I’ve been happily hibernating from politics this week, what with the Met Gala and Cannes and assorted celebrity gossip, not to mention tennis! So we haven’t talked about Michael Cohen this or Michael Avenatti that, nor have we discussed the Gina Haspel nomination. Donald Trump wants Gina Haspel to be his next CIA Director. She’s been going through confirmation hearings all week. Haspel worked for the CIA under George W. Bush, which is when she was a defender and promoter of “enhanced interrogation” methods, aka torture. Senator John McCain is currently dealing with brain cancer, and already making funeral plans. But McCain issued a statement about how he would not vote for Haspel’s nomination. McCain has always had a clean, admirable record against torture, because he was tortured by the Vietcong. So this is what happened next:
A White House official mocked Sen. John McCain‘s brain cancer diagnosis just three weeks after the politician underwent surgery for an intestinal infection. The remarks were made Thursday morning, one day after the Republican announced he opposed President Donald Trump‘s nominee for CIA director, Gina Haspel.
“It doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway,” Special assistant Kelly Sadler said during a closed-door meeting at the White House, according to The Hill.
The White House responded to the comments in a statement obtained by PEOPLE, saying, “We respect Senator McCain’s Service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time.”
The Hill reported this first, and they went to the White House for a statement, and the WH didn’t deny that Kelly Sadler said that. The Hill also reported that sources told them Sadler’s comment “was intended as a joke, but that it did not go over well with others at the meeting. There was ‘discomfort’ in the room after Sadler’s comment and the conversation continued without addressing it.” Then, later on Thursday, the White House’s propaganda machine Fox News featured an interview with Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney, who argued that torture is good because it works and “The fact is, is John McCain — it worked on John. That’s why they call him ‘Songbird John.’ The fact is those methods can work, and they are effective, as former Vice President Cheney said. And if we have to use them to save a million American lives, we will do whatever we have to.”
…Wow
Conversation on Fox about torture: "It worked on John [McCain]. That's why they call him 'Songbird John'" https://t.co/OjCwhv2ZhI pic.twitter.com/WehsgPAqgb
— Leanne Naramore (@LeanneNaramore) May 10, 2018
The casual cruelty of Donald Trump and the people around him is really something, huh? Cindy McCain chimed in on Twitter, directing her tweet at Kelly Sadler:
@kellysadler45 May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren.
— Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) May 10, 2018
Photos courtesy of Getty.
The White House is sociopathic, ie lacking in all empathy.
Gross. It’s all absolutely gross. And as if anyone in the WH today would last a minute in captivity with the Viet Cong! This is simply sickening.
Blessings to Senator McCain and his family right now.
McCain is a good man and the only reason he’s being “swift boated” is because he won’t vote for the “president’s” anti-democracy agenda.
@MagicalDay – he was also the one to turn over the dossier.
Wait until they hear Songbird Mike Cohen’s tune.
Oh kNY I LOVE your response. Yes!
Senator John McCain deserves nothing but respect for his military service and the sacrifices he and his family have made during his years in the military.
Period.
These awful, unkind remarks by anyone in the WH to either he or his family is unforgivable.
My good God! These idiots are insulting to every single decent person in this country. There are some things that should NOT be said. Apologies should be front and center. At once!
I am appalled by Trump and his “team”
Horrid, mean, idiots the entire group. And do not try passing this BS as a joke. No one is buying that load of BS.
When, sweet Lord, when will Trump be removed from office?
This is SO beyond appalling. Kelly Sadler is a blonde Hope Hicks. They are all despicable. Their behavior is sociopathic and narcissistic; they have no empathy for anyone but themselves.
Let’s hear Cohen’s “tune” when he’s faced with multiple criminal counts facing double digit years in prison. THEY will be singing a different tune then, I’m sure, placing the blame game on each other to try and save their own butts.
And they’re WRONG. Research shows torture is not a reliable method for obtaining accurate information. These people are absolute ignorant monsters.
Exactly. People will say what their torturers want to hear just to make it stop. Besides, McCain needed medical attention to survive after his crash, so he quite properly used whatever he had to get it. He didn’t know anything useful by that point, but he certainly hoped revealing his dad was an Admiral would sound like a bonanza although it really wasn’t.
I’m all for soldiers singing like canaries way beyond name, rank, and serial number when captured, as long as they aren’t hurting the other prisoners with their songs. Other militaries aren’t so rigid as the US about such things. A pragmatic approach is best.
And we can at least look for a CIA Director who believes torture is immoral as well as counterproductive and therefore won’t follow orders from the lunatic in the White House to pursue it. Trump loves the idea of torture and even killing families of alleged terrorists, so her claim that he would never order such a things suggests she hasn’t been listening very closely.
well, they had empathy for a joke about burning lies to make a perfect smoky eye…
but a nasty “joke” about a (mostly) respectable person who has friends on both sides of the aisle?…must be more “locker-room talk”.
the hypocrisy that comes off of this admin and its supporters is nauseating.
burning facts… facts was the setup, lies was the punchline
d’oh! you are correct. thanks for the fix.
These people are shameless, despicable and shameless.
And for Cindy to respond like that. Usually, it’s Meghann. The White House needs to do a lot more than that ridiculous nothing statement. Acknowledge the filth and expunge it.
If they’d acknowledged the filth and expunged it, there’d be no one left.
Not a bad idea, actually….
AMEN SISTER! 👏🏻👍🏻🙏🏻
Yeah, but they won’t. There was a time when a comment like this would have been a major scandal for that administration. Now it’s truly just a typical moment. There’s just too much garbage to process, let alone get outraged about. I can think of about 10 horrific things that happened just yesterday.
