Patterico's Pontifications

1/11/2018

Trump’s Tweet Reversal on FISA, and What It Says About His Presidency (With Bonus North Korea Discussion)

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 9:30 am



President Donald J. Trump woke up this morning and issued a tweet about FISA that seemed to contradict his administration’s position on an upcoming FISA vote:

What’s going on? Today the House votes on reauthorizing “Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act, that permits the government to collect without a warrant from American firms, like Google and AT&T, the emails and other communications of foreigners abroad — even when they are talking to Americans.” Section 702 will certainly be reauthorized, but libertarian-minded lawmakers like Justin Amash are trying to impose a warrant requirement for such searches. The White House has consistently opposed any such amendment, with Sarah Sanders saying as recently as last night that the amendment would “would re-establish the walls between intelligence and law enforcement that our country knocked down following the attacks of 9/11.” Sanders said, in no uncertain terms: “The Administration urges the House to reject this amendment.”

And then Trump stepped into the breach with his tweet, emboldening the supporters of the amendment and undermining the clarity of his administration’s position.

Apparently somebody spoke to him, because one hour and 41 minutes later, Trump tweeted this:

That is a big Emily Litella-style climbdown. And it was obviously motivated by the intervention of someone who, unlike Trump, understood his administration’s position.

If the notion of Trump farting out an off-message policy statement and having to be walked back sounds familiar, cast your memory back to two days ago, when Trump seemed to tell Sen. Dianne Feinstein that he was for a “clean” DACA bill — a statement that Kevin McCarthy had to help Trump walk back. Trump is like a kid who might suddenly dart into traffic at any moment. You have to hold that tiny little hand tight, to keep him safe.

You don’t need Michael Wolff to tell you that Trump is a woefully uninformed man-child who stumbles around saying random things. This aspect of Trump’s character is on public display, day after day.

So what does this say about the nature of Trump’s presidency? Until we get to foreign policy, not much. It appears that, for the most part, the people around him manage to get the right thing done most of the time, despite Trump. And he obviously listens, at least sometimes. Although the FISA tweet and Feinstein DACA examples show that Trump has no grasp of what his position is supposed to be, they also show that when the correct position is explained to him (which we know happened with Feinstein and which I assume happened with FISA today), he is willing to back down from his incorrect pronouncements. True, an informed president could do more with the bully pulpit to push legislation like ObamaCare repeal. But he mostly does OK on the domestic front.

Ah, but then there’s foreign policy. There, Trump both interacts directly with other world leaders, and also makes public pronouncements on his own (“fire and fury,” anyone?). I think a lot of people assume that, hey, everything will be OK because we have folks like Mattis or McMaster around to rein Trump in. But if you believe the story in Wolff’s book (and here’s an example of a story I believe), Trump has contempt for McMaster, whom he finds “boring” because of his penchant for PowerPoints that make Trump feel like he is being lectured to by a professor. In any event, let’s assume for the sake of argument that Mattis & Co. support comments like “fire and fury” as exemplifying Nixon’s crazy man strategy. It’s still concerning that a guy whose ad libs are often this uninformed and off-message is the Voice of America.

I’m sure my concerns about all this will be met with arguments that South Korea is crediting Trump with bringing North Korea to the table for talks. Settle down, Sparky. The situation is hardly resolved yet. That’s not Trump’s fault, of course; presidents since Clinton have devoted a lot of energy to addressing North Korea, and every effort has ended in failure. It’s a problem that has no easy solution. But when I look at Trump’s aggressive pronouncements about nuclear war, a rhetorical question keeps coming to mind: when did mindless and prideful escalation ever lead to unnecessary violence?

I realize it seems we have detoured far from our original discussion about FISA, section 702, and Trump’s contradictory tweets. But in the headline I promised an analysis about the larger meaning for Trump’s presidency of having a man in the Oval Office with a grade-school-level grasp of policy details. And foreign policy in general — and North Korea in particular — are a YUUUUUGE part of that discussion.

Exit suggestion: if you’ve never seen Nick Kristof’s video from November about North Korea’s preparation for war, set aside some time to watch it. Kristof visited North Korea and interviewed government officials and people on the street — and at the end there is an interesting reveal about the way in which the officials guided the expression of opinions from the “normal citizens.” I disagree with Kristof about a lot of things — just yesterday, I was dismissing Kristof’s worry about Trump’s authoritarianism, noting that while Trump certainly talks like an authoritarian, he doesn’t really act like one. But it’s hard to watch a video like this and not be acutely aware that North Korea at least wants to send the message that it considers war with America virtually inevitable. As we cheer the slight reduction in regulations under Donald Trump, let’s give a little thought to the at least equally important issue of whether we are about to go to nuclear war with a country led by a madman.

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

128 Responses to “Trump’s Tweet Reversal on FISA, and What It Says About His Presidency (With Bonus North Korea Discussion)”

  1. he got you to write a post what reminders people about the pathetic rubber-stamp FISA court and the role they played in the illegal surveillance the Obama administration and the corrupt FBI did on the Trump campaign

    he’s pretty smart huh

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  2. His instincts are better than his intellect. He should have joined with Rand Paul on this who, speaking after Pompeo last Sunday, praised him maybe thinking they were on the same page.

    nk (dbc370)


  3. that while Trump certainly talks like an authoritarian, he doesn’t really act like one.

