Trump, June 2017: From [Covfefe] with Love

It's almost 9pm and WH still cannot say whether POTUS has confidence in his Attorney General. "No updates," a WH official said.

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) June 7, 2017

POTUS thinks sick burns via twitter is going to save his ass? What a time to be alive..

― officer sonny bonds, lytton pd (mayor jingleberries), Tuesday, June 6, 2017 7:47 PM (twenty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Saving one's ass is of secondary importance compared to impotent displays of one's dominance.

Ah, the silver tongue of Pam Bondi.

Suspect "don't leave me alone with him" is also on Melania and Barron's wish lists.

blare from the televisions

it's like fox controls the volume from their end nationwide somehow

Trump also randomly quipped that "Jared's actually become more famous than me" -- on heels of son-in-law's TIME cover

— Justin Sink (@justinsink) June 6, 2017

Ooh jared's dead

He'll be calling him a showboat next

Curiously, Comey never got a Time cover, AFAIK. He did get high praise from McCain prior to his firing.

Amusing tweet thread, even for a comics hater like me.

"I'm glad you could both make it. I'd like to talk to you about... The Avengers Initiative" pic.twitter.com/dUsaiwkSrG

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) June 7, 2017

I believe that's referring to something from a series of Hollywood motion pictures.

Great news for once: Sam Brownback's experiment of turning Kansas into an abattoir has been halted:

The Kansas House garners enough votes for lawmakers to override the governor's veto of the tax bill to balance the state's budget. would raise $1.2 billion over two years by increasing income tax rates and ending an exemption for 330,000 plus farmers and business owners.

The House vote passed 88-31.

http://www.kwch.com/content/news/Bill-raising-taxes-delivered-to-Kansas-governor-426826281.html

Has he even vaguely said anything about how he fucked up?

https://robertnielsen21.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/laffer_curve_3.png

Clapper, giving a speech just now in Australia:

Ooooh. Clapper: "I have to say I think you compare the two that Watergate pales really in my view compared to what we're confronting now"

— Mark Di Stefano 🤙🏻 (@MarkDiStef) June 7, 2017

Clapper says on his only trip to Trump Tower, Trump asked him: "Wouldn't it be a good thing if we could get along with the Russians?"

— Mark Di Stefano 🤙🏻 (@MarkDiStef) June 7, 2017

And some more detail

Clapper is absolutely shirtfronting Trump at #NPC #auspol pic.twitter.com/avN2VxKlOR

— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) June 7, 2017

Whats that on, National Press Club? I think they have that on repeats online on ABC, might have to watch later.

Had to google shirtfront.

What did you learn

they used to make them with celluloid

It's an Australian rules football term for charging at a dude's chest. Also learned that Paul Karp is Australian.

We're all Australians.

Well maybe not.

I understand there may be a few New Zealanders lurking in the ILX stairwell, smoking.

ossoff's opponent for the GA seat made a bit of a gaffe during the debate tonight, apparently

"Someone working full time should earn a decent standard of living." - Jon Ossoff pic.twitter.com/hf1yO7YfLX

— Team Ossoff (@TeamOssoff) June 7, 2017

During Tuesday night’s debate for an open U.S. House seat in Georgia, Republican candidate Karen Handel said that she does not support a “livable wage.”

“This is an example of the fundamental difference between a liberal and a conservative: I do not support a livable wage,” she said on Atlanta’s WSB-TV in response to a viewer question about raising the minimum wage. “What I support is making sure that we have an economy that is robust with low taxes and less regulation.”

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/karen-handel-i-dont-support-livable-wage

“This is an example of the fundamental difference between a liberal and a conservative: I do not support a livable wage,”

gotta admit this is refreshing honesty from a republican though

"I do not support living."

'How much money do you have, ma'am?... Okay, I sincerely don't care whether you live of die. Next?'

I do not support a livable wage

WOW. I am ... wow.

I mean does she realise that without a livable wage people dont spend money and buy houses and the economy grinds to a halt, right? Not to mention the increase in crime it causes which pearlclutchers like her would hate.

It's a true reflection of her party's thoughts on the matter.

if you surprised trump with the question, as a non sequitur, "do you support a living wage like the typical democrat, or do you oppose it like republican house candidate karen handel?", i wonder what he'd say

xpost yeah she just accidentally blurted out something honest, i love when that happens

if you surprised trump with the question, as a non sequitur, "do you support a living wage like the typical democrat, or do you oppose it like republican house candidate karen handel?", i wonder what he'd say

Shit man, put it up as an instapoll or something on Breibart/Fox News/etc. and learn how quickly how party labels outweigh everything else.

I've been reading the Hari Seldon-esque Peter Turchin of late. From his Ultrasociety:

There is a pattern that we see recurring throughout history, when a successful empire expands its borders so far that it becomes the biggest kid on the block. When survival is no longer at stake, selfish elites and other special interest groups capture the political agenda. The spirit that "we are all in the same boat" disappears and is replaced by a "winner take all" mentality. As the elites enrich themselves, the rest of the population is increasingly impoverished. Rampant inequality of wealth further corrodes cooperation. Beyond a certain point a formerly great empire becomes so dysfunctional that smaller, more cohesive neighbors begin tearing it apart. Eventually the capacity for cooperation declines to such a low level that barbarians can strike at the very heart of the empire without encountering significant resistance. But barbarians at the gate are not the real cause of imperial collapse. They are a consequence of the failure to sustain social cooperation. As the British historian Arnold Toynbee said, great civilizations are not murdered - they die by suicide.

This accords with my reading in history, more or less. In the U.S., we haven't seen political arguments to reduce income inequality to preserve social and civilizational stability since the 1930s. I think its a worthy justification.

"I support a gruel diet, unless they want some more"

lol

More fun:

HOT TAKE: So what happened today with the Senate on Trumpcare leads me to believe it could go exactly like the House-- secretive & fast.

— Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) June 6, 2017

Ossoff is still gonna lose

ppl in north Fulton don't care about the poor they want low taxes & less regulation so Handel was right on message

On this lovely Wednesday morning is it OK if I mention again that Trump wanted to build a giant, beautiful solar power generating border wall? Oh, and this is today:

Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, today announced that the Committee will hold an open hearing on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) on Wednesday, June 7, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. Appearing before the Committee will be Director of National Intelligence, Daniel Coats; Acting Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Andrew McCabe; National Security Agency Director, Admiral Mike Rogers; and the Department of Justice Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

Meanwhile, ISIS attacked sites in Iran. What are you going to say about that, Trump? How do you like a little cognitive dissonance your way, dickhead?

I really doubt he can keep all those I's straight.

So Christie's lieutenant and the Goldman Dem won the NJ guv noms bcz those voters generally care only about property taxes.

Meanwhile, ISIS attacked sites in Iran. What are you going to say about that, Trump?

fake news, obv

come on down, Chris Wray!

http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updates-donald-trump-names-fbi-director-pick-1496836465-htmlstory.html

He represented New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie during the investigation into the George Washington Bridge lane-closing case.

lol, manages optics

Don't unpack your bags too fast, dude.

i'll give him 10 weeks before he's out the revolving door again