Friday just felt different, didn’t it? It felt different even before the dawn FBI raid on Roger Stone’s Florida home. The previous night, several things collided all at once: Republican senators were abandoning the Trump Shutdown, Trump’s poll numbers had plummeted (even in Fox News polls), and Nancy Pelosi canceled Trump’s bigly SOTU address and Trump had to eat that L with a ten buckets of chicken. Suddenly, it was all in the air – Trump was losing. He is a loser. I think Trump was always going to cave on Friday, but the fact that he capitulated so thoroughly and with absolutely nothing in return was just sort of perfect.
Trump made the deal for the three-week CR (continuing resolution), which is what was on the table BEFORE the shutdown. He walked away from that deal in December. What changed? Besides putting 800,000 federal workers through hell? Besides doing actual damage to our security and ongoing domestic and foreign operations, investigations and diplomacy? Besides damaging the economy because of a need for a metaphoric wall of racism? Part of me thinks that the final straw for Trump really was Pelosi taking away the SOTU. Plus, LaGuardia closing down because there weren’t enough air traffic controllers, etc. He knew he was beaten. It was still amazing to see him so weak though. Obviously, he’s always been weak and pathetic, like all racists and all bullies. But to see him CAVE, to see how UNBIGLY he looked? *chef’s kiss*
📈We're seeing a 1500% spike on 'cave' this evening.https://t.co/JViVy90Lmy
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) January 25, 2019
And of course, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is getting tons of credit, as she should. She kept the Democrats in line and they backed her moves entirely. She did more to expose Trump’s weak will and ignorance in three weeks than the New York Times did in three years. She held her ground and made him bend to her will. Lady’s got some brass! As an added bonus, Mitch McConnell and Republican senators are all bickering at each other, and people inside the Trump White House are being described as “despondent.” LMAO. And this was one the most savage things I’ve ever read:
Pelosi, asked how Trump will handle backdown on reopening government without wall money, gestures toward her office decorations: “we could plant these flowers along the border and he’d say, ‘I got my wall.’ “
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) January 25, 2019
Oh, and Roger Stone swears he’s not going to flip on Trump, which is probably the funniest thing I’ve ever heard. That bitch will be singing like a canary. I give it two weeks, max.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
The 180 Pelosi has managed in these last 3 months makes my heart sing. She went from freshman candidates questioning her leadership to showing how s#^ts done! She never crows she doesn’t twerk in the end zone ( other than donning her sunglasses) she gets shit done and offers mild shade w/ a satisfied smile.
Ha, no twerking in the end zone! I’d love it, though, if she’d throw up the ‘deuces’ every now and then.
She is the BOSS!! She just walks like she owns it. That is the only dance she needs to do.
I’m salivating at the thought she could be President if Pence goes down with Trump.
If Stone hasnt done anything wrong there wouldn’t be anything to flip on…oh wait…nice job showing your cards there Roger
Dems often trash her, drag her say she is out of touch and old. She has and always gets sh&t done. She is a big reason why Obama was successful but instead of getting credit she is slammed or ignored and never credited for it. However, she doesn’t care, she keeps moving on getting sh*t done.
Kate McKinnon on SNL has Pelosi down. Fantastic!
Is it too crude to say li’l trumpkins got pussywhipped?
Not at all. This is one occasion when that phrase suits the situation perfectly. 🐱
This narrative, though I love it, is scaring me. They have 3 weeks to work something out or we get a repeat. Trump cares so deeply what people say and I wouldn’t be surprised if he did it again to get what he wants just to save face. His thought process scares me frankly.
There’s no telling what he may do. He works from a total absence of logic or advice from experts. All decisions are based on, “Will it line my pockets?” Or “Waaah, somebody hurt my widdle feelings! I’ll pound my tiny hands and stamp my little feet and get even!” That’s the Trump Doctrine.
If you say so. Opening the government allowed the furloughed employees to be paid and has given them time to find another job.
