Take your pick of all the stories that came out in the past 72 hours. Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine suddenly resigned on Friday and he’ll testify before the House this week. There is evidence that Donald Trump told the Russian ambassador in 2017 that he wasn’t concerned about Russia’s election interference in the 2016 election. And there’s renewed interest in Dan Coats’ abrupt firing… three days after Trump’s call to Ukraine’s President Zelensky. All of which means that Donald Trump was totally having a normal weekend, because he’s been playing games and he WANTED the impeachment hearing right? From his Twitter:
Like every American, I deserve to meet my accuser, especially when this accuser, the so-called “Whistleblower,” represented a perfect conversation with a foreign leader in a totally inaccurate and fraudulent way. Then Schiff made up what I actually said by lying to Congress……His lies were made in perhaps the most blatant and sinister manner ever seen in the great Chamber. He wrote down and read terrible things, then said it was from the mouth of the President of the United States. I want Schiff questioned at the highest level for Fraud & Treason…..
….In addition, I want to meet not only my accuser, who presented SECOND & THIRD HAND INFORMATION, but also the person who illegally gave this information, which was largely incorrect, to the “Whistleblower.” Was this person SPYING on the U.S. President? Big Consequences!
In the whistleblower’s memo, he fully admits that he’s gathered the information from sources in the room, and from second-hand accounts. If all we had was the whistleblower’s memo, I would say further investigation was needed. But Donald Trump truly released that memo/transcript of the phone call which – even though it was incomplete – proved the whistleblower’s claims. And in case “big consequences” wasn’t enough of a threat, Trump also wants people to know that “civil war” is involved. He tweeted this long-ass quote from a pastor who appeared on Fox News:
“Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats can’t put down the Impeachment match. They know they couldn’t beat him in 2016 against Hillary Clinton, and they’re increasingly aware of the fact that they won’t win against him in 2020, and Impeachment is the only tool they have to get rid of Donald J. Trump – And the Democrats don’t care if they burn down and destroy this nation in the process. I have never seen the Evangelical Christians more angry over any issue than this attempt to illegitimately remove this President from office, overturn the 2016 Election, and negate the votes of millions of Evangelicals in the process. They know the only Impeachable offense that President Trump has committed was beating Hillary Clinton in 2016. That’s the unpardonable sin for which the Democrats will never forgive him. If the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal.” Pastor Robert Jeffress, @FoxNews
So, the Democrats will never succeed in impeaching him but there’s still a need to threaten “civil war.” Basically, Trump continues to be sweaty and nervous, just like always.
Also: you know that “highly classified” phone recording system where the White House officials tuck away the records of politically sensitive/treasonous phone calls? Turns out, they’ve been tucking away all of Trump’s phone calls to Putin and Mohammed bin Salman. Of course.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
I’m willing to take those “consequences”. One man’s definition of consequences are another man’s definition of a happy outcome.
Bigly consequences with tiny hands.
Seriously, he’s calling for civil war against President Mike Pence!
If/when impeachment happens, he will absolutely turn his base against mother’s husband. Pence will become part of the “deep state” and none of his followers will question it.
I don’t know why, but I hear Aunt Lydia screaming: THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES!!!!
sorry.
LOL
Here is the genesis of the Biden conspiracy theory. It was made up to help out an Ukrainian oligarch who was fighting extradition to the US.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/full-picture-coming-into-view-2
Bigly is sweating buckets as he knows if he loses the next election his fat orange ass is in jail. A bully’s gotta bully.
He will never leave the White House willingly and the GOP will support him all the way, he knows that. If you want to get rid of Chump, you need to get rid of Traitor McTurtle first.
DC is full of helicopters and motorcades today. Looks like an emergency cabinet meeting is happening.
This news makes me equally excited and very nervous …
I’m terrified of the desperate moves of a wounded animal.
I was wrong. They were headed to WH for the swearing in of the new JCS.
Oddly, that makes me feel better.
@Megan, thanks for the update. This just underlines how hair trigger my nerves are (and have been) during this presidency.
Great analogy!
That is all far too coherent to have been written by him. Nagini spends lots of time on Daddy’s twitter account.
And I am so fed up with the GOP talking points on this that I could scream. It’s as if they all flunked civics in the 5th grade and think the rest of us did too.
The whole “but it’s secondhand/hearsay so Trump is innocent” narrative is crazy. I love the clapbacks explaining how secondhand info is indeed common and admissible. And pointing out that Linda Tripp’s info that led to Bill Clinton’s impeachment was hearsay.
