At this point, I’m just leaning into the fact that the only interesting/gossip-worthy/noteworthy stuff that’s happening these days is in the world of politics. Celebrities around the world are keeping their sh-t relatively tight as we all collectively hold our breath to see what fresh hell awaits us with Emperor Bigly Fists. So, these are some of the stories going around this morning:
Trump met with Egypt’s president. Basically, two bloodthirsty dictators met and fell in love. It was a White House meet-cute, only so many people are going to die.
Erik Prince and the Russians. When George W. Bush was president I read a write-around profile of Erik Prince, the guy who founded Blackwater. The profile made him sound like a fascist wingnut. Well, fascist wingnuts flock together, but nowadays Erik Prince is acting as an “unofficial envoy” for Donald Trump. To what end? According to the Washington Post, Prince was attempting to create a “back channel” between the Trump administration and… you guessed it, the Russians. While back channel diplomacy is a thing – it’s how we communicate with Iran – it’s NOT A THING between two countries that actually have diplomatic relations. Apparently, Prince met with Russian officials in Seychelles… nine days before Bigly’s inauguration. Because Russia spent all that money getting Bigly elected and they just couldn’t wait until he was inaugurated to find out all of the sh-t they were going to get from him.
Neil Gorsuch & the filibuster. If Mitch McConnell can refuse to put Merrick Garland up for a vote because Obama was in the last year of his presidency, then I say the same criteria must apply to Neil Gorsuch. Trump can’t nominate a Supreme Court justice in the last year of his presidency either. That’s what Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal says too – that he’s agreeing to the Gorsuch filibuster because everyone knows Donald Trump will be impeached.
Jeff Sessions is a racist elf. This story bothered me so much. Our Attorney General is a racist Keebler Elf who wants to make sure that all of the police departments in the country know that they have the go-ahead to shoot as many unarmed minorities as possible. When Eric Holder was our AG, he made “troubled” and “problematic” police departments agree to “consent decrees” in which their actions would be monitored by the DOJ. It was a way for the DOJ to provide oversight, of course, but it also gave police departments a starting point to improve community relations and rebuild trust. Sessions is putting those consent decrees on notice and giving the wink and nudge to police forces that they can shoot and kill whomever they want.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
I feel like I’m hanging all of my hope on the journalists who are Woodward-and-Bernsteining right now.
Yes.
They’re working their sources hard and there are a growing number of “officials” in the US and now European and Arab intelligence communities who are speaking knowledgeably off the record. Every few days, something new that seems to both cast the net wider and draw the noose tighter.
The LA Times is slamming the sh1t out of trump, not holding back a bit. Here’s Part 3 of their fantastic series.
http://www.latimes.com/newsletters/la-me-todays-headlines-20170404-story.html
I am concerned Bigly Boy is going to channel his love for Putin and some of that journalist team is going to turn up dead.
Yep. It’s only a matter of time before Trump starts acting like his hero Putin and assassinates someone. Let’s hope they have some good evidence that he corroborated with the Russians. He needs to go.
I am also concerned for the journalists’ safety. I’m afraid that one of Trump’s fanboys will attack them.
Just read the third installment. Each installment has been very interesting. I’m surprised the Trump has not tweeted about these articles.
LA is too far away for Trump to fathom.
Also, is anyone really … really … surprised that he and this situation are that bad, chaotic, destructive and cruel?
He’s doing exactly what he said he would do, and he’s doing it with the same scummy people in the same scummy way he ran for office.
That would just draw attention to him and bring down more on his head. He probably wouldn’t read the LA Times anyway because it isn’t the “failing” New York Times. And we all know he’s not a big reader anyway. Does Fox News even pay attention to the LA Times?
We’re all gonna die basically.
N. Korea is a huge concern.
You left out that Erik Prince is Betsy DeVos’ brother.
Remember when Slate wrote about the Trump server pinging Alfa Bank, a Russian bank with ties to Putin, last fall? They were slammed (in part by the NYT) because the server was also pinging a random healthcare organization in Michigan. The press assumed it must be harmless and possibly just advertising as the Trump organization insisted. Turns out that healthcare organization was Spectrum Health where Betsy DeVos’ husband is chairman of the board. Alfa bank turned up in the Steele dossier too.
There are so many threads to this, it’s almost unbelievable.
Yes, it’s a mighty tangled web. I guess we now know Betsy DeVos got her job for more reasons than just her $200 million contributions to Republicans though.
Tweeter Caroline O has great information on all the crooks.
http://teapainusa.wordpress.com/2017/04/03/data-patterns-suggest-trump-towerspectrum-health-ran-a-stealth-data-machine-with-russia/
Wow!!!!
I know Erik Prince is also setting up Blackwater-style training camps in China, too.
This is all kinds of bad. Very scary.
And also VERY good friends with Robert Mercer.
“Robert Mercer, the billionaire hedge funder, his daughter Rebekah ran one of the most important super PACs to Trump, Make America Number 1 super PAC. And Trump—and Erik Prince and his mother, Elsa, were two of the largest contributors to one of the most significant super PACs that supported Donald Trump. Erik Prince is very close to Robert Mercer. Prince was also at the ‘Heroes and Villains’ party that Mercer threw in Long Island after the election.”
–From DemocracyNow interview with Jeremy Scahill
Republicans are an incestuous bunch, aren’t they?
Mercer is behind Breitbart and Cambridge Analytica too. Bannon’s financial release showed $500,000 from Cambridge Analytica last year, I believe. He’s totally Mercer’s boy. Mercer has been a crazy foaming at the mouth conspiracy theory nut for years with a grudge against the Clintons. He and his daughter have poured millions into far right candidates.
Don’t the Mercers also fund Breitbart? Where Steve Bannon was editor in chief? So basically this is a group of about 15 people that keep hiring each other for the same stuff over and over.
The American dream is dead.
The recent loss of internet privacy at the hands of Republicans in Congress will be huge for companies like Mercer’s Cambridge Analytica. They worked for both Leave in Brexit and Trump’s campaign. They’re exactly why you need to stop taking those stupid Facebook quizzes too. They build psychological profiles of users and micro-target political ads. If you seem to be a slightly worried or paranoid person based on quiz answers they made sure you saw images of scary looking immigrants on the suggested posts and “news” on your feed. The info in Americans’ browser history that they will be able to buy starting in 2018 will make them a fortune and enable them to influence public opinion. Seriously, US based folks will need a VPN by the end of the year.
Cambridge Analytica also worked behind the scenes on Brexit
Serious question: can US consumers put pressure on their internet providers NOT to on-sell their clients’ private browsing histories? It could be a very good point of difference for some providers.
And, as bleu_moon above points out, Erik Prince is Betsy DeVos’ brother. The most disturbing quote from the WaPo piece (long, but worth the read) is his:
“In a July interview with Bannon, Prince said those seeking forceful U.S. leadership should “wait till January and hope Mr. Trump is elected.” And he lashed out at President Barack Obama, saying that because of his policies ‘the terrorists, the fascists, are winning.’ ”
Terrorists and fascists winning, you say……?
{shudders}
Erik Prince is a mercenary who has made hundreds of millions by sending his paramilitary troops to fight for dictators. Prince should be tried for war crimes, but I suspect he will ultimately be nabbed for money laundering.
Caroline O’s comprehensive thread on Erik Prince’s involvement.
http://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/849017866716418049
Speaking of money laundering, because it seems to pop up all over the Trump sphere, I can’t figure out why Trump’s Taj Mahal fine for money laundering hasn’t been a bigger story. It was the largest fine ever paid by a casino. Whose money was he laundering?
@bleu yep, this is one big international crime syndicate where dirty money is laundered into legit businesses designed to put and keep these crooks in power. I’m taking off my tin foil hat because this conspiracy is real.
Uhm, but he’s backing the fascists.
And it really irks me when people talk about “the terrorists” as if they’re all one united group, sharing the same ideology and working towards the same end. They aren’t. IRA, FARC, Shining Path, ETA, Boko Haram, and Al Qaeda never had joint meetings.
This is behind a paywall, so I can’t get to it (link below), but evidently Robert Mercer’s yardstick for judging people is purely based on net worth. In other words, money is a proxy for everything, and if you don’t earn it, you’re a drain on the world.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/meet-the-mercers-a-quiet-tycoon-and-his-daughter-become-power-brokers-in-trumps-washington-1483904047
That’s interesting — like adjusting the wedding gift on whether you’re served beef or chicken.
There are mornings when I literally dread reading/hearing the news. It just gets more and more depressing.
The Dems have nothing to lose on the filibuster. The Senate doesn’t have to “go nuclear.” That’s just Republican whitewashing. I wish more would be said about nominating a more moderate judge rather than this conservative. A moderate would be confirmed no problem.
Why is that when a Democratic President nominates a justice, it had better be a moderate and no one with liberal leanings? But Republican Presidents can nominate the most conservative asshole they can find and never once does anyone suggest they nominate a moderate.
Because Dems will always play ball because they try to be “good” and the GOP knows hey could screw their base (is what they are doing now) and still be elected over and over. It’s easier to be evil…less moral code to follow.
