The New Normal

If ponies rode men & grass ate cows,
And cats were chased into holes by the mouse …
If summer were spring & the other way round
Then all the world would be upside down.

By SJWNY, a Trail Mix Contributor

If you had a pulse during history class, you would recognize that passage from the Revolutionary War era, specifically the Battle of Yorktown. It was a popular drinking song & was played as the Americans defeated the British, which was one of those “who’d a thunk it” moments. Whichever musician thought about playing that song & the time, the place, the situation, I salute him.

The rise of Donald Trump in 2016 & his subsequent election brought that song back to me. Who’d a thunk it, seriously. Wasn’t Hillary Rodham Clinton’s election a DONE DEAL? I also think of it now, with all the talking heads & hyperventilating social media/blogosphere folks climaxing over the Mueller investigations. Uh, excuse me, please … we’re talking about President Donald J. Trump, who lives, thrives, expands, glows on negativity. There is a chance (speaking softly here) he may slither out of this, freedom intact. 

This is a man elected to the highest office after the Access Hollywood tapes. Why this still astounds me is silly, but it does. The Russians can be blamed for a lot but ultimately Mr & Ms American cast his/her ballot on election day. The Republicans are masterful at enabling whatever/whomever propels the means to the ends of their agenda production.

There is no moral compass in the GOP. They are proactive while the Democrats are reactive. Grab the oars of the boat first & you can steer it anywhere you please. If it is leaky, find some sucker to keep bailing.

I do hope President Trump pays the price for what he has done to our government, our country. But will he? He has a habit of not paying any price. Others do, not him. I will not be surprised if this is one more situation where he doesn’t. Nothing surprises me about this man or the Republicans.

Commonsense plays no part in modern day politics. Looking at it from a logical view point is unnatural, does not compute. This is the new normal.

Cue the pipes & drums, please.

More Posts by SJWNY

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patd
6 years ago

“The Russians can be blamed for a lot but ultimately Mr & Ms American cast his/her ballot on election day.”

sjwny, yep

and thanks for giving us a song to sing for the times

Introduction by Bill Hart. Martha’s Vineyard July 4th, 2015

patd
6 years ago

ap via msn:  Giuliani comments on Stormy payment raise legal questions

 
WASHINGTON — Rudy Giuliani’s revelation that President Donald Trump reimbursed his personal attorney for a $130,000 payment to a porn star to keep her quiet about an alleged affair is raising new legal questions, including whether the president and his campaign violated campaign finance laws.
The former New York City mayor insisted on Fox News Channel Wednesday night that the payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels was “going to turn out to be perfectly legal.”
“That money was not campaign money. Sorry, I’m giving you a fact now that you don’t know. It’s not campaign money, no campaign finance violation,” he said.
Some legal experts disagree…
[….]
Sol Wisenberg, a defense attorney who was a deputy independent counsel during the Starr special counsel investigation into President Bill Clinton, said the comment “obviously increases the president’s exposure to potential campaign finance violations, but it also makes him look terrible.”
“I don’t understand the Giuliani strategy,” he added. “Maybe it’s been too long since he’s been in the criminal justice field.”
 

patd
6 years ago

mediaite:

Michael Avenatti Reacts to Stunning Admission That Trump Repaid Stormy Daniels Money: ‘I Am Absolutely Speechless’

[…]

The lawyer does think there’s a method to Giuliani’s madness:

“I see these guys coming a mile away,” Avenatti said. “Here’s the argument they’re going to make, and I don’t think it’s going to be successful. But here it is. They’re going to argue that ultimately this money was paid by Donald Trump individually, and because it was paid by Donald Trump individually, who has no limit to the amount of money that he can put in to his own presidential campaign, that somehow the reporting requirements or the limitations, et cetera, did not apply to him, and therefore there was no campaign violation because of that fact. That’s the foundation or the predicate…they’re attempting to lay at this point.”

craigcrawford
6 years ago

SJ, these past days getting hip replacement have been a refreshing change to a world of science, no evidence-free zone here. Thought-provoking piece, thanks.

Pogo
6 years ago

My take on rudijulieannie’s explanation last night is that a decision was made that the campaign finance threat is much more important to try and tamp down than SFB’s lies about not having an affair with SD and not knowing about the NDA or the payment. He knows his base doesn’t care about what he’s done or whether he’s lied about what he’s done but the FEC can swing a hammer.

