinks it's not nice to leak schedules
srboisvert: It's worse than that. It includes the mandatory lazy Obama dog whistle:
What a disgraceful breach of trust to leak schedules. What these don’t show are the hundreds of calls and meetings @realDonaldTrump takes everyday. This POTUS is working harder for the American people than anyone in recent history.
Words matter: why does the President of the United States have so much vague "executive time," which was so widely mocked last year (Vanity Fair coverage, for one example on Jan. 8, 2018), and he "takes" calls and meetings instead of setting them? I don't recall seeing "give yourself plenty of time to answer unsolicited phone calls and hae mein any list of How To Excel As A Manager type listicles and books.
In an NPR article titled More Democrats Press Va. Gov. Ralph Northam To Resign, they also collect anecdotes and support of Northam from colleagues and fellow Eastern Virginia Medical School alums who vouch for him and their school as a progressive place, and even if he did that then, that's not who he is now, before citing more nationally recognized Democrats, including Eric Holder and Hillary Clinton, who are calling for Northam to resign.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:20 PM on February 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
srboisvert: It's worse than that. It includes the mandatory lazy Obama dog whistle:
What a disgraceful breach of trust to leak schedules. What these don’t show are the hundreds of calls and meetings @realDonaldTrump takes everyday. This POTUS is working harder for the American people than anyone in recent history.
Words matter: why does the President of the United States have so much vague "executive time," which was so widely mocked last year (Vanity Fair coverage, for one example on Jan. 8, 2018), and he "takes" calls and meetings instead of setting them? I don't recall seeing "give yourself plenty of time to answer unsolicited phone calls and hae mein any list of How To Excel As A Manager type listicles and books.
In an NPR article titled More Democrats Press Va. Gov. Ralph Northam To Resign, they also collect anecdotes and support of Northam from colleagues and fellow Eastern Virginia Medical School alums who vouch for him and their school as a progressive place, and even if he did that then, that's not who he is now, before citing more nationally recognized Democrats, including Eric Holder and Hillary Clinton, who are calling for Northam to resign.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:20 PM on February 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
Trump's scheduler thinks it's not nice to leak schedules
And of course, Trump's scheduler has even less to do than Trump.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 8:30 PM on February 3, 2019 [6 favorites]
And of course, Trump's scheduler has even less to do than Trump.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 8:30 PM on February 3, 2019 [6 favorites]
and he “takes" calls and meetings instead of setting them
In all fairness, I read this as the NYC regionalism “taking a meeting” to mean generically “having a meeting” (see also “taking a shave”). Doesn’t necessarily mean he didn’t set them up. So I don’t think I’d actually read much into that.
posted by holborne at 8:50 PM on February 3, 2019 [4 favorites]
In all fairness, I read this as the NYC regionalism “taking a meeting” to mean generically “having a meeting” (see also “taking a shave”). Doesn’t necessarily mean he didn’t set them up. So I don’t think I’d actually read much into that.
posted by holborne at 8:50 PM on February 3, 2019 [4 favorites]
Trump's scheduler is probably running around like her hair is on fire and her ass is catching - you know he cancels things last minute because he doesn't feel like doing them, and then gets a bug up his ass about doing something else in ten minutes. I bet she spends her entire day chasing people down while he whines and yells at her.
posted by soundguy99 at 8:51 PM on February 3, 2019 [18 favorites]
posted by soundguy99 at 8:51 PM on February 3, 2019 [18 favorites]
Politico, Dan Diamond, Trump’s State of the Union pledge: Ending HIV transmissions by 2030
posted by zachlipton at 9:02 PM on February 3, 2019 [8 favorites]
Under Trump’s HIV strategy, health officials would spend the first five years focusing on communities across roughly 20 states where the most HIV infections occur. The ultimate goal is to stop new infections over a 10-year period, said two officials, with some parallels to how the Trump administration is targeting the opioid epidemic.Some context on this from a public health perspective beyond the obvious snark, including the extent to which Trump (and Pence) have negative credibility here, but there is apparently a real plan to make progress by public health experts behind this.
The strategy was heavily shaped by Redfield, a prominent AIDS researcher who was tapped to lead the CDC last year. Redfield told an all-hands meeting at the CDC last year that ending AIDS by 2025 was possible with existing public health tools, like more widespread use of condoms.
posted by zachlipton at 9:02 PM on February 3, 2019 [8 favorites]
A reminder who Dr. Redfield is:
In the 1980s Redfield worked closely with W. Shepherd Smith, Jr. and his Christian organization, Americans for a Sound AIDS/HIV Policy, or ASAP. The group maintained that AIDS was "God's judgment" against homosexuals, spread in an America weakened by single-parent households and loss of family values.posted by peeedro at 9:09 PM on February 3, 2019 [56 favorites]
Redfield wrote the introduction to a 1990 book, "Christians in the Age of AIDS," co-written by Smith, in which he denounced distribution of sterile needles to drug users and condoms to sexually active adults, and described anti-discrimination programs as the efforts of "false prophets."
Trump’s State of the Union pledge: Ending HIV transmissions by 2030
Considering 1) Trump's numerous broken promises (WaPo Trump Promise Tracker, still maintained), and 2) his narrow focus on things that happen during his term(s), 2030 seems like another promise to break, or shrug off as "it's not my problem any more." Even the racist, religious zealot Redfield's target of 2025 is outside of Trump's window of potentialconcern control.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:43 PM on February 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
Considering 1) Trump's numerous broken promises (WaPo Trump Promise Tracker, still maintained), and 2) his narrow focus on things that happen during his term(s), 2030 seems like another promise to break, or shrug off as "it's not my problem any more." Even the racist, religious zealot Redfield's target of 2025 is outside of Trump's window of potential
posted by filthy light thief at 9:43 PM on February 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
That sounds like they were planning on using the entire SOTU to attack Democrats over the shutdown, and Stephen Miller had to completely rewrite the speech in a week.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:49 PM on February 3, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:49 PM on February 3, 2019 [5 favorites]
Trump’s State of the Union pledge: Ending HIV transmissions by 2030
We know Trump doesn't care about HIV/AIDS or, really, anything besides himself. We also know that his administration is composed of crooks and brown-nosing ethically-challenged grifters, none of whom are interested in anything other than personal advancement. We just came out of a month-long period in which these geniuses decided that they would rather have the country shut down than tell Trump his delusional plan for a wall is delusional. Literally nobody is going to fight to implement a difficult strategy for the public good, especially one that will surely be "controversial".
Why would I suppose that there is any chance of this being a good policy, or that it will ever be funded, or that the funding won't be tied to something disgusting so the Democrats vote it down?
posted by Joe in Australia at 9:50 PM on February 3, 2019 [4 favorites]
We know Trump doesn't care about HIV/AIDS or, really, anything besides himself. We also know that his administration is composed of crooks and brown-nosing ethically-challenged grifters, none of whom are interested in anything other than personal advancement. We just came out of a month-long period in which these geniuses decided that they would rather have the country shut down than tell Trump his delusional plan for a wall is delusional. Literally nobody is going to fight to implement a difficult strategy for the public good, especially one that will surely be "controversial".
Why would I suppose that there is any chance of this being a good policy, or that it will ever be funded, or that the funding won't be tied to something disgusting so the Democrats vote it down?
posted by Joe in Australia at 9:50 PM on February 3, 2019 [4 favorites]
Yeah, the GOP wanting to do something good about aids is as likely as Trump doing anything honest.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 10:01 PM on February 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 10:01 PM on February 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
We could significantly lower to prevent new infections if we Break The Patent on the new HIV prevention drugs. Pretty sure Vice President "created an AIDS outbreak in his state" isn't gonna be behind that.
posted by The Whelk at 10:18 PM on February 3, 2019 [30 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 10:18 PM on February 3, 2019 [30 favorites]
We know Trump doesn't care about HIV/AIDS or, really, anything besides himself. We also know that his administration is composed of crooks and brown-nosing ethically-challenged grifters, none of whom are interested in anything other than personal advancement.
So I think you have to think about it as appealing to a constituency within his base. When you frame it that way the question resolves itself - he's doing it to please evangelicals, specifically anti-gay ones. This would seem to be confirmed by the selection of Dr Redfield, a known Christian anti-gay activist. Because sure, let's reopen another front in the culture wars that's largely been resolved & fight it all over again. Because that's what Jesus wants. I rather think Jesus wouldn't want this all being organized by the Antichrist but what do I know.
posted by scalefree at 10:28 PM on February 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
So I think you have to think about it as appealing to a constituency within his base. When you frame it that way the question resolves itself - he's doing it to please evangelicals, specifically anti-gay ones. This would seem to be confirmed by the selection of Dr Redfield, a known Christian anti-gay activist. Because sure, let's reopen another front in the culture wars that's largely been resolved & fight it all over again. Because that's what Jesus wants. I rather think Jesus wouldn't want this all being organized by the Antichrist but what do I know.
posted by scalefree at 10:28 PM on February 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
Trump and the right wingers also believe immigrants are a major vector for infectious diseases. So no doubt the proposals reducing the transmission of those diseases will somehow entail reduced immigrant numbers and more border crackdowns.
posted by PenDevil at 10:32 PM on February 3, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by PenDevil at 10:32 PM on February 3, 2019 [12 favorites]
Trump’s State of the Union pledge: Ending HIV transmissions by 2030
Any bets on whether the plan for that is "quarantine everyone with AIDS?"
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 10:34 PM on February 3, 2019 [8 favorites]
Any bets on whether the plan for that is "quarantine everyone with AIDS?"
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 10:34 PM on February 3, 2019 [8 favorites]
Any bets on whether the plan for that is "quarantine everyone with AIDS?"
Trump's CDC director helped develop the DOD's first public health response to HIV and it was essentially that:
Trump's CDC director helped develop the DOD's first public health response to HIV and it was essentially that:
Among the Defense Department policies that Redfield helped design was mandatory testing of all troops for HIV, without confidentiality, beginning in October 1985. Any soldier, sailor, pilot, or marine who proved to be infected would quickly learn that his entire chain of command was aware of his status, often before he was informed. Recruits were screened, and those whose tests were positive were barred from service.posted by peeedro at 10:53 PM on February 3, 2019 [35 favorites]
Active-duty personnel were also tested and if positive would face degrading mistreatment, as I discovered in 1989, when I reported in and around Fort Hood, the Army’s largest training and staging area, located in Texas. Terrified 18- and 19-year-old soldiers found to be infected with HIV would be isolated to a special barracks wing, known on the base as the “HIV hotel” or “the leper colony,” where they were treated like prisoners until they either developed full-blown AIDS or were discharged dishonorably.
CNN: US pulling out of the INF treaty rewards Putin, hurts NATO
Apologies if this has been covered upthread, but my Ctrl-F'ing made it seem as though this start of a new fucking nuclear arms race has been drowned out a bit here by, well, everything else.
Plus I coincidentally watched The Day After for the first time this weekend, so that's…nice.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 2:31 AM on February 4, 2019 [11 favorites]
Apologies if this has been covered upthread, but my Ctrl-F'ing made it seem as though this start of a new fucking nuclear arms race has been drowned out a bit here by, well, everything else.
Plus I coincidentally watched The Day After for the first time this weekend, so that's…nice.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 2:31 AM on February 4, 2019 [11 favorites]
This call for eliminating HIV transmission fits in with his plan to break wide-open HIPAA privacy protections and his pursuit in court to allow prior conditions to be the cause of rejecting health insurance coverage. He plans to make HIV-infected people the new illegal immigrant and plans to use that to take away health care privacy. I would expect nothing less from Stephen Miller.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 2:54 AM on February 4, 2019 [33 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 2:54 AM on February 4, 2019 [33 favorites]
Regarding that INF treaty...
Joseph Cirincione, WaPo Opinion: "John Bolton is a serial arms control killer"
Joseph Cirincione, WaPo Opinion: "John Bolton is a serial arms control killer"
"The U.S. national security adviser’s latest hit is the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, but his list of victims goes back decades. He had a hand in either the U.S. withdrawal or repeal of Richard Nixon’s Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, Bill Clinton’s Agreed Framework with North Korea and Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal.posted by OnceUponATime at 4:21 AM on February 4, 2019 [39 favorites]
Now he has helped put the knife into Ronald Reagan’s landmark treaty, one that broke the back of the nuclear arms race in 1987. It was the first time that the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to destroy, not just limit, nuclear weapons. Together they destroyed almost 2,700 perfectly good nuclear weapons that they had spent billions of dollars and many years building. It began the process of massive reductions in global nuclear arms that continued until the current administration.
...
When someone breaks the law, the answer is not to repeal the law. There are well-established methods for bringing an offending nation back into compliance. Reagan, in fact, negotiated the INF Treaty while the Soviets were in violation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. He pushed and cajoled them for several years. After signing the INF Treaty, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev relented and shut down the offending radar. We could do the same for the INF Treaty by pushing for an agreement on mutual inspections, as many experts have suggested.
But Bolton does not want to fix the treaty; he wants to kill it. “Violations give America the opportunity to discard obsolete, Cold War-era limits on its own arsenal and to upgrade its military capabilities to match its global responsibilities,” Bolton wrote in 2014.
America will pay a high price for this rigid ideology. President Trump walking out of Reagan’s treaty is a gift to Russian President Vladimir Putin."
Redfield told an all-hands meeting at the CDC last year that ending AIDS by 2025 was possible with existing public health tools, like more widespread use of condoms.
Ugh, really? Condoms are ~3% less effective than PrEP. And oh shit yeah duh of course about the HIPAA rollback. I can hear their evil bullshit already about "why should our Christian taxes pay for gay sick people"
Oh, and since we've returned to the 80s, if you liked The Day After, then you'll definitely love Threads (the British version of The Day After that's so ...informative..that most of MetaFilter agrees that you should probably have a strong personal support system in place if you do decide to watch it. It makes The Day After look like My Fair Lady.)
posted by sexyrobot at 4:23 AM on February 4, 2019 [26 favorites]
Ugh, really? Condoms are ~3% less effective than PrEP. And oh shit yeah duh of course about the HIPAA rollback. I can hear their evil bullshit already about "why should our Christian taxes pay for gay sick people"
Oh, and since we've returned to the 80s, if you liked The Day After, then you'll definitely love Threads (the British version of The Day After that's so ...informative..that most of MetaFilter agrees that you should probably have a strong personal support system in place if you do decide to watch it. It makes The Day After look like My Fair Lady.)
posted by sexyrobot at 4:23 AM on February 4, 2019 [26 favorites]
Politico’s new poll on taxing the wealthy is good news for Democrats’ proposals:
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:55 AM on February 4, 2019 [18 favorites]
Surveys are showing overwhelming support for raising taxes on top earners, including a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll released Monday that found 76 percent of registered voters believe the wealthiest Americans should pay more in taxes. A recent Fox News survey showed that 70 percent of Americans favor raising taxes on those earning over $10 million — including 54 percent of Republicans.[…]In less encouraging news, AOC just thanked Jeremy Corbyn on Twitter for their recent phone conversation about working together.
A plan from first-term Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) to slap a 70 percent marginal rate on income earned over $10 million clocked in at 59 percent support in a recent Hill/HarrisX poll.
The new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll, conducted Feb. 1-2, found that 61 percent favor a proposal like the “wealth tax” recently laid out by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) that would levy a 2 percent tax on those with a net worth over $50 million and 3 percent on those worth over $1 billion. Just 20 percent opposed the idea. The poll surveyed 1,993 registered voters and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percent.
It showed 45 percent favored a plan like that laid out by Ocasio-Cortez while 32 percent opposed it.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:55 AM on February 4, 2019 [18 favorites]
In less encouraging news, AOC just thanked Jeremy Corbyn on Twitter for their recent phone conversation about working together.
She also responded directly to someone who raised concerns with her: Hi @PopChassid - thank you for bringing this to me. We cannot + will not move forward without deep fellowship and leadership with the Jewish community. I’ll have my team reach out. 💜
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:20 AM on February 4, 2019 [14 favorites]
She also responded directly to someone who raised concerns with her: Hi @PopChassid - thank you for bringing this to me. We cannot + will not move forward without deep fellowship and leadership with the Jewish community. I’ll have my team reach out. 💜
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:20 AM on February 4, 2019 [14 favorites]
‘It’s way too many’: As vacancies pile up in Trump administration, senators grow concerned
From the Justice Department to Veterans Affairs, vast swaths of the government have top positions filled by officials serving in an acting capacity — or no one at all. More than two years into Trump’s term, the president has an acting chief of staff, attorney general, defense secretary, interior secretary, Office of Management and Budget director and Environmental Protection Agency chief.posted by scalefree at 7:21 AM on February 4, 2019 [21 favorites]
To deal with the number of vacancies in the upper ranks of departments, agencies have been relying on novel and legally questionable personnel moves that could leave the administration’s policies open to court challenges.
The lack of permanent leaders has started to alarm top congressional Republicans who are pressing for key posts to be filled.
“It’s a lot, it’s way too many,” Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said of the acting positions in Cabinet agencies. “You want to have confirmed individuals there because they have a lot more authority to be able to make decisions and implement policy when you have a confirmed person in that spot.”
By any standard, Trump’s administration lags behind its predecessors when it comes to filling top posts throughout the government — even though the president’s party has controlled the Senate for his entire time in office. The Partnership for Public Service, which has tracked nominations as far back as 30 years, estimates that only 54 percent of Trump’s civilian executive branch nominations have been confirmed, compared to 77 percent under President Barack Obama.
“The Trump administration is slower to fill jobs and has higher turnover than any administration we have records for,” said the group’s president and chief executive, Max Stier.
I make the occasional mistake of listening to Michael Smerconish on XM, because it's on and I'm in the car. He's precisely the kind of bullshit "independent" I despise (e.g. Republican, but pretends not to be). Imagine my complete lack of shock to discover that his take on Northam is to debate with his callers what the precise rules should be about what you can do before your political career is over. Added bonus, in an amazing feat of goalpost shifting in the span of about 2 sentences he went from admitting that Northam was 25 when he did this shit to arguing about actions taken when someone is "in their late teens".
I strongly suspect Northam's not going anywhere. He's going to be the latest in the long line of irreplaceable white dudes who we're supposed to give a pass because it'd cause a worse tragedy if we hold him accountable, or something. It's the same hostage taking playbook as always.
posted by tocts at 7:25 AM on February 4, 2019 [9 favorites]
I strongly suspect Northam's not going anywhere. He's going to be the latest in the long line of irreplaceable white dudes who we're supposed to give a pass because it'd cause a worse tragedy if we hold him accountable, or something. It's the same hostage taking playbook as always.
posted by tocts at 7:25 AM on February 4, 2019 [9 favorites]
Greg Sargent: If Trump declares a national emergency, Pelosi can jam Republicans. Here’s how.
Elizabeth Goitein, who has extensively researched this topic for the Brennan Center, tells me that if Pelosi [passes a resolution terminating any presidentially-declared national emergency], it will ultimately require the Senate to vote on it in some form as well. The NEA stipulates that if one chamber (Pelosi’s House) passes such a resolution, which it easily could do, the other (McConnell’s Senate) must act on it within a very short time period — forcing GOP Senators to choose whether to support it.posted by zombieflanders at 7:38 AM on February 4, 2019 [23 favorites]
Alternatively, Goitein notes, the Senate could vote not to consider that resolution, or change its rules to avoid such a vote. But in those scenarios, the Senate would, in effect, be voting to greenlight Trump’s emergency declaration.
[...]
Republicans themselves have let it be known that they fear this scenario. Senator John Cornyn of Texas, an adviser to McConnell, has said that a Senate vote on any Trump-declared national emergency would be inevitable, and McConnell has told Trump that Congress might have to act in such a fashion. Both of these appear to be references to a scenario like the one outlined above.
Both men have also said this would deeply divide Republicans. One unnamed Republican Senator even told the Washington Examiner that Trump would suffer major defections in such a vote.
