;)
August 18, 2022
Afternoon Update:
Patricia Mazzei & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "A federal judge ordered the government on Thursday to propose redactions to the highly sensitive affidavit that was used to justify a search warrant executed by the F.B.I. last week at ... Donald J. Trump's private home and club, saying he was inclined to unseal parts of it. Ruling from the bench, the judge, Bruce E. Reinhart, said it was 'very important' that the public have as 'much information' as it can about the historic search at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump's Florida residence, noting that there were portions of the affidavit that 'could be presumptively unsealed.'... Judge Reinhart's decision appeared to strike a middle course between the Justice Department, which had wanted to keep the affidavit entirely under wraps as its investigation into Mr. Trump's handling of classified documents continued, and a group of news organizations, which requested that it be released in full to the public....
"... Although Mr. Trump himself has called on social media for the affidavit to be released -- echoing similar demands made by congressional allies like Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina -- his lawyers were conspicuously absent from the legal proceeding surrounding the unsealing process. At any time, Mr. Trump could have filed papers asking Judge Reinhart to make the affidavit public, but he chose not to."
Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "One of Donald J. Trump's most trusted executives pleaded guilty on Thursday to conspiring with Mr. Trump's company to carry out a long-running tax scheme, an admission that painted a damning picture of the former president's family business but did not advance a broader investigation into the man himself. As part of the plea deal with the Manhattan district attorney's office, the executive, Allen H. Weisselberg, is required to testify at the company's trial if prosecutors choose to call on him, and to admit his role in conspiring with Mr. Trump's company to carry out the tax scheme."
Wyoming. They Lie Even When They Win. Olivia Beavers of Politico: "After Donald Trump-backed Harriet Hageman claimed Wednesday night that Rep. Liz Cheney never fully conceded their Wyoming GOP primary race, the defeated incumbent released her receipts. Hageman told Fox News that Cheney had 'left a very brief two-second message on my cell phone' Tuesday night, without addressing 'any kind of concession or anything else.' According to audio provided by the Cheney campaign to Politico, however, Cheney called Hageman to concede the race at 8:13 p.m. on Tuesday night. Audible in the recording is an aide notifying Cheney that the Associated Press had just called the race for her opponent. 'Hi, Harriet, it is Liz Cheney calling,' Cheney is heard saying in the audio. 'It is about 8:13 on Tuesday the 16th, I'm calling to concede the election and congratulate you on the win. Thanks.' The recording contradicts the narrative Hageman offered host Sean Hannity on Wednesday about Cheney's call on primary night.... Cheney added that she never heard back from Hageman."
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Sharon La Franiere of the New York Times: "Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on Wednesday delivered a sweeping rebuke of her agency's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying it had failed to respond quickly enough and needed to be overhauled. In a meeting with senior staff, Dr. Walensky outlined in broad terms a plan to reorganize the agency's structure to prioritize public health needs and efforts to curb continuing outbreaks, and to put less emphasis on publication of scientific papers about rare diseases. The steps announced on Wednesday grew out of an external review Dr. Walensky had ordered in April, after months of scathing criticism of the C.D.C.'s response to the pandemic. Its public messages on masking and other mitigation measures were sometimes so confusing or abruptly modified that they seemed more like internal drafts than carefully considered proclamations. The public guidance has been 'confusing and overwhelming,' according to a briefing document provided by the agency. Leaders of the agency's Covid team rotated out after only a few months, leaving other senior federal health officials unsure about who was in charge. And important data were sometimes inexplicably released too late to inform federal decisions...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post: :The Federal Trade Commission is threatening to sue an adtech company it alleges reveals people's visits to sensitive locations, including women's reproductive health clinics, according to a lawsuit against the agency. The agency's proposed complaint, against Idaho-based Kochava, argues the company violates laws that prohibit 'unfair or deceptive practices' by allowing its customers to license data collected from mobile devices that can identify people and track their visits to health-care providers. In addition to women's reproductive health clinics, the agency argues that the data can be used to trace people to therapists' offices, addiction recovery centers and other medical facilities.... The action is an early indication of how the agency might assert itself as a defender of health-related data, in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade inJune."
Anna Swanson of the New York Times: "The Biden administration said on Wednesday that it would begin formal trade negotiations with Taiwan this fall, after several weeks of rising tensions over the island democracy that China claims as its own. The announcement marks a step toward a pact that would deepen economic and technological ties between the United States and Taiwan, after initial talks were announced in June."
