US Politics, February 2018: Our country was founded by geniuses, but it’s being run by idiots

i hope something exciting happens soon

famous last words

Pres. Trump says Sen. Orrin Hatch told him he was a better president than Washington and Lincoln

— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) February 1, 2018

Exciting!

lol if anyone would remember those dudes it would be Hatch

I'm all for free speech but anyone who makes a claim like that in seriousness should be jailed for life.

Or, in this case, immediately stripped of his Senatorship, at the absolute least.

He wss high when he said it

shut your hatch, orrin

Washington and Lincoln couldn't throw a spiral to save their lives

Losers who have never had their names on any casinos

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/01/politics/white-house-worried-wray-nunes-memo/index.html

Washington (CNN)Top White House aides are worried FBI Director Christopher Wray could quit if the highly controversial Republican memo alleging the FBI abused its surveillance tools is released, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation tell CNN.

Wray has made clear he is frustrated that President Donald Trump picked him to lead the FBI after he fired FBI Director James Comey in May, yet his advice on the Nunes memo is being disregarded and cast as part of the purported partisan leadership of the FBI, according to a senior law enforcement official.

is this bad?

The Very Smart Genius is walking around saying "I can't wait to obstruct justice!" out loud to everyone he sees. https://t.co/HPNYeGeV8Y

— Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) February 1, 2018

Further muddle

NEW: The WH is worried that FBI Director Chris Wray might resign if the memo is released. Kelly trying to find a compromise that keeps Wray happy: https://t.co/qznaWcyied via @DanaBashCNN @jeffzeleny @evanperez

— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) February 1, 2018

Seems Bad

think how poor carter page feels, subject to FBI surveillance all because crooked hillary (and the kenyan's deep state minions) colluded with foreign governments (the UK and the former USSR) to conjure up the phony dossier

I mean this is negotiation in public, really. Not all that surprising that at least some in the WH kinda realize that they actually should find a way out of the box they've made.

what a country

can someone import all the drinking .gifs from the Director's Poll thread into this one?

omg Trump just resigned

j/k just needed an alt history cheer-up

of course Trump is better than Washington and Lincoln, Washington never once eliminated a government regulation and Lincoln set the slaves free, which was just hell on small business owners

I just want to be perfectly clear that when we look at guys like Devin Nunes (age 44) and what sort of young people are currently, in this age, drawn to active participation in GOP politics, that we're looking at the future of the party, not the past

— slackbot (@pareene) February 1, 2018

this really feels like the ending of the book Airframe:

"A senior Democratic committee official told CNN that there are “five material changes to different parts of the memo, including a modification that appears intended to water down the overall importance of the Majority’s purported ‘findings.’”

“The Majority document now in the White House’s possession is different in key respects from the document the Committee Majority voted on January 18, 2018 to make available to the full House of Representatives and which hundreds of House Members have read so far," the source explained. "We have identified five material changes to different parts of the memo, including a modification that appears intended to water down the overall importance of the Majority’s purported 'findings.' The Majority’s White House version otherwise also includes six less consequential grammatical and word modifications (as well as one font-related change to align with the rest of the document).”

What Republicans say: Rep. Trey Gowdy’s office says the congressman, a senior Republican on the panel, has no issues with the changes. They contend that the changes were minor and made before the Monday vote.

Nunes’ office did not respond to a request for comment. His office said last night there were only two edits made as a request from FBI and Democrats and the rest were minor and grammatical changes."

I mean the general public could determine for themselves if we were to see both versions of the memo, so really it's important that we release the memo now

let's all write our own memos

The Trump Administrsrion says once ISIS is gone, our troops will stay in Syria to fight Iran. FYI - this is a BIG DEAL that few in Congress seem to care about. https://t.co/AWfbXMaycq

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 1, 2018

"to fight Iran" is not mention in the linked NYT article at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEzRQYDVD_4

i hope they call this Dilbertgate years from now

"I got a letter from the government the other day. I opened and it said they were suckers."

omg Trump just resigned

― fuck you, your hat is horrible (Neanderthal), Thursday, February 1, 2018 12:40 PM (fifty-three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

j/k just needed an alt history cheer-up

― fuck you, your hat is horrible (Neanderthal), Thursday, February 1, 2018 12:41 PM (fifty-two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

neanderthal don't do this to me ever again unless you mean it

Trump will never ever formally resign, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility of him just walking out of the WH one day and never going back or 'presidenting' again. Like, just pretending that this whole thing never happened so he can go back to his taco bowl lunches at Trump Tower.

He'll end his term, declare America great again, and then disappear in a puff of smoke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1tmkAFb_Os

https://media.giphy.com/media/3o6MbeBSWJ6rBmlLa0/giphy.gif
https://media.giphy.com/media/3orif68nbIeBrnIK1q/giphy.gif

among the lamest denials

Per Hatch spox, he has said that Trump “can be” the greatest president ever but has never said "is"

— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) February 1, 2018

I'd be ok with him being the next Lincoln, at least in one specific regard.

you want him to be portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis?

sure if they use the same prop gun that was used in The Crow

It was good enough to fire McCabe, no one argues its factually inaccurate, but now days later they want to protect the names of those involved in a scandal that was big enough to fire a senior official a month before retirement? They don’t deserve a pass on that!

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 1, 2018

uhmmm, did you say "fired"

Interesting

Rick Gates' lawyers are asking to withdraw immediately, per new filing — reasons aren't given in the public filing, they say they're in an exhibit "which is the
subject of a motion to be filed under seal" pic.twitter.com/ap3ywROzFB

— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) February 1, 2018

Recall that @kpolantz reported last week that Sidley Austin's Tom Green had joined Gates' legal team: https://t.co/iqLsPmz4qa But Green hasn't entered an appearance in court for him as of now.

— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) February 1, 2018

Related, per Tillman's second tweet, to this story about Gates maybe negotiating something with Mueller:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/23/politics/rick-gates-new-attorney-mueller-russia-investigation/index.html

https://admin.mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/tom-green.png

all these people are such venal idiots i have no doubt most of them will go down for something or other

but venal idiocy as a concept and way of life appears to be going strong

see also: history

isn't there a way we can structure society so that venal idiocy can find no purchase in it

Have you considered Neolithic subsistence hunting/gathering?

Yeah, I've come to the conclusion that that's pretty much the only alternative. I'm down for giving it a shot.

All should appreciate the FBI speaking up. I wish more of our leaders would. But take heart: American history shows that, in the long run, weasels and liars never hold the field, so long as good people stand up. Not a lot of schools or streets named for Joe McCarthy.

— James Comey (@Comey) February 1, 2018

haha wow

james comey is such a sanctimonious prick

Time for a new thread, yes?

US Politics, March 2018: “Is it dirthole?” she asked. Close, but not quite.
US Politics, March 2018: That's a big deal. That's a big deal.
US Politics, March 2018: what would it take to shock you, besides a cattle prod
US Politics, March 2018: elderly, myopic and bumbling

suggested title: Why do people leave the White House for good?

haha love it

yes

Excellent.

I was gonna go with US Politics, March 2018: No Hope, but I like the why do people leave title.