    Words have mass. They have consequences. Otherwise violent threats wouldn’t be prosecuted.

    https://www.google.com/amp/us.blastingnews.com/opinion/2018/01/trump-a-dangerous-authoritarian-002283099.amp.html

    Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (a70717)

  4. Words do have consequences especially when the comrades run the show. Just listen to the corruption admitted to in the first three minutes here:
    https://youtu.be/jUtr7fNwagg

    Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7)

  5. “Back in 1994, President Clinton prepared to confront North Korea over CIA reports it had built nuclear warheads and its subsequent threats to engulf Japan and South Korea in “a sea of fire.”

    Enter self-appointed peacemaker Carter: The ex-prez scurried off to Pyongyang and negotiated a sellout deal that gave North Korea two new reactors and $5 billion in aid in return for a promise to quit seeking nukes.“

    Clinton embraced this appeasement as achieving “an end to the threat of nuclear proliferation on the Korean Peninsula” — with compliance verified by international inspectors. Carter wound up winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his dubious efforts.

    But in 2002, the North Koreans ’fessed up: They’d begun violating the accord on Day One. Four years later, Pyongyang detonated its first nuke.

    https://nypost.com/2016/01/06/you-can-thank-jimmy-carter-and-bill-clinton-for-north-koreas-nukes/

    “North Korea will freeze and then dismantle its nuclear program. South Korea and our other allies will be better protected. The entire world will be safer as we slow the spread of nuclear weapons.” – Bubba T Chamberlain

    https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2017/08/09/that-time-bill-clinton-said-north-korea-will-dismantle-its-nuke-program-n1981099

    Trump sure endangers the USA!

    harkin (8256c3)

  6. It’s true he’s mostly Gas and is limp-twisted in actual physical deeds beyond lifting his fork, but what does it take to push a button?

    Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (a70717)

  7. Is Trump conflating collusion
    With collision, or confusion?

    Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (a70717)

  8. And ironically you miss the point, again, this grishenko exercise is why fisa needs to be curtailed, because in 16 years they have almost always failed to focus on the target. Re the koreas, I don’t see much point in talks between them, but what is the alternative after 25 years of mismanagement.

    narciso (d1f714)

  9. “I think – I think, for me, nuclear is just the power, the devastation is very important to me.” – The Trump Doctrine

    This was the end of a two-minute filibuster that attempted (unsuccessfully) to conceal the fact that he had no clue what the nuclear triad is.

    Dave (445e97)

  10. at least he can pronounce “nuclear” unlike that filthy Bush loser

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  11. He’s incredibly well informed on powerful bombs, so much so he revisits Duck and cover defense tactics.

    Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (a70717)

  12. Our Media leaves a lot on the table.

    Dutch reporters simply ignored a plea from the new United States ambassador, Pete Hoekstra, to forget all about the fact that there is video of him lying about their country in 2015. In the video, he insisted that parts of the Netherlands have been surrendered to Islamist radicals that supposedly rule over “no-go zones” for non-Muslims, where Dutch politicians have been set on fire.

    After Hoekstra refused to answer one reporter’s direct question — “Are politicians being burned in the Netherlands…? Is that something you believe, yes or no?” —

    https://theintercept.com/2018/01/10/dutch-reporters-stun-trumps-ambassador-pressing-admit-lied-no-go-zones/

    Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (a70717)

  13. The conundrum is they technically aren’t lying when their screwed-up information is all they read.

    Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (a70717)

  14. But he mostly does OK on the domestic front.

    Apart from trying to stab the American taxpayers in the back and make them pay over $18 BILLION for a wall that Mexico owes us.

    Why does Trump favor Mexicans over Americans?

    Dave (445e97)

  15. Gotta give the Democrats on the Washington D.C city council props for this:

    DC street in front of Russian embassy renamed to honor murdered Putin critic

    Washington’s city council has unanimously passed a measure to rename the street in front of the Russian Embassy after Boris Nemtsov, a pro-democracy activist and critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    (Insert joke about stopped clocks, blind squirrels, etc…)

    Dave (445e97)

  16. but lesin who died in the city, crickets, yes theo van gogh would be glad to hear that, so would hirsi ali, who had to move to dc, because the city fathers are so tolerant,

    narciso (d1f714)

  17. It’s meant to embarrass Trump, no question about it. It’s also pretty low class to gratuitously insult another country’s ambassador. But the DC city council is lower than low class.

    nk (dbc370)

  18. I would even say that its amount of class is niggardly.

    nk (dbc370)

  19. Adriano Celentano – Prisencolinensinainciusol

    “Prisencolinensinainciusol” is a song composed by Adriano Celentano, and performed by Celentano and his wife, singer/actress-turned-record producer Claudia Mori. It was released as a single in 1972, and a popular performance of the song was broadcast on RAI.

    The song is meant to sound to its intended Italian audience like English spoken with an American accent, but the lyrics are actually pure gibberish, with the exception of the words “all right”. Celentano’s intention with the song was to explore communications barriers.

    this is interesting

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  20. Heh! You know how many R & B, rock, and rap songs sound like that to me?

    nk (dbc370)

  21. it’s catchy

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  22. Sam’s Club, the membership-only warehouse stores owned by Walmart, confirmed on Thu that it is closing locations across the country.

    […]

    A Sam’s Club spokeswoman Anne Hatfield spoke to WBRZ 2 in Baton Rouge about the closure of the Cortana store, calling the decision “very complex.”

