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

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

Pelosi just reiterated this now, and said: "No" when asked if Omar would be removed from committees as GOP is demanding. "A newcomer member of Congress has apologized for her remarks. It took them what, 13 years to notice Steve King?" https://t.co/LUG0wsKxhu

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 13, 2019

boom

Still don’t think she has anything to apologize for

right...

I feel like there a fair amount of people who genuinely thought her choice of words was poor while sympathetic to the point she was trying to make. Like, it wasn’t 100% only bad faith right wingers claiming she was being anti-Semitic, no?

politico coverage of beto, so pinch of salt, but...

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/13/schumer-beto-castro-2020-senate-bid-1168554

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer met with former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke last week to discuss a possible 2020 Senate campaign against GOP Sen. John Cornyn, according to a source familiar with the meeting.

good

That's probably the wisest move for him rn.

<cue all the Cronyn and Cronyn PAC ads in 2020 accusing Beto of being 'owned' by Schumer>

Cornyn, or "Crony-N", amirite?

Beto’s gonna be prez one day. The Obama power is with him.

...

Legit star power, charisma, well spoken, boy scout-ish, almost took over a Texas Senate seat out of the gate. Not a radical assumption but cool comment.

love my handsome republican candidate beto

However, a new analysis of congressional votes from the non-profit news organisation Capital & Main shows that even as O’Rourke represented one of the most solidly Democratic congressional districts in the United States, he has frequently voted against the majority of House Democrats in support of Republican bills and Trump administration priorities.

Capital & Main reviewed the 167 votes O’Rourke has cast in the House in opposition to the majority of his own party during his six-year tenure in Congress. Many of those votes were not progressive dissents alongside other left-leaning lawmakers, but instead votes to help pass Republican-sponsored legislation.

O’Rourke has voted for GOP bills that his fellow Democratic lawmakers said reinforced Republicans’ anti-tax ideology, chipped away at the Affordable Care Act (ACA), weakened Wall Street regulations, boosted the fossil fuel industry and bolstered Donald Trump’s immigration policy.

Consumer, environmental, public health and civil rights organizations have cast legislation backed by O’Rourke as aiding big banks, undermining the fight against climate change and supporting Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda. During the previous administration, Barack Obama’s White House issued statements slamming two GOP bills backed by the 46-year-old Democratic legislator.

O’Rourke’s votes for Republican legislation – which at times put him at odds with a majority of Texas Democratic lawmakers in Congress – underscore his membership in the New Democrat Coalition, the faction of House Democrats most closely aligned with business interests.

I thought for a second that you'd posted a news story about some threat to his handsomeness. Don't scare me like that.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/02/andrew-mccabe-fbi-book-excerpt-the-threat/582748/

almost took over a Texas Senate seat

Abrams, Beto, and Gillum are breaths of fresh air and I am glad they are on the scene, but. I am really looking forward to a day when Democrats don't need to cite "almost winning something" as an achievement.

hence my reluctance to crown the Texan white boy as anything other than another decent 2020 senatorial candidate

Beto would be a dumb pick in this field of way more accomplished and progressive people

oh, good morning!

I'll have the Denver omlette and a side of tax returns

a Stalin Stale Ale for me, please

Jeet threading on Abrams' continued elite legitimacy

1. I wouldn't say "piss off" but I have doubts. The evidence of accountability was that Abrams was asked a pointed question on a panel. Hardly sufficient redress for lying to congress, covering up massacres & praising genocidal leaders. https://t.co/Wis8ZitshM

— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) February 14, 2019

the fact that there are currently two prominent Abramses occupying vastly different political territory keeps tripping me up

Lol me too

Beto couldn't beat Ted Cruz, and let me tell you something, between the two senators, Texans actually like John Cornyn.