FMOTUS: F***ing Moron of the United States (Trump) thread continued

[TheClaws]

As aptly dubbed by his own Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson.

Old thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3047195-Hello-Don-got-a-new-tax-cut-Trump-continued

And as I love giving you images to haunt your dreams, here’s another one, blasphemously titled ‘Our Lord and Saviour’.

More relevant to the thread, although its not positive that elected Republican representatives feel they can only criticise FMOTUS if they are stepping down anyway, if (and its a big if) they are willing to block GOP legislation then does that not build a perception that the administration can't get things done / is ineffective? Which might have the die hard base wailing about conspiracies but would be more effective with swing voters or those who voted Trump either as a roll of the dice or as the Not Hillary candidate.

Or do mid-terms potentially negate that?

If they use to to block legislation, then yes, possibly (although as above, they voted for the ending the class-action law - they're still Republicans even if they are not fans of Trump).

Caroline O.‏
@RVAwonk
Sen. Jeff Flake to GOP colleagues: "It is time for our complicity & our accommodation of the unacceptable to end."

t.co/VAUlFTcD5v

I'll say the same thing abt Jeff Flake that I said abt Bob Corker: Glad to hear these words.

Now it's time to act.

If Flake and Corker mean what they said, then they have a duty to do everything in their power to protect our country from Trump.

Flake and Corker (& McCain) have the power to bring the Senate to its knees. Then, use it as leverage. That's how they can stop Trump.

Caroline O.
@RVAwonk
So the Uranium deal story? That stemmed from oppo research backed by Bannon/Breitbart.

It was reported on as fact.

It was not fact. 1/

WaPo & NY Times presented the oppo research on Clinton as objective & verified reporting. It was neither. 2/
(link: thinkprogress.org/steve-bannon-new-york-times-washington-post-clinton-cash-d59d6492546/)

The same oppo research book was used as the basis for an FBI probe into the Clinton Foundation. It went nowhere. 3/
(link: www.nytimes.com/2016/11/02/us/politics/fbi-james-comey-hillary-clinton-donald-trump.html?_r=0)

Bannon/Breitbart & Fox pushed the discredited Uranium story to hurt HRC. Now, they're doing it to cover for Trump.
(link: www.mediamatters.org/blog/2017/10/24/how-steve-bannon-and-sean-hannitys-ginned-hillary-clinton-uranium-story-became-congressional/218318)

That Hill article? Authored by the COO of Circa News, which became a pro-Trump outlet after Sinclair Broadcast Group bought it in 2015.
5/

Hannity used the new-but-actually-old Uranium story written by the COO of a pro-Trump outlet to demand a congressional investigation. 6/

Enter: Devin Nunes, who was already caught this year covertly working w/the WH to provide cover for Trump via leaks to the media. 7/

A refresher: Devin Nunes said he had intel that supported Trump's wiretapping lie. That "intel" came from the WH. 8/
(link: twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/847500007439650816)^

WH has used Devin Nunes (& others?) to try to divert from/discredit the Trump-Russia probe since at least Feb. 9/

MUST READ-> Spicer personally arranged for CIA head & GOP intel cmte chairs (Nunes/Burr) to kill #TrumpRussia story. (link: www.axios.com/exclusive-spicer-arranged-sat-in-on-cia-gop-intelligence-push-back-2288082248.html)

Much like we're seeing w/Uranium story, Trump & his cronies worked w/ Fox News to prop up his wiretapping lie. 10/
(link: twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/848220375355990018)

You know who else worked w/ Devin Nunes on behalf of the WH to try to discredit the Russia probe? Mike Pompeo. 11/

Remember when the WH enlisted Nunes & Burr to try to discredit a story re. Trump-Russia? Pompeo was involved but won't talk about it...

5 days ago, Pompeo once again distorted the intel community's findings to try to downplay Russian interference. 12/

Once again, CIA Director Mike Pompeo attempts to downplay the significance of Russian interference in 2016 election
(link: wapo.st/2inVezn?tid=ss_tw-bottom&utm_term=.bcae89c6122d)

Then there's the 2nd part of the story: The "revelation" (not really) that the Steele dossier was funded (in part) by Democratic donors. 13/

Just like the Uranium story, the "news" that the dossier stemmed from Democratic oppo research is not new. This is from March 2017.👇14/

And you know who funded the dossier research before Democrats did? Republicans. 15/
(link: www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/03/how-the-explosive-russian-dossier-was-compiled-christopher-steele)

Trump/apologists want to use the "news" about the dossier stemming from oppo research to discredit the Russia probe. One problem w/that👇16/

The dossier did not spark the Russia probe. Nor is it being treated as fact - by the media or intel agencies. 17/

Same media outlets that reported oppo research on HRC as "fact" are now drooling over an old report about the dossier as oppo research. 18/

And guess who revived the not-news about the dossier that we've known about for 7+ months? Devin Nunes. 19/
(link: www.thedailybeast.com/fusion-gps-claims-devin-nunes-went-rogue-to-find-out-who-paid-for-steele-dossier)

It's not a coincidence that the debunked Uranium story & the not-news about the dossier are being revived at the same time. 20/

Dossier story is being used to discredit Russia probe as a Dem smear campaign - a lie Nunes has pushed for mos. 21/
(link: twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/869673885108547584)

It's also being used to give GOP a reason to wrap up Russia probe & move onto other things - like re-investigating oppo research on HRC. 22/

Republicans are going along w/the charade. Because of course they are; most are Trump lapdogs. But the media should know better by now. 23/

MSM has been hijacked & they don't even seem to realize it. They're publishing weaponized information as if its journalism. 24/

This is how Bannon, backed by the Mercers, gamed the media in 2016.

