"Thorny" First Amendment Issues

Even for the Age of Trump this story by the failing NY Times is a bit of a "wow":

Investigators Focus on Another Trump Ally: The National Enquirer

President Trump has long had ties to the nation’s major media players. But his connections with the country’s largest tabloid publisher, American Media Inc., run deeper than most.

A former top executive of Mr. Trump’s casino business sits on A.M.I.’s four-member board of directors, and an adviser joined the media company after the election. The company’s chairman, David J. Pecker, is a close friend of the president’s.

And in the Trump era, A.M.I.’s flagship tabloid, The National Enquirer, has taken a decidedly political turn, regularly devoting covers to the president’s triumphs and travails with articles headlined “Trump’s Plan For World Peace!” and “Proof! FBI Plot to Impeach Trump!”

Since the early stages of his campaign in 2015, Mr. Trump, his lawyer Michael D. Cohen and Mr. Pecker have strategized about protecting him and lashing out at his political enemies.

Yeah, yeah - in consequence, the National Enquirer's decision to pay for but not publish former Playmate Karen MacDougal's story becomes a suspect campaign contribution. The Times really pounds the table in defense of editorial discretion:

The federal inquiry could pose serious legal implications for the president and his campaign committee. It also presents thorny questions about A.M.I.’s First Amendment protections, and whether its record in supporting Mr. Trump somehow opens the door to scrutiny usually reserved for political organizations.

"Thorny questions". My goodness, the Times was bailed out in 2009 by Carlos Slim, a wealthy Mexican. Does this raise "thorny questions" about their commitment to undocumented immigrants? Of course not, because they say it doesn't. 

Now obviously, Mr. Slim knew the Times was reliably progressive when he bought them, so he didn't need them to change their views on anything. But the National Enquirer has been making money off of Clinton scandals for decades. Maybe the AMI people simply decided that, in mirror image to the Times Upper West Side readership, their readers wanted material that bashed Hillary and praised Trump. They do tell the Times it was a business decision driven by the popularity of Trump with their readership. Plausible? Sure. Legal? Say what now?

If all AMI did was pick a side in pursuit of an audience, my goodness. That is well worth investigating because we all know that the mainstream media would never trade sympathetic coverage for access that can boost prestige, circulation and ratings. Please.

As to aggressive coverage of sex scandals by the mainstream media, well, that may be ideologically contingent - back in 2007-08, John Edwards and Rielle Hunter were a tabloid-based open secret (gullible Media Matters link) for months before the "responsible" media decided to jump in. Why they might today rush to bash Trump based on mere allegations is hard to understand. No it's not. Is the National Inquirer being investigated for spiking a story which the Times would never lower itself to touch? Too thorny!

At this juncture, I must glumly acknowledge that the DoJ, with some establishment Republicans at the top, did persuade a judge to issue a warrant because something was afoot. I just hope that whatever they find is serious and convincing.

As to the 'thorny questions', the Times concludes with this:

At the center of the campaign finance inquiries will be whether the ties between Mr. Cohen, Mr. Howard, Mr. Pecker, Mr. Trump and others led A.M.I. to act more like a political supporter than a news organization.

The group that brought the federal election complaint, Common Cause, claims the payment for Ms. McDougal’s story was not a “legitimate press function” and therefore was not protected by rules exempting news organizations from campaign finance regulations.

The question represents tricky terrain for federal officials, given the protection journalists have under the First Amendment. “We always worry when investigators are making those judgment calls about whether your editorial process is legitimate or not, or is this legitimate journalism or not,” said Alexandra Ellerbeck, the North America program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Yet even the staunchest defenders of the press say fraudulent activity is not protected by journalistic freedoms.

“We are not, as media organizations, immune from the civil and criminal laws of the country,” said Sandra S. Baron, a senior fellow at Yale Law School and the former executive director of the Media Law Resource Center.

Hmm. Is paying for stories a "legitimate press function"? That is how the National Enquirer broke the case of the murderer of Bill Cosby's son. They also paid Rush Limbaugh's housekeeper for the scoop that got Rush busted for his oxycontin habit - I bet that looked legit to Common Cause.

To paraphrase slightly, the dark night of fascism is always descending on the right yet arriving from the left.

Comments

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Well, back from dropping my son off at work and hitting Kroger for a few things. Found marked down dog food for little dogs which I will mix with the dry food, only 9 cents each. Yay!

The dogs are spoiled, of course.

I am waiting for a buddy of his to deliver the malfunctioning bug with his tow truck, at a cut rate price of $45. That way he can work on it in our driveway on Saturday rather than the church parking lot.

It's 80 degrees here! What a joy!

Should be the same tomorrow so I will probably do some preliminary yard work.

[clarice feldman]

Cohen would object and likely win if they tried to do that.
OTOH, unless you trust news accounts based on "sources" we don't know what the hell they were looking for.Taxi Medallions? Bank Fraud? Dtormy> who knows? I don't.

[joan]

Wow, Mr. Maguire, you do have a way with words:

"To paraphrase slightly, the dark night of fascism is always descending on the right yet arriving from the left."

[derwill]

--it has been reported that the FBI seized documents and communications that should have been off limits due to the principle of attorney/client privilege.--

How do we know that's true, though? Who actually "reported" it? Are there quotes from named individuals within the law enforcement agencies that did the raiding? Have the warrants been released to the pubic? Did Cohen say that's what they took? It was also reported that they were looking for documents related to the grab 'em by the pussy tape. Which is another one again of those things that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

How do we know they did take any documents relating to Trump? Or that Mueller will be allowed to view any of the said documents once the seized documents are "cleaned." Maybe it all really is about taxi medallions and the MSM either just assumed they also took Trump related stuff (like bank statements with the words "deposited the Russian Bribes today" on them) or they want us to think that they did so just to smear Trump with guilt by association.

Maybe Trump made such a big deal out of it, acting all violated, to smear Mueller. Which, if so, seems to have worked.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Regarding Milennials and their knowledge of things like Auschwitz and lost freedoms:

I cannot imagine who those people are. My children both read the Diary of Anne Frank and my daughter even pointed out how much she hates the metal sign over the highway which marks our neighborhood, because it looks like the Arbeit Macht Frei sign over Auschwitz.

My grandchildren also know of the history of the holocaust, and these are kids who went to a suburban school with very few Jewish kids.

As far as the knowledge of how the country used to be, ALL of them know that my grandfather ran a Sportsman's Club at their high school, back in the 50's and early 60's, when guys would bring their rifles and shotguns to school and go hunting in the farm fields after school was out. We talk about how TV has changed, about how things were when I was a kid, about how important it is to pay attention to what's going on.

I don't know what else to do. The schools in many areas are letting people down. Maybe we need a new TV series or movie series in which people see what it used to be like and what has changed.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Just saw Claire McCaskill is TIED with her challenger, Republican Josh Hawley. That's pretty bad for a long-time incumbent.

H/T ChiTown Lurker.

[narciso]

That was paraphrasing gunter grass who tom wolves had quoted in the purple decades if memory serves.

[clarice feldman]

How long with the St Louis courts hold open the polling places this time? Until mid-January?

[Extraneus]

Catherine Herridge:

Comey worried DOJ would 'screw around' with deciding whether to prosecute Hillary Clinton

According to the transcript, Comey told agents he went back and forth on how to handle the recommendation against criminal charges, after then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch met with Bill Clinton on an Arizona airport tarmac in June 2016.

"The decision that there wasn't a prosecutable case here was not a hard one. [Of course not.] The hard one, as I've told you, was how do we communicate about it. I decided to do something unprecedented that I was very nervous about at the time, and I've asked myself a thousand times since, was it the right decision. I still believe it was." [Of course you do.]

Comey's decision to deviate from standard procedures is central to the Justice Department inspector general's investigation into the FBI's and DOJ's handling of the Clinton email case.

Comey said he thought the FBI should have taken the lead because following standard procedures was not an option. "...what will happen to us is the Department of Justice will screw around it for Lord knows how long, issue probably a one sentence declination, and then the world will catch on fire, and then the cry in the public will be where on the earth is the FBI, how could the FBI be part of some corrupt political bargain like this, there's no transparency whatsoever..."

He continued, "We knew it was going to suck in a huge way. I knew. Nothing's (sic) that's happened, by the way, the storm has been outside my expectations. I knew what was going to happen, but I also knew after a lot of reflection that we would do far more damage to our beloved institution if we did the normal thing."

What? Sanctimonious b.s. from James Comey?

