Monday Open Thread

Posted on July 30, 2018 by rikyrah

Rest IN POWER: The Trayvon Martin Story
Tonight at 9 p.m. on the Paramount Network

About Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story
Helmed by executive producer Shawn Carter, Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story examines the life and legacy of Trayvon Martin. The six-part, unscripted documentary series looks at one of the most talked-about and controversial events of the last decade, including the worldwide Black Lives Matter movement that grew after Trayvon’s death.

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51 Responses to Monday Open Thread

  7. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 1:59 pm

    Someone made a nice list of the Russia Meeting lies over at BJ, A good timeline:

    Here are the nine stages of collusion denial I’ve identified (thus far):

    1. November 2016: No communications, period

    Hope Hicks: “It never happened. There was no communication between the campaign and any foreign entity during the campaign.”

    2. February 2017: There were no communications, “to the best of our knowledge”

    Sarah Huckabee Sanders: “This is a non-story because, to the best of our knowledge, no contacts took place.”

    3. March 2017: There were communications, but no planned meetings with Russians

    Donald Trump Jr.: “Did I meet with people that were Russian? I’m sure, I’m sure I did. … But none that were set up. None that I can think of at the moment. And certainly none that I was representing the campaign in any way, shape or form.”

    4. July 8, 2017: There was a planned meeting at Trump Tower, but it was “primarily” about adoption and not the campaign

    Trump Jr.: “We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago and was since ended by the Russian government, but it was not a campaign issue at that time and there was no follow-up.”

    5. July 9, 2017: The meeting was planned to discuss the campaign, but the information exchanged wasn’t “meaningful”

    Trump Jr.: “No details or supporting information was provided or even offered. It quickly became clear that she had no meaningful information.”

    6. December 2017: Collusion isn’t even a crime

    President Trump: “There is no collusion, and even if there was, it’s not a crime.”

    Jay Sekulow: “For something to be a crime, there has to be a statute that you claim is being violated. There is not a statute that refers to criminal collusion. There is no crime of collusion.”

    (Technically speaking, the criminal code doesn’t use the word “collusion,” but it’s generally understood as a broad term that could encompass more specific, codified crimes. And even special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s team has used it in court filings.)

    7. May 16, 2018: Even if meaningful information were obtained, it wasn’t used

    Giuliani: “And even if it comes from a Russian, or a German, or an American, it doesn’t matter. And they never used it, is the main thing. They never used it. They rejected it. If there was collusion with the Russians, they would have used it.”

    [One thing, Rudy Giuliani: The Trump campaign *did* use it.]

    8. May 19, 2018: There was a *second* planned meeting about foreign help in the election, but nothing came of it either

    The New York Times reported Sunday on yet another meeting about getting foreign help with the 2016 election. This one came three months before the election and featured Donald Trump Jr. and an emissary, George Nader, who said the princes who lead Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates wanted to assist Trump.

    Alan Futerfas, Trump Jr.’s attorney: “They pitched Mr. Trump Jr. on a social media platform or marketing strategy. He was not interested, and that was the end of it.”

    9. July 16, 2018: Trump couldn’t collude, because Trump didn’t even know Putin

    Trump: “There was no collusion. I didn’t know the president. There was nobody to collude with.”

    10. July 30, 2018: Collusion isn’t a crime, and Trump wasn’t physically at the Trump Tower meeting

    With Michael Cohen alleging that Trump knew about the Trump Tower meeting in real time — despite many previous denials — Giuliani told both CNN and Fox News that Trump wasn’t physically at the meeting.

    Reply
  8. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 1:51 pm

    CNN’s Wolf Blitzer stunned when Dem lawmaker predicts Mueller indictments for Trump Jr and Jared Kushner
    Brad Reed BRAD REED
    30 JUL 2018 AT 14:10 ET

    Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) on Monday stunned CNN host Wolf Blitzer when he confidently predicted that both Donald Trump Jr. and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner would soon be indicted for helping Russian agents during the 2016 presidential election.
    ………………….

    “I think they’re getting closer to knowing that the truth is going to come out that there was activities with the Trump campaign and Russia in releasing those hacks and guiding them to the states and the localities where they came from,” he said. “Some of that was Jared Kushner’s responsibilities, some of it was Donald [Trump] Jr. I think you’re probably going to see indictments of both of those people.”

    Blitzer seemed taken aback by Cohen’s bold assertions and asked him if he had proof to back them up — but he declined to elaborate further.

    “It’s a serious charge, Wolf, and time will show whether I’m correct or not,” he said. “But I believe I am correct… if it walks like a duck, if it swims like a duck, if it quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. And you can see where it’s going.”

    Reply
  9. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 1:46 pm

    Maxine Waters slays Trump with most devastating rant yet: ‘We’ll find out about his schemes, his lying, his payoffs’
    David Edwards
    29 JUL 2018 AT 15:20 ET

    Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) vowed on Sunday that all of President Donald Trump’s secrets would be exposed before he left office

    During an interview on MSNBC, host David Gura asked Waters to respond to Trump’s threat to shut down the government if he does not get funding to build a border wall.

    “You know, this president is a bully and he will try to intimidate all of us,” Waters insisted. “He is not going to shut down anything. As a matter of fact, people will remember that he said he was going to build this wall and he was going to make Mexico pay for the wall. They said they weren’t going to pay for anything. Now he wants the American citizens to pay for this.”

    ………………………………..

    “When you couple that with the fact that his son has lied, he has lied about that meeting that took place at the tower, at the Trump Tower, all of that is going to help, you know, obscure the message that he is trying to bring on the economy,” Waters said. “This president is wreaking havoc on this country. And so while there is some improvement in the economy, we have all of this other mess that we have to take a look at and what is, you know, in the forefront of what is being talked about in the media.”

    Reply
  10. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 1:37 pm

    Marshall at TPM tries to make sense of Rudy and his lies:

    Rudy: Take Two! I Meant to Say The Pre-Planning Meeting Did NOT Happen. pic.twitter.com/Zg87XYkwmG

    — Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) July 30, 2018

    Here’s part two of Rudy’s walk back. pic.twitter.com/1WCpSaccvQ

    — Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) July 30, 2018

    Here’s part 3 of Rudy’s walk back where Foxer basically says Rudes WTF are you talking about. pic.twitter.com/EgMpm8eiJd

    — Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) July 30, 2018

    Reply
  11. Liza says:
    July 30, 2018 at 1:29 pm

    Y’all look at this. Apparently, this is what a middle aged, unattractive, unaccomplished, less than mediocre GOP female politician thinks will give her a leg up on the likely Democratic nominee for the open AZ Senate seat, a woman who happens to be very attractive. And the primary isn’t until Aug 28, neither one has the nomination of their party.

    Martha McSally is one nasty piece of work.

    https://twitter.com/MarthaMcSally/status/1022929554359312384

    Reply
  12. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 12:42 pm

    Anyone think a drug kingpin defendant should get to pick his own Judge after determining who among his choices doesn’t think drug kingpins can be prosecuted? Trump can’t either. https://t.co/TX47KSwrWf

    — Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) July 30, 2018

    Reply
  13. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 12:40 pm

    When these people noticed a mama duck freaking out, they realized all of her babies were trapped in a sewer. So they all worked together to reunite the family 💞🦆 pic.twitter.com/Jt3lFgw8Qg

    — The Dodo (@dodo) July 28, 2018

    Reply
  14. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 12:38 pm

    I’ll say it again – Kelly Ain’t Shyt.

    Trump’s daily agenda shaped by what he’s seen on television
    07/30/18 12:30 PM
    By Steve Benen

    ……………

    Politico published an interesting report overnight on the rise and fall of White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, who was brought in to instill a sense of discipline in the president’s operation, but who gradually found himself marginalized by a boss who didn’t care for the constraints. The article included this unsurprising gem:

    Kelly has done away with “meeting crashers,” the West Wing aides who showed up for meetings uninvited, according to a White House aide, but he has not been able to curb Trump’s practice of adding and subtracting advisers to meetings throughout the day or of turning scheduled gatherings into freewheeling discussions of subjects that suit his interests – including those suggested to him by his coterie of outside advisers, including Fox News host Sean Hannity.

    “He comes down for the day, and whatever he saw on ‘Fox and Friends,’ he schedules meetings based on that,” said one former White House official. “If it’s Iran, it’s ‘Get John Bolton down here!’ … If he’s seen something on TV or [was] talking to Hannity the night before, he’s got lots of flexibility to do whatever he wants to do.”

    Reply
  15. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 12:26 pm

    Jim Jordan, Team Player
    He denies that his Ohio State colleagues knew about sexual abuse. The evidence says they did.
    By WILLIAM SALETAN

    You can’t accuse Jim Jordan of modesty. Last week, in defiance of the legal and political storm gathering around him, the Ohio congressman announced that he’s running for speaker of the House. Jordan and several other Republicans also filed articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Jordan says Rosenstein is covering up a conspiracy in the FBI and the Department of Justice to frame President Donald Trump for colluding with Russia. His accusation is fraudulent, and it’s richly ironic: Jordan—one of the most sanctimonious ideologues in Congress—is wading ever deeper into a cover-up of his own.

    Jordan’s story centers on Ohio State University, where he worked as the assistant wrestling coach in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Former students say that during those years, OSU coaches and administrators ignored reports of sexual abuse and harassment by the wrestling team’s doctor and other faculty members. For weeks, Jordan has denied that he knew about inappropriate sexual behavior of any kind. That contradicts statements from former students who say he was directly informed. But now Jordan is going further. He’s denying not just that he knew about abuse, but also that other coaches or administrators did.

    …………………………

    Jordan concedes nothing. He brushes off his accusers as pawns in a political plot. The “lies” against him are “sequenced and choreographed” by “the left,” Jordan told Fox News, ignoring several accusers who have said they supported and contributed to his campaigns. In fact, Jordan takes pride in being targeted. “I view it as a compliment,” he told WMAL.

    Maybe Jordan thinks he can brazen it out because Trump did. Trump, facing credible abuse accusations from multiple women, attacked them all as liars and got elected. But scorched-earth denials didn’t work for Roy Moore, Bill Cosby, or Harvey Weinstein. At Penn State and Michigan State, and in the Catholic Church, the wall of lies eventually collapsed. The wall will collapse at Ohio State, too. And Jordan will be under it.

    Reply
  17. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 11:54 am

    If these Trumpaloons are willing to “gladly suffer” why are taxpayers bailing them out to the tune of $12B? They’re begging to display their loyalty to Trump, let’s let them do that all the way to the poor house and grave. https://t.co/VUMe8ox2ud

    — meta (@metaquest) July 30,

    Reply
  18. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 11:53 am

    Breaking via @TheTerminal:*MANAFORT EARNED MORE THAN $60 MILLION IN UKRAINE, MUELLER SAYS(First time Mueller has cited an overall figure)— David S. Joachim (@davidjoachim) July 30, 2018

    Reply
  19. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 11:29 am

    Despite recent progress, Republicans press Mueller to ‘wrap it up’
    07/30/18 10:00 AM—UPDATED 07/30/18 10:11 AM
    By Steve Benen

    On NBC News’ “Meet the Press” yesterday, host Chuck Todd noted the dispute between Donald Trump and Michael Cohen, and asked Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) whether this is a potential area of scrutiny for the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Ohio Republican’s answer included a rather dramatic change of subject.

    “Well, I think it’s going to be, you know, a he said and he said issue. So I think it’s probably better that, you know, this goes through the regular process, which is ongoing, Chuck. And I think the Mueller investigation ought to be brought to an end also. I mean, we need to have the facts lead to the right conclusion, and so I support the investigation, I have from the start. But we do need to wrap it up.”

    The wording echoed a sentiment from Vice President Mike Pence in May, when he said, . “In the interests of the country, I think it’s time to wrap it up.” A month later, House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) was a little more colorful on this point, sending a message to Mueller during a committee debate: “Whatever you got, finish it the hell up.”

    None of these Republicans went into any detail explaining why, exactly, Special Counsel Robert Mueller ought to “wrap it up,” which is a shame because their appeals don’t appear to make a lot of sense.

    Reply
  20. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 11:20 am

    Mnuchin eyes economic break for politically important Russian company
    07/30/18 11:30 AM
    By Steve Benen

    Just three months ago, the Trump administration agreed to significant sanctions against Russia over its “malign activities,” and among those targeted was billionaire Oleg Deripaska and Rusal, the aluminum company he runs. Two weeks ago, however, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the administration may be willing to back off.

    It wasn’t idle speculation. Late last week, as Reuters reported, Mnuchin went a little further, signaling plans to “remove the world’s second biggest aluminum producer from a U.S. sanctions list.”

    The Trump Administration may lift sanctions on a major Russian company founded by one of Vladimir Putin’s top allies.

    Treasury Secretary Steve Mnunchin told reporters during G-20 meeting of Finance Ministers last week, that the department may remove sanctions on Rusal, an international aluminum company that controls an estimated 6 percent of the global market that has long been controlled by Oleg Deripaska.

    The political context is a complicating factor – because if you watch The Rachel Maddow Show, you know Deripaska isn’t just some random figure in Russia.

    On the contrary, as Mother Jones’ report noted, Deripaska, a close ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been “implicated in suspected coordination between Moscow and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.”

    Reply
  21. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 10:38 am

    Former Congressman Ron Dellums has passed away.

    RIP, and thank you so much for your service.

    He was instrumental in getting the sanctions against apartheid South Africa put in place.

    Reply
  23. SouthernGirl2 says:
    July 30, 2018 at 9:59 am

    A Change For Trayvon

    Reply
  24. SouthernGirl2 says:
    July 30, 2018 at 9:57 am

    Memorial Tribute. Protesting The Killing of Trayvon Martin

    Reply
  25. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 9:52 am

    Tweet from Ecuador’s External Affairs Ministry today: It is in the interest of Ecuador and also of Mr. Assange that the asylum be terminated

    tee hee hee

    BWA HA HA HA HAH A HAHA

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      July 30, 2018 at 10:27 am

      TEE HEE HEE
      BWA HA HA HA HA

      Reply
    • majiir says:
      July 30, 2018 at 6:44 pm

      Assange began to get in ‘hot water’ with Ecuador’s former President Rafael Correa, who gave him many warnings but let him remain in the nation’s London embassy. Lenin Moreno, the new president, doesn’t appear to have the patience for dealing with Assange that Correa had. Good for him! It’s well past the time that Ecuador kicked “Mr. Stinky” out of it’s U.K. embassy.

      Reply
  27. Liza says:
    July 30, 2018 at 9:47 am

    Trump 2020? Lord, throw me a line. The thought is unbearable.
    https://twitter.com/IndivisibleNet/status/1022991970610819072

    Reply
  29. Ametia says:
    July 30, 2018 at 9:34 am

    Word of the Day : July 30, 2018

    Tempestuousplay
    adjective tem-PESS-chuh-wus

    Definition: of, relating to, or resembling a violent storm : turbulent, stormy

    https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/tempestuous-2018-07-30?pronunciation&lang=en_us&dir=t&file=tempes02&utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=wotd&utm_content=pron

    Reply
  30. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 9:33 am

    Nothing but truth

    I think the criticism of President Obama dancing with his wife is another example of the erasure of black joy. We can’t dance, barbeque, sell water, wait for someone etc. without white folks “snitching”. PBO worked until he was gray but he can’t live his life. https://t.co/SWlEkFAhVJ

    — Loves2Read (@MarciaPoulson) July 30, 2018

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      July 30, 2018 at 10:38 am

      Nobody cares about these MOFOs. they can roll up on us, but there will be consequences.

      PBO & FLOTUS don’t owe these folks SHIT.

      They wanted 45, they got hi. LIVE with the fuckery, lying, cheating, ignorant, deceitful, hateful, misogynistic, mobster.

      Reply
    • Liza says:
      July 30, 2018 at 11:48 am

      The haters are desperate.

      Reply
  31. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 9:19 am

    Kavanaugh ruled for Trump casino in 2012 unionization case
    Source: The Hill

    President Trump Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in 2012 sided with the future U.S. president’s casino in a case over unionization, Bloomberg reported.

    Kavanaugh threw his weight behind Trump Entertainment Resorts’ successful attempt to end a unionization effort at one of its casinos six years ago.

    He voted with two other Republican-nominated judges on the D.C.-based federal appeals court to set aside an order by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that would have required the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in New Jersey to bargain with the United Auto Workers.

    Labor advocates point to this ruling as evidence that Kavanaugh’s appointment could lead to the targeting of laws to protect workers and specifically target the dwindling number of unions in the U.S.

    Reply
  32. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 9:10 am

    Jeff Sessions is hosting a politicized “Religious Liberty” Summit” at DOJ headquarters Monday that leans almost entirely on the Christian right. It’s backed by ADF (the gay wedding cake group) and one of DOJ officials speaking is Kerri Kupec, who used to be ADF spokesperson. pic.twitter.com/4KS9WSf6kM— Dominic Holden (@dominicholden) July 27, 2018

    Reply
  33. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 9:08 am

    “Historically Precipitous Decline.”

    This is how @jaketapper just described Obama’s term… Obama who didnt lock children in cages or separate them from their parents. Who didn’t rape his wife or several other women, who didn’t pay several women for sex while with his 3rd wife.

