Real Men (And Women!) Of Genius

Impeaching Trump was so satisfying that Dems don't want to spoil the moment by giving Trump the satisfaction of a Senate acquittal.

Trump Impeachment Trial in Doubt as Democrats Weigh Withholding Articles

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would wait to see what the trial in the Senate would look like before sending the two charges there.

... By withholding the articles, Ms. Pelosi is hoping that Mr. Trump — who is eager for a trial to present his defense and clear his name — will put pressure on Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, to commit to Democratic demands, including the ability to call witnesses during the trial.

But the speaker’s strategy is also a gamble. Having toiled to present the House impeachment inquiry and the votes on Wednesday as a somber duty rooted in the Constitution, Ms. Pelosi risks appearing to politicize the matter if she withholds the charges for negotiating leverage.

And Mr. McConnell was entirely unmoved by Ms. Pelosi’s tactics, delivering a speech on Thursday evening in which he appeared barely able to contain his amusement at what he regarded as the speaker’s missteps.

“I admit, I am not sure what leverage there is in refraining from sending us something we do not want,” Mr. McConnell said with a wry smile from the Senate floor. “But alas, if they can figure that out, they can explain it. Meanwhile, other House Democrats say they would prefer never to transmit the articles. Fine with me!”

More from Cocaine Mitch:

And in comments that underscored the risks Ms. Pelosi faces in withholding the articles, Mr. McConnell took to the Senate floor on Thursday morning and argued that the delay reflected a weak case against Mr. Trump, a blink by the Democrats in their standoff with the president.

“The prosecutors are getting cold feet in front of the entire country and second-guessing whether they even want to go to trial,” Mr. McConnell said. “They said impeachment was so urgent that it could not even wait for due process, but now they’re content to sit on their hands. This is comical.”

Watching progressives spend the next few weeks explaining why impeaching Trump and then pocket-vetoing the impeachment should be fun. To Be Fair, I have a vague recollection that some pundit proposed exactly that a few weeks ago, so he or she is due a victory lap.

MORE: I'm probably remembering all the way back to Monday, with a piece by Ed Foley in Politico. This Dec 12 article in The Hill reported that Sebate Dems were suggesting the 'delay for leverage' strategy to Pelosi. Eerily prescient!

Comments

[Threadkiller]

Who needs an acquittal when you technically aren't impeached:

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-12-19/trump-impeachment-delay-could-be-serious-problem-for-democrats

Considering the author is one of the Dems Scholars that they relied on in the Judiciary Hearing, it has to sting a little.

[Narciso]

Well was already poisoned

https://mobile.twitter.com/TheLastRefuge2/status/1207847825792536576

[Narciso]

Try again:

https://mobile.twitter.com/julie_kelly2/status/1206010647005274112?s=21

[Dave (in MA)]

Marty brings Boston another step in the direction of being a 3rd world shithole. https://wbznewsradio.iheart.com/content/boston-trust-act-mayor-walsh-immigration-ice-police-relationship/

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Trump has been well blessed in the quality of his enemies.
Watching School Marm Nancy have to shush the rowdies last night looked like Helen Crump trying to deal with Ernest T Bass in the fifth grade.

[jim nj]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BInimiulZQk
NASA's Fermi Finds Vast 'Halo' Around Nearby Pulsar

https://phys.org/news/2019-12-cotton-candy-planet-mysteries-unravel.html

Massive planets with very little density.

[Barbara]

Watching School Marm Nancy have to shush the rowdies last night looked like Helen Crump trying to deal with Ernest T Bass in the fifth grade.

Ignatz,

Are you an Andy Griffith fan?! My father used to watch that show and enjoyed it. Now we enjoy it, too. Great TV filled with laughter from another place and time.

[Dave (in MA)]

Like watching a bunch of monkeys try to hump a doorknob. https://youtu.be/qWGJiMSjZAQ?t=47

[jim nj]

I'm in an absolutely horrible mood today and tonight. I'm really pissed off on the impeachment bullshit.

Monday I learned that a friend I've known for over 50 years has metastatic cancer and suffered both a stroke and a heart attack. Today, meaning Thursday, I learned he died on Wednesday. I was still trying to digest the first, wondering what I wanted to do, when that question was mooted.

Last Thursday I had a medical appointment with a dermatologist. I don't have a car, so I arranged for a ride with Logisticare who handles that for Medicare and Medicaid in NJ. My ride didn't show up on time so ten minutes later I called to check on the status of the ride. I was told the driver phoned me and I was a no-show. Well I was sitting here waiting for the ride with the phone in front of me and I can assure you it didn't ring nor was there a voice-mail.

