James, We Hardly Knew Ye

Jim Geraghty of National review jolts the Comey hearing.

David Brooks explains that the punishment is the process and the process is Washington Establishment self-protection.

The upshot is the Trump administration will probably not be brought down by outside forces. It will be incapacitated from within, by the bile, rage and back-stabbing that are already at record levels in the White House staff, by the dueling betrayals of the intimates Trump abuses so wretchedly.

Although there may be no serious collusion with the Russians, there is now certain to be a wide-ranging independent investigation into all things Trump.

These investigations will take a White House that is already acidic and turn it sulfuric. James Hohmann and Joanie Greve had a superb piece in the Daily 202 section of The Washington Post. They compiled the lessons people in the Clinton administration learned from the Whitewater scandal, and applied them to the Trump White House.

If past is prologue, this investigation will drag on for a while. The Clinton people thought the Whitewater investigation might last six months, but the inquiries lasted over seven years. The Trump investigation will lead in directions nobody can now anticipate. When the Whitewater investigation started, Monica Lewinsky was an unknown college student and nobody had any clue that an investigation into an Arkansas land deal would turn into an investigation about sex.

If Trumps many foes, from both sides of the aisle, can't manage to sustain an investigation that rivals Iran-Contra or Whitewater, ell, what kind of establishment are we being ruled by?

This Brooks explainer from 2006 on Plame, Rove and Armitage makes a nice bookend to his current piece:

And yet now it has been revealed that the primary leaker was not Rove at all, but Richard Armitage, a former deputy secretary of state. And this news produces no outrage at all. Nothing. A piffle. Perhaps you are wondering how this could happen.

Well, dear reader, there are four things you must remember about your political class. First, there is a big difference between politically useful wrongdoing and politically useless wrongdoing, the core of which is that politically useless wrongdoing is not really wrongdoing at all.

Well, yes. The Plame debacle was, IMHO, part of a larger bi-partisan attempt to rein in Dick Cheney. I should add that back in late 2003 and early 2004 when Libby gave his unlikely tale to FBI investigators and a grand jury Cheney's spot on the Bush 2004 ticket may have appeared to be up in the air. Protecting Cheney from live political foes within his own party may well have been on Libby's mid.

Bygones. Today, the Washington Establishment will be happy to keep Trump in the tumbler as long as possible.

Comments

[Threadkiller]

Last page:

http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2017/06/james-we-hardly-knew-ye/comments/page/99/#comments

[maryrose]

Disagree:
One thing Brooksie got right.
Collusion story is dead.
This investigation will last 2 minutes.

[Captain Hate]

Quoting an asshole like Brooks provides substance free verbiage. In case Davey boy has forgotten, or just overlooked while banging the hired help, the Whitewater land deal investigation produced a fair amount of convictions of non Clintoons related to Arkansas property chicanery.

[lyle]

Federal Breau of Matters

[Clarice Feldman]

I think the game was exposed and Mueller cannot continue to play it.

From a correspondent:James Comey justified in his statements that on February 14th he did not inform his recently confirmed boss Attorney General Jeff Sessions, of the content of the oval office meeting with President Trump – or his suddenly overwhelming feelings of impropriety, because he anticipated Jeff Sessions would be forced to recuse himself from anything to do with the Russian investigation..

There was nothing known on February 14th which would establish a need for Sessions recusal. There’s no reasonable basis for such an assumption on February 14th, unless it was Comey’s intention to leak FISA-granted surveillance of Russian Ambassador Kislyak, having an innocuous meeting with Senator Jeff Sessions, to the Washington Post. A disingenuous, albeit politically framed, leak did factually surface on March 1st.

___so now that it's clear Sessions was removed as part of a plan and Mueller appointed to play Fitzgerald, he is left exposed and I think he'll have to wrap it up sooner, rather than later.

[Janet the expert 🚬]

I would love Comey's picture next to Reality Winner's picture EVERYWHERE.

**2 LEAKERS EXPOSED!!**

He would hate that.

[Janet the expert 🚬]

Yeah, lyle. The F-BM.
Perfect.

[Frau Luegenpresse verrecke!]

maryrose - I so hope you are correct.

The FBI is very clear on leaks from its employees. Will Comey be held to the written FBI standard or be held above the law? Time will tell.

The real bilge is Brooks. I hope his business falls off.

[Frau Luegenpresse verrecke!]

The huddled madness yearning for a smoking gun on Comey Day.

(Right click for closeup of typical prog)

These people will most likely accuse *Pres.Trump* of depriving them of their heart's desire: overturn an election through propaganda.

[Clarice Feldman]

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/06/draft-at-least-nine-deep-state-leaks-to-far-left-msm-outlets-related-to-james-comey/

[Barbara]

An ABC radio guy was saying this morning that the story is really about - wait for it - the RUSSIANS' PLAN TO CHANGE THE VOTES ON THE VOTING MACHINES! And that Trump has ignored this!

Say What! Where has this guy been? There was fraud reported during the election with voting machines but not in favor of the President. Apropos of the last thread, the machines were changing Republican votes into Democrat votes. President Trump has appointed a Commission to look into this and all other types of voter fraud. So, not only is this guy's premise upside down, he completely ignored the fact that the President is looking into all of these concerns much to the consternation of the Democrats, I might add.

They're desperate to change the narrative after the Comey fiasco yesterday. There is no other way to spin the things Comey revealed especially after their high priest of liberal lunacy, Chris Matthews, said there's no there there last night.

These people are crazy making fools!

