US Politics, December 2017: I guess there’s always 2018

really trying hard not to get too excited about this but

― hi i’m darren and i’m a bouncer from bendigo (bizarro gazzara), Friday, December 1, 2017

What's that coming out of the gun?

this is really fucking with my productivity at work this morning tho

holy shit December rules

The feds want Martin Shkreli to fork over the https://twitter.com/stewartbishop/status/936622249431445509 million Wu-Tang Clan Album. pic.twitter.com/5QLWcJgDP7

— Stewart Bishop (@stewartbishop) December 1, 2017

I'm sure there's a role for Donald in Britain First if this all goes badly for him.

really trying hard not to get too excited about this but
― hi i’m darren and i’m a bouncer from bendigo (bizarro gazzara), Friday, December 1, 2017
― Chocolate-covered gummy bears? Not ruling those lil' guys out. (ulysses), Friday, December 1, 2017

can flynn go 'mute marine'?

what’s the over/under on flynn suffering a mysterious but fatal injury sometime in the next few days

thank god TIME held off on person of the year

Okay seeing a rumor that Flynn will testify that Trump directly ordered him to make contact with the Russians. That's...that's something. (Let's see if it's real.)

― Ned Raggett, Friday, December 1, 2017 11:15 AM (twenty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

most of what i see still says it is "senior officials" rather than trump himself

And that's suggestive plenty, on its own.

oh man I hadn't even thought about Mueller being person of the year

This fucker.

Full statement from Mike Flynn, who has just entered guilty plea to felony charge in federal court. pic.twitter.com/Y59UmjxW60

— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) December 1, 2017

Strip him of everything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWAJk32r0ZQ

reminds me of

"It hurts so much when you falsely accuse me of treason. PS I made false statements about not committing treason."

GOD FAMILY MILITARY and yeah maybe a spot of light treason nbd

Ty Cobb, ladies and gentlemen!

WH lawyer Ty Cobb describes Trump’s designated national security adviser Michael Flynn as “a former Obama administration official”

— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) December 1, 2017

DOW at -300 already, imagine if no taxes today

loooooool xp

lol I am not sure "how dare you accuse me of treason; at worst I just committed perjury" is the best PR move here

typical weaselly doublespeak from a former obama administration official

The tweet tips the strategy: Trump's team will paint Flynn as a Democrat who Trump appointed in a misguided attempt at bipartisanship. "But you see, you can't give a liberal an inch, you let them in the door and they'll make up FAKE NEWS LEAKS about you.." There's be plenty of people who buy it.

lots of folks on twitter saying it matters a lot whether this happened during campaign or during transition..... but aren't really saying why. can anyone elaborate?

a former obama administration official

See? Trump IS draining the swamp of those Obama-administration holdovers who were trying to sabotage his agenda of #MAGA.

but Obama personally warned Trump not to hire him

lalala can't hear you

but Obama personally warned Trump not to hire him

I don't know why Br'er Rabbit and the brier patch suddenly popped into my head

^^ my same thought

marcos, I guess because campaign and transition personnel may pretty much just be civilians talking out of their ass about nice synergies that may happen. After inauguration, these chuckleheads were in fact and in law part of the actual government of the nation. There are, as they say, rules.

Poetic justice.

After issuing his guilty plea, Michael Flynn exits courthouse to chants of “Lock him up.”pic.twitter.com/jFeXOhjQG1

— Rob Bennett (@rob_bennett) December 1, 2017

Susan Collins says she has an agreement on the state and local tax deduction.

She sounded positive. That might be it.

— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) December 1, 2017

Mitch McConnell: "We have the votes."

— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) December 1, 2017

oh well that brief burst of positivity was nice while it lasted

mute marine

You mean like

http://img.wennermedia.com/article-leads-horizontal/rs-182980-51506774.jpg

oh well that brief burst of positivity was nice while it lasted

― hi i’m darren and i’m a bouncer from bendigo (bizarro gazzara), Friday, December 1, 2017 12:00 PM (twenty-one seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

But it was a sure thing prior to the more positive news, despite the recent confirmations.

Intrigued that it came down to the SALT deduction. What's the offset?

The front page of Reddit right now is pretty striking, and not in their usual Nomeansno-like mixture of cats, sex and nazis.

none of these monsters in the senate are impeaching anyone while they have the votes to do things like this

is the thing

you weren't kidding about that reddit front page...

cats, sex and nazis.

DOW at -300 already, imagine if no taxes today

that's less than half of 1 percentage point, and it's already trending back to the morning's starting line

impeachment isn't going to happen

xpost
er sorry, at the time it was more than 1. but it's currently back up to -0.40%. i don't know why i care, just a pet peeve

MCCONNELL: "See, what we want you to do is to plead guilty to a perjury charge and testify against the President; this will attract all of the media attention and allow us to pass the tax bill with less scrutiny."
FLYNN: "What's in it for me, though?"
MCCONNELL: "I don't know, a pony?"
FLYNN: "SOLD"

impeachment isn't going to happen

...this month? or ever?

it will never happen as long as the GOP has congressional majorities

Two Swiss accounts
were in his name.
Diverted funds
but who's to blame?
The time had come
to tell his tale.
Here's what he said
T'stay out of jail:"

no disrespect to Shakey but yeah I'm not gonna buy any expert's opinions on what will never happen here let alone some rando internet poster

probably posted here yesterday, but ezra klein's piece about how we don't actually have a way of removing an obviously shitty president seems relevant:

https://www.vox.com/2017/11/30/16517022/impeachment-donald-trump

Minor details!

.@kwelkernbc reported on NBC News a few minutes ago that she spoke with someone 'very close to the president' who describes the Flynn development as "very very bad," says there are significant concerns within Trump's inner circle about what Flynn might know and what he might say.

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 1, 2017

lol did we link the CNN article here: http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/01/politics/michael-flynn-charged/index.html

The White House said late Friday morning that "nothing about the guilty plea or the charge implicates anyone other than Mr. Flynn.

"The conclusion of this phase of the special counsel's work demonstrates again that the special counsel is moving with all deliberate speed and clears the way for a prompt and reasonable conclusion," Ty Cobb, a White House lawyer, said in a statement.

White House allies initially tried to put a positive spin on the news.

One person familiar with the mood in the West Wing insisted top White House officials were breathing a sigh of relief.

"People in the building are very happy," the source said. "This doesn't lead back to Trump in any way, shape or form." The source noted that Flynn is being charged for making false statements, but not for any improper actions during the campaign.

"This is a further indication that there's nothing there," the source said. "This is a win for the White House."

A source with knowledge of the legal team's thinking tells CNN the Flynn plea "is not going to be a problem" for the President, though it could be a problem for people who worked with Flynn. The source said legal exposure for others would depend on what they might have said to the special counsel.

A source who advises the administration on strategy said this was expected.

"Poor judgment. But this was expected. Trump fired him for lying to (Vice President Mike Pence). Of course, he lied to the FBI, too," the source said.

And another source, who is close to Trump, attempted to downplay the severity of the charge against Flynn by noting that lying in Washington is not new. The source maintained that he was still not worried about any potential cooperation between Flynn and the prosecutors.