I love the theory that Adam Schiff somehow secretly changed the whistleblower rules all on his own. Uhm no. Changes to the whistleblower protection act would have to pass both houses of Congress and be signed by the president. Changes to agency regulations would have to be reviewed by the appropriate Secretary, after advising the President, published in the Federal Register with a public comment period, possibly hearings, signed by the agency head after review with the Secretary and President, and published again in the Federal Register upon adoption. The ignorance of how our government operates is mindblowing.
LP, it is and I honestly don’t know to how combat the ignorance. My well-educated kids have classmates who are equally well educated but choose to ignore that education in favor of partisanship and wild conspiracies. It’s mind-boggling and it’s like banging your head on a brick wall trying to reason with any of them.
What is or is not admissible in court is irrelevant because this isn’t a court proceeding.
Are civics on the SAT, ACT, or any of the standardized tests that all kids take? Or would that now be considered indoctrination?
It may be on state exams required for graduation. The SAT offers subject tests, which are on different days than the main exam, but civics in and of itself isn’t one of the subjects. It probably is included in the American history exam.
Chuck Grassley strongly came out against the unmasking of the whistleblower. He’s useful after all!
I really am afraid that things will turn violent. And we all know who has the arsenals: paranoid white supremacist trump supporters. It’s freaking me out. Anyone else honestly nervous about how the die hard trumpeters with guns will react when trump finally goes down?
I feel like all trump has to do it sound the alarm and they will follow him into destruction, MORE white supremacist terrorism, and violence in our communities. He’s evil.
No I’m not nervous. I’ve been watching this foment since the 90’s when Timothy McVeigh came acallin and he was incited by right wing hate radio. But when Bill Clinton said that, they impeached him for a BJ, which many younger feminists who were tiny little tittie babes back then, and have columns today, now say he should have resigned for. Because they don’t know nothin and don’t have no feel for what the 90’s actually were.
And now we are, quite inevitably, right here. I always knew we were gonna have to fight. I’m ready.
Did you know these white supremacy groups (I REFUSE to give them capital letters!) are starting to troll Twitter/SM accts. to ferret out JEWISH posters?? Check out this article from MotherJones:
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/09/telegram-jewish-list/
This is going WAY beyond “defending” Dump and his 2nd amendment rhetoric, or saving his pocked, orange a$$. And THIS *DOES* SCARE ME!
I have zero expectation he will be removed from office, but laying out his crimes helps sway independent voters towards the Democrats so I am on board with impeachment.
Clinton was ostensibly impeached for lying under oath in the Paula Jones civil suit against him. However, we all know how resentful Republicans were that a nobody from Arkansas (with a wife who spoke her mind) beat HW, so Clinton became the test for their strategy of recount, recall, remove. It cost Grey Davis his governorship and Al Gore the presidency.
He’s definitely trying to incite violence against Schiff. The thing is, if he is removed or forced to resign, Pence becomes president. While the extremists might still resort to violence, the others might not be so easily swayed once they realize they still hold the White House.
A lobbyist d-bag has offered a $50,000 bounty for the whistleblower, who is now being protected by the Feds, I understand. None of this happened during Watergate. The Right has passed the point of no return.
https://twitter.com/girlsreallyrule/status/1177248005457698816?s=21
Jesus, I hadn’t seen that yet.
The same piece of crap makes this claim:
https://twitter.com/jack_burkman/status/1177350324388057092?s=21
That came out over the weekend, and 60 Min. talked to Schiff about it yesterday. They had the WB’s lawyer’s letter highlighted to show this.
There are SO MANY wing-nuts out there thinking they’re going to “please their furher by “taking out his enemy(ies).
It is truly insane!
Pence is in the Ukraine mess up to his ears. If Trump goes, so does Mother.
The insurrection is upon us. Rednecks with guns in the flyover states (plus Rural Virginia, Georgia and South Carolina) will support Trumps refusal to leave office. The deplorables will target Anyone with a gleam of intelligence in their demeanor. Kind of kidding but not really…
If you think the east and west coast don’t have deplorables with guns, think again.
I live in rural Virginia. I am scared.
As someone who lives in a blue bubble the middle of PA, I really don’t like to think about this whole scenario….
One day, during an active shooter drill at my college, I was sitting in a closet with my students (best choice in a room with a wall of windows) while they discussed which of them had guns, and who had more than one, etc. In this room of college Freshmen, I was the only one who didn’t own some kind of firearm. Naturally, I teach in rural Alabama.
It’s not like Trump will incite the conservative elites to charge into the inner cities in their khakis and golf shirts to defend Trump’s name.