Everything Is Going Very, Very Smoothly
Uh Oh. Alan Feuer, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors investigating the role that ... Donald J. Trump and his allies played in the events leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol have issued a grand jury subpoena to the National Archives for all the documents the agency provided to a parallel House select committee inquiry, according to a copy of the subpoena obtained by The New York Times. The subpoena, issued to the National Archives in May, made a sweeping demand for 'all materials, in whatever form' that the archives had given to the Jan. 6 House committee. Those materials included records from the files of Mr. Trump's top aides, his daily schedule and phone logs and a draft text of the president's speech that preceded the riot. It was signed by Thomas P. Windom, the federal prosecutor who has been leading the Justice Department's wide-ranging inquiry into what part Mr. Trump and his allies may have played in various schemes to maintain power ... -- chief among them a plan to submit fake slates of pro-Trump electors in states actually won by Joseph R. Biden Jr."
Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "Allen H. Weisselberg, for decades one of Donald J. Trump's most trusted executives, has reached a deal to plead guilty on Thursday and admit to participating in a long-running tax scheme at the former president's family business -- a serious blow to the company that could heighten its risk in an upcoming trial on related charges. Mr. Weisselberg will have to admit to all 15 felonies that prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney's office accused him of, according to people with knowledge of the matter. And if he is called as a witness at the company's trial in October, he will have to testify about his role in the scheme to avoid paying taxes on lavish corporate perks, the people said. But Mr. Weisselberg will not implicate Mr. Trump or his family if he takes the stand in that trial, the people said, and he has refused to cooperate with prosecutors in their broader investigation into Mr. Trump, who has not been accused of wrongdoing. Even so, his potential testimony will put the Trump Organization at a disadvantage and is likely to make Mr. Weisselberg a central witness at the October trial, where the company will face many of the same charges." The AP's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: This deal is a bit perplexing. It sounds as if Weisselberg could testify to something like, "Yes, the company policy was to violate the laws, but I'm not going to tell you whether or not Trump or Junior approved it." Update: Andrew Weissmann, appearing on MSNBC, said Weisselberg's deal is still bad news for Trump. Since Trump signed the checks, it will hardly be difficult for the prosecution to establish that Trump was in on the scam.
Richard Fausset of the New York Times: Rudy Giuliani "showed up shortly before 8:30 a.m. to appear before a Fulton County[, Georgia,] special grand jury conducting a criminal investigation into postelection meddling by Mr. Trump and his associates. Local prosecutors informed Mr. Giuliani's lawyers this week that he was a 'target' in that investigation, meaning that his indictment was possible." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Update. New Lede: "Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former lawyer for Donald J. Trump and a target in the criminal investigation into Mr. Trump's efforts to overturn Georgia's results in the 2020 presidential election, spent hours behind closed doors on Wednesday taking questions as part of a special grand jury proceeding. But a lawyer for Mr. Giuliani declined to say whether he answered any of them." ~~~
~~~ Matthew Brown & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis achieved a long-sought goa Wednesday, with former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani appearing for six hours before a grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election.... Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) filed a 121-page motion late Wednesday alleging that the sweeping probe was being pursued 'for improper political purposes,' and asking the court to kill a subpoena requiring his testimony later this month. Giuliani's attorneys declined to offer substantive details of his appearance, citing grand jury secrecy rules, but one of them said it had gone smoothly."
Alan Feuer & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Former Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday called on Republicans to stop attacking the nation's top law enforcement agencies over the F.B.I.'s search of Mar-a-Lago..., Donald J. Trump's Palm Beach, Fla., home.... Speaking at a political event in New Hampshire, Mr. Pence said that Republicans could hold the Justice Department and the F.B.I. accountable for their decisions 'without attacking the rank-and-file law enforcement personnel.'... Mr. Pence also said on Wednesday that he would consider talking to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol -- the clearest indication to date that he might be willing to participate in the panel's ongoing efforts." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) A Guardian report is here.
Ah, Here's a Ray of Trumpy Sunshine. Josh Dawsey & Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump bombarded his supporters with more than 100 emails asking for money based on the FBI's search of the Mar-a-Lago Club for classified materials last week. They paid off. Contributions to Trump's political action committee topped $1 million on at least two days after the Aug. 8 search of his Palm Beach, Fla., estate, according to two people familiar with the figures. The daily hauls jumped from a level of $200,000 to $300,000 that had been typical in recent months.... The donations stayed unusually high for several more days and are still above average, both of these people said, though they have leveled off in recent days. There are more contributors than usual, these people said, and the average donation has climbed."
