;)
July 11, 2022
Afternoon Update:
Dennis Overbye & Kenneth Chang of the New York Times: "President Biden is set to unveil a deep field image [photographed by the James Webb space telescope]. The first image will be revealed Monday at 5 p.m. by President Biden at the White House on NASA TV or the agency's YouTube channel. The New York Times will also provide a live video feed."
Judge Throws Bannon Out of Court. Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A federal judge on Monday refused to delay Stephen K. Bannon's trial next week after the Justice Department called an offer by the former Trump aide to testify before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection a 'last-ditch attempt to avoid accountability' on charges of criminal contempt of Congress. 'I see no reason for extending this case any longer,' U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols said after a hearing in which he rejected a host of Bannon's defenses -- including claims that Bannon thought his appearance was covered by executive privilege. The judge narrowed Bannon's defenses at trial mainly to whether he understood the deadlines for answering the House's demands to appear and to produce documents.... In an overnight filing, U.S. prosecutors urged Nichols to keep Bannon's trial on track for July 18 and to withhold from jurors Bannon's 'sudden wish to testify,' which they called an 11th-hour ploy to airbrush away the conduct that spurred his prosecution.... When Bannon attorney David I. Schoen ... [asked], 'What's the point of going to trial if there are no defenses?' Nichols simply answered, 'Agreed.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: This is pretty hilarious. Nichols is a Trump appointee. He left Bannon with pretty much no defense except, "I don't know how to read a calendar." Good luck with that, Steve-o. I guess you could throw yourself on the mercy of the court, but this judge seems short on mercy. For you, anyhow.
Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Top lawmakers are preparing to question IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig privately in the coming days over reports that the tax agency may have targeted two of ... Donald Trump's political enemies with extensive and rare audits. The moves by the Capitol's key tax-focused panels -- the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee -- come amid growing concerns that the IRS improperly subjected James B. Comey, the former director of the FBI, and Andrew McCabe, his top deputy, to unusual scrutiny after they led investigations into Trump and his 2016 campaign."
María Paúl of the Washington Post: "Two days after Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh fled abortion rights protesters at a Morton’s steakhouse in D.C., Chasten Buttigieg -- husband of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg -- tweeted..., 'Sounds like he just wanted some privacy to make his own dining decisions.'... The tweet drew criticism from some conservatives, including former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, who decried what he called an endorsement of 'the use of mob intimidation tactics' as 'wildly irresponsible.' But Pete Buttigieg defended his husband's remarks.... 'Any public figure should always, always be free from violence, intimidation and harassment but should never be free from criticism or people exercising their First Amendment rights,' Buttigieg said in a 'Fox News Sunday' appearance. He added that officials 'should expect' public protests -- especially after 'an important right that the majority of Americans support was taken away.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: That's a rich criticism coming from Stephen Miller, who developed cruel anti-immigration policies (like separating immigrant children from their parents) -- the purpose of which was to intimidate potential immigrants -- and whose degenerate boss suggested officers could just shoot protesters in the legs.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here.
~~~~~~~~~~
A New View of the Universe. Denise Chow of NBC News: "President Joe Biden will unveil the much-anticipated first full-color image from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope on Monday, agency officials confirmed. The image, known as 'Webb's First Deep Field,' will be the deepest and highest-resolution view of the universe ever captured, showing myriad galaxies as they appeared up to 13 billion years in the past, according to NASA. The agency and its partners, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, are set to release a separate batch of full-color images from the Webb telescope on Tuesday, but Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and the public will get a sneak peek a day early.... NASA will unveil more images in an event streamed live Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. ET." ~~~
~~~ Marie: The adage "You can't teach an old dog new tricks" is certainly true of Donald Trump. But I have noticed again & again how nimble Joe Biden is, and we're not just talking about showing off amazing outer space photos. Biden's willingness to try new solutions for old problems has surprised me, as I didn't give him credit for being so flexible. I was mistaken.
Mark Mazzetti & Ronen Bergman of the New York Times: "A team of executives from an American military contractor quietly visited Israel numerous times in recent months to try to ... [purchase] NSO Group, the cyber hacking firm that is as notorious as it is technologically accomplished. The impediments were substantial for the team from the American company, L3Harris, which also had experience with spyware technology.... The United States government had put NSO on a blacklist just months earlier because the Israeli firm's spyware, called Pegasus, had been used by other governments to penetrate the phones of political leaders, human rights activists and journalists.... But five people ... said that ... American intelligence officials ... quietly supported [the company's] plans to purchase NSO.... [When word of the potential sale leaked last month,] White House officials said they were outraged to learn about the negotiations, and that any attempt by American defense firms to purchase a blacklisted company would be met by serious resistance. Days later, L3Harris, which is heavily reliant on government contracts, notified the Biden administration that it had scuttled its plans to purchase NSO...." It isn't clear whether or not some U.S. officials backed the deal without the White House's knowledge.
