At the risk of stating the obvious, the July 2019 US Politics Thread is horse-sh*t

(he finished)

epstein's wealth is newsworthy because there is strong circumstantial evidence he got it by blackmail

Desperate times...

The crimes committed by Epstein are horrific, and I am pleased that NY prosecutors are moving forward with a case based on new evidence.

— Secretary Acosta (@SecretaryAcosta) July 9, 2019

The White House already considering dumping him?

Labor Secretary Alex Acosta’s standing in the Trump administration was in peril even before the indictment of Jeffrey Epstein cast a fresh spotlight on the former prosecutor’s role in a decade-old plea deal for the financier, according to several people familiar with the matter.

Corporate lobbyists and some White House officials have grown frustrated that Acosta hasn’t moved fast enough on deregulation and other business-friendly initiatives, the people said. No decision has been made on Acosta’s future in the administration, they added, though two people said that his time is short.

As a U.S. attorney in South Florida in 2008, Acosta brokered a plea agreement in secret with Epstein that allowed him to escape serious punishment for earlier allegations of sexual misconduct. Acosta’s dealings with Epstein are under renewed scrutiny after federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged Epstein on Monday with sex trafficking and conspiracy.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-08/acosta-s-standing-in-white-house-was-eroding-even-before-epstein

not sure how much mileage anyone can get from Trump speaking of Epstein and his taste for young women in glowing terms but obv if Obama said it he'd already have been impeached

Corporate lobbyists and some White House officials have grown frustrated that Acosta hasn’t moved fast enough on deregulation and other business-friendly initiatives, the people said

he just wasn't doing a good enough job at representing everything his own agency is supposed to protect us from

Obama said it he'd already have been impeached

obama would have been impeached several thousand times by now, if he did what trump did

nah Republicans would be too concerned about blowback lolololol

So 45 is going to war on my hometown for stopping recitation of the pledge of allegiance before city council meetings, is it?

Make it make sense, argh...

stuff like that plays well to a good chunk of his base

jeez, there sure is a lot of news about the rampant corruption of the trump administration, could it be possible that even a small fraction of these things are actually real and aren't fake ne--**PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE IS UNDER ATTACK** **sprints toward bright colors and moving objects*

on his first day, bannon probably handed him a list of 20 such "issues" that could be used as emergency distractions

anyone involved with forcing people to say the pledge of allegiance should be embarrassed

people who force children to say it should embarrassed and publicly shamed

and then forced to recite whatever bullshit pledge i come up with, on the spot

a toledo salamanca?

it's a sword -- a very rare sword.

is it worth much?

only about a million bucks.

*whistles*

Ross Perot was a champion for veterans' rights and ahead of his time on disastrous trade policies. During his campaign, he explained, in depth, how he would address our national problems and spurred serious discussion. Ross Perot was a one-of-a kind American. He will be missed. pic.twitter.com/qXukirfwcL

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 9, 2019

i had missed this fun tidbit about john kelly:

And when I say close ties, we’re talking about personal rewards as well as campaign contributions. A couple of months ago John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of staff, joined the board of Caliburn International, which runs the infamous Homestead detention center for migrant children.

(from krugman's latest column)

I think it's entirely possible that Clinton, dirty as he is, had no involvement in anything skeegy with Epstein. It's entirely possible Trump didn't either. But this looks worse for Trump since he commented publicly years ago about how much he and Epstein both like beautiful women and mentioned Epstein liking the young ones, plus he was already accused of a rape here.

"epstein's wealth is newsworthy because there is strong circumstantial evidence he got it by blackmail"

yeah there are serious questions about how this guy was so fucking wealthy given that no one seems to have done any business with him.

xp

fwiw, bill clinton was also accused of rape:

https://www.vox.com/2016/1/6/10722580/bill-clinton-juanita-broaddrick

I just realized Ross Perot died and it wasn't an early Thursday pelosi whatever and who fucking cares. Get a grip people.

I know clinton was accused of rape, he just wasn't accused of rape in the context of Epstein, and Trump was.

the blackmail thing is wild because, like, that's a whole lot of blackmail to be able to live like that

also suggests that he will completely flip if there's anything that implicates literally anyone else

Trump was also accused of barging into the dressing room of the teen beauty pageant he held, hoping see a little flesh, I presume.

trump's accusation in this from 2016 was a very direct and explicit claim that he raped a 16 year old at Epstein's, and then that case just completely vanished. Lawyer said she received death threats. Now, who knows; maybe it was an opportunistic claim; maybe it wasn't. People are saying though! People are saying!

XP ^^Think he bragged about that, actually.

i mean it's probably just common or garden global offshore corruption, but you don't have to be a qanon person to think about blackmail in this situation.

I think about that 2016 accusation a lot, and how something like that would have sank nearly anyone else's bid for public office. Especially since her claim lines up with so many "Trump raped me" stories.

Turns out that every single one of the 24+ women who have accused trump of sexual misconduct are lying. Just like Christine Blasey Ford, although in that case she wasn’t lying about being assaulted, she just wasn’t remembering the past correctly

this accusation though...I mean, it's way more sinister and awful than any of the other ones, so over-the-top that I have a hard time believing even Trump is capable of it. then again, he's one of the worst human beings on the planet, so he probably is.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/3/13501364/trump-rape-13-year-old-lawsuit-katie-johnson-allegation

Erick Erickson, as clever as a fox.

If Epstein had done what he did with teenage boys and dressed them in drag, undoubtedly a number of people out to get him would instead be defending him.

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 9, 2019

just a guy who really understands how the world works

to be fair, both zero and one are numbers

How soon before Pelosi outlives her usefulness to the financial sponsors of the Democratic Party and they are compelled to replace her with a younger, smoother and more adroit enforcer of the neoliberal agenda?https://t.co/tdWRitS011

— Jeffrey St. Clair (@JSCCounterPunch) July 9, 2019

I don't know. How soon?

year and a half

lightning speed in Dem plutocrat time

financial sponsors = the jews yes?

taking notes, want to make sure I have this right for when the revolution comes

there is no bloody revolution

also youre quite an obtuse shit, aintcha

besos

qanon right again:

White House pulls cartoonist Ben Garrison’s invite to social media summit over anti-Semitic cartoon https://t.co/x1sHqFoDA3

— Will Sommer (@willsommer) July 10, 2019

grab 'em by the caddy

President Donald Trump's golf resort in Doral, Florida, is scheduled to host a golf tournament Saturday put on by a Miami-area strip club, which will allow golfers to pay for a dancer to serve as their "caddy girl" while they play at the president's club.

The "Shadow All Star Tournament" is organised by the Shadow Cabaret, a strip club in Hialeah, Florida. Emanuele Mancuso, Shadow Cabaret's marketing director, said in a telephone interview that this was the first time the club had held a tournament at Trump Doral.

The Trump name and family crest are displayed prominently in the strip club's advertising materials, which offer golfers the "caddy girl of your choice."

Mr Mancuso said the strip club did not intend to send a political statement by choosing Trump's resort. Rather, he said, the choice was for luxury. These golfers are VIPs, Mr Mancuso said. "They deserve a VIP environment."

Mr Mancuso said there would be no nudity at the resort. On the course, he said, the caddies would wear pink miniskirts and what he called "a sexy white polo."

Afterward, however, the golfers and the dancers would return to another venue – the cabaret itself – for what he described as a "very tasteful" burlesque show, which could involve nudity.

"They're going to be clothed the whole time" at the golf course, Mancuso said. "At the venue is different."

In a statement, the Trump Organisation confirmed the event is happening and said it was for a "worthwhile cause" – a Miami children's charity. A spokeswoman said the company had not approved the tournament's advertisements before they were published.

In a statement, the Trump Organisation confirmed the event is happening and said it was for a "worthwhile cause" – a Miami children's charity.

Tits for Tots, iirc

good morning!

*golf clap* xp

i really dislike playbook and jake sherman's whole shtick

he looks like NKOTB's Joey McIntyre before he got cute.

um, as the younger brother of a new kids obsessive, i must say that MANY adolescents thought joey was super cute BEFORE he got...cuter. my sister used to tell tales of a mythical concert in which joey's voice changed during the show

uh let me point out that Jon Knight was The Cute One. Rarely is the Gay One also the Cute One.

Kim Darroch did an outstanding job as Ambassador and sorry to see he has resigned his post.

He got a raw deal from press.

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) July 10, 2019