I always compare it to superheroes. The superhero will always think of the well being of others to prevent casualties but a villain won’t. They feed off chaos. Not that the Dems are paragons of good…a lot of them suck too (just not evil).
“Why is that when a Democratic President nominates a justice, it had better be a moderate and no one with liberal leanings?”
This is what f*cking KILLS me: Merrick Garland was chosen by Obama because he was a MODERATE and Obama thought the Republithugs might be more amenable to him over a more liberal judge, but NOPE.
And please Republicans, PLEASE tell me again how the Republicans tried to work with Obama during his presidency. Gah. What they did to the Dems with Garland’s nom simply ENRAGES me but as Nicole said, they can be as evil as they want–their base cares not as long as they deliver on their promises of jobs, deregulations, pushing the religious agenda, and unfettered capitalism.
Unfettered capitalism is what drives the elites. Racism is what drives the base. They will vote for anyone who says white Christians are better than everyone else. And now, thanks to Trump, they don’t have to speak in dog whistles anymore. They can wear their racism as a badge of honor.
What really tears it for me is that the Republicans DO NOT come through for their base. They’ve been bleeding them (and the rest of us) dry by transferring wealth through tax cuts to the rich and to corporations that then turn around and outsource jobs. We’ve been bought, sold and bought again and again by our government. That some Democrats have gleefully participated in the civilian rape only drives the knife deeper for me. And the base on the right will continue to vote against their best interests because they believe the lies about guns, god and abortions.
Dems know the meaning of bipartisanship. Unfortunately it seems to be a thing of the past now, thanks to the GOP.
As for the nuclear option, I heard that John McCain said “this is the beginning of the end of the Senate as we know it.” Frightening. But I can’t help but wonder WHY won’t any Republicans step up now to try and stop this dismantling of our democracy instead of just lamenting its demise?? I’m sick.
Republicans are choosing the nuclear option. The blame is on them, not Democrats.
Megan, I’m not blaming the Democrats.
@Esmon I know you aren’t. I was referring to the Republicans blaming Democrats. It makes me want to scream.
Ah, Megan, got it. Makes me want to scream, too.
McCain says a lot of things but does very little about any of it.
Adam Schiff tweeted out that when the Republicans blocked Garland, they chose the nuclear option — what is happening now is just fallout.
I agree with that. They made their bed.
🤢🤢🤢ALERT! ALERT!🤢🤢🤢
Plastic Barbie will be interviewed on CBS Morning Show tomorrow. If you need a dose of smarm and lying, tune in.
Wonder what she will say about her father defunding the Global Maternal Health Organization.
Nothing. Gayle King is the interviewer. I expect softball questions about lifestyle changes and rhetoric about helping women in the workplace
Trump and Sessions’ implied support for extrajudicial killings is more than morally grotesque, it puts millions of lives at risk. It forces entire communities to live under extreme duress because they are not safe at anytime nor anywhere. No country can be great when a huge percentage of it lives in fear.
Truth is stranger than fiction. I’m just thankful that, for the most part, I’m back to a place where I can live my life without panicking every moment of every day. It still happens, mind you, but I can function. Yoga helps. Cannabis helps.
As far as Sessions, I hate that man so much. I worry about what marijuana law enforcement will look like under him. Does anyone have insight?
It’s way too early to tell but needless to say, I’m monitoring the situation closely 😉
I think there could be a good argument from states saying that we get to decide on this issue ourselves. It’s possible that Sessions will let it be, but we just don’t know yet.
Most of the articles I’ve been reading reflect a cautiously optimistic outlook that states that have already legalized MJ will be able to retain that status.
Republicans look at States’ Rights the same way they look at Individual Freedom. They only allow it if it fits with their biases. AG Cornpone puts grass on the same level as heroin, so don’t relax.
Yeah, “states’ rights” is such partisan BS, it means nothing. I remember how Betsy DeVos kept evoking it as her rationale for essentially dismantling public education as we know it, including how we educate students with disabilities. Ignorant and sickening.
Eh. Legalization of marijuana is largely supported on a bipartisan level–81% of Americans support it. I think the only people who are against it at this point are the Evangelicals.
And while the Trump administration could slow down MJ the process in states that have already passed a marijuana legalization referendum, they can’t stop it because the Federal government doesn’t have the power to force states to make marijuana legal again.
The Trump administration could sue in order to dismantle state regulations but that would leave behind a legal but unregulated market. And the Feds don’t have the manpower to crack down on the local level so there’s not a lot of upside for the administration to roll back legalization.
