Trump's Card

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Oh my god. Where are we at now? Warren Harding, or Ulysses Grant? I can't help feeling that this would be considered a bit obvious in the 1870's.

[Incandenza]

So, this interview was pretty crazy:

https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/970751271304073216

https://twitter.com/axios/status/970752577418690561

[Tubby Isaacs]

What happens when somebody ignores a sub poena?

[Lang Spoon]

This is insane. If he doesn’t go down for contempt this will be catching.

[Incandenza]

He's throwing even more bombs on CNN also.

https://splinternews.com/ex-trump-ai...ere-1823526285

[Incandenza]

https://lawfareblog.com/sam-nunbergs-media-meltdown

“I’m definitely the first person to ever do this, right?” Nunberg asked Tapper during the interview. Actually, he is far from the first. And before proceeding further on this jag, Nunberg might pause to reflect on the case of Susan McDougal, the last witness in a major investigation of a president who went out of her way to defy a special prosecutor wielding a grand-jury subpoena.

Let’s recap for those who don’t recall: McDougal was a figure in the Whitewater investigation of former President Bill Clinton. Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr had prosecuted Susan McDougal, along with her former husband, Jim McDougal, for fraud and other charges in connection with the management of a savings-and-loan in Arkansas. After her conviction, Starr sought to call her before a grand jury to testify about the Clintons. She refused to answer questions. He moved to have the court supervising the grand jury hold her in civil contempt—and it did.

McDougal spent 18 months in jail on the contempt charges—the maximum allowed under the contempt statute—as the court sought to compel her testimony. But Starr wasn’t done. Civil contempt is about coercion, not punishment. After her civil contempt detention was finished, he sought and received a grand jury indictment against McDougal for criminal contempt (criminal contempt is about punishment of the crime of contempt of court) and obstruction of justice as well. McDougal was eventually acquitted of the obstruction charge, while the jury deadlocked on the two contempt charges. But the acquittal and deadlock were not a reflection of any serious factual question about what had happened; rather, they were an example of pushback at Starr for perceived overreach. (Clinton eventually pardoned McDougal on his way out of office.)

[ursus arctos]

https://twitter.com/swin24/status/970800555047247872

[San Bernardhinault]

When they make the movies about this administration in a couple of decades, people won't believe that characters like Page and Nunberg were real. The audience will assume that the writers are just exaggerating for comic effect.

[ursus arctos]

I admire your optimism

[San Bernardhinault]

Thad Cochran is finally quitting the Senate. As a Republican from Mississippi, it will almost certainly make no difference at all to anyone, except that the Republican senator from Mississippi will actually show up to votes every now and again. Given that even if Cochran and McCain fail to show up right now it's still a 49-49 split and Pence casts the deciding vote.

It will add another seat for the Republicans to defend in November. But that's still only 9 seats.

[ursus arctos]

It does mean a new chair (or, please God, a new Minority Leader) for the Appropriations Committee, which is not without import.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

I admire your optimism

There's too many of them Ursus. Imagine if something as truly bizarre as sean spicer were to slip through the cracks. he'll have been long gone by 2020. I can't keep track of it all and its happening now.

[ursus arctos]

I consider the assumption that films will be made “in a couple of decades” to be an intrinsically optimistic view.

[San Bernardhinault]

I consider it to be intrinsically pessimistic. An optimist would believe that we'll all be experiencing everything in awesome immersive interactive VR. I believe that people will still be watching badly made TV Movies on the History Channel.

[ursus arctos]

Uh no.

A pessimist would focus on the real chance that a few members of our species would be living in a post-apocalyptic world.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

I consider the assumption that films will be made “in a couple of decades” to be an intrinsically optimistic view.

Well whatever the latest version of people sitting around a campfire listening to stories is then. there's a good chance that it will actually be people sitting around a campfire.

Gah beaten to the punch.

[ursus arctos]

I tend to think that Nunberg-level characters would disappear from the narrative in such circumstances, but am not at all eager to have that hypothesis tested.

[San Bernardhinault]

Which ruins my narrative concept that they are sufficiently implausible comedic figures that future generations won't believe they were real. Pah. Just because you think we're on the verge of armageddon.

[ursus arctos]

Soz

Meanwhile, in an alternate universe

https://twitter.com/ndrew_lawrence/status/970860053560549377?s=21

[ad hoc]

https://twitter.com/swin24/status/970800555047247872

Day-drunk? Is that a thing?

[Gerontophile]

Day-drunk? Is that a thing?

After many years of intensive research, I can positively conclude, that yes, day-drunk is a thing.

Hic.

[ad hoc]

Just to be clear I wasn't questioning whether being drunk in the day was a thing. I know that. Just the word "day-drunk" which seems to have no function. Daydream has a meaning that is specific and clearly different from dream. Daydrunk is just adding letters for no reason

[Tubby Isaacs]

Trump's advisors think VAT is a protectionist trick.

What can you do with these people?

[ursus arctos]

Evidently the White House was the original source of the “day drunk” quote, which seems very much their style.

[ursus arctos]

Given that she worked for Goldman Sachs, I think that we all know the answer to that.