It also will give Congress some time to prevent it from happening again, now that they all know Trump is stupid and vile enough to do it and for very long periods. He was cheerfully suggesting he would hold out for months or even years.
His desire to be on tv and called Presidential at the State of the Union may have been the only real thing that pushed him into signing legislation to open the government this time. The rest of the shutdown effects just made him happy because it made him feel powerful. It scared the hell out of the Republicans, though, which was a good thing. They knew that public dismay with Trump would affect their own re-election campaigns.
It all depends on whether McConnell is willing to do his job and stop acting like part of the Executive Branch, letting Trump call the shots. Pelosi can deliver the House on reasonable legislation preventing another Trump shutdown.
And finding another job is exactly what the best of them will do. They’re already looking, the private sector is already recruiting. This shutdown is going to lead to a HUGE brain-drain. I interact pretty regularly with the FDA, and I am INCENSED by this shutdown. All those amazing people getting screwed by a cheeto-tinted temper tantrum, and putting our nation’s food safety in grave danger.
I swear… Stone looks like a villain from a bad spy movie.
Stone and Agent Orange both act like they’re gangsters. They’re like bad cartoon characters come to life. The arrogance and above the law mentality is astounding.
^ This! I couldn’t agree more.
Wanna be gangsters is right. I’m sure that Orangino sees himself as Don Corlene, and Stone imagines he is Sonny. They call people rats and probably pepper their speech with phrases like “going to the mattresses” and “sleeping with the fishes”. But the truth is that Donnie is more like Fredo, the fu*k-up son whose father had to pay off his debts and stake him to new ventures. Stone is more like a Vegas hooker.
Everyone in Trump’s family is “Fredo!” It’s amazing, they are all such wannabes.
Stone is ridiculous. Having a back tattoo of Nixon should in itself block you from working in any political organization/office. I mean, how loud do you have to scream “I’m a crook!” before someone questions your ethics?
I doubt he’s going to sing though but I also don’t think it’s necessary. Mueller has all the necessary evidences and he has Trump’s accountant.
He even went so far as to raise both of his arms with peace signs outside the courthouse after posting bail; exactly like Nixon. He’s demented.
He always strikes that pose, because he’s totally in love with Nixon (to the point where even Nixon’s relative feel embarrassed). But seeing him doing that after his release with his too-short polo and his old-guy belly sticking out made him look like the ridiculous man he is.
I still can’t believe that anyone who surrounds himself with Stone, Manafort, Ross and co managed to get elected with the promise of “draining the swamp”. They are and always been known to be stinky, corrupted, careless criminals.
The feds took all Stone’s potentially relevant stuff from his residences/offices, as far as I can tell. I definitely heard they hit his NYC residence and they raided and searched his place in Florida. So although he might be able to point them to new evidence or corroboration, he is such a twit that he is likely to lie to them for the fun of it.
I don’t think they should have let him loose on such low bail, unless they tagged him and are keeping him under serious surveillance. At least house arrest would have been appropriate. He threatened a witness’s dog, what else will the thug do if allowed to roam unfettered? Justice for Bianca!
I have seen so many memes comparing him to The Penguin from the old Batman series. He is nothing but a cartoon comic villain.
Ah yes, Burgess Meredith played him in the series. I see the resemblance! I forgot he played the Penguin. I only remember him playing Mickey, Rocky’s trainer in the original movies.
He does.
Plus doesn’t saying “I’m not going to flip on him!” imply that there’s something to flip about? So many of his goons have said that, rather than saying “There’s nothing to flip on, he hasn’t committed crimes.”
Exactly.
Great point!
Pelosi still has to invite for SOTU. Wouldn’t be lovely if she made him sign a “no wall ever” agreement in exchange for SOTU?
Or contingent on a deal, otherwise Trump’s just using the next few weeks to get his SOTU, get his attention, then back to the shutdown…
I’m drunk on Ann Coulter’s tears. And loving it.
Hitting the “like” button with everything I’ve got.