[Clarice Feldman]

Misses the most impt one:https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/sessions-spoke-twice-with-russian-ambassador-during-trumps-presidential-campaign/2017/03/01/5350986c-fed4-11e6-9b78-824ccab94435_video.html

[Captain Hate]

Frau, those deadbeats don't have a single drink in front of them! I'm sure the bartender couldn't wait to clear them out because I'm sure, like most libs, they're terrible tippers.

[Frau Luegenpresse verrecke!]

From Jim Geraghty's NR article which TM linked:

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, micromanaging, 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.

This shocking assessment of Pres.Trump better fits James Comey who unmasked himself as the petty dictator of the FBI--breaking laws, regulations and people's lives to further his personal agenda. He is a dangerous man and must be held accountable.

Martha Stewart might get one of her slammer sorority sisters to crotchet a large poncho for Comey for his stint behind bars.

[Porchlight]

Federal Breau of Matters

Black Lives Investigation

[Porchlight]

Eff Jim Geraghty. Unfollowed him in every way possible a long time ago. He has no principles.

[lyle]

Yes, there's a 'u' missing. Sue me. I was on my iPhone. 😎

[Porchlight]

Not trying to give you a hard time, lyle. I just wanted to continue the theme and I don't like to correct. :)

[lyle]

No offense taken in the least, Porch.

[Porchlight]

Winning

http://www.heraldeurope.com/muslim-protester-dies-inhaling-smoke-burning-american-flag-protest/

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--Despite all this...--

Despite Comey showing himself to be an untrustworthy, leaking, self serving, dishonest creep, he was telling the truth when he confirmed Geraghty's biases about Trump.

[Jim Eagle]

Biden's SUV missed Geraghty by too much.

The problem with lying versus the truth is you have remember precisely what it was that you wrote or said if confronted. Easier to remember the truth.

And then there is this. Quite funny in a way but read the guys lips behind Corbyn as he accepts his constituency election.

https://twitter.com/FreddieNathan/status/872999516462620672

[Porchlight]

Hmm. A commenter over at The_Donald remembered that the alleged contents of Trump's first intelligence briefing were leaked to the press:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/10/politics/donald-trump-intelligence-report-russia/index.html

Think that could have been via a certain Columbia professor as well?

Also, Comey has a secret Twitter account:

http://gizmodo.com/this-is-almost-certainly-james-comey-s-twitter-account-1793843641

[JimNorCal]

It was my turn.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--When the Whitewater investigation started, Monica Lewinsky was an unknown college student and nobody had any clue that an investigation into an Arkansas land deal would turn into an investigation about sex.--

What a buffoon Brooks is. When the Whitewater investigation started it was already widely known that in addition to the disgusting legal and financial shenanigans of the Clintons, there were credible accusation of his use of the Arkansas state police as solicitors [pimps] and fix it men, of sexual harassment, abuse and rape allegations.
Lewinsky herself might not have been on the radar, but to anyone slightly familiar with the Hot Springs Creeper it would have been a shock if illicit sex didn't enter the picture.

[James D.]

The real bilge is Brooks. I hope his business falls off.

It can't fall off if he never had it to begin with.

[Captain Hate]

Biden's SUV missed Geraghty by too much.

Wasn't that Treacher or am I thinking of something else?

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

George Neumayr at AmSpec nails Comey's character exactly.

[lurkersusie]

Are the two related?

(CNN)Classified documents presented last week to President Obama and President-elect Trump included allegations that Russian operatives claim to have compromising personal and financial information about Mr. Trump, multiple US officials with direct knowledge of the briefings tell CNN

Tom Fitton last night on twitter
So Comey stole and leaked @realDonaldTrump's FBI file? Will Special Counsel Mueller investigate his protege?

[JimNorCal]

Will she run again? Or let herself go?
From HopeNChange

[Porchlight]

Trump speaking right now:

https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/6g98pw/god_emperor_speaks/

[jimmyk]

I think the game was exposed and Mueller cannot continue to play it.

I hope you are right, but I think you may underestimate the ability of scalp-hunters to somehow, some way find scalps. Has one of these independent investigations ever just shut down and said "Nothing there"?

[jimmyk]

Brooks can join Jeffrey Toobin in the hall of fame for middle-aged dweebs schtupping women young enough to be their daughters.

[sbw]

There couldn’t be a DC Swamp without the #MSM.

[James D.]

the punishment is the process

Let's punish some Dems, them,

Are all of Paul Pelosi's government contracts squeaky clean? Let's find out!

Will Chelsea Clinton's financing of her wedding via Clinton Foundation funds meant to go to starving Haitians stand up to a forensic audit? Only one way to know!

Did Tim Kaine's son violate any Federal laws when he recently got involved in violent protests against the President? I bet a detailed DoJ investigation could answer the question!

How many laws did Bernie Sanders' wife break while she diverting college funds for her own personal use while President a while back? I bet a joint Dof Ed and FBI task force could get to the bottom of it!

And on and on and on and on and on...

[Barbara]

The problem with lying versus the truth is you have remember precisely what it was that you wrote or said if confronted. Easier to remember the truth.
Jack is Back @11:36 am

Well said. This is the wall that Comey ran headlong into as he embellished his testimony time after time.

[henry]

Mueller announced another hire this morning. Some dude that served with Kagan in the WH Counsel's office and is an "expert on criminal obstruction." So that is straight up Schumer attack line for impeachment.

[jimmyk]

"O what a tangled web we weave...."

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Women acting like randy chimps; an unalloyed good in progland.

[jimmyk]

On the Dodd-Frank repeal passed by the house: A banker acquaintance told me that the big banks don't want repeal, because they've incurred the infrastructure costs, and now those costs are a barrier to competition.

