US Politics February 2019: This is one of the great losers of all time.

Pretty sure Scavino spells it "noice," that's the key tell.

I know consumer confidence has historically served as a measure of economic health, but seeing it in Trump language makes it seem onion-headline-level dumb

Meanwhile in reality

BREAKING: A record 7 million Americans are 90 days+ behind on their auto loan payments, a red flag for the economy, @NewYorkFed reports.

It's a million more people behind than during the financial crisis era. Many are under 30 years old.https://t.co/bgpsPgghcK #economy pic.twitter.com/XdLVLiL5zn

— Heather Long (@byHeatherLong) February 12, 2019

hard to pay those auto loans when you have to pay those student loans

you can't get a job unless you have a degree, even though in most jobs you end up using 0.01% of what was learned in college. can't get a degree unless you take out student loans. can't get a job to pay off the student loans unless you have a car, in most of the country. life: the human centipede

Why not just take out a bridge loan. Why not ask father to write a check. You could even sell one of your yachts if things are really that desperate. I don't know why I have to lead people by the nose through the world of financial planning.

or you could rent out one or two of the 26 bedrooms in your house. this isn't rocket science.

can't ask dad for money until you call or write him an email. can't call or write until the wi-fi on the yacht works again. wi-fi on the yacht won't work until the butler or whatever (percy?) fixes it. percy is all the way over there, and your vocal cords are tender in the morning

you could also cut percy's hours, or cancel his employer-sponsored insurance plan. that should save at least a few hundred smackers a month.

the agony of having to try to tell percy to fix the wi-fi on the yacht:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND7yJ7sMosk

Trump ruined 69. nooo!! :(

we all know the answer to all our financial woes is tax advantaged job training savings accounts. c'mon guys.

Nothing gets my goat like people acting as if there aren't countless poors roaming around waiting for their superiors to exploit them.

NYT/Upshot should call this NLP tool the "Grift-Tracker":

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/02/13/upshot/detailed-timeline-trumps-words-border-wall.html

This attitude from @IlhanMN -- don't question me, just quote my tweets -- is a problem on both sides of the aisle. Politicians' tweets aren't a substitute for journalism, they're a starting point for journalism. https://t.co/3m1JgKoGRt

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 13, 2019

lmao they get so mad when they have to cover Dems the same way they do Republicans

apparently she is (very appropriately) unloading on elliot abrams

yep, I linked her comments on the VZ thread. fucking badass.

now there's video

https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4779974/representative-omar-clashes-elliott-abrams-us-military-role-central-america

Does she call him "Mr. Adams?"

trump doing 69 just reveals its inherent badness imo

apparently she is (very appropriately) unloading on elliot abrams

she's good, folks

I refuse to think about Trump doing 69 kthxbye xp

Abrams is an asshole who deserves whatever he gets, but she was way too smug about her bush-league dunking. "Mr. Abrams, do you support raping and killing children?"

I mean, of course he does! So move on to a more productive line of questioning, you have limited time, Omar.

what would be productive w/r/t Abrams? historically he's shown a total disregard for anyone asking questions he doesn't want to answer, might as well just berate him.

The man was convicted of perjury, after all

the amount of deference and respect shown to these absolute ghouls precludes me from giving a single fuck about how "bush-league" her dunking might have been. people like Abrams deserve a thousand times worse every day of their shitty lives.

So uh this IS good news

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/02/12/senate-just-passed-decades-biggest-public-lands-package-heres-whats-it/?fbclid=IwAR25JKSHOdXhNgeMJcggaUl_tGt6-H50VinWN_jCxnpvZZcLCcuof02VDTg&utm_term=.95a1c2cc9143

IDGI. Is there a rider allowing one (1) undocumented immigrant to be launched into space for every acre of land preserved? What's the catch here?

Fucken sad that I'm instantly hugely suspicious of any federal action which seems on the surface to be a net positive.

Ben's Ass, Cruz and Inhofe were all nays so I'm guessing there weren't any hidden provisions to strip-mine all national parks starting in 2026.

if dragging dudes like Elliot Abrams in Congress is bush-league then we need a lot more bush-league

The 'catch', afaics, is the difference between senators who must win an entire state and representatives who only have to win their district. Recreation and conservation are generally more popular than logging and mining, even in places like Utah where outdoor recreation is a big, fairly clean industry.

shocked by this line of attack, completely shocked

One wonders why @IlhanMN seems to harbor such particular contempt for Elliott¹ Abrams².

¹ from the Hebrew "Elijah," meaning "My God is Yahweh"
² the father of the Jewish people

— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) February 13, 2019

I don't know, it just seemed to betray a lack of creativity. didn't help that she had a little gotcha smile on, as if everybody doesn't know this guy is a scumbag.

I don't know that everybody know that.

at first i thought that michael knowles tweet was a bad joke but it turns out he's just a huge dumbass

“a dapper, lib-triggering troll” —@vanityfair

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/02/13/federal-employees-would-receive-percent-raise-under-spending-agreement/

Hi-five to El Tomboto, wherever you are.

If you haven't read Theodore Draper's A Very Thin Line or remember Hitchens' '80s columns, this January article sums up the cynicism and sadism of Elliot Abrams' career.

michael know less

It's all about the Binyamins (xxxp)

I just asked @SpeakerPelosi in the hallway about @VP’s recent comments about Ilhan Omar and of this is going to continue to be an issue for Democrats. Her response: pic.twitter.com/YGo63nHd1E

— Elizabeth Landers (@ElizLanders) February 13, 2019

Meantime!

JUST IN: Judge finds that MANAFORT intentionally made false statements to MUELLER after agreeing to cooperate & that "the Office of Special Counsel is no longer bound by its obligations under the plea agreement, including its promise to support a reduction of the offense level…" pic.twitter.com/UAZsPd6x0C

— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) February 13, 2019

DETAILS: Judge rules that MANAFORT intentionally lied to MUELLER about:
1) a $$$ arrangement related to pro-TRUMP super PAC @RebuildingAmNow
2) communications with his Russian-intel linked deputy KONSTANTIN KILIMNIK
3) matters related to another investigation by @TheJusticeDept pic.twitter.com/9mAeSvOpaG

— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) February 13, 2019

what a maroon

I'm starting to find the endless NO U... NO U!!!!! shit from all sides of this really tiresome.

A further note:

BUT the judge says that MUELLER failed to prove that MANAFORT intentionally lied about:
4) KILIMNIK's role in trying to shape the testimony of witnesses against MANAFORT
5) Manafort's contacts with TRUMP administration officials.

FULL RULING UPLOADED: https://t.co/RWku321zO0

— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) February 13, 2019

kenneth vogel's all caps style is inconsistent

I admire manaforts commitment to crime