US Politics December 2018: ~very legal and very cool~

Webster must be so proud.

I think if you are taken seriously as a pundit, that poisons the dialogue as much as many guvmint posts

LOL

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Inauguration_of_Donald_Trump&action=history

Mick Mulvaney named acting WH chief of staff.

Kelly's eager to get gone.

He has a nine days to finish his Xmas shopping.

https://i.imgur.com/WDYOvpY.jpg

The good thing about Mulvaney's appointment is that I have a late friend named John Kelly, who was a good guy, and I hated seeing his name in that context every day.

Condi Rice is being rumored to become an NFL coach? ... Is there any stronger indicator of being in the ruling class?

btw I suspect if he's still rich when he dies, Trump's Tomb will be built across Riverside Drive from Grant's Tomb.

ObamaCare struck down? didn't the Supreme Court already settle that shit?

This is the lawsuit all the GOP state AGs brought arguing that w out the individual mandate, the whole thing is invalid

blech

this also kept me from posting about George Conway going after Trump like, minutes after his wife defends Trump on TV. What is this couple's homelife like? After Trump is imprisoned will she write some tell-all? Will it get turned into a miniseries? This isn't like a James Carville/Mary Matalin situation, this guy spends every second undermining his wife's awful boss.

The interview with George Conway on Michael isakoffs podcast Skullduggery was buck wild. George outed himself as the Newsweek source from the Starr investigation

How about a video of Mick Mulvaney calling Trump a "terrible human being"?

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-next-chief-of-staff-called-him-a-terrible-human-being-just-before-he-was-elected-president

I'm getting a lot of questions about when the judge's opinion takes effect. Bottom line: nothing changes for now, and nothing will change for some time to come. Here's why.

— Nicholas Bagley (@nicholas_bagley) December 15, 2018

Would be nice if the media actually bothered to put the ruling in context. Social media is freaking out thinking as of midnight, they have no insurance or something.

Invalidating the entire ACA because the personal mandate's tax penalty was eliminated is certifiably insane adjudication. That is an enormous law, touching on everything from the creating and regulating the internet marketplaces, to minimum coverage required for all policies, to nullifying pre-existing conditions in setting premiums. That judge is huffing something.

xp to be fair, this is the front page of the washington post right now:

Citing change in tax law, judge rules entire health-care law unconstitutional
White House officials said they expect the ruling to be appealed to the Supreme Court, so the law remains in place for now.

The idea that this ruling can withstand legal review seems... improbable.

Brett is organising a kegger the night before the review tho

And Roberts might decide that since they didn't strike down the law the last time, they have to do so now to seem impartial.

If you're placing bets on what precipitating event might finally catalyze mass revolt among the populace, you could do worse than 'the unceremonious barring of access to health care they've had nearly a decade to accept as a given'.

some of us will be too weak to revolt

bring a gun to my bed

https://youtu.be/u7ASFcnxC_k

We talked about Roth but I'd submit the other great chronicler of the Trump Era is Vic Berger

https://youtu.be/u7ASFcnxC_k

some of us will be too weak to revolt
bring a gun to my bed
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Saturday, December 15, 2018 8:25 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

don't wanna kink shame but

Zinke out at Interior

Excellent

I’m hearing Mulvaney for interior

So he's now the secretary of the exterior?

That would be my political burn.

Congratulations, you are now the secretary of the exterior. (opens door) Get out!

folks he's more isolated

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-trump-prepares-for-his-holiday-respite-in-florida-he-is-more-isolated-than-ever/2018/12/15/b2d27c68-ffbf-11e8-ad40-cdfd0e0dd65a_story.html?utm_term=.3f20cdb3ab24

also lol

Senior WH people were telling reporters this morning that Christie was likely choice. Then he said no. POTUS angry about rejections and notion that no one wants job. Mulvaney had unrelated meeting in West Wing this PM. And then he was chief of staff. https://t.co/cjRueTUUg6

— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) December 15, 2018

Lots of friends still freaking out about ACA decision. I wish news networks wouldn't issue breaking news with dubious headlines just CV os they know they can fix them in 3 seconds later. Nobody views the amended bylines.

folks he's more isolated

I know this sort of story is just as robotic and predictable as the "day he finally became president" or "he's coming unhinged" stories, but it is probably true that his political capital is running at low ebb after the midterms, and because he's never held office before his political connections to other power centers in DC have always been shallow. Add to this the steady pressure of indictments, guilty pleas and convictions coming out of Mueller's investigation and the balance of fear is slowly shifting from fear of Trump's power to an even greater fear of Trump's bringing down his party with him.

In fine, for DC insiders he's got "one-term disaster" written all over him atm. Unless he can pull another rabbit out of his hat that revitalizes the fear of his power among Republicans, he'll be slowly set adrift, still holding office, but losing much of his leverage over real power as the party elites try to protect themselves from his 'dead man walking' stank.

Right -- I mean, the newest inner circle person on board is Cipollone, and he's clearly a damage control person at best who knows he's working with a pretty bad hand. Mulvaney moved sideways, Barr hasn't faced the Senate, etc. It's a bit of a dull churn of usual suspects (literally) and grizzled apparatchiks.

Up Schiff's creek:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/12/24/adam-schiffs-plans-to-obliterate-trumps-red-line

Though I've got to admit, the red line shit bugs me. I remember when that Times interview took place (about 122 years ago, iirc). It was totally at their prompting. They were like, what if Mueller looked into your personal business, would that be a red line? And he's all, yes. And ever since then it's been "omg, Trump said looking into his family business is a red line!" But has Trump said anything about a red line since that first interview? Though I've got to admit I'm surprised he hasn't taken credit for inventing the term "red line."

Anyway, this is a headline:

With nearly every organization Trump has led under investigation, legal threats could dominate his third year in office

That's a good way to put it. "With nearly every organization Trump has led under investigation." It's the singularity.

Trump Elected President in Elaborate Sting Operation

The stories saying he’s more isolated than ever before are not wrong

They need to hold off on those stories until he's literally the only person in the White House, weeping in some corner.

Donald Trump.....otm

The pathetic and dishonest Weekly Standard, run by failed prognosticator Bill Kristol (who, like many others, never had a clue), is flat broke and out of business. Too bad. May it rest in peace!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 15, 2018

"Prognosticator" seems like a new vocabulary entry

he doesn't like to read, but he hangs out with college graduates and picks things up from them.

Lobbyist pleads guilty to funneling foreign money to Trump inauguration.

? Link?

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/31/us/politics/patten-fara-manafort.amp.html?__twitter_impression=true

Well, pled guilty — that’s from August.

How did Scott Walker come up with the brain power to pull off a power grab when he doesn't even know how Venn diagrams work?

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/12/14/18141221/scott-walker-gop-power-grab-venn-diagram

That is certainly the face of someone who misunderstands Venn diagrams. Can't wait to see what people do with this photo.