Longtime broadcaster Keith Olbermann’s latest episode of “The Resistance” put recent revelations about Trump campaign collusion with the Russians into chronological order, revealing a “timeline of treason” during the 2016 presidential campaign.
“The sheer volume of information in this one thread of the Trump campaign conspiracy is so overwhelming that only when viewed chronologically does it make any sense,” Olbermann of the June 9, 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with Natalia Veselnitskaya. “Or does it become clear that it is, in short, a timeline of treason.”
NEW VIDEO: Only when you see the day-by-day story of TrumpJr’s Russia meeting is it clear: a Timeline Of Treason pic.twitter.com/M35GkZnCKE
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) July 18, 2017
Going back to the spring of 2015, the veteran broadcaster recalled the tick-tock of revelations of collusion. The timeline doesn’t just contain the actions of Donald Trump, Jr. but also those of his father, President Donald Trump.
8th attendee identified. Trump confesses HE would've gone to Russian meeting. There is enough to impeach him, today pic.twitter.com/dZKbS8nVCN
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) July 18, 2017
Olbermann closed the segment by addressing White House advisor Kellyanne Conway, saying, “your client can turn himself in any time now.”
Mike Allen formerly of Politico and now Axios, is part of the reason this country is in the mess it is…
Still normalizing and romanticizing a treasonous buffoon and his faux-Everyman shenanigans…
And telling us just how ‘refreshing’, crazy, corrupt and treasonous really is… as long as it’s wrapped up in entitled, good ole alt-right sensibilities …and as long as people like Mikey get to have access and enjoy a scoop of icecream as the treasonous buffoon sells this country out to the Russians in exchange for cash..
https://mobile.twitter.com/Spicerlies/status/887817227000479744/photo/1
https://mobile.twitter.com/Spicerlies/status/887812939209732096/photo/1
Will y’all find a cure for cancer already? #JohnMcCain
https://twitter.com/MariaChappelleN/status/887673493172748288
The difference being that the Clampetts were actually rich…made their money honestly and ethically, were honorable and intrinsically decent people… and for all intents and purposes, were real patriots who would never have sold out their country for all the money and oil in the world…In fact, neither Jed or granny would have stood for it…and they’d have sooner gone back to being penniless and possum-hunting, before selling the country out to Russia..
So true, and Granny would have bust a cap in #45’s AZZ without blinking.
The buffoon is so spooked by just how close and how hot the probe is getting, that he actually goes to the ‘dying’ New York Times to warn off Mueller against investigating or going anywhere near his dubious finances and family ‘business’…precisely where all
the Russian loot is hidden…LOL..
Can’t make this crazy up if one tried…
If someone had written a movie script similar to what we’ve been witnessing, folks would be like, this could never happen…this is so ridiculously farfetched…
But here we are witnessing it play out unabated in real time…
And nobody is patriotic enough to wrest the nuclear codes from the teeny hands and throw this treasonous buffoon and his corrupt klan out of the People’s House..
BWA HA HA HA
Trump actually thinks he’s above the law. So if he’s ticked about Sessions recusing himself then he wants to run amuck with lawlessness. This sob must be severely punished for what he has done to this country.
Well wishes to Senator McCain..
“…Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has been diagnosed with brain cancer, the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix said Wednesday.
The tumor was discovered after the senior Arizona senator underwent a minor procedure last week to remove a blood clot from above his left eye.
“Subsequent tissue pathology revealed that a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was associated with the blood clot,” the hospital said in a statement…”
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/342849-john-mccain-diagnosed-with-brain-cancer
Really hoping and praying he beats it..
Very best wishes and heartfelt prayers for his recovery…
Brain cancer is horrible…
I was afraid this was going to be bad.
Everyone seems to think that Martha McSally would be Gov Ducey’s favorite to replace McCain should that be necessary.
Ugh..
It’s not even been 20 minutes since the diagnosis has been made public, and they’re already kicking the guy aside …
And worse, to tout awful McSally…
Ugh..
Glioblastoma
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glioblastoma
Prayers for his recovery.
“…She is a former clerk on the House Agriculture Committee.
She is the author of children’s books about an elephant named Ellis.
She sings in the choir at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
She plays French horn in City of Fairfax Band.
And, she testified Tuesday, she has “looked at some of” Pope Francis’s encyclical on climate change.
But really, Gingrich was receiving a confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee because of one qualification: She is married to Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House and a major backer of President Trump.
And now, for his support of Trump, he is getting the ultimate patronage: the chance to live in Rome on the taxpayer’s dime while his wife, enjoys a plum posting. Newt, who converted to Catholicism several years ago, set his wife up nicely for the job by co-hosting two videos with her about Pope John Paul II, produced with a Gingrich political ally.
But if it is good news for the Gingriches, it is an(other) insult to Francis from Trump, who has sparred with the pope over immigration and climate change. Newt carried on a six-year extramarital affair with Callista in the 1990s when she, 23 years his junior, was a House staffer and he, as speaker, led the impeachment of Bill Clinton over his extramarital affair with an intern. National Catholic Reporter’s Michael Sean Winters called it “astonishing that a party that celebrates family values at every turn has a president who is on his third wife and who has bragged about his extramarital affairs and who is appointing an ambassador to the Vatican who had a six-year affair with her future husband while he was still married to his second wife.”
The nomination of Callista is also Trump’s beatification of Newt, who has done as much as anyone to coarsen American politics — and to pave the way for Trump — with his name-calling, demonizing and brinkmanship.
But the choice of Callista Gingrich is another category of cronyism for an administration populated by friends and relations rather than appointees of merit. This has fueled the Russia scandal, stalled the agenda in Congress and made the administration seem singularly incompetent — yet Republicans in Congress have been unwilling to say that this is unacceptable.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) introduced Gingrich on Tuesday by noting that she was valedictorian of her high school class.
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), who succeeded Newt in the House before moving to the Senate, declared that “one of her great, great persuasive talents is to not only convince Newt to marry her, but convert him to Catholicism.”
Gingrich testified that she has “the full support of my husband, Newt,” who didn’t attend the hearing. Gingrich, an uncomfortable smile fixed on her face, provided, in lieu of actual answers to questions, strung-together snippets of clichés.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) asked about refugee policy, on which Francis and Trump disagree. Gingrich responded with a bromide about “a deep commitment in this country to work to forward peace and stability.”
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) asked how she would work with the Vatican to counter extremism. Gingrich responded with a word salad about looking “forward to working on those issues of our shared policy opportunities.”
Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) asked about the pope’s climate change encyclical. She responded with boilerplate about how “President Trump wants to maintain that we have clean air and clean water.”
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) asked if she had even read the encyclical.
“I have looked at some of it,” the witness replied.
“Are there pieces of it that particularly resonate for you?”
“Well,” Gingrich replied generically, “I think we’re all called to be stewards of the land.”
Staffers on both sides of the committee were now grinning at the pained responses.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/opinions/callista-gingrichs-nomination-to-the-vatican-stinks-to-high-heaven/2017/07/18/e131b34e-6bf5-11e7-96ab-5f38140b38cc_story.html
http://wapo.st/2tFV9XO
https://twitter.com/Crystal1Johnson/status/887820729999253506
And all the crap thrown and put up with …and the never-ending dehumanization endured and without any protection …no matter how upstanding …and no matter in what capacity…
And especially when one is grounded and comfortable in their own black skin…and isn’t a suck-up, or beholden, isn’t looking to be validated, approved of, co-opted…or diluted and affectedly white-washed into ‘acceptable’ specification…
https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/887817906096132097
It’s true that the buffoon exhibits a twisted form of arrested development, immaturity and bully inhabiting victimhood…it is true that he is deeply psychopathic… and a malignant narcissist of the worst order…it is also true that he is completely lacking in self-awareness..
It is also true that he is entirely corrupt, devious…a greasy conman and shyster who has relied entirely on dubious schemes and con games to ‘get ahead’…
It is also true that he is surrounded by equally soulless, corrupt, devious, deluded, treasonous handlers like Alt-right sadist Bannon, Hungarian Nazi-sympathizing racist Gorka (who despite talk of him being removed, still remains…and even more empowered and emboldened tha ever)… among others..
They chew-up and spit into the mouth of the already dumb, paranoid and primed buffoon…
They yank his chain so easily and know exactly how to rile-up and engineer for their various agenda, a hollow buffoon who craves and exists entirely on flattery and clings to delusions of grandeur….and a deep, incurable and overcompensatory need to be seen as wealthy, powerful, important, relevant…
Nothing more dangerous than a hollow, incurious, ignorant, insecure narcissistic buffoon surrounded, worked and controlled by even worse and even more mediocre but extremely callous, soulless, power-drunken, treacherous, seriously deluded nutsos…
The more comfortable these callous alt-right treasonous crazies get in the People’s House, the more on-demand gourmet meatloaf and plush trips to Paris to be exclusively wined and dined and flattered and thrown parades…at the taxpayers expense…the more understanding and control they get over the institutional tools of our country and democracy…the more brazen and dangerous they get…and the harder they hold on, and the harder it’ll be to get them out..