Jordan Libowitz & Lauren White of CREW: "The Secret Service knew of a threat to Nancy Pelosi on January 6th days before the insurrection, but did not pass it along until hours after the Capitol had been breached, according to Secret Service emails obtained by CREW. On January 4, Secret Service agents discovered a Parler account, which we've chosen not to name, posting a series of violent threats towards lawmakers.... At 5:55 pm on January 6, after hours of defending the United States Capitol from a violent mob, the United States Capitol Police received the post along with a message from the Secret Service: 'Good afternoon, The US Secret Service is passing notification to the US Capitol Police regarding discovery of a social media threat directed toward Speaker Nancy Pelosi.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) A CNN report is here.
Will Steakin, et al., of ABC News: "In June of this year, seven weeks before the FBI raided ... Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in search of classified materials, former Defense Department appointee and outspoken Trump loyalist Kash Patel vowed to retrieve classified documents from the National Archives and publish them on his website. Trump had just issued a letter instructing the National Archives to grant Patel and conservative journalist John Solomon access to nonpublic administration records, according to reporting at the time.... Patel claimed Trump's White House counsel had blocked the release of those documents, and instead had them delivered to the National Archives.... 'I'm going to identify every single document that they blocked from being declassified at the National Archives, and we're going to start putting that information out next week,' [Patel said on a June 22 podcast].... 'I know what's there' in the Archives, said Patel [June 23]. 'I can't still talk about them, but the whole process is going to be: Identify the documents, whether it's Russiagate, Hunter Biden, impeachment, Jan 6th -- and put them out.'... As of last month, Patel was still pursuing his plan to publish documents currently in the National Archives." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Patel's threat then seems to be to damage Trump's political opponents. But this type of threat also suggests that Michael Cohen, whom I mentioned yesterday, was right when he hypothesized that Trump was retaining classified documents to use as leverage in the event the DOJ threatened to bring criminal charges against him. Update: Former DOJ prosecutor Andrew Weissmann suggested on MSNBC that Patel's threat probably alarmed the DOJ & caused increased urgency in collecting the secret documents Trump had squirreled away at Mar-a-Lago. ~~~
~~~ Update 2. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times addresses the Big Question: "Why did [Trump] insist on refusing to turn over government papers that by law did not belong to him, igniting another legal conflagration?... Here are the main possibilities. [1] Mr. Trump, a pack rat who for decades showed off knickknacks in his overstuffed Trump Tower office -- including a giant shoe that once belonged to the basketball player Shaquille O'Neal -- treated the nation's secrets as similar trinkets to brandish. [2] Mr. Trump embodied Louis XIV's phrase .L'état, c'est moi,' or 'I am the state.'... [3] Mr. Trump had little interest in the security of government documents or protocols to keep them protected.... Over time, Mr. Trump bristled against the guardrails people tried placing on him.... [4] [Some] advisers wondered if Mr. Trump kept some documents because they contained details about people he knew." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Haberman never says a word about the blackmail motive Michael Cohen suggested. I don't suppose the Times would let her do so if she had wanted to. It would be an accusation presented without evidence: a very Trumpy thing to do, of course, by not a journalistic thing. However, Haberman does drop a couple of clues that back up Cohen's blackmail hypothesis: "[Trump] sometimes asked to keep material after his intelligence briefings, but aides said he was so uninterested in the paperwork during the briefings themselves that they never understood what he wanted it for." And "Among the items that presidents are given on overseas trips are biographies of foreign leaders, a former administration official said. One version is unclassified and fairly routine. But the other is classified and can contain numerous personal details. One of the files the F.B.I. seized at Mar-a-Lago was marked 'info re: President of France,' about Emmanuel Macron."
