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

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

The FBI's headquarters is the J. Edgar Hoover building https://t.co/d1yEfb53VM

— slackbot (@pareene) February 1, 2018

re Comey yeah fuck that guy forever. he's such a fucking doofus.

I hate comey so much

<3 Stretch Comey for tight troll game and trying to blend in with the curtains

I only like Comey as the catalyst to take down Trump. Other than that ... enjoy your book tour, dude.

Re: Hoover, I dunno, Hoover was a horrible villain but he did more or less found the FBI and serve as its first head, for about 50 years, over half the existence of the FBI, so it's kind if hard to write his name out of the agency's history.

Maybe we should write his name a letter suggesting that it take itself out of history.

They could rename it the Not J Edgar Hoover Building.

The J. Edger, A Film By Clint Eastwood Building

Comey is acting like the showboater Trump claimed he was...

He's back!

EXCLUSIVE: Anthony Scaramucci candidly recalls his battles with Bannon ("the creature from the Black Lagoon"), Preibus ("Rancid Penis"), and his undying fealty for Donald Trump https://t.co/4JGYyM4U9l

— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) February 2, 2018

I mean, speaking of showboating

v unfair to the creature from the black lagoon imo

That artist rendering is pretty good, it almost has a Jack Davis cover of Mad vibe.

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

Also, Orrin Hatch can be the greatest senator ever. But only if he pulls a Czolgosz on Trump.

There's a Joe McCarthy Drive in Buffalo! I never knew if it was named after the Senator and, if so, why. Maybe it's named for this guy, idk.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mcconnell-urges-mississippi-governor-to-consider-cochran-senate-seat/2018/02/01/7f455d68-079d-11e8-8777-2a059f168dd2_story.html?sw_bypass=true&utm_term=.51ae590478db

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendell_Anderson

After U.S. Senator Walter Mondale was elected vice president in 1976, the governor needed to appoint Mondale's successor. Anderson agreed with his lieutenant governor, Rudy Perpich, that Anderson would resign as governor, and Perpich, as the new governor, would appoint Anderson senator.

In what became known as the "Minnesota Massacre", nearly the entire DFL Party ticket was defeated in 1978, including Perpich and the candidates for both U.S. Senate seats, Anderson and Bob Short. Anderson's arrangement to have himself appointed to the Senate—and Perpich's role in that appointment—were deemed central factors in the defeats.

BTW, didn't all these GOP dum dums just maintain current FISA standards powers as of, like, a week or two ago?

if i remember high school history correctly, there was a Joe McCarthy Richard Nixon Studebaker, who was famous for his family brand of television sets

goddamn you for making me google that

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a bulletin from CBS News... JFK. Blown Away. What Else Do We Have to Say?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNfbcSBib64

he's tweetin'

"Rank & File are great people!"

???

ok, if this memo is released, does Christopher Wray resign? Should he resign? Is it better or worse if he doesn't resign?

Yeah I'm not sure how to feel about that. But get ready for your next Deputy AG, Rachel Lee Brand. Graduate of Antonin Scalia Law School.

I'm sure everything will be just fine.

surprise: the "rank-and-file" comment originated with President Hannity.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia/trump-blasts-fbi-justice-dept-bosses-in-showdown-over-republican-memo-idUSKBN1FM1FD

It’s hard for me to get excited about any of this. Of the 10,000 reasons Trump should not be president that Don Jr. meeting is like number 4,000. There have been dirtier campaign tactics than Trump alluding darkly to the contents of the leaked emails—remember the Swift Boat ads?

"Rank & File are great people!"

I've always been curious about 80s cowpunk. Maybe I should check those guys out. There's a compilation of their two Slash albums on Spotify...

https://open.spotify.com/album/4gRMsuakBOjK66HxAEYMXc?si=4z7I24DCTty15fMBED8n2Q

Acting ICE director: Politicians in sanctuary cities should be arrested and charged with crimes https://t.co/vmea2zKnvU pic.twitter.com/UrxuIURPMr

— The Hill (@thehill) January 3, 2018

Wasn't there a story from last year about the possibility that Christopher Wray was already heavily compromised by things he did with Christie re the Bridgegate scandal? I was wondering how he was bearing up prior to the current situation.

i'd like to see him try

xpost

The investigation probably is politically motivated to be honest. Mueller is turning over every rock to find financial crimes that obviously exist but are probably disconnected from the original narrative of “Russian interference in the election.” I’m not saying it isn’t understandable — Trump is a scumbag who disgraces the nation at best and an unhinged national security threat at worst — but I don’t think this is world’s away from the Starr report and I’m not going to faint with horror that Republicans are trying to disrupt it. Trump brought it all on himself by firing Comey and incriminating himself of course but he’s a dumb caveman.

What is the political motive of Republican Mueller, appointed by Republican Rod Rosenstein, after Trump fired Republican James Comey?

Not necessarily partisan but I don’t think these people want Trump to be president.

The republicans in congress i guess are onboard but my suspicion is that career intelligence officials realize this is a catastrophe. Also when it all started it wasn’t clear what kind of “republican” he would be — Bannon was still there

I don’t think this is world’s away from the Starr report

respectfully disagree -- starr started out investigating white water, which had zero to do with monica lewinsky. mueller is investigating russian interference in the election, especially quid pro quo with the trump campaign; trump's past crimes laundering money for russians is related to that

yes - anything that could give Russia (or others) leverage over Trump or his team is germane to the investigation, which helpfully means anything illegal they did needs to be looked at. it doesn't need political motivation to cast its net wide.

I don’t really have a point except that Trump might not have been wrong that people had it out for him. That’s why it’s weird when ostensible liberals act surprised thst he would dare — dare! — question the integrity of the FBI. Like come on these people are used to pulling the strings in ways that subvert democracy. That part isn’t wrong.

For brutally pragmatic reasons I hope the worst possible happens to Trump but the swirl of discourse around this Russia investigation makes me uncomfortable. Kind of misses the point about why Trump’s presidency is a catastrophe in the first place, which has nothing to do with Russia and everything to do with his resurrection of nativism.

xps

“If I were a betting man, I’d bet against the president,” said one of the lawyers.

The second attorney, who represents a senior Trump official, speculated that Mueller could try to bring an indictment against Trump even if he expects the move to draw fierce procedural challenges from the president’s lawyers – if only to demonstrate the gravity of his findings.

“It’s entirely possible that Mueller may go that route on the theory that, as an open question, it should be for the courts to decide,” the attorney said. “Even if the indictment is dismissed, it puts maximum pressure on Congress to treat this with the independence and intellectual honesty that it will never, ever get."

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/02/trump-russia-indictment-mueller-probe-384969

Here's a controversial take on Trump's assertion that people are out to get him: how about, rather, he spent decades getting away with shit and now the chickens are finally coming home to roost? It's like a dude who spent decades on the FBI most wanted list coming out of hiding and complaining because people are all the time chasing him now. Unfair! Sad!

I agree with reggie. The 'financial crimes' are part and parcel to how he became a Russian asset in the first place.