US Politics, June 2018: This is a total goat rodeo.

REVENGE OF THE MOOCH

As I predicted Monday, once @POTUS got focused on the child separation issue he put an end to it. President @realDonaldTrump is a compassionate person. He was getting bad advice and info from his Chief of Staff, who started pushing this policy in March 2017 while at DHS. https://t.co/M4DDSJjSau

— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) June 20, 2018

mock the tastes of the underprivileged, bourgeois know-it-alls, and reap republican rule

"I alone can save you from me"

mock the tastes of the underprivileged, bourgeois know-it-alls, and reap republican rule

my libertarian prof who insisted walmart and gop is the best friend poors ever have had

Common theme: A Trump supporter in Duluth, one of many waiting in a long line outside tonight’s rally location, just told me she has compassion for separated families but ultimately believes that the detainment center photos and videos are fake and photoshopped.

— Katie Rogers (@katierogers) June 20, 2018

So we're now supposed to believe that Trump has been acting under the dictate of someone who isn't a Fox News anchor? Yeah, okay, pull the other one and see if it jingles, bruh.

lol as if the person who will ultimately replace john kelly isn't corey fucking lewandowski

https://splinternews.com/heres-stephen-millers-cell-phone-number-if-you-need-it-1826985626

My big worry now is that Trump's new order will improve things slightly and the whole episode will be forgotten, even though the family separations are just one of the uglier aspects of a much larger immigration catastrophe.

I have no idea how I had got this far without realising that Ned and Corey’s favourite expression is sad_trombone.wav

― Andrew Farrell, Wednesday, June 20, 2018 11:58 PM

oh!

I thought Ned's whomps were "here's another news story [drops pile of paper on table, whomp]"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObdC3uhPeEY

https://www.revealnews.org/blog/immigrant-children-forcibly-injected-with-drugs-lawsuit-claims/

Thank you democrats for fixing this thing that only you had the power to correct !

ned's womps are pure

One tries.

Meantime, drama! (Read the whole thread.)

🔥🔥

Mark Meadows and Paul Ryan are in a very heated discussion in the middle of the house floor.

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) June 20, 2018

like watching a battle between a water bottle and a pitcher

Oh yeah, remember last week.

DefSec Jim Mattis says he is "not aware" of any North Korean steps towards denuclearisation, saying "detailed negotiations have not begun".

— Julian Borger (@julianborger) June 20, 2018

Oh. Oh my, this headline.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/20/rudy-giuliani-love-life-white-house-657981

JUST IN: Senior Justice Department official Gene Hamilton confirms the Flores settlement still controls, and that unless Congress or the court acts, the government can only detain families together for "up to 20 days."

— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) June 20, 2018

this is reprehensible, and will probably work for trump, politically. it at least puts him in a better spot. now he's started a 20-day countdown clock until the separations start happening again, and he'll just say that congress has to act. of course he has the option of ending the policy of prosecuting EVERYONE who crosses the border illegally, which is what's driving all of this, but no one expects him to even consider doing it. instead, it'll just be "congress has to act" and everyone will buy it. it shifts the problem into the hands of congress, where it has a strong chance of becoming embroiled in the larger immigration legislation.

White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller has all but become the face of the issue, a development that even supporters of Trump’s “zero-tolerance” position say is damaging the White House. “Stephen actually enjoys seeing those pictures at the border,” an outside White House adviser said. “He’s a twisted guy, the way he was raised and picked on. There’s always been a way he’s gone about this. He’s Waffen-SS.”

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/06/stephen-miller-family-separation-white-house

While attending Santa Monica High School, Miller began appearing on conservative talk radio.[22][20] In 2002, at the age of 16, Miller wrote a letter to the editor of the Santa Monica Outlook, criticizing his school's response to 9/11 in which he stated that "Osama Bin Laden would feel very welcome at Santa Monica High School."[22][25] Miller was in the habit of "riling up his fellow [high school] classmates with controversial statements"[26] and telling Latino students to speak only English.[23][26][27][28]

"the way he was raised and picked on"

He actually manages to make DT seem likeable in comparison

he'll just say that congress has to act.

Based on the House, he gets to eat that too.

Oh here's something fun

WSJ scoop: Federal authorities have subpoenaed the publisher of the National Enquirer for records related to its 50K payment to a former Playboy model for the rights to her story alleging an affair w/Trump, as part of the broader Cohen investigation.https://t.co/JDNfaPhg1M

— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) June 20, 2018

https://www.vox.com/2018/6/20/17485488/executive-order-immigration-trump-families-together

Good summary of the EO.

“Stephen actually enjoys seeing those pictures at the border,” an outside White House adviser said. “He’s a twisted guy, the way he was raised and picked on. There’s always been a way he’s gone about this. He’s Waffen-SS.”

, while arranging his collars

"With the nation's attention rightly fixated on President Donald Trump's horrific treatment of immigrant children, House Republicans on Tuesday quietly unveiled their 2019 budget proposal that calls for $537 billion in cuts to Medicare, $1.5 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, and four billion in cuts to Social Security over the next decade in an effort to pay for their deficit-exploding tax cuts for the wealthy."