    “It’s supply and demand,” Hatfield told the local news station.

    um

    sweetie that’s like the exact opposite of “very complex”

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  23. 19 – You can tell he was a fan of Elvis.

    Lenny (5ea732)

  24. oh you reminded me

    i discovered Alexa has a very sad and disappointing Elvis repertoire

    that seems really wrong

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  25. “If the notion of Trump farting out an off-message policy statement…”

    You stay classy Patrick.

    Bill Saracino (ad0096)

  26. “It’s supply and demand,” Hatfield told the local news station.


    Then Hatfield’s a phukin’ moron. The demand is still there in fact it’s growing but the supply is being met on line with free shipping. Effortless and costless (sometimes even sales tax-less) shopping via the internet.

    Guys who think like Hatfield run businesses into the ground using yesterday’s technology trying to solve tomorrow’s problems. Idiots.

    Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7)

  27. His instincts are better than his intellect. He should have joined with Rand Paul on this who, speaking after Pompeo last Sunday, praised him maybe thinking they were on the same page.

    nk (dbc370) — 1/11/2018 @ 9:52 am

    Like Baldrick, he has cunning plans.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  28. How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb kick the can down the road to President Winfrey:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/01/11/should-you-worry-about-a-u-s-war-with-north-korea-not-really/?utm_term=.aa313c1f3213

    Lenny (5ea732)

  29. This was the end of a two-minute filibuster that attempted (unsuccessfully) to conceal the fact that he had no clue what the nuclear triad is.

    Dave (445e97) — 1/11/2018 @ 10:41 am

    A year ago he couldn’t even spell “President”, now he are one.

    If Trump Wore T Shirts

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  30. @ Dave (#9): Hugh Hewitt asked Trump about the nuclear triad way back on August 3, 2015, months before the beginning of the primaries. Trump was clueless then too:

    HH: Now let me ask you about the American nuclear triad. Is it necessary anymore, Donald Trump, is it affordable?

    DT: I think one of the most important things that we have to worry about is nuclear generally speaking. The power of nuclear, the power of the weapons that we have today and that is by the way — the deal with Iran — the concept of it is so important that you have to make a good deal and what they should have done is that they should have doubled up and tripled up the sanctions and negotiate from strength instead of the pathetic negotiators that we had so anything that we had to do with nuclear to me the power of the weapons — the problem is that it is not how many soldiers you have, the power of weaponry today is is utmost important.

    HH: Do we need all the three kind of nuclear weapons that we have though?

    DT: I think we should have absolutely have — you know we are going to have to build ourselves back up because — I don’t know if you saw that 60 Minute piece about a year ago where our nuclear weapons are so absolute and so outdated, the phones didn’t work, the wires were rotted and frankly to allow that to actually go on television where they are giving tours of places of silos and they are rusting and rotting and I’m Putin and I looking at that I’m saying I’m saying, “Wow these guys don’t have the power we thought they had.”

    HH: But do you think we can afford to to just update one of the three legs nor do we need all three of them like the Cold War?

    DT: I think we need massive protection and unfortunately you know the nuclear is the protection It’s not just the question of having a million soldiers nowadays. You need the protection because North Korea has it, the deal based on everything that I’ve seen as you know Iran is gong to have it, Pakistan has it, India has it. Hopefully, India is on our side a little more than most but people are getting it and Russia has it big league and China has it, but you know, Putin said about a month ago and I was shocked to hear it — first time I’ve ever heard it from that kind of a power. Essentially he said don’t mess with us, we have nuclear weapons. Do you remember that?

    HH: Yep.

    DT: Why would somebody say that from that kind of country?

    HH: We are out of time so I just got to close with a couple of pop culture.

    Ah, for the good old days, when people used to criticize Dubya for saying “nuke-u-lar”! Dubya flew TANG missions intercepting Russian Bear bombers patrolling the Gulf Coast from Cuba, and who assuredly knew about the nuclear triad. Jimmy Carter, supposedly a nu-clee-ar engineer, apparently also said “nuke-u-lar,” but again, having been in Adm. Rickover’s nuclear submarine service, can reasonably be presumed to know (1) bombers, (2) ICBMs, and (3) submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).

    As a reasonably geeky kid in the middle 1960s, I certainly already knew what the nuclear triad was: hanging from my ceiling, along with my Apollo and Gemini and Mercury spacecraft models, and my Me-109 and Spitfire and Mustang models, were models of a B-52 and the USS George Washington (SSBN-598), and on my desk and shelves I had Estes-brand model-rocket versions of several ICBMs, which I flew into the sky with other members of my model rocket club.

    But somehow, Trump — who was himself a cadet in military school, dating models, a few years before I started making my plastic and balsa-wood models — failed to absorb this most basic and fundamental fact about nuclear weapons and deterrence.

    He was probably just planning future games of four-dimensional chess during all those times people (like Hewitt) tried to inspire him to learn about the nuclear triad.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  31. If that’s the matchup, the 2020 Debates will be sponsored by fast-food or snack companies (maybe they’ll use their own panelists/hosts has opposed to the legacy media)….I wish I found the longer length version of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftLjr4CQcrQ

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  32. You never heard of a Dutch Oven Admiral? Putting Dutch in front of anything gives it a negative connotation, including Muslim.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  33. this is interesting

    happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/11/2018 @ 11:35 am

    Your video cut off before Davy Jones shows up.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  34. Heh! You know how many R & B, rock, and rap songs sound like that to me?

    nk (dbc370) — 1/11/2018 @ 11:42 am

    That’s why I mostly stick to instrumentals.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  35. He was probably just planning future games of four-dimensional chess during all those times people (like Hewitt) tried to inspire him to learn about the nuclear triad.