Definitely in the running for winning the internet today!
Ann Coulter’s tears have been very satisfying. I completely agree.
Lmfao at the Trumpsters trying to spin this as a win. “He’s playing chess” they crow. Old McDonald can’t even spell his wife’s name; he not capable of playing with slinky, let alone a chess grandmaster.
Great summary Kaiser.
Just like to add that not only is Boss Nancy dog-walking the *president, Emperor Zero, but she’s showing a slew of young fighters in in the Dem Party how to properly engage this administration. Just the facts, ma’am plus a shade tree thrown in for good measure.
Keep an eye on the Stone indictment because Mueller is holding his cards close to his chest by not adding in the superseding indictment of conspiracy (yet!). EZ conspirators are breathing a false sense of relief thinking that Stone is going down for only 7 charges, but Mueller has 12 sealed docs ready to spring on Jared, Junior, Bannon et al as well as adding another to Stone (one that will keep him jailed for the rest of his life).
Invest in popcorn futures, peeps!
🍿🍿🍿🍿🔪🔪🔪🔪🍿🍿🍿🍿
Oh, my, Eic. That’s a post worthy of three of my gold stars, mate. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Ditto! Bravo, Eric! Keeping my fingers crossed the sealed docs include the demon’s spawn.
I’m waiting for Boss Nancy to tell Emperor Zero, having tried to put her in the corner,
“BITCH, I OWN ALL THE CORNERS!”
😆
@Eric, I hope you don’t mind if I put that on a t-shirt!
Eric, I hope you’re right.
Also of interest is how House Republicans are stalling on naming members to key House Committees such as Intelligence, Ethics, etc. They’re still doing their best to protect Agent Orange.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/dithering-gop-stalls-houses-new-trump-russia-probe?ref=home
Yeah, I saw that, too. Infuriating but not really surprising anymore. Someone commented that Pelosi should just start naming them herself and hopefully they’ll fall into line and get it done.
Ilsalund
I saw that too.
Me thinks it would be brave and bold for House Dems to release the congressional testimony without having all Rethugs sitting on the committee…(or the Ethics Committee—like really?)
You know, play nasty by pulling knives!
Eric – there is recent precedent for precisely that. One of the Democrats in the committee (Feinstein?) simply released a redacted copy of the testimony. Maybe it was testimony by the head of Fusion, the company that hired Steele? He had been insisting that he wanted the transcription of his testimony released to the public, so when the Republicans in control dragged their feet – she went ahead and did it.
Excellent analysis Eric!
I’ve been looking for more analysis on this — quick q, so Mueller can file charges now that seem somewhat limited, but then he can add more on later, e.g. conspiracy, money laundering, etc.? And what are the 12 sealed docs, is there more info available on these? Thanks!
Fancy being made to bend, to be exposed as the pusillanimous git that he is, to be made to walk away with his tail between his legs… BY A WOMAN. Oh, it truly is a beautiful thing indeed. The bad news is that this racist, misogynistic, lying, bullying orange lump will be back. And he’ll still have his ignorant, deluded, reprehensible supporters.
‘’The smell of virgin pages wafted through the swinging doors
And the croaking speech he’d heard from countries counselors before
They said “we all care for you, we know how you suffer
But I know you can succeed, I used to have it so much rougher”
There’s hope in the words and motion in the eyes
It’s so easy to be misled by the savvy, gentle guise.
And like fools we trust the delivery
But it’s all just drunk sincerity’’
That how they do it. But, Friday’s events are a start!
Total humiliation.
Now go sit on the bold step, Donnie, go on.
I wonder how he’ll act out this time. You just know he’s seething and needs something, anything to feel like a bigly man(child) again.
He’ll throw an epic temper tantrum as usual. I can see staffers and workers at the WH running after him- trying to prevent him from destroying priceless artwork and such in what ever place his meltdown is happening.