Amy Wang & Oliver Knox of the Washington Post: "'Big protest in D.C. on January 6th,' [Donald] Trump tweeted [on December 19, 2020]. 'Be there, will be wild!' That tweet would serve as an invitation to far-right militant groups such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers as well as other violent extremists who were part of the pro-Trump mob[.]... Tuesday's [public hearing of the January 6 committee] will focus on Trump's connections to those far-right and political extremist groups.... The next hearing will also focus on 'the fundamental importance' of a Dec. 18, 2020, meeting of Trump allies that took place at the Willard hotel in downtown Washington, according to [Rep. Jamie] Raskin [(D-Md.) who will lead the hearing with Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.)]." ~~~
~~~ Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "Raskin is expected to first touch on the immediate events before the tweet: a contentious White House meeting on 18 December 2020 where Trump weighed seizing voting machines and appointing conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell as special counsel to investigate election fraud. The meeting involved Trump and four informal advisers, the Guardian has reported, including Trump's ex-national security adviser, Michael Flynn, ex-Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell, ex-Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne and ex-Trump aide Emily Newman.... After the Flynn-Powell-Byrne-Newman plan for him to overturn the election fell apart, the select committee will say, he turned his attention to January 6 as his final chance and sent his tweet. The response to Trump's tweet was direct and immediate, the panel will show...." ~~~
~~~ Marie: It sounds as if the committee does not have a smoking-gun clip or testimony, where Trump says explicitly, "I'm sending in the goons to hang Mike Pence." However, based on Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony about Mark Meadows & on remarks Steve Bannon made on his podcast (or whatever it is), both Meadows & Bannon knew before-the-fact that the insurrection was coming down. It's hard to believe either of these two is the Oracle of Delphi. They had prior knowledge.
Robert Draper of the New York Times on why the January 6 committee rushed the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson: "The day before Cassidy Hutchinson was deposed for a fourth time by the Jan. 6 committee, the former Trump White House aide received a phone message...: 'let me know you have your deposition tomorrow. He wants me to let you know he's thinking about you. He knows you're loyal. And you're going to do the right thing when you go in for your deposition.' At Ms. Hutchinson's deposition the next day, committee members investigating the attack on the Capitol were so alarmed by what they considered a clear case of witness tampering -- not to mention Ms. Hutchinson's shocking account of ... Donald J. Trump's behavior on Jan. 6, 2021 -- that they decided in a meeting on June 24, a Friday, to hold an emergency public hearing with Ms. Hutchinson as the surprise witness the following Tuesday. The speed ... was for two crucial reasons: Ms. Hutchinson was under intense pressure from Trump World, and panel members believed that getting her story out in public would make her less vulnerable.... The committee also had to move fast ... to avoid leaks of some of the most explosive testimony ever heard on Capitol Hill." The story includes a brief bio of Hutchinson.
Luke Broadwater & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "With his criminal trial for contempt of Congress approaching, Stephen K. Bannon, an ally of ... Donald J. Trump's who was involved in his plans to overturn the 2020 election, has informed the House committee investigating the Capitol attack that he is now willing to testify.... His decision is a remarkable about-face for Mr. Bannon, who until Saturday had been among the most obstinate and defiant of the committee's potential witnesses.... But with the possibility of two years in jail and large fines looming on the horizon, Mr. Bannon has been authorized to testify by Mr. Trump, his lawyer told the committee late on Saturday in a letter.... In recent days, as several witnesses have come forward to offer the House panel damning testimony about his conduct, Mr. Trump has grown frustrated that one of his fiercest defenders has not yet appeared before the committee, people close to him said.... It remains to be seen how Mr. Bannon's new posture will affect the criminal proceeding, and how forthcoming he will be." The Guardian's earlier report is here. ~~~
~~~ How the committee should politely respond to Mr. Blimpy's lawyer: Dear Mr. Costello: We wish to inform you and your client Stephen K. Blimpy that Mr. Trump is no longer president*. Mr. Trump lost the election in 2020 by more than 7 million votes, and President Joe Biden also trounced him in the Electoral College 306-232. Mr. Biden became president January 20, 2021 -- 18 months ago -- and therefore Mr. Trump has not had a claim to executive privilege since that date. We understand that Mr. Blimpy runs some sort of home-made radio show where he purports to cover current affairs; therefore, it is surprising that he seems unaware of Mr. Trump's decisive loss. Please try to assist your client in getting in touch with these facts; otherwise, we do not see how his testimony will amount to anything more than the wild gibberish of a lunatic. Nevertheless, we plan to continue to press a criminal case against your client for failing to comply with a lawful subpoena.
David Smith of the Guardian: "A documentary film scrutinised by the congressional January 6 committee exposes divisions between the ... Donald Trump and his children over the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol. Released to the public on Sunday, Unprecedented portrays Trump's 2020 election campaign as a family affair and features interviews with him and his inner circle before, during and after the vote. [In interviews for the film,] Trump reverts to his lies about widespread voter fraud.... But when [filmmaker Alex] Holder then puts the same question to three of Trump's children, they are less forthcoming. His son Eric says: 'Yeah, let's skip the 6th.' Son Don Jr and daughter Ivanka also decline to comment on the incendiary subject, as does vice-president Mike Pence."
~~~ Thanks to a friend for this gen-u-ine photo. You Floridians be on the lookout.
Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "Former House Speaker Paul Ryan was 'sobbing' as he watched the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol unfold on television, a new book [by Mark Leibovich] reports.... Noting Ryan's role on the board of the Fox Corporation, the parent company of Fox News, and alluding to the times as speaker that Ryan didn't stand up to Trump, Leibovich writes that Ryan was 'not inclined to grapple with questions of complicity' in the attack." MB: Of course he didn't. Paul was crying for himself, not for what he did. Ryan told Leibovich, "I spent my whole adult life in that building.... And I saw my friends, a lot of cops, some of my old security detail -- I'm still friends with a bunch of those guys. It really disturbed me, foundationally." This was not a moment when Paul asked himself, "Lord, what have I done?!" That moment is not likely to come.
Laurence Tribe, Dennis Aftergut & Norman Eisen in a Washington Post op-ed (July 9): "At center stage [in Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-S.C.) attempt to evade a Georgia subpoena] is a set of rules from the Constitution's speech and debate clause. It provides that in all cases 'except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace,' senators and representatives 'shall not be questioned' outside of Congress 'for any Speech or Debate in either House.'... But the immunity those rules confer is limited.... The Supreme Court has long held that the provision's specific language means that lawmakers such as Graham cannot use the clause as a pass to avoid testifying about crimes.... Graham's precise role [in the attempt to overturn Georgia's presidential election results] remains unclear.... [Georgia Secretary of State Brad] Raffensperger asserted that he understood the South Carolina senator to mean [in a phone call Graham made to him on November 23, 2020,] that [Raffensperger] should '"[l]ook hard and see how many ballots you could throw out.'... By calling Raffensperger, Graham looks to have been engaging in political activity well outside any proper legislative function and, therefore, beyond the privilege's protection."
Michael Moore would repeal & replace the Second Amendment. MB: Not going to happen, but a good idea. OR rather, not going to happen because it's a good idea.
"The Uber Files: A Global Investigation." Faiz Siddiqui & Joseph Menn of the Washington Post: "Regulators entered Uber's offices [in Amsterdam, the Netherlands,] only to see computers go dark before their eyes.... Uber's use of what insiders called the 'kill switch' was a brazen example of how the company employed technological tools to prevent authorities from successfully investigating the company's business practices as it disrupted the global taxi industry, according to the documents.... As Uber's valuation was surging past $50 billion, government raids occurred with such frequency that the company distributed a Dawn Raid Manual to employees on how to respond.... That document ... [is] part of the Uber Files, an 18.7-gigabyte trove of data obtained by the Guardian and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a nonprofit newsroom in Washington that helped lead the project, and dozens of other news organizations, including The Washington Post.... Far from simply developing software to connect drivers and customers seeking rides, Uber leveraged its technological capabilities in many cases to gain a covert edge over authorities." ~~~
~~~ Harry Davies, et al., of the Guardian: "A leaked trove of confidential files has revealed the inside story of how the tech giant Uber flouted laws, duped police, exploited violence against drivers and secretly lobbied governments during its aggressive global expansion. The unprecedented leak to the Guardian of more than 124,000 documents -- known as the Uber files -- lays bare the ethically questionable practices that fuelled the company's transformation into one of Silicon Valley's most famous exports. The leak spans a five-year period when Uber was run by its co-founder Travis Kalanick, who tried to force the cab-hailing service into cities around the world, even if that meant breaching laws and taxi regulations. During the fierce global backlash, the data shows how Uber tried to shore up support by discreetly courting prime ministers, presidents, billionaires, oligarchs and media barons."