Had a rather infuriating conversation with Logisticare about it. End result was I had to reschedule my appointment for today and damned if the same fucking thing didn't happen again today.

My pick-up was scheduled for 1:45. At 1:50 I'm on the phone to hear the same stupid excuse. I'm afraid I went ballistic on the poor person on the other end of the phone.

The guy/gal can't be more than five minutes away and they can't get him or her back here to pick me up. Even to deliver me late for the appointment that the office was willing to allow me to be late for.

[Pinandpuller]

If you are debating about transgenders and your opponent says you are strawmanning your best bet is to accuse them of misgendering your argument.

[joan]

I think if people are taking this withholding of the impeachment by Pelosi and the Democrats lightly, they are mistaken.

The lawfare group helped them devise impeachment strategy in order to get the judicial authority to penetrate the constitutional firewall.

I'm posting a link below to an interesting thread that starts off

"A pending senate trial gives them an argument in court for their pre-existing cases.
The real goal of impeachment 1.0 is the evidence they seek. (1) Mueller 6e material. (2) McGahn as a witness. and (3) the financials/taxes.

"These cases already exist in courts.

"Eventually McConnell votes down the impeachment, but that doesn’t matter. What the House really wanted was an interim phase to help get the 6e material, Don McGahn etc.

"From there the House assembles new articles based on the new evidence. And impeachment 2.0 goes to the Senate."

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1207518288214994944.html

This thread is really interesting and is about the impeachment and the democratic tactics that, if successful, mean Pelosi, Schiff, and Nadler with Burke, Goldman, Eisman, Weissman, Mary McCord, et al., have nightmarish plans ready to spring on us that will rival and exceed what we've already seen these past three years.

[joan]

jim nj: just read your 1:54 post about your friend's death and the Logisticare's foul up on transportation. I am so sorry you had to deal with that.

There are no words -- life just shouldn't be so frustrating or sad or infuriating, all at the same time.

I hope this is just a temporary glitch as far as the ride service goes.

[jim nj]

Libya is getting really weird.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/20/libyan-government-activates-cooperation-accord-with-turkey

And Turkey is getting weird too. So we passed the Armenian Genocide thing thing and now:

https://usa.greekreporter.com/2019/12/18/us-congress-ends-decades-old-arms-embargo-on-cyprus/

We're boosting an Israeli, Greek and Greek Cypriot alliance.

Egypt has rejected the Turkish-Libyan alliance per the NYT which link I won't link.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-12/20/c_138644182.htm
Egypt, Germany discuss situation in Libya

Right now you need a scorecard to tell all the players apart and all the knock-on effects in the region.

Turkey and Russia are on different sides. Turkey and Egypt (with the UAE) are on opposite sides. Turkey flew dozens of air sorties against Greece the other day.

This is a freaking mess.

Erdogan is nutso.

[jim nj]

Thank you Joan, which is also my sister's name, so I am well inclined to like you.

The impeachment, while unwelcome, I can handle. It's the too clever by half legal ploys that are really annoying me.

Making grand jury testimony, held in secrecy, public is un-American. For a multitude of good reasons. I can't imagine a judge releasing it. And I am sure it would be appealed to SCOTUS if so. And I can't imagine them releasing it either.

The best analogy I can think of for the proposed democrat assault on the legal system is to equate it to the Vietnam War era "we had to destroy the village in order to save it."

Logisticare? I have a new appointment. I will call Logisticare and file a formal complaint. I'll put it in writing if I have to. The contracted medical transportation companies involved are either incompetent or scamming the system. I need to find out how a driver is paid for a "no-show."

For my next appointment I will request bus tickets instead of a ride. They will do that, and that's my normal mode of medical travel if convenient.

I didn't do that before because I would have to take a bus from Hackensack to downtown Englewood and transfer to another bus to Englewood Cliffs.

That's a bit of a hassle, but reconsidering now it leaves me in control.

[jim nj]

Fun story.

The bus I will take to downtown Englewood has a stop very near me and the Hackensack Hospital, within easy walking distance, and it's known by some as the hospital, or nurse's bus.

It starts in Passaic, runs past their hospital, then past Hackensack Hospital, then on its way past Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, then on to Englewood Hospital, where it makes the return trip.

[Pinandpuller]

NYPD calls ambulances buses, jim. According to TV.