Paul Kane of the Washington Post: Liz "Cheney used her defiant concession speech Tuesday night, after losing badly in the GOP primary to Trump's handpicked candidate, to promise a sustained campaign against the ex-president and his allies. She surrendered her rising-star status in Congress in a sacrificial manner toward a higher calling to take on the most powerful figure in her increasingly conspiratorial political party.... Congressional historians say ... What Cheney has done, in sacrificing her seat and yet fighting to the finish without wavering, is just not common in this era.... She has gained a level of attention that now dwarfs almost every other member of Congress, commanding a platform that all but a handful of other Republicans in the Capitol have attempted." Video of Cheney's concession speech is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
If you have a Washington Post subscription, you will want to listen to George Conway's dramatic reading of his Donald Trump-cookies column (August 16). Audio and column here. It's worth reading the very end of the column. (If you don't have a WashPo subscription, you can make due with a dramatic reading by comedian & Trump impersonator J-L Cauvin.) (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jan Hoffman of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Wednesday ordered three of the nation's largest pharmacy chains -- CVS, Walgreens and Walmart — to pay $650.5 million to two Ohio counties, ruling that the companies must be held accountable for their part in fueling the opioid epidemic. The decision is a companion piece to a November jury verdict that found the companies had continued to dispense mass quantities of prescription painkillers over the years while ignoring flagrant signs that the pills were being abused. The ruling is the first by a federal judge that assigns a firm money figure against the pharmacy chains for their roles in the opioid crisis. Here, the judge, Dan A. Polster of United States District Court in northern Ohio, who has overseen more than 3,000 cases in the opioid litigation, ruled that the pharmacies bore responsibility for one-third of the amount that Ohio's hard-hit Lake and Trumbull counties need to address the continuing damage wrought by the epidemic.... Representatives for CVS, Walgreens and Walmart ... said their companies would appeal."
Beyond the Beltway
Florida. Sam Levine of the Guardian: "Florida Republicans intentionally targeted Black voters when they enacted new voting restrictions last year, the justice department said in a court filing on Wednesday. The department told a federal appellate court that a lower court had correctly evaluated claims of racial discrimination when it came to Florida's new law. In March, US District Judge Mark Walker blocked new restrictions on the availability of absentee ballot drop boxes, regulations for third party voter registration groups, and a ban on providing food and water to people standing in line to vote. The US court of appeals for the 11th circuit paused that ruling earlier this year while it considers an appeal from Florida officials."
Florida. Matt Dixon of Politico: "Ousted Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit arguing Gov. Ron DeSantis abused his power when suspending him from office over, among other things, a pledge to not prosecute women who violate Florida's new 15-week abortion ban.... Warren's lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court Northern District of Florida, alleges that DeSantis violated his First Amendment rights by suspending him for signing a pledge to not prosecute women for seeking abortions and his public statements opposing the criminalization of transgender people. He is asking the court to throw out DeSantis' executive order used to suspended him and to rule governors are not allowed to take similar actions moving forward. It also alleges DeSantis overstepped his authority to suspend elected officials from office because he did so with Warren only for signing pledges, rather than in response to an official action." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Florida. Another Teenager Forced to Give Birth. Brittany Shammas & Kim Bellware of the Washington Post: "A Florida appeals court on Monday upheld a ruling that denied a 16-year-old an abortion out of concern she lacked the maturity to make the decision, despite her statements that she 'is not ready to have a baby.' The teenager, described in court documents as 'almost seventeen years-old and parentless' and identified only as Jane Doe 22-B, had submitted a handwritten petition seeking a waiver of the state's parental notification and consent requirements. Under Florida law, an abortion generally cannot be performed on a minor without the consent of a parent or guardian. In her petition, according to the appeals court, the teenager wrote that she is still in school and doesn't have a job, and that 'the father is unable to assist her.' Court records indicate she was 10 weeks pregnant at the time she sought a court's permission to end her pregnancy." ~~~
~~~ Marie: It is clear that anti-abortion laws not only sharply curtailed women's rights, they also attack children's rights. Cruelty is the point.
Massachusetts. Derek Hawkins & Meena Venkataramanan of the Washington Post: "New England's largest pediatric hospital said Wednesday that it was fending off a torrent of threats and harassment targeting staffers who treat transgender patients after conservative influencers attacked them in false and misleading social media posts. Boston Children's Hospital said it asked law enforcement for help protecting its employees and patients after facing 'a large volume of hostile internet activity, phone calls, and harassing emails including threats of violence toward our clinicians and staff.' It said the threats began last week after Twitter accounts popular on the far right circulated what the hospital called misinformation about its transgender care."