Also there is this bill that looks promising: https://www.speedweed.com/2017/04/03/new-legislation-would-force-the-federal-government-to-treat-marijuana-like-alcohol/
But there are still problems, as John Oliver enumerates:
http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/watch-john-oliver-on-insanely-inconsistent-us-marijuana-laws-w474663
@ Susanne-Thanks for the link. I completely agree with Oliver about how confusing the MJ laws are, particularly when weighing state-based vs Fed-based legislature…
But there would be a major outcry from both sides of the political aisle if they tried to rollback legalization and I doubt this administration would want to contend with that, particularly in the midst of the Russian scandal and a 35% popularity rating.
@Shambles I find kick boxing and Instragramming pics of cat to be calming hobbies.
@Shambles — my therapist taught me long ago that beating the bed with a tennis racket would release endorphins and aid with anger/anxiety. I initially thought I should get my money back, but it has proven to be a rather successful method of ridding myself of rage against the Orange. My double-fisted backhand smashes Emperor Clementine to a pulp.
Huh. I may bring our old rackets up from the basement. Though I feel sorry for the bed. Spring cleaning too – time to beat the rugs!
I’ve never heard of this method. I must try it, after first locking the door to make sure that my animals stay outside.
Adam Khan and Seth Abramson on twitter lay out the entire TrumpRussia entangled web with all the little weblets.
Amazing and terrifying!
Keith Olbermann is also getting more info about the dossier and Steele’s guy Kulagin. His 6 to 9 minute videos are pretty great.
The networks (MSNBC and CNN) are taking a more careful approach with all this “new” information, which is appropriate.
I follow Adam Khan but it’s difficult to keep track of the connections between people in the Twitter format. It becomes very disjointed and hard to follow. He needs to write an article that lays out everything we know so far.
@bleu
Agreed. That’s why I screenshot the tweets in order and then look at the camera feature to read it in order without comments or side tweets.
Annnnnnd Prince is also Betsy DeVos’ brother…. the tangled fascist web!
Blackwater has military contracts to provide private security forces overseas. So basically a private army of mercenaries with no loyalty to country. Just what an orange fascist needs most.
The plot thickens. Let’s see how far this scandal reach. Eric Prince is brother to the Sec of education. With all the ties that points to Russia and DT I can’t see how all this is just a coincident. I see White Water 2.0 on the horizon.
So Easy D’s using a back channel now?
God, this is so depressing that I can’t even laugh at that.
Meanwhile, DT is retweeting the Drudge Report (ugh) and continuing to attack Susan Rice. For doing her job.
It’s strange to me how trump keeps deflecting from the story by pointing to an aspect of the story. Like, there’s a raging fire that people suspect trump lit and trump keeps tweeting about someone who reported him as the arsonist. Stupid strategy but sadly, maybe it works with his willfully stupid and blind base.
Tr*mp is experiencing death by a thousand cuts, and I am enjoying watching every one.
I pretty much just want to scream.
Seriously, this seems to be getting no play. What the tricking heck is going on? How badly compromised is the GOP?
The US is also ending funds for the UN Population Fund (deals with family planning and reproductive health) because ….”its operations violate an antiabortion policy enacted by the Trump Administration…”
http://time.com/4724227/unfpa-funding-trump-mexico-city-policy-abortion/
What else is to be expected from a man who leads with his big swinging dick? Excuse me while I go rage now. Please tell your friends, anyone who gets a positive pregnancy test please put it in an envelope, mail it to DT, Pence, etc. The more, the better.
I don’t think it would be big. The best thing to do with these GOP dicks is to replace their Viagra with placebos.
And now ISIS has released their first official statement referencing DT, and they’re calling him an idiot.
Build those bomb shelters, folks. DT is gonna get us nuked to a crisp.
Can’t argue with your first sentence.
Here’s a 15 point thread ProPublica posted in response to spicey’s slur:
http://twitter.com/propublica/status/849000820318371841
Three year list of Russian murders and suspucious deaths:
http://twitter.com/leahmcelrath/status/849346478183247873
I think there are lots of shoes to drop about Russian influence and many more “back doors” to find.
Meanwhile, you would think Rand Paul golfing with so-called president Trump was all about healthcare. However, now that Rand Paul is out there trying to make Susan Rice the story instead of Russian hacking, I see Trump was busy giving this Republican stooge talking points to continue to deflect from the fact that Trump might possibly end up trapped like a rat for colluding with Russia.
Supposedly dear son-in-law also works media contacts, such as morning show Joe. This may explain why he suddenly flips every few days, from lambasting orange one, to (as of today) joining the Rice deflection story talking points.
I guess some people want to feel ‘in the loop’, even if it is eventually going to be a noose.