    — Sir James The Second… watch my shows on HUeMAN TV (@NotOnMyWatchTV) July 29, 2018

    Reply
  34. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 9:07 am

    Funny how the economic anxiety argument has gone right? Proud to lose their savings and jobs under Trump. If they are proud to lose their $ under Trump, why would “free college” or “single payer” from Dems change their minds? Glad people see economic anxiety arg was a farce https://t.co/06yUtzXP9r

    — Marcus H. Johnson (@marcushjohnson) July 30, 2018

    Reply
  35. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 9:01 am

    Putin’s Proxies: How Our Revolution and Justice Democrats Are Attempting to Destroy the Democratic Party

    Let’s talk about Sharice Davids.

    Davids is a Democratic candidate for the third congressional district in Kansas. She is a Native American and was raised by a single mother Army veteran. She began her pursuit of higher education at a community college before working her way through school and eventually received a law degree from Cornell University. Her law work focuses on serving underprivileged communities and she most recently spent a year as a White House fellow during the Obama-Trump transition. Her campaign website begins with a video of her in the boxing ring, portraying her as a fighter for both what she has endured in her own life but also what she will be willing to do as a potential congresswoman from her district. Her platform includes progressive stances on gun control, voting rights, LGBTQI issues, the environment, and healthcare. In short, Sharice Davids is exactly the kind of candidate Democrats can and should be running in 2018.

    And both Our Revolution and the Justice Democrats won’t touch her.

    The reason for this should be apparent for all of us who have been paying attention. Both Our Revolution and Justice Democrats arose in the wake of the 2016 election in an attempt to prove that Bernie Sanders’ vision for the country was alive and well. Despite losing a primary that really wasn’t close at all and blaming everything from the superdelegate system to the fact that “poor people don’t vote”, Sanders and his followers were convinced that their “political revolution” would be alive and well in the months and years to follow. To prove this, former Sanders staffers started Our Revolution and two of them joined Cenk Uyguy and Kyle Kulinski from The Young Turks to start Justice Democrats to show that Sanders’ message still resonated with the general public. These two organizations began running candidates in 2017 in an effort to reform the Democratic Party to one that closely aligns its positions of those of Bernie Sanders. Chiefly among those positions was a pledge to reject all Super PAC money and to run a campaign that would not be influenced by big money and corporations. Using this as their litmus test, both groups then proceeded to recruit and run Democratic candidates in local and statewide elections.

    ……………………..

    The truth is that the motives of these two groups should come under severe scrutiny. Bernie Sanders’ campaign is now under the microscope with both chief strategist Tad Devine’s work with Paul Manafort in Ukraine and its previous Russian connections have begun to become well-documented. The Young Turks jumped on the Bernie bandwagon early on and much has come over their hefty $4 million donation from former Republican governor Buddy Roemer. The Young Turks founder, Cenk Uygur, was also a converted Republican after having abandoned the party during the presidency of George W. Bush and in December of 2017, Uygur was asked to step down from the Justice Democrats after previous sexist blog posts were uncovered from his Republican days, leading co-founder Kyle Kulinski to resign with him as a showing of solidarity. Yet despite the turnover at the top within both organizations, they still seem intent upon challenging the Democratic Party.

    The question is why. Why challenge Democratic incumbents during this critical time? Why use your PACs to secretively and selectively endorse candidates? Why ignore strong, progressive candidates like Sharice Davids? And why combine forces in a deep-red state for a candidate that seems unlikely to win the general election against a well-financed, incumbent Republican?

    Reply
  36. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 8:53 am

    UH HUH
    UH HUH

    NEW: Giuliani just moved the goal posts in 2 big ways on Fox & CNN :1. He’s no longer claiming Trump didn’t collude with Russia. He’s claiming “collusion is not a crime.” 2. He’s not saying Trump did not know abt 2016 Russia mtg in advance. He’s saying Trump did not ATTEND it.— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) July 30, 2018

    Reply
  38. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 8:33 am

    Short and sweet..LOL

    National treasure Rita Moreno on #Roseanne: “We work in a strange business…. I don’t like her any way.” #TCA18

    — Debra Birnbaum (@debrabirnbaum) July 29, 2018

    Reply
  40. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 8:14 am

    Determined corgi tries to get his lethargic friend to go on a walk https://t.co/EXP08NowPk pic.twitter.com/1y0wj3rgbQ

    — Colin Campbell (@colincampbell) July 27, 2018

    Reply
  42. rikyrah says:
    July 30, 2018 at 7:58 am

    Good Morning Everyone 😄😄😄

    Reply

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