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

https://www.providr.com/family-cloth/?utm_source=UberFacts&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=providr

There are people who are using reusable pieces of cloth instead of toilet paper.

This is Third World stuff and is unsanitary and dangerous. (I am thinking of cholera and typhoid and such.)

[Extraneus]

Is there a barf emoji?

Comey also relayed to agents a conversation he said he had with Lynch before the July 2016 announcement. "'Madam Attorney General, I'm about to do a press conference, and I'm not going to tell you what I'm going to say.' She asked some question. I don't remember what it was, and I said, 'I'm sorry. I'm not going to answer approximately (sic) questions. I hope someday you'll understand why, but I think it's very, very important that I do this independently.'"

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

#ThePersistence
‏Verified account @ScottPresler
5h5 hours ago

Dear Cory Booker,

I am the Lead Activism Strategist for @ACTforAmerica, the nation's largest grassroots national security organization in the country, and -- as a gay man -- I support confirming Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State.
#MikePompeo

[Extraneus]

You guys have to read that link. I won't keep posting quotes from the sanctimonious one, but there are more, including about the utter sanctity of attorney-client privilege.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-nominates-1st-african-american-woman-brigadier-general/story?id=54397971

[Janet 🚬 - I wish my family had a poncho]

Can we all "deviate from standard procedures" concerning the law, when it suits us?

[narciso]

This is why dubbed him inspector dreyfus, after clousseaus sanctimonious boss, like I say sHonda rimes says this is too silly indeed.

[derwill]

Why did Trump fire Comey? What did he know about Comey that would precipitate him into firing Comey, knowing the obvious blowback he would get for doing so?

This isn't 4D chess. It's a straight forward equation. Firing him was better for Trump in the long run than not firing him would have been.

[clarice feldman]

He's a preening, unreliable jackass, who thought he was in a position to control the president is why., derwill. effing drama queen and power hungry. Now he has plenty of time to read Niebuhr and look in the TALL TALL mirror in the expensive home built with his $$$$ salary from Lockheed for playing ball on Plame. And he can commiserate with his brother who works forClinton --also for big$$$

[jimmyk]

“The hard one, as I've told you, was how do we communicate about explain it” without generating laughter.

[Janet 🚬 - I wish my family had a poncho]

An old post & links...

A reminder of who all was given immunity in the FBI Clinton email scandal investigation:

Cheryl Mills - Clinton’s former State Department chief of staff and her attorney

Heather Samuelson - Clinton aide and lawyer, she decided which emails were government business and which should be destroyed.

John Bentel - ran the State Department's information resources management office when Clinton served as secretary

Bryan Pagliano ****- Clinton's personal IT guy who she placed in the State Dept. IT section.

Paul Combetta ***- from Platte River Networks. He was the guy who went on Reddit & asked strangers how to delete emails that were archived & how to remove email addresses from archived material.

" Mills and Samuelson were given immunity in exchange for handing over their laptop computers to the FBI, with an agreement that they would not be prosecuted for any information obtained from those laptops..." **

"Bentel, in late 2010, told two State Department employees not to discuss Clinton’s email system after they raised questions with him about why she was using a private account. The department’s inspector general found that the employees “discussed their concerns about Secretary Clinton’s use of a personal email account” with Bentel in late 2010, five years before the existence of the server became known publicly. "... **

** http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/09/23/three-more-hillary-clinton-witnesses-were-given-immunity-by-fbi
*** https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-09-19/paul-combetta-computer-specialist-who-deleted-hillary-clinton-emails-may-have-asked-reddit-for-tips
****https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clintons-personally-paid-state-department-staffer-to-maintain-server/2015/09/04/b13ab23e-530c-11e5-9812-92d5948a40f8_story.html?postshare=7441441420874605

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Donald J. Trump
‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump
4h4 hours ago

Thank you to all of the American workers who travelled here today! This event is dedicated to YOU: the hardworking Americans who make this nation run. You love your country, you provide for your family, you have PRIDE in your work and you cherish our GREAT AMERICAN FLAG! #TaxCuts

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/984499517805486082

Video clip at link.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Donald J. Trump
‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump
4h4 hours ago

America’s greatest treasure is our people – and my Administration HEARS YOUR VOICE and HAS YOUR BACK. We are fighting to give every American a future of dignity, purpose and pride. AMERICAN SPIRIT is back! #TaxCuts

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/984507430909308929

Another video clip at link.

