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

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.

for real: not saying trump is on his way out this December by any means, but this is definitely a bad development for him, and it is pretty clear that he doesn't respond very well to intense criticism and pressure.

in other words, i hope he doesn't blow up the goddamn world on his way out

agreed

how are the folks over at beetbort handling this i wonder

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

― Οὖτις, Friday, December 1, 2017 12:11 PM (six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm. GOP will do everything they can to ignore or diminish this. they don't give a shit

with an unexpectedly straight bat, weirdly, although the comments are naturally Very Good Content xp

in other news

http://www.statesman.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/democratic-dallas-county-sheriff-run-for-governor-reports-say/zCa0MimmHHFH9vzWrYdWWL/

every year the first is on a friday i offer a Deficit December oracle. here goes. Barack Hussein Obama will be a Supreme Court Justice some day after 2scoops is history

Democrats are breathing a sigh of relief that a not particularly impressive cop no one has heard (how many people even know their own sheriff much less that of another county) of is going to run, cool.

She might get steamrolled worse than Wendy Davis.

yeah idk just seemed like an interesting development

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.

― here come the warm jorts (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, December 1, 2017 11:58 AM (twenty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

maybe i'm understanding this backwards, but wouldn't it be MORE inappropriate for a campaign to be communicating with a (hostile) foreign government than for a transition team to be reaching out to now-cemented diplomatic channels?

barack obama will be the first chief judge in the newly-established mega city one after bringing justice to the cursed earth

i AM THE LAW

No Democrats in Texas believe anyone has a chance against Abbott. But it would be wrong not to run somebody inspiring at the top of the ticket, so this is a good choice. There are downticket races Democrats can win. Why Dems believe Beto can unseat Cruz is a more interesting question... that is unlikely but not impossible.

now that i think about it trump’s cabinet appointment process isn’t far off judge cal’s

https://78.media.tumblr.com/3c5bb95c088109be39d44329ed93b6e2/tumblr_n9tje2ngfe1th2zcvo1_500.png

wait... what?

“I am pleased to announce I will vote in support of the tax reform bill,” Flake said in a statement. He said he’d secured leadership support for priorities related to expensing and to a solution for immigrants brought illegally to this country as children.

this bill is just a total hodgepodge at this point

I have 'secured support for priorities' fuckin' a jeff well done