Even the gun owners who go “hunting” bring a tv or laptop and use bait to bring the deer to them. I doubt they will trade their couch for a war against their neighbors.
The red/blue state divide isn’t that stark – most of the time it’s close to 50-50. A civil war would literally mean fighting your neighbors and immediate family without any physical boundaries in place to define the red/blue territory.
I think Trump overestimates his support.
while I agree with your overall take on this, remember that there were idiots with arsenals who showed up to that pizza place in DC to “take out” the “child sex slavery ring” that operated out of the basement of a pizza place…with no basement.
it was a dangerous rumor that led to a possible mass shooting because he has these bat-sh*t crazy supporters who WOULD do something like this. like, they WOULD go to a Starbucks or somewhere else they think “libs” gather, and let loose. an entire “civil war” is unlikely, but the possibility of rogue deplorables with AR-15s is not out of the question.
Even Fox News is questioning Trump, and I think a lot of the GOP will turn against him once the evidence becomes overwhelming enough. If Putin and MBS calls come out, for example. The Ukraine situation involves the US military, and I think for a lot of people that crosses a special line.
I do think that we could see “lone wolf” attacks on liberal cities, minorities, and non-Christian places of worship, and this terrifies me. However I don’t see it developing into full scale “civil war”.
Back in the 2000 election, I was really proud of the US and how we handled everything in a civil fashion: recounts, Supreme Courts, etc. and no violence. But….it’s a different world today. We’ve been spiraling into extremism for quite a while. I know we can pull out of it, but what happens before then? BTW, why is Trump such a cult figure for certain people (giving the side eye to some of my relatives)?
They like a bully to be frank. So do Ontario people, why we voted in fellow bully Doug Ford. It is almost like we have reverted back to the wild west days and keep electing the “straight shooters”.
Well, I’ve always known it was gonna come to this. Trump is a true malignant narcissist and therefore if he thinks he can save himself by sacrificing the entire world, guess who takes the bullet? Yep, the world. So buckle up, because you ain’t seen nothing yet.
I think he’s all sweaty from whatever calls from Putin are stored in that encrypted server. He clearly doesn’t even understand that there’s anything wrong with his Ukrainian call because he disclosed incriminating content from the call. So whatever else he is hiding is SO BAD that even Donald Trump knows that it’s bad.
^^^ this is a really great point.
You’re right. He can’t speak without lying. It has become clear that he doesn’t understand the concept of innocence. “Innocence” does not mean “someone reported my treason 2nd hand”. Innocence means one did not commit a crime.
There are just no words anymore.
Remember when we thought W was a terrible president?
He was a terrible President. Hundreds of thousands are still dead because of him. And he and the people surrounding him are a huge part of how we got to trump. Don’t listen to pretty little Nicole Wallace, who lied her face off daily for bush and cheney. They are trying to whitewash that record so of course they send out the pretty white lady. She even looks like she smells good. But she stinks of rancid garbage just like they all do.
Bush was a terrible president. Just because he didn’t act like trump doesn’t mean he wasn’t terrible.
lol two people can be bad at once #Bush4theHague2020
Well, he is a war criminal, just not one that was ever prosecuted. So there’s that
I was thinking about that this morning. I thought a stolen election, a major terrorist attack, and wars of choice would be the most extraordinary period in US history that I would live through. I was wrong.
The Middle East is screwed for the next 50 years at least due to W and Cheney’s lies. More than a million civilians have died in Iraq because of them. Actually, Trump has been less dangerous to the rest of the world than W because he’s a coward. But both are monsters and belong in jail
@ greenteaandrosehip – I do remember that! And isn’t it wild how much our scale of “acceptable behavior” from a president has changed?!?!
It reminds me of the Richter Scale used to measure earthquakes (Cali girl). Each notch up is exponentially worse than the previous indicator. Come to think of it, that could apply just to this presidency.
Bush was Bush: a not-that-bright, not-that-competent Chief Executive. He hired a COO, Cheney, who was pure 100% evil. Cheney was the author of those myriad war crimes, from which he made a billion dollars personally. But Bush is to blame, too, b/c he hired the devil, put his name on his deeds, and signed off on them.
In comparison, I sadly would take the war criminals Bush and Cheney at this point over Trump. Trump has set the bar to an all time low and thus, Bush looks like a sweet old man having a laugh with Michelle Obama now.
Can’t impeach on second hand information, huh? Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Linda Tripp and a blue dress. You remember that, don’t you Miz Linds? You were there leading the charge.