Mulvaney won’t rule out military action in Venezuela
By BRENT D. GRIFFITHS 01/27/2019 10:27 AM EST
… “I think the president of the United States is looking at this extraordinarily closely.”…
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/27/mulvaney-military-action-venezuela-trump-1128613
Agent Orange will be back with a vengeance cause he hates “losing” and he’s getting pounded from every corner about how a “woman” beat him. He’ll be even harder to deal with going forward. And Turtle face McConnell’s do-nothing strategy backfired on his ass….serves him right. Two things:
1. Even though forbidden by law from striking, I hope federal employees realize the power they do have….nothing illegal about calling in sick. And if enough people call in sick in critical jobs, then everything comes to a stand still.
2. How willfully ignorant and stupid Trump supporters are to continually conflate border security with building a wall. A fricking wall that can be tunneled under, climbed over, cut through, is not border security. The Dems are right about beefing up technology and manpower to better secure our borders.
They can’t even stop drugs coming in the legal ports where a wall is built. A physical wall will never work.
The newspaper investigation of how the Sackler family pushed opioid prescribing practices to create addiction says a lot more about drugs in the country than cross-border trafficking.
Plus the fentynal coming in from China and not the southern border (as they are proclaiming it is).
Before long, cheap drones will be able to lift people over his stupid wall. Hope they buy them from Amazon in the toy department.
I pulled a Marie Kondo this weekend and threw everything out in my house since Nancy Pelosi is the only thing giving me joy right now.
😊
Aaaaaaah this comment yesssss Hahahaha
This comment! Too good!! 😂😂😂
Best comment ever!
FINALLY! So glad he got nothing in return. So happy all those workers are finally going to get paid again!
Nancy Pelosi is nothing short of a political genius. With all the “Trump is a loser” news in print and on TV, however, he is going to call a national emergency to get his stupid wall. I am sure he is going absolutely insane with all the negative press, and it terrifies me to think what else he might do to prove he is the powerful dictator of the US.
After two years of a do nothing Republican Congress letting him misbehave and have his way as dictator in chief, it’s refreshing to see Nancy Pelosi educate him on how government is supposed to work. It’s three co equal branches of government that run the country, not just the Office of the President.
She is amazing. And to think that so many were against her being top dog again. She stood her ground – which is something that doesn’t happen often enough with Dems.
Pelosi has the clear advantage of having a Democratic Majority in the House. Schumer in the Senate does not, and until the midterms -neither did the Democrats. They really had no clout and the Republicans had no incentive to even listen to them, so anything they did was symbolic but not really going to be effective unless some Republicans got on board with it. Which they hardly ever do these days.
But now Pelosi has clout and knows how to use it effectively.
If Trump tries the national emergency ploy, it will be tied up in the courts until long after he dies a natural death while cheating on a golf course. So just let him try.
If he takes disaster relief funding to build that stupid wall, I think he will ensure Democratic victories in the affected states especially if the Dems continue their pattern of getting fresh blood to actually go out and talk seriously with people about what they want and need. That could get past traditional Republican voting for a significant chunk of people. He’s gotten away with it in Puerto Rico because of the limitations on their voting ability unless they move to the Mainland. But the folks in regular states can vote for Congress and President.
Trump may not care about the impact on 2020 or special election votes and may be planning to skip off to exile as we speak, or at least to not run in 2020 so he can get back to golfing any time. He has no real attachment to the Republican Party and is happy to destroy it in pursuit of enriching himself. But real Republicans do care, this is their career on the line.
I had that thought, that as the walls close in he completely freaks out and abandons the office to skip the country and leave everyone else behind to suffer the consequences. His family included.
Yet his followers still believe he knows “The Art of the Deal.”. Anyone who has done the most basic homework knows Trump has never been a business genius. Great at PR and not paying bills though. I’m loving Michael Bloomberg’s reemergence reminding people how bad Trump is at business as well, not that Trump’s ride or die’s will believe it. And part of me thinks he’s probably more upset at Ann Coulter’s ridicule than Pelosi.
I just hope the Dem’s keep the gloating in check and their eye on the prize.
keep an eye on Venezuela.
dotard is desperate to change the subject/prove his manhood..
a nephew who is in the navy was expected home but their tour was extended and they were instructed to prepare for war.
Great, they’re going to start a war just to legitimize his ‘national emergency’ for the wall.
This. He is going to use Venezuela to wag the dog. Trump isn’t done yet with his tantrums.
Terrific. This is something that I have been worried about. But I don’t think a war would get the support he thinks it would.
The stories about Jared being able to solve this and convincing TRump he could are particularly hilarious. JK claimed that he was going to get the Dems to flip because he was working with them. Only Manchin sided with R’s in Senate but he’s a Dem sometime so it really didn’t count
I think that the FAA canceling flights was a big tipping point. As was 14,000 IRS workers refusing to come into work last week without pay. People gotta get their tax returns
I want my refund also, but I support those workers refusing to work without pay.
I’m glad…for now. But he will throw a fit again on Feb 15th ESPECIALLY because of the blow back he’s getting from his supporters for caving. So I am afraid the shutdown will happen again.
He’s weakened and the next 2-3 weeks are not likely to strengthen him. Pelosi is a seasoned fighter and understands the dynamics of hitting him when he’s down.
I think he’ll call a national emergency and is just throwing it out there that he will shut it down again so that he looks better if he gives options.
I doubt Stone will flip any time soon. Out of all the crooks around Cheetolini, he’s the only true bada$$. He’s smart, been at this game for a long, long time and he knows where the bodies are buried. He knows if he gets covicted, he’ll get pardoned. And he doesn’t care that a pardon is basically an admission of guilt, he has no shame. If impeachment/implosion seems imminent then he might crack. He’ll play a waiting game, he has balls of steel.
Might not matter if they gathered enough evidence from his homes, including from his electronic devices. Unlikely Mueller needs him to flip: It’s more about getting at who issued the mystery directive to get in touch with Assange about the stolen Emails.
I saw a Tweet yesterday that said “Finally! Someone arrested for Hillary’s emails”.
+1
Donnie could learn so much from Nancy the Terminator, including how to apply his makeup. When he gave his televised remarks his orange pancake was applied poorly and his pasty whiteness showed in splotches.Even my husband noticed and that’s unusual for him. Emperor Zero is also gaining weight. Those comforting McDonald’s aren’t helping his figure or his negotiations.
Speaker Pelosi’s strategy – we do not negotiate with hostage takers – was brilliant and effective.
I love this sight. I am always glad to see Eric’s posts as they give me hope that the law will prevail eventually. Nancy Is the bomb and she did win. However, I really think 46-1 caved because his NFL buddy owner of the Patriots was mad his players weren’t able to fly out to Atlanta because of airport shutdowns. To Trump the Super Bowl with its overpaid athletes was more important than people getting paid. My feelings is the 2/15 deadline is kinda weird as I thought Mueller was suppose to release a report on 2/7. I just hope the federal employees just call out sick especially the air traffic controllers and TSA agents in New York, Washington DC, & New Jersey. These airports support the DC areas-so if the Representstives & Senators can’t get to DC then it will make them feel some of the pain.
Hopefully the Democrats are smart enough to not be out of town in February because of the risk of transportation problems. If they have any town meetings scheduled, use the technology for video conferencing.
its only for 3 weeks, then we will see what happens
Out of curiosity, what do you think is going to happen?
I’m more interested in your thoughts, Swack. What do you think is going to happen? I think Trump is going to pull some really ignorant stunt to get back in the headlines, and he’s not going to wait until 2/15 to do it. It will also probably revolve around trying to make Nancy look impotent, and it will backfire on him bigly.
@Lady D, I think he will not shut down the gov’t again but will call a national emergency instead. He already has it in his head that there is not going to be a solution based on what he said in his speech: “If he cannot get a “fair deal,” Trump warned the government will shut down again or he may declare a national emergency” and also on twitter he stated: “Will not be easy to make a deal, both parties very dug in. ” I don’t think any deal that is put forth, bipartisan or not will be a “fair deal” to Trump. He screwed the pooch when he was given the chance to get the full 25 million in exchange for a pathway to citizenship for the Dreamers. His idea of fair is: Give me my money and the he!! with anyone else.
The ignorant stunt he may pull is invading Venezuela or maybe pardoning Stone. Something to take the narrative away from the talks.
The reason I asked the question of judith reeder (and somehow don’t expect an answer) is because I got vibes of a Trump supporter and a “he’ll get his wall after these 3 weeks” It was a very vague statement by the commenter and was truly curious what was meant by the statement.
But is just all my opinion.
I’m impressed with the social discourse on this celebrity/gossip site around the political issues in the US and the UK… although, that’s not my goal for why I bookmark here. I wanted an easy escape from the horrible news every day that is actively fed to me, online, without my intentional consent. It all seems to wash over me and influence how I think.
I try to avoid all internet captions pushing Dump into the headlines, but sometimes I can’t help myself.
For Judith Reeder, I, too, am concerned about what will happen in 3 weeks. While I want to cheer for N. Pelosi, I also worry we’re celebrating too early.
For Swack, thank you so much for your comment. Dump is unpredictable, which sounds very similar to a certain North Korean dictator who is trying to show his metal. Apparently, Dennis Rodman knows how to get an “in”.
Venezuela should be on everyone’s radar. 30 years ago when I was in high school and first heard Venezuela was the founder of OPEC, I knew the US would eventually be concerned. I believe Dump is taking notes from Maduro.
The world is scary simply because we don’t know what it holds. And, it seems so silly to go back to criticize someone for their dress.
I don’t have any answers.
I think the Stone indictment was the final breaking point for Bigly. He needed to change the narrative away from that.
Don the con. He has never nor does he has any intention of building a wall. He knows his base are dumb *ucks and has been playing them since day one. Know they are so dumb they actually believe there will be a wall. He knows all he needs to do is blame the Dems . He rattles that saber when he in trouble to gain their fervor. Unfortunate for him, Pelosi is now in charge. She doesn’t play around nor stupid enough to believe his lies & cons.
The Atlantic has been on fire, talking about how stupid Drump and his people are and a reference to The Wire | Stringer Bell. Thankfully, they are dumb and are getting caught. Otherwise, we’d be in even more trouble.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/01/trump-associates-keep-taking-notes-conspiracies/581299/
I agree with Jerusha 100 percent. If he’s mocked (which he truly deserves) he’s likely to do something disastrous to prove his machismo (“as if he had any” to paraphrase Pelsosi) and that he never loses: this includes setting off a nuclear bomb, declaring a state of emergency and having 7 billion slated for the wall, etc. Nothing is too outlandish, dangerous or illegal. He is a trigger-happy, unhinged man. God help us all.
Venezuela should be a situation we all keep a wary eye on in the next few weeks, but like, thank God SOMETHING is being done to check him.
Fortunately, Pelosi isn’t into public shaming and has actually shut down anything by reporters fishing for a gloating or mocking response from her about Trump. She can’t be manipulated.
She knows she is dealing with a toddler who has very dangerous toys in his hands, and is focused on trying to stop the toddler from blowing up everybody in the room while not just letting the toddler have his way.
I agree with this.
I came here looking for some fun commentary (an open post) on theSAGs. This site has become such a bummer.
“Does anybody watch the series McMafia?
I just started watching the first episode. I’m intrigued, fascinated. So much so, that I neded to press pause and advertise it on here, to you guys. It came out January 2018 already! I don’t understand how I could have missed this.
It’s kind of a Thriller series about how this Russian Oligarch Gangstering thing works, I think?
The series is a BBC Co-Production. It is inspired by the book McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld (2008) by journalist Misha Glenny.
Check it out . Would love to hear your thoughts!
Ok, back to Alex Godman.”