Pogo
6 years ago

And SJ, poignant piece. Black is white, up is down and dogs are lying with cats.

Blonde Wino
6 years ago

Nice way to start the day, sj.   It reminds me of my trip to the down under, Australia…doing a cartwheel into the southern hemisphere where day is night and summer is winter.   Except I should have stayed…better reality there.

The winds have been hellacious for the past two days…many midwest tornadoes in the damaging winds.   I haven’t seen fierce winds like this since 2008.   Mother Nature strikes back.

Blonde Wino
6 years ago

Last night, hubby and I were watching tv news and switched from cnn to faux news…and caught ‘Grandpa Munster in Bela Lugosi make-up,’ better known as ‘rudy-g’ doing his own rift with hannity.  The grandpa hour of weak defense and rewriting history.   We were hysterical with his performance.

roseanne lost to ncis during this week’s ratings battle.   evangelicals fail to warm to her even after her appearance in a nazi uniform.   And people pick-on michelle wolf!

heddycariad
6 years ago

SFB never uses his own money for anything. It’s always OPM. So … What about the report earlier this week that the RNC was paying Cohen’s lawyers? Julieannie says last night the the reimbursement of Cohen was funneled through lawyers? Huh? Was Cohen reimbursed using RNC money? This might get even more delicious. Which ultimately is really dispiriting.

Blonde Wino
6 years ago

A big welcome home (later today) to Craig…Dave, sending energy, as getting a loved one home and with the proper prescriptions can be daunting.  Onward to healing.

Blonde Wino
6 years ago

You are so correct, heddy.  The rnc and trump 2020 campaign are lawyer-funding the whole of the trumpence junta.  trump is so broke (how broke is he?) and cheap and stingy.  I laugh because trump says he never paid for sex!

blueINdallas
6 years ago

Yep, it’s DC Comic’s Bizarro in DC.

When did Trumpsky repay?   Recently? After it became a big deal & they were trying to un-break campaign finance law? (Trumpsky can’t just steal a candy bar, eat it, return to the store, puke it up on the counter & say he didn’t steal anything.)

Where did the initial money for the payoffs to Stormy and Broidy’s mistress really come from?   How was money funneled through that shell company Cohen set up?

Why is Craig awake & coherent?

 

 

 

blueINdallas
6 years ago

Didn’t Cohen say Trumpsky knew nothing of the hush money?  Didn’t Cohen say he mortgaged his house? Didn’t he say he hadn’t been reimbursed?  I’m not sure if any of that was sworn testimony or not.

Blonde Wino
6 years ago

Bid, there is a rumor about broidy and the pregnant bunny…it was actually trump, not broidy.   trump had broidy and wynn as the top money guys at the rnc.  Raising bail money and legal fees amongst the wealthy before they were all caught ‘dipping their pens in company ink.’

Blonde Wino
6 years ago

A link to the claim made it was trump, not broidy, paying-off the pregnant bunny.   Stormy’s lawyer muddies the swamp waters.

blueINdallas
6 years ago

sj – Do we know what tune they used for those lyrics?  Cool post.

One thing that might hurt the blue wave: Pelosi saying she wants to be Speaker.

She shouldn’t have said it, even if that was her intention.

There’s a Dem stench that goes along with previous Congressional classes & she’s been there a long time.  I’m sure Repugz will run against Pelosi, tying her to baggage from the Obama admin & even Hillary’s presidential run.   Pelosi just should’ve kept it to herself until later. The cat is out of the bag now.

In keeping with today’s theme, this is how Dems snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

RebelliousRenee
6 years ago

sj…   great job!

KGC…  great minds think alike and all that rot…  When we were watching snippets of Rudy’s performance on MSNBC last night, I told Rick “holy crap, he either is on drugs, drunk, or both.”

And just think..  yesterday morning I said the breaking news had slowed down.  I won’t forget to wait a few minutes again.

blueINdallas
6 years ago

Cambridge Analytica is rolling up the carpet.   Isn’t a bankruptcy file no leaving by them open to Mueller discovering direct ties between Trumpsky’s campaign/Bannon/Russia?   Got no forward, I can see CA’s brand is damaged, but there was a lot of money there.  Insolvency?  Really?

blueINdallas
6 years ago

If Trumpsky paid a woman & there was an abortion involved, that’s the end of 2020.

