US Politics, November 2019: These people are truly sick.

he probably did some light perjury already

Seems like this sworn testimony from Sondland could be a problem for him: pic.twitter.com/4qdCYACUpY

— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) November 15, 2019

Sondland's goin under the bus, best $1 mil he ever spent

the whole table was making "hold it!" and head shake signs to tell holmes to turn off speaker phone when he talks to the prez right?xp

That A$AP Rocky stuff bundled in...

come on, be serious

A source familiar with WH discussions said aides to the president are not happy that Sondland apparently shared his call with Trump with others: “the president speaks loudly. Sondland should know that.”

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) November 16, 2019

The President Speaks Loudly for December title.

trumpeting, trepanation

Speak loudly and carry a big schtick in your tiny hands

I just assumed this whole time that Sondland must’ve been doing that thing where you put the call on speaker and hold the phone out in front of your face

This is the tweet exemplifies the contempt Trump and his family have for public servants. They have ZERO concept of why people do jobs for anything other than money, self-promotion, or personal gain. pic.twitter.com/RzHtYFxmgv

— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) November 15, 2019

Stone: GUILTY
Manafort: GUILTY
Cohen: GUILTY
Flynn: GUILTY
Papadopoulos: GUILTY
van der Zwaan: GUILTY
Gates: GUILTY
Pinedo: GUILTY

I'm no lawyer, but I'd guess the guy who all these criminals did crimes for is probably innocent

— Zack Bornstein (@ZackBornstein) November 15, 2019

Apparently, Trump needed a pick-me-up after today's testimony, so he decided to pardon three war criminals.

Trump issues pardons in war-crimes cases, despite Pentagon opposition to the move

President Trump intervened in three military justice cases involving war-crimes accusations Friday, issuing at least two full pardons that will prevent the Pentagon from pursuing future charges against the individuals involved, according to two of their lawyers and a U.S. official.

The service members involved were notified by Trump over the phone late Friday afternoon, said the lawyers, who represent Army Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn and former Special Warfare Operator Chief Edward Gallagher, a Navy SEAL. Golsteyn faced a murder trial scheduled for next year, while Gallagher recently was acquitted of murder and convicted of posing with the corpse of an Islamic State fighter in Iraq.

The third service member involved, former 1st Lt. Clint Lorance, was expected to be released from the U.S. Military Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas as soon as Friday night. He was convicted of second-degree murder in 2013, and sentenced to 19 years in prison for ordering his soldiers to open fire on three men in Afghanistan.

Sends a real cool message to our current military

when it rains...

BREAKING: Lev Parnas had private meeting with Giuliani and Trump, later bragged he was on a "secret mission" on behalf of Trump to get Ukraine to investigate Bidens, the DNC. https://t.co/ApQ1nqXVhP

— Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) November 16, 2019

That's bullshit c'mon Trump insists he never met him

I really don't see how Republicans manage to spin this one.

dude I have said that so many times the last 4 years

I know! Trump personally telling indicted Russian thugs to go on a secret mission to get dirt on Biden is a tricky one.

i’m starting to think the rules for gop and dems are different.

"He was doing his best to protect America from those godless DEMONcrats" - there, spun.

25% of the country think it's a positive act, 15% more think it's bad but 'Democrats do even worse,' 5% more have some impulse to think that it's bad but they really like their tax cut

All these photos of white dudes bursting out of big suits.

It sure is a good thing we have Times opinion columnist Roger Cohen to interview Republican millionaires to tell us which Democrats are truly "electable":

Chuck Hardwick, lifelong Republican, former Pfizer executive, now retired in Florida, voted for Donald Trump in 2016, but not without misgivings. He’d met him in the 1980s and noted a “consuming ego.” Still, elections are about choices, and he disliked the “scheming” Clintons. He was mad at the media for first mocking Trump during the primaries and then turning on him as nominee.

Three years later, Hardwick, 78, whose political career included a stint as speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly, is unsure how he will vote in November 2020. Trump confounds him. He admires the president’s energy, his courage in taking on difficult issues like China “stealing its way to prosperity,” his corporate tax cuts, and what he sees as a revitalizing impact on American ambition.

“But if I was on a board that had hired Trump as C.E.O.,” Hardwick tells me, “I’d have to say to him: ‘You’ve got good traits but you can’t manage people. You’re fired.’”

...

Democrats have to shift sane, moderate Republicans like him their way to get over the line next November.

...

Hardwick views the impeachment inquiry as a “damaging distraction.” Trump’s reduction of a large European state, Ukraine, to a potential source of dirt on leading Democratic candidate, Vice President Joe Biden, was “not good but not worthy of impeachment.” The broader issues, for him, are Trump’s “inept, clumsy and provocative” style on issues like immigration (even if he is right to take it on); his utter fiscal irresponsibility; and a sense that a second term of Trump tantrums “would do great damage to the Republic.”

“It’s really up to the Democrats for me,” Hardwick says. Echoing in his head are Trump’s words in New Hampshire three months ago: “You have no choice but to vote for me” because otherwise everything, including those 401(k)s, is going to be “down the tubes.”

For Hardwick, Elizabeth Warren is not a choice. He likes her American story, her humble beginnings, her quick mind, but thinks she’s too far left on economic policy for the country to accept.

...

Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York mayor who has made active preparations to enter the Democratic primary, gives Hardwick a serious option to reject Trump. “I like him — no-nonsense, stable, clear-thinking, data-driven, he would do a good job and keep the economy moving. He looks better to me every day.” Anyone else? “I would not rule out voting for Biden.”

“But if I was on a board that had hired Trump as C.E.O.,” Hardwick tells me, “I’d have to say to him: ‘You’ve got good traits but you can’t manage people. You’re fired.’”

yeah trump def has good traits. generosity, humility, humor, compassion -- for sure -- the issue is his efficacy as a manager.

a Republican politician is probably gonna vote for Trump, oh noes

man I’m starting to think success & wealth are not the indicators of intelligence and industriousness that I was led to believe

lol that hardwick guy, i mean, dont know his details but he wouldn’t get a foursome at the club, too dumb, maybe not cynical enough. the few i’ve talked to know EXACTLY what trump does and that he’s a crooked lucky dope, which is one reason i didnt think the gop would ride or die.

also your 401(k)s somehow miraculously survived Clinton and Obama

just not their healthcare 'reforms'

Louisiana (barely) Dem (barely) Gov. wins reelection? Reportedly.

Yea he's anti-abortion, pro-gun.

Whoopee.

True, but it is another finger in Trump's eye. He rallied for Rispone Thursday and said "You've got to give me a big win, OK?"

also more mdeicaid

Sends a real cool message to our current military

I mean the military probably thinks so

xxp excellent, thanks

"The military" is not monolithic. Please note they were the guys who prosecuted the guys Trump pardoned.

john bel edwards wins in louisiana, 51.3% to 48.7%!!!

wider margin than i expected

whoa

AND Tim Morrison in the House for his closed door deposition pic.twitter.com/Ldozeg5DI1

— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) October 31, 2019

someone's gonna have a hard time dealing with a super tall guy testifying against him

The tan midlength trench is an odd choice over a dark suit on such a tall guy

(I would have gone with a navy wool overcoat, or no overcoat, given that it wasn't raining. If it's rainy but not too cold, go with a full trenchcoat. That said, tan works best with earthtones, so I still woulda gone with blue or even black with his ensemble.)

The Louisiana loss came after three Trump visits, no less.

I'm a total Trump medical emergency truther by the way. Spontaneous visit to Walter Reed for a partial physical (?) with no advance warning or advance secret service team, that nonetheless still lasted two hours? Um, right.

maybe he was eating his Big Macs rectally

This deleted tweet from Fox News is...interesting:

They deleted this tweet. I’m still sticking with he overdosed. pic.twitter.com/kvgjpg76c6

— Hoodlum 🇺🇸 (@HoodlumRIP) November 17, 2019

Ah, never mind, I fell for an obvious hoax. (Still, it is intriguing that his entire daily schedule has been cleared the day after that unscheduled trip to Walter Reed...)

Somebody got their dick stuck in the hot dog roller at 7-11 for real this time.

OMG Argh WHY are NYT & WaPo still running the "white ppl in a heartlandy diner" story?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/in-a-battleground-town-sharp-divisions-over-impeachment-but-few-changed-minds/2019/11/15/9c8b1f9e-04cf-11ea-ac12-3325d49eacaa_story.html

any excuse to eat hash browns

Once again we pay the price for James Hodgkinson's bad aim.

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise on Sunday voiced his support for President Donald Trump’s pardons of two Army officers who were accused of war crimes, arguing the move boosts morale in the military.

"I've heard, from our men and women in uniform for years that they felt that they were sidelined because they needed a team of attorneys before they could return fire in the battlefield," the Louisiana Republican said on “Fox News Sunday.” “I think our troops' morale is much higher — troops that I've heard from — because this has been a concern."

Mystery continues: CNN: Typically, Walter Reed's medical staff would get a general notice about a "VIP" visit to the medical center ahead of a presidential visit. That did not happen this time, indicating the visit was a non-routine visit and scheduled last minute.

— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) November 17, 2019

You know, just getting a start on his annual physical less than a year since his last one, nbd.