[Extraneus]

For those who refuse to "read the whole thing" ...

Comey responded to emails from FBI employees who said, "if I did what Hillary Clinton did I'd be in huge trouble." He replied, "My response is you bet your a-- [St. Comey's redaction, of course] you'd be in huge trouble. If you used a personal email, Gmail or if you (had) the capabilities to set up your own email domain, if you used an unclassified personal email system to do our business in the course of doing our business even though you were communicating with people with clearances and doing work you discussed classified matters in that, in those communications, TSSCI (Top Secret Sensitive Compartmented Information), special access program (SAP), you would be in huge trouble in the FBI. You would not be able to say to us, 'The people I was emailing with were cleared. It was all in the course of the work.'"

Comey continued, "You might well get fired from the FBI. You would surely be disciplined in some severe way if you didn't get fired. Of that I am highly confident." He then seemed to reinforce his controversial recommendation against criminal charges in the Clinton case for the mishandling of classified information, that under the criminal statute, does not require intent.

"I'm also highly confident, in fact, certain you would not be criminally prosecuted for that conduct. Why do I say that? Because I have personally gone back through every case in the last 50 years that was prosecuted. Nothing close to these facts was ever prosecuted. You would be in trouble. You would not be prosecuted."

Comey referred to the FBI investigators as an "all star team" but many have since been demoted, fired, or re-assigned as a result of the IG investigation.

[Jane]

Squaredance,

I graduated HS in 1970 amd was a pretty confirmed Hippy. I quit school to work for Mcgovern and was as anti-nixon as anyone on the planet.

I voted for Reagan but was pretty much still a democrat until a friend, a democrat senator told me it was okay for Clinton to lie under oath "if it was just about sex".

I haven't voted for a democrat since. That was so opposed to my values that I could not even imagine voting for a democrat.

So yeah the millenials are a lot like me in the '70's. They may still grow up, so don't lose hope.

[Janet 🚬 - I wish my family had a poncho]

And who the fuck cares what Comey thought of Trump?

All Americans got to see, hear, & judge the 2 candidates & America elected Donald Trump.

Comey doesn't get to override that. Comey got one vote & I got one vote. I'm sure we canceled each other out.

[joan]

It's early, rich, et al., but I have one for KJOM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR5CEnFzdkw

(It's the harmony that gets me everytime.) :)

[Another Bob]

PD, I'm chuckling at your "the "dead things" era".

Wasn't the dead puck era, it was the left wing lock and the clutch-and-grab era.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Jane,

I also voted for McGovern. I even voted for Jimmy Carter!

However, the economy tanking in the 70's plus Carter's constant preachiness while ignoring unemployment and high interest rates sent me to Reagan, whom I had watched on "Death Valley Days" when I was a kid.

I was sort of in the "What have we got to lose?" mind set.

I have never voted for another democrat. And I saw Bill Clinton for the flim-flam man he was when he first appeared.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/senate-confirms-andrew-wheeler-for-no-2-spot-at-epa-1523568483?mod=e2tw

This guy was a former coal lobbyist, so if they force Pruitt out, they get a worse choice! HA!

[Captain Hate]

Can we all "deviate from standard procedures" concerning the law, when it suits us?

You caught that too. Nothing saves an institution like deviating from the practices that gained it a sterling reputation. I hope this asshole kills himself when he realizes that nobody believes his obviously self serving lies. The only people who would be upset are crooked idiots that need to pin their actions on a living stooge.

[Extraneus]

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/04/12/rod-rosenstein-skips-speaking-engagement-after-unexpected-white-house-meeting/

“Unfortunately, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has been called away on another matter today, so [Acting Associate Attorney General Jesse] Panuccio will have the honor of introducing the attorney general later in our program,” acting DOJ Civil Rights Division head John Gore told reporters at a major press conference at the Main DOJ building in Washington, DC.

Who is Jesse Panuccio?

[joan]

and the words to this song are poetry: :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EOG7UWcThQ

[narciso]

And knifing Alberto Gonzalez, in the back, re stellar wind, and raising the kerfluffle re the us atty, madcow had some excitement over some bureau official conforming Comeys story.

[henry]

Polling on who to replace Ryan already? Of course. This was fun, they had to use a human because no time to program the auto poller.