Imagine that, a regulation that ends up serving to protect the industry incumbents. As sure as day follows night.

[lurkersusie]

How did Comey get access to his memo's?

[DebinNC]

Any doubt Comey added the dodgy dossier to Trump's FBI file? No.

[James D.]

The problem with lying versus the truth is you have remember precisely what it was that you wrote or said if confronted. Easier to remember the truth.

I don't think it helps you either way, once a prosecutor has decided to collect your scalp. Nobody can remember to the level of detailed required to never misspeak or contradict anything you ever said or wrote.

When misremembering a casual conversation a year and a half ago can be prosecuted as perjury or lying to investigators, truth is no defense at all.

[henry]

Newt with eye on the prize. Republicans need to focus on closing down independent counsel because it clearly isn't independent.

[Captain Hate]

Speaking of that perv Toobin, the link that narc provided for Right Scoop where Dersh was educating the three CNN stooges of Toobin, Vanderbilt Poofter and chirpy birdbrain Gloriosky Borger on how the Constitution works, Alan says that a President can shut down an investigation at any time and not be committing a crime pertaining to the Constitution. He used the example of Poppy Bush pardoning Cap Weinberger and stopping Captain Ahab Walsh in his tracks as far as proceeding in that direction. Dersh's point in making that is that Trump is in the clear whether or not long tall Jimmy was telling the truth or not; but by saying that, by Constitutional expert Zippy using LoLy as the messenger to squash the Chardonnay investigation, she is afforded no such protection.

Does that make sense to the JOM ambulance chasers esteemed legal counsel?

[DebinNC]

Haven't watched taxpayer funded PBS News Hour since Judy and Gwen took over, but I bet lefty David Brooks is still the "conservative" counterpoint to Mark Shields.

[matt, deplore me if you must]

The loons are still out there, late into the morning. You can hear their calls. One news outlet was reporting that the republican establishment is still out to get Trump, which is probably true. But the unhinged Left is now preciously awaiting Yates or Mueller to find or report something new.

Since Dems consider only loyalty to the Party they simply cannot understand honor and freely given respect and loyalty.

Thus Flynn, who served his country for 35 years and screwed the pooch royally deserves only to be cast into the pit while Trump, who did the decent thing, must also be castrated and cast down.

The Left truly is afraid of Trump. he challenges all of their stereotypes and myths.

[jimmyk]

I bet lefty David Brooks is still the "conservative" counterpoint to Mark Shields.

You mean PBS actually had to admit that they could no longer describe Gergen as conservative without bursting into laughter?

Seems like "conservatives" bashing Trump is a ticket to an MSM paycheck (Bret Stephens). Can Frum, Kristol, Cost, et al be far behind?

[DrJ]

Does that make sense to the JOM esteemed legal counsel?

CH, I was wondering the same thing. If Desh is right, how can the DOJ become politicized? It would seem to have no meaning, at least constitutionally.

[Looking good]

working off Princeton University philosopher Harry Frankfurt’s seminal book On Bullshit, which distinguishes the liar, who is trying to persuade us of a false truth, from the bullshitter, who cares little for persuasion so long as he is achieving his other ends. As Frankfurt writes:

For the bullshitter, however, all these bets are off: he is neither on the side of the true nor on the side of the false. His eye is not on the facts at all, as the eyes of the honest man and of the liar are, except insofar as they may be pertinent to his interest in getting away with what he says. He does not care whether the things he says describe reality correctly. He just picks them out, or makes them up, to suit his purpose.
At 6:10 am on Friday, Trump broke his silence on Comey’s testimony. And in doing, he provided an object lesson in how he uses bullshit, rather than arguments or even lies, to achieve his goals.

Step back and assess the contradictory things Trump is asking us to believe:

Trump’s first point is that Comey is a liar (and, since he was testifying under oath before the Senate, a perjurer). It is not just Trump making this case. White House staff have said that Trump, among other things, never asked for Comey’s loyalty, and that the ex-FBI director is making his story up. No one really believes this, but then, that’s not the point.
Trump’s second point is that even though Comey is a liar trying to frame Trump, his testimony is believable as a complete and total vindication for Trump, though what Trump is being completely and totally vindicated of is unclear.
Trump’s third point is that Comey “is a leaker.”
It would be a mistake to think of what Trump is doing here as persuasion. He is not trying to offer a more consistent or credible account of events than Comey did. He is not marshaling evidence that disproves Comey’s testimony, or offering alternative explanations for the interactions Comey recorded.

No fair-minded person who would look at Comey’s testimony and the White House’s pushback and see anything of value in the latter. Trump isn’t crafting believable lies or arguing with how Comey understood events or even trying to convince observers of an alternative timeline. He’s bullshitting, and he’s doing so with a few goals:

By accusing Comey of perjury — an explosive accusation, particularly given that Trump proffers no evidence — Trump is trying (and, if this morning’s headlines are any evidence, succeeding) in wresting the story back from Comey’s testimony. A liar tries to replace the truth — which is hard. A bullshitter tries to crowd out the truth — and that’s a lot easier. Trump is a bullshitter.
By claiming “total and complete vindication,” Trump is giving his loyalists a talking point to use. Again, he is not trying to persuade anyone he has been vindicated — he does not mount any argument in that direction whatsoever. Instead, he is simply hoping that the words “total and complete vindication” get repeated continuously. So those who want to believe in his innocence can, and those who want to prove their loyalty to his regime have a way of doing so.
By accusing Comey of leaking, Trump is, again, creating a storyline his defenders can use to crowd out the important questions raised by Comey’s testimony. It is genuinely unclear what it means to say Comey leaked — after all, he is simply offering his account of events, and at this point, he is doing so in public. This isn’t leaking as it is usually understood. But then, the point here is not to offer an actual argument about leaking. The point here is that outlets friendly to Trump need a new direction to take the story or else they’ll have to keep covering Comey’s comments. Trump is giving them that new direction — it’s “Trump versus the leakers.” Head to the front page of Fox News this morning and you see how eagerly this is being taken up:

[jimmyk]

DrJ, I'm sure Dersh is right, but he's only saying it's not a crime to be politicized. He says there should be a political price to pay, but not a criminal one.

