US Politics January 2018: "You All Just Got A Lot Richer"

Sessions compares marijuana to heroin and blames it for spikes in violence.

FFS!! i hate this fucking goblin

the fact that no one immediately shouted FAKE NEWS!!! at the Wolff story but instead started attacking each other and threatening lawsuits kinda makes me feel it's legit

"There was more: Everybody was painfully aware of the increasing pace of his repetitions. It used to be inside of 30 minutes he'd repeat, word-for-word and expression-for-expression, the same three stories — now it was within 10 minutes. Indeed, many of his tweets were the product of his repetitions — he just couldn't stop saying something."

I notice this in his recent interviews. He'll say something over and over again and then the interviewer will ask him another question and...he'll just keep going back to his previous point. Like an entire page of that NYT interview was him answering questions about his tax bill with stuff like "actually you'll see everyone agrees it was the Democrats that colluded"

Also kind of reminds me of him calling the war widow and just sorta rambling on about completely unrelated topics

Rather. Also, Wolff says he has tapes.

Sessions' decision, BTW, is a fudge. He's basically saying federal prosecutors can do what they want depending on how they feel, and I have a feeling more than a few of them will shrug.

I find it perfectly plausible that Trump could golf with Boehner, give a talk about Boehner, then in a meeting say "Who's John Boehner?" Why? Because he thought it would be advantageous to Donald Trump to do each of those things, at the moment that he did them, and that was all his canary's brain needed to know.

― grawlix (unperson), 4. januar 2018 15:11 (fourteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Okay, but then that's how the story is, that Trump decided to say that even though he golfed with Boehner. Presenting the story without mentioning that they've golfed together is piss poor research. And, well, sorry, but that's kinda not up for discussion.

And I say that as someone who will read the book, and probably laugh heartily at stupid shit like that Boehner quote. But Wolff is cutting corners everywhere, there's no doubt about that.

i don't buy that ! he would like nothing more than to reignite the war on pot anyway he can , he could have left that in place just fine. xp

Man, the wedgie those burnouts gave Sessions in high school must have been positively atomic. But I guess he's showing them.

Sessions waited too long. I'm not being flip here -- if he had announced it out of the gate, that's one thing. This is only coming after a full year, Trump's political erosion, California fully implementing its own policy, etc. So now?

now I imagined Sessions holding a keytar and mouthing ATOMIC from the Blondie song.

Anyway, good luck with that!

NEW - Another letter....Trump's attorney sends letter to author Michael Wolff and publisher demanding cease and desist publication of new book https://t.co/q4fSuHugXZ

— John Santucci (@JTSantucci) January 4, 2018

i'm not saying he will be effective in turning back the tides on already legal states but for states trying to bring it on like here in NJ this doesn't help at all.

No platforming. SAD!

i'm not saying he will be effective in turning back the tides on already legal states but for states trying to bring it on like here in NJ this doesn't help at all.

Sessions himself noted the answer in his confirmation -- Congress can change the law. So if you wanted people to rally to a cause...

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders issues statement saying "all personal devices for both guests and staff will no longer be allowed in the West Wing." pic.twitter.com/r2P1fzfMem

— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 4, 2018

lol

i'm not saying he will be effective in turning back the tides on already legal states but for states trying to bring it on like here in NJ this doesn't help at all.

I'm willing to bet that Phil Murphy has a way better relationship with NJ's US attorney than Jeff Sessions does. Just a hunch.

so there are definitly tapes xp

Zing.

Some reporters are calling the book sloppy, challenging specific passages.

How could Wolff know for sure what Bannon and the late Roger Ailes said at a private dinner?

It turns out Wolff hosted the dinner for six at his Manhattan townhouse. https://t.co/DXjtl4Q7s9

— Robert Mann (@RTMannJr) January 4, 2018

does that mean Sanders is taking his phone away?

Jake Tapper with the bucket of cold water:

Like “Trump lawsuits against the women he allegedly sexually harassed and assaulted” imminent or “Trump lawsuit against the New York Times” imminent? https://t.co/JHWhCsnXWp

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 4, 2018

I can't think of a better barometer for the factual accuracy of Wolff's book than Trump's apoplectic reaction to Wolff's book. Per Tapper's tweet, if they're telling the truth about Trump, legal action is imminent.

oh shit, they are trying to cease and desist the publication of the book? I am going to have to order it. This is awesome.

yep that shit sold me lol

yes, it's very smart to prevent publication and just let the media that got advanced copies drip out details from the Suppressed Blockbuster Book

Just ordered my copy from B&N.

The jokes, they write themselves.

I'm listening to Alex Jones' interview with Roger Stone on Bannon – because I hate myself – and Jones says of Bannon, "there are signs of paranoia."

— andrew kaczynski🤔 (@KFILE) January 4, 2018

The fluoridated water has finally kicked in.

