You Can't Make This Stuff Up. Unless You Do.

Jason Leopold, now performing at Buzzfeed, had Trump in handcuffs, with a story that garnered huge attention and sparked a denial from Mueller.

Those with hearts of stone will remember Jason Leopold from his days as a "Rove to be indicted" fantasist back in May 2006. Yeah, it all went to hell for Leopold and the only detail I remember was their changing of Rove's imminent arrest from "24 hours" to "24 business hours". I've never seen that term before or since, but it was a fun marker in the "Is there anything a hopeless partisan won't believe?" debate.

I actually have a laughably simple explanation for how we arrived at this train wreck that does not involve wilful lying by anyone. Suppose Cohen imagined the ongoing Moscow project as a big payday for himself and was Keeping Hope Alive while Trump, who had been chasing this for decades, had mentally written it off.

Then, somewhere in the course of a two hour meeting on other things, or during an elevator ride, Cohen gets two minutes on Moscow, which Trump tunes out.

Now, months later, Cohen has to testify to Congress. He has a clear memory of discussing Moscow with Trump, so he asks Trump what he should say. Trump has a clear non-memory (if that is even possible) of the topic being raised, so he instructs Cohen to say it was never discussed after January.

Trump is sincere but wrong-ish. Is it a "discussion" if he is not listening and gives utterly distracted answers such as "Yeah, yeah, sounds great"? Is there other evidence of his engagement, such as emails he clearly wrote or approved?. However, Cohen sincerely believes Trump was engaged in these discussions, so he interprets Trump's directive as an order to lie and testifies to that effect to Mueller.

Obviously, the theory that this is a misunderstanding rests in large part on the actual emails. Is Trump crazy enough to have written an email to Cohen with something like "It is important that you lie in your testimony to Congress"? That would be harder to spin.

But if Trump wrote "You should testify that I don't remember any discussions about Moscow after January", is that an order to lie? Cohen may think so since he believed it to be false. However it would take more evidence to prove that Trump was aware that his statement was false (or made in reckless disregard of the truth) rather than simply an example of a memory lapse.

BTW, I blame sports talk radio for this word usage problem - callers, reporters, players and coaches routinely use "lie" when "misremember" would be more appropriate.

Comments

[Dave (in MA)]

OFM is Order of Friars Minor, a group of Franciscans, founded by St. Francis.

[Threadkiller]

Washington Post. She hasn’t removed this post yet.

Drum-ocracy Lives in Darkness

[MissMarple2]

https://thehill.com/homenews/news/426279-passenger-stranded-on-airliner-in-canada-for-16-hours-as-temperatures-dip?__twitter_impression=true

[lurkersusie]

I see a pattern.

Kavanaugh, Knights of Columbus, Karen Pence,
Covington students.

[MissMarple2]

Melania Trump
‏Verified account @FLOTUS
1h1 hour ago

Today we honor the life and legacy of #MartinLutherKingJr #MLKDay

[D]

Ext:
Well a friar then They can be more liberal.

[Account Deleted]

P. Missile🇺🇸 @P_Missile
Replying to @AG_Conservative
It is mind blowing to see that people don’t realize that Phillips is a full grown adult man that walked up and started pounding a drum in a 15-year old minor’s face and then lied about it to America. He has no problem ruining these kids lives. It is extremely disturbing.
10:28 PM - 20 Jan 2019

[MissMarple2]

Kaitlan Collins
‏Verified account @kaitlancollins
9m9 minutes ago

There were no events on the president or vice president's schedule, but they both just made a surprise trip to the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Washington.

[Account Deleted]

((What's an "elder," btw? Are any JOM people "elders"?))

An old person in any organization?
I guess I'm an elder, I'm 60.

Anyway, I'm sick of the list of adjectives that try & make the harassing liar into a sympathetic figure.
An elder?.... ::spit:: ...WHO CARES.
I don't want to hear that he is Native American, indigenous, an 'elder', a vet, a whatever....seriously, Who cares?

He's a sick bastard. He's a leftist activist that was trying to slander & hurt some high school kids that came to STAND UP for LIFE.

[MissMarple2]

Picture from Fox:

[MissMarple2]

Billionaire Mindset
‏ @IntThings
16m16 minutes ago

With so many things coming back in style, I can’t wait till loyalty and morals become a trend again..