Have you heard of / impression of:
A. Who or what is that? (I think the state assembly rep fromJanesville)
B. That's a real name? (I have no idea, but this name was floated on radio)
C. Are you just reading random names from the phone book? (See B)
D. Newman, he's out of jail? Don't like him (former House guy from outside the district, made an ass out of himself running against Walker in 2010 primaries)
E. Vos. He's OK I guess. (Current State Assembly Leader, held my beer when I got my pic with Walker)

Who would you vote for vs Brice (they threw me using Iron Stashe's name):
A. Through C. Yes any random name from the phone book over Brice.
D. That might make me move to Florida. I don't know.
E. Vos. (Now we're even on the holding my beer).

Now I need a beer.

[Extraneus]

Does a paisan take over if Rosey gets the boot?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jesse_Panuccio_official_photo.jpg

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/what-happened-charlie-rose-we-asked-his-friends-associates-1101333

I don't have any sympathy for this creep. Lots of "touching" vignettes in this piece.

[anonamom]

I have almost always had to defer to a husband's wishes, so I don't get upset when I don't know what's going on.

I think you mean you CHOSE to.

[narciso]

Made some of the right enemies:

http://thecapitolist.com/jesse-panuccio-reprising-role-as-3rd-highest-ranking-official-at-doj

[joan]

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6OgZCCoXWc

....just so you'll know I'm not totally uncivilized.

[maryrose]

Janet:
Some very excellent comments.
I agree completely.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

anonamom,

Yes, I chose to because I wanted to keep the peace. Bad decision but too late to re-do.

Anyway, I got used to that mind set, which is why I don't get as aggravated as Old Lurker.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/382942-comey-jabs-at-trumps-hands-orange-skin-in-new-book

Because he's such a high-minded individual.

[daddy on iPad]

From way behind and miles away and just starting catch-up on the last thread.

...What Ryan is doing is honorable.

I hope so, but for Ryan to enhance his future employment opportunities it is in his interest to shit on Trump as he exits. I hope he is a bigger man than that, but I do not have faith that he is. Regardless, I am ready for a new Speaker ASAP. I hate wasting the position of Speaker on someone who flat out tells us he does not want the position, and who does not know how too use the position. It reminds me of that famous line when Hannibal had defeated the 80,000 strong Roman Army at Cannae, but instead rested his troops Instead of immediately moving on to take the undefended City of Rome and win the Punic wars. As he sat the Romans desperately called in reinforcements from old allies and that moment for victory was lost, prompting his brother Hasdrubal to say to him, "You know how to win a battle, Hannibal, but you do not know how to use one." Those words resonate with me when thinking of Paul Ryan's lack of use of the Speakership following Trump's victory.

...I am hoping for Steve Scalise as a replacement.

That works for me. I don't know Scalise's politics, but the fact that Scalise was unsuccessfully assasinated by a political worshiper of Dick Durban is a powerful pocsition to start from as Speaker. It gives him enormous crediblity in tons of ways, plus huge and unquestioned Moral Authority to go off like a rocket whenever anyone talks about "beyond the pale hate speech or dangerous political discoursefrom the Right." Scalise obviously has humongous balls, so until someone else comes along I'm happy with Miss Marple's suggestion of Scalise as Speaker. His Purple Heart in the Political Wars, wielded properly, can be a hell of a powerful tool for good---his limping to the podium with a cane a continual reminder of the dangerousness of our political enemies, and a STFU to them the instant they open their mouths.

3 pints Goose Island IPA.

[Extraneus]

So that link says Solicitor General Noel Francisco takes over, although I didn't understand why.

[narciso]

Why do i say per one.ies, latvala was the jackalope who tupoleved his campaign on the spot, then was charged with sexual assault.

[henry]

Ext, because Francisco has been confirmed by the Senate and the other guy hasn't?

[maryrose]

“I got used to that mindset.”
It is an unhealthy one in my opinion.

[narciso]

Wolfgang schaeble, a power in the cdu was injured by the resurgent red army faction some 26 years ago.

[daddy on iPad]

Ryan hasn't betrayed Trump nearly so much as he has his constituents and the political philosophy he claims to hold.
He's not just bad at his job, he didn't even try to do it.

As usual, on catch-up I find that Iggy said it better and way more succintly.

