"There's a pony in there somewhere". Trump con't

[AcrossthePond55]

Title based on what a college professor used to tell us when the going got tough.

"Just remember when you're standing shoulder deep in horse shit, there's a pony in there somewhere. So just keep digging".

Don't know where you've been living, lion, but in all of my previous places of residence, I never met ONE - or at any rate, one who hadn't changed their name. (With me not knowing, of course.)

OH GOODY!

dctribune.org/2018/08/23/vice-president-pence-now-being-investigated-for-campaign-fraud-his-ties-to-russia-and-manafort/

'If Pence is eliminated from the line of succession, the Trump legacy will be a blank slate'

I'm pretty sure Primboy Pence has had Mueller's peepers on him for some time.

Laurence Tribe
@tribelaw
A crystal clear explanation by
@neal_katyal
of why accepting the Cohen election crime accusation puts Trump in deep trouble:

This Conspiracy Theory Should Worry Trump
www.nytimes.com/2018/08/23/opinion/politics/conspiracy-theory-trump-cohen.html
mobile.twitter.com/tribelaw/status/1032865163035201536

Of course, this is how he has survived in his dirty career to the point where he has been enabled to achieve the highest office in the land. It should be an object lesson to be learned from
'Why Trump Can't Understand the Cases Against Manafort and Cohen.
The president is used to operating in a business milieu where white-collar crime is common and seldom prosecuted aggressively.'
www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/08/trump-rules-change-cohen-manafort/568177/

Allan Smith
@akarl_smith
With the David Pecker news, great time to revisit one of the wildest statements ever put out by Trump during the campaign

'I have no idea whether or not the cover story about Ted Cruz in this week’s issue of the National Enquirer is true or not, but I had absolutely nothing to do with it, did not know about it, and have not, as yet, read it. I have nothing to do with the National Enquirer and unlike Lyin’ Ted Cruz I do not surround myself with political hacks and henchman and then pretend total innocence. Ted Cruz’s problem with the National Enquirer is his and his alone, and while they were right about O.J. Simpson, John Edwards, and many others, I certainly hope they are not right about Lyin’ Ted Cruz. I look forward to spending the week in Wisconsin, winning the Republican nomination and ultimately the Presidency in order to Make America Great Again.'
mobile.twitter.com/akarl_smith/status/1032678234482204672

The Oaf's extreme unease about the Clifford and McDougal revelations were a hint there were a lot more out there:
Kaitlan Collins
@kaitlancollins

The fear inside the White House ever since the WSJ first reported on the Stormy Daniels payment months ago was that there would be more women with similar stories who would come forward.
storage.googleapis.com/afs-prod/media/media:cfbb50f0ee314cbeb7096a512ec1be4c/800.jpeg
AP: National Enquirer's safe held damaging Trump stories
apnews.com
apnews.com/amp/143be3c52d4746af8546ca6772754407?__twitter_impression=true

Kaitlan Collins
@kaitlancollins
Sanders yesterday: "That's not something that has been up for discussion....There have been no discussions at the White House on that matter."
Carol Leonnig
@CarolLeonnig
NEWS: Trump sought his lawyers’ advice weeks ago on possibility of pardoning Manafort but they counseled against it, Giuliani says. Trump agreed to hold off. link: www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/08/23/trump-sought-his-lawyers-advice-weeks-ago-on-possibility-of-pardoning-manafort-but-they-counseled-against-it-giuliani-says/?tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.c16bc7fcd8f3 washingtonpost.com/news/politics/…
mobile.twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1032719081743548417

Kaitlan Collins
@kaitlancollins
Paging Jared....DOJ issues this statement about today's meeting with Trump, Session and Kushner on prison reform: "We're pleased the President agreed that we shouldn't support criminal justice reform that would reduce sentences, put drug traffickers back on our streets..."

