Any news on how My-Pal Putin is handling being pushed aside from being #1 New-Best-Friend, in favor of the New-New-Best-Friend Prez of Ukraine? Seems like mighty tenuous territory.
You mean things like Trump's apparent conviction that Ukraine was the real source of 2016 election interference, and that the DNC server is hidden somewhere in Ukraine? I'm guessing Vlad the Elector is pretty comfy with that situation.
When the American delegation dispatched to Mr. Zelensky’s inauguration — including Energy Secretary Rick Perry — reported back favorably in May about the new leader, Mr. Trump was dismissive. “They’re terrible people,” he said of Ukrainian politicians, according to people familiar with the meeting. “They’re all corrupt and they tried to take me down.”
The effort by President Trump to pressure the government of Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son had its origins in an earlier endeavor to obtain information that might provide a pretext and political cover for the president to pardon his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, according to previously undisclosed records.
I'm not sure the Trump's Ukraine thing and Trump's Russia thing are two separate stories, but I am pretty sure that "friend" isn't how you describe someone you blackmail into doing crimes for you.
“It is impossible that the whistle-blower is a hero and I’m not. And I will be the hero! These morons—when this is over, I will be the hero,” Giuliani told me.
“I’m not acting as a lawyer. I’m acting as someone who has devoted most of his life to straightening out government,” he continued, sounding out of breath. “Anything I did should be praised.”
*Are long-held, deeply-felt trivial grudges over The-Truth-Hurt-Don't-It-Darlin' name-calling the hallmark of elderly, washed-up, US political hacks? (Translation: Do ursines poop in wooded glades?)
OK: I've just received, via my personal email account, the following from the Trump re-election campaign (redacted & shrunk to (A) cut to the chase, and (B) remove my personal info):
"The 2020 Democrats are floundering. They heard we had a RECORD BREAKING AUGUST, and they’re quickly realizing that NONE of them stand a chance of winning in 2020.
While I’ve been busy working day and night to deliver for YOU, Democrat candidates are FAILING to sell their SOCIALIST ideas to the American people.
I asked my team to pull your donor file, and I'll be honest, I was disappointed to see that you haven’t contributed recently. I thought it was a mistake, but take a look for yourself:"
-- there follows a record of my ZERO contributions to this oaf's campaign. May I just point out that I am a life-long Democrat whose likelihood of forking over a sip of water in the desert to this treasonous thug is ZERO?
The plea is followed up with this:
"Will you help me, (recipient's first name)?
I want to know who stood with me when it mattered most so I’ve asked my team to send me a list of EVERY AMERICAN PATRIOT who donates - I know I’ll see your name on that list."
1. WHERE DID THESE ASSHOLES GET MY NAME AND EMAIL ADDRESS?
2. AM I CRAZY OR DOES THIS SOUND LIKE A THREAT NOT UNLIKE THAT ISSUED TO THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE? "Nice country you have there, Vlad; be a shame if you couldn't defend it." OR "We know who you are and how to reach you, so it's in your own best interests to pony up?"
I'll just add that there's not a word in this appeal about impeachment. I find this appeal extremely disturbing. Is it going out to every non-Trump voter in the country?
I'll just add that there's not a word in this appeal about impeachment. I find this appeal extremely disturbing. Is it going out to every non-Trump voter in the country?
Ever wonder what former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is up to these days? Me neither, but apparently he's now a stand-up comic!
The ultimate referee of this fight will be Lachlan Murdoch. In recent months, Rupert’s oldest son has been holding strategy conversations with Fox executives and anchors about how Fox News should prepare for life after Trump. Among the powerful voices advising Lachlan that Fox should decisively break with the president is former House speaker Paul Ryan, who joined the Fox board in March. “Paul is embarrassed about Trump and now he has the power to do something about it,” an executive who’s spoken with Ryan told me.
I don't know. The former Speaker's new material is a little dark and cynical for my taste.
FWIW, they probably just scooped up your e-mail address someplace, and didn't worry about your politics. Maybe they bought/acquired a mailing list, and it didn't list that info. Sometimes, marketers, pollsters, and such make assumptions based on something else they (think) they know: neighborhood, state, magazine subscriptions, age, etc.
To me, it just reads like a fundraising/marketing letter for any organization. There are various styles; but they tend to try to get you into an emotional state and guilt you into doing something.
I don't think it's personal, and I doubt they intended any threat.
If you still have the e-mail, look carefully at the very end. Generally, there's a link to where you can unsubscribe. And there may be a statement about where they got your info.
FWIW, they probably just scooped up your e-mail address someplace, and didn't worry about your politics. Maybe they bought/acquired a mailing list, and it didn't list that info. Sometimes, marketers, pollsters, and such make assumptions based on something else they (think) they know: neighborhood, state, magazine subscriptions, age, etc.
To me, it just reads like a fundraising/marketing letter for any organization. There are various styles; but they tend to try to get you into an emotional state and guilt you into doing something.
I don't think it's personal, and I doubt they intended any threat.
If you still have the e-mail, look carefully at the very end. Generally, there's a link to where you can unsubscribe. And there may be a statement about where they got your info.
Appearances notwithstancing, I'm not an utter dimwit; I know it's just a form thingie sent out to millions of people. It just strikes me as extremely odd that they're (A) targeting people unlikely to vote for them (Democrats), and (B) selecting that vaguely threatening approach ("Oooh, are you gonna be sorry you didn't send me money after I get elected and come after you"). Unlike you, though, I'm pretty sure that any threat is indeed deliberate and intentional. These people will say anything.
I got some snail mail from them the other day, labeled "Survey." Right.
A few weeks ago I got a phone call with "TRUMP" showing in caller ID. I picked it up, with the intention of asking politely to be taken off their calling list, only to hear a robotic voice. I said, "Is this a robot?" The voice said, "There is a human being here, but because of your hostility I will have you put on our Do Not Call list." Well, mission accomplished.
I'm sorry if I came across as insulting. I figured that e-mail hit you hard due to some combo of a) stress about T; b) stress about the state of the world; and c) not having much experience with fundraising letters, junk mail, and the like, whether e-mail or snail-mail.
I got some political fundraising text recently, addressed to someone else, and not anything I was interested in. So I replied and explained. Miracle of miracles, someone replied quickly and promised to take me off their list!
Now, if I could get the spam *callers* to my cell to take a hike. (And yes, it's on the "do not call" list.)
I too got booted off Trump's mailing list. I was probably naughty, who knows? Maybe they figured out I was Australian. It is weird stuff, their mailouts.
I always wondered if Ryan was positioning himself to be the Republicans' knight in shining armor, when the Trump train reaches its inevitable messy derailment. I reckon there are a few realpolitikers busy placing stones on the tracks under cover of darkness.'
BTW, on behalf of my country can I apologise to you all most sincerely for harboring and nurturing the Murdoch clan.
Me too, Ross. The latest missive is from "The President's Finance Team" and is titled, "The President is asking about you." Given Individual 1's well-known penchant for attacking even quite obscure people, I think it's a deliberate attempt to fear-bully people into donating to his campaign in case he's re-elected, which God in Her mercy forbid.
Now that I've hit "unsubscribe" -- twice -- I'm probably on The Enemies list along with the Whistleblower, whom angels attend and protect.
I never hit "unsubscribe" since that confirms that it's a real email address and I'm a real person -- just as I don't answer the phone if it's a telemarketer or a politician.
Televangelist Oral Roberts went through a period of saying that God was going to take him Home, if he didn't bring in a certain amount of contributions, and so if you could just...
IIRC, he sounded quite sincere and fervent, and maybe worried and scared. At the time, I thought it might be helpful if we didn't send in any money, he went Home, and God could sort him out there.
Privately, the president had often talked about fortifying a border wall with a water-filled trench, stocked with snakes or alligators, prompting aides to seek a cost estimate. He wanted the wall electrified, with spikes on top that could pierce human flesh.
At what point does ordinary villainy cross the line into cartoonish supervillainy? Asking for a friend. The fact that his aides actually went as far as seeking out a cost estimate for this is disturbing.
I've been giggling about the snakes all day (which probably makes me a Bad Person, but there you go). How exactly do you order up 9 billion snakes? What variety do you go for, given that he expects them to live in a moat? Who's breeding these things, and is it an expansion industry, given the sudden demand? What cost center do you stick them under?
I have this vision of the White House staff all tapping away madly on their phones, trying to order up snakes on Amazon...
And then there's the question of retention. How do you keep the snakes from crawling OUT of the moat? Do you buy little leashes or what? How do you keep a leash on a snake, anyway? My son suggested using socks, but there's the waterlogging problem.
I've also got this vision of a bunch of contractors trying to fill up a Moat-Across-America™ with garden hoses...
The speculation about the moat (or "Moot" as Trump puts it) story coming out now is that Kirstjen Nielsen's friends have all decided that it's time to start talking.
I've been giggling about the snakes all day (which probably makes me a Bad Person, but there you go). How exactly do you order up 9 billion snakes? What variety do you go for, given that he expects them to live in a moat? Who's breeding these things, and is it an expansion industry, given the sudden demand? What cost center do you stick them under? ...
As your fellow Bad Person, I would point out that the Florida Everglades have a lot of non-native pythons making trouble for virtually every kind of indigenous wildlife in the region. Let's just transfer them to the moat. It solves two problems at once!
Or around Mar-a-Lago, provided no one else *has* to be in there or cross the moat. Jobs and housing could be provided for the workers at T's other resorts.
Alas, it's in print only so I can't post a link, but the latest Private Eye has a similarly-excellent doppelganger feature on Aleister Crowley and our current PM's adviser in the dark arts, Dominic Cummings. The text goes "One is known as the 'Great Beast' and 'the wickedest man in the world', who regarded democracy as an 'imbecile and and nauseating cult of weakness' and lived by the motto 'Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law'. The other is Aleister Crowley."
Comments
You mean things like Trump's apparent conviction that Ukraine was the real source of 2016 election interference, and that the DNC server is hidden somewhere in Ukraine? I'm guessing Vlad the Elector is pretty comfy with that situation.
Also:
I'm not sure the Trump's Ukraine thing and Trump's Russia thing are two separate stories, but I am pretty sure that "friend" isn't how you describe someone you blackmail into doing crimes for you.
Mr. Noun-Verb-9/11* seems to be having a bad day.
*Is it possible that his involvement in all this is due to a grudge against Biden giving him that nickname a dozen years back?
"The 2020 Democrats are floundering. They heard we had a RECORD BREAKING AUGUST, and they’re quickly realizing that NONE of them stand a chance of winning in 2020.
While I’ve been busy working day and night to deliver for YOU, Democrat candidates are FAILING to sell their SOCIALIST ideas to the American people.
I asked my team to pull your donor file, and I'll be honest, I was disappointed to see that you haven’t contributed recently. I thought it was a mistake, but take a look for yourself:"
-- there follows a record of my ZERO contributions to this oaf's campaign. May I just point out that I am a life-long Democrat whose likelihood of forking over a sip of water in the desert to this treasonous thug is ZERO?
The plea is followed up with this:
"Will you help me, (recipient's first name)?
I want to know who stood with me when it mattered most so I’ve asked my team to send me a list of EVERY AMERICAN PATRIOT who donates - I know I’ll see your name on that list."
1. WHERE DID THESE ASSHOLES GET MY NAME AND EMAIL ADDRESS?
2. AM I CRAZY OR DOES THIS SOUND LIKE A THREAT NOT UNLIKE THAT ISSUED TO THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE? "Nice country you have there, Vlad; be a shame if you couldn't defend it." OR "We know who you are and how to reach you, so it's in your own best interests to pony up?"
I'll just add that there's not a word in this appeal about impeachment. I find this appeal extremely disturbing. Is it going out to every non-Trump voter in the country?
Jesus.
Maybe it's like their impeachment talking points. They only meant to send it to allies but sent it to everyone by mistake.
Ever wonder what former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is up to these days? Me neither, but apparently he's now a stand-up comic!
I don't know. The former Speaker's new material is a little dark and cynical for my taste.
FWIW, they probably just scooped up your e-mail address someplace, and didn't worry about your politics. Maybe they bought/acquired a mailing list, and it didn't list that info. Sometimes, marketers, pollsters, and such make assumptions based on something else they (think) they know: neighborhood, state, magazine subscriptions, age, etc.
To me, it just reads like a fundraising/marketing letter for any organization. There are various styles; but they tend to try to get you into an emotional state and guilt you into doing something.
I don't think it's personal, and I doubt they intended any threat.
If you still have the e-mail, look carefully at the very end. Generally, there's a link to where you can unsubscribe. And there may be a statement about where they got your info.
Appearances notwithstancing, I'm not an utter dimwit; I know it's just a form thingie sent out to millions of people. It just strikes me as extremely odd that they're (A) targeting people unlikely to vote for them (Democrats), and (B) selecting that vaguely threatening approach ("Oooh, are you gonna be sorry you didn't send me money after I get elected and come after you"). Unlike you, though, I'm pretty sure that any threat is indeed deliberate and intentional. These people will say anything.
A few weeks ago I got a phone call with "TRUMP" showing in caller ID. I picked it up, with the intention of asking politely to be taken off their calling list, only to hear a robotic voice. I said, "Is this a robot?" The voice said, "There is a human being here, but because of your hostility I will have you put on our Do Not Call list." Well, mission accomplished.
I'm sorry if I came across as insulting. I figured that e-mail hit you hard due to some combo of a) stress about T; b) stress about the state of the world; and c) not having much experience with fundraising letters, junk mail, and the like, whether e-mail or snail-mail.
LOL.
I got some political fundraising text recently, addressed to someone else, and not anything I was interested in. So I replied and explained. Miracle of miracles, someone replied quickly and promised to take me off their list!
Now, if I could get the spam *callers* to my cell to take a hike. (And yes, it's on the "do not call" list.)
I always wondered if Ryan was positioning himself to be the Republicans' knight in shining armor, when the Trump train reaches its inevitable messy derailment. I reckon there are a few realpolitikers busy placing stones on the tracks under cover of darkness.'
BTW, on behalf of my country can I apologise to you all most sincerely for harboring and nurturing the Murdoch clan.
Now that I've hit "unsubscribe" -- twice -- I'm probably on The Enemies list along with the Whistleblower, whom angels attend and protect.
IIRC, he sounded quite sincere and fervent, and maybe worried and scared. At the time, I thought it might be helpful if we didn't send in any money, he went Home, and God could sort him out there.
Who will fade away like murky mist when tRump no longer suits their purposes.
At what point does ordinary villainy cross the line into cartoonish supervillainy? Asking for a friend. The fact that his aides actually went as far as seeking out a cost estimate for this is disturbing.
If the report is true, the man is a complete fruitloop.
But we knew that...
I have this vision of the White House staff all tapping away madly on their phones, trying to order up snakes on Amazon...
And then there's the question of retention. How do you keep the snakes from crawling OUT of the moat? Do you buy little leashes or what? How do you keep a leash on a snake, anyway? My son suggested using socks, but there's the waterlogging problem.
I've also got this vision of a bunch of contractors trying to fill up a Moat-Across-America™ with garden hoses...
A complete fruitloop.
I feel sorry for his poor staff, caught in a nightmare beyond imagination.
Surely this sort of lunacy calls for him to be certified insane?
--Indiana Jones
Snakes do have some standards. They probably wouldn't want to bite He Who Must Not Be Named than you or I would.
(I reckon someone's put something in his covfefe....).
If they didn't obey The Great Orange One, there'd be no excuse. They wouldn't have a leg to stand on.
I'll see myself out...
It has been observed that Stephen Miller is basically Voldemort with a nose.
Voldemort has no nose. How does he smell?
But you knew that...
Alas, it's in print only so I can't post a link, but the latest Private Eye has a similarly-excellent doppelganger feature on Aleister Crowley and our current PM's adviser in the dark arts, Dominic Cummings. The text goes "One is known as the 'Great Beast' and 'the wickedest man in the world', who regarded democracy as an 'imbecile and and nauseating cult of weakness' and lived by the motto 'Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law'. The other is Aleister Crowley."