[maryrose]

Never too late to change how you attack life and all the challenges it brings.
Daddy:
I also recommended Steve Scalise and agree with your reasoning.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Yes, maryrose, it is.

But you didn't walk in my shoes, so spare me your criticism.

[Extraneus]

Scalise already said he won't run against Kevin McCarthy.

[maryrose]

Don’t agree with Iggy’s assessment wrt Oaul Ryan.
If he wasn’t any good they would not have re-elected him over 10 times.Facts can be stubborn things.
Opinions can be just that, opinions.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/984505247719550976.html

Wictor makes the case that Trump is doing military deception for the GCC.

[lurkersusie]

GOP's new website

https://lyincomey.com/

[Captain Hate]

I've told this before but for anyone who hasn't read it: I voted for McGovern but I didn't hate Nixon like most of my age group did but thought he was kind of an awkward clod who wasn't right for the time. And when McGovern got smoked in the first election I voted in I figured that I didn't understand the mood of the country very well.

So I was going to work on the Shaker Rapid the next morning and was intending to read whatever book I had except these two attorneys sitting behind me started talking about the election and one of them said he was encouraged by McGovern's totals. I just rolled my eyes but listened to his reasoning which was full of logical errors and non sequiturs. I don't know if his friend agreed with him or just wanted to stop the flow of nonsense because he didn't push back. By the time we got downtown I thought both of them were idiots and I didn't want to be associated with anyone like them. So I started scrutinizing the arguments from the left much more severely and always found them lacking. I voted for Ford in the next general election and never looked back.

I agree with Jane it's very premature to write off the millennials. In fact I'm fairly optimistic about them. But I could be wrong.

[maryrose]

Ext:
That is a mistake in my opinion.
Scalise would be better.

[maryrose]

MM:
I am not criticizing.
I am presenting an alternative stategy.
Since I offended you, I will not comment again on this topic.

[maryrose]

Should be strategy.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

maryrose,

Thank you.

I KNOW it was a poor way of operating and don't need to be reminded.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/984513741004959744.html

This is a thread which is even better than Wictor's, explaining what Trump is doing with the deception.

[narciso]

Its a likely future path for them, however there is much reinforcement as compared to 1969

[Another Bob]

Maryrose, you really need to recalibrate. i don't recall anyone soliciting your advise about how to run their lives.

Were you taught manners?

[narciso]

Ray shielding brooksie:

https://ricochet.com/509257/yes-anti-trumpism-failure-always-destined-one/

[anonamom]

Kevin McCarthy isn't a tenth of the man Steve Scalise is.

[narciso]

Did he watch the same program?

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/tucker-carlsons-pettiest-snipes-from-his-syria-showdown-with-noah-rothman/

[maryrose]

Another Bob:
Just trying to help and I am now convinced of your dislike for me.
I won’t respond to you again.

[Extraneus]

So Rand Paul, who still vows to vote against Pompeo, is the wild card.

Of course this kind of thing will never happen in Leftland.

Let's just split.

[Another Bob]

What a thin skin. But do whatever you need to do.

FTR, I don't dislike you. I'm entirely indifferent to you.

[narciso]

Easier said than done:

http://thefederalist.com/2018/04/12/suggest-amicable-divorce-america-talk-civil-war

[Captain Hate]

Rand sporadically reminds us of his genetic heritage.

[narciso]

Wasnt this was kushner was trying to arrange in the seychelles

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/12/us-russia-hotline-syrian-air-strikes-could-help-avoid-conflict/

[Thomas Collins]

Boy, do I hate the DH. Sonny Gray of the Yankees hit Hanley Ramirez in the first inning and knocked Hanley out of the game. Now Sonny boy, because of the DH, doesn't have to face the music at the plate.

[narciso]

Quelled surprise:
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/945407/Gazprom-Vladimir-Putin-leaked-files-EU-cover-up-abusive-stronghold-European-gas

Have an ale.

[narciso]

Was it this a flashback from 1997:

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/945294/ireland-news-uk-terror-ira-irm-irish-republican-movement

[daddy on iPad]

Great story Capt Hate at 07:36.