Jeremy Diamond
@JDiamond1
Sources tell me & @Acosta Trump & Sessions focused on prison reform during their meeting at the WH today & had a cordial meeting. Neither of them raised the exchange of criticism from earlier in the day. And the prison reform bill was "shelved," a win for the WH
mobile.twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1032751211332685825

www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/sasse-threatens-to-vote-against-any-new-ag-if-trump-fires-sessions?_amp=true&__twitter_impression=true

Bye then, will you take Mother and Marlon Bundo with?
Vice President Mike Pence
@VP
While our sights are once again set on our lunar neighbor, this time, we’re not content to leave behind only footprints, or even to leave at all. The time has come for the United States of America to establish a permanent presence around and on the Moon.
mobile.twitter.com/VP/status/1032696469847924736

Wittes:
'The Most Damaging Thing That’s Happened to Trump
It wasn’t what Michael Cohen alleged in court, or the conviction of his campaign chair.'
www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/568135/?__twitter_impression=true
(May have posted this before, but couldn't find it)

For Across - some on Twitter have risen to the occasion
SEHBuckeye
@OHCel

“Pecker reveals electile disjunction”?
Prince Riebus
@PrinceRiebus
His opponent he said was low energy
With Pecker he managed a synergy
Some ladies’ disrobed
‘Twith Pecker he probed
Dear God put us out of our misery

Ohh, I do so hope it's true that Pence is being investigated.

He got the job through Manafort, and I've long suspected he knew about Flynn. And I can totally imagine him claiming that Russian puppeteering is just the lord moving in mysterious ways.

Maybe Vlad has been on the 'phone:
'WASHINGTON — A bill that would have significantly bolstered the nation’s defenses against electoral interference has been held up in the Senate at the behest of the White House, which opposed the proposed legislation, according to congressional sources.'
www.yahoo.com/news/white-house-blocks-bill-protect-elections-173459278.html

And I can totally imagine him claiming that Russian puppeteering is just the lord moving in mysterious ways
Well, it is the dark lord pulling the strings, but there isn't much mystery in it

How true.

Gary Younge - not an optimist.

Trump will last. His voters see him as a dislikeable CEO
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/24/donald-trump-voters-impeachment-legal

Time for a flutter?

2020 odds: Trump favored more than every other challenger combined
www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/online-gambling-site-trump-favored-over-every-challenger-in-2020

Nicolle Wallace led discussion on background and importance re. Pecker and the Nat. Enquirer, with bods who know what they are talking about.

[Deadline: White House] "Dropping like flies"
podplayer.net/#/?id=54507647 via @PodcastAddict

Fox! Fox? Fox!!!

'You're right to be frustrated, but you are part of what's frustrating,' Fox News host Neil Cavuto delivers a stern rebuke to Trump after wild week

read.bi/2waGkQT

Thanks, North, those pieces did make my heart flutter, and not in a good way

White fright:
'Why Trump Supporters Believe He Is Not Corrupt.
What the president’s supporters fear most isn’t the corruption of American law, but the corruption of America’s traditional identity.'
www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/08/what-trumps-supporters-think-of-corruption/568147/

More depressing news. I remember articles around the time if the EU referendum showing that there were widespread (and wild!) misconceptions about immigration/immigrants that led to more people voting for Brexit - and it seems that the same reality gap persists. How do you reach people with facts when they are so mistrustful of traditional, reliable sources? (You get the same thing with crime surveys, where most people wildly overestimate their chances of being a victim of violent crime. Again, with implications for politics and support for right-wing parties.)

How many immigrants are here? Ignorance fuels the rise of nationalism

Dems would be wise to stay quiet on impeachment, unless something huge and watertight hits, which they could not ignore. They would need a super majority, and an unassailable case, for the Senate to convict the Oaf. Even then, Cult45 would not concede. What would be interesting, in this regard, is how long Poxy Foxy would cling to the wreckage.

www.politico.com/newsletters/huddle/2018/08/23/dems-quiet-on-impeachment-republicans-shun-calls-to-delay-kavanaugh-hearings-election-security-bill-hits-setback-dems-down-on-defeating-hunter-300172