It’s time for our Daily Celebitchy Briefing, which hopefully won’t involve me accidentally suggesting that Hitler never gassed anyone (anyone innocent, that is). There’s a ton of political stuff, because of course there is. I had a moment last night where I was just like, “Damn, it’s only Tuesday.” Every day under Emperor Baby Fists feels like a lifetime. Here are some stories going around:
Carter Page & the FISA warrant. Surprise, surprise, another Trump associate has some shady connections to Russia. This time the associate is Carter Page, whom Trump identified as a foreign policy adviser during the campaign. As it turns out, Page was maybe/probably working as a foreign agent for Russia, and last year the FBI and DOJ secured a FISA warrant to monitor Page’s activities and communications. Page is already claiming that this information proves that Trump was right about Obama wiretapping him (Trump). But… the FBI and DOJ got the FISA warrant and they had good cause, because it seems like there was a lot of evidence Page was working as an agent for Russia.
Trump is souring on Steve Bannon. Maybe. The NY Post’s Michael Goodwin spoke to Trump yesterday and Goodwin asked if Trump still had confidence in Bannon. Trump said: “I like Steve, but you have to remember he was not involved in my campaign until very late. I had already beaten all the senators and all the governors, and I didn’t know Steve. I’m my own strategist and it wasn’t like I was going to change strategies because I was facing crooked Hillary. Steve is a good guy, but I told them to straighten it out or I will.” Let’s just take a moment and really let it sink in that Trump still says “Crooked Hillary.” I hope we all live long enough to see Bigly frog-marched in handcuffs past every photographer in the world.
The Kansas Special Election. The GOP won even though a lot of Democrats were hopeful that they could poach a seat. Still, it’s Kansas. What did you really expect?
Bigly’s unpredictable foreign police. During the campaign, Trump said that his foreign policy would be “unpredictability.” He’s really following through with his campaign promises. The Washington Post did a long, detailed story about how foreign leaders and diplomats are all “WTF is going on?” with Bigly and his people. Bigly apparently confounded Angela Merkel and the European diplomatic corps has been walking on eggshells around Bigly and his people. Our traditionally strong alliances with many countries are quite strained, and no one really knows what the Bigly Administration’s policy is on every major issue. One diplomat told WaPo that meeting with Bigly is a surreal experience, describing it this way: “He doesn’t have a paper in front of him. . . . It’s up to the visitor to declare the agenda. He just sits there. It’s like you are in a bar, and you just start talking to him.”
Speaking of failing foreign policy. Our top diplomat, Rex Tillerson, asked European diplomats yesterday why American taxpayers should care about Ukraine. Then he traveled to Moscow to get his orders.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
I was disappointed about the Kansas special election, but I still have hope for my home state of Georgia. March 20th!! Ossoff for congress!! The attack ads that have been running against him are really disgusting, but they kind of make me happy, because it’s obvious he’s got republicans scared. Go Jon!!
Oh and Fuck Trump. Happy Wednesday, y’all.
5th district here. But very excited about the 6th district!!!
6th District here! Very excited to vote for Jon Ossoff! I’m planning to early vote tomorrow. Just a bit worried since my little slice of the 6th has a lot of old, grumpy, conservative white people. But a bit buoyed that my husband reported that he took a detour through a Brookwood neighborhood where almost every house had an Ossoff yard sign.
You shouldn’t be! Considering how tight the race was its a good sign for the races ahead!
I think youre not giving the Kanas election its due-yes the Republicans won, but by like 2 or 3 points in a district that went for trump with over 30 points. Im welcoming 2018 with open arms.
The Democratic Party is such a sh$tshow, I am not all that optimistic. They did not plan to contest this seat until John Thompson launched his own campaign.
The democratic party is not the shitshow. The GOP is, and it has spread it’s shit into the minds of dumb Americans.
This is not directed at you, Megan, but I feel the need to rant here. I refuse, REFUSE, to blame the democrats for this loss, which I’m still seeing people do (not you, Megan). I’m SICK SICK SICK of people whining about what Hillary didn’t do right. NO NO NO NO NO. It’s the voters who messed up. The voters who should have known better. Maybe against a different candidate, I’d analyze Hillary’s campaign, but NOBODY should have voted for Trump. He’s so ill suited to the job, that there’s NO EXCUSE anyone can give me that I find acceptable for voting for him.
The Democratic party has been a relatively normal big-tent party but under assault from left/Russia and right/Russia it became weaker than it would have otherwise been. Throw in some poor choices and complacency, and this is what we got. But the real s–tshow is the tyrannical, callous Republicans. The Democrats are doing what they can. Just don’t expect ideological purity: If you want that, look at the Republicans. All Democrats are still a better bet than any Republican.
And once again, rural voters made the difference (still went GOP). Early counts had Thompson ahead last night.
Still saying “crooked Hillary” cause he’s got nothing else except deflection.
Unpredictability is not foreign policy. It’s a recipe for disaster.
And of course Tillerson went to Moscow. All he wants is that Russian oil money. The Kermlin cutely tried to say they weren’t gonna meet with him. Yeah, right.
And of course DT has stopped caring about those Syrian babies Ivanka got him to care for. No more Syria airstrikes, cause he knows it pissed off his fan club.
I was reading about the Russian oil company that owns a company in Venezuela, which in turn owns a company in texas, and if the Venezuela company can’t pay it’s loans to the Russian company, they will seize the Venezuela one and then own an oil company in the US. Like, by the end of this year Russia could own an US oil company.
Anyway, the article made it sound like very bad news.
Also, a Russian hacker was arrested in Spain, for cyber crimes against the US, as I understand it? Sorry if it’s been covered here already.
Unpredictability is the new incompetence. #alternativefacts
All very well said, thank you. I’ll add that I am not surprised about creepy Carter Page. I remember Judy Woodruff on PBS News pushing him on his Russian connection months ago and it was so easy to see he was lying his ass off when he said he hadn’t met with them anytime recently.
Does Tillerson know where Ukraine is on the map? Just wondering.
I think Trump can forget about the Ukrainian-American vote.
So many things to focus on, that the media is not really looking at how warships are on route to the Korean Peninsula. North Korea is already making noises about attacking US interests if the ships get too close. This administration has no focus other than piss off as many countries as it can
I am reading on CNN about it, but not nearly enough and almost in a matter of fact way. Maybe they don’t want to alarm? I’m alarmed. Consider me very fracking alarmed at the game trump is playing with NK.
NK is not afraid of the US (or anyone?) and trump seems to think he holds the cards. NK doesn’t even have to attack the US proper- invading SK will start a world war 🙁
The question is: two crazy men boy playing crazy games with people’s life. I want to know when the Republicans senate and congress going to take a stand and tell him to cut it out, it’s not funny anymore.
It’s on the front page of the NYT. NK is expected to test a nuclear weapon or missles on Saturday to commemorate the birthday of Kim Il-sung. The US and Japan are conducting joint naval exercises in an attempt to dissuade Kim Jung Un from testing.
The better question is: who isn’t connected with Russia in ten ways or another? I may be getting a story a little messed up because I was half asleep (damn getting older) when I heard it on Rachel Maddow, but didn’t Page reveal to BuzzFeed that he was the subject of a report that Russian spies wrote about an American agent giving them classified documents. PAGE revealed this to Buzzfeed, they didn’t uncover it and confront him with it. Let that settle in. I love that the Russian spies repeatedly called the man with the PH.D an idiot in the report. This kind of proves that book smarts only get you so far. They don’t give you morals or common sense.
Carter also lived in Russia and did business in Russia for several years.
I believe he confirmed he was the person of interest in an FBI a report about someone Russia was trying to recruit as a spy.
True. This whole ‘administration’ is a Russian-compromised pus-infested clusterf*ck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSX_5YFoavw
The short answer to the query: TNTC.
Breaking news: Bigly just tweeted about NK again.
“@realDonaldTrump
Had a very good call last night with the President of China concerning the menace of North Korea “
He is such a fracking a$$hole. Hopefully Kim Jung Un has a thicker skin than Baby Fists and won’t be baited by a tweet.
“I hope we all live long enough to see Bigly frog-marched in handcuffs past every photographer in the world.”
That’s a nice sentiment, but I hope we see him hanged for treason. Throw in some of his co-conspirators. Then we can all spit and dance on their graves.
I am so tired of being a bitter, hate filled person, but how does a rational person react otherwise?
Yes hung or either the electric chair. I’ll gladly pay for the electric bill. Seriously no traitors should serve the people.
My god, if they don’t know why the Ukraine is important, read a history book. There are such incredibly unknowledgeable navel-gazing people in the Trump administration. For claiming to be big picture folk, they sure see a small slice of life.
If Trump knows anything at all, it’s that Russia interfered bigly with the election and that some folks around him (possibly even himself) will be found to be complicit criminally. He’s at the stage now of trying to distance himself from the surrounding cast that might end up in jail. He is playing a long game and starting to paint himself as an unwitting victim for future revelations. Hope North Korea isn’t his next tactic to distract.
Back in the US, Kansas was a big disappointment. Despite the blatant hypocrisy, inadequacies and lies of their leaders, Republicans stick to their own kind like sh*t to a blanket. They disgust me.
Why should Americans care if an enemy of our nation invades an ally? Geez, I can only think of about 100 reasons.
The question is: is anyone working for DT not a Russian Agent, including the daughter, sons and son-in-law.
I think the Russians have been grooming the Trump’s for quite some time … for years.
ITA. I can’t wait for this to all break open. This is a massive criminal conspiracy.
Absolutely spot on. The KGB/Russians are know to “befriend” targets over the course of decades. Cheeto’s cash flow issues go way back — I believe he is in deep to the Russian oligarchs.
The “leaking” of a FISA warrant should have him cr@pping into his Depends.
This was covered in a recent Maddow episode. They will meet and groom anyone who may be of value anytime in the future. The example was Page, as a young educated idiot in NYC.
Trump is claiming now that he never met Page. And now he also is setting up Bannon to be someone he hardly knew even though Bannon has been practically chained to him for the past few months and has been greatly influencing policy and executive orders.
This is Trump’s typical approach. He sings the praises of somebody until they become a liability, then he pretends he doesn’t know them. He keeps forgetting we have him on video, audio, and in print saying the exact opposite. He used to say Page was one of his foreign policy advisers.
And he calls Hillary “crooked Hillary”.
Yes, it’s INCREDIBLY interesting he’s now distancing himself from Bannon. Speculation time: I think this has more to do with than just Trump being upset people call Bannon “president” Bannon. Remember that the FBI is investigating alt-right websites and their influence on the election. Bannon ran alt-right website Breitbrt just before campaigning for Trump. It seems like it could be possible some of these sites were working with Russian hackers to influence the election, and Bannon just might be caught up in all of this too. Take it for what it’s worth, but he also worked for Cambridge Analytica, a data collection firm….. Wonder where they got their data from hmmmm?
Yes, very interesting indeed.
Yeah it’s Kansas. I’m more hopeful about the one in georgia.
Does anyone remember what the extended deadline was for “proof” of the wiretapping claims? That seems to be on the back burner.
“It’s Kansas, what’d you expect…” It’s that kind of attitude that landed Trump in office. Start caring about the states that were dismissed last time and maybe America won’t be stuck with a Monster leading our country in four years.
Please look up facts on the voting trends in Kansas. Kansas is a reliably Republican State that has consistently had more votes for Republicans than Democrats since the 1960s. The only reason Clinton and Obama took those states when they ran is because of the electoral college instead of total votes.
Yes, they have a small Democratic voting block and yes those Democrats should try to get out the vote more since they only lost by no more than 3 points. But lets not pretend that Kansas is not a conservative state. Lets also talk about why they keep voting the way that they do instead of looking elsewhere. No one is forcing them to vote for Rethugs consistently- especially when they KNOW that that party has done nothing to help them. Maybe they need to look in the mirror and make a different choice instead of doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome.
There is such a web of Russian entanglements that it boggles the mind. I called yesterday to leave a comment with my Democratic Congressman (one of the few in my red state), and the staff person told me to keep calling all my reps (she knows our Senators are both Republican). She said all the calls are making a difference and not to stop. I truly believe there is no democratic future for our country if Dems cannot start winning elections.