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

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

flake by name...

flake jeff flake >:(

whoever said upthread that all of this is just an excuse for these scum to pose as "serious thinkers weighing important issues" - you were right.

(in the previous thread, I mean)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BcKtEUUg4Qa/

lol is that real ?

can we get comey on the ‘moral arc of the universe’ thread pls

that was me sleeve :)

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/key-issue-in-flynn-plea-deal

The key question out of the Flynn plea agreement is the identity of the person referenced as a “senior official of the Presidential Transition Team” and another termed a “very senior member of the Presidential Transition Team”.

...The ‘very’ in “very senior member” seems like an almost over the top effort to convey just who it was the prosecutors are talking about. It’s hard to see that that is not either Pence or President Trump, though it also strikes me as perhaps a bit too coy to refer to the incoming President as a member of transition team.

...The clear takeaway is that basically all of Trump’s top advisors, including the President and almost certainly Vice President Pence, were in the loop about these calls even if they did not themselves speak to Flynn directly.

Who are these people, the “senior official” and the “very senior official” I doubt we’ll have to wait long to find out.

pretty obvious implications based upon the plea deal and the statement, but still very surreal

the guy on the right used taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment scandal https://t.co/5Dc4DF3alD pic.twitter.com/fZXdcpBQUH

— Rex Santus (@rexsantus) December 1, 2017

looks like it is kushner?

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-12-01/kushner-is-said-to-have-ordered-flynn-to-contact-russia

looks like this handy cut-out-and-keep guide to russian collusion might come in handy

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DP-wzWMX0AEYLoq?format=jpg

cool, clear as mud

can't wait till this affair helps bring down the massively important *squints* jaren frishner

Prosecutors stated Flynn was directed to engage the Russians on 12/29/16 by donald’s national security transition team.

Senator Tom Cotton was on that team.

The same Tom Cotton who rabidly defended Mike Flynn.

The same Tom Cotton about to be nominated as CIA Director.

— Philippe Reines (@PhilippeReines) December 1, 2017

Meanwhile right-wingers are all like "HELLO? reaching out to foreign powers was his JOB, that's NORMAL, that's what an incoming administration is SUPPOSED to do; if Trump hadn't done that, the media would be all like 'he's not prepared!'."

https://www.instagram.com/p/BcKtEUUg4Qa/

― Evan, Friday, December 1, 2017 1:02 PM (thirty-six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

crazy how everyone who escapes from this shitpile of a government (Comey/Boehner/Obama) seems to have the time of their lives

there's like three people Flynn could have possibly flipped on, I don't see how this leads to anyone other than Trump himself honestly

Other right-wing lines:

"It's called DIPLOMACY! you fuckheads" etc. etc.

Then shifting to "man, that Obama admin official..."

Or, best, "well now that he's an admitted liar, nothing Flynn says can be taken seriously now! The first question will be 'did you admit to lying' / 'yes' / 'okay so why should be believe anything you say now?'."

Re: Tom Cotton "about to be nominated as CIA director",

despite being reported by NYT and elsewhere last night as something that is happening, it's not clear at all that Pompeo > State / Cotton > CIA / Tillerson > Ducktales Silo filled with Gold is a real thing or ongoing process.

Ly'nn Flynn

There Is No Evidence of ‘Collusion’ in Michael Flynn’s Offense Statement

lol david french you magnificent bastard

le david français

David Freedom

Instead, it amplifies the fact that Flynn apparently lied about contacts that were lawful and appropriate.

y tho?

Thing is strictly speaking French is right based on the exact charge and statement. The split right now is to whether that's 'all' that's there -- haha! -- or if there's something more as yet formally undiscussed in terms of charges and offenses. In terms of NRO world Andrew McCarthy is pushing the first option hard, French is there too, whereas in his Bloomberg piece Eli Lake is vaguely more 'maybe?' about it. But this is clearly closer to what's likely happening:

Had lunch with a lawyer today. He noted that Mueller will "report back" to the court on sentencing, which (he says) is an anvil hanging over Flynn's head for as long as Mueller wants.

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) December 1, 2017

really trying not to get too excited about any of this

It's another step. It's a BIG step, because for the first time reaches beyond 'mere' campaign operatives towards someone formally in government and his actions there and immediately proceeding. So we'll see what's next.

What will be interesting is if there's some new signal from somewhere. This news was essentially out in the open a week and a half back when the report about Flynn's lawyer discontinuing cooperation with Trump/Kushner's folks circulated. We see something like this again, you'll know something major is up.

Trump firing Comey to protect Flynn, leading to Mueller using a special counsel to get Flynn to flip against Trump is some delicious irony

with the intelligence level of this White House they probably think you meant "ironing."

like a dorm room grilled cheese

never forget

US Politics December 2017: Deficits Don't Matter

I'm pouring out a 40 for the other thread as we speak.

Meanwhile

Trump firing Comey to protect Flynn, leading to Mueller using a special counsel to get Flynn to flip against Trump

is the "she swallowed the spider to catch the fly" of US politics

I don't know why we elected this guy
I hope he dies

lol

Re: Tom Cotton "about to be nominated as CIA director",

despite being reported by NYT and elsewhere last night as something that is happening, it's not clear at all that Pompeo > State / Cotton > CIA / Tillerson > Ducktales Silo filled with Gold is a real thing or ongoing process.

― Karl Malone, Friday, December 1, 2017 6:45 PM (fifty-two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah no way Tillerson leaves before 2/1 unless he gets fired. supposedly he has to pay taxes on his titanic exxon divestment if he quits any earlier.

Had lunch with a lawyer today. He noted that Mueller will "report back" to the court on sentencing, which (he says) is an anvil hanging over Flynn's head for as long as Mueller wants.

from that tom nichols tweet - no shit. flynn is cooperating and will be sentenced once this whole thing is wrapped up. then the DOJ will weigh in on whether he rendered 'substantial assistance' and if so - have his sentence reduced to the bare minimum. anything short of substantial assistance will get him the full 5 years. still its not that much time which means he has some good ass info on higher ups.

supposedly he has to pay taxes on his titanic exxon divestment if he quits any earlier.