Blonde Wino
6 years ago

wilbur ross and disney villian munchkin head to China for trade war talks…wilbur ross saved the trump name from bankruptcy in the 1990s and munchkin kicked old ladies out of-their-homes during the gop great recession of the new century.  A motley crew.

trump owes China, America owes China….The US of AA gave away its soul again to the chinese with a credit card to pay for the tax cuts for the wealthy.   Xi has gifted trump with noko peace.  Once snowden went to China, way back when?  He was directed to assange and ended-up in russia with our a stolen records.   China running the geopolitical show with russia as the fixer!   The masters of the chinese finger trap…trump is entangled and owing.

assange should be worried, the ruskie chemical attacks in England?  Probably meant to scare assange…a message from russia.

Jamie44
6 years ago

SJ

Very perceptive article.  Thank you.  A lot of us feel like the above cartoon.

Blonde Wino
6 years ago

From NYT — china moves to steady relations with north korea.

Its foreign minister, Wang Yi, returned Thursday to Beijing after two days in North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, where he met with the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, shoring up China’s position as the North’s best friend.
China holds substantial economic leverage, but in the heightened strategic competition between it and the United States, it worries that Mr. Kim is using that rivalry to reduce dependence on China, his country’s longtime benefactor.
One of Mr. Wang’s jobs was to try to stop Mr. Kim from veering toward the United States under President Trump, some Chinese experts said.
 

Blonde Wino
6 years ago

More from the above linked article —
In the heyday of the China-North Korea relationship when Mr. Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il-sung, was in power, top-level visits between the two countries were frequent. The grandfather visited China many times, Mr. Xia said. Even Kim Jong-un’s father, Kim Jong-il, made seven trips between 2000 and 2011.
The parade of visits stopped after the young Mr. Kim came to power and derailed the relationship to China by ordering the killing of senior Korean officials close to Beijing.
Mr. Kim made a surprise visit to Beijing in late March, apparently on his own initiative, maneuvering in a way that made him look less like a supplicant and more like an equal.
China’s president, Xi Jinping, is expected to go to Pyongyang after the Trump-Kim meeting. One of the foreign minister’s duties was to confirm details of Mr. Xi’s visit, Chinese analysts said.

Jamie44
6 years ago

Kentucky Oaks is tomorrow afternoon.  Any last minute bets?

Post Position
Horse
Jockey
Odds
Trailmix

1
Sassy Sienna
Gary Stevens
15 to 1

2
Coach Rocks
Luis Saez
12 to 1
Jamie

3
Classy Act
Brian Hernandez Jr
15 to 1

4
Chocolate Martini
Javier Castellano
12 to 1

5
Wonder Gadot
John Velazquez
20 to 1

6
Kelly’s Humor
TBA
30 to 1

7
Rayya
Draydon Van Dyke
15 to 1
XR

8
Heavenhasmynikki
Calvin Borel
30 to 1

9
Take Charge Paula
Jose Ortiz
15 to 1

10
Midnight Bisou
Mike Smith
5 to 2

11
My Miss Lilly
Joe Bravo
10 to 1
Patd

12
Patrona Margarita
Ricardo Santa Jr
30 to 1
Pogo

13
Eskimo Kisses
Corey Lanerie
15 to 1
Jamie 

14
Monomoy Girl
Florent Geroux
2 to 1
RR

tony
6 years ago

Sj

Nice thought provoking piece. Yes but will Trump pay for his many crimes? I hope so!!!

Jamie,

Nice touch posting link to TM on Twitter. ?

Blonde Wino
6 years ago

The Russians can be blamed for a lot but ultimately Mr & Ms American cast his/her ballot on election day. 

I love your post, sj, but in reality?  The popular vote by M&M American was hillary, a dem, not trump.  I believe it was an election heist as orchestrated by russia with the trump campaign, rnc and gop all colluding.  The electoral win actually mirrored dick nixon’s win during the 70’s.  russians have studied our elections…know us better than ourselves.

Blonde Wino
6 years ago

Tony!   Good to see you…think of you often.

Blonde Wino
6 years ago

One more about winds and climate change…dust storms in the province of the Taj Majal.
At least 95 people have died and scores more injured in fierce dust storms that hit the northern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The storms on Wednesday disrupted electricity, uprooted trees, destroyed houses and killed livestock.
Many of the dead were sleeping when their houses collapsed after being struck by intense bursts of lightning.
Dust storms are common in this part of India during summer but loss of life on this scale is unusual.

blueINdallas
6 years ago

Tony!!!