GOP Senators would have to decide between going on record in favor of a presidential declaration of a national emergency for something that everyone knows is based on false pretenses, a move that would be opposed by two thirds of the country, or opposing it and possibly forcing a Trump veto (which they then would have to decide whether to override), enraging Trump’s base.
I wonder if the person who leaked the schedules is the same person who wrote the "resistance within" op-ed for the NYT? I'm ready for another internal purge, but I don't know if they have the stomach for it post-Mattis.
posted by Selena777 at 7:54 AM on February 4, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Selena777 at 7:54 AM on February 4, 2019 [3 favorites]
AG Nominee William Barr Is No Friend of Telecom Competition (Susan Crawford, professor at Harvard Law School, for Wired, Feb. 4, 2019)
Just another case of likely conflicted interests at play in the courts. No biggie.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:56 AM on February 4, 2019 [12 favorites]
CHATTER ABOUT WILLIAM Barr, considered a shoo-in to be the country's next attorney general, has focused on how he will handle special counsel Robert Mueller's final confidential report (he has discretion [Bloomberg] to deep-six all details) and how he will protect (or not) [New Yorker] civil rights.tl;dr: Barr has been a telecom man for a long time, and greatly to his personal benefit, and wanted cable companies, who in the 1990s were competing as internet service providers with telecoms, to have different burdens than telecoms. From Collins:
But there's much more to Bill Barr. If you want insights into how Barr will react to technology issues, it's worth taking a look at his role as a very big fish in the warm pond of Washington telecom policy over the past 25 years. Barr was visible at all the key moments, beginning in 1994: He was general counsel for GTE, a large independent phone company in the Bell System era, until its merger with Bell Atlantic to form Verizon, and then was general counsel of Verizon until his retirement in 2008. After that, he joined Time Warner as a board member (right after it separated from Time Warner Cable), making close to $2 million [Barrons] in connection with the AT&T-Time Warner merger last year.
In other words, Barr opposed any rules that he believed amounted to allowing, as he put it in 1999, "the scam of taking a free ride on our [phone] network," but favored rules that would require rivals—ie, cable companies—to be burdened with that same kind of obligation.Emphasis original. And now that the telecoms are close to being back to pre-1984 Ma Bell status, with Verizon and AT&T being the juggernauts, Collins notes that "Barr is an interesting choice to run the DOJ, as the department seeks to undo the AT&T-Time Warner merger."
Just another case of likely conflicted interests at play in the courts. No biggie.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:56 AM on February 4, 2019 [12 favorites]
The conservative argument that Northam’s yearbook page proves liberals are the real racists, explained (Jane Coaston, Vox)
"Republicans believe liberals use racism accusations as incredulous political bludgeons. "posted by ZeusHumms at 8:00 AM on February 4, 2019 [5 favorites]
[For] some Republicans, the controversy holds additional context. First and foremost, they argue that the photograph shows Northam and his allies’ claims that his Republican gubernatorial opponent, Ed Gillespie, was running “the most racist campaign in Virginia history” was merely cheap politicking.
Second, they were already deeply disgusted with Northam over his support of a bill that would roll back abortion access restrictions to the point that, they argue, would allow infanticide.
…
Conservatives watching the controversy unfold were seeing it do so in part through the lens of a story that broke last week, one that had outraged many in the anti-abortion camp of the GOP. In fact, by Friday afternoon, when his bafflingly racist yearbook photograph was first publicized and then verified, Northam was already in boiling political waters — over not race but abortion. Specifically, Virginia House Bill 2491, a piece of legislation to roll back a number of abortion requirements, including a 24-hour waiting period and a mandate that second-trimester procedures take place in a hospital.
tomorrow, whether they like it or not, the President will deliver the TRUTH to the American people.
We noticed your name wasn’t on the first list of supporters we will display LIVE during the speech.
XXXXXXXXX - Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity, cement your name in history.
Please make a contribution of $5 IN THE NEXT 3 HOURS to have your name proudly displayed LIVE during the President’s State of the Union Address.
The State Of The Union Address Sponsored by .... “grass roots” supporters of his re-election campaign? Is that even vaguely cromulent? Is this going to be a Twitch stream or something?
I clicked the link (yeah, I know) and it says “broadcast live” but doesn’t say where. Also has this tidbit ...
And when President Trump finishes his speech we’ll hand him an OFFICIAL PRINTED LIST.
Reminds me of the poetry competitions I saw as a kid where you’d “take a mention” and have a unique opportunity to see it in print (in mousetype in a hard bound big city style phone book sized book) that would be submitted to the Library of Congress and you could buy your own copy of the Anthology for three easy payments of $12.95 plus postage and handling.
posted by tilde at 8:17 AM on February 4, 2019 [26 favorites]
US sees limitations on reuniting migrant families
posted by JackFlash at 8:20 AM on February 4, 2019 [60 favorites]
"Jonathan White, who leads the Health and Human Services Department’s efforts to reunite migrant children with their parents, said removing children from “sponsor” homes to rejoin their parents “would present grave child welfare concerns.” He said the government should focus on reuniting children currently in its custody, not those who have already been released to sponsors.This administration is monstrous. American families have staked their claim on the children and they aren't giving them back.
“It would destabilize the permanency of their existing home environment, and could be traumatic to the children,” White said in a court filing late Friday."
posted by JackFlash at 8:20 AM on February 4, 2019 [60 favorites]
JackFlash, has anyone had any luck in actually tracking the children who have been placed in other families, such as journalists or the ACLU, anybody know?
Also, speaking of the Partnership for Public Service mentioned above, the organization is providing a "ready to shut down" (PDF) tip sheet to government employees who may face a second shutdown soon. As I am not employed by the US government, I cannot vouch for the utility of the tips.
posted by Bella Donna at 8:31 AM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
Also, speaking of the Partnership for Public Service mentioned above, the organization is providing a "ready to shut down" (PDF) tip sheet to government employees who may face a second shutdown soon. As I am not employed by the US government, I cannot vouch for the utility of the tips.
posted by Bella Donna at 8:31 AM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
"Jonathan White, who leads the Health and Human Services Department’s efforts to reunite migrant children with their parents, said removing children from “sponsor” homes to rejoin their parents “would present grave child welfare concerns.” He said the government should focus on reuniting children currently in its custody, not those who have already been released to sponsors.
The organized kidnapping of children based on race or nationality was determined to be genocide and a crime against humanity at the Nuremberg tribunals. People were sentenced to life imprisonment for this specific crime.
JackFlash, has anyone had any luck in actually tracking the children who have been placed in other families, such as journalists or the ACLU, anybody know?
An added benefit to throwing up your hands and claiming it's impossible to reunite families is that you don't have to track down each individual child. It's entirely plausible that this strategy is at least partly intended to obscure the fact that a number of these supposedly rehomed children cannot in fact be tracked down because they're dead.
It's in light of things like these that I'm confounded by there being an issue with AOC reaching out to Corbyn. Quashing any stirrings of international left unity before they really start because it looks bad to you, even in the face of incipient genocide and the end of the biosphere, indicates a lack of understanding of how bad the alternative is and will be.
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:46 AM on February 4, 2019 [40 favorites]
The organized kidnapping of children based on race or nationality was determined to be genocide and a crime against humanity at the Nuremberg tribunals. People were sentenced to life imprisonment for this specific crime.
JackFlash, has anyone had any luck in actually tracking the children who have been placed in other families, such as journalists or the ACLU, anybody know?
An added benefit to throwing up your hands and claiming it's impossible to reunite families is that you don't have to track down each individual child. It's entirely plausible that this strategy is at least partly intended to obscure the fact that a number of these supposedly rehomed children cannot in fact be tracked down because they're dead.
It's in light of things like these that I'm confounded by there being an issue with AOC reaching out to Corbyn. Quashing any stirrings of international left unity before they really start because it looks bad to you, even in the face of incipient genocide and the end of the biosphere, indicates a lack of understanding of how bad the alternative is and will be.
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:46 AM on February 4, 2019 [40 favorites]
This administration is monstrous. American families have staked their claim on the children and they aren't giving them back.
Do we know that? It's a safe bet the kids are still in foster care, not adoption proceedings, and it's not like this filing represents the familes' stance.
posted by ocschwar at 8:46 AM on February 4, 2019 [5 favorites]
Do we know that? It's a safe bet the kids are still in foster care, not adoption proceedings, and it's not like this filing represents the familes' stance.
posted by ocschwar at 8:46 AM on February 4, 2019 [5 favorites]
It's in light of things like these that I'm confounded by there being an issue with AOC reaching out to Corbyn. Quashing any stirrings of international left unity before they really start because it looks bad to you, even in the face of incipient genocide and the end of the biosphere, indicates a lack of understanding of how bad the alternative is and will be.
Within the international left, there are quite a few leaders I'd reach out to before Corbyn. Even within British Labour. Corbyn's failure at Brexit is monumental, and comparable to Blair's opposite failure at the Iraq war.
posted by mumimor at 8:52 AM on February 4, 2019 [14 favorites]
Within the international left, there are quite a few leaders I'd reach out to before Corbyn. Even within British Labour. Corbyn's failure at Brexit is monumental, and comparable to Blair's opposite failure at the Iraq war.
posted by mumimor at 8:52 AM on February 4, 2019 [14 favorites]
Not to abuse the edit window: and Corbyn's failure is specifically at being international.
posted by mumimor at 8:52 AM on February 4, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by mumimor at 8:52 AM on February 4, 2019 [4 favorites]
I was thinking that the leaked daily schedules -- which tell us nothing we didn't know already -- are a deliberate distraction from this news about Vashukevich+ Derpiskaya linked to above.
I mean, that is actual news, drawing as it does a pretty direct line from Derpiskaya to Trump's crew, right, whereas the playdate schedule will surprise exactly no one, and so have no "cost" the the administration?
posted by wenestvedt at 8:59 AM on February 4, 2019 [5 favorites]
I mean, that is actual news, drawing as it does a pretty direct line from Derpiskaya to Trump's crew, right, whereas the playdate schedule will surprise exactly no one, and so have no "cost" the the administration?
posted by wenestvedt at 8:59 AM on February 4, 2019 [5 favorites]
are a deliberate distraction from this news...
This is never a useful exercise.
posted by diogenes at 9:08 AM on February 4, 2019 [29 favorites]
This is never a useful exercise.
posted by diogenes at 9:08 AM on February 4, 2019 [29 favorites]
It's a safe bet the kids are still in foster care, not adoption proceedings, and it's not like this filing represents the familes' stance.
And FWIW, even if a child has been with a single foster family for years, that family has no standing to give an opinion in court about the child reunifying with their parents. I have a family who have lived out the worst possible variation of this. So I'm hard pressed to imagine a situation involving foster care where the delay on reunification lies anywhere but with the courts.
After a certain length of time foster parents can get say into movement of a child to other non-family-of-origin placements, but a child going back to parents? Good or bad, there's no standing. We've been smilingly chided by a judge for mentioning that we didn't have an objection to increased parental involvement.
The organized kidnapping of children based on race or nationality was determined to be genocide and a crime against humanity at the Nuremberg tribunals. People were sentenced to life imprisonment for this specific crime.
I'm also sadly reminded of the history of ICWA, which tackled the pattern of parenting-while-Native being de facto reason for placement of children into (white, natch) foster families. But I think we've had that conversation before.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 9:10 AM on February 4, 2019 [19 favorites]
And FWIW, even if a child has been with a single foster family for years, that family has no standing to give an opinion in court about the child reunifying with their parents. I have a family who have lived out the worst possible variation of this. So I'm hard pressed to imagine a situation involving foster care where the delay on reunification lies anywhere but with the courts.
After a certain length of time foster parents can get say into movement of a child to other non-family-of-origin placements, but a child going back to parents? Good or bad, there's no standing. We've been smilingly chided by a judge for mentioning that we didn't have an objection to increased parental involvement.
The organized kidnapping of children based on race or nationality was determined to be genocide and a crime against humanity at the Nuremberg tribunals. People were sentenced to life imprisonment for this specific crime.
I'm also sadly reminded of the history of ICWA, which tackled the pattern of parenting-while-Native being de facto reason for placement of children into (white, natch) foster families. But I think we've had that conversation before.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 9:10 AM on February 4, 2019 [19 favorites]
diogenes: This is never a useful exercise.
Honestly, why? Because I will end up unshowered, in front of a wall covered in red yarn & newspaper clippings? Or am I not understanding something? (I'm pretty short on sleep, I'll admit...)
posted by wenestvedt at 9:17 AM on February 4, 2019 [2 favorites]
Honestly, why? Because I will end up unshowered, in front of a wall covered in red yarn & newspaper clippings? Or am I not understanding something? (I'm pretty short on sleep, I'll admit...)
posted by wenestvedt at 9:17 AM on February 4, 2019 [2 favorites]
This varies by state and is definitely not true in Texas. In Texas, once a child has been with a foster family for a year, that family has standing in suits regarding the child's custody.
And FWIW, even if a child has been with a single foster family for years, that family has no standing to give an opinion in court about the child reunifying with their parents.
posted by Tabitha Someday at 9:25 AM on February 4, 2019 [7 favorites]
Do we know that? It's a safe bet the kids are still in foster care, not adoption proceedings, and it's not like this filing represents the familes' stance.
I am absolutely not playing I-told-you-so or "I don't know why anybody's surprised, GOSH," but there has been an undercurrent of awareness here and elsewhere of the evangelical child trafficking industry, and I have certainly harped on it from just enough angles to keep me angry, and this thing is indeed A Thing.
And monstrous? Probably depends on personal politics.
posted by rhizome at 9:28 AM on February 4, 2019 [36 favorites]
I am absolutely not playing I-told-you-so or "I don't know why anybody's surprised, GOSH," but there has been an undercurrent of awareness here and elsewhere of the evangelical child trafficking industry, and I have certainly harped on it from just enough angles to keep me angry, and this thing is indeed A Thing.
And monstrous? Probably depends on personal politics.
posted by rhizome at 9:28 AM on February 4, 2019 [36 favorites]
This varies by state and is definitely not true in Texas.
Thanks for the correction. I forget how often there are variations between states on this....the rules are often set at the state level...except for when they aren't. /derail
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 9:32 AM on February 4, 2019 [4 favorites]
Thanks for the correction. I forget how often there are variations between states on this....the rules are often set at the state level...except for when they aren't. /derail
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 9:32 AM on February 4, 2019 [4 favorites]
Mod note: Let's not get into the weeds about Corbyn - we have a thread for that elsewhere.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 9:39 AM on February 4, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 9:39 AM on February 4, 2019 [3 favorites]
diogenes: This is never a useful exercise.
Honestly, why? Because I will end up unshowered, in front of a wall covered in red yarn & newspaper clippings? Or am I not understanding something? (I'm pretty short on sleep, I'll admit...)
I assume that diogenes commented b/c "item A is a distraction from item B" fails to account for the fact that most people, especially those in this thread, have the capacity to pay attention to more than one thing at a time. That said, the scheduling thing may indeed be a distraction from the Trump's-helping-crooked-Russian-oligarchs news for, say, the mainstream Beltway media, and it is indeed worth trying to prevent that.
posted by Lyme Drop at 9:51 AM on February 4, 2019 [8 favorites]
Honestly, why? Because I will end up unshowered, in front of a wall covered in red yarn & newspaper clippings? Or am I not understanding something? (I'm pretty short on sleep, I'll admit...)
I assume that diogenes commented b/c "item A is a distraction from item B" fails to account for the fact that most people, especially those in this thread, have the capacity to pay attention to more than one thing at a time. That said, the scheduling thing may indeed be a distraction from the Trump's-helping-crooked-Russian-oligarchs news for, say, the mainstream Beltway media, and it is indeed worth trying to prevent that.
posted by Lyme Drop at 9:51 AM on February 4, 2019 [8 favorites]
Trump admin weighed targeting migrant families, speeding up deportation of children
A draft plan obtained by NBC News also shows officials wanted to specifically target parents in migrant families for increased prosecutions.
posted by scalefree at 9:54 AM on February 4, 2019 [12 favorites]
A draft plan obtained by NBC News also shows officials wanted to specifically target parents in migrant families for increased prosecutions.
WASHINGTON — Trump administration officials weighed speeding up the deportation of migrant children by denying them their legal right to asylum hearings after separating them from their parents, according to comments on a late 2017 draft of what became the administration's family separation policy obtained by NBC News.The leaked document with comments: Policy Options to Respond to Border Surge of Illegal Immigration (also in PDF here).
The draft also shows officials wanted to specifically target parents in migrant families for increased prosecutions, contradicting the administration's previous statements. In June, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the administration did "not have a policy of separating families at the border" but was simply enforcing existing law.
The authors noted that the "increase in prosecutions would be reported by the media and it would have a substantial deterrent effect."
The draft plan was provided to NBC News by the office of Sen. Jeff Merkley, D.-Ore., which says it was leaked by a government whistleblower.
posted by scalefree at 9:54 AM on February 4, 2019 [12 favorites]
Re: it's a distraction: virtually every one of these "distractions" does real and serious harm to someone, or to the environment, or to our political norms, or something else of real importance. This isn't someone waving his hands to the right so you don't look left. It's someone setting houses on fire. Maybe that fire also keeps you from looking in the another direction -- but that fire isn't an illusion. It's burning down someone's home. We need to look in all directions, yes, but we also need to fight that fire.
Before we call anything a distraction, we should consider if that means calling people's lives a distraction. Every shitty thing this regime has done has had real consequences for real people.
And it's also worth noting how little this White House plans anything out. We've seen it again and again. They're morons and they're also selfish and cruel. Anything they do might have some value to them as a distraction, but it's also a completely legitimate shitty thing they want to do, from the bottom of their shriveled hearts.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:02 AM on February 4, 2019 [66 favorites]
Before we call anything a distraction, we should consider if that means calling people's lives a distraction. Every shitty thing this regime has done has had real consequences for real people.
And it's also worth noting how little this White House plans anything out. We've seen it again and again. They're morons and they're also selfish and cruel. Anything they do might have some value to them as a distraction, but it's also a completely legitimate shitty thing they want to do, from the bottom of their shriveled hearts.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:02 AM on February 4, 2019 [66 favorites]
I'm kind of dense for not noticing this, but another effect of the government shut-down is that it slowed incoming Democrat-controlled House from pushing for changes.
House Democrats Play Catch-Up On Agenda After Shutdown (NPR, February 4, 2019)
And NPR also has a trio of Northam articles today: Gov. Northam Is Finding Himself Increasingly Alone In Once-Supportive Virginia
Va. House Speaker: 'Rightful Hesitation' Over Removing Gov. Northam
Eyes On Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax To Heal Va. As Northam Resists Calls To Resign
In more positive news from improving diversity through election results -- A First: Women Take The Majority In Nevada Legislature And Colorado House
posted by filthy light thief at 10:03 AM on February 4, 2019 [22 favorites]
House Democrats Play Catch-Up On Agenda After Shutdown (NPR, February 4, 2019)
Democrats officially took control of the House of Representatives one month ago with a promise of moving quickly on a fresh agenda centered on protecting health care and making Washington work better.Fuck yeah, House Dems!
Until last week, those plans were on pause. Committees couldn't form, legislation stalled and their whole message was about ending the shutdown. Now, as Washington returns to legislating with a three-week period to focus on a spending deal, Democrats are working to catch up before Trump takes center stage with a prime-time State of the Union address delivered from their home turf — the House floor.
"There's no question that the government shutdown consumed everyone's attention," said Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I. "The president I think did that purposefully."
Cicilline, who leads a team of Democrats tasked with setting policy and messaging priorities, said he believes Trump deliberately timed the shutdown to take the wind out of Democrats' sails.
But Cicilline and other top Democrats say that's changing now. Committee members have been announced, staff is coming on board and Democrats have begun to introduce a backlog of bills, like a revival of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act legislation aimed at closing the gender pay gap.
That legislation, paired with HR 1, a bill to reform campaign and ethics rules, were the backbone of Democrats' messaging in the single week of open government before the State of the Union.