https://twitter.com/AP/status/887804478837198849
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/887795665434267649
he is one smarmy-eyed prick
https://twitter.com/SenFeinstein/status/887788383820546048
https://twitter.com/CAPAction/status/887794771934236673
Article:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/black-sergeants-claim-discrimination-in-st-louis-police-promotion-practices/article_22680efa-7fec-5996-b173-6d595850c07f.html
Senate Republicans Defy Trump And Announce Hearings To Stabilize Obamacare Markets https://t.co/kMdZov973Q
— Dianne Wing (@DianneWing2) July 19, 2017
I so hope this is a legitimate effort. Hard to trust anything Republicans do these days, even with the word “bipartisan” on it.
— Dudette (@Dudette9t9) July 19, 2017
New post:
Trump’s threat to make Dems “scream death” is actually a threat to harm millions out of pure spite:https://t.co/b4Ce6QfyeR
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) July 19, 2017
Important. WH budget chief now strongly hinting WH will cut off CSRs or maintain uncertainty on them: https://t.co/wFKrYpy2vz
So: https://t.co/IfQjVJp3Rm
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) July 19, 2017
Trump ends covert CIA program to arm anti-Assad rebels in Syria, a move sought by Moscow https://t.co/NGVzxLx9S6
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) July 19, 2017
After failing on health care, McConnell’s reputation takes a hit
07/19/17 10:59 AM—UPDATED 07/19/17 11:58 AM
By Steve Benen
When Donald Trump sat down with the Christian Broadcasting Network last week, TV preacher Pat Robertson noted in passing, “Mitch McConnell is a tactician of great skill.”
This is certainly the reputation the Senate Majority Leader has cultivated over the course of many years. McConnell, Kentucky’s senior senator, knows the institution and its procedures as well as anyone, and knows how to navigate difficult legislative waters. For months, many have assumed that Republicans would eventually pass a far-right health care bill, largely because of McConnell’s skills.
But with the party’s gambit apparently collapsing, Politico noted just how “serious” a defeat this is for the Senate Republican leader.
.
‘Reputation..’. Mitch McConnell…?
🙄
Reminder: This commission is a partisan attempt to suppress the right to vote. https://t.co/4IAK6dUkYk
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) July 19, 2017
President Trump’s election commission begins public life facing questions about its agenda https://t.co/AcOeUULizT
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 19, 2017
OMG! OMG! OMG! @TherealTaraji #TakeMyMoney Just TAKE it! 💃🏾⚡️💥🔥💃🏾 https://t.co/DAvoh6cczO
— Dudette (@Dudette9t9) July 19, 2017
New poster revealed for @TherealTaraji hit-woman thriller ‘Proud Mary’ https://t.co/NfYiL3c6Rd
— Shadow And Act (@shadowandact) July 19, 2017
JUST IN: DOJ new asset forfeiture policy – police can seize property from people not charged w/crime even in states where it’s been banned. pic.twitter.com/P8K0g80m4E
— Paula Reid (@PaulaReidCBS) July 19, 2017
Trump wants to end ACA subsidy payments. Immediately halting them would likely tip the Obamacare markets into chaos https://t.co/xBl58cAdZX pic.twitter.com/N6h5qNXIXF
— POLITICO (@politico) July 19, 2017
‘White people are going to kill you’: Georgia mosque on high alert after threat of ‘mass slaughter’ https://t.co/z5NkQsZeAW pic.twitter.com/fEfhKjNCqD
— Raw Story (@RawStory) July 19, 2017
Trump party planner-turned-housing official gives segregation a thumbs up https://t.co/UdWSqYB3TI pic.twitter.com/KNbgMug7ZH
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) July 19, 2017
The Trump-DeVos budget ends loan forgiveness for those who go into public service to help those with the greatest needs. #KidsNotCuts
— AFGE (@AFGENational) July 19, 2017
How Trump and the GOP Congress Failed in Just Six Months
by Martin Longman
July 19, 2017 12:58 PM
I hate to do this but Trumpcare failed once before, in March, and I wrote its autopsy back then. In two long pieces (Trump Built His Own Prison and How a Tricky Tactic by Congressional Republicans Destroyed Trump’s Agenda), I explained why it was a major strategic error for the Trump administration to sign off on an unprecedented parliamentary gambit to avoid Democratic filibusters. I explained why it was doomed from the beginning and to the best of my ability what the fallout would be from the failure. I just went back and read them both, and I really wouldn’t add or amend anything. It’s playing out exactly as I described with the only difference being that the GOP couldn’t face the music back in March and so wasted April, May, June, and most of July trying to revive a corpse. I’d like to lay it all out for you again, but why reinvent the wheel when my pieces from March will serve the purpose?
