Even if you subpoena us, we won't turn up on the Trump threads

[PerkingFaintly]

Oh whoops, here we are.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3180160-Trump-talk-HOW-MUCH-for-that-inauguration?pg=1

[DancingLedge]

Thanks Perking

[boatyardblues]

Wot no thread chicken?!? I kinda like it when we take it right to the wire.

[PerkingFaintly]

If you like living dangerously, you could apply for the job of Bad News Messenger To The Orange One, blue.

[cozietoesie]

Thanks, Perking.

[cozietoesie]

PS - I'm not sure that that job exists, by the way.

[PerkingFaintly]

It's a short term hire, cozie. Very, very short term.

[PerkingFaintly]

Meanwhile, we left Sam Nunberg singing like a woebegone chicken to the Grand Jury,

anti-globalist Steve Bannon globally promoting racism //abcn.ws/2GdgvU6 ,

and Trump turning down a chance to watch his favourite porn star on TV
www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/trump-lawyers-are-considering-a-challenge-to-60-minutes?utm_term=.osx7vWW99#.xn1LV88vv.

[cozietoesie]

[TheClaws]

Thanks Perking!

[OnTheDarkSideOfTheSpoon]

Thanks perking! Very grateful for your consideration for my breath-holding

[OnTheDarkSideOfTheSpoon]

On guns:

Caroline O.
@RVAwonk
Trump tells the crowd in Pennsylvania that if they don't elect Rick Saccone, Democrats "are gonna take away your 2nd Amendment rights."

A reminder that 2 weeks ago, Trump suggested confiscating people's guns w/o due process.

But

White House vows to help arm teachers and backs off raising age for buying guns. Looks like NRA might be happy with the proposal after all:

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/white-house-vows-to-help-arm-teachers-and-backs-off-raising-age-for-buying-guns/2018/03/11/14da0c8e-253a-11e8-bc72-077aa4dab9ef_story.html

As a pick me up:

Charlotte Alter
@CharlotteAlter
Also, the teens refer to Dana Loesch as "the woman from the Super Beet commercial" because they play this beet juice commercial over and over again and laugh at her:

www.ispot.tv/ad/736E/superbeets-a-boost-featuring-dana-loesch

[OnTheDarkSideOfTheSpoon]

Administration shambles:

An ethics watchdog is doubling down on its call for an investigation into Devin Nunes after the Daily Beast revealed that Trump lawyer Michael Cohen received inside info from the House Intel Committee’s Russia probe.

www.thedailybeast.com/watchdog-issues-second-call-for-devin-nunes-ethics-probe-after-daily-beast-report

And

Kyle Griffin
@kylegriffin1
Ethics watchdog American Oversight filed a sweeping new lawsuit against HUD seeking emails and other documents from Ben Carson, Carson's wife and son for info on the role that Secretary Carson has allowed his family members to play at the department. bit.ly/2FiC58A

And

Axios
‏@axios
Sec. of Education Betsy DeVos struggles to answer fairly basic questions on school performance on 60 Minutes

twitter.com/axios/status/972996794757140486

And

Trump privately trashes Rick Saccone
www.axios.com/scoop-trump-privately-trashes-rick-saccone-1520806446-c7033bad-f7a4-4d92-80a7-40113967a0e2.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic

And (this is old - well from this week but in Trump time that's decades ago - but don't think it's been posted on these threads before. Apologies if it has)

Interior secretary Ryan Zinke's office spent $139,000 for construction on an office door

uk.businessinsider.com/interior-ryan-zinke-139000-construction-on-office-door-2018-3?r=US&IR=T

[OnTheDarkSideOfTheSpoon]

On Russia:

Kyle Griffin
@kylegriffin1
After testifying before a grand jury for 5.5 hours, Sam Nunberg says he believes the Russia probe is “warranted.”

“No, I don't think it's a witch hunt,” Sam Nunberg told ABC News. “It's warranted because there's a lot there and that's the sad truth.”

abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-aide-speaks-mueller-russia-probe-witch-hunt/story?id=53650541

And

Caroline O.
@RVAwonk
Interesting that Trump announced plans to meet w/ Kim Jong Un exactly 10 days before Russia's "elections," given that loosening the conditions for talks w/NK is an outcome that Putin has been pushing for & will give him something to tout at home in the days before the "election."

And

Scott Stedman
@ScottMStedman
Breaking: Pavlo Yunko, the American spokesman for Nastya Rybka (Deripaska’s mistress) and Alex Lesley (her associate) says that the United States has been negotiating with Thai authorities and that the deportation of Rybka and Lesley to Russia has been suspended.

In a Facebook post, Yunko says that an America embassy official’s car was spotted at a Thai government facility and a conversation took place between the two sides. After this conversation, the imminent deportation of Rybka and Lesley was halted.

Yunko also claims that the FSB was directly responsible for their arrest. A Thai official tells Yunko, “the Russian intelligence agencies had officially ordered this operation.”

www.facebook.com/alexlesley11/posts/1901205296619976

I’ve reached out to Yunko directly to confirm. He makes explosive claims in this Facebook post, including that Thai policemen were paid off by the FSB to arrest the subjects.

I have some corroborating evidence that Rybka is at least telling the truth about having more video and audio than the public has seen. Not able to share yet but the likelihood of her having some secret conversations recorded is high.

There’s no way to know whether she’s telling the truth about Deripaska meeting 3 Americans. But what we do know is that someone in the US law enforcement community thinks her story is worth hearing.

I have no idea who is negotiating on behalf of the US. Any ideas would simply be guesses.

And

Russia's foes will 'be served poison' - Putin
www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/russias-foes-will-be-served-poison-putin-36682387.html

Leah McElrath 🗽
@leahmcelrath
"Those who serve us with poison will eventually swallow it and poison themselves."

Vladimir Putin ostensibly talking about geopolitics – at a time when the UK is undertaking a major investigation into the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and others

And

Russian Embassy, UK
@RussianEmbassy
What a coincidence! Both Litvinenko and Skripal worked for MI6. Berezovsky and Perepilichny were linked to UK special services. Investigation details classified on grounds of national security.

Asha Rangappa
@AshaRangappa_
Russia now advertising that it's justified in assassinating spies in sovereign countries

And


Softly-softly isn’t working. Time to play hard with wealthy Russians living in Britain
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/11/softly-softly-isnt-working-sergei-skripal-litvinenko-salisbury-poisoning?CMP=share_btn_tw

And

Andrew Adonis
@Andrew_Adonis
The Foreign Secretary’s weakness in dealing with Russia pre and post Salisbury is, alas, tied up with Brexit. When you start severing relations with your democratic neighbours, & you are personally responsible for doing so, you have to try to keep Trump, Putin & Xi on board.

And (apologies if it's been posted before)

Exclusive: Reddit Says It’s Cooperating With Russia Investigations. They’ve Handed Over Zero Documents.
Reddit’s CEO said the ‘front page of the Internet’ is working with Congress to uncover Russian propaganda. But it’s turned over no material to investigators.

www.thedailybeast.com/exclusive-reddit-says-its-cooperating-with-russia-investigations-theyve-handed-over-zero-documents

And

Russian trolls pushed rally in Buffalo - then urged blacks not to vote
buffalonews.com/2018/03/10/russian-trolls-pushed-rally-in-buffalo-and-urged-blacks-not-to-vote/

[OnTheDarkSideOfTheSpoon]

On the slide into authoritarianism:

Will Saletan
@saletan
On CBS, Pompeo brags that Kim has agreed to let US do its usual military exercises with South Korea: “He’s allowed us to continue our exercises on the peninsula.”

Lauren Werner 🗽
@LaurenWern
Wow, we now have to seek permission from tyrant Kim Jong-un to conduct usual military exercises with our ally South Korea? Look how far we've descended under this incompetent regime.

And

Donald Trump Jr.
@DonaldJTrumpJr
Can someone confirm if this is a real CNN headline or not? I can’t tell anymore.

Kenneth P. Vogel
@kenvogel
President's son spreads doctored @CNN story while accusing @CNN of spreading fake news.

And

Brian Klaas
@brianklaas

1. I’m angry. I’ve interviewed countless journalists in dictatorships, from Belarus to Thailand, who risk their lives to bring a sliver of truth & accountability to their societies. They are heroes. Trump’s attacks on the press endanger them while endangering our democracy too.
   
2. At home, Trump is poisoning the electorate against the press—a pillar of democratic governance. Without the press, informed consent of the governed is impossible. Democracy is impossible. Truth becomes malleable. And the people become powerless.
   
3. “Enemy of the people”; “a stain on America”; a “son of a bitch,” and “fake news.” Endorsing a candidate who assaulted a reporter. Threatening to revoke licenses from critical media outlets & “opening up” libel laws. Trump is mimicking intimidation tactics from dictatorships.
   