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/06/19/morally-bankrupt-after-tax-cuts-richest-house-gop-unveils-54-trillion-attack-nations

54-trillion-attack-nations

I’m sure alone in never having heard of the term “tactical pants” until now and no one else thinks that’s weird.

https://interc.pt/2yubiXH

xp That the white supremacist response album to Public Enemy?

I’m sure alone in never having heard of the term “tactical pants” until now and no one else thinks that’s weird.

William Gibson's book Zero History deals extensively with military styles bleeding over into consumer fashion, and the masculine insecurity that drives the market. Pruitt seems like a very insecure specimen to me.

on yr lesser american television stations are many commercials for tactical sunglasses, tactical flashlights and tactical lighters, any of which could be vital in a tactical situation

Those cargo pants with zippers at the knees that the guy won’t use despite it being 100 degrees outside, those are tactical pants

on yr lesser american television stations are many commercials for tactical sunglasses, tactical flashlights and tactical lighters, any of which could be vital in a tactical situation

Oh yeah. I don't have cable, I have a digital antenna, and half the channels I get are constantly running marathons of torture-porn shows like Criminal Minds, or Clint Eastwood movies, and those are half the commercials - the rest are for catheters and walkers.

Try joining massdrop because you innocently wanted a pair of the special black Porta Pros. 90% of what’s on offer from them are these ridiculously militarized versions of every item imaginable.

oh god EDC cult

after trying and winning at travelling for 2 weeks, with hiking and running in a single carry-on, i'm...ready for zip-up pant legs. *cries*

Crowd chants "Space force!" at Trump rally in Duluth, Minnesota. https://t.co/lFSRt1oUv6 pic.twitter.com/9SdAyfDbml

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) June 21, 2018

this is reprehensible, and will probably work for trump, politically. it at least puts him in a better spot. now he's started a 20-day countdown clock until the separations start happening again, and he'll just say that congress has to act. of course he has the option of ending the policy of prosecuting EVERYONE who crosses the border illegally, which is what's driving all of this, but no one expects him to even consider doing it. instead, it'll just be "congress has to act" and everyone will buy it. it shifts the problem into the hands of congress, where it has a strong chance of becoming embroiled in the larger immigration legislation.

― obviously DLC (Karl Malone)

yeah, sure, legal battles are just as easy for the president to win as trade wars!

[url=https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/20/merger-education-labor-departments-641084]Good evening!/url]

The Trump administration plans to advocate a merger of the Education and Labor departments as part of a sweeping government overhaul, according to two individuals familiar with the proposal who declined to be named because it’s not yet public.

The new combined agency, if approved by Congress, would be part of a broader government reorganization plan that could be announced as soon as Thursday, POLITICO reported. Mick Mulvaney, director of the OMB, has been working on the reorganization plan since his confirmation more than a year ago.

I used to specify 'peacefully, in his sleep' but I will take it any way we can get it at this point. Fucking enough already.

It seems like every corporation that is bogged down and spinning its wheels rolls out a new org chart and claims it will solve everything. Next, he'll redesign the Presidential Seal, maybe having the eagle holding cruise missiles instead of arrows, and putting an evil glint in its eye. Because logo redesign is just about the lowest rung you can reach when you are flailing and failing.

maybe having the eagle holding cruise missiles instead of arrows

wait. wait a second. i know it's easy to drift over stuff like this, but consider what happened here:

Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., approached Ryan during a vote and began an animated discussion that lasted roughly half a minute. Both men pointed fingers at each other and reporters in the gallery could hear Meadows say, "I'm done! I'm done!" Meadows then turned and walked away while Ryan resumed chatting with other members.

Sources tell Fox News that the dispute stemmed from confusion over which of two immigration bills the House is expected to consider Thursday

The more conservative legislation has been dubbed "Goodlatte," after the bill's author, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. But a second bill, commonly called the "compromise" bill, has also been referred to as "Goodlatte," since he’s a sponsor of that package as well. Notably, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., rebranded the compromise bill "the president's bill" instead of the "leadership" bill.

i mean, we all know the senate is dysfunctional, particularly whatever is going on in the republican party. but there are two separate bills that both had the nickname "Goodlatte", and it very possibly caused confusion that led to mark meadows yelling at paul ryan in public, which is a priori a funny and good thing, i admit.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/06/20/livid-rep-mark-meadows-yells-at-speaker-paul-ryan-on-house-floor.html

surely even fox news readers have to pause over this. in what organization do two competing and very similar ideas get assigned the same dumbass name?

Costello: Well, all I'm trying to find out is what's the guy's name on first base?

and now that i think of it, last night i was listening to an NPR interview with Goodlatte, and i was laughing because they were like "uh, so you're sponsoring two different bills, one that is more conservative, one that is seen as more of a moderate bill - which of the two do you support now?" and he was non-committal, saying that he supported both and that should be obvious since he was a sponsor of both. and the interviewer pressed him a bit, like "don't you think you should support one over the other so that it has a better chance of passage?" and he doubled-down, no, both bills are good. obviously he just wanted his Goodlatte bill to be the one that solved the crisis.

welcome to GoodLatte, home of the GoodLatte, can i take your executive order

Reality is finally stretched so thin that we barely even acknowledge that the major players have ott Pynchonesque names no one would've accepted as seriously belonging to actual people a couple years before.

Ty Cobb. Remember him? That happened. Can't wait to see what role Euripides Burgerking winds up playing in this apocalyptic saga.