And NPR also has a trio of Northam articles today: Gov. Northam Is Finding Himself Increasingly Alone In Once-Supportive Virginia
As calls continue for Gov. Ralph Northam to resign over a racist photo on his page in a 1984 yearbook, Virginians who have supported him are wrestling with what to make of the controversy and his insistence on remaining in office.... That's not a good look.
A few dozen people protested outside the governor's mansion Monday morning. Many in the crowd were the same people who have been protesting the placement of a pipeline compressor station in a historically black community in Virginia. Northam has supported the pipeline.
Va. House Speaker: 'Rightful Hesitation' Over Removing Gov. Northam
As lawmakers returned to the capitol Monday morning, they renewed calls for Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to resign.I know nothing of Virginia politics, but it sounds reassuring that the Republican Speaker here isn't jumping to remove Northam (potentially because he realizes that Virginia Republicans are likely to have similarly racist skeletons in their closets, so that could be opening the path for more forced removals).
Northam has been silent since a Saturday news conference in which he said he did not take part in a racist yearbook photo from his days in medical school.
Monday morning, the Republican Speaker of the House of Delegates called the controversy "a painful and heartbreaking moment for the Commonwealth." Kirk Cox told reporters that "regardless of the veracity of the photo," the Democratic governor had lost the confidence of the people.
Asked by reporters about the possibility of removing Northam from office, Cox said there is "rightful hesitation." Constitutional provisions are very specific, according to Cox, and mainly refer to physical or mental incapacitation. He added that impeachment would have to meet "a very high standard." Cox said he had not been approached by Democratic legislators about any effort to remove Northam.
Eyes On Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax To Heal Va. As Northam Resists Calls To Resign
Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax is a lot of things Virginia's current governor is not: young, charismatic and part of a multicultural wave sweeping through the commonwealth's Democratic party.Emphasis mine, because that's a REALLY long time. Reminder: Reconstruction era was the period from 1863 to 1877 in American history (Wikipedia).
He could soon be called upon to lead the state, should Gov. Ralph Northam, a fellow Democrat, reverse course and adhere to the avalanche of calls – from inside and outside of Virginia — for him to resign.
If that happens, Fairfax would only be the second African-American governor to serve in the history of Virginia, and one of just a few across the country since reconstruction.
In more positive news from improving diversity through election results -- A First: Women Take The Majority In Nevada Legislature And Colorado House
On Monday, Nevada's statehouse begins its legislative session by marking a major milestone. It's the first time in our nation's history that any state legislature holds a majority of women lawmakers. Just like the country, the body is slightly more than half women.Here's to these historic firsts being the beginning of more representative representation!
"It's been a long hard fight. I'm starting to see some of the fruits of not just my labor, but the labor of so many other people whose names I don't know," says Patricia Ann Spearman, a Democrat and a Nevada senator who was first elected in 2012.
Spearman is used to struggling to break barriers for minorities and women. She's 64, a black woman, a lesbian, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army and an ordained minister.
"I've had to fight for everything that I have. All the titles, none of that was given to me." Women in Nevada, she says, "have said 'it's time to do away with the patriarchy that that holds people down. It's just time to do away with it.' "
With its overall majority, Nevada is the exception. This year, 50.8 percent of state representatives and senators, combined, are women. And it's one of only two states that has a majority women in any one chamber. The other is Colorado's lower house where there are three more women than men. A single chamber majority has only happened once before, in New Hampshire about a decade ago.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:03 AM on February 4, 2019 [22 favorites]
And another dose of positive news: Ajit Pai loses in court—judges overturn gutting of tribal broadband program -- Court: FCC failed to provide evidence and ignored harm to broadband access. (Jon Brodkin for Ars Technica, Feb. 4, 2019)
A federal appeals court has overturned Ajit Pai's attempt to take broadband subsidies away from tribal residents.posted by filthy light thief at 10:05 AM on February 4, 2019 [43 favorites]
The Pai-led Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 in November 2017 to make it much harder for tribal residents to obtain a $25-per-month Lifeline subsidy that reduces the cost of Internet or phone service.
The change didn't take effect because in August 2018, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit stayed the FCC decision pending appeal. The same court followed that up on Friday last week with a ruling that reversed the FCC decision and remanded the matter back to the commission for a new rule-making proceeding.
FURTHER READING
FCC stands by decision to raise broadband prices on American Indians
"[S]ince 2000, low-income consumers living on Tribal lands may receive an additional $25 per month for these services through the Tribal Lifeline program in recognition of the additional hurdles to affordable telecommunications service on Tribal lands," the court's decision noted.
The Pai FCC's 2017 decision would have limited the $25 subsidy to "facilities-based" carriers—those that build their own networks—making it impossible for tribal residents to use the $25 subsidy to buy telecom service from resellers. The move would have dramatically limited tribal residents' options for purchasing subsidized service, but the FCC claimed it was necessary in order to encourage carriers to build their own networks.
The same FCC decision also would have eliminated the $25 subsidy in urban areas, reserving it only for tribal lands in rural areas. The court's decision Friday, in response to an appeal filed by tribal organizations and small wireless carriers, overturned both of these limitations.
Jamelle Bouie: Blackface Is the Tip of the Iceberg(nyt)
American society is still structured by color. Your health, your wealth — our ability to live and act freely — still turns to a large degree on whether you were born white. Like Ertel, Northam should resign. Virginia’s history with racism is too fraught to allow this association with blackface (to say nothing of the Ku Klux Klan imagery) to stand unaddressed. But any collective reckoning with racism that comes out of this moment must go beyond the personal and offensive to the unequal depths. We should care about racist imagery, but we should care even more about our still-segregated society.posted by octothorpe at 10:16 AM on February 4, 2019 [39 favorites]
There’s More at Stake Than Ralph Northam’s Career (Adam Serwer, The Atlantic)
… It’s one thing to forgive friends or loved ones, or anyone really, for engaging in wrongful behavior in the past, given the scale of the offense and the expression of genuine contrition. But Northam is a public official, the governor of a state populated by some 8 million people, and should be held to a higher standard of behavior.posted by ZeusHumms at 10:36 AM on February 4, 2019 [55 favorites]
…
Nevertheless, neither the fact of Trump’s presidency nor Gillespie’s racist appeals excuse Northam’s behavior, just as his behavior does not exonerate Gillespie or Trump. If Northam remains governor, he gives license to any number of future scoundrels to remain in office despite engaging in bigotry against their constituents. There is more at risk here than Northam’s political career.
If Northam sincerely believes in the anti-racist principles he now espouses, then he should understand how important it is that the weakened social stigma against overt racism not be further undermined. That means that anti-racists must hold themselves to a higher standard than those who engage in discrimination, whether personally or through policy. Northam should go, not simply because of what he did, but because it is the only way to show his constituents that he truly turned his back on white supremacy.
engaging in bigotry against their constituents
This is an extremely key phrase that I will remember. We hear about elected officials engaging in bigotry, but it is rarely positioned in the context that this bigotry is usually against people who are that official's constituents.
posted by Emmy Rae at 10:58 AM on February 4, 2019 [22 favorites]
This is an extremely key phrase that I will remember. We hear about elected officials engaging in bigotry, but it is rarely positioned in the context that this bigotry is usually against people who are that official's constituents.
posted by Emmy Rae at 10:58 AM on February 4, 2019 [22 favorites]
This Is a Great Time to Hike the Estate Tax, Because America’s Billionaires Are Getting Really, Really Old, Jordan Weissman, Slate
Restoring the estate tax seems like an especially timely way to do it. How come? At the risk of being a bit crude, America’s billionaires are getting old. Very old. Forbes’ list of the 400 richest Americans includes, by my count, 128 individuals individuals over the age of 75. Most of these people are probably not going to live much more than a decade—according to research from the Equality of Opportunity Project, America’s one-percenters can expect to keep on keepin’ on roughly until their mid-to-late 80s (technically, that stat applies to individuals at age 40, but you get the idea). We only have a limited amount of time to take a reasonable cut of their money hoard before it gets passed on to their heirs. That, or we’re about to witness at a tidal wave of intergenerational wealth transfer that could leave us with a whole Forbes list worth of Wyatt Kochs. Is that what we want America?posted by the man of twists and turns at 11:21 AM on February 4, 2019 [81 favorites]
From the Daily Kos: Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has finally agreed to appear before the House Homeland Security Committee March 6, and it only took a subpoena threat for it to happen. “We are giving the Secretary ample time to prepare for this appearance,” said chair Bennie Thompson. “She should be ready to defend the administration’s border security actions and its plans to improve its border security agenda going forward.”
Late last month, Thompson called Nielsen’s initial refusal to testify “unreasonable and unacceptable,” writing in a letter that “your attempt to use the President’s recent shutdown as an excuse not to testify before Congress prior to the impending shutdown is outrageous.” Nielsen’s spokesperson claimed that Thompson’s letter was “misleading,” but like Nielsen, he’s also a noted liar. Thompson then issued his subpoena threat.
posted by Bella Donna at 11:42 AM on February 4, 2019 [19 favorites]
Late last month, Thompson called Nielsen’s initial refusal to testify “unreasonable and unacceptable,” writing in a letter that “your attempt to use the President’s recent shutdown as an excuse not to testify before Congress prior to the impending shutdown is outrageous.” Nielsen’s spokesperson claimed that Thompson’s letter was “misleading,” but like Nielsen, he’s also a noted liar. Thompson then issued his subpoena threat.
posted by Bella Donna at 11:42 AM on February 4, 2019 [19 favorites]
Foreign Policy, Lara Seligman, How U.S. Mission Creep in Syria and Iraq Could Trigger War With Iran
An incident in Syria two years ago involving the transport of an Iranian port-a-potty nearly led to a confrontation between American and Iranian forces, underscoring just how quickly even minor events could escalate there.posted by zachlipton at 12:22 PM on February 4, 2019 [10 favorites]
The episode, told here for the first time, is particularly instructive as the Trump administration signals it might leave behind a small force in both Syria and Iraq to monitor Iranian activities.
...
The next day, on May 19, U.S. forces detected a vehicle heading toward the group, carrying a port-a-potty. The coalition headquarters gave the strike order.
The strike never occurred. Air Force officers responsible for operations at the Combined Air Operations Center at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar—the command-and-control hub of air forces throughout the U.S. Air Forces Central Command region—refused to attack because they did not believe it to be “a lawful order that complied with the rules of engagement,” the official said, describing the idea that a threat was posed to U.S. forces as “ludicrous.”
The NYT's Nicholas Fandos received a strategic SOTU leak:
Also, the new draft of the next USPolitics FPP is taking shape on the MeFi wiki, if people would like to collaborate/contribute.
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:32 PM on February 4, 2019 [29 favorites]
The WH briefed cong Rs on Trump's SOTU. No surprises Immigration, Infrastructure, Trade, Health Care & Nat SecIn other SOTU news, NBC reports Ocasio-Cortez will bring Kavanaugh critic Ana Maria Archila who confronted Flake in elevator to the State of the Union as her guest. Rep. Jimmy Gomez will bring Sandra Diaz, an undocumented immigrant from Costa Rica who worked as a housekeeper at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, NJ as his. And Rep. Eric Swalwell will bring Cameron Kasky, a Stoneman Douglas High survivor from Parkland, Florida as his. For more, see the American Independent article "Trump will be forced to face people he hurt during his big SOTU speech".
The WH said to expect "Cooperation, common sense & compromise"
They also warned not to pre-write statements since the speech is still in flux, per 2 people briefed
Also, the new draft of the next USPolitics FPP is taking shape on the MeFi wiki, if people would like to collaborate/contribute.
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:32 PM on February 4, 2019 [29 favorites]
WaPo, Trump to nominate David Bernhardt, a former lobbyist, as the next Interior secretary
posted by zachlipton at 12:44 PM on February 4, 2019 [9 favorites]
If confirmed, Bernhardt, a 49-year old Colorado native known for his unrelenting work habits, would be well positioned to roll back even more of the Obama-era conservation policies he has worked to unravel since joining Interior a year and-a-half ago. He has helmed the department as acting secretary since Jan. 2, when Ryan Zinke resigned amid multiple ethics probes.More on Bernhardt from a November profile. Aside from the whole choking on a breakfast burrito and careening across oncoming traffic thing, he came to the job with so many conflicts of interest from his lobbying clients that he carries around a card that lists them all, and the recusals are starting to expire.
posted by zachlipton at 12:44 PM on February 4, 2019 [9 favorites]
WaPo's Philip Bump charts Trump's tweets against the schedules leaked to Axios. The data is somewhat messy because of Dan Scavino's tweets, so they separate out the watching-Fox-News tweets as the ones that are most likely to from the real RealDonaldTrump (plus a dumb headline that reflexively engages in both-siderism and normalizing a president who doesn't like to work). There are two types of Trump ‘executive time,’ one for each side of the political debate:
The impression we get from Trump’s leaked schedules, really, is that Trump’s day doesn’t generally start until 11 a.m. Before that, he seems to be engaged in the sort of executive time that his critics disparage: lots of watching television and tweeting about things that are on his mind. After that initial block, though, his executive time bears fewer of those hallmarks, looking more like the sort of unstructured-but-productive time his advocates suggest make up much of his day.posted by peeedro at 1:20 PM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
"Ahead of 2020 reelection, Lindsey Graham’s challenge shifts from right to left" — Jamie Lovegrove, Post and Courier, Feb 4, 2019
"While conservatives have mostly laid off of Graham, Democrats see a rare opportunity. Jaime Harrison, a former S.C. Democratic Party chairman, has openly stoked speculation for months that he will take on Graham next year.posted by octobersurprise at 1:27 PM on February 4, 2019 [23 favorites]
A handful of other Democrats also are rumored to be considering a run, but Harrison — a Yale graduate who is now a top official at the Democratic National Committee — has the type of network to tap into that few other Democrats in the state could match."
NPR is reporting that Virginia Lt. Gov. Fairfax has been accused of sexual assault.
This just continues to get worse. Big League Politics, the same conservative site that had the yearbook photo, ran the story based on a private Facebook post from a woman who accused Fairfax of assault in 2004, purportedly obtained from a friend with permission to share it. The same woman told her story to the Washington Post in 2017 [cw: sexual assault] between the election and the inauguration. The Post reported on the story and ultimately did not publish:
Things then got even worse as questions spread as to whether Northam's camp leaked the allegation against Fairfax as the Governor is being pressured by virtually everyone to resign. As for that allegation:
posted by zachlipton at 1:29 PM on February 4, 2019 [18 favorites]
This just continues to get worse. Big League Politics, the same conservative site that had the yearbook photo, ran the story based on a private Facebook post from a woman who accused Fairfax of assault in 2004, purportedly obtained from a friend with permission to share it. The same woman told her story to the Washington Post in 2017 [cw: sexual assault] between the election and the inauguration. The Post reported on the story and ultimately did not publish:
The Washington Post, in phone calls to people who knew Fairfax from college, law school and through political circles, found no similar complaints of sexual misconduct against him. Without that, or the ability to corroborate the woman’s account — in part because she had not told anyone what happened — The Washington Post did not run a story.Fairfax is forcefully denying the accusation and threatening to sue.
She said she never told anyone about what happened at the time or in the years that followed until shortly before she approached The Post.
Things then got even worse as questions spread as to whether Northam's camp leaked the allegation against Fairfax as the Governor is being pressured by virtually everyone to resign. As for that allegation:
An adviser to Mr. Northam, asked Monday if the embattled governor was behind the alleged assault revelations, denied any responsibility and said the Northam camp did not have the capacity to plot such a move at a moment he is struggling to retain his job.Oh, and what was Fairfax's job in 2004? He was the personal aide to John Edwards.
posted by zachlipton at 1:29 PM on February 4, 2019 [18 favorites]
Incidentally, last year The Daily Beast profiled Big League Politics (which also broke the Northam story), and what it turned up was ugly in the extreme. This site was founded by a Daily Caller and Breitbart veteran and was purchased by Roy Moore's former political consultants, who have effectively transferred over their assets from his failed senate campaign to BLP's network. It specializes in conspiracy theories such as the Seth Rich murder and supports white nationalist candidates like Paul Nehlen.
posted by Doktor Zed at 1:31 PM on February 4, 2019 [22 favorites]
posted by Doktor Zed at 1:31 PM on February 4, 2019 [22 favorites]
NPR is reporting that Virginia Lt. Gov. Fairfax has been accused of sexual assault.
posted by medusa at 5:14 AM on February 5 [+] [!]
Oh FFS. Virginia, guys, can you elect just ONE person who's not so...
But then again, this part is interesting...
posted by saysthis at 1:33 PM on February 4, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by medusa at 5:14 AM on February 5 [+] [!]
Oh FFS. Virginia, guys, can you elect just ONE person who's not so...
But then again, this part is interesting...
Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax issued a statement early Monday denying a sexual assault allegation that appeared on the same conservative website that posted a racist photograph from Gov. Ralph Northam’s medical school yearbook page.Bolding mine. I'm not trying to do some circular firing squad nonsense, I have no idea what to think, I'm just saying this looks a lot messier than a straightforward sexual assault claim.
...
The statement came after the online publication, Big League Politics, ran a story under the headline: “UPDATE: Stanford Fellow Hints At Possible Justin Fairfax Sex Assault.”
The story was based on a private Facebook post from the woman, which the publication said it had obtained from a friend of hers who had permission to share it.
posted by saysthis at 1:33 PM on February 4, 2019 [4 favorites]
Mother Jones also did a story on David Bernhardt in October 2018: The Guy Doing the Dirty Work at Trump’s Interior Department is an Ex-Oil Lobbyist Straight Out of the Swamp. "Bernhardt is the perfect No. 2 to a highly visible No. 1. Zinke is the folksy charmer; Bernhardt is the strictly-business lawyer. Zinke is the relative outsider, an opportunist, and a politician; Interior watchdogs say Bernhardt is the ultimate DC swamp creature." Oh Lord, this shit never ends.
posted by Bella Donna at 1:58 PM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Bella Donna at 1:58 PM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
The Times of London reports on a new development in the SAGs' emolument lawsuit against Trump: Trump’s Scottish Finances in the Spotlight
"The company that owns Donald Trump’s Scottish golf courses is being investigated by US prosecutors. DJT Holdings, the parent company for resorts in Aberdeenshire and Ayrshire, has been ordered to open its books to prosecutors investigating a hotel in Washington. Brian Frosh, the attorney-general for Maryland, was confident that he would prove that President Trump was still receiving money from his businesses."
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:04 PM on February 4, 2019 [14 favorites]
"The company that owns Donald Trump’s Scottish golf courses is being investigated by US prosecutors. DJT Holdings, the parent company for resorts in Aberdeenshire and Ayrshire, has been ordered to open its books to prosecutors investigating a hotel in Washington. Brian Frosh, the attorney-general for Maryland, was confident that he would prove that President Trump was still receiving money from his businesses."
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:04 PM on February 4, 2019 [14 favorites]
I'm firmly in camp "believe women" but I'm sort of unsure how I feel about second hand reporting. I don't think we should care whether something is brought to light by "opponents" - bad acts are bad acts and responsibility doesn't change because of who brings something to light. So perhaps that same "where it came from doesn't matter" applies to something being surfaced this way? I feel pretty conflicted about it. There's a pretty obvious strategic attitude to take about it, which sure is convenient for me when it's someone on my "side" isn't it?
This shit sure would be a lot easier if other men would stop being fucking garbage.
posted by phearlez at 2:09 PM on February 4, 2019 [17 favorites]
This shit sure would be a lot easier if other men would stop being fucking garbage.
posted by phearlez at 2:09 PM on February 4, 2019 [17 favorites]
Elect women.
posted by localhuman at 2:17 PM on February 4, 2019 [71 favorites]
posted by localhuman at 2:17 PM on February 4, 2019 [71 favorites]
TPM: Texas’ Bogus Noncitizen Voter List Included Naturalized Elections Staffer
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:20 PM on February 4, 2019 [18 favorites]
Texas’ list of suspected noncitizen voters was so sloppy that among the people it flagged was an El Paso County elections staffer, whose naturalization party the county’s elections administrator recalled attending a couple of years ago.The fact that the list is garbage is a surprise to precisely zero people, and of course its primary role was to kickstart this story:
58,000 non-citizens voted in Texas, with 95,000 non-citizens registered to vote. These numbers are just the tip of the iceberg. All over the country, especially in California, voter fraud is rampant. Must be stopped. Strong voter ID! @foxandfriends — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 27, 2019That tweet was a lie, and toxic bullshit, but of course it will never be corrected, and I bet you we continue to hear about this for ever and ever as Texas turns purple.
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:20 PM on February 4, 2019 [18 favorites]
BuzzFeed, everyone-has-a-byline-on-this, Lobbyist at Trump Tower Meeting Received Half A Million Dollars In Suspicious Payments
A Russian-born lobbyist who attended the controversial Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 received a series of suspicious payments totaling half a million dollars before and after the encounter.posted by zachlipton at 2:21 PM on February 4, 2019 [30 favorites]
Documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News show that Rinat Akhmetshin, a Soviet military officer turned Washington lobbyist, deposited large, round-number amounts of cash in the months preceding and following the meeting, where a Russian lawyer offered senior Trump campaign officials dirt on Hillary Clinton.
The lobbyist also received a large payment that bank investigators deemed suspicious from Denis Katsyv, whose company Prevezon Holdings was accused by the US Justice Department of laundering the proceeds of a $230 million Russian tax fraud.
...
In the months before and after the meeting with the Trump campaign, documents show that Akhmetshin made unexplained cash deposits totaling $40,000, and received a wire transfer of $100,000 directly from Katsyv along with $52,000 from a foundation funded by Katsyv and other wealthy Russians to try to undermine that law. Bankers examining the lobbyist’s accounts flagged these transactions for a variety of reasons, including the inability to explain them, their overseas origin, and a suspicion that they showed Akhmetshin had violated federal lobbying law.
A half-million dollars of payments to that nonprofit, the Human Rights Accountability Global Initiative Foundation, have also come under scrutiny. Wired by Katsyv and other backers, the payments came two months before the Trump Tower meeting. Investigators at Bank of America, where the foundation held an account, cited the transactions as potential evidence of corruption and bribery in the bid to overturn the sanctions law, and provided them to Treasury, documents show. Mueller is investigating the foundation, Bloomberg reported.
...
Akhmetshin and his lawyers did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Reached on his doorstep, the lobbyist told BuzzFeed News, “Get the fuck out of here, okay?”
Veselnitskaya also declined to answer questions. “Don’t bother with questions,” she told BuzzFeed News in Russian. “Your article is paid for and you have your text ready. Don’t be distracted from what you consider the meaning of life.”
Roll Call reports that in the aftermath of the government shutdown and Mick Mulvaney's appointment to acting White House Chief of Staff, Trump is missing the legal deadline for submitting the president's budget to Congress: Donald Trump Is Ignoring The Law Today. And No One Really Cares.
A 1990 budget law actually says that Monday is the deadline for the request, but there is no penalty for not hitting the target date. It has been missed throughout history, and Congress has often failed to follow federal budget deadlines, as well.[…]posted by Doktor Zed at 2:33 PM on February 4, 2019 [6 favorites]
A senior OMB official said in a statement last week that the budget would not be sent to Capitol Hill on schedule.
“We will not be transmitting the President’s budget next week,” the official said Friday. “OMB is working on a revised schedule and will provide additional information when it’s available.”
That information started to become available later on Monday, when OMB started sharing notice that it will release portions of the fiscal 2020 budget the week of March 11, with the rest issued the following week.
This shit sure would be a lot easier if other men would stop being fucking garbage.
posted by phearlez at 6:09 AM on February 5 [1 favorite +] [!]
That assumes they can stop doing it before, like, the aughts. Best case they can (I try to not be garbage? although I'm single white and in my 30's and what do I even know?), but we're still left with the trash of the past...
And in the case of this particular accusation, given that it's the same media company that uncovered Northam's yearbook pics, I think this calls down a demon that Democrats/the left haven't dealt with in a satisfactory manner. I'm not even sure dealing with it is possible. I mean, Al Franken. People still miss him. I miss him, the non-creepy guy I'm sure he was around people he didn't see potential creepitude upon. The age-old do you accept the artwork-not-the-artist, except in a politician, with a side dose of we-got-this-from-former-Breitbart sauce and Northam-might-legit-be-a-racist-but-look-where-we-got-it pepper.
I don't know the answer, or what to call it. But it calls for a response that isn't "blame men". I mean, blame men, yes, but...if that's the battle, we'll be fighting it until Men Aren't Shits, and the attrition rate is going to be high for a very long time. I don't think proven shits should stay in office, but this also cuts at "believe women", which I do!
I'm more inclined to believe this is right wing divide-and-conquer, that parts of these revelations (for both) are suspect, and that we really, really, really need to focus HARD on grassroots vs. leader support for causes, because whatever leader they find, as long as our leaders are more accountable than theirs, we'll be living with these questions and accusations, and hands down, some of them will be fabricated. The moral answer to this, somehow, has to be divorced from the political. I don't know how to do that. I wish I did.
posted by saysthis at 2:34 PM on February 4, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by phearlez at 6:09 AM on February 5 [1 favorite +] [!]
That assumes they can stop doing it before, like, the aughts. Best case they can (I try to not be garbage? although I'm single white and in my 30's and what do I even know?), but we're still left with the trash of the past...
And in the case of this particular accusation, given that it's the same media company that uncovered Northam's yearbook pics, I think this calls down a demon that Democrats/the left haven't dealt with in a satisfactory manner. I'm not even sure dealing with it is possible. I mean, Al Franken. People still miss him. I miss him, the non-creepy guy I'm sure he was around people he didn't see potential creepitude upon. The age-old do you accept the artwork-not-the-artist, except in a politician, with a side dose of we-got-this-from-former-Breitbart sauce and Northam-might-legit-be-a-racist-but-look-where-we-got-it pepper.
I don't know the answer, or what to call it. But it calls for a response that isn't "blame men". I mean, blame men, yes, but...if that's the battle, we'll be fighting it until Men Aren't Shits, and the attrition rate is going to be high for a very long time. I don't think proven shits should stay in office, but this also cuts at "believe women", which I do!
I'm more inclined to believe this is right wing divide-and-conquer, that parts of these revelations (for both) are suspect, and that we really, really, really need to focus HARD on grassroots vs. leader support for causes, because whatever leader they find, as long as our leaders are more accountable than theirs, we'll be living with these questions and accusations, and hands down, some of them will be fabricated. The moral answer to this, somehow, has to be divorced from the political. I don't know how to do that. I wish I did.
posted by saysthis at 2:34 PM on February 4, 2019 [6 favorites]
So as not to abuse edit, I have tried to find a copy of this yearbook mentioned before October of 2018, and I haven’t. October is when it was first shopped to journalists, who didn’t run with it because they couldn’t prove it. Or so it is claimed.
I mean surely news people have an actual copy of the yearbook, and not just the same page image we’ve all seen? The whole thing is just too weird.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 2:56 PM on February 4, 2019 [2 favorites]
I mean surely news people have an actual copy of the yearbook, and not just the same page image we’ve all seen? The whole thing is just too weird.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 2:56 PM on February 4, 2019 [2 favorites]
October is when it was first shopped to journalists, who didn’t run with it because they couldn’t prove it. Or so it is claimed.
Dan Bongino, the only source in your link, is not a journalist, he is a serial fabulist and conspiracy monger.
posted by peeedro at 3:02 PM on February 4, 2019 [3 favorites]
Dan Bongino, the only source in your link, is not a journalist, he is a serial fabulist and conspiracy monger.
posted by peeedro at 3:02 PM on February 4, 2019 [3 favorites]
Agreed, but it’s still the first “evidence” of this yearbook coming to light.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 3:03 PM on February 4, 2019
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 3:03 PM on February 4, 2019
I mean surely news people have an actual copy of the yearbook
"The Washington Post independently confirmed the authenticity of the yearbook by viewing it in the medical school library in Norfolk."
That WaPo story goes on to say:
"The Washington Post independently confirmed the authenticity of the yearbook by viewing it in the medical school library in Norfolk."
That WaPo story goes on to say:
"Joan Naidorf, whose husband’s yearbook page is opposite Northam’s in the yearbook, said she was surprised the photos are only now coming out, given Northam’s stature in Virginia politics.posted by OnceUponATime at 3:15 PM on February 4, 2019 [12 favorites]
“We’ve often wondered over the last 10 years or so why someone didn’t dig this up sooner,” said Naidorf, a nonpracticing emergency room physician who lives in Alexandria.
She said that when she first saw the photo, shortly after the yearbook was published, “I thought: ‘That’s awful.’ I assumed it was something at a drunken frat party.”"
ABC has a leak from the sieve-like SDNY: New York Prosecutors Seek Records From Trump Inauguration Committee: Sources
That was The Times's paraphrase of Frosh's statement (the article's paywall blocks all but the opening). Since he's, you know, suing Trump in a court of law, he has to come up with ironclad proof of Trump's corruption. At the moment he's talking about only the discovery phase (via Vanity Fair): "We are confident that at the end of discovery we will be able to prove our case that President Trump is violating the Constitution’s emoluments clauses, America’s first anti-corruption laws." Trump's lawyers have been blocking and challenging the suit at every turn, so it only feels like it's not picking up traction.
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:32 PM on February 4, 2019 [8 favorites]
Prosecutors in New York’s Southern District have reached out to President Donald Trump’s inauguration committee and plan to subpoena the organization for documents, sources with direct knowledge tell ABC News, indicating that […] another investigation that could hamstring the president and his lawyers is widening.Cool story AG, you mean prove it like by pointing to Trump constantly personally acknowledging that he receives money from his businesses and nothing has been done about it? Please do something about it, by all means.
The contact from the Southern District, which came from its public corruption section, is the latest activity focusing on Trump’s political fundraising both before and immediately after his 2016 election. Lawyers for the inauguration committee were contacted midday Monday and asked if they could accept a subpoena for documents from federal prosecutors, according to sources familiar.[…]
The Trump family business has also been in contact with prosecutors, but sources familiar with those discussions would not spell out the specific topics covered.
That was The Times's paraphrase of Frosh's statement (the article's paywall blocks all but the opening). Since he's, you know, suing Trump in a court of law, he has to come up with ironclad proof of Trump's corruption. At the moment he's talking about only the discovery phase (via Vanity Fair): "We are confident that at the end of discovery we will be able to prove our case that President Trump is violating the Constitution’s emoluments clauses, America’s first anti-corruption laws." Trump's lawyers have been blocking and challenging the suit at every turn, so it only feels like it's not picking up traction.
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:32 PM on February 4, 2019 [8 favorites]
Is someone doing a Northam thread? 'Cause wow there's some serious fodder here.
The text below the picture should have cost him his career even without the picture. WTF is with these gleefully drunk racist frat assholes? He and Kavanaugh are basically the same twit.
posted by aspersioncast at 3:33 PM on February 4, 2019 [3 favorites]
The text below the picture should have cost him his career even without the picture. WTF is with these gleefully drunk racist frat assholes? He and Kavanaugh are basically the same twit.
posted by aspersioncast at 3:33 PM on February 4, 2019 [3 favorites]
CNN, K-FILE, UN pick Heather Nauert hosted panel on Sharia law conspiracies in 2009 Fox News webcast
President Donald Trump's pick to be United Nations ambassador once hosted a panel on unfounded conspiracy theories that Islamic fundamentalists are secretly trying to destroy America by changing the country's institutions and culture and imposing Sharia law.posted by zachlipton at 3:51 PM on February 4, 2019 [8 favorites]
Heather Nauert, a former host for "Fox and Friends" and the current spokeswoman for the State Department, pushed the theory in a 2009 Fox News hourlong special webcast titled "Terror from Within" that is still available on the network's website. Nauert fielded input from anti-Muslim activists Frank Gaffney and Robert Spencer, as well as Canadian journalist Tarek Fatah, who is a prominent Muslim critic of aspects of Islam.
...
In 2009, Nauert introduced the program as exploring "a school of thought that there is a stealthy jihad taking place within the US. And the theory is that some in our country want to destroy our America from within."
They would achieve this destruction, she continued, "by using our own legal system against us, by undermining our financial system and even taking away our holidays. The fact that we are a PC, politically correct country, well that will only be used against us." Nauert later added that the segment was "not intending in any way to malign the Muslim faith" but was looking at "one school of thought" that was "in part based on some things that are happening overseas, some things that are extremely relevant."
The Washington Post, in phone calls to people who knew Fairfax from college, law school and through political circles, found no similar complaints of sexual misconduct against him. Without that, or the ability to corroborate the woman’s account — in part because she had not told anyone what happened — The Washington Post did not run a story.
She said she never told anyone about what happened at the time or in the years that followed until shortly before she approached The Post.
re: Fairfax. I don't want any allegations pushed under the rug but getting this kind of corroboration is precisely what is needed. True, women don't always share sexual assaults but having corroboration is a first step (and what happened in the most recent SC debacle so even then....)
posted by bluesky43 at 3:58 PM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
She said she never told anyone about what happened at the time or in the years that followed until shortly before she approached The Post.
re: Fairfax. I don't want any allegations pushed under the rug but getting this kind of corroboration is precisely what is needed. True, women don't always share sexual assaults but having corroboration is a first step (and what happened in the most recent SC debacle so even then....)
posted by bluesky43 at 3:58 PM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
One more livestream hour tonight if you want to watch Ivanka Vacuuming
posted by armacy at 4:00 PM on February 4, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by armacy at 4:00 PM on February 4, 2019 [2 favorites]
NYT, Trump Once Said Power Was About Instilling Fear. In That Case, He Should Be Worried.
posted by zachlipton at 4:07 PM on February 4, 2019 [18 favorites]
In an interview as a presidential candidate in 2016 with the author Bob Woodward, Mr. Trump said, “Real power is — I don’t even want to use the word — fear.”As an example, this just happened: Senate adds rebuke of Trump’s Syria policy to Middle East bill
As president he tried to intimidate some of the nation’s strongest allies, including Canada, Mexico, Britain, France and Germany, in his initial trade talks. He demanded political loyalty from Republicans in Congress, and drove several who bucked him from office, notably Senators Bob Corker and Jeff Flake. But as his presidency enters its third year, a less convenient truth is emerging: Few outside the Republican Party are afraid of him, and even that intimidation may be changing after the government shutdown.
Senators voted 70-26 on the amendment from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), which warns the Trump administration from a “precipitous” withdrawal of U.S. troops in Syria and Afghanistan.Also not afraid of Trump: courts. @NicholasIovino: A federal judge in San Francisco just advanced a class action claiming the Trump admin's #TravelBan waiver process violates people's due process rights. Story coming soon.
posted by zachlipton at 4:07 PM on February 4, 2019 [18 favorites]
White House, Special Guests for President Trump’s Second State of the Union Address. There's a host of people on the list for various reasons (I'm not sure I've seen a SOTU with this many special guests actually; it's like a Very Special Episode), and then:
Joshua Trumpposted by zachlipton at 4:49 PM on February 4, 2019 [8 favorites]
Joshua Trump is a 6th grade student in Wilmington, Delaware. He appreciates science, art, and history. He also loves animals and hopes to pursue a related career in the future. His hero and best friend is his Uncle Cody, who serves in the United States Air Force. Unfortunately, Joshua has been bullied in school due to his last name. He is thankful to the First Lady and the Trump family for their support.
I have a question regarding this "schedule leak" - Isn't the daily schedule of the President of the United States a matter of public record? Like, shouldn't we have already known this? Shouldn't it be posted somewhere as a standard practice in some form? Or, if it's not normally publicly available in real time, isn't it at least a matter of historic record, as in it's going to be seen eventually?
I don't understand how this is a "leak" or a "betrayal." A President is supposed to be working for US, so we should know his daily actions and movements.
posted by dnash at 5:28 PM on February 4, 2019 [28 favorites]
I don't understand how this is a "leak" or a "betrayal." A President is supposed to be working for US, so we should know his daily actions and movements.
posted by dnash at 5:28 PM on February 4, 2019 [28 favorites]
It’s surprising how much isn’t legally mandatory if you have absolutely no respect for norms or precedent. (Cf. Releasing your taxes.)
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:41 PM on February 4, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:41 PM on February 4, 2019 [10 favorites]
Isn't the daily schedule of the President of the United States a matter of public record?
The Presidential Records Act mandates the preservation of all significant records (where significant is something at the discretion of the “Archivist of the United States”, which is definitely the coolest title in the government). But it doesn’t mandate that these records be made public during the Presidency. The records become public property after the President leaves office.
posted by dis_integration at 6:17 PM on February 4, 2019 [2 favorites]
The Presidential Records Act mandates the preservation of all significant records (where significant is something at the discretion of the “Archivist of the United States”, which is definitely the coolest title in the government). But it doesn’t mandate that these records be made public during the Presidency. The records become public property after the President leaves office.
posted by dis_integration at 6:17 PM on February 4, 2019 [2 favorites]
Isn't the daily schedule of the President of the United States a matter of public record?
The White House releases a public schedule the day before, but this doesn't include all appointments/events. (Here's today's, which has only two items on it.)
The records become public property after the President leaves office.
The Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978 allows former presidents to restrict access after leaving office. In such cases, the public may only receive them through a Freedom of Information Act request five years after the administration's end (in some cases up to twelve years). As such, leaking a full or partial version of the current president's schedule not allowed.
Instead it's just "oh, well, people are calling him unscheduled all the time, so, obviously he's very busy chatting them up or whatever."
Instead of "executive time",m Sarah Huckabee Sanders is now referring to Trump's "creative environment" ("While he spends much of his average day in scheduled meetings, events, and calls, there is time to allow for a more creative environment that has helped make him the most productive President in modern history."
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:20 PM on February 4, 2019 [6 favorites]
The White House releases a public schedule the day before, but this doesn't include all appointments/events. (Here's today's, which has only two items on it.)
The records become public property after the President leaves office.
The Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978 allows former presidents to restrict access after leaving office. In such cases, the public may only receive them through a Freedom of Information Act request five years after the administration's end (in some cases up to twelve years). As such, leaking a full or partial version of the current president's schedule not allowed.
Instead it's just "oh, well, people are calling him unscheduled all the time, so, obviously he's very busy chatting them up or whatever."
Instead of "executive time",m Sarah Huckabee Sanders is now referring to Trump's "creative environment" ("While he spends much of his average day in scheduled meetings, events, and calls, there is time to allow for a more creative environment that has helped make him the most productive President in modern history."
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:20 PM on February 4, 2019 [6 favorites]
WaPo, Federal prosecutors issue sweeping subpoena for documents from Trump inaugural committee, a sign of a deepening criminal probe
A wide-ranging subpoena served on the inaugural committee Monday seeks an array of documents, including all information related to inaugural donors, vendors, contractors, bank accounts of the inaugural committee and any information related to foreign contributors to the committee, according to a copy reviewed by The Washington Post.posted by redfishbluefish at 6:41 PM on February 4, 2019 [35 favorites]
Only U.S. citizens and legal residents can legally donate to a committee established to finance presidential inaugural festivities.
While he spends much of his average day in scheduled meetings, events, and calls
This is a straight-up lie based on the available schedules.
the most productive President in modern history
Assumes accomplishments not in evidence.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:50 PM on February 4, 2019 [15 favorites]
This is a straight-up lie based on the available schedules.
the most productive President in modern history
Assumes accomplishments not in evidence.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:50 PM on February 4, 2019 [15 favorites]
CNN, Nima Elbagir, Salma Abdelaziz, Mohamed Abo El Gheit and Laura Smith-Spark, Sold to an ally, lost to an enemy:The US shipped weapons and secrets to the Saudis and Emiratis. Now, some are in the hands of fighters linked to al Qaeda and Iran.
Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners have transferred American-made weapons to al Qaeda-linked fighters, hardline Salafi militias, and other factions waging war in Yemen, in violation of their agreements with the United States, a CNN investigation has found.posted by zachlipton at 6:57 PM on February 4, 2019 [19 favorites]
The weapons have also made their way into the hands of Iranian-backed rebels battling the coalition for control of the country, exposing some of America's sensitive military technology to Tehran and potentially endangering the lives of US troops in other conflict zones.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, its main partner in the war, have used the US-manufactured weapons as a form of currency to buy the loyalties of militias or tribes, bolster chosen armed actors, and influence the complex political landscape, according to local commanders on the ground and analysts who spoke to CNN.
By handing off this military equipment to third parties, the Saudi-led coalition is breaking the terms of its arms sales with the US, according to the Department of Defense. After CNN presented its findings, a US defense official confirmed there was an ongoing investigation into the issue.
It occurs to me that one big reason Northam has decided to cling to his job and hold on is that he looked at the timing and realized that Trump is giving the SOTU in less than 24 hours. That's going to knock the Northam story way out of the headlines for a while, and it probably won't be the lead story again unless new revelations come to light.
He's probably the only Democrat in the country hoping that Trump goes nuts and declares the national emergency Tuesday night.
(Aside, I keep instinctively typing "Northman" instead of "Northam", and I think it would be cool if the governor were a 6.5' tall 1100 year old Viking.)
posted by Justinian at 7:54 PM on February 4, 2019 [13 favorites]
He's probably the only Democrat in the country hoping that Trump goes nuts and declares the national emergency Tuesday night.
(Aside, I keep instinctively typing "Northman" instead of "Northam", and I think it would be cool if the governor were a 6.5' tall 1100 year old Viking.)
posted by Justinian at 7:54 PM on February 4, 2019 [13 favorites]
Ever since Nancy Pelosi cancelled Trump’s state of the union speech then permitted him to speak a week later, his hold on headline news has diminished. He’s still there but so is other news. He’s still somewhat dangerous, yes. But now, it seems like just a matter of time until he falls. It kept reminding me of something. Then in clicked. It’s like when Gandalf broke Saruman’s staff:
‘Come back, Saruman!’ said Gandalf in a commanding voice. To the amazement of the others, Saruman turned again, and as if dragged against his will, he came slowly back to the iron rail, leaning on it, breathing hard. His face was lined and shrunken. His hand clutched his heavy black staff like a claw. ‘I did not give you leave to go,’ said Gandalf sternly. ‘I have not finished. You have become a fool, Saruman, and yet pitiable…Behold, I am not Gandalf the Grey… I am Gandalf the White, who has returned from death...[She] raised [her] hand, and spoke slowly in a clear cold voice. ‘Saruman, your staff is broken.’ There was a crack, and the staff split asunder in Saruman’s hand, and the head of it fell down at Gandalf’s feet. ‘Go!’ said Gandalf. With a cry Saruman fell back and crawled away...The riders hailed the king with joy, and saluted Gandalf. The spell of Saruman was broken: they had seen him come at call, and crawl away, dismissed...Saruman was shown that the power of his voice was waning.
posted by mono blanco at 7:54 PM on February 4, 2019 [51 favorites]
‘Come back, Saruman!’ said Gandalf in a commanding voice. To the amazement of the others, Saruman turned again, and as if dragged against his will, he came slowly back to the iron rail, leaning on it, breathing hard. His face was lined and shrunken. His hand clutched his heavy black staff like a claw. ‘I did not give you leave to go,’ said Gandalf sternly. ‘I have not finished. You have become a fool, Saruman, and yet pitiable…Behold, I am not Gandalf the Grey… I am Gandalf the White, who has returned from death...[She] raised [her] hand, and spoke slowly in a clear cold voice. ‘Saruman, your staff is broken.’ There was a crack, and the staff split asunder in Saruman’s hand, and the head of it fell down at Gandalf’s feet. ‘Go!’ said Gandalf. With a cry Saruman fell back and crawled away...The riders hailed the king with joy, and saluted Gandalf. The spell of Saruman was broken: they had seen him come at call, and crawl away, dismissed...Saruman was shown that the power of his voice was waning.
posted by mono blanco at 7:54 PM on February 4, 2019 [51 favorites]
I've been thinking the same. Trump lost the one thing he had. Fear. Being threatening. The bully finally got stood up to and he shrinked away a coward. Trump has nothing if they realize he's all big talk and no substance. He backed down like the coward he's always been. He's never been weaker and it shows.
posted by downtohisturtles at 8:21 PM on February 4, 2019 [32 favorites]
posted by downtohisturtles at 8:21 PM on February 4, 2019 [32 favorites]
Instead of "executive time",m Sarah Huckabee Sanders is now referring to Trump's "creative environment" ("While he spends much of his average day in scheduled meetings, events, and calls, there is time to allow for a more creative environment that has helped make him the most productive President in modern history."
The analysis by WaPo is persuasive that most of his TV time happens in the mornings, given the concentration of tweets in those hours compared to his afternoon Executive Time. He's far too much the narcissist to spend too much time away from his beloved TV but I think it's more accurate to think of it as "do whatever the hell he wants" time than dedicated TV time.
The analysis by WaPo is persuasive that most of his TV time happens in the mornings, given the concentration of tweets in those hours compared to his afternoon Executive Time. He's far too much the narcissist to spend too much time away from his beloved TV but I think it's more accurate to think of it as "do whatever the hell he wants" time than dedicated TV time.
There’s a sort of default assumption among Trump’s critics that the president spends most of this time in a semi-stupor, watching Fox and tapping away at Twitter, but that’s probably not the case for much of the time. You’ll notice that after his initial executive-time period on most days, there are fewer tweets overlapping with those periods during his day.posted by scalefree at 8:23 PM on February 4, 2019 [2 favorites]
Instead, the time seems to serve largely as the sort of freewheeling time to which Trump grew accustomed as CEO of the Trump Organization. He and his team tend to mush together all of his unstructured time — including obviously nonproductive time watching cable news shows — as being work periods. It’s similar, in some ways, to how the administration will only rarely admit that the president is playing golf. At one point, former press secretary Sean Spicer suggested that Trump was making calls and holding meetings at his golf clubs, not necessarily hitting the links. By incorporating unscheduled call and meeting time in any way with Trump’s preferred leisure activities, those activities get blurred into an argument that the president constantly has his nose to the grindstone.
In still more of the "best people" series, major Trump backer billionaire Tom Ricketts gets his racist email laundry aired. His son Joe Ricketts, of shutting down DNAinfo for unionizing fame, says those values don't reflect the Chicago Cubs organization (the Ricketts family owns the Chicago Cubs). Todd Ricketts, another son is the RNC Finance Chairman ( he replaced the casino magnate and sexual harasser Steve Wynn).
posted by srboisvert at 8:39 PM on February 4, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 8:39 PM on February 4, 2019 [7 favorites]
I'm strongly inclined to believe the accusation against Fairfax, unless there's something wildly unusual going on with the accuser, Vanessa Tyson. A few reasons:
1. She told the Washington Post about it a while ago, not just now (although telling it just now would be hardly suspicious anyway; this just bolsters things because his star wasn't rising quite so dramatically at that time)
2. She's a socially liberal black Democrat working in the field of social justice. (She has a Twitter account with picture matching the Facebook image and with regular content going back months, but nothing super-recent.) How many such women are going to invent this for the sake of MAGA or some personal benefit? I'd find it more plausible that she herself was "invented", in the sense of a stolen picture/name/bot thing, but the evidence skews well away from that -- the Post says they were in contact with her.
3. Per that Post article, Fairfax doesn't deny a sexual encounter. He calls it consensual. This, to me, is a huge factor. Contrary to popular myths about jolted women, some third party trying to frame him would have a bit more luck convincing a stranger to lie than an ex-partner.
4. Her description isn't lurid, like fake claims often are -- it's depressingly typical. In fact, it's the sort of thing a perpetrator, thanks to the messages of rape culture, could genuinely misremember as mutually good, or at least consensual "enough".
Basically, the alternative hypothesis is a ratfuck that checks all those boxes, which is of course not impossible -- those are the "logical" boxes to try checking if for some reason I or someone with my outlook happens to be the person you want to convince. But.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 9:22 PM on February 4, 2019 [29 favorites]
1. She told the Washington Post about it a while ago, not just now (although telling it just now would be hardly suspicious anyway; this just bolsters things because his star wasn't rising quite so dramatically at that time)
2. She's a socially liberal black Democrat working in the field of social justice. (She has a Twitter account with picture matching the Facebook image and with regular content going back months, but nothing super-recent.) How many such women are going to invent this for the sake of MAGA or some personal benefit? I'd find it more plausible that she herself was "invented", in the sense of a stolen picture/name/bot thing, but the evidence skews well away from that -- the Post says they were in contact with her.
3. Per that Post article, Fairfax doesn't deny a sexual encounter. He calls it consensual. This, to me, is a huge factor. Contrary to popular myths about jolted women, some third party trying to frame him would have a bit more luck convincing a stranger to lie than an ex-partner.
4. Her description isn't lurid, like fake claims often are -- it's depressingly typical. In fact, it's the sort of thing a perpetrator, thanks to the messages of rape culture, could genuinely misremember as mutually good, or at least consensual "enough".
Basically, the alternative hypothesis is a ratfuck that checks all those boxes, which is of course not impossible -- those are the "logical" boxes to try checking if for some reason I or someone with my outlook happens to be the person you want to convince. But.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 9:22 PM on February 4, 2019 [29 favorites]
I'm strongly inclined to believe the accusation against Fairfax, unless there's something wildly unusual going on with the accuser, Vanessa Tyson.
Those do sound like cogent reasons. If nobody else comes forward, though, we're going to have the unsatisfactory situation in which either one of the few Black governors is weakened and unjustly impugned, or a rapist succeeds to the highest office of Virginia. I almost hope that there are other accusers, because then at least we'd be sure.
posted by Joe in Australia at 9:38 PM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
Those do sound like cogent reasons. If nobody else comes forward, though, we're going to have the unsatisfactory situation in which either one of the few Black governors is weakened and unjustly impugned, or a rapist succeeds to the highest office of Virginia. I almost hope that there are other accusers, because then at least we'd be sure.
posted by Joe in Australia at 9:38 PM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
With a cry Saruman fell back and crawled away...The riders hailed the king with joy, and saluted Gandalf. The spell of Saruman was broken: they had seen him come at call, and crawl away, dismissed...Saruman was shown that the power of his voice was waning.
From your lips to Eru Ilúvatar's ear.
posted by wildblueyonder at 9:56 PM on February 4, 2019 [15 favorites]
From your lips to Eru Ilúvatar's ear.
posted by wildblueyonder at 9:56 PM on February 4, 2019 [15 favorites]
we're going to have the unsatisfactory situation in which either one of the few Black governors is weakened and unjustly impugned, or a rapist succeeds to the highest office of Virginia.
I'm starting to think Northam is just going to...not resign. The Fairfax stuff only makes that stronger, by weakening the rationale for his direct replacement, and makes it all but impossible to impeach Northam without first resolving the Fairfax allegations, which seems impossible to do satisfactorily. So basically we're left with a crippled Democratic administration in Virginia for the next 3 years, and with all this shit now hanging over legislative elections in November.
Also there's a brewing civil war between Fairfax, and the mayor of Richmond, Levar Stoney, who Fairfax also bizarrely accused of having something to do with the allegations against him? It's totally fucked up here. At this point I'm ready to swear in the AG, Mark Herring, and hope he's not also a secret racist.
And really want to know what the fuck Tom Perriello was doing in the primary. Tom. Buddy. C'mon now.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:01 PM on February 4, 2019 [11 favorites]
I'm starting to think Northam is just going to...not resign. The Fairfax stuff only makes that stronger, by weakening the rationale for his direct replacement, and makes it all but impossible to impeach Northam without first resolving the Fairfax allegations, which seems impossible to do satisfactorily. So basically we're left with a crippled Democratic administration in Virginia for the next 3 years, and with all this shit now hanging over legislative elections in November.
Also there's a brewing civil war between Fairfax, and the mayor of Richmond, Levar Stoney, who Fairfax also bizarrely accused of having something to do with the allegations against him? It's totally fucked up here. At this point I'm ready to swear in the AG, Mark Herring, and hope he's not also a secret racist.
And really want to know what the fuck Tom Perriello was doing in the primary. Tom. Buddy. C'mon now.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:01 PM on February 4, 2019 [11 favorites]
Also there's a brewing civil war between Fairfax, and the mayor of Richmond, Levar Stoney, who Fairfax also bizarrely accused of having something to do with the allegations against him?
The source that Big League Politics credits for its scoop on the sexual assault allegations, Adria Scharf, is married to Thad Williamson, a long-time advisor to Richmond Mayor Stoney. When a reporter asked Fairfax if he believed Stoney played a role in speeding the allegations, Fairfax praised that reporter and encouraged the press to keep digging.
posted by peeedro at 10:27 PM on February 4, 2019
The source that Big League Politics credits for its scoop on the sexual assault allegations, Adria Scharf, is married to Thad Williamson, a long-time advisor to Richmond Mayor Stoney. When a reporter asked Fairfax if he believed Stoney played a role in speeding the allegations, Fairfax praised that reporter and encouraged the press to keep digging.
posted by peeedro at 10:27 PM on February 4, 2019
The NYT piece about how world leaders just treat him as an idiot to be either ignored or superficially flattered isn't really news other than how deliciously it uses Ari Fleischer to say that the arse-out emperor is in fact wearing the best clothes he's ever seen. American politics is far too good at rehabilitating shits.
The dynamic right now is strange: I-1 has more power now than at any point in his presidency in terms of how the White House operates and the "actings" in charge of agencies, but it's in an ever-diminishing space. The offload of various bits of Mueller's investigation to other prosecutors is going to create more leaks and more headlines and more reason for him to perseverate while watching television. Except he still has nukes. And every other instrument of executive power. And a few lackeys who his gut hasn't yet told him are untrustworthy. And an establishment press that's intent upon assiduously tracing the outlines of what it sees without naming what's contained within.
posted by holgate at 10:33 PM on February 4, 2019 [8 favorites]
The dynamic right now is strange: I-1 has more power now than at any point in his presidency in terms of how the White House operates and the "actings" in charge of agencies, but it's in an ever-diminishing space. The offload of various bits of Mueller's investigation to other prosecutors is going to create more leaks and more headlines and more reason for him to perseverate while watching television. Except he still has nukes. And every other instrument of executive power. And a few lackeys who his gut hasn't yet told him are untrustworthy. And an establishment press that's intent upon assiduously tracing the outlines of what it sees without naming what's contained within.
posted by holgate at 10:33 PM on February 4, 2019 [8 favorites]
Is anyone knowledgeable enough about VA politics to unpack the relationships between all of these actors? If Mayor Stoney is an ally of Northam for example, that would be relevant. Also, does anyone know exactly what the allegations are?
The accuser hasn’t spoken publicly but I read somewhere that she apparently says things started out consensual but went somewhere bad - is that verified?
posted by msalt at 2:05 AM on February 5, 2019
The accuser hasn’t spoken publicly but I read somewhere that she apparently says things started out consensual but went somewhere bad - is that verified?
posted by msalt at 2:05 AM on February 5, 2019
The WSJ’s Rebecca Ballhaus has more about the feds’ subpoena of the Trump inauguration: “The subpoena to the inaugural fund asks for docs related to payments made by donors directly to vendors. In the final weeks pre-inauguration, Rick Gates asked several vendors if they’d take $ directly from donors—a way for donors to avoid disclosure. https://www.wsj.com/articles/lawyers-for-trump-inaugural-committee-receive-subpoena-for-documents-11549325383”
CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz points out: “The violations alleged in the subpoena cover:
Conspiracy against the US, false statements, mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, inaugural committee disclosure violations, and laws prohibiting contributions by foreign nations and contributions in the name of another person”—serious charges for Team Trump to worry about.
Marcy Wheeler notes, “This subpoena on the inaugural committee coming just after former SDNY prosecutor Guy Petrillo got the hell off Michael Cohen's defense team is interesting timing.”
Lawyers have been leaking this subpoena’s details to every major news outlet they can. This seems like a very overt signal to all the interested parties, from Individual-1 to all his would-be bribers, that major shit is coming down. Rick Gates and Sam Patten are still cooperating (and incidentally, Manafort’s sentencing was just pushed back to March 13th).
posted by Doktor Zed at 4:34 AM on February 5, 2019 [55 favorites]
CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz points out: “The violations alleged in the subpoena cover:
Conspiracy against the US, false statements, mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, inaugural committee disclosure violations, and laws prohibiting contributions by foreign nations and contributions in the name of another person”—serious charges for Team Trump to worry about.
Marcy Wheeler notes, “This subpoena on the inaugural committee coming just after former SDNY prosecutor Guy Petrillo got the hell off Michael Cohen's defense team is interesting timing.”
Lawyers have been leaking this subpoena’s details to every major news outlet they can. This seems like a very overt signal to all the interested parties, from Individual-1 to all his would-be bribers, that major shit is coming down. Rick Gates and Sam Patten are still cooperating (and incidentally, Manafort’s sentencing was just pushed back to March 13th).
posted by Doktor Zed at 4:34 AM on February 5, 2019 [55 favorites]
Buzzfeed has dumped more documents outlining Trumps effort to get Trump Tower Moscow going while he was on the campaign trail saying that he had no business deals with Russia.
posted by PenDevil at 6:44 AM on February 5, 2019 [37 favorites]
posted by PenDevil at 6:44 AM on February 5, 2019 [37 favorites]
Queue up the Last Week Tonight "We Got Him" gif.
I'm so very cynical about these things dropping. This shit hasn't been surprising since, like, mid-2016. It's still cathartic to see hard evidence of this stuff out in the open and I hope it keeps coming.
And, as cynical as I am it IS starting to feel like it's a question of WHEN rather than IF the dam finally breaks.
This bit from an e-mail between Cohen and Sater is as unsurprising as it is outrageous:
I just watched the Trump press conference. Love the Putin/Russia reference. I need that part of the press conference cut into a short clip to be played for Putin.
The press conference quote Cohen appears to be referring to is one in which Trump says, "I believe we will have a very good relationship with Russia. I believe that I will have a very good relationship with Putin.”
While I don't expect juicy tidbits like that to change anything today, to mix my metaphors and quote a saying I heard a lot when I was a car salesman, "Every time youask for the sale reveal another piece of damning evidence is another whack at the rock. It's not the final whack that breaks it open to reveal the geode inside but ALL the whacks you've taken together."
posted by VTX at 7:31 AM on February 5, 2019 [22 favorites]
I'm so very cynical about these things dropping. This shit hasn't been surprising since, like, mid-2016. It's still cathartic to see hard evidence of this stuff out in the open and I hope it keeps coming.
And, as cynical as I am it IS starting to feel like it's a question of WHEN rather than IF the dam finally breaks.
This bit from an e-mail between Cohen and Sater is as unsurprising as it is outrageous:
I just watched the Trump press conference. Love the Putin/Russia reference. I need that part of the press conference cut into a short clip to be played for Putin.
The press conference quote Cohen appears to be referring to is one in which Trump says, "I believe we will have a very good relationship with Russia. I believe that I will have a very good relationship with Putin.”
While I don't expect juicy tidbits like that to change anything today, to mix my metaphors and quote a saying I heard a lot when I was a car salesman, "Every time you
posted by VTX at 7:31 AM on February 5, 2019 [22 favorites]
The plan to keep Trump’s taxes hidden (Nancy Cook, Politico)
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:53 AM on February 5, 2019 [9 favorites]
Trump's Treasury Department is readying plans to drag the expected Democratic request for Trump’s past tax filings, which he has closely guarded, into a quagmire of arcane legal arguments.The last bit is important. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass;chair of the House Ways and Means Committee) would have to reach out of their comfort zones to block or obtain the tax information.
At the same time, officials intend to publicly cast the request as a nakedly partisan exercise. The two-pronged scheme was developed by a handful of top political appointees and lawyers inside the department — with the ultimate goal of keeping the president’s past returns private, according to four people familiar with the administration’s approach.
The strategy will hinge on an argument that politically motivated Democrats will inevitably leak Trump’s tax information — a felony in and of itself — if the IRS hands over the documents. So because Democrats can’t be trusted to keep the documents private, they shouldn’t get them in the first place, officials will insist. Treasury officials have been waiting since early January for a top Democrat to make the request.
…
The potential fight would usher into the political arena two of Washington’s most reluctant protagonists.
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:53 AM on February 5, 2019 [9 favorites]
In The Shadow Of The Wall, Trump Will Deliver The State Of The Union (NPR, February 5, 2019)
And NPR has a summary of the Plus Ones at the SOTU: From Immigration To The Shutdown, State Of The Union Guests Carry Political Messages (February 5, 2019), in which I learn that The FIRST STEP Act was a rare bill that recently passed with bipartisan support (Wikipedia).
posted by filthy light thief at 7:58 AM on February 5, 2019 [11 favorites]
White House officials are previewing a conciliatory tone [NPR] from the president, as they have done before previous addresses to Congress that didn't turn out to be so conciliatory after all. As part of a briefing with reporters at which a senior official detailed what to expect from the speech but declined to speak on the record, the official read an excerpt of Trump's prepared remarks.Once again, it's "Senior Official speaks off the record, tells a story that is contrary to reality."
"Together we can break decades of political stalemate," the official said Trump will say. "We can bridge old divisions, heal old wounds, build new coalitions, forge new solutions and unlock the extraordinary promise of America's future. The decision is ours to make."
This comes in stark contrast to the uncertainty and bitterness of the moment. There is uncertainty about whether a bipartisan congressional conference committee can reach an agreement to fund border security and avoid another government shutdown.
The bitterness is displayed in part in Trump's own rhetoric about that key fight. In an interview with CBS News [NPR] that aired during the Super Bowl, Trump said [CBS News, full transcript] that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., resisted his demands for $5.7 billion to build a wall (or border barrier) because "she doesn't mind human trafficking or she wouldn't do this."
During the record-setting 35 days of the shutdown, the president didn't stop talking about the wall. At an American Farm Bureau Federation conference, even in Iraq to greet troops the day after Christmas, the wall was a focus.Emphasis mine -- is this a good thing or a bad thing?
"The wall is actually a wall against getting anything else done at this point," said Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist who has worked with the Trump administration.
Bonjean points out that while the wall and shutdown have been nearly all-consuming for Trump, they have temporarily stymied the ambitious agenda of House Democrats too.
And NPR has a summary of the Plus Ones at the SOTU: From Immigration To The Shutdown, State Of The Union Guests Carry Political Messages (February 5, 2019), in which I learn that The FIRST STEP Act was a rare bill that recently passed with bipartisan support (Wikipedia).
The Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act or FIRST STEP Act reforms the federal prison system of the United States of America, and seeks to reduce recidivism. An initial version of the bill passed the House of Representatives (360-59) on May 22, 2018, a revised bill passed the U.S. Senate (on a bipartisan 87-12 vote) on December 18, 2018. The House approved the bill with Senate revisions on December 20, 2018 (358-36). The act was signed by President Donald Trump on December 21, 2018, before the end of the 115th Congress. The act, among many provisions, allows for employees to store their firearms securely at federal prisons, restricts the use of restraints on pregnant women, expands compassionate release for terminally ill patients, places prisoners closer to family in some cases, authorizes new markets for Federal Prison Industries, mandates de-escalation training for correctional officers and employees, and improves feminine hygiene in prison.The Criminal-Justice Bill Had Broad Bipartisan Support and Still Almost Died -- The “permanent campaign” made some Republicans fear being cast as soft on crime. (Andrew Kragie for The Atlantic, Dec. 20, 2018)
Though it’s a fairly modest measure with exceedingly broad support, the criminal-justice bill passed by the Senate on Tuesday evening barely made it out alive. Its near-demise illustrates how extreme partisanship and the permanent campaign have made reform legislation require a perfect storm in Washington.Reminder: "Hard/Soft on Crime" rhetoric is the GOP's own creation (U.S. News, Opinion, 2015), not The Will Of The People.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:58 AM on February 5, 2019 [11 favorites]
Buzzfeed has dumped more documents outlining Trumps effort to get Trump Tower Moscow going while he was on the campaign trail saying that he had no business deals with Russia.
posted by scalefree at 8:00 AM on February 5, 2019 [24 favorites]
The fixers believed they needed Putin’s support to pull off the lucrative deal, and they planned to use Trump’s public praise for him to help secure it. At the same time, they plotted to persuade Putin to openly declare his support for Trump’s candidacy. “If he says it we own this election,” Sater wrote to Cohen.Now it all falls into place. So many of Trump's puzzling pro-Putin statements throughout the campaign make complete sense now. It was all about getting Putin to reciprocate so they could have their cake & eat it too; build Trump World Tower Moscow & win the Presidency.
posted by scalefree at 8:00 AM on February 5, 2019 [24 favorites]
Woman Alleging Sexual Assault By Virginia's Lt. Gov. Hires Washington Law Firm (NPR, February 5, 2019)
A California woman who has accused Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexually assaulting her 15 years ago has hired the same law firm that represented Christine Blasey Ford in her allegations against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.posted by filthy light thief at 8:02 AM on February 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
Fairfax has denied the allegation, which first surfaced on a conservative blog and was later described in a report by The Washington Post.
The allegation has come to light just as Fairfax could be on the verge of becoming the state's chief executive in the wake of a scandal involving Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam and a blackface yearbook photo.
The woman making the accusation against Fairfax has retained Katz, Marshall and Banks, a Washington, D.C.-based firm, and is consulting with her attorneys about next steps, according to a source close to the legal team. The law firm assisted Blasey Ford as she came forward during Kavanaugh's confirmation process with allegations that he assaulted her when the two were in high school.
...
In a statement early Monday, Fairfax called it "false and unsubstantiated" and noted that The Washington Post had looked into the same accusation more than a year ago and decided not to go forward with a story.
Later in the day, the Post published a piece describing the allegation and the newspaper's steps in reporting the story. According to the story, Fairfax and his accuser met in 2004 at the Democratic National Convention in Boston. The woman alleged that what began as consensual kissing escalated to a forced encounter that included oral sex. Fairfax says the encounter was entirely consensual.
The newspaper said it could not corroborate either person's version of events and decided not to publish at the time.
The plan to keep Trump’s taxes hidden
Trump's tax returns have nothing to do with his position as Chief Executive (except to reveal more violations of the Emoluments Clause, but never mind). By crafting a plan to keep his tax returns hidden, Trump is admitting -- no, proclaiming -- that he has something to hide.
Which is why, of course, presidential candidates used to release them in the first place -- to show they had nothing to hide. It's a shame the so-called "liberal media" refrained from pointing out the implications of his reluctance to release them even as they noted Trump's breaking of the norm -- in holgate's great phrasing, "assiduously tracing the outlines of what it sees without naming what's contained within."
posted by Gelatin at 8:15 AM on February 5, 2019 [27 favorites]
Trump's tax returns have nothing to do with his position as Chief Executive (except to reveal more violations of the Emoluments Clause, but never mind). By crafting a plan to keep his tax returns hidden, Trump is admitting -- no, proclaiming -- that he has something to hide.
Which is why, of course, presidential candidates used to release them in the first place -- to show they had nothing to hide. It's a shame the so-called "liberal media" refrained from pointing out the implications of his reluctance to release them even as they noted Trump's breaking of the norm -- in holgate's great phrasing, "assiduously tracing the outlines of what it sees without naming what's contained within."
posted by Gelatin at 8:15 AM on February 5, 2019 [27 favorites]
House Dems Are Set to Take a Step to Help Robert Mueller Prosecute Perjury (Dan Friedman, Mother Jones)
The House intelligence committee is scheduled to vote Wednesday to turn over interview transcripts to the special counsel.posted by ZeusHumms at 8:16 AM on February 5, 2019 [32 favorites]
The investigation into Trump’s inauguration money looks quite serious (Vox)
posted by Barack Spinoza at 8:25 AM on February 5, 2019 [21 favorites]
President Trump’s inaugural committee received a sweeping subpoena from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York — meaning criminal investigations into the inauguration’s money are heating up. The scope of documents requested in the subpoena and potential crimes investigators are probing are both remarkable — investigating everything from false statements to money laundering. Investigators are said to be interested in the inaugural committee’s spending, its donations, whether any donations came from illegal foreign sources, and potential corruption involving favors for donors.Nice, thorough rundown in the linked piece.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 8:25 AM on February 5, 2019 [21 favorites]
What I find interesting is how throughout much of the communication they're both trying to get Trump Tower Moscow built and also trying to get Trump elected but there isn't yet a quid-pro-quo of "help us get elected and build the Tower and we'll ease sanctions." But it easy for me to see how Putin would slowly use those goals as leverage to suck Trump's campaign into full-on collusion.
I'm reminded of a side-plot from The Sopranos where some desperate guy gets into deep gambling debts with Tony's crew. At first he agrees to let them commit some minor fraud through his business so he can "pay back his debt" but that's really just how they get their foot in the door so they can commit more and more fraud and run more scams through his business until it's totally destroyed.
Putin basically did the same thing using Trumps desire for Trump Tower Moscow to get his foot in the door and guide them down a slippery slope until they looked around one day and realized, "Oh shit, Putin OWNS us."
posted by VTX at 8:28 AM on February 5, 2019 [43 favorites]
I'm reminded of a side-plot from The Sopranos where some desperate guy gets into deep gambling debts with Tony's crew. At first he agrees to let them commit some minor fraud through his business so he can "pay back his debt" but that's really just how they get their foot in the door so they can commit more and more fraud and run more scams through his business until it's totally destroyed.
Putin basically did the same thing using Trumps desire for Trump Tower Moscow to get his foot in the door and guide them down a slippery slope until they looked around one day and realized, "Oh shit, Putin OWNS us."
posted by VTX at 8:28 AM on February 5, 2019 [43 favorites]
That’s Davey Scatino’s sporting goods store, and that is a lovely analogy.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 8:34 AM on February 5, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by Barack Spinoza at 8:34 AM on February 5, 2019 [12 favorites]
Putin basically did the same thing using Trumps desire for Trump Tower Moscow to get his foot in the door and guide them down a slippery slope until they looked around one day and realized, "Oh shit, Putin OWNS us.
In their defense, nobody could have anticipated that the guy who gained complete control of every Russian oligarch would be tricksy.
posted by diogenes at 8:41 AM on February 5, 2019 [43 favorites]
In their defense, nobody could have anticipated that the guy who gained complete control of every Russian oligarch would be tricksy.
posted by diogenes at 8:41 AM on February 5, 2019 [43 favorites]
I want to point out that so far the only person shown to have lied with regards to the Fairfax allegations is Fairfax himself, and he lied in service of attacking the accuser. (The Post has described them as "incorrect statements," which...) Actually, he's attacked the accuser more than once in the five minutes since this all started; I think implying that the accusations are part of a political plot against him is also fairly considered an attack.
This is a pattern we've seen before, and it's actually making me kind of sick to see it from a Dem.
posted by schadenfrau at 8:50 AM on February 5, 2019 [18 favorites]
This is a pattern we've seen before, and it's actually making me kind of sick to see it from a Dem.
posted by schadenfrau at 8:50 AM on February 5, 2019 [18 favorites]
And unlike Northam I actually voted for Fairfax in the primary as well as the general, so that's just delightful. A few days ago I found the situation darkly hilarious but now I'm just pissed the fuck off.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:01 AM on February 5, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:01 AM on February 5, 2019 [6 favorites]
The inaugural grifting is Putinesque without the bulk of it necessarily being part of the main Russian narrative. (Which is why Mueller seems okay with offloading it now.) Even if I-1 was not directing the influx and outflow of money, it was a space defined by his election with relatively little real-time oversight that his underlings and hangers-on treated as an opportunity to go wild with influence peddling, invoice padding and other quid pro quos.
posted by holgate at 9:15 AM on February 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by holgate at 9:15 AM on February 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
To manage our expectations before the SoTU announcement on halting the transmission of HIV, the WaPo examines the Trump administration's record on the issue, Trump used to brag about forcing women to take tests for HIV. Now he wants to eliminate its spread. Highlights include:
- Trump bragged in 1991 that he forced women to submit to an HIV test before he wined and dined them.
- Trump has not appointed a director to the Office of National AIDS Policy and shut down the unit's website which had been active since the Clinton administration.
- In 2017, six members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS quit in protest, Trump responded by firing the remaining 10 members leaving it unstaffed for a year.
- The proposed 2018 budget was criticized by health groups for a 19% cut in HIV prevention funds, a 17% cut to CDC's overall STD prevention, eliminated the HHS Minority AIDS Initiative Fund, a $26 million cut to a program at HUD providing stable housing for people with AIDS, a 20% cut in NIH funding, and steep cuts to Medicaid.
- Proposed changes to Medicare Part D which would allow insurers to stop covering drugs that treat HIV.
- Bill Gates recounts Trump has twice asked for clarification on the difference between HIV and HPV.
- As governor, Mike Pence presided over Indiana's worst HIV outbreak ever.
- During the GWHB administration, William Barr oversaw an "HIV prison camp" at the Guantanamo Bay naval facility incarcerating 153 Haitian refugees, including pregnant women and children, who were deemed credible candidates for asylum.
As governor, Mike Pence presided over Indiana's worst HIV outbreak ever.
Pence is personally responsible for hundreds-to-thousands of HIV infections.
Depraved indifference, then and now.
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:53 AM on February 5, 2019 [50 favorites]
Pence is personally responsible for hundreds-to-thousands of HIV infections.
Depraved indifference, then and now.
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:53 AM on February 5, 2019 [50 favorites]
And an establishment press that's intent upon assiduously tracing the outlines of what it sees without naming what's contained within.
Well said! See also Josh Marshall's early take on TPM almost two years ago: "Astronomers can’t see black holes directly. They map them by their event horizon and their effect on nearby stars and stellar matter. We can’t see yet what’s at the center of the Trump/Russia black hole. But we can tell a lot about its magnitude by the scope of the event horizon and the degree of its gravitational pull, which is immense."
He revisited this over the past summer: "As I wrote eighteen months ago, as the Russia story was erupting, you can infer the scope and depth of a scandal by its gravitational pull, often long before you know the particular details. President Trump’s actions make perfect sense if your assumptions are correct. Either by fear or avarice or some other species of control that exceeds the capacity of my imagination Russia exerts a control over President Trump. So the US is in grave danger."
Unfortunately, most of his peers in the regular press are still trying to avoid the obvious conclusion. Instead, they're bracing for a shift in conventional wisdom without doing anything to influence it (the Gray Lady and WSJ are the worst offenders, but even CNN and the WaPo haven't adopted an editorial line acknowledging the enormity of the Trump administration's corruption).
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:19 AM on February 5, 2019 [33 favorites]
Well said! See also Josh Marshall's early take on TPM almost two years ago: "Astronomers can’t see black holes directly. They map them by their event horizon and their effect on nearby stars and stellar matter. We can’t see yet what’s at the center of the Trump/Russia black hole. But we can tell a lot about its magnitude by the scope of the event horizon and the degree of its gravitational pull, which is immense."
He revisited this over the past summer: "As I wrote eighteen months ago, as the Russia story was erupting, you can infer the scope and depth of a scandal by its gravitational pull, often long before you know the particular details. President Trump’s actions make perfect sense if your assumptions are correct. Either by fear or avarice or some other species of control that exceeds the capacity of my imagination Russia exerts a control over President Trump. So the US is in grave danger."
Unfortunately, most of his peers in the regular press are still trying to avoid the obvious conclusion. Instead, they're bracing for a shift in conventional wisdom without doing anything to influence it (the Gray Lady and WSJ are the worst offenders, but even CNN and the WaPo haven't adopted an editorial line acknowledging the enormity of the Trump administration's corruption).
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:19 AM on February 5, 2019 [33 favorites]
I want to point out that so far the only person shown to have lied with regards to the Fairfax allegations is Fairfax himself, and he lied in service of attacking the accuser. (The Post has described them as "incorrect statements," which...) Actually, he's attacked the accuser more than once in the five minutes since this all started; I think implying that the accusations are part of a political plot against him is also fairly considered an attack.
I apologize for defending the man.
posted by saysthis at 10:24 AM on February 5, 2019 [8 favorites]
I apologize for defending the man.
posted by saysthis at 10:24 AM on February 5, 2019 [8 favorites]
[Peter Baker / NYT]
Confirmed: Trump to nominate David Malpass, under secretary of treasury, to be the next World Bank chief, administration officials say.
Malpass was the chief economist at Bear Sterns just before it collapsed
posted by growabrain at 10:47 AM on February 5, 2019 [19 favorites]
Confirmed: Trump to nominate David Malpass, under secretary of treasury, to be the next World Bank chief, administration officials say.
Malpass was the chief economist at Bear Sterns just before it collapsed
posted by growabrain at 10:47 AM on February 5, 2019 [19 favorites]
The deciding criteria for nominations in this administration is a desire to burn the department for which you are nominated to the ground. That is not hyperbole.
posted by mcstayinskool at 10:58 AM on February 5, 2019 [53 favorites]
posted by mcstayinskool at 10:58 AM on February 5, 2019 [53 favorites]
If Northam and Fairfax both resigned, AG Mark Herring would become governor.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:00 AM on February 5, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 11:00 AM on February 5, 2019 [5 favorites]
What is the processing for backfilling the posts of Lt. Govenor and, potentially, AG? Would it require a special election or might the new govenor appoint someone?
posted by C'est la D.C. at 11:09 AM on February 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by C'est la D.C. at 11:09 AM on February 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
I believe the Va constitution says the governor would appoint a Lt Gov and AG who would serve the remainder of that term:
The Governor shall have power to fill vacancies in all offices of the Commonwealth for the filling of which the Constitution and laws make no other provision. If such office be one filled by the election of the people, the appointee shall hold office until the next general election, and thereafter until his successor qualifies, according to law.posted by peeedro at 11:20 AM on February 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
But if Northam resigned first hes not the governor anymore . . .
Im starting to feel like the only good outcome here is a coordinated effort on both of their parts to set up a legitimate (if caretaker) successor.
not that it will happen.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:22 AM on February 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
Im starting to feel like the only good outcome here is a coordinated effort on both of their parts to set up a legitimate (if caretaker) successor.
not that it will happen.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:22 AM on February 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
There is some ambiguity here - Virginia has never had this come up since the Civil War. It's at least possible that the LG/AG appointees would need to face a special election to serve the rest of the term.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:22 AM on February 5, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 11:22 AM on February 5, 2019 [5 favorites]
To manage our expectations before the SoTU announcement on halting the transmission of HIV ...
I keep hearing this, but, honestly, not only do I lack any confidence in their ability—or even wish—to accomplish such a thing, the utter contempt they display for the populations traditionally most at risk for HIV makes their choice of this feel faintly ... ominous.
posted by octobersurprise at 11:28 AM on February 5, 2019 [16 favorites]
I keep hearing this, but, honestly, not only do I lack any confidence in their ability—or even wish—to accomplish such a thing, the utter contempt they display for the populations traditionally most at risk for HIV makes their choice of this feel faintly ... ominous.
posted by octobersurprise at 11:28 AM on February 5, 2019 [16 favorites]
Assuming both men are forced to resign, it's hardly likely to be simultaneous. If Fairfax resigns first then Northam gets to replace the LG. Even if Northam himself subsequently resigns he'll have directly appointed a Governor, which means he's owed a massive favour by someone with the power of patronage. If Northam resigns first, then Fairfax becomes governor and can appoint his own replacement before stepping down himself. Either way, this gives each man a huge incentive to hold on as long as possible.