[Threadkiller]

Jimmy beat me to it.

[Empathy not appoved]

In her fascinating recent book Strangers in Their Own Land, the brilliant sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild asks readers to climb the “empathy wall” and really try to understand the worldview of Trump voters—as she did, spending over five years getting to know white Southern Louisianians, many of them Cajun, who have extreme free-market, anti-government Tea Party politics although they live in “Cancer Alley,” an area where the petrochemical industry, abetted by the Republican politicians they voted for, has destroyed nature, their communities and their health. Hochschild has a deep grasp of human complexity, and her subjects come across as lovely people, despite their politics. As she hoped, I came away with a better understanding of how kindly people could vote for cruel policies, and how people who don’t think they’re racist actually are so.

But here’s my question: Who is telling the Tea Partiers and Trump voters to empathize with the rest of us? Why is it all one way? Hochschild’s subjects have plenty of demeaning preconceptions about liberals and blue-staters—that distant land of hippies, feminazis, and freeloaders of all kinds. Nor do they seem to have much interest in climbing the empathy wall, given that they voted for a racist misogynist who wants to throw 11 million people out of the country and ban people from our shores on the basis of religion (as he keeps admitting on Twitter, even as his administration argues in court that Islam has nothing to do with it). Furthermore, they are the ones who won, despite having almost 3 million fewer votes. Thanks to the founding fathers, red-staters have outsize power in both the Senate and the Electoral College, and with great power comes great responsibility. So shouldn’t they be trying to figure out the strange polyglot population they now dominate from their strongholds in the South and Midwest? What about their stereotypes? How respectful or empathetic is the belief of millions of Trump voters, as established in polls and surveys, that women are more privileged than men, that increasing racial diversity in America is bad for the country, that the travel ban is necessary for national security? How realistic is the conviction, widespread among Trump supporters, that Hillary Clinton is a murderer, President Obama is a Kenyan communist and secret Muslim, and the plain-red cups that Starbucks uses at Christmastime are an insult to Christians? One of Hochschild’s subjects complains that “liberal commentators” refer to people like him as a “redneck.” I’ve listened to liberal commentators for decades and have never heard one use this word. But say it happened once or twice. “Feminazi” went straight from Rush Limbaugh’s mouth to general parlance. One of Hochschild’s most charming subjects, a gospel singer and preacher’s wife, uses it like a normal word. Equating women who want their rights with the genocidal murder of millions? How is that not a vile insult?

[DebinNC]

Philly cop shoots and kills fleeing black man Rather interesting to me to read between the lines to understand why there's apparently no uproar, no legions of anti-cop protesters on their way, no Maxine or Andre or Corey or John or Jim running for mics to express their outrage.

[DebinNC]

So "leaking by proxy" isn't "leaking" leaking? Riiight.

[Jim Eagle]

CH,

Of course. My bad. It was Treacher. I think this is the second or third time I have got those two mixed up.

I still think Trump has tapes and a hellva lot more.

When does the unmasking hearings start where Clapper, Brennan, Rice and Power testify? This is the real crime. Not "hoping".

[Avarice Unchainef]

Tax cuts balloon deficits and do not lead to growth. Period. This economic theory—to which, it should be noted, the administration and the Republican majorities in the Congress strictly adhere—doesn't work. It is alchemy. It has no basis in empirical reality. Every argument in its favor has been proven by practical experience to be utter moonshine. It failed under Ronald Reagan and it failed under George W. Bush and, in its purest form, it failed disastrously in Kansas. Its proponents should be drummed out of the respectable national dialogue as thoroughly as Alex Jones has been. Supply-side is the chemtrails of political economies.

RELATED STORY

It's for the Kids. The Money. After We Take Some.
Meanwhile, a few degrees north, but within the same overall universe of dysfunctional Republican-majority government, the houses of the Wisconsin state legislature can't get together on a budget. From The Wisconsin State Journal:

With less than a month left to the state budget deadline, GOP Senate and Assembly leaders and Gov. Scott Walker are at an impasse over how to spend money on schools, address taxes and plug a shortfall in the state's roads budget of nearly $1 billion. Fitzgerald said he hopes to avoid writing a separate budget from the Assembly. But, he said, "we're in a rougher spot than I thought we were" if the budget committee doesn't meet this week as Fitzgerald said he's urging its members to do. "Then it becomes a full discussion for the full Senate caucus as to where we're going to proceed," Fitzgerald said.
ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW

Wait. We have to pay for stuff? Who knew?

Apparently the state senate is aligned most closely with Governor Scott Walker, the goggle-eyed homunuculus hired by Koch Industries to manage this particular Midwest subsidiary. The Wisconsin state assembly is off on its own.