    Apparently he was planning how to become a billionaire and President of the United States rather than play with plastic and balsa wood models like we did.

    Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7)

  36. Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin Call Off Their Divorce


    In a move designed to thwart being forced to testify against each other in criminal court Anthony Hussein Weiner and Huma Bin Abedin have decided to rekindle their forbidden love. Huma was forced to forgo the usual grade school uniform she usually wore (along with her hajib) since “costumes” are not permitted in the Federal Medical Center Devens after another moslem in a sheep skin was seriously injured.

    Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7)

  37. Beldar

    Had he read CS Lewis he would know about Nyads and Dryads.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  38. Dutch Oven Admiral

    I remember Admiral Dutch Ovens.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  39. Rev Hoagie

    He might get conjugal visits which probably involve wiping her Blackberry with a cloth.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  40. Pinandpuller-
    In a gadda da vida – Iron Butterfly

    mg (8cbc69)

  41. OT (assuming there IS a topic):

    Drudge links to new Project Veritas videos stinging Twitter employees who admit to setting up systems to “shadow ban” accounts supporting Trump. A “shadow ban” is one where you post, and can see your posts, but no one else can. How is this not fraud?

    Kevin M (752a26)

  42. Isn’t Fire and Fury the title of Michael Wolff’s book?

    Technically, it is not plagiarism, since you can’t copyright a book title.

    It was easoier the title of abook about the bombing of Germany during World War II.

    https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2/138-9395880-6626028?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=%22fire+and+fury%22

    The CBS Evening News reported yesterday that many people were buying that other book by mistake.

    There are also two books called “Red Notice” I first bought the wrong one by mistake. And the wrong one wasn’t even nonfiction.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  43. In a gadda da vida – Iron Butterfly

    mg (8cbc69) — 1/11/2018 @ 1:18 pm

    Just heard that going thru the first season of Supernatural. The Godfather of Danzig and Rob Zombie perhaps.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  44. @ Hoagie (#35): Nope, my friend. Even using the most charitable characterizations, Trump wasn’t making any plans to become POTUS until decades later — and, using less charitable characterizations, quite possibly until the moment he found out that he’d actually been elected. Some would argue that he still doesn’t have a plan to be POTUS now that he is one, but I’m not feeling that harsh today by any means. And Trump was born a multi-millionaire, which is why his models were flesh and blood when yours and mine were balsa wood and plastic. (Although he does appear to have a thing for models made at least in part of silicone.)

    Beldar (fa637a)

  45. @ Pin (#32): I respectfully dissent, and submit for your consideration (1) Dutch chocolate and (2) Dutch fashion models (e.g., Doutzen Kroes, Frederique van der Wal, Famke Janssen, etc.).

    Beldar (fa637a)

  46. @ Hoagie (#36), re Mr. & Mrs. Weiner: There’s something surely going on here that we don’t know about, and I’m more than willing to believe that it’s nefarious. But I don’t think they’re staying married because of spousal privilege.

    Our host, nk, and others with criminal law experience may speak to this more knowledgeably than I can, but as far as I know, the modern version of the spousal privilege is only against compelled (via subpoena and court order enforcing same) testimony by a non-defendant-spouse against a defendant-spouse. But a spouse may voluntarily waive his or her own privilege against compulsion and testify voluntarily. Hence you can’t use the spousal privilege to prevent your spouse from testifying against you, assuming your spouse wants to do that (or perhaps has agreed to do that as a part of a plea bargain):

    [T]he witness-spouse alone has a privilege to refuse to testify adversely; the witness may be neither compelled to testify nor foreclosed from testifying. This modification — vesting the privilege in the witness-spouse — furthers the important public interest in marital harmony without unduly burdening legitimate law enforcement needs.

    <a href="Trammel v. United States, 445 U.S. 40, 53 (1980).

    Beldar (fa637a)

  47. DJT built his business empire by being an aggressive litigant. He had a fabulous legal department and they made good and damn well certain that contractual terms were to the benefit of Trump, Inc. He also fully understood the advantage of having a bunch of pit bull Shylocks who never hesitated to bully contractors and sub-contractors with suits which would be prohibitively expensive to fully play out in court. Point being, DJT knows in his corpuscles that the profit and results are in the details.

    So, why is it that he has actively eschewed getting into the weeds with the Deep State sharks who use statutory and regulatory language to often pervert clear intentions of the elected? He was super duper clear that a massive wall was required and that Mexico would pay for it. Now? He is all about “A wall.” He will then protest he just didn’t understand everything and he will insist that “a wall” is being built.

    Just you watch as he gives away the store on DACA and family (chain) immigration and DACA regularization in return for a wall which is woefully inadequate and way less than what he swore the holiest of holies he would build.