Just watched a clip of Ghouls and he did appear to be super relaxed, occasionally opening his eyes really wine…er, I mean wide.

Jamie44
6 years ago

Hi Tony

Good to see you.  Please don’t be a stranger.

Blonde Wino
6 years ago

Teacher of the year silently protests trump…from the Guardian.

Flatus
6 years ago

SJ, can I put a purple wrap around their repugnant theme? Donald Trump demonstrated the balls to do what his supporters could only dream of doing. In other words, Vote RepublicanLiberate your fantasies!

 

patd
6 years ago

TONY!!!

before your time, but lyrics fit the occasion celebrating return of aprodigal son of the trail

patd
6 years ago

 

BiD, it may just be hiding out….  a skunk by any other name smells the same
here’s a tweet from wylie, the guy who blew the whistle on them
REMEMBER: Cambridge Analytica specialises in disinformation! We need to make sure their shut down is not just some rebranding or a way to hide from investigations. The SAME PEOPLE set up ANOTHER COMPANY and yesterday issued new company resolutions! Smells fishy af

 

patd
6 years ago

excerpt from  nbc news on  rudy: Rudy Giuliani’s disclosure on Fox News last night that President Trump repaid personal lawyer Michael Cohen for his $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels was an extraordinary admission. Not only did it contradict Trump’s previous denial about the payment — “No,” Trump said on April 5 when asked if he knew about the $130,000 — it also puts the president in potential legal jeopardy. Paul S. Ryan at the government watchdog group Common Cause tells the New York Times that Giuliani’s admission “could allow prosecutors to make the case that Mr. Trump ‘knowingly caused his campaign committee to file an incomplete disclosure report with the F.E.C.’” More from Ryan: “‘Until [last night], it would have been tough to prove that because Donald Trump had denied knowi ut that wasn’t the only unforced error that Giuliani made last night. He also claimed that Trump fired James Comey because the former FBI director refused to say that Trump wasn’t a target of the investigation — not because of Russia (as Trump told NBC’s Lester Holt) or because of Comey’s handling of the Clinton investigation (as the Justice Department explained). “He fired Comey because Comey would not, among to other things, say that he wasn’t a target of the investigation,” Giuliani said on Fox last night. “He’s entitled to that. Hillary Clinton got that. And he couldn’t get that. So he fired him. And then he said, ‘I’m free of this guys.’” So Trump’s new attorney — Giuliani… Read more »

Katherine Graham Cracker
6 years ago

Rudee was drunk
He clearly doesn’t understand the issues around campaign spending violations or much of anything else

Flatus
6 years ago

Tony? Tony?? Tony!!!

patd
6 years ago

excerpt from this morning’s philly inquirer:

 
On Wednesday night, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is currently acting as an attorney for Donald Trump, created shockwaves in the political world by admitting to Fox News host Sean Hannity that the president did know about a $130,000 hush payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
 
 
During the interview, Giuliani told Hannity that the money to repay Trump’s embattled lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen had been “funneled… through the law firm and the president repaid it.”

On Thursday morning, President Trump confirmed on Twitter that he reimbursed Cohen for the payment through a monthly retainer, adding that it “had nothing to do with the campaign.”

 
 
But Giuliani appeared to contradict that minutes later during an interview on Fox & Friends, where he explicitly linked Cohen’s payment to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Cliffords, to the 2016 presidential election.
 
“Imagine if that came out on October 15, 2016 in the middle of the last debate with Hillary Clinton,” Giuliani said. “Cohen didn’t even ask. Cohen made it go away. He didn’t even ask.”
[…continues…]

Katherine Graham Cracker
6 years ago

drunk liar
at least he didn’t moon anyone literally

Flatus
6 years ago

 

Racist Jacob Goodwin convicted of assault on black man during Charlottesville rally
Jacob Scott Goodwin is a white supremacist. Last August during the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, he wore pins celebrating Adolf Hitler and was caught on video wearing a military helmet and carrying a large shield during an attack on DeAndre Harris, a black man. Yesterday, he was found guilty of assault.
Read the article at Hatewatch.

Katherine Graham Cracker
6 years ago

All normal is local

Katherine Graham Cracker
6 years ago

But Giuliani’s other admission — delivered during his interview with Sean Hannity on Wednesday night — may be more important and damning. Giuliani conceded in an offhand way that Trump fired FBI Director James B. Comey because Comey failed to do Trump’s bidding and publicly declare that Trump was not under investigation. Here’s what Giuliani said:

“He fired Comey because Comey would not, among other things, say that he wasn’t a target of the investigation,” Giuliani said. “He’s entitled to that. Hillary Clinton got that, and he couldn’t get that. So he fired him, and he said, ‘I’m free of this guy.’”

In saying this, Giuliani appears to have thought that he was exonerating Trump. Giuliani was saying Trump didn’t fire Comey to obstruct the investigation into Trump campaign collusion with Russian sabotage of our election, but rather because Comey didn’t publicly clear him, which Giuliani believes Trump was “entitled to.”

Katherine Graham Cracker
6 years ago

Part of the problem with SFB is that so many Americans were not able to vote  –think Wisconsin where people were illegally excluded from voting.

Pogo
6 years ago

Tony, nice to see the rumors aren’t true. 😉 George Will sez Among the recent garbled effusions from today’s temporary president — cheer up; they are all temporary — was one that concerned something about which he might not have thought as deeply as the subject merits. During an episode of government of, by and for “Fox & Friends,” he said: He won the 2016 election “easily” but wishes the electoral vote system were replaced by direct election of presidents by popular vote. He favors this “because” — if you were expecting him to offer reasons drawn from political philosophy or constitutional theory, grow up — “to me, it’s much easier to win the popular vote.” He added, accidentally stubbing his toe on a truth, that running for president without the electoral collegewould involve “a totally different campaign.” Which, he does not realize, is one reason for retaining the electoral college.   The president’s interest in all this comes from his festering grievance about losing the popular vote by five times more votes than George W. Bush lost it to Al Gore in 2000. Trump’s thinking is as murky as his syntax, but evidently he supposes that under a pure popular-vote system he would have campaigned in, say, indigo California, thereby reducing his opponent’s huge margin of victory there (30 points). Perhaps. But his California campaigning might have increased her turnout, which was probably reduced by the lack of campaigning there. Who knows?   Now George & I don’t normally agree about much (like the bulk of the… Read more »

blueINdallas
6 years ago

patD – It’s a high stakes game of 3-card Monty.  I guess we follow the players involved in CA; Nix & BananaNazi.  Filing bankruptcy is meant to cover their nut, but I think it may be a misguided move.

Pogo
6 years ago

Someone please tell me why I find it ironic that 2 days after Vice SFB welcomed Joe F. Arpaio to the stage at a rally in AZ he and SFB are hosting the National Day of Prayer event at the WH.

As he occasionally does, Joe Scarborough got it right in a tweet:
“Mike Pence is “honored” to have Joe Arpaio at his event? And he calls a bigoted criminal who tortured inmates a “strong champion of the rule of law”? Even Arizona Republicans know this man undermines the most basic of American values. “

RebelliousRenee
6 years ago

Tony!…  long time no see, my friend.  Nice to see you’re still online.

Will be going to MV to see Kathleen next month… can’t wait to meet the twins.

 

Katherine Graham Cracker
6 years ago

if his lips are moving he is lying!   What is true about all Goopers?

patd
6 years ago

BiD, they’re just following erik prince’s m.o.   remember when he renamed blackwater to Xe Services (now known as academi) to wash the slime off

Pogo
6 years ago

And to up the irony ante,

Mr. Arpaio, who lost reelection for sheriff in 2016, faced jail time for a criminal contempt conviction but was pardoned by Mr. Trump. He is running to replace retiring Republican Sen. Jeff Flake.

The vice president also talked about border security, discussing the “caravan” of migrants that has reached the U.S. border from Central America.

“This is a deliberate attempt to undermine the laws and weaken the sovereignty of the United States of America,”Mr. Pencesaid to applause. “But under this president, we will uphold our laws, defend our sovereignty, and we will protect the borders of the United States of America.”

Washington Times.

Right…

patd
6 years ago

cartoon with yesterday’s op ed by ny times editorial board: What Robert Mueller Knows

Jamie44
6 years ago

Best tweet in line with today’s topic”

Whatever my political leanings, I’m a human being first, and an American second. I look at what’s happening to this country – and to us – and I can literally cry. I can’t fathom the support for this pathologically lying, blatantly crooked and criminally stupid man. Liz E Clark

Katherine Graham Cracker
6 years ago

Now they are just making up laws

It’s not hard to figure out how we got where we are today. The Republicans combined money and religion tax abatements for the wealthy and public money for religious groups and never never abortion. And in the middle they get to ruin the environment and people’s health –it’s all about the benjamin’s’

patd
6 years ago

Cleveland plain dealer column and cartoon:

Trump legal shake-up, Giuliani legal screwup

Pogo
6 years ago

AP’s Q&A about the Cambridge Analytica bankruptcy. (Sorry for the Faux feed on it.)

WILL THE BANKRUPTCY STOP THE INVESTIGATION?
Absolutely not, say British authorities. Collins told Sky News that company leaders will “be in for a nasty surprise” if they think shutting Cambridge Analytica will make it possible to erase the data that prompted the investigation.
Facebook also says it will continue to seek answers “to understand exactly what happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
While individuals and businesses are typically required to preserve evidence for known investigations, it’s not clear how this will work if a company is insolvent. And in any case, the U.K. Information Commissioner says it can take action against individual directors even of a company that’s been declared insolvent, Collins added.
It doesn’t appear the closure would directly affect the parent company, SCL Group, making it more difficult to get rid of evidence on insolvency grounds. Wednesday’s news release announcing the decision lists only Cambridge Analytica and SCL Elections, not the parent company.

SFB paid these shysters $6M to sway the election.  And they complain about  the Clinton campaign paying for Steele to complete the dossier. God these criminals know no shame.

Katherine Graham Cracker
6 years ago

I think the biggest unforced error of the Clinton campaign was the insult to women who supported Bernie Sanders by Steinheim and Albright.  The actual insult was bad enough but it supported the idea the Clinton campaign was made up of smug elitists.

And really Gloria Steinhem what did it say about your early political forays –looking for boys were you?

blueINdallas
6 years ago

F-ing China!  Using lasers to try to interfere (blind) US military pilots.

Blue Bronc
6 years ago

After the great reviews for Rudy the worm Wednesday performance, I am wondering if he sandbagged SFB.  If this is why the fat orange one hired him, he is getting his money’s worth.

xrepublican
6 years ago

The deadbeat pussypincher hired Julie Annie so that in the event of a guilty verdict, he can claim the bad outcome was due to the incompetent defense.

All the fundraising that trumpapalooza is doing must be going directly to the legal team, because trump is all about other people’s money. He’s probably also taking a 30% finders fee from the talent he hires. Except for Julie Annie who does his drunken shitty work pro bono. In Julie Annie’s case, pro bono means “for the camera time.”
 

xrepublican
6 years ago

Welcome Home, Tony !

(Clapping, banners, fireworks, confetti, shouts and whistles)

Cake & ice cream for everyone !

patd
6 years ago

nbc news: Federal investigators have wiretapped the phone lines of Michael Cohen, the longtime personal lawyer for President Donald Trump who is under investigation for a payment he made to an adult film star who alleged she had an affair with Trump, according to two people with knowledge of the legal proceedings involving Cohen. It is not clear how long the wiretap has been authorized, but NBC News has learned it was in place in the weeks leading up to the raids on Cohen’s offices, hotel room, and home in early April, according to one person with direct knowledge. At least one phone call between a phone line associated with Cohen and the White House was intercepted, the person said. […] Two sources close to Trump’s newest attorney, Rudolph Giuliani, say he learned that days after the raid the president had made a call to Cohen, and told Trump never to call again out of concern the call was being recorded by prosecutors. [….] Former U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg, now an NBC News analyst, says there’s a high bar for having a wiretap approved. “The affidavits are typically highly detailed and carefully vetted by experienced lawyers,” he said. “In all cases the wiretap must be approved by a federal judge.” Rosenberg said that wiretaps are usually approved for an investigation into a current crime and not solely for possible crimes that have been committed in the past. “This is an exacting process where the government must demonstrate to a federal… Read more »

xrepublican
6 years ago

Welcome Home, Craig !
 
