The one in which Trump orders his staff to fire Mueller, and they give him the finger

[PerkingFaintly]

Apparently this has already happened, back in July 2017.

But the orange one try again...

Trump Ordered Mueller Fired, but Backed Off When White House Counsel Threatened to Quit
www.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/us/politics/trump-mueller-special-counsel-russia.html

Coverage by Maddow: twitter.com/maddow?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Previous thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3142761-All-Trump-sees-is-green-All-we-see-is-a-traitorous-orange-menace-Who-is-right-Place-bets-now-Trump-continued?pg=1

Ari Melber
@AriMelber
Breaking: FBI essentially calls secret memo a potential fraud — says it has “grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact” the “accuracy” of GOP memo.

Benjamin Wittes
@benjaminwittes
Let’s be blunt: the President is about to release a document the FBI is effectively calling a lie and whose release his own Justice Department describes as extremely reckless.

Reminds me of that time Abraham Lincoln....oh never mind...

Gowdy is going?

Gowdy going?

Are they all running away? I wouldn't have pegged Gowdy as a coward (from the little I've seen of him).

Is there some strategy? Or are they just cashing in, saying, "Nice knowing you" and leaving the mess to other people?

I was slightly concerned that it’s not a rats jumping ship moment and that “returning to the justice system” was sinister but I think that is paranoia!

""Whatever skills I may have are better utilized in a courtroom than in Congress, and I enjoy our justice system more than our political system. As I look back on my career, it is the jobs that both seek and reward fairness that are most rewarding."

Joe Scarborough‏Verified account
@JoeNBC

Even after 4 arrests of top Trump officials, Paul Ryan is allowing his party to investigate the investigators instead of Russia. Obstruction of Justice is now a party plank for House Republicans.

Tea Party boys like Gowdy got the tax cuts they came to congress for and now they want some of that wing nut welfare the Koch brothers and the corporate media have on offer.

Yes i meant that they might have a sinister plan for him in the courts but I think that’s possibly overreaching.

Ben Bradshaw is the most vocal of our mps on russia, so it’s not surprising it’s him saying this, but notable nonetheless that these sentiments are being expressed publically

Ben Bradshaw
@BenPBradshaw
This partisan campaign to discredit the FBI is not just dangerous for America, but the for democratic world, including Britain's vital security and intelligence relationship with the U.S.

I reckon he's either scunnered or he's been a 'bad boy'. Or both, of course.

What’s scunnered? Dad would call someone a scunner (scoundrel).

I never heard the term 'scunnered' before.

Sort of 'fed-up' but in a fairly extreme way.

I’d never heard scunner before but am adding it to the repertoire!

I don’t really know if or why this might be significant, but if it isn’t coincidental, can someone humour my skittishness and explain why it might be relevant? For context, she embedded Gowdy’s tweet with his resignation letter within her tweet

Seung Min Kim
@seungminkim
Because there are no coincidences in politics, I'll note that a seat on the Fourth Circuit (covers South Carolina) became vacant just yesterday www.uscourts.gov/judges-judgeships/judicial-vacancies/current-judicial-vacancies

shareblue.com/in-rare-public-rebuke-fbi-humiliates-gop-for-mueller-smear-campaign/#.WnIRSLdU9Kk.twitter

Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis on Tuesday ripped Trump's "recurring, redundant drumbeat of anti-Latino commentary," CNN reported.

thehill.com/homenews/administration/371659-federal-judge-rips-trump-in-daca-case-for-recurring-redundant?__twitter_impression=true

I think we’re past the point of invoking Godwin’s law

VICE News
@vicenews
EXCLUSIVE: Trump officials discussed “reversing” abortion for undocumented teen

There is no credible medical evidence that an “abortion reversal” works, and the mainstream medical community worries that using it amounts to experimentation on women

news.vice.com/en_us/article/yw5a5g/exclusive-trump-officials-discussed-reversing-abortion-for-undocumented-teen?utm_source=vicenewstwitter

It’s really terrifying

Joy Reid
‏
Verified account

@JoyAnnReid

Kamala Harris doesn't do much TV. The fact that she's first up to bat on @MSNBC after JKIII tells you what the 2020 field is about to look like. Just sayin...

Roque Planas
@RoqPlanas
ICE Dir. Homan lashing out hard against sanctuary cities. “It irritates me that a politician that has never carried a badge and a gun" won't let ICE agents into county jails, he says.

And

Roqayah Chamseddine
Roqayah Chamseddine
@roqchams
Fearing ICE raids, San Jose father tells children: 'Be prepared to be alone'

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/01/27/fearing-ice-raids-san-jose-father-tells-children-be-prepared-to-be-alone/amp/#click=t.co/1fZ1Uml5ic" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.mercurynews.com/2018/01/27/fearing-ice-raids-san-jose-father-tells-children-be-prepared-to-be-alone/amp/#click=t.co/1fZ1Uml5ic

And

ABC13 Houston
ABC13 Houston
@abc13houston
"I'm very scared. I've never been to Mexico. I have no family in Mexico." A youth football coach spoke publicly for the first time since being detained by ICE agents while he was in front of his young son's school. abc13.co/2nsbQ7P

And

ICE Unbound

Trump has empowered a draconian deportation force that can’t distinguish the real immigration threats.

amp.slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/01/ice-is-out-of-control.html?wpsrc=sh_all_dt_tw_ru&__twitter_impression=true

Presumably Seung Min Kim is suggesting Gowdy may be hoping to get the vacant judgeship.

I gather (some?) judicial appointments in the US are jobs for life. So that's certainly a plausible explanation for Gowdy's sudden jump. Especially combined with the fact that, as thebewilderness says, he's got the tax cut he came for.

There were lots of horrified comments underneath, some suggesting that he unresign as that would be preferable. I’m not au fait with how District judges work so don’t know how to gauge out how sinister this move would be!

Extranoues “out” in the sentence above

I think it's subtly different, Perking. Assuming no.........misbehaviour, I reckon they're jumping before being pushed but while there are still goodies to be had with some influence exerted. Being a House or Senate rep is a really BIG THING.

Here's the breakdown:

3 GOP Senators retiring outright
1 Dem Senator (and that was Franken)

24 GOP Representatives retiring outright
1 Dem Rep retiring outright

11 GOP Representatives running for higher office
4 Dems Reps running for higher office
(the 'higher office' is either the Senate or a Governorship)

So in the House there are 35 GOP Reps who are NOT running for re-election and 5 Dems.

On average 22 Representatives (total of both parties) retire per election cycle. If you split it down the middle, that means that on average 11 GOP Reps retire at the end of an election cycle. There are 35! Sounds either like rats deserting a sinking ship or "May I be excused from the trough, I've gorged myself long enough, thank you".

How many of them are Committee Chairs, Across?