US Politics, February 2018: Our country was founded by geniuses, but it’s being run by idiots

Scoop: Deputy CoS Jim Carroll expected to leave West Wing & will be announced as early as today as drug czar nominee. Departure will leave another hole in senior WH ranks, with news coming days after Porter's resignation https://t.co/rO6rIt7VYQ

— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) February 9, 2018

He was also supposed to be Kelly’s deputy replacing Nielsen, but that didn’t work out https://t.co/5ACl3KUldC

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 9, 2018

people who died

i was tryin to get too fancy with that joke

Brand leaving to become Global governance director at Walmart, whatever that job is. That's her dream job, that thing that she couldn't resist?

Pay enough bank, sure.

Global governance director at Walmart, whatever that job is.

i think that's the one where you deal with all the lawsuits in other countries that your company is exploiting

That Intercept story is essentially impenetrable. It's interesting, but there's no way to tell who's doing what and why, or what may or may be in any supposed files. I respect James Risen as a reporter, so I imagine he knows a lot more than what's in that story (but he doesn't have enough verification to publish right now). But as written, it could be important or it could be totally meaningless.

FYI from upthread: George Mason's law school was only recently renamed. I know graduates of it who were decidedly NOT down with it being named for Scalia. So it's not like every GMU law grad said "Scalia! I like the sound of that!" It's not Bob Jones University or Liberty.

ok gotcha. Anyway Brand is big in Federalist Society and worked under Alberto Gonzalez, will be right at home w/ the Waltons

Another out. David Sorensen, speechwriter.

A second White House aide has resigned amid past domestic abuse allegations, which he denies https://t.co/sehSn0jDss

— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 10, 2018

Trump now won’t release Democratic memo unless it’s changed, per Dawsey at Washington Post . MSNBC now covering this late Friday news dump.

wow

i guess joke's on anybody who is surprised by this...but I am surprised by this

chuckled at this dig in the Yahoo News article I read:

The GOP memo — which alleges liberal bias among mostly Republican law enforcement officials at the Justice Department and FBI — was part of a long-standing effort by the president’s allies to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign.

lol so basically he didn't read or know anything about any of the memos, and someone finally prevailed upon him to listen to a summary of the dem memo and so he's only now realizing it's an explicit denunciation of nunes's bullshit process.

The NYT has a clearer and firmer account of the wild spy saga Risen described in The Intercept: https://t.co/QEyrXDSzPf

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) February 10, 2018

The Russian claimed to have access to a staggering collection of secrets that included everything from the computer code for the cyberweapons stolen from the N.S.A. and C.I.A. to what he said was a video of Mr. Trump consorting with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel room in 2013, according to American and European officials and the Russian, who agreed to be interviewed in Germany on the condition of anonymity. There remains no evidence that such a video exists

i can't figure out what is more important to think about right now. classic friday night dump

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/very-turbulent-trump-and-white-house-consumed-with-turmoil-amid-abuse-allegations/2018/02/09/aa377d12-0dd8-11e8-8890-372e2047c935_story.html

Aides described a resulting level of dysfunction not experienced behind the scenes at the White House since the early months of Trump’s presidency. Dormant ­rivalries have come alive, with suspicions swirling about some of the most senior officials and the roles they apparently played in protecting Porter.

“People are using it to their advantage,” one West Wing aide said. “If you hate Kelly, this is your moment. Hope’s enemies are using it to go after her.”

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/09/politics/democratic-memo-trump-wont-declassify/index.html

xps to caek: "consorting with prostitutes" seems generous in the extreme. He's not a gallant swain. He doesn't "consort."

Even "cavorting" would imply some level of whimsy and/or joy, neither of which I can imagine being brought to the party by that individual.

few days old but

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/06/politics/pennsylvania-gerrymandering-impeachment/index.html

“Cris Dush”

just in case you were wondering what it looked like,

https://i.imgur.com/ArkMai5.png

the trump era

https://i.imgur.com/9aqYmr7.jpg

David Sorensen denies his former wife's allegations he was violent and emotionally abusive.

yeah I'm sure she's just mistaken about that

never forget

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ex-wife-donald-trump-made-me-feel-violated-during-sex

this is all a circus. trump himself is a spousal abuser and worse.

so kelly will step down for not getting rid of a guy who is a monster, but no more so than kelly's boss, the democratically elected president. and then trump will still be president. and this will burnish the administration's reputation apparently.

morning, treesh!

http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2018/02/gop-best-people

I keep thinking that these are the things we’re finding out now. A decade from now articles about the Republican Party during this period will merit a warning to keep a receptacle for vomit handy.

He could've written that sentence in 2006.

I think that’s the point isn’t it?

(Shakezula is a lady)

so now that Rachel Brand resigned to go work for the Trump-supporting Waltons, is former supreme court justice Antonin Scalia (blessed be his strict constructionist memory!) clerk Noel Francisco going to fire assistant attorney general rod rosenstein? will noble patriot Carter Page finally be freed of the dastardly democrat cloud of suspicion raised by the nefarious FISA court? are we a banana republic yet?

I think it's the other way around—Rosenstein, in refusing to fire Mueller, could be fired or forced to resign; at which point investigation oversight would fall to next-in-line Francisco, who would have the liberty to curtail the investigation or fire Mueller. (Unless a new Associate Attorney General is appointed in the meantime), and yeah I think there is a decent chance of all this happening

i.e. back to the Saturday Night Massacre.

yep

pointless personal anecdote: last week i had family over and they stated that "the silent majority" would elect republicans this november, even if the polls don't show it. i mentioned the connection to richard nixon and they didn't know what i was talking about. on that same day i mentioned the saturday night massacre, connecting what trump is doing to what nixon did. they had no idea what i was talking about re: nixon, even though they were both adults when it happened.

"history: it's just made up stuff for losers that can't be trusted"

Call me petty and juvenile but I’ve started thinking lately that someday Trump will be dead and buried and there will have to be some way for me to pee on his grave, even if I have to smuggle a bottle of urine somewhere

xp I have no idea how you do it, man

it remains astonishing that after decades of republican red-baiting (democrats are communists! socialists!) it is unseemly post-obama to be concerned about the republican president's incredibly suspicious ties to russia (who hacked our voter roles and continues to spam twitter and facebook on the republican president's behalf). the gaslighting is epic, sublime even

President’s got some deep thoughts

Peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. Some are true and some are false. Some are old and some are new. There is no recovery for someone falsely accused - life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 10, 2018

where's the birth certificate?

There is no recovery for someone falsely accused - life and career are gone.

Guess he's gonna resign. Good work, everyone!

the gaslighting that gives conservatism its pride of place in debate has a lot longer history than decades

I mean look at Utnapishtim’s “advice” to Gilgamesh

joy reid is the best

https://www.thedailybeast.com/republican-rule-week-55-there-is-no-bottom-to-this-bottom?ref=author

This seems like a plausible two-dimensional space. pic.twitter.com/f3ze1FoIet

— Kieran Healy (@kjhealy) February 10, 2018

biggest problem there is that many of them in it for money AND racism

far too generous to mcmaster, milo, don jr, etc.

joy reid is the best

words I thought I'd never see on ILE.