[Extraneus]

So now Yarmuth is claiming his call for banning teens from wearing MAGA hats was a joke.

https://dailycaller.com/2019/01/20/democratic-ban-teens-maga-hats/

[President-Elect Jim,SunnyvaleCA]

"Are any JOM people "elders"?"

Nearly all, I would think.

[Porchlight]

I loathe the "elder" BS, too, Janet.

This story makes me sick. Kudos to those kids for their restrained behavior and point me to the GoFundMe.

What's really awful is that now the March For Life, after having been mostly ignored for 45 years, will now be a prime target. There will be a zillion provocateurs next January trying to repeat. All because of this activist asshole Nathan Phillips and his fellow brownshirts on the left.

[lurkersusie]

WALSH: 4 Lessons We Can Learn From The Despicable Smear Campaign Against The Covington Catholic Students | Daily Wire

4) Someone is going to get killed.

On a related note, it's only a matter of time before a victim of a media-led smear campaign winds up dead. What will the inciters and orchestrators of the outrage mob say then? "We had no idea it would come to this"? Yes, you did. When you put a person's name and face out there, and you tell the world an outlandishly false story about them, you are lighting a match in a forest full of dry leaves. If somebody finally burns, it's your fault. I can only hope, when that terrible day comes, that at least a few of the smear merchants will go to jail.

In the meantime, and to hopefully stave off this tragic eventuality, we need some ethical and generous lawyers to come to the defense of the victims, pro bono, and sue the defamers and inciters into oblivion. News outlets that run defamatory and libelous reports about innocent people should face severe financial consequences. Celebrities like Kathy Griffin, who encouraged her fans to retaliate against the high school boys, should be bankrupted by lawsuits. None of this has anything to do with free speech. It's libel. It's illegal. And that's how it should be treated.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/42418/walsh-4-lessons-we-can-learn-despicable-smear-matt-walsh

[Account Deleted]

"What's an "elder," btw? Are any JOM people "elders"?"

is any definition or explanation based on any tribe's designation going to satisfy?

and when it comes to elderhood---- old and wrinkled usually qualifies. and even if they are senile, wet-brained, or just plain goofy, they are still afforded a respect from those of us who recognize that tradition.

doesnt automatically make them shaman, healers, chiefs,spokespeople for their people, wise or all-knowing.

it just means that we show them respect for having made it through what has likely been a shitstorm from day 1, especially if they are rez injuns.

Old Man f*cked himself yesterday with a supremely ignorant misuse of his medicine. the drums that go into protest marches desacralize "the ancient Drum" and its Keepers. the righteous anger of those bearers has putrified into sacrilegious misuse of things sacred.

that's on Old Man.

he'll be dealt with in ways he'll regret.

he executed his plan based on his thoughts and emotions that day.

it was not his to do.

he will find out how real that constraint is soon enough.

i've known men who misused medicine and ceremonial trappings, even entire ceremonies, who died from unspeakable diseases and/or catastrophes that one wouldn't wish on their worst enemies.

Old Man will be in the news saying something like "i was called to do what i did." yeah. but no one else heard that phone ring, did we. just because ya can don' mean ya should. period.

"...and hell followed with him."

[MissMarple2]

A happy story:

https://cbs4indy.com/2019/01/21/5-year-old-girl-in-love-with-taco-bell-gets-royal-treatment-from-favorite-place-on-earth/

[clarice]

http://www.michellesmirror.com/2019/01/bad-news-monday.html

[clarice]

The "elder" has a 501(c)(3) scam going on and provokes these incidents to fill his cash register.

[Account Deleted]

i hope you enjoyed two scoops of everything, Jane. :D

[Jane]

Not yet OL. I figure it will be a week before I can safely brag. My scale's been away but typically I go down about 3 than up 2 than up two than down 4, so it takes a while. It all works out. You will see fireworks when it happens.

(Thanks for asking - I think)

[henry]

GDPR, it's all about the shakedowns:

The Wall Street Journal @WSJ
50m

Google was fined $57 million by a French regulator—the biggest penalty levied yet under a new European privacy law

[Account Deleted]

where did you learn that fact about the Old Man, clarice? i'd like to put it in my file. these people make the rounds speaking and getting into mischief all over the country.

thanks in advance.