    This, my friends, is why Pat is dead on as to why it is crucial we understand who DJT really is and what he is really all about.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  48. Killing chain migration and the tiered quota system and blocking “a pathway to citizenship” are all more important to the US than any wall. What is damned important is changing the presumption that those who cross illegally are due their day in court. They aren’t and they should get dumped at the Southern border of Mexico without so much as a hearing unless they can provide PROOF of legal residency.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  49. This, my friends, is why Pat is dead on as to why it is crucial we understand who DJT really is and what he is really all about.

    no you don’t have to understand who DJT really is to love what he’s done for America

    you don’t need to know what he’s “really all about”

    all you need to know is he loves you and he wants the best of stuff for you

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  50. You can call Kim Jong Un a lot of things, but he is not mad. Power and comfort are all he values, so he extorts what he wants from an emasculated free world using intimidation, just as his father and grandfather had done in the past. If you resume the policies of the previous administrations (worthless negociations) N. Korea will only build more bombs. If you call his bluff and take him down a notch, his inner circle might just decide someday he is too much of a liability and boot him from power. The risk of nuclear warfare is negligible because narcisismic atheists are usually not willing to die for their beliefs.

    Tony (ff2fe4)

  51. Maguire:

    Can you come comes out and play? We havent talked in quite a while. How’s the anti- democracy developing?

    Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (a70717)

  52. So, is Ryan quitting the House to run against Trump in the primaries?

    Kevin M (752a26)

  53. no he’s not

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  54. Flushed with pride: when on the throne the power behind it: Fox & Friends.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  55. I had Estes-brand model-rocket versions of several ICBMs, which I flew into the sky with other members of my model rocket club.

    Pfft. You ain’t lived until your ‘rocket club’ gets detained by London police for being possible IRA bombers. Been there, done that– and we owed it all to Estes, Centuri and bright orange Eveready batteries.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  56. @ Kevin M (#53): That’s interesting, but I don’t see it happening. Ryan is basically re-living Jack Kemp’s career, aspirationally and philosophically, with more traction. Kemp got hijacked into presidential politics in 1988 and ended up thereby forfeiting his accumulated political capital in the House.

    If Trump for some reason weren’t running in 2018, that would be another story. But assuming (as I think reasonable) that Trump is running, I think Paul Ryan will stay in the House. Ryan really, really, really wants to do entitlement reform, which as a practical matter is going to have to start in the House, but which will also require brilliant leadership from an in-sync POTUS and Senate. Trump ran against entitlement reform. Perhaps he’ll flip-flop, or perhaps Ryan will hope for a GOP successor to Trump (Pence or whomever) to partner up with.

    And Paul Ryan is still really young — age 47! He’s been a nationally prominent figure for so long that he seems older, and he’s already been part of a national presidential ticket. He’s got a safe district and seems to be the only person who’s widely supported by all of the GOP factions within the House. He’s its most essential Member as well as its Speaker.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  57. Maguire is like those chickehawk Charlie’s.

    Lots of clucking but they wilt when there’s a rooster.

    Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (a70717)

  58. Ryan/Gutierrez/2020

    mg (8cbc69)

  59. The risk of nuclear warfare is negligible

    Yep. Since October, 1962. Accidents are generally a bigger worry to some; extreme weather of late an immediate worry to most. Conservatism 101: stoke fear.

    Look for mushrooms on your pizza pie. Don’t worry; be happy.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  60. Yes just another excuse to escape justice, so after 25 years of screwing around with north Korea, letting Russia, china Pakistan it al build up there compliment of warheads and boosters, you tell me the answer. It wee the framework by Wendy Sherman, that enabled the program to reach fruition. But it wasnt significantly revised by Powell or rice and we know Obama wee more diligent about james rosen then he WA the Kim dynasty

    narciso (d1f714)

  61. Had otrag have been more successful, this is the program of ex German rocketeers, described in shagans pillars of fire, we would have faced the threat from colonel kaddafi.

    narciso (d1f714)

  62. 53. So, is Ryan quitting the House to run against Trump in the primaries?

    If memory serves, the wonk didn’t want the gig to begin with. He’ll never get entitlement reform through–especially after The Wave. Besides w/t wage gap widening, his Ayn Rand pitch doesn’t sell well in this era.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  63. DC

    One of the reasons Khrushchev was retired was he held out against hawks who wanted a war. He once rivaled Berea for outright butchery but now he appeared weak.

    He had a few more grey cells than Trump and more war experience.

    Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (a70717)

  64. Beldar–

    I’m sure you meant 2020. But I keep hearing that Ryan wants out, and is having no fun trying to triangulate the Freedom House right with Trump, when neither one of them want what he does. The attempt to start medical reform with the Obamacare retracking went down in flames and since there is NO EFFING WAY to turn Medicare into a “high risk pool” without using tanks, he has to be frustrated.

    He also is in the Romney camp, not the Trump camp. He accepted Trump after the primaries but not one ounce of his being aligns with Donald Trump. There will be a serious mainstream GOP challenger to Trump, as things are going, and I’d like to be someone other than Kasich.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  65. I agree with the President on not wanting anyone from sh!t hole countries.

    mg (8cbc69)

  66. Hoagie, a divorce does not erase the spousal privilege for communications made during the marriage, any more than termination of the attorney-client relationship means that your former attorney can now testify about conversations you had with him.