The separate-budget idea surfaced on Friday after Assembly Republicans released their own proposal on school spending late last week, which was immediately rejected by Senate Republicans who want to work with Gov. Scott Walker's schools proposal. "It can be done," Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills and co-chairwoman of the budget committee, said Monday of writing a separate budget. "I hope we don't have to do that."
But, make no mistake, this scuffle is not in any way leading Wisconsin back to its glorious progressive government of yore. Not with Walker in the governor's mansion.

But the "linchpin" of the proposal, Nygren said, is a provision that allows some school districts to raise more in property taxes, about $92 million, to pay for schools. Those districts are typically those that were spending less than the state average when revenue caps were instituted in 1993. Darling said Friday that provision would be very difficult to do without new money to pay for it because Walker has said he won't support a budget that raises property taxes above 2014 levels.
Walker, meanwhile, dreams of actually making it as far as the Iowa caucuses next time dancing in his head, is lining up some policy prescriptions that are retrograde enough to placate his party's base.

Walker's administration softened its initial plan in response to public comments, however, reducing premiums and emergency room co-payments and letting people skip drug tests and sign up for Medicaid when they're ready to start drug treatment. The proposal "is about helping people transition from public assistance into Wisconsin's workforce, where they can build a solid financial foundation for themselves and their families," Walker said in a statement.
I mean, the man has a positive gift for the right form of political inhumanity. How did he possibly fail as badly as he did in 2016? 'Ees a puzzlement.

[Porchlight]

Charles Gasparino‏
@CGasparino

#BREAKING Attorneys for @realDonaldTrump have been investigating potential leaks out of the FBI since at least March. More NOW @FoxBusiness!

[Porchlight]

If you read Trump's attorney's statement from yesterday it is definitive on what Trump did and did not say in the meetings with Comey. Seems like there are tapes.

More anvils to drop later.

[Are you fucking serious?]

"Comey’s testimony was utterly unpersuasive. Though presented in high-minded terms, it amounted to little more than sour grapes over a sacking, and a wholly justified sacking at that. Comey’s directorship was an unmitigated disaster"

Owweeee! He needs a bandaid.

[DebinNC]

Has there been another time when a president had to use investigators outside the FBI to investigate the FBI? Maybe over J Edgar's spying on MLK?

[Jim Eagle]

Por.ch,

You'd think the top counter-intelligence executive in the government (Director of the FBI) would have his internal security sweep every room where he is meeting someone outside the FBI HQ. Or at least temper any remarks in such a meeting knowing they could be surveilled or taped.

There is a lot about Comey coming out that indicates he is not a MENSA member.

[What he needs is a CRIMINAL lawyer who is a criminal]

"#BREAKING Attorneys for @realDonaldTrump have been investigating potential leaks out of the FBI since at least March. More NOW "

Must be private dicks. No attorney but Clauswutz will work for him. " Doesn't pay, ignores advice"

[DebinNC]

There is a lot about Comey coming out that indicates he is not a MENSA member.

Comey's admitting under oath to an ability to read Trump's mind was a clear indication.

[Porchlight]

Sup jor? Having a good day?

[lyle]

You mad, jor?

[DebinNC]

1.) a president who is the countries #1 liar

"But I wanna say one thing to ya, ..."

[DODD FRANK? GLASS STEGALL?]

Blodget: Well, yeah, TV ratings do seem to go up during crashes but then they completely disappear when everyone is obliterated, so no one is hoping for that. So when is this going to happen?

Rogers: Later this year or next.

Blodget: Later this year or next?

Rogers: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Write it down.

Blodget: And what will trigger it?

Rogers: Well, it’s interesting because these things always start where we’re not looking. In 2007, Iceland went broke. People said, ‘Iceland? Is that a country? They have a market?’ And then Ireland went broke. And then Bear Stearns went broke. And Lehman Brothers went broke. They spiral like that. Always happens where we’re not looking. I don’t know. It could be an American pension plan that goes broke and many of them are broke, as you know. It could be some country we’re not watching. It could be all sorts of things. It could be war. Unlikely to be war but it’s going to be something. When you’re watching Business Insider and you see, ‘That’s so interesting. I didn’t know that company could go broke.’ It goes broke. Send me an email and then I’ll start watching.

Blodget: And how big a crash could we be looking at?

Rogers: It’s going to be the worst in your lifetime.

Blodget: I’ve had some pretty big ones in my lifetime.

Rogers: It’s going to be the biggest in my lifetime and I’m older than you. No, it’s going to be serious stuff. We’ve had financial problems in America -- let’s use America -- every four to seven years, since the beginning of the republic. Well, it’s been over eight since the last one. This is the longest or second longest in recorded history, so it’s coming. And the next time it comes -- you know, in 2008, we had a problem because of debt. Henry, the debt now -- that debt is nothing compared to what’s happening now. In 2008, the Chinese had a lot of money saved for a rainy day. It started raining. They started spending the money. Now, even the Chinese have debt and the debt is much higher. The federal reserves, the central bank in America, the balance sheet is up over five times, since 2008. It’s going to be the worst in your lifetime, my lifetime too. Be worried.

Blodget: I am worried.

Rogers: Good. Good.

Blodget: Can anybody rescue us?

Rogers: They will try. What’s going to happen is they’re going to raise interest rates some more. Then when things start going really bad, people are going to call and say, ‘You must save me. It’s Western civilization. It’s going to collapse.’ And the Fed, who is made up of bureaucrats and politicians, will say, ‘Well, we better do something.’ And they’ll try but it won’t work. It’ll cause some rallies but it won’t work this time.

Blodget: And we are in a situation where Western civilization already seems to be possibly collapsing, even with the market going up all the time. Often when you do have a financial calamity, you get huge turmoil in the political system. What happens politically if that happens?

