US Politics, January 2020. Because we hate ourselves.

ugh, the feeling when someone passes your impromptu "point at ukraine on an unmarked map" test, which you thought to be impossible

Wow. @NPR's @NPRKelly just now on @npratc says @SecPompeo was furious about being questioned about Ukraine in her interview. Took her into his office, cursed at her, dropping f-bombs, made her point to Ukraine on an unmarked map (she did). It's just...shocking.

— Lulu Garcia-Navarro (@lourdesgnavarro) January 24, 2020

can trump point to ukraine

Currently is iirc

XP He did, and it was perfect!

I think I.F. Stone wd've told Pomp to fuck off

for the last 20 hours, the pinned tweet of the president has been this

pic.twitter.com/Acyh0HStm8

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2020

i guess he's retreating to the base within his base: trolls

Someone asked Trump to point out Ukraine on a map and he confidently stabbed his finger in the direction of a stapler on an adjacent table, just like any good American with a sound sense of world geometry. Geology. Maps, the...the, uh, class that was about maps.

Trump apparently will be speaking at the March For Life, a Pro-Life rally. He's the first President to do so.

It's sort of amazing how many contenders there are for "no wait -- that guy, THAT GUY is the very biggest asshole in the building." (Today I'm thinking Pompeo but a day will pass and there'll be some other astonishing feat of assholery from another human sphincter in a position of high responsibility)

oh my fucking GOD pompeo, jfc

The Secretary of State has issued this statement regarding his NPR interview: pic.twitter.com/Jp6vl3wny9

— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) January 25, 2020

for those who may have missed this, i'm sad to say this is real:

after throwing a tantrum because he was a fucking moron during an interview, he pulled Kelly into a separate room (off mic) and yelled at her for several minutes, then asked her to point to Ukraine on a map and asked his aides to produce an unmarked global map. then she pointed to Ukraine on a map, according to Kelly. I believe her. i at least believe that she would point to the correct continent, which should go without saying except that...in Pompeo's statement above, he is clearly hinting that she pointed to Bangladesh.

Ukraine is not particularly difficult to find for someone with a basic sense of geography and geopolitics. The Crimean peninsula is fairly recognizable. But on the chance that she did get it wrong, I find it extremely hard to believe that she would've pointed somewhere not even close to eastern Europe. Like, if you're going to make shit up, say she pointed to Belarus or Georgia or something.

we have to grapple with the real possibility that she pointed to somewhere like belarus, and pompeo thought it was bangladesh

i know everyone is bad at geography and lots of people don't know who the vice president is, etc etc, but imagine kelly being asked to point to ukraine and then pointing to bangladesh on this map

https://i.imgur.com/ZR1BvWm.jpg

I couldn't identity Ukraine on a map in the same situation

lol @ the implication that Pompeo can pinpoint Bangladesh on a map.

a lot of people couldn't. a lot of people in the united states can't point to new hampshire. and especially not to american samoa.

but would you at least point to the right continent?

I do like to think that even the most ignorant American journalist knows that Ukraine is next to Russia. And Russia is easily recognizable because it's BIG.

Of course she knows where Ukraine is. Pompeo is just straight up lying

It is worth noting that Pompeo is not a reptile in the literal sense.

i just find it so shocking that mary louise kelly, who got her masters in European Studies at Cambridge, pointed to bangladesh instead of Ukraine. but you gotta trust pompeo on this one, he is the secretary of state!! and after all, would someone who asked a journalist to point to Ukraine on an unmarked map be so petty to lie about her answer??

i find it inspiring, in a way, that these complete dipshits manage to rise to the most powerful ranks in the world. you don't have to know things, or be smart, or have a good idea. you don't need to be a good person, you don't need to be honest. you can be a petty motherfucker every single day of your life and be proud of it. if you're a big confident white guy from kansas and you think the rapture is going to take place in our lifetime, you can do whatever the fuck you want

Sniffs grabs crotch salutes gets a beer

attaboy!

I think about that often when I’m deep in the pits and it genuinely helps in a ‘it’s not just you, the world really is out of order’ kind of way.

xp

it''ll be a bummer if the coronavirus goes uncontained and send us all to premaure, painful death but then again some of us will be Mike Pompeo

Christ what an asshole

We need to give him the Santorum treatment on Urban dictionary

we have to grapple with the real possibility that she pointed to somewhere like belarus, and pompeo thought it was bangladesh

she absolutely pointed to ukraine, and pompeo tried to smear her by suggesting she pointed to belarus but then fucked it up

morons all the way down

First of all, is Pompeo saying she made a promise not to ask about Ukraine? She’d be a pretty shitty journalist to agree to that during an impeachment.

of course she didn't promise that.

he's just playing to his audience.