    Illinois and post-Trammel federal are similar. Communications between a husband and wife, not in the presence of a third person, are like communications between an attorney and client. With very narrow exceptions, they cannot be disclosed by one spouse over the objection of the other spouse. However, the objection must be made, otherwise it can be considered waived. Here is an article by one of my law school trial practice instructors (and a top criminal defense attorney) about the federal rule in the 7th Circuit: http://www.arnstein.com/documents/Chicago-Daily-Law-Bulletin-A-primer-on-when-the-federal-marital-privilege-is-waived-11-26-13-+-picture.pdf

    Here is the Illinois statute:

    Sec. 8-801. Husband and wife. In all actions, husband and wife may testify for or against each other, provided that neither may testify as to any communication or admission made by either of them to the other or as to any conversation between them during marriage, except in actions between such husband and wife, and in actions where the custody, support, health or welfare of their children or children in either spouse’s care, custody or control is directly in issue, and as to matters in which either has acted as agent for the other.

    nk (dbc370)

  67. Bounty Hunters could save America by tracking and returning illegals.

    mg (8cbc69)

  68. The Wave

    I keep hearing about this, particularly from fools who think that because the Dems narrowly won in Alabama against a crazy unlikable perv this translates into something big.

    Long forgotten are the House by-elections (MT, GA, SC, UT, KS) they lost in 2017.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  69. I agree with the President on not wanting anyone from sh!t hole countries.

    Just when you thought that Trump could not possibly find more people to offend.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  70. Hopefully King Doofus won’t change his policy of not taking advice.

    http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/368569-allies-warn-trump-against-interview-with-mueller-report

    Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (a70717)

  71. You know there are “till death do [us] part” people who do not believe in divorce, and they are not all Catholics or pre-1981 Anglicans.

    nk (dbc370)

  72. Focus should be on abandoning Afghanistan….perpetual war.

    Lenny (5ea732)

  73. sometimes, amazingly, I know, politicians do things just because they are heartless, soulless bastards who deserve to be eaten by Denebian slime-devils and then vomited into the fires of Mount Doom. This is one of those times. From the NYT:

    Federal officials said they would support state efforts to require able-bodied adults to engage in work or other “community engagement activities” as a condition of eligibility for Medicaid. “Our fundamental goal is to make a positive and lasting difference in the health and wellness of our beneficiaries, and today’s announcement is a step in that direction,” said Seema Verma, the administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Ms. Verma said the Trump administration was responding to requests from Medicaid officials in 10 states that wanted to run demonstration projects testing requirements for work or other types of community engagement like training, education, job search, volunteer activities and caregiving.

    http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a15064518/medicaid-work/

    Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (a70717)

  74. Focus should be on abandoning Afghanistan….perpetual war.

    And South Central to the Cartels..

    Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (a70717)

  75. The Wall with a high speed traffic lane on each side and Bounty Hunters is the cure.

    mg (8cbc69)

  76. autobahn

    crazy (d99a88)

  77. the post-Roger Ailes era, the network doesn’t have a programming Svengali to develop new story lines. “There’s absolutely no direction,” one Fox host told me. Without Ailes’s daily talking points to guide them, producers are freer than ever before to program their shows, and the surest path to ratings success is airing stories that appeal to Trump’s most fervent supporters. Fox may be Trump’s safe space, but Trump is Fox’s safe space, too. It’s a circular feedback loop
    https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/01/inside-the-feedback-loop-between-the-president-and-fox-news

    Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (a70717)

  78. But in a way, Kevin, thats actually a smart gambit on Trumps part…it will force a continued scope creep approach by the Dems so as not to appear to be settling for a narrow Latin-centric amnesty…not going to the mat for legal subsaharan immigration gives cover for much of the CBC (or various Asians) not to go along with a bill.

    urbanleftbehind (1d0126)

  79. @66.’I agree with the President on not wanting anyone from sh!t hole countries.’

    “All right… but we DON’T WANT THE IRISH!” — Olson Johnson [David Huddleston] ‘Blazing Saddles’ 1974

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  80. Hey they’re white but they talk funny

    Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (a70717)

  81. @69. Fools indeed: Rep. Sam Johnson (R, TX); Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R, KS); Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R, FL); Rep. John J. Duncan Jr. (R, TN); Rep. Dave Reichert (R, WA); Rep. Charlie Dent (R, PA); Rep. Dave Trott (R, MI); Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R, TX); Rep. Lamar Smith (R, TX); Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R, NJ); Rep. Ted Poe (R, TX);Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R, VA); Rep. Joe Barton (R, TX); Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R, UT); Rep. Tim Murphy (R, PA); Rep. Pat Tiberi (R, OH) and the lovely & talented Daryl ‘Issa-outta-here’ Issa (R, CA)

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  82. sh!thole countries

    Kissing David Duke’s ahem hands, to make up for losing Bannon’s? Or just demented?

    nk (dbc370)

  83. Trump was reported before in the New York Times as having said virtually the same thing about Haiti.

    One thing si clear now:

    There will not be any new restruictions on legal immigration.

    The government will shut down.

    gthe Democrfats will make sur ethe isseu is not on;y DACA. They may use CHIP. They will simply fail to agree. If that gets extended without paying for it (and teh CBO now assumes extending CHIP for years will save money.

    Trump is trying to hide behind Congressional Republicans on immigration, but they don’t seem inclined to give him any cover.

    THERE WILL NOT BE ANY GENERAL CONTINUING RESOLUTION THAT GOES PAST MARCH 5 WITHOUT DACA Whch may mean theer may not be any government funding. There may be a lot of partial funding.