And I really pray for evangelicals, pray they’ll meet their maker posthaste.
I always say that a big part of me does hope there is a heaven/hell because the vast majority of these super religious people are going to be sorely disappointed and surprised on where they end up.
A big shocker for sure for many of them! You should read the book Lincoln in the Bardo.
Jerusha, it really frustrates me to see so called Christians think that dump hung the moon! I was an evangelical christian but then got disillusioned with it particularly when some of my so called christian friends of mine dump me for getting pregnant out of wedlock. They thought I was a lost case for not wanting to get married.
Happy to hear about the awakening of an intelligent person, gingersnaps. You don’t want to hang out with the kind of “christians” who can’t stand by their friends in difficult times. Or who think it’s acceptable to use a groping, lying old lech to promote the evangelical agenda in the name of “morality”. Do any of these people understand the term, “hypocrite”?
One of the things that makes me most livid about this monster is the way he is repeatedly allowed to get away with screaming FIRE in a crowded theater of lunatic firebugs. He knows exactly what he’s doing when he says “civil war” – it’s a very precise dog whistle to his base, particularly considering how many of them are part of a demographic that pretends that they’re still living the one that actually happened.
He is completely willing to watch the country burn for his own ends.
Agreed. The way he’s been tweeting since Day One seems like impeachable conduct to me. It’s surreal.
This is so true. He is addressing his bigly thoughts and all his best words to those who still display flags from the Civil War. These are people who still resent how the Civil War ended, and they would love to get a chance to rewrite history.
Call your senators (esp those of you in red states) and tell them this is unacceptable and they need to stand up to the oath they took to protect the Constitution against enemies foreign AND domestic.
At least we know he is scared sh!tless that he is going to get impeached. I don’t he think he will get removed, but I have noticed that some Rs are fairly silent right now.
Chris Wallace went after Stephen Miller yesterday and it was glorious.
I’ve never allowed Faux News to defile my tv screen, but I understand Chris, Shep and Judge Napolitano are trying to tell the truth. And, of course, the Deplorables are calling for their heads. I understand Paul Ryan has been advising Lachlan Murdoch to plan for life after trump.
I think Fox News is headed for a reckoning when all is said and done. I understand that tension between the news dept and the opinions shows has been simmering for a long time. But they’ve got to do some soul searching about how overall they just dig in a blindly support Trump. Personally, I’ve always thought he pays for his coverage.
Becks1, it was TRULY a thing of glory! Wallace wouldn’t let that slimey, ooze of skin skirt, he kept pinning Slime down to the questions he (Wallace) was asking!
Also great was Chris Pelley on 60 Min., when he was interviewing McCarthy. He, too, kept pinning him, even to the point where Pelley said: “You are only saying the Rep. “talking points” from the released memo. You aren’t answering MY question.” McCarthy’s eyes kept shifting, and he was nervous.
And then McCarthy tried to claim there were no talking points, despite them being emailed to Pelosi!
Miller is always trying to one up his big brother Voldemort.
Miller looks like Putin’s illegitimate son.
I am sure all the Bubba and Bubbettes are getting those arms ready to rightly and bigly defend their orange dotard.
Too bad our government is filled with cowards and greedy fuckers who will allow a president to incite violence and threaten civil war.
This is the latest craziness from the crackpot trumpistas. The IG and the Whistleblower are FRAMING donnie, because he does no wrong.
https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1178645779503816707?s=21
The delusion is so far into The Twilight Zone at this point. Words just fail me…
Ooooooo I’m so scared Donnie.
I don’t want to see innocent people hurt. But, honestly, I’d love to see his followers try to start something and quickly realize that their guns aren’t gonna help them overthrow the government. They’re all in for a rude awakening.
Ruby Ridge and Waco didn’t work out so well for them. But they never learn.
Here, can I say it. Okay. Here goes….
BUT HIS SERVER….!!!!!
Hehehe… I posted that yesterday, along with “LOCK HIM/THEM UP!!”… and yeah, the republiTHUGS will NEVER see the parallel.
This is so freaking similar to Watergate it’s insane (except we’re fighting a propaganda network this time).
My theory is that this ALL hinges on releasing the improperly classified conversations, all of them. With those, there’s no hearsay, it’ll be multiple counts of treason/conspiracy/extortion/blackmail on tape. Worse than we could EVER imagine. So I want to know who can get them and how we do it, immediately.