Instead, I’ll just give a brief recap. The Republicans decided that they could take advantage of the fact that they never passed a budget last year to pass two budgets this year. This would allow them to use the first to repeal Obamacare (quickly, they hoped) and the second to pass tax reform. There were mind-numbing parliamentary reasons for creating two separate bills that you can read about in the “Tricky Tactic” piece, but the primary rationale was that it would allow the Republicans to bypass the Democrats’ filibuster and pass through both major pieces of legislation on strictly party line votes. They wouldn’t need hearings or expert witnesses or to have a traditional committee markup of the legislation. And, because of this, they wouldn’t get but also would not need any Democratic input, buy-in, or votes.
One obvious flaw in this plan is that it created an adversarial environment where the Democrats would not and could not work constructively with the Republicans, and in which the Republicans erroneously thought that they could get results without help. Even if the plan had worked for its intended purposes, there’s a lot more to politics than health care and tax reform, and the Trump administration would need a decent working relationship with at least some Democratic lawmakers (eight senators, for example, to clear a filibuster) to pass anything that wasn’t included in their two budget reconciliation bills. Their plan didn’t take this into account, so they salted the earth for any prospect of later bipartisan cooperation.
This wasn’t the only way that Trump salted the earth. He came out of the box with a toxic travel ban, for example, and he filled his cabinet with people who are more interested in dismantling their departments than running them. All of this contributed to an environment where Trump would be hamstrung by his inability to pass legislation through Congress. But the most damaging thing, in my opinion, was the adoption of this dual budget reconciliation plan because it gave the Republicans the idea that they were operating in a political environment that didn’t actually exist. It gave them permission to act with no thought for the future.
Of course, Trump did not understand what he was signing off on when the Republican leaders pitched him this convoluted plan filled with parliamentary jujitsu. But I was able to say in the third week of March, when Trump had just reached the sixty day mark of his presidency, that “he’s barely been in office for two months and he’s already cut off every possibility for success.”
The Questions Raised by Trump’s Relationship With Putin
by Nancy LeTourneau
July 19, 2017 10:55 AM
ust as we aren’t likely to ever know what happened during the initial meeting between Trump and Putin, Aaron Blake put that question aside when he wrote about the second previously undisclosed meeting between them during a dinner at the G20 meeting in Germany. Instead, he asks:
Why did Trump see fit to do something that may look so suspicious and raise even more concerns about his relationship with Russia? And why did he and/or the White House not disclose it?
Blake then shares three different theories in response:
1. There is something nefarious going on
2. Trump is oblivious to how this might be perceived
3. Trump is simply addicted to causing controversy
It would be a serious mistake for anyone to assume that any one of those excludes the others.
Aww…have a look at this fluffy Walker’s moth:
https://twitter.com/Fascinatingpics/status/887419464232443905
https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/887692432648937472
https://twitter.com/MaddowBlog/status/887495509102837760
https://twitter.com/RepCummings/status/887736695801733120
https://twitter.com/cspan/status/887697064725012481
https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/887731067343581185
https://twitter.com/OKCFOX/status/887732380928049152
https://twitter.com/ACLU/status/887731627153141764
GOP Lawmaker Got Direction From Moscow, Took It Back to D.C.
After being given a secret document by officials in Moscow, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher sought to alter sanctions legislation and tried to set up a virtual show trial on Capitol Hill.
NICO HINES
07.19.17 1:00 AM ET
Members of the team of Russians who secured a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner also attempted to stage a show trial of anti-Putin campaigner Bill Browder on Capitol Hill.
The trial, which would have come in the form of a congressional hearing, was scheduled for mid-June 2016 by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), a long-standing Russia ally who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe. During the hearing, Rohrabacher had planned to confront Browder with a feature-length pro-Kremlin propaganda movie that viciously attacks him—as well as at least two witnesses linked to the Russian authorities, including lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya.
Ultimately, the hearing was canceled when senior Republicans intervened and agreed to allow a hearing on Russia at the full committee level with a Moscow-sympathetic witness, according to multiple congressional aides.
An email reviewed by The Daily Beast shows that before that June 14 hearing, Rohrabacher’s staff received pro-Kremlin briefings against Browder, once Russia’s biggest foreign investor, and his tax attorney Sergei Magnitsky from a lawyer who was working with Veselnitskaya.