Bryan Pietsch of the Washington Post: "Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) has tested positive for the coronavirus, his spokesman said in a statement late Sunday. The positive result came 'as a part of his regular testing regimen,' said the spokesman, Justin Goodman. Schumer is fully vaccinated and 'double boosted' and is experiencing very mild symptoms, Goodman said." Politico's report is here.
Beyond the Beltway
California. Marisa Iati & Meena Venkataramanan of the Washington Post: "A wildfire burning in the southern part of Yosemite National Park more than doubled in size over the weekend, the latest blaze to threaten the world's largest trees as climate change increases the intensity of fires. The Mariposa Grove, home to more than 500 mature giant sequoias and the largest of its kind in the park, closed Thursday after visitors reported spotting smoke from the Washburn Fire near a trail. As of Sunday evening, the fire had grown to just above three square miles."
Texas. Edgar Sandoval of the New York Times: Arnulfo Reyes, "a teacher who survived the mass shooting [in a Uvalde Grade school,] recounts the harrowing attack and desperate wait for a rescue." A very disturbing read.
Way Beyond
Japan. Motoko Rich of the New York Times: }Two days after Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe was gunned down at a campaign stop on Friday, his Liberal Democratic Party and its allies swept to victory in a parliamentary election that gave them a chance to pursue Mr. Abe's long-held ambition of revising Japan's pacifist Constitution. It was the clearest sign that Mr. Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, remained a guiding political force. Even before his death, he was no longer leader of the country or its governing party, but his legacy shaped voters' choices at the ballot box and his party's vision for the future. 'I have the responsibility to take over the ideas of former Prime Minister Abe,' the current prime minister, Fumio Kishida, told a crowd west of Tokyo on Saturday, the day after Mr. Abe's killing, as he campaigned for their party's candidates for the Upper House of Parliament."
Sri Lanka. Emily Schmall & Mujib Mashal of the New York Times: "Sri Lanka's political and economic crisis offered a peculiar tableau Sunday after a day of high drama: The protesters were everywhere, cooking in the prime minister's garden and even lounging in the president’s bedroom while the leaders were nowhere to be seen. With President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe both in hiding after indicating they would resign, it was not clear who was running the country.... For months [Sri Lankans] had felt they were on their own anyway as they queued up for hours -- often in vain -- for fuel and cooking gas, pared down their meals and scrambled for lifesaving medicine. Opposition leaders clamored to decipher Mr. Rajapaksa's intentions. Would he actually quit on Wednesday, as officials have said, or was his silence a sign that he was gauging his options for a protracted fight? Discussions on who might succeed him were also taking shape, with the speaker of the Parliament viewed as the likely choice as interim president." ~~~
~~~ Marie: The "tableau" doesn't look "peculiar" to me: some of the photos look very much like those picturing the January 6 insurrectionists as they stormed the U.S. Capitol, roamed the halls, and made themselves comfy in the Senate & House chambers & in Congressional offices. Sri Lanka (Ceylon) may be a small island country run by incompetent, corrupt politicians, but the Trumpists have made out own country look a lot like Sri Lanka. There is one essential difference: Sri Lanka's protesters were fighting a corrupt government; our criminal "protesters" were fighting for a corrupt government.
Saudi Arabia. Scott Pelley of "60 Minutes" interviews former Saudi spymaster Saad Aljabri, who says that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is a psychopath who sent a second team of Saudi assassins to kill Aljabri after he fled to Canada. With video. MB: Joe Biden had better have a helluva security detail when he goes to Saudi Arabia this week. And he should bring his own food & beverages.
Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Monday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Monday are here: "European countries are on edge after the flow of gas from Russia into Germany through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline stopped Monday for a 10-day scheduled maintenance period. German officials fear Russia will extend this period so as to put pressure on Europe.... In Ukraine, Russian airstrikes in the east and north early Monday killed 21 people and injured at least 28, officials from these regions said. Two dozen people remained trapped under the rubble of two high-rise apartment buildings in Chasiv Yar, a city in the Donetsk region, that local officials said were struck by Russian missiles.... Ukraine's defense minister said the country's forces have proved they can use American long-range artillery systems effectively. Oleksii Reznikov told the Wall Street Journal that they still need 'more armor, more weaponry from our partners.' Players in the WNBA All-Star Game in Chicago on Sunday all wore jerseys bearing the name and number of Brittney Griner, the basketball star detained in Russia on drug crime charges." ~~~
~~~ You Want Fries with That? Sorry, We're Out. Miriam Berger of the Washington Post: "The recently opened Russian alternative to McDonald's -- which left the country in May over Russia's war in Ukraine -- is both a fast-food chain and a currency in Moscow's propaganda campaigns. In a shortage wrought with symbolism, Vkusno i Tochka, which translates as 'Tasty and that's it,' is limiting the sale of fries this summer because it is unable to source enough potatoes, the company told Russian state news agency Tass Friday. The Russian franchise said it is running low on the menu's country-style potatoes, its thicker-cut cousin of the Americanized french fry, because of supply chain disruptions in part caused by war and Western sanctions.... a poor potato harvest last year left Russia with limited stock, Vkusno i Tochka told Tass, and the company has been unable to fill the gap with imports...."
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Reader Comments (16)
Bannon knows full well his buddy is no longer even pretending to be president*. Lunatic he may be on many subjects, but he's very much in touch with that reality.
If he really believed he ever had or retains any kind of executive privilege, he'd also believe he could cadge another get out of jail free card from the presidential Pretender, and all his nonsensical posturing is proof positive that that he does not believe that for a minute.
Whadda slime.
The abiding mystery of our so-called civilization is how and why it confers excessive, unearned privilege on so many who are not worthy of any privilege at all.
And even worse, how it often elevates them to positions of power and influence.
@Ken Winkes: I was wondering why Trump never pardoned all his January 6 insurrectionist instigator pals who were on that supposed "pardon list," especially since Jared claimed in sworn testimony to be working so hard on rubber-stamping a boatload of pardons. I thought Trump was just too self-centered to give a damn, and that very well may be true.
But a while ago, a legal talking head on the teevee (don't recall who, but it might have been Elie Honeg) said that even the pardons Trump initiates have to go through some kind of lawyerly process, PLUS the pardons have to state the reason for the pardon, and Trump probably didn't want to write down, "participation in attack on Capitol." Because, uh, that would implicate him, too, wouldn't it? So it seems to me that maybe Pat Cipollone or another of the White House counsel staff effectively put the kibosh on those by explaining to him how pardoning Steve Bannon & John Eastman, et al., would get him that much closer to an orange jumpsuit.
Satire from The Borowitz Report
By Andy Borowitz
October 22, 2021
"WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Steve Bannon was caught attempting to !ee the United States disguised as a man who had recently taken a shower, T.S.A. officials have con#rmed.
A T.S.A. agent at Reagan National Airport, Harland Dorrinson, explained how Bannon’s talent as a master of disguise nearly enabled him to board a plane to Moscow.
“He showered, shaved, and even combed his hair,” Dorrinson said. “He
was totally unrecognizable.”
Bannon’s plan crumbled, however, during a routine pat down. “That’s when we noticed that his pants had a large mustard stain,” the T.S.A. agent said. “They evidently had not been laundered in months. One of my colleagues shouted, ‘It’s Bannon! Stop him!’ ”
Taken into custody, the former White House adviser seemed bitter about his foiled escape attempt. “I took a shower for no fucking reason,” he said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in the early days when Bannon was Fatty's right hand man, he was able to manage the big baby blimp because essentially he was Trump's unlikely spiritual twin, his bookish doppleganger, unkempt in cargo pants. What has stuck in my mind was what he called Hillary: "A fucking bull dyke." The other recall is what some journalist argued, with a good deal of supporting evidence, that from the beginning the election was less about Trump––-"a blunt instrument for us"––- as Bannon said––-than about Clinton. Scary stuff. And going back even farther reading about abusive behavior in the marriage department. And I think many didn't take Bannon seriously, but his impact was monumental and in the end he got his "blunt instrument" into the White House.
Another reason not to pardon the sedition set: accepting a pardon implies admission of guilt, and removes a defendant's right to plead the 5th Amendment to avoid self-incrimination. Meaning, when subsequently called to testify, failure to answer means contempt and go to jail time. Any competent lawyer would have told DiJiT that "preemptive pardons" would make all pardonees "cooperating witnesses."
And speaking of blunt instruments, or maybe dull knives…
Yelping to a collection of drooling MAGA morons in Nevada, the Orange Monster let on that drug use in the White House during his habitation there was rampant, but boy oh boy, did he get that under control! You betcha!
“We got drug use in the White House down by 18%!” he proudly claimed. He gave most of the credit to Melanie, which leads me to guess that she must have really cut down on her pill popping (no wonder she always looked either glazed or ready to kill someone). Or maybe Junior and Dimwit Eric stopped doing lines in the West Wing and went over to the Fatty Royale Hotel to snort their daily eight balls.
I’m sure the droolers accepted this admission with their usual open mouthed admiration and teensy brained obsequiousness instead of the dropped-jaw pants shitting that should have resulted.
But hey, cutting drug abuse in the WH by a fifth is one of Fatty’s few positive accomplishments. I guess.
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/trump-tells-crowd-we-got-drug-use-down-18-percent-in-the-white-house-when-he-was-president/?utm_source=mostpopular
Is that Lyin’ Ryan back again pretending to wash a clean pot? Or care about something that happened 18 months ago but which he’s only now getting around to figuring out?
“I was sobbing!” Puh-leese. If he was it’s because he found out that the post office building he got named was being renamed for someone else. After all, it was his single legislative achievement after 75 years of mooching off taxpayers as a (*snicker-snicker*) member of congress.
But now that there are rumblings out there that maybe, just maybe, the attempted overthrow of the government might have bad repercussions, it’s time for Paulie No-nuts to come out of hiding and mewl about his big sad that day.
Either that or whatever no show sinecure he wangled after skedaddling out of Washington is running out and he’s on the grift for something else.
In the upside down pantheon of R villains, Ryan, a guy who got everything he had in life from the public trough but worked like a dog (a very little lapdog) to make sure no one else benefitted, has an eternal place of dishonor.
Go back to that rock you’ve been hiding under. No one gives a shit what you think.
Putz.
@Akhilleus: Wait, wait. Doesn't that mean that 82 percent of the White House users were still doing whatever? And, other than Junior & Eric (Junior has posted at least one video where he was obviously high), how the hell do they know who was doing drugs? And how many White House staffers were in that 100% of users -- 100% of them? 50%? Based on Trump's absolutely honest and totally verifiable account, it has to have been more than, say, 5 or 10 people, because you can't break down 5 or 10 people into 82 & 18%. According to my arithmetic (which definitely could be wrong!), the minimum number of people who were doing drugs in the Trump White House was 50, because that's the fewest number of whole people who can be divided into 18%.
Or maybe the Trumpster means that everybody was doing drugs all the time, but thanks to Melanie, they popped pills or whatever 18% less often.
That is just a ridiculous & essentially meaningless "statistic."
"That is just a ridiculous & essentially meaningless "statistic."
Which, as we know, in Trumpland passes for thought.
You also had Ronnie Jackson as the White House doctor. His leaving could account for the entire 18%. The rest of the people he was supplying probably found another source.
@RAS: Oh, that's right. And now Ronnie is a Congressman. Looks as if Nancy Pelosi's drug-use stats went UP.
I think that if I were in trump's white house with all the shenanigans
going on, and the lying and cheeseburger parties, I too would be one
of those 100 percenters doing drugs. How else could any sane person
get through one of their loooong 3 hour days.
P.S. I do not do drugs other than what my new doctor says to keep
on taking. Funny guy. He looked at me and said "why are you
taking all this stuff? You're old enough to know better and you'll
get a lot older without all these things."
Who do you trust? He appears to be about 25 years old.
RAS,
Taking anything Dr. Ronnie prescribed could be dangerous. The guy was drunk half the time. Maybe instead of ibuprofen, he was passing out Ecstasy. As Forrest suggests, regular drug abuse had to have been a necessity in that fucking monkey house.
Soooo…the Bannon Thing is going to testify after all, eh?
Gotta be some kind of grift going on.
You can be absolutely sure of at least three things with Bannon.
1. He’s all about what’s in it for him.
2. He won’t tell the truth. Ever. Oh…unless it somehow benefits him (see No. 1).
3. He’ll show up looking like a disheveled hobo.
The only remaining concern is will he wear four shirts or only his usual three?
I read somewhere that Bannon tried to flee the country in disguise.
He got a haircut, shaved, took a bath and wore different clothes.
He was stopped at security because they recognized him by the
mustard stains on his shirt.
Maybe I left something out. Doesn't sound as funny as originally.
Re: Fascist Miller, who is agin intimidation tactics.
Let's not mention the Republicans' proliferating right to life for fetuses laws that enlist neighbors and relatives as paid vigilantes...