[Stephanie Nene Not Your Normal Granma]

Ria Megnin - January 17 at 7:38 PM

One of my friends told me about a powerful lesson in her daughter's high school class this winter. They're learning about the Salem Witch Trials, and their teacher told them they were going to play a game.

"I'm going to come around and whisper to each of you whether you're a witch or a normal person. Your goal is to build the largest group possible that does NOT have a witch in it. At the end, any group found to include a witch gets a failing grade."

The teens dove into grilling each other. One fairly large group formed, but most of the students broke into small, exclusive groups, turning away anyone they thought gave off even a hint of guilt.

"Okay," the teacher said. "You've got your groups. Time to find out which ones fail. All witches, please raise your hands."

No one raised a hand.

The kids were confused and told him he'd messed up the game.

"Did I? Was anyone in Salem an actual witch? Or did everyone just believe what they'd been told?"

And that is how you teach kids how easy it is to divide a community.

Keep being welcoming, beautiful people. Shunning, scapegoating and dividing destroy far more than they protect. We're all in this together.

[Old Lurker]

Lurker Susie: "I see a pattern.

Kavanaugh, Knights of Columbus, Karen Pence,
Covington students."

Battle prep for Amy Barrett obviously.

[lurkersusie]

Great job by Ric Grenell

Paul Bedard
@SecretsBedard
On a roll for U.S,
@realDonaldTrump@RichardGrenell
, the ambassador to Germany, ‘delivers again,’ winning German ban of Iran airline that allegedly ran weapons to Syria. (link: https://washex.am/2FOA9aM) washex.am/2FOA9aM

[henry]

Add the renewed "paedo priests" trials in all 50 states to that list.

[Momto2]

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/01/the_madness_of_crowds_and_what_lies_ahead.html.

Exactly what we were discussing earlier:

When the stories are promptly debunked by the emerging alternative media, the Resistance journos move shamelessly to the next cycle and repeat. While Trump ridicules them and calls them to return to the higher ideals of their profession, they suffer no consequence for their incompetence and dishonesty.

[clarice]

KK, from a friend who lives there and has worked with native Americans in the area. Apparently the NGO is supposed to mentor young people and it doesn't. If you can dig up more on this, send it to the IRS for an investigation,

[Porchlight]

New thread

[henry]

Interesting take on health insurance and ACA... too bad they couldn't get it passed last year. Evers will veto.

http://www.maciverinstitute.com/2019/01/lawmakers-to-reintroduce-market-driven-fix-to-obamacare-mess/

[Account Deleted]

Old Man is not a hapless target of racial animus.

He's got quite a track record of fighting his way for his people.

and given my inside knowledge of the culture wars "business" he's received substantial funding as a producer, subject, and speaker.

it's how he makes his living.

that makes everything he says coming out of his mouth *suspect*. and using ceremonial trappings at protests SACRILEGIOUS.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Phillips_(activist)

a skewed account of the DC imbroglio is included.

[Account Deleted]

great story, Stephanie.

some of us might remember the documentary of an Iowa school teacher's lesson with her class on prejudicial treatment based on "eye color."

The Eye of the Storm- Jane Elliot

if you've never watched this, it's 26 minutes you won't regret. it still explains a lot of behaviors in America.

[henry]

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
1h

Democrats campaigned on working within Washington and “getting things done!” How is that working out?

[Account Deleted]

🇺🇸 🇺🇸 Get your MAGA gear here! 🇺🇸 🇺🇸
This is America. Nuts to the idea that wearing a red MAGA cap is somehow unacceptable.
Wear them Loud & Proud.
🇺🇸 Freedom...what a concept! 🇺🇸

https://shop.donaldjtrump.com/products/official-donald-trump-make-america-great-again-cap-red

[Tom R]

Jim @ 8:05

The Trent Telenko guy Surber was quoting was the same guy who wrote the Xanatos Gambit oped that clarice linked the other day. Wonder if Surber reads this blog?

[President-Elect Jim,SunnyvaleCA]

Yeah, it was a rather 4D-ish article.
I liked the reasoning. Clear, direct connections.

[President-Elect Jim,SunnyvaleCA]

New