I really hope the Democrats don’t get weak knee-d at threats from this coward and his base. The’ve got guns, so what? They are 25% of the country and the vast majority of them talk big like Donny but are also cowards. They are not going to jail for Trump. Or carry guns just to scare liberals but can’t shoot to save their lives. Or if they can so what, 75% of us are just going to lay down and be slaughtered by the few?
What do you think he will do next if you let him get away with threatening terror attacks against 75% of the country? He has already taken over most of our institutions and has packed the courts with conservative yes men and women. Letting him continue to get away with crimes sets up the country for him to become President for life. Yes, dictatorship is coming ladies and gentlemen.
Some Democrats own guns too, right. I agree, not just gonna lay down.
Yep!
Getting this out there because I’ve been thinking this for years now: civil war was and is the goal. I think civil war is specifically Putin’s goal. Russia controls the NRA. Russia controls the GOP. I believe we are witnessing a coup perpetrated by Russia. Putin wants us to be in chaos and living in fear. Trumpism has worked perfectly for our enemies.
I am concerned. I was intentionally looking at various trump friendly sites and there is a consensus of “just say when.” I’m trying not to dwell on it because what the hell are we supposed to do? But it’s hard to ignore my fears that the violence will increase and there will be conflict if trump doesn’t get what he wants. Severe intervention is needed now.
Yes, this is v well put, and has been my concern as well. If nothing more than to divide and conquer — by gender, race, religion, sexual preference, region, etc. — all to keep us distracted. I’m noodling over the role of oil in all of this too — w a global band of petroligarchs from Saudi, Russia, US, apparently determined to maintain control… I haven’t seen any cogent analyses of this, but that’s a pattern I’m thinking about…
Trump’s bodunk followers are too stupid to put together a military. If Donnie the Dictator is taken out of power, he can’t command the actual military to fight for him. But yes, I’ve lost sleep since November 9, 2016 that this is how Russia will take down America. Revenge for the U.S. backing the embarrassing Boris Yeltsin when the USSR went down.
This. I have been having “Red Dawn” like nightmares lately. I don’t want to go hide in the woods with C. Thomas Howell and Charlie Sheen! Putin scares me way more than Trump’s lazy, moronic base.
I feel an overwhelming desire to rewatch All the President’s Men. The outcome is so satisfying.
And Redford looked fabulous
Redford and Hoffman and Robards, absolutely perfect casting. And, yes, one of RR’s most beautiful periods.
Bring it, you slobbering, anti-democratic cretins. Though I doubt you have the energy to get off the couch.
He just seems like a spoiled child who has never been told “no”. He’s always gotten what he wants and has never been punished for anything. I really think the time is coming for all these evil motherf*ckers to finally get their punishments. It’s time good people get rewarded. I’ve had enough. Hopefully people don’t vote for him so he can go back to Trump Towers and cry himself a river and have an epic temper tantrum.
No! Enough of this Donnie the Dictator bullshit. Whistleblower policies are put into effect so that power cannot be abused. It’s not illegal. This has to end.
Okay, blowhard. Whatever you say.
Question: Will the WH be able to get access to what is currently on the secret server? I bet there are documents on that thing that would give you nightmares for the rest of your life. Does the code or those who have access to it have to be subpoenaed? And what if they refused?
I will never understand why people blindly follow someone they do not know, who would not give them the time of day. Most of his supporters would probably not be allowed in the lobby of his properties.
The purpose they serve, not just for him but the party itself, is to get enough votes to strip people of healthcare and essential services/benefits. It’s the party of big business and wealth, yet uses “religion” and other tactics to get enough votes. It’s mind boggling how many cannot understand they are being used.
I think many, many people voted for him because of his Wall bs. Their racism and bigotry supersedes all other matters. The rich voters voted for him because of financial reasons (tax breaks, deregulation, etc.). For rich Republicans greed supersedes all other matters.
“It’s the party of big business and wealth, yet uses “religion” and other tactics to get enough votes.”
THIS! They vote for the GOP because the GOP says the buzz words they want to hear: God and Country, build up the military, those elitist Demo-RATS, welfare queens, bring prayer back to schools, etc. But best yet, the GOP uses simple language and good marketing slogans. Literacy rates are going down. The Dems still use paragraphs to covey the same thing the GOP can in a sentence. The Dems show up in suits, the GOP buy the costume of the locals and talk real slow. In other words these people see the GOP as looking and thinking just like them. Like one of them who made it big. LOL!
Why is everyone convinced the whistleblower is a man?
It was in the NYTimes article that gave up several identifying characteristics. I don’t know how many, if at all, are true.
Mr. Trump and his family are going down. Hold on and stay strong!
Please! 🙌