North Carolina Congressional Race. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Trump-endorsed congressional candidate Bo Hines, the Republican nominee from North Carolina's 13th District, weighed in recently on all the talk about the United States becoming a banana republic, one of those nominal democracies where the rule of law is shaky. But Hines, a former college football player, spoke as if everybody was referring to Banana Republic, the clothing retailer. 'A lot of people have likened the situation going on right now, is, you know, they say we're in a Banana Republic,' he told radio host John Fredericks. 'I think that's an insult to Banana Republics across the country. I mean, at least the manager of Banana Republic, unlike our president, knows where he is and why he's there and what he's doing.' Hines's campaign retroactively labeled this 'a joke.' Ha!... Misunderstanding a universal idiom, particularly while maligning President Biden's mental acuity, suggests Hines is just not very PetSmart." After running through some other politicians' gaffes, Milbank suggests some new clothing lines for Republicans. ~~~
~~~ Marie: In fairness to Hines, I'm certain there are some politics-related sports memes I just don't get. I would not, however, try to use them in a sentence. I recall that when Massachusetts Senate candidate Martha Coakley (D) caught heat for responding to a question about a star Red Sox pitcher with a gaffe, I thought I would have responded to the question with, "I have no idea." Because I didn't. As for Martha, she lost to the intellectually-challenged Cosmo centerfold ex-Senator Scott Brown (R) in what was, at the time, a critical election.
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Thursday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Thursday are here: "U.N. Secretary General António Guterres is in Ukraine to review progress on a deal to release the country's grain exports, and strikes overnight pummeled Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city.... The U.N. chief will meet the leaders of Ukraine and Turkey to address the nuclear threat from an escalation in fighting around the Zaporizhzhia plant in southern Ukraine.... Ukraine is activating a unit under the command of its special forces to attack far behind Russian lines, its defense minister said in an interview.... Kharkiv had one of its 'most tragic' nights in the war, the region's governor said early Thursday, describing Russian strikes.... Rescuers worked through the night in Kharkiv to douse fires and clear rubble, photos showed."
Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: "Over the past six months, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has become an inspiring wartime leader and champion of his country. During an hour-long, wide-ranging interview with The Washington Post at the presidential office, where hallways are kept dark and are lined with sandbags to protect against Russian attack, Zelensky discussed U.S. warnings about Russia preparing to launch a full-scale invasion -- and if he believed them. [This] is a translated and lightly edited transcript of excerpts from the interview. The full transcript will be published at a later date." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Julian Borger of the Guardian: "Nineteen retired US generals and former officials have called on the Biden administration to step up the pace of arms supplies to Ukraine or run the risk of 'unintentionally seizing defeat from the jaws of victory'. They said that the US was providing enough weaponry to ensure a stalemate but not sufficient to help Ukraine recapture territory seized by Russia. The former officers, diplomats and other officials argue the administration is inhibited by fear of triggering a Russian escalation, possibly involving nuclear weapons -- but they argue that failure to defeat Vladimir Putin in Ukraine increases the danger of a confrontation with Moscow later 'on less favourable grounds'."
Saudi Arabia. Sarah Dadouch & Annabelle Timsit of the Washington Post: "Saudi Arabia quietly sentenced a woman last week to 34 years in prison over her Twitter activity, marking the longest Saudi sentence ever for a peaceful activist and launching a fresh wave of fear among the government's detractors, three rights groups said. The woman, Salma al-Shehab, was detained in January 2021 in Saudi Arabia, where she was on vacation, days before the Saudi citizen and mother of two was set to return to her home in Britain, according to rights groups. The charges against the 33-year-old all revolved around her Twitter activity, according to court documents. Shehab had been active on the social media platform during campaigns demanding the abolition of the country's guardianship system, which gives men legal control over certain aspects of female relatives' lives. She had called for the freeing of Saudi prisoners of conscience."
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Reader Comments (12)
Marie posited that “…Trump was retaining classified documents to use as leverage in the event the DOJ threatened to bring criminal charges against him”, otherwise known as blackmail, which I’m pretty sure is still a crime here in the real world, if not in the twisted minds of Trump and his goon Patel. Do these guys really think they’re being smart?
Shopping with Dr. Oz!
Does registering as a Republican automatically make you stoopid or are you already stoopid? Inquiring minds want to know. Well, they don’t want to get too close to the answer, it might be catching.
So, in addition to Banana Republic boy (I’m sorry, that is just too funny, not to mention revealing…yeah, it was bad for Martha Coakley—worse for us—that she didn’t know much about Curt Schilling, well known Red Sox pitcher, Nazi fan, Trump lover, and scam artist, but her lack of local baseball lore had nothing to do with her qualifications for office. This Bo dude, whatever his name is, demonstrates a startling ignorance of basic political knowledge if he is a unable to recognize a term as frequently used as “banana republic”, ergo demonstrating a level of unfitness far below grade) there is Doktor Oz.