(Clapping, banners, fireworks, confetti, shouts and whistles)
 
Fried bologna sandwiches for everyone !
 

xrepublican
6 years ago

We’re supposed to demand* a Nobel Peace Prize for the deadbeat serial husband, because “he forced” king kim “to de-nuclearize his arsenal” AND the king “is giving us” 3 other kims that are supposed to be our citizens. First, let’s see if it former actually happens, and then let’s see if the latter look anything like the 3 kims we once knew.

Do damaged kims count as an actual and proper return ?

* According to the trump disinformation army.

patd
6 years ago

hey pogo,  how is this playing with the folk your way?

https://youtu.be/Sk2Jaew6eZo

patd
6 years ago

cnn:

Mitch McConnell is becoming the GOP’s Nancy Pelosi in midterm races

blueINdallas
6 years ago

NK has nada to do with Trumpsky’s magnificent negotiating skills & everything to do with the opening provided by the Olympics & Kim getting his needs met.   This will not turn out well in the long run, because in the long run, Kim will give up nothing that would be to his benefit.  Still, they’ve been awarded for less.  Obama, for instance, awarded before he had actually done anything.

patd
6 years ago

“Obama, for instance, awarded before he had actually done anything.”

BiD, at the time that was my thought too; but given the way things really are, being a black man and getting elected president in America is a pretty amazing accomplishment.   even harder would have been if he were a she (black or white)

Jamie44
6 years ago

KGC

I felt that the media failed the American public.  That Albright quote of “there is a special place in hell for women who don’t support other women” was one that she had used for about a decade.  She said it first as a joke and then for Clinton as a joke only to be greeted with “THE SHOCK OF IT ALL” in the reporting.  It wasn’t that Clinton was an “elite” … something hard to be when you spent a lot of time as a young woman scaling fish.  It was that because of her hard won accomplishments that she was presented as an “elite’.

Bink
6 years ago

sup tony

Jamie44
6 years ago

I’m pretty sure China’s thumb is on the scale with any POW releases or Korean unification.  They are on a mission to become a world economic power in the absence of the US drop out from various international agreements.  The globe is shaping up into a China/Russia divide courtesy of the right wing forces in Europe and the US.  It may be time to reread an old book from the 1960s:

White Lotus 

China enslaves the US and white people are the “wrong color”.  Very much a world turned upside down book.

 

Bink
6 years ago

The media didn’t fail the American public, Jamie.  The American public failed the American public.  We’re not helpless victims; we did this.

Jamie44
6 years ago

The above is exactly why I was such an ardent supporter of Hillary Clinton.  I knew so much about her, her biography, the relationships with friends etc.   Every time some one of the powers that be literally lied or misrepresented something about her that I knew not to be true, I wanted to slash burn and claw over the unfairness of the presentation.  Every time I heard “not that woman” or worse “killary”, the urge to destroy was almost overwhelming.  To this day, I will clap with glee should finger scolding Bernie shuffle off the mortal coil.

I didn’t object that much to the loss to Obama because he treated her with respect and because he is a decent man but the loss to the current garbage in the WH is really hard to take.

Sure she made her own errors mainly because privacy of friends and family is a natural state and thoughtful long form conversation doesn’t lend to sound bites, but what was done to her that saddled this country with Trump borders on treason.

 

Bink
6 years ago

Residents of districts that are electing treasonous dullards like Devin Nunes to the House are really failing the American public.

Pogo
6 years ago

patd, the ad you linked is the one I referred to yesterday or the day before and said that no one who wasn’t already planning to vote for Blankenship would decide to do so after seeing that ad. I just saw a great reference at Wapo to SFB that I have to steal – Orange Skidmark.  As they say, ain’t it the truth? Blue…. from Nobelprize.org The Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 The Norwegian Nobel Committeehas decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons. Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama’s initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened. Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept… Read more »

Katherine Graham Cracker
6 years ago

Jaime

I was thinking more about the Steinhem quote about campaigning for Sanders because that’s where the boys were…

Bink
6 years ago

When West Virginians elect don blakenship to the Senate, and they will, they will be failing the American public.  It’s easy to assign blame, in all of this, without the need for abstract terms like, “the media”.

Pogo
6 years ago

Bink, for god’s sake (odd coming from an atheist) I hope you’re wrong, but it’s certainly within the realm of possibility.  The rubes here have a very high floor and no ceiling for their stupidity. They chose Bernie! over Hillary after all.