[Pinandpuller]

Of all the numbers in the world:

@RichardGrenell

Today at the UN we read the names of all 69 countries that criminalize homosexuality. Thank you for your commitment to this issue, @realDonaldTrump.

[jim nj]

https://apnews.com/f96b8e33378371359c1217d8df723aab

Hezbollah-backed professor to form new government in Lebanon

I'm sure that is being well received within Lebanon. Everyone is going to rejoice, leave the street protests and go home content. Not.

[jim nj]

Pin,

That's a TV thing. Pseudo-cop vernacular, but the truth is that some people in NYC do call 911 for routine transportation. It's more reliable. It's a waste of emergency resources, but it is a learned response.

There are like three options for medical rides. Bus-fare, they mail you round-trip bus tickets for a single visit, but it takes 7-10 days notice. A monthly bus pass if you have five appointments in one month. A car ride from a medical transportation company. A mileage reimbursement if you can get a friend or neighbor to drive you.

I've talked about this before, but their are industries built on providing services for the poor, low income or disabled. Some of them are very good. Some of them are graft-mongers.

[Pinandpuller]

"A society is defined not only by what it creates but also by what it refuses to destroy." ~ John C. Sawhill

[jim nj]

https://hotair.com/archives/john-s-2/2019/12/19/newark-sues-nyc-mayor-de-blasio-policy-sends-homeless-families-new-jersey/

Jersey City joins lawsuit against NYC policy that pays homeless families to move to New Jersey

Pardon my French, but the JC mayor is late to the party.

This issue has been in the news for awhile. I get it, it's cheaper to house the NYC homeless in NJ instead of NYC.

But NYC pays a years rent in advance. The NJ localities aren't involved in the details. Many of these units rented may not meet local codes. They may not even be eligible for certificates of occupancy from the local building apartments. There is no indication that NYC demands them. In fact, if they did, it would lower the participation rate.

I suspect a typical law-abiding, low-rent housing provider wouldn't be interested in the deal. So the NYC people are doing deals with the worst of the worst.

The people moved to sub-standard housing complain to NYC, instead of the local authorities, to fix the problems.

It's just so sleazy. The landlord has a years worth of rent. The complaints don't go to the locals. The landlord has no incentive to fix the problems.

Under NJ state law a landlord whose property is declared uninhabitable is required to move the tenant, at the landlord's expense, into suitable housing.

Beyond that, if the people moved don't become self sufficient the welfare costs pass to NJ.

[peter]

jim, prayers for your late friend.

[jim nj]

https://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/475420-senate-confirms-13-trump-judicial-nominees-in-end-of-year-sprint

Moar judges. No wonder Pelosi is freaking out. They see the judiciary slipping away and can't do a thing to prevent it in the House.

[jim nj]

peter, thank you, your prayers are appreciated, and he was worthy of them.

I'm thinking of daddy too. Some times information just rushes at you so fast that you just can't process it in real-time and I'm regretting that lag.

[Robin, eff 'em all]

This thread is really interesting and is about the impeachment and the democratic tactics that, if successful, mean Pelosi, Schiff, and Nadler with Burke, Goldman, Eisman, Weissman, Mary McCord, et al., have nightmarish plans ready to spring on us that will rival and exceed what we've already seen these past three years.

this is why I won't underestimate Pelosi or whoever is pulling her strings. She is canny - maybe she didn't devise the tactics, but she certainly knew who to go to for help. Let's not pretend that being speaker of the house twice is something even a dunce can do.

I'm somewhat relieved by McConnell's easy confidence, and that Barr interview with him smirking like the cat who ate the canary definitely signals that the administration thinks they hold all the cards. My guess is that having a mole in a strategic location is a tactic that goes both ways.

[jim nj]

nytol

[henry]

@realDonaldTrump

Thank you Bill. So true!

@SenBillCassidy

I will be a juror and will take this process seriously, but this impeachment is motivated by Democrats’ hatred of Donald Trump, not justice. Impeachment is sucking up all the time that could be used for positive things.

[Robin, eff 'em all]

https://social.quodverum.com/@ThomasWic/103331891081184399

I don't know what I think about this.

Thread

People don't understand the magnitude of what's coming.

They're still thinking really small.

Let me explain what's going to happen.

Trump did everything he could to goad Pelosi into impeaching him.

Right before the impeachment, McConnell told the world that he would do exactly as Trump requested.

This is now going to make Pelosi withhold the articles of impeachment until McConnell agrees to not coordinate.

At the same time, Graham is telling us that there will be no witnesses.

The Democrats think that the Republicans want to get this over as quickly as possible.

McConnell will agree to not coordinate with the White House.

Since McConnell nixed Schumer's witnesses, McConnell will also say, "Fair is fair. The president can't call witnesses."

Then the case goes to trial.

The House managers will present their "evidence."

Then Trump's lawyers will call HIM to the stand.

As defendant, he gets to take the stand.

AND.

The defense is not required to share its strategy with the prosecution.

Trump has said all along that this is a political with hunt designed to remove him from office.

"Why would they do that?" his lawyers will ask.

"Because I know what they did. Let me explain."

There can be no objection, because McConnell will have given in to all the demands from the Democrats.

By doing it this way, Republican senators will not have played a part in the destruction of the Democratic party.

What does all this tell you?

It tells you that Trump plans to DEMOLISH the Democrats.

As in, leave none of them standing.

This is the biggest political development in American history.

The only way Trump could ensure that his changes remain in place was by destroying the Democrats.

People can't appreciate how momentous the change will be.

Everything will be different after the trial. EVERYTHING.

Only McConnell and Graham know.

McConnell is happy, and Graham is sick to his stomach.

But Graham is on board. He's leading the Democrats to their destruction.

It's because he knows it's the only way to fix the country.

True heroes go ahead despite their fear and regret and sorrow.

Graham is a hero.

He understand the stakes. And he's chosen the right path.

It's time to stop thinking about this in terms of anything that went before it.

This is totally different.

The outcome is preordained.

So sit back and watch the greatest show ever.

END

[Robin, eff 'em all]

It sure would make for great TV. And if Trump knows anything, he knows about great TV.

[henry]

I believe that fantasy when it happens, and not one second sooner.

[rse]

The Andy Griffith Show, along with the Lucy Show, are two things they will put on a big screen in the memorycare unit. Minds that don't remember much of anything anymore will sit there smiling.

Had another choking episode yesterday which was odd as there was nothing to choke on and he had not consumed anything for at least 10 minutes. When all over he grabbed my arm and held on and then held my hand with both hands. I think that image juxtaposed to the christmas decorations around will last me a lifetime.

[Buckeye]

What henry said.

[Another Bob]

“I don't know what I think about this.”

I do. It’s twittersleuth wet-dreaming. In that case Trump will be portrayed as simply lashing out and crazy.

Impeachment isn’t the last round in their magazine. There’s more attack incoming.

[Buckeye]

rse

Said a prayer for you and your dad just now.

[Robin, eff 'em all]

Well, since we don't really have a precedent, I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

[Buckeye]

One thing for sure, Trump needs to wear out the bully pulpit between now and January 7.

[Another Bob]

Trump and the republicans need to start their own scorched-earth campaign. Pelosi, Schiff, Nadler, Schumer, the Obama crime family and a few others need to start paying a personal price for their perfidy.

Up ‘til now they’ve played their games from well-insulated perches. It needs to be brought to their homes.

[Buckeye]

I wonder what Rudy the wild card is up to?

[Buckeye]

AB, you took the words right outta my mouth:)

[hoyden]

Folks shoveling coal in the bunker rarely know what’s happening on the bridge. Until the water starts gushing in.

[Jim Eagle]

henry,

I am in Harrisonburg,VA getting ready to pull out for Florida. 11 hour drive but I have Frederick as co-pilot. So unless they delay the launch I’ll miss it.

Thanks fo the heads up.

[Melinda]

Bragg's is not a coffee additive, FYI.

[Another Bob]

I’m kinda tired of the idea that bureaucrats will somehow ride to the rescue, when it’s the bureaucrats who operated this whole scam.

[henry]

Yes, bureaucrats will ride to the rescue... of themselves. They dream of the heights obtained by India's License Raj -- a bureaucracy so intense it keeps a subcontinent of creative people in grinding poverty and filth.

[MissMarple2]

Good morning!

Cold again here and my silly dog wants to run around in the snow.

[henry]

The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee
19h

Millions Of Voices Cry Out In Terror As Liberals Wake Up And Realize Trump Is Still President

[boris]

"kinda tired of the idea that bureaucrats will somehow ride to the rescue"

So it's not enough having your own dark cloud of doom, if some other person gets a notion of possible sunshine they need to get a dose of shade instead.

[MissMarple2]

John Roberts
@johnrobertsFox
·
21m
According to @Harvard law professor Noah Feldman (a Dem witness in the Judiciary hearing), President Trump is not “impeached” until the articles are sent to the Senate. If Pelosi holds onto them indefinitely, @realDonaldTrump would not be “impeached”.

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
·
52m
A far left magazine, or very “progressive,” as some would call it, which has been doing poorly and hasn’t been involved with the Billy Graham family for many years, Christianity Today, knows nothing about reading a perfect transcript of a routine phone call and would rather.....

....have a Radical Left nonbeliever, who wants to take your religion & your guns, than Donald Trump as your President. No President has done more for the Evangelical community, and it’s not even close. You’ll not get anything from those Dems on stage. I won’t be reading ET again!

[henry]

Moar problems for Boeing:

CNBC @CNBC
13m

NASA is working on an unexpected issue with Boeing’s Starliner. The spacecraft flew into the wrong orbit after launching this morning, jeopardizing its trip to the ISS. cnb.cx/2MeUfh4

https://twitter.com/CNBC/status/1208006898143956999

[Narciso]

Did they unlesrn how to do things rhetorical.

[Narciso]

Prayers jim.

[henry]

Ball added children of color in Wisconsin are twice as likely to live near a hazardous chemical facility than whites.

Because of climate change.

https://www.wpr.org/task-force-begins-work-combat-climate-change

[MissMarple2]

Catturd
@catturd2

Attorney General Barr says John Durham has subpoenaed all communications of John Brennan.

Can you imagine how many traitors are going to be caught up in this coup?

Brennan has to be sweating bullets.
😂

Watch ... he'll be singing like Elvis before Christmas.
6:14 AM · Dec 20, 2019·Twitter Web App

[Buckeye]

Same guy wrote code for the 737 Max and the Starliner:)

[Captain Hate]

People in the future should have a good laugh at those dolts pretending to fight climate change.

[Narciso]

Unlearn, this is basic technology.

[Buckeye]

They should have paid attention when he said he wanted sausage, not pepperoni on the pizzas they were shoving under his door.

[Narciso]

The un backed govt is full if jackalopes quelle surprised.

[James D.]

Trump and the republicans need to start their own scorched-earth campaign. Pelosi, Schiff, Nadler, Schumer, the Obama crime family and a few others need to start paying a personal price for their perfidy.

I’ve been saying this for years.

When the progs pay a personal, painful price for their criminal and loathsome and treasonous behavior, it will stop. If they do not pay that price, it will go on forever.

[Another Bob]

“if some other person gets a notion of possible sunshine they need to get a dose of shade instead”

Shade? Reality. Where was the sunshine, anyway?

[henry]

Gov. Tony Evers said Wednesday that Wisconsin will continue welcoming refugees to the state, joining several other governors to make such an announcement since President Donald Trump gave states and counties the power to reject refugees.

Keep them in Madison, or over by Minneapolis.

https://www.wpr.org/gov-tony-evers-wisconsin-open-refugees

[MissMarple2]

https://thefederalist.com/2019/12/20/ig-report-hints-james-comey-was-in-on-fbis-fisa-misconduct/

"One significant gap in media coverage concerns the potential complicity of former FBI Director James Comey in the FISA abuse—a possibility the IG report hints at in several spots."

[Melinda]

henry-

That's the obviously new skool way to spell "economics".

[MissMarple2]

https://dailycaller.com/2019/12/19/moderator-bernie-sanders-im-white/

This is from the debate last night. Sanders was asked about Obama saying the problem is old men won't get out of the way, and Sanders yelled "I'm white as well!"

[Narciso]

Brashears didnt waste time giving felons the vote.

[Another Bob]

The FISC needs to be disbanded and the judges removed from the bench entirely.

Not because they were necessarily corrupt (though some likely are) but for what seems like complete disinterest in their jobs.

[Melinda]

Those global NGOs need a boarding party, if they haven't already had one.

5d
#DigIt! Nader, Khawaja, Clintons, Pope Francis, and Elite Converge in UAE & Africa - coreysdigs.com/law-order/nade… via @CoreysDigs

7Reply
172Retweet
187Like
More options
paulmuaddib61's avatar
paulmuaddib61 @paulmuaddib61
8h
Replying to @CoreysDigs
hey corey. pope visit was same week a new world bank office in UAE opened. it will focus on future agricultural trade from chinese mega farms in africa. chinese RMB to become new crypto reserve currency
twitter.com/paulmuaddib61/…

https://twitter.com/paulmuaddib61/status/1207883149155454976

[Threadkiller]

Thsre was a time when the "sunshine" arrived in the form of a theory that a glistening White Hat atop James Comey's head would be the disinfectant that vaporized swamp bacteria-crats.

