Trump, May 2017: 100 days of [unintelligible]

^yeah and how dumb are Pence (not surprising i guess) and Priebus (maybe slightly more surprising?) for backing his termination now? and Bannon's the guy showing restraint? jfc

any "mainstream republican" who thought they could roll with this trump thing and turn it into something positive for themselves is extraordinarily dumb. so that's basically all of them.

I'd say the chances of Trump serving out his full term are in decline, but of course that leaves us with Pence

if trump is forcibly ousted from office that would mean things have gotten so bad for the republicans they would be totally crippled.

the longer this goes on the worse it's going to get. there are still hundreds of vacancies in this government -- tons of work that just isn't getting done -- and this will catch up with them. you can only blame obama for so long. like, what if there is a major terrorist attack? how would "kneecapping the fbi" -- as a gentleman on npr put it -- look then?

i mean, who knows. but the republican fantasy of quietly looting the nation while maintaining the aspects of statesmen in the eyes of 1/2 the populace just cannot be sustainable.

eh if he goes any time soon i really don't see the GOP changing course at all. they'll keep moving like dead-eyed sharks with pence til they get those tax cuts and judges, or until their stymied by *possible* losses in 2018.

i am not saying they will change, i am saying they will become pariahs

that they won't just lose but collapse. they're all in with this trump fellow now.

i shouldn't prognosticate but you know

yep. it will certainly be interesting to see them try to detach if this whole Trump phenomenon shits the bed

like wtf is that going to look like lol

i shouldn't prognosticate but you know

― Treeship, Wednesday, May 10, 2017 10:15 PM

but you don't

i am not saying they will change, i am saying they will become pariahs

― Treeship, Wednesday, May 10, 2017 10:14 PM

can we post threads from 2008? 2006? Was ILE around during the Poppy/Clinton race?

Treeship, when you get sleep you'll realize that the GOP has principals. It will never stop. It wants tax cuts and an elimination of the federal government as a regulatory force if not presence in our lives. If you want to mitigate the GOP's effects, don't stop the phone calls, emails, and activism.

er principles

Both Schindler and Rick Wilson have posted rather gleefully about something happening tomorrow, it seems.

dump time

I'll believe it whens I sees it.

pic.twitter.com/MwpUZSA5JH

— Jensen Karp (@JensenClan88) May 11, 2017

xpost I love these intimations of scoops and revelations, but I don't have the stomach to pay them much heed anymore. Wilson in particular has been beating this drum for months, so loudly and consistently that his predictions of bombshells could apply to more bombshells than he's actually ever predicted. That is, Trump Inc. just produces so much shit that predictions of shit aren't really that impressive. It's like going to see a crap psychic:

"I see someone in the crystal ball, a man. His name is Ch ... Ro ... D ..."

"Donald?"

"Yes, Donald! And he's in great danger!"

"What kind of danger?"

"Something about ... money. And ... numbers."

"Is it Russia?"

"Yes, it's Russia! It's all very clear now, definitely Russia! They are coming to get him!"

"They're coming to get him, or he is going to them?"

"Yes, that! He's going to them! I see something else now, it's a color. It's reeeee .... no, greee ... no ..."

"Orange?"

"Yes, orange, that's it, orange!"

"Is he going to jail for colluding with the Russians?"

"Wait, things are coming into focus ... yes!"

"Are you sure?"

"I don't know, how much more money do you have on you?"

Sen.Wyden putting a hold on Treasury nom until the Dept coughs up docs related to Trump's Russian ties

The fuck does Trump care if his nominees are put on hold? He's way behind already. Wyden should just hire some teens to turf his golf course.

I'd say the chances of Trump serving out his full term are in decline, but of course that leaves us with Pence

― Zelda Zonk, Wednesday, May 10, 2017 10:00 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i swore i wouldn't do this again after november, but

Contract that pays out if Trump leaves office this year, doubled today from about 10 to 20%. 50% he makes it to 2020 https://t.co/wXhI7b3lv4 pic.twitter.com/ewUqc62ymv

— David Rothschild (@DavMicRot) May 10, 2017

Privately, Democrats are mulling how best to achieve their goal of creating an independent investigation. The leading option being discussed is trying to persuade three Republicans to demand an independent investigation and then have all 48 Democrats threaten to block any nominee for the top post at the FBI.

punters' hunches are not always reliable prophecies

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-trumps-anger-and-impatience-prompted-him-to-fire-the-fbi-director/2017/05/10/d9642334-359c-11e7-b373-418f6849a004_story.html?utm_term=.c7ddcae3103a&tid=sm_tw

Rosenstein threatened to resign after the narrative emerging from the White House on Tuesday evening cast him as a prime mover of the decision to fire Comey and that the president acted only on his recommendation, said the person close to the White House, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

the GOP has principals

https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Money-History-Billionaires-Radical/dp/0385535597

Can't wait for tomorrow

yeah I know it's dumb to get excited about OPPO DROP!! all over again but that was before he pissed off the entire FBI

From WaPo story linked by caek:

The known actions that led to Comey’s dismissal raise as many questions as answers. Why was Sessions involved in discussions about the fate of the man leading the FBI’s Russia investigation, after having recused himself from the probe because he had falsely denied under oath his own past communications with the Russian ambassador?

That is a good question.

The bigger thing is Trump's weird claim that Comey told him three times he was not being investigated. In what context? Because that's totally not kosher.

probably 'you are not a target of this investigation' (in the technical legal sense) if anything - which any idiot who watches as much tv as trump should realize doesn't preclude BECOMING a target, but...

Josh, please go back and read the vox piece and the accompanying twitter thread by David Roberts.

And when I say "Josh" I mean everybody who still can't get why this guy etc. that means you too Treesh

xpost

"Are you sure?"

"I don't know, how much more money do you have on you?"

sure there's opportunists like wilson reveling in the shit of autocratic encroachment. but this is good. the last 120 days have been horrifying and better than i thought they would. imagine if trump was competent, if the gop was, if they passed what they wanted swiftly with people who could justify their ideological extremism. instead: the man is falling apart. to me, the real reek of autocracy/oligarchy/fascism is how quickly he's unglued himself from the understanding of basically everyone expect his god emperor minions. there's a russian novel there too. don't forget. they always had serfs.

to me: there's no con in pursuing trump/russia to it's natural end. the man shouldn't be in power. hobbling him and helping him to hobble himself is a service. i won't give a fuck who was right on twitter if/when this presidency collapses.

Oh, I don't care who brings him down. But I am getting a little tired of this coy "just you wait, I know things" BS. Well, spill, you punks. Because if you know shit that can take him down and you don't reveal it, then you're part of the problem. And by "you" I mean you, Moby.

It's disgusting that people turn a brutal, indefensible moment in history into a self-promotional exercise #brands

That said mosquitoes are always annoying, so...

the oppo teasers are nonsense. john schindler is a loon.

Former senior FBI official tells me Trump's reported short list of Comey replacements is "catastrophic"

— Dustin Volz (@dnvolz) May 11, 2017

i think i liked it better when it was just the text

more ilxy

That Rosenstein threatening to resign detail is new and o_O

Yeah, that kinda fits with what I've been hearing. The last thing they want to do is have that happen, I suspect.

This strikes me as a dumb idea

Trump is weighing a trip to the FBI headquarters at the J Edgar Hoover building on Friday, per two people briefed https://t.co/lge1bKCfYc

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 11, 2017

And this wouldn't surprise me at all

I can independently confirm reporting that President Trump has been sounding people out about removing Sean Spicer as Press Secretary. 1/2

— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) May 11, 2017

Hahah

Spicer on phone to WaPo: 😡

"I was not IN the bushes!

I was AMONG the bushes!"

Editor: 🙄

Social media manager: 😎 pic.twitter.com/o8TJUsEPRy

— Prof Dynarski (@dynarski) May 11, 2017

And I missed this from earlier

Jason Chaffetz asks DOJ Inspector General to expand probe to include the decision to remove James Comey. pic.twitter.com/3q4blmMSn0

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 11, 2017

Some good stuff from Costa this evening

Why did Schiller deliver Comey letter to FBI? He was nearby--and Trump trusts him. It was a 'Hey, Keith can do it' moment, per one official.

— Robert Costa (@costareports) May 11, 2017

Again and again today, in talks w/ WH insiders, I was told to pay attn to McGahn. WH conduit to Sessions, shared POTUS fury about Comey.

— Robert Costa (@costareports) May 11, 2017

Why McGahn matters: Trump listens intently to him. Not only WH counsel but an aide with political capital due to Gorsuch, discretion, etc.

— Robert Costa (@costareports) May 11, 2017

When you're attacking FBI agents because you're under criminal investigation, you're losing https://t.co/SIoAxatCjp

— Sarah Huckabee (@SarahHuckabee) November 3, 2016

On the lighter side, oh for the days for when this would be the worst thing achieved by the administration in any given week...

http://nymag.com/thecut/2017/05/mike-pence-accidentally-hit-a-kid-in-the-face-yesterday.html?mid=facebook_nymag

Is there a way of removing Pence before 45 implodes? Him lying about not knowing about Flynn until the last moment wouldn't carry enough weight would it? Or his own email on unsecured connection use. Or anything?
Who is next in succession after him are they as bad?

Also would love to see McConnell trip himself up and get ejected. Is public outcry for an independent prosecutor going to outweigh him?