Rogers: Well, that’s why I moved to Asia. My children speak Mandarin because of what’s coming. You’re going to see governments fail. You’re going to see countries fail, this time around. Iceland failed last time. Other countries fail. You’re going to see more of that. You’re going to see parties disappear. You’re going to see institutions that have been around for a long time -- Lehman Brothers had been around over 150 years. Gone. Not even a memory for most people. You’re going to see a lot more of that next around, whether it’s museums or hospitals or universities or financial firms.

[Threadkiller]

I forgot, jor.

Which "values" candidate did you vote for?

[Ralph L]

Judy and Gwen took over
Did you know that Gwen is dead and Judy looks it?

[Bunky]

We are down to nothing more than power politics. Fire the Special Prosecutor

[Trump better call Saul]

May presages Trump ...

"The populism we’ve seen bolster the right, in other words, is a fickle beast. What this election shows in Britain is that after years of austerity and neoliberal economics, there is also an opening for a left-populism, at least in Europe. Whether it can win outright is another question. But what it has been able to do is to tip Britain into an unexpected political impasse, to give it a parliament where the Tories will not be able to sustain a reliably pro-Brexit majority for very long, and to make it all but certain that another election will at some point have to be called, possibly in the fall. What the result of that will be is something I will not safely predict until the morning after — except that Corbyn will be running, and May won’t.

[Remember Nixon?]

Bunkys a student of history!!!

[lyle]

1.) a president who is the countries #1 liar

If you like your doctor you can keep you doctor.

2.) a sexual assaulter

"You better put some ice on that."

3.) a man who has de-frauded hundreds if not thousands of people

Like big time NY Dems John Corzine or Bernie Madoff?

4.) gives almost no charity

See: Clinton, William Jefferson, Hillary Rodham, The Omen.

5.) plans on taking away insurance from millions of people because he can

You mean like by forcing people to buy medical insurance plans that don't fit their needs and can't afford?

6.) promotes conspiracy theories

You mean like a presidential candidate who wrote two autobiographies where his publisher claimed in his bio that he was born in Kenya and then called that a typo? Oh, wait. That actually happened.

[Jane]

Actually I know a lawyer who works for Trump, so I'm thrilled to hear they have been investigating the FBI.

What would it take to get rid of the special prosecutor?

"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, micromanaging, 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."

I think Gerahty gets it exactly wrong. Comey painted a picture of Comey as an incompetent vindictive baby. Trump came across as a CEO. Interesting to see him downplaying the value of loyalty.

All Trump does is continue to highlight the dirtyness of politics.

I'm determined to get a picture of Trump holding a "JANE WON" sign.

Take that Clarice!

[DebinNC]

Did you know that Gwen is dead

No, I didn't. Gwen was fine until Sarah Palin came on the scene, and she freed her inner mean girl. I really enjoyed the News Hour early years when the first black female allowed to attend UGA joined Robin and Jim. Her name was something like Charlane Hunter Gault, and she was terrific.

[Lock Up Lyin Leakin Comey]

"President Donald Trump 's outside counsel said Thursday that James Comey is lying.

Marc Kasowitz claimed the president never demanded loyalty from Comey as the former FBI director alleged in Senate testimony.
...
Comey testified that, at a dinner in January, Trump said, "I need loyalty. I expect loyalty." Kasowitz says Trump "never told" Comey that in "form" or "substance."

He also denied that Trump said he hoped Comey could "let go" a probe into former national security advisor Michael Flynn. Trump never "directed or suggested that Mr. Comey stop investigating anyone," Kasowitz said.
...
Kasowitz also declared that Comey "admitted that there is no evidence" of something he has never claimed in the first place — that Russia successfully changed votes in the U.S. election.
...
Kasowitz claimed that it was an "unauthorized disclosure of privileged information" that "appears to be entirely retaliatory."
"

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-apos-lawyer-says-comey-193453384.html

[Ralph L]

Has there been another time when a president had to use investigators outside the FBI to investigate the FBI? Maybe over J Edgar's spying on MLK?
JFK and LBJ listened to the tapes of MLK fornicating, which we didn't find out until years later. But it was Nixon's small interference that pushed the Establishment to claim DoJ and FBI are somehow independent of their boss.

JFK's first act as Pres elect was to re-up Hoover who had the goods on him.

[DOWNPLAYING THE VALUE OF LOYALTY]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_oath

[lyle]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jun/8/james-comey-had-a-tough-day-on-capitol-hill/

One of the most telling moments of the day was an exchange with Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, a Democrat, asking the question that Republicans have raised over the weeks of rumor and not much real news. When he “felt” that Mr. Trump was asking him to throttle his investigation, she asked: “Why didn’t you stop, and say, ‘Mr. President, this is wrong?’ “

“That’s a great question,” Mr. Comey replied. “Maybe if I were stronger, I would have.”

He was strong enough to let Hilligula's cabal destroy evidence, evidently.

[Ralph L]

If I were Trump, I would record every conversation with people who work outside the WH. And every conservative should have his own camera at any recorded TV interview.

[Janet the expert 🚬]

"I wasn't elected to continue A failed system, I was elected to CHANGE it!" - DJT

President Trump Full Speech @ Department of Transportation 6/9/17

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wHP5c6E3eA&feature=share

3 comments at The_Donald:
FrankMagecaster ~ "Much more important than the bullshit political theater."

bose_ar_king ~ "Let him govern in the shadows of the circus. Works in our favor."

dantepicanteMA ~ "How can anyone not support this man? He make so much fucking sense if you actually take the time to listen to him and think for yourself about the real underlying problems that affect our country."

[Captain Hate]

jor must be trying to enlist my support by blasting the boomers. Doesn't work but I appreciate the effort.

[lyle]

Same here, Capt.

[Lord Trump]

Changing the system..

Like when the Persian King burned the Parthenon?

Tyrants don't cotton to democracy

[Frau Luegenpresse verrecke!]

The real bilge is Brooks. I hope his business falls off.

James D sez: It can't fall off if he never had it to begin with.

I was not talking about his journalism/writing "business."
[say no more, say no more]

Brooksie dumped wife No.1 and married research assistant. Did she whisper "Reinhold Niebuhr" in his ear? Did she help with this?

Or this?

[Barbara]

A

[Captain Hate]

I hate liars, jor. If you can prove that Trump lied about something I care about then I'll probably join on to whatever weird cause leads you post here in your hair on fire manner.

[Specifics coming]

The PolitiFact scorecard

True 19 (5%)(19)
Mostly True 50 (12%)(50)
Half True 60 (15%)(60)
Mostly False 82 (20%)(82)
False134 (33%)(134)
Pants on Fire 65 (1

[Barbara]

Reading TM's comments, this quote from David Brooks caught my eye.

The Trump administration...will be incapacitated from within, by the bile, rage and back-stabbing that are already at record levels in the White House staff, by the dueling betrayals of the intimates Trump abuses so wretchedly.

Apart from wishful thinking, that comment doesn't square with what we've seen this White House under President Trump's leadership accomplish in just four and a half short months.

I believe it was David Horowitz who commented recently that in a short period of time, the President has completely reversed the Obama agenda. He and the same White House that's supposed to be in such disarray, with the deft aid of Rex Tillerson, Wilbur Ross and General Mattis, also carried off a brilliant first presidential trip overseas right into the heart of the Middle East and the bastions of Europe. President Trump returned with a boatload of positive results in terms of jobs, goodwill and financial and military assistance in the war to take down Islamic terror and bring peace to the war torn region. The President took on issues that have seemed to freeze other administrations into inaction, and laid down new, explicit policy for the way the United States and allies in Europe and the Middle East will move forward toward peace and greater prosperity.

These aren't the marks of an administration in disarray. In carrying out such an impressive agrnda, the President and his White House have displayed a level of organization, coordination, focus and competence not seen in the last administration. This had all been accomplished while partying constant attacks from the left and the GOPe and getting a new Supreme Court Justice through the confirmation process. He's done all this through a constant barrage of attacks and a government that is littered with leftovers from the Obama administration.

Brooks' comments are wishful thinking. He and the President's opponents know this, and yesterday's Comey collapse is just one more demonstration of just how far off they've been in their assessment of Donald J. Trump.

[Can the insane lie?]

In considering our annual Lie of the Year, we found our only real contenders were Trump’s -- his various statements also led our Readers’ Poll. But it was hard to single one out from the others. So we have rolled them into one big trophy.

To the candidate who says he’s all about winning, PolitiFact designates the many campaign misstatements of Donald Trump as our 2015 Lie of the Year.

When it comes to inaccurate statements, the Donald was on fire:

• "I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down," he said at a Nov. 21 rally in Birmingham, Ala. "And I watched in Jersey City, N.J., where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down. Thousands of people were cheering." Pants on Fire. There is no video of thousands of people in Jersey City cheering. Weeks later, Trump continues to stand by his claim but has not been able to point to evidence to back it up. Public safety officials on the ground in New Jersey say it never happened.

• "The Mexican government ... they send the bad ones over." Pants on Fire. There’s no evidence to show the Mexican government encourages criminals to cross the border. Most illegal immigration comes from people seeking work. Recent estimates show illegal immigration from Mexico dropped off dramatically during the recession and has remained low.

• "Whites killed by whites — 16%. Whites killed by blacks — 81%," said an image he shared on Twitter. Pants on Fire. Most people are killed by someone they know, and someone of the same race. The correct number for whites killed by whites was 82 percent in 2014, while the number of whites killed by blacks was 15 percent.

When Bill O’Reilly of Fox News challenged Trump’s tweet of inaccurate murder rates, Trump suggested being accurate wasn’t so important: "Hey, Bill, Bill, am I gonna check every statistic? I get millions and millions of people ... @RealDonaldTrump, by the way."

Trump hasn’t apologized or backtracked on his statements. Instead, when challenged, he offers flimsy explanations and suggests he shouldn’t be held accountable -- or simply insists he’s right.

"People maybe call me out, but they turn out to be wrong, also," he said in an interview Sunday with George Stephanopoulos. "And many of the things I've said -- and I think just about all of them -- they may have been controversial at one point, George, but they're not controversial in the end, because people start to say, you know, Trump's actually right."

[Can the insane lie?]

Heh. The car jacker had temporary custody of the wrong way vehicle until the Law intervened.

[lyle]

A respite from all the carp:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/bradesposito/pupper-too-sociable?utm_term=.fto7JqkAy#.tvOeGvr12

Don't click if you're not prepared to crack a smile, m'kay?

[Barbara]

Reading TM's comments, this quote from David Brooks caught my eye.

The Trump administration...will be incapacitated from within, by the bile, rage and back-stabbing that are already at record levels in the White House staff, by the dueling betrayals of the intimates Trump abuses so wretchedly.

Apart from wishful thinking, that comment doesn't square with what we've seen this White House under President Trump's leadership accomplish in just four and a half short months.

