Trump's America, March 2017: Using His Inside VOICE

my stimulus check went to my drug dealer iirc

America's drug dealers did pretty well that year

irony = stimulus used for depressants

Supernatural isn't really a "box set"

Take it to Out your closeted pedantry

More for the photo:

https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/846822921511354369

UPDATE: Nunes says he will not share his intelligence sources with other members of committee.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C8CE9WZXwAEmiQ7.jpg

"Do you buy that?"

is this guy just excited to be in the news or something? why else would be be regularly issuing cockamamie statements?

seems like he's caught between two irreconcilable needs: 1) the need to slow down/impede the committee's work (which would require being *quiet* about things, dragging out the schedule, basically laying low) and 2) countering the media narrative on behalf of Trump (which requires 24/7 new cycle dominance - misdirection, counter-claims, constant public statements, etc.) There's no way to do both of these at the same time.

It begins:

https://twitter.com/BraddJaffy/status/846825544213778432

NBC News: GOP Rep. Walter Jones becomes the first House Republican to publicly call for Nunes to recuse himself from Russia investigation

That was surprisingly quick, no?

Well I'm starting to see a general disgust/similar calls from others out there in the general GOP/RW profile say similarly, beyond those never fond of Trump. This ran earlier today at NRO, for instance:

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/446179/devin-nunes-trump-surveillance-campaign-investigation-house-intel-committee-russia

man someone needs to reboot Nunes, he's about to malfunction

So basically, whatever the motivations, Nunes is now eating into his natural support base.

better know a district

http://jones.house.gov/our-district

and every time these statements get made it's all like "omg why are you focusing on Trump it's not weird to talk to foreign nationals" and it's like bro, if you were as innocent as you say, this investigation would be over in a third of the time if you just cooperated.

I am pretty sure something did happen (even if that 'something' isn't a gamechanger like outright espionage) but I also think Trump is dumb enough to act defensive and obstructive even if there's nothing there simply cos he doesn't like negative implications about him existing anywhere in the ether.

some things i liked or am making my way thru re: our stupid russia fixation

keith gessen, on putin:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/22/vladimir-putin-killer-genius-kleptocrat-spy-myths

masha gessen, on the media:
http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2017/03/06/trump-russia-conspiracy-trap/

robinson & nichols, on louise mensch:
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2017/03/what-constitutes-reasonable-mainstream-opinion

christopher hooks, on the rest of the twitter nutcases democrats are falling for these days
https://medium.com/@cd_hooks/all-the-presidents-mensch-382e3e577c

The Spetsnaz is around the corner

Louise Mensch is crazy? Okay I'm going to read all four of these..

Democrats might not be so 'crazy' about Russia if the White House didn't seem so eager to interfere with the investigation

Nunes is now eating into his natural support base

eh, he'll keep his seat as long as Ryan wants him to.

how long will Ryan keep his

I haven't heard any rumblings about his losing the Speakership - the FC doesn't have the votes to unseat him, and it sounds like the rest of the caucus hates them now.

give him one more failed health care bill and we'll see how that changes

what a dumb time to be alive

Nunes suggests Steve Carell in an espionage comedy. (damn, i just remembered that sorry Get Smart film)

I'm not sure how this could look like any more of a cover-up

I have to say that this bunch is making Nixon look like Harvey Keitel in Pulp Fiction

By adopting a position that should have been theirs he'd sxramble Washington even more, and this time not at his own expense. He's got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Hell, he could be the first prez to switch parties in office! After all, the Dems took his donations for decades. (but srsly, nuts)

not sure I'm quite buying that last piece goole. Mensch getting a piece published in the NYT doesn't exactly = mainstream acceptance. she's pretty widely known as a crackpot everywhere I've seen her mentioned. I agree that the WH acting as a functional arm of the Trump corporation ought to be a much bigger story, but the Russia thing is gonna dominate as long as the GOP continues to act like a 5 year-old with cookie crumbs all over his face

Democrats might not be so 'crazy' about Russia if the White House didn't seem so eager to interfere with the investigation

― Neanderthal, Tuesday, March 28, 2017 2:26 PM

Yeah I also think conspiratorial cranks filled a void when many were way too readily (and we can agree at least in some measure) wrongly dismissive of the issue.

Then again:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/03/28/trump-business-past-ties-russian-mobsters-organized-crime/98321252/

To expand his real estate developments over the years, Donald Trump, his company and partners repeatedly turned to wealthy Russians and oligarchs from former Soviet republics — several allegedly connected to organized crime, according to a USA TODAY review of court cases, government and legal documents and an interview with a former federal prosecutor.

This big story is more of a summary than anything else -- but it's a good one. And they went ahead and asked the WH directly:

The White House declined to comment about this article, referring questions to the Trump Organization in New York. Amanda Miller, a spokeswoman for the Trump Organization, denied any transactions with people named in this article.

“The allegations ... are entirely without merit," Miller said in an email. "The Trump Organization never entered into a single transaction with any of these individuals and the condominium units were all owned and sold by third parties — not Trump.”

Trump's privately held company works through a network of subsidiaries and partnerships that make direct connections hard to trace, particularly since he has refused to release his tax filings. In addition, some of the Trump Organization's investors and buyers operate through shell companies and limited liability corporations that hide the identities of individual owners.

trump's long game:
worse first hundred days than william henry harrison
first president to quit his own party since john tyler

next is polk = mexican war and worst president (much-contested)

at least Polk accomplished his agenda and kept his one-term promise

yeah by any historical standard Polk is a success!

(and like all good leaders was blessed with good luck, i.e. last president elected before slavery "issue" tore company asunder, thanks to new territory acquired in deals and wars that Polk started)

i said long game

this article makes a decent case that buchanan was the worst of the worst:

https://medium.com/everyvote/no-trump-isnt-the-worst-president-ever-c688ddddc8c5

it'd be kinda cool if presidents still made that "one term only!" promise

Buchanan, BushII, Pierce, and second term Cleveland on my list.

trump is crooked and his family are a bunch of chinless bilkers. they're getting richer by the day. as opposed as i am to gimmicky longshots i thought the 'emoluments' stuff could have had teeth, but that's been abandoned i guess.

trump's affinity for putin is, if u ask me, very simple and ideological: he likes strongmen. it's not that deep. what does putin want? hillary wanted a bigger NATO, right?

the worst that can be laid at russia's feet, if true, is hacking the DNC emails and pushing them out via wikileaks. of all the things that lost hillary the election even that is low on the list. scott walker did worse.

what is exposure of russia's great game even supposed to do? aligning the US with autocrats and abandoning europe doesn't need some hush hush shit, it's popular! the GOP chose trump to do that, openly.

some things i liked or am making my way thru re: our stupid russia fixation

― goole, Tuesday, March 28, 2017 2:17 PM (twelve minutes ago)

just read all four. piece on louise mensch was the only one that seemed worth the time.

the other three do little more than say "settle down" a few thousand times

as opposed as i am to gimmicky longshots i thought the 'emoluments' stuff could have had teeth, but that's been abandoned i guess.

lacking precedent as a guide, I'm sure anyone interested in this is still casting around for a plaintiff with rock-solid standing/grounds to sue - ie, a company directly hurt by Trump's acceptance of emoluments. tbf I dunno what company out there would be willing to take that challenge/see it as financially in their interest.

yeah, a few weeks ago i heard there were some restaurants in DC pursuing this, but I haven't heard anything about it since.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/03/28/the-house-just-voted-to-wipe-out-the-fccs-landmark-internet-privacy-protections/?utm_term=.07a16766b490

a significant bummer

he'd be ripe for impeaching right now on emoluments, if the Ds were in control

I'm not sure how this could look like any more of a cover-up

I have to say that this bunch is making Nixon look like Harvey Keitel in Pulp Fiction

yeah, i occasionally wonder what dick cheney thinks of these rank amateurs

well he called Russian hacking "an act of war" yesterday

Funnily enough:

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/dick-cheney-russian-election-interference-could-be-seen-act-war-n739391

"There was a very serious effort made by Mr. Putin and his government, his organization, to interfere in major ways with our basic, fundamental democratic processes," Cheney said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "In some quarters that would be considered an act of war."

xpost etc

I'm of the opinion that it is a good thing Michael Flynn had to resign given the fact that he's crazy and dangerous to have had directing national security. Trump's people keep getting caught lying about it. Pursuing it is good politics. We can't say "stupid fixation" in light of the tangible results we've seen, handful of conspiracist tweetstorms notwithstanding.

I'm not sure how we can gauge the overall effect of the hacking however...
https://twitter.com/jesseberney/status/817715635975294977

It's not like Trump and fam have done anything to distance themselves from the emoluments so no statute of limitations there. Wait until the time is right to pile on.

The idea that we need to focus on finding the one true way to fuck with this administration and stop doing this thing that clearly drives them crazy, that forces recusals and resignations, is stupid

"This Russia nonsense is causing the GOP to turn on itself. Democrats need to stop harping on it because it gives Putin too much credit."

this article makes a decent case that buchanan was the worst of the worst:

https://medium.com/everyvote/no-trump-isnt-the-worst-president-ever-c688ddddc8c5

it'd be kinda cool if presidents still made that "one term only!" promise

― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Tuesday, March 28, 2017 5:51 PM (twenty-one minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink