Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.
I’ll just note that it was one year ago today that Jamal Khashoggi walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. He never walked out. I have a post in progress about this that will go up later today.
I’m wondering exactly what the State Dept IG has to say to Congress that is so painfully urgent it has to be done today. I mean, besides Pompeo’s threats against any SD employee who complies with a Congressional subpoena. (otherwise known as “following the law”)
So Joe tells us he knew nothing of Hunters business activities. Burisma? Is that a new Thai restaraunt?
But then this picture shows up with them golfing with another Burisma board member. Now I know what you are thinking. He knows about Hunter and Burisma.
But not me, man. I’m woke. The obvious answer is that Joe is so woke and color blind he thought this chappie he was playing with was Tiger Woods. Yeah, that’s it. I fully expect NBC, NYT, CNN et al to be running with that one. And with good cause. They tell it like it is.
I think the Dems should embrace the Hunter Biden thing but expand it to include the children of Presidents. It would be amazing to have Ivanka, Jared, Din and Eric up in front of a committee with subpoena power day after day.
Everything will be fine if Democrats will just please be nice to Republicans…I especially like the ending where she talks about Democrats doing what is right for America, as if that is to enable the GOP to continue its insidiousness even after Trump is gone…
Scott Stedman has been following this issue closely, and it appears as though Pompeo asked if he could discipline any employees for “failure to follow direction” if they comply with Congressional committee requests.
Both the State Dept. IG and HR clapped back at him, hard. There’s now a power struggle at the top of the food chain over at the State Dept.
Also, Pompeo appears to have taken Klobuchar’s charm course; Raw Story is reporting that he threw binders at subordinates while he was at CIA.
This is almost certainly bullshit but who knows, the guy is a best-selling author with some sources 🙂
Don Winslow
@donwinslow
·
15h
Have you wondered why
@LindseyGrahamSC
has been defending
@realDonaldTrump
like his life depended on it? A friend in federal law enforcement told me about a certain threat
@realDonaldTrump
has made to Graham. It’s personal. It’s awful. And it’s working very well.
Supposedly Trump had his people actually get a cost estimate on a 2000-mile moat filled with alligators and or snakes.
I want to see this cost estimate.
And obviously we’re not talking about Eastern garter snakes here, it’s black mambas or Rattlers or cottonmouths. I want to see the environmental impact statement for a 2000-mile moat filled with black mambas. 😀
I’m on the last book I care to read “Bloodline” by Claudia Gray.
I’d hoped some of these books would bridge the “historical” gap between the fall of the emperor and the rise of the New Order. My assumption was that it regrouped from the remnants of the Empire. Instead, no spoilers, it is best explained by this old Homer Simpson quote: “Of course! It’s so simple. No. Wait. It’s needlessly complicated.”
I expect this should last me until Episode IX premieres, and in the meantime I can get back to Duncan’s take on the Russian Revolution (which so far has been a concise history of Russia), and a whole lot of titles I’ve piled up on Audible.
@Teve: I saw that, and it’s an astonishingly stupid idea.
Like, Dr. Evil/Sharks with lasers stupid.
A moat, going through desert areas, would have to almost constantly be restocked with water, because evaporation is constant. I can’t even believe I spent the time to think about it, this is such a dumb idea.
There is so much wrong with this man; how do people continue to go to work with him every day?
@Guarneri:
Keep on throwing up that flack and spinning hard. Nothing at all desperate looking about that.
I love the fact that you’re smart enough to know not to go near any of the actual core allegations about Trump because they keep getting proven correct.
@Jen: Much of the border is mountains or hills, which makes a moat even harder than in a desert. Unless, maybe they do it like a water park for the snakes and alligators?
* First off, Ukraine is a very corrupt country. This is the one thing that all sides agree on.
* In particular, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General in 2016 was Viktor Shokin, a man so corrupt that both the IMF and pretty much every European country insisted he be removed if Ukraine wanted any assistance from the outside world.
* At this time, Shokin was not investigating Burisma, the energy company on which Hunter Biden held a board seat. This is one of the (many) reasons he was considered corrupt.
* Joe Biden later told the story of Shokin’s firing like this: “I looked at them and said: ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money.’ Well, son of a bitch. He got fired. And they put in place someone who was solid at the time.” Now, this might be a bit of Biden exaggeration, but it accurately describes the general attitude toward Shokin at the time.
* A new Prosecutor General was appointed and immediately reopened the investigation into Burisma. In other words, by switching prosecutors Biden probably made things harder on his son, not easier.