Although House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) had prohibited Rohrabacher from showing the Russian propaganda film in Congress, Rohrabacher’s Capitol Hill office still actively promoted a screening of the movie that was held at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., on June 13, 2016. Veselnitskaya was one of those handling the movie’s worldwide promotion.
Invitations to attend the movie screening were sent from the subcommittee office by Catharine O’Neill, a Republican intern on Rohrabacher’s committee. Her email promised that the movie would convince viewers that Magnitsky, who was murdered in a Russian prison cell, was no hero.
The invite, reviewed by The Daily Beast, claimed that the film “explodes the common view that Mr. Magnitsky was a whistleblower” and lavishes praise on the “rebel director” Andrei Nekrasov.
“That invitation was not from our office. O’Neill was an unpaid intern on the committee staff. Paul denies asking her to send the invitations,” said Ken Grubbs, Rohrabacher’s press secretary, referring to the congressman’s staff director, Paul Behrends.
O’Neill went on to secure a job on the Trump transition team and then in the State Department’s Office of the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights. She did not return a call for comment.
https://twitter.com/PaulaReidCBS/status/887730356023177216
https://twitter.com/skepticalbrotha/status/887725458279804933
This article is a very good compilation of what the GOP has already done and is currently doing to sabotage the Affordable Care Act:
10 ways the GOP sabotaged Obamacare
Trump and Congressional Republicans say the ACA is collapsing under its own weight, but they’ve been dragging it down for years
By Louise Norris
healthinsurance.org contributor
May 17, 2017
Source: https://www.healthinsurance.org/blog/2017/05/17/10-ways-the-gop-sabotaged-obamacare/
The Pence-Kobach voter purge commission meets today. We must remember what their true goal is. My @nytimes op-ed: https://t.co/JtQHQh5n4i
— Vanita Gupta (@vanitaguptaCR) July 19, 2017
https://twitter.com/splcenter/status/887674799002198016
https://twitter.com/DavidCornDC/status/887736753234358273
GOP’ers know the only way they win is to prevent Americans from voting.
They’re unpopular. Their policies are unpopular. They must cheat. https://t.co/ClhznAl3AL
— Pé Resists (@4everNeverTrump) July 19, 2017
Kris Kobach wants to dismantle the National Voter Registration Act, making it harder for Americans to vote. https://t.co/Y7IjiEtbnm
— ACLU National (@ACLU) July 18, 2017
A fantastic gesture from Timpson. Free outfit cleaning for anyone who is unemployed and has a job interview.#WednesdayWisdom pic.twitter.com/GcNqIabTDs
— NinetyFive (@NinetyFive_UK) July 19, 2017
To those covering ‘election integrity’ commission: repeating lies about voter fraud without fact-checking them is journalistic malpractice
— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) July 19, 2017
ARI BERMAN IS A VOTING RIGHTS BOSS!!!
https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/887724294675062785
https://twitter.com/WGNNews/status/887722915982172160
https://twitter.com/ABCPolitics/status/887723259088822276
https://twitter.com/smartflexin/status/887430974946123781
https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/887718778007691264
https://twitter.com/RedTRaccoon/status/887378447810613248
😂😂😂😂😂 Dick Durbin says a lot of States..up to 43 have told Trump’s election commission to put their request where the monkey put the peanut.
Key point: Trump didn’t just welcome Russian efforts to help him, he also assisted in undermining election integrity https://t.co/vtC2VsrN4T
— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) July 19, 2017
A fraud speaking about protecting the integrity of the vote. I just can’t… #WeAreInTheTwilightZone
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 7/18/17
What would Russia want from a pliant US leader?
Rachel Maddow updates the show’s running list of what Russia would likely want to get out of a pliant U.S. leader, including weaker election security and cyber policy.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 7/18/17
US under Trump shifts toward Putin worldview
Wendy Sherman, former under secretary of State for political affairs, talks with Rachel Maddow about how the Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. State Department serves Vladimir Putin’s goals as the US abandons its role as leader of the community of nations.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 7/18/17
Another person ID’d at Trump Jr collusion meeting of, now, eight
Rachel Maddow reports on the revelation of the identity of an eighth attendee at the meeting where Donald Trump Jr was told he’d receive anti-Hillary Clinton intel from the Russian government. This new person has an uncomfortably close history with money laundering.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 7/18/17
Trump, Putin had second, undisclosed, hour-long encounter at G20
Ian Bremmer, political scientist and president of The Eurasia Group, talks with Rachel Maddow about the revelation of an undisclosed second encounter between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin that left US allies concerned and no official record.