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:33 AM on February 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:33 AM on February 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
The email from Sater to Michael Cohen (and another undisclosed recipient) has been out there for a long time, but it clearly disproves the Trump campaign claim that there was no active plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Was that bit simply redacted? Either way, I'm amazed that the co-conspirators denied their plans, knowing what was clearly already out there.
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:43 AM on February 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:43 AM on February 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
NPR has been beating what (sounds like, to me) the "Health Care For All" drum recently with a series of stories on how shitty the current U.S. healthcare system is, with their Bill of the Month series, in which they look at surprise medical bills, but it's also more than that.
Most recently: Texans Can Appeal Surprise Medical Bills, But The Process Can Be Draining (February 5, 2019)
My summary: young man crashes his bike, broke his hip, and after a trip in the ambulance, hip surgery and 3 days of recovery, he was billed $71,543, possibly in part because he was taken to hospital that was out of his network, even though he provided his insurance information.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:53 AM on February 5, 2019 [10 favorites]
Most recently: Texans Can Appeal Surprise Medical Bills, But The Process Can Be Draining (February 5, 2019)
My summary: young man crashes his bike, broke his hip, and after a trip in the ambulance, hip surgery and 3 days of recovery, he was billed $71,543, possibly in part because he was taken to hospital that was out of his network, even though he provided his insurance information.
The total bill came to $75,346. Baylor Scott & White, which left the ACA marketplace the following year, only paid $3,812.And there are more stories along those lines. Then there's the article, also from today, that Bipartisan Support Builds For Limits On Surprise Medical Bills
Buckingham says he thought it was a mistake. He called the hospital and the insurer to sort it out. But after weeks of inquiring about it, there was no resolution.
Both the hospital and insurer insisted payment was his responsibility.
...
The hospital also said bill was so large because of his "high deductible plan."
...
Buckingham says his policy had a deductible of $5,000 for in-network care and $10,000 for out-of-network care. He says he still doesn't know how his bill got to be so high.
Trump's declaration that taming unexpected bills would be a top priority for his administration echoed through the halls of Congress, where a handful of Republican and Democratic lawmakers had already been studying the problem.See: Trump boosts fight against surprise medical bills (Peter Sullivan for The Hill, Jan. 27, 2019)
“[People] go in, they have a procedure and then all of a sudden they can't afford it, they had no idea it was so bad," Trump said at a roundtable with patients about the issue.Back to NPR:
“We're going to stop all of it, and it's very important to me,” he added.
Sen. Lamar Alexander, the Tennessee Republican who chairs the influential Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, recently told reporters that he expects to see surprise-billing legislation "in the next several months."I'll end it there, with another non-statement from McConnell, and something positive from Pelosi.
Alexander is encouraged by the movement, said a committee spokesman — giving a particular nod to the efforts of Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La. "The chairman looks forward to reviewing their work and hopes it leads to a bipartisan consensus on how to address the issue," the spokesman added.
...
The Trump administration hasn't laid out precisely how it would take on surprise bills. But key lawmakers, including Alexander and Cassidy, have met with administration officials to discuss the problem of how to reduce health care costs. Trump administration officials have made it clear that they are looking at surprise billing within this context.
...
And though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has yet to address the issue, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said it would be a priority.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:53 AM on February 5, 2019 [10 favorites]
Bloomberg, Trump Has Decided Not to Declare Emergency in State of the Union, Sources Say. Of course: "The people asked not to be identified discussing Trump’s speech in advance and cautioned that he could change his mind before it’s delivered at 9 p.m. in Washington."
The current spending bill expires in 10 days, so this could just be hitting the snooze button on that particular crisis.
posted by zachlipton at 11:54 AM on February 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
The current spending bill expires in 10 days, so this could just be hitting the snooze button on that particular crisis.
posted by zachlipton at 11:54 AM on February 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
Mark Herring is pretty progressive, and seems like a good guy. I've been following him the last couple of years. He's from my neck of the woods, and I know some of his relatives here. This might be a pretty good outcome.
posted by kimdog at 11:56 AM on February 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by kimdog at 11:56 AM on February 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
I'm amazed that the co-conspirators denied their plans, knowing what was clearly already out there.
It isn't amazing at all. Because the media is obsessed with "balance" rather than objectivity, it doesn't matter if a denial flies in the face of a ton of publicly available evidence. The media reporting "Trump denied active plans to build in Moscow during the campaign" elevates the claim's credibility even if it has none, so why not try? Reporters won't stop returning your calls just because you lied to them.
They should.
posted by Gelatin at 11:56 AM on February 5, 2019 [14 favorites]
It isn't amazing at all. Because the media is obsessed with "balance" rather than objectivity, it doesn't matter if a denial flies in the face of a ton of publicly available evidence. The media reporting "Trump denied active plans to build in Moscow during the campaign" elevates the claim's credibility even if it has none, so why not try? Reporters won't stop returning your calls just because you lied to them.
They should.
posted by Gelatin at 11:56 AM on February 5, 2019 [14 favorites]
Good news dept: New Jersey enacts raise to minimum wage - goes from $8.85 to $10.00 now, then gradually to $15 in 2024.
posted by Chrysostom at 12:10 PM on February 5, 2019 [22 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 12:10 PM on February 5, 2019 [22 favorites]
CNN, Erica Orden and Cristina Alesci, New York federal prosecutors seek interviews with Trump Organization executives, in it's less of a leak and more of a flood as SDNY is concerned:
posted by zachlipton at 12:10 PM on February 5, 2019 [29 favorites]
Federal prosecutors in New York have requested interviews in recent weeks with executives at the Trump Organization, according to people familiar with the matter, signaling a growing potential threat to President Donald Trump and those in his orbit from criminal investigations by the Manhattan US Attorney's office.This seems like a good time for a reminder that while DOJ may think you can't indict a sitting President, nothing says you can't indict a sitting President's company.
Trump and his legal team have long harbored concerns that investigations by New York federal prosecutors -- which could last throughout his presidency -- may ultimately pose more danger to him, his family and his allies than the inquiry by special counsel Robert Mueller, according to people close to Trump. Prosecutors' recent interest in executives at Trump's family company may intensify those fears.
posted by zachlipton at 12:10 PM on February 5, 2019 [29 favorites]
The BuzzFeed document drop has (poor) scans of every page of Cohen's passport -- any eagle eyed amateur detectives able to say whether or not he was in Prague (or just Europe) during the summer of 2016?
posted by AwkwardPause at 12:26 PM on February 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by AwkwardPause at 12:26 PM on February 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
Four Trump Trips To Mar-A-Lago Cost Taxpayers $13.6M, New Gov’t Report Finds (Cameron Joseph, TPM)
President Trump and his entourage cost taxpayers a combined $13.6 million for just four trips over one month to his private Mar-a-Lago resort, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.posted by ZeusHumms at 12:34 PM on February 5, 2019 [9 favorites]
From February 3 to March 7, 2017, Trump visited his private resort in south Florida four different times. That cost government agencies approximately $10.6 million for operating costs of government aircraft and boats and $3 million for temporary duty costs of government personnel supporting Trump’s travel, according to the report.
AwkwardPause, the problem with that sort of sleuthing is that in my experience, passports just don't get stamped that reliably.
posted by Andrhia at 12:35 PM on February 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Andrhia at 12:35 PM on February 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
The BuzzFeed document drop has (poor) scans of every page of Cohen's passport -- any eagle eyed amateur detectives able to say whether or not he was in Prague (or just Europe) during the summer of 2016?
It looks like the scan of Cohen's passport is from December of 2015, though, provided to Felix Sater to arrange travel to Russia.
posted by The Tensor at 12:36 PM on February 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
It looks like the scan of Cohen's passport is from December of 2015, though, provided to Felix Sater to arrange travel to Russia.
posted by The Tensor at 12:36 PM on February 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
The BuzzFeed document drop has (poor) scans of every page of Cohen's passport -- any eagle eyed amateur detectives able to say whether or not he was in Prague (or just Europe) during the summer of 2016?
Prague is in the Schengen zone. If he was anywhere in Europe, he was a hop away from Prague
posted by ocschwar at 12:39 PM on February 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
Prague is in the Schengen zone. If he was anywhere in Europe, he was a hop away from Prague
posted by ocschwar at 12:39 PM on February 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
That's an inordinately good point. Please disregard my question as I sheepishly slink into the corner... (Edited to add: The good point being that these scans are from 2015).
posted by AwkwardPause at 12:41 PM on February 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by AwkwardPause at 12:41 PM on February 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
Bloomberg, Trump Has Decided Not to Declare Emergency in State of the Union, Sources Say.
Caveat that Trumpland not only spreads contradictory rumors at the best of times, but also throws out leaks to gauge the public response to them before.
In another leak to Bloomberg, Team Trump is putting a positive spin on the speech: "Aides previewing the speech portrayed it as optimistic and unifying -- the theme is to be “choosing greatness.” […] Aides said Trump will offer a vision for bipartisan solutions on matters including immigration, drug prices, HIV prevention, national security and infrastructure. He’ll seek to rally Americans around shared economic prosperity, renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, the U.S. effort to depose Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and forcing China to make concessions on trade. He’ll urge Democrats to focus on working with him on legislation instead of pursuing investigations of his business and administration."
But Trump already undermined that this morning by tweeting, "I see Schumer is already criticizing my State of the Union speech, even though he hasn’t seen it yet. He’s just upset that he didn’t win the Senate, after spending a fortune, like he thought he would." He also threatened to send even more troops to the southern border: "We have sent additional military. We will build a Human Wall if necessary."
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:43 PM on February 5, 2019
Caveat that Trumpland not only spreads contradictory rumors at the best of times, but also throws out leaks to gauge the public response to them before.
In another leak to Bloomberg, Team Trump is putting a positive spin on the speech: "Aides previewing the speech portrayed it as optimistic and unifying -- the theme is to be “choosing greatness.” […] Aides said Trump will offer a vision for bipartisan solutions on matters including immigration, drug prices, HIV prevention, national security and infrastructure. He’ll seek to rally Americans around shared economic prosperity, renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, the U.S. effort to depose Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and forcing China to make concessions on trade. He’ll urge Democrats to focus on working with him on legislation instead of pursuing investigations of his business and administration."
But Trump already undermined that this morning by tweeting, "I see Schumer is already criticizing my State of the Union speech, even though he hasn’t seen it yet. He’s just upset that he didn’t win the Senate, after spending a fortune, like he thought he would." He also threatened to send even more troops to the southern border: "We have sent additional military. We will build a Human Wall if necessary."
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:43 PM on February 5, 2019
@mikedebonis [photo, more photos]: House Democratic women pose pre-SOTU in suffragette white.
Dean Phillips (D-MN-03) is rocking a sweet white jacket in solidarity, while some other men are wearing white ribbons.
posted by zachlipton at 12:55 PM on February 5, 2019 [27 favorites]
Dean Phillips (D-MN-03) is rocking a sweet white jacket in solidarity, while some other men are wearing white ribbons.
posted by zachlipton at 12:55 PM on February 5, 2019 [27 favorites]
Top Pelosi Aide Reportedly Told Health Insurance Company Dems Would Fight Single-Payer:
posted by Ouverture at 12:59 PM on February 5, 2019 [24 favorites]
The Intercept reported this morning that Wendell Primus, the top health policy aide to Nancy Pelosi and owner of an incredible name, reassured executives from Blue Cross Blue Shield in a private meeting in December that Democratic leadership “would be allies to the insurance industry in the fight against single-payer healthcare.”Checking my health insurance to see if "backstabbing" is covered under my plan. At least "Wendell Primus" really is an incredible name.
Slides of a presentation obtained by the Intercept demonstrate Dems’ objections to Medicare for All that Primus reportedly highlighted in the meeting. Notably, one of the five bullet points was that “stakeholders are against,” which presumably means key healthcare industry players like drug companies, hospitals, and health insurance companies—like Blue Cross Blue Shield.
posted by Ouverture at 12:59 PM on February 5, 2019 [24 favorites]
Why would hospitals be against single-payer? or does that mean private/for-profit hospitals (especially the chains)?
posted by wenestvedt at 1:04 PM on February 5, 2019
posted by wenestvedt at 1:04 PM on February 5, 2019
Why would hospitals be against single-payer? or does that mean private/for-profit hospitals (especially the chains)?
Yes, exactly. For instance, the many Wellstar branded medical providers in my area.
posted by Fleebnork at 1:06 PM on February 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
Yes, exactly. For instance, the many Wellstar branded medical providers in my area.
posted by Fleebnork at 1:06 PM on February 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
The Democratic Party establishment is going to say they endorse "Medicare for All" and then work their asses off to rebrand it as some kind of mild technocratic sop to the insurance industry. The real fight of this and next year is going to be waged between the left flank that believes that insurance companies are the enemy, and the right flank that is beholden to them and wants to work with them.
And if you want medical care to be free to everyone at point of service, then the insurance companies are your enemy.
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 1:07 PM on February 5, 2019 [33 favorites]
And if you want medical care to be free to everyone at point of service, then the insurance companies are your enemy.
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 1:07 PM on February 5, 2019 [33 favorites]
Mod note: One deleted. The "will Dems cave on health care" thing should probably get its own thread if people want to dig in.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 1:12 PM on February 5, 2019 [13 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 1:12 PM on February 5, 2019 [13 favorites]
The other top Intercept story, GOP LEADERSHIP INSTRUCTS LAWMAKERS TO PLAY UP GRUESOME MURDERS AND RAPES BY IMMIGRANTS, didn't spread as far as the circular firing squad healthcare story, which is a good illustration of the abysmal standards expected from the GOP. Everyone freaks out that Dem leadership might have made friendly overtures to insurance companies (!) while the GOP openly demonizing anyone non-white is just business as usual.
posted by benzenedream at 1:31 PM on February 5, 2019 [42 favorites]
posted by benzenedream at 1:31 PM on February 5, 2019 [42 favorites]
Trump had a meeting yesterday for surrogates to deliver SOTU talking points (expect a theme of "choosing greatness") and rant about abortion, but this paragraph is some real WTFery:
posted by zachlipton at 1:35 PM on February 5, 2019 [22 favorites]
At the get-together, the president also told a story about wanting to paint an existing border structure along the U.S.-Mexico border a matte black color to deter illegal immigrants from crossing into the U.S. He got the idea for the color from his days as a real estate developer. But his plan was put on ice because painting the structure would first require a study of the potential environmental impacts — an anecdote the president told attendees to illustrate the effects of what he saw as onerous government regulations.I, uh, um, the immigrants will be deterred by matte black paint?
posted by zachlipton at 1:35 PM on February 5, 2019 [22 favorites]
But his plan was put on ice because painting the structure would first require a study of the potential environmental impacts — an anecdote the president told attendees to illustrate the effects of what he saw as onerous government regulations.
Heh. GOP exempted DJS from the requirements of NEPA and other environmental regulations for constructing a border wall; but not for painting one?
I believe they would be that stupid.
posted by suelac at 1:42 PM on February 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
Heh. GOP exempted DJS from the requirements of NEPA and other environmental regulations for constructing a border wall; but not for painting one?
I believe they would be that stupid.
posted by suelac at 1:42 PM on February 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
It's probably supposed to retain heat, making it harder to climb
posted by InfidelZombie at 1:42 PM on February 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by InfidelZombie at 1:42 PM on February 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
@mikedebonis [photo, more photos]: House Democratic women pose pre-SOTU in suffragette white.
Well *that* wasn't why I expected the SOTU to make me all weepy.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 1:54 PM on February 5, 2019 [11 favorites]
Well *that* wasn't why I expected the SOTU to make me all weepy.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 1:54 PM on February 5, 2019 [11 favorites]
House Democrats tell Ajit Pai: Stop screwing over the public -- Pai's FCC is too secretive and too beholden to corporations, Democrats say. (Jon Brodkin for Ars Technica, Feb. 5, 2019)
posted by filthy light thief at 2:27 PM on February 5, 2019 [47 favorites]
Democratic lawmakers have put Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on notice that he can expect a lot more scrutiny now that Democrats control the US House of Representatives.Heck yes, I'm here for this! We can't punt Pai, but we'll make his corporate stoogery less comfortable, if we can't stop it.
The House Commerce Committee is "reassuming its traditional role of oversight to ensure the agency is acting in the best interest of the public and consistent with its legislative authority," Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-Penn.) said in an announcement yesterday [titled "It's Oversight Time"!].
Pallone, Jr. and Doyle wrote a letter to Pai (PDF), saying that he has made the FCC too secretive and has repeatedly advanced the interests of corporations over consumers.
They wrote:Not only have you have failed on numerous occasions to provide Democratic members of this committee with responses to their inquiries, you have also repeatedly denied or delayed responding to legitimate information requests from the public about agency operations. These actions have denied the public of a full and fair understanding of how the FCC under your leadership has arrived at public policy decisions that impact Americans every day in communities across the country.Dems seek update on consumer complaints
Under your leadership, the FCC has failed repeatedly to act in the public interest and placed the interest of corporations over consumers. The FCC should be working to advance the goals of public safety, consumer protection, affordable access, and connectivity across the United States. To that end, it is incumbent upon the Committee’s leadership and its members to oversee the activities of the FCC.
Pallone, Jr. and Doyle asked Pai to update the Commerce Committee on its workload and on "the FCC’s interactions with the public through its handling of consumer complaints and Freedom of Information Act requests." Pai's FCC has repeatedly stalled in responding to public records requests or failed to provide any substantive response at all. [Ars links x 3]
...
On Thursday this week, the Communications Subcommittee will hold a hearing (PDF) about the impact of Pai's net neutrality repeal on consumers, small businesses, and free speech. Witnesses who have been invited to testify at the hearing include former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, cable industry chief lobbyist Michael Powell (who is also a former FCC chairman), and representatives of Mozilla, Free Press, and Eastern Oregon Telecom.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:27 PM on February 5, 2019 [47 favorites]
@mikedebonis [photo, more photos]: House Democratic women pose pre-SOTU in suffragette white.
Dean Phillips (D-MN-03) is rocking a sweet white jacket in solidarity, while some other men are wearing white ribbons.
SO MANY WOMEN! and yay for the men in white too!
posted by bluesky43 at 2:37 PM on February 5, 2019 [7 favorites]
Dean Phillips (D-MN-03) is rocking a sweet white jacket in solidarity, while some other men are wearing white ribbons.
SO MANY WOMEN! and yay for the men in white too!
posted by bluesky43 at 2:37 PM on February 5, 2019 [7 favorites]
Why would hospitals be against single-payer? or does that mean private/for-profit hospitals (especially the chains)?
Non-profit does not mean charity. It just means they don't have shareholders. Many non-profits have CEOs with million dollar salaries and star doctors with similar salaries. These high salaries are threatened by single-payer.
posted by JackFlash at 2:48 PM on February 5, 2019 [6 favorites]
Non-profit does not mean charity. It just means they don't have shareholders. Many non-profits have CEOs with million dollar salaries and star doctors with similar salaries. These high salaries are threatened by single-payer.
posted by JackFlash at 2:48 PM on February 5, 2019 [6 favorites]
ABC's Tara Palmeri: "NEW: President Trump spoke to 20 Republican supporters yesterday at the WH about what to expect in #SOTU speech. Here are the very broad talking points they handed out, “choosing greatness” in bold." (Pic of "Topline Talkers" notes)
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:54 PM on February 5, 2019
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:54 PM on February 5, 2019
So, what exactly is the state of the union? (Alexandra Petri, WaPo)
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 2:54 PM on February 5, 2019 [38 favorites]
*long, protracted sigh*NTAP Bonus: Other euphemisms for ‘people of means’
Look, if we’re being honest, the state of the union is ... not great.
The state of the union is — you know the sensation when you’ve gotten hair in your mouth, and you think you’ve succeeded in removing the hair, but your next swallow makes it apparent that not only have you not removed the hair, but there might also be more hair than you thought? That, but morally.
The state of the union is when your hands smell funny and you don’t know why.