Did you see that video of him pretending to be a reg’lar guy in the grocery store? Holeee Shit, Batman. He jams in four of five howlers in less than 30 seconds. First, he gets the name of the store wrong (doesn’t know where he is). He sez the broccoli (he calls it A broccoli) is $2 when it’s $2/lb. The maid must do the shopping.
Then, for what is supposed to be some kind of veggie tray, he grabs a bag of carrots that would feed Peter, Mopsy, Flopsy, Cottontail, their mom, and Mr. and Mrs. McGregor for an entire winter. Geez. Short on the beta carotene there, Doc?
He grabs some guac, okay, but then he grabs a container of fresh salsa (who dips broccoli and carrots in salsa??) and whines that it costs $5. Um, yeah. That’s about what fresh salsa costs, more if you go to Whole Foods or some place like that. Anyone who has ever picked up chips and salsa for a Super Bowl party knows you can get a jar of Tostitos or Taco Bell salsa for about half that price two aisles over.
So, he sort of concludes, $20!!! Thanks, Joe!! Ohhh-kaaay. I’m pretty sure Biden doesn’t control the price of broccoli or salsa. Higher prices are the result of the pandemic. If you want to blame anyone, blame the asshole who sponsored you.
And finally, ol’ Doc Ozzie sez…(wow) “And that doesn’t even include the tequila!” Tequila? With a veggie tray?? Must be different kinds of snacking among the Rich and Famous. Which brings us to…crudités!!
He wants to come off like a regular guy at the grocery store, pissed at Biden for the high prices (like $20 is going to break Dr. Oz), so he says “Hey Bubba, c’mon, let’s pick up some stuff for the game, maybe some crudités”. Hahaha. Yeah, okay. Just picture this idiot sidling up to a couple of Joe Sixpacks in a bar watching a Phillies game. He nudges one of the guys and says “Jesus. Have you guys shopped for Coquille St. Jacques lately? Prices are outrageous!” Then the guys punch him out because they think he’s referring to some obscure sex act.
Regular guy, my ass. Douchebag is more like it.
Anyway, in his honor, and because there’s not much to laugh about these days, I resurrect Bad Limerick Time:
f you’ve a hankerin’ to make crudités
You can watch Mehmet’s vid as it plays
It seems in ‘sylvania
He’s clearly insania
Or “Just sad” as ol’ Fatty might say
Pass the broccoli and tequila.
https://twitter.com/partiottakes/status/1559551053934247936
Lauren Boebert describes how her FART team monitors bills on the
floor.
Sounds like they've been eating too much crudite and salsa.
I serve mine with Ranch dressing, unless of course, the guests are
from Mexico.
Ak! you done stole my comments re: that doctor in name only whose bout with veggies in a store in which he botched the name is hilarious and you did it beautifully!!! This guy has been in his own Oz world forever milking his make believe treatments on T.V. and now thinks he can do the same in politics.
So––-I'm going with a wee fractured Sondheim this morning just for fun cuz right now we need it.
THE LADIES WHO LUNCH
Here's to the ladies who lunch–-isn't it a gas!
spreading their blanket just so
on Forest Morris' very green grass.
They munch on their lunch,
they praise Donald Trump
and when through scatter their leftovers
in a hump–– on Forest Morris' very green grass,
Then off to the gym, then to a fitting
claiming they're fat
And looking grim cause they've been sitting
too long on Forest Morris' very green grass.
I'll drink to that!
@P.D.Pepe: Praise be!
And yesterday as I was kneeling on my kneeling pad, trimming the
ivy back in front of the house, a man walks past me and up onto the
porch and rings the door bell.
I said 'may I help you?' yes, I'm looking for the owner. My wife would
like to tour the garden and ask some questions.
Sorry, they're at their summer place in Switzerland.
I gladly give tours (even to Betsy) but I didn't care for his attitude.
Just because I'm dressed in dirty gardening clothes and working,
I can't own a house and garden. Some people.
We have read many times recently that candidates such as Bo Hines and Herschel Walker, and many others, are "unfit" beause they frequently demonstrate that they are ignorant, ill-informed, lying, mentally challenged, etc.