Jamie44
6 years ago

Bink

The media sold the American public a bill of goods.  So take your pick:  The thinking shovelers of shit for their own gain or those who swallowed it whole because they don’t or can’t think.

 

Jamie44
6 years ago

Okay now I’m going to read The Marching Morons 

While the book is about less intelligent outbreeding the intelligent, in today’s political climate is it about the extremes out voting the middle?

 

xrepublican
6 years ago

Smart maggots v dum moths ?

My take on Clinton’s “secretiveness” is, every time she did or said something in public from ’90 to ’18, the smart maggots devoured her. So of course, she wanted to keep the maggots from combing through her emails, tweets, phone records, visitor schedule, voice mail, videos, ‘cuz they’d use any stupid little thing against her :

“Eating the beans at KFC ? There is no more blatant sign that she’s a commie than THAT ! ! !

Katherine Graham Cracker
6 years ago

Is it wrong to want grey poupon on one’s fried baloney?
Just kidding it’s French’s Yellow on my baloney

xrepublican
6 years ago

Ms Cracker, It is perfectly acceptable to put grey poupon on fried baloney. However, adding banana and peanut butter is gauche.

Bon Appetit !

Katherine Graham Cracker
6 years ago

hadn’t even thought of that X-R  as I am somewhat of a baloney purist

Jamie44
6 years ago

Bananas & Peanut Butter … For the boomers amongst us, you might want to check out the documentary;  Elvis Presley:  The Searcher

It’s a two parter and well worth watching.

Sturgeone
6 years ago

Wake up at 2 AM and can’t go back to sleep?

eat a baloney sandwich, it’s a guaranteed sleep inducer, almost better than Xanax.

Katherine Graham Cracker
6 years ago

Money and religion are powerful enough on their own and together and big money and big money religion are partners of the GOP

blueINdallas
6 years ago

pogo – Bull crap!  The Nobel was awarded in Oct, 2009.  The selection was earlier than that, and, the cut-off to submit nominations to the committee was February…a mere month after Obama was sworn in.

No, he talked a good game to the crowds in Europe.  They had high hopes.

As the bad doctor said in a Kids In The Hall sketch, “How far can you skate on charm?  Pretty far, actually.”

I am correct and you know it!

blueINdallas
6 years ago

By the way, Obama’s car deal to keep the auto manufacturers afloat was not environmentally friendly.  Something was poured into the engines of trade-ins to seize up the engines and turn them into junk.  That was part of the deal.

patd
6 years ago

the speaker had  a come to jesuit moment

NPR:
In a sharply worded letter, Conroy, a Jesuit priest, suggested bias against his Catholic faith in the speaker’s request for his resignation last month. Conroy alleged Jonathan Burks, Ryan’s chief of staff, had said “maybe it’s time we had a chaplain that wasn’t a Catholic” during an April 13 private meeting in which Burks informed Conroy that the speaker wanted him to step down.
 
Ryan, who is Catholic, released a statement in response in which he said he accepted Conroy’s letter and “decided that he will remain in his position.” He added: “It is my job as speaker to do what is best for this body, and I know that this body is not well served by a protracted fight over such an important post.” Ryan said he plans to meet with Conroy next week “so that we can move forward for the good of the whole House.”
 
In a separate statement, Burks pushed backed against the priest’s account of their private meeting. “I strongly disagree with Father Conroy’s recollection of our conversation. I am disappointed by the misunderstanding, but wish him the best as he continues to serve the House,” he said.
 

Flatus
6 years ago

It certainly seems worthwhile asking the Dalai Lama if he would be willing to help sort things out between the various Roman factions before the Anglicans and Episcopalians jump into the fray.

Pogo
6 years ago

Blue, I know no such thing. I know what the Nobel committee put out in their press release in October 2009. Do you want to try to show me something different? Provide a link.

You’re so full of shit sometimes, honest to God give a link to any of the stuff that you’re sitting here blathering.

I get so tired of you throwing bullshit out and not putting links to support the bullscheisse it it just drives me crazy.

Bink
6 years ago

“sometimes“

lol

Pogo
6 years ago

Bink. … ?

Pogo
6 years ago

Patd, I’m sorry if I say so, but if Ryan backed off he’s as big a wuss as I thought.

Pogo
6 years ago

RR, looks like the Cavs and Celts May be seeing each other soon…again. Something familiar about this.