Trump's Card

[ursus arctos]

It's 755 "diplomatic staff", which is rather different from diplomats.

I would expect that at least half of them are Russian nationals. The US has never had 755 "diplomats" in Russia or the USSR

[Amor de Cosmos]

He can't expel Russian nationals though can he? And that's the term used.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Does he have to tell Putin off now? Or is he busy with Sessions?

[Tubby Isaacs]

I've just read that Mike Pence expanded Medicaid in Indiana. Negotiated a particular approach but even so. Do the "holdout" governors not get asked why they can't do it?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Unrelated question. I know a bit about Federal farm subsidies. But do states pay subsidies over and above that?

[anton pulisov]

Scaramucci has been sacked.

That didn't last long.

[Lang Spoon]

Weren't all the runes readers confident that Trump doesn't like to sack people? He's burning through his Administration at a rate of knots.

[ursus arctos]

But he hasn't sacked any of these guys personally.

He always has a flunky do it (new Chief of Staff Kelly in this case).

45 sacked Priebus by tweet seconds after Reince had left Air Force 1 and then waited until they drove the guy away before he deplaned.

[San Bernardhinault]

It is interesting. I imagine Kelly could be good at sacking people, but that doesn't explain Priebus. Everyone prior to Priebus quit, and wasn't actually sacked.

[Lang Spoon]

classy

[ursus arctos]

Everyone prior to Priebus quit, and wasn't actually sacked.

You must mean within the West Wing.

Bharra, Comey and Sally Yates certainly were sacked.

[ursus arctos]

Will be interesting to see what happens to Mooch now.

Does he go to Fox or Sinclair? Does he wait until regulatory approval for the sale of his hedge fund goes through?

The divorce isn't going to be cheap.

[Lang Spoon]

Please god he fires Perry (though doubtless the replacement will be equally awful) soon, that Vanity Fair article on the DoE is giving me the shits.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

This is less an administration than a Grouse shoot. The upheaval for the people who work for these people must be intolerable.

[ursus arctos]

Yes and no.

Mooch never got his security clearance, for instance.

[San Bernardhinault]

You must mean within the West Wing.

Bharra, Comey and Sally Yates certainly were sacked.

Sacking people who he didn't appoint is not quite the same thing.

[caja-dglh]

The Mooch was a brilliant pinch hitter. Came in for one inning, hit an RBI double and then get caught on a steal by falling on his face.

[Lang Spoon]

It's like Bizarro World Tubbs and his cricket analogies. Just smile politely and back away.

[caja-dglh]

Haha - well, it is the measure of his achievements in 10 days. It is truly stunning.

- Got rid of Spicer
- Got rid of Priebus
- Called Bannon out for self-fellatio
- missed his child's birth
- got served divorce papers
- got fired himself

That is the most anyone has achieved in this whole administration and he did it in ten days between Memorial Day and Labor Day, when *nothing* typically happens.

[Janik]

It's like Bizarro World Tubbs and his cricket analogies. Just smile politely and back away.

The corridors of uncertainty.

Sorry, sorry.

[Lang Spoon]

Fucking hell that's really a cricket term. It's not a sport, it's a description and passion play of the pathology of the middle class English male.

[G-Man]

Yesterday I made a gag about "The Mooch" on Facebook, captioning a pic with the legend "Zoolander 3: The White House Weeks". I smugly thought I'd be able to revive the pic by around August 21, bragging about my powers of prescience. Turns out, I have no powers of prescience at all.

[Tubby Isaacs]

CNN saying Kelly called Comey after he was sacked, saying he'd resign in solidarity. Comey said not to.

Nice of Kelly to get this story out there.

[Snake Plissken]

The Mooch managed to be sacked 16 days before his official start date.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Haha - well, it is the measure of his achievements in 10 days. It is truly stunning.

- Got rid of Spicer
- Got rid of Priebus
- Called Bannon out for self-fellatio
- missed his child's birth
- got served divorce papers
- got fired himself

Are points four and five on that list interconnected?