Trump wants to let the health system fail, but won’t accept blame
07/18/17 04:16 PM
By Steve Benen
……………………………..
“And I think we’re probably in that position where we’ll just let Obamacare fail. We’re not going to own it. I’m not going to own it. I can tell you that the Republicans are not going to own it. We’ll let Obamacare fail and then the Democrats are going to come to us and they’re going to say. ‘How do we fix it? how do we fix it? Or how do we come up with a new plan?
Let’s unpack this a bit, because it’s an amazing statement.
Right off the bat, the idea that Trump has long been an advocate of skipping the legislative process is pretty much the opposite of the truth. In fact, he’s repeatedly pressed lawmakers to pass a reform bill – any reform bill – rather than simply letting the Affordable Care Act wither on the vine.
What’s more, “sitting in the Oval Office.” “waiting to sign something,” isn’t presidential leadership. Congress is run by Trump’s own party, and if a health care overhaul is a priority for him, the president could get engaged – perhaps by learning some of the basics of the debate. For months, he hasn’t bothered.
But what matters most is Trump’s stated willingness to let the American health care system “fail.” He didn’t specify whether he intends to pursue deliberate failure through sabotage or through malicious neglect, but either way, this is an exceedingly rare – if not completely unprecedented – example of a sitting president announcing support for allowing much of the country to suffer, on purpose, in order to pursue some kind of political objective.
And as far as Trump is concerned, if/when this happens, he will insist that the buck should stop somewhere else. “I’m not going to own it,” he said.
Of course he will. He’ll “own it” in part because the systemic failure will happen on his watch, as a result of his choices, but also because he’s telling everyone his plan out loud.
Trump is effectively declaring, on camera, “Hey everyone, I’m prepared to let families struggle without security, but I hope I can convince people that I’m not responsible for my own actions.”
“So we’ll see what happens. There are some other things going on right now as we speak. But I am disappointed because for so many years I’ve been hearing repeal and replace. I’m sitting in the Oval Office right next door pen in hand waiting to sign something, and I’ll be waiting and eventually, we’re going to get something done and it’s going to be very good….. Something will happen and it’ll be very good.”
https://twitter.com/RWPUSA/status/887505292103233537
White House blames Democrats for Trumpcare’s collapse
07/19/17 09:23 AM
By Steve Benen
The Republicans’ health care gambit failed, at least for now, because the party couldn’t overcome its partisan divisions. The GOP majority in the House and Senate is large enough to pass the legislation, but as is now obvious, there aren’t enough Republican members prepared to back their party’s regressive and unpopular bill.
And yet, consider this exchange from yesterday’s White House press briefing, where Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted intra-party divisions aren’t the real problem.
Yes, of course. Democrats have effectively no role in the federal policymaking process – in the case of this health care bill, they couldn’t even filibuster – which is controlled by a Republican House, Republican Senate, and Republican White House. And yet, Trump World see Democrats as the reason for Trumpcare’s apparent demise.
In a way, it’s almost a compliment: the White House apparently sees Democrats as enormously powerful, despite being in the minority.
Asked for an explanation, Sarah Huckabee Sanders argued, among other things, that congressional Dems are “responsible for being unwilling to work with Republicans in any capacity.”
This is an increasingly common GOP talking point. It’s not altogether coherent – several Republicans balked at their own party’s legislation because Democrats wouldn’t negotiate? – but it appears to make the White House and GOP leaders feel better.
That does not, however, make it true. As we discussed several weeks ago, Democrats practically begged to work with Republicans on health care. They put their appeals in writing for months. GOP leaders ignored every appeal.
“…Republicans balked at their own party’s legislation because Democrats wouldn’t negotiate? ..”
Exactly!
Trumpcare’s demise proves the rules of political gravity still exist
07/19/17 08:44 AM—UPDATED 07/19/17 08:47 AM
By Steve Benen
…………………………………………………
Quite right. GOP leaders put together a pernicious piece of legislation, which was poorly structured and substantively incoherent. Republican officials struggled to explain why they were pushing the plan and what they hoped to accomplish with it. Making matters worse, their entire blueprint was based largely on falsehoods and broken promises.
The result was a bizarre political fight in which major health care legislation, written in secret without consultation from experts, drew opposition from doctors, nurses, hospitals, patient advocates, and insurers. What’s more, governors from both parties condemned the Republican bill in no uncertain terms.
And perhaps no one hated the bill more than the American people. It is no exaggeration to say the GOP health care proposal was the most unpopular bill considered by Congress in the last three decades.