Even in my early 20's I was non-political/apolitical, but pretty much pushed into my position not by pulling for somebody, but by being repulsed so strongly by the opinions loudly advocated by those I now consider my political enemies. I've mentioned before about being assigned the extra duty position of being the Officer in Charge of the Shore Patrol that was assigned to protect a CBS Camera Crew as we walked down the main streets of Olongapo in the Philippines during some chaptic political events during Marcos's reign. It struck me like a slap in the face that the camera crew and the reporter had their opinion completely made up regardless of facts on the ground, and that their mission I was protecting that night was not to find the truth, but to find examples they could film to buttress the narrative they were pushing on their network. That for me was an amazing eye-opener on the biased corruption of the media. The scales fell from my eyes at that point.

SBW,

On a side note, if I do need to educate myself on HL Mencken, what do you suggest I should read? I have read nothing but I am pre-favorably disposed to him from knowing his appreciation of the greatness of Huckleberry Finn which tells me he isn't an idiot. Please anyone provide a steer if you have a favorite.

[Dave (in MA)]

TC, it was a regular ol' inside pitch that hit Ramirez on the wrist and hand as he took a swing.

[Dave (in MA)]

5-0 ▼3

[Past is Prologue]

PDinDetroit
One word: Cafergot (Ergotamine Tartrate plus Caffeine)

In case you've not tried it, was a miracle for me. Still keep an old half-filled bottle in a drawer just in case.
Good luck in your quest.

[henry]

WaPo now claims Cohen recorded his own phone calls and the raid hovered up his tapes. fwiw

[joan]

There's a reference to an evil party in this:

"...no matter what happens to Trump—the real future of the Republican Party is now up for grabs.

"I coined the term “Permanent Bipartisan Fusion Party” to describe the unholy bond between Republicans and Democrats in Washington, who have long existed in a kind of incestuous, sado-masochistic relationship in which each of them knows their place and, after a fashion, enjoys it.

"On the one hand we have the largely regnant Evil Party, congressionally ascendant during the long reign of FDR and Harry Truman, which has since the 1970s gradually morphed into the anti-American “progressive” party devoted to perverting the Constitution and undermining the foundational principles of the republic in the name of discovering their “real,” if occult meaning. And on the other, the Stupid Party, which never met a promise it didn’t want to dishonor, a foreign war it didn’t want to fight, or a domestic fight it didn’t want to throw.

"Despite his promising beginning as a policy wonk and charter member of the “Young Guns,” Ryan had become the face of the BPFP, a man who believed in the correctness of his policies but who never enjoyed being the tip of the spear—much less being on the receiving end of one. With all eyes and hopes upon him in 2012, there he was, sitting calmly by as a gibbering idiot named Joe Biden grimaced and guffawed his way through the vice-presidential debate, showering Ryan with sucker punches and spitballs and getting absolutely no payback in return.
....
"When Ryan reluctantly stepped into the speaker’s chair owing to John Boehner’s sudden retirement, he had another chance to show he had the stomach, if not the appetite, for political combat, not to mention for the third-highest office in the land. But after promising to end Obamacare upon his party’s return to congressional dominance, he failed to deliver. The two wave elections of 2010 and 2014 gave the GOP what it said it needed… and nothing happened. And at that moment, the junior wing of the BPFP was doomed."

https://amgreatness.com/2018/04/12/is-ryans-exit-the-end-of-the-permanent-bipartisan-fusion-party/

[narciso]

Satire has gone zombie:

http://babylonbee.com/news/in-response-to-growing-number-of-fistfights-london-mayor-bans-hands

[Captain Hate]

Tarhole, I've never read more Mencken than collected curmudgeonly quotes.

These dolts in the GOP don't get it. Trump won because he's NOT like you. Translation, we're sick of your shit and you're going to get destroyed in November, your solution, more please. Fucking lunatics.
Posted by: Minnfidel at April 12, 2018 08:11 PM (L3YlV)

[joan]

maryrose:
"Don’t agree with Iggy’s assessment wrt Oaul Ryan.
If he wasn’t any good they would not have re-elected him over 10 times.Facts can be stubborn things.
Opinions can be just that, opinions."

Getting re-elected doesn't mean someone is good. Just think of Pelosi, Schumer, Maxine Waters, and lots more. Not much good there.

Most of what we talk about in regard to our favorites is just opinion.

[JM Hanes]

derwill:

"Those pretty white streets will be a dirty gray within a week from the car exhaust and black as soot within a month."