The state of the union is fumbling around in a pocket for change and you touch several small, unidentified sticky objects, but ethically.
The state of the union is your mentions.
The state of the union is when you get on a moving walkway to save time and it turns out to be a stationary walkway.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 2:54 PM on February 5, 2019 [38 favorites]
ProPublica, Confidential Memo: Company of Trump Inaugural Chair Sought to Profit From Connections to Administration, Foreigners
posted by zachlipton at 3:04 PM on February 5, 2019 [20 favorites]
The investment firm founded by the chairman of Donald Trump’s inaugural committee, Tom Barrack, developed a plan to profit off its connections to the incoming administration and foreign dignitaries, according to a confidential memo obtained by WNYC and ProPublica.The memo was written by Rick Gates, who went from deputy chair of the inagural committee to consulting for Colony, before the whole getting indicted by Robert Mueller thing.
“The key is to strategically cultivate domestic and international relations while avoiding any appearance of lobbying,” the memo says. Colony, which primarily invests in real estate, sought to capitalize on its access to the White House to get an early lead on infrastructure investments and to attract assets from potential investors.
...
The memo, from Barrack’s investment firm, then called Colony NorthStar, is dated February 2017, just a month after the inaugural festivities organized by Barrack, who is a longtime Trump friend.
The Colony memo shows how the company was positioning itself to take advantage of Barrack’s relationship with Trump and foreign officials immediately after the president was sworn in. Barrack hosted a chairman’s dinner during inaugural week, with his own invite list, which included businesspeople and foreign dignitaries.
“‘Contact’ — ‘Cultivation’ — ‘Conversion’ should be the mantra and objective of Colony NorthStar’s international program in DC and internationally,” the memo said. No other firms “can currently match the relationships or resources that we possess,” it added.
...
A Colony spokesman said in a statement: “This memo was simply an outline of a proposed potential business plan which was never acted upon or implemented. Colony at no time has maintained a DC office."
...
While Colony says the plan in the memo was never adopted, Barrack was frequently present at meetings with government officials in the early months of the Trump administration. Calendars obtained by the watchdog group American Oversight show that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met at least three times with Colony executives in the four months following the inaugural.
posted by zachlipton at 3:04 PM on February 5, 2019 [20 favorites]
Doktor Zed: President Trump spoke to 20 Republican supporters yesterday at the WH about what to expect in #SOTU speech. Here are the very broad talking points they handed out, “choosing greatness” in bold." (Pic of "Topline Talkers" notes)
So in that pic of the notes (which is worth the click), Trump will claim to be a "problem solver ... with common-sense bipartisan solutions". And what are his "Top Issues" to emphasize?
posted by RedOrGreen at 3:17 PM on February 5, 2019 [10 favorites]
So in that pic of the notes (which is worth the click), Trump will claim to be a "problem solver ... with common-sense bipartisan solutions". And what are his "Top Issues" to emphasize?
- Immigration (build a wall)
- Protecting workers (more tariffs)
- Rebuild America (it's infrastructure week!)
- Lower the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs (one more shot at the ACA)
- Protect national security (did I already say "build a wall"? Then "bomb bomb Iran".)
posted by RedOrGreen at 3:17 PM on February 5, 2019 [10 favorites]
Dear God, I have only one request. Please smite with your divine radiance any supposed journalist who today talks on air about Trump pivoting or moving towards the center. Signed, everyone.
posted by Justinian at 3:21 PM on February 5, 2019 [48 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 3:21 PM on February 5, 2019 [48 favorites]
Important reminder from Alexandra Erin: If you want or have to watch, and are concerned about adding to the event's "ratings", do use your television and not your Internet connection.
It's common to think only the former gets counted, but it's practically the opposite -- if your TV time is counted, you know who you are because you have a Nielsen box. Whereas, generally speaking, all streamed media is naturally tabulated down to your exact location.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 3:33 PM on February 5, 2019 [16 favorites]
It's common to think only the former gets counted, but it's practically the opposite -- if your TV time is counted, you know who you are because you have a Nielsen box. Whereas, generally speaking, all streamed media is naturally tabulated down to your exact location.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 3:33 PM on February 5, 2019 [16 favorites]
Why in the world would anyone need to actually watch a SOTU? I mean, even Obama’s SOTUs were pretty boring, aside from the pageantry of the venue.
If you miss the pageantry while just reading the transcript, then just pause reading every 60 seconds, stand up, face the flag, applaud for 30 seconds, and then sit back down to keep reading.
I’ll be watching Abrams’ response/rebuttal, but watch Trump bombasticate and sniff through an hour of gaslighting, BS and dog whistles? No thanks.
posted by darkstar at 3:40 PM on February 5, 2019 [23 favorites]
If you miss the pageantry while just reading the transcript, then just pause reading every 60 seconds, stand up, face the flag, applaud for 30 seconds, and then sit back down to keep reading.
I’ll be watching Abrams’ response/rebuttal, but watch Trump bombasticate and sniff through an hour of gaslighting, BS and dog whistles? No thanks.
posted by darkstar at 3:40 PM on February 5, 2019 [23 favorites]
From Rick Wilson (writing for The Bulwark): Your Guide to Tonight’s Trumpian Word Vomit--Meaningless words will be uttered by a man who sits on a throne of lies.
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:46 PM on February 5, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:46 PM on February 5, 2019 [9 favorites]
From Rick Wilson (writing for The Bulwark)
From the piece: They are sending the indifferently educated, culturally buffoonish, shiftier dregs of authoritarian nationalist fanboys Donald Trump manages to recruit from random bus stations, hobo squats, and TPUSA Trump Young Pioneers camps.
Note the language that, while giving lip-service to antifascism, positively drips with cultural and economic elitism and disgust for the lower classes. This gets to the heart of Wilson's and the rest of the Never Trumpers' opposition: they want most of the terrible things he wants, and even some that he doesn't, but they can't stand his vulgarity and how he riles up the swine beyond their controlling. Wilson is no friend.
posted by Rust Moranis at 3:55 PM on February 5, 2019 [27 favorites]
From the piece: They are sending the indifferently educated, culturally buffoonish, shiftier dregs of authoritarian nationalist fanboys Donald Trump manages to recruit from random bus stations, hobo squats, and TPUSA Trump Young Pioneers camps.
Note the language that, while giving lip-service to antifascism, positively drips with cultural and economic elitism and disgust for the lower classes. This gets to the heart of Wilson's and the rest of the Never Trumpers' opposition: they want most of the terrible things he wants, and even some that he doesn't, but they can't stand his vulgarity and how he riles up the swine beyond their controlling. Wilson is no friend.
posted by Rust Moranis at 3:55 PM on February 5, 2019 [27 favorites]
Dear God, I have only one request. Please smite with your divine radiance any supposed journalist who today talks on air about Trump pivoting or moving towards the center. Signed, everyone.
From NYT: Trump has been grousing about the draft of his State of the Union speech, complaining that it is too gentle on Democrats and seeking to sharpen lines in it.
lol
posted by Justinian at 4:02 PM on February 5, 2019 [12 favorites]
From NYT: Trump has been grousing about the draft of his State of the Union speech, complaining that it is too gentle on Democrats and seeking to sharpen lines in it.
lol
posted by Justinian at 4:02 PM on February 5, 2019 [12 favorites]
If Northam and Fairfax both resigned, AG Mark Herring would become governor.
2 interesting facts from my in-depth research:
1) Herring, a Democrat, beat Justin Fairfax in the 2013 primary for VA AG.
2) He was out in front on gay marriage by refusing to defend the "Virginia Marriage Amendment" against a court challenge at the beginning of 2014, as soon as he took office. The "National Organization for Marriage" called for his impeachment.
posted by msalt at 4:08 PM on February 5, 2019 [14 favorites]
2 interesting facts from my in-depth research:
1) Herring, a Democrat, beat Justin Fairfax in the 2013 primary for VA AG.
2) He was out in front on gay marriage by refusing to defend the "Virginia Marriage Amendment" against a court challenge at the beginning of 2014, as soon as he took office. The "National Organization for Marriage" called for his impeachment.
posted by msalt at 4:08 PM on February 5, 2019 [14 favorites]
Does Bernie Sanders not understand the message he's sending by responding to Stacey Abrams' response to the SOTU? Or, as The Root said today:
Hey, Bernie Sanders Can You STFU After the SOTU and Let Stacey Abrams Shine?
posted by msalt at 4:18 PM on February 5, 2019 [60 favorites]
Hey, Bernie Sanders Can You STFU After the SOTU and Let Stacey Abrams Shine?
posted by msalt at 4:18 PM on February 5, 2019 [60 favorites]
NYT, Before Expected Call for Unity, Trump Laced Into Democrats at Lunch for TV Anchors
posted by zachlipton at 4:47 PM on February 5, 2019 [25 favorites]
For public consumption, President Trump planned to use his State of the Union address on Tuesday night to appeal for bipartisan unity. But at a private lunch for television anchors earlier in the day he offered searing assessments of a host of Democrats.The whole "off the record lunch with TV anchors before the SOTU, which is then subsequently leaked to print outlets" is an entirely absurd tradition that needs to go away, but it does underscore that the same people who will soon be saying "oh look how Presidential he was" just heard this crap come out of his mouth.
Mr. Trump dismissed former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. as “dumb,” called Senator Chuck Schumer of New York a “nasty son of a bitch” and mocked Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia for “choking like a dog” at a news conference where he tried to explain a racist yearbook photo, according to multiple people in the room.
...
Not every target was a Democrat. He recounted again the story of what he considered Senator John McCain’s betrayal in voting against advancing a measure to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care program. Although Mr. McCain has since died, Mr. Trump remains upset.
“By the way,” Mr. Trump said, “he wrote a book and the book bombed.”
posted by zachlipton at 4:47 PM on February 5, 2019 [25 favorites]
So it looks like Daniel Dale says he'll be too busy to live tweet much for tonight's SOTU. Anybody following somebody else they'd recommend? Not listening to Trump's voice followed by people cheering for him keeps me sane.
Oh, but of course I'll have one eye on the MeFi thread the whole time too.
posted by Rykey at 4:56 PM on February 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
Oh, but of course I'll have one eye on the MeFi thread the whole time too.
posted by Rykey at 4:56 PM on February 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
Hey, Bernie Sanders Can You STFU After the SOTU and Let Stacey Abrams Shine?
That article is asinine. Dude always gives a response after events like this. I thought centrists hated circular firing squads?
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 5:03 PM on February 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
"Whereas, generally speaking, all streamed media is naturally tabulated down to your exact location."
Tor? Won't Tor put the kibosh on this?
posted by exlotuseater at 5:05 PM on February 5, 2019
Tor? Won't Tor put the kibosh on this?
posted by exlotuseater at 5:05 PM on February 5, 2019
Pennsylvania Police Now Limited in Flagging Undocumented Immigrants to ICE
The state police just implemented a policy banning some of the most egregious behavior exposed in an investigation last year by ProPublica and The Philadelphia Inquirer, which raised questions of racial profiling and unlawful arrest.posted by octothorpe at 5:18 PM on February 5, 2019 [10 favorites]
Last year, ProPublica and The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the Pennsylvania State Police had no guidelines preventing troopers from engaging in behavior that raised questions of racial profiling and unlawful arrests:
A plain old VPN will take care of this.
neither will take care of it being tabulated. just ideally the location part.
posted by flaterik at 5:21 PM on February 5, 2019 [10 favorites]
neither will take care of it being tabulated. just ideally the location part.
posted by flaterik at 5:21 PM on February 5, 2019 [10 favorites]
I decided not to miss this SOTU when it occurred to me it very well might be his last.
posted by Harry Caul at 5:24 PM on February 5, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by Harry Caul at 5:24 PM on February 5, 2019 [10 favorites]
If it’s his last, we can watch the archived video.
As for Bernie, I’m conflicted about his offering a response tonight.
On the one hand, everyone with an opinion should feel like they can respond, why not.
On the other hand, this is an opportunity to draw a bright line contrast between the Republicans and Democrats and their respective vision and direction for the country, and it would be nice to keep that contrast clear, since they are the two key political parties that will realistically be vying for most of the seats in 2020.
On the other hand, Bernie is not a Democrat, so why should he feel he needs to help let the Democratic Party draw any bright contrasts.
On the other hand, if the dude is going to run for the Democratic nomination, then maybe, you know, be a team player.
On the other hand, Bernie inspires a lot of folks to get and stay involved who might not do so if he weren’t maintaining a forward momentum with his message, and we on the Left definitely need him.
On the other hand, there are some problematic issues associated with Bernie’s whole relationship with the Democratic Party which we have learned here on MeFi are not really conducive to healthy discourse.
In conclusion: forget it Jake, it’s Bernietown (a land of contrasts).
posted by darkstar at 5:33 PM on February 5, 2019 [27 favorites]
As for Bernie, I’m conflicted about his offering a response tonight.
On the one hand, everyone with an opinion should feel like they can respond, why not.
On the other hand, this is an opportunity to draw a bright line contrast between the Republicans and Democrats and their respective vision and direction for the country, and it would be nice to keep that contrast clear, since they are the two key political parties that will realistically be vying for most of the seats in 2020.
On the other hand, Bernie is not a Democrat, so why should he feel he needs to help let the Democratic Party draw any bright contrasts.
On the other hand, if the dude is going to run for the Democratic nomination, then maybe, you know, be a team player.
On the other hand, Bernie inspires a lot of folks to get and stay involved who might not do so if he weren’t maintaining a forward momentum with his message, and we on the Left definitely need him.
On the other hand, there are some problematic issues associated with Bernie’s whole relationship with the Democratic Party which we have learned here on MeFi are not really conducive to healthy discourse.
In conclusion: forget it Jake, it’s Bernietown (a land of contrasts).
posted by darkstar at 5:33 PM on February 5, 2019 [27 favorites]
I don't have a lot to offer in this downtime before the SOTU, but did run across two articles today that made me laugh. In light of how the conversation nationally is turning, I thought them both relevant, and they might lift your mood a bit before Herr Twitler begins speaking.
Fox News Hosts Are Horrified to Learn Their Own Polls Show People Want to Tax the Rich
Billionaire Howard Schultz Would Like Non-Billionaires to Stop Calling Him a Billionaire
The snark is pleasantly strong in the Slate article. Poor Howie. Us mean poors keep calling him a billionaire.
Fox News Hosts Are Horrified to Learn Their Own Polls Show People Want to Tax the Rich
Billionaire Howard Schultz Would Like Non-Billionaires to Stop Calling Him a Billionaire
The snark is pleasantly strong in the Slate article. Poor Howie. Us mean poors keep calling him a billionaire.
…non-billionaires were appalled by the billionaire’s apparently sincere belief that the word “billionaire,” when used to describe people who have more than a billion dollars, is offensive to billionaires like himself. Instead, the billionaire said, billionaires like him would prefer that billionaires be referred to as “people of wealth” or “people of means,”posted by los pantalones del muerte at 5:37 PM on February 5, 2019 [16 favorites]
Instead, the billionaire said, billionaires like him would prefer that billionaires be referred to as “people of wealth” or “people of means,
Lol!
Well, if we can adapt it slightly to “people of obscene wealth” or “people of means derived by exploiting the labor of others”, then I’m all for it.
But “billionaire” only has three syllables, so...
posted by darkstar at 5:40 PM on February 5, 2019 [26 favorites]
Lol!
Well, if we can adapt it slightly to “people of obscene wealth” or “people of means derived by exploiting the labor of others”, then I’m all for it.
But “billionaire” only has three syllables, so...
posted by darkstar at 5:40 PM on February 5, 2019 [26 favorites]
From 2017 (well worth watching, it'll tell you everything you need to know about SOTU.
@CBSNews
"Great job to the speechwriter, but I will see Donald Trump at 12 a.m. [on Twitter]", member of @FrankLuntz's focus group says.
posted by bluesky43 at 5:40 PM on February 5, 2019 [5 favorites]
@CBSNews
"Great job to the speechwriter, but I will see Donald Trump at 12 a.m. [on Twitter]", member of @FrankLuntz's focus group says.
posted by bluesky43 at 5:40 PM on February 5, 2019 [5 favorites]
Mod note: Y'all let's stop arguing about, and arguing about the arguing-about, Bernie Sanders doing a response.
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:41 PM on February 5, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:41 PM on February 5, 2019 [6 favorites]
WaPo, ‘This isn’t me’: Gov. Northam’s defiance caught advisers off guard
posted by zachlipton at 5:43 PM on February 5, 2019 [22 favorites]
Over the past several days, he has even toyed with the idea of leaving the Democratic Party and governing as an independent — a sign of the degree that he is isolated from every political ally, from his state party and from the national party.*screaming intensifies*
posted by zachlipton at 5:43 PM on February 5, 2019 [22 favorites]
WaPo with a story out just before the SOTU: Elizabeth Warren apologizes for calling herself Native American.
posted by Justinian at 5:45 PM on February 5, 2019 [8 favorites]
Using an open records request during a general inquiry, for example, The Post obtained Warren’s registration card for the State Bar of Texas, providing a previously undisclosed example of Warren identifying as an “American Indian.”[...] Warren filled out the card by hand in neat blue ink and signed it. Dated April 1986, it is the first document to surface showing Warren making the claim in her own handwriting. Her office didn’t dispute its authenticity.Does this deserve to be a problem for Warren? That's probably beyond the pay grade of what we can deal with on Metafilter right now. Is it a political problem for her? The narrative as a whole is a big problem with obvious shades of 2016.
posted by Justinian at 5:45 PM on February 5, 2019 [8 favorites]
----> New Thread ---->
"When I say something that you might think is a gaffe, it’s on purpose"
----> New Thread ---->
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:49 PM on February 5, 2019 [16 favorites]
"When I say something that you might think is a gaffe, it’s on purpose"
----> New Thread ---->
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:49 PM on February 5, 2019 [16 favorites]
Over the past several days, he has even toyed with the idea of leaving the Democratic Party and governing as an independent — a sign of the degree that he is isolated from every political ally, from his state party and from the national party.
I didn't vote for Ralph Northam in the primary, I voted for Tom Perriello. And I didn't vote for Ralph Northam in the general, I voted for a Democratic governor. I sure as shit wouldn't have voted for an independent.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:01 PM on February 5, 2019 [7 favorites]
I didn't vote for Ralph Northam in the primary, I voted for Tom Perriello. And I didn't vote for Ralph Northam in the general, I voted for a Democratic governor. I sure as shit wouldn't have voted for an independent.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:01 PM on February 5, 2019 [7 favorites]
That quote is like the new textbook standard for the essence of gaslighting.
It's covered in the next thread, but here's the full thing: "When I say something that you might think is a gaffe, it’s on purpose; it’s not a gaffe. When Biden says something dumb, it’s because he’s dumb.”
posted by peeedro at 6:06 PM on February 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
It's covered in the next thread, but here's the full thing: "When I say something that you might think is a gaffe, it’s on purpose; it’s not a gaffe. When Biden says something dumb, it’s because he’s dumb.”
posted by peeedro at 6:06 PM on February 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
I thought Trump's remark about his gaffes-but-not-gaffes perfectly encapsulated his narcissism, with his psychological inability to admit error or imperfection and projection onto Biden's gaffe-prone habits (which still aren't as bad as Trump's). He's also taunting the press a bit about his deliberately dumbed-down style, even though they're aware he's pretty goddam dumb to begin with.
By the way, since the new FPP was running long, I didn't get into the Northam/Fairfax double-header scandal, which is probably best addressed in its own FPP anyway.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:10 PM on February 5, 2019 [5 favorites]
By the way, since the new FPP was running long, I didn't get into the Northam/Fairfax double-header scandal, which is probably best addressed in its own FPP anyway.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:10 PM on February 5, 2019 [5 favorites]
We might want to make up a wiki page about political topics which might need their own FPP.
posted by box at 6:51 PM on February 5, 2019
posted by box at 6:51 PM on February 5, 2019
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posted by OverlappingElvis at 9:45 AM on January 18, 2019 [101 favorites]