* The new prosecutor eventually reached a deal with Burisma. As with everything in Ukraine, it’s unclear if this was on the up-and-up, but in any case it happened after Trump had won election and Joe Biden no longer had any power or influence.
* There has never been even a hint of evidence that Hunter Biden did anything wrong. He’s a Washington lobbyist who sits on various boards and had done a few small jobs for Burisma during the Obama administration. The head of Burisma at the time was trying to assemble an “all-star” board of directors and approached Hunter Biden. Was this an attempt to curry favor with the White House? I wouldn’t be surprised. But that has nothing to do with Hunter Biden’s work for Burisma, which he says was mostly about corporate governance.
* The new prosecutor has stated many times that his investigation came up with absolutely nothing on Hunter Biden.
* Likewise, there’s not a hint of evidence that Joe Biden ever did anything wrong.
@Teve: I have one friend that is convinced this is what is going on – Graham is gay and Trump is threatening to out him.
My friend has no evidence though, other than Graham never having married. It sort of fits with the whole National Enquirer angle, but still…
@Jay L Gischer: It has to be something a lot worse than that. I think most people assume Graham is gay–and don’t care. Big deal. It’s his business. Barney Frank came out 30 years ago–to a collective yawn.
BTW, the southwestern part of the US is not just desert, but rather dry at the moment and suffering from drought (seriously, see the falling levels at the Lake Meade reservoir in Nevada/Arizona). So diverting water from there to fill a moat would work wonders for the people living there.
Josh Bernstein Says Democratic Leaders Should Be Tortured for Launching Impeachment Inquiry
By Kyle Mantyla | October 1, 2019 1:12 pm
Earlier today, radical right–wing commentator Josh Bernstein uploaded a video to his YouTube account in which he declared that the Democratic Party should be designated as a terrorist organization and its leaders should be tortured for daring to launch an impeachment inquiry against President Trump.
“These people are the lowest forms of life on earth,” Bernstein seethed. “They are lower than pond scum. They are the most disgusting, vile pieces of jackrabbit crap you could possibly imagine.”
“I would rip out their fingernails and their toenails one by one and then waterboard them in front of their families,” he bellowed. “That is what these pieces of crap deserve for what they are trying to do to this president.”
“They’re dirtbags, they’re scumbags, and they are the worst people on the planet earth,” Bernstein added. “I hope every single one of them pays for what they are doing. They are destroying the fabric of this country. We are turning into the divided states of America because of assclowns like these Democrats … This is a terrorist organization. The Democratic Party should be designated as a terrorist organization.”
The Cubs fired Joe Maddon.
I’m available.
Like my dad taught me when I was in the Cub Scouts Kid League circa. 1956.
“Don’t swing at the first pitch!”
“Keep your eye on the ball!”
“Use both hands!”
With that and my everlasting disdain for the Saint Louis Skunks I’m sure I could equal or top Joe’s record with the Cubs of four playoff appearances and 90-win campaigns, as well as the 2016 World Series title that snapped Chicago’s title drought.
@CSK: oh yeah, he represents South Cackalacky, which is near the very bottom in terms of education and the very top in terms of racism. It’s Trump Central. I think that quite sufficiently explains his behavior.
@Teve:
Daily Kos had a good analysis of the felony arrests and Convictions by Administration, that mostly corroborates the numbers you’ve provided.
The DKos story provides some shocking detail on the scope of the Donny Two Scoop’s criminality – i.e. 153 felony indictments pertaining to Foreign Assistance to the Trump Campaign.
The only variance I see at first glance is it shows the Clinton Admin with 2 convictions (vs. the 1 your chart shows).
Also, the DKos story is a year old, so Trump Crime Syndicate is sure to have added to its impressive numbers since originally published.
NPR Politics
@nprpolitics
· 9m
JUST IN: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders had an unexpected heart procedure after feeling chest pain yesterday and is now off the campaign trail for the time being.
If the emoji set for this website was a little more expansive I’d be puzzling over whether to post a fork or a piece of toast.
@CSK: Because of the Barney Frank angle, I would guess something more along the NAMBLA line, but I know nothing and agree that it’s all probably speculation and bs.
@CSK: Nah, there’s got to be more to it then that. Graham went from someone who said just enough pro-Trump stuff to keep the base happy to Trump’s most sycophantic mouthpiece – virtually overnight. Something happened
Bernie Sanders had stents put in last night. He probably was in the ancient stages of a heart attack. I think we can all agree we wish him the best. This probably ends his candidacy.
“I would… waterboard them in front of their families
Doesn’t pond scum float? Maybe I’m over reading this. On the other hand, it’s always nice to hear what conservatives really think of enhanced interrogation techniques: torture for the sake of sadistic pleasure.
@Mister Bluster: As a Cards fan I am sorry to see him go. We always knew no matter what, it was going to be a good game. But maybe things were getting a little stale as both Epstein and he said.
Hard to know. Lots/most (don’t know the percentage offhand)stents get put in when people are ischemic but not actually having an MI. Cheney worked for a long time with pretty significant issues, so just having a stent or two placed would not, barring other medical issues, preclude office I would think.
@Teve: Let me see… This guy wants to torture elected members of Congress in front of their families because they are fulfilling their constitutionally prescribed duties, and yet they are the terrorists?
The insertion of stents into coronary arteries for the relief of chest pain is somewhat controversial in cardiology-world. If Bernie had no signs of an impending ischemia then he had a procedure that might cost $50K for a condition that has been successfully treated by medications & lifestyle alterations.
Just sayin’. (The basic reason for all the brouhaha around medical insurance by the gov’t is the amazing expenses in the medical world of course.)
Prosecutors say the congressman called his son immediately after getting an email from the CEO of Innate Immunotherapeutics, an Australian biotech firm where Collins served on the board. That email included devastating news.
Innate’s only product, an experimental drug for multiple sclerosis, had failed in clinical trials. That meant Innate’s stock, which had skyrocketed in the previous year, would certainly crash back down to earth as soon as the bad news became public.
Cameron Collins started selling his Innate shares the day after his father called him. Zarsky, Cameron Collins’ prospective father-in-law, started dumping his shares, too.
The News wrote about apparent insider trading in Innate stock the following week, and federal investigators noticed it, too. Collins, his son and Zarsky were arrested a little more than 13 months later, on Aug. 8, 2018. Prosecutors charged them with wire and securities fraud, conspiracy and lying to the FBI.
Collins immediately proclaimed his innocence and has done so ever since. But he pleaded guilty, two sources said, to forego the legal risk and family agony of seeing his son go before jurors before him.
…………………………….
Yet even with Collins’ sudden decision to plead guilty and leave Congress, one thing hasn’t changed, said the source who noted the impact of the prosecutors’ letter.
Collins has said for 14 months that he’s innocent – and he still believes it.
“He still thinks he didn’t do anything wrong,” that source said.
There you have it. He thinks insider trading is perfectly legal as long as one is a member of Congress.
@Kathy: I rather suspect you are correct, but I was trying to interpret the source’s words in the strictest possible way. I just realized I didn’t. The strictest possible interpretation is that it’s perfectly legal for him to engage in insider trading.
I guess he’s special.
@CSK: trump seasons his fries and quarter pounders with the tears of elitist gourmands. And OzarkHillbillies who like good food.
I’ll be damned if I know what to write about anymore. Donald Trump is just raving these days, both online and off, and a few minutes ago he practically melted down in public while the president of Finland stoically stared into his hands. Meanwhile, his secretary of state is flatly stonewalling Congress and—unless I’ve missed someone—not a single elected Republican is willing to even mildly criticize Trump, let alone support an impeachment inquiry.
Do the details even matter anymore? I suppose they do—or, more accurately, they might eventually. Maybe there’s some limit that even Fox News can’t quite spin away. Maybe.
In the meantime, just remember this: Joe Biden went to Ukraine in 2015 to demand that they crack down harder on corruption. That included investigations of Burisma, the energy company where his son sat on the board. In the real world, this is uncontroversial. Everybody agrees this is what happened. But in Foxland, Biden went to Ukraine to make sure they stopped investigating Burisma. It’s a jaw-dropping fantasy, but thanks to the conservative media machine it’s now gospel for a huge chunk of the country.
And why shouldn’t it be? As a friend asked me—sincerely, I think—if all this stuff he hears on Fox is wrong, then why are they saying it? All I could do was shrug. Because they lie, I told him, and that ended the conversation. He quite reasonably took this as evidence that I was a hopeless partisan hack. But what else is there to say? It just goes to show the power of straight-up lying, repeated 24/7. How do you fight it?
As Guano and jkb and Paul show us every day, you can’t stop the Derp. You just have to turn out enough non-Derp voters to overcome the cheating.
@OzarkHillbilly: Ironically enough, (and lawyer types out there, please feel free to correct my misunderstanding) when I last read about insider trading as it related to Congresscritters, his crime was calling his son and his son’s father-in-law with the info. If he had simply feathered his own nest with the information, he’d have been fine.
(Unless there is a distinction between information one acquires as Congresscritter and from the company records, but that would be an easy distinction to miss.)
Drum: “As a friend asked me—sincerely, I think—if all this stuff he hears on Fox is wrong, then why are they saying it?”
Because it gains them a captive audience of the gullible that advertisers will pay beaucoup bucks to get access to. Getting to tell the President what to do and say is just gravy after that.
California Olive Ranch* has a few lines, including an ‘everyday’ bottle and higher-grade first pressing stuff. Their ‘everyday’ line has such a good, complex flavor that I use it as a finishing oil.
And I agree re: grapeseed. It’s heart healthy, has no flavor, and a very high smoke point. I use it for most of my cooking needs, and reserve olive oil for finishing dishes or for dressings. Grapeseed oil is mostly polyunsaturated though, so it can go rancid quicker than a canola or vegetable oil.
*California Olive Ranch has not paid me to endorse their products. But if they are listening, I’m open to new opportunities.
I find little difference when cooking between using olive oil or any other oil. The one exception is a dark sesame seed oil which smells almost like roasted peanuts. That one does impart a peanuty flavor to some dishes.
Olive oil is great, with a little balsamic vinegar, for dipping bread.
I use the California Olive Ranch as my daily use olive oil anyway, and I agree absolutely on the grapeseed oil–it’s just a bit harder for me to find, as I have to go to Manchester or Portsmouth to get it. For high-heat cooking I never use olive oil anyway, the smoke point is too low.
And, as far as cheeses go, Vermont is making some very, very good cheeses, particularly from producers like Jasper Hill Farms, Vermont Shepherd, and the like. Same with high-end chocolate, there are plenty of US producers (Patric Chocolate is fantastic).
It just strikes me as so ridiculous to ramp up a trade war on yet another front right as the economy is really starting to show signs of slowing.
I don’t think it matters much for the cooking process–you won’t really notice a difference sauteing asparagus in olive oil or vegetable oil. However, if there’s enough oil in your recipe that the oil itself can impart a flavor, you want to be careful. For that reason I don’t like canola oil, which imparts a taste that apparently only I in my family can taste.
As I’ve learned more about asian cooking, I’ve started to use toasted sesame oil in a lot of my sauces and dressings. It is truly awesome.
I don’t think it matters much for the cooking process–you won’t really notice a difference sauteing asparagus in olive oil or vegetable oil.
Generally speaking, yes. Most folks palettes are not good enough to detect a difference in part because heat neutralizes a lot of the flavor. That’s why Cooks Illustrated (America’s Test Kitchen) recommends never using EVO for anything that involves prolonged high temperature cooking.
@Just nutha ignint cracker: Now that you mention it, I recall reading something like that too. I forget what controversy it was or who was involved. And I surely don’t remember if that analysis was accurate.
@Teve: Years ago I went down the big water slide a few times at Jim Bakker’s water park; which at the time was one of the best water parks in the country. Too bad it closed and never reopened. It is still there. Maybe someday.
@Teve: Glad to know at least one person thinks I may not be a philistine. [whew…] 😛
ETA:@Neil Hudelson: I will respectively disagree on the no taste part. I use grapeseed oil in salad dressings as well as cooking. The flavor is very nice, but it is sort of light compared to olive oil, so I can see why someone might think it has no taste.
@Neil Hudelson: I notice a difference with canola oil, but that’s because I don’t digest it well and it aggravates any tendency I have toward acid reflux or indigestion. 🙁 (Also don’t care much for the taste.)
House Intelligence committee provides funding and oversight, and the whistle blower didn’t detail any of the complaint. He/she was directed–appropriately–to the IG.
The House staff member, following the committee’s procedures, suggested the officer find a lawyer to advise him and meet with an inspector general, with whom he could file a whistle-blower complaint. The aide shared some of what the officer conveyed to Mr. Schiff. The aide did not share the whistle-blower’s identity with Mr. Schiff, an official said.
Yep, hot stuff there. Little detail, sent to the correct channels, and no identification of the individual.
@Jen: the word “Megyn” has been trending on Twitter for 6 hours because Kevin McCarthy promoted this lie this afternoon and Megyn Kelly brainlessly repeated it and a thousand people have dragged them all evening for it.
Some liberals have understood for a while now that Google and Facebook act as de facto monopolies and we would be better off breaking them up. But now if some right-winger in Illinois gets his Obama==Hitler meme taken down because of a Jewish judge in Poland, they might get on board the antitrust train too.
The Nevada GOP just retweeted a minute-and-a-half long video of Elizabeth Warren showing up at the airport in Reno Nevada and a bunch of GOP protesters shouting “Pocahontas!” at her.
@Mister Bluster: Are there really any managers out there who might be better? Joe Girardi did pretty well with what he had.
Favorite managers: Walter Alston, Leo Durocher, Gene Mauch, Bobby Cox, Tom Lasorda, Billy Martin.
The headline of the day-
Escaped prisoner found living in cave in China after 17 years on the run
I’ll just note that it was one year ago today that Jamal Khashoggi walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. He never walked out. I have a post in progress about this that will go up later today.
I’m wondering exactly what the State Dept IG has to say to Congress that is so painfully urgent it has to be done today. I mean, besides Pompeo’s threats against any SD employee who complies with a Congressional subpoena. (otherwise known as “following the law”)
I suspect that Bob Barr sees himself as Trump’s Roy Cohn. Unfortunately, I think the world sees him as Trump’s Michael Cohen.
@MarkedMan: But he looks more like Jabba the Hutt.
So Joe tells us he knew nothing of Hunters business activities. Burisma? Is that a new Thai restaraunt?
But then this picture shows up with them golfing with another Burisma board member. Now I know what you are thinking. He knows about Hunter and Burisma.
But not me, man. I’m woke. The obvious answer is that Joe is so woke and color blind he thought this chappie he was playing with was Tiger Woods. Yeah, that’s it. I fully expect NBC, NYT, CNN et al to be running with that one. And with good cause. They tell it like it is.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Yea that report is very interesting to say the least.
I think the Dems should embrace the Hunter Biden thing but expand it to include the children of Presidents. It would be amazing to have Ivanka, Jared, Din and Eric up in front of a committee with subpoena power day after day.
@MarkedMan:
Giuliani is Trump’s Cohn.
Indeed, he makes Michael Cohen seen ethical and competent by comparison.
Headline of the day #2-
Beer seller fired after charging Dolphins fan $724 for two beers, cops say
Please don’t make it too hard for Republicans to get on the impeachment train
Everything will be fine if Democrats will just please be nice to Republicans…I especially like the ending where she talks about Democrats doing what is right for America, as if that is to enable the GOP to continue its insidiousness even after Trump is gone…
@OzarkHillbilly: It absolutely has to do with that.
Scott Stedman has been following this issue closely, and it appears as though Pompeo asked if he could discipline any employees for “failure to follow direction” if they comply with Congressional committee requests.
Both the State Dept. IG and HR clapped back at him, hard. There’s now a power struggle at the top of the food chain over at the State Dept.
Also, Pompeo appears to have taken Klobuchar’s charm course; Raw Story is reporting that he threw binders at subordinates while he was at CIA.
The BEST PEOPLE!
(I haven’t double checked these numbers)
This is almost certainly bullshit but who knows, the guy is a best-selling author with some sources 🙂
@Doug Mataconis:
@Teve: I give you the Law and Order ™ party.
Supposedly Trump had his people actually get a cost estimate on a 2000-mile moat filled with alligators and or snakes.
I want to see this cost estimate.
And obviously we’re not talking about Eastern garter snakes here, it’s black mambas or Rattlers or cottonmouths. I want to see the environmental impact statement for a 2000-mile moat filled with black mambas. 😀
My Star Wars high is drawing to a close.
I’m on the last book I care to read “Bloodline” by Claudia Gray.
I’d hoped some of these books would bridge the “historical” gap between the fall of the emperor and the rise of the New Order. My assumption was that it regrouped from the remnants of the Empire. Instead, no spoilers, it is best explained by this old Homer Simpson quote: “Of course! It’s so simple. No. Wait. It’s needlessly complicated.”
I expect this should last me until Episode IX premieres, and in the meantime I can get back to Duncan’s take on the Russian Revolution (which so far has been a concise history of Russia), and a whole lot of titles I’ve piled up on Audible.
@Teve: Aw, come on. You’re taking Trump literally, not seriously.
@Teve: I saw that, and it’s an astonishingly stupid idea.
Like, Dr. Evil/Sharks with lasers stupid.
A moat, going through desert areas, would have to almost constantly be restocked with water, because evaporation is constant. I can’t even believe I spent the time to think about it, this is such a dumb idea.
There is so much wrong with this man; how do people continue to go to work with him every day?
@Jen: I don’t think many do, unless they’re totally inept or completely corrupt.
@Guarneri:
Keep on throwing up that flack and spinning hard. Nothing at all desperate looking about that.
I love the fact that you’re smart enough to know not to go near any of the actual core allegations about Trump because they keep getting proven correct.
@Jen: Much of the border is mountains or hills, which makes a moat even harder than in a desert. Unless, maybe they do it like a water park for the snakes and alligators?
@gVOR08: what’s scarier than an alligator? An alligator going 30 miles per hour down a waterslide!