I suppose by now it's basically just predictable that the laughably transparently false Bangladesh zing is also a tacit admission that Pompeo is a belligerent, mansplaining dickhead who screamed at an adult woman to point out a country on a map in a pathetic and failed attempt to make himself look smarter than her

First of all, is Pompeo saying she made a promise not to ask about Ukraine? She’d be a pretty shitty journalist to agree to that during an impeachment.

also, in the midst of the interview (which you can listen to in full), she audibly tells him that he needs to talk to his aides because she made clear she would discuss ukraine the night before

the whole thing is just pathetic. the Point at Ukraine test is so revealing..it's like, do most of the people in Pompeo's vicinity fail that test, i guess? lol

is Pompeo saying she made a promise not to ask about Ukraine?

I think his "two lies" were 1) that, when he asked to speak with her privately she agreed to make it "off the record", but when he used that opportunity to dump a bucket of verbal shit on her head she disclosed that he did so, and 2) that she pointed to Ukraine on the unlabeled map and he thought she pointed to (wtf?) Bangladesh.

Characterizing these as "two lies" is about as disingenuous as possible for a person who just threw a huge tantrum and expected no repercussions.

1) that, when he asked to speak with her privately she agreed to make it "off the record"
2) that she pointed to Ukraine on the unlabeled map and he thought she pointed to (wtf?) Bangladesh

think the other accused 'lie' is that she had 'promised' not to ask about ukraine in the formal interview

Claiming she made such as promise is too absurd not to look ridiculous.

yeah. the sad truth is that i wouldn't put it past a lot of "journalists" to make that promise (like a CBN reporter or a large portion of fox news). but i cannot imagine mary louise kelly agreeing to that in a million years. and during the segment itself i think she stressed that she would never agree to that.

after Pence is Pompeo the biggest christ-bitten idiot in the the admin?

well, Rick Perry's gone.

In recording Trump asks how long Ukraine can resist Russians

President Donald Trump inquired how long Ukraine would be able to resist Russian aggression without U.S. assistance during a 2018 meeting with donors that included the indicted associates of his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.

“How long would they last in a fight with Russia?” Trump is heard asking in the audio portion of a video recording, moments before he calls for the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. She was removed a year later after a campaign to discredit her by Giuliani and others, an action that is part of Democrats’ case arguing for the removal of the president in his Senate impeachment trial.

A video recording of the entire 80-minute dinner at the Trump Hotel in Washington was obtained Saturday by The Associated Press. Excerpts were first published Friday by ABC News. People can be seen in only some portions of the recording.

The recording contradicts the president’s statements that he did not know the Giuliani associates Lev Parnas or Igor Fruman, key figures in the investigation who were indicted last year on campaign finance charges. The recording came to light as Democrats continued to press for witnesses and other evidence to be considered during the impeachment trial.

On the recording, a voice that appears to be Parnas’ can be heard saying, “The biggest problem there, I think where we need to start is we got to get rid of the ambassador.” He later can be heard telling Trump: “She’s basically walking around telling everybody, ‘Wait, he’s gonna get impeached. Just wait.’”

Trump responds: “Get rid of her! Get her out tomorrow. I don’t care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. OK? Do it.”

...

Trump also tells the assembled guests that it is “ridiculous” and “wrong” that he can’t hold political fundraisers inside the White House, saying it would save the government money compared to driving him the four blocks to his hotel.

god, that last paragraph.

it's the kind of paragraph that must be used in closing. there is no point in going on after that.

i find it inspiring, in a way, that these complete dipshits manage to rise to the most powerful ranks in the world. you don't have to know things, or be smart, or have a good idea. you don't need to be a good person, you don't need to be honest. you can be a petty motherfucker every single day of your life and be proud of it. if you're a big confident white guy from kansas and you think the rapture is going to take place in our lifetime, you can do whatever the fuck you want

I’m quoting this because it is actually true for white men of all political persuasions and one of the reasons I’m so fucking angry all the goddamned time

after Pence is Pompeo the biggest christ-bitten idiot in the the admin?

We still got Carson and DeVos out there.

shitlist update: i read dark money a while back and the whole DeVos family went waaaaaay up in the rankings. the whole DeVos/Prince family alliance is fucking terrifying. they're one of the few groups of people i can imagine to erupt into an evil cackle without irony or self-awareness

ML Kelly said she wasn't even asked to go off record to get yelled at by Pompeo

There is no chance in hell that Kelly agreed to go off the record and it's unlikely Pompeo even asked. He is lying about that just like he lied about Bangladesh and about the imaginary agreement not to talk about Ukraine. I'm bummed that so many sensible people inexplicably took that part of his story at face value.

Of course she’d agree to go off the record if he asked. There’s just no way that he asked and then she took it on record.