You don’t need to be a political scientist to know this is a recipe for failure. The “rules” of American politics tell us when a poorly written health care bill, lacking in purpose, is vehemently opposed by industry stakeholders, governors, and voters, that bill dies.
And as of yesterday, the “rules” worked. What was supposed to happen, in fact, happened. The laws of “political gravity,” to borrow Sarlin’s phrase, have not yet been repealed.
There’s room for a conversation about how such an outrageous piece of legislation somehow earned the support of a major-party majority – a development that, at a minimum, suggests the “rules” are fraying – but for now, it’s refreshing and encouraging to see American politics work the way it’s supposed to.
The “era of Nothing Matters politics,” as recently described by Matt Yglesias, hasn’t taken over just yet.
https://twitter.com/Amy_Siskind/status/887670240104120320
https://twitter.com/PaulaReidCBS/status/887670400695631872
The Trump-Putin encounter the White House neglected to mention
07/19/17 08:00 AM—UPDATED 07/19/17 08:07 AM
By Steve Benen
Donald Trump’s recent meeting in Germany with Russian President Vladimir Putin was one of the more important diplomatic moments of the year. It was, after all, Putin’s intervention in the American election that helped put Trump in power, and so their private meeting was a subject of considerable scrutiny.
The presidential chat was originally scheduled for 30 minutes, but it ended up lasting over two hours. Evidently, however, this was not the only encounter between the two leaders.
This second interaction was first uncovered by Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, who appeared on the show last night.
In a breach of diplomatic protocol, there were no U.S. officials present at this second encounter: the chat was limited to the American president, the Russian president, and Putin’s interpreter. There’s no official U.S. account or readout, obviously, because Trump was the only American there.
What’s more, for reasons that are unclear, the White House didn’t disclose this second conversation between Trump and Putin. As Rachel noted on the show, if there’s one thing administration officials should be mindful of right now, it’s that undisclosed interactions between Team Trump and Putin’s government is a subject of considerable interest.
The New York Times’ report added, “The dinner discussion caught the attention of other leaders around the table, some of whom later remarked privately on the odd spectacle of an American president seeming to single out the Russian leader for special attention at a summit meeting that included some of the United States’ staunchest, oldest allies.”
https://twitter.com/Fusion/status/887654518229311488
but but…it was supposed to be CRIMINALS….REMEMBER?
Some of the comments about this on facebook are hilarious….
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/887503020191342592
20 members of Congress demand FBI investigation into Ivanka Trump’s security clearance https://t.co/e9oxyNFair
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) July 19, 2017
https://twitter.com/justin_fenton/status/887504546074939393
Uh huh
Uh huh
Evil..
REVEALED: Departing ethics boss claims Trump’s lawyer asked if the president had to certify his disclosure was true https://t.co/Jd9TcEqveY pic.twitter.com/lpFQlUxdn6
— Raw Story (@RawStory) July 19, 2017
The Republicans Are Trolling Themselves Now
by Martin Longman
July 18, 2017 1:39 PM
Nancy has already covered Mitch McConnell’s latest gambit to repeal Obamacare (with a delay) without replacing it. It is, in effect, a way of punishing his own members for not submitting to his leadership. They will be forced to go on the record as either unconscionable arsonists or as betrayers on the one true belief.
McConnell’s caucus is not happy, as Molly Ball explains in the Atlantic, yet they seem to be giving the president a pass on this so far. Instead, senators are pointing fingers at their leadership and at the House, while House members are yelling right back.
……………………………….
Of course, it was on Twitter that Trump announced that he wanted a vote in the Senate on the repeal-and-don’t-replace bill that the Republicans passed in 2015 only to see it vetoed by President Obama. And McConnell quickly acceded to his demand.
It’s not a strategy for success. It’s an angry response to failure that punishes even the senators who were willing to walk off a cliff for the president. They want some plausible deniability so they can flexibly respond to critics on the campaign trail. They want to be able to say that they were willing to support Obamacare repeal but at the same time deny that they would have supported the specific harmful things contained in the bill. Trump wants to take this away from them and force them to vote for an enormously unpopular bill that will never become law. The Democrats can’t believe their luck.
https://twitter.com/wbaltv11/status/887664581325316096
SOCIOPATHS.
THE.ENTIRE.LOT.OF.THEM.
Paul Ryan’s Budget Isn’t Extreme Enough for the Freedom Caucus
by Nancy LeTourneau
July 19, 2017 8:00 AM
Prepare yourself for deja vu all over again, as Yogi Bera might say.
Just as the Republican attempt to repeal Obamacare is about to die in the Senate, House Republicans released their latest budget proposal.
