Trump's Card

[Tubby Isaacs]

Like The Secret Footballer, except about the US presidency instead of playing for Reading.

[WOM]

The lead-in paragraph says NYT knows and vouches for the 'authenticity' of the admin.

[Tubby Isaacs]

https://twitter.com/tribelaw/status/1037448786925285391

If this happens, they might as well move out of the White House into a big top.

[ursus arctos]

Tubby, there are those who would argue that “setttled law” is that made by cases that the Supreme Court should not revisit, but that is a relatively new (post-Bork) concept.

It is also completely without meaning, as there is no consensus on what the category contains, and a number of serious people who believe that the very concept is invalid.

[Femme Folle]

Did we used to use the word "precedent"?

[ursus arctos]

It was a subset of "precedent" and sometimes called "settled precedent".

[Gerontophile]

That thing that WOM linked to?

That was the whole shebang.

We're doomed.

[Femme Folle]

https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/1037521798978592768

[ad hoc]

I really hope it is Pence (as speculated due to the use of the word "lodestar"), because it could take both him and 45 down.

It won't be though, will it

[Sam]

My money's on Jared.

[Ginger Yellow]

I'd be very surprised if it's anyone we've heard of. At a stretch, Mnuchin, but I don't think it's cabinet level.

[N est ŕ?]

Think I prefer Trump to this fuckin guy anyway

[Etienne]

N est ŕ?, I was thinking similarly. At least not much to choose between the two cunts.

[Etienne]

We're going to be calling him/her Deep State Throat right?

[WOM]

Frankly, I wonder what was to be gained by this. If you're playing a blind game on the inside, you usually keep it a bit quiet.

[Snake Plissken]

https://twitter.com/Aiannucci/status/1037628177475166208

Click through to the replies.

[ad hoc]

Yes, it's clearly an attempt to somehow get across the idea that the administration is working - so go and vote for us again.

[San Bernardhinault]

Yeah. It's clearly a "The adults are running the show. Look - tax cuts for the rich and two Federalist Society supremes. You can ignore Trump's manias. We have him under control." pitch.

It's saying that you don't need a Democratic Congress to act as a brake on his worst excesses. Republicans can safely vote for Republican representatives and senators.

It's not a terrible strategy. I don't think it'll be particularly effective, but it's probably the least bad strategy they have.

[ursus arctos]

That’s clearly the intent, but I don’t see it being a real electoral strategy, as it has sent the MAGAbots into a frenzy as to who will be the first to find and burn the witch, which is admittedly much more fun than trying to win the midterms.

It does make me wonder if it is intended to reassure big money donors whose bucks are needed if the GOP is to have a real chance. I can see it being effective among that crowd, but they could also have been spoken to privately.

[Femme Folle]

Just watched the video of the exchange between Harris and Kavanaugh regarding whether he spoke to anyone at trump's personal attorney's firm about the Mueller investigation. He is so slimy, pretending not to know who works at that firm. And the Repubs (like Lee) are so desperate to get him confirmed that it makes me feel nauseated.

[WOM]

So, Cory Booker then....

[Ginger Yellow]

Seems a weird thing to break the rules on to me. It's not like any of this is going to stop the majority voting for him.

[ursus arctos]

Booker recognises that. This is about the narrative; the vote is a lost cause. And the "rules" are a dead letter that the Republicans have run roughshod over.

Bruno, I don't think it is possible to get a message through to 45. Particularly via the written word.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Learned a new comedy Republican just now, Tom Reed (NY). The NY Times article is "not how freedom of the press is supposed to work".

[San Bernardhinault]

I think Booker's playing a good role here. He's showing that the process is broken, that the idea that these documents can't be shown is ridiculous and false. He's saying "There wasn't a proper vetting process on these documents, so there's no harm in releasing them". While, at the same time, making sure that the public knows that everyone knows where Kavanaugh stands before confirmation, which means that the likes of Murkowski, Collins, Flake, Sasse and Heller can't fall back on some flam about "Kavanaugh confirmed that in private meetings that he'd be a really fair and impartial judge".