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

the Secretary of Homeland Security just testified under oath that she does not know whether Norway is predominantly white

"i mean, i guess they're NORWEGIAN if that's what you're asking"

Why should the head of the DHS have to know or understand anything about the world outside of the homeland? These people with all of their 'expectations'! I tell ya! Sheeeeeesh!

'Look, I only know there's a country called Haiti because the president made reference to it. I'm only concerned about whatever's happening within these borders, not in Haiti or Nordway or Hoth or wherever.'

It's cold in Norway. The people are all bundled up. No way to tell what race they are.

I don't know or care if Norway is white, black, brown, yellow or purple. our policies are color-blind.

More importantly, DHS secretary Kirstjen Nielsen doesn't know if Norway is predominantly white.

Kirstjen Nielsen
Kirstjen Nielsen
Kirstjen Nielsen
Kirstjen Nielsen
Kirstjen Nielsen
Kirstjen Nielsen
Kirstjen Nielsen
Kirstjen Nielsen

I know casting Idris Elba as Heimdall in the Thor movies confused some people, but just maybe glance at some family photos, Kirstjen Nielsen?

in her defense:

Nielsen (surname) Nielsen Danish pronunciation: [ˈnelsn̩] is a Danish patronymic surname, literally meaning son of Niels, Niels being the Danish version of the Greek male given name Νικόλαος, Nikolaos (cf. Nicholas).

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/16/us/politics/steve-bannon-mueller-russia-subpoena.html?_r=0

Some interesting meat in that report.

Some legal experts said the subpoena could be a sign that the investigation was intensifying, while others said it may simply have been a negotiating tactic to persuade Mr. Bannon to cooperate with the investigation.

These can both be true, nytimes.

Bannon + "interesting meat" = uh...

rancid meat more like

WATCH: Sen. Orrin Hatch removes a pair of glasses he's not wearing pic.twitter.com/QXCCb4RHzn

— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) January 16, 2018

It must be true:

Sen. Graham: Last Tuesday we had a president I was proud to golf with and wanted a bipartisan solution on immigration.

"I don't know where that guy went. I want him back."

— Evan Wilt (@EvanWilt_) January 16, 2018

In the hallway, @LindseyGrahamSC continues his criticism of White House on immigration: "I don't think the president was well served by his staff...I think General Kelly is a fine man, but he's also part of the staff."

— Jeff Zeleny (@jeffzeleny) January 16, 2018

lindsey can’t be that stupid... can he?

Give me one good reason to say why he can't be that stupid.

he's a "wit"

THREAD: Why did Mueller subpoena Bannon to testify before the grand jury? How is that different from an informal interview with investigators? (Short answer: He likely wants to question Bannon without Bannon's attorney present.) https://t.co/b0hS0YmzPZ

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) January 16, 2018

haven't read the thread and Ronaldo knows more than I know, but also apparently a grand jury is where you go when you know something you think the subject doesn't know you know, to catch them in lies.

also, strategically, if they subpoena him he can claim he had no choice.

Renato, that is. xpost

fascinating observation made elsewhere that Bannon went into the house intelligence interview knowing he had been subpoenaed but it is more than possible the currently sequestered house intelligence people didn't know he'd been subpoenaed and may in fact find out at some point during the interview.

Time to flip, Ham-head

I have this weird feeling scumbag has been cooperating all along. Or at least for a while. But who knows.

Fun fact to learn that a subpoena trumps an NDA.

that *is* good to know

I have this weird feeling scumbag has been cooperating all along. Or at least for a while. But who knows.

Yeah I keep seeing this brought up. So if the subpoena IS cover...

According to some reports, Trump is still stroking Bannon by calling him for advice. If true, this is exactly the right approach to keep Bannon from flipping, since Bannon hankers so badly for access and influence, in hopes of reshaping the world in his own image. (<- plz do not think about that in literal terms or it will threaten your sanity.)

I dunno, Bannon might be going for the ego two-fer of getting a president elected *and* taking him down. Imagine the book deal!