    It’s looking very much like that.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  84. nk (dbc370) — 1/11/2018 @ 4:41 pm

    Or just demented?

    The White House has admitted Trump using foul language but I don’t know what about the exact quote is confirmed.

    We’re heading toward a standoff.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/10/us/politics/house-republicans-hard-line-immigration-trump.html

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  85. Trump’s just saying the quiet part loud again.

    Davethulhu (fab944)

  86. @64. One of the reasons Khrushchev was retired was he held out against hawks who wanted a war…

    Ahhh… Little Nikita. W/apologies to Lerner & Loewe: “Tell me no dreams; Filled with desire; If you’re on fire, Shoe me!”

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  87. @83. ‘Sloppy Steve’s’ a loose Bannon of late.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  88. They called it Operation Trump.

    If this is confirmed, Fusion GPS was a subcontractor to the FBI and was running FISA 702 queries against the NSA databases which then formed the basis of the Steele dossier.

    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/01/11/the-doj-and-fbi-worked-with-fusion-gps-on-operation-trump/

    Lenny (5ea732)

  89. Suslov was the ringmaster in the politburo, kruschev gambled and it came up snakeyes, ven though Kennedy had a weak hand. Gus Russo suggests that the dgi took their opportunity, the two fellows who were training in minsk rose up to highest rank in the Cuban security service, abrahantes ultimately having his wings clipped with ochoa, escalante spinning the dezinforma that garrison first caught wind.

    narciso (d1f714)

  90. Par for the course; a Trump Doral Port-au-Prince would be an 18-holer.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  91. Maybe in his younger days, if he went there with Roy Cohn.

    nk (dbc370)

  92. Oh, you meant a golf course!

    nk (dbc370)

  93. @83. ‘sh!thole countries’… Kissing David Duke’s ahem hands, to make up for losing Bannon’s? Or just demented?

    Bait. Watch and see if Winfrey takes it.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  94. What is wrong with not wanting sh!tholes from other countries coming here?

    mg (8cbc69)

  95. “All right… but we DON’T WANT THE IRISH!” — Olson Johnson [David Huddleston] ‘Blazing Saddles’ 1974

    Yes, and that was pretty much the way it was, then. Ireland was viewed as a sh1th0le country by a monolithically Protestant power structure. After all, the Irish had been held as serfs and share-croppers on their own land for centuries by the British, who owned all the land by right of conquest.

    This is part of the reason that anyone who understands history, and understands the difficulties their ancestors had upon arriving in the Land of the Free, gets a little peeved at statements like Trump’s.

    I expect to see t-shirts about coming from a sh1th0le country soon. Probably without the leets.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  96. The government will shut down.

    Yes, and Trump will provide all the footage needed for

    “We shut down the government so we wouldn’t have to accept the Republican’s racist demands!”

    Kevin M (752a26)

  97. One of the reasons Khrushchev was retired was he held out against hawks who wanted a war…

    Oh, balls. What the Missile Crisis showed the Russians is that they would lose badly, with most of their missiles destroyed in a first strike and the American weapons removing the Soviet State’s ability to continue. They were simply not prepared.

    Which is why they spent the next decade building up their arsenal ASAP.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  98. David duke is a low down punk and grifter. hats all he ever was. His narrow folllowing in the 70s was because the intelligentsia clung to shibboleths on affirmative action and welfare, but he never got past that. He wee chased out Russia, eastern Europe, even the mullahs don’t want him crashing on their couch.t punk and grifter,

    narciso (d1f714)

  99. This country is a sh!thole because sh!thole lawyers playing God protect the sh!tholes once they get here. You lawyers sure have made yourselves a sh!thole country for the rest of us. Go swim with the fishes.

    mg (8cbc69)

  100. This novel suggests how it might have gone down

    https://www.amazon.com/Resurrection-Day-Brendan-DuBois/dp/1484183886. He

    It paints lemay as the war monger, when in reality he was just a realist.

    narciso (d1f714)

  101. Yes and people back then had to go through hoops, even the early part of my peoples exodus, we all had to go through the freedom tower in Miami and we couldn’t settle in one place for long this is why Cruz sr went. to Louisiana and ultimately alberta, he was working on his engineering degree back then, he didnt have time for politics. Some of the realities roger stone get right up there with giving randy cedrico any job more complicated than ordering pastrami on rye. Sheesh.

    narciso (d1f714)

  102. Getting back to the point, you say you’re not interested in war, but certainly the war party in north Korea is interested in you, so what is the dead cinch solution.

    Re surveillance, stimson wee probably naive when he closed down the black chamber, the war time predecessor to the nsa, forresral brought it back up by using the navy’s coming with army security agency and that became the nsa which reached its apotheosis with shamrock and minaret in the 70s

    narciso (d1f714)

  103. @ Kevin M (#65): Yes, I meant 2020. Trump will have multiple primary opponents assuming he runs, but I don’t have a clue who they’ll be, and I doubt they’ll be among those currently being speculated about. I too hope there’s someone more appealing than Kasich, who isn’t.