@Guarneri: Kevin Drum has put together a Hunter Biden Timeline as a personal favor to you:
I hope this clears up your confusion.
@gVOR08:
@Teve:
This needs to be made into a children’s book, right now.
@Teve: I have one friend that is convinced this is what is going on – Graham is gay and Trump is threatening to out him.
My friend has no evidence though, other than Graham never having married. It sort of fits with the whole National Enquirer angle, but still…
@Jay L Gischer: It has to be something a lot worse than that. I think most people assume Graham is gay–and don’t care. Big deal. It’s his business. Barney Frank came out 30 years ago–to a collective yawn.
Lindsay’s been known to be in the closet for like 30 years. The implication here is that it’s something legitimately foul.
And to be clear, I’d give 95% odds that this is just some made-up rumor bullshit.
@Teve:
So would I.
BTW, the southwestern part of the US is not just desert, but rather dry at the moment and suffering from drought (seriously, see the falling levels at the Lake Meade reservoir in Nevada/Arizona). So diverting water from there to fill a moat would work wonders for the people living there.
@Tevr: What’s more likely with Graham, I think, is that he represents a pro-Trump state, and he wants to keep his job.
right-wing watch
The Cubs fired Joe Maddon.
I’m available.
Like my dad taught me when I was in the Cub Scouts Kid League circa. 1956.
“Don’t swing at the first pitch!”
“Keep your eye on the ball!”
“Use both hands!”
With that and my everlasting disdain for the Saint Louis Skunks I’m sure I could equal or top Joe’s record with the Cubs of four playoff appearances and 90-win campaigns, as well as the 2016 World Series title that snapped Chicago’s title drought.
@CSK: oh yeah, he represents South Cackalacky, which is near the very bottom in terms of education and the very top in terms of racism. It’s Trump Central. I think that quite sufficiently explains his behavior.
@MarkedMan:
You meal William (Bill) Barr. Bob Barr is the former Georgia Congressman who was part of the impeachment process of Bill Clinton.
@Doug Mataconis: From Charlie Sykes: Giulani is Martha Mitchell. Which made me laugh. BTW, Martha let a lot of truths out.
@Teve:
Daily Kos had a good analysis of the felony arrests and Convictions by Administration, that mostly corroborates the numbers you’ve provided.
The DKos story provides some shocking detail on the scope of the Donny Two Scoop’s criminality – i.e. 153 felony indictments pertaining to Foreign Assistance to the Trump Campaign.
The only variance I see at first glance is it shows the Clinton Admin with 2 convictions (vs. the 1 your chart shows).
Also, the DKos story is a year old, so Trump Crime Syndicate is sure to have added to its impressive numbers since originally published.
So far the best nickname I’ve heard for this scandal is Ukraine Clown Posse.
If the emoji set for this website was a little more expansive I’d be puzzling over whether to post a fork or a piece of toast.
@CSK: Because of the Barney Frank angle, I would guess something more along the NAMBLA line, but I know nothing and agree that it’s all probably speculation and bs.
Bernie Sanders hospitalized after procedure for blocked artery. Campaign events canceled until further notice.
Oh good. More trade wars.
This time, he’s taxing my wine and cheese. I’m too scared to see if Scotch is on the list.
@CSK: Nah, there’s got to be more to it then that. Graham went from someone who said just enough pro-Trump stuff to keep the base happy to Trump’s most sycophantic mouthpiece – virtually overnight. Something happened
@EddieInCA: Thank you for the correction. I spose there are just to many low Barrs in the Republican Party to keep straight.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Narrator: It did not.
🙂
Bernie Sanders had stents put in last night. He probably was in the ancient stages of a heart attack. I think we can all agree we wish him the best. This probably ends his candidacy.
nascent
@Teve:
Doesn’t pond scum float? Maybe I’m over reading this. On the other hand, it’s always nice to hear what conservatives really think of enhanced interrogation techniques: torture for the sake of sadistic pleasure.
@Guarneri: Thanks for the correction. I was trying to imagine what the ancient stages of a heart attack might be…
I’ve become more sympathetic to Plato in recent days…
@Mister Bluster: As a Cards fan I am sorry to see him go. We always knew no matter what, it was going to be a good game. But maybe things were getting a little stale as both Epstein and he said.
“nascent”
Hard to know. Lots/most (don’t know the percentage offhand)stents get put in when people are ischemic but not actually having an MI. Cheney worked for a long time with pretty significant issues, so just having a stent or two placed would not, barring other medical issues, preclude office I would think.
Steve
@Jen: Trust me, it is. Not that I’ve seen it, I just know that if anybody is getting screwed, it’s me.
@Teve: Let me see… This guy wants to torture elected members of Congress in front of their families because they are fulfilling their constitutionally prescribed duties, and yet they are the terrorists?
His fans ain’t wound too tight, is they?
The insertion of stents into coronary arteries for the relief of chest pain is somewhat controversial in cardiology-world. If Bernie had no signs of an impending ischemia then he had a procedure that might cost $50K for a condition that has been successfully treated by medications & lifestyle alterations.
Just sayin’. (The basic reason for all the brouhaha around medical insurance by the gov’t is the amazing expenses in the medical world of course.)
@Jen: Scotch is about the only thing NOT on the list. Wine, cheese, meats, olive oil, pasta, jams, jellies, brandy…the list is 14 pages long.
@CSK: Say what??? I dodged a bullet???? Oh, wait a minute, wine, cheese, olive oil….
Blindsided by resignation, Collins loyalists say he pleaded guilty to shield his son
…………………………….
There you have it. He thinks insider trading is perfectly legal as long as one is a member of Congress.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Of course not. He thinks insider trading is legal as long as you are a Republican member of Congress.
@OzarkHillbilly: It’s enough to make you weep.
@Kathy: I rather suspect you are correct, but I was trying to interpret the source’s words in the strictest possible way. I just realized I didn’t. The strictest possible interpretation is that it’s perfectly legal for him to engage in insider trading.
I guess he’s special.
@CSK: trump seasons his fries and quarter pounders with the tears of elitist gourmands. And OzarkHillbillies who like good food.
@CSK: Thank you for looking…I didn’t have the courage.
The wine, cheese, and olive oil are already almost too much to bear.
With the DJIA tanking and lots of evidence the economy is slowing, what would make more sense than a trade war?
@OzarkHillbilly:
@Guarneri:
Adding to Kevin Drum’s timeline, here is the view from inside Ukraine (spoiler alert: they believe John Solomon got played)
https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/trump-whistleblower-scandal-explained-from-ukraine.html
@Guarneri: It only takes nine keystrokes to type out “I’m a loser.” Much faster than the drivel you post here that simply says the same thing.
@steve:
Not an apt comparison. Bernie actually has a heart.
As Guano and jkb and Paul show us every day, you can’t stop the Derp. You just have to turn out enough non-Derp voters to overcome the cheating.
@Jen: Well, all I can say is: “Thank God for the NH State Liquor Stores.” And I’d stock up at the Tuscan Market in Salem, NH.
@OzarkHillbilly: Ironically enough, (and lawyer types out there, please feel free to correct my misunderstanding) when I last read about insider trading as it related to Congresscritters, his crime was calling his son and his son’s father-in-law with the info. If he had simply feathered his own nest with the information, he’d have been fine.
(Unless there is a distinction between information one acquires as Congresscritter and from the company records, but that would be an easy distinction to miss.)
@Teve:
Because it gains them a captive audience of the gullible that advertisers will pay beaucoup bucks to get access to. Getting to tell the President what to do and say is just gravy after that.
@Jen: My best advice is to switch to grapeseed oil. Tastes good, much higher smoke point and locally sourced oils are just as good as imports.
Of course, I think the same thing about domestic olive oil, too, so I may just be a philistine.
@Just nutha ignint cracker: there are some very good domestic olive oils.
Trump just said the Pence was also listening in on the Ukraine call. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Journalist corrects: Trump was talking about Pompeo, not Pence.
Shoot. 🙁
@Teve: Oh, don’t worry. If Trump is forced out, he’ll find a way to drag Pence with him.
@Just nutha ignint cracker: @Teve:
Not only are there some phenomenal domestic olive oils (California Olive Ranch is raved about, for good reason), when you buy American you know it’s actually 100% olive oil, whereas most of the stuff from overseas is cut with other oils.
California Olive Ranch* has a few lines, including an ‘everyday’ bottle and higher-grade first pressing stuff. Their ‘everyday’ line has such a good, complex flavor that I use it as a finishing oil.
And I agree re: grapeseed. It’s heart healthy, has no flavor, and a very high smoke point. I use it for most of my cooking needs, and reserve olive oil for finishing dishes or for dressings. Grapeseed oil is mostly polyunsaturated though, so it can go rancid quicker than a canola or vegetable oil.
*California Olive Ranch has not paid me to endorse their products. But if they are listening, I’m open to new opportunities.
@Neil Hudelson:
I find little difference when cooking between using olive oil or any other oil. The one exception is a dark sesame seed oil which smells almost like roasted peanuts. That one does impart a peanuty flavor to some dishes.
Olive oil is great, with a little balsamic vinegar, for dipping bread.
@Neil Hudelson:
@Teve:
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
I use the California Olive Ranch as my daily use olive oil anyway, and I agree absolutely on the grapeseed oil–it’s just a bit harder for me to find, as I have to go to Manchester or Portsmouth to get it. For high-heat cooking I never use olive oil anyway, the smoke point is too low.
And, as far as cheeses go, Vermont is making some very, very good cheeses, particularly from producers like Jasper Hill Farms, Vermont Shepherd, and the like. Same with high-end chocolate, there are plenty of US producers (Patric Chocolate is fantastic).
It just strikes me as so ridiculous to ramp up a trade war on yet another front right as the economy is really starting to show signs of slowing.
@Kathy:
I don’t think it matters much for the cooking process–you won’t really notice a difference sauteing asparagus in olive oil or vegetable oil. However, if there’s enough oil in your recipe that the oil itself can impart a flavor, you want to be careful. For that reason I don’t like canola oil, which imparts a taste that apparently only I in my family can taste.
As I’ve learned more about asian cooking, I’ve started to use toasted sesame oil in a lot of my sauces and dressings. It is truly awesome.
@Neil Hudelson:
Generally speaking, yes. Most folks palettes are not good enough to detect a difference in part because heat neutralizes a lot of the flavor. That’s why Cooks Illustrated (America’s Test Kitchen) recommends never using EVO for anything that involves prolonged high temperature cooking.
Out of curiosity I just checked the betting sites and odds of winning the presidency right now are given as:
Trump 42%
Warren 26%
Biden 11%
Everybody else <4%
@mattbernius: evoo has the lowest smoke point.
This made me laugh harder than I should admit.
@Jen: Very clever. And funny.
Dang. Mike Dorning of Bloomberg is saying that yes, tariff increases on Irish whiskey and Scotch.
It’s all so UNFAIR.
🙂
@Just nutha ignint cracker: Now that you mention it, I recall reading something like that too. I forget what controversy it was or who was involved. And I surely don’t remember if that analysis was accurate.
@Teve: Years ago I went down the big water slide a few times at Jim Bakker’s water park; which at the time was one of the best water parks in the country. Too bad it closed and never reopened. It is still there. Maybe someday.
News Item (NYT)
Adam Schiff caught bald faced lying about whistleblower.
Fools.
@Teve: Glad to know at least one person thinks I may not be a philistine. [whew…] 😛
ETA:@Neil Hudelson: I will respectively disagree on the no taste part. I use grapeseed oil in salad dressings as well as cooking. The flavor is very nice, but it is sort of light compared to olive oil, so I can see why someone might think it has no taste.
@Neil Hudelson: I notice a difference with canola oil, but that’s because I don’t digest it well and it aggravates any tendency I have toward acid reflux or indigestion. 🙁 (Also don’t care much for the taste.)
@Guarneri: I assume you are speaking of this piece.
House Intelligence committee provides funding and oversight, and the whistle blower didn’t detail any of the complaint. He/she was directed–appropriately–to the IG.
Yep, hot stuff there. Little detail, sent to the correct channels, and no identification of the individual.
@Guarneri: Still no opinion on Trump’s lies the last 3 years?
Fool.
@Jen: the word “Megyn” has been trending on Twitter for 6 hours because Kevin McCarthy promoted this lie this afternoon and Megyn Kelly brainlessly repeated it and a thousand people have dragged them all evening for it.
@Guarneri:
Nope. You’re quoting Kevin McCarthy who was promptly corrected by the reporter. And you’re a credulous nitwit.
@Guarneri: Not a news item (reality): trump lies about every damn thing, every damn day.
Now, what was it you were saying about Adam Schiff?
@michael reynolds: Ah, I see, more Republican bullshit swallowed whole by “credulous nitwits”
court rules Facebook must delete content globally if it’s defamatory in Europe.
Some liberals have understood for a while now that Google and Facebook act as de facto monopolies and we would be better off breaking them up. But now if some right-winger in Illinois gets his Obama==Hitler meme taken down because of a Jewish judge in Poland, they might get on board the antitrust train too.
The Nevada GOP just retweeted a minute-and-a-half long video of Elizabeth Warren showing up at the airport in Reno Nevada and a bunch of GOP protesters shouting “Pocahontas!” at her.
Dear GOP, please, please keep this up! 🙂 😀 😛
@Mister Bluster: Are there really any managers out there who might be better? Joe Girardi did pretty well with what he had.
Favorite managers: Walter Alston, Leo Durocher, Gene Mauch, Bobby Cox, Tom Lasorda, Billy Martin.