laws seems to get complicated only when applied to rich and famous criminals
I think she was steaming his pants. Aside from the ewwwww factor, there’s a difference. None of it is pretty.
I was appalled last night when Scott Pelley said no collusion and left it at that. The media wonders why we hold some of them is such low regard?
The thought gave me pause, as well. Really, he shoulda been weeded out a long time ago.
Yes, it feels very much like a betrayal.
1 Like
Yeah, I was accused of being a troll for expressing negative thoughts about this total fucking disaster. I really hope I’m wrong, but to me it looks like we’ve crossed the Rubicon. There is too much power arrayed against us now. Even Mueller was bought, cowed or complicit. Sure, there are lots of smart and well-meaning Democrats in Congress, but I fear that will not be enough to stave off a second term and the descent into authoritarianism.
It doesn’t matter if we’re a majority. Hitler didn’t have a majority when he dragged Europe through the slime of fascism. The 1% is certainly not a majority but they get to control everything.
Go ahead and accuse me, fellow TPMers, but this is serious shit. I don’t think we can protest-march our way out of this. Our last hope, voting the bums out, is being eroded as we speak, and Ivanka is actually seeking to own the voting machines. I know she’s a dope, but if Jared can get the Saudis to loan him a billion dollars in plain sight without a single consequence, then Ivanka can rig the elections without a worry in her pretty little head.
2 Likes
Nunes and McCarthy both from the right side of CA, whereas Pelosi, Harris, Feinstein, Speier, et al are from the left side. It’ll sound chauvinistic but the left side has the techies, the educators, the film and entertainment industry, etc., and the right has agriculture including dairy, cattle and nuts, lots of nuts.
1 Like
The Republicans were in a frenzied panic about Russians when they were a communist country. Now that they’re oligarchs, it’s all good, man. The flip happened when the Soviet Union fell and the government handed out state assets to cronies, establishing an instant corrupt oligarchy. Now THAT’s something Republicans seem to appreciate.
3 Likes
I know you’re not a troll and I don’t blame anyone here for being down in the dumps about any of this right now. I felt from the beginning that this might not go as we had all hoped it would, though at times I felt the need to call out for some “Mueller time” whenever I felt my frustration rise exponentially with the level of corruption I kept seeing. It scares me. Unless you’re a rich Xtian white guy in this country right now, there’s a lot to worry about imo. A lot of people are being adversely affected by this administration under tRump and there is so little transparency and basic competency in government right now. We never get to see what’s really happening in our name nor does anyone in this administration feel any obligation to be upfront and honest with people. Every norm, rule and law we’re accustomed to in this country is being defied by this maniac and broken in the process. I see the roots of fascism in all this too, and that’s no hyperbole.
I don’t need to come to TPM for pep talks when I see shit I don’t like either. I may need to express my hopes, fears and concerns while I get a realistic perspective of the lay of the land after I read something. But pretending things are fine when they’re not is just foolish in my book. It feels a whole lot like cognitive dissonance when someone tells you to get over yourself, when in truth there really is something terrible happening around us. I don’t need to be talked down to or patronized either. As a woman I find that doubly offensive for obvious reasons.
I also read stories that are being overshadowed if not totally ignored while this mess of a presidency continues on its not so merry way. Did you know for instance that 100 Russian troops landed in Venezuela to support that dictatorship? Will that be the new Cuban missile crisis? One thing’s for sure, tRump is no JFK and Putin is no Khruschev. This could be a real mess. What’s happening to the environment is another crazy story being largely ignored and this administration has been catering and doing big giveaways to major polluters and dirty energy companies since it got into office.
The whole thing stinks and some days ya just gotta say it or do some kind of primal scream. This is not normal.
4 Likes
I definitely hear ya. And it ain’t getting any better. We can’t keep on just wishin’ and hopin’ and wearing pussy hats. The ruling party is corrupt to the core. They’re breaking our nation and they’re not leaving just because we want them to. At this point I dread to think what it will take to evict the filth and start over.
1 Like
A full and brilliant analysis can be found here: https://threader.app/thread/1109203639581712386
2 Likes
We could hope he is acting as a stalking horse.
No doubt. They’re also unveiling the GOP strategy about this, analyzing Barr’s bad faith, and trying very hard to get sources to paint a picture of what is actually contained in Mueller’s report, vs. what Barr has characterized. The trick with being a media consumer is knowing whom to listen to.
2 Likes
If by “whom” you’re referring to individual journalists (as opposed to publishers), then I agree.
Yet I would still argue that your trick means more or less ignoring all but a minority of journalists.
1 Like
What of the majority of media consumers who can’t distinguish noise from signal?
1 Like
Remember when Rudy said, " We never said that the campaign didn’t collude with Russia." And then he wasn’t allowed to be on TV for awhile ?
I believe Mueller might have recommended impeachment as he felt he could not indict a sitting president…and he told Barr as much…three weeks ago. Barr realized that Mueller might tell a House committee the same thing if asked, so he made the decision to give Trump his exoneration on Russia while reserving it on obstruction.
Sometimes the answer to a puzzling question is right there in front of you. It’s not that Trump isn’t guilty of something, it’s that Mueller felt he could not indict with the information he had on Russia. Nor did he think he could indict Donald of obstruction when it was up to the House to do that with impeachment. You have to follow the logical legal path set out by the Constitution.
However, the Founders thought of themselves as gentlemen farmers and serious small businessmen. They never envisioned that a rich slob like Trump would ever have the nerve to seek office, be backed by the ruling class or be elected by the gentlemen of the Electoral College. A barely functioning illiterate accepting help from criminal elements and a foreign government is the last thing they thought to protect the nation from in the Constitution. It just was too improbable.
They didn’t think of everything. And they certainly didn’t think someone as corrupt as Trump or a political party as corrupt as the Republicans would rise to protect him. When the system fails, it’s up to the people to correct what the Constitution failed to do. Everyone must vote in 2020. Everyone needs to take this election seriously and not complain that they’re vote can’t make a difference in a republic that still treats its citizens unequally. It[s our responsibility to stop those that are undermining our democracy and alliances with allies around the world.
Ask not what your country can do for you. Do what your country expects of you.
Help others register, get the proper ID and vote to make America better again… now that Trump and the Republicans have tried to weaken it to please Russia. Mueller’s investigation didn’t answer the question of “Why” and it’s clear now why all this has happened: Greed, monopolies, unlimited power via Citizen United and mass corruption.
2 Likes
Joe Scarborough wrote the most insipid of OpEds today in the WaPo. It confirmed how feckless is his anti-Trumpism, and also how weak NBC News’ political team are. Oddly enough, and despite how in the tank they are for the left, the four majors at MSNBC (Chris Hayes, Rachel, Lawrence and Brian Williams) all have more discernment and street cred than a single person at the network. Take that from someone who has worked for NBC News, btw.
CNN bites as well, I concede. And the NYT is always a toady first, but catches up in the end. So look to the Post. It ain’t for nothing that they broke Watergate. They will get this one as well. The Times has no David Fahrenthold. I believe they gave us Judith Miller, if recollection serves.
Meanwhile, Neal Katyal, who has a major hard-on agenda, is doing good, judicious analysis wherever he’s asked to. It’s not a minority, it’s just a question of ignoring the dumb pile-on and waiting to see what rises after. And it’s not all-Mueller, all-the-time. Look to Catherine Rampell’s resistance to national moron Stephen Moore, who has been nominated for the Fed. The press is doing important work. People need to get a hold of themselves.
1 Like
Believe me I’m not really optimistic here at all. But, I’ll repeat my wonderment.
Most or many of the charges brought by Mueller occurred when he gave the respondents enough rope to hang themselves (by lying under oath). In turn, Barr could have merely taken Mueller’s expected far worse executive summary, added his own cover sheet and let the chips fall even if the full report is/was weeks away from its full release. He didn’t!
Perhaps we’ll find later that Barr made a huge error here by merely quoting one tiny passage. Then, he could be accused if not charged with a cover-up. See Tricky Dik’s multi-layered defense by many…who ended up in jail.