[MissMarple2]

https://www.wnd.com/2019/12/nadler-allegedly-public-hissy-fit-extra-item-lunch-order/

This isn't an important story, but I couldn't resist an article which gave a window into Nadler's black soul

[MissMarple2]

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/475345-trump-announces-van-drew-will-become-a-republican-in-oval-office

[MissMarple2]

Gordon G. Chang
@GordonGChang
·
22h
A Communist Party with no money cannot control the Chinese people, oppress #HongKong, or disrupt the world. Money is now leaving #China: https://cnn.it/2sGGe4E. It is time for #XiJinping's victims--that's all of us--to encourage capital flight from from the People's Republic.

[MissMarple2]

The laziest prime minister in memory has already left for his extended Christmas vacation. To Costa Rica, by private jet — because it’s a climate emergency.

While he’s making sand castles, maybe Trump can figure out the Chinese hostages thing for him. https://t.co/znby26d6Ga pic.twitter.com/2dWrfXCfdB

— Ezra Levant 🍁 (@ezralevant) December 20, 2019

Links go to article and pictures.

[MissMarple2]

Ha! Scavino is on the ball! Video at link.

🚨HAPPENING NOW #DemDebate #Trump2020Landslide #KAG pic.twitter.com/5GaS0QVW12

— Dan Scavino (@DanScavino) December 20, 2019

[MissMarple2]

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/19/joe-biden-imitates-stuttering-child-in-closing-debate-statement/

Video embedded in the article. Whew, he really sounds bad!

[MissMarple2]

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/clay-waters/2019/12/20/ny-times-three-year-smear-against-boris-brexit-proves-utter-flop

"The New York Times has invested three years of hostile coverage on Brexit and the mockery of the (once) hopeless crusade of Boris Johnson to become British Prime Minister. Once in office, Johnson was vilified for attempting to lead the United Kingdom out of the European Union, after the country horrified the elites by voting that way in 2016.

Since that dark day, the Times has blamed the Brexit push for, among other things, shorter life spans; racist and Islamophobic attacks, even “Talibanization.” Brexit supporters were mocked for “virtually cultlike certitude," while an opinion contributor insulted Brexit voters as “old people, 80 and above, wearing blank stares.” Classy!"

[rse]

I think this is very good. http://catallaxyfiles.com/2019/12/19/democrats-impeach-the-american-people/

Trump will make the case from now till the close of polls on election day that it is not merely his person that has been subjected to calumny and a show trial. What the Democrats have been perpetrating is cultural terrorism. Their objective is to make humiliating the Democrat-Deep State alliance a criminal offence. The Americans who voted for Donald Trump – or those like Brett Kavanaugh and Mike Flynn called to prominence by him – are being told that this is what happens when you step out of line. Today’s evil rites were even presided over by a House Speaker dressed in ISIS black. It was a sad day for a great country brought down to the gutter by haters. The choice for voters in 2020 is stark and epochal: Trump or Terror.

[Another Bob]

I just learned that it’s a “thing” for EV owners to blockade gas stations. This apparently in retaliation for “ICE-ing”, where internal combustion engine cars block chargers.

SMH

[Another Bob]

Should have said “park in charger spots”.

[JimNorCal]

Speaking of scorched earth ...

http://andmagazine.com/talk/2019/12/17/scorched-earth-policy/

The term “scorched earth” conjures up images of an adversary that would rather burn its own crops and raze its own cities than see them fall into enemy hands. It implies desperation and ruthlessness. We see images of Russian armies retreating across a frozen landscape in front of Napoleon’s advancing troops setting fire to the landscape as they go.

Or of Democrats, defeated at the polls, willing to burn a nation and its institutions to the ground rather than suffer the indignity of accepting Donald Trump as President.

Whether or not what has transpired over the last three years was the result of a deliberate conspiracy is I suppose something on which reasonable men and women can disagree. I am convinced personally that the evidence will ultimately prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that well before the summer of 2016 and the initiation of Crossfire Hurricane, powerful men and women inside our government were working very hard, and outside the law, to sabotage now President Trump’s candidacy.

[Buckeye]

We have a solution for that problem in redneck land AB.

It's called an old pickup with a steel bumper.

One with big salt fed rust holes:)

[clarice]

rse, your dad may have dysphasia. A speech therapist can help him cope. Also thickeners in his drinks and an admonition when he starts choking to tuck his chin down and open the pathway.

[JimNorCal]

Well, well, well.
https://donsurber.blogspot.com/2019/12/highlights-of-news_20.html
ITEM 1: The Washington Times reported, "An Iowa man who was found guilty of lighting a local church’s LGBTQ flag on fire was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison Wednesday.