I just wonder if anyone calculated how much heat they'd be bouncing right back up into the atmosphere.

Hope daddy doesn't have to fly into LA much, because they're going to create the mother of all urban thermals….

[clarice feldman]

I used cafergot with great success, too, Past is Prologue.

[Jim Eagle]

My killfile is in overtime. The best to the overnight crew.

BTW there is a DEVO song, "The 4th Dimension":) Can't find it but it is there and it is as relevant to all he same opions here. In fact, I will be surprised we are living in anything beyond 2 demsioms.

/Flat Earhy Society

[Gentlejim]

I’m behind, as usual. Great commentary here today.

But in a nutshell, I don't want to get along. I have not one iota of empathy for anything the Democrats, liberals, progressive and their mother house Marx and Lenin represent.

Posted by: Jack is Back! | April 12, 2018 at 02:49 PM

Agree 100% with this.

JiB,
For alternate history try “The man in the high castle” series on Amazon.

[Dave (in MA)]

Or more recently, What Happened by that awful Rodham woman.

[Jim Eagle]

Before I go to bed:

Your Latin phrase of rhe day:)

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Mark Knoller
‏Verified account @markknoller
7m7 minutes ago

Pres signs Executive Order creating Task Force to study and recommends how US Postal Service can eliminate its structural debt. Cumulative losses since 2009 total $65-billion. Task Force to be chaired by Treasury Secy - who already has $21-trillion National Debt to deal with.
===================================

This is a good sign, if you ask me.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--What it boils down to is you are willing to believe Ryan could possibly be knowingly doing something akin to treason. Others aren't.--

The idea Ryan either has to be an evil traitor or not believe the country is in peril is a little absurd.
Sometimes people get tired of the fight or simply step aside to let someone else fight for a change. Or perhaps he believes the country is in peril but that the time scale is somewhat different than Flight 93ers.

--1st Amendment -- "The press are enemies of the people", etc, etc...

4th Amendment -- "Lock her up!" Rumblings about the need for temporary marshal law in these precincts.

14th Amendment -- Let's talk the anger against birthright citizenship here.

All of these are complex issues which don't yield themselves to commentary here. I do believe the 2nd Amendment is probably safe under this administration, if that's any consolation.--

It's not.
This is the kind of commentary that makes me veer toward GUS's clown comments occasionally.
Each example is preposterous on its face, can't be taken seriously and isn't worth even responding to, except to say none of them are particularly complex issues given the comments mentioned.
You seem to lose your marbles the longer you debate things Appalled. You start out not too bad but by the end you're out in the weeds eating grasshoppers.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/trump_administration/april_2018/voters_more_likely_now_to_see_mueller_probe_as_partisan_witch_hunt?fullbrowser

[narciso]

Hes a blunt instrument, that's what is required:

https://babalublog.com/2018/04/12/cuban-communist-thugs-sent-by-castro-dictatorship-to-peru-for-summit-of-the-americas-vandalize-pro-democracy-billboard/

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Headline for my link at 8:59 is "Voters more likely to see Mueller probe as a witch hunt."

[Porchlight]

fdcol, remember, we don't have to run faster than the bear; we just have to run faster than the Verandah Dwellers.

Ahem. Slight physics problem. :)

Still, you could enjoy no company more pleasant than that of fdcol63.

[Porchlight]

So the NYT is all in with "if you're innocent, you have nothing to worry about."

I guess di Blasio will be reinstating stop-and-frisk forthwith.

Patriot Act: no problem

Heck, why not do away with Miranda while we're at it?

[Porchlight]

From MM's link:

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 46% of Likely U.S. Voters still believe Mueller’s investigation is an honest attempt to determine criminal wrongdoing, but that’s down from 52% last October. Forty percent (40%) now consider Mueller’s probe a partisan witch hunt, an eight-point increase from 32% in the earlier survey. Fourteen percent (14%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

"Witch hunt" numbers are too low, but the trend is good. Now only a 6 point difference (down from 20 points) between the two. Watch those numbers converge in a month or two.

[narciso]

Funny how that works:

http://dailycaller.com/2018/04/12/fcc-pushes-back-against-senate-dems-sinclair

There wasnt a Sinclair or fox in drurys tales but if there were:

[narciso]

But there are consequences to choosing poorly:

http://dailycaller.com/2018/04/12/congress-citibank-contract-guns