4. I wish Trump supporters who see the press as “the enemy of the people” could see what life is like when there is no free press. I have. It’s awful. And there’s no easy way to revive media freedom—or democracy—once it dies. Trump is taking us down a truly dangerous path.
   
5. Trump’s attacks on the press at home reverberate abroad. Myanmar called reports on its mass atrocities “fake news.” Dictators feel emboldened to jail or kill journalists. The US has lost all credibility on pressuring other countries to respect media freedom because of Trump.
   
6. Trump laughed with Duterte of the Philippines about journalists being “spies.” But the Philippines has one of the highest rates of journalists being murdered in the world. I was in Thailand when the dictator “joked”
   

about executing reporters. It wasn’t a joke. It was a threat.

1. This is not partisan. Republicans should care about the republic. Democrats should care about democracy. We should—and must—agree on this and work to protect the press from Trump’s authoritarian attacks. I’ve seen the alternative. You don’t want to see it too.
   

And

Catherine Rampell
@crampell
White House readout on Trump call with Macron, vs. French presidential palace readout of same call (via Google Translate) www.elysee.fr/communiques-de-presse/article/communique-entretien-telephonique-du-president-de-la-republique-avec-le-president-trump-2

Adam Blickstein
@AdamBlickstein
White House press readouts increasingly read like readouts from autocracies--absent of detail and strikingly contradictory to the readout from their democratic counterparts

And

Kyle Griffin
@kylegriffin1
New federal rules aimed at preventing foreign influence on U.S. elections through better disclosure of online political ad sponsors may not take effect before the 2018 midterms.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/new-federal-rules-on-facebook-and-google-ads-may-not-be-in-place-for-2018-midterms/2018/03/08/117d476a-22f4-11e8-badd-7c9f29a55815_story.html?utm_term=.676fd0f159d8

And

The three Republicans running for the party’s nomination for Pennsylvania governor say they will not release copies of their tax returns — documents that can shed important light on a candidate’s personal priorities and financial standing.

Trump effect? GOP governor candidates won’t show tax returns
www.apnews.com/3b0967e39e4f4d7fad9004388e30022a

[lionheart]

Thanks Perking for the new thread but I think I will consult my expert legal team before I give my official response.

[lionheart]

This I must see.

Axios
‏
Verified account

@axios
Following Following @axios
More
Sec. of Education Betsy DeVos struggles to answer fairly basic questions on school performance on 60 Minutes

[lionheart]

Not sure of the source (!) but this I think, is interesting.

www.glamour.com/story/wisconsin-gubernatorial-candidate-kelda-roys-breastfeeding-ad

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

morning all. Cheery start to the day as ever.

[lionheart]

Have not posted from here before.

blog.politicsmeanspolitics.com/juniors-russian-lawyer-meeting-will-lead-to-daddy-s-downfall-48a7de893ec]

[lionheart]

www.nytimes.com/2018/03/09/opinion/stormy-daniels-trump-cohen.html?smid=tw-nytopinion&smtyp=cur

[lionheart]

What a defence.

www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-chuck-todd-steve-mnuchin-839890?utm_campaign=NewsweekTwitter&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social

“This is something that is at a campaign rally. And the president likes making funny names,” he added, in reference to the president referring to Maxine Waters as “a very low-IQ individual.”

[Roussette]

Howdy y'all . Thanks for thread Perking

[lionheart]

“There’s an old joke: A judicial activist is one who issues a decision you don’t like,” Peter Shane, a professor of constitutional law at Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law, told Newsweek.

“Calling someone a judicial activist is a tradition virtually as old as the country,” he said.

www.newsweek.com/sessions-doesnt-appear-understand-us-court-system-attacks-activist-judges-839903?utm_campaign=NewsweekTwitter&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social

[TheNorthWestPawsage]

$139,000 for a door!? For that you can buy a porn star's silence AND a used Acura.
twitter.com/stephenathome/status/971961217861455872?s=21

Thanks for the new thread.
Fingers crossed for Conor Lamb on Tuesday in Pennsylvania's special election. That will wipe the smirk off a few faces.

[OnTheDarkSideOfTheSpoon]

There was an article about how white evangelical women are slowly being turned off Trump (which is especially pleasing as he said "women voted for me by 52%" at his rally which was only true of white women, not all women, and another instance of erasing POC/not considering them worthy to be included)

Will try and dig it out