I believe it was David Horowitz who commented recently that in a short period of time, the President has completely reversed the Obama agenda. He and the same White House that's supposed to be in such disarray, with the deft aid of Rex Tillerson, Wilbur Ross and General Mattis, also carried off a brilliant first presidential trip overseas right into the heart of the Middle East and the bastions of Europe. President Trump returned with a boatload of positive results in terms of jobs, goodwill and financial and military assistance in the war to take down Islamic terror and bring peace to the war torn region. The President took on issues that have seemed to freeze other administrations into inaction, and laid down new, explicit policy for the way the United States and allies in Europe and the Middle East will move forward toward peace and greater prosperity for all.

The President returned and rather than resting on the success of this trip, he kept moving on with HIS Agenda to make America great again. Everything from revamping the Veterans Administration, the tax code, our aviation infrastructure, and health care has been addressed while carrying out successful State visits with leaders from Europe, China, Japan and Isreal.

These aren't the marks of an administration in disarray. In carrying out such an impressive agrnda, the President and his White House have displayed a level of organization, coordination, focus and competence not seen in the last administration. This had all been accomplished while parrying constant attacks from the left and the GOPe and getting a new Supreme Court Justice through the confirmation process. He's done all this through a constant barrage of attacks and a government that is littered with leftovers from the Obama administration.

Brooks' comments are wishful thinking. He and the President's opponents know this, and yesterday's Comey collapse is just one more demonstration of just how far off they've been in their assessment of Donald J. Trump.

[Jim Eagle]

Can the insane lie?

Yes. They come here everyday with a mishmash of pseudo-names and crazy cut and paste posts of political and cultural garbage.

[LIAR!]

"We're going to do it in a vewy nice way"
==========

statement to the mediaVIEW MORE
U.S
Fri Jun 9, 2017 | 12:46 PM EDT
Exclusive: Trump targets illegal immigrants who were given reprieves from deportation by Obama
‹
FILE PHOTO - A U.S. border patrol agent detains a man after entering the United States by crossing the Rio Grande river from Mexico, in Roma, Texas, U.S. on May 11, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
2/2
FILE PHOTO - A U.S. border patrol agent detains a man after entering the United States by crossing the Rio Grande river from Mexico, in Roma, Texas, U.S. on May 11, 2017.
REUTERS/CARLOS BARRIA/FILE PHOTO
FILE PHOTO - A U.S. border patrol agent escorts men being detained after entering the United States by crossing the Rio Grande river from Mexico, in Roma, Texas, U.S. on May 11, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
1/2
FILE PHOTO - A U.S. border patrol agent escorts men being detained after entering the United States by crossing the Rio Grande river from Mex...
REUTERS/CARLOS BARRIA/FILE PHOTO +
FILE PHOTO - A U.S. border patrol agent detains a man after entering the United States by crossing the Rio Grande river from Mexico, in Roma, Texas, U.S. on May 11, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
2/2
FILE PHOTO - A U.S. border patrol agent detains a man after entering the United States by crossing the Rio Grande river from Mexico, in Roma, Texas, U.S. on May 11, 2017.
REUTERS/CARLOS BARRIA/FILE PHOTO
FILE PHOTO - A U.S. border patrol agent escorts men being detained after entering the United States by crossing the Rio Grande river from Mexico, in Roma, Texas, U.S. on May 11, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
1/2
FILE PHOTO - A U.S. border patrol agent escorts men being detained after entering the United States by crossing the Rio Grande river from Mex...
REUTERS/CARLOS BARRIA/FILE PHOTO +
›
X
By Mica Rosenberg and Reade Levinson
In September 2014, Gilberto Velasquez, a 38-year-old house painter from El Salvador, received life-changing news: The U.S. government had decided to shelve its deportation action against him.

The move was part of a policy change initiated by then-President Barack Obama in 2011 to pull back from deporting immigrants who had formed deep ties in the United States and whom the government considered no threat to public safety. Instead, the administration would prioritize illegal immigrants who had committed serious crimes.

Last month, things changed again for the painter, who has lived in the United States illegally since 2005 and has a U.S.-born child. He received news that the government wanted to put his deportation case back on the court calendar, citing another shift in priorities, this time by President Donald Trump.

The Trump administration has moved to reopen the cases of hundreds of illegal immigrants who, like Velasquez, had been given a reprieve from deportation, according to government data and court documents reviewed by Reuters and interviews with immigration lawyers.

Trump signaled in January that he planned to dramatically widen the net of illegal immigrants targeted for deportation, but his administration has not publicized its efforts to reopen immigration cases.

It represents one of the first concrete examples of the crackdown promised by Trump and is likely to stir fears among tens of thousands of illegal immigrants who thought they were safe from deportation.

While cases were reopened during the Obama administration as well, it was generally only if an immigrant had committed a serious crime, immigration attorneys say. The Trump administration has sharply increased the number of cases it is asking the courts to reopen, and its targets appear to include at least some people who have not committed any crimes since their cases were closed.

[Captain Hate]

Tammy: if normal people started running as Democrats, Republicans would be in trouble.

[Barbara]

Sorry for the duplicate post, but TypePad and I were having a little struggle. The above is a correction.

[lurkersusie]

What a disgusting women.

deathandtaxes @DeathAndTaxes
·
Senator Gillibrand on Democrats: ‘If we’re not helping people, we should go the fuck home’ (link: http://bit.ly/2sbuOVb) bit.ly/2sbuOVb
Embeddedhttps://t.co/7m8NpHxhbX?amp=1

[Barbara]

I suppose teenage trolls never heard of SOB.