We were somewhere around DC on the edge of Dupont Circle when the fluorinated water began to take hold.

anyone who attempts to satirize the Trump admin this year is a fool. RT/quote, walk away.

honestly my expected outcome at this point between now and the end of next year Trump does a set of public appearances so incoherent (as in, descending into indecipherable gibberish as opposed to his usual vaguely-decipherable gibberish) that he just makes some lame excuse and bails

Can totally imagine Trump on his deathbed muttering to the two or three people there: "I used to be president!" And they'll look at each other, smile softly, pat him on his head and say: "Sure, pop. Sure."

And then he'll die, and they'll say, phew, at least it happened before he ran for a second term.

If by 'makes some lame excuse and bails' you mean 'shits his pants and dies on the spot', I concur.

If by "look at each other, smile softly, pat him on his head and say: "Sure, pop. Sure."" you mean "ignore Trump and keep checking Twitter on their phones as he flatulently expires", I concur.

as he flatulently expires

Like a balloon losing air.

Like a whoopee cushion.

Like an inflatable mattress after your guest has left.

Like the bounce house after the party.

Last night, I made like Emmerich and tried to imagine what would happen if some misguided party kidnapped the president. Probably something along the lines of, 'so...what's on the agenda today, President Pence?'

Like, how quickly would the entire country conspire to rewrite the history of the past year if he just disappeared?

GOP Senator from Colorado re Sessions move:

This reported action directly contradicts what Attorney General Sessions told me prior to his confirmation. With no prior notice to Congress, the Justice Department has trampled on the will of the voters in CO and other states.

— Cory Gardner (@SenCoryGardner) January 4, 2018

I am prepared to take all steps necessary, including holding DOJ nominees, until the Attorney General lives up to the commitment he made to me prior to his confirmation.

— Cory Gardner (@SenCoryGardner) January 4, 2018

Liberals have already been trying to write Trumpism off as an aberration rather than a natural culmination of steadily-evolving trends, so yeah xp

I always expected trump to try to ban books, I just didn’t think it would be a single book, about him.

And wow this one-two

One of the baffling things about Trumpworld giving access to Wolff: all they needed to do was call Murdoch and he would have said don’t cooperate b/c Wolff had written nasty book on him. And Jared/Trump speak to Murdoch all the time!

— Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) January 4, 2018

I kept waiting for that call to be made. https://t.co/RGm2SqLbKx

— Michael Wolff (@MichaelWolffNYC) January 4, 2018

Summary: pic.twitter.com/JLBpzQcK0J

— Mike Flacy (@mikeflacy) January 4, 2018

If by 'makes some lame excuse and bails' you mean 'shits his pants and dies on the spot', I concur.

― Bobby Buttrock (Old Lunch), Thursday, January 4, 2018 8:42 AM (ten minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

If by "look at each other, smile softly, pat him on his head and say: "Sure, pop. Sure."" you mean "ignore Trump and keep checking Twitter on their phones as he flatulently expires", I concur.

― "Taste's very strange!" (stevie), Thursday, January 4, 2018 8:43 AM (nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

sometimes this thread is a gift

These quotes are funny/terrifying, but my sense is Trump could be removed from office and the nation's taste for such a figure won't have been tempered a bit. You'll just get another demon like him but more competent.

If by 'makes some lame excuse and bails' you mean 'shits his pants and dies on the spot', I concur.

I'm making predictions not wishes

Feels like it might be complacent to call Trump the *culmination* of these trends in American politics and society, rather than just another stage on the descent

These quotes are funny/terrifying, but my sense is Trump could be removed from office and the nation's taste for such a figure won't have been tempered a bit. You'll just get another demon like him but more competent.

― droit au butt (Euler), Thursday, January 4, 2018 9:55 AM (five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm not going to say there won't be political candidates who get some serious traction by speaking directly to Trumpist grievance/dem baiting/racism, because there absolutely will be. But I absolutely believe that Trump eked out a win largely on the basis of celebrity/name recognition. If some no-name GOP senator had replicated Trump's campaign note-for-note, he wouldn't have come within spitting distance of the presidency.

Feels like it might be complacent to call Trump the *culmination* of these trends in American politics and society, rather than just another stage on the descent

Yes.

Fortunately I have no idea who most TV celebrities are today, let alone which could be apocalyptic candidates. xp

Republican David Yancey has won the important state race in Virginia's 94th district: his name was picked from the ceramic bowl. The Democrat can request another recount.

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 4, 2018

After a tie-breaking name drawing by Virginia State Board of Elections officials, Republican David Yancey has officially been declared the winner in the 94th Virginia House of Delegates District seat in Newport News.

Yancey, the incumbent, maintains his seat in the House of Delegates after an unconventional end to the Virginia race. Republicans now hold a 51-49 majority in the state House.

xp