@Esmom, yeah — remember the days (just a couple of years ago FFS!) when this would have been THE lead story for days if not weeks, until something was done? Either Sadler would have resigned or have been “pressured” to resign. Now it’s a blip that most people have forgotten about already. Unbelievable.
Makes you wonder where in the world they are getting these callous people. Trump seems to attract the worst people.
The assistant probably got several back slaps behind the scenes, if not a promotion. Sad that this is where we are.
Such garbage people, supporting an even bigger garbage person. This hurt my heart so much. Smh.
Kelly Sadler is the epitome of a Stupid Bitch.
I totally agree. The White House needs to fire her and issue a MUCH stronger statement. The Trump administration is so disgusting. The way they treat human beings is just heartless and terrible.
I’m not a huge John McCain fan, but the way he is being treated now is ridiculous. The man is a war hero, a family man, he’s dying and people are treating it like a joke.
What’s more annoying to me is that what Thomas McInerney said is not true. All John McCain’s torture proved is that people will say literally anything to get you to stop torturing them. He told the Vietcong the starting lineup for the Green Bay Packers.
I’m also just sickened that anyone who hasn’t been tortured would say anything shady about someone who had. Not least of all anyone shilling for President Bone Spurs, who dodged the draft.
Agreed. I’m sickened by the ‘torture worked on John McCain’ statement. I don’t recall ever hearing something so despicable from a public servant.
Yes, those comments were so out of line. The lowest of the low. How can these people show their faces, saying comments like that. So lacking in decency.
@ Tiffany-Sorry to thread-jack but if you’re not already listening, I HIGHLY recommend a pod called Deconstructed hosted by my spirit animal Mehdi Hasan.
The latest has an interview with Tommy Vietor. The one with Judd Apatow is awesome, too.
Thanks for the recommendation! Going to search for it now…
Well said Kitty. While I haven’t always agreed with him politically, I’ve always felt he has his heart in the right place—and dear god, he’s one of the ‘old school’ (?!) republicans that while maybe not my cup of tea, I somewhat trust. Polar opposite of say, Paul Ryan, who I can’t look at in photos for more than a glance. It makes me feel like my soul is being stolen.
It’s because the people Trump surrounds himself are utterly amoral, just like Bigly himself.
+1 Vile human beings, all of them.
I don’t agree with him much either, but he has more courage than any of these people making these horrible statements.
every morning I catch up on the news and every morning I vow to stop….this can’t be my America
agree
Even though we’re coming up on two years this Nov. (!!!!!), I STILL can’t believe this is actually “real”!! Every day I watch the news and shake my head, wondering, HOW did this happen??? HOW??? AND HOW IS IT STILL CONTINUING??? Sigh… I just don’t understand how it got to be *this* bad *so* fast!
WHY aren’t more Dems speaking out? And WHY aren’t they pushing a real platform that will steamroll public sentiment? They really need to get their shizz together, and make these mid-terms a sure thing, not a “neck in neck” race!
And *mostly* WHY isn’t MSM more on Dump’s ass??? The Michelle Wolf nailed it at the WHCD when she called them out for their own complicity in all this mess.
The saying is neck AND neck. However I completely agree with your sentiments. We need the Dems to get over the shock and re-mobilize. Take the fight up to them.
It is your America and its time people have woken up to it.
@Astrid And it’s always been your America since the moment “America” was founded on genocide and slavery by white supremacists which continues in every form of society to this day. It’s just now that it’s more out in the open that white people are seeing it and also being emboldened further to act out on these racist foundations.
I am so exhausted and depressed. Every aspect of my life is under possible attack at any moment and I need to find somewhere else to move or I’m afraid I might die (which for Black Women is statistically a very real possibility).
Deplorable, the lot of them.
If anything, Hillary was too kind when she called them that.
Yes, “deplorable” is actually the kindest, most polite word I can come up with for those …people.
My father died from cancer. He mattered every minute of his life. I’m sure the McCain family feels the same about their father/grandfather/husband.
That *joke* was one of the most heartless things I’ve heard in a long time. And all the hours after this story broke she hasn’t even had the decency to apologize to the McCains yet.
Go f**k yourself Kelly Sadler.
I thought I read that she reached out to Meghan privately but this story is growing so Sadler is going to have to address is publicly.
Thx for info. I just looked it up and aparently she did call Meghan McCain. But that appears to be before Cindy McCain’s tweet so Im not sure how well that call went.
She really needs to apologize to Senator McCain (and do it publically) for being so cruel and dissmissive to a man who is living his final days.
Cindy is the one who responded to her. She needs to apologize to John and Cindy and none of the “if you were offended crap” Donald Trump needs to reach out to Cindy and he needs to fire her ass. But he won’t. None of these scum will.
Yeah, I saw a tweet from a reporter who said that a source told her that Kelly Shitler called Meghan McCain and it “didn’t go well.”
I hope Meghan read that b*tch for filth.
i’m sorry for your loss and you are 100% correct. politics aside, john mccain is a human being with a family. he is everything to his family. speaking that way about someone is totally disgusting. kelly sadler is a ghoul. someday she’ll be dying and i hope she is all alone.
Absolutely right. She should be begging the McCains’ forgiveness. What a revolting, heartless thing to say. No decency at all.
She should do more than apologize. She needs to be fired.
It’s been 18 months, and I still can’t accept that these cruel people are running our country. They are truly horrid.
It is a horrible thing to say, but let’s be honest. Is anyone really surprised that someone connected with this current administration made such a nasty joke?
Also why isn’t this person apologizing to the senator and his family?
Honestly, I don’t think anybody is surprised, but we are all still disgusted none the less
We are not surprised, coming from the sources it is, and we are disgusted, but I think a lot of us are just exhausted. I am *so* tired of feeling overwhelmed/hopeless. I call my reps, I write letters, forward emails… I’ve even volunteered at my local Dem. headquarters. But I just don’t feel I’m making a dent in making this nightmare go away.
It is surprising that the administration of the President of the United States would say this about a war hero. Someone who fought for our country, someone who was tortured and a prisoner of war. And….No, it is not surprising that the Trump Administration has employees who would say this.
I only add these caveats because it is so important we don’t become numb to the depths to which our government has sunk. We must never stop ringing the alarm when they do things that haven’t been done before, lest the next administration think it is the new norm. We must not let these things become the norm.
but remember, 45 doesn’t consider him a war hero…he likes people “who don’t get caught”.
such a disgusting…THING…he is. can’t even call him human because he doesn’t deserve to be called that.
I agree. We must never stop reminding our fellow citizens that Trump’s actions and words are unacceptable. He’s provided so many examples of horrific behavior towards veterans and their families. The GOP must not be allowed to use veterans as a cover ever again after what they have tolerated from this administration.
Tiffany, it’s amazing, isn’t it? the way that the GOP used to talk about veterans, they REVERED them…called Bill Clinton all sorts of things for “draft dodging”…and now, it’s apparently ok to slur a former POW who is a war hero, it’s ok to mock and demean and slur Gold Star parents, it’s OK to deport immigrants who fought for us overseas…
I’m just agog at what they’ve become under 45.
Yes, I was incredibly surprised that the GOP (elected officials and voters) has allowed these continued attacks on veterans. Sometime soon I hope they find a mirror and realize what they have become.
It’s beyond offensive, but Cheeto Mussolini, by his odious and ugly attitude, has validated and empowered all the empty-headed, vacuous clones to parrot Cheeto’s brain droppings.
PunkyMomma, I LOVE that phrase: “Cheeto’s brain droppings” ! May I borrow it! How accurate a picture is that!?
45 is clearly a sociopath on par with a murderous mobster. He attracts vicious people. That’s what he wants in his life and he inhales those toxic fumes every day. Last night he was in northern Indiana with the sycophant Pence boys groveling to get his attention. He’s coming for our Democratic senator with petty insults.
I can’t help but think karma will get baby fists and all of the rest of these horrible people soon.
I wish I shared your faith. Trump is 70 and still hasn’t got his comeuppance.
I feel bad about my self for saying this but I will anyway. I look forward to the day when maybe trump will be in a similar position and everybody says good riddance to bad rubbish, and then don Jr. Will come out and complain about how everyone is just so mean
Comeuppance = Public finding out one may not be a billionaire after all. And that will be rich!
Kitty – Don Jr will be dancing in the streets when his father is finally on his deathbed. I don’t think any of his children really love him, not even Ivanka. They use him to make a bundle of money, but their real loyalty is to the mothers who raised them and he treated like trash.
Once he’s out of the Oval Office: tarring and feathering. It somehow seems so appropriate.
This is what happens when you have a chaotic, imature bully setting an example for the workers in the WH. This person shouldn’t just have to apologize, they should also be fired. When I heard about this yesterday, tears came to my eyes. I don’t agree with McCain most of the time, but he’s a hero and his family and friends will lose him too soon. I’m not shocked that none of the Republicans like Mitch McConnell or Paul Ryan haven’t spoken up and defended McCain after these cruel comments were made. Some people are real assholes
I am no fan of John McCain, by any means. He allied himself plenty of times with the dark side in order to try and gain favor and frankly, I’ve never forgiven him for forcing Sarah Palin on the country-an act which helped pave the way for the nightmare we’re living right now.
Having said that-this is completely disgusting. Not shocking, though. There are literally no depths that 45 and his klan will not stoop to in order to stomp on someone voicing any kind of opposition to anything he supports. Oh, and the little problem of the fact that the story about McCain having given up secrets in order to be freed has been disproven. But what are facts when you can take a sh*t on a dying man, really?
And then there’s the hypocrisy of his followers. When McCain was running against Obama, he was their white knight-a real life , truth telling war hero! And now they are lining up to scream about what a stool pigeon he is and that they can’t wait for that traitor to die. It’s been less than two years and I cannot believe the level of ugly, bloodthirsty, insane hatred this presidency has inspired in people.
Thank you for saving me the keystrokes. THIS. No fan of McCain’s, but MY GOD this is awful!!!
But Republicans often eat their own. No excuse for it, but they do.
I do feel sorry for McCain’s children and grandchildren. What awful awful things to say about him.
Exactly. But if McCain hadn’t been tortured this wouldn’t be an issue. He would vote Haspel in without a second thought. Republicans only care about something if it has personally happened to them.
McCain doesn’t get a pass from me just because he’s dying. He’s not a nice person, he fits in nicely with the 45 administration.
Um…no he doesn’t. Have you followed McCain’s career for any appreciable time? He has always been a voice against torture and enhanced interrogations – for YEARS. He’s moderate on immigration, favoring a path to citizenship (something Trump is totally against). He is genuinely pretty far from Trump on a good chunk of things. Only a person who knows very little could draw such a comparison.
You missed my point. He’s been against torture for years because he was tortured, if he hadn’t been a POW and tortured he would be towing the party line and voting Haspel in. Republicans vote party line, unless it’s personally happened to them. And yes, I have followed his career, I’m from Arizona, so your little “Only a person who knows very little could draw such a comparison” dig doesn’t hold water.
Kiddv- I think most people don’t get passionate about anything unless it has affected them personally or someone they really care about and trust. We have to choose our battles or else we would be nervous wrecks all the time. (Which is why life in Trump’s America is so anxiety-inducing, there’s such a steady barrage of things to view with alarm).
I’m just glad McCain has been a strong voice against torture. Not everybody learns those lessons from personal experience – look at the guy seriously injured by the baseball practice shooter, he seems to have learned absolutely nothing. I know the odds don’t favor it, but I really wish McCain would at least live to complete his term, just to spite Trump.
This is terrible but I hope Sadler’s stupidity doesn’t take away from the real story, which is a known torturer is being nominated for CIA Director.
Sadler will take some heat in the media for a day or so, get fired and land at a cushy lobbying firm, all while Haspel is quietly confirmed.
I thought for a moment how good it will make me feel for Sadler to be publicly shamed and flogged for a news cycle, but what good does it ultimately do? They say and do these things because this pettiness distracts from the true evil.
Flint, Puerto Rico, Gina Haspel, The Iran Deal, all of the horrible judges, women’s rights under attack, trans murders on the rise, a known homophobe as Sec. of State, Scott Pruitt, Ryan Zinke, I can’t keep up with the horror.
Excuse me, I’m going to cry.
You’re right, absolutely right. These distractions are increasing targeted to maximize daily outrage, while the vile agenda of this treacherous administration quietly and steadfastly continues to destroy our democracy.
Exactly. As usual people are distracted by the style and missing the substance.
Every. F*cking. Thing. you just said.
The fact that our country has TORTURED people is a tremendous stain on our reputation. Gina Haskel should be in PRISON FFS. Instead we are rewarding her with a WH position. This is an abomination.
Every American should see the photos of the people she tortured. It is absolutely horrific, inhumane, and inexcusable.
Yes! I was listening to NYT The Daily, and they kept using the word “torture” and the intelligence expert was saying they were crazy times and he didn’t fault the people that had to make tough decisions about “torture”….and I am thinking, TORTURE IS A WAR CRIME. There are certain things that civilized nations have pledged that they won’t do EVEN in the worst of times! How can we bash Kim Jong Un for torturing US prisoners when we think we are allowed to do it?
The US doesn’t realize that we are sooooooo f*cking lucky that we don’t have people on trial at The Hague. I can’t believe the excuses people are making for a tactic that yielded no results! Torture gets you false information, not factual.
Yup! She is a flat-out WAR CRIMINAL.
Kitten – Haspel also happily destroyed video evidence.
Imagine casusally saying that. Like what a terrible thing to say.
You’re dying too, Kelly Sadler, and so is your Master. Sooner rather than later, hopefully.
#BeBest, Kelly Sadler, #BeBest.
Soooo…
Michelle Wolfe was roasted alive for the – very true – things she said at the WHCD by the GOP, but this is okay for the them?
Talking about standards..
Excellent point. OK to mock a man dying, but “smokey eye makeup” is off limits? WTF.
Right? Michelle Wolf got it so f*cking right. Everything.
Additionally, I’m so f*cking frustrated with the media fawning all over themselves about Trump’s NK meeting and I’m so f*cking sick of the media reporting on his pull-out of the Iran deal as if there’s some sort of strategy behind it when we all know his single motivation for doing this is to destroy Obama’s legacy.
I hate everyone and everything right now.
Me, too, Kitten, me, too. Don’t know what else to say
I truly am hoping NK is not playing Trump. They probably are. He bragged last night that he didn’t have to pay for the release of the hostages like Obama did, but I think the payment is still coming. He’s such an idiot about these things and I’m hoping we, the public, don’t pay the price. I can barely go to any news sight because of all the fawning over NK and pulling out of the Iran deal and how he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.
Ugh. The ruling class have got the rest of us so beat that most people can’t even comprehend it.
NK is playing him.
Me too. Like NK isn’t 100% China telling them to go sit at the table, they’re acting like Delirium Tremens has anything to do with it. He hasn’t. It’s a distraction, courtesy his Russian and Chinese overlords, from his bribery scandal.
Bribery. Bribery. The GOP is okay with bribery.
As a European I’m glad that Merkel and Macron are both strongly opposing Trumps pull-out of the Iran deal. Was the deal perfect? Of course not! But it was a step in the right direction and approved by the UN, FFS.
Agreed. And the entire world will laugh at us even more than they already are if 45 gets the Nobel Peace prize for his “role” in it.
I really can’t stand this sh!t anymore. Not one more day of it.
Of COURSE NK is playing him! They routinely “arrest” people and hold them for negotiating tools. Dump is just too stupid to realize it. And the MSM should be ashamed of themselves for not bringing this fact out!
Trump thinks he is getting total denuclearization, and he’s not going to get it. What happens when two toddlers both don’t get what they want? There is so much optimism in the press about the NK deal, but I haven’t heard a lot of brainstorming about the many ways it could go wrong.
I am so angry with the press for buying the pony show with NK and talking about Trump’s diplomacy skills, when Iran is now bombing Israel. They had motivation to keep the peace when they had the economic incentive of the Iran deal. Saudi Arabia is now saying they will get nukes if Iran gets nukes. I really hope the European leaders can salvage the deal, but these are really high stakes if they can’t get it done.
@ Tiffany- And meanwhile at his masturbatory rally in Indiana yesterday, his followers were chanting “No-BEL! No-BEL!”
I feel like I’m losing my mind.
Thanks for everyone who replied above. I can’t say enough what a comforting place of sanity this forum is for me. We are in this together, guys.
His rallies are so disturbing.
I agree that it is so comforting to have a place to commiserate! We are in this together, indeed. Group hug! 🙂
This comment section is the only thing keeping me falling into a deep news despair. The fact that there was no internet during the Holocaust is what makes me believe that we can prevent it this time.
This administration is beyond evil. They lack basic emotions.
The great comeuppance is nigh though.
1) Ghouliani got slapped by his law firm
2) Michael Cohen turns out to be THE Russian collusion point man
3) Cohen is going to prison for a very long time
4) Emperor Zero knows this and is panicked MC will flip
5) Mueller knew about AT&T, et al since before Nov ’17
6) Eric Trump got mentioned in a conspiracy; all 4 EZ “kids” are now at least subjects, if not targets
7) Pence is currently in the barrel
8) Rosenstein told Nunes and Grassley to stuff it
Thank you for that summary. Calms my anger a little bit.
Off topic somewhat your AT&T bullet reminded me of something. I was getting gas yesterday and the news playing on the tiny TV at the pump caught my attention because they were doing a very positive little Trump story, talking about NK. I then saw that the whole “gas news channel” is sponsored by AT&T. Ha. I knew the propaganda was everywhere but I didn’t even think about the gas pumps. I wonder how many people get their news just from that source. Lolsob.
They are on the pumps where I get gas also. I don’t watch them but imagine Trump’s followers do and take it as total truth.
It’s funny, I always tune those things out but for some reason the fawning nature of the “reporting” caught my attention this time. Appalling.
It might not help, but as a customer of AT&T I “chatted” and called them and expressed my anger at their bribery. They are party to corruption of our democracy and it is unacceptable.
Don’t forget that AT&T pulls the strings on Scott Pruitt as well.
Yes and can we get the mainstream media to report on all of this, Eric?? ^^^^
Essential Consultants? Can we talk about this? Black Cube spying on Rhodes and Kahl? Does anybody care about the precedent that this sets? A shadowy ex-Mossad type figure hired by Trump campaign (or at least “people close to Trump”) to spy on former civil servants?
I am at my wit’s end with this BS. I DGAF about his self-masturbatory rally in Indiana. I don’t care about his meeting with KJU. I don’t care about the fact that he freed three NK hostages. I mean, good for them, good news but can we move on from this?
Esmom and Kitten.
Media is complicit in the entire debacle. They need a lobotomy stat.
Helluva infrastructure week this week, no?
BeBest and Happy Friday!
So, so complicit.
As always, thanks for bringing some much-needed positivity during these depressing times, Eric, and Happy Friday 🙂
Three hostages whom he won’t even name.
LP, but they are “three incredible people,” and Kim Jong Un is “excellent.”
What the media and state have in common is that critical thinking threatens both.
Kitten – maybe you were talking about Kim, but I want to clarify to others that Trump had nothing to do with freeing the hostages. Kim simply decided to do it before Pompeo even arrived. I wouldn’t be surprised if Xi from China recommended it. Trump seemed taken completely by surprise at the timing. He probably intended to make a big deal out of it at the meeting and then claim victory.
Likewise, Trump had nothing to do with the release of those American college kids in China. They had their return tickets and passports back and were packing their bags when he started to be aware of them. He just took the credit as usual and then blathered on about how ungrateful the kids were for not slobbering all over him and how he should have left them in China…. He’s such a liar.
If peace breaks out in Korea, it’s because of the efforts of South Korea, China, and Japan. They are doing the real work. Trump doesn’t know anything about the history and is fuzzy about which Korea is which. The South Koreans were just trying to flatter him into doing what they want when they “thanked” him for his nonexistent efforts.
I would love to see Kim extract a promise from both Russia and the US to seriously reduce their nuclear stockpiles in return for him stopping his nuclear program. It seems that the momentum for such essential denuclearization from the two big problem countries has been stalled, and Trump is even blathering about increasing our nukes. I don’t know why anybody would assume that the US and Russia can be trusted with such weapons. Trump even threatened to annihilate North Korea in front of the United Nations.
Kim’s tiny arsenal can cause hurricane-level local damage with the added bonus of radioactive fallout, much like the explosion of a nuclear plant such as Chernobyl. Both Russia and the US can actually destroy whole countries with so much firepower that the rest of the world will suffer from the radiation and dust (including the US and Russia).
@Eric: but do you think that anything, literally ANYTHING, will change the minds of the MAGATs? They don’t care about any new revelation. They either justify it somehow or yell that it’s fake news and choose not to believe it. Plus, some of 45’s crimes are so complicated that I struggle to understand all of it (and I’m a lawyer FFS) and I think it will be very difficult for the average American to wrap their brains around. And their leader will be constantly telling them that none of it is true. I just feel like we’re doomed even when the truth comes out. ::weeps::
The statement by Greenberg Traurig was hysterically funny!
Thanks for the updates, very comforting.
Everybody – raise your hand if you believe that Giuliani voluntarily resigned from his law firm. Come on, raise them up higher so I can see them. Stop sitting on your hands, people!
I don’t like John McCain but that was a vile comment. Interesting how he went from being thought of as a hero within his party to being a punching bag.
And interesting how many of his fellow GOP colleagues are sitting there letting it happen.
I’m calling my Republican Senator today to demand that he demand she be fired. This thugly swamp creature needs to go. I’m beyond disgusted.
Will they listen to you? Only asking because my senators are Cruz and Cornyn, and they’re both pus-filled boils on Satan’s ass and I doubt they’d care what I think.
I have a friend who passed away from brain cancer (also watched my dad die of cancer). It was not a pretty sight. A very compassionate, loving, caring man suffered for over a year before he passed. His family was devastated. I can’t imagine how the McCains are feeling after this awful comment. There are days when I wonder where everyone’s compassion has gone and it makes me sad.
Yes! This! Lord, we need a compassion movement or something. BE KIND, people.
So this the party that cares sooo much for our veterans, right? The party that went nuclear over the (totally fabricated by them!) “death panels” to try to derail the ACA? To have a staffer callously dismiss a war veteran dying of cancer and she still has a job? I have totally given up on any Trump supporter ever seeing this hypocrisy writ large. Me-I am off to watch kitten videos, or I’ll start throwing things!
^^^^^^THIS!!!!
I don’t see how the American people allow the GOP to present themselves as the party that cares about veterans. In congress, they CONSISTENTLY vote against funding for veteran care. Trump insults Gold Star families (multiple gold star families!!!!). This party, this administration, they are just terrible to our vets.
Yes, this. We have a homeless vet in our community with severe dental issues. No dentist stepped up to do his work pro bono, and now the kind woman that brought this all to our attention is going to drive him miles away to go to the nearest vet hospital. It is DEPLORABLE the way we treat our veterans!!
At least, he gets a chance to make things right before he leaves like rejecting Gina Haspel. 45’s men will never be righteous.
I’m no McCain apologist, BUT WHAT THE ABSOLUTE F*CK IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE.
“Torture works” No, it doesn’t! Most psychological studies suggest rapport based interrogation works much better. A person who is suffering is far more likely to do anything to escape that pain and fear – including LIE to tell people what they want to hear. jfc, it’s basic psychology! Why do you think false confessions are a thing?
I was 10 when my grandma was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and passed away. She was hospitalized for the last two weeks and we would spend as much time as we could at the hospital. One afternoon, I was left alone in the room while my mom ran down to get us food and a nurse asked another if she had been bathed that morning. I can remember clear as day her replying, “I don’t know why it even matters, she’s about to die any day now.”
I was extremely close to my grandma and was quick to add my opinion but the damage was done. I’m 31 now and that comment and the look in my grandma’s eyes still breaks my heart to this day. It still makes me angry.
The McCain family is about to go through one of the hardest things you can go through. I’m sure they have made peace with the situation as much as they can but comments like that still hurt. This is someone’s husband, father and grandpa. Someone’s everything. He’s not just a means to lighten the mood.
Brooke, I am so sorry to hear that. I just don’t understand those things. My dad died of cancer after 3 months when I was 22. At the wake my b!t@h of an aunt constantly asked me when I was going to touch my dad. I was the only girl (3 brothers) and his princess. I still have a hard time going to wakes. I will not allow my children to have a wake for me as I don’t want them to experience that. Instead I will arrange to be cremated with strict instructions to have a HUGE party in honor of life.
When someone you love is at the end of their life, or has just passed, you are so raw. Anything someone says or does will cut much deeper, with longer lasting scars.
The boundaries and common decency that some people ignore is astounding. You may know narcissistic auntie is bossy and testy, but bring a death into the equation. If ever in doubt, you’ll see the true side of people during those times.
Brooke – I’m appalled that a nurse would say something like that, when they know hearing is the last sense to go.
What a horrible thing to say. They lacked heart, but I’d like to offer you some of mine.
Brookes, it is hard for me comprehend that nurse’s level of insensitivity to your loved one. When you mentioned your grandmother’s eyes, I felt an instant pang of sorrow for both of you. My maternal grandmother died while in hospice and received excellent care and attention in her last weeks. I wish that could have been the same for yours, and you have my heartfelt sympathy for having to suffer that woman’s callousness in your grandmother’s last days.
It’s a disgusting comment but not surprising coming from the Trump regime. The tone and culture of a place is set by the people at the top. The nightmare continues…
I said somewhere else that I’m no McCain fan, but this comment made me want to reach for a barf bucket. So callous. So low.
Disgusting, disrespectful, and downright heartless. What else can be said at this point about these people?
The Trump regime decided to pull out of Iranian deal, alienating all US’s traditional allies in Europe and showing that no country can trust US ever now (note to NK, btw).
All because Trump hates Obama and bows to Israel.
Sad. But Meghan will still defend this administration. Gross.
And that’s the truth. Despite all of the vile things they have said about her family, Meghan McCain will still go on THE VIEW and regurgitate all of the awful GOP talking points.
Figures the d-bag who said that is working in the WH under Dump!!!!! What a low life POS!
My husband was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer a year ago last month. During that year, we’ve kept it at bay (it has progressed very little, but it won’t go away) but we remain optimistic and we’re grateful for the time we’re getting. Only he gets to make jokes about impending death. I get to laugh at them because he’s a funny SOB.
Cancer diagnoses are life changing events for families. My husband and I have two children who were 11 and 14 when he was diagnosed. We try to keep things normal but with his immune system being severely compromised from the chemo (a simple scratch on the knee can get infected and turn into a 2 week hospital stay with surgery and IV antibiotics for a month) that’s not always so easy. Everything has changed. Everything.
What is wrong with people. A little compassion, ffs. The McCains are suffering.
My thoughts are with you as you go through this journey.
I griped upthread about how ignorant some people can be during trying times, but the flip side is that you also get to experience kindness that also stays with you. I hope you have plenty of the latter as your family goes forward.
I’m so sorry to hear that Annie. My best wishes to your whole family.
Big hugs, and many healing thoughts and good wishes for you and your family, Annie!
My mom had 5 different cancers (non metastasized, except for the last: colon to liver). From the age of 13 until I was 25 I watched her fight, and I would not give up one precious second of the time we, as a family, had. My heart goes out to the McCains. While I don’t agree with a lot he has said, and especially bringing Palin et al to the forefront, I respect his service and commitment. He IS a war hero, and should be honored for such.
What evil, evil people this administration is/party has become. While I wouldn’t wish cancer on anyone, I truly hope Karma will visit each and every one of them *very* soon.
Sending virtual hugs your way Annie. I too had my own battle with breast cancer and beat it. May your family and friends continue to surround your husband with love, positive thoughts and healing energy, and may people like Kelly Sadler have a swift, sharp end to their careers.
I’m sorry to hear that. My dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer when I was in my mid-20s, and he died almost three years ago. It’s hard to lose a parent at any age, but I think it’s harder when you’re younger like your children.
I apologize if they’ve tried this/it isn’t an option for your husband (because God knows everyone wants to give unsolicited advice right now), but have they tried doing any immunity boosting shots? I can’t recall what they were called, but my dad’s immune system tanked after chemo, and he told the doctors he was going to withdraw from treatment if they couldn’t do something so that he could still have a lot of interactions with my nieces. The doctors started giving him this shot with his chemo, and it boosted his immune system enough that he could have a more normal life.
Again, sorry if that isn’t an option or you’re already doing everything. There are just things I found out with my dad that I wish that someone had told me because it would have made his illness easier (fun fact: you can switch hospices if the first one sucks and refuses to treat a cold because the person is dying).
While I am a Democrat through and through I still respect many politicians that are Republican as well. I liked Ronald Reagan, George W Bush, and I admired John Mcain while he was running for president. He didn’t tear down Obama every chance he got, he actually spoke nicely of Obama and his family and you could tell Mcain respected him. If he would have won over Obama I wouldn’t have been bothered in the least. It absolutely sickens me the way this current administration has treated John Mcain. According to Trump he didn’t deserve the purple heart because he was a “loser” , “winners don’t get captured”. This from a president who dodged the draft entirely because he had “bone spurs” and never spent a day in any kind of combat at all. Now this nasty comment about how Mcain “is dying anyway” is disgusting. It actually made me cry reading that. I feel for McCain’s family and the nasty way his own political party has treated him after many many years of admiral service is appalling.
I thought John was a fine candidate before he took that Palin on.
And he has impressed me during Trump’s term. I dont agree with quite a few of his values, but I absolutely respect the man.
I did too! I think Sarah Palin wasn’t a wise choice and had he picked someone else he may have won. Although I supported Obama I really had a lot of respect for how Mcain came to Obama’s defense when people at McCain’s rallies were coming after Obama. I have always admired Mcain since then and am so sickened about how this administration has treated him.
Deplorables gonna be deplorable. I only wish Hillary railed more against it. This country is becoming something I don’t even recognize anymore. How in the world can people think this is OK? 🙁
I don’t blame Hillary one bit for wanting to recede from the spotlight for a while, if not for the rest of her life. She fought long enough and now she wants to enjoy life as a private citizen. Good for her.
I meant during the election. She was absolutely spot on in her characterizations of tRUMP supporters.
That’s because at the time, many were under the delusion that the feelings of people who unquestionably supported him were deserving of empathy and understanding. The smart ones know better now.
There’s no decency left anymore. It makes me feel like the wheels are coming off of our society, and it won’t be long before we crash & burn.
When you hear of all the Trump-like Deplorables running for office in other countries (Neo-Nazis, Alt-Rights, etc), it makes my blood run cold. It has only been 75 yrs. since WWII, and the horrors the world saw. HOW CAN ANYONE, ANYWHERE BE OK WITH STATUS QUO? WHY aren’t more people rising up?? Why have so many become so complacent that these horror shows called “politics as usual” aren’t causing a global uproar??
Its just so messrd up that anyone would say that. Is indefensible.
Unless you work for Trump. Then its all OK! Bullying its the new black.
John McCain matters. He is a hero, something that Kelly Sadler doesn’t understand or respect. She is a disgrace. I picture Trump and his cabal leaving dark and greasy stains on everything they touch at the White House. On that happy day when they finally leave, I hope the WH staff adds some special help to their usual cleaning routine. It will need to be not merely cleaned, but cleansed, so I hope that they burn white sage, and even bring in a priest to perform an exorcism on whatever evil spirits remain.
They need to bring in a native American shaman to clean the WH from top to bottom.
For what it’s worth, John Brennan gave an interview in which he praises Haspel. He said she has the experience, knows what she’s about, and she would stand up to Trump rather than fold like the other stooges. He also said something like – it was a different time, the World Trade Center was still smoldering. Yes it was. But again, Iraq didn’t attack us on 9/11, which is something these people never keep straight.
I’m not sure how I feel about that. I’ve always been against torture and Dubya’s legacy is horrific. But having said that, everyone around the CIA and many in Congress were pro-torture, so it would be difficult to find anyone with real experience who wasn’t involved with that in some way.
The only things I like is that she’s actually someone with the knowledge and experience, which is almost unheard of in this administration. She’s worked her way up and she’s a woman in what is still very much a man’s world. But she looked pretty damned stupid saying she doesn’t think Trump would ask her for torture. The maniac already promised he was pro-water boarding and “even more”. I bet he’d ask to watch the videos of the torture. He’s clearly incapable of empathy. The way he made those three released hostages stand there while he went on about breaking ratings at two in the morning was another example he’s a malignant narcissist.
Unfortunately, IMO, the minute she would stand up to Trump and not follow his requests will be the day she would be fired.
Speaking as one who was acutely aware of what was going on at the time, ALL of our prisoners who were tortured by their North Vietnamese captors “succumbed”. Everybody highly suspected they were being tortured – you could see it in the small amount of film footage that was released at the time. The prisoners did what they had to do to survive.
It galls me when some idiot like Dick Cheney – who never even served in the military let alone got captured and tortured – is quoted as being an authority of the efficiency of torture.
Trump and his ilk not only have no decency, they have no concept of what the term even means. Each and every day they bring more shame upon our country.
it’s so easy for them to talk a tough game when they know for a fact they won’t have to prove it.
Didn’t Cheney take five deferments? Those who never served often seem more gung ho about sending our military to die.
Another rich old man “dreaming up wars for young men to die in.”
Everytime I think we’ve reached the lowest point of common decency and civility in politics, Trump’s basket of Deplorables always, always manages to find a trap door and pull us further down.
These people are disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.
This Trump group actually makes me want to vomit on a daily basis. Seriously. I’ve never seen such craven immorality in my life. (I wasn’t alive during some of those awful evil Roman emperors, obviously!)
Just disgusted.
Why does this excuse-of-a-women still have a job? Oh, works for Trump – I get it now.
I’ve been reading up on the history of this torture debate, and what really stood out to me was how this exposed the way America failed to consider anyone aside from themselves as human beings worthy of compassion. It exposed that utter disregard in a profoundly ugly way post 9/11 especially. There were many in the administration at the time of the invasion who didn’t think Iraqis were human beings, who basically said as much when asked about the subject.
Am I really surprised that this culture of casual cruelty has finally come to roost in their own nest? No. It’s what happens when you allow it to run rampant, unchecked and without consequence. It’s what happens when you dehumanize fellow human beings without thinking twice about it. Before long, you find yourself treating the people around you in the exact same way.
This is what this torture “debate” says about America. If Americans are so willing, eager even, to inflict prolonged pain on another person in that way, and they excuse it by saying “they’re not American” it won’t be very long before that turns into, “They’re American but not the type of American that matters.” And that should scare people.
In this, the government really reflects the general population. The main problem has always been the idea that other people don’t count the same as “we” do. Nothing new. That’s why so many people thought nothing was bad about killing more civilians in Afghanistan within just the first two months we were there after 9/11 than all the hijackers had killed on 9/11. “We” count, Afghanis don’t. “We” mourn our dead, they don’t. Go back centuries and millennia, and it’s the same, just with different technology for killing, maiming, and destroying.
Average ordinary people want to believe that torture works, even though a little logical thinking and a tad of imagination would tell them that it doesn’t.
The moral argument really doesn’t work with most people. One fellow active in the civil rights movement pointed out that saying segregation was wrong got them nowhere. They had to start saying it was stupid… Same with wars. Pointing out how stupid and expensive they are and how our great grandchildren will still be paying for them has a chance. Pointing out the gross immorality of it – not so much. The kindest people will rationalize away the massive destruction of modern warfare without blinking an eye.
There you go republicans, this is how your so called pro military party represents Veterans.
Just when I think the Trump Administration has sunk to a new low, they manage to sink lower. Whether you are for, against or indifferent to McCain, he is a human being with a wife, children and grandchildren who love him. He has served his country all of his adult life, first as a Naval officer and, for the past 30 years, as an Arizona senator. He has more honor than the entire current Administration. That McCain has survived to age 81 after surviving 5-1/2 years of extreme torture shows his strength and he continues to show his strength of character, even when it means going against his party.
Cancer is a long and painful illness, as I saw first-hand in my early teens watching my beautiful grandmother waste away from breast cancer. My heart goes out to those who have been diagnosed with cancer and those who love and care for them. I can honestly say that I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, even the Trumpsters.
All I can say is I’m voting Democrat across the board on June 5th
I’m 48, I was a republican until 2016 when I officially switched.
I am sick to death of people…um actually that’s it.
Rescue Cat – Years ago, when working on an anti-nuke project, I told a colleague that I was really doing it for the cats and other animals who would be caught up in the aftermath of nuclear war. I don’t really like my own species very much. At first she was shocked, then she told herself I was kidding. I wasn’t kidding …
Cats are at least honest little motor reflex killers. People keep making excuses for themselves. And if I were a mouse, I would much rather die from getting caught by an experienced cat (it would be over in seconds) than by all the traps and poisons humans think are ok to use to kill other living, breathing, pain-feeling critters in a slow and gruesome way.
What a disgusting person. Making fun of someone’s health is one of the worst things you can do IMO. Not to mention, eventual KARMA to the person who does it. I’m not even a fan of John McCain (I have no feelings for or against him), but still.
I cringe every time I hear someone make a “joke” out of serious illnesses, no matter who the person is. UNLESS…that person was a cruel a**hole who was making fun of/ careless about other people getting sick or dying. With that in mind, when this chick or one of her close family members are “dying anyways,” I’ll feel no sympathy.
1. Donald Trump faked a bone spur to avoid military service. He needs to sit down.
2. Torture results in false information that can be detrimental to troops. It’s just cruel and dumb.
The whole of the Peahead presidency is a group of sick puppies. To ATTACK Senator Mc Cain because of his cancer is just sick.. While Senator McCain was fighting in Vietnam, the majority of the people were dodging the draft Including our peahead president who dodge the draft five times. As for Sadler she is a terrible sick woman who thinks just like out peahead president. I hope she suffers cancer someday so she know what senator mc cain is stuggling thorough.