However, to their Red state R voters, they are totally fit, because what those voters want is ONLY a person who will ALWAYS vote against ANY legislative action proposed by Democrats and always FOR any legislative action proposed by Republicans. They are not looking for thoughtful, informed, proponents of good government. A trained seal would work just fine (actually, sea lion, but ...)
The US Congress looks more like a duma filled with apparatchiks, every cycle. Vote right and you get to keep the dacha and the Zil; wrong, and you get shchee and kasha in a pail for life.
As usual…
So the CDC is making its apology tour. No doubt plenty of large agencies could use some tightening up and a more careful approach to their mission, but the person who really needs to apologize for the CDC’s kerfuffles and misses during all days of the pandemic is Donald Trump.
As usual, news outlets are doing their patented stenographic reporting on the CDC’s announcement, not bothering with vital context.
ALL blame for the early mixed messages from the CDC and later jumbled public announcements must be laid at the door of President* Liar. If you recall, early warnings from the CDC about the dangers of Covid 19 angered the Orange Menace. He demanded they shut down any and all press releases about the disease, taking charge of all press briefings. The CDC was forbidden to communicate with the public from March to June in the early days of the pandemic, time that could have gone a long way to keeping the spread from becoming so lethal. Thousands died while Fatty sniffed that it wasn’t so bad.
Then he began salting the agency with his lackeys. A radiologist, Scott Atlas, with zero infectious disease experience, was put in charge of CDC public guidance, which thereafter comported only with Trump’s ideas of how public health should be administered (ie, that it benefit him, and only him).
The work of CDC researchers and scientists was roundly ripped by Trump and his associates, not a one of whom could spell “infectious” without resorting to a dictionary (which none of them owned).
The amount of interference by the Trump White House in both the research and public education areas was criminal and contributed dramatically to public distrust of CDC guidance.
So now, reacting to the politicization of public health by Trumpists, the CDC is promising to go light on the research and speed up information to the public. Great. Drive through science. Just what we need.
Expect all future pandemics to be accompanied by a boilerplate press release to take two aspirins and a big glass of Clorox, per Dr. Donald.
The damage done to so many aspects of this country by a fat ignoramus is beyond calculation at this point.
He bulldozes the CDC and when people become confused, he blames them for everything.
As I said, I’m sure the CDC can use a good review of practices and procedures, but ordering up good science isn’t like ordering a Big Mac.
And here again, the Traitors see the value of attacking any agency, group, or individual that won’t toe the line for their benefit. Make a lot of noise. Sow chaos and disinformation, and you get your way eventually.
Once again, truth loses. But the press missed a sterling opportunity to make all that clear.
Line of the day from a Politico piece (linked above):
“Ron DeSantis abused his power…”
Nuff said. It’s a verity that can be applied with the broadest of brushes to the entire Republican continuum. Abuse of power is their calling card.
Re CDC— absolutely correct. A coupla “yes” lunckheads in charge and Fatso at the mic. They never had a chance against the lies. Now they tell the public that the IRS, which they gutted, is spying on them , and no one should apply for a job so the agency can function again. Liars and grifters all.
The judge in Florida has knuckled under to Traitor demands to unseal the affidavit, at least some of it. Nonetheless, this should have been a big “No, fuck you, go away, and don’t bother us again” but the tsunami of attacks and threats of physical violence no doubt work in the favor of the liars and traitors. We are no longer a nation of laws. We are a nation living under the constant threat of violence from Trump’s brownshirts if they don’t get what they want.
Harriet ( the spy in the house of horrors) Hageman lying to Hannity about Liz 's response is pathetic! I only hope she gets a dressing down but I bet not on Fox––-their barnyard is so full of feathers and smelly droppings, it's hard for them to breathe anything resembling air that doesn't clog the airways.
PD,
Fuggedaboutit. Self serving mendacity is coin of the realm in Right Wing World. Any lie that burnishes your treasonous mala fides in Trump World is not only acceptable but required, expected, and lustily cheered.
I saw that claim, that Cheney had left this Trumpy harpy a snippy two second message, and even though I’ve never been a Cheney fan, I thought “Well, that doesn’t sound right”. I wasn’t wrong.
You can imagine the message this Trumpbot would have left had she lost: “You cheated! Lawsuit!!!”
These people have no moral core, no decency, no belief that some things are right and some are just wrong. They take their cues from a world class lying meathead mook.
The people of Arizona who voted for this weasely, pecksniffian charlatan deserve what they get.