Do not want to live in a world sculpted from putrefying deviled ham, thank u.

"The Beginning and the End" by Steve Bannon.
"The Man Who Would Be King and the Man Who Would Not" by Steve Bannon.
"Turd on the Run" by Steve Bannon.

MSNBC contract to come

i won't be surprised if cambridge analytica is as dirty as every other trump campaign related entity and its former CEO, mr. bannon, is going down

bannon is not the former CEO of CA

CEO of CACA..

New frontiers in NeverTrumper capitulation: Now that Trump is making nuclear war a live issue again, @NRO is telling readers nuclear attack isn't so bad actually https://t.co/F2DAHBKb8b pic.twitter.com/dbe1Vs6VR5

— Roy Edroso (@edroso) January 16, 2018

re: who will be blamed for shutdown

who are we even talking about here? are there any right-leaning voters who will blame the republicans? are there any left-leaning voters who will blame the democrats? honestly i think the whole question "who will be blamed" is a pointless holdover from an era that has ended. the partisan divide was bad a few years ago. it's gotten demonstrably worse:

https://i.imgur.com/pzbyzD2.png https://i.imgur.com/341QegV.png

and hey i'm part of the problem too, i guess, because i think republicans are 100% wrong on the shutdown, and i think it's their fault. i think know they're wrong on climate change, and i don't want democrats to give a fucking INCH on it. so count me as a hyper-partisan.

so when the NYT asks about who the 'voters' will blame for x y or z, they're really talking about the tiny minority of voters who consider themselves "centrists" and might plausibly change their vote one way or another in the next election. and those people are the dumbest people in the entire fucking universe. let's go ask this earthworm (who is more informed than a centrist) who should be blamed for the shutdown! let's find that fucking groundhog while we're at it too and get its prediction

a centrist is someone who doesn't even understand what game they're playing

https://shareblue.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/CNN_01-16-2018_13.03.39_edit.mp4?_=1

is the rep voter souring on colleges/unis strictly a 2016 campaign after effect? it's hard for me to believe that given how skeptical of higher ed reps have been even before 2015 when this trend really picked up.

It's going to be remarkable if there's a government shutdown because Dems won't vote for a clean bill, and it gets blamed on Republicans, but the Trump negotiating has been so racist and inept that I could see it happening. And it would be an entirely apt response to the horror show he has concocted.

It's going to be remarkable if there's a government shutdown because Dems won't vote for a clean bill

But Dems are mad because it's *not* a clean bill. Unless there is ... breaking news?

Hmmm

Sources say Bannon told by WH not to answer questions before House Intel Cmte about the White House and the transition. Did not assert executive privilege. Committee subpoenas him during the meeting to comply while in the hearing.

— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 16, 2018

Saw a tweet saying this is Nunes desperate to know what Bannon's going to spill on. I'd buy it.

Explain that to me, because I do not understand.

How I understand the Republican's position. They want a DACA bill with many exceptions and exclusions made for "security" reasons, and a big appropriation for Trump's wall attached. They want to bust the deal made with Obama for percentage-based, across-the-board budget limits in all departments of the government, including the military, so that they can cut social programs and increase the military budget.

How I understand the Dem position. They want a vote on a clean, DACA bill, unconnected to building Trump's wall, that has enough bipartisan support it could pass. Unless such a DACA bill comes to the floor, they will not vote for an extension of borrowing authority. They would rather keep the overall budget agreement as-is, or else negotiate increases in social spending to accompany military budget increases. They reject the Republican budget proposals.

This is probably a wrong understanding to some degree, but in the general neighborhood of the truth.

xpost: Presumably:

* Nunes is now well known as a WH lapdog

* Bannon is not so coincidentally in the doghouse

* He has information! (Maybe.)

* Mueller has made it clear he'd like to know that information.

* Nunes would love to know what Mueller will learn (even though Nunes doesn't know all of what Mueller now knows).

* Bannon tells two different stories to Congress and to the grand jury = he gets hosed.

If nothing else, the prospect of Bannon getting hosed is a win for public health.