"Adolfo Martinez, 30, was found guilty last month of a hate crime, third-degree harassment and reckless use of fire after admitting to police in June that he stole a pride banner hanging outside the Ames United Church of Christ and set it on fire using lighter fluid about two blocks away outside the Dangerous Curves Gentleman’s Club, The Des Moines Register reported."

The story also said, "Mr. Martinez was sentenced to 15 years for the hate crime charge, one year for reckless use of fire and 30 days for harassment, all of which will be served consecutively, the Associated Press reported."

We live in a country where you cannot jail someone for burning the American flag, but you can give someone 15 years for burning a gay one.

[JimNorCal]

Be still my heart ...
Also at Surber today

ITEM 6: Victor Skinner reported, "House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff was getting coffee Wednesday when a Trump-supporting heckler decided to read him his Miranda rights."

There is a video.

The right to remain silent is the last one Schiff will use.

[Captain Hate]

I see that stupid turd, Rob Portman, has gotten together with Ben Cardin to torpedo 401ks. Maybe his homo son advised him on this too

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleaebeling/2019/12/16/spending-bill-includes-seismic-retirement-changes-curtails-stretch-iras/

[henry]

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
2m

I will be signing our 738 Billion Dollar Defense Spending Bill today. It will include 12 weeks Paid Parental Leave, gives our troops a raise, importantly creates the SPACE FORCE, SOUTHERN BORDER WALL FUNDING, repeals “Cadillac Tax” on Health Plans, raises smoking age to 21! BIG!

[Melinda]

French Privatization Methods sound nice:

https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN1YO12D

(This guy should be put back in the field for "retraining", I'm sure there'd be plenty of help for him.)

[henry]

Reuters is useless, it never said what the "harassment" consisted of.

[Rocco]

Good morning

The FISC needs to be disbanded and the judges removed from the bench entirely.

Devin Nunes called for abolishing the FISC recently because presiding judge Rosemary Collyer, in response to the IG report, just claimed the court didn't know. But Nunes told her about the fraud two years ago.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/page/3/

[Rocco]

Here's the right link

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2019/12/17/nuclear-devin-nunes-questions-fisc-judge-lack-of-candor-again-calls-for-dismantling-of-fisa-court/

[Melinda]

Final paragraph, unattainable job goals and remote reassignments, to start with, with managerial harassment as a bonus.

There are numerous versions of this out there, and I spared you the Frenchy stuff.

[rse]

Thanks clarice but he is past the point of working with anyone or recognizing anyone. He does stare at my name tag a lot as I deliberately do not use my married name so it looks familiar.

The first episode was thickened as is everything he eats as he is missing his jawbone because a derelict dentist just had mom bring him in more often for cleaning when he developed problems with his implants. By the time it developed into osteomyelitis his jaw bone was gone.

It was the delay in choking that I am stumped by as he went from nothing in his mouth to later choking on liquids not previously there. He is more than 11 years post-diagnosis and his geriatrician had never met anyone 10 years post-diagnosis.

[Melinda]

Brit Hume
@brithume
Why did the presiding judge stonewall Rep. Devin Nunes when he reported FBI abuses? asks @KimStrassel wsj.com/articles/fisa-

https://twitter.com/brithume/status/1208031007036911617

Might be behind the paywall again. I'll see if I can get the one that shouldn't be.

[MissMarple2]

Democrat Rep. Jeff Van Drew tells President @realDonaldTrump what made him leave his own party, quotes Ronald Reagan.

“I didn’t leave my party, my party left me.” pic.twitter.com/8YK48FMSrw

— BlazeTV (@BlazeTV) December 19, 2019

Video at link.

[henry]

also in WSJ (behind paywall), the Business Round Table wants paid family leave for everyone. Ginny Rometty as spokesmodel. Go back to predicting the weather or whatever IBM does these days.

[Melinda]

FISA Court Owes Some Answers

Why did the presiding judge stonewall Rep. Devin Nunes when he reported FBI abuses?

By Kimberley A. Strassel
Dec. 19, 2019 6:58 pm ET

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court this week blasted the Federal Bureau of Investigation for “misconduct” in the Carter Page surveillance warrant. Some would call this accountability. Others will more rightly call it the FISC’s “shocked to find gambling” moment.

Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer issued her four-page rebuke of the FBI Tuesday, after a Justice Department inspector general report publicly exposing the FBI’s abuses. The judge blasted the FBI for misleading the court by providing “unsupported or contradicted” information and by withholding exculpatory details about Mr. Page. The FISC noted the seriousness of the conduct and gave the FBI until Jan. 10 to explain how it will do better.

The order depicts a court stunned to discover that the FBI failed in its “duty of candor,” and angry it was duped. That’s disingenuous. To buy it, you’d have to believe that not one of the court’s 11 members—all federal judges—caught a whiff of this controversy until now. More importantly, you’d have to ignore that the court was directly informed of the FBI’s abuses nearly two years ago.

On Feb. 7, 2018, Devin Nunes, then chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, sent a letter to Judge Collyer informing her of its findings in his probe of the FBI’s Page application. He wrote that “the Committee found that the FBI and DOJ failed to disclose the specific political actors paying for uncorroborated information” that went to the court, “misled the FISC regarding dissemination of this information,” and “failed to correct these errors in the subsequent renewals.” Mr. Nunes asked the court whether any transcripts of FISC hearings about this application existed, and if so, to provide them to the committee.

Judge Collyer responded a week later, with a dismissive letter that addressed only the last request. The judge observed that any such transcripts would be classified, that the court doesn’t maintain a “systematic record” of proceedings and that, given “separation of power considerations,” Mr. Nunes would be better off asking the Justice Department. The letter makes no reference to the Intelligence Committee findings.

Mr. Nunes tried again in a June 13, 2018, follow-up letter, which I have obtained. He told the court that Congress “uncovered evidence that DOJ and FBI provided incomplete and potentially incorrect information to the Court,” and that “significant relevant information was not disclosed to the Court.” This was Mr. Nunes telling FISC exactly what Inspector General Michael Horowitz told the world—18 months sooner. Mr. Nunes asked Judge Collyer to “initiate a thorough investigation.” To assist her, the same month he separately sent FISC “a classified summary of Congress’s findings and facts” to that point. The letter was signed by all 13 Republican members of the Intelligence Committee.

Judge Collyer blew him off. Her letter on June 15, 2018, is four lines long. She informs Mr. Nunes she’s received his letter. She says she’s also received his classified information. She says she’s instructing staff to provide his info to “the judges who ruled on the referenced matters.” She thanks him for his “interest” in the court.

This is stunning, given the House Intelligence Committee has oversight jurisdiction of FISA. And Mr. Nunes didn’t come to the court with mere suspicions; he provided facts, following a thorough investigation. The court at the very least had an obligation to demand answers from the FBI and the Justice Department.

It didn’t—because it didn’t want to know. One of the biggest criticisms of the FISA court since its inception is that it is a rubber stamp for law enforcement. The FISA process is one in which government lawyers secretly and unilaterally present their case for surveillance to judges, with no defense attorney to argue in opposition. The system relies on judges to push back, but they don’t. Until recently, the FISA court routinely approved 100% of the applications before it.

Just as it rubber stamped the Page warrant. That application made clear the FBI was asking to spy on a U.S. citizen associated with a presidential candidate. And the court was provided a footnote indicating political operators were involved in producing the allegations. If ever there was time to grill a few government lawyers, this was it. Yet from the inspector general’s evidence, the court whipped through the warrant with barely a blink.

The secrecy of FISA had always shielded the players from scrutiny. But Mr. Nunes’s inspection of the Page applications threatened to highlight this rot in the system. Judge Collyer’s dismissive letters made clear just what the court thought of Congress poking its nose into the secret club.

After the Horowitz report, the court had no choice but to respond. It’s predictably pointing fingers at the FBI, but the court should itself account for its failure to provide more scrutiny, and its refusal to act when Mr. Nunes first exposed the problem. The FBI is far from alone in this disgrace.

[Sorry for the length]

[Rocco]

More free stuff, vote for me!

[Threadkiller]

I will be signing our 738 Billion Dollar Defense Spending Bill today. It will include 12 weeks Paid Parental Leave, gives our troops a raise, importantly creates the SPACE FORCE, SOUTHERN BORDER WALL FUNDING, repeals “Cadillac Tax” on Health Plans, raises smoking age to 21! BIG!

Right Wing Social Engineering

[Buckeye]

Boris got the Brexit vote in Parliament.

[Captain Hate]

I could read that, Mel. It's time for that piece of shit, John Roberts, to face some hard questions about how his personal choices on the FISA court have been so inept. For someone who gets the vapors whenever DJT points out the obvious about what a clown show the federal judiciary is, he's done nothing to rectify one fucking thing.