As Kevin Drum notes, when you factor in inflation, discretionary domestic spending is cut nearly in half.
In addition, the House budget proposal includes cuts to Medicare. But apparently that’s not extreme enough for the House Freedom Caucus.
Trump Still Doesn’t Understand the Filibuster
by Martin Longman
July 18, 2017 4:36 PM
The president is not a very bright man.
This is stupid on a number of levels. First, Trump’s health care plan just failed at the 51 (or 50+1) vote threshold. By using budget reconciliation rules, the Republican leadership in the Senate had already bypassed the legislative filibuster that necessitates a 60-vote majority.
Second, it appears that Trump did not realize that a full repeal of Obamacare would require a 60-vote majority until after he demanded a vote. This is because the regulatory structure of the Affordable Care Act cannot be touched under budget reconciliation rules. This is vitally key information that the president should have understood when he was still a candidate crafting his campaign proposals.
Third, it appears that someone has finally explained all of this to Trump as a reason why the Republicans will not just go ahead and pass the same Obamacare repeal act that they passed in 2015. If they repeal the revenues from Obamacare but not the regulations, the entire insurance market will collapse. Trump just demanded that the Republican Party do this, and now he’s discovered why they will not.
The Spooks knew about Dolt45’s meeting with Putin….that’s why they freaked out.
At every turn…Dolt45 is a traitor.
Our allies have the right to just ignore us.
STRIPPING MILLIONS FROM THE VOTER ROLLS.
They tell you who they are without shame. BELIEVE THEM.https://t.co/bWvrl8s2vk
— Eric Garland (@ericgarland) July 19, 2017
Schumer fires back at Trump: The president is ‘actively trying to undermine the health care system.’ https://t.co/UMpVJ3IAOH
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 18, 2017
“It’s regretful that our Dem colleagues decided…that they did not want to engage with us seriously…to deliver that relief.” – McConnell pic.twitter.com/IAZavSZ2y5
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 18, 2017
Says the man who locked every Democrat and all but 13 Republicans out of the room while plotting to delete 22 million people’s healthcare. https://t.co/mxQP8tlA2d
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) July 19, 2017
LOL
Sweden is teaching its first graders how to code pic.twitter.com/FySmyJh94B
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) July 19, 2017
“It’s regretful that our Dem colleagues decided…that they did not want to engage with us seriously…to deliver that relief.” – McConnell pic.twitter.com/IAZavSZ2y5
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 18, 2017
Shocking this happened after McConnell authored the bill in secret after killing the filibuster on SCOTUS noms. Why so unfair, Dems?! Why?!! https://t.co/mwhnsIoLFw
— Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) July 19, 2017
Al Gore: I was wrong to think Trump would come to his senses https://t.co/tR2V7XAZ0G pic.twitter.com/iN0zldxNWt
— The Hill (@thehill) July 19, 2017
No, @algore, you were wrong to think @realDonaldTrump had any senses to come to. https://t.co/WxqiZv7G5C
— Col. Morris Davis (@ColMorrisDavis) July 19, 2017
#Ryabkov: we need an unconditional return of 🇷🇺property in the #US🇺🇸; otherwise, retaliation measures will follow ➡️https://t.co/XzbqQISrtk pic.twitter.com/HPBooDih6Y
— Russia in USA 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbUSA) July 18, 2017
This is an example as to why Russia isn’t our ‘friend’, allies don’t negotiate by threat. https://t.co/fNOsvTPue2
— Nada Bakos (@nadabakos) July 18, 2017
Breaking: Sen. Grassley postpones hearing at which Bill Browder — former client of Magnitsky — was due to testify. pic.twitter.com/Z9okZvUhFz
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) July 18, 2017
lmfao Grassley thought he could make the entire thing about poking holes in the Dossier but then Don Jr story broke https://t.co/jNXFSQbpdQ
— On Trial for ?????? (@ZeddRebel) July 18, 2017
Uh huh
Connect.those.dots!!
TREASON 😠😠
TREASON
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Good Morning, Everyone 😄😄😄
Happy HUMP day, Everyone.
Good morning, everyone. My neck has been hurting. I took some pain medication and used hot towels last night. Hope today is better.
Feel better, SG2.
I hope your neck is feeling better soon, SG2.
Take care of yourself our SG…
Thanks, everyone. It felt pretty good today but the pain is trying to come back.
Take care of yourself mama, chef, warrior, dancer…
You’ve got to start taking it easy, until we can clone you…Can’t be juggling so much all at once..
LOL! I will. I got some heat wraps a few minutes ago. Going to try them and see if it gives me some relief.