Trump, June 2017: From [Covfefe] with Love

what harm will befall him for saying 'i don't want to'?

Nothing.

well, yeah

"Harm" is a different discussion, but in a he-said-he-said fight, you're left the one refusing to go under oath. That's like refusing to take a lie detector test when you're the one whose honesty is up for debate.

yeah we're all very persuaded by the PERSONAL CREDIBILITY of comey, the asshole who got president shitstain elected. it's totally a "the singer, not the song" thing.

I don't know, I think he came off pretty well. He's many things, but is there any indication as of yet that Comey is a liar?

I mean, I get it, nothing is going to happen. But I was still struck by the scumbag Trump lawyer's full-on (but legally meaningless) denial that all of the things Comey claimed did not take place after Comey's testimony, which was pretty much universally hailed. And Comey universally considered more credible/trustworthy than Trump. "Well, he's just a liar" is one small step away from "well, he's new at the job."

It's obvious thaf Trump is lying and Comey is telling the truth.

You don't need to "like" Comey to see that.

Trump will never testify under oath because if he does he will lie his ass off and it will be harder to explain away that crime.

Imo we have gotten to the point where all his collective bad decisions have begun to compound.

he's certainly not getting any better at making decisions either, let's see what the world is like in a year and a half, at which time I'm hoping congress would have flipped to democratic control

Yesterday's activities across the pond give me a lot of hope (tempered with my usual dread and cynicism).

"We serve an old moan in a dry season
A lighthouse keeper in the desert sun
Dreamers of sleepers and white treason
We dream of rain and the history of the gun
There's a lighthouse in the middle of Prussia
A white house in a red square
I'm living in films for the sake of Russia
A Kino Runner for the DDR
And the fifty-two daughters of the revolution
Turn the gold to chrome
Gift...nothing to lose
Stuck inside of Memphis with the mobile home, sing:

Mother Russia
Mother Russia
Mother Russia rain down down dow"
Sisters of Comey

Yesterday's activities across the pond give me a lot of hope (tempered with my usual dread and cynicism).

luv2vote for left-wing policies, you guys should try it sometime

If even a few new people get the takeaway "the president lies - he lies like all the time - and maybe that's kind of a problem," I'll take that as a victory (however limited and qualified).

Obviously there are going to be people who think "he lies all the time but it doesn't matter because he's a useful wrecking ball," or "he lies sometimes but the other guys lie WORSE," or even "I trust him, he never lies, it's just FAKE NEWS / media distortion." But you were never going to reach those people anyway.

And there were obviously many millions of people who never liked or trusted him to begin with; they're already on board.

The only possible good outcome is NEW people acquiring new doubts about the Orange Individual.

Meantime, an odd source to get this from but (Manuel's Tavern is indeed a real place)

Manuel's Tavern in Atlanta is offering up a new sandwich: The Donald. Wonder bread, Russian dressing, baloney, cheese, and a small pickle.

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) June 9, 2017

Separately, profiles in courage

https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/senate-republicans-consider-keeping-parts-of-obamacare-they-once-promised-to-kill/2017/06/08/9befcd68-4c77-11e7-9669-250d0b15f83b_story.html?tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.d674d3e5eed1

Even some less aggressive critics of the law are uncomfortable with bluntly describing what the talks have largely become: a negotiation about how much of Obamacare to leave in place and for how long.

“Ah, well,” said Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) before pausing to consider what to say next. “Depends how you phrase it, I guess. I mean, obviously, it’s there. We have to deal with it. We’re doing the best we can.”

Other Republican senators sought to play down any controversy about the parts of the law they are contemplating keeping in place.

“We think we’re repealing the most obnoxious parts of Obamacare,” said Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), who argued that “there are some parts of Obamacare that are completely nonpartisan, almost.”

But that nuanced posture stands in contrast to the way Republicans vilified the law in consecutive elections after it was enacted in 2010. They slammed Democrats who voted for it and campaigned repeatedly on the promise of repealing the law entirely if voters gave them control of Congress and the White House.

“I think we’re all adjusting to the reality of the current debate and what it takes to get across the finish line,” said Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.).

Ah well

“Depends how you phrase it, I guess. I mean, obviously, it’s there. We have to deal with it. We’re doing the best we can.”

'Sorry. Im sorry. Im trying to remove it'

i thought this was really good. i do think that men suffer tons of abuse - mental and physical - at the hands of their bosses and never ever talk about it. which is just a way of saying that i think they relate to it more than women might think they would relate to it. there is always plenty of abuse of power to go around.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/08/opinion/james-comey-and-the-predator-in-chief.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region®ion=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region

the parallels she brings up to comey's statements and harassment of women...

(also not mentioned in there is the parallel of sen. feinstein's "you're big, you're strong...why didn't you stop and say mr. president this is wrong...")

Trump? Abuse of power? Who would have thought!

If the goal is to further defame Comey, yeah, good luck with that. No one believes you more than him, you piece of shit.

I wish this were true

luv2vote for left-wing policies, you guys should try it sometime

we were gonna, but then a couple dozen Twitter trolls made it IMPOSSIBLE for us to vote for the leftiest candidate in a generation.

That was weird coming from Feinstein but then the Repubs parroting that while not ever once standing up to the President themselves on any goddamn thing is just...well what i'd expected from them now that i think about it. xxxp

If the goal is to further defame Comey, yeah, good luck with that. No one believes you more than him, you piece of shit.
I wish this were true

― frogbs, Friday, June 9, 2017 9:55 AM (three minutes ago)

aside from idiots that will eat a turd if Trump tells them it's a tootsie roll , i think it is true

Listening to NPR on the commute this morning was fucking infuriating! They sounded like Fox News! Apparently the big story from the Comey thing, as far as they're concerned, is whether he's a "leaker" or not. And "Trump camp claims absolute vindication" was practically reported as fact, with no critical response whatsoever. I half thought one of the voices must have been a Republican shill, but no, it was just their morning regulars, Steve Innskeep and someone else. Jesus fucking christ

NPR's desperation to avoid the wingnut picture of them as a lefty mouthpiece = "balanced" regular guest Jonah Goldberg

maybe they should have Chomsky on with him hahaha

Democrats are probably still mad at Comey for "ruining " Hillary's lackluster campaign with his revela of email investigation info before the election

how the fuck do they parser what Jim did as a leak?? this is insane

That's like refusing to take a lie detector test when you're the one whose honesty is up for debate.

Many xposts, but if for some crazy reason your honesty is up for debate, you should definitely refuse to take a lie detector test because they're not reliable. I say this as ILX's premier completely untrained personal attorney, but I at least as reliable as a lie detector test, and that should frighten you

I can see that, from some sort of academic legal standard. But it's a bit like taking the fifth. You have every right to plead the fifth, but you almost never look good doing it.

pleading the fifth, it's a bit like saying, yeah, I did something wrong, I'm just not going to help you find out what it is at all, you have to work harder to get it.

The only way to deal with a liar is ask for proof of their claims. I use this on 5 year olds all the time

Jonah live blogging the Comey hearings:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_845ywsAF1Oc/R14KltELALI/AAAAAAAAAF0/hG8T6VV0uy4/s320/jonah_goldberg_in_car.jpg

feel like Trump is one of those dudes who has been insulated long enough that he doesn't really get the idea of "truth" per se, he seems like one of those "creating my own reality through positive statements" people

first president whose personal philosophy is pretty much "the secret"

xxpost lol when Comey wrote that he pulled out his laptop in the car to make notes of his Trump convo I immediately thought of that Jonah pic

Also not sure Trump has ever been involved in litigation/investigation that literally can't be settled, or waved off by paying a fine.

yeah, that is what I was getting at above. litigation is just part of the cost of doing business when working at that scale, and I doubt he's ever put thought into whether he was being sued as a matter of course or because he was shitty at what he was doing

rules just don't apply to rich people

I also wonder if he even grasps the power of the special prosecutor, basically the legal Terminator.

first president whose personal philosophy is pretty much "the secret"

One of the many most bonkers Trump revelations is that his childhood pastor was literally the guy that wrote The Power of Positive Thinking.

"Democrats are probably still mad at Comey for "ruining " Hillary's lackluster campaign"

Ace analysis lol

gonna be some HIllary face sitting on Comey IRL

“We think we’re repealing the most obnoxious parts of Obamacare,” said Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), who argued that “there are some parts of Obamacare that are completely nonpartisan, almost.”

I think what this means is that they'll achieve some kind of "compromise" which fucks poor people grievously in order to pay for huge tax cut, but leave in place some of the Obamacare features that help middle-class people who have the free time to show up at town halls (barring lifetime caps, control of premium hikes for people with pre-existing conditions.) This is really the only play they have: promise to screw almost everyone, walk it back to screwing only the most powerless, characterize themselves as "statesmen" and "moderates", characterize Dems as hysterics for suggesting they were going to do what they promised to do. It's not a bad play!

please don't

post

NRO tries for laffs:

Despite all this, Thursday wasn’t a good day for President Trump. Comey painted an ugly portrait of the president as flagrantly and shamelessly dishonest, oblivious to traditional limits on presidential power, obsessed with personal loyalty to him, having no regard for the independence of law enforcement and the justice system, petty, micro-managing, erratic, mercurial and vindictive. This description of Trump is undoubtedly shocking to all of the Americans who were in comas for the entirety of the 2016 election.

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner

"there are some parts of Obamacare that are completely nonpartisan, almost.”

hey he read Dole's 1996 platform