    @ nk (#67): Excellent point re continuing privileges, I ought have thought of that! Hoagie, the Illinois statute he linked is a good example of how state law can sometimes provide different, and occasionally stronger, protections for accused defendants than the federal constitution requires. Huma & Weiner assuredly have some deep, dark secret binding them together — my guess is something he knows about her, or her and Hillary, that they can’t abide the notion of him ever telling. He benefits from this, not because of conjugal privileges but because in his fantasy world in which he out-Clintons the Clintons by bouncing back into public office after everyone had counted him out, she’s still something of a big shot, albeit in the fastest-hemorrhaging wing of the Democratic Party, the Hard Core Clintonistas. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if this dates back to something he could have said, but didn’t say, when he took the plea deal rather than going to trial (which would have exposed Clintonworld to unacceptable risks), and that while Huma and Hillary insisted that Huma file for divorce, he’d already gotten their promise that it would be dropped in a few months before being completed. That’s a wild guess, and I don’t have much confidence in it. But I do have confidence in the underlying observation: There’s more going on with them than meets the surface, and given who’s doing the concealing, it’s stuff the public would be keenly interested in knowing.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  104. Fu##ing snowflake lawyers have decimated this great nation.
    Hope you lawyers are proud in your ivy tower, you best stay towered like Assange.

    mg (8cbc69)

  105. Apparently there’s nothing he won’t lie about:

    Trump brags about having “a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un”

    Dave (445e97)

  106. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump was complaining about another aspect of FISA other than what was up for a vote. (and that he did not reverse himself)

    He could also have said that it is subject to abuse, but we need it anyway. And maybe that theer are some checks. But that would encompass more thinking than most people do.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  107. @ Pin (#32): I respectfully dissent, and submit for your consideration (1) Dutch chocolate and (2) Dutch fashion models (e.g., Doutzen Kroes, Frederique van der Wal, Famke Janssen, etc.).

    Beldar (fa637a) — 1/11/2018 @ 1:32 pm

    Great point. Chocolate and supermodels overcome most negative connotations.

    Pinandpuller (3e96cd)

  108. Not to mention candy dulfer, in the music category.

    narciso (d1f714)

  109. And Paul Ryan is still really young — age 47! He’s been a nationally prominent figure for so long that he seems older, and he’s already been part of a national presidential ticket. He’s got a safe district and seems to be the only person who’s widely supported by all of the GOP factions within the House. He’s its most essential Member as well as its Speaker.

    Beldar (fa637a) — 1/11/2018 @ 3:23 pm

    He’s never going to be closer to being President than he is now.

    Pinandpuller (3e96cd)

  110. In her younger days, she was pushed under both categories.

    urbanleftbehind (1d0126)

  111. If memory serves, the wonk didn’t want the gig to begin with. He’ll never get entitlement reform through–especially after The Wave. Besides w/t wage gap widening, his Ayn Rand pitch doesn’t sell well in this era.

    DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/11/2018 @ 3:48 pm

    Don’t need Wolff to tell you he and Mitt weren’t really trying to win the Presidency.

    Pinandpuller (3e96cd)

  112. Only a Giuliani/Gingrich in either order ticket could have beaten Obama head on.

    urbanleftbehind (1d0126)

  113. They picked the more electable one in both instances snorfle.

    narciso (d1f714)

  114. She’s still touring:

    https://candydulfer.nl/

    narciso (d1f714)

  115. Hoagie, a divorce does not erase the spousal privilege for communications made during the marriage, any more than termination of the attorney-client relationship means that your former attorney can now testify about conversations you had with him.

    nk (dbc370) — 1/11/2018 @ 4:07 pm

    If he got divorced and went to prison that child support clock would start ticking and he could be in for some real trouble.

    Pinandpuller (3e96cd)

  116. Use a condom, Pinandpuller. Use a condom.

    nk (dbc370)

  117. You know there are “till death do [us] part” people who do not believe in divorce, and they are not all Catholics or pre-1981 Anglicans.

    nk (dbc370) — 1/11/2018 @ 4:13 pm

    OJ Simpson.

    Pinandpuller (3e96cd)

  118. Neither did Steve McNair, to his detriment.

    urbanleftbehind (1d0126)

  119. Bill Clinton’s dad drowned in a ditch not far from the sh!thole of Hayti, MO.

    Pinandpuller (3e96cd)

  120. Use a condom, Pinandpuller. Use a condom.

    nk (dbc370) — 1/12/2018 @ 4:40 pm

    He used safe sex quite often. Unfortunately it was with underage girls.

    Pinandpuller (3e96cd)

  121. AW went to sex rehab right across the road from where I vote. Makes me wish my grandma hadn’t sold the horse ranch down in Wickenburg, AZ. I could have been a paparazzo. I could have been somebody.

    Pinandpuller (3e96cd)

  122. Par for the course; a Trump Doral Port-au-Prince would be an 18-holer.

    DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/11/2018 @ 5:11 pm

    That city should be called Port au Jean. City of three million and no central sewer system.

    Pinandpuller (3e96cd)

  123. Bait. Watch and see if Winfrey takes it.

    DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/11/2018 @ 5:16 pm

    Tie a pork chop around it’s neck.

    Pinandpuller (3e96cd)

  124. If I wanted to see A cups smashed flat against glass I’d have become an X Ray tech.

    Pinandpuller (3e96cd)

  125. For all you pointy head snowflakes with a law degree.http://riceinstitute.org/blog/new-maps-which-country-has-the-most-open-defecation-in-the-world/

    mg (8cbc69) — 1/12/2018 @ 4:15 am

    We said we wanted Defectors .

    Pinandpuller (3e96cd)


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