And it's happening again right now. 25/
(link: www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/26/robert-mercer-breitbart-war-on-media-steve-bannon-donald-trump-nigel-farage)

That Caroline O RVAWonk thread was interesting enough I've reposted it above.

mobile.twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/922989558739947522

She's embedded more material than I've been unable to show, so it's worth clicking on.

If they use to to block legislation, then yes, possibly (although as above, they voted for the ending the class-action law - they're still Republicans even if they are not fans of Trump).

My cynical head says he is hoping to now sit things out and keep his head down so he can leap out unsullied once the shit has blown over. Flake is dyed in the wool Republican going by his voting record and I can't see him really being acceptable to dem voters. I can see him coming back in a post-trump world and doing well in the top though.

Despite my cynical leanings I still feel he deserves credit for the strength of his speech. He could easily have slipped out the door mumbling about family issues or ethics, so hats off to him for giving it a bit of a bang even if I think he is still a basically despicable human being.

Just popping in to keep this thread in my threads I'm on list so I can keep track and not keep losing it. No energy to think too hard about this stuff right now though, but glad you lot are keeping the information coming here.

Had to happen.

www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/10/the-senate-judiciary-committees-russia-probe-just-blew-up/?utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social

Inevitable, but sad that the Republicans are obstructing to such a degree that bipartisanship isn't possible, all the same.

Bill Browder‏*@Billbrowder*
Everyone always asks: “where does Putin keep his money?”. The OCCRP has found $24B connected to his $200B stash. Putin’s not happy today

Alec Luhn‏
@ASLuhn
Putin's family members & friends control $24bn in wealth they can't easily explain, @OCCRP & @novaya_gazeta find

www.occrp.org/en/putinandtheproxies/

That’s what Perez has to say, Red.

Thanks, Across. Complicated indeed!

i am very interested to see if trumpet does release the Kennedy files tomorrow.

It'll be the bigliest, bestest distraction, CoolCarrie. His advisors must be dancing with relief.

This is what is known as wiping the floor with someone who is not prepared to justify cuts to housing budgets

Indeed Perking!

cozie

GeorgeStephanopoulos
@GStephanopoulos
Sen. @JeffFlake does not rule out a potential 2020 run for President; tells me he will "deal with that when it comes to it," ahead on @GMA

There was lots of speculation on twitter yesterday that there might be a Kasich-flake ticket, but it is just speculation at this point

Breakdown in North Korea Talks Sounds Alarms on Capitol Hill

www.nbcnews.com/news/north-korea/amp/lack-talks-north-korea-sounds-alarms-capitol-hill-n813951

[...]Joseph Yun, a top American diplomat to North Korea, has been warning of the breakdown in meetings on Capitol Hill and seeking help to persuade the administration to prioritize diplomacy over the heated rhetoric that appears to be pushing the two nuclear powers closer toward conflict, sources familiar with the discussions told NBC News.

The warnings from Yun and Congressional officials come as the president prepares for his first official trip to Asia next month and as tensions between the two nations are near an all-time high. Officials throughout government worry that a lack of diplomacy increases the risks of military action in the region.

They also explain some of the alarmist comments that have been made by Republican and Democratic Senators in recent weeks, most notable Foreign Relations Committee chair Sen. Bob Corker who has said repeatedly that the president is undercutting diplomatic efforts.

That article is pretty worrying

Indeed.

While I’m here, can anyone explain to me why the name is pronounced Winesteen and not Winestine?

I've been wanting to know that too, cozie!

A pretty recent piece.

Justin Miller
@justinjm1
BREAKING: Cambridge Analytica boss says he asked Assange for Clinton's emails

amp.thedailybeast.com/trump-data-guru-i-tried-to-team-up-with-julian-assange

Thanks, Pain.

Mr Colbert has the floor?

Renato Mariotti
@renato_mariotti
THREAD: Why does it matter that the head of Trump’s data analytics firm reached out to Julian Assange about Hillary Clinton’s emails?

1/ Today @woodruffbets of @thedailybeast reported Trump data guru Alexander Nix emailed Assange about the emails.
2/ Nix told others he reached out to Assange about distributing some Clinton emails, specifically emails that were not given to the FBI
3/ Nix’s words to others would be admissible in a criminal trial in which he was a defendant. It’s an exception to the rule against hearsay.
4/ So would his outreach to Assange be a crime? To start, it is a crime to agree to help a person or group with a hacking operation.
5/ If he really reached out to Assange, the legal question would be whether they actually agreed to do something to further his efforts.
6/ An agreement to distribute emails obtained via hacking would carry forward those efforts. That would be enough if Nix knew about hacking.
7/ Also, it is a federal crime to knowingly receive stolen material worth at least $5,000 or to take a substantial step towards doing so.
8/ The email alone wouldn’t be enough, but if they made arrangements for Nix to receive emails, that could be sufficient.
9/ Obviously Mueller would look for other evidence. Foolish people falsely brag about committing crimes, so more evidence is needed.
10/ But Nix’s comments are powerful evidence that suggest an interest in aiding an international hacking operation. /end

The Associated Press
The Associated Press
@AP
Immigrant teen held in federal custody who had sought to obtain an abortion has had the procedure, lawyers say.

apnews.com/865f48d4e9c54fab9ccfa25442e00fa1?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP