Patterico's Pontifications

3/17/2018

Let’s Not Forget About McCabe’s Conflict Of Interest Based On His Wife

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 11:00 am



Should Andrew McCabe have been fired? I haven’t seen the Inspector General report, and so I don’t know if Andrew McCabe lied (or, I’m sorry, “lacked candor under oath” in speaking to) investigators for the Inspector General. I agree with David French, who says:

I note that it seems from McCabe’s statement alone that he was aware that he was, shall we say, not entirely accurate in his initial statements. He says things like:

I answered questions truthfully and as accurately as I could amidst the chaos that surrounded me. And when I thought my answers were misunderstood, I contacted investigators to correct them. . . . to be accused of lacking candor when at worst I was distracted in the midst of chaotic events, is incredibly disappointing and unfair.

Yeah, well, I’ll wryly note that blaming falsehoods on chaos is an excuse that doesn’t usually work so well when offered as a defense by people prosecuted for telling falsehoods to McCabe’s erstwhile employer.

So it seems that McCabe himself acknowledges that he got some things wrong, at a minimum. But to run around claiming he lied, based on evidence we haven’t seen . . . I’ll leave that to others who feel comfortable taking that position. I don’t. Yet.

But that doesn’t mean McCabe is beyond reproach, by a longshot.

You might remember that in October 2016, before the election, I was ranting about the fact that a Terry McAuliffe PAC had donated almost half a million to McCabe’s’s wife’s election campaign . . . and yet McCabe had not recused himself from the Hillary Clinton email investigation. Granted, it’s not crystal clear that McCabe acted as a purely partisan warrior there. If you believe the leaks that he authorized to be made to the Wall Street Journal, he pushed for an investigation of the Clinton Foundation. Then again, as the Washington Post notes today, that same story demonstrated that “some FBI officials thought [McCabe] was standing in the way of the Clinton Foundation investigation.”

The point is, if Hillary Clinton’s bag man Terry McAuliffe was delivering sacks of cash to his wife, McCabe had no business ever being anywhere in the chain of command over anything having to do with Hillary Clinton — not the email investigation, not the Clinton Foundation, not any of it. I don’t care that his wife had already lost by the time he became deputy director. The consideration had already been given, and he should have recused himself — yet he didn’t do so until November 1, 2016, which was far too late. I’m not sure whether that failure alone is grounds for termination, but it brought discredit on the FBI. And new evidence that McCabe may have been less than forthright about whether he attended his wife’s campaign events and so forth only contribute to the suspicion.

Whether that means it was appropriate to take hints from Trump and rush to release an investigation seemingly for the express purpose of stripping this guy of his pension, I’m not so sure. Again, I’m taking the unpopular position that we ought to know the facts before opining. (I know, right? Saying that on a blog is such a buzzkill.) But I’m no fan of Andrew McCabe. That I can tell you.

Speaking of recusals, Trump’s lawyer (first claiming to speak on behalf of Trump and then walking that back) this morning connected McCabe’s firing to Russiagate. If the real reason for McCabe’s firing was Russiagate, then why was Jeff Sessions (who recused from the Russia investigation) involved? At this point we have nothing beyond Trump’s idiot lawyer’s statement — although Trump did spike the ball over McCabe’s firing with a gusto that seems . . . over-the-top given the stated reasons for it.

John Sexton at Hot Air says that “the reactions to the [McCabe] firing are falling into two distinct camps” — one casting McCabe as victim (pro-Trump) and one casting him as hero (anti-Trump). Well, of course. Reactions to all issues in American life, from Senate races to whether Americans should watch football games, eventually fall into pro-Trump and anti-Trump camps. But I’m not much of a joiner and I never went to camp. So I’ll just note that all of these things can be true:

1. Donald Trump did not “collude” with Russia to hack emails.

2. Donald Trump is smearing Mueller and good people at the FBI to discredit the Russia investigation.

3. McCabe was a rotten apple who deserved to go.

I’m not saying any of these things is necessarily true. But they all could be.

[Cross-posted at RedState and The Jury Talks Back.]

366 Responses to “Let’s Not Forget About McCabe’s Conflict Of Interest Based On His Wife”

  1. Donald J. Trump
    @realDonaldTrump
    ·
    30m
    The Fake News is beside themselves that McCabe was caught, called out and fired. How many hundreds of thousands of dollars was given to wife’s campaign by Crooked H friend, Terry M, who was also under investigation? How many lies? How many leaks? Comey knew it all, and much more!

    https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/975062797162811394

    BuDuh (fc15db)

  2. When did Mccabe have time to do actual investigating, San Bernardino and Orlando suggest none, between covering for Hillary and trying to frame trump

    narciso (d1f714)

  3. Read the National Review piece. All will become clear.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  4. An ABC(?) News article that somebody linked in the other thread said that he had sought and received advance clearance from the FBI ethics office in regard to his wife’s campaign, and that he wasn’t involved in the Clinton investigation while it was going on.

    I haven’t checked that independently.

    Dave (445e97)

  5. one casting McCabe as victim (pro-Trump)

    Villan?

    BuDuh (fc15db)

  6. Here’s the ABC News piece I referred to:

    But he became entangled in presidential politics in 2016 when it was revealed that his wife during an unsuccessful bid for the Virginia state Senate had received campaign contributions from the political action committee of then-Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a close Clinton ally. The FBI has said McCabe received the necessary ethics approval about his wife’s candidacy and was not supervising the Clinton investigation at the time the contributions were made.

    (emphasis added)

    Dave (445e97)

  7. Abc has been depository for leaks for Mccabe and others for
    two years now, and they aren’t the only ones. The contributions were around that time, he was only refused a week before the election.

    narciso (d1f714)

  8. andy mccabe is a lying piece of fbi filth, cold busted, and his dirty sleazy wife is his partner in crime

    he lied under OATH, and a lot more significantly so than anybody corrupt fbi slutboy Robert Mueller’s targeted in his witch hunt

    and now he ain’t got no pension and all the filthy rank-and-file trash at the fbi are sitting up and taking notice

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  9. As Patterico stated, the fact that McCabe’s wife wasn’t receiving contributions concurrently with his involvement with the Clinton probe is really irrelevant to whether he should’ve recused himself. And, as to the ethics approval: we don’t who approved it and what they’re motivations were. If you think everyone at the FBI is above board, you haven’t been paying attention.

    random viking (6a54c2)

  10. Off-topic: The National Debt hits $21T

    #MAGA

    Dave (445e97)

  11. Contribution was in the spring, why did they tell devlin barrettes in October, its as bad a cover story as the doctored video they accepted in Sanford, Matt gutman Btw moved from Orlando to Los Angeles just in time to burn the trail at San Bernardino.

    narciso (d1f714)

  12. If one recalls they fed barrett that story to throw shade on the bureau agent, probably George tosca who wanted to reopen the Hillary investigation. Now am I being too obtuse or can I not spot a line of ‘bulhocky’ a mile away. Just like the reason they pinched George Nader had more to do with plague around 2003.

    narciso (d1f714)

  13. We are so sure, in the absence of hard evidence, that Putin is behind the attempted assassination in Britain (as I do), but I guess NeverTrump French needs to see a dead body with a signed FBI confession pinned to it to acknowledge there are bad actors at the bureau out to get Trump.

    random viking (6a54c2)

  14. Its probable he had the means, the motive, the opportunity seems a little dubious,

    narciso (d1f714)

  15. Connection Distracted Jagger/Richards

    Distracted, I just get so damned
    Distracted but all I want to do, is tell truth to you.
    Everything is going in the wrong direction
    And Sessions wants to take away my pension
    All because of that general of inspections
    But I do know why they let me go.

    Distracted I just get so damned
    Distracted, but all I want to do, is tell truth to you.
    My moves, they got a very close inspection
    Did all I could to stop Clinton rejection
    But voters knew a turd from a confection
    And I do know why they let me go.

    Distracted, I just get so damned
    Distracted, but all I want to do, is tell truth to you.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  16. Every time McCabe’s been on camera, he’s been a fidgeting weasel.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  17. Funny they didn’t let scooter Libby get away with that excuse, specially after eickenrode lost the interview transcripts.

    narciso (d1f714)

  18. The FBI has said McCabe received the necessary ethics approval

    Received from whom, Comey? Or the IG and internal investigators who now recommended firing for unethical behavior? Not buying it. And McCabe himself should have recused himself.

    It leads me to agree that Adam Housley is right, this was about a clique in the FBI that finally was broken up for lots of prior bad acts, not for political reasons.

    Patricia (3363ec)

  19. I’ll leave that to others who feel comfortable taking that position. I don’t. Yet.

    there’s a metric poop-ton more hard evidence that fbi suck-puppet Andy McCabe’s a scummy scummy fbi liar than there’s ever been that Mr. Roy Moore is a pedophile

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  20. @18: Libby only briefly moved around in those circles — he wasn’t a swamp creature. Neither was Saucier or Flynn. But McCabe, Comey, Ridham, Huma are card carrying members.

    It’s like the off duty cop that gets pulled over for running a red light. He flashes his card to the officer and drives off.

    Instead, this time, McCabe got cited and he’s aghast to be treated like everyone else.

    random viking (6a54c2)

  21. They need Suze Orman over at FBI ethics dept:

    Denied!

    Pinandpuller (40c681)

  22. Some democrat wants to hire LLR McCabe to help him qualify for his pension. Does working in federal DOC laundry count?

    Pinandpuller (40c681)

  23. “From the FBI and across the intelligence agencies an astonishing number of people are going to find themselves accused, one can safely predict at this point, of some atrocious behavior in a free republic. And it will not just be the small change of Peter Strzok (the dimwitted director of counter-intelligence) and his gal pal Lisa Page. It will include—on one level or another—James Comey, Loretta Lynch, John Brennan, James Clapper, Susan Rice and, almost inevitably, Barack Obama, not to mention others known and unknown.

    All these people’s reputations will be damaged forever for the pathetic purpose of getting Hillary Clinton elected president and later for their determination to manipulate the FBI and intelligence agencies to wound as severely as possible Trump’s presidency. That they didn’t stop to think that they might be wounding America at the same time is extraordinarily selfish and nauseating.

    Further, that a Russia collusion investigation was employed by these people for their nefarious purposes is darkly ironic because their technique itself reeks of Stalin’s NKVD.”

    https://pjmedia.com/rogerlsimon/reckoning-fbi-begun/

    harkin (df3a15)

  24. #FBIpensionsmatter

    Pinandpuller (40c681)

  25. I want you to walk out till McCabe gets his pension, Dave.

    Pinandpuller (40c681)

  26. #MCHA… Make ConDave Honest Again

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  27. I answered questions truthfully and as accurately as I could amidst the chaos that surrounded me.

    I agree with Patrick that this sentence in McCabe’s statement is weak, although if parsed closely, he is claiming he DID answer truthfully, but not with 100% accuracy. What could that mean?

    That could mean, for example, he was asked a question like “Who did you speak with about [fill in the blank]?” and he (truthfully) gave the names of nine people who he spoke with about [blank], but did not give the name of a tenth person who he also spoke with about it.

    That could be because he didn’t remember the tenth person, or because he intentionally concealed his contact with them. His excuse about “chaos” preventing complete accuracy (but not truthfulness) in his testimony would be somewhat understandable in a situation like that. If so, his only real out would have been to hedge his testimony by saying “there may have been others that I can’t recall”.

    If he remembered the tenth person the next day, and pro-actively sought to correct his original testimony, it would be pretty abusive to call that lack of candor.

    There’s really not enough information available to know whether he was railroaded or properly disciplined, at this point.

    Dave (445e97)

  28. there’s a metric poop-ton more hard evidence that fbi suck-puppet Andy McCabe’s a scummy scummy fbi liar than there’s ever been that Mr. Roy Moore is a pedophile

    That in itself is so false as to amount to a lie. We heard directly from Roy Moore’s accusers. Quote me from the IG report. Oh, you can’t, because you haven’t seen it yet? Then you are spreading rank falsehoods that you know to be such. Which of course is no surprise at all coming from you.

    I love President Trump more than life itself! He’s the most honest person in the world! Look at me! My name is happyfeet and I have no shame at all!

    Patterico (115b1f)

  29. That was back in the term of mueller, when they also didn’t bother to investigate your tormentor.

    Yes we know alred proferred altered evidence in that case, similar to those that misrepresented haspel time in Thailand, but we can trust their other accounts.

    narciso (d1f714)

  30. That would be mark mazetti if memory serves, now passing every bit of kibble, from Mueller’s office:
    https://mobile.twitter.com/seanmdav/status/975105524004999169?p=v

    narciso (d1f714)

  31. Patterico, re #30: c’mon. You know that the very reason this person posts is to troll, cause trouble, and stir up things. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t believe in a single thing with consistency. It’s all theatre.

    And it is really a shame. There are a lot of people who take things seriously and want to contribute. But Gresham’s Law applies to more than money and economics.

    Simon Jester (ca9668)

  32. but we have heard direct quotations from Mr. McCabe’s accusers which are the people at the FBI office of the Professional Responsibilities of whatever – they say he lied and that he lied so bad he should be fired like a little b-word

    this is from the statement released by deputy attorney general Jeff Sessions:

    As the OPR proposal stated, ‘all FBI employees know that lacking candor under oath results in dismissal and that our integrity is our brand.’

    notice the quotey quote marks

    that means the OPR said point blank that McCabe is a dirty liar

    I feel so sorry for poor, disgraced Andy McCabe

    but he really did bring this on himself with his lies

    and for reals professionals did an investigation

    but Mr. Moore was accused decades after the fact by low class honey boo boos shepherded by a nevertrump newspaper owned by Amazon turdlord Jeffy Bezos and by the dumpster daughter of Gloria Allred who is known to pay women for their fanciful testimonies

    Attorney Lisa Bloom sought compensation for women willing to accuse Trump of sexual misconduct: report

    advantage: the Office of all the Responsibilities

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  33. Yes Simon, and we are told not take David spade seriously,,however we should know that proverb re Trojan horses, practically every time gloria alred is involved there are ‘chain of custody’ issues. The narrative as Orwell learned from the BBC world service; dramatized in glover
    s last man in Europe is ever changing,

    narciso (d1f714)

  34. “Rep. Mark Pocan, a Wisconsin Democrat, on Saturday extended a job offer to McCabe so that he could reach is length of service and get his retirement benefits.“

    Dems always looking out for the little guy. Slow clap.

    random viking (6a54c2)

  35. He is the rep from madison, midwest version of Berkeley.

    narciso (d1f714)

  36. Yeah, everyone should really wait for the IG report to go public before nailing him to a cross– not that it even matters anymore as he’s been crucified already. But the optics undercut the move. Whacking the guy at 10PM on a Friday night, just hours before his bennies kick in, was counterproductive; makes the motives appear suspect; vindictive, petty and an attempt to ‘dirty up’ credibility w/t Mueller investigation. Trump’s taunting tweets dancing on the body don’t help, either. 3 PM in the light of day would have affirmed more confidence; lent strength to Sessions’ move.

    Per the AP this afternoon, McCabe apparently turned over his personal memos on Trump to Mueller anyway.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  37. The problem is they have often prespun the ig report, tell you what we’ll be as fair as others have been with gina haspel.

    https://nypost.com/2018/03/17/mike-pompeo-might-be-the-only-guy-trump-trusts/?utm_source=twitter_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons

    narciso (d1f714)

  38. Yeah, everyone should really wait for the IG report to go public before nailing him to a cross

    Innocent until proven guilty is for criminal convictions, not FBI personnel matters. I believe the FBI Office of the Responsible Good Behavior. Their account is too serious to ignore. FBI suckboy Andy McCabe is unworthy of a pension and should step aside.

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  39. Innocent until proven guilty is for criminal convictions, not FBI personnel matters

    Then you’re no better and in fact a million times worse then your anti-hero pervy Willard Mitt.

    urbanleftbehind (ddcc04)

  40. The important thing Mr. leftbehind is the rest of the corrupt FBI scum finally see someone is being held accountable.

    This my friends, this is a good day.

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  41. @36… narciso… how can we take Spade seriously? https://youtu.be/BcufzXXaEoI

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  42. Rooney never learns his lesson, not in 1994 nor in 2016, not after he hired Herr grubber or gina Mccarthy.

    narciso (d1f714)

  43. @41. The ‘problem’ is 10 PM EDT on a Friday night, narciso.

    @42. Take heart, Mr. Feet; Sessions served Putin breakfast in bed: when it was 10 PM in Washington, it was 6 AM in Moscow.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  44. Sessions served Putin breakfast in bed: when it was 10 PM in Washington, it was 6 AM in Moscow.

    this is scurrilous innuendo

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  45. Off topic palate cleanser… a story about the little Dart that could and the 1973 War…

    http://www.curbsideclassic.com/cars-of-a-lifetime/coal-1971-dodge-dart-above-and-beyond-the-original-brief/

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  46. @41.’scurrilous innuendo’… easy out then endo, too, Mr. Feet; blini, kasha and tea. What’s for lunch, comrade?

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  47. purple!

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  48. Records also detail how the Obama IRS gave the FBI 21 computer disks, containing 1.25 million pages of confidential IRS returns from 113,000 nonprofit social 501(c)(4) welfare groups – or nearly every 501(c)(4) in the United States – as part of its prosecution effort.

    LOL.

    “Every 501( c )(4) in the United States.”

    Yep, definitely singling out Tea Party groups for political persecution…

    The law prohibits electioneering by tax-exempt organizations. The IRS SHOULD enforce that law.

    Dave (445e97)

  49. makes the motives appear suspect; vindictive, petty and an attempt to ‘dirty up’ credibility w/t Mueller investigation.

    Yeah, we need to draw the line at any petty vindictive attempts to sully Mueller’s clean and credible investigation.

    https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/03/muellers-investigation-flouts-justice-department-standards/

    Bwahahaha!

    random viking (6a54c2)

  50. Oh, and based on the content of the article, and the released documents, the title of the article “Mueller worked with Lerner to target Tea Party” is a flat-out lie.

    Dave (445e97)

  51. …if Hillary Clinton’s bag man Terry McAuliffe was delivering sacks of cash to his wife, McCabe had no business ever being anywhere in the chain of command over anything having to do with Hillary Clinton…

    IF?

    If the sun rises in the East tomorrow, then.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  52. if Hillary Clinton’s bag man Terry McAuliffe was delivering sacks of cash to his wife, McCabe had no business ever being anywhere in the chain of command over anything having to do with Hillary Clinton…

    If the Pope is Catholic, then.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  53. McCarthy selectively quotes the guidelines to bamboozle his readers.

    For instance, he cites “the most serious, readily provable charge” as what Mueller should have charged Gates with. But that is only one of four criteria.

    1) That is the most serious readily provable charge consistent with the nature and extent of his/her criminal conduct;

    2) That has an adequate factual basis;

    3) That makes likely the imposition of an appropriate sentence and order of restitution, if appropriate, under all the circumstances of the case; and

    4) That does not adversely affect the investigation or prosecution of others.

    Criteria #3 and #4 obviously leave plenty of room for discretion based on the circumstances. For some reason, McCarthy doesn’t mention criteria #3 and #4 at all, though.

    Also, the guidelines explicitly say:

    The requirement that a defendant plead to a charge, that is consistent with the nature and extent of his/her criminal conduct is not inflexible.

    But you’d never know that from McCarthy’s dishonest piece, which presents one guideline (out of four) as the only one, and tries to make you believe it is set in stone when the opposite is true.

    The lengths that people will go to falsely impugn the integrity of an honest man like Mueller to protect sleazeballs like Trump and Manafort from facing the consequences of their crimes is pathetic.

    Dave (445e97)

  54. if Hillary Clinton’s bag man Terry McAuliffe was delivering sacks of cash to his wife, McCabe had no business ever being anywhere in the chain of command over anything having to do with Hillary Clinton…

    If the Calif Senate Pro Tem Ponce de León starts appointing illegal aliens to run the State.

    “Ms. Mateo is a courageous, determined and intelligent young woman who at great personal risk has dedicated herself to fight for those seeking their rightful place in this country,” de León added.

    Illegal aliens rightful place in this country?

    You’re from Los Angeles. Is de Leon yours?
    You inflict this American in name only on us?

    What did we ever do to you to deserve this insult

    papertiger (c8116c)

  55. Criteria #3 and #4 obviously leave plenty of room for discretion based on the circumstances. For some reason, McCarthy doesn’t mention criteria #3 and #4 at all, though.

    He doesn’t mention 3 and 4 because they have no bearing if #1 isn’t met. All criteria is to met, not any of the four.

    Falsely impugning the integrity of McCarthy, in other words.

    And what exactly are sleazeball Trump’s “crimes”?

    random viking (6a54c2)

  56. But you’d never know that from McCarthy’s dishonest piece, which presents one guideline (out of four) as the only one…

    This is not accurate Mr. Dave… look at your fourth guideline:

    4) That does not adversely affect the investigation or prosecution of others.

    Mr. McCarthy explicitly addresses this 4th guideline in his expose of dirty FBI suckboy Robert Mueller’s unethical and unprofessional tactics:

    The Justice Department’s manual further admonishes prosecutors to refrain from guilty pleas that could “adversely affect the investigation or prosecution of others.” That is exactly what Mueller has done to the ongoing prosecution of Manafort. By giving Gates a pass on the bank-fraud (and tax-fraud, and money-laundering) charges, Mueller signals that these allegations are inflated. A jury could well feel justified in giving Manafort a pass on them, too.

    By contrast, let’s imagine that Mueller had followed Justice Department protocols by insisting to Gates that nothing less than a guilty plea to the most serious readily provable charge – a 30-yr bank-fraud count – would suffice. In his plea allocution, Gates would inevitably have implicated Manafort as his bank-fraud co-conspirator. Manafort would know that, were Gates to testify at trial, he would tell the jury that Manafort conspired with him in the bank-fraud scheme. That would markedly increase the likelihood that Manafort would be convicted of the bank-fraud charges. It would ratchet up the pressure on Manafort to plead guilty. It would /help/ the investigation and prosecution.

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  57. Dave, odd that you refer to sleazeball Trump’s “crimes” in a post were you argue to withhold judgment on McCabe until the facts are in. Actually, not very odd really, considering….

    random viking (6a54c2)

  58. ConDave doesn’t fool anybody.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  59. He’s on the con and on teh grift…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  60. That wee what fits did was David radler vis a vis Conrad black, and he didn’t bother to investigate Armitage at all.

    narciso (d1f714)

  61. He claims to be a conservative, a claim that’s not supported by a good 95% of his posts. Look at who and what he targets. He ALL about undermining anything that doesn’t boost liberal Democrats.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  62. ConDave goes all in on things best characterized as “that horse already left the barn”, e.g., IRS targeting conservative groups. Anyone who doesn’t see through this fairly common concerned troll posturing isn’t paying attention.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  63. Take it all with a grain of salt.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  64. Was what pat Fitzgerald did, he was reproached by the supreme court, but not before he had been dispossessed of his property and turned over to the Barclays bros, who had jeb on their board, after they absorbed the remnants of Lehman bros.

    narciso (d1f714)

  65. Dave, odd that you refer to sleazeball Trump’s “crimes” in a post were you argue to withhold judgment on McCabe until the facts are in. Actually, not very odd really, considering….

    Trump has publicly confessed to obstruction of justice.

    Dave (445e97)

  66. President Trump is beautiful

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  67. We await ConDave’s confession. Until then, the grift/con goes on.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  68. Dave knows an open and shut case when he sees it.

    random viking (6a54c2)

  69. @53. Pure borscht, Mr. Feet!

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  70. ConDave poormouths the current administration and congress like there’s no tomorrow, as he salts the earth around Republicans.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  71. By giving Gates a pass on the bank-fraud (and tax-fraud, and money-laundering) charges, Mueller signals that these allegations are inflated.

    Ther reason Mueller is “giving Gates a pass” is because there was no crime committed. Gates and Manaford were employed by a Ukrainian political campaign, and because there is no double taxation treaty between the Ukraine and the USA they were paid through third party countries who do have double taxation treaties with the USA; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Cyprus, and The Sechelles.

    Mueller is taking advantage of the general ignorance of tax laws to bully Gates into confessions on process crimes; didn’t drop his trowsers quickly enough, dragged teeth while being mouth raped, the sort of non crime that scooter libby was assualted with.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  72. i love my borscht at Russian Tea Time number one it’s served hot number two it tastes so good and the beets share the stage with carrot and potato and it is so good

    I’d eat it all up but if President Trump sat down I’d say here Mr. Trump please take my tasty soup

    oh my gosh that would make me so happy

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  73. IF the president of China is a communist, then.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  74. If two plus two not just allegedly but in actual fact does equal four, then.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  75. A correction re #51

    http://www.andmagazine.com/us/12941.html

    narciso (d1f714)

  76. If Mueller alleged bank-fraud, tax-evasion, and money laundering charges to coerce a false confession from Gates, then.

    I know that there are all sorts of nebulous terrible undefined consequences for a defendant if he misremembers a detail or two while being grilled by Mueller.

    WHAT are the consequences for Mueller if he lies to the defendant?

    Is that just good police work then?

    papertiger (c8116c)

  77. The kim dynasty complains he doesnt get this kind of press:

    https://mobile.twitter.com/TomFitton/status/975113176789520384?p=v

    narciso (d1f714)

  78. “Trump has publicly confessed to obstruction of justice.”

    Everyone could be “obstructing justice” from anything they say at any time, this is Schrodinger’s crime. Do you have something that’s actually a crime OUTSIDE of DC?

    Dysphoria Sam (a3c41a)

  79. Take it all with a grain of salt.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 3/17/2018 @ 3:43 pm

    My blood vessels can’t survive a BP of 300 over 175.

    Pinandpuller (c13eee)

  80. Some might say this is a quixotic exercise (I never had beef with Flynn, Gorka, or Bannon), but Breitbart himself would do this sort of thing as well.http://www.yahoo.com/news/michael-flynn-campaigns-gop-congressional-candidate-020427883–election.html

    urbanleftbehind (ddcc04)

  81. 88, that’s like their Delaware, I’ve only met one person from there, a hotel maid in Clearwater.

    urbanleftbehind (ddcc04)

  82. It looks McCabe is not willing to let this go so easy, according to the The Daily Beast.

    Fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe Lawyers Up
    https://www.thedailybeast.com/fired-fbi-deputy-director-andrew-mccabe-lawyers-up?ref=home

    Tillman (a95660)

  83. Try to keep , this is the fellow who was all in favor of the ig report

    narciso (d1f714)

  84. I wish shipwreckedcrew were commenting. He’d know this stuff inside out. As I see it, McCabe’s position as Deputy Director was political and he could be removed from that at will. BUT, his position as an FBI agent and GS rank (I dunno about SES) are not. They should be protected by Civil Service.

    nk (dbc370)

  85. Andrew McCabe Net Worth is $11 Million dollars and earns an annual Income of $1 Million dollars. Andrew McCabe is is an American attorney who was the Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Andrew McCabe recently bought a brand new Audi luxury car for $310,000 USD. The Net Worth of Andrew McCabe has seen a hike of 127% over the past few years. While calculating Andrew McCabe Net Worth we have included the data updated as of this Quarter. Check out the Exclusive information on Andrew McCabe Net Worth details such as Yearly Income, House, Car Collection, Investments etc. Also read Net Worth details of Robert Mueller.

    Finapp

    Pinandpuller (c13eee)

  86. Robert Mueller Net Worth is $18 million dollars and earns an annual income of $2 million dollars. The Net Worth of Robert Mueller has seen a hike of 64% over the past few years. Robert Mueller is an American attorney who was the sixth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. While calculating the Net Worth of Robert Mueller we have included the data updated as of this Quarter. Check out the Exclusive information on Robert Mueller Net Worth details such as Yearly Income, House, Car Collection, Brand Endorsements, Investments etc.

    Finapp

    Pinandpuller (c13eee)

  87. Short answer is he doesn’t qualify for another seven years, under current status.

    narciso (d1f714)

  88. I wish shipwreckedcrew were commenting.

    He got banned for a week. Ruffled feathers the wrong way.

    BuDuh (fc15db)

  89. To explicate a little further, in regular police, the ranks above captain are exempt from civil service (or union) protection. The mayor or another superior can bust down a chief, inspector, or superintendent with a phone call and the stroke of a pen. But only to his non-exempt rank — from patrolman to captain. To fire them from those protected ranks would require a hearing before, and a decision by, a board or commission, and they are still police until that happens.

    So I suspect Colonel Haiku and Stashiu3 are right, when they say that McCabe will receive a lower pension at worst. One based on his salary on the General Schedule in the highest civil service-protected rank he attained? I don’t know whether Senior Executive Service (that’s the equivalent of generals and admirals) ranks and salaries are civil service-protected. shipweckedcrew would know, having been in the system himself.

    nk (dbc370)

  90. Politico:

    If McCabe wants to challenge the decision, his options are limited. Most federal civil service workers who believe they’re being subjected to excessive punishment can protest to an obscure agency called the Merit Systems Protection Board and then to court, but for decades Congress has given the FBI and its management more leeway.

    “There’s no statutory basis to go to court,” said Tom Devine of the Government Accountability Project.

    While the usual civil service avenues are closed to McCabe, a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington is a possibility, lawyers said, but would probably require him to argue that his firing departed from standard practice in a way so egregious that it violated his constitutional rights to due process.

    If McCabe does file a lawsuit, he seems certain to argue that his repeated taunting by Trump put Sessions under political pressure to carry out the firing, whether or not it was warranted, lawyers say.

    The White House continued to provide fodder for those arguments on Thursday by trashing McCabe even as he showed up at the Justice Department in the afternoon to plead his case.

    DRJ (15874d)

  91. From the same link:

    McCabe on Thursday took his appeal in person to senior officials in the office of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The former No. 2 official at the FBI was seen arriving for an afternoon meeting at Justice Department headquarters, across the street from the FBI’s Hoover Building.

    The decision put the embattled attorney general in an exceedingly awkward spot. Dismissing McCabe surely pleased President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly slammed McCabe on Twitter and in person. But the federal government does not normally fire high-ranking career officials with 22 years of service except in the face of extraordinary evidence of serious wrongdoing.

    “To look at removing a person, potentially, two days before they retire, the factual basis of this has got to be really, really strong for them to do that,” said Michael Rochford, a former head of the FBI’s counterintelligence section.

    DRJ (15874d)

  92. It’s up to the DOJ to document those good reasons and find a way to make them public, presumably in the lawsuit McCabe will file.

    DRJ (15874d)

  93. Thank you, DRJ.

    So civil service protections are nowhere near as strong as the military’s. (Bowe Bergdahl could have been stripped of his VA benefits only by a court martial.)

    nk (dbc370)

  94. As I read it, FBI employees may not get all civil service protections. Perhaps it’s because they are law enforcement so the rank and file has a union, but I don’t know if executives like McCabe get it’s benefits. My guess is they do.

    DRJ (15874d)

  95. Thank you again, DRJ.

    Yes, I suspect that this Trumpism will sit well with the 13.6 million Trumpkins, but not so well with the other 320 million or so Americans.

    nk (dbc370)

  96. It appears the FBI, the CIA and other defense agencies are exempt from the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. They are called excepted service agencies.

    DRJ (15874d)

  97. If there are valid reasons to fire this schiffbird, hopefully, they will be made known. From what is know about him, he was always more of a political operative than anything else.

    As were Clapper, Brennan, Holder, Lynch, etc., etc., ad nauseum…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  98. “Why the press defends McCabe’s crime
    Lying to the FBI is a crime. Andrew McCabe lied to the FBI even as he was the agency’s deputy director. This cost him his job as deputy director of the FBI. In a just world, prosecutors would indict him just as they did Martha Stewart (and others).

    We shall see how just America is.

    But we know our media is not worthy of a great nation because most of the scribes would be more comfortable working under a Soviet system where they could protect the state.

    Which is why they protect McCabe.

    Ideology and partisanship have little to do with this because this is all about money and power too. McCabe put in motion the Russian dossier fable, which has meant billions to CNN, MSNBC, and others.

    They promote this lie because it keeps their audiences up, and those audiences have filled their coffers with record high subscription fees.

    For a long time, the media covered McCabe’s scandal with its Cloak of Invisibility. Now they circle wagons to protect him. Andrea Mitchell of Comcast’s MSNBC channel called for a congressman to put him on the payroll long enough to secure a lifetime pension. I don’t think that is how it works.

    You see, reporters protect sources at all costs because as I said, billions are at stake. They are no more interested in the truth than the Easter bunny is. CNN has yet to tell the public who gave them that story that libeled Anthony Scaramucci, which CNN subsequently retracted.

    The press loves the deep state. Atlantic monthly declared the Department of Justice to be an “independent agency,” which not only is untrue but it is unconstitutional. The president appoints the attorney general (and others). The Constitution holds that the president is the chief executive.”

    http://donsurber.blogspot.com/2018/03/why-press-defends-mccabes-crime.html

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  99. Yes, I suspect that this Trumpism will sit well with the 13.6 million Trumpkins, but not so well with the other 320 million or so Americans.

    Yeah, all those 320 million Americans with 6 figure pensions who were dismissed after (allegedly) engaged in wrongdoing. I can see that.

    random viking (6a54c2)

  100. Some get it, some don’t Viking!

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  101. And what’s the value of letting the uranium one/translogistic deal go through.

    narciso (e534aa)

  102. This guy has $11 mil in the bank, and is making a mil/yr working for the gov.

    Why is he hooking his trailer to Hillary for a measly $700K?

    Cheap hooker.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  103. And what’s the value of letting the uranium one/translogistic deal go through.

    Preserving the right of owners to dispose of their property in the manner they choose?

    Dave (445e97)

  104. Yes, I suspect that this Trumpism will sit well with the 13.6 million Trumpkins, but not so well with the other 320 million or so Americans.


    So you leftists don’t dehumanize the opposition any longer just expatriate them? If we don’t agree with your leftist view we are no longer Americans in your eyes? I assume the continued operation of the Swamp known as the Deep State and all the corruption it entails is a-ok with you? The good news is Trump will leave sooner or later and you have another chance to elect Hillary, or some other leftist person of color. Then the cronies can get back to work making millionaires out of attorneys like “Robert Mueller Net Worth is $18 million dollars and earns an annual income of $2 million dollars” or even “Andrew McCabe Net Worth is $11 Million dollars and earns an annual Income of $1 Million dollars”. You know how “an attorney” amasses millions and buys a brand new Audi luxury car for $310,000 USD? On his pay as Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, that’s how!

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  105. I’d say that McCabe’s candor is probably higher than Jared Kushner’s. I wonder if he’ll have any security clearance now. https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/politics/article/AP-Exclusive-Kushner-Cos-filed-false-documents-12762185.php

    nk (dbc370)

  106. Rev, the Dems are fighting for all those little guys — you know, the ones with 6 figure pensions who are in a position of power to influence/nullify an election. You don’t get it.

    random viking (6a54c2)

  107. And what’s the value of letting the uranium one/translogistic deal go through.

    Preserving the right of owners to dispose of their property in the manner they choose?

    Dave (445e97) — 3/18/2018 @ 8:16 am

    His comment has a first name.
    It’s O-S-C-A-R.
    That balogna has a second name.
    It’s M-A-Y-E-R.

    What a load of hooey.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  108. That internet net worth stuff, like Pinandpuller posted, is for entertainment purposes only.

    nk (dbc370)

  109. Preserving the right of owners to dispose of their property in the manner they choose?
    Dave (445e97) — 3/18/2018 @ 8:16 am


    That’s obviously not true since uranium isn’t just “property” or the government wouldn’t have to approve its sale like they do firearms. And like they did in Fast & Furious, corrupt leftist democrat government officials sold our country down the crapper for money and power. Typical. But you keep right on supporting the Deep State swamp, comrade.

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  110. 117.That internet net worth stuff, like Pinandpuller posted, is for entertainment purposes only.
    nk (dbc370) — 3/18/2018 @ 8:25 am


    That’s how the leftists do it, nk. If you don’t like the citation wave it away with a snob gesture. You know, entertainment being what it is. I’m sure you have the “authentic numbers” so let’s see’em.

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  111. As for “how “an attorney” amasses millions and buys a brand new Audi luxury car for $310,000 USD”, people inherit money, see e.g. the Trumps and the Kushners, or marry into it, or both, as well as amass it.

    nk (dbc370)

  112. Bowe Bergdahl could have been stripped of his VA benefits only by a court martial.

    “only” a court martial?

    Conviction by a general court martial is equivalent to being found guilty of a felony, according to Wikipedia.

    Dave (445e97)

  113. Jared Kushner is a lawyer who has been working for the FB fricken I for twenty years with working knowledge of the appearance and application of inpropriety in the civil service?

    Not according to my wiki.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  114. 114.I’d say that McCabe’s candor is probably higher than Jared Kushner’s. I wonder if he’ll have any security clearance now.


    Of course you would, nk since partisan hate of Trump overcomes any sense of honesty, law or fair play when it comes to condemning him and his family. You can now send in the Greek cops to make sure Kushner eats the proper donuts. Cause you ain’t corrupt.

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  115. @117: I don’t happen to believe those figures about McCabe net worth either. Doesn’t change a thing.

    random viking (6a54c2)

  116. I’m sure you have the “authentic numbers” so let’s see’em.

    Very few people have other people’s financials.

    nk (dbc370)

  117. You can now send in the Greek cops to make sure Kushner eats the proper donuts.

    Baklava.

    nk (dbc370)

  118. That internet net worth stuff, like Pinandpuller posted, is for entertainment purposes only.

    nk (dbc370) — 3/18/2018 @ 8:25 am

    SO we agree that McCabe is a hooker. Now we’re just trying to figure out if he’s a cheap one.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  119. Look up Hope Hicks (age 29) on that site – she’s supposedly worth almost double what McCabe (age 50) is.

    That’s obviously not true since uranium isn’t just “property” or the government wouldn’t have to approve its sale like they do firearms.

    When the government infringes on basic rights, they are supposed to have a good reason for doing so (“compelling interest”).

    If there was a good reason to stop the Uranium One deal, why didn’t the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Energy or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission object? I’ll tell you why: it was a routine transaction.

    Which agency do you think is in a better position to assess the adequacy of the nation’s uranium supply – the Department of State? Or the Department of Defense, Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission?

    I looked up the stats and posted them once before, but IIRC only about 1% of the transactions reviewed by CFIUS are blocked.

    Dave (445e97)

  120. I wish shipwreckedcrew were commenting. He’d know this stuff inside out. As I see it, McCabe’s position as Deputy Director was political and he could be removed from that at will. BUT, his position as an FBI agent and GS rank (I dunno about SES) are not. They should be protected by Civil Service.

    I have seen 4 or 5 very different and very confidently expressed answers about this. Yay Internet.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  121. I always like it when I see something new on Patterico’s Pontifications. And what’s new with McCabe is no people calling “lying to the FBI” a process crime, contrived, manufactured, entrapment, coercion, etc., etc., etc., like so many times before.

    nk (dbc370)

  122. nobody entrappered mccabe except himself though (and his sleazy wife)

    the corrupt FBI filth don’t hold themselves accoutnable

    this is a unicorn

    an aberration

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  123. worth almost double what McCabe (age 50) is.

    Before anybody accuses me of “lack of candor,” I misremembered what I saw in the chaos surrounding me at 3am last night.

    Hicks is allegedly worth more than McCabe, but not double

    Dave (445e97)

  124. oopers the corrupt FBI filth don’t hold themselves *accountable* i mean

    but what your criticize makes me think about though

    is how democrats seem ok with these fbi slutboys lying with impunity

    but they get VERY agitated at the idea of a dirty federal pension slut losing a pension

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  125. I always like it when I see something new on Patterico’s Pontifications. And what’s new with McCabe is no people calling “lying to the FBI” a process crime, contrived, manufactured, entrapment, coercion, etc., etc., etc., like so many times before.

    lol

    Patterico (115b1f)

  126. If it were a free market then Rancho Seco would have been putting in a bid for the uranium and Sacramento Municipal Utilities would be lowering rates instead of charging a 2.5 % annual increase to pay for wind mill (stones).

    papertiger (c8116c)

  127. And what’s new with McCabe is no people calling “lying to the FBI” a process crime, contrived, manufactured, entrapment, coercion, etc., etc., etc., like so many times before.

    Good Lord. We’re talking about a firing and removal of pension, not jail time. Gee, maybe that’s the difference.

    random viking (6a54c2)

  128. Yeah well. Getting paid $750K by a crook you’ve manuevered yourself into investigating; keeping a key bit of electronic evidence from that investigation under wraps for a year, is in no way contrived.

    Is that a process crime? Should be a felony in my opinion.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  129. Before anybody accuses me of “lack of candor,” I misremembered what I saw in the chaos surrounding me at 3am last night.
    Hicks is allegedly worth more than McCabe, but not double
    Dave (445e97) — 3/18/2018 @ 9:02 am

    And that right there is enough for you to be prosecuted if you said it to the FBI. If they choose.

    Stashiu3 (466cdf)

  130. Whether McCabe has 11 million in the bank or he goes on foodstamps tomorrow.

    Him being fired two days before cashing out with full pension, sure as hell ain’t sad.

    That’s a happy ending.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  131. I always like it when I see something new on Patterico’s Pontifications. And what’s new with McCabe is no people calling “lying to the FBI” a process crime, contrived, manufactured, entrapment, coercion, etc., etc., etc., like so many times before.

    Nobody seems concerned about repeated, open presidential interference and prejudice in the investigative process here, either.

    Dave (445e97)

  132. You think McCabe will be stupid enough to fight his firing for just cause in a D.C. court?

    I hope he does. I hope he fights for a long, long, long, long, (stipulate ten more longs) budget draining TIME.

    Just like Mark Steyn.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  133. You think McCabe will be stupid enough to fight his firing for just cause in a D.C. court?

    He might be better off with a PR campaign that would make a super-majority in both chambers of Congress (needed to override Trump’s veto) comfortable with signing on to a private bill to restore his pension. Or he can just wait until 2021 when there will be a Democratic President and a Democratic Congress.

    nk (dbc370)

  134. You think President Trump’s tweets have influence over the Federal bureaucracy? How quaint.

    In theory he’s supposed to.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  135. Or he can just wait until 2021 when there will be a Democratic President and a Democratic Congress.

    I can’t figure a sane person hoping for that outcome.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  136. dirty fbi slutboy Andrew McCabe’s pension makes no difference

    what matters is how all the other trashy incompetent fbi pansy trash realize now that they’re not immune to the same laws and harassment and accountabilities they love to shove up the asses of their political enemies

    plus their social standing is now somewhere between failmerica’s dirty child-molesting public school teacher trash and isis

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  137. Just testing you juche Dave, trust longtime Soviet stooge Panetta or saic principal gates not to allow the Russians to acquire a critical stake in our uranium xepositsm

    narciso (e534aa)

  138. Yeah, they might move the Uranium mines to Russia.

    Dave (445e97)

  139. You think McCabe will be stupid enough to fight his firing for just cause in a D.C. court?

    He might be better off with a PR campaign that would make a super-majority in both chambers of Congress (needed to override Trump’s veto) comfortable with signing on to a private bill to restore his pension. Or he can just wait until 2021 when there will be a Democratic President and a Democratic Congress.

    nk (dbc370) — 3/18/2018 @ 9:33 am

    Yes, who knows, he may deserve it. But then again, perhaps he doesn’t. He and so many others have acted totally above board, sans subterfuge, in accordance with their codes of conduct.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  140. “Before anybody accuses me of “lack of candor,” I misremembered what I saw in the chaos surrounding me at 3am last night.”
    Dave (445e97) — 3/18/2018 @ 9:02 am

    I suppose too many chickens, not enough time before teh rooster crows could be bumfuzzeling.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  141. How dare you suggest a student protest of retail level child murder on an industrial scale without Democrat approval!

    That’s a suspension. Video here.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  142. Another flaw with the Uranium conspiracy theory is that CFIUS can’t prevent a sale from happening; all they can do is pass the buck to the president for a final decision.

    And since Obama is the devil incarnate, he would have approved the deal regardless, right?

    So the CFIUS decision was totally irrelevant to anything.

    Dave (445e97)

  143. I can’t figure a sane person hoping for that outcome.

    There’s a kind of expectation that is not hope. It’s called “dread”.

    nk (dbc370)

  144. @130 nk

    I think I can say that you have a problem with the thin blue line and selective enforcement under color of law and whatnot. A lawyer guy with 22 years in is either extremely confident or extremely reckless in dishing out lies and obstruction while selectively investigating a whole barrel of liars and criminals. He could dolly up the barrel if he’s a stand up guy, but like Mueller that’s a dust jacket bio as genuine as Richard Bachman’s.

    Pinandpuller (15ea4a)

  145. Nope. My bottom line is that whatever McCabe may or may not have done, firing him two days before his pension vests is small, petty, nasty, vicious, vindictive, pansyish, pussyish, and filthy and, furthermore, crowing about it on Twitter is small-dickish.

    nk (dbc370)

  146. *Spoiler Alert

    When you get out of church today Trump is still president and McCabe is still BTFO.

    Pinandpuller (15ea4a)

  147. You misspelled ‘awesome’.

    Pinandpuller (15ea4a)

  148. The federal bureau of incompetents needs to be flushed. These people are dangerous and should b/e put down. For crimes sake if it were me I would have been jailed over a year ago. This country is not sustainable with agencies like the FBI. Lock and load brothers and sisters, the sh!t is about to hit the fan.

    mg (9e54f8)

  149. I read last night that spanking your kids reduces their IQ by five points so you can blame that for my gleeful enthusiasm Mr nk. And also I usually manage to quit before I get fired and I’ve never worked outside the private sector so no sympathy here.

    Pinandpuller (15ea4a)

  150. Time to crush all public employee unions to dust.

    Pinandpuller (15ea4a)

  151. @156: Public employees live in a different world. That’s fine, but don’t expect “320 million Americans” to relate to your visions of unicorns.

    random viking (6a54c2)

  152. If a pension is not vested until 20 years, and firing them before 20 years, regardless exactly how far before, is wrong, then I guess the only remedy is to make them vested on their first day.

    I’m actually surprised the public sector hasn’t already secured that.

    Probably will be remedied soon if I know the public sector.

    the Bas (3bcea0)

  153. For all worrying about McCabe’s pension, he still gets it. What he doesn’t get is the ability to take it at age 50, and he doesn’t get a “top up” in formula. He will have to wait until he is 57.
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/ebauer/2018/03/17/no-andrew-mccabe-isnt-losing-his-pension/#15bf56d2236d

    pete (a65bac)

  154. Thank you, pete.

    nk (dbc370)

  155. It might even be correct.

    But according to shipwreckedcrew, FBI pensions are different from the FERS benefits the author mentions. They vest at either 25 years of service, or 20 years of service and age 50, or not at all.

    nk (dbc370)

  156. For all worrying about McCabe’s pension, he still gets it.

    this isn’t what the CNN Jake Tapper fake news propaganda sluts are saying

    they say he lost his whole pension and it’s not fair it’s not fair

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  157. Yes, that’s why I’m not taking the Forbes article pete linked as 100% correct. It could all be, CNN and Forbes and all the other usual suspects, maneuvering to manipulate the public perception.

    nk (dbc370)

  158. This makes it sound like a FERS retirement plan with an asterisk, nk:

    Special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation provide national security, enforce federal laws and investigate crimes. After providing honorable service for their country, special agents receive federal retirement benefits upon retirement to replace their salary. Special agents with 20 years of federal law enforcement service are eligible to retire at age 50. Agents with 25 or more years of service are eligible for retirement, regardless of age. Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) includes a basic benefit, thrift savings plan and Social Security.

    There is more at the link but nothing about McCabe. I think it is an older article.

    This government website says law enforcement and other employees have different rules for calculating benefits, but it sounds like the FERS rules otherwise apply. If so, he vested at 5 years but he can’t retire at 50 unless he has 20 years’ service.

    That’s what Trump should be saying. Few people will care if he can’t retire at 50 since we can’t. But Trump likes to play the role of Macho Man and taking away a pension sounds Very Macho.

    DRJ (15874d)

  159. Are all lawyers as stupid as they seem?

    mg (9e54f8)

  160. Quien es maw macho? El Presidente o Las Tres Letras?

    Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina Patterico

    It won’t be easy, you’ll think it strange
    When I try to explain how I feel
    That I still need my pension after getting this raw deal
    You won’t believe me, all you will see’s
    a guy chewing his nails
    Although you think me above reproach,
    it’s wind in sails
    And if I’ve failed
    You know schiff happens, I had to do it
    I had to plot and plan
    Looking out of the window, staying out of the sun
    So I chose Clinton, that soulless shrew it wasn’t fun
    She didn’t impress me
    But her money sure did
    Don’t cry for me, Patterico
    The truth is, I’ll get the money
    The law’s for yokels, not this existence
    I’ll get teh money
    Give truth some distance

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  161. What brand and model of car do you drive, nk?

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  162. But Trump likes to play the role of Macho Man and taking away a pension sounds Very Macho.
    DRJ (15874d) — 3/18/2018 @ 11:03 am


    So now Trump took away this pigs pension? Couldn’t be his boss fired him for a sh!t list of offenses, could it?

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  163. Heh! I admit to being a stupid lawyer, mg. What other explanation could there be for reading comments here?

    DRJ (15874d)

  164. @172 I’ll take a stab at that , Colonel and guess a Subaru Outback with the standard COEXIST sticker.

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  165. individuals aren’t responsible for the consequences of their actions in the happy world of nevertrump Mr. Reverend

    they are, after all, True Conservatives

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  166. true conservatives like Jeff Flake whose gift to America is his disgustingly racist son

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  167. What brand and model of car do you drive, nk?

    Boeing 727 with gold-plated bathroom faucets. I don’t begrudge other people their possessions just because I don’t have them, Haiku.

    nk (dbc370)

  168. Savannah’s St. Patrick’s Day parade is the second-largest in the United States and third-largest in the world

    nobody tells me anything

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  169. That is a bad case of over-compensation, nk.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  170. It’s like when a Colorado friend called to let me know he’d written a check for a 2015 Corvette. I said, “so this means you’ve joined the sect?” “Sect”, he asked…

    I responded “yeah, sect… gold chain, short of dick, thick of neck”…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  171. Forgive me if I misunderstood you, but I thought your question was in the same vein as random viking’s: “Most people don’t get McCabe’s pension, so why should we care whether he loses his?” I don’t think that’s should be a consideration. It’s too egalitarian. I would even say Commie thinking.

    nk (dbc370)

  172. La mujer con el nombre de las tres letras es mas macho!

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  173. I wish Congress would eliminate the ability to retire at 50 (after 20 years of service) for all federal employees who move into the executive suites. The purpose behind early retirement for service agencies like the FBI is that the agents are out in the field in their work, or they are directly supervising field agents. It’s hard to do that as you age, and there are simiar provisions for state and local firefighters and police officers.

    But once they step into the executive office and become entitled to the power, bigger salaries and perks, they should forego retiring at 50. There is no point to that benefit — just the opposite — they are executives because of their experience and knowledge, not because they are in the field. They can work long past 50 like the rest of America.

    DRJ (15874d)

  174. My actual car is a 2006 Nissan Altima, with 52,800 original miles. No bumper stickers of any kind, only dents. But it is red.

    nk (dbc370)

  175. I hope Sessions did fire McCabe for cause, Hoagie, but we should also acknowledge that everyone who works for Trump knows they need to be loyal and please him. Do you believe your employees tried to please you?

    DRJ (15874d)

  176. Hi padre queria un hijo, Haiku.

    DRJ (15874d)

  177. Well as long as it’s red.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  178. Mi padre. Autocorrect no dice Espanol.

    DRJ (15874d)

  179. tons of these sloppy slimy corrupt fbi agents stay behind a desk their whole entire careers

    they’re not executives they just like air conditioning

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  180. They can work long past 50 like the rest of America.

    pathological liar Andy McCabe’s new story is he always meant to retire at 50

    that was his dream this whole time he says

    Andy McCabe lies a LOT.

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  181. everyone who works for Trump knows they need to be loyal and please him

    I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if a lifetime of experience dealing with the government was stripped away and suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  182. I have a dream of Andy McCabe breaking rocks in Fort Leavenworth, with Hillary Clinton along side him, serving as a trustee/overseer.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  183. DRJ, why should the taxpayer not want justice to prosecute the guilty obamacrats involved in this conspiracy against the founding fathers vision?

    mg (9e54f8)

  184. McCabe wouldn’t do us wrong

    Frankie and Johnny Frank Crumit 1927

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  185. 189… y yo, tambien…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  186. 185… how bad is the rust from salted roads, nk?

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  187. If Trump was part of the Founding Fathers’ vision, the Indians were not only ones chewing sacred mushrooms.

    nk (dbc370)

  188. Salted roads are life up here. Jesus, nk, you use that car like a boat (4,000/yr).

    urbanleftbehind (ddcc04)

  189. Almost no rust at all, Haiku, except on a deep scratch/dent and that was only surface, it did not progress. None on the door panels, fenders or underbody. I think the body is non-ferrous. A refrigerator magnet will not stick to it. Likely the pan, too.

    nk (dbc370)

  190. Well, Ben Franklin would have been incensed, being anti-German and all.

    urbanleftbehind (ddcc04)

  191. Yes, but hes half Scot, no the subtle hint suggested is only democrats can mine data, also put a hammerlock on their political opponents

    narciso (d1f714)

  192. Oh my, Captain! Putin got more of the popular vote than you!?

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  193. 186.I hope Sessions did fire McCabe for cause, Hoagie, but we should also acknowledge that everyone who works for Trump knows they need to be loyal and please him. Do you believe your employees tried to please you?
    DRJ (15874d) — 3/18/2018 @ 11:43 am


    There is no “hope” involved. Sessions did fire McCabe for cause on the recommendation of several other people. This wasn’t just plucked out of thin air. I hope we can agree on that. Firing a guy in his position is no easy task regardless who is president and who is AG and regardless which party they’re from.

    Then you use a “but” to say people who work for Trump know they need to be loyal and please him as if that is an unusual requirement for subordinates whether in government or not. I don’t think it is. I believe subordinates are expected and should be loyal to their superiors and try to please them or they should leave their positions…if they’re honest. There is a term for people who are not loyal: Traitor, and there is also one for those who fail to please their bosses: Failures. Yes, most of my employees were loyal and worked very hard to please me and I worked equally as hard to be the best boss, owner and restauranteur I could be because I wanted them to be pleased also. I also never hesitated to fire someone. I once fired my own mother. I’m not kidding.

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  194. 202… sounds like a Bondomobile, nk.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  195. 206.Oh my, Captain! Putin got more of the popular vote than you!?
    DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/18/2018 @ 1:11 pm


    That’s because Putin and the commiecrats both subscribe to the Stalin version of ballot counting. Hell, I hear Kim-Un gets almost as many popular votes as Hillary did.

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  196. @206… ASPCA… you sound like you are either in dire need of a leader to inspire and motivate you, or a new dominatrix.

    My money’s on the latter…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  197. Yes, I suspect that this Trumpism will sit well with the 13.6 million Trumpkins, but not so well with the other 320 million or so Americans.

    nk (dbc370) — 3/18/2018 @ 7:30 am

    A bunch of #BLM and David Hogg gun grabber types are too busy rallying to care about a guy who’s asking if the Justice Department validates.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  198. That internet net worth stuff, like Pinandpuller posted, is for entertainment purposes only.

    nk (dbc370) — 3/18/2018 @ 8:25 am

    It sure is.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  199. 201… I have 42K miles on my daily driver 2012 Abarth, but that’s mostly because I’ve worked from home much more the last 4 years and I have a few other cars to drive around town.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  200. @210. =Haiku!= Gesundheit!

    Stormy sees whiplash. Time will tell; so will 60 Minutes.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  201. SO we agree that McCabe is a hooker. Now we’re just trying to figure out if he’s a cheap one.

    papertiger (c8116c) — 3/18/2018 @ 8:38 am

    He could soon enough be giving the Girlfriend Experience to a guy named Luther.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  202. Feel teh lash, ASPCA! And then suck Zombie Nixon’s toes…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  203. It’s too egalitarian. I would even say Commie thinking.

    A system where you literally can’t be fired at will, and you accrue a ridiculously calculated pension for life at age 50, contrived by people who benefit, and paid for by those who don’t — yeah, nk, that sounds like the opposite of Commie thinking.

    random viking (6a54c2)

  204. Him being fired two days before cashing out with full pension, sure as hell ain’t sad.

    That’s a happy ending.

    papertiger (c8116c) — 3/18/2018 @ 9:23 am

    It’s like people are saying Clara Harris should have repeatedly run over her husband on Wednesday morning not Friday evening, that was unnecessarily cruel.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  205. Off-topic: John Goodman looks more like Rex Tillerson than Rex Tillerson does.

    Dave (445e97) — 3/18/2018 @ 9:31 am

    Am I the only one here

    Who’s looking forward to seeing

    Sarah Chalke on TV again?

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  206. Or he can just wait until 2021 when there will be a Democratic President and a Democratic Congress.

    I can’t figure a sane person hoping for that outcome.

    papertiger (c8116c) — 3/18/2018 @ 9:35 am

    mr nk wants to be appointed McCabe’s Life Coach Ad Litem.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  207. Chalke was the biotchy girlfriend of Ross-with-game (Ted) on a season of How I Met Your Ho of a Mom.

    urbanleftbehind (ddcc04)

  208. @172 I’ll take a stab at that , Colonel and guess a Subaru Outback with the standard COEXIST sticker.

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402) — 3/18/2018 @ 11:14 am

    Do they give out wallet chains with those things? Outbacks I mean.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  209. Forgive me if I misunderstood you, but I thought your question was in the same vein as random viking’s: “Most people don’t get McCabe’s pension, so why should we care whether he loses his?” I don’t think that’s should be a consideration. It’s too egalitarian. I would even say Commie thinking.

    nk (dbc370) — 3/18/2018 @ 11:35 am

    In honor of St Patty’s day I will quote an Irish friend of my dad’s:

    Don’t trouble me now, I’ve problems of me own.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  210. MG,

    Like you, I want McCabe and all public employees to follow the rules, and I want there to be consequences if they break the rules. It sounds like McCabe has done several questionable things but I don’t know what to think when the reports say he has shown a “lack of candor.” Does that mean he lied about something important or that he fudged a few dollars on an expense account?

    However, my review of the rules SUGGESTS (but I don’t know if I’m right) that McCabe won’t lose his pensuon and all this excitement that he might is a red herring. I think he could lose the right to early retirement at 50 but that’s very different from losing his pension. It appears the rules say FBI agents get their pensions after 5 years of service like all federal employees, but they can’t start receiving their pensions until (1) age 57, or (2) age 50 if they have worked for the FBI for 20 years. (There are also rules that let employees count years serving in military or other government service but they don’t apply to McCabe.)

    In addition, I don’t think Trump has said McCabe will lose his pension, but I think Trump is fine with us thinking McCabe will lose his pension. If so, that’s posturing. I want real consequences. If McCabe lied about something important, indict him.

    DRJ (15874d)

  211. there’s absolutely nothing stopping pervy fbi suckboy Robert Mueller from indicting McCabe

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  212. The DOJ has jurisdiction to prosecute federal crimes, hf. Trump could tell Sessions to file charges if there is a basis to charge.

    What’s more, I’m sick of all this gloating over firing someone for being political. Trump is President. He should have spent his transition identifying politicized federal employees so he could demote them on Day One of his Presidency … but he didn’t, and he fired Chris Christie after Christie had spent months doing that very thing. Trump only has himself to blame for this. Trump loves to play the victim but we are the victims of his laziness and ignorance.

    DRJ (15874d)

  213. There’s some blame for Kushner and his family grudge against Christie, too. You know how they say all politics is local? It’s personal, too.

    DRJ (15874d)

  214. Sure. DRJ would have had nothing but praise if Trump started sacking career employees on day one.

    I buy that.

    BuDuh (fc15db)

  215. The DOJ is deeply deeply corrupt and can’t be relied upon to prosecute a well-connected ex-DOJ employee like Andy.

    And it’s not President Trump’s fault that the DOJ and the FBI are chock full of sleazy criminal trash. He’s done more than anyone aside from dirty Lisa Page to expose these perverted sluts for who they are.

    If anybody’s at fault for this it’s the American people who for too long refused to see the nasty cowardly lickspittle FBI for the criminal organization it became right in front of their eyes.

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  216. I said demote, not fire, BuDuh, and I would have praised Trump for that. I have said it many times here in the past year. I would have also liked Trump to ask for the resignations of political appointees like the US Attorneys. I think he waited until March 2017 to do that. Two months isn’t forever but it was unnecessary.

    DRJ (15874d)

  217. He should have spent his transition identifying politicized federal employees so he could demote them on Day One of his Presidency

    what’s the difference exactly between the merits of firing a politicized time-serve like Rod Rosytwat vs. sacking a hyper-politicized dyke-banger like Robert Mueller

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  218. oopers that should say politicized *time-server* not time-serve

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  219. oh.

    i’m unfamiliar with the merits of demoting corrupt government worker trash versus firing them

    but so is everybody

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  220. Wasn’t Trump elected to drain the government swamp, hf? Are you saying he is unable to do what he promised to do?

    DRJ (15874d)

  221. Demoting people gets them out of management positions so they can’t make important decisions.

    DRJ (15874d)

  222. oh my goodness this is *exactly* what draining the swamp looks like

    you’ll notice the first lady isn’t a mentally ill harvardtrash sacky or an ESL fashion horse bush broad

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  223. Civil servants can’t be fired but they can be demoted. You can ask for resignations of political appointees and fire them if they refuse. This is Employment Law 101.

    DRJ (15874d)

  224. Yes and when he asked only half of the resignations, the usual suspects freaked, including schumer factotum preet bhaara.

    narciso (d1f714)

  225. @216. Haiku! Gesundheit!

    Stormy sees ahead: $130,000; peenuts from a peon.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  226. Demoting people gets them out of management positions so they can’t make important decisions.

    if this is the goal we need to start by demoting closet-case kentuckyslut Mitch McConnell

    it’s his job to get people in place so that people can be demoted

    he lost interest in this after installing his corrupt pig wife in a cushy cabinet position that comes with a sweet sweet rolling-large McCabe-style pension

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  227. You are so predictable, hf. Change the subject when you get overwhelmed. Insult Texans when you think it will get a response. Does this really work for you? It doesn’t seem like a good life plan to me.

    DRJ (15874d)

  228. I see. You would have been pleased if Trump demoted people on day one. No calls that he rushed to judgement?

    Ok.

    BuDuh (d99848)

  229. it’s an awesome life plan I just got back from brunch and I think I’m going to hawaii in december

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  230. Just like tillerson did his best to retain Obama holdovers like nourazedeh. Fmrly of niac. When do we get a chance to put people with the presidents vision in place, at this point only 51% of appointees have been confirmed.

    narciso (d1f714)

  231. It’s called a Transition, BuDuh. Trump should have brought in his people on Day One. Democrats would complain as they did with Bush, but doing it in the beginning is smart because people expect a new President to make changes.

    DRJ (15874d)

  232. How long has Richard grenell, just to use one example been waiting?

    narciso (d1f714)

  233. The Senate is confirming Trump’s nominees at the same rate as Bush and Obama, but Trump is lagging behind both Bush and Obama in the number of nominations. He is making good nominations, so that’s nice, but 4 years goes by quickly. Nominees need time in office to make changes. That’s why Presidents have a Transition.

    DRJ (15874d)

  234. I am getting more confused. You wanted Trump to demote career employees and have their jobs filled by Trump people on day one?

    Wouldn’t that bloat the swamp?

    BuDuh (d99848)

  235. I just ran a refrigerator magnet around my ’07 Altima hybrid and it’s all steel outside the skirts. I doubt I will ever get another daily driver that doesn’t have push button start. I hope you all get to experience that even if you don’t have 11 million in the bank.

    I haven’t seen Beldar comment for a minute so here’s some lawyer bait. A guy with a YouTube channel know as Samcrac buys wrecked cars and posts videos of his rebuilds. He bought a wrecked Domino’s DXP delivery car at auction for about $500 I think. He started fixing it up and all of a sudden he was getting takedown notices. Now Domino’s is trying to seize the car. IDK, lotta lawyer and trademark layers on the whole deal

    Samcrac v Domino’s

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  236. and you have trash like perjuring commie-fellator John Brennan who’s been out of his position for many many moons and the CNN Jake Tapper fake news propaganda sluts still treat him like the number one go-to guy when they want a reliable narrative-supporting opinion on failmerica’s sleazy coward-ass gold-plated intelligence agencies

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  237. Got the push button start on our 2013 MB… pretty slick.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  238. bush confirmation rate as of 12/31/17 = 67%

    food stamp confirmation rate = 69%

    President Trump confirmation rate = 60%

    that’s definitely significant

    Mitch isn’t getting the job done he’s almost as useless as Meghan McCain’s awol cowardpig war hero daddy

    but if you break it out and look at the sleazier more corrupt departments like Justice, State and the tranny-trash Mattis Defense department the disparity is much greater

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  239. Brendan’s an i teresting one, he couldn’t initially be confirmed for director, because he knew about the interrogation program, not necessarily approved of it, mostly because of the defamatory we saw with pripubluca, the times and the post, last week.

    narciso (d1f714)

  240. BuDuh, I want any Republican President to nominate officials who can step in on Day One to deal with staffing and policy issues in their agency/department. I want Presidents to have reviewed each agency and department to identify questionable policies and leaders/employees that need to be addressed, so the President can give guidance to his nominees regarding what they need to do in their agencies/departments. I want Presidents to go work with the nominees to have a blueprint of what they need to accomplish to set a better course.

    That is what happens in a Presidential Transition, but it didn’t seem to happen with Trump. I think it’s because he fired Christie and ignored all the work he had done, so Trump basically had no Transition. That’s the kind of Transition I want Democrats Presidents to have, not Republican Presidents.

    DRJ (15874d)

  241. That may mean more employees for awhile but then you put a hiring freeze in place and drain the swamp through normal retirements of people leaving the job, especially demoted personnel who may devide to find other employment. That is what Tillerson did at State.

    DRJ (15874d)

  242. there’s no evidence we’d have been better off by following the Christie blueprint

    and a lot of evidence that we would have had a lot of leftist christie-approved swamptrash all up in it

    remember christie got his start in politics as an attorney with the hyper-corrupt failmerican department of justice

    he’s an old school pig

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  243. bush confirmation rate as of 12/31/17 = 67%

    food stamp confirmation rate = 69%

    President Trump confirmation rate = 60%

    Yeah, that Trump is one strong leader. He can’t get his nominees confirmed when his own party controls the Senate. I wonder if it’s because the GOP Senators are afraid of the NRA.

    nk (dbc370)

  244. GOP Senators are people like cowardpig war hero John McCain who can’t even bother to drag his useless cowardly ass to Washington to vote

    and you have Jeff Flake who’s too busy imbuing racist values in his children to focus on governing

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  245. If I get ef me lottery money I’m going to buy an RV, install a pizza oven and we cook it while we drive to your house.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  246. You also believe that the Obama administration was forthcoming and transparent during the transition?

    BuDuh (d99848)

  247. You know you’re right, happyfeet. That lazy, good-for-nothing GOP Congress wouldn’t even legalize the Dreamers or ban AR-15s like Trump promised Chuck and Dianne. What a way to let the President down.

    nk (dbc370)

  248. trump didn’t do any promise all up in it

    he told dianne he would do tit for tat

    and she giggled and blushed

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  249. Let’s look forward, not in the rearview mirror, shall we?

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  250. So not only was Australia was a party to the Clinton foundation, but downer was a recipient of their largess:

    https://mobile.twitter.com/dcexaminer/status/975438215657246720

    narciso (d1f714)

  251. Forgive me colonel…

    A little ditty about Chuck and Diane,
    A couple of coastal kids about to screw the Heartland

    urbanleftbehind (ddcc04)

  252. A Rocklin High School teacher has been placed on paid administrative leave due to several complaints from parents and students involving the teacher’s communications regarding today’s student-led civic engagement activities.

    Students’ free expression rights should vastly outweigh the state’s interest in locking kids up all day, and letting them peacefully protest gun violence seemed like the right call to me. But if it’s OK to protest, it should also be OK to have a discussion about the protest. As long as no student was unjustly disciplined for political speech, it seems to me like there’s little reason for parents to complain or for Benzel to be in trouble.

    https://reason.com/blog/2018/03/15/national-school-walkout-abortion-guns

    This is outrageous. I’ll set the table for you.
    Rocklin is represented in Sacramento by Republican Kevin Kiley in the assembly (won office by 64.6%, to the pasty faced Democrat halfwit challenger’s 35.4%).
    It’s represented by Republican Ted Gains in the State Senate (won by such a Putinesque lopsided victory that Wikipedia is ashamed to show the numbers).
    It’s Representative in Washington is Republican Tom McClintock.

    Placer County has not voted for a Democratic nominee for President since Jimmy Carter.

    You want to talk about petty?

    If there was even one actual parent with a child in Rocklin High complaining about this teacher you can bet your [dingo] that they ran for office on a Democrat ticket and had their [crikey dingo] handed back to them, still nursing the [dingo] hurt.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  253. Say nk. Did your car get dented by maurading children during the anti-gun riot that ensued from your local school district releasing the juvenile delenquents to their own lawless recognisance? *wink* *wink*

    I’m thinking you should file a complaint with the school district for damages. *wink* *wink*

    How else are they to learn?

    Let them shake a little.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  254. The Obama cabal needs to be cordoned and then have its head cut off.

    mg (9e54f8)

  255. You also believe that the Obama administration was forthcoming and transparent during the transition?

    BuDuh (d99848) — 3/18/2018 @ 3:53 pm

    I’m not sure if you are talking to me but we’ve exchanged several comments on Presidential transitions so it may be. e

    I don’t recall much about Obama’s tradition but I think, and thought then, that he is a socialist and he wants to do whatever he can to instill socialist values and policies in the federal government. Accordinpgly, I did not want Obama to have a productive transition. I doubt he did since he thinks he is smarter than everyone else, which can make a person controlling and a perfectionist, but he certainly learned. He ultimately had a (in my view) negative impact on culture and government in his 8 years because he learned to be patient and delegate.

    IMO being a successful delegator is a quality that successful Presidents share. Sometimes Trump is good at delegating, such as in his judicial nominations. I hope he does that more in the next three years.

    DRJ (15874d)

  256. Correction: I don’t recall much about Obama’s transition, not tradition.

    DRJ (15874d)

  257. But, to be clear, I don’t think transition teams have to be forthcoming and transparent. They have to be organized and competent so the new Administration can act quickly to put the people and ideas in place that will make the changes the new President wants to make. For whatever reason, Trump wasn’t ready.

    DRJ (15874d)

  258. i wouldn’t be so quick to judge for all we know President Trump could be the number one best transitioner once we have the luxury of hindsight

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  259. Trump loves supporters like you, happyfeet. He should send you a MAGA gift pack.

    DRJ (15874d)

  260. that would be sweet but it’s completely unnecessary

    if someone wants to email me for my address let me know

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  261. DRJ, I think someone posted this before, but in case you missed it, here is a nice thought experiment courtesy of Rush

    You ever done this? I have. Pretend that you’re running for president, pretend that you win, but nothing else about your life changes. Just one day, you’re out there doing what you do, and one day you decide to run — and you win. Now you have to pick a secretary of state. Now you have to pick a secretary of commerce and on down the line. You’ve gotta pick somebody to lead your Council of Economic Advisors. You have to pick somebody to go over to Commerce. You have to pick somebody at the Food and Drug Administration and the EPA and all this.

    How many of you know anybody who is expert in any of those areas? So since you don’t, and since most of us wouldn’t, where would you go? Who would you rely on for advice? Who would you go to find people to staff your cabinet? If you’ve never been in politics, and all of a sudden you run for the top gig in the country and you get it…? I ask myself this all the time because I try to find out… You know, George H. W. Bush is the first president… Well, maybe Reagan. But George H. W. Bush is the first person I actually tried to figure this out.

    I looked his cabinet. Like Bob Mosbacher was secretary of commerce, and he was great, and he was also a very tight buddy of George H. W. Bush. They’re both in Texas, both in Houston. Mosbacher was a perfect fit. Now, Bush had been in government all his life, so he had the pick of the litter. He knew everybody. James Baker actually was a Bush man before he was a Reagan man, and some people said he never became a Reagan man, that he was always a Bush man, meaning he was never his conservative as Reagan was.

    But that’s the position Trump was in. I don’t know if Trump knew Tillerson before he ran for president. Maybe he had met him. I don’t know if he knew Mike Pompeo. I just don’t know. But to know people well enough to put them in these positions… Nikki Haley at the United Nations, the ambassador. So at some point you do have to rely on people that you trust to make recommendations to you to put people in your cabinet. When that starts happening, that’s when it can all go wrong. What if you’re asking people who don’t want you to succeed?

    What if the suggestions you’re getting are not the best fit for you? Say you’re relying on… Pick. I don’t care who it is. You’re relying on somebody to advise you on picking a secretary of state, and what if that person really thinks you have no business being president so you need somebody in there that’s gonna actually run foreign policy for you since you’re such a dodo bird. What if Trump was relying on somebody to give him advice? Not just secretary of state, but any other position?

    My point is that now that Trump’s got a year under his belt and has gotten to know people and has seen them in action and now has an on-the-ground feel for his agenda and how this place work… Now I think he is making moves to staff his administration with people who are on the same page as he is, people he trusts, people that he knows agree with him on what he wants to get done.

    the Bas (3bcea0)

  262. Sounds nice. It’s stupid but it sounds nice.

    DRJ (15874d)

  263. don’t recall much about Obama’s tradition but I think,…

    I will clarify.

    You also believe that the Obama administration counterparts to the Trump transition team forthcoming and transparent during the transition in 2016?

    BuDuh (58bb3b)

  264. I’m sorry but I don’t understand what you are asking, BuDuh.

    DRJ (15874d)

  265. Actually no, condoleeza rice among others recommended tillerson, (chevron / Exxon tie) that didn’t work out so well, he took a gamble on haley who wasn’t a fan, and that’s worked out better. Brennan used his authority to deny clearances to Harvey, lovinger, townley,

    narciso (d1f714)

  266. Are you asking if Obama’s Administration was helpful to Trump and his transition team before Trump took office? If so, I doubt it.

    DRJ (15874d)

  267. There may have been basic organizational information provided. But it was probably already known to the GOP.

    DRJ (15874d)

  268. Obama did all he could to sabotage the transition (including having Comey attempt to blackmail Trump with the fake Fusion GPS dossier). That’s why Trump needed a tough, street-wise cookie like Christie to fight for him. But what happened: “Oh no that won’t do, Daddy! That mean old Christie put my husband Jared’s daddy in prison. Fire him, Daddy! Fire him!”

    nk (dbc370)

  269. So, the people that should have been demoted immediately should have been part of the GOP playbook?

    I wonder if they gave Trump a list?

    BuDuh (58bb3b)

  270. A transition team should research available people. Ask national, state and local GOP resources for recommendations and then have your transition team research them. Look for strengths and weaknesses that for Trump’s vision. Trump acts like he knows how to pick people. He brags about his insight and business experience. This isn’t brain surgery but it does take discipline and time to do the research.

    I would bet money that Christie did the research but Trump didn’t trust him so he let Pence and Priebus pick from their network. Outsourcing to the GOPe was not be a good idea if you can for office on a Drain The Swamp platform. So now he has wasted a year and he only has four, so that’s 25% of his term.

    DRJ (15874d)

  271. And it’s likely he only has one more year with a GOP Congress.

    DRJ (15874d)

  272. nk is right.

    DRJ (15874d)

  273. The whole year was wasted because every pick he has had was bad? Is that how you get to 25%?

    BuDuh (58bb3b)

  274. Not all Trump’s picks were bad but they did not seem ready for prime time. Too much infighting wasted valuable time, but we know Trump likes infighting.

    Does it seem to you that Trump was organized and effective at accomplishing his goals this past year? His judicial nominations worked well but the travel ban was botched and botched again. He didn’t work well with Congress on repealing ObamaCare or on DACA. Granted, there is a learning curve on being President but there is also a 4 year time limit and a limited amount of public support/patience.

    DRJ (15874d)

  275. But, yes, that is how I got to 25%. One-fourth of his four year term.

    DRJ (15874d)

  276. Well that is an inaccurate way to track appointments.

    BuDuh (12ed57)

  277. We discussed appointments above (246, 249, etc.). This was a point about the limits of his 4 year term, and clearly 25% of his term has elapsed.

    DRJ (15874d)

  278. It’s fine if a kid comes home with all C’s on his report card, and it may be great if that’s the best he can do, but probably he can do better. Trump can do better.

    DRJ (15874d)

  279. Pretty sly.

    BuDuh (12ed57)

  280. “Sounds nice. It’s stupid but it sounds nice.”

    Strike that, I say strike that, your Honor, poorly phrased…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  281. And what grade what you give the senate and house?

    narciso (d1f714)

  282. I’d give Cornyn a swift kick in the ass

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  283. I don’t have a grade but the GOP Congress is disappointing to me as a conservative. It’s not surprising but still disappointing, especially the Texas delegation.

    DRJ (15874d)

  284. 301… ALL of them disappoint. It’s like they’re more comfortable out of power, content with complaining.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  285. A lot of people are simply content with complaining, it seems to me.

    It takes a lot less work than trying to fix anything, after all.

    Simon Jester (ca9668)

  286. Except for my rep, Simon, they are generally a dissapointment, Cornyn isn’t surprising except as a fmr judge I might have expected more.

    narciso (d1f714)

  287. Congress typically operates by finding a middle ground, but it’s hard to find any middle ground on issues now.

    DRJ (15874d)

  288. On the other hand, the basketball tournament has been great.

    DRJ (15874d)

  289. Does “these days” include the passage of Obamacare, or is that when the middle ground style was working swimmingly?

    BuDuh (fc15db)

  290. A poor use of quotes. My bad. But, you get the idea.

    BuDuh (fc15db)

  291. ObamaCare is a disaster IMO. There was a time when mainstream Americans had similar values so compromise did not result in big cultural changes, but that changed in the 1960’s. There is no room to compromise on abortion, the death penalty, SSM, nationalized healthcare, and similar polarizing cultural issues.

    For conservatives, maybe the best we can hope for is that Congress will get very little accomplished, and that is generally what we’ve seen.

    DRJ (15874d)

  292. The left is relentless in trying to fundamentally transform America,

    narciso (d1f714)

  293. No Republican voted for Obamacare. However, comity had already faded by the Shrub’s second term. Both Roberts (78-22) and Alito (58-42) got Democrat votes, but by the time of Alito the Republicans (yes, as in GOP) were talking about the nuclear option to end the filibuster. Of course, they did not have the guts to do it, but when Obama needed it, Harry Reid did. Have the guts.

    nk (dbc370)

  294. So the hard to find middle ground has nothing to do with Trump?

    BuDuh (fc15db)

  295. Who had therapist to deal with the crisis of w’s election then reeled lion, so it has to be butterfly ballot or diebold or gerrymandering, these excuses didn’t explain 2006 or 2008 though

    narciso (d1f714)

  296. Let’s say Trump is not the person to restore things to the time when Sandra Day O’Connor was confirmed 100-0 and Scalia (that Scalia!) 98-0.

    nk (dbc370)

  297. Would Ted Cruz have been the person that could restore things?

    BuDuh (fc15db)

  298. 310.The left is relentless in trying to fundamentally transform America,


    In case you haven’t noticed, they already have and I believe it’s irreparable. They now regulate religion, speech and even thought and you know they are coming for Americans guns. Soon. They are building a force of children using our schools and our money to do so. They dictate what speech is acceptable and determine how many “genders” exist on any given day. They turned our once great military into a lab for women, homosexuals and transgendered deliberately to compromise it. They corrupt the educational system from K-12 and now they want to control pre-school too cause 5 years old ain’t young enough to start the brainwashing. They control and have basically ruined higher education.

    With the left everything is political, education, information, the military, entertainment, news, TV, sports, the Olympics, guns, murder, immigrants, illegals, healthcare, you name it and it’s all political. Even pronouns are subject to leftist approval.

    We are now so far behind the curve it is impossible to catch up with the damage they have wrought upon our nation let alone stop or reverse it. While we worked and were distracted with sports and celebrities they were programming our children and even us. While we saluted the flag they burnt it and we said it was free speech. They programmed us. While we worked and paid our taxes they used those taxes to buy votes with welfare and section 8 housing, Obamacare and obamaphones. We let them because we are programmed to. They took over the cities through Unions then created ghettos filled with modern day slaves dependent on handouts and we let them because the we fighting a War on Poverty. So how’s poverty doing? Is it gone yet?

    Now they’re convincing people that immigrants are somehow needed in America when we have 7 million men out of the job force. They bring in people from all over and shove them into our cities and take our hard earned money to support them and if we balk we’re called racists. It’s funny how if they bring in millions and millions of non Caucasian people to marginalize the white majority they aren’t racists but if we call them on it we are!

    They’ve destroyed everything they touched from the Boy Scouts to NASA to the military to the black family and they hold themselves up as virtuous elites full of compassion. It’s getting near time to revolt because once they take our guns, and that they will as soon as the next commiecrat takes office, all hope for revolution and the survival of freedom will be gone.

    Now all the Fake News outlets are beginning the slow beat of “the Republicans are going to lose the midterms” meme. Because they and their willing accomplices in the GOPe and neverTrumpers want to “talk” us out of victory. And after two years of unrelenting anti Trump propaganda from the Media, Education, Celebrities, Sports figures, and now “the children” when Republicans lose they will be programmed to blame Trump. Blame yourselves for not fighting the swamp with him.

    I know, Trump isn’t the type of pig we want representing us or they type we can get behind and support. How does an unending line of Obama’s and Hillary’s sound then cause that’s what we’ll get.

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  299. So the hard to find middle ground has nothing to do with Trump?

    BuDuh (fc15db) — 3/19/2018 @ 6:41 am

    It has nothing to do with Trump to me. We are too polarized as a nation on cultural issues. My problem with Trump is that he doesn’t have clear guiding principles so I never know what he stands for or where he wants to lead us. MAGA is a nice idea but I have no idea what it means.

    DRJ (15874d)

  300. The problem is as they see it, ‘bitter clinger’ or ‘deplorable’, who want go along, so they set up ‘teaching opportunities’ like Sanford which was nothing of the kind, engineer ‘fast and furious’ to great the groundswell fir gun confiscation,

    narciso (d1f714)

  301. Its the same dynasty in brexit, which may is insisting on squandering and the macron vs le pen and fillon race, as long as you use the power of the state to suppress the opposition and blame the russians

    narciso (d1f714)

  302. Some basic truth: there are long-time FBI employees, working at the FBI well before Trump came onto the scene, that say McCabe lied to us, lies all the time, he’s gotta go.

    That’s good enough for me, but ymmv…

    Colonel Haiku (1fcc64)

  303. Just think of it as MATA…

    Colonel Haiku (1fcc64)

  304. The decline of American culture started in 2003 (Season 3, Episode 18), when Timmy’s Dad was elected Miss Dimmsdale.

    nk (dbc370)

  305. Of course rothschilds actually believe in the skydragon.

    narciso (d1f714)

  306. You know guys, when I was 14 I joined my sister (ten years my senior) and our church group to go down South to Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina and join the Rev. Martin Luther King’s march for equal rights. We were mocked, hosed, chased, threatened and called all sorts of nasty names. But we believed what King said about judging a person by the content of his character not the color of his skin. We marched and we win. The civil rights laws were written and discrimination based on a persons race was declared illegal, immoral and best of all not acceptable in decent society. That means culturally abhorrent. Unacceptable. Low class.

    But they all lied to me. To us. Next thing I knew there was Affirmative Action which was exactly the type of racism we just fought against! They actually declared racism illegal in one breath and then mandated that racism was legal in the next breath. Only highly educated Harvard lawyers could come up with and instant racist replacement for outlawed racism. So then I knew I was used. I was lied to. And now I, the guy who marched for equal rights , was being denied acceptance to local colleges because they had to meet a black quota for Affirmative Action and guess what? I wasn’t the right color. Now it was okay to discriminate racially against a guy who fought to outlaw racial discrimination. That’s when I learned the Left eats its own and they don’t care as long as they win.

    But even before my rude awakwning in leftist racism I got my education in leftist patriotism. I enlisted in the Army in 1969. I volunteered for Vietnam cause that’s what the men in our family do. We serve. In every war since the Revolution. Proudly. After here tours and two wounds I came home. I left all those beautiful, kind little Vietnamese folks I met and to whom I pledged that America would stand strong and defend them in their hour of need because we promised! Then, the left in my country made me a filthy liar and let the people of Vietnam down (not to mention Cambodia and Laos) and allowed them to be slaughtered by the communists. That’s when I learned the left doesn’t care who dies only who wins.

    Then I got married and started a business. Paid my taxes, plenty of taxes. My wife and I met a small child at a church gathering. This little child had been the victim of a botched abortion where he actually lived and fortunately was rescued from his ghetto mother. The minute I saw this kid I loved him. It took until he was eight years old to get all the planets aligned but we were finally able to adopt him. My family and friends warned how difficult it would be to rase a black child in a white family but somewhere back in my brain I still listened to Dr. King and believed it would be okay. And it was. We had our ups and downs, our trials and tribulations but my boy grew into an honest and honorable adult. Now he has a family and started his own business and is doing pretty well. But now his son, my grandson, had decided that white people are no good. He left school and home to join Black Lives Matter which apparently is now a full-fledged “advocacy” group. He now hates me because I’m white, my wife because she’s Asian, his mother because she’ mulatto, and every Christian and especially every Jew on the planet because they “stole” civilization from black people.

    Full circle? Have I lived long enough to go full circle? Everything political and cultural I’ve believed in was destroyed by leftist government. And now leftist racism is pulling my family apart. My own grandson refuses to communicate with his parents or family because they are the wring race. Full circle? Now the government of my country wants to regulate “hate speech” which is to say speech I don’t know who they think they’re kidding. They also want more firearm regulations because 20,000 are just not enough. Who do they think they’re kidding?

    Drain the Swamp. We need either to eliminate the Deep State and it’s power over the people or the Deep State will eliminate what’s left of the Constitution through regulations and “decisions” by their coconspirators on the bench.

    We used to carry rifels to school for our shooting team. Nobody was murdered. We used to “steal a kiss” from a cute girl and nobody was a rapist or abuser or criminal. If she didn’t like it she slapped ya. Message received. We used to call the Italian kid a Wop and if he didn’t like it we’d go a round. Nobody was “microagressed” and no hate laws were broken and no anti-bully laws were needed. We sorted it out. We could buy guns out of the Sears catalogue or at the corner hardware store. No waiting, no permits. No maniacs going around mass murdering people either. We got B-B guns when we were 8, smoked our first cigarette at 10, drove at 14, joined the army at 17, got married at 21 and nobody seemed to have a problem until the leftists decided all that was discriminatory, racist, misogynist, homophobic and Islamophobic and everything had to go.

    I’m old now and past my use-by date (which we also didn’t have because we were smart enough to know what sour milk smelled like) but I pity the poor bastards growing up now. They will never know what True Liberty feels like. (it feels like falling off your bike without knee pads, elbow pads and a helmet. Love every minute of it).

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  307. They pretend impartiality but they started up the Iranian and Iraqi nuclear programs

    https://mobile.twitter.com/omriceren/status/975737350553767937?p=v

    narciso (d1f714)

  308. Monty python, spent a generation ridiculing the solid middle class values that got England through the war, so now its unsafe to walk the streets, thin part because the people are unarmed but the criminals are not,

    narciso (d1f714)

  309. 321.Some basic truth: there are long-time FBI employees, working at the FBI well before Trump came onto the scene, that say McCabe lied to us, lies all the time, he’s gotta go.

    That’s good enough for me, but ymmv…
    Colonel Haiku (1fcc64) — 3/19/2018 @ 7:42 am

    That may be true but, as a society, we need to know it’s true because of facts learned through transparency. We can do this because we have elected a Republican President who has committed to draining the swamp. He can do it because he has the authority as head of the executive branch. He can appoint people of his choice and direct them to uncover the truth and reveal it to the American people.

    Or not. It’s his choice.

    DRJ (0280d9)

  310. Or not. It’s his choice.


    You know, DRJ, it’s kinda his choice. Contrary to the leftist meme/narrative Trump is not literally Hitler. He is not a Dictator, a Nazi or some other leftist dream despot. He’s just a president. And he’s a president who when he takes a piss is pounced upon by the entire news media and leftist operation instantly. It’s been this way for at least 16 months and I’m surprised you haven’t noticed. IOW, no matter what he tries to do the entire leftosphere jumps into action to: 1) Lie and obfuscate what he does/says, 2) confuse the issue with “leaks” or 3) use ridicule in the media and on late night TV to turn it into a “joke”. We’re fighting a culture war against a guerilla army. They hit, they run, they change the meme and they hit again. We are always responding to the last indignity, the last lie or the last insult while they are two new ones ahead of us.

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  311. That constant criticism from the left, the media, and the politicians in the DC political swamp is what got Trump elected, and he knows it better than anyone. It’s a feature, not a bug, to Trump.

    Trump is from New York. He lives in a political swamp and knows how to navigate it and probably how to dismantle or at least hurt it. He has chosen to navigate it because he thinks it will win him re-election.

    DRJ (15874d)

  312. He wants his supporters to stay mad and he knows just what Twitter buttons to push to make that happen.

    DRJ (15874d)

  313. If he wants me to shut up, build the Wall. The whole Wall, not an inch less, and a big one. The first step to MATA is to build the Wall.

    DRJ (15874d)

  314. President Trump passes the test for who is the #1 best president on America

    and he makes it look so easy

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  315. If he wants me to shut up, build the Wall. The whole Wall, not an inch less, and a big one. The first step to MATA is to build the Wall.

    Do you want him to be a dictator? You just said earlier that you don’t blame Trump for the inaction of congress.

    BuDuh (fc15db)

  316. Also, where in the Rio Grand does that wall get placed?

    BuDuh (fc15db)

  317. 330… yes, Hoagie, some of us operate like the French did in Indo-China in the 50s…

    Colonel Haiku (1fcc64)

  318. The latest bout of civility from the new yorker

    narciso (d1f714)

  319. So is Monty Python’s status as go-to comedic reference by persons of the pre-millenial generation a result of an adverse Overton window where Python is the best only when compared to a worsening bunch?

    If he builds the Wall, he builds west to east to spite California and satiate Arizona, so I dont know if that would be good enough, DRJ.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  320. 339, well shyte, Narciso, even the most Thatcherite hunt-loving Bobbie has the marksman skill of a Twin City POC cop, so ya gotta start em slow.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  321. The worst thing R.R. Had to do was pick the perv booosh as his V.P. I wish he would have picked a young Charles Schwabb.

    mg (9e54f8)

  322. For conservatives, maybe the best we can hope for is that Congress will get very little accomplished, and that is generally what we’ve seen.”

    That right there is the attitude of conservatism for two generations that has made them a caricature; forever preaching the principles, but conscientious objectors when it comes to doing the dirty work of actually getting in the trenches and fighting for them. Much too vulgar don’t you know.

    So y’all sit back and tell Trump to build the wall, as if congress hasn’t had the mandate to do so for a dozen years but refuses to fund it because they might be called unpleasant names. Demanding he do it on his own after joining the progressive chorus in calling him authoritarian.

    Trump was elected because of this attitude, and the understanding of it by the base. A guy from outside the establishment that promised more than speaking to principle and doing nothing. So now the nevertrump true conservatives hate him because he is joining the battle instead of only talking about it, exposing their cowardice and threatening the reputations of the pompous.

    Conservatives will continue blaming Trump for their own disfavor, never admitting he is the result of, not the cause of their own ineffectiveness. Never understanding virtue is only accomplished in the doing, not the saying.

    Progressives talk of their virtue all the time, but their doing puts the lie to what they say. Conservative virtue is a catch 22, because actually doing what needs to be done goes against their principles, and anyone willing to do it is an enemy to their principles. So now, even when conservative ends are being accomplished, they are discounted and the one accomplishing them are rejected as not worthy of support. Along with those that do support him.

    So please nevertrumpers, continue calling us cultists and Trump junk gobblers if you must, but understand you are revealing more about yourselves than anyone else. Tories in the crisis.

    the Bas (3bcea0)

  323. You have a really good point there, the Bas. Conservatives know when we do things some people will get hurt. To any leftist that’s unacceptable in talk but in reality they are genocidal maniacs. I don’t care if your life is unfair, fix it or f**k you. It’s not my problem. Leftists make it my problem and call me names when I revolt. I don’t care if the tranny’s dick falls off, or the illegal gets killed by a car, or the black kid thinks he’s a victim of a 150 year old slave owner. Not my problem. Securing our border and keeping our sovereignty is. Protecting our home is. Feeding my family is. I really don’t care if one child is left behind because as a good American and a good citizen I can guarantee it won’t be my child and I’m not responsible for somebody else’s unless I choose to be.

    Progressive virtue is all talk, the Bas. And it’s pitiful.

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  324. “For conservatives, maybe the best we can hope for is that Congress will get very little accomplished, and that is generally what we’ve seen.”

    That right there is the attitude of conservatism for two generations that has made them a caricature; forever preaching the principles, but conscientious objectors when it comes to doing the dirty work of actually getting in the trenches and fighting for them. Much too vulgar don’t you know.

    That highlights one difference between conservatives like me and many Trump supporters. I don’t want new federal laws because it gives Washington politicians (and lawyers!) even more control over my life. Many Trump supporters welcome new laws as long as the laws help them or hurt the people they oppose.

    Maybe you are right and I’m wrong. Maybe the only path forward for America is to adopt the tactics of the left. If so, we have the right guy in Trump.

    DRJ (15874d)

  325. If he wants me to shut up, build the Wall. The whole Wall, not an inch less, and a big one. The first step to MATA is to build the Wall.

    Do you want him to be a dictator? You just said earlier that you don’t blame Trump for the inaction of congress.

    BuDuh (fc15db) — 3/19/2018 @ 9:48 am

    Trump campaigned on the promise to build the Wall and I want him to keep that promise. He also said Mexico would pay for it, so why involve Congress since the only reason Trump would need Congress is for funding?

    DRJ (15874d)

  326. I was a Cruz supporter. Before he dropped out, Cruz made some wild promises trying to keep up with Trump’s wild promises. Nevertheless, if Cruz had won, I would be the first person criticizing him if he did not kept those promises. I would not make excuses for him because he was my choice; I would expect even more of him because he was my choice.

    DRJ (15874d)

  327. Maybe you are right and I’m wrong. Maybe the only path forward for America is to adopt the tactics of the left. If so, we have the right guy in Trump.

    Thank you for that! And yes, maybe I’m wrong. But I do know what we were doing wasn’t working. How long have we been lamenting that electing establishment republicans just means “losing more slowly”, or “better managing the decline”?

    There comes a time when you have to accept the rules have changed, and you have to change too or die.

    He also said Mexico would pay for it, so why involve Congress since the only reason Trump would need Congress is for funding?

    As a Trump supporter from the start, I always understood that to mean Mexico would pay on the back end, as in no longer using the U.S. as their welfare system. Nobody believed it meant Mexico was going to cut a check on the front end, even nevertrumpers that pretend to.

    the Bas (3bcea0)

  328. If one of the methods for Mexico to pay for it is through reducing remittances through legislation, aren’t we back to a problem with congress?

    You seem to really want Trump to do things through dictatorial fiat.

    BuDuh (fc15db)

  329. I pity the poor bastards growing up now.

    My young nephew is a bioengineer working to eradicate diseases and my niece in college is developing products and skills using a 3D printer– and at breakfast, uses her smartphone to check the daily weather reports… on Mars. I envy them and the magnificent future ahead of them.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  330. I envy them and the magnificent future ahead of them.”

    I think that’s what Sean Penn said about Venezuelans too.

    By the way, niece and nephew are very gender specific. Would they approve of your bigotry?

    the Bas (3bcea0)

  331. I agree we needed change and I didn’t/don’t support establishment Republicans. Where did you get that silly idea? I wanted Cruz because I thought he was different and I wanted someone different.

    I also voted for Trump because I wanted to keep Texas red, so calling me a NeverTrump supporter is more silliness. And as a Trump voter, I took him at his word — that he would build a Wall and that Mexico would pay for it.

    DRJ (15874d)

  332. Good comment, DCSCA. There are good reasons to be optimistic, and it is an amazing time we live in. Always is.

    DRJ (15874d)

  333. Then I guess you can take him at his word for the 75% of the years he has left. Nothing to complain about until the last day.

    BuDuh (fc15db)

  334. Poor math on my part. Not 75% of the time he has left. 100% of the time he has left which is 75% of the total time he gets in a term

    BuDuh (fc15db)

  335. DRJ @352 Did you actually believe that Trump would find a way to get Mexico to pay for a wall?

    This is theoretically possible in a number of ways (he could even sell bonds backed by nothing except a promise that Mexico would pay the bonds back) but he was very unlikely to go to the mat on that.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  336. They can’t build a wall on ther Rio Grande, because a wall on the banks of the Rio Grande is alevee, and there’s a treaty with Mexico that says neither country will build levees without the otehr;s consent.

    The wall would have to be set back, leaving some American property on the wrong side of the wall.

    Other problematic places are nature reserves and Indian reservations.

    Now Trump wants a partial wall. He’s making claims about drug dealers. When you force opiods to be less bulky you make them more dangerous. There’s no thought here. Or even attempt to think.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  337. Whatever was going on we need to see what this firing is all about. Sessions wouldn’t even explain what the FBI rule was that he said he acted in accordance with was (giving only the number) Nobody seems to know waht taht rule is.

    Trump was egging them on, especially Sessions, and probably mostly because of general antipathy or suspicion of McCabe, not any detailed knowedge. Maybe also because it would make him look better. Trump also may be scared McCabe is going to lie about him, or so he’s been tweeting.

    I get the feeling that some career people in the FBI think McCabe has been really dishonest. They say he lied repeatedly under oath. McCabe says he corrected mistakes as soon as he realized them. Taht doesn’t even seem to have surface plausibility even if you know none of the content.

    It’s not exactly a coincidence that McCabe’s retirement was coming up now. He advanced his retirement because of this in order to beat the report. The people doing the reporting – the Inspector General’s people – carved out the McCabe case from their general investigation
    of the FBI’s handling of the Clinton investigation in order to reportabout McCabe.

    Now none of the people involved in teh firing of McCabe were appointed by Trump. (except Sessions)

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  338. Another point:

    The New York Times and everybody ponders that the leak was
    anti-Hillary and not anti-Trump.

    But if McCabe was covering up for Hillary he would leak the opposite!

    It sounds like he leaked that he (or the FBI) had wanted to
    investigate Hillary, and had done so successfully, in spite of the fact that Justice Department officials did not to authorize subpoenas.

    If, in fact, that caused trouble for an investigation, leaking that it didn’t is pro-Hillary and not anti-Hillary.

    Saying a whitewash is not a whitewash is not anti the person whom you are accused of whitewashing.

    This also concerned a second possible investigation into the Clinton Foundation.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  339. Actually no sammeh the October 24th piece by devlin barrett, diminishes the idea of a further investigation

    narciso (d1f714)

  340. I take him at his word, Sammy. I guess I should assume everything he says is a lie. Is that how it is with everyone from New York, Sammy? Does everyone lie as easily as they breathe?

    DRJ (15874d)

  341. That ignores the actual story, drj as I say its minefield starting with comey all the way down to that josh fellow, same as with Susan rice to Ben Rhodesia and ned price.

    narciso (d1f714)

  342. He advanced his retirement because of this in order to beat the report.

    then after he was fired like the trashy little fbi slut he is what did he do?

    he lied and said he’d always intended to retire at 50

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  343. Great point, Haiku. Trump is just like that book — complete fiction. The only difference is, unlike New Yorkers, Texans label their lies as fiction.

    DRJ (15874d)

  344. some of this good-natured ribbing of our president, President Donald Trump, kinda has an edge to it

    what’s say we think about dialing that back

    happyfeet (28a91b)


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